Tristanator

In the annals of Mr. T this week:

• good aim and reaching, opening hands to grab
• he is sooooo fat!
• bonus oilily shirt found at the used clothes store, orange and lime...YEY
• gets all perky when he hears his dad's voice
• loves to dance with his sisters...giddy last night
  
• tries to initiate conversation with the girls and get their attention
• loves to watch my hand. My hand, the mobile.
  
• kicks, ooooohs, throws out arms, and shakes with sheer delight when mesmerized (i.e.like my hand)
  
• No rolling over yet. too fat?! I am really trying to get him more tummy time
• I really should post a picture, but I never am at that computer!
  

Annika Antics

Well, the little stinker did it again. I'm cleaning up dinner, Tryn and her dad went to choir practice, Annika was just in the kitchen not five minutes ago. I hear the wail from the bathroom (that no messing around kind) and see the blood dripping as I pull her up off the floor. As near as I could tell she had decided to try and brush her teeth...climbed up on the toilet and leaned over the porcelein sink.....her feet slipped and she knocked her mouth on the sink edge as she plonked down. When in doubt, grab the cold washcloth. So we dabbed and she hollered and I could see that her teeth were all there. As she stuck out her tongue I glimpsed the offense and it was bit clean through at the tip! (I never got lightheaded as a nurse, but when it is my own kid I seem to get weak at the knees) Instead of wigging out I just took it easy and kept the rinsing out the washcloth and comforting and thinking about what to do. No answer from Stefan's phone, so called my mom and she had to laugh (and be concerned) and told me to just keep it cold. I figured I couldn't do anything until he was back with the car so we sat down together and I stuck an icecube in the washcloth and she liked that. That and a few doses of arnica 30x seemed to help. Although next time I should use Aconite, I think. Mouths heal fast, you know.
When it came time to nurse her brother, she had to sit in my lap at the same time....so I knew that she was still a little shook up and ouchy. She ate a frozen yogurt tube without trouble, so I knew no extra attention was needed. I put her to bed with a story. She slept for 12 hours. She ate Malt o Meal with relish this morning.
She will be the death of me.
But I did get help with the dishes clean up when Stefan got home :)

New Thoughts

Calvin says in the first chapter of the Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life:

• Scripture is the rule of life
• Holiness is the key principle
• Holiness means full obedience to Christ
• External Christianity is not enough
• Spiritual progress is necessary

And Christ says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tihe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weighterier matters of the law: Justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Parisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleaness. Matt 23: 23-27

You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Leviticus 12:45b

LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
Psalm 15:1-2

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. Eph 5:8-10

For why were we delivered from the quagmire of iniquity and pollution of this world, if we want to wallow in it as long as we live? Calvin

Just my reviewing what we studied last night at our Ladies Fellowship

Fell off the blog wagon due to illness and a visit from my parents. We got a cold bug, went to Idaho, and came back with the flu. We had a nice first birthday for my niece, Evangeline. Unfortunately, her mom got the flu after we all ate the delicious dinner she made. It did afford the opportunity to try oscicillium (sp?), a homeopathic that helps decrease flu symptoms. I took it a few times when I felt symptoms and made it through the week without puking. I have to say I have felt nauseous all week though. (Pregnant?) (Colleen is laughing). That brings me to my other ailment, aching teeth and sore jaw, due to my moronic coasting dentist who even after a return trip has been unable to diagnose or treat my pain. Take advil is his sage advice. I haven't been chewing my food very well, maybe that is why I am nauseous?
A few needs to record:

• "I anni-gator" (a) (her nickname from grampy)
  
• Mama, my body is throwing out the food (t)
• I stuck in da middle (a)
• You have a mole! (annika touching grammy's face)
• Tristan loves to watch my hands
• Tristan has his hands in his mouth all the time, knocks/spits out his pipe
• to-ally dee ite ful (grampy taught anni totally delightful, which she told Nancy)

Nope

Although initially promising, the bread did not rise any higher on the second attempt. The mixing/kneading went better, I think I should have pushed it further. The inital rise was good, yet after shaping it took a little longer than I wanted for the rise. Anyway, I think I will ditch the recipe. No, I will photocopy it and probably try again another month.
Tristan is 19 lbs (we scavenged a sweet vintage scale from a free pile). Mind you, he is only 14 weeks old. Everyone except me has a nasty cold and I am just hoping I get it before we leave town on Friday.
Tryn writes the letter T, but yesterday she wrote letters to all the g-rents and wanted the first letters for all their names written on them. We did an E together, and I pointed out how it looked like an F. Well, she requested to do the next F herself and it was perfectly legible! pretty cool to watch. I'm really glad that she tried another letter because all T's all the time can be Tedious. :)

