1. It is still hot here.
2. We got rain this past weekend. Thanks be to God! However, there were two major thunderstorms that came over our house, thundered ferociously, and then dropped all of 3 drops on our grass. Seriously, I could count them. Then, on Saturday evening, we'd headed to Sonic for a little treat (have you tried the new strawberry limeade chiller? YUM.), and came back to ominous looking clouds overhead. These clouds did not disappoint---the grass got watered, the plants are looking a little less thirsty, and we had a window that flooded our guest bedroom. So, while I'd been praying for rain, I maybe should have quantified that with a little side note to God. "God, please bring your rain to our grass, our plants, but not necessarily inside the house." Of course, He knew what He was doing....so I'm just left to trusting Him all the while.
3. Trusting Him is probably another post for another day, but suffice it to say that I've really been ruminating on His provision for us in the midst of some uncertainty. I've really clung to His Word that helps me remember that He cares for us and wants the best for us, even if that doesn't always agree with our own plans. His plans are higher, His will is perfect, and I'm to have faith. Fairly simple to write, a lot harder to live out.
4. My child is not a good napper. I'm afraid about playschool in the fall when all the other one year olds are supposed to be napping, and mine is going to be "the one." The one child that disrupts everyone else's nap time and the teachers, who most definitely need a little bit of quiet, have to occupy her because she refuses to take a nap. Some days, we do really good--she takes a good nap around noon to 2 or so. Other days, I'm lucky to have her sleep half an hour total. For. The. Day. And have I mentioned that she has energy that has no bounds? Seriously, reading a book is great--but about page 3, she's ready to move on to the next thing. She's not a snuggler unless she is asleep, and she rarely sits still for anything. Advice would be appreciated. I've tried the crying it out during nap time, and she will fall asleep, but she'll also cry for over an hour before crashing. (I check on her about every twenty minutes and have the monitor on so I know what she is doing. I do the sneaky mom thing where I can see her, but she can't see me. I've picked her up and rocked her, laid her down when she's asleep, only for her to wake up right as I put her down. I've not picked her up but just patted her while she lays in her crib and told her that it's time to take a nap.) I need a nap just thinking about the fact that my child doesn't nap.
5. Picked up homegrown peaches the other day and decided to make a classic...peach cobbler. It was so good I'm going to share my recipe with you. This time I made it with peaches and blueberries, but I've also done blackberries before. This cobbler is really good (if you like a lot of cobbler with a lot of fruit). Perfect with ice cream.
The Best Peach Cobbler
Preheat oven to 400. Place one stick butter in 9 x 13 pan and place in oven until melted. Mix 7-8 cut up ripe peaches with approximately 1/2 cup sugar. If peaches are really tart, you might need to add additional 1/4 cup of sugar to sweeten. Mix the following in a bowl: 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla. Pour this batter over the melted butter in your pan. Pour fruit on top of the batter/butter and sprinkle wit cinnamon. Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 400.
6. Because I'm in the sharing mood, and because we have another new family favorite meal...here's a bonus recipe for you. I think Hudson found this one on allrecipes.com.
Skillet Chicken
2 chicken breasts (I pounded two thick ones and cut them in half so we could have leftovers)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian tomatoes
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 small bay leaf
Pepper to taste
In skillet, brown chicken in oil. Once browned, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute until tender. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked (not pink in the middle).
I served this with steamed broccoli and couscous and it was good!
7. I like making lists, which is why today's post is in list form. Makes me feel much more organized.
8. The end. Happy cooking!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Sisters Sisters Everywhere!
It's been a little while since I blogged, and the only reason I can come up with on why I am delayed in posting is because it is so stinking hot. This oppressive heat leaves me feeling completely unmotivated to do anything, including blogging. Hopefully we'll get a break in the heat soon and I'll feel back to my normal self again. We are desperate for rain though---our sidewalk in our cul-de-sac has fallen about 5 inches or so, our driveway is sinking, our back patio now has a large crack throughout the middle of it, and we've resorted to watering the edge of the house because someone told us that would help prevent foundation problems when you are in a drought like we are. I have no idea if this little known fact is even true, but the grass is benefiting from it (i.e. it hasn't died yet, like the patch at the mailbox) and in my mind, I'm trying to save us some money in the long end of things. The weather people claim that we might have a chance at rain this coming weekend, and I'm praying it will be so. I think we got about 3 drops of rain about 3weeks ago, while other parts here got about an inch. Not sure why our area didn't get the soaking rain, but hopefully soon we'll be able to not worry about watering our foundation.
