Thoughts from the day...

I decided to sit down for a bit to enjoy a bowl of soup that has been simmering all afternoon. It is supposed to be for dinner, but I am hungry and it is delicious! I could not resist the delectable smell any longer. Here is the recipe, which I followed almost exactly, except I did not have any lemon juice or vegetable juice and I used a ham hock for flavor instead of the ham. The broth was very flavorful! If you want a cheap, healthy, yummy meal, this is a great one! The Best Bean and Ham Soup

Today has been a busy, productive day...which makes me happier than it should! =) Besides the soup, I made 4 loaves of whole wheat bread. One of them I rolled out and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar! Yum!! I've been snacking all day on slices of toast slathered with butter. For breakfast I made blueberry muffins, which turned out pretty well. They were a little on the dry side and since I made them with honey, they were not very sweet. But since I think that muffins are generally too sweet, I really enjoyed these. Blueberry crumb muffins 
Besides the baking, I was able to get some laundry done (though not yet put away=) and had a meeting with my dad's company's payroll consultant. I do all the books for my dad's HVAC business. But I would rather not think about that right now, because there are several things in the office that I am behind on and should probably be working on rather than blogging! 


Nate was a very content boy today, playing with Lexi, exploring the house, and eating lots. I am a little worried that he has an ear infection, because he plays with his ears all the time. At first I thought that it was just that he discovered his ears because he likes to play with other peoples' ears also and he has not seemed abnormally grumpy. Now that the possibility of an infection has entered my mind, I am worried that maybe his ears are bothering him. I have read that ear infections are common when babies are teething and he has definitely been teething. His top front teeth popped through just a couple days ago giving him a grand total of 6 teeth! Back to the possible ear infection...I really don't want to put him on antibiotics unless it is absolutely necessary so I began to put some garlic oil in his ears today. I also read that the vast majority of ear infections clear up on their own. I figure that either way, garlic oil is not going to hurt him. I am probably just a paranoid first-time mom, getting all concerned about nothing. 


Brett, Nate, and I are flying to Maryland on Thursday! Brett is only able to stay for the weekend, but Nate and I will be there for about 10 days. I am looking forward to spending lots of time with my family and being in our beautiful Cape May! 


I know I have not posted any pictures in a while. I have some on my camera, but have not downloaded them onto the computer yet. Over the weekend, we moved Gwen to her new farm and separated her from her mom for the first time. =( Thankfully, Rose was not at all upset. We gave her a sedative before the separation because I had heard horror stories of mares throwing themselves against fences in panic when their babies were taken away. Rose has little regard for fences, even in her normal state of mind, so I was very concerned that she would hurt herself or the fences or the stall. She did not even call for Gwen!! I think that she was mentally ready for Gwen to be weaned. Gwen did well too, though she called to Rose for the first part of the trailor ride. I really liked the barn where Gwen is staying now and think that she will be well taken care of there, so that gave me some peace of mind. Still, it was hard to walk away from her. She will be a beautiful horse and I am sad that she is no longer mine. I do not have any regrets, because this is best for all concerned, but it is still sad. At least I will be able to go visit her. 


Now it is late and my hubby is finally home. He went to visit a friend who was in a very severe car accident this afternoon. Thankfully the young man has been stabilized, though he still has a long recovery in front of him. He will be in our prayers tonight! Goodnight!

Menu plan!

Not that I have ever been a light eater, but now that I am pregnant and nursing, cooking and eating feels like an almost-full-time operation. Since I have not been feeling well though, I have been eating more convenience food and less fruits and veggies than I would like. My solution!? A menu plan! I am sure I will deviate from it somewhat based on what I am in the mood for, but I can look at it and be reminded of the options I have. =) Here it is: 

Tuesday-Morning Glory Muffins, peaches

                Black bean salsa with chips

                Spaghetti, tossed salad, garlic bread

Wednesday- Fruit smoothies, scrambled eggs

                Grilled cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, sliced tomatoes

                Whole chicken in crock pot, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed broccoli

Thurs- Morning glory muffins, cantaloupe

                Leftovers

                Shepherd's Pie (with leftover potatoes), tossed salad

Friday- Whole wheat pancakes, peaches

                Chicken rice soup in crock pot

                Chicken enchilada casserole, lettuce and tomatoes, sour cream and salsa

Sat- Hashbrowns with fried eggs, grapes

                Celery with peanut butter,  leftovers

                Sloppy lentils, rice, sliced tomatoes, fried okra

Sunday- Cheesy eggs, fruit smoothies

                Crockpot chicken, rice, green beans

                Dinner at church

Snacks are also essential to my well-being! The staple snacks I rely on are: leftovers, cheese or cheese sticks, fruit, scrambled cheesy egg burrito, nuts, peanut butter sandwich. That's all I can think of right now! This menu does not reflect the fact that I always eat two breakfasts, and one of them is usually eggs in some form. 

Any easy snack ideas you want to share? 

On my mind..

