Last Day At Tweetsie

This weekend is the last weekend Tweetsie Railroad is open this year. It has been a joy to watch Sam enjoy trains due to his exposure to Tweetsie. Anyone who knows him personally knows he is wild about trains.

I started our day by taking Sam down to the mechanic for a routine inspection (not for Sam, but for my car). For some strange reason when I bought my car earlier this year from Carmax, they put my property tax county as Caldwell. I've never lived in Caldwell County, so I am unsure of why this happened. But, it meant that I need an emissions check, on top of the safety check required here in Watauga County. So, I packed us up and went down to the tag office and presented them with my dilemma. The man there was equally confused and changed it with no problems.

Then we headed back to the mechanic and finally to Tweetsie.

It was bittersweet to spend our last day of the season there. Everything was perfectly decorated for Halloween and I got a lot of cute shots of Sam in front of pumpkins and bails of hay.

Bye bye Tweetsie!

He dressed up in his conductor's hat and 'kerchief and we rode Tweetsie one final time.

On the trip, we saw the cowboys and Indians have their normal fight. Gunfire prevailed and Sam kept my hands firmly on his ears. I love this little drama they do - it's so poorly done, but that's part of the charm.

The boats were frozen, so we couldn't ride them, but the airplanes were still working. He's such a big boy on these airplanes - doesn't even try to stand up. I'm still nervous about it though and I've talked with the technician several times. Apparently there's a red button that will stop the train in one second flat.

Let's not forget the merry-go-round. One of Sam's favorite things to do.

So, with sadness in our hearts, we bid Tweetsie farewell for the season. We'll dream of you fondly...

In the meantime, we'll eat yummy chili to keep us warm.

Chili (From Iva Crawford, my great grandmother - I assume I get my abilities to cook from her)

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Lb Ground Meat

1 Number 2 Can Crushed Tomatoes (large can)

1 Number 2 Can Tomato Soup (also a large can; I don't prefer the taste of tomato soup, so I use one small can tomato paste and 1 cup water)

1/2 Teaspoon Paprika

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/2 Bay Leaf

1 1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder

1 Can Kidney Beans

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Clove Garlic; Crushed (I omit this because I'm allergic to garlic)

Melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and meat. Cook, stirring constantly until brown.Add tomato soup, tomato, paprika, cayenne, bay leaf, and chili powder. Simmer 1 hour. Or put it in the crock pot in the morning and the tastes will mellow and be even more delicious that evening.

Snow Day!

We've had some really great dialogue about the English muffins over the last few days. I'd love to hear how some of yours turn out and what changes you've made. There are so many variations.



We got some snow a couple days ago. It has been so cold here, but the weather is warming up today. I wanted to add some snow day photos. We didn't actually go out to play in the snow, though we did go to the library for story time. It was just too cold and windy to get out there!

Look! It's snowing!

Sam enjoyed watching the snow from inside though. When he first woke up he was uninterested, but once he had a good breakfast of warm English muffins and homemade raspberry jam (yes, from our own raspberry bushes), he really got into it.

"Look Mama!! A snow day!!"

Bill is having our wood burning stove cleaned on November 5th, so we haven't actually started a fire in it yet. But, man are we itching to. So far, we've used our electric baseboard heaters upstairs and the monitor heater downstairs. The monitor heater is a new item to us but most houses here have one (at least the ones we looked at for purchase). It is a very efficient way to heat the house using gas.

I haven't been posting as often as I usually do because I hurt my neck a week ago today. I had a muscle spasm that led to a pinched nerve, I believe. A friend of a friend came to visit me on Tuesday to give me a gift and she happened to be a doctor. I had her look at it and give me some advice about it. So far, her advice is working very well and I almost have full range-of-motion back. Thank goodness - I was getting tired of being so careful. Eventually I'll be able to exercise again too - can't wait for that day.

Getting back to cooking for a moment, are there any recipes you especially want me to share? Any questions about cooking I can answer? Feel free to ask...and I'll include a recipe for my great grandmother's homemade chili in the next post. Perfect for a cold winter's night!

For now, here's another sweet treat that we love around here. It happens to be my friend JoJo's fave - and as his wife said recently, you will gain a pound just reading it!

Chocolate Revel Bars

1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 t baking soda
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz can (1 1/4 cups) sweetened condensed milk or low fat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 t vanilla

1. Set aside 2 T of butter or margarine. In a large mixing bowl, beat the remaining butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar and baking soda. Beat till combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and 2 t vanilla till combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in the remaining flour. Stir in the rolled oats.

