Pink Frog

So there is one particular category of food that I used to completely avoid: Jello salads.

Growing up, we used to eat this 1950's holdover from time to time as--all of you southerners know it's true--the salad course. How, in any way, is Jello salad a salad? My Granny would put fruit in the Jello and Cool Whip on top, which has always seemed a lot more like a dessert to me, even way back when I was eight or ten years old and started to notice it. My goodness, if you could have dessert instead of a salad at every meal, maybe the 50's were the golden years of America! Has anyone considered this?!

Okay, facetiousness aside, the fact still remains that Jello salad was not my cup of tea. Part of my problem is that I just didn't really care for Jello for many years. It probably wasn't until I was almost out of college that I started to enjoy it every so often. Actually, now that I think of it, it might have had something to do with it being the only dessert I could eat on the South Beach Diet. . . . I digress. The point is, I had no appreciation for Jello in any form for a long time, but Jello salad, in particular, was not a favorite of mine.

And I don't think I was alone. Every year, when the potluck brunch at Mom to Mom rolled around, alongside the food categories such as "bread," "salad," and "dessert," there was "Jello salad." A lot of my friends and I cracked up at this. It just seemed so comically out of place for a group of ten women to be expected to bring. My generation just doesn't make a lot of Jello salad, you know? The only friend who did not think this was such a bad thing was Sara, who evidently liked Jello salad just fine. She bore the barbs thrown at Jello salad with a smile on her face, but we didn't change her opinion at all. She was just fine with that sixty-year-old throwback.

But I will tell you something. I have been converted. After one of my babies was born, Sara brought over dinner, and Pink Salad was part of it. Yes, it was a Jello salad. And it tasted so incredibly good. It was homey and unfussy, which made it even more comforting, and it was sweet and yummy. I had seen the light.

This Christmas, my mother-in-law made an unfortunately-named Jello salad called Pink Frog. Evidently, it hails from their InterVarsity days at Rice, and it was someone's mother's recipe, so we have no idea why it is called Pink Frog. Don't let the name turn you off, though; it's great. It's fruity and light and has cottage cheese in it. Below is the 21st century lightened version. If you've always been against Jello salad, give it a try (though maybe as a dessert instead of a salad). You might be surprised.

--

Pink Frog

8 oz. fat free Cool Whip
8 oz. regular Cool Whip
12 oz. low fat cottage cheese
.6 oz. box (8 servings--large box) Sugar Free Strawberry Jello
12 oz. fresh or canned fruit (blueberries are especially good)

Mix it all together and serve chilled.

Merry Christmas from the Beneshes!

Vintage Picture Frame Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

All I Want for Christmas

Heard at Our House Today

Funny:
In all sincerity:
"Nooooooo Daddy! Don't throw the pumpkin away! It's a Christmas pumpkin!"
"Can I throw it away tomorrow?"
"Yes."

-----

Endearing:
Upon hearing "Away in a Manger" come on the Christmas music channel:
"Mommy, that man sing about Jesus in the manger! That man sing a Christmas song!"

-----

Less endearing:
"Mommy, I a hammer and you a nail! I hammer you to the wall!"

Christmas Tour

We have (finally) pretty much put together our living room in our house. It took a while, because we took our time choosing furniture, and we are saving up for each piece as we go. Having come from a small apartment with a very small living room and moving to a house with both a living room and a small family room, we basically had an entire cavernous living room to furnish after arriving in Texas six months ago.

You know what, though? Setting up our Christmas decorations has really made the room feel much more put together. I am sad to think about taking them down, because they really do add a lot of personality and homeyness that the room is missing. It's just rather bare, otherwise. We are still working on filling it up, but we are going slow, because we'd rather carefully choose pieces we love than throw a bunch of stuff on the walls that we don't really like just to take up space.

Anyway, here's a tour of our living room, decorated for Christmas!

This is the little foyer area, which is right inside the front door. I have no idea why there is a mantle there, but we figured it's as good a place for stockings as any.

This is the view from that foyer area into the rest of our living room. As you can see, we have a lot more decorating to do, as I mentioned. We need some bookshelves, for one thing, some pictures to hang on the walls, and an accent chair or two. But we have come a really long way.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding, which is on the mantle year round anyway, but seems especially appropriate this time of year, since we got married in December.
I bought the artificial sugared fruit tree several years ago because it reminded me of one that my Grandma Marge had that she and her mother had made decades ago. Boy, did I get a sentimental feeling when I bought that tree.

Here are the kiddos' stockings. I love the embroidery font.

And here are Nathan's and mine.

I love this bookcase. If I had a pride and joy among my furniture pieces, this would be it. I have had my eye on this bookcase for about six years, and it was the first thing I bought to go in our house. It is very, very, very me.

Here, again, are the candy canes that Noah and I made. The tile with the Christmas tree on it was something that Noah made in Mother's Day Out this year.

A Harvard ornament that I gave to Nathan last year.

My mom makes these quilted ornaments, and she made about 300 of them to send home with guests as favors for my wedding.

My brother, Ken, and me in 1984.

