Thursday, November 29, 2007

Running Errands

This morning, Brady and I road with Dawson to work - I need to do a few errands, and this is the only way to get them done during the day, since we are currently a one car family. So, we were all up and dressed to leave by around 7:30ish.

After dropping Dawson off at work - and visiting a little bit (the bladder was full already!), Brady and I started on our adventure...

We went to the chiro for our adjustment, went to the bank and then we went to BJ's. Brady does not always like to be in the cart, but I definitely "persuade" him to sit in it, so that I can quickly move through the store. We picked up our few items, and then went to check out. Brady was trying to get out of the cart, but I firmly told him that he needed to stay seated and that he was not allowed to climb out because that it dangerous. He cried a little bit, but he did obey - PTL. Usually when he cries a little bit, his nose might produce some boogies - as with anyone. I really did not notice anything at that moment - I was doing the self check out. When I was leaving the store, I noticed that something was on his jacket - what in the world was that? So, I went to pick it off of his jacket and realized...I now have a boogie on my fingers! What do I do with it? I did not have any tissues in my jacket, so I had to wait until we got to the car to take care of it - yuck!...but, part of being a mom!

After BJ's, we went to the bread outlet, and then headed over to an Asian store. The store is usually open from 8-5:30, but they had a sign on the door that said that they were closed and would return at 11:00...it was only 10:15! There was no way that we were going to wait around for that!

So, we headed over to Grammie and Poppy's house for a little visit - and my sister and Barber were also there for a visit! How nice! The two boys played together for a while, and then it was time to head home.

A busy morning, but it was nice to get out of the house! I actually enjoyed running the errands - and Brady was a good boy (overall) - he is a great helper, and I know that he will continue to be that way when the baby arrives!

Well, now that the afternoon nap is in session, it is time to do some more cooking and baking. I think that I will attempt to make the chocolate cream pie and some coleslaw. We will see what happens!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Cooking Away!

I had a lot of veggies in my fridge that needed to be used up before they rotted! I do not like to throw food away because it has been forgotten - so, I knew that I needed to do some cooking - as I mentioned in my last post.

On Monday, I started by making a delicious turkey soup! I got this recipe from my mom - she purees the veggies before adding the meat and you are left with a delicious thick broth. YUM!!! I was so glad that I made this on Monday, because I had a headache/migraine on Tuesday and did not feel like cooking - so we ate the soup on Tuesday. I made so much of it, that I am going to freeze some so that we have something to eat after the baby is born! :) Which reminds me, I really need to stock up on some more freezer meals!

I also made colcannon - which is a delicious dish that uses kale, carrots, onions, mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese - YUM!!! We ate that tonight (along with some chicken).

Yesterday, I did absolutely no cooking - I made myself get up to get the soup heated up. I really did not feel like doing that, but I really like to have dinner ready (or close to it) when Dawson arrives home. So, the Lord helped me to do it, and then by the time that dinner was over, I was feeling so much better - the headache was gone! PTL

Today was another cooking afternoon. I had leeks and potatoes, so I decided to make a potato leek soup. This recipe that I found on the foodnetwork - made by Emeril - is SO delicious! Click here for the recipe. I left out the pancetta and I did not make the garnish - although it looks very pretty, and maybe I will do it that way at some point in my life - just not today! I also pureed the soup - delicious!

Another new recipe that I tried out was a spinach casserole - I just need to cook it tomorrow. I am not so sure about this recipe. It looks different than what it sounded like. So, I will have to let you know what I think about it.

More cooking and baking is still to be accomplished. I have quite a few cabbages that I need to do something with. I really do not like cabbages cooked and I really do not like it raw, by itself. So, I have found two recipes that I am going to try. One is a cabbage roll and the other is a coleslaw that sounds good - we will have to see. I still need to make a chocolate cream pie for my hunny. So, I think that I will be quite busy with cooking over the next few days.

We are also hosting the Christmas party for our Life Group this Sunday at our home - so, the Christmas tree needs to be put up - hopefully decorated too - we will have to see what we are able to accomplish!

I am having a great time cooking, except that my lower back is a little achy from time to time. So, I am sure to take a break here and there to give my back a break! Well, off to bed - it is WAY past my bedtime!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Things "In The Works"

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I have to say that I have not reached all of the goals that I wanted to - but have at least begun each task. So, here is an update of things that need to be accomplished, but are still in the "works":

1. Baby Announcements - I need to decide how the inside is going to look and then do it!

2. Christmas/New Year's newsletter - most of this is done. The only sections that need to be completed are Dawson's and the Baby's (which will have to wait anyway!). I also need to decide if I will put any photos in with it and if there is anything else that I want to add to it.

