This, That, the Other, and a few Little Thoughts

I haven't really been hanging around the blogosphere lately.  I think I have writer's block, which is ironic, because I'm not a writer...hah!  This blog is just for fun =).  Anyway, I just don't have much to post about these days.  We've been enjoying the extremely lazy days of summer, because it's just too darn hot to do anything else!  Even the cows just lay around in the shade and do nothing (although, they pretty much do that year round, so that's not saying much).  We spent the better part of today lounging around the house reading books.  I heard a fellow southerner say once that summer in the deep south is like winter in the far north, because you are almost quarantined inside because of the heat.  The temperature right now is 96 degrees, with a heat index of 107 degrees!  Way too hot to take kids outside to play.  I was out there for about 45 minutes cleaning out my van (oh yes, Phil, I actually got around to doing that ;), and I felt like I dropped 10 pounds just from the sweat...and, I was in the shade!  We did get to go swimming yesterday evening for a couple of hours at our neighbor's house, which was so very nice, but after a while, it actually felt like bath water...the temp in the water was 91 degrees O_o.

Next week, I go in for my second ultra-sound, and it's the one where we get the option to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl.  For the first 3, we didn't find out the gender, but Philip wants to for this one.  As for me, I don't know if I want to or not.  I usually am really tempted to find out, but since Phil has always wanted to be surprised, I never did, because I can't keep a secret.  Part of me feels like it's cheating, but in the end, it doesn't really matter...I mean, the baby is what it is, and I'll love him or her no matter what.  Likely, I'll break down and find out, because I'm just weak like that =)  At lunch today, the kids and I had this discussion:

Natalie:   So, Mom, I've been thinking...

Me:  oh yeah?  About what?

Natalie:  About the new baby.

Me:  What about the new baby?

Natalie:  Oh, just about having it and stuff.

Me:  It's going to be really exciting!  You'll get to hold it, and help me take care of it...(I left out the part about how I have anxiety attacks and fret think about having it and stuff, too).

Natalie:  I bet the baby gets hungry alot.

Me:  No, not really...babies get everything they need when they are in their mommy's tummy; they don't have to wait around for someone to feed them.

**I then tiptoe on egg shells trying to answer all her questions about how a pregnant woman's body works to take care of a growing baby...she's only 5, not a doctor!!  how many details does the child really need???  I settled on "that's just how God made it work", and changed the subject.  I told her that we get to go and see pictures of the baby at the doctor's office next week.

Me:  Do you want to find out if it's a boy or a girl now, or do you want to wait until it's born?

Natalie:  I want to know now!  (no shocker...she is my daughter)

Me:  Ok, maybe they'll be able to tell us.

Natalie:  Do you want to know?
Me:  I don't know yet...probably...Daddy wants to know.

**Andrew decides to join the conversation now, which is weird, because he seems to have been ignoring our entire conversation, because he's been very intent on eating his lunch for the duration of our little chat...every now and then he would pipe in with "hey, I got two noodles on my fork this time!!  cool!!"  Such a boy!

Andrew:  I want to wait.

Me:  You want to wait for the baby to be born before you know if it's a boy or a girl??

Andrew:  Yes, I want to wait.  The boys have to wait, but the girls can find out.

**Sorry Phil...I guess you have to wait with Andrew this time =P 

Now that everyone is just dying to know whether we find out or not, and, if we do find out, what the gender actually is...I shall not be posting it on the blog.  I remember my mother-in-law telling me once that if we ever find out, she doesn't want to know.  Since she actually reads my blog, I don't want to ruin the surprise for her.  So, everyone else will just have to wait for the ending =)  The hard part will be keeping Natalie away from her Grandma for the rest of the pregnancy, because there's no way she'll keep that a secret!  No, seriously, I'll make sure to drill Natalie about NOT telling Grandma, so no worries!  

Other than that, we haven't really been doing much of anything over here.  My garden is between the summer harvest and the fall planting, so I haven't been doing much with it.  I still have a couple of cherry tomato plants that are going strong, a handful of new cucumber plants that are a few weeks along, and my okra is like the gift that keeps on giving.  Phil did help me clean it out and do some weeding around the beds, so it looks much neater and is ready for the next round of planting.  Hopefully I can get to that in the next week or two.  

