Photo Dump

Jack is officially pulling up on furniture now--a mere one week after he learned how to sit up on his own. They say second children learn to move fast and boy is that true with this little guy. Unfortuantely going up, up, up means a lot of going down, down, down. He's a tough little guy though and hardly cries when he topples over.

All this standing and cruising means that we have to say goodbye to footie sleepers and hello to big boy pajamas. Its a bittersweet moment for this mama.


Xavier on a hike with Dad. That's his tiger backpack behind him.

The family and friends at cousin Matthew's 4th birthday party.

Tot School -- #3

This past week in Tot School we've been focusing on shapes. Here are the boys having a little fun with circle-shaped stickers from Kroger. Those baggers never listen to me when I ask them to only give Xavier and Jack one sticker each and instead usually give them about 10. Fortunately, Xavier only puts stickers on people right now. Jack doesn't seem to mind.


Xavier continues to love doing "crafts" which means using scissors, glue and paper in any permutation. I cut out simple shapes from construction paper--sets of three. I asked Xavier to pick out certain shapes and then we sorted them. We worked on the concepts of small, medium and large as well as shapes. Then we glued them to the paper. Xavier still hates to get his hands sticky and instead points and tells me, "Right there!" to indicate where a piece should go.



In the realm of practical life, Xavier is learning how to set a table. He's been "cooking" his Wonder Pets for quite some time now. This morning while I was doing housework, he put them in bowls, set out napkins, forks and knives, and told me to, "Come see, Mom." We had a nice imaginary Wonder Pet snack.



I scored some .25 cent watercolors during the Target back to school sale. Here's Xavier with his first attempt at using them.

Yogurt: Set It and Forget It

I've been on a scratch cooking kick lately. The thing about cooking from scratch is that once you start doing it, it becomes progressively easier. No, really. You know that you have the basics in the house: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, milk or milk powder, eggs, oils and butters, and spices. It means that whipping up a batch of muffins, pancakes, bagels, or cookies is just a matter or measuring out what you already have on hand. It is almost as easy as dumping a box mix in a bowl and adding egg and oil. But with scratch cooking you know exactly what you are feeding your family.

Xavier has loved to help cook since he was about 18 months old. I'll measure and he'll put things in the bowl. He "stirs" and then I stir after him. He can put paper cups in the muffin tin. He likes to watch things bake through the oven's glass door. One of the easiest ways to scratch cook is to find catch-all recipies. I have a basic bread recipie that can use honey, brown sugar, or any other kind of sweetener, as well as butter, olive oil, veggie oil or any other fat as the, well, fat in the recipie. I also have a basic muffin recipie to which I can add overripe bananas, raisins, even leftover mashed sweet potatoes. Scratch cooking is a great way to use up leftovers and boost nutrition at the same time.

A few weeks ago I found an online recipe for yogurt that didn't involve getting a yogurt maker (which just means one more one-use gadget cluttering my small kitchen) or using a heating pad (I'm a little squeamish about using non-cookware for dairy products). Instead this recipie used one of my favorite tools: the crockpot! Here's the recipie itself. I find that letting the yogurt sit a little longer than 8 hours (say 10-11) produces the best results. I put the finished product back into large and small yogurt containers I've saved from store-bought in the past. Just make sure to use a sharpie and masking tape to label the "use by" date on each container.

Now here's how you can extend the recipie even further. If you have fruit that is just this side of overripe, puree it in the blender and freeze into ice cubes. When you're heading out the door, pop a cube into a small single-serving container, fill up with yogurt, pop it in the diaper bag, and you're good to go with a snack.

Another way to extend the useful life of your yogurt, mix it at a 1:1 ratio with water and you have "buttermilk." Make pancakes, pound cake, salad dressing, veggie dip or any other recipie you have that calls for buttermilk. In the past I've always avoided them because really, who buys buttermilk? What do you do with the leftovers?

Lastly, don't forget to freeze a few cubes of yogurt (equal to 1/2 cup) for using to make your next batch of yogurt.