And one of my favorite things on our tree: the angel that Noah made last week in Mother's Day Out. I love how his face is tiny and off center! Ha!

So there you have it, guys! A Christmas tour of the Benesh living room!

Advent Fun

Here's an update on some of the advent stuff we've been doing. I've been quite casual about it--most of the things that we do are not very complicated or are things we'd do during the Christmas season, anyway, like decorating the tree or reading Christmas books while eating peppermint ice cream (which Noah said was "the best treat ever"). I thought this daily advent business would be a really big hassle, but it really hasn't been, and that has made it that much more fun.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do about an advent calendar, but while I was at the craft store, some scrapbook paper with a nativity scene on it caught my eye. At first, I wasn't sure what I'd do with it, but I ended up drawing a bunch of gold stars on it and writing the activities for each day on them. Here's a pic before I did all the writing:

The other day, we went to a Christmas fair in Rice Village. They were supposed to have snow. Well, it cracked us up, because although it was obvious that at one time it had, indeed, been snow, by the time we got there, it was solidified, icy slush. Nathan and I laughed, because it was just the type of stuff you don't want to walk on after it snows. Regardless of that, though, Noah had a great time slipping around on it.

Although he looks like he's busting a pretty sweet dance move, this face is actually in response to an intensely minty piece of gum.

Noah got to ride a train, which was pretty exciting for him. But I actually think the gum might have been the highlight of his evening.

We've made Christmas Rice Krispies treats, . . .

. . . and pipe cleaner candy canes . . .

. . . and reindeer candy canes . . .

. . . and a pipe cleaner and pom pom wreath ornament.

We're also going to go look at Christmas lights, we've been reading the Christmas story from time to time, we're making Christmas cookies to give away, and so on. I think this Advent thing is going to be a great tradition.

Maple Walnut Spice Sandwich Cookies

While looking for a cookie recipe to use some walnuts in, I found one that I altered to bring you this:


Maple Walnut Spice Sandwich Cookies

Cookies:
1/4 cup walnuts
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 large egg

Frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon milk
2 tsp. softened butter
--
1/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, pulse the walnuts until fine. Add the flour and next six ingredients (through cloves) and pulse to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and butter on high until fluffy, about four minutes. Add two tablespoons of maple syrup and the egg; beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.

Spoon batter into evenly sized mounds about a tablespoon each (I just used my measuring spoon). Space them about an inch apart. Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes, or until just browned. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes on the pan; then, move the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

After the cookies are cool, prepare the frosting. Combine the powdered sugar, brown sugar, butter, and maple syrup with a whisk until smooth. To make the sandwiches, spoon 1-2 tablespoons on a cookie and spread with the back of a spoon so that it reaches the edges and is even. Place another cookie on top and twist slightly to press the frosting out a bit and to seal the cookies together. Roll the edge of the sandwich through the chopped walnuts. Refrigerate to set the cookies.

Enjoy!

Weekend Plans

To celebrate our anniversary, Nathan and I are going to SPEND A NIGHT AWAY this weekend. This is a big deal, because I don't think we've been away from our kid(s) overnight since my 30th birthday, which was over a year ago. And before that, we had never been away from Noah overnight. So this is a rare and much needed treat.

We're going to spend the night at the hotel in downtown Houston where we spent our wedding night. Here's our itinerary:

• Sleep
  
• Read a book
• Order room service
• Watch a movie
• Sleep
• Order room service
• Sleep
• Sleep

So exciting, isn't it? But we can't think of anything we'd rather do. In part, we need the rest. But we are also just looking forward to spending time alone together without any other responsibilities pulling us away.

We are hoping that we can go back to the place where we spent our honeymoon for our tenth anniversary. We stayed in Lake Louise, in Banff, Alberta. The Canadian Rockies are spectacular in winter, of course, and because we went in mid-December, the hotel was quiet. We had so much fun and enjoyed the mountains and snow (I love those things--I'd choose the mountains over the beach any day). We hiked around the fantastically beautiful lake, through a frozen canyon, we went ice skating (or I should say that I attempted it), went dog sledding, etc. It was wonderful, and we are really looking forward to going back. So, hopefully, this weekend is a precursor to this:

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

But for now, I'm happy to return to this for a night:

The Lancaster Hotel

I Love The Sound of Music More Than I Thought

Our seventh wedding anniversary is coming up in a few days. We had such a pretty wedding. I know I'm biased, but really, even now I don't think I would change anything.

You know what's so funny? Several months ago, I watched The Sound of Music, and I noticed something I've never noticed before. Now, I grew up on that movie. I remember actually playing a record of it in my room at a time when I couldn't have been more than four or five years old. I've loved it for a long, long time and seen it many, many times. So imagine my surprise and amusement when it got to the wedding scene and I realized something:
I patterned my wedding after the wedding scene from The Sound of Music! And I didn't even know it!
Oh my goodness, y'all. I had no idea how much that wedding scene had sunk into my little brain all those times I watched it as a child. Evidently, Maria's wedding is my ideal.

