persimmon poppy

I just love my dad.

2011-05-11T19:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you have to post about something just because. Today, that's my dad. He's the nicest guy I know. I'm not just saying it. If you knew him, he'd be the nicest guy you know too. I recently had some health issues and since there was nothing he could do to help in that department he decided that he was coming to my house the next weekend to do yard work. This was work I could have done on my own, but who says no to yard help? Not me. He and my mom came and we worked and worked and worked. It was great and I am grateful.

But, more than anything I love seeing him with his grand kids because he loves them all so much, and they love him. Can you tell?

One of my favorite things that he does is give them all a shave. Seriously folks, it doesn't get much better than seeing a line of tiny children ready for their morning shave. So funny. First he checks their cheeks to make sure they really need one. He runs the back of his fingers up their cheeks and says "Ow, ow, ow." Oh, segue!!! One time Adam and I were talking about Grandpa and Eli was 2 and listening intently. He touched his cheek and asked "Is that the Grandpa what says "op, op, op?" CUTE! Anyway, they ALWAYS need a shave. Hairy little buggers. And then he turns his electric shaver around and proceeds; the back of the shaver vibrating their chubby little cheeks.

And he always has the happiest of customers. This little man is a regular:

This isn't even close to the nicest things that I could say about my dad. But for today, I just wanted to say something, and that's enough. I feeling like I might need a shave.

quirky

2011-03-29T13:15:00.008-04:00

I showed you this picture of Max in the sweater a while ago. I love it. Mostly because it so perfectly displays Cecily's personality. Most of the time she stays out of trouble, somewhere close to me and does her thing. But if she's not right next to me, I don't really need to worry. She's not a trouble magnet....like one of my other children who shall remain nameless. She generally quietly putters doing her thing the way only she does it. She's easily our most artistic child and I love that she's always been more expressive with "things" because she's had a lot of speech issues and hasn't been able to express herself with speech very easily.

But as I wander throughout the house I often find little reminders that Cecily has interesting ideas, or amazing plots or different perspectives dancing around in that little mind of hers. Here is her Happy Family toddler from upstairs, wearing one of my sweaters from the main floor, flying in Eli's bi-plane from the basement. You know, I suppose if I were a toddler flying in a bi-plane I would wish I had a wool sweater on also.

So much for the special toothbrush cup. These must be train toothbrushes. But when I told her that I noticed the toothbrushes she smiled really big and giggled.

When I saw this orange balancing on a grapefruit, balancing on the peanut butter only one thought went through my mind, "Cecily's been here." No question.

Maybe she has a bit of a fruit fetish. One day I opened one of my dresser drawers that I don't use very often because it's on the bottom and mostly used for storage. I was glad I did, because there was a single banana in it. You've got it, Cecily's work. Imagine how nasty that would have been in a couple of days.

I'm not quite sure what her plan was on this day, because I caught her before the act, and she didn't carry it out once she'd been discovered.

I'm sure it would have been fun though because the combination of seven mini-pears and one creative little girl in what she calls her "personal penguin" jammies would make for quite an adventure.

We're so lucky to have a Cecily.

shame, shame, I know your name

2011-03-23T21:40:00.006-04:00

It's been a few months since we moved into our house. We've figured out most basic areas, but a few areas were still big question marks in our heads. The nook in our bedroom was especially perplexing. Until we figured out what to do with it we used it as a resting spot for all of our (my, mostly) stuff. It was a good out-of-the-way spot to hide our shame. Pretty shameful though, eh?

I can only show you that picture because I then got completely inspired and took it over as my own arts and crafts nook. We teamed up with craigslist and just over $100 later we created this:

I'm in love with it! I know exactly where everything is and where it will go after I use it! Not only that, I have an area TO use it. I think the $1 Target pails are my favorite thing. Just the right size for a million different things. I come around the corner and walk into my nook and experience utter BLISS!

Just thought I'd share.

The other day I asked Eli to put his folded clothes away and be sure to push in his drawers. This is what I found when I went in to check and see if he had finished his job.

Craigslist, here we come.

Am I serious about knitting but not a serious knitter, or the other way around?

2011-03-07T10:15:00.010-05:00

I really love to knit. I've knitted for years and done a lot of projects, but I began with one project in mind. I could see in my mind how cute it would be to have a little Christmas tree covered with mini-sweaters on mini-hangers that were all different. Cute right?

I may have started out making kite-shaped dish rags, but in my mind it was all just prep work for mini-sweaters. Goal accomplished! I found a great pattern and taught myself to knit in the round and voile!

Here is a close-up of one sweater that I knit recently. Cecily loves them, and she loves her tiny dog that she named Max. So I found this on the counter the other day. Cracked me up. But this gives you an idea of what they look like up close.

While we lived in Syracuse a friend from Norway taught me how to knit Norwegian Mittens. They were easily the most difficult thing I had ever knitted and I thought they would be my first and last pair. Not so. I think we're in the double digits now, and I'm sure there will be many more in my future. I started making my own patterns and that's pretty fun too. Here are some of my recent mittens:

And, BREAKING NEWS: I'm going to be teaching a knitting class for the town of Kaysville in April and May! SOOOO, I'm just saying, I know my way around a knitting needle and I've taught a few people how to knit. All of THAT made me gasp in horror when I experienced what I experienced the other day.

In addition to knitting I also tat and am fixing a large tatted item, so I need to match the thread before I can proceed. I went to a small needle craft shop the other day to see if they would have what I needed. When I walked in I saw that it was mostly a yarn shop. The shop owner was probably in her 30's but everything about her seemed O-O-OO-OLD. She scared me. I could go on and on about her polyester pants and school marm hair, but I won't. I went to desk and felt very distinctly that I was disturbing her even though she was doing NOTHING. Without looking at what I had or hearing me out she was "sure they didn't have what I needed." I practically had to beg to see what they had and using the lady who was waiting behind me as an escape I said "I'll just look around, go ahead and help this lady." The third time I said that she finally let me by. As I was perusing the yarn I couldn't help overhearing what was going on at the desk. The lady had a knitting question. She read the pattern and did what she thought it said but it wasn't working. So the shop owner painfully slowly explained what should be done. The lady repeated it to make sure she was understanding and THIS is what came out of shop owner's mouth: "YOU'RE....NOT....LISTENING......TO ME!" Just like that!

