Alyssa's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Alyssa is a helper.  There's nothing the girl seems to love more than finding things to clean, set in order, fetch, create and schedule.  At times it's quite frightening just how much she's like her mother in this regard.  We're constantly reminding her that she is not, in fact, a mother, nor is she in charge.  But it is more often a joy to see the little lady she's becoming... and to have a little help.  Saturday night we had guests for dinner and I was late getting everything put together.  When my s'mores idea fizzled due to a lack of wood for the fire pit, Alyssa volunteered to make dessert.  She's assisted with this favorite cake a few times before, but this time she did the measuring, dumping and stirring all on her own.  I believe the original recipe came from my sister's MIL so here's giving Debbie credit where it's due, but in our house this will now be Alyssa's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did!

1 cup sour cream

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 box yellow cake mix "with pudding in the box"

1 large box instant chocolate fudge pudding

12 oz bag (2 cups) chocolate chips

1/2 cup hot water

Combine all ingredients.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes in buttered bundt pan, or until edges are darker brown and top is puffy but not completely dry.  We like it slightly under-done in our house, so don't expect a toothpick to come out clean. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream for an especially delicious (and caloric) treat!

I'm back?

So I guess I was on a blogging break.  We didn’t go anywhere, we haven’t done much of anything, and nothing’s wrong.  I guess there’s just something about summer that makes me want to sit down with a good book and a lot of Diet Coke and watch the kids be kids.  All three are very comfortable in the pool, and even though Reagan usually looks like she’s drowning, it’s just that she so badly wants to be able to touch the bottom and keeps bopping down to pretend like she’s more than 3 feet tall.  No one even asks me to swim anymore so I really do get a break when they’re in the water.  In the evenings, which have been remarkably pleasant due to our rather mild summer weather (sorry to all of you in the East!), we’ve been doing a lot of bike riding.  By “we,” I do of course mean “them.”  Aside from helping Reagan perfect her training-wheel-less skills and nursing the occasional scrape, I’ve been free to immerse myself in thousands of pages of Christian novel goodness (with some real meat thrown in for actual growth).  On the weekends we’ve had oodles of guests, which reflect one the things I love most about our home:   We have plenty of room to host people for dinner or overnight, whether it’s just one guest or 30.  We actually try to not go out of town in the summer, partly to avoid the crowds wherever it is we’re going, but mostly so we can enjoy our friends and family here, where this relaxed, summer pace of life allows us to swim together, roast smores over the fire-pit together, or just sit around talking into the dark.  Blogging just hasn’t seemed all that important.  And as you can see, there hasn’t been that much to blog about.  I haven’t even taken pictures this month!  I hope to get back into blogging with somewhat more regularity, but no promises.  I trust you all are enjoying your summer too and have also been too busy doing nothing to miss me at all!   

Something new

So my sister has always wanted to be a stylist.  Stacy London has her dream job.  To be fair, she really is a stylist: to me, to Danny (at least as far as settling disputes about what he really can't wear), to our parents, and to her many friends who schedule shopping dates before any big event.  Anything even remotely cute or trendy in my closet was either purchased for me by Sarah or handed down to me from Sarah (no, I really don't have any shame in pawing through her left-overs... they're cute, and free!).  She just has a knack for putting outfits and accessories together in a way that looks beautiful yet somewhat unexpected.   A few months ago she approached me about a way to convert that talent into a little extra money... presumably for buying more of those darling clothes I'll someday inherit!  I played around with my friend Blogger for a while, and this is what we came up with:  Daily Style.  Basically, its a way to get Sarah to do all your clothes shopping for you.  Complete an easy questionnaire and she'll tell you where to buy and how to put together pieces that will complement your body and your style.  Danny still doesn't get it... do you?  I've explained the premise in a little more detail here, but please let me know if it's still a confusing mess!  As a way to say "thank you" to our real life and bloggy friends for checking us out, our first customers will get 3 virtual outfits for $20... as well as our undying gratitude for preventing this thing from being a total flop.  Thanks =). 

