Locked In

July 30, 2010

8:30am

I found that Kai had drawn a few things on our COUCH this morning. He never does that!

I told him to go to his room and think about what he had done and that I'd go in to talk with him about it shortly, once I had taken care of Jaiden's needs.

The otherwise obedient Kai walked into his room and as promised I went in soon after, closing the door to his room behind us so that I could talk with him one on one without any interruptions from Jaiden.

After a good heart to heart talk about what we can and cannot do when it comes to drawing and where we can draw, I felt satisfied that I had done my motherly duties and invited Kai to walk out of the room with me.

As I got up to turn the door knob and walk out, "click."

CLICK?!

I tried again.

the door knob wouldn't turn.

IT WAS LOCKED.

WE WERE LOCKED IN!

A few months ago, Ronny and I had believed it clever of us to turn the door knob (key side) around on the OUTSIDE of Kai's door, so that he couldn't lock himself IN.

That power would be left to us as parents...

That is, until today.

I kept wiggling the door knob and knocking on it, knowing that Jaiden had locked it and he was out on the run, FREE and alone in the big house.

I didn't have my phone on me, or my laptop, so there was no way to call or message my neighbors and ask them to come over. There were no cards and no lock picks around.

There really was NO way out.

I had locked all the doors this morning after Ronny left for work, so no one could come in an help us, even if I could get anyone's attention.

STUPID ME!!

I was mad at myself.

"Jaiden!? Please open the door!!??" I kept asking him in the sweetest voice I could conjure up.

"I have your whale :) I have a ball :) Open the door?"

Jaiden doesn't know what a key is, nor what "unlock the door" means, he must have just turned the key unknowingly.

(I'm still going to ground you for life for this!) I thought in my head as I sweetly and calmly begged him to open the door.

Mean while, Kai was LOVING this all of this excitement. He was making me pretend food in his room, making me GUNS out of blocks, reading me books about bugs, he even began to pat my head to comfort me after sensing that this was quite seriuos...

an hour must have passed by. I heard Jaiden singing along with ELMO on Sesame St., and then toot the recorder as he ran around the house.

He was having a BALL too.

I just prayed that I didn't leave any knives out in the kitchen, since he's been getting into the habit of climbing the counters and getting things out on his own lately.

Panic struck after about an hour and I resorted to climbing out of the window.

I climbed out of the window and onto the roof.

YUP, too high to jump off of.

I spotted a neighbor who was leaving for work.

"RAUUUUUL!!!!!" I yelled out-probably about 7 houses down from us. It was a fat chance he'd hear us, but it was worth the try. Of course, right then, a big LOUD UPS truck comes by, and also an airplane! Everyone and their dog wanted to mow their lawn right at that moment too!

I couldn't count on Ronny coming home anytime soon, he had JUST LEFT for work!

"RAUUUUL!!"

I tried again.

He looked my way.

I jumped up and down, waving my hands, being careful not to fall off.

"Help!!"

Him and his Indian wife looked my direction, then back at each other and bid their farewells as he drove off to work.

I guess they didn't see us...

so I watched and waited for anyone else leaving or coming out of their houses.

After about 10 minutes, I saw a Mexican man walk slowly down the street.

A-HA! NOW I KNOW WHY I WENT TO CHILE AND LEARNED SPANISH!

"HEY! HEY! ME AYUDAS?!" (won't you help me!?)

He grinned awkwardly at me standing on the roof, but seeing that I spoke Spanish, I think was more inclined to help-

BOY, WAS I EVER THANKFUL TO KNOW SPANISH TOO!!

"I need you to go and knock on that house over there, you see it? Knock on their door and tell them that "MONIKA NEEDS HELP" I was referring to our neighbor friends, Greg and Jill across the street, about 10 houses down from us.

"ok...tell them MONIKA NEEDS HELP", right? he repeated.

SI! SI!!

WE WERE FINALLY GOING TO BE RESCUED!

by this time, both Kai and I had to go to the bathroom really bad. I was telling Kai to go potty in one of his toy buckets, to which he looked at me with utter disgust and disbelief. lol

Well, I did think about letting him pee out of the window too, but didn't think that'd be right on a few levels...(no pun intended-lol)

I watched as the Mexican man go and do as I had asked.

