{bits & pieces}

The weekly, "little of this, little of that" feature at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Yesterday morning the temperature dropped considerably (we've had some summer-like weather here the past week or so... leading to my discovery of just how quickly this pregnant mama's feet can swell!), so I took advantage of the opportunity to turn on the oven!

On top of making the bread for the coming week, I finally got around to some recipes I've been wanting to try.

First up, this recipe for homemade bagels. I've never tried to make bagels before. 

This is what they looked like after the kneading of the dough, shaping, and resting.

This is what they looked like after boiling.

This is what they looked like after baking.

Not as lovely as the pictures in the recipe, but hopefully I'll refine with practice. I look forward to finding out how they taste! Anyway, I'm pretty pysched that four cups of flour is pretty much all it takes to get to this result. Just four cups! 

Next, in honor of the visit of a gluten-intolerant friend, this recipe for flourless coconut chocolate cookies. You'll find plenty of much better photos if you click through. They are delicious. 

And now, a sneak-peak of how DIY renovations of Finnbaee's room are coming along:

I've been working hard at these projects for many hours now. Here's The Artist on the balcony, pitching in. Turns out he's much faster at painting than I am. Perhaps I should have guessed that he would be, given his training?  

Touching up a second-hand dresser... 

This week's links!

• For this week's bit of humor (also informative), check out this rant about the misappropriation of state birds (apologies to the highly-language-sensitive). I don't know much about birds (although I do love them so!), but I agree with him about his choice for MA (so cute!) and I am slightly encouraged to see that someone has something nice to say about MD. 
  
  
  I'm sorry to all fellow MD-ers out there, but sometimes I just get very depressed about this state. Did you know that, on top of being one of the most abortion-heavy states and being populated largely by people who don't know how to drive, we literally pay a tax for rain? I just heard that in the grocery store this week. 

• Ever stay up at night wondering why bees make their comb they way they do? (Don't pretend this is out of the realm of possibility for some of you. You know who you are.) Here's a fun, illustrated article providing some insight. (Thanks, Julianne!)

• This is a very encouraging piece from a very relatable perspective: What to expect when you totally weren't expecting spina bifida. Humorous but very moving. Sometimes questions like this cross my mind because, of course, I don't know at this point that everything will be 100% healthy and normal with Finnabee, and I don't know what the future holds for any other children God may send my way. I think it's so good for all of us to read things like this and be reminded of what matters. And I imagine it's particularly helpful for parents who do have special-needs children to get this kind of support.
  
  "You'll have a precious, sweet little squishy who just so happens to be dealing with SB. You're not giving birth to the defect itself.
  
  On this note, if you or anyone you know is suffering because of a past experience with abortion, please please please do look into the compassionate, accepting help awaiting at Project Rachel. 

• Mom recommends another summer program for young people through Thomas More College. 

• She also recommends The Glory of the Liturgy: Pope Benedict's Vision. She says you will enjoy reading this exploration of Benedict's theology of liturgy -- a deep essay on a deep subject by a deep thinker! Because, ever wonder if it matters how the liturgy is celebrated?

• I recommend If Women Ran the World (from - you guessed it - First Things) for a reminder of why we're pursuing what we're pursuing here at LMLD. 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! We recall the brave people who gave their lives for our country and our freedom; thanks to those who currently serve! 

~We'd like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we're not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~

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{pretty, happy, funnny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

We haven't spent as much time outside as usual in the past several days, on account of it being so hot and stormy in turns. That must be why we somehow didn't even notice this big, beautiful rosebush around the back of our house until Pippo and I found it fully in bloom this morning. What a lovely surprise!

(Now it needs to cool off just a little bit long enough for me and my big belly to get out there and pull some weeds before they completely take over what little garden we've inherited with this house.)

Some lemon icebox cupcakes (aka, "will you be my friend? dessert") I brought to a wives' event the other evening. I'm the first to admit that it's a little daunting to start fresh every few years in a new place where you don't know a soul within miles. We've been so fortunate to find good friends and kindred spirits so far along the way, and I'm trusting we'll be blessed with the same here. But getting started is such an effort!

The comforting thing about military wives is that you know you can show up at a party without knowing a single person involved and be sure of a warm welcome (even if you have nothing else in common), because everyone there was in the exact same position not too long ago.