Okay, are you ready for this? Here are the similarities:

1. Ball gown
2. Train on the gown
   
3. Cathedral length veil (longer than the gown)
4. I very nearly bought a dress with long sleeves
   
5. High church feel: center aisle; tall, stained glass windows; formal
   
6. Organ
7. I even tried to hire a choir

Here's the video from the movie:

And here is a picture from our wedding:

The funny thing is that The Sound of Music never even popped into my head while I planned our wedding. Things just kind of fell into place the way they did; I just liked the Cathedral length veil. I just liked the high church feel of the sanctuary where we had the ceremony. And I still think they're beautiful. But this sure does amuse me.

Jane's New Stats

Jane had her nine month well baby checkup today. She is doing great! Here are her new stats:

Length: 29.5 inches (still off the charts)
Weight: 19 lbs. 3 oz.

She has gained very little weight in the last two months, since her last visit, so that's something to watch, but overall she is in great shape! I guess she is just long and lean, though the weight may be related to the fact that she didn't eat any solid foods for about a week because of a stomach bug. Anyway, the doctor said that she seems smart [insert proud mama here], and that she will most likely be quite tall, around 5'9" or 5'10".

That's that!

Nine Months Old!

Warning: You are about to behold some serious cuteness.

I think she might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. It's something about that hat.

Jane is nine months old today!

I love this age. She is getting more and more of a personality, and it is just plain fun. She laughs all the time, plays with her brother more and more, and follows us around all the time. She loves Cheerios and cuddling. She is very active these days and tries to roll over every time she's getting her diaper changed. She still only has two teeth, and they are darn cute when she smiles. She loves her brother and her daddy a whole lot, but she is ever the mama's girl.

Here are my two cuties.
Love my babies!

And a few words about my Noah: the boy loves flashlights. He is slightly obsessed with them right now. He also loves water guns. Whenever he goes to bed these days, he has to have both items with him. He's a good runner and a very kind brother, but he still considers the potty a nuisance that he doesn't need to interrupt life to deal with. Regardless of that, he is getting smarter and cuter and bigger all the time, and I love him lots.

Candy Cane Hunt!

The candy cane hunt was the first activity on our advent calendar (thanks for the suggestion, Katie!). It was a hit.

I videoed Noah during part of the hunt. It's a little bit long, and you see most of the fun in the first 30 seconds or so, just so you know.

And here's Noah, after the hunt was over. He'd never had a candy cane before and really liked them, although you can't tell from his expression. I think he was concentrating on eating the hard candy, which he hasn't had much of.

I would just like to add that, yes, he does sometimes wear pants. ;)

Yay Christmas!

The Christmas Banner

Did any of you have an advent calendar in your home growing up? We did, but we didn't call it that. My Grandma Marge made Ken and me a Christmas banner. It was made of red corduroy, hung on the wall, and it had little loops sewn on it so that you could tie little gifts to them. Each loop was labeled with a date--I think it went from December 12 to the 25th--and, in the midst of GREAT excitement, my mom would hang the banner every year, with lots of little wrapped gifts attached to it.

Y'all, you cannot imagine the anticipation with which Ken and I regarded that banner. We could not wait for it to make its appearance every year. And the first thing we did every morning--indeed, the first thought we had upon waking--was to ruuuun to the banner and open the day's gift.

Looking back, the gifts were just little things, but to us they were treasures. We might get a $1 bill, rolled up and wrapped in paper. Or perhaps a candy bar. And always, for some reason, at some point along the way, we'd unwrap a toothbrush. To this day, Mom still puts a toothbrush in our stockings. I have no idea why she started doing that, but now she can't stop, because it has gone on for so long that it has become tradition.

Of course, having such good memories about the Christmas banner makes me want to do the same thing for my kids. But I think I'll do it a little differently. Instead of opening a gift each day, I'm planning to announce a different Christmas activity every day. A girl I know grew up doing it that way, and I love the idea. There are plenty of gifts flying around this time of year; I like the idea of focusing on one thing to do together every day, instead. And according to my friend, she and her brothers and sisters were no less excited about pulling the note out of the advent calendar every day than Ken and I were about unwrapping our lip gloss or cap gun.

The problem for the parent, though, is that you have to think up so many activities! So I brainstormed the other day and came up with several. We're going to do crafts, sing Christmas carols, go look at Christmas lights, make an ornament, go to a Christmas fair, read the Christmas story, bake cookies to eat, bake cookies to give away, make a Happy Birthday Jesus cake, and so on. Not every activity has to be extremely complicated or involved; the main point is just to do something Christmas-related.

To me, the entire Christmas season is so much about joy. I'm so excited about imparting simple joy to our kids through our advent calendar. And I imagine that we will also use it to impart joy to others from time to time, by using it to get our kids involved in service projects. Even this year, I'll have Noah help me bake cookies for neighbors and family members. I love the Christmas season, and I want to make it vibrant and full of life for our children, so I'm excited about this project. We will start tomorrow, December 1st, and run through the 24th or 25th. I can't wait!

Here's to Christmas spirit!

Christmas Cards

Hey peeps!

So now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to start thinking about Christmas, isn't it?

