Erik's pig from his bow and arrow hunt has found her way into our freezer. At last! Being the good wife that I am I made sure there was room by eating the last of the ice cream. The sacrifices I have made for him!
We travelled to Little Rock, CA for an enjoyable morning at the butcher shop and then to a fun little market called Charlie Brown's (farmer's market meets curio shop). The place really had the feel of small town Texas, right down to the radio station, and we began to hear our twangs emerge.
We now have over 100 pounds of pork in our frig and can you guess which of these is Erik's favorite to pull out and show to company? Look closely...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Thanks Anna!
There are some shenanigans going around in the blogging world! Anna tagged me to post the fourth picture from my fourth folder. I have to fess up that when I saw which one it would be, I did some spring cleaning and now it is a different picture. I promise I didn't just choose a picture and make it work, I just cleaned until it was acceptable...it's NOT cheating!
So I tag Emily and Stacey. You're welcome!
So I tag Emily and Stacey. You're welcome!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Moving Time!!!
At a pace of three boxes a day, we are almost packed! We didn't get to close today so Tuesday should be the big day. The kids are pretty excited...about the boxes. I make three boxes and then children appear in the boxes before I can put stuff in there. They were really upset that I refused to tape the boxes with them inside. I told them I don't want to be on the news.
We did the final walk through today and here are a few quick pictures. This one is as you walk in the front door. We guarantee this type of greeting so come visit!
On the other side of that wall is the kitchen (to the right) and the living room (to the left). Hallie, help! It's attack of the white!
We somehow ended up with a plastic stethoscope. If you gave it to us, I love you but I don't remember who you are. :-) The kids love it and have invented a new game. One of them will be attacked by a dog or T-rex or tiger and will break their leg. The injured child then runs (with a broken leg) to the "doctor's office," which is made by a pillow placed on an ottoman, and the doctor will come see the patient. The patient must play the part and Danny especially loves to shriek, "Help! It hurts! My leg is broken! Heeellllp!" Anyway, here is my professional patient after a recent monster attack.
As you can see by the nurse's uniform the monster was hiding behind the door as we returned from church Sunday morning. It was a gruesome affair, touch and go for a while, but he pulled through in the end.
We also began a cowboy phase lately and have had huge plans to go ride horses at Mr. Pete's for three weeks straight. The first weekend Pete had to go out of town, and the last two weekends it has snowed.
These are just cuteness and fun. As far as Danny's head is concerned, I don't know. Wasn't there. All I was told is that it involved the bunk bed.
We did the final walk through today and here are a few quick pictures. This one is as you walk in the front door. We guarantee this type of greeting so come visit!
On the other side of that wall is the kitchen (to the right) and the living room (to the left). Hallie, help! It's attack of the white!
We somehow ended up with a plastic stethoscope. If you gave it to us, I love you but I don't remember who you are. :-) The kids love it and have invented a new game. One of them will be attacked by a dog or T-rex or tiger and will break their leg. The injured child then runs (with a broken leg) to the "doctor's office," which is made by a pillow placed on an ottoman, and the doctor will come see the patient. The patient must play the part and Danny especially loves to shriek, "Help! It hurts! My leg is broken! Heeellllp!" Anyway, here is my professional patient after a recent monster attack.
As you can see by the nurse's uniform the monster was hiding behind the door as we returned from church Sunday morning. It was a gruesome affair, touch and go for a while, but he pulled through in the end.
We also began a cowboy phase lately and have had huge plans to go ride horses at Mr. Pete's for three weeks straight. The first weekend Pete had to go out of town, and the last two weekends it has snowed.
These are just cuteness and fun. As far as Danny's head is concerned, I don't know. Wasn't there. All I was told is that it involved the bunk bed.
Friday, February 6, 2009
China - Part 4 - Dico's, WCs and Monkey Mountain
On our first full day in China, Yvette and I scouted out a "safe place" for 4 year old boys. Thus Dico's (McDonald's meets KFC Chinese style) became a large part of our lives for two weeks. Dico's has a nice childrens' room with a play area and trampoline as well as this fishing game. Big hit! For about $1 the boys could run off all the little boy steam and also play with friends their own age, couldn't really talk to the friends but there was a trampoline so who needs to talk.
A terrible picture but it's hard to take a good picture of wild jumping children when you are shooting through mesh.
The food wasn't too bad at Dico's and ordering was fun with the language barrier. We tried to order chicken nuggets one day and apparently we ordered half a chicken.
