Moving

Tomorrow's the day.  We leave our cozy little abode for a larger suite high in the sky.

Sigh.

I've always been bad with change.  The night before we left my childhood home (I was 9), I ran into my parents' room and made them write down everything that was stored in each individual kitchen cupboard.  Why?  Because I was going to move back into that house someday and I wanted everything to be in the same place it was when I was a kid.  For Christmas I asked for a dollhouse with the same layout as our old house.

Tonight I put Helena down to sleep, and everything just came rushing back.  That wall was full of boxes until Little Critter was a few months away from coming.  Next, John & I spent one Saturday morning putting together the crib.  Then we brought home our Burrito Baby and she was TINY in her bed.  Now she's so big that she's waving (new today) and we're leaving.

Tomorrow is not going to be easy.  But can you imagine what it's going to be like to leave our new place in four years???

The Firm - the third time around

Have you read Grisham's book The Firm?  My family listened to it on tape during a road trip to Florida when I was ten or so.  We became very involved with the book.  Strange story - on the way to FL we stopped to tour the Vanderbilt house. Six hours of driving later, we stopped at a fast food restaurant for dinner and a couple that had been in the tour was at the same restaurant.  We were being followed, just like the main character Mitch!  It was eerie.

Then there's the movie.  I saw part of it on one of those nights that was spent aimlessly flipping through the channels.

Did you know they're making a TV show out of it?  It's supposed to be about Mitch ten years after the book's events.  And guess where they were filming part of it today?

IN FRONT AND INSIDE OF OUR APARTMENT BUILDING!

There was no Tom Cruise but there were lots of people and TONS of equipment.  Above is the scene Helena & I watched from our window.  Three "journalists" snapped lots of pictures and tried to get the person in the back of the squad car to talk.  I'm pretty sure the cameras were rolling for less than 20 seconds but it took at least 20 minutes to set up the scene, get everyone's make-up on correctly, and to get the camera to work!

We walked through preparations of other scenes but weren't there for any of the other calls of "Cameras rolling!"  But you can bet we'll be trying to watch this show with the hopes of seeing our home! 

Our Current Goings-on

School started for John last week, Helena is teething, we're moving in 10 1/2 days, and we have two people visiting before the move!  (Well, John's mom should maybe only be counted as half visiting since most of her visit will be after the move.)  Here are some snapshots of life recently:

What happens when your daddy dresses you in the morning?  He figures out a way to make you look like a baseball player!

We went to the park and realized we all had hooded sweatshirts on, so of course Mommy wanted to take a picture.  But then Mom & Dad forgot to take their hoods down for at least 15 minutes.  Now we understand the looks we were getting!

 

Our neighborhood hosted the annual Polish Festival this past weekend.  We thoroughly enjoyed walking up and down the street, taking it all in.  Above is the beginning of the parade.  I felt bad for the motorcyclist, as he had this great motorcycle but had to walk it (while sitting on it!) for the entire parade because behind him were two girls who were holding onto streamers that were attached to it.

Helena's first balloon - she preferred the ribbon!

We don't see people dressed in the traditional Polish clothing very often but our neighborhood is home to two Polish newspapers, 5 Polish restaurants, a Polish radio station, a library that has an entire room dedicated to Polish literature, and the largest religious credit union in North America, which is - you got it - run by the Poles!

Pierogies.  We ate them from two different stands.  So delicious when freshly made and so not when from the frozen department of the grocery store.

Helena's also been busy playing soccer!

We're super excited to move to a larger apartment, but we're mourning the loss of our neighborhood.  It has been such a great place for us.  The scene above is one that has occurred every Saturday - John spending $2 at the local Polish bakery & deli for a HUGE Polish sausage.

Crock Pot Recipe #2: Slow Cooker Enchiladas

Source: I recently did a cookbook swap with a friend, so now I'm exploring the pages of Simply in Season. This recipe is for the summer, and since it was 83F at dinnertime on Tuesday, I'd say we were in season!

Recipe:
Slow Cooker Enchiladas
serves 6-8

1 lb. ground beef, turkey or venison
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
Cook together in a large skillet until meet is browned and vegetables are tender. Drain off fat.

