All About Roo - Part Three

Time both crawls and flies, doesn't it? The month of October has just flown by for me, yet at the same time I'm really starting to wrestle with patience while awaiting Baby Roo's arrival.

I'm now 35 weeks along and should things progress as predicted (which they never do), we just might see this little one in about three weeks. I'm not really sure whether to expect her before, on, or after Thanksgiving. Should she arrive on the same timeline as her big sister we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in the Birthing Inn. :-) Good times.

Of course, she could be late. Something in my gut laughs at that possibility, but nevertheless I guess I shouldn't dismiss it. :-) To make sure it doesn't happen, though, I've taken the liberty of inviting a houseful of people over for the holiday. We had planning a huge feast for Easter when Morenna decided to come, so I figured a fully-planned feast (including a pre-ordered Turkey) and lots of guests would all but guarantee Baby Roo doesn't come late... but, um, right when predicted.

Anyway, my little sweetie certainly did well surviving through all the traveling and flights we just completed. Oddly enough my BH contractions all but ceased throughout the entire three-week trip... only to return within days of getting back. I'm not complaining, though.

I did have quite a bit of heartburn develop throughout the month, but that all changed last week when she suddenly dropped on me. I thought subsequent pregnancies meant no lightening until labor starts, but apparently I'm an exception (we all know there are no hard and fast rules in pregnancy anyway, right?).

I have been SO much more comfortable this past week, despite my many trips to the restroom. :-) No more heartburn - hurray! - and my breathing has returned to normal human levels. I'm thankful. Very thankful.

Momma at 33 weeks

Finally Home Again

It's hard to believe that nearly a month has passed us by since my last post of any substance. Actually, it's not so hard to believe. We've been BUSY! More on that later...

For now, here was our menu from last week for those of you who like to follow along. Yes, I do have this week's plan all set and ready to go, but I find it a bit easier to share the previous week, since something always changes by week's end.

Last week's plan simply included dinner. This week, however, I bit the bullet and decided to plan all our meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. It certainly takes a bit more time. I'll let you know what I think about the process next week.

Sunday
Tuna Casserole w/ Peas; Fresh fruit (The casserole was just "ok")

Monday
Spontaneous dinner out with West Coast friends!!! (More on that later :-))

Tuesday
Chicken Fajitas; Black bean soup (with a couple tweaks)

Wednesday
Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage; Spinach salad (and since we had a houseful of company, we popped the cork on some fancy apple wine my mother-in-law had given us. It was definitely a fall-themed meal!)

Thursday
Homemade pizza; Salad

Friday
Chili w/ Baked Potatoes; Fruit

Saturday
Dinner out

Any great recipes worth sharing for next time?

Where We've Been...

On the road again...

Charleston, SC to Sacramento, CA - it's been a busy couple of weeks. One wedding down, one more to go.

Here's a family pic from our visit to the beach last weekend. Morenna loved the water and the sand.

A New Bum

I briefly mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I took the plunge and switched Morenna over to cloth diapers. I may appear the Queen of Green by doing such a thing, but really the change was influenced by a little emergency preparedness chat my hubby and I had.

Water? Check.
Food? Check.
Battery radio? Check... What else would we possibly need?
Ooo, diapers. What'll we do about that?

So I looked into cloth diapering. I had briefly considered the option when I found out I was pregnant with Morenna, but it held little appeal to me. I know my mom had cloth diapered, but it seemed like a lot of work, albeit she had a diaper service. Besides, I scored cheap diapers at CVS, so the expense for disposables seemed minimal to me.

Yeah, minimal.

Come to find out, paying less than $5 a pack can still add up week after week. Who knew?

My first tour of the world of cloth (the new and improved world of cloth, that is) left my head spinning. After one evening of research, I promptly informed Matt there was no way, no how, I was going to be able to do it. Ah, but I love a challenge.

Once I faced my fear of all the unknown lingo, the choices, the very opinionated mommies... I found a company that offered a trial pack of several well-known, well-liked diapers for only $10. That certainly made things a bit more doable, so I gave it a try.

