Blind Eye

As I was running to catch the ferry today, weighted down with a heavy laptop bag and a large purse/bag, the top of my foot hit an uneven part of the pavement and I came crashing down. In a very undignified and sloppy way, I landed on my hands and knees, tangled in a web of bag straps.

I instantly felt an immensely sharp stinging pain in my knees as the surface of my flesh had been gouged out across the sidewalk. I next felt shock as I lifted my head up, looked down at the large hole in my black tights and saw bloody red circles on both knees. I then felt embarrassed. And then, as I stood to collect my stuff, I felt sad.

I was on a busy Seattle sidewalk along the waterfront. People were everyone. No one bothered to stop and help me or even ask if I was ok. They walked right by as if I wasn't there, on the ground, bleeding from my knees. In fact, I had been walking next to two business men who painfully waltzed right past me as I went down and continued walking by without so much as a glitch.

I walked down the street half a block when I passed a young, hipster-like man walking with a woman. As I passed, the man smiled, almost as if he were trying not to laugh and said to me, "We tried not to look because we didn't want you to be embarassed." He was smiling broadly and I somehow felt that his "kindness" was at my expense.

Good thing I was wearing sunglasses because as I walked the rest of the way to the ferry, and passed the two business men who had walked right by me (I walk fast, even with an injury), I started to cry. It was probably a mix of embarassment, shock, and pain--my knees are still stinging as I type this several hours later. But at the heart of my emotion was the feeling of isolation and callousness from stangers. I've fallen several times in public in Seattle (since law school my commute has always involved a lot of walking so it's bound to happen). But from each fall, I remember the kindness of at least one stranger. It's always embarrassing to take a public tumble. But I never knew how much the caloussness would hurt.

The hipster told me he "tried not to look" as if he were doing me some grand favor. Is that what we do here? When people are hurt and in pain, we try not to look? How completely sad is that? I admit that I generally prefer to mind my own business in public. I even like the fact that I can go out into public and expect not to be approached by people. I like that Seattleites are polite but not necessarily friendly or forward. But I've never known Seattleites to just walk by someone who has fallen without so much as batting an eye. Isn't that our natural instinct? When someone falls, to reach out and ask "are you ok?"

The funny thing is, while I was riding the bus last month, I overheard two people talking about Seattle. One said she was from the south and she thought Seattleites were cold people. She said, "If I fell on the street, I doubt anyone would help me, you know?" She then ranted about how southerners were so much nicer than Seattleites. The other guys didn't quite agree with her and neither did I. I was so tempted to speak up and defend my city. I wanted to butt-in and reassure the woman that I had fallen several times in downtown Seattle and had been offered assistance each time. I wanted her to know that we are nice people. But maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe the joke was on me?

So now I'm wondering, do people ignore others because they are genuinely worried about making people feeling embarrassed? Or is it a crutch. An excuse to not care or to even bother? Either way, I really AM embarrassed--embarrassed by the callousness of my peers.

Painting With Ice Cubes

As a 'go along' activity to our science lesson on freezing liquids, we painted with ice cubes!

This was FUN and their paintings were so pretty!

The girls simply added food coloring to the water in the ice cube trays before I popped them in the freezer.

(They were equally as delighted with this aspect. Watching the food coloring swirl around in the water is rather mesmerizing.)

The next day we had our chilly painting utensils.

In fact, they were so chilly that the girls ended up grabbing spoons to push their ice cubes around with!

Initially, it looked almost like crayon marks but as the ice cubes began to melt they resembled watercolors.

In the light of the afternoon sun flowing through our kitchen window, this was a perfect and peaceful moment. 

Give it a try!

Simple. Easy. Fun!

NOLA Trip

At the beginning on the month we went on a couples trip to New Orleans with our dear friends the Van Bakel’s.  I had told Tyler that I wanted a trip for my 30th birthday – I didn't care where we went as long as I got to sleep in and could have a spa treatment.  So when the Van Bakel’s suggested NOLA – we were game.  It was the best of all worlds for our little group – shopping, eating, gambling and sightseeing.  I would say that our trip centered around eating more than any of the above – we had some fabulous food!  More than eating though, we laughed.  It was a great getaway and so good for Tyler and me as a couple.  With our busy schedules and two demandingprecious little cowboys constantly at our feet it was nice to have the adult time without schedules. 

