2008

i thought a look back at the wade 2008 was an appropriate post today, since that's just the kind of thing you do on december 31. so what were we up to all year?

for starters, our family increased by one. little lucas came to stay.

my poor body went from pregnant, to nursing, to finally no longer sustaining another human.

i went from a full-time working mother of one to a stay at home mother of two.

and i learned how to be a mother of two, in the first place. i'm still trying to get the hang of this, honestly.

i potty-trained my daughter.

chuck and i got to be in a little mystery dinner play our church put on. it was a much needed theatre fix, on my end.

we completed our incredibly, ridiculously thorough application process for going overseas.

we moved into the basement of our church's parsonage.

we sold/gave away just about all our worldly possessions trusting we'd get the go-ahead at going overseas.

i started playing with the raleigh civic symphony and nc state.

i also got to take a little women's class at the seminary (and it had childcare!)

chuck quit seminary and then decided to go back.

our overseas timeline almost got pushed back, but chuck saved the day. but then we went to conference and got pushed back anyway.

chuck switched full time jobs.

we got to do some traveling with family and friends.

earlier this year, it took about $4/gallon to fill up my gas tank. this morning, it took $18.35 total.


so those are the big ones. all in all, not your typical year at all. but we've definitely felt God's guidance through everything, which is essential in our current incredibly, unstable lifestyle.

happy new year!

Christmas Cookies Batch #2-#4 and Jesus's Birthday Party

i've found the recipe for the best cookies. ever. i've already
made them 3 times. they're called million dollar caramel cookies
and i'd wager they're worth at least $786,000, roughly.

ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar, plus 1 tbs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 bag rolo chewey caramels

1. preheat oven to 375. beat butter and sugars until fluffy, then
add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
2. in separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
add flour mixture to sugar mixture a little bit at a time and
blend well. if the dough feels too sticky, sprinkle in a little extra
flour. cover and chill dough in fridge for about 30 minutes.
(andie note...while adding the flour mixture, the dough gets
incredibly thick. i almost blew out the engine of my mixer so i
had to do it by hand. just so you know, you're doing it right.)
3. place 1 tbs of white sugar in small bowl and set aside.
4. once dough has chilled, wrap a piece around each caramel,
forming a 1-inch ball and covering the candy completely.
dip top of dough ball into sugar and place on baking sheet.
5. bake 7-10 minutes. cookies will look soft, but don't overbake.
let them cool thoroughly.
6. enjoy melty caramel yumminess (that last step is mine)

we attended our church's birthday party for Jesus a couple weekends ago. it was a lot of kids, a lot of chaos, and a lot of fun. i think rachel was a little confused because Jesus wasn't there, but i'm pretty sure she had a good time. i mean, look at that face.
pure, unadulterated excitement.

there was a story time with the cubbie puppets and a shepherd who couldn't find his sheep and was holding a garden tool for a staff. maybe his sheep were just confused. i mean, you can't really blame them.

then there was craft make-christmas-ornaments time. rachel loves some craft time.

look at that concentration.

then they got to decorate 3 yummy snacks: 2 to give to a local nursing home,
and 1 to take home.

lucas got a bird's eye view of the festivities.

she's holding her goody bag and waiting patiently for the next station.

musical chairs with a lot of 3 year olds is a really interesting idea...
and is even more interesting to watch.

rachel had absolutely no clue what the game was about, but she was always quick to find a seat when i screamed at her to sit down. (i might be one of those soccer moms... )

she was actually the runner up! i think the reason she lost was because the little boy she was up against at the end actually understood the point of the game.

then came "red light, green light." she understood this one even less. as soon as the leader said "green light" she took off and didn't stop until she crossed the finish line. all of the other kids were obediently frozen by the "red light."

it wouldn't be a birthday party without some form of cake.

merry christmas and happy birthday, Jesus!

big girl milestones

we had a milestone in our house yesterday. rachel is officially getting herself dressed and undressed now. i haven't dressed my daughter in a full day and a half. yesterday morning she announced to me that she wanted to "get dressed all by herself." of course i said she could, but i fully expected her to come to me a minute later all tangled up in her sleeves with the shirt stuck over her head, her legs both in the same pant leg, and a sock on her ear.

but she didn't.

she came out fully dressed and i only had to untwist her pants a little.

last night at bedtime i wondered if she would actually accomplish it again. i simply said, "rachel, go get your pjs on." i didn't even get them out for her. she did it. well, i had to help her out of her shirt b/c it's a little small, but that's it. she actually told me "please close the door and go away so i can get dressed."

and again this morning, i put her daytime clothes on her bed for her. she politely asked me to "go away" and emerged a couple minutes later ready for the day... with her shirt on backwards. but hey. it happens to the best of us.

the baby is officially gone.

