bekahcubed – Page 15

A Rather Pathetic Story

January 2, 2019 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

I made grand plans for 2019. I’ve already told you that. I started making them far in advance, as I always do.

But, as I usually do, I spent plenty of time putting finishing touches on said plans (and the accompanying documents) in the final couple of weeks and days of the year.

Which meant I arrived home from our Holiday trip to Lincoln (a whopping 12 days away from home!) with all sorts of things that needed printing.

Now, we have our printers hooked up to a wireless print server located in a closet away from our main computer. So when I started printing, I didn’t have any immediate feedback to tell me that my print jobs weren’t going through.

In fact, I didn’t realize until I got to the very last document (out of about a dozen) that the printer was not working at all.

See, the print server was set up using our old internet provider – and we’d had new internet installed the day before we left town. I needed to set up the server again on the new router.

Except we’d changed the default password on the print server and not saved it in either of our respective password managers (Daniel’s or mine). And my attempts at forcing a factory reset resulted in little more than numb fingers from holding down a little button for five minutes at a time (multiple times in a row), waiting for little lights to blink (which they never did.)

After a morning nearly wasted, I gave up and lugged the printer into the living room – and, lo and behold, the print server shows up on my computer dashboard having mysteriously undergone a factory reset.

So the print server works now, and my stuff has been printed and maybe tomorrow I’ll be perfect as planned. (If only pesky REAL LIFE doesn’t get in the way!)

Reflections

Seasonal Planning

January 1, 2019January 1, 2019 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

For as long as I can remember, I’ve made elaborate plans for each new year.

Call them what you will – resolutions, goals, plans – they’re always far-reaching, ambitious, and set down long in advance of the new year.

I’ve always figured that this was normal, at least inasmuch as I can be normal. I’ve certainly never gotten meta enough to analyze why I plan like this, why I am so drawn to elaborate year-long plans.

But then our foster son left our home in July and I threw myself (unseasonably) into planning for the preschool year. Every spare moment – which, admittedly, is not many in a home that was still inhabited by three children under the age of three – but every spare moment was spent researching preschool activities, synthesizing my previous notes on the topic, and developing our customized Prairie Elms Preschool plan.

It was then that I began to realize the role that planning plays in helping me to cope when daily life seems out of my control.

I could have gone through my days as normal, feeling the hole that his departure left in the day to day. I could have attempted to deaden our loss with any number of things – but what I chose was planning. Particularly, planning for the children we had left – the children I knew would still be in our house.

Then we opened our home again. We started Prairie Elms Preschool and I was busy doing all the “new baby in the house” things. I had no time for extensive planning – and no desire for it either. Now was time to work the plan.

Until winter set in.

The nights grew long and the days grew dark and I no longer had energy to work the plan that had been working so well.

The house was cleaner than it had been in past years – but it was not kept to my summertime standards. I still put meals on the table. I still got the children clothed and changed. I kept up on washing the laundry, but one basket of clean-but-unfolded laundry quickly turned into four. I felt out of control.

And my mind started drafting plans for 2019. Plans for how I’d restart all those things that had been working so well for me until the days got gray. Plans for how I’d begin new things, build on what had been working. Plans for how I’d try ambitious new things.

That’s when I realized that my New Year’s plans were more than simply an escapist coping technique. They’re also an act of faith.

When November hits and I barely feel like I can get out of bed, much less accomplish something, making plans is a way I say to myself, “It won’t always be this way.”

I don’t have energy now, but I will have energy again.

I’m not accomplishing much right now, but I will accomplish something again some day.

The days are getting shorter now, but the solstice will come and the days will lengthen again.

January will dawn and I’ll start again as planned.

Recap

Recap (2018.10.21)

October 21, 2018October 21, 2018 2 Comments by bekahcubed

I wrote up a nearly complete Recap last weekend – and then failed to complete it and post it last Sunday. Then, I’ve been so glum this week that I’ve failed to note anything, meaning that this week’s recollections are fuzzy.

