Catch Up

I think pregnancy is starting to get to me. I've been feeling really good, just tired and starting to get a little bit uncomfortable at night. I take naps during Silas' naptime and the boys' quiet time most days and still fall asleep on the couch during Eric and my nightly netflix watching.

A few days ago we watchedYoung @ Heart and totally loved it. It's a documentary about a band/choir with the average age of 80. They sing cover songs from all kinds of modern bands, everything from the Beatles to Outkast. It was so sweet and hilarious!

Like every other mom, I'm constantly playing catch up on the never-ending chores of laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.. So, that and homeschool have been occupying my time.

I can't believe our new baby will be here in 3 months! It's so crazy for me to hear of people due in May or June. It means that my due date is that much closer. I know the next 3 months will fly by.

Today Samuel is wearing a shirt that says, "Mommy is my Valentine." It's so fitting for him (even in September). He's totally my little cuddle bug, love bug. He's always wanting to sit on my lap and give hugs and kisses. The other day I was taking a rest on the couch and he came and laid down next to me. I opened my eyes to his eyes right in front of mine. He had such a serious look on his face, gazing in to my eyes, that I started laughing. In a completely serious voice he said, "What?" I got this glimpse of him as a man with his wife, being so sweet and affectionate.

I've heard people say, "We're not raising kids, we're raising adults." Everything we do as parents is not to get our children not to annoy us today, but to raise them into loving, productive, smart, funny, adults who love God and people. I love seeing them grow into little men.

Well, the boys are patiently waiting on the couch for me to read them Highlights magazine. They've, "been waiting so long," as Judah says.

Maybe I should rename is Menu Planning Tuesday

Yesterday morning I woke up to rain. It was the first cool morning in a long, long time and I was super excited to make stews and chili and soups in the crock pot this week. And then, I looked up the weather and it's supposed to be in the 90s all week. Yuck! So, I scratched that menu and I'll do a little impromptu cooking this week, including grilled cheese and tomato soup, chicken or beef enchiladas, maybe a bag of lentil soup from the freezer, stir fry with (probably) the last of the summer veggies from Farmer's Market, and I don't know what else.

Last night I made pot roast in the crock pot and Eric requested biscuits with it. Since he very, very rarely requests anything I happily obliged. I took the biscuits out of the oven and they looked so pretty and smelled so good. I took a bite to test them out and spit it out. They were disgusting!

Lately I've been telling people how easy baking really is. If you can follow a recipe then you can bake. And that, my friends, was the problem. I looked back over my recipe and saw that instead of 4 teaspoons of baking powder I had used 4 tablespoons of baking soda. Lesson learned: don't talk on the phone while mixing in ingredients.

I quickly whipped up another batch using the correct amounts of the correct ingredients and, while not looking as pretty, they tasted a whole lot better. So good, in fact, we ate all of them. I got my recipe from allrecipes.com.

Laura requested the enchilada recipe. It is super, super easy. I got it from my grandma who got it from someone. I can't find where I wrote it down, so I kind of do it by memory. Sorry none of the measurements are exact. Just do what looks right to you.

Chicken Enchiladas
Boil 4 (or so) chicken breasts until cooked through and shred chicken with a fork. (I cooked my chicken in the crock pot and saved it for later)
Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
Shred cheese (mozarella, jack, whatever you want) and mix in with chicken.
Pour enough green sauce (Mexican green enchilada sauce bought at the grocery store) to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
Roll the chicken/cheese mixture up in a corn tortilla until all is used up.
Pour the rest of the green sauce on top of the enchiladas. Spoon around so that all of the tortillas are covered.
Add sliced olives and more shredded cheese on top.
Bake at 350 F (175 C - for my Canadian friends) for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

For Now and For Later

Food is one of my favorite topics while pregnant. Whenever someone goes out to eat I ask them what they ordered. I can't stop myself! I remember last year thinking that I didn't enjoy the holiday meals as much as I did the year before while pregnant. This year I'll, at least, have Thanksgiving pregnant!

One thing I plan to do before the new baby is born is freeze a bunch of meals. With the other kids we were so blessed to have my mom, mother in law, and friends bring us meals. This time I want to have a stock of meals to last us awhile. It will be one less thing to think about.



Last week I made one pan of chicken enchiladas for dinner and another for the freezer. I think I'll cook it this week and make sure it tastes just as good as the first.



What are some of your best freeze-able meals?

Jesus' Birth by Judah

Each night before bed Eric reads the boys a Bible story. Judah retains so much of what he hears and I often hear him retelling the stories. I finally got one on video!

23 weeks pregnant

I haven't been taking very many pictures this pregnancy, so I got my photographer (aka Judah) to take one.

Becoming Dog People

Yesterday we went to a dog parade and chili cook off. Eric was very much in his element: meeting other dog owners, talking about dog stuff, and checking out all the dogs.


Captain and T-bone, a 4 year old English Bulldog


Cute Captain


Watching the parade


With a huge great dane

Changes I've been making in my life. You know, the ones I plan to blog about in detail.

-Homeschooling. Love, love, love it more than I ever knew that I would! I never even considered homeschooling until I was pregnant with Judah and read a book by Dr. James Dobson (Bringing Up Boys). Two weeks ago we officially started. I love that I get to raise my son, teach him (most) everything he knows, cook with him, do craft projects, go on field trips (like Alice In Wonderland Jr, that we went to with my mom yesterday), and be such a significant part of his life. I don't have to worry about him adjusting to school or that the workload is too fast or easy for him. I plan my curriculum around him with his giftings, his talents, and his personality in mind.

-Cooking whole foods. Instead of buying whole wheat dinner rolls, chocolate cake in the box, or cornbread I've been making them myself. And, surprise, surprise it really isn't that hard. Not to mention, it's cheaper and better for us. Replace whole wheat flour with white and add a little flax seed and everyone (including mama!) is happy. The other day I ordered this adorable little apron as my new uniform for becoming domestic.

-Staying home more. Without the obligation of ministering so much outside of my home I am able to minister more to my husband, children, and others inside my home. We aren't going out for lunch everyday and to meetings every night and I am able to fulfill the role that I believe that God has called me to- to minister first to Him, then to Eric, then to the boys, then to others. I always believed in that order, but at the church that we were at it wasn't encouraged. Thank you God for new freedom! (And, we're saving money in gas!)

-Our puppy! Our little puppy, Captain Whitebeard ("Captain" for short) is 3 months old. We've had him for a few weeks and are having so much fun with him! Although, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the idea of a new puppy I decided to bless my husband and choose to be enthusiastic and I'm glad I did. He really is fun for the boys and for us.

-23 weeks pregnant! This pregnancy is flying by! It's already September and by December we'll be holding our sweet little baby! Any guesses of what we're having? It's going to be a surprise and I'll probably do a poll (with a fun prize!) for the winner.

-Cleaning my own house. I'm sad not to have our (amazing) cleaning lady anymore, but I have the time and the motivation to clean my own house. And, I'm able to use natural cleaning products with white vinegar, baking soda, borax, tea tree oil, and eucalyptus oil and without toxic fumes.