Spanish Eating Habits

Growing up, I had three meals with a afternoon snack called merienda.  As a young adult I traveled to Spain and found out that they eat many more meals but with smaller portions and over a larger period of time.  They eat dinner anytime between 8pm and midnight!

I've tried to give the kids the eating schedule I grew up with, but it is time to throw in the towel.  Not only do they like to graze through the entire day and evening like the Spaniards, but they do it at staggered times from each other!

Max likes to eat his breakfast later - ideally at around 9.  Simone likes to eat as soon as she wakes up.  Their hunger for lunch seems to be about 3 to 4 hours later.  Simone usually doesn't like to snack as much in the afternoon, but Max would do it all 5 hours if he could.  Dinner is whenever they're hungry and that can range from 4pm to 5:30pm.  There are several dilemmas at nighttime:  

1. One is more hungry than the other
2. They feel hungry, but will only pick at their food.
3. After dinner, they play, get ready for bed, and read books ... and feel hungry again!

There have been many times at night that when I've started my nighttime goofing off, the kids will emerge from bed and tell me they are hungry.  At first, I was enraged that they didn't eat during dinner time.  Michael then told me that he used to eat the same way.  He barely ate when his parents had dinner, would go to sleep, and then later in the evening eat ravenously!  Knowing this, I haven't freaked out if they don't eat as much at dinner time.  When they do wake up hungry, I tell them they have to eat something nutritious.  They are so starved it seems that they happily scarf down fruit that hours earlier would have seemed vomitous.  Knowing that my kids' appetites resemble Michael's has tempered my frustration in feeding them.

Handbook for Future-Simone and Future-Max

Eat. Sleep. Play. Learn. Pee. Poop. Repeat.

The last 6 1/2 years have been filled with these verbs.  It was doubly so 4 years ago when I had to take care of newborn Max and toddler Simone.  I've decided to write more about these considerably uneventful occasions because I have found myself wanting to know what I was like at the kids' ages and not having answers.  When I ask my mom about her travails in raising me from infancy, her usual answer has been that she doesn't remember.  I know that in the future, I too will not remember.  I already forgot that Max used to call Simone "Mone" when he was younger!  If and when Max and Simone have their own kids and they ask me when they were potty-trained or when they started eating solids or when they started reading, I'll be able to tell them!

Midnight Mishaps

Max surprised us all last night and peed the bed.  He hadn't done that for several months - I think the last time was a one-time incident over the Summer!  He felt bad.  While I was changing him, he said, "I'm not going to cry."  :-(   I gave him a hug and assured him we all knew he didn't mean to do it.

I can't remember if I've written about this before but, as mundane as it may sound, I feel it's important to log.  I think that the cause of my kids' urinal accidents at night is fatigue.  Earlier in the year, Simone and Max would have intermittent accidents and it seemed to coincide with when they had gone to bed really late or when they were having a growth spurt.   Max recently took 3 hour naps 2 days in a row - a sign to us that he's growing and his body is requiring more rejuvenating sleep.  Yesterday was the first napless afternoon and his body must have been so dog tired that Max couldn't wake up from his urge to pee to go to the bathroom, literally.  Figuratively, he did - in the bed.

Simone's Reading Storm

Simone loves to read and is starting to read on her own!  We got Diary of a Wimpy Kid from the library and she started reading it in the car.  When we got home, she was reading it.  At night, I offered to read it for our read-aloud time.  She declined and said she wanted to read it on her own.  After I read aloud, I let them read in bed by themselves with the light on.  Simone kept on reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid!  She reached halfway and then lost interest, but I think that's because there were other books we got at the library that piqued her interest.

The second book she started reading on her own was Super Diaper Baby.  Max and I, however, were also interested so we read it for read-aloud time anyway!

Last night, I read for about 20 minutes and then started helping Simone read Super Diaper Baby when she got stuck on words.  Tired after a day of cleaning, I fell asleep and woke up 40 minutes later.  She was still reading!!!  I had to tell her to turn off the light so that she and her brother could finally go to sleep.

Here's a video I unearthed that shows how early Simone's love of reading began.

When Mommies Cook ...

While I was cooking up a storm for Christmas, this is was the kids were doing for fun.

Belly Flop Max

Every Monday, I wash the family's clothes.  I don't know what it is about a pile of fresh laundry, but it attracts the kids, especially Max.  He always feels compelled to jump on the pile!  I tell him that he's limited to the pile of unfolded clothes and he usually complies.  Here's a video of him doing a particular jump.

