Just a note for those interested: I have added on to my article about making cloth diapers from receiving blankets. :)

Our Spring has been exceptionally cool thus far. We've only recently had a few days in a row where no jacket was needed for playing outside. :) Of course, the boys hate to come indoors for anything when it's that nice outside.

I like to extend their playtime in the fresh air by serving lunch on the front porch steps.

Peanut butter and honey on wheat bread makes a quick lunch.

Doggie, who is too noisy to be used indoors, makes a good pet for sunny days. After playtime, Doggie (along with a few other toys) gets put safely away in the garage for the night. :)

We used leftover chicken meat from an oven-roasted chicken to make hot chicken sandwiches for lunch today. I served the sandwiches with asparagus and easy bread sticks.

These two plates were for Yehoshua (4) and Eliyahu (2). They eat the same amount usually, though is does seem as though their appetites are slowing down a little right now. Maybe they're finishing off that growth spurt. :)

I've been putting their food on small saucer-sized plates, as it seems to encourage them to not make a mess. They also do better about eating their food rather than picking through it, spreading it around on the plate, and then saying "I'm full. Can I have dessert?" ;)

We made a dish of easy lasagna this morning, which I'll bake this afternoon for dinner. When I put the lasagna in the oven, I'll start the dough for Italian Cheese Bread in my bread machine (on the dough cycle). When the lasagna comes out of the oven, I'll bake the bread (it only takes 12 minutes to bake!) and heat up some veggies. :)

I had two helpers with the lasagna! :) In the first picture, Yehoshua is breaking up the clumps of meat for the meat/sauce mixture (I use frozen ground beef that I already cooked with onions in it) and Eliyahu is stirring the cottage cheese mixture. :)

Yehoshua called the lasagna noodles "train tracks", and counted out three pieces each time I was ready for a layer of pasta. :)

I love making this lasagna. It's just so fun! This dish is in my fridge right now. I can't wait! :)

And now, it's nap time. Eliyahu and Ruth are already asleep, so I'd better get to sleep, too! :)

Some questions left by a recent commenter:

Your cooking is very rich. What are your thoughts on postpartum weight loss and being thin verses chubby? What are your thoughts on how media portrays beauty?

First, if you haven't already done so, you might enjoy reading my post titled Balance in Eating from a couple months ago. :) That post sort of explains our typical diet, which might not be quite as lavish as initially appears from the many recipes here. ;)

I am not what I would consider particularly thin, but I am also not considered overweight according to charts. Since weight and size varies so much from person to person, I'll just say that I am at the very top of what is considered a healthy weight for my height.

Of course, true healthiness isn't about certain numbers on the scale, and I actually don't weigh myself very often at all, since doing so only reminds me of what the scale used to say when I was 18... which was a considerably smaller number. I've found that doing things to be healthy (exercising, drinking lots of water, eating good foods, etc.) and not focusing on my weight is the best way for me to keep a good perspective on things! :)

I know thin people and chubby people who are unhealthy. I also know thin people as well as chubby people who are very healthy. Exercise and diet are far more important than a clothing size or a number on the scales.

About postpartum weight loss -- I think any weight loss should be done in a healthy manner. Not too quickly, and with exercise and healthy eating as the focus.

I was going to write out all my thoughts about postpartum weight loss, but found this article which pretty much covers everything. :) I personally don't worry about or try to lose weight until my baby is at least a couple months old. And no, I'm not one of those people who just lose all the extra weight without some effort. ;)

How the media portrays beauty? I haven't seen much true beauty in mainstream media. I am thankful that my husband sees me as beautiful just like I am. And honestly, we rarely expose ourselves to modern secular media outside of the news (which we read online). :)

My friend Mary has a great well-written post on her blog -- a (hospital) birth story from her perspective as a doula. Joshua, who is accustomed to my childbirth ramblings, read the post as well. ;) I'm so grateful for a husband who not only puts up with the subjects that interest me, but jumps right in with me! :)

I appreciated Jesse Paine's post about the California Court of Appeal's recent decision regarding home education. It's well worth your time to read it if you haven't already done so! Joshua and I both signed the HSLDA petition, as well.

Even if you haven't personally chosen to homeschool, it's vitally important that parents retain their rights to educate their own children! Personal convictions aside, home education is statistically a great choice for academic reasons.

As parents, we value our right to make decisions regarding raising and educating our children, and for us, that includes not heading off to a school building for 8 hours every day.

I loved this article about ways to include our children in the kitchen. You all should know by now how exciting it is to me to be able to include my little ones in more and more of our day-to-day doings, and yes -- a lot of our day is spent in the kitchen! :)

I mentioned once that Eliyahu keeps taking Yehoshua's jobs. Here are some of Yehoshua's newer jobs:

I use this weekly vitamin dispenser, so that I only have to open my vitamin bottles once a week and not daily. I have been having Yehoshua sort and fill the dispenser for me. Of course, I supervise him the entire time he does this, since I don't want him to eat any, or drop any on the floor for Eliyahu to find. :)

Another job that requires close supervision, but is oh-so-fun for a 3-year-old boy: using a screw driver to tighten the handles on my pans. That has always been a bothersome/neglected job in my kitchen, so it's quite handy to have a helper to do it for me! :)

The article I mentioned above gave me a few new ideas for Yehoshua. Ziplock bags, greasing pans, and washing dishes... those should be fun projects to learn! :)

Today started out rather emotionally for me, for no apparent reason (well, besides the fact that I'm a woman, I gave birth a few weeks ago, and I only got 4 hours of sleep last night!).

I explained it to Yehoshua.

"Moms need hugs. In fact, the more children they have, the more hugs they need. So you and Daddy and Eliyahu and Ruth all need to give Mommy lots of hugs, okay?"

Some hugs, an attitude adjustment, and a nice afternoon nap (in that order!) made the rest of our day much more pleasant. :)

There's something about having a new baby that inspires me to do a little re-focusing. I get to slow down for a few weeks (thanks to the help of many family members and friends... along with all the preparations I made beforehand!) and I get to do some extra thinking. I had some areas of my life that definitely needed to be simplified... a few things that have gone out the window all together... and some things that I just needed a nudge to be more efficient about!

Breastfeeding is, and has always been, such a great blessing to me... because I get to sit (or lay) down every couple of hours (or more often!) and just hold my baby and relax. Okay, so sometimes I'm also reading stories to my boys, or jumping up to get Eliyahu out of trouble, but still... breastfeeding makes me relax.

I am just loving being a mommy. Having a new baby reminded me again of how quickly each day passes... and what a blessing it is to enjoy each moment to the fullest. I love holding Ruth... the boys and I all fight over who gets to hold her all day. ;) And Yehoshua just melts my heart when he says to me, "Mom, Ruth is so beautiful."

So... we're feeling pretty blessed around here. And it's not so much that things in our life have changed, but that our Heavenly Father is changing us... showing us His blessings and causing us to see how good He is.