Rumor

I just thought that before word got out too far I should let everyone know at once that the rumor is true- I am taking Wilton Cake Decorating lessons at A.C. Moore. Lucky for Aida her friends were able to catch me leaving A.C. Moore with my second creation in the series and they could let her know that they saw her mother carrying around "a white cake with orange dots all over it" on a Friday night. Aida taking it like a real mini-Sara just accused her friend of being a stalker. I don't mind because I was super proud of myself and my cake. Mark never wanted me to take a class because he thought it would ruin my mad cake style, I think that when I returned home with this beauty his fears were put to rest. I like to think that I am the star of the class but I think Leo the teacher would say it is my friend Carolyn. I admit Carolyn is my biggest competition in the class and I am afraid because not only does she have crazy decorating skills but she also has Leo's heart and gets some special attention. That is okay - I like a challenge. So here is my first cake. One of these days I will have to get my cake gallery going because my cakes really are amazing. :)

Mallomar Love

On a recent trip to Shoprite I discovered Mallomars.  An oldie but goodie.  I never would have thought to try one if I hadn't formed a mild addiction to Mallowpuffs when I was in NZ.  Actually, in all honesty, I think I loved Mallowpuffs more when I couldn't have them.  Mark started to bring them back to me from his annual NZ trips and their rarity made them taste that much better.  They really started to grow on me.  I found similar products here in America but they weren't as good until I found the Mallomar.
 
Last week I went to Shoprite only to discover Mallomars on sale for half off WITH an additional one dollar off coupon.  I bought two boxes.  I was tempted to buy more when I read the sign informing people they were a seasonal item and to not get upset if they weren't immediately available.  Are you kidding me?  A product people would get upset about being sold for basically 75% off? I already knew I would be back.

The history is intriguing (maybe not to all but junk food history fascinates me).  Apparently practically every country has their version as seen here.  The Mallomar was first sold in a store in West Hoboken NEW JERSEY.  Even today 70 percent of the supply goes to the NY and NJ area. The Mallomar is made in Canada and is the cookie that "comes out in the cold".  Back in the day the chocolate coating would melt so the factories only started to crank them out in September.  Modern technology has remedied this situation but Nabisco continues with it being a seasonal item as it originally was.  I like the idea.  We are so used to having everything readily available to us.  I like seasonal things to look forward to.  I like the dilemma of deciding how much of an item constitutes  a "hoard" -do I need to "stock up"?  Inevitably my hoard disappears within hours of a season ending but that is why there is always a new seasonal treat to draw me into its sugar evils.  So, thank you boxed smore Mallomars for providing me with a fall treat to accompany my candy corns. Yum. 

Strawberry Pickin'

I took the kids deep into South Jersey to pick their own strawberries.  I have to admit that it is a lot faster to get strawberries than blueberries.  We weren't there long but we managed to take away 20 pounds of strawberries.  Ed overheated pretty quick and decided to hang out by the van.

The Difference Between Girls and Boys

I know I have three girls and only one boy to base this one but these two videos TOTALLY sum up the differences between the two genders in my house.  TOTALLY.

First the Boy



Now the Little Girl note the band-aid on the knee

My Dream House

The green pastures, the chicks in a row, the duck pond, grazing sheep and a puppy watching over my Red Barn Empire. I want all of it. Sigh. Thanks Maya

Happy

Is there anything than a four year old that loves his momma?

Hatch Video

Here is video of one of the chicks hatching. If you make it close to the end you can see the white egg in the background has just pipped. My apologies for the music but I just grabbed what was readily available. :) I hope no one is too grossed out. It was kind of tricky to catch these guys because some would work for a long time so while you were watching them then one that wasn't even on the "hatch radar" would pop open. While the experience was not without trauma it was still fun to see it happen and see what kind of chicken would pop out next. Sorry I was only able to really catch this yolky one and left out the cute fuzzy shots. They do fluff up and then they are cute. It was a little like when we were trying to watch the caterpillars turn into chrysalises. They would just hang there for days and then you would turn you back and it was done. Nature runs on its own time. I am so glad that I have been able to take a few moments with the kids to slow down and watch nature happen. By moments I mean days and days with these chickens!

Egg Candling

I was told you can candle around days ten and fourteen. I maybe took a bit more liberty with those recommendations. Candling is basically when you shine a light through the egg to see what is going on. You may see a blob (the yolk) floating around, the size of the airsac, the ring of death or veins. Lots and lots of veins connecting to a little embryo. Several of my eggs were very dark shelled so it was hard to tell if the egg was viable or not. It is important to get rid of any eggs that aren't going to make it to term because then you have to worry about the air pressurizing and a stinky rotten egg exploding disgusting bacteria all over your incubator and contaminating all of your eggs.
I loved candling. Once I started I couldn't stop. I had friends over to see this amazing web of veins I would see in the viable eggs. Some were impressed others were good actors and told me what I wanted to hear but the experience for me was grand any time I could do it. I tried to take pictures. I even tried a little video with 3 assistants so everyone could see how you can see the little chicken moving around maybe even see a little foot. Those didn't work out all that great so I am going to have to pull better examples off of the internet. I tell you though there is something so fascinating with being able to have life contained in a shell held in your hands. Before lockdown we had candled the eggs and of the 24 I ordered 18 looked good. I figured I had beat the 50% odds given to me for mail ordered eggs. Well for the rest you will have to wait for my hatch day post.

