Sam & Benny

Sam and Benny at the back door. An odd pair but they sure love each other!

Community Organizers

http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2008/09/day-of-blogging-for-community.html

Standing up & clapping!

Every One Else Makes Such Lonely Heavens

I read this article this morning at www.lds.org - I thought it expressed well the answers to questions I've been asked lots of times. And it expresses how LDS Christians differ from some other Christians about the topic.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/everyone-else-makes-such-lonely-heavens

Everyone Else Makes Such Lonely Heavens^[1]

For these defects, and for no other evil,
we now are lost and punished just with this:
we have no hope and yet we live in longing.
Dante’s Inferno^[2]

The New Testament states unequivocally that, besides Jesus Christ, “there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”^[3] And yet hundreds of millions of souls, probably the majority of all who have ever lived, were never taught about Christianity and perhaps never so much as heard the name of Jesus Christ. Are these millions of souls lost for the eternities? If so, can God be considered just, let alone merciful?

The poet Dante Alighieri, upon entering (fictionally) into the next world, was astonished by what he saw:  “I should never have believed,” he wrote in his Inferno, “that death could have unmade so many souls.”^[4] Strikingly, despite his obvious admiration for Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the great Islamic philosophers Avicenna and Averros, and the chivalrous Muslim military hero Saladin, Dante felt obliged to place them all in Hell.^[5] Even his guide, companion and “kindly master,” the Roman poet Virgil, was eternally barred from heaven.  Virgil explains the reason to Dante as follows:

I’d have you know, before you go ahead,
they did not sin; and yet, though they have merits,
that’s not enough, because they lacked baptism,
the portal of the faith that you embrace.
And if they lived before Christianity,                             
they did not worship God in fitting ways;
and of such spirits I myself am one.
For these defects, and for no other evil,
we now are lost and punished just with this:
we have no hope and yet we live in longing.^[6]

The founding Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, proclaimed a much more generous and expansive view of eternal possibilities. He pointed out that even the New Testament itself suggests a hopeful escape from this troubling prospect, citing the Apostle Paul’s reference to a practice long since forgotten or ignored by mainstream Christianity.^[7]

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead,
if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for
the dead?^[8]

Though vicarious or “proxy” baptism is but briefly mentioned in the Bible, a restoration of this ancient Christian practice became a foundational doctrine of the Latter-day Saint faith.

Today, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints labor to gather genealogical records and to construct temples^[9] in which baptisms for the dead and related ordinances can be performed. In striking contrast to the horrific atrocities committed by men and governments in the course of history, this vicarious temple service extends the love of God, with full salvational access, to every human who ever lived.

Proxy temple work best reflects the foundational Latter-day Saint conviction that the power of the atonement of Christ extends even to those who did not hear: every person who has ever lived is to be individually remembered, labored for and valued, thus vindicating the justice of God and illustrating the breadth of his redemptive love. Any rite performed in a Latter-day Saint temple on behalf of a deceased person, who yet lives as a spirit being, is a rite of offering only, exacting no forced compliance nor acceptance of the rite. There is no imposed change of identity, heritage or religious belief, nor is the individual’s name added to the membership rolls of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/everyone-else-makes-such-lonely-heavens - you can follow the link if you want to read the  notes, etc. I didn't want to post them all here ;)

Missing Church

So given the previous posts and it's updates - we didn't go to church. Leah was asleep for almost the entire thing and I feel awful.

But I hate missing church. Going to church on Sundays is such a part of my basic routine it throws my week off when I don't get to go.  I feel frustrated more during the week and less centered.

Ah well. What's to be done about it, eh?

She's sick.

101.1 fever right now.

And that came on WITH Motrin in her system.

Sigh.

Sunday Morning Update: Still sick. She had a 101.5 fever when she got up. But that was with no meds in her system at all anymore. She's had meds now. At first she was saying she wasn't hungry. But once the motrin kicked in she wanted strawberries - of which she proceeded to eat an entire POUND. And now she's having a bowl of steel cut oatmeal.

I hope this runs it's course quickly!

Sunday Afternoon Update: She fell asleep at 12:30 and didn't get up again until almost 3. Sleep is good! And she woke up with no fever. Although she's crabby as heck. I don't know if it's because she's still not feeling well or because Drew tried to tease her within seconds of her waking up. She didn't take that well. I had to hold her for quite awhile to get her from at least being in an angry mood!

