Grandma Sakis' Bierrocks

For those who keep up with me on Facebook, you know that I spent my day Tuesday making Bierrocks.

Making bierrocks is a labor of love for me with a lot of memories wrapped up in them.  Growing up in a staunchly German town (and family) bierrocks were well-known and always well-made!  The schools even served them for lunch!  Around here, just about everyone knows what a bierrock is, but in case you've stumbled upon my blog from a decisively less German upbringing, a bierrock is a soft roll filled with meat and cabbage and onions.  The person I most associate with bierrocks is my Grandma Sakis who would've been 98 today.

Grandma Sakis was THE epitome of a what a grandma should be.  I can remember spending the night at her house once when I was seven or eight and for whatever reason, she and I were doing the dishes together.  I remember talking and talking (and TALKING) to her about everything going on in my class: the other girls, cartwheels, recess.  I can vividly remember standing on the moss green chair in the corner of her kitchen showing her some kind of gymnastics move that my friend Adrienne had taught me.  She just listened, seeming to fully enjoy the conversation (which was rather one-sided I'm afraid.)   One Sunday morning after Mass (after spending the night) my siblings and I raced up Grandma and Grandpa's front sidewalk to their porch.  When we turned around, Grandma had just gotten to the picket fence (about 25 feet from the front door.)  She had the (skeleton) key to the front door and I think we yelled "Come on Grandma!" and she RAN - IN HER CHURCH SHOES - to the front door!!  I'll never forget it!!!

Grandma and I, twenty-five years ago today.

I don't think I ever had the privilege of making bierrocks with Grandma, but I remember eating them at her house regularly.  Thanks to my cousin, I have a copy of her recipe in her beautiful cursive handwriting.  Written no doubt with her favorite pen.

Dough: 4 cups warm water, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. melted butter 1 pkg. yeast, enough flour to make a soft dough (12 cups give or take.)

If you're a math/science nerd like me, the warm water should be between 110-115 degrees for optimal yeast action.

Filling: 3 lbs. hamburger, 2 medium onions, 1 head cabbage, salt and pepper, 1/2 c. water, 1 T. flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let proof for 5 minutes.  Add yeast mixture to a large bowl, then add the salt and melted butter.  Gradually add flour, first whisking, then stirring with a spatula, and finally kneading it in by hand until you have a soft dough.  Put dough ball in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover, and let rise about 1 hour, knead down and let rise again until doubled in size.

Grandma always said Maggie Becker was the very best at knowing when to stop kneading to have a soft loaf.  My mom always told me to check for when it springs back when you poke it with your finger.  I figure that less is more with kneading, so once it springs back and "looks right" I form it into a ball and call it good.

In a large pot, brown hamburger, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the onions and cabbage and adjust the salt and pepper until it's flavorful - it should taste good - not bland!  Add the water and flour and steam with the lid on for about 10 minutes.

Yes, I switched pots.  I was making a double batch.  It was SO MUCH!

Divide the dough into 8 balls, leaving the ones you aren't working with in the oiled bowl, covered.

Working with one ball at a time, roll the dough as thin as pie dough and about 12 inches square.

Cut into 4 pieces.

Place a generous 1/3 cup of filling on each square.

Bring corners together and pinch, then seal the seams.

Again bring the corners to the middle, pinch, and press.

It doesn't have to be pretty... seriously... have you ever even seen the bottom of a bierrock that you were eating?  I didn't think so.

Place on a baking sheet with sealed edges down.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  (If you are going to freeze them, just bake them for 20 minutes.)  Remove from oven and butter the tops.

Transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack and enjoy!

We like to dip ours in mustard or barbecue sauce!

Bierrocks:
Yield 32 bierrocks

Ingredients
Dough:
4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp.) yeast
*Enough flour to make a soft dough (12 cups give or take)

Filling:
3 lbs. hamburger
2 medium onions, chopped
1 head cabbage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. flour

Method 
Dough
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let proof for 5 minutes.  Add yeast mixture to a large bowl then add the salt and melted butter.  Gradually add flour, first whisking, then stirring with a spatula, and finally kneading it in by hand until you have a soft dough.  Put dough ball in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover, and let rise about 1 hour, knead down and let rise again until doubled in size.

Filling
In a large pot, brown hamburger, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the onions and cabbage and adjust the salt and pepper until it's flavorful.  Add the water and flour and steam with the lid on for about 10 minutes.

Assembly
Divide dough into 8 balls, leaving the ones you aren't working with in the oiled bowl, covered.  Working with one ball at a time, roll the dough as thin as pie dough and about 12 inches square.  Cut into 4 pieces.  Place a generous 1/3 cup of filling on each square.  Bring corners together and pinch, then seal the seams.  Again, bring the corners to the middle, pinch, and press.  Place on a baking sheet with sealed edges down.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  (If you are going to freeze them, just bake them for 20 minutes.)  Remove from oven and butter the tops.  Transfer from baking sheet to cooling rack and enjoy!

