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My Sweet Ballerina

Creative movement class has started! Elyse goes every Wednesday evening and has loved learning with Miss Alyssa, her teacher. While she is in class, Mama and Daddy take Whitney for Lakota milkshakes and strolling around downtown!

umm the wedding

Joe, Brooke and Josie

Mookie and Whitney-Boo

The Bride

All 5 of our kids! Josie was lightin' up the beach with her wails.

The uber-handsome groom. And soon-to-be Dr. Basnett!

Such a dreamboat in his suit!

As Elyse says, "we are best friends forever, Gracie."

Isaac has 4 girls to constantly tend to! He does a good job, too. Our little man turned 5 while we were there!

Andy got married to Jeanna on April 18 on Kiawah Island, SC. All in all we drove 2100 miles there and back, but got to spend a week in Hilton Head with Brooke, Joe, Mom, Dad and the 3 TN cousins! 11 days, 3 hotels, 1 condo, 3 rounds of golf (chris), tending 5 children under the age of 5 at the pool and ocean, several jellyfish, sand dollars and shells and a wedding later we are back safe in MO. No sunburns either!

Will Warmth Ever get here?

These dresses are not done justice with pink Dora jackets covering them!  The girls and I are going outside but it is still freezing at night!!  Global warming my bootie.

The Pioneer Diva

My mom made homemade bread the whole time growing up--and still does.  I guess I thought everybody's mom made homemade bread almost everyday!  Women in my generation act like you have completed an intense brain surgery if you make a loaf of homemade bread.  What I am trying to say is that bread-making is becoming a lost art.  

A food writer in my local newspaper (yes, I am a tangible media junkie), wrote an article this week on sourdough bread.  She has had her starter in her fridge going for 40 YEARS!  It was passed down from her mom.  It piqued my interest in the art of bread making, so I set out to further educate myself on the specifics of sourdough bread.  I found these great tutorials on YouTube, called 'Pioneer Living' (click here) hosted by a woman who grew up in the Alaskan Bush before Alaska was a U.S. state.  She has been my sourdough professor, if you will.  

There are so many interesting things about sourdough. It is actually 'wild yeast' that is found in your home.  Here is another interesting link on sourdough bread: 

My starter on Day #2!

This ain't your Campbell's, baby!

I made the most AMAZING Creamy Tomato Soup today.  It was a rainy, cold March day here in the Midwest, so I pulled out a recipe I cut out several weeks ago from our local paper.  Dixie Yates, owner of Yates House Bed and Breakfast in Rocheport, MO submitted this recipe.  

1 T. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1-1/2 T. Italian seasonings (I used Herbes de Provence and boy was it good!)

1 23-oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp. baking soda

2 c. chicken broth

1 12-oz. can evaporated milk

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add onion; saute 5-7 minutes.  Stir in seasonings, cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add tomatoes and baking soda, then chicken broth.  Bring to a simmer partially covered to blend flavors.  Puree soup with a hand-held blender until creamy!  Stir in milk and heat to simmer.  Season with salt and pepper.  

My 3-1/2 year old taste tester.

The final product--ready for Chris's taste buds!

Spring Inspiration

The Dolce Vita Aries sandal is serving up some pretty good spring inspiration right now! A variation of the oh-so-popular gladiator, it is fresh and looks good with skirts and shorts!  Now, where is the metallic clutch to go with?

St. Patrick's Colcannon

Every year we have a traditional Irish meal on March 17--complete with the dark beer.  Sometimes I cook a little too much, though.  Wondering what to do with the leftovers from a St. Patrick's Day feast? Look no more! Here is a wonderful recipe.  

Ingredients: 

3 lb. red potatoes, quartered

1 head of cabbage (it is 15 cents a pound at my market right now!)

1/2 c. plus 2 T. butter. separated

1 tsp. minced garlic

4 green onions, sliced.  May sub leeks

white pepper to taste

1 1/4 c. hot milk

1 lb. leftover corned beef, cut into pieces and warmed

Directions:

Place potatoes in a lg. saucepan and cover with water by 1 inch.  Bring to a boil and reduce to med-low. Simmer 20 minutes.

Meanwhile bring a lg. pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in cabbage with 2 T. butter, cover and simmer until softened. Drain.