In my spirit

It’s that time of the year when everything stirs up memories of my first pregnancy, heading downhill – and of my third, hanging on. Gratitude fills my heart as I reflect on God’s grace in giving me two very difficult pregnancies and deliveries – and one unexpectedly easy one.
I mentioned a couple weeks ago how the great darkness is settling in. I’ve noticed it more and more and continue to struggle to take my thoughts captive. It is so easy to turn my eyes from Christ to my feelings.

Tirzah Mae's new bangs

In our family

Tirzah Mae has been peering out at the world through horribly unkempt bangs for what seems like forever while her mother procrastinated cutting them. But no longer. I’ve cut her bangs and she can see again.
That was last week. This week, she cut her own hair – to the point that I have no idea how to fix it. Great handfuls of Tirzah Mae hair all over the green room. I nearly cried. Alas.

Looking at the flamingos

Louis’s favorite question (behind “Why?”) is “What I doin’?” I almost always mishear him to say “What are YOU doing?” and answer with my own activity. He is patient with me, correcting me with only a barely frustrated, “No. What I doin’?” The proper answer, in case you were wondering, is “I don’t know, are you…working?” Louis is always working.

Tirzah Mae at the dentist

The two older children had dentist appointments a couple Thursdays ago – and since we were on the other side of town, we stopped by the zoo to eat our lunch and roam around. I’ve learned that it’s best to plan to sit and soak up a single animal when we visit the zoo (instead of trying to race around and see everything). This time, we spent about a half hour with the giraffes before we went to the playground and then finished the zoo-loop.

Giraffes

And then the littlest one had a doctor’s appointment on the zoo-side of town this Thursday. We’d enjoyed the zoo so much last week, and the weather was so delightful this week that we did a repeat trip. This time, we explored the tropics (which were underwhelming for my little ones) and then watched the elephants. Tirzah Mae and Louis held hands as they walked from exhibit to exhibit. So sweet!

Tirzah Mae and Louis hold hands at the Zoo

We picked up some pumpkins yesterday at Meadowlark Farm, our favorite local you-pick place (that just happens to be owned by family friends!) The kids and I are going to try painting the pumpkins this next week (if I can muster the energy.)

Tirzah Mae as a pumpkin
Louis as a tomato
The kids and their pumpkins, sort of

In our home

We are the happy new owners of some reusable straws. The children chewed up the plastic ones that came with the silicone tops that I use to make car-safe smoothie cups – and Daniel and I were not pleased to be using single-use ones every time we had smoothies. So now we have a set of stainless steel and a set of silicone straws (along with some heavy-duty straw brushes to keep them clean.) Hooray!
A friend has been loaning us clothes for Tirzah Mae – and she brought us a new bag for fall/winter. So I’ve been busy switching out clothes and trying to keep track of what we have that Louis will be able to use for next year and what I should keep my eyes open for when stuff goes on clearance in the spring.

My Plants

I was messing around with some old tights and decided to spruce up my houseplants, which have been hanging out in cottage cheese containers. They’re still far from fancy, but they are a bit nicer now. (Also I’ve tried rotating this picture about 3,000 times now and I just can’t get it upright. Grr.)

My Plants After

On the homestead

The kids dumped a couple inches of rainwater out of the ice cream bucket on the patio table when they played Monday morning a couple weeks ago – but by Tuesday afternoon, it was full to within a few inches of the top.

A little over 24 hours worth of rain

We have quite a few garden spiders around outside, but I’ve also seen quite a few of these black hairy spiders with red markings. They’re not widows, and the best anyone can come up with is jumping spiders – but I wish I had positive ID on them. They’re pretty interesting (I’ve only ever seen them crawling, not in a web.) Do you know anything about spiders? Have any clue what this might be? His web seems pretty dense and he’s stockpiling flies (there’s a whole pile of them under his web and I’ve seen him carrying one across the living room. How odd!)

Any ID on this spider?

The kids and I went out to play in the back-back yard while Daniel ran around the track he’d cut in our prairie – and after we were all done, Daniel and the kids started climbing the gravel pile that’s waiting to be put to use.

