Peanut Bragging

My little Peanut isn't so little anymore. She is big, getting bigger and thinking she is a lot older than she really is. She'll be six months old at the end of this week. Hard to believe almost half a year has passed since she was born.
- Her hair is brown, light brown, but most definitely brown.
- She pulled herself into a standing position yesterday (Sunday) - twice.
- She likes to sit in the kitchen sink while I cook and clean in there.
- She can get from her tummy into a sitting position.
- She is trying so hard to crawl, she has officially crawled, but she hasn't really made it anywhere yet and she gets so frustrated that she can't move. There is a world to be explored and she can't do it. She realizes that and so she screams in frustration.
- She would prefer to be walking. We'll hold her by the hands and "walk" with her. She giggles and squeals as she walks where she wants to go.
- She is taking 2 good naps most days. Not so much on the weekends because having the two older brothers and dad around on the weekends messes with her schedule. Mom is very happy 5 days a week.
- When she is really hungry and I ask her if she wants a bottle, she giggles.
- Her brothers and sister are the funniest things in the world to her. They can make her laugh so hard.
- She likes to eat bananas, apples, pears, and sweet potatoes. She doesn't like peas (I don't blame her).
- She once got a hold of a ham sandwich that her brother left out (we were having a picnic) and she did her best to eat it. It was pretty funny. I took out the ham and cheese and let her go at the bread. She mostly tore it apart with her excited little hands.
- She has three teeth. Watch out, they're sharp.
- She makes Mom and Dad smile. We think she is just adorable.

Had to brag a bit. She is growing so fast, a little too fast. Before long, she's going to be quite mobile and then look out! Nothing will be safe.

misc thoughts

Well, fall has arrived here, sort of. The last week has been cool, with an almost cold wind blowing for 3 days. I've loved having the windows open to keep the house cool and not use the A/C. The living room window open to our little pond with a small water fall. I love the sound it makes and having that window open is so pleasant. The only problem is the F-18 jets that fly everyday of the week, all day long and late into the night. It wouldn't be so bad if they just flew over us, but our house in right in their turning area, so we get the back burners pointed at us while they make their turns to go back to the base. They fly very low in this area too. This is incredibly loud and can make holding conversations or getting babies to sleep a real challenge.

Still, I love fall.

Yesterday in this area of the country, the New Family Search site was opened to us.
I re-registered (I tried earlier in the year, but it wouldn't let me) and got onto the site. I'm so excited about it all! I looked up some family and couldn't find much new, and some where I found some problems, but one line of the family, I found a line that went back a few generations more than what I had, and this line lead into "royalty" in Wales. I say royalty, but they were dukes and earls and knights of that sort. Once you get into those areas, the lineage was very well documented and so, a great number of names are new to me. I'm a direct descedant of the 1st Earl of Warwick. However, considering the 1st Earl lived during the Norman Conquest in 1066, it is a great many generations back in direct descendant and there are probably thousands who can trace their line back to him. It isn't the royalty I'm interested in, it is just the incredible number of years and generations this is taking me back that I'm loving so much. Can you imagine, I know the names of ancestors who lived in 1066! They were the French speaking Normans who conquered the Old English speakers of England. (I'm not interested in the conquering either, just the fact that I know the names of ancestors who spoke Old French and Old English!) I'm loving the new family search!

So my mom introduced my kids to High School Musical. Not having TV for the last 3 years, I haven't kept up with what is hot in today's youth. For whatever reason, my mom is up on the latest trends and she got my kids the HSM movie. Can I tell you my kids love it? They LOVE it. They have watched it everyday and now I've got all these songs stuck in my head! I like it too, I must admit. My hubby is so embarrassed that his sons should like a musical. He hates all forms of musicals and is tolerant that I like them, but I don't watch them when he is home. Still, I need to get these song out of my head, or as my daughter once put it, music is coming out of my ears!

Blue Angels

I love the air show. The Blue Angels get up close and personal with our neighborhood. We get to enjoy them for about 5 days each year. Here are some pictures I managed to get while they flew over the house.
The two pictures with the blue sky were taken on Thursday, the two with the gray sky are from today. We get to watch them once more tomorrow!





Aren't they awesome?! And loud!

Air show weekend

This is the weekend of the annual air show. The local F-18's have been out a lot more lately, in formation, doing cool things. Today, though, what I wait for each year - the Blue Angels! They are so fun to watch. This evening they were just flying two around, but the fly right over the house! It is so awesome. We believe we heard a sonic boom once this evening as they broke the sound barrier. I've never heard that before, and have always wanted too. However, I was inside when I heard the loud noise and it sent me running outside to watch. They will probably practice tomorrow, the entire group and I'll be out watching. Then on Saturday will be the show. We'll be out on the lawn for that too. It's a fun weekend!

what's up?

