Offended?

Should I take offense when the waiter brings my fajitas, then brings me the tortillas, remarking spontaneously, "I brought you corn tortillas because they're healthier and lighter and I just thought . . . I mean, I could bring you flour tortillas if you want."

We eat at this restaurant all the time and the standard is flour tortillas. I've never asked for corn tortillas or been brought them.

Maybe the waiter thought I looked like a slender, young athlete of a mother who would really, really care about counting calories in between all the exercising she does. Yes, that's probably what he thought.

St. Anthony, Find My Camera

Dear St. Anthony,

Please help me find our digital camera, with which I was last taking photos of the installation of our play set. And then I lost it (outside?). And then we had a rain storm. Help!

In Jesus Name I Pray,

Katherine

Update an hour later: I found my camera! It was in the zippered pocket of my Maya wrap. I was cleaning the kitchen and walked past my wrap, hanging where it always does, and it was like a thought was inserted into my head, "Look in the pocket." Thank you St. Anthony!

Round Apron Dress

I finished Mary's Round Apron Dress! Chris walked in on me finishing it, so took a photo of me sewing in my personalized label. This dress went so much more smoothly and quickly than the last one, my having started it last night after the children went to sleep and finished it in a couple more hours this afternoon.

I am so pleased with it!

I tried a different technique for the elastic than on the nightgown I sewed for myself last month. This time I encased the elastic (instead of stretching it and sewing it on with a zigzag stitch) and, while more time consuming and one could have used elven sized hands, the visual result was much more professional looking.

The apron caused some excitement. The fabric store worker and I both mis-measured the amount of fabric I needed for the apron, waistband, and ties. I was able to adapt and overcome by forgoing the ties (which are one more complication on a little girl's dress) and inventing my own waistband using the amount of fabric I had left.

I made my own bias tape out of the bodice fabric and my own applique out of the skirt fabric.

I intended this dress for the fall (hence the color theme) and Mary has room to grow in it. But I am so happy with it, I think she'll be wearing it to Mass on Sunday.

I have so many sewing projects I want to finish!

* pajama pants for John (because he wants something special sewn for him after seeing Mary given dresses)

* a baby's sleeper (pattern and supplies purchased three years ago)

* a blouse (pattern and supplies bought two-and-a-half years ago)

* a nightgown (the same one I made last month, but with a different fabric)

* cushion covers for our kitchen chairs (pattern purchased, but not yet supplies)

* John and Mary's All Saint's costumes (I think: Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe)

* priest's cassock for John (pattern purchased a year and a half ago--gift idea for his fourth birthday)

Too Much Excitement for One Day?

In anticipation of setting up our new play set tomorrow, we had our tree trimmer (aka "lumberjack") out today to cut down one tree and shrubs on the installation spot, and do some other work while he was here. He ended up cutting down the mausoleum that was once the baldfaced hornet nest, thereby saving the exterminator man a trip back out.

We got to see it up close!

Then the chainsaw work began!

Even for an adult, it's pretty exciting to watch the technical work involved in bringing down trees. Although I do wish I could have been watching through a window from inside the air conditioned house! We stayed outside watching for two hours.

Mary was in charge of holding the ice water for the two gentlemen.

This time of year, there are so many cicadas singing their songs that one almost has to yell to be heard outside over the din. It is among the loudest of all insect songs! The cicadas discard their skins, leaving behind disgusting, crunchy exoskeletons all over the place, so one cannot ever sit down or place one hand's casually anywhere without looking first.

John enthusiastically came toward my face with a "cicada on a stick," causing me to shout in fear.

I was trying to take a charming picture of Mary examining something interesting, and snapped the photo at the same moment I realized she was holding one of those exoskeletons with her bare hands, causing me to begin shrieking like a little girl (but apparently not like my little girl, Mary, who doesn't yet have our cultural fear of bugs).

The lumberjacks went home and the delivery man with his Big Truck pulled up! The play set has arrived!

For a brief period, Chris set up the slide for the kids, always holding it with his hands so it wouldn't fall down.

