Well, today is my birthday. I'm not hitting any fantastic age or having a milestone of a birthday, just boring old 27. Josh asked what I'd like for my birthday, and I told him: sleep til I wake up, and flowers.
So this morning, when I finally opened my eye and glanced at the clock (it was 9:45 am! even I was surprised!) the house was eeirly silent. I had guessed that josh took the girls to Mcdonalds for pancakes and I alone was left in the house. Bliss.
I woke up, stumbled to the kitchen and pulled out a package of chocolate donettes. I sat in front of the living room window and watched the goings-on and ate my breakfast in complete peace. No one even asked if they could have a donut. More bliss.
A little before 10:30, I heard the door open and everyone was back from their adventures...with flowers they had each picked out. the girls happily told me all the little details that children notice (most prominent were the dog and cat that a man and a woman had - emma was quick to point out that "the man also had a smoke"...I cracked up!!). I got my happy birthday hugs, and now things are back to normal - dirty diapers (though hopefully not for long!), the running of little feet, toys everywhere - just like a mom's birthday ought to be.
In regard to "friday's fabulous fajitas", I would just like to clarify that no one missed any announcement. That was the announcement! Partly because I still feel nasty yuck, partly because it's still fairly early, I didn't feel like the announcement needed its own, exclamation-filled post, so I just snuck it in there. But I suppose I could give you a few more details - this was a planned pregnancy, will probably be the last of the carollo children to be borne by my body, and right now I'm in my tenth week. The "due date" falls just two days before emma's birthday, february 19. I would love for the baby to come early, to give emma (and momma) a bit of breathing room in between birthdays. So there's the details I know at this point!
East or West, following Christ is best..
Saturday, July 19, 2008
in defense -- a letter to katie
Dear katie, my youngest and most outspoken sister -
Could you really think that on your birthday I would forget you? that somehow a long-gone gymnast could replace the gymnast I helped teach cartwheels to on the grass of the lakeridge house? Give me some credit.
Would you believe that I was messing around with a future post and set it to july 19 on accident and posted it on accident? It seems sketchy, but it's true.
I have not forgotten you or your birthday. I would bet all my life's savings on the fact that I'd get an earful if I did. I have also not forgotten the funny childhood memories, the ones that stick out brightly in the recesses of my memory bank. I especially love the memories of making your pigtails, about presenting plays where you have to take your pants off under the table, and of all the many trips you made to the kitchen to get my water.
I'm sure that I could speak for the three of us in saying that having you as our younger sister has improved both the quality of our life and the quantity of our laughs. And now as you and holly clearly are not getting any younger, but instead are growing into young women who make us all proud, I have to remind myself to live in the present - that there are many more memories to be made with you all.
So on your birthday, happy birthday. We all love you so very much.
your oldest, most charming, and very wise sister,
Rachel
Could you really think that on your birthday I would forget you? that somehow a long-gone gymnast could replace the gymnast I helped teach cartwheels to on the grass of the lakeridge house? Give me some credit.
Would you believe that I was messing around with a future post and set it to july 19 on accident and posted it on accident? It seems sketchy, but it's true.
I have not forgotten you or your birthday. I would bet all my life's savings on the fact that I'd get an earful if I did. I have also not forgotten the funny childhood memories, the ones that stick out brightly in the recesses of my memory bank. I especially love the memories of making your pigtails, about presenting plays where you have to take your pants off under the table, and of all the many trips you made to the kitchen to get my water.
I'm sure that I could speak for the three of us in saying that having you as our younger sister has improved both the quality of our life and the quantity of our laughs. And now as you and holly clearly are not getting any younger, but instead are growing into young women who make us all proud, I have to remind myself to live in the present - that there are many more memories to be made with you all.
So on your birthday, happy birthday. We all love you so very much.
your oldest, most charming, and very wise sister,
Rachel
bring on the olympics!
A few nights ago, I randomly thought about the 1996 Olympics where Kerri Strug did her vault on her bum ankle. I totally remembered the details with extreme clarity, her falling to the mat afteer the vault, Bela Karolyi carrying her up to the medal platform with the rest of the team, the deafening cheers of the hometown crowd. Come on, you remember it too, right? Maybe this will help you bring up those memories...
