Domestic Adventures

I just finished reading John Grisham’s completely unlawerly novel Playing for Pizza. After reading too many dark and creepy forensic mystery books, it was just what I needed, and even though it was about football, I thoroughly enjoyed it. (It turns out there are a lot of good “sports” novels that appeal wonderfully even to those of us who couldn’t care less about sports: Jerry B. Jenkins’ Rookie comes to mind.) Playing for Pizza is mostly a character study and follows a mediocre/lousy NFL player through an unlikely change of scene. That scene is Parma, Italy and has me obsessed with Italian cooking. All through the story, characters are meeting at sidewalk cafes, bonding over elaborate four course dinners, and celebrating in cosy trattorias. I keep getting up mid-chapter to rummage through our kitchen; any parmesan in here? no? how about stuffed tortellini? So to amazon I went in search of genuine Parma recipes. The only “Parma” book I found is rare and pricey, but I found other titles by the same author at the library. They should be turning up on my doorstep any day!

My granddad has been converting some old slides to digital. Aren’t we cute?

I haven’t abandoned the blog, it’s just been a busy week. I’ve been substituting for another teacher this week. Rushing out the door so early and spending several hours with first and second graders is a lot more tiring than my usual schedule. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to have larger blocks of time with the kids, though. In my usual small slice of time for social studies, I don’t get much of a chance to see their reading and writing skills, so it’s interesting to get to know more about where they are, and it’s good information to consider when planning my social studies lessons.
Seeing the wide range of reading skills also inspires me to work with Emmaline on her reading skills. The world of school is so much less torturous for those who read well, so as Emmie’s reading skills develop, we’re going to practice, practice, practice! I hope she’s able to enjoy reading as both Trent and I did as kids.

When I was a kid and got my Book It! coupons from school, I remember Pizza Hut being a rather magical place. They had the world’s best bread sticks with dipping sauce that had real cheese on top and getting to buy my own pizza was just so cool.
Last night, Emmie turned in her first ever Book it! coupon for her very own pizza. She was very excited to order and hand over payment and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat so much of a meal (two whole mini-slices). There are precious few dine-in Pizza Huts still around, but we found one. The waitress served the kids each a liter-sized glass of water filled the brim which spilled all over before one sip was taken. Then the served us breadsticks we didn’t order. I’m almost sure Micah grabbed the end of one before the waitress swiped it away and served it to another unsuspecting party. The seats were greasy and they left the pepperoni off Emmie’s pepperoni pizza. I was trying hard not to grumble, but Emmie didn’t even notice the missing pepperoni. It was still a magical place to her. After all, she got to order and pay for her own pizza all by herself.

M: I squished a big spider bug!

A: Oh?

M: Yeah! A BIG spider bug!

A: Where is the spider now?

M: Looks on bottom of one foot, then looks on the bottom of the other foot. Shrugs. I don’t know. Happily trots off.

A: sigh…

So, some of you have heard we had a little scare with Micah. Last Tuesday and Wednesday nights, he threw up in the night. When he did it again Sunday night, I decided to take him to the doctor. No other symptoms, just weird middle of the night sickness. My regular pediatrician was busy so we saw another doctor in the practice and she was a bit concerned about Micah. The fact that he was getting sick at night and had no other symptoms was strange and she was concerned about a possible increased pressure in his head and suggested waiting a few days, then doing a CT scan if he continued to get sick. This was enough to panic me a bit. Trent and I spent a good bit of the day on the phone with friends and doctors. We had decided not to wait to do the CT scan but were having a little trouble scheduling.
Our prayers were not only for Micah’s health, but for our peace of mind, especially mine as I knew I was feeling more worried than I should.
That night, Emmie woke us up at 4am having thrown up in her bed. After the cleaning and changing and soothing, Trent and I finally climbed back into bed. “See, aren’t you glad Emmie is sick?” Trent said as we settled ourselves back under the covers, “Funny how God answers prayer.”
So, it appears Micah’s weird sickness may have been a stomach bug after all. The pediatrician still wants us to watch him carefully the rest of the week, but so far everyone is feeling better.

The ingredients to my favorite lunch/snack as of late. Chop, mix, eat. Very, very good.

Stephen is in town for the weekend. Since we lack a guest room, he’s staying here in our dining room, sleeping on the air mattress. The really bad part of not having a guest room is that there is no door to close. And when there is no door to close, your early morning slumber will be interrupted by a five year old taking a flying leap onto your air mattress and yelling your name until you make her go away.
Also, when you don’t have a door to close, the five year old (and possibly her younger brother) will be enormously bothered by the fact that you haven’t made your bed. So bothered, in fact, that she will make morning and evening routines for you and post them on the guest room dining room walls.

Morning Routine:
Make Bed
Put on Daytime clothes
Eat Breakfast
Play with Emmie

Evening Routine:
Put on Pajamas
Read story with Emmie
Go to Bed

“We want to learn all about the secret mystery of half and half!”

and…

“Can you get some half and half for me to discover?”