We'll be starting school right about the second week of August.  I've actually decided to switch to a new curriculum this year.  Natalie will be in first grade, and she's my only one in school just yet, so I figure now is the time to tweak out these things before we get so far along that it's harder to switch curricula around.  Since we attend the Traditional Latin Mass, Phil and I really wanted a curriculum that supports that.  So, I did a bit of research earlier in the summer and found Our Lady of the Rosary School.  I hope we like it.  From what I've looked at on the website, I like the books, the curriculum looks solid, I like the classes they offer for older kids, and I called and spoke with someone from their office, and she was very helpful and nice.  So, I'll be ordering the first grade supplies sometime next week, and getting some of Natalie's other school supplies tomorrow, when I get to go shopping all by myself!!!!  Well, Rachel will be with me, but she can't ask me to buy everything in the store yet, so I don't mind taking her =)  

Well, the kids just woke up and wandered in from their nap, so that means it's time for me to feed them again. 

Anyone Else Awake??

How come no one ever warns you about the 'real joys' of pregnancy?  Like, pregnancy insomnia, for example.  It hits right around the second trimester, and lasts pretty much throughout the entire second trimester.  I guess it comes from sleeping so much the first trimester, because of the unbearable exhaustion!  Wow, does that always hit me like a ton of bricks.  I literally can.not.stay.awake during the first 3 months.  And, all this lack of sleep in the second trimester will lead me to be a hibernating bear in the third trimester (where the kids and husband know better than to dare awaken said bear ;).  

So, anyway, it's almost midnight, and everyone in the house is asleep...except me.  Even the baby is sleeping; or at least being very still for the moment.  I'm sure once I lay down, it will be more than happy to start bouncing around again =)  On the plus side, all this extra energy has done wonders for my housekeeping/home organization skills!  I actually made a binder full of schedules, planners, meal plans, chore lists, and the list goes on and on, for the upcoming school year.  If you actually know me very well, you would probably cry from laughing so hard at this.  But, the laundry has not piled up, the floors are clean, and Phil has come home to clean dishes for more than 1 day in a row for almost a week now!  It's great!  I hope he enjoys it while it lasts, because it will be gone just as quickly as it came.  I think my nesting phase kicks in around this time, because come the last 2 months or so of being pregnant, I just want to pass out from thinking about putting a cup in the dishwasher.  

I am actually extremely blessed to have easy pregnancies ('easy' is a relative term, here), with no problems or complications.  And, I am definitely thankful for that fact, and the fact that God has given me the gift of motherhood at all, for that matter.  But, the reality is, the things that mean the most in life, and bring us the most peace and joy...it is those things that also require the most sacrifice.  And, it's a sacrifice I am more than willing to make, but sometimes those sacrifices are so not fun....

Good Night!  (maybe...)

"I think being a good father is keeping the mother happy, so she doesn't drive the kids crazy." 

Little Thoughts

At lunch today, Andrew was upset because he got the bumble bee cup instead of the dragon fly cup (don't even ask...it's an ongoing battle over here about who gets the dragon fly cup/plate/fork/spoon!).  Anyway, Natalie got the dragon fly cup, to which Andrew responded with a huge pout and said "that's not fair!"   So, I said:

Me:  Andrew, that's not polite...you can offer it up, instead.

Natalie:  Yeah!  You can offer it up for someone who doesn't get anything to drink or eat today.

Me:  That's right...some people don't get to have any lunch, like you do.

Natalie:  Some people don't get to have a bed to sleep in, either.

Andrew:  Yeah, and some people are mean!

 

I think he totally missed the point of that conversation.  Oh well, at least he stopped the whining and complaining about that goofy cup.  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the way to my doctor's appointment this morning (where everything went great...the kids got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was really cute), we were listening to the radio, and the lady on there said something about a friend who just had a new baby boy.

Natalie:  *big gasp*  Mom!  Did you hear that?  That lady said she just had a new baby boy.

Me:  Wow, that's really cool, huh?

