There's a lot to say, but most of it will remain unsaid for now. I haven't been feeling well. I am not doing well in school. But my heart is happy. My freezer is full of convenience food and I am taking a good multi-vitamin and that is making a big difference. The last few weeks I have been too tired to do more than glance at schoolwork and making healthy meals was not going to happen. I think I had an iron shortage - it has happened to me before. I am only writing right now because I want to remember, even if its nothing more fancy than "for two weeks I was really tired." It will be enough.

The other reason I am writing is to remember the phenomenal find from the thrift store today. I found something I have been looking for for years - The Spiderman Cartoon Maker CD-rom. It is very hard to find. Apparently it was only ever bundled with that one Packard Bell computer in '95. It's a very simple drawing program where kids drag icons across the screen to create animated Spiderman Cartoons. They can animate characters, change backgrounds, add props, and add music. It's a very, very simple format and I knew it would be perfect for imaginative Elijah. I nearly danced when I saw it at the thrift store today for $1.99. It took some rigging to get it to run on my computer, but I got it going and now Boo is really enjoying it. It's hard to explain how happy that makes me. It is a geek's dream come true - to see your kiddoes playing the same 'puter games you played. I also offered to buy him a chapter book about Mario and Luigi as long as he promised to read it (a similar promise my dad always made me take when buying me a book). He promised he would read one page a day - today he read the first chapter. That also fills me with excitement. The first chapter book - the first first book with more words than pictures - is a huge milestone for a true lover of books.

Like I said, there's a lot more going on, but it will have to wait.

A Love Poem

Some people don't like poetry or mushiness, and that's fine. But sometimes you just have to get it off your chest.

I'm so in love
but I can't find
the words to tell you all the time

You laugh at me
in my goofy ways
when I am digging for your praise,

and when I turn the clock away
and ask you for the time of day
or click off the 27-news
and ask you how the weather is.

You tell me I am being dumb
To turn the stupid TV on
And look at the clock if I want to know
How the time is getting on.

But the weatherman is always wrong,
and I don't really need to know.
In fact my sense of time is strong:
the sun,
the moon,
the cricket song.

But I just like to ask from you.
I like the way you roll your eyes
I like the way you square your face:
My words to you are no surprise.

I just almost need to hear.
No, I really need to hear
that everything will be okay
and all our skies are crystal clear.

I don't believe the weatherman,
though he's as often right as wrong.
and that old clock is running slow,
the batteries have been too long.

But when you say
that its ok
I know it is
I know
I know
And when you say
"it's time,
it's time"
Then I will say
"let's go,
let's go."

So Much For Her Stunning Vocabulary

Olivia: MOM. MOM. Julius put the [alphabet] letters from the fridge onto the wet thing that's dead.

Me: ???

Olivia: You know, the thing that you wash with. Wash clothes with. That's already died.

Yawn

Lee schedule has shifted now, so that he is working on Saturdays. The good thing about that is that most Saturdays he will get to work locally, at an office in Wormleysburg, which is only a 10 minute drive. This is exactly why I am not able to work right now - his schedule is changing constantly. Even if I was trying to find a job or to work at SH, from one week to the next, I wouldn't know what hours to tell them I am available.

But things are good on the homefront. So much has improved with me taking my housewife job seriously. Even though I have been handwashing clothes and ironing them, we always have clean clothes and know where they are. I make sure the house is tidy before Lee gets home everyday. Lee doesn't like it when I clean the house when he is home - when he is home, it's supposed to be fun time. So I vacuum right before he gets home and do dishes and laundry while he is away. So far this is making for fun, peaceful days off.

Now tomorrow is the first day that books will be available for HACC. This is something of a holiday for Lee and I. We will leave the kids with Nan tomorrow (it is her day off) and try to score as many used texts as we can before they run out. The lines are epic, especially in the fall. They are less so in the Spring, when many people have decided not to come back.

I got to harvest in my Beaver family garden this week. We picked about 30 lbs of produce, simply culling the things that were almost overripe. There is a LOT more there. We probably had 100 cherry tomatoes, and there are still hundreds more there, green or light orange just waiting for another day or two of sun. So much fun!!

Elijah got to go to G. I. Joe with Daddy and Uncle Jon this week. A friend of Jon and Lee's had tickets so they were all able to go together. That was really nice. Olivia was a little jealous that she didn't get to see Uncle Jon, but she and I spent the evening with Nan so it was ok.

Today we are going to a family picnic. Hope the rain stays away!

Last night, Elijah read to us a book that we never read before. Woohoo!

Olivia has been writing people's names down on whatever paper she can get her pretty little fingers on.

And Julius has been working on his communication, too. He is very good at letting us know what he wants. Sometimes, he is willing to trade for it (Here is my cup of juice. Please give me your bag of chips.) He squeals angrily when the other two kids go outside without him or have a snack without offering him any. And he's not afraid to crawl up in Dad's lap and snuggle, especially when dad has a nice big bowl of ice cream.

