It's hard to believe that 2011 is the day after tomorrow. 2010 has been a blink of an eye to me, and it's over. I'm not saying that I am sad to see it go, or happy, just that it was a fast year. A good year. It's been a year of restoration, change, happiness, family, growth, energy, love.
At the beginning of 2010, I believe I was at one of my lowest points of my life. I felt trapped in my house. I was so lonely. Winter isn't exactly the brightest time of the year anyway, but even my soul was clouded over. I was drowning and could not seem to surface from my own self-pity and loneliness. I was (and still am) so blessed and lucky to be able to be a stay at home mom, but I was having a very difficult time trying to figure out what to do with Ivy on a day to day basis. Genesis was only 4 months old, I was breastfeeding (which was easy in the beginning but became much more difficult as Gen began to become more aware of her surroundings and would not focus on feeding = stressed out mama). Jake left the house at 7:20am and didn't get home until 6:45pm. I'd be ready to get out of the house for some adult interaction (or anything!) and he'd be ready to settle in for the evening. Every morning I woke up and would think to myself, "what in the world are we going to do today?? what am I going to do with Ivy? who is she going to play with? are we going to get out of the house?" I was pushing myself towards an anxiety attack. I had one wonderfully good friend (I'll love you forever, KC, for everything you were and are to me) who I did everything with... but I needed more. I needed family, fellowship, activity, involvement in life.
In February, I returned home from a MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) meeting, where I filled the role of a small group leader and had several other friends. Albeit, distant friends. I unloaded Ivy and Gen out of the car and opened the door to the house. I dropped all of my stuff on the floor and looked around at the kitchen/living room/dining room area. Unwashed dishes lined the counter-tops, unfolded laundry scattered the floor, childrens toys were scattered aimlessly about. I turned to Ivy and said, "hey, Ives, do you want to go to Tremont right now to see grandma and grandpa Stuber?" to which she replied "YEAH!!!" I called Jake at work right away and asked him, and of course, he said yes, as always (Ivy and I had done several long spur-of the moment trips to Ohio before). He even said I didn't have to clean the house before I left! :) I called my in-laws and they were ecstatic to hear of our trip and said we could come for a whole week! Ivy and I hurriedly packed a couple of bags, packed the car, and we headed to IL. It ended up being the worst drive of my life, as Genesis screamed for a straight 3 hours in the dark, and there was nothing that would console her. However, this trip ended up changing our lives forever. Jake came up at the end of our week in IL and, together, we decided that we wanted to move back to family. I remember Jake gripping my shoulders and staring straight at me saying, "Dana, once we make this decision to move to Tremont, there is no going back. Do not change your mind." I haven't looked back since :)
The next 3-4 weeks were crazy. Jake applied for several jobs online right away after we returned to Branson. I started packing little things up here and there, not really believing we'd be moving in less than a year, but "hoping" that a miracle would happen. Well, our miracle happened. Two weeks after our return to Branson from IL, Jake received a job offer. Two weeks after that, we were moving. We found a very affordable, very large, perfect rental just about 2 blocks from Jake's parents house, and put our house on the market FBO. God was fully in control and orchestrated our move with such perfect timing we could never have imagined His total omnipresence in our lives. The rest of the year is history. He has looked after us as a wonderful Father.
Not to say there haven't been ups and downs (like our house... which still needs to be sold) still to this day, but our Faith has been changed this year. Jake and I are different people. We have grown. Our children are happy and have thrived being around such a large family such as my husbands. Ivy adores all of her cousins. She has a best buddy right across the street that she can play with almost every afternoon if she wants, she has a best girl friend just a block and a half away that loves to play princess and ride their bikes together. Grandpa stops in all the time "just to say hi" to the girls. They love that! Great grandma often stops by to bring a snack, or also just to see how we're doing. We eat probably at least half of our meals at my inlaws. We love being together and have soaked up all the love that family has to offer... just being together... just liking each other's company and having someone to spend time with. Wow! You don't know how special all of that is until you've been starved to death for a long time. We are never alone unless we want to be. And sometimes, we do want to be, but that is rare. :)
All of this to say, we are very excited about 2011. Jake and I are determined to get involved much more at church. We each have our niches where we have become comfortable and can't wait to get started there. We do feel like we can be used to here to God's glory and it the prospect is so exciting! I can't wait to grow my friendships that I have begun this fall. Ivy will start pre-school in the fall. That will bring a huge change to our household. We are adding another precious new addition to our family at the beginning of July; sometimes I still have to pinch myself to see if it's really real or not. We hope to sell our house in Branson- we have it listed with an aggressive Realtor, so hopefully it won't take too long. I am looking forward to a 3 month membership at Village Courts... they have a pool and racquetball courts so the girls and I can go swimming every single day if we want to starting in January! I am sure there are more things about 2011 that we are looking forward to... I just can't think of them right now. All I know is that my heart and life are full and life is good. Thank you, Lord for bringing change into our lives.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Good Day
Today has just been one of those really good days. (Except for about the past hour where I have been feeling SO extremely nauseous, I'm not sure what to do with myself.)
Jake and I were able to sleep in this morning, until about 9am because the girls were at grandma and grandpas. That was wonderful. It's amazing what an extra hour can do for ones body and mind. I had cinnamon and brown sugar toast for breakfast, with a big mug of vanilla mocha latte, and watched a show online for a bit before getting ready for church.
As I said yesterday, the kids had their Christmas program at church today. Ivy wore her garage sale Christmas outfit and looked so adorable. Grandma had given her a shower this morning and washed her hair with conditioner as well. I am telling you this because if you know Ivy, you know what her hair is like. It is the most wispy, thin hair in the world, and it is so hard to keep anything in it. But, if it is washed in the morning (and then conditioned as well), it dries nice and is easier to "style" it a bit. So this morning, she was able to wear her hair down with a couple of pretty clips in it. Her hair is getting pretty long (relatively long, from our perspective) and it looked so nice. Thanks grandma! The kids just did a great job singing and then our pastor finished up with an excellent message from Matthew 2:2.
After lunch, we all came home, I put Genesis down for her nap and then decided to clean out Ivy's toy closet under the stairs. Jake lounged next to me while I cleaned, and Ivy sat at the dining room table and played with stencils and play dough almost the entire time I worked on cleaning her closet. We chatted, laughed and just had so much fun enjoying being together. Then I made ALL of us turkey sandwiches (I know, I know!) and we sat at the breakfast bar and ate our sandwiches and mountain dew. Then I cuddled up on the couch with Ivy for a while and read some Arch books to her... until I got incredibly sleepy and had to leave her to go take a nap. It was just a wonderfully cozy afternoon.
We ended the day by going out to eat at Avanti's in Pekin. My in-laws came with us, and were also joined by Victor and Lacey who had just returned from a nice little vacation down to North Carolina with her family, and also Naomi and Phoenix. The food was great (I got lasagna) and fellowship so fun. And now it's Christmas week! I'm so excited.
I have been meaning to post this recipe for No Bake cookies for a couple of days. I made them for our cookie exchange we had this last week and they were so good. It is my friend, Trina's recipe... she used to make them a lot when we lived in Branson.
No Bake Cookies
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
Cook these four ingredients together, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Add:
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
1/2 c. peanut butter
3 c. oatmeal
handful of coconut
Spoon mixture by spoon-fulls onto wax paper. Let dry.
Jake and I were able to sleep in this morning, until about 9am because the girls were at grandma and grandpas. That was wonderful. It's amazing what an extra hour can do for ones body and mind. I had cinnamon and brown sugar toast for breakfast, with a big mug of vanilla mocha latte, and watched a show online for a bit before getting ready for church.
As I said yesterday, the kids had their Christmas program at church today. Ivy wore her garage sale Christmas outfit and looked so adorable. Grandma had given her a shower this morning and washed her hair with conditioner as well. I am telling you this because if you know Ivy, you know what her hair is like. It is the most wispy, thin hair in the world, and it is so hard to keep anything in it. But, if it is washed in the morning (and then conditioned as well), it dries nice and is easier to "style" it a bit. So this morning, she was able to wear her hair down with a couple of pretty clips in it. Her hair is getting pretty long (relatively long, from our perspective) and it looked so nice. Thanks grandma! The kids just did a great job singing and then our pastor finished up with an excellent message from Matthew 2:2.
After lunch, we all came home, I put Genesis down for her nap and then decided to clean out Ivy's toy closet under the stairs. Jake lounged next to me while I cleaned, and Ivy sat at the dining room table and played with stencils and play dough almost the entire time I worked on cleaning her closet. We chatted, laughed and just had so much fun enjoying being together. Then I made ALL of us turkey sandwiches (I know, I know!) and we sat at the breakfast bar and ate our sandwiches and mountain dew. Then I cuddled up on the couch with Ivy for a while and read some Arch books to her... until I got incredibly sleepy and had to leave her to go take a nap. It was just a wonderfully cozy afternoon.
We ended the day by going out to eat at Avanti's in Pekin. My in-laws came with us, and were also joined by Victor and Lacey who had just returned from a nice little vacation down to North Carolina with her family, and also Naomi and Phoenix. The food was great (I got lasagna) and fellowship so fun. And now it's Christmas week! I'm so excited.
I have been meaning to post this recipe for No Bake cookies for a couple of days. I made them for our cookie exchange we had this last week and they were so good. It is my friend, Trina's recipe... she used to make them a lot when we lived in Branson.
No Bake Cookies
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
Cook these four ingredients together, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Add:
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
1/2 c. peanut butter
3 c. oatmeal
handful of coconut
Spoon mixture by spoon-fulls onto wax paper. Let dry.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Holiday Parties...
We had our small group (from church) Christmas party last night. Jake and I thought it was so much fun. It was at our friend's house... they have a full basement that is amazingly comfortable and cozy with a nice big fireplace, huge sectional sofa and a full kitchen. All of the food/drinks were set up down there, and they also had a big, beautiful live Christmas tree. We put all of the white elephant gifts under the tree. We ate for a bit, then had the gift exchange (in which I got a the BEST gift out of the bunch- a fajita maker/grill/warmer), and then played Beyond Balderdash and one round of Taboo. The best part about the evening? No children to distract any of us (Ivy was in Iowa and aunt Naomi was at our house babysitting Genesis) from conversation and laughs. Wow, so relaxing in such a great way. I missed the girls, but it was awesome not to have to worry about where they were, what they were getting into, if they were hungry/thirsty...
Tonight we had another party. Another gift exchange. But this time, we had to dress up as part of the Nativity scene. As of 3:30 this afternoon, Jake and I still had no idea what we were going to dress as or what we were giving as gifts. But thanks to Grandma Pinky, who came to our rescue, I do believe that Jake's costume was one of the best at the party. He dressed as a wise man... decked out in a turban, jewels, jewel box, scarves... he looked great. I was an angel. Grandma had a floor length white dress-up dress that she had in her attic, so I just wore that with some pearl jewelry, curled my hair a bit and tried to put on some shiny/sparkly make up. It wasn't amazing, but it worked. People could tell what I was, and that's all that counted. Again, we had great food and then the gift exchange, then more food. I think people were going back downstairs to play games, but Jake and I are tired and we decided to come home. We're really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Oh, that's right, I forgot to mention- Ivy and Genesis are having a sleepover at Grandma's house tonight. Wooohoo!