A little more Malawi

In case you haven't had enough... a few more photos of our
life-changing journey to Malawi:

Lake Malawi.  According to all-knowing Wikipedia, it's the 8th largest lake in the world and the habitat of more species of fish than those of any other body of freshwater on Earth.  To us it was just a relaxing retreat away from the craziness we'd faced in the preceeding week.

The best travelling companions anyone could ask for, my parents,
and further evidence of God's grace towards Danny and I.

If this bridge doesn't look rickety enough from the top...

... take a look underneath!  Believe it or not they have to rebuild
these each year after the rains come. 

Those seasonal rains started while we were there, bringing with them a much-anticipated feast from the Lord:  flying termites!

Birthday boy

As of midnight, my favorite 6 year-old will magically transform into my favorite 7 year-old... for at least the next year.  If joy and enthusiasm were ever bundled up into a cuter package, I would like to see it.  I'm sure most mamas think God saved the very best for them, but I know I am the most blessed.  And though all my children are (usually) a joy to parent, Parker is especially skilled at making me laugh.  His antics sometimes get him in trouble... and sometimes land him in the pool fully clothed, as happend here when kite flying occuppied a little too much of his attention.  Mostly, they just make me want to scoop him up and give him a kiss... which he still happily lets me do.  Happy Birthday bud! 

Picture Perfect: Black and White

It's a good thing my bloggy friend Nancy keeps having (very amateur) photography contests or I'd be left with nothing to blog about at all.  This month's theme is Black and White, and if I my skills are limited in color, they are undoubtedly even more limited in B&W.  I do however love this shot of Parker - the mischief behind those eyes and the lashes that never end.  That boy never fails to make me smile!  Head on over to Ordinary Miracles & the Crazy 8 if you'd like to play too...

Be still my cherry-loving heart

There aren’t too many culinary delights that exceed the joy of fresh cherries.  What I didn’t realize until today was how that joy would be multiplied when the fruit made its way directly from tree to mouth.  The kids, my nephew, my mom and I took a little road-trip to a local orchard for our first picking experience.  Needless to say the fruit was delightful, and watching the kids made it even more fun.  They scouted out the ripest cherries and sampled some from each tree to make sure they were sweet enough.  They were.  We got so carried away in the excitement that we came home with almost fifteen pounds of treasure.  Good thing we have a birthday party coming up with lots of cherry- and (Parker-) loving  friends to share them with!

We had FUN in Malawi too!

Though we certainly experienced our fair share of heartache while we in Malawi (the Whole Story begins here), we actually had fun too.  A trip to Africa would make many Americans’ bucket list, but it’s unlikely we would ever have taken the time away from our children, or the money, to go there if not for an adoption.  You all have borne with me through the sad parts of our saga, so I thought it was only appropriate to share our more joyful moments as well. 

These first photos are from what will remain my most memorable of birthdays.  Our dear friend Kondi took us to a village just minutes outside the capital city of Lilongwe.  It’s just a quick drive, and not much longer walk, to a developing, urban environment, yet most of the children – even teenagers – have never left their village, and very rarely seen “uzungus” (“white people” in Chichewa) like us.  If our skin alone wasn’t enough of a novelty, the soap, rice and candy we brought along made us instant hits.  The chief gave us a tour of his home, the villagers sat us down in their nicest (only?) plastic chairs, and the children all gathered to sing a number of their favorite songs.  They especially enjoyed seeing themselves on our cameras’ LCD screens, and patiently waited in line for their share of the Tootsie Rolls.  Everyone there was impoverished by our standards (some of the children even had the orangey hair of the malnourished), but were remarkably hospitable, kind and happy.  On that particular day I was feeling rather sorry for myself that I couldn’t be home with our children, and was struck with the realization that I’ve never once had to worry about getting them enough to eat.  I was humbled by the thought of all that I choose to complain about when I truly have so very much.        

