Bad day

I'm having a bad day, and aparently so is my child. I'm sure that we are feeding off one another, but what started it......her bad mood or mine? There is so much going on around this house, and I feel like there is so much I need to get done, but never enough time. Dan has been working on building the deck since last Tuesday so all of his days off have been dedicated to deck work......which I totally understand needs to happen, but that leaves me without my right arm which I am used to having on his days off.

After Maddie decided not to take a nap, I called a friend of mine and asked her if Maddie and I could come over this afternoon because we desperately needed to get out of the house and away from the construction zone and all the dust that has covered my house. On our way out to the car Maddie decided to brave the stair by herself (which she can normally do just fine) and fell down all 4 of them landing on her face on the concrete. Talk about a scraped up bloody face.....she was SO sad and looked so aweful, I know it's gonna get worse looking as it scabs over. It was such an ordeal to clean it up because she was screaming her head off. This poor child can not seem to stay balanced on her feet. At her 18 month check up her Dr. said that she had grown 2 inches in the last 3 months and that was probably causing her to be so clumsy recently.....man am I ready for her to get used to her longer legs and stop hurting her poor little face.

Dan is finishing up the railing for the stairs and then the deck will be complete. I will post pictures of the whole process later.....maybe tomorrow. I'm going to go out and pick us up dinner in about 30 minutes because we have no food in the house right now.....yet another task that needs to happen but we don't seem to have the time.....and then we have bible study tonight. It will be nice to get away from the house and have a sitter for Maddie and be around our friends who always give us support. Then we will go to bed and this day will be over, FINALLY! I am not looking forward to this weekend because Dan has to work 3 days in a row and that's never fun, but next week is our 5 days off week and if I just keep reminding myself of that, I can get through it. Okay, I need to get going, Maddie has gotten into the potato bin and is trying to eat a raw sweet potato......what am I gonna do with her? lol

wa-la we have a swingset

After a couple days of working on it off and on, the swing set is officially put together and in working order. All the reviews said that it would take about 8 hours to put it together but that was with the help of another adult.....Dan did it alone and it only took him a little more than 10 over the course of a couple days.....but man there were a LOT of parts!!! We have had beautiful weather the last couple of days which has made it fantastic to go out and play in our very own backyard. Maddie is in LOVE with the slide. She needs help getting up the ladder because her legs are still too short to do it alone, but she can sit herself down and slide all on her own. She also really enjoys the baby swing and the glider although she told me that she needs a friend to go on that with her :o). So, here are some pictures of the building and enjoying of the swingset.

P.S. Maddie's face met with some cement driveway this past Tuesday so she looks a little battered, but she is fine and dandy....just didn't want anyone to be alarmed.....we aren't beating her!!

Full moon sighting

We haven't had a full moon sighting in quite some time, but I got a special glimpse the other day. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was staring right at it in all it's glory. It seems to only happen when the little one is allowed to run around in just her diaper which doesn't happen all too often since it's still winter-ish. Watch out world.....she is often without clothes in the summer! lol Here is a photo for your viewing pleasure, it's not an every day occurrence that you get to sit, relax and really enjoy a nice full moon!

wanna play?

We got a new addition to the family today. No, not another animal.......a swing set!!! We've been talking about getting one for a while now, but before I was looking to buy a Little Tikes, or Step 2 type plastic structure. It has been really hard to find them on Craigslist and even when I do, they are still pretty expensive for what you are getting, and Maddie is a very big girl and would outgrown one of those pretty quickly. We bit the bullet and bought a nice cedar set with an 8 foot slide and a couple swings and a sand box underneath. All we need to do now is buy an infant/toddler swing to put up until Maddie is big enough to use a normal swing AND Dan needs to assemble the whole thing! lol Bummer it's been raining all day today and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow! Sunday is scheduled to be nice and sunny, so unless our yard still resembles a small lake, we'll have a swing set. I'm really excited about this because the park we go to has a HUGE play structure and I don't trust Maddie on it alone yet, and the more pregnant I get the harder it is for me to climb up there with her and go down the huge twisty slide and once the new baby arrives it is going to be hard to hold an infant and run after a toddler at the same time.....having something on a smaller scale in our back yard that I trust Maddie on and not having strangers all around in case I need to tend to the baby will make it easier for her to get some of her energy out and enjoy our yard! I can't wait until it's all set up, I think she is going to love having a swing set!!!!

girls night out

Tonight is girls night out. I talked with Dan yesterday about not going because it's a Thursday and he would have to get off work early to get home and stay with Maddie so I could go......and we have a few projects coming up soon that are keeping us a little cash poor. You know what my darling husband told me?? He insisted that I go out!! He recognized that I don't get to do many things outside the house without Maddie and he really wanted me to go. Extra husband points for him!!!! So, after a mellow day of Maddie wrangling and baking (2 loaves of amish bread and 2 loaves of raisin bread) I am now showered and relaxed and waiting for Dan to come home early & I'm drinking a soda with lemon in it anticipating my night out. No dinner to cook, no baby to bathe or put to bed, just relaxing time with some girlfriends. I'll let ya know how it goes!

