Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Molly Ann goes in for her 15-month well check today. She turns 16 months on Friday. So we’re a little late, but that’s OK.

My main question is what does she weigh? She’s a solid little girl who loves her food, so I’m guessing over 30 lbs, but by how much? Beau is taking her this afternoon - I’m sad not to go, but I can’t take the time off of work.

In other Molly news:

1. She’s super cute. I mean, come on, look at that picture.

2. She’s super sweet. She loves to cuddle and be held. Sometimes that’s tough when we’re trying to do stuff, but generally we like it. She shares pretty well with Jesse so far. She headbutts the cat. When I leave for work, she blows kisses without using her hand. When I ask for a kiss she’ll lean her forehead in to receive a kiss from me.

3. She’s easy going. It must be the younger sibling thing. Although there are times when she gets aggravated by her brother, for the most part she goes along and gets along.

4. She walks with purpose. She doesn’t so much walk, really, as stomp. Each step is very deliberately placed and it’s not a stability thing. She plenty competent at the walking.

5. She eats pretty much anything we put in front of her. So far. That said, when she’s done eating there is no doubt about it - we get a firm wave off and often food goes flying off of her tray, too.

6. She’s trying to talk. If I listen closely, I can hear that her gibberish is starting to break up into segments, like words, but still undecipherable as actual words.

There’s so much more I could say about my Molly Ann. I love her to pieces and I’m grateful that God blessed us with her.

Jesse watched the Spider-Man DVD a few times yesterday. When I called in the afternoon to check in with Beau, I talked to Jesse and he was very excited about it. My own opinion of this particular DVD is that it’s not quite appropriate for a pre-schooler (it was probably made for Cartoon Network and is dated 2008). We’ll keep it for another day or two, until the latest DVD arrives in the mail.

I sent back the as yet unwatched The Young Victoria (I’ll re-rent it from Redbox later) in order to get one of the Super Friends DVDs that I mentioned yesterday. Once that arrives, I’ll send back Spidey for a much older cartoon version (there’s a series from 1967) that I’m hoping will be better suited for younger kids.

In any case, the boy is happy and there were no nightmares and that’s what matters.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Jesse’s latest obsession is Spider-Man. He has both Spider-Man and Batman underwear, but over the weekend he took to carrying around a pair of Spidey undies, excitedly reminding us that Spider-Man fights bad guys. I went into his room yesterday morning to find him laying on his bed with the undies on the pillow next to his head.

“Mama, will you get a Spider-Man book or movie from the library?” he asked me sweetly.

Needless to say I went on the hunt for an appropriate cartoon version of Spider-Man that wouldn’t be too scary for a 3.5 year old. I managed to find several DVD options on Netflix and added them to the queue. The good news on that is that they had just received a movie back so the next one was due to ship out yesterday. I managed to get Spidey on the list in time to ship and it should arrive today.

In the search I came across Super Friends, which I watched every Saturday morning and since he added Batman to his request last night, I have moved that DVD up the next slot in the queue. I figure to introduce all of the super heroes to the boy - Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The past two weeks, a staff member at church has stood at the front explaining that one of our core values is persistent prayer. They each talked about how important prayer is in the life of our church. That small groups pray for one another, that folks can submit prayer requests via email or the website. And then each one left the stage without praying.

That small omission troubles me.

There is little corporate prayer in our church. Our pastor prays before and after his messages and the worship leader may pray a short bit during the music, but that’s it. There’s no prayer for one another, no prayer for our ministries, no prayer for our missions, etc.

If prayer is a core value of our church then why aren’t we praying? Why is prayer not being modeled more from the staff during worship services? Why do we not have any focused corporate prayer?

It troubles me.

Friday, July 23, 2010

We got a postcard for the National Sheep Dog Trials to be held in Winchester, VA in September. We kind of laughed about it, but I have been thinking about it and I think we should go for the finals on the 26th.

1. Jesse adores Babe. Granted he won’t see a sheep pig, but he’d still love seeing Babe lived out. Come on!

2. It’s not far from The New Homestead. I think Marmie and Pop should come, too.

3. It’s very reasonably priced - $12 per adult. Kids under 11 are free.

I want to go.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

I have a busy few months ahead.

August 23-27 - travelling to Denver for a work conference.

August 28 - Restoring Honor Rally in DC with Beau’s Bro and SIL.

September 4 - Beau’s cousin is getting married in Maryland.

September 11 or 12 - We may do the 9/12 March on DC like we did last year. Maybe. It’s looking less likely. And there are two events that weekend, which makes it more confusing.

September 17-18 - Uncle Sam’s Niece Open House for Bead on a Wire in Manassas, VA.

September 20-24 - travelling to Glynco, GA for work training.

October - may have training in DC.

November 12-13 - Tea For All Reasons Open House for Bead on a Wire in Winchester, VA. This is a good weekend since I’ll have 11/11 off for Veteran’s Day. It means I can use that day to get everything out to Winchester and set up my displays.

