you're still here??

Congratulations to you for checking if I have finally written a new blog post -- six months since my last!!

I had a baby 3 months ago. I will show you pictures...soon.

I received the world's greatest hair flat iron for Christmas.

The kids were in a homeschoool play.

Adam built a castle for a princess's birthday party because he is the best dad and husband ever.

It snowed in October, but was 79 degrees last week.

There. I think we are all caught up now.

not over yet

I loved summer.

It flew by.

But I think I enjoyed it as much as I could.

(And at the end of everyday I was so very tired that all I could think about was sleeping. So the blog just sat here; undisturbed, but not forgotten because my husband will often remind me how I haven't posted anything lately.)

Even though we started school in the beginning of August, and today begins September, my summer isn't over yet. Our little pool is still up and providing afternoon fun. The grass is still growing like crazy. And there is still some beach in my future. The official first day of Autumn is three weeks away, and I am happy about that.

The baby's arrival is about 100 days away and I am happy about that too. Happy because 100 days means I don't have to wait so very long to meet her, but 100 days also means I have that many more days to finish up all those things that "have" to be done before it's baby-time.

And I do want to catch up on this blog, only because at the beginning of the year when I was posting more regularly I was excitedly planning to have my blog printed out at the end of the year into a book as a sort of family scrapbook, and if I do that now, the book will have some rather large voids even though the year was filled. So here's hoping that I can catch up. Though as I recall, I was hoping to catch up on the blog when I was pregnant with Lizzie too...and that never happened. Oh, well.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy every last drop of summer these next weeks provide. Love the sun, the smells, and the fresh veggies while they are still around. I know I will.

practically empty

I have no creative juices lately. None. Especially none to blog.

Lately my mind has been filled with the practical.

Like figuring out a plan to really, truly get my house cleaned, even if it is only every two weeks.

And how to make the chore routine run more smoothly with less nagging.

And how to adjust my schedule (which I was getting pretty fond of) to the change Lizzie is making from two naps to one.

And how to be a better friend.

And how to remember to pray for those people who need prayers.

And how to be filled with love and joy so that I don't ever yell at my kids.

And how to make sure I am giving Katie enough time since she is sandwiched between the homeschooler and the baby.

And how to make a ladybug cake.

Well, the last one, once the practical side is all figured out, just may get the creative juices flowing.

And then maybe I will be back with more posts, that may or may not include a photo of a ladybug cake with a 4 candle on it.

Which gets me thinking about how quickly four years goes by.

But that kind of thinking makes me cry, so I'll stop that.




Hope you are having a blessed week.

equals

Today = great

because

Weather = beautiful

Windows = open

Walk at the park = refreshing

Kids = hyper :)

Teaching Joey to use a sewing machine = memorable

The pillow he sewed for Bear = adorable

Washed bedding hung outside = much better smelling than before

Dinner = yummy

Adam = my favorite (grown-up) person to have dinner with

Dishes = done

Tomorrow = Friday with a forecast of more spring weather

Blessings = so very many

what will you do this year?

I have been thinking about what goals I would like to make for the new year (since it is already the seventh, and I better set my goals soon or January will be over). Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you tell people your resolutions or keep them privately to yourself?

I read this devotional this week about keeping your goals to yourself. It challenged me to consider my motives if/when I do share my goals or resolutions on this blog. Whose thoughts am I really considering when I share my goals? Do I just want to talk about my goals, or am I willing to seriously work at them?

There are so many resolutions I could make: as a child of God, a wife, a mother, a homemaker, homeschooler, friend...
I am so flawed, sometimes resolutions can seem daunting. But change, purpose, direction, and goals are good.

I need to resolve to be resolute in my resolutions. :)
2011 can be a success. I have 358 days left to make it so.

-----------

So, all that being said, I will share one goal (besides to take down my Christmas tree before the end of January).

I want to cook or bake at least one new recipe every week. Maybe two; I can't decide.

It figures that one of my 2011 resolutions has to do with food. I can't help myself -- I just love to eat!

See, here's the deal: I really love cooking and baking, and I am a cookbook lover as well -- I can spend hours just paging through a cookbook, and reading recipes, and dreaming about all the things in the world I have never tasted. But I still find myself in cooking ruts since I can be lazy. I need to stop reading all these recipes and just cook some of them already! So my hope is to stretch and grow my kitchen repertiore (without stretching and growing myself).

