Brownies

This is my father-in-law's recipe. More eggs make a more cakey brownie and fewer eggs make a more fudgey one. 

Ingredients:

• 1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 1/2 cup cocoa
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
  
• 1 cup oil (I use canola, olive, whatever)
  
• 4-5 eggs
  
• About 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used a combination of semi-sweet and white-and-milk swirl)
  

Method:

1 Preheat oven to 350F

2 Grease a 9"x 13" pan or two 8"x8" pans

3 Mix flour, sugar, salt and cocoa in a large bowl and make a well in the center.

4 Pour eggs, vanilla and oil in the well and mix till well-combined.

5 Pour into pan(s).

6 Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.

7 Bake for 30 mins.

8 Cool before cutting, or, if impatient, cut while still warm with plastic knife.

The Kindness of Strangers

Last week, I went to the garage sale of two neighbors, one of whom 

I'd met 3 years ago when we first moved in and haven't really seen 

much of since. We got to talking about life with small kids and when 

I was about to leave, she gave me this quilt and bedskirt. In addition to 

declining my offers to reimburse her, she further offered her 

daughter's and her own babysitting help. 

I'd been planning to make Emily a quilt for some time, but with 

much hesitation because I have neither the experience nor patience 

for such a big project. Then this unexpected gift came along - a 

Pottery Barn Kids original, at that - and far, far more beautiful than 

anything I would ever make, and for free. I was overwhelmed. 

So to thank her, I did the only decent thing I knew - baked her a 

tray of brownies and Jenna and I trotted over to her house to deliver 

them with a little thank-you card.

Two days later, this is what she put by our front door!

With all these accessories! Her daughter had outgrown them, 

along with the quilt and bedskirt. Called her to thank her this time. 

Daren't send another thank-you gift, in case she presented me 

with her car next. I continue to be grateful to the point 

of incredulity at how nice some of our neighbors are.

In the midst of all those warm fuzzy emotions, I was suddenly also 

overcome with a great urge to laugh. If you look closely at the family 

in the above picture, you'll see the traditional family members: father, 

mother, and two small children. You might also notice, seated next to 

the mother, the policewoman. Slightly confused, I consulted the 

instruction manual that came with the set and found it was called:

Hmmm.

This was a circa 1999 dollhouse, so perhaps 10 years ago, a 

law-enforcement officer was part of every Loving Family. And I 

thought they'd taught us all the modern permutations of families 

in counseling grad. school. What do I know?

 

Off to School

Yesterday was Emily's first day of preschool. The night before, she 

said, "What if I miss you, mom?" but when morning came, I dropped 

her off at the classroom door and she hugged her teacher and ran in, 

with nary a backward glance. When I got back to the van, Jenna 

asked, "Emily go?" and we explained that Emily was in school. We 

spent the next two hours leisurely shopping at Target before returning 

to pick her up. Jenna, amusing herself in the toy aisles, paused from 

time to time to say to me, "Miss Emily". Our sentiments exactly.

What fun it was to pick Emily up after school and hear her news! 

Painting! Tissue paper art! Playing outside on the playground! Smiling 

at babies from the nursery/daycare! Teddy graham snacks and apple 

juice! A new friend named Lily or Sarah (she couldn't remember) whom 

she made laugh! A story read by her teacher, and one she read herself! 

Circle time! A birthday celebration for one of the boys who got to be 

the calendar helper for the day! Another boy opened the lid of the 

class turtle's cage (thankfully the turtle, also named Emily, was 

unmotivated to escape)! She liked her preschool and playing with 

so many different kids. She helped a classmate find a toy she was 

looking for. Everything was reported at top volume, and Jenna was so 

thrilled to have Emily back that they both immediately got into a 

small fight over stickers in the back seat. 

Why do children behave quite differently in school than at home?