Baby Monkey

I know it is wrong and it is not for everyone but here at the Bergz we get a good laugh at this. Who doesn't love pigs and monkeys? Anyway just something to tide you over until I catch up on my egg progress.

In the Incubator

After I got the eggs in the mail my next job was to place them in an incubator, or as those of us in the biz like to call a "bator".  After doing some reading I went with the Hova Bator brand- chicken people seem to have success with it.  Basically it is a controlled temperature environment for the eggs.  I put a little water in the bottom to add humidity to the air-this step is more important later as the eggs begin to hatch. 

My responsibility for the first 18 days was to turn the eggs 3 times a day (you want to do an odd amount of turns).  You can get automatic turners but I was too cheap to get one and after about day two I wished I had just bought one.  Standard procedure is to mark one side with an "x" the other with an "o" so you remember which side is which.  I went with "x's" and numbers (Lucy and I have a chart to fill in after all). Obviously we are passed day 18 so I thought I would write this step before jumping to where we are now.

Egg Arrival

The Post Office called and delivered it right to my house.

A little worried about the packaging job.

Unpacking eggs for photo shoot.

I was looking forward to the creme colored eggs that were going to be the Golden Penciled Hamburgs.  None of them took properly so I had to get rid of them.  I kind of figured they wouldn't because they were the smallest.  Maybe next time.

My Easter Eggers and more brown egg layers.

Lucy and I are real proud of our latest chart.

I am a little behind documenting my latest chickening but here is a start.  I ordered 24 eggs via mail.  They say that mail order eggs have a 50 percent hatch rate and beyond that I have to worry about how many roos I end up with.  I admit it wasn't enough to get the chicks.  I needed to see the process from beginning to end.  There are sooooo many things that can go wrong with hatching my own eggs but I am excited to see it all happen.  I am also excited to have a little more variety in my flock.  At the rate it is going I am going to be surprised if any of the little chicks make it.  The truth is this latest project is causing me so much anxiety.  I thought that I would just have to turn them three times a day and it would be sweet. Not true. Here are some things I am worried about.
Bad eggs going rotten and exploding rotting bacteria all over my other eggs and having to cull the lot.

Embryos developing and then dying from contamination or something else.

Sticky chicks

Shrink Wrapped Chicks-when the chick cracks open the egg and their isn't enough outside humidity and the membrane shrinks and dries suffocating the chick.

Malformed chicks

Having full yolk sacs attached to tummies.

The list goes on and on.  This will be the longest 21 days of my life.  I already told Mark never again but I am glad for this opportunity in an educational sort of way.  I am sure if it all works out I will change my tune but MAN this is stressful.

Babysitting Reports

Mark and I went out last night and when we got home Lucy had filled out the following babysitting reports on Maya and Ed's behavior. I like how in spite of Maya's higher score her reward is "barely achieved". Her reward was being able to switch our her original ear piercings for the first time since she had them pierced many months ago. I have been waiting patiently for a moment when I could get something out of something that was going to happen anyway. Just another great Berg parenting tip. :) Aida also informed us that she thinks that she has had enough free practices and should be getting paid. Lucky for us a 50 cent creme egg will do when the time comes. We told her we would think about it after a few more practice runs. ;)

Maya's Report

Ed's Report-Reward unknown

Creepy Momma

I couldn't help myself.  He was too cute sleeping with "Big Dawg".  On a side note Eddie has decided to rename our dog Tess to Chloe.

On My Mind

The past few days my mind has been occupied with the devastation caused by the Earthquake in NZ. I didn't know what would be appropriate to post about it but I didn't feel like it was right to post anything else without addressing it. I guess I didn't know what to say because at the end of the day I feel like my feelings of sadness, loss, and worry are so trivial compared to the emotions, experiences and trauma of the people that are actually THERE are going through.

When Mark and I first landed in NZ it was hard for Mark and I for a couple of years to be so isolated from family some of the hardest times I had experienced at that time. Due largely in part to the people the kindness of the people and the friends that we made our time in NZ really was the happiest time of our lives. NZ became a part of us-we changed for the better. It is hard to be far from people that for so many years treated us as their family knowing we had none of our own nearby. It is hard to see the destruction of a beautiful, historic city where we spent so many happy times raising our children. It is hard to wait to hear about how friends are doing-about their safety, only to hear about all of their loss.

I feel fortunate to not have been there but guilty too. Guilty that I could feel grateful when good friends are suffering. Sad that we can't be there, that we can't do more, that we are so helpless. As I read the stories of survival and of how people help one another it makes me sad because the acts of bravery, selflessness, kindness are all so very Kiwi and what makes NZ such a fantastic genuine place. A country that the people are as beautiful as the landscape. Looking at all the pictures of toppled buildings we once knew so well, I thought I would post pictures of Christchurch the way I remember it. The way that I hope it will be able to be once again. To think of it any other way makes me too sad.

