Engel Family Blog

Say cheese.

2010-12-03T22:17:00.000-06:00

Best wishes

to you and yours

for snapping the perfect

holiday photo.

a candle, a frog ride, a turkey, vintage Leslie, and a victory.

2010-12-01T20:42:00.000-06:00

These days I'm burning this White Tea Ginger candle and loving it.

It's not too strong, not too subtle. It's just right.

What did people do before soy candles? They are about a million times better than wax candles.

But, as a Spanish speaker with a dry sense of humor, when I hear someone say 'soy candle' I can't help but say 'Eres un candle?!?' Same with soy sauce. And soy milk.

But not soy beans. Odd.

What do Carolyn and her sweet daddy do for fun when I'm not home? One of them enjoys being pulled around on a frog who is sitting a crib bumper with a rolling musical cow trailing behind.

What could be more fun than a frog ride?

The aforementioned frog puller loves nothing more than cooking a big bird.

And then photographing it.

His most recent masterpiece, a 21 pound turkey.

My bestie recently passed some of her childhood duds on to C.

She wore one of them the other day and looked like the cutest little biracial Laura Ingalls you ever did see.

And finally, a victory. I know I've mentioned several times that we are reluctant/confirmed cosleepers.

My sweet baby spent every night of her first 13 months cuddled next to me in bed. I loved the closeness, especially since I have to be away from her during the day while I work. But, it was time for the party to end. She's bigger now, flops around more, and doesn't really need to nurse at night any more but wanted to anyway. So we decided to bite the bullet and put her in her crib. *Gasp*.

We were prepared for the worst, and we had a plan of how to deal with the crying (which my oh-so-loving hubby researched himself). We prayed for a smooth transition before the big night, and before we put her in the crib the first time. And God answered our prayer! She fussed for a few minutes the first night, but fell asleep quickly and slept ALL NIGHT LONG. Which she has NEVER done before. Not once. And every night since then she's done equally well. Thank you God!

And thank you readers, for sticking with me through this all over the place post!

And double thank you for your sweet comments on fb and the other blog regarding our missionary dreams!

Love, joy

I have a secret blog.

2010-11-23T22:21:00.000-06:00

Well, not exactly secret. Just unannounced until now. My husband and I decided a few months ago to serve God full time in Uganda. This other blog is my journal of the process of making our dream a reality. I hope you'll go read it.

http://www.ugandaschool.wordpress.com/

In other (old) news, my sweet baby turned one! She is walking and starting to talk a little bit. She says mama, baby, juice, and shoes. 'Juice' and 'shoes' sound just the same, but you can tell what she means by the context ;)

I started a new job this school year. I'm in a different school district and I'm teaching bilingual special ed resource rather than being a classroom teacher like I was before. I love it. It's great to be able to work with small groups and really get to focus on what they need to learn. I have an awesome group of students and I look forward to seeing them (almost) every day. Also, it's just easier. There, I said it. You non-teacher peeps wouldn't believe HOW MUCH NON-EDUCATIONAL WORK falls onto classroom teachers to take care of. Special ed does involve it's fair share of paperwork. But it's nothing compared to the constant flow of picture money collecting, fundraiser promoting, identakid safety card selling, field trip organizing, t-shirt pushing that goes with being a classroom teacher. And don't even get me started on Dubya and No Child Left Behind...

Okay, now go read my other blog.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, REJOICE!

2010-11-21T21:47:00.000-06:00

I'm reading a great book right now. It reminded me to rejoice always. I'm rejoicing currently in being convicted of things I never realized before. Like how often I use humor to bring people down rather than lift them up. Like how much (many?) of my resources are spent frivolously, rather than to serve God or serve others, or serve my family even.

Yoga!

2010-10-25T21:39:00.000-05:00

No I'm not doing yoga.

"Yoga" is how you say hello in Ateso, the language spoken in the part of Uganda that I visited this summer.

I've just got Africa on my mind. (If you want to, you could now sing that song 'Georgia on my mind' but replace 'Georgia' with 'Africa.)*

I just wanted to share two amazing blogs I've been reading about people who up and moved to Uganda to take care of people. To do the work God left for His people to do. I'm pretty sure that's the purpose of life. Reading the stories of real people who are doing real work for the kingdom of God makes me want to sell all my junk and join them. So I thought I'd share.

Here's one, and here's the other one. Go!

*Of course I am referring to the Willie Nelson version of the song, for those of you who don't know me.

Half the Sky

2010-10-03T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hello blogosphere! Nice to see you again. It's been a while.

I've been reading a book called Half the Sky. It's about oppression of women in developing countries. More specifically it's about ways of helping these women. It's really an eye opener. Our trip to Uganda this summer left me wanting to serve in God's kingdom, and this book just reinforces that desire.

It's one of those books that works its way in to who you are, to how you see things. Read it. Now!

PS: On a lighter note, I've also been at Subway. Apparently the bigwigs in the sandwich game have been reading my blog. I do believe you'll remember that sub bags were MY idea. And lo and behold, look what Subway has rolled out. You're welcome, Subway! In return for my intellectual property, I would like for your sandwich artists to reliably honor my request for 'light lite mayonaise'.

Back to his roots. Uganda part IV

2010-09-15T22:27:00.001-05:00

My husband and I have little in common.

I'm white. He's black.

He's east, I'm west.

I like rice krispie treats. He doesn't.

You get the picture.

I always knew that we were very different, but visiting his childhood home made it even more clear.

We had someone drive us out to the village where Mike grew up.

Notice there is no road.

That's a path that's about a foot wide.

We drove through weeds that were taller than the truck we were in.

They drive on the left side of the road in Uganda. When there is a road.

So the steering wheel is on the right side.

Mike pointed out places and things.

Like huts.

And birds? I don't remember what he was pointing at here.

And plants.

And more birds.

And then some of his childhood friends showed up.

As if out of nowhere.

They walked with us to see Mike's childhood home.

Some more childhood friends showed up. Out of nowhere.

Then we saw Mike's childhood guava tree.

I tasted it. It was delish.

We also saw Mike's childhood well.

We would call it a spring I think.

But they call it a well.

It's still the water source the people there use today.

Like these little boys who followed us around.

And this woman we passed on the road carrying water home to her family.

But the animals use the same well for drinking water too.

The cows just walk right in.

And the animals poop in there. And people get sick.

Does that bother anyone else?

Anybody want to help this community get a clean water source?

Like next summer?

What's in my pocket? volume 1

2010-09-11T22:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first Trophy Mama edition of 'what's in your pocket?'

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but just hadn't found the right moment.

But today I've got a doozie.

Have I mentioned that since I've become a mom, I'm about 5 times grosser than I used to be?

I've never been accused of being fanatically clean.

But these days I'm bordering on guh-row-dee.

I've been suspecting this of myself for a while,

and today I found the proof in my pocket.

C and I went to a baby shower today.

Tonight I found the above pictured napkin balled up in my pocket.

A napkin with two chocolate dipped strawberry stumps (which I ate)

and a cantaloup chunk that C worked on for a while.

Instead of discarding the refuse, I shoved it in my pocket.

You know, as temporary storage until a trash recepticle was located.

In case you doubt that my lack of couth (cooth? kewth? kooth?) is legitimate,

I give you exhibit b. (No picture. You're welcome.)

After finding the napkin in my pocket, moments later I found a hunk of granola bar in my bra.

And I haven't had a granola bar in at least three days.

Glad I got that off my chest. And out of my pocket.

What's in your pocket?

Carolyn's own personal paradise

2010-09-08T20:47:00.000-05:00

My daughter is a people person,

to put it mildly. We always knew that,

but we didn't see the extent of it until we were in Uganda.

Uganda was a dream come true for her.

Because EVERYONE wanted to talk to her.

A) They LOVE babies.

2) They are fascinated by light-skinned people.

Not that she's ignored when she's state side.

It was fun to watch her personality develop even more,

right before our eyes.

After a few days of being Miley Cyrus popular,

she preferred to be carried like this:

so she could greet her people.

And if one got by without returning her greeting,

don't think she didn't notice.

Water off a duck's back.

Her specialty:

Meeting someone who's not sure if they like her or not.

And making friends with them.

It melts my heart.

I've always thought it was important to take kids

on family vacations.

But now I see how magical it is.

I can't really put a finger on it,

but C is a little changed since our trip.

I guess we all are.

Flying with a baby

2010-09-07T21:41:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, I took so many pictures of our trip that I don't really know where to start. But since two of my lovely readers (Marta and Rochelle) mentioned the flight, I'll start there. Commenting pays.

It is commonly thought that taking a baby on an international flight is quite a challenge. I will dispell that myth right here and now. The truth is, taking a baby on an international flight is like going to Six Flags with someone in a wheelchair. We got pushed to the front of the line the whole way- customs, airport check in, airplane bording, etc.. You can't beat that. My little charmer even managed to get us bumped to business class on each leg of our flight. (Apparently they can just put you up there if they want to.)

