FYI to mom's of almost five year olds

you should check their mouths for loose teeth before you go to the dentist and he informs you that your son has two and one is about to fall out... it's hard to convince them that you really do brush his teeth at night. ha ha, nervous laughter.

the (exhausting) weekend

Exhausting for my husband this is. I tried pushing this tiller last year non-pregnant and I couldn't even move it an inch. I'm pretty sure I remember him laughing at me in disbelief.
The poor frog in this pot didn't have a moments rest until his brave escape while they were building him a home.
resting...

Anella is having a hard time staying in her crib these days. She fell asleep within about 2 minutes of being in the swing.

Remember the nest I took pictures of a while ago? Well, while I was watering the fern I apparently scared them enough to cause their first flight!! I really hope it wasn't premature and they are okay. They made it up into a tree. Do you think they practice flying and return to the nest or am I okay to get the really really yucky thing out of my fern now? I would take a picture but it's just too gross. I guess I never thought about baby birds having to poop somewhere...

I wasn't watching my camera settings and really blew out this picture of Dory with Uncle Jason. But it's too cute to pass up.

We stumbled on some great yard sales. Dora scored a free scooter and I found this apron and a handful of vintage napkins and towels for 25 cents each!

It was a fun weekend even though it was a little too packed for what I want to do every weekend.

This month is jam packed on the weekends so we're trying to lay low during the week for some recuperating!

Lastly, 6 years ago this morning John and I flew off for Mexico on our honeymoon.

Happy Anniversary to us!

snap shots

Better start off with the most important shot. A picture of little Sam Davis, my friend Maria's little boy born on Sunday. I remembered to take a picture of the pita bread I told you about recently in my Falafels post. I can't say enough about this stuff. It is my favorite bread recipe right now. For dinner this night we filled it with chicken salad.

Our first strawberries have arrived!! We're amused by the funny shapes. Dora said this one looked like underpants. :-)

This is one of my favorite arrangement of cut flowers from my yard. It makes me smile every time I set a fresh glass of them on my table.

Nella was a little under the weather last week. Between teething and immunizations she wasn't a happy camper. Not to mention this was her first morning without Noni. Might as well just lay around all morning. I gave her a newborn bottle with some Pedialight in it and she thought she was cool stuff. She laid there for almost three hours and then took a looong nap at 11am.

Since Noni and Papa can't be with us for John Patrick's birthday this year, we had a little birthday celebration. This pie recipe is so yummy and the easiest pie if you need a fast dessert. I'll post the recipe at the end.

An early morning book together. I love when they cuddle on the couch. They're good buddies.

Tart Cherry Pie

• 1 to 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 6 cups canned sour cherries, drained (NOT cherry pie filling) you probably need 3 cans but I have used two cans before. I don't think it's actually 6 cups but it has worked just fine.
• 1/4 tsp almond or vanilla extract
• 1 recipe of your favorite pie crust

Set oven to 500, mix all ingredients and add to pie crust (I have always drained about 1/2 cup of excess juice for fear that it will over-flow) cover with top crust, brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Place pie on baking sheet, lower oven to 425 and bake until top is golden- approximately 25 minutes, rotate baking sheet and reduce oven to 375 bake until crust is deep golden brown, 30 minutes longer. yummmm!

slow down!

We seem to be going a mile a minute around here.

From friends and family visiting to the looming garden and grand plans I have for about 75 bulbs and new flower beds I want to create. The things that I want to enjoy are starting to pile up and weigh on me instead of be a joy. BUT...

...because John Patrick walked in on my meltdown and tears we got to have a conversation that I would like to think was as helpful to him as it was to me. He said, "what's wrong mama?" and gave me a hug. We talked about a conversation I had with them a few days before about all things being for the glory of God. Whether we go to the library or stay home, if we're eating lunch or playing with friends, we can be bringing Jesus glory for what he's done on our behalf. BUT... our conversation that day was mommy admitting that sometimes... often times.... it's very hard to remember my heavenly home and not let the urgent matters of right now strip me of joy. .

So, now I'm going to say thank you for "grace unending strong and true" and that my Anchor never went anywhere and we'll attempt to slow down around here. We'll get the same amount accomplished as before but hopefully with a little less irritation and a lot more peace.

