I heard this on the radio tonight and almost died laughing.  Thought all you moms of “grown up” kids would find it funny It was actually on a religious show that I never usually listen to, but this clip was worth listening to and passing on!

It’s just an audio clip, so make sure your speakers are on.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/YQNGqf5GN00]

Hope you enjoy – there was a lot of screaming and excitement at our gathering, so it’s a good thing the music plays over the video, let me tell you!  But seriously, we had such a great time.  We had families come from Kelowna, Vernon, Westbank and even Langley! Thank you everyone for coming! Our group is growing and it’s a wonderful thing to see this evolving subculture.  It’s amazing to think what a great social / support group this is for our kids, and for us parents as well. 

If you’d like to know more about our group, or see more pictures, check out
http://okanaganfamilieswithchildrenfromafrica.wordpress.com

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2wwdX2hYSA]

This evening my friend L drove over from Westbank to help me cook some dishes for our Ethiopian feast this Saturday. And guess what?  We cooked on my new stove that the plumbers hooked up this morning!  Yahoo! The sink is hooked up too!

There are still a bunch of things to do, but finally I feel like we are making progress… so here are some pictures of how the kitchen/bath/hall are coming along….

The new fridge full of 4 Ethiopian dishes.  Those are big 20 quart stock pots, BTW.

The countertops are in and the dish shelves are up (although holding boxes of tools, not dishes.)

That great new stove.  Those are FIVE gas burners, baby!  Still to come are the tile wall, the oven below, and the range fan hood above.

Oh, here’s the oven!  In the hallway!

And last but not least, the bathroom.  Hopefully tomorrow we’ll move the clawfoot back in – it’s so flipping heavy that we need 3-4 strong people to lift it. The “new” vanity (old dresser) is on the left.

So that’s it!  That corner of the house in progress.  I get to move in all the kitchen stuff on Saunday – yipee!

I really have been adapting pretty well to work part-time… although, I don’t seem to have any more time than I used to.  Mostly, I think that it’s because I am renovating away on the house, and because I haven’t been feeling that well.  But certainly, I can chalk some of it up to procrastination.  This happens at least one afternoon a week:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk]

Back in the fall, once most of the grapes had fallen to the ground or been eaten by the dogs, I decided to harvest the leftovers from the backyard.  I got a couple of cups of white grape juice (see above) and a whole jug of red grape juice.

It was the first time in years that I had grown something to eat – I used to have plots in the community garden when I was an apartment-dweller and really enjoyed mucking about. So this summer we are refocusing our energies on building a garden in the backyard.  We’re planting fruit trees (apple, pear, peach, cherry and plum!) and making some raised beds for vegetables.  My sis is moving to Invermere in the summer, so we’re hoping to spend a few days each summer doing mass bouts of canning (her specialty) and juicing.  My gramma was telling me about how they used to pasteurize apple juice and I think it’s a great way to get organic, healthy food.  PLUS, there won’t be as many emissions going into the air just to get my food to my house. PLUS, a chip off the grocery bill is a good idea.  PLUS, it’s really good for kids to see where their food comes from.

So a toast to self-sufficiency!  A toast to my spring garden!

(By the way, you are probably wondering when I’m going to squeeze all this gardening in between the renovations… good news.  The countertops are installed today, the tile guy comes back this weekend and the plumber should be finishing up next week.  So we’re pretty close to being finished!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui4QKQKfb9U]

The other night I decided to try out my sister’s recipe for making injera – the Ethiopian flatbreab eaten with most traditional meals.  I’ve gotten reasonably good at making the stews, but this was the first time I tried injera.  It’s actually a cheater recipe, designed to simulate the spongy texture and sour taste.  Jrock thought it was pretty good – I think we’ll use it for the Timkat gathering our group Okanagan Families With Children From Africa is hosting on Jan 26!

Ena’s Quick Injera

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used buckwheat – more traditional)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups club soda
juice of 1-2 lemons

Mix all dry ingrediants.  Stir in club soda to form a smooth batter.  It should loook like a really thin pancake batter. cook over medium heat, 1/2 cup at a time, spreading the batter thinly in a well-seasoned cast iron pan. Cook until the top bubles burst; flip and cook other side.  Do not brown it. When the injera is all done, brush each piece with lemon juice.

These are the lazy bums in my house! (Pun intended.) Am I the only one with any energy?!? Seriously – they were all sleeping, until Hamish woke from the flash!

Today I was writing up a “list of stuff to buy/get/borrow” and realized that we still have a lot of stuff to get! 

Because these are our first kids, I don’t know what the protocol is.  If we have a shower, do I give the list of stuff to an organizer?  Do I send it out to family?  I don’t want to buy everything and then have nothing left to get (see, I listen Mom!) but I don’t want to be left with a mad scramble, either…

Here’s the list, for what it’s worth… If anyone has advice on the child/gifting/receiving etiquette, I’d appreciate it!