I had my back to them but my eye's automatically popped open and my head cocked back. Who says that, particularly to someone who is significantly older than them?

I may not be the sharpest cheese on the cracker, but I learned a lesson that day. When I teach my group class I'm going to try not to personally attack anyone. In fact I think I might even go above and beyond and show a bit of encouragement and patience for the new knitters.

I think that just might work. And unless they stick their fingers in their ears and sing a song really loud in order to drown out my voice I'm not even going to keep "YOU'RE....NOT....LISTENING .......TO ME!" in my back pocket.

Priorities

2011-02-23T16:58:00.012-05:00

Long ago I gave up on the idea that Eli would ever have a job or a career that was anything less than active. He's 6 and he's been obsessed with firemen since he was 2 1/2. He wants to be a fireman, but he also thinks the military is really cool along with a smattering of a few other deadly occupations. I would like him to live past 18. I think whatever his career choice is, it will likely include hazard pay.

Today he was asking me if Nascar drivers make a lot of money and I told him that I was pretty sure that the ones that win make a lot of money, but I wasn't sure how much, and I dropped it. I'm really anti-Nascar on so many levels that I can't even speak to it's virtues. Are there any? Don't say yes. I'm totally closed-minded on the subject and I don't care to entertain any other point of view. Sorry...kinda. Not really.

Anyway, as we were talking Eli said to Cecily "What do you want to be when you grow up?" But, before waiting for an answer, he started answering it for her. This happens frequently because of her speech delays, and because of Eli's...shall we say... constant fluency of speech. I stopped him and said "Let her answer. What do you want to be when you grow up?" I won't lie, I had hopes of something sweet. After all, she's my only connection to sweetness. After considering it she got bright eyes and said "A fireman!" great. Eli got a disturbed and worried look in his eye. Cecily bounced out of the room and Eli whispered to me "Mom, I wouldn't let her do that if I were you. That helmet will seriously mess up her hair."

Apparently we're more concerned about hair than mortality around here.

Here is a recent picture of her throwing all caution to the wind with that helmet:

But we all know who the truly devoted fire guy is:

P.S. I'm sure that you would want to know that I'm now #1 on the library waiting list for Lark Rise season 3. I think I'll just stand outside the library eyeing people to see if they're holding purple DVD's. Not psycho really, right?

It's the TRUEST of true love.

2011-02-17T12:05:00.002-05:00

You might think this post would be about Adam. Make no mistake, I love him. Very much. But a new love has borrowed my heart. The BBC knows a good thing when they see it/sell it. When half of the women in the U.S. (not an actual statistic) owns and loves the 6 hour Pride and Prejudice, you have to capitalize on that love. And they have.

I have never watched an entire season of anything in my whole life. Even when I watch something consistently, I always miss a couple of episodes for one reason or another. Well, all that's changed. I'm in LOVE with Lark Rise to Candleford. Here are my significant others: I love them. Even that irresponsible scoundrel Twister, and the petty, back-biting Pratt sisters. Of course I love our sweet Laura and capable Dorcas and the queen of all wives, Emmy. I could go on on and on, but don't worry, I'll stop.

Adam's friend at work asked him what we did for Valentines day. He told her that we sat side by side in our fleece jammies in bed, and on the mini-DVD players that we use for long drives, we watched our shows separately. Isn't that romantic? We really go above and beyond. We laughed, we cried, he -for his X-men, me for my Lark Rise. Every once in a while we would look at one another and smile. Ahhhh. Bliss. His co-worker wasn't impressed!?

He's taking me to the Symphony this weekend. Maybe that will satisfy her? I'm sure I'll love it. Though I really hope it gets out early enough that I can come home and watch another episode on my 7" screen.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

2011-02-07T12:45:00.011-05:00

Have you ever spent 10 hours doing your hair? If you say "yes" I'm kind of surprised that we're friends because I've always been more of a 10 minute girl and you would probably reject my kind. Even 10 minutes sometimes cramps my style. I have a friend named Jen in Rochester that decided she would be responsible for keeping track of the back of my hair. It was that bad. I would do my hair and not look at the back and then go to church. She would come along, after having to look at it for all of Sacrament meeting, and fix it. One time I was growing out layers and they were driving me crazy. On a particular day I was really busy with Relief Society stuff and the hair was driving me NUTS. I found a twisty tie in my purse and used it in my hair thinking no one would notice. I was wrong. Jen (and a few others) noticed and found something much better suited for hair in her car and took care of me. I love Jen. BUT now that I live 3/4 of a nation away and I have one of those mirrors to help you see the back of your hair, I do try to give it a glance before going to church.

While I've never spent 10 hours on my own hair, I can now say that I have spent 10 hours in one day doing hair. Yep, Cecily's. I went to Hair Night for the transracial adoption group here and was totally inspired. Especially when I heard that this hair style was practically free (not an astounding $150) and could last 6 weeks!!! SIX WHOLE WEEKS!!! Hair is a big thing in our lives and not always a fun big thing so only doing it every month and a half has huge appeal. This is what we've been doing a lot of for a long time:

Cute, right? The problem is that so much unbraided hair is drying and opens up the possibility of major knots that we get to deal with in a few days when it's hair time again. Not to mention that it's cute on day one and two but by 3-7, the frizz takes over and we just have to live with scary hair. So after much inspiration (thank you, Diana!) and lots of movies and treats for her and braiding for me, here is the new hair:

We are loving it. She loves that she has long flowing braids and I love that I can oil it and style it easily and we're out the door with bouncin' and behavin' hair in no time! This is my favorite style:

So fun! The only down side is that she looks like she got two years older over night. Anyway, that's the latest change for Cecily.

Eli has made every new aquaintance aware of his big change:

Eli is all about doing things big! He didn't just lose his first tooth, he lost his first two teeth one right after the other. Big bucks from the tooth fairy.

And last but not least, Nater man. We FINALLY have 1) a house with room for a piano, 2) a piano, and 3) a piano teacher! Big stuff. Maybe not for you, but for me. So Nate's finally taking lessons and according to his teacher he's apparently progressing very quickly. Yay for Nate - he may be a true pianist someday! AND, yay for me- I'm not flushing my money from week to week!

Doesn't he just strike you as the piano prodigy type?