This is the view from the back deck of the spot where the play set will be installed. One tree and three shrubs had to be removed. We like that it's easy to supervise from the deck, but is also off the lawn, which is a small portion of the back yard as it is.

Vintage Lemonade

Today I made a batch of Vintage Lemonade, as Chris is going to be assembling our new play set over the next few days in the wilting humidity, so I wanted to have some especially refreshing drink stocked for him (and we're essentially a boring water-only family). I made it once before for guests and it was a hit, so I documented with photos this time in order to share. It took a total of about twenty minutes of work, done in three steps, so it's not as easy as popping open a container of powdered lemon-flavored chemicals, but it's also not time-consuming; I simply did it among my other kitchen chores.

Juice some lemons into a strainer over a bowl.

Peel the lemons and mix in with some sugar. Let sit at least one hour.

Boil water.

Let lemon peels and sugar steep in hot water for at least 20 minutes.

Pour peel-water into a container through a strainer so peels are withheld; also add the lemon juice. Meanwhile keep the children from climbing on the counter. Add water until lemonade tastes as you prefer (we add at least fifty percent again as much water). Chill. Serve!

Excellent Catholic Children's Books

John is now old enough at three-and-a-half to be greatly enjoying the Miniature Stories of the Saints series. These little books that cost only two dollars apiece contain authentic stories of the saints, cleaned up a little bit for young children, but still honest (no "Disney effect"). For example, the story of St. John the Baptist does describe that he was martyred by having his head cut off, at the request of Herodius who was angry at St. John because he exposed her for "not following God's laws." We've been reading a lot of these stories of the saints lately, and I am delighted!

Then this morning I got to reference "Saints in Art," which I'd bought some time ago with dreams that I'd use it for teaching religious art to the children. Who knew I'd get to start at three! We had been reading in Miniature Saints about St. Frances of Assisi and I was trying to explain how some paintings are symbolic, the artist draws a picture to tell a story, but it isn't exactly what happened for real. It was very hard to get across that St. Francis wasn't really at the cross on Calvary and didn't really take Jesus down from the cross. John asked why St. Francis was standing on a ball ("Maybe he was playing ball with his friends") so I got down "Saints in Art" to look at classic paints of St. Francis, with explanations of the symbolic elements. There were about six pages of them and it was so meaningful! John was enthralled, he learned all about stigmata, he asked many astute questions. Then he asked if we could look up St. John the Baptist and there were some pretty gruesome pictures of the beheading, but John seemed to accept it calmly. I think children become more terrified if they don't see these religious images until much older, but I could be wrong. Just a hypothesis. Besides, I don't know why it would be okay for children to see cartoon characters be smashed to death by anvils or squeezed till their eyeballs pop out (things we don't watch), but knowing how saints were happily martyred for Christ could be damaging.

I've been in Homeschooling Mama Heaven lately! It's just more proof that children blossom when "twaddle" (as Charlotte Mason called it) is removed. Another example besides literature is how John enjoys listening to classical music, Gregorian chant, and hymns (as well as children's nursery rhyme-type music) and doesn't even know what popular rock or hip hop is.

We also recommend all the Fr. Lovasik books, and we use his Catholic Children's Bible. If you search online for "Lovasik," you'll see that he wrote just about a zillion (give or take) small books for children which are now sold for about two dollars each. They are all edifying and delightful and completely orthodox in their Catholicism, so we're collecting them one by one.

I can't tell you how happy I am to listen to John fall asleep and (though he is "not tired" and is "going to stay awake all night!") he is chattering away in his bed, telling me stories about this saint and that saint, how so-and-so wanted him to pray to his false gods! Could you believe it? But the saint said 'NO!' and then he was killed because he loved Jesus so much. And at some point in the middle of an animated sentence, John falls silent because he's asleep.

Tired Musings on Service

I cooked a meal this morning for a new mom, and the kids fell asleep in the car on the drive back, so that meant no naptime at home for Mary and no simultaneous quiet time for John. So, no break for Mama either! John suggested we make a picnic for lunch and eat it in the back yard.