Trashy

Parker has recently been given a chore disposing of all the debris we generate around here. The less-fun part of the task involves running up and down the stairs collecting trash from the various receptacles around our home.  He doesn't seem to mind at all though for the privilege of then tossing everything into the back of his pick-up truck.  Lesser jobs call for the more agile, commuter-sized Skidder.  Apparently he's counting it all joy (do you see the look on his face?)... especially when his efforts are rewarded with a little cash to learn with.   

The Whole Story - the End!

Now that we’re nearly six months removed from the beginning of our ill-fated adventures in Sub-Saharan Africa, I figure it’s time I finally start wrapping things up.  I’ve told most of the story starting here, and ending here at the point where we left the orphanage that was home to the boy we thought would be our son.  What I’ve neglected to relate are the specifics of just how well God cared for and protected us through what was and is a very difficult trial. 

Looking back, we wonder at the ways God protected us from Annie, the dishonest orphanage director.  Though our initial concerns about the adoption centered around whether we felt equipped to parent a child with Ernest’s level of needs, we quickly realized that the real question was whether we could complete an ethical adoption of any child with her in control.  Annie was our only link to the lawyer, the courts, and Ernest’s surviving family.  She obstinately and repeatedly asserted that a boy who cannot utter a sound was a talker and a leader.  She maintained that a boy clearly exhibiting many signs of Cerebral Palsy was perfectly healthy.   She never waived from her obvious lies, even when those who know Ernest best contradicted her.  If she was willing to lie about what we could see, what else had she lied about?  Had she bribed officials?  Had she really obtained the necessary consent from Ernest’s uncles and aunts?  Had she told them the truth about what adoption would mean?  Had she told us the truth about the results of Ernest’s HIV tests?  There was just so much we began to doubt once we realized we couldn’t trust Annie.  God protected us through her refusal to make any other child available to us for adoption.  He protected our wallet when she refusing to meet with us on the night we were to pay her for her services and those of the lawyer.  And He even protected us through the loss of our cell phone shortly after leaving the orphanage.  (We later found out she tried frantically to contact us that day… but oddly hasn’t initiated any contact since.)

Another evidence of God’s grace lay at the end of the road away from the orphanage:  our dear friends, Brian and Anita Biedebach.  In our moment of need we had a home to go to, friends to hug, and their children to love on.  They loved us in such practical ways, opening their home to us and preparing one of the most delightful meals we’ve ever had.  We arrived at their house in Lilongwe on Thursday afternoon, December 2^nd, and we really hadn’t eaten a meal since leaving Los Angeles the previous Saturday.  Anita prepared what she knew from Danny’s previous visits to Malawi to be his favorite dishes, and while the food was very tasty, it was the love contained therein that made it especially delicious.  I don’t think we’ll ever be able to eat Malva pudding again without tearing up at the thought of their kindness towards us. 

We were able to stay with the Biedebachs for 2 nights and then moved down the street to the home of another missionary family from our church, the Floreens, to make room for Anita’s family who were gathering in from around the world to spend a rare Christmas together.  Matt and Rachel welcomed us without hesitation, though they could barely distinguish us from Adam.  Unbeknownst to them and us at the time, they’d be stuck with us for another two weeks!  There are only 5 flights a week out of Malawi, and there was no room for us on any of them.  Despite our best, and sometimes desperate, efforts, we were forced to return home on our original flights, scheduled for December 19^th.  But even in that, we can see God’s amazing grace towards us.  We spent those two weeks seeing and enjoying Africa - an opportunity we never would have taken if not forced.  Though some of the hardest days of our lives were lived out in Africa, we also made some of our happiest memories there.  (I’ll later post pictures of some of the wonders we experienced.)        