GRACIAS, AMIGO...

he was our hero of the day.

He reappeared from around the corner shortly and a few other worker buddies of his rode up in a cool looking mower.

Our new friend hopped on the front of their mower, turned around and left.

uhh....

OK, WELL, THAT MUST MEAN THAT SOMONE IS COMING FOR US???

trying to stay positive, kai and I waited for Greg or Jill to show up...

30 minutes later...

"I guess no one's coming..."

So I waited on the roof again. Bees were flying above me and bugs were crawling at my feet.

I could hear Jaiden on the other side of the door. By now, he was hungry and crying, wondering when he was going to get his breakfast. I was hungry too...

Sesame St. was over, so it was now 10am.

It was another long time before anyone came or went, but finally, a lady dressed up in a business attire drove up in her big truck and stopped at the house in front of us. I ran around Kai's room in search of paper and a pen to ask her to deliver it to Greg and Jill's house or at least post it to their car...

That's where Kai started to yell.

"HELLO LADY! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?! CAN YOU PLEASE HELP US?!"

Where he learned to call out for help is beyond me, but WAY TO GO!

now don't you ever try this number on mommy and daddy though! lol

The lady looked up at Kai who was yelling out the window and she chuckled.

"Oh no :-)" she said, quite amused, I'm sure.

But Kai kept on yelling out.

"Lady! CAN YOU PLEASE HELP US? WE'RE STUCK IN HERE!!

MY SISTER LOCKED US IN!"

she chuckled again, not knowing how to respond to child's play.

By now, noticing that Kai had gotten her attention, I climbed out of the window again and explained what had happened. (easier said, this is quite an embarrassing act to do)

Finally, she got our neighbors to find us a lock pick, which they threw at me on the roof and

WE WERE OUT AT LAST!!

It's quite the interesting thing when a person feels that they are they trapped and cannot get out. As adults, we panic. Especially when there is an infant on the other side of the door and they have free range of the whole house, it's a VERY scary feeling.

Well, I'm glad this ended on a good note. No one was hurt and we all got out after only two hours (very long two hours)

Lucky for the Mexican amigo, we weren't trapped in the house with some PSYCHO PATH!

ugh.

Anyway, life is full of fun times. Never a dull moment with kids...

"When Daddy Gets Home..."

"When daddy gets home."

I like it when Kai says this.

Ronny's been gone for the past week for a Coast Guard training.

(it's been the shortest training he's been to, since the record has been 6+months)

I didn't realize how much I liked it when Kai would say things that let me know he "remembered" his daddy, and or that let me know that he knows daddy will come home.

Why?

Because my mommy never did.

You see, my mommy left when I was about four years old, just about Kai's age.

When my daddy told me that she was gone, I don't think I understood what he really meant.

He told me and my younger brother that she left us because she didn't want to have anything to do with us anymore. Of course, that's another story for another time, but as I listened to Kai tell the store cashiers how "daddy's going to come home and bring me a surprise if I'm a good boy!" or say things like "when daddy comes home...," I wondered if I had said the same things.

I wondered how long it was before I realized that mommy was never coming home?

I wondered when the last time was that I mentioned her name?

I wondered if I was heart broken when I realized that I would never see her again?

I wondered how many other children suffer the same kind of tragedy?

Why do families disintegrate?

Now, you may think this is a gloomy post. Well, I'm happy to share that in thinking about these things, I also realized and remembered that I have a wonderful husband, that Kai has a wonderful daddy, and by such, he will come home.

I'm so grateful that Kai doesn't have to experience what I did when I was his age. I'm so happy to know that my husband will be coming home.

I'm not trying to condemn anyone for anything by any means.

I'm just saying, that I am truly BLESSED.