*I used a whole wheat flour/whole wheat pastry flour combination.  Proportionally, probably twice as much whole wheat flour as the pastry flour.  I didn't measure!

7 Quick Takes: Birthdays, Remodels, and Meltdowns

I've never linked up with anyone before, but I'm in a blogging rut, and 7 Quick Takes sounds really easy!  Off we go!

1. Ira's 8th Birthday is tomorrow.  We celebrated on Saturday with a party with family.  Ira wanted a Nacho Bar for his meal and a "New Super Mario Brothers" Cake. I found some awesome real food recipes to help the nacho bar not be such a gut bomb: carnitas, nacho cheese, pico de gallo.  The food was a hit and Ira was thrilled with his cake.  It's probably one of the best cakes I've ever decorated.  It took about 4 hours to decorate it, but the look on his face when he saw it was TOTALLY worth it!

2. We got new carpet!  The carpet that we replaced was original to the house from when it was built in 1984.  I don't really want to know what all was living and dead in that carpet, but we are THRILLED to have it gone!  It was low on the priority list of "things to redo" when we bought the house though because the old stuff was okay enough.  Finally, we are checking off the final boxes of totally flipping this house.  Since we bought 5 years ago we have: Replaced: all the flooring, every light fixture, and every faucet; Added ceiling fans to the bedrooms, Remodeled the kitchen, adding an eating bar and a dishwasher; Updated the main bathroom; Replaced the toilet in the half bath; Primed and painted every wall; Finished the basement; Added a perennial flower bed and vegetable garden, and are nearly finished with adding a 3rd bedroom.  It's been a lot of work and taken a lot of time, but we wanted to do it on a cash basis, so we are thrilled to be nearly finished!

Before

After

3. Homeschooling is going so wonderfully for us.  I cannot believe how well our first year has gone!  We are just weeks away from being finished with all of our curriculum for the year.  We are all looking forward to summer and I'm actually excited to start planning next year.  We will be basing our curriculum around Mater Amablis' recommendations once again - doing Level 1A, year 2.  I have been so pleased with their recommendations and have discovered some real GEMS of books that I'm sure I wouldn't have found otherwise.

4. We switched Ira to Saxon 54 after using ALEKS since the beginning of the school year.  ALEKS worked well for us in that we needed to accelerate through some things for Ira to find his learning level (he'd already finished 2nd grade Math in 1st grade at our Catholic School last year).  He finished with 3rd grade math in ALEKS in January, and after doing some Olympic-math in February, I assigned him to 4th grade math in ALEKS.  Then we started noticed he wasn't retaining some really important topics (like long division and fractions and all that good stuff)  To me, it's a twofold problem with ALEKS: first of all, there is no instructional dimension.  The child is set straightaway to working on problems, and have to click "Explain" if they don't understand it.  Well, that takes maturity first off, but I also felt like the explanations lacked depth.  So I supplemented with my own knowledge, which is fine in the younger math grades, but not so once we start getting further.  Secondly, the topical nature of ALEKS wasn't working for us.  Doing a topic and then being done with it without really any opportunity for review (other than when you log in the next day) just doesn't work for the math basics like multiplication and long division and rounding and fractions and decimals.  Or at least it didn't for us.  Having learned from Saxon for a number of years myself, and having taught it when I taught 4th grade, I was very familiar with their spiraling concept and felt like it was exactly what we needed.  We've been very pleased so far and will just continue with it next year.

5. Ruby had a total meltdown at Ira's birthday party because she offered him a plate when he started going through the nacho bar and he (rudely) told her he didn't need it because he already had one.  I took her to our room where we chilled out for probably half an hour.  We had a good talk about femininity and emotions.  She is such a beautiful girl with a big open heart and I am sure this will not be the last time we have that talk.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to parent both a boy and a girl.  So different, both of them, and so wonderful!

6. Ruby and I got to hang out together while Andy and Ira worked at our parish's quilt bingo today.  Of course, the first thing she asked to do was paint.  It's her fravorite thing to do, so I obliged.  She painted a Christmas tree.  I painted my favorite bush, a forsythia.  It looked really bad until it dried, then I was shocked by how well it turned out.  While it was drying we read books and listened to music.  Then we played the longest game of Chutes and Ladders like ever.  That game can really get on my nerves...

7. I cannot get Jennifer Trapuzanno out of my mind/heart.  I don't even know her personally, but on Tuesday morning she posted in our NFP group on Facebook asking for prayers for her husband who had been mugged.  He ended up dying, leaving her behind, eight months pregnant with their first child, a daughter.  I cannot imagine the loss and heart-wrenching grief she is feeling right now.  Please keep her and her daughter in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks and months ahead.  If you feel moved to donate to their family, you can do so here.

