When my two year old niece starts reading my blog (next year perhaps?), then I won’t talk about her Christmas presents in a public forum. Until then…

You would not believe how difficult it is to find a decent Noah’s Ark book! I picked up a cute Little People Noah’s Ark set for my niece and decided to find a book to accompany it. First stop, a locally owned bookstore—no luck. Next stop, the dreaded Christian book store (I dread it, but seriously, it does have plenty of lovely books, and Jesus bookmarks, and Jesus bumper stickers, and Jesus pencils). No go. I found cheesy, cheeseball, terrible little books that were either ridiculous or totally gloom-and-doom. Next up was Barnes and Noble where I actually ordered a book by Sally Lloyd Jones who wrote the aforementioned and highly recommended Jesus Storybook Bible. The book makes up in a memorable, sing-song way what it lacks in retelling the actual biblical story, but it’s fun and really cute—and too expensive for my purposes. Fortunately B&N doesn’t make you purchase what you order if you don’t want it. Enter Walmart and their rack of Golden Books. I had given up on the book idea when I spied the one in the photo.

One trip to Walmart: $98.67 and a headache
One Golden Book: $2.50
A decent Noah’s Art story for my beautiful niece who likes to read: priceless.

Look at these cute young kids! Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.

I went back and forth between a close-up of glittery ornaments and a picture that would forever remind of me Christmas 2008. You can tell which one won out. My brother Andrew arrived in town today and my parents welcomed the entire fam over for pot roast (yum). I really enjoyed the time spent with my family. As each year passes I think I enjoy their company more and more. I appreciate the time to connect with Adam and Kristin—even though we live an hour away, the distance feels greater sometimes. I love seeing my niece Madeleine in action; as always listening to her two year old vocabulary is hilarious and cute. Liv and Madeleine make quite a pair. Though they both confess great love for each other, tonight didn’t see great amount of love (or toys) shared. Enter reality, eh? The photo shows what it’s like when you wind up two girls and toss them on a large bed (sorry, Mom, I forgot the beds were antiques!), and then Uncle Andrew commences with the wrestling. We all enjoy having Andrew around… What is there to say? He’s a fun guy and livens up the whole house. My folks are really great hosts—I try to emulate them when I have people over. Their food is always delicious, their home is always clean, and I feel like I can be myself there. The grandchildren get crazy and make messes, we kids get pretty competitive when a game is at stake, but Mom and Dad seem to take it in stride.

The night together came to a close when the little girls were extra sleepy and the drives home loomed before us. Now even our own house is quiet as Liv is tucked under a multitude of covers in an attempt to stay warm as temps slide below 0. It’s Christmas time. Family is nearby. Gifts, wrapped and unwrapped, are strewn about the living room. Visions of sugar plums—or a ham, as it’s what I’m preparing for a holiday dinner—are beginning their dance.

Thirty-one years ago, and a few odd minutes, one amazing woman delivered her second child, a baby girl. She must’ve been completely exhausted as that baby weighed a whopping 8lb, 9oz. Thank you, mom, for going through all that pain and effort just to get me to this earth. Since I was your second child, I’m sure you knew that the delivery was just the beginning… You had many more years of pain and effort—and joy!—ahead of you. Now that I’m a mother, I know how much you sacrificed for me. I love you! You began a legacy, continued it in many ways, and for that I am thankful today, on my birthday.

My husband is the best daddy ever and this photo captures the fun he and Livia experience together. He tickles her to no end. I love these crazy people.

Today I’ve realized it really is December. As in, Day Two, we’re committed to the month here and this train ain’t stopping for nobody. Time to get that tree lit and decorated. Time to finalize birthday plans(!). Time to make a list and check it twice, that kind of thing. And yet, there are still lovely reminders of Thanksgiving lingering in my home, including this beautiful arrangement from my second mom. Every year I forget that Karen will drop by some November evening with a gorgeous vase full of seasonal flowers, and every year I’m blessed by the beauty. I’m going to enjoy my Thanksgiving bouquet as long as it lasts. Thank you, Karen!

