Festive Saturday and a Recipe

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Our day started when Eva woke Eric and I up before 8 AM this Saturday morning with a pinch and exclamation, "Happy St. Patrick's Day. You're not wearing green!" Of course I wasn't wearing green in bed, unless you count the crusty sleep boogers still in my eye. She respected my warning to NOT pinch Esther and Hope awake, and the next time we saw the three girls, they were all dressed in green and ready to live it up.

I crawled out of bed a while later to make green smoothies and green scrambled eggs. I had been holding on to these kiwi for a few weeks now, willing them to ripen at just the right time for a day of green goodness. This is the delicious recipe for our green kiwi smoothies. And, you can't taste the kale at all, a good thing. Eric declared these "delicious", which is really saying something, for him.

Green Smoothies (serves 4-5)

2 bananas (I used frozen)
1 c. plain yogurt or kefir
1 1/2 c. fresh kale (you could probably use more, it was truly unnoticed)
6 kiwis, scooped from their skin
1-2 t. raw honey
3 T. flax seed, ground

Mix it all up in a blender and enjoy! I'm thinking it would've been yummy to add some honeydew melon or pineapple too.Eva was really wound up about life this morning! And you can see a glimpse of the living room of our new house behind her. We are installing wood floors and new drapes next week, so this may be one of the last pictures taken with the lovely baby blue drapes. Real sad about that.... Not!
Hope slurps green...
Esther has the absolutely cheesiest camera grin, but I love it. She loves her smoothies, and her leaving her long hair untouched by me. When I try to comb it or add a barrette, she tells me, "I'm just fine, Mom." (insert lisp on jusssst).
Not sure why I included this awesome example of food photography... Pioneer Woman, watch out! I could kill things with my flash! Anyway, this is the green breakfast in all it's glory.

This day (and week and whole winter) has been awesome because of the record high temperatures. Today, the Twin Cities boasted a high of 81 degrees, a sure record! The average temp is apparently 41. We've been in shorts and tank tops most of this week, which is totally premature, but totally wonderful. My cheeks are a revived rosy hue, and like "magic" my mid-winter blues have pretty much evaporated. Thanks, vitamin D!

Eric's childhood best friend, Eric Barnum, came today for the weekend, so he and Eric did lots of game playing and goofing around. They also cut down some enormous, overgrown bushes that were flanking our front doors. It was a dramatic improvement, allowing us to walk up the front walk without being slapped in the face by a juniper. We can also see out our front window. A definite improvement, also giving me the satisfaction of marking something off my "pre-baby to-do list". YES!

I also had some fun baking a few Irish inspired recipes. Both were a big treat, though not really nourishing at all. If you're in the mood for some empty (and heavy) carbs try Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes and Irish Beer and Cheese Bread. Your taste buds will thank you, even if your gut doesn't. And, on that upbeat note, I go to clean up the kitchen. Erin Go Bragh!

Happy Birthday Hope!

Much belated, but better late than never, here are my thoughts to Hope on her fourth birthday.

Dear Hopers,

Congratulations! You have reached your dream of being 4! For months now, I've thought of you as already four... not sure why... I always think of you as older than you are. Truthfully, that oversight on my part gets you into a lot of trouble. It's hard to remember to treat you as a four year old and have four year old expectations, when you tag along with your big sister all the time and are much taller than the average kid your age. But alas, you and I are bumbling along and I fully expect we'll emerge alright in the end ;)!

Hope, this year for your birthday you chose to have "bike ride birthday bash". You take great pleasure in riding along behind Daddy on the tag-along. You are pretty distracted and not much help in pedaling, probably because you are savouring the wind in your fluffy blonde hair or the trees whizzing by you in a blur. Bike riding is not exactly an athletic endeavor for you, but as in all of life, it is a magical adventure. You are such an emotional girl, and all of your adventures are either perfectly magical and bound in layers of imagination, or all together awful. It seems to be we are always riding the wave with you- to the heights of laughter, joy, and silliness. Then to the depths where you are nothing short of despondent and hopeless. What a ride!