Never take it for granted that you have a loved one near by.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

This is a new recipe I found and decided to try it out: it got a lot--A LOT of compliments (:), but it was a bit more work than I think I liked :-) What can I say? I like a simple 1, 2, 3's! But here it is, because I think I would keep it in my file anyway. (Personally, I think the recipe's could be written out in a better way so that it doesn't seem like there's so much to do, but that'll be your work to do if you try it out! :)

Oh, and for the filling: I decided to NOT use what this recipe suggests (Butter frosting) It just seemed boring! Instead, what I made was:

Ganache
1⁄2 cup heavy cream (I used half and half and only 1/4 C. of it)
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used whatever choc. chips I had and only 1/2 C. of it)
Pink pearl dragées (optional)

Ganache: Place heavy cream in medium glass bowl. Microwave 1 minute on high until it begins to simmer. Add bittersweet chocolate chips; let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Spread a tsp on top of each brownie bite; decorate top with dragées if using. Let set at room temperature.

Filling and Cupcakes:

• 2/3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) creamy peanut butter
• 10 tablespoon(s) (1 1/4 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 1/4 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1 2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 cup(s) sour cream
• 2 tablespoon(s) milk
• 1 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs

Butter Frosting:

• 3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
• 6 tablespoon(s) butter (no substitutions), softened
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoon(s) (or more, as needed) milk

---

Directions

1. Prepare Filling: In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped.) Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin-pan cups with fluted paper liners.
3. Prepare Cupcakes: On waxed paper, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix sour cream, milk, and remaining vanilla; set aside. In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat granulated sugar and remaining 8 tablespoons butter just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 1 to 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until ingredients are combined, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
4. Spoon 1 heaping measuring tablespoon batter into each muffin-pan cup. Drop 1 peanut butter ball in center of each cup and top with another heaping tablespoon batter. Bake cupcakes 25 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean. Immediately remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on wire rack.
5. When cupcakes are cool, prepare Butter Frosting: In large bowl, with mixer on medium-low speed, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons milk until smooth and blended. Beat in additional milk as needed for easy spreading consistency. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until light and fluffy, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula. Makes 1 1/2 cups frosting. Spread frosting on cupcakes

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

1 pkg. of larger JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

1 cups cold milk

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

2 milk chocolate English toffee candy bars (1.4 oz. each), chopped, divided

1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)---(I personally used my own crust recipe instead of the oreo or graham cracker crust)

1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted (optional)

How to make it

BEAT pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min. Stir in half the COOL WHIP and all but 3 Tbsp. toffee candy.

POUR into crust.

TOP with remaining COOL WHIP and candy. Drizzle with chocolate.

I got so many compliments for this dessert, it was quite delicious!

Ronny's been gone to CA for the past few days for training. I've been holding the fort down with the two rascals...so far, I'm pleased to announce that Ronny still has two boys ;)

Anyway, today, I cut Kai's hair!! My friend Marnie taught me how to cut boy's hair recently, and today was my second attempt in cutting it. I'm also happy to report that I didn't have to buzz Kai's hair all off at the end! :D Learning new things is sooo great, especially when it benefits the whole family financially! Learning to do things yourself is truly amazing!

Also, the boys were in the tub just now...Jaiden had a brown "countrycrock butter spread" bucket on his head (upside down) and was yelling jibberish at me with his index finger pointed at me.

"No! @#$%$^&^ NOooooo!"

I just looked at him and couldn't help but crack up. SERIOUSLY, DUDE?! You honestly think I am going to take you seriously with THAT thing on your head?!?! LOL. aah kids...I love them boys...tho they sure do wear me out by 4pm...which is now...

Now to go make dinner and bake some PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE MUFFINS and possibly BROWNIE BITES with them! I know, where in the world do I get this energy from? Well, it's either this or them making a MESS somewhere else :) If these recipes turn out, I will be sure to post them. Ooh, remind me to post the recipe for CANDY CRUNCH CHOCOLATE PUDDING PIE!

It was sooo good and guests loved it!

Until next time, a tired mother signing out!

Our Walmart Trip

What a joke it is to go grocery shopping with your kids! My husband said: "You're brave." and that was it. I don't know what it was, I guess I just needed to get out of the house.

This is how it all went.

