Life As A 4 Year Old: I wanna hide from it alllll daaaay loooonnng.

Reasons my 4 year old is mad at me:

I gave one of his ten “round apple slices” to Owen.

He can’t play Wii golf during nap time.

Because Daddy got to pick out a song for our indoor chase game and it wasn’t “Life Is A Highway.”

I gave him too much breakfast cereal.

It’s raining outside and we can’t go for “a race around the rectangle.”

He can’t watch Cars 2 immediately after waking up in the morning.

He hit his head during a pillow fight.

Macaroni and cheese is yukky.

Pad thai is spicy.

So is anything else for suppertime. Yukky and spicy.

We don’t have time to play after supper because it took 70 minutes to eat five bites of macaroni and cheese.

Reasons I anticipate my 4 year old will be mad at me:

Because I won’t let him have books in his bed during naptime this afternoon.

Oy.

Today’s 1%: I am making some conscious choices to go OUT with females without children his month. Coffee date with Jane (a fellow introvert): check. Coffee and dessert which turned into hilarious Open Mic Night evaluations with Kylie: check. Lunch with college roomie: almost check!

Overheard in a Yaris

"Hey Mommy, that's exit 16. That's the exit we took the other day to that...place."

"You're right James. That's the exit to the Mt. Hope cemetery. That was a fun day walking around and exploring wasn't it?"

"It sure was Mommy! Hey, why don't we go back to the cem'tery? We should stay there forever."

"Speak for yourself buddy."

Today's 1%: Book 22/50-- Life in Motion. Misty Copeland, first African American principal dancer with the ABT writes of her childhood and journey to ABT. Amazing to think that somebody who didn't even BEGIN ballet training until 13 could succeed so quickly and dramatically. A quick and inspiring read. 

Book update

I’ve been reading! I just haven’t always remembered to mark down when I finished a book. This gets me caught up…

Book 18/50: Rogue Lawyer
John Grisham's latest. I love John Grisham, although his past two books have become increasingly politically-charged. A little less fiction and a little more agenda. I prefer the escape from reality...

Book 19/50: To Kill A Mockingbird

One of those books I should have read a long time ago. I finally got serious about it when Roy booked tickets for us to see the play at GEVA Theatre. It was such a great book. I had it in my head that Atticus Finch was some kind of old, dirty, southern drunk. ‘Atticus’ is such a sharp-sounding name to me. Turns out he’s more like John Avery Whittaker, or as Roy said, “an American Dumbledore.”

20/50: The Giver

A re-read from college. I originally stole it from a camper in my wing after she complained about how boring it was and LOVED it. Loved it just as much this time around. Couldn’t quite banish the sobering notion of equating Gabriel with Owen.

21/50: Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up

Martha Manning is a psychologist who wrote a very funny memoir. I didn’t grow up Catholic, but I found myself nodding vigorously with a lot of her descriptions of a fundamentalist childhood—and the hilarious confusion in sorting through those black and whites in a grey world. I laughed out loud more than once--recommended!

Date Night In: A Flemish Feast

Gabe and I had tried being friends for quite a while before we jumped into dating. Everyone around us knew we were only kidding ourselves, but we insisted that we were “just good friends.” –Date Night In, p. 248

The story of how Roy and I came to be, our story, is a long sordid tale that is wonderful and romantic to us, and I will spare you most of the gory details. But you should know that it is steeped in friendship. We were friends for a year and a half before we began dating. For much of that time we couldn’t be anything more than friends, due to some of the long sordidness. And that was fine. It was great, actually. Eventually people started to pester us, in their gentle ways, about the fact that we weren’t together. (We still maintain that our paternal sets of grandparents conspired to bring the whole thing about.) Eventually, we did. But it was long distance and it wasn’t easy, ever. The friendship kept us going when the romance was impossible.

So this date night, one themed around friendship, was appealing. Let’s celebrate the fact that we were from the start, and happiest when we are friends.

Menu:

Bitter Greens with Mustard Vinaigrette

Belgian Frites

Flemish Beef Stew

Yeasted Belgian Waffles with Ice Cream and Hot Fudge

The salad was simple and colorful, which was needed, because the rest of the meal was not. The four ingredient dressing was lovely—could definitely become a staple in my fridge for all sorts of salads. We spent all day yesterday outside, running and tramping around in the warm weather. We were yearning for fresh food and this salad was needed.

I am ready for another bowl of that right now.

Then we fried fries. Oy with the deep frying already. I had to do it again for these fries. Twice, actually. The good news is I’m getting better at it. The bad news is that is still makes me queasy and it’s always a messy ordeal. They turned out pretty good—still soggier than I’d like. The malt vinegar/mayo dip was spectacular though. Move over ketchup.

The vinegar was from London...so was the syrup we used in the hot fudge. I guess Belgium and Britain share culinary secrets. (What DO you call a native Belgiumite? A Flem? A Belg? These are not great options.)

The Flemish beef stew was exciting. We always love any excuse to buy a decent cut of meat, although I get nervous about not screwing up that decent cut of meat. $$$. It tasted quite good but looked disgusting. Seriously. Pretty pictures, these are not. I think next time I’ll make this in the crockpot—things were sticking to the Dutch oven and the meat was a bit overdone. It was good, but I think I semi-screwed up the decent cut of meat. :(

Seriously ugly hunks of meat. It's dishes like this that inspired "garnish."

As Roy said, “Well, nothing’s been bad, but I’m guessing the waffles are going to save this Date Night In.”

Pretty golden-brown.

