Our Newest Cook

This is mostly a post for my mom.

Lex has learned how to move the chairs around in the kitchen to reach whatever he wants to reach.

This has increased his interest in our cooking.  He no longer screams at us while we are cooking.  Instead he pulls up a chair to help.  I decided it was time to let him help make waffles.

Since he doesn't have his own, out came Alayna's apron and chef hat that Grandma Onines made for her a couple years ago.  The hat did not stay on long after pictures were taken.

He was extremely cute and excited!  I couldn't decide on just one of the pictures to share, so here they all are. 

His job for his first time helping was to turn the mixer on and off.  I figured since he always plays with it when it was put away, he would do well.  And he did.

I Am A Marathoner!

I ran 26.2 miles!  It took me five hours and four minutes.  That is the gist of this post.  If you want to read about my experience in more (possibly boring) detail, feel free to continue.

I have been training for the Chosen: Marathon for Adoption for 16 weeks.  The closer the race was the more I thought about it.  The final week, it was ALL I could think about.  I don't remember anything that I talked to anyone about during the last week, unless it was about my race.  I was excited.  I was giddy.  I was a touch nervous, but knew I could do it.  I started shaking with anticipation Friday night, and don't think I stopped until the race began!

Checking the weather beforehand, I knew it was going to be a perfect running day.  40° for the start, 50° by the half and 60° for my finish.  To make race morning easier, I tagged along with the YMCA's running group, who were meeting at a gal's home only a short walk from the start.  Perfectly warmed up from the walk, I started the race without my warming garbage bags, but with my gloves and sleeves made from thigh-high socks with the foot cut off.  While we missed the pre-race revelries, I was part of the pack for the start and crossed the start line 3 minutes after the starting gun went off.

I ran the first half of my race with some friends from church, Jessica (who was pregnant, running her first half!), and Brooke joined us for the first mile before work.  At the first mile, Brooke said that we had just run a 7 something mile!  That didn't sound right, but my watch said the same thing.  Coming up to mile 2 I noticed my watch still said only 7 and some.  What?!?!  Yes, I realized that I hadn't started my stopwatch, I had switched back to the time.  The stopwatch and the interval timer were started at mile 2.

There's not much to say about the first 6.5 miles.  It was a pleasant run with a friend.  We chatted, noticed those that were on similar intervals or paces around us, and just plain enjoyed ourselves.  The only important thing to note was, by the third water stop, I had already confused myself with my fueling plan vs. water stations vs. walking intervals.  It sounds silly.  I had been training with water, an Endurolyte (Hammer electrolyte pill) and amino pills every 2 miles and Huckleberry Gel every 4th.  Suddenly, I couldn't recall if the water stop at 3.5 miles was my "4" or the next one.  Adding to my confusion, I had only run 3:1 intervals (run three minutes, walk one minute ala Jeff Galloway), twice.  I liked doing them that way, and enjoyed the company, so choose to use them with Jessica for the race.  Except, intervals don't magically line up with the mile markers or the water stops.  Hence my fueling confusion.

At 6.5 miles Jessica (and about everyone else, 1041 runners) turned around to finish the Half, and I continued with the few (143 runners) running the full marathon course.  I talked with a gal, and then let her continue without me as I thought I would try to continue the intervals.  After another estimated interval, around mile 7.5, I fell into step with a pair that stopped running after some beeping.  When I discovered they were doing 3:1 intervals, I asked if I could join them and now had conversation, motivation, and a beeping timer for my run.

Another enjoyable 6.5 miles went by.  It was fun chatting with Christine and Reynaldo.  Our little group would regularly pass and be passed by two other groups of gals, and it was nice to chat with everyone we saw and cheer on the runners already on their way back.  In no time at all, we were at the turnaround/half-way point.  At mile 14 I noticed that my lower back was getting sore.  I had warned my new running mates that mile 16 was always a rough one in my training runs, but as we went thru it my legs were feeling alright.  I think the gloves and sleeves finally came off around this time, too.

