Too cute!

Looked over the other day and just happened to catch Nugget chatting on her phone as she rocked away on her snail! Love it!

New Recipes

We tried a couple new recipes over the weekend. The first one was for Homemade Crackers. I was excited about these, not only to save some money, but because they are a soaked whole wheat cracker. I mixed them up the day before and Ralph did all the rolling and cutting and pricking for me the next day. They were about half the cost of the whole grain crackers we currently buy for Nugget. She can't tell the difference. They were a bit tedious so we'll see how long we can keep up with it. Not hard, just a little tedious. We did take pictures "along the way" so we could share with you!

Rolling out the dough. It was a stiff dough but Ralph could handle it! *grin*

We just happened to have this cookie/biscuit cutter. It made them look a lot like the crackers Nugget was used to! Not sure if she really would have noticed but you never know with toddlers . . . .

Poking the holes . . . 

Getting ready to go in the oven . . . .

Cooling . . . .

Aren't they so pretty?! Fun! Of course, I don't have a picture of her eating them yet because that would just be too perfect. I'm just impressed I got these taken! It was a fun process. The ones that didn't get rolled out really thin are a little biscuit-y but they all taste good.

The other recipe we tried was this pizza dough. There are very few things that stay the same in our world from week to week. Pizza on Friday's in one (except this week it was on Sunday--hee, hee!). I was hoping to find a slightly more healthy pizza dough. This does have a soaking period like the crackers. It gave us 4 crusts. We ate one on Sunday and froze the other 3. Ralph and I finished the pizza between the two of us! Guess we liked it, huh? We have been using this pizza sauce and LOVE it! That garlic bread seasoning that goes into it is phenomenal!!! (I don't use the marjoram cuz I don't have any and this is the only recipe I've come across to use it in. I like it without so I haven't seen the need to buy any!)

Anybody else tried anything fun or new this weekend?

Praying the Psalms

I am joining Jenny@Just a Minute in Praying the Psalms over the weekends. Join us!

Psalm 10

Thank You for Your Word. That first sentence feels a little close to home, "God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need You?" To be honest, I feel like I've been getting conflicting messages from You. I see You so clearly one minute and then the fog rolls in and feels so dense. I can't find my way out. I know You are there and the confliction is in my heart not in reality.

Keep my heart soft. Don't let me become like wicked in this psalm. I feel like I've met a few of them this week. Help me to truly see the hurting and reach out to them--not ignore them, make their plight worse, etc. Help me to reach out even in my own pain to help another in their pain. Don't let my own fog blind me to the point I might inadvertently hurt another.

I praise you for and echo this portion:

But you know all about it—
      the contempt, the abuse.
   I dare to believe that the luckless
      will get lucky someday in you.
   You won't let them down:
      orphans won't be orphans forever.

I also dare to believe this. You will provide homes to the homeless and fathers for the fatherless. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You.
 

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Happy Saturday! I have had a few requests for the cinnamon rolls we made last weekend so I thought I better post it. Tuesday night I pulled the 5 out that I had frozen and let them thaw and rise. By Wednesday morning they were HUGE! They turned out great, though! So much better than the store bought ones you pull out of the refrigerator or freezer. I can see having a bunch of these on hand for whenever I get a hankerin' for some! 

This recipe is from a place called Barbara's Bed and Breakfast in Estes Park, CO. We didn't stay there but after trying this recipe I think we should the next time we go back!

Makes 12 Rolls
2 1/2 cups milk
2 packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
6-7 cups flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling mixture:
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Bring the milk just to below the boiling point; cool to lukewarm. Dissolve the 2 packages of yeast in 1/2 cup of the lukewarm milk. Add the yeast mixture, sugar, oil, salt, baking powder and egg to the remaining 2 cups of milk. Mix well; then add flour until easy to handle. Knead until smooth. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size. Punch down dough and roll into an 18x24-inch rectangle. Cover with the melted butter.

