It is no secret that I love books!  Our home is filled with bookshelves, but I am proud to report that I have gotten rid of more books that I've bought over the past 2 years.  Ebooks don't count do they?

Lavender may only be four months old, but she seems to have inherited my love of reading.  Okay, she can't read yet, but she does love books.  How do I know?  She loves to stare at the big bookshelf in my bedroom.  John and the kids have noticed it too.  Still want more proof?

Take a look at these pictures:

Here she is grabbing Evan's Book of Mormon during family scripture study.

Here she is paying close attention while I read Jamberry to her.

Here she is surrounded by some of her favorite books.

Let me tell you about some of them.  You never know when you might need to find a good board book for a cute little one!

Lavender's favorite book is Look, Look! by Peter Linenthal

The black and white images are perfect for babies.  Lavender kicks her feet and waves her hands when we read this one.  Her favorite page is the one filled with swimming fish.

Jamberry by Bruce Degen is the book we're reading in the picture above.




This is one of my kids' favorites and it is fun to read aloud!   Who can resist rhymes like,
"Raspberry
Jazzberry
Razzamatazzberry
Berryband
Merryband
Jamming in Berryland"

Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich have a series of books with finger puppets.

We have In My Tree


and My Little Sweetheart



The little finger puppets are engaging and the simple text is sweet and easy to read.


I love teaching my children about great artists, so I was thrilled to find Quiet Time with Cassatt by Julie Merberg. The pictures are lovely and the text is simple.  It is the perfect introduction to art for your little one!




This is part of a series of "Mini Masters" with artwork by Degas, Monet, Van Gogh and others.  I plan to buy the set for her at Christmas.  Shh!  Don't tell.

Finally, What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz is a fun addition to your library.



This book has a rainbow made out of ribbon that grows on every page. It is really exciting to see a new color added to the rainbow as you turn the page.  The last page is a pop-up of a rainbow.

What's your favorite board book?  Not that I want to buy any more of course, but just in case! ; )

Not the Cover of Time Magazine

I have spent 6 1/2 years of my life as a nursing mom.  I am grateful to have been able to breastfeed all of my babies.  For me it is a natural extension of pregnancy and birth.  I spent 9 months growing a baby and then I continue to nourish that little one for another year or two.

I realized that I don't have nursing photos of any of my babies. 

 This is my last chance, so I took some of me and Lavender. 

But don't worry, the only skin you will see is my arm.

I know you can't see her head, but she really is nursing!

Here's a better view 

I love the funny little faces she makes while she eats.

Even funnier is the way her ear sometimes gets folded over.

She doesn't mind a bit!

The other day I even noticed Lavender's ear print on my arm after she finished nursing.

I know she won't be my little nursing buddy for too long, so I'm enjoying every minute of holding and cuddling my sweet baby while she eats.

David's Visit - Part 2

On Monday we headed up to Disneyland and California Adventure.  Just the 15 of us. We missed Ryan who was home sick and Brian who was working.  And yes, Annie wore those shoes all day long.  Amazing!

Lavender was all set for her first time at Disneyland with her Minnie Mouse outfit.  Unfortunately she had a blowout and I had to change her before we even got out of the car!

We are such a fun bunch, we even enjoyed the tram ride.

We enjoyed all the usual Disney sights and David kept us organized with fast passes to the most popular rides.

Lavender modeled some Minnie ears for us.

Leighton brought her own cute hat!

Everyone had fun on the carousel.  I love the picture of Cammi flirting with the little boy next to her.  She said, "He's the one who started talking to me!"

We did quite a bit of rider swapping with these three little cuties.  This was my view while the rest of the gang went on Splash Mountain.  It was fine until the two babies started crying and Brianne wanted OUT!  A man who sat down near us even offered to help me.  Instead, I opted to sing all the verses of "The Wheels on the Bus."  I'm sure it was very entertaining to everyone around us.

We chartered our own boat for "It's a Small World"

All in all, it was a very sweet day!

David's Visit - Part 1

My baby brother David came to visit us a few weeks ago.  We were excited to have him here for a jam-packed weekend.  He brought his girlfriend Annie along for us to meet.  Remember the last time David came?  Well on the flight home he met Annie!

On Saturday we went to the beach.  The tide was too high to enjoy the tide pools, but the views were lovely, the waves were spectacular and we had a great time playing frisbee.

The coast at LaJolla is always beautiful

We are practically a parade when we all walk together.

Brianne loves the beach

Evan got in some unicycle time

David and Annie

John answering one of Dallin's many questions

It was a great day just hanging out and spending time together!

We All Scream For . . .

We borrowed my sister's ice cream maker a couple of weeks ago and have been trying different recipes.  Thankfully it only makes a quart.  Much more would be really dangerous!  Here are a few of our favorites.  I wasn't a fan of the gooey s'mores ice cream, but the kids loved it.  My favorite is actually the vanilla with berries!


Mint Chip Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp mint extract
green food coloring
3 oz bittersweet chocolate

Bring cream and milk to a simmer over med-low heat.  Stir occasionally and do not let it boil.
Use hand mixer to beat sugar and egg yolks until smooth and thick.  With mixer running, add 1 cup of hot milk/cream to the eggs to temper them.

Transfer egg mixture back to pot, continue to cook until thickened.  Mixture will coat the back of a wooden spoon.  Remove from heat and stir in extracts and food coloring.

Transfer mixture to bowl. Cover surface of custard with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate several hours until chilled.  Freeze in ice cream maker.  Near the end, add finely chopped chocolate.
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Quick and Delicious Vanilla Ice Cream

Whisk together:
2 cups cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Freeze in ice cream maker.  Top with fresh berries or whatever you like!