Well that wasn't necessarily quick, but I got a lot of stuff dumped out of my head there.  Head on over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Artist at work

Little Ruby has been our little artist ever since she could hold a crayon.  More hours of her day are spent 

doing art than anything else (okay, sleeping excepted.)  For Christmas, Santa brought her a tub full of art supplies (glitter glue, acrylic paints and a palette, foam stickers, felt sheets, glue, pipe cleaners, feathers, jewels, pom-poms...) and let's just say that present has been thoroughly enjoyed!  For the first couple weeks after Christmas, that was ALL she did!  The last couple of days though, she has reverted back to crayons/markers/colored pencils, and I've LOVED seeing her drawings!  I thought you might like to see them too!

Snowmen with LOTS of buttons

Flowers

A rainbow and "Hello Kitty with pinchers... like a crab..."

A sister with a monkey bars on her shirt, a coconut (the top circle-looking thing), a baby (to the right of the coconut), and Mama Mary (laying down.)  Notice the orange "frame" she colored around it - that's her latest thing - frames

Sunshine.  She drew this about 6 months ago and it's been hanging on my fridge ever since because I love it so much.  It just makes me smile every time I see it!

A girl with a bug on her shirt

We also got a beautiful surprise in the mail today from another artist dear to our hearts, Amber Pitts.  She was here this summer with the Love Good Music tour and painted this beautiful picture, upside down in three minutes during one of Jimmy's songs. It was incredible to behold!

When I got the mail, there was a package of greeting cards from Amber with beautiful watercolor depictions of Pope Francis and Mother Teresa.  I really want to put pictures of them on here, but I really don't want to spoil anything for her either, so unfortunately for now, you'll just have to imagine them.  The painting of Mother Teresa is titled "Peace Begins With a Smile" and Mother Teresa just exudes joy and love.  The painting of Pope Francis perfectly captures his humble, loving spirit.  Oh goodness they're wonderful.  If you're looking for beautiful cards to mail out for any reason, I would highly recommend getting in touch with Amber (comment here and I'll put you in touch with her.)  You would be supporting a beautiful young woman's gift!  We are so blessed to have this beautiful artist as a role-model for our beautiful little artist!

My Girl

We were out of milk this morning (and Ira and Ruby always always have cold cereal/milk for breakfast), so I got up early to make some muffins for the kiddos for breakfast.  I hadn't been up 15 minutes when Ruby came bouncing in all mussy-headed.  She is just about the cutest thing ever when she wakes up.  With a lot of my time being consumed teaching Ira during the day, I kind of cherish the mornings when she wakes up early, even if it does infringe on my "me time."  So she got to help me make muffins!  I used to be really good about letting Ira help me in the kitchen, but with Ruby it seems like I'm always "too busy" or "in a hurry" or "not in the mood to deal with the mess."  I really need to work on that.  She loves to help!

When Ira got up, he wanted nothing to do with my muffins... hmph... and made himself cinnamon toast for breakfast instead... little stinker...

Then today was one of those days where neither of us was really.... hmm... focused?  I guess that would be the word for it?  We just weren't very in sync.  I was tired... He was... unfocused?  Yeah, I think that's probably a good description of the combination.  So it took him forever to do things and it felt even longer to me because I was tired and just wanted him to finish.  We got it done, but it wasn't necessarily pretty. Then we went and threw our route of 800 papers.  It also was not pretty but it got done.  (The combination of heat blowing full blast to keep the car warm and two windows down with 30 degree air blowing in and the stop/go/turn, etc. of throwing papers this time of year makes all 3 of us a little queasy by the time we're finished.)   The house was a wreck when we got home, but a couple focused hours of cleaning up/putting stuff away and it has returned to some semblance of decency.  Pretty much today was just one of those days we pat ourselves on the back for surviving, get to bed as early as we can, and thank God that tomorrow is a fresh, new day!

Hmmm...

You know how during the day you think of about eleventy seven awesome blog posts that you're going to do as soon as you get the time, and then you finally get the time and sit down at the computer and start writing... and erasing.... and writing... and erasing... yeah - that's this post.  I think I've gone through 4 titles now.  And erased about 7 paragraphs (using the term paragraph very loosely.)  It's hard for me to jump in and just "start fresh."  I'm one of those people that likes to talk... a lot... and tell the antithesis of the "Reader's Digest Version."  I'm all about the back story.  So how b'zackly I'm going to just jump back into my half-a-year-neglected blog has me stumped.  I guess I'm just a little bummed that I didn't record all the day-to-day stuff that's happened these last 6 months - for my own sake.  And for the sake of boring you all to tears of course.  How 'bout I just start with today, and if something doesn't make sense, you just ask me for clarification.

