Pretty blooms

It is warming up a little in Texas and my flowers have really enjoyed the rains we've gotten recently.

Snapdragons-wish they lasted through the summer!

I was so excited because this morning about 7am it was 71 degrees and I thought maybe it would be warm enough to go to the beach this weekend but my husband said that there's a "cold" front coming through.  My friends from the northern states can insert a chuckle here.  :-)  Hopefully it won't get too cool though because I've planted some corn, green beans, lettuce, and peas and want them to get warm enough to sprout!

The heat and bugs got this plant last summer, but I was surprised to find it's making a comeback!  I'm so happy about that because I got it from my grandpa's funeral.  I believe the name of it is Crossandra.

Same plant that needs some TLC.

Vibrant snapdragons

These finally started blooming-didn't remember they were a multicolored pack!

OB Pre-Registration!

Today I went and registered at the hospital for the delivery of our baby!!!!!!  Say what?  Yep, I can't believe it either.  The time dragged for the first half, but now it seems to be flying!  And that's okay with me! The registration lady was astounded at our insurance-she told me to go home and kiss my husband because it was so good!  We are both very thankful for it!  I also got a list of education classes which I need to look into, and a list of suggested items to pack when I got to the hospital!!!  I also had to fill in names of people that could be there waiting for the delivery.  Only five people are allowed to wait!  So, if you're my husband or one of the four grandparents, you're in luck!  If not, you'll be able to visit and see him.  :) 

My cute free green  bag that I got for registering!  Just what I needed-another bag!  :)

23 Weeks!

I've made it to 23 weeks!  We were talking this morning about a friend only having twelve weeks left and I said, that means I have only 17 left!  Seriously?!  Oh wow!  17 weeks to go-that isn't very long. 

Here's a picture-I was looking at Jeff, but he had the camera way down!  I look pretty funny!  Oh well!  This was after services today.

23 weeks!

$3.18

My find today for $3.18!  I just really like thrift/garage sales.  I would have gotten more but they weren't half price like I thought they were.  But they will be next Saturday although I don't know if I'll make it back there.  I'm very happy with my purchases!

For our cutie!

In other news, I've organized our chest freezer!  I googled ideas and numerous people said that they use reusable grocery bags that you can buy at the store for 1.00.  I raided my closet for my teacher bags and used them to sort the freezer food instead of buying bags.   Two for meat, one for fruit and vegetables, one for bread, one for sauces,-I think that's all- and the small baskets I'm using for portioned leftovers.  I thought about taking a picture, but it still looks messy!  But, I can just take out a bag, close the freezer, sort through it, and put it back.  I hope it will work a lot better.  I found stuff that I'd forgotten about!

One of a Kind!

Little Harris' first blue outfit! 

Last two burp clothes are finished!

He pulled it off!

We have been looking forward to going camping for several weeks now.  At first, we were going to go to Big Bend National Park, but sickness came here and a mountain lion attack came there and it just didn't work out.  So, we started talking about going camping President's Day weekend since he would have Monday off.  We decided that would be a great idea!  And I was really excited because we were going to rent a camper!  Jeff grew up going on vacation in Colorado in their families camper and was really excited about it too.  My job to get ready was the food.  Jeff told me that we were going to eat lots of hotdogs and hamburgers.  Two days of hotdogs, two days of hamburgers.  GREAT!  I really liked hamburgers and hotdogs cooked over the fire, so I was excited.  He also said that we should always take sandwich fixings because we never know when we might run out of food and to get two of the same boxes of complete hamburger helper which comes with the meat.  That was strange I thought because I didn't know why in the world we would need the same exact box.  But he's been camping and I haven't!  I really wanted to bring jalapeno poppers and he said "Sure, bring a bunch!"  Oh, I was so excited at that because we could have those for every meal!  And bring a bunch I did!

So we got all packed up and drove to San Antonio to the camper rental place and while Jeff was in there, I thought that I'd send some texts out and see who would write back to kill some time.  I sent one to my friend Stef and one to my friend Ellen.  Stef wrote back after a few minutes and it was fun to talk with her.  Ellen wrote back too although I thought it was a little strange because it was only 4:30 and she gets off at 5.  But, it was Friday and I figured she just had her phone by her desk.  I told her I was thinking of her because we were going camping!  We'd been camping with them before back in November of 2010.  She said she was SO JEALOUS and that their camper had broken down.  That made me feel really bad because I know how much she loves to go camping.  So, Jeff came back and we got the camper and headed out.  We were on our way to Inks Lake State Park!!!!

