You probably thought I was referring to our adorable Hazel-baby, but today......today I'm talking about my baby.
It's my baby's birthday today.
My baby, like all my children, has brought me such joy.
I've watched her grow up in what seems like the blink of an eye. Why is it that the older one gets, the faster time passes?
She is kind enough to her mama to share time Face Timing with her cute boys and I appreciate that.
It makes me happy that she likes to come home for her birthday, and I look forward to seeing her cute family tomorrow. I love her beyond imagining, as I love all my children. Happy birthday to my baby girl!
I shopped my freezer the other day and came up with some elk burger, homemade refried beans, and some tortillas, and managed some really good burrito things with the addition of some leftover rice, green chilies and cheese.
We have a ton of eggs which I used for quiche. I made an extra filling for the freezer, knowing my daughter is coming to visit next week and she'll willingly snag that, and there will also be a breakfast burrito-making session to get those eggs used up. Eric's hens are back to laying in full force, and I love having fresh eggs again. Since my husband went out of town later in the week, there was some foraging that happened for solo dinners, which brings us to the recipe for this week. This happened before the whole LEG incident and I'll be totally honest, the only reason I stumbled on this recipe, was that I was googling for something that would use up 4 croissants I had sitting on the counter.
Since I had all the other ingredients for them, and I knew my daughter was coming up for President's Day Weekend, I figured this was something she could take back with her...which she did. I cannot attest to how they taste, however. Maybe she'll chime in here, but come on......look at them! What's not to like? Just looking at my pictures, I think I might double the sauce ingredients next time.
1pound breakfast sausage, maple flavored if you have it, which I did...score!
8 large eggs
1/4CupMilk
1 cup Colby/Jack cheese, shredded
Salt and Pepper
Minced chives for garnish (optional, which reminds me, I need to check the pot on my patio to see if mine are sprouting yet)
2Tablespoons mayonnaise
2Tablespoons regular mustard or Dijon mustard
2Tablespoons maple syrup
Heat an oven to 425° and line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Lay the bacon on the cookie sheet and bake until crisp, about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
Prepare the breakfast sausage by forming into 6 even rectangles to better fit onto the croissants. Heat a skillet over medium heat.
Cook the sausages for about 7-8 minutes per side or until cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare the eggs by whisking them together with the milk, salt and pepper and cheese. Scramble them up and keep warm.
Heat the oven to broil. Place the croissants on a cookie sheet opened up and place under the broiler to toast. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and spoon onto each half of the sandwich. Now you've got all your components ready to go, assemble the sandwiches by layering the eggs, bacon and sausage and eat right away or freeze for future breakfasts.
And maybe the most important, because without him, there wouldn't be any of the other birthdays in the family.
It's my husband's birthday today. He's a good guy and has taken really good care of me these past few weeks...encouraging me, comforting me, and sometimes nudging me. He understands me pretty well, and somehow loves me despite all my quirks and despite the fact that we're still trying to work out the whole retirement thing.
He's at his best when he's got a passel of grandkids around him. He's kind of a Pied Piper that way. We've gotten to the stage in life when we look at each other on our birthdays and mutually declare we have no idea what to get for gifts. The other day he told me to see what comes next on the UPS truck and just wrap it up.
Our family loves this man. He's just the best. Happy birthday, Hon!
"I'm gone" flowers arrived even before my husband left town for a couple of days. Double-edged sword here. I'm obviously recovered enough to take care of myself for that length of times. I do miss his nightly leg-wrapping skills, though.
My mother celebrated her 87th birthday. She is Canadian-born and a staunch hockey fan. (Remember that time at Collin's wedding reception when we had to find an iPad so she could watch the play-offs? Good times...) She especially loves the Pittsburgh Penguins and my sister found some team regalia for her.
Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Evan's family did some weed-burning in the pasture, getting it ready for horses to come back from the pond property. Quincy's comment was, "We're burninating the countryside!"
It's been Spring Break here this week, and their family took a short trip to Utah, where they visited Hogle Zoo. When Evan and Eric were toddlers, we lived right down the street in U of U married housing. Our apartment has been torn down, but he did see a few things he remembered at the zoo, like the lion drinking fountain. It doesn't work now, but they've left it there.
They also visited the aquarium further down the freeway.
There was slimy touching involved.
It didn't seem to bother the boys, though.
At Eric's house, St. Patrick's Day was celebrated by some wearin' o' the green,
and some running/pedaling around their driveway,
that they label "Leprechan Laps."
Ephraim was ready.
The whole family made it happen.
Of course, Marc's family had plenty of Hazel pictures. I'm admitting to a little PTSD with this picture, which was taken at the hospital. I recognize the wood-grain laminate and the over-bed table in the background. Fortunately there's a beautiful baby in the foreground to distract me.
She's home and eating well,
and getting lots of love from her big brothers.
Even Jude is taking a turn.
This one, though, makes me smile out loud, if there is such a thing. Levi's grin is just pretty special.
With the nice weather this week, my daughter decided to try the boys in a swing at the park. Leo thought it was ok.