Now I think I'm right in saying humans have a universal interest in foreign toilets. I don't know why we have this but I know that when I get back from a trip I always get asked, "So what were the bathrooms like?" and when others return I ask "So what were the bathrooms like?" So this is what the bathrooms were like!
The trough runs through all stalls and you had better be upstream when it flushes! Here is the womens' bathroom from a fancy restaurant that caters to foreigners. The ultimate East Meets West! Sit or squat, you decide!
We had to put the program on hold for a few days and the boss decided we should go have a fun day with the kids at the lake. I had envisioned relaxing by water and sort of a lazy day. Instead we started a hike and I had no idea how far it would be, what we would see or where it would lead. After only a few minutes of stairclimbing monkies showed up!
They were quite friendly and on the look out for food!
Jake was intriguied but a little apprehensive. I became more apprehensive as the monkeys got "friendlier" and were happy to relieve you of any and all food you were carrying.
There was even a designated spot for monkeys!
The facilities were truly interesting on the mountain. The inside was better than any State Park facility I've ever had the pleasure of visiting!
There were thousands upon thousands of stairs leading up the mountain and thankfully, just when you thought you might die but were trying not to act like it because all the kids were running and down the stairs like it was nothing, the path would stop at an old temple. The architecture of the buildings was beautiful and each stop was a great chance for conversation with Jake and Micah.
"What is this place Dad?"
"This is a place where men took some rocks, and with some rocks they made a building and with other rocks they made those statues. Then the men worshipped the statues."
"Why does that table in front of the statue have food on it?"
"That is food they made for the statue."
"But that statue can't eat food!"
"I know."
"Then can I have it?"
When Jake could go no more (and we could carry him no more), Erik and I became sad because it appeared the mountain would defeat us. I don't like to lose, especially to a mountain, so we did what any responsibe parent would do and left Jake with friends. We "raced" up the mountain until we were out of view and then crawled the remaining portion awaiting the beauties that must be at the top. We arrived to find this and two really cute puppies.
My spirits could not be dampened for the climb was absolutely beautiful, I conquered the mountain and I saw monkeys. Can you have a better day?
The trip back down was much faster and we finally found Jake again at the bottom. I was shocked he had walked down that quickly but soon found out that maybe he had a trick up his sleeve when it comes to mountain transport.
He was beyond excited at the attention of his friends and informed us that we were welcome to head up the mountain again so he could play with his buddies.
A terrible picture but it's hard to take a good picture of wild jumping children when you are shooting through mesh.
The food wasn't too bad at Dico's and ordering was fun with the language barrier. We tried to order chicken nuggets one day and apparently we ordered half a chicken.
Now I think I'm right in saying humans have a universal interest in foreign toilets. I don't know why we have this but I know that when I get back from a trip I always get asked, "So what were the bathrooms like?" and when others return I ask "So what were the bathrooms like?" So this is what the bathrooms were like!
The trough runs through all stalls and you had better be upstream when it flushes! Here is the womens' bathroom from a fancy restaurant that caters to foreigners. The ultimate East Meets West! Sit or squat, you decide!
We had to put the program on hold for a few days and the boss decided we should go have a fun day with the kids at the lake. I had envisioned relaxing by water and sort of a lazy day. Instead we started a hike and I had no idea how far it would be, what we would see or where it would lead. After only a few minutes of stairclimbing monkies showed up!
They were quite friendly and on the look out for food!
Jake was intriguied but a little apprehensive. I became more apprehensive as the monkeys got "friendlier" and were happy to relieve you of any and all food you were carrying.
There was even a designated spot for monkeys!
The facilities were truly interesting on the mountain. The inside was better than any State Park facility I've ever had the pleasure of visiting!
There were thousands upon thousands of stairs leading up the mountain and thankfully, just when you thought you might die but were trying not to act like it because all the kids were running and down the stairs like it was nothing, the path would stop at an old temple. The architecture of the buildings was beautiful and each stop was a great chance for conversation with Jake and Micah.
"What is this place Dad?"
"This is a place where men took some rocks, and with some rocks they made a building and with other rocks they made those statues. Then the men worshipped the statues."
"Why does that table in front of the statue have food on it?"
"That is food they made for the statue."
"But that statue can't eat food!"
"I know."
"Then can I have it?"
When Jake could go no more (and we could carry him no more), Erik and I became sad because it appeared the mountain would defeat us. I don't like to lose, especially to a mountain, so we did what any responsibe parent would do and left Jake with friends. We "raced" up the mountain until we were out of view and then crawled the remaining portion awaiting the beauties that must be at the top. We arrived to find this and two really cute puppies.
