Kate sings in Hebrew!

Last year Kate Emerson attended a Jewish pre-school in our area. In fact, although we are Christian, all 3 of the peanuts have attended this pre-school at some point. It is a warm and wonderful place and my children learned a lot about the Old Testament there. They also all learned the Ha-Motzi. Ha-motzi is a Hebrew blessing over bread. This year Kate is at a Catholic Montessori school and I know she will soon forget her Hebrew blessing so I wanted to get it on video before that happens....I am sad that I do not have this from Will and Harry too.

( I am sorry about the construction vehicle in the background noise. They are repaving our streets and Kate would not give me an encore performance).

This video reminds me of funny story. Several years ago when Will was Kate's age we had one of our favorite parish priests over for dinner. He asked Will to say grace and although Will knew how to say a Christian grace, he said the ha-motzi instead. Luckily, the priest was quite impressed and we all had a good laugh:)

To my Jewish friends, I hope you had a peaceful Yom Kippur.

(These are the Hebrew words that Kate is singing)

Harry picks a winner!

Harry picked "Michele" as the winner. Michele has been teaching 2nd grade for 17 years!!! Congratulations!!! Michele, Please leave your e-mail in the comments and let me know if you would prefer a Starbucks gift card or a Barnes and Noble gift card. I will not publish your e-mail. And thank you to all the awesome teachers out there. I read all of your suggestions and this week, I offered to help in some of the specific ways y'all suggested (sponsoring a child on a field trip, helping in the classroom, etc).

P.S. My voice does not usually sound like this. I have a terrible, terrible cold.

What we are cooking this week.

I go in and out of cooking phases. Some weeks I get in slumps and we eat out a lot or have lots of salad with grilled chicken and/or taco nights. Lately though, I am really enjoying cooking again. It might be due to the fact that I have a mother's helper a few afternoons a week to help me juggle homework, school pick-ups and dinner time:) The extra set of hands at that time of day, really makes a difference. Anyway, I love when people post their recipes and menus as it inspires me to try new things. So, here is what is on the menu at the House of Peanuts this week:

Pumpkin Soup~ I made a HUGE pot. Dave and I had it for lunch today and I froze the rest in individual servings for lunches for us throughout the fall. I loved it. Dave thought it was okay but he is not a pureed soup lover like I am. The kids cannot eat this because of the dairy and it is a little spicy. But it would make a GREAT dinner (with salad and bread) for adults and you would have leftovers.

Roasted Chicken with sauteed spinach and garlic and mashed red potatoes (the potatoes are adapted from this book which I LOVE and found at Target!).

Beef Stew~ I adapt it slightly to make it gluten-free but it is from the old Better Home and Gardens red plaid cookbook. The recipe in the book is different from the recipe on-line. Simple and delicious, it is a winter staple in our house. I serve it over gluten free noodles. My grandma used to make us beef goulash over wide noodles as a child so I always like stew over buttered noodles. If you want the recipe, I will post it.

Savory Shrimp with Tomatoes and Avocados~we had this tonight. Here is the recipe. (Sorry to post 2 shrimp recipes in a row. We don't eat shrimp that often (about once a month). I just happened to try two new shrimp recipes recently.

Savory Shrimp with Tomatoes and Avocados

2 tablespoons of butter

4 tablespoons of olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 and 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and devined

1/4 cup white wine (I would increase this slightly next time) Most white wines are Gluten free.

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved (mine were so big, I quartered them)

1 tablespoon fresh basil

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 tablespoon fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 avocado pitted, peeled and diced

2 cups of rice cooked

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat; add the olive oil. Saute the garlic for one minute, add the shrimp. Saute the shrimp until pink. Add the wine, tomatoes and herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and gently stir in the avocados. Serve over rice. From Peace Meals. Serves 4 (or our family of 5).

I made this tonight and it was easy and delicious. The herbs were fresh from our garden (which is really just random herbs that Dave planted in our flower beds:) This meal was so quick, easy and healthy too. I put the rice in the rice cooker and when it was just about done, I started the shrimp. I will make this again for an easy weeknight meal. Even Kate LOVED it (especially the shrimp!)