In other good news (and I don't think I've ever called it that) AF has arrived for the first time since I went off the evil birth control. So - while I feel HORRID physically - mentally I've very glad to know my body is recovering completely from being on that stupid pill!

Leah's doc appt

Leah got some of her shots today. They are the ones she should have had at 12 months. Now she just needs the MMR (first one)and she'll be caught up.

She did AWESOME at the doctor today.

First - My kid doesn't like surprises me much. It is necessary that I prep her if something is coming that will be different. Most definitely going to the doctor and getting shots is different!

For several days before hand Leah & I talked about the doctor. She got a little doctor's kit that had a stethoscope, a syringe, and a thing-a-ma-bob to look in your ears and up your nose. So I used that to go through what the doctor would do with her. And then I told her: "They will give you shots like this (while showing with the syringe) except there will be a needle on the end."

"A needle like when you check your blood sugar?" (she's so smart, right?? LOL)

"Yes, but longer."

"Okay."

"It will hurt. You can say OWIE! and you might cry."

"OWIE!" (Then she pretended to give herself shots for awhile)

We repeated this conversation about 20 times over the last few days.

So the doc comes in and every time he does the things I said he would she grins at me. That was so dang cute! lol

Then he said he'd send the nurse back to do the shots. (saying he was a chicken and he didn't want the kids to hate HIM).

The nurse came in to talk to me about which ones I wanted her to have. (heaven love her for that. They weren't pushy about my delaying stuff, etc. They totally trusted me when I explained why I waited.)

So she got 3 shots. They were all things that are already in her system. I debated about whether to even do those three but I feel a need to balance having a ton of visits with shots every time and having all the shots in one visit (which they would have done today - no way lol)

She needs to get one more shot (in a month) and she'll actually be caught up until it's the 5 year old stuff. Well, except the chicken pox one. I'm not bothering with that right now.

She didn't get sick the other times until later in the night or in the morning. So I won't know until tomorrow how it's effected her this time.

She did great with the actual shots. She didn't even cry with the first one. The second one she started to cry after the stuff went in her leg. The nurse said that one burns going in. The third didn't seem to make her cry any harder (she wasn't crying that hard). Just a little and saying "That hurts!" I was whispering in her ear being comforting. Drew was holding one leg while the nurse used the other. But it wasn't necessary at all. She cried but she laid perfectly still and didn't move. So BRAVE! She just looked at me and I kept whispering to her.

Then she cried for maybe a minute and she was just saying, "That hurt!"

"I told you it would hurt, huh?"

"Ya. And we would get ice cream!"

And we did :) She hate a little ice cream and seven chicken nuggets. I've never seen her eat more than one. She doesn't usually seem to like them! Crazy.

Since then she's moody but no other ill effects yet. She says the spots on her legs don't even hurt.

I hope this is easy! And that it was the right to wait and that it really helped, kwim?

I think that's it!

Oh and I'm sick. I had a sleepless night. I have a fever and a cough. I feel like CRAP. Good times!

Oh and the nurse checked her arms and said  "we'll have to use her legs her arms are too skinny!"

She's 36.25 inches & 32 lbs (fully dressed and with her shoes on). So probably slightly lighter and 36 inches which is what measured her at last week.

Cupcake

 

I just couldn't resist this cupcake when I saw it at the store yesterday... That's huge, yes?

 

 

 

Confidence

I was just reading this post: http://tracey-justanothermommyblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-there-such-thing-as-too-much.html at Just Another Mommy Blog by Tracey.

I think about that a lot. Leah is confident she's gorgeous and perfect and wonderful. She says things like "I'm bootiful!" or "I'm the best!" She'll also say "I'm the best at ______" insert activity. For example, "I'm the best at finding things!" (And seriously she is. We ask her where stuff is all the time because she can always find it!)

I do worry about the day coming - the one where she finds out that not everyone thinks she is the most beautiful, precious, smartest, most wonderful child on the whole planet.

But (and this is the comment I left on Tracey's blog) I think the world will beat it out of them. What I really worry is "Am I giving her enough to survive it?? Will she make it through her teenage years with some self confidence intact? Will anything happen that breaks her faith in herself? How bad will it be? Will she recover?"