Well, I guess to start with today, I have to tell you about yesterday.  It was our first day back homeschooling after a week long vacation to Galveston and the two weeks prior to that were fraught with a lack of normalcy because of Andy and I both having pneumonia (not at the same time thankfully, yeesh!)  So I was well aware that yesterday might be ahem difficult but WOW was it DIFFICULT!  I let Ira sleep in because he too (on our 2nd to last day of vacation) caught the upper-respiratory crud that Andy and I had.  He's getting over it thanks to our doctor calling in antibiotics for us, but yesterday was really the first day he felt better.  So we got started around 10 and let me just say, it was a battle all. day. long.  At one point Ira told me he wished I would "move to California and drown."  Touching, isn't it?  I tried to be patient, but you know what, I haven't been the most diligent in my prayer life lately and it shows in how my days go.  So we didn't get done with school until 5 o'clock.  GAH!!!!  And when I spend so much of the day "educating" Ira (be it behaviorally or academically) I feel like I don't get to be Ruby's mommy like I should be.  On top of all of that, it is near impossible to get anything done on a day like that, which just compounds the problem of feeling ineffective and worthless... California, here I come...  Dinner was late (Chana Masala -mmmm) but we were able to end our day with a decade of the rosary.

After the kids were in bed, Andy and I rolled newspapers (for our route of 800 that we throw once a month), talked, and watched our favorite show, Castle.  On top of feeling like a failure, I was also feeling particularly sad about our miscarriages.  I tell you, that is a deep heartache.  The kind that just takes your breath away at times.  It is so hard because in the end, when all the chips are down, it's completely out of our hands.  I can't try, pray, wish, or hope my way into more children for our family.  And I feel this acute emptiness in my life.  There's this gaping hole in my heart and I can't fill it.  It physically aches.  God can fill it.  I know that.  I know Christ didn't come to bring flowers and rainbows to sinners.  He came to die on the cross.  To show us how to live by dying to ourselves.  Suffering can be transformative if I offer it back to God.  I'm still working on that...

So yeah, to say I was dreading today would be an enormous understatement.  I had come up with a few different strategies to try to make today's school day go better. I got up right when my alarm rang at 6 o'clock.  "Serviam."  I started the day with a shower and more time than usual in prayer (no mass this morning, so I had some extra time.)  Ruby got up before Ira and she and I had about 15 minutes of snuggling, talking, and reading a book before she finally demanded "BREFEST"  It was just wonderful.  And you know what, the rest of the day went well too.  The kids and I were even able to go throw those 800 newspapers this afternoon so Andy didn't have to do it tonight.  Thanks God, I so needed a "today."

And I got this too:

And Ruby wore this to help Andy replace the brake pads on my car HA!!!  This is SO Ruby:

I'll leave you with Ira's narration for "Joseph in Potiphar's House"  it's a good'n:

"It was about the famous dream.  You probably know the story.  You know how Joseph's brothers sold him to a camel caravan?  The camel caravan sold him to Potiphar.  And Potiphar noticed that everything he told him to do, he could accomplish.  So he gave him charge of his whole household.  What an honor!  And Potiphar's wife was his friend, but after that, his enemy!  And she noticed that he wouldn't do wrong to please her.  And then she falsely told her husband lies about him.  And so Potiphar threw him into prison.  And then the king had a dream, well, two dreams actually.  And the dream was that there was seven fat cows eating by the river (probably the River Nile) and then seven thin cows came and ate up the fat.  And then he saw seven fat ears of corn, and seven thin and dry ones came up and ate the full beautiful ones.  And the meaning of this dream was that there would be seven years of plenty, then BLAM.  BLAM, BLAM, BLAM.  The food would be gone.  There would be a famine.  Yikes!  The Pharaoh made him in charge of storing up the food for the seven years of famine.  And people came from all over to get food, because the famine was all over the world.  Or at least that world."

You can't make that stuff up, folks!  And with that, I bid you "Goodnight!"

Journal: February 3

Outside my window: Whaddaya know, grey and cold again.  blah.

Clothing myself in: yoga pants, brown t-shirt - lazy Sunday hurrah!

Around the house: Finally finally scrubbed the kitchen floor, Cinderella style.  It is a pain, but it seems to be the only thing that really gets it clean.  The linoleum has grooves that get dirty and need to be really scrubbed, and the only way I've found to do it effectively is on my hands and knees - thus why I procrastinate doing it endlessly.  Andy got one wall in the bedroom downstairs built (studs, drywall hung)
Got garden plans tentatively made for this Spring.  We don't need to buy very many plants/seeds because of propagating them from last years crops, but I do think we'll be buying two grafted tomato varieties just b/c we haven't found roma or sandwich tomato varieties that we just love yet.  (For those who care, we're looking at a grafted San Marzano and a grafted Mortgage Lifter from Gardens Alive.)

Ira: 
-Got to go to the ER last Sunday night with a high fever and confusion/lethargy.  It was really scary to see him so incapable of understanding things (didn't know/understand how to take the tylenol tablets out of my hand and chew them, didn't know how to get his shirt on, had to be carried out of bed and to the car.)  I don't think I've ever been as fearful for my child's health as I was that night.  They checked him for pneumonia and meningitis at the ER and said that it must have just been the high fever possibly combined with dehydration causing it.  He missed the first two days of Catholic School's Week due to the fever.
-Is getting better at spontaneous jokes.  We were at the dinner table this past week and Andy was talking about someone he works with named Kevin and Ira chimed in "Henno!" (Like Kevin from 3-2-1 Penguins.)  It took Andy and I a second to catch it, but it was SO FUNNY!
-Had a particularly rough time with him Friday evening and Saturday morning as he's developed a "rude-dude-attitude."  He spent over an hour in our room (he just distracts himself with reading in his own room) adjusting his attitude and wow, the rest of the day was really nice.  Andy and I sat down with him after his "room time" and had a great talk with him about  pride, sin, having a contrite heart, etc.  It was good.
-Had his school's winter carnival last night.  Came home with a couple handfuls of junk treasures and the book "The Squire and the Scroll."  I was thrilled as I've wanted to buy the book for him each time I've visited the Catholic Bookstore, but haven't ever been able to justify the brand-new cost.  