Nothing like a good find

2011-01-30T22:52:00.006-05:00

Last night, while playing a game, I had to finish this sentence: "I can't resist buying... " I had a hard time filling in the blank because I can pretty much resist buying anything. I often put things in my cart that end up not coming home with me because I talk myself out of them before I get to the checkout line. Or going shopping and not buying anything at all. The only truthful completion of the sentence is that I can't resist buying anything that's a REALLY good deal. Now, make no mistake, "cheap" doesn't equal "good deal." I hate "stuff." For it to qualify as a good deal it has to be good quality and I have to need it or really want it for a specific, practical purpose (none of this "I might use it someday" business) and it has to be a great price. Better yet, free!

We have some recent finds that definitely fit the "good deal" requirements and one is really fun (to me) so I'm sharing.

The first is a chair that Adam found at the Salvation Army for $17. Reasons I love it? 1) It's my favorite color of yummy red. 2) We needed a chair. 3) It's short and so am I. 4) It's very clean. 5) It's extremely comfortable 6) It's well constructed with just a little wear on the right arm. I wish it had a twin! We do have to fix one button so it doesn't look like it has a dangling eyeball, but that's no bigs.

Behold the chair:

I know, not thrilling to anyone but me, but not bad for $17, right? And look at how cute two of my favorite people look in it. Oh and by the way, can you tell from the picture that I really love red? I do.

The next find was once again found at the Salvation Army. We love to go there and just look around. It's always humorous, interesting, and sometimes profitable. Find #2 was ONE DOLLAR. I'll show it to you first and then explain.

Do you LOVE it as much as I do? Well, you should! Isn't that just the house that you've always wanted to live in?! Well you can't have it because I already spoke it!

It's an original ink drawing that's initialed and dated 1966. It was falling out of it's cute, perfectly simple little frame because it was backed with cardboard and the stalest masking tape ever. I took it to our little craft store and had it re-backed, papered and new hanging hardware put on for $2.25. I realize that that expenditure was more than twice the amount of the original investment, but I'm still under $3.50 for original art and I'm feeling just dandy about it!

I have it hanging in a spot that I pass by just shy of a thousand times a day and each time I see it I'm so glad that I'm stingy (ahem, brilliantly frugal).

I live!

2011-01-23T19:53:00.006-05:00

No, I'm not dead. Just lazy/busy/lazy. But I have clean toilets, so I guess I'm not that lazy. Just lazy about bloggy kinds of things. Truth be told, I'm probably only throwing something on here today because #1- it's the Sabbath, which knocks a lot of stuff out of the running and #2 - I lopped a chunk of my thumb off today, so knitting isn't a comfortable option.

We have moved. So that should probably be shared with anyone faithful enough to check in here once in a while. If you are checking in, you ought to get a reward for being among the truest of friends.

Here are the details: An internal transfer came available for Adam and he applied for it and got it, so we thought we ought to show up. And that's when we moved. We're in Kaysville Utah now. It's nice to have family much closer, and mountains even closer than that! I really like it. I miss many aspects of living in NY, but overall it was a good thing to do.

Just to get you up to speed, here is a picture of the kids as they never are:

Here are the kids in real life, almost. I mean, 3 happy at once doesn't always happen, after all. And, they don't generally lick each other.

Cecily's yelling "Pease hep me wipe my buns!" So I'm outta here until next time.

Who's up for a big funny lie?

2009-09-17T13:15:00.009-04:00

I haven't posted for a very long time. I feel a tiny bit sheepish about it but I have to tell you why. We have had the MOST wonderful summer and who can blog when there's fun to be had? Not me. Last Tuesday, the day before school started, my kids and I laid on my bed and drew up a list of all of the fun things we did this summer. It filled a piece of lined paper and continued onto the back. Wanna read it? I know you're saying "YES!" right now. I'll spare you. BUT, if you want to see some great summer pictures of my family and read a very funny but completely untrue story to go along with them, then you should visit my husbands blog. One of the reasons we don't blog together is because I'm too pragmatic. I really love his blogging antics even if they're not exactly factual, and you might too, so go here: empirestategreenway.blogspot.com . Except the link isn't working for me, so either tell me how to fix it, or just type it in.

I love Eliza in the picture above. She's the one that looks like she's crying. That's actually her REALLY happy smile. She's so funny. I love our nieces and nephews!

So, sorry I was gone. Here are few shots of my beauties to whet your appetite and leave you saying "MORE! I WANT MORE GREENWAY IN MY LIFE!"

Aren't they so cute?

2009-06-20T22:13:00.002-04:00

I could eat 'em.

Worth blogging about? Oh, I think so.

2009-06-20T20:47:00.007-04:00

Have you ever loved a grocery store? Me either, until now. What's to love, right? They're miserable, cold places that suck the money right out of your pocket without leaving any satisfaction in your heart.

That's precisely how I felt until I fell under the Wegmans spell. When I go shopping I think "hmmm, I can either battle the hoards, never find what I want, deal with my crazy shopping cart barnacles and THEN have the money sucked out of my pocket, OR I can go to Wegmans. The difference? Everything.

First of all, I get to drop my 3-8 year olds off at the Wegman's play place with the nicest ladies that remember my kids names (couldn't be because I take them everyday, right?) and shop for an hour with just one small barnacle. I forgot to get a picture of it, but it's clean, fun and wonderful. Then there's the store...let's let the the pictures do the talking, shall we?

Feast your eyes on that happy little shopper. Why so happy? Free cookie, for sure. But often they have free samples of freshly squeezed tangerine or blood orange juice too. SO good.

Then there is the store itself. Look over Cecily's left shoulder. See the pretty floor? Cool lights from overhead cast pretty leaf images on the floor. I don't know why, but I love it.

Then, there's this guy:

who teaches me (and other passers-by) how to make wonderful food like Milanese Shrimp. And because of him I know the finer points on how to use stuff like pan searing flour. He's the one who showed me how to make the yummiest butternut squash/spinach/dried cranberry/candied pecans dish the world has ever known. Okay, maybe the only one but I could seriously lick the pan...mmmmm.

Let's keep moving.

Last New Year's eve I knew exactly where to go for celebration food. Wegmans! We had crab cakes and stuffed mushrooms ala Wegmans in 10 minutes.