My spirits could not be dampened for the climb was absolutely beautiful, I conquered the mountain and I saw monkeys. Can you have a better day?
The trip back down was much faster and we finally found Jake again at the bottom. I was shocked he had walked down that quickly but soon found out that maybe he had a trick up his sleeve when it comes to mountain transport.
He was beyond excited at the attention of his friends and informed us that we were welcome to head up the mountain again so he could play with his buddies.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
China - Part 3 - I Like Chinese Food
We all know that Panda Express isn't exactly "authentic" but if you do love Panda, you have got to go to the Sichuan province in China and eat yourself sick. So good! Sometimes a little interesting, but mostly really delicious.
We usually ate breakfast at the school each morning. It consists of a think rice porridge with peas, a meat-filled dumpling and a boiled egg. This is all really interesting with chopsticks. At each meal, one of the girls would sigh and ask if they could help me hold my chopsticks better. My skills were so widely known that the cook started coming out of the kitchen to hand me a spoon at each meal. Thanks for the confidence boost! Jake caught on though.
Never got a picture of breakfast, I always felt like I was being rude when it came to taking pictures of the food so I unfortunately, didn't take too many. I kept thinking, "If I saw some lady stop and take pictures of the food at Walmart or in a cafeteria, what would I think of her?" This generally caused me to stop. Now I regret it but trust me, in the moment the pressure was huge because everywhere we went people pulled out cellphones to take pictures and video of us. The produce and meat aisles at the grocery store were fascinating though!
If you go to a restaurant you could eat the above-mentioned breakfast or beef noodles, another local breakfast favorite. They really don't do sweet or dairy.
At the school, each person has their own bowl, you take it to the meal and put a huge scoop of rice in it from a wooden bucket before you sit. Then the cook places several different dishes on the table. There are no serving utensils. Simply reach across everyone and use your chopsticks to grab what you want. Passing is not necessary. "Excuse me" isn't either. If you think your neighbor needs to try something, just use your chopsticks to put it in their bowl. Loud eating means, "Hey, this is good!" Silent eating means the opposite and is bad manners. If there is a bone in your meat (there will be) gnaw off what you want and leave the bone on the table. There are rarely drinks with the meal, simply pour soup into your bowl and then drink from the bowl. Burping and spitting are encouraged. Cheers! A little strange to a Westerner but actually a bit liberating! After the meal, take your bowl in the kitchen and rinse it in the sink. Now let it dry and wait for dinner. (You probably won't get the same bowl back at dinner and soap isn't necessarily used in the rinsing process).
Lunch and dinner at the school were really good. Usually very spicy! This part of China is known for their great flavors and spiciness! Each meal usually consisted of bean curd, something like kung pao chicken, stir fried organs with vegetables, hashbrowns, cooked greens and soup, that occasionally had chicken feet in it. We ate out a few times and had stuff like this.
Our favorite meal was cooked by "Ana," who works as a counselor with the program. She brought this to Yvette because it is supposed to be good for nursing mothers. :-)
This hung in the hallway for a couple weeks after I took this picture and we finally got to taste it right before we left. Recipe! Take smoked pigs leg and soak in hot water. Use sharp knife to scrape hair and blackened portions then cut off desired amount. Return rest to hallway and hang by a hook in the fat. Put hunks of meat in boiling water with lotus slices. Cook until tender and serve. Really good!
Slice portions of fat from smoked pig leg and use to stirfry cauliflower and greens.
Pairs well with another favorite from this region, scrambled eggs with tomato.
Although I never took pictures in the grocery store meat aisle, I did get this jewel. This is just how you store meat at home.
The store was awesome though. Every part of the animal we would never imagine eating outside of a hotdog bun on display. Smoked pig faces, grilled duck heads, it was fabulous! On the street, you could buy chickens from street vendors. They tie their chickens' legs together and toss them in bags or hang them from the handle bars and go to town to sell. It was very common to see an old lady carrying a live chicken in plastic grocery bag. Its little head would stick out the top and bravely say goodbye to the world as it headed home for dinner.
Jake and I saw a gentleman carrying four limp chickens by the feet and stopped behind him to wait for the crosswalk light. Jake asked what was wrong and I explained the dead chickens were for dinner. I was a little wrong and he panicked when the man let the chickens' heads rest on the ground as we stopped (I guess four chickens are really heavy) and they began to blink. He shrieked "Their eyes are moving, they're not dead!" Think of the seen from Return of the King, when the crazy steward on Gondor was going to burn his son alive (thinking he was dead) and the hobbit ran screaming "He's not dead!" That's kinda what it was like. I'm sure there are many Chinese people who have it on tape.
