American Correspondent

Board Game 25: Zooloretto

2012-01-26T09:01:00.000-05:00

I'm back to reviewing board games. It seems I missed a few from 2011 but that's okay because I'll get around to them soon enough!

Lucy received Zooloretto for Christmas (along with a couple of small expansion packs).

As the director of your zoo you are responsible to fill up your enclosures with animals of the same type, set up vendor stands and minimise animals in your barn.

Predictably, every game Lucy tries to collect flamingos!

We have had a lot of fun with this game and enjoyed playing the full 5 person game when Lynda & Keegan were visiting.

Board Games 24: Jaipur

2012-01-25T09:52:00.000-05:00

I seem to be fairly behind on my board game reviews! I'll start with the Christmas games and work backwards.

Jaipur is a card game for 2 people!

There are six types of treasure cards to collect along with camels. Whilst only keeping 7 cards in your hand at any one time, you must exchange the cards for tokens (with various points alloted). The person with most points wins.

But that is a very simplified description of the game. There are a number of specific rules and a specific way of playing.

It has been a very fun game to play. Andrew has already establisehd a pattern of collecting all the camels and then flooding the market.

A keeper!

Happy Australia Day 2012 (gluten free!)

2012-01-24T21:56:00.003-05:00

On Monday two parcels from Australia arrived at our house - one from each set of grandparents containing lots of fun Australiana gear! BIG thanks to Grandma, Nanna, Grandad and Grandpa!

We had a very fun time opening the parcels and going through all the stuff. The kids were especially excited about the chocolates. You would think that Henry had never had chocolate before the way he stuffed it all in his mouth at once. He was faster than Charlie Bucket!

On Tuesday we held our annual playdate for our moms group. We made gluten free lamingtons, ANZAC biscuits, vegemite sandwiches and pavlova. Jodi stood guard over the vegemite and warned everyone to have water on hand before attempting a taste.

The moms were given a quiz about Australian geography and BBQ lingo. Andrew had compiled a playlist of Australian songs and we even briefly put the Australian Open tennis on.

Henry thoroughly enjoyed dressing up for the occasion. Lucy decorated the house with animal posters, postcards, stuffed animals and books.

Andrew is looking forward to eating lamb roast with lamb jam!!

Lynda & Keegan's Visit

2012-01-16T21:13:00.005-05:00

It's been a busy four days as Lynda & Keegan visited us from Canada. They are on their way back to Buffalo now and I'm sure their eardrums are quite happy to be away from the noise of the chidlers.

We visited the Aquarium, made crafts at the Hardware store and went to church together. L & K did plenty of shopping as well as playing games with the kids (Lynda was forced to play some unintelligible bracelet game with Lucy which always resulted in Lucy winning)

We ate well and Andrew cooked us some gourmet gf pizzas for lunch today. We talked weddings and did some craft stuff for their engagement party.

And a special treat - Lucy got to try on flowergirl dresses while Lynda wore her wedding dress. We are sworn to secrecy on the dresses. However I will say that they both looked beautiful and neither dress was orange (as predicted by Lucy).

We are looking forward to seeing them at the wedding in Sydney in July!

The week has gotten away...

2012-01-12T21:28:00.002-05:00

It's Thursday night and I haven't had a chance to sit down and write any posts.

Not that is hasn't been exciting here!

Felicity is crawling and getting her first tooth. Henry is potty training. Lucy is learning her core words for first grade.

AND...

Lynda & Keegan are visiting us tomorrow for four days.

See you back here next week!

Sweetgum fruit wreath

2012-01-06T09:53:00.004-05:00

Taking down the Christmas wreath from the front door left a rather white space. So I searched around for an idea for a winter wreath.

I found Martha Stewart showed how to make a sweetgum fruit wreath. Perfect! Our tree had just dropped a whole lot of the annoying, sharp fruits. So Lucy and I gathered them up and got all the equipment ready.

So I spent an hour glue-gunning (is that a word?) the fruits to a wooden wreath frame. [I had pre-tied a ribbon to the top]. Initially I couldn't find my glue gun but Andrew picked a new one up from Michaels - it was $2.49! Then we sprayed the wreath with chrome paint.

We put some furniture pads on the back of the wreath to stop it banging every time we close the door and now we have the perfect winter wreath.

Baby cross stitch

2012-01-05T09:57:00.001-05:00

I finally finished Felicity's cross stitch birth announcement!

The reality is that it was 95% complete before she was born.

Soon after birth I sewed her name and details on.

However I had two things left to do: sew the hair and sew on the beads.

I originally sewed the hair brown, figuring correctly that her hair would be brown. However the cross stitch looked terrible because the hair was not designed to be such a dark colour (the forehead and hair are kind of blended together) So I unpicked it and sewed it in blond. Accuracy is not that relevant - she doesn't sleep in a basket tied to a tree either so what does it matter if the hair colour doesn't match up?

The beads were the bigger problem. I started sewing them in and like the hair they looked terrible. However I didn't know what to do. So I spent the last 8 months pondering it and not making a decision. I finally decided to get rid of the beads and sew in a slightly darker grey. One hour later the cross stitch was finished.

One small decision and the project was done (funny that given that the whole cross stitch took me a really long time because the gold thread was so difficult to work with).

Now for the framing.

Quick recap of the last few weeks

2012-01-04T09:29:00.000-05:00

Lucy and Henry are back at school and life settles back into a regular routine (except I'm keeping Lucy home from school on Thursday and then we are heading to Raleigh on Friday)

Last week we cleaned up the pizza oven area and put away all the furniture for the winter. Winter... What winter? The weather has been beautiful (70 degrees) so we have even eaten lunch outside a few times and Henry has been wearing shorts and tshirts.

Apart from a couple of bitterly cold weeks at the end of October, it has been warm all the way to the new year. Today however it is winter and it was below freezing last night. However by Saturday it is supposed to be back up to 70 again!?!? Not at all like last year when it was a very cold winter and we had 3 snow days when the Martins were visiting.

We've done lots of odd jobs and projects and I'll post some of them for you to see. The kids have been giving the bouncy house a workout in the garage. Andrew took down the Christmas lights and started dreaming about what he could do next year (I started calling him Clark at that point) This was the first year we put some on the house and now he has grand plans.

Felicity is crawling. Henry is cooking every day. Life is good.

Happy New Year from the happiest baby in the whole wide world

2012-01-03T13:25:00.002-05:00

Farewell 2011!

2011-12-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

2011 Movies

2011-12-30T12:38:00.003-05:00

We cancelled our Netflix DVD service in October and now just have an instant membership.

It seems however that many of the movies worth watching are not offered via instant!

So now we use a combination of Amazon instant, Apple TV, cable TV, and Netflix instant.

I think we went to the movies once? We saw the King's Speech. Which if you could only see one movie it is an excellent choice!

Our favourites for 2011: The King's Speech, The Beaver and The IT Crowd. Of course we love all the Narnia movies too. Bleak House and North and South were both fun miniseries to watch.

