Adventures in Canning

Out in the garden the peppers had gone feral. The thought of eating more peppers made me ill but watching them just rot on the vine was making me feel guilty. In a Sunday of manic gardening, among other things, we reclaimed our raised garden from five foot tall native monster grass, ripped out spent tomato and squash vines, reset garden posts and re-stretched the fence. And then, well, then it was impossible to ignore the pepper mess in the adjacent garden.

So, we aggressively pruned the plants and harvested banana, jalapeño, chili and Jimmy Nardello peppers. A trip to the store for canning supplies and a bit of Googling for instructions and we boldly ventured into the world of canning.

A pesky pepper snatcher!

Handy Tonka pepper transport vehicle

Jalapenos!

Ta Da!! Peppers in a Jar

Sealing the packed jars in boiling water...

BTW – Tolido had surgery.

After struggling with sinus/ear infections and coughing fits and practically living on antibiotics for the better part of a year, Tolido had his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears in September. Prior to surgery he was all about the hospital and the doctors and the purple “pajamas”.
In recovery, he was screaming. I held him and calmed him down to just moaning but then he’d open his eyes, see the nurse and scream again. Finally the nursing staff agreed to unhook him from his monitoring wires and I paced the room with him, being careful to keep him facing a blank wall. We were to spend the night in the hospital but he had to drink before they would release him from recovery. Drinking hurt and he would hold his breath before swallowing which made his oxygen levels plummet and the monitoring machine go haywire, completely freaking him out. In our room he finally relaxed again. Daddy and Minkah were there and so were two of my aunts. We all hung out and had dinner together and then everyone left and Tolido and I settled in with movies – Cars, Shrek and Monsters Inc. Tolido was receiving steroids because his lungs were in pretty bad shape prior to surgery and he was wired. At 1AM he said, “Mommy, I want to go for a walk.” I was freezing cold and exhausted. The *last* thing I wanted to do was go for a walk. I said, “Okay, kiddo” and hauled myself up off the couch. We untangled his IV and his oxygen monitor and off we went – him practically running the halls and me trotting along behind with his medicine pole. Yes we did explore the entire third floor of Dell Children’s Hospital over the next hour… at a trot. Back in the room he ate a full plate of macaroni and cheese and then I fell asleep, leaving him to watch Cars on his own. I woke up to a little boy trying to drag his pole to the bathroom on his own. Ayie! Bad Mommy! Somehow we made it to morning. He was evaluated and found to be in fine shape and ready to go home and we were told to expect to be released at 10AM.
We got ready and we waited and waited… and waited. Mommy finally got really irritated and demanded to know why, at noon, we were still waiting to be released. Turns out we were waiting on a call back from his notoriously slow doctor. Tolido figured out I was mad but not at him which he found wonderfully amusing. He was being pretty cute clowning around for me. I got the doctor’s office on the phone and demanded to speak to Mr. Doctor immediately and was told he’d left for the day. Uh huh, and in that case you are now going to give me his cell phone number. Miraculously they found him still at the office. He got on the phone, I gave him a piece of my mind and five minutes later we were walking out of the hospital with the University of Texas football team who had stopped by to boost the spirits of the little children in the hospital. One of these giant men, who had a mohawk, caught sight of Tolido with his mohawk and made quite a big deal of him which painted a bigger grin on my little boy’s face.

In the weeks since his surgery he’s had two bouts of nasal congestion but little coughing and no ear infections so things appear to be working as they should – super big YAY!! He runs faster and farther and is vocally louder than he ever has been before and there have been no new prescriptions. It’s a really good thing to see. He’s out of the pool until next summer and out of the lake likely until the tubes fall out but I’d trade his good health for swimming any day!

What is wrong with you?

This past weekend we attended my nephew’s baptism at a huge baptist church in Austin. I always feel uncomfortable in this particular house of worship because the fund raising aspect, the subservience theme and the drama are so blatant and over the top. And… you can’t just enter, be present and go on your way because no less than 15 people must touch you – hold your hand, shake your hand, hug you, etc. :|

After 30 minutes of singing, my nephew’s baptism, and an hour of infomercial for an Indian charity sermon, I was finally bolting for the door with Minkah in my arms. Ken was beside me when a man stopped us and asked if Minkah was my daughter. I told him she was and he said something nice about her and told us he had two African American sons who were adopted and we’re just about to go off to college. I congratulated him on their achievements and excused myself to go into the ladies room. As I turned away, the man said to Ken, “The ugliest thing I’ve ever seen is a white baby.” I was halfway into the restroom and just kept going. What the hell is wrong with people?!

Why on earth would this man see me holding my black child and feel confident that I subscribe to his hateful view of white children? Does it not occur to him that I might have a white child; that I once was a white child, that there might be white children in my family whom I love? Has he forgotten that we are in a CHURCH where he is supposed to behave? Has he passed along his twisted world view to his children in a misguided attempt to bolster their self esteem? Has anyone ever just hauled off and smacked him?

