holiday baking

It's the season for baking, right?

All the parties and guests we have at our home during the Christmas season requires lots of cookies, cakes, muffins, and other tasty treats!

It's a good thing I have two helpers who are willing to work so hard to help me get everything done...

...or, on second thought, maybe not!

a night out with a friend

Over the last year, I've become friends with the mom of one of Emma's little friends.  During our conversations, I'd been learning bit-by-bit what her job was.  The reason I say "bit-by-bit" is because I've never completely understood her answer.  It included words that were not in my vocabulary, and I don't have a dictionary in my phone like many of my cooler, more linguistically-competent friends.  

So she tells me her job, and I just assume that I get the general idea and move on.  Based on words I knew that were in her job title and follow-up questions, I assumed it had something to do with gymastics...or the body...or something like teaching those things?...well, truthfully, I just didn't know.  

When she called me last week to tell me - "Hey Rachel! I'd like to invite your family to the opening night of a performance given by the school I teach at!"  - I knew the moment had arrived. By the end of the night, I would know for sure what her job was.  This, more than any other reason, was my motivation for attending the opening night festivities. 

It ended up that Emma, Samantha and I went, leaving Abby and Josh at home.  We met my friend and her daughter outside.  In the very cold outside.  Why do kids never feel cold?

I must have passed this theater a million times.  It's right down the street from my house, and I've never even noticed it once.  The little movie store that sells pirated movies is just right next door, but what do I know about pirated movies?

Anyway, the theater:

It looked beautiful at night, lit up and alive with a pre-show crowd milling about outside.  I was so excited.  I was about to find out what my friend had been doing all her life.  Well, as soon as they opened the doors anyway.  Can I just say how cold it was?  It was SO. COLD.
These two old dudes saw my friend and I take a picture and asked me to take their picture. I'm not entirely sure why, but perhaps they wanted to be photographed by the foreigner.  I'm sorry, folks.  I'm not famous.  I don't work for a magazine or a newspaper.  I only have this shabby little blog, but here is your 56kb of fame:
Finally - finally! - they opened the doors and let the crowd come bursting in.  My friend showed me all the pictures adorning the walls.  Then she pointed to the strange shape in yellow clothing.

"That's me!" she said.  
Acrobats!  She was part of an acrobatic troupe.  And - isn't it a little eerie how she can get her body to do that?  I was _________. Shocked.  Amazed.  Surprised.  Weirded out.  Impressed.  I'm still not sure how I should fill in the blank, but definitely something should go there.  So now she teaches at this school, and that's how she managed to score me some free tickets.  

We walked into the theater and I felt about ten years younger.  Ten years, as in, back in high school...where I loved anything that had to do with performing on a stage.  I saw the stage set for a performance, and a little something in the bottom of my heart rekindled.  I remembered the excitement and jitters right before a performance.  I remembered peering out from the curtains trying to find my parents and grandparents in the audience.  I remember my best friend Becky and I putting on the finishing touches of our makeup before "Cinderella".

Oh?  You didn't know I was in Cinderella?  Aaaah, yes.  A memory for the ages.  It was great fun - Becky was cinderella and I was one of her evil stepsisters.

The lights, the background music, the crowd buzzing around, trying to find their seats...

The music started and the acrobats began their show - a beautiful, confident and strong show.  I loved the precision of their moves, the audacity of their tricks, the confidence that comes from countless hours of hard work.  I nearly cried.  (Why do I always mention my tendency to cry?)
Emma was entranced.  From the very beginning with the heavy beating of the drums, she never took her eyes off the stage.  My daughter was on the edge of her seat.  

Literally.
It was a great show - have I already said that?  The routines alternated between men and women, and I must confess I liked the men's routines much better.  They were strong, powerful, tumbling, jumping...
...and the women's were all dainty, prancing, twirling.  I'm not so big on dainty. 

But the spinning-balancing-plate thing?  Yeah, that's cool.  My pictures aren't so clear, but in this picture, there's a row of girls standing on the ground, with a row of girls walking across the bottom row of girls - and they're all balancing those spinning plates!  
Emma's first words after the show was over were: "Mommy!  We have to bring everyone to see this!  It's just...amazing!"