Silliness. You have been such a fun kid to be around. We suspect you are the clown of the family (right behind Daddy, of course). You seem to have a knack for what will catch us off guard and make us giggle. You really get Eva and Esther going with your silly monologues or funny dance moves. Your friends seem to think you're pretty funny too, and they definitely motivate you to dig deeper (and sillier)! You and Hazel are still going strong as best friends. You are both extremely loyal to one another, and it seems a day at church or with friends just isn't quite good enough without Hazel around. Of course you roll together on the highs and lows of being four, so it is not always a tranquil scene to see you together. You always seem to make up though, and you spell out your great affection for each other regularly.

You seem to be a bit of a free spirit. I often wonder if there is any way that you and Eva are alike... the answer is probably only in your looks! You sort of wander carefree through life, taking it as it comes with a good measure of wonder and imagination. You thoroughly enjoy playing with others or by yourself. Your alone play is really amazing to listen to, so full of life and curiosity. Things that seem completely common and normal to the rest of us, fall completely dull on you. One example is food- our family likes to eat good food. You, however, don't really seem to care about food at all. You virtually refuse to eat meat, for the reason that it doesn't taste good to you, and you feel sorry for the animal. At a meal you usually ask, "Is this pig? or cow? or chicken?" Eva says, "it's pork, Hope. You'll like it!" And you respond, "Is that pig?", then you push it away. Hot dogs, of course, are a different story :). In fact, the only food you care anything about is junk food, as far as I can tell!

You love adventure, fun, and anything girly. On the flip side, you disdain structure, limits, and expected outcomes. This year, we continue to participate in the Preschool Coop. While you like to see your friends and listen to the story, you find the structure to be draining. You complain about calendar time, saying it is sooooo boring! I assume that it is good for you to practice paying attention to logical and sequential activities since, obviously, you won't be able to live forever in your fairy tale world. I am surprised, however, at your recent interest in letters and words! At your own pace, in your own time, I'm sure you'll come to love school and all that it entails.

Being the emotionally sensitive child that you are makes you a great snuggler and very affectionate. We can count on you finding your way into our bed almost every night, just to be near and snuggle! You really love a good wrestle with Daddy and or some time cuddling and reading with Mommy. In general, your emotional ups and downs are much less extreme if we keep that emotional love take FULL! You definitely challenge me to unearth the emotional, sensitive side of me, but I think it's good for both of us.

In general, you keep us guessing. Whether it's a new emotional roll, a mischievous act that catches me by surprise, wandering off to the neighbor's a few times each day, or your interpretations and opinions of the world around you. I'll think we'll be able to count on you to keep us on our toes and look at things from a different perspective!

I'm thankful that you are becoming a healthier child. Sometime in the last year, we took the plunge and tried giving you cooked egg whites. Your former severe egg allergy seemed to have been healed. You were so proud to be able to eat the whole egg with the rest of us! Last winter was pretty brutal with numerous ear infections and two ruptured eardrums, but you do seem to be getting stronger. You had a virus this week that ran it's course in only a few days, which was a real praise! Speaking of sickness, you remember to pray every day for your cousin Solomon Leo's fight with leukemia.

Things you love- pink, princesses, sweets and breads, jewelery, pretty things. You are a warm kid and always wearing the least amount of clothes possible... usually skirts and frilly shirts. You wear size 5 clothes, size 11 shoes, and your crazy self-imposed haircuts are finally starting to grow out so that we can do stuff with your hair. You are obsessed with boyfriends and people getting married. You tell everyone that you have a boyfriend named Isaac Boldt, even though I'm always responding that you don't actually have a boyfriend. You and Isaac do seem to like each other an awful lot though!

Oh Hope! You are wacky, fun, and full of new ideas. We laugh, shake our heads, sigh, and get white knuckles being your parents, but we wouldn't have it any other way! We're so thankful that God put you in our family and we pray for abounding grace for you in the future. Happy Birthday!