My mother-in-law gave me a subscription to Vegetarian Times, and while I am in no way a vegetarian, it is a great resource for cooking outside the steamed broccoli and frozen peas box. On Thursday I cooked up a recipe in the January/February '11 issue for a Baked Leek and Sweet Potato Gratin.

Confession: I have never before in my life ever bought or cooked leeks.
The result: a very yummy, savory application for sweet potatoes.

While I dress them up with mounds of sugar and butter and pecans for holidays, on an everyday basis I just bake sweet potatoes whole and serve with butter or honey. This recipe was very different from the usual and made me buy and try a new veggie. The leeks and garlic in the dish played so well with the sweetness of the potatoes, and I really enjoyed it.
---------

So while I may blog about some of the new recipes I try, I think I will heed the advice in that devotional and acknowledge the wisdom of God's Word and keep the rest of my goals and resolutions to myself. I don't want to let pride or a false sense of accomplishment get in the way of what I need to do. Nor do I want to get any of the glory that belongs to God.

I hope your new year is one of thriving in Him!

trying

I am trying to fool around with blogger a bit so I can post bigger photos, and I am also trying to learn how to do a few other things so it might look weird here. Not that they have ever been normal.

Html is a whole new language, and I don't have computer smarts.
I am not sure what smarts I have anymore.
I make really yummy chewy granola bars, so maybe I have granola smarts.
At least you can eat my smarts. No one has ever called html code delicious.

just perfect

May was truly a super month. So many celebrations, milestones, birthdays - lots of good times and joy, joy, joy! Maybe soon I will tell you all about them. Was your May fabulous too?

one more weird thing

This pregnancy, if I read a recipe I think I will enjoy, I cannot stop thinking about it until I make it. About a month ago I found a recipe for lemon iced pumpkin cookies, and it bothers me that my can of pumpkin sitting in the pantry has still not become those cookies.

Last Monday I made the recipe for Cranberry Sauce that was in the previous day's Parade magazine because I just had to know how a cranberry sauce with apricot preserves and chopped dried apricots would compare to my other cranberry sauce recipes. I loved it. I actually think it is my new favorite cranberry sauce. Adam loved it too.

I also made Caramel Crispix mix last week, which satisfied my caramel cereal mix curiosity (and stuffed my belly), and today I made Pumpkin Banana Bread that has been on my mind since Thursday. It was from the November o8 issue of the no-longer-published Country Home magazine that I paged through while Joey was working on something for school. The bread was very yummy, and Joey was pleased that it had no nuts. It does not matter how finely I chop walnuts in the food processor, any nut particle at all ruins his quick bread enjoyment.

There is a recipe in last month's Better Home and Garden for Pumpkin Corn Bread that is still haunting me. My lack of masa harina prevents me. I am not sure what else I would make with the remaining masa harina and cannot yet justify its purchase.

But do you see a trend in the type of recipes I must make. Sugar! Sweet! Must bake!

I need to start reading some recipes for salads.

my garage

My garage has been a mess forever. I bought a shelving/workbench unit when we first moved in, and placed things on its many surfaces, but the workbench has been just a big heaping mess for quite a while now. We had put into place no way to hang the garden tools and fishing rods and ladders and all the other garage stuff.

Yesterday we attacked with all our might and got it done. Pegboard up, additional fishing supplies shelf hung, 2x4s screwed into the wall to hang garden tools, work bench cleared, garbage disposed of, floors swept, mouse droppings removed, all done.

But this post is not about how clean my garage is, but is instead about what a dork I am because I do believe I have gone out in the garage and looked at the finished product no less than ten times. Just to look, and stare, and behold what is a project that will last for more than five minutes, two hours, overnight.

Dishes -- never done. Laundry -- never done. Cleaning -- never done. But my garage is done. That feels really good.

all is well

Hello.

I still want to blog, but all my brain power is either sucked away by the sweet little baby growing inside me or by the new task of homeschooling.

We started two weeks ago, and I have started this blog to journal our little homeschooling journey. Well, we'll see how long I keep it up.

I will still post here. I think. Maybe.