I think I finished my Christmas shopping for the girls today. I knew I needed to stop by Hobby Lobby for a couple of more things for Ivy and then I would be done... so I did that this afternoon when I made my Walmart run for our gift exchange gifts. I am so glad I went into Hobby Lobby. I love their stuff, but I am always surprised at the stuff they have in the craft section that Ivy would go bananas over. It was hard to stop buying stuff for her! I got some things for Genesis there too that were half off, and I am super happy with my buys. I only have a couple more gifts to buy for people and then I'll be done completely with shopping. It always takes me a while to be done.
We are looking forward to church tomorrow. The children have their Christmas performance, so Ivy will be standing up front and singing with everyone. She's wearing her Christmas outfit, and I can't wait to see it on her. Naomi found it this summer for me at a garage sale, and it's so darling and it was so cheap- I think I paid $1.00 for the whole thing? Can't beat that :) I can't wait for summer garage sales again! I think I am going to try to keep Genesis in the auditorium with me instead of putting her in the nursery, so she can watch the kids as well. We'll see how she does. I'm sure she'll want to get down and go join them.
A friend of mine is going to cut my hair this coming week. I need to look at some magazines to figure out what style I want.
Goodnight all.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Cinderella
As I type, Ivy is on her way to Iowa with two of her cousins and great aunt and uncle to see Jake's cousin, Janelle, star in the play "Cinderella". She was so excited to go, she couldn't talk about anything else all morning. Janelle has arranged it that Ivy will be picked out of the crowd (I think they are going to be sitting in the front row) to actually go up on stage and have the glass slipper tried on her foot :) I wish I were going to be there to see the look on her face when that happens. This will be a most exciting part of her year, I am sure, because she loves loves loves anything princess. While Jake and I were on vacation in October, grandpa Roger took Ivy to see Disney On Ice and she still talks about it all the time as if it were the best experience of her life. This will be another one of those things that I think she will talk about for a very long time coming.
I am babysitting my nephew, Phoenix, all afternoon. He gave his mommy quite a bad night last night and she needed a little break, so she called this morning to see if I could watch him for a while. He has been here for about 30 minutes and has been asleep the whole time. He's such a cute little peanut, I can't wait till he wakes up so I can hold him.
Jake and I have our small group Christmas party to go tonight. I am supposed to bring a cookie platter and an appetizer and then we're also having a white elephant gift exchange. Not sure what we are taking for the appetizer or the gifts yet. Hopefully that will come to me sometime this afternoon.
Can I just talk for minute about my unbelievable craving for turkey sandwiches (bread, mayo, dill pickles, lettuce, tomatoes) lately? I had one for lunch yesterday, one for a midnight snack last night, one for breakfast, and two for lunch! And I am now thinking about having one for my mid-afternoon snack. I don't know if it's because I am actually craving the turkey sandwich in particular, or if it's because I don't really have anything else in the refrigerator to eat... and I don't feel like cooking. I think that's it.
Going to go try to find something else to eat... I'm hungry.
I am babysitting my nephew, Phoenix, all afternoon. He gave his mommy quite a bad night last night and she needed a little break, so she called this morning to see if I could watch him for a while. He has been here for about 30 minutes and has been asleep the whole time. He's such a cute little peanut, I can't wait till he wakes up so I can hold him.
Jake and I have our small group Christmas party to go tonight. I am supposed to bring a cookie platter and an appetizer and then we're also having a white elephant gift exchange. Not sure what we are taking for the appetizer or the gifts yet. Hopefully that will come to me sometime this afternoon.
Can I just talk for minute about my unbelievable craving for turkey sandwiches (bread, mayo, dill pickles, lettuce, tomatoes) lately? I had one for lunch yesterday, one for a midnight snack last night, one for breakfast, and two for lunch! And I am now thinking about having one for my mid-afternoon snack. I don't know if it's because I am actually craving the turkey sandwich in particular, or if it's because I don't really have anything else in the refrigerator to eat... and I don't feel like cooking. I think that's it.
Going to go try to find something else to eat... I'm hungry.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Bedtime Stories and Santa
Life has not been super interesting lately, and so I have found it difficult to post much. I was reminded by a friend at church today (thanks Lori!) that some people still would like to keep up with our life even if it is uninteresting, so I will do my best tonight to catch up.
I guess one of our newest things is that Jake has started reading Little House in the Big Woods to Ivy every night before bedtime. She is eating it up! We have the Little House series and I would occasionally see it sitting on the book shelf and wonder to myself if she would enjoy it yet, but then quickly dismiss the thought because they are pretty detailed and long and the pages don't have any pictures. I also didn't think that she would be able to follow it night after night. How wrong I was! Every night after bath time, she eagerly gets dressed and runs downstairs to ask daddy to read her another chapter. I kind of get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I see them reading it together because many of my greatest memories with my dad are of him reading books to me all throughout my childhood.
It is also a season of crafts in our home. It is so cold out right now (I think maybe like 14 degrees and tomorrow we're supposed to have a high of 11) and it has been blizzarding all day... and this week in general was just yuck. Talk about cabin fever! My mother in law used to be an art teacher in Indonesia and she is a really creative person, so I called her the other day to see if she had any craft books laying around for Christmas/Winter themed crafts. Sure enough, she has tons of ideas- two book-fulls of ideas for Ivy and to devour. When we were out the other day, I picked up some basic crafty stuff like construction paper, glitter, paper plates and pens and we are going to make it a week of crafts. There's not much else to do when the weather is so gross like it is.
Sickness has also continued to plague our household (one of the reasons I have been a bit discouraged to post on here). On Sunday night (last week) Ivy was up all night long crying about every ten minutes with an ear ache. Took her in on Monday to the Nurse Practitioner and yep, another ear infection. So back on antibiotics she went and the nurse also gave us ear drops to put in every 12 hours because the ear had some drainage going on. Genesis started developing a cold that same day... took her into the Dr. on Wednesday for her 15 month check up and yep, she has an ear infection as well as a viral infection with a fever of 103 and a rash on the left side of her body. Oh brother... can we get a break? I guess not. So she is also back on antibiotics. They both seem to be doing much better... but I am nervous because everything seems to go downhill about a week or two after we stop the antibiotics. Anyone have advice on pro-biotics? I've heard they help.
We had a surprise visitor on Friday. Our friend Tom, from Chicago was in town and stopped by to say hi to the girls and me. He brought us some taco bell and then helped me figure out the instructions on how to put together a ginger bread house village. Ivy loves Tom and was so excited to see him. Too bad he couldn't stay and visit very long.
I bought some actual brand name Dove bath soap the other day too. Usually Jake uses Dial bar soap and I use whatever happens to be available. But our skin has been so dry lately, Jake's hands were cracking and bleeding a couple of days ago so I figured we had to make a drastic change... new ultra-moisturizing bath soap and serious lotioning-up after showers. It's miserable to be dry, itchy and cracking in the winter months. I know you all agree.
We went to see some real reindeer yesterday. That was fun. They came out of their little house to see us and show off their huge racks. Ivy thought they were pretty cool, but it was raining and freezing out so we didn't spend much time looking at them. After that, we went to see Santa at the mall. I had taken Ivy several weeks ago, but this time the whole family went. My sister in law and husband took their new baby Phoenix, and we included Genesis too. It was a nice evening, finished up with dinner at a cool little place called Khaki Jack's in Peoria- an Australian themed sandwich/burger joint that also serves ostrich. Jake got the ostrich burger, but says he wouldn't get it again... it left a bad aftertaste.
A lot of people have been asking how I am feeling. I am feeling great, in comparison to my last two pregnancies. I have been experiencing tiny amounts of nausea, mostly when I let myself go too long without food, and I have also been really tired but that is about it. When I was pregnant with Ivy, I threw up at least 5 times a day and could not hold one single thing down. It was a little less with Genesis, maybe like throwing up 3 times a day :) and with this one a lot of days I don't even throw up at all. So, definitely an improvement. I have been super tired though and it is so hard to get any kind of a nap in when Ivy doesn't take naps anymore. I usually end up sleeping for a while on the couch sometime during the day when Gen is napping and I put in a movie for Ivy. Otherwise, I don't think I could make it through the day :)
Alright, well there it is. I've caught everyone up to speed on life. I'll try to do better. Thanks guys! No recipes tonight. I don't have the "ummpf" to get up off the couch and go find a good one.
I guess one of our newest things is that Jake has started reading Little House in the Big Woods to Ivy every night before bedtime. She is eating it up! We have the Little House series and I would occasionally see it sitting on the book shelf and wonder to myself if she would enjoy it yet, but then quickly dismiss the thought because they are pretty detailed and long and the pages don't have any pictures. I also didn't think that she would be able to follow it night after night. How wrong I was! Every night after bath time, she eagerly gets dressed and runs downstairs to ask daddy to read her another chapter. I kind of get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I see them reading it together because many of my greatest memories with my dad are of him reading books to me all throughout my childhood.
It is also a season of crafts in our home. It is so cold out right now (I think maybe like 14 degrees and tomorrow we're supposed to have a high of 11) and it has been blizzarding all day... and this week in general was just yuck. Talk about cabin fever! My mother in law used to be an art teacher in Indonesia and she is a really creative person, so I called her the other day to see if she had any craft books laying around for Christmas/Winter themed crafts. Sure enough, she has tons of ideas- two book-fulls of ideas for Ivy and to devour. When we were out the other day, I picked up some basic crafty stuff like construction paper, glitter, paper plates and pens and we are going to make it a week of crafts. There's not much else to do when the weather is so gross like it is.
Sickness has also continued to plague our household (one of the reasons I have been a bit discouraged to post on here). On Sunday night (last week) Ivy was up all night long crying about every ten minutes with an ear ache. Took her in on Monday to the Nurse Practitioner and yep, another ear infection. So back on antibiotics she went and the nurse also gave us ear drops to put in every 12 hours because the ear had some drainage going on. Genesis started developing a cold that same day... took her into the Dr. on Wednesday for her 15 month check up and yep, she has an ear infection as well as a viral infection with a fever of 103 and a rash on the left side of her body. Oh brother... can we get a break? I guess not. So she is also back on antibiotics. They both seem to be doing much better... but I am nervous because everything seems to go downhill about a week or two after we stop the antibiotics. Anyone have advice on pro-biotics? I've heard they help.
We had a surprise visitor on Friday. Our friend Tom, from Chicago was in town and stopped by to say hi to the girls and me. He brought us some taco bell and then helped me figure out the instructions on how to put together a ginger bread house village. Ivy loves Tom and was so excited to see him. Too bad he couldn't stay and visit very long.
I bought some actual brand name Dove bath soap the other day too. Usually Jake uses Dial bar soap and I use whatever happens to be available. But our skin has been so dry lately, Jake's hands were cracking and bleeding a couple of days ago so I figured we had to make a drastic change... new ultra-moisturizing bath soap and serious lotioning-up after showers. It's miserable to be dry, itchy and cracking in the winter months. I know you all agree.
We went to see some real reindeer yesterday. That was fun. They came out of their little house to see us and show off their huge racks. Ivy thought they were pretty cool, but it was raining and freezing out so we didn't spend much time looking at them. After that, we went to see Santa at the mall. I had taken Ivy several weeks ago, but this time the whole family went. My sister in law and husband took their new baby Phoenix, and we included Genesis too. It was a nice evening, finished up with dinner at a cool little place called Khaki Jack's in Peoria- an Australian themed sandwich/burger joint that also serves ostrich. Jake got the ostrich burger, but says he wouldn't get it again... it left a bad aftertaste.
