We have such beautiful girls. Samantha is fighting her molars, but at the same time she has started giving hugs and kisses, and I don’t think there is anything in the world cuter than a hug from a 14-month-old. We are truly blessed. And I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, with the NFP discussion going on on a friend’s blog. Some people struggle to figure out their signs and when they’re fertile, and it leads to frustration, fights, and general trouble. I, on the other hand, have a regular cycle and a hard time not knowing if I’m fertile, now that I know what to look for.
Category Archives: Domum
Black beans and sweet potatoes?
Last week was black bean and sweet potato week here at the Baker house. I know that probably sounds strange to you, because it did to me a couple of weeks ago. But we (and by “we” I mean Craig) had purchased many, many pounds of sweet potatoes about a month ago, and they needed to be eaten. And black beans are cheap (as were sweet potatoes, hence our abundance). And I generally trust Moosewood cookbooks, so I thought I’d give the “black bean and sweet potato hash” a try. Now, I’m not one to make hashes, as a general rule, so this involved a little bravery to start with. Here’s the recipe, so you can see for yourself what I was getting into.
Car, interrupted
The CD player in our Honda has been out of order for a while now. It will take a CD, but just make a disturbing flapping sound and sit there. Which is a problem, because, especially on eight-to-ten-hour drives, being able to put on some appropriate mood music for the girlies can come in very handy. So, yesterday, we took matters into our own hands.
There are instructions on the internet for disassembling your car. With photos. So Craig removed the top dashboard piece, the one with the air vents in it. And the case around the gearshift, and the “not an ashtray”, and the pop-lid storage thingy, and finally, (finally!) the control console.
Louisiana Sweet Oranges…or not
My heart is broken. The six (and only six) oranges left on the tree we planted last year are gone. We weren’t really expecting any the first year, so we were really excited when we had a ton of buds, then hundreds of tiny green oranges, which diminished slowly until eight were left. Two split and we removed them. And when I went to check the one that had started to turn yellow this morning, they were all gone. Even the ones in a bunch that I contrived a pvc-and-rag contraption to hold up since they were too heavy for the little orange tree branches.
Off the grid…sort of
We had an exciting weekend. (The post is a little late because I was waiting on pictures.) In honor of Craig’s Justice Walking theme this week, which is fasting from the artificial and feasting on the natural, we went to Barataria Preserve to “hike”. We did the two-mile board walk through the swamp, which was really cool. There were tons of very large spiders, lizards, small snakes, dragon flies, and we saw an owl in the top of one of the trees. Lucy walked almost the whole way by herself, which was nice. Samantha got to ride with Dad.
Pirate Prayer
Ah, it’s been a while. Things have been slightly crazy. Dad had his third chemo treatment, and that is still going as well as can be expected. He’s tired and sick, but still in good spirits.
Craig’s mom needs prayers now, too. She had a biopsy done Tuesday and will find out September 9 if is it something they will have to treat. In the meantime, she’s recovering from the biopsy and the anesthesia, and trying not to worry too much about what the test results will be. When it rains around here, it pours!
Another Year
Craig has started teacher orientation again. This summer flew by, especially since we were out of town most of the month of July. His return to work, and my non-return, have raised a number of questions for me again. ”Can we really afford to live on one income? Why did we get such a nice car so now we have those payments to keep up with? Where can I spend a few less dollars? Can I really handle two little girls all day?”
Holy Housework
I had been wondering where the burst of cleaning and ordering energy that I’ve had for the last couple of weeks had come from, and I now have a couple of theories. (For two pregnancies I looked forward to the “nesting” phase when I would actually want to clean – it never came. Maybe this is what it feels like!) Freedom from the requirements of a job has certainly helped, since I have hours back in my days with no commute, no papers to grade or lessons to plan, not to mention the time I actually spent teaching.
Silence
“Those who love God should attempt to preserve or create an atmosphere in which He can be found. Christians should have quiet homes. Throw out television, if necessary — not everybody, but those who take this sort of thing seriously. Radios useless. Stay away from the movies — I was going to say ‘as a penance’ but it would seem to me to be rather a pleasure than a penance, to stay away from the movies. Maybe even form small agrarian communities in the country where there would be no radios, etc.
Ahh, kids
Lucy woke up last night (after she had come to our bed) saying, “I need my coffee!” I told her to go back to sleep, but she got up, went to the living room (where Craig was still on the computer) and got her sippy-cup of chocolate milk with a splash of coffee and brought it back to the bedroom. The she got up again and announced that she wanted water. Before Craig could get it, she was saying very loudly, “No, I going to sleep!” but she had closed the bedroom door on her way out and couldn’t open it again. All this woke up Samantha, and thus ended my half-hour or so of comfortable sleeping.
