Life Lately, June 21

Now that I'm back to blogging, here's a recap of our spring and summer.  You know we went on a big trip to PA. 

I don't think I ever mentioned that Robert started a PhD last August, so he's almost finished with his first year!  He's studying Pastoral Ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  It'll be a long road since he is continuing to be a full-time pastor while in school, but we think he has about two years of class left followed by working on his dissertation for two or three years.  He's doing great!  For each class he goes in person to KC for 40 hours of seated time, and the rest of the class he completes from home.  When he goes in person he gets to stay with his mom and her husband which is really nice! He even made his own "Cloffice" (closet office) for studying at home.  I'm so proud of him!

Sarah had such an amazing year at preschool.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience for her.  She went two mornings a week, and next school year she'll be in PreK three mornings a week.  She learned how to identify all lowercase and uppercase letters, improved in her counting and handwriting skills, made news friends, and enjoyed the special Spanish and Stretch and Grow classes.  She's so sad that school is out for summer which is absolutely precious to me. 

Sarah had her first haircut in March, and she loved it!  I had the same lady who gave me my first haircut do it for Sarah.  My mom still gets her hair done there, and she got to come too.  Sarah got her hair washed, cut, and styled.  She wants to go back every day!

My mom retired in May, and we're so excited to spend more time with her! 

Sarah says the funnest and most adorable things regularly.  Here are some examples:

• She made up some verses for Hush Little Baby: Hush, little baby, Mama's gonna get you a heart, and if that heart should break she'll put it in the trash, but she'll have to sweep it up first. Mama's gonna buy you some hairspray, and if that hairspray runs out Mama's gonna buy you some hair gel.
• If you don't poop for a long time it can causes problems.
• What does my soul look like?
• It breaks Jesus' heart when we fight
• That's a pretty house.  Maybe when I get married I can buy it and we can be neighbors.  That'd be fun!
• Thank you for not making me ride in my stroller.  Dad makes me, and it's so embarrassing!
• Can you please contact Ms Sandy and tell her I won't be at preschool any longer?  I've grown up and will be going to high school.
• Do you know who the king is? Jesus!
• Remember that gross McDonald's in West Plains, and it had a lot of flies?  Yeah, at least there weren't any bears.
• What was it like when you were pregnant with Mittens?
• When I'm holding a baby, he's so warm and cuddly that it feels like he's holding me!
• God, please help Taylor Swift to become a Christian.
• Mittens turns 7 on Saturday.  Is she old enough to go to college now?
• I'm good at practicing being 4!
• The top of my feet are cold, and the bottom of my feet are warm just like how some planets in the universe are hot and some are cold!
• I'm allergic to dust so I'm never going to the moon since it has so much dust! (Robert says you'd wear a helmet and have oxygen so the dust wouldn't bother you.) Okay, if I go to the moon Dad can come with me to keep away the meanies.
• I heard there are streets of gold in heaven.  I can't wait to see them.

2019 Books so far

I know I am the last person on the planet to do so, but I read the entire Harry Potter series this year from January-April.  I loved it!  I don't need to give a review because you've probably already read the books or watched the movies, but it was great, and I didn't want it to end.  I had wanted to read more fiction in 2018 and didn't do it, but I feel like I definitely made up for it over the first four months of 2019!

I followed it up with some nonfiction and read It's Not Supposed to be This Way. I found myself nodding in agreement and crying throughout it.

In MOPS this year we had a guest speaker who became a widow in her 20's when her husband battled colon cancer.  I received her memoir, What I Wasn't Expecting When I Was Expecting, as well.  It's a quick read and kept my attention.  I enjoyed being able to support a local author, and her story was gripping.

So I've read nine books so far this year.  Obviously, the Harry Potter books were all very long.  Robert bought me a few books at Lifeway when everything was on clearance before it closed, so I have a few books on my "Want to Read" bookshelf: Sacred Parenting, Love Where You Live: How to Live Sent in the Place You Call Home, Born to Wander: Recovering the Value of our Pilgrim Identity, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles that can Radically Change Your Family, and The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity.