Herbs fresh from our garden.

This was just before I added the avocado. I am awful at photographing food while I am cooking with 3 children underfoot. I get too flustered.

Teacher giveaway, recipes

About a month ago, I asked my teacher-readers for input and advice regarding Harry's class assignment this year. You all offered wonderful insight and I promised y'all a little thank you for your kindness. So, if you are currently a teacher, please let me know the comments. In fact, tell us parents how we can better support teachers. I will have Harry randomly pick one of you to receive your choice of either a Starbucks gift-card or a Barnes and Noble gift-card.

To update you on the situation with Harry's class. I decided to keep him in the class and I am so glad I did. His teacher is the ESL trained teacher for 3rd grade and his class is extremely diverse. In fact, Harry's best little buddy is from Israel. Harry and I have had some great discussions regarding religious and cultural differences. There is a world map in his class indicating where all the students are from and only 4 or 5 children are from the US originally. But most of the children speak English. There are a handful of children who struggle with the language. One little girl joined his class from Saudi Arabia last week and speaks no English at all. Dave taught Harry how to say hello to her (he lived in Libya as a child) and I told him to smile because that means hello in any language.

Harry's teacher is AMAZING. She is truly meeting each child where they are. Harry is being challenged and stretched. She has re-ignited his love for reading through a challenging literature circle for him. And he goes to gifted and talented class for 3 hours a week. He is an extremely good student. His report card usually has grades ranging from 95-100. But this week he earned a B on a test. This was a first. He had never earned less than an A on a test since kindergarten. He was a little upset but I was secretly glad he got a B. That told me that he was being challenged and that he would have to study a bit more. This is a good lesson to learn. I think kids need to be challenged.

We talked about his B at the dinner table...Harry said, "I got my first B today." Will quickly quipped (offering a high five), "Welcome to the club, Harry." Harry (not missing a beat) said, "yeah well my membership is temporary. This is a club I do not want to be in." My boys crack me up.

I want to share two recipes with you. I fell off my juicing wagon BIG time with Kate's surgery and the boys being so sick. And I noticed three things: a) I gained weight--my pants were tight and b) my skin did not look so good and c) I was tired and irritable. So, I am trying to get back to my daily juicing. This week, I am focusing more on fruits and have a recipe to share.

1 cup organic green grapes

2 oranges, peeled

1/2 lemon, peeled

mineral water

Juice the grapes first, then the oranges and finally the lemon. The grapes might splash out a bit. Mix with mineral water (50%). I am not a huge fan of mineral water and plain water is fine too. This has great vitamin C and A, folic acid, and calcium which I need now because Will and Kate have colds. This makes enough juice for 2-3 servings. From The complete book of Juicing.

Here is another recipe that is not really healthy but a special occasional treat. Harry was at a sleepover one night and I made this. Harry cannot eat butter or cheese so I cannot make this when he is home. Although you could substitue olive oil for the butter and it is equally as delicious!

Oregano Shrimp

1 1/2 lbs fresh large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup bread crumbs (gluten free work well too)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

1 lb of angel hair pasta, cooked al dente (we used gluten free)

Preheat the over to 325 degrees. PLace shrimp in a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle shrimp with lemon juice. Combine bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, parmesan and oregano in a small bowl. Sprinke bread crumb mixture over shrimp. Pour melted butter on top. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve over pasta.

From Stop and Smell the Rosemary.

Hope you are all having a GREAT week. It is rainy here and I am enjoying hanging out at home and cooking cozy fall food. Oh and don't you LOVE Season Premiere Week? I laughed so hard last night watching Modern Family!

Monogrammed Dining Chairs

I have not done a post about decorating in a while and a few people have e-mailed me design related questions lately so I thought it was time. You might remember us posting about these dining room chairs. We had taken eight chairs out on approval and were hoping to get a discount. We eventually decided that we needed ten chairs and we did get a nice discount. I had the opportunity to have the extra two monogrammed before they were re-upholstered. I simply took the fabric to my local monogram shop and had a slate grey "S" placed in the middle. Then I returned the fabric to the shop and they upholstered them for us. We opted for monogramming only the host and hostess chairs. Dave was not really in favor of this at all but I love how they turned out.