2. For filling, in a medium saucepan combine the reserved 2 T butter or margarine, chocolate pieces, and sweetened condensed milk. Cook over low heat till chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in the walnuts or pecans and 2 t vanilla.

3. Press two thirds (about 3 1/3 cup) of the rolled oats mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Spread the filling evenly over the oat mixture. Dot remaining rolled oats mixture on filling (smoosh little bits with your fingers and lay them over it - leaving some gaps or drop the dough from a spoon).

4. Baking in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or till the top is lightly browned (chocolate filling will still look moist). Cool on a wire rack. Cute into bars. Makes 60 bars. Peanut Butter-Chocolate Revel Bars: Prepare as above, except substitute 1/2 cup peanut butter for the 2 T butter or margarine when making the chocolate filling and substitute peanuts for the walnuts or pecans. Whole Wheat Chocolate Revel Bars: Prepare as above, except reduce the all purpose flour to 1 1/2 cups and add 1 cup whole wheat flour.

Step By Step Guide: English Muffins

We had a wonderful day in our warm, toasty home painting, playing with friends and cooking bread. Sam was very interested in what Elijah was drawing.

Just to expand a little on my English muffin recipe, I thought I'd add some photos of us making it today. It was the perfect day to stay inside and cook bread. The whole house filled with the smell of yummy bread and it warmed our home just as it was starting dust with snow outside.

First, I want to encourage those of you who don't think you can do this. Yes you can! This is a very simple recipe, as bread recipes go, and requires very little effort on your part. If you have a mixer with a kneading attachment, it will make it even easier. If not, the only real effort you will expend is muscle energy.

As mentioned in my previous post, this recipe has yeast in it, to help the bread rise. If you use the right temperature of water (between 105 and 120F), the yeast should activate and look like the above photo.

I mixed the milk, salt, oil and flour then slowly added the yeast mixture. I used my KitchenAid kneading attachment and slowly mixed everything together.

Then I added the three cups of whole wheat flour and kneaded for about five more minutes. I transfered the dough to a greased Pyrex dish and covered it with plastic wrap, then placed it in my warm oven. You don't need to warm the oven, but it helps it rise a little faster.

About an hour later, I pulled it out and found it had risen perfectly.

It was the perfect situation for little hands to be involved. I try to include Sam every time I bake bread and punching down the dough is one of his favorite past times.

Then we rolled it out - another joy of Sam's. He is such a great helper.

Finally, we cut out little circles and placed them on a couple cookie sheets with some cornmeal sprinkled on them. I covered them with kitchen towels and set them aside for another half hour.

Once they were about an inch tall, I put them on my warmed cast iron skillet. I love my skillet and use it at least one time every day - it is so versatile.

The end result: perfectly browned whole wheat English muffins - made with fresh goat's milk for that extra nutrition. We ate them with smoked beef brisket, butternut squash bisque and fresh Swiss chard from the local Farmer's Market.

Punkin' Festival

One of my best friends and old college roommates came to visit us this weekend. We had such a great time - we had other friends over on Friday night and ate sweet treats till everyone had to be rolled home. We went to the Punkin' Festival in Valle Crucis on Saturday morning and then a friend's awesome Fall Festival on Saturday night. (I'll post more pictures of that later.)


One of the desserts I made was an apple-pear pie that had a tiny bit of fresh ginger in it and a butter crust made from scratch with a turkey egg-yolk (supplied by my bestest-neighbor-ever) baked into it. It had a cinnamon-sugar crumble topping too. It was so incredibly delicious - they were our own apples and our own pears. There is nothing like making food from scratch using fruits from your own yard and fresh eggs from the neighbor's. Wow.

We spent an hour or so picking the last of the pears off our tree today. My daddy's cousin is a horticulturalist and he suggested wrapping them in newspaper and putting them in the basement for two weeks before eating them. It has turned out so well - they are perfectly ripe at the end of the two weeks and so juicy. The reason we picked the last of the pears today is because of this weather forecast:

Monday Hi: 40 Lo: 25
Partly cloudy; Turning much colder; Snow flurries at night; NW wind 15-25
mph with gusts to 40 mph late

Tuesday Hi: 33 Lo: 25
Lots of clouds & unseasonably cold; Flurries and a few snow showers

That is according to our very own local weatherman, Ray, who is surprisingly accurate. Flurries? In October?? We'll see...

