Frozen Cranberry Salad

1 cup heavy cream
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 can (16 oz) whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Whip heavy cream and reserve. In separate bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sugar; mix well. Stir in cranberry sauce, pineapple with its juice, and pecans. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into 8x8x2-inch pan and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 5 minutes before serving.

You Must Be Quiet!

D.L.F. went through a long phase of throwing a fit whenever he was told he couldn't have or do something. He seems to be getting better about controlling his emotions. Lately, if something upsets him, he tells himself, "Stop crying! You must be quiet! [Cupcake] is sleeping in her playpen!", and then he calms down. It's pretty cute to hear him getting firm with himself.

I really don't know where he got the line about "You must be quiet." It sounds so quaint. T and I don't say that to him; we might say, "Please be quiet," or "You need to be quiet," but not, "You must be quiet." The only thing I can think of is that in the Corduroy bear books, Corduroy says to Lisa, "You must be a friend."

My Third Child

Now, now, don't get excited. That's not what I mean. I'm talking about Baseball Guy:

 

He was given to D.L.F. when he was a baby by our friend Anna. We call him Baseball Guy for obvious reasons...he has a baseball in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. He goes pretty much everywhere with D.L.F.

We used to tie Baseball Guy on to the toy bar of the bouncy seat for D.L.F. It was the first (and sometimes the only) toy to make D.L.F. smile and giggle. Until D.L.F. was eight months old, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment, so he was in a crib next to our bed. I used to look over in the middle of the night, and Baseball Guy would be spread out over D.L.F.'s face. I didn't want D.L.F. to suffocate, so I'd carefully remove Baseball Guy and place him next to D.L.F. in the crib. The next time I looked over, there Baseball Guy was again, spread out over D.L.F.'s face. I stopped worrying when I realized if D.L.F. was skilled enough to artfully arrange Baseball Guy over his face just how he wanted, then he would be able to take him off if needed. These days, D.L.F. doesn't sleep with Baseball Guy over his face any more, but he does still hold him to get to sleep.

Baseball Guy talks in a high, squeaky voice and likes to ask D.L.F., "What's your favorite food?"--always a good conversation-starter with a toddler.

We almost always take Baseball Guy with us when we go for walks in the stroller. Yesterday, we needed to walk to the produce market. However, Baseball Guy was taking a bath in the washer because he had earlier that morning been baptized with chocolate milk. I told D.L.F., "We can't take Baseball Guy with us because he is in the washer. Do you want to take Doggy with you instead?" D.L.F. said no. A few minutes later, I put Baseball Guy into the dryer and asked D.L.F., "Don't you want to take one of your friends with you instead of Baseball Guy?" D.L.F. said no. As we were going out the door, I again asked D.L.F., "Are you sure you don't want to take Doggy with you?" D.L.F. was sure. At that point, I realized I was asking more for my own sake than for D.L.F.'s. I'm so used to making sure I have all three of them--D.L.F., Cupcake, and Baseball Guy--whenever we go anywhere. I actually missed Baseball Guy when we were out and about without him. His absence was keenly felt, at least by me. I don't think D.L.F. even gave him a thought.

We were both very happy to retrieve Baseball Guy out of the dryer when we got home. Probably one of us even more than the other.

Two Quick Notes

1. I had to take the ElfYourself videos off my blog because they were making it extremely slow-loading.

2. After watching a video with me on YouTube (it's called The Homeschool Song...hardee har hee hee), D.L.F. said, "Do you want to watch another one? Okay! That's a great idea!"

A Good Big Brother

While I was changing Cupcake's diaper, D.L.F. came up to her and asked, "Are you tired, sweet, precious baby girl?"

Then he answered himself: "Yeah, she is."

