Friday, February 24, 2006

Happy Friday

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Choose one: moving to another state, having triplets, or never being able to eat chocolate again.

Twins, yes; triplets, ummmm no. :-) I guess I'd pick moving to another state. I've moved enough that at this point it's kind of an adventure to start fresh somewhere.

Soup
Name a news story that truly shocked you.

I'm so clueless on what is current ... nothing at all comes to mind.

Salad
What was your very first job?

Besides babysitting, I worked as a cashier/fabric cutter at ClothWorld and started there part-time during my senior year of high school. My boss suggested I might want to learn how to sew and how to read a pattern so that I could help customers so I fearlessly picked out a pattern and jumped to it. My choice for a first project - extremely bright purple spandex shorts. That was such a mistake. (As was wearing them, but that's for another time).

Main Course
If you had the chance to read the diary of someone you're really close to, would you? Why or why not?

No. Because I don't know that I want you peeking into mine! :-)

Dessert
What's something you're looking forward to?

Besides just each day, and especially this weekend with my husband, I can't think of anything stellar that stands out. And I can sleep on my stomach again so it's all good.

Friday Felicities
Things that make you happy. From the mind of Nattie Rose.

  • Playdates with friends at McDonald's.
  • Caffiene free diet coke. :-)
  • Girls that take naps at the same time.
  • Checking things off my to do list.
  • This book ... A Woman's Call to Prayer.
  • Going to bed early.
  • Making Memories rub-on embellishments and alphabets. I'm addicted. I blame Cheryl COMPLETELY. :-)
  • Friday night family nights.
  • Baby blues (that probably won't stay blue.)



  • And brown eyed girls.

  • Wednesday, February 22, 2006

    Kitchen Questionaire

    Saw this at Meredith's site and thought it looked fun:

    1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? HOw many are in your family?
    I try to do 18-20 meals in home. The only ones out are my Tuesday lunch with my Mom and sister and an occasional pick-up of chicken nuggets somewhere for Noelle if I'm trying to get errands run. Four in our family.

    2. How many cookbooks do you own? How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?
    Twenty-two. My Better Homes and Garden and Miserly Meals sit on a ledge in my kitchen for easy access and the others are on the bookshelf. I probably refer to them 2-3 times per week.

    4. Do you collect recipes from other sources?
    I subscribe to the Menus for Moms e-newsletter and get some from there. Others I'll pick up randomly, no real set place I find them.

    5. How do you store those recipes?
    I have a Filemaker Pro database that I built that has all my recipes in it. That way I can search by ingredient or catagory or whatever. It took forever to initially do, but I started it right after Noelle was born and worked on it bit by bit.

    7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?
    When I'm not pregnant, Weight Watcher recipes seem to dominate. Light cooking, lots of veggies. Otherwise, I seem to specialize in soups and crockpot cooking.

    8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation?
    Planning the meals, making my grocery list and organizing that kind of stuff. I also like the actual preparation of the meals, too, but I really like planning them. :-)

    9. What's your least favorite part?
    Well, I really don't mind cleanup (and I don't have a dishwasher), but I don't enjoy scrubbing the big pots and pans I use. I usually end up letting them soak overnight if they are really bad and then they are a breeze to clean first thing in the a.m.

    10. Do you plan menus before you shop?
    Yes! It has helped immensely in saving money and easing my frustration about what to make for dinner.

    11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?
    My iced tea maker, my stove (with flat top burners and oven timer), and lots of paring knives. I always have one handy.

    12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?
    A kitchen island for more counter space in the middle of the room.

    13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?
    I'm slowly replacing my big utensils that sit on the counter (spatulas, measuring cups, etc.) The ones that have either been handed down from my Mom or Grandma and are old and falling apart.

    14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?
    Yes.

    15. Grocery shop alone or with others?
    With others if you include Noelle, and soon to include Natalie on those trips. :-)

    16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?
    Maybe 1-2. I have several soup recipes that I can make with or without meat, and have been known to substitute veggie meat in place.

    17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it?
    The kitchen is pretty much all white, but I try to highlight with red utensils and I have a red shelf that Travis built me.

    18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?
    I think it was this dish called Taco Rice Skillet. Ground beef, rice, tomato sauce served with lettuce and cheese.

    19. How did you learn to cook?
    When I was in high school, my Mom went back to work to start saving money for college for me and my sister. My sister and I were assigned weeks that it was our responsibility to cook and we alternated weeks. I tended to experiment a lot with different recipes.

    20. Tag two other people to play.
    Ummmm, how about Misty and Dawn. :-)

    Monday, February 20, 2006

    Week in View



    We spent most of our weekend at my sister & brother-in-law's as they were moving into a new home. I mostly took care of Natalie and such since I'm still not supposed to do tons of heavy lifting. It was kinda crazy over there. Most of Saturday afternoon was consumed with a Direct TV guy trying to get their sets hooked up with a satellite dish and some DVR thing-a-ma-jig and surround sound installation. More than I understand. :-) We were all worn out both evenings and made early nights of it. I'm relishing our Monday at home so that I can get caught up the piles of laundry and let Noelle just have some play time with her toys. Dinner is going in the crockpot so I don't have to mess with it later either other than make some rice and maybe some cornbread to go with it.

