Basil, basil. basil...everywhere I turn, there's more basil!

  I spent quite some time this evening, harvesting, cutting, snipping, sorting, and packing basil leaves.  I worked my way through about half of what I cut, only to realize there are more volunteer plants and more basil growing than I even knew about.  I have four more plants to process before the season is over.
  I was too pregnant last summer to properly deal with my garden at the end of growing time.  I let my basil plant go to seed and didn't think much of it.  Little did I know that it would produce so many offspring, I could have easily gone into business selling the little plants!  I probably pulled eighty or more seedlings.  I transplanted one and allowed two others to grow.  Under the two I let grow, three more plants came up.  Good gravy!!!
  So, my organic basil is being offered up for free since I can't deal with so much of it.  See below for a very basic (but good) pesto recipe.  I had everything on hand to make it, but it may require a quick run to the grocery store.

BASIC PESTO

3 large or 5 small cloves garlic, peeled
4 c (packed) basil leaves, washed and dried
1 c olive oil
1/4 c pine nuts (or walnuts or almonds), toasted (I used both pine nuts and almonds since I didn't have enough of either)
2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
1/2 c (generous) freshly grated parmesan cheese

Toast nuts in dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently.  Once they become fragrant and are lightly browned, remove from heat.  With food processor running, drop garlic through food chute.  Add basil, a few handfuls at a time and process until you can fit all of the basil inside the processor.  Stream in the olive oil while the processor is running.  Make sure to scrape the sides periodically.  Add the salt, nuts, and then the cheese.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
I store mine in small, glass baby food jars in the freezer.
Makes approx 2 cups.

I'm making spaghetti later this week.  I cannot wait to add the fresh pesto to my sauce.  Yummmmm!!!

I need to be a better me...

  It's almost 1am Sunday morning.  I finished up some dishes and laundry a few minutes ago.  My train of thought wanders this time of night, and I keep coming back to Anabelle and the hard days we've had this week.  She is so strong willed, and I don't think I am raising her in the way that is best suited for her.  I feel like I try to break her spirit every day when I should be giving it wings to fly.  She is so smart.  Not just the typical, my kid is smart kind of intelligence.  She is a firecracker.  She understands things that normal three year olds do not.  She is capable of thinking along the lines of a much older child.  Her bull-headedness is, I think, a direct result of her attempt to channel some of her pent up frustration since she has no other way of letting it out.  I worry about her more than my other girls when she gets older.  She wants so badly to tear away from our parental grasp and she doesn't show any signs of stopping.  I'm not sure how best to handle this little person.  I pray over her most every night, but I think my prayers need to be more specific when I ask for her health and well being.  I need for God to raise her.  I'm not doing such a good job.
  Some days, it seems as though I stay in a constant state of anxious frustration, unable to let my guard down, unable to lower my voice, unable to break free of this Mr. Hyde persona she brings out in me.  Other days, she will sit quietly with me, being more than an angel, and I feel so at peace.  Maybe it is her age and she will mature into a less devious person (strong word, but I cannot think of anything better).  I can only hope.  I just get so tired of having to be on high alert every waking minute of every day.
  Doing dishes tonight, I thought about how I can encourage her independent spirit without encouraging her to continue with negative behaviors.  I think I might have to relax about a few things and maybe use that as a tool to help me.  Maybe then, she'll be more willing to obey- if she feels like she has had a little room to move the way she wants to.  I'm not talking about breaking the rules or letting bad behavior slide.  I just think that, if she wants to do some things for herself (and, oh does she want to do that!!) that I should be more than willing to let her.  Maybe, she can choose her own clothes and get herself dressed in the mornings.  Maybe I should give her the responsibility of making her bed.  She's three, but she can do it, I think.
  I want her to feel in control of part of her life so that maybe, even if it's not what she had in mind, she might listen to me when things are not her decision.  The old phrase, "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile" comes to mind.  I guess I'll just have to see what happens.
  Whatever the result, something's gotta give.  I know that through all of this, I will be working on myself.  I always said I wouldn't be a screamer/yeller.  It happened.  I feel ashamed of that part of my life, so hopefully God will take that from me.  Hopefully, Anabelle and the other kids will benefit from it, too.  God is good.

Summer is here

  I have been enjoying the rains and breezy spring weather that Texas gives so willingly the first few months of each year.  Wildflowers and weeds abound, making the highway hills dance with colorful delight.  I have lovingly been the recipient of more handpicked Ella and Anabelle bouquets than I have mini vases for.  Sadly, all of that has vanished into thin air and we have been catapulted straight into the brick wall of summer heat.  Most of the country is experiencing record high temperatures, but we are just playing out our lot in life and hovering in the mid nineties.  Fortunately, no records are being broken, as that would put us well into the triple digits.

  It has been an interesting quest, attempting to find indoor activities for the children to sink their teeth into.  The battles wage ever increasingly as the boredom grows.  I try to send them outdoors each morning before the sun blazes down too harshly.  We've eaten watermelon, bathed the dog, run in sprinklers, and swam in lukewarm pools.  Playdoh and coloring books are becoming an all too familiar sight and don't seem to hold their attention for very long anymore.  I recently told Elizabeth that she will be learning how to do the dishes and will also be responsible for planning one meal each week.  The hard part is, I have to teach her how!  I am going to make every attempt to make it fun and enjoyable so that she wants to help as opposed to feeling as thought she is my personal slave...secretly, though, isn't that why parents have kids?  ;-)  I hope to find several inexpensive or free activities to take the kiddos to once swimming lessons are completed.  We have about seven more swim sessions and ballet through the end of June before we'll really get any kind of break from scheduled activities.  Oh, well, at least the kids aren't complaining!

  I finally got my White Mountain ice cream freezer that I have been drooling over for about ten years.  We will certainly be running the motor on a weekly basis, and have already concocted the most delicious vanilla bean ice cream I've tasted in years.  A friend reminded us of Big Red ice cream, a favorite from many a church pot luck ice cream social, but I think the next on the list will be either peach or strawberry.  Either way, it will be yummy and serve us well in our mission to keep cool.  I love this particular freezer because it is built to last for generations.  I plan on purchasing the hand crank for it so we can have the option of either motorized or manual labor (read: children!!!).  Every tyke needs the memory of a quilt-wrapped ice cream bucket, with one sibling sitting on top of the cantankerous hand crank while the others are taking turns churning the machine or licking the rock salt.  I will never forget those moments on the ranch from my childhood.  I cannot wait for my own son and daughters to forge some memories of their own.

  For now, stay cool and enjoy the summer.  Love from the Lone Star State.