They did. The fudge was my favorite thing to make, and taste. Come over and try some—we have lots of leftovers! The waffles were light and flavorful. But really they were just a vehicle for hot fudge and ice cream. I’d be OK with just the ice cream and fudge—save the waffles for breakfast. (We had leftovers this morning and I enjoyed them much more.)

This meal made me feel heavy and sick to my stomach. A lot of oil, heavy meat, and carbs. We aren’t used to that. The flavors were pretty good, but after such a miraculous day of flitting around outdoors it wasn’t worth going to bed feeling like there was a boulder in my stomach.

…

Our marriage shines brightest when we are laughing and hanging out together. This year we’ve cut back a bit on the number of jobs and musical commitments and it has been a beautiful season of renewal for our friendship. What used to be a day or few hours snatched here and there, and largely spent re-remembering who the other person was, can now be days, living life with our little family and sharing the good and the bad in real time. I’ve seen viral articles flash across Facebook claiming, “My Husband Isn’t My Best Friend and Our Marriage Is Better For It” and I know that there’s more to that claim than the headline. But, guess what? My husband really is my best friend. And I’m OK with that world!

Someday it will be just the two of us again. The kids will be grown and will eventually move out of the house. What will be left is us and our friendship. It’s the constant in our marriage that takes time and energy to cultivate. It’s not sustainable on its own and will not wait for us to find it. Without nourishing it, it deteriorates and leaves little behind…I want my best friend alongside me no matter where I am. With him, I am a better person; without him, there’s something missing.” –DNI, p. 248

March Date Night In Preparations

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face. Last night Roy and I enjoyed martinis, caramel popcorn, and a great movie in our bed. I looked at him halfway and said, “Sometimes it’s just really FUN to be grown up.” Today the weather promises to be WARM and we are home as a family all day. We have plans to be outside as much as possible, go for a long run, follow James on his trike around the neighborhood, and a wonderful meal tonight after the boys are in bed.

(The warm weather coincides nicely with the start of my workplace’s Eat Well Live Well challenge. I get to wear a pedometer for the next 50 days and count my steps. Yesterday I got off to a really great start. This is partly because we went for a run and partly because I held nephew Roland for an hour and he insisted on bouncing and trotting around the house. My teammates thank you Roland.)

Tonight’s Date Night In hearkens back to the International Date Nights we loved a few years ago. We’ll be enjoying the cuisine of Belgium. Last night I completed the following preparations:

1.       Made salad dressing

2.       Made waffle batter (wouldn’t be Flemish without Belgian waffles)

3.       Made hot fudge (and it wouldn’t be a Belgian waffle without some high quality chocolate sauce slathered on top)

Today we’ll have lots of time to slow-cook a Flemish stew, prepare some frites, and bake waffles. I’m pretttttty excited. There’s just nothing better than when Roy gets back from Wegmans with the special ingredients and I survey the possibilities. Date Night In has been a great thing for us as a couple, but it’s also been a perfect excuse opportunity to try lots of new cooking techniques. So. Much. Fun.

Here’s a to-do list for this wonderful day:

1.       Get outside. Stay outside.

2.       Eat something delicious.

3.       Spend some time reflecting on how blessed I am.

4.       Find a way to bless somebody else’s world today.

Join me, will you?

Today's 1%: Happy birthday Daddy! We are sending you so much love and sometimes can't believe that we lucked out having you as our dad. Thanks for teaching us and LIVING what it means to be a man who serves the Lord with his whole heart. James hopes you get lots of tools for your birthday presents.

Anecdotes

I.                    “Hey Mommy, we are very close to the restaurant.”

“Which restaurant, James?”

“You know. The restaurant.”

“Do you mean Jitters? Or Tim Hortons?”

“I mean the one with the booster seats.”

“Oh. You mean the North Chili Family Restaurant! They make some good pancakes there.”

“Yeah.”

<long silence>

“Hey Mommy, I think we should EAT at the restaurant. Isn’t that a good idea? My treat.”

II.                  Me, “Owen, you got my phone again.”

Owen, “AHHH-dah!”

Siri, “Sorry Julie, I don’t know what you mean.”

Me, “It’s not me Siri, it’s Owen.”

Siri, “Should I call you Owen from now on?”

Me, “Sure. He talks to you more than I do.”

Siri, “OK. I’ll call you Owen from now on.”

A couple of days later:

Roy, “Hey, you know how Siri said she’d start calling you Owen? I have a bunch of emails in my inbox from Owen. I think she’s sending all your correspondence on his behalf.”

“Siri, call me Julie from now on.”

III.                Me, “Owen, it’s time to go brush teeth.”

Owen, “AHHHH-dah!!!!”

Me, “Why don’t you give James a goodnight hug?”

<Owen runs over and throws his arms around James. James gives him a big hug back and bends over and kisses the top of his head.>

Me, “Ahhh! You two are SOO sweet! You just melt my heart!”

<James abruptly cuts off the hug and looks at me in alarm>

“Are you OK Mommy? Why did your heart melt?”

Me, “It’s just an expression sweetie.”

James, “But. But…can you unmelt it?”

Me, stammering, “Well, saying ‘you melt my heart’ is just a way of saying you boys are so sweet. Like if I said ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a whole elephant.’ I really don’t want to eat an entire elephant—it’s just another way of saying I’m super hungry.”

James, “…. … … But is your heart going to be OK????”

Today’s 1%: The baking bread at home experiment is going so well that I tracked down a 25 lb bag of bread flour yesterday. Cost for a 5 lb bag at Wegmans: $3.99. Cost of 25 lb bag through Sam’s Club (thank you Grandma Joy): $6.49.

Lunchtime