Four Stitches & A Project

I wish I could say I got four stitches building my kids their train/craft table, but I sliced it open cutting up cooked chicken for Martin's lunch before construction even started on the table. This means we sat in the immediate care place for over an hour getting my thumb fixed before work on the table could start. I am so thankful that Jared was home and my sisters could come over, on short notice, and watch Martin. He loves them. 

My awesome husband still made it this far along with the tables progress.  I will try painting it this week while Martin naps. We just have to buy two more plastic bins. My original plans called for drawers, but plastic bins are cheaper and easier, plus they have a lid. The top shelf will be art supplies, the bottom shelf will hold train pieces, and the bigger side bin will hold assorted toys. 

I plan to paint part of a wall with chalkboard paint. Jared is also going to build shelves on the wall up high so we can store various other toys. 

Before

Middle 

More pictures once the painting and shelves are finished. I am pretty excited!!! 

Wardrobe Update

I had been meaning to make curtains for the front of the wardrobe for five years.  I finally did. I didn't have quite enough linen fabric to cover both sides, so I added the red strip to the top. I wish I could say I planned to have it there because I think it adds to it. I am contemplating screen printing an ampersand on the fabric. 

Before

After

Martin has a cold, but he sweetly sat in his chair while I sewed this morning. He is a pretty good baby. We have also been reading books and throwing a ball back and forth while listening to BBC news. He loves books and I am so glad. It has been a pretty relaxing morning. 

Yesterday, we went blueberry picking and bought a half bushel of peaches. I will let you know what we do with them. I tried a new cobbler recipe last night, but didn't like it. The rest of the peaches are still not ripe. I am thinking I will make jam once they start to soften. 

Do you have any weekend plans? I am hoping to make shelves for Martin's closet and a play table for his toy closet. If I get one of those finished I will be super happy. 

VBS

Guess the theme...

I drew these while Martin took a nap. My snack room is the research and development lab. I am decorating the walls with hand sketches, posters of different planets with fun facts on them, and real NASA posters (thanks, Michelle). I have model satellites hanging from the ceiling and old computer parts sitting around on tables.  I am also wearing a lab coat. Ha ha. More pictures to come. 

I am trying to think of some hands on experiments or things the kids can touch that I can have sitting around on tables as well. They only have ten minutes for snack, so it can't be that intense. Maybe some corn starch slime or some moon sand. I was planning on filling jars with colored water and placing them in the window sill. 

Here is my menu for snacks this year (each day has its own theme):

1. Moon Monday
Moon rocks (rice crispie treats in a sphere shape)
Satellites (cheese cubes and pretzel sticks)

2. Jupiter - the red spot planet
Jam thumb print cookies
Rocket cheese crackers & planet pretzels
Yogurt and fruit (spots)

3. Saturn - rings
Pizza bagels
Fruit rings

4. Sun and stars
Star cookies
Satellites again

5. Neptune - blue planet
Something blue and cold (probably ice pops)

Leftovers

Week 24

We have had a busy day today and it is just lunchtime. We went to the OB this morning. Everything looks great. Thank God for two healthy pregnancies so far. With both baby #2 and Martin they have trouble finding the heartbeat, which is not worrying because I can feel the baby bouncing around in there. My kids just don't like to sit in one place for too long. The nurse chases him around my stomach and he kicks the microphone. It makes me laugh, which sounds strange through the microphone. The doctor had to hold down one side of my stomach today to force the baby to sit on the other side. Silly baby. 

I have gained 20 pounds, which puts me nearly where I want to be. With Martin I had gained 24 pounds by the same time.  So I am already doing better. My goal is to gain only 35 pounds this time (I gained 40 last time). But really I would be happy with anything under 40. As Jared keeps reminding me, "nine months on, nine months off". He is right; I shouldn't expect to lose it faster than I gained it. 

I have no cravings. I love savory foods, but that is how I usually eat. I would much rather order a crab dip appetizer, than a dessert. I have read a couple books, but I forgot to write them down.  I should make a list on my blog of the books I read each year. Maybe I will make a page for that. 

