Paul helped me make pizza on Monday.  I had to establish from the start that none of the food went in his mouth.  He took it very well, and just helped but did not eat any.   When we were almost done and about ready to eat supper, I did let him eat a few shreds of cheese that had fallen on the table.

We made plenty of pizza, with some going in the freezer for later.  Paul helped by playing with the olives, then he would go over to the bowl of dough and pinch of little pieces for a while.  Then he would “wash dishes” in the sink for a while.  Then come back and check on the pizza building progress.   Then he would pile olives on the olive slicer, then he would play with the beautiful nectarines and tomatoes (that’s why they are also on the island), and just start his circuit again.  He was fantastically entertained, very happy, and just loved the whole business.  It is a good thing the floor was pretty clean, and I had to clean it up afterwards also.  I think this was the first time I had made pizza since Hannah was born.  I had made up pizza before she was born and had it in the freezer for afterwards.

One day recently, Paul was showing Hannah a tomato (at my suggestion), and then when I looked over at her at some random time (well, we were getting our supper started), he had placed these ears of corn in a neat way at her feet!

Yesterday (Tuesday) I took Paul and Hannah to the library for the frist time.  I was really uncertain how it would all work out.  I talked to Paul about being quiet as we got close to the library.  He did very well, except he is still scared of elevators.  He didn’t like riding it up to the second floor where the children’s room is.  Hannah was in the umbrella stroller, so we had to take the elevator to get up there.  He loved all the books, but I only had to tell him once not to pull them off the shelves.  He was positively thrilled with the big stuffed dog and the long stuffed snakes they have up there for children to play with.  He made hissing sounds for the snakes.  He was nearly besides himself with delight, and sometimes would just stop and watch the other little children.  I hated to take him away when I was finished selecting the next set of books for him to read at home, but it was close to lunch time so we had to get going.  We will definitely go back!  By the way, Hannah did excellently well too.  She ate before we left home, and she was fine until we got home.

This morning, Paul was by himself in our bedroom, and then I heard some clump-clumping.  Here is what I saw!

It’s the first time Paul has done this.

Here is something that happens somewhat frequently at our house, usually a lot on the weekends.

We have had a great weekend, spending lots of time together as a family.   I really like that.  We started out with all of us watching a Flintstones movie on Friday night.  I really enjoyed it, and I think Paul did too.  Then, Andrew and I watched Groundhog Day.  (Pretty much, we only watch stuff we can watch off the internet free and legal, or DVDs that we can borrow.  Generally that means Andy Griffith or Sherlock Holmes, both of which we like.)  Andrew had seen Groundhog Day once before in a college class.  My opinion, well, the second half is much better than the first half.  I wouldn’t recommend it for kids, at least not my kids, and there is a part you have to skip.  Fortunately, Andrew knew when it was so we could skip it.  Other than that, it was something different and fun to do.  And, a date that we didn’t have to spend money on!

I rode my bike on Saturday morning so Andrew and Paul had some quality time together.  They were picking rocks!

Andrew was picking up the rocks from digging the post holes for our fence.

For our lunch on Saturday, we loaded up our sandwich stuff and drove about 2 minutes down to Judge Paul State Forest and ate it on a picnic table there.  It was Paul’s first time in a forest since he started walking.  Boy, was he ever impressed.  He found acorns, and a dead June bug, which was his pride and joy.  His hands weren’t big enough to hold all the acorns he wanted to hold.  And he wanted to keep  lots of them in his hands and still pull them out of the caps.

Our best centerpiece yet!

Being the “use each moment wisely” Mom that I am, I had the nail clippers in my pocket, and after lunch took advantage of being outside to trim the nails of our little people.  I am head of nail trimming in our family, I believe.

