How Deep the Father's Love for Us

I loved this song the first time I heard it. Dan and I played it for communion at church today for the very first time. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought it was an appropriate reminder of just how unbelievably "vast beyond all measure" God's love is for us.

Here is the version of the song that I used to put on repeat. It isn't the greatest but the lyrics never fail to get to me.

Feed the Birds (and the little boy in the corner)

It only took the critters about 24 hours to eat up all of the bread that I put out. It was SO cold that this particular little bun was pretty stuck to the twig that it was hanging on.

A lovely female cardinal waiting for her turn at the feeder.

Meanwhile, Silas found a new little spot to squeeze into. I kept calling him Little Jack Horner although he was eating honey mustard pretzels instead of Christmas pie.

Feed the Birds

I always think of that song from Mary Poppins when feeding the menagerie in our backyard. An entire family of squirrels have a big nest in our backyard maple tree. They sound like elephants when they're chasing each other on our roof. At least three big rabbits live in the brush between us and the neighbors. I have a hunch that they were the ones responsible for eating away my rosemary and cilantro plants last year. There are too many birds for me to even name. The neighborhood cats frequent our backyard and porch as well (checking out the fine buffet of squirrels and birds, I'm sure). And the raccoons! We can't forget them. I wouldn't be surprised if some deer showed up in our backyard one day. It would certainly fit the vibe that we have going on.

What do you do with your stale hamburger buns? I figured I would try something creative this time.

Silas thought mommy was being so funny tromping around in the snow.

It didn't take long for the squirrels to find the buns in the peach tree. They were chomping away within minutes! I took these next two pictures through our kitchen window.

Happy snow weekend!

Muffin Tin Potato Gratins

So delicious and so easy! I found this recipe in the November '10 issue of Everyday Food. Thanks Martha!

2-3 Idaho potatoes
1 tablespoon of butter
salt and pepper
heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400*. Butter each muffin tin cup. Slice the potatoes VERY thin. Layer the sliced potatoes in the muffin cups, seasoning with salt and pepper every 3 slices or so. Pour 1 tablespoon of heavy cream over each muffin cup of potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes or until very tender (test with a sharp knife). Loosen gratins around the edges with a knife. Invert on serving platter or cookie sheet.

I baked mine for a bit longer (ok, I kinda lost track of time...) and the potatoes got a bit crispy. They were still lovely!

18 Month Check-Up

Silas had his 18 month check-up today. He checked out great! 32 inches and 27 pounds. His growth has started to slow down a bit putting him in the 50-75% instead of the usual 90% (which the doctor said was absolutely fine). Dr. Hayman also went through a questionnaire with me to see if Silas showed any early signs of autism. He passed every question! And by passed, I mean that he's perfectly fine and doesn't have autism. You know what I mean. :)

The doctor said Silas was average when it came to his language skills. While he talks a ton, he doesn't have many words yet. He calls Dan "Dada" and my dad "Pa." He says "key" for cat and squirrel and a combination of c and k sounds for Uncle Kevin. He says Pooh, cookie, uh-ooooooh and ticka-ticka-ticka for tickle. His first word was ball (around his first birthday) and "dog" followed shortly after. He STILL doesn't call me anything although he knows that I am "Mommy." Although he doesn't have an extensive vocab just yet, he understands a TREMENDOUS amount. We even have to spell certain things (mainly Veggie Tales, cheese or pretzels so as to not get things stirred up). Dr. Hayman was looking for 10 words by the time Silas hit 18 months and I think we're right around that number. His next check-up won't be until he is 2. By then he should have 20 words or so. I think he will hit that mark and exceed it. I can tell that he is really starting to comprehend the art of conversing. He tried for the longest time this afternoon to communicate which song he wanted me to sing. It ended up being his current favorite, the Belly Button song (from Veggie Tales of course). If you've never heard the song, you're really missing out. Silas even has some sweet new dance moves to go along with it.

Silas' First Haircut

First snip!