Raise your hand if you've already decorated your house for Christmas.
Raise your hand if you've already done some Christmas baking.
Raise your hand if you've already got your Christmas cards done.

As for me, I'm afraid I can't raise my hand for any of those yet. We are going decoration shopping today, though, and we brought home a Christmas tree yesterday, so we are well on our way to having some holiday spirit in our home! And Noah doesn't know it yet, but we are going to be baking Christmas cookies and a Happy Birthday Jesus cake as part of our 25-day advent calendar (which will be all activities instead of little gifts).

And as for Christmas cards, well, let's just say that Lauren is not very good about Christmas cards. There have been many years when we didn't mail any out at all, but since we've had kids, I've gotten better about it. There are just a few things that are difficult about Christmas cards: compiling addresses, hand writing all those addresses, and not to mention getting a picture in which all the participants look good (a real challenge with kids!). But do you know what is fun? Picking out the card!

I always use Shutterfly for our Christmas cards. Lots of us use them for lots of things, don't we? From cards to birth announcements. Their desk calendars and wall calendars make good gifts for grandparents, too, I've found. I've been browsing Christmas cards for this year, and here are some of my favorites:

I like the red in this one--I'm partial to red in anything Christmas related, anyway:

I also really like this one. There's brown in our family picture, so this is a possibility for our family's card this year:

I think this one is fun and festive:

I also tend to gravitate towards cards that have black and white pictures contrasted with a color on the card. This is a good example:

But I also love this one. "Joy" is something I love to put on Christmas cards, and this one has such a happy looking text--it looks sparkly. :) And I like that they paired it with a picture of laughing kids. That's a great idea. It just all comes together nicely. I only wish you could read the text a little better, but that could be corrected by lightening the picture, I'd think.


I'd better wrap it up for today, friends. We have Christmas shopping to do!!

Have a happy Monday!

Turkey Day!

Did everyone have a happy Thanksgiving? I sure hope so!

I thought that today would be a good day to recount our Thanksgiving stories. Did you have something funny happen? Did someone say they were thankful for something especially sweet? Did your favorite corn casserole totally bomb? Let's all leave a comment with a little nugget from our day.

Here's mine: Though we didn't have anything truly exciting like a five foot fireball this year, we had a very nice Thanksgiving. Right now, we're heading out to go camping with my parents (first time for the kiddos!), so that is our exciting thing for this year. What's yours?

Bonnie's Pumpkin Bread (or Rolls)

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving, all!

As I've mentioned, I'm not making our entire Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, but you probably could have guessed that I would not be able to get through this holiday without getting excited about trying out some new dish.

Well, this year it's rolls made from Bonnie's pumpkin bread recipe. Bonnie is a good friend of mine from Boston, and she is known for her fantastic baked goods (particularly her baby shower cakes, but that's another post). Anyway, sometime last fall, she brought over a lovely pumpkin bread. It was not a sweet bread; it was a yeast bread, and it was quite delicious. Upon request, Bonnie sent me her recipe, and I'm hoping to adapt it tomorrow to make rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. Besides being lovely and autumnal because of the pumpkin, it is also a tiny bit sweet because of the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. However, those ingredients don't make it too sweet; in fact, when I've mentioned before that there is vanilla in the recipe, I've gotten surprised looks. It is definitely fit to be an accoutrement to the turkey or another fall main dish rather than relegated to the dessert table.

Rather than baking it away in the bread machine or in a loaf pan, I plan to have the bread machine mix the dough for me, then I'll bake balls of the dough in a muffin pan sprayed with nonstick spray at 350 for about 10-15 min. The recipe below is simply for a loaf baked in the bread machine, but you can adapt it as you see fit. Enjoy!

--

Bonnie's Pumpkin Bread

3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon brandy extract or vanilla extract (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil
2-1/3 cups bread flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/3 cup chopped pecans

If using a bread machine, bake on the White/Basic cycle. You can add the pecans at the beginning, or, if you don't want them to break up as much, you can add them after the first kneading cycle.

Enjoy!

2010: The Churchless Year

Y'all, seriously, something's got to give. We have missed so much church this year. Like, a lot. It's ridiculous. I am sure we've been home more Sundays than we've been at church.

Starting in about January, this was the cycle: we go to church. The following Tuesday, Noah comes down with a cold, which he caught in the church nursery. He is still sick and has a runny nose on the following Sunday, and not wanting to be the parents who get the next kid sick, we stay home. Oftentimes, he is still not completely well even a week after that, meaning that after one Sunday at church, we're home for two weeks.

Then, Jane arrived in early March. I am not in the take-your-baby-to-church-as-early-as-possible camp. Mostly because of the fear of germs attacking my precious, innocent, developing newborn. And also because I had major surgery and wasn't doing much of anything for at least a month or two.

We had a couple of months when everyone was generally well and we were going to church, but even then, we skipped some because of Nathan's dissertation busyness, sickness, feeling that it's a bit pointless when you're walking a fussy baby in the lobby for most of the service, etc.

