Learning Spanish

So it's time for the Davises to become bilingual. I have been trying to teach the kids some Spanish vocab like colors and parts of the body. I worked at it for about a month. I was alarmed at how little they seemed to be picking up for a while, I mean they seemed to be picking up absolutely nothing. But it's crazy. All of a sudden it was like they picked up a whole layer of Spanish at once. They're picking up on words and expressions now, and I don't know how to explain it, but I think (comparing their language acquisition to Owen's and my experience) that kids learn language differently. (Profound insight, I am sure.)

They've been listening to "Speak Spanish with Dora and Diego" which is an extremely repetitive and slightly annoying to me, but really effective for how my kids seem to be learning Spanish, through lots and lots of repetition. I've gotten a little lazy, I need to start trying again to work Spanish into daily life. I was so relieved when they started picking up some words and being interested that I sort of over-relaxed and now (ironically) that they're interested and not resisting me any more I find that I've stopped trying. Hmm. I'll have to get on that.

Owen and I have primarily been working at it through Spanish for Dummies (audiobook) and Destinos. Destinos is just one of the most entertaining terrible yet wonderful Spanish TV series put out by Public Television to teach Spanish to Americans. It is a masterpiece. There are 52 episodes of around 24 minutes each, we're at about the 11th one. For anyone learning Spanish (maybe because they're visiting us in La Republica Dominicana?), I have to recommend it! :)

Look out!

Jesse's field trip to Giant grocery store, classic.

Happy Easter!

Greetings, Earthlings!

We've mostly been packing and cleaning our basement and selling things on Craigslist and giving things away on Freecycle, getting ready for our move. But in between we had some good moments and I thought I'd give you a few good kid pictures.

Our visit to the Crayola factory, a cute (if slightly retail-focused) crafty kid museum. We stocked up on the model magic with our tokens (they had crayons and markers first that our kids wanted to buy but their mom encouraged them to hold out--I mean, why buy a four pack of crayons when we have a zillion at home? or a green marker? Plenty of those in the bin!). The model magic clay went right into the plane toy department, my stock pile of toys to try to keep them busy during our 3 hour flight and 4 hour layover on departure day.

Egg painting!

I love this dye (Doc Hinkle's) which is more like paint, my mom finds it for us every year.

Happy Easter! Or as they say in the Orthodox Church:

"Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!"

City Mouse . . . Santiago?

I haven't been posting much lately because really I only had one thing I wanted to say. And I wasn't allowed to at first, because Owen wisely felt that there were a number of people who really needed to hear it directly from us and not find out from a web page or something.

So I've now been told I can go public with our news, and while some of you may already have heard it . . . (drumroll) . . .

. . . we're moving to the Dominican Republic in July! (If, like me, you've heard of it but only know it's somewhere south of the United States, I can now tell you that it is in the Caribbean Islands and shares the island with Haiti.)

Owen took a job there as principal at Santiago Christian School. His former boss moved there a year ago and warned me in the summer that he was going to get our family there. I laughed and said, "Good luck!"

Clearly, I underestimated him.

Owen visited Santiago in February and fell in love, mostly with the idea of our family there and also with the school. He's really excited about it, and as those of you that know him know, he doesn't get excited about a whole lot. The school has around 600 students and about 200 in the high school. The link above is to a school video, and Owen took the picture below when he visited.

Quite honestly, I've had to hold this information in for a while, and that does not come easily for me. At first I kept it in OK, but it was like a dam breaking. Once I started talking, I couldn't stop. Now I'm at the point where if I see a stranger walking down the street I all but run up to them and announce, "I'm moving to the Dominican Republic."

That is because:

1. I feel the impulse to share most of my thoughts with mostly everyone, and
2. I'm trying to convince myself this is really happening.

I mean, I haven't even seen the country yet! So this is all a little surreal. They have bananas and pineapples there!

I've run the gamut of emotions already about our upcoming move. Hysterical tears, excitement, fear, confidence, peace, worry, problem-solving think sessions . . .

I got started on the packing almost right away. It turns out that I make a pretty dedicated packer. The night we made the decision I started a book of lists, which is well over 20 pages at this point. Some page headings are:

1. Questions to get answered,
2. Things to sell,
3. People to tell,
4. Things to store at my parents',
5. Things to store at Owen's parents',
6. House projects to complete before we leave,
7. Toys to bring,
8. Books to bring,
9. Things to do before we leave
10. . . . you get the idea.

