Lest I Forget

After a good day in the classroom, I moved into the kitchen to start dinner. The tortilla dough came together quickly and I left the little blobs of dough to their resting and began the chopping of the vegetables. It was during the chopping that I once again heard the familiar "whack" as one of our kitchen chairs tipped over and hit the floor. I jump every time. Those chairs are top-heavy and they go over at the slightest touch. Only when I turned to put it upright, there was Therese, lying on the floor, on top of the chair. Oh, how she cried! When I picked her up, blood was coming fast from her mouth. At first I could not determine where all the blood was coming from. I gently pulled her bottom lip down and there were two big wounds where her teeth must have bit into her lip. Then I checked the top lip. It was worse. That little flap that connects the lip and gums was split open and gushing. Dinner was put on hold as I tended to Therese. The bleeding finally slowed down afte...

Quickly, before I forget what I did, I want to write down what made the pizza crust one of the best I have ever made. I dusted it generously with flour as I patted it out on the pans. I have also upped the temperature of the oven to 550 degrees, which is the highest my oven will go.  Pre-heating the stones in the oven while I get the crusts ready on greased cookie sheets also seems to improve the crust. When I am ready to assemble the pizza, I pull out the baking stones and transfer the crusts onto the stones and then put everything together. Tonight the pizzas slid off the stones effortlessly and the crust had a great crispness and texture. My pizza crust is a continual work in progress, so I thought I'd share my newest discovery. The one thing I want to learn and haven't yet is how to toss the crust in the air like the professionals!

Last night, I made a big leap of faith. I let Anna spend the night at a friend's house. Her first sleepover, which is a big event in a little girl's life. But this mama hen has kept her chicks very close to her since losing Ben. Sure Sophie has been away at college, but she is 19 and it is time for her to test her wings. It is different with the little ones. Especially Anna. I feel this need to keep her closer. Call it a mama's intuition. She is still there, probably having the best of times, while the mama waits, trusting that all is well.

As I wait for Olivia to return from DC after joining in the March for Life today, I thought I'd take a moment to write some thoughts down. First of all, I am so proud of my teenage daughters who fully embrace their faith and are as horrified at the idea of abortion as I am. It literally leaves a sick feeling in my stomach and an ache in my heart when I think about all those babies. Both of my older girls have attended the March for Life several times. One day, I hope to have the chance to be there too. Sophie did not go this year, but she had a good excuse. She is out of the country. A little over a week ago, we loaded up in the van and drove her to the airport to start the adventure of a lifetime. She will be studying in Austria this semester. It is still so odd to think about how far away she really is. I was grateful for the distraction of keeping up with three little ones in an international airport to keep me from completely losing it. It was still more than heart-rending to...

Outside my window... ...deceptively beautiful. The sun is shining, the sky is a brilliant, cloudless blue. It seems to be calling me. But, oh, how cold it really is! I will keep on looking at this pretty scene from inside the house. I am thinking... ...about so many things! I am thinking about organizing the house. I am thinking about decluttering. I am thinking about a good deep cleaning of the entire house. I am thinking , but I haven't found a time put to all these thoughts into actions. I am thankful for.... ...a warm house ...kids who do their schoolwork without complaining (at least today anyway) ...Therese's naptime From the lesson plans... ...we were behind where I wanted to be, but the kids have done wonderfully this week and we are catching up! From the kitchen... ...a new pizza crust recipe for tonight. My new Better Homes and Gardens said right on the front "Artisan Pizza at home", so here's hoping! I already made the dough and it i...

Joining Ginny again for a yarn along post. This little guy was a stocking stuffer for Jack this year. Sophie and Anna received neck warmers and Olivia finally had 2 fingerless gloves! The minion was a huge success. He may need his arms reattached soon, as he is twirled by the arms a lot. Notice the one on the right is already looking iffy. His shoes have gotten a little fuzzy too. I guess that just shows all the love he gets. The new technique I learned was duplicate stitching. The band for his goggles is done with this technique. I had to do it backwards from the tutorial since I am a lefty and you are using a darning needle. Other than that, he was extremely quick to knit. In other knitting news, I seem to be on a destructive streak. I broke a second needle while making another gift for a friend. I haven't sent it yet, so no picture this week. Anyway, I picked up the project one evening to discover that the kids must have dropped something heavy on it, because my n...

Planning a birthday party right after Christmas can prove to be challenging. We only had a few days to come up with an idea after returning from Tennessee. Jack and I browsed the internet looking at "birthday party themes for boys". There were so many clever ideas, but we were short on time and most of them started out by stating that you should allow yourself 4 weeks to pull these parties together! Yikes! Then we saw one where the fire department actually came to their house. Jack was hooked. I called our local fire department and they do not do that, but they said we were welcome to come take a tour of the fire station. We called his friends and planned for Saturday afternoon. They did warn us that it would be cut short if they happened to get a call.  We started out seeing where they ate, slept, and gathered before heading out to see the engines. Just as the firefighters started telling the kids about the engine, the alert sounded and they were called to help someone ...

I didn't take many pictures at my mom's house. In fact, these are the only ones I took, and it was at the request of my grandmother. She asked if I would take some pictures of the "oldest" with the "youngest". I was more than happy to oblige. Therese and Jack both love their great-grandmother with such a sweet love. They are drawn to her when she walks in the door. They run to her with smiles of joy and hug her tight. And she loves them right back. The smile on Grams' face when they come to her lights up my heart. When I was little, I would stay with Grams and Grandad for several days by myself each summer. It was such a treat to have them all to myself. Their house did not have many toys, but I never lacked for things to do. My grandmother and I would practice cross-stitching, or dress up, or go through her jewelry box and try on all the pretty things. My grandad made the best gadgets and told the funniest jokes and would carve little trink...

Tonight I made another great dish that took very little tweaking to make it dairy free for the kids. I found the recipe on foodgawker. I hope you have taken my advice and have checked out this website. You will not be disappointed. The recipe is called Mushroom Barley Risotto . My husband's quote of the evening: "Something with a name that bad should not taste this good." Instead of veggie broth, I used my homemade turkey stock. There is a tablespoon of butter and some parmesan cheese that are added right at the end. So, before I do that, I get a small serving bowl and put enough in it for Jack and Therese. Then I add the butter to our serving bowl. The cheese gets its own little bowl and we can sprinkle our own, except for Anna who needs moderation in all things cheese. I have to keep the cheese dish on the opposite end of the table from her or she would sneak it all through the meal. Therese had thirds tonight. She kept signing "more". The only person who ...