Better than a defibrillator...

I called my husband at work this morning...He said, "Hello?" I said, "We have a baby!!!" He said, "WHAT?!?!?" I said, "A. had her baby last night." He said, "Oh, you scared the "beep" out of me." LOL!! I think I've just discovered an alternative to the defibrillator!

Anyway, A. is my niece. My first niece actually. And last night she had her first baby, and my 1st grandnephew. I have 3 grandnieces, but this is the first grandnephew. And because we are all mama's, and we always want to see pictures of babies...



Isn't God's creation amazing?

Well, I'm off to see the little guy and then I have a cake and some cookies to get finished! Pictures to follow!

Amen and Amen

I just got home from picking up B. at youth group. When I went into the church to wait for him, they were having worship and they were singing this song that just made me say, "Yes, that's what I want." And I thought I'd share it with you all...

The more I seek You, The more I find You.
The more I find You, The more I love You.

I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand.
Lay back against You and breathe.
Feel Your heartbeat.

This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand.
I melt in Your peace.
It's overwhelming.

Amen and Amen!

Can I start this day over?????

It's been a tough day...

It's been a day that begged for an entire bag of Hershey's "Special Dark" miniatures...

It's been a day that pleaded for a bucket (not a pitcher) of margaritas WITH SALT...

Unfortunately, the mean, mean, doctor-man took such medications away from me and substituted them with 5 giant horsepills...

Paula Deen made some yummy looking "Pecan Squares" today that were "technically" not allowed either, but I would have taken the risk, if I had been willing to put back on the 8 lbs. I've just spent six weeks sweating off!!! I swear I hear Bob Harper in my head whenever I even think about eating something with more than 10 calories in it!

Anyway, the good news is that today is over. The kids have all been sent to bed. (notice I didn't say that they were all in bed, because that would be presumptuous on my part!) I have some tasty low sodium tuna salad waiting in the fridge for me. And tomorrow will start fresh with no mistakes in it....let's hope I can make it through breakfast before they all start piling up again!

Just One More Reason Why I'm Glad I Started a Blog!

First, a little background...

Two days ago while out for my morning run, I noticed that in the front yard of one of the houses was a brown recliner. Now, said recliner was turned over on it's side, but it looked like it was in pretty good shape. It is not unusual to find large pieces of furniture out near the curb in our neighborhood especially on trash day. You see there are people who drive around on trash day and look for such things to pick up either for their own use, or to fix up and sell to someone else.

That said, this was not trash day, and this recliner was not at the curb...it was just in the yard, close to the fence, next to the house. Then this morning on my run, I was ruing the day that I decided I didn't need to get a camera phone the last time I got a new one. In fact, there was a man walking down the hill that I was running up, and I told him, "You are gonna wish you had a camera phone when you turn that corner!" So, I finished my run....I stepped up my pace just a bit...and picked up my camera and drove myself back (I'm not crazy ya'll) to get this picture to share with all my bloggy friends!



And yes, he is asleep. I couldn't believe he was still there when I got back! Now, I have no idea how or why he ended up sleeping outside in a recliner, but I've come up with a few possibilities:

1) He partied a little too much last night, and actually passed out in the chair.

2) His wife is the one who dragged his favorite chair outside, and he decided to go out with it.

3) He was actually up early this morning having his quiet time with the Lord and was not actually sleeping, but just very deep in prayer!

So come on ya'll, think up your own reasons or even just a caption for this photo and share it with me in the comments. This could just make my whole day!!!

Football Season has Begun!

Well, I just cancelled my Blockbuster movie service. Football season started last week, and I've had one DVD here waiting to be watched for 2 weeks. Not to mention that I have 2 episodes of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" and 2 episodes of "Iron Chef America", as well as a few "Emeril Lives" and "Paula Deens" waiting for me on the DVR.