We love you so much,

Daddy and Mommy

Imagination

My friend Melissa once posted something like this to her blog, which is my inspiration today.

At our house...

We don't have a pillow and a wooden spoon... We have a canoe and paddle.
We don't have stuffed animals... We have a pet shop or a zoo.
We don't have a bed rail on the bunk bed... We have a balance beam or sometimes a high wire.
We don't have a kiddie pool... We have a water factory.
We don't have an upside down Little Tykes car... We have a helicopter.
We don't have a picnic table... We have a dancing stage for pretty ladies.
We don't have a sandbox... We have a sailing ship.
We don't have piles of unpacked boxes... We have apartment buildings for Little People and dolls.
We don't have a bath tub.... We have an ocean full of sharks, whales, and octopi.
We don't have a couch and love seat... We have castles and forts.
We don't have a rocking chair... We have a royal throne.
We don't have big, black crow feathers in the yard... We have old fashioned pencils, and magical combs.
We don't have towels... We have superhero capes.
We don't have card tables and blankets... We have wild, scary caves.
We don't have mom and dad's wool socks... We have mountain climbing boots.
We don't have a play house... We have a McDonald's drive through.

We don't have tricycles... We have super, flying motorcycles.

What do you have at your house?

Spring Daybook

Today marked our first day of playing outside for the majority of the day. My eyes are sun scorched as I write this, stinging and watery, as if I'd played one too many rounds of "Marco Polo" on the chlorinated pool floor. It's all good though, reminds me that summer is coming, when almost every day will be a sunshiny, eye scorching. Vitamin D filled adventure.

The girls burst into the backyard with heightened senses and well rested imaginations. Hope is mastering our fleet of tricycles, and Eva was slightly ashamed to find out that all of the other neighborhood kindergartners already ride 2-wheelers. Hallelujah- She is asking to learn to ride her bike! Esther is mastering nothing but her one finger walking skills. Although she walks on her own regularly now, she still insists on travelling any distance with a firm grip on one of our fingers. I am impatient and cannot savour this crawling stage any longer (going on 10 mths). Get up and run already, kid!

Hope's preschool co-op met at our house this morning, and we spent a lovely hour nature walking. Perfect weather, well behaved children, lots to see and explore. I LOVE the curiosity of preschoolers. After pasting pine needles, dried leaves, yarn, bark, and other treasures into little construction paper books, there were still several full bags of pine cones, leaves, rocks, etc. left for play. Esther spent a good 45 minutes of the afternoon on the picnic table, managing her own little science experiment. How many of these objects will fit through the umbrella hole? That's too big- that's too small- wow, that rock falls fast! The small mountain of organic matter under the picnic table speaks to a well spent afternoon of inquiry.

The older girls moved to Hawaii, where bikinis are essential. They rolled up their pants and shirts to their chests while Eva sang a little song about a bikini in Spanish. Their Hawaiian homes were constructed of cardboard boxes (left from our bulk food order yesterday) and pine boughs (yes, left from our Christmas tree). Eva was especially pleased with her thatch (pine) roof. Later the cardboard boxes transformed into sailing vessels and they made their maiden voyages to China, Florida, New Mexico, and Guatemala. Hope's British accent gave the whole adventure a very dignified edge, especially when she shouted again and again, "Oh Mother, there is a shark in the water!" Another afternoon well spent. And as Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage..."

I'm thinking garden... a few tulips and daffodils have poked through the mulched leaves. I'll probably pull back their covers tomorrow and hope for the best. No more snow, right!?! We ate strawberry spinach salads with leftover pork two nights in a row. Salad feels gloriously like summer.

Girls fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow tonight, and I am ready for the same.

Welcome back sunshine!

