My Pretties

Oh, nothing.  Just showing off.  Aren't they pretty? Can you believe how they've grown?  Hope, Peyton and Sommer

How to Make New Year Pop!

First you start with treats.  We chose M&M's, stick treats, and rainbow lollipops.  You can add trinkets, toys and anything else that's fun.  Since this is the last candy the girls will eat this year, we went craaazy!

 

You'll need wrapping paper, cardboard tubes, ribbon, confetti, scissors and glue.  We just rolled the wrapping paper off their tubes and used the cardboard.  You'll want to score the tubes down the middle, but not cut them all the way.  You could also just use two tubes and hold them together with tape. 

 Tie one end with ribbon and try to look like you're having a blast even though your mom is making you do this when you'd rather be chatting online with your friends.

 Fill the tube with confetti because it really isn't New Year's Eve if you aren't making a mess.

Tie the other end of the popper with ribbon.  Make sure it's real tight so that it "pops" when you snap it in half.

 Be sure to tie them tightly so confetti doesn't fall out.  It should look like a long piece of candy, with curly ribbon at the ends.  Pretty huh?

 Yup, it's that easy!

When your mom isn't looking, stash some extra candy in your purse.  When she asks why there seems to be missing candy 1) look innocent, she'll forget all about it in a second 2) blame it on your sister, but choose wisely which one you blame. 

 This New Year's craft idea is brought to you by Sisters Who Do Cool Things. 

 When everyone's screaming "Happy New Year!" and popping fireworks and champagne, we're going to be popping open candy covered confetti awesomeness.  Or, was it confetti covered candy fabulousity? 

Sommer would like to remind everyone to please be responsible and clean up after yourself. It's a great piece of advice for making stuff and for life!    

The Same and Brand New

I didn't take any pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner because I was happily and busily making it this year.  We spent the night with my parents and my sister's family laughing and enjoying the sound of children squealing in delight.  It was a marathon cooking adventure that brought out mostly winning recipes and one that flopped horribly like a big chubby man in a red suit diving off the bantalan.  The winners: Rosemary Citrus Roasted Turkey, sage and feta mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Italian sausage and sourdough stuffing, pumpkin shortbread squares, cranberry orange relish, tequila sangria with fresh fruit and candied yams all from scratch.  Loser: butternut squash soup.  It was such a culinary mess that my dad actually said, "Don't ever make your pumpkin soup again for as long as you live, but everything else was delicious."  You can always count on my dad not to sugarcoat things.

Favorite quote of the evening:  

Me: Sommer, please change the channel.  That cartoon is inappropriate.

Sommer to Savannah:  Hey Nannah, wanna watch Food Network?

Favorite dish of the evening: My first ever shortbread squares.  Mmmm...

Favorite comment of the evening: I love you mom.  You're my hero.  (Hope)

Favorite memory of the evening: Sitting around the Scrabble table drinking sangria and knowing beyond a doubt how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. 

We had just enough to supply a perfect breakfast the next day, then it was off to work, home and Christmas tree ornament hunting.  The girls and I decided on some sparkly red apples, crystal green grapes and shimmering plum pomegranates.  Decorating the tree is a big deal in our home.  There's the village, the Nativity, the stockings to hang, the garlands to string and the tree to decorate.  There's a routine we all depend on like having to add something new to the village and making sure no one mistakes the shepherd boy for a wise man, but this year was markedly different in a couple of significant ways.  Tonton wasn't here with us and we all felt his absence despite anyone mentioning it. The music didn't seem to make us giggle as much or sing as loudly and each of us kind of took turns sitting down for a bit looking disoriented.  "What's wrong Peyton?"  "Uh, I don't know.  I just wanna watch."  We hung up one less stocking on the wall.  We'll send one less letter to Santa.  Sigh...

It was also new and promising.  Hope and Peyton arranged the Christmas village all by themselves and it looked awesome.  It actually looked like a completely different village, which reminds me of the proverb about entering the same village from a different bridge.  It's all about perspective, I suppose.  I am happy to relinquish my village architect duties to our beautiful girls.  Ahhh...and so we're ready.  Christmas is on it's way.  Amidst the frenzy of mad dashes to on island and online stores for just the right gift, I sit calmed and comforted, content in knowing that all I need is never more than an arm's length away.  We'll spend some of it in the snow and some of it in the sand.  Every year will be the same and brand new, familiar and transformed,  just like each of us!

Who wants cobbler?

We drove around for what seemed like hours.  Okay it was more like 20 minutes, but still.  There were no mangoes anywhere and I wasn't about to climb a tree.  I just about gave up the mango hunt when Hope said, "No mom, look some more, I wanna taste what you want to cook."  That was the beginning of the Mango-Pear Cobbler.

Ingredients: 2/3 sugar, 1tbspn cornstarch, 1 cup water, 3 cups sliced mango and pears, 1 1/2 tspn butter, 1tbspn granulated sugar mixed with cinnamon, 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn salt, 3 tbspn shortening, 1/2 cup milk.  

 Dice pears up into cubes.  Thanks Hope!

Cut mangoes up into bite size pieces.

Bring to a boil on stove with cornstarch, sugar, water and butter for 20 minutes.

Make topping by mixing sugar, baking powder, shortening, milk and flour.  Put spoonfuls onto the fruit in a deep dish, preferably a one quart dish.

