Lessons in Love: Little Visits with Jesus

The girls' teacher gave me a box of things that her daughter had grown out of (books and clothing, both), and the devotional book Little Visits with Jesus was in there. I remember going through a book like that with my mom when we were little (might have been the same one, come to think of it). I like the younger child devotional books that we can do as a family.

We have been reading one each night with the girls for the past week or so. I was reading a chapter of a book (Little House on the Prairie or another book of their choosing), but I'd much rather do a devotional geared toward them instead. :) I really like that the reading/story for each day is short and that it is easy to read (for me) and understand (for them). There is verses listed at the top of the page, a story relating to the verses, then a little prayer to sum it all up at the bottom. Iris and Lily have been wanting to pray after we read (I normally do the before-bed prayer time), and it's so cute to see them pray about the things we had just read in the devotional. Hopefully the lessons are making sense to them and they are really considering them. It's so neat to see them each apply or speak about the lessons in their own way and see their individual growth, spiritually.

Today, while they were doing math worksheets, Iris was asking about Heaven. I LOVE being able to talk with her about it and for her to understand as much as her 4 year old brain can. :) She likes to talk about Heaven and seeing Jesus and naming the relatives we'll see in Heaven. I have explained salvation to her and she sort of understands, but I think she hasn't quite yet personalized it or understood the decision that must be made about it. She's still in the "let's all love Jesus" way of thinking....which is great, but she hasn't quite caught on to it being more than that just yet. I cannot wait for it to click with her and for her to understand the choice and for her to make that choice and accept Jesus as the only way to Heaven and understand (again, as much as she can) about His death and resurrection. Coming up to Easter in the next few weeks, I can see we'll be talking even more than normal about Jesus and His death. I am really hoping she keeps asking questions and continues to WANT to talk about it and not just feel it's something we do only at church or during devotion time.

I am so thankful for the open minds and hearts of little ones. They seem to see so clearly the simplicity of loving God. Obviously there's so much more beyond just loving God, but it all starts with that and I love that kids seem so eager to love Him. :)

Motherhood Mania: Math Madness

Ok, so I got the title of this post from the whole March Madness thing. It's probably copyrighted or whatever....hope no one sues me. :)

First thing this morning after breakfast, I gave Iris and Lily 2 math worksheets to do...for fun. :) Of course I think math is fun! LOL. I'm building a math book for them, so I gave them the worksheets for numbers 1 and 2. Iris is getting so great at identifying her numbers 1 to 10 by sight. She is doing much better at counting objects in a set; she wasn't one for sitting still to point to each item and count it, so she would get all mixed up with which one she should be pointing to. Now, she holds the tip of the pencil on each one and counts it before moving to the next one. I'm loving it! :)

Lily still struggles with number recognition, but she's only 3 so I'm not worrying (or at least trying not to be such a perfectionist about her getting them all right every time. hahaha). She mostly liked me to count along with her and then get to coloring them!

I found the free printouts online. There are so many blogging moms out there that have written or are writing curriculum for preschool and kindergarten aged children. This is great news for me! :) I have saved so many printables and booklets to the computer; can't wait to print them all out and actually complete them!

I found an Alphabet book idea to do with the girls over the summer. Almost every day you work on a new letter and find things to stamp onto the letter's page. Then, the pages are combined into a spiral edged thing and it becomes an actual book that they can reuse all the time! That would be a great book for in the car! Oh, and I want to make a lapbook or quiet book for the girls! So many ideas!

AND, I got a ton of free fabric from a lady on Craigslist (a HUGE moving box of fabric cuts and scraps). Now, I'm working on saving up for a sewing machine. :) I have so many ideas for that, too - tank top dresses for the girls, pillow shams, fun things for school. And putting a zipper on one of the pages of the lap books would be much easier if I could just sew it on! BUT, I am trying to maintain some patience til I've actually saved up the money for it and not just jump into buying one and creating debt. SO HARD!

It's been a great Monday so far. Laundry is under way. Tomorrow I am picking up Ugandan necklaces from my friend Kathryn, since we couldn't do it today. I hate being behind on things, stuck at places I don't want to be, causing me to miss out on the errands I'd really like to get to....like seeing friends and picking up the necklaces! Ugh. At least Addy and I get to do it tomorrow. It'll actually be easier tomorrow, since Iris and Lily have school. So, I guess I should stop whining. :)

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: Nervousness

Arthur has been practicing my lamaze breathing with me. Correction: I have been practicing, he has been timing me with his coach-like stopwatch. :) I like that he helps  by timing it. Then, I can work on my focus and relaxation techniques and not have to remember to watch the clock, too.

I have had some crazy dreams lately, some that even make me question if certain events took place in real life or not. It makes me nervous because they feel so real, and I wake up so upset that it's hard to remember if these things happened or not.

For example, I've had dreams about labor and delivery and my health being at risk. It freaks me out, and I start to think maybe there are some issues with my health already that I don't know about until we get into labor and then something bad happens. I have a hard time NOT thinking about the dreams, and of course my mind takes it to the next level and I start thinking about my own death and being without Arthur and the kids, not making it home from the hospital, finding out I have some awful illness right after giving birth, etc. It's so frightening in the middle of the night. I try to remember to just stop and pray before I let my thoughts get out of control, but when I'm in the dream it's so crazy.

I talked to my mom today and found out one of our cousin's wife has breast cancer. She didn't know too much detail, but the woman is young - early 40's maybe. They have a young daughter, too...I don't think she's a teenager even, yet. So scary to think about. I cannot imagine what they are going through right now, but then I start thinking about how prevalent cancer is and how many people I know or are related to that have had it or currently have it. Scary.

Of course, I really want this labor and delivery to go well and for everything to remain as perfect as it is. I thought having Addy on jaundice lights for a week was traumatizing; I've got NO CLUE what trauma is. I would really prefer to keep it that way. Obviously, God is in control and knows what will happen and to whom. He doesn't give us more than we can handle with Him. But, like I always say...sometimes I'm afraid to know just how much it is that I can handle. :(

Rejoicing in Recipes: Green Rice Casserole

I am using this recipe, courtesy of MoneySavingMom, tonight. I am still trying to remember Mondays are meatless, but I often forget and pull out meat to defrost. Today, I remembered, so here's the meatless recipe. If I made it any other night of the week, though, I think I'd throw in some chicken to make it a meaty meal. :)

Green Rice Casserole

3 cups cooked rice (we use brown rice)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped dried parsley (or 1/2 to 1 cup fresh parsley)
4 oz. can chopped green chilies
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 small onion, finely chopped (or 1/4 cup dry onion flakes) (can be omitted)
Combine all ingredients and pour into a 9″x13″ baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer. Serves 8-10. Freezable.

MoneySavingMom mentions this would go well with the brown bag burritos. I still have some frozen, so I might pull some of those out as well, since there's no main dish of meat to go with it.

I don't normally like to post recipes unless I've tried them already, but I think this one looks very tasty and pretty hard to mess up, so I'm posting it. :) Oh, I don't have a can of chilies, so I'm skipping that ingredient. I imagine it won't be as seasoned or flavorful, but I don't feel like running to the store for one ingredient that is probably NOT on sale.

Enjoy!
 

Motherhood Mania: Braid Bonanza

I have been french braiding the girls' hair the past few days. They love it! And I like that it does a better job than ponytails at keeping their hair out of their face for the whole day.

Their favorite thing is when we take the braids out and their hair is all crimpy. :) So, yesterday they wore braids and wanted to sleep in them and have crimpy hair for church today. BUT, we had baths to do. I ended up putting 2 braids in both Iris and Lily's wet hair, so they could wake up with crimpy hair for church. They were up late. 4 braids in under 30 minutes, though....that's pretty good for me! :) Addy had 2 braids in all day, but I didn't feel like doing another 2 in her hair before bed. A total of 10 braids done yesterday! I should open a salon. :)

They all look so cute with their braids....like little farm girls. :) I always liked whenever my Aunt Fawn would braid our hair. My hair didn't hold them very well, but my sister's hair did. I was so jealous. Lily has hair like my sister, Mindy - nice and thick and holds styles. My hair is too thin and wispy at the ends, so styling is difficult. Iris, unfortunately, has hair similar to mine. :( Not sure what Addy's hair is doing yet. I can do half braids in her hair, just to the end of the hairline, then I have to make the bottoms ponytails because her hair is still short to braid further down. She liked them, too, though, so it was fun to do!

