suz-mae

Tried and True Recipes–Whole Wheat Pancakes

2012-02-23T23:21:00.002+02:00

I love breakfasty/brunchy food. I just told a friend today that I think it’s one of my love languages. Ha! Problem is, it’s usually not so healthy.

But these pancakes are super wholesome and really delicious too! Make sure your baking powder is fresh though, or else these will gag you. Funny what a difference that one small thing can make (learned that from experience).

Glory, once again, to my fav food blog… www.skinnytaste.com!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups + 2 tbsp fat free milk
2 tsp vanilla
cooking spray

Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well with a spoon until there are no more dry spots; don't over-mix.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Lightly spray oil to coat and pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter. When the bubbles settle and the edges begin to set, flip the pancakes. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.
Makes 14 pancakes.

(Recipe taken from here!)

Toxic

2012-02-21T19:40:00.003+02:00

Early last year I started a journey of learning more about what we put in and on our bodies daily. Is the food we’re eating really food? Are our cleaning products unsafe? Are our personal care products healthy? The information is overwhelming (and sometimes a bit sensational and one sided), but I wanted to start making real changes for the better.

It’s easy to get frustrated with all the information and suggestions. I try to learn and make gradual changes so my husband won’t call me crazy and promptly move out. He he. He would never do that!

I decided that since our skin is the largest organ of our body… that would be a good place to start. We scrub and smear products on ourselves and our children more often throughout the day than I realized. Deodorant. Shampoo. Soap. Sunscreen. Lotions. Lip balm. I read all about parabens and phlates and lots of other confusing words that essentially are the toxins in our products.

My research took me to The Environmental Working Group’s website called Skindeep. There you can find out how your toiletry and personal care products rate on their ‘hazard scale’. The scale is from zero to nine, zero being perfectly safe and nine being no good at all. So I went search crazy. I started searching everything our family used. And I was shocked. Floored. Freaked out! And my husband might have been annoyed, but whatever.

This face care line that was my yearly splurge ever since we moved to Africa where the sun is strong and harsh? Ranked an 8 for high hazard. Wow. I used these products religiously for five years thinking I was doing my skin good.

Wrong-o. Not good. BAD. Very bad.

L’oreal failed to inform me that they had in fact, been poisoning me for all those years. How rude of them.

And how about this sunscreen stick that I faithfully carried in my diaper bag?

It’s only a 3. But the identical Banana Boat version? A 7!!! A product marketed to protect babies from the rays of the sun was actually putting poison directly onto their skin (and therefore, into their bloodstream, cause that’s what happens when you put something on your skin).

Okay, maybe I sound like the sensational one here, but I get so angry! It’s so unhealthy! It’s toxic! And they sell it to us making us think that we are doing something good for our sweet little innocent offspring! Terrible. Just terrible.

Don’t even get me started on Johnson and Johnson. Okay. DO get me started!

Like many parents, we faithfully have bathed our children in Johnson’s baby wash and then smeared the sweet smelling lotion all over their tiny bodies from the start. This lotion rates a 7!

And here I am rubbing it into my newborn girlie after her first bath a couple year ago. Greeeeeeaaat.

Anyway it was recently all over the news (See here and here, for only two examples) that they admitted to their usage of toxic ingredients in their baby (and other) products. Basically, they knew it all along and kept doing it until they got caught.

Can’t we trust anyone these days!? Ha! I’m kidding. Sorta. I glanced through the list, and even Burts’s Bees and Aveeno had baby products rated at 7. And those are brands that are specifically marketed as natural and safe.

This rant could go on and on. But I think you get the idea.

Go to this website. Check out your products and learn about it for yourself. Know what you’re putting on your family’s skin. You may be surprised.

Some of our gradual changes have been:

-Making our own foaming handsoap with Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap (I’ll show you how soon!).

-Using Coconut Oil for moisturizing and to treat diaper rashes.

-Switching to unscented glycerin or organic soap instead of regular bar soap.

-Greatly decreasing the amount of shampoo we use.

Even these simple changes have greatly reduced the amount of chemicals we use on our skin greatly. We save money too (which is how I get my husband on board with some of these! Ha!)