 

You'll need a fancy smchancy helper to clean up your spills if you're messy like me.  Thanks Sommer!

 

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is nice and brown.

Cobbler is best served warm with ice cream, cool whip or whipped cream.

But, it's best eaten with little people who warm your heart, eat all their dinner and help clean up.  Thanks Peyton!

 

And that's how our Mango-Pear Cobbler was born!

Punting tomorrow, bundting tonight

The beach was a bust today because it was too cold for the girls and the surf was a bit dangerous.  It turned out ok, we lounged and got some much needed rest.  I've Still got to run to the office tonight and get the bulletins copied and placed in boxes, but for a few sweet minutes tonight mini bundts came out of the oven and filled the kitchen with the aroma of blueberries.  Making sweets with my little sweets, what could be better?  Absolutely nothing.

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Last night Wayne and I took Sommer and Peyton to the movies to see Avatar.  Both girls were mesmerized by the special effects and stayed focused during the 3 hour show.  At one point though, when Jake is getting painted for his coming of age ceremony, Sommer turned to me and whispered, "I think he looks kinda ridiculous."    

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Tomorrow is Superbowl Monday.  

Where are you going to be?

Little girls, big decisions

Ever done a Google image search for HPV? I have. What you see will astonish you if you've got the stomach to get past more than one page. Why on earth would I do such a thing? Because it's been on my mind for about a year. In 2007 I wrote a post about the then new HPV Vaccine that was going to be administered to high school girls island-wide. It was an ambitious campaign like nothing we'd ever seen before and it was spearheaded by the Department of Public Health, with the full support of the community, youth groups and the Public School System.

I had an unusual reaction to all of it, quite opposite of what you'd expect from an educator. I responded with a mother's heart, worrying about the short/long term side effects of the drug, the infringement on parental rights, the lack of longitudinal studies surrounding the drug and the enriching of pharmaceutical companies. It all sounded like a conspiracy, this mass vaccination. I got defensive. The real truth was that I felt a sense of misplaced arrogance towards anyone who dared to challenge my parenting. I truly believed that if I taught my daughters how to be sexually responsible women they would not need to worry about contracting STDs. STDs were for "loose" girls, girls who weren't raised in Christian homes, girls who weren't taught the virtue of virginity, the sanctity of marriage or a sense of self-respect. My girls would grow up to be monogamous and so would their husbands.

On the way to work today I listened to guests from the Centers for Disease Control and thought about some of the fears I had regarding Gardasil and the HPV campaign. I tried to be objective about my own misconceptions and balance them out with the legitimate fears I had. Then today during work, the same guests came to share the news that the CNMI's campaign was so successful the CDC had to visit to see what we'd done. It was shared with us that among the at-risk population (young girls), the CNMI has achieved an 80% success rate for prevention. Those aren't just good statistics, they're downright amazing. Does it mean that our young girls will grow up to be (cervical) cancer free? If it does, then we've extended the years that hundreds of families could spend together. If it does, then we've given future mothers more time to raise their children and play with their grandchildren. If it does, then we've saved our medical institutions millions of dollars in health care/disease intervention and treatment. It means that old women will live longer lives and die natural deaths.
I'm still admittedly skeptical. The findings aren't conclusive, we don't have enough years of data and what the critics out there have to say is pretty scary. I'm weighing the risk between making sure my daughters never get cervical cancer or possibly becoming infertile. I always thought I'd be able to protect my children, and for the most part I can just by talking with them and trusting that they will make good choices. I realize however, that we can't control everything that happens in our lives and the dangers of HPV do not just come from unprotected, promiscuous sex. Humans can have a more devastating effect than any virus on earth. There are people out there who have the ability to convince others that the risk of getting cervical cancer from HPV is lower than that of getting killed in a car wreck. There are people who will sacrifice the lives of others to suit their own selfish desires. Will my girls gaze lovingly into someone's eyes one day and gamble their lives away for a few empty promises? Lastly, am I willing to take that chance?
It's not easy to make these decisions, to put your children in the hands of scientists, no matter how well intentioned they are. Although I've changed my mind about the benefits of the vaccine, I feel the same anxiety I did two years ago. I feel anxiety about every decision I make that affects the welfare of my children because they are irreplaceable.

Where's Kika the Fruit Bat?

The trip to the Saipan Zoo was exactly what we needed. There were enough animals to keep the girls busy and the video section in the main room was perfect for unwinding after a day in the sun. The girls enjoyed their visit, despite the scare that the hog gave us when she almost jumped out of her fence. Thanks Saipan Zoo! Peyton got the free pass for the day for gathering the most pledges in her class for the Red Cross Walk-a-thon. Thanks Peyton!

When we got home, we were surprised by the newly mowed lawn. It's always nice to drive up to the house and know that we live in such a beautiful place. So we got my honey in the car and drove to Bobby Cadillac's for a perfect ending to a wonderful day. Thanks Wayne, for spending the day caring for the house while we frolicked at the zoo!

Poor Emmet was leashed up when we got home, and before Wayne could get in the car, Sommer had already run out the car door to set him free because, "I love Emmet and I want him to be free"

After dinner: "Mommy, can I have all the bottles so I can organize them properly?"

"Tall ones go here, salt and pepper together, this goes here..."

Perfectly placed, just like my baby's smile!