Garden pals

A few weekends ago my generous dad came over to rototill my very sad garden and helped me get it started by planting some things.  Jordan had a great time helping him!  (just kidding, he was all done and just pushing it back to his truck but she really did enjoy herself...she was quite proud).

I don't know what I would do with my dad each year because I am a terrible weed-picker so by the time the season comes around to plant each year my garden has become so over taken by weeds its not even funny.  He hauls his tiller over every single year to do this for me then always sticks around to help get my plants and seeds into the ground.

This year we are growing about 8 tomato plants so I can can and freeze some not to mention make loads of spaghetti sauce and salsa and the like to keep us well supplied even after summer has passed.  We also got an ancho pepper plant, parsley and basil then I planted some zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, water melon, two kinds of pumpkin, onions, peas, green beans and I think that's all.  And I've got my strawberries growing strong still!  This is their third year with us.  The three plants I bought three years ago have spread so much they take up quite the chunk of my garden and the actual berries are bigger this year than they have ever been!  I have plans to move them out of the garden to a special area of their own so they can grow and spread as they please but I have to be honest, I am quite nervous about the transplant because I just don't want to lose any!  A friend of ours gave us a huge container of raspberry starters this year that seem to be growing quite well also.  Maybe next year they will begin bearing fruit (certainly not holding my breath on that for the first couple years)!

One of these days hopefully I'll get around to taking a picture of my garden to share with you all, but don't expect it, you know how terrible I have been about blogging lately (for which I apologize).  I am hoping to pick back up on the blogging every monday like I used to do but we'll see if that ends up happening.  I have so many things I want to blog about it's quite overwhelming.  BUT as you wait for me to get in my blogging rut again go check out Healthy by Choices who is hosting a giveaway for a favorite book of mine, in fact I've mentioned it on here before, The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn Obrien.  Get over there quickly because the giveaway ends tomorrow (sorry, I knew about it a couple days ago but am finally getting on here today)!

Swimming

Heidi and I took the babies swimming a couple of times last month.  They both love the water.  Ivan gets so relaxed, he's even fallen asleep in the pool before!  Don't worry, he wears a life jacket and someone is holding him constantly...he is only 6 months old after all!  Jordan gets relaxed but sometimes she gets silly too.  I've been trying to teach her 1, 2, 3, GO!  Then I dip her under the water.  I think she was beginning to catch on but we haven't been again in about a month.  I try it in the bath tub but it's not quite the same.  It is quite unfortunate that we didn't get any pictures of the babies in the pool but after I took these two pictures my memory card was full because I didn't think to check before we left the house.  Hopefully that is a lesson learned.

Ivan Gabriel

My sister gave birth to her third son, Ivan Gabriel, about 1 1/2 weeks ago. He's a little sweetie! He weighed in at 8lb 2 oz. We didn't realize how much Jordan has grown and changed until we see little Ivan and remind ourselves that Jordan was even smaller than him! He's got two very proud bigger brothers. The oldest has even changed a poopy diaper! Ivan's collarbone broke when he was in the birth canal. Please be praying for healing and that he would experience minimal pain during the process.

My poor sweet baby!

Jordan had her two month appointment yesterday and had to get her shots. My poor sweet baby! I had never heard her cry that hard her entire life! Later on in the evening we were both crying; her of course because she was in pain, and I too because she was in pain! I wish I could have taken it away! Praise God that by the time she woke up from her next nap she was back to her normal self and has been doing just fine ever since!

This was taken as we were about to head out the door for a walk with Nana. Jordan LOVES walks! I know it looks like she was asleep here but once we hit the outdoors she perked right up and was taking in all of God's wonderful creation that she was seeing for the first time.

Another thing she absolutely loves is her mobile! She is beginning to understand things better and how they work. She will lay in her crib and look up at her mobile signaling for us to wind it up. Once we do, she smiles and smiles at it. Then after it quits she longs for us to play it again. It's amazing how quickly they catch on! In fact, just now she started fussing so I went in to see what she wanted and she was staring at her mobile. I turned it on and she stopped fussing and started "dancing" around! I can hear her making little "giggle" noises in there. It's so precious! We have a wind-up mobile so I have to keep winding it for her. I really want to find a battery operated one so it doesn't keep running out on her.

