An October update, or, the Cuteness of Ruthie

First off, a health update (mine). After weeks and weeks (and weeks) of lying in bed, hardly able to function, I had my blood tested and discovered my thyroid is under producing (hypothyroidism). It was so wonderful to have a reason for my constant fatigue and inability to accomplish anything. I've been on a medication for it for the last six weeks, and it has made a world of difference to me. I've been able to make bread, granola and yogurt again, as well as perform basic household duties like making dinner and doing the dishes. Heck, I even cleaned my room! We go in on November 18th for the ultrasound--most of us think this baby is a girl.

Here's some fun pictures from the last month...

The story is that my Grandma Lagerstedt made this dress for my own mom when she was a little girl. It fits Ruth perfectly, and she loves wearing her black shoes with it. Actually, she loves wearing ANY shoes at ANY time. It just happens that I hid her shoes that don't match. :) I'm sneaky like that.

Enjoying a daddy daughter date to Dracula, the ballet.

Helping make/eat granola. I finally found a granola recipe that I love, and it with homemade yogurt (which I also made this day) and frozen fruit is a favorite snack/breakfast at our house.

Helping with bread (I was having a really good day!)

Time for bed--all aboard the Daddy express!

Ruthie insisted on carrying the egg basket all by herself. Miraculously, there was only one casualty.

Going for a horsey ride--this little girl pretty much gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. I don't know how long Sammy was trotting around the house with her like this!

 

The littlest DJ

A girl and her dog--our Sable is a pretty amazing dog!

Sammy and Lincoln have really been enjoying going to the Montessori school part time, but some days I just keep them home. On this particular day I kept them home because Lincoln was starting to act up and not be kind to Trevor. I decided we needed some good time to be together. This is how they spent much of the 2 days home together.

Helping in the kitchen

One of our foster cats, Elaine, sleeps in the funniest positions.

Sundays are our favorite days because we are all home together. It's especially nice to have Elise home as she is gone all day every other day. The boys love to play with her, and she loves them dearly, too!

Having animals has been so wonderful for our family--the kids learn gentleness brings great rewards when the kittens choose to come to them and snuggle. Our animals are also great for reducing stress--who can stay angry while taking the dog for a run up the hill or petting a purring kitten? None of us!

Our family helped clean up a section of the road adopted by UWyo's College of Business. The little boys and I made it about a quarter mile before their complaining got to me and we turned back to the car. I have to admit, the ups and downs and squatting to pick up trash were beginning to get to me, too. And I was packing Ruth on my back...this was one of the first indications that my thyroid meds were kicking in--I couldn't have done this a week prior!

Mom always loved flowers--I have great memories of hiking at Iron Mountain, collecting wild flowers and pressing them. This press is one that we used to use--I think it was made by one of my brothers in Scouts when Mom was a leader. It was fun to pass on the tradition to the next generation.

One of our favorite Family Home Evening lessons is on the law of the harvest--what you sow, you reap. This year the big kids got involved by "planting" fruits and vegetables where they didn't belong--an apple hanging on a bean vine, a pear in the corn, a cucumber in the cherry tree, a tomato with the (dead) watermelon plants, etc. The little boys loved it!

How we watched the General Women's Conference. Another day I could hardly get out of bed. :/

Ruthie has discovered how wonderful books are. She doesn't usually like us to read every page, but does love being read to...just on her own terms. Which totally describes this child! Currently she has 4 favorite blankets. At bedtime they must be placed on her in the correct order. At least I don't worry about her getting cold!

Mason puts sticky notes on his computer to remind him to get certain things done before he starts coding. 

We went ice skating with a homeschool group in Cheyenne. I tell you what, it's hard to break into an established group! It was really fun to be out on the ice again, tho. We've missed our Minnesota park rinks. 

Blind testing--cookies

A long, long time ago we went to a root beer tasting party, with all sorts of fancy brands. It was tons of fun (the winner was A&W, by the way). When we moved here we did something similar with ketchup--trying to find our favorite (WalMart's generic brand, go figure). After purchasing some chocolate chips that were just horrid, I decided we were going to have a blind chocolate chip tasting party. We tried Guittard, Hershey's, Western Family, Ghirardelli, Great Value, some organic brand and some other nasty brand--basically every kind available at WalMart and Ridley's.

Overall, our favorites were Guittard and Western Family--I'm glad to have a cheaper option that is so good. To my surprise, none of us like the Ghirardelli--as I remember, that was the chocolate Grandma always used in her candy making.

A few weeks later, Stephen made cookies with each of the different types of chocolate chips and we had another blind taste test. The favorites were the same. We kind of figured they would be, but we can always use more chocolate chip cookies in our lives, right?

The kids, obviously, had a blast with both tests. :)