Personal Cinema III

2012-02-21T07:06:00.001+02:00

Awhile ago (okay, a looong time ago, it feels like now) I posted about my boy’s personal cinemas in Africa. Those are h ere and here.

Now I show you Sweet N’s personal cinema the other day.

Hey. If she’s happy sitting on the table watching a movie… let the girl sit on the table and watch a movie! Ha!

Grocery Grins

2012-02-14T20:09:00.003+02:00

Who knew my grocery tears would turn into grocery grins?! I’m grinning because today, I officially became a published author! Whoo-hooo!

My article, Grocery Tears, has been published over here at:

Click above to check it out! (Also, welcome to all of those who popped over here because they already read the article and actually made it to the end to see my blog address! Ha! Thanks! I’m honored!)

And since we’re on the topic of the grocery, I’ll tell you that it has me grinning these days for another reason besides the actual published author thing…

Car carts, as my kiddos call them!

These are one of the glories of the overwhelming U.S. grocery stores. I thank God for them in my prayers every night. Well, not really. But maybe I should!

There must be a thousand varieties in various stores in this country…

And that is definitely a good thing. I hope the person who invented them is rich and happy… they deserve it for all the (semi) peaceful shopping hours they have allowed us mothers of toddlers to experience when we previously had no hope…

I mean, just look at how happy my boy is with his mini-cart! (Just watch your ankles, folks!) He was so stinkin’ happy with that thing that it was actually way more fun to shop with him that day than without him (and that’s a pretty strong statement for a mother of a four year old!)

Grocery stores in America aren’t all bad, I suppose…

Snow Much Fun

2012-02-14T01:14:00.001+02:00

We’ve seen two decent snows since we returned to the U.S. in December. The first was in Ohio and my kiddos were pretty excited!

Noelle couldn’t have remembered snow and she mostly wanted (and still wants) to do one thing with it. One thing only.

Eat it!

“Bite ‘now”? She asks everytime we go outside to any amount of snow, no matter how clean or dirty. This day in January… it was fresh and clean!

After a little sledding, Poppi helped her eat a little more. Poppis are so helpful like that.

She was less of fan of the sledding, however.

Yeah. Not happy.

But this little guy was having the TIME OF HIS LIFE.

Seriously. So happy!

He was outside with Poppi for a really long time and never did get cold. (Please ignore his lavender snow pants… we are so thankful for hand-me-downs… who wants to pay for snow pants and who cares what color they are?!)

Sweet N didn’t last outside very long…

But she wasn’t willing to stop the eating of the snow.

So her wonderful Daddy got her a couple cups of it to eat in the comfort of the warm (sled-less) kitchen.

Oh my. Cutest snow-eater EVER.

I Love Having a Girl

2012-02-12T08:03:00.001+02:00

That’s all.

Good night.

Sweet New One–Newborn Photography

2012-02-09T05:22:00.004+02:00

I’ve been working on my photography skills lately and asked some friends if I could practice on their sweetest little newborn girlie. She was probably under six pounds the day I showed up at their place for this little session. She surprised us and was awake and alert almost the entire time! I still have sooo much to learn, but I am pleased with some of the shots I got.

And now, just a week later, this precious baby is in the hospital fighting RSV. Would you send up a prayer for her body to be strong and breathe well?

What a special little things she is…

Nite Nite

2012-02-07T02:21:00.001+02:00

I haven’t been tucking my babies into their beds the past several days. But if I had been tucking my girlie in bed for nap or nighttime sleeping, this is the arrangement that she demands.

Baby, baby, baby and monkey. All four sharing a pillow and a blanket. Then MY baby and her (matching) pillow and blanket. And yes, she still uses her corker, aka pacifier. Don’t judge.

Get it right or she may refuse to lay down. You may find her sitting up in the corner of the bed thirty minutes later, unhappy about the sleeping arrangements.

She’s a bit particular and I LOVE her.

Also, I get to tuck her in tomorrow night!

Missing Mama. Or Not.

2012-02-06T04:34:00.001+02:00

My day on airplanes coming out east was as blissful and uneventful as I imagined. And I was made even more thankful because I missed a blizzard in Denver by only a couple of hours. Thank you Jesus.

