Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it.

-Anonymous

We read the book every night for a week.

Then I took Norah to see the movie. It was free. It was fun. But, it was nothing like the book.

We did this last summer with Tale of Desperaux.
We read the book and then saw the movie for free.

After the movie, I gave in to her begging as we passed the candy machines once again.
This was the first time I've ever bought Norah candy from one of these things.

Fifty cents for just a handful??!!
It stained her palm and made it sticky, but it also made her day.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

-Tenneva Jordan

Step by step pictures of Norah and her daddy preparing a blueberry pie this summer.

She rolled the bottom crust.
You can see the empty pie pan just waiting to receive it in the background.

The sugar-cinnamon-flour coated fresh berries have been added.
Now she's trimming the edges with her school scissors
(sanitized with soap and warm water in the sink).


Dad cuts the strips for the lattice top.


He reminds her how to weave them.


It takes a lot of concentrated effort.

Trimming and pressing the edges again.

Brushed with milk and sugar sprinkled on top. Now it's oven ready.

Avril wanted to be part of the action... Maybe next year, Baby.

Want to see photos from blueberry pie day last year?

They opened a Sonic in Wallingford, Connecticut, about twenty minutes from our house. This is a big deal. People are flocking from all over the region to wait in line for hours just to have a cherry lime aide and an extra long cheese coney with tater tots. Yum.

When we arrived, we looked at the lines of cars and all the parking assistants and the general mayhem decided to eat on the patio instead of waiting to eat in our car. I think we got lucky, because we only had to wait in line for about twenty minutes before we could order and a table cleared just as we were ready to sit down.

I know some of you are thinking, "I have at least three Sonics within minutes from my house?!" I know. I know. But, you have to understand that New England has only a fraction (and I mean fraction) of the fast food places and restaurant chains that other parts of the US have. That was actually one of the biggest adjustments Dwayne and I had to make when we moved here. Besides Wendy's and Subway and Taco Bell... there was no place to eat!!!

(But, it has also been one of the greatest blessings in disguise, since we eat at home now, as a rule, because our options are so limited compared to what they once were). And, if I am being entirely honest, we are kind of horrified that our friends down south are eating out three times a day almost everyday with their kids. It's just not done here. But, alas, it's easy for us to judge while living here in this barren land. If I could have Chick-fil-a, I probably would eat there seven times a day!

Now that Norah's reading on her own, she and I will spend hours in the same room, but in complete silence. It's a beautiful thing. She needs to be engaged constantly and has always looked to me to entertain her. But, now Norah will read for thirty minutes to an hour, sometimes up to two hours while Avril naps or before we make her go to bed at night. That's a beautiful thing, too.

Norah will usually start upright but eventually, lay her head on my leg while I sit on the couch and look at the laptop. I will, naturally, start running my fingers through her hair or scratching her back with my free hand without even realizing that I am doing it. But, as soon as I stop, Norah shrugs her shoulder or pushes her head into my leg and grunts, meaning to make me start doing it again. And, I do.

I had been praying for a way to show my tough-as-nails five year old affection, trusting that God knew how I could reach her and that He would give me insight. Even in infancy, unless she was sick with a high fever, she was never one to settle into a hug or snuggle. I'd catch my kisses while we were reading books or nursing and she'd tolerate them, because those were the times she had to sit still with me. So, I am so grateful to discover this round-about way to her pour hours of affection straight into her often hard-to-reach heart.

Are you a big baseball fan? Is your husband? Do you watch a lot of games on television? Are you planning to take your kid to a professional game? Or is your little one going to start t-ball next spring? You can use My Baseball Book by Gail Gibbons to explain the (often confusing) game to your youngest fan. It was recommended to me by a librarian and I think it's a keeper. I only wish we would have had it before Norah started t-ball earlier this year.