lots of red and pink going on...

Some of my children have pink eye. Just when we thought we were done with one kid and a few days had passed, along comes another kid. We also have colds and sore throats. More changing of the sheets, lysoling here, there and everywhere: part of the territory with motherhood. But the weather has been chilly and so we don't mind snuggling in and mending. This weekend I dusted off some projects I've been meaning to do, as well as some yummy ones I've been wanting to do.
I made apple chips..using this recipe. They don't last long in our house. Everyone devours them at quite a quick pace! These are organic. These are addicting.

I also made an apple pie. It's been awhile. Pie has it's own healing properties.

I found a desk on the side of the road in our neighborhood the other day. We were in great need of an extra one. This one was going to go to the trash if someone didn't take it. My hubby grabbed it and fixed it up. I would show you the before and after, but the before was plain wood covered with teenager graffiti. The kind with stupid Justin Beeber lyrics and silly pictures drawn everywhere. So I'm just going to show you the beautiful after... Voila!

(ignore the ugly cords, I'm going to make a small curtain or something to cover up those bad boys)

The other project I worked on all day. It was something I've literally probably needed to do for about five years now.Confession: I am really bad about seeing some great recipe online, printing it out and sticking it in some cookbook or in it's own growing pile. So I finally bit the bullet, organized them all, three-hole-punched them, put them in their own binders with tabs to extra-organize them. I know, it would have been an easy task to do awhile back, but we're talking hundreds of recipes, so ya, it took awhile.

Here is the finished product. Ahhh, much better!

What projects have you been doing???

Easter tree

My girls and I are really into Tasha Tudor books right now. I love Tasha's simple, but beautiful art and I must say that reading about farming and chickens, and canning and candle making with a large family on a nice piece of land is just so appealing. Maybe some day. We had a recent stroke of inspiration...

This is from her book "A time to keep". It's probably my favorite of all her books, full of ideas, and lovely, simple traditions. So here is what we came up with

I still wanted to make this an "Easter tree" and not just a "Spring tree", so we added some verses on the Resurrection to remind us that we would be nothing, there would be no Spring, or New Life without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Here I am at 24 weeks. My kids all had a weird and strange rash that made them all itchy and miserable. I'm still not sure where it came from for sure, but thankfully, it is gone now. Here is my little Soeren and I snuggling. Sometimes we just need a big dose of comfort from Mama and nothing else will work. I am always happy to oblige!

it's a good thing...

Today is a windy day, it's lovely really. It seems to be howling through our house quite nicely, it's a sound that is comforting to me in a weird way, and it is a sound that makes me crave hot tea and fresh baked bread. This bread is crazy good. Like, if I were stranded on a desert Island and could have one food, this would be it. We scarfed this down for lunch with nothing but butter and my homemade blackberry jam and I must say, "forget you Francis all I want is bread and jam."

bread rising

Here it is all warm and baked and lovely, I would show you more after pictures, but all that was left were purple, sticky, happy faces.

Tonight we're going to my husband's bosses house for a barbeque. The men have welded their own smoker and have been smoking ribs since last night. I can't wait to dive into a mess of ribs. Ribs are like an old friend, whenever you get together you catch right up and right back to where you were and all you have is fond memories of them. I love you ribs, and I always will. My sweetie pie called me and asked me a "pretty please and if you by any chance have some extra time" favor. Would I make a barbeque sauce to rival Maurices BBQ sauce from South Carolina. Google South Carolina and Maurices will pop up. I did find a good recipe and added a little extra molasses and some onion powder, but otherwise, Wow!!!! It's spicy, but that didn't stop the girls and I from licking the pan clean!

Here are the ingredients: sugar, a whole bunch of mustard, garlic, tomato paste, worchestire, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, black pepper. 

The finished product, ready to be eaten with ribs!

Here is the Shepherds Bread recipe:

7 c. flour (I think I used a little less)

1 T. salt

1/4 c. sugar

2 pkg dry yeast

1 c. milk

1 1/2 c. warm water

1/4 c. butter

Mix 2 1/2 c. of the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Combine milk, butter and water in a sauce pan and heat on low until melted and liquids are warm. Gradually add the liquids to the dry ingredients and whip on high for two minutes, switch to the dough hook, add the rest of the flour little bit by little bit and knead until a soft dough. Let rise in a buttered bowl for an hour, then punch down, divide in half and let rise again. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-28 minutes. 

fresh batch of baby onesies!

As I promised, here are the other projects I've finished. Can't wait to see these on Isabella!

 strawberry onesie..

 I is for Isabella...

Some groovy bibs for my groovy baby

 beautiful butterfly

 Birds of a feather

 I had fun with this one, there's a butterfly on the front

and one to pat!

pregnant and pickles

I made these "bread and butter dill pickles" today. It's my first attempt at making pickles and I must say..Yum! They actually taste like pickles! I know that is weird to say, but as I'm making these and canning them I'm hoping that they don't taste like vinegary cucumbers. Next time, I won't have them in the water bath quite as long as I lost a bit of their crispness, but Eddrick, who is my pickle eater is still happy over these! Here is the other project I've been working on...

