Mother’s Day Questions

Posted on May 13, 2012 by kelsey

What is Mommy’s name?
H: Kelsey S: Kelsey

What does Mommy do for fun?
H: Help me put on ties. S: Dance with us.

What is Mommy’s favorite thing to eat?
H:  French fries and chicken and water and soda. S: Toast.

What does she like to drink?
H: Soda S: Soda

How old is Mommy?
H: 4 S: 4

How tall is Mommy?
H:  5 inches tall! S: Grande!

What is Mommy’s hair like?
H:  food, dark black S: ponytail

How much does she weigh?
H:  30lbs S: 24lbs

What makes Mommy the best?
H:  Walking and running for a little bit. S: Go for a walk.

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?
H:  Go for walks to our park. S: Dance

How long have you known Mommy?
H:  15 elephants. S: I love you, you’re my best friend!

Where did you and Mommy meet?
H:  At the church last night. S: At the play area.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Having a Baby in Ecuador

Posted on May 11, 2012 by kelsey

Is not something I’m doing.  So, that was kind of a rude trick title, huh?

Probably half of you (two people) already know that we are planning on coming back to the US, but the other half of you (the other two who read this blog) might not have been informed on the subject.  At any rate, although we got our visas extended until the end of September and could probably have gotten them extended again, we will instead be coming back in the middle of June.

That probably brings us to your next burning question, where?  We will be flying into Seattle and spending a few weeks in the lovely Evergreen state, hoping for nice weather.  Near the end of June we will be loading up the remaining belongings we own and taking them with us to the Beehive state.  Aaron has just accepted a job offer there, and we will enjoy spending time with friends we haven’t seen in a while and enjoying that strange yellow ball of gas in the sky that we didn’t often see in the Seattle area.  And eating Cafe Rio.  I will be doing a lot of that.

Oh, why are we not staying in Ecuador to have a baby?  Lots of reasons really, but mostly my own personal desire to have a baby at home with a midwife (I’m a weirdo, you already knew that though).  Also there are lots of things here that are doable with two children (I have two hands, so when we walk to town to do any errand we must do, it works) that seem to me to be ridiculously difficult with three, especially if one is a newborn and two will be 4 and 3.  Aaron is sad because he likes it here, and although I do like it here, I am admittedly very excited to use a washing machine, the drive-thru, have hot water at my kitchen sink, an oven, and flushing toilet paper.

So there you have it.  We have a month left in Ecuador.  Also, if anyone wants to take over our lease, unfurnished 4 bed/4 bath super great house at $330/month, let us know.  We may even throw in an almost new fridge.

Posted in ecuador, pregnancy | 8 Comments

My Dad & Co. Came to Visit

Posted on April 29, 2012 by kelsey

The first weekend in April my Dad, Jama, Jordan, and Eden came to visit.  Although they would spend a week in Ecuador, they were only supposed to be with us 1.5 days.  Then a canceled flight dropped that down to just 24 measly hours.  But it was pretty jam-packed.

After arriving Saturday evening, we rushed the entire crew to their hotel then to our house, where we had an eight piece band and open back party bus (trolley?) coming to drive us around for an hour.  Of course the bus called to say it would be half hour late, but they would still give us the full time, but what was I going to do with the band that I had booked for the same hour?  Well, we opened up the garage and had the band play for 30 minutes while we (the family and the volunteers) danced around on the sidewalk.  I took no photos so had to steal some from the volunteers on facebook.

After a half hour the bus indeed did show up, so we let the band on, then we all climbed aboard.  We spent 30 minutes driving around the downtown of Cuenca, and enjoyed the ultra-loud band and the many many people laughing at/with us.  Probably the worst part was our ridiculous selves driving by where pre-Easter mass was just being let out…  We had to drop off the band, but went back out for another 15 minutes listening to my dad’s CD he made specially for the occasion.  It had two songs, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People (because my children love it and always danced to it at my dad’s) and Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups because my dad loves it and something about the irony of old Cuenca and blah blah blah.  I told my dad it must be nice going senile, because only crazy people want a party bus with a band.  He says it is nice indeed.  Eventually we got home and went to sleep as church started at 8am the morning.  We went to church and then got into a van and went to some waterfalls we intended to hike up.  There ended up being an excessive amount of water flow which cut our hike very short, but we had a good time getting soaked on a scary bridge below the waterfalls anyway.  I took no photos.  My dad has a couple perhaps.


After eating lunch we enjoyed the drive back to our house. Aaron put the kids down for a nap and I took the family to one of the orphanages to donate the awesome giant towel bibs they made for a service project before they came. We had a good time and then came home to eat Easter dinner. This included many fine Ecuadorian dishes, including Cuy (roasted guinea pig). If you haven’t eaten Cuy for Easter dinner, then you are not really missing out.  Eden was pretty grossed out, especially after I told her all about where different meats come from (hamburgers come from COWS?) but eventually came around from her newly declared vegetarian ways and tried a bite.

