Peace to you

I've noticed a lot of us bloggers have been lagging in our postings the past few months...I guess it's due to all the crazy holiday festivities. In the Sunday comics this week, Family Circus features the kiddos all piled up on one bench in the kitchen, just staring longingly at their advent calendar. One of the little ones said "Don'tcha wish Christmas would hurry and get here?"...and the parents just seem exhausted already as they looked each other with pop-up thoughts of decorations to hang, cards to send, trees to decorate, meals to make, lines to stand in at the stores, and presents to wrap. Whew! It can get very stressful around this time of year. I pray you find peace during the whirlwind. I pray you find time to spend with your family, making memories to last a lifetime. I pray you find Jesus at the heart of your festivities, remembering what we are really celebrating here. I pray you are a light beaming brightly to your friends and loved ones.
May this be a week to remember for you and yours.
A very Merry Christmas-week to you!

Pics of the week

Cousins Will & Lucie...

they already seem to enjoy talking and playing together!

"Look at me dance"

"Will, you're so funny!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I was in the kitchen, these two were playing loudly on the floor together....then suddenly it was silent. I found them like this :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mommm! I said I wanted the ELMO stocking!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watchman Will stands guard over the Christmas decorations...and his toys :)

I love having the fire going, and the tree and stockings up...and with this weather, it's even beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas too ey?

First Snow!

Will saw his FIRST SNOW!!! The most ironic part of all is that although our city (no names) was having it's 1st and most likely ONLY SNOW of the year...my dear 9 month old was sitting in my lap, looking out the snow-covered window from the inside of a Boeing 757 airliner headed to Denver, Colorado (where there was MUCH MORE SNOW). He was such a trooper when the already boarded and full plane was delayed 2 hours because our poor city is not prepared for snows that large, and we were 8th in line for de-icing on the 1 and only de-icing pad in our cities major airport!

But he was so stinkin' adorable in his mohawk trapper hat :)

We had a nice time with Billy's company for their annual Christmas party! They are always very generous and treat us to a really nice weekend. It's great to catch up with everyone (since they all work from their homes in so many different states) and see what's new in their lives. We got to meet a few newbies this year, and had our most-excellent gift exchange (the bosses buy the gifts and then we all fight over them). It's a real treat and other than the altitude, it was a great place to stay too.

Will had a lot of fun meeting all the new people, and I think some of the wives wanted to take him home! I was so glad we had him with us, and he spent most of the trip like this:

 Which he doesn't seem to mind :)

It was 15 degrees when we came home on Sunday, and thankfully, we all had many layers to keep us warm. It was so cute, when we dropped the rental car off at the airport, Billy ran Will inside to keep him out of the cold...and as snow was falling down into the carseat, all you could hear coming from the little man was a bunch of really loud raspberries! His hat was a bit tosseled, but he didn't seem to mind the cold at all.

(See all the pretty snow behind him?)

Dog gone cute

The Rest of the Story...

We're IN!!!

MORE PICS TO COME! :)

The past 3 1/2 weeks have been a whirlwind of packing, moving, and unpacking! The day before we closed on the house, my FIL Larry called asking "can I come over?" Billy jokingly answered "sure dad, you can come on over"(from Cali)....but to our surprise he was serious, and was in the middle of purchasing a ticket to come! He and Billy had so much fun working on projects like "packing the moving truck" or "taking off the faucet fixtures" or "replacing the ceiling fan". They also enjoyed a few trips to Home Depot and Lowes. Then again, what guy doesn't? :)

My Aunt was such a big help, organizing, unpacking and basically helping me find a place for....
almost everything! Mom completely took care of Will so I could be in other rooms working, which was a HUGE HELP for me :)

Court and David took their turns feeding the boy, playing with him, and "homeschooling" him with lessons on coloring and reading (Courtney was so proud of Will that she gave him a sticker :)...then when they wanted to play, they just went out to the backyard and made forts out of our fridge boxes or sat in front of the washing machine to watch it work! Brothers Brian and Aaron joined in the efforts, and they were so great actually putting the boxes in the room they were marked with! That was SO HELPFUL. I officially have 2 more boxes to go through, which feels WONDERFUL to me.

and here's the rest of the story...

