at lightening speed....

Well to say the least I have been crazy busy the last 2 weeks or so.  Here are some things I will share....

• we have gone to the Zoo a couple of times.....the kids just love it!
• for my birthday, my parents watched the boys and the Hubby and I had a mini vacation. :-)
• went to a class on Evangelizing to Buddhists...it was greatness.  Pray now that I can put what I learned to good use!
• cleaned house a hundred times ;) .....not exactly, but you get the idea!
• changed more than my share of messy diapers : ( YUCK!
• wished lots of people happy birthdays
• given and accepted lots of hugs and kisses, and snuggled with my boys!  .....a sweetness in which you will not begin to understand until you are a parent!
• taken care of a feverish child that definitely didn't have the best weekend!
• ok, so there is lots more but I won't go on........

Now, to the good stuff!  Some things I found fun so I will share with you so you can share in the fun with me! : P

• Etsy.com is always fun shopping!
• designmom is a great blog I just recently discovered....thanks to my friend Ashley.  Really, you should check out all of her links (especially from Aug. 20th)...fun stuff!  And by the way, you should check out Ashley's website http://radiantjoy.webs.com/ 
• Also thanks to Ashley, I think you should check this out:  www.passionatehomemaking.com 
• KNITTING .......this is something I want to learn how to do.  I've tried teaching myself but it hasn't worked yet!  This website is definitely fun and an inspiration to me!  I guess I need to get busy!!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of these websites as much as I do!

Well on to reality now.......last night for dinner, quesadillas!  Mexican food is always a winner in our house!!!  Tonight for dinner, vegetable sloppy joes .......this recipe puts a yummy twist on sloppy joes, and makes them healthier!

I wish you all a good afternoon!

good books and good recipes....doesn't get much better

So I was looking back at my blog today noticing that I had started it August 1st.  It already seems like it's been so much longer than that!  In thinking about this I came to the realization that my blog is still not where I want it to be.  I guess, in reality, it's just going to take some time.

I did want to share with you a little bit about some stuff I'm reading or have read.  First of all, I love to read.....if you didn't know that already!

First, I want to share about a book that my mom bought for me last year around my birthday.   I started the book almost as soon as my mom gave it to me and finished it within two weeks!  Which I have to say was pretty amazing when I had a 6 month old and my oldest had just turned 2.
http://www.kathleenreid.com/index.htm "A Page Out of Life"
If you enjoy scrapbooking, you will probably enjoy this book.  I doubt the author of the book is a believer, but the book is kept clean and well written.  I personally enjoyed the book and have been wanting to read it again.

Another book I want to share about is "Redeeming Love"  http://francinerivers.com/articles/redeeming-love 
This one I have yet to finish (won't be long though), but just let me say I can tell it's going to be one of my favorites!  I am enjoying reading it so much!  It's definitely an amazing book and I would highly recommend you read it....I can guarantee you won't be disappointed!

There are lots of books I have read, am currently reading, and would like to read!  Today, these are the only two I will share with you.  :-)

Now, on another note, I think I will share some of my favorite recipes so far from Deceptively Delicious.
http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/
My favorite breakfast recipe so far:  Blueberry Lemon Muffins

• non-stick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons soft tub margarine spread
• 1 cup lowfat lemon yogurt
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup yellow squash puree (just cook the squash and puree it in a food processor)
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Either coat muffin pan with cooking spray or use liners.  In a large bowl, beat sugar and margarine with wooden spoon.  Stir in yogurt, blueberries, squash puree, egg, lemon extract, and zest.  Add flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir just to combine-do not over mix.  Batter will be lumpy.  Fill the muffin pan with batter.  Bake until tops are slightly brown and toothpick comes out clean.  This should be about 15 minutes.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 days.

The verdict:  The whole family enjoyed them!  I think for the kids these muffins probably came in second.  The french toast recipe was their favorite!  I doubled the recipe because I purposely wanted to make a lot so we would have it for a few days.....but it was way to much.  Also I chose to store them in the fridge.

My favorite lunch/dinner recipe so far:  Burgers 2

• 1 pound lean ground turkey or sirlion
• 1/2 pound white button or shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 cup whole wheat or seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped or grated zucchini
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• whole grain hamburger buns

Mix all ingredients together (except the buns of course)!  Make into patties and grill em!  Yummy!