Movies:

The Beaver

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Blue Valentine

Thomas & Friends: The Early Years: Disc 1

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Barney's Version

Somewhere

The King's Speech

The Company Men

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Wild Target

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

The Young Ones: Disc 3

The Young Ones: Disc 2

The IT Crowd: Series 3

The IT Crowd: Series 2

Morning Glory

Mary Poppins

Robin Hood

It Happened One Night

Samson & Delilah

Skin

Going the Distance

Terms of Endearment

3 Stooges 75th Anniversary: Vol. 1

Valentine's Day

Soul Kitchen

Babies

Summer Hours

Bleak House

Mary and Max

North and South

One night with the King

Ponyo

Man on Wire

Love's Enduring Promise

The Young Ones: Disc 1

The Special Relationship

The Ghost Writer

The Sound of Music

Beautiful Kate

Black Adder: Back and Forth

Yes, Minister: Complete Collection: Disc 4

Tinker Bell

2011 books

2011-12-29T12:02:00.002-05:00

Have I said this before? I love reading books. And despite having a baby to add to our brood I still managed to read a number of books this year.

Not a stellar list though and I have been having trouble picking the best.

An all time favourite is The Phantom Tollbooth. Although a children's book I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it this year on the basis of a Slightly Foxed recommendation. [If you haven't read an issue of Slightly Foxed I urge you to do so soon. And if you haven't read the Phantom Tollbooth you really need to!]

Two books that have lingered in my mind are Corelli's Mandolin [brilliant book, the movie is a disgrace to the book] and The Road Home.

My two audio books this year were I, Claudius and The Odyssey. Both are enjoyable classics.

Two authors gave names to Felicity's soft toys - Willa [Cather] and Sybille [Bedford]

In 2012 I am going to endeavour to read-down my book shelf. It is precariously stacked and there are about 40 books there - perfect for the year of reading ahead. Of course I am still going to exchange books on paperbackswap.com so the net number of books will remain the same even if the reading list gets longer!

2011 Reading list:

The Omnivore's Dilemma : A Natural History of Four Meals - Pollan, Michael

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader - Fadiman, Anne

I, Claudius - Graves, Robert

Empire Falls - Russo, Richard

Freedom - Franzen, Jonathan

When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God--and Joy - Piper, John

Granta 110: Sex - Freeman, John

Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression - Shields, Brooke

The Harmony Silk Factory - Aw, Tash

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith - Lamott, Anne

The Happiness Project - Rubin, Gretchen

Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living - Oxenreider, Tsh

Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway, Ernest

Reliving the Passion - Jr., Walter Wangerin

Slightly Foxed, No. 29, 30, 31

Will Mrs. Major go to hell? - Heath, Aloise Buckley

The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster, Norton

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Bernières, Louis de

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches - Jankovic, Rachel

Kristin Lavransdatter, Part 1: The Wreath - Undset, Sigrid

Cry, the Beloved Country - Paton, Alan

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl, Roald

The BFG - Dahl, Roald

How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture - Schaeffer, Francis

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Voskamp, Ann

A Lost Lady - Cather, Willa

Afterwards - Seiffert, Rachel

The Practice of the Presence of God - Laurent, Frère

Kristin Lavransdatter, Part 2: The Wife - Undset, Sigrid

The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to Take Control Now - Lieberman, Shari

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow - Jerome, Jerome K.

The Road Home - Tremain, Rose

China High: My Fast Times in the 010: A Beijing Memoir - ZZ

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Bender, Aimee

My Life in France - Child, Julia

The Odyssey – Homer (translated by Samuel Butler)

A Visit to Don Otavio: A Traveller's Tale from Mexico - Bedford, Sybille

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World - Nouwen, Henri J.M.

Christmas movie round up

2011-12-28T11:48:00.001-05:00

With so much sewing to do this December I watched a lot of Christmas movies (holiday movies as the Americans like to say)

I had a long list of recommendations. Some we loved, some we didn't. Apologies to those who love the ones we didn't.

Christmas movies we liked:

A Heart for Christmas [Andrew's favourite]
A Muppet Christmas Carol
It's a Wonderful Life
The Bishop's Wife
White Christmas
Christmas Vacation
The Nativity Story [my favourite]
Charlie Brown Christmas [Henry's favourite - he watched it EVERY day to see Snoopy play the guitar]
A Christmas Carol (George C Scott version)
Love Actually
Christmas in Connecticut
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Veggie Tales - the toy that saved Christmas [Lucy's favourite]
Veggies Tales - the star of Christmas
Veggie Tales - St. Nicholas

Movies we didn't like:

Miracle on 34th street
A Christmas Story
Elf
Polar Express

Movies we haven't watch yet:

Christmas with the Kranks
Little Women
Shop Around the Corner
The Christmas Child

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T11:24:00.002-05:00

We had a very fun Christmas. I even finished sewing Felicity's stocking at 10pm on December 23! We went to church on Christmas Eve, a party at the Farvers and then church again on Christmas Day.

We were so busy playing games, skyping and eating that we didn't open presents until 6pm. Then the whining and fighting began. So maybe next year no presents!

We had a leisurely brunch of oranges with pomegrante arils, granola and yoghurt cups, bacon and pancakes. Then an early dinner of lamb roast, potatoes and pumpkin straight from the wood-fired pizza oven. Oh so good!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T20:18:00.000-05:00

Gluten free: Christmas cooking

2011-12-20T20:06:00.005-05:00

So far:
Double chocolate cherry cookies
Pork roast with apples & cranberries
Shredded chicken tortilla soup
Apple cinnamon muffins
Cinnamon vanilla granola

Tomorrow: Autumn sausage casserole

It's still hot here, around 72 degrees today. Lucy and Felicity have both been sick (strep, ear infections) and no wonder - some days hot, some cool, some cold. It's the same temperature as Sydney at the moment. Crazy stuff and it may just be an Australian Christmas afterall!

More sewing... 5 days to go!

2011-12-19T08:11:00.000-05:00

Gluten Free: Chocolate chip cookies

2011-12-16T10:55:00.001-05:00

I baked these cookies from the gluten free almond flour cookbook.

They are so good and yet so easy.

Henry delivered them to his CBS teachers.

Then he delivered cinnamon apple muffins to his preschool teachers.

We are loving our Honeyville almond flour.

Opening the advent calendar 2011

2011-12-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

Christmas stockings

2011-12-14T10:49:00.001-05:00

Auntie Kat - Lucy has a question or two for you.

Why is her stocking pointing the opposite way to all the others?

Also why are there only 7 reindeer?

I leave these with you to answer!

[Katrina kindly made Andrew's and Lucy's stockings, my Scottish grandma made mine some 30+ years ago, and I made Henry's]

Burnt fingers

2011-12-13T10:46:00.000-05:00

On Sunday Henry was 'helping' to make pancakes for breakfast.

He was told not to touch the frypan.

He did.

He burnt his fingers.

We put on ice, burn gel, gave him cantharis and put on Lightning McQueen bandaids.

Today he is all good.

It's finished!

2011-12-12T10:40:00.003-05:00

Yes I finished Henry's stocking. I even went out for dinner 3 times last week and delivered a meal to a friend yesterday.

How good does it look! Henry was very excited to receive it.

Now I'm on to Felicity's stocking. However there is pretty much no way it will be finished before Christmas. While Henry's had 35 pieces, Felicity's has 152!

Why there is NOT much blogging going on...

2011-12-06T09:30:00.001-05:00

Whilst we were unpacking our Christmas decorations, Lucy was very upset to learn that Henry and Flissy did not have Christmas stockings.

Shock horror!

So at the last minute (ie 1 December) I decided to make some.

You can see Henry's in progress.

And that is why, although there may be lots of fun things happening around here, I won't be blogging. I will be sewing. And loving it.

Happy 13th Wedding Anniversary!

2011-12-05T09:34:00.000-05:00

We're heading out for gluten free fondue tonight.

Three little babes in Christmas pajamas

2011-12-03T16:27:00.002-05:00

It's Christmas time!