After just a couple days my thoughts mirrored those of many others I had read: Why in the world didn't I do this from the beginning?

It's true, the front-end dishing out of cash seems like a lot. And the concept of washing poopy diapers each day can sound ridiculous and pricey in resources. But really, it is cheap(er). And the extra work? Well, I haven't really noticed it, other than that one extra trip I have to force my pregnant body take down the stairs to the washer each night.

Cons? Swirling a poop-stained diaper in the toilet isn't my idea of a party. But the biodegradable liners you can put in your diapers pretty much take care of all the dirty work. And I have my eye on this handy-dandy little do-dad that would help out a bit, too.

My favorite pro? Simply put: cloth doesn't stink. Consequently, my trash can doesn't always smell and I don't have nasty, stinky, diapers piling up to be thrown out. Morenna's room always smells fresh, even though the pail of dirty cloth diapers sits there. Very cool. And we're now two months into this. Another pro? Not feeling guilty for buying a pack of diapers because I accidentally ran out. I don't run out. Sweet!

We still sometimes use a disposable diaper at night. Morenna is such a heavy-wetter that the cloth diaper I have to make for nighttime use makes her look like a freakin' grasshopper. One night alone she soaked through 4, yes FOUR, inserts in her diaper and I still ended up putting her in a disposable by night's end. There are lots of other options I could try, but I'm lazy. And honest. :-)

Our daytime diapers of choice have been BumGenius and Fuzzibunz with a few old-fashioned prefolds thrown in. The BumGenius are an easy and cost effective route in my opinion, because they have the ease of disposables and are one-size-fits-all. Once Baby Roo arrives, I won't be forced to sort through a pile of diapers to find which one belongs to who. Both girls will be able to use them!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go hang up some diapers. :-)

Frugal Is as Frugal Does

Our little family raked in some super frugal deals last week! The local grocery chain that I frequent was offering quite the promotion from General Mills: buy 15 qualifying items and receive and instant $5 off. On top of that it was triple coupon week!

But the best part was that this little deal included some super mini deals like Totino Pizza Rolls buy 2 get three free and $0.99 frozen Green Giant veggies that likewise generated their own $3 cash back for every 5 you purchased.

Make your head swim? It did mine... but I'm so excited by the outcome. We scored 11 packages of frozen veggies, 5 boxes of pizza rolls, 10lbs of flour, a box of toaster pastries, and a Betty Crocker Warm Delight brownie for $5! Yay!

In other frugal news...

Back in February I mentioned my new obsession with Swagbucks for my internet searches. For those of you who may not have taken action on this great new search engine, you still can! And here's a little update: I've now cashed in my searching points for over $50 in gift cards! I'm loving it! Matt is also a "swagger" and he's added another $20 in gift cards to our little stockpile, too! Looking for some side cash to gear up for Christmas? Sign up here for Swagbucks!

Home for the Holiday...

the Labor Day holiday, that is. We made our last trip before Baby Roo's arrival to the Buckeye State to visit with family over the long holiday weekend. For the hundredth time (or so it seems to me) I came down with a cold the day we left and spent the first couple of days recuperating. Morenna had some teething issues, too, and combined with the sleeping issues we already were dealing with made for a couple sleepless nights. Oh well.

On Sunday we celebrated my dad's birthday. Morenna got a kick out of all the packing peanuts that contained his gifts. I'm so glad we got to be there to sing and celebrate as a family!





My extended family also got together later that same day for a bonfire, a common occurrence with my family seeing how my grandpa, dad and two cousins are all firefighters. Where there is a good time, there is fire. :-) The rest of us enjoyed sitting and relaxing. Matt kept all the little boys busy learning how to play football and that gals watched. Morenna threw rocks. That's my girl.


Two of my cousins and I have little ones the same age. My grandpa, now the great-grandfather of eleven (soon to be twelve!), enjoyed sitting with the three youngest on the swing for a large part of the evening. I think they enjoyed it too.

L to R: Riley, Grandpa, Stephen (15 months), Morenna (17 months), Ryan (14 months).