Lion King Pose with Beth-Ellen
Climbing the Gravel Pile

Daniel’s been clearing off our orchard site so we can plant first thing next spring – and he unfortunately tweaked something in his back or hip this weekend. He’s in rather a lot of pain. We’re praying he heals quickly (and that we can figure out how to stop this from happening – this back stuff happens several times a year.)

In the library (currently reading)

For Growing: Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot
I’ve made progress, but too little, on this book. Elliot’s observations are good, but there hasn’t been anything world-altering so far.
For Seeing: Emma by Jane Austen
Because Austen is binge-worthy and the darkness-induced blahs make me want little more than to curl up with a good book.
For Enjoying: These High Green Hills by Jan Karon
I finished this one in less than a week – which was a good thing since I’d had it out from the library forever without cracking it open and it’s due at last this Thursday.
More and more and more picture books :-)

We made a ball pit!

Homemaking

What I Spent This Week (2018.10.19)

October 20, 2018 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

Before I married Daniel, I barely drank coffee. I barely liked coffee.

And then he started serving me coffee from Wichita’s Spice Merchant. It was wonderful. I took it with sugar and sipped it all day long at work – until I realized the hypocrisy of telling parents to avoid letting their child walk around with (even just a splash of) juice in their sippy cup. I asked Daniel to wean me off the sugar and he did, putting less and less in my morning coffee over the course of a week or so.

I don’t miss the sugar one bit – unless I start drinking something other than Spice Merchant coffee. Then I need all the additives.

So really, the huge amount of money we spend at the Spice Merchant each month is for my health, right?

Saturday, October 13

We always go to the Spice Merchant on the second Saturday of the month, where our “Second Saturday” bag gets us an extra 15% off our purchase. We got our normal coffee – and then I went a little crazy with the teas. And they had red curry paste, which they’ve been out of for what seems like forever, so I had to get a couple of jars (’cause when you want a red curry, no other curry will do!)

Spice Merchant 2018/10/13

It’s a good thing I went under as much as I did last week. I have $199.85 to work with this week – or at least, I did, until I spent all of $93.08 at the Spice Merchant!

Sunday, October 14

I made an expensive mistake. I forgot to pack Tirzah Mae and Louis a snack for church. And since the snack is about the only thing that keeps them from talking the whole service long… I had Daniel run to a nearby grocery store to get some snack mix while I was setting up my Sunday School classroom.

$11.59 for snack mix and dried cranberries. The kids ate almost half. (My homemade mostly Cheerios snack mix is tons less expensive!)

Tuesday, October 16

Walmart 2018/10/16

I still have lots in the freezer for this menu cycle, so my grocery pickup (once I subtract the training pants and the vitamin D for the kids) is a very
reasonable $22.38.

More Walmart 2018/10/16

I’ve still got $72.80 left for ALDI on Thursday. (Hooray for eating out of the freezer!)

Thursday, October 18

$28.25

ALDI 2018/10/18

Folks, This feels nice.

Homemaking

What I Spent This Week (2018.10.12)

October 12, 2018 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

Last week, Cathy asked if I “shop the ads”.

The short answer is no, not really. Apart from keeping a price book, I keep my grocery-list making process pretty lean. I do look through Sam’s Club’s “Instant Savings” booklet when it arrives in the mail and make plans to purchase bulk of any of the items we regularly purchase at Sam’s while they’re on sale. I also occasionally check ALDI’s sale flyer when I’m making my list for Thursday – but I’m just as likely to skip it. I do typically take a peek at ALDI’s meat selections when I’m in store and buy for the freezer when they’ve got cheap meat. Depending on how much I’ve got in the freezer already, I’ll buy a ham or a pork roast anytime they’re available for less than $1.50 per pound. Likewise, if there’s a good deal on the family pack of chicken breasts, I’ll buy a pack or two, cook them in my crockpot on low and then shred them and divy them into containers for the freezer to use later for anything that calls for chicken.

