Perks of the job and the man

After three days off due to budget cuts Ben finally headed back to work Wednesday of last week. And then due to Snowmageddon (see photo of horror below)

he had a few additional days off. Ahh...Oregon makes me laugh. There's just nothing quite like the 6am phone call that school's been cancelled. Ironically, neither of us ever got to enjoy that call while teaching in Chicago, where it is so cold that once my eyes actually froze shut while walking outside.

Of course the snow had melted by 10 am but not before Ben initiated a snow ball fight with our 8 and 10 year old neighbor girls.

Their dad had to actually go into work that day so my love decided to fill in. I got to enjoy the scene from the window in my pj's but got some extra credit for setting up a hot chocolate bar. Ian grunted by the window

until I squeezed him into his snow apparel and threw him to Ben in the yard.

Then he grunted to go back inside.

I then proceeded to take two naps and run errands while Ben took care of the kids. A lovely day was had by all (especially me) and we (mostly me) are already looking forward to unnecessary snow day 2012.

Practice, Practice

We decided to sign Ava up for a community production of Cinderella with her ballet class. It's not until the weekend of March 18 but she has to go to practices every weekend for 3 hours. This stuff is hardcore people. I was so proud of her for sitting patiently during the run through's especially since it was during nap time. She is so excited and tells everyone who will listen, "I am a clown AND a fairy princess. And I have to go to FOUR practices and THREE performs!" I can't wait for my baby to have her proud moment up on stage. (but am also prepared for a full scale meltdown/panic attack/cancelled performance just in case)

Watching for her part

Practicing the fairy dance

Costume fitting

Library Days

(Today's guest writer is Ms. Ava Abigail Hsieh)

We go to the library every day. Today we went to the library and we're having fun.

This is me with my cute smile.

First I open the door so we can go downstairs and see the books and movies, then we came to life and the librarian of death came to snatch us but then we got a balloon and everyone in the whole entire world saved us. They came to the library and picked us up and took us to our beds and gave us m&m cookie dough and some medicine and that's the end.

I picked out some movies. It's hard to pick the right one but after all of them exploded I choose the movie if it has Ariel or Jasmine or Aurora or Prince Ali but sometimes I choose movies because they look funny like the Meat-a-ball movie or Nemo or Toy Story but it's still Disney so it's ok.

I first was going to get Narnia but then I exploded and Mommy had to help me but I exploded some more and I finally choosed a movie.

Ian took out all the books and I said, "Oh Ian I can't read all these books."

I like to read to Ian because he's so smart and he really likes Maisy books and I like to read the farmer in the dell to him.

Ian likes to read the cheerio book and he drools everywhere. Ian drools every time when he gets a little frustrated or a little happy. We have to clean up a lot of drool around here.

Then we went back home. The End

priceless...

Sometimes having a big sister means making sacrifices,

Like...say... giving up your toys,

Or... your dignity.

L.O.V.E

L is for the way you look at me...

O is for the only one I see...

V is very very extraordinary

E is even more than any one that I adore...

And love is all that I can give to you

Love is more than just a game for two

Two in love can make it

Take my heart but please don't break it

Love was made for me and you!

so there's this girl...

My children are odd, or maybe they're normal depending on how you look at it. But this girl...this brown eyed, curly haired, bundle of creative energy girl, cracks me up. I wish I wrote down half the stuff she says but I don't and I forget. Like this afternoon she told me she wanted to be a doctor but she was only going to fly her pet unicorn to work. Or last night she asked Ben and I how the three of us were going to fit in our bed when she became a grownup and moved into our bedroom. And here was one I forced myself to remember on our way to church last week

Ava: Mommy?

Me: Yes honey.

Ava: I don't know how I'm going to decide what to be when I grow up.

Me: That's ok, you have lots of time to decide.

Ava: I just really want to be a mermaid, a fairy, AAANNNNDDD a kitty!

Me: Those are all really good options honey.

Ava: I'll probably just have to wait until I get to heaven to ask God to make me a mermaid fairy kitty so I can be all three.

She loves the idea of heaven and how it will solve every problem and explain every unexplainable. And I love that she feels that way. I do have to intervene when she says that she's going to marry God and Jesus because she just loves them so much.

Here are some other things that I love about my daughter.

She's a fantastic dresser. (except for tucking in her leggings to her socks)

She a fantastic big sister and will sometimes sit and read to Ian in his crib for an hour five minutes while I finish getting ready.

She has musical abilities that are beyond my comprehension and has already learned five songs on the piano. One of which is come thou fount, and she'll play it while I sing in the kitchen doing dishes. All this after Ben showed her only one or two times. I guarantee that I couldn't play mary had a little lamb if Ben showed me a hundred times every day for a year.