While the weather changes over the the next two days, my goal is to make our home toasty with some English muffins. I plan to use the goat's milk our bestest-neighbor-ever gave us. It is supposed to be very nutritious to bake goat's milk into bread. Here's the recipe, especially for Kelly who asked for it a while ago. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I do. You can make them in whatever shape you want too, but we always do boring ol' circles.

English Muffins

Mix and let stand 5 minutes:

1 T yeast

2 T sugar

1/2 cup warm water

Add and mix well:

1 1/2 cups warm milk

1/4 cup oil

1 t salt

3 cups flour

Add and knead in:

3 cups flour (you can use whole wheat flour here to make whole wheat muffins)

Let rise. Roll out dough and cut into 3 inch circles. Place on a cookie sheet sprinkled with a little cornmeal. Let rise 1 inch high. Cook on a heavy ungreased griddle, turning at least three times until both sides are brown. Split open with a fork.

Grandparents, Great Grandparents and Uncles

As many of you guessed from my last post, we went to Tennessee last weekend. We drove down to Sevierville on Friday night, after Bill got off work, and spent some time with some friends of ours there and then headed off to Goodlettsville on Saturday mid-morning.

Sam and Gong-Gong

My father was asked to speak at Vanderbilt for some function this coming Thursday evening, so he bought tickets back to America from Thailand. My mother called me a couple days later and told me she was coming too. We had already made plans to see Daddy, so it was just a bonus to see Mom.

I think we had a fantastic visit. Everyone was very happy and despite jet lag, awake. This picture is in Hermitage, TN, where my grandparents live (Sam and Angie). It was a beautiful day for a picture - and some blackberry cobbler! My Aunt Carlene brought some over for us. Yummy!

Four generations!

We also went over to visit my uncles. They always have these fabulous dinner parties where there is some theme. Lucky for Sam, they still had their cafeteria tray from when they served cafeteria food one night. Sam was thrilled to have such a special plate to eat off.

Can you tell that they're brothers? I only wish I had gotten a photo of Sam making the same face - which he does all the time!

We found beef ribs on sale, so I marinated them in Kraft Hickory-flavored BBQ sauce and wrapped them up by twos in aluminum foil. The day of our dinner, we threw them in a 300 degree oven for two and a half hours, then took them to my uncle's house for grilling. We basted them a bit more as we grilled them to a perfect taste. It's a very easy way to make perfect ribs. You can also see from this picture that we had grilled crab-stuffed jalepenos - which were awesome.

Here we all are: Brian, Patrick, me, Sam, my father and my mother. It was almost impossible to get Sam to look up. He had missed his nap that day (again) and wasn't cooperating for our pictures.

Next post: My English muffin recipe.

Need I Say More?

Just About There!!!

I just got this email - it is only an interpretation of what should happen, but if it does go through, then we changed the legislation. Thanks to everyone who helped. Keep those letters coming to your Congress (House and Senate) Reps, just to make sure!!


Thanks you, from the bottom of our hearts!!

Teesa and Bill

Dear Families & Friends,

After advocating on behalf of adoptive families for the past 6 months, Joint Council is very pleased to confirm that USCIS has announced a very positive ruling concerning the I-600A process.

In summary, it is our understanding that, effective immediately, families who filed Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, prior to April 1, 2008 and whose USCIS approval of that petition (aka the I-171H) has not expired, will be able to proceed with their adoption under the I-600A process if they take
certain steps while their approval remain valid. This means that families
with valid Form I-600A approvals will not be required to transition to The Hague process via Form I-800A. In order to maintain their status as ‘grandfathered’ cases, families with non-expired Form I-600A approvals must request a one-time free extension. Then, prior to the expiration of the one-time free extension, families must file a new Form I-600A and pay the appropriate fee.

It is also our understanding that families with a Form I-600A approval that has expired and who have not obtained an extension or filed a new Form I-600A, will need to undertake the Hague process. The Hague process will also apply to any petitioner who has not completed their adoption by 2014.

As we noted in our Position Statement, this ruling will save adoptive families thousands of dollars, eliminate countless sleepless nights and ensures that their adoption can proceed to completion.

On behalf of over 10,000 adoptive families, Joint Council extends its appreciation to the following individuals and organizations for their tireless efforts.
·
Diane Kunz, Executive Director of the Center for Adoption Policy
·
Dianne Pearce, Waiting Parent and Co-Organizer of the Fairness for Families
Petition
·
Debbie Reynolds, Joint Council China Caucus Co-Chairperson
·
Kathleen Strottman, Executive Director of the Congressional Coalition on
Adoption Institute
·
David Yurkovich, Waiting Parent and Co-Organizer of the Fairness for Families
Petition
·
Members of the United States Congress

·
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

We offer our collective congratulations to everyone who participated in
the Joint Council Call-To-Action and the Adoption for All: Fairness for Families
petition. And we also send our congratulations to all who participated in
the countless meetings, conference calls and emails over the past 6-months.
Joint Council is built on a principle of collaboration and this very successful
effort clearly demonstrates this principle in action. Our collective voice
is definitely stronger than any singular organization or individual.

