I can hardly believe it’s been a year since we brought this little guy home from the hospital.  He has grown and changed so much!  He was a chubby, wobbly, helpless little hairy thing who was almost always asleep and now he’s a rambunctious little blur of a boy.  He’s officially a toddler.  Wow, I have a toddler.  It just blows my mind.  

Please give me a moment while I regain my train of thought.

We had a nice time celebrating Hezzy’s first birthday with my husband’s family.  It was snowy and fairly cold the whole time, but it was a nice change to see snow on the ground instead of just rain.  We stayed fairly busy visiting with family while Hezzy had a blast going from one end of the house to the other, enjoying the space and freedom.

He was quick to begin his mischief.  No cabinet door was safe from discovery.

On his birthday we celebrated with a family dinner and some gifts, which he ignored in favor of the (more) fun wrapping paper.

He got a lot of floor time with Grandma and anyone else who would play with him, too.

Then he got to have another birthday party with his friends.  Yes, he has friends in snowy places already.  He was the youngest by at least two years but he kept up with the “big kids” as best he could.  I think he did pretty well.

Four generations!

Hezzy’s great-grandparents were also having a nice time getting to meet and play with their first great-grandchild.  I imagine it will be more often that we’ll go visit now that they’ve met him, since once you know this kid you just can’t get enough of him!

About the Hez

Since September, the child has learned to crawl (awkwardly for a long time before doing it correctly) and walk without assistance.  He’s now all over the place so fast leaving a mass destruction in his wake.  He’s a little tornado on the go and we love it (even if it is tiring to pick up after).  He still says just mama and dada but is learning to say dog (he says gog).  He knows the sound the fish makes (he makes a smacking sound with his lips) and can tell you where his head is (a quick hand to the head).  He was sick with a stomach flu a couple weeks ago, which didn’t completely resolve until just last week.  Because of it he’s lost some weight but he’s definitely making up for it now with twice the appetite he had before.

He did amazingly well on his first week-long road trip to Washington and he (and I) got to see and be in the Space Needle for the first time.  He’s had a visit from his aunt and grandmother from my side and seen his first snow fall.  He also enjoyed watching the Hanukkah lights and the holiday lights strung about our town.

About Me

I enjoyed every moment my sister and mom were here visiting, taking in their presence, their love and their support.  They were both an immense help with my little Tornado Baby and of course we had lots of fun, too.  I have survived and lived to tell about a week-long road trip around Washington with a 9-month old baby (he actually did really well) and feel all the wiser for it.  Next we have another plane trip, only this time he won’t be 3 months old, he’ll be 1 year old.  I hope I come back wiser from that, too.  I’ve been off-again on-again with meal planning, depending on how “on it” I feel and on the baby’s napping times.  We’ve gone from three naps to just one since September and this, too, has changed me and made me a more patient woman.  I hope to continue to be flexible but scheduled enough to run this home and my time more efficiently  (I type this as my son is begging me for something to eat at my feet, apparently I still have much to learn about time management and priorities).

I love this new phase in life, and I can’t wait to see what else happens as we close out this year and begin the next!

I haven’t posted much so I thought I’d give a little recap of what’s been going on in the homestead this summer.

I didn’t think it would be possible, but Hezzy got even cuter.  He learned to sit up, stand, army crawl, loves to practice walking, jump, and can say mama and dada.

We went to the Scandinavian festival in Eugene and to Florence (the coast) in the same day.  It was Hezzy’s second trip to the coast since he was born.  Thankfully, he didn’t get a cold afterwards this time.

We went to the Zimbabwe Festival in town and got to see a lot of hippies in African clothes attempting to dance.  You must go see hippies dancing to African music if you get the chance.

Then we went to the Art and Air Festival in Albany with the Seavers.  Little Gabe was there and he was sitting up on his own, too!

A friend of mine took some pictures of Hezzy at the park and got some really lovely shots.

On the more serious side, we had to “use” three roosters from our flock and two hens who were unproductive.  We did it all in-house.

This one was my favorite rooster.  He was so beautiful!  Our friend Pete helped us process most of the birds, although I did the very first one myself.  We let the blood drain into a bucket while the bird thrashed and let Tippy have the head, feet and other parts I was unable or unwilling to use.

