We spent a lovely afternoon in Georgetown, Texas with one of our Priest's, Fr.James Martin, CSC. We would have liked to have had a remembrance ceremony earlier, but it took a very long time for the stone to be engraved and delivered. It was so kind of Fr. James to spend half of his day with us. He blessed all of us and said some lovely words, but I was distracted by the loss, the wind chimes, the wind, the cool air, the children and pain. Deciphering how I feel has been very difficult. Number Two Son told me, "I love you Momma, I'm sorry that your baby died." Number One Daughter and Number Two Son have expressed remorse for the loss and wanting another sibling. Number One Son has expressed remorse, but I'm not so sure he wants another sibling, he is a nine year old boy, after all. It is hard to be 44, knowing the statistics, and believing that my childbearing years have ended in two miscarriages. Fr. James shared that he had four siblings born to heaven and that he is looking forward to meeting them. I think about our babies every day, when we meet in Heaven one day, I'm sure I will know exactly how to feel.

Green Dip

My kids can not eat Spinach, so I usually substitute collard or turnip greens. This tastes better with turnip greens. The frozen variety we use has tiny little cubes of turnips also.
1 # bag frozen turnip greens with turnips
1 pint Daisy brand sour cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cook turnip greens according to package directions. I steam mine in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, put paper towels or a dish towel on top of the greens, while still in the colander and then weight them down to remove as much water as possible. I use a cast iron skillet and a gallon jug of water. Let the greens cool down and then transfer them to a bowl and add the sour cream, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight. We eat Green Dip with baby carrots or celery sticks and on special occasions, sweet potato chips.
I made it twice over the holidays and even the non-allergic folks ate it up. Number Two Son ate it for Christmas dinner :)