Hope you are having a great Monday. I need to go make dinner now. Parmesan crusted chicken - the recipe off of the Hellman's jar. If you haven't made it, you should. It is yummy, I promise.

one tomato

It is times like these, when posting a photo of the first tomato picked from my garden, that I realize what a dork I am.

a new week

Today I am digging out from under the layer of mess that is spread over just about every room of my house. Last week was vacation for our family, a vacation at home with lots of family fun, and I didn't cook all week - yay! There is a big change in our family right now, and I will (hopefully, probably) tell you all about it soon, but not today because I must remove much filth, and I promised Joey we would start doing "school" again and he is not letting me forget it. I hope you have a terrific Monday with this beautiful summer weather.

Ta-ta!

a day off and other stuff from inside my brain

My mom is taking care of Joey and Katie today, so I have the day off. I had a doctor appointment this morning which presented the opportunity to see the new baby again. Yay! There was one view where I could see all five of the little fingers on the right hand. I love seeing the fingers and toes. I think they are the best part of an ultrasound. The baby is so tiny, it is amazing how tiny those little toes and fingers are!

It was my first appointment with my new doctor, and I liked him, so that was a blessing. He was very friendly and able to joke with me (especially when I told him he can't yell at me when I get big and fat because I always lose the weight after I have the babies).

After that, I took myself shopping, in search of a brown shirt to go with a skirt I got at Ross a couple weeks ago. I found the perfect shirt at Ann Taylor Loft, but it was $39, and well, I just don't pay $39 for a shirt, so I will have to keep searching. I would like a shirt with buttons, in a cute, feminine style, with short sleeves of any sort, so if anybody sees anything like that let me know. (You see, I really don't like the hunt, so I will take any assistance I can get.)

Then I took myself out to lunch at the Pita Pit. I enjoyed a club pita stuffed with all sorts of yummy goodness, a raspberry iced tea, and some Sun Chips. I finished up my shopping trip by purchasing Katie a swimsuit on sale at The Children's Place, and two pairs of flip flops at Old Navy, which is how most of my shopping trips go - I think I will buy myself something, but instead come home with something for the kids or the house. But if I must come home with something for the kids, you can't really get higher on the cute scale than little girls' swim suits and flip flops.

I had to go to Weis for a few things I needed, and somehow a box of Drake's coffee cakes wound up in my cart, and some how when I was having my afternoon coffee, a pack opened up and I had to eat them. And it may be possible that a second pack opened up and was eaten, but I am not ready to confirm that information at this time. I did manage to check the ingredients, and they contain no partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, so that allows the guilt level to remain pretty low.

While I was drinking my coffee, I was reading the Psalms and was blessed by the message of Psalm 40:5. Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

There is never any excuse to not have something to praise or thank the LORD for. Ever. There are so many wonderful works that my mouth should be filled with them. Just last night, Adam took us out to eat and while our waitress was waiting on another table, he pointed out that her shirt was stenciled on the back in very big letters "PROUD ARMY WIFE". Later during our meal I asked her if her husband was on active duty, and she told me he was stationed in Iraq. She has a calendar at home counting down the eighty-five days until he comes home to her. Her face was bright with pride as she spoke of him.

I thought how every night, my husband comes home. He might come home late, he might come home weary from a day of work, but he comes home. He is safe and he is here and I do not have to worry that he might be killed, and I do not have to cross off the days on a calendar until I see him again, because he comes home.

Today I praise the Lord for my husband and the gift from God that he is to me and that he is to our children. I thank the Lord for a husband who is my best friend, and loves me like crazy, and is patient when the kitchen gets really, really dirty when I am feeling icky-pregnant. I thank the Lord that I do not fear for my husband's safety, and that when I kiss him good-bye in the morning, I know he can't wait to get back to me that evening. I thank you, God, for Adam.




Well, you might not be in the middle of a day off, and maybe you are even having a bad day, but I hope you have many wonderful works of the Lord to think about today. Share one with me if you want to. I would love to hear it.

31

So it has been thirty-one years since I was born.

Here are thirty-one bullets, my present to you dear readers, because you deserve something too.