3. Christmas decorating - well, my wonderful husband brought the tree up from the basement, but we have not set it up yet. We have been a little busy with other things this weekend. Well, he has been more busy than me! (see #4)

4. Brady's big boy room - prepping and painting the room has begun! My wonderful mom volunteered to help us get started and to help with the edging (or cutting - whatever you call it). So, mom and I went to Home Depot, Lowes, and Sherwin Williams (they have the EZ mask tape that we wanted) to gather supplies, and she and Dawson started on Saturday. So, the ceiling has a fresh coat of paint on it and the whole room is now primed. Mom even came back this morning to get some of the tape off that was stubborn and to do some touch up in that spot - she is amazing and a godsend to us! We have looked at the color swatches and are getting ready to chose the color of the room. So, hopefully, this room will be put together in the next two weeks, and then we can move Brady into it! Then, we will be moving on to the Baby's room!

So, things are started and going in a forward motion! I am very happy about that.

There are so many things that I need to be working on, but I think that I need to focus on doing some cooking - I have a list of things that I want to make in the next day or two that includes: turkey soup (we already have the stock, so this should be easy!), colcannon, potato leek soup (maybe), spinach squares (or something with spinach) and chocolate cream pie (for my hunny and anyone else that would like a slice, b/c I am not a huge fan of it. I have 3 egg yolks that need to be used, so I figured that I could make him a little treat! So, the announcements will have to wait another day or two so that I can cook and not "loose" some of the veggies that we have to the garbage!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Saturday, November 24, 2007

It Has Been Two Years Already!

Time sure does fly by! Two years ago, we moved from our very tiny apartment into our house! So, we did not host Thanksgiving that year! :) It is amazing to think that 2 years have already past since we moved into this house. It seems like we have been here longer than that!

Our house was in move-in condition, which was a blessing, since I was about 35-36 weeks pregnant! There was no painting that was going on at that point in time! There were SO MANY boxes everywhere - I was so thankful for my mom, my MIL, and some friends that helped to clean the house (it did not need heavy cleaning, but just to go over things briefly, and my mom also helped me to put my kitchen together! They were all such blessings to me!

Although there were some rooms that we wanted to paint, we were not really sure what color or style we wanted it in, so we just put it off. Well, now that Baby #2 is coming along, we HAVE to paint - well, I just went shopping for the equipment and I will help in choosing the paint color, since I am 34-35 weeks pregnant!

So, today - two years from the day that we moved into this house, my mom and Dawson stated to paint Brady's new room. They cleared the rest of the items out of the room, spackled, and painted the ceiling. Then tomorrow, the primer will be put on (that is the plan), and hopefully a decision will be made on the color.

I just knew that we could not leave the room pink with princesses on the walls. They just had to go! Here are some before photos. The photos do not even show how bright the pink actually is!

Our Thanksgiving Day

I LOVE Thanksgiving! I love everything about it! Spending time with family, giving thanks to the Lord for what He has done in our lives, and the delicious dinner. It is so appropriate that we have begun to host it for our families!

In attendance was my sister, Simms, Jeter, and Barber, Grammie and Poppy, Grandpa, Nanny, and Uncle BJ. Brady enjoyed playing with his cousins and did not want to take his nap! Once we got him upstairs, he was fine and went to sleep - however, I think that he was so excited about his family being here, that he only slept for about one and a half hours, rather than his normal 3ish hours. Oh, well! We all had a great time.

For dinner, we had my favorite Thanksgiving dishes - some may refer to it as Betty Crockerish, and that is fine with me - I LOVE IT and look forward to it! For appetizers, we keep it simple and healthy - cheese and crackers, grapes, apples, and stuffed eggs. For dinner, we had a delicious roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, broccoli/cauliflower casserole, gravy, clover leaf buns, pumpkin bread and cranberry sauce (I think that I remembered everything! It was so delicious! It is also wonderful that all family members bring something for the dinner! That is a blessing and a help in the preparation!

Dessert is always delicious too! My mom made the pies - pumpkin, apple, pecan, and a chocolate pecan with homemade whipped cream! Mmm mmm good!

During dinner, we go around the table to say what we are thankful for. I enjoy this part - it is a time when you can hear what is on people's hearts. It is a wonderful conversation. Even Brady said that he was thankful for milk...OK, it was perfect timing when I asked him what he was thankful for, and he asked me for milk...it was cute.

I am thankful that I am able to have my family and Dawson's family all over at the same time. I am thankful that the parents get along so well. We always have a nice time together. I am thankful for my personal relationship with the Lord, and how I am continuing to grow in Him. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who is always there for me and is a great encourager to me. I am thankful for my born and unborn sons. They are precious gifts to me - Brady always brings a smile to my face and I know that his brother will too (less than 6 weeks away until his due date). I am very thankful that I have a sister who is also my BFF - I really need to get together with her again though! We have both been so busy - I really do miss her! My friends are so special to me too. God has placed wonderful friends in my life who I enjoy getting together with. There are so many things that I am thankful for - the list goes on...