Since I started running in the mornings, I lost my tv time. I used to record my shows and then watch them sans commercials in the morning before the kids got up. Since I've been running at 6:15am (aack!!!), there has been no time for tv. I really don't know what I'm going to do when "House", "24", and "American Idol" return with new episodes. There may be some serious twitching going on here!

So, just to catch you all up...Benji and Jon are playing tackle football, Maddie will be cheering for one or the other, or maybe even both teams! Jon had asked me a few months ago if he could play football again (he switched to soccer last year), but I thought it was too late to sign him up and still get the discounted price I paid for the other two by signing them up early, and there was NO WAY we could afford to pay full price. However, he asked again during practice yesterday if there was any way he could play, so I asked, and because they are sooooo nice, they let me sign him up for the discounted "returning player" fee since he did play in the past. So, today will be spent trying to get a last-minute physical done, buying new shoulder pads and various other equipment that he'll need...sigh.

I've also had to seriously cut back on the number of cakes I am making because time is quite short here between school and football. Not really a good time to be forking out all this extra money, if you know what I mean! However, I'm convinced that God will provide all that we need, and when He does, I promise to come back here and let you all know how He did it! Won't that be fun? Maybe I'll start my own meme and have people write posts about ways God provided for their needs in unexpected ways! I like that idea. In fact, I may even have a great giveaway for the occasion!

You see, I've just received my first "blogging perk" in the mail. Zondervan publishing contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reading a new book they have out and writing a review here on the blog. The book has nothing to do with cakes, kids, dishes, OR laundry, but for some reason, they asked me to review it. I received the book this week and have only gotten through the introduction and part of the first chapter so far, but I'm excited about reading it. When I'm all finished, if it turns out to be as good as I think it will be, I'll give away a copy. So everyone be thinking of and watching out for ways that God has or does provide for you in unexpected ways, and I'll get a button designed and get this thing going soon. STAY TUNED!!!

Well, it's time to get started on my day. Yes, I'm still cooking two big meals each day, at the moment it is breakfast and our noon meal. During football season, we have to leave the house by 5:00pm and don't return until around 8:30pm at the earliest. And since I don't want to fill the kids up with a big meal right before practice, and I definitely don't want to come back and have to put on a big meal AFTER practice, I cook "dinner" at noon and they kids have a light meal after practice while rotating their turns in the bathtub! I do have another recipe to share with you all, but as I said, it's time to fix breakfast around here, so I'm off for now!

Thanks for stopping by, and ya'll come back now...ya' hear?!?

A Little Catching Up

As Boomama would say..."A list is really my only option".

1. I have been terribly lax in not only writing my own blog, but in reading all of my friends as well. (By the way, if you haven't been to Big Mama's Place in awhile, you really should. She's very funny when she's dealing with PMS, ya'll.) But, I digress...my
dear friend, Lisa, over at The Preacher's Wife bestowed upon me the
award just because I can make a cake that looks like a uterus.



So, thank you Lisa. I do not believe that the adjective "Rockin" has even been used to describe me before, but you can bet I'll let my kids know that you said I was!!!

2. There has been an on-going debate at our house as to whether or not we need a gate to place in the doorway of D's room at night to, you know, cage the little animal. You see, little D manages to get up sometimes in the middle of the night and wreak havoc around the house. I have awaken to find that every.single.light.in.the.house. was on, and there was little D with a pencil and a stack of mail, just writing to his heart's content. As I entered the brightly lit room, with my half-open eyes, I heard a much too cheerful voice greeting me with "MOM! I! WITE! I! WITE!" (D-speak for "Look at all my beautiful writing, don't you think I should have my own blog?) I have also awakened to find little toddler-sized bites missing from some of the cookie bouquets that were awaiting delivery the next morning....ergh!!! And just this week, the little booger got ahold of the birthday cake cookies that I had drying on top of the stove (the ones I posted pictures of yesterday) and ate some!! I had to make more cookies and deliver them a day later than planned because of that little monster!! (Have I mentioned that he really is a cute little kid? And that I love him more than chocolate? Cause he is, and I do!) So, can you guess which member of the family is "Pro-Gate"???? The Man is a strong believer in just "teaching the kids that some things are off-limits". Which I completely agree with when it comes to the TV remote, or the cordless phone, or pretty much anything else I can monitor...WHILE I'M AWAKE! I really can't monitor what happens while I'm asleep, so I'm opting for the gate. Now last night...while the Man was on duty and D was supposed to be sleeping, the Man left the room for a minute and came back to find D eating a large amount of candy...a "Nerd Rope" to be exact. I believe we may be getting that gate soon after all...heh, heh, heh!

