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Belly Buttons & Lemon Meringue Pie

Only in my house can these two completely separate items be brought together!

Is it just me, or is time flying? It’s been over a month since I last blogged. A month! It doesn't feel that long. I had thought that when my class ended (Last class. WOO-HOO!) I would have time for all sorts of awesomeness…and by awesomeness I mean catching-up on all the cleaning and organizing that needs to be in my house. Not so. With the end of the school year craziness (and never-ending basement renovations), life has been non-stop. Anyone else experiencing this? I bet. My favorite cashier at the grocery store (I have a favorite cashier. Miss Mary Grace. She is wonderful!) told me that when her now-grown sons turned eight, life flew by in a blink. That just scares me.

Last Monday was Memorial Day. The holiday weekend gave Pierre and me a chance to catch-up on some outside business. I planted the garden and flower beds while Pierre pressured-washed, well, everything. To celebrate the unofficial start to summer, the boys and I took some time out in the afternoon to bake a lemon meringue pie. Don’t you just love lemon meringue? So easy to bake, and so summery to eat. I found this recipe for Grandma's Lemon Meringue Pie from allrecipes.com and made it with a graham cracker crust. Delicious! Just the right amount of tart, sweet and lemony goodness. My one recommendation? Refrigerate your pie before serving. I didn’t have the time before dinner, and the crust was a little soggy. It was much better the next day after being cooled in the fridge overnight.

Ben was all about helping out. In our house, helping to bake is the best way to get to eat! And you know what? He did a stellar job zesting and squeezing out the juice.

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Not the best picture of Ben, but he was a great helper.

Nicholas had been outside, helping Pierre with the pressure-washing. When he wandered into the kitchen, he just had to help with the pie. Now, since Pierre had been working shirt-less (cue wolf-whistle!) Nicholas was too. Little boys love to be as naked as possible. We go through a lot of sunscreen.

Benjamin, however, was not impressed with his brother’s kitchen attire. No shirt, no service??

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“Nicholas,” Ben said, giving his brother a look of distain, “You have a belly-button.”

Nicholas was nonplussed, “Benjamin, everyone has a belly-button.”

Ben realized that he wasn’t getting his point across, so he replied, “I know Nicholas, but I can’t see everyone’s belly-button. I can see yours!”

Point taken. Nicholas got a shirt. Sometimes, I love listening to the boys’ conversations with each other. They crack me up. Other times, they make me want to pull my hair out at the roots.

In other news, this fuzzy beast got a haircut:

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I think he looks like a naked chicken with scrawny toothpick legs. I miss my fluffy puppy, but I don’t miss all the mulch and helicopters that he had been dragging into the house. My vacuum was perpetually clogged.

And, look who showed up in my flower bed yesterday:

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Gorgeous, isn’t he (or she)? I called our local nature preserve to ask what to do about out little visitor. They advised leaving the baby alone. Apparently, momma deer will drop their babies in a safe spot for the day, then come back to feed them in the evening (um, guess that doesn’t work for human mommies, eh?). I love, LOVE that my flower bed was a safe spot. 

Gotta go feed the boys. Anyone else feel like feeding their children is a sun-up-to-sun-down-all-day-long-never-ending process (or should I say son-up-to-son-down)?  I can’t seem to fill them up! Forget about saving for college, I need to save for groceries.

More to come (I promise, Grandma) including all about our trip to Disney and tips for your own magical vacation!

Now, go make some lemon meringue.

xo Naomi

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