A few months ago, the Lord laid it on my husbands heart to pray for our son, Will. He was born growth restricted and due to slow g.i. motility, he had a hard time growing at first. We had been very concerned for his health, and felt it was time to truly lay it all down at Jesus' feet. We didn't know how long we would continue the fast, and waited for a release when God spoke it was time.

One day during the fast, the Lord reminded Billy of a small piece of unfinished business concerning our finances. Because of the time we had been dedicating to prayer, my heart was prepared to hear what Billy knew we needed to discuss. We had a productive talk, and felt released immediately from the fast. Billy told me that night, "I think God is about to do something very BIG and very FAST with our finances, because we obeyed and are taking care of business".

Who would have guessed that within a month, we would find and purchase our first home?!

During our meeting with the salesman, to turn in our earnest money, we were told the original discount on our home had been DOUBLED! The salesman didn't even understand it, especially since we were prospective buyers, and usually they wouldn't feel the need to discount in that circumstance. He said "they didn't ask if I had any serious lookers, and therefore I didn't feel the need to tell!".

That's not the end of it....

Over the past year, we had been experiencing some foundational shifts in our townhome, that kept us from closing some of our doors...we had asked for them to work on it, but it was going to be a big job, possibly re-locating us. Our lease wasn't ending until the 31st of January, 2010. When we bought our home, we expected to be bombarded with re-letting fees, IF they even decided to let us break lease. Billy spoke honestly to the manager about our situation, about finding a good home in our budget and the timing of our buy. The manager said "it's funny you are telling me this now, because the contractor is ready to start demo, and we've been trying to figure out what we were going to do with you". He said we could go early FREE AND CLEAR!!

For those in the apartment business (like my mom), you know that is UNHEARD OF!

We know God has opened all the doors for us to buy this home! We don't understand it all, but we know there is a purpose for us here. In the years to come, as we make new memories with our family gathered around, we will see and understand the unraveling of God's perfect will in this.

My cousin keeps teasing that now she needs to fast for a new place too, lol! I'll just say we know and have tested that it's true what God's Word says: Some things come ONLY by prayer and fasting. For us: a healthy son, financial freedom, and a new home! What more could we ask for? We are truly blessed and what a more fitting time to be here than this season of giving and thanks!

Harvest Tea and More

I've been meaning to blog about the wonderful tea my Aunt Mary threw a few weeks ago!

It was in honor of the October girl birthdays on that side of the family....Aunt Mary, Aunt Pat, Peyton and my Mamasita. Little cousin's Will, Jeremiah, Lucie, Courtney, David, Kinsey and Peyton joined the "big kids" ~ Aunt Pat, Cheryl, Aunt Mary, Melissa, Lindsey, Mom and myself.

They had the table set so pretty just in time for Fall...and all of the foods and drinks were DELICIOUS! Sausage and Apple Casserole, Zucchini Bake (Quiche), Croissants and Chicken Salad, Chicken and Rice salad, Broccoli and Raisin salad, Tea Biscuits with jam, Zucchini bread with butter, and TEA!

Even little Lu seemed to enjoy the sights :)

Jeremiah was so cute showing off with all of his new words! He's a very smart little boy, and I can't wait to see how he and Will are best buds like Mel and I are! He brought his echoing microphone and guitar to entertain us...and Cheryl even joined him in a little diddy :)  

The kiddos showed off their dress up clothes after we ate, and that was quite the fabulous little fashion show! (I had a cute pic of Peyton and Court dancing, but I can't find it anywhere!)

And we managed to grab a cute shot of the newest cousins! They were so funny holding arms and looking at each other like they were pals! Will was rubbing his little fingers together on her arm, like she was a new "texture"...lol, he loves touching new materials lately!

thank you Auntie for a great day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just want to say how much I love this stuff....especially when Will decides to hold a prune extravaganza :) It's got an enzyme in it that eats away at food products...so when I sprayed all of his clothes, bib and chair down, every last bit of prune either washed away or disappeared! If you don't have it, go and get you some!