So, I made a picnic and we took it in the back yard, but John was too excited by the whole idea that he wouldn't eat any of it, which means he got an opportunity later to go hungry since Mama is not a short-order cook and his previously prepared PB&J sandwiches had been placed in the dirt for the ants to eat them by a certain three-year-old boy.

John asked if we could do an art project and I was bored of the same old-same old, so I got the idea to do a nature study of sorts. We went outside and clipped various leaves and flowers from our yard.

We taped the foliage to a piece of butcher paper and labeled the items before hanging it on the kitchen window for all of us to enjoy. John often asks me the specific names of plants, birds, animals, insects, and clouds, so I'm trying to learn all those names so I can give him the accurate information.

Mary's drawings are becoming more interesting to me: little, tight purposeful scribbles instead of broad scrawl.

The kids entertained themselves at length today with the Montessori geometric shapes. John said this was "the towering tower of the Holy Father, the Pope, surrounded by towering cliffs."

Today was an average day that has left me meditating much on the concept of service, serving with love versus with resentment, and wondering what is the purpose of it all. The day wasn't especially challenging, just as challenging as are most days at home with children. Chris is coming home tonight from his second business trip in as many weeks. It was just another long day of making meals, sweeping, washing dishes, disciplining to form the children's characters, mending clothing, taking children outdoors for fresh air play, doing an art project, kissing boo-boos, washing three loads of laundry, reading stories, directing the kids to pick up toys, and so forth. (And on that note, I asked today if John wanted to put away his toys yet and reiterated no thank you, he wants to give them away to poor children. I'm becoming increasingly tempted to do that!) I led the children in a family Rosary and they were beastly, so they lost the special treat of a television show they were going to watch afterwards (which is how I was planning to mop the kitchen floor in peace), and it really would have been much easier for me to throw up my hands and turn on the tube, but I simply couldn't allow myself to teach them (mainly: John) that such bad behavior results in a special treat. How To Raise a Spoiled Brat: 101!

So then I had to endure Mary wailing "Mama! Mama! Mama!" the entire time just to mop the disgusting floor for all of ten minutes. (And, yes, I have tried letting my kids mop with me--we even own a children's mop--but they are too young to follow directions to stay on the dry part of the floor, so mopping with Mama always results in numerous slips and falls . . . and more wailing.)

Anyway, I have nothing profound to say except that life has me tired and thinking about service today. I end a day like today without leaving anything visibly accomplished behind. The floors are clean, but will be a disaster by about 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. The sink will be full of dishes by that time tomorrow too. I feel like a hamster running on a wheel to nowhere (and I have only two kids, I am hardly a hero!). Yet, then I think how Biblical teaching is that we are to serve with love, that is the point. And maybe the mundane things I do over and over again, or making hard (exhausting) choices for the sake of my children's characters and souls, are creating something more permanent than I can see while in this earthly life.

I don't know. Not profound, just tired. Not depressed, just a bit weary and thoughtful, but mostly happy. Deep thoughts by Katherine are not quite as funny as Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

You Know You're in the South When

You know you're in the South when you see Christian elements commonly on business signs.

I drive past this car care center often.

"Serving Christ Through Construction" was the slogan of the City's subcontractors who came to our house today to install a water meter.

At Least It Kept Her Occupied

I knew there would be a mess involved when Mary brought me two empty bins. Turns out they were the shoe bins, as Mary points out above.

Baked Oatmeal

In an earlier blog post, the subject of baked oatmeal came up. My two friends Sarah recommended it to me, I obtained the recipe, and tried it this morning, calling it Oatmeal Cake for John's benefit. It's got to be incredibly healthy and I think it would make fantastic food for growing babies (rice cereal or any of those ground up grain cereals are so useless!). I used steel cut oats instead of rolled (the same calories, fat, fiber, and protein in half the quantity of steel cut as rolled oats, so double the nutrition? not sure.).

