Spiced Hot Cocoa

It's been snowing all day & it's so cold & suddenly nothing sounded better to me than hot cocoa but a quick search of the cupboards and pantry in the garage lead to the discovery I had no hot cocoa packets or mix. Sad but as happens to me frequently I decided to just find something to make. Oh the deliciousness...

Spiced Hot Cocoa

4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
dash salt
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

I put this into this:


You can cook this on the stove I'm sure. Don't let the milk boil and don't had the vanilla until the end. That machine is not expensive and well worth the purchase. Promise. I do steam milk in it - adding the traditional syrups or even liquid creamers. My current fav is creme brulee flavored creamer. Warm, quick, yummy treat in this cold snowy place! Some milk, a splash of creamer (to taste - I don't like it too sweet) - a few minutes and there you have it.

I topped this cocoa with whipped cream from a can. Of course. YUM.

I'm less cold now.

PS If you click on the above image it will take you to a google shopping list for places to buy that machine :)

NaNoBloMo or No?

I've been trying to decide if I'm going to do that again this year. It was mostly fun last year but...

I really haven't been blogging much.

I need to get over that. Someone I care about said something unkind to my husband about my blog. Judgmental. And I was really hurt. And that has amounted to posts sitting in drafts and never getting posted because it's made me feel so.... uncomfortable I guess? I can't think of the right word. Vulnerable, maybe?

Which is ridiculous mostly - because I'm putting my thoughts and life out into the open internet. Of course people are reading it and of course there are people in the world who don't like me. (shocking I know. haha.) I guess I just wish it hadn't been someone I know so well. It's a lot easier to dismiss the things unknown people on the internet have to say.

And then there's the fact that this person will read this post. Or that this person made it seem like there was a conversation with multiple people that took place about my blog and it didn't sound nice. I don't know if that part is true or not but man...

Now what am I supposed to do??? Maybe you guys could tell me?

Maybe I should password protect my blog but that always seemed kind of pointless to me unless the blog was just for a certain group of people of course.

Btw - what was said about the purpose of my blog wasn't remotely true. I don't have a blog just to ask for things. I mean seriously. Ugh. I suppose I think the people who care about me think better of me than that. Apparently not.

Soylent Green

If you haven't seen the move Soylent Green (1973):

The film, which is loosely based upon the 1966 science fiction novel Make Room! Make Room!, by Harry Harrison, won the Nebula Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film in 1973.

If there is any chance you're going to watch it - don't go looking for summaries - the end has got to be a surprise.

If you have seen it...

Is this not the most. hysterical. shirt. EVER?



I say yes.

Cleaning for a Reason

http://www.cleaningforareason.org/ - Cleaning for a Reason

How completely cool is this site?!?

It's a simply wonderful, simple, amazing idea. They are a organization that has professional maid services join and then women with cancer can receive free house cleanings from services in their area.

It's such a simple idea but I can't imagine being literally unable to clean my house and having to just watch the mess accumulate because I was too sick to do it.

Anyway - very cool! Go check it out and if you use a service in your area - switching to one that supports this cause is a great way to show support.

I hope to never need it of course but I'm so grateful to know they exist!

Adoption Costs

Often agencies - in searching for adoptive parents that match a situation - communicate with each other. So when our agency gets those they forward them in emails. But last night's email made me feel frustrated. Perhaps because it just came to me on a day when I didn't want to see it but whatever.

It's a situation where the agency is looking for parents - actually they used the word "desperately" - they are desperately looking - for parents for a situation with an african american baby boy who is about 6 weeks old.

*waves hand in the air* me! me! me!

But wait - what?

They want 26,000. Really? $26,000. No, sorry. I don't think I can swing that. *rolls eyes*

I could rant for awhile about the money involved in adoption and how frustrating it is but instead....

*insert passionate rant here*

There. Whew.

And the other side of the coin? If I had it - I'd hand it to them and run to Florida (where he is) and get him. In a heart beat. Is that hypocritical of me?

But instead I will hope that someone has or is on there way. He shouldn't be just waiting for parents! I don't have it and believe me if I could scheme a fast way to come up with it I would.

Sigh.

Football, Football

If you've ever known me at all, you'll know. I don't like sports. I don't want sports in my life. I don't watch them. No reason really. I just think it's boring.

But now? I like football.

My friend Camela - we watched a game at the same time and IMed about it. And she explained it so fantastically and... and... I don't know. It just clicked.