What are you reading these days?

Christmas 2018

Well, Christmas 2018 was 6 months ago, and Christmas 2019 is just 6 months away.  I guess it means I should recap last Christmas finally!

On Christmas Eve we went to service at our church, and then we went and had a sleepover with Memaw.  It was Sarah's first time to spend the night there, and it was very special.

Robert had some vacation time left to use up so he was able to mostly work four day weeks in December which was really nice!

We went to an alumni event at Drury with my parents and enjoyed a Christmas breakfast, crafts, music, and a visit from Santa.  This Santa was rather short, and Sarah said, "That's not the real Santa.  It must be his brother."

Sarah and the other pre-k kids at church did a great rendition of Little Drummer Boy!

Sarah got to participate in a Nutcracker ballet clinic and had a blast!

Decorating was so much fun this year!

We enjoyed a weekend trip with my parents!

Sarah loves Sweet Milk aka eggnog and building gingerbread houses.

Sarah had a darling concert at school.  Dad, Robert, and I were able to attend.  They sang a few songs, and Santa even made an appearance.

We even spied Santa at Sky Zone!

We went to KC for a weekend with Robert's family and a pit stop to visit Jim.  Taylor was at work. :(

On Christmas morning Sarah was thrilled to open presents of course.  This is also when Jim and Taylor told Sarah that Taylor is pregnant.  Sarah found it hard to believe since Taylor's tummy didn't look very pregnant yet, but now she can't wait to meet baby Will and enjoys feeling for his kicks.

Tasty Recipes

I wanted to share some recipes with you that I found on Pinterest, tried, and our family liked.  Robert and I both enjoy cooking, but with two kids at home, I typically need to look for recipes that are fast or can be prepared in advance.  Sarah is old enough now that she truly can help which is very fun! 

Snickerdoodles - Robert has historically said that he doesn't like snickerdoodles which is a shame because I love them.  I found this recipe for a thick and chewy version, and he loves them!  I guess what he doesn't like about most snickerdoodles is when they're thin and crispy, so if you're the same way, you will like these!

Lettuce wraps - I guess these are a replica of a menu item at P.F Chang's, but I actually make it as a salad instead of a wrap.  You can use romaine or any other lettuce mix you like.  I omit the mushrooms because Sarah and I don't like them.  If you don't have almond butter, use natural peanut butter.  I've even used natural crunchy peanut butter before and it wasn't a big deal.  If you use almond butter it'll be Whole30 compliant.

Refried beans - It seems a little over the top to make your own refried beans, but when I got a pressure cooker I was looking for recipes and found this one.  I don't use dried beans because Aldi doesn't have them, so I seriously just use a large can of pinto beans and less water than it calls for.  Robert says he can never eat canned refried beans again after having this.  After it's cooked, I drain out some of the water before blending it up with my emulsion blender.

Sausage, egg, and cheese balls - Ok, these are amazing.  You can't taste the coconut flour at all, and they taste like a treat and not like they're keto.  Everyone loves them.  Sarah can usually eat three which is saying something!  Instead of using breakfast sausage we use plain ground pork.

Chicken sausage and veggie sheet pan - I came across this recipe a few years ago and now I make a variation of it at least once a month.  You just need chicken sausage, any vegetables you have on hand, oil, and spices.  You can't go wrong!!!

Homemade breakfast sausage - This tastes just as good as store-bought sausage and is so much better for you!  You can make it without salt if that's necessary for your health needs and you really can't tell a difference.  Make a bunch in advance and freeze as patties or ground up.

Cranberry jalapeno dip - This dip is amazing!  It's one of those where you could sit down and eat the whole thing.  You have to prepare some of it the night before, but it's worth it!