But they also have great prices on the the everyday stuff. Milk there was $1.69 this week! Why fight it? But Cecily appreciates the milk section even more than I do and this is why:

See the train hovering over the groceries? That's a working electric train over the dairy section that entertains young and old alike! I'll admit it, I stop and watch it for a minute even when I run to the store alone. It's just so cute.

So back in my Kentucky days I had no problem with Walmart. I actually kinda enjoyed it, but it was almost my only shopping option. I can hardly stand it now. All because of Wegmans. Freakish that I would feel that way about a grocery store? Maybe, but I'm not alone. No, no. Conversations including tender feelings toward Wegmans are common here in upstate NY, better known as "Wegmans country."

like mother, like daughter

2009-05-21T13:30:00.009-04:00

I think every parent has traits, beliefs, traditions and habits that they hope to pass on to their children. I certainly do. There are times that I do things and hope that my children learn from example and follow in the footsteps of their mother. Not very often, but sometimes. This isn't necessarily one of those things.

I walked in the kitchen a while back and this was the scene before me. I knew exactly what she was doing and why she was doing it.

Look closely at the thing in her ear. It's an orange wire connector that has been in the kitchen for a while. I'll bet there isn't an ENT in the country who recommends sticking one in your ear, but I know why it's there. Have you ever had sensory overload when 3 kids are swarming around you telling you everything that comes to mind and asking you the same questions over and over? Me too! This occurs most often between 4:00 and 5:30 when I'm trying to make dinner and Adam isn't home yet. I think most mom's feel that this is the hardest time of day. It's probably why "they" created happy hour, but since I don't imbibe, I find other relaxation techniques. To ease the insanity I sometimes wear orange earplugs during the nerve grating time of day. I can hear everything, it just takes it down a notch.

More often than not I have a dish rag or a cooking utensil in my hand and hopefully a fairly pleasant look on my face, just like Cecily. So I'm sure when she dragged her chair over to the sink and saw the orange connector, she knew just what to do. Stick it in her ear.

Maybe tomorrow she'll do a few loads of laundry and drive Eli to school.

*Forgive the asteriks, it won't let me create paragraphs in the second half of the post. Dumb computers.

Gonna keep 'em swinging baby, he's a real wild child

2009-05-05T15:29:00.007-04:00

I feel confident that if I asked Eli what he loved to do most in life being on his bike would be at least part of his answer. He LOVES his bike. There are mornings when he wakes up and before going to the bathroom, changing his clothes or eating breakfast he puts on his helmet. The first word he ever read was "bell" because that's what it says on the front of his helmet.

We knew last year when he learned how to ride on two wheels without any instruction or help that he would be a good rider. Duh. So, he was nothing short of giddy when he found out they would be having a "trikeathon" at his school. We talked about it everyday. He wanted to take his bike 2 weeks in advance until he realized that if he did he wouldn't be able to ride it until then. Finally the big day arrived and he was thrilled. Here is a typical picture of the scene on that day. Lots of tricycles and bright and shiny new two wheelers with training wheels. The kids were all so cute and cautious. Then there was Eli. Dirt all over his bike from many puddles, bent and rusty handlebars, and zero tread on his back wheel from skidding out. It is his most beloved item.

Keeping Eli contained is a trick and not one I find much value in unless we're at a church meeting or attempting to refuel him (both difficult but important tasks). He spends lots of time riding up and down the sidewalk and he's pretty good at staying where he's supposed to be and checking in often. Last weekend Eli was out for a ride as usual and he ran inside and said "I have some tricks to show you but Mom and Dad both have to come out." I rounded up Adam and out we went. I thought he might show us that he could ride with no feet, or stop really fast but I certainly wasn't prepared for this. I mean, he's just 4.

Trick #1 - Feet through the handlebars. I really fought back the urge to freak out. Can you imagine what would happen if he fell over? I've learned with Eli that warning him or forbidding him from doing something is usually just a challenge for him so unless he's in spiritual or SERIOUS physical danger it's better to just let him go for it. I remember when he was trying to jump down the stairs from the landing to the basement and he was barely 3. I thought about it for the split second I had and said "Jump REALLY hard Eli or you'll go "splat"." I knew he would jump anyway so I might as well offer advice. I probably wouldn't feel this way if he didn't always pull off all of his physical feats of daring with out as much as a scrape. Anyway...

Trick #2 -Knees on the seat!

Trick #3 - feet on the seat!?! Even Nate, who is usually with him, doesn't know how he learned these tricks. I think he just tries whatever he thinks of and has the confidence to think he can pull it off. He went on to show us how he can stop his bike by putting his feet on either side of the front wheel and a few others that I can't remember and didn't take pictures of.

So after the show, we wandered in saving our lectures for another time. I've only known one kid just like Eli and last I knew he was being filmed in Nepal kayaking down some of the most treacherous waters in the world. Good thing Eli only wants to be a fire fighter.

This one's for you Tiff!

2009-05-05T13:22:00.004-04:00

Lame picture eh? Sorry, I tried.

Here is my recipe. It has a few added details that I hope make it easier to understand, but might just make it more confusing. Hope not.

Taiwanese Dumplings

1 head Chinese cabbage (nappa)
1 bunch green onions
2+ inch piece of fresh ginger grated with small grater
1 tsp. sesame oil
1-1 ½ lb. unseasoned ground pork
2-3 pkg. wonton wraps
½ c. soy sauce
½ c. seasoned rice vinegar
Several drops of sesame oil

Clean and trim then finely chop the Chinese cabbage and green onions (if you use a food processor be careful not to puree by emptying frequently). Amy note: we usually wrap the green onions in the cabbage then process. It gives the green onions the stability they need for the food processor. Place the cabbage/onion mixture in a sieve (amy note: or the middle of a large dish towel) and squeeze most of the liquid out in the sink, you won’t need it later. You now have a dry pulpy mixture. In a large bowl add the ginger, sesame oil and pork. Mix with your hands, using your fingers like a rake.

Bring a Large pot of water to boil. If you have a pot with a pasta insert (I don’t know what they’re called) they are very handy. If not, you’ll just have to fish your dumplings out with a sieve or slotted spoon.

