The Circle of the Drain of Life

This week(end) Spencer had Backyard Bible School.  In my day, we received stickers, Smarties, Dum-Dums, and candy bars (if we said the Theme Memory Verse), for doing things like bringing our Bible, bringing a friend, saying our memory verse, or doing certain art projects.  I can't begin to explain the excitement for me as a 5 year old at the prospect of getting a king sized Hersey's chocolate bar.  In some ways, not much changed- little toys, pieces of candy, and art projects, etc.  And then came the Carassius auratus auratus, aka the Goldfish.

The kids were learning about Jonah and the Whale when I saw a friend of mine, and fellow parent, walk through the door holding a large bag of water.  As she got closer, I thought there were little plastic fish in it.  And then I it all became clear what was inside:  real, live, swimming fish.  Slowly, realization poured over me- Spencer was going to bring home a goldfish. 

It was actually kinda funny, because all of us parents pretty much had the same reaction. We were going to bring home this fish, buy it supplies, while our kids fell in love with it, and then in 48 hours it would most likely make it's way to Goldfish Heaven.  My first inclination was just to keep Spencer away from them and she would never know the difference if we didn't bring one home with us.  And then I thought about how excited I would have been about bringing home a REAL LIVE FISH from Bible School: it made a king size Hershey bar seem like a Tootsie Roll.  So as much I was not looking forward to being responsible for "killing" a fish, I didn't want Spencer to miss out on it.  And so, the goldfish, who was black, came home with us in a little water filled baggie.

I would love to tell you that after spending $18 at the pet store on a bowl, special de-chlorination and de-chloramination water drops, flaky fish food and pink and gold rocks for the bottom, that we are still the proud owners of a fish. I would love to tell you that even though Spencer pointed and said "Mama, look at that man!" in regards to the very large, fully clothed in leather, bandanna wearing, tattooed all over motorcycle man in the fish food aisle, that we are still the proud owners of a fish.  I would love to tell you that even after the aforementioned comment and the motorcycle guy came up to us and recommended the best water drops and fish food, that we are still the proud owners of a fish. I would love to tell you that I didn't spend two hours setting up his/her future humble abode, making sure he/she had acclimated to the water before releasing it from the baggie, and watching as he/she ate the food- just to make sure it had eaten, that we are still the proud owner of a fish.  And I would really love to tell that after making sure he/she had made it through the night before leaving for church that I didn't come home from church two hours later and find said fish floating on top of the water: the poor thing didn't even make it 24 hours. 

Here lies the problem- do I use this as a "life lesson" on death or do I replace the fish without Spencer knowing?  I've managed to keep her away from the fish bowl all day, but eventually she's going to see it. I don't really have a problem with getting another fish and having her be none the wiser- I just don't want to keep buying fish only to have them die one day later.  Any recommendations about low maintenance, cheap-ish fish that have a longer life expectancy?  Would a goldfish be happier if he had a friend swimming with him?  Did I do something wrong that inadvertently killed this one?

Even though this was a bit of a fish debacle, Spencer had a really great time at Bible School and she hasn't stopped talking about it or the fish.  I also really love that my Sunday School teacher told the Backyard Bible stories and will now be her Sunday School teacher (yesterday was promotion Sunday and Spencer moved up an age group).  It does make me feel super old, though, haha!

 Okay, so fish ideas, please!

The Best Spencer Story Yet

I think this is the best Spencer story ever, although the pee/car keys incident is a close second!   I can't wait for her to read this one day, ha!  We are still up here in the Middle of Nowhere and this weekend we drove up even farther to the Middlest of Nowhere, like no cell phone reception and no bathrooms except for outhouses; the real Middlest of Nowhere.

There is an old family house high up on a mountain, where Spencer's Poppy was born and raised, and we drive up there every time we visit.  But this was the first time we've been there since Spencer was potty trained. About an hour after we got there she told me she needed to go to the bathroom- except there was no bathroom.  So I did what any normal person would do- I took her around the back of the house (don't worry, there are no living souls for miles around) and showed her what to do.  Spence thought it was a pretty funny and she peed like she'd been peeing that way forever.

Fast forward one day.

Spencer is outside walking Leah on the leash when Leah goes to the bathroom.  I guess Spencer really had to go, because in two seconds, and without saying one word, she had pulled up her dress, pulled down her underwear, and was squatting right beside Leah.  Yes, Spencer and the dog were both peeing in the yard.  I was frozen- it was like the perfect combination of horror and hilarity and all I could do was stare, mouth agape.  When they were both done I explained to her that we don't use the bathroom like that, we go in the toilet- then she reminded me that I told her go pee at the Old House in the yard.  She also asked me "why can Leah pee outside?"  It's kinda tricky explaining these things to a three year old, ya know?

