An American family who lived in the UK, moved back to Texas, and are trying to reculturalize into America, all whilst simultaneously attempting to survive and thrive while mom tries holding on to her religious beliefs and sanity. Sounds difficult? You bet!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tortilla recipe
My son made these for breakfast yesterday morning. I can't post a personal picture of them because they were gobbled up in their Frankesteinian state, but they were so much better than store bought. Here in England, we get ours from Germany or frozen from the US. I usually have Masa Harina on hand, but have been extremely forgetful when writing my grocery list lately. Chalk that up to age, I guess.
The commissary ones make do in a pinch, but fresh ones, ahhhh!
Enjoy.
Homemade Tortillas
8 Servings Prep/Total Time: 30 min.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in water and oil. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10-12 times, adding a little flour or water if needed to achieve a smooth dough. Divide dough into eight portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 7-in. circle.
In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook tortillas over medium heat for 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned. Keep warm. Yield: 8 tortillas.
Recipe and picture from TasteofHome.com
Up too late?
Lately Chloe has been going to bed late (around 10ish) and Joy has been getting up to nurse at 1. Shamefully, I've been staying up late, doing absolutely nothing productive. Well, I've been reading back issues of "Keepers at Home" and "Home Horizons". One, no three, of my dear children are challenging me in the listening department and I needed some Biblical parental inspiration in dealing with this problem. Frankly, I needed some backup! A couple of the articles that I read were written by people I have met, so I have seen what became of using these methods. I am reminded, "Line by line, precept by precept" is the right way of doing things. I want them to listen and do things the FIRST time I ask them, not the third time. This calls for me to get off my fanny and be on them if they do not obey. I have been inspired to pray for someone or some situation when I'm awake at night. I'm feeling closer to the Lord and my mind is at peace more. This is the beginning of a strength building habit and I usually sleep like a baby shortly thereafter. :-))
Lately I've been resting a lot because I'm in pain and moving hurts. Today I will see the midwife and get an opinion on my one-sided abdominal pain. Maybe after it is resolved, I can be back to my "Jump up mommy" self.
Do you find things to worry about when you stay up late? Are you wasting time or doing something productive?
Find something good to do and don't get tied up in it and not get your beauty sleep!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
First smile!!!
Joy smiled at me three Mondays ago!
I'll have to catch a picture for you to see. Such a sweet baby!
I'll have to catch a picture for you to see. Such a sweet baby!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
What in the world???
Forgive my inability to push buttons! I wrote "A weekend away" last week and forgot to publish it.
Whew, too many things going on here lately.
Poor Chloe choked on a fish bone last week after taking her FIRST bite! It was unbelievable and I am thanking God that it wasn't any worse. My Red Cross training only went so far and I knew that I had to take her in. She started choking and sticking her fingers in her mouth to get the bone out then after the initial commotion and I had swept a finger through her mouth to get it out, not feeling a thing. She was standing there with eyes as big as a skillet, her mouth wide open and drooling profusely. I grabbed her up, threw her in the front seat and raced to the emergency room. (Later, April tells me that she knew it was serious because of my putting her in the front seat. "NO CHILD SITS IN THE FRONT SEAT!!", has been etched in her mind-FOREVER!!!!)
Amazingly, the ER had us wait no more than 5 minutes and they let us bypass the other patients! It must have been the look on Chloe's face- she couldn't(errr-wouldn't talk), and her mouth was open as wide as the Grand Canyon. (I can joke about this now, but last week, no way!) The nurses were so sweet and we got to see my personal physician, Dr Latham who did what he could, but called for the ENT specialist who took a looong time a comin'. Meanwhile she was x-rayed and checked out by an anesthesiologist who explained that they were going to out her asleep so they could REALLY look in her throat and find this bone. (Now I KNOW why I gave up catfish years ago, other than the fact that it's a scavenger and we have moved on to cleaner tasting fish- oh, back to the subject, sorry.) ;-)) So by now I knew Joy needed to be fed and I had to call for backup. Can you hear it now? You know, the loudspeaker in Kmart-"Mr Chloe's dad! I need backup! Backup needed at the ER right now! Um, YES YOU HAVE TO GET HERE NOW AND MAKE QUICK!"
Mr Chloe's dad made it in a remarkably short amount of time and I ran back home to check on the big ones and feed the littlest one.
