A Few Things

Below is a picture of Joseph holding his bedtime snack tonight, a decadent dairy treat: hot cocoa with whipped cream on top. He even sprinkled a little cocoa powder on the whipped cream to make it fancy.

Why do I tell you this? Well, I've been looking for a replacement for whipped cream that didn't involve buckets of chemicals and partially hydrogenated oils- the search, I hope, isn't hopeless, but I have found a way to make a fancy, foamy dessert drink- behold!
Yes, the cup says "dream"- DREAM COME TRUE! It's just soymilk! You can't whip soymilk! Well, apparently you can- I did it while it was heating in a pan. I whipped it with an electric mixer over a medium flame (scorched soymilk tastes really weird- so heat gently)- when I was done I had heaps of foam that I could pick up with my fingers and dollop on my mug. Careful not to whip too much- it can all turn into foam and trust me, it really doesn't deflate.
I mixed in maple syrup, cinnamon, and cardamom- it was really good. Just like the fancy coffee place that made steamed foamy soymilk for me with their fancy machine- only I don't have a fancy machine! Further proof that not being able to have milk really isn't that bad.

And then...

As I was taking the above pictures off our camera I came across this video. I loaded it on my computer not knowing what to expect. This... is my family:

Don't ask me how Joseph make that sound at the end... he doesn't even know.

You Dolphins and All Water Creatures...

...BLESS THE LORD!

Yep, my boyfriend is the best. This past Thursday was my birthday and when Tony came home for break he gave me three fantastic fish!

On the container he gave them to me in, he pasted the words from the three young men not burning in fiery furnace in the book of Daniel: "You dolphins and water creatures, bless the Lord"! Very appropriate. So I appropriately named them Shaddrack, Mishack, and Abendego. I know, I know- fish die easily and quickly- but for now, they are lovely and delightful and I think they are certainly blessing the Lord!

Our Benjamin

He's going to grow up.

Sigh...

New Lunch Spot

One I can really get used to.

Benja-bot

This was Benjamin's project all day today. Boys have an innate ability to make mechanical noises.

Sunny Tablecloth

Baking Days

I love baking, but what I love even more is when my SIBLINGS bake! There's just something so irresistible about a boy of 7 saying "Rosey, I think I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies" in his little voice- then doing it- by himself! This week Gracie decided to make pancakes:

Benjamin made "Chocolate Crinkles":

He spent half the night thinking up plans to sell them....

Though I should give him credit for wanting to give them away to our neighbor Bob first.

Then my boyfriend Tony and I made a cake roll at the request of Joseph. We went early to mass this morning so we could save a spot for the rest of my family- but by God's hand my family overslept and had to go to the 11 o clock (since when does Mom accidentally sleep in??)- as a consolation we made lunch and this cake roll while they went to mass. This time we got a picture- behold the delicious fluffy swirlyness!

Then to squeeze in one more baking excursion I made some sweet potato muffins for breakfast tomorrow. Sweet potato mash is something I will definitely keep in my freezer as a Momma. And to put some Catholic sprinkles on this post I'll leave you with a quote from my new beloved acquaintance St. Stanislaus Kostka, "I find a Heaven in the midst of saucepans and brooms."

Dark Sleepy Morning

When I was biking to church this morning there was a glorious fog- I could feel the tiny water droplets collecting on me- quite exhilarating after a night of very little sleep. Now the fog has gone to heavy humidity but it's still sleepy and cool. Perhaps a day for sewing while being lulled by Sweet Land...? Take delight in your littleness before God!

Summer is Winding Down...

But there's still a nice sunny spot on the swing!

I've decided- after the whole summer- that I miss blogging- and writing- and I'm going to do it more. This has been another one of those summers where I feel useless to the world. Both my parents have been working and so I've been taking care of the three little(r) ones. I vowed to make money with my sewing machine and all I made was a tie as a gift and 1 needed Sunday dress for myself. God gave me money in one way or another as He saw fit- so I'm quite content- plus I can't complain that I got to do "mom" things for three months. God's way is always the best way anyhow :)

Joseph: "Benjamin! Let's be like cool monk guys and fast until dinner!"

CAKE ROLL!!

Praised be Jesus!