I love having little girls to do those things with. And I love watching their reactions to the braids or the crimpiness after the braids are out. Their little giggles really warm my heart. :)

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: 30 weeks!

Nothing new to report, really. I am retaining water like crazy lately! My legs and arms are swollen. I wore a dress to church today, without nylons, and really noticed how dimply my legs are starting to get. Ew. :( Oh well. It's totally worth it! Baby is still super active in the evenings. He was dancing around during Sunday School today, too. :)

My hip pain at night is getting worse, but that's no surprise. Just trying to take it in stride. Less than 10 weeks to go, hopefully!

Rejocing in Recipes: Ham & Spinach Alfredo

So, I forgot to take meat out of the freezer for dinner on Friday. I ended up pulling out already cooked ham slices (that I had frozen). Here's what I threw together:

Pre-cooked frozen ham slices, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 box of spaghetti noodles, broken in half (makes it easier to serve and cut for my girls)
Jar of Ragu Creamy Alfredo Sauce - too lazy to make my own that night. :)
Fresh spinach leaves, about 2 handfuls, washed and chopped

I cooked the noodles until almost done, then threw in the spinach just to wilt it. Drain and return noodles and spinach to pan on low heat, adding in ham pieces and sauce. Stir frequently and heat through, making sure ham pieces are completely heated.

I served it with a salad, that also had spinach mixed in with it...my girls are loving spinach these days! No complaints here! :) And, I wanted garlic bread but didn't make anything in time, so I used leftover hot dog buns. Take them apart at the seam. Butter one side of each and lay on foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle butter tops with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese (or Mozzarella cheese - both are delicious!). Heat under broiler (on High) for a few minutes until butter is browned and before bread starts to burn, maybe 3-5 minutes.

Yum, yum! A semi-homemade Italian meal. I like getting creative with bread usage. Those buns had been sitting for a while and were starting to dry out, so it was nice to be able to use them up. And I had a large bag of Spinach that was starting to go; I was happy to be able to use it in the pasta dish, as well as in the salad.

It pays to be creative sometimes - less waste!

Rejoicing in Recipes: Skillet Spanish Rice with Ground Beef

I had 2 pounds of ground chuck in the fridge from yesterday's shopping, so I decided to use a pound of it tonight and freeze the other pound. I am making Skillet Rice with Ground Beef  (Go HERE for the site/recipe).

Here it is:

• 3 slices bacon
• 1 pound extra-lean or lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3/4 cup long grain rice, uncooked
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more, as needed
• dash black pepper
• shredded Mexican blend, Monterey Jack, or Cheddar cheese, for garnish, optional

Preparation:

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp; remove to paper towels to drain. Leaving about 1 teaspoon of bacon grease in the pan, brown the ground beef, stirring and breaking up as it cooks. Add onion and green pepper and cook until onion is softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, water, ketchup, rice, chili powder, sugar, and Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a dash of pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until rice is tender. Top with crumbled bacon and shredded cheese, if desired.
Serves 4. (although, this serves all 5 of us for dinner and most of us for lunch the next day, too)

Tonight, I grabbed a can of  Mexican Fiesta Tomatoes, with lime juice and cilantro in them. We'll see how that changes the flavor....hopefully not too much. Also, I used up the rest of the bottle of ketchup I had and it didn't quite equal 1/2 cup. So, mine will be slightly different this evening. Oh well. It's fairly easy and tasty, so I'll be happy with it regardless, I think.

I also had about 6 small yellow onions that were starting to get soft, so after chopping (in my Ninja!) one for this meal, I chopped the rest and separated into 2 freezer baggies with 1/2 cup onion each. Yay for remembering to freeze almost expired veggies! :)

Lessons in Love: Girlhood

I read a nice post yesterday about girls and growing up and the pressures and crazy things they face today. The mom that wrote it is much older than I am, but she made a point about the challenges she faced as a young girl being so much less difficult than what her girls are facing today. I think her oldest girl is 13, and they had such a hard time finding a modest dress for confirmation. I can relate....I'm not 13, but I have a hard time finding clothes (mostly shirts and dresses) for myself! I still fit Junior sizes, so I often buy my jeans and shirts in that section of stores, but the tops are either super tight or low cut. Same with the dresses - tight or low cut or even super short.

I always hated that my mom picked out clothing to buy, or at least had to approve it before it was bought. She shopped with me for summer clothes while I was a senior in high school. I remember going to the store for shorts and tank tops for our senior trip, and my mom picked out almost all the styles. I think the only thing I picked myself was a sweatshirt. I always felt uncool because my friends were picking out and buying what they wanted and most of their mothers shopped with them as their girlfriend, not as their mother. It drove me nuts at times that I didn't have that. Oh how dumb I was! :)

Now, please listen carefully when you read these next few thoughts. I am not an advocate of rape, child molestation, pedophiles, pornography or anything related to these things, but SERIOUSLY:
How can we place all the blame on these criminals?? I realize they are demented and sick and it upsets my stomach to think about any of that stuff, but if we're dressing our 13 year olds like 21 year olds, teaching them to dance like strippers, ok'ing music that calls them awful names, and letting them post raunchy pictures of themselves on Facebook or MySpace or anywhere else online......what do we expect?! These people have no will power, obviously.....so, throwing all this temptation in front of them does not help anything. I'm not saying (AT ALL) that we're responsible to control their urges or their problems, but why encourage them with what we're putting on our little girls?!

I was just talking to my mom about Easter dresses for girls. My two little sisters (both taller than me, but I still call them 'little'. lol) are in Girls or Junior sizes, but my mom has a hard time finding clothing for them that isn't trashy. Their school has a dress code, which is hard to follow at times I'm sure because of the lack of options out there for girls' clothing.

Come to think of it, I had a hard time finding bathing suits for MY girls. Iris and Lily are about the same toddler size, but even the toddler swimsuits trouble me at times. They are super high-cut on the legs or ride up in the back or are 2 pieces. I have nothing against anyone that puts a 2 piece on their little girl, but I can't. I cannot bring myself to do it. I was not allowed to wear a 2 piece while I lived at home, so maybe that has something to do with it. But, I just don't like to see little girls in 2 pieces. It makes them look older. I don't like having their navel showing; it draws attention to that area of their body, which creeps me out. Tankinis are one thing (most are okay), but the straight out 2 piece bikini things just drive me nuts. That's just my opinion for my girls. Again, nothing against anyone who has their little girl wearing one. Some are really cute designs. Maybe I'm just too paranoid about the creepos out there, but I can't put my girls in a 2 piece and take them in public. I've been wearing a 2 piece since I moved out of my parents' house (originally out of rebellion - LOL), but I was 19 or 20 before that happened!

The other thing that drives me up a wall is dancing. Now, I think it's hilarious when my girls start dancing to ANY kind of music (Iris even broke into dance in the pew Sunday at church. very funny), but to see the dances the tweens on TV are doing today kinda nauseates me. Even Arthur has comments about how raunchy they dance nowadays. It's gross - simulating sex....and they're barely teenager age!

I also have a problem with teen pregnancy. Who doesn't, really? But, my problem is that it's not made to look like the disgrace that it once was. Even when I was in high school, just 10 years ago, girls that got pregnant at my age were looked down on. I'm not saying that shunning them or looking down on them is the best idea, but it wasn't in any way cool or cute or the order in which to do things. Girls were kicked out of my high school for being pregnant. Girls in public school even were removed and sent to alternative schools. Now, you can be a teen, have a baby and bring them to the daycare at your school, so you can complete your education.

Getting an education is important, I agree. BUT, I don't think that should be first priority when you have a baby. You should be dealing with that. YOUR plans move to the back burner and you deal with the consequences and hardships of having a baby FIRST. Helping teen moms is great, but making it as though it's just another daily occurrence is wrong to me. God's plan is obviously for a husband and wife to have babies, not a tenth grader with a casual boyfriend.

