Away

Just a quick note to let you know I'll be gone for a little while... I have a conference to attend in Austin, which I leave for Saturday morning and return from Wednesday night. Both of my laptops have issues right now, so I'll pretty much be computerless (I say pretty much because my blackberry and the business center at the hotel will allow me some access to the wider world). I won't be blogging, though, except for Not Me Monday, which is scheduled, because the last two weeks have pretty much been one long Not Me Monday post.

Can I request a couple of prayers please?

My aunt Maxine was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago, and has beat the odds by surviving so far. Unfortunately her tumor has now returned and is inoperable. Would you pray for healing for her, and for strength and wisdom for her family - especially my uncle Wally and my cousin Jenny - who are caring for her?

Davis cut off part of his right index finger in a lawnmower accident on Tuesday. He's in a lot of pain, and he'll be home with the kids for the next five days (he does have help, and the house is stocked to the max with everything he could possibly need). I feel bad leaving them, but I need to, so if you could pray that he makes it through the next few days okay, I would so appreciate it.
Finally, please read this and pray for Bruce. His story has really touched me, and I plan on adding him to my regular prayers.

Thank you, dear blog friends! I am sorry I haven't commented on your blogs or answered all of my emails... this week has just been one long, crazy blur. See you again next week ♥

Until then, here's a picture of my kiddos from last Sunday (you can see Sophia's pin that she got for her Sunday School attendance, and it was Amelia's naptime, which is why her thumb is in her mouth)

The Money Maker

Now that school is out, Sophia's little best friend, Zoe, is spending the week at our house during the day while her mommy is at work. Davis sent me this email of their conversation yesterday morning:

Sophia: Let's go to Chucky Cheeses

Zoe: You can't drive sister!

Sophia: Well, how do we get to Chucky Cheeses?

Zoe: I don't have enough money for Chucky Cheese

Sophia:I don't have any money



Sophia: Dad can you be a money maker

Davis: I am not the feds, I can't just print money when I want it

Sophia: huh?

Rainy Day Charades

Oh my goodness, THE RAIN!! I have lived in Arkansas on and off for a total of about fifteen years, and I can only remember one spring that was this wet. Normally, I don't mind the rain.

Sunday, we went to church, extra dressed up, because I had to stand up when they recognized all the Sunday School teachers, and Sophia because got an award for Sunday School attendance. But we got SOAKED. So the minute we got home, we all changed back into our pajamas. I wanted to embrace the rainy day, because it was obvious that the buckets of water would not stop falling anytime that day. But I was bummed, because we had planned on spending the afternoon at Riverfest and/or going on a family bike ride. I ended up moping, napping, and generally being very grouchy about the weather. Until....

We played toddler charades. Basically, you just get to be whatever you want, as long as you're silent. Sophia was good at it, and sometimes tricky. Can you guess what these are?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

Then, Sophia said, "now I'm going to be something around the house like a refrigerator." And she stood there like this:

I guessed every piece of furniture and appliance I could think of, until I finally got it right. She was.... a refrigerator.

The game totally cheered me up and had me laughing hysterically. I was surprised that I actually got most of them right (it was easier with them moving). The only that sucked was, when I was a rolling pin... apparently when you're in your 30's it doesn't feel good to roll across a hardwood floor. Who knew?!

Answers: a. rainbow; b. the sun; c. a kangaroo; d. a monster; e. a dead ladybug; f. a ball; g. a snake; h. an elephant

When You Become a Blogger

You do smug things, like post your menu plan for the week, and boast about your grocery shopping method. The problem comes when you're me, and you put "spaghetti" on your menu but fail to put "spaghetti" on your grocery list.

I could have used linguine or fettucini or even elbow macaroni or any of the other many noodles we have, but I didn't feel like it... so we had a pantry meal last night. I've mentioned pantry meals before and had a comment about posting our pantry meals, so here was mine - made with things that I almost always have in the pantry/fridge/freezer:

Sophia said it was "the best dinner I ever did eat before!" She even got up this morning and said "that was good last night, Mom." Well, there goes my motivation to ever menu plan again!

I keep big bags of frozen chicken in the freezer, and last night I made some dipped in flour, salt and pepper, then in egg/white wine, then in bread crumbs (I'll just call that Chicken Schnitzel), the risotto is just aborro rice, onion, chicken stock, Parmesan, and fresh parsley; and I always keep baby carrots on hand - these were cooked in chicken stock and brown sugar until just barely soft.

