Wild Child

Do you see this? This child is 9.5 months old! That is not a safe activity. Where is her mother?!




Here she is again, charming me. I know she is thinking, "Mom, I don't know why you get upset when I wake up Sissy. You know you are wrapped around my wee little finger. Just give up and melt." It is true. This child just melts my heart. What a doll!



Why are there not as many pictures of her sisters you may ask? Well, Pnut doesn't like to have pictures taken anymore apparently. She wants to do the taking. It is fun.

I need to brag about the Pnut a little bit. Two days ago I was putting away the laundry, and she came in independently and put her underwear away and then took mine to our room and put it away. I have never asked her to do that. I have never told her where my clothing goes. So not only is she responsible, she is also a genius and observant! What a sweetie!!!

Button Bracelet

Today we had a good day. Yesterday was a very bad day. Pnut washed Pilly's penguin with toilet water, rubbed my stamp pad (multicolor) on her face, and peed her pants. What I really like about the stamp pad is that she mixed some of the colors together now. Sigh. But yesterday is over. As I said, today was a pretty good day. We painted a pumpkin since we don't really have tools to carve one, we did school, and this afternoon we made a button bracelet. On Saturday, I went to the fabric outlet, was disgusted that I had to buy at least a yard of each fabric that I wanted, and only ended up with two different ones. But I did come out with a bag of buttons. They sell a large plastic cup of buttons for $2.98. A lot of buttons will fit into a plastic cup! So today we made a button bracelet for the Pnut. Pilly was sad that she couldn't have the buttons, but we know that she will eat them. This is the finished bracelet. Do you like the anchor button? Pnut picked that one out herself!



My dear friend Carolyn just got back from a trip to the Philippines, and she brought us these beautiful little mother of pearl dishes and spoons. Pnut is sad because I put them up. I am afraid they will break if she plays with them. She also brought us a hot pad made out of dried pine needles so when you put a pan on it, it smells like pine needles. How neat is that?!

Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are really really good. I made them for Bible study, and they were a hit!

1.5 cups flour
3/4+ cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup mild
1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. Combine 1.5 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup, add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. To make topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork or pastry blender and sprinkle over muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Some little notes: I read some reviews that suggested adding a little more sugar to the muffin recipe, so I filled it just a little higher. I thought they were plenty sweet enough. I used blueberries I had frozen myself since blueberries are not readily available at this time, and they turned out great. I am not sure if blueberries from the store are somehow different. I put the blueberries in frozen because I had read that helps them retain their juices. I made mini muffins, and they only took about 10 minutes to cook. These are great!



I made these the night before, and I actually thought they tasted better today than they did right out of the oven!

How I Almost Burned the Apartment Building Down

I made chicken for supper tonight on the George Foreman Grill. I like the grill, but we don't often use it. We recently rearranged the counter, and I haven't used the grill since then. After the chicken was done, I propped the top open. I used to do this all the time against the canister that we had. We then proceeded to finish get supper and sit down to eat. All the while, I could smell something burning, but I could not figure it out. It smelled like wood burning. The fire alarm started going off. We would fan it and sit back down and it would go off again. It was very frustrating and we couldn't figure out what was going on. We couldn't see any smoke, but we opened the windows and made sure all the burners were off and everything was alright. After at least five minutes of this, probably more, we finally located the burn. When I propped the top of the grill open, I leaned it against the toaster. It pushed the handle down so that the toaster was on. Unfortunately, to make room for the grill, I put Joel's Pringles and his cheese curls on top of the toaster. They melted into the toaster partially and were blackened. The toaster is ruined. I had a hard time not laughing. I don't think Joel thought it was funny. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:)



Joel was not pleased that his chips were ruined.



It melted the plastic on the toaster too!



This is a sad little blackened cheese curl!

Busy Weekend

We had a very very busy weekend. Joel had both football and basketball on Friday, so that means he was gone most of the day. He was home for about 20 minutes for supper, and Pnut cried when he left. He felt bad and wanted to wake her up when he came home. I said no. I am cruel like that.