She had a visit from her cousin a few days ago. He absolutely adores her! He's always telling us "She's so cute, isn't she?!" and "Her dress is really pretty." He's got a little brother on the way and I know he and his older brother will have so much fun with this new little guy!

Christmas

Christmas was great this year (not that it isn't every year, well, except for the one where Brandon was in Iraq but let's not get technical ;) ! We got to spend most of the day at our house and each of our families came over to visit; mine for breakfast (cinnamon rolls of course...it's tradition!) & Brandon's for lunch (we had buttered shrimp (!), roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, broccoli and rolls. All very delicious. I'm kind of bummed I didn't get a picture of my plate.) Later we went to my grandma's house for dinner and the entire family get-together which happens each year since before I was even born! (My family has always had the same traditions since my older sister was little...before I was around!)

I feel like a little kid for wanting so badly to show off what I got for Christmas but I am just really excited by it all! Here's what I got:

My talented mom made me this which will be my brag book after our darling daughter is born. I'll have to show you the "finished" product once she is here and I add her pictures to it. The top two pictures are the front and back of the closed album. The next two are of each side of the fully opened album and the next three pictures are just some (blurry) close ups. Didn't she do a wonderful job?! Be sure to click on the pictures to get a better view! I am so proud of her!

While we are talking about the craftiness. This cute penguin cookie jar is what my sister-in-law made for me. She is about 10 years old. It says "Favorite Cookies" on it. She did a great job too!

My parents also got Brandon and I some cookware. I have been wanting stainless steel pots and pans for quite some time now and I finally got them! This set came with a steamer basket too! I've already gotten to use it and it's the most amazing thing ever! I've actually used every piece in the set! Oh and the bowls all have lids too which works out great for me because I am one of those people that doesn't make sure she has all the ingredients on hand BEFORE she starts baking and has to stop mid-recipe to run to the store and get the missing ingredient. Luckily I only live 4 blocks away from the grocery store! Anyway, these pans are fantastic! Thanks Mom & Dad!

Over the summer while my aunt was in town, we went on a shopping trip to the mall with my grandma. When we were at Bed, Bath & Beyond I found some dishes that I like, commented on them and moved on. Didn't really think twice about it, well my grandma did! She went back and got them for us! We have our first set of dishes that aren't hand me downs! It's enough for 4 people and we are gladly taking donations to get another set so if you are interested in donating please leave me a comment and we can work out some sort of deal ;) Aren't they beautiful? (the picture doesn't show the complete set. We had already begun using them before I started taking pictures...actually that is a lie. I took all the pictures before we used any of the dishes then when I plugged my memory card into the computer to start blogging away my memory card went caput and I lost all of my pictures and had to get a new card. So by the time I got my new memory card we had already used some of the dishes and that is why the complete set is not shown in the below picture).

And Brandon got me (drumroll please...) THE OFFICE DVD BOARD GAME!!!! I was so excited when I opened my gift from him! We started playing Christmas day with his family but none of them have ever watched the show so we quit early and haven't been able to pick it back up yet because we have been back to the daily grind. Brandon has been so busy at work. His shift is over at 6:00 but he is still working right now and yesterday he worked until 9:30 too. It's nice having him downstairs though instead of being away at the office working this late. I feel bad he isn't getting much of a break though. I know how much I like to be done with work; when my shift is over at 4:00 I am outta there! He requested New Year's day off though so maybe we will get to play my new game then!

And look at these adorable shirts my parents got for our little girl! They got them in the size she should be come summertime. I can't wait!

Penguin Waddle

For some reason lately I've really been getting a kick out of penguins and any time I see something penguin at the store I stop to look at it. My mom has caught onto my recent obsession and got a cute little penguin mug for me. She said it stays at her house and I can enjoy some hot cocoa in my special mug anytime I come over. It's a special thing at our house. When we were growing up my mom would always surprise us with hot chocolate when we got home from school during the winter. It was always so nice to have a warm cup waiting for us when it was so cold outside. My favorite thing to do during the winter is snuggle up in front of the fireplace (with a nice fire going of course!) with a cup of hot chocolate, a nice book and a fuzzy blanket. The book could easily be skipped if I had some nice company. My mom and I used to just sit there for hours visiting and watching the snow fall outside.

