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Showing posts from 2010
Here are a couple videos we captured during the Christmas Holliday... such cuteness! Holland's cousin Liv came over for Christmas Eve. They had a great time playing together, although Holland wasn't the best at sharing her toys... Holland got this rug from her Grandma and Grandpa Larson. She got quite a kick out of making us laugh by cuddling with it. Fisher got a new Hex Bug Nano Raceway from his aunt and uncle. They live in Colorado, so I recorded him opening his gift... what a great reaction!
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Santa's Going to Be Excited About These.... I made some new cookies tonight! They are... awesome. Divine! The recipe is from my Aunt Pat- Thanks for sharing Pat- these are going to be a Meyerink Family Christmas Tradition!! Aunt Pat's Chocolate Mint Cookies In saucepan over low heat, combine and stir these until melted: 3/4 c butter 1-1/2 cup brown sugar 2 Tblsp water Add and stir until nearly melted: 12 oz. milk choc chips Remove saucepan from heat. Stir until all chips are melted. Pour mixture into large mixer bowl and let sit about 10 min. to cool. Add ONE AT A TIME while mixer is on high speed: 2 eggs Mix these dry ingredients together: 2-1/2 cup flour 1-1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture to choc dough quickly but GRADUALLY, not all at once. Mix ONLY til just blended. Chill the dough thoroughly. Rol

Keeping a Record of My Days

"Teach me to number my days that we might get a heart of wisdom" Psalm 90:12 Occasionally, I write in my journal. I wish it was more, but I do what I can. I've kept a journal since I was in the 2nd grade, and they are my most treasured possessions. The other day, when I cracked my latest journal open the other night, I realized that months had passed since I last wrote. I was overwhealmed with the moments that I wanted to record, and frustrated about the ones that I failed to write down and now were forgotten. So, I decided to just take that day and write it down. It was very therapeutic to reflect on all of the mundane, small, and sweet moments of the day that had been put to rest. I felt a small thrill knowing that this was a day I wasn't going to loose. 50 years from now, when I open my journal and read that entry, all of those moments will come back to me, and I will be back in November 2010 with 6 year old Fisher, 4 year old Claire, baby Holland, and my y

Making Homemade Baby Food

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I have made about 90% of my children's babyfood. I love to do it for so many reasons. It saves lots of money and I like being able to use food that I have selected and prepared rather than food that was processed months ago and stored in plastic containers. It also helps babies to be a part of the family table as early as possible, which is a huge step in preventing "short order cooking" and picky eating in general. When the rest of the family has grilled chicken, broccoli and roasted potatoes, we put it in the babyfood grinder and that is what Holland dines on as well. It is also a great way to use up leftovers- just grind or blend it up, mix with some liquid as needed, pop into ice cube trays and freeze. Here are a few pictures that illustrate the process. Making Pears for Baby Find some nice ripe pears Peel them, cut into chunks and place in a pot with about 1/2" of water in the bottom. Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes or until very soft. Put into your blender

Soooo Big!

Yesterday, after much training, Holland did "sooo big"! It is her first purposeful attempt at play, and it was so cute. Luckily, she repeated her new trick for my video camera...

Into the Woods

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Monday was a beautiful day- the kind of day you feel it is morally wrong to spend indoors. Fisher had the day off school, so we packed up and went to The Outdoor Campus. We played on this great "all natural" play area, and then did a little hiking. Sensing that there might be some Christmas Card photo opps, I dressed them in cute clothes and hoped for the best. Here are a few of the shots I got. I don't think we got a Christmas card shot, but a few of them are pretty cute... Enjoy!

Too Much TV... The Mike Teavee Song

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Our favorite spot- reading a good book on the couch Grandma and Grandpa have spent many hours reading to our kids as well... One of my favorite things to do with my children is read to them. I love to go to the library and check out an enormous pile of them, bring them home and sit on the couch and read and read and read. Since the time Fisher was 3, we started to read chapter books, and this has been such a fantastic experience for all of us. We have read some of my favorites from my childhood (Little House Series, Indian in the Cupboard, James and the Giant Peach), and we have also discovered other books together for the first time (Heidi, The Wind and the Willows). Our latest book was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Lance and I had never read the book, and the movie really creeps me out, so I always change the channel when I catch it on TV. However, we all loved the book. It is the perfect book for a 6 year-old. Can you imagine anything that would capture the

Art Challenge!

