Meringue

This weekend I tried a new recipe - well, new for me... I made a chocolate pavlova. Yummy! This dessert, the Pavlova, was created and named for Anna Pavlova, a famous ballerina in the early 1900's. New Zealand and Australia both claim to be where this recipe came from, but the jury is still out. Okay, here are the basics of this dessert: a layer of meringue covered with whipped cream topped off with fresh fruit. After looking online at some different recipes, and looking at my kitchen to see what I had, I ended up doctoring a variation of the original. My dessert was a chocolate meringue covered with real whipped cream topped with cherry pie filling. It looked good and it tasted good! Yummy! I love real whipped cream!!! I took it to a wedding shower at our church, and didn't bring any home.
chocolate pavlova

Options

We now have to consider our schooling options. Dot is too smart for her own good, and something must be done. Her teacher this past year suggested a few things, one being skipping a grade (which is not our school's policy), and the other being attending a PACE school. At home we have discussed the PACE option, homeschooling, and simply continuing at her current level.
Dot was all for homeschooling, and Jim likes the idea of being her teacher (and main influence on her character development!). However, it poses a problem for me - how to do housework and keep an toddler happy while trying to homeschool as well? I know that many women do this successfully everyday, and that it happened all the time in past centuries, but I am not ready for it! (Insert scream here!)
Yesterday we went to meet with the school principal. After going over her grades, we discussed our options. Surprisingly he offered to move her up a grade! We had not even discussed this at home, not thinking it possible. Now we have to consider this, too, weighing it's pros and cons. She may not be ready socially. (She may never be ready socially!)
What to do? What to do?

Portrait Studio

Yesterday a package arrived in the mail. It was the free 8x10 we had been promised from Olan Mills - we had our photo taken for the church pictorial directory! Apparently we were right in choosing not to buy any of their portrait sheets (at $20 a piece, or $25 for a re-touched one, where they take 5-10 years off your face), for it was a bit disappointing. Needless to say, it is not going up on our wall.
Today we are going to Target to have James' two-year-old portrait done. (If we had an endless supply of money, we might actually go to a good portrait studio that is not attached to a store. However, we are not independantly wealthy, and they charge more than we can afford... and all their shots are tempting because they are all so well done!) I hope he will be good for his picture. Last time he kept climbing off the platform to go dig through the props. Apparently they had a large stuffed Clifford that he desired... I hope they have that hidden this time.
Someday we will have to go to school to pick up Dorothy's school class photo. It has been waiting there for awhile, and I know she will be happy to get it.

Growing

This morning, bright and early, we went to the doctor's office for a two-year-old check-up. We have a healthy 29 pound, 37 inch boy who did not need any immunizations! He was in a really happy mood, and gave great big "aaahh"s when asked to open his mouth.
Yesterday we found that he does have a silly sense of humor. He laughed so hard when he saw someone on a movie sneeze. Then he went on to get us to pretend to sneeze, and laughed hysterically! "Ah... ah... ah... atchooo!"
We should be getting his picture taken this week, so next month we should have picturess to send out to you...

This week in Bawlmer, Hon.

This past weekend the Baltimore area had a very unique event - the Hon Fest. Check out the beehives!


Coming up, Flag Day. If the kids are healthy, we might go to the Flag House Museum. Remember to fly Old Glory! See here to brush up on your flag history and etiquette.


Next week we will join the crowds at the local library - it's almost time for the summer reading program! Any "must reads" for Dorothy?


I might be spending money here, they have a few things I want (okay, I would love to be able to plant MOST of these, buy my yard is only so big...). Jim thinks it is a little too goody-goody, but it seems like a fairly good deal. Ooh, I can just see those ferns by my bleeding hearts, and the black eyed susans by the daisies!

Back to work... in a big way!

Vacation is over... at least for me. School is out and Dorothy has summer vacation. It was a wonderfully restful week that James and I spent with Mom and Dad in Ohio. Even James seemed to take it easy - the only door we had to block off was to the computer room. (Unlike at home, where we have three gates on the main floor!)

Perhaps it was a good thing that last week was restful, for this week is busy. Dorothy's friend is over every day this week, and we expect Andy & Sharon tomorrow. Yesterday I had to grocery shop and do laundry (still working on that last one...), put away everything from our trip, and get ready for our church directory portrait. Oh yeah, and I have make sure the kids don't kill each other! Hmmm... it's Jim's turn to provide the birthday treat at work... The garden needs weeding.... The deck gate fell off... What's for dinner???

I think I need a nanny.

too many clothes

Nature has changed from its winter wardrobe to its spring and summer wardrobe... why can't I? I have so many clothes sitting around - I can't put away all my winter clothes and I can't get out all my summer clothes. We have had days with sun and 80+ degrees, and days (like today) that are grey, rainy and barely 60 degrees. I will have to get to work, though, and fold up all my sweaters and sweatshirts. I certainly don't need those anymore! (At least, I hope not!!!)

