Links

I finally got around to putting links on my sidebar over there...
Please let me know asap if you don't want to be on there, and I'll remove it.

Advice Wanted

So, I made yogurt the other day. I've made yogurt before, and I always like the texture. This time, however, it was "stringy". It tasted great, and the thickness was okay, but it was stringy. (It sounds more gross than it was, and no one else seemed to mind it.) Does anyone know why this would happen, or what I can do to prevent it?

Random Tidbits

~ This week is flying by! Today was the girls' first art class at the art gallery (with other homeschoolers)! I know, so exciting to go to a real art gallery for a class! :-)
I was planning to leave during the class, but it was so incredibly windy, I didn't want to walk too far with the littles. So I paid for 2.5 hours of parking. It was "providential", because I got invited out for coffee with some awesome Christian ladies and we had a great visit. We exchanged email addresses and are hoping to get together again. We didn't even talk about homeschooling at all, there was so much to talk about! They were a hoot, as my mom would say :-) (That means they were a lot of fun, I think)

~ Last weekend we drove 1.5 hours to a maple sugar farm. Yeah. I'm not sure why we drove that far, except that it's the only one around where we actually get to go in and eat pancakes after the tour. It was a beautiful day, and they sell perfectly cooked, whole grain pancakes with homemade sausage. Yum. I think it was worth waiting an hour in line to sit down and eat. I think.

~ I have to share one funny story from the maple farm. The boiling room was packed with people, and there was a couple standing very close to me.
She says to her husband: So, is this like the Aunt Jemima stuff we buy at the store?
Him: (chortle) Are you serious?
Her: Well, I mean, isn't it the same thing?
Him: (trying not to outright laugh at her) No, it's not.
Her: Doesn't that stuff have maple in it?
Him: No, it's pure sugar.
Her: Oh.

The part that hit me funniest was his response. He was trying to be so nice, but couldn't believe that she didn't know what real maple syrup was. I guess it's good he brought her along.

~ Emilie finally said her first real word. She's waaaaay behind what her sisters were at this age, but who can blame her? I can hardly get a word in, much less a one year old trying to talk with all the chatter in this house. Now she says, "Ow" every time she wants out of her highchair, and then she claps, very pleased with herself.

~ Our van is in the garage. They tell us it needs a new transmission and a new computer. We're not impressed. We're not sure it's worth getting fixed since it will cost almost as much as we paid for it in the first place. Any advice?

~ Adrienne has been sick with a fever, before the weekend, and a head cold this week. It's the only time she gets really miserable and doesn't want to have her blood sugar checked or insulin given. But I think she's much better today and hopefully the cold won't get any worse.

~ We thought spring was here. The irises are popping up and there are buds on the trees. The bikes and skates were out... But then we got snow, and now it's cold again. :-( It's supposed to warm up by the weekend again, so here's hoping...

~ The other day I figured out how to kill two birds with one stone, as they say. We got AC new (for her) inline skates, and they were pretty "rolly" (as she said). So I put Emilie in the stroller and AC pushed her around. Entertaining for E, balance for AC. Works for me.

~ That's all for now...pictures may follow later...

Overheard

At the supper table tonight...

AC: How old is Grandma N?
O: Thirty-nine.
Me, laughing: No, if she was thirty-nine that would mean she had me when she was eight years old!
AC: dying of laughter
O (imitating someone in labour): Take me to the children's hospital, I'm having a baby! And I'm only eight years old!

Overheard...this time from Daryl

You probably have to know my husband to think these things are funny...

Last night I was finishing up the dishes and Daryl was sitting down to study with a cup of tea.
Daryl: Want to sit down and have tea with me?
Me: I don't know. Am I allowed to talk to you or do I have to be quiet?
Daryl: You can talk if you have something interesting to say.

Maybe you had to be there, but I am still laughing.

The other night we were getting ready for bed and he was standing in front of his closet (he's been pulling his clothes out to take down to the shower with him so he makes minimal noise in the morning). He said this dead serious, "What shall I wear tomorrow? Something flashy?"