I Don't Walk 60 MPH

T got a free Global Positioning System (GPS) for signing up for a Discover card (which he canceled as soon as the GPS arrived). I think that deal may still be on...Google it if you're interested. Anyway, sometimes I take it along with me when I walk so I can see how far and how fast I've walked. You set it to pedestrian mode when you're walking. Well, we forgot to switch it back to driving mode, and when we got on the freeway on the way back from Wal-Mart yesterday, the GPS got so confused! It knew that no pedestrian should be barreling along at 60 miles per hour on the freeway. So it kept saying, "Recalculating! Recalculating! Recalculating! Recalculating!" until T shut it off.

Then D.L.F. piped up from the backseat, "RECALCULATING!" (giggle, giggle). "RECALCULATING!" (squeal). He cracked himself up, and us, too.

Sneaky

So. We went to Wal-Mart today to buy a potty chair and underwear for D.L.F., some gel for T's hair, and some towels for a local homeless shelter that is opening soon. We got through the line and as T was grabbing the bags from the cashier to put them in the cart, he said, "Hey! What's this?" and held up a foam Spiderman potty seat that is supposed to go over a regular toilet seat.

"Uh...did you mean to buy that?" I asked.

"No," T replied. "Did you?"

I shook my head and asked the person standing behind us in line, "Is this yours?"

She said it wasn't.

We were momentarily perplexed until T realized D.L.F. must have put the seat into our cart on the sly. Since the sale was already rung up, we had to go stand in line at Customer Service to return the seat. I tried to explain to D.L.F. that he can't just put things in the cart or Mama and Papa might accidentally buy them, but my mini-lecture did not seem to register. Who knows what other objects will strike D.L.F.'s fancy and be unwittingly purchased?

More Quotes from D.L.F.

Yesterday when I was putting D.L.F. down for a nap, he pointed to the smoke alarm on the ceiling and said, "There's a monitor in the sky!" (I think he called it a monitor because the smoke alarm has a small green light on it just like the baby monitor in his room).

Today as he finished the last bite of his lunch, I overheard him having this conversation with himself: "Can you say, 'That's all you get?' That's all you get! Good job, Buddy!"

Cute Cupcake

 

A dear couple from the church I grew up in sent us two outfits for Cupcake. Here's one of them. I think the embroidery on it is so pretty! We took this picture to include in a thank-you note, but I thought I would post it here, too.

Just Melissa

This morning T was laying in bed and I playfully dropped a couple of pillows on his head.

"Oh, you want to have a pillow fight?" he asked.

"No," I replied, "I don't want to fight. I just want to bop you on the head with pillows."

"It's always the same with you," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Just Melissa."

The phrase comes from our wedding day, when someone painted on the rear window of our car:

Just Married
T and Melissa

The "Married" and "T and" were in one color, and "Just" and "Melissa" were in another color, and guess which color washed off in the rain? We thought it was funny, and now we say, "Just Melissa," whenever I'm being unreasonably selfish.

I Could Post, Or Not

But I will anyway, since T is working late and the kids are both in bed and the house is relatively clean and I have nothing better to do. So please feel free to read the mundane drivel that follows, or not:

1. I am finding that all of a sudden (okay, in the past six months or so), I am preferring stronger flavors than I did before. For example, a while back, I suddenly craved blue cheese. I had always thought blue cheese tasted kind of gross. But I gave it a try and it was great. I've been buying blue cheese salad dressing ever since. And tonight I was browsing through a cooking magazine and came across a recipe for a sandwich on rye bread, and now I'm craving rye bread, which I've always detested. I blame my crazy postpartum hormones. Then again, I blame pretty much everything on my crazy postpartum hormones.