My very own son actually ate oats, whole yogurt, and eggs without throwing up. Now, he did stop after eating half a piece of "cake," and then declared that he didn't like it and would rather wait till lunch to eat anything more. But the fact that he didn't throw up and he ate half of it just fine tells me that I can work on this one by serving it repeatedly. I didn't think it was as satisfying as my typical empty bread toasted to perfection and dripping with butter either, but I know it was way more nutritionally dense!

You'll note that this recipe comes from "Nourishing Traditions," yet I am not espousing the ideas of the Weston-Price folks, whom I affectionately call the Pod People.

BAKED OATMEAL
(as written out by my friend Sarah W., with my comments interspersed)

2.5 C oats

1 ¾ C buttermilk/ kefir / yogurt OR non-dairy milk with 2 T raw apple cider vinegar to equal 1 ¾ C (if you want to “soak” the oats a la "Nourishing Traditions"-type ideas. But if you don’t care about that, just use any 1 ¾ C liquid basically. I would still let it soak overnight though so that the oats absorb the moisture.) [Katherine's note: I used plain whole yogurt and I soaked for almost 24 hours.]

Combine the above in a large mixing bowl and let sit at room temperature, covered, for 12-24 hours. The next day, preheat the oven to 350. Use another large mixing bowl, or even better, just plop the soaked oats in the baking dish (9x13") I am going to use while I mix everything else up in the same bowl I already used so I don’t dirty an extra dish. The baking dish does not need to be greased.

Beat with a wire whisk:
4 eggs

Then whisk in:

½ C coconut oil (recommended, but you could sub another kind of oil or melted butter.) [Katherine's note: the grocery store I visited yesterday didn't carry coconut oil, so I used melted butter.]

½ C (or less) honey, or maple syrup or sweetener of your choice. (If you measure the oil first, then measure the honey in the same measuring cup, it will slide right out.) [Katherine's note: I used honey.]

Whisk that all together and mix in:

1 t baking powder
½ t salt
2 t cinnamon
2 t vanilla
2 T ground flax seeds (optional) (or maybe some other sneaky healthy stuff !) [Katherine's note: Some time ago, I found a giant bag of ground golden flax seeds at Costo. It is so great for sneaking in food because the golden color disappears in baked goods, versus black flax seeds.]

Then plop the oats back in your mixing bowl and stir everything up so that it is well amalgamated.

Finally mix in:

~2 C raisins or Craisins (I just do about 4 fist fulls from a bulk sized bag, I think I decided a full 2 C was slightly too much) [Katherine's note: I used black raisins, but only in half my batter because I knew John wouldn't want raisins. First I poured half the stiff batter into the baking dish, mixed raisins into the other half, and poured it into the other side of the baking dish.]

~2 C chopped apples or pears (one large apple or two small ones) [Katherine's note: I skipped any fruit because I knew it would elicit a big "no" from John. If I get John to like this "cake," I might then try adding some homemade apple sauce (essentially just boiled, mashed apples with no sugar added), which he would taste but would not sense its texture.]

Stir that all together, then pour it in your baking dish and bake at 350 for 35 min, until it is starting to brown around the edges. Let cool and enjoy!

I think this could be served for dessert as well as breakfast. You can eat it as is, but I think it goes great with some plain yogurt. I find that the baked oatmeal is sweet enough to offset the plain yogurt, but of course any type of yogurt that folks like will work. For my one-year-old son, I usually chop it up with a spoon and mix the yogurt all in it, as I think it is a little easier for him when I prepare it that way, and then you definitely wouldn’t taste any plain, tart yogurt by itself. This keeps in the fridge for a long time (weeks). I just reheat our portions in the toaster oven and we probably have it for breakfast at least half the time. I’m so thankful on busy mornings when I don’t have to “make” something!

"I nice!"