She later told me that when she grows up she wants to be an acrobat.  Of course, my friend has offered to teach her in exchange for English lessons...  

this is a public service announcement

This website has received complaints about the length of time that the pie crust post has remained up.  Readers are bemoaning the lack of new content.

But, I can at least take pity on my mother readers and give you our most recent family picture, taken at our thanksgiving bash.  (Having 30 people or more qualifies as a "bash", don't you think?)

And this one, where I tried to infuse some christmas spirit into my girls...

More coming soon, mom...I promise!  =)

the real reason I have a house helper

When I think about the blessings of my life in this country, high on the list is my house helper.

She's my best friend in this country. 

We talk about our problems, our feelings, our children, that golfer guy, and how to grow in our faith. 

She loves my kids and thinks of ways to make them feel special.  

She works hard and conscientiously.

She does routine tasks that free me up to play and teach my children.

We consider her as part of our family.

I love her.

And...also, she makes some rockin food.  She already made good local food long before I met her, but over these three years, she's learned how to make some good American food.  I want chicken fried steak for dinner?  No problem. She'll help me get it all ready.  Quesadillas?  Quiche?  Cinnamon Rolls?  You bet. 

But the real reason I have a house helper is because - shhhh, this is my big secret - when I make pie crust, it turns out like this:

Her pie crust looks like something out of Food and Leisure magazine.  

Granted, my pie crust was made while holding abby and directing Emma where to poke holes in the crust, but still.  Let no one ever mistake me for Martha Stewart.  

So for all those other reasons, I love my house helper.

But the pie crust?  That just might top the list.  

not another post about that famous golfer guy

dear tiger, 

seems like it's been all bad news for you these days.  

I'm going to spare you my opinions, even though I certainly have my share.

The purpose of this letter is to give you some good news.

A few days ago, I was sitting down to lunch to talk with my house helper about....um, well...about your life.  

I told her all the things I'd been reading in the news and how sad I was.

She stared at me blankly.

I kept talking, thinking she was just waiting for me to finish.

She kept staring at me blankly.

Finally, I stopped to clarify a few points.

"You know, tiger w----? The golfer?"

She wasn't sure who I was talking about.

"He's so famous! He wears Nike and drinks Gatorade and plays golf? You don't know who I'm talking about?"

She had no idea.  I showed her your picture.  She had never seen you before.

In spite of what you read, not everyone knows who you are.  

Not everyone is reading your business.  Not everyone is watching your life unravel. 

You could go to Sweden and hide out, or you could come here.  (Though I'd guess that the accommodations are much more luxurious in Sweden.)

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Praying for a miracle for you and your family, 

rachel

leaving my legacy

I've loved being a mom.  I've loved watching myself grow up as I watch my girls grow up. I feel like I've matured so much since first having children, and now I can hardly remember how it feels to go the bathroom by myself, go to bed without making sure all is well in the tiny beds,  to eat dinner while it's still hot...

But being a mother has also caused me to look carefully at the traits and qualities I want to pass on to my children.  What do I want to teach them?  What do I want them to remember?  What can I pass on to them?

First and foremost, I want them to love the Lord with life-consuming abandon, regardless of the cost or sacrifice to their personal comforts.  I want their pursuit of Him to be their lifelong goal, worthy of their time and energy and passion.  I want them to love reading the Word, I want them to see God at work, I want them to marvel at God's greatness and glory and compassion and justice and lovingkindness.  

I want them to love others, even when people ask you a zillion questions - the same questions - every single day.  Even when people touch your hair and your face.  Even when they nag at you and say things you don't like.  I want them to love people the way Christ teaches love, not necessarily the way their mommy always teaches love.  

I want them to be respectful of others - the old ladies who bug them, the bum on the street, the street sweeper, the taxi drivers, the curious onlookers, the distant relatives my kids don't recognize, people they are unfamiliar with, the man who delivers water to our house, friends who come into our home...I want my children to treat them all with respect and kindness.  