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too! Now, it is time for me to focus on getting ready for Christmas, baby arrival, and Brady's birthday party - maybe in that order, we will see! :)

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

"New" Couches

We recently were blessed with some "new" furniture - OK, it is about 16 years old, but in good condition as far as looks go, and the comfort level is not too bad either! It works for us, for now.

For our family room, we have had a total of 4 couch "sets" that we have been given through the last 5 years of our marriage. The first set was not really a set. The love seat was an ugly brown/tan and the couch was a mauve color (the couch was from my sis). I loved the couch - just b/c of comfort, but when my sister was getting new couches for their family room, they gave us their old set. This set was constructed the best of all the couches that we have had, but it needed slip covers (my sis and bro got these from a neighbor - and they always covered them too). That was not such a great deal (especially since the slip covers were passed on to us!), but the annoying part was the cushions. The bottom and back cushions would move all over the place, and then the slip cover would get messed up, would need to be fixed, but it never seemed to look that great (over time), and Dawson was very annoyed with them. That leads us to the 3rd set of couches...

Our neighbors wanted to get rid of a sectional couch and offered it to us. It really was not my taste in style or color (gray), but Dawson was definitely wanting to get rid of the annoying cushion couches, so I gave in. It was very nice for our neighbors to give this furniture to us, but it really was not the most comfortable and recently we have been talking about getting new furniture. I really did not want to buy new furniture or go shopping at this point in life, but I felt like we might need to. That leads us to the 4th set of couches...

Two weekends ago, my parents' neighbors were getting rid of furniture that they had in their basement - a couch, love seat, a blue recliner, and two wing chairs (whatever they are called). So, we looked at it and decided that it was definitely an upgrade...so, we had a neighbor of my parents help us move the furniture to our house. Let me tell you, the family room looks so much brighter and I like it a lot better. We also have rearranged the family room too - I think that helped it to look like there is more space in it. These couches will be OK for now - they are also not the most comfortable in some of the spots, but we are thankful for God's provision! I was not even really praying about new couches, but the Lord knew the desires of my heart! Thank you Lord! One day we will have couches that are more comfortable, but these will "do" for now!

Now, we are praying for a car!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Can You Really Mess Up Ice Cream?

I have not posted for quite some time - I have been a little bit busy and have not really had time to blog. I do have a few things to write about though...the first one will be about ice cream.

I LOVE ice cream! I really enjoy Turkey Hill - especially their Philadelphia types - vanilla bean and coffee. BUT...I also really enjoy the Philadelphia Eagles ice cream (vanilla ice cream, fudge and chocolate covered peanut butter footballs - YUM) - NOT the team!!! No offense to any Eagles fans out there, but I grew up as a Giants fan and now I am a Patriots fan (due to the fact that my husband grew up as a Patriots fan, and it is fun to route for the same team).

Last Friday, I was in the mood for Chinese food, and neither of us felt like cooking, so I ordered take out. Right by the Chinese Restaurant, there is a grocery store that I NEVER shop at because I am NEVER happy with what I buy from there. Their produce is wilty, I bought chicken there once and did not look at the due date - I bought it on the due date and when I went to use it two days after I bought it, it was bad!, my dad went to buy soda there and the outside of the containers were dusty and sticky! Are they trying to run themselves out of business? I really do not know how they stay open!

Anyway, to my point of the story. I told Dawson that I would go into this grocery store and pick up some ice cream - because I was in the mood for some. He said to me, "Are you sure you want to go there? You have NEVER been happy with anything that you have bought there!" My response - it's ice cream...how can you screw up ice cream!...

So, I went into the store, saw that Turkey Hill was on sale for $2.50 a carton, AND they had my absolute favorite ice cream...Philadelphia Eagles! I was SOOOOOO excited!!!! :)

After we ate our dinner, Dawson scooped some ice cream out for us, and we began to eat it - I was so looking forward to eating it. However, it tasted funny! It tasted grainy and just yucky! Not smooth and creamy as I was imagining. At first, I thought that it was just me, but I when I said something to Dawson, he agreed that something was not right.

Maybe it was the freezers at the grocery store? Then, something made me think to ask Dawson to check the expiration date. The date on the bottom of the carton said 11/14/07!!! We purchased it on 11/16/07!!!