Melt 1/4 to 1/2 c. butter over med. heat. Stir in garlic with white parts of onion. Cook until soft and mellow.  Drain potatoes and mash with white pepper. Fold in melted butter, milk, cabbage, and corned beef. Sprinkle with green onion tops and serve!

3 1/2 and 18 months already?!

Merry Christmas!

Snow Day!

Elyse trying to talk to Whitney through the window.  Many years of all girl snow days are ahead!

the girls have stockings!

this is the prettiest tree we have had so far--a real frasier fur.  This beauty is some maintenance, though--a quart of water a day! ***please note this pic was taken before our beautiful star and ornaments were all on!***

We got hit with snow and ice this week.  Today E's preschool was called off and I even got out of parent helping!  (I parent help 6 times a year at her preschool).  Elyse bundled up at 8:30 AM and played in the snow.  Meanwhile Whitney and I stayed inside sipping hot espresso and talked about the latest Tolani scarves we are eyeing.  

The posts have been few and far between lately--Chris and I went to NYC for our anniversary and my spare internet time is being spent on finding amazing winter fashion deals!  (think classic mini uggs, italian leather driving moccasins, Cashmere/wool scarves, and sherpa lined down car coats!!)

Elyse's Macaroni & Cheese

They wanted to switch seats for lunch, so that is why there is a 3 year old in a highchair!

Elyse loves noodles and pasta more than any child I know!  She loves the texture, taste, look, and the many options for noodles.  We made a dish together and it turned out great--it is a classic baked Macaroni and Cheese.

8 oz. elbow macaroni

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

2 c. milk

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

little dash of red pepper

8 oz. of cheese (we do 4 oz. cheddar, 4 oz. italian blend)

1/3 c. bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400.

Prepare pasta.  Melt butter in saucepan. Whisk in flour --make a roux.  Gradually whisk in milk until thickened.  Stir in salt and peppers, 4 oz. of cheese and pasta.

Spoon into a baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle bread crumbs on the top.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes; until bubbly.

She loves eating it with fresh tomatoes!

Mona Charen's Editorial on Barack Obama's Abortion Stance

Our local newspaper publishes Mona Charen's Editorials and I thought this one is worth considering as we educate ourselves on where our candidates stand.

"Appearing on C-SPAN two weekends ago, I mentioned that Barack Obama had opposed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act when he was an Illinois state senator - a position he has attempted to deny or obfuscate ever since. The liberal blogger who appeared on the program with me erupted with indignation. She didn’t deny that Obama had opposed the bill. She denied, hotly, that babies are ever born alive after an attempted abortion. Since I have actually met Gianna Jessen, who survived an attempted abortion, I invited viewers to contact me directly if they wanted evidence. My inbox has been bursting.

The denial goes very deep. Any number of e-mailers expressed their contemptuous certainty that "born alive" infants were an invention of anti-abortion activists. OK, enter "abortion survivors" into your browser and see what you get. Or, if you prefer a traditional media source, consult the Daily Mail in Britain. The Mail has reported that in just the past year 66 infants had been left to die after abortions in Great Britain.

When Congress was considering the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA), a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Jill Stanek and Allison Baker, two nurses at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. They described several instances in which babies who were moving and breathing after induced abortions were left to die. The committee report quoted Jill Stanek: "Mrs. Stanek testified about another aborted baby who was thought to have had spina bifida, but was delivered with an intact spine. On another occasion, an aborted baby was left to die on the counter of the Utility Room wrapped in a disposable towel."

The committee report also quoted Shelly Lowe, a lab technician at Bethesda North Medical Center in Cincinnati. A young woman who had undergone just the first cervix-opening phase of a partial-birth abortion gave birth in the emergency room. The doctor placed the 22-week-old baby in a specimen dish to be taken to the lab. According to the report, when Lowe "saw the baby girl in the dish she was stunned when she saw the girl gasping for air. ‘I don’t think I can do that,’ Ms. Lowe reportedly said. ‘This baby is alive.’" Lowe asked permission to hold the baby until she died. She wrapped the child she dubbed "Baby Hope" in a blanket and sang to her. Breathing room air without any other supports, Baby Hope lived for three hours.

I’ve received a number of letters from viewers. This one caught my eye: "I am a pediatrician. When I was a pediatric resident on a neonatal intensive care rotation, we were routinely called to … resuscitate infants. In one instance I was called to pronounce a baby dead who had been born an hour earlier after a failed abortion. We were not called to resuscitate the baby immediately after the delivery as the intent was abortion. … I write to attest that babies are sometimes born alive after abortion and then put aside to die."

