July 30, 2011

Lazy day with a friend

Today was pretty chill. Got up early (for us anyway) and got to cleanin'. Then after lunch we all got ready and my friend Jayme and her two sweet boys came over to play. The kids all ran around and played monsters vs. Spiderman and had a great time together. And Jayme and I just hung out and talked. It was wonderful and relaxing. Then after they left, I made my Bestie, Delane's, recipe for chicken with peppers and it was fantastic, of course. And now the treasures are in bed and I'm here typing away. This tiny little paragraph adequately sums up our day. It was simple and sweet. Good night all!

July 29, 2011

Whew...

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!
On Tuesday, We all hopped in the car to go hang out with my family for dinner and after picking up some strawberry shortcake supplies (mmmmmmmm) were headed to my parents house. On the way we saw a man laying on the sidewalk behind a parked rv with a crowd of people trying to help him and his motorcycle laying in the street. I said a prayer for him as we drove on by.
Then at my parents house everyone's getting into the hustle and bustle of getting supper ready and the phone rings. It's my Aunt Sandy. She's been in a car accident and she's bleeding in the street. So, my parents take off to the accident while my brother and Matthew and I continue making the food and watching the boys run amuck. After awhile my parents come back as Aunt Sandy and my cousin, William, are now loaded into the ambulance.
The story goes.... My Aunt is driving along and out of the parking lot of a strip mall bar a drunk driver cuts her off making a left turn and my Aunt slammed into them. Her car is totaled (sp?) and the drunk driver takes off. William got hit pretty hard by the airbag but is otherwise fine (we know now) but with the car filling up with smoke some witnesses are trying to get them out quickly. When a lady tried to pull Aunt Sandy out she started to pick her up but realized right away that something was wrong with her leg and had to put her back down. Praise the Lord the car didn't do anything crazy while they waited for the FD and cops to get there.
The EMTs were worried about William who, having Downs Syndrome, couldn't tell them if he was in pain or how he was feeling. He was just stoked to be in an ambulance.
So, when my parents get back we finish getting supper ready, my mom heads over to the hospital and the rest of us sit down to eat and hang out. But it's not exactly the joyful family gathering we'd all envisioned earlier in the day. With talk about how they're doing and what recovery will be like and what will happen with William and the like. My Aunt's ex husband went to the hospital and sat with William in the Trauma ER while they did a full work up to make sure he was ok and then took him home when he was discharged later that night. Aunt Sandy had several MRI's and CT scans which determined a lot of bruising and that her left leg was broken in two places. Now, for those of you who don't know her, She has SEVERE rheumatoid arthritis, the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else. She is so frail and fragile that a few months back she broke her leg standing up getting out of bed. SO, while we were happy to know that's all that had broken, we were nervous about how well they could repair it and what recovery would be like for her. She had surgery Wednesday and despite warnings that she may wake up with only one leg they were, in fact, able to reset her brittle bones and she has been in good spirits. Today, she was transferred to a "skilled nursing facility" to aid in her recovery and physical therapy. She's hoping to only be there a week but I have a feeling she may be there longer and that it would actually be really good for her to stay as long as she can to have the best care. She will be in a wheelchair for quite some time but the dr says that with proper PT she'll be able to walk again. Thank you all for your prayers as she recovers.
In other, totally less important, news:
The garden is exploding! It's so fantastic having berries and beans and peas to eat from the garden and the promise of so many more goodies in the near future!
Hey, anyone know what kind of white squash this is? I bought these as starts and they were labeled zucchini. But when they started spreading I knew they must be pumpkins of some sort but now the fruit is white without any banding. They're totally smooth and round. I'm confused.
One of my gargantuan tomato plants is covered in beautiful green tomatoes and I am just so excited for them ripen up already. However the other, just as large and even bushier, has none. So weird.
Last night, I made Parmesan Breaded Chicken from my Nourishing Traditions book with mashed potatoes and buttermilk bisquits. Sooo good.

Parmesan Breaded Chicken Breasts
8 Skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 C unbleached flour
1 tsp pepper
4 eggs, beaten
2 C whole grain bread crumbs
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
about 4 tbsp butter
about 4 tbsp olive oil

Trim the chicken breasts and pound lightly with the small prong side of a meat hammer. mix flour and pepper together on a plate; have beaten eggs ready in a bowl; mix bread crumbs and cheese in another bowl. Using tongs (or your fingers)
dip each piece first in the flour mixture then in the eggs and lastly in the bread crumb mixture. Saute a few at a time in butter and olive oil about 7 minutes per side, being careful not to burn.
Transfer to a heated plate in the oven until ready to serve.
This is a delicious substitute for fried chicken.

