Speaking of rednecks...

So SPRING is finally here. Hopefully to stay. Yesterday we spent the morning at the park and it was glorious. Sharks walked all the way there and back, pretty much without incident. (One being that he had to go potty so I just took him behind a tree and pulled down his pants and let him take care of business. Not sure if that's ok to do, but no one was around, and if no one saw, well, who's to know that I'm a closet redneck...And the other incident being that he did get tired and just plopped down on the sidewalk, but since we were almost home I pointed out our house and he rallied his little legs and trotted home.)

I am amazed at how sponge-like his little brain is. I guess that's why it's important to fill it with Scripture, hymns, etc. right now while it's easy for him. Like on our walk, we saw some daffodils which Sharks pointed out and said, "Sythia." It took me a minute, but I realized he was calling it 'forsythia' which I had showed him the day before. I had told him it forsythia was a yellow flower...so he took that to mean all yellow flowers. Cute cute.

So on that note, I am looking for good music for Sharks and Deedo to listen to. Right now we only have one decent kids' cd, and I really want to fill their heads with age-appropriate stuff, not, um, pop music. Not that Sharks happens to know any of that. Right. Anyway, Sharks loves to sing so I think some good Scripture cds would be great...I just don't know of any that won't drive me crazy (not cause of Scripture, cause they're cheesy). Any ideas?

(For some reason, the Blogger won't split this into the paragraphs I typed. It just combines them all into one big one. I can see the paragraphs when I type, but when I look at the preview and when I post, it's all together. I have no clue how to fix that.)

The Amazing Spiderman, aka The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Did I mention that he's potty-trained? As of last week. Phew. I'm just saying, one kid in diapers is more than enough.

Also, he is a sweet kid, but boy does he hate having his picture taken. Seriously, he was happy in real life when I took that one.

Sunny Day

So I was just mentioning to a friend that I thought Anderson Cooper was attractive, er, um, intelligent. And that very day, lo and behold, there he was on Sesame Street. Love that show. I mean, today LL Cool J was on there and Oscar the Grouch called him 'Mr. Mama Said Knock You Out.' Come on. All that while you are learning your letters.

Chet didn't marry me for my housekeeping skills

I am kind of ADD. Anything that takes more than two steps to complete, forget it.

We have worked out some simple systems for stuff like the dishes (I wash, Chet puts them away), our closets (we each have our own), and the kids toys (baskets to separate Sharks' and Deedo's toys).

Pretty much every household task can be broken down into steps. Here are some of the ones I've figured out:

Vacuuming - 1 step (vacuum! love to do this!)
Mopping the floor - 2 steps (sweep first, then mop)
Dishes - 3 steps (clear table, wash dishes, put away dishes)

And the bain of my existence:
Laundry - 7 steps (take laundry downstairs, separate colors, wash, dry, take clean laundry upstairs, fold, put away)

My main problem is that there are so many opportunities to forget or get distracted during the laundry process. I always forget to switch it over (many times I have to wash my clothes twice because they sit in the washer for a few days before I remember to switch it over). Or I forget the soap (really). Or I forget to fold it. Or on my way to the basement with the laundry basket I pass through the kitchen and see the dishes spilling out of my sink. So I run the laundry basket downstairs and then run right back up to do the dishes. Oops, forgot the laundry. Again.

Anyway, I have finally come up with a method that works (most of the time). I put the laundry in the washing machine, set the kitchen timer, and go about my business until the timer rings. Then I switch over the laundry to the dryer and start the process all over again.

For now that is about the extent of my skills. But I do LOVE this post and I am totally making those cute little bins for our laundry once I get better at actually doing it.

Eat it. Please do.

One of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom has to be that I can make whatever I want for lunch each day. Today I was feeling the need for...crepes. With Nutella of course. (Not that I share the Nutella with Harkins. He gets crepes with peanut butter.)

Easy to make, even easier to eat ;) So here you go, from the Joy of Cooking.


Crepes


Combine and whisk until smooth:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt


Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.


Place a nonstick frying pan over medium heat and coat with a little butter (don't really need butter if you've got a nonstick pan.) I use my smaller frying pan.



Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan, lifting the pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer.





Cook until the top is set and the underside is golden.


Turn the crepe over, using a spatula or your fingers (I use both) and cook until the second side is lightly browned.



Remove the crepe and stack on a plate. Eat a lot of them, one after another. (Don't forget the Nutella. Or lemon juice and sugar.) Then take a nap. (I did.)

Review of "Wise Blood" by Flannery O'Connor

Though I have read a few of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, the only one of her novels I have read is Wise Blood. Here are a few of my thoughts on some major themes.

O’Connor often uses the grotesque as a metaphor for human sin and depravity. In Wise Blood she presents the reader with numerous grotesque people and occurences–if you have a weak stomach, you may want to pass on this one. There were a couple times I was thinking, what the heck?! and of course I immediately read those parts to Chet, because who doesn’t like to share something yucky? (You know you’ve done it, like “Ewww, this smells really disgusting. Here, smell it.” You know what I’m talking about.)

I am reading another book right now called The Life You Save May Be Your Own which is about four authors and their intersecting lives, one of whom is Flannery O’Connor. The author of that book, Paul Elie, notes that O’Connor spent her life feeling different from other people, an oddity, a freak, you might say (maybe growing up Catholic in the South was enough to do that.) Anyway, perhaps that is why so many of her characters seem to be lifted out of a freak show themselves.

Another main theme in Wise Blood is the search for truth amidst the reality of hypocrisy. Hazel Motes, the main character, is on a quest to rid himself of his religious past (both his father and grandfather were preachers). Rather than seeing the salvation of Christ as a gift, Hazel acts as though God were out to get him.

Hence fleeing the grasp of Christ’s salvation becomes his ambition; in a sense, he sees this escape as his salvation. He determines that he has no soul, therefore he needs no Christ to save him; thus in a turn of irony, Hazel begins to preach the 'Church Without Christ.'

Despite Hazel’s blatant rejection of Christ, he cannot completely remove himself from Christianity. The end of the novel finds him desperately attempting to create salvation for himself through self-flagellation (wearing barbed wire under his shirt and rocks in his shoes).

Overall, I am not sure what to make of this novel. I feel as though I have a basic understanding of the themes I mentioned, but I would like to get a little more of a grasp on O'Connor's presentation of redemption.

Wise Blood was a pretty quick read, definitely interesting, and I plan to read it again once I finish The Life You Save May Be Your Own in the hope that I will gain more insight the second time around.

If you have read Wise Blood, I would love to hear your thoughts.

(If you want to read more...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_Blood)

Who needs a double stroller?

See?

Right hand: car. Left hand: mouth.

In his own words, "Too tight, Mommy."