She didn’t like it.  But we gave her many points for trying it.  After dinner we had cake and the family went back to their hotel to sleep for their flight out the next day.  We loved having them here even if was for such a short time!

Posted in ecuador, holiday | 1 Comment

We did the touristy bus

Posted on April 28, 2012 by kelsey

And it was actually pretty good.  There is a company that runs red double-decker buses around town and they drive by our house 4 or so times a day.  And if you have a 3-year-old who is obsessed with all vehicles, chances are you will eventually have to ride on said bus.  So we did.  Last month, but whatever.  Here are a few photos, and if you want more, you can click here (actually that is all of March’s photos).

Posted in ecuador | Leave a comment

Daddy Dressed Me

Posted on April 27, 2012 by kelsey

This is a blog series I always mean to start, but I mostly forget to take photos.  Here is the first installment for your pleasure.

(Aaron’s defense: “You bought all these clothes!”)

Posted in aaron, sammy | 5 Comments

Cuatro & 1/2 Puerqueños

Posted on April 1, 2012 by kelsey

3 years ago today I was delighted to announce the fact that I was pregnant.  Of course no one believed it because I also had a barely 5 month old at the time.  Turns out it was true.  If I would have followed along the same schedule, having babies every 13 1/2 months then by now I would be ready to give birth to child #4 any day now.  Luckily I am still (partially) sane and didn’t go that route.  If you did, you are a champion.

Today I am however happy to announce that I am growing a third child in my belly.  It is a very strong baby who thinks it is fun to take all of my energy and make me sick 23 hours a day.  The remaining hour is obviously spread out in several 5 minute increments which I relish.  However both previous babies made me ill and I still liked them a lot when they came out, so it seems as that won’t really be an issue in several months.  In case you were wondering, this baby is set to make it’s appearance at the very end of November.  Everyone in the house is very excited.  Harmon says it’s a boy and a girl (twins, thanks!) and Sammy says a girl.  Harmon has so far suggested the following names: Flower Weed, Lightie, and Bengee the dog.  Strangely enough, none of these names are currently being considered.

Posted in baby, pregnancy | 13 Comments

Snickerdoodle Mug Cookie. You’re welcome.

Posted on March 21, 2012 by kelsey

This post is only for people who like really really tasty things.  If you don’t, then you won’t like this.

Lately I have been making a lot of desserts in the microwave due to lack of oven.  Most recently I made this sugar cookie recipe and it was pretty tasty.  Many thanks to Melissa at No. 2 Pencil for being a genius!  After a few times of eating that I decided I would take her recipe and make it chocolate chip, even though she had a chocolate chip recipe I didn’t want to look it up and figured it probably just substituted half the white sugar for brown.  Also there are no chocolate chips here, but whatever.  I made it the way I thought and it was super tasty.  I looked hers up later and hers is slightly different.  I’m sure just as tasty.

A week or so ago we made snickerdoodles at the house of friends who own an oven.  Since then all I want to do is eat snickerdoodles.  This morning at breakfast time (don’t judge!) I realized I could make one in the microwave!  So, without further ado here are two ways to make snickerdoodles in your microwave.

Breakfast, attempt one:
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs white sugar
Pinch of salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Few drops of vanilla
1 egg yolk
3 Tbs flour
More white sugar, cinnamon

First melt butter in a nice microwavable mug.  Then add sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and egg yolk, mixing them all together.  Then add the flour, and mix it up real good.  Sprinkle a liberal amount of sugar over the top, and as much cinnamon as you like.  If you are me you will cover the entire top with cinnamon.  Microwave for 30-45 seconds depending on how strong your microwave is.  Then enjoy.  It was super tasty and I loved it.  This is probably not enough to share with another person.

After dinner, attempt two (larger version):
1 1/2 Tbs butter
3 Tbs white sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 egg
Several drops of vanilla
5 Tbs flour
Sugar & cinnamon

The steps to making this are just like above except cook 45-60 seconds.

I made this version to share with the 3 other mouths that live at my house. In truth I probably only shared 7 small bites though. I actually preferred this version, and Aaron said it was delicious, but was almost more like a cake than a cookie. Either way, I highly recommend this tasty treat, especially if you don’t have an oven and are craving snickerdoodles. You’re welcome.

Posted in recipe | 3 Comments

Stupid Things To Do To Yourself

Posted on March 18, 2012 by kelsey

A few nights ago it was 10:30 and I needed some food.  I decided that I wanted an egg, but was really lazy.  Then I remembered I had half an avocado in the fridge.  Obviously I should cut up the avocado, put it into a mug, add the egg on top and microwave.  All went well until I pulled my late night snack out of the microwave.  Because I had just cracked the egg over the top and not scrambled it, the yolk was sitting right on top and looked questionably cooked.  Naturally I took my spoon to poke it to check it’s poisonability index and it exploded.  Into my eye.