In late May, we moved halfway across the country, which marked a whole new interruption in our church life. For the first couple of months, we were using our weekends to move, go out of town, be with family, etc. Then, we started visiting churches, and--you guessed it--we started the cold cycle again. Nursery, Tuesday cold, stay home the next week. Or Nathan is sick. Or Lauren is falling-on-the-floor exhausted from a night with a wakeful baby. Or something. There is always something!!!!

We talked about this issue this weekend, because we really do need to find a church and settle into a church family. For one thing, we miss the fellowship. We also miss the instruction and edification that comes from a church service. And I'll tell you what I thought of today to add to the list: friends for Noah. I mean, he does have little friends at Mother's Day Out and stuff, but I realized we really need to be building relationships with families who have kids his age so that we all have a reason to have play dates and whatnot. At this age, the key to finding friends for our kids is finding the parents first. Poor Noah misses his friends in Boston when we mention them.

Anyway, as Nathan and I were discussing this dadgum churchless year this weekend, we did bring up the point that one parent could take the well child and go to church, even if one kid is sick. But the reason we haven't done that is because neither of us relishes the idea of visiting a church (very possibly a new one) by ourselves with half of our family missing. And there's yet another reason we need to find a good church and settle in!

So that's our conundrum. Having a church family is so important. Fellowship is so important, as is accountability. Not to mention having some time to refocus on the Lord. So we are really hopeful that everyone stays well for a while, especially in this busy season. Hopefully 2011 will be the year of building relationships and much spiritual growth.

Daniel and Meghan's Wedding Reception

Three weeks ago, we headed up to Waco for a very special occasion: the wedding reception for Nathan's brother, Daniel, and his bride, Meghan.

It was a reception only, because Daniel and Meghan were already married--they actually eloped in August! Now, if I were to ever know someone who might choose to elope, Daniel would be the person. It just suits him.

Since the happy couple lives in Atlanta, this was the first time Nathan and I met Meghan. She struck me as very sweet and upbeat. And I like that she seems to be Daniel's perfect foil, complementing him in many ways, yet still sharing a lot of his interests. They actually met swing dancing; isn't that fun?

And evidently, Meghan and I are interchangeable. Of all people, on separate occasions both Jane and my mom thought Meghan was me! We figured it was the hair. And at one point, Meghan sidled up to Nathan, thinking he was Daniel from behind. So funny!

I'd post some pictures of the family-filled weekend, but firstly, I didn't take very many at all, and secondly, the ones I took were terrible. I am just going to wait until the professional photos become available, and then I'll post one or two, if I get the chance. In the meantime, this is the best pic I have of the two of them from the weekend. They were meeting Jane for the first time.


And here's a wedding picture that I swiped from Meghan's Facebook page.


Congratulations, guys! We can't wait to spend more time with you at Christmas!

Sweeties and Smarties

Some sweet things heard lately at our house:

Jane has started calling me "Mama!" I can't believe my eight month old is saying "Mama!" At first, I thought it might be accidental, but over the past two weeks or so, it's become pretty clear that she calls me when she wants me to come over and feed her or pick her up. If I step away from her high chair while feeding her to go grab something, she calls out, "Mamamamama!!!" I'm so delighted about that! Also, I think most kids say "Dada" first; it's supposed to be easier to say than "Mama." But not Janey. Nope. She loves her Daddy, too, but that girl is a Mama's girl through and through.

This morning, I was trying a little dress on Jane that I'm going to have her wear for our family photo session this weekend, and as I was taking it off her, Noah said, "No, Mommy, no! No take off Jane's princess dress!" I thought that was so cute and sweet! Evidently, Noah approves of the dress.


Smarty pants:

Noah's curiosity has really been ramping up lately. He is constantly asking me where things come from. For example, yesterday he asked me where macaroni and cheese comes from. He asked me where bread comes from. He asked me where peas come from. Thankfully, most of it has been about food--so far, he hasn't asked where babies come from. ;)

The other day, he was helping me add ingredients to the bread machine, and we were talking about each ingredient we added. When we poured in the salt, he said, "What salt do?" So I told him it makes the bread taste good. Then we poured in the gluten, and he said, "Gluten makes bread fluffy." I stood there with my mouth open for a minute, stunned that he remembered that from when I've said it to him the last couple of times we've made bread. I mean, I didn't know that until I was like 28. (How do you explain the chemistry of bread baking to a two year old, anyway? I guess I hit on something, because "Gluten makes bread fluffy" seems to have stuck.) Nathan and I are getting really amazed at the things that he remembers us say, word for word. He is really a sponge right now.

Feasting

This Thanksgiving marks the first one in our marriage when I will not be making an entire Thanksgiving feast (including the turkey). Since we lived halfway across the country from our families, and since flying home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas didn't make a whole lot of sense in a grad student's budget, we always celebrated in Boston. We hosted family for two of those years, and every other year we celebrated with friends.

This year, though, we'll be having Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Which means it's the first time in six years that I will not be making a turkey.

I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I mean, I love being the Thanksgiving host. I love food (big shocker), and I love thinking up all kinds of different things that people might like. I love having a big crowd at my house. I loved having our friends over and making them our family for the day. And there's something about a turkey crackling in my oven that makes me feel like the ultimate homemaker and hostess.

