FALLING INTO FALL

Boy, it sure has come quick but fall has breezed in! All of us already had our first round of colds so hopefully since we got that out of the way, we'll be in good shape now.

Now that Jess is two, I think Jess thinks he can tell us what to do now...either that or he's just following his brother's lead with this. Jesse has now realized that being in his 'toddler' bed gives him the freedom to not have to stay in bed. We've been battling this with him for a couple of weeks. He usually comes to terms with it after we go a few rounds. Tonight as Jon is away for more Stephen Ministry training, I thought I'd have a difficult "bed time". However, once and awhile, they do surprise me. They ran laps across the driveways with their trucks for about a half hour. Our neighbor came over to play with Eric and Jess did his own thing, also deciding when it was time to come in and get ready for bed. Jess was determined to sleep in Eric's bed (that is where we napped today) so as long as Eric was okay with it, I agreed. Amazingly, I didn't hear a peep out of them either (of course I did say one of them would be removed if I did) but saying this usually doesn't make much of a difference.

It was nice to have an 'easy' night though and since I suffered a 'sick setback' yesterday, I was really in need. We had our preschool consignment sale and before I was done working my shift, I fell very ill. I regained my strength through the night and this morning and feel much better. Eric made me a beautiful picture of our family with a get well wish on it.

Eric and I also worked on some "homework" together. He practiced capital & lower case M's. I told him I'd give him an M&M for every good M he made and boy, did that put him in the mood to write M's. I had to buy him a whole (little) bag which he shared with Jess too.

Anyway, our weekend was a slower pace than the last. This week we will have a guest starting on Wednesday so we're trying to somewhat "shape" the house up (as much as it gets for us). Wishes to all for a good week as we round out the first autumn month of the year. Happy Fall Y'all! :)

Two for 2!! 

Party Cake! 

This-N-That

Just a few random notes and updates:

 

Jesse had his two year checkup yesterday. He was found to be perfect (but we already knew that)! It was a nice visit for him as he got to interact nicely with the doctor and didn’t have to end the visit with a needle. He is already caught up on shots and won’t need any more for a while. He was just slightly above the average percentiles for all of his size measurements.

 

I am so impressed with the brains of both our boys (what proud father wouldn’t be?). Yesterday Jesse and I had stopped in at our church and I was telling someone that he can already count and he said “one, two, pee, pour, pie” as fast as he could. What a little show off he is. He sometimes counts even higher without help, but usually gets mixed up by seven. He also knows all of the major colors and many shapes. He is also starting to know some of the alphabet.

 

Eric’s mind continues to surprise as well. He has such an imagination! He has been making up some tall tales lately (usually identified by him stating “but don’t ask…” whoever would deny the veracity of the story. The first big one the he got caught in was telling us that he got punched in the eye at school. After some checking with his teacher, he admitted to making this up. We had a discussion about appropriate and inappropriate “story telling.” He seemed to understand and at least has not been making things up about other people (except grandma and grandpa).

 

A couple of weeks ago Eric was adamant that he wanted to go to the “donut store” for breakfast before school. The reasoning that I used in denying his request is that we would not have time to go there and be back in time for his school bus. Today the boys were both up at 6:30 (their usual and “appointed” time is closer to 7:00). After Missy left for work I said something to Eric about them getting up too early and within moments he was saying that this meant that we would have time to go get donuts! I found it hard to argue with that logic and quick insightfulness. We still didn’t get donuts, but now I almost feel badly that we didn’t!  

 

Our “Church agenda” has been quite busy as of late. Missy is now teaching a new children’s program called “Children and Worship.” It is a quiet time for the children (ages 4 to second grade I think) where they enter a room one at a time, are seated in their own space, listen quietly to a story that is told slowly, with few words and using figurines. They then have some creative time when they can relate to the story by drawing a picture, retelling the story their own way or other use other methods. At the end the children are dismissed individually (parents must wait outside the room) with a blessing. The whole idea is to bring children into the worship atmosphere and let them make up their own minds about what the stories mean instead of having everything spelled out for them.

 

Missy was also just installed as a Deacon. The Presbyterian Church has Elders and Deacons. The Deacons are to serve various needs of the church, such as: visiting shut-ins, loaning durable medical equipment, stocking the pews with supplies, coordinating social time between the services and other such activities. The Elders make up the governing body of the church (known as the session).

 

I have recently begun training to become a Stephen Minister. I am excited about this opportunity to serve other and to grow in my own faith. This involves fifty hours of initial training after which there will be weekly visits with an assigned care receiver, bi-weekly support meetings with other Stephen ministers and leaders and continuing education. Stephen Ministers are assigned to one individual to offer Christian support during any of life’s difficulties including, death or illness, loss of a job, depression, pregnancy, divorce etc. The first weekend of training was wonderful and I am eager to continue down this path.

 

I hope that all is well with each of you and know that we think of you often.

 

-Peace be with you-

Tough Guys 

Boatin' 

that OTHER fella of mine :) 

Missy & her boys :) 

Grandma & Jess walkin' this way 

2 Bald Eagles 

how to swim like a turtle :) 

Happy Campers (at Camp Grandparents) 

Guess the condition!

Camping

A few weeks ago I had the chance to take each of the boys camping, one at a time. I took Eric for one night then took Jesse for one night. I got to go boating and fishing with each of them and had lots of fun. We roughed it and cooked over a camp fire too. You may have already seen some of the pictures below but I thought I’d post them anyway. Missy loves the one of Jesse. I thought that Dad might like the one of Eric and I just had to show off my outdoor cooking skills (that’s bacon just before the eggs were added to the pan and toast)!

Civilized breakfast.

Look at that fisherman! Dad will like this one.

A camping pro!

Chocolate Alchemy

Chocolate Alchemy

In one of my last posts I promised to talk about chocolate. Well, here it is!

For some time, I have wondered why there is no faction of people out there making there own chocolate. After all, people now make wine, beer, cheese, smoked foods, ice cream and all sorts of things at home or in "micro" productions, so why not chocolate? I had tried to do some research on the subject (looking for chocolate recipes) and kept reading that it was too complicated for someone to make at home. The above link goes to a page that says otherwise.

This of course, made me think of Andy, who is always up for a culinary challenge. This is interesting reading and I would be game for trying it out sometime, maybe over a weekend "up north."

My original thoughts (before finding this page) were not quite so ambitious. In the process of making chocolate a manufacturer roasts (fermented) cocoa beans, shells them, grinds them to create liquified cocoa liquer. Then they separate the "cocoa" from the cocoa butter, then recombines these ingredients in company secret proportions along with varying amounts of milk, sugar and other ingredients. This mixture is then "conched" (mixed) for a long time creating a velvety smooth texture. Lastly, the near finished product is tempered and molded.

So while the chocolate alchemy page is about completing this entire process at home (with the exception of separating out the cocoa butter), my original (and continuing) quest really was to find some guidelines for simply using my own cocoa, food grade cocoa butter and other ingredients to "make" my own chocolate. I still have yet to find information for this.

But this process sounds like fun and if anyone else is interested in attempting a home made chocolate experiment I would be willing to give it a go!

Jon