I don't know if all my thoughts made sense or came out right. I don't want to sound like all teen moms should be quarantined or that we shouldn't offer them assistance, but I feel like the ball has been dropped when it comes to teaching children to make smart choices and teaching them to understand the consequences for making poor choices. It's just too easy these days when they have poor judgment. There's always someone there to take the burden off of them. BUT, if more poor judgment teens were MADE to bear the burden of their choices, I really think there would be fewer teens making poor decisions. They'd see that it's not easy, that it's not cool to be irresponsible, and that there's not always going to be someone to take the baby so you can go on like a normal teenager...continuing to make stupid decisions. At least that's how I saw it - the girls that had babies in my high school had to leave school, they had to quit the sports they played, they lost a lot of friends because they spent all their time taking care of the baby, their mothers helped them but not 24/7. I don't even know if most of those girls ever got GED's, but they certainly weren't the talk of the town after having a baby. We all gossiped about it for a few weeks, but we moved on....without them. I have noticed several of them went on to have more kids out of wedlock and ended up in crappy relationships. I realize not all teen moms end up that way, but since that's a serious possibility once you start that trend of having kids out of wedlock, why even risk it the first time?!

I don't know. Maybe I'm too harsh. Maybe my views aren't in line with God's. I hope they are. A pregnant teen daughter is actually my worst fear. My mom's worst fear might have been one of us getting a B+ on our report card (which I did in Bible class, and my mom threatened to take me off the cheerleading squad for it!), but with the way pregnancy is glamorized today I fear my girls will fall into that trap of thinking it's not that bad. I really pray that they guard their hearts against the stupid ideologies of the world and just focus on God, family, school, and building good, wholesome relationships. I don't have a problem with teenagers dating, as long as they understand the whole purpose for dating and/or courting and marriage and male-female relationships. Having a boyfriend is so trendy lately. You're uncool if you don't have one. What ever happened to just hanging out in groups? Seriously! I realize I was boy-crazy by 8th grade, but I didn't really date until several years later, and even then we didn't really do many dates alone. We went with another couple or hung out with several other people to watch a movie or whatever. Of course, I wasn't an angel. I regret a lot of stupid things I did when I was a teenager. BUT, I can tell you when the topic of sex would come up amongst us girls, I honestly thought a lot about the girls that had kids and all that I would lose if I ended up pregnant. What a deterrent that was! I was Valedictorian, Homecoming Queen, cheerleading captain, volleyball co-captain, and had lots of friends. I can guarantee I'd have lost all of that as well as any chance of going to college (and then meeting my husband!) if I had been pregnant in high school.

I really hope I am able to raise my girls like my parents raised (and is still raising) my sisters and me. As much as I hated not being "cool" like the other kids, I know I'm a much more responsible adult and parent for it. I know this world is only going to get worse, but I pray my stand on clothing and boys and music and dancing stays the same. I don't want to sway from godly principles.....my daughters' lives depend on it.

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: Sugar

I got the call - passed my 3 hour glucose test. Yay! I figured I would, but I was slightly nervous. I know I'm heavier at this point than my other pregnancies and I have been really craving sweets at night, so I worried I might just fail it (even if by just a small amount). Thankfully, I'm in the clear!

My contractions are getting stronger. Still nothing to worry about, but it's just a nuisance for now - having to stop what I'm doing to ride them out. And I almost always have to use the bathroom after a contraction. Thankfully, I got a great deal on toilet paper last week! :)

Other than that, everything is going as expected. I got my Rhogam shot yesterday....in my behind. Ouch! Why is it I can get through labor pain with no problem but a shot in the behind makes me a big baby? :) It burns and then my backside is sore for the whole day.

My next appointment is April 13. After that I'll go every 2 weeks for checkups til 36 weeks, then every week. I'll be 30 weeks on Saturday! Time seems to be flying now. Can't wait for warmer weather (yes, we have snow this morning!), when I can spend more time outside and time will hopefully seem to go by even faster.

Last night, Arthur and I watched a movie and he had his hand on my stomach. The baby must have known it wasn't my hand because he was jumping around all crazy. Arthur thought it was hilarious. :)

Rejoicing in Recipes: Easy Meat

A very easy way to make chicken is to just add a sauce. :) Last night, I got started late on dinner and decided to just use up a half bottle of barbecue sauce we had. So, I pulled out 4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, put them in a pan and poured the BBQ sauce over them. I set the temperature for low-medium and covered it. I let them cook for about 20 minutes, turning once to brown both sides. Then, I made slits about halfway through the meat and laid them slit-side down, lowered the temp to simmer and covered again. I let them simmer for about 30 more minutes, while I whipped up the rest of the meal.

I know Pillsbury Grands Biscuits are famous for having trans fats, so I hardly ever buy them....unless I can get them SUPER cheap like I did yesterday. I used a can of Grands for dinner last night. :) I have mixed feelings about trans fat. I know it's not healthy at all for us, but I feel like we do a good job in almost every other area of food, so we can "splurge" a little with them from time to time. :) 

I also got a really great deal on Birds Eye Steamfresh veggies and mixes. I brought home 6 packages for very little money (I would have had 9 packages, but they were out....guess I got there a little too late this week.). The thing I like about frozen veggies is that most are just the vegetable and no additives. Birds Eye Steamfresh are that way. We had the brown and wild rice mix with broccoli and carrots with our chicken last night. The ingredients were: brown rice, wild rice, water, broccoli and carrots. Imagine that! :) No sugars or salt or preservatives.....love that! After steaming them (in the bag, in the microwave, which is a great convenience on the late-start dinner nights!), I put a small dollop of butter on it as it seemed slightly dry. No salt or pepper added, and the girls loved it. :) I liked the taste, too. 

I haven't done my meal plan for this week and next, so I'm not totally sure what we're having tonight, but I hope to start earlier with the prep and make a more homemade meal tonight. Yum!

Motherhood Mania: Two Steps Back

I feel so behind on so many things lately. Then, to top off my crappy feeling, Lily has been wetting her pants almost daily. It's so frustrating. She's been potty-trained for almost a year now; she's 3 1/2! She wet her pants twice while we were at my parents' house between Sunday and Tuesday, then she wet 2 times here since we've been back. I did all the laundry last Saturday, so we can just wait until next Monday to wash again on our normal laundry day, but Lily's making it very difficult to not wash. I've done 3 loads since yesterday morning!

I don't know what's up with my not feeling on top of things. I know I'm behind with housework, but usually I can get over that enough to just relax with the family, especially when Arthur's home like he has been. But, I'm just so grouchy this morning already. I already snapped at Arthur (over orange juice!) and grouched at Iris for slurping her milk from cereal bowl with a built-in straw. 

Hoping the rest of the day goes better! Haven't done my devotions yet this morning...that may have something to do with it.

Motherhood Mania: Cleaning

I have been so behind on cleaning this week. I blame it on Arthur being home. :) I always get off track with my cleaning when he's home. He wants me to relax and just sit around, which I DID do, but I got so behind.

I finally scrubbed the kitchen sink yesterday. Felt so good! Then I took the shower head off and soaked it in bleach. It's really starting to get clogged; it's 5 1/2 years old....we should probably just get a new one. The stains from the water make it look dingy. Oh well. I'll get around to replacing it. :)

I did laundry yesterday as well (all but the whites), since we're going to my parents' today and won't be here Monday for regular laundry day. We went outside several days this week, so there was extra everything in the wash, which made for A LOT of clothes to wash. At least it's done, though. I'm happy about that.

Other than that, nothing new is happening. Nothing really to report on. Need to make some Cranberry Cornmeal Muffins today, that I've been wanting to try. Found the recipe in the paper on Wednesday. I'll post it if they turn out to be good. :)

Lessons in Love: A Sisterly Bond

I absolutely LOVE that my girls are close in age. I'm just starting to really see the bond between Iris and Lily. :) It's very cute.

The other day, Iris was saying she wanted to go to Red Lobster. BUT, Arthur really wanted to go to Benihana. Iris then changed her mind (because she loves to side with her Daddy) to Benihana. Lily was crying for Red Lobster. Arthur told the 2 of them to go talk about it and decide on the place for dinner. They went up to their room very seriously and we overheard them talking.

Lily (crying): "I want Wed Wobstar."
Iris: "It's ok, Lil. I'm here. I'm here. What about Benilabba?"
Lily: "Wed Wobstar. I want their shrimpies."
Iris: "Ok, Lily. I'm here. If you want Red Lobsta, we'll do Red Lobsta. Now stop crying and go tell Daddy sorry for crying. Come on, I'll go with you."

It was so adorable. Iris was talking to her so motherly and comforting. Arthur's eyes were watery because he was so touched by Iris' sensitivity to Lily. I don't think Lily really understood how nice Iris was being, giving up what she wanted so Lily would be happy, but it was so cute.

Lily did come down and Iris coaxed her again to say Sorry to Arthur. Lily apologized for crying over everything. :) My girls are adorable. I could probably take a few notes on how sensitive Iris is to Lily's crying. BUT, Lily does cry about EVERYTHING! :)

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: Sore

My hips have been very sore lately. Arthur worked yesterday and again today. This is making me even more sore because I have to do all the lifting and bending and whatnot for the girls. :(

Today is church. And it's raining. And I'm sore and alone with the girls. I decided not to rush around to get to Sunday School at 9:30 but rather just get there for the service at 10:45. Hopefully, the rain will take a break so it's a little bit easier to get them in and out of the car and into church.

At night, I'm falling asleep fine but I'm getting so achy when I need to roll over or if I stay on one side for several hours. When, I do roll over, it's becoming painful and I completely wake up to do it. :(

Ah, the joys of the last weeks of pregnancy. :) Just makes me so much more excited to be closer to 40 weeks! I really need to start practicing my breathing with Arthur. I've been reading my lamaze book and doing a little practice on my own but practicing with him is better. He can time it for me, so I can just focus on the breaths. Although, I don't really use him at the hospital for the breathing. :) He is a good partner, though, and knows EXACTLY how to help me and to not touch me or talk to me at certain times. :) He is the best!

Rejoicing in Recipes: French Toast

This morning, I made french toast for breakfast. Mmmm. I looooove french toast but most of the time just don't want to do all the dipping in the egg. We have a lot of mouths to feed, so I get annoyed with the drippy egg mixture. :)

It's a really easy recipe, though, if you've never made it. There are lots of variations and some overnight french toast recipes I've tried, but here's one if you're just going to make it and eat it right away.

French Toast

4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon (i eyeball it, since we like cinnamon!)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 slices dry bread (any kind - brioche is best, but i know most people don't have it lying around!)
2 TBSP butter

Syrup
Powdered Sugar

Melt 1 TBSP butter in pan on medium heat.

Combine beaten eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in shallow bowl. Dip bread slices in mixture, one at a time, coating both sides. Place coated slices on hot pan. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove to serving plate and spread with butter. When pan's melted butter is gone, melt other TBSP of butter for remaining slices to cook, to keep from burning bread.

Serve with fruit, syrup, and/or powdered sugar.

Today, I served it with syrup and powdered sugar. We also had orange slices, strawberries and bananas that I needed to use up before we left for a few days tonight. Very yummy! The girls seem to like it when I make it, but they just don't understand why I would dip bread in eggs and then cook it. :) As long as they eat it, though....that's all I'm really concerned about. LOL.

Rejoicing in Recipes: Another Break from Cooking!

We were able to go out to eat last night and only have to pay for the tip! $10 out of pocket!

My parents gave us a gift card for Christmas for Chiles/On the Border/Maggiano's/Macaroni Grill, plus we had another one left over from last summer for the same places. AND, I noticed we had a bunch of unused reward points on our credit card from the past 2 years, so I cashed them in for a third gift card for those restaurants. We received it by mail yesterday, so I decided we should go out to eat (I was SO not in the mood to cook after being outdoors in the morning and afternoon and exerting A LOT of energy to wipe out these girls!). We had a total of $65 in gift cards, spent only $46 of it and used cash for the tip. It was a nice break in the middle of the week, plus the girls always like going to restaurants. It's always a special treat for them, especially if they can order kid meals and not have to just split a meal with a sibling. :)

So, I have no recipe for today because my brain is fried from a busy week with Arthur home, plus all the outdoor play, plus the glucose waste of time this morning. :) Hopefully everyone gets a night off from cooking this week or weekend and can just sit and enjoy their meal with no effort. :)

Pleasantries of pregnancy: glucose shmucose

Well, as suspected, I failed my one hour glucose test. Boo! I am now sitting in the waiting room in the hospital lab area for my three hour test. I am using Arthur's iPad and am not used to it, so please forgive my typing errors. :)

I have two more blood draws, at 9 and 10 am. Hopefully the time passes quickly because I have a headache and am starving! The lab ladies are nice, though, and keep complimenting me on my figure after they hear this will be my fourth baby. :) That makes me feel really nice, considering I gained another 5 pounds this month....bringing my total to 30 lbs now! Doesn't seem possible, but I know I started out on the light side, so that is how I am justifying it. Haha!

I also found out at my OB visit Wednesdat that I am a week further along than what I had been thinking. I am 28 weeks 6 days today. Yahoo! That is a week closer to meeting baby Artie!

Hopefully I pass this test and do not have to worry about diabetes for the remaining ten or so weeks.

Oh, and I ordered and received a different baby sling for Artie. It is blue and is from seven slings.com. I love it and cannot wait to use it! I think it will be super handy for carrying him this summer.

Lessons in Love: Shopping with the Spouse

This week, Arthur is off from work. He had some vacation days to use up before May. I explained to him in advance that I still needed to stick to my weekly schedule, so we can get things done and make all of our appointments. I warned him about my grocery shopping, too - that I go to more than one store and use LOTS of coupons, so checking out can be time consuming. He acted as though he understood.

We went to Meijer after taking Iris and Lily to preschool. Arthur seemed pretty on board with going down almost every aisle, in search of the exact items on my list - NO DEVIATING from the list! :) He entertained Addy in the cart for most of the trip. At the checkout, I had $20 worth of coupons to use. He loaded the cart back up with the bagged groceries, while the cashier struggled with some of the Meijer website coupons. She was very patient and gracious, checking to make sure each one went through and apologized to me that their own coupons were causing problems. I apologized to the man behind us in line; he was very nice and talked to Addy for part of the time. After several minutes, we were finished and were able to leave. He seemed okay with time it took, after I said "we saved $20 with coupons and even more with the sales that went along with those coupons".

Then we went to Walgreens...

I made the mistake of saying it should be a short trip at Walgreens. He sat in the car with Addy, and I thought it would be just a few minutes of me inside the store. Well,.... they were out of several of my sale and stock up items, so I adjusted my list. Then, I had trouble finding a few items (not placed or sorted where I thought they'd be), so I guess my "few minutes" was more like 15 minutes. He ended up coming in with Addy and was NOT happy. I had 2 trips through the checkout and he couldn't believe it. I explained that I needed to use the money back on the first round to pay for part of the second round. He rolled his eyes and made a comment in front of the cashier that I thought was disrespectful to me.

When we got in the car, he got pretty mad that I didn't call him to say what was taking so long and that he had sat in the car for 15 minutes. I, of course, started crying (HORMONES!), saying how embarrassed I was that he spoke to me like a child in front of the cashier. I was so mad. I didn't talk to him for a while. I dropped him and Addy (and all the groceries) off at home before heading to my last 2 stores and then to pick up the girls. I was still very angry with him.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I forgot that he doesn't shop weekly like I do (or EVER for that matter). I can say I warned him, but he doesn't get it as far as the time I put into grocery planning and shopping in order to save a decent amount of money.

He told me later he promises never to shop with me again. I agreed that would probably be best. :) I know he's happy I'm saving us money and stocking up on things we need, but I also know that he'd rather just leave it all to me and stay out of it. :)

I love him for his willingness to tag along today. I love him even more for recognizing that his place is NOT with me in the grocery store.

Rejoicing in Recipes: Garden Chicken & Spinach Mac & Cheese

I really wasn't sure what to call this recipe. I found a recipe for Spinach Mac & Cheese in the latest issue of Redbook, but I changed it up so much that I figured I should rename it. :) I made it for dinner tonight. Pretty easy, fairly quick. I'd make it again for sure. Addy had 2 helpings of it, so I guess the girls liked it!

Garden Chicken & Spinach Mac & Cheese

8 oz tri-color noodles (i used Wacky Mac noodles)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast chopped into small pieces
Olive oil
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1 slice bread (any kind; I used regular old sandwich bread), processed into crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
4 oz Cheddar Cheese
4 oz Mozzarella Cheese
2 cups milk
2 TBSP flour
Dried Garlic (few shakes of the bottle)
1/4 tsp salt
Black pepper (a dash or so)
6 oz baby spinach

Cook noodles til about 2 minutes less than recommended time (or very al dente). Add spinach to the noodles and water; cook until wilted. Drain and set aside.