Another of His graces in the fact we were “stranded” was the realization that Alyssa, Parker and Reagan were not missing us one bit.  I was somewhat miserable at times, wishing that since I could not hug and bond to Ernest, I could at least cuddle the three precious treasures God had already blessed us with.  But He had other plans – plans to comfort me without their aid, and plans to give our children a very special three weeks with their grandparents.  Papa and Tilly volunteered to move in to our home in our absence and the kids were beside themselves with excitement.  I truly think they all would have been disappointed if we had come home early, and looking back, I would have been too.

Our marriage was yet another recipient of God’s grace and mercy.  Trials like this could easily tear a marriage apart, but our hearts were knit even closer.  We were in agreement throughout this process and we’ve never blamed one another for any of the hurt (yet another reason to be glad I didn’t nag Danny into a 2^nd adoption!).  Our only conflict was over whether we should go home if given the opportunity.  I wanted to go home; he didn’t.  As it turns out it didn’t matter, but my heart was quickly pricked by Scripture to submit to Danny, and Danny was gently encouraged by a friend to love me no matter the cost.  What started with conflict became another opportunity for our marriage to be grown.

There’s really no end to what could be said about the ways God demonstrated His love towards us.  We even see His grace in all that He’s allowed us to forget in these succeeding months.  But it can all be summed up in the song we sang that first Friday morning in Lilongwe, during chapel at African Bible College.  I will never be able to forget the way we worshipped, singing these lyrics from the depths of our broken hearts: 

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

There was indeed great pain in the offering, but by His grace, we chose to bless His name on that road marked with suffering, even when He took away the thing we wanted most. 

Gotcha... a little late!

It's bad enough to run out of time and brain cells for real blogging.  It's even worse when your computer-that's-on-its-last-leg stops letting you even upload photos!  Then add a little panicked "Did you really fail to back up any of our Vietnam photos onto the external hard drive?!" discussion with dear husband (they're there, thank the Lord!).  What do you get?  The transformation of a pathetic Gotcha Day post into a even more pathetic tardy Gotcha Day post.  Sunday marked four years since God gave us the tremendous privilege of becoming this little girl's parents.  Reagan has enriched our lives in more ways than I could ever begin to recount.  She is generous, strong, sweet, independent, and a perfect complement to our family.  For all of the countless strangers in Vietnam that stopped to tell us what a "lucky baby" she was:  the joy is all ours! 

What bloggers do when they've no time to write...

(...i.e. post pictures of their kids).  I've not really been feeling the blogging vibe lately, but since this serves as my only real journal/scrapbook I'm compelled to at least throw in a few photos once in a while.  We spent our afternoon today at Mickey's place today enjoying some glorious spring weather and our favorite rides before we get kicked out for the summer rush.  It almost looks like they're having fun, doesn't it?  If not for mama's camera the day would have been positively perfect!  

Easter cuties

Do they come any cuter than this?  Well, behind your own children, I'm sure these must be second in line, right?  Sunday we all dressed up to spend a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord with our chuch family, and then with a crew of family, friends and neighbors.  It was almost like Christmas in our backyard for all the eggs and gifts, and these three wasted no time tracking them down.  Reagan was given a head-start with the "little kids" and cleaned up!  I guess there are some advantages to being the same size as your one- and two-year old cousins!

My Muse

I'm not much of a photographer, but I do enjoy my second-hand DSLR and charming subjects like my only favorite nephew.  Since my sister thinks an iphone is camera enough, and Lincoln tends to avoid looking anything like himself in pictures, capturing his little personality is a fun challenge.  Don't you just love the red locks, dimples and slight gap in the front teeth?  I'm entering this very unprofessional photo in a little contest for less-than-professionals over at my bloggy friend Nancy's Ordinary Miracles and the Crazy 8.  Yes, eight.  That's six kiddos: four bio, two adopted from Vietnam, and they're in the process of becoming foster-certified.  All that and she manages to maintain a fun blog with stunning photographs.  There are still a few days left to enter if you want to throw your hat in the ring!

                                                 



Play Ball!

