Home of Hope

I recently found out about a wonderful charity run out of Wilmington, NC called Home of Hope India. The group builds and maintains orphanages and schools run by Catholic nuns in India. These nuns serve the poorest, most neglected and most needy children in India. Our family has sponsored a girl there for a year, Sarala. Last week I got an urgent email saying that the nuns needed an extra $60,000 to purchase the land for the new orphanage they are building where Sarala and 80 other young girls will live. With such a big need I felt that the amount I could give wouldn't be of hardly any help, but I sent money anyway, figuring something is better than nothing. A few days later I got an exciting email from the head of the charity saying that they had raised over $10,000 in just a few days and that that money along with other funds the nuns were able to acquire was enough to purchase the land for the new orphanage! I was so glad to have been a small part of such an important victory. I think that the moral of the story is that giving a little is better than giving nothing. If lots of people all give a little, that adds up to a LOT!

Right now Sarala and the other girls live in a small worn down apartment in Secunderabad and sleep on a concrete floor. We are so excited for them to have beds and a better life soon! Home of Hope is currently raising funds for building the orphanage and is more than halfway to their goal. We are praying for speedy fundraising and for a warm place for these girls to sleep, eat and learn.

If you want to learn more about the charity, visit: http://www.homeofhopeindia.org/, or to learn about the fundraising for the new building, visit: http://www.100stepstohome.com/.

Beginner's Garden, part deux

"Look, lady, this was your bright idea!"

Two hours at Home Depot, many more hours in the yard, one rental truck, 60 40-lb bags of organic soil and topsoil and several hundred dollars later...we still have no garden. We have a nice hole in the yard and some plants in their pots, but we'll get there. Hopefully before it's too late to plant!

Little did I know that when I asked for "a little garden. It'll be fun!" that so much would have to go into it. I still stand by my initial claim, "It'll be fun!"

Check back for part trois!

Asparagus, cabbage and potatoes, oh my!

We signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription this year and got our first of 26 deliveries on Friday. Each Friday we walk over to our clubhouse to pick up a box full of fresh, local veggies and fruits grown on a farm not far form here. Our first box contained two bunches of asparagus, one large cabbage head, a bunch of sweet potatoes and spring onions, two bunches of collard greens, as well as radishes and turnips. Yum!


Next week will include some strawberries and who knows what else. That's the fun of the CSA - you don't know what you'll get each week. It's a fun surprise to look forward to. Then once you get your goodies you're off to discover new ways to cook all the treasures you have. I cooked my first collards ever on Sunday and I'm trying to find inventive ways to use my cabbage and the rest of my collards now!


CSA's are becoming more mainstream with the growing "green" enthusiasm. If you are interested in a weekly delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables in your area, check out: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/


It's a great way to support small local farms, reduce your carbon footprint, try new foods and eat healthier.


Stay tuned for some of my experiences with the new foods I'm learning to prepare!

Easter Fun

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Brett's mom, sister and grandmother all came down for the weekend and we had a great time. We dyed eggs, had an egg hunt, went to a wonderful Easter Mass at church, and enjoyed a delicious meal. The adults had as much fun as the kids with all the Easter activities.


Pierce found one of his eggs!


Getting the Burkharts into the egg dying fun!


Some of the finished beauties!


Pierce and Sydney got some fun goodies from the Easter Bunny!





Lunch time!

A Beginner's Garden

We have decided to plant a small vegetable and herb garden in our backyard. We ripped out some really ugly bushes that we have disliked since we moved in and have begun digging out a decent sized bed so we can add some nice organic soil and get our little plants in there. When I say "we," I technically mean Brett. I have the ideas - "Brett, let's plant a garden this year. It'll be fun!" Then Brett works all day digging through North Carolina clay and looks at me and reminds me that planting a garden is neither fun nor simple. Well, it will be fun once all the hard work is done and we can get some yummy veggies from our back yard! So far we have purchased basil, rosemary, thyme, Italian parsley, two types of heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and rosa bianca eggplant. We also plan on getting a variety of lettuces and spinach. Any other suggestions for veggies that aren't too big and are relatively hard to kill?

Here's the "before" picture of our garden. Hopefully next week we'll have an "after" picture. That is unless Brett decides to bail on the ardurous project! In which case I'll post a picture of the half-hole we've got so far!

Thoughts on Parenting

Brett and I went to a parenting seminar recently and listened to the thoughts and advice of John Rosemond, who could just as easily be considered nuts as well as brilliant. Some of his comments were over the top, but as with any seminar, you take what you like from it and you open up your perspective if nothing else. I enjoyed getting a fresh perspective on the hardest job in the world! He mentioned a few things that I thought were both accurate and valuable, so I thought I'd share.

1. Modern mothers are so involved in creating a perfect life for their kids that they have neglected their own identities and interests. They have reduced what might be a rich, diverse and interesting life to the last two to three years of motherhood. They tend to talk only about their kids and not about more "interesting" things. This is a little blunt and possibly offensive for some, but I find some truth to what he proposes. We need to remember who we are, what makes us interesting and what we need to feel fulfilled in life. Ask yourself this: the last time you meet with a friend of yours who is also a parent, did you talk about your kids the whole time or something more "interesting"???

2. A parent should be like the CEO of a company. Keep his/her eye on the prize (raising a kind, respectful, generous, well-adjusted and productive adult). Make tough decisions and stick by them. And most importantly stay above the fray by not letting himself/herself be drug down into the nagging and arguing. Don't get involved in non-productive exchanges. Stop trying to get your kids to understand your logic and decisions and JUST MOVE FORWARD!

3. Mothers and fathers need to focus on their marriage and their relationship and put that first. He asked an interesting question to those of us at the conference. What percentage of the day do you consider yourself a mother/father and what percentage of the day are you a husband/wife? I answered about 90% mother! Yikes!

I have found some of his points very helpful in reducing my stress and managing the everyday life of a mother of two.

Welcome Spring!

After what seemed like the longest, coldest, snowiest, and dreariest winter in my memory, we are finally thrilled to be welcoming spring. Throw open the back door, thank God for screened in porches, and let the kids soak up some fresh air and sunshine. We brought down our summer toys from the attic last weekend and set the porch up for playtime. Pierce is big enough to start to enjoy the water table and he is too cute! He soaks himself and loves every minute of it. What a big boy he is becoming.

Crumbs

Brett brought home six large cupcakes on Thursday from our favorite NYC bakery - Crumbs. We ate all six in less than 24 hours (and they are each about the size of a softball)! Anyone traveling to NYC anytime soon needs to make Crumbs bakery a scheduled stop. Their cupcakes are divine! You don't know cupcakes until you've had a Crumbs. Seriously!

http://www.crumbs.com/

Devil's food - my favorite!

Ian and Nathalie's Wedding

We had a wonderful weekend in Wilmington for Ian and Nathalie's wedding! Great food, great friends, beautiful ceremony and fun reception. We are so proud of Ian and so happy for the two of them. It was so sweet to see him tear up at the sight of his beautiful bride. We wish them happiness, prosperity, health and unity.



We also enjoyed getting to see Claires' dad and his wife Julie who flew in from Australia.




Sydney was a beautiful flower girl and was the life of the reception. After hours of partying she was finally still.