Ruby:
-Was sick last weekend just like Ira, but her fever never got as high.  Pretty sure she inherited Andy's immune system & Ira inherited mine (lucky girl, poor guy.)   She still has the cough, but it doesn't seem to bother her too much.
-Still concerned about whose turn it is to talk, although not quite as intensely as last week.
-Has been successfully keeping her underwear dry at naptime (and bedtime most nights, although she wears a diaper then.)
-Had a very fun time at the Winter Carnival last night.  Got her hair sprayed red and orange, had quite the arm on the bean bag toss, and won the big prize (a giant pixie stick) at Plinko.
-Had to throw her last two binkies away this week because they were totally, totally torn up/disintegrating.  She threw the last one away today before her nap and no tears were shed and she slept great.  Could it really be that simple?  We shall see!

In the Kitchen:
Bobby's Goulash with Green Beans (this btw is an absolute favorite, easy, delicious, healthy - I can't wait!); Chicken Quesadillas with Black Beans; Hamburger Vegetable Stew with Foccacia

Hobbies:
Made some homemade mama cloth for my sister who should have her baby any day now.  It was the project I referred to in my post last week.  I think I'm finally pleased with my design.  I'm hoping to make some for my own stash before maybe setting up an Etsy shop to sell them.

Bringing me Joy:  This is the month!!!  We get to go to PPVI Institute this month.  I am so anxious/excited/nervous/thrilled/hopeful about finally getting some concrete answers about our difficulties.

Thinking about: Everything I have to get done/ready/packed/talked about in anticipation of aforementioned trip.  Feeling a little overwhelmed and like I just want to retreat to bed and not deal with it at all.  I'm sure that'll help.

Pictures to share:

Fun hair from Winter Carnival.

Sissy got her hair did too!
This is what she did when I said "Let's take a picture of you!" Such spunk!

Journal: January 24

Outside my window: grey and cold.  I hate winter.  Especially winter in January and February.

Clothing myself in: jeans, navy blue long sleeve shirt with turquoise camisole underneath.  It's pretty much my uniform: jeans, tank top, solid colored long sleeve shirt.

Around the house: Finally got all the Christmas stuff taken down last Friday (i think?)  Slowly but surely cleaning.  I made a "schedule" for myself for each month with cleaning goals - it seems to be a step in the right direction.  Life's been a little chaotic lately with sickness and family stuff, so things have had to slide a bit, but it's nice to have goals to work towards.  Finally replaced the water pad/filter in the whole house humidifier (just one of those things I never remember to pick up/look for) I can't believe how much more comfortable the house feels.

Ruby: Gosh she's growing.  There've been so many things in the past few weeks that I've wanted to blog about regarding her, but just haven't had the chance.  She is still into coloring (especially with her markers from Christmas) and cutting paper "candy" - tiny little pieces of colored paper (that she colors after she cuts out - like .25"x.5" pieces) and hanging them on doors (with 2 foot strings of tape - also a Christmas present.)  She's also moved from playing with babies mostly to stuffed animals mostly.  Her chimpanzee is named "Doo Doo"  her dog is named "Sam."  Another monkey is "Thomas" and a big red monkey is "Sir Handle."  She's wanted her hair "like a mama" lately - i.e. I wear my hair in a low ponytail pretty much every day and now that's how she wants her hair every day.  I'm honored and humbled by how much about me she notices.  She's really into whose turn it is to talk/not being interrupted.  For instance, Ira starts to say something as Ruby is finishing what she's saying, so she exclaims, "Ira, I was talking FIRST!"  Hopefully she will learn the ebb and flow of natural conversation soon - it's mildly annoying.  Still has the binkies - although they're like really cracked and beat up.  She says she's giving them to Mandy's baby when he/she is born - we'll see!  She's also been into who/what does and does not poop right now too.  Like, in the car, "does a tree poop?" "does a bird poop?.... why?"  and on, and on, and on.  Fascinating stuff I know...

