Ma Ingalls would be so proud

Hello, friends-and-relations,
yes, we are all still alive.  Still inside.  Going stir crazy.  Along with everyone else.  Last week the Powers That Be promised that everything would start opening up on Friday, and then oh big surprise changed their minds mid-week and extended our solitary confinement sentence by another two weeks, dashing all our hopes that this will ever come to an end.  I have no idea what day it is anymore.  All I know is that when the milk runs low I go shopping and try to buy whatever is left in the stores.

Enough complaining.  At least Mr. Pickles is still allowed to work, so we can still buy books and eat.

...in that order.

I know a lot of people have been planting pandemic gardens -- that sounds like it requires way too much energy.  We're still homesteading in our own way though. 

Behold!

that would be 45 lbs of hard red organic wheat

A few months ago a friend told me about how some health issues she'd been suffering through were miraculously relieved by eating homemade bread from her own freshly ground wheat, and I thought hey why not?  We've got nothing to lose -- if the allergic people in the house end up not being able to eat it, we're no worse off than before.  It's actually cheaper than the good stuff at the store, plus with the added benefit of having all the nutrients still in it since nothing needed to be removed to keep it shelf-stable.  So in the name of Science I joined a co-op and ordered a bucketful.

I started by grinding the grain in a regular ol' blender, which was very loud and took a while.  Then Mr. Pickles very kindly bought me a grain mill which is much more efficient.

It's from China, so figuring out the attempted English translation of the instructions was entertaining.


Here are the results from my first loaf:

behold, the Bread Brick!

I followed the bread machine's recommended recipe for whole wheat bread.  It was very very dense.  I think 3c. of whole wheat flour need a little more than one tsp of yeast, n'est-ce pas?

Next batch, using recipe from my friend (and 3 times the amount of yeast):

voila!  too much yeast though; it fell at some point during rising

the texture was perfectly light, though

I adjusted the amount of yeast again and have finally hit on the perfectly textured loaf. 


And the final verdict?

Mr. Pickles and Miriam can eat it!  Not too much at a time, but they're not suffering the reactions they normally would from eating wheat.  Whew! 

It also tastes so amazingly good, I wish I could make some for you all.  It's good and hearty and makes awesome toast.  The crust is a little dark, but I think that's more of a bread machine issue than a fault of the wheat.

So, yeah.  I grind my own flour now.

Little bit o' craftiness

Forgot to mention the little sweater I made for Regina.  Baby sweaters are such a great kitting project b/c they're so small and quick!  And the Baby Surprise Jacket is a pattern I've used before, so I was able to avoid the mistakes I made last time, and make a whole set of new ones instead.

I thought Rie might be a leetle overwhelmed with pink, so I went with a purpley self-striping baby yarn.  It was such a joy to work with.

I actually added some crochet ties to the front, and then didn' take a pic of the finished product.  Natch.

There was oodles of yarn left over (better to buy too much than too little!) so Miriam made a little baby cap to match.  She whipped that thing out in record time -- started it a day or so before we left, and finished it AT the baptism party.  (I didn't get a picture of it either.)

We have no idea if either of the items actually fit. (*cough*photographicevidence*cough*)  But they were sure fun to make.  I hope Regina feels how much she's loved.

{Random}

Because I am all about string of consciousness in summer.

This is one batch of blueberry jam.  ONE. 

  I've made two batches so far.  I think that makes about half of our year's jam supply right there.  We have to move soon -- I'm running out of space in the pantry!

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Katie invented a new game: Fishing For Baby!

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Andy is SOOO helpful folding the laundry

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my two hard-working men

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This next one is from my birthday a couple weeks ago.  I only include it to prove that my husband is a first-class goober, since he put the WRONG AGE on my cake.

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

 Aside from the failed attempt to make me feel old (since Mr. Pickles is SO much older than I am and always will be and I am so young and carefree compared to his advanced age), I had a lovely birthday!  I got to do just what I wanted to do, the girls made me handmade presents, and Mr. Pickles cooked some fabulous meals.  Just what one wants for a 30-something (NOT -8) birthday.

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So we've had a hard time getting Andy to accept big people food.  I think at first it was a texture issue -- he couldn't handle anything that had to be mouthed.  He loved the mesh feeder, though, and had fun with that, when I had the energy to find things to put in it.  Finally after the home hurricane passed and I was able to spare brain cells on other activities, I introduced Andy to O's.  That was the gateway to a whole new delightful world of flavors and textures.

the girls love feeding him -- he is a very satisfying baby bird

yay!  food is fun!