Yesterday Brett and I celebrated our two-year anniversary! In some ways it seems like we have always been married, and in others those two years have had wings! We share an anniversary with Brett's dad's parents, though sadly Brett's Pawpaw passed away the year before we got married. We dropped Nate off at Brett's parents and went out to dinner. I was craving steak...like I always do when pregnant...so we went to Outback. It was good, but we both agreed that we could have cooked something just as good at home for about half the cost. Of course, if we had attempted that last night it would have been Brett cooking the steak while I watched from the sofa. Yesterday I felt very nauseous all afternoon and evening. How nice it was to not have to cook, even if it cost more! 


Our neighbor called us over on Saturday and told us that their son had unexpectedly died of a heart attack last week. They are in total shock, as he was only 37 years old. He was married and they had not been able to have children, and so were in the process of adopting two children out of foster care. Please keep the family in your prayers. Thankfully, he was a strong Christian and they are resting in the confidence that he is now in heaven.


Also, my Uncle Jack is dying of arthritis of the lungs. Please pray for him and his wife and daughters, and also for my family in Maryland that they will be a comfort and encouragement to them. 


On a lighter note, I am thrilled to announce that Gwen sold last Friday! A sweet lady from Florida flew up to see her and fell in love with her at first sight! Thank you, those of you who were praying for us last week. I could clearly see God's hand in it all, bringing everything together smoothly. Gwen could not have been better behaved and I am so happy that she is going to a good home. I am sad to no longer own her because I think she's going to be an amazing horse, but especially in light of my current pregnancy this is the best for all of us. =) 

I am thankful for...

18) ...this wonderfully cool weather, which helps me to feel less nauseous.


19) ...snuggling under smooth soft sheets when the air is a little chilly in the mornings.


20) ...my husband cooking dinner for us last night.


21) ...the precious little peanut growing inside me. 


22) ...steamy cups of tea.


23) ...the beauty of watching my horses thunder across the field when I call them for feeding time. (If it's not feeding time, they know it and usually don't come running=)


24) ...all the great books that we have readily available to us. I used to read constantly and then when I got married, I read much less. Recently, since I've been laying around more, I've rediscovered my love of books. Last night I almost finished re-reading The Hiding Place. This time through I was stuck by the foundation that Betsie and Corrie had been given. Their whole lives were permeated with the love of the Bible and the study of it, with prayer and with caring for others. It was no sudden change when they were doing those things in the concentration camps! Corrie said she had never known a day that did not begin and end with family worship. So often I will read an amazing story and think, "I hope God would give me the grace to love Him and others in those kinds of circumstances." And it is only by His grace that it would be possible, but it's not something that we suddenly start doing once we are in difficulty. We need to live like that now! I want to give my children that kind of foundation. I want to have that kind of love myself. "Seek Me diligently and you will find Me."


25) ...for the way the rising sun lights up the trees. 


26) ...and for Nate's 9 months with us! He is now calling me from his bed. =)

Vacation in Fripp!

 I am finally getting around to putting up some pictures of our vacation in Fripp Island, SC. My sister Patience was visiting me and I have been feeling particularly nauseous the last couple weeks, so I have not been on the computer much recently. Also, I have so many pictures that I was dreading sorting through them all! =) Apparently I am yet to learn that procrastinating never makes things easier. Then, I had the whole post finished but when I clicked "publish", blogger told me that I was not logged in and all of my changes were not saved when I did log in!

But I digress....here are some pictures of our relaxing vacation!

 I took this picture on our way to drop Lexi off at the Thomas' house for the week. She obviously knew that she was being left behind because she insisted on crawling into Brett's lap while he was driving. "Please don't leave me! See how loving and snuggly I am?" Thankfully, she had lots of fun playing with the Thomas' dogs and getting spoiled sleeping in Sarah's bed. Thank you Thomas'!

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The lovely house in which we stayed!

Sunset off the back deck over the golf course behind our house.

The boys went fishing in a creek running along the golf course.

They did not catch any fish, but we did see this alligator! The first alligator I'd ever seen in "real life"!

Nate was not allowed close enough to the alligator to see him. He'll have to wait until he's older to see his first real alligator. I had nightmares that night about alligators eating Nate! 

There are deer aplenty on Fripp!

Very friendly deer. 

We all enjoyed playing in the waves, though I have decided that I prefer the ocean to be on the cold side. I am sure that is just because that is what I grew up with, but it seems wilder and more refreshing when it's colder. 

After several of us were stung by jellyfish, we called it a day. Poor Melissa got the worst sting.

This picture is here solely because it is mind-boggling to me that my husband can bend like that! At least our children have some chance at being flexible. =)

The back of the house

Some beautiful Spanish Moss that I snapped a picture of on our way out.

So there's a few of the many pictures I took. I loved Fripp because it reminded me of Cape May, where we vacationed every summer when I was growing up (and still do). It was very quiet and we just rested, rode bikes, and went swimming. And we cooked yummy food, which is another essential part of a good vacation.