Bus - Pantry

We have a skinny space between the refrigerator and the sink, in which we want a pull out pantry.  I had seen a picture on Pinterest that had several wood drawers that pull out individually.  Michael agreed that it was cool, but he wanted to put his own spin on it - i.e. use the welder to construct it.

Michael started with the frame ...

I then assessed what our (dry) dietary needs would be on the road ...  macaroni and cheese, soup (in paper cups), oatmeal, tuna helper, tuna cans, worcestershire sauce, macaroni and cheese, cereal, colander, griddle, sauce pan, cooking spatulas, spices, etc ... and then decided how much space was needed to store and access said items. 

Michael added his input "There are too many shelves!" and we came up with just one less platform, but more vertical space for the others.  The next step was grinding the rough welds and painting the apparatus with a spray paint used to make things look like stainless steel.  It had a brushed nickel look to it afterwards!

When Michael used the kids' backyard swing to hang up the pantry, the kids were left with a piece of wood 

and unaware of how to play with it.  Their attempt was comical.

What to do ....

Climb on, Max ...

OOF!

The proud owner and creator

The biggest obstacle was putting the drawer slides on and installing the unit into its cabinet space.  But it came out ok after a couple of days of cussing it out.  

When we got the sliding mechanisms to an acceptable position, we made a video to show how it works.

Christmas Meal 2013

The adjective "foolproof" in a recipe's title does not mean that I, Gigi, will create a delicious entree.  This year, I tried to follow a recipe entitled "Foolproof Rib Roast."  Next time I need to look for an entree that claims it is "Gigiproof."

In my excitement, I didn't follow the very first rule of letting the meat sit at room temperature for one hour.  So although the meat looked great after 1 hour of roasting at 375* and resting in a turned-off oven for 3 more hours ...

I duct-taped the handle to the stovetop to Gigi-proof the oven
from accidental, unintentional opening.

Looking good so far.  It also smelled so delicious!

The roast came out too rare!

Even Michael thought it was too rare

So I popped the hunk o' meat back into the oven for 40 minutes more.  I had left the slices flayed open to get the heat deeper inside.  It worked up to a point.

You can go as rare as you want because this slice has
everything from medium rare to well-done!

  

Luckily, the other dishes I made turned out stellar!!  For a side dish, I baked sweet potato mash in halved orange "cups" and topped it with a sweet pecan crust.

Easy orange cups!   Half an orange after chopping
off 1/4" of each end and scoop out pulp.

Looks good and well-cooked through and through.

I had known that the kids would not want any beef so I made lo mein from a recipe.  They always love it when we get Chinese food and I wanted to be able to make it for them at home and at a smaller quantity.  While stir-frying, I had a revelation that I could make agedashi tofu with the ingredients I have.   

I surprised myself at how delicious the noodles came out.  The sauce consisted of oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and honey.  It was so good that if I hadn't made it myself I might have suspected there was MSG in it.  It was addictingly delicious!  But guess who disagreed with me.  My kids for whom I made these new dishes!!  They didn't like it and asked for chicken nuggets instead.  I didn't mind so much because I got to polish off the noodles they didn't eat which was all of it.  

I feasted well this Christmas!

Yes, Simone and Max, There Is a Santa Claus.

On Christmas Eve Day I still did not know if I would stand in for Santa and eat some of the cookies we set out for him.  Towards the afternoon, Michael whispered to me, "Max told me that he believes there is a Santa."  That settled it.  We had to keep the magic alive not just for the wavering hopeful but also for the newly converted.

Max had fallen asleep early that night, but at 10:45, Simone was still wide-eyed and alert.  I asked her to write a note to Santa, but she wanted to draw him a picture instead.

Later that night, I wrapped the remaining presents and concocted a thank-you note from Santa.  

Groggy from the late night of last-minute decorations and wrapping, I was half awake when Simone excitedly told her daddy that Santa had left a letter.  Since Simone does not yet know cursive, Michael recited it.  Simone must have been so focused because she continued to read the letter out loud throughout the morning.  She was a bit perplexed though that Santa had left 1 1/2 cookies left uneaten.   Mommy Santa was stuffed.

Christmas Decor

The kids have been asking for a Christmas Tree for practically the entire year.  Last year,  we had our measly 2' plastic one, but threw it away after the holidays.  I totally forgot that and felt bad when I went up to the attic to retrieve that which was not there.  Michael had suggested we cut down this invasive tree that had sprung up next to the row of palm trees.  After thinking about how cumbersome it would be to try to keep it alive in a pot of dirt inside the house, I thought of another way to decorate the home for the season.

Painting!

