All the Buzz About Bees

You saw this one coming, didn't you? 

The last couple of weeks, our storybook-a-day has evolved into a rabbit trail of honeybee books. I dug out all out bee books in anticipation of going to meet Ginny's new bees. We read them all and then Katie and Nicky have spent time drawing diagrams and dictating narrations.

The highlight of all of this research, of course, was seeing those bees! They're rather mesmerizing. I can't stop thinking about them. Ginny has much better pictures than my iPhone pictures here. And, we looked for the queen when we were there but couldn't spot her. It was pretty exciting to see these pictures of the queen sighting.

I'm doing a little reading of my own, mostly websites just now, looking to see if there's any possiblity of bees in my own backyard. In the combox on Monday, someone begged me to read Fruitless Fall. Leslie, you'll be happy to know it has been auto-delivered wirelessly to my Kindle. If I read this book and I have to move because i can't bear to be without bees, it's on you;-)

Here are the books in our Bee Basket:

The Life and Times of the Honeybee

The Honeymakers

Are You a Bee?

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive

The Bee Tree

Honey In a Hive

For more about our Storybook Year, read here. And, there are Storybook Science books, from A-Z, linked here, scroll down on the lefthand side. 

Now, tell me all about your bees, your neighbor's bees, the bees you used to have, the bees you wish you had, bee books for all ages...

Family Recipes: Banana Pudding

I offer this recipe to you with a bit of trepidation. I haven't personally eaten it all together. I tasted parts of it, but definitely not the whole. I'm not a fan of Nilla Wafers. And bananas? I've never really liked bananas. 

One day, when I was about eight, that changed. I learned to hate bananas. I was on a Girl Scout campout and there was nothing I liked for breakfast. So I ate a banana just because I disliked cereal more than I disliked bananas. Shortly after eating the banana, my face and mouth began to swell.

I was rushed to the hospital, pumped full of epinephrine, chased by Benadryl. 

And sent home. 

No one would let me go back to camp. They never said bananas were the culprit. But I hate them to this day.

All that said, my husband is a huge fan of banana pudding. Loves, loves, loves it. And he told my friend Mindy the other day that he really wished I'd make it for him. Big, brown, pitiful puppy dog eyes.

I did some research and tinkered a bit and came up with the following recipe. Mike declared it the best banana pudding EVER. And he's taste-tested all over the country. He was still talking about it four days later. With that stamp of approval, I offer it to you, even though there's no chance I'm quality-checking it myself.

Banana Pudding

• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 5-ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 16 ounces heavy whipping cream
• 4 ripe banana
• 1 box of Nilla Wafers

Whip the whipping cream until you have soft peaks and set aside. You can sweeten it a little if you like, but I didn't.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese until perfectly smooth and fluffy. Beat in the condensed milk. When that is smooth, beat in the whole milk, the extract, and the pudding mix until it is all incorporated and smooth. It will thicken a little more after sitting.

Line the bottom of a 9X13 inch glass pan with a single layer of Nilla Wafers. Add a layer of sliced bananas on top.

Gently fold half the whipped cream into the pudding mixture.

Gently spread the pudding mixture on top of the bananas.

Push Nilla Wafers vertically along the side of the pan.

Top the pudding with the remainder of the whipped cream.

If your children haven't yet polished off the remainder of the Nilla Wafers, make crumbs of them and sprinkle on top.

Refrigerate until serving time.

Serves 12 nicely.

I'm told it's top-notch for breakfast the next day.

A Promise to Fear Not

Do you have a fear, something you think about way too often, something your family knows not to mention? You're not proud of it and you try to dispel it, but there it is. I'm writing about fear today at MomHeart. And yes, actually, the picture goes with the fear. Sort of.

Please stop by and talk with us there.

I'll be back here later to post about banana pudding. Right now, I'm searching desperately for bananas and wondering about my midnight snackers.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Hurry! Hurry! Now that Joy has done the amazing re-design here, we've freed up some space for additional sponsors. I meant to get this news out last week or the week before, but I dropped the ball. So, since I just realized that tomorrow's May already, I can't very well charge you for that whole month, can I? 

If you agree to sponsor this blog for the summer months--June, July, and August--May's on me! If you hurry, we can get you all set up tomorrow or the next day. That means, you get the whole month of May for free. And May is a 31 day month:-)

Sponsors here have been very happy and I'm very happy to have them. I love to share them with my readers and I'm so excited about introducing you to some new folks (or some new ventures for old friends) in the next few days.

Give me a shout at intheheartofmyhome AT gmail DOT com to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.

In the Moment on Monday Morning

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I've been keeping a close eye on weather charts for the last week. The front beds are all planted and we did cover tender new plants with sheets one night. The man who sells me my tomatoes and herbs is very serious about temperatures and over the years he's made a believer of me. So I'm waiting on the vegetable garden. I think we might be in the clear today. I'm looking very forward to a trek to DeBaggio's.

::listening to 

Sarah and Katie discussing the fine art of oatmeal preparation.

::clothing myself in 

Jeans, a sweatshirt, and very worn tennis shoes. I have got my eye on these. What do you think? Dansko all year 'round and in every situation?

::giving thanks for

a beautiful Confirmation for Stephen.

::talking with my children about these books

Since I'm going to share my own reading on Thursdays at needle and thREAD, I thought I'd share some reading from the children's choices. {not much has changed since last week:)}

Mary Beth is binge reading through the John Paul 2 High School fiction series and enjoying it. 

Stephen has begun Lord of the Rings, part of a course on Lewis and Tolkein.

Patrick is reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

And Katie has a series of her own going. After having literally memorized huge chunks fo the Little House books, she's reading the Anne Pellowski series. She's utterly captivated. She knows that she comes from Polish roots and the combination of Polish culture and Catholic references are truly endearing to her. 

Sarah is reading Crafty Chloe to her dolls a million times a day.

::pondering prayerfully

How happy I was when my father entered the house in the evening! He seldom could come home at noon. He would take me in his arms, kiss me, and [play with] me before his supper, although he then must have been quite worn out with his day's toil. I was his idol. He would spend hours playing with me and answering my endless questions. His greatest joy was to procure pleasant surprises: a walk, or a trip, some little present, a rosary, a statue, some toy or piece of jewelry. Speaking of the latter, the first I remember were a tiny golden heart and a little cross. A heart, symbol of the gift of my own to Jesus, and of my love for Him, and a cross: emblem of Jesus' love for me.

....
How I thank my good parents for having loved me in the true sense of the word, for real love supposes correction of faults, what should I have become, left to my pride, my stubbornness, my whims and fancies, my mischievous tricks? No doubt I should have developed into a sulky, unbearable child, all the more so as I was brought up without the salutary contact of other children. Later on, I should have been unable to agree with anybody, or get on without making those around me suffer. My God, I thank Thee for having given me parents who taught me to obey.
~Blessed Dina Belanger of Quebec

   

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Now that the prayer rhythm feels really firm and utterly natural, it's time to nail the chore rhythm for the new season. I know that the more we have that is routine, the more those functions are planned and plotted and practiced, the fewer eveyday decisions I have. And I know that the fewer the decisions, the less the stress. I'm highly motivated to diminish needless stressors.

::creating by hand

I definitely did not hit the mark on the Elsie Marley  Kids Clothes Week Challenge. I got a little sewing done last week, but not nearly what I'd hoped to do. This week is much mellower calendar-wise. I have twirly skirts to finish and then I'm going to trace for some sundresses.  

Anyone out there who can advise on sizing for the Lisette patterns by Leisl Gibson? Kristin and I were looking at measurements on the pattern cover and it's hard to have confidence to cut fabric for a size that seems so much bigger than ready-to-wear sizes. 

::learning lessons in

Gardening. I am admittedly inspired and a bit envious of what Ruth has done here. I'd just about given up on the idea that I could make rural dreams come true in suburbia. She's revised hope in that dream. I wonder how long I could raise bees before my neighbors would complain? I've been obsessed with the idea of bees since this visit last week. Even Mike--who's not so much into the urban (or anyplace else) farm idea--agreed that the bees are way cool. I've lifted my self-imposed book buying ban. I feel a binge coming;-)

::encouraging learning 

This week we begin a math co-op with my friend Linda. Linda is a mathmatical genius. I'm hoping it will rub off on my children. For my part, I just have to teach hers to knit. I can do that; this plan is a good one.

::begging prayers

for all the people who have joined our weekend prayer community. I carried your requests with me to Mass and I will keep a candle lit for you throughout the week.

:keeping house

Now that the calendar has settled a bit, I'm looking at tackling the basement again. I pretty much want every room in the house to have the same order as the little girls' closet. I mean to make it that way and drag all these children along with me. 

::crafting in the kitchen 

I made banana pudding last week. We were out with friends after soccer and Mike and my friend Mindy were rhapsodizing over banana pudding. I abhor bananas, but the look on his face while he talked about pudding made me resolve to scout a good recipe. I did a little research and came up with my own. I will share with you tomorrow;-).

::loving the moments

when Nicholas served Confirmation Mass. His sweet face was just so earnest and he could barely contain his delight when he got to hold the Bishops' crozier during the homily. I so wish I had a picture.

::living the liturgy

We have begun to use 33 Days to Morning Glory with all my kids this week, in preparation for Marian Consecration on the Feast of the Visitation. Also in the plans for this lovely month of May: new handmade rosaries for everyone. I've ordered nearly all the necessary beads and parts. Admittedly, I've been gathering for several years now, but I think we're nearly ready to begin to make heirlooms. 

::planning for the week ahead

There is nothing pressing this week. The idea makes me giddy.

All pictures this week are from my iPhone.Would you good iPhone folks share with me your ideas on uploading and "phone camera dumping?"

I love Instagram for editing, but I'm not real keen on publishing every single thing as I go to Instagram. I did find Followgram--pretty cool. It looks like Followgram makes it possible for even non-iPhone people to play along with Instagram following. Mary Beth is bothered by this--she thinks Instagram should be just for iPhones and those pictures should only be visible on a phone screen. She says she's a purist. I think she's being exclusive. Hmmm...

And,  I fight the rising panic as I report this and wonder if you've ever had a such a thing happen: I was going through my camera roll, emailing pictures from my phone to my computer so I could post them here and suddenly, my camera went black. I can see everything else on my phone, but when I click the camera icon, nothing but black. Your thoughts? I have only one confirmation picture elsewhere, so I'm really hoping those photos aren't lost.

My MacBook isn't working. The mousepad is completely unresponsive. I've sort of let going into the Apple store slide a bit--the last couple of weeks, my phone has kept me wired just enough. But if I have to take my iPhone in and I have no computer...

well, if you don't hear from me, it's all on Steve Jobs.