(And All My) Work Be Praise

Happy Easter! Please excuse the absence of Owen, whose Easter morning was basically one big long meltdown. We're hoping for happier times post-nap.

What I'm Cooking Slow cooker chili (pulled from the freezer) and cornbread waffles . Aidell's Pineapple-Bacon Chicken Sausages , homemade buns , and roasted broccoli. The sausages went on close-out a few weeks ago when my Kroger stopped carrying them, and I bought all of the packages they had. Meatloaf (my mom's standard recipe, nothing fancy) and mashed potatoes. While I had my hands covered in ketchup and bread crumbs, I went ahead and made a second meatloaf to stick in the freezer. Blueberry Orange Bran Muffins . We grind our own flour from white wheat berries, so when I want to make a cake or baked good that isn't quite so dense -- for example, my dad's birthday cake -- I sift the flour. Accordingly, I often have fresh bran on hand. What else to do with bran besides make bran muffins? It makes me feel like an old lady to say it, but these muffins are actually really  good. The fresh orange juice and zest brightens them up beautifully. I used plain whole...

I've had this activity tucked away in my mental to-do file for some time now. I'd considered doing a whole nursery-rhyme-themed week, but today the boys were restless and full of energy and we needed something quick and fun. In hindsight, it would've been a great idea to use just the numbers. Simple simple: we made a clock "base" out of our foam letter/number squares and put our Melissa & Doug clock at the top. After running like mice up and down the clock several times, I thought to google other verses. You can find all twelve (or at least one version; I'd guess there are many versions) here . We acted out each verse (walking like animals and making their sounds) and the moved the clock to the appropriate number. Moving the hands. Nothing fancy, but it filled fifteen minutes with some good gross-motor activity plus number recognition!

Please note, local friends, that this story, though true, is not about a member of our church, not someone you've ever met, so please, no gossipy speculation.  I love Palm Sunday. I know that it's a minor celebration, compared to the swelling joy of Easter morning, but I love it all the same. I love explaining to my children's choir that Palm Sunday is their  day. Easter has big words; Easter is death and resurrection and conquering the grave and it is big news but it isn't easy news. Palm Sunday, though -- Palm Sunday is waving branches and a parade for a King and shouting "hooray for Jesus!" and all of the songs talk about the children. This year, Palm Sunday was also my dad's birthday and so it was also blowing out candles and wearing party hats and singing "happy birthday, dear Grandpa" and lunch that spilled into nap time and eating cake for dinner. It was Levi's first palm branch and sitting in church with Grandma so Mommy and Daddy...

What I'm Cooking Roasted chicken sausage, potatoes, and peppers and chocolate cobbler (friends over for dinner) Whole wheat German chocolate cake  (for my dad's birthday on Sunday) Spinach tortellini en brodo . I'm not even sure what "en brodo" means -- in broth, perhaps? At any rate, this was mediocre, but probably just because I'm not a fan of cooked (or even wilted) spinach. I could've put that (not inexpensive) package of tortellini to better use. Oh well. We were all getting over the flu and all of my freezer meals were tomato-based; we needed something gentle on the tummies! I used leftover pulled pork to make quesadillas out of our first-ever package of sprouted wheat tortillas. They were okay. Not as soft and pliable as regular tortillas, even whole wheat ones. If they were just with cheese, though, instead of juicy meat, I think they'd serve all right. They're a good price from the Azure Standard co-op (now with a drop point on t...

2:05pm: I post on Facebook that we're having a bizarre day. Can't just let that go without some explanation, if only to remember myself! But first, a token picture: Silas's post-bath cartoon-baby hair. 5am: Silas wakes up, but I fall asleep again almost immediately before getting up to nurse him. Oops. 6am: Silas wakes up again, or louder, or something. I nurse him and go back to bed, but he won't go back to sleep, so we hang out in Mommy's bed for a while. 6:30am: Isaac gets back into bed, having opted not to exercise this morning. It appears our family stomach flu has made its way to him, though not with the voracity with which it claimed the rest of us. I get up and get ready for the day. Meanwhile, Levi cries out for a drink, which Isaac provides, and then he (Levi) promptly goes back to sleep. 7:30am: Silas and I eat breakfast, leftover pumpkin pancakes from yesterday. The big boys are usually up by now, but since the time change they've been...

Amid our family date , hosting Bible study, a missions conference at church, and another round of the stomach flu, we managed to do a few activities for St. Patrick's Day, scattered throughout the week.  The first was a copy of something we did a few months ago when reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish . I printed an image (a fish that time, a shamrock this time) and carefully cut it out. Levi got the cut-out part and a container of glue, for dipping tissue paper. I covered the hole left from the cut-out with packing tape and gave that to Owen, who was happy to stick his tissue paper squares onto the sticky side of the tape. While Owen was much more willing to fill up his shamrock than he was his fish, Levi lost interest quickly. Usually it's the other way around! Second, we utilized the stamping technique from our toilet-paper-roll hearts , this time using a green pepper to make clovers. A big hit with both boys! They had so much fun painti...