A lot of people have been asking how I am feeling. I am feeling great, in comparison to my last two pregnancies. I have been experiencing tiny amounts of nausea, mostly when I let myself go too long without food, and I have also been really tired but that is about it. When I was pregnant with Ivy, I threw up at least 5 times a day and could not hold one single thing down. It was a little less with Genesis, maybe like throwing up 3 times a day :) and with this one a lot of days I don't even throw up at all. So, definitely an improvement. I have been super tired though and it is so hard to get any kind of a nap in when Ivy doesn't take naps anymore. I usually end up sleeping for a while on the couch sometime during the day when Gen is napping and I put in a movie for Ivy. Otherwise, I don't think I could make it through the day :)
Alright, well there it is. I've caught everyone up to speed on life. I'll try to do better. Thanks guys! No recipes tonight. I don't have the "ummpf" to get up off the couch and go find a good one.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A House of Sickies, and some fun News
I am in the first trimester of pregnancy. This means, for me, that I am very nauseous. Every smell is amplified about 100% and everything smells disgusting... none of this mixes well with a 24 hour stomach bug.
For the past three days, our house has been in a definite sick zone. I mean, seriously, how can four people be so sick at the same time? Gross.
It all started on Monday morning. I was sleeping soundly in bed, when all of a sudden, I heard a gagging sound coming through the baby monitor. Then... a cough, and a gush of something liquid. I ran as fast as I could up to Genesis's room, and sure enough, poor baby was sitting in a pile of vomit. I cleaned her up, took her and all of her blankets downstairs... started reading her a book and she started vomiting again. Oh gross. This time, she had been sitting in my lap, so it got alllll over me. I started gagging in turn, Gen started screaming, and the morning went on like this until about noon. She woke up from her nap and was fine. She hasn't vomited since.
In the meantime, I see on facebook that everyone in our church is also getting this same stomach bug. Just fabulous.
Ivy was great all the rest of the day, until we walked out of her room after tucking her into bed that same Monday night. Headed down the stairs, and heard Ivy scream "Mommy!!! I just puked!!!!". And lucky for me, she had just drunk a big glass of grape juice. Oh my goodness... everything was red/purple all over her bed and jammies. Poor girl spent the rest of the night throwing up about every 1/2 hour. Jake and I each spent a good amount of time "snuggling" with her in bed as per her request. She woke up at 7:30am on Tuesday totally fine and ready to eat a big bowl of oatmeal.
Jake woke up Tuesday with a sick stomach, so he called in to work. I woke up with an upset stomach, but that was most likely just my regular morning sickness kicking in the second I open my eyes. Jake spent the day running to the john and well just kind of layed on the couch, watching Dora the Explorer all day. Jake's mom brought us a big bag of movies from the library, along with some yummy popsicles and 7UP. My real sickie stomach started mid-afternoon, so my runs to the bathroom to throw up became more frequent. That lasted all night till about 4am. I have not felt that bad since.... I don't remember when.
So, today the girls are great. And Jake and I are definitely feeling better. Just in time for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I love Thanksgiving- I would have to say that it is my favorite holiday of the entire year. It's usually a little bit less stressful than Christmas (not having to be worried about having enough gifts and all the wrapping done- I'm not one for good planning or wrapping), and involves family sitting around a table full of amazing food, sharing stories of thankfulness. I love it. I am excited about tomorrow, as we are going to my husband's grandparents house. It will be our family, my in-laws, my bro in law (hopefully, because he has also been sick today with the same thing we have had), my sis in law (and new baby Phoenix who is 1 week old!), and my husbands aunt and uncle and their two boys. It will be a nice gathering, and for sure there will be some yummy food. I am in charge of a jello salad and a regular salad. Speaking of which, I have to go fix the jello salad in a minute... I will leave you with that recipe.
But, before I do that, I want to go back to where I said that I am pregnant. Our due date right now is July 4th. Wouldn't that be awesome? I also really love Independence Day, so I would be thrilled if baby #3 was born on that day. However, the likelihood of that is very very small, because with planned c-sections (which I will be having), they normally take the baby a week early (but, as of right now, I don't know what my current OB's stance on this is, so we'll see?)... so we're looking more at June 28 or something. After we had Genesis, Jake and I decided we definitely wanted another one sometime. So we are so thankful that God has granted our wish again. We were on vacation in Michigan when we actually found out I was pregnant, and it was a really fun way to end the week we had spent up there together. Babies are just unbelievably amazing gifts from God and we have both loved have Ivy and Genesis. I personally adore the baby stage, where as Jake likes it when they get to the age where they can play and understand him better :) I think most guys are like that. It's wonderful to dream about the future, someday when we are old and alone, that we have children "out there" who can come home for the Holidays or drop us calls/notes if they need us. We want our home to always be full of family and the love that goes with that. We are so excited!
Cream Cheese Jello Fruit Dish
1 box flavored jello of your choice (I love to try the weird ones)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 can mandarin oranges
1/2 can crushed or chunk pineapple
1/2 tin whipped topping
Follow instructions on jello box. Let jello firm about half way. Add softened cream cheese, fruit and whipped topping. Beat together (with electric beater), just till mixed. Put back in refrigerator, let firm up all the way. Yummy!
For the past three days, our house has been in a definite sick zone. I mean, seriously, how can four people be so sick at the same time? Gross.
It all started on Monday morning. I was sleeping soundly in bed, when all of a sudden, I heard a gagging sound coming through the baby monitor. Then... a cough, and a gush of something liquid. I ran as fast as I could up to Genesis's room, and sure enough, poor baby was sitting in a pile of vomit. I cleaned her up, took her and all of her blankets downstairs... started reading her a book and she started vomiting again. Oh gross. This time, she had been sitting in my lap, so it got alllll over me. I started gagging in turn, Gen started screaming, and the morning went on like this until about noon. She woke up from her nap and was fine. She hasn't vomited since.
In the meantime, I see on facebook that everyone in our church is also getting this same stomach bug. Just fabulous.
Ivy was great all the rest of the day, until we walked out of her room after tucking her into bed that same Monday night. Headed down the stairs, and heard Ivy scream "Mommy!!! I just puked!!!!". And lucky for me, she had just drunk a big glass of grape juice. Oh my goodness... everything was red/purple all over her bed and jammies. Poor girl spent the rest of the night throwing up about every 1/2 hour. Jake and I each spent a good amount of time "snuggling" with her in bed as per her request. She woke up at 7:30am on Tuesday totally fine and ready to eat a big bowl of oatmeal.
Jake woke up Tuesday with a sick stomach, so he called in to work. I woke up with an upset stomach, but that was most likely just my regular morning sickness kicking in the second I open my eyes. Jake spent the day running to the john and well just kind of layed on the couch, watching Dora the Explorer all day. Jake's mom brought us a big bag of movies from the library, along with some yummy popsicles and 7UP. My real sickie stomach started mid-afternoon, so my runs to the bathroom to throw up became more frequent. That lasted all night till about 4am. I have not felt that bad since.... I don't remember when.
So, today the girls are great. And Jake and I are definitely feeling better. Just in time for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I love Thanksgiving- I would have to say that it is my favorite holiday of the entire year. It's usually a little bit less stressful than Christmas (not having to be worried about having enough gifts and all the wrapping done- I'm not one for good planning or wrapping), and involves family sitting around a table full of amazing food, sharing stories of thankfulness. I love it. I am excited about tomorrow, as we are going to my husband's grandparents house. It will be our family, my in-laws, my bro in law (hopefully, because he has also been sick today with the same thing we have had), my sis in law (and new baby Phoenix who is 1 week old!), and my husbands aunt and uncle and their two boys. It will be a nice gathering, and for sure there will be some yummy food. I am in charge of a jello salad and a regular salad. Speaking of which, I have to go fix the jello salad in a minute... I will leave you with that recipe.
But, before I do that, I want to go back to where I said that I am pregnant. Our due date right now is July 4th. Wouldn't that be awesome? I also really love Independence Day, so I would be thrilled if baby #3 was born on that day. However, the likelihood of that is very very small, because with planned c-sections (which I will be having), they normally take the baby a week early (but, as of right now, I don't know what my current OB's stance on this is, so we'll see?)... so we're looking more at June 28 or something. After we had Genesis, Jake and I decided we definitely wanted another one sometime. So we are so thankful that God has granted our wish again. We were on vacation in Michigan when we actually found out I was pregnant, and it was a really fun way to end the week we had spent up there together. Babies are just unbelievably amazing gifts from God and we have both loved have Ivy and Genesis. I personally adore the baby stage, where as Jake likes it when they get to the age where they can play and understand him better :) I think most guys are like that. It's wonderful to dream about the future, someday when we are old and alone, that we have children "out there" who can come home for the Holidays or drop us calls/notes if they need us. We want our home to always be full of family and the love that goes with that. We are so excited!
Cream Cheese Jello Fruit Dish
1 box flavored jello of your choice (I love to try the weird ones)
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 can mandarin oranges
1/2 can crushed or chunk pineapple
1/2 tin whipped topping
Follow instructions on jello box. Let jello firm about half way. Add softened cream cheese, fruit and whipped topping. Beat together (with electric beater), just till mixed. Put back in refrigerator, let firm up all the way. Yummy!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Kiwi
Here is an aerial view of Kiwi, the village I grew up in and where my parents have worked for the past 40 years. I just got the picture in an email from my mom a couple of minutes ago. I love it.
Kiwi is located at 5000 ft. in the eastern highlands of Papua, Indonesia. The tribe that my parents work with is the Ngalum tribe. My dad finished translating the New Testament in 2000, right before I graduated from high school. He is now working on the book "Systematic Theology" with his informants. My mother is a nurse and her old clinic used to be the little building at the top of the airstrip on the left hand side, but she has recently moved it down to our house, where my bedroom used to be. They have two years left before retirement.
The Peoria Rivermen... and some other stuff
Jake called on Friday afternoon from work, telling me that he was the proud owner of 5 Rivermen tickets. The Peoria Rivermen are Peoria's semi-pro hockey team. I was excited because I have never been to a hockey game, and I thought I would enjoy myself because I myself had been a seasoned street roller hockey player at the tender age of 12. So, we thought we might invite Jake's parents... I called my mother in law, and to my surprise, she did not sound so enthused. She said she'd rather babysit! So then I went over to my neighbors house to visit for a little while, and mentioned it to them, and they just kind of chuckled and told me how they used to go to Rivermen games when they first started dating in high school. I guess they weren't as cool as Jake and I had originally thought. So, we kind of decided that we weren't going to go. But then Jake called Victor (his bro), and surprisingly Victor and his girlfriend Lacey said that they would drive to Peoria and meet us for the game. Then I got a call later that afternoon from Naomi (Jake's sis), saying that she and Dustin had also gotten free tickets and that they would be joining us. Jake and I were excited once again- we had babysitters and a night out with our siblings and their significant others. Funny part is, Jake was the one who actually enjoyed watching the hockey game and I ended up talking with Lacey and Naomi the entire game... we didn't even realize the game had ended until we started seeing Jake, Vic and Dustin getting up out of their chairs, waving us to join them. It was a very fun evening though- my in laws actually kept the girls overnight so Jake and I had the whole evening to "ourselves". Thanks babe for getting the tickets!