Mike and the kids are doing great. Of course. Chick Fil-A, various parties, the library, baking, grocery store, reading, a trip to the work-out room with Daddy… he’s doing it all. Frankly, I don’t know what I’m needed for anymore.

*sniff sniff*

Ha! Just kidding. The kids talk to me on the phone a couple times a day. Sweet N is more willing and much more difficult to understand. H is sometimes too busy to talk to silly ol’ Mom on the phone, despite how certain he was of his sadness before I left. The few days before my departure he was telling me often that he was going to miss me and didn’t want me to go. Then on the drive to the airport he said all these things:

“Mom, I will cry the whole night.”

“Mom, I will cry the whole week.”

“If you don’t give me a hug and a kiss tonight I’ll be sad.”

“Mama, I’m gonna want you.”

“Mama, I want to stay with you.”

“But what if I want Daddy to hold me and he’s not soft on his belly like you are?”

“Mama, I’m gonna miss you.”

Oh. My. Word. He is the sweetest boy that ever did live. I don’t even care that he calls me fat in his loving comments. I was tempted to pack him in my bag and bring him along. Sort of. Maybe.

Speaking of sweet. Check out these little ones…

Davis is a fabulous big brother, loving on his baby sister and singing her name when she cries. And as you can see… Daphne does have a thing for crying, bless her precious little heart. Frankly, she just isn’t that crazy about being awake. I think we all have been familiar with that feeling at some point in our lives. I guess Sister and I both got our due with our baby girlies, after our piece-of-cake firstborn boys. Ha!

So so perfect, isn’t she? She likes to sleep in my arms, which makes her extra wonderful, too.

I do believe that is probably about all the cuteness you can probably handle today…

Solo Trip

2012-02-02T16:11:00.006+02:00

Guess what. I’m taking a trip. ALOOOONE.

Say what?!!

It’s true. Today I’m flying to Charlotte to see my Sis, Bro-in-Law, nephew and of course… sweet newborn Daphne!

Just look a her. Just look. My sis tells me that she’s been asking about me all week and wondering when I’m coming.

Well sweet girlie, Auntie Suz is coming TODAY to meet you!! Don’t you fret your perty little self…

Aside from meeting her and hanging out with the fam, I plan to do other things that are even more rare occurrences. Like sit on an airplane seat all by myself (obvious, I know, but definitely worth a mention). And not carry any diapers. And travel with ONLY carry-ons (Did I just say that?!). And sit in my airplane seat marveling at the lack of toddlers by my side. Then sit in my airplane seat and cry at the lack of toddlers by my side. Then pull out a hanky to blow my nose and remember my sweet boy who made me a hanky for Christmas and cry even harder. Oh my. I also plan to eat my traveling snacks all by myself without sharing. I will walk through airports without pushing a stroller, without tugging a child by the hand and without spreading loads of crumbs in every gate I wait in. And when I arrive, there will be no traces of snot, vomit or smeared peanut butter on my clothing. Glory halleluiah.

Hold up. I'm not done.

When I arrive I plan to sleep in a (fabulous) King size bed all by myself, whenever I want, for as long as I want. I'm gonna sew stuff without one of my children on my lap. And read books without pictures. I’ll call home and talk to my hubby and my babies and tell ‘em how much I miss ‘em and how much I wish they were with me. Then I’ll hang up and wonder if I really meant that or not. Then I’ll struggle with internal conflict for the next half an hour. Then I’ll curl up on the couch and drown my internal conflict with a fuzzy blanket, a newborn baby and lots of cooking shows.

I think you get the idea. It’s gonna be great.

I’ve been seriously looking forward to this for awhile. I think it does a Mama some serious good to get away. And maybe it does the Daddy some serious good to? I can’t count the number of times in the past few days that Mikey has said “Don’t leave me!” He he. Don’t you worry about me, friends, I’m gonna be doin’ juuust fine… But maybe you could pray for my husband? Ha! He’s gonna be doin’ great too. He's amazing. I love him. And it's mostly him I have to thank for the gift of this weekend...