Martin and I stopped by Arby's on the way home to steal some internet and download a new book on my kindle. Then we came home and ate lunch at 10:30 (when you eat breakfast at 6 or 6:30, you get hungrier earlier). 

I made tacos and spaghetti & meatballs for dinners. I am going to make homemade pasta in a little while. I also have a pan of black bean brownies in the oven. I keep reading about them online and curiosity (and a craving for chocolate) finally overcame my disgust of mixing chocolate and beans. All the recipes are from, surprise surprise, America's Test Kitchen except the brownies. I love their taco recipe; I make it all the time. It is so easy and so much better than the little envelope of seasonings. This is the first time I have tried their meatballs and spaghetti sauce. I will have to let you know later how they turn out. 

Another reason summer is okay, fresh herbs for foods from my yard. This is basil and my favorite chef knife that Jared bought me for Christmas. I love it!!! 

Vinagar

It is a good thing I have switched to cleaning with vinagar because my baby is super sneaky and somehow finds a way to reach the cleaning supplies and spray them all over himself and his room. 

I left him reading a book on the couch, in the living room, to go take some things to the washing machine. I had been cleaning his baseboards and walls in his room. Even though the spray bottle was on his changing table, he somehow managed to get it and drench his shirt and pants with it. Knowing him, he probably drank a few sprays too. 

Should I get him his own spray bottle to play with in the bathtub? Or do you think this would just confuse him and he would think it was okay to play with all spray bottles? I don't think he would know the difference. 

Ps. That is his new favorite book. I reminded my parents that it was one of my favorite books and they bought him a copy for my birthday. :) I love it just as much as when I was a kid. 

I love summer meals.

But I don't like the summer heat.  The fresh food makes summer bearable, but it is still my least favorite season.  For dinner, last night, we had burgers, fresh green beans and new potatoes, fresh corn, and cantaloupe.  So delicious. 

I also made Martin three beanbags yesterday. He went around the house happily throwing them down on the floor last night while I cooked dinner. 

Thunk 

thunk 

thunk. 

We went grocery shopping and then to VBS decorating from 10-12:30. During his nap I cleaned the house and started dinner. Unfortunately, the fire department stopped by right after I put him down for a nap and wanted to test my smoke detectors. I had to tell them no. I felt more sorry for Martin because I know he would have loved to see the fire engine parked outside. Oh well, there will be other fire engines. Maybe he will even get to ride on one.

Martin loves all cars and trucks right now. He chants, "ca ca ca ca" whenever he see anything with four wheels.  He has also been making this funny hissing noise, when playing with his fire truck, and I didn't know what it was until there was a semi truck in front of us at the light and I heard the air brakes go off and then from my back seat I heard Martin copy it. So funny. Having a baby is one of the most entertaining things.  I love having him around!! 

Five Years!!

I love you, Jared! Thanks for marrying me. It has been wonderful. 

Thank you also to everyone who helped make the day so special. I was blown away with how beautiful and perfect the day was. Everything was perfect and I had so much fun celebrating with so many of my favorite people.  I am so glad so many people came out to celebrate in my parents backyard with us. We felt so loved. 

I love being a family with you. 

Kindle Cover

Anna and Andrew gave me a Kindle for my birthday. They are always super generous and the most wonderful host and hostess!!! They take amazing pictures and adore Martin. I would say they are my favorite siblings, but I have four other amazing siblings (when you count their spouses) and they are each perfectly wonderful in their own way. I love them all. 

 I studied e-ink technology and flexible electronics in graduate school and I find e-readers fascinating. Besides the science part of loving the Kindle, I love being able to borrow books from the library without even going (although, my library card is expired...how did that happen?). I need to fix that before this new baby arrives.  

I am looking forward to reading a bunch of books while I nurse this little boy. Martin was distracted by the noise of pages turning, but I won't have that issue with the Kindle. :) 

I wasn't sure if I would like reading off a Kindle because I love holding and smelling a real book (which is why I have never bought one). However, I have read two books now on the Kindle and I do like it. I can't say it is better than a book. I love leafing through the pages of a favorite book and clicking in the screen doesn't have the same feel. Also, I don't like how distracting the features are. I don't want to skip to other parts of the book with the same character or look up a word. But I do like how convenient it is. And the library borrowing is a definite plus. Welcome to my life, little Kindle. 