Today I made my first CAKE ROLL! If you're wondering, it's one of these:

That isn't my cake roll- my sister took our camera to camp this week, so no picture, but you can infer the awesomeness. This could easily become an obsession. It was really easy and FAST and looks SO COOL. Some might disagree with me saying that it's easy, but I'm not afraid of folding ingredients into whipped egg whites and I'm not afraid of rolling a cake- I'm feeling that kind of crazy baking empowerment that you get when something works. VIVA CAKE ROLLS!!!

Summer!

For my 3 youngest siblings today was the last day of school- and boy did they kick it of with force! Grace, as a new ninth grader spent the day at Valleyfair like every new ex-middle schooler should. Joseph, Benjamin and I went to a park with a lake this afternoon and Benjamin fell in the lake (mind you we had no towels or extra clothes along). Funny though that Benjamin had sat down in the water before he slipped and fell...8 year olds! The best age ever! After dinner Joseph was "bouncing that ball off of Benjamin's head" and they broke a wine glass that shattered all over the dining room floor- then they gorged on popcorn. Benjamin so earnestly asked me if anyone had ever won the record for having the biggest mouth. I told him I had only ever seen the man who could fit 3 cheeseburgers in his mouth at once- but that I didn't know if that could be the record for the biggest mouth. As my Dad was putting them to sleep Joseph was saying:

'We really don't have school tomorrow? What are we going to do?'...

That's my question...

A Few More

This has nothing to do with the Handmaids, but the wingspan on this dragonfly I saw this morning was like 5 inches. I thought it was really cool.

In any case, if you were aching to see more of the Mystical Valley of the Handmaids, here's a treat!

The Mystical Valley leads down to a winding river...

Which used to have a bridge before the river flooded this spring. The Handmaids are now confined to exploring only one side of the forest...

Oh, poor them...

They said they are waiting for a little boy to build a raft for them to get across.

One more look at that lovely habit! Praised be Jesus!

Freedom Continued

Praised be Jesus!

So one of my first acts of freedom from school was to become a committed adorer at my church. I've wanted to do it for a long time but never could because I would have had to find a sub for 9 months of the year. Being young, I always think that I never need to sleep and that getting up to meet a lover in the middle of the night is really romantic so I signed up for a 1-2 AM slot. Well, my thoughts about it were definitely more romantic than it actually was. I mean, if you think about it, it was perfectly romantic- the kind of romantic where you boyfriend tries to dip you backwards to kiss you but ends up shoving his nose in your eye. I think you know what I mean.

First I couldn't get in because I don't know how the lock on the door works and a tall man named Pierre had to get up and let me in, then in my excitement I ran up to the front of the chapel to adore Jesus in the front row but I was really noisy because I'm an 8 year old in a 22 year old's body- then I realized that because I'm in my favorite corner I can't see the clock and don't have one on me so I have no idea when to leave- I decided to guess (I was right!) but then as I was leaving I accidentally slammed the door- really loud- at 2 in the morning. Sigh. Well I guess it shows how much the Lord loves- it's like we're married and can clean our ears in the same room. God is so wonderful.

Calvin and Hobbes

Benjamin has taken to reading Calvin and Hobbes out loud all the time. Given that he's doing it all the time he's gotten quite good at emphasizing the right words and making all the right sounds to go with the comics. My Dad decided to film several of Benjamin's readings- here's a taste.

A Little Blessing

Last night I was putting by brothers to bed and had them bless themselves with holy water. Benjamin drew three crosses on himself: one on his forehead, one on his nose, and one on his mouth. Benjamin had just watched a movie that he said was too scary so it made sense to me that he would bless his forehead, and blessing your lips is common so that God's Word will always be on your lips, but his nose? He told me then that he put a cross on his nose so he wouldn't smell anything, and continued to explain that he put a cross on his mouth so that he wouldn't drool on the pillow.

Let the children come to me!!!

Why are my brothers so cool?

The rock monsters do well on the lego half-pipe.

On our way to get a Christmas tree...

We had to wait a long time and decided to sing songs. I'll provide the lyrics to the rap Benjamin composed.

Joseph provides ostinato: Googles in the hooouse...

Benjamin:

Googles in the house yeah PUNCH PUNCH

Googles in the house yeah totally

Googles in the house the end- Cabbages-

Eatin' forty- forty crunches of google cereal YUM YUM

Every google donut today- yeah! Cut!

He'll be rich someday.

CAN'T

WAIT

TO GO

HOME!!!

"I would stop doing ANYTHING to eat macaroni"

-Benjamin