I looked it up on Youtube last night and the girls and I watched it together. I was surprised (and a tiny bit embarrassed) when I started getting teary-eyed after the vault when they were waiting to find out if the score would be enough to lift the US team over the russians. Emma watched with horror as "that girl got hurt!" and then was doubly horrified when I replayed it - "Mommy, she got hurt again!" Of course, the score was just high enough, the Americans won, made history and lots of happy memories for preteens like me.
Anyway, I was moved. It made me excited for the Olympics to come.
The Olympic spirit will be soon - sometime next week - coming to our city in the form of the Torch Relay. I have big aspirations to go, but it all depends on the weather. Recently, it's been either downpouring here or swelteringly hot. If it's either of those, we probably won't go...but we'll see. Of course, the news has plenty of stories about how our asianese hosts are prepared for cloud seeding to keep the rains away from the Opening ceremonies, so maybe our city can use that too if it's supposed to rain next week!
The girls did July 4th crafts a few weeks ago, so emma now is so proud to point out when she sees the American flag. We're going to familarize ourselves with the national anthem next week so we can start fanning the flames of patriotism in those little hearts!
In a sort-of related story...
Today we were riding home from Walmart in a taxi (because Walmart just got chocolate donuts!) and the taxi driver asked us where we were from. When I told him we were from America, emma quickly corrected me and said, "No mommy, you said it wrong. We're from Asia."
I tried explaining to her that even though we live in Asia, we are still from America. That we're American people, not Asianese people. But it didn't make sense to her at all. It will be interesting to see how her cultural identity grows over the years!
I looked it up on Youtube last night and the girls and I watched it together. I was surprised (and a tiny bit embarrassed) when I started getting teary-eyed after the vault when they were waiting to find out if the score would be enough to lift the US team over the russians. Emma watched with horror as "that girl got hurt!" and then was doubly horrified when I replayed it - "Mommy, she got hurt again!" Of course, the score was just high enough, the Americans won, made history and lots of happy memories for preteens like me.
Anyway, I was moved. It made me excited for the Olympics to come.
The Olympic spirit will be soon - sometime next week - coming to our city in the form of the Torch Relay. I have big aspirations to go, but it all depends on the weather. Recently, it's been either downpouring here or swelteringly hot. If it's either of those, we probably won't go...but we'll see. Of course, the news has plenty of stories about how our asianese hosts are prepared for cloud seeding to keep the rains away from the Opening ceremonies, so maybe our city can use that too if it's supposed to rain next week!
The girls did July 4th crafts a few weeks ago, so emma now is so proud to point out when she sees the American flag. We're going to familarize ourselves with the national anthem next week so we can start fanning the flames of patriotism in those little hearts!
In a sort-of related story...
Today we were riding home from Walmart in a taxi (because Walmart just got chocolate donuts!) and the taxi driver asked us where we were from. When I told him we were from America, emma quickly corrected me and said, "No mommy, you said it wrong. We're from Asia."
I tried explaining to her that even though we live in Asia, we are still from America. That we're American people, not Asianese people. But it didn't make sense to her at all. It will be interesting to see how her cultural identity grows over the years!
Friday, July 18, 2008
friday's fabulous fajitas
Ok, this is not a TGIFridays recipe...it's just a darn good fajita recipe...and it's friday, so it all started with F. I thought it seemed an appropriate post. Plus, it's one of the few foods I can think about right now without wanting to let loose all over the place. You know how early pregnancy goes, all that nausea and stuff like that. So for the next three weeks, until this first trimester is over, I'm all about tummy-friendly foods. Even if it only includes cheetos and chocolate donuts. :)
If you're looking for an easy dinner, here's one of our favorites for fajitas.
In a ziploc bag, throw all this stuff in:
1/4 c. lime juice (for overseas readers who may be rationing lime juice, this IS 1/4 of a bottle - but I think it's worth it!)
1/3 c. water
2 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic
2 t. soy sauce
1 t. salt
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1/2 t. cayenne pepper (or not, if you don't like it. it really doesn't add too much heat to the meat)
1/2 t. ground pepper
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
chopped cilantro, based on how much you like the stuff.
Mix it all around pretty good, then throw in about 3 chicken breasts, sliced into strips.
Marinate the meat in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, add in 1 bell pepper and 1/2 onion, cut into strips.