 

I made Isabella some very tiny and personalized onesies. This is her "peacock" onesie and I really loved how it turned out. I used the "soft" fabric paint so it wouldn't scratch her newborn skin either. I'll post pics of the other onesies another time. Right now I'm 22 weeks pregnant, my weekly email says she's the size of a spaghetti squash right now. Talk about a growth spurt!

Eucharisteo Moment: toothless

Eucharisteo - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember as thanks to the Lord.

spring comes early

I live in the desert, it can be hot here, it can get downright freezing here, it is dry here. And there are times and seasons when our spirituality can feel the same way, such a fluctuation of "temperatures", such a "dryness" of soul. This week has been hard, and when I say hard, it is like the ground on a day in August in the desert: when the land is parched and cracked and there seems no hope, no life, no rain, just dust. But then the Creator comes and with one touch of His hand, he makes all the hurting and fear and worry go away. Just one touch! An incredible wonder has happened in a life of one I hold dear. A repentance, a miracle, a growing....a SPRING! God has taken all the pain and turned it into the most beautiful springtime boquet. He has made all things new, placed His hand on a dead branch and made it burst into blossom. He has turned my mourning into laughter. I am Lucy and I was in a ship in an island of fog and I can't see, and I've screamed "Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now". And I hear his voice, like an albatross over head, in a soft, gentle, "delicious" voice, in the middle of the dark say to me "Courage, dear heart". And in those few moments, the darkness is.......gone! I am praising God right now, for this early Spring, may it ever flourish and grow. After all, we were all once dead in our trespasses and sins and His RESURRECTING LIFE has made us alive!

Lent and the forgiveness of sins

This year we are really trying to reflect on Lent. What does it mean? Why do we observe it? Here is an excellent post from one of my favorite people on Lent. And here is another one of her posts on Forgiveness, something which is raw and real to my heart right now. Oh the hurting, oh the reflection on my own sin, the thankfulness for God's ultimate forgiveness and how I MUST do the same. He blots out our sins, He remembers them no longer. I am empty, I am broken, I write the names in dust, I wipe them away and I forgive and sometimes I keep writing the same name and wiping it away. Forgiveness is a cycle, it needs to happen constantly, not just once: for we are fallen humans in need of a Savior. Jesus does it perfectly, once, and IT IS FINISHED. I am so thankful, and I am observing lent this season.

winding down, catching up, and breathing...

God gives us what we can handle at certain times in our lives and He gives us the grace to get through. For what seems like over a month of a teething, fussy, sleepless baby season, the molar finally broke through only to give way to a horrible diaper rash and the constant diapering needs that go with that. We've been busy, busy, busy full of people and places and ministering, but we are finding ourselves exhausted. And at the brink of all that, I had a family disaster take place that has rocked me to my core, made me cry and cry so much, that I am all cried out now, I am mentally and emotionally and spiritually exhausted. It's hard when a brother decides to try and throw everything God has given him away and revel in his own trash instead. It is frustrating to hear and see the pain on his family's voice and hear my own parents heartbroken and weary voices. And when his repentence comes you find your doubts but begging God that this whole thing be final and resolved and be different this time. Oh life can get to it's hardest point and when you think you're about to break, the Lord gives a brief reprieve and low and behold, the baby is sleeping through the night again. I find comfort in my husband's arms and his understanding, in the laughter of my children as we sit around the dinner table telling cheesy jokes. As my husband reads to our family the book of Job (which we've been going through for some time oddly enough) and having the words wash over me, strengthen me and I feel the Lord's arms around me hugging me tightly and soothing my soul and I finally take a deep breath...

In the midst of this, I also find comfort in the kitchen. I know, different things for different people. For me, I just need to bake up a storm or cook up a storm or something. Just to be doing, and not thinking over and over again and getting all caught up in my thoughts and how they can spiral.

made a year's worth of jam: blackberry, strawberry, and blueberry strawberry and some ginger mango granola.

Cooking tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes for two days and then canning them.

 Making sun-dried grape tomatoes

 Large quantities of zuchini muffins to freeze and have on hand for any occasion...

Stewing all the heirloom tomatoes I got at the market. I love them fresh, but there were just too many to be able to enjoy all at once.

And here I am at 21 weeks pregnant, so excited she's a girl, that I'm over half way there.

It's a GIRL!!!!

Here she is!

 Here's her very strong Spine..

 Her feet were tap dancing, it was amazingly precious!

and here's her little face peeking at you all! We've decided on the name Isabella Kathryn Lenore Moya. I really can't wait to meet this little person. Here is my latest preggo pick of 19 weeks...

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces (acutally the doc said she's 10 oz.) and measures 6 inches (again, doc said 8 inches), head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.