But I don’t routinely look through the ads and base my lists off of them.

Tuesday, October 9

Some weeks it seems it takes me nothing at all to exceed the $30 minimum for grocery pickup. Other weeks, I’m racking my brain to come up with more for my order. That’s the way it was this week, until I remembered that I need some more canning jar lids for the next time I get the yen to can.

Walmart 2018/10/9

Those come out of my “household – consumables” budget, so my $37.02 order only contains $26.36 in groceries.

Our Sam’s Club order was almost entirely household consumables. Daniel buys the cutlery for his work group’s “snack days” and they need more forks and spoons. And we’ve decided that we’re going to use paper plates and/or bowls for Friday dinners at home so that Daniel and I don’t have to do dishes (or, as many dishes) before our Friday night “reconnecting” time.

Sam's Club 2018/10/9

The only grocery item is our cheese, $6.43 for a 2 lb block.

So we’re at $32.79 so far – $103.11 left for the rest of the week.

Thursday, October 11

ALDI had apples back at $1.49 for a 3 lb bag – which means we bought more apples to make applesauce with. Thirty-three pounds, to be precise.

ALDI 2018/10/11

Beyond that, there wasn’t a terrible lot we needed since a lot of this next week’s meals are already in the freezer.

$39.16 for apples plus miscellany.

So we’re ending the week $63.95 ahead, which is wonderful since we spend a LOT of money on coffee on the second Saturday of each month – and that’s tomorrow!

Following Christ

The Habit of Contentment

October 9, 2018 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

It’s easy to think that contentment is a function of our circumstances.

If only I had x or y, I would be content.

But when x or y arrives, we find that something new is necessary for our contentment.

When we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, we might be tempted to think that if only we had done something differently we could have been content. I could have been content if only I’d chosen a different major in college, not taken out the loans I did, taken this job offer instead of the other. I could have been content if only I hadn’t married when I did or the person I did. I could have been content if we’d have chosen to buy a different house or to build instead of buy (or vice versa). I could have been content if I’d have had fewer children farther apart – or more closer together.

But Elinor Dashwood’s reflections upon Mr. Willoughby’s character in Sense and Sensibility should be instructive.

“‘At present,’ continued Elinor,’he regrets what he has done. And why does he regret it? Because he find it has not answered towards himself. It has not made him happy. His circumstances are now unembarrassed – he suffers from no evil of that kind; and he thinks only that he has married a woman of a less amiable temper than yourself. But does it thence follow that had he married you, he would have been happy? The inconveniences would have been different. He would then have suffered under the pecuniary distresses which, because they are removed, he now reckons as nothing. He would have had a wife of whose temper he could make no complaint, but he would have been always necessitous – always poor; and probably would soon have learned to rank the innumerable comforts of a clear estate and good income as of far more importance, even to domestic happiness, than the mere temper of a wife.'”

A discontented heart finds something with which to be discontented regardless of circumstances.

A contented heart learns to be contented in all circumstances.

I am challenged as I look at my own life, at the woes I pour out upon my husband each day when he returns from work. No matter how good a day may be, I always can find something to complain about. My heart is too often a discontented heart, considering whatever I currently lack (whether it be sleep or a clean house or quiet children or chocolate) to be of far more importance than any of the many things God has granted me.

If I get all the sleep I desire, but am not content, I will still be just as crabby as I am now. If I had a clean house, but not a contented heart, my soul would be just as shabby. If my children were quiet, but I was discontent, the clamor of my own heart would be enough to disturb the peace.

Because contentment is not a function of my circumstances. Contentment is a habit of the heart. And contentment is learned through practice.

So when the laundry overflows the hamper and I despair of ever catching up, I must turn my eyes upward and declare “With this, I am content.” When all four children want my attention at the same time and all I want is quiet, I must calm my soul and declare “With this, I am content.” When the day draws to a close and I still have thirty undone tasks on my to-do list, I must turn off the screen and declare “With this, I am content.”

And slowly, perhaps, I will begin to be able to say like Paul:

“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
~Philippians 4:11b-13 (ESV)

In Christ’s strength, I can learn the habit of contentment.

