Insiders

These days, you have to be an insider to understand John.  "Trash truck" and "dadda" sound remarkably similar.   "Bu" can mean "bus," "book," "boobs," or "brother."

Honestly, in our house you need insider knowledge for more than just John.  Driving in the car today, June asks "What's eleven?"  The answer was "one and one."

Other insider talk morphs into Legend.  Shortly after Will was born, we heard "Who's Batman?" echoing over and over through our house.  We were in a fog of confusion, until it was clear that a certain grandfather was working a crossword puzzle.  Eight years later, that was the last thing my husband just said to me before turning out his light.

Valentine's Revisited

Valentine's Day came and went, but our decorations are still hanging around.  In fact, we look at the outside world through hearts, hanging in the windows.  My favorite tokens from this year's creations were simple things:

• The big hearts that June and Clara spent extra time decorating with lots of color and detail.  
• The rocks that Will gave to his friends at school, the day after their celebration.  
• The big red hearts that we hung on the door, using left-over foam from the bed project.  

This year, I am taking pleasure in looking at the snowy cold through deep, warm, rich reds.

Homemade

This Christmas, the kids and I made a headboard for Jeff.  It was very simple:  a big board from Home Depot (getting it home was not so simple), puffy foam and 3 yards of linen from Joann's, a staple gun, and shazaam.  We had a headboard.  Three months later, after accepting that the decorative upholstery pins weren't working out, we put it in our room.  

Some homemade gifts are priceless.  Some are not.  I'm not yet sure where this one fits in.  But for $60, it will do for a while.

Before

After

Abandoned

Lately, I have abandoned this blog, largely due to John's sleep habits, camera difficulties, and general wintertime neglect.  On that note, I am aware of the many things that get abandoned daily around our household.  Here are just a few:

A hallway fort:

 A muffin stand;

Scooters:

 Sleds, once snow slides:

Dolphin Families living under the trampoline:

Spilled Birdseed:

In fact, abandonment seems to breed abandonment:  The more my children abandon - like four changes of clothes throughout the day, art projects, toys - the more I do, too.

More on Pets

I've found the perfect motivator to get the kids to pick up their stuff:  an incontinent cat.

Pet Swap

We've officially swapped our fish for mice.  The enthusiasm that followed our first mouse sighting was quite memorable.  Clara was tingling all over.  She dove head first into the pantry to try to get her hands on them.  Although June hasn't seen them, she tells everyone about them.  I guess it's a positive sign that in her excitement, she forgets to mention the dead fish.

Winter Soup Stride

It has been cold here lately, and I've hit my winter soup stride.  I am no award-winning cook.  In fact, time in the kitchen was one of the many things I didn't factor in when I went for four kids.  But, here we all are.  And I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen.

Jeff is a good stove-top chef.  Really good.  (Something I DID factor in when I married him.)  He's creative, quick and has a great sense of timing.  (In fact, that's a decent description of his personality, too.)  As a result, he's usually in charge of the main course for our holiday dinners.

I, on the other hand, specialize in cooking that gives you wiggle room.  Like things that won't burn if you leave them simmering an extra 30 minutes.  Or things that don't require exact measurements and such.

So, I make soups in the winter, pull together pretty raw food in the summer, and bake all year round.  Here in the thick of winter, I'm on a soup-making frenzy.  In the past 2-3 weeks, I've made:

• salmon chowder
• carrot soup
• lentil soup
• black bean soup
• chicken noodle soup
• white bean and kale soup, and
• butternut squash & pear soup

Again, I am no expert, but Gourmet Magazine is.  Here is a rough translation of their salmon chowder recipe that is always a hit:

Boil some potatoes, cut into little cubes, in milk, and then simmer (for however long you want); Saute an onion in butter; Cook salmon on top of that.  Put the salmon to the side, but add the onion (plus a little flour) to the milk and potatoes.  Cut up the salmon and add it to the other stuff.  Add a little smoked salmon.  Add some sea salt and pepper, and a whole bunch of dill.  The end.