Lay out 20(ish) wonton wraps on a clean, dry surface. Work somewhat quickly since the wraps will dry out. Place a small spoonful of the meat mixture in the center of each wrap. Using your finger, wet the edges of the wrap with water (about a finger-width wide) and fold in half, creating a triangle. Press edges firmly to seal. Amy note: I usually fold my wraps a little fancier, but a triangle will do just fine. Continue until full batch is sealed. Place batch into the boiling water, one or two at a time. When all of the dumplings are in slowly stir a few times to make sure that none of the dumplings are stuck to each other or to the bottom of the pot. If they are stuck to the bottom, gently nudge them off with your spoon. Bring water back to a boil. Boil dumplings for 3 minutes. Remove from boiling water with a slotted spoon or sieve and spread them out on a cookie sheet so none of the dumplings are stuck together. Once they cool, they can be piled on one another, but if you pile them initially, you’ll have a mess. Continue until all of the meat mixture is gone. In a bowl, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil. Stir. Pour in individual bowls or ramekins for each person to dip dumplings in.

Having someone to help you is great! That way you can be continually folding and boiling.
Leftovers can be pan fried (be warned, they’ll stick to your pan like crazy!), added to broth soup for wonton soup or just re-warmed by microwaving or quickly re-boiling.

ENJOY!!! I hope you love them as much as my family does! Questions???

Tradition!!!

2009-04-22T14:10:00.013-04:00

Much, much later I'm finally getting to our fun General Conference weekend. SO fun! Remember my major award? The cookbook that I got for entering a recipe? The one I submitted my families chinese dumpling recipe to? Well, in case you don't, we always have these yummy dumplings on General Conference weekend so I thought I should document it. Here some of them are before they were boiled. My mouth is watering just looking at the picture. Strange, since I know in their uncooked state they would be completely disgusting and possibly dangerous. Anyone up for a mouthful of raw pork? Mmmmm, delish.

I really should make these every day of the week. I cannot think of another food that my whole family will eat happily and willingly. We always have at least one whiner in the bunch. Not so during this meal. They love it. Who knew that pork, ginger, and nappa cabbage could produce such happy little eaters? They clearly take after the Cantwell side of the family. I made them for the Greenway's once and they were not fans. Oh well, more for me.

So check out the kiddos. Proof that this is one meal I don't have to force feed to my children.

Nate - stuffing his face

Eli - Passionate as usual, what a nut.

Cecily - post meal, minus what she's saving on her cheeks for later.

Then, as tradition in our home dictates, I made cinnamon rolls when the kids went to bed and Adam was at Priesthood session. We eat them in Palmyra outside the sacred grove on Sunday morning. They weren't my favorite this year. Too rich for me. I hold all cinnamon rolls to a very high standard. My friend Kathleen served us cinnamon rolls many years ago and nothing I have ever produced has satisfied me since. I just keep trying.

Sometimes my kids worry me. We have done the same thing every General Conference weekend since we moved here and my kids are clueless every time. We bundle them up, put the cinnamon rolls and milk in the back of the car, and get on the thruway. We almost never go on the thruway unless we're going to Palmyra. We get the same questions every time. "Where are we going?" "Are we going to church?" (even though you can't even get to church that way AND we're wearing jeans and tennis shoes.) Poor things. Think they'll ever catch on? Me either.

So here we are in Palmyra. The first time we did this I almost lost my testimony, but not quite. You know how all the first vision pictures have tons of leaves in them? Well unless spring was in July, there warnt no leaves. Nevertheless, we had a lovely time as usual but didn't eat the cinnamon rolls there this time. We usually wander, eat, go home, watch conference. This time Eli had to go numero dos after the wander part. There were no open bathrooms, so our trip was shortened a tad. Oh well, no biggie. The sacred grove is really one of my favorite places to be no matter the time of year.

Here we are:

Doesn't Cecily look thrilled to pieces? She really did have fun. Promise. I bet she just feels it in her bones that she's not getting a cinnamon roll 'til we get home. I feel your pain, Cecily. Or, maybe she's just trying to be cool. I can't tell.

So, while these were not the most important parts of the weekend, they were fun and I'm glad we have these traditions. They give our kids something to look forward to...other than the eight hours of being reminded to be quiet. Baby steps to reverence.

You mean like "soon"? Or "a time-out"?

2009-04-10T16:06:00.004-04:00

Eli's pre-k (he insists that I not call it pre-school) has been doing all kinds of activities that are Easter related. I'm glad they are because I have done NOTHING. I kind of do overkill on celebrating General Conference weekend (which I NEED to post some pics from...later) so Easter gets a back seat. Poor Easter. We've also been spoiled in years past because we've been in PA and my MIL makes everything she touches fun and special so I can be completely lazy and bask in the fun.

Anyway, Eli keeps telling everyone "Easter's this week! It's in the corner." It took me a couple of times to realize that what he meant was "it's AROUND the corner" but once I figured it out there was no way I was going to correct him. I'll just continue getting a laugh out of it and keep letting people think Eli's crazy for putting Easter in time out.

So, have a happy Easter...since it's in the corner.

Entertainment? We'll see.

2009-04-03T16:08:00.005-04:00

Nate and I had an outting today to start considering rectifying the "master bedroom" situation today. It's in quotes because frankly, no master would ever live in what looks more like a yard sale than a bedroom...a subject for another time. But anyway, he was my buddy for the afternoon which sometimes includes choosing the Friday night entertainment.

You'll never guess what he chose. Yup, Space Chimps. He read the blog and he's figured out how funny we think the whole scenario was. So there we were considering several other kids movies that no one has ever heard of, and he said "Let's see if it's as funny as I said it was."

Adam's reffing tonight, so it's me, the kids, and the chimps...wish me luck. He'll probably be looking like this:

I probably won't.

Life at our place

2009-04-01T13:19:00.006-04:00

Typical Saturday morning; Adam get's the paper and sits down for some fake-o-snake-o, no name lucky charms. But his ice cold milk seems to be a little too ice cold.

He processes.

And comments to wife "hey the milks frozen again."

Wife replies "Yea, and the ice cream is soupy." Husband ponders reply and does what needs to be done...

He eats breakfast.

I don't think we'll ever be accused of rushing out and replacing something that's not absolutely vital. Good thing we hate warm milk and love soft ice cream, eh?

Where there's smoke, there's fire

2009-04-01T12:58:00.005-04:00

Happened upon this the other day:

And I know that wherever I find blankie, I'll find:

She loves her little home among the pots and pans. Sometimes she sits in there and knocks lightly on the cupboard door and I hear muffled little girl voice saying "hello?" but when I go to "answer the door" she says "nooooo." How am I to know that "hello?" means "leave me alone, I'm in my happy place?" Silly kid.