At 17.5 months, Silas was definitely due for a haircut. His wispy little hairs were a bit out of control. I had trimmed his little "wings" in October for our family pictures but the time had come for this Momma to let go of the little baby look and get used to the idea that well... Silas isn't a baby anymore! I couldn't believe the emotions that I felt during the days leading up to the haircut! Long time friend Kara Hubbard so kindly agreed to help us out and cut Silas' hair. Kara even came to our house! With the help of Silas' beloved Veggie Tales videos on youtube, Kara was able to get lots of snips in on the mesmerized little son. The only squirming that Silas did was when a favorite song would come on. After a little swaying and clapping, he would sit perfectly still again in his highchair. What a big boy! And just look at that big boy haircut! Cute cute CUTE!

Happy New Year!

This is how New Year's Eve will be spent at the Powers' home this year. Have a wonderful and exciting 2011!

First Trip to the Dentist

It seems like Silas has inherited my teeth. There is one semi-negative factor with this and another very negative factor. The semi-negative factor is the size. While my teeth aren't the largest that I've ever seen, they are still purty BIG. Teething was awful for Silas (so sorry, buddy!!!). The very negative factor is the problem with our enamel. Both of us have a degenerative disorder with the enamel on our teeth. It forms but doesn't coat the entire tooth leaving areas susceptible to damage.

Silas chipped his front right tooth not long after his first birthday. I was so upset about it! The chip was a half moon shape but didn't seem sharp. Last week he hit his mouth on our coffee table and chipped his front left tooth! Not even 15 months old and already two chipped teeth!? Things are not starting off well for the dental health of this kid!

I called Dr. Fleck in Clarksville. He is an awesome pediatric dentist who I went to until I was 16 or so. They had us come in the very next morning. Despite feeling pretty lousy (head cold, etc), Silas was such a good boy as he sat with me in the waiting room. We didn't have too long before they called us back. The staff definitely know how to work with toddlers! They didn't waste one minute but got right to examining Silas' teeth. Dr. Fleck came in to take a look and confirmed that it was an enamel formation problem. He instructed me to brush/clean Silas' teeth after EVERY feeding and to come back in three months for a follow up. The assistant then applied a protective sealant on Si's teeth. He thought the taste was interesting to say the least. She gave him a little basketball and a fish squirt toy. He held onto both of them the whole way home!

Poor little guy didn't feel well!

All done and waiting for some toys!

"Ball!"

Very happy to be home!

Dedication

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:27-28a

Today was Silas' baby dedication at church. Dan and I have made the commitment to raise Silas according to the Lord's ways but it was really meaningful to make a public confession of it and have the support of our families and the congregation. It is so important to give everything to the Lord and Silas is certainly no exception! I need to read this scripture on a daily basis as a reminder that the Lord is in control and that we can trust Him above anyone else.

"Ahhhhhchoo!" Almost dedication time!

Silas and Grammie.

All of the families.

Family prayer.

Cake! I didn't get a picture of it before people started digging in but it was still pretty! Mom organized a really great pitch-in lunch for all of the families that participated in the dedication. We are about ready to dig into the leftovers right now!

Peaches from Dove Farm (and a recipe for spiced peach butter)

Our sweet little white peach tree in the backyard produced a bumper crop of fruit this year! Dan and I picked the peaches in two shifts. We left the fruit on the tree as long as we could until we began to fear for the fruit's lives. We have a family of squirrels that live in the tall maple right next to the little peach that tend to generously help themselves. The peaches spent their last couple ripening days in a large paper bag in the safety of the kitchen. My mom and Liz came over to help me begin canning one evening. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of our canning night. We were busy little bees in the kitchen and covered in sticky peach juice up to our elbows. We canned two batches of peach jam that night. Mom and Liz also canned a batch of blackberry jam while I was feeding Silas. The next couple of days were spent blanching, peeling, pitting, chopping AND blanching AND peeling, pitting, chopping, etc... After it was all said and done I think I ended up with about 32 jars of peach jam and spiced butter. The kitchen smelled wonderful!

Jam!

And spiced peach butter!

All of the pretty jars in a row on my mustard counter tops with my ketchup colored towels. Still a lovely sight to behold in spite of the condiment color scheme.

Here is my recipe for spiced peach butter. Recipe adapted from pickyourown.org and fromourkitchen.blogspot.com.

