Eating A to Z: K is for Kiwano Melon!

For an experiment this summer, we are going to try new or unfamiliar foods starting with each letter of the alphabet. Our kids are generally very good eaters, much more open to different foods than either David or I was growing up...and probably still are. We will not necessarily go in order, but rather be more open to trying things we wouldn't normally pick up.

Today, we started with letter K!  K is for Kiwano Melon.   It is also known as an African Horned Melon, even though most of the ones we see in the U.S. are grown in New Zealand or California.  We have seen the melons at our local Kroger and keep saying we will try them someday, so it seemed like a good place to start our experiment.  First we did a little research since we didn't know anything about the fruit.

We learned that the Kiwano Melon is mostly orange on the outside when it is ripe, but the insides are bright green!  Like most melons, you don't generally eat the outside of the melon.  

We had looked up the information about the melon, but the kids were still surprised at how bright green the inside was.  My photo doesn't fully show the contrast between the orange outside and the green inside.

The inside is filled with seeds that are surrounded by the little pockets of fruit.  The seeds are edible, and don't have much taste on their own.

You can see the little fruit sacs around each seed.

I used this Wiki page to help learn about how to 

choose a ripe fruit and how to eat it!

http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-a-Kiwano-(Horned-Melon)

This WebMD site also had a little different information, 

including nutrition facts:

http://fit.webmd.com/teen/food/article/kiwano-melon

"A 1-cup serving of kiwano melon has about 4 grams of protein (the same as 1 tablespoon of peanut butter), 287 milligrams of potassium (about half the amount in a banana), and vitamins A and C -- but it only has about 103 calories."

It is said that the melon tastes like a cross 

between cucumber, banana, and lime.

So the verdict: 

 We tried various methods of getting the fruit out of the shell.  Squeezing worked somewhat.  We tried squeezing the fruit into bowls.  Isaac and Nathanael also tried squeezing it directly into their mouths.  But I think we found using a spoon to scoop out the contents was the most efficient.  A grapefruit spoon would be great, but we were able to do it with a plastic spoon.  We didn't really try, but there did not seem to be a good way to separate the seeds from the fruit, other than just by using your mouth.

What about the taste?

I think the mix of fruits used to describe the taste is pretty accurate if you assume hints of those flavors rather than full-flavor.  The fruit is definitely not as sweet as I was expecting.  I don't particularly care for cucumber, but that was not off-putting once I tasted the melon.  It is a pretty refreshing fruit.

Elizabeth was not sure about the taste from the beginning.  The part she liked the best was the juice.  She preferred the fruit (the part surrounding the seeds) without seeds, but found it took too much effort to remove the seeds.

Josiah first said he really liked it. Then he backed down to not being so sure.  He and Elizabeth agreed they didn't dislike it, but it's probably not something they would ask for again and again like strawberries or raspberries.  Although, Josiah acknowledged that it was probably because it was something he wasn't used to since it was his first time trying it.

Isaac, Nathanael, and Hannah quickly ate the servings they were given.  The seeds didn't seem to bother them at all.  Nathanael and Hannah immediately wanted more! :-)

Good thing the youngest ones really like it. We have two more melons to eat!

10 Years!

I have been really excited the past few weeks thinking about our ten year anniversary today. We are not taking any special trips this time or giving each other extravagant gifts. (We will have dinner and a night without kids tomorrow...well, maybe one very little kiddo :-)). But I have loved reflecting on how much God has done in these past ten years of marriage and the five years we were "together" before that. I feel so amazed and blessed to wake up each morning knowing I am loved more each day by a man who knows me better than any other person. And that together we have the privilege of watchingGod work in the lives of our children. (Okay, surface emotions may not always reflect those sentiments exactly, but they do fill the deepest part of my heart.). Thank you, David, for taking the chance to ask for my phone number fifteen years ago, and for making sure God was in our relationship from the start. Thank you for continuing to love me more than I deserve.  I am excited that I still have 90 plus years to know and love you better!

Kids say...