A group of my friends gets together every week to eat a meal together. One household cooks the meal and everyone else is left to enjoy a night without food prep or cleanup. One of the unofficial rules of community dinner is that you come as you are. Had a rough day? Just come. Feeling tired or more than little introverted? Come anyhow. And stay for as long or as little as you’d like. Sometimes one of us will show up with tupperware, eat a quick meal, then carry some take-out home to an ill roommate, husband or wife. The dinners have pulled us together in a unique way and have created a family where one didn’t exist before. Because of this family attachment, the deep friendship formed over shared meals, we still greatly miss Brook and the O’Donnells.

A year ago we started Needs More Butter as a way to keep track of community dinner recipes. Stop by the site for new meal idea—and to enjoy Renae’s abundance of posts for NaBloPoMo. I’ll post the following recipes on Needs More Butter eventually.

Chicken Lasagna Florentine

Zion Cookbook, Carrie Moseman

• 6 lasagna noodles, prepared according to pkg directions
• 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
• 2 C chicken, cooked and chopped
• 2 C shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 C onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 – 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1 T cornstarch
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 8oz carton sour cream
• 4oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 C mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1 C parmesan cheese
• butter pecan topping (recipe below)

In a bowl, combine spinach, chicken and all remaining ingredients expect parmesan cheese and butter pecan topping. In a lightly greased 11×7 dish, arrange 3 noodles. Spread half of chicken mixture over the noodles. Repeat procedure with remaining noodles and chicken mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and butter pecan topping. Bake lasagna at 350 for an hour, or until heated through.

Butter Pecan Topping: Melt 2 T butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 C pecans and cook 3 minutes. Cool completely.

French Bread (with an Italian flair)

Zion Cookbook, Kristie Strahm

• 3 1/2 C flour
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1 T rosemary
• 1 1/4 C water, lukewarm
• 2 1/4 t yeast

Place ingredients in a breadmaker on dough cycle. Remove, punch down and roll into a rectangle shape. Roll dough in a jelly roll shape, cut slits in the top, and place on a baking sheet to rise for an hour. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 375 for 4-8 minutes. Brush melted butter on top and sprinkle lightly with garlic salt.

Good Monday morning! I present to you, for your bloggy viewing pleasure, some of the last non-purple photos from my Canon Powershot. I now have within my possession two more cameras, loaned with generosity from my mom and the Moreheads, but I still feel like I’ve lost a body part with the death of my camera. I’m slow to make decisions that require spending a large chunk of money and yet I really need to make up my mind soon. Ack! Moving on…

World, meet Winnie, my parents’ 3-4lb half Bichon Frise/half West Highland Terrier/full canine cutie. She’s crazy about the outdoors, nibbling on Livia’s pigtails and cuddling with on anything connected to her Mama Claudia.

Livia sees Winnie cuddling and figures she needs a bit of lovin’ too. In the shot below, notice that Liv is telling a story. Her pointer finger is out and Nana is wearing her I’m-listening-to-your-very-serious-story face.

The following photo is the last one from my camera. It is blurry and not so great, but still, I love the delighted look on Livia’s face. She placed little Winnie in a little basket and was quite pleased with herself.

I spent a little time last week photographing aspects of our garden, all the while aware that the colors would soon be fading under the cool Nebraska nights. It’s been a really mild autumn so far and I can’t remember the last year our garden and lawn looked so vibrant for so long. As a final farewell to warm temps (it’s high time, the water in the birdbath was frozen solid this morning), I present a few pics from Prairie Box Gardens 2008.

Last up, a few shots of butterflies. Livia has retained a “pet” butterfly, grasshopper or caterpillar for most of the warm months. She doesn’t catch her prey, er pets, though; that’s a job for mom, dad or grandma. So if you drive by and see one of us looking like a total goofball, running around the yard, arms furiously swiping an empty butterfly net in the air, just know that we love this four year old very much. There is some strategy involved in netting a butterfly. I hope I remember how to do it right next year.

These aren’t the best butterfly shots I took, but I think they’re the most interesting. The head-on angle is my favorite—look at the insect’s pug-nosed appearance. Note the fuzzy back and the fact that we do feed our pets well. I want to always remember Four Year Old Liv as a girl who loved bugs and spending time outdoors, dirty fingernails and all.

Slide Number One was fun so Grandma and Liv go back for more.

Slide Number Two? Hm. Not so sure about that one. (See the larger Flickr pic to get the full effect.) I don’t recall my mom-in-law going down again. Apparently they don’t make slides like they used to! Now you need to see a chiropractor after attempting the neighborhood slides…