Lent 2011

Lent is defined by the Merriam-Webster's Online dictionary as: the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed by the Roman Catholic, Eastern, and some Protestant churches as a period of penitence and fasting.
The interesting thing that jumps out at me is that the definition says 'weekdays' - I have always given up things every day from Ash Wednesday until Easter...So, theologians, is it only weekdays and if so why is it only weekdays? Does that mean that you indulge as much as possible on Saturday and Sunday? Somehow that just doesn't seem right to me. 
Curious musings aside, this year I am giving up something that is not easily named. I guess I would call it blind indulgence. I have not been treating my body much like a temple (valued home) lately. 
So, I am going to be keeping up a food journal thru the course of lent and utilize it to acknowledge how fatigue, poor choices, complacency, and stress are affecting me physically, mentally, and spiritually. This should help me to make choices without blind indulgence (the idea that if I don't know or pay attention, I am not responsible.)
How about you? What are you giving up for Lent?
~Sharon 

Thanksgiving Feast

Every year the elementary school does a 'Thanksgiving Feast.' This year was no different. Sybella, Cooper, and I had the opportunity to go Connor's school and enjoy lunch with him and his friends. Connor loves showing off his younger siblings to the kids in the class and the younger kids love both eating with Connor and all the attention.

We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans....along with Pumpkin Ice Cream. Not too bad a fare for cafeteria food!

**Unfortunately, the Middle School does not offer a Thanksgiving Feast so, we didn't get to eat with Colin this year. :0(

Halloween 2010

Halloween festivities at our house this year included the preschool parade in which the kids dress up and parade around for the parents and sing songs for us. It was entertaining as usual and Sybella loved the fact that she and Kylee chose to be the same thing for Halloween. (Thanks Shauna for remembering your camera!)

Then we dressed up again on Halloween to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. I usually stay home and pass out candy and dad takes the kids around to get candy. This year our older boys dressed up (for what was likely Colin's LAST year) and went to their friends' house to trick-or-treat. So, unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them.

Sybella was Tinkerbell this year for Halloween. She loved the costume but particularly enjoyed the 'glitter' hairspray that made the outfit! What a girl! (the lighting is great in this pic, sorry)

Cooper was quite a handsome 'UPS' man...however, nothing was getting delivered; he was eating it all, including this Chocolate Kiss, before it could get anywhere. He has decided he LIKES candy. (I have to change my hiding place several times a week- he sees the older kids get a piece and he waits 'till he thinks no one is looking and tries to get some for himself.)

Visitors at Home

We had many visitors once we came home from the hospital too!

Uncle Phillip (pictured) came to meet Cooper the day we came home from the hospital.

Starting the day after we arrived home, we had MANY friends deliver meals to our house. I have never had this wonderful privilege before and let me tell you, it was AWESOME. David went back to work when Cooper was 4 days old and our life continued at it's normal pace: school, toddler play, homework, soccer, etc. So, the meals SAVED me (and my sanity)!

Thanks to: Katie McFaddin, Shauna Oswald, Trish Arnold, Nathan & Ashley Maines, Lora Jarrell, Luke & Ashley Sprague, Nathan & Jenny Herald, Anna Martin, and Kevin & Jessica Powers. And, a special thanks to Chris and Cherise Pilger who brought us 2 meals!!!

ATS Christmas Party

While we did not grow in numbers there is a lot of excitement for us in DC. By the time 2009 rolls around ATS in DC will be in the process of hiring or may have already brought on board, 2 new employees and our work in the DC area is growing beyond that in 2009. Over all the company has had another solid year of growth throughout the country and everyone here sees what it takes to not just maintain but grow. 

I think a second reason for excitement is relationships. Sharon and I work very hard to get to know the employees of the company and this is one of those special points in the year where we feel particularly close to the team. It gets harder as the company grows but we like to get gifts that are specific and meaningful to those who get them. I won't tell you what they were but I am sure they all agree we were on target again this year. 

The final reason for excitement was the food. We reserved a table at Tysons Tower Club  which required Dave to pick a suit coat or tie. Either way, it was the first time I

 would see him in either one...so we had to capture the moment! Five courses, incredible appetizers, filets, bananas foster, the food kept coming and we stuffed ourselves all the way to the end. We laughed and had a 

blast during our 3 hours together. You know you have connected and are having fun when you can spend 3 hours with fellow employees and not talk about work the whole time. 

Anyways...it was a great way to kick off the holidays!

~David

ALLERGIES

If you haven't read the post titled 'Peanuts,' read that first.

This is an update.

UGH!!!!!!!

We were on vacation last week, so we missed the doctor's call about Sybella's allergy testing.
Yesterday, we finally connected on the phone.
The doctor told me that Sybella has Egg White Allergies and not only that, but the results were significant, a similar level to her peanut reaction.

***Warning: everything that follows is my raw and unfiltered thoughts from yesterday!

What???

Eggs are in EVERYTHING.
Basically, I asked somed questions, told him I would like a copy of the labs so that I can see it in black and white and so that we can take it to an allergist. I asked him about her immunizations (which he still wants her to get--I am definately going to ask the allergist about that) and then I got off the phone 'cause I couldn't hold it together any longer.