I have some posts to catch up on, but I wanted to jot down a couple of Isaac's comments from the past two days.  :-)

He was playing, and out of the blue said:
     There are Great Grandmas, and there are Good Grandmas. 

Yesterday, I posted this on Facebook:

Isaac: Is Nathanael a lady? Josiah: No, Mommy is the only lady in the house right now.
Isaac: Mommy's not a lady. She's a princess.
Mommy: I'm a princess?
Isaac: Yes. You look like a princess. (As I sit here in my knee-length cut-offs and macaroni and cheese stained shirt.)
Mommy: I look like a princess?
Isaac: Kind of. You need a princess shirt. A big one to fit you.

Today he continued the conversation:

Isaac: Mommy, you are a lady who looks like a princess.
Mommy: Why do you think I look like a princess?
Isaac: Because of the princess shirt.
Mommy: I don't have a princess shirt. 
Isaac: You need a BIG GIANT princess shirt!
Mommy: Am I giant?
Isaac: No you are big. You need a GIANT princess shirt like Elizabeth has a little princess shirt.

Isaac makes me laugh on a daily basis :-)

Here we grow!

We measured the kids to mark the start of the new school year:

Elizabeth is just under 50 inches.  She has grown about an inch in the last seven months!

Josiah is right about 43 inches.  He has also grown about an inch in the last seven months!

Isaac is 37 inches.  He has grown TWO inches in the last seven months!

Nathanael, standing, was measured at about 27 1/2 inches.  But it's pretty hard to accurately measure a bouncing baby :-).

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for two of our kiddos! 

 

Elizabeth started third grade!  She said she was a little bit nervous last night and said that sometimes she is shy.  But this morning, at the bus stop, she was yelling "hi" to everyone she knows :-)  This is her second year starting with a male teacher, and she thought that was pretty neat.  (Not to mention, they both have had compound words for last names:  Last year she had Mr. Whitehead.  This year she has Mr. Knightstep.)  She is also excited that she is in a gifted class.

Elizabeth got on the bus, then we had a half-hour before we had to leave to take Josiah to school.

Josiah started Kindergarten today!  Today was the first of the transition days for Kindergarten students.  (One-third of the class goes for two hours.)  He was able to meet his teacher, Mrs. Smith, last week.  I think that was great for helping this morning go more smoothly.

Next Tuesday will be the first regular day of Kindergarten and the first day to ride the bus.  The school system here is a bit different in that all the Kindergarten students go to one school.  They are the only ones in the building.  So, there are nine AM classes and nine PM classes.  It does make me feel a little bit better about sending my Josiah off on the school bus for the first time. :-)


The little boys and I had just over an hour between getting home from taking Josiah to school today leaving to pick him up again.  We took a few pictures, tried to play a game, and watched some Sesame Street.  Though I don't like that Josiah has to be on the bus as long has he does, it will be nice to have the three solid hours each day with just my littlest two...for another few months anyway.

We were home for lunch and a few hours of play, and I even got a nap!  Then it was time to get Elizabeth from the bus stop.

The kids enjoyed the first day!  Neither has homework, but I do.  Gotta love back to school paperwork :-p

What's happened in eleven months

It has been 11 months since my last blog post.  And it has been a crazy eleven months!  A lot has happened, as it always does. 

Our fourth child was born!  Nathanael James was born September 12, 2011.

In October, Isaac turned TWO!

At the end of January this year, we moved 450 miles away from our home for the previous three years.  We were blessed to move close to family!  But we do miss our friends and the area of Charlottesville.


We bought a house, and have been dealing with the joys and "joys" of being homeowners again. 


Elizabeth turned EIGHT!

Josiah turned SIX!  (We had our first Chuck E. Cheese birthday party.)

AND we are expecting our fifth child!  The newest one is due February 25th! 

Of course, that's just the really big stuff.  Phew!


I'm hoping to be better about blogging again.  (Shouldn't take much effort to be better than a blog post every 11 months ;-))  We've got so many more big things coming soon.  In a couple weeks, Elizabeth will be starting third grade, and Josiah will begin Kindergarten!  In a month, we'll celebrate Josiah being in our family four years!  Right after that is Nathanael's first birthday!  I don't think things will be slowing down any time soon :-)

School Days

This is our first year with TWO kids in school!