I followed a few tutorials online to make this and fudged a bit on the size. I choose a bunch of my favorite fabrics that I have been saving. 

Oh, and I made homemade English muffins. They are so easy and delicious. 

I will stock my freezer with these before the baby arrives. I love them toasted with homemade jam or butter and honey. So delicious. I forget if I have posted the recipe, if I have not, I will post it later. They are super easy and you cook them in the stove. 

What's For Dinner

Pesto and pasta

Rustic Dinner Rolls (from ATK) - soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Incredible. Recipe to follow. 

And salads (thanks to all the fresh produce). I don't like raw vegetables, thankfully, Jared does. 

Dessert will be fruit again, cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, and blueberries. 

Happy Independence Day!!

Jared and I made a runner for the holiday.  :) 

Carnitas

This is a recipe that is based off a recipe that is based off an America's Test Kitchen recipe. I changed the quantities of a few things and the cooking method. 

Ingredients

3-1/2-5lb. Pork shoulder, butt, or picnic

1 onion, peeled and halved

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

2 T lime or lemon juice

2 T red wine vinagar

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 bay leaf

1 orange

Note: The original recipe calls for you to cut up the pork into two inch chunks and cook it in the spices and two cups of water, in the over in for two hours until it is tender. Then you pick it apart, reduce the liquid, and broil the meat until it is a bit crispy. I didn't want to cut up my pork or use the oven. 

Place pork in crockpot. Place onions in crockpot and squeeze oranges into a bowl, place orange skins on top of pork. Online I read the oranges could get bitter if cooked too long, so I removed the skins half way through. In bowl with orange juice mix the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the pork. 

Cook 4-6 hours. Shread pork.  Strain remaining juices and place in saucepan. Reduce juice on stove until a glaze like consistency. Coat pork with this glaze. 

I like mine with pico, black beans, and cheese. Jared adds sour cream. The corn tortillas are super easy. They are just corn masa and water. I have a tortilla press. :) I love it. 

What we have been eating.

America's Test Kitchen Pork Carnitas with fresh pico de gallo and homemade corn tortillas. These are amazing!! Amazing!!  I love them. I will post the recipe soon. So easy. 

Also atk, double chocolate chewy cookies. I think I put too much coffee in these and they taste like mocha cookies instead, but still delicious. Maybe I should measure more carefully when I bake... 

Pesto (pictures later once we eat it). I had basil in my csa bag and I needed to use it up before it went bad. 

Zucchini bread (also, atk). It isn't cut yet. It is for breakfast this weekend. 

Watermelon

Cantaloupe

Peaches

Blueberries

Cucumbers

Banana Pancakes (recipe on blog)

Tomorrow I am making a fruit crisp and maybe a cobbler too. We will see how ambitious I am. And I am planning in making homemade pasta on Saturday to go with the pesto. 

Another Birthday Present

1028 pages of goodness!! I am pretty excited about this. This is the biggest cookbook I have ever seen. 

I would really like to try their fresh pasta recipe and glazed carrots this week. Also, I am eying some desserts for this weekend. I will let you know what I decide. 

Thanks Mom and Dad!! 

Sick

When I was pregnant with Martin, I caught 3 or 4 colds and they lasted longer than normal colds because I was pregnant. This time around I thought that I might miss out on some of the colds because it would be summer. Well, I have missed out on all colds so far, but in exchange I have had two stomach bugs. I would pick the colds if given the choice. 

I went bed at 730 last night, as soon as I came home from church. I thought I was just really tired. Stomach problems hit a few hours later. I woke up so achy this morning. Thankfully, my parents came and picked up Martin so I could rest. My house is so quiet. I miss him, but I had no energy to watch him. 

They keep sending me updates and photos. I think he is having a great time. So far they have been to the zoo, watered plants in the garden, and read books. What fun! 

Granddad and Martin read the mail. 

Martin reads Granddad a book. 

Martin waits for his grandparents this morning to pick him up. He pulled this old milk jug out of the recycling a few weeks ago and loves to play with it. Who needs toys? 

