Rainy sunsets

We've seen lots of pretty sunsets after recent thunderstorms. Also note the hanging pots, which we got to replace the ones whose bottoms fell out as we were hanging them up earlier this year (giving us quite a shock!).

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G is for Glamour Shots

11

Sweet

One of my favorite things to watch is my boys being gentle and sweet. Obviously they're wild and loud and boy-ish much of the time, and that's great. But the other day Sebastian came in from outside all excited. "Mommy, there are TONS of ants!!"

Normally you'd think a boy like him would go around stomping them or something, right?

"I made them a little house; come and see it!" he said.

I went out. There were a bunch of ants swarming around on the driveway, and next to them there was a whole line-up of leaves, sticks, flowers, rocks, etc. VERY complicated. Sebby showed me what everything was (he was actually telling it to the ants---in this sweet little high voice):

"Okay, yittle ants! [Oh, and you have to imagine all these "little"s as "yittle." Not all his "L"s are pronounced "Y", but some still are.] Here is your little bedroom---and if you get sleepy you can rest on these leaves. See? There are four beds so you can all sleep when you get tired. Here are your nice covers to keep you warm and snug. And you have two mushrooms for your little umbrellas if it gets rainy. This is for your little playground: you can climb on this rock and then slide down the stick and land on the pile of soft grass so you won't get hurt. My bike bell is for your smoke detector if there's a fire, so if you hear the bell don't be scared, okay? And you can walk around the rocks and look at the pretty flower petals for your pretty garden. And I made you a tiny seat you can sit on, and rest."

He was so pleased and excited. He kept saying, "Those ants are going to WUV their yittle home!!"

I really yike that boy.

2

Synchronized bobbing

This morning I was swimming laps at the pool and there was one other guy swimming laps in the next lane, facing towards me. We were both doing breaststroke and somehow we got going in the same rhythm, so we were coming towards each other and both bobbing our heads up for air simultaneously.

It was embarrassing. Everytime I popped my head up, there he was, popping his head up. Finally I stayed under for an extra stroke so we'd be offset from each other. It seemed better somehow. Is this some sort of swimmers' etiquette I never knew about?

3

Father's Day

The boys and I got up early to make orange rolls for Sam on Father's Day. Yum!

We also got Sam a new baby seat for his bike. We really like it (Beth recommended it to me---thanks, Beth!) because it sits on the front of the bike, so it's great because you can talk to the baby and he can see the scenery and everything. Malachi already loves it. He says "Un! unn! unn!" ("Fun") and "Eeeee!" ("Whee!") while he rides along.

Update: Here is the recipe for the sweet rolls:

Cinnamon Rolls (or orange rolls)

3 c. hot water
1 c. instant pwd. milk
½ c. potato flakes (not pearls)
2 c. flour
2 eggs
½ c. sugar
1 ½ T. yeast, or 1 T. instant yeast
½ c. butter or marg. (very soft)
2 t. salt
4-5 c. flour

3 T. melted butter
½ c. sugar
2 T. cinnamon

OR

3 T. melted butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. grated orange rind

Frosting:
4 T. melted butter
pwd. sugar (1/2 bag or so? just add till it looks right)
vanilla
cold milk (again, add till consistency is right)---or if making orange rolls, add orange juice instead of milk

Combine first 5 ingredients. Add sugar and yeast. Mix well and add butter and salt until smooth. Add flour, enough to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth, at least 5 min. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with tea towel and place in warm oven. Let rise 1 ½ hrs. Punch down. Let rise 45 min. Punch down.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a large rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with mixture of sugar and cinnamon (or orange rind and sugar). Roll up from long side. Cut each roll (I use dental floss to cut) into 3/4-inch (?) slices. Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise 30-45 min, or until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Frost while still hot, using pastry brush.

2

Thanks for sharing

We are, in some ways, a family of skimpers and sharers. Sam and I usually share a meal if we go out to eat. We share a milkshake (between the five of us. More kids=new diet plan) at the drive-in. We always, always order from the Value Menu (it is like this post, and many of the comments are interesting too---but that is not my point here). Figuring out how to agree on a choice, what we will share, is for us a habitual part of ordering anything, anywhere. Yes, certainly there are ways we could be more frugal, and ways that we are much more spoiled than the previous generation---in that we are able to go out to eat at all, for example. But since Sam and I both grew up that way, the habits were sort of engrained in us in some form at least. And sharing, getting less, making do with the small size instead of the large, etc. also seems like a good choice most of the time---cheaper, healthier, and so forth. We'd keep doing it because we want to, even if we didn't necessarily have to.

