The Dynamic Duo

Saturday night I couldn't fall asleep until around midnight because my mind was thinking about all the things I need to do.  Last night at dinner I wrote them all down (in an attempt to avoid a repeat of Saturday night) and the list, so far, is 24 items long.  And most of them need to get done this week, during the approximately 2 hours I have to myself each day.  So I'm going to get working and leave you, for now, with this image...

Baby D is back - more updates to come in a couple days!!

Last bits of Summer Mmmm

Well summer, it's been nice knowing you.  Hubby T heads back to work tomorrow, while Baby B and I have a couple more days to ourselves before Baby D joins us on a regular basis again.  We've had a great last week at home together though, filled with great food, great family time and, of course, great things for Baby B, starting with...his new car seat!

 

Wow, he's finally facing forward and it's like he grew up a year overnight!  I even feel like the mother of an older children driving him around now, it's a bit surreal.  After much deliberation we purchased a Britax Roundabout and so far so good.  I think it'll be more interesting for him to see out his window better and to see some out the front.  He can definitely see me, as evidenced by his outburst of "I apple!" as we were driving home after church on Sunday.  He saw mommy eating an apple so why shouldn't he get some too right?!  By the grace of God, I had some apple slices packed in his diaper bag and it was all within reach so I passed them back to him, he devoured them and promptly fell asleep.  Peace reigns, alleluia.  I guess that's my one warning that whenever I want to eat a snack in the car, I'd better have something ready for him too!!

We had an extremely nice and longer than usual visit with Hubby T's parents last weekend.  In addition to walking around the farmer's market and walking in CW and enjoying lunch at our favorite Cheese Shop, they helped us complete our patio and inaugurate Baby B's new car seat by going out for frozen yogurt!

 
There's lots more to say about Baby B, he seems to have changed a lot recently, but for right now I want to spent the rest of this post on some awesome food we have been enjoying.  The first is the Garden Enchilada Bake from one of my favorite bloggers.  When I made this I included some shredded carrot and chopped spinach; I also substituted some ground up chick peas for the quinoa because that's what I had, and it was delicious.  Definitely a dinner winner with no leftovers.

My second culinary recommendation was inspired by the sample of Trader Joe's Lemon & Triple Ginger Snap Ice Cream I had a few days ago.  I was a bit skeptical but it tasted delicious and I decided it would be more cost effective to capture those flavors in cookie form rather than buy the ice cream.  A Google search for lemon ginger snap cookies yielded practically no results, so I decided to make my mom's ginger snap recipe and add in the lemon all on my own.  This was a big step for me because, as you may have guessed, I don't create recipes.  I am a recipe follower all the way.  But oh boy did my experiment pay off.  These cookies are delicious!  These ginger snaps are fantastic in their original form, but for some extra zing and flavor, I would highly recommend adding the lemon.  And in case you were wondering, these are soft ginger snaps, the only kind of ginger snaps worth eating (in my not so humble opinion:).

Gramma and Mama P's Lemon Ginger Snap Cookies

1 c. sugar
3/4 c. shortening (Crisco)
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 lemon

Cream sugar and shortening.  Beat in egg, then molasses.  Mix in all the zest of the lemon and the juice of approximately half the lemon.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Form dough into balls and place on greased cookie sheets.*  Press flat with a glass covered with a wet cloth dipped in sugar.  Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

*In case this doesn't make sense, let me explain further.  Take a thin cloth (i.e. a handkerchief) and wrap it around the bottom of a glass.  Make sure there are minimal creases in the fabric covering the bottom of the glass and secure the cloth with a rubberband.  Run the bottom of the glass under some water, then press it down in a bowl of sugar.  Press the glass on each ball of cookie dough to slightly flatten.  Some of the sugar will stick to the top of the cookie.  Re-dip the glass in the sugar as needed.

P.S.  One last thing, a public service announcement if you will.  The front driver's side of my car was almost smashed today because the car next to me changed lanes without looking.  Dear friends, do not be lazy - remember to check your blind spot!!  It's not that hard and will avoid a lot of unnecessary accidents....and horn honking.

Vacation Part 2

Well, I promised scenic pictures right?  Here they are!  Our biggest outdoor excursion this vacation was a trip to Maroon Bells, two mountain peaks that are part of the White River National Forest.  Part of the fun of going to Maroon Bells is walking around the little lake where the bus drops you off (you can't drive in).

The other fun part is hiking around.  We chose to take the 3.5 mile hike back down a path that "parallels" the road.  This meant that while our scenery was fantastic, all Baby B could talk about was the "bus!" that we would occasionally glimpse.  Let it be noted, for the record, that taking an 18 month old on a 3.5 mile hike without a stroller or hiking backpack was not necessarily the brightest idea.  For little bits we could travel like this...

But most of the time it looked like this...

In the end, it looked like this...