I also got to visit awhile with my other set of grandparents. Unfortunately my mom's dad was in the hospital the entire time we were home, but my mom's mom was able to come join in all the family fun with my dad's family. I love that my grandmas are friends!

All in all it was a good weekend home. I can't believe we won't be able to go home again until Christmas. ::Sniff:: But it's all for a good reason. :-)

Morenna sitting in the baby rocking chair that has been in my family for three generations.
My mom, me, and now Morenna have grown up with it. So fun!

Sweet Refreshment and Other Stuff

Who doesn't experience burn-out? During the season of motherhood the "cliffs" of weariness and discouragement seem to ever loom in the not-too-distant future for me to plunge over. And I only have one child! (At least for the next two months!)

This past spring, Matt and I initiated a new Mom's Time-Out on Saturday mornings. What refreshment I've found during that time! He graciously takes Morenna and I escape to the local coffeeshop for a few hours of alone time, followed by any necessary errands I need to run.

Are you feeling ready for a break? Let me encourage you to see if your spouse would be willing to give you some time away.

A couple of my friends have inquired as to what I do with my morning out. Here's a basic overview, in preferential order:

- Eat a slow-paced breakfast someone else prepared;

- Study God's word and prepare my heart for any foreseen challenges in the coming week;

- Evaluate my calendar and think through the events of the coming week;

- Menu plan: I usually do one week at a time and establish my meals based on a day's events. I can always switch it up if my day changes;

- Clip and organize my coupons and shopping list for the upcoming week;

- Balance my share of our budget

- Update my blog: yes, I admit, I only blog once a week. :-) I typically set my posts to run on future dates so that the fresh content pops up all week long; and

- Browse the internet :-)

It's amazed me just how refreshed I feel after being away just for a few hours each Saturday. Mentally I'm refreshed and ready to return to serve my family and my weeks run much more smoothly since I feel on top of things. Many thanks to my hubby for his support of such an outing! :-)

Do any of you do something similar?

A Night Out

Though Matt and I share the same spring birthday month, I took the liberty of extending his birthday well into the summer this year. Two weeks ago we had a night out to celebrate, just the two of us. It was fantastic!

Following dinner at McCormick and Schmick's, we headed to our box seats at WolfTrap for a summer evening together. For Matt's birthday gift I purchased tickets to see WolfTrap's HD showing of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The movie was shown with a live orchestra and choir. Wow. I'm not a huge fan of LOTR, but I couldn't help but thoroughly enjoy myself.

To compliment the event, I wore my Lord of the Ring's Evenstar necklace that Matt had bought me for my birthday. Hmmm, see a theme here?

Breakfast for Dinner

I have a love-hate relationship with weekends. Who doesn't love being with family and having daylight hours to blow through to-do lists?

But I don't like cooking on weekends. By the time Friday night rolls around, I'm done with food prep. Despite menu planning - which I love - I still am not in the mood to be in the kitchen.

In an effort to curve our weekend take-out bill, I've established Saturday's dinner as breakfast time. :-) It's working so well for us, especially since I can't do the fancy recipes I'd like to on Saturday mornings because of being pregnant.

Banana-nut pancakes have become a favorite of ours. I double the recipe and freeze the extras for quick weekday breakfasts. We had them again tonight and loved them yet again... so I thought I share the love recipe with you:

Hearty Banana-Nut Pancakes
*Recipe adapted from epicurian

1.5 cups flour (wheat or all-purpose)
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
3/4 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large very ripe bananas)
2 large eggs
1/4 to 1/3 applesauce (amount dependent on flour type)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans or walnuts

~Enjoy!~

Growing Up - The Lengthy Edition

My first thought was to begin this post with the proverbial: Morenna is growing like a weed. ::Yawn:: That's a no-brainer. Instead I'll try to be a little more purposeful in sharing what her life (and ours as parents) is like these days.