Work

I've been on a rabit trail lately about the American tradition of work. It all started when a mom at the library recommended checking out DVDs (free!) for some at home date nights with my husband. She and her spouse had just finished the Showtime series on Henry VIII called The Tudors. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry, this was high on the racy sex factor and not so much with the history. Tim and I made it through about 2-3 episodes before deciding this just wasn't worth our precious quiet time together.

But the idea of watching premium cable series through the library's DVD program triggered my memory of rave reviews of HBO's John Adams series. So I requested that and received it the next week. We both really liked this one. More history, more character development, etc. It makes me want to read the biography that the series is drawn from.

Two things stood out to me: one was how Abigail Adams seemed like a great role model for the modern homemaker. She was educated, thoughtful, supportive, hard-working, and loving. She also worked. She may have planned meals but she also scrubbed windows and floors too.

From there I ended up checking out a book from the children's library entitled Home and Child Life in Colonial Days. It was clearly too advanced for Xavier -- in fact it was just an abridged version of an adult book. But I found it fascinating. Again what impressed me was how much work occupied time back then. Even social events were centered around work: spinning, building, land clearing, and quilting just to name a few. It was considered patriotic to be self-sufficient when possible and neighborly helpful when needed. Pride came from providing for your family and your accomplishements, not from material possessions or leisurly pursuits. The latter illicited enjoyment rather than pride.

All of this makes me realize how little we actually do during each day compared to our forbearers. Sure I do a few loads of laundry a day but that mostly consists of putting things into a machine and pressing buttons. Same with washing dishes. Same with vacuuming. How much of my day do I actually spend engaged in actual work versus leisure (web surfing, talking on the telephone, reading books, sending e-mail).

The past few days I've been trying to find the joy and peace in work, actual work. Not just spot cleaning on the fly but planning and executing. The funny thing is that while I still get about the same amount done each day, I've found that my entire attitude with respect to work has changed as I try to be diligent but not perfectionist. How? I give whatever I'm doing my full attention and when I'm done, I'm done.

I've also tried to be more mindful about what I find satisfaction in. Is it the neatly made bed and tidy room or is it the fashionably painted bedroom and coordinating bedding?

Views from the Hidden Homestead

Clockwise from upper left:

1. The compost bin that Tim and I built. It holds over 54 cubic feet of compost.
2. My garden clogs and well worn gloves ready for 5 minutes of work here and there.
3. Baby clothes hanging in the sunshine.
4. Clothespin basket.
5. Reissentraube heirloom tomatoes.
6. Bird bath left by previous owner. A favorite stalking spot for the local cats.
7. Hand tools for spot gardening.
8. Birdhouse painted by Lexy.
9. The potted herb garden which provided basil for tonight's pesto.

We love our backyard! It is beautiful and functional. I hope to extend the vegetable garden into another bed. Of course our front yard is a fright. Just your standard shrubs and desperately in need of weeding.

Tot School -- Sensorial

We're back on the Tot School wagon. Actually, we never really stopped, I just stopped posting about it. I've been taking a combined approach to Xavier's early education--Montessori meets Charlotte Mason for the most part. In layman's terms, self-directed progressive learning mixed in with lots of books and outdoor time.

I've been trying to make most of our Montessori materials. In addition to being much less expensive, most of the materials are easy and fun to make with a little bit of ingenuity. I find the suggestions in Elizabeth Hainstock's Teaching Montessori in the Home very helpful in coming up with alternatives. I love looking at the "real" materials at Kid Advance and other similar websites and figuring out how to make similar items from what we have available. Fortunately, my materials don't need to be quite as durable as those for a classroom of 10-20 kids.

I do find though that beauty in the materials themselves is very important. Xavier (and perhaps all kids his age) has a keen eye for asthetics and beautiful materials draw his attention unlike anything I've ever seen. Here's Xavier with a set of color tablets that I painted using some wooden blanks. They are meant to be homemade versions of these. I'm fairly happy with they way they turned out.

