A Christmas Game of Tag

I've been tagged by Kelli!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Mmm...I like both, depending on my mood...but I love hot chocolate with whipped cream on top!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa gifts sit unwrapped under the tree!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I love white lights the best!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.
5. When do you put up your decorations? Since we usually travel over Christmas, we decorate the week after Thanksgiving...I love decorating for Christmas!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Sweet Potato Casserole...the kind with pecan streusel on top...no marshmallows for me.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Okay, I have two: when I was six or seven, Mom and Dad built this fort in the living room out of the large waffle blocks that were part of my brother's presents...our Santa gifts were arranged in and around the fort. It was magical! And then for many, many years (I'm the oldest of four children) all four of us would secretly stockpile blankets and pillows and stuffed animals in our front coat closet so that we could hide there at night to watch for Santa. I don't think we ever did sleep in it, but the anticipation and planning each Christmas Eve day was so much fun. Even now as an adult, I miss doing that!
8. When and how did you learn that Santa isn't real? I don't remember exactly, although I think I held on for a long time so that it was still special for my little brother and sister.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Well, we celebrate Christmas Eve with my husband's family, so we open those gifts Christmas Eve and then gifts with my family Christmas Day.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Together as a family...hopefully with a fire and egg nog and Christmas music!
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love the snow. I always wish for a white Christmas!
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but only forward :) When I was little I wanted to be a figure skater!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Growing up, I loved getting clothes and accessories for my American Girl dolls.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with my family and teaching our children about the greatest gift ever given--Jesus Christ.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My mom makes a delicious dessert: Peppermint ice cream served in a pink meringue bowl, topped with homemade hot fudge and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy. It's SO good!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? This year, we have started Advent devotions and I think that is becoming my favorite tradition. And growing up, we always read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas before going to sleep Christmas Eve, then wake up early, open stockings first without peeking at the tree, then read the account of Christ's birth before opening gifts. I love that tradition.

I am tagging Hilary, Marianne, and Jillian!

Winners...

Yes, that is plural! It's Christmas, after all!

The winner of the Cottage Living subscription is Jillian Marie! And the winner of an assortment of scrapbooking goodies is Juli! Ladies, please email me your addresses!

And thanks to all who shared their traditions...I had lots of fun reading them! And I got some good ideas :)

This was fun...I will have to do it again soon!

Around our house...

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (By the way...this is a long post...but if you make it to the end, you could be a winner!)

This is a picture of the first Christmas tree Brent and I decorated together! I love this picture even though it's a little blurry because I have such wonderful memories of our first Christmas married! That tree doesn't have as many ornaments as ours does now...but I love the way it looks against the red walls in our first home (I miss our red walls!) I love thinking about how I strung cranberries for the first time...but gave up on stringing enough for our tree and settled on making a garland along the curtain rod (which stayed there for many months!) I love remembering how many pictures I made Brent take with the self-timer and tripod...SO thankful for our first digital camera that let me know I needed to change sweaters and socks to get a good picture! :) (That might not be Brent's favorite memory!) I can still remember the taste of the Steak and Lobster Bercy Christmas meal that we made...a tradition we began that we have tweaked a little since. (We still have a special meal with "our family" before leaving to celebrate with extended families...but we haven't done lobster since our second Christmas...might have to change that next year!) Special memories!

Our house is decorated...although I have to admit that our luck with trees in Texas is not so good. While still green and twinkling, our tree is very dry, which makes me sad...I think it is the time it takes to ship fresh trees all the way here...a friend told me about a tree farm nearby (who would have guessed it?) and I think we will try there next year if we are still in Texas. Last week we received the wreath that Mom and Dad ship us every year from the mountains of North Carolina...{sigh}...it is fresh and green and smells absolutely wonderful! I love to open the door just to smell it...for a few minutes I am transported back to the Appalachian Mountains.

Today we got a bunch of Christmas cards...I love getting Christmas cards...I am so glad that even with email, people still take time to send personal cards in the mail! And for those of you expecting cards from us don't worry, I'm almost done with our Christmas cards...just waiting on the pictures to arrive!

We are spending lots of evenings driving around looking at the lights...this is Hadleigh's request every evening! Her favorites are the big inflated snowmen...and we are on a constant search for them...ready for the next one before the last is out of sight. She also likes to look for Baby Jesus when people have a nativity in their yard. She and Nathanael have had so much fun playing with the Little People Nativity we got this year...a good teaching tool as we've been reading our advent devotions!

And in the spirit of giving, I thought I would do my first blog giveaway...tell me what one of your favorite Christmas traditions is and tomorrow, I will randomly select a winner to receive a one year subscription to Cottage Living, one of my very favorite magazines! (Please leave your email in the comment and make sure to check back Tuesday night so that I can get the subscription registered before I leave for Christmas (less than a week now!)) Can't wait to read about your traditions!

A Day Late

I hope none of you were too disappointed to not find a post and recipe yesterday :) I've been trying to cross things off my to-do list...and I'm slowly (if not steadily) making progress!

I'm having fun working on making some gifts for Christmas...getting organized/decorated/menu-ready for a Christmas Coffee that I'm hosting next week...thinking about the Christmas cards I need to get started on...thinking about being with family for Christmas (and meeting my almost one-year old niece for the first time!)

Of course, I keep seeing all these great crafts that I want to make and there are pages I want to scrapbook and activities I want to do with the kiddos and SO many yummy-sounding recipes I want to try...so I have resolved that next year (I know, I know, easy to say now) I will be done shopping, card-making, etc. by the very beginning of December so that I can just enjoy these days without the crunch of time!

In honor of the 27 degree weather outside (whooo-hooo!) here is a recipe for a Hot Chocolate Mix that will last you a LONG time! My sister-in-law gave it to me and it is yummy!

Hot Chocolate Mix

one 8-quart package Carnation Dry Milk
1 1/2 lbs. Nestle Quik (dry mix)
10 oz. jar Coffeemate Creamer
1/2 lb. Powdered Sugar (I usually use the whole box!)

