Our Easter Crowd

17 of us, and I'm grateful for every single one!  Whenever we get together though, my thoughts turn to those who aren't with us.  I wish it wasn't so difficult to get all the branches of the family tree in one place!  :)

Happy Easter, friends!  :)

Because Life Is Full...

...and will continue to be extra busy for the next few days, I decided to go ahead and make the switch.  The switch of my blog header and background, that is.  :)  Out with March, in with April!  Since David and Moriah have birthdays in April, they get to be featured in the header.  :)

Also, because life is full, I'm only going to take a minute to post a few pictures from Tobin and Shav's Sunday afternoon nap last week, rather than writing a long(ish) post about the thoughts swirling inside my head during this Easter season.

 Maybe I'll get to that other post someday...

...but for tonight, this will have to do.

May Easter be especially meaningful for us all this year!!

A Pleasant Way to End the Day

Every evening, after I've tucked Tobin and Shav into bed, given hugs and kisses, and said goodnight, I close the door of their room and pass this scene before I go downstairs to resume my nightly tasks...

...Josiah, in his bed, reading a book by the light of the lamp.  Both he and David get to have plenty of reading time at the end of the day, and I think it's the pleasantest way to relax and prepare for the transition to slumber.

Warm, cozy, peaceful, loved.  That's what this picture speaks to me.  :)

Two Girls and a Blanket

Once upon a time there was a little girl...

...a curly-haired little girl who was the firstborn of her farmer parents...and they delighted in her!

 That little girl had a pink blanket...a soft, pink, wool blanket with silky edges.

 The blanket was taken care of very well...and time passed.

 After many years had passed, that curly-haired little girl became the grandmother of another little girl...

 ...a girl with straight hair, blue eyes, and a smile that melted her grandmother's heart.

The time had come for the blanket to be passed on, so the first little girl who was now the grandmother gave it to her precious little granddaughter...

...and they snuggled and enjoyed it together.

Two beloved girls...one pink blanket...and an unbreakable bond of love!  :)

It Took Me Long Enough...

...but now, only a few weeks away from Moriah's first birthday, I've finally accomplished something significant.  I got her picture printed out, framed, and hung on my favorite photo wall.  :)

 For far too long, I only had the boys' pictures there, but how sweet it is to now have their baby sister's photo there, too!

This afternoon, after I hung the photo, I was so pleased with how it looked that every time it caught my eye, I had to stop and smile.  I would be moving around the kitchen, putting away groceries, clearing dishes off the table, getting ingredients out of the refrigerator for supper, and so on; and then through the windows that Jeff made several years ago in the wall between the living room and kitchen, I would glimpse the FIVE framed photos and would feel so pleased.  It doesn't take much to make me happy.  :)

I did notice, however, that the pictures of the boys are from a couple of years ago and are definitely outdated.  I wonder though...if it took me nearly a year to even get one picture of Moriah on the wall, how long will it take me to get updated photos of all the boys??  ;-)

Wordless Wednesday {This Is What Temptation Looks Like}

Recipe Box - Coconut Cookies

Snow days and home-baked cookies just go together...

...so yesterday, as we enjoyed our second snowy Sunday in a row...

 ...and watched the world outside be transformed into this...

 ...I pulled out my favorite cookbook, turned to the cookie section, and decided to make these.  :)

 Coconut cookies.  Warm from the oven, soft in the middle, they were a perfect addition to our cozy Sunday evening.

That is, if you like coconut.  All of us, except for one particular seven-year-old, do, so it's fair to say that these were a hit with six-sevenths of my family.  :)  I can't tell you how many Jeff ate.

 I can't tell you because I can't count that high!!  ;-)  I was so happy that he was so happy with them; it's a pleasure to cook for those who appreciate it.  :)

 There's nothing tricky about making these cookies.  Here is the very simple recipe!

What You Need:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. coconut flavoring
2 Tbsp. water
4 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. angel flake coconut

What You Do:
Cream together butter and sugars, then add eggs, vanilla, coconut flavoring, and water.  Beat until fluffy.  Sift together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt, then add to dough, mixing well.  Finally, mix in coconut.

Drop onto greased baking sheet.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes (I actually did 9 minutes, and it was perfect.)  Do not overbake.

Yield: 6-7 dozen

It Was an Ordinary Saturday Morning...

...but

 sometimes

 BEAUTY

 is

 found

 in

 the

 ordinary.