Vocabulary Lesson

2012-01-31T23:29:00.001+02:00

My boy’s vocabulary continues to multiply. He’s super fun and I love his words. Whether or not he gets it quiiiiite right…

This is a “House section”, aka, a housing development.

“Fire sprinkles” are what fly out of fire when it is stoked.

A “Steam roller” is used to roll out cookies.

He loves to drink “White water Coke”.

This is a “Whiskers”.

Grammi and Poppi played “Bee-nokoly” with him in Ohio.

Sweet N’s favorite property was the “Yai yai berks.” Ha!

The projected words on the wall at church is actually a “Magic wall.”

These are “Fire sticks”, naturally.

Which would make these “Ear sticks.”

And we have “Crew-nuts”

and “Glitters”.

I do hope you learned much from today’s vocabulary lesson.

Felt Baking Kits–Hearts!

2012-01-30T14:58:00.004+02:00

Recently I created these homemade felt baking kits for my two little munchkins. They were a hit!

It would make a super cute Valentine’s gift for the mini-mes in your life and there is still time to make it happen before the 14th of February.

Here is the whole kit. But I’ll show you some details…

The ‘dough’ that gets rolled out is two layers of tan felt. I doubled the felt so that it would feel less flimsy than a single layer. It would definitely work with one layer also. I spent most of my time zig-zagging around the edge of these pieces and if I’d only done one layer, it wouldn’t have been necessary to zig-zag at all.

Using a cookie cutter as your pattern, cut the shapes out of the felt with a sharp razor blade. That way your little baker can cut and re-cut the perfect shapes each time.

The pan and spatula were bargains and I added my own details…

I love tiny details. And these small details help to keep the whole set along the same theme and make it easy to identify that it’s not my spatula that I suddenly find missing when I’m trying to scramble eggs. But it also makes it possible to distinguish her rolling pin from his rolling pin, if you know what I mean and if you understand the importance of being able to distinguish! the two. Two bakers fighting over whose rolling pin is whose are not happy bakers. (Yes, I made a boy set too!)

I covered a bargain hot pad with my accent fabric and trimmed the edge with pinking shears. Easy peazy.

Who wants a cookie without toppings? Okay, I’ll take a cookie any ol’ way, but it’s more fun with icing and sprinkles!

Perfect!

I also included this sweet apron. It was mine when I was tiny, but it wouldn’t be hard to create your own.

Lastly, I sewed this cute bag to gather all the bits and bobs.

Here’s the boy kit. It’s so manly, eh? His apron is a dish towel with a length of black binding tape quickly sewed onto the top. He looks oh-so-handsome with it on too!

And here are the little details on the boy set. So fun.

In closing, I have a Warning: DON’T attempt stars unless you’re really committed… it was much more difficult to zig-zag these felt shapes than the hearts. I really wish I’d just chosen a circle or something, anything without 10 sides!

My kids love these sets. I have even hauled them to church as a quiet activity and it worked. My happy little bakers baked away. Until my littlest baker started hitting her spatula on anything hard that made a noise. Oops. What are you gonna do? She’s two! I still called it a success!

So there ya have it…

Dedication

2012-01-30T04:52:00.001+02:00

My daughter is passionate about the kitchen rag. She asks for it at each meal and then complains if it’s not wet enough. “Yai yai!” she demands. So I wet it and pass it on over.

And she will go to great lengths to make sure she gets every last inch of the table clean.

That’s what you call dedication. Ha!

If only I could get her to help me clean the rest of the apartment. Oh my…

Quote of the Day

2012-01-26T18:33:00.001+02:00

H: Mom, is it summer?

Me: No.

H: What season is it?

Me: Winter.

H: Okay then, I’m doing a wintersault instead of a somersault.

H’s First Homework

2012-01-26T02:22:00.001+02:00

My boy started preschool a couple weeks ago and looooves it. Like, totally.

It wasn’t long before he came home with his first homework assignment. I think I may have been almost as excited as he was.

He was super concentrated on his assignment, which was to connect the big shape to the little shape with a line.

He did it with almost no help from me, but as you can see, he didn’t take the ‘short route’ between the shapes. He did NOT want to have to cross one line with another line and would take the loooong way around to avoid having to cross lines. I had to do quite a bit of cajoling to get him to finally cut across the magenta line near the bottom right corner to connect the big diamond to the small diamond. Silly boy!

And here’s lil’ missy, who also completed a project when she had a playdate the other day. She was so proud, showing me the second I walked in the room to pick her up and talking about her project and her flower all day long…

Reverie

2012-01-24T19:23:00.001+02:00

Sunday afternoon I lay in bed after a rare and wonderful nap. Swedish foam and down comforter on a wintery day are an amazing combination. I think I could have laid there till the next morning…

I stared up at the ceiling trying to decipher shapes and faces out of the dimple dots above me as my mind was wandering around the world and back.

I was feeling so reflective, pausing to remember in detail our home in Africa. I was walking through our apartment laying my mind’s eye and my thoughts on various details that I love. That I miss. And I was fondly thinking of our friends there. I miss them too.

Enough time has passed that our life there has largely become idealistic in my head. I think this happens naturally when you are separated from a place or person for a significant amount of time. However, I’m smart enough to know that life there wasn’t perfect and that it comes with a heap of ‘character-building’ experiences, DAILY.

But I still miss my white tile countertop and my santuko knife. And the local market. And my gas stove. And I really, really miss my friends. For a short time that afternoon, I felt like I was back there again. It was nice.

“The gift of reverie is a blessing divine, and it is conferred most abundantly on those who lie in hammocks or drive alone in cars. Or lean on hillside fences in Kentucky. The mind swims, binding itself to whatever flotsam comes along, to old driftwood faces and voices of the past, to places and scenes once visited, to things not seen or done but only dreamed.”

William Nack wrote those prose in his article “Pure Heart” about Secretariat in Sports Illustrated. I read the book last year and read his article soon after. This paragraph struck me as some beautifully crafted sentences and I wrote them down and have read them many times since then.

If you ask me, reverie is also conferred on those who snuggle in a warm bed on a frigid Sunday afternoon. And it was a blessing divine.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-23T22:49:00.001+02:00

I think this is my first time posting a Quote of the Day from someone other than a family member. This is the first and will not be the last. Words hold such power and wisdom. They challenge and inspire, don’t they?

It is the good things that keep us from the best things.

–Anne Ortlund

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

2012-01-22T05:10:00.003+02:00

I reached a new level in my Mama experience this Christmas. My boy H made me a gift (with Grammi’s help)! It was the first time he has ever made a gift for me. Oh. My. Goodness.

The tears welling up in my eyes really took me off guard as I unwrapped it and saw what it was. My heart EXPLODED when I opened this treasure.

It’s a hanky. (Yes, we’re a hanky family and proud of it. Cotton fibers are so much nicer to the skin than the paper fibers of tissues.) My son colored a rainbow of his favorite colors on his Mama’s new most favorite hanky ever. It's beautiful and I love it. It can’t be explained. Also, it's way too lovely to ever actually blow any of my snot into it. Just too darn special.

Way. Way. Special.

Hearts ‘n Stuff

2012-01-21T07:53:00.004+02:00

Tonight I decided it was high time to decorate for Valentine’s Day. You agree? No? You think I’m crazy. But that’s okay!! I don’t care!

As a side note, I ordered a four dollar kids book about Saint Valentine and I’m super excited to read it to my kids (or watch Mike read it to the kids, which is much more likely) and learn how the holiday started... I know it’s roots aren’t traced back to Hallmark. I also know I could just google it, but I’d much rather have a book.

Aaaanyway, I brought some things from Ohio decorate with (I love shopping at my Mom’s house!), and they certainly make do in our current temporary place!

I sewed these little (not-handmade) flowers onto this gorgeous crocheted lace. I like this little garland so much I do hope I can find somewhere to put it all year ‘round! ( I talk as if I have a home… ha!)

The subway art was downloaded from eighteen24 – a lovely site – and framed in a thrifted frame.

And I had no plans to make this little guy (gal?), but I saw the supplies when I was digging around in the sewing box that I grabbed out of storage a few days ago, the idea popped in my head and I whipped it up. I love it!

I don’t think these will be the last pink and red and hearty things you see from me…

Quote of the Day

2012-01-20T05:39:00.002+02:00

Me: H, what was the best part of your day?

H: Snuggle time.

Me: Where did you have snuggle time?

H: At school. (preschool)

Me: Who did you snuggle with?

H: Jesus.

Fresh to This World

2012-01-18T05:20:00.001+02:00

This morning I got a text. It was a photo.

Have you ever seen a woman in labor look so happy and perky and beautiful! Um, yeah… you ain’t never EVER gonna see a pic of me when I was in labor up here in these virtual parts.... Lord have mercy… how does my sister look so fabulous?!! This was even before the epidural! Also, let me mention (with a tad of jealousy)… that she was 5 to 6 centimeters dilated before labor even really started… have you ever heard of such a thing?! She’s a machine, I tell ya…

Anyway, you may have guessed by now that she made me an Auntie again today! Woot woot!

Daphne Eve Marie was born this evening weighing 9 1/2 pounds and measuring 22 inches long. She a healthy gorgeous thing and everyone is doing great!

She is perfect, has some good lungs (heard her on the phone calls!) and looking so much like her big brother’s little sister! I can’t wait to bundle her up in my arms when I get to take a solo (yes, I’m traveling alone!) trip to go and welcome her to this world myself sometime soon.

Congratulations Sar and Dave! She’s a miracle, formed by God’s hands and placed in your arms.

Homemeade Baby Legs (aka Leg Warmers)

2012-01-16T17:27:00.003+02:00

Sweet N had some teeny tiny legwarmers when she was a wee one, thanks to my husband’s cuz (Hi Nicole!). They were pretty darn cute and I wanted a repeat. So I made her some! I picked up a couple pairs of women’s knee socks on clearance at Target way back in the summer.

Then I took them to Jordan, followed the instructions on this website, using the foot of the sock to make a cuff on the long leggy part.

I sewed it all by hand over several sittings. I rarely sit for more than, um, twelve seconds, so it’s a bit challenging to find time to hand sew some toddler leggings. Ha! They are far from perfect, but I was very pleased with the outcome.

My model was on location in India when these photos were taken.

These knit leggies have already several countries and back again. Oh my.

But they don’t stay still for long!

Stubborn Little Stinker–N’s Two Year Portraits

2012-01-13T21:11:00.001+02:00

While down in Charlotte last week I thought it a good time to take advantage of the milder weather and attempt some portraits of my girl, since she had a birthday and all.

Oh my.

I took my photography entourage to the park along with the wee model. My entourage included my father with a second camera and my husband with a backpack of some 'make her laugh’ tools and some candy for bribing.

We wandered around that park for probably an hour, doing anything and everything trying to crack a grin out of my daughter and mostly, we all failed. Miserably. At certain points we could tell that she was purposefully trying to hold back her cute smiles. That little stubborn stinker, I can’t think of where she could have possibly gotten that personality trait!

In the end, Dad got two pictures before his battery died and I took over 600, most of them not good. Mikey had rolled down hills, thrown her in the air, done silly dances, bonked me on the head with a plastic bat and given her (green) candy that you may spot if you look closely. And still, most of the photos capture her more contemplative, melancholy look. What are ya gonna do?

It was fun and her joyful little self was finally captured in the end when Poppi flipped her upside-down, Mikey threw her up in the air, two of us swung her, first holding her hands and then putting her on the real swing, where she throws her head back and giggles non-stop every time. I love this age. I also think my daughter might be a miniature adrenaline junkie. Not sure.

Oh, I do love my girlie. Smiles or not, she is a beautiful masterpiece of God’s craftsmanship. At least this proud Mama thinks so…

Celebrating N’s Birthday

2012-01-13T00:26:00.004+02:00

This is a mostly picture post, just so you know. We celebrated my girlie’s 2nd birthday while we were down in Charlotte with my family.

It was a fun and simple celebration of our precious girl.

Hit the Road Jack

2012-01-12T06:34:00.002+02:00

Sunday afternoon before driving half-way across the country we celebrated Mike’s Grandma’s 90th birthday.

It was a fun open house!

Near the end of the party we changed into our traveling clothes, kissed and hugged everyone in sight and waved goodbye to Mike’s family as we pulled out.