Recap

Recap (2018.10.07)

October 8, 2018 1 Comment by bekahcubed

In my spirit

Winter dark is descending on Kansas – and on my soul. I started using my light in September, started my antidepressant the beginning of October. But the main battle-front remains in my mind – taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. I am clinging to the one who shines in my heart:

“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
~2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)

Louis's new dump truck

In our family

The little girls have reached the first of the “eat us out of house and home” stages (which I completely and nonsarcastically love). I fed them each a quarter slice of lasagna and gave Tirzah Mae and Louis each half a slice. The little girls ate their quarter. I served them seconds…and thirds…and fourths. And then they got the barely nibbled at halves from Tirzah Mae and Louis’s plates.
It was with great sorrow that we said goodbye to our foster care worker, who left our agency for another one. The kids and I always looked forward to her monthly home visits – it’ll be interesting to see how things go with a new worker.
Louis was the thrilled recipient of a toy dump truck. Mama and papa dithered way too long about what Grandma and Grandpa should get him as a birthday present, but he’s got it at last and is busy driving and dumping everywhere.
I needed to measure Tirzah Mae’s height for her birthday present coming up here – which afforded a great opportunity to do some measuring activities with the kids. So we used tape to figure out how tall everyone was, then figured out how many MegaBlocks tall each person was, then figured out how many inches. It was tons of fun.

Measuring height with megablocks

In our home

My phone broke and it took a while to get a replacement, which meant I was discombobulated a good portion of the week. I use the phone for grocery pickup, for my grocery list, for taking pictures of the kids for these blog posts, for looking up recipes, for praying, for all sorts of things. I felt a little like I was flying blind without it.
The older kids and I made applesauce with those apples. Despite my best intentions of making just one canner load (and thereby avoiding the “house falls apart while mama’s canning”), we ended up with 13 quarts. The internet lies when it says you’ll get one quart from every 3 pounds of apples. If you use whole apples without peeling and coring and put them through a food mill (as I do), you’ll end up with 13 quarts out of 30 lbs :-)

Homemade applesauce

On the homestead

We got a flat tire. One of our brand new tires was completely flat when I came out of my Tuesday Bible study. And my phone was broken, so I couldn’t just call Triple-A on my own. So I called my husband from the church office and he called them and they couldn’t make it for almost an hour and I was despairing because I had grocery pickup and the littlest had a family visit that I didn’t have a phone to reschedule or make alternate arrangements. And then we realized that, oh duh, we were at church and there were plenty of people that could change the tire. So one of the pastors and the church’s director of operations changed the tire. And then a friend came driving by and saw us and asked if she could help and handed me a pan of pasta casserole: “Here’s your dinner for tonight.” So we made it to grocery pickup and we made it home just in time to get the little girl’s diaper changed before her ride showed up and I didn’t have to cook. What a gracious God we serve!

Louis pretending to sleep

In the library (currently reading)

For Loving: Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home by Gloria Furman
I made precisely no progress on this, mostly because I spent too much time reading Jane Austen
For Growing: Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot
These chapters are nice and short – perfect for while I’m doing 60 seconds of planks :-)
For Knowing: The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need from Grown-ups by Erika Christakis
I finished this one this week and am hoping to write up my thoughts on it soon. Despite its strong focus on preschool education, it generally supported my sense that preschoolers don’t need much by way of “schooling”. It has encouraged me to really focus on listening to and conversing with my children throughout the day (instead of listening with half an ear while really thinking about something else.)
For Seeing: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I finished this at the very beginning of the week and discovered, to my shock, that I haven’t recorded reading any Jane Austen since beginning my library reading challenge in 2006. I am almost certain this is the fault of my record-keeping, not of my reading, but it means that I certainly must remedy the situation.
For Seeing: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
What could I do but quickly run down to my home library to see which Austen I would read next? I selected Sense and Sensibility and devoured it all over the course of this last rainy weekend.
For Enjoying: These High Green Hills by Jan Karon
I’ve had the third installment in the Mitford series out of the library for a little while now, but finally started it this week. So cozy and perfect for fall and winter reading.
Picture books galore – fairy tales, books by the next authors in line, and books about spiders
A garden spider spun her web across our patio door, and we’ve been watching her eagerly. We thought that it would only be fitting that we read Eric Carle’s The Very Busy Spider (and whatever else we could find about spiders) in her honor. (Side note: I’ve stuck my face in her web about a half dozen times over the past several weeks, and she’s always faithfully respun her web. Very busy spider indeed, fixing my blundering mistakes.)

