Happy 34^thBirthday, Daniel!

 Interpretation of the picture: “Touchdown, Dallas Cowboys!”

The Great Pie Bake-Off

When my sister Katey was visiting last week, my sisters decided a pie bake-off was in order. Although not very confident in my baking skills, I was happy to join in. I don’t know if I’m just so focused on my kids, work, growing to-do list, etc. that I didn’t realize what all was going into this…but I didn’t. Or maybe I’m just sometimes too firstborn.

First, Katey made t-shirts for all of us. I was swamped with work. (My boss e-mailed the day before Emry turned a month old, remarking how amazing it was she was already a month old, and…could I take on some projects? It was okay if I couldn’t, but…you get the picture.) So with two proposals due at work within two days of each other, I couldn’t even think of something creative about a pie to put on a t-shirt So, my “It’s Pie, Y’all” is not to be compared to the creativity of Katey, Sally, Jenny and Abby. Which only showcased how dull my pie was going to be.

Again, with my workload I quickly decided a coconut cream pie would be best, considering I didn’t make one for Valentine’s as I usually do since I couldn’t stomach sugar when I was pregnant with Elly. That pie calls for a basic pie crust, so there was nothing fancy about that. And it’s great because the whipped cream on top covers the crust, which I can barely manage to roll out and get in the pan without holes, or tears, or total disaster let alone crimp the edges to look all beautiful. I knew from the start my pie would get no points for “best looking” especially when up against art-teacher Katey and seamstress-extraordinaire Jenny. But at least it would taste good!

And it did taste good, I personally think, but – again – I was up against Sally, whose hobby and side-job is baking so I don’t think any of us actually beat her Peanut Butter Reese pie. A basic pie crust like mine fell short of the shortbread crusts of Katey’s Strawberries ‘n Cream pie and Abby’s Key Lime pie. (And since I love shortbread, even I concur with that.) Jenny’s Banana and Strawberry pie had a cake mix based crust, and the combination of strawberries and bananas was unique. I think the only points I scored was for nostalgia. My dad loves coconut cream and recalled the days when my mom would make him one. Which caused us kids to recall what a common dessert coconut cream and chocolate pies once were for Sunday dinners. 

In spite of that, we had fun. We even decided that we could be a hit reality TV show: Sisters Bake-Off. Or something like that. And since my brothers are pretty decent cooks as well, we could broaden the scope and invite them as well. But the idea was short lived when Jenny noted all the family drama that would be unearthed and broadcast on national television in our little side interviews. I mean, the stories we could tell about each other! And no one wants to be the Duggars. 

So, who actually won? Well, because my nephew Jay had decided the prize should be the winner gets to take all the grandkids to the trampoline park, we all voted for Abby’s pie. No one deserved the prize more! J

 The pies…

…and the Sisters (with Emry)! 

Cousins!!!

For the past week and several days, my sister Katey and her boys have been in town. Which means all of the cousins have been together, which is both fun and exhausting as they dash about with endless energy that can end in fights and tears when pride is hurt or weariness sets in. Thankfully Elly isn’t in on all that yet. We just have to protect her from being over-loved.

My parents now have six grandchildren and the first five are almost stair-step in age. Jay is now 7. He’s tall and lean, sometimes bossy as the firstborn and more prone to be on the outside of the other four at times. Strangely enough Emry, who is next in line at 5, doesn’t seem to mind if Jay bosses her around. She thinks he’s great and one of the funniest things to see was the two of them sitting in their little lounge chairs conversing about who knows what. Next is Beto, my sister Abby’s son, who is almost exactly one year younger than Emry at age 4. He, Emry and Ethan are frequent playmates but he had some moments of disillusion as he learned to share with Jay and Curtis. But he and Curtis, Jay’s younger brother who is only a month younger than Beto, are good friends usually. And I think Curtis was delighted that Jay had others beside himself to boss around. Ethan, at 3, is nine months younger than Curtis but, for all intents and purposes, is the “baby”. He’s been Emry’s and Beto’s third wheel for over a year. When Jay and Curtis are around, he becomes a fifth wheel. But now that he’s three, he puts great effort in keeping up with everyone else. And sometimes he actually does.

Having never had cousins very close to my age and not being around my cousins very much growing up, I love to watch the five of them together. Even though it’s exhausting to keep up with not only the endless activity but the drama. Much of our time with them was spent at my parents’ house, but we wiled away some hours at the pool and we all went to Fair Oaks Farm one day where we saw the cows but mostly enjoyed the outdoor activities, ice cream, and the ropes course. We love having them visit…in fact, Emry and Ethan are already asking when they’ll visit again!

 Jay and Ellyson – the eldest and the youngest.

Emry, Ethan, Curtis and Beto hearing instructions before going on the low ropes course. Jay was allowed on the high ropes…Ethan longed to join him!

Eating ice cream!!!

 Jay and Emry: what are they talking about? The pros and cons of face masks, perhaps?

The six grandkids: who they really are…

…and the only halfway decent picture of them.

He Does Listen!

Around the time Elly was born, Ed and I realized that Ethan was raising his voice whenever he spoke to us quite a bit. We would tell him something quite calmly and he would respond with a loud voice edging on anger. It didn’t take us long to realize why he was doing this. Quite simply it’s because we do this to him. Why? Well, he never seems to be listening to us. So, we raise our voice in hopes that volume will compensate for the fact that his attention is elsewhere. In essence, we’ve had to change our ways so he will change his.

It is true that I wonder multiple times a day if Ethan hears two words I say. I feel like a broken record as I repeat his name hundreds of times a day just to get him to look at me and respond. However, I am learning that just because he seems to be focused on something else does not mean he isn’t listening. 

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, I was reminding Emry that God “never slumbers of sleeps”. I didn’t even know Ethan, who was bouncing around on the couch, was listening to the conversation until he piped up, “But Jesus sleeps.” I opened my mouth to correct him when he elaborated, “He fell asleep in the boat in the storm.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

A week later I took him with me to my parents’ guest room to feed Elly when we were visiting because he needed to take a break from playing with his cousins and calm down a bit. Some of our old toddler toys are in a bin in that room and he proceeded to raid them as I fed Elly. He found my sister Grace’s old Speak ‘n Spin and started pulling the lever to hear the nursery rhymes. Since the voice box is a little unclear after nearly 30 years, I repeated each one after the recording played so he understood it. One of the rhymes was, “Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep, and doesn’t know where to find them.”

Ethan replied, “Jesus can find the lost sheep.”

I had to laugh, but I was also inwardly rejoicing that he remembered that story and really does listen!

At least, sometimes…

One Month!!!

In some ways it is hard to believe that Ellyson is now one month old. It seems like the time has gone by both quickly and slowly, but I think that’s 2020 as a whole. One day, I pray, we can look back on 2020 and laugh!

Of course the craziness of the world means little to Elly. Her days are full of eating, sleeping, and listening to her siblings laugh, play, fight, and mostly just be two young kids. I honestly think if she can survive the craziness of her own two siblings, there is very little she won’t be able to handle.

She is growing and changing, keeping pace with her both her siblings at the same age. While bigger than Emry at one month, she is just slightly smaller than Ethan was as she weighs in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces. And she has grown a whole inch! Ed may be right: she may prove to be long and lean.

Our little Elly seems to be a serious little thing, observing the world around her. She will smile for Emry or Ethan, but if Ed or I try to tease a smile out of her, it almost comes to her face but then she quickly takes on her serious look again. It’s rather funny.

Meanwhile, I have managed to somewhat fulfill my obligations as a mom and take pictures of my third just as I did my first and second: