Thursday, September 27, 2007

Mama's guilt and other ramblings

First of all--a funny thing Zoe said:

I walked into Zoe's room and there she is, sitting in her rocking chair, holding her finger in the air.

Me: "What's that?"
Zoe: "A booga."
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Today, feeling baby mourning syndrome, or some such thing, thinking about how fast my baby Zoe is growing up, how she is actually no longer a baby and almost a preschooler, already 30 pounds and practically potty trained. She won't be our baby one much longer and it makes me sad. I've really enjoyed her baby-hood, though I'm looking forward to our newest one.
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Feeling guilt now too, after hearing about recent families with babies who are facing serious physical challenges. Guilty for obsessing over whether this one is a boy or girl, wanting a boy so badly. I would give anything to have another little girl who's healthy than a little boy who's sick. I feel so bad for these families and can't imagine what they're going through. Keep them in your prayers--there are at least three families associated or in our church that are facing these issues.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Why I don't dust


Dust If You Must


Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
to paint a picture, or write a letter,
bake a cake, or plant a seed.
Ponder the difference between want and need.


Dust if you must, but there is not much time,
with rivers to swim and mountains to climb!
Music to hear, and books to read,
friends to cherish and life to lead.


Dust if you must, but the world's out there
with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
a flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
this day will not come round again.


Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go, and go you must,
you, yourself, will make more dust!

~Unknown~

This just don't happen in Kentucky...

Monday, September 24, 2007

We've been Simpsonized!

















Check out http://www.simpsonizeme.com/, upload your picture(s), and you'll be Simpsonized! If you're a Simpson's fan, you'll love it. If not, it's still a fun site. Give it a try!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

A no-frills appt. today

Just a regular pre-natal checkup. Didn't even pee in a cup. Zoe went with me and we heard the baby's heartbeat swish, swish, swishing away at 154 bpm. My blood pressure was my regular low-end reading at 101/69.

Most excitingly, though, we're scheduled for our big ultrasound on Oct. 24 at 10:00 am. I can't wait to see who we've got in there, if he/she will cooperate, anyway. I'll be counting down the days.

What in the world is a PLUOT?


It's a cross between a plum and an apricot. I found these in our local Kroger yesterday--quite the find, since it's unusual to find new and exotic fruits around here. The girls and I loved them. Really juicy, softer than a regular plum, but tastes most like a plum, with a little hint of apricot. Look for them in your local grocery--yum-o!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Grumble, rumble....rejoice!?

My bowels hurt. Yep, TMI right off the bat there, eh?

Since Saturday, I've had some sort of intestinal issue that has kept me close to the nearest toilet. I don't know if it's pregnancy related, or if I've had bad meat ,or contaminated lettuce, or just picked up a kid virus from one of my little petri-dishes, um, children.

Despite that, I'm determined to take it as easy as I can, while keeping things running around here. I'm enjoying learning a new Bible verse with Megan each week now for the past three weeks.

This week, Psalms 46:10 --"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Last week, Proverbs 3:5 -- Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

The first week's verse, she really picked up and still quotes it almost daily. Psalm 118:24 -- This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

That one really got me thinking this morning--isn't that just how a child thinks? About today and all of today's wonders. They don't long for the past or worry about the future, but just enjoy the now of today. I want to live that way too. Cherish yesterday's memories, look forward to the future, but really live in today and each new wonder the Lord has made. To "rejoice and be glad in it"!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Prayer Request

Friend and blog-friend, Kim, from Sing Me Home, has undergone a breast biopsy for a suspicious area. I'm spreading the word here so that anyone who happens to NOT know her or the situation can lift her up in prayer. She should have results Monday, possibly tomorrow. She's understandibly nervous, so pray for God's comforting and His intervention for a positive outcome.

*Update: Kim got her results today. Positive for cancer. Not sure what kind or how bad it is. We're scared, but we have our trust and hope in God that He will get her through this.

My favorite morning snack of the week

A peach smoothie made with:

1 ripe peach, peeled and cut up
1/3 cup OJ
1/2 cup skim milk
1 container of Activia Light Vanilla yogurt

Mix in the blender until smooth and frothy. Yum-o!!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Harvest Cinnamon Rolls

I have finally attempted to make a homemade cinnamon roll, and I have succeeded! Over the weekend, I tried the recipe on this site:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/CinnamonRollsFantastic.htm

What's great about these is that they can be mixed in a bread machine, mixer, or food processor, and there are clear, detailed directions and pictures to help you along.

I used my stand mixer this time, because I didn't know if 5 cups of flour would fit properly in my bread machine--I've never seen any recipes for the machine that were more than 3 cups. Anyway, it worked fine in my mixer and I was finally able to use my dough hook attachment, though the dough climbed up the hook quite a bit during kneading.

If you try these, they make 15 rolls. If you're really careful in rolling out the dough evenly, the rolls will be more uniform in size. I ended up with 2 really small ones on the ends :) I made them up at night, then put 8 of them in a cake pan in the fridge. They will slowly rise overnight in there, so all you should have to do is take them out and bake them the next morning. I froze the rest of the batch. When you freeze, you have to take them out to thaw and rise for 10-12 hours before you bake them--again, good for doing the night before.