Homemaking

What I Spent This Week (2018.10.05)

October 6, 2018 1 Comment by bekahcubed

I’ve officially decided what to do about our foster care stipend. I’m going to take whatever portion I allocated to groceries the previous month and divide it between the weeks of the current month. So, last month, I allocated $83.60 of the foster care stipend to groceries – which means I get an extra $20.90 per week to spend this month. So October’s grocery budget is $135.90 per week.

Saturday, September 29

ALDI had this-season Gala apples for $1.49 for a 3 lb bag – and I’ve been pretty bored with store-bought applesauce – so we made a special trip to buy 30 lbs for applesauce. My plan is to can one pressure-canner load (7 quarts) at a time as long as there are cheap-ish apples available. That way I don’t have to do any marathon canning sessions (while the house falls to pieces) – but I should be able to still get some sauce that has actual flavor.

Apples, apples, apples

Total cost of apples plus a quart of half and half: $18.03

Tuesday, October 2

Walmart Grocery Pickup was $58.91

Walmart 2018/10/02

Do you ever see anything name brand in my grocery pictures? There are three potential reasons:

There is no generic option (Cinnamon Life, now that Walmart stopped making a generic)
Daniel asks me, pretty please, to buy the name brand (Honey Nut Cheerios)
Walmart made a substitution (the Dole Pineapple in this picture)

If Walmart doesn’t have a particular item in stock for grocery pickup, they’ll sub in an alternate at no extra cost to you (they’ll also check with you car-side to make sure their alternate is acceptable to you). Generally, the alternate ends up being the name brand version instead of the cheaper generic I always buy.

Thursday, October 4

Sam’s Club didn’t have an open slot on Tuesday (first time I’ve ever not gotten my preferred slot!) so I scheduled pickup for Thursday.

Sam's Club 2018/10/04

$38.05

That left me $20.91 for ALDI – which just wasn’t enough. I spent $26.72

ALDI 2018/10/04

So not a bad week, but not a great one either.

Everyday Life

Scratching a Nine-Month Itch

October 3, 2018 1 Comment by bekahcubed

Beth-Ellen is nine months old now.

She’s increasingly independent, crawling and pulling up and standing by herself. She’s able to go longer between feedings, able to eat table food instead of just breastmilk. At the same time, she’s in the midst of separation anxiety, all too eager for her mama to stay near by.

I am nine months postpartum now.

Which means I am starting to realize that I’m something more than a mother of a little baby. I am ready again to be a woman, not simply a mother.

I look in the mirror and I care again that my face is blotchy with the acne that never left me after pubescence. I start to long for clothes that fit and flatter, not just ones that are accessible for the tasks of motherhood.

I realize that I’ve felt this way every time I’ve neared the nine-month mark.

With Tirzah Mae, I think I bought new bras. Having some that fit did wonders for my self-image.

With Louis, I went through my wardrobe and tailored outfits to my current size.

With both of them, I got pregnant not long after.

Because that’s the other way nine months makes me feel.

Like I’m starting to get the hang of this many kids. Like it’s time to add another member to the family.

I’m doing something about one of those feelings this time.

I’ve learned my lesson that clothing sizes are still in flux in this season of life – I’m not doing anything extravagant with clothes unless it can easily adapt to the ups and downs of pregnancy and postpartum.

But makeup.

I can do makeup.

So I rub on a little foundation in the morning. I color in my lips.