I believe that Genesis is finally on then mend. It has been a very very long week, and I hope that this one is better. She has been fever free for 3 days now, and that is the most important part. Jake and I had taken her into the ER on Thursday night because we had caught her, on several occasions, turning blue in her lips and fingers. It made me panic a little. Her fevers had also been around 102 and 103 for about 3 days straight, and she was so sluggish... sleeping a lot, laying around, in a bad mood. We got into a room at the ER almost immediately, which was totally a God thing, because the ER was in Peoria and we figured it would be jam packed with people right around 5pm (when all Dr. offices close). The attending Dr. that did her final check that evening was awesome, and let me take a look at her ears... and they just looked awful- crusted over with blood, swollen to the point of bursting and bright red. She commented on how good Gen was behaving, because she must have been in incredible pain with those ears. They didn't really end up telling us anything new, except to rotate Tylenol and Ibuprofin doses every 3 hours to reduce the fever and to say that they thought the blue tinges in her lips and fingers were due to all of the heat that was needed at her core for the fever... leaving her extremities blue. I don't know if I agree with that theory or not, because for the past 2 days, without a fever she has continued to have the blue spells. Hopefully it's not anything else.
It's going to be a busy week. I have Pampered Chef parties tomorrow night and Tuesday night. My sister in law is getting induced at midnight on Tuesday if she doesn't go into labor before then. Her actual due date is today! We have Bible study on Thursday night, Dinner Fellowship on Saturday night (a church thing, where couples are grouped together to share dinners and get to know each other better every other month), family pics on Sunday afternoon. And then the week after that is Thanksgiving. Vic and Lacey will be home from ISU for a week, we have Thanksgiving with family here and then that Friday, we are driving to Ohio to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with my side of the family. Christmas will be here before we know it!
Speaking of Pampered Chef, I don't know if I have ever mentioned it before on this blog. I became a consultant back in August, basically just to get the kit for a good price and to make the money back to pay for the kit. And the shows just keep coming! It's been a fun experience, and I have definitely gotten to know a bunch of people better. I do love cooking, and they have some awesome recipes too. So, if you ever need anything from Pampered Chef, let me know, I'd love to hook you up with some good stuff!
I bought a winter coat yesterday. My only winter coat. I did not have a winter coat in Branson when we lived there because I really didn't need it. I would always layer and just wear sweatshirts and race in out of buildings really fast if it was really cold. But, I knew that when we moved here, it would be a completely different story. I hate hate being cold, and it is FreeZZZZing here. It's only 45 degrees today and I know it's going to get much worse... winter is hardly here yet. So, I noticed at Kohl's earlier this week that they had some really good sales on coats, and I just happened to get a 30% coupon (they are the best you can get!) that same day. I talked to my husband, asked for permission to get a coat, he said yes, and I was on my way. My new coat is a bright lime-ish green and black. It's pretty much the only color I looked okay in :) Ivy wanted me to buy the hot pink one, but I decided against it. I am 28... not 3.
On Friday night, our family gathered at great grandpa and grandma Witzig's house in Morton. Previously, we had all walked downtown Morton and meandered in and out of the stores along main street. They were having a kind of open-house type night, with snacks, goody bags and drinks... all leading up to the lighting of a giant Christmas tree in the middle of town. It was a beautiful night, and so much fun. The tree was gorgeous, and Ivy thought it was just so amazing that it had lit up all on its own after we all counted down 5-4-3-2-1, it magically lit up! Then we headed for grandpa and grandma's house for pizza and fellowship... and lots of laughs, as always. I am so blessed to have a such a wonderful family on my husband's side. Anyway, my whole point to this paragraph was to lead up to my recipe of the night. Aunt Darci had brought some absolutely amazing BARS (it's an inside joke) for dessert and I devoured 3 right in a row. So here is the recipe. Please go make some right now. You will know why.
I believe that Genesis is finally on then mend. It has been a very very long week, and I hope that this one is better. She has been fever free for 3 days now, and that is the most important part. Jake and I had taken her into the ER on Thursday night because we had caught her, on several occasions, turning blue in her lips and fingers. It made me panic a little. Her fevers had also been around 102 and 103 for about 3 days straight, and she was so sluggish... sleeping a lot, laying around, in a bad mood. We got into a room at the ER almost immediately, which was totally a God thing, because the ER was in Peoria and we figured it would be jam packed with people right around 5pm (when all Dr. offices close). The attending Dr. that did her final check that evening was awesome, and let me take a look at her ears... and they just looked awful- crusted over with blood, swollen to the point of bursting and bright red. She commented on how good Gen was behaving, because she must have been in incredible pain with those ears. They didn't really end up telling us anything new, except to rotate Tylenol and Ibuprofin doses every 3 hours to reduce the fever and to say that they thought the blue tinges in her lips and fingers were due to all of the heat that was needed at her core for the fever... leaving her extremities blue. I don't know if I agree with that theory or not, because for the past 2 days, without a fever she has continued to have the blue spells. Hopefully it's not anything else.
It's going to be a busy week. I have Pampered Chef parties tomorrow night and Tuesday night. My sister in law is getting induced at midnight on Tuesday if she doesn't go into labor before then. Her actual due date is today! We have Bible study on Thursday night, Dinner Fellowship on Saturday night (a church thing, where couples are grouped together to share dinners and get to know each other better every other month), family pics on Sunday afternoon. And then the week after that is Thanksgiving. Vic and Lacey will be home from ISU for a week, we have Thanksgiving with family here and then that Friday, we are driving to Ohio to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with my side of the family. Christmas will be here before we know it!
Speaking of Pampered Chef, I don't know if I have ever mentioned it before on this blog. I became a consultant back in August, basically just to get the kit for a good price and to make the money back to pay for the kit. And the shows just keep coming! It's been a fun experience, and I have definitely gotten to know a bunch of people better. I do love cooking, and they have some awesome recipes too. So, if you ever need anything from Pampered Chef, let me know, I'd love to hook you up with some good stuff!
I bought a winter coat yesterday. My only winter coat. I did not have a winter coat in Branson when we lived there because I really didn't need it. I would always layer and just wear sweatshirts and race in out of buildings really fast if it was really cold. But, I knew that when we moved here, it would be a completely different story. I hate hate being cold, and it is FreeZZZZing here. It's only 45 degrees today and I know it's going to get much worse... winter is hardly here yet. So, I noticed at Kohl's earlier this week that they had some really good sales on coats, and I just happened to get a 30% coupon (they are the best you can get!) that same day. I talked to my husband, asked for permission to get a coat, he said yes, and I was on my way. My new coat is a bright lime-ish green and black. It's pretty much the only color I looked okay in :) Ivy wanted me to buy the hot pink one, but I decided against it. I am 28... not 3.
On Friday night, our family gathered at great grandpa and grandma Witzig's house in Morton. Previously, we had all walked downtown Morton and meandered in and out of the stores along main street. They were having a kind of open-house type night, with snacks, goody bags and drinks... all leading up to the lighting of a giant Christmas tree in the middle of town. It was a beautiful night, and so much fun. The tree was gorgeous, and Ivy thought it was just so amazing that it had lit up all on its own after we all counted down 5-4-3-2-1, it magically lit up! Then we headed for grandpa and grandma's house for pizza and fellowship... and lots of laughs, as always. I am so blessed to have a such a wonderful family on my husband's side. Anyway, my whole point to this paragraph was to lead up to my recipe of the night. Aunt Darci had brought some absolutely amazing BARS (it's an inside joke) for dessert and I devoured 3 right in a row. So here is the recipe. Please go make some right now. You will know why.
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 c. butter
- 1/2 c. margarine
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) chocolate chips
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake for 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake for 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
MIA
I'm just going to recap the last couple of days real quick. Not much interesting going on... just sick stuff.
I am exhausted, and I definitely feel like I have been MIA from life in general for the last couple of days. We have been kind of sickly household lately. Ivy and Genesis had coughs and ear infections while Jake and I were on vacation a couple of weeks back. They finished their antibiotics a couple of days ago, and seemed to be doing fine... until yesterday.
I had a sinus infection last week, that finally settled in my eyes. That was disgusting because it made my eyes all goopy and red; looked like I had a serious case of pink eye. (And I had to do a Pampered Chef party looking like this!) So I was able to get a prescription from my Dr. and the infection cleared up pretty quickly.
Genesis has a double ear infection... STILL... it's been going on for several weeks now, but has hit her very hard yesterday and today. Her fever was up to 103 last night and I think is up there again tonight. We couldn't get a very good temp. reading on her, but I'm thinking it was about 101 maybe. She's in bed now, but the poor thing had a rough afternoon and evening.
Ivy is healthy. She is at AWANA's right now and will be walking in the door in a couple of minutes. She has been great. And such a helper with little sis. I've never seen her give so many kisses to Genesis. Ever. Her memory verse for tonight was "Jesus called them, and immediately they followed Him" Matt. 4:21-22. She loves saying her memory verses.
Here is a recipe that a friend recommended recently. I have not tried it yet, but I think it looks good. It's for homemade coleslaw.
I am exhausted, and I definitely feel like I have been MIA from life in general for the last couple of days. We have been kind of sickly household lately. Ivy and Genesis had coughs and ear infections while Jake and I were on vacation a couple of weeks back. They finished their antibiotics a couple of days ago, and seemed to be doing fine... until yesterday.
I had a sinus infection last week, that finally settled in my eyes. That was disgusting because it made my eyes all goopy and red; looked like I had a serious case of pink eye. (And I had to do a Pampered Chef party looking like this!) So I was able to get a prescription from my Dr. and the infection cleared up pretty quickly.
Genesis has a double ear infection... STILL... it's been going on for several weeks now, but has hit her very hard yesterday and today. Her fever was up to 103 last night and I think is up there again tonight. We couldn't get a very good temp. reading on her, but I'm thinking it was about 101 maybe. She's in bed now, but the poor thing had a rough afternoon and evening.
Ivy is healthy. She is at AWANA's right now and will be walking in the door in a couple of minutes. She has been great. And such a helper with little sis. I've never seen her give so many kisses to Genesis. Ever. Her memory verse for tonight was "Jesus called them, and immediately they followed Him" Matt. 4:21-22. She loves saying her memory verses.
Here is a recipe that a friend recommended recently. I have not tried it yet, but I think it looks good. It's for homemade coleslaw.
- 3 cups chopped cabbage
- 1 unpeeled red apple, cored and chopped
- 1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine cabbage, red apple, green apple, carrot, red bell pepper, and green onions. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Pour dressing over salad.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
My date day with my girl
I have been feeling lately like I have not been spending enough "quality" time with Ivy. Genesis requires more attention just because she is younger/smaller and she and I usually have more one on one time because of nap times, feeding times... etc. It's so easy for me to consider Ivy a lot older than she really is when I am with her all day long and we have regular conversations about lifes situations and forget that she is this tiny human being as well! She is so little still and I need to drink it up while I can before she goes off to pre-school NEXT year... which is so crazy to me. She was just born yesterday, it seems. I blinked and she is almost 4 years old. I am trying to "live with no regrets" as a wise person (wink wink, you know who you are) once told me long ago with my children. I don't ever want to look back and think, "man, I wish I would have played more, I wish I would have paid more attention, gone to the park more, enjoyed bath-time more, snuggled more, read more... etc". My elderly neighbor is Branson (she was a mother of 5) told me to leave the house alone, leave the clutter alone because it will always be there, but your children will be gone before you know it. The house will always need to be cleaned, laundry to be done, beds to be made... but 18 years goes by so quickly. Makes me sad. :(
Anyway, so last night I told Ivy that she and I would have a "Mommy/Ivy" day today. We would spend as long as we wanted together- go the mall, some fun stores, get some lunch wherever she wanted... do whatever we wanted! She was so excited. My mother in law said that I could put Genesis down at her house for her morning nap and would watch her while Ivy and I were gone (Jake was going flying with his dad, bro and bro-in-law and would not be home most of the day). So Ivy's first words to me when she woke up this morning was "mommy, when are we going???" I fixed pancakes, got the girls dressed, cleaned the kitchen up and we were on our way... first to grandmas house to put Gen down and then to the mall in Peoria.
