Has it really been a week?

Wow, I'm really lagging here.

Last Monday night the boys didn't sleep well. Then Tuesday night I had a lot on my mind which gave me insomnia (which is when I wrote my last post) and only got a few hours of sleep. So you can imagine my joy when my step-mom (Nana) told me she was coming to stay a few days!! She was here 3 days and was such a huge help. I got to sleep in, go on two dates with Chuck, and have a photo shoot with her at a park. It was a great visit. :)


[Nana and her boys.]

Then this weekend Chuck was playing in the praise band at church, which meant he would be busy from 12:30 PM Saturday until 1:30 PM Sunday (he plays 4 services for the church). So I took the boys and spent a night with my grandmother, Mammy. (I've written about her before in a previous post). I love visiting her. She taught me to make her delicious chocolate pie (I'll post the recipe at the end if you want it), and showed me her many beautiful flowers. The boys also loved seeing the train go by near her house. My dad, step-mom, sister and brother-in-law also stayed the night...so we had 4 generations under one roof! I wish I would've gotten a picture.


[Mammy shows me her flower.]


[My pregnant sister, Anna, running with the boys to see the train. Once I got this pic, I ran to get Chance off her hip!]


[Lone Ranger Charlie]


[My Cowboy Family...My dad, step-mom and of course, Charlie!]

By the way, Chuck said church was awesome this weekend. I wish I would've made it to a service, so Charlie could've experienced it. It was music the whole time, which I think would've held his attention. Maybe next time...

So now we're home and catching up on everything...including blogging. :) The boys' newest things: Charlie has decided to call me "Momma" instead of "Mommy." Maybe it's another effort to show how big he is, but I don't know if I like it. He is also still having some separation anxiety with Daddy. He had a breakdown when Daddy went to church and we were leaving for Mammy's house. But when we got there, he said "Yay! Mammy's house! I been missing her!" Then he asked me if I thought Daddy and Hosea (our dog) were missing him. I thought that was sweet.

And Chance learns a new word everyday, including "Kitty," "Charlie" (sounds like Cha-Ee), and "Goldfish." Chance has been cutting those last 4 front teeth, only one more to go. Other than needing tylenol a lot, he's pretty much a happy kid.

And finally, Mammy's Chocolate Pie:

preheat oven 375

2 frozen pie crusts - fork them for venting, bake them until they're tan in color

mix together:
4 tablespoons cornstarch (2/pie for choc 3/pie for cream pie)
4 tablespoons flour (2/pie)
dash of salt
1/2 cup cocoa (1/4 cup/pie)
2 cups sugar (1 cup/pie)
6 eggs (3/pie) - add yolks in, set aside the whites)
4 cups milk (2/p)

heat over medium, stirring constantly
when it begins to clump, add in:
4 tbsp butter (2/p)
2 tsp vanilla (1/p)

pour into pie crusts

beat egg whites in a mixer until stiff
then add up to 8 tbsp sugar (2-4 tbsp/pie) until mixed in, then add on top of pie