Lamar Cooks!

Lamar tried his hand at making Beer Butt Chicken. We have friends who make this often and Lamar wants to master the art. I made a rub for the outside of the chicken and he sacrificed a beer to cook the chicken on. All looked great. When we came back to check on the bird, this is what we found. A very well done bird! There should not be flames. At least it was done outside on the grill.

Lamar is in charge of cooking after this baby comes, should I be worried?

In his defense, he did make a wonderful meal for us on Sunday night. I know that we will not starve in August. He does have the pizza delivery number memorized!

TWD: A change

I joined the baking group Tuesdays with Dorie about 8 months ago. I have really enjoyed it and I have tried some recipes that I would not have made without the challenge. I am feeling really overwhelmed by the number of desserts. We just do not eat this many sweets normally. Also, many of the ingredients used are not ones that I like to feed my family. This has brought me to the conclusion that I am leaving TWD. I am really wanting to expand my bread baking skills and cook more savory items. Don't worry, there will still be some desserts coming from my kitchen, just not as many. Tuesdays with Dorie is a great group and I highly recommend it, but it is just not the perfect match for me right now. Best of luck my fellow TWD bakers!

I will post next week about the new baking group that I have joined. I am really looking forward to it.

TWD: Perfect Party Cake

I have been waiting for this post for over a month. I am still drooling over this cake. Carol of Mix, Mix...Stir, Stir picked an amazing cake for her challenge week. I made this right after we returned from Hawaii. It was Jan's birthday so it seemed very appropriate to make a party cake for her.

The recipe called for using lemon juice and zest in all three elements (cake, frosting and fruit layer). I chose to eliminate the lemon in exchange for coconut extract. Instead of using raspberry preserves, I used some lilikoi curd (passion fruit) that we had brought back from Hawaii. I did not use coconut on the outside of the cake, although I really wanted to. Lamar is just not a coconut fan and I did not want to make it obvious what was inside of the cake.

This cake would have been much easier to make if I had a stand mixer, but the kitchen fairy has not produced a new one yet. Someday she will wave her magic wand and the new Viking 7qt mixer will suddenly appear on my counter.

The cake itself was easy to make. The frosting did not "fluff up" like I hoped it would. I felt like I barely had enough to cover the cake, but that probably came from the fact that I had to make it by hand, sans mixer! The lilikoi cream and frosting blended together when I put them both on the cake, but oh well, it tasted delicious.

I will say it again...this cake was DELICIOUS! We all devoured our pieces and then could not wait until the next night so we each could have another piece. I will make this again. Thanks Carol for an awesome choice!

Pregnancy Photos!

This pregnancy is going by so fast. I am in the final month now. Our little guy will be here soon. Today is the last day that Lamar and I have off together without other plans so we are going to spend the day doing baby stuff. We are going to register for baby stuff today. I have been very reluctant to do this. We are so fortunate and really do not need anything outside of a few baby basics, but there has been an overwhelming request for us to go do this.

I am feeling good. Baby is so active, my most active child so far. He has been very happy to be in a breech position, either Frank breech (butt down, legs up), or transverse (laying across my belly). Both are very uncomfortable for me. I have felt like I have a bowling ball resting in my pelvis. So much discomfort in my lower back. No position is comfortable. I am also carrying this baby so low.

For my birthday, baby gave me the best present of all. He moved!! After crawling into bed he had this episode of extreme movement. Lamar and I were just in amazement of what he was doing. I eventually fell asleep and when I woke up I had a butt and feet in my ribs. He finally went head down!! Do the happy dance. I was suddenly so much more comfortable. Lets hope he stays this way. He has moved a few times in the past two days, but he goes back head down after a few hours. I will stay on top of this situation.

I am really tired. I remember having so much more energy with the girls. Maybe because I am older this time or I just have more things on my plate. I am waiting for that nesting urge to kick in, maybe I will have energy then. I could literally spend the whole day sleeping right now - in fact, some days I do. I just got out of bed an hour ago and I am already looking forward to my morning nap.

I am ravenously hungry for hamburgers and fresh fruit. I think I am eating half a watermelon a day now. They taste so good to me. Berries are just coming on this week, so I am sure that I will be buying those on a daily basis also.