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the filling ingredients and sprinkle on top of the butter. Roll the dough up tightly, jelly-roll fashion, starting with the 24-inch side; seal edges. Cut into 12 (2-inch) slices. At this point, the slices can be frozen, then removed as needed, or placed in a greased pan, refrigerated and covered for up to 48 hours. If refrigerated, take rolls out and allow to rise, if needed.

Bake about 20 minutes, until light brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then frost or drizzle with a vanilla glaze, using your favorite recipe.

Enjoy! They are super yummy!

Outdoor Fun

I feel like I need to apologize for an unintended blogging break. Third trimester is catching up with me and I feel like falling asleep every time I sit down! I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but it's very hard to blog with your eyes closed.

We have had some beautiful days this week! I haven't really had the energy to go for a walk (and conveniently Ralph has had the stroller in the car so we couldn't!) but we did go out to play. This is so fun! Last summer she was so small I didn't know what to do with her outdoors! Now she has plenty ideas--run and get dirty! I took just a "few" pics this week to catalog our first real playtime's outdoors.

I just love this first one of Nugget and Kenya. You'd think they were best friends (in reality this is a rare moment, Buddy is the more likely dog to cuddle and tolerate her cuddles). Please ignore my nasty yard--I am not much of a caretaker when it comes to the outdoors normally and then you give me an excuse like pregnancy and even less than usual gets done!

Check out these faces! She is such an expressive child! I love it! This winter Kenya decided the table was her own dog bed and Nugget thought it would be fun to join her up there! And so the craziness of dog and kid egging each other on begins! I can only imagine the trouble this little crew will get itself into!

She.LOVES!to.RUN!!! Not really sure where she gets that from but we'll encourage it as long as it lasts. She took really good naps after both of these little running sessions. You'll have to forgive the rooster hair--she had a ponytail in she pulled out but then replaced it with oatmeal. It was a bit of a messy day. She also found the dog's pool/water bowl and had a lot of fun dumping water out of it onto herself. Good thing kids are washable and not dry clean only. Hee, hee.

Hope you have had some sun and time to enjoy it! They are saying showers this weekend so it will be back indoors for us. We will try and soak up as much of this as we can before that happens, though!

Bunny for the Easter Basket

I found this adorable pattern on Lion Brand Yarn. I decided I wanted to make it for Nugget's Easter basket. Here are all the pieces waiting to come together. I think it will have to wait until my two days of working are over! I am one tired girl! Getting up at 4 am is a bit rough but it will be nice Wednesday to already be on a day schedule.

Weekend Recap

These were our Sunday treat--ended up being afternoon vs morning as I didn't get them made up the night before. They were great! We got the recipe from a B&B cookbook we picked up in Colorado. They only took one round of rising and came out HUGE! I had Ralph do pretty much all of making them as the kneading really kicks up my Braxton Hicks contractions. I was really craving them! The best part is it made enough for me to have some on Wednesday when a friend comes for coffee. Yay! They are so much better than store bought ones and can be refrigerated prior to baking for 48 hours or frozen and used as needed. Definitely a keeper recipe.

This was our little climber this weekend. I heard a crash come from the living room and walked in to find her sitting on our coffee table (trunk) throwing books and magazines off. I'm not even sure how she got up there! I neglected to grab pics of her climbing up on the dining room table mainly because I was too busy snatching her back off again! She is also attempting to climb my bookshelves and the open shelving in the kitchen. Nothing is safe! She has so many bangs and bruises from falling off things (including a very cut up tongue from biting it while falling) but those do not seem to deter her. She is CURIOUS and has NO FEAR. My fear is what she will get in to after the baby comes and it's just the three of us. I'm sure she will pick feeding time to climb/get into something she shouldn't! Oh, the adventures we have ahead of us!

So how was your weekend?