What I'm Cooking Holiday Cheeseball and Peanut Butter "Cheese" Ball for Bible study snacks. Orange teriyaki honey chicken . Served over brown rice and stir-fry veggies. Tasty but not exciting. What I'm Reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (book 3). And anxiously waiting for book 4 not to be on hold at the library . . . Finished up The Lady Elizabeth . I think I'll look for more books by Alison Weir. Weekly Snapshot: Okay, this picture is actually 8 days old, but I couldn't resist posting that sweet smile. We had some fun with stickers that day . . .  Favorite pin: These  nutty caramel bars look fantastic. And horrible for the diet. Favorite blog post: I got nothin' this week. A good novel on my end table, a new card game on the Kindle, a mountain of work to do for kids' choir, another bout with the stomach flu . . . who has time for blogs?! Great way to encourage y'all to keep reading, yes? ;)

Our March " date night " was actually a family date day. Somewhere, in searching for ideas, I ran across Totter's Otterville , a big play-place ("educational entertainment center," they call it) in Covington, KY, geared towards children under age ten. I worried that it would be too big or overstimulating for my kids [I never did blog about our disastrous trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, but let's just say it's obvious that we stay within a pretty small radius most of the time.], but it was perfect. Absolutely age-appropriate, and while not terribly glamorous, perfectly suited to my little brood. It's all one big building, sectioned off by half-walls into little rooms. This keeps the different areas contained, but I still felt like I could see most everything well enough that I'd feel safe leaving one kid in one area while I was in another area, at least for a short period of time. Each room had its own designated purpose: ...

What I'm Cooking Blueberry coffee cake . I got up early on Sunday morning to make this, and it was so worth it. Chicken spaghetti . I didn't "cook" this so much as "pull it out of the freezer and reheat in the oven." Not much else. Leftovers one night, Bob Evans for a fundraiser another night, the homemade hamburger helper I posted about on Thursday , the tamale soup I posted here . Odds and ends for lunch. What I'm Reading Harry Potter . Yep, for real. For the first time. I have no idea why I decided it was finally time to pick them up, but when I saw they were available to borrow on the Kindle from the library, I went for it. Two pages in -- okay, I have no idea how many pages, because I'm reading on the Kindle Fire , but you know what I mean -- I looked up and said to no one in particular, " man , this woman can tell a story." When Isaac saw I was 75% finished within about 36 hours (keep in mind I usually only read while I'm...

I found the boys like this (on Levi's bed) one afternoon while I was putting away clean laundry. Owen was reading a book about creation, so I started asking him the children's catechism questions: Me: Owen, who made you? Owen: God. Me: What else did God make? Owen: All fings! Me: Why did God make you and all things? Owen: Mmmmmm . . . because he wants to. How very two-year-old. Why else would anyone do anything?

Have a pound of ground beef? Half-empty box of pasta? A chunk of cheese, a little milk, a handful of spices? 30 minutes until dinner time (45 if your beef is frozen) and no idea what to make? Enter: Homemade Hamburger Helper . I don't remember where I found this site originally, but I've used it countless times over the past few years. I have chili mac simmering on the stove right now. With all of the varieties listed on the site, I can always find one for which I have the ingredients. It's literally the same amount of time as a box, if you mix the spices while the beef browns, but without the myriad of sketchy ingredients. Happy dinner time!

Twice a year, for Advent and Lent, my church puts together a devotional written by members of the congregation. Today's entry is from my husband, who recounts the sweet -- and powerful -- story of Levi's first experience seeing our church share in Communion. You can read it here . Unfortunately, the calendar links do not work, so you'll have to scroll down to March 3.

What I'm Cooking Orzo and cheese . Rather bland for the adults, though helped considerably by the addition of salt. Not a big hit with the littles, unfortunately. Spinach cake muffins . Quite tasty. Spinach is basically unnoticeable, besides the green color. Might make these again the week of St. Patrick's Day! (Yes, these were supposed to be a veggie-based snack for the children, but Isaac and I have been eating them rather shamelessly, too.) Graham crackers . Much better than the last recipe I tried. The consistency of a store-bought graham cracker is quite difficult to achieve, and while not perfect, these are great. And while I probably shouldn't admit this outright, the unbaked dough was very  good. No eggs, so no reason not to eat it, right? Roasted chicken thighs . Funny thing about this week: I didn't meal plan at all, and I haven't been to the grocery store. On Tuesday at about 3pm, with the bowl of leftover orzo (see above) in the fridge, I decided ...