In a VERY large bowl, mix all ingredients together.
Store in an airtight container.

For each cup of hot chocolate, stir together 4 Tbsp. chocolate mix to 1 cup boiling water. (You may need to adjust the amount of chocolate mix and water to suit your taste.) Top with marshmallows, peppermint sticks, etc. Enjoy!

Snow Day

This was my little girl last Thursday...she was so excited about the snow! I guess this was the first time she has been old enough to actually play in the snow when we've gotten snow (and it's been hard for us to come by!)
But Thursday...what a wonderful day. I love the cold. I love the snow. We had a wonderful icy morning with a pancake breakfast with Brent before he went into work on a late schedule. And then we watched the tiny dots of snow become flurries and then big genuine snowflakes! After playing outside, Hadleigh informed me that we needed hot tea, so we sat by the window watching the snow fall and drinking our Earl Grey!
I asked Hadleigh where the snow came from and she told me, pointing to the sky "Up, up, up, then down, down, down!"
The snow stopped falling down, down, down around 5 pm and by then we had a beautiful blanket of snow...and that night, with the moon shining on the snow...just beautiful. So peaceful and quiet and still.

Comfort

The temperature dropped today from the mid 60's to 36...which means that Brent is splitting some firewood for tonight...the perfect setting for decorating our new tree and our home for Christmas! We even have a slight hope that the weather forecast will come true and bring a little bit of snow tomorrow. We are thrilled!!!

I have a pot of soup simmering on the stove and I can't wait to enjoy it on this first really cold night! So, in honor of the cold...how about a recipe for good comfort food? This is my mom's chicken pot pie...and by far my favorite! She made it for me and a good friend the night after our husbands deployed to the middle east right before the war started. And I have made it so many times since...thankfully with Brent able to enjoy it too!

Chicken Pot Pie

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/3 cup butter
1 large can Veg-all
1/2 cup flour
1 cup half and half
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
pepper
2 pie crusts (I use Pillsbury)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Saute vegetables in butter, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, half and half, broth, salt, and pepper until slightly thickened. Stir in chicken.
2. Place pie crust in deep dish pie plate. Pour in chicken mixture. Cover with remaining pie crust and seal edge.
3. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I found this delicious pie recipe on the Simply Recipes blog. Brent is a huge apple pie fan...so I am always game to try one for him! This is a little different than most...it has a creamy filling (hence the sour cream) and has a streusel topping instead of a pie crust...I was a little worried about that, but I think I may actually prefer this one to the typical all-American apple pie! I made this pie twice in one week...it's that good! (And by the way, I like to serve mine with vanilla ice cream, preferably Blue Bell!) And so, I am serving it for Thanksgiving tomorrow, along with a few other treats! (see previous post!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Tell me what you are thankful for this year...or what your favorite Thanksgiving food is!

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Filling
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 cups peeled, sliced tart apples (about 1 1/4 pounds of slices)
1 9" unbaked pie shell, frozen or chilled in the freezer for at least 30 minutes

Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Beat together sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and egg (can beat by hand). Add apples, mixing carefully to coat well.

3. Put filling into a pie shell and bake at 400 degrees initially for 25 min.

4. Mix together all topping ingredients until the mixture resembes coarse crumbs.

5. Remove from oven and sprinkle with Cinnamon Crumb Topping. Bake for 20 more minutes.

Let cool for an hour before serving. Serves 8.

Getting ready

I just finished putting groceries away after making my big shopping trip to get ready for Thanksgiving. Whew. Not too crowded...and they had everything I needed which I am thankful for! Brent's parents and grandparents arrive on Wednesday evening, so I have lots of cleaning and cooking to do in the next two days!

Here's the menu I have planned...I'd be happy to share recipes if anything interests you...and on Wednesday, I will share one of the dessert recipes...yummy!

Mom's Brown Bag Turkey with Stuffing
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans with cranberries, blue cheese, and walnuts
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Sour Cream Apple Pie
Pumpkin Roll

Off to get some rest...

Last night

We got to see Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood in concert!

So much fun...we had a great time! I think my favorite thing about it (besides the great music, of course) was seeing Brad's paisley guitars...very cool! I don't play guitar but I might learn if I had such colorful guitars!!! And the funniest thing to see was little lights all over the place...all the cell phones people were using to snap pictures!

Off to go with a friend to a Christmas craft show and then to Piece of Picasso...a paint your own ceramics place!

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Scones

This is one of my favorite recipes...perfect for breakfast, great for afternoon "tea"...delicious anytime! It's the easiest scone recipe I've made and by far my favorite scones...if I do say so myself! (The picture above has the scones on the plates!) The source of the recipe is The Joy of Cooking, a cookbook that I refer to over and over again...although I've changed the process a little bit. (They call this recipe Cream Scones, if you want to reference it in your own cookbook.)

Chocolate Chip Pecan Scones

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup heavy cream (regular whipping cream can do in a pinch, but heavy is best.)
1/3 cup each of miniature chocolate chips and chopped pecans (or substitute your favorite item, such as raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts, etc.)
cinnamon sugar to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. Add optional items, adjusting amount to suit your taste. Mix. Add cream. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Gather dough into a ball and knead it gently against the bowl 5-10 time until all dough is together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface *** and pat dough into an 8-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Place scones 1/2 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. (I line mine with parchment paper.)
4. Brush tops of scones with additional heavy cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
5. Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

*** To create more scones, at this point in the recipe, sometimes I cut the ball of dough in half, patting each into a round and cutting each round into 12 wedges, yielding 24 slightly smaller scones from each recipe. You can also use a cookie cutter to create shaped scones after pressing out the dough.

I hope you enjoy these...let me know what you think!!!

Cooking Time

I love to cook. I especially love to bake. But I really enjoy cooking...and I am notorious for trying out new recipes on dinner guests. Thankfully, the results are usually happy tummies!