So, the next day, I returned the carton of ice cream - that was really weird to do - but, I wanted my $$ back! I then went to the grocery store that I normally shop in and decided to look at the bottom of those cartons. Do you know what they said? 11/??/08 (I cannot remember the middle number). I was SO shocked!!!

So, does that mean that I was eating ice cream that was made last year? Did that yucky grocery store just store it in their freezer for a whole year and then take it out to sell to me? I really do not know, but what I do know is that I am not ever going to go there again!

I think that I might contact Turkey Hill too and let them know what happened to me. If that was my first experience with T.H. ice cream, I would have never tried it again, but since I know better, I think that I will be getting a carton of Eagles ice cream soon!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Baby Announcements and Bread Making

This past Saturday, MIA at our church hosted a "Super Saturday" event. It was held from 9-3, sandwiches and drinks were provided, and no kids were allowed! So, what did we do there? Well, it was a day where you could come and catch up on something that you have been wanting to do - paint your nails, talk with friends, make cards, scrapbook, crochet, or whatever you little heart desired!

My husband was so gracious and did not mind that I left him home all day with our cute little son. I know that this was a sacrifice, because we have so many house projects that we need to work on - so, I was so thankful that he "let" me go! I love you, Hunny!

So, I decided to work on the birth announcements for baby #2. I have never really made cards before, so I did not really realize how long it would take to do everything involved! So, the things that I did get done are as follows:
1. Cut out the paper for the main card
2. Cut out two sizes of paper for what I am going to stamp on the front
3. Began to stamp the background for the front of the card
That is all that I got done! I could not believe that it took me that long - yes, I did take two little breaks and I was talking a little bit, but I was also working very diligently!

So, what I still need to do is:
1. Complete stamping the background front of the cards
2. Add ribbon to the front
3. Stamp/color the teddy for the front
4. Cut out paper for the inside
5. Stamp the inside stuff
6. Add two other things to the inside: parents and brother's names and a Bible verse.

LOTS to do, but it is fun. I know that I cannot procrastinate with this! I HAVE to get this done soon!

Something else that I need to work on is our Christmas newsletter. My goal is to have it completed by Thanksgiving (or the week before). I will just leave a section of it blank so that I can write something about the baby when he is born...so, it might actually be a New Year's letter! My plan is to send that with the announcements (save on postage!).

So, that is what I have been up to recently. Other things have been on my mind - but have not been up to blogging a whole big bunch.

Oh, one other thing that I did last week was to make 4 small loaves of French bread. I used the breadmaker for the kneading and rising, but then I took the dough out and I did a little more kneading, shaped it, let it rise one last time, and then baked it (only took about 15 minuted to bake!). I was a little tentative to do something like that initially, but it was really fun and gave me confidence to try something else like that! Something that I REALLY want to make are cinnamon buns - I know that they are not that healthy, but they are REALLY YUMMY! So, I will have to put that on my "to do" list!

Monday, November 5, 2007

I Won!!!

Although I did not host a giveaway on my blog this time around, I did enter many, many, (probably too many!) giveaways on blogs that participated in the Fall Y'all Giveaways.

I am so excited! I actually won two things this time! (last time, I was not a winner). I won a formulas idea books and a gold Precious Elements pen (for scrapbooking), and I also won the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God.

Did you win anything? If you did, let me know what you won!

Friday, November 2, 2007

I've Got It...I Think!

I searched the website splitcoaststampers and got a lot of great ideas of what to do with the stamp set that I have. I was having such a hard time deciding what to do for the birth announcements, so I decided to go a little simpler. It is nice, but not too hard.

So, I need to complete my thoughts tonight on how I want it to look, so that tomorrow I can "crank" these babies out!

Procrastinating

Have you ever procrastinated about something - not because you don't want to do it, but you are not sure how you want to do it?

Well, that is something that I have been doing concerning making the birth announcements for Baby #2. I just am not sure what I want to do with this or how I want to do it...so, I have been procrastinating a little bit! So, why not procrastinate a little more and write a post about it!

Anyway, I know that writing more will not help me make any decisions and since I have to have all of this together so that I can make them in mass quantity tomorrow, I better get cracking!

Just figured that I would let all of you know what I am up to...procrastinating...and thinking...and now, I will go and try out a new design. Hopefully, something will "sit well" with me in the next 30 minutes or less!

Blog Design Contest

I would love to have a new Blog design - or should I say have a blog design...so, I am entering a contest to win one! You can also enter at Pumkin Patch Creations. If you would like to check it out, click here! Good luck!

Free Kids Books!

I found this website called, Christian Children's Book Reviews. During this month, they are giving Christian children's books away daily. Click here to check it out AND mention that Promises Fulfilled sent you over there in your comment - then, I will be entered to win their grand prize. (If you tell someone about it and they do the same, they you will be entered to win too!).