Anyways, after Kim's visit the last weekend of June, my sister Lesli and her husband Justin came to visit for the 4th of July. They had several things on their "to-do" list while they were here, so Friday the 3rd we headed out to Ikea, World Market, Carter's, and then back home. We celebrated the 4th by cooking out hamburgers and making homemade mint oreo ice cream on the 3rd. On the 4th, we got up early and headed to a little town outside of Bryan/College Station where my great aunt and uncle live. I had not seen them since my mom's funeral, but Lesli had just seen them at the annual family reunion in Mississippi. We had a good time visiting with them and they enjoyed Micayla a bunch. (Who wouldn't, in my opinion? :) ) On a side note, how do you do a smiley face when you want to put it in parantheses? This, (:)), looks weird. But so does this, ( :) ). Do you put the smiley face after the )? :) I digress...we headed back home and talked on the way home what we would like for dinner. Turns out that a lot of restaurants close on the 4th--maybe we should have known that, but we didn't. Most of all of our ideas ended with a big "closed" sign out front. We settled for Texas BBQ from a little hole in the wall restaurant here in town, and swam some that evening. Micayla still loves being in the water, and Lesli was more than happy to cool off her pregnant body in the pool...except, of course, that the pool was more like a lukewarm bath because it isn't that deep, and it doesn't take long for it to heat up. We still enjoyed it though, and headed to church the next morning before they caught their flight back. Here are a few pics from their visit.
Our little 4th of July cutie! (at Ikea, having her lunch!)
Daddy and his girl.
Aunt Jane and Micayla
Uncle Edsel and Micayla
Les and Justin enjoying Gringos after church and before they headed back home. We had a great weekend with them and look forward to seeing them again really soon! (Strangely enough, the next time we see them will likely be right after their son arrives in late September. So excited about a nephew!)
Our side of the table!
Uncle Justin and Micayla
Micayla acting surprised that we were taking yet another picture of her. :)
Then, the same day that Les and Justin headed out, my sister Lisa and her girls headed here! Hudson and I spent the afternoon between Les leaving and Lisa coming cleaning up the guest room and getting ready for a week with my sister and the girls (as we call them). Lisa took on the task of driving here (12 hours!) and we were excited when they finally got here (they were just glad to be out of the car). I did a terrible job of taking pictures from that week, so I only have a few to share. But here's pretty much what we did: swim, play, swim, play, eat, sleep, swim, play...you get the idea. Kathryn and Lauren enjoyed being with Micayla, and Micayla loved being around the older girls and having someone else (besides me) to play with. We went to Ikea (Lisa had never been before), ate at Chick-Fil-A, played at home, went to a splash pad one day, went to Schlitterbahn-Galveston one day, got sno-cones, ate at Gringos (one of Lisa's top 5 restaurants!), looked at Carter's, watched movies, etc. You get the idea--it was fun filled week and while we had some other things we wanted to do, we had to save something for next year. Needlesss to say, there were sisters sisters everywhere! I personally enjoyed being able to spend a weekend with Lesli and a week with Lisa, and look forward to more time together in the not too distant future. Here's the few pictures that I took from that week.
After our fun afternoon at Schlitterbahn-Galveston---again, Micayla thought it was great. We rode the lazy river a few times with her, and at one point she was so relaxed she fell asleep in the raft with me. We were tired after being the water that afternoon, but we got to take advantage of discounted tickets after 3 pm, so it made it worth it (plus there is no parking fee, you can bring your own cooler, and rafts are free). We had a great time and I look forward to taking Micayla back when she can walk and really enjoy some of the kiddie slides.
Lauren and Micayla at the splash pad near our house.
Maybe I should have titled this post, Cousins Cousins Everywhere! Both Kathryn and Lauren love to call Micayla their baby cousin and to tell anyone nearby that she is their cousin. :)
Lauren posing at the splash pad.
Kathryn posing at the splash pad.
Micayla enjoying the splash pad--if you can't walk yet, you would think she would get frustrated by her inability to move---wrong. She just crawled everywhere, with a protective mother behind guarding her from the bigger kids who liked to run around the splash pad instead. Nobody was going to hurt my baby! We had a good time though, and I'm sure we'll be going back since it is about 1/2 mile from our house.
