Pip's Triplets

 Here is Pip before she had any kids.

 Here is the start of the second one.

 

 

 This is the second kid a girl. And the biggest of the three.

 Hey look at me. Where is Charlie?

 Just hanging around.

 TaTa taking care of the navel. And you can see all three of the kids.

Another kid !!!!!!!!!!

 The new baby is checking out the baby from yesterday.

 The new baby is stretching.

Nutmeg and her new baby.

Finally a new baby!!!!!!

 The red thing under him is a clip we put on his navel just like in the hospital on newborns.

 Here he is getting loved by his mom.

 Here he is safe and his mom is licking him .

The baby is coming butt first just like Charlie did when he was born.

New Do.

New hairdo day! I don't have to take selfies because Charlie is more than happy to take pictures of me. Disregard the television; that's what he was doing while I was gone, as Juniper was napping, and Daddy's down with a bad cold. He's pretty independent, that guy.
Ta Ta for Now... Becky

Spring is here??

We've all purchased expensive items (cars, big trucks, shoes, etc.) and have all, for the most part, gone through what some call Buyer's Remorse. Remorse is, according to my computer's dictionary: "deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed." Well, I just purchased and received the largest purchase of my life (cheese vat: $6000, shipping: $300.33) and although I had hemmed and hawed before buying it, fretted over the methods of shipping and payment, and worried and wondered whether it really was the right time to buy a vat, I felt not the least amount of guilt or shame when I opened up the garage door to find this waiting for me:

Can you tell that a farmer packaged this?

Needless to say, I was excited to get my vat home, where it belongs! :) It will be a little while before I am able to put it down in the basement (ahem...Brad and Chad - I need that ledge tuck-pointed asap!). When that does happen, however, I think I would like to throw a Cheese Curd Party; I will invite all of my cheese-loving friends down to grab a (freshly washed) handful of curds from the vat!

Hmmm, what could these oddly-shaped packages be?

All the odds-and-ends that make my vat so special: a temperature probe, agitator, control box, etc.

The vat with the lid open.

The inside of the vat.

The paddle, tucked in securely under the vat's legs and almost unnoticed by me!

I'm still considering many name options. A new thought is: Capra Nera Sotto Terra (Black Goat Under Ground). Not only does it symbolize the love I feel for goats and soil, but as soon as I move above ground and out of the basement, I can just call it: Capra Nera. Added bonus, it rhymes! Or, maybe I should quit over-thinking it and call it: Just Cheese. Hmmmm... You guys better send any comments or suggestions this way to help me out!

Vat with the lid closed; also covered so that while it waits patiently in the garage the birds don't poop on it!

As I was loading pictures from my camera to my computer, I discovered a few that say Spring! like nothing else can. Spring will arrive...won't it?

What says Spring! better than...

Men with flowers! :)

We're getting ready for Spring!

 Eating asparagus meal #1 this week (also grilling out brats, which smelled and tasted delicious. Charlie ate a whole brat, asparagus and basil pesto potato salad.)

 Hey! Who are those adorable children in the dishwasher?

Eating asparagus meal #2 this week...which we bought, not grew, by the way. Travis did however grow the greens pictured next to the asparagus. A whole salad full! I was quite impressed and they were delicious. Along with lamb meatloaf and potatoes.Yum.

 Charlie ate all of that food!

 And Juniper loves asparagus. She just chomps the tops right off.

 Old toys in new locations equals lots and lots of time spent playing. We have been rearranging around here, and since Juniper is everywhere, Charlie and I have been setting up little stations for her around the house. Maybe I'll take pictures when its (hopefully) more organized. Charlie helped me fill these "shakers" with pasta, marbles, dried beans, rice, oatmeal and popcorn (he was very stingy with the popcorn and almost didn't let me use it, because he wanted to "cook it", so that's the smallest container).

I think he likes them more than Juniper does. Especially the marbles, that's "the best", aka loudest.

We'll be busy shaking it until Spring actually arrives...

~Becky

I spent all day chasing after Juniper so she wouldn't get into trouble. She got into the cat food three times. Let the baby proofing begin! ~Becky

Working out.

This is really cute. I should do the J-girl workout, which would be really tough, but I don't think I could handle the Gnarley Charlie. He's got to do after-breakfast/before brushing teeth and dressing stretches, before nap stretches, bed-time stretches, and various other random stretch times throughout the day (setting the table stretches, picking up toys stretches, you get the picture!). Plus he's constantly planking on the couches, from the tub to the toilet, from the bed to the dresser. And sometimes, just for fun, he runs from the front of the house to the back of the house, oh, about 50 times.
~Becky

A Lota Ricotta.

