Two Questions

I need help (well, you knew that, right, but that's not the kind I'm talking about...hee hee hee).

1. Any information you can share, if you have had experience with growing avocado trees in this area, would be greatly appreciated. It would be appreciated so much that perhaps sharing some first fruits would be in order.

2. I really, really want to make my own bread, but without a bread machine. I had one when we first got married, and I wasn't crazy about the shape of the loaves. I want to make my own where I knead it, etc. Please, do you have anything to share on this topic? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?

Yes, I know books and internet sources abound - but I am on information overload and want to hear from someone who has done these things, had personal experience. Plus, conflicting information abounds in those numerous sources. So, have at it, and give me all the advice you've got (uh, we're talking about avocados and bread!).

Andrew and His School

I don't think it will come as a surprise to any of you how much Andrew is loving going to preschool. He looks so forward to waking up each morning, eating breakfast with Daddy, getting dressed, riding with Daddy to school and playing on the playground until school starts.

Drew loves his teacher, and if you could see the way he looks at her... it is priceless. To add an interesting element to this story, Drew's teacher is married to the man who was the Dean of Men at the college David attended for his first two years of school. We all think that it is so special that our son was placed in her class, and we know that God called her to be his teacher this year.

Now, I am not one to brag about my child's academic achievements as something to be benchmarked, heralded all over the place, or compared to those of others. I am simply very excited by what he is learning and how he is growing, so much, already, in school.

He is already reciting, at his own prompting, a rather lengthy (for 4 year old children) bible verse, John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. We have worked with Drew regarding scripture memorization prior to school, but those verses were always much shorter. Who knew that he was going to be quoting such passages so early! I think you all know that it brings such joy to see your child learning to hide God's word in his/her heart. I don't know about you, but I wasn't memorizing scripture that long when I was four!

He has brought home two books to keep at home that he can read to me! What? Yes! He can read them to me! They are about 6 to 8 pages, but he reads them. I LOVE to hear him read.

He is initiating prayer for others more often at home instead of always waiting for mine or David's prompting. Any of you that know Drew know he is very compassionate, and this is an extension of that compassion that the Lord is growing within him.

He adores the time of day where his class participates in centers. I think his favorite center is the listening center. He is enjoying every single classmate in his class - he is very relational, and has been waiting so long to get to be part of a class.

Well, lest I bore you with more details, forgive my unorganized but enthusiastic thoughts. We are so blessed, beyond measure, to be able to send our son to our school of choice. We do not take that for granted, and we praise the Lord for all He is already doing in our young Andrew through his school.

Chicken Ropa Vieja

Yes, I know this isn't veggie...but I still need to feed my carnivores! Here is a link to a great take on a Cuban favorite, only with chicken, to make it more heart healthy. The boys loved it, and that's saying a lot, considering the hubs is Cuban and grew up on Cuban cooking.


Chicken Ropa Vieja

What Happened to the Vegetarian Cookbook?

You know, the one I was supposed to be cooking my way through, and posting about?

W-e-l-l, I suppose the only accurate way to explain the absence of my posts on the subject is to admit the truth. I felt very restricted and 'boxed-in' with the cookbook. I have become, over the last several years, something strangely similar to a food snob. I enjoy, no, rather, I love anything to do with food. Cooking, preparing, serving food - I revel in all of it. I have developed, ashamedly, a tiny bit of cooking ego as well. Now, that does not mean I think everyone should like my food, or that I think my food is better than the food others prepare. Instead, it means I have moved through my culinary journey to a point where I enjoy figuring it out myself, or experimenting on my own. I reached the point where recipes are either merely a guide, or in some cases, just good decoration for my kitchen (!).

It has become difficult for me to sincerely enjoy cooking that is entirely, always from a cookbook or a recipe. And, since I've had to switch to vegetarian eating in the last couple months, I have discovered, ironically, that a lot of the 'vegetarian' recipes from that cookbook, still include dairy products, which I can no longer eat.

Therefore, I will post in the future about things I am trying on my vegetarian journey in place of items from the cookbook I was using. Some may be my own concoctions, and some may be from various crazy cool vegetarian food blogs I have discovered in recent weeks.

Party of Six

Every Wednesday night, my sister, Jaime, comes to pick up her baby girl, Piper, from our house. We keep Piper with us on Wednesdays while Jaime is working at her internship for school.

When Jaime first gets to our house, the kids, Jaime and I all play together, visit, and laugh, a lot. Then by the time Dave gets home, dinner is started, or already in the works. Jaime and Piper stay to eat dinner with us before they travel home to get Piper's nighttime routine started.

I was saying just the other night how our weekly tradition of getting to spend time together reminds me of that old TV show title, Party of Five. Those five family members had a special table they all sat at to eat dinner together.

So we now have our own Party of Six tradition, and we enjoy every minute of it. I personally enjoy getting to do something to serve Jaime. Both of us have little ones, so schedules are something we have to stick to right now. That doesn't always leave me all the time I would like to serve my extended family. Serving dinner to her is one way that I can do that right now in this season of our lives. We enjoy sharing about our day together, the kids laugh and carry on, and since it is a night Dave is home, we all get the benefit of a real family dinner together at the table. Now, if we can just figure out a way to get Gary here... (his work schedule prevents him from being here on Wednesdays).

My Organized Pantry

Thanks to Bethany over at The Simple Day, I was more than inspired to make strides at getting this overdue task off my list. This is the end result - and I am very pleased. I actually was able to move more things into my pantry by doing this, and it looks less full than it did when I started.

How do you...

... serve the world with a preschooler on your hip?

Tell me the ways you do, or did (when your kids were preschool age).