There comes a time when it's just time to get back to a more normal life. OK, so spending significant time in a chair with my leg up isn't what I would consider normal, but this week I just needed a little more control over my life, and for me that meant making a meal or two.
We had some small servings of vegetables left in the fridge, so I went with a shepherd's pie idea for both Pi Day and St. Patrick's.
It used up those dribs and drabs of vegetables, potatoes we've had in the cooler, and the white cheddar in the cheese drawer for the mashed potatoes. This is a recipe that has several moving parts, so it happened in fits and starts over the course of the day....in between time in the chair with the leg up.
This soup also happened. It literally comes together in 30 minutes, start to finish, with 20 of that being simmering/blending time. We had this on the coldest day of the week and it really hit the spot.
When we had Marc's boys this past weekend we put together a sort-of St. Patrick's day-themed treat which the boys loved.
So it wasn't the most amazing cooking week, but it happened and it happened enough that we could have lunch leftovers and kid-friendly treats.
We've had alternating warm and cold temperatures. The warm has been enough to spur on a vigorous blooming of snowdrops. They have naturalized really well in the place they've lived for the lo these many years.
I've been up and around enough to slowly start putting things in order. My husband does lots of things, but things like this aren't in his wheelhouse. I need some springy branches for the pitcher, but so far this is working the way I envisioned it. Some permanent things and other things that will get switched out.
This was a little bright spot. Feel better flowers from a friend.
So let's talk leg, shall we? It continues to feel better most days. There's only one tiny spot that drains anything, and that's not much. The redness comes and goes, depending on if I'm up or down. There's one spot behind my outside ankle bone that remains stubbornly swollen, red, and tender. I wish that would go away. On the whole, yes, it's getting better....slowly.....so dang slowly. We still wrap it with telfa and gauze to keep the steroid ointment in contact with it as long as possible to keep working with the inflammation that remains.
Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Collin's family went to a children's museum where John proceeded to make jets out of everything.
Although this looks a little more like a sword.
Since the baby pack & play didn't have a baby in it yet, Jude decided he needed to check it out.
From my daughter, the boys have discovered splashing in the tub.
And the big announcement for the week, let me introduce you to my newest grandbaby, Hazel, who was born yesterday. Marc, Rachelle, Isaac, Levi, and Jude all think she's beautiful, as do we. Looking forward to snuggle time with this little gal. We already love her.
There's improvement. I think I said this last week, too. I don't necessarily see daily changes, but if I look at a week ago, it's definitely better. The blaze orange vet wrap is a testament that I'm up and around on the leg more. That way, I don't shred the gauze that's underneath it. Brace yourself for a sick leg picture.....
This is how it looked a couple of days ago. If you compare it to the pictures from the hospital, you can see there's a lot of improvement. I still have one tiny spot on the side of my leg that's still.....hmmmm....what's the right, delicate word here....leaking? Oozing? And you can see compared to my other blindingly white leg, there's still some inflammation that needs to leave that leg, But we're getting there. Once the leaking stops completely, the gauze is only there to keep the heavy-duty steroid cream in longer contact with the skin on my leg. Progress....slow and steady.
We also had some of this weather this week, proving that spring in Idaho can be....unpredictable.
Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, this went around on the family text. I'm thinking a lot of us feel this way this week.
With the new baby coming this month, Marc made a toddler bed for Jude so he could move into the big boy's room.
And from my daughter, I got this series of pictures. Here's all the available toys for the boys to play with. What do they end up going for?
Water bottles.
Bath time is always a favorite for the boys. Jack is on the left, Leo's on the right.
This has pretty much been my view. There is improvement, but it's slow. If I look back to a week ago I can definitely see things are better. I can tolerate being up and around for short....very short periods of time, but longer than last week. That said, it's very frustrating to spend a good part of the day in a chair with my leg in the air. I've about made it through my DVR log, but honestly.....I'm bored out of my mind.
Fortunately, my kids have sent me quite a few pictures to keep me amused. Here's Roger as a bear at a school program.
Frederick celebrated his birthday.
And then there's this one of Edward. He'd just finished up his hair cut. There happened to be double-sided tape nearby. :)
Elisa sent me pictures of a church activity....these floating lanterns were beautiful. Gwen with hers.
Caroline's
Emmett found a nice-sized donut.
Ephraim.
And look at the beautiful result.
Meanwhile, Collin's family has been in Florida enjoying the theme parks.
I think the contrail here means they got to see a rocket launch.
Plenty of things to see and do for boys who love rockets, jets and anything that flies.
Alison sent this one of the boy who loves dogs and jets.
While I was in the hospital, Isaac was baptized. Marc arranged that I could Face Time in, but I was really sad I couldn't attend.
Isaac's whole family.
While I was also in the hospital, my daughter's family was here and I missed them, too. They were pretty fascinated by the cat.
They are exploring everywhere.
My daughter took a birthday picture with the boys.
And this was their first birthday party, which I also missed. I feel a little bit like I've fallen out of my own life.