2011-11-28T11:03:00.003-05:00

Lots of fun things have been happening in our house!

We spent the weekend decorating the house for Christmas. We all went to the local park and picked a tree. Then we decorated it whilst drinking hot chocolates.

Andrew and Henry started putting up lights on the outside of the house (the first time we have done this). The job isn't finished because the helper kept climbing the ladder or running away.

However it all felt sort of strange, in a fun way, because it was hot! I think it was 78 degrees which is about 25 celsius. So it sort of felt like we were in Australia.

We blasted 'Joy to the world' through the speakers and we enjoyed a lamb roast dinner. Flissy especially enjoyed sucking on a slab of lamb and protested loudly when it was taken from her.

Looking forward to more Christmas festivities in the next few weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T10:29:00.004-05:00

We are heading off to see the Holmes family in a few hours for a thanksgiving feast.

We created two gluten free thanksgiving pies - one chocolate cream and the other banana cream with peanut butter and choc chips. The custard/cream tastes sooo good!

Happy thanksgiving everyone! Love this time of year.

Australian Tour announced

2011-11-21T10:43:00.002-05:00

Have you heard the news?

Andrew's little sister is getting married!

That means we'll be visiting Oz sometime in July 2012.

Stay tuned for dates! We can't wait to see you.

Gluten Free: Baking

2011-11-18T11:14:00.001-05:00

I think one of the trickiest parts of gluten free eating (apart from eating out) is baking.

We have the main meals under control now with modified ingredients - the main changes being gf bread and breadcrumbs and gf soy sauce.

Baking is tricky because it requires rising and certain textures to make cakes and biscuits taste AND feel good.

We are checking out different recipes. Some we like and some we don't. It's just trial and error around here at the moment.

Only in America...

2011-11-17T11:11:00.000-05:00

I used to say this a lot but now it is fairly rare. Am I becoming American or am I immune to the strange things around me?

Not sure which but in any case check out this bizarre product.

Why not just have a regular mint?

Brussel Sprouts

2011-11-16T10:58:00.001-05:00

We've started eating brussel sprouts in our house. Well, some of us have. Henry is still holding out.

I have a good recipe that roasts them. Then I toss them with butter, lemon juice and chopped walnuts.

But something I didn't know about brussel sprouts was that they grow on a stalk!

Did you know this?

I just assumed they grew in the ground like little heads of cabbage. But apparently not.

Hopefully they will taste fresher and sweeter cutting them straight off the stalk!

Gluten Free: Pizza

2011-11-15T11:02:00.001-05:00

Although we have our own fantastic super-secret gf Andrews Pizza dough recipe, we are always happy to check out other gf pizzas.

So we stopped in at Fuel Pizza.

AWESOME!

I highly recommend their gluten free pizza. The only issue we had was that the toppings and cheese didn't stick to the base very well but kept sliding off. This wasn't too big a deal and we just scooped it back on top.

The cafe is called Fuel because it is in an old petrol station (gas station) complete with paraphernalia. They don't have a wood fired oven, just the regular pizza oven with the moving contraption on it. They cooked the pizzas at 390 degrees which Andrew thought was too low but the result was still good.

I really liked how they put the sauce and topping very close to the edge. And the sauce was good, tending to the sweet side. I thought it was pureed tomatoes but Andrew says smashed.

If you're in the Charlotte area check them out at one of their many locations! [they do regular pizza too!]

Odyssey

2011-11-14T10:31:00.006-05:00

We bought a new-to-us car on Saturday.

It felt kind of strange leaving the Impreza behind and driving off in a different car without handing over any money.

Of course we paid for the car, we didn't steal it! [I can see K dialing the police already]

I just mean because everything is electronically done we just signed some papers and walked out. Because we had a trade-in we didn't need a deposit so I guess that's why it felt strange.

Our new car is a 2010 Honda Odyssey EX-L.

The good parts: automatic sliding doors, automatic opening boot, space for 3 car seats + much more, turning circle is awesome.

The bad parts: front wheel drive (Andrew tested this out deliberately and got one of the wheels to spin. He kept telling me about how that wouldn't happen in a Subaru as it has all wheel drive. blahblahblah), small reversing camera screen, speedometer only has certain numbers marked (ie 20, 40, 60 but not 30, 50, 70), no petrol tank indicator (ie what side is it on - actually its on the left which is annoying because 80% of cars around here have it on the left)

So all up we are very happy. It is SO nice to be able to get the baby capsule in and out safely and to press a button and Henry's door opens for him to climb in. I'm loving it already.

And Andrew is enjoying driving the other Subaru (Tribeca) to work. He now can fit more than 2 people in his car and have legroom!

And ironically for all book lovers out there I am currently reading Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus is plotting his revenge against the suitors!

I (finally!) got my haircut

2011-11-08T13:58:00.000-05:00

Board Tennis storms North Carolina

2011-11-03T10:28:00.000-04:00

Board Tennis, a board game produced by international designer Ben Martin, made its North American debut yesterday.

Players were initially skeptical of the game but once started they declared it 'fast paced' and 'surprisingly fun'.

All inquiries for the game should be directed to the US distributor through this website.

Disclosure: This reviewer was sent a free copy of the board game but all opinions are independent.

Half birthdays

2011-11-02T09:16:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year for us to celebrate some half birthdays! Flissy was first up, Andrew was next and then Lucy is 5.5 tomorrow.

Flissy had a gf chocolate cake, Andrew had home made chocolate pudding (left) and Lucy ... well lets just say she keeps changing her mind about what she wants.

Home improvements

2011-11-01T09:22:00.001-04:00

The babymoon is waning and now I'm back into projects.

First up is the repainting of the kitchen table. The table was getting pretty bad. As you can see in the before picture, before I had sanded it, the varnish was already worn off the top.

Now it is a glossy red! I also got some new chair cushions from World Market.

Not bad for a cheap ikea dining suite.

More weekend pizza parties

2011-10-31T15:06:00.003-04:00

We're all sick. First strep a few weeks ago, then influenza last week and now this week its just regular old colds.

In between all the sickness we had two pizza parties on the weekend. First up Andrew's work team followed by the Lingenfelters & Becketts.

We were introduced to a very fun card game called Dutch Blitz. Easy to learn and it plays very fast.

The weather has turned cold and as such the pizza oven season may be nearly over. We've switched from shorts and tshirts to jeans and jumpers. Henry is still in denial and demanding shorts and tshirts. I had to force him to wear a jacket as well as shoes and socks. But he kept strong on the shorts despite the 35 degree weather!

the gluten free journey continues

2011-10-25T16:42:00.002-04:00

So, we're on week 3 of our gluten-free lifestyle.

It's all going well so far. Eating at home is proving to be do-able. Some days I have spent all day cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. And then cleaning up.

Hopefully now that there is a small build up of frozen meals the cooking will abate somewhat.

Going out to eat is not so fun but we'll get there and now I'm keeping a list of places we can go to. At Sweet & Savory last week I shared Jodi's flourless chocolate cake and it was excellent [but the only GF item on the dessert menu]

We've had a few slip ups. Henry snatched some goldfish at preschool, Andrew ate a crunchie (?!?!) and Lucy bought an icecream sandwich at the cafeteria.

On the whole I think we are eating better, healthy food. Above you can see the peach parfait I made for breakfast using fresh peaches, yoghurt and TJ granola. The kids weren't impressed but I thought it was awesome.

My baby is 6 months old!

