Blogging like I’m famous.
I looked into renewing our car tags online at renewyourtag.com/etowah and I discovered that Superman drives a Chrysler Sebring:
It makes sense that he would Drive American, I suppose.
But his tag should really expire in August, not January, as his last name begins with a K.
As I was reading last week’s Food section in the Times, a name jumped out at me: Pam Lolley.
“She used to be one of Kris’ clients!”
Pam Lolley, test kitchen professional for Southern Living magazine, said that making your own pancake batter isn’t hard and always results in a better pancake experience than a boxed mix. “You cannot compare the taste,” she said. “These are so light and fluffy. And part of the beauty is it’s so easy.”
Lolley was referring to the recipe for her pancakes in the January issue of Southern Living. Staffers at the magazine enjoy them so much they dubbed them “Pam-cakes.”
Her “Pam-cakes” sounded easy and tasty. I got up early one morning and thought if I made the batter, I could sweet-talk Kris into making the pancakes. Only, we were out of flour.
So we had to wait until the weekend, post-grocery run for the “Pam-cakes.” They were excellent!
Kris decided to make the honey syrup, too. When I came into the kitchen, I told him it smelled like he was working on a batik. Oh, my art-making days!
Seriously, guys, MAKE THESE PAM-CAKES. You will not be disappointed.
(The syrup was good, too, but I think I’d prefer it on biscuits.)
PAM-CAKES WITH BUTTERED HONEY SYRUP
From Pam Lolley, Southern Living
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
¼ cup butter, melted
Buttered Honey Syrup (recipe follows)
Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk together buttermilk and eggs.
Gradually stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture.
Gently stir in butter. Batter will be lumpy.
Pour about ¼ cup batter for each pancake onto a hot buttered griddle or large nonstick skillet.
Cook pancakes 3 to 4 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry and cooked.
Turn and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown.
Place pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet, and keep warm in a 200 degree oven up to 30 minutes.
Serve with Buttered Honey Syrup.
Makes about 16 (4-inch) pancakes.
BUTTERED HONEY SYRUP
Melt 1/3 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
Stir in ½ cup honey, and cook 1 minute or until warm.
Note: This syrup cannot be made ahead. The heated honey will crystallize when cooled and will not melt if reheated.
The Red Cross Heroes fund-raising campaign is in full-swing. Eric is a “hero” and his fundraiser is a print sale. I designed the invite for the event.
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Funds raised through the Heroes campaign stay in Etowah County. They are used to provide disaster response, such as in the case of house fires, floods, tornadoes or other traumatic events; to provide disaster preparedness education; to provide service to members of the military and their families; and to provide lifesaving training. These are just some of the ways your contribution can help your family members, friends and neighbors.
Order prints in advance at erictwright.com/redcrossheroes
This sale is made possible by The Gadsden Times, Fine Print Imagine, Paragon Picture Gallery and the Gadsden Public Library
Reading the Baby Animals book from Dad and Patsy, Ben turns to an antelope.
“A kudu!” he exclaims.
I’m about to say “actually, it’s a…”
“It’s a kind of antelope,” he adds.
He likens many things this way. Salamander? It’s a kind of lizard. Wolverine? It’s a kind of bear. Aardvark? It’s a kind of anteater.
Kris and I miss the shows on Nick, Jr./Noggin.
When I carried Ben downstairs this morning at 6am, I bundled him up on the couch so I could prepare Cash a bottle.
“You want to watch Blue’s Clues?” I asked.
“Nope. Wild Russia.”
Fine.
“Let me ’splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”
— Inigo Montoya
‘Member how I said in the Catoe house, there is The Plan and there is How Things Turn Out? Well, have I got another tale for you.
Kris and I decided that we are done having biological children. We are not done building our family, though. We want to adopt.
I felt drawn to China. Maybe because I used to read Mimi Smartypants. Maybe because Aja was my favorite character on Jem. I don’t really know why.
And I don’t really remember when the idea of adopting began. I blogged about it here and here.
Anyway, when Kris and I decided Catoe kid number three would be adopted, I began my research. I came across a statistic that the process to adopt from China would take 3-5 years and we would probably get a referral for a girl 6-14 months old.
So, The Plan:
But here is How Things Turned Out:
We chose a Christian adoption agency in Birmingham: Lifeline Children’s Services. We thought a secular agency might consider us loony when we say things like “We feel like God placed this desire in our hearts.”
