Onds and Edds

We are busily preparing for another drive to Minnesota, this time for a family reunion with Nathan's parents and siblings.  I have about a hundred million things to do before then, but I'm sort of blase about it because, eh... we'll just get in the van and drive, right?  Clean clothes?  Food?  Whatevs.  It'll be what it'll be.  Good thing I kept my packing lists from earlier trips.

I'm browsing over my to-do list occasionally as I go from task to task.  It's drizzling here, and very last-day-of-April-ish.  I think I need to plant my tomatoes out before we leave because they're very tall and very thirsty now.  The ground isn't really ready, and it's a bit cold, but I'll cover them with old jugs with the bottoms cut off.  It'll have to do.  Every so often, I look out the window and watch my Amish neighbor who is working this hard ground, plowing a field with four horses.  I just love this neighborhood.

I put the kids in the van and ran some errands today.  I went to one Amish neighbor and got some popping corn because we emptied our jar yesterday, and I want to take popcorn on our trip for snacking on the drive.  They didn't charge for the bag of popcorn-- trade it for phone usage, they said.  After dropping overdue (but curiously never-fined)  books off at the library, we went on to another Amish family to buy a gazoot-load of maple syrup to take to Minnesota for the west-coast family.  "Limited time only: free shipping!"  I told them.  Then to another farm for six dozen eggs and we headed back home for lunch and naptime.

Did you know that if you steam fresh eggs with a vegetable steamer instead of boiling them, they peel easily every time?  I love this trick.  I'm steaming three dozen for our trip.

All this minutia running around in my head all the time...  It's gloriously maddening.  "Boring" isn't the right word.  "Busy", for sure.  The fact is, I don't seem to have time to blog, but I want to.

I'm also preparing for my firstborn's seventh birthday.  Seven.  Wow.  I remember being seven.  Before that, it's all pretty foggy, but I definitely remember seven.  I love that he's entering what I think of as "the age of reason".  Common sense, not so much, but reason, yes.  I can reason with him.  He's suddenly becoming so thoughtful and dependable and logical.  

I was reflecting on how much better Evan is now (praising God, many times).  His digestion has suddenly improved considerably-- in fact it seems pretty much normal.  I don't know if it's a result of the things I gave him, or just his system maturing.  Either way, God is gracious, certainly.  That's what his name means, you know.  Evan-- God is gracious.  His sleeping problems have evaporated and he's pretty happy all the time.  Now we just deal with the usual toddler stuff, the storms blow in and out quickly, and he's happily trucking along and learning more all the time.  I've stopped giving him the 5HTP for his serotonin deficiency because he simply doesn't need it anymore.  I really only gave it to him for 2-3 months, and apparently that was enough time for that to heal.  God is, indeed, gracious.

I'm always making food, it seems.  Three meals a day, snacks, and then the literal creation of milk going on all the time (Yeah.  That's my super power.), making me constantly ravenous.  These kids just look at me and see their next meal, I'm pretty sure.  I feel like we eat such a mono-diet sometimes.  Lately it's various permutations of sourdough bread, yogurt, eggs, pork, rice, butter, lard, sauerkraut, green beans.  A little peanut butter and jelly here, some garlic and onions there.  I made the most delicious pot of lentils (aaaaand several of the things on the aforementioned list) and it was yummy, but no one was really impressed.  Guh.  I want a little food creativity in my life, but Jonah keeps insisting that they'd be perfectly happy with eggs and toast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and spaghetti for meals, with an endless supply of fruit and yogurt for snacks.  Why am I stressing about this?  They're easy to please!  Just feed them those favored foods.  All the time.  Siiiiiiigh.  I almost can't wait for summer when there will be lots of good stuff in the garden to inspire me and I won't have to spend so much money to eat creatively.  Perhaps I should read some cookbooks.  Cookbooks are always inspiring.

Speaking of food, I currently have bread rising, beans soaking, rice-bean-veggie stuff cooking, eggs steaming, and a child waking from his nap, hungry.  Back to it...