Hopefully I'll get back to posting better in the days ahead!
Anyways, after Kim's visit the last weekend of June, my sister Lesli and her husband Justin came to visit for the 4th of July. They had several things on their "to-do" list while they were here, so Friday the 3rd we headed out to Ikea, World Market, Carter's, and then back home. We celebrated the 4th by cooking out hamburgers and making homemade mint oreo ice cream on the 3rd. On the 4th, we got up early and headed to a little town outside of Bryan/College Station where my great aunt and uncle live. I had not seen them since my mom's funeral, but Lesli had just seen them at the annual family reunion in Mississippi. We had a good time visiting with them and they enjoyed Micayla a bunch. (Who wouldn't, in my opinion? :) ) On a side note, how do you do a smiley face when you want to put it in parantheses? This, (:)), looks weird. But so does this, ( :) ). Do you put the smiley face after the )? :) I digress...we headed back home and talked on the way home what we would like for dinner. Turns out that a lot of restaurants close on the 4th--maybe we should have known that, but we didn't. Most of all of our ideas ended with a big "closed" sign out front. We settled for Texas BBQ from a little hole in the wall restaurant here in town, and swam some that evening. Micayla still loves being in the water, and Lesli was more than happy to cool off her pregnant body in the pool...except, of course, that the pool was more like a lukewarm bath because it isn't that deep, and it doesn't take long for it to heat up. We still enjoyed it though, and headed to church the next morning before they caught their flight back. Here are a few pics from their visit.
Our little 4th of July cutie! (at Ikea, having her lunch!)
Daddy and his girl.
Aunt Jane and Micayla
Uncle Edsel and Micayla
Les and Justin enjoying Gringos after church and before they headed back home. We had a great weekend with them and look forward to seeing them again really soon! (Strangely enough, the next time we see them will likely be right after their son arrives in late September. So excited about a nephew!)
Our side of the table!
Uncle Justin and Micayla
Micayla acting surprised that we were taking yet another picture of her. :)
Then, the same day that Les and Justin headed out, my sister Lisa and her girls headed here! Hudson and I spent the afternoon between Les leaving and Lisa coming cleaning up the guest room and getting ready for a week with my sister and the girls (as we call them). Lisa took on the task of driving here (12 hours!) and we were excited when they finally got here (they were just glad to be out of the car). I did a terrible job of taking pictures from that week, so I only have a few to share. But here's pretty much what we did: swim, play, swim, play, eat, sleep, swim, play...you get the idea. Kathryn and Lauren enjoyed being with Micayla, and Micayla loved being around the older girls and having someone else (besides me) to play with. We went to Ikea (Lisa had never been before), ate at Chick-Fil-A, played at home, went to a splash pad one day, went to Schlitterbahn-Galveston one day, got sno-cones, ate at Gringos (one of Lisa's top 5 restaurants!), looked at Carter's, watched movies, etc. You get the idea--it was fun filled week and while we had some other things we wanted to do, we had to save something for next year. Needlesss to say, there were sisters sisters everywhere! I personally enjoyed being able to spend a weekend with Lesli and a week with Lisa, and look forward to more time together in the not too distant future. Here's the few pictures that I took from that week.
After our fun afternoon at Schlitterbahn-Galveston---again, Micayla thought it was great. We rode the lazy river a few times with her, and at one point she was so relaxed she fell asleep in the raft with me. We were tired after being the water that afternoon, but we got to take advantage of discounted tickets after 3 pm, so it made it worth it (plus there is no parking fee, you can bring your own cooler, and rafts are free). We had a great time and I look forward to taking Micayla back when she can walk and really enjoy some of the kiddie slides.
Lauren and Micayla at the splash pad near our house.
Maybe I should have titled this post, Cousins Cousins Everywhere! Both Kathryn and Lauren love to call Micayla their baby cousin and to tell anyone nearby that she is their cousin. :)
Lauren posing at the splash pad.
Kathryn posing at the splash pad.
Micayla enjoying the splash pad--if you can't walk yet, you would think she would get frustrated by her inability to move---wrong. She just crawled everywhere, with a protective mother behind guarding her from the bigger kids who liked to run around the splash pad instead. Nobody was going to hurt my baby! We had a good time though, and I'm sure we'll be going back since it is about 1/2 mile from our house.
Hopefully I'll get back to posting better in the days ahead!
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