Of course it wasn't all fun and games. But it was about 45% fun, 45% games, 9% deep breaths, and 1% being totally embarrassed when C spilled A TRAY of orange juice on a non-English speaking stranger one hour into a 10 hour flight. Talk about awkward. BTW, did you know passengers under the age of two can fly as a lap baby on international flights? They can. It's not totally free like on domestic flights, but it's just 10% of an adult ticket price. We plan to take advantage of this again next summer. If the carseat fanatics don't ruin it before then, that is.

It was after the flight that things got interesting. I knew that we were going to have to drive from the airport town (Entebbe) to the town Mike is from (Bukedea). Before the trip, he kept telling it was 120 miles and it was a really tough trip. I didn't buy it. How long can it take to drive 120 miles?

When you share the two-lane road with bicyclists, cows, turkeys (both literal and figurative), ducks, military-ish people collecting bribes, and jillions of pedestrians carrying water on their heads, 120 miles can take 10 hours. Especially when the vehicle you are travelling in breaks down for a while. But after 5 hours you are pretty much ready to stretch your legs, take some pictures, and meet some locals anyway.

Driving in Uganda is not like driving here. For one, they drive on the left side of the road. For two, they honk about as often as they blink. Here is a list* of reasons to honk the horn while driving in Uganda:

1) someone is ahead of you

2) someone is behind you

3) you're passing a pedestrian

4) you're passing an animal

5) good song on the radio

6) it's been more than onemississippi since you last honked

*You should probably print and laminate that list. Keep it in your wallet. Just in case.

Uganda trip highlights

2010-09-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

I'm finally going to blog about our trip to Uganda. C and I were only there for a week, but I took about 8 million pictures (Mike went too, of course, but he stayed longer).

Here's an overview of topics to be covered in upcoming posts, in no particular order:

20 hour plane ride

10 hour van ride

van breaking down

family trip to the zoo

C's 15 minutes

a visit to Mike's childhood home

the hotel

big bugs

lunch at the pastor's house

animals riding bikes

kids I can't stop thinking about

Guess who's eleven months old today.

2010-08-27T19:55:00.000-05:00

THIS GIRL!

Here's what she's up to:

a) She's walking some but crawling is still her preferred

mode of transport.

2) She says mama, dada, baby, hi, and hey. Also repeats words at times.

III) Is a world traveller with the cutest stinkin' passport picture

you ever did see.

D) Just wants to boogie.

I can't wait to blog all about our big trip to Uganda. I have about 8 million pictures, so I'll probably do a lot of shorter posts rather than one ginormous one. Also to be covered soon: my NEW JOB, my hubby going back to school, and an accidental potential poisoning/choking of a new coworker caused by yours truly.

I'm on blog-cation.

2010-07-18T09:02:00.002-05:00

See ya mid-August!

Monday update

2010-07-12T19:28:00.002-05:00

240.6 this week. Minus .4. Doesn't sound like much, but I was out of town for part of the week, so I'm pretty darn happy with it.

Monday update

2010-07-05T07:23:00.002-05:00

241 this week, minus two pounds from last week. Yea!

Nine months

2010-07-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

Carolyn has been out of me for as long as she was in me. I am having so much fun spending time with my sweet girl this summer.

She is happy as ever. She's cruising now, and into everything.

She's not walking yet, but she is getting close.

I keep knocking her down when she's thinking about taking a step. She's too young. I'm not ready.

She's at that stage where EVERYTHING goes in her mouth.
Many a rolie-polie have fallen victim to her incessant tasting.

She acts like my finger is the most disgusting thing she's ever tasted

when I stick it in her beak to fish out a bug.

Good thing she's so stinking cute.

Monday update

2010-06-28T12:03:00.001-05:00

243 today. No change.

I can't find my pine needles.

2010-06-26T16:08:00.000-05:00

I just had them a second ago.

I poked them, tasted them, waved them around in the air.

And now they're gone.

Not here. Guess I'll retrace my steps.

Nope.

Why are we laughing?

Okay. You keep laughing, I'll keep looking.

This isn't it.

Not it either.

I think I'm getting warmer.

Nope. Maybe over here.

WHAT? In my hair?

I knew that. Just testing you.

Summer, week 3

2010-06-21T15:44:00.000-05:00

It's only week three of summer vacation and I feel like it is slipping through my greedy little hands already!

Remember this list? Well, I am hitting it hard core! Pronto! So if I slip behind on blogging/commenting, you'll know why!

I have made some progress already, btw.

I've written a second draft of one children's story, and a first draft of another one. (Don't get too impressed, these are easy readers for kids just learning to read. But funny ones, though, for all the elementary teachers / mamas out there sick and tired of trying to get kids pumped about reading lame-o phonics readers.) Now I need to write cover letters (or are they called letters of intent? See? This is why I get stuck!) and send them off to get published or rejected.

