Boy Four's Big Month

Whew! It's been a busy month for me and my body.

I learned to sit

and play rolly ball.

I learned to crawl

and eat.

I learned to stand my own self up,

and sometimes I even let go.

And I've also reached a few mental milestones, some good and some not so much.

For instance, I've learned to covet

and terrorize like King Kong.

I've observed how it must feel to not get your way,

and I've yearned for freedom.

I've witnessed the thrill of the game

and the agony of defeat.

But most of all, I've started working on spelling. And the way to spell LOVE is m-y- f-a-m-i-l-y!

We're baaack!

We're back from our almost two-week-long Christmas trip. It's hard to just hit the ground running after such a busy season and long trip, so I'm rather behind on everything. Sorry it's taken so long to update the blog. But here we go with some of our favorite pictures from the trip.

Here we all are at S's house in Souderton, PA. S is like a grandma to me, as we lived for a few years on her farm.

And here she is with Boy Four. What a nice picture!

Next we went to visit Aunt P in her nursing home in Lansdale, PA. I don't even know what to say. She really didn't know what was going on around her. I hear that sometimes she has better days, though.


The staff pulled up extra chairs so we could sit with Aunt P at her Christmas party. It was kind of them to give out gifts and hot chocolate and ice cream.


Now here we are at the church my parents attend, right after the Christmas Eve service. It was an interesting service, with Girl Two wetting all over during a nap and then rolling off of the pew, and Boy Three catching his hair on fire during the candlelight part at the end. Other than that, it really was a lovely service!


Now it is Christmas Day, which is also my dad's birthday. Here he is, just starting to cut his cake. I love this picture because it shows what a happy couple my mom and dad are.


Here's the whole gang of us Christmas night--my parents in their Lancaster County home with all their children and grandchildren present.


All of the cousins in PA.


Grandma N reading to some of her grandchildren.


Now we have moved on to Knoxville, TN. Here's most of the gang at Grandma J's house. As you can see, we're having a happy time.

I snapped this while Cousin E was in a tickle war with her sister, Cousin A, all over the floor. I can't help but notice--man, that girl has some beautiful teeth!

Uncle J and Aunt L. This is their family's standard pose, which they even require their children to do. LOL

All the Peterson cousins.


Girl Two just adores her Cousin K. She was practically glued to her side.

And what holiday would be complete without whipping up a bit of sofa-cover clothing?

This one has even more flair.

And here we are back home. It was snowing few and far between, but the flakes were very large. See?

We thank the Lord for granting us safety and joy on our trip. It was so good to see those of you whom we did see. Thank you for everything!!! We hope we brought some cheer your way.

Here we come! / Merry Christmas!

Here we come, Grandpa, Grandma N, Grandma J, and family! See you soon!

To everyone else who may read this, Merry Christmas! God bless you, friends.

Now a few photos from yesterday, our present-opening day. Three of our cute little Santa, and three of the whole quiver. The robes & pillow & blanket were my homemade gifts to them. My favorite part is how little Boy Four's blanket is made from the leftovers of each other child's gift. He's so blessed with of the love of each of them, it just seemed right.

'Twas the week (or so) before Christmas

Girl One, Boy Four, Grandma J, Friend M, and I had Tea with our church ladies.

Girl Two and Boy Four lookin' classy & Christmasy.

Girl One wearing the tops from those little things you get out of gumball machines.

The kids begged me to take a picture of the extra bad bed-head hair. Somehow, it seems to suit him, doesn't it?

Girl Two peeks at Boy Four, who finds himself in a box yet again.

Boys in vests.

Brotherly pride wells up over the five-month-old standing alone.

Better than the last time we got our picture in green.

Boy One's first fencing injury. Good thing the swords aren't actually sharp!

Attack of the ferocious fire-breathing daddy.

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008

The internet is abuzz with the news. On February 10, 2009 most small businesses, stay-at-home-moms, and grandpas who sell hand-made toys or home-sewn children's clothing will be out of business. Unless there is a change to this new law, safety certification requirements will force them to shut down. I know Congress passed this law to protect children, but when you mix in their hatred of freedom and their sheer stupidity, the end result looks to be worse than the original problem.

Here are a couple of sites that tell you how you can help. The first one is regarding homemade children's clothing, and the second one for handmade toys.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/?e

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/Home

I know there have been attacks on our freedom for a long time now, but somehow this one just makes me feel panicky. May the Lord have mercy on us as the walls close in.

Scandalously Easy Meal Planning

I really do not enjoy planning out the main dishes I'll cook each night. When that meal planning day comes, I think, "Oh no, not again," and it just makes me want to hide.

BUT--I have finally solved this dilemna. And I like my solution so much it makes me giddy. I've been doing this for about three months now, and I actually love this kind of meal planning! I look forward to it.

I'll tell you what I do. (Even though I am a little embarrassed about how easy it is.) Each week, just plan ONE main dish for that week. Yes, one. Choose something that can be prepared/assembled and then frozen, or something that stores dry and takes basically no work to throw together. And buy SEVEN days' worth of that food. (Or six days or however many days per week you cook a supper meal.)

After few weeks (yes, you have to wait a few weeks for this method to work--no, you don't eat the same thing every night!), your freezer and pantry will be stocked with something you can just pull out and use for supper. And you only have to think of ONE meal to add to your stockpile each week.

I've found this method also helps me get a good perspective on how economical a particular meal is, and if it's worth the money. When you're making six or seven times the quantity, you can really see if it fits in your budget or not.

If you want an example of a main dish that I've done, I'll tell you one of the most shockingly simple and cheap ones: 13 bean soup. I bought 7 days' worth of dried beans. I soaked them all overnight and then froze each meal's worth, along with seasonings, in gallon bags. Then just throw them in the crockpot with some water (and anything else you feel like) on the day you want to eat them. They even seem to cook quicker because they have been frozen. Add some homemade bread or muffins. Now that is one cheap and easy meal! Later that night, be sure to peek in the freezer and see the six other bags of bean soup waiting to be used in subsequent weeks. Smile and sigh contentedly.

Thanksgiving and other days of late