 He seems so skinny to me that for a while I felt like a failure as his mother, that I wasn't able to provide him with the calories he needed to grow and thrive.  But then he started sleeping until 5am and I relaxed.  I figured if he's comfortable enough to sleep that long without needing to wake up to eat, then he's getting enough.  He's just so dang mobile, I think he burns the calories off faster than he can consume them.  He's due for his 9-month checkup, so I'll get a status report then.  And hey, ya know what?  SOMEbody has to fill that 5th percentile.

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I have nothing to add to this, except yes, he is dead asleep, and he was very confused when he woke up.

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This shot is amusing because...

how pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

...mere seconds later it devolved into a Lord of the Flies scenario and the boys had to be forcibly separated before they killed each other.

Never a dull moment, I tell you.

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To close, I want to share a surreal exchange I had in the Trader Joe's parking lot today:
Jojo, chewing on a lollipop stick: "I'm a smart kid!"
Me: "Oh? What makes you smart?"
Jojo: "I have a cigarette!"
Me: "...Cigarettes make you smart?  Where did you hear THAT?"
Jojo: "From a book!"
Me: O_o

Modern world, your anti-smoking propaganda has utterly failed.

(Lest you think I let it go at that, I impressed upon him that cigarettes actually make you stupid because they kill brain cells, and that the smart kids are the ones who read.  I'm still wondering what book he was talking about, though...)

What We've Been Up To

...besides accidentally painting the carpet, that is.

What have we been up to?  Short answer: lots and lots!  Here's a sampling.

First up: packing.

boooooxeeeeeeessss...

 I think we've moved about a third of our belongings into storage (Mr. Math Whiz can correct me on that), to make it easier to spiff up the place.  After we removed all the bookcases and painted the living room, it became SO much lighter in there!  Having less stuff around to look at has made me feel more calm in some ways -- well, at least as calm as one can feel when, at any given moment, one room in the house looks like this:

proposed new subtitle for this blog: My Life in Boxes

But Getting Rid of Stuff feels so good that I have been ruthless in my decluttering.  It's been a positive lesson in detachment -- I'm realizing how little I really need to have a happy home life.  (hint: it's not the box of papers from college days)

you can kind of see the color difference here: new neutral paint on the near walls, older yellow in the back.  the new paint looks like french vanilla ice cream.

So I'm filled with all kinds of good resolutions for homemaking in the new house.  And of course, we ALL know that after we finally move (Lord knows when that will be), there are still going to be boxes full of Stuff that lie around indefinitely, until I "find" the time to unpack them.  I should schedule the house blessing for a month after the move-in date to give myself a deadline.

The kids are handling the rolling chaos remarkably well.  It helps that the weather has been extremely cooperative for the most part, so they are able to spend much time out of doors.  I think they're also responding positively to the lack of clutter -- when there's less stuff around, they can focus on just a couple favorite things, and the tendency (and ability) to leave a disastrous mess in their wake is lessened.  (They still make messes, they're just less... disastrous.)  After we had cleared out the living room and a good part of the basement toys, Katie still managed to create an amazing fort/secret hideout complete with drawbridge and pennants using a filing cabinet, the piano bench, a piece of cardboard, pipe cleaners, a bit of string, scotch tape (she has her own roll so she won't use up mine), and pencils.  Oh, and half a ream of construction paper (give or take).  That girl was born about a century too late -- she would have been a whiz at Making Do during the Great Depression.

after just the first coat of primer, the kitchen became so bright!

We've made quite a bit of progress -- I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It's good to remember that this will all eventually end, because everything is still in limbo.  Not one room is actually finished.  Being the perfectionist I am, it's driving me CRAZY.  I have such lovely visions for what each room could be!  Instead, this is the closest I have to an "after" picture:

waiting to paint the bottom half until the new countertops come...

There are just so. many. little. things. that need to be done.  And a couple big things still.  But I'm not complaining!  No I'm not!  I have a house, and not a pile of matchsticks instead.  I am very grateful for that.

I am also very grateful for a hubby who always does wonderful Mother's Days. :)

baked french toast with chocolate melted in between layers...

...smothered in mashed strawberries and hand-whipped cream, served with mimosas.