In summary, I like Chinese food. Rude in American equals respectful and courteous in China. (Sweet!) Chopsticks are hard. Watch out for the soup. Be glad you are not a chicken in China.
We usually ate breakfast at the school each morning. It consists of a think rice porridge with peas, a meat-filled dumpling and a boiled egg. This is all really interesting with chopsticks. At each meal, one of the girls would sigh and ask if they could help me hold my chopsticks better. My skills were so widely known that the cook started coming out of the kitchen to hand me a spoon at each meal. Thanks for the confidence boost! Jake caught on though.
Never got a picture of breakfast, I always felt like I was being rude when it came to taking pictures of the food so I unfortunately, didn't take too many. I kept thinking, "If I saw some lady stop and take pictures of the food at Walmart or in a cafeteria, what would I think of her?" This generally caused me to stop. Now I regret it but trust me, in the moment the pressure was huge because everywhere we went people pulled out cellphones to take pictures and video of us. The produce and meat aisles at the grocery store were fascinating though!
If you go to a restaurant you could eat the above-mentioned breakfast or beef noodles, another local breakfast favorite. They really don't do sweet or dairy.
At the school, each person has their own bowl, you take it to the meal and put a huge scoop of rice in it from a wooden bucket before you sit. Then the cook places several different dishes on the table. There are no serving utensils. Simply reach across everyone and use your chopsticks to grab what you want. Passing is not necessary. "Excuse me" isn't either. If you think your neighbor needs to try something, just use your chopsticks to put it in their bowl. Loud eating means, "Hey, this is good!" Silent eating means the opposite and is bad manners. If there is a bone in your meat (there will be) gnaw off what you want and leave the bone on the table. There are rarely drinks with the meal, simply pour soup into your bowl and then drink from the bowl. Burping and spitting are encouraged. Cheers! A little strange to a Westerner but actually a bit liberating! After the meal, take your bowl in the kitchen and rinse it in the sink. Now let it dry and wait for dinner. (You probably won't get the same bowl back at dinner and soap isn't necessarily used in the rinsing process).
Lunch and dinner at the school were really good. Usually very spicy! This part of China is known for their great flavors and spiciness! Each meal usually consisted of bean curd, something like kung pao chicken, stir fried organs with vegetables, hashbrowns, cooked greens and soup, that occasionally had chicken feet in it. We ate out a few times and had stuff like this.
Our favorite meal was cooked by "Ana," who works as a counselor with the program. She brought this to Yvette because it is supposed to be good for nursing mothers. :-)
This hung in the hallway for a couple weeks after I took this picture and we finally got to taste it right before we left. Recipe! Take smoked pigs leg and soak in hot water. Use sharp knife to scrape hair and blackened portions then cut off desired amount. Return rest to hallway and hang by a hook in the fat. Put hunks of meat in boiling water with lotus slices. Cook until tender and serve. Really good!
Slice portions of fat from smoked pig leg and use to stirfry cauliflower and greens.
Pairs well with another favorite from this region, scrambled eggs with tomato.
Although I never took pictures in the grocery store meat aisle, I did get this jewel. This is just how you store meat at home.
The store was awesome though. Every part of the animal we would never imagine eating outside of a hotdog bun on display. Smoked pig faces, grilled duck heads, it was fabulous! On the street, you could buy chickens from street vendors. They tie their chickens' legs together and toss them in bags or hang them from the handle bars and go to town to sell. It was very common to see an old lady carrying a live chicken in plastic grocery bag. Its little head would stick out the top and bravely say goodbye to the world as it headed home for dinner.
Jake and I saw a gentleman carrying four limp chickens by the feet and stopped behind him to wait for the crosswalk light. Jake asked what was wrong and I explained the dead chickens were for dinner. I was a little wrong and he panicked when the man let the chickens' heads rest on the ground as we stopped (I guess four chickens are really heavy) and they began to blink. He shrieked "Their eyes are moving, they're not dead!" Think of the seen from Return of the King, when the crazy steward on Gondor was going to burn his son alive (thinking he was dead) and the hobbit ran screaming "He's not dead!" That's kinda what it was like. I'm sure there are many Chinese people who have it on tape.
In summary, I like Chinese food. Rude in American equals respectful and courteous in China. (Sweet!) Chopsticks are hard. Watch out for the soup. Be glad you are not a chicken in China.
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