two little cupids

Two Little Cupids are wondering why on earth their mother has them stripped down to their diapers and holding a bow and arrow. 

Two Little Cupids hope you had a very Happy Valentines Day!

Tiny Heart

My great grandma's name was Bertha. She came to America from Sweden when she was 19. She worked for a while and then went back to Sweden to get her little sister and her niece, Ebba. The story of these three women, coming to America has completely captured my imagination. There are terrible trials and hardships...and they were alone. Bertha's little sister died after just two years in America of typhoid fever and Bertha had to write a letter to her mom and dad back in Sweden telling them the crushing news.

I've been reading all about my family's history: from farming in Sweden to homesteading in Southern Minnesota. My Aunt Jan compiled numerous interviews, newspaper articles, and personal narratives into one incredible page-turning book. (Cousins. If you haven't read the Bredberg History book we all got at Grandma's party, get it out. Start at the part that begins with Great Grandma Bertha. You'll be so proud to be her great grandchild!)

Sadly, I'm years late in realizing what a treasure I have had in my possession. Aunt Jan gifted these books to all of us years ago. I never read mine. Now she's gone and I am spellbound by our family story. I wish I could call her and thank her. I wish I could sit down with my grandma and ask more questions.

In an effort to seize the day, I called up Ebba's daughter, Ferne. Ebba was the niece that my great grandma brought back to America with her. Ferne has always been a part of my life, at every Bredberg gathering I can think of. A great storyteller and a great big personality.

I took Elsie on Saturday to visit with Ferne and her daughter Chris in South Minneapolis. And we heard many more stories. I asked more questions. And I have a feeling we just skimmed the surface. I can't wait to go back and hear more.

But maybe my favorite new piece of history that I learned is this: Ferne, holding Elsie above, was best friends with Elsie Cash, my grandma's sister and my baby Elsie's namesake. Elsie was Ferne's maid of honor. Their farms neighbored each other and they had special signals to greet each other by flashing their car lights towards the other farm, or flicking the kitchen lights at the end of the day. Ways of saying "good night" and "hello." When they were young they did a demonstration speech together for 4H on making bread and Ferne said, "we can't remember who said it. I thought she said it, she thought I said it, but one of us said, 'You'll know your dough is ready when you can touch it and it doesn't stick to your hands or your feet.' Oh we laughed about that."

This was a treasure. To get to know a bit more of Elsie Cash and to watch 98-year-old Ferne hold my Elsie.

Ferne is a writer, speaker and poet. My dad sent this poem to me when he heard I was going to visit her. I thought it was the perfect poem to share today, on Valentines Day.

Tiny Heart
by Ferne Nelson, 2002

My tiny heart began with a gentle beat
Close to my Mother's heart

Upon my birth the beatings became stronger
Giving vigor to my infant body

Through childhood, youth years and adult life
There has been a steady beat

Increasing activities made demands
My faithful heart worked well

It has sustained me these many years
and I've had love and joy

Some days the gentle beat will return and take me
close to the heart of my Lord

life at the grovestead/ for the grandmas

I got a phone call from my mom saying she needed more pictures of her grandkids. So this post is dedicated to Grandma Margaret!

A few notes from the pictures above:

+Elsie loves to bounce in her exersaucer. She is getting so big! Rolling over, laughing at her brother, smiling with one goofy tooth on the bottom.

+When Ivar gets in the car he yells "Country Roads, Loud!" And as soon as John Denver is done singing that song he yells "Country Boy, Loud!"

+That pink outfit Elsie is wearing used to be mine. Donna Solomonson made it for me and now it fits my daughter. I love it so much. The top zips in the back, all the way up the hood. I love that it fits her perfectly just in time for Valentines!

+We had Annika and girls over on Martin Luther King day. It was below zero so we had a summer lovin' party. Swimsuits in the bathtub, smoothies, fresh pineapple and ants on a log for snacks, a swimsuit dance party and I may or may not have greeted them wearing my very own swim suit and dancing to Sonsurf Beach Camp, their favorite VBS cd. And that may or may not have completely startled the poor girls walking through the door.