As I type, I'm glancing at my husband's khaki-clad pant leg, which is currently a marbled tie-die of marker smudges. Drawing is a new thing for our little BG, but I'm elated that she's finally taking an interest. It didn't take long for a "marker rule" to be enforced after this picture was taken. After cleaning my floor numerous times (what heavenly provision washable non-toxic markers are!) we finally moved all coloring to the table. We're still having issues with marking our face, teeth, lips, clothes and other extremities, though. I thought about switching her to crayons. No stain. No mess. Brilliance! But she's taken to badly chewing the ones we get at restaurants so I've stuck with drawing utensils that can defend themselves.

Concurrently, I'm listening to Morenna (who's supposed to be sleeping) on the baby monitor counting the dots on her pajamas. It sounds something like this: "won (one)... doo (two)... tree (three)! Seriously, in the matter of about a week she picked up counting to three and will typically perform on demand. Yes, this is definitely my most favorite developmental milestone at the moment. I'm trying to move her past "three" and on to "four", but she's pretty adamant about staying at three. She refuses to even say "four". So, no dice. (Note: as you see in the picture from Monday's post, Morenna refuses to fall asleep unless her feet are propped up. She also has to prop them up at the table, too. So funny!)

Speaking of refusals, what's up with the sudden arrival of picky eating? If offered to her, any variety of food will be refused. Even favorites. But if haphazardly placed within her reach (whether purposefully or accidentally), any food may readily be devoured, including, but not limited to: raw potatoes, garlic, prunes, onions - gross stuff like that. What the...?

She very much enjoys climbing and standing on her stool to watch me cook, prepare food, do the dishes, you name it. I can't believe how big she looks to me standing there and trying to help out. Too cute!

By far her favorite thing to do is stand and swirl around the bubbles in my dishwater. It will keep her entertained the whole time I do the dishes. Can't beat that!

One personality trait Matt and I have been a little disappointed about is her lack of luster for outside activities. We are both big outdoorsy people... but not her. No way. She'll play out in the yard with us a for a little while, but in no time at all she'll waddle her way to the door and pound on it until we let her in.

On a positive note, she's a big singer. Yes, she loves music. And loud music, too. Matt and I still haven't outgrown our loud music tastes from college, but Morenna is a great sport and will start bopping to the music as soon as she hears the beat. Not to worry: she listens to Christian music, too. :-) My mom taught her to sing the Hosanna song. It sounds something like this:

Morenna: Ho, ho, ho, ho...

Mommy: Hosanna...

Morenna: Ha, ha, ha, ha...

Mommy: ...hallelujah...

Morenna: He, he, he, he...

Mommy: ... Saved me...

Morenna: I got da...

Mommy: ...love of the Lord...

Morenna: in Me! ::big grin::

I'll be sure to post the video we have of that sometime soon.

This Too Shall Pass

One thing I'm learning as a mommy is that time moves on. Thank. God. It's been a struggle this week to be a patient and energized mommy.

A big struggle.

I'm still playing detective as to where Morenna picked up the new habit of night-waking (teething? hunger? new developmental milestone?) but wherever it came from, she has it. Bad.

Several nights this week she'll wake up between 2am-3am, wide awake. For the first hour or so she'll just sit quietly in her crib and stare at the wall, poor dear. Ask me how I know this? Bathroom visit, every two hours. Blah.

After the initial hour, she'll get frustrated and start whimpering for attention. I give in. I can't help it - I sympathize as I'm dealing with my own pregnancy-related insomnia. There's nothing worse than being awake and feeling like the only one in the world to be that way.

Anyhow, she's always so delighted to see me and will sit quietly on my lap and rock. And rock. And rock. Every now and then she'll count to three, or identify my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, or ask about her favorite book. An hour later, she'll start asking for food, milk, juice, her toys. Finally around 5am Matt gets up for work, so she laughs and chatters while chasing him around the bathroom as he gets dressed. Did you catch the time? Yeah, 2-3 hours later.

I can rarely get her back to bed until around 6am. She'll sleep until about 9am and then be grumpy and out of sorts the rest of the day until naptime. From what I've read, this night-waking phase usually lasts from month 18 to month 20. We'll see about that.

