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Things you would never think about unless you had kids...

Silly putty and pacifiers don't mix.

(g)LOVEing life!

I love it when I find a bargain and I love it when I try something and IT WORKS!!! I have had "weighted gloves" on my wish list for a good while. I have almost bought some several times, but have not been sure what I wanted, couldn't justify the money, whatever. Last week I was browsing around a thrift store I don't go to very often and found a box with weighted gloves in in for 5 bucks! Of course, I bought it. But it gets better: They were brand new, and had features I wouldn't have even thought to look for on Amazon- like non-slip palm padding, so I can grip weights or do push-ups without de-gloving. Also, the weights are removable, so I can wash the gloves!! They are a little different than any I have seen in that the weights are not on the back of your hand, but around your wrist. That makes it a little difficult to get the gloves off, b/c you can't just pull on the bottom. It's a bit difficult to get them off, especially if your hands are a little damp from your workout. Sooo... I figured, for $5, if I ruin them, it's not such a big deal. So I bought 2 zippers, split the thumb-side seam on each and... viola!! It even looks like it was there to begin with. Makes me smile. Makes me feel like I can do anything!
Tabitha is a very solid sitter now (see pic) and last night slept soundly from 9pm to 7am!!! WOW! (Another reason to LOVE life) What she's loving: gnawing on slices of pineapple, apple, nectarine, plum, and apple. If you take them she will cry until you give them back.

Another quick update on all

The weather is gorgeous!! This week is supposed to be mid 60's all week, with some rain toward the end. That's fine, because I just planted my onions, peas, and spinach. I don't know if I'll get quite enough sun on the east side of the garage where I put them. I had planned to put them on the east of the house, but it is too choked up with weeds. I plan to work on that and put more there, but I may not get around to it until too late, so I figured I'd at least try some by the garage.
I'm excited to see what I have coming up around my yard. I seem to have a lot of hostas, tons of daffodils, some small crocuses (croci?) in purple and yellow, a forsythia, some hibiscus, some columbine, many azaleas, and some I've seen but don't know what to call them, and I'm sure there's some that haven't even come up yet. The only thing actually blooming are the croci. I'll put up some pics when I've got them. Ruth knows that her birthday is when the daffodils come.
We've been taking walks and today I used part of the girls' nap to take a sander to a 5 foot by 11 inch (or so) board that I'm going to attach to the backside of my counter and create a bar area where the kids can pull up to do homework or draw and eat a snack, etc. while I make dinner or do dishes. Again, pics when it's done. Tonight I'm teaching a part of a gardening enrichment class (I know, I know... but 'weekly RS meeting' is too vague- that describes Sunday meetings, too). I need to decide soon where my garden will be so I can prepare the ground. I'm SO excited that I don't have to fight for light with 12 oak trees at this house!! I expect a lot of tomatoes!
Isaiah is enjoying BASE: Beulah After School Enrichment- he's doing a kids' cooking class with his teacher. He got into an organizing mode a week or so ago, where he folded his clothes, organized his desk, etc. Too bad he doesn't do it all the time, but I'm the same way.
Ruth is really "getting" the potty thing (whew!) and is into singing right now- making up songs about what she's doing, singing snatches of songs she knows, etc..
Tabitha has been miserable lately- teething, double ear infection, and diarrhea from the antibiotics, but she's starting to come out of it. She said "da-da" a couple of weeks ago, now she's playing a little with her tongue and it sounds more like "dtha-dtha."
We watched a little Olympics with the kids quite often- Ruth liked figure skating, Isaiah liked bobsled/luge and skiing and snowboarding. We have a family Olympics going now, with events in "Patience", "Thoughtfulness", "Reverence", and "Listening". It is helping! And everyone can get gold in any event. If anyone wants our tracking chart, you let me know. TTFN: Isaiah's home and the girls need to wake up from their naps.

Fat

Yep, fat. I was making a homemade pot-pie a few weeks ago, using some chicken I had pre-cooked and frozen in its broth. (Whenever split chicken breasts are below $1 per pound, I buy some, boil it until the meat falls off the bones, then freeze it.) So I partially thawed the chicken, skimmed off the accumulated fat- 'cause I don't want to be fat, see?- and mixed it with veggies and put it into the crust which I had just made WITH FAKE FAT (i.e., shortening- that trans-fat stuff made to replace the animal fat). Then, I turned my brain on. Why don't I just save the chicken fat next time and use IT in the crust????

Well, yesterday I boiled another batch of chickens (three, really- all in the same water- concentrated chicken stock!!) and froze the meat without the broth and put the broth in the fridge to cool. Today I made chicken soup and biscuits. And every bit of the fat in those biscuits came from the layer of fat I skimmed off the broth after it solidified (well, maybe 'solid' isn't quite accurate- it was like a jelly). Anyway- from about 10 pounds of chicken, I got tons of concentrated broth, 1/2 cup of fat (exactly the right amount) and 6 bags of cooked frozen chicken. And the biscuits?? Lovely. Didn't taste chicken-ey. The dough was a little stickier, but the extra flour I added didn't mess them up.

This is great news- fats in food storage don't have a long shelf life. Solid fats either have to be refrigerated to stay that way OR they are hydrogenated, which turn out to be worse for you than the big, bad animal fats they were meant to save you from. Now, I can waste less of what I buy as well as purchase less additional fat. We often used saved bacon fat to grease frying pans for eggs when growing up...now I'm going to try taking the fat-saving thing further...yorkshire pudding, anyone? And now I'm googleing rendering lard....hmmmm...

Pippi Longstocking-in-training

Ruth will let me braid her hair now. It's so long, and braids are perfect, because it gets in her way all the time. I'm sure we'll have a few Pippi or Anne of Green Gables Halloweens in her future.

Quick update

Here's a quick overview of what's happening here...

It's a good thing we're getting a tax return, since we've replaced 6 of our 8 tires since the new year!! Nathan's computer also had to be upgraded- his power supply died- and we've had huge heating bills b/c of the decidedly un-Southern winter. We finally got our garbage disposal working (it was installed, but we had to get a receptacle put in to have some juice to run it). We all got sick with some stomach bug last week (except Tabitha, who got a cold instead and has since shared it with me).

Tabitha is - 6 1/2 months (!!) and sitting and getting to her knees occasionally. Her new favorite sound is B: "Ba! Buh-buh-buh. Bbbbbb."
Ruth is- finally starting to take herself to the potty and even poops there sometimes now!!
Isaiah is- doing the 2nd grade gifted testing for possible CBG placement (assuming the school budget shortfall doesn't mean the program gets cut)
Lynness is- still unpacking, but also making gardening and painting plans, and making homemade bread 1-2 times a week
Nathan is- doing a lot of programming to get the county maps online for public access and quite enjoying it