Baby Comparison

So, I was curious, and now my curiosity is satisfied. Below is a photo of each of my sweet dollies at the age of 9ish months. I don't think any of them look alike. Weird.

Chayce

Payge

Zachary

#200! And Thanksgiving.

Post #200. Yay. OK, moving on.

I promised proof that I'd tackled Crown Jewel Dessert.

Mine is shorter than the one pictured in our last post, but for good reason...the tall pan was reserved for a YUMMY NY style cheese cake. It gets really tall in the oven & shrinks again once cold. Mine shrank a lot, but that's mainly because I used Neufchatel instead of cream cheese & it has water in place of the fat. Mmmmmm. It still tasted great, especially when I pulled some frozen blueberries saved from this year's harvest out of the freezer & boiled them & plopped 'em on top!

You may wonder --what about the turkey?!? Well, we took full advantage of the Notre Dame catering service. Every year they hold an on campus Thanksgiving dinner for students & faculty. Turkey, chile encrusted salmon with mango sauce, seafood bisque, Pilgrim chowder (no, no pilgrims in it, just lots of native veggies), fresh salads with vinegrettes, a fruit buffet with a chocolate fountain for dipping in, baked squash & sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it, would it?) cranberry compote with pecans (the best ever), and of course, pumpkin pie. I'm sure there was more, but that's all I ate. Ha ha. The best $10 we ever spent. Yup, $10--total for all five of us. I can't buy a turkey for that. But of course that means NO LEFTOVERS, so I had to make dinner tonight.

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Smiley Baby!!

Green bean extravaganza! Yummy in her tummy!

Food.

The highlight of my day today. I ate spumoni, and explained to the children why it was so good. I even shared. Then, I set out to make a NY cheesecake, and a Crown Jewel dessert. I'm a sucker for tradition. I suppose that tomorrow I will take photos of the inside of my Crown Jewel dessert, until then, here's a photo of someone else's. The funny thing to me about Crown Jewel dessert, is that my very Catholic grandmother (Babci) used to make it, her use of Jello sort of defies the whole Mormon/Jello conundrum. Yes, even green Jello.

Tortoises

Tortoises have been popping up in a lot of places lately. Zach's Halloween costume, our studies on endangered species, and also, our cute stuffed one (sewn, not real, not poached.)

I think today's tortoise was the best yet.

Stephen just got home from MD last night. It was a late flight, so the kids didn't see him until Sunday morning, as we got dressed for church. After church, Stephen sat with the kids to tell them about his trip. He explained that you have to stay in your seats, and stewardesses give you rules at the beginning of each flight, to help you stay safe (we were tying this into the commandments and how you stay spiritually safe when you listen. Hey, it's Sunday!). I was surprised at how attentive Chayce was for the whole story, as I didn't think having Daddy tell how the stewardesses bossed him around (OK, not that bad, but to a toddler...) was that riveting. I soon figured out what was going through her head when Chayce asked, "So, when you have to go potty, the tortoise lets you take off your seat belt, but only then?" And then, "The tortoises keep you safe on the plane."

Yes, we affirmed, tortoises keep you safe on planes.

Where Did the Little Baby Go?

August 2008--tiny, cute, size 0-3 clothes still.

3 Months later! Size 12-18, still cute as ever, but how?

Update on Motrin Gate

Looks like we were heard. Yay to the power of moms.

A Calm Moment

I've been off the wall lately. Feeling like my house needed to be tip-top, getting my running in, making sure I'm how I "should" be. Today started out that way as well. Me, getting all in a huff when the soup spills, mopping the floor--again. Then I thought--ORGANIZED--if I were more organized, none of this would happen. Right? RIGHT? Order would prevent the children from acting up, or making messes or or or... So I typed in a google search, to get some ideas for my more organized curriculum, hoping to make this kindergarten year even better, with me in control. Instead, my first click landed me here, on this poem, I believe, sent as an answer to my prayer--and not the answer I was looking for.

I Took His Hand and Followed
Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,

I didn't make the bed,

I took his hand and followed

Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,

My little son and I...

Exploring all the great outdoors

Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,

We wandered through a wood...

My kitchen wasn't swept today

But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade

And now my small son knows

How Mother Bunny hides her nest,

Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,

We climbed a sunlit hill...

Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,

We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,

That I didn't brush the stairs,

In twenty years, no one on earth

Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy

To noble manhood grow,

In twenty years, the whole wide world

May look and see and know.

So, now, I'm on my way upstairs, to build a fort with blankets. And then we'll play with the musical instruments, rather than having a forced lesson, enjoying ourselves thoroughly. Then we'll sort laundry, but we'll do it together--racing to see who can find the most socks. I decided on homeschooling because I wanted to teach more deeply, not just surface topics that would be forgotten. Thank you, God, for the reminder.