Happy Weekend

Do you have fun weekend plans? We have swim class, and I'm crossing my fingers that this is finally the weekend we'll go to a pumpkin patch! Better late than never, right? Then, probably football on Sunday and my parents come on Monday!! Even though it is just for a night, I am so excited to see them.

Not too many links this week, but if you are in a browsing mood, I thought these were interesting:

Men knit too.

Did you know that some women have severe depression from weaning?

Amelia makes me laugh out loud.

The Science of Siblings.

Love,
Elizabeth

Thursday

I wake up to the sound of bare feet shuffling the few steps from our room to the baby's room. Angry cries are contrasted by a gentle, soothing voice and all goes quiet.

A pajama clad baby with hair sticking up on one side joins me under the covers and snuggles in. I breathe in the scent of her clean, baby hair and close my eyes for a few more moments of sleep. But the baby is insistent that now is the time for breakfast, so while she eats I sleepily look at Instagram, Facebook and email.

I can hear and smell the coffee percolating and the eggs cooking. The baby and I stumble out of bed and assume our regular positions in the living room while Curious George and the Cat in the Hat teach us all about bees and how to stay cool when it's hot.

The rest of the morning goes by in a blur with Forrest off to school and the baby off to a nap, but wait...no nap. In a flurry of makeup, diapers and outfit changes we are ready to take on the world. Into the stroller goes the baby, sandwiches, peanuts, grapes and cookies. Leaves crunch under the stroller wheels and unknown birds sing in nearby trees and bushes. We find the perfect spot under a large tree with leaves like a carpet underneath.

We wait and then we see him, walking quickly and with a huge smile on his face at the sight of his girls. The three of us settle into each others company and enjoy our feast. Sticky hands demand more grapes while dad patiently teaches how to say "please" in sign language. The smartest girl in the world quickly learns and earns more grapes than she really needs.

A walk home, some play time and then it is time for nap number 2, or is it really number 1? A little bit of effort and the baby is sleeping soundly, covered by the blanket that took me almost 9 months to complete.

The afternoon goes by with dinner prep, cheerios sharing and squeals of laughter. Dad comes home, but then, just like that, he is gone again.

A clean diaper, pajamas and the baby and I cuddle into our rocking chair. Quiet melodies escape from my lips and soon the baby is lulled into a sleepy stupor. With a kiss and a flick of the light, my job as mom is done for the day.

Dishes done and sweatpants on, I cuddle the dog and relax into the evening. A good book, a little Bon Appetempt and Parenthood on NBC.

Soon, Forrest will be home and we'll make some toast while watching an Andy Griffith in bed. Then lights turned low and pillows fluffed, we'll read until our eyes are too heavy to stay open. Lights off and it is finally time to sleep until...it is time to start all over again.

I am so thankful for this life. For the gift of being Juniper's mom and Forrest's wife. I wouldn't change one thing.

xo,
Elizabeth

Review: Colors by Thierry Laval

I know I just posted a book review yesterday, but when I saw Juniper's expression over the board book Colors by Thierry Laval, I just had to tell you about it.

Image retrieved from here

Review: Rose Under Fire

I have tried writing this review two times already.

Two unsuccessful attempts.

Third time is the charm, right?

Right??

Last year I read this book, you might've heard of it, called Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. When I was a kid and then teen, I read a lot of Holocaust books. Who knows where my fascination came from, but I still (usually) love a book about that time in history. Morbid? Probably. Well, Code Name Verity absolutely blew my mind. The plot twists, emotion and writing style were excellent and left me crying and wanting to read it again right away.

Rose Under Fire is a companion novel to CNV and had quite a bit of expectations to live up to. While not as surprising or gut-wrenching as CNV, I still gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. Why? I'll tell you.

Image retrieved from here

Rose Justice is an American transport pilot working in England during World War II. On her way back from a routine drop off, she gets lost over Germany and then taken to Ravensbruck, a German work camp. She quickly befriends a group of women known as the Rabbits, women who have been physically experimented on. A few of these women become her family and together they fight to survive while hoping to someday escape or be rescued from the cruelty and horrors they face every day

Off to the Zoo

This past weekend we headed over to Salt Lake City to see Forrest's sister, visit with some family friends and go to the zoo! It was so lovely to be around family and so lovely to be in a city again.

As you know, Juniper has been fighting naps for about a week now.

(Update: I failed to mention this earlier, but I'm not trying to force Juniper to nap just for the heck of it. The kid is genuinely tired and genuinely needs to sleep; however, she fights it pretty hard. We're trying to figure out how to help her get the sleep she needs. End of update.)

So, after two failed attempts at a morning nap, we loaded up the van and headed to the zoo to meet our friends, Tom and Jan. Wouldn't you know that the kid zonked out within minutes? Sigh. We let her sleep for awhile in the van but eventually woke her up. Needless to say, she was a little groggy in most of these pictures.

Monkeys!

Happy Weekend

Oh, the happiness and love these two have for each other!

Do you have any fun weekend plans? We are headed to Salt Lake City to see Forrest's sister who is there for a work conference. We're hoping to also go to the zoo while we're there and Trader Joe's (yippee!).

In the meantime, here are some fun links around the web!

How good are you at reading people's emotions? Take this quiz and find out!

Could you live in space? Take a look at Karen Nyberg's fascinating interview about what it's like to live on the International Space Station. PS: the rest of the Living with Kids series is fascinating.

And speaking of space, I really want to see the new Sandra Bullock/George Clooney movie, Gravity. Would you see it?

Have you ever read the Hollywood Housewife? I find her life fascinating. Also, her faith journey is really honest and interesting.

I'm thinking I want some straight across bangs. Yes? No?

If I knew how to sew I would so make these baby shoes.

This made me laugh.

Happy weekend, friends! xo

Love,
Elizabeth

Review: Shepherd's Pie

Casseroles are easily one of my top ten favorite dinners. A casserole is usually easy to make, everything is in one pan, and cleanup usually involves putting saran wrap over the pan and sticking it in the fridge.

Win. Win. Win.

A while back, I saw a recipe for Shepherd's Pie with Potato, Parsnip, and Goat Cheese Mash on one of my favorite food blogs, Rosemarried. It looked easy enough (I had a newborn at the time) and, more importantly, it tasted amazing.