 Saturday marked the beginning of softball season... our first!  Danny grew up playing ball and is famous (infamous?) for his "tomahawk" swing , and I spent a lot of my childhood watching the Seattle Mariners.  For Alyssa, Parker and I, however, this was our first foray into little league - or rather, a very low-key version sponsored by our local parks and rec.  Reagan was a great little cheerleader, and the big kids had a blast.  The only dark spot of our day was waiting for us on the countertop when we arrived home: 

Wolfie's bowl, sans Wolfie.  The goldfish Parker won at a fall carnival decided he'd had enough of life in a bowl... and jumped out.  Needless to say, this story doesn't have a happy Nemo ending.  Fortunately none of the kids were particularly attached to their pet, and Wolfie took a rather unceremonious trip from the countertop to the trash can.  

Magic Shoes

You might not know it just from looking at them, but these "farkly" shoes (that's "sparkly" for those of you that don't speak Reagan) have the power to motivate four year-olds to learn to tie.  Reagan came home from a date with my mom last week with these darling light-up treasures.  The girl was so determined to wear them that she didn't bother waiting for anyone else to form the bow for her: she sat down and did it herself!  Never mind that it took 10 minutes and didn't quite follow conventional methods; by the end, she had two perfect little bows on two perfect little feet.  In the days since, she's gotten quicker, neater, and even more determined to light up our world with her "farkles."

Green decorating

No, not the hyper-conservationist type green.  I'm all for taking care of the earth God has blessed us with, but He's given it for our use.  This post is a little bit lighter than that.  Like houseplants light.  I love filling my home with live plants, and maybe by sharing a few photos I'll be able to inspire some of you to enjoy them too.  My main inspiration for acquiring this collection began with a lack of the other kind of green.  I love plants for the same reason I love mirrors: they fill a lot of space for not a lot of cash.  Here's the little pony wall that separates our dining room from our family room.  The first shot is a nice collection of some of our favorite photos, knickknacks and mementos.  It's pretty enough, but lacks height, life and color.  Add a $5 plant in a clearance blue pot, and it becomes much more interesting. 

Here are few larger examples of space filling:

This beautiful Vietnamese pot (under $40 last summer at Costco) and plant ($18 at Sam's Club) distract attention away from our hideous builder-basic fireplace. 

This one sits in another clearance pot on an orange "Homer" bucket (draped in an old tablecloth) to fill the corner behind the couch in our living room.

Another larger specimen ($8 at Target with the pot) makes a neglected corner of our kitchen feel... less so.

I have plants in my bathroom (each less than $8 with the containers):

Plants in my kitchen:

I can't remember how much it cost to make this little terrarium, but it was cheap.  I bought supplies enough to make several for gifts, the plants themselves were the smallest cheapest ones Home Depot carries, and the glass jar was one I had on hand for serving drinks but never used because the little spigot thingy never worked right.

I love this little vignette of a dollar store rose, $1.49 pot that originally came with and housed paperwhites (Target post-Christmas clearance), my $2.50 bird from Michael's and little "designer" plate, also from Target ($3 maybe?).

I don't even mind fake greenery, as long as it's not trying too hard to be really green.  Does that make sense?  If not, maybe the pictures will.  Neither of these little beauties cost more than $4:

And two of my favorite new additions came courtesy of my favorite MIL, who somehow thought I could better care for some of the beautiful plants she inherited after her hard work at our church's Shepherd's Conference:

I've never had a fern or an orchid before, so I'm hoping I can keep them alive.  The funny thing is, my plants (like my goldfish) seem to live unnaturally long lives.  Honestly, I think they thrive on neglect.  Maybe other people just give their plants too much attention.  I don't feed them (the plants that is.  Our goldfish do get food fairly often.) I only water them occasionally and give them a good spray or wipe down once in a great while to combat dust.  All that to say: don't be afraid!  Plants are beautiful, inexpensive, and good for the environment!