Well, I was hoping for a bit of time because I got Peanut to sleep and laid her quietly in her crib. That often works for letting me get an hour or two, but I didn't even get 10 minutes this time. Oh well. We had a nice weekend. My mom came for a two day visit. We had lots of fun and the kids loved showing her all their latest projects and interest. My oldest son signed up for 5th grade string class. He is so excited because he is going to learn to play the violin. I'm going to go pick up his instrument today. I'm excited too. The sting section is the one instrument section I never learned to play anything in. I've played woodwind, brass, and percussion. When he is at school on his days that don't have string class, I'm going to be testing it out. Yeah! I wish he had picked the cello:)

Otherwise, things are going along about the same. I'm going to attempt to do some other projects. I've always wanted to be a writer and while I've had a hundred ideas for various books, I've never had or taken the time to really work those ideas. I want to try now. It might not work, but who knows, it just might. We'll see. However, if Peanut is only going to nap for 10 minutes, like she did today, I might not get any writing done at all.

Fondue Day!

It's my birthday and tonight we'll do the traditional fondue. I love to fondue. This tradition started about 10 years ago, my birthday after my first son was born.
Tonight there will be a cheese fondue with Havari and Gouda and then there will be a chocolate fondue for desert. Mmmm... I can't wait.

I got three of my birthday presents already. One, yesterday, was from my visiting teacher. She gave me a lovely smelling bath set. Now, for the time for the bath.... Today I got my gifts from the kids. (Hubby picked them out for me). I got Silicone oven mitts and a rolling pin. The oven mitts that I have been using are thin and one has a burn almost all the way through. The rolling pin I use has quit rolling on it's axle or whatever it spins on. It just stopped. I make tortillas often and rolling them the last few months has been tough. I look forward to making them next and trying out my super smooth rolling pin.

My sister-in-law posed an interesting question lately. What makes her happy? It got me thinking, what makes me happy? It is a question that needs great pondering because there are several levels of happiness and there is also what makes me happy and what do I think will make me happy. It is something I'm going to be thinking about and sorting my ideas. It is an interesting thought. I read that men should never give their wives kitchen stuff for Mother's Day or their birthday, but I'm so glad when I do get kitchen things. I love to cook. Baking and cooking tasty foods makes me happy and my family happy too. Getting these oven mitts so I don't burn my hands make me VERY happy.

Fudge

Every year at Christmas time, I want to just bake and bake and bake. I want to make fudge and other candies. Every year at Christmas time, what really happens is I don't do much baking. Maybe I'll make a couple of batches of cookies, but I never get to do what I really want to do.

There are two reasons for this:
#1 - The kids make baking and cooking so hard. They want to help and I try to let them, but they end up fighting over whose turn it is to add or mix.
#2 - I really don't like the dish mess that comes with cooking

Now, it is September and my husband decides he wants fudge. He looks up a fancy recipe and reads off the ingredients to me. "Do we have all of this?" he asks. I let him know that we do. "I'll leave up this website for you, should you feel like making fudge."

Last night was busy and I ended up having four tired kids last night while he was off at a meeting. He came home and asked, "Did you make the fudge?" No. So this morning he pulls up the website again. "I've got the site up again in case you have time to make fudge." Because, you know, I've got nothing better to do.

The truth is, I love fudge, I've never made it and I decided to give it a try. It is halfway done now. It is very time consuming. I'll have to finish it soon, provided Peanut permits me. I hope it works. If not, he can make it next time.

PS, it is 10:45 and I'm still in my PJ's. Taking care of kids and making fudge hasn't let me have the time to go shower and change. Well, as long as no one comes to the door and I have changed by the time the older boys get off the bus at 2:45, it will be alright. :)

Update! It is now 12:53. Right after posting the above blog, I went and finished the fudge and decided I had better go shower. I start to go up stairs and I hear Peanut screaming. By the looks of her, she had been awake and screaming for a long time. (I guess it is time to finally break down and get a baby monitor) So, I hold Peanut, feed her, love her, reassure her she is not forgotten and when she is happy enough, I gave her her toys, and put her in the living room with her sister. I go shower. After the shower, I came down to rotate laundry and as I'm loading the washer, the door bell rings. It is my visiting teacher! She showed up about 40 minutes after I wrote that little PS at the top there. I'm so glad I got showered and dressed. The house was a total disaster, but I was clean, fresh and wearing clothes! Whew...

Weather

"As they say in Texas, "It shure looks lack we're fixen to have some weather." Now that sounds ominous. Actually, having weather is traditional in most states. In fact it would be quite unnerving to learn that tomorrow there would be no weather. Texas does have weather, and it will try to kill you."
a quote from Coping with Texas and Other Staggering Feets, by Lowell Christensen

Now, I'm not living in Texas, but I grew up there. I'm in an eastern state now and funnily (to me) we are in the middle east. Maine is the north east, South Carolina is the south east and Virginia is the middle east. Ha Ha! So anyway in Virginia, over the weekend, we had Tropical Storm Hanna. It was the most pathetic tropical storm I've ever seen. It rained off and on, and there were some wind gusts that took out some limbs and power lines, but nothing spectacular. Thanks to Hanna, our lawn was nicely watered, but that was it.