Speaking of Mother's Day, I had a delightful one!  As you can see the breakfast was awesome.  Then after Mass, Joseph's Atrium teacher held an open house, so the students could show all their favorite works to their families.  Joseph's favorite was an awesome building set of Jerusalem, complete with labels for all the events of the Passion.  We had a good time looking at all the materials, and Joseph was very proud to show us around.

After that Mr. Pickles dropped Andy and me off at the National Gallery of Art, so I could visit the Pre-Raphaelites exhibit before it left.  It was amazing and beautiful.  I was surprised by how many other mothers chose to spend their afternoon there too.  I guess I'm not surprised that they wanted to spend their afternoon surrounded by beauty -- I'm just surprised they decided to bring their (small and unappreciative) children with them!

Then in the evening after I returned home we had some friends over for dinner, and Mr. Pickles grilled.  It was fabulous.  We had a great time.  Oh, and all the kids had made me cards and the girls sewed me little gifts -- it was just a beautiful, sweet day.

Oh, and speaking of strawberries, guess what time it is?

Jam-making time!!

Three batches of strawberry in the pantry already.  I hope it's not too prideful to say that this year my strawberry jam is AWE.SOME.  Like strawberry candy (and that's even with the low-sugar pectin!).  I finally figured how not to scorch strawberry jam -- a) turn down the heat to med-high (duh), and b) have your kitchen elves take turns stirring constantly, and by constantly, I mean constantly.  It's worth giving yourself carpal-tunnel from all the stirring -- the results are yummers.  I hope blueberries will be at the Farmer's Market soon, b/c we're already going through this stuff pretty quickly! 

I figured out that to have enough jam to last us the year and still be able to give some away at Christmas, I would need to make 65+ jars.  If I make a batch every weekend this summer that I can, taking time off for the homeschool conference and for moving, I should be able to get a good dozen in.  (One batch makes from about 6-7 jars for peach to 9-10 for blueberry.)  I can crank out a batch pretty quickly now, especially when I have little elves to help!

So that's some of the latest.  I have a couple more things to write about, but it's now pumpkin time for me.

And because no post is complete without a picture of the baby:

arrr, matey!  have ye any booty on which I can drool?

...um, how do you get this thing off?

Cozy longies!

Finished Andrew's longies!

I had to take about two inches off the original pattern for both the main body and the legs.  I got partway down one leg when I realized just how enormous they were going to be on a newborn, so I had to rip out a whole bunch.  Fortunately baby clothes are so small and therefore quick to knit.

cutest little model ever

Perfect fit!  They're a smidge long in the body, which is actually just fine, b/c they have to fit over a bulky cloth diaper.  Miriam crocheted a little drawstring for them, which I thought was really special.

my yarn "ball" after

Methinks I won't pull yarn out from the center of the ball any more. :)  Katie spent a good amount of time detangling it and rolling it into a nice neat ball for me, God bless her little heart.  There's a lot left -- maybe enough to make a matching stripey hat!

Halloween with Hurricane Andrew

We had a themed Halloween this year.  Katie received a bag of hand-me-downs containing a pair of shoes which provided the inspiration: 

Despite my best intentions NOT to wait until the last second to make costumes, this was taken the day before Andrew was born. :)

The girls both wanted curly hair, so earlier in the day we put it up in rag curls.  Two thoughts: Miriam's hair is lo-o-o-ong, and Katie just has lots of it.

making scary pictures for the front door

 Because of the storm, we couldn't get pumpkins until that morning.  But at least we got them!

So, the costumes!  The girls' were finished before Andrew, the boys' after.  I was still finishing things up Halloween morning -- you can't expect to get much done in 20-minute intervals between feedings! :)  They were very homemade, but I think you get the gist:

L-R: Glinda the Good Witch of the North, the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy, a flying monkey, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.  Oz the Great and Powerful was too tired to get dressed up for trick or treating. :)

 Despite the time crunch, I had fun making them, and the kids offered a lot of input.  They were very happy with their costumes, too -- the Tin Man in particular LOVED his ax.   The costumes were a huge hit in the neighborhood, too.

I'm especially proud of the flying monkey.

note the tail.

Mr. Pickles took the kids out trick-or-treating while I stayed home and -- what else -- nursed the baby.  They collected an obscene amount of candy, especially Daniel, who repeatedly went for the bowl filled with candy, rather than accepting the offered one or two pieces -- and because he was so cute he got away with it!  Little monkey.

the Wicked Witch and Dorothy enjoying the spoils of cuteness.  Poor Miriam had to pick through her loot and remove everything with soy, which ended up being more than half.  no worries, though, she still has more than enough gummies and skittles to rot her teeth respectably!