Ira: Is in 2nd grade math right now.  Before Christmas break, his teacher called to ask if Andy and I would think about him moving up to 2nd grade math because the 1st grade stuff was just way too easy for him.  I was so impressed with her concern for Ira getting the best education and that she took the initiative to clear the logistics of it  (even as his school years continue.)  We decided that it would be good for him and sure enough, it is.  He's said a few times "Second grade math is a little harder than first grade math!" as he's doing his homework.  He was pretty thrilled that he didn't have any homework last week because the second graders were finishing first confession preparations and therefore weren't being given homework.  Score!  He's reading 5.1-5.5 level AR books.  Still loving non-fiction but also really into Magic Treehouse and Flat Stanley Worldwide Adventures as well.  We seem to have come to the other side of the "angrily resisting chores" thing - he's doing better with getting them done and accepting the consequence if he doesn't.  Although, the other night he did yell quite angrily, "Dare I say it, that's the most ridiculous rule I've ever heard!" (When I told him he could eat dinner when his toys were cleaned up.)  Now he's been trying to "engage" me in arguments with inflammatory statements like above, or "you're just a liar, that wasn't really five minutes."  It works best if I can keep calm and respond lovingly "I'm sure you feel that way" or "I love you too much to argue."  It takes a few times of saying it (and sometimes more than a few times), but when he realizes I'm not going to get involved in the power struggle, he comes to terms with whatever he's being asked to do.  Now if I can just consistently do my job and not get in my "I'm going to win this argument" mode.  Still enjoying piano lessons - we're about 15 pages from being done with the Level 1A book.  After our piano lesson yesterday, he was talking to me about something and then said, "you know, like when Father holds up the Eucharist and it turns into Jesus' body and there's that shiny light behind the host."  I was astounded.  Speechless.  What a gift he's been given!  I am so excited for him to receive the sacraments of reconciliation and communion next year!

In the kitchen: Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake, Quick Pasta Carbonara, Cavatini, and Cheese & Black Bean Enchiladas.  The theme for this week is: keepin' it simple.

Hobbies: working on a sewing project right now.  Not 100% thrilled with my design/execution, so I'll continue to tweak it before "going public."

Bringing me joy: Our impending visit to Pope Paul VI Institute.  Test results coming in abnormal (as funny as that sounds, it's a start and an indication that things are definitely not working like they're supposed to.)  My kids.  They've just been pretty good and easy to deal with lately.  Our new treadmill.  It is amazing!  We've put over a marathon's worth of miles on it already (in the less than two weeks we've had it.)  I've run in Hawaii, Rome, Japan, Texas, and New York already.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  See here.  Funny tangential story:  The night we got the treadmill, I decided to do this mountain run in Hawaii.  I ran some of it but walked a lot it because it was just really hard and then felt awful when I finished it.  I told Andy, "wow the incline thing really makes a difference!  That or I've gotten really out of shape in the last month, because I feel like I could barf."  I continued to feel horrible and when he got done running I said, "wasn't it awful" and he was like, "well, it didn't seem that bad, really."  So I thought, "man I am SO out of SHAPE.  I feel like CRAP!"  Well, I finally drug myself upstairs to bed and woke up about an hour later with the stomach flu.  And then proceeded to wake up every 60 minutes for the rest of the night.  Fun times, that stomach flu.

Thinking about: Family.

Pictures to share:

Ira ready for his first day of "Basketball Camp"  He got a shirt last week for being the best at "Chest Passes"  He was so proud!

Ruby's Sesame Street Manicure I gave her.  From left (thumb) to right: Telly, Grover, Elmo, Oscar, and Cookie Monster.

What can I say, I was bored...

Catch-up

So it's been 3+ weeks since I posted... funny how life happens.  I was stressing about how exactly to update, then I decided I'm just going to jump in and do it without regards to formatting.  I didn't figure you'd mind.

-Ira's school had an adorable Christmas program on 12-12-12.  It was titled "In A Galilee Far, Far Away."  It was so cute and you could tell how VERY hard all the kids had worked on it.  I teared up during the program thinking about how grateful I am that Ira gets to go to a Catholic School where he can learn and sing about the true meaning of Christmas.

-Thursday before Christmas Break, Pope Paul VI Institute called to schedule my surgery date.  I am so ecstatic to finally have a date in my head to look forward to!

-Got an early Christmas present from Andy - a Deluxe Lightscoop for my camera.  Here is a great example of before and after the Lightscoop.  I'm totally thrilled with it.  These pictures were taken seconds apart from each other.  Not the greatest picture (artistically or technically) but a good example of the Lightscoop's capabilities:

-Spent the weekend before Christmas celebrating with 3 different family groups.  It was good to see everyone and we (the kids and us) were spoiled immensely by good food, good company, and thoughtful presents.  Got some AWESOME pictures with the lightscoop!

-Christmas "Break" was scarcely a break (other than from routines) because Ira (& Ruby eventually) was SICK with the Flu.  He looked over at me as 4:00 Christmas Eve Mass was ending and asked "Why is it so ccccccold in here?!"  At which point I knew he had a fever.  We missed Christmas at my parents' the next day which was one of the most difficult things I've ever subjected myself to (and I've had morning sickness and delivered 2 babies.)  Because essentially after the kids opened their presents, Christmas celebrating was "over" for us.  No second Christmas Mass, no presents and meals and games with family... just us. in our jammies. all day.  I'd like to say I was a champ about it, but I moped around a lot of the day and cried a lot too.