It was today!  :)

The 11th Month {Full Report}

I had no idea, back when I posted this first little snippet about Moriah turning 11 months old, that I would be dealing with that horrible rash for days to come and would, consequently, find myself blogging, for a number of days, about little else than the state of my skin.  How boring!  Looking back, I can say that it's a truly wonderful thing I did not know at the time, because I would have been horrified at how long it would be until I returned to full health.  Living without foreknowledge and taking one day at a time is really the best way to live--imagine that!  ;-)

But now that the rash is gone--and has been for most of this week--I can return to the post I had intended to write 13 days ago: the full report on my sweet Moriah one month shy of her first birthday!

She's a girl on the move.  

By far, the biggest change in Moriah this month is how she suddenly transformed into someone who could get around.  I would put her down on the floor in a certain spot, but did she stay there?  Not a chance!  I wish I could describe how she locomoted, but the best I can say is that she didn't exactly crawl and she didn't exactly scoot, but somehow she moved!  It sometimes seemed as if she used a combination of getting up on her hands and knees, then sitting down in a different place than she had started from, then doing it all over again.  However she did it, it was certain that by 11 months, she was mobile.

Even though I thought for sure that at least one of her other teeth would come through this month, none did.  Despite two hard bumps where her top front teeth will come through and a hard bump on the bottom beside the one that is there, none of those three that I was watching decided to make an appearance this month.  She's still a one-tooth wonder!  :)

This (photo above) must be her "this little light of mine" pose.  ;-)

Despite the smiles on Moriah's face in these pictures, this month was actually a little rough--the hardest, for sure, of her life so far.  At first I thought it was teething that was bothering her; but when time went by and no teeth appeared and her symptoms continued, I realized it must be sickness of some sort.  It wasn't anything particularly serious, "just" a low-grade fever, a nose that ran like a faucet, drooling that soaked the front of her shirts and necessitated frequent changes of clothing, and general fussiness.  Most bothersome was that she, who has SO RARELY woken in the night for feeding ever since she started sleeping through the night at about two months of age, woke up crying in the night a number of times this month.  Each time, it didn't take long to nurse her and tuck her back in bed; but it was a change from her previous pattern...and I was relieved when she resumed her sleep-all-night habit.  :)

Moriah loves to be with other members of the family.  Watching her big brothers play is especially fun for her, and she continues to spend time each afternoon before her second nap in the company of one or more of them as they have quiet time.  She's thrilled when they talk to her and play with her!  :)

Despite her love of being with others, she goes to bed quite peacefully; and when she wakes up, she plays contentedly in her crib until I come to get her.  I am so grateful for this aspect of her character!

She continues to be a great self-feeder with her fingers, and she eats "big people food" almost exclusively--the baby food stage was a short one for her.  For breakfast, she often has strawberry yogurt Cheerios in milk, and I sit with her and spoon them into her eager mouth.  Actually, when I first put her into her highchair, I put some dry Cheerios onto her tray, and she munches on them for a little bit while I do a few morning routine things, like building up the fire, etc.  Then I sit down and feed her the Cheerios in milk, and she loves it.  :)  Other foods she enjoys are bananas, little pieces of cheese, beans, yogurt, etc.  It's hard to make a list because she just eats whatever we happen to be eating!  :)

She still nurses, usually 4 times a day.  I usually wean my babies at 12 months and go straight from breastfeeding to cow's milk in a sippy cup, skipping the bottle stage.  I suppose I'll do that with Moriah.  I'm not in a hurry to wean her though.  ;-)

Since Moriah is so mobile now, I wondered how long I'd be able to keep her lying on her quilt on the floor while I took these pictures of her.  Sure enough, it didn't take too long for her to roll over and sit up.  :)

That's OK: I like sitting-up pictures, too.  :)

When I see all the hair on her head, I remember her mohawk stage...and I'm grateful that the sides finally grew in.  ;-)

Maybe I've mentioned this before, but before she was born, when I imagined how she might look, I never really pictured her with such dark hair.  I always sort of thought she'd be more blond.

But needless to say, I think her dark hair is gorgeous!!  :)

Moriah's not super clingy these days...

...but she's still pretty fond of me and likes to be close to me.  Like when she's down on a blanket and I'm up on a chair...  :)  ("Aren't you going to pick me up, Mommy?")  :)

We surely have enjoyed these 11 months with Moriah; she adds SO MUCH to our family!!

And now, full speed ahead to ONE YEAR!!!  :)