 Of course, Mr. Pickles couldn't have ANYthing, so he made his own Reese's -- peanut butter and soy-free chocolate chips.

Daniel's favorite candy is lollipops.  He insists the word for lollipop is "candy" -- there is no other candy worthy of the name.  He did not like it when we cut him off and told him it was time for bed.

I'm not tired!

Another successful Halloween!  I was thoroughly worn out afterwards, but I love the opportunity to be so creative.  It's nice having appreciative recipients, too. :)

Happy All Hallow's Eve!

aren't you impressed with Miriam's cat?

 

The Boys' Room

Hi all!  As I was lying down on Joseph's bed and being attacked by small male persons I decided I wanted to post about the boys' new room setup.  A couple months ago I was noticing that the boys were barely fitting into their beds -- Daniel was in a pack-n-play, and Joseph was in a toddler bed.  Both of their feets were rammed into the bottoms of their beds each night.  It was time to bump them up a mattress size.

Of course, I don't have a "before" picture.  (Why do I never think of these things until afterwards?)  But here is their setup now, looking in from the door:

we put their fan and lamp on top of the wire cubbies

I hauled the old twin mattress up from the basement, realizing how much I loathe vinyl mattress "protectors". I think this one ripped AS I was putting it on the first time. Anyone have any good recommendations for where to find good quality waterproof mattress covers?

Daniel thinks big brother's new mattress is perfect for jumping off of

his own is pretty good, too -- plus it adds the extra thrill of the possibility of braining oneself on the edge of the door!

I was tired of waiting for inspiration for how to fix their window covering.  The blinds had broken beyond repair, and they need SOMETHING for their window, preferably dark, since the sun is now starting to shine directly in at quarter after 6.  I had a curtain rod, but the matching brackets had been ripped out (by a small nameless person) ages ago.  So, finally fed up, I just hammered two box nails into the plaster and balanced the rod on top.  That way if any small nameless person tries the same curtain-pulling stunt again, they will end up with a curtain rod on their head, and be strongly discouraged from trying it again.  Hooray for negative reinforcement!


To make the fleecy car curtain darker, I cut up the part of an old fitted jersey sheet (which doesn't fray) that had the fewest number of holes, cut some slits across the top to match the fleece curtain, and threaded them together onto the rod.  (Old sheets are The Bomb!)

sheesh, look at those wrinkles.  Doesn't this woman have standards??

Then for a tie-back I used a section of the elastic from the fitted sheet, cutting slits in the ends to hook over the already-existing screw in the wall.

 It makes the room nice & dark.  I'm so proud of my window mistreatment! :)


Now we're in the process of getting a workable dresser for the boys.  I'll have to rearrange their room again, and creatively, to fit it, but I'll just be so grateful to have one I won't mind.  Half their clothes are currently in boxes and stacked on the floor, b/c there just isn't room in the little three-drawer plastic thingy that we usually keep the baby's clothes in.  I feel like such a failure as a middle-class parent, that I don't have space to store my children's clothing.  Once I finally find a Real Dresser for Mr. Pickles (the one I wanted on Craig's List is gone) :(  the boys will inherit his.


I'm realizing that we have A Lot of Stuff in this house.  I think my nesting goal of this pregnancy is going to be some serious decluttering.  That, and to get over my reluctance to commit to the Container Store.

Homemade Christmas

I love making presents for Christmas, especially now that Miriam is old enough and skilled enough to help. I only wish I had remembered to take pictures of all the things we made! Here are some handprint pillows we made for the grandparents. I got the idea from cousin Rachel, who had forwarded a Pinterest link.

This pillow is for Nana, who, when I first started planning it, had 19 great-grandchildren and one little flower on the way -- by the time I finished it had expanded to four on the way! (for that reason I'm glad I didn't finish it before Christmas -- this way I was able to include everyone's Big News!)

tracing the handprint patterns

embroidering the hands.  I tried to use a different color for each hand.

I tried to think of ways to fit all the hands on one side of a pillow, but it would have been chaos!  This way I could organize them in family groups to help Nana keep track of who belongs to where.

what a clan!

The completed pillow!

The pillow form I used is 20x20.

Apologies to all the cousins who have been waiting to see the end result.  Hope it was worth the wait!

The grandparents on each side got a smaller pillow with just our kids' prints.

first sewing project ever!

ta-da!