By mile 18, my back was hurting enough that it was rough to start up on the run intervals, and when the beep for the walk intervals occurred I kept stopping to try and stretch it.  Christine and Rey gave me so much encouragement and talked me thru.  Somewhere in there I thought I was getting a second wind, which didn't last.  I was starting to lag behind on the run intervals, but was able to catch up during the walks.

Around mile 22 Christine realized that if we could continue at this pace, we could achieve a 4:50 marathon, my "everything went perfect" goal.  Except, this was also where we met "The Hill".  For the first time, I was walking on the run interval, but my new partners slowed down their walks and gave me a lot of encouragement, and I caught up.  I was able to stay "with" them for another mile before they pulled too far ahead on a run interval for me to keep up.  I walked a lot of mile 23.  While I tried to keep myself "running" a little more for mile 24, I kept stopping (and sitting) to try and stretch my back and legs.  At the final water station at mile 25 I told myself it was my last sit down and I would run most of my final mile.

Then I saw the mile 26 marker, the turn to the main road. I could hear the cheers of the crowd at the finish.  I saw the huge boards with messages of love and pictures of the children who's adoptions had been achieved because of this race last year.  After the boards I saw my family cheering for me.

I became extremely emotional, an odd mix of ready to cry and a new burst of energy to finish strong.

And I did, finishing with a smile (which was noted by the emcee).  My new running friends were there to cheer me in, as well as another friend who had finished her first Half 2 1/2 hours before.  Amazingly, after running twice as far, I felt better after this race than I did after my half last year.

This is my finisher's "medal" made by the orphans in Haiti who will be receiving aid out of the entry fees.  100% of the entry fees goes to specific adoptions (if the runner was part of that adoption's team) or will be used for 3 different orphanages around the world.

Halloween Costumes

It's not Halloween yet, but we dressed up for Trunk-r-Treat at the church tonight.

Alayna as . . .

Lavagirl

Cavell as a . . .

Knight

Lex as a . . .

Monkey

Our fun kids.

Scharffen Berger

Lately, Paul and I have noticed that our tastes in chocolate have changed.  The easiest way to describe this change?  The darker the better.  Paul would pick up a bar of darker chocolate every few weeks until one day, while enjoying a Lindt 90% Cocoa Bar, we discussed how disappointed we were whenever we splurged on a normal candy bar.

According to The Pioneer Woman, and her Great Baking Chocolate Debate, Scharffen Berger is THE best chocolate to use when baking.  While Paul was in PA doing some training he ran across some Scharffen Berger at the local grocery store.  Wanting to be a good husband, and not having much luck on the Penguins memorabilia front, he picked up a few bars for me.

The Nibby Bar.

Semi-sweet chocolate with crunchy, toasted cocao beans (nibs).  This was nibbled over the course of two weeks while we debated the best way to use our other bars.  Each taste reminded me that whatever I made with the others, it would be sublime.

70% Bittersweet Chocolate

I made gourmet chocolate ice-cream.

14 oz can Coconut Milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 Cup Sugar
3 Egg Yolks
3 oz bar Scharffen Berger 70% Bittersweet Chocolate
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine milk and salt in double boiler to 170°.  Whisk together sugar and egg yolks.  Temper with coconut milk.  Return to double boiler for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  In a bowl break up chocolate bar (snag a piece to taste) and add vanilla.  Strain custard mixture into chocolate.  Stir 'til combined, and cool overnight in fridge.  Then freeze in the ice-cream maker.  It is so thick, this only took 6 minutes.

Paul and I loved this ice-cream!  It was crazy thick.  But, because there was not enough time for the ice-cream maker to churn in some air, it didn't make "as much" and was gone very quickly, which made us wistful for more, except it was extremely rich and we probably couldn't have handled more if it had been available.

82% Extra Dark Chocolate

Today I am making ice-cream with the last bar.  I have doubled the recipe, except for the chocolate bar, since I only have the one.  I also added half of the sugar to the coconut milk in the boiler at from the start.

We recently found Scharffen Berger chocolate at Central Market.  We purchased the cocoa powder.  I will be making our "magic shell" recipe (at the bottom of the Peanut Butter Ice Cream post) using this.  Freezing it into a thin layer (on wax paper), I am going to break it up and add while churning, to make our ice-cream Double Scharffen Berger Chocolate.