a visit from godzilla

A Bible Story Gone Way Wrong

i took the kids to MOPS this morning. when we get home it's always a whirlwind to get everyone fed and down for a nap in a timely matter. it is in the midst of this whirlwind that i had the wildest conversation with my daughter that i've ever had in my entire life, or i guess i should say this is the craziest stuff she's ever said, ever.

we were having lunch (or they were; i prefer to enjoy my lunch during naptime when all is relatively peaceful) and i asked rachel what she did in MOPS this morning. she told me a few cute little sentences that would make any parent think "wow, my kid is really cute."

i then asked her, "did you listen to a story today?"

rachel: "YES!"

me: what was the story about?

r: JESUS!

me: what did Jesus do in the story?

r: Jesus smacked people.

me: ... He smacked people?

r: yeah, cuz He was mad and wanted to kill people.

me: ... ... Jesus?

r: no, the king.

me: king herod?

r: yeah.

me: (at this point i thought i saw where the story was going so i tried to help her out. boy, was i wrong.) you mean herod wanted to kill baby Jesus?

r: no, big Jesus.

me: so why did herod want to kill big Jesus?

r: cuz he was mad. he wanted to wake Him up.

me: (most parents would probably try to correct their children at this point, but i really wanted to see where this was going to end up.) He was sleeping?

r: yeah, He was fast asleep on the chip.

me: the chip?

r: the chip of many colors.

me: do you mean "ship?"

r: yeah. He was sleeping on the ship.

me: Jesus?

r: no, the other guy.

me: herod?

r: yeah. then they threw him into the sea.

me: are you talking about jonah?

r: no, a giant. they threw him into the sea, into the deepest sea, all the way into the fish's mouth. and he bit him with his mouth. and his tail was a big tail that was swimming in the water. he went all the way into the fish's big mouth and he bite him.

me: the giant?

r: no, jonah.




perhaps we should concentrate on one bible story at a time... what do you think?

Christmas Cookies Batch #1

last week, i concluded my engagement working child care at the MOPS at north wake church in wake forest. they gave all the teachers christmas parting gifts, which i found very sweet and thoughtful, considering it was there that i encountered the most obnoxious children i've ever come in contact with... and i've been around some obnoxious ones before. the chrsitmas cd leaves much to be desired, but that didn't surprise me. i was very excited, however, to discover a jar full of carefully measured out and aesthetically layered cookie ingredients. genius! i couldn't wait to get to work and make our first batch of christmas cookies!

i am not a baker. i'm not even a cook. i just don't enjoy making edible things. however, i'm all about eating them. i'm also all about planning constructive activities to do with my 3 year old. and here was one that required no thought or baking talent whatsoever!

(it's also the time of year that i actually don't completely mind making cookies. i mean, eating cookies at christmas time is just worth the effort.)

all my easy-as-pie ingredients... for cookies. not pie.

the contents of the pretty jar post-rachel-pouring-them-out. (i'd also like to give an honorable mention to this lovely mixer i had to borrow from my very own angey price. yes, she's my neighbor and not yours. i have her for the rest of the month as my neighbor. so lay off.)

the finished product: chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

our "central asian" tea pot is also pictured here. there was no stopping it. it really likes attention.

By the way...

may i introduce our wonderful new camera we got through craig's list before thanksgiving. we got it for about $400 cheaper than the retail price and it's wonderful. these are some pictures i took as soon as i got home with it, trying to figure some of the many gadgets out. enjoy.

lunchtime!

sooooo big!

peanut butter sandwich and milk. the lunch of champions. (and what my daughter is completely made of.)

this is me being amazed that i don't need a flash to get a room full of light! (did you ever notice how all my pictures looked really dark? yeah. you could shine a flood light and it would've looked dark. this picture below is with no flash and it's bright bright bright!)

a brian waugh original painting :)

"stop taking pictures and get me out of this blasted chair!"

"say cheese, mommy!"

More Christmas Cheer

her very own tree

old school ("chuck + andie 2003")

some fun with the nativity set and our new camera

we always try to have a historically accurate nativity set up with the wise men symbolically thousands of miles away

i'm in there. see me?

silly christmas head

married christmas #5!

Tradition

on rachel's second christmas, i thought it would be cute to take a picture of rachel with christmas lights draped around her shoulders. on her third christmas, i thought i should take another picture like that and start a fun tradition. this year, i upheld my long time-honored tradition and lucas got to jump right in the festivities. enjoy!

rachel pamela, age 3 years and 2 months

lucas charles, age 9 1/2 months

christmas buddies

rachel pamela, age 2 years and 2 months
lucas charles was not decent for a picture, since he was in his birthday suit inside my tummy

rachel pamela, age 14 months
lucas charles wasn't in our thoughts yet, but Jesus knew his name