Yields approximately 8 cups

Ingredients

8 pounds fresh, ripe peaches

2 1/2 cups of sugar

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of nutmeg

2 teaspoons of allspice

Peel and pit the peaches (it's super easy if you blanch them). Chop peaches. Place chopped peaches, sugar and spices in a crockpot and mix to combine. Turn the crockpot on low and cook overnight or 8-12 hours depending on your crockpot. Alternatively, you can cook the peaches on high for approximately 6 hours but you will want to stir the mixture every 15 minutes or so to ensure that it doesn't burn. Leave the lid slightly askew to allow steam to escape and the peaches to reduce. Puree the peaches with an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor until the desired consistency is reached. Can the butter while it is still piping hot!

Instructions for canning

Wash and sterilize your jars, lids and rings. Keep the jars in a pan of hot water, your dishwasher (on a drying cycle) or on a cookie sheet in your oven preheated to 200*. Keep the lids hot in a pan of simmering water (never boiling as this could damage the seal). The rings will be fine at room temperature. Working with one or two jars at a time, ladle the hot peach butter into the jars leaving 1/4" of head space. Wipe the rims clean, place lid on jar and tightly screw on ring. Once all jars are filled, place in canner or large pot filled with enough boiling water to cover the jars by 2". Boil for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the jars out and place in a spot where they won't be disturbed for 24 hours. Before too long you will begin to hear the jars seal! If for some reason a jar does not seal you will need to store it in the refrigerator. All sealed jars can be stored at room temperature. Cool basements are even better!

The great thing about fruit butter is that you can tweak the ingredients to fit your taste. Let me know if you try this recipe and what (if any) tweaks you make!

The Ledger Clan

It isn't everyday that all of the Ledgers are together in one place. In fact, it only happens about once every 5 years now that my cousins are spread out all over the Eastern part of the country! After much schedule juggling, a trip was planned to visit Grandma in New Albany. Seeing us is just an added bonus! :) We thoroughly enjoyed being able to spend time with family that we rarely get to see. It was also really great to get the next generation together. A.J. is four and told me some of the greatest tall-tales during dinner.

Wait for me, A.J.!Grandma Faye and her two very squirmy great-grandsons.

Grandma and the granddaughters (me, Sydney, Grandma, Michelle and Megan). Grandma had four sons and no daughters. I'm sure everyone was surprised by the onslaught of females when the next generation arrived! Kevin is the youngest and the only grandson (and wasn't able to make it due to work).

Weeeeeee!

Part of the "disappearing A.J." act.

Card mugs courtesy of Aunt Debbie.

Silas' FIRST Birthday!

Could it be true?! My sweet baby boy all grown up to a full year old?! It absolutely blows my mind to think of all that has taken place in a years time. From a helpless little 8 pound newborn to a 25 pound, WALKING, 8 toothed toddler... unbelievable. Silas has already been such an incredible blessing to us. He is my little sweetheart. We are so grateful to the Lord for choosing us to be his parents.

Silas' actual birthday was a fairly normal day. I made breakfast for us and then we let Silas open up his birthday gifts from us. We bought him a little red truck with pegs on top and a blue hammer to pop them down with (a little fist works well too), a play table and a ride-and-push lion. He wasn't as crazy about the lion at first but really loved the play table and all of the different songs that it played. The curly bows on his presents were the best. Dan worked hard to get Silas new swing up so he could try it out. We also took him for a ride in the car to see how he liked sitting FORWARD. Grammie came over for a bit that evening to see Silas open some of his gifts, sing happy birthday and to witness his first taste of ice cream. He is definitely a fan.

Good morning, birthday boy!

First time in a swing!

My sweet baby boy.

Birthday balloons!

Ice cream!!!

The next day we had the big birthday party. Even though we tried to keep things low key by having just the family and a few close friends, we still ended with about 25 people! You just can't avoid having a big group when you're a Powers. Since Silas loves dogs so much, I made little puppy invitations to send to everyone. We had lots of good food (hot dogs of course!) and great cupcakes with killer cream cheese icing. I made Silas his very own little cake to dig into. He was hesitant at first but then stuck his fingers alllll the way down in the cake. It was so much fun. He loved all of his presents too! Everyone knows how much Silas loves to play with our cell phones. For some months now, he will pick up almost any toy and hold it up to the side of his head like he's talking on the phone. Several people obviously had the same train of thought because Silas received 5 phones! He was in heaven.

Silas and Jack (not sure if this was before or after Silas punched Jack).

Flossing.

Cake!

Silas wasn't too crazy about all of that sticky stuff on his hands.

Happy FIRST birthday, Silas!!!