Wordless Wednesday: Loot after a visit to Bonnie and Donnie

Wordless Wednesday: Slip Sliding Away

(yes, that's Esther flying down the shoot)

Happy Valentine's Day

We're having fun celebrating Valentine's Day (aka: Binge on Sweets in the Name of Love Day) around here! We've been busy with a variety of preparations over the past week. Here's a little sampling of what we've been up to...
The girls worked on "Valentine Dots" on Saturday afternoon. A perfect kid project, with almost no help from Mom!Then Eva painstakingly divided them all into 9 piles to be bagged up for special friends at church. The glue stick and bingo dopper in the background are evidence of the heart cards she made later on.
We've made about a gillion other Valentine cards and pictures, but no photos of those.

Valentine's Day breakfast. A few little trinkets, special heart shaped cakes (don't tell my conscience that I someone named Little Debbie made those), and pink milk (again, no one needs to know that I may or may not have contaminated our organic raw milk with a drop of red food coloring). We also had soaked oatmeal :).
I brought Hope to the table still half asleep, so she opened her eyes to our candlelit breakfast. We all had fun watching her take in the little celebration with childlike wonder, breathing out "Oh my, oh my." There is nothing better than seeing through the eyes of a child.


(Extra credit will be awarded to any commenter who can guess what the last occasion was that I used those candle holders. I'll give you a hint: it was in the summer.)

At preschool last week, Hope had a special Valentine's party, and at school today Eva will be exchanging Fun Dip for all kinds of Valentine's goodies too. Life is good. Really good.

When the mail came, Hope opened a card from Grandma Patenaude with a dollar for each of the girls in it. Eva will have to see hers when she comes home from school, but for now, Hope is celebrating enough for the two of them. "My OWN dollar! My OWN dollar! Now I can buy an American Girl doll!" Dear three year old, more likely something from the dollar spot at Target, which will probably be just as awesome. Thanks Grandma!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. Squeeze the ones you love today!

Children Singing

This is a video that I just came across from August 2010. The girls' little voices are so sweet, I just had to post it. The first part is the best...

Flying Grandpa Style

"A Bulwark Never Failing"

Name that tune! If you're a hymnal buff or attend a Reformed church, you probably know it. Yes, the hymn writer is talking about God. Today, however, I will be primarily talking about our home. The phrase preceding "a bulwark" is "A mighty FORTRESS is our God." Truly, He is a mighty fortress and a bulwark never failing (can I get an amen?!?). And our house? I suppose you could say it is an allegory pointing to God....

I'll let the pictures explain- See, this is our front curb. Do you notice the wall of snow (it's not really obvious or anything :) ? Let's take a look at some of the other houses in our neighborhood.

Lots and lots of snow, but no bulwark.
Quite a lot of snow, almost a bulwark, but not quite like this: If you haven't heard, we were blasted with a pretty good snowstorm this past weekend. Epic, really :). Halfway through the day on Saturday the plows were pulled off the road, the buses sent to the garage, the airport closed (first time since the Halloween Blizzard of 1991), and the Metrodome roof collapsed. As one twitter fan commented, "proof that God really does hate the Vikings." Ha!

We were silly enough to think the storm would quickly pass, so we spent snowy Friday night at the Darling's house. Really, we should've hightailed it home while we had a chance. By Saturday morning it was pointless to try. We ended up staying until Sunday afternoon. When we finally got home, our yard was peacefully hibernating under a three foot thick blanket of snow. Sitting in the van, I was eye-level with the top of the drift. The girls and I cruised the neighborhood for an hour while Eric worked to make a path to the door.

After a quick dinner of leftovers, Eric headed back outside to continue his quest to conquer nature. When he finally came inside at 10:00 pm, I had to laugh. He had stacked the frozen blocks of snow around the perimeter of our sidewalk and the curb to create an incredible castle wall. You can imagine our little "princesses" are thrilled! We're calling the snow wall our "fortress", and although it is a little embarrassing to see all the passing cars slow to a crawl to observe the spectacle, it was a lot cheaper than an extravagant display of Christmas lights! When I asked Eric "WHY?", he gave lots of reasons. I think the real motivating factor though was the remains of a boyish fascination with Legos. Who wouldn't want to spend 6 hours in sub- zero temps building with large blocks of snow??? He slept really well last night.