+Sonna came over for a sleepover towards the end of Christmas break and helped me finish the stars for Elsie's room. And then she sewed this beautiful heart garland.

rhythm and routine: meal planning

I remember once reading on a blog about a mom who makes homemade pizza for her family every Saturday night. She had perfected her pizza dough recipe and was boasting of how easy this meal was, how she always had shredded mozzarella, pepperoni and pesto in the freezer. How once she learned how to make the dough, there couldn't have been an easier meal. How she suddenly felt off the hook to meal plan on the weekends, because this homemade pizza somehow scored huge points with everyone in the family.

I remember reading that and thinking Eeyore thoughts about how lovely it all sounded. How I wish I could have homemade pizza every Saturday night. 

I read that blog post years ago, so it only took me a couple years to snap out of it. And to realize that homemade pizza night could happen at my house too. Poor Eeyore. Makes everything seem so hard.

I started Pizza Saturday at the beginning of January and it only took me three failed pizzas to find the dough recipe my family likes the best. The rejects were edible, but the dough didn't rise, and we weren't excited about it. But last week we hit the jackpot with this recipe. (It's a breadstick recipe...) And this recipe for the sauce. 

I write all of that because I am afraid when you read this next part, your Inner Eeyore may flair up. But if you are a mom trying to figure out meal planning and prep, I think I might have just landed on something very handy.

And it begins at McDonalds.

Since the new year began, we have spent each Sunday night at McDonalds. While there, Ivar munches on his chicken nuggets and apple slices. I eat a Southwest Salad and Rory enjoys his value meal. And as I sneak fries from Rory, I write out the grocery list.

I choose three meals for the week ahead, based off of this meal plan:
Saturday night: Pizza Night
Sunday night: McDonalds and Grocery Shopping
Monday: Supper #1
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Supper #2
Thursday: Supper #3
Friday: Leftovers

I combine the list that I made on the fridge all week (the things we ran out of) with the list of food I need for these three meals and add all the usual's as well. (dairy, produce, cereal, lunch stuff and snacks...)

For example, this week we are having Supper #1: Roast Chicken, Supper #2: Chicken Noodle Soup, Supper #3: Pork Chops.

I organize the shopping list in order of the store and then we head to Cub Foods.

When we get there, I rip the list in half and Rory takes Elsie to find the aisle stuff and I get the produce, meat and dairy with Ivar.

We are done and out of there in less than thirty minutes. No joke. And because everyone is well rested from nap time and has a full belly from Micky D's, we tend to be in very happy moods too.

The truth is, we come home, put the groceries away and I listen to my husband say how much he loves his Sunday night with his family. How he loves how much less money we are spending on meals never eaten and produce gone bad.

Stop! I can hear your Inner Eeyore from here! I can! Tell him to pipe down. Because this is a great plan.

As I listen to Rory, happy over the food we have in the house, I'll sit there and think, Three Meals! I am getting off the hook by making three meals a week! (The pizza meal doesn't really count because it really is as easy as that happy blogger years ago said it would be.)

I feel safe to report all of this now, because we have pulled this off for seven weeks. Going strong. Last night I was terribly ill with aches and shakes, so Rory took Ivar while Elsie and I stayed home and started season one of Gilmore Girls. And even still, Rory came through the door happy as ever telling me how much he loves Sunday night grocery shopping.

It may be that we are in the middle of a Minnesota winter and that a trip to Cub feels as exotic as anything. It may be that once the grass is visible again we'll again draw straws for who has to go. But for now, we're loving Grocery Sundays, Laundry Mondays, and Pizza Saturdays. (Not to mention Leftover Tuesdays and Fridays!)

a valentines tradition

I remember reading Real Love for Real Life by Andi Ashworth. (An absolute favorite, by the way). In there she talks about a tradition she started with her family when her kids were younger. She had each member of the family write a letter to every other member of the nuclear family. It was to be a love note, telling you mom why you love her, telling your dad why you love him, telling your brother why you love him.

Of course it took some doing, getting everyone to write those letters. But after the first year it became an annual tradition and one of the most anticipated nights of the year. She would serve supper by candle light and  after the meal each person read their letters.  She said as the kids got older there were often tears shared by all.

She saved the family letters in the three ring binder. Can you think of any greater family treasure?

So I broke the news to Rory last night. He's on board. I gave him six days notice. That's probably about right. Obviously our kids are a bit little to write their own letters, but I think I could write a note on Ivar's behalf, or have him tell me what he wants Elsie to know and write what he says word-for-word. Those are always funny letters later.

But as the kids grow, they'll enter in. What a joy!