What I Loved About Last Week 4th Edition

Here's what I loved about last week (4/9- 4/15)
1. Weeding the garden.  That's not something I would typically love, but with the wide raised beds that we have now, and the walkways to stand on, it is very, VERY easy to hoe all 4 beds in a matter of 15-20 minutes.  I even hand weeded around the lettuce.  Weeds/grass just come out so easily because the dirt isn't compacted from being walked on.  So yes, I actually enjoyed it!

2. Moving the big bed into the kids' room.  Andy and I are trying to get Ruby into a big bed, but we only have one bedroom (besides ours) in our house right now.  So with some gut-sucking effort, I (by myself) moved Ira's twin mattress, box spring, bed frame, and headboard downstairs and moved the Queen mattress, box spring, and bed frame from the basement to the kids' room.  I set it up in their room like a "kid's King bed" (i.e. tucked the sheets in at the long side, not the foot, like you traditionally would.)  It's nice to have room for 3 (or even all 4) of us to be able to snuggle in and read books at night.  Ruby has done fairly well taking naps in it (she's definitely not the "the floor is lava" type like Ira was, but she does stay in the room - just not always in the bed.)  Night time.  Well, that's not something I love.  It's like a freakin' circus in there with 2 of them in the same bed.  They bounce and squeak the mattress, get out of bed, come out of the room, jump on the bed, and Ruby even BIT Ira last night!! (Where they're getting all this I do NOT know as they NEVER act like that any other time.)  So we're still trying to figure out what to do at night.  Ruby has ended up in her crib both nights we've tried because Ira does has school in the morning and we don't want him to be too tired.  The Queen bed is temporary anyway until we can find a twin over full bunk bed that has enough headroom on the bottom bunk that when Andy/I sit down we don't hit our heads on the top bunk.  (Really, is that asking too much?!)

3. The Easter Bunny brought me some amazing Easter Lilies (cut, not potted) and they have lasted beautifully.  Plus their smell is just out of this world.  I don't think I've ever smelled an Easter Lily before, but wow, they are just SO aromatic and delicious smelling!

4. At Mass one day last week Ruby wanted swaddled in her blanket (seriously, I know, she's crazy) As I was holding her, she arched her head back and it was like total deja-vu of all the times I saw her on sonogram when I was pregnant with her.  She still has the exact same face/cheeks/chin/head shape as she did in utero.  I was certainly waxing nostalgic.

5. The irises and some other beautiful green, leafy thing that I have no idea what it's called are blooming.  I added some of them to my Easter Lilies and have a beautifully full bouquet on the table.  Really though, any ideas on the greenery/hangy flower stuff to the left?

6. The soften button on our microwave.  It's the little things really.  But it has come in so handy lately to soften but not melt or even heat up frozen shredded cheese, frozen yogurt starter, and ice cream.  Seriously, it is really cool.

7. With the weather predicted to be scary on Saturday, I decided that if our garden was going to get hailed out/blown away, we were at least going to enjoy something out of it.  So we picked a surprisingly big bowl of lettuce to go with our homemade pizza on Friday night.  There's just nothing like lettuce fresh from the garden.  It was DELICIOUS!

8. Making yogurt in the cooler.  I always use the heating pad method, but that's kind of a pain because our stinkin' heating pad automatically shuts off after 2 hours. Yogurt has to "fester" for 8 hours or more, so I'm constantly setting timers and unplugging then plugging back in the heating pad.  My mom sent some directions for making it in the cooler awhile back and I finally decided to try it.  It worked wonderfully.  It's still not very thick, but it does seem less tart/tangy than the heating pad stuff.  The kids (and Andy and I some too) have already gobbled up 3 Quarts of it - totally UNSWEETENED!!!  We just put some homemade granola on top and my is it tasty.  (They never ate the heating pad stuff unsweetened.)