I love collecting recipes...and I thought you might too, so I decided that Wednesdays will be recipe-share days! For today:

Chichen Enchilada Soup

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup chicken base
3 cups diced yellow onions
1 can mild green chiles, diced
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups Masa Harina (corn flour)
4 quarts water
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese (cubed)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 10 oz. can mild enchilada sauce
5 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or pulled apart

1. In a large pot (I use my large stockpot), place oil, chicken base, onion, chiles, and spices. Saute until onions are soft and clear, about 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, combine Masa Harina with 1 quart water. Stir until all lumps dissolve. Add this to sauteed onions; bring to a boil. Once mixture starts to bubble, continue cooking 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add remaining 3 quarts water to pot.
3. Add tomatoes and enchilada sauce; let mixture return to boiling, stirring constantly.
4. Add cheeses to soup, stirring occasionally until cheese melts. Add chicken and heat through.

Serve hot and garnish with any or all of:
sour cream
cilantro
corn tortillas, sliced thinly and baked until crisp at 400 degrees
green onions, chopped
diced roma tomatoes

This recipe makes A LOT of soup! Have containers for freezing available...we got three dinners and a couple lunches out of one pot!

These are a few

of my favorite things! (prompted by Kelli)
hydrangeas, especially from Mom's garden.
glowing candles
warm, crackling fires
curling up with a good book
reminiscing
the sprinkle of freckles across Hadleigh's nose and cheeks
autumn color
the Appalachian Mountains
unique coffee shops
the way Nathanael drops his chin to his chest whenever you tickle him
Hayley Westenra music
comfort food
new scrapbooking supplies
the way a child's hand holds mine
cool bookstores and old books
going "home" for Christmas
movie nights
shopping with my mom
hugs
a row of half-filled journals
date nights when we get to just catch up and talk
fabric stores
Riquewihr, France
comfy mattresses (we're in the market for a new one!)
talking to my sister
a dinner of bread, French cheeses, fruit, and white wine
the color blue
time spent with dear friends, like these

Pumpkin Patch

We had so much fun this weekend picking out pumpkins. Mimi and Grampa (my parents) and my sister Katy were in town for our little guy's birthday party...and it was so much fun to share this outing with them!

A friend told us of a pumpkin patch nearby and I am so glad that we went. It was a gorgeous, sunny, fall day...thousands of pumpkins...and two very happy little kiddos. It was such an adventure searching for the "perfect pumpkin" so we got two big ones and three miniature ones. (We are carving tonight!!!)

I have decided that one day, I want to have a pumpkin patch...maybe not a whole field-full of them (I am not THAT into gardening) but a row of plump pumpkins...I think that would make me happy!

My little guy

 

is ONE!!!

So very thankful for him...we had fun celebrating his actual birthday this past weekend while at Baylor for homecoming. Aunt Katy made a super yummy cake for him! This weekend is his birthday party...will show pictures later! 

Three years old.

 

Today our Hadleigh is three years old. It's hard to believe that she has grown so quickly.

It's hard to believe that she used to be this precious baby...what a blessing she is to our lives!

  

Little Sullivan

Sullivan is one month old today. My best friend Shannon's first little baby. He is just so precious...I can hardly wait until I (Aunt Kimber) get to hold him. I only have to wait two more weeks...(I've been dying to just drive up for the day, but alas, bouts of colds and tummy bugs have prevented me!)

Fortunately, I have quite a few pictures of him to look at in the meantime. Sullivan is a lucky little boy to have such a talented photographer for a mommy.

Keep those pictures coming!

So much

to blog about...and yet...I haven't seemed to get around to anything!

Between gorgeous fall weather and enjoying the outdoors lately and a sick almost-three year old Hadleigh things have been full around here...not really busy but full.

So here is a list of things I want to blog about...and will in the coming days and weeks (hopefully this list will make me a better blogger!)
1. My wonderful, relaxing weekend with my sister (two weeks ago!)
2. BSF
3. Brent's latest "obsession" (and one that I really don't mind!)
4. the arrival of our new pastor
5. my favorite season and month
6. My upcoming "reunion" with my college roommates
7. little things that make me happy
8. projects that are in process
9. yummy recipes
10. my best friend's new baby! (hmmm...a perfect post for tomorrow, I think!)

Okay, so now I am really guilty of just not blogging, because it is obvious that I have plenty to write about!
So stay tuned...lots of thoughts and pictures to come!

Shadows of Bubbles

Today was a gorgeous day so we went out in the front yard in the middle of the afternoon and played with bubbles. I love watching Hadleigh run after them...trying to catch them in her hand.

And I made a discovery today.

The shadows of bubbles have color.

Red and orange and blue and green shadow circles floating across my driveway.

I didn't know this before today.

How fun. Try it.

A Playful Friday

Today, we raided the linen closet for blankets and constructed a simple tent. Two quilts, two dining room chairs, a bed, and a pillow later, we were in for a fun Friday afternoon.

Both kids had a ball...playing with blocks, listening to stories, crawling through the "door" and underneath the chairs. Hadleigh learned a little about the false security of a quilt "ceiling" when she walked blindly off her mattress onto the quilt. Fortunately she didn't fall on top of anyone...and the look of surprise on her face is one I wish I had captured on camera.

And I learned that a perk to playing in tents is that Mommy usually gets to lie down! Which is just fine with me! I see many more tent mornings and afternoons in our future!

(And will you indulge me just a few pet peeves, so I can get them off my mind? Thanks!)
1. Spending tons of time trying to decide on a mascara, only to come home and realize that you bought brown (or blue, even!) instead of black.
2. When the neighbor sits with their car in the driveway listening to music (rap) and you can feel the thud of the base from inside your own house. At least at a traffic light, you get to drive away soon.
3. Taking the trash halfway down the driveway only to see a trashtruck driving away down the other street. Funny how you didn't hear him on your street. So you check the neighbor's trash can which is EMPTY on the side of the road and realize, oh well. We'll have to wait until Tuesday. Take the trashcan back to the side of the garage. Go back inside. 30 minutes later, what do you know? The trash truck is back on our street and we missed it. Oh bother, as Pooh would say.