And now one thing lead to another, I'm DVRing all kinds of games and watching Monday night football and I have a fantasy football team. It's crazy.

When I told my sister she said (and I quote): Are you punking me?

That about sums up what a turn around this is for me.

And my husband? Is that happiest husband ever. His wife wants to sit and watch football with him and loves it. He is forever grateful to Camela. I told him he should buy her a present. lol

I get way more excited when I have players from my team involved. If I don't have any emotional investment I'm not as excited. (well, I'm still ME after all!) Tonight's game (packers vs vikings) was very exciting for me because my TE, Kicker, & Defense are all Vikings. Woohoo! That was great fun.

So there you have it. My new secret. I love football.

I made pumpkin pie during tonight's game. That will be a coming blog post because I started with a whole pumpkin and ended with a pie. See? Still me. Now it's just cooking AND football. Although I won't be doing something so involved again during a game I'm feeling invested in. That was a pain. Too many distractions. But this pie... YUM.

Favorite Scriptures

This has been my favorite scriptures from D&C (explanation of Doctrine & Covenants) for many years:

D&C 6:36 - Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

But this one now ranks right up there (bold & italics added by me):

D&C 105:14 - For behold, I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil—I will fight your battles.

I love that!

That's all. There are my religious thoughts for this Sunday evening :)

Stephanie

If you are a praying type of person - or you can just send out good thoughts into the world! - please pray for this dear woman and her family.

You can read her most recent post here (and she's in my blogroll). It's been such a long journey and they are just so so close to it being over. It would be a wonderful, wonderful thing if they could fly through this last step!

This is an outline of their journey so far (from the sidebar of her blog):

• ?? - Travel Home
• ?? - Visa Approval
• ?? - Passports
• ?? - Exit MOI
• 9/22/09 - (or so) Enter MOI
• 9/09 - Exit 2nd Legal
• 8/09 - Enter 2nd Legal
• 8/28/09 - Exit Parquet
• 8/8/09 - Enter Parquet
• 8/7/09 - Exit IBESR
• 3/4/09 - USCIS Birthparent Interview (Ian)
• 10/16/08 - USCIS Birthparent Interview (Alec)
• 9/24/08 - Submitted I-600 & Orphan First in Haiti
• 7/1/08 - (or so) Entered IBESR
• 6/4/08 - I-171H approval
• 5/25/08 - (or so) Entered first legal
• 5/13/08 - Dossier received in Haiti
• 4/11/08 - Committed to our boys (Ian & Alec)
• 4/1/08 - Filed I-600A
• 2/14/08 - Received referral of twins (referral lost early April)
• 1/11/08 - Applied to Haiti agency, began dossier preparation
• 1/10/08 - First conversation with Shiloh's Haiti Adoption Coordinator
• 1/9/08 - First e-mail from Shiloh Adoptions
• 1/4/08 - Adoption information requested

It's time for her babies to get to come home! Pray with me?

Popsicle House

Today Leah wanted to have school. She’s sick and it’s Sunday but she insisted. Silly girl. She really wanted to do a craft and I completely made this up on the fly. It turned out pretty good!

First we took this piece of construction paper and I folded it so there were 16 squares, then cut out the corner squares. (I don’t know why that picture is so blurry. My apologies!)
The cut out pieces I folded in half and used them to glue in the corners:

Then we just started putting glue on the sticks (just the bottom half) and sticking them on. Leah did one side & I did the other.

After they were all on I took another piece of construction paper (that I’d cut to be roughly the right size) and just ran two line of glue on it and set it on there. It stayed just fine.

We waited a few minutes and then used rubber cement to put the pieces on the roof. Leah really felt like the roof should be decorated. I thought the rubber cement would be better since the pieces didn’t slide while they dried.
 
Her gorgeousness:

We probably should have glued a door and windows on the front but she was ready to move on to play the promised games!

Gondola

Leah is pulling a square basket this very moment with a leash. The basket contains one of her babies, a stuffed elephant, a wooden back scratcher, and a blanket.

As she is pulling it through my room she says to me:

It's a gondola, mom.

Of course it is.

Seriously? I just never know what she'll say next.

The other day she came out of her room at bedtime and told me "I feel apprehensive." I think that one is from Pink Dinky Doo. They do that "word of the day" thing on the episodes.

She's 3. Apprehensive. Can we just please say "I'm scared." Because I am. Scared sometimes... Of mothering this child. lol

***

Ahhh - she just pulled the back scratcher out and said: This shouldn't be in a gondola.

Of course not.