I went and did some maternity photos with Lora last week. Here is the sampling, as promised. I can't wait to see the rest. We went up to her family cabin in the woods. It is a beautiful setting with trees, open space and a river.


Here I am sitting next to the old wood shed.



There was a patch of clover next to where I was sitting. I plucked one leaf since it had a heart shape.


We climbed down the rocks to the river. The girls had so much fun doing this.



Lora got me to laughing and quickly snapped this one. I just love it.



This one makes my belly look HUGE! Well, I have to admit... IT IS! But I do not have a double chin in the picture, so it is a winner..LOL!

Another Year

Saturday marked my 34th birthday. The number itself does not bother me. It is just a number and does not define me. I am neither young nor old...it just depends on who is looking at the number.

It really was a wonderful day filled with sunshine, good wishes and surprises by friends. I was able to spend the morning with my family, take a wonderful nap in the afternoon and spend the evening with friends. We went out for cake at Konditori and shared many laughs.

I think the biggest thing that is hitting home is a realization that I came to recently. I looked in the mirror a few weeks ago - you know, one of those really close, examine your face with bright light and magnification types of looks. What I saw was my grandmother looking back at me. More specifically, her eyes looking back at me. I saw the beginnings of the same lines she had around her eyes, just a much smaller version. This called me in into immediate action. I purchased an overpriced tub of ultra moisturizing eye cream that I am sure was the equivalent of a down payment on a small house. I even got the intense eye mask to go with it. How did I go from trying to dry out my skin to needing eye cream OVERNIGHT? Is this a sign of things to come? Anyone else notice these changes recently?

Summer Fun

Fresh Oregon strawberries are the best!! This is no understatement. Strawberries are in full force right now. I picked up a couple of flats last week and made strawberry jam. I hosted a jam making demonstration to show people how easy it is to make jam and put up food for their families. This is part of the Master Food Preserver program I am in. We sampled the goods with some fresh bread that I made that morning...mmm!



We went to Saturday Market this morning. Nora Beth was so excited to see her favorite balloon clown there. She had no problem waiting in line to get a creation just for her. She choose a ladybug today.


Later this afternoon Nora Beth wanted to try out her new pool. I got it for her almost two weeks ago, but the weather has not been warm enough for her to use it. It has been taunting her in the garage...until today. She wanted me to place it at the bottom of her slide so she could slide into it and make a big splash.


She had so much fun. Amazing how just a simple activity can lead to so many giggles and screams of delight!

The value of insurance

Shianne's recent trip to the ER:

Midnight trip to the ER.... $1201.86

Doctor bill....(have not seen it yet, but we can only imagine)

Prescription.... $5.00

Our co-pay.... $103.20

A healthy child....PRICELESS!

I am so happy and grateful that we have insurance.....Lamar CANNOT leave his job!

My BFF's

I was watching TV a few mornings ago and there was a segment that came on during the Today show. It was about the value of friends and how they improve our health all around. I know how important my friends are, but I never thought about it in terms of health.

According to the segment expert, your friends

• Boost your self worth
• Help you through good and bad times
• Support your most personal thoughts
• Enrich our lives
• Are important for our mental well-being
  

Mt. Pele

Shianne had an assignment to create a volcano for this last week of school. The whole class was going to "explode" the volcanoes at the same time. The only direction we were given was that the volcano needed to fit around a 2 liter bottle.

After some brainstorming and on-line searching, she decided to use a tomato cage as the form and use spray foam insulation to create the body. After the form was created and dry, she spray painted the volcano with brown and black and added orange peel for "snow."



Shianne even created a background for her volcano to fit into. She realized when she got it to school that it was the largest one in the class!



Here is the completed volcano. She named it Mt. Pele after the Hawaiian goddess of fire.



The class went outside to let the volcanoes explode. Shianne chose to use strawberry soda and Mentos to make the volcano have a red eruption. It worked perfectly!

Today was Shiannes last day of school. Nora Beth had her last day on Tuesday. Shianne has plans for several camps this summer and get togethers with her friends. Nora Beth is not quite ready for camps this summer, but I am sure she will be spending most of her time on the swing.