Then I started actually packing, mostly because I got an email telling me that someone could carry some suitcases for me if I had them ready in a week. A week?! It turns out that there are people connected with the school who sometimes come to Philadelphia who are willing to take bags back for us. So we basically have to be prepared at any given time with bags all packed up that are ready to send (we've sent two now).

But the problem with that for me is that for me to send any bag I feel like I need to know what's going in every bag. Because it's not like we can take a limitless amount of stuff, far from it. It's kind of like a cross between a math puzzle and one of those painful "what really matters" middle school morality scenarios involving a life raft and lots of people wanting on it. (Luckily, all five of us get to go, so it's not as stressful as those were in middle school.) Our puzzle goes something like this:

If we can check four bags for free when we depart (each weighing up to 50 lb), plus four carry-ons (two of which have to be carried by small children), and a personal item per person + a bag and carry-on and personal item and diaper bag when Val goes in April but which she will have to manage alone + two to five? suitcases carried by kind school officials visiting Philadelphia before we go + an additional five? suitcases if we return from visiting family over Christmas + some larger items and boxes at $1.50/lb via a missionary cargo plane that we'd have to drive to Florida (the items, not the plane) . . . then do we bring this serving spoon?

I mean, the problem with this sort of sorting, at least if your house (like ours) is filled with a rather underwhelming array of personal but not valuable items is that I find it hard to justify bringing almost anything on the one hand--and find it equally difficult to justify deciding that while that other inconsequential item makes the cut, this one--for seemingly arbitrary reasons--does not.

The next problem I faced with the "get four suitcases to such and such a place in a week" scenario was, what suitcases? I mean, we have a few duffle bags and two wheeled carry-on cases. But helpful Anne, wife of former/future boss, told me I need to put out a general appeal to everyone I know and go thrift store hunting. That last suggestion worked beautifully. I found some pretty beat-up suitcases for a dollar each. I think I got about eight bags for $13.00.

There were a few issues. It turned out I was a little hesitant to actually bring these sketchy suitcases into my house. That red one in the picture at the top of this entry got peed on by a stray cat while I had it on the porch for its quarantine period. But a little vinegar and sunlight went a long way, and now the beach toys and plastic toys I don't care too much about are in that baby.

The general appeal idea I had to amend to "everyone I know who is old enough to have old luggage they are ready to throw out." It turns out that thirty-somethings do not own a blessed thing in that category. Here are some of the suitcases that turned up from wonderful friends and relatives (that black leather bag up top actually saw the Vietnam War). These suitcases I felt I could bring right in, so they were not in danger from cats.

Obviously, any faithful readers of this blog will have to endure many a future blog about moving, but the reward to those faithful readers will hopefully be very interesting blogs from our new tropical location.

We have felt very cared for and supported, and have very much already seen God providing for us in big ways. One of the biggest answers to prayer just came this weekend. We just found out that a lovely family wants to rent our house while we're gone, which was by far the biggest thing we needed to get lined up by July. Next month I will fly to Santiago with Abigail to pick a house for us to rent (we really felt like her input would be invaluable for this decision), so we'd love prayer for that trip. That I'll find a house that will be great for our family, and that I'll like the country.

More to come, but it's late, and I need to go to bed. :)

Kony 2012

We watched an interesting news story about a documentary about Uganda's invisible children gone viral. We then checked out the 30 min. movie, and it was really well-made and sincerely moving, with an amazingly simple action plan:

Kony 2012 movie gone viral

Check it out, it's worth watching!

Meatloaf with Lentils and Veggies

OK, so this is terrible, I realize, to post a recipe with no picture or step by step instructions. I will be totally honest. If I don't post it I'll never find it again, and it was amazing. Loved it, loved it. I'm too much a carnivore to believe in a "meatless meatloaf" as a concept, but I'm too much of a vegetable nut to make a true meatloaf. I had some of last year's local, free-range ground beef left over in my freezer, and the new meat has come (thanks, David, for picking it up!). I wanted to use some of the ground beef and figured someone surely has made a meatloaf with lentils that still contained meat. This was a really great middle ground (50/50 lentil to meat ratio) from a website I just found called "Kathryn's Kitchen."

Here it is: Meatloaf with Lentils and Veggies

One Small Step for McD's . . .

. . . one giant step for mankind!

Can you believe it?

McDonald's just dropped it's use of "pink slime" in its hamburgers, here's the story.

