brain freeze and transplant

My little hand-me-down laptop has been having a bit of brain freeze.

It had two previous owners, and it is beginning to act a little like an old lady.  She’s recently gotten very slow, fiesty, stubborn, and has refused to do anything quickly.  She doesn’t like multi-tasking, not one little bit, and heaven forbid that I try to open two programs at once.  I’ve gotten very frustrated by her stubbornness, and I’ve complained briefly mentioned it to G about 119 a few times.

G is what I like to think of as techno-savy.  But he’s not, really.  He’s just waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I am (which is pretty much none).  Anyway . . . he did some checking and made a couple of phone calls to some very kind (and techno-savvy) friends.  The consensus is that my hard-drive is slowly giving up the ghost.  It is–in a word–failing.

G checked around on the internet, talked to those same friends again, and decided to replace the hard drive on his own, with guidance from friends who know more that we do.

Soooo . . . my old girl (the laptop, just so we are clear) now has a new “brain”.  The transplant was more challenging than expected, and we are still having issues trying to find thousands of pictures, yes, THOUSANDS of pictures including our entire year in Kenya and meeting Pendo and bringing her home.  We know they are somewhere on the external hard drive, but they are hiding.  This is a bit disconcerting.   Hopefully we’ll figure that out soon, and by “we” I mean G.  I have no idea how to do that.

So, that’s all.  Not sure when I’ll get to post pictures of the fun things we’ve done recently, but at least my old girl has new energy and a bit more memory.  We all know what that means.  Right?  Well, I have a lot more space to save thousands more pictures of our cute little girls.

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lunch with friends

Rose LOVES to stuff baby dolls and stuffed animals behind her booster chair for most meals.

A few days ago, she set a record.

FIVE little friends squished into the teeny space behind her chair while she ate a taco.

She’s not at all bothered by someone looking over her shoulder, unlike her father who refuses to share the newspaper or any reading material with me.

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“salad”

G and I have been on a salad kick for the past week.

While we do enjoy a nice green salad with delicious, crisp vegetables mixed with romaine leaves gently torn in small pieces and some dressing, this is NOT the kind of salad I’m referring to right now.

In fact, I can’t help but smile every time we talk about this ‘salad’.

Have you ever had this one?

It’s whipped cream (the light version, of course),  a fresh, crisp apple chopped in small chunks, and THEN a Snickers bar also chopped in very small pieces.

Who would have thought?

It’s really quite delicious.  I think I’m going to go have some right now.

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realization

I’ve blogged before about how I LOVE Pendo’s hair.  Learning more about how to care for it and style it has been a real joy for me.  I’ve spent many evenings reading and learning more from many different places.  One of my favorites is a blog written by another adoptive mom.  She has twin girls, and I like to attempt several of the styles that she creates for her girls.  The problem is two-fold.  First . . . I’m a newbie and have much to learn and need a lot more practice and I’m slow.  Second . . . her girls are six years old which means they can sit for much longer than Pendo can right now.   This has led to a recent realization.  I think I need to keep is simple for Pendo (for the most part) for a while.

This fun hairstyle took TWO hours to complete, and it only looked nice for about 2 1/2 days.  Needless to say, both Pendo and I were wiped out after this one.  Won’t be doing that again for awhile.

I love these bantu knots, and it didn’t take very long to create this style.

I’ll probably be doing some simple little puffs like these for the most part.  It doesn’t really matter how it’s styled, this little cutie will look adorable.

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growing up

Today was Rose’s first day of preschool.  She was tooooooo cute, if I say so myself.

She was very excited about her backpack and insisted on carrying it by herself.

She also insisted on wearing her red, sparkly shoes . . . with her pink clothes.

Come on, mom.  Let’s go!!

She headed off to her class without a single tear or even a look back at mama.  Could it be that just three years ago she was still in the NICU, and we didn’t know if she would live?  How far she’s come!  My little one is growing up!

On the way home, she was so excited about her morning at school.  She cheerfully announced, “I am happy to go back to my school yater.”

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update from the potty trainer

I feel a little guilty that I haven’t been blogging this week.  Why?  Not sure.  It’s not like I HAVE to or get paid for it or anything.  This week I just haven’t felt like taking pictures or blogging, and I’m not sure why.  Maybe because this entire week has been about accidents and successes and rewards and staying close to the potty at home.  The girls really are doing QUITE well . . . BOTH of them.  They are completely out of diapers except for nap time and night time.  I thought I’d be more excited about that, especially since we mainly use cloth diapers, and two kids in cloth diapers means a LOT of extra laundry.  Anyway, I think I’ll be really excited about it when we have fewer accidents.  I’m making it sound like it’s been difficult and full of setbacks, but Rose and Pendo are really doing great overall.

