LONG overdue update

I'm staying home from church today, cuz I just feel cruddy. I won't go into details. You all know what I'm feeling. No need to whine any longer. I will fill you in on what's going on in the Monahan clan though...

Matt is about to start a new RTS class, with the goal of taking three classes this year. He's also working on various unfinished projects around the house: toe-kicks under the kitchen cabinets, rebuilding a sketchy-looking support wall in the basement, trimming out windows and doorways and, hopefully, installing our bedroom and closet doors. On our awesome Spring Break with the Oligs (pictures to come), he caught a bunch of trout with Nick, which he was quite proud of. They took the better part of a day and floated the Toccoa River, fly-fishing the whole way. I think it amounted to a whole lot of stress relief for both Nick and Matt.

Dana is doing well. We are taking a break from the structure of our homeschool curriculum, until Mommy feels better. In the meantime, he's enjoying playing baseball for the first time. His friend Aiden Kennedy is on his team too, which is a plus for Dana. It's so good for him to make friends with other boys. There really are so few boys his age that we know. He's also enjoying the new freedom of being allowed to play in the backyard more often. With the new fence, he can go outside to play in the sand and I don't have to worry about sitting with him all the time. Now I'm left wondering if I should lather the poor pasty kid's body in sunscreen, EVERY time he goes outside, seeing as he's been getting weekly sunburns ;). His thoughtful and sensitive heart continue to amaze me as he watches out for his sick Mama. I've had countless beautiful pictures and encouraging kisses and hugs.

Jane is growing like a weed. She was such a tiny peanut as a baby and now she's all bare ankles and wrists in most of her clothes. She and Clara have started to bond and enjoy their girlness a bit more, instead of being dependent upon Dana for direction and fun. They love to play princess and dance ballet shows for us. I know most sisters struggle to like each other, but I hope they stay close. I realized way to late what a treasure my own sister was. Back to Janie... She's been a huge help to me lately. I know I can always count on her to happily help me set the table or talk to me while I cook. She's such a nurturer and giver and I'm reminded daily of what a gift she is to me. She's also started to take ballet, at her request, and she's proven to be a graceful little dancer. Her instructor was surprised that she hadn't had lessons before this. She has a recital coming up this month, and she's keeping the dance she's practicing a huge secret from us.

Clara Joy is still delightfully funny and ridiculously strong-willed. "Clara" means "bright" and every time I think about that I laugh. She's more like a blaze, but I can't wait to see what God will accomplish with her determination and cheerfulness. Right now she's taken on potty-training herself and she's succeeding. The little sprite hops onto the big potty unassisted, wipes herself, dresses and undresses, and all without any prompting from me. This is a very new experience for us. I've heard that it happens, but I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it for myself. She's amazing me and her Daddy with her courage and will. She's also quite the book worm. If Matt or I sit for more than a minute, she's in our lap with a book within seconds. She has most of her favorites memorized, like Ask Mr. Bear and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Also, she had tube surgery a little bit ago and that went well. The wake-up from anesthesia was pretty brutal, but we've been clear of ear infections for awhile, so it appears to be working so far.

I'm doing better, with the exception of a few bad days. Even now, I feel impatient to meet this new little Monahan and snuggle the little babe in my arms. It's so hard to wait.

I've been too sick to post anything for awhile, but this week, my sister's father-in-law died of congestive heart failure. Will you please join me in praying for their family. Katie and John are currently living in the Netherlands, while he works on his doctorate. They were able to fly home to be with John's dad before he died, and thankfully, they were still here when he died. Please pray that they will be comforted in their grief and goodbyes, especially as they have to prepare to head back to the Netherlands again.

Also, Matt's mom, Pam, is currently in the hospital. The doctors think she may have had a heart attack and are running a bunch of tests. We're hoping that she'll be well enough to go home today, but we're waiting to hear more results today. If you think of her, will you pray for her?

Fighting the monster

I know that most of you moms have had morning sickness, some worse than others. So I need all of you nausea warriors to give me your best advice. This is the first time I've been horribly nauseous and I really need some relief. There's a nutritional hole in my being and everything looks disgusting. Help.

for Matt

Last week I sunk into a horrible GI bug. I was disgustingly nauseous, weak, and mentally absent. Poor Matt. What was even harder was that we weren't sure if this was even a bug, due to the fact that I just hit my sixth week of the pregnancy. We just knew that I was miserable and we weren't sure why.