Meanwhile, I went and interviewed the Strawn family, who adopted one of China’s “Waiting Children.” Read about that here.
Kris and I met with Lifeline in spring 2009. We liked them and they liked us, but we did not qualify to adopt from China. They suggested Nepal.
I researched adopting from Nepal. The process over there is on hold right now, but we were game to consider it. Since our original plan was out, we told Lifeline we would like to wait until after Cash was born and no longer a newborn to begin the home study.
However you adopt, be it from China or the foster care system here in Alabama, you must have a home study. It’s a great place to start.
With me so far? It’s summer of ’09 and we still plan to adopt, only not from China because we don’t qualify but maybe from Nepal, we don’t know yet?
Okay, so, the day Cash was born, as Kris was walking from the birth suite to the waiting room to gather the grandparents, his cell phone rang. It was Lifeline calling to say we were approved for the China program after all.
Wow, what crazy timing.
So we began our home study in October. The process does not have to take as long as it has for us, but we were in no rush. Also, we were trying to pay for this as we go.
Lifeline happens to be one of the agencies that receive a list of “Waiting Children” referrals a few times a year. We didn’t know that when we chose them as our agency.
Seems like God was leading us to the special needs program. Kris and I began considering what we thought we could handle.
I read all the summaries at Rainbow Kids of the various conditions a Special Needs child might have. I read so many that I forgot what some of them even were. Tetralogy of fallout, anyone?
Then I found the blog at No Hands But Ours. I found it immensely useful to read the accounts of parents who were raising kids adopted from the waiting children lists.
One particular post stood out to me:
It was as if God were whispering in my ear, “Let go of your dream. Accept my dream for you.”
Before I could second-guess that thought, I checked albinism and shoved the paper into the envelope.
She won’t have albinism, I thought as I mailed the SN sheet. Only one in 17,000 people are born with it.
I went and read more of the posts by “Cheeky’s mom.” I told Kris about it. How the mom hadn’t even checked albinism to begin with!
Kris said he didn’t know what to picture when I said a Chinese girl with albinism, so I sent him a link to the blog.
“She’s beautiful!” He told me after viewing it. “Let’s add albinism to our list.”
Okay.
That was Valentine’s Day weekend. (A.K.A. Chinese New Year weekend)
February 16th, Lifeline sent out a list of waiting children. I opened it up and scrolled through.
And there was “Liza.” A three-year-old girl with albinism.
Wow, what are the odds?
I e-mailed Lifeline and explained that my husband and I are still in the home study process and I didn’t know if we could look at profiles yet or not, but here’s the crazy thing, we just talked about albinism and here’s this girl…
I had her file by day’s end.
The panic began. She’s older than Ben; I can’t do this. We can’t afford three in daycare. What was I thinking?
I took her file to Kris. And where I was all panic, he was all peace.
That calmed me a little.
That night, I thought about when she was born. It was during the same season as Sophia, Bonnie and Lyla. Like she already fits with our family and friends.
Kris mentioned her the next day when he dropped the boys off at daycare. The director said she will work with us to find a scholarship for her.
So we’re… moving ahead. What does that mean?
We gather some information and send China a Letter of Intent. And we work on finishing our home study and dossier. If China sends us a Letter of Approval, then she’s ours.
I know what you’re thinking.
“This is you ‘summing’ up?’”
Photo by Eric T. Wright
Kris and I began “supper clubbing” with Carol and Eric back when we didn’t have a kitchen and they were gracious enough to bring us cooked meals. On occasion, when they want to make a big meal, they’ll ask to use our kitchen because it’s bigger than that of the Newtonplex.
C and E have been clubbin’ with some other couples lately, too: the Sherrouses and Yarnells. A couple of weeks ago, we had a dinner party with all of us.
The Yarnells have a little girl named Afton. All day, we kept telling Ben “new friends” were coming over.
When our “new friends” began arriving, Ben was in his high chair having a snack and watching some animals. As soon as Afton arrived, he declared “I’m done!”
I got him out of the high chair and he immediately ran over to Afton’s dad like “put her down, she’s mine now.”
They ran, they played, they chased, they went up and down the stairs. And while they were mostly uninterested in the lovely array of foods the adults were eating, they did enjoy sharing snacks of strawberries, cheese slices, pretzels and marshmallows.
We had our “new friends” over again this Saturday. When it seemed the Yarnells wouldn’t be able to make it, the Sherrouses suggested we invite the News. And then the Yarnells could make it and we had ten people at the table!