9.  Surviving.  By the grace of God we were spared from an EF-3 Tornado heading straight toward us on Saturday night.  Seriously, it miraculously stopped less than 2 miles from our house.  It was horrifying to actually be taking shelter from a very imminent and real (and large (1/2 - 1 mile wide) tornado.  Andy's brother and his 2 children joined us in our 10-15 sq. ft. under-the-stairs closet.  There were 7 of us in there along with all the stuff that we had put down there during the day in case we really did get hit: (a duffle bag with jeans, shirts, socks, underwear, and tennis shoes for all of us; 5 of Ruby's diapers, a cover, wipes, and wetbag; my NFP charts and my medicines; a box of my contacts and my glasses; our external hard drive; peanut butter crackers, granola bars; a gallon of water; our wallets, cell phones, and keys; all the camcorder tapes we've taken; our DSLR camera and charger; flashlights; a battery powered radio; 4 heavy pilllows from our bed, a DeWalt sawz-all with 3 spare batteries; and a hatchet - just in case you're curious.)  It was surreal to be sitting in our storm shelter wondering not if, but when we would get hit, what it would sound like, and how bad it would be.  We heard them say on the radio, "Town X, you are in a Tornado Emergency.  If you are in Town X, you need to get underground or you will not survive."  We heard lots of loud booms (thunder apparently) then it was silent for a long time.  Ira nearly passed out/puked (because of the total lack of oxygen) but we escaped unscathed (both ourselves and our property.)  A number of homesteads outside of town took direct hits, so please keep those families in your prayers.  No injuries, but there are a number of total property losses.  I can't even fathom if it had been us.  Andy said our guardian angels must have been standing outside of town slashing the tornadoes apart.  And I tell you what, the "Angel of God" prayer had never been more meaningful than praying it that night with the kids when we put them to bed (before we went to the basement.)

 "Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love entrusts me here.  

Ever this night be at my side: to light, to guard, to rule, and to guide.

Amen."

What I Loved About Last Week 2nd Edition

Hello and a blessed Holy Week to "all" my readers!  I'm back with another week in review!  Here's what I loved about last week (3/26-4/1):

At My Parent's house playing on the Plasma Car

1. Eating outside.  We've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather lately by spending the evenings outside.  The kids both love playing outside (in the dirt, on the swings, on their bicycles/tricycles, practicing fishing casts, etc.) and I'm growing to love the outdoors more the older I get.  (I didn't really used to love it outside, mainly I hate bugs (mosquitos/flies) but Andy - Mr. Would-Rather-Be-Outside-Than-Anywhere-Else - is turning me more and more into an outdoor lover.)  So, with all the playing outside, what's easier than fixing dinner (on the grill) and eating outside?  Not much - so it's what we've done several  nights this week.  And it's so easy to clean up too!!

2. Speaking of the nice weather, have I told you how much I love it?  Well, I do.  And I love being able to have the windows open too.  Our house was built just right for having the windows open.  If you open them all, there's a nice breeze that runs through and cools down the entire house - and I (as well as our budget) really like that!

3.  Speaking of the nice weather (Part deux... or is it trois...) we've also been riding our bikes to take Ira to school.  We have a great Schwinn Bike Trailer that we got when Ira was 9 months old that is perfect for Ruby (and Ira too, only this mama's not in good enough shape to pull the 60-70 lbs. of the 2 of them combined for very long - one day was enough for me!)  So Ira's riding his own bike.  He still has training wheels on, and let me tell you, riding a bike with him is a REAL exercise in patience. We've tried letting him go without training wheels and that just doesn't work at all (every time he'd get going, he'd STOP and fall down) but the training wheels are angled far back (so that he doesn't totally rely on them) and he does this crazy, awkward knees-pointing-out pedaling thing that makes me totally understand why he cannot manage to ride without training wheels.  And sometimes he has the focus of a flea, so riding his bike without hitting everything around him (because Heaven forbid he watch where he's... IRA DON'T HIT THE... too late) would be asking so much.  So what if the ride to school is kind of like a circus - we're getting fresh air and good exercise.  He will get how to ride a bike eventually... right?!


4. Sewing.  After getting a sewing machine from my parents last year (2010) for Christmas, I've really developed a love for sewing.  I even made myself an Easter Dress for this year.  It's nothing extravagant, but I'm very excited about it.  I LOVE being able to make modest clothes that actually fit my tall self just right.  It's nice being able to wear a knee-length dress that's actually supposed to be knee length.  As opposed to wearing a knee-length dress that's supposed to be tea-length - not that I've ever done that.