{happy}

Pippo's cousin Christopher in town last week for his daddy's graduation from Basic Combat Training. (I thought it was pretty clever of us to be stationed in the same place at just the right time -- an unlikely but happy coincidence, as he's heading next to Officer Candidate School for the Massachusetts National Guard. There's not usually very much overlap between them and the Marines in terms of location, but this worked out pretty well!)

It was fun for Pippo to have a cousin around to play with. Christopher is pretty cool kid.

We also got to see Pippo's Aunt Annie (Christopher brought her along), and his Uncle Rob came up from Dallas for a day, too.

This is Uncle Rob teaching Pippo how to relax. College students are better at that than toddlers, I think.

{funny}

Just wearing Daddy's shoes and playing the triangle. Why, what do you wear when you practice your instrument?

I followed him in to pop him in the bath and found him like this. "I'm just warming up me!"

(You may notice that we finally gathered up the mental energy to give Pippo a haircut. File that under {happy}. It was getting a little out of control!)

{real}

Pippo and I picked a big bag of dried beans at the store, and he's spent the last few days working hard at his Bean Game, which involves a bread pan of beans, some measuring spoons, and various small dishes. He loves it, and it's such good work for him. (Thanks, Annie, for the suggestion!)

He asked his daddy to play Beans with him last night, and then started chastising him for making a mess, insisting, "Do it slowly, Dad! Do it slowly!" Pippo takes the Bean Game very seriously.

Still moving boxes in the background...

Ask Auntie Leila: A little misunderstood.

Dear Auntie Leila,

Thank you for your blog. I've been enjoying it for many months now, and am writing today for advice and support.

My family (my husband and our two little children -- and one on the way!) is about to put our home on the market. We will be downsizing from a large house in the suburbs to a much smaller house and yard. We will be able to pay off a big chunk of student loan debt, and I will be able to quit my stressful part-time job.

We will be much closer to my husband's work. We will save on utilities, and the kids will be able to walk to school. We will be getting rid of lots of our belongings in the move, and I'm looking forward to less house and less stuff to maintain.

I can't wait to devote more of my energies to creating the kind of home and family life I envision, and I believe that right now I am called to renew and re-imagine my vocation as wife and mother. I believe this change is the right thing for our family. We need our life to be simpler, and more focused on enjoying one another.

BUT. It's not an easy process. And I think our families are having a difficult time understanding why we would want to leave our "dream home." My mom, in particular, is projecting her stress onto me. ("I hope you can find the right house." "Are you sure you want to leave your job? What about your insurance and retirement?" "Where will I sleep when I visit?")

Do you have any advice for managing the anxieties that creep in when making these counter-cultural changes? And how to help others understand and accept/embrace our plan?! I've been praying to St. Joseph -- any other saints to recommend?

A Reader Who Wishes To Remain Anonymous

Making a shawl, thinking about things.

{Wow, it's really hard to take pictures of brown knitting.}

I think you were along with me for that ride I go on -- you know, the one where I find yarn on sale, buy it, choose a pattern, change things like needle size, and then end up with too little yarn. I keep doing that.

As usual, a super nice Ravelry lady sold me her yarn that was in her stash, clearly labeled as "not for sale."

I will try to reform, but the outlook is dim, matching my brain.

This yarn, Hillside Linen, which is a lovely, soft blend of alpaca and linen, and how appealing is that, called out to me: "Deirdre needs a shawl for when she's too big for a sweater, and also for when she's nursing the baby!" That voice doesn't seem to realize that Deirdre lives in DC, where you don't need any extra layers from March until October, but still. Had to be done!

{bits & pieces}

The weekly, "little of this, little of that" feature at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

I'm so excited about this. I found this lovely frame on clearance at Marshalls and inserted a Carl Larsson print from an old calendar (I always keep nice calendars and love to decorate with them whenever possible). I love it when I can effectively channel my style in surprisingly frugal ways.

This week's links!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{funny}

Do you like this bouquet? I made it for myself. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Everyone called, and that made me so happy. I got some cute presents, including, of course, ice cream from our favorite place, brought right to me here at home, which was good because it was too nippy to stand in line (and there would have been a loooong line, rest assured, regardless).  