John finally gained enough self-discipline to be gentle with the cat when he turned three years old. For more than two years prior to that, I had to warn him all day long, "Be gentle with the cat!" He'd come downstairs each morning and we'd feed the cat together. Then I'd tactfully say, "Now, let's leave the cat to eat in peace," and we'd depart the laundry room and close the door so he wouldn't bother her. I thought that was more polite than my saying, "The cat won't eat if you're bonking her."

Now Mary helps me feed the cat. And when I say, "Now, let's leave the cat to eat in peace," she shouts back at me indignantly, "No! I nice!" She completely understands my implication (that she would bonk the cat) and takes offense at it. (She also screams, "No, I nice!" when the cat is running away to hide under a bed and nap.)

This morning I decided to let her try to be nice, as she swears she is. And she was nice! She just sat there, petting the cat.

Mary's First Homemade Dress

Triumph! I finished the first dress I've ever made for Mary!

The whole project was fraught with difficulty. I made innumerable mistakes and learned much. ("Oh, that's why they said to use rolled hems . . .") After having my sewing machine serviced, I came home and the stitches were exactly as problematic as when I had taken in my machine. A phone call to the repair technician revealed I'd simply have to bring it back in, so I went on Saturday so I could leave the children with Chris. A sixty-second lesson taught me how to thread the machine properly. Problem solved and ego still attached by a few shreds.

I sewed over all the seams again now that my thread tension is correct. Then I shirred the bodice, neckline, and arms (and there were mishaps involved in that as well). A finished product!

John insisted in being in some photos. It is quite clear he wants me to spend some laborious time sewing him something special. He kept asking questions and clarifying, "Are these all for Mary?" I asked him if he wanted me to sew him something and he leapt at the idea.

Miss Mary was all grins when I showed her her new dress.

A peasant dress is actually not my favorite style. But I fell in love with so many fabrics at the sewing store, that I needed to make another dress just so I could have an excuse to buy more fabric. I chose the peasant dress because it was described as being easier and a good initial project before doing the dress that interests me more. Maybe my second dress will turn out a little bit better!

Weekend Activities

My plan is working: I've been asking John to help me unload the dishwasher for more than a month now. That makes Mary insist that she's a Big Girl who can do it too. And Mary trying to assist makes John possessive of "his" chore. So this morning an elbow-shoving fight broke out over who could unload the dishwasher for Mama, and I got to assure them that both of them could do it.

And speaking of Miss Independent, Mary has been drinking out of a regular, small cup most of the time since she was introduced to water after six months old or so. First I helped her. Then she insisted on holding the cup herself, even way before she could handle it, so we had many spills. Sometimes she'd let me help her (if she was absolutely parched), but most of the time screamed at me if I tried to help and turned away, rather to go thirsty than to let me hold the cup. Now she's fairly proficient at drinking from a cup. This morning I poured her some cow's milk to see if she's interested in it yet (no need to introduce cow's milk to a nursing baby). For whatever strange reason, I put the milk in a sippy cup. Mary doesn't drink out of a sippy cup. So when I handed it to her, she went to the play kitchen, got a lovely ceramic tea cup, and proceeded to pour the milk into the tea cup and drink it from there like a proper young lady. Just don't try to insult the girl, that's all I can say.

I remember when I introduced John to a bin full of clothes pins (but I'm too lazy to try to find that blog post). Yesterday Mary kept pointing to an item on the homeschooling shelf until I discerned that it was the clothes pins. Kept her occupied for a long while!

We receive many free items in the mail from Catholic organizations seeking donations. I save all the greeting cards (as above, holy cards, anything with religious images, and innumerable address label stickers for the children to use for crafts. The address labels in particular help satisfy their hunger to use hundreds of stickers without my wasting money.

Who needs a kiddie pool when we have this great wagon our friends gave us when they moved away? The children adore it. Yesterday they splashed for about an hour and a half. Toward the end, they had filled the pool with small leaves that they called baby fish. But the baby fish were lonely, so then were added large leaves to be the mama and daddy fish.

