THE DAY HAS COME

Yes!  

There is a big machine in my yard taking out the stumps!

Progress!  Gotta Love it!

 

6 MONTHS

Last week, my baby turned 6 months old!

He is really a happy little guy..

No stats yet, checkup is scheduled for next week.

He is desperately trying to be mobile..and I'm afraid its coming sooner rather than later.  :)

Watch out, everyone!

ONE.

 

..and two shall become one.

Love you.

Picture from our date night on Wednesday.

2 PEOPLE

2 People Who Have Made Me Who I Am Today

1.  Mom

2.  Dad

There are a bunch of others who have contributed, but overall..well, I guess this is kind of a "duh" post. :p

But one has to give credit where credit is due..and thanks Mom & Dad for everything these past 30 years

xo.

Tomorrow is the big day!

Enjoy the rest of Thursday

3 ODDITIES

3 Things That Make Today "Weird"

1.  Mike is home

2.  I got a long-overdue, much-needed haircut (!!)

3. We're going out..like, on a DATE (!) tonight to celebrate a couple days early..

its a surprise where I'm being taken..so I'll fill you in another time!

Happy Wednesday!

4 IF-THANS

4 Names That My Children Would Have Had

IF 

They Had Been The Opposite Sex

1.  Michael would have been Carina Jean

2.  Carina would have been Aaron James

3.  Rian would have been Travis Robert

4.  Travis...well,
I had an thing with the letter "A."
 We (I) had picked out the name Abigail..but then, an Abigail was born.  So, then we picked out the name Anneke, aaaaand..an Anneke was born.  Finally, we picked out the name Anabelle.  Go figure, an Anabelle was born!  So, we said forget it, we would wait to see whether the baby was a boy or a girl..and obviously, he was a boy and we didn't have to worry about it.

I'm not going to share the middle name that we had  picked out for Travis if he was a girl...because if given the chance, I'll definitely use it.  Otherwise, I'm fine telling you the others because they won't be used.

And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

5 RECIPES

This is the week, 5 days, including today.

Today, I'm going to share 5 recipes with you.

They have come from various places, none that I remember..just so you know they are not my original recipes.

Enjoy!

1.  Raspberry Apple Danish Spread

1 pkg 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 apple chopped

2 T seedless raspberry jam

1/3 c granola

Brown Sugar Cinnamon crackers

Preheat oven to 350

Spread cream cheese in a 1 qt. casserole dish

combine apples and jam and spread over cream cheese

Top with granola

bake 20 minutes or until heated through 

serve with crackers.

2.  Skadoodlehoppers

1 cake mix of your choosing

1 container of icing that compliments the cake mix

chocolate and/or vanilla almond bark

sprinkles

Bake the cake as directed.  Crumble cake when cool.  Mix the whole can of icing in with the crumbles.  Cool and roll into small balls. Melt almond bark (don't overheat!)

Dip balls into bark and place on waxed paper.

Add sprinkles while the bark is still melty.

Let sit until firm.

3.  Impossible Coconut Pie

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c bisquick

4 eggs

1/4 c butter, melted

2 c milk

1/2 t vanilla

1 c shredded coconut

In a medium bowl, blend all the ingredients together by hand. Pour into a 10" pie plate that has been buttered or sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until golden and set.

4.  Simple Baked Oatmeal

1/2 c butter

3 c. rolled oats

3/4-1c maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 c milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Place butter in a square baking dish and place in oven to melt.

In large bowl, whisk together oats, maple syrup, baking powder and salt.

In separate bowl, mix together eggs, milk, and vanilla

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well.

Make sure all the oats are moistened.

Pour oat mixture into buttered pan and stir until most of the butter is incorporated

Bake 30 mins or until edges are browned.

Top with whatever you like.

5.  Loaded Baked Potato Soup

(crock pot)

8 slices chopped bacon

1 onion minced

2 garlic cloves minced

11/2 minced fresh thyme

2T flour

4 c chicken broth

6 med. potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces

2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c heavy cream

salt

pepper

3 scallions, sliced thin

Cook bacon

Pour all but 2T bacon fat into skillet.

Add onion, garlic, thyme to fat and cook on medium until the onion browns.

Stir in flour and cook for about a minute.

Whisk in 1c. chicken broth.

Put all of it into the crock pot.

Stir in remaining 3 c. broth and add potatoes

cover and cook 4-6 hours on low

At the end of that time, transfer 2 c cooked potatoes to bowl and mash smooth.

Stir cheese into soup until melted.

Add heavy cream and mashed potatoes back to soup.

Let it all sit for 5 minutes.

Season soup with salt and pepper and serve with scallions, bacon, and additional cheese.

Happy Monday!

6 JOBS

6 Jobs That I'd Like to Try

someday..or in my spare time..

1.  Guidance Counselor

2.  Caterer

3. Wedding/Party Planner

4.  Interior Designer

5.  Photographer

6.  Birth instructor

What do you think you might be good at?

What would you like to try?