Thanks to my wonderful parents for watching him. You are the best. Maybe some day I can watch Martin's children for him. 

Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Martin and I have been blueberry picking 4 times. We have picked 25 pounds of blueberries. We ate the first 18 pounds. We are pigs. This is the first thing I have actually made with my blueberries. 

I would normally have put the topping on the crisp right away and baked it, but we took it up to Annapolis to visit my of my good friends. We bought vanilla ice cream at Trader Joes to go on top. It was amazing. 

The original recipe calls for only 4 peaches or apples. I used 10 peaches and about 2-3 cups of blueberries. 

Ingredients:

10 peaches + 2-3 cups blueberry

1/2 to 1 stick butter (depends in how buttery you want it)

3/4 c. Brown sugar

Dash salt

1-1/2 c. Flour (I used part whole wheat because I ran out of white)

2 c. Rolled oats

1 T cinnamon

Layer the fruit in a 9"x13" baking dish. 

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. I use a pastry cutter, but the oats make it hard to fully incorporate it. I switch over to my hands partway through. 

Dump topping over fruit. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. 

Produce

Aren't these carrots so pretty?

I am so glad I am splitting a csa box because I couldn't eat a small on my own. I made carrot risotto and zucchini bread yesterday. Today I am going to pick up more blueberries and some peaches!!! 

Wetbags

I made these for a shower gift. They were super simple. The zipper at the top of each is the only slightly tricky part. One is full size and can hold 20 diapers or so until you can wash them. The smaller one  can hold 3-5 and can be used in your diaper bag while you are out. 

Also, one of  my friends pointed out that you can use this for wet bathing suits or other damp items you wish to take home that you would normally throw in a plastic grocery bag. I might have to make another one for Martin when I start potty training him. 

Haircut

It has been over a year since I have had my hair cut. I like my hair long, but it has been giving me a headache recently when I wear it up.  The length also drags my curls down. 

Before

After

My head feels so much lighter. And my hair will hopefully be much curlier... As long as I don't towel dry it like I did this morning. It is so much easier to wash and dry. 

I haven't blogged much because I have been finishing projects around the house, decluttering, and writing letters to my brother, who is at boot camp this summer. Also, someone in my house has been skipping his naps and testing the limits. :) Thankfully, today I wore him out and he is napping right now. Hooray. 

My kitchen

I just love everything about my kitchen: the counter space, the windows, the colors, the dishes, and everything else!! For such a small area, it gives me such a great space for cooking. Plus, it helps me cut down on keeping things I don't need (ie who needs fifteen or twenty knives, I have my favorite three). I was in the process of laying out dinner plates for some guests we are having for dinner tonight, but I just had to post a picture because it made me so happy.  This is my favorite room in the house and the reason I cook so much. I love it! 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Along with stuffed shells, yesterday I made granola, peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip cookies (all for my church's women's retreat this weekend).    I thought, if I was going to have the oven on this week that it might as well be all at once. I froze the cookies. 

I tried a new recipe for peanut butter cookies. Yes, it is from America's Test Kitchen (PS. For my birthday I am getting a cookbook of theirs that has 1000 recipes, so expect to see even more goodness). For once I followed the recipe perfectly and didn't make any changes. Well, maybe I used salted butter and peanuts and cut down the salt I added.  I don't think that should count. 

Makes 3 dozen if you make 2T scoops

Makes 5 dozen if you make 1-1/2T scoops

Ingredients. 

2-1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

16 T butter softened

1 c brown sugar

1 c sugar

1 c extra crunchy peanut butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup peanuts pulsed in food processor until it looks like bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Which flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. 

3. Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. If your butter is softened on a hot day like yesterday, this step is so quick. Add peanut butter. Beat two minutes. Add eggs. Beat two minutes. Add vanilla. Mix until combined. Add flour mixture until just combined (don't overmix the flour or the cookies will be tough). Stir by hand to make sure everything is mixed together evenly. 

4. Scoop dough on to parchment lined baking sheets. Press each dough ball with a fork dipped in cold water. 

5. Bake 10-14 minutes until cookies are puffy and slightly brown around the edges. They will not look fully baked. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Finish cooking on wire rack until completely cool before eating.