Thanks! I feel much better now! Hope everyone has a great weekend planned!

Rainy Weekend

 

We had a wonderfully rainy weekend...three full days of pretty steady soft rain. Just what we needed here. (I've been really enjoying my hot tea and jeans!!!)

We took Hadleigh out on Monday in her rain boots to play in the puddles...and she had a great time! Funny thing I discovered while outside with her is that she was afraid of the umbrella!

All this rain has made me realize one reason to be thankful for triple digit temperatures. Mosquitoes can't handle triple digits either. But they sure do love the rain. We've had a pretty mosquito-free summer until Sunday. Oh well.

It's a beautiful day today...and so much cooler than it's been. If it wasn't for the mosquitos, a walk would just sound great! 

September First

Today I am anticipating fall...relishing its approach! This is my favorite season for so many reasons.

The weather has cooled...a bit...haven't had a triple digit temp in a little over a week, I heard today on the radio! And that is something to celebrate for sure!

So I am sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and eating one of my scones...and I'm about to go hang up my fall wreath on the front door.

I wish I could say I'm wearing a sweater and setting wood by the fireplace for Brent to build a fire...but we're not quite there yet...so I'll just smile in anticipation!

And a note about my birthday...we had a fabulous time eating at Salt & Pepper...a delicious meal for sure...tszaziki sauce and pita bread, tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, lamb with asparagus and delish mashed potatoes...and the finale: banana and nutella crepes...probably one of the best desserts I've ever had...and I am an expert in that department, let me tell you! It was so good to just have a leisurely dinner just the two of us...able to visit and relax and share and not worry about picking up spoons and sippycups from the floor!

We went to Dallas (Frisco and Plano to be exact) on Tuesday...did some damage at the Container Store, scrapbook store, and Stonebriar Centre.
Hadleigh and I rode the carousel at the mall...I think she enjoyed watching it go round and round more than riding it...but it was fun nonetheless. We finished our daytrip with dinner at Cheesecake Factory...yummy as always, especially our Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake. Another seriously good dessert...maybe my new favorite there.

Thanks for the birthday wishes...
So...what cheesecake do you order for YOUR birthday????

Four Days!

Since college, I have notoriously counted down the days until my birthday.
It was no suprise to my roommates, my family, or Brent to hear me say "11 months!" on Sep. 29.

I've gotten a little better lately. A little.

But a few years ago, Brent and I started this birthday tradition. If our birthday fell on a Friday or a Saturday or a Sunday, we would just celebrate ALL weekend long! And it was so much fun.

So of course, if your birthday falls near the mid-week, you still get to celebrate on the weekend closest to your birthday, right? Right.

We like to do fun little things all weekend long...like watch movies that the birthday-boy or girl really likes while eating fun treats! And lots of suprises up sleeves!

So the weekend starts tonight...yay! We have a babysitter for tomorrow night and get to go to one of my fave restaraunts (in W.F.) Salt and Pepper...kind of a mediterranean place...so very yummy! I'm taking Hadleigh to a birthday party tomorrow too so that should be fun...

And Brent told me last night that Tuesday is TBA (not TBD). I just love surprises. I pretend that I want to know...but I really don't. I love to be surprised!

And at the top of my birthday list...I would really like Hadleigh to be {completely} potty-trained. Tired of half-way. That would make my day!!!

Hope everyone has a fun weekend planned!

Recently...

it became official! (Yesterday to be exact!)



Nathanael is crawling! The real deal...on his hands and knees. He still reverts back to the "army crawl" most often. But he can do it! (Should I mention that the object of his attention in his successful attempt was a pink book? But really, anything of Hadleigh's will entice him!)

And thus, my life has become a little more hectic. I'm after two now! Send all your leftover energy to me!

Today our schedule was a little different, so Nathanael got to do Hadleigh's nap routine with us. Singing to them was so much fun. It was so fun to see them lying next to each other...playing, smiling, hugging. It is so fun to watch them really begin to "play".

Bearing gifts.

Mom, Dad, and Katy were here yesterday, stopping for the day on their way to Waco to help Katy move into her new apartment. Can't believe my baby sister is a junior in college! Can't wait to go visit her in a few weeks and hang out just the two of us! They came bearing gifts (mostly stuff I couldn't take on the plane home from Asheville).

Hopefully they will not take much from us...namely the colds that Hadleigh and I are currently suffering from. Aren't summer colds the worst? Especially when you're still nursing the baby and nothing much works for your symptoms. I really can not wait to have a cold when I'm not pregnant and not nursing so that I can take NYQUIL! I love Nyquil. It does the job soooo well. But I have some new Robutussin that the pharmacist says is okay and we'll see how that goes. Anyway...back to the "gifts":

Found a very cutenew rug for Hadleigh's room (the Fiona one) that matches perfectly...I mean I could't have designed it better colorwise...except the size...wish it was an oval but a circle will do fine!

Yummy new pajamas for me from Pine Cone Hill in blue. Since I am sick, I am looking forward to spending a long evening in them starting sometime later this afternoon.

And a cute plastic ball that lights up, makes noises, and moves around that Nathanael just adores. It's designed to inspire munchkins to crawl after it...which is the phase we are now in. Nathanael is moving around "scooching" not quite a crawl but getting so close...rocking on his feet and hands...so fun to watch...I'll have to get a picture to show his progress. Got some video last night but I have NO idea how to get that on here...I mean, Blogger still doesn't want to fully cooperate with pictures!

Well...Katy, Mom and Dad...it was so great to see you...hope all the assembly is going well...and hope you are all free from the sniffles! Off to scrapbook!

Pictures from Asheville

Read about our trip in the previous post...could only get pictures to cooperate in a new post!

We are FINALLY enjoying some rain and thunder right now! So very thankful for it!

Asheville.

Hope you haven't been holding your breath for this :) sorry it's taken me a week!

Posting pictures on blogger lately has been an issue for me for some reason. hopefully not today! Update: apparently Blogger still doesn't like my pictures! I will add them to this post once it starts working for me! Sorry!