November - may have training in San Diego if we don’t do it in October in DC.

December - may have training in Las Vegas if we don’t do it in October or November.

Wow.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I have 30 minutes of listening left to The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I think I’m safe to review it.

I liked it a lot. It’s not quite as good as the Harry Potter novels, but it was fun to listen to and it kept my interest. I enjoyed the challenge of remembering my Greek mythology education and have to admit to doing online research to be better reminded of the mythology of some specific characters. I found Percy Jackson to be written a wee bit more mature than I’d expect a 11-12 year old to be in real life, but that didn’t detract from the story at all.

The narrator was excellent. He has a youthful quality to his voice that was perfect for the first person telling of the story and his voices, while not as good as other narrators, were still pretty good.

I plan to read the rest in the series. I’d like to see the movie as well, but I’m nervous about it as well given how royally Hollowood can screw up a good book adaptation.

The Lightning Thief gets 4 stars out of 5.

I hate summer.

Extreme heat, combined with high humidity the South has been feeling during the middle of July, will surge northward in the I-95 corridor from New York City to Washington, D.C., and Raleigh on Saturday.

The “Super Saturday Scorcher” will produce AccuWeather RealFeel® temperatures of 105 to 115 degrees for a several-hour period during the afternoon hours on Saturday.

Ugh.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

So I had the thought the other day to organize a church cookbook for my church. It would be a fundraiser, using the profits to fund one of our own missions or to donate to one of our partner ministries in the area.

I sent an inquiry email to one of our staff folks and was turned down flat, even though I said I would take the lead and didn’t require funding.

And the money was turned down, too - said it wasn’t needed.

I’m disappointed and scratching my head in puzzlement. Why would they turn down extra money to help ministry? Seems weird.

I sent a rebuttal email, explaining in more detail that the staff need not help, it would not take away from existing ministry, I and a couple of other volunteers (I already have one, too) would take the lead and do the work. And it would be a community thing for the church as a whole (which is lacking b/c of our size, but I didn’t say that.) The only thing we’d need is advertising and a place to take pre-orders.

Monday, July 19, 2010

We managed to watch State of Play last night. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. It was just OK. But here’s the thing - the acting was very good on all levels. It’s just the story that wasn’t very good. It was cliched and predictable, down to the twist at the end. It was trying to be All the President’s Men and failing.

I read an article when the film was being made about Russell Crowe shadowing an actual investigative reporter for a day or two when he got into town (it was filmed mostly in Washington, DC and for that I give it brownie points - they actually filmed in a Metro station and other key locations in the city; and showed actual driving scenes in the area with the traffic, too - I liked that). He wanted to know how a journalist actually works a story and how a newsroom really functions. I think his study shows in the film.

SoP gets only 2.5 stars and those stars are mostly for the excellent acting.

We made brisket in the crock pot for yesterday’s lunch (it’s super easy - put brisket or roast in crock pot; pour in a bottle of BBQ sauce (I used Famous Dave’s Texas Pit); set cooker to Low and cook overnight; in the morning slice or shred the meat and allow to continue in the cooker until lunchtime. Thanks, Granny!)

I had picked up some zucchini and decided to make my mother’s Zucchini Imperial recipe. It’s oh, so good. I posted the recipe at Tasty Kitchen, but here it is for you, too.

(Pictured: Brisket Sliders on Beau’s homemade buns, Zucchini Imperial, leftover Five Guys french fries.)

Zucchini Imperial
Serves 8

4 cups cooked, well drained zucchini slices
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp margarine, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Clean, slice, and steam your zucchini. I usually salt veggies that I steam and I did this time also. If you do that, then reduce the amount of salt you add later.

3. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the breadcrumbs and margarine. Gently fold to mix well.

4. Pour mixture into a greased 9X13” baking dish or casserole.

5. In a small bowl, melt the margarine in the microwave - about 10-15 seconds. Add the breadcrumbs and stir until well mixed and crumbly. If it seems too wet, add more breadcrumbs.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until nicely browned.

This can be made a little ahead and refrigerated prior to baking. If you bake after refrigerating, take out of the frig while the oven is heating. Then cook for 40 min minimum.

Enjoy.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Amen.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

1. Mel Gibson needs prayer and help. And that’s all I will say about his latest foray into the tabloids.

2. Which is Better: Darcy or Knightly?

3. I’m listening to The Lightning Thief and I need a serious refresher of my Greek mythology education. Also, it makes me want to rent Clash of the Titans. But the question is, which one? 1981 or 2010? The 2010 verson doesn’t come out on DVD until next month, though.

That said, I’m really enjoying The Lightning Thief. The narrator is excellent.

4. We’re slowly recovering from the stomach virus that took over our house over the weekend. I’d rather be hit by a car than deal with that. I’m not kidding.