Spanish Ice Cream Project

Alayna's new teacher has her students turn in projects on a very regular basis. This teacher is is very excited about using technology in the classroom and for homework. She's applied for and won grant money to bring computers, iPods, and other electronics into the classroom. What I appreciate is that she confessed that she is not a computer expert but she is convinced of the importance new technologies in a modern student's curriculum. One of her goals for her students this year is to help them with 'Digital Storytelling'. Instead of writing papers or making posters, she wants her students to create movies, slideshows, and audio demonstrations of their knowledge.

Alayna's first big assignment was to show the class something that she has made. Alayna decided she wanted to show the class how she makes Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. Stacy took pictures of all the steps and than Alayna helped us build the slideshow you see below. Alayna did the layout and design of each of the slides on paper and Stacy mirrored that in Photoshop. Alayna than did all the typing to get the text on to each of the images. You can view the final product below.

More Hair

This time it is the boys. Lex is almost a year and a half and has a little trouble peeking thru all of the hair in his eyes. Not that you can tell from these pictures since I had just moved it to the side.

Cavell went first to show Lex that it would be okay, and because we have let his hair be too long for too long.

Lex had a lot of fun watching him from the other car. 

 Then it was his turn in the fire truck.

 Lex smiled when she used the clippers.

 He was more concerned about the steering wheel than the scissors.

Instead of a baby boy, we now have a little boy!

New Beginnings

Alayna is very excited for school to start Monday. Today was Meet the Teacher. Alayna wanted her hair to look good, so I took her to The Loft Salon. How did she want her hair? I'll give you a clue. We just read this book.

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School


...


...


Any guesses?

...


...


One more chance.

...

...

She said none of her friends recognized her when they saw her tonight!

While it is shorter than she wanted, she decided that sending her hair to Locks of Love was more important.

Happy Birthday, Cavell!

For almost a full year Cavell has been telling us that his next birthday will be his "Go Diego" birthday. Thanks to a lucky find at Hastings and a little dedication from his Mama, Cavell did indeed have his Go Diego birthday.

Some cupcake toppers for his playdate with a friend.  Only one friend (Happy birthday to you too JackJack!) and the siblings, but they were too cute not to use all of the toppers.

Lex thought Cavell NEEDED a Diego doll.  I think he was right!

Almost all of his Diego gifts were interactive, as Go Diego should be.

The Finale was the Go Diego cake.  When asked what flavour he wanted, Cavell would always answer, "Go Diego"  We decided on chocolate cake with a dulce de leche ice-cream layer.  I made the top using a frozen buttercream transfer.

Will It Finally Happen?!?

This morning Cavell ran down the hallway towards his room. Moments later he exclaimed, "I pee on potty!"  I walked over to the bathroom and see his pajama bottoms and his discarded diaper on the floor.  Cavell is sitting on the toilet, beaming, and still telling me he peed on the potty.  And, there was pee in the potty!

I quickly created a Go Diego potty chart for Cavell to put his reward Go Diego stickers on.  He already has two stickers from this morning that he earned on his own, without any help or encouragement.  He is also making additional, unproductive, trips to the bathroom of his own volition.

Words can not express how excited we ALL are for this new step to be taken.

**Update: Cavell had only two accidents that first weekend.  After that it has been over two weeks with no accidents.  We can confidently say Cavell potty trained himself, quickly . . .  if you blissfully forget the numerous attempts I had made since he turned 3 that he didn't really participate in.

Peanut Butter Cup

A couple weeks ago we were in the freezer aisle buying spinach, Alayna was scoping out the ice creams on the other side.  She wanted the Peanut Butter Cup.  Except we were making "Purple Cow" flavour that weekend.  Instead, we bought some peanut butter cups to store in the freezer for the next week's ice cream.  It was very worth the wait.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice-Cream
1 Cup Peanut Butter (we used the creamy Jif Natural)
2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2-14 oz cans Coconut Milk
20 mini peanut butter cups, most chopped into sixths but save a few to only chop into quarters)

Beat peanut butter, sugar and salt till smooth.
Stir in coconut milk.  Cool mix in fridge for an hour.
Churn mixture in the maker.  Transfer to a container, stirring in peanut butter cups.  Freeze overnight.