We haven't had any outside mishaps since then, thank goodness, but it is certainly an image I will never forget.  Tomorrow we are going home and I'm sad; it's so peaceful and calm here and I love being with PGGPs.  They are really going to miss Spencer, although I don't think they're going to miss watching Pippi Longstocking 15 times a day. 

Fix it Friday

The Before

My After

'Cause Earl Had to Die

Na na nana naaaaa na...  The main thing in the news this week is Hurricane Earl.  I'm a weirdo, I love hurricanes.  Not the destruction they cause, but the coziness that comes with everyone hunkering down together.  We always make soup or chili, play board games when the electricity goes out, all the while listening to the storm howl outside.  My senior year of college Hurricane Isabel come tearing up the East Coast; W&M was evacuated and we missed two weeks of school.  It was a great little vacay even though we lost our Fall break.  But back to Earl. Earl is nowhere to be found up here in the Middle of Nowhere.  While the Outer Banks, NC looks like this right now:

Up here in this neck of the North Carolina woods, it looks just like this:

Not a cloud in sight, bright, sunny, and warm.  I guess hurricanes can't make it this deep into Appalachia. 

How Does This Happen in Six Months?

The last time we were in The Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina was March of this year.  And, to me, she still looked like a toddler with a dash of little girl thrown in.  It was a little less than six months ago that I took these pictures of Spencer with Leah, the puppy.

Leah is now officially a dog, not a puppy, although she looks exactly the same, and Spencer is, well, see for yourself:

I can't get over how much she's changed since March! How does that happen?  I think she looks like such a grown up little girl now and that makes me want to cry.  Maybe it's because she's starting preschool in less than two weeks, but I'm feeling all kinds of sad and nostalgic about how quickly she's changing right before my very eyes.  About the only thing that hasn't changed is how much Spencer loves Leah. The other night she yelled to me from the bathroom that she needed me and I went in there, and there's Leah on her leash and Spencer on the toilet.  Yep, she even brings the dog to go to the bathroom with her.  Last night she woke me up when she started sleep talking and sleep laughing about something she was dreaming.  It was a little incoherent, but there was no mistaking that she was dreaming about an entire hilarious scenario involving her and Leah. Yep, she even dreams about the dog!

The Air Up There

There is something about this "cun-tree" air that just makes me want to sleep and sleep.  (that's how they say country down here in the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina)  I think it has something to do with how quiet it is here combined with some unknown sleep factor.  We wake up early every day and do farming type things, then we eat lunch and everyone takes a nap. Today we went into town and at about 2pm, Spencer, Great-Gran, and I started yawning and all we could talk about was how much we wanted to take a nice long nap.  Since town is about a 30 minute drive away and we were smack dab in the middle of errands, there was no nap to be had by any of us. 

But that didn't stop me from being productive- in fact, I actually baked one of the best things I've ever, in the history of time, made.  It's for breakfast tomorrow, but when it came out of the oven it just smelled so delish that we had to have a slice before wrapping it up. Want to see?

It's the most delicious cinnamon and sugar bread and I think it's the best thing that I've ever made.  I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe and made a few tweaks to it.  Here's my version for your viewing pleasure!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 2-½ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
• 2 whole Eggs
• ⅓ cups Sugar + 2 Tbsps
• 3-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2/3 cups Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• Egg And Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
• Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Directions 

• Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don’t boil. Allow to cool until it's very warm, but not quite hot. (Should not be steaming) Sprinkle yeast over the top and stir gently. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
• Combine flour and salt.
• Blend sugar and eggs with a mixer. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture (after it's sat for 10 mins) and stir to combine. 
• Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined. 
• At this point it might be too difficult for you to use your regular mixer.  If you have a KitchenAid mixer, you will be fine, but if you don't, you'll have to knead the dough yourself for at least 10 minutes. The dough should not be too sticky and if it is, add a little more flour and keep on working the dough until it's right.
• In a large bowl, drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap or a with a clean cloth and put it in the microwave for at least two 2 hours.
• When the two hours are up,  Turn dough out onto your work surface and punch it out.
• Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you’re going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. 
• Smear with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
•  Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal. 
•  Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap, put in back in the microwave and allow to rise for 2 more hours. 
•  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
•  Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. 
•  Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven. 
•  Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool

After all that work, you'll have the best cinnamon and sugar break that you've ever tasted.  And you can do fun things with it like this, haha!