Ken and I talked about it later and decided that in the realm of teachable moments, this one, at this time and in that place, qualified as infuriating but one from which we should just walk away. Had Minkah been old enough to understand, what would I have done? Had Tolido been with me, what would I have said? How about something like, “Sir, all babies of every color are beautiful but your statement makes you appear to be a very mean and ugly man.” Sometimes these things just catch me SO off guard.

Hair Notes

I did no research before buying Olive Oil – Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion at Walmart prior to flying to Ethiopia. It seemed to keep Minkah’s hair from being dry but it was oily. Perhaps I mistook oily for moisturized.

Once home I found Carol’s Daughter and ordered Healthy Hair Butter and Hair Milk. Along with a random leave in conditioner, these have been a daily ritual for several months. Minkah’s hair is healthy and growing and moisturized – the results are wonderful. The smell of the product on her head, however, has been too heavy, too adult, too masculine.

When it recently came time to order new products, I returned to Carol’s Daughter but chose Mimosa Hair Honey. For a leave-in conditioner, I randomly picked up Aveeno’s Active Naturals Nourish + Condition Leave-in Treatment at the local grocery store. These two, daily, with a twice weekly shampooing are our new regimen. Her head is now bury-your-nose-in-it-and-take-a-big whiff lovely smelling. It’s a bit frizzier than it was when plastered with hair butter and hair milk but it still feels soft and healthy. The Aveeno leave-in seems to soak right in and makes getting a comb through it a breeze.

Technically, I don’t know what type of hair Minkah has. Her 1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter ringlets are arranged in what I’d call medium density over her head. Combing is not typically difficult though her hair is only 1 – 3 inches long at this point. (It’s shorter in the back where her head used to contact her bedding.) The hairs themselves are not at all kinky and are very fine.

I haven’t tried many hairstyles on her. I did get small plastic bands to use in her hair but they only last about three minutes when there is any type of oil on her head. In Ethiopia the ladies in our guesthouse used what looked like cut up pantyhose bands in the children’s hair. I haven’t been able to find anything similar here. Any ideas?

Torture…

Me: Tolido, I spend all night dreaming about new ways to torture you.
Tolido: [nodding his head] And Daddy too!

Not sure if he meant Daddy is my cohort in dreaming up torture or that I am dreaming up ways to torture Daddy too. Either way, it’s funny. :)

oh yeah, I’m still here.

You guys have all made the cheesecake by now, right? No? You really should. It *is* that good.

So, I’m back. No promises on how long I’ll stay but I’m here tonight.

Minkah has started using sign language in the last few days – just “more” and “bottle” so far. She’s been standing independently for about a month but in the last week has gained more confidence in her cruising/walking abilities. Along with walking she’s finally begun to crawl, like up on her hands and knees crawling. And she’s a nosy thing – into EVERYTHING. She has three teeth. I *think* she’s saying “bear.”

Tolido has a fancy new haircut that’s getting him LOTS of attention. Sometimes we spike it and sometimes we don’t. I’m pretty sure he would melt outside in the summer without a buzz cut.

The kids get along well and enjoy each others company. Minkah is not particularly fond of being patted on the head and Tolido thinks it should soothe her when she is upset. It definitely has the opposite effect but I don’t think he’s putting two and two together….

Both kids are sick – drooling noses, slimy hands, snotty cheeks, wet coughs. Gross. Tolido has trouble breathing when he’s sick and wakes up in the night coughing and crying and gasping for air which…. is a bit alarming to a Mommy. He’s been fighting new mutations of a tenacious sinus infection/ear infection combo for almost a year now. He’s lived 8 days on an antibiotic and 14 days off, repeating almost without interruption since September. He coughs a lot with exertion. He’s not allergic to anything – we had him tested. He doesn’t seem to be contagious. So we’re seeing an ENT Tuesday to talk about removing his tonsils and adenoids. Not really something I want to do but then, I really don’t want him living on antibiotics either.

I leave you with pictures…

Miss Minkah in May

Tolido sporting his new do

Little Buddies

The Most Amazing Cheesecake

In the event anyone out there loves cheesecake, this one’s been a favorite in our house for years… and it’s far better than anything you’ll get at The Cheesecake Factory. ;)

Crust
2 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, melted

Combine crumbs, sugar and pecans. Stir in butter. Press onto bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling
5 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened.
1 3/4 cups of sugar
3 tbsp flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs + 2 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream

Blend cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla at high speed with an electric mixer. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time; beat until smooth, occasionally scraping the bowl with a spatula. Beat in cream. Pour into crust. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 250 degrees; bake two hours more. Cool completely; refrigerate. To serve, remove sides of pan. Enjoy…

Spring in TX and NO in 3yo World

I find writing to be truly difficult at times. Sometimes I just don’t feel like it and other times I just feel I have nothing interesting to say. And there’s nothing like reading a boring blog, right?! So, I haven’t written in a while but I see you guys still keep checking in just in case. You’re the best! :)

