Music Moves Me

I was just sitting here listening to the music that I chose for my blog today. Kayley came up and decided that she want to listen to music too, so she blasted classical music on her little radio. I had to keep kicking her out of the room so that I could enjoy and sing along to MY songs.

That got my mind going. I found myself pondering why I wanted so badly to listen to the songs that I chose ALONE. I realized that most of the songs have been fairly significant to me at different parts of my life. They move my soul in one way or another.

I also found that I was grateful that my five year old has already developed an affinity for classical music. I love that she loves it. I now need to work on how to get her to listen to it at appropriate times and not at the top of her radio's volume. :D

Two of My Favorite Things

I have a definite sweet tooth. One of my favorite things about the winter is that my favorite fruit shows up in stores every where. Have you tried the clementine Cuties? We love them in our home. Kayley and Jonathan would much rather eat one than have candy. Now that is good incentive to keep them around!

Last night we decided to make one of my favorite things. Apple Crisp a 'la mode!



I didn't think to take a picture of it before we dug in. Sorry about that. Here is the recipe that we used (We double it and put it in a 9x13 casserole dish). Enjoy!

Joan's Apple Crisp
(from Daily Meal Planner by Joan Day Brady)

1/3 cup sifted flour
2/3 cup instant powdered milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, cold
4 cups sliced pared tart apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease a shallow baking dish that can hold 6 cups. Mix flour, powdered mild, 3 tablespoons sugar, nutmeg, salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Add butter and blend with a fork (or pastry cutter) until crumbly. Combine apples with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a baking dish. Sprinkle the crumb mixture on top of the apples. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until the apples are tender.

We ate the apple crisp with natural vanilla Breyer's ice cream. It was amazing!

Gone in Only Three Days

While I was checking my email today, my son was "cleaning out" his little paper advent calendar. His sister caught him. Days 11, 14, and 18 were the only ones that were not yet opened. The chocolate from all the rest had already disappeared into his stomach. How's that for a healthy breakfast.

Oh well, next year I will make sure that the calendar's are well out of the reach of our little people.

Things I'm Thankful for This Pregnancy

This is me at about 6 1/2 months. Thanksgiving put me in the mood to really contemplate the things that I am thankful for. My pregnancy has not been perfect, but there is still a lot of things that have been good about the experience.

Here are a few of them:

1. I have been fairly healthy and according to the ultrasounds our daughter is also very healthy.

2. Our baby is very active. She especially gets excited when she hears her brother and sister playing.

3. My knee has been acting just about as well as can be expected under the circumstances. :D

4. I'm having a lot of fun planning and dreaming about what to do about the "girl's room" and Jonathan's room.

5. It is fun to watch Jonathan and Kayley get excited about our new baby. Jonathan especially seems to love "practicing" being a big brother to every baby that he sees.

6. I live very close to the hospital that I will be delivering at. My doctor's office is just 3 floors up from where I will deliver.

7. I have family nearby that are willing and able to step in to help when I'm feeling not up to the tasks of the day. It is comforting knowing that they are already excited to step in and help when little Emily arrives.

8. My dear friends who are pregnant with me. It has been comforting to be able to discuss how were are doing and to be able to relate to each other.

9. I love seeing Brad get excited about our new little daughter.

10. I love getting Emily's things ready. I'm enjoying washing her clothes and imaging what she will look like in them.

Where's the Unpause Button?

I know that I'm pregnant and all but I am really sick of having my brain be on "pause" today. I had to go back into my house THREE times before I ran my errands this morning because I couldn't manage to make it out the door with everything I needed the first time.

It would have been pretty funny to watch, if I wasn't the one experiencing it. Thankfully, my children have gotten used to "scattered brained" mom and it didn't phase them at all. Sigh. This too shall pass, right?!

Is Your "Hut on Fire"?

I received an email from a good friend lately. I thought I should share it in case if any of you are feeling discouraged and could use a little lift. :D

WHEN YOUR HUT'S ON FIRE!!!!

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?'

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.

The Moral of This Story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

Just a Dreamin'

I love where I live. I love how close we are to freeway access, but how far we are from any dangerously busy streets. I love that we are near just about any store that I would like/need to go to. I love our neighbors! I love our backyard. I love almost everything about our house. However, I do find myself wishing that we could change some things and add other features.

Here is my list of "Dream Improvements":

1. Mudroom - Anyone with children will know why this would be a wonderful room to have.

2. Wider rooms- Our house is fairly narrow. I think that two feet added onto the front and back of the house would make a HUGE difference. There are only so many ways that you can rearrange furniture in a narrow home.

3. Top Floor Laundry Room- Our bedrooms are upstairs, our "laundry room" is downstairs. It didn't seem like a problem for awhile, but now that I am pregnant and I have a bum knee I find that the situation can be rather daunting.

4. A Dining Room- Our kitchen table barely fits in the kitchen. It would be nice to have a room just for eating so that the kids would be less inclined to sneak around the corner with their food and try to eat in the living room.

5. New Kitchen Cabinets- We have a dishwasher that is "portable" and hooks up to the sink. I dream of one day being able to build it into new cabinets (It is full sized and fairly new) and of having more cabinet storage than I know what to do with.

Those are my major dreams concerning the home. In the meantime, we will go on enjoying being in our home. After all it is the love that makes a house a home, not the actual structure.

Pumpkin Patch

Jonathan and the "not scary haunted house".


Our daughter the giant. She is almost 4' tall and only 5.


I can't believe how big he has gotten. He will be 3 next month.


Kayley, Jonathan, and my dad as "monsters".


Kayley and the "Haunted House". Jonathan wouldn't get anywhere near it.

Our Little Girl is 5!

It seems like just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the very first time. In some ways she is still very much my "little" girl, but in other ways she can be so grown up.

Recently Kayley watched me dealing with her little brother in the grocery store (Jonathan was in full blown stinker mode). She said to me, "Sometimes being a mother is really hard huh." I replied that it is, but that I love it. She then asked me if it was fun sometimes. I said it was, and she wanted some examples. She paused for a moment and then said, "You know. Sometimes it is hard to be a kid too." She was almost shocked when I agreed and mentioned several things that can be hard about childhood.

A different day, she insisted that I write down the phone number of the police (She has already memorized our phone number and grandma and grandpa's. She likes to dial the numbers herself). I thought that maybe it would be good for her to learn about 911, but then I had a feeling that she had an ulterior motive. I decided to put her off for the time being.

As we were driving to the store, we passed a police car. She said that she would like the police officer to take away her brother because he would not listen to HER. I asked her if she thought the police should come and pick her up when she doesn't listen to me. She didn't like that idea. We then talked about what police officers actually do. I still don't trust her with that number yet.

Well, Happy Birthday my sweet daughter. I love you!

Lake Powell Trip

We leave for Lake Powell next Tuesday. My husband had won a houseboat trip in May and now we are finally going to take it. I'm a little nervous because I'm not in the best shape right now. My knee still is working at about 85% of what it can normally do, and well as most of you know I'm quickly approaching being very pregnant. It should still be really fun. I may just have to cut back on all of the hiking that I want to do.

If you've been to Lake Powell, where was your favorite place to go?