A new prince to play with

I had to go in today for another ultrasound of the baby today. We wanted to verify that my placenta has moved up and away from the cervix. This would give us the green light to move forward with our home birth plans. Fortunately, all looks perfect!!!

I was so determined to not find out what this baby's gender was. I really wanted the surprise. I even told the ultrasound tech that I did not want to know. As she was looking at the baby and taking measurements, baby made it very obvious that it wanted us to know that it is a BOY!!!!! There was no avoiding the goods, I have seen enough ultrasounds to understand what I was seeing. I was also able to see his adorable chubby cheeks and head full of hair.

Lamar is so excited. Of course, we would be thrilled with another girl. We love our girls. We have all the girl stuff. We know what to do with girls. A boy is going to be fun. Lamar has already checked out NFLSHOP.com - football season is just around the corner.

Nora Beth sums it up best. She stated tonight that she was excited that Shianne no longer has to be the prince when she plays dress up, there is going to be a real prince in the house now!

The Girls

We went to a BBQ at a friends house recently. It was a great evening with friends and yummy food. The girls had a great time playing around the beautiful property. Lora brought her camera and, of course, got some great pictures of the girls. We are so spoiled to have her in our life. She does such a great job of capturing the girls in the moment.

Lora is going to do a family photo shoot on Sunday for us. I am wanting some great pregnancy photos and I know that she will do a great job. Until I can post those pictures, enjoy these of Shianne and Nora Beth.

What a week

I have so many posts started and I just have not been able to hit publish. I have been looking for some wonderful and profound words, but I just can't find them right now. Basic is all I can get out right now. This last week has been such a roller coaster of life. Each day has brought something new. I have been so overwhelmed that I have preferred to just be in my cave. I am trying to pop my head out now.

The roller coaster started with a trip to the ER with Shianne on Thursday night. The freak thunderstorm we had on Thursday stirred up all kinds of pollens that did not agree with her lungs. She was having difficulty breathing, so we decided to take her in. Glad we did. She is feeling fine now.

The roller coaster took an unexpected flip that same evening. I feel honored to be a part of an amazing community of women. One of our own had the unimaginable happen when her daughter was born still. This has touched so many people that I know. The community has really pulled together to be there for her and her family. This brought up so many emotions for me, many that I did not expect. I know that this tragedy is not about me, but I do have to honor how I am feeling just to process it all. I really hope to be helping out those that need it over the next few weeks.

We left for our camping trip on Friday. It was just what I was needing. No phone. No e-mail. Campfire and sleep. I had such a great time just sitting by the fire. I also took some great naps. The girls had a great time playing and getting as dirty as possible. Lamar enjoyed many of the same things that I did, except he had fun drinks in his hand! We camped with a large group of about 20 friends.

We came home on Sunday. There were two funeral services that I wanted to attend, but instead I pulled the "mommy card" and went to Shianne's piano recital. She had a great performance. We got it on video, but for some reason, I am unable to upload it now. Afterwards, we went out for sushi - her favorite!

The camping trip was not good for my back. Sleeping on the air mattress just about did me in. I spent Monday and Tuesday unable to move off the couch. Of course, my chiropractor was not available. I felt better on Wednesday, but still not right. I got in for an adjustment today and feel so much better!

The roller coaster is pulling in now. I am ready to get off this ride.

Life's to short to wake up with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don't.
Believe everything happens for a reason.

TWD: Cinnamon Squares

This weeks choice of Cinnamon Squares was a great choice that I almost did not make. I am feeling a dessert overload lately. So many special events recently that another sweet treat just did not appeal to me. I hosted a Bunco party on Saturday night and decided to make these at the last minute. I am so glad I did!

The cake came together easily and I did not have to make any special trips to the grocery store for ingredients. I also did not have to use a mixer, very important since my kitchen is still without one (hint, hint birthday fairy!). I was curious about the flavor combination of a large amount of cinnamon, chocolate and espresso. It was delicious. Very moist and a perfect fit for the other foods that I served at my party. Head on over to Tracey's Culinary Adventures for a complete recipe and variations. Thanks Tracey!