Xandra's Men

 On a recent morning when I opened the shower curtain to take a shower, I found this:

It reminds me of a time not too long ago.  She's a much better speller now and Theia's not far behind her, either.  Just this morning Theia and Xandra were chanting:  "T-H-E-I-A," when I asked Theia how to spell her name.

Spelling her name on the shower is just one example of how she's growing and learning by leaps and bounds.  If one wonders how this is happening, the following poem provides explanation.

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

I send them east and west;

But after they have worked for me,

I give them all a rest.

I let the rest from nine til five,

For I am busy then,

As well as breakfast, lunch and tea,

For they are hungry men:

But different folk have different views;

I know a person small-

She keeps ten million serving-men,

Who get no rest at all!

She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,

From the second she opens here eyes-

One million Hows, two million Wheres,

And seven million Whys!

by Rudyard Kipling

from Just So Stories

It's nothing new (last paragraph of the post), really.  It seems she's always (under Questionitis) been this way.

Chaotic Delight

Exhaustion. Chaos. Two words most people associate with having four children, 4.5 years old and younger. It's true that we do experience our share of each in our home.

Fun. Delight. Two words that encapsulate what we think of having four young children in our home (there's more to it, but let's not be too serious). Children are so full of both.  And so are we as parents  as we watch them grow, develop and interact with the world.

The following videos are just a few examples of the kinds of things Joe and I regularly see. The kind of moments that make two parents look across the room, catch one another's eye and give a knowing smile.

The Farmer and the Dell
I was working at the counter across the kitchen while Xandra and Theia were playing with beads.  When they started singing I quietly slipped from the room and came back with the camera.  I shot this video over my shoulder so as not to bring attention to the videotaping and risk missing getting this moment on video.




Book Buddies
A spontaneous sister moment over books.



Running Circles
It's strange, but true. The thud of the deep freeze door slamming closed prompts my children to run to the kitchen and beg for a frozen green bean. Once they've got their green bean in hand, they run shrieking (it's not too loud)around our kitchen island, all the while eating their green bean. I have no idea where this bizarre ritual came from or even when it started. It's just what happens everyday as we prepare meals. In the video they've actually got candy instead of the traditional frozen veggies. Despite the missing beans the video captures the ritual well.



I'm not a natural in the delight category. I'm more prone to grumping and complaining. But slowly, slowly I'm learning to appreciate the gifts God has given, especially the ones shrouded in chaos and exhaustion. They bring the most delight, but they're easy to miss if you're not looking.

Neglected

With four kids in our house, it's easy to think that the fourth and littlest one, who also happens to be the quietest one, would be a bit neglected. 

The truth is

that he gets lots of attention.

From everyone.

Sometimes I think he wishes he got less attention.

 

When the plans these two are making

come to fruition, I may be wishing he was a bit more neglected, too.

Office Decor

It's our annual Valentine's gift to Joe:  pictures of all his Valentines for his office.  My good friend, Naomi, took these pictures for us.  I can't say enough how much I love them.  She just does such a beautiful job.

This one is just for Aunt Tami.  Thanks for the shirts! 

 Thanks a million times, Naomi.  I will always cherish these beautiful pictures and I think Joe will, too.

Broken Hearts

On Valentine's Day three of my Valentine's helped me bake some special treats.

First we mixed up some sugar cookie dough. 

Then we rolled out the dough,

cut out our hearts,

and unwrapped the candies.

The candies were placed inside a circle we cut out of the heart.  Then we baked the cookies and the candy melted inside to create a yummy and pretty stained glass heart cookie.   We gave our edible artwork to daddy and our friends in place of giving them Valentines. 

I took a picture of every step in the process but never captured the final product.  The lack of picture may have resulted from the sudden and deep dark despair that came over me when my Valentine inadvertently smashed them to smithereens by sitting on them.  I guess I was suffering from broken hearts.

Number 7

Valentine's Day is a big affair at our house.  A good kind of big affair.  An affair that has lots of traditions.  Traditions that have developed over the last seven years of Valentine's Days.

In our early years, our Valentine's tradition was born out of necessity.  With a birthday just four days before Valentine's Day and a budget that would not accommodate eating out twice in one week, we decided our best option was to eat in for Valentine's Day and eat out for my birthday.  Today the eating in tradition continues with a home cooked candlelit dinner for my Valentine and I to enjoy.  Although our finances could now handle the indulgence of a meal out, we'd rather enjoy this one at home.

After seven years of fun meals, I've even collected a special set of dishes, candles, table linens, and other decorations that I pull out just for special evenings like this one.  Besides decoration, there are a few other traditions we enjoy:

1.  The meal is always different.  No repeat dinners here.

2.  The meal always includes something I've never made before.  Usually several things I've never made before.

3.  A minimum of three courses is required. 

4.  We both dress up for the affair.

5.  I always get a hand written note from my Valentine.  I really love this part!

This year we enjoyed these humongous rosemary crusted grilled steaks with grilled lobster.  I've never prepared lobster before and it was both delicious and fun as well as impressive looking on the table.

The rest of the main course included roasted asparagus, homemade rolls, and a very delicious spinach, bacon and Gruyere cheese potato gratin. 

Joe took lots of pictures of the main course, but neglected to take pictures of our appetizer:  salmon cakes with cool lime sauce; and soup:  fresh tomato basil soup with Parmesan crusted crostini.  Both were firsts and very delicious.

Dessert was a funny affair this year as I had sworn off dessert, with the exception of my birthday, for the month of February.  Instead of a decadent dessert we enjoyed these very simple and sugar-free desserts of strawberries, chocolate pudding, and jell-o topped with freshly whipped cream, sweetened with splenda.  I discovered that if you pile the whipped cream up high enough, they seem fancy, even if they are jell-o and pudding.

There's always way too much food and as a consequence we can never finish dessert. 

The kids were not disappointed the next day to see us break out leftover dessert after dinner.  

They had been drooling and begging for dessert the previous day, so there were smiles all around as they devoured the leftovers.

 

I think they also liked eating out of our wine goblets.  Eating ordinary desserts out of wine goblets just makes them taste better, doesn't it?

Our Valentine's celebrations have a few other added benefits that have developed over the years as the kids have come along.  Joe primarily cares for the kids on the day of the feast so I can get our dinner made.  This arrangement has many perks for me:

1.  I get a pretty good break from kid care for a day.

2.  I get to spend a day pursuing something I very much enjoy:  cooking and trying new foods.

3.  The day ends in a quiet, special evening with my husband over some great food, all in the comfort of my own home. 

Valentine's Day Number 7:  big thumbs up.  I like you, Valentine.  Thanks for dining at my bistro.

Thirty-Three Candles

Appropriately, but rather unintentionally, the celebration of my thirty-third birthday was a three part affair.

Part one of the big celebration was Sashimi Saturday.  I'd never tried sashimi (sushi grade raw fish) before, Joe was craving it, and he encouraged me to live on the wild side and give it a try for my birthday.  The Saturday evening before my birthday, we put the kids to bed, set the table, and I had my first taste of sashimi.  

I give it two thumbs up.  It's not something I'll ask for on a regular basis, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I did enjoy it.  The real treat, however, was a fun and quiet evening at home with Joe.

Originally, not intended to be a part of my birthday celebration, I took a cake class the week of my birthday at a local cupcakery.  They taught us how to assemble and frost a cake, make Italian buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache.  It was really quite fun and relaxing to get away for a few hours one evening and have something to show for my work at the end of the evening.  Happily, the cake I made at class became my birthday cake two evenings later.

On my birthday, the girls decided to make birthday cards for me.  After drawing a picture Xandra asked me to write on my card.  "Mommy, write 'Happy Birthday, mommy, I love you'."  I smiled big as I wrote my own birthday card.  I did eventually convince her to write her own name at the bottom.    

After card making and picking daddy up at the metro station, where the girls are still convinced Joe works, we made and devoured some homemade pizza.  Then we got the cake out and joe lit the candles.

I blew them out

all in one breath.

Aliyah happily enjoyed a graham cracker in place of birthday cake.  

Her first piece of cake was scheduled for her 2nd birthday in just a few weeks.

  

Theia and Xandra enjoyed their cake in their own individual ways.

Xandra very neatly.

And Theia more barbarically.

You can bet I enjoyed my piece of cake, as it was my single dessert for the entire month of February.

Part three of the birthday celebration was delayed until early March.  The delay was worth it.  We finished birthday celebrations by enjoying a seafood dinner at our favorite DC restaurant, Oceanaire.  Our friends Tim and Jennifer made the evening a real treat by joining us for dinner.

This life is a gift.  It's good to stop, remember and celebrate that gift once a year.  It's also good to have a husband who indulges his wife much.  Thanks, Joe, for spoiling me rotten.