Praying the Psalms

I am joining Jenny@Just a Minute in Praying the Psalms over the weekends. Last weekend got away from me so I will post 2 this weekend. Praying you have a restful weekend.

Psalm 9

Again, The Message version of this psalm is really speaking to me.

Father, thank you for the perspective of this psalmist. He starts out thanking You for something that may not have happened yet. He is thanking You for rescuing and vindicating him, something he later asks for in this psalm. I don't think I have spent enough time thanking You for hearing me and answering me. I know that You do and will and have--I may not see all the answers, I may never see all the answers. That does not change the fact that You do. It doesn't change the fact that You truly are "a safe house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times." Today I just want to "thank you from a full heart" and "tell [Your] stories to everyone [I]meet." I know You will rescue us and look forward to the telling of all that You did.

 

Praying the Psalms

I am joining Jenny@Just a Minute in Praying the Psalms over the weekends. Last weekend got away from me so I will post 2 this weekend. Praying you have a restful weekend.

Psalm 8
The Message paraphrase of this passage is really sticking with me.
God, you have used my babies to drown out talk against you. I see You everyday through the miracle inside of me and the miracle running around my house. You have used them to teach me so much about our relationship and about You Yourself. Thank You for this blessing. 

It causes me to echo the psalmist, "Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?" We are nothing yet you have done so much for us! You are truly brilliant, Lord.

37 Weeks

We are officially 37 weeks today! We went in to Family Beginnings today to get all of our paperwork filled out and ready to go. This weekend we're going to pull down all the infant things from the attic, look for our gender neutral clothes and pack a couple bags. I am feeling the need to review the birthing process and natural pain management techniques. Ralph is pretty sure he remembers but I must review everything. I also found out that the unit we birth at is starting construction the 18th and we will be in a temporary unit if we go into labor after that. The nice double beds won't fit in the temporary unit but they will provide birthing tubs. It is making me more motivated to deliver sooner rather than later.

On a completely unrelated note, we had some excitement around here this morning. The dogs suddenly burst out barking. We couldn't figure out what their problem was until we looked out back. There was a HUGE possum against the back fence! Buddy (the Bernese Mtn Dog) had it backed into a corner--he was barking but wagging his tail at it. Kenya (the Newfoundland) was keeping herself between it and the house, barking furiously as she backed towards the house. It was kind of funny to see these big dogs going ballistic over this (comparatively) small animal (it really was quite large and ugly--think ROUS). We had to bring the dogs in so it could go back to wherever it came from. As soon as we let them back out, they went off on a mad dash to find it but he was gone, thankfully.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Spiritual Balance in Marriage

I don't think it will shock anyone when I say that men and women--husbands and wives, often see things very differently. We had one of those conversations the other night. I was feeling a bit discouraged, wondering why we were being "forced" into something I felt we'd told God we were willing to do 2 years ago. At that time, the doors did not open so we've been waiting to see if it was just us or something God had put on our hearts. Now I feel like there are no options but this thing and feeling a bit stressed by all the circumstances. My dear husband sees it very differently. He sees opportunities. He sees God opening doors. The hard things are there and he acknowledges them but it's not where he stops. I think I was more struck by his thought process than by what he was saying. The funny thing is, I have really been working at praying for him more and praying specifically--for things like his emotions, mind, heart, etc. That night I'm pretty sure I was seeing the answer to those prayers. He wasn't being drug down by the dark part of our circumstances but was able to see God moving through them--positively instead of negatively (like me). I'm thinking I may need to spend some time praying for my heart and attitude. *grin*

I've been working my way through the Bible study, Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God's Touch on Your Life by Jennifer Rothschild. Today she reminded me of something I had prayed back in the fall. I had prayed for God to be glorified in this particular set of circumstances we were entering. We were reading John 9:1-3 (very appropriate as she is blind) and it struck me that I was trying to dictate how God would glorify Himself/show His works in our lives. I haven't liked the direction things have gone and felt like we were being punished somehow. Today I was reminded that sometimes God uses hard times for His glory and it really has very little to do with what we may have or have not done. There are times when it is directly related to sin in our lives and we've dealt with those situations too but this passage does point out that not all hard times are discipline in the form of correction. Generally, I find it good practice to pay attention when I hear God say correlating things from various sources. Hearing it from my husband and my Bible study--well, I think I need to start listening.

