Manly Makeover

We had so much fun today! Chris needed a haircut to be fully ready for next week's interviews. So I had him go to my salon, Blush, in Greenland. Mimi took one look at him and knew exactly what to do. I kept saying to Christofer, "there's something more that your hairdresser could be doing, like giving it more shape." I haven't liked her cuts on him for a while, but not knowing a lot about hair, I had no direction to give. Well, Mimi the pro hooked him up! Wow, he looks SO good with a more square style that ends up looking more masculine and his features more chiseled. He's gonna knock 'em dead next week!
It also underscores the importance of us fixing the twins heads now with helmets. If Jude wants to wear a super-short hair cut like his daddy's he needs a well formed head! It will be interesting to see how they react to the helmets. I'm already praying that they LIKE them right away.

A Sharped Dressed Man

There was so much to tell the twins tonight on the "I'm proud of you" portion of our evening! The four of us traveled down to Burlington, Mass to help Christofer buy a suit for interviewing. He only has one that fits and it has little moth holes in it! We went to Jos A Bank store since they were having a half-off Tuesday. Jude and Petra slept on the way down so they were in good moods when we arrived. A little bit later they had some milk in a bottle and were still hanging tough. Then they both pooped and I felt awkward trying to change them in a stuffy Jos A Bank store!? But they directed me to the back "mens room" and on the way I found a sweet Dominican woman sewing hems in a small hot room. She offered me some space for the diaper changing and enjoyed the babes for a few minutes. They started to get restless after that so we walked down to Starbucks while C tried on suits. I sat there with them over 30 minutes and they didn't make one sound. It was very loud in there with long lines, lots of customers, lots of drinks being made. I think all the sounds fascinated them. Some said 'how cute." Wow, so well-behaved! They held up well for the rest of the day too, even waiting another 45 minutes on C to finish up the suit shopping. I lavished the praise on them while putting them to bed. And the suit........ well, let's just say Christofer will be turning some heads in that attire! They are going to take one look at him and say "we want you!"

Get the door, it's ice cream!

Believe it or not, some of the most gourmet meals I've ever had in my life were at the homeless shelter. It was located near the ocean/fisheries so we would often get donations of shrimp, tuna, other fish. Many of the guests were quite talented in the kitchen and would practically complete to get the title of best cook. Of course we benefited greatly from this!
There was a period of time where every Sunday afternoon a guest named John and I would take over the kitchen and cook all day~while listening to Mahalia Jackson and other gospel tunes. He would make the main dishes and I would bake a dessert. Just imagine the smells of creamy garlic sauce with shrimp, fresh pasta, baked apple pie... yum. I remember how excited John was when the garlic sauce came out just right- "UMM!! This sauce is perfect!" he exclaimed. That night we all sat down to an amazing meal of the garlic shrimp, some other seafood, and other delicious things I can't remember. But I do recall that I had made an apple pie for dessert. Now, keep in mind that this was a Christian ministry and prayer was definitely at the center of life there. We thanked Him before every meal and talked about Him too. As the meal was wrapping up, we talked about the pie and a guest commented that some vanilla ice cream sure would be good with it. But we didn't have any........... I'm not kidding, not even five minutes later as I was pulling the pie out of the oven, the doorbell rang and a woman stood there with a half gallon of Breyers vanilla ice cream! We were ecstatic and completely overreacted in our thanking her. She heard us shout, "it even has the little vanilla bean flakes in it!" Little did she know how timely her donation was! She was probably thinking "those poor people, getting so excited over a little ice cream, the food is probably gross there." Ha Ha. It was simply a perfect ending to a totally gourmet meal and God giving us a little smile.

I'd like a kiss...

My father in law recently commented that some of my success in parenting and marriage so far can be attributed to my time with Diakonia, a homeless shelter in Ocean City Maryland. This is very true! He knows what I went through as a house manager there! Words can't express how special that job was to me. I am going to do a mini series here on the "Long Distance Race" about some of the more memorable moments at the shelter. Looking back, I agree with "Dad B" that working at Diakonia shaped who I am today...
During my first few months at the shelter we admitted an older gentleman with Alzheimer's, and he was quite the charmer. He kept me company during the day when other guests were out job searching. We had hours to talk as I did the household chores and prepared the meals. He became fascinated with me and began to formulate a business plan for the two of us. He would go about inventing this and that, and I would be his secretary. I just smiled and agreed~ what a good idea! One evening as I said good night to the guests and made sure all were accounted for, my "business partner" asked for a goodnight kiss. "I don't kiss guests," I said firmly. "Yes, I see that," he said disappointedly. I reminded him it was curfew time and he needed to head to bed. He asked hopefully~ "would you like to join me?" "No," I said and after that I think the boundaries sank in a bit more. I remember him fondly.

