five finds friday: dutch babies & my babies all grown

It’s Friday and it’s already December and I guess that is just how it’s going.

Our tree is up – about a week early, breaking Keigley tradition in order to be sure London could decorate with us. But I have liked having the cheerful lights and the happy ornaments in the living room for an extra week.

It’s been so long since I have written a Five Finds post that I think I’m out of practice. (I had to look up what each of the five Fs were!) But you know what I am NOT out of practice doing? Giving my opinions. And that’s basically all Five Finds Friday is. (And besides, my opinions are often in low regard around my own home – so this is a nice safe place. Thank you.)

Funny

I decided at an inopportune time last week, probably late at night and when a work deadline was approaching, that it would be a good idea to conquer a job I’d been saying I’d do since summer: clean out under my bed.

While I cleaned and organized I discovered a scrapbook and spent a long time laughing and remembering.

And how did I actually have a bedroom that looked like this?

Where do I even start???

Is that an inflatable clown hanging from the ceiling fan? It is.

See that panda wall hanging? I latch hooked that. If you know what latch hooking is, you might be over forty.

There on the bench and around the room you’ll see the vintage line up – a Kid Sister doll, a sock monkey, Cabbage Patch kids, homemade Cabbage Patch kids, a Pound Puppy and original Calico Critters. Did you see the pom poms AND the nurse’s cap on the post? A nurse’s cap??

(That bench though? It’s on my porch right now!)

Fashionable

I love leggings seasons because I strongly dislike jeans.

I cannot find enough words to express my distaste for jeans.

I also love that during leggings season I can wear dresses that are shorter than other seasons because …. leggings.

Like this cute dress from Gap that I actually wore today.

Here’s what I love about wearing dresses like that one above.

I put on my base layer – black leggings, black cami top. (Like a ninja.) Then I put on this loose and comfy and very light dress on top of that.

Done.

As comfy as pjs practically, where nothing pinches or pulls or feels bad. (That’s how old I am. The age where “nothing pinching or pulling or feeling bad” is vitally important to my sense of well-being.)

And then I can choose to make it casual – Vans or hiking boots. Or I can make it look nicer – leather boots, better jewelry. You can add a jean jacket or a cute sweater. I like the lightness of it because I am HOT ALL THE TIME, thank you menopause.

Flavorful

I love to make a Dutch Baby. It looks so special – the magical puffing up in the oven makes you feel a cooking star.

We had extra apples that were on their way out and those worked perfectly to make an apple dutch baby that was so delicious.

I did use a particular recipe and now I am scouring the internets and cannot find the one I used. Which stinks. All of the ones I’m seeing have too many steps. This just had the apples melting in butter and cinnamon on the stove top before adding your eggs and flour mixture right before putting the pan in the oven.

So if you have the best apple dutch baby recipe, send it our way in the comments!

Feels

Otto wants to go fishing pretty much every minute of every day.

I don’t want to go fishing as often as that.

But I do love that boy and I try to take him fishing when I can. (He’s priced how much it would cost to add an actual pond behind our house. It’s less than you’d think.)

So last week I took Otto and his friend to Look Up Lodge to fish at their lake while I walked around the trail and through the camp to get in some good old exercise. (Of which I need LOTS more.)

We used to live at Look Up Lodge and as I walked the very familiar trail, I was almost overcome with memories. That lovely little trail around the lake was a favorite of the kids. We walked it often. Usually with magnifying glasses and nature notebooks. We’d stop and examine the bizarre mushroom that smelled like foot. We’d eat our granola bars or goldfish halfway round the lake. During the summers, kids could be entertained for hours at this simple spot.

Those were good walks. Beautiful days. And I probably knew it then and also had no idea.

Because I was tired. Because a toddler was either escaping to the water’s edge or tumbling down and scraping a knee. Because a baby was strapped to my chest in an Ergo carrier that was all the rage with moms in my circle.

Walking that trail, thinking about those little kids I used to know and spend my days with, it felt like imagining a different life. Because it was. It was a different life. A sweet and hard and exhausting and short and long season and it was mine, but it isn’t mine any longer.

Faithful

Last week while London was home we picked out our Christmas tree and even Riley and her family were able to join us.

I made the kids all pose for a photo and I keep looking at it.

I can’t believe these are all my wonderful kids.

I can’t believe that we’ve made it this far.

I can’t believe the gift I get to have to enjoy SIX humans as my own children.

Thank you, God.