I want them to think creatively and independently.  They don't need to copy others - they have great ideas!  

I want them to love to learn, and to know that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments."

I want them to develop the skills to think by themselves and make decisions based on Truth, not emotion or feeling.

I want them to keep laughing and finding joy in small things and learn the blessing of having a cheerful heart. 

There are certainly more specific traits that I want to instill in them, but just these few feel like a lot of work!  My goals and aspirations are pretty high, huh? I'm amazed at how the very qualities I want them to possess are those that I myself struggle with so often. 

Yes, I love the Lord - but regardless of the cost? or sacrifice to my personal comforts? like getting up earlier...?

Yes, I love people - but do I love those who bug my kids? who touch my kids? who ask me a zillion questions?

Yes, I am respectful to people - but do my abrupt answers to their questions show respect and dignity? 

I hope and pray that even in my shortcomings, my example will help encourage my children to greater Godliness.  

And... for the pictures that started this whole post (it originally intended to be a very light-hearted post...and somehow it morphed into this deep, reflective sort-of thing...)

Let's start this again at the spot where it started to get all philosophical:

But being a mother has also caused me to look carefully at the traits and qualities I want to pass on to my children.  What do I want to teach them?  What do I want them to remember? What can I pass on to them?

Abby has learned what her mama's real priorities are and is pursuing them with that life-consuming abandon I was talking about earlier:

She found the stash of coke, and knew exactly what her mom would want her to do.  Should she be healthy (er, um...healthier?) and go for the Coke Zero...?
Nah...stick with the good stuff.  Climb on it.  Get all over it.  Get as much of it as you can.  That's what mama would do.  
So there you have it.  A post about coke turned into a dissertation on the goals and ambitions for my offspring.  

That's what coke will do to you.  

(And yes, I am drinking one now.)

But all the above things - about loving God and respecting people - are still true.

Ok.  I'll be done now.

See ya.  

mantha's reading progress

Samantha has impressed me with her tenacious attitude towards her reading lessons.  I was prepared to only do them on the days she brought it up and was determined not to push her.  

Actually, she's been the one pushing me.  Almost every day she'll remind me: Mommy, don't forget to do reading lesson with me!  Because of this, we've been going at a little bit faster pace than I had planned on. 

Last week, Samantha made it to her second reading milestone and got a prize.  (Her first one was several weeks ago and I forgot to post about it - oops!  She got a puzzle, if anyone is keeping track...)

Because my room is usually the quietest place in our home at any given time, that's the spot where reading lessons take place.  She was excited about getting her prize...

...even though she didn't know what it was.  As soon as reading lesson was over, I bundled the girls up and we went to go get her prize.  They talked about what it could be all the way out to the bus stop (which actually isn't very far).  Emma looks like a little eskimo and is bundled so tightly, I'm not sure how much she actually contributed to the conversation, but anyway...it was cold, so who can blame her?
We were waiting for bus 79 to come and take us down the street.  Waiting in the cold turns five minutes into an eternity!  First bus was the BRT2...not us.
To their disappointment, they learned that we were not taking the double-decker 117 to our destination:
Finally, our bus 79 came and as usual, the girls bounded to the top row:
Once we were all seated, I asked Samantha what she thought her prize was.  She thought about it for a moment:
and declared that she thought she was getting a kitty.  My kids were seriously born into the wrong family.  We will not ever own another pet.  And that's the truth. 

We were headed to RT-Mart, the little grocery store complex down the street from me.  It's not nearly as big as a USA Walmart, but I'm always amazed at how much I can get there - and the fact that its so close to me makes me want to buy stock in it or something.  Some weeks I go there every day.  Not intentionally, of course.   