Enjoy the photo dump :) 

P.S. The photo above - my first successful 'panorama' shot!

We met up in Dallas and then shared the same flight to NOLA.

Watch out New Orleans the Bakers and Van Bakel's have arrived!

First meal was at  Mother's  famous Po-boys

 First of many trips to Bourbon Street

Drinks at Pat O'Briens - sharing Hurricanes and popcorn.  I loved this place!

Day one also included shopping, dinner at Acme Oyster House and the best ever bicycle ride to Harrah's for some gambling. 

Day 2 Breakfast - we spotted breakfast plates the day before while eating lunch at Mother's and knew we had to return.  

Best.Pancakes.Ever

I loved all the old buildings.  We did a lot of walking so we didn't feel quite as bad for all the food we consumed. 

Day 3 (Saturday) we went down to Jackson Square for beignets at Cafe Du Monde.  I had no idea what a beignet was (pronounced "been-yay") but everyone told us you can't go to New Orleans and not have them.  They were good - similar to funnel cake but more doughy.    

We loved Jackson Square!  The weather was perfect, we watched a crazy cool street performance and again did some shopping.

 I scored this adorable new purse!

We had lunch on a balcony at a brewery.  The boys did their 'tour of beers.'

At this point I had embarked on my own Bloody Mary tour.  At the end of our trip, I concluded the best was an Apple-wood Bloody Mary from a little random German restaurant.  I'll have to refrain from asking for bacon in my Bloody Mary’s for the rest of time. ;)

 After lunch we walked down by the river boats.  

Tyler found our hotel's rooftop pool.  Too bad it was too chilly to enjoy. 

Our nights were spent on Bourbon Street.  To think it was just a random week/weekend and all the crazy things we saw - I don't think I'd want to return for Mardi Gras.  It was fun and definitely entertaining.  

 Our last full day started with a special birthday present from Tyler -  a couple's massage!  It was so relaxing.  After that we met back up for lunch, a little more sightseeing and visited a few more bars on Bourbon Street.

Four days was perfect.  We felt like we had done everything we had wanted to do, felt rested but ready to get home.  

The little cowboys had a great vacation while we were away.  They were watched by both my parents and in-laws (kind of a tag team effort).  
Thanks again for taking such good care of the boys.  We have the best family!  

Undervalued

I just spent most of my sacred work-free time shopping for dinner, prepping for dinner, and making dinner. I made pea curry from scratch. This required me to violently whack open a coconut with a hammer and peel off the fresh meat- much easier said that done. I paired the pea curry with tandoori chicken which I had prepped early in the morning (skipping my morning trip to the gym) and let marinate all day. I served the curry and chicken with rice, raita, and naan (which I usually make from scratch but ran out of time today).

After all the effort, I was pleased with the results but exhausted. I had managed to cook the meal while my husband was at the gym and with both kids getting into messes, making repeated requests from me, and being cranky and clingy. I had to toss frozen peas on the floor for Ryan as a distraction once or twice and then bribe him with a dum dum sucker.

When my husband walked through the door at 8:00 p.m. and approached a meticulously set dining table full of hot food, I was just a little burnt out. A couple bites into the meal I asked my husband what he thought of my dinner, expecting at least a "thank you." Right?

He just shrugged his shoulders and make a glutteral sound in the back of his throught that seemed to say, "I don't know."

Seriously?! Can you at least FAKE IT? PLEASE?!

I was tempted to threaten him by saying, "Fine. Tomorrow you can just eat htodogs." But I knew he would secretly love that.

She's A Walking Girl!

Renly is finally walking!

I have been sharing the various stages of her learning to walk on Facebook but now that she is a true walker I thought I'd share it here!

(To see Taitum's first steps, go here.)

This morning it was like she woke up and decided today was the day!

I'd noticed that she was getting much braver over the past few days, walking back and forth between pieces of furniture.