Jenna is 22 months old

She's almost 2, our little Jenna. Spunky, gregarious, deeply affectionate 

and funny like you wouldn't believe. And fearless. The things she says, 

and the way she says them, crack us up. She's into four word sentences 

now: "Nurse Emily shot me" (after being vaccinated with a toy syringe 

multiple times) or "Busy puzzle right now" (declining my invitation to 

sing for us because she was in the middle of completing a jigsaw 

puzzle). Her verbal manners are impeccable: "More chips, please", 

"No, thanks, mama" and "Thank you, Emily" even when she is a 

little unsociable after waking from a nap. Her empathy is surprising. 

Her laughter is contagious. She is still overly fond of pulling my hair 

to soothe herself, and her fingers are almost a permanent fixture 

in her mouth. She doesn't say "Self!" as much now as "No want to!' 

Still, as she slowly discovers her limits we also hear, "Help me!" 

or "Need mama" quite a bit these days. And she is still a cuddler. 

We love her so much. What was life like before Jenna? 

It's impossible to remember.

 

Kate is 5 months old

It always surprises me how much a little person can grow in just 

a month. Kate does so many new things now that I can hardly 

keep up some days! When she's on her belly on the floor, she 

holds her head way up and turns her whole body around on the 

spot to face different directions. And she's found all sorts of ways 

to move! She rolls over and over to get to places that are interesting, 

like the kitchen, and she scoots backwards and sometimes gets stuck. 

We're also beginning to hear her preferences more now: she likes 

music and being patted vigorously to sleep. Mum and Dad have 

devised new ways to calm her when she's tired or agitated - for 

instance, she's mesmerized when Dad plays the guitar and when 

Mum plays my congas while she (Kate, not mum) sits on them. 

She adores her big sisters and giggles when they entertain her but 

oh how she yells when they bug her. It's good to know she'll be able 

to hold her own with them when they're all bigger!

And look how Kate is training for crawling! 

Broaching Bupbillas

Well, the day I've been working myself up to has arrived 

- tomorrow Emily begins preschool.

This evening, I sewed her name on her new bag for school. 

We tried to find a small backpack for her but they were all 

for older, bigger kids. For a few insane days I entertained 

the thought of sewing one for her, 

but finally decided I was too human to try.

But this post is really about something far more important than 

backpacks. Tonight I had the Bupbilla Talk with Emily. You know, 

the one in which we finally bring it out in the open that bupbillas 

are perhaps known by other names by the rest of the (less interesting) 

world. Couldn't bring myself to let her go to preschool thinking 

bupbilla was wrong, could I? 

Me: Hey, Emily.

E:  Yeah, mom.

M: (tickling her midriff and poking her in her bupbilla) What's this?

E:  Bupbilla.

M: Does the bupbilla have other names?

E: Yeah - belly-button.

M: (nervously) So, other people call it belly-button and we call it bupbilla sometimes. 

E: Mm-hm.

M: Bupbilla is sort of our family word for belly-button, right?

E: Can we go and play now?

Ridiculously relieved and a little sad. 

She already knew about belly-buttons. 

She went and grew up while our backs were turned. 

  

Emily's Formal Education Begins

Bupbilla's 100th post!

Emily starts preschool this fall and on Tuesday, we attended her 

(and our) first preschool conference with her teachers. This was 

essentially a half hour of talking over administrative matters 

with them while Emily met three of her new classmates and played 

with them. Tomorrow we attend an hour long orientation session 

with more kids and more toys. Next week, preschool begins! 

Our little girl embarks on her formal education!

Since we are on the matter of formal education, Emily also started 

sewing lessons yesterday. I'd won three small embroidery hoops on 

ebay and when they arrived, Emily begged to start sewing. We made 

do with whatever we had in the sewing supply closet and 

she diligently worked on her project. 

Both mum and I were surprised at how well she did, 

a couple of mistakes and unpicking not withstanding. 

I sewed it into a small pillow for her doll. 

Not bad at all for an almost-four-year-old. She may not be able 

to spell her name yet, but the girl can hand-sew a mean running stitch. 

And we all know which is more important!