Freezer Burn

I have been dreading this task for quite awhile. I know I am supposed to defrost our freezer once a year, but what a gargantuan task that is! My friend in Iowa had a great way to deal with this - she simply did it in the dead of winter and let everything sit outside in the snow (staying nicely frozen) while she let the freezer defrost. Our winters here in MD are not as cold, and I didn't have a chance to take care of it then...

Lately, the food I get out of the freezer has been freezer-burnt, and we do not care for that at all. Yuck! So, this morning I bought two large bags of ice and cleaned out the freezer. I ended up with two coolers and a rubbermaid box full of food and ice. I also ended up with food to throw away - freezer burnt stuff that no one will eat now. What a waste. It is my fault, of course, and I feel horrible about that "money down the drain."

Perhaps next year I will do bettter and defrost on schedule.

Perhaps I should have shelled out the extra money for a self-defrosting freezer...

Helloooo?

I can guess why KJ has let her blog go, as Joel probably has highjacked their computer to keep up with his immensely popular blog. I suppose Linda might be busy with the school year winding down, and that could be why her blog has also lagged. I miss them, though, as they seem to be a convenient way for me to keep up with everyone.

Super-creativity

Am I trying to prove something here? I can't believe what I put myself through this week... I guess I need to do a better job at scheduling myself.

First - I have been planning on moving the brick walkway. (We always cut across the lawn anyway!) I thought, "I can do that myself!" I was right, for the most part. But, boy, oh boy, it's hard work! Lots of digging up old bricks, grass and dirt, tamping down dirt, spreading sand, laying bricks, spreading more sand... I started with a nice herringbone pattern, which looked great, but would involve many, many cuts for the edges. We don't have a brick splitter... and didn't want to rent one for $24 a day. Oh well. I changed the layout, and it looks okay (better than the original), and I only need two cuts, which I hear can be done at Home Depot for cheap. This job took two days - because I have to work during naptime, and because I was exhausted the first day!

Second and Third - I made and decorated two cakes. This is teacher appreciation week (brought to our attention by our school's weekly newsletter), and we have special snack tomorrow. Dorothy asked for a cake, so I baked one for her and decorated it with a lovely buttercream icing (which I purchased from Shelly, my friend who works for Giant). The peach flavored cake "to a peach of a teacher" written under a peach made from a cupcake. Cute. The other cake is for a baby shower tomorrow, and it a two layer cake with cute multi-colored little polka dots on it. I wish I had photos. Too bad.

Anyway, I am tired, and have asked Jim if we could have Mother's day tonight so I don't have to cook. I've been creative enough for one day...

the wait...

Oh, how horrible, it's going to the theatres first! We'll have to wait at least a year and a half before we can see it!

What, you ask, are we so impatient to see? The latest from Aardman, of course, a new Wallace and Gromit movie! It comes out in October 2005...

The cut of your clothes

"Happiness in wearing clothes is dependent, however, on some homely and revealing facts. You must know what you are really like. No one else, however, need know the whole truth about you." (emphasis mine.)

"Be yourself as you are and as you want to be. The frocks you wear will achieve this ambition for you. You can create a charmed circle of admiration wherever you go simply by the way you dress. Cultivate your gift for clothes. The puritan virtues concerning dress, while still virtues, are no longer in fashion. Enjoy your clothes."


"But what of the woman who is really matronly in build? No puffy bouffants for her. She would become terrifyingly enormous." (All right, so I threw this last quote in for fun!)

The wording in these quotes may clue in to their age. They come from a book published by the Butterick company in the 1930's, called Paris Frocks at Home. (I found it on a website devoted to vintage sewing). Even though these are from what we would consider an old book, they are true today. In fact, these ideas are repeated often today, just in more modern language. Of course, we no longer think that the average woman is going to sew her own clothes, let alone tailor them!

kids basketball

So, this past weekend we went to Dorothy's first basketball game. Keep in mind that she has had only one practice... We laughed so hard! She (and many other kids as well) sort of ran along with her team, sort of dribbled the ball the one time she got it, and just watched while skipping along most of the time. She had a great time, and got some good exercise, so it was worth it.

By the way, they have shorter hoops and a shorter court. They play four person teams for two minutes at at time before completely changing out the teams. It lasts one hour. Most kids are like Dorothy and don't know what they are doing, but some are good and can make quite a few baskets. The parents cheer and laugh and have a good time, too.

I think we have three more weeks of basketball, so we'll try to get some photos. Perhaps we will even get someone to take video of it for us! Aahh, teenage blackmail....

Playmobil

You may never have played with Playmobil toys as a child, or perhaps you were lucky enough to have the pirate ship set or Old West set. I have found these toys to be wonderful for children, as they promote imaginative play. Our collection started with the nativity set and now contains everything from baby Jesus to pirates to princesses to soldiers. The stories that come from this set are amazing, though, and wonderfully time-consuming! :-)

Some of the toys are expensive, but they always have "specials" that are under $5. Target carries a limited amount of playmobil, and has a few figures for $1.99. Sometimes one of these finds it's way into our "prize bucket." Often they fill our Christmas stockings (even Jim's!). They have made good last minute birthday gifts.