2 cups cooked pinto or kidney beans
2 cups cooked black beans
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup water (1/4 if using summer squash)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup summer squash or carrots, grated (opt.)
1 cup corn (opt.)
ground red pepper to taste
Add and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.


2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese or a mix of the two
7 flour tortillas 6-7 inches

In a slow cooker layer about 1 cup meat-bean mix, one tortilla and 1/3 cup cheese. (In my 6-quart oval slow cooker, I did 2 cups, 2 tortillas, and 2/3 cup cheese, using a total of 6 tortillas.) Repeat to use all ingredients.


Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours or until heated through.
****Here's why I disagree with the recipe! 5-7 hours on low seemed like a very long time to heat up a mixture that was already completely cooked. So I planned on 5 hours on warm, it ended up being 6, and it was a tiny bit dry. If I make it again, I'll probably do 3-4 on warm.

Verdict: John really liked this; I thought it was okay. We added salsa on top. If I were looking for a hot meal to have in the summer that did not require the oven to be turned on, I may turn to this recipe. If I do, I will at least double the spices.

And one more...

We don't have too many pictures of Helena crying, but I did find one from when we were trying to take a family picture at Mackinac. Enjoy, BBS!

The Many Expressions of Helena

A room of my own.

Hmmm...

Oooh!

This plastic container tastes good!

Right, Mom. These leaves were green before. Whatever you say.

Isn't my new hairstyle great? And check out this paper!

Ugh, water. Why do they make me drink this stuff?

Peaches & rice cereal - now that's worth eating.

***raspberry noises***

You make me so happy.

Simply dreaming...

The Longboat Toronto Island Run

This Sunday held the much awaited event of the summer - John's running debut. We ran the Longboat Toronto Island 5K, and it was so much fun. Helena was part of the action too, as she rode along in our jogging stroller.

(stretching with Mommy)

The following consists of interviews with John taken before and after the race.

BEFORE:

What have you been doing to train for this race? I've been running every few days with my wife and daughter. My wife is my trainer and coach; she's good at pushing me to the limit. It's been a grueling 4 months but in this last week I've started to enjoy it.

What's your goal for the race? My goal is to finish under 30 minutes and to not throw up.

(Helena insisted that ballet slipper socks would be better than Keds for the race)

We finished with a time of 28:20! John was quite hot at the end, but after a half-dozen glasses of Gatorade, he was feeling fine.

AFTER:

How was the race for you? It was great. I had a blast. I can't believe I just did that. My wife is awesome; she pushed Helena in the stroller the whole way and still it was hard for me to keep up with her pace.

Will this be your debut AND your finale? Well, my season is over for this year but I'll be back next year. I definitely want to do the Toronto Island Run again.

Do you have any goals for next year? Yes. In next year's race I want to run 7 minute miles; if I do this, that would put me in the top three for my age range. By the way, this would also put Charlotte in the #1 spot for the females. Next year we are going to dominate!

(a running family)

I'm not sure about the whole domination idea, but on our way home John did say that Sunday was the highlight of his summer. Looks like we will be racing again next year!

9/11

Most Americans remember where they were when they heard about the planes hitting the Twin Towers, but since memories fade, I thought I'd write down my experience here.

It was the first day that the National Honors Society was going to meet in my senior year, and I was running late. I flipped to a different radio station every time an advertisement came on. As I reached the left turning lane to enter the school parking lot, the news came on. "It seems an airplane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers."

I remember thinking, "Not interested in news" and flicking the radio off. All of a sudden, the meaning of the wavelength words came back to me and the radio was immediately back on.

But it didn't ring as truth.

That is, until I walked into Mr. Munson's office. My fellow peers and teachers were sitting on the desks, with eyes on the TV. While smoke billowed out of the tower, we watched as the reporters had little news.

Eventually it was time for school to start, so we all went to our first hour classes, and watched the TVs. There was no talk about Brit Lit that day; rather, Mr. Strasser talked to us about how this was a momentous event in American history. Then the second tower was struck.

The rest of the day was spent either watching the TVs or trying to do schoolwork while the muted TVs glared in the background. I remember some students in the hallway making light of what was happening, and thinking "They just don't get it."

I don't think any of us got it that day. I sure didn't.

