The Homefront

I'm holding down the fort while hubby is on a mission trip with the high school students. Usually we like to keep busy while he's gone. We are doing that quite well. Maybe too well this week. The house ... well ... no one is here to run it. So it's not running so well...

• the dog is eliminating on the carpet (yuck!!!), a feature which is not being helped by our lovely fire-work-loving neighbors


• we ran out of milk. I don't think that has ever happened before!


• the power went out


• Thing One is having a very difficult time separating... at church on Sunday it took two of us to pry him off me when I brought him to his room. When I returned he said "I was sad because daddy left and then you left." Sorry buddy.....


• I couldn't figure out why the dishes were piling up... until I realized my dishwasher was on a mission trip and I was going to have to fill in for the week


• the lawn is going to seed


• I feel completely scattered because we've been too busy


• went through a complete snafu at work involving a mother who was possibly lying to get services for her child, a forgotten $300 assessment kit I left outside an apartment complex, completing an evaluation that we weren't supposed to do, and way too many phone calls in Spanish to locate said family in the first place


• spending 15 minutes I didn't have prying off the thermostat cover to turn on the A/C. 80 degrees inside at 7:30 am is not going anywhere good....

On the other hand, there have been a handful of lighter moments to remind me to slow down, enjoy life and take care of the priorities:

• Thing Two (22 months now!) talking motherese to her baby doll


• swimming with friends and family three days this week!


• an unexpected phone call from a friend, just checking in since she knew I was solo this week


• extra time with my parents


• Watching the wheels in Thing One's head as he learns about Jesus: "Zoie can gwow up and be n angel instead... instead of a lady."
  "Was I born? Was I born in a manger????"


• and our first attempt at pigtails

Phases

Grandma E discovered the inner diva of Thing Two. She's really into accessories lately - shoes, hats, and sunglasses.
She wears is passing through a phase where the glasses never leave her face. We had to make a "no bed, no table" rule. Outside, I can definitely see the need.
I wonder where she learned to wear her glasses on her head? Don't ask me how I got so lucky to score the pink stars...

The only picture I didn't get was wearing the yellow-lens glasses to church. Didn't think it was appropriate to be taking pictures of that sort in church.

Rhubarb-mania

My dad picked me a paper bag full of rhubarb a week or so ago. I told him I'd take as much as he wanted to pick for me. I chopped 24 cups worth of stalks.

2 - 4 cup packets went into the freezer for later use

8 cups + 2 cups frozen strawberries + 1 cup fresh strawberries + 3 (sm) pkgs sugar free strawberry jell-o + 1 (lg) pkg orange jell-o + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 pkg no sugar pectin = a double batch of jam. (NOTE: I doubled and combined several recipes - if you try it, the amount of sugar should be 1/3 - 1/2 cup for 4 cups rhubarb, or a little more if you use the sugar free jell-o)

4 cups reserved for cake

4 cups reserved for pie
The pie turned out tart, with pockets of sugar here and there. Husband was a big fan of the sugar pockets. I'm not. Next time I'll mix or layer the sugar in rather than just covering the top of the rhubarb, as the recipe suggested. Overall, a good pie experience. One piece remains...

I'd like a little more to have another go at the jam. Additionally, some of my friends make homemade jam and its great to swap so everyone has a variety. We've been able to trade away some spice pear jam for some fabulous strawberry freezer jam (Marcie - it's amazing!), sweet grape jelly (a treat we never buy compliments of Missy) and a yet-untasted cherry jam (super excited about this one!) from Maria. Last fall I landed 3 bushels of pears (free) from which I made 5 batches of jam (both canned and freezer) and canned 24 quarts and froze 6 quarts. While I really enjoy spiced pear jam, a little variety is always welcome.

On My Heart

If the Holy Spirit prompts you, please pray comfort and hope for Kristin from Our Journey (see sidebar) today and tomorrow as she experiences the first anniversary of Ryan's journey from death into life. She also has two young children who have been asking some very difficult questions. You can also join me in praying that she will have the patience and wisdom beyond her years to answer her 3-year-olds' questions about their daddy.
Thanks.

Hats For Sale

Grandma E. is cleaning out the attic. She found a large quantity of hats. Thing One now wears a hat practically everywhere. We had actually purchased this hat for general summer wear. If I recall, Thing One made quite the scene in the store as he wanted a particular color that was not available in his head size. We compromised and he gladly wears this one.

Papa Eckstein has always thought we'd have a little red haired girl. Well, here she is.

Elmo also participates in hat days. The engineer hat belonged to my husband - I let him (son, not husband) wear this one in public.

Howdy! This one was a favorite of Uncle Ames as a boy.

Not Me!

Who would ever drive without proof of insurance or registration? Not me! I would always put them in the car where they belong rather than absent-mindedly file them in the drawer. And since I don't speed, I would get pulled over for some other infraction such as having a tail light out. For two months. It had been so long, I'd forgotten and thought it had been replaced. Gotta' love those "warnings".