But.

The other day Sam and I were out somewhere and we saw these kids, maybe 8 and 10 years old, eating ice cream with their mom. They both had these huge ice creams---waffle cones, double scoops, etc., and they were sitting there licking at them vaguely (not excitedly or anything), and suddenly I had had enough. I was indignant.

"Who do those kids think they are?" I hissed. "Look at them! Eating those huge ice cream cones---each of them with their OWN---and they don't even care! And they're just kids! I've lived three times as long as those kids and I've still NEVER had an ice cream that big all to myself! Not in my whole life!!

"It's not that I don't like sharing," I said (warming to my theme). "I might even prefer it. But it just doesn't seem fair. Look at those kids! Eight years old! Large-size ice creams all to themselves! And me nearly thirty and still waiting for such a thing. Does that seem right?"

"It's not right," agreed Sam. (He may have patted my arm.) "It's just not right. I will buy you your very own big ice cream. We'll go next week for family home evening."

So the next week we went out to a ice cream place and I ordered MY OWN. (The rest of the family shared a banana split. Old habits die hard.) And Sam kept telling the boys, "That one is JUST FOR MOMMY. You can't have a taste." And I ate it happily (although I did end up sharing some at the end because I got too full---but it was okay because I didn't have to) and it was delicious!! I felt like some kind of balance had been restored to the universe. "It was a dream come true," I said to Sam. "Thank you, my dear."

I think that was all I needed. And now I'm ready to go back to sharing.

7

Wildflowers, and two fake smiles

Abe and Seb spent the night with my mom the other night, so Malachi and I were all by ourselves the next day. We felt a bit lonely without the others, but we were able to go on a nice walk and enjoy all the wildflowers. We haven't had as much chance to do that as we'd like, with all the rain, but it has also made for some really pretty green fields and flowers.

Ky has a new trick: he "smiles" when you take a picture of him. Other than that he shows absolutely NO interest in looking over at you, or the camera, or anything---just a brief obligatory grimace in your direction, and then he's back to his own devices. Which means several pictures that look like this:

Here I told him, "Hop like a bunny!" He's doing so, and saying, "Opp! opp! opp!" (Although it looks like he's about to chomp down on that flower)

Here he is pleased because he saw a bee.

I need to get a wildflower book from the library or something so I can learn more of the names of these flowers. I think the pink are primroses. Maybe the yellow too?

Purple---looks like larkspur. There are also pink flowers that look like snapdragons, or a relative of them.

Bright, bright oranges and yellows! Don't know what they're called.

"Bachelor buttons"

This part is more cultivated, so not really "wildflowers," I suppose---but beautiful.

0

Things that do not go together

Sometimes when I'm out and about, I go past this restaurant called "Chinese Gourmet."

I've never been there. It may, indeed, be "gourmet" in the truest and most elegant sense of the word. However, the marquis outside reads:

"EVERY MONDAY NIGHT

BOBBER THE CLOWN"

I don't know, somehow Bobber the Clown just doesn't say "gourmet" to me. Maybe they ought to at least get him to upgrade his image a bit. Bobbé le Clown, perhaps?

5

Vavoom

I've always thought it would be fun to name roses. And paint colors, too.

This rose is called "Vavoom." Isn't it pretty? In the sun (what there's been of it), it GLOWS.

4

Soccer

Just a few pictures to document Abe's participation in Soccer this year. I don't have much commentary. He learned to run the right direction, stop the ball, and (sort of) pass to his teammates, which is a great improvement from the start of the season. And he really loved it (he said he wished he could have a soccer game every week for the rest of the year). Yay, Fire Dragons! :)

1

Bike rides

Every night after the kids go to bed, Sam and I go on bike rides. (Coming back periodically to check on the kids, don't worry. Or do you still worry, even knowing that?) I finally remembered to bring the camera one night. Everything is so beautiful, I can hardly stand it.

