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!