 Doesn't he just look so proud of himself?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We didn't celebrate Halloween, but we did, however enjoy a little browsing at
Bed Bath & Beyond and Chipotle tacos dressed up as the THINGS (Courtesy of the ever so close to Disney (jealous) Florida & Africa fam!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now....I'm gonna' go get some sleep. Starting tomrrow we start packing because
we're moving this weekend!!! Yippiee!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will leave you with a shot of my sweet sleepers...Will's even got the shirt impression on his ear to prove it. (p.s. the boy is looking VERY MUCH like his daddy these days :) I'm glad!)

All Smiles

Will was all smiley today, because he has been keeping a

very BIG SECRET!

 

He's gonna' have his very own bedroom in our NEW HOUSE!
When we walked in, it just felt like our home, and by the time we reached the master walk-in closet,
I started jumping up and down, grabbing Billy saying
"Can we get it? Can we get it? I LOVE this house!"

We close November 6th. Just in time for all the fun holidays! It's so crazy, we just started the looking/loan process about 2 weeks ago...I guess "we came, we saw...and we conquered"!

Buckle up

Will usually ends up in the bathroom with me when I'm showerering, or throwing some makeup on.

Today, I placed him in his bouncer, just like usual, and then stepped out to grab my clothes. When I came back in, I found this!

He'd scooted out, rolled over and was VERY PROUD of himself :)
Guess I have to buckle him in all the time now!

As good as the original

I've tried and enjoyed many a dish at Cheesecake Factory but I always end up going back to the Jumbo Chicken Chop...a flattened and lightly fried crispy parmesan crusted chicken with a procuitto and cream tasso sauce...atop a pile of skin-on mashed potatoes....and tender green beans. DELICIOUS. Sadly, they took it off the menu (even though most waiters will tell you it was a very popular dish). So a few trips back, I asked them make it for me anyway, and the chef got a little confused and accidentally sent out the Chicken Costoletta instead (the Chop's replacement). I wasn't so disappointed after just one bite, and I'll have to tell you now that I AM A FAN. It's the same tasty parmesan chicken and potatoes, but the sauce is a bit different....more of a creamy lemon instead of ham. You gotta' try it!

I wanted to make it myself, and went searching for the perfect copycat recipe. Recipe Zaar has a good collection if you're ever looking for your favorite restaurant's dish. This is a good version, but I made a few slight changes since I'm trying to limit my dairy with Will's sensitivity to it in my milk.

Here it is, in all it's glory :) Tomorrow I'm going to make the sauce to throw over some pasta and grilled chicken.

If you make it, let me know how you like it!

Crispy Chicken Costoletta

Recipe #276183

45 min 20 min prep
SERVES 4

The Chicken
4 chicken breasts, cut horizontally, and pounded to about 1/4 inch thick or chicken cutlets
2 lemons, zest of
1 1/2 cups plain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, whisked with 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt

Lemon Sauce
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tablespoon canola oil *(I used olive oil)
2 cups heavy whipping cream (I used 1 cup milk, 1 cup chicken broth)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the chicken:.
Preheat oven to 250°F.
Zest two lemons. Bake zest for about 5 minutes until dry.
On one paper plate combine flour, pepper and salts. On another paper plate combine eggs and water, whisk until combined. On another paper plate combine dry lemon zest, bread crumbs and cheese.
Place pounded chicken in the flour, coating well, followed by the egg mixture and the bread crumbs.
Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Place chicken in pan and cook on each side about 5 minutes until middle is no longer pink. You will need to work in batches, adding more oil and butter as needed.
Keep chicken warm in oven at 250°F.

For the lemon sauce:.
Over medium heat in a fairly large saucepan heat oil. Add minced garlic and sauté about 3 minutes.
Add whipping cream (or milk and broth) and boil until reduced by one-third.
Add Dijon, lemon juice, chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.
Serve chicken with lemon sauce and mashed garlic potatoes.

© 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Good smellin' towels

I went to unload a washer full of wet towels and look what stowaways I found amongst them~

Yep, 3 lovely Vanilla Spice bath sachets that were meant to stay on the ledge of my tub! OOPS!
Well, I guess that's one way to scent your laundry :)

A new addition

Anxious to get their new sister!