All that said and done, I go back to the hospital where they are preparing to transport Chloe to surgery for a look-see.(Two airmenladies let Chloe walk to where we needed to go- the surgical waiting area where we waited a few minutes and then a surgical technician and a dear friend of ours* who works in the ENT clinic and answered the phone when the ER called up to find the Dr.-she volunteered to be the other tech during the procedure.) Chloe went willingly with *Nikki into the OR.
I went home again.
When I came back, I brought April. This way, Chloe would have the female presence she needed and I could get back to Joy. I wasn't prepared for Chloe to come out of anesthesia in hysterics. She was thrashing about, screaming and crying. Mr was doing his best to keep her contained and from hurting herself. I have NEVER seen her that way. I didn't recognize her by her actions. Mr carried her to a hospital room that was ready for her in case she had to stay overnight. I stayed for a bit longer, requesting tissues for her and something to drink. She calmed down and a conversation about ice cream started, resulting in a reclamation of her former calm self. That was all I needed to see to be comfortable enough to leave. So I went home again, receiving a call that they'd be home after the nurse brings them some paperwork to sign. They made it home at 9:50 pm and she was starving.
What we all figure is that the bone was lodged vertically in her jaw area so when she went to close her mouth is when it stuck her and that's why she had to hold her mouth open. Sometime during this ordeal, when she fell asleep, is when the muscles relaxed enough for the bone to dislodge itself and be swallowed.
So that was my week, how was yours??
Whew, too many things going on here lately.
Poor Chloe choked on a fish bone last week after taking her FIRST bite! It was unbelievable and I am thanking God that it wasn't any worse. My Red Cross training only went so far and I knew that I had to take her in. She started choking and sticking her fingers in her mouth to get the bone out then after the initial commotion and I had swept a finger through her mouth to get it out, not feeling a thing. She was standing there with eyes as big as a skillet, her mouth wide open and drooling profusely. I grabbed her up, threw her in the front seat and raced to the emergency room. (Later, April tells me that she knew it was serious because of my putting her in the front seat. "NO CHILD SITS IN THE FRONT SEAT!!", has been etched in her mind-FOREVER!!!!)
Amazingly, the ER had us wait no more than 5 minutes and they let us bypass the other patients! It must have been the look on Chloe's face- she couldn't(errr-wouldn't talk), and her mouth was open as wide as the Grand Canyon. (I can joke about this now, but last week, no way!) The nurses were so sweet and we got to see my personal physician, Dr Latham who did what he could, but called for the ENT specialist who took a looong time a comin'. Meanwhile she was x-rayed and checked out by an anesthesiologist who explained that they were going to out her asleep so they could REALLY look in her throat and find this bone. (Now I KNOW why I gave up catfish years ago, other than the fact that it's a scavenger and we have moved on to cleaner tasting fish- oh, back to the subject, sorry.) ;-)) So by now I knew Joy needed to be fed and I had to call for backup. Can you hear it now? You know, the loudspeaker in Kmart-"Mr Chloe's dad! I need backup! Backup needed at the ER right now! Um, YES YOU HAVE TO GET HERE NOW AND MAKE QUICK!"
Mr Chloe's dad made it in a remarkably short amount of time and I ran back home to check on the big ones and feed the littlest one.
All that said and done, I go back to the hospital where they are preparing to transport Chloe to surgery for a look-see.(Two airmenladies let Chloe walk to where we needed to go- the surgical waiting area where we waited a few minutes and then a surgical technician and a dear friend of ours* who works in the ENT clinic and answered the phone when the ER called up to find the Dr.-she volunteered to be the other tech during the procedure.) Chloe went willingly with *Nikki into the OR.
I went home again.
When I came back, I brought April. This way, Chloe would have the female presence she needed and I could get back to Joy. I wasn't prepared for Chloe to come out of anesthesia in hysterics. She was thrashing about, screaming and crying. Mr was doing his best to keep her contained and from hurting herself. I have NEVER seen her that way. I didn't recognize her by her actions. Mr carried her to a hospital room that was ready for her in case she had to stay overnight. I stayed for a bit longer, requesting tissues for her and something to drink. She calmed down and a conversation about ice cream started, resulting in a reclamation of her former calm self. That was all I needed to see to be comfortable enough to leave. So I went home again, receiving a call that they'd be home after the nurse brings them some paperwork to sign. They made it home at 9:50 pm and she was starving.
What we all figure is that the bone was lodged vertically in her jaw area so when she went to close her mouth is when it stuck her and that's why she had to hold her mouth open. Sometime during this ordeal, when she fell asleep, is when the muscles relaxed enough for the bone to dislodge itself and be swallowed.
So that was my week, how was yours??
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