Cook chicken in the oil til no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan. Melt butter and place bread crumbs in and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until toasted. Remove bread crumbs and add 2 TBSP of the Parmesan cheese; mix together.

Place milk, garlic and flour in pan and cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Lower temp slightly and cook, stirring frequently, until bubbly and thickened. Remove pan from heat and add in Mozzarella, Cheddar and remainder of Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper.

Place noodles/spinach mixture in 9x9 baking dish. Add chicken and mix slightly. Pour cheese mixture over all and stir to coat. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until bubbly.

You could use other cheeses besides cheddar and mozzarella. The original recipe called for fontina as one of them. I don't usually buy it (too expensive). I used what I had on hand. Very tasty.

The original recipe also suggested a side to accompany it: sliced tomatoes, red onion, and olives drizzled with olive oil. I didn't have time to make it, nor did I think anyone but me would actually eat that. :) I'm the only red onion eater here.

Happy eating!

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: Contractions

I have been having more contractions, and more painful ones, lately. I am 27 weeks and 3 days. :) Tomorrow is my glucose test. BOO! I can't eat anything after midnight tonight and I have to drink that pretty sugary drink an hour before my blood is drawn. My appointment is at 8 AM, so I have a feeling I'll be pretty hungry by the time it's over with. :)

Today, I did grocery shopping. No more walking or lifting than normal on a Tuesday, but my sciatic on both sides was killing me by lunchtime. Then, the girls had swim class tonight - more walking into the building and the locker room. UGH. My hips and sciatic were screaming by 7 pm. Arthur is out for a little bit with his brother right now, so I'm just resting with my feet up.

Nighttime is getting more painful. Rolling over has really started to hurt. And I'm still saying "Ouch" out loud every time. :) My hips pop as I turn over, which hurts too. I hope I don't sound too whiny about it all, but my midsection really is starting to be achy/painful. In the mornings, I can't put all my weight on my left leg...it doesn't hold. I have to sit down or lean against the bed to put my pants and slippers on. Today I had to actually sit down on the floor to do it. Not looking forward to more of that for the next 10+ weeks. :( My feet and hands haven't started hurting yet, so I'm happy about that. With Addy, I was feeling the arthritic symptoms about this time. Hoping those hold off a little longer, or completely. They finally went away several months after having her, and man are those painful!

Baby Artie is still very active while I'm resting. All of the girls have now felt his powerful kicks/turns. They all got so excited when he hit their hand. They finally got it, that he really was moving in there. :) Addy still likes to talk to and kiss him. It's very cute to watch.

I am hoping he doesn't want to wait til 40 weeks to arrive, but I'll take anything after 36. :) Just as long as his little body is ready!

Motherhood Mania: Time Away!

So, I had planned to have a Saturday night date with Arthur this past weekend. The girls were all set to stay overnight at my in-laws' house, and I was preparing for dinner and a movie. Little did I know, Arthur and a friend had been planning for over a month to take me and our friend's wife on a little overnight getaway! Arthur let me know on Friday night that we were taking the girls to his mom's house at 9:30 Saturday morning, which I thought was pretty early if we were doing dinner later that night. He told me to go ahead and pack a bag for myself because he had a surprise and we weren't going to the movies. :) So, that's all the information he gave me. I packed all of our bags and was surprised to see we were going to Lake Geneva, WI.....I didn't find out though, until I saw the signs! We stayed at a beautiful hotel with a view of the lake....GORGEOUS! Of course, this was not a room we would normally get if we had the kids - it had a huge tub in the room and a giant bed and came with turn-down service....that was a first for me! :) Everything was amazing there. We laid around for a little while before he said we were heading into town to get lunch and then to another destination for another surprise. We went down to the lobby, I turned around and saw our friends standing there. The wife was just as surprised as I was; her husband did the same thing to her as mine did, and she had no idea we were going to be there, too! It was a great surprise to see them there. We headed to a yummy lunch, then the guys took us to get massages! The massage place was a little questionable (it was an older couple that did massages in their home), but it felt great and I was so glad they planned it.

We dressed up for dinner, which is something we haven't done in soooo long! Dinner was great, and we had planned to go dancing afterward in town, but by the time we finished eating we were all tired. That's what happens when we've spent the last several years having and raising little ones....we are wiped out by 9:30! :) We all changed into comfy clothes and hung out at the hotel before going to bed.

My 2 favorite things about the weekend were: not having to prepare meals for anyone and getting to sleep in. Ok, so we were all up by 8:30, but that was way more sleep than any of the 4 of us had gotten in years! HAHA. It was a great time, and even though we didn't do any dancing or staying out late, it was a getaway that both my girlfriend and I needed and it was wonderful that our husbands thought we deserved it. She's been working on getting her Masters and working full-time and just had a baby 5 months ago! I've been busy with my girls and running around like a crazy woman at times to get everything taken care of...and while pregnant.

This was our first night without Addy. Apparently, the girls did fine with Grandma and Grandpa. I could tell my in-laws were tired, though, when we got back to pick up the girls. :) They looked a little worn, but I know they loved having the girls there.

I was pleasantly surprised that our date night was actually a date overnighter. I am so grateful for a husband who thought of such a wonderful surprise. He spared no expense to make sure I had a relaxing and fun time. What a great man he is!

Lessons in Love: Japan's Earthquake/Tsunami

I know everyone's talking about it today, but I just watched to post quickly about the tsunami in Japan after that earthquake near the island.

Arthur worked with a guy from Japan for about a year. They became good friends, and we spent a few evenings with him and his wife. They lived in Chicago, while they were here. He was completing his apprenticeship as a funeral director at the funeral home where Arthur worked. They worked many shifts/days together and really got to know each other. They are back in Japan now, and when he is here we get to see him. He was here around Christmas and came over for dinner and to see how big the girls have gotten since we saw him last. He had never met Addy.

He and his wife had a little girl since moving back to Japan; we have not yet been able to meet her. It was nice to visit with him. He told us all about his family's funeral homes in Japan and where they live and about the fast trains there and how far they are from Tokyo and whatnot.

This morning, when I saw that Japan had been hit by the earthquake and tsunami, I was thinking of them. I know Tokyo felt the earthquake and aftershocks and that there was damage, but I didn't know if it was felt out where Teru and his family are. Arthur couldn't get in touch with him by phone, so he called his other former co-worker, who then emailed Teru to see if he could reach him about whether or not they were safe. THANKFULLY, Teru emailed back that they were ok; they felt it a little bit but they were fine. Their phone lines were down, so they had to check in with family in/near Tokyo by Skype. His wife's family lives in Tokyo.

I was so happy to hear they were safe, but I started thinking about how crazy an 8.8 earthquake is and then to have a tsunami afterward. What devastation! I've watched some video of the earthquake on Fox News at noon, but I cannot imagine the terror those people went through....and the terror they may still be going through if they have loved ones unaccounted for. All we can do here is pray for now. I do pray they get the assistance needed to find those missing, to feed those without anything right now, and to be able to reconnect the lines of communication for those here in the US that have family there and aren't able to reach them yet.

The West Coast of the US and the islands of Hawaii were also in terror, awaiting any repercussions of the tsunami. They were under tsunami warning (and might still be, actually). We have friends on Oahu, who posted on Facebook that they were able to seek higher ground for shelter. They were up 1100 feet, so I'm pretty sure they'll be fine. They posted a little while ago that the warning for huge waves may have been overstated and that so far Oahu hasn't seen any big waves or major destruction. So happy to read that! They might not be out of the woods yet, but at least for now they are safe.

It is amazing what power the wind and waves have. We take for granted the ocean and the fun we can have or the wind and it's ability to calm. That fun and calm can be turned around in an instant to create such havoc! I am so thankful, though, that God is always in control. Whether or not we understand the purpose of such destruction is pointless; God has it under control and there is a reason that maybe only He knows. I'm ok with that.

Rejoicing in Recipes: Double Apple Walnut Bread

I had 5 golden delicious and 6 braeburn apples that needed to be used up, so I found two ways to use up the majority of them: applesauce and apple bread. YUM!