Speaking of my mom, I thought I'd share a picture of a cute tree she has decorated at her house. It's a year round decoration she made and I think it's adorable so I snapped a picture of it when I was over earlier today to share with you.

Apple Walnut Caramel Syrup

I made this recipe for my parents when Brandon was in Iraq and we all loved it but then it got put away and forgotten about until today. It is great over pancakes, which is the only way I have ever eaten it but I'm sure it'd be delicious over ice cream too or even to eat by itself.

Apple Walnut Caramel Syrup

2 or 3 medium apples (I prefer to use three)

4 Tbsp butter

1 heaping tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp cornstarch

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

1/3 - 1/2 cup walnut pieces (can be omitted but I don't recommend it)

1. Peel, core and thinly slice apples; set aside

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in the cinnamon, cornstarch, and brown sugar all at once. Immediately add the water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Add the apples and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the apples are nearly tender and the syrup is bubbly. While apples are cooking make pancakes.

Decorating the Laundry Room

Our laundry room is also the entry way as you come in our back door. We hadn't really done anything with the area yet and it really needed something. We got to work hanging things and cleaning the room up and it looks so much more comforting when you walk into our house. It's funny how hanging two things on the wall can cozy a room up as much as these did. I feel much better about people coming in through that door.

This one here I ordered at an Uppercase Living party my friend Katie back in April or May. Once I saw it in the catalog I knew the perfect place in my house and I HAD to have it. Ha! It took us until this past weekend to get it up. How long is that? Five months?! But just like I thought, it's perfect in that spot right above the washer & dryer.

We hung this one right above the stairs and it's pretty much the first thing you see as you walk in the door. This was a gift from Brandon for Valentine's Day about three years ago. He is absolutely the best at picking out gifts! Here is a close up so you can see the pictures better.

It feels so cozy in there now! I love it!

The Room!

We got the walls in the baby's room painted. It looks AMAZING!! I am so happy with it; the color turned out exactly what I wanted. We just have to get the trim and the closet painted white. I'm going to be doing a step by step display as we get things done.

I can't wait until we find out what we are having so we can start getting things to decorate for either boy or girl. Our ultrasound is October 8th! We are so thrilled! I am able to bring two people with me so of course Brandon is coming but we have also invited my mom along. She is probably about as excited as we are, because you know, back in the day when she was pregnant with my sister and I they didn't do routine ultrasounds like they do now; they only did them if they knew something was wrong. We are counting down the days...three and a half weeks left!!

My parents got me us a plant last year around Christmas time. It was beautiful! But it is one of those winter plants that is hard to keep going throughout the year and I just about lost it. It actually had three plants coming out of the one pot and two of the three died. I pulled those out of there to give the partially living one plenty of room and I started trimming so that it could exert all it's energy to the live stuff. I've been watching it struggle ever since just hoping it'd come out of it. Well I am proud to announce that it has grown buds and those buds have turned into beautiful flowers. Isn't it just gorgeous?! This is the first time I have brought a plant back to life. All the other times they sadly die. I'm so glad it is with us for another year!

Nothing New

I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks because I haven't really done anything worthy of post material. I have enjoyed myself by avoiding house work and just relaxing doing absolutely nothing! Taking it easy as some might call it.

Actually last week my mom and I watched P.S. I Love You. We both were sitting there crying and crying throughout the whole movie! I don't watch chick flicks very often but I must say, I am ready to watch this one again! I loved it!

Speaking of my mom, she started a blog of her own this weekend! I'm so proud of her! She was a little nervous about it at first but she really enjoys playing around with things like this and she realized that it's a lot easier than it looks. I was a little intimidated when I first started too but I found out that they pretty much do all the work for you, the only thing left is finding things to blog about. Which can be a struggle for me sometimes but I think I've improved somewhat. As I mentioned in a previous post, I should be having more to write about with baby on the way. Right now, I feel pretty much like regular ol' Kayla, only difference at the moment is that I'm eating ALL day long! Seriously, I had eaten 4 meals before 10:00 this morning and I was still searching for food!

I need to go. I don't have any pictures to post and blogs without pictures just aren't nearly as interesting! Over and out.