And having a McDonald's close by never hurt anyone.
Anyway, there's a little accessory store there that sells cute little girly things that my cute little girly-girls really like.  My plan was to give Samantha 20 local dollars and let her buy some new headbands.  Yep - they still love headbands, but unfortunately they get left on the floor waaaay too often and end up meeting an untimely demise.  
I thought - and I guess I should do a better job of price checking? - a headband would cost about 8-10 local dollars...about $1.50 a headband.  I thought she could get two or three for her 20 local dollar prize money.  Uh, yeah.  They were like, 3 local dollars.  Samantha got a whopping good deal and carefully selected six headbands.  
The nice lady at the counter even wrapped it all up for her.  Three days later, our headband count is at 3.   Two were stepped on (told you...) and one is MIA.  Good thing she got six. 
This reading gig really seems to pay off.  I think I'm ready to start doing reading lessons for me.  I can think of lots of little prizes I'd like!

...because even four-year-olds must study

Josh has been busy these days with lots of different stuff, but one of his recent projects has been implementing a new system for studying language.

He was impressed with this language-learning philosophy that he studied a few months ago, and it's been so fun watching him dive-in and tackle this with the zeal and enthusiasm I first noticed in him so many years ago.  

I'm not even going to try to explain the philosophy or methods to this, but suffice it to say that involves lots of manipulatives:

He especially likes practicing it with the girls at home:

Even Abby is an eager learner.  Actually, she just sees toys and wants in on whatever is happening.  The girls love it and feel like they're "playing with daddy".  
Even though this new realm of responsibility has taken lots of josh's time and potentially lots of travel, I've felt happy and content that he's able to do something so suited to his gifts and abilities.  

If you're up for studying asianese with our kitchen toys, come on over!

discoveries

Abby turned nine months two weeks ago, and I'm amazed at how fast she is discovering things.  

She's discovering that she can feed herself, which seems waaaaay better to her than mom feeding her.

She's discovering that the cute girl in the mirror smiles back at her:

She's discovering that its fun to sit in chairs.
She's discovered that its fun to climb on chairs.
She's discovered that climbing on things just might be her calling in life. Climbing on chairs, climbing on desks, tables, toys, benches...climbing until she has bruises all over her face from the falls that accompany such climbing.

But she keeps getting back up again to climb another day.

Someday she'll discover how to be more careful...but for now, there's too much fun to be had to be careful!

officially

Walking.  Officially and unavoidably, for the record, completely walking.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Neither is she, for that matter.  

Sometimes this skill makes her laugh - giggles of previously-unexperienced joy, so proud and astonished that those two pudgy stumps can actually shakily propel her across the floor...
Sometimes this skill makes her cry - the falls, bumps and bruises are piling up!  She took her shaky first steps last month when josh was out of town, and has slowly been gaining confidence.  Yesterday was her watershed day, though, and she chose walking over crawling each time she wanted to move.  

I caught her this morning balanced ON TOP of the arm of Emma's chair, holding on to the side of the table.  

How did this happen?

It's certainly not because I've spent hours practicing with her and encouraging her to walk.  Heavens, no! I'd never do that - ok, ok, maybe I did with my first kid, but who still does those things after their first kid is born?

In fact, I carry her around so much just to maintain a certain level of peace in the house that I'm surprised she's even found the time to learn such a skill.

Its like there's this irrepressible urge inside her little self that years for mobility.  Faster. Higher. Stronger.  You know, that Olympian thing.  Sheesh.

The girl amazes me.  And frightens me.  And makes me want to grab a coke and soak in the bath. 

a package for a princess (or two)

Sometimes, I'm not sure if my girls realize they aren't living in fantasyland.  It seems sometimes they really *think* they are princesses.  Or cats.  Or Aslan.  Or Minnie.  They'll answer your questions with barks, or by saying "Yes, Your Majesty," depending which personality they are donning at that moment.  

My wonderful mother-in-law found some halloween costumes marked-down after the season...for $3.  Why would you not buy something for $3?

Here's what her several-$3 bought:

A fifties girl:

I love the fifties-girl because of the wide varieties of English usage it brings out.  For example, the pretty black poodle on the skirt? Emma calls it a "boodle".  Samantha calls it a "foodle".  They are both convinced that they are right, and that mama is wrong.  