For the applesauce, I just peeled and cut up the 5 golden delicious, put them in a pot with just enough water to almost reach the top of them and then boiled them for 5-10 minutes. Then, I added a sprinkling of brown sugar (I don't like my homemade applesauce very sugary) and lots of cinnamon! :) Then, I let them boil some more, stirring and mashing with a fork here and there until they were all mushy and most of the water had cooked out. The result? DELICIOUS cinnamon applesauce that is amazing while still warm and even better once it's cooled overnight! We had some for breakfast and I used some in the following recipe:

Double Apple Walnut Bread

1 cup smooth unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I always just use vanilla!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup peeled, cored, and finely diced apple (I use 1 medium sized apple- Pink lady is awesome, but any full flavored, tart apple is good!)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 1-9x5 loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans (I did mini ones today. I hear this bread freezes well...this isn't my recipe by the way, just one I found on a blog).

2. Mix applesauce, sugars, eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Whisk well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center.

4. Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until combined. Fold in apple and nuts. Pour into prepared pan(s) and make even. Sprinkle extra sugar on top (optional; I opted out of this one today...mostly because I forgot to!).

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack. 

I do not plan to let them cool completely before cutting into them! I never can just leave them alone for that long. LOL.

So, I ended up with about 4 cups of applesauce. After eating some for breakfast and using a cup of it in the bread recipe, I have about 2 cups left. I froze 1 1/2 cups, since the girls are going to Grandma's tomorrow night, and homemade applesauce doesn't last very long just in the fridge. I left the last 1/2 cup out to eat with lunch or tomorrow's breakfast. 

I now have just 4 braeburn apples left, and Arthur likes to eat those so I'll leave them be. 

Thank God for the creativity He's given me when it comes to using up fruit! I feel like we would waste so much if He didn't give me the sense to make something with the almost-bad fruit! And with bananas - I end up freezing 1 almost every week (though not the past few weeks, because we've been little monkeys eating them all up!) because we don't get them all used or eaten by the time their overripe. If you peel the banana and throw it in a freezer bag, you can use them at a later time for a smoothie or bread or in other recipes! Good way to keep from having to throw out uneaten fruit!

Lessons in Love: A Thinking Love with Charlotte Mason

Today, I downloaded and read A Thinking Love with Charlotte Mason by Sonya Shafer. Very interesting read. I have been interested in Charlotte Mason's schooling techniques but haven't found the time to read her book(s) yet. This download was about 65 pages of reading, so it was fairly short. Sonya Shafer uses Charlotte Mason's idea of a "thinking love" to help us consider how we're raising our children.

One of the first things she talks about is giving in to make our children happy 100% of the time and how it will negatively affect them. Now, I don't give in to my girls 100% of the time, but I know I give in when I don't feel like listening to them whine or don't feel like exerting the energy to explain to them why things must be done and why a certain way. It was interesting to read ways to enforce the rules, so that children understand rules and that they are to be followed all of the time, not just when we feel like enforcing them.

I sometimes tell my husband we should pick our battles with the girls. Maybe that's the wrong way to be saying it. I suppose it's not right to make up a rule but only follow it when I'm willing to. What message is that sending to the kids? That they have rules but only when we're in the mood to enforce them? It might seem like a pain to keep the rules in place all of the time and sometimes I feel like a dictator when I'm pushing a rule on them, but if the rule is logical and correct it must be done. Otherwise, why bother making any rules at all? It sends mixed messages.

This is going to be tough for me. I believe kids need rules. I am a firm believer in rules and discipline for failure to follow those rules. I like the idea of kids "pulling their own weight" around the house (to whatever degree they can, based on age and ability obviously). I entertain the idea of kids to "be seen and not heard" at the dinner table or in front of other adults. BUT, I lack the discipline myself to enforce these great ideas all the time.

When our friend came for dinner on Saturday night, I was utterly embarrassed by the way the girls acted at the table. We normally have dinner with no issues, other than the occasional burp (followed by a giggle and an "excuse me") or a spilled glass of milk. Saturday was very out of the ordinary - Lily refused to eat, Iris kept acting silly, and I was quickly losing my patience. I tried to keep it under control, so Arthur and his friend could chat while they ate. I was losing that battle, though, and Arthur had to step in to remove Lily from the table and discipline Iris for acting up. Iris completely lost it and through a huge fit in front of our guest before she was sent up to her room. Lily never did fully eat, but I was not about to let her sit there and act up. We removed her from the table and she didn't finish her meal. I felt like she had won, slightly....until I realized that later in the night or the next morning she'd be very hungry and understand (hopefully) why she needs to eat dinner when it's dinner time. I don't know that she ever did, but I was so embarrassed. We are constantly raving to our friends about our girls' great eating habits and how we can take them anywhere and whatnot, but they acted as though they had never eaten dinner with people before! It was a circus and it was out of control.

This week's dinners are back to normal, with no issues. I just wish it could have been that way when we had company.

I read something in the book today that interested me:

When Stevie’s great-grandfather was a child, the prevailing philosophy was Children should pull their weight.
When Stevie’s grandfather was a child, the popular maxim was Children should be seen and not heard.
When Stevie’s father was a child, the attitude of the era was Don’t stifle your child’s self-expression.
When Stevie was a child, the cry of the day was Do all you can to give your child self-esteem.


That was pretty right on as far as what I've read or heard about the past decades compared to more recent ones. We are "a nation of whiners" just like Mayor Daley said last week. :) I'm not a huge Daley fan, but he was pretty spot on with that one! We give in to everything nowadays, and we expect nothing but happiness. We don't discipline all the time because the line of thought is now to make your child happy and not to put them down by making them feel bad about their actions. Shoot, if I was out of line as a child my father was VERY ready to put me in my place. AND I'M SOOOO THANKFUL FOR THAT NOW! I can't imagine what my values would be if I wasn't shown at a young age how to act properly and to show respect and that I don't deserve anything but rather I need to earn it.

I just wonder what the thinking will be in 20 years from now. Heaven help our grandchildren!

Motherhood Mania: Raising Boys

I had a thought this morning: how in the world do I raise a boy?? I am all set for how to raise girls, with regard to relationships and marriage and wifely roles. But, boys are a whole other way of thought. Of course, both my girls and my son will (hopefully) be looking for the same qualities in their future spouses, but with the girls I know what I looked for and what I aspired to be in the relationship as a wife and mother. I am teaching them to find a man that loves God (as much as they'll understand for now) and how to be a wife that takes care of the husband as far as meals and cleaning and support for his decisions and whatnot.

For our son, though, he'll need to be taught that the man provides for the wife and leads the family. I'm not used to talking about that as a skill that should be learned, since we're teaching just the girls for now. Hopefully Arthur will understand much better how to teach him. And I can show him (again, hopefully) how a godly wife should be and how a wife should care for her and help her husband.

Oh, so many things to consider and remember and model to the kids! :) My prayer is that Arthur and I model that properly. If my kids fail in their relationships as adults, I would seriously consider that at least a partial failure on my part! Of course, I expect them to take responsibility for their decisions as adults, but if they aren't trained to make the right decisions, I can't really expect them to KNOW to do so.

I know God will show us how to lead and teach them. I just have to remember to look for those teachable moments and show them how to be open to God's leading and teaching.

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: No News is Good News

It's been pretty quiet, as far as my pregnancy lately. My sciatic is starting to pinch and make me wince often throughout the day, but I expected it (actually, I expected it to start much sooner than it did) so I walk it out and move on. :)

Baby is moving even more...all day, all night! He gets the hiccups often, too. I think all of the girls did, too, from what I remember of each pregnancy. It's really cute to stop and think about his little baby hiccups. :)

At night, it's getting harder to roll over. I have to wake up to roll from one side to my other side. And when I do, my hips pop. I always say "ouch" out loud, I noticed. I don't think Arthur hears me, but I must do it 4 or 5 times each night! I still am not regularly getting up to use the bathroom, which surprised me. But, the girls have had colds lately and waking themselves up coughing, so I get up with them and use the bathroom because I know if I get up and walk around then try to just go back to bed THAT is when I'll need to go. LOL.