Saturday evening, we went over to Jeremy & Lynn’s house for supper.  She was making cow tongue and invited us.  We took oven-roasted vegetables, which are very, very good if you have never had them, and a peach pie (which someone had generously made for us, but we couldn’t eat the whole thing as fast as it should be eaten, so we shared it for our dessert).  We had a good time, but our children were soon ready for bed, so there wasn’t any lingering around in the evening.  And, I just didn’t get any pictures taken of all the cousins!  Sorry, folks!

I actually started this post on Monday, but I am finishing it tonight.  It is already 10 min. past my bedtime, so I must quit and move on.

More later!  This week has been exciting and wonderful so far.

And not looking where he’s going!

And he has a passenger!

She is brave and doesn’t seem worried at all.  After all, Paul is her brother, and of course he can be trusted, knows best, and one day imitated, right?

Yesterday when I was out hanging up wash, I put Hannah in the jogging stroller because it has a hood for shade.  Paul decided it would be great fun to push her around.   He pushed her around the back yard for a while.  Of course, I had to do some steering at times.

That’s about the most interesting thing that happened yesterday.  I felt pretty draggy, especially in the morning and early afternoon, but we made it.  And, Paul and Hannah both napped at the same time in the afternoon so I could take a nap too.  That was very nice!  I also attempted vacuuming and washing my floor for the first time.  I barely got through that, but now it is done.

The “old” growing is Grandma’s toenails.  (Strange way to start a post, I agree.)  Yesterday was the first time I had been up to Grandma Gardner’s to trim her toenails since I was sick.  Katie (my 16-yr.-old) sister was spending the day with me while my mom went to PA again, so I took advantage of her help to visit Grandma and trim her toenails.  My cousin Angela, who is also a nurse, had worked on them at some point while I was sick, Grandma said, but they were much overdue a trimming.  I have been doing Grandma’s toenails for, well, maybe close to 8 years or so now, and we just know how to make some of those interesting nails be more comfortable on her feet.  Unfortunately, I forgot to write “camera” on my list, so I didn’t get any pictures.  How I regret that!  Paul sat on her lap, and Grandma was able to hold Hannah for a short spell.

Paul is making more progress.  On Tuesday, he started drawing in circles!  He was very happy about it, and filled up several pieces of paper with little circles.  Up until then, he just drew straight lines.

Also, yesterday, Wednesday, Paul said “moo” for a cow sound for the first time!  He even said it when he saw cows on the way to the orchard to pick up a peck of nectarines.  While we were at Grandma’s he was playing with some little plastic sheep and said “baa” for a sheep sound for the first time.  Also, he picked up his plastic horse here in the house and said “meigh, meigh”.  That is also a first.  I am so proud of him!

Speaking of new things with Paul, he has a new tooth on the bottom.  He has been suffering at times, drooling, and having a runny nose.  We have used Tylenol to get through the toughest times.  He is still working on at least one other one, so we aren’t done yet.  At least this one is now through the gum.

Here is Hannah having her happy morning.  She got up and ate a good breakfast at 6:00, and then she sat on the couch smiling and talking while I read my Bible.  She is still in her “pajamas”!

I guess I haven’t posted a whole lot about my health lately.  There aren’t necessarily that many changes, but there are always challenges right now.  Last week after I came down on my prednisone from 40 mg/day to 30 mg/day (on Wednesday evening), it was pretty rough for several days instead of just 24 hours.  It was Saturday afternoon before I was feeling better again.  I was just tired, out of sorts also, and just didn’t feel well.  But, we made it!  I am not necessarily looking forward to the next cut this Wednesday, but we will do it and just take it one day (or hour, or whatever) at a time.  Dr. Overby said it normally takes 4 days to adjust to a new prednisone level, so this is not unusual.

One of the things that has plagued me is the psychological side effects of the prednisone.  Last week was especially tough.  I could hardly live with myself part of the time, and it was just rough.  (I’m not sure how Andrew puts up with me.)  Andrew calls it nervous tension.  I call it nervous jitters, feeling stressed and up-tight, difficult to focus, hard to handle nearly anything, pressured,…and maybe you get the idea.  I have never, ever, ever, had such a mental state (or states) or feelings as I have been through with this.  Dr. Overby said I am the victim of hormones, not female hormones, but the hormones related to the prednisone.  It is reassuring to know that because sometimes I just have to sit and cry and wonder what is wrong with me?  Why can’t I get a hold of myself?  How can I get myself under control?