2011-10-19T10:20:00.001-04:00

Weekend pizza party

2011-10-18T16:07:00.004-04:00

We had a fun pizza party on the weekend! The weather is perfect at the moment for pizza - evenings are cool, crisp and getting earlier.

The family wore Andrew's Pizza gear and we hung the sign on the gate. Henry sat on a stool and supervised all the dough rolling.

We tried out our first batch of gluten-free pizza dough and it was excellent! We used Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust mix as a base and then modified it to get it to Andrew's Pizza standard.

Thanks to the Holmes, Pennys, Townsends, Nichols, Vegas, Dyers and Goods.

Of course the next night we cooked a lamb roast in the oven for dinner!

We finished the 5000 piece jigsaw!

2011-10-14T08:20:00.000-04:00

New wardrobe for Henry

2011-10-13T08:55:00.000-04:00

I am in a spring cleaning frenzy!

Before tackling the pantry, I cleared out Henry's size 2 clothes and put in the size 3 & 4 clothes.

Thanks to my generous benefactor, Erica, Henry has more than enough clothes for the next few years.

Next onto Lucy's wardrobe. That girl's legs keep growing longer and longer.

Gluten Free: The results are in

2011-10-12T11:13:00.002-04:00

We got our test results back from the lab.

A 'normal' result is 10 or below.

Andrew came in at 36. This means he is gluten sensitive.

I came in at a whopping 194!

I'm glad we already did the hard work and changed over to gluten free on Monday as I'm not sure I could have done it otherwise. Who wants to do something because they HAVE to? We made the change willingly and happily. Now I know that science backs me up but it wasn't the results that made me change.

Lucy is doing a super job with the change. Henry doesn't understand and was caught sneaking goldfish at preschool yesterday!

Gluten free: Snacks

2011-10-11T08:31:00.002-04:00

One of the things worrying me about going gluten free was this: what would happen if i was suddenly hungry and I hadn't prepared any snacks? would I look in the cupboard and find nothing to eat? [note: because I am still nursing Flissy I am hungry ALL the time]

So I browsed through the list of websites in my gluten-free book to check out what was on offer.

It turns out that I can get a lot of food through Amazon's (wonderful) subscribe and save program. Not just snacks but flours and grains too.

So last week a rather large box arrived with the following items:

multigrain crackers
puffed rice
agave nectar
lemon wafers
pretzel twists
breakfast bars, apple
millet rice cereal

Of course there were many items of each. Good thing I've cleared up the pantry!

We also have lots of fun stuff from Trader Joes!

Gluten Free: D DAY!

2011-10-10T08:32:00.003-04:00

Today is our first gluten free day. I am totally freaked out!

But we're eating our favourite meal tonight - teriyaki beef. The only change I have to make is to use gluten-free soy sauce. No big deal right?!?

Stay tuned, there is breakfast, lunch and snacks to deal with in between.

Last night as a final hurrah we dined out at Indochine (we also had a gift voucher to use). So we filled ourselves with gyoza, cha gio and pad thai which was followed by coconut cake, coconut ice cream and mango with sticky rice.

Although still recovering from this virus I did manage to clean and tidy the pantry. Everything is gluten free now (see photo left).

We're still here

2011-10-07T20:29:00.001-04:00

Alive but not kicking. Still pretty sick with coughs and headaches. Andrew and I have both been to the doctor and we just need to rest now. Not sure how much of that goes on with 3 little ones!

Water kefir

2011-10-04T10:44:00.001-04:00

One of the new things we are trying out is water kefir.

It is a lacto-fermented drink. Water Kefir Grains are a combination of live bacteria and yeasts which exist in a symbionic matrix. Many of the bacteria used in yoghurt are found in the 'grains' and this is an easy way to get pro-biotics into your body.

I am making one batch every 48 hours.

To the latest batch I added lime juice to create 'limeade' which was immensely popular with everyone in this house. In fact there was lots of crying and begging for more.

Check out the details at Cultures for Health.

Weekend camping (and sickness)

2011-10-03T10:28:00.003-04:00

We had a pretty low key weekend as the majority of us were sick.

Somehow that fact didn't stop Andrew, Lucy and Henry sleeping in the tent and making s'mores for dinner. The positive part is that the kids slept in until 7:30am!

We had a quick trip to Pender Pines for some plants but there was a disappointing selection. The kids enjoyed feeding the fish and visiting the emu however.

Back to bed now to get rid of this cold.

Gluten Free: Planning update

2011-10-01T10:34:00.004-04:00

I'm stuck on Number 9 - Make a 2 week GF menu plan (incl. breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks)

It seems like a monumental task and I don't want to go there. I'll tackle it straight after writing this.

On a positive note we have been eating out our freezer and pantry. Last week we cooked up a green bean casserole to use up our (sadly gluten-full) fried onions.

We also tried out the gluten-free brownie mix and pancake mix from Bob's Red Mill. The brownie mix is AWESOME, the pancakes so-so (probably because Andrew dramatically changed the recipe)

Jigsaw update

2011-09-30T10:28:00.002-04:00

We've made a lot of progress on our 5000 piece jigsaw!

Last week we started and finished the sky which was probably about 1000 pieces.

The sky was difficult in one sense as there wasn't a lot of detail to refer to but in another sense this made it easier (especially when we lined up the pieces in shapes)

I'm hoping to have the dining table back soon.

Gluten free: Dining out

2011-09-26T13:46:00.002-04:00

Here are my sweeties at Macaroni Grill. Doesn't Henry look so cute giving his baby sister a cuddle!

Due to the rain we spent most of the weekend at home in our pajamas. However we did get out to church and then to lunch.

We ate a Macaroni Grill because:
1. it is close
2. they have a new menu
3. they offer gluten free options

The new menu is terrible. There is much less choice than before and now there is no lamb. I repeat, No lamb. No lamb. Andrew spoke his mind to the waitress.

We tried out their new mushroom & goat cheese flatbread and their gluten free pasta. Both were good. [Sidetrack: how can you tell they served us gluten free pasta? what if they mixed it up?]

Overall though we were disappointed and probably won't go back again. It did highlight the difficulties of gluten free dining out and the lack of options available.

Gluten Free: Nordic Naturals

2011-09-23T09:48:00.001-04:00

Looking for a good fish oil? Check out Nordic Naturals.

These fishies for the kids are packed full of Omega 3 and importantly are gluten free.

For the adults we have a lemon flavoured tablet.

For the baby we have strawberry flavoured drops.

We're in this together people.

Gluten Free: Bob's Red Mill

2011-09-22T09:22:00.000-04:00

Yay for Bob's Red Mill!

I've been buying flours from them ever since we moved to the US. I have all sorts of specialty flours that can't be purchased elsewhere.

Now I am trying out their extensive gluten free range.

Everything from brownie mix to oatmeal.

And guess what?

They have a GF pizza crust mix.

Sounds like a good excuse to fire up the pizza oven. I'll let you know how it goes.

Gluten Free: Baby steps

2011-09-21T09:07:00.001-04:00

Plans are worthless but planning is everything. Eisenhower

I abhor it when people say 'just eliminate gluten from your diet for a few weeks to see if it has an effect on you'. Like that is an easy thing to do! We are a busy family with 3 little ones. 'Just' eliminating gluten is not an easy thing.

This is a lifestyle change, not a fad.

Going gluten free is not a matter of flicking a switch and everything is magically wonderful. There are a number of steps to undertake to get to that point and that is what this post is about - getting my thoughts down so we can make the steps needed to become gluten free.