This week has also been about establishing a new back-to-school routine which affects everything.  I started a new class on Tuesdays that I’m excited about, and we went to two Open Houses.  Kait showed us her classroom on Thursday evening, and we took Rose to her preschool Open House on Friday morning.  She begins preschool on Monday.  I’ll miss her, but we know it will be really good for me to have some time alone with Pendo, and it’s good for Rose to be around other kids her age and get a break from 24/7 time with Pendo.

The highlight of this week (for me) will be today!  My college roommate is bringing her daughter over to our house today, and we’re going to get to have a much needed catching-up chat.  Well, I hope so anyway.  The kids will also be around, so I’m sure it will be quite interrupted, but fun just the same.

Go Bwoo!

What did you say?  Don’t you mean ‘Go Blue’?

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potty x 2

Now I think I know what parents of twins feel like when they are potty training.  It is definitely more challenging that training one, but hopefully it will be worth it when they are both finished with diapers at the same time.

Chocolate has been very motivating for both little girls, especially Pendo.  I’m constantly amazed how often she can squeeze out some pee just so she can get some chocolate. She is one clever girl!

We’ve had our ups and downs this week with training, and yesterday I was ready to give up and try again in a couple of weeks.  G disagreed and said that Pendo was rocking it when he was watching the girls for a bit yesterday.  I’m glad we kept at it because today both girls have been very successful.  We had to stay home all day because Kait has ANOTHER stomach virus (the second one in two weeks!) , so I took off the diapers and “Bare Buns Day” seems to have helped a lot.

Another bonus to training two at a time is that my legs are getting a workout!  I’ve started counting how many times I run up and down the stairs every day to pour the contents of the little potties (from the main floor) into the big potty upstairs.  I hope and pray that somehow this stomach junk skips over the little girls.  Wishful thinking, I’m sure.  If they get it too, then we may have some more set backs with training.  Two steps forward, one step back.  That’s life with a two and three year old.

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motivation

Can you guess what’s been happening at our house this week?

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one of my favorite things

Anyone who knows the Austins well knows that we enjoy baking and eating dessert.  I think baking is one of my very favorite things to do, and when you mix in a great recipe for dessert . . . it doesn’t get much better than that!

Several years ago G and I found a recipe for s’more brownies.

Yeah.  You heard me.

S’MORES combined with BROWNIES (my very favorite dessert of all).   YUM!

Now this recipe is naughty (as are most dessert recipes that are actually good), so we don’t make this one very often.  I baked them a couple of days ago and thought I’d share the recipe in case you need something delicious to bake this week.

First, gather your supplies.

1.  any 9×13 brownie mix          2. chocolate chips      3. about 5-6 large graham crackers

4.  some mini marshmallows       5.  peanuts (optional, but recommended by me!)

Second, either lay the graham crackers side-by-side along the bottom of the 9×13 pan or crumble them and sprinkle them along the bottom (I think it bakes faster if you crumble them).

Third, in a separate bowl, mix the brownies according to the directions on the box.

Then spread the brownie batter over the graham crackers and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Don’t worry, delicious toppings.  Your turn is next!

After the brownies have baked for 25 minutes and have made your home smell like a little bit of heaven, then gather the toppings–chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows, and peanuts.

Sprinkle the toppings on until they look about right.

I know.  I know.  Baking is all about measuring things exactly, but trust me on this one.  I just eyeball it until it looks perfect, and then pop it back into the oven for another 9-10 minutes.

It should look like this.  AH-MAZE-ING!!

This ooey-gooey goodness is WORTH the extra mile on the treadmill.  Trust me.

What are some of your favorite desserts of all time?

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first day fun

Yesterday was back to school.  Kait was quite nervous, but also a bit excited.

I told her I would have a little surprise waiting for her when she returned home.

I’ve been wanting to make these for almost 13 years.

So what’s the deal?

See these little glasses?

My grandma gave them to me about 13 years ago after G and I got engaged.  I wasn’t sure what she had used them for, but she wanted me to have them as I began my new life with G.  As soon as I saw them, I thought they would be perfect for chocolate mousse, maybe a first-day-of-school tradition.  I packed them away neatly and didn’t open the box for 9 years.  We moved about 5 times since I first received them, and I didn’t unpack them until we moved into the house we have now.  I knew I would use them for first-day-of-school-mousse for Kait when she started Kindergarten.  Well, for some reason, that didn’t happen for Kindergarten, and we lived in Kenya for the first part of first grade . . . SO I finally got to use them this year!!  It’s been a long time coming!  I also planned to adorn the mousse with freshly picked raspberries.  Oh well, maybe I’ll get to that part next year.

Rose helped me whip up the mousse while Pendo napped.  I’m not sure I should post this one, but I just have to.

What would YOU do with the extra mousse?

She’s excited!

What a way to celebrate the first day of SECOND grade!!  Love you, precious girl, and I hope you have an amazing year.

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