Focus on Family - April 20

I love my kids to death. Let's just get that straight. There are times, however, I just wish I didn't have to be a mom for a few hours. That feeling crept upon me a couple times this past week. For some reason, Sundays always make me feel that way. Not sure why, but it does.

I finally remembered to post a note on facebook about the labour and delivery of Isabel. I've had a few people asking me to do one, since I did one for Alexander. I'm glad I finally remembered to do this, as I hadn't written it down before, and I'm glad I still remembered all the details.

I love seeing the adoration shining through Isabel's eyes while she watches Alexander. As long as she has a clear view of him, she is watching. There are a couple of times when Alexander goes up to her when she's on the couch or in the exersaucer, and immediately she comes out with this huge grin on her face. I love it!

nice drool

I'm also remembering to give her tummy time. Isabel sleeps on her stomach, she likes it better than her back, but she doesn't get a lot of tummy time to practice holding her head up and strengthen her arms. As long as she's on her stomach on the floor or the change table, she's okay, but as soon as I put her in her crib for tummy time, she wails. Probably because she thinks I'm trying to make her sleep. I learned that after a few times - I was trying to prevent Alexander from stepping on her. He is not the most graceful boy - he doesn't really like to watch where he's going. He actually stepped on her fingers yesterday afternoon. ouch!


Last night was the first night ever that Alexander fell out of his bed while sleeping. He fell on his enormous stuffed dog, so his landing was soft - I don't think he even woke up!

I made a few things this week, and one of them is a bunch of owl embellishments. When Alexander saw them, he wanted one, so I made him one. Then I made him another. He carts them around with him, and constantly shows them to me and says, "owl," as if I didn't know what they were, and he wanted me to know that he knew what they were.

My dear friend, Heather, came by on Monday morning with her kids, Emma and Evan. When Emma walked in the door, Alexander gave her a kiss! He used to cry when she got too near him! It was really cute. Anyway, Emma liked the owls too, so I let her take one home with her. Although the ones pictured in the listing is not quite what Emma took home with her - hers was made with googly eyes and an owl stamp, instead of the punch.

On Sunday, we went to my parents' house to celebrate the birthday of my youngest sibling, Andrew, who turned 21 on Monday, April 18. I love seeing Andrew grow into a strong and confident man of God, and I love the place he has in our family - it certainly wouldn't be the same without him. It is so weird, though, knowing that my parents' youngest child is 21. That makes them pretty old, I guess. Almost the entire family was there, and I love getting together with them all! Gramma and Grampa Eleveld also came, and they both got to see their great-grandchildren, something they don't get to do nearly as often as I would like. We got some good pictures, too, which is nice. The picture of my family on the right, near the top of this blog was taken on Sunday.

This is how I found Alexander on Sunday afternoon after I fed Isabel - I thought he was playing! He slept like that for about an hour and a half! He had some imprints from the movie case on his face - he wasn't too happy when he woke up, and I can imagine that sleeping on a hardwood floor cannot be too comfortable.


This recipe is for a creamy cauliflower bisque I made on Saturday:

1 lb cauliflower
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups chicken broth
1/8 tsp red pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup butter
1 cup cheddar cheese


Put the cauliflower (I used frozen), potatoes, chicken broth, red pepper (didn't have any, so I used chili powder instead) salt, and black pepper into the slow cooker. Cook it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Use a hand processor and puree the soup. Add the evaporated milk and butter and stir until completely blended. The evaporated milk thickens the soup.
The recipe said to garnish with the cheese, but I figured it would taste just as good if the cheese was melted into it! We had Havarti cheese in the fridge, not cheddar, so that's what I used. I stirred the soup until the cheese was completely melted.
Serve and enjoy!


You could taste the cauliflower, but it wasn't overwhelming. After tasting it, Jeffery said, "If I tell you that this is fantastic, will you NOT make it all the time?" I said, "Why, is it fantastic?" He said, "Yes. But don't make it all the time." You see, when I first made potato and ham soup, we loved it (and Alexander would eat it without complaining about the vegetables), so I made it about once a week - it was also winter, so soup is a great meal during winter. But Jeff got sick of eating it so often. So I'm not planning on making the soup again for at least two weeks. :)


I also made tea biscuits for the first time ever. I used Bisquick mix (1 cup of Bixquick, 1/2 cup milk) and followed the directions, but the biscuits didn't really rise at all. I think I kneaded the dough too many times. The box said to knead the dough 10 times. The next time I make them, I'll knead it only 5 times. Maybe then the biscuits will rise. They weren't rock hard or anything, they just were really skinny - they looked like cookies, which made Alexander want to eat them, but after the first bite, he didn't want any more. lol I guess they are an acquired taste!


Jeffery's work is steady, and he's back to working 12+ hour days. The one great thing about work being slow is that Jeff is home, and the kids LOVE it! Alexander loves playing with Jeff, reading books with Jeff, and just being with him; and I can see a difference when Jeff is not at home.


Yesterday was the first day all week that Isabel slept in her crib for her afternoon nap, FINALLY! I've been wondering when she was going to do that again. I know for sure she was going through a growth spurt, since there was some pajamas that she could fit into last Thursday, but she couldn't fit into it on Monday. It's weird how quickly they can grow, eh?


I will leave you with a verse from the Psalms:


"For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help." - Psalm 72:12