Habi as entertainer

The babies love to be in their bumbo seats, and since they are basically sitting on the floor in them, Habelito is eye level. They love him! At least once a day Petra will look at Habi (our pug) and just spontaneously start laughing and smiling at him. It's adorable, and it also distracts them long enough for me to wash some bottles or something.
Petra is sitting on my lap, trying to eat my arm. She got up at 5 so we are having some alone time. I ate breakfast and prayed for today's strength. Suddenly, we are at the end of our lease and I don't think we will renew for various reasons. Christofer is very close to a Maryland job offer. I'm going to take it one hour at a time~ just thinking about packing on top of meeting their needs makes me feel yucky!
Jude actually ate cereal yesterday! I've been trying for several days, just shoving it in, but Jude is finally interested! I set aside some cream of wheat from my bowl this morning and will see if he likes that. Petra doesn't like the texture yet, hopefully soon. Well, gotta feed her, I think she's trying to tell me something by eating my arm!

Black Beans!

Have you ever had creamy black beans that were delicious and just the right consistency? Ever tried to make them at home? I have been working on just that. When Vanda was here with us for the twins' first three months, she would make black beans and rice every Thursday to celebrate Jude and Petra turning another week old. Vanda grew up in Brazil where black beans are the staple! Her beans are awesome and once she left I wanted to continue eating them. I tried to cook them in my crock pot but they just weren't good. After a few tries of this and that, I tweaked a recipe for black beans in one of my cook books to create my own style. Try this if you want to enjoy some creamy Brazilian black beans! And it is less than 50 cents per serving!!

Buy a bag of dried black beans (16oz). The night before, rinse them well and let them soak in clean water over night. You will use the soaking water, so make sure you rinse them first. The next day, leave about 3 hours to do everything, but most of it is hands-off. Put the beans AND the soaking water into a pot. Add more water to cover the beans by about one inch or inch and a half. Don't add more water than this or they won't be creamy. Bring the beans to a boil- very important step! Once things are boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and skim off the foam from boiling process. Cover the beans a let them simmer for about 2 hours. Maybe a little longer. Ok, now for the other ingredients, which you can add as soon as things are simmering. Add 1 table spoon of veggie condensed broth"Better Than Boullion" (you buy it in a little jar, it's like a thick paste). Also add 4 or 5 tablespoons of Sofrito (may be hard to find- goya makes it- look in mexican isle). You may like to add more Sofrito, so taste it along the way. You don't need to add salt because the broth and sofrito have plenty. Add a bay leaf if you want, I don't add it every time. Then chop up one onion and one green pepper. Saute the onion in a little oil before you add it to the beans. Add garlic if you want. Add the green pepper straight into the beans. Let it all cook. That's basically it... a couple hours later you will have creamy black beans! Cook up some brown rice, add a salad and you have a delicious cheap meal that' s good for you. Sometimes I add hot dog pieces, it's up to you. I get about 6 servings out of this recipe, we eat it two nights in row. Let me know if you like it or improve on it in anyway!

Pink and Purple

Jude and Petra were fitted for their helmets today! We are so excited that their head situation will be fixed soon. We traveled to a place in Andover and though I expected to see a waiting room full of babies with helmets on, we were the only customers. Jeff, our prosthetic specialist, did a wonderful and patient job of fitting the babes. I'll overlook the fact that he was wearing black socks with keen sandals... or maybe we can nominate him for "what not to wear!" ha ha. He scanned their heads and it showed up on a 4-D screen that calculated their dimensions and where they are "off." They each had to wear white little socks on their heads with a hole in the top and around their ears for the measurements! Very cute! Hey, if we have to endure all this, might as well have some fun with it. It was captured on my phone camera. The best part was choosing the helmet design. Petra will be wearing pink and purple bunnies and Jude's helmet will have blue and yellow soccer balls. I dress Petra in pink and purple as much as possible so things will really coordinate. Jude will get to try out his first sporting attire! The babes didn't really like the process, but there were just as many smiles as tears at the office visit. They were extra tired tonight after the long drive and 2 hour appointment. One of the most special parts of my day is getting Petra to sleep. Part of our ritual includes me standing and rocking her while singing. It sometimes takes a few songs, but the eyes eventually shut. Tonight we sang "Are You Washed in the Blood?" and "Angels Watching Over Me." Precious!

Thankful for...

The last few days I have been so thankful for one thing in particular~ my dishwasher! This is such a wonderful modern convenience for me. I actually enjoy doing the dishes, but now that the twins need me almost every moment they are awake, where is the time? It's great to be able to throw in the dishes and have a clean kitchen right away. Hey, it doesn't take much to make me happy! Here are some other things I give thanks to God for...

When I pick up Jude now he is squiggling in my arms like he is ready to move himself somewhere!

Petra is really babbling a lot and she's breastfeeding much better during the day lately

How far my physical recovery from pregnancy and labor has gone~ my energy level is great now

That Habelito is so good with the babies and that I can trust him

The way the babes smile at Habi and laugh at him!

This summer I am working in the nursery at church and it's been really fun to have Jude and Petra see/ play with other babies

Dori to lean on when I'm having a hard day