What’s up?
The girls are up…..very early…..and very lively.
What’s up?
I’m up.
Rats!
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Thanks Tressa (and family) for spending 3 hours working on Megan’s hair yesterday. It looks awesome!!!
One of our kiddos thought she was going to get an invitation to a birthday party recently. Each night for four days, she begged to stay home in case the phone would ring. It never did. On the night before the party she wanted me to call the birthday girl’s mom just to make sure we hadn’t missed the call. On the day of the party, she wanted to bring a gift…just in case. I waited for her to get off the bus that day. She walked into the house softly sobbing. It was finally safe to cry. The birthday girl told her that even though she wanted my girl to come, there would be, "No more changing the list." After school, the birthday girl’s mom stood in the hall gathering the party goers while the uninvited passed by on their way to their lockers and out the door to the bus. Rejection is tough for little girls. It’s even tough for a mama.
We have been busy cooking. We don’t have many commitments in the evening in the spring, so it’s a good time to try new recipes. We’ve been putting a bit extra on to cook as well. Grandma Heits isn’t feeling well, so we try to bring something her way occasionally too. Last night, I decided to make a broccoli and chicken casserole. I thought I’d double the batch and save some for left over lunching. This project turned out to be a little bigger than I thought. It all started with a trip to the grocery store. I decided to choose a whole chicken, rather than boneless skinless chicken breasts. I thought, "A whole chicken is 70 cents per lb. cheaper than the breast. I can certainly pick a whole chicken! A large chicken will make two casseroles easily." I rushed home and put the chicken on to cook. I was in a hurry because I had promised to be at Grandma Heits’ house on time. I mixed the broccoli with the rest of the ingredients, and pulled the cooked chicken out of the pot. Picking that chicken turned into a major project. Did you know that every time a chicken picker is interrupted, it requires that chicken picker to wash her hands? Let’s just say, I had many reasons to wash my hands. Megan pulled up a chair, intending to help. I washed my hands and got her situated with a leg to bone. Each time Megan needed to take a break, I needed to wash her hands and mine. The cat jumped on the counter, determined to see what was up. Removing the cat required two washings; one before picking up the cat with chicken hands and one before picking up the chicken with cat hands. I locked the cat in the basement continuing with the job. Soon Megan needed a break…..in order the let the cat out of the basement. The phone rang several times during the chicken pickin’ episode. Both of my big boys called to check in. My wonderful hubby called to see if he could help. I refrained from responding, "You can HELP by NOT calling while I’m picking a chicken!" Eventually the chicken was picked, the casserole was made and delivered and everyone ate well. A good job done, I guess. Guess what I did tonight?!? Steve picked up injera yesterday. He bought 10 lbs of chicken hind quarters for dorowat and put it on to cook over night. Yep! I spent my after school hours picking that chicken! We do love a good Ethiopian meal even when it requires picking a cooked chicken to the bone. The food was delicious and we have lots of left overs. However, please don’t be offended when I say, I want it to be a very long time before I choose to pick another FREAKIN" CHICKEN! Welcome Kendra, Joe and baby Heits! On the day following my last "not much happening" post, MUCH happened! Paul was home for the weekend. I thought it odd because it was Palm Sunday and not Easter. I thought it odder when he drove all the way from Iowa City picked up Emma and headed to Sioux Falls to go to Falls Park and the Pizza Ranch in Sioux Falls for lunch. However, I never had a single inkling of the surprise that was in store for me after the Palm Sunday church service!! The entire family preceded Megan and I out of the car and into the house. When we walked in, all eyes were on us. It took me a moment to realize that Joe and Kendra were sitting at my kitchen table. I don’t remember much about my reaction, but I do know that tears and hugs followed shortly after the jaw dropping surprise. They have returned! They return after 14 months of happy service in the Peace Corps. They return with the proverbial Paraguayan Peace-Corps made, "bun in the oven". We couldn’t be happier for them…and for us. We are going to be grandparents! WOO HOO! Welcome to this crazy family, little one! Here’s a link to Kendra’s telling of the story! http://jkheits.blogspot.com/
I don’t have much news lately. We are quickly and quietly easing into spring. We talked to Joe on skype this week from Paraguay. He says that it is now cool enough in Paraguay at night to use a blanket. A welcome change on both sides of the equator. Joe and Kendra have now been in Paraguay for about 14 months. It is amazing to think that I haven’t seen them for well over a year. They are more than half-way through their term of service and expect to be back in the states somewhere around May 1 of 2011. I rarely worry about them. I trust that they enjoy their work and are doing well. I do miss them frequently. I miss them especially on holidays. They’ll be missed again this year when we hide and seek Easter eggs. It was fun to see that they updated their blog with their current work. I especially loved seeing the pictures of the kids at school opening the books sent by Thomas’ school, Barb’s women’s clubs, Grandma H and others. Seeing the kids with the books makes it so much more real to me. Thank you to all who helped. I bought Easter dresses for the little girls and an Easter outfit for Thomas. They looked so cute (and they were clean), so I quickly made an appointment to have their picture taken at a local electronics store. Since Emma didn’t get a new Easter dress (I should see if I could dig out an old Easter bonnet for her) I made her wear her prom dress. The pictures turned out great. If any of you would like to see them, you can go to the following link: http://www.photoreflect.com/PR3/ThumbAccess.aspx?e=6367961 password: boyden Thanks for checking in. We had a little excitement around here recently. Megan put a bead, (the kind I use to bead her hair) in her nose. She pushed that little thing WAY up into the recesses of her nostril. We tried several methods for bead removal without success. Eventually, we decided we would have to make the trip to urgent care when Shega decided to take matters into her own hands. Shega decided that the best way to remove the bead was to make Megan sneeze. Since I was busy hunting for the insurance card, I’m not sure what Shega did to make that child blow, but blow she did. Out came the bead! Whew! That saved us a nice co-pay plus deductible! Why do kids put things in their noses? I am NEVER tempted to insert objects into my nostril. I hope none of you are either. Apparent, according to Megan, it doesn’t feel very good!