At the time it didn't even register in my brain. The next day I realized what he said and today I have tears in my eyes again from laughter.
I think there's enough of you reading that know him well enough to appreciate this. :-)

Menu

Okay, Sabrina inspired me. I've been meaning to post my menu for the week, so here it is.



Monday - Chili

Tuesday - Salt Cod Fish Cakes

Wednesday - Sweet and Pungent Pork

Thursday - Burritos

Friday - Salmon

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Sloppy Joes

Pretty boring, eh?! I guess I was feeling uninspired this week!
I am really in the mood to try new recipes, but nothing seems to appeal. How about you post a new main dish recipe on your blog and then leave me a comment?
There are a few new ones over on our recipe site, so I should try a few of those.

To the Grandmas: This is not as dangerous as it looks. There is plenty of rocks between AC and the water! :-)

Weekend Exploring

Amazingly, we've had two beautiful weekends in a row! Daryl was on call this weekend, but didn't get any calls after hours! Yay! So we were able to explore a bit. Some of these pics are from last Saturday, some from yesterday.

(Check out that hat!)

Weekend

I just want to share a sad story.

Yesterday Daryl and I were craving shawarma or donairs or something of that sort. So after church, we decided to try this place close to our house. They were the worst donairs I have ever eaten. Maybe I'm weird, but I don't particularly care for half a cup of cold, watery vanilla pudding poured over my meat.

Believe me, next time I will drive the extra 2 km to go the place that actually has the words "Lebanese" on the sign.

Sympathy, please.

Thoughts

I've been thoroughly enjoying the New Living Translation of the Bible that I've been reading for the past few months.

I've taken to reading the same chapter 3-5 days in a row, just to absorb it. It seems when I do that, I find something new in the chapter that I hadn't seen before.



Here is what I read this morning. There is so much packed into one verse. Just read it a couple times and see what you hear.

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He
will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent
fear of him during your time as "foreigners in the land." I Peter 1:1

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be in the world, but to be foreigners. Here's another one that might wake you up. I know I can find myself thinking that if I'm not doing "worldly" things, this doesn't apply to me. But it SOoooo does. Check this out:

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. I John 2:16

Look, Rhonda!

I finally finished it! I'm in the process of knitting or crocheting something for each of the girls. I knit a sweater for Anna-Christina when she was 2, and since have started one for Olivia. (Now I'm going to take it to the "knitting clinic" because I'm having problems.) Anyway, I decided to crochet ponchos in the meantime for something quick and easy, and because they all want one. I started off making this one for Olivia, but then she didn't like the colour so it became Adie's. I think it was dark in the store where I bought the yarn...kind of a "dusty rose", as we used to say. I don't particularly care for it. But anyway, it was so easy I can make more if I decide to. So now I've started a cream coloured one for Olivia, and AC wants lavender.
I may be a lot of things, but crafty I am not, so it feels great to have this finished, and actually looking okay! :-) (Rhonda, did you notice I added the tassles, even though the pattern didn't say to? Not bad, eh?)

~ It's starting to snow/rain. I can hear it hitting the skylight above the desk, and see it building up into a sheet of ice. I think it's time for a pot of coffee.

~ I think we've found a church family to be a part of! The church we've been going to kicked off a new Sunday school program today, and the kids had a great time and remembered what they learned (taming the tongue).

~ Daryl and I had a wonderful night out last night. Our babysitter was awesome, and the girls loved her. Important point: She had supper cleaned up and not a dish in sight. Kids were sound asleep, house was tidy. The girls are very excited to have her come back.

~ Our van is having problems. Daryl thinks it might be the transmission and that's not good news. In the meantime, I'm scared it will leave me sitting somewhere since it revs up and won't kick into gear when it's supposed to.

~ The house is becoming alive after naps so I think we'll get a game going...if I can settle the fighting about which one to play...