-We thought Ira's fever was gone (it was for almost a day) and went ahead with plans to host my friends from High School whom we got re-connected with after my 10 year reunion.  Ira & Ruby went to Andy's parents and we had a wonderful time talking, eating, and playing games with some of my closest friends from High School. I am so happy for these re-kindled friendships!

-Ira was NOT all better.  When we picked him up from Andy's folks' he felt warm and sure enough, had a fever.  We took him to my doctor's Immediate Care clinic (a WONDERFUL resource) where they diagnosed him with the Flu.  At that point, it was past the time that Tamiflu would work, so we were told to push fluids and rest.  His fever got up to 103.6 that night before finally breaking.  He slept that entire day and night and acted like he felt better.  His fever never did come back, although he still seems to be physically drained from the sickness.

-We did get to host my family on Saturday for Christmas.  Everyone came and boy was it nice to see them!  I finally got to give my mom the calendar that I'd spent dozens of hours working that included this little gem at the end (thanks to my sibs for going along with my crazy idea!):

-Ruby came down with a fever Sunday night.  Knowing that the only place she could've gotten it from was Ira, I took her to Immediate Care on Monday morning so that maybe she could get started on Tamiflu.  Her swab came back negative, but they did an RV Panel that had to culture for 48 hours and said if it came back by Wednesday, they would still give her the Tamiflu.  Her fever broke Monday night, but now she has the cruddiest sounding cough and runny nose.  They called today to say that the panel came back positive for "Flu B."  Push the fluids and rest.  Blurgh...

-Andy and I spent a lot of time playing "The Farming Game."  It's part Monopoly, part Stock Market game and a LOT of fun.  In fact, I like it better than Monopoly (this coming from a person with Christmas ornaments and books about Monopoly.)  We played one game with my sister and brother-in-law and then two games by ourselves.  It has yet to get old.

-Finished my hormone series for Dr. Hilgers.  Eleven blood draws later, I'm still alive and curious about what all that blood work is going to say about me.

-Andy and I "partied hard" New Years Eve playing The Farming Game, writing birthdays on the calendar for 2013, doing double shots of Tequila at Midnight, and staying up until 2:30 in the morning talking and writing up goals for the year.  Neither of us are really "resolution" type people, but it was a good opportunity to re-align our priorities with our values and make sure we're working towards them.

-Spent New Years day cleaning out closets and cabinets, getting rid of junk and rearranging the remaining items.  It was a nice start to the New Year.

-Pulled Ira's other top front tooth out.  It was like "pulling teeth" replete with Andy holding him and me pulling.  It had to come out, that's all I have to say.

-Spent the last day of Christmas Vacation going to lunch and eating sushi, then going to the mall and letting the kids do the "Bungee Bungee" and play Glo-Golf.  It was enjoyable to actually spend some time together doing something fun.

I am filled with hope for 2013.  Blessings to you and yours this year!

Journal: Dec 11

Outside my window: Sunny, little to no wind, very cold the last two mornings but has been warming to the mid forties in the afternoons.  Definitely more like December.  And although that's what I was saying we needed last week, I still don't like it.  My least favorite things: static cling and the whole coats + car seats ordeal.  


Clothing myself in: Denim trousers, black long-sleeved shirt with turquoise tank top underneath.

Around the house: Well, as we speak there are six tea towels spread out on the living room floor by Ruby to make a "skate park."  There are also crayons and painted pictures everywhere.  Life with children much?  There are actually some wrapped presents under the tree anxiously awaiting Christmas.

We have been doing a Jesse Tree for Advent and finally this week (after I printed another set of ornaments for Ruby to color rather than taking turns) we are getting to the point where we don't end our prayer time singing "Christ Circle Round Us" while wanting to kill each other.  Progress.

Ruby: Still on the "football player" kick.  She refers to herself as football player pretty much all the time now.  As in naming people off at the dinner table, "Mommy, football player, Ira, Daddy."  And she still wears the YMCA jersey whenever she can find it (not that anyone would ever hide it or anything...)  Some days Andy doesn't even know what clothes she has on until he gets her undressed for her bath because all he ever sees is "YNCAjersey" (read that really fast b/c that's how she says it, all smushed together.)  Still has her binkies.  Is singing some Christmas songs, which is just precious to me.  Favorites: "Hi shed the Donkey" (Friendly Beasts); We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  Is wearing a lot of 4T clothes now.  Which is just weird to me, because I don't think Ruby is very tall (in fact, to me she seems short for her age) but she needed more length in her shirts.  She's wearing a combo of 3 & 4T bottoms.  Girls clothing sizes (as well as women's for that matter) are so wonky...