I meant to just paint my tree and hang it up for the kids to hang their stockings and school-made ornaments, but when they saw me having fun with acrylic, they just had to make their own Christmas tree painting too.  Simone was having such a great time that she asked, "Can we paint a tree every year?" 

The humbug that I am wasn't going to get the kids stockings, but Max had been envious of the one Simone had received in Kindergarten.  A quick trip to Michaels with $6.42 solved that.  Now each kid will have their own monogrammed stocking every year.  

I enjoyed this year's festivities.  It was not cumbersome, but it gave the kids joy to spice up the house.  I have continued my other tradition of putting down the decor the day after the holiday.  The kids seem to be used to it because they didn't cry when they looked up at the wall and no longer saw their paintings.  They might have been too occupied with their gifts to notice the missing decorations.  

Michael is 39!

Michael's birthday is on Christmas, but the kids still remembered it was their daddy's special day.  In the morning, Simone greeted him, "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Daddy!"  Max mimicked his sister, but I'm not sure he really knew it was his father's birthday.  Simone also made a special card for him:

My parents and sister's family gave him tools and so did "Max and Simone."  Rather, I bought him a tool and said it was from the kids.  Simone flat out said, "I did not get that for daddy!"  From me, I got him a book he had been wanting to read ever since we bought our bus from the Hutterites.  "Nightwatch" is a memoir of one Hutterites experiences after joining the group.  He had not be born in the group and is considered an outsider.  Michael highly recommended it after he spent his entire birthday morning and night reading the 200 pages.  He loves to do this on his birthdays,  spend the entire day reading.  This year, however, was sprinkled with buswork in the middle.  He still managed to finish the entire book!

I had asked him a month prior what he wanted for the Christmas meal.  He simply replied the usual, "Angel Food Cake."  This year I had a problem - I no longer had the bundt cake pan.  I hoped the Commissary would have a disposable verisons, but they didn't.  I wasn't about to buy another one knowing that we might be moving into the bus next year so I contemplated what it is about the angel food cake Michael loves so much.  

I'm not a fan of the stuff so I thought that Michael must like it because there is extra surface area and thus more room for frosting.  I then set out on making the cake myself without the accessory.

Using a regular cake pan and the angel food cake batter,
I got a squat cylinder.  

I then cut out a hole in the middle
to give the cake more surface area!

Frosting:  Max picked the color green
and Simone's hand is on the bottom right
indicating how much of it she would like to taste.

What came out was the most pathetic cake ever made.  We sang to Michael and he had several slices.  He would have had half the cake if the kids didn't ask for a second slice.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted the cake and declared, "This is the yummiest, ugliest cake I've ever made!"

Christmas 2013 - Presents

I had stayed up late on Christmas Eve to finish wrapping the last presents and knew that I would have a hard time waking up to see the kids open said presents.  I did not want to finally wake up Christmas morning only to find the Living Room strewn with wrappers, revealed presents, and ho-hum children playing quietly.  I wanted to see the excitement and anticipation in the kids eyes as I had had when I was their age.  To heighten my chances that I could see this magical moment, I made a sign before going to bed, and placed it in front of the pile of presents.

It worked!!!  The kids totally behaved themselves until Michael and I woke up.  But it may have been due instead to their opening one present the night before.  We could see they couldn't stay awake until 8:30pm - the time we were scheduled to Skype with my family in California - so we let them open one present.  Max chose what felt like it might be clothing underneath and Simone picked what she suspected was her long-awaited Equestria Girl.

I think the excitement on Christmas Eve had sustained them until the following morning's festivities.

Thank you, everyone, for all the generosity you've shown our family!

Bus Progress - The Beginning of the Galley

This is an old update written much later, but progress is always appreciated.

On the other side of the kids' bunk beds was space we alotted for the electric distribution panel.  After building out the frame, Michael realized that the space was too narrow to reach the panel.  He decided to move the panel to a more accessible place nearby, but wondered, "What shall we do with this space?"  Since the kids always need space to hide the toys, this skinny area will be theirs.

Michael put a thin coat of epoxy onto the shelves so that they could have a slip and slide feel yet still keep the natural look of wood.  I didn't like it as much as putting linseed oil, so what did Michael do?  He put on an extra thick, second coat of epoxy.  I am here to say it is awesome!  Moreso than just a couple coats of linseed oil!  

We popped the red in the wood by adding a light stain
that turned the boring beige to a resplendent red

A big delivery arrived in early December!  Our refrigerator!  It was a breeze to insert because we picked a small 10.0 cubic foot one and because the delivery guys loaded it into our bus for us.  It felt like such an easy victory when we placed it in its spot.  We also turned it on and left it overnight.  The next morning, the fridge was cool inside and outside there were no puddles on the floor!

