Letters from Pemberley

A good reader!

Aug 3rd, 2009 by DTM

Yesterday, I read The Boxcar Children to Tommy. The whole thing. In just two sittings! Inspired by a conversation with friends over dinner last night, I wondered how much of a real chapter book Tommy could handle. (While he enjoys the Little Bear series, those aren’t exactly what comes to mind when one thinks of “chapter books.”)

I thought that the first in the Boxcar Children series would be a good candidate because it has a substantial number of pictures throughout, even if they’re small ones on a page. That was enough, though, to hold his attention. He had some trouble focusing when there wasn’t a picture on the page, but he did remarkably well. (My voice, however, did not fare so well after reading 150+ pages aloud in a single day.)

Em and I started contemplating what books we could try next. Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Winnie the Pooh are all promising. Farmer Boy just doesn’t have enough illustrations. I think we’re looking for books where at least half the pages have some kind of illustration. Any thoughts?

Posted in Children's Books, Tommy | 1 Comment »

Farm Share, Week 18

Aug 1st, 2009 by ECM

I waited to post this one this week because I’d asked for our make-up box (from a week she had to cancel in the spring) today, and I wanted to blog about both. I got to the farmer’s market, but sadly Vicki had forgotten to bring in my special fruit box! So she gave me another standard box (which was fine with me), plus an extra dozen peaches and 4 bonus ears of corn for forgetting! The picture above is our Wed box, and below is what I brought home today:

So for the week, we have received 20 peaches, two pints of blueberries, a dozen ears of corn, 4 zucchini, 4 cucumbers, two large bunches of basil, two savoy cabbages, and 8 green peppers. We’ve already used a lot of our first box, and we have company for dinner tonight and Tuesday, so we’ll easily get through everything before our next box comes on Wed! Yay for a box full of produce we love! What have we eaten? Well…veggie chili one night and corn on the cob with grilled chicken and homemade pesto another…and we’ll be doing some more grilling, stuffed peppers, eggrolls, and probably a peach pie! I was going to try to can some peaches, too, but we might just eat them all up before I get around to that!

Posted in Homemaking | Comments Off

Five Years!

Jul 31st, 2009 by ECM

Today is our five year anniversary! The kids gave us the best present this year–they both slept in! Tommy slept ’til 7:15 (two and a half hours later than yesterday), and Lizzie slept 9 1/2 hours through the night. We were very grateful!

I am so blessed to have spent the last half decade with Derek. As I mentioned last year, our actual anniversaries don’t tend to be super-romantic celebrations (though we try to do something special close to the day). This year is no exception–we couldn’t find a babysitter, and Elizabeth won’t take a bottle, anyway, so we decided to make our celebration a family affair. I worked hard to clean up the house so that Derek would come home from a hard day’s work (he left at 6 am) to order, not chaos. While the kids napped, I made a (dairy-free) special treat. Then it was dinner at Maggiano’s with the kiddos.

To some, our anniversaries thusfar might be hopelessly hum-drum affairs. I felt disappointed myself when I found out our sitter would be out of town and that we wouldn’t even get out by ourselves. But what makes our marriage strong is not occasional romantic gestures (though Derek is good at surprising me with them when I least expect it!)–it’s God’s grace working out in our daily activities as we learn to serve each other and raise our children to love Him.

Now, we’ll be with my family in a week, so hopefully we WILL get a date by ourselves then! And I’d appreciate prayers that Lizzie will take a bottle eventually so that we can use those opera tickets that Derek ordered for the fall…

Posted in Family | 6 Comments »

Italian Chicken with Couscous

Jul 31st, 2009 by ECM

note–it came to my attention that I’d left off a key ingredient–sugar!–in my double chocolate banana muffins recipe. Sorry if you tried them and were grossed out! I’ve fixed that, and to redeem myself, here’s my favorite dinner recipe, double-checked for accuracy:

1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

(1 small onion, sliced thinly or chopped)

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

1 15-oz can diced tomatoes

1 tsp dried or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano

1 zucchini or yellow crookneck squash, thinly sliced

1 14.5-oz can chicken broth

3/4 cup couscous

pepper, to taste

In a large skillet with a lid (or wide saucepan), brown onions and garlic in olive oil. Add chicken, oregano, pepper, and the juice from the can of diced tomatoes (reserve the tomatoes for later) and cook until chicken is barely pink. Add squash and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous and diced tomatoes. Stir, cover, and remove from heat. Allow to sit for five minutes or until couscous absorbs the liquid. Serves 3-4.

