The house is relatively quiet with several of the children taking naps and Elijah sleeping on my lap. Life certainlyhas been interesting these days. Elijah is slowly leaving his baby newborn stage, which almost makes me sad,yet it’s such a blessing to see him healthy and growing! He certainly is a plump little one now and still has hismop of dark brown hair. We thoroughly enjoy his sweet smiles, as well as the cooing he just started with.

Six-month-old Jesse definitely adds his own ray of sunshine in our lives. Most of the time, he is just burstingwith smiles and even giggles. A lot of his waking times are spent jumping in his jumper here in the living room.He really is a little pro at it by now. As he gets excited when we talk to him, he jumps all the more. His hair isexactly opposite of Elijah’s. He has a tiny sprinkle of blond hair complementing his big blue eyes. Isn’t itamazing how each child is so perfectly designed in its own unique way? At any rate, we love them all, exactlyhow God created them!

Rayni (22 months) is really getting to be a chatterbox around here. We speak English to her, which is her mothertongue, but then Dutch the remainder of the time. Amazing how her sharp little brain is picking up both!Recently she voluntarily used a Dutch word for the first time as she called for Julia, saying, “Cumm (come) Julia!”She has a very sunny disposition (most of the time!). In our way of thinking, her curly brown hair and biracialskin color just tops her off! She is a very dramatic person when it comes to telling stories, some of which we canunderstand and some we can’t. She excitedly waves her arms, pointing here and there, then just bursts out inpeals of laughter at her own story!

Austin (3) is still all boy. While he loves playing with the babies, he needs constant reminders of being “a littlemore careful.” One of his favorite activities these days is playing “farm” with Dawdys’ (Grandpa’s) brand newfarm set, complete with a big barn, a selection of farm animals such as horses, cows, pigs and sheep. He is alsogetting to be my helper when it comes to picking up toys, clearing the table or helping me with cleaning, whichis always a treat for him.

Julia is my little lady. At six years old, she loves helping me in the kitchen, helping me prepare food or helpingme decide what we want to make for lunch, which she really enjoys. She is also good at setting the table,washing dishes, hanging up laundry and folding it. Of course, she is still young, so we try to ration the jobsaccordingly. Last night after supper, I told them that for a treat, I’ll do the dishes by myself if they’ll help Daddysing for me. They were all in. Before long their voices blended in song as they were singing, “Praise him forMama dear…” Ah, bless their dear hearts. I just had to dry my hands and go give them each a hug!

As you can hear, we enjoy our family a lot, but let me assure you, we also have what I call “mother moments,”such as those nights where we are awake every hour, or the times we have squabbles to settle, noses to wipe orteething babies to care for.

This week, I told Julia she can pick what recipe we want to put in the column. She chose the cookie recipe shehelped her Aunt Mary with when Mary was helping at our house right after Elijah’s birth.

MOLASSES CRINKLE COOKIES

3/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup sorghum or molasses

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger, optional

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, optional

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup white sugar, optional

CARAMEL FROSTING

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

Powdered sugar

Cookies: Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, sorghum, and soda mixture. Blend together well. Add dryingredients except white sugar. Mix well. Chill a couple hours, then shape into balls. Put 1/2 cup white sugar ina bowl and roll cookies in sugar (rolling in sugar is optional. I don’t, just to cut down on sugar intake). Place ongreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Don’t overbake. After cooled, put togethersandwich-style with frosting in the middle.

Frosting: Melt butter, add brown sugar, bring to a boil and add milk and salt. Boil a few minutes, then removefrom heat, cool slightly, then add powdered sugar till desired consistency is reached.