Going up.

I get discouraged. Often. Especially lately, with limited sleep and the added stress of parenting. But, this is what I believe. Time to apply it more fully.

I hope you enjoy it.

And it's only Tuesday...

Homelessness, hunger, emergency room, suicide, displaced children, depression, drug addiction, and utter fatigue. Can we skip to next week?

Thankfully, there is comfort in this. We don't have to do it alone.

Read-a-thon

As an elementary school student, one of my favorite days was the biannual Read-a-thon. I would bring a re-purposed 1 gallon ice cream bucket full of buttery popcorn along with a giant pillow and the class would read (and munch) in silence for hours. Ah, memories....

That kind of time isn't as readily available to me now, but every August I start my own reading program. In August 2005, I was serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My companion and I had just had dinner with a family from the church. As we discussed the importance of scripture, they told us that they had little use for The Book of Mormon. I found that very disheartening, as the entire message of the Restoration hinges on whether or not The Book of Mormon is true. That same month, maybe not so coincidentally, President Hinckley issued an invitation to read from start to finish before the end of the year. He promised an added measure of the Holy Spirit, a greater resolution to keep the commandments of God, and a stronger testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ. Time to test the promise again and get reading!

Care to join me?

Listening

Baby sleeping.
Husband reading.
Toddler questioning.
Child crying.
Parents instructing.
Infant fussing.
Piano unceasing.
Dinner cooking.
Dishes washing.
Grandpa snoring.
Grandma admiring.
Cousins squealing.
Uncles tickling.
Aunts laughing.
Sisters whispering.
Brothers teasing.
Nephews wrestling.
Nieces pointing.

Welcome home.

Can it get any better?

Long ago and far away, there lived a tiny ice cream parlor 2 blocks from my childhood home. Every millenia or two, Dad would take us to get a special treat. My favorite was the seemingly giant soft serve dipped cone. Yum. Yesterday, we discovered homemade hard shell chocolate: 3 part chocolate, one part coconut oil. Melt. Serve. Awesome.

Going bananas

I love them. Bananas that is. Not enough to marry them though. Just enough to feed them to myself and the Princess all the time. Thankfully her digestive system has accepted the offering fairly well.

Favorite new ways to eat them, an even old ways to eat them:

• Banana/watermelon crush - Frozen or unfrozen. Yum.
• Banana 'pancakes' - little rounds sauteed in coconut oil. It helps if it's not a mush banana, but it's super yummy even as a mushy mess
• Frozen Banana yogurt - freeze bananas, blend with plain yogurt. Acts like soft serve ice cream, tastes like heaven, or how I would imagine heaven could taste.

Next stop: Cook up a few 'pancakes.' drop them in the freezer, and then blend with yogurt. Homemade yogurt. I'm excited.

Any favorite recipes you want to share, for bananas, or for baby?