Sometimes I'm kind of glad when I have to resort to pantry meals, because it's a good excuse to be creative (not that chicken, rice, and carrots is overly creative). I have so many amazing looking recipes tabbed in magazines, bookmarked on blogs, and tabbed in cookbooks, that I don't give myself many opportunities to just experiment on my own.

So, in lieu of my normal planning, I'm going to do something different this week (believe it or not, I have NEVER done this before!) I am going to go grocery shopping and just buy things that look good, and make up all my recipes this week. We'll see how it goes ;)

Anyone else have a good pantry meal to share?

Will You Pray With Me?

Many children in foster care feel like they don't have a prayer... Let's change that!

Did you know that May 17-24th is National Foster Care Prayer Week? Would you join me this week to pray for our children in foster care and those who care for them? If you've been following my blog, you might know that my husband and I are getting involved in foster care. But you can too! We are all called upon to help our orphans... the Bible tells us so:

Defend the poor and fatherless.
Psalm 82:3

Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Zechariah 7:9-12

When you hear the word fatherless or orphan, who do you think about? There are orphans in far away countries... but there are also orphans in your very own neighborhood.

In Arkansas, there are about 3,500 children in foster care at any given time. In my county alone, there are 1,100 but only 233 families to care for them. The other children must go to emergency shelters. Can you imagine? Can you imagine going through a crisis in your family that would require you to be removed from your home as a young child, and then going to a DHS office only to find out there is no home for you, and then ending up in an emergency shelter?

Did you know there are so many ways you can help the fatherless? You don't have to adopt a child or become a foster parent, but you can help! You could become a respite foster home, offering to care for foster children for a day or a weekend, if their foster family needs a break. You could volunteer, give donations of childrens items, or help raise funds. You could become a court-appointed advocate for children in foster care.

If you are in Arkansas, please take a moment to find out about The C.A.L.L. They are an amazing organization that helps foster families - and the whole foster care system - and provides a great network of support. Many other states have similar organizations, and I encourage you to seek them out.

And right now, today, this week, you can PRAY for these children and for those who work so hard to care for them. Will you join me for an online prayer vigil? Will you commit to pray with me every day this week?

Fours

On a gorgeous, sunny, cool May afternoon exactly eight years ago, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, my husband at I got married after four years of dating. Four years later we had our first baby. I guess we like to do big things in four year cycles, which means we're in for something big this year ;)

Oh no, NOT ME Monday!

Welcome to Not Me Monday! On the off chance you don't know what it's all about, head on over to MckMama's blog and check out what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. This is us, keepin it real people!

I did not sign up for a boot camp at the gym for which I was only marginally qualified (ten push ups to beat? uh, yeah....) And then when I didn't get a spot, I did not throw a huge whiny hissy fit and get a slot after all. So now I'm not totally obligated to show up and kick butt. Oh no, that would be in.sane. I'm not dreading tomorrow morning at 6:30 am at all.

I did not regret telling my husband the results of his, um, infertility test, which just made him convinced he was the biggest stud of all time. I mean, he is to me, but sheesh why do men have to be so silly about these things? If you see a blue pick up truck with a bumper sticker on it having to do with rapid mobility, that would be my husband.

I did not watch three whole hours of VH1's Best Songs of the 90's while sitting at the hospital with Baby T and then proceed to go home and download pretty much every song onto my iPod. I did not wonder whether me listening to Pearl Jam was equivalent to my father listening to The Everly Brothers when I was a kid. I'm sure my music is really cool.

I did not use spray chalkboard paint to paint a chalkboard onto my pantry door. Because if I had done that, surely my entire kitchen would have been covered in a thin layer of chalkboard and I would have been so sick from the fumes that I would have been throwing up and lightheaded all the next day. Everyone knows you can't use spray paint inside!

I did not lose an entire evening of productivity watching the marathon two hour Real Housewives of New York City Reunion. I certainly did not forgo bathroom breaks or let the telephone ring endlessly because I just could. not. stop. watching that train wreck.

I did not decide to go to Pei Wei with the girls Friday evening, because I was just so tired after a long work week that cooking seemed like an insurmountable task. I also did not decide to go to Pei Wei because the girls were being extra whiny or wild (that would be crazy!) I did not throw some random clothes on the girls and not bother brushing their hair or getting the remnants of their lunch (?) off their faces. I did not leave the house without looking in the mirror because I was afraid of what I might look like. I did not half-heartedly try just to keep my children in my general vicinity while I stood in line ordering. I did not vow never to leave the house that frazzled and frumpy again when the guy in front of me turned out to be someone I used to date, who I haven't seen in twelve years.

Coupons, Grocery Shopping, Menu Planning

You know those people who say saving money is like a game to them? That they just love finding ways to save money? That clipping coupons, finding sales, and getting a good deal gives them a high? Well, I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I do want to save my family money, and it feels good to get a really great deal on something, but it's not something I derive a great deal of joy from. Clipping coupons and all that jazz is just a chore to me.

But I think the economy has affected us all... and choosing a job that allows me time with my family over one that pays as well, and of course the expenses of Sophia's out-of-state medical care, have made it more of a necessity for me to try to save us money.

I have come a long way. One thing that always drove me crazy was throwing away food at the end of the week. And one thing I do have fun doing is menu planning. So I've gotten good at choosing recipes that use many of the same ingredients. So, if I buy a stalk of celery, I will use up all of it by the end of the week. I vary up our meals, so that we usually have one chicken dish, one vegetarian dish, one pasta dish, one red meat dish, etc. throughout the week, but I do chose dishes that contain some of the same things - like parsley - so that nothing goes to waste.

Usually I will go to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays and pick up whatever looks extra yummy - this week it was beets, black-eyed peas, red onions, yellow onions, sweet potatoes (and lots of fruit). Then on Saturday night I sit down and, using those ingredients plus things I know are on sale an/or I have coupons for, and depending on our schedules and what I feel like, I plan out our meals for the week and make my grocery list.

Then I go grocery shopping Sunday nights after the girls are in bed.

I have figured out how to save money at the grocery store, even though I hate it. I used to spend $200 or more a week for our family of four. I know there are families of ten that claim to spend less than half of that, and I'd love to know what they buy, because as hard as I try, I cannot get it down that low. We do eat fresh produce every day and meat almost every day. But I'm also a brand snob, unfortunately. I've tried, I really, really have, but it just proved to me that nothing gets my clothes as clean at Tide and nothing gets my dishes as clean as Cascade and nothing stops leaks and diaper rashes on my kids like Pampers. So I started clipping coupons, stocking up when things were on sale, and really paying attention to when/where I bought things. And I've got my week grocery bill to around $80, which is a huge improvement over $200+ With $20-30 at the Farmer's Market added to that, I'm right around $100 (but that does include some non-food items, like diapers, which should be disappearing from our grocery bill any day now!!!)

So here's how I cut my bills in half, while still buying the same things:

I use the Sunday paper, the coupon mailer in the mail, online coupons and all other sources (like Pampers coupons in the box, and I sign up to get coupons from P&G and other companies that sell my favorite brands - check out all their websites for offers and to get on their mailing lists). I shop at Kroger (LOVE them! They always double coupons, they have cheaper Pampers than anyone else) - if you have a Kroger card, be sure your address is updated (you can do it online) because they will send you personalized coupons...last week I got a free pound of baby carrots and a free big box of Cheerios! Also, we have a coupon club at work - everyone brings in their coupons that they didn't use and puts them in a big basket - I get lots of duplicate coupons there.
I go through all of the sources and cut out every coupon that is for a product that I normally buy (don't clip coupons for stuff you wouldn't otherwise buy!)

You won't use your coupons if you don't organize them, so I have a little plastic envelope thing I got in the dollar section of Target - it has dividers in it, and I organize my coupons in that... one section for food, one for household items, one for baby items, one for medicines, etc. But I leave the very front pocket empty.

I have plans to wrap my little coupon holder in adorable fabric and decorate it... one of many, many plans that is just waiting for a little free time!

When I make my grocery list, as I decide which coupons I need to use that week, I move those coupons to the front pocket of my coupon holder - that way I have all of them ready to go at the store. I also weed out any coupons that have expired that week. If there's one that's about to expire, sometimes I'll go ahead and use that if it's something I can stock up on, even if I don't need it right then (like my toothpaste).

I only buy what's on my grocery list, except... If I'm at the store, I might notice that peanut butter is on sale AND I remember that I have a coupon for it - so I move that coupon into the front pocket and get one (or more) to stock up.

Right now I think the most useful thing about my pre-law school education is that I am really good at cramming lots of random information into my head. So I pretty much have the contents of my coupon envelope memorized - that way as I'm scanning the store for sales, I can be sure to catch things that are on sale and that I have a coupon for. This way I'm always stocked up on things like laundry detergent, and I never have to buy them without a coupon or a sale.

So there... most of you probably spend less than me at the grocery store, but those are my money saving tips nonetheless ha ha! And now, for some random weekend pictures (because I have a feeling I won't have much time for blogging this week - so this will have to last you a few days)...

Don't you love Amelia's monkeys? I love them, because she loves them - when she puts this outfit on, she starts bouncing around yelling "my Georgie!" (Curious George - she calls all monkeys Georgie).

Sophia's best friend Zoe came over Sunday to play. There is nothing sweeter than these two together - they've been BFF since they were barely two years old. They mostly played in the yard today, doing fun things like trying to make honey with flowers and water.

Some day very soon I'll share the recipe for this very LARGE pound cake, which was eaten by my family and the nurses on Baby T's floor all in one day - yes, it's that yummy.

As Sophia has been singing non-stop this weekend... and so I praise the Lord for giving me the things I need - the sun and the rain and the appleseed, the Lord's been good to me!

Mommy's Eating Beasts

I was talking to my friend Sarah about how excited I was about the beets I got at the Farmer's Market this morning (yes, it really is that easy to make me happy). She gets all the credit for turning this into Veggie of the Week, because frankly, I was on the verge of forgetting about it again...

So, beets are awesome!!! Davis likes to say I would have made a good Russian peasant because I love root vegetables (and come to think of it, I secretly would love to be a farmer, and I do speak some Russian...) But anyway, beets are beautiful and they also happen to be an excellent source of folate. Davis doesn't like beets, so I don't make them often, which is why my kids don't remember the last time we had them (they did eat them as babies - I roasted veggies and mushed them up and called it "baby food.") - when I told them what I was eating tonight, they ran around yelling "Mommy's eating beasts!!"

In Veggie of the Week style, I'll give you my simple method for preparing beets. I take fresh, raw beets and brush the dirt off them and then put them in an oven-proof bowl, then wrap the whole thing tightly in tin foil. I place this is a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for about an hour. Half of my dinner tonight consisted of roasted beets, straight out of the oven, with a little kosher salt. When I got home from visiting Baby T at the hospital a few hours later, the second half of my dinner consisted of slicing the remaining, now cooled, beets and drizzling balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and kosher salt on them. (My family ate a pork chop dinner from the crock pot, since I was at the hospital during dinnertime)

One of my favorite side dishes is just a collection of root vegetables roasted this way. This recipe is delicious, although I have to confess I can't cook it anymore, because it's what I ate the night I had a massive gallbladder attack resulting in removal of my gallbladder (I don't actually blame this relative low fat dish, it's just the association of that meal and the most painful experience of my life...) I'm obviously easily distracted tonight, here's the recipe:

Roasted Root Vegetables
1 2 1/2-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 pounds beets trimmed but not peeled, scrubbed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium-size red onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large turnip, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 head of garlic, cloves separated, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 425°F. Oil 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Combine all ingredients in very large bowl; toss to coat. Divide vegetables between prepared baking sheets; spread evenly. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

If I ever get my mom's borscht recipe, I'll post that... because it's my favorite beet recipe. But you know those things that your parents make that you don't even really want the recipe for, because you know it won't be the same if you make it? That's how I am about my mom's borscht and my dad's sloppy joes.

Beets are so lovely, I'm just kicking myself for not snapping a picture before devouring them all... but it was a busy day (busy with a trip to the farmer's market, the library, prolonged snuggling and tickling, reading books, baking a pound cake, drawing pictures of princesses in different colored dresses...)

Luckily for This Two Year Old Terror

She's really cute

Confessions of a Money Waster

The thing is... I have really good intentions...

Yesterday I went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription. I needed a pregnancy test (not, unfortunately, because I thought there was any chance I was pregnant, but because I had to be 100% sure before I started this medicine). Well I thought I'm not going to spend $10 on the cheapest one at Walgreens, I'll just run to the Dollar Store.

So I headed to the Dollar Store. I let the girls each pick up a thing of stickers ($2) and I picked up some glitter for art projects ($1) and I was headed to get a pregnancy test ($1) - I was so excited, I was getting all those things for less than the pregnancy test at Walgreens. But they were out of pregnancy tests. So I thought, well Target is the closest place and they have Clearblue Easy Digital tests cheaper than anyone (sad, that I know this). I bet some of you know where this is headed...

So I headed to Target to buy the two-pack of pregnancy tests for $8, slightly better than Walgreens. But then the girls asked if they could have stickers (since I got nothing at the Dollar Store). I said okay ($4) and glitter ($4) and then I saw the cuuuutest paper plates and napkins for Sophia's birthday party next month ($15) and picked up a 12-pack of Cokes for Davis ($5). So $38 later, I got a pregnancy test.

