Visit to Cascade

Tuan and I took Emma and Daniel to Idaho snow country - ie: Cascade to visit my dad this past weekend. We all had a blast and Emma did her very best to completely wear her "Drumpa" out. :o)

Warning - tons of pics of my gorgeous kids ahead! lol


Emma had tons of fun helping grandpa make waffles with his fancy waffle maker.


Both Emma and Daniel then got to work washing the dishes! Or perhaps just playing in the water. ;o)


Belive it or not we are preparing to doff our clothes and don our swimming suits! My dad took us to a hot springs and it was such a sureal experience swiming surrounded by snow drifts.


Emma sure had a blast.


So did Daniel who fell asleep soon after arriving and napped neary the entire time! lol


We got everyone all bundled to sled down the huge sledding hill near my dad's house.


The kids prefered however just sliding down the hill outside the door.

snapshots of our days Part II

Daniel helping me add the crumb topping to an apple pie.

This is Emma laying on the couch eating a gummy candy she picked out from the store. I just had to get a picture - it made me think of an adorable French Aristocrat lounging whilst eating her bon-bons.

Emma really loves to run around with the camera taking pictures. This is Daniel from her point of view.

A very thoughtful friend gave us a gift card to a great toy store in our town. Emma chose the space pattern on the puzzle. Here she is putting it together with her daddy.

Emma playing with perler beads.

We are published!

Ok - I'm silly excited about this! I am sure that the tens of people who read this blog (lol) know that we practice EC with our kids. I have two books about EC that I really like. Ingrid Bauer's book and Laurie Boucke's book..

Laurie Boucke is a member of a yahoo EC group that I frequent. When she asked on list for EC pictures for the latest edition of her book I sent a few in. Well - she has included one of Tuan and Daniel not only on the back of the book but inside as well! So I am very excited and irreverently proud! Hee!





I included the pics I took of the book so that you would for sure believe me! lol This is the pic I sent. It's much clearer than the pic I took of the page in the book. Isn't he a doll? And Daniel looks adorable too. *snicker*

My friend Jill put these on her blog (where do you fin these things, Jill? lol) and thought I would do some for my family.

I didn't know who some of my look-a-likes were and learned some really interesting things about them. Camilla Belle studies classical piano and considered going pro. She is also an international spokesperson for “Kids With a Cause,” a program created to provide help for children suffering from poverty, hunger, neglect and abuse. Jean Harlow became one of Hollywood's legendary stars and one of the best-liked residents of the film community even though her career was cut short at the age of 26 from kidney failure. Very interesting stuff!

Maria



Daniel



Emma



Tuan

Signing!

Daniel is really picking up signs! He can sign:
-nurse - of course!
-potty (Emma never used this sign - didn't like it I guess. She used other ways of telling us. lol )
-cheese - he loves cheese
-more - this one gets used occasionally ** ok - tons now!
-tired
-water
-eat - occassional use
-just now he was insisting that I help him learn "shoes" lol
*all done/gone/finished

I am trying to show him more signs so that he can communicate more easily with us. It is pretty obvious that at times he is soooo frustrated because he can tell us what he wants for most things, but not for this particular thing at the moment.

It is so exciting to see him developing this skill. And I just love watching him sign cheese (twisting palms together). I will have to get a pic soon.


Posts like this are tricky because as soon as you click "publish", they learn another sign! I'll probably just come back and update this one as needed.

* - update 1/20/08
** - update 1/22/08

It was a busy day!

First Emma and Daniel helped me make omlettes.



Then while they were cooking, Emma made waffles - her first batch - and they were scrumdillyocious!






Then their new art easel came in the mail. This is 1/2 of the pieces - yikes. Apparently there is much adult assembly required. Now - to find an adult!



Daniel helping.



Once it was finally together (mommy got a bit ahad of herself at times and had to redo a few step to fix some errors) Daniel nodded off (I don't blame him, lol) and Emma happily had it all to herself.



She wanted to wear the paper clips in her hair. Adorable, no? ;o)



All that playing must have really tired her out because then she fell asleep leaving Danil to paint - in his own way! lol



Whew! When do I get a nap? :o}

snapshots of our days

Tuan and Daniel playing in the tee pee - the TV with the championship football game showing just happened to be in front of them :o}

Sharing a snack together.