Thursday, my friend Joli came over for a bit to clean and fold laundry for me. It was much needed and things were a wreck. Then Matt came home later, put my green flowered apron on and stormed the house. Every so often, I would glance up from my nauseated stupor and gasp at his progress. He can do so much in a short time! And you know what, he could have been so grumpy about it. I would have been, at least on the inside. The whole time though, he took care of me with all the tenderness of newlywed. Did I mention this went on for days? I was sick from Tuesday 'til Saturday and somehow, I'm caught up on laundry (which never happens), better organized, and things are generally cleaner than before I was sick. I'm in awe and thankful for God's goodness to me when I was so miserable and down. Thanks Joli, and most of all, thank you Honey.

I Cor. 13:4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Tree fell last week

Last week we had some high winds and a tornado watch, after being drenched with rain. The result: trees down all over the place, including one in our front yard. In the middle of uploading the pictures I took, I overloaded our hard drive and the computer crashed. There's been a bit of a delay since then, but here are the pictures.

Tree Down in High Winds on 3/4/08

Announcing the littlest Monahan...

due to make his or her appearance on November 5th. This is the first time we've announced a baby via our blog and I think I like this better than telling people in person. With every pregnancy, we get more and more negative responses, so I'm all for people hearing the news and reacting however they please... in private. We told the kids last week at dinner time and they are all very excited and doing their best to be big helpers. Dana has started bringing me a glass of water when I start to feel nauseous and he loves to put his face up to my belly and tell the baby all kinds of things. Baby can't hear yet, but it still touches my heart that Dana's so welcoming of this new little life. I don't think any mean comment could steal my joy when my children remind me everyday that this baby is a miracle. They ask a million questions... "Mommy, how big is our baby today?"... "Can baby hear me?" "What will baby look like next week?"... As I answer their questions, I'm reminded to thank God for his goodness and stand in awe of his craftsmanship.

advice needed

Anyone know how to get large quantities of Vaseline out of a two-year-old-with-tubes' hair? And yes, Clara had tubes put in and adenoids(sp?) out this past Thursday. More on that later...

Seriously, we've tried baby shampoo, my shampoo, and dish soap--lots of it--to no avail. I can't dunk her head because of the tubes and pouring water over is pretty ineffective. All advice is welcome.

Easy, Cheap, Good Granola

This is taken from the More With Less Cookbook (p. 89), for those who have it or want it. It's my version of their recipe, because they're recipe allows for lots of variation.

Granola

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
2 cups coconut
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups dried cranberries

Mix the first seven ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Heat and stir the next three ingredients, using the microwave, until smooth. Then pour over the dry mixture and mix well. Pour mixture into large baking pans and bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, let it cool and then stir in the cranberries. Store in a tightly sealed container.

We had this for breakfast this morning and the kids loved it. It makes quite a bit of granola.

Easy Kid-Friendly Meal

Either Family Fun or Cookie suggested a variation of this idea in last month's issue... I can't remember which one, but my kids were very excited about dinner tonight. They begged to put the different plates on the table and asked for thirds, which usually only happens with meatloaf. I think we'll make this a regular meal.

Do-It-Yourself Salad Dinner

Large Bowl of cut, washed lettuce (red lettuce, romaine, or spinach, or all of them)
Any Salad Dressings you have in the fridge
A variety of Salad toppings (the ones listed below are what we put out tonight, but apples, left over meat, croutons, and anything else you like on salad would work well)
edamame
carrots, cut into bits
green onion, diced
tomatoes, diced
shredded cheddar cheese
almonds, sliced
raisins
two hard boiled eggs, diced

Place the bowl of lettuce on the table and set plates with the different toppings around the bowl. Place some lettuce on everyone's plate and then let everyone at the table put a bit of everything they like on their salad. Then, allow them to pick their favorite dressing and there you have it. My kids were very proud of their creations. It also just so happened that the bread came out of the oven right as we finished dinner, so we also had a slice or two of bread with butter on it. Also, a lot of the toppings I put out were leftovers from something else I made this week, or things I have sitting around in bits. I didn't really buy anything extra for this other than the lettuce and edamame. This was a cheap meal for us. ;)

Presidents' Day Fun

Presidents' Day Hike to Glen Falls w/ fam

We hiked to Glen Falls yesterday, which turned out to be a great family hike. Both Jane and Dana made it the whole way and really enjoyed it.

We're playing to #2 today...

This is part of our homeschool curriculum for kindergarten. We've really enjoyed listening to new sounds and learning the names of the composers. The curriculum we bought has a suggested activity for each piece and they encourage listening to one song each week, instead of listening to the whole cd at once. The first piece is Clair de Lune and the activity was watercolor painting. You should have seen them move their brushes to the music. It was pretty inspiring.