Next week is my OB appointment and glucose test. Yuck! I have failed all of my other in-office ones, so I'm not hopeful to pass it. BUT, Arthur's off for a week, starting Saturday, so if I fail it I hope to be able to go in the next day and do the outpatient 3 hour test and just be done with it, while I have his help with the girls at home. Scheduling my appointments is much harder with kids; it's not like they want to be in my doctor's office, and I really don't have anyone to watch them all during the day (if they're not in preschool). Oh well. At least it'll work out if I have to do the 3 hour test.

Only 14 weeks left! I am very excited. I am retaining water and quickly growing out of the maternity clothes, so I am about ready to have this baby. :) I know, I still have at least 10 weeks before it would be a good idea to have him. But, I can't wait to see his little face!

Lessons in Love: Help

I've been (STILL) thinking about more things we can do as a family (or even by myself) to help others. I keep thinking about my "skills" or talents and how I can use them outside of just our family. I can cook decently, bake, and organize like NO ONE's business! :)

I have thought about teaching new moms or new wives or whomever how to bake/cook and freeze or how to organize their homes to be efficient. Some kind of Proverbs 31 woman-ish goal - running a home effectively, being prepared each day for the chores/tasks/whatever, caring for a husband and children through meals and housework. I really don't know what all I'm thinking, but I feel like there are SO many women around here that waste money and time on things - outrageous and unplanned grocery trips, prepackaged and unhealthy foods, wasted/spoiled foods, untidy and unorganized homes, chaotic lives because of all the previous.

I just don't know how to go about it. I suppose I could offer to help a friend, but would that seem insensitive...to offer to a friend to help them organize their homes or offer to teach them good cooking/baking skills to better provide for their families. ??? I might be offended if one of my friends asked ME to be the guinea pig - might sound like they thought I wasn't doing a good enough job. Right?

And what about charging for the help? Seems wrong to charge people to help them save money, right? I could do it for free (since I am not technically trained or have a degree in anything useful for it), and just use it as a ministry type of thing.

I know Arthur would say to just take it easy and let's get through having the baby. :) I just feel like I'm wasting away here some days, with this organizational and money-saving knowledge! LOL. So many people are struggling right now with money thanks to our wonderful economy, and they just don't know some key ways to save on groceries or how to get their house in order, so they don't waste time and money there. Clutter drives me bananas; maybe it doesn't drive others nuts. Maybe I'm overthinking this and no one is really in search of help.

I also thought about new moms. There's SO much to being a mom, and those that don't have any help? How do they do it? Would they WANT help to organize at home, make healthy meals, plan ahead for meals and groceries? Do they want help so they can enjoy the baby more and not have to be so overwhelmed?

But, I guess I don't know any new moms, so I have NO IDEA if they even think about these things. And I was blessed to have both my mom and mother-in-law share their advice and expertise when I became a new mother, so I didn't want for anything, really.

Plus, even if I wanted to start something like this, how would I go about it? There's not really any new moms at our church. I don't even know that there's any organizationally-challenged folks there, either.

Ho-hum. Just some thoughts of mine. Wish I had an outlet for (what I consider to be) my talents. I'll just keep praying. I know God has SOMETHING He wants me to do; otherwise, I don't think He'd keep bringing it to mind. While I'm cleaning, I'm thinking, "does every mom/wife do THIS MUCH cleaning each week to stay on top of it?" Does everyone else have a daily cleaning routine to keep from having everything pile up?

That's all. Glad to get it out of my head. For now.

Motherhood Mania: Destined for Greatness

I sold 2 end tables today to a lady that found me on Craigslist. :) Yay! I had priced them at $30 for the both of them (they are pretty solid, in great condition, and pretty wide/tall). She asked to buy them for $20; I caved. :) I'm awful as selling things, but I'm very happy to be rid of them. We used them for about 1 1/2 yrs is all, so they are still in really good condition; I think $30 was fair, but oh well!

I've been so busy lately, during the day, that I haven't kept up with posting each category every day on here. The girls' swim class is going well on Tuesday nights. Last night, my mother-in-law was able to come watch their lesson. I think the girls are doing well and learning a lot, but that's just me. I'm biased and think my kids are super smart and the greatest. LOL!

During the day, I've been trying not to watch TV and keep busy doing other things. I've fallen off the wagon for regular daily cleaning (again!), so I'm trying to get back on track with that. I have the upstairs bathroom cleaned today, as well as the laundry is all done and put away, the groceries are bought, sorted, and put away, and I've done other odds and ends to keep on top of things around here! I did my week's menu plan last night while dinner was cooking, so I'm happy to have that as a reference each night.

Arthur and I have a date night on Saturday! I'm VERY excited. We have free movie coupons that I got through a rebate thing, so the plan is to go see a movie. Maybe dinner, too. Not totally sure, but the girls (yes, all 3 of them!) are staying at my in-laws for the night, so this will be the first overnight without any of them! I'm ecstatic! Total freedom....for one night. :)

Arthur has 7 days off starting Saturday, so we're all very excited to have him home and hang out with for a week! Hopefully I won't get too off track with chores, which is usually the case on his days off. :)

Rejoicing in Recipes: Herb Crusted Chicken

Ok, so there's not a whole lot of herbs in this Herb Crusted Chicken. We enjoyed it, though. I think I would use mayo instead of milk next time, though, to retain some moisture in it. It turned out slightly dry.

Herb Crusted Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - sliced/butterflied in half
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
2 TBSP parmesan cheese, grated
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup milk (think i'll try mayo instead next time)

Combine cornmeal, flour, cheese, salt and pepper, and Italian seasoning in bowl. Dip chicken pieces in milk then into dry mixture. Lay on greased (or foil-lined) baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes at 400 degrees, or until cooked through.

I served this with (gasp!) prepackaged Knorr Chicken Flavored Rice. :) I try to stay away from the prepackaged stuff, but it was swim class last night and I was rushing. LOL. We also had salad with it.

I liked the seasoning on it; I'm not a huge fan of Italian seasoning, but this amount I could handle. I was surprised as the tastiness of the cornmeal. We don't use it often (other than for cornbread!), but I liked it just as well as bread crumbs for the coating.

Book Review: Tithing by Douglas LeBlanc

I received a courtesy copy of Tithing: Test Me in This by Douglas LeBlanc through BookSneeze for review. This book is part of a series called The Ancient Practices Series. I was drawn to read this book, as tithing seems to be a less talked about subject in churches today.

LeBlanc interviewed several different individuals and couples about their tithing practices and beliefs. I found the book to be easy to read and enjoyed each person's story divided up by chapter - one person/couple per chapter. I did find that the stories dragged on in some areas, with details that may not have been vital to the point of each person's story about tithing. Even though the book was short, the unneeded details did tend to make it feel like a much longer book.

While I don't agree with all the beliefs and theories presented, I was appreciative of the explanation behind each belief system and was able to understand the WHY behind each person's devotion to their beliefs. It was very enlightening with regard to the range of tithing beliefs and movements out there. I am not aware of another book that presents tithing in this way.

Tithing was, to me, a great encouragement to all Christians to begin tithing or to continue tithing and to understand the reasoning behind their actions. Each story presented had interesting Scriptural support. The entire book presented tithing in a very positive light, giving reason to why we as Christians should give at least a portion of what we have back to God, Who gave it to us in the first place.

Great book, with regard to the purpose of it. Mediocre book, with regard to the amount of the backstory on each person or couple. I would definitely recommend it as part of a discipleship program for new believers or new church members!

Lessons in Love: Tithing

I just started reading a book called "Tithing: Test Me in This", that I received through BookSneeze. I love their program of choosing a book to receive, read and review. I get to keep the book (or give it away, as I've been doing), and most times I really enjoy the book's content because I've chosen it.

I am only on the first chapter of the book - didn't get very far trying to read during naps yesterday! Hoping to be encouraged and find some great Scripture to help support my view of tithing.

We tithe; I thought all Christians did. But, I guess not all do. I'm not here to judge because their decision has absolutely nothing to do with me...at all! I just feel very strongly about it, mostly because of how I was raised. I am hoping this book will be encouraging to us, when we have those times where we just don't feel like tithing. It can be a tough decision, but thankfully Arthur has always made the best decision and tithed, regardless of the bills we have. I really appreciate that about him. He is a great leader for our family in that way. I hope our girls understand why we do it and grow to want to do it once they're older.

