Checkin' another one off the list...

Teaching Jake to make bread...CHECK!

I didn't plan on doing this today, but Jake had other plans. He came into my room early, asking if I had any bread cookbooks he could look at, because he wanted to make a baguette. (What 11 y.o. American kid wakes up in the morning and thinks, "I'd really like to make a baguette today."? I hadn't even heard the word until I was an adult...and didn't know the meaning until the advent of the WWW. Am I raising nerds? Am I OK with that?) I just so happened to have a kids' bread cookbook, so I got it for him and told him to knock himself out. He found a French bread recipe he liked, and started throwing ingredients into the KitchenAid. (With only my supervision and occasional advice...so was I really "teaching" him? I was getting off easy, me thinks.)


This is how it looked after the first two risings. We just decided to go with a traditional loaf for our first time. I wasn't sure it was headed in the right direction, but I figured it would still taste good, even if it wasn't attractive.



Ready for the oven...



It was very crusty...and Jake was very proud.



Not a bad texture at all...probably wouldn't win any ribbons, but it was not bad at all. Next time, we're going to roll up the dough for a rounder shape to see if we can pull off the baguette. Learning is so fun when you get to eat your practice!



THIS is what I'M talkin' about!

And within minutes, the entire thing was gone. Hours of work for minutes of pleasure. Next time we'll make two loaves.

(Trivia: Can you believe my mom used to make bread every. week when I was little? And she'd grind her own wheat, too. Anyone else out there grow up with a wheat grinder on their kitchen counter?)

Independence Day 2010

Our 4th of July was pretty low-key this year. I wish I could tell you it was because we are super-righteous and since it fell on the sabbath, we spent it reading our scriptures and writing letters to missionaries. That would be a lie (and that would not be very righteous at all).

In reality, we were still recovering from our vacation...which probably had something to do with it. Also, I know at least I was feeling kind of melancholy...being an American not in America, knowing the whole country was over there partying without us. Every Facebook status update was a reminder of that. (Can you tell Facebook is my window to the world?) It reminded me of last year, actually. (The not feeling very festive part). To some extent because of the foreign country thing...but mostly because we were missing Cliff so much.

We started out the day at church. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, that meant it was Fast and Testimony Meeting and we had the opportunity to hear and bear testimony. This honestly can be hit or miss...but this Sunday's meeting was great. We have a family Fast Sunday tradition of eating homemade pizza for dinner, which I made with artichoke hearts, zucchini, onions, garlic and tomatoes (and cheese for everyone except me). It was pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.

Even though we weren't going to any sort of party, or to watch the fireworks on the Air Force base, we did feel like we should mark the day somehow...so we watched The Patriot with Mel Gibson. It had been several years since I watched it, and it was even more awesome than I remembered. It was exactly what I needed today.

Of course I am grateful for those who serve in our military today...but I am especially grateful to those who had the courage to fight for our independence when doing so was as good as a death sentence (for themselves and their families). Some of them were members of my family. Samuel Huntington was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He is my (many-greats) uncle on my mom's side. Joseph Parks fought in the Revolutionary War and is my (several-greats) grandfather on my dad's side. Then his son, Rufus Parks, fought in the war of 1812. I can't help but wonder what life was like for them. What did they believe? What kind of sacrifices did they make? I wonder what they would think about America today? Would they feel like it was worth it? I hope so.

I think the 4th of July is like many other "picnic" holidays in our country. It's more about the family traditions that we participate in...and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that...I think it's wonderful. I love picnics and fireworks. But the fact that I had no desire to do either of those things this year was making me feel...well...kind of unpatriotic, really. Like..."What's wrong with me?!" I don't want to be all somber when everyone else is celebratory! But in thinking about it again, I'm OK with it. This is a family tradition, of sorts.

I will leave you with one of my favorite patriotic quotes:

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure." ---Thomas Jefferson

God bless those patriots whose actions allow me to worship, to celebrate and to live FREE...and God bless America!

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Toy Story 3 and Toys R Mine

We are seeing LOTS of movies this summer. We don't normally enjoy movie theaters. Without fail, there are seat-kickers, obnoxious teens trying to impress their friends with their wit when they should shut up and watch, cell phone talkers/texters (yes...your illuminated cell phone screen is just as annoying as your voice, thank you), people who wait too long to take out their babies/should have gotten a sitter...and it's just not enough of an enjoyable experience to warrant spending the money when we can Netflix it in a couple of months.

