Playing on a Rainy Day

It rained all day.  And it's been chilly.  So we decided to stay in our house that's oozing with lead.  :-)

No, really.  Thanks to Annabelle for the encouragement.  I don't think my children, my husband, or my self have licked the paint chips falling from our windows.  So, I think we'll be okay.  Except for the fact that the inspector might have to come back out here to spend another morning with me.  Although we had an interesting and potentially offensive discussion, he was actually quite delightful.  We discussed in a civilized manner.

So back to our rainy day.

Animals were a major theme of today's play.  Can you spot Noah's wife in the mix?

Eloise was a tiger.

Cordelia started roaring after getting stuck under the desk.  She didn't like that I grabbed my camera instead of saving her.  Sorry sweetie, couldn't resist.

And this is how I found them after leaving the room to start dinner.

Rainy days aren't always bad.

The Inspector

The inspector is here today.  Turns out this house has not been tested for lead.  And he just told me that he's sure the house will fail.

And he's frightening me.

(This is real time blogging.  He is still here.  In fact, he's like just yards from me.  And he has no idea what I'm doing right now.  Kinda funny.)

Anyway.  We've been talking about poisoning and lead and these unpleasant things.

And I'm getting nervous.  Add that to the list of the lime disease scare in the area.  The rabie infested raccoon in my backyard.  The toxins in plastics.  The toxins in the fire retardant clothes my baby wears.  The fear of bumpers in the crib.

The fears are endless.  This world is a dark place!  And it's scary when I think about all that could go wrong.

So I won't.  I won't be afraid Mr. Inspector Man.  (The man who thinks having more than 2 children is not a responsible decision.  Sorry dude, I'm giving this baby thing at least one more try!)

Instead, I will not fear for my God is with me.  I can't imagine doing this life thing on my own.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23: 4

Cordelia Today

She's found the spotlight.

(She'll always be in the spotlight in my heart, though.  (Ahhh....couldn't resist .. temptation too strong...)

Food

A while back, I posted about New Years food challenge.  For 2010, my goal is to eat/cook fish 1 time a week and go veggie 2 times a week.  And overall, it's been great.

I really like fish, especially tilapia with a dill sauce, with rice.  And it's super fast to whip up with a baby on my hip and a toddler asking me questions.

And the vegetarian meals haven't been too hard either.  Not to mention their health value and money saving properties.  Now that it's summer, we'll be veggie much more often.

And to top it all off, I bought the Pioneer Woman's cookbook.  That's really what this post is all about.  My love for PW's cookbook.  It is scrumptious.

You can find her recipes on her blog (I have her linked up at the bottom right) for free, but I bought the book because I loved reading it cover to cover.  And it's so much more accessible.

I have a fraction of a kindred spirit with the PW.  She's a ranch mom from Oklahoma.  I'm from Texas.  And to tell you the truth, her recipes remind me of home.  Her chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes.  Taste like Texas to me.  Her beef brisket and enchiladas.  Her Texas sheet cake and oatmeal crisps.  I can close my eyes and see that big Texas sky right now.  Ahh...

In fact, PW's oatmeal crisps are my Granny's recipe.  Seriously, they are the same.  So delicious.  So close to home.

So to wrap this up, I will tell you about the Potato Leek Pizza I made tonight from PW's cookbook.  Oh my.  So good.  First, her pizza crust beats any recipe I've made.  Then you put thinly sliced Golden Yukons on, topped with fresh mozerella, sauted leeks and bacon and goat cheese.  And now I'm sitting here like a lump on the log.  I can't move, I'm so full.

So that's my food update.  2010 has been oh so tasty.

Princess in the Woods

Family, Birthday Style

It's still Cordelia's 6 month birthday.  And I'm going through and editing some old photos.  Old, as in a couple of days old.

And while we're on the topic of birthdays, I'd like to acknowledge the following...

Happy Birthday Josephine (turned 1 May 1) my niece.
Happy Birthday Caroline (Tues May 4)  born to our dear friends Melissa and Robert.
Happy Birthday Lauren (Tues May 4) my sister-in-law.
Happy Birthday Mom (Thur May 6) my Mom.
Happy Half Birthday Jen (Friday May 7) my friend.

I'm sure I'm leaving some people out...fill them in as needed.  Eloise keeps asking when is her birthday.  Only 9 more months, Eloise, 9 more months.  Hang in there.

Cordelia Today

Today Cordelia is 6 months.  I cannot believe it.  I'm sitting on the couch with Alex at 10:30pm.  This time 6 months ago my contractions were about to start.  Ahhh....the sweet, sweet memories of labor, delivery, and Cordelia.  :-)

If you missed how awesome my contractions and labor and delivery were, click here.  :-)

She is so sweet, isn't she?  I'd deliver this baby time and time again just to see this smile.