We had such a great trip! Lots of fun with both families...so fun to see Hadleigh and Nathanael interact with my siblings and all their grandparents!

Highlights from our trip:

-The Butterfly exhibit at The Nature Center -- it was so much fun to see so many butterflies, hold them, and see them in all the phases of their life in person!

-The Health Adventure's exhibit using golf balls for various "scientific" discoveries. But to Hadleigh (and us) it was all about the pink ball and the fun tracks they got to travel down!

-Going to the park! Hadleigh loves to slide, swing, run, jump from things (into your arms), slide, climb, cross bridges, ride see-saws,and did I mention slide?

-Going out to lunch...it is always a treat to get to have lunch with my mom (and sister and dad!)...we went to two of my favorite tea rooms {Chelsea's and Kathleen's} and they did not disappoint.

-Getting to see lots of friends and their children!

-Getting to go to a great scrapbook store while mom played with the kids in the car :) On top of that...there was a huge thunderstorm while I was in the store...huge! Shopping while you can hear the thunder is actually a lot of fun!

-Lots and lots of rainy mornings and/or afternoons! I love that storms blow into and out of the mountains so quickly...a beautiful clear day and a rainy day wrapped into one! Perfect!

-Hadleigh spent lots of time cooking with both Mimi and Kammy! Dinners, cookies, more cookies! She had a blast in the kitchen!

-Getting to be with my brothers and sister. We're not often all together at the same time...so it was so special to get to have a week with them at home too!

-I realized that I actually LIKE being outside ... as long as the weather is to my liking! We spent time of some sort every day outside ... in the garden, in the front yard, on walks, on the front yard swing, on the hammock, at the pool ... and it was SO enjoyable!

-Getting to watch Hadleigh's reaction to her first trip (since she was an infant) to a "big pool"! She loved splashing in the little pool at the club ... as long as she was on the steps...she had a blast...swallowed a little bit of water, which surprised her, but really enjoyed herself. She wanted to go down the slide in the "big pool" but we told her next time! And she just LOVED seeing the big kids "splash" from the diving board! Nathanael loved the water too...it will be fun to see them next year in it! (Sadly, all our pool pictures were mysteriously erased from the memory card. So disappointing!)

-Getting to go shopping! I found a round rug for Hadleigh's room (it will be here next week!)and fun pajamas at Porter & Prince, lots of books from B&N for Hadleigh and Nathanael, a magnetic paper doll kit for the planeride home, and a great Target find: a fun Dora sprinkler/hopscotch for outside...only $6! It's so much more fun to go shopping with someone you love!

-Our second weekend in Asheville was Asheville's annual Bele Chere weekend. It's a big street fair- lots of vendors, lots of concerts, tons of people! I haven't been in years and wasn't sure what to expect going with the kiddos but we went with Brent's parents and had an absolutely fabulous time! They have a huge kid-friendly zone with tons of amusement park rides (carousel, ferris wheel, mini-train, spinning swings, etc.) as well as a bunch of bouncy-castle type "rides". Hadleigh loves bouncing in the regular bouncy castle and then also on the bouncy obstacle course. She amazed us by being pretty fearless...she climbed up the huge wall (and then slid back down next to the steps) and then climbed "up" the other side where the slide was, and then slid all the way down. Again and again and again. She did not want to leave!

The only thing sad about our trip was not having Brent with us!

As always, we love Asheville and can't wait until Christmastime for our next visit!

Upon Reflection.

I've been thinking about the differences between North Texas and Western North Carolina since coming home. (Aside from the obvious...that it's a 450 degree oven here and a warming oven with a convection cold breeze there.)

I was driving home with Brent last night and I looked at the area behind our home (a new housing development) and said "Something looks different." Nope. Nothing different. No new houses. Just the horizon. In Texas, I see the horizon. In Asheville, the trees and mountains.

Because of that horizon, we have gorgeous views of the sunset from our house here. Stunning. Take your breath away beautiful. In Asheville, I only notice the sunsets if I'm at my husband's parents home up on a mountain. Not that they aren't there and beautiful...but they are just not as evident as they are here.

In Asheville, I pulled out my sunglasses ONCE. For about 15 minutes. And technically, it was on the way to the airport in Greenville, SC, so there weren't really mountains anymore. That's because wherever you go, there are trees. Tall trees. Trees that provide shade and beauty to the sides of the road. Ahhh. I love trees. Here in Texas, I put on my sunglasses in my garage before I pull out of the driveway. I put on my sunglasses when it is cloudy. Because it is still so bright. Now, we do have trees...just not any big ones in my neighborhood...and not really the kind that provide a whole lotta shade.

The sky. My dad still misses the sky. He spent the first 32 years of his life in Texas. It's really big here. You really can't understand this unless you visit. It's vast. It is one of my favorite things about Texas. And the sky is beautiful. In the day...so blue, full of clouds...at night...you see stars above you, stars on your left and stars on your right. In NC, if you go to the top of a mountain and look around...the view of the skyline in the mountains is beautiful too.

I love these two places ... the only two states I have ever called home. I love them for their differences! (But I'm still a little partial to my adoptive NC!)

Okay, I promise that the next post will have pictures of our trip and some details. I depended upon my family and their cameras for pictures, so I have to download them off the CD's they burned for me...and then choose some good ones.

Home again, home again,

jiggety jig.

Growing up we always said this when we got home from anywhere. An errand. A trip.
Now, when we pull into our garage I say, "Home again, home again" and Hadleigh says "Jiggety Jig!" It always makes me smile!

So we are back ... had a much better airport experience this time, thanks to a tip from my friend Hilary who informed me that I could get a pass for someone (my Mom!) to accompany me all the way to the gate and help with the kiddos and carrying everything! Then I got to preboard this time and had help from the nice flight attendant. (Then 2.5 hours of entertaining children on the plane...hmmm...) Imagine my surprise when (as the last off the plane) Brent meets us at the ENTRANCE to the plane!!! He told someone at the gate that he was an air force pilot, flashed his military ID and they gave him a pass! So I didn't even have to carry the car seat to baggage at all! What a sweetie. It was SO wonderful to see him. SO wonderful to see the kids with him...