5. Pie success.  Now, because I have no shame, I'll admit that I cannot make a pie to save my life.  I think I've mentioned it before.  Well, I finally figured out that all I needed was a little vodka.  Not for myself!  Yeesh!  For the pie crust!!  (Although, I had to stand up for myself just a smidge when I went to the liquor store to buy it - "Excuse me sir, I promise I am not an alcoholic, but could you please tell me where to find your cheapest vodka.")  According to America's Test Kitchen, it is the perfect moistener for pie crust because the ethanol in the vodka does not turn the flour into gluten (which makes for a tough crust) like water does.  Well, to have a pliable pie crust (which has been my problem all along) you need plenty of liquid.  But if you add too much water, you end up with a tough old heifer, which no one likes - I know - I'm mixing metaphors - it's my specialty.  Well, vodka won't do that because of the whole ethanol/gluten thing - so you can add enough liquid to make a VERY workable pie crust, while still turning out some of the flakiest, yummiest stuff on the planet.  And the alcohol bakes out while it's baking, so you won't even turn your kids into alcoholics just because you want to make a decent pie crust.  Now isn't that a win-win situation?  So I was proudly able to take a homemade Tropical Sunrise pie to our Altar Society Quilt Bingo.  Score one for science!

6. Ruby making "snaremiches."  For her birthday at the beginning of March (which I've yet to post about, I know, hush your mouth) Andy's parents got Ruby a Melissa & Doug Sandwich Set.  It's all cloth (mainly felt) so you can actually stack up a huge sandwich and have it stay together (unlike with the molded plastic junk.)  That's a fact that hasn't been lost on either of our kids.  They both love it because it's actually like making a real sandwich.  And the set is a real winner, including everything from pitas and subs to slices of bread and just about every kind of meat, cheese, vegetable and condiment you could ever dream of putting on a sandwich.  Needless to say, it's gotten played with a lot.

7. Getting our budget updated.  Although we operate on a cash-only system for our groceries and sundries budgets, I track every penny we spend on everything else too (which is actually pretty darn easy with online banking.)  Well, it'd been a couple of months since I'd entered everything into our spreadsheet.  And even though we'd gotten a little off track these last two months (which I knew going into it), it is good to know where exactly we stand and where we want to go.

And I think that's about it for me!

Wishing you a reflective Holy Week,
Michelle

Snow Day!

So I know, I'm behind the times, but I just wanted to share some pictures of Ira out in the snow with his cousin, Hayden.  They both had a blast and seemed completely unbothered by the frigid temperatures and lack of proper bundling equipment (we were at Andy's parents house and had only brought coats/gloves/hats.) 

Beautiful Days

Before all this snow hit, we were treated to a couple of BEAUTIFUL days.  We took full advantage of them by hanging out outside as much as possible.  I took the camera out and messed with some more of the settings in an attempt to better utilize our camera.  On Christmas I discovered the White Balance adjustment, so it's been my favorite thing to dink with as of late.  Enjoy!

Ira playing in his sandbox

Ruby looking very long in her swing.  PS - I absolutely adore the house in the background.  It reminds me a lot of my grandparents' house.

Our doggy, Charlie Brown.

Showing off his new doubled-in-size cage.  He's a happy boy!

Ruby eating a homemade teething biscuit.  I really like the coloring in this photo.

Ruby's adorable stocking hat that we got her in Colorado.  It has pink and purple curly-qs on the top that you can't see.

What I saw after I came in to fix dinner. Seeing it just reminded me of how wonderful and beautiful our life is.

Ah Hail...

We had a CrAzY hail storm on 9/15. Fortunately it did not hail in our small town. Unfortunately, we were not home when it happened. We were at my parents' house right smackedy smack in the middle of it! I have honestly never seen ANYTHING like that. The hail was softball size. It hit the ground so hard that it left craters and sent mud splashing up onto the windows of the house. That being the case, imagine what it did to our car! It was bad, but it could have been much worse. There was no glass broken on our car and no one was injured, so really we were very fortunate. Here are some pictures of the damage.