Sheesh. (not to mention having the prescription called in to the Walgreens near my house only to waste gas driving all over town)

Anyone else do this?

Stash It

You know what I love, almost as much I as I love fabric stores? Personal fabric stashes... especially my own, because each piece of fabric reminds me of some project from the past or dream of a future project (or just plain giddiness at finding some incredibly adorable or gorgeous fabric). Up until recently, my fabric stash lived on shelves at my mother in law's house, because I just didn't have space at our apartment or house. I've slowly started keeping my fabric here, and even re-claiming some of my fabric at my mother in law's house. But it was accumulating in bins and baskets and shelves and other random places and was always in mortal danger of being discovered by the kids. I just didn't have a good place for it, and I wasn't motivated enough to do anything with it.

Well my fantabulous friend Ashley went garage sale shopping Saturday, but knowing that I had vowed NOT to leave the house that day, she shopped for me instead of asking me to go along... and brough back a giant trunk of fabric scraps and tassels and cords (which I needed! I needed cord!) for $10. Isn't that awesome? I love her!

Going through that giant trunk motivated me to finally organize my fabric stash, AND we recently replaced my husband's dresser (with another old one), which freed his old one for me to do this

The only thing is, when I painted the dresser, I took the hardware off, and realized in a flash of brilliance that without the drawer pulls, the kids couldn't get into the dresser (I can with some wiggling and maneuvering). I just need to figure out a way to make the dresser look good with no hardware - maybe I can paint some on ;)

So I'm wondering - any seamstresses out there, how do you stash your stash?

Not Me Monday!

We're back with Not Me fun!! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This past week, I did not run out of milk and use my powdered milk for baking to fix Amelia a cup of milk, rather than go to the grocery store. I also did not feed my children ramen noodles today because of the same lack of grocery shopping. And I am not already scheming up crazy pantry dinner ideas to avoid going to the store until after the children are in bed tonight.

I did not totally flunk my poor puppy out of obedience class. I have not completely failed to do our homework, I did not resent that everyone else there has no small children and spends hours a day working with their dogs, and I did not regret choosing an AKC dog training club waaaay across town when all I really wanted was some time alone with Porter to teach him NOT to get up ON the dining room table. I am not completely guilt-ridden for being such a crummy doggy mama.

I did not ever utter the sentence "that was the best pap smear ever!"

I did not attend a four year old's birthday party Friday after work and feel completely exhausted and frumpy while every other mom there (none of whom work) looked all dolled up and peppy. I did not scowl as they talked about how two days of school a week just wasn't enough time to get all their work-outs, pedicures, and errands done. I did not think "at least there's cake" and then almost scream in shock at the fact that not a single other mom ate any, of course making it impossible for ME (the frumpy, non-exercising, horrible working mom) to have some. And I did not think the entire time about how I soooo badly just wanted to go home and put on some pajama pants and bake my own darned cake! Gosh, how rude that would have been, at a kid's party no less.

I did not start one, two, or THREE painting projects around the house and not manage to finish them in over a week. I do not still have half-painted kitchen cabinets, a mostly painted dresser, or a bathroom door needing at least two more coats of paint.

I did not almost kiss the electrician when he not only fixed our power outage but told us that it would be a waste of money to rewire the old-wiring part of our house, and that it was "just fine."

Love at First Sight

I think I've shared that when my husband and I discussed having children prior to Sophia being conceived, we decided that if we had trouble getting pregnant we would just go straight to adoption, rather than pursuing infertility treatments. After my PCOS diagnosis, I knew this was a possibility. However, once our girls were born, I viewed adoption differently (though Davis has wanted to continue to consider it). I've wondered if I could really love a non-biological child as much as I love my two children, and I've worried that it would too difficult to ensure that they all received equal treatment and all felt equally loved. When the Lord so un-subtly pushed me to pursue foster parenting, I wondered whether this might help answer some of those questions. But then I also wondered whether I could love a child and completely mother them as my own, knowing they were never going to be mine. And, even though we are still months and months away from even being licensed to be foster parents, those questions were answered last night.

As I held sweet baby T, a six month old foster baby currently hospitalized at our children's hospital, the answer washed over me: OH YES. I loved her, I memorized her sweet face, I held her and stroked her cheek and smiled at her and sang to her and played with her and fed her and changed her and loved her like my very own. I inscribed her in my heart and vowed to pray for her forever, despite the fact that I'm not sure I'll ever see her again (I am scheduled to spend Tuesday night at the hospital with her, but it's not certain).