Coping

We all cope.

I grind my teeth to cope with stress.

Alex plays video games.

Here's how my children cope:

Geez . . . I don't even know what to say about that last photo . . .

How about you?  How do you cope?

More Animals. And Neighbors.

Animals and Neighbors, they are one in the same, right?

Haha.

I'm pleased to announce that our neighbors are anything but animals.  They are the nicest people we've ever known.  They were our angels when we moved here.  Remember how hard that was for me?  Do you remember how love came in the most unexpected forms?  Well, it's true.  Love came in the way of neighbors.

In the past, we usually would wave hi and quickly duck into our house.  In Pennsylvania, I remember one of our teenage neighbors having a baby.  We didn't even know she was pregnant.  Some other neighbors we couldn't understand under their thick accent.  And we were newly weds.  We said hi and ducked into our house.

In Colorado, we tried with some neighbors but got some funny looks when they saw Alex in his collar.  Then there were those who we think were involved in some mob.  Of a specific type.  I'm too afraid to even talk about it.

But here, we have experienced the hands and feet of Christ from those who don't necessarily believe.

And they show their love by sharing.

And loving my children.

And spending time with us.

And teaching us about God's creation.

Thank you neighbors.  You have inspired me to be more neighborly.

Bushwhacking and Various Animals In Our Backyard.

Have you ever done something and thought, "Oh no.  What have I done?"

That's how I felt after chopping this bush this past weekend.

To say our yard needs some pruning is an extreme understatement.  You could say it needs to be "cut back," and that'd be more accurate.  But to be most precise, you have to say, "that yard needs a bushwhacking."  We have a lot of overgrown stuff.  Unidentified stuffs.

So overgrown that Eloise calls our backyard the "forrest."

That's why I've only committed myself to the front yard.  The backyard has been left to the deer, the fox, the raccoon, and whatever very large animal left a very large dropping there recently.  Even our nature specialist neighbor Paula could not identify this poop.  Oh my!

It's down right scary sometimes.  That is why we seldom go to our forest and prefer to stay in our front yard.  And, our front yard has the added pleasure of neighbors.

Anyway, this weekend I attempted to tackle this yew that sits beside our door.  Then I attempted the azalea.  And they look scraggly now.  But with the cheers of my neighbors, I chopped on.  One even offered me her saw.  I kid you not.  They are tired of looking at our forest.

In other news.  I made fresh pesto from my basil.

And hope to eat some fresh tomatos this summer.

And I hope I won't regret my chopping.  I hope I didn't kill the plants.

The saying "if it doesn't kill ya, it'll make ya stronger" just popped into my head.  But I hate that statement.  If it's going to be painful, I don't want to be strong.

I know that's weeny.  But I know that's how I feel.

And even if I don't like the way the plants look now, my neighbors are right, new growth will come.  And they will be more beautiful than before.

Bear Hunt

Today we captured a bear.

And we all got involved by setting a trap.

(Yes, that's sticker residue on her leg.  Remember our Dora sticker that wouldn't come off her cheek?  The girl loves her some stickers.)

Cordelia was especially effective.

And no one tripped.

Church Rats

You know, when you work for a church or are married to the church, whatever the case may be, your kids become church rats.  Or church angels.  Or something like that.

And we feel comfortable at any church.  Like this one in the big city.

What do you do when you are in a crowded city and your baby needs to feed?

You find a church stoop and nurse your baby.  And your other children eat their ice cream.

Yum!

(She ate mine too.  Bummer.)

A Milestone

What do you do after nap time?  It's a tough time of day.  The girls are waking up from naps, dinner time is quickly approaching, Eloise is not usually in the mood to go anywhere if we've had a long morning.

So we usually stick around the house and play.

Or go outside on a pretty day.

And see all our neighbors.  Because it doesn't seem like any of us work.  Well, we do work.  We work on our gardens, for example.  And we work on neighborhood news.  That kind of stuff.

And we always end up in costume.  Usually it's the princess variety.  Bright pink and wands.

But today was special because Cordelia dressed up for the first time.  And it must be documented.  Because this was the first of many.

Then, of course, Eloise got in on the costume action.  We had a garden theme.

And then something crazy happened.

The camera turned on me.

Do you see the stickers on my sweatshirt?  They're taped on because they had lost their sticky.

Then a game of hide and seek ensued.

Paula was it.

Ahhh!  She found the ladybug!

And that's what we did today after nap.

Daddy Daughter