For some reason (I'm guessing because there are so many good movies coming out), this summer, we've braved the masses and have so far seen:

(1) Shrek Forever After (Do the roar...I love you, Da-deh!)
(2) Prince of Persia
(3) Karate Kid

And:



All of these movies were exceptional, I thought...but Toy Story 3 was very special. I LOOOVED the first Toy Story movie. My boys were the perfect ages (2 and 4) to watch it over and over, to want all the merchandise (Troy=Buzz, Patrick=Woody) and to look adorable wearing the sweat suits, PJs, costumes, etc. I have attached such sentimental value to this movie.

So, in the year that my oldest is graduating, the producers reached right into my chest, ripped out my heart, and made Andy part of the class of 2010 as well. Thanks guys. I needed that reinforcement that childhood is slipping from my grasp.

Many of my Facebook friends let it be known via status update that the end made them tear-up. One even admitted it made her full-on sob (and her kid is still in 3rd grade...what does she know?!) but I wonder how many people started the movie crying? And my kids knew it, too. They kept looking at me as if they were expecting it. As soon as they started showing the home-movie footage of Andy growing up, I lost it. Eventually, I got a hold of myself and got into the movie...but the ending was brutal.

Troy and his friends were quite proud of the fact that Andy is a 2010 graduate. They said it meant they had literally and figuratively grown up with Andy. They planned to watch it together, and when the credits rolled, their childhood would officially be over. Well...travel and life got in the way, and Troy had to suffer through watching it with his family, instead. He is still a child for another month, anyway.

Afterward, the big kids had other obligations, but since he's been bugging us (and it was on my summer list) we took Jake to the Japanese Toys 'R Us.

(Trivia: When Troy was tiny, in one of those free parenting magazines, there was a "cute stuff kids say" section, with a quote from a 3 year old, asking her mom "When are we going to go back to Toys 'R Mine?" That's what we've called it ever since.)



Of course, there would be Power Rangers.



And whatdya know...Toy Story 3!



Love the Japanese packaging.



I don't know WHY it never occurred to me that Woody would speak other languages. If this guy wasn't $50, he would be MINE. Can't really justify it, though.



Buzz is multi-lingual, apparently. As much as I like Japanese, I liked the salsa version better.



Of course, there were all the usual Toys R Us departments. You know...Lego, Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, Nerf weapons...



The Godzilla section...



And of course, all these little screens throughout the store, in case you missed their commercials on TV.

There were also plenty of darling Okinawan children...and I tried not to look like too much of a stalker while observing them.

It's actually a good thing our kids have mostly grown out of toys...because I could really do some damage inside a Toys 'R Mine right about now. I already have some birthday presents picked out for some nieces and nephews.

Flashback Friday...Washington DC Trip

October 1996


Back in the day, when Cliff was a Marine, he attended the Staff Academy in Quantico, Virginia. We were living in Joliet, IL at the time, and I felt comfortable enough with the distance to drive by myself with a 4 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, and one in the oven, so that we could attend Cliff's graduation.

The graduation itself was pretty unremarkable. (Well, except for that part where Patrick was being really obnoxious during the ceremony, while I was trying to be prepared to take Cliff's picture. And I pulled him close and scream-whispered in his ear about how he'd better knock it off right now. And he still kept it up, so I pinched his behind. And then he screamed, "OW! Mommy, don't pinch me! DON'T pinch me! That's NOT nice!" Yeah. Not one of my finer moments.)

Anyway, after all that pomp and circumstance, we stayed a couple of nights in the Quantico BOQ. We shared one ancient bedroom as a family, and a communal bathroom down the hall with who-knows-how-many of our closest friends. Pretty posh. (I hear they have since remodeled.)

We thoroughly enjoyed Washington DC. We only had a couple of days to spend before we had to head home for Cliff to make it to work on Monday, but we packed in quite a bit. We hit all the big monuments, walked by the White House (the line was impossibly long so we opted not to stay) and went through several of the Smithsonian museums. We also went to Arlington, hoping to see some progress on the Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) museum...but they had just broken ground and there was really nothing to see. (I'm a charter member and my profile can be viewed on screen there, now that it's done. I haven't been back to DC since, though.)