I'm in my world, trying to look for things on my list at Walmart. Walmart's not the most easiest and people friendly place to be at in the first place, especially during the summer when EVERYONE hangs out there. I had Kai who begged me to go in his SPIDER-MAN costume, so I let him. The whole store was an uproar.

LOOK! THERE'S SPIDERMAN! (look all you want, we'll be on our way)

SEE KIDS? CAN YOU WAVE TO SPIDERMAN? (just keep waving, just keep waving.)

WHY, HELLO SUPERMAN! GRR, I MEAN SPIDERMAN! (get it right, lady)

OH! THAT'S WHAT MY KID WEARS TO BED TOO! (I think she even wanted to talk in length about that-NO THANKS)

We couldn't get in and out of the aisles because there were seriously, a herd of Latins IN THE AISLE picking out everything, FAMILY FUED STYLE. Everything from cheese to chips to candy, the whole 20 of them HAD TO stand in the middle of the aisle and dispute about it, from toddler to grandma. Lucky for me, I am not just making things up, I DO understand what they're arguing/debating about, so this is not fabricated, true story.

Jaiden's high pitched screams and whines of course make me cringe and want to do everything in my power to make him stop-non-violently-so i resort to bribing him with candy, while I keep rolling over Kai who has his mind made up to hang on to the front of the grocery cart and jump off every once in a while with comments about how he's "SPIDERMAN!"

My tactic with cheerios, pretzels AND my last resort, LOLLY POPS gone down the drain because of how FAST Jaiden and Kai can devour those things, I am left with nothing but a STICKY GOOEY FUSSY Jaiden. At least with Kai, I can talk some sense and make him fear for his life, but Jaiden? That child is fearless and shameless. He came into this world with no sense of fear for anything, so I'm just thanking my stars for this opportunity to raise him. ;) WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS!??!?! lol

So, after an hour of lollygagging in the great world of Walmart where prices don't seem to roll back NEARLY as much as I'd like them to, and with the added pleasure of my boys, I got out of there...somewhat alive, but promising I will never do any serious grocery shopping there AGAIN. But then again, I say that every other month. :)

So until next time!

A frustrated wore out and frazzled mother signing out!

French Toast Roll Ups

I had some friends over today for lunch and here's what I made: (SO GOOD)

French Toast Roll Ups

Yield: 24

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1 cup sugar, divided
24 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, egg yolk, and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth; set aside.

2. Roll out each bread slice with a rolling pin.

3. Spread cheese mixture over bread, distributing evenly. Roll up each slice jellyroll-style and place seam-side down on a baking sheet.

4. In a shallow dish, combine remaining 3/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

5. Brush butter over rollups then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, until completely coated. Repeat with remaining rollups, placing them on the baking sheet after coating.

6. Cover and freeze at least 2 hours, or up to 2 months. (I think you can go without freezing-go straight to next step)

7. Just before serving, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake rollups 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden.

Bulgogi (Korean Marinated Beef)

It's been a while since I've had an oriental recipe on here

and today, I'm branching out!

Korean Marinated Beef

Bulgogi

serving size (2)

1-1/2ibs prime rib eye beef thinly sliced (really, if it's a slab of beef, anything should do)

(ask your store butcher to slice it AS THIN AS POSSIBLE-they will tell you 1/4in. is the best they can do without the meat falling apart, but that's OK! get it as thin as humanly possible! trust me, it's better that way)

2 TBSP. soy sauce

1/4 C. Sugar

1 TBSP. minced garlic

2 tsp. asian sesame oil

2 tsp. mirin

2 tsp. water

dash of salt

Mix all orange ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.

Add the beef and continue to mix until evenly coated.

Stir-fry over high heat in frying pan until brown or desired doneness.

Serve with rice.

I wanted to post pictures too, but it's not happening right now...

so, pictures to come!

Fight Your Fears and Win by Dr. Greene

"No one ever gets done with goal setting no matter how many goals they reach. Goals define us. They keep us motivated. They give our lives meaning. And without them we stagnate."

Dr. Don Greene says, and I agree.

What type of Mother did I want to become?

I wished parents could remember what kind of parents they wanted to be as a little child.