The BAIPA was designed to ensure that in those rare cases in which a baby marked for abortion happens to survive - that the child will be immediately accorded full human and constitutional rights. The measure passed the U.S. House by a 380-15 vote but was blocked in the Senate. When a "neutrality clause" was inserted to the effect that the law should not be construed to limit the scope of Roe v. Wade, the measure was passed by unanimous consent and signed into law in 2002.

At the time, Obama was an Illinois state senator. An almost exact copy of the federal bill was introduced in 2001. Obama opposed it, saying, "I mean it, it would essentially bar abortions because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute." Even though the baby would be completely separated from the mother. In 2003, the Illinois legislature added a neutrality clause to the bill, making it a virtual clone of the federal legislation. As chairman of the committee considering the bill, Obama again opposed it, saying "an additional doctor who then has to be called in an emergency situation and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman."

Obama is a charming and intelligent man. But there is no other way to interpret his position on BAIPA than this: A woman who chooses an abortion is entitled to a dead child no matter what. That is an abortion extremist."

---

Mona Charen writes for Creators Syndicate.

Sweet Whitney Turns One

Irislee and Jess

as close to a family picture as we get!

mama teaching her to blow out the candle!

Elyse and Moe Moe are always joined at the hip

Uncle Andy, Jess and Whitney

On September 9, 2007 at 10:00 PM on the dot our sweet Whitney came into the world. She had the darkest hair and a sweet dimple on her chin. Since day ONE she has been the our little sugar cube--we call her Whitney-Boo. We had a big party on Tuesday night celebrating her first birthday. We also celebrated the 90th birthday of a close family friend, Irislee Prada. Whitney's middle name is also Irislee. The weather was crisp and 70 degrees. The menu was smoked Buckingham's meat sandwiches, fruit kabobs, crudites, peanut noodle salad, baked beans, red velvet cake and lemonade. We had a wonderful time celebrating Whitney and Irislee's lives! Chris, Elyse and I are so thankful for our Whitney. She has a sweet, calm spirit and loves to be at home with her family. She looks like her mama with her daddy's personality!

First Day of Preschool!

a little nervous and bossin' in the car on the way out!

her backpack and scrapbook ready to go the night before!

meeting new friends!

It is hard to believe my baby, Elyse, is going to preschool now!  She was so excited all summer and a little nervous the morning we went, but she did great.  I knew she would.  She is the youngest in her class, too!  You would never know it because she is tall for her age and talks a lot.  Her preschool has lots of fun art projects, field trips and even a water day later in the month where they bring their trikes and swimming suits!  When we picked her up she said "i love preschool and I know the names of all my new friends!"

I love glass bottles!

When Whitney was born last year, I was extremely committed to nursing her as long as possible.  Knowing I had to put Elyse on a bottle (and formula) at 5  and a half months made me think about what bottle I was going to use with Whitney when (and if) the time came.  I decided I wanted to use glass bottles because of my anti-plastic campaign, largely due to the research on the toxin bis phenol-A (BPA) found in plastics.  Almost all of the plastic bottles I found at the time had this toxin in them!  Shortly after this, a lot of information on the use of plastics with babies became available in mainstream media and now parents can find BPA-free plastic.  I had to order glass bottles from a company and loved using them.  They are clean, healthy and yes, a bit old fashioned...not as easy to lug around.  In one short year, glass bottles are much more accessible, AND look at these fashionable wraps for them (see above pic).  

We miss you Aunt Eva!

A private concert in the girls bedroom!

Eva and Elyse became fast buddies

Eva stayed with us last week as part of her trip to the U.S.  The last time Elyse saw her was a year ago (just 22 months old!) and Whitney was a month from being born. Needless to say, we had a lot to catch up on.  She first had to meet little Whitney and they of course immediately loved each other.  Eva also had a little shadow in the form of an-almost-three-year-old blondie.  The time went too fast and the girls already miss her.  Lots of good food, late night talks and a trip to wal-mart we won't soon forget....how will i do it the next time I shop?  

For those of you who don't know Eva, she is an amazing musician (like her brother Chris!) and you can check out her music here.  

A trip to Amsterdam is definitely called for in the future....