Continue marinating until you're ready to fry it all up.
When lunch or dinner time rolls around, heat a tablespoon or so of oil into a pan and pour in your bag of chicken with all the juice and veggies.
Cook til that chicken is done, the peppers are getting tender, and you can't hold off the yummy smell any longer.
Wrap it up all nicely in fabulous tortillas, and top it with whatever suits your fancy.
Now there's something everyone - even sick, pregnant mommies - can eat to their hearts' content!
If you're looking for an easy dinner, here's one of our favorites for fajitas.
In a ziploc bag, throw all this stuff in:
1/4 c. lime juice (for overseas readers who may be rationing lime juice, this IS 1/4 of a bottle - but I think it's worth it!)
1/3 c. water
2 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic
2 t. soy sauce
1 t. salt
1/2 t. liquid smoke
1/2 t. cayenne pepper (or not, if you don't like it. it really doesn't add too much heat to the meat)
1/2 t. ground pepper
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
chopped cilantro, based on how much you like the stuff.
Mix it all around pretty good, then throw in about 3 chicken breasts, sliced into strips.
Marinate the meat in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, add in 1 bell pepper and 1/2 onion, cut into strips.
Continue marinating until you're ready to fry it all up.
When lunch or dinner time rolls around, heat a tablespoon or so of oil into a pan and pour in your bag of chicken with all the juice and veggies.
Cook til that chicken is done, the peppers are getting tender, and you can't hold off the yummy smell any longer.
Wrap it up all nicely in fabulous tortillas, and top it with whatever suits your fancy.
Now there's something everyone - even sick, pregnant mommies - can eat to their hearts' content!
Monday, July 07, 2008
a surprise anniversary gift from a fab husband
I'm actually not sure when it all started.
But one day, just a few days after our anniversary decision, I get a text message from my husband. This should have been my first clue - he never sends me text messages, and on the rare occasion that he does, it usually includes two words...like, you home? or (my personal favorite) when I have stayed out long past when I thought I'd be home, he sends me a text message that says, " ? " and that's all.
So, anyway I get this text from him. Something about how he thought June 21 would be a good day to change our anniversary to - it's the longest day of the year, you know.
Things are just as normal until two days later. I'm washing dishes, and he pops into the kitchen and says, "I have news."
Turns out, the news was he was planning a surprise trip for our family to Hong Kong! Woo hoo! I was excited. My fab husband, going behind my back, telling me sneaky little white lies was planning a fab trip! That is totally up my alley. We were to leave in two days. It was a busy two days - cleaning, packing, planning - and we didn't even have time to say adios on our blog...so I'm really embarrassed to all of you who sent us emails that never even got a smidge of a reply. :)
Anyway, this trip to hong kong was going to be full of things we never have time to do because we're seldom "vacationing" in hong kong, usually just passing through in transit, or are there for medical, visa, or other related matters. On the list: disneyland, the science museum, a movie at a movie theater, swimming, and maybe a trip to a library. The food list was equally as long - chocolate milkshakes from triple o's, krispy kreme, mongolian bbq from nomads, bloomin onion at outback, and a good burger from any number of places.
Since I may not have time to post all of our hong kong pics tonight, I'll just start with the big kahuna - disneyland! Perhaps I won the title of "most excited family member", but I would only hold it for a while. The truth is, I have so many fun memories (and pictures to remind me of the memories I forgot!) from my own childhood at Disneyworld. My brother and I tore that place apart getting autographs from the disney characters and working the line at Space Mountain long before Fast Passes existed.
I was so excited for the girls to have a chance to go to disneyland...at a time when they might possibly remember some of it. Because transportation in Hong Kong is so amazingly efficient, the subway lines connect to a special station that takes you to disney...and the disney line even has its own special subway car, with mickey mouse shaped windows, painted in pixie dust, and with blue velvet seats. Let the magic begin!
I usually am pretty happy that my children are relatively pop-culture deficient, but on the eve of our big trip, I realized with a teeny bit of sadness that my girls hadn't seen a disney princess movie yet! the apartment wherer we were staying just happened to have Cinderella, so we had a little popcorn party and familiarized the girls with at least one of the princesses. When we saw the castle for the first time, it all clicked for emma. She was jazzed - samantha was just following the crowd but was having fun too, I guess. 
