7 Quick Takes

1~ Evelyn, my little lover of all things water, discovered another place in the house where water exists. If you're thinking the worst, you're probably right. The toilet is a new place of high interest for her. Now that she knows there's water in there she wants at it, even while you are utilizing the toilet's true purpose. It's a bit awkward.

2~ I've decided that Evelyn will not sleep regularly through the night until she's 4. After a few nights of fabulous sleep (she even slept in until 8:30!) she is back to her spontaneous waking and getting up at 7:30.

3~ Evelyn also has a new-found love of climbing. Anything that can be climbed onto is fair game. Her favorites are couch cushions on the floor and the bottom step. Yesterday she climbed onto the bottom step, stood up, and started "preaching". Lots of waving of her arms and making all kinds of noises. It was very cute and of course is on video.

4~ My friend Sarah (from high school) is coming to visit next week. I LOVE visitors!

5~ Organic grass-fed ground beef is on sale for only $2.99 at Whole Foods right now, so I went yesterday to stock up. They looked at me like I was nuts when I asked for 20 pounds. They told me they couldn't do bulk orders like that without a pre-order and cut me off at a dozen. I plan on going several more times while it's on sale (2 whole weeks) to keep stocking up. I think they may get pretty sick of me.

6~ In case you like to put things on your calendar way in advance (even though I'm not a planner with a lot of things in life, I like to have dates way early) we will be having a birthday party for Evelyn on September 20th in Kansas City and then having her dedicated at church in Iowa (Timberline in Urbandale) on October 18th followed by a little party for those who can't come down to KC.

7~ Scott LOVES ice cream. I mean really loves ice cream. So we (he) got an ice cream maker. We've tried a few flavors, but our favorite so far is mint chip. Here's my recipe...

1 can full fat coconut milk (we use Thai's organic)
1 pint cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup grade B maple syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1 tsp. mint extract
dark chocolate chips

Blend together and pour into an ice cream maker. If you don't have an ice cream maker you can whip it up for several minutes with a mixer, pour into a pan, and freeze for 12 hours. Yum!