That stuff makes me scared.

I sure love that girl. And the more she believes in herself deep down as part of who she is - I think the better off she'll be as she weathers the storm of growing up!

It would be nice if we remembered that every person we see was (or should have been - because sometimes parents suck) someone's perfect wonderful child! Wouldn't the world be different?

The whole world?

Okay. The Green Chili was good but Leah just said to me after I won a game online...

"You won??" (I had lifted my arms in the air in triumph)

"I did!"

"Your best mommy in the whole world!!" (Just like that - not a typo)

I love that kid!

Green Chili

In this area of the US we have a food we call Green Chili. I've done some research on the Internet and discovered that some people call it Denver Green Chili, others New Mexico Green Chili, some Green Chili Stew, Pork Green Chili. Whatever you want to call it - we eat it like soup - usually with some tortillas, cheese - smother enchiladas, burritos, tacos, anything. You can get it at all the Mexican restaurants here - breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's good with eggs even.

I have never made this Green Chili before today. I just buy it to go from a restaurant. My mother has recently been on a quest to make the best green chili. She has to drive the 50 miles to my town when she wants to have some - although recently we discovered there is a place for her to get it in her tiny town. Hers is wonderful. The only thing is she makes it like a soup. It's not thick at all. Authentic Green Chili starts with a roux (a mixture of oil/fat/butter & flour) but mom just starts with her broth and goes from there. I really do love her Green Chili, the flavors are fantastic, but I do like mine thicker.

So last week Drew says to me, "I want you to learn to make Green Chili." What?? I'm a good cook - really. My husband has never requested anything in almost 11 years! Okay then. I promised I would. So yesterday I got the stuff at the store. Today I got all the things I forgot. (duh.) And then I had to send Drew back to buy the pork. ***Note to self - make a LIST next time - three trips is ridiculous!

I read the six or seven recipes I could even find online. When you ask people here "How do you make your Green Chili?" I have yet to find anyone who could answer without saying things like "I just do what seems like enough of this and enough of that...." blah blah blah - which is exactly the kind of thing I say when people ask for my recipes. So I can hardly be irritated... lol

At any rate - here's what I finally did. I'm putting this here so the next time I go to make it I'll remember!

Camille's Green Chili

• 1-1.5 lbs of cubed pork
• 30 oz of chicken broth
• 1 TBSP better than bouillon soup base
• 4 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 3 TBSP flour, divided
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained, slightly blended
• 2 red potatoes, diced
• 2 - 7 oz cans fire roasted diced green chile peppers
• 2 - roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 - roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced pablano pepper
• 2 - roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced anaheim peppers
  (altogether this was just over two cups of diced peppers - cans and freshly roasted ones combined)
• marjoram, cumin, salt, pepper, onion salt

First I got everything, ready - roasted, chopped, diced - peppers, onions, potatoes, pork, etc. I had everything I needed ready on the counter. (This is where the majority of your time is spent - it's pretty easy after this)

1 TBSP of olive oil & the pork - browned the pork - but not until completely done. It can cook later in the broth. Just enough to cook the outside. Sprinkled with salt, pepper, and onion salt while browning. Then I took the pork out of the pan and set it aside.

2 TBSP of flour & 2 TBSP of oil added to the same pan. Stir until smooth. Then keep stirring until the flour gets a nice even light color. Slowly add the 30 ounces of chicken broth to keep the roux smooth. When that is finished add the soup base.

I added everything to the broth except for the onions. A pinch of marjoram and cumin.

In a separate pan I sauteed the onions until they were soft with 1 TBSP of olive oil - then I added another TBSP of flour to the onions (I'm sure you could just do the extra flour at the beginning with the roux. I just decided at this point it wasn't thick enough so this is how I fixed that!). Then I added the onions to the mixture.

Then I just let it simmer until the potatoes were done. It didn't take too long because I diced them pretty small. Here's a picture of what it looked like!

PS Drew ate THREE giants bowls. I should have made a bigger batch. We had a little sour cream, cheese, and some tortillas that I heated in a skillet. YUMMY! I'm sure glad he asked me to do that!