Whittard Tea

When our family traveled to UK two summers ago (June 2007), we took a few days to sight see London. While we were there, John and I discovered some of the best tea we've ever had. We like a variety of tea but John prefers the sweeter kinds. We discovered a store called Whittard of Chelsea. They had beautiful teapots and teacups, but also an assortment of coffee and tea. We tried a few samples and immediately fell in love with their Dreamtime Instant tea. Once you make it, the smell just draws you in and makes you feel so relaxed. John likes to drink it cold but I prefer to have it nice and hot. The thought of drinking something cold in the winter is not comforting. The other nice thing about Dreamtime tea is that it is low on caffeine.

At the time, we were unaware that there were any Whittard stores in the U.S. So, the next time we saw my sister-in-law, we had her bring more of that tea to us. However, when we were visiting Boston last October, we ran into a Whittard store and we were absolutely delighted! We bought more and tried two other instant teas as well - Hot Chocolate Dreamtime and English Fruits.

We have become great fans of Whittard but unfortunately they only have a handful of stores in the U.S. Whenever we have guests come over, we offer them this tea and those who have tried it instantly fall in love with it. I have found Annie's Tea Time that carries Whittard tea products and they will ship them to your home for a reasonable shipping fee. Now, I don't have to bug my poor sister in law in UK to send them to me. I'm also happy because I can now point my friends to the site so they don't have to ransack my beverage cupboard.

Chicken Cigars

So, I've been trying a few new things in the kitchen lately. I tried Racheal Ray's Chicken Cigars. Delish! The first time, I tried to edit her recipe to make it more Indian style. I subsituted some curry powder and chopped cilantro for the parsley and grill seasoning. It turned out a bit too spicy but we didn't mind. The second time around, I followed RR recipe and it turned out super as well. Here's what I love about this recipe:

• It's versatile - you can add potato chunks in it if you'd like, or chopped spinach
  
• It's a great appetizer or you can make a meal out of it, esp. if you add a veggie in it
  
• Pretty inexpensive
  

First time sledding

A lesson to share with the world - by John Macdonald

When taking your child sledding for the first time, don't be over zealous. Try a small hill first. 

We apologize for the video shaking quite a bit because Vivien laughed so hard  - it felt like I was watching an American Home Video. It sounds mean to laugh at your own daughter and husband who came down a large sledding hill with such speed, but Sydney quickly joined in the laughter after she stopped crying. It was amazing to see how brave she was after that experience to try the small and medium hills. However, with that said, I think it will be awhile before she goes on another big hill sledding adventure!

Did I hear "Jesus"?

It's funny what a kid says and it's another thing as to what a parent hears. I was in the kitchen (as always) and Sydney at the dining table. As I'm wiping up dishes waiting for her to finish lunch, I hear all of a sudden "Oh Jesus!". 

It sounded like she was sort of swearing and I thought maybe she was imitating something she heard. So, I leaned over and asked her to repeat her statement. It came out loud and clear again, with much gusto this time "Oh, Jesus!".  She smiled sheepishly and said that, that's what Brother bear said in the Berenstain Bears book titled "Trouble with Friends". What? "No, Sydney, I'm sure there's no mention of Jesus in that book", I added confidently.

I stopped doing dishes and went over to find the library book. We found the page she was referring to and lo and behold, to my relief, she was quoting the statement "Aw, gee, Sis" (when Brother bear apparently didn't want to join in on the tea party invitation). 

It definitely reaffirmed that I should be always aware of what my kids read and listen to. But, I should not be too quick to jump to conclusions either and be careful to put on my parent ears!! 

The Ph.D. race is completed!

John graduated on Sunday, December 21st 2008. It was a glorious day to celebrate all his hard work and we couldn't have done it without the help of 1. GOD and 2. the help and support of FAMILY & FRIENDS (esp. from Montgomery County Church of Christ). We are very proud of John completing his doctoral program, through the ups and downs. I feel like I should write a book about our 4 year or something. Well, actually I have published a book through blurb called "Journey Days in Maryland" and it has all our highlights and challenges while living in Maryland. It's great to have something tangible that we can look back at from time to time. As we start the next chapter in our lives, the book reminds us of God's continual blessings and promises to us.

Rachael Ray Fan

Yes, I'm a Rachael Ray fan and I'm not ashamed to say that at all. I know some people think she's too goofy and crazy with all her acronyms, but I think it's cool. It defines who she is. For my birthday, my wonderful brother & sister in law gave me a Barnes & Nobles gift card which I used to buy a Rachael Ray cookbook. Up till then, I just printed out RR's recipes from Food Network. Her cookbooks are so well written and they make me want to cook everyday. I told John that he's going to look forward to 2009 because I'm going to spice up things in the kitchen. I have a favorite recipe to share that the kids love too - It's called Honey Nut Chicken Sticks. I even made up the honey mustard dressing to go with it and it's YUM-O! With my new cookbook and a new appetite to try some different things this year, I think our family will be going out to eat less. Yippee - good bye to large portions of boring food and hello to YUM-O food.

Artists at work

The kids got several great Christmas presents this year. One of them included a Melissa & Doug Art easel and accessories. The kids are enjoying drawing and painting on the easel. Of course, mummy has to supervise so that Caleb doesn't take his art work all over the basement. It's great fun! Thank you to Uncle Leslie and Aunty Christina atthai. And thank you to Grandma Macdonald for the art smocks.

No traffic story

It was another afternoon where I was driving Sydney to her preschool. Prime Time preschool is literally 5 minutes down the street from where we live. After two minutes of being on the road, Sydney asked me why there were no cars on the street. Well, I didn't know what to say and then we saw a car coming down the street as we approached her school. Sydney continued saying "Mommy, I like Michigan. There's no traffic here". As Anne (our friend in Maryland) would say, John and I must have talked about the traffic a lot in Maryland. Even if we made a long stop at a traffic light, Sydney would complain about the traffic from the back seat.