I have introduced these to Xavier before but each time he got easily distracted or frustrated. Each time I put them away for a few weeks before trying again. I suspect if I had Montessori training, I'd have a more sophisticated assessment of his response but I figure if it isn't fun or educational, we just shouldn't do it for now. To my surprise this week he was fascinated by them. He quickly caught on to the names of the colors, the concept of matching and even making patterns with them. After about 15 minutes, he progressed to turning them into imaginary doors by saying, "Open, shut. I shut doors. I open doors!" While this sort of imaginative play might be frowned upon by Montessori purists, I couldn't help but smile. My boy has an exquisite imagination.



We later moved on to cutting paper. Xavier is getting more and more adept at puting his fingers and thumbs into the scissors and cutting little strips of paper.

This week I'll try to paint more tablets to be ready for when Xavier is ready to graduate to this activity.

Photo Dump!

When I haven't posted in a long time I rely on a nice set of cute kid photos to put me back in my readers' good graces.

Xavier holding his new clothes! Thanks grandma!

Jack with his new rompers.

I don't love that big huge blue recliner that came as a package deal with my husband four years ago but it does hold the folks I love quite nicely.

You've heard of duelling pianos? We've got duelling laptops!

Jack in a self-made baby in a blanket burrito.

My Future Golf Partner

Happy Birthday, Dad! Thanks for teaching me how to play (and buying pretty much every piece of equipment I own!). I'm passing along the family obsession. We're on our way to having a foursome!

Just a few photos

Xavier in his new ABC "jama top."

Jack just on the verge of crawling.

The Stepdaughter Formerly Known As...

My stepdaughter formerly known as Hunter has decided that she prefers to go by "Lexy" which is her middle name. Since the schools around here have two more weeks to go, and camp doesn't start until then, she decided to pass the time with a lemonade stand. We're also hoping it helps us get acquainted with some of the older neighborhood kids. Fortunately our house is the bus stop for our block.

Lexy and I had a good time putting pen to paper to figure out how much it cost to make a pitcher of lemonade (do YOU know how much a cup of sugar costs?) and then she surveyed a few adults (me and Dad) to see what price the market would bear.

So at 25 cents a cup, you can have some nice cool lemonade. Today was her grand opening and she's already made about $4.00. Xavier drank up some of the profits via his sippy cup but that's apparently the price of good help these days.

How I Spent My Spring Vacation

What a fantastic treat it was to be able to take off a week and half to go to North Carolina with my family. Xavier is quite the little car traveller. Jack needs a little more time to adjust. Poor thing just needs a break every hour or so. As a result we spent two more days in transit than originally planned. We even briefly considered turning around and going back to Texas but thankfully decided to sleep on that decision. We turned the corner that night.

I jokingly called this the Meet the (Grand)Parents tour as it was the first opportunity for Jack to meet my Dad and stepmom (Papa & MiMi) and my in-law's (Grandma & Grandpa). Of course the boys were just spoiled silly with gifts, hugs and kisses. Xavier warmed up to his Papa who fed him full of eggs, biscuits and toast for breakfast. Grandma's gift of a cement truck is still being slept with by Xavier.

My folks generously let us use their cottage in Highlands as our "home base." for the trip. The views of the mountain range in the morning and sunsets in the evening were breathtaking. We had a great hike on Whiteside Mountain. The next day we took it a little easier and did the walking trail at the Highland's nature center. I enjoyed all the labelling they have on the plants and trees. It makes me want to prepare a little more for our next trip so Xavier can learn some new words. The last day in the mountains we actually drove just across the border to SC where we found an incredible trail. It is about 72 miles long and runs from Georgia to South Carolina. Tim and I think it would make a great backpacking route once the boys are a bit older.

The biggest revelation of the this trip is that if we are going to drive to North Carolina, we need to spend much, much more time there. Next year we hope to spend a few weeks there.

Look Who's Two!

Hard to believe that I've been at this mothering thing for two years now today. Seems like yesterday that they lifted this beautiful little boy over the drape in the OR. His hands were splayed, his eyes were wide open, and his little mouth was shaped in a perfect "O." It was as if he was saying, "Now this is something COMPLETELY different!" From that first face-to-face moment, my life changed forever. I am so very blessed to have such a dear little one.

We celebrated with a small family birthday party after Dad got home from work and Xavier woke up from his nap. We had the birthday cake that Xavier and I made that morning (the kid loves to bake so I figured there was no hard and fast rule that birthday cakes HAD to be surprises). Then we opened presents.