• I am thinking about Cici's for dinner tonight. Adam works late, and I just don't feel like cooking for myself. I love pizza. It's cheap. And I do so enjoy all the "Hi! Welcome to Cici's!"
• Our library books are due.
• I need to mow the front lawn which is full of clover flowers. I never got my weed and feed down because I am a little wary of being in contact with all those chemicals while pregnant.
• It is my birthday, so if at 11 this morning I was still in my jammies eating a second breakfast of two eggs over medium with a piece of toast and some potato chips, that is my prerogative. :)
• If you are in your first trimester and are prone to bouts of nausea at night, it is not wise to eat a few handfuls of Skittles at 9 p.m.
• When your dishwasher doesn't work, you realize just how much you love having a dishwasher.
• My sink and counter are full of dirty dishes.
• I made smitten kitchen's Broccoli Slaw for our Memorial Day cook out. It was simple and delicious. Adam liked it with extra dried cranberries. If you like broccoli, you should give it a try.
• During the course of my normal life, I hardly ever watch tv during the day, but during my pregnancies when I am tired and resting in the middle of the day, I cannot get enough Food Network. I love cooking shows. Bobby Flay, Ina Garten, Tyler Florence (to just name a few)- you thrill me with your culinary creations. Veal Piccatta, toasted orzo, cheese danish...I want to make (and eat) it all!
• So this list, which I am trying to make unrelated is turning out to have quite a few bullets pertaining to food. I am a crazy, food-obsessed pregnant lady, it's true. I am having more cravings this pregnancy than all the others combined. Fritos, soft tacos, potato chips, pepperoni pizza, and hoagies have been some of the biggest cravings so far. It seems as though salty foods reign supreme.
• I just renewed my library books online (how convenient) because I realized that after Katie wakes up from her nap, it would be tough to squeeze in both Cici's and the library. I don't want to cramp my pizza binging time at Cici's. We can do the library tomorrow.
• I am not having twins. I always worry that I might be, and then am completely relieved to see just one little gummy bear in there.
• For some reason Joey has decided that Windex is called WindowWax. I am going along with it.
• Two little birds have built a nest on top of one of my shutters on the front porch. I climbed our ladder and found one peanut M&M-sized white egg nestled inside the nest. I am keeping my ear out for tiny baby bird cheeps.
• Irises are my favorite flower. When Natalie died, a friend brought over a bunch over mini, deep purple colored irises to plant in my yard. The following years, I was so pleased when they would start to bloom right around her birthday. When we moved out of that house, I sadly didn't dig any up. My neighbor across the street has the same irises at the end of his driveway. I am sure he could spare a few...
• I have buttermilk in my fridge right now, left over from making the dressing for the aforementioned broccoli slaw. I never have buttermilk on hand (I usually "make" my own by adding lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk) and am pondering my cooking/baking options. Should I make some buttermilk pancakes, or biscuits? Or I could really go for a coffeecake. What do you make with your buttermilk?
• Katie still takes a three hour nap everyday. On Monday she did not nap when we had company over for our cookout. It was a day to realize just how thankful I should be for that three hour nap. All-day-awake-Katie is not as much fun as well-rested-Katie. You can trust me on this one.
• I want Photoshop. I don't like to spend money. This is a dilemma.
• There are four pairs of scissors in my pen and pencil jar on my computer desk. You can never have enough scissors.
• I may not be much of a dancer, but Katie, Joey and I make one groovy peepee-on-the-potty conga line.
• Last year, my husband threw me a wonderful surprise party at a local restaurant for my thirtieth birthday. It was awesome, and one of the sweetest things he has ever done. I secretly, well maybe not quite secretly, wanted a party (selfish girl that I am) and he came through in an amazing way. He even bought the soundtrack to Pride and Prejudice to play as background music, and had irises and sunflowers as the centerpieces. He thought of everything! I love him so much.
• Snorkeling with sea turtles is probably one of the coolest things I have ever done.
• Birthing my babies is the most incredible. God made a woman's body to do amazing things.
• I already have a wee little baby bump. It has not required the maternity clothes bin to be raided, and you probably wouldn't notice it if you saw me, but it's there. At 10 weeks along, this is early for the bump to begin compared to my other pregnancies. I have high hopes that this doesn't mean I will be huge this time.
• I am so hungry and dreaming about all the pizza I will eat tonight.
• Sunflowers has been my perfume of choice since high school, which means I have been wearing the same scent for about 14 years. I really like it, and it's cheap.
• Just this year I have started wearing Lucky You occasionally because Adam likes it and bought me some for Christmas. See, I can change.
• In June or July a new Target will be completed about ten minutes away from me. This is good news.
• There will also be a Cici's. This is bad news.
• Blogging has made me realize how much i use the word just. I must delete about 14 justs before I publish every post. I sound like Bear Grylls, for goodness's sake!
• 14,000 is my choice number of exaggeration. Unless it would seem ridiculous as in the last bullet where I shortened it to just 14 (see I just can't stop using just - ack! it is some sort of disease!) Phrases where 14,000 is acceptable: "We have watched that movie 14,000 times!" or "You have already told me that 14,000 times!" or "There are 14,000 containers without lids in the cabinet."