Joint Council notes that our interpretation of the ruling is offered as a courtesy only and should not be used in making determinations or decisions. Please refer to the full text of the announcements by USCIS which can be found at USCIS Announcement and USCIS Q&A in making any decisions.

Joint Council will provide more specifics as they become available and asks you to visit our website for the latest news and updates.


Best Wishes & Congratulations,

Tom, Joint Council of International Services

Congressional Representative

Just a reminder to contact your Congressional Reps (both in the House and Senate) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.



http://www.jcics.org/5WaystoHelp.htm

On October 14th, 15th, and 16th, contact your Congressional representatives, both in the House and Senate.

a. Joint Council is working with Members of Congress and seeks their participation in resolving this issue.
b. You can find your Senators’ phone numbers and email addresses at http://www.senate.gov/.
c. You can find your Representative’s phone number and email address at http://www.house.gov/.
d. Include the following in your calls and emails.
· A brief explanation of the situation.
· “I/we understand that USCIS is actively engaged in seeking a resolution to the I-600A issue. I/we respectfully ask the Senator/Congressperson to contact USCIS and express their support of efforts to find an immediate resolution to the I-600A Extension issue.”
· A kind ‘thank you’.
e. Stand ready to expand and intensify your efforts if needed.

Nigerian Dwarf Goats!

Please see the post below entitled "Adoption Emergency" if you haven't already. We, along with nearly ten thousand others, really need your help to change the legislation that is going to be discussed later this week.




You've heard me talk before about how cool our neighborhood is. Well, it just got a little cooler. Our next-door-neighbors just adopted three Nigerian Dwarf goats!! A grandmother, a mother and her two week-old baby.





Sam and I walked over today to meet the new goats and they are really neat. The baby, Sweet Pea, is especially cute.



Sam got to sit in a chair and hold her, but that didn't tickle him like playing with her back leg and tail did. I don't know why he has a fascination with tails, but he does. You can ask any random stranger with a dog at the Greenway. He loves playing with tails.





Our neighbor also has lots of chickens and a few turkeys. Sam and I brought some stale bread over and he got to feed them today too. Have you ever eaten a turkey egg? Well, I have and they are absolutely delicious. Really robust in flavor.



I am talking with a good friend of mine who knows tons about goats and asking her about recipes. I know from my time in China that goats milk is extremely healthy. I can't wait to fatten my boy up with some!

Response

Please sign the petition and send an email (see my previous post, if you have not already). It sounds like this might be working. We desperately want our adopted baby and getting affecting this legislation is one less stumbling block for us!

Here is the response I'm sure many of you are receiving, if you're writing those emails!

Thank you for taking the time to write and express your concern with the I-600A renewal issue. While we would prefer to reply to each of you individually, the overwhelming number of persons affected by this issue makes this type
of response impossible at this time. Please know that we both appreciate and share your concern and will be passing along your comments directly to the Members of Congressional Coalition on Adoption. Our communications with USCIS on this issue lead us to believe that your efforts are already making a difference.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is pleased to work with JCICS and others to help ensure that your voices are heard in Washington. It is through efforts like these that CCAI works to bring the 215 members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption face to face with the issues affecting children in need of homes and families wanting to adopt them. We look forward to continuing to work with you toward making the dream of a family a reality for every child.

Thank you again for taking time to make your voice heard.

Sincerely,
Mark Moore
Associate Director of Policy
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute

311 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Washington, DC 20002

202-544-8500202-544-8501 (fax)

www.ccainstitute.org

Adoption Emergency!

Update:
Thank you to everyone who is helping with this legislation. Please don't forget, on top of the petition:

Today, send an email in support of the Joint Council Position Paper on I-600A Renewals to Joint Council at advocate@jcics.org and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute at mark@ccainstitute.org

Please say something like:

This legislation violates the idea that was initially presented to
adoptive parents. Adoptive parents to be grandfather-claused in and not included in the new legislation. Please do not add time, paperwork and extra expense to
their already difficult wait. The orphans are also the ones suffering because of this change.