I just cried...what am I gonna feed her? will she ever eat school lunch? enjoy birthday cakes? How will we feed her if we are on the road? Will she ever feel normal or will she always feel like the weird kid? I know I can figure this out, somehow, it's what she gets exposed to from other people that scares me!

There are eggs in waffles, breads, crackers, cookies, battered/fried foods, mayonaise, some pretzels, donuts, egg rolls, muffins, and lots of other things.

I feel so bad for her. Oh my God, am I going to have to make 2 different kinds of bread each week?

Is there egg in mac-n-cheese- probably in the pasta. What about pizza?

I guess hot dogs and chicken breasts are gonna have to work for the next few days until we figure this out.

**After 24 hours, I am now a bit calmer and optomistic. The next months will be a transition of learning how to cook for her. David is Oat/Wheat/Gluten, Fish, and Shellfish allergic. So, I already do a lot of special cooking but now she has the 2 main allergies that he doesn't (Peanut & Egg White). My other 2 kids have None...this is going to makes for a crazy kitchen- and unless I am very careful, a potentially dangerous one.

Pray that Sybella is no longer exposed to her allergins and that I find creative ways to make life as normal as possible for her.

Peanuts

Peanuts!
A wonderful food item for someone like David who is allergic to so many things but can still enjoy peanuts, peanut butter, and Reese's.

Peanuts!
A HORRIBLE thing for my sweet daughter who began demonstrating an allergy/sensitivity at 3 weeks old. (no, I wasn't feeding them to her! I had a can of cashews and she got them thru breast milk.)

Throughout the last 20 months, we have done very well avoiding nuts. We check labels and keep track of things that have caused a reaction even when we didn't think there were nuts in them. For instance, we don't eat (as a family) at Chick-fil-a or Five Guys because they use Peanut Oil. Also, we don't let Sybella eat at Panera; they don't use any peanut oils but she has had a reaction both times she has eaten there. [there may be another allergy that we don't know about....]

But as David says, there is no status quo, things are either moving forward or backward.
Sybella is a toddler now and acts more like a pre-schooler. On Friday, I was taking a phone call and writing an e-mail and trying to get out the door. In about 20 seconds. Sybella went into the Kitchen, opened the candy drawer, got out the Reese's Pieces, opened the Ziploc bag, put one in her mouth, chewed it, and then under (a loud and panicked) command, spit it into my hand. (thanks to her quick thinking brother Connor who screamed for help like the house was on fire! Good Job Connor!)
To make a long story short, 5 minutes later, we were driving to pick up David from a meeting and Sybella started coughing in the back seat. She had strong intermittent coughing for the next 1-2 minutes and had already broken out on the lower half of her face. I began praying of course and shortly, the coughing subsided. She was not having trouble breathing, nor did she have swelling. But, I knew that we had just crossed to another level of allergy reaction, she had not even managed to swallow the Reese's Piece.

About 30 minutes later, we were in the Pediatrician's office getting a prescription for an Epi Pen Jr. and an order for lab tests.
Sybella got 4 tubes of blood drawn and we should have results tomorrow or the next day of her preliminary allergy panel.

So, now the diaper bag has 2 Epi Pen Jr's and Benadryl in it.
After we get back from vacation, she will get an allergy alert bracelet!
From now on, other people worry about gun locks for safety, we will have to have Peanut locks. OK, not really but, ALL products with nuts now go in the highest cabinets and are very secure.

Sybella is fine and wasn't in any danger (this time). Praise God. And although we hope that there won't be a next time, we are realistic and won't be caught unprepared again. I am still amazed at how quickly we moved from simple avoidance of nuts to life threatening defense against nuts!

FREE FOOD

We are heading to Jason's Deli in Falls Church. I don't know much about this place but Sharon being a SouthWestern gal claims the food is incredible. Well I don't know about all that but I do know it is ALL FREE TONIGHT!!! That's right, head over to Falls Church location for the 'soft opening'. This is going on between 5:30 and 7:30pm on Saturday, July 19th.

See you there!

~David

Meatloaf Muffins

OK- I have been promising the meatloaf muffins recipe to so many people and have not ever gotten around to giving it out...so, I decided it was about time to just post it to the blog.

Credits: this is a recipe that I got from the Rachael Ray website (RR)--I modified the Meatloaf Muffins Recipe to meet my needs but the credit for it's origin belongs to her.

The reason that I love it so much is the short cook time. Meatloaf can take forever to cook and because of the muffin-style preparation, this one doesn't

I have put my substitutions in blue and I left the original RR items in parentheses. If you have questions, let me know. Note: I double the ingredients to make 12 muffins, it works well.

Meatloaf Muffins with Barbecue Sauce
Serves 6

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for pan
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin (I have also used Pork or Turkey)
1 can Ro-Tel Mild Tomatoes & Green Chilies (1 small yellow onion, 1small green bell pepper, 1/2 cup tomato salsa)
A splash of milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup Kellogg's Corn Flake Crubs (1 cup plain bread crumbs)
2 tbsp chicken rub (2 tbsp grill seasoning, such as McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning)
1 cup Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy barbecue sauce (1 c. smoky barbecue sauce)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Brush a 6-muffin stoneware [tin] with vegetable oil or EVOO.

