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Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Like Yesterday


About two years ago, I remember reading someone's 1000 day post and thinking it was a good idea.  I counted the days and scheduled it in my Outlook calendar.  Then I forgot all about it.

Sunday night I received a reminder.  For just a minute I stared blankly at the reminder and then it clicked.  Yesterday was 1000 days since the day Sera was placed in our arms, and the day we officially adopted her. Our situation was unusual in that our adoption took place as soon as we received her.  Our group didn't have the customary 24 hours in between.  It didn't matter. Sera was our child from the moment she was placed in our arms.

It's hard to believe it's been 1000 days when it seems like just yesterday in so many ways.  If I had to describe the difference in life before Sera and life with Sera, I'd compare it to The Wizard of Oz.  Life was perfectly fine as we knew it, but then she came into our life.  Suddenly the world was filled with colors I never noticed and a vibrancy that had never existed for me.  We've run into a few flying monkeys and a poppy field or two, but the journey is the most exciting one I've taken.

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Monday, December 28, 2009
1000 Days
Can you guess?


Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas!
To make up for my lack of posts and pictures, I have pictures ranging from her friend's birthday party to Jim's birthday, her recital, Christmas Eve, and this morning.



Cheerleaders Birthday Party

Starting a formation

Here's one corner


As close as we got to complete

Swinging on the bars


Daddy's birthday cake personally decorated by Sera

On stage singing Jingle Bells

Sera and her friend, Lily, having a girl's night.  We decorated gingerbread men
and sugar cookies.  Have you noticed how often Sera wears that princess dress?

Sera & Theresa after our Christmas Eve dinner at our
favorite Chinese restaurant

Sera's face when she realizes she & Theresa received
matching nightgowns on Christmas Eve

One final pose before bedtime

First, I have to interject with a little story.  Jim & I woke up and were surprised that Sera hadn't come into our room yet.  I went to check on her and found her sitting on her bed looking out the window.  She gave me the saddest face and said, "Mommy, there is no Santa Claus." In Sera-speak, this means she thought he hadn't come.  I asked her why she thought that, and she told me that she waited and waited and never heard his jingle bells.  I took her back to our room where she told Jim the same sad story.  He volunteered to go peek while he let Shadow out.  She was quite thrilled to realize that she just didn't hear the jingle bells in her sleep.  She was quite excited when we came down the stairs.

Sera is in the more is not less camp of accessorizing

Merry Christmas from Magi, Jim, & our princess.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Miss Literal
Yesterday morning we headed out to breakfast.  As we pulled into the parking lot, Sera asked if we were in town.  Assured we were, she then asked if Santa Claus was coming.

Because, you know, Santa Claus is coming to town.

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Sunday, December 13, 2009
Why I'll Never Be a Food Blogger
or a cookbook author.

The other night I made a chowder for dinner, and Jim suggested I post about it. He also reminded me how bad I've become about posting. While he's right about the second part, the first part is much harder.

First, I never think to take pictures while I cook or even of the finished product.

Second, I'm very bad about measuring. I'm very much a toss in what's in the frig type of cook. Usually, this produces a very good end result. Also usually, it's hard to reproduce.

I had some cream in the garage refrigerator that I knew I need to use. I'd bought it to make creamed corn for Thanksgiving, but missed the step about soaking the corn overnight and never made it. It starts with a box of dehydrated corn that I received as gift. Apparently, it's a popular Pennsylvania item. I read on a food blog about this being a must-have for their Thanksgiving when I remembered I had a box in the pantry that I've never known how to prepare.

Anyway, I digress...just another reason while I'll never be a food blogger.

I also knew that we had a bag of potatoes that didn't have much life left and 1/2 a bag of corn in the refrigerator. The corn I'd shucked and frozen in August. It was in the frig and thawed, so I needed to use it up. We also had about 3/4 pound of grilled chicken that Jim had grilled a few days before.

To me, that all sounded like chowder.

I diced up about 1/4 lb of low-sodium bacon and rendered it in the bottom of my LeCreuset dutch oven. Have I ever said how much I love my LeCreuset pans? I have three, and they're all fantastic. I put the bacon aside and sauteed about 1/4 of a gigantic onion, maybe 3/4 cup in the bacon grease. Then I added cubed potatoes. I cubed up one gigantic potato and about 4 small ones. Maybe 2-3 cups. I also added the corn. I decided the thawed corn didn't look like enough, so I added part of a frozen bag, too. I'm guessing about 1 1/2 - 2 cups.

Starting to see the problem? Not really good with measuring. I then added Trader Joe's low-sodium, organic chicken broth. How much? Enough to cover the potatoes. I also put in a little cream, maybe 1/2 cup, and some kosher salt & white pepper. I brought it up to where it was just about to boil, covered, and reduced to simmer for about 15 minutes. This cooked the potatoes almost completely through.

While the potatoes finished cooking, I added the leftover grilled chicken. If I'd had any more leftover vegetables, I'd have added them, too. Oh, did I mention I found a small container with about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes? I added them, too. They did a great job of thickening up the soup into a more chowder-like consistency. I also used my potato masher to mash up the cubed potates once they finished cooking. I didn't mash them completely. It's more like I broke them up a bit.

To finish, I added another splash, about 1/4 c, of cream and the remnants of three opened bags of cheese I found in the frig. It was Mexican-blend, mild cheddar, and colby-jack blend. Tasted to see if it needed more salt, and served.

It was delicious, and like most soup/stew like meals, even better the next day for lunch. Though by then, it could probably have used a bit of thinning out with some more broth.

Now how in the world do you recreate that much less write a recipe?

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