Thank you for your consideration,

(your name)

Original post follows:
ave a very important request to ask of you regarding international adoption. I need you to sign a petition to USCIS and Congress to get them to honor our original I-600A form (immigration), and nearly 10,000 other people's.

Congress' original intention was that ALL families who had entered into the adoption process prior to April 2008 be allowed to complete the adoptions with the pre-Hague regulations. Many families will not even qualify under the Hague regulations as they are similar to the new regulations that went into effect in China after May 2007.

What can YOU do?

There is an organization that is taking a petition to USCIS and Congress to get them to honor the original I-600A agreement. But it needs letters and signatures, before the 16th.

Please go to this website:

http://www.jcics.org/5WaystoHelp.htm

On #2 send a short email to the 2 links requesting they honor our I-600A original application and allow additional extensions until the adoption is completed. The burden of spending thousands more for the adoptions is not right.

On #3 Sign the petition and anyone else you can think of! You have to sign in individually to do this as only one person at a time can sign it.

On #4 Contact your Congressional Senators and Representatives to support granting additional extension to original I-600A applications until the adoption is completed - on October 14, 15 and 16th.

And in addition, be praying that Congress and USCIS will honor the families in the adoption process by granting as many I-600A extensions as needed to the families in process.



You know that we have been in the process of adoption for many years. Please please help us - the least you can do is to sign the petition. Please.

Party Pics

We had an awesome time at Sam's party yesterday. Unfortunately, no family members were able to be there, but our substitute family members filled in perfectly.

Jenny, one of my best friends and college roommate, came in from Durham just for the party. We had lots of other friends, some old some new, and it made for an amazing party.

Sam and Lillian

We picked raspberries, pears, apples, we had wagon rides, ate Carolina Treat chicken (grilled), homemade salsa, homemade dip, and, of course, homemade cake!


I had every one bring a train of their choosing for Sam and he also got a new train table. A lot of the trains he got fit perfectly into his new table and some of them are great for bath time fun or just rolling around the house. His grandparents in Thailand sent a large train-shaped toy box. Some people gave books about trains and I am here to tell you that he loved every single gift.




After the first few presents, he would say, "more presents, pweeze!" Then he began saying "more trains!!" I was surprised that there were only two repeats with the trains too. It's amazing how many train toys there are out there!


There were three little boys there who all have birthdays within three weeks of each other and one little girl who is the oldest of them all. This is Trathan (pronounced like Nathan). His birthday is on October 8th - my original due date.

Elijah is on the right, he's the oldest of the three. Everyone got along really well too.

Trathan's Daddy pulled them around the yard, which was no small feat, since it is a sloping yard.

I thought this was a sweet photo, because Jenny always helps open Sam's gifts at his birthday parties.
Last year she only had one kid waiting on her and this year she had two! Now that I look at the photos, I notice that both gifts Jenny had to help with were from Bill's Aunt Beth. Hmmm, I wonder why her gifts are always tied in so well?

Thanks to everyone who helped make it a great party. Sam's guayavera (shirt) is from Mexico given by his Aunt Julieta and Uncle Seth. His aunts and uncles all sent gifts via the mail and we really appreciated every one of them.

Some folks (who don't have kids) stayed until about 11pm last night. We watched a movie and looked at old pictures that Bill just brought back from China and laughed until our sides hurt. What a blessing to have friends like that in our lives!

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Birthday Video

Here he is eating the cake I made for him. I did a horrible job, so you won't see any photos of the actual cake. But, it was a practice cake, so it was okay.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sam

Two years ago today I ended my 23.5 hour struggle of contractions (really three months, if you count all the bed rest contractions) and 4 hours of pushing. Sam William Klear was born to us in Hong Kong.

He didn't cry after he was born - not even for the first three days. All the nurses kept betting that he would cry before he left the hospital, and he finally did on day four.

Sam, Day 2

God really has His hand on this child. We never thought he'd make it when I was put into a Chinese hospital for a week for pre-term labor at 26 weeks pregnancy. I flew to Thailand for another week immediately following and then back to China. After two more weeks of pre-term labor and one very intense night of contractions 5-7 minutes apart, I flew to Hong Kong where I was transferred from the plane to an ambulance on a gurney. I stayed in the hospital for another week and a half and then went to an apartment where I stayed on my left side for three months.

I still can't believe he is with us. That doesn't even include all of the other issues we've had since returning to America, but you all know those stories.

What a blessing to have my little boy. I don't think it's a coincidence that I dreamt about his sister last night for the first time. By next year, we will have four in our family, celebrating his birthday together.

Happy Birthday, Sam!!