A night to remember

Twelve years ago, when Will was a newborn, Dave and I would go to Mass and look around not knowing anyone in our church community. Then we would go to the parish hall for coffee and doughnuts and still feel like outsiders. I am not a shy person but people seemed to have their own groups of friends and no one talked to us. Every week, I would complain to Dave as I read the church bulletin that there were no activities for new Moms. My Baptist friends had MOPS (Mothers of pre-schoolers) and it fulfilled such a need for them. Week after week, Dave would simply turn to me and say, "Well, then start something!"

I was a new Mom and staying home for the first time. I had been a professor at a university before having Will. I was overwhelmed. I laugh at this now because one child seems so easy but at the time, I felt like my hands were very full. I certainly did not think I could "start" anything.

Then one day I met a woman at Gymboree (I was on the hunt for other SAHM's). We clicked immediately and I found out that she also belonged to my church. We both started talking about how there was no community at our extremely large church for young families. There were groups for singles, elderly, school families but nothing for us. I asked for her phone number. That night I remember telling my husband how nervous I was to call her. I felt like I was asking someone out on a date. And then when I did ask her to meet Will and I at the park with her son, she was busy!

We eventually got together and through a woman at our church found other Moms who felt the same way as we did. One wanted to start a Bible study. One was interested in a play group. So, over a matter of about a year we met several days a week and started an organization of Moms. I researched various organizations at other churches and developed a framework for ours. Our mission is to support Moms spiritually, socially and through service. I was the founding president of this organization for the first 2 years and continued to be extremely involved until we moved to Virginia 5 years ago. It is so wonderful to be back at our church and see this group thriving now!

The group that we founded is amazing. We have Bible study, Mom's journal, Power of a Praying Parent. We have amazing speakers each month. We do a service project every month and have raised money for so many organizations over the years. We give handmade crosses to each Mom in our church as her baby is baptized. We provide meals for all Moms in our group when they have a baby. We champion one another through cancer and divorce and post-partum depression and miscarriages. We have Mom's night out and book club, playdates and Halloween parties. We sing carols to the home bound at Christmas time. We do more than I could ever mention here.

The women I started this group with have become some of my closest friends. In fact, the woman I met at Gymboree is my friend, Staci, who I always talk about here (and she is Kate's Godmother). When my son Harry was born, I suffered a huge health crisis. I could barely walk up my stairs. I had been diagnosed as having MS (a misdiagnosis) and was very ill. This group swooped in and brought us dinner EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for 2 months! They surrounded me with love and prayers and good deeds.

So, this week we celebrated 10 years of our Moms group. There are now over 120 members. I think there were 5 of us at the first meeting. We had a beautiful Mass just for our group that really celebrated woman as wives and Mothers. Then we headed to a lovely restaurant downtown where we had wine, a delicious three course meal and laughter and friendship. We also presented a large donation to a Sister who helped us get started for an elementary school she founded in a poverty stricken area of Costa Rica. We wanted our celebration to reflect our three missions: spiritual (the Mass), Service (giving to the school) and social (our dinner).

The night was so special to me and so emotional. When we started this group we hoped but never really imagined it would grow into what it has become. It was amazing to look back over the last ten years and to see the plans God had for us and how he orchestrated bringing these women together to glorify Him. I was asked to speak about our humble beginnings and I so enjoyed doing so.

One of our officers presenting Sister Virginia with the check.

She was thrilled and surprised.

The original board members now....

and ten years ago at our first general meeting April, 1999.

We had been meeting and planning and writing by-laws for several months prior to this.

I do not usually write about the personal things like this that I do on the blog but I really want my children to know what else I did in life aside taking care of them.

P.S. Everyone is well here. Several people e-mailed asking since I had not posted all week. We were just busy. Kate did have a set-back with her tonsils last Friday. They started bleeding and I had to rush her into the doctor who thought they would have to operate again. But they miraculously stopped bleeding on their own. Thank you, Lord. Thank you all for the prayers.