We parked in JC Penney's parking lot, walked through the doors, through the women's department and out the entry doors into the mall just in time to see SANTA. He was sitting in a big Santa chair with his two elves standing next to him, just waiting for a little girl to go sit in his lap. Ivy started running towards him and as she she was running, he stood up and turned away... walking away from her and down the corridor toward the bathrooms. Talk about breaking the heart of an excited little girl! I asked one of the elves if Santa was gone for the day, but she said he just had to go feed the reindeer and he'd be back at 2pm (it was 11:30). My heart sank. There was no way we were going to be able to find 2 1/2 hours worth of stuff to do in the mall to wait out the time before he came back. And now, that was all that Ivy could think about. So, we meandered into Build A Bear, a store that I can't stand because of the outrages prices they charge for cotton stuffing, little outfits, shoes and other accessories to make the perfect little stuffed animal. Then we found several other stores to look around in, and Ivy was starting to have fun. We went to the food court and I asked her where she wanted to eat. "Chinese!!!" is always her favorite, and mine as well, so we got in line where they were handing out samples of Bourbon chicken. The food turned out to be really disgusting (in my opinion), but Ivy loved every bit of it, so I kept my mouth shut. By that time, it was about 12:30, and all she wanted to do was to check and see if Santa was back. I told her he wouldn't be, and that we had a while to wait still. But she convinced me to just go look and see if he was there. And sure enough! He was and there was no line. Again, she raced over to him and this time, got on his lap. He asked her several questions and she giggled and answered. I asked her later what the questions were and she said that he asked her what she wanted for Christmas- to which she responded, "a monkey" and he said, "a real one?" and she said, "no! a pretend one!" He also asked her if she had been good this year and she said yes. Hmmmm, maybe I should have answered that question :) Then he gave her a candy cane and she was happy to be on her way.
Our next stop was Toys R Us. She loves that store. We had to stop and play with the train sets, the Leapsters, the bicycles, etc. She did not want to leave, but I did, so I won. Not too fond of that store myself... once again because of the overpriced toys that I know I can find at garage sales for $2 during the summer.
The Fresh Market. It is located next to Toys R Us and is the most awesome store ever. Today was our lucky day. It was sample day! They had cheese, cheesecake, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry relish, wine, grapes, olives, coffee, cider, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Ivy loves the "sample people" at Walmart whenever we go, so she was really excited to see that there were lots of them at The Fresh Market today. We tried everything, and liked everything. :) A beautiful ending to a beautiful day with my beautiful daughter.
We finished up the day at my in-laws with pizza, cheeseburger soup, and a whole array of other snacky-type foods. My brother in law is home from college for the weekend, and he and Jake got to hang out most of the day... and he also babysat for me for a while later this afternoon when I needed to go and do some grocery shopping with his mother. The table conversation was fun and entertaining as usual tonight and I had to thank God one more time for bringing me to this spot in life, where I am just so happy and fulfilled. Life is good and we are so blessed!
Ivy has been hoping and wishing for a pink Christmas tree all year of her very own. Yesterday, Naomi and mom and I went to Kohl's to do some looking around and voila- I found the perfect tree for Ivy and Genesis. It is a pre-lit 3 footer (I think) and it is PURPLE... and it was half price! I can't wait to show Ivy and have her set it up upstairs between their rooms.
The weather is getting very very cold out and soon I am going to have to buy some serious winter clothing. I don't really own any because winters in Missouri are fairly mild compared to Illinois. I wore sandals year-round in Branson. Don't think I'll be doing that here. The girls are covered and have a pretty good winter wardrobe (thanks to garage sales this summer), and Jake's clothes are decent... but not mine. I am going on a girls only shopping trip on the weekend of December 4th to Chicago, so I need to buy before then. Cuz I'll freeze my patootie off up there while we are shopping.
Okay, man, I chattered on and on. I'll stop and go to bed. Goodnight!
Ivy and I made these Buttery Spritz Cookies the other day and they were so yummy. Here you go!
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Colored decorating sugar
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the salt, egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in the flour until thoroughly blended.
Gently form the dough into a log shape. Following the manufacturer's instructions, fill a cookie press with the dough (you will probably need to work in several batches) and dispense the cookies at least 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Sprinkle with colored sugars and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container, up to 3 days at room temperature, 1 week refrigerated or 1 month frozen.
Anyway, so last night I told Ivy that she and I would have a "Mommy/Ivy" day today. We would spend as long as we wanted together- go the mall, some fun stores, get some lunch wherever she wanted... do whatever we wanted! She was so excited. My mother in law said that I could put Genesis down at her house for her morning nap and would watch her while Ivy and I were gone (Jake was going flying with his dad, bro and bro-in-law and would not be home most of the day). So Ivy's first words to me when she woke up this morning was "mommy, when are we going???" I fixed pancakes, got the girls dressed, cleaned the kitchen up and we were on our way... first to grandmas house to put Gen down and then to the mall in Peoria.
We parked in JC Penney's parking lot, walked through the doors, through the women's department and out the entry doors into the mall just in time to see SANTA. He was sitting in a big Santa chair with his two elves standing next to him, just waiting for a little girl to go sit in his lap. Ivy started running towards him and as she she was running, he stood up and turned away... walking away from her and down the corridor toward the bathrooms. Talk about breaking the heart of an excited little girl! I asked one of the elves if Santa was gone for the day, but she said he just had to go feed the reindeer and he'd be back at 2pm (it was 11:30). My heart sank. There was no way we were going to be able to find 2 1/2 hours worth of stuff to do in the mall to wait out the time before he came back. And now, that was all that Ivy could think about. So, we meandered into Build A Bear, a store that I can't stand because of the outrages prices they charge for cotton stuffing, little outfits, shoes and other accessories to make the perfect little stuffed animal. Then we found several other stores to look around in, and Ivy was starting to have fun. We went to the food court and I asked her where she wanted to eat. "Chinese!!!" is always her favorite, and mine as well, so we got in line where they were handing out samples of Bourbon chicken. The food turned out to be really disgusting (in my opinion), but Ivy loved every bit of it, so I kept my mouth shut. By that time, it was about 12:30, and all she wanted to do was to check and see if Santa was back. I told her he wouldn't be, and that we had a while to wait still. But she convinced me to just go look and see if he was there. And sure enough! He was and there was no line. Again, she raced over to him and this time, got on his lap. He asked her several questions and she giggled and answered. I asked her later what the questions were and she said that he asked her what she wanted for Christmas- to which she responded, "a monkey" and he said, "a real one?" and she said, "no! a pretend one!" He also asked her if she had been good this year and she said yes. Hmmmm, maybe I should have answered that question :) Then he gave her a candy cane and she was happy to be on her way.
Our next stop was Toys R Us. She loves that store. We had to stop and play with the train sets, the Leapsters, the bicycles, etc. She did not want to leave, but I did, so I won. Not too fond of that store myself... once again because of the overpriced toys that I know I can find at garage sales for $2 during the summer.
The Fresh Market. It is located next to Toys R Us and is the most awesome store ever. Today was our lucky day. It was sample day! They had cheese, cheesecake, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry relish, wine, grapes, olives, coffee, cider, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Ivy loves the "sample people" at Walmart whenever we go, so she was really excited to see that there were lots of them at The Fresh Market today. We tried everything, and liked everything. :) A beautiful ending to a beautiful day with my beautiful daughter.
We finished up the day at my in-laws with pizza, cheeseburger soup, and a whole array of other snacky-type foods. My brother in law is home from college for the weekend, and he and Jake got to hang out most of the day... and he also babysat for me for a while later this afternoon when I needed to go and do some grocery shopping with his mother. The table conversation was fun and entertaining as usual tonight and I had to thank God one more time for bringing me to this spot in life, where I am just so happy and fulfilled. Life is good and we are so blessed!
Ivy has been hoping and wishing for a pink Christmas tree all year of her very own. Yesterday, Naomi and mom and I went to Kohl's to do some looking around and voila- I found the perfect tree for Ivy and Genesis. It is a pre-lit 3 footer (I think) and it is PURPLE... and it was half price! I can't wait to show Ivy and have her set it up upstairs between their rooms.
The weather is getting very very cold out and soon I am going to have to buy some serious winter clothing. I don't really own any because winters in Missouri are fairly mild compared to Illinois. I wore sandals year-round in Branson. Don't think I'll be doing that here. The girls are covered and have a pretty good winter wardrobe (thanks to garage sales this summer), and Jake's clothes are decent... but not mine. I am going on a girls only shopping trip on the weekend of December 4th to Chicago, so I need to buy before then. Cuz I'll freeze my patootie off up there while we are shopping.
Okay, man, I chattered on and on. I'll stop and go to bed. Goodnight!
Ivy and I made these Buttery Spritz Cookies the other day and they were so yummy. Here you go!
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Colored decorating sugar
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the salt, egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in the flour until thoroughly blended.
Gently form the dough into a log shape. Following the manufacturer's instructions, fill a cookie press with the dough (you will probably need to work in several batches) and dispense the cookies at least 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Sprinkle with colored sugars and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container, up to 3 days at room temperature, 1 week refrigerated or 1 month frozen.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Here and there
I don't really have much to write about tonight, so I am just going to ramble for a bit.
I had the best conversation with an old friend from high school tonight. We have been playing phone tag for a couple of days, and finally connected. She just found out that she is expecting their first child, and they are so excited. I could hear it in her voice, even when she was talking about other things. I am overjoyed for them. She and I had a really fun relationship in high school, where we were always laughing and talking about our crushes, about our dreams... We haven't stayed in touch very well since graduation in 2000, but we picked up right away as if there had been no time in between. It was great to talk to her.
I have a Pampered Chef party on coming up on Thursday night (I am a PC consultant). I always "practice" the food that the host wants to serve at her party beforehand so that I know the food will be good and I kind of know what I am doing while I am in front of a whole bunch of people. So on Thursday night I am making a Ham and Cheese Calzone and Nutty Chocolate and Caramel Brownies. I've already made the brownies before at several parties, and I know that they'll be amazing, but I hadn't ever made the calzone before, so I made that tonight for supper. I think that Jake at about 2/3 of the whole pan. So, it turned out really good, I guess :) I think there'll be some happy ladies at the party on Thursday night. And I'll be a happy woman if they spend a lot of money! Ha.
I had my appointment with my new doctor this morning. It went very well. She can't make any recommendations right now re: an MRI because she needs me to sign a release from my previous records from my neurologist in Branson. Now I just have to remember the name of my neurologist... it's been so long! She said that everything else seems normal. She's a Dr. of internal medicine and she has 9 children between the ages of 28 and 12! And her husband is a surgeon. I asked her how she managed, and she just said that she never sleeps, ever. Wow. I thought I was busy and tired.
