Nothing Like Grandma Margie's Bowl

So this morning we woke to the sound of shattered glass. Scott immediately jumped out of bed and when I got to the living room I saw 2 sheepishly looking boys and my husband who said, "You are Not going to be happy!"

Apparently one of my favorite kitchen items or just items in general had been dropped and was now shattered all over the carpet. At first I saw the yellow pieces but it had not registered what it was. I was glad the boys were OK and then sent them to their room. It was then when I asked what it was, that my heart began to sink. OK, OK "its just a bowl" you say. And yes, no item on this earth is more cherished than my family.....but then again, this wasn't just any bowl...it was that 1940s, vintage yellow, Pyrex bowl that had belonged to my grandma so long ago. My first memories in the kitchen were watching my grandma put things in that yellow bowl. I loved when she would pour the yeast into the warm water and sugar and watching it bubble.

"no touching" she said, "just let it rest for a few minutes".

And then to see that become such a beautiful dough that wasn't quite done until it "felt like a baby's bottom" (no clue where she came up with that one(-: ) And then she would roll out the dough, spread out melted butter, sprinkle some Cinnamon sugar and the most delicious Cinnamon rolls would emerge. So simple, yet so hard to replicate!

There wasn't a time that I used that bowl that I wouldn't just think of Grandma, if only for a second. Just yesterday Elijah and I were mixing a batter in it and I thought to myself, "How cool, my grandma gave me a passion for baking and cooking starting with this bowl and now I am sparking an interest with my son."

One of our favorite uses for the bowl was what we did with it last night...it was the vessel to some might yummy popcorn. Anyway, the bowl is gone and with it a symbol I would always equate with my grandma. Thank goodness God allows us to keep such special memories with or without the bowls.

Wow, 6 months has flown by!

Well, actually August 2nd was the 6 month mark, but whose counting??? Well, it just happened to work out that Shoahannah's Hope deadline for submitting grant recipient stories is this Saturday, so it was perfect timing to work on a video! Here it is, well the link anyway, and I promise to start blogging more often(-:

~ciao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6sEyVwVjBY

So, I have been AWFUL at blogging this summer. its probably facebook's fault(-: I'll try to get better, well maybe after the summer is over! Anywho, this little video is for gramma jo, aunt kelly and aunt susan...and well, anyone else that want to peek into the mind of Elijah. Most of the pictures and videos were taken by him on his camera he got for his birthday...

What a PAIN!!

So, I hate migraines! Seriously, are they really necessary?? I'm trying to enjoy our 2nd day of camp, and whammo...ugghhh! I HATE MIGRAINES. Anywho, I'm obviously feeling better, at least enough to mess on the 'ol lappy...in the dark mind you. anywho, that's that!

June 2nd, another special day!

So far in 2009 we have had many incredible days. January 2nd, we officially became the parents of Yonatan and a family of 4. February 2nd we finally got to hold him in our arms. Yesterday, June 2nd, we readopted him in the State of Ohio. Going into the courtroom we knew Yonni was our son and nothing would change that, and this was just another paperwork thing towards his citizenship...but for me it still had its hints of excitement. Because we were not able to be in the courtroom for the original adoption in Ethiopia, this gave me the sense of it being official. As a family, this time we were all able to be participants. Although we have had our share of tough days, we are so blessed to have gone on this journey and even more blessed to be able to call Yonatan our son.

Here is Elijah and Yonni as we made our way to the courthouse.

Daddy leading the way

A quick photo opp before entering the building.

Waiting in anticipation for the judge to see us.

They took us into the courtroom and we were seated and had to wait for the judge to arrive. Elijah and Yonni had fun playing peek-a-boo under the table.

YAY, its over and my name is now officially Yonatan James Williams!!!

Sometimes they are just so darn cute!! I love to see how much they care for eachother!

Where has May gone?

So I looked at when I last posted and wow...May 3rd? Where has this month gone??? Well, in a nutshell...Here I go...

Elijah is still doing super at soccer

For Mother's Day Scott made an incredible lunch

and I had fun playing with my boys!

Elijah had his last day of preschool...which means kindergarten starts soon...so sad!

Here's another of him on his last day with my new flower bed in the background. Yep, May included a lot of yard work and gardening too!

That takes us to this past weekend, where we enjoyed getting away to Michigan of all places to attend the Alma Scottish Festival. Some friends let us borrow their pop-up camper and we made a weekend out of it Here's some pics of the boys sporting their prized possessions...their kilts!

I must say, at first i may not have been the most excited about those things, but darn if they don't look cute! They're winning me over(-:

So the main reason we went to the festival is because Scott is really getting into the Highland games and will be competing a couple times this summer in them. So the last picture has a little to do with that. On Saturday, after the "Pros" competition was over, they opened the field up to the "common man". They had a farmer's walk, you had to walk as far as you could carrying 400lbs! Yep, 200lbs on each side! So Scott said he was going to try. After seeing the bodybuilders that were doing it as well, I was a little nervous for Scott. "Oh ye of little faith" Sorry honey, but I had no clue you'd be able to get 2nd!! Yep, he took second out of 8, so I was very proud of him and must say shocked as well!! The pic below is what he walked around the track with. I'll have to post the video later!

Geographical Tongue

So...anyone ever heard of this??? For us, I'll start at the beginning. The second day after being united with Yonatan we started to notice some random weird white spots on Yonni's tongue. At first I just thought he had a couple of fever blisters, but by the third day they had grown into lines and circles and then the next couple days they seemed to move around in different places on his tongue. Jokingly I said it looked like his tongue was an alien road map. Being in Ethiopia at the time, we started asking and no one really seemed weirded out by it or worried, but no one really had answers either. Scott and I started really freaking out. After being there a week, a new family came into the guest home and the wife was a dental hygienist and she right away suggested that it was "geographical tongue". After returning to the US, that was one of the questions we had for the pediatrician. Of course, the day of our appointment, his tongue was completely normal. We described what was going on and he too right away said "Geographical tongue". He too seemed to not even give it a second thought and said don't worry about it. I've since been trying to research it and have read horror stories from random Internet sites but on webmd and more trustworthy sites, they all suggest that it is really nothing.

The mayo clinic says...

"Geographic tongue is a harmless oral condition that gives your tongue a map-like, or geographic, appearance. The distinct look of geographic tongue occurs when parts of your tongue are missing the layer of small bumps called papillae. Although geographic tongue may look alarming, it doesn't cause any health problems and isn't associated with infection or cancer. Geographic tongue is usually painless but can sometimes cause tongue discomfort and increased sensitivity to certain substances. Geographic tongue often heals in one area and then moves (migrates) to a different part of your tongue. Geographic tongue is also known as benign migratory glossitis."

So anyway, random info about our son's tongue. At this point he doesn't seem to be bothered by it, so I'll try not to either. I think he thinks that sticking your tongue out all the time to show people is just a common thing, like saying hi(-: And just because I think its rather interesting to look at...here are some pics(-: