surprise!

- I have WAYY (like 4 times as many) cable channels than I thought we had. I found this out by complete accident by typing into the remote 66 (really just trying for channel 6). Lo & behold, my channel 66 actually showed a picture instead of the usual message "Channel Not Available". The biggest question in my mind is, "How long have we been getting these extra channels without paying any extra????" What's funny is that Jen & Ben (who have the same cable provider) all of a sudden started getting extra channels awhile back, too. Ahh! how many wasted hours of NOT watching HGTV. So, pros: HGTV, Cons: Wayy too many channels to flip through to see what's on.

- I had so much fun planning a getaway for Josh & myself as a birthday surprise for him, Valentine's celebration for us, and anniversary celebration all wrapped into one. I figured that we wouldn't be into celebrating our big 5 year anniversary on May 29 in any huge way, considering we might have a 2 week old in the family. The funniest part was that we went to a hotel & resort REALLY close by, like 15 minutes away, but it was still wonderful to walk into a beautiful hotel room with a king size bed (we have a double at home), plush linens, a shower with two heads, and the deepest, most luxurious bathtub I have ever had occasion to bathe in. Oh, and a flat screen television. We had a special deal that included a great price & an extra late checkout, so we really got a lot of time at the hotel for our buck. We felt like young'uns again as we strolled around the grounds, and took a Sunday drive that lasted forever! We talked a lot and just had fun having absolutely no schedule! The most surprising thing of all: how much I missed Kate. I missed her little voice chiming in from the back seat asking me, "What's it time for, mom?" I missed her sweet little voice waking up with a song. I couldn't wait to pick her up from Mima & Papa's house. She said she didn't miss us, but she snuggled with us both on the couch for quite awhile when we got home. :-) I think she was glad to be in her own cribbie, too.

- This weekend was actually full of surprises. Josh planned a wonderful evening for MY birthday on Friday evening. We headed up to Athens for dinner at a trendy little spot, The Last Resort, and finished off the evening at an ARCO concert, the chamber orchestra connected to the University. Jen is a 6 year alum of ARCO, but it had been several years since I had heard the in concert. And, to top it all off, we got to spend the evening with my best friends, Ben & Jen. Talk about a true rarity! They are usually the ones keeping Kate. Mima & Papa get a gold medal for the whole weekend. They had all three grandgirls on Friday evening, and then Kate most of Sunday & all Monday. Thank heaven for grandparents!

on the menu

February introduces birthday season at our house. Both Josh & I have birthdays within a week of each other.

Kate: Mom, when your birthday?
Mom: I don't know, when is mom's birthday?
Kate: Ju-fly (ha ha)
she chuckles because she knows that's the wrong answer.
Mom: Noooo, when is mom's birthday?
Kate: Febuuary . . . and who else?
Mom: When is dad's birthday?
Kate: Febuuary. . . .ALSO Febuuary.

Kate must have birthdays on her mind, for sure. Yesterday we ate lunch at a restaurant & she thought that the toothpick (complete with blue glittery paper on top) looked like a . .

Kate: I's a can-del, mom! (expressing deelight!) There's two!

She even tried to blow them out.

Well, birthday season brings out the cookbooks & recipe searches & here's what's on my plate for this week.

Steak with dee-licious, best ever, steak rub!
Roast Asparagus drizzled with Lemon
Twice Baked Potatoes (or maybe once! I just noticed that it's 4:38P already)
French Bread
Fresh Strawberry Galette

and, on another day. . .

Chicken Sour Cream & Tomatillo Enchiladas, made with homemade tortillas
Homemade Refried Beans (I'm making the beans today & frying them tomorrow)
Mexican Rice with Carrots
Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Icing

Doesn't that just make your mouth water? Can you tell that my family cares about food? What's funny -- if you asked me to create a birthday menu for myself -- I always have trouble. I love so many different kinds of food. I love to cook, and eat, but the particulars aren't as important to me. Yumminess is important, but the rest is immaterial. I'm currently on a huge Mexican food kick. If you are interested in Mexican food at all, I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook. This was perhaps my favorite wedding gift we received, especially from the group of gifts that was NOT off of our registry.

So, a few recipes.

Fresh Strawberry Galette
It seems as though it originated from Martha Stewart Living. It's made with a pie type crust & filled with delicious fresh berries. Pretty easy, especially if you have a food processor. I used the basic Martha recipe, but the less than perfect pics on this blog were so appetizing!. :-) Update: I just ate this dessert & let me tell you -- it was delicious! I didn't make the fresh cream, but it sure sounds good!

Yummiest Steak Rub EVER!
From another great cookbook, SL Busy Mom's Weeknight Cookbook.
I've used it on all sorts of types of steaks. You don't have to let it rest that long after you rub it on the steak, but I think it does have some tenderizing/flavoring properties attached to it, so letting it sit for 30 min-1 hour would be good, too. Update also from tonight: This rub is a tad spicy. .fair warning. If you want less heat, lower it. :-)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Chicken Enchiladas II from Allrecipes.com
This is a REALLY easy recipe that I'll be making one pan of for Josh's birthday. The other pan of enchiladas is going to have the tomatillo-poblano chile sauce. Mmm.

What are your favorite things to eat on your birthday?

tutus & leotards

Kate found her dress-ups from Mima when I was putting away some clothes for next year. We went all out & mom pulled out the camera. Usually, she's not fond of posing for me, but that night she gave me several of these smiles.

I brought her lamp out to try to fill in some shadows, & then we got really creative.

She wanted her doll to get in on the photo shoot as well.

Ballet class, anyone?

too late for resolutions?

In my family, New Year's Eve is a time to share our gratitude for the things God has done in the previous year & look forward to things we would like special prayer about during the upcoming year. It's our version of a Resolution! And, my favorite thing about these prayer requests is seeing how God has answered them so faithfully each year. They usually turn up in the Praises the following year. Our lists usually contain one or two item in each category, but as I'm writing, I can expand a bit more freely.

So. . . things I'm thankful for in the year 2008:
1. Josh's job -- there has been so much uncertainty this year, MANY ups & downs, but God has been so, so, so faithful in his provision for our family.
2. Josh -- especially in his support during the rough months of early pregnancy. In God's providence, that part of the year was especially slow at work (but now slow enough to not need him), so he was able to spend much more time at home than usual to help.
3. Baby -- what an unbelievable blessing! Even though most of the yucky times were in the last year, I have felt so much more prepared & mentally connected to this pregnancy. The Lord also used those early months to take me through a valley spiritually that taught me so much about myself.
4. Kate -- Joy! (overall) I'm thankful that God gave me this special little girl to love & train. She teaches me to know myself, know the human heart more intimately than before, and look with delight at small things with childlike eyes.


Prayer Requests for the year 2009:
1. Newest addition to the family -- I'm so excited to welcome a new little girl into our family. At this time I have lots of anticipation & anxiousness about both the birth & the infancy stage. I *dread* learning to juggle no sleep again, especially whilst having an inescapable, non-sleeping for most of the day toddler to mother. So, lots of prayers for the transition!
2. Provision -- Pray that the Lord would provide for us in whatever he sees fit. This is a scary prayer for me in some ways (the whatever way he sees fit part). I, of course, know the way I would prefer!


Feel free to share your own or start your own tradition. It's not too late this year! Something that I love about turning "resolution" time into prayer request time is that it puts a more proper focus on the true power for accomplishing anything! I often hear people complain about forming resolutions because they are so disappointing when they are broken or they fail. Maybe we should resolve to pray more & let God change our hearts in such a way to make us able to achieve our worthy goals (like exercising 3x per week or spending less money!).

Happy Birthday Girl (at her party)

*Several new posts, so keep looking!*

On Saturday, Kate invited her family over for an Elmo birthday party! I had been psyching myself up for weeks about her cake, and with many good tips for Jenny AND her decorating kit, I began on Friday night to decorate her cake. It went so much smoother than I thought it would, although it did take a few hours to make all of the icing, mix the colors, ice the cake (almost harder than decorating, really), and cleaning up some essentials! We had lasagna, salad, and bread for everyone and Kate was funny the whole time. She wanted to sit with Mima, so look who jumped in her high chair? She was extra intimidated by everyone singing happy birthday to her and the first pose is the "why mee????" pose. She did not even try to blow out her own candles. Ah me! The present opening was more enjoyable for her and by the time we got to the slideshow, enough people were focusing on other things and she could play happily with Lauren and Lydia. Her table from Mima & Papa and tea set from Gagi were special hits and she plays with these things daily now! We haven't let her put water in the set yet, but apparently, the cups change color! She populates her table with her friends (real or imagined) and pours tea for everyone, adding sugar and milk until you think there's no room left for tea! It's especially cute to see her snag daddy for playing Tea Party! I'll have to get a picture soon. We had such a great time with everyone, but I think next year, we should have her party the week BEFORE her birthday. :-)

Happy Birthday Girl (on her day)

The week of her birthday, Kate had a nasssty cold that seemed like it would never go away. That week was also the last week of school where I had to give exams, so somehow, I didn't plan very well for a birthday breakfast, lunch, or dinner of any special nature. (Bad mom!) Finally, we came up with the idea of doing French Toast for dinner, so dad & Kate ran to the store & picked up the appropriate items. We made it Birthday French Toast by adding raspberries (Kate wasn't impressed so mom & dad finished the whole pkg by themselves!) & whipped cream. Yum! Kate LOVED the whipped cream so much, that was practically all she ate for supper. Then, daddy bought an ice cream cake for her to celebrate, but I couldn't find any candles. So, yet another improvisation was made, and Josh used a match. We let her open all of our presents on her birthday & she had such a great time. Kate & dad are going to start their own garage band. I promise that next year, I'll have a better plan for her day!

This year has gone by so quickly (and slowly), it seems. I cannot believe that one year ago, Kate was barely learning how to walk and talk! She now plays pretend and runs all over the place and talks a mile a minute when there's no one else around! She is still a sweet little girl who likes to read & cuddle with mom & dad. She is starting to learn patterns of the day and frequently asks, "What's it time for, mom?" Lately, she's been more attached to her dad than ever. Sometimes the first question out of her mouth in the morning is, "Where's dad?" She is turning into the consummate mommy & homemaker. She loves to make food sometimes pretend and sometimes with mom! This morning I told her that Dad went to the store to buy some oil, and she told me that the oil was in the pantry! I mean, how did she know that?? Well, I told her that it was oil for the car, and she wasn't sure if she could believe me. I'm always amazed at how much she knows about caring for a baby and can't wait to see her learn even more when her baby sister is born. We learned something else about her this year -- she doesn't particularly love to be the center of attention in a large group. She can be really shy, even around people that she knows, and it seems that it can take her awhile to warm up to people that are her favorites (like Mima or Auntie Jen). Someone she never takes ANY time to warm up to is Lydia. She adores her cousin Lydia & learns so many things from her. She's taken to talking about Costco (It's so fun, They have everything!). We haven't been there in over a year b/c my membership is expired; Lydia however is a frequent shopper with her mommy and apparently has been passing on the information to her little cuz. At the same time, she LOVES to make people laugh. At school, she has lunch in the room with all of the students. They don't usually sit in there, but prepare their lunches & pass through on their way to the outside or a classroom. They love to talk with her as they pass & sometimes she says something that really tickles them. She'll repeat it over & over just to get the same reaction! She's a little ham!

If you haven't already seen it, I posted her slideshow on Facebook.