I still don't know where our journey will end... whether we will be parents to more children, whether those children will come from my womb or through adoption, whether we will become foster parents or not... but I do know, for certain, that I absolutely can love a baby to whom I did not give birth with the same love that I have for my own children. And I do know, for certain, that I can embrace a child with the same fierce love, even if I know my ability to mother them is only hours, days, or weeks long.

I cried last night, and today, for Baby T. I also cried for the other babies there who have no parents, or whose parents have left them alone at the hospital. It was hard to leave. But it was so, so much more of a blessing to be allowed to hold T, to feel that love rush into my heart the same way it did the first time I saw my own babies, to spend those hours holding this precious angel. Whatever comfort I brought her those few hours, I know she has changed my life in a much bigger way.

The first time ever I saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes

And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave

To the dark and the empty skies, my love,

To the dark and the empty skies.

-Roberta Flack

Sophia was about a week old when I sang that song to her, and she smiled for the first time. Baby T was partial to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (to which I know all four verses, because it was also baby Amelia's favorite!)

Books for Cooks

Happy Mother's Day to my mommy friends! I feel so very, very blessed that I get to be a mother to Sophia and Amelia. Today as I got to spend an hour with my sweet three year old Sunday School class, I also felt overwhelmingly thankful that I get to be a mother of sorts to these precious - and today very lively! - children. Last night as I sat in the hospital rocking sweet, sweet baby T, snuggling her, making her giggle, singing her to sleep as she held my finger, I felt so blessed that I got a few hours to mother her too.

For Mother's Day, Sophia's school made a cookbook of moms' recipes - it was awesome! Sophia's was:

Mrs. C's Nuggles
She puts them in water and cooks them for a minute. Then she puts cheese on them and bakes them in the oven for four minutes. I eat them with peanut butter and jelly.

When she got home from school, Sophia asked me "did I get it right? Is that how you make your nuggles?"

There were lots of treasures, like one mom's Rackamoni and Cheese, which she apparently puts into the oven until it's burned.

I've been struggling to come up with a good wedding present for my baby brother, who is getting married this summer - I wanted something special to add to the normal kitchenware, etc. (all of which is great - my entire kitchen is outfitted with our wedding gifts from eight years ago!) Both my brother and his sweet bride to be are embracing the domestic life in their new little house... and I finally came up with the idea of making them a cookbook. My husband and his brother own a publishing company and print shop, so I will get to make it a real, hardbound, lovely cook book.

Aside from sharing our favorite family recipes with my brother and future sister-in-law, I get to have lots of fun doing something I love...

I love cookbooks.

Several weeks ago, after my husband and I had a fight, I left the house for a little while to cool off. Where did I go? What did I do? I went to Barnes and Noble, and I browsed cookbooks for two hours until I was completely serene and happy, and I came home with a big smile on my face, and I even managed to restrain myself and NOT buy any - because that might have been a whole new fight! You see, I have a... collection of cookbooks.

I wanted to share with you my five favorites, which was not an easy thing to do, because I have... a collection. This is more a list of the cookbooks I use most frequently - there are others that I love for different reasons (one example below).

First, the cookbook from which all of my basic recipes originated - like meatloaf and spaghetti and roasted chicken - but which I can also turn to when I need any classic dish from just about any cuisine, is my trusty Joy of Cooking. There's a reason it looks like this

Another book with lots of staples in it, is the Field of Greens. This along with the Tassajara Recipe Book (I have had the great pleasure of eating both at the Greens restaurant and at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat, and their food is a-mazing) have the best vegetarian recipes.

And, although we love our vegetables, we are also carnivores. And there's a man in our house. Which is why I love, love, love Meat and Potatoes (this is a different version, but looks like it has some of the same recipes in it as my old one).

Speaking of staples, when I want to make anything Italian, the first thing I reach for is Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

And for Asian cuisine, my favorite is Martin Yan's Asia. One of the things I love most about cookbooks are the photographs. And this one is filled with beautiful photos, along with great introductions into the different foods from different Asian countries, as well as ingredient explanations.