This year will be a snowy one, I think it's fair to say. Our poor short-legged daughters will have a hard time playing in the white fluff, but they will have fun navigating the corridors of our fortress. Even the connecting mailman paths make for a nice meander.

Status Updates

Borrowing from my brilliant friend Nicole, this week I will be recording life by way of my Facebook updates.

Tuesday: "Overheard from the kitchen, "Eva will you help me build a fort? OK, good. Then Mommy won't be able to find me to spank me." "

True story, I do spank the little rascals. And lately we've been trying to graciously and lovingly reinforce obedience a little more firmly around here. The reinforcements come largely in the form of spankings. And they know when they've got it coming to them, though obviously they can run, but they can't hide ;).

Sunday: "Just took Hope to the bathroom at 11:00 at night. Deliriously she asked for, "Privacy, please." Then decisively she announced, "This drives me crazy!" Then in a slightly maniacal voice, "I'm driving crazy!" Then she was asleep in bed again. Whew"

Hope continues her maddening habit of getting up twice a night to go to the bathroom, with help. Of course, Eva's habit of wetting the bed twice a night is even more maddening, so... we take what we can get. Hope is very sweet and usually not delirious when we take her. Next week, Eric has allotted four days to finish remodeling our upstairs bathroom, so perhaps next week Hope will no longer need assistance to find the toilet in the middle of the night!

Thursday: "7 little girls playing, two dressers painted, 24 "all natural" chicken nuggets, 2 poopy diapers, tasty beet salad, and sunshine. Ordinary, but still interesting, afternoon around our house."

I run a very unofficial daycare here. Apparently my spiritual gift for serving the church is watching kiddos, because I do a lot of it! I enjoy it (don't stop bringing your kids over!), and by default there is no shortage of playmates for Hope while Eva is away at school. Officially, I have also started watching two little girls for 10 or so hours per week, for actual income. At our peak last week, there were 9 little girls and 2 boys playing in our yard, with the addition of the neighbor kids. Busy, anyone???

The beets are starting to run dry, though we're still consuming them occasionally. All natural chicken nuggets do, in fact, have only five ingredients that are all recognizeable. While they aren't quite real food, they aren't the worst alternative :).

The dressers and the sunshine went hand in hand. The following day, the temperatures dipped low and we got our first snow. I was so thankful to finish up the last of the summer/fall bedroom redecorate project before we were trapped inside. I was also relieved to be able to accomplish a painting project with a gazillion little people underfoot! My ability to multi-task, the level of everyday chaos, and the number of children at our house seem to be multiplying equally and exponentially these days!

OK, reading through this I'm deciding that Nicole's Facebook posts are much more interesting than mine. And her commentary is superbly more interesting. So, I'm quitting now. But at least I've journaled and remembered, right?!?

Almost Wordless Wednesday: All a little out of focus, which only reinforces the generally chaotic vibe

If I were to give captions to these photos it would be something like:

"Yeah! Let's go hiking!" "I'm tiiiired" "No eating rocks." "Let's climb those stairs!" "Will you hold me?" "Hazel, you can't catch me!" "I want to ride in the stroller." "Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!" "My stomach hurts." "What is for dinner?" "I DON'T want to _______" "C',mon Hopie!" "My stomach hurts." "She won't hold my hand." "I'm tiiiiired."

Weekend Top 10

10. TWO afternoon naps for me.

9. Snow! The first snowfall of the season started on Friday night, and Hope roused us bright and early on Saturday morning to take in the winter wonderland. Finally Eva has a playmate for colder adventures. The girls played together for a good hour in the white without any complaints of snow in their gloves, cold faces, or inability to actually walk through the snow. For better or worse, they're growing up!

