Thursday, October 28, 2010

Confession is good for the soul ...

...or so they say.


So I'm going to make a confession.


I'm terrified.  I'm absolutely terrified of having 2 children under the age of 2.  I'm afraid of not being able to give Audrey the attention she needs while still meeting the needs of a newborn.  I'm afraid of not being able to fully recover from a c-section with a toddler at home.  I'm afraid that I won't be able to do laundry to have clean diapers for either child.


I'm afraid of the sleep that I won't be getting.  And how this change will affect the existing relationships.


I think that I have more apprehension regarding this baby than I did when pregnant with Audrey.  I was ready to have a baby when I was pregnant with Audrey and I knew that I'd be able to handle the challenges that a newborn provides.  But I feel like I'm going into something that I have no business being near by having 2 kids so young.  YIKES!!!!!!


I know that these are all perfectly normal things to be concerned about.  And that many women have done this before.  I know that things will ultimately be OK and I have to just find my groove.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

Photos from Kymberly's band review on Saturday. Photos aren't great because I am still learning this camera.



The week before, the drum major was awarded the Sweepstakes award for parade - which is the best award there is!!  He is awesome ... and only a junior!
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Trombones leading the way .... as it should be.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A*C*T*S*

Years ago, in Sunday School, I learned a fairly common model of prayer.  


ACTS

  • Adoration
  • Confession
  • Thanksgiving 
  • Supplication



I still try to use it today for my morning prayers.  But I struggle with one thing.  Well, a few things, really.  But one that's really bothering me lately.


I sit down to pray at 5:30 in the morning when I finish my daily bible reading.  I find that I have a hard time confessing my sins when I'm sitting to pray.  Maybe it's because it's 5:30 in the morning and I just can't remember what sins I committed the day before.  I've been praying that God would show me my sins so that I can work on them.  And He has been.  And I have been. But still, at 5:30 when I sit to pray, I just can't list off my shopping list of sins and confess them.


I much prefer to confess my sins when they immediately become apparent to me.  I shout in anger at my husband.  I let a bad word out of my mouth when getting cut off by the driver in front of me.  Or when God reveals a big sin to me, I spend some time in reflection and prayer about that.


But on a daily basis, to have my sins at the tip of my tongue, that's just not me.


Scripture tells us that God hears our prayers after we confess our sins (forgive me for not having the reference here ...).  So if I'm not confessing my sins every morning when I sit to pray for my family and my day and all the other prayer requests around me, is God not hearing my prayers????


A couple other thoughts on the ACTS prayer model.
I find that I spend the day in constant reflection and prayer.  Either minor requests all day long:


"Lord, please remove this pain."
"Lord, be with Logan as he undergoes this treatment."
"Lord give me the strength to endure yet another day of work."


You get the idea.


I also find that I thank God when I see His blessings bestowed upon me.  


"Thank you Lord for the rain."
"Thank you Lord for my daughter's laughter."


Just quick one-liner prayers sent up to God.


I tend to adore God in the same way, but I think not quite as frequently as my thanksgivings and requests.


Is this what Paul means in 1 Thessalonians 5:17?


So this prayer model I learned years ago......
Do I use it?  Yeah.  I keep it as a guide of the things I need to address when I pray.  I try to touch on all 4 aspects in all my prayers throughout the day. Do I touch on all 4 every time I sit and pray?  No.  It's helpful, however, at 5:30 in the morning, to have a guide to follow so I can focus.  5:30 is early!!!


Thoughts?  Comments?

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pumpkin Patch

On Monday this week you got a taste of the pumpkin patch. Today I shall show you more.

Audrey seemed to have so much fun that day, it was hard to leave, despite having not napped all day.




















Did you know....

That I have a blog just for my fun artsy photos???? Check it out.


Captured by Christine

Monday, October 18, 2010

Mommy and Me Monday - 10/18/10 - Pumpkin Time

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend and took LOTS of fun photos.  My wonderful husband made sure that I was in a couple photos too.  ;)






Head on over to Krystyn's blog for more Mommy and Me fun.

Mommy and Me Monday at Really, Are You Serious?
Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Friday, October 15, 2010

Thankful thursday

I'm a day late.  Sorry.


This week I'm thankful for yet another freebie from a co-worker.  We got an infant swing and glider for new baby.  


I can't express how grateful and blessed we are with all the free things we've received.


And I have a freecycle infant activity mat to pick up today as well.  Something I really wanted for Audrey, but couldn't justify cost-wise.


Also thankful that I have a diaper party in the works.  So excited for that.  I hope to get more, and I have a plan to try to drum up some interest.


So ... what are YOU thankful for today?

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Another Baby Blog

Are you tired of hearing about the new baby??


Well ... too bad!  ;)


This baby is a mere 2 months from entering this world.  Less than, actually, since she'll be a scheduled c-section.  Josh and I keep discussing how we're going to transport a newborn and a 19 month old all over the place, especially since I will be recovering from a c-section and can't do a whole lot of lifting.  As much as I don't want to admit it, it's become apparent that we are in need of a double stroller.