Sounds like I'll get one back into the habit of nighttime sleeping just in time to welcome a new addition... with her own reasons for night-waking. Fun stuff!

One thing in which I have found comfort is the wisdom of seasoned moms, saying: "This too shall pass." Should nothing I try work, I know this won't last forever.

I hope. :-)

Bringing Nature to Suburbia

Most of you know that I grew up in the country. And loved it.

Now being a forced resident of suburbia, I find I'm lonesome for the freedom that owning land can bring. Since our backyard is fenced in, I'm all primed to attempt planting a garden in our rock-infested yard next year. But what to do in the meantime?

Enter brilliance. Not my own, unfortunately, but I shamelessly stole the idea. No rocks. No weeds. Just good nutritious soil and yummy greens in... my gutter garden.

It took only one evening for Matt and I to purchase our vinyl gutters and other materials. Easy-peasey. I back-ordered the seeds and in late July I put in a crop of baby spinach, gourmet greens and Simpson lettuce. Both have done really well and we had some of the lettuce in salads a night ago. Yum, yum! (Sorry the picture is blurry.)

I know you're probably as taken back about the brilliance in suburbia gutter gardening as I am. You're thinking: Man, this gal's got it going on. Or maybe not. Perhaps you think I'm crazy, and you might be right...

Last week our little family (read: me) decided gardening didn't quite fix our back-to-nature cravings so we pulled out all the stops and... joined a raw milk club. :Gasp: Now you really do think I'm crazy, don't you?

Best. Decision. Ever. Despite the multiple health benefits I was a little apprehensive about the switch, but I'm so happy we did it. And let me tell you, once you join the little raw milk community you find your fellow raw-milk-drinking-friends start popping out of the woodwork. Who knew?!

So anyway, we've been purchasing (yes, purchasing... even though it's against the law. As if it's the government's place to regulate what I drink... it's just MILK people, come on!) about a gallon and a half a week. From that amount I'm able to skim off quite a bit of cream and make my own butter (all-in-all about 3/4 cup) using my kitchen aid mixer. Simple and tasty.

Wow. So there's the good, bad and ugly regarding my back-to-nature cravings. Well, not totally. Would you believe in the same time period I also made the decision to switch Morenna over to cloth diapers?! I blame my pregnancy hormones. More on that later. The diapers, I mean, not the hormones. :-)

All About Roo - Part Two

Ignorance is bliss, or so they say. Frankly, I'm inclined to believe there's a whole heck of a lot of truth in the statement. When I was pregnant with Morenna it seemed that my OB implied first-time mommas were the biggest worrywarts. Oh, contrare.

Perhaps it's the been-there-done-that factor that makes second pregnancies much more worrisome, at least for me. I compare every twitch, every movement, every ache and pain to what I experienced with Morenna. And when they aren't the same, I wonder what might be wrong. Sheesh.

On a non-hormonal note, everything in Baby Roo's world is in tip-top shape. :-) I'm cherishing these last two weeks of my second trimester (already nearly to my third! where did the time go?) and am attempting to harness my energy wisely. Sadly, I'm already noticing my stamina patterning that of our booming economy. (Yeah, about that...)

Thus far, Baby Roo has been MUCH more active than I ever remember Morenna being. Matt and I are quite entertained most nights watching her acrobatic skills shift my belly this way and that. In that regard, I'll be glad when her growth starts limiting movement a bit. Many. Sleepless. Nights.

Thankfully, I returned to the pregnancy chiropractor I used with Morenna and it's made a huge difference with the aches and pains of physical changes. The special table my doctor uses is designed for pregnant tummies, so it's definitely an added benefit to lay around on my stomach for at least five minutes each week. If the office isn't too busy, I shamelessly ask to lay around "for just five more minutes?".

On another note, Big Sister Morenna most likely doesn't understand why my lap has disappeared, but she has picked up on the fact that I rub my belly a lot. She'll prance around with hers stuck out like a little Budda, rubbing it and jabbering on about Baby GiGi, as she calls her.