Spring has come to south Texas. I LOVE this time of year. Every time I go outside I get muddy but that’s a good thing because I’ve come to know that endless sunny hot days make for dry rivers and dry wells which, in turn, lead to no water skiing and no showers. And seeing how I have a special affinity for boating and an aversion to body odor, dry summers kinda suck. So I’ll happily take muddy in the spring so I have water in the summer. Everything is popping leaves and blooms and shortly I’ll see that bright spring green of mesquite trees appear amid the darker green of cedar and oak on the hillsides. The bluebonnets and indian paintbrushes and wine cups and black-eyed susans will soon show their wildflower faces. Spring in the hill country is truly beautiful. Y’all should come visit. :)

The kids are doing well. Tolido is about to drive me bonkers with the use of “NO!” Minkah now has more good days than bad. She does know how to bitch about things she doesn’t appreciate and she doesn’t hold back. Grandma and Grandpa are visiting and it’s good to see, from a bonding and attachment perspective, that she’d rather be with Mom or Dad than anyone else sometimes. ‘Course, this is especially difficult on Grandma but I think she understands. We try to give Minkah to her right after she’s taken a nap or had a bottle when she is the most happy and fun.

Last night was entertaining…. Tolido didn’t want to go upstairs for bedtime and was determined to wait out Daddy’s legendary patience while sitting in an armchair. Finally Ken and I decided to turn out all the lights and go upstairs to see if that would light a fire under him. We said goodnight and headed up. While sitting in our bedroom eating chocolate chip cookies and giggling we listened to his pissed off little self slowly come up the stairs. I got in the shower while Ken went off to help Tolido get ready for bed. But… as is his wont lately, Tolido said, “NO!” to taking his clothes off, to PJs, to teeth brushing, to going to the potty and to help with any of the above. Finally, Daddy went off to cover the fruit trees against the freezing night. Tolido, defiantly, never moved. Daddy tried again to help on his way back upstairs to no avail. I was in bed by this time. So, Daddy told Tolido goodnight and that he could put his PJs on when he was ready and get into bed by himself. Daddy came to the bedroom, followed by a very angry little boy. Daddy closed the door which Tolido immediately tried to beat down. The Mommy bear didn’t think too much of the latest development. I went to the door, opened it, told Tolido I was trying to sleep and that he’d best cease beating on my door. I told him goodnight and closed the door again. He took up a post inches from the door and screamed. That, I decided, wasn’t going to work either. So I picked him up and put him in his room and told him he could scream all he wanted but he needed to do it in his room. When he was finished, he should get his clothes off, PJs on and self into bed. Ken and I stayed up for another hour talking. We heard a couple doors open and close and some thumps and then silence. I went to check on him and found a sleeping kiddo in bed with his PJs on and his clothes piled next to the stairs for the trip to the laundry room in the morning. I turned out his light and gave him a kiss. Who knew parenting could be so much fun!?

Project355 – A Picture a Day

For daily updates, in picture form, of life around these parts, be sure to check out my other blog – Project355. It’s mostly of the kids as I don’t seem to get out much, at least not accompanied by my camera. Enjoy.

Progress on Several Fronts

After a one-year hiatus from the gym, I got up at 5:00 this morning and drug my butt up the road to Gold’s. First thing I noticed was it was god-awful early. Second thing, it was cold. There aren’t many things in the world I dislike more than getting up at the crack of dawn in the cold. Armed with my new MP3 player filled with recently downloaded new songs I like, I climbed on a contraption I can’t begin to describe and went nuts for 45 minutes. I think it was good for me. I know it put me to sleep for a good 30 minutes this afternoon – fingers still on keyboard, chin on chest.

One of the things I’ve noticed about Minkah is she stiffens her body and becomes crazy grabby when she’s stressed. So for an hour, or more if I can stand it, each day I sit her on my lap and we quietly and calmly play together. At first when I’d lay her down on my lap – her crotch at my waist and her head on my knees – she’d struggle mightily, trying to sit up, roll off my legs, grab at my hands to pull herself up and, when all else failed, scream. I began massaging her legs and arms and running my fingers through her hair. In a soothing voice I’d ask her to relax and gradually, over the past week, she has. Yesterday and today she has started leaning in against my chest – like she wants a hug. Yesterday it was a quick thing. She’d lean in and I’d wrap my arms around her and she’d push back away from me. I let her go. This afternoon, her snuggles were a little bit more frequent and a little bit longer. Progress?! :) She’s also become almost trustworthy around my earrings. She was ripping them out of my ears in Ethiopia. Today she touched them but did not pull. Yay!

She also gets incredibly agitated and single-minded about her bottle. We were trying to get her to crawl toward it but that seemed to be too overwhelming for her. So we’ve backed down to just trying to get her over whatever is causing her to freak out about it. For the last few days I’d mix the bottle up in front of her and then stick it in my back pocket and play with her for a few minutes to get her mind off it. Once she was happy again, I’d sneak the bottle up to her mouth so fast she didn’t have a chance to get upset. This afternoon I made a bottle with her on my hip and took her and the bottle into the playroom. I set the bottle on Tolido’s train table where she could see it from the floor and then I placed her on the carpet – near the bottle but not so close she could grab it. We played together until I got a semi-relaxed smile, which didn’t take nearly as long as I expected, and then I gave her the bottle. Small steps forward, I know, but they are very encouraging to me.

Okay kids, it’s late and I’m tired. Zzzzz…