The only things I would change: I thought I would save some time and bought a pre-made cream-cheese cake frosting to go on them--it just did not taste well with the rolls. Too much hydrogenated fat or something. I will definitely use the suggested icing recipe for my next batch. Also, I think I would use a salted butter for spreading on the rolled-out dough (NOT for the actual dough--always use UNsalted butter in your baking). I think the salted butter for the filling would add more flavor.

Otherwise, these rolls were big, soft, and delicious. I used Saigon cinnamon, per "Maggie's" advice--very strong cinnamon there. I might lessen that just a bit next time. Try these though, and tell me if you like them!

**Another tip--use the vital wheat gluten she recommends in the recipe. It makes for a more flexible dough. You can find it in most groceries (I found it in wal-Mart) in the baking section. A little box is only a dollar and some change. You can add it to all your bread recipes for better texture. I tried it the other day with some white bread in my bread machine and it was the best texture I've gotten yet.

Times are changin'

This week, I've been blog-lazy, but I've been pre-occupied with new changes of the season. Mostly, the much-needed rain that has brought with it really cool temperatures.

Yesterday, I began digging out pants for the girls and even exchanged some shorts for pants in their clothes cubby. Megan has worn a sweater for the last two mornings.

Today was pajama day at Meg's school. It seemed really funny getting her out of her pajamas to get dressed in another pair :)

I've been so proud of how she's doing in school. She's learning to read more every day. Much of the things they learn have been review for her since she went to preschool for 2 years. She's scored 100% on all 3 of her AR Reading books for this 9 weeks already. She has had a few problems keeping quiet when necessary (surprise, surprise!), but other than that, she's behaving really well. I'm so glad I sent her to Pre-K.

I'm also excited about something else we've been doing together. I've started teaching Megan a new Bible verse each week. When she was in pre-K at our church, she learned verses every week, but of course in public school they don't teach that, so I thought it would help keep her mind in the right place.

This week, I entered the second trimester of what I hope to be my last pregnancy. I've been excited too, because I've felt little "bumps" in there that I'm sure is the baby moving. If it was my first pregnancy, I might confuse it with gas, but I know better :) Now Megan can't wait to feel the baby for herself. I'm excited to share this with her too, now that she's old enough to understand what's happening.

Friday, September 07, 2007

An evening of firsts!

I have finally gotten over my pizza aversion (for the most part), so decided to order delivery from my local Domino's pizza. I looked online to see if I could find any coupons or deals and saw that there was an online order option. I thought, "What the hey? Let's try it." I was surprised when I was actually able to complete the order online in such a rural area, but was excited because it was my first online pizza.

When the delivery girl came, she said I was the first person to order from their location online and they were all excited. They didn't even realize they had that option there either.

Next time you have a craving for Domino's, head over to www.dominos.com and order online. It's really pretty user-friendly. You can pick your toppings and their placement (Left, right, whole pizza, or none), crust, sides, and drinks. You can also apply online coupons and offers. And, you can choose to pay with cash or credit card.

I'm becoming more of a techie all the time--watch out world!

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Oh, my droopy lids...

"Maggie" had a good post about what the Bible says about eyelids today :) I asked what the Bible says about my droopy eyelids when I've been up half the night due to prenancy insomnia, my husband snoring, and Zoe having night terrors. Here are some nice verses she shared:

"I will lie down in peace and sleep, for thou, O Lord, makest me to lie down in safety"

"God grants sleep to those he loves"

"even in the darkness, I am still with You."

I went from having lots of good productive energy yesterday to dragging my behind around this morning. I hope God will grant me sleep later today--and that Zoe will comply and take a nap too.

Have any of you had children with night terrors? Zoe's been waking up almost every night, sometimes a couple times a night, crying, then screaming at the top of her lungs. Most of the time, we just go in, talk quietly to her and rub her back and she's right back to sleep. Sometimes, like last night, she babbles about scary stuff--"Where Mommy, Megan??" She was shaking hard too, but did go back to sleep quickly.

I remember Meg going through that shortly after my mom passed away when she was around 22 months old. I thought it was attributed to the stress of that situation, but we haven't had anything very stressful around here since Zoe's been having these episodes. Is that just a developmental thing, like separation anxiety or something?

And how about snoring? Has anyone tried the Breathe Right strips? Sometimes hubby just snores so badly, I can't stay asleep. I've tried the couch, but that just don't cut it.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Just Wednesday and not much new

Except our neighbor Harold came home Monday and is doing really well. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies today and took some over. He's got some of his grown children there with him taking care of him while he recuperates. I figured they'd appreciate a snack. I know I did :) I've already had 3. I also thought Meg would like some fresh cookies after school. I loved it when my mom would make fresh chocolate chip cookies for me, which didn't happen very often because she worked for most of my school years.

I'm feeling really well now--hardly any nausea and my energy seems to be coming back. I've been quite productive last night and today, finishing up laundry, picking up, cleaning bathrooms, etc. It feels good to feel like I'm accomplishing something again. I hope it lasts a while.

We're starting a new Bible study at church tonight on parenting. I'm looking forward to it. I love doing study with my husband--it's a good way to spend some quality couple time together.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Praise and update!

Our neighbor Harold had a quadruple bypass on Friday. His procedure went very smoothly and he was under anesthesia for only 2 hours. He is in ICU in a local hospital and will be coming home in 3-4 days. Thanks for the prayers--we'll be glad to have him back home!