Here she is!

video taken August 30, 2011

Question for my fellow bloggers: How do you upload videos and have them clear? Our videos are very clear on our computer but always fuzzy here! Thanks.

My Little Love

Helena. I haven't blogged about her lately. Whatever I write just doesn't seem to do her any justice but I'll try.

She gives hugs and kisses. She reaches for us when someone else is holding her. She talks in a quiet voice. She laughs. She knows when we're going outside. She's eager to touch anything and everything anytime and all the time. She loves the microwave lights, the EXIT sign lights, the camera light. Just this morning, after being pulled into bed with us at 5 a.m., she kept raising her head to look over John's head to see the clock - those beautiful green lit-up numbers - to then have it fall down because she was tired. Next thing I know, I have a little hand touching my cheek. I open my eyes and there's my daughter smiling at me. "7:30, Mom, it's time to get up," just may have been her thoughts. She scoots. She seems to have decided that the kitchen table makes a great fort. She loves shoes and purses because they have long string-like things that are fun to hold. She must feed herself some food before one of her parents feeds her anything. She still makes the face of "what is this disgusting thing in my mouth" whenever she eats avocado, all three bites of it. She loves to jump in someone's arms. The look on her face shows that she can't imagine anything better. She has got to be the stillest baby when her diaper is being taken off and the squirmiest when a new one is supposed to be going on. She is fascinated with her mom's hair when wet and comforted by it when dry. She gets a huge smile on her face when she hears her dad's voice on the phone, and then immediately moves her head to confusedly look at the phone. She likes to hold her mom's thumb when nursing or her mom's leg when jumping in the Jolly Jumper. She does not like hats on her head and will typically have them off within 10 seconds of their being put on. She loves bath time. She re-found her thumb within 24 hours of her soother being taken away. She loves to be sung to when eating. She sits and sits and sits and sits and suddenly, bang, she's down. She could read Brown Bear, Brown Bear or The Fire Engine Book or Cuddly Kittens twenty times a day and still want to read them again. She smiles.

Oh, Helena, how I love your smile, your voice, your hugs. I am so glad you're mine.

Crockpot Recipe #1 - Vietnamese Roasted Chicken

While searching for crockpot recipes, I've come across the blog A Year of Slow Cooking. Think Julie & Julia, but this lady decided to cook with the crockpot for a year and many of the recipes are her own.

One of the recipes she recommends is Vietnamese Roasted Chicken. Yeah, yeah, roasted chicken recipe two weeks ago too - but I had another chicken in the freezer and we're moving in a month so it's time to empty that thing!

Well, sadly, we would not recommend it. The fish sauce seemed odd with chicken and only chicken. It was incredibly juicy, but this chicken was cooked an hour less than the last one, so I'll be amending that recipe.

Mackinac Island - Again!

The regular family vacation spot during John's childhood was Mackinac Island. He's guessing he's been there over 15 times. We went last week and joined his family - now much larger than before :) - for the last vacation of the summer. Our activities followed tradition:

1) Ferrying


2)Kite-flying


3) Biking


and Burleying


4) Fudge


5) Enjoying Lake Huron - Helena's 3rd Great Lake


6) Carriage Ride - I know the angle makes the horse look huge, but that's exactly what he was. His height was equal to the height of the surrey.


7) Eating


8) Reading - Thanks to everyone who recommended The Help and to Anika for letting me borrow it.

9) Enjoying Horses


10) Taking in some history at Fort Mackinac


11) East Bluff Sunrise - This is where we got engaged six years ago. It was fun to have another person along with us to celebrate this time!


12) And one new activity - Tandem Bicycling

Living the -less life!

As of today, we are car-less, soother-less, and TV-less.

We said goodbye to good old Tammy the Car on Monday. After living in the city for a year, we realized that we don't use the car very often. Next month we're moving to the smack-dab center of downtown, so then we really won't need a car!


Helena has now gone two full days without a soother (aka pacifier). She was doing really well until last night. Here's for hoping that today will go better.

Toronto has gone all-digital for TVs, so using my grandparents' old television with our antennae is no longer an option. For the month of September we're going to live without a TV and see what we think. I'm expecting long quiet nap periods at home with no TV and no computer but maybe I'll get lots of reading in.

What are you living without?