Cash took a nap during most of dinner; Ben and Afton ate little and fast so they could return to playing. Ben ran up to me at the table and excitedly asked for “marshmallows for me and Afton!”
“How about we start with pretzels?”
Kris has had a yen to make monkey bread, so after dinner, he was in the kitchen rolling biscuit dough in cinnamon. Ben wanted to help. I’m sure it looked to Ben like Kris was just making a mess and Ben knows he’s good at that, too. Kris told him not this time.
From my seat at the table, I could see the tops of Ben and Afton’s heads as they ran around the living room. I could also see the television and when I noticed the Backyardigans were on, I knew it was time to wake up Mr. Cash and give him a bottle.
When I brought the baby downstairs, I went in the living room to tell Ben and Afton that Ben’s room was no longer off-limits since Cash was awake and the words died on my tongue and instead I said something like “Oh, no!”
The kids each had a measuring scoop and were running back and forth from the peace lily in the corner to the chaise in front of the TV. Each time, they grabbed a scoop of potting soil and flung it over the couch. And rug. And entertainment center. And window sills. And exersaucer.
Dirt was everywhere. The room smelled of soil.
I don’t know exactly how long it took two toddlers to make that much mess, but it took about ten minutes for eight adults to clean it up.
“I thought I smelled dirt,” Eric said afterward.
The kids played in Ben’s room while the dirt was contained, and though we didn’t tell them “hey, you guys, there’s cake!” they migrated back downstairs to the sounds of us singing happy birthday to Andy.
After cake and monkey bread, we convened in the living room and Ben showed everybody how to “play bison.” Andy gave Afton and Ben each a turn to fly around the room and then he joined them in fake laughing, which Cash did not like at all.
Hurry up, spring! I want to supper club outside!
Sunday afternoon was great. The warm weather was a much-welcomed chance to be outside. Kris and I worked in the yard and Ben played. Cash hung out with Ron and Jan in the afternoon and we had a big ol’ Catoe clan dinner planned for the evening because Mike, Raygen and Mathias were in town.
Kris was prepping potatoes and I was chatting with Raygen when we heard crying. Was it Mathias waking up in the pack-n-play? No, that’s coming from upstairs where Ben was napping in mommy and daddy’s room.
I ran upstairs to find him and heard him in the nursery. Had he climbed in the crib and gotten stuck?
Ben was crying hard, wedged in the corner behind the crib, amidst the boxes of clothes Cash has outgrown. He reached for me and when he did, I caught a whiff of bile.
I pulled off his hoodie and yelled for Kris. When he came upstairs, I told him there would be vomit somewhere.
Kris found two pink piles of it in our bed and on our floor. Pink from the cranberry juice Ben likes so well. Chunks of yellow from a slice of Kraft cheese. So very gross.
He had been fine. What happened?
After four bouts of puke, it seemed over. We pondered.
“Well,” I told Kris. “He did eat some pond scum.”
While playing outside, Ben picked up some rocks in standing green water. He licked the slime off his fingers.
I was hoping it was pond scum and not a virus. I stayed home with him on Monday because there is a 24-hour puke-free rule at the daycare and Kris was taking Cash for his 6-month visit. Ben was fine all day. Laughing, playing, eating Salt & Vinegar Pringles.
And then, an hour after he fell asleep between us, pukesville.
There was more of it this morning, but he has now been vomit-free all day. Here’s hoping it stays away this time.
Hmm, let me balance that gross Ben story with a nicer one.
Last week, he asked me to tell him a story about mermaids. (He’d been watching a Dora episode with mermaids earlier.)
“Once upon a time, there was a mermaid,” I began.
“No,” he corrected. “A princess.”
Fine. “There was a princess, named… Ben, what do you want to name the princess?”
“Princess.”
Okay. “There was a princess named, uh, Aurora, and she lived in the woods, because…”
“And she takes care of animals.”
“Yes. She takes care of…”
“Wolves. And lizards and cows and horses,” he said.
“But not bears,” I interjected.
“Bears are scary.”
“What else does she take care of?” I asked.
“Butterflies and owls and moose…”
“Okay, butterflies and owls and mooses…”
“No, moose. And beavers! And blue birds!”
Oh, Ben.
Eat him up
Originally uploaded by DameCatoe
Just so you guys know, I compose blog entries in my head all the time. I just never have the chance to type them up.
