Lilyisms and Dawitish

Yesterday produced some great kid-speak:

Lily must have heard John talking to our new dog about who is the Alpha Dog in our house. Lily was affectionately petting the pup and saying:

You’re not the Elf Dog. Daddy’s the Elf Dog here. Do you love the Elf Dog?

On the way to swimming lessons, there was much discussion about what skills the kids needed to master. Dawit still has some fear of the deep water, but he said:

Don’t worry, me and Lily can both shred water now, so we can be in the deep end.

On the way home from swimming, the kids were chatting about stick sand (you know, the kind you get stuck in and sink) Lily wanted to know if there is any stick sand in Connecticut. I said I’ve only seen it in the movies. Dawit, of course, knew all about where to find stick sand:

D: I think there is stick sand in Mexico. You know, they have mountains, deserts, oceans, forests. And those Petermans. I’ll bet they have stick sand.

L: Yeah. Dawit. What are you talking about Petermans?

D: You know, those things, they’re like triangles….

L: Dawit! You mean pyramints! Mexico isn’t the only place with pyramints. Egypt has them too.

D: Oh, maybe Egypt has stick sand, too! Mommy, where’s Egypt?

Berbere meets SCD…

I’ve been making some great SCD recipes from Raman Prasad’s new cookbook.  I’ve been on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) for 2.5 years, and I’m amazed at how easy it is to keep a varied menu despite the restrictions.  This new cookbook gives me all kinds of new options!  It has an international selection, including Ethiopian Chicken!!  With a recipe for SCD berbere.

Here’s a photo that I took of the cheviche recipe.  We’ve also made bean burritos, hazelnut pancakes, and a couple of fantastic dips and sauces.  We tried fresh limeade with mint, too.  The photos in the cookbook are beautiful, Lily and I spent a morning making a list of all the recipes to try.

Quick, easy, delicious summer food.

If you’re looking for SCD recipes and info, here are some great sites.

SCD Recipe

Eating SCD

Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Summer update

It’s hot. We’re trying to have some kind of “normal” schedule around here–tough to do in the summer. Dawit has a soccer clinic this week, and both kids are doing swimming lessons for the next two weeks, then Lily has riding lessons in August.

Working from home is not all is cracked up to be. That’s all I have to say about that.

I turn 40 tomorrow! We had a picnic/party when my family was here a few weeks ago:

Wisconsin Girls

My mom, sister, and niece visited for a week–we’ve been busy with gardening, partying, shopping, swimming, golfing, and my kids’ latest favorite game: Sorry! Summertime fun! They left early this morning, and there were lots of tears from both kids.

One good bit of Dawitish: We went out to eat one evening, and the restaurant offered coloring books. Dawit intently worked on his for 15 minutes or so, and then set down the crayon, shook his hand, and announced to the table that he had “writer’s crap”.

This turned my day around

Maybe my week.  Check out this amazing video–worth every second of the four or so minutes you’ll watch.  Really, go watch!  14 months and 42 countries and lots of dancing.

If you want to know more about this guy, visit his site:  Where the hell is Matt?

There’s past year’s dancing videos as well.

School’s Out!

Last day of Kindergarten and First Grade

Goodbye to much-loved teachers.

What will we do all summer???

Willow, our sweet dog, passed away unexpectedly yesterday. We had four great years with her, and she patiently put up with Lily and Dawit turning her into a Superhero, Fairy, Unicorn, or whatever the game of the moment called for. She was fond stealing Dawit’s slippers, which we would find in the backyard muddied and torn.

We’ll miss her enthusiastic greetings each time we come through the door. Her favorite part of the day was when her kids got home from school. She often slept on the top of our couch despite our best efforts to keep her off. She had been caught more than once with all four paws on the dining room table helping herself to whatever dinner we left there.

Lily recently came up with a new nick-name for her: “Gogey”. It’s the shortened version of “Good Girl”, and somehow we all started to call her that. It’s going to take some time to get used to our house without her.

Willow

We’re a bit sad at our house these days, we just learned that our dog Willow has cardiomyopathy.  This is the same “fatal” disease that I made a spontaneous recovery from almost 8 years ago, so I am holding out some hope.  Of course I’m cooking for her, and we’ve added some supplements to her diet.  The cardiomyopathy combined with her pre-existing chronic lung disease is a tough combination, so please send her some love.

Impossibly cute baby cardinal

We have a yard full of baby birds right now, and I spent the last few days trying to find a cardinal’s nest. Finally, Lily and I spied enough on the parents to locate this little baby who had jumped out of the nest, and spent the afternoon having flying lessons. Each time we got a little too close to the baby, both Mama and Papa charged us.

***Edited to add:  if you came across this post because you’ve found a baby cardinal on the ground…it’s probably fine, and the parents are nearby feeding it and teaching it to fly.  Many birds spend several days on the ground before they begin to fly.   If you really think it is in danger, you can gently move it.  (the mother won’t abandon it).  If you think it is injured, call the local Audubon Society to put you in touch with someone who can help.

Julia

Julia, a beautiful writer and beautiful soul who shared her experience as an adoptee eloquently and without judgment, passed away this week at age 25. She had leukemia, needed a bone marrow transplant, but because she didn’t have access to biological family, a match proved to be impossible.

Wishing peace for all those who loved and cared for her.

*Double rainbow photo taken on my deck on the date of Julia’s passing.