If you’re patient and can wade through the following photos, then you’ll be rewarded with my Aunt Ruthie’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. She recorded it for me on an old grocery list and the title read exactly as it’s listed above. I’ve made the cookies so many times in the last few weeks that I could do without them for some time (and that’s saying something because I love me some cookies).

Prior to becoming a mother I romanticized the notion of cooking with my small child. What I didn’t foresee was the reality of kid fingers double-dipping in the dough, a little mouth eating straight from the mixing bowl when Mommy’s back was turned, and copious amounts of flour dusting the kitchen floor. Note to future mothers: cooking with your child also takes a lot more time than cooking by yourself! However, when Liv and I do cook together, I’m always rewarded by two things. One, the chance for a decent photo opp. And two, the opportunity for me to get better, with clear boundaries and more patience, at instructing and oftentimes disciplining my child. Apparently human beings aren’t born with the knowledge that they should never double dip! Imagine that.

After lots of baking with Liv by my side, I learned that she likes flour. Here’s my little helper with her very own pile:

And here’s my little helper patting it into just the right shape for…

licking off the counter.

Now, doesn’t that look yummy? I mean really, who WOULD’NT want to eat straight flour?

Ah, my goofy girl. And just so you know, I’m sparing you the photos with Liv’s tongue stuck out. She’s into that kind of thing these days, the tongue-sticking out thing. Will that phase be ending anytime soon?

You’ve been patient. So without further ado, I give you my Aunt Ruthie’s cookie recipe.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 C brown sugar
• 2 C white sugar
• 1.5 C Crisco
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 t salt
• 3 t baking powder
• 4 t vanilla
• 4 C flour

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix ingredients.
3. Stir in 1 package chocolate chips.

Notes

• For the best chocolate chocolate chips, add one large package of instant chocolate pudding mix.
• This recipe makes a lot of dough! You can roll the extra dough into foil and freeze until you need it.
• One more thing. If you’re using large eggs, add another half cup of flour to the dough.
• Want to know how long to bake the cookies? I had to guess on this one. It’s approximately 10 minutes, mas o menos.
• Aunt Ruthie, I hope you don’t mind me sharing your recipe with the world…

Buying groceries.
Watching Bambi.
Creating websites.
Attending preschool.
Feeling nostalgic.
Ignoring dust bunnies.
Preparing community dinner.
Getting hair cut.
Creating church bulletin.
Wanting a nap.
Getting to clean house.
Enjoying cool breezes.
Installing new carseat.
Loving each other.

Death has visited the Prairie Box this week. (Hang in there with me, I’m being dramatic.) First off was a mama squirrel out front. Ew. Boy, am I glad that my husband took care of the carcass–dead critters totally gross me out after one incident with maggots. Ew again [shudder]. Evidently mama squirrel was actively nursing a little one, who I almost stepped on a few days later. Fortunately, baby squirrel is no longer in the yard. I’ll assume Jeremy took care of that one, too.

And then there’s Betta. Rest in peace, dear blue fish. There is a great chance that we caused his death as we weren’t feeding him very often. In my own defense I’ll say that Betta wasn’t eating well so I wasn’t very routine in the feeding of a fish who wouldn’t eat. Then again, all living creatures must die someday, so perhaps Betta died from natural causes… Or perhaps Livia’s little hand in his bowl one too many times caused him to have a heart attack. Alas, at least he didn’t stroke out and live half-heartedly for months on end (like his predecessor, Goldfish, another blue betta). Now we welcome to the family Geoff. Geoff was almost named Greg, as in Greg Wiggle, but then Liv decided to name him after the purple Wiggle instead. I’m rebelling against the whole thing by spelling Jeff with a G. Somehow that makes the name more bearable. Livia is a phenomenal namer; really, she has a gift. But naming the fish after a Wiggle? G. E. O. F. F. Geoff is a fine red betta, fast and animated. I foresee a long, enjoyable future for him, complete with regular feedings.

Finally, the human Tredways cheated death this week. Okay, not so much. (I said I was being dramatic.) But we did have a little adventure after discovering the odor of gas in the house. A stove burner had been left on, no flame to be seen, probably by yours truly. With that common-sense mind of his, Jeremy cleared out the fumes by opening doors and windows and letting the lovely night air in. Add a little sense of panic to common sense and you have me calling the gas company at midnight and then promptly turning the small event into a Big Event. “Do NOT turn on a fan, a light, anything. LEAVE the house immediately. WAIT until the company inspects the leak to re-enter your home.” In a heartbeat I had Liv wrapped in a quilt and out the front door. And so the three human Tredways sat on their front steps in the quiet, dark night, blinded only by headlights periodically coming down the street. Twenty minutes turned into 30, which turned into 40. Finally, a kind and sleepy man from the gas company walked through the Prairie Box and declared everything okay. Livia enjoyed the midnight adventure. Jeremy knew we didn’t really need to call the gas company. And I felt sheepish but slept well knowing we wouldn’t perish in our beds that night.

That’s it, our week in a nutshell. Death, life, and enough drama to keep it real.

Geoff says hello.

I’ve been excited all day long thinking about kids starting their very first days of school today. There’s Jesse with his new short haircut, and Dawson and Ava and Cadence (far away in Ohio, so I don’t know when her first day really is). In another year I’ll be the parent of a kindergarten student and so I can’t help but wonder how the mamas—Heidi, Christine, Tara and Julie–are all doing. I’m pretty sure I’ll be the parent who returns to the safety of her car for a good cry, but who knows, perhaps I’ll grow more stoic in the next year. ; )

Happy first day to all the students returning to LPS today!

When one leaves a dirty training toilet on one’s back porch, then one should not be surprised when it gets used.

In the broad daylight.

By a particular four year old.

Who then said, “I just teasing, Mom.”

Clearly, someone needs to put that potty away.

in the evening and over the land that looks like a sea
she sings her sweet familiar song to me
she’s always singing, if you listen carefully
you can hear her sing

she calls me home
she calls me here
i call her home
this is her song, her prairie song

miles of fresh plowed soil holds hope for the year
rich and somber but always silent to a stranger’s ear
but to her people, she sings of possibilities
you can hear her sing

she calls me home
she calls me here
i call her home
this is her song, her prairie song

growing wheat and growing weeds and toiling horses
these tired men and the sunlight fades into the vast horizon
sullen fires of sunset splash the eternal sky
and still she sings
against all this youthful flames
like wild roses and flash of starlight
in the night, its fierce necessity, sharp desire
it’s singing, and singing, and always singing

and she calls to me
she calls me home
she calls me here
i call her home
this is her song, her prairie song

music & lyrics by kate venable
based off of willa cather’s “prairie spring”

There’s been far too many farewells in the last few weeks and so far it looks like St. Louis is receiving the best of Lincoln, Nebraska. Brook (pictured above with her very full car), Karen, Joe and Kate are all beginning graduate studies at Covenant Theological Seminary. (Owen, our adorable little buddy, also went along, but instead of studying theology I hear he’s studying how to walk.) It feels so strange to say goodbye and send them to our former stomping grounds. It’s bittersweet, this sending of friends. I’m excited for their futures, for who they’ll get to meet and what they’re preparing to learn, but I’m sad to no longer live alongside them here in Lincoln.

Parting with Brook was like parting with family. She’s part of our tight knit community and partaker of Community Dinners, lover of breakfast-for-dinner, tacos and hot dogs (a girl after my own heart). Brook was Master Barista at Scooters and knew how to make a drink I’d like. So last Friday, we sent our common-sensical, practical, can-do spirited friend to higher education and training as a counselor. I can say with absolute confidence that Brook will be a blessing to Covenant Seminary in the days to come. And if the folks down there are lucky, perhaps she’ll make them a latte or two. We love you and miss you already, Brook-o.

There’s websites I link to (see sidebar), blogs I plug into Google Reader (best thing ever), websites I run through for daily information, and other sites I stop by on occasion. The only sites I can’t live without are View from the Prairie Box and my Gmail account. The rest is icing on the cake.

So, final question for the week:

What are you favorite websites and why do you enjoy them?

Feel free to list between one and ten different sites (I’ll check with the web guru to see if hyperlinks will work) and give a general description of the them. Do you like to read comics online? Watch funny videos or trailers? Do you do all your shopping online or are you addicted to a social networking site? Are you into high fashion or celebrity gossip or NBA scores or MTG cards? Is there a blog author who is consistently hilarious or another writer who is always inspiring? Do you debates politics in a public forum or contribute to discussions of theology online? Share with us your favorite stops on the www.

Now that I’ve asked all the questions, I’ll drop a few sites as well. After I’ve read my mail and peeked at Google Reader, I like to check a few news outlets: the local JournalStar, USA Today, CNN. Then, if there’s time, I’ll head for even lighter fare with entertainment news like Entertainment Weekly and E-Online, with a special stop at some point for the Pop Candy Blog. I enjoy reading Pioneer Woman and Dooce as well as Design Mom. I frequent the Terrablogs to keep up with folks I know from Covenant College days. Recently Jeremy and I have enjoyed Facebook—it’s been fun to delight in reconnecting with old friends (“Did you know so-and-so has kids now? Wow!”) and marvel at some profile pics that are out there (’nuff said). I could go on with the listing, but I’ll let the rest of you do that…

Foods can be seasonal. I had no idea of this concept until one day in college when my friend Carolyn started rattling off a list of delicious fall foods her mother would be making soon. It’s funny what sticks in your head—I’ve managed to forget much of my three years at Missouri Baptist for some reason—but I remember walking the hilly sidewalk to our cars on a warm St. Louis afternoon and thinking gloriously of pot roasts and pumpkin pies.

Think of being stuck in the confines of your living room on a blustery winter day. It feels like weeks since you’ve seen the sun shine and it has been months since you’ve seen anything green and growing outside. You’re cuddled up with a mug of hot chocolate, but you’re longing for a freezing mug of dark Scottish Ale on the outside terrace at Lazlos. You can’t wait until you can pick your Roma tomatoes and long green cucumbers, then eat them on a sandwich mere moments later. So, here is today’s question:

What food or food-related activity means summer to you?

Share a childhood memory, a favorite restaurant, a long recipe, a newfound favorite summer food. You type it, we’ll read it and let our mouths water a bit.(I’ll update this post later with my own favs. I’m cuddling a feverish 4 year old now, poor kiddo, and typing is a challenge.)