Fool!!

For the last 8 weeks Joey has been so excited about going to "fool" (school) on Tuesdays and Thursdays!!  We found a SUPER cheap option, sorta nearby, for 2 hours a day, 2 X's a week.

He loved it, and I liked it too, although it didn't really work with my initial plans.  The original goal was for me to take him and come home and have some designated time to help Matt with business stuff.  It was just a little too far away for that, and not quite long enough, but I did like the socialization for Joey.  It ended up being a solid time for me to get to the grocery store (or another errand) without 2 kids in tow, which was very helpful in itself.  And, over 8 weeks it works out to be about $2.50 an hour.  (I told you it was cheap!)

Here are some pictures of the class and the last day.

Joey gets a high 5 and his completion certificate from one of his teachers, Ms. Tiki.

All-in-all, he really loved it, and it was at a great time for us, when some weekly church activities that we do, had stopped over the holidays and new year, but we aren't doing this session now.  I think we might do another in the summer along with some other mom's from church who are now interested.

Something to pray about for us, and for Joey would be preschool next year.  A few mom's in the church now are meeting to begin a Co-op! I'm very excited!  We've exchanged lots of emails and had our first meeting where we talked about our goals and curriculum and other logistical details.  It will most likely be for 3 days a week, 3 hours a day, or for 2 days a week, 4 hours.  It will give Matt and I some great working/business time, because it is a little longer than the Tots Around Town program that he just finished.  We're also excited about spending more time with friends from church, learning from a great pre-school curriculum and working together to "train up our children..."

We're planning another meeting next month and then a retreat together in April where we'll work on our goals and mission statement and other plans.  Please keep us in your prayers!

Wordless Wednesday - Waterworks

A Fallen Friend

Dog toys don't last long at our house.

Even the ones for "Powerful Chewers".

Bernese Mt. Dogs are known for being chewers.  Ziggy rarely eats anything that he isn't supposed to, but is still likely to go through his own toys at an unimaginable rate!

And now, without further ado, I would like to present: DISCOUNT TOY THAT WAS ON SALE SUPER CHEAP!!!

He is cute!  He was cheap!  He has a tennis ball, and rope (Ziggy loves those).  We got 2, one for this year, and one to save with the Christmas stuff, and give to him next year for Christmas!

Goodbye Friend...

Little Penguin friend....are you ok?  You seem to be leaking some innards.  Will you survive?  Should I try to sew you up so you can endure 2 more minutes of puppy play?

Oh NO!!  Don't let him see!!  LOOK AWAY 2nd penguin toy, LOOK AWAY!!!

Oh the HORROR!  THE HORROR!!!

Goodbye fallen friend, goodbye...

In other doggie news... my mom was visiting a few weeks ago, and graciously offered to get Ziggy a new toy.  I warned her that toys that Ziggy can actually play with for more than 2 or 3 minutes (about the life span of Penguin friend) can be a little pricey, but her love for Ziggy won out and she got us:

the largest size Nylabone Double Action Chew.  He loves it.  He chews on it all the time.  It's been 3 weeks.  It's STILL IN ONE PIECE!  Thank you Mom!  Thank you Nylabone!  Thank you Penguin for your service (and sorry)!

Goodbye Old Girl

Last Sunday Matt and I finally said Goodbye to one of my oldest friends:

Would you join me for a walk down memory lane?   *sighs* Thanks, I really loved her. 

**Summer '00, at my job I saw a posting on a message board for a '86 (or something) car for like $900. I thought... I have $900.   OHMYGOSH I have enough money to BUY A CAR!!!  (ok, in retrospect I see the problems with that thinking, but after that I was determined that I wanted a car!)  

**More Summer '00 my dad encourages me NOT to buy that particular car because of high mileage, not being a great model, and general stupidity and inexperience on my part, but agrees to help me look for one.  I learn how to drive a stick in hopes of having more options and eventually find my Honda for sale in Fairfax.

**It is NOT what I was hoping for.  I wanted it to have a sun roof, and not be red, and the Honda is red *blah* and does not have a sun roof.  On the other hand it does have some bonuses.  The owner (there's only been 1 ) has all the records, has done ALL the maintenance and had no kids (the first cheerios I vacuumed out of that car, were my own child's (and Violets, but we'll get there).

**Take out my FIRST loan and buy the car!  Take it to college August of '00 and mostly let my friend Jenni drive it (who can drive a stick) because I'm still scared!  (I learned on a little bit newer manual transmission, so the clutch felt WAaaay different).  

**Drive the car for the next 3 years at college and 1  1/2 after college until I move to Honduras. (Car is PAID OFF the summer after I graduate, yea!  I still remember where I was sitting when I wrote the last check!)  My dad tries to the sell the car for the 4 months while I am gone, but it doesn't sell.  THANK GOD!  Because I come back in January and start using it again!  

**Drive the car back and forth from Harrisonburg, VA to Asheville NC while Matt and I are dating.  Love her.  She is so good to me.  

**In the Summer of '06 when Matt and I are married, our friends agree to take over ownership for the year we are in Chile.  We're hoping they'll use it some and we'll have a car to come home to.  They take such good care of it, and even let another friend of ours use it when she's visiting in town.   We are still so grateful to them!  

**Summer of '07 Matt and Jessie and I pick up the car on our epic cross country journey to CA, and trailer it here.  We use it here for the next 2 years without any trouble... haha (except getting it registered, but that's another story!).  

**Summer '09 Jessie drives out new car (generously given to us by Matt's parents who have gotten a new car)  and we start driving it.  

..... and the Present time.  A while ago, I washed and waxed the Honda, took a bunch of pictures and then put her on Craigslist.  I sold it the next day for $300 less than my Dad tried to sell it for 6 years ago, which is probably a sad sign of the times, or the economy in CA, either way....

Thanks for the walk down memory lane with me.  Thanks Dad for the great advice in buying my first car (and for not letting me "learn" by buying a hunk o' junk!).  Thanks Laura and Myers for keeping it for us and for taking such good care of it.  Thanks Kay and Tom for the new (and safer! and AUTOMATIC) car.  And bye Old Girl!  You were so so good to me!

And bring on the comments.  You know you loved her!   You know you remember her!  Let's send her off in style!!  Reminisce with me!!

MMmmmm! Try This!

For dinner last night, Matt and I had "Curry Pork Burgers".  They were great!!  We had some leftover ground pork to use (from a fried rice recipe), and instead of using all pork we used about 1/2 pork and 1/2 hamburger.  It was a really nice combination.

Here is the recipe:

Curry Pork Burgers with Spicy Ketchup

Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson, 2008

Prep Time:

5 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds ground pork
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 2 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 hamburger buns
• 1 head butter lettuce
• 2 to 3 tomatoes, sliced
• Spicy Ketchup, recipe follows

Directions

In a large bowl, using your hands mix together pork, coriander, curry powder, Worcestershire, cayenne, scallions and garlic, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Make 6 even patties and put in refrigerator until ready to cook. Heat a large fry pan over medium-high heat, add oil. Sear patties until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Cook in batches, if necessary. Serve inside hamburger buns topped with lettuce leaf, tomato slice and spicy ketchup.

Spicy Ketchup:

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 scallion, finely chopped

In a saucepan over medium heat, lightly saute garlic in butter, about 2 minutes. Add ketchup, red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper. Cook another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in scallions. Cool before serving.

It's from the food network.... 

I hope you all enjoy!  We had it with Rachel Ray's Roasted Thick Potato Chips and a salad.  Yummy!!

Chilean Earthquake

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/27/chile.quake/index.html?hpt=T1

The Business of Being Born

Have you seen this movie?

It was recommended to me by a good friend, and Matt and I watched it before Joey was born.  Although we were already hoping for a birth with fewer interventions, I really enjoyed watching the movie and felt like I learned alot from it.  I watched it again before Matthew was born.

This is probably my favorite clip from the movie.  It helped me see how the process (which can sometimes be like a snowball going down a hill) can sometimes get out hand.

**Disclaimer, this post is in no way meant to offend and that would be my very last intention.  I am grateful for the births that I've been blessed with, and also incredibly grateful to medical progress and the wisdom of Doctors!

That said, I hope you enjoy this clip from The Business of Being Born: