CAT | Family
We celebrated Audrey’s birthday twice. We were planning a party for her later in the week but still wanted to celebrate on her actual birthday. Kate, with Grant and Norah’s help, made and decorated a cake.
Grant and Norah decorated the cake (with help from Mom)
Candles are fun!
Good to the last crumb!
Instead of a birthday party this year, we gave Grant a trip to St. Louis on Amtrak. We left 2 days after his birthday after waking up at 6 to catch the train in Elgin.
Grant and I after boarding the Metra train for the first leg of our trip, Elgin to Chicago Union Station.
Waving goodbye to the womenfolk as the train pulls away from the station.
After boarding the Amtrak train in Chicago. The business class area was nice, with spacious seats, power outlets, and dedicated restroom 
Mugging for the camera.
We packed our lunch. Mom even stuck a few Amtrak napkins in our bag!
Grant watching as we pass another Amtrak train at speed.
Two thumbs up for the lunch Mom made for us.
Trying to rest. It took quite awhile for Grant to relax and fall asleep since the train was so exciting.
Finally out.
Grant and the Gateway Arch.
Our train at the St. Louis station.
More in the next installment, coming soon!
Before I left for my CISSP prep class earlier this month, I saw cheap heavy cream at the grocery store. Cheap, as in 50 cents a quart cheap. I had always wanted to make butter at home one day, so I figured that the cheap cream was a sign and we bought a few cartons.
We used the KitchenAid to make our butter. Here’s what we did:
Here is what we started with: 3 quarts of heavy cream and a mixer.
Using the whisk attachment on the mixer, we whipped the cream to a stiff peaks state and then kept an eye on the bowl as the mixture started to “break” into small butter globules and buttermilk.
After pouring off the buttermilk, this is what was left. At this point, the is still quite a bit of liquid in the butter. If left alone, that liquid will so sour and ruin the butter. The easiest way to remove the liquid in question is to fill the bowl with cold water and knead the butter until the water runs clear. I had to replace the water in the bowl several times before this happened.
At this point, my hands were getting tired from all the kneading.
Since we wanted to use this butter for eating/cooking, we added the appropriate amount of salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt for every 4 ounces of butter) and portioned it into 8 ounce “sticks”.
We wrapped our freshly made butter in wax paper and stashed it in the deep freeze.
We also froze the buttermilk (after straining any errant butter globules out) and have used it to make some killer pancakes in the weeks since.
For our $1.50 purchase of cream, we got 8 sticks (2 lbs) of butter and a quart of buttermilk. Score!
I highly recommend doing this at least once! The resulting butter is great and tastes marvelous on homemade bread or anything else you use butter for.
My, how time flies. I can hardly believe that 5 years have passed since I became a dad. These have been some of the best years of my life. Every day is an adventure!
My prayer today:
Lord, I thank you for my children and for the blessing of being a father. Today, on Grant’s fifth birthday, I take a moment to thank you for the gift of Grant. Thank you for his safe delivery, infancy and toddlerhood. Thank you for protecting him during his preschool years. Thank you for drawing him to yourself and to me. Thank you for building strong and precious bonds between me and my son. Lord, continue to build and strengthen Grant’s relationship with You and with me. Keep him safe and healthy. Surround him with godly friends and role models. Amen
Grant, I love you more than I could ever explain in words. You are my son, my firstborn child, and an awesome big brother to your sisters. You are so special to me, more than you will ever know. Happy 5th birthday my boy!
We had a fun time celebrating Grant’s 5th birthday. Kate gave him the choice to either go out to dinner and make a cake at home or to have dinner at home and get a cake of his choice from a store. He chose to have his favorite dinner (cheeseburgers, sweet potatoes) at home and wanted a Costco cake (blank, so Mom could decorate it with a train theme). Kate did a great job decorating the cake.
His primary gift from us this year was an overnight trip to Saint Louis on Amtrak. We’d never ridden Amtrak before, so it was going to be an adventure!
Step 1: Observe as Audrey drops the singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer toy on the kitchen floor and watch his head fall off!
Step 2 (optional): Laugh hysterically while the kids are grieving the loss.
We’ve been having an abundance of snow the last few weeks here in Northern IL. Grant and Norah have been enjoying playtime in the snow and we’ve been able to go sledding a few times at the “big hill”.
Having fun on the playset
It was really snowing!
Norah facing downhill, Grant facing uphill.
Before we hit the slope.
Grant had fun pushing Norah on the sled.
Finally! They can walk up the hill and carry the sled themselves! Hallelujah!
The pictures don’t show how small this box was. I couldn’t believe Norah could fit herself in there like that.
It can be easy to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas that we miss the joy and hope that this season is supposed to bring. One of the things we decided to do last year was to consciously scale down the Christmas gift giving and keep it simple. We (and the kids) already have so much and sometimes we just feel silly trying to find space for yet another toy when there are so many people who have trouble meeting their basic needs. This year we were all about more Christ, less mess.
Spurred by an idea Kate heard from a good friend, the kids each got 3 gifts like baby Jesus. They are usually pretty good about not wanting much anyway, so it was fun to watch them open their gifts on Christmas morning and see the excitement in their eyes. As for gifts for others, we made homemade Orange Marmalade, Apple Caramel Jam, and shortbread cookies. It was a lot of fun to work on making the gifts instead of buying them.
The kids woke up later than usual on Christmas morning (Miracles DO Happen!)
Our perennially happy Audrey
Grant decided that he should “pose” with his new GeoTrax set.
We got Norah a chest full of dress-up clothes. This is one of the outfits.
This is probably Grant’s favorite gift. He saw this helicopter at Costco a few months ago and could hardly believe his eyes when he unwrapped it on Christmas morning. One of the day’s highlights for sure.
The table, set for Christmas dinner.
Uncle Jerid, Auntie Em, and Kennah at dinner.
The Petro Family Christmas
Aunt Jaime picked a GREAT White Elephant gift from the pile!
Aunt Annie made some rockin’ cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
30 hours for train videos. wow. Not sure life gets any better for a young boy who LOVES trains.
I love how this picture captures the motion and the moment.
Norah had quite a bit of fun with this bow. She’ can be quite the goofball!
Norah, loving on Aunt Jaime.
I like the perspective on this shot.
Bear even came down to visit from MN!
Hannah Gray wrapped up in her new blanket from Aunt Jaime.
Audrey thought her blanket was tasty!
Hannah Gray signing “thank you”. She’s a sweetie!
Norah and her doll in their new matching jammies Nana made.
Grant works on putting the easel together with Papa.
Auntie Annie had fun putting every single hair clip and bow in Norah’s hair.
Homemade ice cream sandwiches. Mmmm.