What do you recommend?

2009-03-24T10:07:00.007-04:00

Nate is 8. As the oldest, he feels so big and responsible and usually is. We try to give him opportunities to "flex his big kid muscles" when we can and he loves it. One of his little man skills is returning Redbox DVDs. In case you're not familiar with Redbox, its a DVD rental vending machine in the entry of grocery stores. Returning a DVD consists of pressing the gigantic "Return a movie" (er sumthin') button on the screen and placing the DVD in the slot the correct way. It takes less than 15 seconds. I think it's a pretty good independent activity for the little man since I can see him the whole time and if I had to go beat off and pepper spray someone, I could. I've also given him instructions many times that if he needs me he should scream as loud as possible and I will rescue him. So far, no pepper spray, no screaming.

A while ago I sent Nate in to Wegmans (best grocer ever, ever, EVER, but I'll post on that another time) to return a DVD. I could see a some people congregated around the Redbox so I knew he might have to wait for a few people ahead of him. Every 30 seconds he would give me some kind of enthusiastic and original hand signal to indicate that he was fine. He finally made his way to the front of the line, completed his task and bounded back to the car. When he got in this was our conversation (pretty much):

Nate: Sorry it took so long, Mom. But I was just fine. There were just a lot of people in front of me but I didn't want you to be worried. The lady in front of me took a really long time because she wanted to get two or three movies but she didn't know what to get. I told her that I recommended Space Chimps because it's really good.

Me (chuckling): Oh really, Space Chimps huh?

Nate: Yeah.

Me: So what did she decide on?

Nate: She got Space Chimps.

Me (trying to be nonchalant): Really? You recommended Space Chimps and she got it?

Nate (satisfied with self and life in general): Yeah, I think she'll like it.

Me (inwardly sarcastic, outwardly sincere): Good. I hope she really enjoys that.

At this point I'm seriously trying not to laugh because he seems like he's feeling pretty great about the big favor he just did for this lady.

We got home and I just kept laughing to myself, which is never as much fun as laughing with someone else, so I called Adam and told him the story. As I was talking to him I kept wondering when Nate had ever seen Space Chimps so I asked Adam if he had seen it with him at some point, but he hadn't. So I yelled to Nate and asked him when he saw the movie and he responded "I've never seen it, I just wanted the lady to get a movie so I could return mine and you wouldn't worry." I could hold it in no longer. I burst out laughing!

So if you are at Redbox and you see this boy:

Even if he seems like the sweetest boy ever (and he is), like this:

But especially if he's dressed in sheep's clothing with one ear sticking up like this:

Don't ask for advice, directions or recommendations or you too might end up with this:

And you'll probably regret it, unless you're the kind of person who has great faith in the unjustified opinions of cute little, random 8 year old boys.

Where did my baby go?

2009-03-19T13:17:00.012-04:00

With a few words in her vocabulary, Cecily has taken a few steps out of her "I'm shy and cute" comfort zone. Suddenly she's become more of a "I'm kinda shy and very cute but I'll tell you "nooo" even if I feel like saying "yes" and if I want to do something, don't try to stop me but if you do try I'll throw a fit and then probably attempt shmoozing my way out of your punitive measures (time out)." I've been able to capture a bit of this lately, since I have a functioning camera.

Yesterday we were playing outside, since it was above freezing. When we play outside, Nate grabs his scooter, Eli grabs his bike...and I chase after him with one of the many helmets, and Cecily gets out all of the other helmets (and tries them on one by one), the old big wheel, her new big wheel, every ball we own, the lacrosse sticks (I swear we have 47), the play lawn mower, the tonka truck, the single stroller, the double stroller, golf clubs and whatever else she can find. She's so quiet while she does it that I don't even realize that she's creating a garage sale on my driveway until it's all out. I know, I know, get with it mom! We're always scrambling 2 minutes before Adam gets home to get everything off of the drive so that he won't run over it all.

Like most girls, Cecily is obsessed with clothing and accessories. While we were outside she silently went in and out of the front door grabbing different boots and shoes to bring out and try on. Then she went on to the helmets. Her hair is in cornrows right now and they all come to a bun thingy on top of her head. So she was trying to buckle up the helmets herself and they weren't fitting like they usually do but she was determined. I tried to help and got the "noooooo" so I went and got the camera instead. I missed the buckling part which was funny because she was cross-eyed, but this came next...

Pride

DismayWhat the crap do I do now?

And here is this mornings scene:

I see her, but she only has eyes for the peanut butter. Oblivious to the Mama.

Caught!

Hurry and shove the last bite in before she gets to you!

What do I do?!? SCHMOOZE! Throw on that funny face and schmooze like you've never schmoozed before!

Are you sirius?

2009-03-16T07:56:00.006-04:00

I have never been one of those people who was cutting edge with the latest piece of technology at my fingertips the minute it hit the market...or the decade, for that matter. I don't, and have never, had a cell phone. I know, insane right? I'm not against them. My husband has one and has had one since we got married nearly 10 years ago. It's always made sense for us to have one, but not two, in my mind. It's a good thing I didn't get one all those years ago because I would never have seen the need to upgrade and this would be me:

...except that I'm not a black man. But we all know that I have an affinity for rubber bands.

My husband has encouraged me to get one (cell phone, not a rubber band), and even admitted that he was just going to go get one for me without asking and I have always said that I'm glad he didn't because it would have been a want, not a need.

I opted for a traditional camera over a digital one many years ago when there was no question that digital wasn't going anywhere. Since then we have acquired 2 digital cameras but they were both free and as you might assume (and you'd be right) they were pieces of crap. Just in the last month, we actually purchased a digital camera. Nothing spesh, but it does take more than seven not-too-crappy pictures without having to change the batteries! Sadly, this is an improvement over the last and I am glad to have it as an improvement in my lowish tech world.