To end with, here is a video that I found last night that I took of Genesis a while back, waking up from her nap. Makes me want to kiss her right now. I also have a recipe after the video, so look a little lower as well!
Katrina's Meatballs
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. instant rice
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 c. chopped onions (or less)
3 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
Sauce:
2 c. ketchup
2 tbs. liquid smoke
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Mix all ingredients together. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Add the sauce on top for the last 25 minutes.
I had the best conversation with an old friend from high school tonight. We have been playing phone tag for a couple of days, and finally connected. She just found out that she is expecting their first child, and they are so excited. I could hear it in her voice, even when she was talking about other things. I am overjoyed for them. She and I had a really fun relationship in high school, where we were always laughing and talking about our crushes, about our dreams... We haven't stayed in touch very well since graduation in 2000, but we picked up right away as if there had been no time in between. It was great to talk to her.
I have a Pampered Chef party on coming up on Thursday night (I am a PC consultant). I always "practice" the food that the host wants to serve at her party beforehand so that I know the food will be good and I kind of know what I am doing while I am in front of a whole bunch of people. So on Thursday night I am making a Ham and Cheese Calzone and Nutty Chocolate and Caramel Brownies. I've already made the brownies before at several parties, and I know that they'll be amazing, but I hadn't ever made the calzone before, so I made that tonight for supper. I think that Jake at about 2/3 of the whole pan. So, it turned out really good, I guess :) I think there'll be some happy ladies at the party on Thursday night. And I'll be a happy woman if they spend a lot of money! Ha.
I had my appointment with my new doctor this morning. It went very well. She can't make any recommendations right now re: an MRI because she needs me to sign a release from my previous records from my neurologist in Branson. Now I just have to remember the name of my neurologist... it's been so long! She said that everything else seems normal. She's a Dr. of internal medicine and she has 9 children between the ages of 28 and 12! And her husband is a surgeon. I asked her how she managed, and she just said that she never sleeps, ever. Wow. I thought I was busy and tired.
To end with, here is a video that I found last night that I took of Genesis a while back, waking up from her nap. Makes me want to kiss her right now. I also have a recipe after the video, so look a little lower as well!
Katrina's Meatballs
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. instant rice
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 c. chopped onions (or less)
3 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
Sauce:
2 c. ketchup
2 tbs. liquid smoke
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Mix all ingredients together. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Add the sauce on top for the last 25 minutes.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween!
I can only remember ever dressing up for Halloween one time during my childhood. That was in second grade while we were on furlough in Escondido, CA and I was an Alaskan Princess. I remember everything about that night. We went to my friend Missy's (she dressed up as a cheerleader) house and her sister, Lynette, who was much older and way way cool put tons of makeup on us. I remember getting lots of candy and being so excited because we didn't have candy like that in Indonesia. But that was the only year I ever dressed up. Somebody can correct me if I am wrong, but we didn't ever have any Halloween celebrations in Irian, did we? I don't remember any, but I could be wrong.
So anyway, I never thought much of Halloween, because we didn't celebrate it (not for any specific reason, I just don't think we really thought of it, and when it's 100 degrees outside with 100% humidity, who wants to put a costume on anyway??). But in the last couple of years since we've had Ivy and now Genesis, Jake and I have really begun to enjoy it, through a child's eyes. Everything seems better that way. When Ivy was about 8 months old, we dressed her up as a cute little duck and headed out into Branson to go Trick-or-Treating. She doesn't remember it, but Jake and I had a great time. Then when she was about 18 months old, she and I were in Ohio visiting relatives and my uncle David and I took her trick-or-treating there. She was a penguin that night. She remembers that to this day and still talks about all the yummy chocolate she got at Marie's Candies. Last year Ivy was Minnie Mouse and we also had Genesis, who was only about 2 months old, but we didn't dress her up as anything, cuz she slept the whole time anyway! We took Ivy down to the Branson Landing where all of the stores were handing out candy. She and her buddies, Zane and Alex had so much fun. And now this year, Ivy was a fairy and Genesis was a butterfly (for trick or treating) and then a penguin for the Hallelujah party at our church tonight. Speaking of which, was amazing and our church did an awesome job hosting the party. They had a meal, jumping houses, face painting, crafts (beads, etc), ring toss, bball hoops, and a lot more stuff too. It was a lot of fun, and Ivy was so wound up when we came home that I had to chase her and Genesis through the house for a while to get her energy out.
Tomorrow, I have an appointment with a doctor for following up on my Optic Neuritis that I was diagnosed with a couple of years ago. I am supposed to get an MRI every year to make sure that everything is clear and that I don't have any lesions. As defined on Wikipedia, optic neuritis is the inflammation of the optic nerve that may cause a complete or partial loss of vision. My right eye was affected, but I only lost a small amount of vision in it. The only reason I need to keep up with the MRI's is because ON is 20-30% of the time the presenting of the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. Naomi is going to sit with the girls here at the house while I go, hopefully it won't take too long!
I usually make pancakes on Sunday mornings, as I did this morning. The girls love them, as does my husband. So I will leave you tonight with that recipe.
1 1/4 c. milk (or more, if you prefer thinner pancakes)
1 egg
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla
I make mine in my kitchen aid mixer, so I add the milk and egg and mix really well and just leave the mixer on while I add the rest of the ingredients. This recipe makes very thin pancakes, but you can add more milk if you want even thinner. Pour onto greased griddle (set at 350 degrees). I make smaller pancakes because of the girls, but you can size them however you want to :)
So anyway, I never thought much of Halloween, because we didn't celebrate it (not for any specific reason, I just don't think we really thought of it, and when it's 100 degrees outside with 100% humidity, who wants to put a costume on anyway??). But in the last couple of years since we've had Ivy and now Genesis, Jake and I have really begun to enjoy it, through a child's eyes. Everything seems better that way. When Ivy was about 8 months old, we dressed her up as a cute little duck and headed out into Branson to go Trick-or-Treating. She doesn't remember it, but Jake and I had a great time. Then when she was about 18 months old, she and I were in Ohio visiting relatives and my uncle David and I took her trick-or-treating there. She was a penguin that night. She remembers that to this day and still talks about all the yummy chocolate she got at Marie's Candies. Last year Ivy was Minnie Mouse and we also had Genesis, who was only about 2 months old, but we didn't dress her up as anything, cuz she slept the whole time anyway! We took Ivy down to the Branson Landing where all of the stores were handing out candy. She and her buddies, Zane and Alex had so much fun. And now this year, Ivy was a fairy and Genesis was a butterfly (for trick or treating) and then a penguin for the Hallelujah party at our church tonight. Speaking of which, was amazing and our church did an awesome job hosting the party. They had a meal, jumping houses, face painting, crafts (beads, etc), ring toss, bball hoops, and a lot more stuff too. It was a lot of fun, and Ivy was so wound up when we came home that I had to chase her and Genesis through the house for a while to get her energy out.
Tomorrow, I have an appointment with a doctor for following up on my Optic Neuritis that I was diagnosed with a couple of years ago. I am supposed to get an MRI every year to make sure that everything is clear and that I don't have any lesions. As defined on Wikipedia, optic neuritis is the inflammation of the optic nerve that may cause a complete or partial loss of vision. My right eye was affected, but I only lost a small amount of vision in it. The only reason I need to keep up with the MRI's is because ON is 20-30% of the time the presenting of the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. Naomi is going to sit with the girls here at the house while I go, hopefully it won't take too long!
I usually make pancakes on Sunday mornings, as I did this morning. The girls love them, as does my husband. So I will leave you tonight with that recipe.
1 1/4 c. milk (or more, if you prefer thinner pancakes)
1 egg
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla
I make mine in my kitchen aid mixer, so I add the milk and egg and mix really well and just leave the mixer on while I add the rest of the ingredients. This recipe makes very thin pancakes, but you can add more milk if you want even thinner. Pour onto greased griddle (set at 350 degrees). I make smaller pancakes because of the girls, but you can size them however you want to :)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Home
We arrived home in Tremont around 4:45 this afternoon. We got out of the car, and immediately heard high-pitched squeals coming from my inlaws side dining room window. Ivy had her hand over her mouth, as if trying to stop her squealing. Oh, it was so cute. There is no better welcome home than to feel the arms of your children engulf you, never wanting to let you go again. Both the girls did that, and man did we soak it up! My mother in law had prepared an amazing meal, so we ate and than sat and chatted about our week. The girls were in such great moods- dancing, singing and just chattering away. It feels so good to be home.
We walked in the door of our home to a very clean house... thanks to me for cleaning it before we left so it would be spicknspan when we came in the door. ;) It was bathtime, so I told the girls to go right upstairs and ge ready to get in the tub. They ran so fast, screeching and giggling and racing each other... it was hilarious. We got upstairs and I undressed Genesis before I started the water running... took her diaper off and everything. I turned the water on in the tub, and got Ivy's hair ties out of her hair. Then I turned around and went back into Ivy's room, where I had left Genesis playing. To my horror, I saw three turds on the ground next to her foot, and she was just about to smush one into the carpet. Ohhhh thank goodness I had walked in when I did. I scooped her up, wiped her little bottom and put her into the tub with Ivy. Then I cleaned up the little gifts in the bedroom, without telling Ivy what had happened (because she would have started screaming) and went on with bathime. It feels so good to be home.
And to briefly summarize the rest of our trip: We left Sault St. Marie and headed south, eventually meandering through Petoskey, Charlevoix and Traverse City, MI. They were all were wonderful towns. We would recommend that area of Michigan to anyone looking for a more state of the art vacation with lots and lots of money to spend... which we didn't have, but we still enjoyed ourselves.
Tomorrow is Halloween in Tremont. We will be Trick-or-Treating with a purple fairy and a pink butterfly, both with beautiful wings. I have enjoyed Halloween for the past 3 years, much more so than ever before in my life, because I actually have kids and see the fun of it through their eyes. I am excited for tomorrow night.
Goodnight folks. I'm beat.
We walked in the door of our home to a very clean house... thanks to me for cleaning it before we left so it would be spicknspan when we came in the door. ;) It was bathtime, so I told the girls to go right upstairs and ge ready to get in the tub. They ran so fast, screeching and giggling and racing each other... it was hilarious. We got upstairs and I undressed Genesis before I started the water running... took her diaper off and everything. I turned the water on in the tub, and got Ivy's hair ties out of her hair. Then I turned around and went back into Ivy's room, where I had left Genesis playing. To my horror, I saw three turds on the ground next to her foot, and she was just about to smush one into the carpet. Ohhhh thank goodness I had walked in when I did. I scooped her up, wiped her little bottom and put her into the tub with Ivy. Then I cleaned up the little gifts in the bedroom, without telling Ivy what had happened (because she would have started screaming) and went on with bathime. It feels so good to be home.
And to briefly summarize the rest of our trip: We left Sault St. Marie and headed south, eventually meandering through Petoskey, Charlevoix and Traverse City, MI. They were all were wonderful towns. We would recommend that area of Michigan to anyone looking for a more state of the art vacation with lots and lots of money to spend... which we didn't have, but we still enjoyed ourselves.
Tomorrow is Halloween in Tremont. We will be Trick-or-Treating with a purple fairy and a pink butterfly, both with beautiful wings. I have enjoyed Halloween for the past 3 years, much more so than ever before in my life, because I actually have kids and see the fun of it through their eyes. I am excited for tomorrow night.
Goodnight folks. I'm beat.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Our trip so far...