3. Tonight is my last night of freedom. You see, yesterday was my 15 year anniversary. Yep, that's right. 15 years ago, and a little more than 15 pounds ago, I wore this dress and pledged my life to this man...



...and no, that's not why this is my last night of freedom. It is my last night of freedom because tomorrow night we are going out to celebrate said anniversary (we waited so we could see the movie "No Reservations" that doesn't open until tomorrow). Saturdays are just always jam-packed. Sunday night is the parent's meeting to kick off football season. And Monday is the FIRST DAY OF FOOTBALL PRACTICE!!! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm totally psyched about the start of football season...because, as you know, I HEART FOOTBALL. But, my evenings will be spent chasing a two-year old around the field while trying to watch both the football AND the cheer practice so that when my kids ask "Did you see that?" I can truthfully say, "Yes, I sure did!" Oh yeah, and trying to get pictures of all of it for posterity, coach's gifts, and blog fodder!

So, that said, I'm off to enjoy my last night of freedom by folding the laundry, loading the dishwasher, and watching "Dreamer" with my kids while we have this one last chance....sigh. Thanks for stopping by for the rambling drivel...again!

Mi Vida Loca and a Chicken Recipe!

Yes, that's right. Life is crazy around here lately...not that it isn't always crazy, but for some reason I can't even seem to find a minute to blog lately! And we all KNOW that that is just NOT going to fly. Blogging is my outlet. Blogging is my link to the outside world. BLOGGING KEEPS ME SANE!!!! So, we're going to have to do something about the schedule to make sure that "Mama gets her blog time"!!

So, although I don't have time to actually, you know, write an interesting and witty post, I am going to steal a minute to post the promised chicken recipe and the cookie pictures from yesterday.

Chicken Stewed in Pineapple

1 1/2 cups juice-packed unsweetened pineapple chunks
1 cup red onions, chopped (I only used 1/4-1/2 cup as I'm feeding little kids too.)
1/2 cup tomatoes chopped, peeled (I didn't peel mine...who has time?!?)
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
12 ounces chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 2-inch pieces

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat, bring pineapple with juice, onions, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper to a boil. Boil uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in chicken and return mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

Yield 6 servings

Nutritional Values

Fat: 1 g.
Carbs: 19 g.
Protein: 14 g.
Calories: 136 kcal.

Now, just for your information, my chicken breasts were frozen, and my day was busy (as usual), so I just stuck everything in the crockpot around noon and cooked it on high for 1 hour then turned it to low and cooked it until we were ready to eat (about 6:00pm). I removed the chicken and pineapple from the crockpot and then poured the liquid into a pot on the stove. I put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of cold water and mixed it together. Then I added that to the pot and cooked it on medium-high heat until I had a good thick sauce. I made brown rice for the kids and whole wheat couscous for myself. I made a bed of rice, added some chicken and pineapple, then poured some of the sauce over it...YUM! We also had green beans and salad...just in case you were interested!

Now for the picture of the cookies...

(There's actually a good story to go with this picture, but I'm out of time, so it will have to wait for another day!)



And I'm afraid that's all for now. Did you read this as fast as I typed it??? It seems like when I read it through for editing purposes, I was reading at light speed! Anyway, thanks for stopping by...sorry to rush you out the door, but I gotta git!