Recently with the addition of the new van came an unexpected perk. Apparently the people who owned the van before us had satellite radio (sirius). WHO NEEDS SATELLITE RADIO? Radio is something that you get for free (other than NPR, which I think everyone should contribute to so I can keep enjoying it :) ). I am ashamed to say that it took me about 3 minutes of enjoying satellite radio to feel that once the person who must still be paying for my radio finally realizes it and cancels it, I will feel lost and alone and angry at every advertisement I have to listen to! Better to have listened and lost than never to have listened at all? I don't know. I just never imagined that I would love it this much. I was a satisfied listener before. I bet the people who went from having 2 television stations to a mind blowing 13 felt the same way.

I love the kids station. The songs are fun but I wish I could adequately describe the comedy that goes on between songs. It's comedic genius! Seriously funny...or should I say Siriusly funny? NO, I should not. Sorry about that.

There is one last reason that the people who are currently paying for our radio should not stop (since I'll never pay for it). This year my fine sister-in-law had a competition on her blog. The title of her posts were lines from broadway songs. Points went to those who's comments included the title, musical, character or any other info from the play. I came in a shameful 7th place. Just imagine the damage I could do next year if I had the broadway station playing everyday. All I know is that there is a certain Melissa Corry (this year's winner) who is shaking in her boots...as long as our van's last owner never checks their credit card bill.

Why didn't I just break a mirror and call it good?

2009-03-11T13:50:00.016-04:00

I was reminded this week that I've been cursed. 22 years ago at the tender, STU-PID age of 12 I made a decision that may have followed me until this very week. You may not have been an idiot when you were twelve, but I was. If there was one thing that I was sure of at that age, it was that I was cool. Very cool. And just like a prideful Nephite, I've been given ample opportunity since then to realize the folly of my narcissistic opinion of myself back in '87...'88 and maybe a touch in '89.

I called my mom this week to tell her that we finally bought a minivan. She, along with everyone else that heard this news was SO excited for us. You may wonder why someone would be thrilled about a minivan? Isn't this the car that everyone dreads? I mean, minivans aren't that cool, right? That may be true when you go from driving this:

To driving this:

But when your fine luxury transportation device looks like this:

then that minivan feels like upward mobility for sure. It's actually been a good car. And while innocent by standers can hear the car coming WELL before they see it, and AFTER they see it they feel like they've been insulted in some way, it's done it's job and we are very grateful it stuck it out. Actually, those who have besmirched the car should see what it would look like if I hadn't been spray painting portions of it over the years. An activity that would have positively mortified me in middle school when not only would I not go into the D.I. (thrift store, for those of you who might feel out of the loop), but I laid on the floor of the car so that if any of my friends would happen to drive by they wouldn't know I was there. What a FREAK!

So this week, my mom joked that I may finally have lived my pride of past years down. Whew!

BUT my uncoolness doesn't end there! Nay, my well of dorkiness is deep. I've needed new glasses for years now but I was in denial/stingy so I dealt with cheapy reading glasses instead. But cheap reading glasses weren't even cheap enough for me, so I bought the cheapest and probably the ugliest reading glasses out there. But at $7.84 for THREE pair, who could say "no?" NOT ME! One by one my reading glasses broke. Can you believe it?! Shoddy workmanship.

I finally gave in and got the real deal. And wouldn't you know that they came in the same day that we got the van? So here are my before and after shots taken with the help of my kids. While the rubber band earpieces may not have been original to the glasses, they did their job after the first ones broke off.

So perhaps now the curse is lifted and I no longer have to hang my head in embarrassment when I pull up to the NICEST thrift store in town.

When good haircuts go bad!

2009-03-05T13:03:00.005-05:00

Me again. Boy am I back on the bandwagon! I'm sure it will die down soon.

We all know I'm extremely frugal, right? So what kind of cheapskate would I be if I didn't cut my kids hair myself? I couldn't even show my face at the thrift store if I actually PAID someone to cut my kids hair. And if I couldn't go to the thrift store my whole family would be naked which in some circles is considered bad. SO, I cut my kids hair.

Eli loves it and wants another one immediately after I finish. :) Same thing with getting his nails cut, ears cleaned, etc. Funny kid. Nate HATES it. Hates, hates, HATES IT! At the mature age of 8, he has quit throwing tantrums about it. But just barely.

We have been long past due for haircuts around here. I always know it's time because Eli goes from looking like Tiger Woods to Cosmo Kramer. So we got down to business, got out the clippers and Eli went first as usual. All was going very well until the end when I went to shave his neck. Apparently the clippers need some adjustment because they nicked Eli's neck. In reaction, his head whipped around and then this happened.

You're probably thinking that the bloody nose was the result. You're wrong. The nose happened earlier in the day in the house center at preschool. Don't you just hate domestic violence??? Kidding. His teacher emphasized the fact that it was not a result of a physical incident. I think that there may have been a physical incident with his finger and his nose. When I said something to that effect to his teacher she looked at me with complete confusion. Come ON?! Are you telling me that a preschool teacher is oblivious to the rampant nose picking that goes on in that room? BACK to the real issue. Notice, if you will, the missing eyelashes in the middle of the eyelid? Yep, I did that. I assured him that they would grow back, so he wanted me to take a picture RIGHT away because "they might grow back before Dad got home and he wouldn't be able to see what happened." AND he wanted Dad to see the cool hair on his chin ("just like Dad's hairy chin"). Doesn't he look so ruggedly satisfied with himself? He is. And me? I'm freaking out that I came within a quarter inch of his eye! BLAAAAA!

We are now at least daily checking to see if they have grown back yet. They haven't.

I'm Published!!!

2009-03-04T13:53:00.005-05:00

Oh yeah! You read that right. I can now say that I am published...kinda. But even if it's "kinda", an inappropriate amount of pride is welling up inside me. Especially since it took almost no effort and I had completely forgotten about it until I was alerted by email (which I almost deleted because I didn't even recognize the authors name.)

I'm sure you're dying to know which incredible work of mine is being published. My recipe. I know, you're disappointed now. Good thing I'M still impressed with myself. :)

I got an email months ago from a friend informing me that a woman was compiling a World Wide Ward Cookbook that was to be published by Deseret Book. She was requesting recipes that had some kind of family tradition/story attached to them. Well, everyone has one of those so I didn't really think that I would be chosen but it was about time that I got the recipe on paper anyway (it's just been in my head until now.) So I submitted it, and probably got some kind of acceptance notification after that but I delete everything I don't recognize and this was not even on my radar after the day I submitted it.