Exciting news to share

I have some news to share that makes me want to stand on the mountain top and yell to the whole world "I'm pregnant!!" I am so excited to be having a baby!! I am about 2 1/2 months along right now and our baby is due to arrive in February! This is our first child and we are ecstatic!

I am hoping too that with all the exciting things that will be going on with the pregnancy and baby that I will posting on here ALOT more often since our lives will become a bit more eventful although we could be too busy that I may not get a chance to get on here much even with all the news to share. Lets hope it's the former.

I really, really wish I knew what we are having so I can get to crafting away on a scrapbook, clothes, blankets, booties, burp cloths and more. I will post pictures of the progress of the nursery too as we get to it. I got the paint last week but it's a little darker than I planned once I got it home so I am going back to Home Depot to see if they can lighten it for me. It might be a month or two before we can actually get it painted but I will be sure to keep you posted.

I had been feeling pretty nauseous for a while and it was miserable! It's so hard to eat when everything makes you want to gag. The only thing I could ever bring myself to eat were cheese crisps from Taco Johns. I'm sure they are so healthy for the baby. Ha! I am thankful to say that beginning this past week I have been feeling MUCH better and I am able to eat more of a variety of foods again! Thank God! I must say that even though I felt horribly nauseous that I am pretty lucky because I wasn't throwing up like crazy. Actually I only "got sick" twice and both times were a result of me gagging myself with the toothbrush while brushing my teeth before bedtime. I try so hard to be careful but I can't not brush my tongue; I feel like my mouth isn't clean until my entire mouth, including tongue, is clean. Let's hope that's over though.
That's enough of all the throwing up talk! Yuck!

Grey area

          

Brandon had to go out of town this past weekend so my mom & I decided to take a little trip too.  We went to a city about 90 miles away from where we live and haul our scrapbooking supplies with us to make some cards.  We have been wanting to get together and make cards for such a long time now but it just seems like our schedules have the most difficult time coordinating; needless to say the trip was the perfect opportunity to spend a bunch of time playing with our creativity.  We had to check out this great scrapbooking store by supervisor had told me about and when I say great I mean totally awesome!  We literally spent hours there!  And of all the weekends for us to show up in this cute little shop, it just so happened that that particular Sunday was National Scrapbooking Day!!  They were having special make & take projects, discounts & prizes every 30 minutes!!  We each won some wonderful paper packets & embellishments.  Wow!  What a great time.  It was also tons of fun because my aunt, uncle & cousins live there too!  My cousin is in dance and was in a big performance that weekend too that a friend of my aunt gave us free tickets to ($20 value)!!  I absolutely love watching ballet (well any dance really but ballet especially).  Any way, the performance was fantastic and on top of it all my aunt, cousin, mom and I all watched 27 Dresses together!  I haven't watched a chick flick in so long!  We all had such a wonderful time.  It was a very fun and eventful weekend, but as always it felt so nice and relieving to get home.  I missed my husband so much while we were apart those 4 long days.  I can't stand to be away from him.  He is such a wonderful husband and I love spending all my time with him.  Well my friends, I leave you with one last card.

Who Pooped in the Park?

Isn't this book hilarious?! I found it at Dillards when I was visiting my Aunt & Uncle! It's a book about Yellowstone National Park, but I don't think they could have given it a funnier title. And I found it in the children's clothing section too! I couldn't help but snap a picture! It may not be the best quality because it was taken with my cell phone. This makes me laugh every time I look at it!

"Cheating" or not?

I don't know if I can explain this very well without it coming across differently than I feel but I am going to try. I normally make all things from scratch otherwise I feel like I am "cheating." It's a silly little quirk I have that honestly can drive me insane sometimes. Seriously, I can't just make a cake from a box mix without adding something or at least making homemade frosting, or spaghetti from a jar without digging through my spice rack adding things as I go, or they even have these great freezer "meals" that comes in a bag with everything needed, all a person has to do is put it in a pan and let it heat for about 15-20 minutes. My sister loves to get them. When Brandon was in Iraq I had many meals at my sister's house enjoying these delicious "freezer" meals. Heidi loves simple meals that can be made easily but taste great and she is good at finding new ideas to fit this criteria. It's a quality I am jealous of. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook & bake but sometimes I just don't really feel like doing it after a long day of work and I wish I could just prepare one of these easy yet delicious meals that don't create a workload of dishes either, but no, I can't bring myself to do it! The simplest route I can go is pretty much tacos, BLT, and these yummy enchiladas I am about to tell you about, which are from a simple mix that I actually follow without changing it up (very amazing for a girl like me). These enchiladas actually do consume quite a bit of time so I don't know if it necessarily falls into the whole category that I am talking about but I'm going with it anyway! Here is a picture of the packaging:




The only thing "special" that I really do is double or triple the sauce while keeping the filling (meat & cheese) amount the same. Anyway, here is a picture of the finished product.



As the days at work end a big portion of my thoughts is about going home to eat these as leftovers! Jennifer, a co-worker and friend, keeps harassing me about my "obsession" with these enchiladas, but she was very interested in getting the "recipe" and excited to find out how easy they really are. I hope she likes them as much as I do, otherwise it might be a little embarrassing how much I have gone on & on about them!

Instead of baking them in a 9x13 pan I decided to make them in two separate square pans so I can freeze one for later (they freeze very well). So much for that! We have already dug into the second pan! Goes to show how absolutely delicious they really are!

Sounds a little fishy

When Brandon was in Iraq he found a new love for fried catfish and wanted me to make some here at home. I've never really cooked fish or seafood before so this is all new to me. I have been experimenting with different recipes on a search to find one that catches our hearts. My first attempt I used my grandma's beer batter recipe. When I was little my grandpa loved to fish and after a successful fishing trip Grandma & Grandpa would invite the family over for a fish fry. My grandma always made beer batter fish; it was the only way I would eat fish...until I discovered halibut, but that's a story for another day. Anyway, my first attempt at fried catfish was pretty tasty and Brandon really liked it although it was a different style from how it was fixed in Iraq. Mine had more of a thick "breading" rather than a thin "crumb" crust. So I decided to find out which was really the better of the two. I found a recipe in my Southern Living cookbook Grandma bought me that resembled the "Iraq" version. I tried it and it had great flavor, looked much prettier, but still doesn't compare to Grandma's old family recipe. I do have to say that it is good enough to recommend and share the recipe here on my blog. I think the reason I am partial to Grandma's recipe is because not only does it bring back fun memories it also takes away that fishy flavor. One thing I might try next time is adding the garlic powder from SL's recipe to Grandma's. Sounds rather delcious! I didn't get pictures of the batch of Grandma's but I did take pictures of the Southern Living recipe.

Grandma's Beer Batter

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
salt
1 can beer
2 egg whites (stiffly beaten)

Mix first 3 ingredients. Add beer, then egg whites.
Cut fish into approximately 1 inch pieces. Fry in oil.
*Cut in half for just one family.

Classic Fried Catfish

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
12 catfish fillets (about 3 3/4 lb)
vegetable oil

1. Combine first 4 ingredients and 2 tsp salt in a large shallow dish. Sprinkle catfish fillets evenly with remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and dredge in cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.
2. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 350. Fry fillets, in batches, 5-6 minutes or until golden; drain on paper towels.

Note: For a quick weeknight version, skip the deep fryer. Cook catfish in 2 Tbsp. hot oil, per batch, in a nonstick skillet 5 minutes on each side.

Make 6-8 servings.

*As I type this recipe, I realize that I completely forgot to add the red pepper! Oops! It still tasted delicious! I also did the second option and just poured a small amount of oil into a pan instead of pulling out the deep fryer.

A Month of Sundaes

If my sister or I got grounded growing up our parents would tease us saying that we were grounded for a month of Sundays. Neither of us knew what that meant and it drove us nuts; Mom & Dad got a kick out of it! Now after we are both grown up and married my mom found this book and gave it to us as a gift from her and Dad this Christmas. The really cool thing about the book is it's all about ice cream; ice cream is my FAVORITE! It's about the start of ice cream in the USA! I find it interesting that all ice cream parlors/soda shops back in the day were in drug stores (pharmacies). Who'd have ever thought? I guess a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down! At the back of the book it has a list from state to state which are the best ice cream parlors and one listed is here in my hometown! It also mentions what is the "best" at each place.