This morning, we got a not-so-fun surprise when I got Hadleigh out of bed and noticed that her bed was swarming with ants. She has SO many ant bites, but it didn't wake her up and they don't seem to bother her at all now, thankfully. But I was SO upset...threw everything in the wash and called the Orkin man! Just so you know, they are not open at 8 in the morning. But they will be here any minute now to make sure that we are RID of ants! This is our first ant problem since moving here. But it reminds me of the ant problem I had in college in our last apartment senior year. Yuck. But hopefully soon this will all be behind us!

I will blog more about our actual trip when I get a chance to download pictures and finish getting our house (and my schedule!) back in order! Isn't it amazing how hard it is to come back after 2 weeks. So much to dust, so much email to sift through, and the stack of catalogs and magazines...phew. But I am unpacked and put away, so that feels good. Came home with all but one days worth of clean clothes ... but after a trip in a suitcase EVERYTHING needs ironing! So that's tomorrow. Hopefully after the weekend, things will be somewhat back to order! There is something about traveling and coming home that makes me want to get very organized!

What are you up to today?

Fireflies and stuff.

We made it! We're here...beautiful Asheville, NC!!!

The flight went so much better than I anticipated...so many people willing to help out a mom by herself with two kids (and way too much stuff for one person to carry!) You just have to appreciate the man who offers to carry a car seat to your seat and then latches it in securely. And the person who makes sure Hadleigh doesn't run back into the airport because the noise of the airplane at the entrance scares her, all the while, I am trying to collapse our stroller to check gateside and keep Nathanael from falling over.

So thankful for our helpful flight attendant...and for Mom waiting there for us...she was the light at the end of the tunnel for me!

It is so good to be "home" ... I"m just soaking in the mountains, the trees, the green, the smells of this place that I love so very much. We went for a walk tonight and Hadleigh caught her first lightning bug!

Fun to watch the kiddos interact with aunts and uncles and grandparents...excited about our visit...will post pictures later!

Not for the faint of heart.

Being a mother, that is.

We had an unexpected trip to the doctor this morning for this little girl.
Not fun at all. She has a UTI...which is tough to diagnose until you get a pee sample which is hard to get from an almost 3 year old because it hurts.

But she did better than I expected. And hopefully in 10 days, this will all be behind us. (hmmm...could the pool be the culprit???)

I do not like going to the doctor. It surprises me how well I do taking my children for check-ups, shots, and the occasional illness. (I fainted once after having a TB test...the summer before I went to college...shhhh....don't tell anyone else!) So it surprises me that I can hold my child calmly without getting weak and light-headed when they have to get their shots.

I hate seeing my children in pain...and I am thankful that God heals and that He has gifted doctors to help ease pain and help in His healing.

What are you thankful for today?

Savoring this moment.

After being passed by two storms this weekend, I am finally enjoying a little afternoon shower.
(It is really depressing to live on the edge of town and to see all the storms on the horizon and watch them pass you. Like, by an inch. Not fair.)

Not a thunderstorm, but still, the rain and clouds are most welcome here!

And so I am sipping my Earl Grey tea and eating my Pepperidge Farm cookies (French vanilla milanos are SO good!) and thinking of what a great day it has been. Hadleigh and Nathanael have been great today... got some cleaning done, errands done...and now it's nap time and I can enjoy these couple hours and do something for me! (Oh, and I got the sweetest email from Brent, asking if I wanted to get a babysitter for Friday...so fun!)

I find that I really need ME time these days...a little time to clear my thoughts by writing, reading, scrapbooking...something that is just a little bit of an indulgence. Not much. Even a couple quiet moments with a cup of tea will do it.

What moment are you savoring today?

Splash.

We put Nathanael in the kiddie pool for the first time the other night. He loved it! He would splash the water coming out of the hose into his face and get the most bewildered smile on his face! (Too bad we didn't have the camera out while he was in the pool...and it turned out to be a very cool evening for Texas, hence the hooded wrap!)




Of course, Hadleigh is a pro at the pool...this year she can hop in and out of it so easily. She gets so excited and then slips and falls and just thinks it is hilarious. I think we need to get her a slip and slide. She loves to look at her footprints on the driveway too.

I love how simple life is for a child. So carefree. So innocent. So fun.

The fourth.

Happy Fourth of July!

We'll be watching the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular tonight!
Wish I could actually be in Boston to see the show...last year it was amazing!!!
Also lighting sparklers (my favorite), grilling hamburgers, and playing in the kiddie pool!

I'm thankful today for our freedom...how about you?

Freestyle challenge # 9

This week's challenge on the Freestyle Blog was to use fabric and patterned paper together.

This is a fabric swatch from my search for living room curtains; I used some Scenic Route paper, and the picture of me and Hadleigh is one that I really really like for some reason. She was a couple days away from walking on her own here, and it was a nice autumn day in the park.

Heading up to Norman, OK to help with my dear friend Shannon's baby shower! I just made 72 chocolate chip pecan scones for the shower...the house smells yummy!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Something old and new.

I did this for a challenge by Wendy. Thanks Wendy!

Had fun with the pictures of Hadleigh one year ago...so hard to believe how quickly time goes by. My something old was the MM rub-on (not ancient but...) and my something new was the Heidi Swapp sillouhette and my uniball signo pen doodling!
Once again...yucky picture...oh well. Brent said we could get a new cord for the scanner at Radio Shack...hooray!

Two posts in one day...how's that for catch up?

Hayley.

Are you on a first-name basis with Hayley Westenra? If not, you should be!

We stumbled upon her gorgeous voice by accident. My fault--I was judging an album by it's cover and was intrigued by the pretty face and the title : "Pure". Hmmm. We listened to a sample in the store and we were sold. She has a new one out that we just got last week called "Odyssey". ***so good*** Her voice is absolutely phenomenal. So pure and clear. Perfect for listening to on a cloudy, rainy day like today! (can you tell I'm happy about the weather?)