    I'm really still enjoying just being. Being home a lot. Being with the girls. I'm still doing some work for church, but I've been able to fit it into nap times when both girls are down and after Noelle has gone to bed and Travis is ready for some Natalie-time. I've been praying and talking with Travis some about some changes I might be considering making in regards to church work. Always something to think about. Trying to spend less time on the computer so that I can really sit with Noelle and play with her. It's hard for me to do, because my mind runs in a million different directions with ideas and projects, but I know she needs the attention and mommy-time.

    I really thought I had more to write when I sat down here. Oh, well. Must be a sign that I need to be doing something else. One picture from our time out this weekend ... Noelle and her cousin.

    Thursday, February 16, 2006

    Dreamy Girl



    And not so dreamy (or happy being naked and getting her picture taken). :-)



    But I LOOOOOOOVE this picture. :-)

    Tuesday, February 14, 2006

    Happy Valentine's



    Valentine's wishes are popping up everywhere. Normally this is a day that we generally skim over in our household, but not so much thi s year. My husband took my breath away on Sunday. He bought me a new camera ... what I would call a GROWN-UP camera. I casually mentioned while in the hospital with Natalie that I thought I was ready for a real camera - the kind where you change the lens, put on the flash and all that. He conferred with my photographer Dad and on Sunday presented me with a Nikon D50!



    I'm having fun playing with it and attempted some pictures of the girls for Valentine's Day this morning. Definitely not perfect shots, but they captured them. :-)



    We don't have big romantic plans for this evening. We had talked about doing take-out and just staying in to watch a movie, but instead the whole family is going to go see Curious George. Noelle has been talking about the monkey movie for weeks so I'm sure she'll enjoy herself. That, plus a dinner of McDonald's chicken mcnuggets and she's going to have a good evening.

    And, to close, here is a picture my Dad took of Natalie on Sunday. We did a little photo shoot for her birth announcements and I'll try and remember to share a few of the shots over the next several days.

    Friday, February 10, 2006

    The First Week

  • The first week is almost over.
  • And there is snow coming down big-time here in TN!!!
  • Preparing for a fun evening watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.
  • Noelle is currently watching Toy Story and Natalie is sleeping.
  • I haven't been out of the house much this week ... it's been great.
  • Monday we went for a check up on my incision.
  • Did I mention that it started bleeding about 2 a.m. on Sunday morning?
  • That was not cool. Completely freaked me out.
  • But all is okay ... thank you Lord.
  • Had Natalie's one week appointment on Tuesday ... she's lost about 1/2 a pound since birth weight.
  • Dr. says all looks good and we go back next Tuesday for another weight check.
  • The way she eats, I don't think we'll have a problem. :-)
  • A friend brought us dinner tonight ... poppyseed chicken and Ceasar salad. Yummmmm!
  • Oh, and one other big thing...
  • I've cut out caffiene. (Insert moment of silence).
  • Natalie is not fond of it.
  • I'm all about caffiene free stuff now, and of course, lots of water.
  • I printed Natalie's birth announcements the other day. They were already done except for the birth info.
  • My dad is going to do a "photo shoot" with baby this weekend for it.
  • Travis is already asking when I'll be ready to have number 3.
  • Ummm, let me think on that for a bit.
  • Noelle is fascinated by the baby.
  • Whenever Natalie cries, Noelle comes running saying, "Baaaabeeee, what happen'?"
  • Pretty cute.
  • I need to do a little scrapbooking this weekend.
  • I have two mini albums to send to Travis' folks with baby pictures to put together.
  • All I have to do is glue in the photos ... piece of cake.

    Speaking of photos, a few photos to start the weekend:

    Noelle decided that Natalie needed Baa for a bit.



    My girls. :-)

  • Saturday, February 04, 2006

    A Quick Hello



    We're home as of Thursday and doing well. I'm REALLY sore (in lots of spots), and having been taking it very easy. Natalie is doing fabulous ... she is sleeping a lot so our feedings have been a little wonky, but the nursing is going great other than being quite sore as we break back into feedings. :) Noelle is handling this transition like a champ ... so far. She is VERY interested in watching me change Natalie's diaper and even requests that we change it at times just for fun. Travis has had to go into work for a few hours both Thursday, Friday, and even today for a bit, but he's racked up quite a few extra hours before the baby came which will be a huge help over the next few weeks. Natalie has her 1 week check upon Tuesday and he'll need to drive us since I'm not allowed to drive for 2 weeks because of the c-section. I've had a little time alone with both the girls and must admit to several bouts of tears (not even really of frustration) of hormones at how I will do this by myself over the coming weeks.

    All that to say, posts may be a little sporadic here. I've been needing to cut back on my internet time anyway, and am planning on taking advantage of this time to do that and adjust myself to that change. Also as a heads up, I'm seriously considering either password protecting here or at least making it so you have to register for commenting. I'll give a heads up if I do do that.

    A few pics, of course. :)



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