3. Put ground beef into a big bowl.

4. Add 2/3 can of Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chilies [Put onions into a food processor.Cut the bell pepper in half and rip out the seeds and the white stuff and throw it away. Cut the pepper into a few pieces Pulse the food processor to finely chop the onion and bell pepper. Add to the meat bowl.]

5. Whisk the milk into the beaten egg and add to meat.

6. Add corn flake crumbs/breadcrumbs and rub/grill seasoning.

7. In a small bowl, mix together the barbecue sauce, remaining 1/2 can of Ro-Tel [salsa] and Worcestershire sauce.

8. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix.

9. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands.

10. Use your hands [a large ice cream scoop] to put the meat into the muffin tin.

11. Wash your hands well after handling the raw meat.

12. Top each "muffin" with a spoonful of reserved sauce.

13. Bake about 15 minutes. ***I bake for 20 minutes because I use muffin-stoneware instead of a muffin tin.

Enjoy!!

Father's Day Food Drive Finale

Instead of a gift for Father's Day, Colin and Connor decided to Honor their dad by demonstrating the love and service to others that he has taught them. (See post on Service Project Update)

On Father's Day, the boys were invited to Chesterbrook United Methodist Church to make a presentation of all the food and donations that they collected for the Food Bank. During the announcements they had the opportunity to briefly explain that by going door-to-door and sending e-mails that they had collected:

~ 16 filled bags of groceries and $150.00 for the local SHARE food bank

as well as,

~ $275.00 collected for a local Washington State Food Bank because of their e-mails.

The kids FAR EXCEEDED their goal to collect 20 bags or approximatey $400-$500 dollars. Essentially their efforts, almost doubled their goal. Great Job!

We are so proud of the care and concern that they have for others, it will certainly bless and enhance their lives!

Date Night

Sharon and I had our monthly date night last night. I made the reservations and she found the babysitter. Off we went for 2.5 hours of adult time to talk, eat, and relax at Tysons Tower Club.

We recently read a book called the Love List by Les & Leslie Parrott. It recommends 2 things you should do as a couple daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. Great little book, easy read, and short enough that a man might read it all! One thing they recommend is a date night...Sharon and I already subscribed to this and love that time away every month to date each other.

Powdered Donuts

This morning, Sybella proved how creative she can be with even just a minute of unsupervised time.

This is what an 18-month-old looks like when she is tall enough to get out powdered mini-donuts from the pantry and isn't afraid to put a whole one in her mouth! LOL!!!

National Candy Month

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Child Nutrition Events Calendar, June is National Candy Month.


As a side note, I am not sure why the USDA who also puts out the Food Pyramid would want to emphasize National Candy Month but, since they did, I have decided to do a candy making project with the kids. We might as well start our summer fun a little early and who can pass up candy? [If it goes well, we'll keep the recipe handy for possible use with a future science fair project--always have to be on the lookout for an academic relevance!]


We could melt chocolate and make chocolate lollipops, I have at least done that before; unfortunately, Connor does not like chocolate. Really!
Instead, we are going to make Rock Candy.


I found the recipe that we will be using on-line; has anyone used this or a similar recipe? How did it turn out?

We'll let you know how it goes! Note: It takes 7-14 days for the Rock Candy to 'grow.' You'll have to be patient for the follow-up post.

SCHMAKA-

Last night when we got home from Colin's soccer practice, Sybella was waiting in the kitchen for us looking excited. Courtesy of her borother, Connor, she held out the remainder of a "Double Stuf Oreo" Cookie to show us what her enthusiasm was about. I asked her, "what do you have?" She replied as if I should already know, "Schmaka!" When I looked at her face, I knew instantly that "Schmaka" was a great name since she had schmaka'd it all over.

Hard Times

No we aren't having 'hard times' at the Simon's...just eating there:

I went to the Hard Times Cafe for a lunch meeting with a friend. This place has awesome chilli and is one of the top 3 places to hang out in Alexandria, VA. It is one of my favorite meeting places (of course any meeting of food is a favorite place fore me). It really hit the spot with the wind blowing and making it a little colder than usual. Over lunch we talked about a number of things to include FOCUS.

Looking back on many personal adventures as well as the business ventures of friends around me, we talked about how your focus determines your direction and ultimately your destiny. Whether you are an owner, employee, or leader, it is critical to remind yourself of why you are doing what your doing. I watch way too many people here in DC thinking about being at home while they are at work and thinking about work while they are at home. And then they wonder why they are not achieving the success that others around them are having. Their focus is off.

Here's a hint...don't take the laptop home one night and turn off the blackberry and see what happens around the house. I am just as guilty as the next guy but sometimes that stuff has to be put aside and the focus needs to be on family. Now I would comment on the opposite of this but far more people struggle to make home and family the priority than the other way around.

The other thing I will mention is that my life goals and dreams are written down and saved on my desktop so that I can look at them daily. I don't dwell on them or stare at them for minutes on end but glancing at them keeps me in focus as to why I am doing what I am doing.

~David