You can put her into the "Andrea Bocelli" style category ... she has a duet with him on her new album ... She is one of those voices that is never "noise"... at the end of a loud day full of children, I can enjoy hearing her in the background. (And I can't say that about all kinds of music!)

So give her a try...and let me know what you think!

Catchin' up.

Wow...it's been awhile.

Had a great time seeing San Antonio...we got to visit with old friends--some Air Force friends and the pastor who married us and his family, got to visit the church he planted and pastors now(which is awesome! So refreshing!)...we visited the Alamo, Sea World, rode a boat down the River Walk, ate yummy Mexican food, had LOTS of ice cream, drank lots of water (it was h-o-t), went to The Rainforest Cafe on the River Walk, and got to shop at the fabulous outlets in San Marcos for a little while(Pottery Barn, anyone?)! Hadleigh just loved seeing Shamu (the picture of her below is her watching the show. Did I mention we had ice cream? On that note, Haagen-Dazs has this great new flavor...really good! And you gotta love some Marble Slab...and Dairy Queen...

Here are a couple pictures

A great trip...it's always good to get away for a little while.

Lately, I've been taking morning walks, courtesy of our new (to us) double jogger...Hadleigh loves to see all the animals we encounter (mostly rabbits and dogs, although we did see two ducks our first morning and I think I might have spied a bobcat (or some kind of wild cat) a little too close for my comfort.)

And most importantly, an update on little Spencer, who I asked for prayer for. The news we've heard so far went from great (right after the surgery) to really bad (another "surprise" surgery required to fix the problem) and then to doing okay. I haven't heard anything since Wednesday of last week...my friend and supplier of information is on vacation so hopefully things are going well. Continue to pray for healing and strength...Spencer's parents amaze me. But I know that they must be tired and weary. I'll update again when I know more.

Freestyle Challenge.

Here is my take on kellicrowe's challenge for Freestyle.

Sorry for the bad picture...our scanner cord is still missing from rearranging our office. Had fun looking through my piles of candid pictures friends and family took at our wedding. Hard to believe it was five years ago. A fun day!

I will update on our trip to San Antonio soon...since we've been back, life has been about catching up on laundry, cleaning, entertaining kiddos (I mean, after Shamu, what do I have to offer?), and getting this page done!

Mail day.

In my book, a good mail day is right up there with

a good hair day,
a good mascara day (do you know what I mean?),
a good rainy day.

Hadleigh and I love to go get the mail. We have one of those "community" mail boxes (like for apartments) at the end of our cul-de-sac, an attempt I guess to unclutter the sidewalks, protect from identity fraud, and make the mailman's job a little bit easier. I personally miss putting up the little red flag...but maybe in our next move our mailbox will be more old-fashioned.

All that said, Hadleigh loves to open the "package compartment" (with it's locked key in place) and say "no box." That was today. Keys swinging from both package compartments, I knew there were no boxes for us. BUT

when we opened our little door we found a package from one Kelli Darr. She is "one of those people I know" from her blog...what a wonderful virtual world :) Check her out: she is classy, upbeat, colorful, has the cutest kiddos and as "they" say, she is a SuperStar! She had promised a lollipop for a correct answer here but this is what arrived instead:


Lots of fun scrap stuff including two cherry lollipops!

Thank you Kelli! A very sweet surprise! The twill color was just what I was needing on a layout I'm working on. How'd you know???

Hoping to get some scrapbooking done this afternoon even though I need to get ready for our mini-vacation to San Antonio!

Have a great weekend!

Thankful

for these two right here.

Not a new thought, at all, but sometimes life gets so busy and the chatter and noise of a two year old and seven month old can make you feel a little crazy.

And then you have a day like today. A walk on a suprisingly "cool" Texas morning...your little girl commenting on all the birds... how the bunny we saw "hops"...and there are two ducks playing on the side of the road in a puddle.

She has a low-grade fever today and so she is really cuddly...doesn't fight going down for a nap...falls asleep as you sing to her.

And your little boy can't figure out when to nap today...but he did turn around 180 degrees in his crib trying, and the "Mommy, aren't you so proud of me for that?" smile.

I got an email from a friend today with a video attachment asking me to pray for a mutual friend's baby, Spencer. He will be six months old at the end of this month...and he was born with some kind of heart condition...I wish I could remember all the details right now. But he is having surgery on Friday. Another surgery in this little boy's life. And the video...I wish I knew how to attach it so you could see...but it is a slideshow of pictures from this brave little boy's life...interspersed with excerpts from his father's journal and scripture. And it is set to the song "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz.

I cried the whole time I watched it. The pictures of little Spencer in the NICU brought back memories of Nathanael's time there...and made me oh so thankful for Nathanael's health now. Made me thankful for God's power in our lives...His power to heal. Made my heart so tender as I looked at pictures of Spencer's parents...knowing that they too realize perhaps for the first time in their lives just how fragile and precious life is. And seeing their strength through this...a strength that only God can provide...wow...

So I am tender and thankful today whenever I see my children, hear their voices, feel their tiny touches.

And I am praying for Spencer and Katie and Andy. Will you pray too?

Fresh Mint.

I love a light delicious lunch in the summer!

What could be better than apricot chicken salad, strawberries, and mint iced tea?

Mint dip for the strawberries!

I stumbled upon this recipe in a cookbook I got around the time I got married. It's one of those fundraiser cookbooks that a local Christian school did called "Taste and See...that the Lord is good."

I have made it SO many times...it is easy, quick, and so fresh! It is perfect with a fruit salad of any type, although berries are my favorite. And I have to say that it would probably even make cantaloupe taste good...although I can't bring myself to try it...'cause I don't like melons...but it is THAT good!

So I will share the recipe...and you can enjoy it yourself...I told Brent the other night that it tastes like a summer breeze in the mountains!