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Once and a while, I have a really brilliant idea. My latest was one that involves the kids doing some quality "playing" while at the same time giving me a chance to be productive and also enjoy their presence. It is called "ART CHALLENGE" It all started with Claire wanting to draw a rainbow, and Lance drawing the lines on the paper for her to color in. When Fisher got wind of this, he wanted in on the action, and soon we were in the middle of our first "art challenge." The "challenge" was to draw a picture of a rainbow. Here are the results: This is Claire's creation: Above the rainbow she drew the sky, a bird and some clouds. Below you will see some flowers, a tortoise, and Holland, Fisher, Me and Claire (Daddy and Jenny are at work). Fisher's drawing included birds, rain, cornstalks, a pot of gold, a leprechaun, a dead bird, the sun, some sunflowers, and a tortoise... can you spot them all? It was really fun to listen to them thi
Trying to Find Time For A Schedule.... Holland has been reminding me that she is a BABY and she needs a SCHEDULE! I had been a mom to toddlers/preschoolers for so long that I really got used to mixing up my mornings- staying home and baking, coloring, playing outside, or maybe heading out to the zoo, or the outdoor campus, or to a play-date, or to the grocery store, or to the gym. For the first 6 months of Holland joining the crew, this was still pretty possible. She could sleep in her carrier pretty well, or if she didn't get a good nap in, she could make it up with one of her 2 or 3 other naps during the day. But now, Holland is a "big" baby. She takes two naps a day, and we need to try to work life around those naps. Today, I woke up and decided that I really wanted to go to my favorite 9:15 am class at the gym. Yes, this was during Holland's morning nap time, but I figured she would fall asleep on the way to the gym, and blissfully sleep away while I was wo
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Another First Claire was off to her first day of preschool today. For the past two years, she has taken her brother to preschool, and today it was her day to stay! Yesterday I took her to Target where we both picked out this adorable pink dress on the clearance rack, and then we had enough to spend on shoes! I successfully steered her away from the Disney Princess shoe section, but couldn't quite convince her to get these really cool pewter flats. Luckily, we spotted some pink All-Stars, and it was a perfect compromise. This morning she was super excited and even let me comb and gel her hair without protest. On the way to school, she kept scrunching up her face in anticipation. She stuck pretty close to me while we hung up her sweater and back pack, and found her name tag. Then we sat down to color and she told me she loved me, and it was ok for me to go. What more could I ask for? She loves me, and she's ok. She'll be at school from 9-11:30 on Tuesdays, Wednesday
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GARDEN UPDATE! Whew! We have been busy around here! We had a garage sale on Friday and Saturday. What a lot of work, for well, not a ton of money. We made a couple hundred dollars that will be tucked away and used for a little basement remodeling project this winter. It is nice to have all of the extra "stuff" out of our house, and it was kind of fun to see Fisher's old clothes go to new homes to adorn other adorable children. I've been getting quite a few tomatoes, and have been enjoying BLTS pretty much every day :) My jalapeno pepper plant actually produced quite a few peppers, so tonight I made fresh salsa for a pot luck. It was SOOOO good! Homegrown tomatoes can't be beat.
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First Day of School Fisher is having a great first week of school. He is enrolled in a Spanish-Immersion program, and will be taught a regular kindergarten curriculum in Spanish. His teacher is from Columbia (I think), and this is her 3rd Kindergarten class in Sioux Falls. He also has a full-time intern in his classroom that is her from a Spanish-speaking country as well (but I can't remember which one). We are so excited about this program! By the end of 5th grade, he will be fluent in Spanish. Starting in 3rd grade he will have English classes, but prior to that, there is no English reading or writing in school for him. Studies show that by the 5th grade, immersion students are caught up with their peers, though. Her are some pics that tell the story of his first day of school: Fisher with his teacher, Senora Jobs Fisher with Lance (can you see him starting to well up?) There are the tears. Lance told him "Just hold on to me until you are ready to let go." Th

One Chapter Closed. Another Begins...