First, I want to post some pictures of our girls. They were taken by grandma and grandpa while we've been away. The first one is of Ivy, when she and Grandpa went to see Disney On Ice. She was so excited and then had such a great time while they were there. I guess she kept telling Grandpa that evening at bedtime, "thank you so much for taking me, grandpa..." over and over. I am so glad she had a great time. Her favorite part of Disney on Ice was Tinkerbell. She has always loved Tinkerbell, so it made sense to us!
The next picture is of Genesis during a bath. Like I have said before, she likes to growl a lot and she often gets this look on her face when she is displeased with something. It is one of my favorite :) In this picture, she was probably being told not to turn on the hot water.
This one is of the girls together in the tub. We miss them so much. We also just got word from my mother in law that they are both sick with ear infections and coughs. Of course it would hit them both when we are away. At least we know that they are in good hands and being very well taken care of.
Onto our trip. It's been a very relaxing time so far, as it has rained every single day and been really foggy. Our drive up was uneventful, but beautiful as well because a lot of the leaves are still on the trees and the colors are amazing. We got to our hotel in Mackinac City at about 8pm and then went to an Irish Pub for supper. We spent the rest of the evening at the pool and hot tub- there was really no temperature difference between the two. The pool felt kind of gross :)
We slept in the next morning and missed breakfast, but it was so worth it. Then we caught Shepler's Ferry over to Mackinac Island and spent most of the afternoon over there. It was gorgeous... with the Victorian style homes and buildings, the quaint Bed & Breakfasts, the fudge shoppes, the Grand Hotel, etc. I did not take these pictures, but they kind of gives you a taste of what the island is like.It is a very unique island in that no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island. So visitors can either walk, ride bikes (that you can rent per hour or per day right after getting off of the ferry), or horse and buggy. You don't have to worry about getting hit when crossing to the other side of the street! There are about 500 people who live on the island year-round. They have a school of 70 students, a football team, ballroom dancing, and lead just about the same lives as we do... although, there is only one grocery store and everything else shuts down for the season around October 23rd every year. We were fortunate and caught their last day that they were open. When winter arrives, the ferry's continue to go back and forth to the island and Mackinac City, but when they can no longer run because of ice, an "ice bridge" is used by snowmobiles to go back and forth. The ice bridge is lined by Christmas trees, to tell the locals where exactly to go. There is also a private airport on the island, and locals can hop from the island to Mackinac City or St.Ignace by chartering the planes for $50.00 a person. It was fascinating to learn about.
We left Mackinac City the next day, and went up to St.Ignace, which is right over the bridge on the Upper Peninsula side. We were quite disappointed, however, because St.Ignace had also closed down the previous day. There were a couple of lone shops open, but nothing to look at, really. So we got in the car and headed up to Sault Saint Marie. The fog was pretty dense, and just kept getting more so the more Northern we went. We decided to pull into the Chamber of Commerce when we got into town to get some ideas of what to do while we were here... for two night and two days. Hmmmm, surprise surprise... it's also the end of season here, and everything has shut down. So we drove around for a while, and then checked into our very nice hotel that has a fire place and jacuzzi. Luckily it was so nasty outside, we didn't really want to be out in that anyway, so we just snuggled down into our room and watched tv and read. We brought both our laptop and IPAD along so we could both be on the internet and watching whatever we want at the same time. Pretty nice. We ate at Applebees last night and then came back and swam until about 10pm. Then back to our room to sleep... and sleep we did, until 9:30 this morning! That is really sleeping in if you're used to being up with little kids, so we have been enjoying it very much.
We spent the morning down at the Soo Locks. Here is an explanation of the Locks, taken from wikipedia.com: The Soo Locks allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year.[4] This is achieved in spite of the locks being closed during the winter from January through March, when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes. The winter closure period is used to inspect and maintain the locks. The locks bypass the rapids of the St. Marys River where the water falls 7 meters (21 feet) from Lake Superior. Sault Ste. Marie gives its name to both the Canadian and U.S. cities at the site, in Ontario and Michigan, respectively. The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge between the United States and Canada permits vehicular traffic to pass over the locks.
We got to see two huge barges go through the Locks and it was an amazing experience. Here is a picture of Soo Locks, again, not taken by me.
And now we are back in the room, relaxing again. Tonight we will eat at a Chinese buffet down the road and then probably go swimming again. We leave in the morning to go back down south over the bridge to Charlevoix/Petoskey area. There will be a lot to do down there, so now that we have relaxed and caught up on some sleep, we can have some real fun! :)
Have a super Tuesday everyone.
Here is a recipe for 7 Layer Salad. I am in the mood for some right now, but of course can't make any since I am not home. My MIL introduced me to this salad a few weeks ago... I had never heard of it before, but I fell madly in love with it.
The next picture is of Genesis during a bath. Like I have said before, she likes to growl a lot and she often gets this look on her face when she is displeased with something. It is one of my favorite :) In this picture, she was probably being told not to turn on the hot water.
This one is of the girls together in the tub. We miss them so much. We also just got word from my mother in law that they are both sick with ear infections and coughs. Of course it would hit them both when we are away. At least we know that they are in good hands and being very well taken care of.
Onto our trip. It's been a very relaxing time so far, as it has rained every single day and been really foggy. Our drive up was uneventful, but beautiful as well because a lot of the leaves are still on the trees and the colors are amazing. We got to our hotel in Mackinac City at about 8pm and then went to an Irish Pub for supper. We spent the rest of the evening at the pool and hot tub- there was really no temperature difference between the two. The pool felt kind of gross :)
We slept in the next morning and missed breakfast, but it was so worth it. Then we caught Shepler's Ferry over to Mackinac Island and spent most of the afternoon over there. It was gorgeous... with the Victorian style homes and buildings, the quaint Bed & Breakfasts, the fudge shoppes, the Grand Hotel, etc. I did not take these pictures, but they kind of gives you a taste of what the island is like.It is a very unique island in that no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island. So visitors can either walk, ride bikes (that you can rent per hour or per day right after getting off of the ferry), or horse and buggy. You don't have to worry about getting hit when crossing to the other side of the street! There are about 500 people who live on the island year-round. They have a school of 70 students, a football team, ballroom dancing, and lead just about the same lives as we do... although, there is only one grocery store and everything else shuts down for the season around October 23rd every year. We were fortunate and caught their last day that they were open. When winter arrives, the ferry's continue to go back and forth to the island and Mackinac City, but when they can no longer run because of ice, an "ice bridge" is used by snowmobiles to go back and forth. The ice bridge is lined by Christmas trees, to tell the locals where exactly to go. There is also a private airport on the island, and locals can hop from the island to Mackinac City or St.Ignace by chartering the planes for $50.00 a person. It was fascinating to learn about.
We left Mackinac City the next day, and went up to St.Ignace, which is right over the bridge on the Upper Peninsula side. We were quite disappointed, however, because St.Ignace had also closed down the previous day. There were a couple of lone shops open, but nothing to look at, really. So we got in the car and headed up to Sault Saint Marie. The fog was pretty dense, and just kept getting more so the more Northern we went. We decided to pull into the Chamber of Commerce when we got into town to get some ideas of what to do while we were here... for two night and two days. Hmmmm, surprise surprise... it's also the end of season here, and everything has shut down. So we drove around for a while, and then checked into our very nice hotel that has a fire place and jacuzzi. Luckily it was so nasty outside, we didn't really want to be out in that anyway, so we just snuggled down into our room and watched tv and read. We brought both our laptop and IPAD along so we could both be on the internet and watching whatever we want at the same time. Pretty nice. We ate at Applebees last night and then came back and swam until about 10pm. Then back to our room to sleep... and sleep we did, until 9:30 this morning! That is really sleeping in if you're used to being up with little kids, so we have been enjoying it very much.
We spent the morning down at the Soo Locks. Here is an explanation of the Locks, taken from wikipedia.com: The Soo Locks allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year.[4] This is achieved in spite of the locks being closed during the winter from January through March, when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes. The winter closure period is used to inspect and maintain the locks. The locks bypass the rapids of the St. Marys River where the water falls 7 meters (21 feet) from Lake Superior. Sault Ste. Marie gives its name to both the Canadian and U.S. cities at the site, in Ontario and Michigan, respectively. The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge between the United States and Canada permits vehicular traffic to pass over the locks.
We got to see two huge barges go through the Locks and it was an amazing experience. Here is a picture of Soo Locks, again, not taken by me.
And now we are back in the room, relaxing again. Tonight we will eat at a Chinese buffet down the road and then probably go swimming again. We leave in the morning to go back down south over the bridge to Charlevoix/Petoskey area. There will be a lot to do down there, so now that we have relaxed and caught up on some sleep, we can have some real fun! :)
Have a super Tuesday everyone.
Here is a recipe for 7 Layer Salad. I am in the mood for some right now, but of course can't make any since I am not home. My MIL introduced me to this salad a few weeks ago... I had never heard of it before, but I fell madly in love with it.
- 1 pound bacon
- 1 large head iceberg lettuce - rinsed, dried, and chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed
- 10 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup chopped cauliflower
- 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Crumble and set aside.
- In a large flat bowl, place the chopped lettuce and top with a layer of onion, peas, shredded cheese, cauliflower and bacon.
- Prepare the dressing by whisking together the mayonnaise, sugar and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle over salad and refrigerate until chilled.
Friday, October 22, 2010
All Ready
All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go... and I'm feeling so excited about tomorrow! This is our first real vacation ever by ourselves since our HONEYMOON, which was 6 years ago! We've taken other vacations, but they were with Ivy when she was younger. This time, we have 8 whole days to just take our time, meander through whatever towns we want to, sleep when we want to, no children, no early mornings, etc. Ahhh, it's going to be wonderful, and thank you mom and dad Stuber for watching our beautiful girls for all that time. I hope you don't get too exhausted and overwhelmed. We're outta here at about 9am tomorrow morning, and our first day will consist of a long 9 hour drive, but then we'll get there (our first night is in St.Ignace), and the fun times will start to roll.
I don't know if it's just me, but I am kind of OCD about coming back to a very clean, neat house after being gone somewhere else for a while. I want to come home to find clean sheets on my bed, laundry all folded and put away (and ironed for the next week if possible), dishes put away and dishwasher empty, fridge cleaned out, and floors vacuumed with everything else put in its place. It's just such a GREAT feeling to walk in the door and know that everything is the way it's supposed to be. Ahhh. My only thing on this list left to do is unload dishwasher.
I also want to continue thanking my mother in law, because she has spent a lot of this week helping me with tons of stuff. She motivated me to clean out my car yesterday by telling me that she would help me with all of it. And folks, my car was pretty nasty. If you know anything about me, keeping my car clean is not on the top of my priority list- I try (for a little while), but then I just feel like I can't keep up with all of the stuff that the girls and I lug into it! So, I spent about half an hour cleaning the junk out of it, just to get it to the point where we could start wiping down the sides, the ceiling, the dashboard, etc. There were cereal pieces, coffee cups, sippy cups, books, other toys, stuffed animals, jewelry, money, basically any small object that you could think of... piled in my car. It's all gone now, thrown away or organized, don't worry! Then we went to it with wash cloths and cleaning solution (can't think of the name right now). Ivy helped and Gwen and I scrubbed out the inside that baby until it was sparkling! Then we went over to my inlaws driveway and I spent another good chunk of time scrubbing down the outside... getting all the bird doodoo and grime off of it. Man she looks pretty now. Jake and I are going to have a nice little ride tomorrow.