Natalie:  Yeah!  Why don't we say a Rosary for that baby right now?

Me:  *heart melting*

Andrew:  NO!  I don't want to pray a Rosary!

Me:  Ok, Natalie and I will pray for you

Andrew:  Humph!

Me:  Ok, Natalie do you want to pray for anyone else besides that little baby?

Natalie:  No

Me:  Andrew, who do you want to pray for?

Andrew:  I'm not praying!

Me:  Ok, fine....(I prayed for Andrew =)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So She Won't Be Disappointed

For today's Tasty Tuesday, I'm posting my recipe for homemade English Muffins.  This one is for the City Wife, Country Life gal, because she was craving English Muffins yesterday, and when I saw that she was disappointed that she didn't get to post about them today, I just had to share my recipe!  They are so very good, but not like anything you buy at the store.  They aren't the sour dough kind, either...I tried sour dough starter once, and there was a comment by someone in the house about it "smelling like death", so I tossed it out.  I would like to give it a go, again, though.  Anyway, my recipe is from the Baking Bites blog.  She has some amazing recipes there...like, homemade Samoa Girl Scout cookies.  WOW, those are good!  And since the Girls Scouts are openly pro-choice, this is a much better and tastier option, IMHO.  

English Muffins
1/3 cup water, warm (110F)
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup nonfat milk, slightly warm (100-110F) **I'm shameless, so I use whole milk instead**
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour

 

In a large bowl, whisk together water, sugar and yeast and let mixture stand for 10 minutes, until slightly foamy.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 40 minutes.

Heat a griddle/nonstick frying pan over medium/medium-high heat (water dropped on the griddle evaporates very quickly). Lightly grease with cooking spray.
Drop dough by scant 1/4 cupfuls onto greased surface and cook until medium brown on the bottom. 

Normally, I use my plug-in griddle, and I can cook all of them at once, but I didn't feel like cleaning it after, so I went with the cast iron skillet this time:

The top with look set and the sides will appear somewhat dry. The exact time depends on the temperature of your griddle and the size of your muffins, but expect this to take several minutes. Flip over and cook 2nd side until brown.  Cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes or until completely cool.

The recipe says it makes about 10-12 muffins, but I usually only get 8, because we like them on the large side...apparently, I ate one straight off the skillet I only got 7 this time:

When ready to serve, split muffins with a fork and toast.
Serve with butter, jam, peanut butter, etc.  SO GOOD!  For St. Patrick's Day this year, we used these to make Shamrock Toasties a la Catholic Cuisine:

 Enjoy!  

 

Beef...It's What's for Dinner

In case you were ever curious about how much beef you can get from raising a Dexter beef cow/steer...(I'm sure most people are losing tons of sleep wondering about this exact thing!)  If not, feel free to skip this post all together, and come back and visit again soon.

We actually brought our first ever, farm-raised, grass-fed (and partially grain-fed at the end), home-grown beef cow to the butcher about 2 weeks ago.  The kids and I got lost trying to find drove out to the place on Wednesday to pick up the meat, which came in lots of very nicely wrapped & labeled packages that you just can't find at your local Wal-Mart.  So, here is what we ended up with after raising good, ole T-bone for the last couple of years (we purchased him in May, 2008, when he was just a wee, little calf - it was actually Mother's Day weekend, if I remember correctly):

134 lbs. ground beef (78 pkgs, about 1 3/4 lb. per package)

24 lbs. Ribeye Steaks (24 steaks)

20 lbs. T-bone Steaks (24 steaks)

16 lbs. Sirloin Steaks (12 steaks)

34 lbs. Roast (2 sirloin roasts and 6 rump roasts)

2 lbs. Flank Steak (2 steaks)

8 lbs. Brisket (2 briskets)

So, off of that one steer, we got 238 lbs. of beef!  Not too shabby.  We actually split the meat with another family, with whom we originally purchased the cow.  Is my grammar even correct on that sentence??  I dread the thought that I will be homeschooling my children, and therefore teaching them the English language!  I do hope they turn out alright...can you tell I've been reading Jane Austin?  On a complete tangent, I have a little confession to make.  I have never, ever read any Jane Austin books in my entire life.  Can you believe that?  Oh, the shame!  So, I'm reading Pride & Prejudice right now.  It's really good, but I am very slow, because I'm not used to that writing style.  Ok, tangent over.  The most amazing thing to me about this whole experience was that there was a complete even number of packages for each type of meat!  I was kind of expecting for the men to have some kind of knock-down, drag-out fight over who got an extra pack of ribeyes or brisket, but it worked out perfectly.  Amazing!