BUT, I also love the thought of not waking up at 6am and putting my hands all up in the business end of a giant raw turkey. I love the thought of not having to wrangle a heavy bird covered with butter while trying to stuff it full of aromatics and tie it shut. I love the thought of showing up with a few yummy things and going home with a bunch of leftovers. I also love the thought of not having to do the dishes.

Truth be told, I'm not entirely off the hook, because Nathan wants me to make a turkey, anyway, in order to have the leftovers that are, as we all know, second in importance only to the Day itself. And my mom did try to talk me into cooking the turkey at my house and carting it across town for the party at her house because she says mine are so tasty (brining!). Since I didn't want turkey juice sloshed in my car on Thanksgiving Day (and please also refer to the aforementioned 6am turkey wrangling discussion), we are compromising: I'm going to come over the day before and help them set up the brine, and they'll cook it on Thanksgiving Day. All that to say that I'm not completely off turkey duty. But this year will be a whole lot lighter in terms of the work involved for me.

Last year, this was my menu (mind you, other people brought things; this is just what I made myself):

• turkey
• gravy
• cranberry sauce
• stuffing
  
• mashed potatoes
  
• green bean casserole
• corn casserole
• roasted carrots
• pecan pie
  
• Hershey bar pie
• Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Squares
  

This year, I am making:

• cranberry sauce
• green bean casserole
• bread/rolls
  
• pecan pie
• cranberry oatmeal crumble squares

I can't say that I'm not a little excited about my shorter list. Even though I will be missing out on hosting this year, I'm ready to take a little break from it. Perhaps next year I'll host again, and we can take full advantage of my double oven.

What are you making for Thanksgiving? The whole feast? A dessert or a side? Are you going to run by the grocery store on the way over and grab some cookies? Or are you just going to show up and eat? Comments, please!

Transitions and the Doggie Paddle

Howdy y'all.

I don't know if you've noticed, but my blog posts have spread out a bit, especially over the last month or two. In fact, October 2010 had the fewest posts since I started my blog in 2007. I just haven't had the time/energy to sit down and write as often lately. And that made me start to reflect a bit.

It galvanized some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head for a while. In general, since our move and the addition of a second child, I just haven't found my groove. I feel like I'm doggie paddling, struggling to keep my head above water (and dipping under from time to time--especially this past summer), and I can't seem to transition to a nice, steady breaststroke. I just can't seem to find my rhythm; there hasn't been a time since Jane was born that I've been able to just coast, you know?

I was telling a couple of friends about this, and I think I'm not the only one who feels this way. Courtney often calls it her "new normal," for example. Life with two small children is just busy; there is no getting around it. I remember listening to lectures at Mom to Mom, back when I only had one baby, and various speakers would often sympathetically talk about what an important job you have, even when you can't find time to brush your teeth or when you don't get out of your pajamas all day. I would sit there thinking, "Really? Really, are some people like that?" And, okay, to be honest, there still has not been a day when I didn't get my teeth brushed. But the difference is that I can truly see now how it could happen!

So I'm getting used to life with two kiddos. It's a transition, but that's not to say that life at our house isn't fun; I enjoy my Noah (who is getting funnier and smarter all the time) and my Jane (who is super active and follows us all around the house now). They are jewels, and I would not trade this job for anything else. It is the most rewarding and joyful thing I've ever done. But I do feel like I am still in transition. I still kind of feel like I'm trying to find my feet.

I'm not fretting about this as much as it might seem, but it has been on my mind. And I decided to write about it because I'm sure some of you out there can relate. If so, tell me about your experience; are you currently in this season of life and are feeling the same way? Are you a little ahead of me and can offer some nugget of advice that will help me find that breaststroke? Are you an experienced mom who can offer some encouragement to the rest of us? I'm looking forward to your comments!

Thankfulness

I'm loving reading your comments on the post below! Keep them coming!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, and because I think that I've been mentioning too many downsides to our new home and not enough of the benefits, I'm listing some things for which I am giving thanks this year. I'd love it if you left a comment with at least one thing you're thankful for, too.

• Grandparents! I have to say, the best part of being back in Texas is having our kids' grandparents close by. It's wonderful to watch them all love each other. Plus, let's be honest: the free babysitting ain't too bad, either.
• A healthy family. Until some people my age started getting real health problems, I didn't know to be as thankful as I should be that Nathan, the kids, and I are in good health. It is such a blessing.
• No more six month winters. Let's be real. Snow is wonderful. Scarves and soup are wonderful. But when it gets to be March, April, and (heaven forbid) May and the highs still range between the 30's and 50's, you are very ready to escape the cold and go on a cruise or something. Although I am not sure I like the trade of a six month winter for an eight month summer, I am glad I don't have to wait for the bus on blustery days or carry a kid on my hip when we're both wearing puffy jackets (it's harder than you might think).
• Our minivan. I know that there are a ton of people who are not loving the minivan thing, and I get that. But I've never really been into cars, and I've never cared too much about having one that is cool, so to me, having one that is convenient and comfortable is just great. I love that Noah can climb in and get into his car seat by himself, that everything is easy to reach, that we can fit eight people pretty comfortably, and more. I may not be the coolest mom on the road (really, can anyone rock a gold minivan?), but I am content.
• BBQ, Tex Mex, and Blue Bell Ice Cream. (And Nathan would add Shipley's Donuts.)
• Good old friends.
  