Saturday, Joel was in a dodgeball tournament that a guy friend church asked him to do. Thankfully, my awesome sister Randa and her family came to my parents' house this weekend so we went there. I haven't seen Randa for almost two months so I was just on the brink of despair. We talk on the phone, but it is not the same. We can talk for 90 minutes and get off and I realize there are 10 more things I wanted to tell her. So we had fun with them there. My grandparents (who live 2 hours away) dropped in as well. Pnut loves to play with her cousins. We went out to dinner in the evening and didn't get home until after seven. We skipped church on Sunday morning and just went to Sunday School. The girls have colds and aren't sleeping that well so I wanted them (and me) to be able to sleep in. We try to make it consistently to Sunday School though because it is good for Pnut to be able to count on that. It wouldn't be so bad if church didn't start at 8:00. The second service is too late, it messes with naps too much. So anyways, after SS we went to my parents again. My other sister Kacy was also there cleaning the whole house. When my mom and Randa's family finally got home from church, my dad made lunch on the grill and then Randa and I went shopping:) I think that she may be a more energetic shopper than I am. Or it could have been just that I didn't have any money. That is always a downer. But we had a fun time out together. We got home at seven again last night and were all wiped out. Joel and I went to bed at 9:30. I would have gone earlier, but Pilly was not interested in going to bed until after 9:00 because she fell asleep in the car.

I think that Randa and Eric et al should move here. Eric can find an internship with some company here and I can have them close. Randa and I are only 18 months apart, and we have always been good friends. It is not right that we should be separated like this, especially since everyone else has moved here since we did. They didn't move because we did, circumstances just brought them here. My dad had to transfer to the NH plant here and Kacy is going to school down here. Hopefully, Eric can be influenced through me sending messages from my brain to his through the air.

I have to work now. I will stop doodling:)

Tomato Salad

This stuff is better than salsa in my opinion. I don't like really spicy things so that may be why. But it also doesn't have that taste that comes from tomato paste. I had some salsa that was made with tomato paste, and I didn't like it very much. Pnut loved it though. It is one of her two vegetables that she will eat. Anyways...it is super simple.

Tomato
Red Onion
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Dice the tomato and put in bowl. Thinly slice the onion. I don't use a whole onion in mine because that makes it too spicy for me. Drizzle with olive oil and pour on the salt. Mix it together with your hands because that gets everything well coated. Adjust salt and olive oil to taste. Eat with tortilla chips or on tacos or anything lovely like that!



That lovely plate is a Cars plate in case you wanted to add it to your collection!:)

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

Modbe Giveaway

modbe-style.blogspot.com is giving away a free scarf, hat, and mittens. A girl at church is a modbe consultant, and I love their stuff...I just can't really afford it!

Frugal Mom's Friday Giveaway!

http://www.frugalmom.net/blog

Little People Lunch

I wanted to show what happens if the Pnut is allowed to be not supervised when she is eating. We ate lunch, but I had to finish feeding Pilly in the living room so I left her at the table. She kept getting up and down from the table, and I suspected that she wasn't eating. When we finished, this is what I saw.






I was informed that they were having a birthday party. On my plate. How cute is she?!

A Better Update Will Come

I promise that I will be posting a real post again soon. Things have been crazy busy this week. I am covering another account for work and the doctor dictates 80-90 minute dictations. Yuck! I haven't gotten to do anything creative or relaxing since my project the other night. I did, however, pick up some sewing books from the library last night! Exciting!!

I also started a book called Serve God, Save the Planet. Good read. I am still in the first or second chapter. I can't remember. But very good and thought provoking.

So I will leave you with these pictures because they are cute. How could anyone not love these kiddos?

Frugal Mom Thursday Giveaway

I have been checking and entering at this site all week in hopes of winning something!

http://www.frugalmom.net/blog

Brr

I am cold. I am wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater and two pairs of socks. We may need to turn on the heat soon. I think they should throw out the global warming theory and go back to their original idea of global freezing.

Monogrammed Handkerchief How To !!!!!!!

I have a feeling some people I know and love will be getting these for Christmas. How cute! I think this is my favorite blog!

Monogrammed Handkerchief How To !!!!!!!

Flower picture

Okay, so I've gone crafty blog crazy lately and reading them is all I want to do all day. Part of this has been induced by the fact that we will probably be buying that house so I will finally be able to do stuff like decorate and paint walls. It will be amazing! However, I am also enjoying just sewing ones and other crafty things. I saw something like this picture on a blog. The woman's were all animals, and hers were much cuter. I thought it was a neat idea, so I made one for my secret sister from Bible study.