Family Bowling Night

Michael surprised us yesterday afternoon and came home early!  What did we do with that extra time?  We went bowling!

The alley on the military base is usually dead and last night was no different.  We ordered a small pizza for the kids and burgers for the adults.  Max and Simone were so adorable as they bowled.  Don't let their miniature size fool you - they beat us!  Simone had a 93, Michael - 67, Max - 66, Me - 54.

When we left, Simone said that she could not give me a super star as she would hand out to herself, Max and her daddy.  Michael asked Simone why I wouldn't get one and Simone said, "Mommy was horrible."  It's true - I suck.

Should There Be a Santa?

Simone wavers between believing and not believing in Santa.  When she asks me if I believe in him, I say that he might but that I've never seen him.  I try to be delicate about it because I'd like to keep the window of his possible existence open.  If an adult told asked me the same question, I'd give them a "No Way!" right off the bat.  But with my own children, I want them to decide for themselves if Santa is real or not.  Santa never gives them presents, but they do think that Santa drops off the gifts that Mommy and Daddy and relatives have given them.



Ever the pondering soul, Simone devised a way to test if Santa is real or not.  Here was our recent conversation:

(Simone) "Let's makes some cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and leave them out for him to eat.  If they're gone, we know that Santa is real.  If they're still there, then Santa is not real."
(Me) "But what if cockroaches eat the cookies and you mistakenly believe Santa is real?"
(S) "Then we'll leave a sign out that says, 'These cookies are for Santa and not for cockroaches!'"
(M) "But cockroaches can't read."
(S) "Yes they can!  If they can eat, they can read! Duh!"

I don't get her logic, but I suggested that we put a glass cover over the cookies, so Santa can see them and pick up the cover that will be too heavy for bugs to lift.  This, however, isn't my dilemma.  Should I eat some cookies to keep the magic alive for the kids?  I don't want to because, as an adult, I don't like the whole mythos of Santa anyway!   However, as a child, I DID love the idea of Santa.  When I discovered he isn't real, I still liked to pretend he was real because it meant I got an extra gift from him!  I've thought about just not touching them and leaving the decision up to Michael.  When he gets up in the middle of the night, he munches on food before returning to bed.

Family and friends, what would you do in this case?

Kids and Plywood

Last weekend, while working on the bus, the kids got creative with a scrap piece of plywood that was lying around.

These kids are daredevils like their mama and papa.

Kids Help Paint

There are many tasks to do in rebuilding the interior of a bus.  Sometimes we let the kids do things that are safe and that they're interested in.  One thing they love to do is  p a i n t  !

Max's mustache comes from wiping his mouth earlier
when his hands were covered in dirt

Simone always checks the work of her brother
while she does her own.

Bus Progress - Bathroom!

Michael took time off after Thanksgiving and we have been progressing so much in the bus!

Check out our shower!

On the left of the shower opening, you see 3 skinny rectangles that go up the wall.  Those are niches for LED lights that my friend Lizette gave us over 1 1/2 years ago!

These lights will give us some illumination in our shower.  This was a much easier installation that trying to affix a light above our heads on the curved ceiling.  

We had to put the toilet seat back into place to figure out the walls and door opening.  Notice that the shower now has this faux tile board on it.  Michael likes it, but I think it looks cheesy because of the repeated texture that is stamped on so regularly (i.e. without any variation).  I can live with cheesy, however because it's cheaper than the real thing and much less heavy.

Here are the  light niches with an acrylic panel over them.  We'll put another tileboard on top of it to make it all coherent.  You may notice two black circles on the right side where the white tiles are.  That's where our mounting hardware for our showerhead will go. 

The bathroom space is starting to take on more shape!

We were trying to figure out how high the sink should go.  That is actually just a stainless steel bowl from Whole Foods.  The smallest bowl they have out there in the construction industry is 8".  Ours is 6" and we're just going to cut a hole at the bottom.  

Tada!

Let's look at the back bedroom, which Michael refers to as the Stateroom.  

We put up the overhead cabinet bottoms and face frames. We came across a tricky area towards the back where the ceiling starts to dip down.  Michael followed the curve by trimming the top stile.

Later on we'll install more LED lights to illuminate the ceiling and thus the room.

What do you think?!?  

Handy Helpers

At a young age, the kids have been eager to help us!  They especially love to use spray bottles.  One afternoon they helped me wash the car windows!