Are you just licking you lips to know what scrumptious recipe I submitted? Sadly, I can't properly tell you. I can say it poorly in Mandarin Chinese but I definitely can't type it. I think I titled the recipe "Chinese Dumplings" in an attempt not to slaughter the language.

The story behind it is that my Dad served his mission in Taiwan ooooh sooooo long ago. At that time missionaries in Taiwan had "house boys" that did the cooking, cleaning, etc. My dad quickly learned that having them make american food could be detrimental to his health since they didn't now the first thing about american food and the local food was fantastic. He loved the dumplings particulary and learned how to make them.

My family made these every General Conference weekend. Together we would fold them and we all (well, almost all, Eric thought they felt like jellyfish and they were not his favorite) LOVED to eat them! They are still my favorite food and they are my kids favorite food too!

And THAT is the whole story. My "major award" for being chosen is that I get a free copy of the cookbook! I'll take that over a leg-shaped lamp with a swanky shade. Then again, after looking at my choices side by side...I may have spoken too soon.

Pay it forward

2009-02-25T11:46:00.001-05:00

My friend Heidi, and my husbands occasional nagging have encouraged me back on the blogging horse. Oh, and I got a much more functional camera, which will help (I hope). So, if anyones checking and wants to do this then comment and you'll get something groovy from me!

THE RULES:
1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me. (it will be a surprise but I promise to make it something fun)
2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! (cheeky) If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

More from my Beautiful, yet crazy kids!

2008-06-19T21:22:00.003-04:00

So Nate brought this funny bunny mask home from school and of course, and without hesitation, Adam put it on Cecily while she is helplessly confined in her chair. As you can tell she was really hating having the mask on. She laughed and smiled and laughed. She kept trying to take it off but Adam and Eli were laughing too and made her keep it on. So with all the hilarity and joviality in the air, and having noticed all of the fun and positive attention that Cecily was deriving from this frolic, Eli had to be a part.

There really isn't anything more to say about that picture except, "WOW!" He is like a scary pirate bunny winking through his one good but very squinty eye. The smile is really all it takes though to know the Eli is one wild and crazy guy. Oh,and please, disregard the random empty gatorade bottle in the background. I have no idea why that is in the picture or why I didn't edit it out with all of me newfound photoshop skills. Obviously we just finished dinner or something. Nice!

Eli, Eli, O!

2008-04-03T08:26:00.009-04:00

I've been shirking! But I'm back. A little weekend get away and bout of the flu and I'm totally out of my groove.

I have to write about Eli today. There is always so much to say about the little man. My mother-in-law was a very spirited little girl and she remembers her mother introducing her to friends they would see at the store or wherever. Her mom would say "... and this is Melanie. She is the spice of my life." What a great way to put it! I've used that a couple of times lately. "This is Eli, the spice of my life." OH MY is he spicy. It's so much better than saying "this is the reason I could sleep 12 hours a day" or the "handful" comment.

All of this background info is really just to set up one of the funny things that Eli has said for the past couple of days. On Mondays we have Family Home Evening. It's a time that we spend as a family having a gospel centered discussion an activity and songs, etc. Some are fantastic and others have good intentions....:) but this Monday was particularly good. We were discussing that Satan does not have a physical body and he is so jealous that he tempts us with things that destroy ours. We talked about all of the physical temptations (minus "intimacy", our crowd is a little young for that). Then we talked about the obvious benefits of living healthy. We then read a scripture about the "hidden treasures" (scroll to the bottom of the link) of living healthy and did a fun activity involving finding a hidden treasure after doing something that was obviously beneficial. The lesson must of have stuck with Eli. A couple of times he has said very seriously "the devil wants my body." I know what he means and I really try to take this seriously and reitterate part of the lesson, but it's very hard to not chuckle at a 3 year old saying " the devil wants my body." He's quite a guy.

Here are a few reasons I love Eli. When we started doing puffs in Cecily's hair Eli was all over it. He still sticks her barretts in his hair. If it looks fun, Eli will do it. A cookie, a big wheel and some puffs. Now that's a good day.

Next pic. This was obviously a while ago. But when he does something he does it big. If one was good, two HAD to be so much better.

Last pic. Back to the fun...who knew that the empty detergent bucket and fabric softener box were a drum and a hat? Eli did. These are the things I need to remember when I flop down exhausted in bed at night.

I just love my guy!

Easter is on it's way!

2008-03-10T14:26:00.006-04:00

So, we still don't have the digital camera but I was looking on my friend Anna's blog and she had a tutorial about how to add color to black and white photos. I actually did it! And since Easter is coming, I thought I would share my results. Thanks Anna!

So here is the original picture.

And here is the enhanced photo.
um, it's not loading. I'll try later. :) Anna, could you please post a tutorial on why my pic isn't uploading and how to FIX IT!!! Too big probably. I don't know.

Much, much later... Anna is a GENIUS! She was RIGHT. It was saved funky. Here it is! So cute, eh?

My Family

2008-03-05T12:37:00.004-05:00

Some of you that are reading this are new friends that I have met since moving to Rochester a month ago. Others are friends and family that I have known forever. I thought I better post a picture of my family so that if you don't know them, you can see who I'm talking about, or if it has been so long since you saw us that you can't remeber what we look like you'll have a visual. :) I also haven't uploaded a photo for quite a while so I better try my hand at it and see if it works.

I did it! Woohoo! So, here we are. This was taken by my skilled and hip sister-in-law Lindsey. It was taken outside of the Logan LDS temple on the day Cecily was sealed to us. It was beautiful and wonderful. Happy, happy day. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you can go here for a better explanation than I can give: http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/membership-in-the-church/temples-and-family-history Yeah, I did a link. I ROCK!
Anyway, that's us for today. When I finally figure out where our digital camera (bane of my exsistence) is located since the move, I'll post some recent pictures. Really the only difference from the picture above is that Nate now has front teeth (and so does Cecily, come to think of it) and Cecily has gigantic hair that I LOVE!

beginnings

2008-03-04T12:27:00.000-05:00

Well folks, here I am. I've done some blogging but never had a blog of my own. I was never sure if what I wanted to post was enough "us" and not just "me" since it was our family's blog. SO, I'm branching out and starting anew. Welcome to Persimmon Poppy. Why the name? The first 302 names I thought of were taken so I decided to go a little outside the box and title my blog with something I love and possibly describes me in a way.