An Open Letter to My Daughter

This blog post on The Cripplegate is absolutely wonderful. It is a father's letter to his daughter. I am going to print it out and put it into the girls' baby books because it is the heart of their daddy too and his prayer for them. I also hope and pray they take the exhortation in it to heart. An Open Letter to My Daughter

Cookies

A little after nap cookie.

And just in case you started to think everything around here is always happy and peaceful.

This is the rage and heartbreak that ensued when she was informed that she was not going to get another one.

She was okay in the end.

New blogs

I have come across two amazing blogs for which I am very thankful. The first is the Cripplegate blog. Some Master's Seminary guys do it and it is just amazing and biblical and informative.

The other blog is the Pioneer Woman blog. I like this blog for food. You may already know very well about this blog and wonder where I have been all this time. However, if not, I have shared with one other person. She has a cookbook that is really popular too. Click on the cooking link on the top to get to her recipes and such.

New Favorite Recipe

A friend from college started a blog called Next to Nothing in which she has a lot of good recipes. The blackened chicken salad is a must try I think. It has earned its place as a family favorite. The girls even loved the chicken- and that is saying something!

Betty Botter

Betty Botter

Betty Botter bought some butter,
"But," she said, "the butter's bitter;
If I put it in my batter,
It will make my batter bitter;
But a bit of better butter,
Will make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
Better than her bitter butter,
And she put it in her batter,
And it made her batter better;
So 'twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.

Owen cannot get enough of this poem. He wants me to read it all day long. I think I literally read this poem to him 3-5 times a day. When I get out the butter he quotes it and runs to get his poem book. He is also really into poetry in general right now.

In light of this poem (and because I just figured this out and I'm really excited) I will put up a recipe for spreadable butter. Yep, you got it. We use butter just about every morning- on toast, or muffins, pancakes, and waffles. I hate using hard butter. I don't have the time for it :). However, the spreadable butter at the store can be pricey. So I had the brilliant (or maybe just obvious) idea of making it myself. A little google here, a little reading there, and voila! Super easy spreadable butter. You may just want the recipe already.

2 sticks (1/2 cup each) butter

1/2 cup oil (I use canola because that is what the "expensive" stuff uses)

Let the butter get really soft, whip in the oil, and stick in the fridge in some container (we use our old container that we bought spreadable butter in initially before being enlightened... muhahahahahaha).

Done. And it is just as good as the other stuff.

A new choice instrument

Owen decided that he wanted to stage a dance party for Adelyn and I so he got his drum and a couple of colored pencils (his drumsticks of choice) and had us dance to his beat. Then he put his pencils together and did something I had never seen him do before- he started playing a made-up violin. I actually don't know where he had seen this played before. I grabbed the camera quickly and asked him to redo it.

Owen's Sayings

I have a document on my computer titled "Owen's Sayings". I try to type up all the funny things Owen says. It is by no means exhaustive but is my feeble attempt to try to grasp this special age for a bit longer. Here is this month's sayings.

7/2/11 – We got ice cream and were on our way home and daddy told you that you had to take a shower and you said that you wanted to take your ice cream in the shower. When we laughed and told you that you were silly you replied, “Oh, it will get wet?”

7/5/11- I told you that your friend Jake was going to come over (Jake Hintz) and you replied, “Jacob and Esau?” I laughed and we moved on. However, you continued to bring it up so I elaborated and told you that it is a different Jacob than the one in the bible. You replied, “Oh, oh. A different bible, a new bible?”

7/9/11- Owen's take on life after coming in from an outside adventure: "Mosquito bites bite but ladybugs do not bite. Butterflies are hard to catch, and dragonflies are hard to catch.”

7/15ish/11 Dad: “Owen, should mommy and daddy kiss?”

Owen: “No, that’s gross!”

7/24/11- Owen: "Mommy, can we go to the park?"

Me: "No, I'm sorry, Anabel is sick. So we can't go."

Owen: "Oh, you can give her medicine so we can go to the park?" and then later "I think Anabel is better now. We can go to the park!"

7/31/2011 Owen woke up soaked with pee after a diaper leak.

Me: Owen, do you have pee-pee? Oh! You have lots of pee-pee!

Owen: No, I only have one pee-pee!