Light up Spiderman shoes:

A kiddie laptop:

A garbage truck.

He also got a homemade felt pizza kit which I made for him by hand and a set of clay sculpting tools. But his absolute favorite part of today (if you haven't already guessed from the photos) were the two balloons I ran out and got him at the last minute. He held onto those balloons pretty much for the rest of the day. We did leave them at home when we took Xavier to the big park to play for an hour or so on the playground, and I finagled them out of his hands for bathtime but other than that, he wouldn't let them go. Simple pleasures.

Here's a video of him playing with the truck:

Baby Laughs

More baby laughing video. Jack's laugh is infectious!

A is for...

...apples, alligator, art and apple pie. Last week we focused on things beginning with the letter "A." I think it is probably too early for Xavier to really recognize and understand letters but by focusing on different letters it helps give a little focus and structure to our tot school activities.

Xavier loved cutting up apples for the pie and has since used the chopper for pears too. Because it doesn't really have sharp edges, it is a great montessori-styled way to get him involved in cooking.

Xavier is often spontaneously leaving little art installations around the house. Here's his little car with styrofoam cups for beams of light. I know this because when I asked him what it was he pointed to each cup and said, "Light, light, light, light." We also did some cut and paste projects of an alligator and an apple. Xavier is just starting to get the hang of the safety scissors (or snips-nips as he calls them!) but still doesn't quite get the concept of glue.

Do You Reject Satan?

I'm a little late on posting this but Jack was baptised last Sunday. It was a very special day for all of us. In attendance were Jack's godparents and their three young children, Xavier's godparents, and Brooke, the mom of Xavier's BFF, Ethan. Unlike his big brother, Jack didn't cry at all and even seemed to enjoy having water poured over his little noggin.



If you have never been to a Catholic baptism (or don't happen to remember your own) there are a few things to remember:

• Your parents and godparents must formally reject Satan and all his works in your name
• You are annointed with special oils (chrism) that makes you smell like a head shop
• One of the places you are annointed is on your chest so more than likely you will need to partially disrobe from your fancy schmancy baptismal clothes
• Someone will make you wear a hat made out of a hankerchief
• You get souveniers including a baptismal certificate, a baptismal candle, a little garment, and a bottle of your baptismal water
• You are encouraged to celebrate your baptismal day as much if not more heartily than your birthday

Deacon Gordon, Tim, Jack, me, and Jack's godparents, Laurie and Pete.

Xavier with his godparents.

Sweet, sweet boys

Before I had kids of my own, I had no idea what I would do with sons. Being one of many sisters I only knew about girls. My, oh my is raising sons a hoot. Who knew they could be so sweet?

This is the sweet smiling face that greets my bleary-eyed one each morning.

This is a "flower" that Xavier picked for me from the back yard. Of course it immediately went on display in a crystal vase.

A Mother's Rule of Live: Partner

Continuing on (slowly but surely) with Holly Pierlot's book, the next "P" in her five-part plan to developing a rule is to focus on partner. I found this chapter to be the most inspirational and helpful to me in a practical sense.

Perhaps one of the most valuable parts is her exploration of submission vs. equality in a Christian marriage. I know several very devout Christian women who adhere to some form of submissiveness in their marriage in an effort to fufill what they see as God's will. They cite Ephesians and Genesis. They use analogies like CEO and CFO. They talk about the practicalities of the husband's choice being the "tie-breaker" when they can't come to an agreement.

Holly herself had a long period of her marriage where she followed this concept. She would give her opinion to her husband and then leave the decision making up to him. Of course you can only imagine how much resentment this approach can cause over time. Then when she searched the catechism and papal encyclicals for the specifically Catholic approach to submission to marriage she was surprised to discover that there was no such provision.

On the contrary, again and again it is stressed that without equality there can be no real communion in marriage but also that both partners are called to the self-sacrifice and submission to vocation that is required by love.

In other words, the opposite of a shrewish wife isn't a submissive one...it is a partner willing to improve herself and her call to love as much if not more than she is desirous to change the thoughts and actions of her husband.