(Dramatic sunflare)

(If you belong to the lovely family group in the middle of the photo, email me. I'll sell this picture to you for $20 less than whatever your portrait photographer was charging.)

Baby ducks!

We haven't minded the rainy days too much. They make for such beautiful skies!

I love riding my bike. I never knew I would love it so much, but I think it's partly because it's so easy and comfortable---no bending in half over the handlebars---and partly because it's just so fun to ride around together with Sam. I honestly think our bikes are one of the best purchases we've ever made. I only wish we could ride them all winter long, too.

7

Lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd

This is significant only because I've never made a layer cake before (and maybe this doesn't count as one either because I just baked it in one pan, and then cut it and put it back together)---and also because it uses that yummy lemon curd. But really it would taste just as good to put cake pieces in a bowl and spoon the raspberries and the curd and the lemon cream over the top.

My sister-in-law Allison and I have been talking about chiffon cakes recently (Philip loves them), and originally we were thinking they'd be a good combination with the yolks-only lemon curd recipes, because the chiffon cakes use only the egg whites. Or so we thought we remembered, but when I got out my recipes, it turns out that the cakes use the whole egg (separated), so I went ahead and used the easier whole-egg lemon curd as well.

Anyway, I have a whole packet of recipes for different kinds of chiffon cakes---orange, chocolate, lemon, pineapple, coconut, etc.---and they're not too tricky. They do call for cake flour, and you have to beat the egg whites separately, but that's all there is to it. (Oh, and you have to borrow your Mom's angel-food cake pan, if you don't have one yourself.) But I love how light and sponge-y they are, and how you can just eat them with your hands (if you haven't made them into a layer cake, that is).

So here's the recipe.

Lemon Chiffon Cake

2 1/4 c. cake flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder (this is 1 T.; I don't know why it doesn't say that)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. oil

1 Tbsp. lemon juice, plus cold water to measure 3/4 cup

2 tsp. grated lemon peel

2 tsp. vanilla

7 egg yolks

7 egg whites

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix the dry ingredients; then beat in oil, lemon juice-water mixture, lemon peel, vanilla, and egg yolks until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Gradually and gently fold the egg white mixture into the other mixture with a rubber spatula until blended. Pour into ungreased angel-food cake pan (tube pan). Bake at 325 until top springs back when touched lightly, about 1 1/4 hrs. Invert pan on heatproof funnel and let hang until cake is completely cool. Remove from pan, slice into thirds (I used dental floss to slice) and spread with lemon curd between layers. Frost with lemon cream.

Lemon Curd (recipe also here) (I doubled this to frost the cake)

1/2 c. lemon juice

2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 c. sugar

3 large eggs

6 Tbsps butter, cut into bits

Whisk together first 4 ingredients in saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over med-low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk, about 6 minutes. Chill for at least an hour (with plastic wrap right against the surface so it won't form a skin).

Lemon Cream

Whip some cream, add pwd. sugar to taste, stir in some of the lemon curd to taste (I used maybe 1/2 c. or so of curd?)

3

Not one, one and a half

You men will be happy to know that I finally got around to clipping off those long curls at the back of Malachi's head, just in time for his halfy birthday. He looks even more like a little man now.

Before

After

Other things this guy is doing at 18 months:

• Trying to walk downstairs standing up
• Enjoying wearing Philip's old railroad cap
• Saying millions of words, many of which would sound to the uninitiated like "ock" or "guck" or "gook" or "cack" (and many of which would, in fact, BE "ock" or "guck" or "gook" or "cack;" meaning rock, truck, book, and cake, respectively)
• Asking unintelligible multi-part questions ending in a rising, plaintive squeak
• Going to nursery at church
• Commenting on everything: airplanes, backhoes, the moon, bumps on the road ("mup! mup!")
• Helping Daddy mow the lawn
• Wanting to hug Abe's bear, Honey ("Unn-eee!")
• (Still) shaking his head "no" when he means "yes"
• Refusing to sleep without his birdie
• Playing outside
• Looking pleased with himself
• Getting things
• Laughing obediently whenever his brothers try to be funny
• Climbing things
• Falling out of, down from, and off of things
  

We love our Ky-guy!

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