Newlywed Envy

I am not a jealous person at all. Many of my friends have commented on that throughout my life. When a friend of mine has something amazing happen, I am just truly happy for them. I think we all have our blessings and we all have our difficulties and I would not trade places with anyone in life. However, a lot of young newlyweds without children are reading my blog lately. So, when I see a new commenter, I usually click over and say hello. Now that I have read some of their blogs, I must admit to having a little "newlywed envy."

Dave and I have been married for 14 wonderful years. We have a great marriage, great kids, fabulous house, wonderful friends. But once in a while, when I read about the weekends of the newlyweds, I feel envious. Our weekends are filled with getting up early for soccer, judo, Mass and Sunday school, birthday parties. We try to squeeze in grocery shopping for the week and catch up on yard-work, laundry etc. Sometimes, we get together with another family for dinner. But mostly, the weekends are spent cheering, chauffeuring, running out for a last minute b-day present...you get the drift.

The newlywed weekend looks something like this...sleep late, work out, go out for a leisurely brunch, watch a movie on the couch with hubby, take a nap, do a little shopping, get ready to go out to the new restaurant in town. Then on Sunday... rinse and repeat. Oh and they take spontaneous little trips too. When was the last time Dave and I took a trip sans kids? At least 3-4 years ago!!! I know these young, toned and beautiful newlyweds probably do a little laundry and grocery shopping in there too. But there seems to be so much carefree leisure time. I crave a little carefree leisure time.

Dave and I were married for just a year and a half before Will was born and to be honest I do not remember much of that time. So...to all of you adorably young and newly married people...ENJOY this time. It is a rare time when you can really focus on your marriage, your faith, your career, your home and your health. I don't mean to scare you. Children are the most joyful blessing but your life changes.

I would not change my life. You all know how much I love my family...but what I would not give for just one newlywed weekend! Any newlyweds want to trade places for a weekend?

As I am typing this I just decided that I am going to try like heck to get a babysitter tonight. A date with my husband is desperately needed! Update: Got a sitter...YEAH!

Our Saturday morning...

Making pancakes with Daddy:)

This afternoon, I think we are off to the zoo.

discovery

(Gabi, she "found" it after we planted it there).

Weekend Family Fun

After the week we had, everyone in our house was a little grumpy (even the dog). But Harry had a little surprise up his sleeve. Last night he told us there would be a party in his room after dinner and we were all invited (not the dog). Kate put on her best tutu and arrived at the soiree (escorted by King Daddy), then I went stag as did Will. Harry began the party with this announcement:

"I know we have all had a tough week. Will had the flu. Kate had surgery and I had a stomach bug. But that is no reason this family cannot have a little FUN!"

He put some dance music on his i-pod and got the dancing started. We all danced around his room for a while. Kate was so funny. We were all fast dancing and she was doing classical ballet moves. It is as if that is the only way she knows how to dance. Then, Harry did a "laser" (flashlight) show on his bedroom ceiling. Finally, we played I-spy Bingo. It was awesome. Harry managed to lighten everyone's mood and make us laugh for a little while. What a great 8 year old!

If you are a long time reader, then you know we have "dates" with the boys individually. We will also do this with Kate soon. A few weeks ago Harry asked Dave to take him to Dave and Buster's on a date and they had a ball. So it was Will's turn and he had been requesting a date with me at the Museum of Fine Arts. We finally had a chance to go. Incidentally, Dave and I had our second date at the MFA (15 years ago).

I was so impressed that my 12 year old son wanted to go to the art museum. We have always taken our children to museums and we are members of several. So, I am glad to see some art appreciation has rubbed off on him. We had lunch at the museum. Will's favorite American artist was Frederic Remington. However, he was most fascinated by a modern installation called Hydrospatial City by Argentine artist Gyula Kosice. I must admit it was pretty cool even though I am a bit more traditional in my art preferences.