What are some of your favorite recipes these days?

Trip to the East

My dad, Robert, Sarah, and I drove to Pennsylvania in 2015 when Sarah was two months old, and this spring it was time to do it again!  We went over spring break and had a great time!  Sarah really did do well in the car.

3.5 years ago and this time as well, we stayed in Ohio next to another church called South Gate, so Robert needed to document it!

It was so great to see everyone!  Sarah loved seeing her family and didn't want to leave.  Such a special time!

We spent some of our time at my grandparents' house and got to go to a bouncy house and the park and had lots of yummy food!

Then we spent a couple of days in Philadelphia, or as Sarah calls it, Phillyadelphia.  She was so excited to swim in the pool!  We were there for 48 hours, and she swam three times. 

I think we did all that can be done in 48 hours.  We had tickets for a Hop on Hop off bus, and it took us everywhere we wanted to go.  We got to see plenty of things from it like Betsy Ross' house and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  We got off there so Robert and Dad could run up the stairs from Rocky!  We ate a few meals at Reading Terminal Market which was right next to our hotel.  We got to see the Liberty Bell and toured Independence Hall.

We all had a blast at Please Touch Museum.  The carousel was Sarah's favorite part!

The Franklin Institute was probably my favorite!  Sarah got to walk through a huge heart exhibit and crawl through a brain exhibit!

It wore out Sarah!

Such a great trip, and we're thankful we got to go!

Recent House Projects

When we bought our house, the tub in our bathroom was cracked.  We patched it and bought some time, but last summer it was time to replace it.  We decided to install a large shower instead of a shower/tub combo, and we still have one of those in Sarah's bathroom.  Robert did it all by himself, and I'm so impressed! He ripped out the old one, and then, unfortunately, our new shower was back ordered, so we had to share a shower with Sarah for about a month, but it wasn't too bad.  We had to drive about 45 minutes to pick up the shower, so that was an adventure having it strapped to the top of my SUV!  Robert installed the shower, and it looks great!  We ended up painting the bathroom as well.  We couldn't afford a shower door right then, so we just used our old curtain.  For Christmas we got gift cards and money, and we were able to buy a shower door.  I apparently haven't taken any real after pictures, but the before was purple, and the after is green.  In the last picture you can see our new shower door behind the old curtain.

I'm so happy with our lawn this year!  We've worked hard on it, and I feel like this year we are really reaping the rewards.  Year one was the year of not knowing what we were doing, year two was the year of killing weeds, year three was the year of growing grass, and now year four is the year of fine-tuning.  Our mailman commented that he's seen such an improvement since we bought our house, and he asked us what our method was.  A stranger stopped me while she was on a walk and said our grass looked great.  That was such encouraging feedback!

Always good to remember where you came from...

And now!

In May, Robert's fell through our deck while sitting in a patio chair!  We knew it was time to do something about our deck.  He ripped it out and replaced it with a gravel patio.  I love it!  This was a super cheap project and very economical for anyone wanting a patio who can't afford a wood deck or concrete slab.  We bought one scoop of 1/2" limestone gravel for about $35.  We bought three 4"x6"x12' pre-treated boards and nailed them into the ground using nine 2' rebar stakes.  The old deck actually already had old brown gravel under it, so we covered it with weed barrier ($30 for way more than we actually needed), and then filled it up the rest of the way with the gravel.  We had to buy a new hammer because Robert broke ours!!! That was a cost that was unexpected. haha  We paid $20 to take the old wood to the landfill.  We also happened to have an extra concrete step, so we used that by our back door.  Overall, the project cost less than $200, but we had a $50 Lowe's gift card to use, and we also used some of Robert's lawn mowing money, and I sold a few things on Facebook Marketplace to help pay for it.  Where there's a will there's a way! We also bought some used patio furniture (table and six chairs).  Our previous hand me downs served us so well, but the table collapsed this spring after many years of enjoyment.