I do get tired of the carb counting and the diabetic diet.  On the other hand, I am figuring things out and learning more of what to eat and how to eat.  I saw Dr. Overby again last evening, and he talked a lot about diabetes.  He really doesn’t think I will ever come off the insulin.  However, in about 2 more weeks, Lord willing, I will be back down to my regular maintenance dose of prednisone that I have used for the last 11 years, which is 10 mg/day.  When I get to that, I will stop taking insulin, and check some fasting blood sugars and some random blood sugars to determine if I am a diabetic.  He knows how badly I do not want to be a diabetic, not just for the here and now, but because I don’t want the long-term complications, such as kidney failure, that are so common with diabetics.  He really stressed keeping my weight down as a factor to influence whether or not I am a diabetic.  I think I have about 5 more pounds to lose to be at probably my lowest ideal weight, so I am going to work on that.  Also, he assured me that even if I am not a diabetic right now, because I have had blood sugar problems just from prednisone, I will certainly develop diabetes at some point in my life, either from weight gain, or from my pancreas not working as well as it should.  So, again, he stressed keeping my weight down.  Now (and I know my family is probably the most interested in this) you know as much as I do about my blood sugar issues right now.  I am praying that I will not have diabetes.  I believe God works miracles, but I also know that in my life He has usually given me grace sufficient for the trials and not a short-cut around them.

On a good note, Dr. Overby assured me that my weak legs would get better, and the swelling of my face would eventually go away.  He said it sure hadn’t gotten any better yet, but it would get better.  So, there are two things that I can count on being completely resolved at some point!

Hannah and Paul and growing up so fast!  It is hard to believe that Hannah will soon be 6 mo. old, and that is just 3 more months, Paul will be 2 years old.  It is so fun to see them do new things, especially the things I am not expecting.

On Saturday, Paul was helping me in the kitchen, and when I turned around from the sink, he had just finished screwing the lid on a quart honey jug and a half-gallon plastic pitcher.  I had never specifically shown him anything about putting lids on stuff, much less screwing a lid on something.  And, they were screwed on all the way, not just a half-turn or something like that.

Paul also picks up little pieces of trash and without being told, puts them in the trash can.  Now, I know that may backfire sometime and something non-trash may end up in the trash can.  But, just yesterday when he was helping me fix lunch, we got a bag of cucumbers out of the refrigerator.  Without me telling him to do anything, he pulled the cucumbers out of the bag one by one, and then put the bag into the trash can!  (We were going to use all the cucumbers, and we were done with the bag, so he did the right thing.)

Yesterday, we spent some of the morning outside pulling weeds in our front flower beds.  Paul gathered rocks and put them on a pile (rocks from the border, no less, but hey, he was having a lot of fun!).  Then he was playing on the deck.  A lot of nails had worked up through and were a danger to his bare feet.  So, I got the hammer and hammered them back.  Then, Paul had his first experience hammering (to my knowledge).

When Hannah woke up, we sat outside for her to eat.  Then, she hung out in her walker for a little while watching us hammer and pull weeds.  (I keep a diaper on the walker rail because she drools and chews so much.)

When Hannah was done being in the walker, I laid her on her doggy towel and she played in her barn.  She reached for the dangling toys and played with them with her hands and held onto them.  She will also kick dangling toys with her feet if they are around her feet.

While Hannah was on her towel, I was pulling weeds.  Once I turned around, and there was Paul in Hannah’s walker!  He had climbed in all by himself!

To get around in it, he doesn’t wheel it around, he just picks it up and carries it with him.  He has put his bears and other toys in it and given them rides before, but this is the first time he has climbed into it.  He had a little trouble climbing out of it, but now he can climb out by himself.  He just climbs up on the frame and gets down.