She has a wonderful imagination and is a lover of fairy tales and all things fantastical and make believe. She'll sit across from me while we eat lunch and weave these stories about girls lost in woods rescuing small creatures and flying off on their "nice" dragons to marry their prince "who loves Jesus" to live happily ever after. Someday I will write them down.

Now honestly she drives me crazy, up the wall, tear my hair out, cry at my own temper tantrum, crazy. But when she looks at me with those eyes, and when she prays with sensitivity and insight in those quiet moments before bed, I can't believe God entrusted us with such a beautiful spirit.

Recipe #2

I've decided it's time to share the one healthy recipe in my arsenal, for my health conscious readers.

Hello....

hello...

is this thing on?

Ok, well at least for Emily. Because I'm guessing she's the most heavily influenced by the Portland hippy health food scene. And because she's with child, Yay!!, and desires to give said child the best start in life. Unlike others of us who just discovered that Costco sells heavy whipping cream. Come on people! I got an ice cream maker for Christmas and it would be wrong to let it sit in the cupboard unused and neglected. And if you could have tasted my newest flavor, Mexican Hot Chocolate you would have attempted to move in with us. But I digress, this is about health food, not ice cream and polygamy.

The name of this delicious recipe is so clever your going to kick yourself for not thinking of it first.

Wait for it...

wait for it...

Brown Bread! (A recipe from my beloved great grandma Patterson)

2cups whole wheat flour

1cup flour sifted with

1t. soda

Add:

1/2cup molasses

1/2cup sugar

Add 1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk(yummy)

Bake about an hour in 325 until a toothpick comes out clean

Ava and I like it with a cup of raisins added to the batter, sprinkled with raw sugar and smothered with butter. (Hey, I only promised a healthy recipe. What you do with it after you cook it is up to you and your thighs.)

Due to the lack of butter and eggs, this bread only keeps for a couple of days. So slice it up and throw it in your freezer. Or better yet, share it with your neighbors, who will then be in your debt the next time you need a babysitter, or a shoulder to cry on because you've gained five pounds from eating too much homemade ice cream.

Enjoy!

Year of the Rabbit...

Ben got some free passes from one of his student's parents to attend the chinese cultural fair at the expo center this weekend. So we packed up the kiddos and lots of snacks and headed downtown. On the way into the building I realized that we have never actually told Ava that she's Chinese. Our sad enlightenment went a little like this:

Ava: What are we doing again?

Me: We're going to celebrate Chinese culture and watch one of daddy's students perform.

Ava: What's Chinese?

Me: You are honey!

Ben: You know how Daddy and Yeh Yeh and Nai Nai all have dark hair and look the same? That's because we're Chinese. And Mommy has blond (clears throat and smiles) hair and looks like Grandma and Grandpa. That's because she's not Chinese.

Me: Yeh Yeh and Nai Nai's parents grew up in a place called China. They speak a different language than you do and eat different foods.

Ava: (looking at us like we're crazy people) Oh. Is their going to be a dragon there?

And once again we fail as parents. We did have a good time and Ava loved the lion dancers and the jumping house. It was neat to see one of Ben's students dancing and her parents seemed so happy that we came. Poor Ian had to entertain himself crawling around on the floor and up the stairs in the lobby.

On our way!

We told Ava she couldn't go in the jumping house because she didn't have any money. And then she spun the wheel at the booth and won a dollar. She took that dollar straight to the jumping house and enjoyed every one of her five minutes.

Face Painting fun

Silly

Me and my girl

I've had enough!

elementary post modern chic

I think I'm having guilt issues about not sending Ava to preschool because our dining room is decorated exclusively for the four-and-under set. I remember before Ben and I had kids we had this discussion about keeping our house from looking overrun by kids and kid items. Aaaaaand... then we had kids. :) Someday I look forward to not tripping over juice cups and giant plastic dinosaurs that shoot balls out their tails, but until that day it's more important that my kids are entertained for five minutes by something other than me, so I can at least take a shower and go to the bathroom by myself. Whew...that was a long sentence!

snapshots

Well, life has been an exercise in the mundane these last few weeks. I guess that's just how February and March always feel. The excitement of the holidays has worn off and the desire for nesting is fading but still necessary given the weather's command to hibernate. I find my thoughts wandering between these two scenarios

and

Life is all about home right now. The routine of work, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, cleaning the baby

cleaning the highchair

cleaning the baby and the highchair

bath

after bath

after bath

When I get a little restless, Ben hugs me a little more often and reminds me that life is good. A job, a nice warm home, family who loves and spoils us, two beautiful healthy kids who smell like baby shampoo and give fish kisses, and a God who we can depend on to fill us up and give us grace when we don't deserve it. So I am choosing to be thankful today for the little and the big things and all the things in between.