An ideal stroller would be the Britax B-Ready stroller.  And Natural Mommie is giving one away.  It looks phenomenal.  So ... I'm entering...as many times as possible.  Because, well, I want one.


You want one too?  Go check out her giveaway and enter as much as you can.  I know I will.


Giveaway is open until Nov 12.


B-Ready Stroller Giveaway


If you scroll all the way down to the bottom on my blog, you'll notice that I added a button about the giveaway too.  

Another Baby Blog

Are you tired of hearing about the new baby??


Well ... too bad!  ;)


This baby is a mere 2 months from entering this world.  Less than, actually, since she'll be a scheduled c-section.  Josh and I keep discussing how we're going to transport a newborn and a 19 month old all over the place, especially since I will be recovering from a c-section and can't do a whole lot of lifting.  As much as I don't want to admit it, it's become apparent that we are in need of a double stroller.


An ideal stroller would be the Britax B-Ready stroller.  And Natural Mommie is giving one away.  It looks phenomenal.  So ... I'm entering...as many times as possible.  Because, well, I want one.


You want one too?  Go check out her giveaway and enter as much as you can.  I know I will.


Giveaway is open until Nov 12.


B-Ready Stroller Giveaway


If you scroll all the way down to the bottom on my blog, you'll notice that I added a button about the giveaway too.  

Thursday, October 7, 2010

My Love Affair with Laundry Day

My entire life I've hated laundry. I hate taking it out to the garage (in California, w/d are located in the garage). I hate sorting it. I hate loading in the machines. It hurts my back so much to deal with it. And then wait 30-45 minutes, go back out, pick up heavier clothes and put them into the dryer - which is even lower than the washer.

Then after that's all done, I get to fold the laundry and put it away. There were days when I would just throw it in a pile on the couch and that was my dresser. That doesn't go over so well when you have a family though - that's more of a single adult or college student solution.

Laundry day was even worse when I lived in an apartment and had to carry 50 lbs of clothes to the laundry room (halfway across the complex) through rain or snow. And then to get there and only find out that all the machines were being used, or someone took my CLEAN clothes out of the washer and threw them on the floor.

But now, I have a love affair with doing laundry. What changed, you might ask? Well, I use cloth diapers. For the last 6 months or so we've been using cloth diapers. We don't even use the fanciest or prettiest diapers. We have a small stash of Econobum and Flip diapers. And a few that I've made myself. But something about washing them and knowing that they are clean and ready to go on my daughter's bottom makes me giddy. To know that I'm helping the environment by not throwing away chemicals and plastic filled with human waste. Knowing that her bottom is healthier because of the cloth. It all brings a big smile to my face.

And when it's warm and sunny outside, I love to take the diapers from the washing machine and put them on the clothesline outside. It gives my daughter a chance to play outside with the dog while I do my part and save the environment just a little bit more.



Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Free Baby Sling from Seven Slings

Got an email today telling me about a promo for a free sling, just pay shipping and handling. I want to pass it on to my readers.

SevenSlings.com has a brand new promotion going where you get 100% off any of their baby slings when you use promo code "milkbands".

This promotion will allow you only one purchase per transaction so please take your time to get the right size and pattern for you! This offer will expire without notice -so don’t delay! These fitted slings are safe for infants to toddlers 35lbs and under!

Go to www.sevenslings.com , click on “Shop Now”, and select the correct size sling or gift set you would like (be sure to visit the sizing page for instructions on how to select the right size sling for you). Once you have selected the sling or gift set you would like, enter "milkbands" into the promo code box and click “Apply Code”. This will bring your product total from $39.00 to $0 for a pouch sling or from $44.00 to only $5 for a 3-piece gift set - all you are required to pay is the shipping & processing!


Sincerely,
Jenny Pierce
Owner
MilkBands.com

*You may have heard about the Infantino™ “bag sling” recall. The recalled Infantino™ slings are not the same type of baby sling found at sevenslings.com. The recalled slings were “bag slings” and were similar to an elastic closure purse where the baby sits closer to your thighs than your chest. Seven Slings are fitted, non-adjustable “pouch slings” and hold your baby right up close to you on your chest where you can see and kiss your child. There has not been a recall associated with “pouch style slings”.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Book Review: Help I Can't Pay My Bills by Sally Herigstad

Help! I Can't Pay My Bills: Surviving a Financial CrisisHelp! I Can't Pay My Bills: Surviving a Financial Crisis by Sally Herigstad

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I decided to read this book on a whim. We were passing the financial section in the library. I thought maybe I should read one and get some tips and ideas for cutting our expenses in this upcoming fincancial trial we are about to face. I chose this book over the many others because it seemed to be most appropriate and honestly, the title was the most catchy.



The author is a CPA and really knows her stuff, especially when it comes to taxes. But very few ideas for cutting expenses were brand new to me and few could we apply to our situation (we already have cut cable and stopped eating out and.........).