2. I got a haircut because it was cheaper than not getting a haircut (I'll explain that in a minute). So for the past several weeks I've been working on assembling matching Christmas outfits for all of us for pictures...a dress for Cupcake off Craigslist, a sweater for D.L.F. from a children's consignment store, etc. Yesterday I mentioned to T that we pretty much had everything we needed, and he suggested trying to make an appointment for this morning, since he would be working later hours and thus would be off in the morning. So I called the studio and got an appointment (it sounded like they were wide open; apparently, not many people get Christmas pictures taken on a Thursday at the beginning of November). I wanted to get an up-do, so I called a hair salon to make an appointment. They said up-dos start at $45, and that was just the neighborhood el cheapo chain hair salon, not some fancy-schmancy establishment. Okay, plan B...try to do my own hair? I did try, but it was just too long and heavy and impossible to work with. On to plan C--at least get my hair cut--which would be cheaper and longer-lasting than an up-do, anyway. So that's what I ended up doing at 8:30 last night.

3. We only do family pictures once a year for a reason. Between getting everybody dressed, trying to not get muddy (it was raining), getting two kids to look reasonably happy when they were uncomfortable and tired of smiling, and narrowing down the fifty (bajillion) shots they took to just a few for prints (Cupcake was crying during that entire hour-long process) while trying to keep one eye on D.L.F. (who at one point was thisclose to pulling the shiny red fire alarm), I was about ready to collapse when we got home! But we did get some smiles from the kids, so it was worth it. However (note to self), never, ever, ever again let them position you again so that your legs are the foremost object in the picture. Ever.

So Now That He's Almost Potty Trained

Just kidding. We haven't even started potty training yet, although we're planning to soon. I just think it's kind of ironic that I've finally finished crocheting a wool soaker for D.L.F. that actually turned out well, and he won't even get to wear it all that long. But I guess we can pass it on to a younger sibling. I used the HoneySuckle Shortie pattern from Ladybugz Farm.

 

D.L.F. seems to like his new "wooley" (what we call wool soakers). I didn't make a drawstring because I find them annoying (and a strangulation hazard), but the ribbing around the top of the wooley seems to help it stay up anyway.

 

Very Helpful

T was searching for a certain Christmas song on our computer. He muttered to himself, "Where is that song?"

D.L.F. repeated, "Where is that song?" and then added, "I don't see it. Maybe it's at work. Maybe it's at Fred Meyer" [a grocery store].

Cupcake at Almost 6 Months

I can throw all these toys on the floor in 3.8 seconds!

 

Hmm...maybe I should change that to E flat.

 

Just Fine

D.L.F. seems to be feeling mostly better. He's still a little emotional, but no more stomach issues.

Cupcake is her usual sweet, cheerful, dear little self. I can't believe she's almost six months old!

What a Day

Today was "one of those days." All morning D.L.F. was really whiny and into everything, which made it difficult to get ready to go. I have a friend who comes over every Wednesday morning and we take the kids to the park. Eventually, we were all dressed and ready, and we did have a good time at the park. But as soon as we got home, D.L.F. was crabby again. I fed him lunch and put him down for his nap. He woke up after only an hour (he usually sleeps for three) and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got him up and ready to go grocery shopping with me (T was at home, waiting for his friend to come over, so he stayed with Cupcake). A few minutes into our drive to the store, D.L.F. suddenly became very upset and started crying inconsolably. I asked him if something was wrong, and did he hurt himself? He said that his mouth hurt. I thought that he must have bit his tongue or something and he would be all right in a minute or two. But he kept crying and cried hard the entire time we were shopping (which I'm sure all the other shoppers appreciated). I was kind of flustered and couldn't think what to buy, but I grabbed a few things and tried to get out of there as fast as possible. I promised to give him a cracker when we got to the car. D.L.F. kept saying he was tired. I buckled him into his carseat and gave him a cracker, which he didn't eat. He kept crying all the way home.