1. Set date for the changeover (currently 10 October 2011, about 3 weeks away)

2. Order lab tests to determine medically whether we are gluten sensitive

3. Buy new soy sauce

4. Look through frozen prepared meals and mark which ones have gluten. Eat these before change over

5. Purchase GF Bob's Red Mill flours and mixes

6. Shop at Trader Joes for gluten free products

7. Purchase cinnamon/chromium tablets from Costco (diabetes related)

8. Purchase good fish oil

9. Make a 2 week GF menu plan (incl. breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks)

10. Clean out pantry and fridge of non GF products.

11. Talk to school, preschool, friends, mums group and church about going GF

And I'll add to the list as I think of more.

Gluten Free: Why are we going gluten free?

2011-09-20T10:07:00.003-04:00

Going gluten free is not something that is easily or lightly done so with that in mind I am writing down the reasons so that whenever I get unmotivated I can come back here and get the pep talk. And yes there is some ranting in this post which you can feel free to ignore.

There are two reasons for this change, both of which require some explanation.

1. Andrew developed diabetes for an unknown reason.

In March 2009, a few months before Henry was born, Andrew was diagnosed with diabetes. We sort of guessed this before the official word came through. And funnily enough before we got married 12 years ago I told Andrew when we were discussing our vows that if he continued eating his terrible diet and got diabetes that I wasn't going to look after him. [So when he called me from the doctors office to say he had diabetes I told him I would stick with him! Aaaahhh!]

The point is that Andrew is not overweight, gets reasonable exercise and doesn't have a family history of diabetes. He doesn't fit the mold of either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. They really don't know what type he has or how or why it developed. Rant 1 [I really don't understand why the doctors do not care how his diabetes developed. They just treat the visible symptoms and not worry about trying to understand what is really happening in his body. If things go wrong they just give him more drugs at higher doses. Really?]

So on my to-do list has been to research diabetes in some more depth. And I came across this fact: gluten damages pancreas cells that produce insulin.

Adult onset diabetes may be the result of gluten intolerance. However the gluten intolerance is not usually diagnosed or treated, just the diabetes symptoms that have appeared. There is a high correlation between celiac disease and diabetes.

Therefore it makes sense to see if gluten intolerance is the real problem. Eating gluten doesn't mean that the diabetes will go away, particularly if the pancreas is beyond repair, but it does mean that the underlying cause will be treated and further complications from gluten intolerance can be averted.

2. Before the villi are gone

In 2005 with non-specific symptoms I had a blood test result that indicated I potentially had celiac disease. A biopsy proved that I did not have celiac disease. That was a relief. BUT then there was no diagnosis for why I felt sick in my stomach all the time and kept losing weight. The gastroenterologist told me it was stress.

During my recent diabetes/gluten free research I came across a report that said: if a small bowel biopsy comes back normal or nearly normal, you are told that the blood test must have been a “false positive” and that gluten is not your problem. All that means (positive blood test, negative biopsy) is that the gluten sensitivity (evidenced by antibodies to gliadin in the blood) has not yet damaged your intestines severely.

Eureka! Wow! Why did I not know this before?

Celiac disease is the end point - there's no going back at that point. BUT there are points in between and going gluten free before that point can prevent it becoming full blown.

Based on this research because of my positive blood test there is a high likelihood that I am gluten sensitive and should go on a gluten free diet.

Now it's time for another rant [How on earth could that specialist gastroenterologist look me in the eye and give me the throwaway line that my symptoms must be caused by stress? Really? Given this research it is clear that many people are gluten intolerant and yet he wants to wait until full blown celiac disease arrives before the patient is treated!! I wish I could re-visit him today and give him the research (and a piece of my mind) so that in future he may be able to help others! As the research article says, no one waits for a heart attack to occur - they take steps to prevent it. The same for celiac disease, no one wants celiac disease - adopt a gluten free diet now]

So there you have it, two good reasons for our family to go gluten free.

And btw we are ordering gluten sensitivity tests from the lab to confirm a diagnosis either way.

Next Steps

Despite the evidence above, I am still resisting somewhat. It's not an easy thing to overhaul the way we eat and in fact seems overwhelming. There are so many questions. Can we still eat the meals we still love? How will we go out to restaurants? Can I still cook from Rose's Beautiful Cakes? How will we deal with school, parties, pot lucks, going out to friends houses? Why does soy sauce have wheat it in? Why does so many prepared foods have wheat in them? How can we make pizza dough?

I guess we'll work through the answers to these questions as we go.

Next post I list the steps I am going through right now to get to the end point.

BugFest 2011

2011-09-19T09:02:00.005-04:00

On Saturday we made the two hour drive up the I40 to Raleigh to the Museum of Natural Sciences. We were there to check out BugFest!

[As a side note can I just say that its been super hot here over the summer. The last few weeks its settled to around 85 degrees. On Saturday the temperature suddenly dropped to 65 and we were scrambling to find clothes for the kids that still fit!]

The museum was full of exhibits on cockroaches, scorpions and flies as well as various presentations. There were lots of stands outside including face painting, cockroach races and the world's rarest caterpillar (which wasn't actually very exciting)

One of the key features of the festival is eating bugs! The kids boycotted this idea by demanding Chinese so we headed over to NeoAsia. We've eaten at NeoAsia a few times. One time we had to wait 45 minutes for a table. This time (and to some extent last time) the place was empty. What is going on? Is there a new dim sum place in town? And the waiters weren't Chinese this time but Mexican and American. It was very strange in an eerie kind of way. Maybe next year we can eat the bugs!

After lunch we headed over to Grand Asia market for coconut juice, roast duck [mummy i can see its eyes!] and bbq pork. The kids also spent some time at the model train shop just down the road.

On to Trader Joes for some gluten free shopping. They make it so easy by printing a 'g' symbol on their products that are gluten free. The girl at the cash register confirmed that TJ's was opening in Wilmington (it was in their staff bulletin) but no date had been assigned other than 2012.

Then it was time to come home and all three kids slept in the car the WHOLE way!

[And don't they look so cute with their faces painted!]

Vegetable update

2011-09-16T09:16:00.000-04:00

Our vegetable garden was fairly successful this year. We focused on tomatoes and whilst we had an abundance of fruit, there was none left to can or preserve. We ate them all!

We still have peppers (capsicums), carrots and leeks growing in the garden. It is so fun to be able to run outside and grab a leek whenever I need one for cooking.

Thankfully the tomato season was finished before Hurricane Irene blew through.

Andrew used all his nerdiness to create a database to record all the vegetables grown. Once the season completely finishes we'll do some statistical analysis and plan for next year.

First day of preschool 2011

2011-09-15T08:51:00.000-04:00

Back to regular programming

2011-09-14T10:39:00.003-04:00

Thank you to my half a dozen loyal readers for all your patience.

Today Henry's preschool started its regular program so I am now down to one child at home a few mornings a week.

Hopefully I will be able to blog more regularly than what occurred over the summer.

We were pretty busy but I just didn't have much time to sit at the computer.

The busyness continues but I now have a few hours of quiet! Felicity is such a happy contented little person and pretty quiet so I will be able to have some head-space.

I'm not going to recap the summer, sorry. Let's just start fresh!

We are heading to Raleigh on Saturday to go to Bugfest as well as our usual round of shopping at Grand Asia market and Trader Joes. You can look forward to reading about it next week.

Here are some things (amongst many others) on my mind that you'll be hearing about:

buying a new car
converting to a gluten-free diet
looking for pork belly recipes
learning to make kefir and home-made yoghurt

I have also started thinking about Christmas.