Sorry the picture quality is not very good. It is not very bright in here. That little spot on the flower is a ladybug. I am going to get a frame for it. I didn't have very varied types of paper. I will have to try something with some other paper. They are pretty cool though. I would like to add some embellishments like buttons or thread or stuff like that, but that was not an option tonight. The ladybug would have been cute as a button (no pun intended) but I don't have any red buttons.

I would ask that you all pray for my youngest sister and the family of her boyfriend. He was in an accident tonight and passed away. I am sure that this is going to be extremely hard for her. Pray that it draws her closer to God and that she is able to be a witness to his family.

We had some silly girls today. They get so wound up when their Daddy is home.



Pilly had some crazy hair after I took her hat off. I don't know how to turn the picture so you are just going to have to look at it like that.



This Pnut wanted her picture taken since her sister got one. Yes, she is wearing a Spiderman jacket. She had on her Marvel slippers as well. I don't know why Joel thinks we need a boy. He's got her!

Our week

This has been a busy week. We had to take Joel to work twice this week because we needed the car. I had my first Bible study on Tuesday, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Today, Pilly had a doctor appointment. She was 28.5 inches long and 17.3 pounds. She is in the 82nd percentile for her height and 22nd for her weight. Pnut was 29 inches long and 16.5 pounds when she turned one. I think that Pilly is going to be very tall! We also went to the special playground as it is known around here. The girls like it a lot. Pnut especially likes the bumpy slide. It is a slide with hills in it. I went down it today, and it hurt my rear end.

Tomorrow is not a day that I am looking forward to. Joel will be gone from about 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. We will have no car so we will be here. The house inspection is tomorrow so he can't come home in between work and basketball. Thankfully, my dear friend Cheryl is going to come over for a little while so I can have some company.

We have no plans this weekend. At all. How amazing is that?! I hope that we can stay here on Saturday morning and keep naps normal. The weekends are terrible for naps.

Yesterday, Pnut did a flip off of the swing. I pushed her forward and she just let go. She flipped and landed on her cheek. I removed some splinters. She was ok. But she told me, "I hold on tight now Mom."

And that, my friends, is the end of this update. Apparently, I am leading a boring life right now. That is ok!

Win This Quilt!

What a mess!

I just had to share what happened at our house today. Apparently, Pnut had forgotten that she had a toy box. She rediscovered it today and this was the outcome:


I would prefer that she did not discover the toy box again. We need to get rid of some toys. Joel says that is my motto. Somehow, though, it never happens!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I think this dress is adorable. We wouldn't wear it as a costume!

Update

The pumpkin butter gets better after it is cold. Oh. My. Goodness.

Hodgepodge

We have had a busy and mostly fun day. Nap time was a little rough, but other than that, it was great! We went to the new playground that was opened a mile and a half from our house.Pnut and Pilly loved it. I think it is a little too far to walk, so I will have to try to take them there another time at least in case we move.

Tonight, I pureed a pumpkin and made pumpkin butter out of one cup of it. It is delicious!



It is one cup of pumpkin puree, one cup of plain yogurt, one heaping cup of 10x sugar, and a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Yum! I ate it on toast with butter. I think next time I might add a little more pumpkin pie spice.

Last night, I burned my finger with some boiling water so I asked Joel to give the girls a bath. Nothing like sticking a burn in hot water to make it hurt! It wasn't bad, there is just a little red mark today. But anyways, I dressed Pilly after her bath. Isn't she cute?!



Babies who have just come out of the bathtub are wonderful!

I took some pictures the other day on our walk. I wanted everyone to see what I am leaving to live in the city if we get this house. It makes me sad.



This is our apartment building. Look at all this open space!



This is the playground our landlord put in after Elsie was born.



This is the road where I like to take walks, but the snake lives here so the walks were temporarily suspended for the summer.



The snake's head is in this picture. It is hard to see. I wasn't going to get any closer! Plus, he is gray so he kind of blends in.



I will not, however, miss these two. They live to terrorize us. Every day. Pnut is very disappointed if they are not out when we go on our walk. I am not. They are a big part of the reason I carry pepper spray.

Ok, it is almost time for the Planet Earth show. It is on Discovery, not the Science Channel. Have a great night!

