we never got out a christmas card, so...

...from our family to yours.

Little Little Mama

Ivar at 18 months (He’s one and a half!)

Ivar likes the L sound. We sing Allelu Allelu Allelu all the time. He has started saying a very exaggerated “he-LOW, hello” And yesterday in the car he kept repeating, “Lil lil Mama, Lil lil Mama” And it made me feel good, because this mama is feeling anything but little lately.

Ivar likes to lift up the cushion on the glider rocker and hide his trucks and balls there. So when I go in to read him books before bed, I often feel like I have just laid a few eggs. Sometimes I try to ignore the fact that there is a truck under me, but that’s a hard one to ignore.

I wagged my finger at Ivar telling him no, and now Ivar wags his finger back at me, telling me no.

He loves trucks, tractors, trains, cars and airplanes. We have a Richard Scarry book and he will only settle on four of the pages, the ones that have proper vehicles pictured.

When we are greeted at the door at church, the greeters will always try to talk to Ivar. And Ivar never says hello. He just buzzes his lips and points to the parking lot as if to say, “that’s our car and I love our car, and on the way here we saw all sorts of thrilling vehicles going fast on 494.”

Ivar’s words: ball, bottle, nana (banana), mama, dado, toonsie, kitty, bow wow, bapa, papa, mimi, meow, cheese, mo! (more), baby,  nigh nigh, nose, e’s (ears) tee (teeth), peas (please), am (ham), uh oh, no, esss! (yes), boon (balloon), Onna (sonna), nack (snack), fishy, wada bottle (water bottle), baththththth (bath), neigh, E-man! (Amen!)...

Ivar knows when a conversation needs to end. If he thinks we're talking to long to another person he will smile sweetly, wave and say, "Bah Bye. Bah Bye." He tried this at the doctor today when he was sick of being poked. He also pulls it out when we're talking to friends after church, people we meet while out for a walk, or anyone who seems to slow his pace of life...

So with that, I had better sign off. Bah Bye.

all sorts of random

                                                                                  
***Sara, Lisa and I made these sugar cookies for a bridal shower. 65 of them. Aren't they adorable?

***I walked into the church bathroom on Saturday morning and the lights were out. The door closed behind me and I began swinging my arms around to let the motion sensor know that I was in fact there. For quite some time. But nothing happened so I opened the door again and was then able to see the light switch that was on the bathroom wall. The old fashioned kind...one that I had to physically flick up. Oh right, I thought. The light switch...

***I forgot my Pinterest password for the last week or so. Couldn't remember it for the life of me. And that was probably good. Took a breather. But today I tried a few more random rounds, trying to get into my inner-brain and I cracked the code. Oh Happy Day.

***I am ravenously hungry this week. Something important is going on inside of my womb because I cannot seem to fill up. Ever. So I started a new pinterest board for high protein snacks and smoothies. It's lovely. And hopefully filling.

***My folks were over last night to watch Ivar and when Rory and I returned they were in the middle of a news tv show that they wanted to finish. So Rory and my dad sat through the last hour of a program on the financial collapse of wallstreet. And then I got to listen to my husband and father debate for another hour. They seem to enjoy it. They're both well read and educated, but land polar opposite. Made me wonder if anyone else has these lively conversations in their family.

***I make the best burgers. I'm just going to say it. I've never had a better one than my own. It's good to have one meal that you can hit out of the park. Good for the self esteem. The secret? A whole lot of chopped onion, minced garlic, all spice, pepper, worcestershire sauce and A1. Yup. All of that. In one burger.

***Ivar speaks in sound effects. When we see a truck he buzzes his lips. When we see a dog he yells, "bow wow!" When the cat comes in the room Ivar greets him with a falceto "yowwww." We are hopeful he might be the next Michael Winslow.

it's may day!

Ivar started out his day wishing Toonces a Happy May Day. Toonces was thrilled!

You may remember that I take May Day very seriously. I've written about it here and here. And thankfully my neighbors do too. Last night when we got home from a night at the mall of america we found this note on our garage door. Kathryn came over and gave us a beautiful basket with a bouncy ball for Ivar and brownies for the rest of us. I asked Kathryn why she was a day early and she said, "well, I volunteer at the elementary school all day and tutor kids all night. Didn't want you to think I had forgot." 

banana punch

My cousin Sarah made banana punch for Kathy's shower. And Kathy had made banana punch for the shower she threw for Sarah and me almost a year ago. I swear there is no better punch out there.

We did not have tea at this tea party. Instead, we kept refilling our tea cups with this slushy goodness.

I took my first sip and had one of the strongest taste associations of my life. The moment I took a sip I was back in the entryway of my Aunt Louie's house, offering punch to who ever was visiting for what ever open house it happened to be. It is a sticky mess, fiercely addictive, and I believe Sarah and Kathy and I, serving as the punch pourers at every open house, drank as much as all of the other guests combined.

Banana Punch
makes 25 servings. Or three servings, if it's Sarah, Kathy and me.
4 cups sugar
6 cups cold water
46 oz. can unsweetened pineapple juice
12 oz. can lemon juice
Two 12 oz. cans orange juice concentrate
5 bananas (blended in blender)

Stir sugar and water until dissolved. Stir all ingredients together and freeze in a 5 quart ice cream pail (or a couple gallon pails). Set out so it gets slushy before it is time to serve. Mix 1/3 of the mixture with 1 liter of 7-up. (By mixing it in thirds, it will stay slushy for a longer period of time.)

**FUNNY STORY: my mom made this for my brother's confirmation and had just put the mixed, not yet frozen, banana mixture into the freezer in an kemps gallon ice cream container. My brother, not knowing it was not ice cream, grabbed the handle and pulled it out of the freezer, which dumped the sloshy punch stuff forward, spilling the lid and spraying a gallon of sticky juice stuff on every surface of the kitchen.

My mom has not made banana punch since.