I finally finished painting the cabinet doors from our kitchen cabinets.  That has been a work in progress since we moved to this house about three years ago.  I got all the doors on the bottom cabinets in but the top cabinet doors are still waiting to be put in.  Ah.  Someday this will be done and then I will rejoice!

There was also much line drying.  Have you ever tried hanging laundry by moonlight?  Oh, it’s lovely!  It can be very relaxing and soothing too, unless you drop something and it falls on chicken poop.  Then it’s not so relaxing, but if you don’t have chickens that shouldn’t be a problem.

There has been much baking and cooking, too.  I recently tried my hand at baking challah in a loaf pan.  It worked marvelously!

I tried out some new recipes.  This one is Salmon and Swiss Chard Quiche.  Not my favorite, but definitely has potential.  Thankfully I’m sure swiss chard will continue to be around for a while here and I can attempt this again with my own twist.

Blueberry Cobbler from nearby-picked blueberries since our own blueberries didn’t get to grow on account of naughty chickens.  This piece is definitely more cobbler than blueberry, but there ya have it.  It was still delicious!

I’ve also been canning tomatoes and as soon as our apples ripen there will be lots of apple sauce, apple butter and apple pie filling to can.  Next year I hope our garden will be bigger and produce more so we can start preserving our food earlier in the season.

What have you been up to this summer?

Fall veggies are delicious!  I’m anticipating the upcoming recipe exchange at my house by going through my recipes and marking the Fall dishes I love best.  Among the runners up are:

• Rustic Roasted Root Vegetables
• Latkes!
• Baked Acorn Squash
• Winter Vegetable Hash
• Pumpkin Frittata
• Lighting Fast Eggplant Parmesan
• Hedgehog Leek and Cheese Quiche
• Wild Mushroom Risotto
• Peruvian Lentils and Rice
• Chili-Cornbread Casserole
• Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant
• Mushroom Barley Soup
• Quinoa Corn Chowder
• Matza Ball Soup
• Black Bean Veggie Chili
• Vegan Pumpkin Stew (cooked in a pumpkin)
• Aji de Gallina (chili chicken)
• Locro (squash and corn dish).

Oh man, this is gonna be tough.

On another note, I bought a cookbook today that I thought would be JUST AWESOME called The Farm to Table Cookbook, but looking at the Fall section, there were only like 3 recipes that I thought I would realistically try.  All the recipes are so fancy lookin’ and soundin’ that I just couldn’t really see myself making them.  For example: Mostarda D’Uva with Artisan Cheese or Roasted Duck Breast With Bourbon-Braised Italian Prunes.  Yeah, right.  Like I’m making that for dinner any time soon!  On the other hand, they had a decent looking winter squash soup and some wild mushroom recipes that I’m definitely eyeing.  I hope the other seasons have better recipes.

On the piano,

on the end table,

in the hall on Hezzy’s toys,

on the coffee table,

even in the entry near the shoes.

You might be thinking, “and your problem is?”  Well the books themselves are not a problem, you know.   And neither is the fact that I have a lot of them.

Nope.

You know what the problem is?  That they’re everywhere and unorganized. I have a serious need for some bookshelves.  In the meantime, I need to get these books into one area or my eye is going to have a permanent twitch.

As for me, you better believe I’m going to keep doing my part to lessen the effects of consumption on our world.  Thrift stores, here I come!

Christians should have more beautiful gardens, should be more careful to build without cutting down the lovely trees, should be more sensitive about keeping the brook unspoiled as it bubbles through their lands.  Sadly, this has not been so.  Of course one must speak of the historic and prophetic facts which people need to hear, the truth about G-d and the universe.  But this makes much more sense in a setting which shows that action on the basis of truth really does fit in with the universe as it is, and was created.   -Edith Schaeffer (The Hidden Art of Homemaking, pg.88)

]]> http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/the-story-of-stuff/feed/ 0 ruizbe82 http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/johns-birthstory-from-hubbys-perspective/ http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/johns-birthstory-from-hubbys-perspective/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:49:16 +0000 Beulah http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/?p=1680 ]]> Did you know he’d written one out? Sure thing! It’s right here.

Did you miss *my* version?  Find it here.

