Pianos, Ponds, and Teeth

Saturday began with Mr. One's piano recital.  His song is entitled, "The Wooly Mammoth" and he played so well.  Move over, Beethoven! I love his dramatic dynamics, the little swinging legs, and the way he quickly ducked/bowed at the end (I think he was really nervous).  I am so grateful that Grammy is so willing to teach him.  He is really enjoying playing the piano (and I love hearing him).

That evening, Mike and I took the kids to Sweet Tomatoes (a favorite family spot) for dinner.  My boys gobble up the macaroni and cheese, jello, pizza, and the muffins.  We make them eat a healthy salad first, but they don't complain if they can have unlimited amounts of the other stuff, not to mention the ice cream bar...

We sat next to the window and the boys noticed a little grassy park area outside with a pond and asked to go explore it.  We walked over after our dinner and they happily watched the ducks (pointing out which ones were mallards), the koi fish, and the little box turtles swimming together.  As we were nature watching, a cute young couple approached us and asked if we would like some bread to feed the ducks.  They had some left over from feeding them at the other edge of the little pond.  Of course the boys were delighted, so they gave us the rest of their bread, we thanked them and they went on their way.  I hope the sound of the boys' happy giggles in the background put a smile on their faces as they walked.  The simple kindness of strangers reminds me of just how much good is still in the world today. 

For such a peaceful looking animal, Koi fish are especially aggressive animals when it comes to food!  They would swim over, under and push away the turtles and other fish for a bite to eat.  The ducks didn't even mess with them.  We'd give a little cheer when a tiny turtle would eventually get their own bite before the fish attacked.  Mr. Three was especially giddy about the animals.  He laughed and laughed as they would race to the bread and fight over each piece.  We left as the sky began to darken, headed home for baths, scripture reading and bedtime prayers.

On Sunday, Mr. One lost his second tooth.  Only this time, it came out during Sunday dinner at my parents' house and unexpectedly became part of his dinner...  Oops!  The poor guy was so stricken that he swallowed his tooth.  After being assured that others had done it and lived through the ordeal, he then worried about the tooth fairy.  How would she know, because he couldn't put his tooth under his pillow?  Luckily, Aunt Jaimee chimed in and said something to the effect of, "Don't you know that the tooth fairy has a beeper that goes off so she knows when you lose a tooth?  She knows even if you swallow it."  Thanks Jaimee!  You saved the day. 

I am loving his new "whistle talk" with his new front tooth gap.  SSSSSweet!

Monday morning, sure enough, the tooth fairy pulled through with two new quarters for the "squeeky" machine.  I am happy to report, he still plans on getting one for himself and one for Mr. Two.  In fact, when I asked him if he would get two for himself, he looked a little offended that I would even think that.

It's weekends like this that remind me that I have much to be grateful for.

Happiness is doing simple things together as a family, and taking time to really enjoy the moments.

Tender Mercies- The Minivan Edition

 image from commons.wikimedia.org

I never saw myself as the Minivan Mom sort.

In fact, those of you that know me from way back when may recall a few "I will NEVER own a minivan" declarations.

Um, I am now officially eating a bit of crow.

With baby number three rapidly on his way, we started looking for a larger car for our growing family.  In February, we started the hunt in earnest, realizing that we were headed down the minivan path.  SUV's were out of our price range and guzzle too much gas.  We had outgrown our sedan, so the only choice we had was a minivan.  We found an '04 silver Honda Odyssey in our price range, and took the plunge.  I have to admit, it was actually fun to drive.  It handled so much like our Accord and it was easy to get the kids in and out of.  It had some little cosmetic blemishes, but it had decent fuel economy and a cold ac.  It wasn't perfect, but it met our needs.  Plus, it was silver and, apparently, we gravitate to used silver Hondas (this is silver Honda number three...).

With all three kids and husband in tow, we were headed to pick up our other silver Honda from the shop.  In the late-afternoon-heavy traffic, we were hit from behind by a large full size truck.  Hit with such force that we ran into the car in front of us, despite my attempt to slow and swerve out of the way.  We were in a car wreck sandwich.  After coming to a stop, Mike and I rushed to the back seats to check on our kids.  Thankfully, everyone was OK.  Mr. One and Mr. Three were a bit rattled, and Mr. Two kept right on sleeping.  My worst fear as a mother is to be in an accident with my children.  Relief rushed through me as I could see that everyone was just fine.

After moving our car to the roadside and having the fire department pry the sliding door open so we could get our children out of the car, I surveyed the damage.  It was not pretty.  The whole back end was crushed and part of the front end as well.

How very blessed we feel that we were protected.

And we know we most certainly were protected by our Heavenly Father.

Our car is totaled, but my family is safe.

I  never knew how truly grateful I'd feel to be a Minivan Mom.  Our minivan (and three properly installed carseats) helped save my family.

I will not take lightly again my petition to Heavenly Father to keep our family safe from harm.

Sometimes happiness is being a Minivan Mom.  Lesson learned.

Honey Buns, revised

While perusing one of my sister in law's Martha Stewart Living magazines last summer, I happened upon this recipe for Honey Buns and had to scribble it down. It took me almost a year to attempt it, with so many steps and different ingredients, but I'm glad I did. They are sticky-sweet and smell heavenly baking in the oven. The fabulous thing about the recipe is that you make three batches of dough, one to use immediately and two to freeze for later. Well, I pulled one from the freezer yesterday and decided to make more honey buns.

Now, before you go away, gasping in horror at the next part, hear me out on this. I know that, to many, altering Martha's concoctions is NOT a good thing, but I have two items to weigh in for my defense. It is summer, and there are beautiful berries aplenty in the stores now, and I had some perfect raspberries sitting in my fridge practically begging me to use them. Best defense of all, Martha herself, has suggested tucking berries into her cinnamon rolls as a pleasing variation. There, I feel justified.

Here's how I turned honey buns into raspberry buns: I slathered the honey dough in butter after rolling it out. Then I sprinkled generously with sugar and cinnamon. I placed one container of berries on top and drizzled the whole thing with honey. I rolled them up, cut into 9 sections, placed in a 9x9 pan and let them rise until doubled. The original recipe said to bake approximately one hour, but I found that only 30 minutes was all it needed. (Perhaps because you don't add the honey mixture on the bottom of the pan?) Then, I pulled them out of the oven, cooled slightly and frosted them with a canned cream cheese frosting. (I know Martha would prefer a homemade cream cheese frosting, so if it makes you feel better, mix away...)


Seriously, heavenly and summery. We think this variation might be even better than the original. Shh... don't tell Martha.

Happiness is trying a new twist on a great recipe and having it turn out a success. Happy baking, my friends!