8. Completed bedroom renovation. The girls' bedroom underwent a face lift, starting in August and ending today. They have now have bunk beds, blue walls, another dresser, new curtains, bedding, decorations, and **pause for dramatic effect** a bed canopy. The room is not an interior design masterpiece in any way, but it is a major improvement. And the girls love it. And I know I spent less than $100, thanks to re purposing, recycling, garage saling, spray paint, and Ikea. Wahoo!

7. Sleeping in my own bed at night. Esther has now moved into the new and improved girls' dormitory (see above). Since lately she does not sleep soundly with her mother in the room, I have been sleeping on the love seat. For at least a month. But not anymore!!!

6. Family of 5. Eric did not take any trips or do much socializing this weekend, so we enjoyed lots of face time with him. Mmmmm.

5. Mommy date for Hope. The middle daughter and I went out for dinner to Noodles tonight. We chit chatted about the Sunday School lesson this morning, then pulled out Sesame Street Dominoes and later read three lovely picture books. We sat together on the same side of the booth the whole time and totally soaked up the personal attention.

4. Mommy date for (duh) Mommy. Our church women's meeting was cancelled due to the snow storm, so I had some beautiful time away on Saturday morning by myself. I ate quiche, drank coffee, and read excerpts from three books: Keep a Quiet Heart, When I Don't Desire God, and most importantly the Bible. I needed some good time with God and was mercifully refreshed by the Holy Spirit's presence with me.

3. Homespun productions. While Hope and I were away tonight, Eva and Eric worked up a little dramatic presentation. We arrived home to paper arrows directing us to the basement. We sat in a line on our little green chairs and watched as Ms. Beadle (Eva) instructed her pupil (Eric) in math skilz. In Act II, Laura (Eric) tried to convince Mary (Eva) to raise some money by selling questionable home remedies. In Act III, Laura (Eva) is chastised by the elderly neighbor (Eric) for attempting to sell said remedies door to door. The play was well rehearsed and very professional. Complete with an actor Q&A at the end.

I bought season tickets to all the performances forever into eternity, and I didn't even bat an eyelash at the cost :). I can't wait to see more from these budding actors!

2. Worshiping together with our church family today. Sunday IS the best day of the week.

1. Daddy date for Eva to see Anne of Green Gables, performed by some of our own dear babysitters. Grace played Anne with an "E", and Bronte played Marilla. Apparently, Eva was on the absolute edge of her seat the entire time, and I hear nothing but rave reviews and high praise for the teen actors and actresses. Eva LOVES this kind of old fashioned, female drama with big puffy sleeves and a touch of romance, so I knew she would adore Anne. I'm sad to have missed it, but Eric and Eva had a really special night together!

This weekend was all together relaxing, relational, and refreshing.

Wordless Wednesday: October 9th, 84* and sunny

In Hope's World

Eva and Hope are engaged in a game of pretend. They have fused their Little People-Polly Pocket-wooden blocks worlds into one creative little city. On Eva's side of town, Polly Pockets live in elaborate homes on stilts. These are Chinese people and they live by the sea, I'm told. They drive convertibles and their towering homes are amazingly symmetrical.

On the opposite side of town, Hope has constructed a lovely Little People cave dwelling. The Little People live partly protected from the terrors of the outside world by camping pads propped up to create a fort. And the best part of Hope's world??? She describes, "My house stinks 'cause tormadoes* are pooping in the toilet." Never a dull moment in Hope's imagination!

Then, when the tormadoes* get off the pot to make their terrorizing trip through town, Hope cries out, "Anybody on the ground! There's a tormado!"


*Hopespeak for "tornadoes"

Everyday Moments

Good morning, Hope! Eva does her hair before Vacation Bible School.

Hope says...

To Grandma Spears, "Do you like to drive cars? No, Grandpa likes to drive cars, but you don't. (long pause) Grandma, do you have kids?

Grandma answers, "Yes, I have two kids."

Hope, "NO, you don't have kids!"

*****

Earlier in the day, "Grandma, can you brush my teeth? They have snarles."

Wordless Wednesday: Car Wash