Today she is walking in circles all over the house, giggling as she goes!

Her sisters are also delighting in their sister's new found skill by playing the little game you see in the video.

I'm so proud of my little girl!

(The baby stage is officially over...)

The Rag Coat {FIAR}

In February, we rowed The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills.

This is the story of a little girl named Minna who lives in the Appalachian region with her family. When her father, a coal miner, dies the family is left struggling to make ends meet. Through the kindness of the women in their community, a coat is made for Minna from pieced together odds and ends. She in thrilled as this means she can now attend school. However, her new garment is not kindly received by her schoolmates.

Social Studies:

This story provided us with various things to talk about.

First, we talked about the culture of the Appalachian Mountains and pointed out specific things in the illustrations. The girls were quite interested in the dulcimer they saw hanging on the wall of the family's cabin. We ended up finding some videos of people playing the dulcimer and the girls danced their hearts out!
Our favorite? Whiskey Before Breakfast! ;)

Next, we talked about death - how people feel when they lose someone they love, traditions that often occur when someone dies and ways in which we can remember them. That weekend, their grandmother was kind enough to show them things she has that help remind her of her Mom who passed away a few years ago.

Finally, we talked about teasing, how it makes you feel and ways to respond to it.

Art:

Piper and I colored our own rag coat.

Piper and Taitum both designed their own quilts by filling in printed quilt grids.

In the story, Minna makes her own doll.

The girls were inspired by this and pulled out the craft supplies to make their own dolls!

They made these cute little toilet paper tube dolls for days!

We had a whole tribe of them by the end of the week!

Science:

We learned about coal and coal mining.

To start, we read this book which was interesting and informative.

We also watched this video which gives a good explanation of the formation of coal from a Biblical worldview.

We made sedimentary rock out of crayon.
(For instructions, watch this video.)

We also made Chunks of Coal Cookies!

This was a wonderful book!

It inspired my girls' creativity, started some fantastic conversations and led us down paths of learning that were new for all of us!

Ultimate BBQ Chicken Tacos

Taco night is a big deal. Dinners haven't been the same ever since I stumbled upon a homemade tortilla recipe. Making tortillas from scratch will change your life. Soft, warm, carbolicious tortillas hugging fresh chicken and topped with mountains of fresh produce. Seriously, it's like all the food groups in one meal! Tacos are amazing.

My husband has been asking me to make BBQ chicken tacos for a while. I pretty much scoured the interweb for recipes but none of them had enough ingredients. Most were kind of blah-- bbq sauce, chicken, and cheese. Seriously? Who needs a recipe to make that? I wasn't very inspired.

So, I pulled ALL the recipes together and, with a little tweaking, based upon what I had in my own pantry, created what I like to believe is the Ultimate BBQ Chicken Soft Taco. I don't even like BBQ chicken (gasp!) and I couldn't get enough of these. Initially, I wasn't so confident that sour cream and BBQ sauce would mix. But it turned out to be a winning combo!

Please ignore my hideous food photography.

Chicken
2 large chicken breasts
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground oregano
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Taco "Accessories"
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
red onions
cilantro
monterrey jack cheese
tomatoes
avocado
sour cream

Last but not least: Homemade tortillas

1. Make the spice rub by mixing all the spices together. Rub generously over the chickent breasts. Bake chicken (covered) in a 350 degree oven until the internal temp reaches 170. When the chicken is done cooking, shred it with two forks and spoon all the juices on top. To me, the shredded chicken is a must. Regular chicken just doesn't have the right texture.

2.Serve the chicken with tortillas and "accessories." My husband liked to spoon and rub sour cream over the tortillas, add the filler, then drizzle the BBQ chicken on top. I omitted the avocado. And gave them to Ryan.

By the way, my one year old loved these- the chicken, tomatoes, and avocado especially. I love that I can put food on his tray and let him feed himself while I eat. I sure haven't missed eating with one hand.

Side note: when I purchased the avocado from the grocery store, the checker asked me what it was! Ha ha. How can you work in a grocery store and NOT know what an avocado is?!?