Ironic?

CiBaby and I just got back from our local natural foods co-op, to which we belong. We picked up some tahini for our hummus, no-nitrate added, antibiotic free hotdogs (CiBaby had been begging for them for several days) and some of the finest local cream you will find on the earth...I'm going to make butter, just for fun.

As we were leaving the co-op and walking back to our car I noticed 3 of their employees standing outside of their rear door...smoking. A store that emphasizes healthy eating and living, where a lot of their employees are vegetarians if not vegans and here they are smoking?

Not sure what's worse...the occasional meat and non-organic, non-locally grown food or cigarettes. hmmmmm

Mom-genuity

I don't know about your children, but mine tends to waste a lot of food. Try as I might, at the end of the day there is a half eaten carrot, a half an apple, and various other fruits and veggies. Give her less you say? Nope, there's still always half left. It's one of her little quirks. To even think of putting them in the compost pile makes me cringe.

A few weeks ago my mother-in-law handed us her old juicer. To say I was thrilled to have another appliance might be much. We already have a great juicer, but it's big. Really big. Taking it out of it's sleeping spot, setting it up and then cleaning it is an all day task. So when I juice, I JUICE. But this juicer is much smaller and the blade is basically the same (I think it's the same maker, just under a different name).

A few days after she gave us the juicer I had an idea. After offering up the half eaten F&Vs to CiBaby and being completely shunned, I threw them into the juicer, and voila! Mega hit. It was such a hit that she even stole the cup of juice T-Daddy and I were sharing and called it her own.

Waste not, want not. That's what I call Mom-genuity.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day with a Family Sushi Rolling Party.

The party started with CiBaby decorating cookies*


I was the whip-crackin' instructor at our party. Here we have G-Mama and Auntie making their rolls. Watch out for G-Mama though, you might be surprised at the contents. If you were looking for something other than Spam, you may have to look elsewhere!


Our sushi rolls turned out beautifully and very tasty. Along with our rolls we had tempura...they balance eachother out nutritionally, don't you think?

Either CiBaby's tastebuds have developed, or our plan to starve her before dinner worked. She ate 5! pieces of sushi among other things.

But then she was holding out for Bopa's fav...Cherry Berries on a Cloud, to which she proudly exclaimed..."I like it!"

It was a lovely evening spent with the people we love.

*After all of the finger licking, CiBaby was the proud owner of all of the cookies.

What a week!

Our week started off great! Sunday we went to the MIA for the Lantern Festival.

The event started off with a snooze in the lobby.


While CiBaby and T-Daddy snoozed I got a coffee and looked around in the gift shop and mapped out a plan of attack on the Chinese Zodiac art-hunt and activities.

CiBaby had a great time walking around and looking at the art.


This is when the week headed South. I seemed to have picked up a stomach virus. I had been wanting to lose a few holiday pounds, but this was ridiculous. Then T-Daddy seemed to have come down with it, but not nearly as bad...thankfully. And miraculously, CiBaby seemed to have dodged the bullet all together.

Towards the end of the week I was feeling a bit better, as long as I didn't really eat or drink much of anything, and both CiBaby and I were starting to get a bit stir-crazy. We had an opportunity to go to a friend's Valentine's Party. Well, I feel down her stairs.*

To top off the week I got pink eye AND a head cold. Whew. I sure hope this next week is better! Someone please tell me, when is it going to be summer again???

*Before you say I'm prone to falling down the stairs, stop. I am not. T-Daddy will even vouch for it. Every time, and there hasn't been that many, has been circumstantial (wet shoes on slippery steps, someone left a shoe on the stairs, and this time the carpet was really slippery). So there.

Nurse Ratched

This past week, T-Daddy and I have been ill. Apparently we have the stomach "flu." Thankfully CiBaby has been spared, and has been our nurse.

Here she is taking care of T-Daddy. Notice the oatmeal bar, juice, the lovie, a blanket and other paraphernalia.


What you can't see...or hear... is her yelling at T-Daddy to "Close your eyes or you're going to get in trouble!"* Also, before the above picture was taken she'd poked T-Daddy in the eye, and to fix it she covered his face with a towel, a blanket and the mail. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.

Either nursing is not in her future or she's really got to work on her bedside manner.

*Where she came up with this, neither one of us knows.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

What a Diva. She knows it's all about the accessories.
Who needs anything else?

Decorating Sense - give me your opinion!

Rarely do I ask for opinions here...I just give you mine. Kidding!

We are currently in the throws of our new and 2nd bathroom being completed and I've come to a crossroads...We have the tile, I designed the layout, but now...what color for the walls?

I've had a vision for a long time that I wanted this bathroom to feel like an oasis, a natural, organic like spa (as opposed to the stark white, sterile ones). Our fixtures are all white and the hardware is a brushed nickle. I also envision a dark wood piece as storage and some accents and of course, luxurious white towels, the kind where you could get lost as they are so thick and fluffy.

To get an idea of the amount of color in the room, the tiles below are used as such. Far left, is an accent border. The middle tile is the "field" tile, so this takes up most of the space, and the far right, the rocks are the "river" that runs through it.

So, I ask you...based on the tiles you see and the information above...What color for the walls?