Weird Monday

Happy weird Monday to all my readers out there. (ha!) I call it weird Monday because the weather (along with the weathermen's predictions) are just weirding me out. It has been hazy/misty all day and they're predicting strong storms tonight. Hopefully they're just blowing smoke, but they've got me concerned nonetheless. Okay, let's get straight to the updates:

Friday, Ira and I spent most of the day baking. We made a strawberry-creme jellyroll for Andy's mom's birthday, which was really cool by the way. I've never made a jellyroll before, and the process intrigued me. You separate the eggs then beat the tar out of the yolks (plus vanilla) until they are fairly thick, then you do the same to the whites until they have stiff peaks. Then you fold them together, sprinkle flour and baking powder over the top, and fold it all together. There's some sugar in there too somewhere. It came out of the pan alright, but not without a fight. That was okay though because it was the inside of the roll that got all bungled up.
After the jellyroll, it was on to cinnamon rolls. We make cinnamon rolls a lot at our house. Like twice a month at least... yeah... It's an awesome recipe that I'll have to share in another blog post. After cinnamon rolls, we made "Make-Ahead Butterhorns" which are like the yummiest rolls you've ever had. You make them all up, then freeze them unbaked, so that you can pop them out of the freezer whenever you want for a quick side! I made some of them really big so that we could use them for sandwiches. Let me just say they were DELICIOUS with chicken salad!! Another recipe I'll have to share sometime for sure!

Saturday we spent all day outside planting the garden. We're getting sort of a late start this year because of Miss Ruby's arrival. So if the garden is a flop I am TOTALLY blaming her. We started tomatoes, green peppers, poblano peppers, jalapenos, eggplant, and broccoli inside shortly after she was born, so it was just ready to plant outside now. Andy had already planted potatoes, green onions, onion sets, peas, cauliflower, and the lettuces/spinach towards the end of March. In addition to those things, we also planted: green beans, cantaloupe, pumpkin, zucchini, butternut squash, cucumbers, and okra. If all goes well, we should have a great harvest this year!! (That is if it doesn't get blown down by the freaky weather we're supposed to have tonight.) Ruby was awake most of the day Saturday (I'm serious) so that made for kind of a rough time getting her down for bed. (I think from noon until midnight, she slept about 1.5 hours total.) She was pretty exhausted yesterday, as were Andy and I!

Sunday I awoke to Belgian waffles with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. What a sweetie my hubby is! We got to go see my mom for awhile, then went to Andy's parents' house for dinner. I've decided that maybe I need to "wear" Ruby to help her sleep better. I wore her in the Ergo carrier while we were at Andy's folks' and she slept pretty much the entire time! Hooray!! And last night, she went to bed at 9:15. Hooray!

Today, I've been wearing Ruby most of the day, and you know what, she sleeps REALLY well in the carrier! Thank goodness I was able to buy this Ergo. It makes it very comfortable to wear her for long periods of time. At lunchtime, I had to do something really hard. Ira has been throwing fits at the drop of a hat lately (like for the last few weeks or more.) Everytime it's mealtime, he throws himself on the floor and says he doesn't want to eat. (This is despite giving him a choice about 5 minutes prior to mealtime about whether we should "eat now or in 5 minutes.") We've been talking to him about the fits, but that hasn't really done any good. So Andy and I talked about what to do, and decided that the next time he throws a fit, we're going to "give him what he's throwing the fit about." Namely, if he says he doesn't want to eat, then he's going to go down for quiet time without lunch. Now, before you turn us in, we did eat breakfast around 10 this morning, and I'll offer him a snack when he gets up here in a little, but we have just HAD IT with the fit throwing. It's ridiculous and uncalled for, and he doesn't even do it because he's not hungry. I don't know why he does it, probably because of the change in activity from what he's doing. He was pretty upset when I laid him down for quiet time, so hopefully he's had some time to think about things and he'll do better at dinner time. Because if he throws a fit then... aye yi yi!! I don't want to think about it! I'll let you know if things improve.

Right now my house: looks like playful children live here. There are markers, trucks, paper, blankets, and baby toys strewn all over the floor.

Right now I'm thinking about: how spicy that last bite of barbecue sauce was!! Yikes!