butternut squash soup and soaked monkey bread. Christopher ate 3 helpings. Patrick ate 3 bites and said, "this meal is not very good mom. May I be excused please?" To his credit, he is equally frank with his approval (but still!). Not the prettiest picture, I apologize. I was too hungry to find the camera before digging in...(and now you know why...) Recipes (ish) follow.
Butternut Squash Soup
1)cut 2 squash in half, save the seeds (some for sprouts, some for planting). drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper and roast in the oven until fork-tender. cool and scoop into blender.
2)thaw some chicken or veggie stock and add to it: celery, sweet potato, onion, peppers (red and yellow, I used frozen), garlic, thyme, and marjoram. Throw in a bone or two if handy. Simmer until sweet potato is fork-tender.
3)dump everything except the bone and some of the broth into the blender with the squash. Add a few handfuls of roasted pumpkin seeds and puree.
4)pour back into pot with remaining broth and bring to a simmer. just before serving, ad a bit of whole milk.
Monkey Bread
1)start with the basic recipe from 5 minutes a day bread (whole grain edition) or any soft bread dough. Soaked is best!
2)divide into a bunch of little balls (smaller than golf balls). grease a pan while your son or other pair of hands is dumping them in a 1/2 butter, 1/2 coconut oil mix and then into xylitol (or sugar) and cinnamon.
3) stack (or dump) into pan. Top with remaining butter/coconut oil.
4) bake at 350 45" or so until done. For best presentation, invert onto plate. Doesn't really matter since it won't last the night!
Sweet Pea Pilot Cap tutorial from meg, socks are all the yarn that was left after making a pair of socks for my MIL and another for Tonka. Baby boy #3's stash has officially begun to accumulate! A few more items have been finished (baby stuff takes much less time, thinking, and materials than adult things!), but I need to take a shower, and dumpster pics took forever to load this morning (which is why this post is not about them).
A pair of summery shorties, modeled by baby brodie. Super quick to knit, especially considering my last projects have all been adult socks! I also used a spool knitter for the first time since I was a kid (for the i-cord) and will never use dpn's again.
Years ago, when Tonka was getting ready to wean, my mother had some sage words: "pay attention. You never know when the last time you nurse him will be."
Moments like this afternoon, when he asks and I oblige, are precious to me and well worth documenting. I love that connection we have, and I love that Monkey's brother is a very close (ha!) part of that connection. While we sit, I relax, pray, and remember that though my boys are growing up there will soon be another newborn in my arms, and the cycle will continue.
Leather shoes are from some of my Grandma's fabric stash. Can I mention one more time how much I love her machine? went through both layers like a dream. Also pictured are a couple dozen wipes (cloth diapers: everyone's doing it), a little headband for better gender identification by strangers, and plugs. Cus you never know when you might need one.
We practiced up a bunch and look what we can do! E: the pound-for-pound challenge is back on with a vengeance. See you in September!
here's hoping they are cute enough to motivate me to finish my to-do list for the day. Floors are mopped, kitchen is next (help!). 
UPDATE: well, skinny jeans are a bit formal when yoga pants are available, but apparently posting a before pic is motivation enough to produce this: 
yay :) the only 3 things left on the counter are all for dinner (red beans and rice with cornmeal muffins)
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(or, just an excuse to play with the new post settings. FTR, I am sufficiently confused)