As of 10-jan-08 still need

·         Receiving blankets

·         Baby and toddler bibs

·         Screens for car windows

·         Bumbo seat

·         No-slip decals for the bath

·         Bath faucet foamy-soft cover

·         Infant/toddler plastic tub

·         Toddler place setting w/ divided plate

·         Hair pick / coil comb

·         Bra-strap and other headbands

·         Digital thermometer

·         Glass bottles/nipples

·         Bottle brush

·         Microwave bottle sterilizer

·         Fold-up umbrella stroller

·         Diapers – new style cloth

·         Diaper pail (dog-proof)

·         Baby car seat

·         2-4 year old car seat

·         Baby Bjorn-style carrier for Dad (front and back)

·         Door knob covers – cabinet locks

·         Another baby gate

·         Baby swing/bouncer/exerciser

·         High chair – wood

·         Booster seat

·         Change pad for diaper bag

·         Contoured change pad covers

·         Crib mattress

·         Crib blankets

·         Mobile

·         Twin mattress

·         Twin sheets

·         Clothes (don’t know what size/gender yet)

Fun stuff

·         Toys for a 2-4 year old

·         Baby toys

·         Bath toys

·         Frog Pod for bath wall

·         Ethiopian music

·         Videos for watching while doing hair

·         Little People playsets

·         Littlest pet shop

·         Doctor kit

·         Handy-man tools

·         Black dolls

·         Baby rubber/cardboard books

·         Dress-up items for the tickle trunk

·         Matching game

·         Art supplies – washable markers, etc.

Please no

·         Computer games

·         Toy guns

Styles

The babies room has a wind in the willows, fanciful forest sort of theme.  Colours are light blue, bright green and bright orange.

The kids bath has a jungle sort of theme.

Already have

·         Heat-sensitive spoons

·         Nail clippers

·         Toothbrushes

·         Lotions

·         Sling carrier

·         Double chariot stroller / bike cart

·         Baby gate

·         Baby monitor

·         Diaper bags

·         Tickle trunk

·         Lamp

·         Night lights

·         Change table & pad

·         Washcloths

·         Towels

·         Shampoos and soaps

·         Crib

·         Crib sheets & dust ruffle

·         Crib quilt

·         Twin bed frame

·         Twin quilt (for a girl)

·         Dresser

·         Rocker

·         Bunch of books

·         Blocks

·         Cooking set

·         One cabbage patch girl

After New Year’s, my little brother B stopped by with his fiancee, D, fresh off the plane from 3 months in southeast Asia.  We listened to lots of D’s stories – it seems that she had a truly moving, learning and wonderful time.  B was just really glad to have her back!

Their 2 day visit was pretty low key – Jrock capitalized on “another male” in the house and got more than his fair share of football and hockey watching.  We also went out to Grey Monk on a bright wintry Okanagan afternoon – and then when it clouded over we ran back inside to the arcade/amusement park to play games.  D tried Dance Dance Revolution for the first time – my favorite!

 

Over the last week, we’ve been lucky to have 2 family visits – first, my parents cruised through.  We went out to Cedar Creek for a nice drive and a stop at the winery.  My parents tortured me by driving to 7+ stores in search of an area rug – and never finding one.  In the evening, Mom and Dad tried out our new game – Artifact – fun! and Dad spent a couple of hours showing Jason the topography and history of BC. 

Something you should know about my dad – he is a trivia maniac.  There is a trivia game mornings on CBC radio that is mostly BC trivia… the first caller through with the correct answer to their question gets their name put into a draw for the end of the week.  Then one of the 5 winners that week gets their name drawn for a CBC Daybreak mug (limited edition – 52 a year!) each Friday. Dad has a whole collection (at least a dozen) of these mugs…

His most recent accomplishment is winning (tyin’ for first!) the CBC Daybreak Easybake Contest with my gramma’s Fiddle Diddle cookies recipe.  In honour of my dad… here is the heralded family recipe!

Unbaked Chocolate Oatmeal Crunchies

1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 cup sugar
1 cup cocoanut
3 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanillaBoil the first four ingredient in a pan for 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut, oatmeal and vanilla. Place on waxed paper by teaspoonfuls and allow to cool. Enjoy and Make second batch.

The only person who has ever beat Dad at Trival Pursuit (our true family tradition!) was Jrock one Christmas Eve a few years ago.  It was a never ending sudden death round – until Dad, fuel by Galyva and way past his bedtime, finally missed a question.  Jrock still mentions it ever time we play a game!

Anyway, I digress. It was great having them visit.  Finally, a picture of my mom and I before we head off to the pizzeria on New Year’s Eve…

The “kids room” is total disaster now – it’s like a clearing house for all our junk that won’t fit into oter rooms – it has a dishwasher and wine fridge, and sink vanity, the computer desk, etc. all stuffed in there.  But soon we’ll be able to unpack it and start decorating!

A while ago I wrote about my ideas for decor – since, I’ve decided the two kids will be in the same room.  So here are some of the colours and things I’ve purchased… and you’ll have to wait a while to see them in action!

the crib I bought second hand … the stripey drapes… the crib quilt & bedskirt I bought from Sweet Kyla.. the paisley fabric of the bedskirt/quilt

my rocking chair (still in need of repair)… the “tickle trunk” with bears decoupaged… the dresser/change table

So you can see the assembling of baby stuff is coming along; it’s just all in stacks and piles and chaos along with the rest of the house!

this is so funny.  turn your speakers up. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmwqpHsMExg]

Now that we’ve changed our age request for a sibling group over 3 years old, (one child under one and one child under 4,) we are officially OVERDUE. It’s weird – I do feel like I’m bursting the seams – a feeling many of you moms who were pregnant out there understand – except it’s my heart and head that feel ready to burst.

• Four months is a long time to check your email 2-10 times a day.
• Four months is a long time to constantly wonder which child will be older – the boy or the girl?
• Four months is a long time not to buy any baby clothes.
• Four months is a long time to be constantly distracted, unable to focus on work and thinking about your kids.
• Four months is a long time to keep saying “any day now…”

So, after a disappointing lack of Christmas surprise, let’s just cross our fingers for January.  Kidslink opens up next Monday at their new location, and I can assure you I will be waiting, anticipating, hoping (and trying not to hope and anticipate) all week!