a child's prayer

For the past month or so, this has been Josiah's prayer:
"Dear God, please help (insert several sentences which I cannot understand but God surely does. Then lately a few words about Eddie.) Grandma Grandpa go their house. Amen!"

Today Josiah leaves for Grandma and Grandpa's house to spend his first two solo nights in Rockford. He'll get them all to himself! God hears and answers even the prayers of a 2-year-old.

(Pictured added later due to technical difficulties...)

the journey to a dog

I've been trying to remember how all this started. I think it might have begun when my parents moved to a different house 2 years ago and adopted a fun-loving border collie. My kids took note that when you move to a new house, a dog follows, and filed that fact away in their heads. We moved in May, and started getting questions about when the dog would follow. We do have a fenced in back yard and easy access to a large detention basin, so a dog would make sense.

Still, I had reservations. I grew up on a farm with all kinds of animals, but for me there was nothing that compared to the cats. They were the ones I played with, dressed up, put in my bike basket, and slid down the slide. Some came in the house as pets and literally slept on my head. I mourned the ones who didn't make it and played hard with the ones who did. We had a few family dogs that were cute and friendly, but I didn't pay them too much attention. My cat fetish grew with collections of ceramic cats, cat posters, and actual cats. On the farm we once had over 20 (not a good number when cat diseases strike) and in the house I once convinced Eric to have three at once (not a good number if you want to do anything but vacuum.)

Then we went to the pet store in Rockford while visiting Eric's parents. A little Shiba Inu puppy stole all our hearts. At $800 he did not steal our wallet. But the desire continued to grow until this winter...

A dog? My husband and kids want a dog? But my 2-year-old isn't potty trained!! I could list reasons why a dog was not a good idea, especially right now, and most of them had to do with the 2-year-old. Still, there are 5 people in this family and though my vote may count double being the mom, I'm still outnumbered.

So I was quiet and trusting God. If we shouldn't have a dog, He'd surely intervene. It seemed He did several times as we watched the door to several possibilities slam shut. Whew!

Then Eric started visiting the Humane Society once a week. With the kids. The "no dog" idea was doomed.

Do you know what kind of dog most populates Humane Societies? Labs. They are mellow, good with kids, cute as puppies...but big dogs. We visited with a few and I kept thinking "Wow, that is just a lot of dog in one big body."

There was one dog that stood out in my childhood memories as having a special place in my heart. My grandparents had a little dog named Taffy (named after her unique light coloring, I assume.) She was pretty sweet, but she died when I was still quite small so I didn't remember much about her. I started asking questions and finally tracked down my uncle for the full story. "What kind of dog was she?" I wanted to know. Surely out there was another dog out there something like her.

Meanwhile, we kept visiting dogs. This past Wednesday, we met a little dog named Eddie. "He could be the greeter at Wal-Mart," said one of the volunteers who showed him to me. Eddie does indeed love people, snuggling, and being pet. And he was little! When he jumps on me, he taps on my legs but does not come close to knocking me off my feet. I knew we had found our dog. He looks like a miniature German Shepherd but is described as a terrier mix.

Last night Eddie came home. Waiting was an email from my uncle. He said that because Taffy had always carried her ears erect and because of her head shape, he'd always suspected German Shepherd parentage. The vet described Taffy to them as a terrier mix.

meet Eddie

There's more to this story, of course...

Rhodes' house status

Rachel has strep.

Josiah has yet another sinus infection.

We all have a dog. Check back soon for pictures!

seven left

We have some baby fish in need of homes. If anyone would like one, two, or six, please let me know!

more math fact help

When I taught LD at Hopedale, the second grade teacher had some terrific helps for her students to learn and remember math facts. I'm not sure if this is the author she got them from, but it looks similar. So far Rachel has loved what we've learned from Two Plus Two is Not Five!

http://www.longevitypublishing.com/

thumbs up!

This trimmed down lasagna recipe won rave reviews from my picky family!

Lasagna Deliziosa
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 pkg. (20 oz.) Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (12 oz.) tomato paste
1/4 c. water
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. fennel seed
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 container (15 oz.) reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1 T. minced fresh parsley (or dried)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the sausage, beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil, fennel, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 min., stirring occasionally.
3. In a small bowl, combine the egg, ricotta cheese, parsley, and salt. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water. Spread 1 c. meat sauce in a 9x13 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with three noodles, 2 c. meat sauce, 2/3 c. ricotta cheese mixture, 2/3 c. mozzarella and 1/4 c. Parmesan. Repeat layers twice.
4. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 40 min. Uncover; bake 10-15 min. longer. Let stand for 10 min. before cutting.

I liked this recipe because it was easy to modify so I could eat it...and I used 1 lb. ground beef in place of the turkey sausage and 1/2 lb. ground beef, just because I have to in order to stay away from offending spices. I did have to use my meat sauce more sparingly, though. I also cut the salt in half. Each serving contains 323 calories and 12 g of fat.

I'm leaving tomorrow for a BSF retreat in St. Louis. Looks like we will get a taste of spring while we are down there! Say a prayer for my family while I am gone.

trying

I am trying to prepare some healthier meals for our family these days, at least part of the time. Now that I have to cook almost everything from scratch to avoid garlic and onion due to food sensitivities, I've enjoyed experimenting more with my meal-planning anyway. (After all, we'd like to eat more than just pancakes and sandwiches!) For Christmas I received a subscription to Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine. What a treasure of good and healthy ideas to put on the table! Here's a slimmed down version of a favorite: homemade macaroni and cheese! Be warned: this is not a low fat meal, but it is better than the usual version. A comparison: original homemade mac and cheese has 557 calories and 39 g of fat per serving. This has 394 calories and 18 g, so it is much better for you if you want to indulge!

Makeover Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
2 c. uncooked elbow macaroni (I used Perfect Balance whole grain elbow macaroni, which is a good-for-you version that tastes better than most whole grain pastas I've tried.)
1/4 c. butter, cubed
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. fat-free milk
1/4 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 c. (8 oz.) fat-free sour cream
1/2 lb. reduced-fat process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (consider leaving this out if you are not a fan of Parmesan)
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk and broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 min. or until thickened.
2. Reduce heat; stir in the sour cream, process cheese, Parmesan, mustard, and pepper until smooth.
3. Drain macaroni; stir in cheddar cheese. Transfer to a 13x9 in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Add cream sauce and mix well. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 min. or until bubbly.