Surely these are some of the best times of our lives.

This morning started out rather rocky for me.  I just did not feel well at all this morning, and that included a headache.  Paul also has been feeling rough the last two days, either from teething (I suspect), or a cold.  Lots of runny nose and lots of drooling.  Tylenol helps him be functional.  However, we knew this was the last day to see Andrew’s dad’s artwork display at the Fair, and we wanted to go.  We didn’t go during the week due to Andrew’s work schedule.

I took some Tylenol, and we headed out.  We had the umbrella stroller for Hannah, and the jogging stroller for Paul.  Our first stop was to see the grandparents and the Presidential display.

Here is the artist and some of his work.

Here is the entire display.

He has done pencil drawings of all the presidents (plus the two candidates for this year’s election), and they are quite remarkable.  He also has a book of other drawings that I think are even better.  It is really interesting to look at.  If you want to look at it, click here to see the drawings online.  We enjoyed visiting them for a little while.  It was also nice to have Hannah out of the sun.  I wasn’t sure how we would manage everything, but it worked out really well.  We left Hannah with her grandparents and another friend of ours, Donna, who was there, while we took Paul around to see the animals.  Hannah took a nap for them, which was what she really wanted to do, rather than see the sights!

After our time there, my headache was gone and I was feeling better.  That was so nice!  We came home and took naps (well, Andrew didn’t, he took care of Hannah when she needed feeding so I could take a nap).

After Paul was done napping, he was happy as could be (he had a dose of Tylenol right before the nap, a clue?).  He loved playing with his balloons from the Fair.

Paul also helped me wash dishes.  For the first time, he seemed to really understand what it meant to keep the water in the sink and be careful pouring from bowl to bowl and all so as not to accidently pour it all on the floor.  He had so much fun!

During our supper of Taco salad (which I loved so much, and I figured it out that it only has about 32 carbs in a reasonable sized salad–provided you only put 11 chips on it), Hannah was on the floor happily looking at toys and watching us eat.  She had eaten her supper just before we ate, so she was content.

Speaking of Hannah, she now can rotate herself while she is on her tummy.  She circles around to look at different things.  I wonder how soon she will crawl?  Paul was 9 mo. old when he started crawling.  Hannah is now 5 mo. old.

Speaking of developments, Paul said “hot” for the second time in his life this evening.  He was helping me fix supper, and the pot that I had boiled ears of corn in was on the stove cooling, but still a little hot.  He happened to reach out and touch the lid, felt that it was hot (but not hot enough to do damage), and I told him it was hot.  And he said “hot”!  I am so impressed!  We may get the English language expressed from his vocal cords yet!

Well, I must sign off.  Goodnight!

and the week is over!  Where did it go?  I was going to blog about all the interesting stuff that happened this week, and each evening got sooo late.  Now, Andrew is washing the dishes to I can do a little blogging! (happiness)

We had decided to finally celebrate our anniversary (5th) on Monday by going to a 4:00 movie and to supper.  Rachel, my sister, had agreed to watch Paul and Hannah for us.

Well, I also decided that Paul and I would can the peaches on Monday.  The only reason we were canning any peaches was for Paul to have the fun of putting them in the jars.  He enjoyed playing with the pretty peaches even before it was time to put them in the jars.

Paul had so much fun putting them in a line on the counter!

There were several interruptions from Hannah before we actually were ready to load them in the jars (plus, I had to pull the skins off all of them–I did blanche them first!), so Paul was getting a little worn down by that time.

You’ll notice I had the set-up for my convenience, which forced him to work left-handed.  Poor guy!  I realized that too late, but he did very well anyway.

He loaded all the jars except two.  He climbed down and went to play with something else after loading 7 jars.

Paul loves to play in the water, and he helped to fill the canner.

Now, this morning (Friday morning), I finally took some pictures of him with the finished product before my sister Katie and Paul took the 9 jars of ‘08 peaches down to the cellar.

He loved putting beautiful nectarines on top the jars!

Next, we were going on our date that afternoon and evening.  I was a little tuckered out from all the canning and just getting ready to lie down for a nap before getting ready to go when someone was knocking at the door.  One of our little 3-year-old neighbor girls had just basically gotten her entire big toenail ripped off when a cement bird bath fell on it, and they came to get me because I was a nurse.  I gathered up some bandage supplies and went across the road to see what could be done.  The nail was hanging on by a little bit of skin…..and I will spare you all the details.  We got things bandaged up and under control, to some degree.  It was a not a calm atmosphere, and the mother and the little girl were quite shaken up by all the blood.  Sooo, that was that.

We did go away for the evening.  The only movie Andrew could find that was showing that he deemed fit to watch, plus what we might want to see was Wall.E.  Please don’t ask my detailed opinion.  I’m not very much into movies, and definitely not that one!  We enjoyed being together, and then we went to the Texas Steak House for supper.  I had a wonderful, wonderful steak with grilled veggies.

Andrew & I on Aug. 11, ‘08

Andrew and I on June 28, ‘03

(I made my wedding dress, it was the most fun

sewing I have ever done!  And isn’t Andrew more

handsome without the beard?)

On the way back home from our date, we stopped at the library and got some books for Paul.  When we got home, I had to run over to the toe-injury victim, but Andrew told me that Paul was nearly besides himself to see all the new books (about 7 or so).  He said he wanted to read them all simultaneously!  Andrew read 3 or 4 to him, and then put him to bed bacause it was already past his bed time.  Paul has had an absolutely fantastic time looking at the new books, and getting anyone who will be still to read them to him.  He can’t get enough of the new books.  We will have to make trips to the library regularly.

One evening this week, Andrew took Paul and his big bear (well, technically, it is Hannah’s, but Paul is using it until she is ready for it) for a jog in the jogging stroller.

Let’s see, what else has been going on this week….I am really enjoying the cooler weather.  It makes riding my bike nicer.  The evenings get dark earlier, so going for a bike ride after the baths is a little too dark these days.  I try to take my ride before Paul and Hannah wake up from their naps.

We are also enjoying the corn from our garden.  It is starting to come in enough to eat it daily.  Of course, corn is very high in carbs, so Andrew and Paul eat the most of it, and I eat a little bit of it.  My vegatables are primarily squash, zucchini, cabbage, and green beans.  Those are the things my neighbors have lots of, and I am enjoying them tremendously.  They are low in carbs so I can usually use them to “fill the hole”.

Yesterday, Thursday, I let Paul have some nectarines to carry around the house.  Here he is, bright and early in the morning with his beautiful nectarines.  He is one guy who just loves his fruits and vegetables, to hold, and to eat.  He even gets ecstatic over onions and eats them raw.

This morning (Friday), I gave Paul a special breakfast–his cereal in red heart-shaped measuring cups, and chocolate milk instead of regular milk.  (I came up with the idea after reading about Davene’s meals in muffin tins.)  It was fun for me, and I think Paul enjoyed it also.

Today, my mom was going to PA to pick peaches with her dad.  Katie asked her if she could come to our house for the day, so she was here helping me.

I had her help me finish making a meal for a neighbor who broke her tailbone and has 4 small children.  That mainly involved making rolls in the bread machine.  I also had her make some sticky buns to take home to the rest of my family.  I found out it was the first time she had made sticky buns.  I also had her grill up a bunch of meat so we could have some ready-to-eat chicken and hamburgers in the freezer.  Of course, Paul had fun with his aunt Katie.

Paul helps shape rolls–his are very small!

For some reason, Hannah is terrified of Katie.  If Katie keeps her distance, she is o.k., but if Katie holds her and Hannah looks up at Katie, or Hannah looks at Katie close up, she cries like the world is ending.  Soooo, Hannah has a few things to learn.  We enjoyed having Katie around, even if Hannah got upset a few times.