Elizabeth started second grade about two weeks ago.  She went into this year with excitement and confidence!  She has a male teacher for the first time, as well as a class pet!  (Lucky the hamster just spent the three-day weekend with us.)  There are two girls from the neighborhood in her class, so she was very happy about that.

Ready for School!

Coming off the bus at the end of the day

Josiah had his first day of Pre-K today!  Last week when I asked him about starting school, he said he didn't want to go.  He'd rather stay home.  However, by the open house, he was happy to show David his school and his new classroom.  Today, he was excited to get to school.  When I picked him up, he said, "It was the best day of school ever!"  Hopefully, there will be many more of those :-)

Ready for School!

Heading out to the car!

Showing off the cubbies before going into his classroom.

 Isaac had a pretty good day today, too.  We stopped by Target and a fun Amish spice store on the way home.  Then after lunch, it was about time to go back to get Josiah.  He did ask about the kids a few times, but he'll get the hang of it.

I think both kids are going to have a great school year! Elizabeth loves school.  She loves the learning and the time with friends.  It will be good for Josiah to have something of his own, and to be able to learn with peers and other adults.  It will be interesting to figure out the schedules with the new baby.  I'm thankful my mom came out to help with Josiah starting school today.  I am much more at ease knowing she will be here with the kids when things start.

Re-entry can be rough

Our three little travellers just had a two-week visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house...without Mommy and Daddy.  They had so much fun going to VBS, visiting playgrounds, staying overnight at a water park, flying with Grandpa, and so much more!  There were a few special girl things at a Sleeping Beauty dinner theater and a tea house.  The boys visited the Air Force museum and toured a former Air Force One.

Then our young journeyers return home.  After so much fun and adventure packed into two weeks, it's no wonder there are a few bumps as they re-acclimate.  They are tired from all the excitement and travelling.  Though they are not without boundaries at Grandma and Grandpa's, things are different.  David and I jokingly call the time of re-entry "de-tox."  We know emotions are going to run higher.  We know there will, once again, be testing of boundaries.  This time has just been a little harder than we expected.

Our oldest traveler started a high fever the day before they were driving home.  But other than that, she has done amazingly.  There have not been more than a couple instances of testing or such.  She has done this enough times now to know how things go.

Our second, has had the most difficult time.  Today is only the fifth day since their return, but there has been significantly more turbulence than we anticipated.  We have seen A LOT of attitude for every little thing, along with many other bumps.  As I said, we expected some of this.  It happened last year.  But something else seems to be going on.  I've tried to work through the reasons.  This is a time of big changes for this one, historically and presently.  We are nearing the anniversary of our son going through the biggest changes of his young life.  He's starting to think about starting school and having a new sibling all in the next few weeks.  I know there is so much going on in his heart and in his head.  But it's hard not to take his actions and rejection personally.  And I'm not doing a very good job controlling my reactions.  Tonight I've been thinking through so many ways for both David and me to consciously give him more time and attention.

This was the first of such trips for our youngest, so we were not quite sure what to expect.  I was a little bit worried about how he would do for such a long time.  While away, it seemed like he barely noticed that we weren't there.  He did seem to return home with an ever-present whine in his little voice.  He's been quicker to tantrum and to cling.  But I think he is slowly starting to work out of those.

We are glad to have the kids home again.  Though it was nice to relax and rest for a time, the house and my days felt pretty empty.  We missed the hugs and snuggles and giggles.  We missed the kids. 

I am grateful they are able to go and enjoy special time with family.  I am grateful we have several weeks together before school and more craziness starts.  I am especially grateful for the example I have of my Heavenly Father who loves me as I am...even with my testing, whining, rejection, tantrums, and attitude.  Praying He'll help me love the same way.

It's Isaac!!!