Growing up in Texas, I endured Texas weather. If you've spent any amount of time in Texas, you will understand. In the summer, the heat and humidity will try to kill you. Winters in Texas are cold, and Texans will bundle up for a 45 degree day like a Alaskan will for a -30 degree day. However, in the winter, you might get some ice on the road once in a while. Texans have no idea how to drive on ice, so it is safer to stay indoors. In the spring you get the most amazing North Cold Fronts. They will bring rain, thunder, lightning and once in a while, a tornado. Now, if you are lucky, you get to see the tornado and it's awesomeness before it hits your street. I was unlucky growing up that our couple of tornadoes that hit the area were at night and I never got to see it. Fall is probably the safest season in Texas, but don't get to comfortable in October, because Texas weather has a way of changing it's mind.

"Texas does have weather, and it will try to kill you." I'm proud to be a Texan!

What am I doing here?

It's 3:55 am. Why am I at the computer? The 5 month old sitting in my lap, banging on the keyboard, is why. She woke up and won't go back to sleep. She is trying to bite my fingers too. She has two small, sharp teeth now and is attempting to use them on my hands.

I was hoping for more answers by now on this upcoming change, but I don't have any more yet. I wish we could get some answers so that I could begin making plans one way or the other. I hate waiting.

One change coming is I have been asked to accept a new calling at church. I did accept it, but after this week, I might not be able to do it. Apparently, the Bishop approved me with one condition, that my children not accompany to the various meetings. This was all ok because Hubby said he would watch kids and support me, but now....

We might be moving. That is what I'm waiting on finding out. If we are, Hubby won't be around to watch kids so I can take on the new calling. So, I'm going to have to talk to Bishop tomorrow (or later today since it is now 4:01 in the morning) and see if he wants me to do this or not. If things go like they are most likely to, Hubby will leave for new job by the end of this month and I will stay behind to sell the house.

(Sarcasm) On the lighter side, (end sarcasm) we are expecting Tropical Storm Hannah to hit tonight and all day tomorrow. We are ready, but it is messing with my weekend plans.

It is now 4:05, Peanut is sitting on the floor with her toys. Why oh why is she SO wide awake?

BTW, I do eat carrots. They are the only veggie I like... And as for the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings stuff, I'm working on selling that too, but can you believe it, no one wants to buy it! (Sarcasm font again) I can't imagine why.

Changes in the works

Changes are headed our way. I won't say yet what, because nothing at all is set in stone, but there are some changes coming.

These changes are constantly in my thoughts, but I'm trying not to let them stress me out. There is nothing to stress over - yet. Hubby stresses all the time, whether he needs to or not.

Hubby fixed the toilet tonight. He has been working on it for 3 days. It has taken several trips to Lowes, some DW-40, some power tools, and lots of laying on the floor under the toilet. Some parts of the job required two people and I was happy to help when I could. We haven't been able to use that toilet since Sunday morning and Toddler has been quite disturbed by it. He had several accidents Sunday and Monday because he wouldn't go upstairs to use the potty. Well, it is usable again, thanks to a lot of dirty work from Hubby!

The jets are flying over the house this evening. The windows are rattling because they are using their burners a lot. Our house sits in the turning area they make in this direction. It is noisy and makes getting Peanut to sleep difficult. Well, the good thing is, the air show is in a couple of weeks! I can't wait. It is so much fun to sit out on the lawn and watch the F-18's, the F-20's and the Blue Angels flying over the house.

pumpkin time

We planted a pumpkin in our garden. Well, we actually planted 5 pumpkins, but only one germinated. We picked it a few weeks ago and it has been sitting pretty in our dining room, but it was time to do something with it. After much reading on the Internet I learned how to make pumpkin puree.

First, we start with our lovely pumpkin:


Next, I cut the pumpkin and took out the seeds and stringy innards. I saved about 20 seeds. We'll use these next year. As you can see, this pumpkin's insides weren't very orange, they were more white.


I placed the pumpkin half on a cookie sheet with some water and baked it for about an hour or more. This is the pumpkin after I took it out of the oven. It was very, very hot! It sat there for a while until I could pick it up to move it.


Next, I used a spoon to scoop out all the meat from the pumpkin into a strainer. I was really amazed at the amount of water in the pumpkin. After it drained for a while, I used a hand held blender and pureed it.


Today I took the puree and made a pie out of it. I got about 6-8 cups of puree from this pumpkin. I'm not exactly sure how much, but there is a lot. Half is in the freezer and half in the fridge. I'll be making pumpkin recipes for a while! I love pumpkin. And this one is my own pumpkin. I'm very happy and excited about the fruits of my garden!