Daniel prefers the toilet seat to his baby bjorn potty. He also prefers toys to just sitting.

Once Tuan showed Emma how the straps on the back of her violin case worked, she was excited to try it out doing all of her favorite activities!

Why leave your babydoll behind when you can bring her along?

Emma wanted a snack and chose jello. It turned into a fun game. Much was smeared into clothes, much was splattered onto walls, much dribbled onto the floor and little was eaten. Oh, well. I was offered a jello drink, but couldn't bring myself to really try it despite the insistance that it was "really yummy, mommy. you'll like it" lol

They're finally here!

I ordered these in my quest to find what was causing Daniel's rash and eczema. However as I ordered them from Great Britain, it took them about a month to arrive. When it finally got to my mailbox the packaging was horribly mangled. The customs workers weren't very careful in re-wrapping it after examining it. By then I had pin-pointed the allergy to gluten.

These are called soap nuts and they work marvelously!

"Because they are natural and chemical free they are gentle on your skin and clothes. Suitable for sensitive skin, allergy and eczema sufferers.
Soft enough for your whole family.
Soapnuts grow (wild-crafted) on trees in India and Nepal; the shells contain “Saponin” a natural soap"

We don't dry anything in the dryer and when I switched to soap nuts everything is softer - even the jeans! These are a keeper. They are very eco-friendly because you can compost them once they no longer suds in the wash.

Sorry for the commercial!

No more paper route!

Well - I am no longer delivering papers. I will miss the monthly checks but I don't miss feeling like a zombie.

As I type this Daniel is snoozing in bed and Emma is singing to herself while she uses the bathroom. Fun times!

(turn up your volume - this one is visually boring but worth a listen)


A few people have lamented that I haven't been updating my blog very often. It kind of comes in spurts. At times I update every day - then I go for a month with no new posts. I find that I have several sites and message boards that I visit that when I have finished with that I just want to spend time with my kids. And since Emma really doesn't ever take naps anymore (I know - when did that happen!) I play with her during D's naps.

Result - fewer blog posts. I'm trying to remedy that.

Here goes!

Well - #&$#^@%^!!

This one is for my sister because she can't eat any sugar right now.

Skillet Cornbread
Dry Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup rice or sorghum flour (I used long-grain brown rice that I milled)
1/2 cup tapioca or potato starch
(Sarah - I'm guessing that 2 1/4 cups wheat flour could be subbed for the rice/starch mixture)
1 teaspoon xanthan um
1 taspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon chili powder or cinnamon
1 teaspoon stevia powder

Wet Ingredients:

2 large organic free range eggs
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons light olive oil or veetable oil
1 cup plain rice milk or cows milk

Preheat yoru oven to 350 degrees F
Lightly oil a 9-10 inch iron skillet.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a large mixing bol, combine the eggs with the oil and milk and beat for one minute.
Add in the dry ingredients and beat by hand just until a smooth batter is formed, about one minute. If your batter seems a little dry, add a tablespoon more liquid at a time until you achieve a smooth consistency.)
Heat the prepared skillet over meduium-high heat.
Pour the batter into the heated skillet and sprinkle cinnamon over the top of the batter if you like. Bake the cornbread in the center of a pre-heated oven tfor 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch and slightly golden around the edges. Place on a wire rack to cool a bit and allow the cornbread to rest 15 minutes before cutting. This helps keep the slices from crumblin apart. Serve warm.
Yields 8-10 slices.

I made a sloppy-joes inspired meat sauce and served it with the cornbread. I must have told Tuan no less than 10 times during dinner how fantastic and yummy this cornbread is. Seriously - it is wonderful. Yummy, moist but with great texture. So why this particular title? After dinner I stood up to put away the dishes and discovered with much chagrin a painful rash on my leg. More ichyness and further redness appeared throughout the evening. My friends - classic food allergy symptoms. So I will be avoiding corn as much as possible (I can't even begin to list all the things cornstarch is added to) for a week, probably two and then give it another try and see what happens.

So please do enjoy and give a thought to me as you do. :o)

Merry Christmas!

Well - it's been a few crazy days since Christmas. So this post will be a deluge of pics! We used our camcorder for most of the present opening so these pics are from later in the day or the day after.