Now there are a lot of things that feel bad, but one of them is having a burning hot egg explode into your eye.  Sure, the egg could have gotten on my face, in my hair, missed me entirely, but instead it decided to shoot directly into my eye.  Of course.

I hollered for Aaron to come assist his now crippled wife and he ran in like lightning and offered to flush it with water.  I declined and instead stuck my eyeball into a cup and turned it upside down onto the poor thing.  Then I proceeded to make great jokes about having egg on my face and the like.  Because come on, if you are going to be blinded by something, egg is a pretty funny thing.

Good news, I recovered and can see fine.  My eyeball just hurt for a couple of days.  So remember, don’t poke at the yolk of a egg you just microwaved.  It is a bad idea.

Posted in safety fail | 5 Comments

Maybe it’s just us.

Posted on March 17, 2012 by kelsey

You might remember this fine car driving into our house.  That didn’t exactly happen today, but still too close for comfort.

Aaron, Sammy, and I were in the kitchen at the back of the house while Harmon was napping in his room at the front.  Suddenly we heard a terrible crash and a squealing of tires out front.  I ran out to the balcony and was horrified to see a motorcycle on the ground in the road and a lady on the ground behind it, and a few others gathered around.  Aaron was now out on the balcony and I ran to find phone, blanket, and towel.  When I got downstairs Aaron threw me a bottle of water too.

When I got out to the road the water and towel were quickly put to use.  The good news was that there was almost no blood.  The lady on the ground had been rolled over and the only cut was on the palm of her hand and didn’t look too serious.  However her legs were bent into not so nice positions, so I would imagine she will be leaving the hospital in a cast.  Additionally, I only saw one helmet, so I am assuming the man driving was wearing it and not her.  He was sitting on the sidewalk trying not to freak out and holding his leg.  Another lady put the towel under the head of the lady on the ground and tried to get her to be as calm and still as possible.  Meanwhile a traffic motorcycle cop had arrived and an ambulance was on the way.

After a few minutes it was determined that this motorcycle had been hit by a white car that quickly sped away, hence the squealing tires after the crash noise.  More police showed up, the ambulance, and lots of bystanders.  The poor lady gets put onto a stretcher and put into the ambulance, and after getting his leg checked out, the motorcycle driver decides to go in the car with his friend.  At this point I am just standing by my gate, in case they need somewhere to park the motorcycle for the night/week/whatever.  Sure enough the crowd of my neighbors surrounding the driver and police men turn around one by one to look at me and I know that is what they are thinking too.  I open our gate and garage and guess what?  Now we have a free motorcycle!

Poor people.  I hate car accidents, and especially ones where people end up on the street.  But come on, what is it with accidents in front of our houses with white cars?  Watch out all future neighbors, we are bringing white car crashes to a neighborhood near you…

[Update: The motorcycle driver came with a group of friends to our house last night to reclaim his bike.  He said he was ok, just a few strained ligaments in his foot, and that his lady was going to be just fine, no breaks!  We were surprised that she didn't have any broken bones, but very very glad.]

Posted in I don't love it, ecuador | 2 Comments

My Name’s Not Harmon

Posted on March 16, 2012 by kelsey

Sometimes I wonder why I bothered naming my children at all.  Almost a month ago Sammy declared that her name was “Gracie” after a cat in a Berenstain Bears book.  Prior to this she often spoke in third person, saying “the kitty wants to sit on your lap” or “the kitty wants a snack” but now she had a name to speak third person about.  ”Gracie wants some candy!!”  Harmon took to this idea as well, and declared his name to be Simba (from the Lion King).  In the first week of this game if I referred to Harmon by his original given name he would declare “My name is not Harmon!!!” and would then refuse to respond until I called him Simba.  Sammy soon caught on, but was much more forgetful when I would use her real name.

After a week they tired of Gracie and Simba, and became Rapunzel and Eugene (from Tangled, can you tell we’ve been watching a lot of movies?) almost exclusively.  ”Look at Rapunzel’s long hair!”  ”Eugene doesn’t want to go potty!”

Moving into the third week, it is hard to know what my children’s names are.  Sometimes I will call for Sammy and Harmon only to be told that is not their names.  Then I will call for Simba and Nala only to be told I am wrong again.  After trying Rapunzel and Eugene and being rejected again I finally give up and say if you won’t tell me what your names are then I will just call you Harmon and Sammy.  (It’s like a game of Rumpelstiltskin)  This threat will generally cause them to tell me their newly chosen name and finally I can get out whatever it is I wanted them to do in the first place.

I don’t really remember ever asking to be called something else, although I do remember sometimes wishing I had a different name.  Of course if my mother reads this maybe she can correct me, as I don’t ever remember being 2 or 3.

Posted in harmon, sammy | 3 Comments