That's little Patrick to the left, Cliff's behind, and sweet Troy.



Funny how random memories can be. One of the things I remember most is trying to feed the pigeons. We bought popcorn from the nearby cart expressly for this purpose...and this young dad with five little kids in tow came over precisely where we were trying to feed them and the kids proceeded to try to annihilate the birds. One had a giant plastic dinosaur he was swinging by the tail trying to whack them, another was throwing his matchbox cars at them. The dad just laughed like some sort of hillbilly and said, "Git 'em!" I was pregnant (and therefore free to speak my mind) and I just looked at him and said, "You've GOT to be kidding me! Seriously?!" He said nothing, but eventually got the hint and moved his brood along. (Probably to go torture some homeless people...or light things on fire.)



Get a load of how skinny Cliff was! They used to PT him to death at that unit. I swear, half their day was mandatory PT. Honestly, I fed him well. He just worked it all off.




Sweet boys on the carousel.

(Trivia: I saw some boys like these at the bank the other day. They were playing under the counter, tickling each other and laughing while their mom counted out rolled coins. It reminded me of a day just two months after this trip, when I was in the post office, licking stamps for Christmas cards. {Remember licking stamps?} My boys were playing under the counter, much the same way. A woman came over to me and offered to help me stamp my envelopes {I had over a hundred}. I gratefully accepted her help, and when we were done, I thanked her. She looked me in the eyes and said, "God loves you and your children." I have to admit, I was taken aback...and my voice cracked as I replied, "Thank you. I know that." And then she went her way and I went mine. But I never forgot her kindness, or her unabashed words.)

God does love us...and our children. {Even moms who pinch their kids...and kids who throw things at pigeons...and dads who encourage them to do it.}

Okuma...Day Three and Four

Day Three:

We woke up to pouring rain. It continued to rain all. day. long. It was a total bummer. Or was it?....

We were prepared with LOTS of stuff to do, indoors or out. There were books for everyone, which many of us took advantage of. (Except Coree. She was getting mad at her brothers for reading and hid their books in an effort to gain their attention.)

We brought movies (and there were more available on site) and LOTS of food (and there was LOTS more of that available, too...as illustrated below).

Cliff gave the kids each $5 to spend at the shopette. This is the scene I witnessed when I wandered over to the kids' domain:









So much for all those oranges, apples, grapes, strawberries, cherries, carrots and celery we brought, huh kids?



I didn't get to golf, but I did get through half of my book, and thoroughly enjoyed taking a nice long nap.



And, of course, the boys enjoyed tussling.



And we ALL enjoyed dessert at the restaurant. Chocolate makes everything better, right?


Day Four:

Our final day at Okuma, and the sun came to bid us farewell. We got up early, got packed up and checked out...and hit the beach.


For some jet-skiing fun!


(The best self-portrait I could do on a moving jet ski. Not bad, no?)


In hind sight, Cliff and I should have chosen the middle lane so I could photograph both pairs of kids on either side. Instead, you'll have to click to enlarge the photo, squint to see Troy and Jake to the far left, and then see Patrick and Coree on the right. They all looked like they were having a blast.


Maybe too much of a blast...as illustrated here. That's Patrick and Coree swimming back to their jet ski after Evil Knievel Patrick took a hairpin turn.


Both pairs of kids ended up dumping themselves off not once, but twice. Lucky for me, my driver was more mature and cautious than that.



Good times.



Then we headed over to the other side of the resort for our parasailing appointment. We had three boat riders and three parasailors. Can you guess who was brave enough?


(Jake couldn't leave his hermit crabs in the car, so he brought them along for the ride.)



Here's Patrick going up, up and away!




Then it was Jake's turn. He loved it, too!



And who is that up there? If you guessed 'me', you'd be correct. I was a little nervous while signing the liability release...but I LOVED parasailing and I highly recommend it. It was like sitting in the sky. All I could hear was the wind in my hair. If you get a chance to do it...DO IT! You won't be sorry!

This was the first vacation we have taken as a family in almost two years. Only having to travel two hours to do it was a huge benefit. Before we even left, I was ready to make our next reservation. This place is Sah-WEET!



The End.