As if that wasn't yummy enough, Paul made his very own "Magic Shell" type of chocolate topping.

Crispy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate topping.
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1/4 Powdered Sugar
2 Tbs Cocoa Powder

Microwave oil quickly, like 15 seconds, to melt it.  Stir in sugar and cocoa.  Drizzle on top of frozen ice cream.

Lex

Mostly thanks to Cavell, we have some pictures of Lex this month. I thought I would share them with everyone.

Chillin' over breakfast.  Kix and raisins.

Hangin' at Carl Shurz while Alayna gets her certificate for completing 1st grade.

A little walk before bed.

Ice Cream!

For Christmas this past year, Paul bought me this Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker!  Even better, he got it on sale for half the price, including the shipping.

Since December we have been making ice cream almost every week.  Our first try was vanilla, custard-style ice cream with bits of our gluten free brownies for the mix-in using the recipe book included with the machine.  Since then we have branched out and made our own recipes.  We have had many successes, some repeats, a few that need fine tuning and one failure.  What we haven't done is written them down.  That needs to change.  So, I will start with our most recent success.

Orange Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 - 14 oz cans of Coconut Milk (we use Thai Kitchen)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• orange zest from two cutie oranges

• 10 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 6 oz orange juice concentrate

Directions

• While stirring, heat first 4 ingredients in a double boiler to 175°
• Whisk together egg yolks and second 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• Gradually temper egg yolk mixture with 1 1/2 cups of milk mixture
• Incorporate the tempered egg mixture into the remaining milk in the double boiler
• Stir and heat for 3 minutes

• Place vanilla in a separate bowl and pour in the milk/egg mixture.  Stir, and place into the fridge overnight.

• Freeze ice cream mixture and orange juice concentrate in the maker.  Transfer to a container and freeze overnight.

The kids liked theirs served in some cutie peels we had saved in the freezer.  Paul even found some Orange Creme Magic Shell for our citrus treat.

Go Fish!

Alayna participated in her school's first grade play Tuesday night.

Go Fish!
by John Jacobson and John Higgins

A Musical Play for Young Singers. A Tuna Fish that can't carry a tune? A Star Fish that can't get an acting job? A seven-legged Octopus? A Zebra Fish with spots? A Tiger Shark who wants to be friends with everyone? Join in the aquatic fun as little Tiger Shark and his unique collection of friends discover how their differences make them each special.

Alayna worked hard remembering lines and creating different characters for the auditions in March.  She was given the part of . . .

Angel Fish.

Once she received her script she diligently went to work memorizing her lines and even deciding how she would deliver them.  She went to early morning rehearsals for two weeks.  She volunteered her mama to help with the set.  After 10 weeks of practice Alayna made her debut on the stage.

She was excited to have wings.  We also used a large amount of glitter and a little makeup.  I know we are the proud parents, but I think she did really well.  All of her lines were memorized, delivered well and, more importantly, audibly.

 Commotion in the Ocean

 "Maybe a little"

 The Colors of the Sea

She was extra excited to have her best friend and favourite babysitter, Lindsay there.  Thank you for coming Lindsay.

Go Fish

Alayna participated in her school's first grade play last night.

Go Fish!

From Hal Leonard

A Musical For Young Singers

by John Jacobson and John Higgins



She worked very hard learning the different lines and creating the different characters for the audition back in March.

Alayna got the part of the Angel Fish.  She began memorizing her lines as soon as she got the script.  She went to early morning rehearsals for two weeks.  She volunteered her mama to help with the set.  After 10 weeks of practice Alayna made her debut on the stage.



She was excited to have wings.  We also used a large amount of glitter and a little makeup.  I know we are the proud parents, but I think she did really well.  All of her lines were memorized, and more importantly, we could hear her.

 Commotion in the Ocean

 "Maybe a little"

 The Colors of the Sea

She was extra excited to have her best friend and favourite babysitter, Lindsay there.  Thank you for coming Lindsay.