New Words

Tassia has already said her first words.  I've neglected to share with you that she has said "Mama", "Papa", and even "Tata" (Tassia).  However, she has added a new word to her vocabulary.  This word has the honor of being the first word that she consistently uses in an appropriate context.  She's used it several times today.  It comes out often at mealtimes, and even this morning during Papa's sermon, we heard,   "Uh-oh."   This is the first word, er, expression that Tassia uses as it should be used.  I'm not sure what this says about her.  Or the family she lives with.

Pool Fun

It's been blazing hot here for the last few days. What better time to try out our new inflatable pool? Except that we got it out and filled up last night so the water would be at a good temperature this afternoon...only to wake up to an overcast sky! So, the girls did enjoy the pool, although Tassia only lasted about 5 minutes until she was shivering and goose-bumpy.

Alina took this one herself:

Housing Search II

We've made an offer on a house, and, yes, we might be buying the first house we looked at.

A Child's Prayer

In raising our children, we are trying to instill certain values in their lives, as do most parents. On of the things we do routinely is pray with and for our children, and encourage them that they, too, can pray. Which Alina does. She mostly is thankful for lots of people in her life. Her prayers begin with "Thank you, God, for" and then they sound a bit like a family tree. She actually asks very little of God. But, there's one request that keeps coming back over and over.

She asks God for a little brother.

(OK, you can guess what's coming...)

Little brother or another little sister, that prayer will, Lord willing, be answered sometime around New Year's.

Faith like a child...

Language Lesson

ALINA:  Me see the wind-waohs!   ME:  I see them, too!  Alina, can you say "windmill?"   ALINA:  Can you say éolienne?

Ever wondered...

If it's a bad thing when your sourdough starter smells like vinegar? (It is.)

If breathing too much cloth diaper lint could harm developing little lungs?

Chocolate Juice

Here is Alina's recipe for chocolate juice, as she shared it with me after dinner this evening.

20 grams melted chocolate (She got a bit confused when I asked her if you had the
measure the chocolate BEFORE or AFTER melting it.)
2 teaspoons oil
5 eggs
sugar
4 spoons flour
1 spoon salt

Then us try it. Us not cook it. Us just put our pinky finger in it. Then, us put it in one bottle. Us put it in the fridge to keep it cold so us could drink it. (This is a pretty much word-for-word rendition. I actually grabbed a pen and paper and copied down what she was saying as she was saying it, because I thought the proportions were just too funny.)