(Oh my word, did I just drop a hint as to what baby's name might be? But definitely don't be thinking in the French Poodle department...).

Life Happens

Ah, how time slips away! I've had so many blog posts in the works in my mind, but finding time to actually write them, well, it hasn't happened. :-)

This summer has just flown by to me. Already it's the end of August and the kids are going back to school. Matt recently announced it was time to start studying for the bar, something I knew was coming but was valiantly trying to ignore. It's funny how the things you ignore still end up appearing right in front of you.

Pregnancy has been wearing me out the past week or two (more on that later), so coping with my mile-high to-do list and the lack of time has been a bit discouraging. Couple that with a teething toddler (her molars, poor thing) and a busy schedule and you get... no blog posts. :-)

As a start on updates: we recently went to visit my family for a long weekend and had a really good time. For once none of us were sick (as has been the case for the last several visits)! Matt had to work while we were there, but I did happen to snag him for a night out at the Ohio Theater, a posh historic landmark that shows old movies in the summertime. I have a lot of memories of going there while I was growing up, so it was fun to share that with him.

And of course, Morenna had a blast with all the extra attention. Here's a few shots while we were there. And stay tuned for more posts to come in the next couple of days...

Wrestling with Daddy is her favorite thing to do.

Sometimes funny things happen when you
keep her up past her bedtime. :-)

And Grandmas never help things.

Morenna has really been enjoying the pool this year.
Thankfully my aunt has a pool we can enjoy when we're home.

Camera Love

Last November we splurged and bought a new Nikon D60 camera. It was love at first, um, click. Throughout the year I've had a blast playing around with it, and I adore the great features - like a speedy flash and continuous shutter release - which has revolutionized my photos. Trying to capture shots of a busy little lady has become a breeze, and I never feel like I miss any special moment.

This past weekend we packed up and headed to Ohio for a brief visit with my family. My dad is a big-time model train enthusiast and while we were there he asked me to take a few shots of his model train. It was a bit of a challenge as the layout is still a work-in-progress, but I had a lot of fun capturing what shots I could. After a little editing, you'd never know it was unfinished.

Messes

We've entered a new phase here at our house. I never really pushed Morenna to use a baby fork or spoon. Occasionally I'd offer her one, but being the busy little bee that she is, her hands were the speedy and efficient preference.

Now at long last she's decided that any food placed before her should be retrieved with a utensil of some type. I'm definitely happy to see her moving more towards eating like a grown-up, but it's brought along a fair share of mess. :-)


Her utensils aren't all to blame, though. Eight teeth later... she finally has taken interest in attempting to eat just about anything. On Sunday she grabbed an entire ear of corn, husk and all, while I was in the process of shucking the others. She wasn't very impressed. Half an hour later we introduced her to the "proper" way of eating corn... and it was like a What About Bob? experience: "Mmmmm. MMMmmmm. MMMMMMMMMmm!"

Lastly, Morenna has been creating messes by helping me in the kitchen. I love how great an interest she is showing in baking, and even cleaning-up. The other night she demonstrated to Daddy how she helps makes brownies. I think he got a good idea...

Isn't she the cutest thing? I'm totally loving this phase, despite the extra work. Hopefully it will be double the fun when Baby Roo joins the scene... :-)

Who Can Find a Woman of Strength - Part Two

This week I was able to move on to verses 13 and 14 of Proverbs 31. As you may recall, I felt the need to stay awhile in verses 10-12... and I'm glad I did. This past week I had the opportunity to put my meditations into practice regarding vs. 12.

I'm sure most of you can relate to a stressful morning when your spouse is all but preoccupied with issues of the day and his treatment of his wife and/or offspring leaves a lot to be desired. That was our Wednesday morning. And, like normal, I began to react with a cold, harsh, punitive attitude.

Immediately the Lord tugged at my heart and verse 12 ran through my head. With substantial effort, I attempted to switch gears: Warmth instead of cold; gentleness instead of harshness; grace, kindness and helpfulness in place of my punitive, judgmental attitude.