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Tomorrow I send my first born to kindergarten. He is so excited. So ready. He is 6 years old after all; there is no more putting this off. It is time for him to move on to life's next adventure. How is it possible that this time has come? How can he be so big, when my arms so clearly remember holding him as a newborn, a toddler, a chubby little boy? Just tonight as I held him, his tired hands found and tugged on my hair, just as they have done ever since I nursed him. He is not little anymore. He is tall; more muscle than pudge, and so curious about being grown up. What will this next chapter hold for him? How much joy, and how much pain? Will he make good friends? Will he get his feelings hurt? Will he be kind and remember the Golden Rule? How much of his innocence and passion will get trampled on? Will he still love me best? Will he still want me to hold him close and to run my fingers through his hair and up and down his back? Will he still pull on my hair when h
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My Grandma Turns 90! A couple weeks ago, my wonderful Grandma Ver Steeg turned 90 years old. The photo below is my Grandma with all 11 of her grandchildren. It is amazing for me to see this picture of all of us together on such a happy occasion. We all wrote my grandma a letter and put them all together in a book for her. My grandma has been amazing grandma to all of us. Below is the letter I wrote to her: Happy Birthday, Grandma! I am so thankful to have over 30 years of memories of times with memories with you. Of course most of my memories are of times spent with you on the farm. I remember sitting at your kitchen table and enjoying molasses crisps and milk, or root beer floats with you. I was amazed that you always had ice cream AND root beer at your house. I felt special when you made them for me. Most of the times I pick up the phone and give you a call are when I am in the middle of making Molasses Crisps. I can’t make them with out remembering you and want

Victory Garden

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Tonight we ate the first fruits of my garden- marinated cucumbers. This is the second year I've had a garden. It isn't much to speak of... but it makes me really happy. I love being able to walk out my back door and pick some herbs for my spaghetti sauce, tomatoes for lunchtime BLTs, or a cucumber for my salad. One of my favorite memories from last year was watching Fisher and Claire dig out all of our carrots. One thing I realized through having a garden, was that my little back yard houses so much energy. I could use that energy to grow some lovely grass, beautiful hostas and shrubs, or I could harness it to grow plants that would produce FOOD! Recently I have been reading about the Victory Gardens that were planted during WWII. The US government asked the American people to do their part to help the troops by planting fruit and vegetable gardens. In doing so, they were able to save the commercially canned produce for the troops. The response was great, and people converted t

A Bowl of Cherries

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When I was a little girl, we had a cherry tree in our yard. I have some vauge memories of my dad up in that tree picking all the cherries. I am sure my mom used the them to make many wonderful pies and crisps, but I mostly remember picking those small sour things off the tree and popping them right in my mouth. Sadly, sometime during grade school the tree died, and my dad took his chain saw and cut it down. Seven years ago, I was walking our dog on a small college campus in town, and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a cherry tree- heavy with fruit right in the middle of my path! I ran home, called the campus groundskeeping office, and gained permission to pick as many cherries as I wanted! Hours later I was happily baking a fresh cherry pie, and freezing 10 bags of the beautiful things for enjoyment all year round. I've picked the cherries every year since then, except the year I had Fisher. Claire and I went and picked this weekend, and I think it was the biggest crop y

Sleep Deprivation

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Figuring out Claire's napping needs has been a challenge. If she naps, she is impossible to get to bed on time, and if she does not take a nap, at about 4 o'clockish, I have been finding her zonked out in the most interesting places, such as.... Sleeping in Holland's Crib Looking at Books Watching TV Swinging And the most recent find- flat on her face while playing in the sandbox. She slept like this for about a 1/2 hour, and could barely be woken up after that!