Menu Planning Monday

I just came up from the "dungeon" (aka: the laundry room) and the battle with the dirty clothes beast is beginning to look favorable! 2 down, 4 left to go. And that's not even considering the fact that these tamed beasts (aka: clean, folded clothes) still need to be put away! Ack. Alas, I will put my sword and shield away for the night, for I am weary. :)

Anywho . . . here is the menu that I have planned for this week. I may need to be fairly flexible many nights, however, because we will probably end up working out at our new house (!!!) some nights this week. So, if you see a recipe repeated next week you'll know which nights we ended up being spontaneous.

MONDAY - Hamburgers on the Grill, Chicken Rice, Carrot Coins, Buttered Brussel Sprouts (the kids resisted at first, but actually liked them once they tried them!)

TUESDAY - Chicken Pesto Pasta, Steamed Broccoli, French Bread

WEDNESDAY - Leftovers OR Grab and Go Night

THURSDAY - Ham Steaks, AuGratin Potatoes, Green Beans

FRIDAY - Lemon Herbed Chicken, Pesto Linguine, Mixed Vegetables, French Bread

Sweet Anticipation

A baby girl!

Wow . . . the thought of it still takes me by surprise!!!

I really never thought that Kevin and I would be the parents of something sweet and pink. Oh, how the Lord loves to surprise us!

I am finding that as the weeks are winding down (5 more "officially" to go), my anticipation level is gearing up. With the help of my amazing in-laws, the baby's room is also getting geared up. A few weeks back we (well, mostly my mother-in-law) painted the room a spring green to match an accent color in the bedding I bought used from a friend of mine. Then, the hunt was on to find curtains to coordinate. I searched high and low at every home store and major chain, but just couldn't find the perfect combination of colors. My mother-in-law then suggested that we look at a fabric store and make our own. The idea was overwhelming to me since I have only done very minimal sewing in my life, but she is so amazingly crafty and talented that I bravely went and found the perfect fabric at JoAnn's. We set an afternoon aside at her house to get the curtains cut and sewn, but I was so slow at the sewing machine that she ended up finishing them up on her own and bringing them over a few days later. I am so thrilled with the curtains because they really tie the room together and make it look classical and feminine - it is the perfect touch!

I haven't really picked a theme for the nursery (except for the flowers adorning the blanket and bumper, and the stripes on the curtains, baskets and sheets), but I was thinking I might use one of my favorite old toys as a spring board. Most everyone who knows me for any length of time knows that I am head-over-heels in love with horses. It would just seem appropriate if my daughter became infatuated as well, wouldn't it? If I surround her with horse figurines and pictures now, will it increase her potential as she grows up? I can hope! Also, I love the idea because I still have the horse pictures that hung on my wall growing up and I think the colors might work for the baby's room as well. That would certainly be a cheap and nostalgic fix to my decorating block.

The baby's closet is beginning to fill up now and it is so fun looking at all of the pink and purple things - I truly never thought these colors would be in the nursery! Almost the entire collection of clothing has been tremendously blessed to us from close friends and family. I am so incredibly thankful for the hand-me-downs of others! When we initially found out we were expecting a girl I was worried that we wouldn't be able to afford to clothe her. My fears can be laid to rest now thanks to all of our amazing loved ones! In fact, she has so many 0-6 month outfits, she may not ever be able to wear them all before she outgrows them! Now how's that for a laying a fear to rest?!

I am not particularly a girlie-girl myself, but I must admit that I am really loving all of the girlie clothes and accessories that we have been given. The little shoes and the hairbows are just too much fun to imagine accessorizing our little sweetheart someday soon. Can I admit that I am just going to have too much fun playing dress-up with her?

I am so excited for the next 5 (or less!) weeks to pass! How amazing, different and fun life is going to be by adding a little girl to our family. There will, of course, be all of the incredible challenges that come with having three busy boys and a newborn in the house, but the realities just can't suppress my excitement. I don't relish the ideas of sleeplessness and exhaustion, but I can't help but still want her here as soon as possible. I pray that the Lord watches over her development and decides the perfect time for her to arrive - the sooner, the better, of course!

Backyard Update

I stopped and talked to my neighbor yesterday and decided to ask him if he knew at all about the history of our woods. To my delight, he supplied me with a bit of the information I was looking for - it seems our backyard was formerly part of a very large apple orchard! The original farmhouse (which is at the northeast end of our dirt road) dates back to the mid to late 1800s and all of the property around us used to farmed by the family. In fact, our neighbor said that up until the last ten years or so, some of the old apple trees were still struggling to grow in the woods. I hiked through the woods with this new information and couldn't find any fruit trees at all, but that's not surprising since they would be over a hundred years old!

A bit of the puzzle is put into place!

Delightful discovery

Last spring as I was walking through the woods behind our house, I noticed some newly sprouted plants poking through the leaf liter that looked suspiciously like daylilies. Always a sucker for free flowers, I quickly got a spade and a bucket and set forth on digging them up and replanting them in various places around our yard. I didn't have any idea what kind of dayliliy that were or if they were even truly daylilies at all (since they never bloomed in the shade of the dense trees), but I figured I'd take the risk and put them in. Lo and behold, I have been rewarded with a delightful discovery! The flowers on the daylilies are the standard orange color, but it's petals are uniquely triple layered! The blooms are delicate and beautiful to look at!




My discovery really makes me wonder what sort of history these flowers have. I am fairly certain these are not native to the woods and were indeed planted by someone at sometime. If the gardener did not just simply discard them into the woods, was there a garden there at some point that has since become swallowed up by the trees? Whose were the hands that broke the soil and tucked the bulbs into their soil beds? Was it a young mother, a elderly grandmother, a hard-working farmer, an inquisitive child? What did our property look like at the time the flowers were planted (and how long ago was it)? Was there another house here at one time that has long since disappeared?

Ahhhh . . . how I would love to know the history hidden within our own backyard. It is so amazing to have a physical reminder of the fact that although time marches on, a bit of our legacy can be left behind even when we are unaware . . .