The verdict:  Chris and I enjoyed them.....the kids weren't so crazy about them.  To save time I used a food chopper to chop the mushrooms and zucchini......made it super simple.  This made quite a few burgers too, we ate off of it several times.  Leftovers is always a plus with me! :-)

The other day I was searching online and found a recipe that sounds yummy!

http://www.cookiemag.com/food/sneakitin/2007/02/sneakEFA?currentPage=3

I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know the verdict when I do.  I'm excited about trying it and can't wait!

Well that's all for today folks.  I'm working on creating a schedule (or at least a better schedule) for the boys during the week.  They need more structure!  Oh and I almost forgot, I also need to go apply a bandaid to a ripped boot before my oldest boy has heart failure......and Yes, you read that correctly!!!

expect the unexpected

What I had planned for today didn't happen.  God had a completely different plan.  And it was perfect, it proves that I don't know what's best for my life.....God does!  So instead of what I had originally planned for today I decided to take the boys to the zoo.  And yes, we ended up having an excellent day!  It was great, really!  I am so blessed to have two wonderful, handsome young boys as my sons.  I do not in any way deserve to be their mother, but I am honored!

The heat really wasn't as suffocating as I thought it might be today, so that helped to make our trip more pleasurable.  The boys were so excited to get to go to the zoo, they really do love it!  Blythe kind of gave himself away when we pulled into the parking lot and starts yelling, "we're at the zoo, YAY"!  The boys really were amazing today, they didn't fuss when they got hot or tired.  They just wanted to see more animals.  We never walk the whole zoo in one visit because the boys don't have the patience for that.  Today, however, was different. When I finally made the decision it was time to leave. Blythe was begging to walk the rest of the zoo (which we didn't have much left).  It was such a blessing to have such a sweet time with my boys today.

My original plan was to have some time without the boys today.  Look at what I would have missed out on!  I only thought I knew best!  God is all knowing!

This afternoon we came in ate an early dinner of leftovers, got the boys and me bathed, now we are sitting here watching a movie to finish out the evening.  We sure have missed having Daddy tonight though, he had some work to do.

On another note, I have made lots of new recipes recently that I will probably post some of.  Just not tonight....tomorrow maybe!

It's book reading time with the boys! :-)

My heart is heavy this day....

The Lord has so lovingly made me aware this day that I need to be less focused on myself and more focused on Him!  There is so much I want to say but can't seem to get the thoughts straight in my head.

"God help me this day to be a sanctuary for You!"

I never want to pass an opportunity to present the gospel.  Sadly, I pass the opportunity's all to often!  That being said:
You will face a Holy God on Judgement Day.  He sees lust as adultery (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Matthew+5:28) and hatred as murder (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+John+3:15).  Guilty?  Jesus took your punishment on the cross, and rose again defeating death, to save you.  Repent (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+13:5) and trust in Him today!

I have been thinking and praying a lot today about all the people who are lost and don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, all the sick (whether temporary or long term), all the people who have had tragedy fall upon them, all the hungry, and so on.  I sit here now finished with my lunch wishing instead that I would have had someone to give it to that needed food much more than I.  I have been recently aware lately of my wretched heart, and it is not pretty!  I am so thankful for a forgiving, gracious, and merciful God!

"God, help me to remember to fall on my knees before you daily and repent of all my wretched sins and to stand up being renewed in the gospel and able to show Your love to those in need of faith in You!"

I make a commitment to Love the Lord my God and have no other gods before Him, to repent and have faith in Him, to tell others of this glorious joy, to help those in need and not be selfish with my time (it doesn't matter what I want to do, it matters what God is calling me to do).   I don't want to be found guilty before a Holy God on Judgement Day!

My prayer is that you don't want to be found guilty before a Holy God on Judgement Day.  As I have once heard it put, "the bible should be your manual to life".  Please read the verses and take them to heart and put them into action.  I pray as you read them the Lord will soften the hard walls around your heart and break up the fallow ground in your heart and prepare it to grow a beautiful harvest!  Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

Anyway, I have barely even begun to scratch the surface of what the Lord is doing in my heart, but I just can't seem to get my thoughts through to my fingers to type correctly and clearly.  The Lord has a perfect plan and takes glory in it and so in knowing that I have to end this post and trust Him to do the rest of the work!

My heart is heavy this day.....but I will find joy in Him!

Fun Times!

Today we got to go to a birthday party.  The boys got to play with other kids and Chris and I got to see some friends.  It was great!  Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!

