December weather

I've neglected my blog shamefully. I didn't mean too, but it happened so I thought I'd do a quick update. Linaya is now 2 1/2 years old. She thinks she talks and does a pretty good job. She's very polite and says thanks if you give her something, and sorry if she even bumps into inanimate objects. Her words are actually pretty clear, she leaves off some letters, and slurs other words, but mostly we understand her. Like a giraffe is a "jeff" Close enough to me, I'm amazed that she knows what a giraffe is.

Christmas is coming and it's the first year that I really want to put a lot of time and energy into making it fun for Bug. She's not old enough that she'll remember it, but she is old enough to know what Santa and rudolph and trees and stars are. Although she calls reindeer "raingoats." I'm not sure why, but at least their in the same family of animals. Then again she refers to "the emperors new groove" as the goat movie.

The above photos are Linaya showing off her ruffle bum christmas pajamas.

Linaya's jacket and hat that I made during conference.

Trying to be like Daddy, wearing his shoes.

New cut and 'do

Since I got a hair straightener for Christmas I decided that it was time for a new hair cut and style. I kept putting it off, but I finally gave in. So I thought I would post a picture for all those who probably won't see me until my hair is different again.

On the news side, well there is no news. Bug's good, Sandin's good, I'm okay. We're handling life as it comes. Oh, I guess Bug is finally learning to say words. Today she kept gasping and saying "what is that?" I had to point out to Sandin what she was saying because to him it's all garbledy-gook. But I've learned to understand her pretty well. Mostly cause I'm with her almost all day every day.

On that note, I do get an hour off now since Jane and I have enforced upon ourselves a new exercise regiment. We exercise three times a week and are hoping that we'll both be able to see results. I've already lost seven pounds, okay confession, it wasn't due to the exercising. It was actually because two weeks ago my doctor gave me a new pain medication for my headaches. It made me nauseous and destroyed my appetite. For two whole weeks I actually didn't eat at all. Okay I ate one meal every few days, but when I did I could only force down a few bites. It was kind of nice. It made me just sick enough not to want to eat, but not so sick that it interfered with my life. The only problem was that by the second week it didn't actually work much on my headaches. So I'm on a new pill now, and my appetite is back, but luckily that two week stint actually did shrink down how much I can eat.

Sorry, I said there was no news and then rambled on. I hope I didn't bore you.

Christmas Photos

It's a little early, but I haven't been on my blog in a month and it'll probably be even longer before I'm on it again. We bought a new Christmas dress for Bug, and she did have fun being pretty and swishing it. She screamed when I took it off, but that's life. Let me tell you that getting a good photo of Naya is hard. She doesn't hold still for a second. But we did manage to get a few cute ones.

Hallowen and other goodies

I won't post a ton of pictures from the Family Reunion since I didn't take too many. But I though some of you would like to see Linaya's Halloween costume and some of the things that have been occupying my time lately.

The first one is the afghan I just finished for myself. Next is Liz painting Lucy's face. I thought it amazing watching her work. The third is Naya's new favorite spot. She found out that the ottoman comes open. So now she pushes the top of and it becomes a little nest for her. She puts anything in it that she wants to play with or read and will sit there cuddling her blanket for an hour. It's really cute.

The last picture is her halloween costume. We couldn't get her to hold very still for pictures that day, but she was still a really cute kitty.

Pictures

It's been a while since I've posted pictures, this isn't because I haven't wanted to, it's because I'm notoriously bad at remembering to take pictures. However I did so this morning and I thought I would post them while I was thinking about it. Here is the quilt and hat I just finished as well as the little sweater I made to match the hat. Luckily they both fit Bug well. Notice that she's getting better at looking at the camera when I take her photo. Also included is one of her stacks, yes she still stacks, silly monkey that she is. Usually she does it while I'm trying to cook and I end up tripping over her work.

Expectations great or small

Altogether I have a happy marriage, it goes to show how little I let myself expect to be content with what I have. I love Sandin, but the boy hasn't got a romantic bone in his body. Oh he tried while we were dating, but his idea of romance certainly never meshed with mine. I've never really been bothered by this, after all I'm enough like Daddy in certain ways that I'm oblivious to a lot of it. But the expectations I had that shattered early on about love, those were the most difficult to give up. And let me say that all those old cliches are never right. "Love means never having to say your sorry," should really say "If you really love someone, you'll apologize for everything you may ever have done. Marriage is hard, but loving someone when you really want to hit them is harder. And harder still is speaking gently and lovingly to someone who just did something that you'll be paying for until the end of time, one way or another.

Like Jane I've been dying to keep my hand's busy doing something. I finished Bug's quilt finally, and after a conversation with Jane, I decided to go back into making hats. I finished one last night that I think is quite cute even though it's blue. I don't know if it will fit Bug, if not Gwendy may get it. But I was thinking of doing a hat and shawl for me for fall. I doubt I'd wear them in winter, but I like hats in the fall. I look cute in them.

In case you notice the time of this posting, I couldn't sleep, woke up disappointed and relieved, either way I'm here. Once I eat a little to slow down my tummy demons, I should be able to sleep again, I hope.

Soup season

So I'm really picky when it comes to soup, though it's the season where I really start thinking about it. I don't really like chicken noodle soup, even homemade. I want a soup with flavor, but that's fairly easy to make. I like potato cheese soup, but I don't like to make it too often because it takes too much effort. I usually make it about once a year is all. What I really like are soups and stews that I can throw together quickly and taste great. An example of this is Marilyn's bean soup recipe (with a few alterations of my own preferences and Sandin's limitations). It takes few dishes and is really good both fresh and as leftovers. Well I bring this all up because I found a new soup that I love. I wanted to make a tomato soup of my own without too much effort. So I looked online and found a simple recipe which I of course altered. It ended up being so good that I thought I would share it with those who like soups in the fall too.

Tomato Spinach Soup

1/2 sweet onion

2 cloves garlic

2 cans diced tomatoes

6 cups chicken broth

1/2 bag of baby spinach roughly chopped

1 tsp. salt

Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil (or butter). Add tomatoes, broth, spinach and salt. Cook for ten minutes or until spinach is wilted and soup is hot. Serve with bread, rolls or cheese sandwich.

Try it I know you'll love it and it's soooo easy, and cheap.