I had spring break last week. It wasn’t all that springy around here. In fact, it was drizzly, foggy and cold, but the break was wonderful. We took the weekend and made a quick trip to Iowa City.We stopped at the state championship basketball games in Des Moines to watch a couple of local teams win their champonships. We headed on to IC to a hotel. The hotel had a nice pool and slide and the kids enjoyed hanging around having fun. It was wonderful to see most of the family on Saturday night. While we were there, we grabbed Paul’s pictures of the trip to Paraguay. I’m planning to make a photo book for him. I already have Emma’s pics and I’ll grab a few of Joe and Kendra’s if they post them online. The book will be Paul’s birthday present. The big story was that we forgot to "spring forward" while we were on our break. We didn’t go to church on Sunday and had no reason to fret at all about the time on Sunday. We left IC around noon and arrived home early in the evening. When we woke up on Monday morning, Shega’s bus was honking on the yard. OOPS! Our clock said 6:30 a.m. That was a bit of a shock! Last night, Steve and I sneaked off to watch the Red Raiders win a national championship. Now basketball season really is over. Today it is sunny and warm. At 7:30 the sun is just setting. Daylight savings time will be just fine with us, once we get used to getting up in the dark again. Thomas woke up with a fever yesterday. He didn’t want to miss the math bee where teams from surrounding towns go to a central location to take math tests. (Who would possibly WANT to be sick for such an occasion! Shega’s ear has been hurting and draining for the past few days. We have been faithful with the drops, but it just won’t stop. She had a bit of a fever last night, so I took both Thomas and Shega to the doctor today. Shega is on an oral antibiotic and drops. The doctor said Thomas just has a virus. I hope we’re better here in time to enjoy some of this spring weather. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Megan wore green today even though she just stayed home with the sick kids. At the doctor’s office she said, "I better not take off my green jacket or a stranger will pinch me!" I think she should have been more concerned about her siblings pinching her, but you never know. She is mighty pinchable! If she takes off that green jacket, I might even pinch her cute little cheeks myself.
Emma and Paul are home. They flew back as far as Chicago together. Thomas and I picked up Emma at the Omaha airport. I loved the trip back home. Listening to the traveling stories just warmed my heart. I am so glad those four have these shared memories. They’ll always remember when……
It is incredibly satisfying for this mom to hear witness of my kids enjoying time together. Welcome back. We’re glad you’re home, but we’re sure glad you went!
Actually, this was a very long February. I am so glad it is finally ending. Maybe spring will come and free us from the house. Emma made it to Paraguay. I’m so pleased that our three big kids are together again. She will be staying there for a week and flying home with Paul. Joe and Kendra are 13 months into a 27 month commitment to the Peace Corps. They are nearly half-way through their commitment. We were hoping for a trip to the state basketball tournament with the Comet boys team when Emma returns on Sunday. It wasn’t to be. The Rockets will be going instead. I’m sure they will represent the conference well, but I sure wish it was us! I stayed home from the game with the two little girls. They played dress-up. Here are the results.
Paul is visiting Joe and Kendra in Paraguay. He joined them about 10 days ago. Emma will be joining them this weekend. I am a little worried about her traveling internationally by herself. She is going to have an 11 hour layover in Brazil by herself. I keep telling myself that Emma is not a little girl anymore but I will be glad when she calls me from Paraguay where she is safely hanging out with her big brothers and sister-in-law. She and I went on a college visit with a friend and her mom last weekend. I am hoping she chooses NWC, but she wants to do a little college shoppoing. She had a good visit and we found our way around campus and the city quite well. She has another year before she needs to make a decision. I sure hope she doesn’t find a college she likes in Paraguay!
I saw some Peeps in the store. Yup! Yellow Peeps, those marshmallow chickies that appear only at Easter time. That must mean that Easter is coming soon. it’s hard to tell by the weather here in late February. It is 13 degrees below zero right now. That’s Fahrenheit. Brrrrr. Recently, someone told me that their child doesn’t like Peeps and in fact is a bit creeped out by Peeps. The poor kid just didn’t like to bite into the little chick. Creepy Peepy, I guess. I said, "Did you give her Peeps to roast over a bonfire for S’mores." She had never heard of such a thing. My parents owned a drugstore. Occasionally items would go out of season before they were purchased. That may have happened with Easter Peeps when I was a child. My mother was not one to throw things away. I would guess that when Peeps were left unsold in time for summer bonfires she decided the Peeps would make a yummy marshmallow center for a S’more. I distinctly remember those yellow chickies growing and growing and even catching on fire just before being squished between chocolate and graham crackers. Yummy…not creepy…PEEPS! More about PEEPS right here….. http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/Valentine09/about/fun_facts.pdf |
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) He took some pain reliever and got it together enough to earn a medal. He’s been walking around sporting a calculator medal today. What could be better!
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