Bun in the oven

No, not pregnant, just baking. Earlier this week I baked Oatmeal Loaf from Hamelmans book: Bread....the rise was mediocre, probably because I didn't follow the directions closely (duh). Plus I get sick of waiting for it to double, thinking something must be wrong. Since the house is about 60 degrees this morning, I warmed the oven up a sec and then stuck the bread in there with the door ajar. Hopefully that will keep the rise clipping along. It was a delicious bread with great crumb and crust so I really wanted to try it again and see if I could get it higher.
It's funny, I haven't baked bread for months (except pizza dough) and I have a huge surplus of flour. Paying for bread seems sick and wrong. Especially when you have a Kitchenaid to do the mixing.

A prize

Saturdays have changed for the family. We are definitely doing alot more errand running and fewer big adventures. Although our errands today actually did qualify for kid adventures. Seattle has a excellent store called Second Use....a warehouse of old doors, tubs, windows, knobs, and whatever else is salvaged from buildings that are going to be torn down or remodeled. Today was their 10th anniversary Fall Festival. (My cool husband is always on top of those fun things to do, where as I seem to forget or never get around to getting to them) Well, today was sweet because we had free lunch and balloons, a duckie chuck, a guess how many screws in the jar contest. A guy was in the middle of the warehouse playing an instrument with a bow that he had created....it was the size of a cello with a circle at the bottom and piano strings all around a intricately welded center piece. The girls were quite entranced and the music was kinda haunting and sweet.
Stefan got to shop at his "craft store" and we all got to wander around and eat chocolate chip cookies (free, of course).
Later it was on to Albertsons for the grocery game. I work hard to save at least 50% off my grocery bill and wait for the cashier to announce how much I saved this week. It is strangely satisfying....even more so when the cashier says something like, "wow" or nods in admiration. This week it was spent $80, saved $58 off the regular prices. Seattle has a high cost of living, most sales equal the price I was used to spending in Chicagoland. Got to stretch that grocery money!
The children are growing. Tryn is back to wolfing down her lunch and asking for more. Annika is putting on the chub, a precursor to a growth spurt. Tristan was bigger than a 9 month old at the store today. Did I mention that he is affectionately called Piglet?
It was a week of much calling out for grace. God was good in giving a thirst for Him and many could've gone really bads were just "Help, Lord!s" Having a quiet and gentle spirit was on my mind....what does that mean and look like? I feel like I am yelling and too rough! (I also battle with being klutzy)
Stefan got his promotion! That is just huge. I wasn't surprised because he really excels in his work, but it was so satisfying to see him rewarded for that. We find out how much the raise is next week. YeeHaw! Best beware to not take that for granted.
Well, Second Use called me tonight. I won the guessing contest. I guessed 850 screws and there were 907 who knew I could estimate screws? The prize is a twenty-five dollar credit for future purchase. SUPER COOL!

Belly Aching

Little Tristan just won't sleep. Growth spurt? Gas? All I know is that all day he konks out soundly only to startle awake 20 minutes later, hungry and fussy. Mama ate sushi last night, so that may be the culprit.
Today was a day. I have a bazillion things to do and instead I get into a overhaul of the living room including washing the floor and reaarranging the furniture. Hmmm. Man, this monotony of trying to get what needs to be done in order to do what I want is just discouraging lately.
We talked about the tenth plague on Eygpt at lunch. Tryn was not so happy about the dying. She does not want to die. She wants to be a "growing up girl". I don't doubt there will be a further discussion tommorow when the Red Sea drowns Pharoah and all his men.
On a radically different tangent: I am starving. All day I am just hungry. I just ate a bowl of Cap'n Crunch an hour ago and the stomach is growling. Ugh, how can I lose weight if I am ravenous! Maybe that just means I am losing weight. So I will eat more. But then I won't lose any weight. Round and Rounder we grow.
Just read "The Doomsday Book" by Connie Wilkins. A very long time travel book where the main character, Kivrin, ends up in 1348 when the plague hits England. It was descriptive to the point of monotony, but certainly carried the point home that we live in easy times. Today I am just thankful that I can clean Annika's scraped leg and understand infectious agents and what to do to treat her. Neosporin rocks. As a nurse, I just take all what I learned for granted. Reminds me to respect modern medicine a little more, because I certainly like the homeopathics, but I am blessed to have antibiotic backups.