Our original plan was to try to take the boys swimming after the party today but they were so tired we decided to come home and have a relaxing, lazy Saturday.  It's been the best!  Sometimes we just need a low key day together.  I am one of the worst people to so easily get caught up in the busyness of life.  It's way too easy for me to forget what's most important in life......my life with the Lord and time in His Word.  Everything else after that will work out according to God's perfect plan!

Anyway, I made the lemon blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning.  They were great!  Definitely a keeper recipe.  I'll post the recipe later.

So my Hubby is sitting on the couch with me as I type this post and is playing "Shuffle" on my Kindle.  I can't wait until he gets his Kindle because I want mine back! ;)  The boys are running around the house "getting" each other!  They love each other so much, it's so sweet!

I love relaxing with the fam! :-)

random

I loved the rain shower that came through earlier!!!  I also love Fridays!  Tonight in our house we had leftovers.  Yay, I didn't have to cook.  I had so much more time to spend with the boys and my Hubby!  The boys have been quite hyper since dinner, but I'm glad they're having fun.  :-)  The Hubby and I have relaxed on the couch, watched some Alfred Hitchcock movies, and played Every Word on my Kindle.  So much fun!!!  I enjoy low key nights like this.

If you are unfamiliar with the Kindle you can click on this link:  amazon.com

I absolutely love my Kindle, it's so perfect for me!  I will probably talk a lot more about that in the future!

On another note, in the morning for breakfast we will be having blueberry lemon muffins......I really love blueberries, so yummy!  It's a new recipe with lots of blueberries....I let you know how it goes!

blah, blah, blah.....well not all blah :)

I hate filling out paperwork.  It gives me a headache and puts strain on my neck!  I know you might think this is funny because I love so much to write and journal, but I can sit comfortably anywhere and do that.  Paperwork has to be done neatly with no mistakes....so I sit with my head slumped over the desk!  Well enough with that, I am actually done with the paperwork now.....thank you Jesus!

So yesterday for lunch I made a new tofu nugget recipe.  The verdict:
Jeremiah Keyne - liked it, or seemed to anyway.  He ate about half of what was on his plate.
Solomon Blythe - joyfully picked a nugget off his plate, dipped it in the honey and took a big bite.  Had a strange look on his face for a few seconds and quickly spit it out on his plate and said, "I don't like it Mommy!"  There was no fooling him, he knew it wasn't a chicken nugget!
My Husband - he wasn't home for lunch, but laughed when I told him over the phone what I was making!  Boo
Me - I liked it!  Personally, if I make it again,   there are some things I would do differently.  I would use less spinach in the egg and spinach mixture.  There was so much spinach that it wasn't getting "sticky" enough to coat the breadcrumbs well.  Second, I didn't like the idea of cooking them in the pan with olive oil.  It took way to long and was way to messy!  Plus, not that healthy.  I think next time I would try baking them in the oven, although I have no idea if this would work well or not.  Anyway, the Hubby made fun of me when he got home saying it smelled like fried tofu.....

Sorry, I think I will skip posting the recipe today.  Maybe another day, or I may only post if someone shows interest in trying the recipe.  So speak up if it sounds good to you!

So yesterday and today I have briefly looked through some recent pictures.  I am going to post one because it is just all kinds of cuteness!

This is just one of those sweet moments that's hard to catch!  Unfortunately, they are not always this nice to one another!

Now I'm going to post another picture, not only because of it's cuteness, because it is cute!  But because coming across it made me think of another recipe that would be good to share.

See, I told you it was cute!  And Babybug here really likes these cookies!  In all their glory: White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies!  Yum, yum, yum!!!

So click here to go to the recipe:  http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/white-chocolate-cherry-shortbread/

The first time I made these cookies was for a family christmas party....they were a hit and I had made them exactly how the recipe called.  The second time I made these cookies it was for a 4th of July party.  As you can tell in the picture I added extra red food coloring for the event and and blue edible glitter.  So much fun!  These cookies are great because they are not only good but they can be made to fit any event, such as:

• you could add other colors in for christmas such as green
• you could leave the red food coloring out so the cookie would be more pink and use brown sprinkles or edible glitter.......this would be perfect for a baby shower
• you can just switch the colors and make this cookie acceptable for any event! 

Now onto my agenda for the rest of the day:  Making frozen yogurt pops for dessert tonight and for snacks the next few days.  Here's the recipe because really folks they are healthy and so very fast and easy!

2 cups of plain lowfat yogurt

2 cups frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or cherries), thawed in the microwave for one minute

1/2 to 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Combine the yogurt, fruit, and sugar in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Poor into popsicle molds and freeze.                         And Viola....there ya go!  Yummy!