What has God been doing in your heart lately?

New Me

Monday, my BFF, Amanda, treated me to a girl's day out. Ralph participated by keeping Nugget. I was treated to a lovely prenatal massage at Bellazio. It is one of my favorite salon's in the area. When I was young and single, I loved going there to be pampered and have my hair cut and colored and sip lattes. Funny how things change! Priorities are so much different when you're working towards being a full time at home mom vs a full time work away from home mom.

We then headed off to lunch at our favorite place in town, Flavors. I absolutely LOVE their chicken quesadilla and their chocolate chai tea! The chocolate chai is like a dessert and I just crave it! I also LOVE their special white sauce they put on things. It is so yummy!

We were then off to Trend Setters in Kettering to where Amanda has her hair cut. The lady is a whirlwind but does a great job! I was so happy with the results! I feel so refreshed after a day of pampering! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful friend. Anyone know any godly, amazing men we can introduce her to as a great big "Thank you"?!

Crochet Project/Thrifty Wedding Gift

I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on Nugget's rag doll lately because I've had a few crochet projects creep up. My friend Liz got married down in Texas this January. We never had a shower for her before so our friend Dana threw on for her last week. I wasn't able to make it but I wanted to contribute not only a gift but something for the fun group basket Dana was putting together.

Liz loves to cook so Dana put together a group basket full of kitchen items. I decided to crochet a few of these. I'm loving the crochet gifts--it gives me time to think about the person/people I'm giving them to and to pray over them. I really treasure that time.

I found the yarn for these at Goodwill for a great price (love finds like those!!)! I ended up loving the pattern and will have to make some for me. The are so thick and a great size! I was really happy with how they turned out!

The gift itself is something I love to do for new married couples. It came from something Ralph and I loved to do for each other as newlyweds. We would sneak out of bed early and make each other breakfast in bed. It was always spontaneous but so much fun. Now we take the extra moments to snuggle and sleep and then fix breakfast together. I wanted to capture some of that newlywed excitement in a gift so I came up with this.

*Spoiler alert* If you've received a wedding present from me over the last couple years, I'm revealing my true thriftiness here.
 

I always head off to my favorite thrift stores to find the perfect basket to start out. I wish I had taken a picture of this one! It was so cute--red with a pretty fabric liner. Then I look for one or two unique containers and two coffee mugs. I have found some of the cutest things and have even managed to create themes within the basket using these reclaimed/reused items! I bring everything home and clean it up. Then I put in some coffee and tea, add some home made pancake mix to one of the containers and, if I found two, will often put the coffee beans in to the other one. Sometimes I add a fun syrup, sometimes I don't. I put in a note explaining where idea for the gift comes from and how to make the pancakes. I had tissue paper, ribbon, etc to dress the whole thing up and wrap it in cellophane, gift bags, wrapping paper, etc--pretty much whatever I have on hand at the time.

This time I used this Homemade Whole Wheat Pancake Mix. I doubled the recipe and had some left for us. We had them over the weekend and they were VERY YUMMY. I think this recipe is a keeper! (She has a chai tea concentrate recipe on there I think I need to try too.)

Hope this inspires some of you DIYer's from A Soft Place to Land. Thanks for stopping by!

7th Annual Oscar Party

It's that time of year again! We once again held our annual Oscar Party. This year we intentionally kept it small. It was so much fun to see people bring their creativity out again. Our idea came straight from Disney's Family Fun site. We used a Martha Stewart recipe for the cupcakes and the frosting. I was pretty happy with them. My wonderful husband and dear friend Ian did all the cleaning and prep. It was wonderful. Somehow I still ended up on my feet preparing most of the day but the boys took care of all the truly tough stuff.