• I might add some more as I think of them....
  

The Non-Season and the Non-Holiday

Okay, not to kick a dead horse, but it is 81 degrees here today. Seriously. On November 10.

We had fall for about a week and a half. As of November 1, it had started to get cooler--the nights were even fairly cold! It was great! But today and most of this week is in the 80's.

I have decided that September and October in Houston (and part of November, evidently) are pretty much a non-season. Because according to the calendar, it's fall, but the truth is that it is still summer. Reading Facebook statuses in October was cracking me up, because all of these dear Houstonians were saying things like, "Welcome, fall! I'm so glad you're here!" And the main difference was that it was in the 80's rather than the 90's. I'd just chuckle and say to myself, "Bless their hearts, they don't know it's still summer." (I don't mean to sound condescending to Houstonians, by the way, because I said exactly the same thing before I moved away.)

Anyway, one of the reasons this period feels like a non-season to me is that the food doesn't reflect what is going on outside. I mean, I love some good tomatoes and watermelon in the summer, but those understandably go away in the fall. So even though it still feels like summer outside, the grocery stores ship in fall foods and declare a change of seasons with their fall decor and pumpkins. But to me, making butternut squash soup when it's 89 degrees outside just doesn't feel right. So something about the food not matching the weather is draining my inspiration for cooking. I guess I am much more inspired by seasonal produce than I had previously realized. So I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving and am hoping that it will be nice and cool so that squash and mashed potatoes and turkey and sage and pumpkin pie will feel just right.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, has anyone noticed that none of the stores have any Thanksgiving things out? It's all Christmas stuff! Y'all, I love Christmas, and it's my favorite holiday, but seriously, I have been to three stores in the last 24 hours trying to find a few Thanksgiving decorative and food items to send to someone, and nobody has anything except for a few paper napkins! No turkeys on anything; there's not even any fall themed stuff! And evidently people in Texas don't brine their turkeys, because no one knows what I'm talking about when I ask where the brining bags are. I think I am just going to have to make a trip to Williams Sonoma to get the stuff I want.

When did Thanksgiving become the non-holiday? Why is a bigger deal made of Halloween than of Thanksgiving? It's a little disheartening to me that the retail world has decided to skip it, because it's one of my favorite holidays.

So here's my suggestion: In an effort to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, let's all leave a comment having something to do with Thanksgiving. It could be a reason you love this holiday, a favorite memory, or, heck, your mom's pumpkin pie recipe. And here's a bonus question, just for fun: Do you prefer jellied or homemade cranberry sauce? I'm looking forward to reading your comments!

We'll Chat Soon

Right now, I need to get off the computer. Because I have a bunch of laundry I need to do. Tomorrow's lunch to make for Noah. A to do list to write for tomorrow. Unpacking to do. Toys to pick up. A kitchen to clean. A box to find. And who knows what else.

We've had such busy weekends lately! And busy weeks as we prepare for the weekends! I'll have to give some more complete updates soon, when I have all my pictures uploaded and have the time to write.

For now, I'll leave you with the one thing that has left me the most struck in the last 45 minutes or so: Matthew and Emily's latest blog post. My reactions:
1.) Oh my goodness, how I long to go to those places. That is just me to a tee.
2.) Oh my goodness, I remember the days when I could stroll through a place and enjoy it for five whole hours. To those of you without children yet: Enjoy the ability to have such freedom. From my perspective, when I look back on the pre-children days, I am struck by the amount of sheer leisure time we had. I am also struck by how little we appreciated it. (Although I'm sure the inability to recognize and properly enjoy things is a phenomenon of every stage of life.)

Goodnight, peeps. We'll chat soon.

Eight Months Old!

Miss Jane is eight months old today!

She is growing and getting more active all the time. She is getting to be an expert at the army crawl, for example, which is really fun to watch. The crawling plus the advanced pincer grasp means that I have to vacuum all the time now, or else Janey Beth finds all kinds of little treasures in the carpet.

She's pretty ticklish, too, so all of us--including her brother--love to tickle her. And the child loves to be tickled. Her laugh is so great.

One funny little idiosyncrasy of Jane's is that she wiggles her feet when she's excited, especially when she is eating. What's interesting is that Noah always held his arms up in the air: when he was being held, when he was eating, even often when he was sleeping. Those arms were in the air, and his wrists would rotate so that his hands were always moving. Well, Jane has her own corresponding little thing, too, with those rotating ankles and wiggling feet. Funny girl.

One of the things that entertains Jane is clapping. For a while, she's liked to grab Nathan's thumbs and press his hands together so that he claps, and just the other day, she started clapping her own hands. It just makes your day brighter when someone you love is so exhilarated by something simple like learning to clap.