 I never make anything without my kitchen helper.

Finished product- lasagna for supper!

So easy. I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, with vinegar and lemon juice as the acid. Perhaps next, I should try Katie's recipe from her Spring Grove Herald interview in 2009 (this recipe uses apple cider vinegar instead; some recipes just use lemon juice).

~Becky

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.


Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).



The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m nursing my baby and babies don’t keep.

the "why", in d.i.y.

Watching Juniper devour her homemade graham cracker, is the epitome of why making things yourself is so fun! 

I have been thoroughly enjoying America's Test Kitchen lately, which is where both of the following recipes originated.

Here is what we made yesterday. *Accompanied by the cats Charlie made while working on the letter "c". (Which is a very special letter to him, for obvious reasons. Surprisingly the cats' names are not Charlie. One of them is named Meow.)

Homemade American Cheese! I couldn't even get a picture off without someone swiping a slice. Its made primarily with Colby cheese and milk, and I used it to make Percy's Wild Rice Soup recipe for lunch today. The cheese was a winner (everyone actually liked it)... It didn't melt as quickly, but whisking it helped. And it tasted similar, though also like Colby cheese (because of course it was Colby cheese, unlike Velveeta). I will make it again; it only took 20 minutes with my food processor, and I'm curious to see how it works in other recipes.

The Wild Rice Soup on the other hand; hopefully Percy will make it as a treat for Trav sometime... I thought it was pretty similar to Percy's. Charlie ate his whole bowl full, "so he could eat pickled beets for dessert". And Travis said he didn't want to tell me what he thought because I wouldn't like it. When "pushed" he said he couldn't tell if the cheese made a difference because I had added too much milk (which was true), the Wild Rice didn't taste like wild rice (hmmm, that's silly, because it was Wild Rice), and the bacon was different (my sacred last package from Hannah the pig). I may or may not have flipped a certain finger at him when he finished his critique. I rarely do this, but under the circumstances my great-grandmother comes out in me; and I can no longer use strong language or it gets repeated. I told him I found it insulting that he had individually picked out every ingredient in my soup, granted I did ask for feedback. He said, "The potatoes were good." So really, the potatoes from the cream of potato soup were the best part (my only "non-homemade/homegrown" ingredient).
In conclusion, I learned two things... 1) Do not add extra milk. I must do better at remembering this, as it does make a difference in this style of soup and I ALWAYS seem to make this mistake. Probably because I don't think its that big of a deal. And 2) NO ONE can make it as good as Mom can. Hey, I can't make it like my mom either. Not even a peanut butter sandwich using the same ingredients. I think its completely adorable that both my dad and uncle Truman have similar preferences in how done they like their cookies, for example (very done, almost burnt). Because that's how their mom baked them. I feel like my cooking can be very good, amazing sometimes... and sometimes things get a little wonky and I can't seem to follow a recipe (not in a good way). So, good luck to the future Mrs. Charles Lingen! That kind of cooking is going to be very hard to compete with (chuckling to myself).

Homemade Graham Crackers. Amazing. They were really good. Again I used my food processor and they were quick to make. I love the flavor of the graham flour and the sweetness of molasses.

This darn silly little necklace that Charlie got for free yesterday. Juniper doesn't want to give it up and she has a little tantrum when you try to take it away. She likes the noise it makes when she shakes it, so she gets her whole little body into shaking it.

What special thing did your Mom make for you, when you were a kid, and no one else can make it as good?

I would have to say my Mom's bread brings me back to my childhood, and now making it myself makes me really happy. And adding peas to things, which I thought was common sense, but turns out is a habit I picked up from my mother.

Also, has anyone ever made their own Cream of Mushroom, Potato or some other similar soup?

~Becky

The Monster Truck Show.

The green truck with the teeth was his favorite. And he was only a little bit scared. Also, he did not get a picture of himself on Daddy's shoulders; but next time he will if someone else goes with them.

Charlie said they got to eat at Pizza Doctors! Which he also heard about on the radio, and has wanted to go to ever since. I guess we have to be more careful about what he is hearing.

~Charlie

Two peas in a pod.

New Year... New Blog Posts

 Grandma and Grandpa's little chair by the fire, fits three.

 Clarence visited us in Winona, so we went to the park and scooped snow, for no particular reason.

 Homemade play dough! We made a fresh batch with two different colors- teal and purple.

Charlie is full of questions!

~Becky

Santa Clause came to town.