Did they like their parents yelling at them all the time?

Did they like to have to clean all the time?

Did they wish their parents would spend more time with them?

Or how about listen to them?

Did we wish we could play in the rain more?

Did we want to snuggle with our parents and talk late into the night?

I wished I could remember how I hoped to turn out as a mommy someday.

In remembering, I wished I could become that parent I promised myself I'd become someday.

But because I can't remember, I'm going to do my best in trying to put myself in my children's shoes and think of what kind of a mommy they'd want me to be...

Family

Ronny, me and the boys were able to take a road trip up to Arizona just a couple of weeks ago.

It was an interesting trip, to say the least.

I had an excellent and very memorable birthday with my siblings and family there.

I couldn't believe that the last time all of our siblings (me, Ej, Stuart, and Cerina) with whom we grew up with (I have 4 others that I didn't grow up with) were together was about a DECADE ago, if not, more. We weren't even together for my wedding! How crazy.

Needless to say, this trip was VERY special to me.

Plus, Ronny and I celebrated our FIFTH year together while on the road...

20 hours with the kids (one way). We thought we wouldn't see the day of our anniversary, but what do you know? We're actually going through withdrawals of being in the car together for that long...I GUESS WE'RE DOING ALRIGHT then :)

Now, every time we get in the car, Kai asks us;

"Are we going far away? Please, can we go FAR away?" lol

The kids did VERY WELL in the car. I think they fussed ONCE. Kai threw up ONCE after eating a big meal and then reading a ton of books we had borrowed from the library. BUT, being the awesome mother that I am (i'm kidding) somehow detected the upcoming upchuck (LOL) and saved the day by placing a tupperware right under the pukies! We pulled over, dumped it out, and we were on our way! No emergency stops, no nothing! Are we good, or what?! :)

I foresee that there will be A LOT more road trips!

It sure does beat airfare AND the crappy days/services we all get at the airport!

IT'S OVER

It's OVER!

I'm done!

It took me 2.5 years, but it's done.

First off, I finished my math course today!

(a BIG thanks to my neighbor GREG!)

furthermore, I'M DONE with my associates in BUSINESS!

it took me long enough, but well,

Congrats to me!

So, what do people do when they graduate?!

That's my question of the day as I sit here...lol

Rain

I looked down at the tiny puppy dog eyes looking up at me.

Well, what would YOU have done with TWO sets of them, peering up at you so adorably!?

I opened the sliding glass door and hollered "YIPEEE!!!"

There was no stopping us.

Hurrican Alex is here, and it hasn't stopped to rain these last few days.

I watched as Kai run to find bugs in the pouring rain, and Jaiden jump into the kiddy pool in his sagging diaper.

I chose the swing.

I swung higher and higher while the rain drizzled and down poured onto my face.

Memories came flooding back.

The days it would rain and my dad would let us kids play in the puddles out in the streets in Japan, or the cool bamboo forest I used to walk through to get to school...the little stream that glistened and escaped through my fingers in the sun light up in the mountains behind my grandparent's home...the smell of the lavender field I walked with my grandmother...

The swing moved back and forth and I swore I could smell dinner my mother made so many years ago...

The rain continued on, and so did the memories.

I thanked my dad in my heart, who taught me to not be afraid to play in the rain.

With droplets of water trickling down our noses, Kai, Jaiden and I jumped and splashed around in the kiddy pool together and caught some bugs.

I hope my kids will not remember the scary mommy that I can be sometimes, but remember that I, like their "Jiji" was able to get crazy in the rain and play with them.

Where do you stand?

In life, all of us come across the question:

"Where do you stand?"

It might not always be a verbal question,

it might just be what someone gathers just by watching you.

It might be when you choose to sit by a lonely person,

it might be when you put down a filthy magazine,

it might even just be when you pick up a tiny spec of trash off the floor

of the church you belong to.

It might even be when you gather your child into your arms and tell him you love him.

It might not only be when the sun is shining and the path is clear.

It might be when you're alone and walking in darkness.

Whatever and whenever it is, the question is always asked;

Where do you stand?