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Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream

2 cups cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 frozen orange juice concentrate
2 tsp vanilla
zest of one orange
3 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate

Whisk cream and milk together.  Add vanilla and orange juice and mix until it is thawed.  Freeze in an ice cream maker.  Halfway through add orange zest and chocolate.

------------------------------

S'mores Ice Cream

1/2 package marshmallows
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 chocolate bar or a large handful chocolate chips chopped
3 graham crackers in pieces or crumbs


Combine marshmallows, milk and cream over medium heat.  Stir constantly until marshmallows are melted.  Let cool for a minute then pour into ice cream maker.  Halfway through, add chocolate and graham crackers.

Mint Chip Yumminess!

Four Months

Our girl is growing!

At her appointment today she was

11 lbs. 11 oz

24 inches

and so you know it's not just my admittedly biased opinion,

the doctor called in one of his colleagues to show her the "really cute baby"

and as a second witness

the nurse repeatedly told me that Lavender was a beautiful baby

"And I'm around babies all day, but she is just so beautiful!"

Okay, I'm done bragging now.

Lavender got three shots today.

She didn't even flinch at the first one

She cried at the second one

And she got MAD at the third one!

Thanks to Bryn for the adorable outfit and to Marianne for taking the pictures.

I'll leave you with a picture of something that made me really sad.

It actually brought tears to my eyes.

Laundry?

Yes, laundry. 

 You see these are Lavender's nightgowns.

The ones she's worn since the day she was born.  

They were huge on her then,

but now they are getting too small and it's time to pack them away.  

Sniff, sniff!

Father's Day

Since my dad is on vacation, I didn't get to spend Father's Day with him this year.  I miss him, but I know he is having a wonderful trip!  Evan spoke in Sacrament Meeting about the 3 P's of fatherhood (preside, provide and protect).  He gave a wonderful talk and told about John's dad who worked 2 jobs for 17 years to provide for his family.  He worked at the post office all day and then cleaned the bank in the evenings.  Sometimes he took his children along and they thought it was a special treat to get to help their dad.

After church we celebrated at home with all the Happy Hartz except Elder Aaron.  We made John some of his favorite foods and Molly made Ryan's favorite CPK-style salad. 

Our main course was Beef Stroganoff. I think I've made this once or twice during the past 25 years.  I rarely cook with beef.  In fact, the kids were amazed to see the steak I bought.  Here is the recipe I used from the Lion House cookbook.  It really is yummy.

Beef Stroganoff

1 clove garlic cut into quarters (I used more)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs lean round or sirloin steak cut into thin bite sized pieces (1 inch x 1/4 inch thick)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 lb fresh sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
3/4 tsp paprika
1 cup sour cream
hot cooked egg noodles

Heat garlic in oil for a few minutes, then remove and discard garlic.  Add meat to skillet; brown slightly.  Add onion, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook for 35-45 minutes until meat is tender, turning occasionally.  Add more water as needed. Add mushrooms and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

With slotted spoon remove meat and mushrooms.  Keep warm.  Blend flour into drippings in pan.  Slowly stir in milk.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens.  Add paprika and stir. Add meat and mushrooms and sour cream.  Mix and heat well, but do not cook.

Serve over egg noodles.  Serves 6.

For dessert we had rice krispie treats and homemade rocky road ice cream. Here is the easy recipe we used.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup light cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans
 1 cup mini marshmallows.

In medium saucepan over low heat, cook and stir condensed milk and cocoa until smooth and slightly thickened, approx 5 min.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Stir in heavy cream, light cream and vanilla. Refrigerate until cool.

Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to directions.  Add nuts and marshmallows halfway through.  Yum!

Here we are after dinner.  He liked it!

 

John with all of our children and grandchildren (except Elder Aaron of course)

There are 10 of us now. We're getting to be quite a group!

 

We are happy to see Ryan being a good husband to Molly and father to his girls.

Now if we can just get him to stop these cheesy poses.

Lavender didn't get to taste any of the food on her first Father's Day, 

but she did find something else yummy--her thumb!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Father's Day!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Our family has been blessed to be part of new commonwealth school for the past 8+ years.  It isn't really a school, rather it is a group of families who come together once a week classes for our scholar age youth ages 12 and up.  We use an intensive study of Shakespeare to help them take responsibility for their own education!  Evan has taken on the "Shakespeare Conquest!"  In the past two years he has watched and/or read more than 40 Shakespeare plays.  This year he acted in his 6th Shakespeare production.  He was cast as the overly-confident, too-enthusiastic Bottom.  Since the play was set in the 1960's, Bottom was a musician rather than a weaver.  In fact the craftsmen "mechanicals" became a rock band like the Beatles or the Monkees.  The fairies became hippies and the entire production was filled with fun 60s costumes and great music!

Evan spent many hours rehearsing and preparing for his role.  Besides all the memorization, he analyzed every one of his lines and "translated" it into modern English so he really understood what he was saying in Shakespeare's heightened language. I am proud of his hard work and dedication!

BEFORE

Growing out his hair

In makeup

Getting into character

 DURING

The Mechanicals are rockin' out

The tall Mechanical is the only one without a wig!

Bottom has been turned into an ass

Meeting the fairies/hippies

Resting in Titania's flowery bower

Listening through the chink in the wall during the "play within a play"

AFTER

With Grandpa and his cousin Alyssa after the show

In his garden with his scarecrow.  So happy to have his hair shorter!

A Huge Thank You

To Jenny who spent hundreds and hundreds of hours directing the play, and to the other Shakespeare mentors and parents who gave so much of their time to make this a great learning experience for all of the kids.