Well on a completely different note, I haven't posted much (if anything at all) about where I am spiritually.  I don't have a lot of time for that right now.......more will come later I promise!  Anyway something over the last week that keeps coming back to my mind is Matthew 9: 9-13 http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=matthew+9:9-13&src=esv.org 

I heard a sermon preached on this http://redeemeraudio.org/ and we talked about again last night in our care group.  Good stuff, please listen to the sermon and read the passage if you have time!

Well I need to clean up a few things and then it will be time to get started on dinner.  Tonight:  chicken quesadillas, refried beans, avocado spread, and chips.......we really love mexican food and could eat it every night of the week!

something new....

This past July we celebrated my oldest son's 3rd birthday!  My Hubby found instructions on how to make a dinosaur cake on instructables.com ......naturally I said, "oh, that's sounds fun"!  So I decided to make the cake for the birthday party.  After fervently searching online for a cake and icing recipe that would be perfect for the situation, a trip to the grocery store, and actually starting to work on the cake....I turned to my Hubby and said, "do you have any idea how long this is going to take me?"  Slightly frustrated by this time, I decided to continue with the process.  I told myself, "focus Laurie, I can do this!"  The Hubby was super encouraging along the way....thanks babe!  Here's a few pictures from the beginning of the process:

Starting to cut the cake!  I was super nervous and sweating.  Praying to God that this would work right because if it didn't I would have to start all over.  And I didn't have time for that!  I didn't want to have to figure something else out at the last minute.

It worked!  So I started assembling the pieces.  Whew!  I was starting to feel somewhat relieved at this point, thinking maybe I wasn't so crazy after all for undergoing this process!

Cutting the cake and assembling it was easy!!!  It's starting to look like a dinosaur, right?  Blythe was getting very curious at this point as to what I was doing!

Icing the crumb coat!

Now comes the hard part!  AND I MEAN HARD!!!  The cake had really been easy up to this point despite my thinking it was going to be a flop!  This was the first time I have ever attempted a cake of this nature.  About the time this picture was taken I was seriously thinking I was going to have to go buy a cake for the party or take an unfinished dinosaur cake to the party!  It took way longer than anticipated to do the green icing!  And I really didn't think I was going to finish in time!

Doing the final touches.  This sure was cutting it close!  This was less than two hours before the party, we weren't completely ready to leave the house yet, and will still had an almost hour drive to get to the party location.  Talk about intense!!!  To add to that, the almost hour drive was in the heat of the day (and it was HOT that day), the cake riding in my lap and in the direct sunlight......not exactly good things!  Can you tell yet that Blythe's birthday crept up on me this year?  I might would have forgot until the very last minute if it wasn't for my Hubby!

Thank the Lord the cake made it to the party....but only 10 minutes before the party was supposed to start!  Whew!  The chaos was behind me and we were all able to enjoy the cake and the party!  By the way, I was pretty proud of myself when it was all said and done, especially with it being my first cake like this!

I think it's a winner!!!  YAY!  And might I add, when Blythe found out I was making him a dinosaur cake for his birthday he was just beside himself with excitement!  It was great!


So the overall verdict:  It was easy except the green icing, it was a ton of fun to make despite some of my intensity's, but it took forever to make!  Would I do it again......maybe!


Oh, and also the cake and icing were delish, seriously!  It was the first time I had ever used the recipes but it was perfect!  So here they are in case you want to try...you don't have to make the dinosaur cake!  Just a side note.....I think the cake recipe would also be great just made as a layer cake with a ganache  poured over the top!  ....just sayin


Anyway, here it is:

The cake:

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

And the icing:  ......this is a buttercream frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Add milk until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Let me just say folks...OH, SO, VERY, GOOD!  This chocolate cake recipe will be the basic for me from now on.  It was quick, easy, moist, and yummy!

The recipes came from allrecipes.com

Today....

• I'm tired.....I feel as though I can hardly hold my eyes open
• I have a little guy that refused his nap
• I have to make dinner.....that's probably going to be laborious!  If only I could see into the future when I'm doing my meal planning.....
• has a pile of paperwork in front of me that needs to be filled out and sent off.....blah!
• bills that need to be paid
• appointments that need to be put on my calendar so I don't forget them like I forgot one in July
• I have several phone calls that need to be made
• and my house needs some serious attention!

I hate days like this....blah, blah, blah!!!  I usually do pretty well when I have busy/crazy days because I usually know about it a day in advance.  But I wasn't prepared for today!  In the end, God is good!