Mint Dip

1/4 cup lime juice (bottled is fine!)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (loosely packed)
2 3 oz. packages cream cheese
6 Tbsp. sugar

Blend the lime juice and mint leaves in a blender until smooth. Add cream cheese and sugar. Blend until smooth. Serve with fresh fruit.

I double the recipe when serving a big crowd (or when I want to enjoy the leftovers!)

June First.

Summer always seems to start for me in June. (Although we've had summer heat here in TX since April...but I won't dwell on that!)

So what is filling my time these days?

1. We put these alphabet wall cards up as a border in Hadleigh's room over the weekend. They are made by eeBoo. Glad that we FINALLY got that project done...it's been on my list since I bought them over Christmas.

2. Of course, that spurred another project...we bought canvases from Hobby Lobby and Brent sketched three of the floral designs from the cards on each canvas. Now we are painting them...which is a lot of fun.

I'm learning a lot about painting. (Isn't it sad that the last formal art class I had was in elementary school?) Painting is therapeutic I think. I am working on the azalea canvas (which is pictured in the card above). So far so good. It reminds me of my parents azaleas in Asheville. They are so beautiful in the spring. Mom always says, driving up the driveway when they are in full bloom, "Make a memory."

3. We are planning our summer trips. We head out to San Antonio next weekend for a short trip, Brent has a friends wedding in Virginia, he is going to the Osh Kosh Airshow with his Dad, I am going to OK to help with a baby shower for my dear friend Shannon, and I am taking the kiddos to Asheville to visit our families. I think that is it.

4. I am mentally preparing for our airline trip to Asheville...just me and the kids. LOL. Not quite there yet...but I'm working on it. (And the end result will be worth the chaos of the DFW security check...struggling with all that baggage...and entertaining two on the two-ish hour flight, right?!) Thankfully we have no connections!

5. I am trying to plan an early fall trip to visit my sister at Baylor. It's always fun to go back to your alma mater...especially when you can hang out with your little sis! (AND, Ali Edwards will be teaching some classes at Crop Paper Scissors, and I am hoping to join in! Registration starts today...just waiting to see if Brent can watch the kiddos!)

6. I am thinking about scrapbooking. It has been awhile since I have been at my desk creating. Lots of things distracting me, but I'm hoping to get going here soon. I need to complete the album for my parents of our trip to Barbados last May...and I need to get pictures developed so that I can scrap them. I won't overwhelm you by telling you when the last time we had pics developed was. But the idea totally overwhelms me!

Okay...off to take advantage of Hadleigh's naptime...of course, Nathanael just woke up! But he'll be down again soon...hopefully!

Laundry Day.

Since Brent was home yesterday, I didn't get around to laundry. (Love, love, love Holiday weekends. Especially when it's your anniversary weekend which means that Brent took off Friday too!)

So Hadleigh and I have been working on it today. I don't mind doing laundry. I don't mind folding and putting things away.

But I really don't like the laundry when it involves bed linens. I just really don't like putting sheets on the beds.

Don't get me wrong. I love clean sheets! But I just don't like dealing with fitted sheets. Especially on beds (like Hadleigh's) that are up against one wall. Or on cribs.

I remember once Oprah saying on her show that she HAS to have clean sheets every other day. Now that would be nice.

Very nice. But I bet you she doesn't EVER change her own sheets!

But today was fun because Hadleigh and I snuggled in the pile of fresh, warm-from-the-dryer sheets on my bed.

She thought it was fabulous. Kept smelling the sheets and her blanket! Kept smiling.

I had to take a picture ... didn't get a good one of us together...but I thought this one was cute.

A silver lining for making the bed!

Hide

and

seek.

This is Hadleigh's new favorite game.
She counts.
"1...2...8.9.10!"
She laughs when she finds me and then says
"One more." Holding up one finger.
Sometimes she tells me which room to hide in.
Sometimes she points to where she wants me to hide.

(I hid in a different spot than directed once just to see her expression.

Priceless.)

Sometimes she walks right past me when it is so evident that I am in her
peripheral vision. (I don't think I spelled that right.)

She never wants to hide. Only find.

Very entertaining.

We went to the zoo with another family in OKC over the weekend. Had fun although it was

Way Too Hot.

(Only the African animals moved around. Elephants. Rhinos. Hippos. Giraffes. The other animals all slept in the shade. Seems like a smart idea!)

And then Hadleigh decided to play hide and seek.
Actually, she decided to walk back to me from her daddy buying water.
And she started following two mommies with strollers.
But they weren't the right mommies.

We split up. Scoured our section of the zoo.
It felt like thirty minutes.
It was probably only 5. Maybe 8.
Our friend found her.


Praise the Lord.

Have you felt that sinking pit in your stomach before?
Felt something beyond desperation?
Watched the two and a half years of your baby's life race through your mind?
Feel like you've just let God's precious gift to you slide through your fingers?

I don't think Hadleigh even knew we weren't around her.
(This kind of concerns me :) )
But it wasn't until we left the zoo, several hours later that the feeling left me.

And even now, when I think about it

I get that feeling.

I look at Hadleigh a million times a day and I am so thankful for her.
Because for five minutes I had a glimpse of what life would be like without her.
I pray I never know that feeling again.

A side note.

I am now taking back all the thoughts I've ever thought about "those" people that have those kid harnesses at the airport. If I ever fly by myself with the kids...don't be surprised to see me with one. It's not because me or my child is "undisciplined"...but because she is precious...and oh so curious!

Mimi.

It's always wonderful to have family for a visit.

I love watching my children love my mom.

Hadleigh adores her.
Wants to be wherever she is.
Doesn't want to get up from her nap until Mimi is back from the store. Wow.
Hadleigh loves her Mimi. Thinks Mimi exists solely for Hadleigh :) Cute. She's learning to share Mimi.

Nathanael grins at her.
She loves that.
Loves his giggles...his smiles...all his "boy" sounds that a 6-month old is discovering he can make already.

It's fun to see them interact and remember things from my childhood...the same songs Mom sings...the same games she plays...

It's amazing how love abounds, generation after generation.