Every year we each get to open one gift at midnight on Christmas eve. Last year Emma made it all the way to midnight. This year it was obvious Daniel wasn't going to make it so we did it early. However it was still late and this is the best picture I got of our presents - new jammie pants. Look closely - I promise there are four sets of pants in there. lol



After all the papers were folded and in bags I filled the stockings. It was fun. Unfortunately I then had to trudge through the snow delivering papes. Sigh - only two more weeks!



This is a pic and video of Emma's very first playing on her "just my hize" violin. Too, too cute. She loves her violin and everyday since she got it she plays it with "Celtic Women".





Their uncle (Thanks Dale!) sent them these hats from bolivia. It was a trick to get both of them in one frame at the same time as they were so excited to be off and playing! :o)



It's still a bit big for D, but just right for Emma. (her Grandma made the dress she is wearing)



I found this train table at the height of summer and had it stashed in the garage just waiting for Christmas. Man that was hard! lol It is really awesome (I may enjoy it as much or more than Em and D!). What you see is about 1/4th of the tracks that came with it. And everything stores in bins underneath it. It really is cool. But it is also quite a challenge when both Em and D want to play with it at the same time. Which is everytime one or the other climbs on!



As you can see - Emma's style of play is more constructive.



While Daniel's is more destructive.



Emma really made my Christmas this year. I made her this dress and she loved it so much that she insisted on sleeping in it! She wore it over the jammie pants I made for her for two days straight! The only thing she has ever worn that much is, well, her birthday suit. So it really meant a lot to me. Ever the stylish girl, she accesorized it with this scarf herself. Here she is running out to meet her Daddy. Yes it is snowing. No she is not wearing a coat. Or shoes. That's Emma for you!



Speaking of snow - here is my all-time favorite video clip of this winter.



One more fun one:

Wow! On the same day that I was coming here to brag about my new bumper stickers, I hear about a new development from the Center for Disease Control.

But first the good news.






Aren't they beautiful!

ok - not sure why they're so small, but as soon as Tuan gets home with the car I'll take more pics and post them.
The left one says "Circumcision? NO! Moroni 8:8"
The right one says "If God wanted me to have a foreskin, I would have been born with one."

Now, the bad news.

The Centers for Disease Control need to hear from you. Today! I would also strongly urge you to cc your Senate and Congressional Representative.

For those interested in where this is all coming from, there was a conference in the last few weeks that resulted in two very important presentations. The first was a study by Millett et al. that confirmed the Sydney study that male circumcision has no value for gay men, who are the major risk group. Then there was this presentation that seems to recommend mass infant male circumcision anyway on a cost-effectiveness basis. No human rights issues were discussed or apparently even contemplated in recommending genital surgeries on children.

If you have never written to your Congress(wo)men, now is a great time to start!

Here is the letter I sent:

December 10, 2007

Julie Louise Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office of the Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd Atlanta, GA 30333

RE: Recommendations viz neonatal male circumcision and HIV

Dear Dr. Gerberding:

I have learned with grave concern that you and the Centers for Disease Control are considering recommending neonatal circumcision as public health policy in the effort to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States. I oppose this recommendation in the strongest possible way.

Neonatal circumcision has run into national grassroots opposition from a sizable and highly active group of people for at least the last 25 years. This opposition on human rights grounds has resulted in the major medical organizations gradually moving away from support of a marginal procedure that damages sexual response and violates the individual human rights of the infants on the receiving end.

Whatever marginal gain individuals may receive from male circumcision must be in the context of informed consent and voluntariness. Infants can provide neither. The variables involved in the effectiveness of such a procedure over the longer term are many, including the changing dynamics of the disease, changes in provision of healthcare impacting cost-effectiveness, the possibility of new treatments, prevention technologies, and eventually a vaccine. Male circumcision has not served the United States well heretofore in comparison with non-circumcising countries and regions where the HIV/AIDS rate is much lower, e.g. Japan, most of Europe, and Latin America.

I urge you to reject neonatal male circumcision as public health policy in order to safe guard your credibility with the American people and throughout the world. The United States can ill-afford another dubious policy with scant input from American stakeholders.

Very truly yours,

Maria Le
www.tuansprincess@yahoo.com

The best dad ever!!

Tuan and his co-workers won a contest at work. The prize was a gift in a certain price range. They got to make a wish list of 3 items. Tuan got #1 on his list:




I think the reward should have be titled "Best Dad in the World" award because he certainly is!