Go Hawks!!

First day of school

2011-09-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

(Not) Back to school icecream

2011-08-31T20:35:00.002-04:00

Now you can see why Lucy was disappointed about school being cancelled - we had a big build up!

It all culminated the day before. Andrew took the day off work and we had a leisurely breakfast. Bacon, french toast casserole and fruit cups topped with cream.

Next we headed to the beach for some sandy fun. This was the day before the hurricane so the waves were pretty good. Because most kids were back at school we had the beach to ourselves. We picked up lunch at PT Grills (with the vouchers we won at the adoption quarter auction) and ate in the backyard.

Before dinner Lucy and I drove over to Boombalattis to get ice cream. The new kindergartener got to choose the favours - she chose strawberry and oreo cookie. At home we set up a candy bar and let the kids decorate their ice cream bowls.

Now for school already!

(Not) Back to school beach fun

2011-08-30T20:34:00.002-04:00

(Not) Back to school breakfast

2011-08-29T20:14:00.001-04:00

Crazy weather

2011-08-28T19:59:00.003-04:00

We are still alive and kicking.

Last week we survived tornadoes, an earthquake and a hurricane.

It has been quite a week.

We lost power during the hurricane on two occasions: Friday 4pm - 6pm and Saturday 3am - 11am. But it was nothing like we were prepared for and thankfully nothing major happened. We had some leaks in our roof which we'll have to fix and the yard was a mess with branches (which are now all cleaned up and ready for pick up on the curb). We survived our first hurricane!

On top of that Lucy was supposed to start kindergarten but school was cancelled because of Hurricane Irene. The school called a few minutes ago and confirmed that school IS on tomorrow. Andrew is dropping her off and then she is catching the bus home. I'm still not sure exactly where the bus stop is but I guess we'll find out tomorrow (and it may involve me running wildly down the street waving)

UPDATE: Hurricane Irene

2011-08-25T21:37:00.002-04:00

School is cancelled for tomorrow!! Oh no. Lucy is going to be so mad!

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-25T20:53:00.002-04:00

Hurricane Irene is approaching us and is due sometime on Saturday (not sure what time) School finishes early tomorrow so they can get the schools ready to act as evacuation shelters. Lucy was worried they would cancel her first day of school!

We don't know if Wilmington is going to get a direct hit yet. Pray that we don't.

Currently cleaning the garage so we can store lots in there. Not sure if we are going to stay or go. We will decide tomorrow when we get more information.

In the meantime I am focusing on getting Lucy to her first day of kindergarten tomorrow!!!

Chocolate banana stud cake

2011-08-22T14:07:00.003-04:00

Any chance I get to cook from 'Rose's Heavenly Cakes' I do so.

When I found out belatedly it was our friend Robin's birthday I quickly looked through the cookbook for a fast but delicious cake.

If you have the book you know that 'fast' is a relative term with Rose. No cake in her book is fast per se but some are not as intricate as others.

The ganache on this cake was SO easy and yet so awesome. I am going to be using it again.

The studs were supposed to take 45 minutes but I only had 15 minutes before Robin was arriving so I just went for it with both hands. Not as neat or symmetrical as Rose's decoration but hey you do what you have to do when you have 3 little people.

I told Lucy and Henry to keep the cake a secret from Robin. However neither of them are good with secrets. Henry told her repeatedly: happy.... hide.... shhhh! (He says happy for happy birthday)

So now this is known as the happy hide cake! And it tastes good too!

Travelling with children is not glamourous

2011-08-18T10:35:00.000-04:00

This post is a reality check on all the previous ones.

Our roadtrip was fun but it was also hard work.

Traveling with three little ones, especially an energetic 2 year old, is not easy.

There were plenty of things we wanted to do but cancelled due to tiredness, heat or tantrums.

The photo left was one such case. It was 104 degrees, I've got milk spew on my shirt and I'm cradling a sleeping baby (who only wants to sleep when held). Andrew has taken the other two kids for a walk but they all get so tired we have to drive to dinner, which is both inconvenient and expensive.

I'm not complaining. I just didn't want to give the impression that we are some sort of super parents or that it was just all fun and games ;)

Henry's trip highlights

2011-08-17T09:54:00.000-04:00

1. Julia Child's pots in the Museum of American History

2. Riding the 'orsies' on the carousel (or pig in this case) at the mall and at the Please Touch museum

3. Catching waves

4. Meeting Henry the elephant at the Museum of Natural History

Lucy meets Lucy

2011-08-16T09:33:00.000-04:00

Whilst in Philly, we took a 1 hour diversion down the Atlantic Highway to Margate City, New Jersey.

This was of course to meet a 6 storey high, 130 year old pachyderm named Lucy!

Lucy the girl was ecstatic to meet Lucy the elephant.

Lucy the girl was even more ecstatic to enter the gift shop and revel in the Lucyness of it all. Tshirts, magnets, mugs, postcards, you-name-it, all had 'Lucy' plastered across it.

After surveying the Lucy wonderland we joined a tour group to climb inside the structure. We watched a short documentary on the history of the elephant before climbing onto the howdah for a view of the beach.

Lucy had a fabulous time (despite the photo at the top!) and walked away with a new tshirt, mug and adventure book, concluding that all Lucy's are wonderful!

Andrew's fun

2011-08-15T10:26:00.005-04:00

1. Driving the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel

2. Playing at the beach

3. Examining helicopters at the National Air and Space Museum

4.Eating lots of meat from DiNics at Reading Terminal Market

Butterfly fun at the museum

2011-08-12T10:22:00.001-04:00

Down to business at the embassy

2011-08-11T10:17:00.001-04:00

Fliss travels

2011-08-10T10:04:00.002-04:00

Roadtrip snippets

2011-08-09T10:54:00.003-04:00

(in reverse order)

We are back in Wilmington NC. Unpacking, washing and fixing the air conditioner. It's going to take a while to get back to 'normal' but it's okay with us to extend the vacation at home and eat ice cream for breakfast tomorrow.

After a LONG walk along the boardwalk, splashing in the water and enjoying picadillo beef stuffed plantains at mojitos, we are staying up to watch the fireworks. Kids enjoyed some carnival rides and beachwalking. We are loving VB.

Just drove through the Chesapeake bay tunnel, an engineering marvel, and soon we'll be in Virginia beach. Farewell ocean city Maryland, city of drunk college students and beach advertising. We're glad to be heading home.

Kids easily pleased. Perfect vacation = hotel pool + dinner at cracker barrel. Tick.

Just saw the liberty bell (through an outer window) ho hum. Then walked to reading terminal market. WOW! Foodie paradise. Ate at DiNics and gazed at all the wonderful foods we wished we could buy. My picks: lamb crown, fresh pressed cider and smoked ham hocks.

Had planned to have an awesome Chinese feast in Philly tonight. Things haven't worked out timing wise so we are somewhere in Jersey at a chick-fil-a and I couldn't be significantly happier.

In nj. These state changes are making my head spin. Just left Lucy the elephant in margate city. Lucy the girl loved meeting Lucy the elephant who is 125 years older than her but still looking good. 2 children asleep and neither is called Lucy except by mistake!!

Please touch children's museum in Philly is awesome if not expensive ($76 for 4 of us, ouch!) hooray we've got to 27 states AND got our passports.

We're in Wilmington! DE that is, not NC. Barely made it with all the screaming, kicking and non sleeping children. About to hit the iron hill brewery and stroll the riverwalk.