It was about 2 hours away and it was pouring, drizzling, and just plain raining pretty much the whole way.  Plus it was getting very dark.  Jeff did a great job driving in all of it.  We got to the state park around 7 pm and Jeff ran in ahead of four or five other people that got there the same time we did!  I told him that was really fast and he said yep, and something like they just gave me a site on the water!  Wow!  I was so excited we would be on the water!  It was going to be so pretty-when I could see it.  So we had to drive around for site 263, me trying to follow where we were on the map.  That was pathetic, I couldn't navigate well.  Anyway, here we go, winding around all these campsites and we see where our site should be.  I was a little dismayed because there was another camper in the spot right beside it.  Rats!  Oh well.  And what?  There was someone standing shining a light on our number!  I thought, that person is in the wrong campsite!  I looked out the window and it was Terry and Ellen!!!!!!!!!!!  I couldn't believe it!!!!!!!!  What?!  Jeff had pulled it off completely!  I have never really been able to be surprised because even one little hint gets my mind a-whirling, but he did it and had told no one!  They had left early that morning and driven 5 hours and had gotten there about 3, got campsites together-on the water-and even had a campfire going for us!  I just couldn't believe it.  Jeff just loved it.  Later, Jeff and I were playing cards in the camper and he showed me his and Terry's scheming in texts.  They had planned it all in texts and I got to read all of them, including what we were bringing, what meals we were fixing, and what they were fixing-and that what the campsite number was and that we were only 30 minutes away!  It just makes me smile right now thinking about it.  We had such a wonderful time!  Oh, and their camper HAD broken down-and they'd gotten it fixed Thursday night!  :)

Ducks coming to visit us!

Saturday morning still sleepy!

Our setup

Inks Lake

Canada Goose

Good friends!

Walking to Devil's Waterhole

Waterfall

Enjoying each others company

Beautiful day after driving to Buchannan Dam for services

My wonderful schemer! 

22 weeks!

Burp cloths

My friend, Stefanie, told me about this little project using cloth diapers!  She said that they could be used for burp clothes and made a little prettier than just plain white.  I made two before we knew our baby was going to be a boy, and then waited until a couple days ago and made some more boyish ones out of stuff in my fabric stash.  They aren't very frilly-no ribbons, etc. but I think they will work just fine.  I have two more to do and will have a total of 10.  I hope that get lots of use!  :-)

My favorite is the yellow one.

It's kind of hard to be decorative with boy stuff!

Mmmmmmmm....

From this:

Ready for the oven!

To this:

Deliciousness!

M&M Cookies

2 cups plus 2 T all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
12 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled until just warm
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 t vanilla extract
1 cup M&Ms

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix butter and sugars together with electric mixer or by hand until thoroughly combined.  Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.  Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined.  Stir in M&Ms by hand.

Take 1 T dough, put on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Put another 1 T dough on top of it.  They will be stacked high.  

Bake 15 minutes until light golden brown and outer edges are starting to harden, but the center is still soft and puffy.

Cool cookies before removing from parchment paper.

Ready to eat!

Today I was going to make some chocolate chip cookies, but saw a recipe that had the same cookie recipe that I had already started making, but they used M&Ms!  We just happened to have some so I thought I'd give it a try.  They are so good.

Train Up a Child

 
It's been on my mind lately about the responsibility of raising our boy.  How does a parent go about teaching their child God's Word?  It is not enough to take him to services and bible class.  It is beneficial, don't get me wrong, but the responsibility lies on the parents to teach-not rely on someone else to do the job.  I would like to take advantage of our boy's ability to soak up everything when he's young.  I have thought about making a little memory Bible book, either out of paper or fabric.  I'm thinking when he is really little, a fabric book might be the way to go and just use fabric markers to write the verse with.  Every night or several times a day, I could read him a verse and when he can talk, he can start saying them with us.

So, before I put together the Memory Bible book, I need some verses!  What do I want him to know?  I want to use an easy-to-read version that compares with how we talk today.  I looked online and found some other people that have the same ideas.  Here's one that lists easy scriptures for preschoolers to memorize.  This blog also gives tips on how to go about helping children memorize as well as some reason why it is important.  I have added those verses to the ones I listed.

I am open to ideas and hoping that someone who has experience teaching their children scripture memorization will comment and tell me how they do it!  I'd really appreciate it!