It was Family Free Day (thanks to Target;) and they had all sorts of activities at the museum today. Will and I did some "sketching." We sat in front of this

(taken with my I-phone and I was scolded by a security guard! Lots of people were taking photos.)

painting (which is incredible by the way) and we choose parts to sketch. I am THE WORST artist ever...so I looked for the easiest thing to do. Will actually is pretty artistic (but his real strength is abstract art). Here are our meager attempts...go ahead....you can laugh at my mushroom man. Although if you compare it to the original, it isn't THAT bad:)

(my sketch)

(Will's sketch-he did the scuba diver to the left of my mushroom man)

Will and I had a great time together and I look forward to my next date with him. Harry wants me to take him to some guinea pig movie (G-force?) on our next date!

Footnote: My editor/husband/houseboy think this post sounds WAY better than our weekend actually was. In reality, it was kind of boring and mundane. He suggested I add that Kate rode her bike to the end of our street and back twice (that was a first). I also wanted to add a disclaimer that our boys are wonderful but far from perfect. There was an air hockey incident involving a dispute, a flying (thrown) air hockey paddle, a bloody lip, slipcover and ottoman. It was NOT pretty and someone spent the day in his room!

I also know that a lot of this is pretty boring stuff but it is stuff I hope to remember down the road and mostly...I want the kids to remember it all.

Follow-up Friday

(one of my floral photos)

A reader asked for a follow up today. Well, here it is.

Kate is in a lot of pain and won't eat or drink anything but popsicles. All she wants me to do is hold her.

Will is still home with the flu.

And now Harry is home with a BAD stomach bug. He cannot keep anything down at all! He does not have fever so I do not think it is the flu. He came in to sleep with me and Dave last night so let's just hope we don't get it.

Dave is at work and I am hanging on by a thin thread.

Let's just say that I have had better weeks. Okay back to my nursing:)

I hope you all have a delightful Labor Day weekend!!!!

One of my readers asked me to post this too...

SEPTEMBER is NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER month, let's all do our part, DONATE BLOOD, BECOME A REGISTERED DONOR, BRING AWARENESS TO THIS HORRIBLE DISEASE! If nothing else wear YELLOW to show your support for these brave little warriors!

Thankful

It has been a long time since I have done a Thankful Thursday post. But I am so thankful this week that it was time. I know it may seem odd with two sick children that I feel thankful. However, when you spend a few hours in a children's hospital, you realize just how blessed you are. The woman in front of me in the coffee line had a son who was in his second round of chemo and getting ready for surgery the next day. The child across from us in recovery had a brain tumor. His parents spoke Arabic and needed a translator to understand the surgeons. Can you imagine how scary that must have been? There are so many REALLY sick children out there. Please take a minute today to pray for one of them. I know I am.

~ I am thankful that Kate is recovering well. She is pretty clingy and she cries in pain when the meds are wearing off but in general she is doing really well. Thank you, Lord.

~I am thankful that Will is doing really well. His fever has gone and he feels MUCH better. He is still in isolation in his room. We wear masks and I wear gloves as we deliver his meals and things to him. We let him go out in the sun to get some Vitamin D yesterday. Vitamin D is supposed to be beneficial in both preventing the flu and helping your body heal. He wore a mask through the house and went outside for a little walk to get some fresh air.

Will relaxing in his room. We put a little TV in there for him. He is being such a good sport, reading, drawing, and watching movies. He does ring the little bell we gave him a lot. Sometimes, I feel like I am in a sitcom. I am tending to Kate and he starts ringing that bell ad does not stop until I get to him. I did tell him yesterday to stop it with the DAMN bell! I have my moments.

~I am thankful that Harry is recovering. I failed to mention in my last post that Harry sprained his neck! He was at a sleepover and went on a trampoline and really injured his neck. Luckily, our good friend is a chiropractor and he has helped Harry immensely. he told us that he was very lucky. It could have easily been MUCH worse (broken neck). He has not been able to do soccer (which started this week), judo, recess or PE but he is feeling better.