All is well here at the homestead, although there seems to be so much to do when all you want to do is nothing.  The baby chickens are growing up fast and will soon be laying, although I have my suspicions that two are actually roosters.  If that’s the case, we’ll be having rooster stew soon.   We had a broody a few weeks ago, but it turned out that all her eggs were duds, which we found out about after one made a very stinky mess in the nest.  Just out of curiosity we broke another one and not only did we find out it too was a dud, but it was green and slimy inside, and SUPER smelly.  I’m pretty sure we’re never doing that again!

The apple tree is busy growing little apples and each day the branches bend more and more with the weight of their growing cargo.  I’m looking forward to making some apple butter again this year and some pies.  Our fig trees are growing well, too, and one of them even has several tiny little figs waiting to grow.  I doubt they’ll be at all good, but I’m glad the tree (bush/shrub) is producing well.

We’ve even had a little time to put in a bit of a garden with tomatoes and lettuce, but it’s not doing so well because the chickens keep finding a way to get in and eat it all up.  Relentless little critters.

The Hez is also doing well.  Growing like a little weed, too.  He’s outgrown his infant car seat so we’ve had to get a convertible one.  I’m a little bummed out about that since you can’t take the convertible one with you to the store if he falls asleep in the car.  We’re also just starting him out on solids, although not very consistently.  He’s tried a few veggies and fruits, and some teething biscuits, but he’s not on any kind of regular eating schedule, nor has he tried rice cereal.  Honestly, that just doesn’t sound at all nutritious to me.  I’ve ordered a book called Super Baby Food which contains recipes for making your own cereals from grains, so I’ll give those a try.  It’s a little exciting getting to this phase, but it also means the poopie diapers get stinkier and more solid, so no more just popping them in the washer.  :T  I’m definitely going to get one of those toilet sprayer things soon.  The little dude still doesn’t crawl (thankfully?!) but he’s been attempting to pull himself up to standing from a sitting position, and he loves to walk while I hold his hands.  He’s been standing up on his own while holding on to something, like the edge of his pack ‘n play or the headboard on our bed.  He’s Mr. Chatty (like his dad) and loves to squeal, too.  He’s putting everything in his mouth and reaching for everything, even if it means taking a tumble.  I have to have my eye on him constantly!  He’s also a sweetheart and loves to cuddle.  I can’t wait to see how his personality develops as he grows.  Being a mother is so exciting!

How ’bout some pictures?

Alsea Falls with Andrea and Gabriel, Jodi and Lilly, Me and the Hez (asleep)

]]> http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/update-and-picture-dumpage/feed/ 2 ruizbe82 http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/letters/ http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/letters/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:01:19 +0000 Beulah http://inbeulahland.wordpress.com/?p=1672 ]]> Dear Three-Hour-Nap,

We’ve missed you!  Thank you for stopping by today and gracing us with your presence.  We miss your daily visits and, as soon as this teething phase is over, can’t wait to have you over again more often.  Please feel free to stop by, if you can, because it really has been a breath of fresh air to have you.  You have no idea what this means to us.  To me.

With much love and affection,
Me

-

Dear Swaddling,

Did you get a haircut?  A nose job?  Hmm.  I just can’t tell what you’ve done that’s different, but something’s different.  Hezzy doesn’t even recognize you.  He used to hate you and want nothing to do with you, but now I think he’s rather fond of you!  Whatever you’ve done, keep up the good work!

I remain your faithful friend and fan,
Me

-

Dear Teething:

I don’t like you.  There’s the door.  As soon as you’ve finished your business please show yourself out.

Sincerely,
Me

Sunday – leftovers
Monday – leftovers (we had a lot)

Tuesday -
B: eggs & toast
L: peruvian tuna salad (ensalada de atún)
D: salad, peruvian lentils & rice

Wednesday -
B: farina & toast
L: turkey and greens sandwich
D: pumpkin frittata, salad, crusty bread

Thursday -
B: eggs & toast
L: leftovers
D: chicken pesto pasta & salad

Friday -
B: cereal
L: leftovers
D: challah, oven roasted chicken & veggies, rustic hasselback potatoes, seasoned mustard greens, black bean and corn salad, baked fudge & vanilla ice cream

Sabbath -
B: breakfast burritos (defrost fri morn), pumpkin scones (make ahead)
L: chickpea salad (make ahead) over salad greens
D: leftovers, sopa a la minuta (reheated), leftover challah

As always, this list is subject to change depending on what goes on this week.  I hope it’s accurate though, because I don’t have much else on-hand.