The section on taxes was great, but because we aren't poverty according to the IRS, the ideas don't apply to us.



I liked that she understood people who couldn't make ends meet. She didnt have a "you are an idiot because you're in debt" attitude or tone to her and she had ideas for how to talk to creditors if the situation gets that bad. Additionally, she had suggestions that i think most financial advisors say are taboo; she presented them with some big qualifiers though.



All in all it wasn't a bad read, just didn't have much to offer to me at our current stage in the game.



She listed several resources on her website that could be helpful to some ... I have not looked at them though, so I reallt do not know if they are still there.



View all my reviews

Monday, October 4, 2010

Scones

Motto of recent baking: Something simple with few to no special ingredients....


Josh wanted something for breakfast for Sunday morning.  We need quick and easy breakfasts because we now have to be at church by 8.  And because we are there until after noon, we can't wait until we get home.


I started thinking about what we had on hand.  Normally when we're in a pinch like this I do coffee cake.  But we had no apples.  OK.  What else....


Must do some sort of pastry.  But those require rising time, and it was already nearly dinnertime on Saturday.  SCONES!!!  Of course.  We didn't have any dried fruit, so it would have to be a pretty basic scone.  We did have raisins.  And while I'm not a fan of raisins, they would add just enough to the scone to be more than just bread.


Found a quick and easy recipe.  Scones are a pastry.  And I'm not so hot with pastries; I usually over work them and I can't cut the butter into the dry ingredients very well.  The method for this one was exceptionally different.  I didn't have to truly cut the butter in.  I took the butter, frozen, and shredded it in like cheese.  In fact, it looked like a big pile of mozzarella cheese.  Then I just worked it all together with my hands.  It was, by far, the easiest method I've seen for working butter into a flour mixture.  (The next easiest is the food processor method ... but that one is easy to make it too fine a mixture.)


Patted the dough down and cut into triangles.  Baked for the alloted time and voila ... raisin scones.  It was super quick and easy.  Easy enough I will try them again soon, with a different flavor inside.  Not sure what flavor, but something.


It is now fall.  Be on the look out for pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin _________________ (fill in the blank).  I LOVE pumpkin and we have a small pumpkin waiting to be baked to fall goodies!!!

Banana Cream Pie

Friday night last week my church held a Hymn Sing and Pie Social.  I knew I needed to make one as opposed to buy one --- for many reasons.  The first of which is ... I'm a wannabe baker.  The second ... we're broke.  So I looked around the kitchen and realized that I had extra bananas lying around leftover from last week.  I decided that I was destined to make a banana cream pie.  Never made one before.  Didn't know the first thing about making one.


But I bake ... that's what I do.  So I could figure it out.  Time was short and resources limited.  I didn't want to buy a bunch of extra ingredients (defeats the purpose of making based on what we have on hand).  We found a recipe that needed no special ingredients.  I needed a pie crust, but decided that I could afford to buy that as I haven't really figured out pastry crusts yet.  And again ... time was short.  The recipe I found also didn't need a ton of gelling time or baking time or anything.


After we got home from grocery shopping I got to work.  I baked my pie shell.  Last time I baked a crust by itself the crust bubbled up and burnt and, well, was an epic failure.  so this time I was determined to do it right.  I found a different method for baking the crust alone.  I modified it slightly.  20 minutes later I had a beautiful pre-baked pie crust that did NOT bubble up and did NOT burn.  It was golden brown and flaky.  Perfecto!


Next I had to make the pudding.  I was trying to read the recipe at the same time and plan ahead.  I was multi-tasking too much.  The pudding had to be stirred constantly so it didn't burn.  It did start to stick to the bottom of the pan, but I think I salvaged it before too much stuck and I prevented a full burn.  I sliced up the bananas and laid them in the pie shell.  I was supposed to let the shell cool off first, but I didn't have time.  So they went in while it was still warm.


Then I poured the pudding in the shell on top of the bananas.  It looked a tad lumpy, but overall looked edible.  Then let it set in the fridge for 1-2 hours.


I was VERY nervous about this pie.  I had no idea what a banana cream pie entailed (I thought the bananas were mushed INTO the pudding mixture and a whipped cream was on top of that ... more like a chocolate cream pie).   So I was hoping that I was doing it right.


The woman who sampled the pie first said it was great.  I figured she was being nice because I was sitting next to her and I told her I made it.  Then as I was leaving I got another comment on it.  Oh ... that must mean I did something right!  YAY!!!


We had another crust left, so I made a second one on Saturday for us at home.  It was pretty good.  I monitored my pudding a little more closely and prevented any burning at all.  However, after sitting in the fridge for a day, the pudding has started to kind of get rubbery and almost has a pudding skin on it.  While it tastes OK, it has an awkward texture that I'm just not fond of.  Since it's my project and my bakery, I want to find a way to fix that.


I shall find a different recipe, now that I know what I'm doing.


No photos as time was short.  I might be able to get one photo of the last piece in the pan.