And what do you know? It blessed my husband! What victory! Less than 30 minutes later he returned to me with a soft, repentant heart. Though my purpose in blessing him was not to receive a grand apology, my blessing him ended up blessing me in the process. How kind of God!

My new study:

Proverbs 31: 13-14
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

Here we shift to this woman's more practical nature. At first glace, I didn't really feel like there was a lot here. It seemed a bit culturally out-of-date... but like all of the Bible, there was something to learn.

Verse 13

Perhaps I don't feel the Lord leading me to shear my sheep, (if I owned any) spin my wool, and shed some creative juices on my dust-laden sewing machine. (Yes, I have one. Does the simple possession factor count?). But at the very least, I am called to clothe my family.

Reluctantly, I think I could stand some growth in this area. My family is hardly running around naked, but my husband certainly doesn't look his best when he leaves for work in the morning. Why? Well, mostly for my self-created aversion to ironing. I own one. I try not to use it. End of story. Maybe I could actually turn it on sometime...

And once my husband's pants are ironed, what about hemming some of them? He's not the tallest tree in the forest and I'm stumped (no pun intended :-))to think of a pair of dress pants he owns that actually aren't baggy. It doesn't take a sewing expert to hem some pants... just a sewing machine and an iron. Ahem.

Verse 13b

I'm sure the Lord calls each of us to certain areas of growth concerning the above, but something that is relevant for all of us is the adverb: "eager". This Hebrew word actually insinuates doing a task with delight and pleasure. I hardly think I have to elaborate on this one. Yet beware: it holds the greatest punch of all.

Verse 14

1 Timothy 6:8 seems to reflect that food and clothing are the two most important things and it's not surprising that they are lumped together.

The ships in reference were likely the ships of Tarshish (Ez 27:25 and Is 2:16 and 1 Kg 10:12), which were known for their elaborate goods. The literal translation of the verse is that she is like these ships.

To try to reach some sort of clarification, I attempted to employ my college latin to translate the Vulgate passage. After shedding some blood, sweat, and translation toil... it didn't help. :-) Rats.

I think I'll spend some more time thinking through this verse this week. In the meantime, what basic facts I've been able to draw from the verse is this: she provides good things (and a good variety) for her family to eat. What do you think?

With that... I'm off to menu plan and visit the grocery. :-)

Daddy's Girl

What's for dinner?

My plan to post our weekly menu certainly didn't last too long! I'm still really loving the whole menu-planning thing. Not only has it saved us money, but my husband claims it's brought a whole lot more variety to our meals. Yay!

Here's what we ate for dinner the last few weeks:

Mondays: Out; Pineapple pork loin & rice; Cheddar cauliflower quiche

Tuesdays: Grilled chicken, green beans; Fettuccine Alfredo w/ zucchini; Fried chicken, spinach

Wednesdays: Stuffed green peppers, salad; Grilled chicken w/ grilled tomatoes; Vegan enchiladas

Thursdays: Taco salad; BBQ pork loin; Pasta, glazed carrots

Fridays: Chicken broccoli casserole; Buffalo chicken dip w/celery, carrots and tortilla chips; Out

Saturdays and Sundays we rotate with either eating out, having breakfast for dinner, or eating leftovers.

Any good recipes you've tried lately and care to share?

Fenced In

Join the warm weather of summer with the nesting instincts of a pregnant lady and you get: lots of home improvement projects! :-) Our most recent has been to fence in our small backyard. While we initially pursued this project so that my parent's dog would have a place "to do his business" during their visits, we've since discovered we LOVE having the privacy and security. Every evening has found us out back blowing bubbles, doing landscaping, daydreaming - you name it. Here are a few shots of the work:

Getting started. Notice all the utility marks on our lawn?
Red, yellow, and orange... it looked like a parade route or something!

My dad was kind enough to employ his talents for us.
Father and son-in-law workin' together...

Even this pregnant "nesting" momma picked up a hammer.
Tasks done as a family are much more fun!

Break time!
Here we all are: Uncle Buddy, Morenna, Baby Roo and I.

And the finished product!