My dad is encouraging me to expose them to jazz and other genres of music too, which we will do. Does anyone know of similar cds for kids in other genres?

Our favorite meal... for now

In an effort to save money, I have started to make black beans and rice once a week. In order to make it more fun and less bland, I make fresh salsa and guacamole to go with it. Add some sour cream, chips, and cheese and it's a feast. The salsa is more my sister's creation, or at least her version of a true Mexican salsa (approved by our friend Damien, who is from Mexico). I'm sorry Katie if this is missing something. If it's horribly off, we'll call it something else. ;) Also, for people who like spicy food, you can add as many peppers as you want to make it spicy. We don't, because we want the kids to eat it, but knock yourself out.

Here are the recipes...

Nopalitos

Fresh Salsa

1 ½-2 lbs. tomatoes, diced
½ lb. *tomatillos, diced
**nopalitos (1/2 a jar), rinsed and diced
1c. diced red onion (or more)
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and minced
1 bunch cilantro, rinsed and minced
jalapeno peppers (1-3, or more OR leave them out), seeds removed and minced
juice of two limes
salt and pepper to taste

*tomatillos look like tiny green tomatoes covered in green paper-like leaves, usually found by the tomatoes and avacados at the grocery store
**nopalitos are found in the Mexican food section in a large jar—they’re green strips of cactus, which sounds weird, but they’re delicious

Wash all of the produce and cut them as small as you can. Place all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. You may want to cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for a bit in order to let the flavors mix, but you can also serve it immediately. It’s usually better the second day.

Also, if you want to save time, you can use your food processor to cut them instead. This will make the salsa more pulpy and less chunky, but it will taste the same. Just be sure to process them one ingredient at a time.

My sister Katie portions it out into mason jars and gives some away, but I think she makes a bigger batch too. You could double this and make it for gifts though.



tomatillos


Fresh Guacamole

2 soft avacados
1 clove of garlic, smooshed with your knife
juice of one lime
1/4c. of salsa (fresh salsa above works great)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of crushed red pepper

Place all ingredients into the food processor and process until uniform. You may also smoosh it up with a fork if the avacados are soft enough, but then you will need to mince the garlic too.


Black Beans and Rice

½ bag of dry black beans
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, smooshed and minced
bay leaf
2 T. olive oil
4 t. chicken soup base*
3-4 c. water
1t. cumin (lots more if you like it)
1t. chile powder
salt and pepper to taste

Place beans in crockpot and cover them with about 3 inches of water. Cook on high until soft (about 3-4 hours). Then, add the next five ingredients to a dutch oven and sautee just until the onions are translucent. Drain and rinse the beans. Add beans, water, soup base and seasonings to the pot. Simmer until thick and heated through. Serve over hot white rice along with sour cream, tortilla chips, cheese, salsa and guacamole. Yum.

*most black bean recipes call for a ham bone, esp. the authentic Cuban ones, but we don't eat pork (that's the royal we). This is an attempt to break the pork-only black bean mold. So, pork lovers can throw a hambone with the beans in the crock pot and then you can get your toxin fix. ;) All in fun of course.

quote borrowed from Beth

You know how people sometimes have a favorite quote at the end of their emails? My friend Beth sent out an email recently, with this powerful tidbit attached. It's beautifully, painfully true and it forces me to take a closer look at my whining heart.


To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, the cruel circumstances, obscenities, and the common place of life is to whisper a doxology in the dark.

Brennan Manning

Republican Ticket Predictions by Matt

If Romney wins FL, then Romney/Giuliani will fill the Republican ticket. 

If McCain wins, he and Huck will run together. 

The GOP claims that any of their guys can beat Hillary or Obama. Is this just the standard optimistic political rhetoric? 

However it pans out, in a decade we'll look back to Ron Paul as the voice in the wilderness calling out with only a minority listening.....

My stab (hack?) at the gift of political prophecy. 

Matt.

Homeschooling!

After a lot of wavering and indecisiveness, I finally purchased a homeschool kindergarten curriculum for Dana. It's called My Father's World, for those of you homeschooling geeks. It's pretty awesome too as it incorporates some great teaching techniques like "bundling", phonics, lots of reading, and plenty of hands-on fun. Thankfully, it starts out with a transition phase to get Dana and me used to the whole homeschooling thing. The best part--it's not expensive.

We've only homeschooled for two days, but Dana is loving it and he's really excited about homeschooling in general. It's also had some other cool ripple effects. 1) Dana has asked me a lot of questions in the last two days. 2) He's happier and his eyes are lit up. 3) My relationship with Dana is much better, I think because he's getting more encouragement from me and less criticism. He's been so bored that he's been in a lot of trouble over the past few months, so the change for the better is pretty nice.