I pulled into the parking lot, ready to just get inside, fix a quick dinner, and get D.L.F. to bed....but someone had double-parked a couple of feet into our (already narrow) assigned parking spot, and there were no visitor spaces open in the lot, so I drove back out to the street, and there were no spaces to park all down the street, either! I called T and explained my dilemma. He and his friend were just finishing up their meeting, so I ended up grabbing his friend's spot on the street as he pulled out. D.L.F. was extra-upset about driving around and around looking for a spot, so he was still crying hard as T lifted him out of his car seat...and then D.L.F. threw up all over. Fortunately, it hit the pavement, and not our car upholstery. But then everything started making more sense. T took D.L.F. inside, got him cleaned up, and let D.L.F. lay down in his tent, where he promptly fell asleep and is still sleeping almost two hours later. Maybe he'll sleep in there all night. I hope he feels better in the morning. Poor little guy.

My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter

This morning D.L.F. picked up a couple of tiny screws that were lying on the computer stand. He said, "Screw. And Jesus screw!" (There is a song called, "And Jesus Grew," based on Luke 2:52, on one of D.L.F.'s Bible memory CDs.)

I guess it's appropriate, considering Jesus' earthly occupation.

Two Great Deals

1. Check out Catherine's instructions on how to get 5.5 pounds of ground steak delivered to your door (in a cooler) for only $1.98--that's $.36/lb! I did it...my meat should be arriving in about a week!

UPDATE: The ground steak offer is no longer valid.

2. You can sign up at EMusic and download 35 songs for free. You can then cancel your subscription and you won't be charged anything, and you get to keep the 35 songs. I just downloaded a bunch of beautiful Christmas songs from The American Boychoir and some fun Pete Seeger folk songs.

Back Home

We got back yesterday from a fun weekend of camping with my parents. T and I and the kids stayed in a cabin (with heat, praise the Lord!), and my parents stayed in their trailer in the same campsite. There was a lake with lots of ducks and a playground. D.L.F. liked going for walks with "Westley Dog" (my parent's West Highland White Terrier) and tried very hard to exert some authority over Westley ("Westley Dog, get down!"), who ignored him. D.L.F. got to try his first marshmallow. He was not impressed and didn't like having sticky hands.

Sleeping in the cabin with the kids was a challenge. Two of the three nights there D.L.F. kept waking up every couple of hours and crying inconsolably at the top of his lungs for no real reason. Cupcake slept pretty well even with D.L.F.'s crying spells.

We all had a good time, but now we are all glad to be home.

Always Enough

When I was cleaning out the pantry yesterday, I found this poem I wrote for a class at Bible college in 2004 (don't ask me what it was doing in the pantry). T and I were engaged, the date of our wedding was fast approaching, T did not have a job, and we had no savings. So the story this poem is based on, found in I Kings 17:8-16, was especially significant at that time in our lives. The poem is far from a literary masterpiece, but I hope the message is encouraging.

Always Enough


In Zarephath, a widow lived, when drought and famine cursed the land
With heavy heart and downcast eyes, she gathered kindling in her hand
And sadly considered her son

They had enough for one more meal, but after that, the time would come
When either she must watch him die, or die herself and leave her son
Alone, all alone in the world

Approaching footsteps startled her; she looked and saw Elijah there
A leather belt around his waist, his garment made of camel hair
His weariness mirrored her own

"Please bring me water in a cup to quench my thirst," the prophet said
And as she turned to go, he called, "Please bring me back a bite of bread."
The widow replied in despair:

"I swear to you, I have no bread, and what I do have won't go far:
"A dash of oil in the jug, a little flour in the jar
"I tell you, there won't be enough"

"Don't be afraid," Elijah said, "First bake a little loaf for me
"And then prepare yourself some bread with flour and oil, and you will see
"That surely, there will be enough

"The God of Israel has said your jug and jar will yet contain
"The oil and the flour you need until the time the Lord sends rain
"To water the crops of the ground"

The widow baked Elijah's bread; as she obeyed, she realized
Her jar of flour was not used up; her jug of oil did not run dry
For days they continued to eat

And for the widow and her son, the Lord was faithful to provide
Thus God fulfilled His promised word: her daily bread was multiplied
And so there was always enough
With God, there is always enough