To all our Kiwi friends we are so grateful for your safety and you are continually in our thoughts and our prayers.

V-day #1

We have been doing Valentine-like things this past week.  Tomorrow is Valentine exchange at school and I have put it off until tonight.  Last year I saw these Valentines that I thought were super cute.  I have seen them a lot since then but I have to admit Denae's are the best.  I tried to recreate her classiness but it didn't work :).  I decided to give Ed's more of a comic book feel since that is the face he is making.  He has 4 "awesome faces" as he calls them.  This is awesome face #3 I keep meaning to do a post on the other ones but for now you only get this one.  I really wanted to type, "Happy Valentines Day You Donk!" but I guess that would take away from the meaning of the day-it just sounded sooo eddie.  Anyway in case any of you are looking for a last minute homemade valentine idear...

Happy Birthday To MARK

Well it has almost been a week since Mark had his birthday but better late than never. Mark spent the day at meetings for church sunup to sundown-no really I think two of the kids never even saw him on his actual special day. Fortunately we plan ahead and anticipated this and celebrated his day on Saturday instead. Who really knows when anyone's real birthday is around here? I made Mark a party cake with party frosting because it is what he enjoys best and I have to admit there is something yummy about it. I could write a million ways that Mark is awesome but really it just comes down to that he can and does do everything. So here are some pictures of my January Boyz.
This year Mark
has learned car repair-something he has shunned in the past but has taken to like a fish in water.
is able to teach two different classes at the exact same time do a scheduling error-don't ask how but it involves a lot of work.
was made Second Counselor in the Bishopric.
turned a moldy bathroom into a work of art.
built a chicken coop and is now working on a second design.
somehow manages to still put 4 crazy girls and a jumpy little boy first before anything.

Happy Birthday to the MAN

party cake

running auto shop-the muffler replacement that started it all

getting pick pocketed

going on the rides that make mom want to hoarf

getting pounced everyday

4-A Delayed post from 3rd January

Today's topic is Ed and his special day.  We actually celebrated his birthday a couple of days ago in New Hampshire but I have to talk about him today anyway.  In the beginnining of last year when asked his age he would say fourteen, eight, twelve, forty whatever then he settled on fourteen and then when people would correct him they would say, "You mean four?  Very good!  What a big boy!" etc. etc.  Since he is a little taller than most he passed for four and he finally got to a place during the second half of the year when he would tell people he was four when asked.
I figured it took so long to teach him to get out of the double digits and he would be four soon anyway so why bother correcting him?  I know good parenting.  :)  It took me and all of his sisters a good part of his fake birthday to persuade him that while he may think he was turning five because as he told us "five comes after four" he was indeed still just four but a real four now on his fake birthday.  It was then that I realized that there was no way that I was going to wish him a Happy Birthday on the third because then it would probably confuse him more.  I can't say this is unique since I think with all of our kids we changed their birthdays to suit our scheduling conflicts. I suppose if you want to get technical his birthday was yesterday because of the NZ time difference-maybe he is five?  Whatevs.

ED FACTS

• Ed prefers to be called Eddie.
• Lately Ed loves to be Iron Man only he doesn't know who he is and has morphed Iron Man into a super villain.
• Ed's favorite Top Gear episode was the one featuring drifting and he was so excited to get a remote control car for Christmas and make it drift on Grandma Ruth's hardwood-thanks Ruth.
• He loves to break words into syllables.  Don't look at me I couldn't even teach him to count (see above)
• Ed loves gumballs and jumping.
• Ed enjoys sharing and to be honest is a bit of a food pusher.
• Orange is Ed's favorite color. 
• Ed loves to say "sure".
• Ed talks about his classmates as "my preschoolers".
• I really really love Ed!
• Ed always has something on his face-whose fault is that?

Blowing out his candles with Grandma Ruth.

Pirate Cupcakes from Grandma Penney

Awesomely wrapped present from awesome mom.

Christmas 2010

I thought I should put a few Christmas pictures up of the kiddos before we get too far into the new year. Aida worked hard making 3 D cards for everyone. They were framed like a book and when you opened them she has a different quote for everyone. It was fun to share them around and hear what everyone had on their card . Ed's read "smile". Mark's was "Be happy, happiness is valuable. Don't be sad, sadness is worthless." I can't remember the rest off the top of my head those are just the ones I have sitting on my desk right now.
As a child I never believed my parents when they told us they loved the homemade stuff the most. Now as a parent, I really do enjoy seeing what they come up with and seeing how they can appreciate and love the effort put into it all.

Christmas Eve reading while Eddie waits to open his eve present.

What Aida has always wanted.

He didn't really know what to do with this until we got home but he loves it.

Aida's homemade doll for Maya.

I love how these girls make things for each other.

Maya's American Girl Doll FINALLY.

The most patient one in our family. .

I hope Tess enjoys it while it lasts.

Lucy was most excited to give Tess goodies on Christmas Day.