First item of business after entering the park - buying those little autograph book. this was like my dream for them, this connective bond between my own childhood and their childhood. Lucky for me, they caught on to the idea of the autographs and were soon scouring the park for characters to sign their books. 
I was surprised at the level of enthusiasm the characters had with interacting with the children...specificially my children. I don't know, maybe they were that friendly with all the other asianese kids there, but they really spent long amounts of time with the girls and pooh....he was a little weird, actually...after we were all done and walking away, he left his little station, chased us down the path to catch us for one more round of pictures and hugs. Weird, but still appreciated. 
It was so special for me to watch emma annd mantha having so much fun meeting all the characters. There were several times when - dont' ever ever repeat this - that I felt a little teary-eyed as I watched them complete this childhood rite of passage. Thinking of my own happy memories and watching them as they made their own special memories was one of those parent moments I think I will treasure forever.
I usually am pretty happy that my children are relatively pop-culture deficient, but on the eve of our big trip, I realized with a teeny bit of sadness that my girls hadn't seen a disney princess movie yet! the apartment wherer we were staying just happened to have Cinderella, so we had a little popcorn party and familiarized the girls with at least one of the princesses. When we saw the castle for the first time, it all clicked for emma. She was jazzed - samantha was just following the crowd but was having fun too, I guess. First item of business after entering the park - buying those little autograph book. this was like my dream for them, this connective bond between my own childhood and their childhood. Lucky for me, they caught on to the idea of the autographs and were soon scouring the park for characters to sign their books. I was surprised at the level of enthusiasm the characters had with interacting with the children...specificially my children. I don't know, maybe they were that friendly with all the other asianese kids there, but they really spent long amounts of time with the girls and pooh....he was a little weird, actually...after we were all done and walking away, he left his little station, chased us down the path to catch us for one more round of pictures and hugs. Weird, but still appreciated. 
It was so special for me to watch emma annd mantha having so much fun meeting all the characters. There were several times when - dont' ever ever repeat this - that I felt a little teary-eyed as I watched them complete this childhood rite of passage. Thinking of my own happy memories and watching them as they made their own special memories was one of those parent moments I think I will treasure forever. The HK Disney park was pretty small - much more so than Orlando or california - but that was great for us. It meant lots less walking, and with two small walkers I'll take that! We rode our share of rides, as you can see...
Dumbo and the flying elephants...
Winnie the Pooh, with a three-second wait! :)
Emma's conversation that day was a constant string of "Momma! Look at that! wow, do you see that?!" It was fun times.
The carousel...
A cool 4-D movie - all was fine until the water splashed in our faces and freaked out Princess emma!
You've always got to do the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, right? 
But by far, the biggest event of the whole day was trying to find the Princesses. They apparantly kept a pretty tight schedule and were only out at certain times, as I guess all good princesses do, so it was hard finding them. But we camped out a spot where they were rumored to come out of, and we hit princess jackpot - three in a row! All three of the princesses we met were from America (judging by their accents) and were SO incredibly kind to the girls. They spent time with them and hugged and shared names and sweet stories and little things - just like it was MY kids who were the princesses. They even waved at the girls as we waited in line before it was our turn, and kept sneaking waves to them after emma and mantha's turn was over but continued watching them from the side. I will forever ever love these princesses for how sweet they were to my kids. Mothers note: Samantha was happy in these pictures, but for some reason, none of the 6,509 pictures I took managed to get her with a smile. I'm not really sure why. But just pretend... 
Belle and Princess Aurora (sleeping beauty - who seems to always be mistakenly called Princess Beauty at our house!) 
Belle and Princess Aurora (sleeping beauty - who seems to always be mistakenly called Princess Beauty at our house!) By the end of the day, we were hot - truly, sweaty, nasty hot - and tired (like, no nap tired) but we all had so much fun. I understood why my parents always liked taking us on special vacations, especially disneyworld, and felt like I had passed on an important childhood milestone to my offspring. As my friend amy and I were discussing this evening, there are so many childhood experiences I had that my children will never experience because of the life we live here...but in that hot theme park, covered in the pinks and purples of Fantasyland, I watched my girls armed with their pens and autograph books, and I felt like we shared a piece of childhood together.
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