July 19, 2011

Yesterday

was a pretty fun day! First thing after breakfast, Matthew and Fin left to go see Winnie the Pooh at the theater. Finlay's first movie! He was scared to go into the dark theater but once he saw the screen he was ok. And then he loved the movie. After they got home, I kept hearing him make believe he was eating honey. hehe...
Then Autry went to the garden center and target with him, while Milo, Finlay and I watched Gumby.
the big boys and I also did our second lesson out of their Bible curriculum that came in the mail the other day. I hadn't planned on starting until we begin school September 6th but the boys are excited about it and want to do it. So, I'm definitely not going to say no. I'm hopeful they'll have the same attitude toward their core subjects when we get them next month.
In other news, I had my 24 week appt last wednesday (not sure why I haven't blogged about it till now) and everything is going great. Declan is growing right on track has a healthy heart rate and our only squirmish was my ...ehem... rate of weight gain. ugghh. Up till this appt, I had only gained 8 lbs in the first 20 weeks. But then I gained 7 lbs in the 4 weeks since that last appt. Boo! So I was told to "watch my weight." Now, in my defense, we have had quite the sweet tooth lately and fell for the lemon meringue cake from costco, made smores several times and then with Atury's Birthday week I indulged in 2 birthday cakes, pinata candy, pizza, Sonic and In-N-Out spread out over 4 "birthday parties." Yikes! It's not hard to see how that added up on the scale, eh. So, after doing pretty good since wednesday, I made peanut butter cookies today, my first treat.
That's about it. Much love <3

July 10, 2011

In the grind

Good grief. This past week has been a challenge. My bestie and I have been going through a rough patch lately and when we all hung out on the 4th it was awkward for various reasons. Then I've had a busy week with Matthew being home a lot more than usual, which seems like it should make things go more smoothly, but somehow it doesn't. And then i was a little crazy on friday trying to get the house ready to have Matthew's brother and his family over for dinner and hanging out that night. They brought up carne asada to grill and it was a really nice time. So, this morning, I realized that somehow the week had gotten away from me and I hadn't texted my bff and she hadn't texted me either, all week long. So, I sent her a quick note on fb apologizing for going mia and a shorter version of the above weeks play by play. She got back to me a little later and we kind of had another exchange, if you will, and now we both agree that it's time to work this out for real and get it behind us, whatever this is. Growing pains? I hate how it's been lately. I miss her. We're working on it. sigh....
On a happier note, I'm starting to notice a very slight tan developing on my legs. Woohoo! Now, honestly, it's not much to be proud of. And to most people here in SoCal, they're ghastly white but for me, it's quite the accomplishment. The garden is doing fantastic. My new broccoli sprouts have come up but still no sign of the new lettuce sprouts. I'm hopeful but not holding my breath. I'll keep you posted.
I still don't have an eta on my proposed chicken coop although My dad has said he'd bring up the wood a few times now. And we've gone to the feed store and checked out the chicks they have available and pricing and everything. But nothing set in stone. Again, you'll know as soon as I do. hahaha.... That's pretty much it, I think.
But now, I'm exhausted and I'm going to go veg on the couch with my Husband.
Good night all!

July 3, 2011

too cute!


I finished his has the other night and am just now posting about it. I think it came out great! Thanks Diymommy.com

July 1, 2011

Updates

So, We are now 23 weeks along in this pregnancy! Little Declan True is a busy boy constantly kicking and flipping around in there. Yay! I'm knitting him a bright royal blue cabled baby beanie right now and starting to gather supplies to begin his bedding set. The theme will be owls. Hooty hoot!
I also just made a list of what I need to make some maternity clothes based on tutorials from diy maternity

Megan Nielsen has two excellent blogs and wonderful easy to follow patterns for both maternity and baby! Go check her out...
The garden is growing tall and bushy (depending on the plant) and the only no show is our lettuce. Bummer. I'm going to re-sow it and a few other bald spots and hope for the best.
We also had a great visit with Matthew's parents who came to visit last week. Which means we also got to spend some concentrated quality time with Gina and our nieces, as well! Yay!
The boys actually asked to do school yesterday. I think they miss the structure. So, we did a bible lesson from Landmark Freedom and a couple math and LA worksheets and games.