Valentine's Craft Idea

So after I saw what a few cheap pieces of wood, some beads, and some glitter could do for a Christmas craft (thank you, Becky), I decided to stop by to come up with one for Valentine's Day. We bought some light-weight wooden hearts (two of each pattern) and flowers and some pinky-purply beads, some even shaped as hearts. We decorated them, hot-glued two identical shapes back-to-back to the end of some fishing line, and then strung some beads on. To complete it, we glued two more identical wooden shapes to the other end. The we added the glitter. I am finding that last step quite transformational. A little glitter really takes it up a notch, I'm telling you. Happy Valentine's Day, grandparents! :)

Kid updates

The boys wanted to make something out of Daddy's newspaper. It was very amusing to watch the three of them make these "hats." Of course the boys saw complicated paper dragons online then and wanted to make those, but Daddy didn't feel like they were quite ready for those.

Abigail is as willful and demanding as she is cute these days. She pretty much has her own agenda and sticks to it as closely as possible. She has figured out how to combine words into simple sentences, which makes it possible for her to express her every whim. It was easier when we could pretend we didn't understand.

Jesse likes to "keep Abigail company" when I put on the Wiggles or Baby Einstein so I can cook dinner. He's very self-sacrificing. :)

Hunger Games

OK, you know I rarely recommend a movie, though I do recommend the occasional book. But I just found out that one of the best books I've read in a long time is going to be a movie. Hunger Games. It's the first in a young adult trilogy, taking place in what's left after the destruction of North America. A teenage girl in a fight for her life, having volunteered in her sister's place for a brutal "game." And I know not everyone is into science fiction, but I'm telling you, this is just a good good story. I watched the movie trailer, and it looks like they did justice to the book. I don't remember when I saw a movie in the theater, but I will see this one! I wanted to give fair chance to any purists out there . . . you know you have to read the book first! So buy the book (or get it out of the library like I did), and start reading! You have two months to get it read. If you take more than two days to read it you have way more self-control than I do.

A Very Davis Christmas

Thanks, Becky, for this cool decorative craft that kept us busy and knee-deep in glitter for days. A trip to Michaels, some fishing line, some marker and glitter, some jingle bells, and viola! The kids are excited about the tree and the cookies! And we had to do the Target dollar spot festive headgear.

Artichokes

Now that I'm selling out on the locavore life for the winter (I just don't have the energy for it this year), I'm back to shopping at Produce Junction and paying next to nothing for exotic produce.

I thought I'd share the tip a few years ago from some internet site about cooking artichokes, written for us east coasters with no idea what to do with them. It said to trim the pointy edges off and then cook them for 20 minutes with a half lemon, a garlic clove, salt, and a bay leaf. I really like the flavor!

Runny Marmelade: AKA, Orange Syrup

So, I must say up front, making marmalade, for me, was so not worth it. I was feeling pressure, mostly imaginary, as the principal's wife, to come up with some creative Christmas gift for the teachers at Owen's school. I think it was about trying to live up to some ideal I'll never live up to. Anyway, not having a clue about making marmalade, I thought it would be the perfect gift to make.

I should have been clued in by the fact that the marmalade recipes I was finding were for a few pint jars. Here's why! It takes so long to peel the oranges with a peeler, peel the membranes off of the orange, slice the zest into thin ribbons . . . to make 15 jars, like I did, took about 10 hours. And then, to make matters worse, I just couldn't wait any longer for it to thicken, so I jarred hopefully. And found in the morning that I'd made orange syrup. Pretty, tasty, time-intensive orange syrup.

I must say, though, that it was lovely on greek yogurt.

Movie Recommendation: Forks Over Knives

If you are a Netflix watcher, this is on the "Watch Instantly" list. Forks Over Knives is an interesting and compelling documentary about the links between diet and heart disease and cancer. (In the interest of full disclosure, it does recommend a primarily vegan diet, I should warn up front.) It's well-researched and discusses why the findings of a massive study are not being more widely applied--fascinating. Anyway, happy viewing, if you choose to watch it. Owen even liked it, if that says anything for it. :)

Here's the Netflix link:

Forks_Over_Knives

Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the bloghttp://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/nikkis-healthy-cookies-recipe.html, and has become a family tradition. Ithought I'd put it on my blog so it will be easier to find (I do a search for it online every year). It's pretty healthy and easy and tasty.

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

You can use unsweetened carob, or grain sweetened chocolate chips, or do what I did and chop up 2/3 of a bar of Scharffen berger 70%. I sort-of shaved half the bar with a knife and then cut the rest into bigger chip-sized chunks. You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter. And lastly, the coconut oil works beautifully here, just be sure to warm it a bit - enough that it is no longer solid, which makes it easier to incorporate into the bananas. If you have gluten allergies, seek out GF oats.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Christmas Cactus Time

I like to post a picture of my Christmas cactus each winter around this time. Every year it shocks me to find it in flower (maybe because I basically do nothing for it but provide occasional water). There is something just amazing about such a brilliant flower at such a dark time of year. I think God likes to surprise us with sparks of beauty when we're not expecting them.