We are on the road and we've made it to our first new state-west Virginia! Ate lunch at the country cafe in harpers ferry where the king of Jordan visited in 2009.

Heat + crowds + hotel room beds = screaming children in national air and space museum. Thankfully back on the road tomorrow in an air conditioned car. However first we are having ice cream sundaes for dinner at serendipity.

On a dinner date with #1 daughter at firefly. Kids decorate their own cookie during appetizer which is baked and served for dessert. Me, I'm having a glass of red, my first in a very long time. Trust that my other family is doing ok in the hotel room with some tj specials.

Now I know felicity is appropriately named. She just laughed in her sleep. Oh so fun!

Blueberry waffles and ice-cream for breakfast. We must be on holidays!! First stop this morning - the Australian embassy. Then on to the butterfly pavilion at the natural history museum.

Professional mama this afternoon. Comforting various tired thoms children at various times. Different location but same vocation.

Cool mint tea and a salmon bento box at teaism. Only 1 child crying.

Henry was hysterically happy to see all the pots in Julia child's kitchen at the museum of American history. Pots! Pots! POTS!!

We can see trader joes from our hotel window!

146 miles to dc. We're listening to Charlie and the chocolate factory and eating chocolate coated almonds. Wouldnt mind an everlasting gobstopper right now

Over half way

2011-08-08T10:46:00.000-04:00

Our road trip added four new states to our tally: West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. We are now at 27 states!

In West Virginia we visited Harpers Ferry where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet and ate a cafe that the King of Jordan visited in 2009.

In Delaware we visited Wilmington and ate dinner at the Iron Hill Brewery on the riverfront.

In Pennsylvania we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall before eating lunch at Reading Terminal Market.

In New Jersey we visited Margate City to see Lucy the elephant.

Chocolate heaven

2011-08-05T21:15:00.002-04:00

This is one of my favourite photos from our road trip as it captures the sense of summer fun. Because it isn't everyday, or indeed very many days in life, that we have ice cream for dinner.

On our last night in DC we walked through Georgetown to eat at Serendipity 3. To start our sugar feast we ordered a double sized frozen hot chocolate. With four straws the bowl was quickly drained as we slurped up the liquid chocolately goodness.

And I love the happy look of the three month old, who despite not being able to indulge in the chocolate was just happy to be there with her favourite people.

More trip highlights to follow.

Roadtrip

2011-07-20T21:47:00.001-04:00

We're heading off on our summer roadtrip this weekend.

We're heading to Washington DC first and we hope to hit VA, WV, MD, DE, PA, NJ. Of these, four are new states for us so our tally will be 27 states - over half way!

We've visited DC before of course. Check out the video here and our highlights here, here and here. It is so funny to see Lucy so small. Yet she is exactly the same age as Henry is now. I wonder if he will like babyccinos as much as she did.

See you in August!

CSA

2011-07-18T20:55:00.000-04:00

This summer we joined a CSA program (community supported agriculture). It probably wasn't the best timing with a new baby and all but it is working out great now and we are enjoying fresh organic vegetables grown at a local farm.

We pick up a box of vegetables from our farmer every week.

Sometimes there are vegetables in the box that we don't know what they are! This year we discovered the joys of kale.

Sometimes there are vegetables in the box that some people in our family don't like (ie eggplant). Last week we discovered a huge eggplant and a mega-huge zucchini in our box.

So I made a roasted eggplant and zucchini lasagne. I didn't tell anyone what kind of lasagne it was (though obviously Andrew knew) and everyone chowed it down. It was delicious!

Weekend summer fun

2011-07-17T21:40:00.003-04:00

We are about half way through our summer school break - just another 5 or 6 weeks to go! [And yes I am slowly going crazy with 3 small children and no schedule]

Early last week we had a 105 degree day. Not sure what that is in celsius except to say that is was extremely hot and humid.

Since then it has been 85 degrees every day. It. is. awesome. Repeat. It. is. awesome.

I say this because it is usual for it to be so low! This coming week will see us back to the 95's which is more normal.

So we've been taking advantage of the nice weather by spending lots of time outside playing and eating. We have been hosting a weekly playdate for our mom's group, camping out and barbequing. As well as eating smores, taking family walks and eating ice blocks (popsicles!)

Henry's train birthday party

2011-07-14T08:07:00.003-04:00

Henry's party was mostly about the food.

We had wood-fired lamb roast, with gravy and tzatziki. (Sausages for the unadventurous types but there were lots left over so I assume 99% of people ate lamb) Andrew prepared two types of lamb: one with paprika, olive oil, garlic and salt and one with a breadcrumb, fresh oregano, fresh rosemary and salt crust. Both excellent.

This was accompanied by potato salad, apple slaw, green salad and a fruit platter of strawberries, grapes and watermelon.

Followed by the train cake and ice cream.

Although we are in a drought and it has hardly rained this year, the day started out grey and cloudy. It had rained the whole day before. I prayed hard that even if it wasn't sunny that it wouldn't rain during the party. The party started and the sky was grey and threatening. Then during the party the sky cleared and it turned out very hot and sunny. After the party the sky clouded over again and at 4pm it started pouring with rain. Thanks God for the break in the weather for a special little boys party!

Henry enjoyed opening his presents and playing with his new toys especially his new drill.

Thank you to all the families for coming over - Holmes, Vegas, Pennys, Nichols, Walls, and Martins.

Train table

2011-07-13T09:34:00.002-04:00

Henry's main birthday present from us (his parents) was a train table. Andrew designed and made it over the past few weeks. [I think Andrew had as much fun making it as Henry does playing with it]

It is very sturdy (heavy) and very elaborate (long). It was made to fit in the kids bedroom along the wall to the closet but it doesn't fit through the door very easily so the table is still in the lounge room.

Henry received lots of train engines on his birthday so he has plenty to play with.

Here's the video of Henry seeing the table for the first time (sorry for my annoying voice!)

Henry's train cake

2011-07-12T09:38:00.001-04:00

Henry LOVED his train cake. Once it was made he kept running into the dining room to look at it and couldn't understand why he couldn't eat it straight away.

He spent lots of time practising blowing out his candles! Then on the day he couldn't resist and blew out the '2' candle before everyone finished singing.

Henry turns two

2011-07-11T21:53:00.002-04:00

Henry had a very fun birthday!

We had a special breakfast together in the 'Thomas the tank engine' decorated dining room. We enjoyed fruit cups with whipped cream, english muffins and tea.

Henry opened some presents and webcammed with Nanna and Grandpa.

Then Daddy and Henry headed off to the beach for swimming and fun in the sand. They picked up lunch at Sweet & Savory and headed home. (I think they even got doughnuts on the way to the beach)

After lunch and naps Henry woke up to discover his new train table. Then we webcammed with Grandma and Grandad. Then we webcammed with Auntie Kat.

For dinner we had 'meat' (sesame-soy steak) and whilst everyone was going to camp outside, because of the weather and some very tired little people, we cancelled the tent sleeping.

Then it was getting late and the kids ate some cupcakes in the bath while we sang happy birthday to Henry.

It was a busy and fun day. Henry has been talking about the beach ever since!

'that' family

2011-07-11T20:55:00.006-04:00

On Sunday we were 'that' family at church.

You know 'that' family.

The one with the 5 year old who won't stand up during the singing and cries because we sat in the 'wrong' row of chairs. She won't talk to anyone.

The one with the 2 year old who squeals because he is not allowed to run around and then tries to poke the baby to wake her up. He won't sit down.