If you're like me and you love to just sit and read a cookbook, you'll love this... my mother in law, who is awesome and knows me all too well, found this book for me - after seeing me covet her copy. It is a cookbook from 1917 called A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, and it absolutely cracks me up. It tells the story (and yes, each chapter starts with a story and a picture) of Bettina and Bob's first year of marriage. There is the tale of Bettina's first dinner guest, a baby shower she hosts, and the many nights that Bettina cheerily welcomes Bob home from a hard day at work. Each chapter concludes with a menu and Bettina's favorite recipes. It's a gem!

I also love fonts and layouts, and I love food photography. A beautiful cookbook is a work of art to me. So as I work on my brother's cookbook, I am going to be spending some more time browsing cookbooks at Barnes and Noble for inspiration - and I'm so excited about that!

**I should add... I do enjoy browsing through recipes on my favorite blogs, and there's nothing quite as convenient as Recipezaar, and yes, I did throw away (gasp!) all of my years' worth of dog-eared Gourmet magazines in favor of the searchable Epicurious archives, but at the end of the day, I still love cookbooks, and no recipe website will ever totally replace them.

Lentils

I think I might have forgotten about last week's veggie, which is why I will never be the host of any regular blog fun ;)

So anyway, this week I want to talk about lentils, because they're yummy and easy to prepare and oh so very healthy! They are a great source of iron, and also contain lots of protein, folate, and fiber. And check out how cheap they are: Arrowhead Mills Organic Lentils.

There's really only one way I regularly make lentils - and that is the world's easiest lentil soup... I combine half of a large onion (peeled, but not otherwise cut up), a clove of minced garlic, a small bay leaf, half a pound of lentils, and 4-5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock. Bring everything to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming occasionally. Remove the onion and bay leaf, add some fresh or dried thyme and about a tablespoon of butter, and continue to cook for about 10 minutes. Everyone in my family loves them this way, and it's so easy, I haven't been motivated to try many other recipes - but if you have a great way of preparing lentils, please let me know!

And you know what goes great with this soup on a rainy day like today? Homemade pretzels!

I'm off to spend the night at the hospital with a little foster baby - if you could add Baby T to your prayers tonight, I would greatly appreciate it. ♥

Rejoice

Aaaaaaah GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

Let me just say briefly, because I'm taking a mini break from the internet (during which I paint cabinets and doors and bake bread and read LOTS of books to my kids and rearrange the living room and organize my sewing supplies and catch up on laundry and play dress up and watch movies with my husband and catch up with old friends and train the puppy and upload photographs and do all of those other things that kind of get forgotten when I get too sucked into hanging out with my imaginary friends ;) that my prayers AND YOURS for me (!) are working.

Pretty much everything I have prayed so hard about the past couple of months has just suddenly come together. Remember my swaff post a while back (when I was feeling more articulate than right now)? That's exactly how I feel right now.

And because I need to get back to organizing my fabrics, and some things are kind of private, let me just share one of many things that I would like to praise God for tonight...

I posted a while back that there were some delays with our becoming foster parents - basically schedules clashed, so that we could not attend the mandatory training (which is two full weekends) until September, which means we won't be licensed until sometime at the end of this year. BUT in the meantime, a baby girl in foster care is hospitalized at our children's hospital. Her foster parents live far away and have other children, so I am going to spend a few nights at the hospital keeping this sweet baby company and watching over her for them. I can't even express how FULL my heart is that I have the honor of doing this!

Thank you for praying for me - I love you all my imaginary (and real) friends ♥ Thank you especially Lynnette for coming up with this idea, because it is a great idea. I feel truly honored to pray for my friends - and if you have any prayer requests for me, please go here... the offer stands forever.

I started this blog to show how awesome God has been to me, and to help me remember to be thankful and rejoice in the Lord always. But a while back, I took a break from blogging because I did not feel thankful...and even since then, as I've come to terms with not having any more biological children and grieving the two babies I lost last year, I have struggled with feeling less than thankful at times.

But slowly God has worked in my heart, and I am truly beginning to feel gratitude for this past year. This is the first time in my life that my faith has really been shaken, I've felt some depths of sadness I hadn't felt before, and I am starting to see the END RESULT of that - a much deeper passion for and relationship with the Lord. In seeking "answers" I found myself really just seeking Him - and finding Him in an amazing new way. I've realized that it's not the answers I need or want... seeing His faithfulness and learning to truly trust Him, whether I know or understand what's going on or not, has been way better than getting "answers."

I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know the LORD.
Hosea 2:20

(that wasn't so brief was it?)