Well, I hope you enjoyed your bullets. I will be enjoying my pizza in just a little bit. It is a happy birthday indeed!

healed!

I am pleased to report that by Thursday I was back to my good ol' self. Back to the whole mommy and homemaking business. I dug out from under the mess that resulted from three days of the plague and Adam not coming home until about nine each of those nights. My mom was the most wonderful helper and took the kids for me at lunchtime on Tuesday and all day Wednesday. The kids were thrilled, and I was relieved to rest and suffer through the terrible nausea and well, you know. I cannot express how thankful I am for her help - she really saved the day.

I will blog more, but I have much to do still, so I cannot justify a lot of time here today. I'll be back soon, I promise.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I hope all you mothers have a terrific Mother's Day. What do you have planned?

oh, bother

I woke up this morning to what I thought was some morning sickness. A few hours later I realized I was sick with the stomach bug. The kids have been super as most of my day has been spent toilet hugging and sleeping. The television has been on much more than usual, which is a great treat for the kids. I made oatmeal for the kids for dinner because it was the only thing I could come up with that didn't have a smell that would send me over the edge. Oatmeal and popsicles - they are living the high life.

Adam isn't home until nine tonight, so I am doing my best, but the house doesn't show it. All the cleaning I did on Saturday has been completely undone by a day of church and a day of the plague. Undone and magnified to a horrible level. And I have no desire whatsoever to pick up or wash a thing. The kids are quietly watching t.v. and I am going to go take my fourteenth nap of the day.

today is great

I am having a great day and just wanted to tell you about it. We ate pancakes for breakfast. The kids entertained themselves for a long time this morning while I caught up on kitchen cleaning. My husband had success with a work related matter that we have been praying about - amen! The final remains of the yard sale have been properly put away. I parked my car in the garage - which you would know was a big deal by how big Katie's eyes got as we rolled in. (I am pretty sure that until now she has thought that the garage is just a clutter filled room of our house with a really big door.) Lunch was three free pasta bread bowls from Domino's that were wonderfully yummy. The weather is gorgeous. And I have a sesame seed-sized baby in my belly.

Thank you, Jesus, for this great day!

itty-bitty

I will be taking a little break so that I can do a few things I need to do without pondering what I should blog about. Not that you were wondering all too much where I was, or if you even noticed at all, but now that I have told you I feel better.

I should be back on Monday.

Have a great week!

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Psalm 37:3,4

not always...

My yard

The fence

The other side

...but sometimes it really is greener on the other side:) Especially when you are neighbors with a field of winter wheat that is quite happy about all the rain this week.

Rain means green things grow, which means soon I will need to mow (and I love to mow), which means spring is really here, which means only one thing: flip flops.

It might be greener on the other side, but I am pretty happy here on mine.

Happy Thursday to you!

waves, water, weird. very weird.

Last night, I had a dream that I was sitting with my mom on the side of a mountain, watching people ski and sled down the mountain on the other side of the valley. We were discussing how the snow was still on the ground up on the mountain, but how back home it had all melted. Suddenly we looked over at the other mountain to see that in an instant all the snow had melted and a wave of water was washing down the mountain, through the valley and toward us. (I believe my brain was borrowing some special effects from Deep Impact at this point.) I raced to find Katie who was off playing by herself, grabbed her, and clung to a tree as the wave of water washed over my head. After the water stopped, I found a frightened, but unharmed, ten-year-younger version of my brother who had not been able to get to my dad during the melted snow mayhem, but had now found him and was shaking his head in disbelief. We were all a bit shocked, but relieved that no one was hurt or washed away. I then thought to myself, "This is the coolest thing I will ever blog about!"

I woke up moments later.

Do you realize how weird I am, people? In a dream where my life and the lives of many loved ones are in danger, a second after I realize we are all okay, my most joyful thought is that I will have something cool to blog about.

Sigh.

Am I that desperate for excitement? Are the dishes and laundry leaving me that wanting for a thrill? Do I need a life or death experience to keep you coming back to read about my days, or will my simple life be enough?

I hope so. Because it might not be thrilling, but my life leaves me tired enough at the end of the day without running away from rushing walls of water.

:)