7 ITEMS

Today was quite a day..and such strange weather..rain, sun, torrential rain, sun, clouds, rain, sun..and so forth.  Anyway, a big thanks to family members, you know who you are.  Work day 2011 was productive.  On to my list. 

7 Baby Items I Love

1.  Double stroller

It is wonderful!  I don't care what people say.  Don't leave home without it!

2.  Boppy pillow

nice for nursing an infant, great for supporting a small baby on their belly or when learning to sit..

3.  High Chair

Must be a reclining one!  We use ours from infancy on

4.  Pacifier Strap

no explanation necessary..this has saved us from many a woe

5.  Bundle Me

fantastic for the cold months rather than having bulky snowsuits, wish there was one in my size..

6.  Exer-saucer

7.  In the car Bottle Warmer

Yay!

Have a nice rest of the weekend!

8 DESTINATIONS

8 Places I Would Like to Take My Kids Someday

1.  Virginia:  (think Beach and Williamsburg etc)

2.  Disney

3.  Lancaster

4.  Utah

5.  New Mexico (think Carlsbad)

6.  Washington D.C.

7.  NYC

8.  Mystic, CT

Again, this list is not exhaustive..there are many more places..but these are up there on the list!

Problem is, these are all places I have been..

any suggestions on great (family) places to visit?

Friday!  Its the weekend!

Enjoy!

9 FACTS

9 Random Facts 

1.  The Lemurs on Madagascar have two tongues

2.  When you kiss, 200 million germs per second are passed between mouths

3.  A jiffy is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second

4.  Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated

5.  The average person falls asleep in 7 minutes

6.  Pam cooking spray will dry nail polish

7.  Non-dairy creamer is flammable

8.  The most dangerous job in the United States is that of an Alaskan Crab fisherman

9.  The average person spends 2 weeks of their life waiting at traffic lights

Happy Thursday!

10 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE TO INHERIT A LARGE SUM OF MONEY

1.  Praise God

2. Pay off our mortgage, student loans, and any other debt

3.  Help out family members in need

4.  Put aside an equal amount for each of our children

5.  Donate to Church and various charities

6.  Put an addition on and update our house

7.  Clean up the yard and build a garage

8.   Take the whole family on a vacation

9.  Go on a second honeymoon

10.  Buy Mike his motorcycle

These really aren't in a special order..aside from number 1.  

This of course is very unlikely to happen, 

but its nice to dream sometimes.

What would you do?

11 BOOKS TO READ

11 Books You Should Read

 

1. The Bible

2.  Beyond the Wicket Gate

3.  Anne of Green Gables (series)

4.  Night

5.  The Pursuit of Holiness

6.  When God Writes Your Love Story

7.  The Notebook

8.  In His Steps

9.  Gone With The Wind

10.  The Count of Monte Cristo

11.  Charlotte's Web

Now mind you, this list is not exhaustive--there are so many good books out there..it was tough to choose just 11.  It is quite possible these aren't the same eleven that I would choose tomorrow..but anyway.  If you have never read one or any of them, I do recommend each.

 

Happy Tuesday!

COUNTDOWN: 12 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

In 12 Days, I turn 30, Lord willing.

30 always seemed so far away, 

and now here it is literally right around the corner.

So, for the next 12 days, 

I'm going to try and post lists corresponding with the number of days left. 

If anyone has any "burning" questions for me, shoot them this way and I can use that for one of the next 11 days. 

12 THINGS ABOUT ME

1.  I have only broken one bone

2.  I have 8 piercings in my ears

3.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a double major

4.  I don't like lotion in my tissues

5.  I have always wanted a large family

6.  I believe in God

7.  I've always wanted to donate my hair

8.  I have had one surgery (2 if you count wisdom teeth)

9.  I am named after a Barbie Doll

10.  I'll do and fold laundry all day long, but I dislike putting it away

11.  At one point in time, I had a belly button piercing.

(It fell out and I never replaced it)

12.  I "left" my parents church in my early 20's--not because they aren't a God-fearing, Bible-teaching church, because they are--and at the "new" church, I met my husband.  See!  God's ways are perfect. 

Till Tomorrow!

ANTICIPATION

Look what arrived at our house!

I have a bit of summer prepping to do.

Happy Monday!

ICE CREAM RUN

 

We had our first trip to the "ice cream store," as the kids call it, earlier this week.  A spur of the moment decision after visiting the doctor..Michael's allergies are THAT bad and the meds just weren't cutting it.  

Anyway, as you can see, it was enjoyed.

I hope summer weather is right around the corner..this warm and then cold and then warm and then cold stuff is kind of aggravating. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RIAN

 

 

Where has time gone?!!
Rian turned 2 on April 25th.

We had her birthday party on the 23rd.

She was very excited to open presents.

I think she actually liked the opening part more than the 

actual gift initially.

She has had so many changes over the past couple of months..

she really is a big girl now:

She is (and has been for a couple months) completely potty-trained

Yes, that means overnight too.

She said bye-bye to her pacifier a few months ago

She drinks out of a regular cup for awhile now

She sleeps in a big girl bed...

Happy Birthday Little Miss!!

We love you!