Nerdy

I am beginning to suspect that I may be a bit of a nerd. One of my very favorite shows is the Science Channel's How Its Made. I have realized that Discovery Channel and Science Channel are probably my 2 favorite channels. There is this awesome show called Planet Earth on on Sunday evenings. I can't wait to watch it tomorrow. What gets me about that show is that they look at all the wonders of the world and how amazing it is, and claim that it is evolution. How blind can they be?!

I am reading a really good book, Ted Dekker's new one. It is called Sinner. Apparently, it is the third in the series, but he says in the back he would actually recommend reading it first. It is really good. It is what happens to a nation when they totally embrace tolerance. How applicable to our times!

Well, I need to go enjoy Jeopardy. We like to see who can get the questions right first.:)

Our crazy afternoon

This is what Pilly did after I posted that last blog. I gave her a pile of cheerios so then she decided to go crazy!


Why yes, she is stuck under a chair. She crawled around under the table looking for cheerios that she have thrown there during lunch, probably for this purpose. She must not get enough to eat and finds it necessary to save snacks for later.


We like to play extra safe at our house so she stands in the back of her rocking bouncer chair. She will stand the whole way up and scream and giggle.



Pilly is a great lover of shoes. Not of wearing them, of eating them. Isn't that disgusting.

Then this child got up and saved me by entertaining her sister for a while. It is amazing how much more productive I am in the hour I work at night!

No work for you Mom!

I am trying to work, but this is hanging off of my leg:


Now, obviously I know that she is very cute. But she also only took a 30 minute nap. And there is a nice, delicious, nutritious pile of computer paper that she keeps getting into and chewing on sitting right beside the desk. Work is not going well today!

Tomato Soup

I made the tomato soup today, and it was totally awesome! It had so much texture, and there was more taste than just tomato, and there was the added benefit of not tasting like a tin can. It is so good for you because it has two cloves of garlic in to fight off any sickness as well. So I am all for tomato soup instead of chicken noodle!

Homemade Tomato Soup

1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup EVOO
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Strain the tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread on a baking sheet. Season with salt and black pepper to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes

2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf, and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15-20 minutes.

3. Add basil and cream, if using. Remove bay leaf. Puree with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender (which I do not), cool the liquid for at least five minutes and transfer to a regular blender, filling no more than halfway. Don't seal the top-lift one corner up a little to let the steam escape, put a kitchen towel on top, pulse a few times, then blend on high until smooth.

We had mozzarella grilled cheese with our soup. The mozzarella complements the tomato so well. I did not have heavy cream so I just used a little milk, and it was fine. I also didn't have basil, and I bet it would have been even more awesome if I had the basil. I love basil! Pnut, of course, did not like her soup. She is truly her father's daughter.

In other news, we had a meeting about pursuing the house more last night. I don't know if I have written on here very much about the house. It is in Lancaster City on a little obscure street. I am just having a hard time giving up my beautiful farmland for the city. Where will the girls play? We will cross that bridge when we get to it. Anyways, we made an offer and should hear back today on whether it was accepted. If it was, we will get the inspection next. The owner has to be willing to fix all of the problems for us to buy the house because we do not have the money to fix them ourselves. We know that there is a leak either in a pipe or the roof because one of the bathroom ceiling tiles is brown and soggy. The carpet also needs restretched and tacked down because it is all bunched up in the living room. However, I want to see what is under the carpet because if there are nice wood floors, I would rather just take out the carpet. The carpet is also in the dining room. That is a no no with two small children. They make too many messes during meals. I am praying that if this is what God wants, He will make it clear, but if it is not, then He will take this house away! Oh the stress! But it would be nice to have a place of our own:)

Alright, time to work. Or maybe take a nap and then work. The girlies are asleep.

P.S. It will be much easier to make the soup if you do not have two small children trying to see what you are doing and putting their hands on the oven and tripping you as you walk around your kitchen:)

Sausage Stoup

I made this recipe from Rachael Ray for the second time yesterday, and I thought I would share it because I love it so much! Of course, I am the only one in our house who will eat it, but it is good enough that I will go to all the trouble of making it just for myself.