~I am thank for for my husband who has been such a great caretaker of the kids this week. When he is home from work, he is administering medications and ear drops and bringing Will food and movies and playing with Harry. What a good man.

~I am thankful for all of the kind gestures from everyone (prayers, meals, flowers, Dvd's, little gifts, phone calls and e-mails). They are too numerous to name here but when everyone is well...I will be sending y'all thank you notes.

~I am thankful for my partner in the preppy fall swap, Norah. She sent me the most wonderful swap package this week. I LOVE everything in it. It was the highlight of my day on Tuesday!!!!

Norah sent me lavender bath products, beautiful Lily monogrammed notecards, thanksgiving kitchen towels and cookie cutters, a book mark and light, personalized bookplates, Lily matches and fun beverage napkins and a subscription to Southern Living. Thank you SO much!

~I am thankful for an apology. An anonymous person apologized for leaving a harsh comment on my blog. I appreciate this gesture and forgive the person.

~I am thankful for Taylor who is coming to help me a few hours a day so that I can shower, cook dinner, pick up Harry from school and tend to Will while she sits with Kate. She has been a lifesaver!

Here are some photos of what we are up to....I am basically running back and forth between the patients. But they are both EXCELLENT patients!

Harry really misses Will and is worried about him. He sends little notes in with Will's meals and vitamins.

Kate cuddling up with Scout in the playroom. Scout is NOT allowed on the sofa!

Ruby and Ainsley sent Kate these beautiful pink flowers. When Kate saw them she said, "For me?!" She jumped up and down. She was so excited and she exclaimed, "They are so lovely!"

Kate plucked a rose from the arrangement and danced around with it in her codeine induced merriment. Unfortunately, it does not last long before the pain and crying return.

I bought her this little make-up kit and she has had lots of fun with it too.

Doesn't that pink lip gloss look divine in her eyebrows?

You really won't believe this...

Thank you for the prayers, calls and thoughts, friends. Kate is fine. Her surgery went well and her recovery is going okay. She is having trouble keeping things down and she is in quite a bit of pain. She screamed bloody murder when she came out of anesthesia for a long time. I felt so bad. They let us home home which is nice, I suppose. She is very cuddly and clingy and is on my lap as I type this:)

This morning as we were getting ready to go to the hospital (4:30 AM) Will came into my room telling me that he was really sick. He had fever, chills, headache, and runny nose. He had a temperature of 102. We left him home with the babysitter hoping it was just a little bug.

There was a point at the hospital that I realized Will might have the flu. Kate had hives all over her body and she was cuddling with Will last night. I wondered if we should cancel her surgery in case she was getting sick. Since she was asymptomatic, they went ahead with it. In recovery, I called our pediatrician and asked if my babysitter could bring Will in. She did and he has THE FLU! He tested positive for influenza A and they think it is the swine flu (80-85% sure) because the regular seasonal flu is not usually active this early. So we have two patients isolated in different parts of the house. Will is quarantined to his room and we are wearing masks when we go in.

**He just had an AWFUL hallucination that a blanket was attacking him (my second child to have a horrendous reaction to Tamiflu!) You might remember Kate's AWFUL reaction to Tamiflu . I knew that Tamiflu caused hallucinations in Asians sometimes but what we saw in Will was terrifying. No more for our family. Will took it a few years ago without any side effects and I was taking care of Kate so I did not even think about Tamiflu but this was really, really scary.

We really have to try to keep Kate from getting this flu.

I am praying that no one else gets it right now. Here are a few lousy photos....I wish I had taken a few more because this is something I would put in her scrapbook but I was pre-occupied. The quality of the photos is terrible.

Reading the princess books with Dad before surgery.

Cuddling with Dad in recovery.

Having a popsicle at home. (the pot was because she keeps throwing up;)

Opening some little gifts from Taylor (our part-time babysitter). Kate calls her "Tigger" and Kate LOVES her. She is going to be a child life specialist and she put together the cutest little recovery bag for Kate with Hello Kitty socks and pencils, a notebook and stickers, nail polish etc.

Sorry if this post is all over the place and poorly written. I am tired and it has been quite a day!