I am celebrating yet another new addition to our family! Today, 7 of my Floridian family members ventured over to Jinja, Uganda to adopt a very beautiful girl, Kimber GIFT. She is one of the orphans from Amani Baby Cottage, and she was deemed the name Gift when she was abandoned around Christmas 2003. Her cry was heard outside a church, and she was found under a pew inside. Not too long ago, a foster family returned her to the babies home when they became pregnant with their own biological child. You can only imagine the devastation a little girl might feel after being taken to a new home only to be abandoned once again!

I felt a special love toward Gift that began several years ago, when I saw pictures of her in my cousin's photo album. There was something special about her, something in her eyes that drew me, and now she's my new cousin!! The beauty of this story is that Vince and Stephanie, Kimber Gift's new parents, have already added 2 beautiful African princesses, Kira and Kendi to their ever- growing family.

They have a very cute VERY GIRLY bedroom waiting for her!

She will be surrounded by family and friends that love her very much.

Big Vinny, Steph, Emily, Samuel, Jeremy, Melody, Kira and Kendi.

Please keep this family in your prayers, as they seek to finalize the adoption process. Pray for Gift and her emotional stability as she transitions to a new and loving family. Pray for the financial provision they need.

Melody recently told her mom, "I wanna' be chocolate like my sisters". Steph responded that she is already quite clearly "white chocolate". :) Gotta' love it. Melody please give a big hug to my cousins Diana and Danyne (also in picture) while you're there in Africa! (and Jag and Danvir too!....and of course Danyne...and Surj...and tiny Will in the babies home..and your brothers and sisters...and YOUR MOM!)

My Big Boy

I've wanted to update you all for 3 weeks now, but the little man is awake so much more now that I don't want to miss even one minute of playtime and learning with him! He loves to read his books, and his new favorite toy is his feet!

Our big boy is eating solids now! He's cute when he eats, and is doing great with all sorts of new flavors and textures. I'm so proud of him, and pleasantly suprised that he doesn't have trouble with a spoon. I guess you hear all those horror stories about reflux babies having food aversions....some going as far as sputtering and gagging before the food even enters their mouths. Not Mr. Will Riley! He's doing so good! He looks pretty darn cute in his high chair too :) I'm still nursing and pumping...and that's all going very nicely as well. He's about 15 lbs. 7 oz. today, or maybe even more...but either way, he's definitely eating great and gaining so well!

Billy and I are doing good. We're trying to get in the swing of working out again (still got some baby weight to lose). He bought us a Wii Fit and he's much more dedicated than I am. The hardest part of the day for me is finding time to shower and put makeup on, so it's hard to justify delaying that with working out. I know I just need to DO IT and I'll feel even better though.

~FAM NEWS~

It's fun being Auntie :) Little Lu is growing right on track and she's really a cutie pie. It will be so much fun seeing her grow up and getting to spoil her! I seem to get distracted a lot in the stores with all the adorable little girls clothes that I want to buy her. Billy caught me looking at more tonight, and commented that I can't wait to have a girl of my own to buy cute clothes for :)

I've found myself thinking of girls alot lately, but I sure do love my little man! He has my heart swooning every time he smiles at me or laughs out loud.
Will went to his first baseball game, and we won. I guess he's a little lucky charm too :) He seemed to enjoy the game, and almost looked like he was clapping a few times. He loved the lights and the crowd, and Billy loved it when we introduced him to the wave.

~Enjoying a nap with Grandpa Mike~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My cousin Courtney turned 6...and it was a special birthday because she recently asked Jesus in her heart! It was very sweet...she was visiting her older sister Mel when she asked if she could "go talk to Jesus". Mel told her to find a quiet place, so she went to the bathroom to pray :) She came out with a big smile and when Mel asked what happened Courtney said "He said he loves me too". Mel asked what she talked to Jesus about, and she said "I asked Him to help me with my anger". Wow! I'd say that was quite an experience for a 6 year old! When she got home, my aunt caught Courtney telling her big brother David, "you need to ask Jesus in your heart, it feels soooo good!". So he did and now he's all smiles! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My cousin Danyne (the one who runs the orphanage in Africa) just had another little boy! They aren't sure if he weighed 9.3 or 9.13, because the scale in the hospital had a low battery! LOL! He's doing good, and so is his mama. I can't wait to meet little Danvir!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The summer has just come and gone so quickly, and we have an almost 7 month old son! I don't know where the time went!

(Don't worry Will, MUMS THE WORD!)