I've also cooked. Here's a picture to prove it:

I know making a stir fry is nothing to ~~write home~~ blog about, but I just had to celebrate having cooked at all, and especially having cooked something that my husband AND I actually liked. We have completely different preferences when it comes to food. He's from Africa, remember? And I am from the island of TexMexIa. This is what he eats:

The recipe is here on Home Cooking with Sonya. Of course I mean the stir fry recipe, not the recipe for the African food.

I made a few changes though, to make it more 'figure friendly' as RR would say. I sauteed the chicken instead of frying it, added carrots and pineapples, and used brown rice. If you're feeling lucky you could just pour some of each of these ingredients in a bowl, mix it up, dump it in a pan with cooked chicken, bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for 10 minutes and serve over rice:

Moving on. I have not jogged. Not even jogged in place. Or jogged to the mailbox. In fact, I would like to revise that goal. I want to faithfully walk six days a week instead. (It's my list, I can do that.)

I would also like to add "veg out" to my list. That way I have another thing to check off.

Monday update

2010-06-21T12:22:00.001-05:00

243 today. Minus .8 from last week.

Sundays in my city: Greengate Farm edition

2010-06-19T23:45:00.001-05:00

C and I had a great time visiting Greengate Farm for some fresh fruit, veggies, and meat. (Confession: this happened on Saturday, not Sunday. The farm isn't open on Sundays.)

This is the best kind of farmer's market, because it's really at the farm. So you can check out the animals, etc...

I really like going. It's not a huge selection. It's not a huge farm. Just nice people and great fresh produce.

Chickens just walk around all over the place. Which also happens at my house. But for some reason it really tickles me to see the same thing on a farm.

We also got to see a bunch of pigs.

I've heard it said that pigs are actually very clean animals.

I'm not buying it.

I also saw this chair. Sitting on a trailer. It reminded me of

Archie Bunker. (Which I assure you I only saw in reruns. I'm not that old.)

I've been thinking about this chair all day long.

I wonder if it was being delivered or being hauled away.

Hauled away may seem like the obvious choice.

But I met the farmer.

And he seems cool like that. You know, more 'Pole Barn' than 'Pottery Barn'. An individual. A free thinker. I love people like that.

I think it just might have been a delivery.

You know who else I love?

This girl.

There's only so much you can do with a chicken.

2010-06-17T15:26:00.000-05:00

You can pet them.

Then you can feed them lettuce.

More lettuce.

Make them jump for it.

Hang some lettuce up for them, like a pinata.

Then you can tickle them.

With a feather, of course.

If they run, that means they like it.

You should chase them.

Monday update

2010-06-14T06:22:00.000-05:00

243.8 today. Minus 2.4 this week. Yea! I went walking several times, which must be extra effective when it is so hot and humid! My big trip is just 7 weeks away, which is really motivating me.

Sundays in my city: ROT rally

2010-06-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my first edition of Sundays in my city, a blog party hosted by Unknown Mami.

This weekend was the annual Republic of Texas motorcyle rally. Here's a picture I took this morning of some friendly folks on their way out of town.

Every year for one weekend in June thousands of bikers come into town. They dress tough, but they always seem to be really friendly people. However, they curse like sailors. Out loud. And on their T-shirts.

Yes, I took this picture while driving. Oprah would smack me.

Sandwich bags

2010-06-12T14:39:00.001-05:00

Recently I helped my dear friend FabuLeslie clean out her closet. I came home with a bag full of her cast-offs. My favorite of which was a sandwich bag.

The second I saw it I knew my dream of having a purse specifically designed to carry a sandwich was close to coming true.
"You have to let me have that one," I told her.
"Why? Because it's a triangular prism?" (She knows me very well. Including my affinity for triangular prisms.)
"Yes! And so I can carry sandwiches anywhere, with ease. And they won't come unwrapped. Or get smashed." I told her.

It works. Like a charm. Like a turkey-swiss charm.

There's even some room left over for ~~a brownie~~ an apple.

I like it so much that I wrote it a haiku:

sandwich holding queen

so useful for lunch time tube

triangular prism

Of course a pb and j would not work in my newly acquired sandwich bag. I have Ziploc bags for that. I am so ~~cheap~~ green that I can't bear to throw them out after one use. In my family, we joke about how my sweet and practical grandma used to rinse her Ziploc bags and hang them up to dry. She would be happy to see this very common sight in my kitchen.

I don't know what she'd say about this other very common sight in my kitchen:

But I bet she would say "That's a fine hen."

Anything interesting going on in your kitchen today?