While I've never really followed the concept of a submissive wife, I do have a habit of throwing up my hands in certain situations and saying (if only in my head), okay, YOU deal with it. What a wonderful alternative to that. We are called to work together, with egos in check, to progress to our mutual goals.

The other nugget that I loved was this one:
I realized that I have no right to try to control my husband, because it wasn't reasonable to dictate to a grown man how he should live his life, what TV shows he could and could not watch, or what he was allowed to think or feel.

I added my own list to hers. I have no right to dictate how:

• The dishwasher should be loaded
• What he should eat for a healthy diet
• How he should handle his relationships with other people

Finally, she gets to how to incorporate these concepts into one's rule. Basically, make sure to set aside time to nurture these virtues in marriage. For me that means giving my husband first priority once the boys are asleep at night. We've discovered that there are very few television shows that we like equally so while he will tolerate an episode of Medium and I will watch a basketball game with him, it helps to also have a few things that we can both do together that doesn't always feel like submission to the other.

For us, reading aloud has been a big hit. I usually do most of the reading and we often stop to discuss the story, the characters and how it relates to our lives. Sometimes we talk about the technique of the author or how easy or difficult it is to read the sentence structure while sight reading. We really enjoyed A River Runs Through It but the author's winding style kept me on my read-aloud toes. We had a good laugh about how the author portrays the conflict and tension in his marriage that is far outweighed by mutual love. Right now we are working our way through a few Sherlock Holmes stories. We are also in search of some board games that will interest us both.

In addition to being entertaining, I find these activities to be very beneficial to making me a more loving and giving wife and make me happier in my marriage. I think there is some wisdom in Holly Pierlot's focus on Prayer and Person prior to addressing Partner. If I am keeping up with my relationship with God and making sure my basic personal needs are met, I'm much more likely to choose the loving action in my marriage over the selfish one.

Lucy Ricardo Goes Green

Note to self: do not, I repeat, do NOT turn your compost pile on a windy day. Especially if you have fire ants in one corner. And shredded newspaper on the top. Good news is that I was a bit of comic relief for the workers on my neighbors roof. Better news is that my pile is composting well. Best news is that I'm now a little more motivated to keep composting.

Photos!

Okay this one is totally posed. Jack is still too young to do this on his own BUT he does prefer tummy time while on his boppy pillow. He's working hard each day to be able to do a baby style push up but he's not quite there yet.

Hunter and Xavier enjoying Xavier's favorite television show: Oswald. The lead character in the cartoon is voiced by Fred Savage of Wonder Years and Henry the penguin is done by the same actor who played Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley.

Xavier colors a picture of Corduroy, his favorite literary character.

Xavier will make a great daddy one day with his enthusiasm for changing diapers...even if it is only on a plush green frog.

Room Changes

This week is spring break for my husband and we've been spending the time changing rooms around, making repairs, and culling stuff to donate to Goodwill. Xavier and Jack now share a room in theory--Jack really still sleeps in our room. We set up the second crib for Jack, converted Xavier's crib to a daybed, and put the majority of the toys in the larger of the two kids rooms. We also got a waterstain on the ceiling repaired by professionals, no small task given the high demand for qualified, bonded contractors around here.

The old nursery is now Hunter's room which also serves as a guest room when she isn't here. She arrives for her spring break this weekend. Tim and I have given her a budget to deorate and personalize her room. At this point, all I know for sure is that lime green paint will be involved! She loves HGTV and sometimes toys with the idea of becoming an interior designer so she is looking forward to her first project.

Together Tim and I built shelves in what will now be my craft/office/education closet. They still need to be painted and I need to do a bit more organizing but I wanted to get things out of Hunter's room ASAP so she has a clean slate to work with.

Our bedroom now has the old bookshelf which Tim is using as a bedside table as well. I stashed the rocker in the corner and have a makeshift computer nook/place to rock the baby. It's a little crowded in here right now but that will change in a few months when Jack moves into the boys' room and we can take down the pack-n-play.


The only things left to do after Hunter's visit and room redo is replace the trim around the back door and replace the carpet in the living room.