We hit the road at about 3:30pm.

And by 3:44,

Sweet N already started snoozin’ (and she snoozed for a looong time),

Hudson was hard at work on his computer,

and Mike was feeling good in the driver’s seat.

I had purchased some of the road trip essentials for him, including a case of Big K Citrus Drop (nothin’ but the best for him!)

and Sunflower Seeds. I’d even thought ahead to pack a ‘spit cup’.

The trip continued uneventfully through the afternoon and evening. Well, unless you count Noelle getting mad at me for refusing to take the lid off her water cup and proceeding to remove her shoe and throw it at me in the front seat an ‘event’. Which maybe I do. Who is that little firecracker?

Aaaanyway, night time came and the kiddos didn’t seem to eager to sleep. This glow stick was well worth the 8 cents it cost me. She played with that thing until she repeatedly dropped it and I refused to pick it up and return it to her a fifth time. Oh well.

Right around 9pm our tire started to sound odd. I ignored it for awhile, but then it couldn’t be ignored anymore and we pulled over the side of I-70.

Flat. Boo.

Luckily, my husband wisely added roadside assistance to our car insurance policy and he made some phone calls to get some help on the way.

While help was coming, I needed me a break from that van and those kiddos, who were getting crankier. The weather wasn’t too cold and I paced the side of the freeway for awhile. A little walk on the side of a big scary road always does a Mama good. Ha! N and H stayed strapped in the van.

Help arrived, in the form of middle-aged Kevin and his flat-bed tow truck. We were advised to skip the whole ‘put the donut on the van’ thing, which was good, since we would have had to empty the whole back of the van (which was seriously full) to lower the donut down from under the vehicle. He suggested towing us to his shop and putting a new tire on there.

Only thing was, the tow-truck only had three seats and we were five people (including Kevin), so there was no way we could ride in the cab. I didn’t know what we were going to do! I expressed my concern to Kevin and he assured me it is legal to continue riding in the vehicle WHILE it is being carried on top of the flat-bed.

Seriously?

I mean, REALLY?!!!

Oh my word. He said it and what choice did we have but to believe him! After our approval he proceeded to winch up our mini-van and all it’s contents, including our family of four still buckled in our seats onto the bed and then raise us up and level us out.

Whoa. We were up there. Strange sensations were felt by all as we were chained down and started bumping down the road. Yes, bumping… it’s not a smooth ride way up there! The flashing lights were blinding us and we started flying down the freeway fifteen miles in the opposite direction from Colorado.

It was so odd way up there. Totally freaky.

Can you imagine if you were driving along on the freeway and a flat bed truck is driving next to you? Okay, that part is not hard to imagine. But then you look over and notice the older maroon mini-van chained down, and THEN you notice that there are two adults in the front seat buckled in and two kids in car-seats in the back just riding along as if all is normal?

Oh my goodness. It was funny.

So, we arrived at this shop after 10pm. Kevin turned on the heat for us and our kids ran around wreaking havoc on the place while Kevin sold us one of these new tires.

It’s all they had in stock and while probably more than we’d usually pay, it sure beat getting a hotel for the night to try to save twenty bucks on a tire the next day. That wouldn’t have made any sense at all.

I sure was thankful for Kevin and his night shift. This cot that I saw in the garage made me think he must just sleep there waiting for calls from stranded folks like us all night long.

God bless ‘im.

If you’re ever driving through Effington, Illinois, I recommend these guys! And if you ever want to get a little chuckle, just say the name of this small town outloud. It sure did provide us with some much-needed comic relief…

SO, three hours after the blown tire, we were finally back on the road and feeling good.

Or at least Mike was feeling good after he tried this! Blech. Tasted like cough syrup. He took most of the night shift and I did a couple hour stint in the middle of the night to give him a break.

Once the sun came up we took turns through the remainder of the drive (not this girlie, though) and arrived in the afternoon just about 24 hours after leaving Ohio. Not bad, I’d say, if you take into account the flat tire and the two lil’ kiddos that we had along.

I do believe I'd choose a long car (van) journey over a long airplane journey most any day of the week.