Well, I need to sign off now.  Katie has gone home, and I need to go to bed.

responding to my blog friend Mamajil’s invitation to a meme.  (Please check out her blog, guys.  It’s pretty exciting!)  Let’s see if I can do this right.  By the way, I don’t know very many bloggers, so I will answer the meme but I guess I won’t be passing it on to 6 other bloggers.  (Yeah, I’m rubberizing the rules.)  Here are the rules:

Rules of Engagement:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1.  I spent the first 24 3/4 years of my life living on a dairy farm with my 9 siblings and had some very interesting experiences.  We did a lot of cow chasing, catching, moving, etc., and when I was at home, it was nearly always just us girls doing it (there were 8 girls before we had a brother).  Once, we had to bring home some dry cows (cows soon to have a calf), and one of them was very, very onery.  We had our sticks and stuff and were chasing her around the woods trying to get her through the gate hole and into a smaller field that had a pen in.  She had that look in her eyes that she was out to get us (and I had been “gotten” by a cow before as a youngster–butted up and down the barn door by a big cow’s head), and was going around the trees, coming after me no less.  If you know anything about cows, if they decide they are going to get you, you don’t have much of a chance, unless you can climb a tree really fast or get on the other side of a very stout fence.  Neither was possible since the cows kept everything chewed off the trees as high as they could reach, and no fence was near enough to run to.  I don’t know for sure what I had been telling this cow to do, but when she was about 10 feet from me, I hollared out in my most commanding, booming voice, “You obey me!”  Immediately, this cow sat down like a dog on her rear-end (not a normal way for a cow to sit), her front legs straight, and just huffed and puffed.  To this day, I am certain God made her do that and spared me a horrible end.  Needless to say, I think I was shaking like jello, and if I remember correctly, my sisters and I went and got the hired man, or Dad, or someone to help us get her loaded up.

2.  Being on a dairy farm, I have done a lot of milking of cows.  We usually had 250-300 cows to milk twice a day.  Generally we had someone hired to do the milking, but on a couple different occasions, my sisters and mom did the milking for about a year at a time.  Rachel and I did the night milking, starting at mid-night each night, getting finished around 8:00 a.m.  Once, for some reason a bird came in the parlor for the night.  We couldn’t get him out and he flew around and sat on the pipes and such.  We put paper towels on our heads because we were afraid he would put bird droppings in our hair.  It seems silly, because we were always pulling blobs and pieces of wet or dried cow manure out of our hair anyway.  It just seemed grosser if it was a fresh bird dropping.

3.  The absolute most embarrassing moment of my life it this one.  Back in the day before we used the dump wagon and trucks to haul the corn (at corn harvest), my sister Gail and I pulled silage wagons.  We weren’t as experienced as the hired men, so we would drive the tractors with the full wagons until we met one of the guys who was bringing an empty wagon back and pull off the road and trade.  The hired folks would then run it off and blow it up the silo while we took the empty one back to the field to the chopper.  We wore our old clothes of course, and being the dutiful daughters of our mother, we never, ever dreamed of not wearing a slip under our skirts because that was just not to be done.  Well, I was wearing a half-slip, but the elastic at the waist was no good.  It kept falling down, and I kept hitching it up.  Well, I met the hired guy to trade, and he stood at the steps to my tractor waiting for me to get down, and when I stood up, my slip just fell right down.  I was mortified!  I grabbed two handfuls of skirt and slip and just gave a big pull and climbed off the tractor and got on the other tractor.  As soon as I was stopped and no one was around, I took the slip off and put it in my pocket.  It was a  long, long time before I ever wore half-slips again, such as about 10 years.  I made a bunch of whole slips and wore those instead!

4.  I used to think that all babies were girls.  My mom always had baby girls, and I think I was about 10 years old before it dawned on me for the first time that some people actually have baby boys.