I think whether I have a scarf or something I can add to my “uniform” of skirt and t-shirt.

Three minutes worth of work each morning and I’m feeling like a someone again, not merely a substrate for milk.

And it feels good.

Recap

Recap (2018.09.30)

September 30, 2018 1 Comment by bekahcubed

In my spirit

I totally don’t have it all together. I tell myself I’d love to have a mentor or mentors to help me navigate my roles (motherhood, especially). But then someone offers some totally great tips on what worked for her? Defensiveness rises up. Oh Lord, help me to have a teachable heart!
I had the honor of teaching on my favorite passage this morning. Abraham’s almost-sacrifice of Isaac reminds me again and again of our blessed hope: a substitute lamb, provided by God to satisfy God’s demands. May God lead each of my 3-year-old students to put their faith in the Lamb He has provided.

Transfering pinto beans with measuring cups

In our family

Prairie Elms preschool continues. The little girls managed to both take long naps Wednesday morning – so I got out the pinto beans and measuring cups on the kitchen floor. Tirzah Mae and Louis had a blast – and I got some food prep done. Win-win.
We all got our flu shots this week, with much weeping. Tirzah Mae threw a fit when the time came for her shot, but it took 2 hours or so at home for her to be giving everyone else duplicates. This girl is OBSESSED with medicine. (In the picture below, she was “charting about the lights that take care of the bad bilirubin in Beth-Ellen’s blood”)

Tirzah Mae was charting medical stuff

In our home

I finally got around to potting up a sprouted sweet potato that I’ve been keeping in water to root. Between that and the rosemary that I just brought in and the houseplants my mom rooted for me, I’m suddenly inundated with indoor plants. We’ll see how long I can keep them alive!
Speaking of bringing plants in, I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll try to bring my in-ground basil in for the winter – but first I wanted to dry one last big batch. So I did!
I’ve discovered that smoothies (made in a big batch using my immersion blender) are the perfect breakfast for in the car on days we need to be somewhere early. So we do smoothies on Sundays when we’re rushing to get to church to set up mama’s Sunday school room, and on Tuesdays when we’re rushing to church to prep mama’s Sunday school craft before our Bible study, and every other Thursday (or so it seems) when we have an early appointment. ALDI had bananas for $0.19 per pound last week so I got three bunches to freeze for said smoothies. They were finally ripe enough early this week, so I got to slicing!

Freezing lots of bananas for smoothies

On the homestead

I planted late and we had a weird spring and I’m actually a pretty terrible gardener. But my tomato plants set on tomatoes at last – and we ate some this week. Oh, the delicious acidity and unmistakeable texture of a truly ripe tomato! I will keep planting them however many times I fail if only I can eat ripe tomatoes even once a year.

Tomatoes from our own garden

We got new tires for the Expedition after a few episodes of super-low air pressure (aka flat tires). As per my habit, we brought the old tires home to avoid paying a fee for disposal – and to use for my herb garden. This time, though, I got right to cutting off the sidewalls (with my awesome hooked utility knife blade – if you ever need to cut tires, it’s totally worth getting one of these). So now I just need to fill them up with soil and get things planted.

My tire herb garden expansion

I love this season on the prairie. Yes, it gets dark and depressing. Yes, the allergies are terrible. But the prairie, oh the prairie. The rippling grass, the wildflowers, the sunrises and sunsets. Daisies (or chrysanthemums of some sort) have joined the Indian grass on our Prairie backyard and I’m LOVING IT!

Indian Grass and Daisies

In the library (currently reading)

For Loving: Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home by Gloria Furman
For Growing: Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot
For Knowing: The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need from Grown-ups by Erika Christakis
I only had to go one week without before a new copy came in for me to check out – so I’ve read another chapter. This is really an excellent book (that makes me feel a lot better about how little explicitly “academic” work I do with my littles.)
For Seeing: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I’m planning to finish the last chapter before bed tonight :-) I love Austen.
Picture books by Eve Bunting, John Burningham, and Donald Crews
Picture book versions of fairy tales