A bride:
The wedding gown is so realistic and makes emma look SO old and mature, especially when she's sporting the veil and earrings.  When we were trying everything on, josh was helping Emma put on the earrings underneath her veil...and I started tearing up.  You should know by now that I'm not kidding.

There were also two fairy costumes with wings, crowns and other jewelry...and we've been playing dress-up ever since!

on being thankful and not multi-tasking

This is a public promise to never again try to make cheesy potatoes, serve breakfast to my kids, feed abby and post a quick blog at the same time.  I can't accept the number of typos and unfinished thoughts that showed up in that last post.  I offer my sincere apologies to all the reading teachers out there.  And everyone else who hates misspelled words.  (Including myself.  And my dad, for sure.)

To make it up to you (if you could read my thanksgiving post without cringing, I'm going to post this picture that will fill you with all sorts of post-turkey cheer.  Usually Chinglish examples don't need any explanation, because they are so funny by themselves.  This one is no different - just a great butchering of the English language by locals here.  

So here you go. I hope you are filled with "unexpected happy astonishment":

on being thankful

So technically in my neck of the woods, thanksgiving should be over and done.  I should be waking up this morning and unpacking boxes of Christmas decorations...

...but actually, we're celebrating thanksgiving in just a few hours with all our friends and it promises to be as fun as ever.  Except - and here's a reason to be thankful! - it's not at my house!  Our thanksgiving has more than doubled in size since last year: last year, we had 6 adults and 8 children...this year, it's 15 adults and 15 children!  

Anyway, in the spirit of thakfulness, I've been meditating on that theme these last few weeks.  The thought that keeps coming to my mind relates in a way to Jesus' teaching on loving your enemies. 

"For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even the sinners and tax collectors love those.  But I say to you, love your enemies..."

Twist that a bit, apply it to thanksgiving, and I've been thinking:

It's easy to be thankful when things are going well.  It's easy to be thankful when the trial or difficulty is over.  Even nonbelievers, atheists, and idol worshippers can be thankful for the good things that come to them. The tricky part is being thankful when all is not well, when you're still in the thick of difficulty not knowing when or if it will be over.  Because we can trust our souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right, we are able to be thankful no matter the circumstances.  I think its impossible to be truly thankful for anything if it's not rooted in the sovereignty of God and His mind-boggling goodness toward us.  

So.  Those are my thoughts about that.  I am thankful for so much in my life: my kids (even when they disrupt my plans for the day with incessant crying), my husband (even though it requires extra sacrifice of my time to serve and assist him), our families in America who are so great at keeping in touch with us and loving us, my friends who have been such a support and encouragement to my spirit these last few years...truly, I could go on and on about the ways I've been blessed.

In just a couple of hours, we'll head out of the house to celebrate thanksgiving, just as many of you in America are finishing up your thanksgiving day.  Since there are so many people, my contributions to our feast are smaller than in years past.  Here's what's been cooking at my house:

The Luby's dinner roll. I know lots of people think Luby's is for old people, but they are sorely mistaken.  I love luby's almost as much as I love mexican food.  

And other the rolls and a cranberry-applesauce which is not pictured bcause it looked , the bulk of my contributions are usually added to the dessert table.  Like these little pilgrim hats for the kids:

I've just got to say: I love me some pilgrim hats.  Chocolate covered marshmallows stuck on top of an oreo?  Yep, I made a whole batch for my family a few days before thanksgiving.  

Or this Pecan Pie, recipe courtesy of the Pioneer Woman...because these days, it seems almost un-american not to love PW.  I figure, Pecan Pie is so good, it doesn't really matter whose recipe you use, you'll still get fat and love every minute of it.  

Chocolate Lovers Cheesepie - because the chocolate food group must be well represented at any thanksgiving feast:

Oh, yeah... I also forgot about this bowl of potatoes that is at this very moment in the oven being transformed into a huge dish of cheesy au gratin potatoes.  

So there you have it.  Starches and Chocolate, the very essence of thanksgiving for me.  And if there happens to be a turkey there, that'll be alright too.  But please, let's not forgot the chocolate.

Happy Thanksgiving!