Ride 'Em, Cowboy . . . and Cowgirl!

Howdy!

So I thought I'd put a few more kid pictures on here. I promise I did not put them up to this to exploit them on my blog. They really were
this cute for their own enjoyment.

If my camera battery hadn't gone dead, I'd have included the pictures of Jesse "lassoing" Abigail's car (he had me tie the rope for him) and pulling her over to his horse. That was pretty adorable.

Getting Saucy!

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but my contact with the cranberry has always been in the opening of a can. I'm a cranberry fan, but I was a little daunted by the real deal. Last fall I saw some nice red berries in a quart basket at Reading Terminal Market and thought, "Wow, pretty, but what would someone do with these?"

This fall, I was surprised by a windfall of cranberries. A good friend had bought two bags to make a bread and only needed half of one. She (erroneously) assumed I'd know what to do with them since she didn't.

Of course, I took the berries. I mean, I told her I didn't know anything about making cranberry sauce, but she was just happy to find someone who'd do something with them. And so I was introduced to the cranberry. I washed them, picked out what I assumed were bad berries (I figured if they were black inside and smelled really funky--or if they were super squishy--that it would be a safe bet to toss them), and then followed my friend, Rachel's, instructions explicitly. When I called her (frustrated by elaborate and rather icky sounding internet recipes) for advice, she read me the Ball Canning recipe and made me promise to use as much sugar as they called for (Who, me? skimp on sugar?) so we wouldn't end up with botulism.

The recipe was successful, I hit a farmer's market and bought the quantity pictured in my sink above, and made about a dozen jars of cranberry sauce. I don't know if this sounds exciting to anyone but me, but it tastes just like Ocean Spray! I love the cans, I was thrilled to replicate that taste.

I thought I'd post the recipe, and also encourage any other cranberry-phobes: You can do it! It's exactly like making any kind of jelly. (You can use a water bath canner if you're going to can it. If you weren't going to can it, you could skip all steps but boiling the ingredients below.)

Simple Cranberry Sauce Recipe:

Start your water bath and have sterilized jars ready.

Combine

4 c water,

4 c sugar, and

8 c cranberries

Put in a dutch oven and boil till they "pop." (You'll know, trust me.)

They need to hard boil for 10-15 min. You can add OJ or orange zest (I didn't), and if you're canning, leave 1/4" headspace at the top and waterbath can for 15 minutes (Ball's directions).

It was really empowering, let me tell you. If I can make cranberry sauce, what else can I do that I never realized was possible?! Who knows? Today the cranberry, tomorrow the world! . . . or, I don't know, maybe the kumquat, whatever that is.

Anyway, yum!

A Brussel Sprouts Recipe to Remember

So I'm going to be honest with you . . . I'm posting this recipe so I don't forget it again. Today I called to sheepishly ask for it once again. I think the last time I called Nathan was a few years ago, for the same recipe.

I come from Lancaster, the land of boiled vegetables. So while I have always liked brussel sprouts, I didn't really know what they were capable of until Nathan brought them to a potluck. I shamelessly ate almost the entire bowl of them. He told me how he prepared them, but I did not write it down, thinking that I'd remember. When I wanted to make them for Easter one year I had to call him to ask for the recipe. Today I wanted to make them again, since I'd bought a shoot of brussel sprouts. (Help me out here, is it a shoot, a cluster, a branch?).

I could not find the recipe, but Nathan was gracious and told me again. Here is Nathan's recipe for brussel sprouts. I figure if no one uses it, at least I'll be able to find it next time I want to use it. Seriously, this redefined my relationship with the brussel sprout.

Without further ado:

Nathan's Brussel Sprouts

Chop brussel sprouts into quarters (don't worry if some of the leaves come loose, loose leaves are good).

Saute in butter (with a few teaspoons of broth if you have any on hand).

Just before the sprouts look done (5 to 8 min.) add some capers and lemon juice.

Salt and pepper to taste.

I'm addicted to these . . .

Care to share a recipe that changed your relationship with a vegetable?

Happy World Toilet Day!

Tomorrow is World Toilet Day, a day when those of us with access to a toilet and clean water take time to support those without. There are some terribly alarming statistics on Amnesty International's website. Take a look by clicking below:

Sign the petition for the passage of the Water for the World Act.