This is a long list and obviously won't be all in one book.  This will be a work in progress and after he learns one book (maybe 8 or 10 verses), we can start working on another set, but always review previous sets. 


Genesis 1:1  God created the sky and the earth.
Matthew 19:14  But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these children.”
I John 3:1  The Father has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are his children. But the people in the world don’t understand that we are God’s children, because they have not known him.
Philippians 4:4  Always be filled with joy in the Lord. I will say it again. Be filled with joy.
Philippians 4:13  Christ is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.
Ephesians 6:1  Children, obey your parents the way the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do.
Ephesians 6:11  Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks.
Ephesians 4: 4-6  There is one body and one Spirit, and God chose you to have one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.  There is one God and Father of us all, who rules over everyone. He works through all of us and in all of us.
Proverbs 14:5  A good witness is one who does not lie. A bad witness is a liar who cannot be trusted.
Numbers 6:24  May the LORD bless you and keep you.
Colossians 3:2  Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth.
Colossians 3:16  Let the teaching of Christ live inside you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
I John 5:3  Loving God means obeying his commands.
Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Psalm 150:6  Everything that breathes, praise the LORD!   Praise the LORD!
Proverbs 3:5  Trust the LORD completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge.
Romans 3:23  All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness.
Matthew 5:14  “You are the light that shines for the world to see. You are like a city built on a hill that cannot be hidden.
Colossians 3:20  Children, obey your parents in everything. This pleases the Lord.
James 1:17  Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him.
Matthew 28:20  I will continue with you until the end of time.
Ephesians 4:32  Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.
I John 3:23  This is what God commands: that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ, and that we love each other as he commanded.
Psalm 56:3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 118:24  This is the day the LORD has made.  Let us rejoice and be happy today!
Psalm 119:105  Your word is like a lamp that guides my steps, a light that shows the path I should take.
Luke 6:31  Do for others what you want them to do for you.
Psalm 136:1  Praise the LORD because he is good. His faithful love will last forever.
Psalm 138:1  LORD, I praise you with all my heart.
John 10:11  I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
Psalm 23-long, but over time he should be able to learn it! 

Grit Free Greenbeans

Yesterday I was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a food company that I'd written just a couple weeks ago.  I had purchased Libby's Cut Green beans and was very unhappy with the dirt, or grit, or something that we were trying to chew with them.  So, I wrote to the company and told them about my experience and I received a letter signed by the Director of Consumer Affairs and four coupons for free cans of Libby's vegetables (that you can only use one at a time!)  I am happy about the coupons, but I don't know if I will be using them for green beans.  Maybe something safer like corn.  Plus, my in-laws just gave us a whole bunch of canned home-grown green beans, and they will be happy to know that the two cans we've opened are grit free!!!  :-)

Coupon for Free Vegetables

Thanks John and Janie for the green beans!

Snuggliness-to-be

I have had these cute froggie towels for a long time and since our baby is a boy, I decided to get with it and make this bath hoodie!  I think its too big for an infant, but that's okay, he will just be extra snugly in it.

It wasn't supposed to take long, but I went to war with my broken walking foot on my sewing machine.  Oh well, it mostly finished the job! 

Frog Bath Hoodie

Ready to wrap around a cuddly baby!

Chocolate cupcakes!

Using these ingredients:

1 can pumpkin puree, 1.4 oz sugar free, fat free jello pudding, cake mix, 1 1/3 c water

 You can make healthier cupcakes!

 I love desserts, but my conscience knows that most of them aren't giving me any nutrition!  Using pumpkin instead of eggs and oil, these can be healthier chocolate yummy cupcakes!  Trust me, you won't be able to taste the pumpkin!

Simply mix the pumpkin and water, add pudding mix, then add cake mix.  Put into 24 cupcake liners and bake at 350 degrees for about 27 minutes! 

Ready to bake!

 You can find the recipe here at Skinnytaste.com! 


In other news:

hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

New innards!!!  I love my handy husband!!!

Beautiful Baby!

Our baby boy!

It's a.....

BOY!!!!!!!