Until about a week ago, we fed her all of her meals in the Bumbo, which is so darn handy. But we had to move her to the high chair, because she has gotten so long and limber that she was nearly tipping herself over--she'd see something she was interested in behind her, dig her heels in, twist around, and reach an insanely long distance for such a little person.

Over the past few weeks, Jane has started eating a few finger foods. Her favorites are Gerber puffs, which are great for beginners because they melt in your mouth. The other night, we tried peas, too, and she took to those wonderfully. Basically, she just thinks it's great fun to feed herself, and she gets really excited every time she gets the chance to do it.

Here we go!
Those little peas are hard to pick up, even when you have little fingers.

Mmm, tasty!

Success is sweet!

We all sure do love that Jane Elisabeth.

Why, yes, I am wearing a sword. Do you like it?

See? I can stab the floor!
In fact, I can make a mean face while stabbing the floor!
I can also stab you, by the way.
Wow. This thing is long.

I think I need to show you my mean face again.
Grrr!

Not to Be Preachy, But...

Recently, I overheard a conversation that saddened me. It was in a church setting, and one woman was explaining the defects of a Christian children's book to another woman. She picked out a relatively minor flaw in the way the book told a Bible story and inflated it to the point that she jumped from a judgment on the book to a judgment on the author and said, "In fact, I don't think the author is a Christian."

That is such a huge claim to make, and from time to time, I have heard Christians make that bold judgment on other people. Although there are cases in which the person in question is clearly not a Christian (especially when they make no claims to be), it is an entirely different animal to say that about someone who does claim to know Christ.

In fact, I think that a person who does that is treading thin ice. Who are we, after all? Certainly not the One who can see a person's soul. Certainly not the One who, in his sovereignty and holiness, has the right to judge. Claiming that we know the spiritual state of another person better than they know it themselves is, in my opinion, perilously prideful. It is putting ourselves above that person in so many ways, when, in reality, we are of no more importance to God than they are. In fact, if that person is lost, then he or she is that beloved hundredth sheep for whom the shepherd leaves the other ninety-nine to find.

Certainly, we are to be watchful for untruth. And especially for subtle untruths, the kind this woman thought she found in the book, because subtle deception is insidious since it's the kind that is probably the most likely to lead us astray. As Christ said, we are to be "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (Matt. 10:16) But in our search for truth, let's not forget who we are and Who we are not.

May I make a humble request? Let's begin with an attitude of love. Let's approach weighty judgments in love, gingerly, with much prayer and consideration, and with the best interests of the other person at heart.

-----

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off ? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost."
Matthew 18:12-14

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:3-4

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:7-12

Happiness Is . . .

. . . finding Cortland apples at Whole Foods.

Cortlands are my favorite type of apple, but I had never even heard of them before moving to New England, so I knew that I would probably not be able to get them in Texas after we moved back.

It turned out to be true. In fact, I've found the apples here to be incredibly lackluster and even approaching dismal when it comes to both variety and freshness. Apart from the fact that there are probably about half the number of apple varieties in my local grocery store, they just look so sad. They aren't shiny and beautiful; they're dull and bruised. Poor apples.

So imagine my delight when I spotted some beautiful Cortlands at Whole Foods yesterday. Y'all, I think that I must have amused anyone who saw my face when I caught sight of them. Seriously, "delight" is the word. I could feel it on my face. Looking back, I feel like a little bit of a nerd, getting so happy about an apple. But if you're going to embarrass yourself, I suppose it's not such a big deal to do it over something lovely and delicious.

Would You Like a Little Whine with that Cheese?

Heard at our house tonight, as the kids were playing in the living room and I was making dinner:

Noah [in a nasal, I-just-woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed voice]: Noah no waaant that! Noah no waaant that!
Nathan: Is that my glass of wine?
Me: Yes.
Nathan [with a smirk]: Yours is in the living room.
Me [slightly amused at his pun]: Ha ha ha.
Jane: Whaaaaaa!
Nathan: Your cup runneth over.

Dewberry Farm

Today we went to Dewberry Farm, a fun little place with lots of fall activities about an hour from our house. Truly, I shouldn't call it "little," since they had 10,000 visitors last weekend. Is that not insane?! Thankfully, it wasn't too crazy while we were there. All in all, it was like going apple picking without the apples, except that they ratcheted up the amusement park factor. And it was nice to get out and do something that was fallish, even though I still have trouble feeling like it's fall, since the weather is still in the 80's.

They had lots of fun things for the kiddos to do. Noah loved the pony rides.

And the fort was fun, too. It had some great slides.

Noah and Nathan did a lot of bouncing while Mommy, GG, and Grandpa ate some kettle corn.

Noah got to have TWO pony rides! What a day!

Jane was just so smiley that we had to get some pictures with the grandparents. Here she is with my dad.

And with my mom.

Noah fake smiled like this all day long.

See? Here he is hamming it up.

It was fun to work the pumps!

And I leave you with a cute photo of the kiddos in the pumpkins!