Kid Sweetness

Just a few things we've been doing lately. I feel the need to post what pictures we've got since we like to go through the blog and remember. And I think we may have lost a bunch of baby pictures when our hard drive crashed, so the blog is seeming more and more precious. 

Jonathan picked this lovely rose for me. 

And Jonathan put this Lego Technic set together that he purchased. He had to redo some parts at different times. It was a more difficult set to put together which was really good for stretching him.  

I made a Jayne hat and Elizabeth took a picture using her homemade lightbox. We didn't have great lighting at this point in the evening, but I thought the lightbox was pretty cool.

The adorable Best Beloved.

And Phillip commissioned Elizabeth to make some chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day. 

New Recipe

Okay, ya'll. I'm not great at coming up with creative dishes. When cooking,  I'm inspired by recipes I see. I buy the ingredients needed and work from there. Some people look at the ingredients in their cupboard and refrigerator and are inspired to make something from what they already have. I was granted a little taste of that this week and I love it!

My parents sent us some homemade butters (fruit butters) and jams. The kids were thrilled! Peeking in the fridge, I decided to try some pear butter on a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Pears or apples are often paired with pork, so I figured it would at least taste good. Someone had given us their leftover Pepper Jack cheese slices from the Super Bowl party we went to; I used that instead of the shredded cheddar or Velveeta that was our usual availability. I had minced some shallots for our lunch meal that day, and they were also calling my name.

This is the best toasted sandwich I've ever eaten! Seriously the best. I've had one the last three evening meals. And I gave some to Phillip who is also sufficiently impressed. I would eat another right now except we're out of ham.

Thank you, Dad, for the pear butter which inspired this most delicious sandwich!

Ingredients:

2 slices Bread (we use honey-wheat bread ~ not the 100% wheat)
A bit of regular yellow Mustard (I'm sure Dijon mustard would be good too)
1 slice Pepper Jack Cheese
3? slices thin-sliced Ham (We used very little ham since I wanted to stretch it out to last as many sandwiches as possible)
1 tsp minced Shallots (we also used chopped onion when we ran out of shallots, but I liked the shallots best)
Aupa's Pear Butter (I don't know this recipe; store-bought apple butter might work okay)

Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat. Once heated, melt some butter in the pan. Lay a slice of bread down on the melted goodness. Squirt a little mustard on the bread. Lay a slice of cheese down, then ham, sprinkle with shallots. Spread pear butter on the other slice of bread and lay (pear side down) on the sandwich. Pick up the sandwich with a spatula and butter the pan again ~ flip the sandwich over and toast long enough to allow the cheese to melt and the pear butter to heat up. You might need to lower the temp for a longer cook time.

Harrison Alone

Harrison wanted to go with me to drop Elizabeth off at a youth event at church. He said he wanted to play by himself at the playground, and "You don't have to come with me, Mom; I know how to do it by myself."

I did end up sitting in the play area listening to a podcast while he played alone. He had a story going on in his head and was running from one playscape to another making spaceship noises. A couple of girls eventually showed up and one of them told him hi. He ran up to me smiling ~

"Mom, that wittle gul just told me 'hi'! (chuckle, chuckle) I can't beweive it!"

"Did you tell her 'hi' back?"

"No, I fohgot. (chuckle, chuckle) I usually do."

And he ran off to play by himself.

My Sister Comes to Visit

Tonya and Joshua came to visit us for a weekend. We had seen Tonya and Jordan last year in Louisiana at Momo's funeral, but most of my kids had not yet met Joshua. It means a lot that she took the time and money to come spend some time with us.

Upon arrival she had lots of Valentine treats to give to all the kids. 

Saturday morning games and cartoons.

Celebrating Tonya's birthday with pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn and 

pineapple-upside-down cupcakes.

Of course, the Alamo! It was a little drizzly but still fun.

The kids all played fine together, but Phoebe and Joshua especially got along well. Asleep on the bedroom floor when there was at least one bed available.Very sweet.

And Sunday we watched the Seahawks play in the Super Bowl. They didn't win, unfortunately for my sister's sake (and it was her birthday too!), but I had a good time visiting. That's what matters, right? :-) We had some good talks in between the activities. 

It really is a special relationship to have ~ sister to sister. And cousin to cousin. I always love my kids to spend time with their cousins. Glad you came, sis!