Mary is starting to take a real interest in dolls, which is precious. Of course, she hasn't really picked up the old-fashioned, yarn-hair doll I researched at length and lovingly chose for her at Christmas or her birthday (I forget which), and not so much the sweet pink dolly her aunt gave her. She has latched on to this battered old plastic doll I bought for two dollars at a consignment sale (the one my friend Meghan told me to buy because she loved one just like it as a little girl!). Mary carries it around (even up and down stairs and even in the car on outings), calling it her baby, and taking the clothes off, then screaming for me to put them back on.

I simply have to share that my dad won blue ribbon first prize for his pomegranate-cranberry jelly at the California State Fair. California is a huge state, so I'm sure he had tough competition! Each Christmas, we have been tickled to receive one precious jar of dad's pomegranate jelly in the mail and it is so fabulously better than any jelly I've bought commercially. (Do you know how laborious it is to process by hand pomegranates, with their hundreds of seed pod thingies inside?) I've tried telling Chris that dad is my father, so the jelly is rightfully all mine. I've tried hiding it at the back of the refrigerator. Nothing has worked and I've had to share! It's the one time of year we eat jelly with our breakfast every morning until it runs out. Congratulations, Dad!

Sunday evening we had fun at our parish feast day tailgate party. People parked in the parking lot and brought their own dinners, eating on their tailgates, while the children all ran around in the center of the lot. John finally climbed a tree successfully by himself, up and down, up and down. There was a parishioner wandering around playing the accordion, so our two children followed him like the pied piper, dancing to the music. (Their Pop-Pops plays the accordion, so it was very exciting for them to meet "another pop-pops" who plays the instrument.) Afterwards the parish showed a movie and served popcorn in the gymnasium, but we headed home before that. Fun was had by all.

Smart Cookie with a Hairdo

Since the girl only minimally tolerates barrettes, this is my latest 'do' to keep her bangs out of her eyes.

Conversation with my big talker 20-month-old today:

Mary climbs little wooden play kitchen in attempt to get onto the counter.

Mama: "Mary, don't climb that."

Mary: "Why?"

Mama: "Because it is dangerous."

Mary: "I bonk?"

Mama: "Yes, you could get a bonk."

Mary: "You sad?"

Mama: "Yes, I'd be sad if you got a bonk."

Mary: "Okay." (climbs down)

And for those who have been following the saga: I think we're nicely back on track with Mary's potty training. She was what I'd consider "trained" for a month, then had a week of full rebellion about it (who knows why), and then we began working back gradually. She's doing well with it now. Yay!

Homemade Yogurt Cream Cheese

Now that John likes the much healthier yogurt cream cheese, I decided to try to make it myself. Right now, the only place I know to buy it commercially is Bruegger's Bagels, where it is sold in tiny containers (that last about two days of John's consumption) at a high price. I have to do some math to calculate how much money I could really save: How much do I save by buying yogurt from the store? What if the yogurt is on sale? Do I have to buy milk and make my own yogurt, then make my own cream cheese from that, in order to make this financially worthwhile?

I happened to have flavored yogurt in the house (and really cream cheese should be made with plain yogurt), so I decided to try the experiment with vanilla yogurt. This yogurt was full-fat (which I prefer, for health reasons) and contained only milk, pure maple syrup, evaporated cane juice, vanilla, and live active cultures (no stabilizers). After talking to some friends who make their own cream cheese, I found a super simple "recipe" (if you could even call it that) online. I dumped my yogurt in a strainer lined with cheese cloth and suspended in a bowl (with the strainer above the bottom of the bowl). And I left it that way in the refrigerator.

The whey dripped out and "cream cheese" was left! It was definitely softer than commercial cream cheese.

This morning I served it to John--without telling him it was actually yogurt, of course. Despite his boring "early morning" facial expression in the above photo, he liked it and didn't mention anything about it being different. This is fabulous and astonishing, considering that yogurt of any flavor (even chocolate) has made him vomit his whole life. Clearly it is a texture/sensory issue, not a flavor issue. Three cheers for much healthier yogurt instead of cream cheese!