Colossians 1:19-20

For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through through the blood of His cross, through Him"

Off to make dinner for a precious new little baby Sam (well, for his family). Maria and Ben had their little one Sunday night around 10pm and all went beautifully.

What the.....

I made the seriously stupid decision to browse a "what to wear during pregnancy" post on a maternity website where I track the baby's growth.

Wow.

Legging's?

Not that I've ever been on the cutting edge of style but I would rather wear a table clothe with a hole cut in the middle for my head. What about my rear end doubling in size screams "put me in some leggings"? And the thighs on that manikin... I won't even go there. I have so many more things to say but I'll spare the 2 or 3 men who sometimes follow my blog. :-)

Oh and just in case you love that top and can't live without it, don't worry, it's a meager $245.00 at Pea in the Pod.

I was thinking of posting something about life around here but this just seemed so much more amusing.

We did it!!!

That's right folks! No more last minute confessions of how I tried to find out the sex of our unborn child, no more worrying over which boxes to get out or beds to rearrange... we found out the gender this time! :-)

It's a GIRL!! And for the record~ the ultra sound tech said, "She has long legs."

John says, "I better start a savings account for weddings." :-)

John Patrick and Dora jumped for joy and shouted, "Yeah!" And when Buster was asked how he felt about all these sisters, he responded very rationally, "I can handle it." :-)

Dora is gushing and gushing. Anella is a crab apple because she's getting her canine (sp?) teeth... let's just say I've never seen a diaper like I saw this morning. It's like the Olympic records, sometimes they just keep topping themselves.

We're so excited. And looking very forward to hearing which of you can come up with a name for her. hehe. We aren't trying to find unusual names necessarily. One of my favorites is Mary but it's off the list because I'm just not going to insist my husband let me choose a name that he doesn't like.
I'm definitely not a trendy name kind of girl. I've always loved Grace ever since I was like 10 and saw Grace Kelly play opposite Cary Grant in the old Hitchcock "To Catch a Thief" but it had to go and make the top 10 list. And contrary to popular belief I'm not a name-your-child-after-a-cartoon kind of girl either. I DO like naming after family we respect and love as in Grandma Dora. :-)
So, periodically I'll be asking for your thoughts on names, if you hear one you like please send it my way!!

I'm so happy to know I don't have to put the little sun dresses away for long. I just love baby girl chubby in a sun dress!

(If I may make one little request~ please be encouraging to John Patrick if you see him. He's excited and I don't want him to start thinking he needs to be bummed. He knows he is a special guy and that God chose his siblings to be just the right ones for him.:-) thanks.)

Here's to lots more pink hats in the future!

Also, may I just take a moment to say that my children got me the most wonderful Mother's Day gift but my husband shocked me with this~ He stayed up until 2:30 Sat night/ Sunday morning and did ALL the laundry in the house. Not that I'm proud that he had to start the project so he had clean clothes for Sunday but come on... what a wonderful hubby! Okay, off to do some laundry. :-)

For the adventurous

Here is a new recipe I just made and we really liked.

Falafels with cucumber-yogurt sauce

Falafels-

Pulse in a food processor-

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided


• 1 can rinsed chickpeas


• 1 cup diced onion


• 3 garlic cloves


• 1/4 cup each packed fresh cilantro and parsley


• zest of one small lemon


• 1/2 tsp each kosher salt, ground cumin, red pepper flakes baking powder
  

Transfer to a bowl and stir in-

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 egg, beaten

Drop in golf sized balls onto hot baking sheet and bake 30-40 minutes
Yogurt sauce- combine in a serving bowl-

• 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (I use full fat:-)


• 1/2 cup seeded minced cucumber, squeezed dry


• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice


• 1 tsp minced garlic


• salt and cayenne pepper

Serve with Melissa's pita bread (which is incredibly easy and sooooo good) and sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce.
I think your supposed to serve them open faced on the pita bread but we made little sandwiches. Lots easier for the kids. They were a hit. Low cholesterol and high fiber. John said it's a good summer meal. Happy cooking!! (I doubled this to make enough for my family)