 

Below is most of our "red carpet moments." It was so nice of Yoda to come out and be with us agian this year! Nugget had a great time interacting with Yoda and baby Deelebug! I didn't get a picture, unfortunately, but you should have seen her interacting with Phil! She just stared and stared--no discernible expression on her face. She was just intrigued. Then when she was on the couch next to him with Daddy she was fascinated with his flower tattoo. She kept pointing to it and just barely touching it. It was pretty cute!

I think a great time was had by all! Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped make it such a fun evening. There was even a baby last night to top the evening off! (Not ours--the other pregnant lady! Hee, hee!)

Check out our parties from years past:

• 6th Annual Oscar Party
• 5th Annual Oscar Party

My Precious Family

I think the impending baby is making me a bit sentimental. I just love these two and their silliness! I can't wait to see who this new person is and how they fit into this little group.

Not So Healthy Food

Over the weekend I got a craving for pastry. It turned out to be a longer process than I initially thought. I started on Friday night and we were able to enjoy them by Sunday morning. I definitely need more practice with them but they made enough I have dough in the freezer to make another batch. Yay!! I used Nigella Lawson's Schneken and Processor Danish Pastry recipes. I highly recommend them! Don't they look yummy?! I'm sure it goes without saying that they are all gone.

Things I Love

I love things with history, a story, a personality. I prefer things that are a bit older to things that are too new. This extends to the things that surround Nugget.

I love her crib! I know it's probably fuller than it "should" be but she likes it and it makes me smile to look at it. The yellow afghan on the left was made by her great grandma. The blanket on the right and the paw blanket were made by her other great grandmother (I should say one of her other great grandmothers--she has 4!). The moose (brown blanket) and the duck are from Grandma. The quilt underneath was also finished by Grandma. The Raggedy Ann was made for me by a dear friend of the family when my sister was born. The polar bear came with her afghan and peeking from behind those two is her sock monkey from a dear friend. It feels like she is surrounded by love in her crib.

I love her little toy corner--especially her rocking snail made by Grandpa. Her toy box is also precious to me as Grandpa and Grandma refinished the one I played with as a child. The dog on top is Daddy's made by Grandma when he was little (the cute frog was also a Valentine present from that grandma). some of her toys may be a bit loved as they were some of ours but I think it makes them better. I love the memories we are making with her "new" toys but I love seeing the life and memories extended on the "old" ones.

28 Day Food Challenge

Wow! The last 28 days have flown by! I have learned so much and if nothing else, learned I have a lot to learn. That is life, though, isn't it?

• I was excited to learn this week about all the health benefits that can come from properly raised meat--including red meat, pork and lard. I have started a preliminary look into where I can obtain these. 
• I found out that my turkey broth from Thanksgiving that gelled meant I did something right (not sure what) instead of wrong as I had originally feared. Yay!!
• I read about the vast benefits to eating organ meat but am not quite ready to cross that bridge. *grin*
• Did a little reading about fish and seafood--sustainable vs fishing that destroys, wild caught fish vs farm raised, issues raised by pollution, etc. There's a lot more reading and learning I need to do in this area.
• I've done some thinking and planning about growing our food. We're thinking about doing a "community" garden at Amanda's this summer. Then we don't have to worry about how to keep our dogs out and can share the work.
• I feel like I have some direction now in making changes to how we eat and live. 

I think, if I let it, I could become paralyzed from all the information and overwhelmed at all of the changes. To keep that from happening, I want to focus on each of the "summary points" Jenny gave us at the end. I'll take one at a time and work at it until it becomes routine and then add another. Some of them will naturally feed into each other which helps too. I will keep posting my thoughts on this area. Thanks for listening to all my ramblings on this over the past few weeks.