Moto Moto is Living the Life!

While visiting with my parents in December we also visited our African Sulcata tortoise Moto Moto, name so nice you gotta say it twice, who just happens to live in my parent's vegetable garden.  He is the perfect pet, as long as you keep him away from the plants that you don't want him to devour.  Otherwise he keeps weeds away and pests under control. 

Truly he is Joe's pet.  Joseph has long had an obsession about turtles and tortoises, and so we ended up getting him one.  He is, sadly, the last pet that we have left after losing Logan and Clay passing away.  So it is VERY exciting for us that he is thriving with my parents.  The kids had a great time 'playing' with him during our visit.

December 2012

Merry Christmas!

Ok, so I am a bit late on this posting.  Alright, I'm A LOT late on this posting, but it needs to be done.

We had such a lovely Christmas this year.  It was a Christmas miracle that we were able to spend Christmas at home in Arizona with my parents.  Having the kids wake up in my parent's house and spending the day with all of us was a much needed slice of home pie.  The kids got what they wanted, and more.  The adults got a few things and got to watch the kid's excited faces as they opened each gift.  My favorite gift was from my parents.  It was a set of bound books they had printed of my blog by each year.  I love them, and hope that someday the kids will love them as much as I do.

My parents were so kind to let us decorate their Christmas tree with all of our ornaments.  It really made us feel at home.

We brought traditional Christmas poppers from England to share with my parents at Christmas dinner.  They are so much fun and everyone wore their popper hats.

Christmas Day 2012

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day!

Photo courtesy of Nigella Lawson's website.

 Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday.  I guess in the States we call it Fat Tuesday.  Here, in England it's also called Pancake Day as there is a tradition, you may guess, of eating pancakes on this day.  There are pancake races, particularly in Olney, representing the young mother racing to feed her family and getting to church on time.  For more info go here.

Pancake day for me is fun.  This year I decided to go all out and literally have pancakes all day long.  I made the kids American pancakes in the morning with butter and syrup.  I made a couple extra for them to take to school, instead of a sandwich, with some raspberry jam to dip it in.  Then, for dinner I made crepes stuffed with ham, broccoli, and cheese sauce.  Dessert was more crepes, these stuffed with Nutella and bananas.  My kids absolutely PIGGED OUT on pancakes, especially at dinner.  Especially Jocelyn, who managed to out-eat us all, she loved them so.  As I write this both kids are upstairs bathing and soaking off the Nutella and other pancake mess of the day.

My favorite part of the day, though, was thinking back to our recent holiday in Arizona.  I asked my Dad to teach me how to make crepes, and I'm so glad I did.  I made tons of them tonight, and each time I swirled the batter around the pan I thought of my Dad.  I can't wait to teach my children how to make crepes just like their Grandpa.

My favorite crepes recipe:

Makes about 20-24, 8-9 inch crepes.

2 Cups AP flour
4 eggs
1 Cup milk
1 Cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons of melted butter

Mix all together, it helps to use a mixer and not a whisk as you add more lightness to the batter and get all the lumps out.  The batter should be fairly watery.  If after making the first crepe and you think the crepe is too thick, thin out the batter with a bit of water.

Turn your burner onto a medium-high.  Depending on the pan(s) you have it may only take a small amount of butter to season your pan on your first crepe.  Dip about a 1/2 cup amount of butter into your pan and swirl around until the batter stops moving but is all the way up to the curved part of the pan.  Just as the bottom is browned slightly turn your crepe and it will only need a few moments more before you can slide it out of the pan onto the cooling rack.  Like my Dad, I prefer to have two different pans going at once, or you could be standing for a long time making crepes.  Experiment until you have just the right amount of batter, etc, and you get a great crepe, as typically the first one is usually horrid.

Stuff with all kinds of combinations:

Ham and Cheese

Mushroom and Cheese

Nutella and Strawberries or other mixed berries

Nutella with Bananas

The Fischer family favorite is - Crispy bacon, sour cream, and a bit of maple syrup.

Chilli and Cheese

Lemon and sugar

February 12, 2013

Joci is learning all about Roald Dahl

Jocelyn's topic in school right now is Roald Dahl.  Now, it could just be me, but before I moved to England,  I had no idea who he was.  In England he is a very famous author, and if you're from the states and you haven't heard of him, like me, then when I tell you some of the books he's written, you may be surprised.  Perhaps you've heard of:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

James and the Giant Peach

Matilda

The Witches

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Some of his other well known work:

The Twits

George's Marvelous Medicine

The BFG

Esio Trot

Joci has really gotten into the Roald Dahl topic and enjoyed reading the stories at school and making different artwork to accompany the stories.  Her favorite bit, though, was being able to go on a school trip to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery at the Buckinghamshire County Museum.  There she got to ride in the great glass elevator, go inside the giant peach, ran through the Fantastic Mr. Fox's tunnel, wore fun costumes, made some chocolate in the chocolate factory which they got to eat, and she even got to make a cute mirror with Mr. Twit's beard.  But, Joci's favorite bit was at the beginning when the staff there gave told her to close her eyes and gave her a "whizpopping" dream for later that night.  All afternoon she told us about her day and wondered what her dream would include.  The next morning she recounted, probably for a good 10 minutes her whizpopping dream.

This last Wednesday her class put on a small production telling all that they've learned about Roald Dahl and shared some of their artwork with the parents that attended.  Jocelyn was chosen to show her drawing of one of The Witches, and also to say that "my favorite book is George's Marvelous Medicine because he makes his own medicine".  She also explained that her wizzpopping dream was about fireworks.

To say that I've learned quite a few things through my daughter about Roald Dahl.  If you'd like to know more about him, check out his wikipedia page and then pick up one of his books to share with your children.

Waiting patiently for the other classes to come in.

Telling everyone that her favorite book is George's Marvelous Medicine.

Showing her dream-keeping jar.

Showing me her dream jar.

Showing me her picture of one of the Witches.

Showing me her favorite Roald Dahl book.

Showing me her dream that she keeps inside her dram jar.

 February 6th, 2013

Family Photos

Before we left Arizona we had a quick opportunity for a few family photos.  To be honest, we had kind of put off taking the pictures, day after day seeming to never have the right time.  Then it was time to leave and we suddenly realized that we hadn't taken any good pictures of the kids and my parents together.  I love these photos of them.  They show such a deep, genuine love, so apparent in all their faces.

Grandma and Joci painted their nails the same before we left.

January 2013