I feel like I've waited forever to find out what we're having.  Today was the day!!!!!  It was so awesome!  Jeff got to come with me and we had such a wonderful experience.  We had a long ultrasound-I'm sure everyone does at 20 weeks-but it was just so special.  First off, it looked like a real baby!  We could see the eye sockets, nose, lips-he is beautiful!  We saw his arms, legs, and finally that he was a little boy!  He did not want to give that up, but our technician was very persistent.  Oh this was soooo cool.  I could watch on the screen, and he would punch the inside of my tummy, and I could feel it!!!  Yesterday was the first time I realized that I could feel him from the outside.  Jeff felt him too!  Anyway, that was pretty funny.  He was very active.  A nice girl from church told me that I could drink some juice to give him some sugar so that he would move around, so I drank some grape juice on the way to the appointment.  It really worked!  He was moving all around.  It was so amazing to see.  I think his heartbeat was 147.  They measured his head, his leg, and either his stomach, or his spine, to see how big he was.  They said he weighs 13 ounces.  Isn't that something?  Almost a pound!!!  They said he was measuring 21 weeks (I'm in my 20th), and that his due date could be June 22nd, but to ask the doctor if she wanted to change it.  So we did, and she said  that the first date is the most accurate-June 24th.  She said just because he was measuring larger, doesn't mean that he is older.  :)  I was happy with that because he's getting plenty to eat and has some of Jeff's wonderful genes!  I'm just so happy!!!!!  We saw his little heart-it was about a quarter of the chest cavity, and it had all 4 chambers just working away.  His stomach had fluid in it, they located his kidneys, his spine looked good, and we saw his little toes!!!!  What a wonderful blessing!

I'm excited  to start looking at blue fabric.  How terrible this is-but you know sometimes good intentions go by the wayside?  Well, I have two little boy outfits and a blue frog towel that I was going to give two different people, but never got it done!  I never thought I would be using them for our little boy!  I'm going to try and make a bath hoodie for him using the big towel and handtowel.  Also, at a garage sale, I picked up a changing table with a pink covering on the changing pad!  I get to make a new one!!!!  :-)  Oh the possibilities!!!  I think I may be giddy with happiness!  I haven't scanned a picture of him yet, but I will and post it soon.  Those pictures sure look better when they are your baby!

Love to you all!!!

He is a sewin' machine!

This guy can sew! Jeff has sewn zippered bags, boat covers, repaired straps, and this time it's a cover for a center console for a boat! 

Measuring and tracing

Marking

Using his sewing machine!

Going at it!

No Taco Seasoning? No problem!

I found this recipe from Allrecipes.com when I didn't have a taco seasoning packet and wanted to share.  It's really good and most people have the ingredients in their pantry.

Taco Seasoning I
Ingredients:
1 T chili power
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t dried oregano
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 t sea salt
1 t black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.  Store in an airtight container.

The actual recipe on the site can be found here.

Texas History

Since I was raised in North Dakota, I am not very familiar with Texas history.  On Saturday, we drove to Houston with my mother and father-in-law and I was able to learn more about the Battle at San Jacinto, where Texas (Sam Houston) defeated Santa Anna.  Maybe someday we will visit Goliad, revisit the Alamo, and maybe some other places where Texas history took place.

Sightseers on a nice rainy day. 

View from 490 feet on the observation deck.

Lots of water.

Sideview of the monument.  It is taller than the Washington Monument by 15 feet.

Add caption

All of the stones used for the monument had lots and lots of shell fossils in them. 

Other side.  I image that it would have been hard to fight the battle in this swampy area.  The battle itself only lasted 20 minutes.

Brilliant Kalanchoe

Before we were married, Jeff found a little root that someone had tossed aside and planted it.  Last year it was big and beautiful, but the frost got part of it and it died way back.  This year, we were determined to save it from the frost!  We put it on our wagon and carted it into the garage when it got near freezing.  I couldn't believe it when it started forming buds, but a little research on the internet told us that when it had periods of darkness, it would start to bud!  With a combination of the early winter darkness and time in the garage, that's what happened! 

Jeff's Kalanchoe

Oatmeal anyone?

This week I've been into making baked oatmeal.  I've never liked oatmeal or eaten it, except in an occasional cookie, but I've been searching for a recipe to make Jeff a to-go breakfast item that doesn't make a mess when he's driving.
The first recipe I tried is an Amish oatmeal breakfast bar.  These are delicious, but definitely won't work in the car.  But, they are so good, I'm trying them again this morning substituting the oil for apple sauce and adding dried cranberries.
Yesterday, I decided to try making granola bars.  I found a recipe that had rave reviews and bought things I've never bought before-one of which was wheat germ.  I didn't even know where to find it!  But a nice lady helped me and it's in the cold cereal aisle for anyone who would like to know.  They turned out great!  I'm not sure if they will work for the car-that remains to be seen, but they are really delicious.

Granola-it crumbled a little

Bars ready to eat!