Ira: Had a dentist appointment last week.  No cavities (hooray!) and got sealants put on 3 out of 4 six-year molars (the 4th still had some tissue over it.)  The top left tooth is very loose now but again, he wants nothing to do with pulling it out.  The dentist told us to buy some candy corn.  I snorted and told him he was probably the first dentist ever to tell a patient to buy and eat candy corn.  We did not buy any, therefore, the tooth is still there.  He did think he lost it this weekend at my parents, kind of a funny story.  He was getting undressed for his bath when he said "Grandma, my tooth is out!" (reminiscent of Thanksgiving) then he says "why is it so sticky?"  "And the new tooth that's growing in is already really big...and it's loose..." At which point my mom asked him to see the "tooth"  She smashed it in her fingers and a peppermint smell escaped.  Good try Ira, but it was just a piece of candy cane.  He has been really enjoying his Advent Chain activities.

In the kitchen: Spaghetti and Meatballs; Sweet & Sour Pork; Pepperoni Pizza; and Natalie's Tuna Noodle Salad.

Hobbies: I've been working on a project that despite my best efforts, just doesn't want to be finished.  We'll see what the next week brings.  Altered some pajama pants of Ira's (from St. Nick) that were 6" too big in the waist.  Now if only there were a way to lengthen his uniform pants and shirts.  I am seriously thinking we'll need longer ones before the school year is over.  Sheesh.  Truly grateful for healthy, growing kiddos though!  My new hobby: having blood work done every other day for the rest of this cycle.  Yippee!

Bringing me joy: The Christmas presents we bought on Saturday.  We really spent a lot of time picking out gifts for everyone on our list this year and I cannot WAIT to give them!  (I'm really bad at waiting to give gifts.)  Really grateful for the place we are right now in our lives - jobs/home/family I'm feeling very thankful lately for it all.  Playing with Ruby - she has quite the imagination (and has the funniest "voices" for her toys - really nasally and forced.)  Having a good dentist who I like and trust (even if I do have to get a crown next week...)  Our insurance agent calling us because he noticed (as I had) that our rates went up a decent amount.  He'd already found us cheaper (and better, honestly) coverage and just needed to know if we wanted to switch.  Thank you!

Thinking about: Christmas/St. Nick/Santa.  Looking forward to Ira's Christmas Program this week.  Writing our Christmas letter.  How much I love my hubby and can't imagine my life without him (an elderly woman at our parish recently lost her husband - I don't know why, but it's really getting to me.)

Picture to share:

Every month when we take our "monthly picture" I get asked "Can we do a silly one?!"   Believe it or not, this was the silly one from this past month.

Journal: Dec 4

Outside my window: sunny, 50s/low 60s.  We've had beautiful weather lately, just wishing it would rain for the farmers' sakes.  And wishing it would freeze for awhile so the bugs/spiders would go away.  This coming from the person who loathes winter.

Clothing myself in: Boots, skinny jeans, thermal t-shirt, brown short-sleeved sweater.

Around the house: Well, the house got cleaned in a whirlwind last Monday because I decided (that morning) to host around 20 people for a surprise birthday party for Andy.  We also decorated for Christmas this past weekend.  Ira was really excited about decorating this year (which was good, because I needed some motivation to actually do it.)  We don't do a ton of decorating, but what we do, I really love.

Ruby: Is still insisting that she is (or is going to be) a football player.  Everyone who comments on what a cute little girl she is gets the same response, "No, I'n a football player."  It cracks me up!  She is clinging to her binkies for now.  She loves having the Fisher Price Nativity scene out to play with.  She also loves the ornaments on the tree that make music - so far she's been good about being gentle with the tree/ornaments.  Has been copying her brother's attitude at times.  Replete with door slamming and yelling.  Oh joy!

Ira: Has had an attitude lately.  Last week was kind of a crazy week as far as after-school time went, which really seems to affect him negatively.  We tried to spend good, quality time with him this weekend, which helped some, but still he was doing this entitled/attitud-ey thing, so he had some consequences to face for that.  He really really needs the boundaries and consequences that a good routine provides, so we're trying to stick to it better this week.  Earned computer time for practicing piano ever day last week.

In the kitchen: Crockpot chili, Brown bag burritos, Homemade Chicken & Noodles, Tomato-Mushroom Soup with Grilled Cheese, and maybe Sweet & Sour pork.

Hobbies: I've been editing photos like crazy lately and am so pleased with how easy it has become now that I "know what I'm doing."  I just wish our computer was a little faster.  Maybe someday...

Bringing me joy: Hubby's 30th Birthday party was tons of fun.  Went to the zoo as a family this weekend and then went running at the park afterwards.  A new-found peace that God is asking us to wait for Him in a couple areas of our lives.  I am not usually good at being patient, but I am feeling a certain peace in waiting on God right now.   Started my complete hormone panel for Dr. Hilgers.  Curious to see what  all can be determined from it.

Thinking about: This article that a friend shared with me.  What a weird position it is to feel called to have a big family and physically not be able to (at least for now.)  Again though, I'm waiting on Him, and His plans for my life.

Pictures to share:

The big 30 year old!

I know it's blurry, but I LOVE the emotion is this picture!

Silly kiddos at the zoo!