Granted, we're on day 3, so obviously we haven't gotten very far. I'm sure there will be conflicts, but for now, I'm happy to have the excitement of a new and pleasant thing.

FrauDoggie

Did you watch the Republican Primary Debate on Fox last night?

If you didn't catch it, check it out on Fox via the internet. It was a very good debate, and pretty entertaining too. I don't know that I've ever written much political comments, but here goes. I'll probably regret it tomorrow.



A few thoughts:

-Prediction: If Romney wins, Thompson will be his running mate.
-Prediction: If Huckabee wins, McCain will be his running mate.
-I really like Huckbee and Paul. Romney's such a slimy politician, and H and P are much more honorable, worthy-of-your respect leaders. Unlike Bush in the pre-election debates, Huckabee calls the press on their hypocrisy (in reference to the faith-litmus test) and he answers the questions he's asked with wit and in detail. It's obvious that he heard and understands the question as well as the touchy issue he's been asked to address. Compared to all the hot air blowing around, he's a breath of fresh air.
-The Republican party must really hate Paul. They were downright rude and condescending in the debate--well Huckabee wasn't condescending. Paul would never run as vp, but if he did, he and Huckabee would be an awesome team.
-So nice to hear candidates discussing overspending and encouraging the entire nation, down to each family, to cut debt. I love the dual approach of lower taxes AND reduced spending. Huckabee's plan is particularly nice.
-This is a sad comment on our culture, but I don't think Thompson, Paul, or McCain are electable for President, and it's mainly because of their age. Thompson is the most extreme example. He looked terrible last night, but I think most people would have a hard time voting for someone who looked old. Romney and Huckabee are the opposite... in their prime, charismatic faces, healthy color to their faces...



Unrelated comments:
-If I had to choose between Romney and Obama for president, I would easily vote for Obama. I want to hear more from him.
-I do not like Hillary's politics one bit. She and Romney seem to be in the same slimy politician camp, where everyone's filthy rich and power-hungry (emphasis on filthy, not rich). They're very sketchy.

drippingly sweet

Sorry for the overly-saccharine post... today it seems a little dramatic and sappy

Kitty has a home

"Cutie Pie" now has a home. After much snuggling with the kids last night, we handed her off to Scott Gast and he took her home to his family. They have a bit more room for her to roam and their kids have been begging for a cat. Dana's pretty sad, because they had a special bond. He named her "Cutie Pie", because he said she was the cutest cat in the whole world. He really did adore her and it seems that Cutie Pie reciprocated the adoration. She slept curled against him last night until Scott came. Had we kept her, I'm sure they would have been good buddies. Matt and I really considered keeping her, but between my allergies and Bailey's nutso-ness, it just didn't make sense. The fact that we even considered keeping her though is proof that she was the sweetest cat I've ever known. Last night Scott even asked Matt, "Are you sure you don't want to keep her?" She's so obviously a beautiful little creature.
The silver lining was that it was a great lesson for Dana. We talked about how God cares for even the littlest and most helpless animals, like poor Cutie Pie with the hurt eye. God brought her to us to help her and find a home for her and God cares for Dana the same way, only so much more. I think it was the first tangible example for Dana of the way our strong and mighty God orchestrates every little detail to care for his own broken and helpless creatures. Hopefully, he'll think of this sweet stray kitty when he feels lonely or sad and remember that God cares for him. At the very least, I've learned a lot from this.

Anyone want a sweet kitty?

Those of you who have heard me rant about the cat situation with our neighbors, laugh if you will. I have always been a cat lover, I just love the cats who love me back and don't poop all over my basement, but I'm off topic.

A very sweet kitty, whom the kids have named Cutie Pie, has adopted us. She wants to come inside and cosy up. The kids adore her, but I'm allergic to cats. She's got an injured eye (nothing gross, but it's clouded over like she's blind in it). She seems to be afraid of other cats and doesn't want to be outside. She's also very friendly and very tolerant of the kids manhandling her. We think she must be an indoor cat that escaped. We'd take her to the pound, but she's such a sweet little thing. She would make a great pet for someone. Any takers?

Our new deck is on!

No time to write, but here are some pictures to give you an idea what it looks like. Too muddy now to get pictures from below. Also, as you can see, our camera is really starting to go downhill. Arg.











BTW--Today I'm 30, which is pretty strange. I don't know really how to describe it. I'll post some highlights later.