Anyway, back to my mother in law. After doing the car, she spent the rest of the morning helping me pack and clean up the house. She fixed lunch for Ivy and I (while Genesis took a very long nap). Then she went shopping, and bought a couple of things I needed for us, and didn't know if I'd make it to the store or not, then came home and fixed supper for us. And then... today she watched Ivy for me from 8-9:30 this morning while I took Genesis to get her 1yr vaccinations. I love her.
Tonight we were invited to a friends house for a wiener roast with some other families from church. It was kind of a spur of the moment invite, but we were very happy to oblige (especially me, so that I didn't have to cook tonight) and excited about getting together with some people that we don't hang out with a lot. It ended up being so enjoyable. We had perfect weather, a great fire, hot dogs, soup and bread (the MOST amazing soup ever, which I will be getting the recipe for soon), chips and dip, apples and dip and then s'mores to finish the meal off. Ivy had fun playing with a little girl who is 5 (I think), while the little girl played that she was constantly getting out of jail and Ivy was the police officer who had to chase her every time she escaped jail. Needless to say, Ivy was exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly tonight. Genesis spent the whole evening wandering around, trying to find Ivy and trying to climb the steps up to go down the slide, which she never did figure out.
And Jake got to see his movie tonight. He went after I had put the girls down, and just got home a minute ago. He loved it.
I guess we are taking our laptop and our IPAD on the trip, so I'll continue to write and fill everyone in on our amazing trip :) I hope!
Don't know if anyone else likes Deviled Eggs as much as our family, but here's a no-fail recipe from my grandmother.
6 eggs, hard boiled
1/4 c. mayo
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp sugar
Boil the eggs in enough water to cover them for 20 minutes. Run cool water over them until they can be handled. Remove the shell. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the yolk. Mix yolks with other ingredients and then spoon into egg whites.
I don't know if it's just me, but I am kind of OCD about coming back to a very clean, neat house after being gone somewhere else for a while. I want to come home to find clean sheets on my bed, laundry all folded and put away (and ironed for the next week if possible), dishes put away and dishwasher empty, fridge cleaned out, and floors vacuumed with everything else put in its place. It's just such a GREAT feeling to walk in the door and know that everything is the way it's supposed to be. Ahhh. My only thing on this list left to do is unload dishwasher.
I also want to continue thanking my mother in law, because she has spent a lot of this week helping me with tons of stuff. She motivated me to clean out my car yesterday by telling me that she would help me with all of it. And folks, my car was pretty nasty. If you know anything about me, keeping my car clean is not on the top of my priority list- I try (for a little while), but then I just feel like I can't keep up with all of the stuff that the girls and I lug into it! So, I spent about half an hour cleaning the junk out of it, just to get it to the point where we could start wiping down the sides, the ceiling, the dashboard, etc. There were cereal pieces, coffee cups, sippy cups, books, other toys, stuffed animals, jewelry, money, basically any small object that you could think of... piled in my car. It's all gone now, thrown away or organized, don't worry! Then we went to it with wash cloths and cleaning solution (can't think of the name right now). Ivy helped and Gwen and I scrubbed out the inside that baby until it was sparkling! Then we went over to my inlaws driveway and I spent another good chunk of time scrubbing down the outside... getting all the bird doodoo and grime off of it. Man she looks pretty now. Jake and I are going to have a nice little ride tomorrow.
Anyway, back to my mother in law. After doing the car, she spent the rest of the morning helping me pack and clean up the house. She fixed lunch for Ivy and I (while Genesis took a very long nap). Then she went shopping, and bought a couple of things I needed for us, and didn't know if I'd make it to the store or not, then came home and fixed supper for us. And then... today she watched Ivy for me from 8-9:30 this morning while I took Genesis to get her 1yr vaccinations. I love her.
Tonight we were invited to a friends house for a wiener roast with some other families from church. It was kind of a spur of the moment invite, but we were very happy to oblige (especially me, so that I didn't have to cook tonight) and excited about getting together with some people that we don't hang out with a lot. It ended up being so enjoyable. We had perfect weather, a great fire, hot dogs, soup and bread (the MOST amazing soup ever, which I will be getting the recipe for soon), chips and dip, apples and dip and then s'mores to finish the meal off. Ivy had fun playing with a little girl who is 5 (I think), while the little girl played that she was constantly getting out of jail and Ivy was the police officer who had to chase her every time she escaped jail. Needless to say, Ivy was exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly tonight. Genesis spent the whole evening wandering around, trying to find Ivy and trying to climb the steps up to go down the slide, which she never did figure out.
And Jake got to see his movie tonight. He went after I had put the girls down, and just got home a minute ago. He loved it.
I guess we are taking our laptop and our IPAD on the trip, so I'll continue to write and fill everyone in on our amazing trip :) I hope!
Don't know if anyone else likes Deviled Eggs as much as our family, but here's a no-fail recipe from my grandmother.
6 eggs, hard boiled
1/4 c. mayo
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp sugar
Boil the eggs in enough water to cover them for 20 minutes. Run cool water over them until they can be handled. Remove the shell. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the yolk. Mix yolks with other ingredients and then spoon into egg whites.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Such a Loser
That's me! I am such a loser. My husband had been talking all week about going and seeing a particular movie tonight. He'd put the girls to bed (because is was his turn) and then he'd go watch the movie that was showing at 9:30. My mother in law made supper for us tonight, as it's the last night we could spend together before Jake and I head on vacation on Saturday morning. So I decided that between supper and him going to the movie, I might be able to squeeze in a game of raquetball with Jake's uncle Phil. Sure, uncle Phil said he could play at 7:30, so I was super excited. We ate supper, and then rushed out the door at 7pm for Jake to come put the girls to bed and for me to go to raquetball. Now, uncle Phil is really really really good. I have beat him one time out of a million... so the first 3 games went fairly fast. Then we decided we'd play another game. It was 8:20, so I had plenty of time still to get home so that Jake could get to the movie on time. We ended that game at 8:45, and decided (OH SO STUPIDLY!!!) that we'd play just one more game! I thought that it would only last about 15 minutes, then I'd rush home so Jake could get to his movie. Well, the game was awesome... we were tied 13 to 13 for the longest time, and then he won. I looked at his cell phone, and it was 9:15! Agh, my heart sank- I knew Jake would not be able to go to the movie now. It takes about 10 minutes to drive home, and then it would take Jake about 20 to get to the movie. So I RACED home and ran in the door, to find a disappointed husband who was very sweet and told me not to worry about it. But man, I feel so ashamed and so so sorry, but no matter how many times I apologize I still feel bad. We're going to go see the movie together now, while we are on vacation, but I still feel so bad. What a selfish person I was! Sorry Jake :(
I have been packing tonight, and the job just seems un-ending. I am packing for us... going to into freezing weather in N.Michigan and then also packing for the girls who will be spending the 8 days with Jake's parents. So everything is kind of half-hazardly thrown together right now. I will get a better handle on it tomorrow.
Well I am exhausted, so I am going to go to bed. Goodnight All. Here is a really wonderful fall recipe that I made a couple of weeks ago. Yumm.
Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake
Ingredients
I have been packing tonight, and the job just seems un-ending. I am packing for us... going to into freezing weather in N.Michigan and then also packing for the girls who will be spending the 8 days with Jake's parents. So everything is kind of half-hazardly thrown together right now. I will get a better handle on it tomorrow.
Well I am exhausted, so I am going to go to bed. Goodnight All. Here is a really wonderful fall recipe that I made a couple of weeks ago. Yumm.
Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 1 3/4 cups shortbread cookies, crushed
- 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
- Cheesecake:
- 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
- 2/3 cup NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup crushed toffee candies
- Topping:
- 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Caramel ice cream topping (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- For Crust: Combine cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press onto bottom and 1-inch up side of 9-inch springform pan.
- Bake for 6 to 8 minutes (do not allow to brown). Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
- For Cheesecake: Beat cream cheese and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, cornstarch and cinnamon; beat well. Pour into crust.
- Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly. Remove from oven; top with toffee candy pieces.
- For Topping: Combine sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well. Spread over warm cheesecake.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan. Drizzle with caramel topping before serving.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Babies babies babies
Tonight was Naomi's baby shower! It was so much fun. The women that gathered to celebrate baby boy Anderson were just plain lovely :) We laughed, ate and just had a great time sharing stories, advice and Naomi got tons of gifts too. Here are some pictures from the evening. Pictures taken by Gwen Suber!
The first picture is of the adorable cupcakes that were just one of the desserts at the shower. The second pic is of Aunt Ann, Aunt Cindy, Naomi, and Aunt Dana. These are the aunts who threw Naomi the shower. They put a lot of work into it, and everything turned out so cute! The third pic is Naomi and her mom, Gwen, my mother-in-law. Aren't they beautiful?? And the fourth pic is of Ivy's tush. Poor girl is at a weird stage with her jeans because she is so tall... the jeans that fit her waist are way too short, but the jeans that are long enough for her are too big around the waist... so she ends up looking like this half the time! Cool Dora underwear though, for sure.
Other than the shower, it was a stinky day, and I kinda felt like I had been run over by a truck by the time the shower came around tonight. Let's just say that life with two little kids can be overwhelming at times and frustrating. Something was up with Genesis from the second she woke up this morning, and continued all day- she is either teething, not feeling good somewhere else, or is constipated. Can't really tell which. She just growled and literally threw stuff at me all day. She also got in the toilet tonight, and unrolled a whole roll of TP, she dragged pans out of cupboards while I was trying to cook supper and was just a wrecking ball all afternoon. And Ivy, well that's a story for another day. She was extremely trying today and I'll end with that.
I did make the BEST meat loaf ever tonight for supper and it was an accident, so before I forget what I did wrong in the recipe that made it so yummy, I'm going to jot it down here and share it with all of you!
The first picture is of the adorable cupcakes that were just one of the desserts at the shower. The second pic is of Aunt Ann, Aunt Cindy, Naomi, and Aunt Dana. These are the aunts who threw Naomi the shower. They put a lot of work into it, and everything turned out so cute! The third pic is Naomi and her mom, Gwen, my mother-in-law. Aren't they beautiful?? And the fourth pic is of Ivy's tush. Poor girl is at a weird stage with her jeans because she is so tall... the jeans that fit her waist are way too short, but the jeans that are long enough for her are too big around the waist... so she ends up looking like this half the time! Cool Dora underwear though, for sure.
Other than the shower, it was a stinky day, and I kinda felt like I had been run over by a truck by the time the shower came around tonight. Let's just say that life with two little kids can be overwhelming at times and frustrating. Something was up with Genesis from the second she woke up this morning, and continued all day- she is either teething, not feeling good somewhere else, or is constipated. Can't really tell which. She just growled and literally threw stuff at me all day. She also got in the toilet tonight, and unrolled a whole roll of TP, she dragged pans out of cupboards while I was trying to cook supper and was just a wrecking ball all afternoon. And Ivy, well that's a story for another day. She was extremely trying today and I'll end with that.
I did make the BEST meat loaf ever tonight for supper and it was an accident, so before I forget what I did wrong in the recipe that made it so yummy, I'm going to jot it down here and share it with all of you!
- 1 ½ pounds of ground beef
- 1 cup of dry bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon of iodized salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 teaspoon of dried onion, minced
- 1 can of tomato sauce (8 ounce weight)
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons of white sugar, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons of prepared mustard
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