Sausage, Beans, and Broccoli Rabe "Stoup"

2 T EVOO
1 lb bulk italian sweet sausage
1 med onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 Idaho potato, peeled and chopped into small dice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 15 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
1 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped (3 cups)
1 quart chicken broth

Heat a medium pot or a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add EVOO and sausage and brown, crumbling with a spatula. Add onions, carrots, potatoes, garlic, bay leaf, and beans. Season with salt and pepper. Cook to begin to soften vegetables, 5 minutes. Add broccoli rabe and cook until just wilted. Add chicken broth and cover pot. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf, adjust seasonings, and serve stoup with grated cheese for topping.

It is super simple to make. I don't use the onion or the broccoli rabe, and we never have fresh cheese to put on top, but it is still really good. When I put the leftovers in the refrigerator and heat them up later, they taste even better because the food is picking up the flavor even more. I really really like this stuff! Mayble Pilly will eat it when she is bigger. Pnut thinks that she doesn't like anything in it, and of course, Joel doesn't like anything except the sausage. Maybe I should just fry the sausage and put the chicken stock in. That would be his kind of soup. I think that it is pretty healthy too. Beans are so good for you, and the only thing that is out of a can is the beans and the chicken stock. You could even make your own chicken stock if you were so inclined. You could probably buy dried white beans and soak them, but it is just easier to take them out of the can. So delicious!

I kept the girls up until almost 1:00 to see if they would take a better nap today. I hope that they do. They have only been sleeping about 45 minutes in the afternoon. That is not long enough!!

My mom has been coming by about twice a week (just started last week) because she got her new job ten minutes down the road. How awesome is that! It is fun to visit with her and have an adult to talk to in the middle of the day. The girls like having her come too. Pnut gets really excited and gets up to the window to talk to her before she even comes inside. That would be one of the hardest things about moving...she probably wouldn't come anymore. We would be a little farther away, and she doesn't like the city. I love my mom:)

I guess I ought to get to work. It sounds like things are starting to settle down in the girls' room. Hopefully, they will go to sleep in a few minutes instead of just Pnut being out of her bed doing something bad.

Poop amongst other things :(

My dear daughter pooped her pants while we were on the playground. Thankfully, it was only the playground at our apartment complex, but still...it was poop in her pants. It was so bad I had to just throw the underwear away. She went down the sliding board after she did it, which made it even worse! I am sure all of you wanted to know this:)

I enjoyed a morning out with the ladies from our Sunday School today. It was so nice. We went to a little cafe downtown and then walked around the market. It was fun. The girls had fun with their dad while I was away too. They enjoy their alone time with him.

My dear friend Jackie was over last night, and it was so fun. Pnut was pretending to be shy. Then Jackie got out all of her nail polish, and they were best friends. She got her fingers and toes painted, each different colors. She was in heaven. Jackie even gave her a nail polish all her own. We had a good time just visiting and catching up. Jackie is one of those friends that I can go six months without seeing, but we just pick right up again. So fun!

Too sweet

I had to wash penguin this morning. Pilly loves penguin. After her nap, she was crying, and Pnut said to her, "Penguin is on the line. You miss him." Then she picked up Big Bird from her bed and said, "Here, want to hold Big Bird." How sweet is she! If only they will continue to be this nice to each other:)

Too cold too fast

It is cold outside. Yesterday, we went for a walk in the morning, and the girls had to wear a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and a sweater and a hat! Crazy. I usually am able to make it to the end of October, beginning of November in hanging out the clothes, but I am just not sure this year. Yesterday it was about 50 degrees when we were hanging them out. That makes my hands pretty cold! It was supposed to get up to 64 in the afternoon, but the highest I saw it go was 57. That was a pretty quick transition from summer to fall! I am afraid that the almanac is going to be right, and it is going to be much colder than usual this winter. Up goes the heating bill!

The girls both have colds again. I need to get some Sambucol to boost their immune systems whenever they start to get sick. We are doing garlic oil on the chest and Vick's on their feet at night with a pair of socks. They sound better than yesterday, and Pnut's nose isn't quite a runny. I heard Pilly coughing during the night, but it wasn't enough to wake her up. I want to be better prepared than last winter so I can try to keep sickness away!

I think one of the cutest things I have ever seen is when Pnut tells Pilly she loves her. We were on the playground yesterday, and Pnut like to push Pilly in her swing. She grabbed the front of the swing, pulled it up so Pilly's face was right in hers, and said "I love you." How cute!!

Well, I need to get the girlies ready for the day!