Home Sweet Home

This past month has been a bit of a challenge for our sweet little house - first the washing machine started leaking (possibly messing up the floor) and then our old wiring went out (about 3/4 of our house has been re-wired, this is the 1/4 that wasn't). I was feeling helpless tonight about the BIG things that were wrong with our house (including the fact that it needs an exterior paint job and the small bathroom shower needs to be re-tiled) - things that are not fun and cost more money than we have right now.

There are also some fun projects I've been wanting to do - like painting a chalkboard onto our pantry door, painting the girls' room, and finishing our office re-do. But those projects will have to take a back seat to the necessary projects mentioned above :(

I've been feeling like I'm overflowing with decorating and remodeling ideas I can't carry out, which is frustrating. I know what I would do with our house if I had an extra $1,000, an extra $10,000, or an extra $100,000. But I don't have an extra anything that starts with "$" right now, so I looked around and...

I found some of our trim paint in the laundry room cabinet and decided to paint a couple of areas that I've wanted to paint since we moved here (six years ago) and just hadn't gotten around to it. We have wood paneling in our dining area, but not our kitchen. Our kitchen cabinets are white, but this one cabinet behind the bar on the dining side was wood - it just didn't look right. So I painted it white like the kitchen cabinets, and it looks MUCH better. Same with the bathroom door off the study, which is also paneled. The inside of the bathroom door was wood, which had gotten icky looking from the moisture. It looks much better white too.

It felt good to do something that was so rewarding - it only took two hours, the paint will be dry to the touch before the kids get up, and I can second-coat it tomorrow night. Two hours worth of effort for something that's been nagging me for six years!


Plus I just always love making this house more and more "ours." We've done a lot of work on our house, and I love that - I love seeing how far it's come, and feeling like this eighty year old house is being morphed into OUR house, just like all of its previous owners have molded it. It's the character of these older houses that I love - years of being turned into a home makes them feel more like home to me.


Many of my friends live in great houses but only see them as stepping stones to the next house - wanting more and not making the most of what they have. I've blogged about this before, several times... I love our home. It may not be our dream house, but I'm going to love it like it is.


(Obviously I'm not that great of a blogger yet - although I've started taking pictures of my dinner, it didn't occur to me to take before and after pictures of my painting!)

Suprise Party

When I came home from work today Sophia said she wanted to play "surprise party."

Sophia took the striped little Stride Rite box (say that five times fast) that arrived today (how do you avoid the trauma of taking a two year old shoe shopping? my method is called Endless.com - with free overnight shipping and returns) and placing a carefully wrapped treasure inside - like a pine cone wrapped in tissue paper (the tissue paper was also courtesy of Endless). Then, she would hide it somewhere in the house and tell Amelia, or Daddy, or me that we had a surprise somewhere, and we had to find it. The look of excitement on her face as we found it and unwrapped it was Priceless :)

Right now they are taking turns locking each other into a wicker trunk - over and over and over again.

I'm so glad that my kids are good at entertaining themselves inside, because this is what our backyard looked like this weekend

One Year

I don't know why, completely out of the blue it hit me... I was shopping on VitaCost and saw wasabi peas... I remembered that I devoured them like crazy when I was pregnant... I was pregnant... one year ago. But remembering sitting here at this computer, chomping on wasabi peas, I realized how completely I took it for granted. I am so sad right now. I would give anything to go back in time and enjoy just ONE DAY of being pregnant.

I know I'm always posting songs from YouTube... but when I so suddenly felt like I was pulled by an rip current of sadness - these words anchored me...

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Nicol Sponberg sings a beautiful version of this hymn, so I have been listening to it

and remembering that my God is the same as He was one year ago.

Kidwearing

I always hear about babywearing, but please tell me I'm not the only one who does this

or this

See this fabulous contraption? (Lynnette, I cannot hear or say that word without thinking of Anna - and smiling!) It is by far

the single best thing I have ever owned

We used it instead of a hiking carrier for the kids

and instead of a double stroller, and my children loved it so - in fact, when they were infants they would both immediately fall asleep in it. I love that I cook with them on my back, and even sit down comfortably with them in it.

My friend Stacy made it for me - out of silk and velvet... when everything else in my world was turning pink and plasticky, this lovely mai tai was a beautiful, stylin' baby thing!

I wrote this post a while back, but never had the time to track down all those pictures - but today seemed like a good day, because...

Stacy has some doctor's appointments this morning, and I ask that you please send a prayer up for her. I know this is a scary time for her. And then, in honor of her (and another friend of mine, and my aunt and my grandmother and my cousin) please check your boobies tonight, ladies!!!!