Next week, Isaac will be 21 months old!!!  He's definitely not so much of a baby anymore.  He's becoming quite the little man.  He even answers "No" with a shake of his head when I ask him if he's a baby.  When I ask him if he's a big boy, he nods and answers "Boy!"  :-)

Isaac also just had a check-up.  He's currently about 33 inches tall and around 28 pounds.  (I forgot to write down exact numbers.)  Both of these measurements put him just about 50% on the growth charts.  We're blessed that he has been very healthy.  Other than a high fever after his last shots and "Nanny's Elbow", he's only really been to the doctor for well-visits.

Isaac's slowed down a bit in his eating, but he's still a pretty good eater.  He will usually at least try everything.  He has started picking one or two of his favorite things on his plate, but leaving the rest.  We're working on helping him understand that he can have more of his favorites once he at least eats a little bit of everything else.  He does have a bit of a stubborn streak, though :-)  He enjoys chocolates and other sweets, but fruit remains his absolute favorite.  He would live on fruit alone if we let him.

Isaac loves to do whatever the big kids are doing.  Even if he's playing on his own, he enjoys being where they are.  He doesn't let them push him around much, though.  He knows what he wants and stands his ground.  He does love balls, cars, airplanes, and the like.  But he also has been playing with baby dolls, kitchen toys, and phones.  It's so fun to listen to him play, especially since his language has just exploded in the last month or so! 

Naps are hit or miss these days.  If he's doing pretty well, I'll often let him stay up because it means he'll probably go to bed a little bit sooner.  But there are days when he needs the extra rest...even just crawling under the bench for a little snooze on the floor.

We're so blessed to have this happy cuddlebug as our third child.  I thought he would be our last, but he's never really had the "baby" personality.  Now we know he's going to be a great big brother!

Update on Josiah!!!

It's hard to believe, but Josiah is FIVE!!! 

I missed doing a post for his birthday, but he turned five on May 8. 

AND in less than two months, we'll celebrate Josiah being home with us for three years!!! 

   Josiah just had his five-year-old check-up. Yeah, I was behind on that, too.  He's now almost 34 1/2  pounds and 40 1/2 inches tall. On growth charts he's progressed to about 5% for both height and weight. 

At this visit, the doctor heard a heart murmur for the first time.  We actually got into the pediatric cardiologist's office two days later.  Josiah was a rock star during the EKG and very involved sonogram of his heart.  They found that he has a "very impressive innocent murmur".  They did find an abnormality in his aortic valve, but that is not causing any problems now.  It's something we'll keep checking as he grows.

Josiah has boundless energy, it seems.  He is constantly running, jumping, climbing.  He's really enjoyed taking gymnastics classes the past few months.  He's started asking about ice skating again, so we'll be looking into that once the local rink puts down ice again.

We are going to wait to have Josiah start Kindergarten.  He is doing well learning numbers, letters, and all of those types of things.  But, especially since he has not attended any kind of school yet, we want to give him another year to grown and mature before sending him to full day Kindergarten.  He will be attending a transitional kindergarten class half-days at a local pre-school. 

Josiah's personality shines though more and more.  One of the children's helpers at church always tells me that he is so full of joy.  Much of the time he is.  However, I think maybe "full of life" is a better way to express it.  He very often has a huge smile across his face, but he has very passionate emotions on all sides.  He's a full-speed-ahead kind of guy.  He's a chatterbox and so curious about everything!  He still stays very close to Elizabeth when she is home and does not like to play on his own.  But he is becoming more and more of a leader and helper with Isaac.  He's affectionate and wants to be close.  He has a much better understanding this time about a new baby joining our family.  He's surprised me by rubbing my belly and talking to the baby frequently.

We've heard a lot of new questions and thoughts the past several months.  Josiah has started asking why he's the only one in our family who has brown skin.  He's said he wants to match the rest of the family.  Even though there wasn't really any information we haven't discussed, watching a DVD of his Ethiopian family brought dying and heaven to the forefront of his thoughts.   Prayerfully, we do our best to answer his questions and acknowledge his feelings.  We are so blessed to have him, just the way God made him, as part of our family.

We are looking forward to see how God is going to use Josiah to impact this world!