Craft Basket Wednesday

Well, I've still been working on Rachel's baby sweater, but seeing as that is a longer, more-extensive project, I don't really have any updates.  But, I have been making some wool diaper covers for the new baby!  In the midst of such a long project like a sweater, I wanted something that I could work up quickly, like in a day, so I could feel at least a little gratification at completing something.  So, I found this chunky diaper cover pattern at Ravelry, and I've actually made three of them already.  They fit the bill perfectly, as they finished in a day, plus, they are so cute!  All they are missing is the button.  The pattern is for a newborn baby, but I actually shortened the length from the designated 14.5" to more like 11.25" before finishing off.  The first one I made looked too long for a newborn, so I may have to go back and fix it.  I normally use Fuzzibunz cloth diapers, but the size small is too small for my new babies.  They outgrow the newborn size so quickly, and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on smaller cloth diapers.  So, I'm going to try these out to use with my inserts.  I've never used wool covers before, but they are supposedly ideal for diapering, for a variety of reasons (I won't get into that here, but I'm sure a quick Google search can help you if you're curious).  You only need a few covers if you are using wool, which is another perk, and I was able to get three, so far, from one hank of wool...I have a small ball left, so I'll see if I can get one more cover out of it.

The front (minus the button):

The Back:

**sorry these first two pictures are so dark...

One of the button holes on the side flap:

OH!  This is a new discovery I've made in the knitting world.  I'm very excited about this!  (does that make me too weird??).  Anyway, I've started keeping my current knitting project in a gallon sized zip lock bag.  The beauty of this is that your work all stays together, I don't have to worry about the kids dropping food on my extra ball of yarn - so, it stays clean while I'm knitting - , it travels well, AND I can keep all my notions in there with the project - a copy of the pattern, tapestry needle, crochet hook for fixing mistakes, tape measure, scissors...  It's so awesome!  I'm glad I discovered this.

Here is the other hank of wool that I plan on using for a few more covers (but, if the baby isn't a girl, I'll have to save them or gift them).  You can see how the yarn comes in a big, messy bundle...It was kind of difficult to work with like that, so I just rolled it up into a ball, like the one behind it, before starting :

And, just in case you were wondering, that chunky yarn is really fun to work with!  The knitting just comes together SO quickly, so it's really gratifying.  Anyway, that's all I have for now!  Stay tuned for more progress on Rachel's Triangle Top Sweater!  It's coming along, slowly, but surely =)

Now, you can go see what other fun crafts people have in their craft baskets at Knit Together (except she doesn't have it up there yet...I'll come back and link later).

Stocking up for the Winter

Philip spent the better part (or, I guess that would be the worst part, as the better part of Sunday was Mass...or something like that...he spent the majority of the day, Sunday...how's that??) loading up our barn with hay for the cows, so they will have food this winter.  The kids were very excited, because they LOVE playing in the hay.  Although, much to their dismay, they were banned from any jumping, climbing, sliding, or contact of any kind with the hay, because it kind of destroys the bales.  Natalie was expressing her concern over this, so I asked her if she would like it if the cows jumped around in her food...I think she understood ;)  Anyway, here are some photos of our fully stocked barn:

Can you see Natalie up there??

I think we ended up with 22 all together...

Side-view: 

Phil's current work-in-progress...a chute for the cows.  I kind of want to engrave something really cool on that board up there...any suggestions??

The last few lingering bales before being moved to the barn:

All that hay makes our barn look so much more, well, barn-like!  It's fun =)  Thanks, Phil, for taking care of that!  I could tell by how disgusting your laundry was that day that it was no easy task...glad it wasn't me.