So my plan was to post a recipe today.  A yummy chocolate cake recipe!  It's really exciting because it's really so yummy!  But, sorry it's going to have to be another day.  By the time I get around to posting it I will probably have also tried a few of my new recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook.  So I guess I will just have to play recipe catch up one day.  That should be fun though!  ......I really do feel like Julie in the movie Julie and Julia!

Anyway, I bought some material today at JoAnn's to start a new craft.  The new craft:  a half apron for me in the kitchen! :-) I'm super excited, the material is so cute!  Now I just need to get my sewing machine cleaned and working again.  Then I can also finish the crafts I was almost done with when my machine decided to quit working.  Speaking of material.....I'm not exactly happy with the prices at JoAnn's!  Does anyone have any suggestions on a great place to get material at good prices?

So I also took Babybug to the doctor today.  He is doing well.  He's 18 months old, 23 lbs, and 32 3/4 in long.  He's long and lean!  He loves to imitate mom, dad, and big brother.  He's been walking for a while and talking some.  He LOVES to eat, seriously!  He is a happy baby that loves to laugh!  He seems to be behind in his progress to me, but in reality the pedi says he's average, right along with most kids.  I guess I just got used to Blythe being ahead in everything so this "average" is different to me.

Well there's so much more I could post but I guess I shouldn't (or can't) put the paperwork, bills, and phone calls off any longer!  Bummer :(  .....posting recipes right now would be so much more fun!

P.S.  You should really take the time to read this today:  Psalm 119:129-135!  In fact I would recommend reading them every morning!  I love these verses!

short and sweet...

I've only got a couple of minutes here because I have such a crazy day today...but...I wanted to let you now that I recently came across a new cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld's wife.  Anyway, it's called Deceptively Delicious.  I came across it at the local Wal-mart for six bucks!  That's affordable on any budget!  Anyway, I think it's great!  It teaches you how to put great foods, such as spinach, carrots, avocados, etc. in foods you would never think of putting them in.  This is a great idea if you've got some kids that won't eat certain things.  So I'm going to the grocery store today to buy for the week and am making almost all of our food from the recipes in Jessica's book.  So I will have to let you know how it goes!

If you like tofu, one recipe I will be making is tofu nuggets.  Yum!  Can't wait to try them.  I will be letting you know what goes well and what doesn't.  I will try to post pictures and my fav recipes!

Have you ever seen the movie Julie and Julia?  Well if you haven't you should!  But my point being, I feel like Julie.

Wish me luck in my new adventure this week!  :-)

finally....

I have been thinking for awhile now about restarting a blog.  I used to have my own website and got rid of it because basically just of things going on in life.  Well now folks I've started a blog again!  I love to write my thoughts....I have always journaled.  Now I'm opening my thoughts up to the public again.  Scary, right?  You might be thinking, "well I'm not sure I want to know that much about this person"!  Well let me tell you, if you love food I will probably be posting some great recipes....that alone, in my book anyway, is a reason to stick around!  Who doesn't love food?!?!

Anyway, I really love being crafty.  Scrapbooking, sewing, stitching, trying to learn to knit, being creative with recipes, being creative in organization skills (which I really need to work on better)!  And much more!

So earlier in the post I said I love to write, this doesn't mean I'm good at it......so bear with me in this! ....please!

If you read my About Me section, you remember I said I had a tech geek of a Husband, right?  Really folks, he is a TECH HEAD!!!  But, I love my Geek! :-)  Yes, folks, there is actually a shirt that says "I love my Geek".  Check it out thinkgeek.com.  If you want to get to know him a little better, click on this link http://chrisundergrace.wordpress.com.  He doesn't post much, what can I say he is a busy man!  He works extra jobs so I can be a stay at home mom.....how cool is that, right?

And then, there's my little guys.  Doodlebug (my oldest boy), and Babybug (my youngest boy).  They are both toddlers so trust me I will have much to say about them!  They are the reason I want to live, they are the reason I love, they are the reason I am tempted to worry, and they are the reason I get bags under my eyes!  I truly do love you guys!

Well I feel as though I am being completely random in this post....I guess it's going to take a while to get back in the groove of things! :-)

Just in case your interested some of my hopefully soon post should include, some recent craftiness (I've been quite busy with that this summer), and some recipes I've made this summer.  I'm not sure what my post will entail after that.  So if you think you might be interested stay tuned, I would love to have you around!

Well that's all the time I have for now, I need to feed my family dinner!