I love that about have three kids. With Boo, there was nobody but me and Dad to play with. With Olivia, she has Boo to tag around with or be envious of. But with the third, there is a group (Boo and Liv) that he wants to be a part of, wants to keep up with. They are learning how to share and be patient with each other. It's awesome.

My camera may or may not be functioning. I am charging the batteries right now so we'll see. A certain young Caesar threw it into my dish water, but I think it may have recovered. Here's hoping.

I Love

I love that my house is clean right now.

I love that I have time to keep it clean right now.

I love ironing.

I love Julius's post-bath clown hair.

I love Livvy's endless stream of hugs.

I love Elijah's less-constant but heart-achingly sincere shows of affection.

I love that Julius can ask for things now (like grabbing Mom's shirt and saying cup-cup-cup... okay, Jules, let's go find your cup).

I love the rain.

I love living in a trailer where you can hear every drop.

I love that the kids and I are having Spaghetti squash fresh out of the Beaver Family Garden for dinner.

I love my husband who is working so hard for us.

I love God for letting me enjoy all of this. Whatever darkness may lie ahead, today is a wonderful time to be alive.

p.s. Julius dropped my camera in the dishwater, so you'll be enjoying old pictures for awhile.

Julius's Vocabulary & It's Nice to Be Back

I have missed the Internet. I have been narrating my life the last two weeks witho nobody to hear it except for me. How sad.

Here is Julius's current vocabulary.

Puppy

What I meant when I taught it to him: a dog

What he means when he says it: Look at something that I think is cute or interesting and I want you to pay attention. When he says it and follows it with a meow or whine, its something he finds cute, when he says it repeatedly and points, its something interesting.

Ball

What I meant when I taught it to him: a ball, a toy

What he means when he says it: Oooh shiny (metaphorically speaking)

Cup

What I meant when I taught it to him: a cup, a drink

What he means when he says it: Give that random possibly (but not necessarily) edible or imbibable thing over there to me, I want it.

I have been Internetless and also spending time with my mom while the kids went to summer fun with their "cousins". Since my mom is my main audience, I haven't had time or motivation to update the blog. I have no intention of playing catch up. Just a few notes:

Lee went to Creation Festival Northeast

My lovely sister Tabitha did a wonderful job putting red streak in my hair while He was gone (I love it so much)

I am currently home full time which is sooo wonderful.

Lee is working his butt off at his new job as I.T. Help Desk guy.

The big garden at my moms is getting ready to burst forth - actually its already bursting, but its about to get exponentially crazier.

My house garden is pretty exciting, too.

All my kids rock.

We are back online, having switched to Verizon FiOs, which is really fast. We are not going to have cable at this time, which I love. With Netflix, we don't really need All Those Channels. The kids can watch a few cartoons and there are no gimme-inducing commercials. Plus it makes going to Nan's all that more special.

My life is so good, rich, full, and happy.

Oh, and its really hot and humid right now.

Rachel's Better Than Take Out Chicken Lo Mein

2 Cups Chicken broth
1 lb chicken breast
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 teaspoons cornstarch
Vegetable oil
5-6 cloves of minced garlic
1 piece of crystallized ginger, minced
1 can water chestnuts
1 small zuchinni
1 small yellow squash
1 can bamboo shoots
1.5 pkg mushrooms
1 red or yellow pepper
1 shredded carrot
1 lb thin lo mein noodles

First, prep all of your vegetables. Shred the carrot with a grater (or buy it shredded). Slice the squashes, and cut the slices in half. Drain the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Cut the pepper into medium-sized slices. Toss together with the mushrooms in a bowl and set aside in the fridge.

Next, cut your chicken into strips. You want 1-2 inch strips. Its easiest to do this if the chicken is still partially frozen.

Next, boil your chicken broth in a sauce pan. (I used 2 cups of water with 2 bouillon cubes). Take 1/3 of the mixture and pour it into a pot. This pot needs to be big enough to eventually accomodate all the vegetables and all the noodles. Let the part still in the saucepan sit aside while the part in the pot continues to boil. Drop your chicken strips into the boiling broth. let the chicken cook, stirring occassionally, for about 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Start boiling your lo mein noodles in a seperate pot. make sure to stir them, as they stick together very easily.

Next, make your sauce. Combine the white wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a bowl on the side. Stir until they are smooth. Pour the smooth mixture into the saucepan with the cooling broth.

Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil into the pot you were cooking the chicken in. Add the minced ginger and garlic into the oil. Stir, let cook 30 seconds until the oil is infused with the flavor of the garlic and ginger. Add the bowl of vegetables to the saucepan. Stir until all the vegetables are coated with the oil. Cook at medium heat until the vegetables are cooked, but still slightly crisp.

Add the cooked pasta and chicken to the vegetables and stir together. Cook for three minutes.

Add the sauce mixture and cook through.

Serve and enjoy.

This makes a LARGE bowl of lo mein and would be a perfect accompaniment to Mama Beaver's homemade egg rolls.