5.  In my three (now seeming brief) years of working as an RN, I never had a dull moment.  One of the most, um, action times was when I was just finishing getting report and one of the aids came to me for help with my patient, whom I had yet to meet.  The patient was as big as a large cat (o.k. that’s an exaggeration, but she was a teeny, tiny old lady), and due to her mental condition and whatever else was in restraints.  That is, supposed to be.  She had gotten loose, was the only person in the room, had taken apart the telephone, and as I cracked the door, she was perched on the side of the bed seething out threats and poised to throw the phone receiver at the first person who came through the door.  It was just the way to start a shift, and it was up to me to figure out what to do and get this situation under control.  I don’t remember all the details, but we did get the situation under control and no one got hurt.

6.  For a long time before I got married, I had a mental list of the qualities I wanted in a husband.  (I did write them down at some point.)  I prayed pretty much daily for God to give me such a husband.  Over the years, I began to think maybe my standards were too high, or I needed to make some compromises.  Then, as I was about to start my last semester of college, I realized Andrew had all the qualities on my list–and I had known him for over 10 years and never realized it!  I was devastated because I was sure he had no interest in me, and I wasn’t his type and so on.  It was in the next few weeks that Andrew approached me and asked if we could hold discussions to talk about the possibility of beginning a courtship!  Now, 5 years later, we are very happily married.  I am very glad I didn’t lower my standards or make any compromises.  I still enjoy all the qualities of that list, and so many, many, more that my husband possesses.  I thank God for giving me Andrew for my husband.

O.k., folks, there are 6 random things about me.  They won’t be news to my siblings who read my blog, but they may be to some other folks.  I had better go to bed now since it is late!

That could be “The Berenstein Bears and too many peaches”, but I don’t know if there is a book by that title.  Anyway, back in May when I ordered produce from Onxy Hill Orchard, I ordered a bushel of peaches.  Up to now, I have been cancelling my produce orders because I couldn’t do anything with them.  Well, I should have had some sense with this one too, but I didn’t use.  I took the bushel, and then, oh, what do I do with them?  I want Paul to have the fun and experience of packing jars, so I am planning for us to do one canner full.  I have some saving in the refrigerator for that.  With the rest, well, we gave some away, and then, because I love to make pies, Paul and I made pies to give to some of our family and neighbors.  We made seven pies.  He had so much fun!

Mixing up the pie dough.

Paul and Mommy making pie crusts.

Paul rolls his rolling pin with his little pieces of pie dough.

He broke his piece up into little pieces, he seemed to like

it better that way.

Paul rolling the rolling pin–he always did it

in front of his pie dough, not on top.  I guess he didn’t

want to squash it.

The end result!

We were up way too late that night delivering the pies.  Our children suffered today, having messed up sleep and messed up schedules.  I also had a lousy day today, for whatever reason.  The side effects of the prednisone just about did me in–all the nervous jitters, messing with my mind, etc.  Riding my bike seems to calm that stuff down, and since we went “pie taking” last evening, I didn’t get a bike ride in, and I could hardly live with myself this morning.  I took a bike ride early in the evening this evening, and that helped me get straightened out.  However, I still feel weird, which is just the way it is (and has been).

Here is a side thing.  I tried a new recipe this evening, called Summer Squash Pie.  I had copied it down from a Taste of Home magazine or one other one in that family of magazines.  I made an extra pie shell yesterday in order to try this pie.  Ho, ho, ho.  It tasted so badly that by the time I was eating the 3rd bite, I realized if I kept on eating I was going to get nauseated.  I had to throw out the entire thing.  It was such a pity!  At least it didn’t have any meat in it.  I have even thrown out the recipe.

Hannah has decided she likes to be up-right a lot, and she enjoys sitting in this blue walker, even though this isn’t her best pose in it.

Here is Paul with his lovely corn.  He put on one of his Calvin (& Hobbes) grins for the camera!

And, my most beautiful girl, as she snuggles with a fuzzy lion!