We have received the catalog at our house, and it is already worn out. Dorothy loves to look through it and dream of birthday presents! (She wants the mansion, which ends up being way too expensive for us!) James carries the 1.2.3 catalog to bed with him. (He is partial to the cars, trucks, and motocycles, although the animals are tempting, too.) By the way, his birthday is coming up soon...

Children's Stories

While going through various blogs, especially those belonging to family members (see links), I often feel as if my intellectual level has dropped. I feel stupid, in other words. While others are reading classic fiction books and other heavy tomes, I read the paper and kids books, and a novel when I get the time. I suppose being a mother has led me to this, and I really don't mind for now. It is interesting to revisit the classic children's books, and interesting to see what is new in that market. Dorothy is a voracious reader, and also loves to be read to. Her kindergarten teacher was astonished to hear we had read books such as Misty of Chicoteague and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to her before K5. When we have time now we are going through The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.
As children we listened to stories on the radio, such as "Adventures in Odyssey." Our stations do not play these now, so we have invested in several sets of childrens stories on tape (we are without a cd player in the van). Right now the favorite is called "The Pond," and is quite funny. We have also listened to "Bible Heroes" vol. I & II, "Mr. Henry", and "Adventures in Odyssey".
If we had a cd player, we would listen to Andy's stories in the van. He has posted two episodes online at his blog, so take a peak! Look for "The Apple Chicken" and "The Five Gold Coins." Another family member wrote a story, as well, although Joel has not deigned to post it on his blog. Perhaps he thinks it would lower the intellectual tone. :-) When we read it to Dorothy awhile back she enjoyed it a lot. When will we see more?

Fine Arts

Earlier this year Dorothy entered three items into our school's fine arts contest, an apron in the sewing category, a clown bank in the craft category, and a history project on Biblical clothing. We finally got back her State competition results, and she has scored second place in both sewing and history porject. These will go on to compete in the regional competition next week. She is very excited about this! Hopefully by May we will know the results!

On another Dorothy note, she will be participating in our school's elementary basketball league this spring. They begin next week! This will be the first time she has participated in a group sport. It should be a lot of fun!

Springtime

We have burst forth into spring! It seemed as if everything bloomed last week Just in our yard we have seen the flowers of Daffodils, Forsythia, Astrilbes, even Tulips. The cherry blossom festival was last week in DC, and the color is still around.

Many of our summer perennial plants are coming up, too. I have seen the beginnings of our Bleeding Hearts, Asiatic Lilies, Yarrow, Lavendar, and Hostas. I added quite a few plants to the garden last year, and it will be interesting to see them come up again this year. One in particular did very well last year, and I had to split it in the fall. I hope it doesn't take over the garden!

Dorothy and I started working on the garden this weekend. She planted carrots and I planted one row of lettuce. I instructed her on the importance of staggering your plantings. Who wants to gorge on lettuce just because it is all ripe at once! Better to plant a row a week and continue to enjoy it throughout the early summertime. Dorothy is also planning on growing her favorite "sweet 100" cherry tomato again this summer, while I experiment with some sort of heirloom tomato. And, of course, what is a garden without zucchini?

This summer I am going to try to plant some perennial poppies. In our area they plant the annual version in the highway medians. They are beautiful! In looking through the garden catalogs I have found many gorgeous versions of the poppy, and I have to see what will be available this summer at the nursery.

When out working in the garden I wonder what it was like in Eden. If things are so beautiful even now, what was it like in the perfect garden? What will it be like in heaven? What beauty is in store for us? God is so great! Get out and enjoy what he has given to us!

Living up to their reputation?

In this weekend's paper I found the usual coupons... but while looking through them for useful ones, I ran across one from White Castle. In it you see someone's hand taking the last cheesburger (the frozen kind, since we don't have the actual restaurant here in the Baltimore area) from a plate, with the headline, "Spring Cleaning."

I won't be buying these here, I prefer mine fresh... and Jim doesn't care for them. However, it did get me to check out their website:

http://whitecastle.com

Interesting Trilogy

As a mother of two children, I don't get to do much heavy reading any more (although I am currently reading a biography of Catherine the Great that is quite interesting). I do enjoy reading a good story, and I think that this trilogy by Liz Curtis Higgs is very good. It is based on the story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, but is set in 1700's(?) Scotland. I have had a hard time putting these books down, and often find myself thinking more about the women in Jacob's life. How did they do it? Sisters as rival wives... did they ever remember their bond as sisters, or were they ever friends to begin with? I also think of my own life. Am I a good wife/mother/daughter/sister/friend? If my life were written down for generations to read, would I be looked on with sympathy or honor?
I suppose that is what a good book will do for you - make you think.

http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/

Box Tops

Do you know you may be throwing away something worth a lot to Dorothy? Her school collects "Box Tops" from General Mills products, and also Campbell's "Labels for Education." The class that collects the most in a month wins an ice cream party. If you do not already collect these for your school, please think of starting to collect them for Dorothy!

http://www.boxtops4education.com/

http://www.labelsforeducation.com/