This is one of my all-time favorite dinners! We had this at least three times a week during my first trimester with Tommy because it always sounded good to me. I rarely shop at Whole Foods, but I do always stock up on couscous ($1.99/lb) when I’m there! People are so generous with their zucchini and squash this time of year that I rarely need to buy it, but it’s generally pretty cheap in the stores. It’s easy to sneak in both at once to stretch it further and get us to eat more veggies. The original recipe called for onion, which I generally don’t buy, but I’ve used our farm share onions in it this summer, and it does add a distinct flavor. With the diced tomatoes and fat free chicken broth from Aldi and chicken on sale, I figure I can usually make this dish for around $6. I usually double it (but still just use two chicken breasts) when we have company. We love it left over, too! The great thing is that this, like so many of my summer meals, is dairy-free, and I don’t even miss it.

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

Mommy's Little Helper

Jul 30th, 2009 by ECM

Guess who slept for 9 hours last night? That’s right! Miss Elizabeth!!!! This is probably an anomaly because she just cat napped all day yesterday (and was miserable as a result), but wow–when Tommy woke us up at 4:45 and we realized we’d been asleep all night, it was amazing. Derek went to check on the little one to make sure she was okay, and she was just then stirring. (Wonder how long she’d have slept if big brother hadn’t started shouting next door…) Hopefully we’re on our way to consistent sleeping through the night!

So, like most eldest girls, Elizabeth is eager to help Mommy with daily tasks like putting away the clean diapers. She’s a little homemaker in the making:

Posted in Elizabeth, Homemaking | 5 Comments »

More decorations for Elizabeth's nursery

Jul 29th, 2009 by ECM

When we decorated Tommy’s nursery last fall, we framed a few of our favorite art prints. Yes, they just happened to be scenes from great children’s literature. But I got morning sickness and we got busy, and we never finished the project. Now that we’re starting fresh with Elizabeth’s nursery, I decided to finish the job. I got some great prints from Dick and Jane readers, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Little Engine that could. Now to hang them!

And here’s the girl herself, excited about her new room decor!

Posted in Children's Books, Elizabeth | 4 Comments »

Our First Trip to the Beach

Jul 28th, 2009 by ECM

We went to the beach yesterday with some new friends–it was the kids’ first time at a beach! Lizzie slept in her carseat the whole time, but Tommy LOVED it! He went right in to the water, laughed and splashed happily the whole time, and even went out up to his nose. He wanted me to take him further, but I was trying to keep an eye on his sister and didn’t want to get too far out. He also loved the sand, so I’ll have to pick up some buckets and shovels if there are any left in the stores… He cried when we left for lunch, but I promised him we’d come back soon.

And this is what happened back home…all that sun wore him out!

Posted in Tommy | 2 Comments »

Tummy Time Twosome

Jul 27th, 2009 by ECM

Posted in Elizabeth, Tommy | 6 Comments »

a typical morning in the Muller home

Jul 26th, 2009 by ECM

Posted in Elizabeth, Movies, Tommy | 2 Comments »

Placemats and Pillows

Jul 25th, 2009 by ECM

Now that we’ve been back for a couple of days, I’ve actually gotten some sewing projects done! I used the very last of the extra fabric from Mariel’s quilt to make a couple placemats as a housewarming present for a friend:

And our new couches came with hideous throw pillows, and my mom helped me buy new fabric, but I hadn’t had time to do anything with it:

But yesterday the kids both took long naps (Tommy’s was 3 hours, I woke Elizabeth up after 4 hours!) at the same time, and I punched out three new pillow covers. It was only the second time I’d done something like that, so don’t look too closely!

I love the rich new fabric, and hopefully it will go well with the rest of our new living room furniture when it comes in next month.