Also, here is a sneak peek of the design, partially completed.

What's wrong with this picture?

We almost made a record up here on the Tundra...a whole January below freezing...until today. Apparently that hasn't happened in 100 years. Of course today has to get above freezing. However, my thermometer was a wee bit off. No it wasn't 102F, but Auntie's car registered at 47F. Crazy.

Hours of fun for only $3.99 (+ tax)

I love Goodwill.

Day 2 of Chinese New Year 2009

The 2nd day of the Lunar New Year started out with...

"Mama, take my picture with B!"

Then we headed over to the Mall of America where this week's Toddler Tuesday activity was Chinese New Year. There were Lion Dancers, crafts and snacks (glutinous rice balls).

CiBaby was very curious about the lion.

At one point the lion was right in front of us. We even had an opportunity to have our picture taken with the lion, CiBaby lead the way. We had to show her there was a person inside, but was still very apprehensive.

See her clutching the rice ball?

She was still so curious about that darn lion.

After the festivities were over, we did a little shopping and playing.

We even stopped at a fountain to "throw coins."

It was a great day in the life.

Today we're laying low and having jammie day (like my friend Kar calls it). I need to finalize my dinner menu for Saturday and I feel like I'm coming down with something. I woke up feeling like I had a terrible hangover, but there was no alcohol involved! I've popped an Airborne, so hopefully I can nip it in the lotus bud.

How do you know?

How do you know to take the leap from one child to two*? This is a discussion that T-Daddy and I have been having intermittently.**

Is it your heart, your time, your house, your wallet or your child?

Is our heart big enough to bring another child in? We got SO lucky with CiBaby. She is awesome. She is loving, kind, thoughtful, witty, talented and has personality to spare. Could we do this well again? Could we love another child as much as we love her? I don't know how that is possible.

Do we truly have enough time for more than one child? To really give them what they want...us. They want time with us. Undivided attention. Do we rip that in half in order to have another child? Do we let our housework slide anymore than it already has just to love another being? To spend quality time with your spouse and not just be parents, but partners.

Is space an issue? While we don't have a tiny house, they sure do get smaller the larger the children grow. Teenagers need their space, as well as parents from the teens.

Do you really ever have enough money for children? To give them everything you can...the best. The best medical attention, the best education. I'm not even going to touch on material things as I think they are superfluous. Don't get me wrong they are fun to have at the same time, and we love our "things," but clothes, food and a home are enough to live comfortably.

Do your children let you know when it's time to add to your family? Is it fair to your child to go through their unique experience*** all by themselves. To not have a sibling to "feel their pain" or their joy?

As an only child myself, I can only answer from a "child's" perspective. I turned out well. Do I wish I had a sibling? Sometimes, but a lot of times it doesn't matter to me. T-Daddy comes from a different upbringing, he had 5 siblings.

How do you know?

*Yes, technically CiBaby is not an only child, but due to the very large (19 year) age gap between she and Big Sister, she essentially is.
**A couple friends have decided to adopt again, bringing it more into our forethoughts.
***I am speaking of being internationally adopted.

Year of the Ox

Happy New Year!

Today we celebrated the beginning of Chinese New Year...the year of the Ox (which happens to be my sign as well!) which will continue for the next 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival.

The day began with a very fun playdate with 9 other mom friends and their 11 children, it was a full house. Fun was had by all. In an effort to minimize stress on myself I made nothing except for coffee. I did buy some fun treats at my FAV Asian market...trying to keep to the New Year traditions (and still be American kid friendly) I got green tea pumpkin seeds, sweet candies and taro filled wafer cookies*.

After the house quieted and was tidyed up, I set to preparing our meal. It was a simple dish but delicious and very easy to make, which was served with Yu Choy. G-Mama and Bopa joined us for the festivities.

Xinjian Rice Pot with Lamb
san geung yeung yuk faan

(copied from Food of the World - China)

This wholesome dish from Xinjiang Province is known in Uygur as "poluo rice" which means finger-food. Thus is eaten with the fingers rather than chopsticks* or spoons. This dish is always served at weddings, funerals, and traditional festivals, including the first day of Chinese New Year.

Serves 6-8 (generous servings)

2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil

10-1/2 oz/300 g lamb or mutton, cut into bit-size cubes

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 onions coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppers, lightly roasted and lightly crushed

generous 2 cups short- or medium-grain rice

3-3/4 cups water

In a large casserole, heat the oil and stir-fry the meat for 1-2 minutes, or until the pieces are sealed on all sides. Add the carrot and onion and stir-fry until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the salt, ginger, and Sichuan peppers and mix well.

Finally, add the rice and water and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the water. Serve alone or as part of a meal.

We cracked open a bottle of wine

we picked up in China, and put some
traditional Chinese music on the stereo.

CiBaby was so proud of her chopstick skills,

even though there were near misses!

Wishing you all the best,

CzaMama, T-Daddy and CiBaby

*If you see Durian fruit wafer cookies by Garden Company, run fast and far. Horrible. They smelled so awful and tasted just as bad. The coconut and peach were good, and the taro (by I-Mei) were good too. All not terribly sweet...like american wafer cookies.

**We used chopsticks...Bopa wasn't too excited about using his fingers to eat.