The one with the newborn baby who coos during the singing and then wakes up crying during the sermon.

The family that ends up in the nursery wondering why they headed out of the house in the morning.

Hoping next week works out better!

Henry's 2nd birthday playdate

2011-07-06T08:42:00.003-04:00

Independence Day weekend

2011-07-05T16:31:00.019-04:00

Wow what an amazing weekend! We joined in with gusto into the 4th of July celebrations. (It is sort of strange for me being both Australian and British to be celebrating but two of my children are American!)

On Sunday we headed over to the Wall residence for swimming, hamburgers & hot dogs, and fireworks. The kids had a blast swimming and playing. For dessert we made mini pavlovas decorated in the patriotic red and blue (raspberries and blueberries).

Felicity dressed up in a red, white and blue onesie with red hair clips and red mary jane socks.

When night fell the guys started the firework display. Lucy was ecstatic and shouted 'more fireworks' between each one. Henry on the other hand screamed his lungs out in fear with the first one and ran inside. He refused to watch any more and the poor boys heart was racing for quite some time afterwards. We got home late and put the kids to bed at 10pm.

On Monday we drove an hour west to Lake Waccamaw to celebrate with the McNeill family (our Wilmington neighbour). There were 400 people there! The ceremony on their dock (partly pictured above) included a flag parade (Lucy, Henry and Andrew carried the Australian flag), the Wilmington Police pipe band, prayer, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the pledge of allegiance and the singing of the Star Spangled banner.

Then there was a 21 gun salute and everyone rushed off the two storey dock to the house for a hotdog feast [For my Aussie friends lunch included hotdogs in buns, coleslaw, baked beans, brownies and cake]

I have never seen so many people dressed in red, white and blue Americana in one place! It was amazing. We blended right in with our Aussie apparel until someone read Henry's t shirt and asked why he was wearing an Australian t shirt (which became obvious when we started talking).

Felicity was a star in her own right with many people talking to her and photographing her. She dressed in a gorgeous watermelon dress, just like her big sister, and gave lots of smiles.

After lunch the kids got changed into their swimming costumes/bathing suits and enjoyed the lake. Then they enjoyed long naps in the car on the way home!

Summer time fun

2011-06-28T13:42:00.003-04:00

We are having lots of summer time fun! Our garden is growing well thanks to Andrew's electronic watering system (we are in a drought so the lawn is brown and crunchy). We are looking forward to tasting our tomatoes soon.

We've been doing lots of little projects around the house, playing in the sprinkler, riding bikes and going for family walks around the neighbourhood.

Lucy completed 2 weeks of swimming lessons. Now she can swim 25 metres with a small float and she can dive (arms first)

Lucy also attended a week of Vacation Bible School (VBS) and we saw her sing and dance in the show on Friday night.

Henry is still up to lots of mischief (for example today he took a full bottle of gripe water, after being told not to, and poured it all over himself) He can now put two to three words together.

Felicity is doing a whole lot of growing. She is responding back to conversations and is very smiley.

Four weeks before we hit Washington DC. Better get planning.

Duck noodle soup

2011-06-23T15:28:00.001-04:00

At Grand Asia Market we purchased a couple of ducks. The staff cut them up and boxed them. We drove them home to Wilmington and delivered 1.5 of them, together with steamed bok choy to Margaret next door who then created duck noodle soup.

The soup had such a rich flavour to it.

Margaret also made us some wonton soup which was also excellent. However the duck creates a depth of flavour that is unparalleled.

Next time we are in Raleigh we'll pick up some more duck! Note we are drinking young coconut juice.

Golden midget watermelon

2011-06-22T15:24:00.000-04:00

Here are our first home-grown watermelons. They are called 'golden midget' watermelons and the cool thing about them is that they turn yellow when they are ripe so you know when to pick them.

However there are two problems: there are LOTS of seeds and the flavour is very weak.

We'll see what happens with future melons, whether the flavour improves.

Raleigh visit

2011-06-21T17:29:00.000-04:00

We took an overnight trip to Raleigh on Friday/Saturday with a few things in mind:
1. Shop at Crabtree Mall
2. Visit Marbles Childrens Museum
3. Shop and eat at Grand Asia Market
4. Grocery shop at Trader Joes

We did all of those things but everything took longer with 3 kids especially after a broken night's sleep. Some lessons learnt for our roadtrip later in the summer!

Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-20T15:19:00.002-04:00

We celebrated Fathers Day with ... a lamb roast lunch. Lots of cards and presents followed (clothes valet, carcasonne expansions, chocolate coated passionfruit and a beer making kit)

Also lots of cuddles, comforting and nappy changing.

And now Felicity is wearing the 'my dad's a geek' onesie!

Bluebird update 2

2011-06-15T20:55:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately we found one of the baby birds on the ground . . .

dead

Fortunately as of Wednesday night there is still one baby bird alive and well in the bird house.

1 of out 4 survival rate so far...

Interestingly Lucy was keen to see the body of the bird and wanted to examine the skeleton in more detail before Andrew whisked it away.

Bluebird babies

2011-06-13T09:42:00.000-04:00

This photo was taken on Friday night.

The two remaining eggs have hatched and here are the two brand new baby bluebirds!

Bluebird update

2011-06-11T09:06:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately we found two broken eggs on the ground. We think the squirrels got in to the nest.

So Andrew put this plastic ring around the house to help prevent any more squirrel attacks.

The remaining two eggs are being guarded by mama bird whilst the daddy bird attacks any approaching enemies.

Graduation

2011-06-10T09:09:00.004-04:00

Here are our two graduates:

The kids put on a great show for us - singing songs and reciting poems.

Afterwards we 'enjoyed' a hot dog lunch as well as a bounce on the bouncy house. Lucy refused to eat any hot dogs but she did enjoy a graduate cupcake. At home later she opened her presents - a bible from her teacher and a dollhouse nursery set from us. (She was super excited to get a doll to represent Felicity)

Graduation breakfast

2011-06-09T08:34:00.002-04:00

As a special treat on preschool graduation day we went to Cracker Barrel for a pancake breakfast. Henry really did enjoy himself even if he looks unhappy in the photo! And Felicity did sleep through the whole thing.

Bunk beds

2011-06-03T10:01:00.001-04:00

Sharing a room is not always fun (for the parents that is!) Henry moved into Lucy's room earlier this year.

This wasn't a complicated process to move him - we just put his cot mattress on the floor in a corner of the room.

It was complicated Henry-proofing the room. Both closets have locks on them, the telephone jack was replaced, and Lucy received some shelves to keep her special things safe. All toys were removed from the room. And now he wakes poor Lucy up at 6:30am every morning.

We decided it was time for a big boy bed and purchased some bunks (which can convert to two single beds). Henry loves his new shark sheets and enjoys sleeping in his new bed.

Lucy is loving being on the top bed and now her special things really are safe.

However we have not attached the ladder. Henry wants to climb the ladder which is totally not safe. Well it is safe for him to climb up but it is not safe for him to get down (via the ladder or otherwise!)

Lucy has to call out in the mornings to be let down.

Hopefully at some point in the future we can attach the ladder... (maybe when Flissy and Henry change rooms?)

Science Sunday

2011-06-02T09:58:00.001-04:00

From the money Pop and Rose sent for her birthday Lucy purchased a science kit (its called mind exploding science!)

So each Sunday afternoon when Henry goes for a nap after lunch, Andrew and Lucy perform the next experiment in the kit.

They know all about acids, bases and neutrals thanks to some colour changing crystals.