And I enjoyed myself so, in between phone calls (which didn't leave much time -- what DO the moms of 10 kids do??), out in the garden, where the rhubarb was in need of cutting back.

Do you know what it is?

It's rhubarb flower heads! And chive blossoms! They both needed cutting back, and I thought, well, let's see what they look like in a vase together!

And this is really what the light looks like these afternoons. Amazing.

{bits & pieces}

The weekly, "little of this, little of that" feature at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

 This is what the Artist and I will be tackling this weekend: The Second Bedroom/Finnabee's Nursery.

As you can tell, it's not really all that bad -- messy, but not filthy, and it looks at first glance to be more stuff than it actually is. 

The problem is that, obviously, all of it must be removed and reorganized before any sense can be made of any of it. I would have been making progress this past week, except that last weekend we stormed Craigslist and, with a borrowed van and some tenacity, acquired all the furniture for a pittance (the crib was a hand-me-down from a friend), and it all got placed at the front of the room - meaning that none of the clutter could be controlled without doing some heavy lifting. And since I am 30 weeks as of this weekend, I have been obediently avoiding heavy lifting. 

I'm excited to finally get to this, though. I'm tired of going in there for some item and moving six things around in order to get it. And it'll be lovely to prepare space for baby!

This week's links!

• Another recommendation for an artistic opportunity via The Way of Beauty. 

• Mom recommends Gary Saul Morson's The Pevearsion of Literature*, originally published in Commentary*, a warning against bad translations. Now that Anna Karenina is a new major motion picture, you might be thinking of reading it (and you should, before you watch the movie!) The translation you read matters. 

• Also from my Mom: David Rees recapping episodes of Top Chef in New York Magazine. About this, she writes: "Reading recaps of bygone episodes, yes, that's how I occasionally spend my time. If it helps, I'm knitting while I do it. I will say that he's a cross between Ben Stein and Honest Toddler. I enjoy Top Chef (while really hating its annoyingness) and it's fun to have something to read in between seasons. I find Rees funny. Lots of the commenters seem to think he's lame and can't believe he pretends not to know about food or perhaps that he actually doesn't know about food yet writes the recaps, but honestly, he's channeling my thoughts when a contestant cheftestant says something like "Chefs, I'm making ponzu infused speck for you tonight." I just need some snark with my time-wasting indulgence. My complaint is that it's hard to navigate the posts. This post was particularly snide about soup, and I laughed out loud even though I love soup." 

• This week we don't have an offering straight from Anthony Esolen, but we do have an offering on Esolen, which Suki came upon. When I mentioned last week that he writes consistently, what I meant was prolifically... almost to an extent that occasionally defies belief. Perhaps when we doubt, we're on to something. 

• For your visual pleasure this weekend: The 50 Most Perfectly Timed Photos Ever. 

Have a lovely weekend!

*Edit: We didn't realize this document is now behind a paywall on each site. The key learning: Pevear and Volokhonsky take "glorious works and reduce them to awkward and unsightly muddles" and remove their explicitly religious content. They leave out the irony, narrative voice (specifically what Morson calls "double-voicing"), and wit of the original, giving us "great literature that has been stripped bare of its mystery." If you are interested in this kind of thing, we do recommend buying the article. If you just want to know what translation of Anna to get, Morson praises "the magnificent" Constance Garnett.

Follow us on Twitter, where we discuss random stuff and link to (sometimes sillier or more fleeting) other things.

Like us on Facebook, where you will be advised of posts including some from the archives that you might have missed.

Auntie Leila's Pinterest.

Rosie's Pinterest.
Sukie's Pinterest.

Deirdre's Pinterest.

Habou's Pinterest.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

 {pretty}

Several of you commented on the large windows we have at the front of our new house -- they were a big selling point for us. I'm sure they'll take some management during the hot Oklahoma summers, but still, I love all the light! They face east, so we have beautiful bright morning light in our dining and living rooms. (That's the front door there on the right.)

It did me good to take this picture, actually, because I was able to frame it to avoid most of the moving mess (which, at least here, is limited to the edges of the room for the most part) and focus on the little island of order we have established in the living room. A taste of what things might be like all over when our projects settle down. It will be good.