Thank goodness for strong bodies to carry my sleepy boy!!  We took the easy way to our other outdoor destination.  While some people have the strength and fortitude to bike or hike the road that carries you from the 8,000 something feet high Aspen to the 12,095 feet high Continental Divide, we simply drove.

While the heights up there somewhat terrify me, it's a spectacular view.  (Refrains of "God of Wonders" waft through my head when I think about it, "the universe declares your majesty...")  Being above the treeline, so high up that only tundra can grow, is really something.  Plus, it's windy and chilly that high, so I got to wear my new sweatshirt! 

So that's our trip, in a nutshell.  I didn't mention everything, but I think I got most of it.  Hubby T has one more week off until he returns to work.  We're going to enjoy these last couple mornings of sleeping in and lounging around while we still can!!

Vacation Part 1

And we're back!  We flew two-thirds of the way across the country and back with 10 days of glorious vacation in between.  Snowmass Village, Colorado is my little piece of heaven on earth.  I have been going there to my grandparent's house for family vacations for 20 years and I made the genius suggestion of bringing Hubby T there on our honeymoon so that I could convince him that it could be his little piece of heaven too.  That little scheme worked and so we're back this summer to celebrate our fifth anniversary.  Will we be back for our tenth?  I can only hope so, but in the meantime, I'm going to focus on being grateful for the trip I just had! 

Oh goodness, where to start?  Well, let's talk about how the 7 hour + layover went on our way out there...

"I out!!!"  Yup, walking around in the stroller to try and bring on a nap did not work.  At least they had a fun children's play area in the airport.  It may be the only redeeming bit of goodness in Chicago O'Hare.  That and the Jamba Juice...

Flying the plane in the kid's playground at the airport

Once we got there, life was brilliant again.  I mean, who wouldn't love to play in a park with scenery like this?!  Apparently there was a hang glider who landed in this field five minutes before we got there...too bad we missed it!

The highlight of any trip with my family is, of course, time with family!  Even just hanging around the house is part of the delight of visiting Colorado...

 Playing on the deck

 Reading with Gigi at breakfast

Coloring before dinner

 

Pulling Grampa in the wagon

I look at these pictures now and can't help but feel like they don't do the experience justice.  You can't get the full magnitude of the magnificent view from the deck, you can't feel the perfectly warm but not hot or humid mountain air, you can't taste the delicious food my gramma makes (where do you think I get my cooking habits from?!)  Sigh.  Okay, sorry about that.  I hope you'll forgive me for my need to brag/boast/overflow with how wonderful it is up there.  I still wish I was there!  So, if you can put up with one more post, I'll share the most beautiful and scenic pictures from our trip in the next post.  I can only put so many pictures in one blog post, so our adventures outside the house will come next...stay tuned!!

Church is hard sometimes

Most of the time I use the space on this blog to share the awesomeness of my family.  I do have a life outside my son (hard to believe, I know) and since so much has been going on in it lately, I have been feeling compelled to share...so I hope you will indulge my rambling for a little bit here.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, Hubby T and I are devoted Christians and for us, being part of a church is part of our identity as Christians.  We've been a part of our church for almost four years now.  It's the first church that we were able to join and get involved in as adults, as married adults, as parents...it's almost a second home, especially because we have formed some spectacularly wonderful friendships there.  But just because church is a wonderful place for us doesn't mean that it's easy.

Our church has encountered a perfect storm of events over the past 12-18 months.  Our head pastor left, and a new one has not been hired yet.  Several families and members of the church chose to leave because they disagreed with a doctrinal decision made by our denomination's governing body.  Our Director of Christian Education left and a new one has not been hired.  Our associate pastor left and a new one has not been hired.  Like many churches, our budget too has been hard hit by the recession.  And in the midst of all this, several close friends from our church small group have left, all for legitimate, life-changes-and-we-can't-help-it-reasons, but they are deeply missed nonetheless.  I get the feeling that many people in our church are tired, worn out, discouraged, and frustrated.  And although we're feeling pretty good overall, Hubby T and I definitely have our moments when we feel that burden.  Everyone who cares about the church is giving and volunteering in some way but we all have our limits.  We feel we have been in the darkness for awhile, and can't quite see when dawn is going to break, although we know it has to eventually! 

So do we walk away?  Should we be searching for another church?  Although I think many people have been having this conversation, Hubby T's and my answer, at least for now, is no.  We are sticking with it.  And here's why -

"Life...is about thriving in God's good world.  It's stillness, peace, and that feeling of your soul being at rest, while at the same time it's about asking things, learning things, creating things, and sharing it all with others who are finding the same kind of joy in the same good world."

Hubby T and I read that quote in Rob Bell's book Love Wins a couple weeks ago and were both incredibly struck by what a powerful description it is of the church.  As long as our church remains a place where we can continue to ask, learn, create and share the joys and hardships of the Christian journey with others who are going through the same things we are, we'll be there.  And we have hope that the dawn will break soon, because that's what God promises.  And it will be glorious when it does.