Rejoicing in Recipes: Lasagna

Last night, we had a friend over for dinner. I made lasagna, but I changed it up a little bit. I have a ton of Ronzoni pasta from a deal a few weeks ago at Jewel, so I decided to use the Lasagna recipe on the back of the Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Lasagna box. I made changes to it, too. :)

Lasagna

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 cups pasta sauce
1 1/2 cups water
12 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Noodles
2 eggs
15 oz. cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups Mozzarella cheese

Brown ground turkey with green pepper and onion. Drain any fluid. Add in sauce and water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and 1 cup Mozzarella in bowl. Mix completely, making sure egg yolks are mixed in.
Place 1 cup of sauce mixture in 13x9 baking dish. Lay 4 lasagna (uncooked) noodles over sauce. Top with half of cheese mixture. Repeat with 1 cup sauce, 4 noodles, and remaining cheese mixture. Top with last 4 noodles, remaining sauce and other 1 cup Mozzarella cheese. Be sure edges of top noodles have sauce on them, so they don't become hard in oven. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and serve.

I served it with salad and some cut up raw veggies (carrots, radishes and cucumbers - yes, we LOVE veggies around here!). Our guest is diabetic, so I opted not to make any bread with it or a dessert. The green pepper was a great addition, I thought - added great flavor! I just had to make sure the pepper and onion were cooked with the meat at the beginning, so they could be mushy by the time it was completely baked. My husband does NOT like any crunchy pepper or onion in his food. :)

We ate about 3/4 of the pan of lasagna; I had just enough left to pack Arthur a lunch for today and to feed us girls for lunch here at home today.

Hope you find it just as tasty!

Product Review: Purex Complete Crystals Softener

I was chosen to receive a sample (and coupon for a FREE full-sized bottle!) of the NEW Purex Complete Crystals Softener. I usually just use fabric softener sheets, but I'm willing to try anything to help with the sweaty smell of Arthur's running/athletic clothes!

So, I tried the sample bottle they gave. You add the crystals directly to the clothes/laundry while it's in the washer. Wasn't sure how that would do, since we have a front loader, but I followed the instructions anyway. :)

I was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the product's scent. It is very strong, but very nice smelling! I like the smell from fabric softener sheets, but that is only after I remove a load from the dryer. This smell was evident at the end of the wash cycle...and it didn't mix with the detergent smell to make any weird smells (another thing I worried about - mixing scents).

Here's some interesting facts Purex gave about the new Crystals Softener:
-"They are 92% natural, not oil-based like other liquid fabric softeners, so instead of coating fabrics with oil, they work by penetrating the fabric and infusing fibers with freshness that lasts for weeks, not days."
(This I can attest to, as I washed on Monday with the Crystals, and here it is Saturday and my closet still smells great like I just put the clothes away!)

-It will not coat towels with oil, so towels will retain the ability to stay fresh and absorbent.


Purex Complete Crystals Softener will also:
-Preserve flame retardant benefits in children's clothing.(a HUGE plus for us!)
-Maintain wicking abilities of athletic clothes (a BIG plus for me!)


Go HERE for more info on this new product. I have already used my free coupon they sent to get the full size bottle. I have only used the scent Fresh Spring Waters, and I love it. I imagine the other 2 scents are just as amazing!
--

Rejoicing in Recipes: Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham

I made this Thursday night, to feed us and my in-laws (mom, dad, brother, and sister). The original recipe was in the Better Homes and Gardens Wedding cookbook I have, but I changed it around quite a bit to feed 6 adults and 3 kids. :)

Au Gratin Potatoes and Ham

1/4 cup onion, chopped (about 1/2 small onion)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup Cheddar (or American) cheese
5 cups potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (I used about 5 3/4 cups to stretch the dish for more people)
Cooked Ham, chopped (I used leftover ham from earlier in the week - no measurement here, I just eyeballed what looked like a good amount!)

1/4 cup bread crumbs (or crushed crackers - I had some Clubhouse crackers to use up)
2 TBSP butter, melted

Cook onion in butter over medium heat, until butter is completely melted and onion is transparent. Add flour and stir to combine. Slowly add milk and continue stirring over medium heat, until boiling and thicker. Add cheeses and cook just until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place chopped ham in bottom of 13x9 baking dish. Layer potato slices over ham. Pour cheese mixture over top and be sure the top potato pieces have the cheese/milk mixture over them, so they don't burn. 

Combine melted butter and bread crumbs/crackers. Sprinkle over top of dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until bubbly and potatoes are tender when poked with fork. 

 Enjoy!

This was a hit with my in-laws. We ate the whole dish! I served it with homemade french bread, salad and some raw veggies (carrots, radishes and cucumbers). Perfect meal for a group! Great warm meal for a cool night as well.

Pleasantries of Pregnancy: Illnesses everywhere

I am amazed at the amount of colds and flu and illnesses everyone seems to have this winter. I have heard of 4 people I know (and are not related to each other or even know each other!) that this week have/had Strep Throat. And I keep hearing that people are getting it more than once! Seems like it's been a crazy winter for being sick. I've already had a bad cold. The girls seem to be stuffy and coughing now again this week. Arthur has a sore throat today. UGH! We clean and clean, but apparently the germs just don't care. :)

I really hope we don't end up with Strep here. Strep Throat during pregnancy would absolutely be the worst! I have never had to take antibiotics while pregnant, and I'd like to not have to start!

Today, I am 26 weeks along. Still feeling good. My tired streak has kind of gone away. I'm feeling energetic and not too achy. My hips are at the point where they ache every time I roll over at night, but I can handle that. My stomach has not been able to handle much food at one time, so that's not so great. I LOVE to eat, so having to cut back the size of my meals isn't fun at all for me!

Other than that, I'm excited for the next 10+ weeks to go by quickly. Can't wait for some warmer weather, so I can shed the winter coat and not sweat every time we get in or out of the car! :)

Motherhood Mania: Sell, Sell, Sell!

I finally got around to posting a bunch of things (like 12 or so) on Craigslist this morning. I can't wait to get rid of some of this junk. Arthur hates selling things because you have to wait on people and coordinate pickups and whatnot. I figure, we spent money on these things and didn't use them THAT long, why not get a little money in return to put toward other things we'll be in need of later?

I am so ready to start clearing junk out. I go through this phase every couple of months - cleaning out closets and the garage. I tell myself that if we haven't used it since last winter, we're most likely NOT going to be using it again. That helps me clear out a lot most of the time.

I went through the girls' clothes about 2 weeks ago, after clearing out the baby girl clothes. I tried to simplify the wardrobes. They couldn't possibly need 15 tank tops each! :) We get hand-me-downs and I usually just keep them all. I have to start picking through to keep about a week's worth of clothes for each season. That'll help cut back on unneeded and unused items. We just don't have the storage for it. I give it away to the Children's Cancer Federation; they come with a truck and pick up almost every Wednesday around here. So, I feel good about giving it away for them to resell and give money to cancer research. At least then I know it's not just going in the trash.

If I can't sell these items on Craigslist, I'll end up just giving them to the cancer truck folks, too.

On another note, I got my dry erase board for the wall...for school! It's only 2 ft x 3 ft, but that's perfect for me to write and Iris to follow along. I also got Iris and Lily each a personal marker board for them to hold and write as we go. One side is blank white and the other has the lines for printing. Both sides are dry erase, so that works great for us!! I love reusable things! :)

My sister graciously loaned us a TON of classroom items - charts, calendars, other wall hangings, printables, work center ideas, etc. She is amazing! I've organized most of it in our little corner of our bedroom where I have started my classroom collection. :) All of my curriculum is in, and I have gone through and mapped out the first 10 days of school. No times for things have been assigned, but I know what worksheets and lessons we'll be doing. I'm so glad I got to read through it all and coordinate the lesson plans each subject has in their teacher manuals. The first week we'll be studying Creation, so that's great. The girls are already familiar with it, but I have so much more to offer for visuals and worksheets and activities than anything we've done together before, so hopefully it'll really reinforce it and help with learning numbers.

I found a lesson planner at Staples the other day...exactly what I was looking for. So, now I just need to (in pencil, of course!) transfer my scribbled notes onto the lesson planner to look more official. :)

This summer is going to go by quick, so the more I can organize now the better!