Hoping for yeast

I've become a little obsessed with bread making recently. It all started with a starter for Amish Friendship Bread that Dan brought home from work. For those who don't know what that is, it's basically a sweet bread that starts the old fashioned way by growing yeast for 10 days and then making new starters for friends and making loaves of bread. I thought it was a lot of fun, so I began researching bread making and it seemed like it could be a new hobby......I'm always big on a hobby that you can eat in the end! lol So, since my inaugural friendship bread, I've made a fantastic French bread kneaded by hand and I've got 2 sourdough starters in the process of feeding and growing. I've been told by many people that sourdough is a difficult process, but it is by far my most favorite bread, so it's a no brainer that I have to attempt it. And for those who don't know me.....I will succeed.....I will continue making sourdough bread and starters until I get something that I can be happy with, even if it takes forever to get there. I'm also thinking about getting some Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter because it might help me to make my own starter better just by seeing something that has succeeded for over 150 years. We'll see. I'll let y'all know how things are progressing.....until then, feast your eyes on my very first hand made French loaf:

dinner with a kick

The other night I tried a new recipe for dinner.  It was spicy sweet potato and mango chicken over jasmine rice.  I must admit that it was delicious!  It was truly spicy and I thought maybe even a little too spicy for my liking, but the rice cut down the spice a little and made it pleasant.  I highly reccomend this dish to anyone that likes a little bit of that mouth on fire feeling.  Here's the 411 for those interested:



INGREDIENTS
2 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons hot sauce, or to taste (I used Franks Red Hot)
1 ripe mango, peeled and cubed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon warm water

DIRECTIONS
Place the sweet potatoes into a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover.
Simmer over medium-high heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in chicken, and cook until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes; set aside.
Stir garlic into the skillet, and cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.
Pour in thesoy sauce, 3/4 cup of water, honey, and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the sweet potato, chicken, mango, and red pepper flakes.
Cook and stir until hot.
Dissolve the cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of water, and stir into the simmering mixture; stir until thickened. (but not too thick if you are going to have over rice.....a nice sauce is good with rice)

March 2008

• Mar 27, 2008

  Bad day

  Current mood:stressed

  I’m having a bad day, and aparently so is my child. I’m sure that we are feeding off one another, but what started it......her bad mood or mine? There is so much going on around this house, and I feel like there is so much I need to get done, but never enough time. Dan has been working on building the deck since last Tuesday so all of his days off have been dedicated to deck work......which I totally understand needs to happen, but that leaves me without my right arm which I am used to having on his days off.
  After Maddie decided not to take a nap, I called a friend of mine and asked her if Maddie and I could come over this afternoon because we desperately needed to get out of the house and away from the construction zone and all the dust that has covered my house. On our way out to the car Maddie decided to brave the stair by herself (which she can normally do just fine) and fell down all 4 of them landing on her face on the concrete. Talk about a scraped up bloody face.....she was SO sad and looked so aweful, I know it’s gonna get worse looking as it scabs over. It was such an ordeal to clean it up because she was screaming her head off. This poor child can not seem to stay balanced on her feet. At her 18 month check up her Dr. said that she had grown 2 inches in the last 3 months and that was probably causing her to be so clumsy recently.....man am I ready for her to get used to her longer legs and stop hurting her poor little face.
  Dan is finishing up the railing for the stairs and then the deck will be complete. I will post pictures of the whole process later.....maybe tomorrow. I’m going to go out and pick us up dinner in about 30 minutes because we have no food in the house right now.....yet another task that needs to happen but we don’t seem to have the time.....and then we have bible study tonight. It will be nice to get away from the house and have a sitter for Maddie and be around our friends who always give us support. Then we will go to bed and this day will be over, FINALLY! I am not looking forward to this weekend because Dan has to work 3 days in a row and that’s never fun, but next week is our 5 days off week and if I just keep reminding myself of that, I can get through it. Okay, I need to get going, Maddie has gotten into the potato bin and is trying to eat a raw sweet potato......what am I gonna do with her? lol
  
  
  
  
• Mar 14, 2008

  wa-la we have a swingset!

  Current mood:happy

  After a couple days of working on it off and on, the swing set is officially put together and in working order.  All the reviews said that it would take about 8 hours to put it together but that was with the help of another adult.....Dan did it alone and it only took him a little more than 10 over the course of a couple days.....but man there were a LOT of parts!!!  We have had beautiful weather the last couple of days which has made it fantastic to go out and play in our very own backyard.  Maddie is in LOVE with the slide.  She needs help getting up the ladder because her legs are still too short to do it alone, but she can sit herself down and slide all on her own.  She also really enjoys the baby swing and the glider although she told me that she needs a friend to go on that with her :o).  So, here are some pictures of the building and enjoying of the swingset.
  P.S. Maddie’s face met with some cement driveway this past Tuesday so she looks a little battered, but she is fine and dandy....just didn’t want anyone to be alarmed.....we aren’t beating her!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mar 8, 2008

  Full moon sighting

  We haven't had a full moon sighting in quite some time, but I got a special glimpse the other day.  I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was staring right at it in all it's glory.  It seems to only happen when the little one is allowed to run around in just her diaper which doesn't happen all too often since it's still winter-ish.  Watch out world.....she is often without clothes in the summer!  lol  Here is a photo for your viewing pleasure, it's not an every day occurrence   that you get to sit, relax and really enjoy a nice full moon!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mar 7, 2008

  wanna play?

  Current mood:excited

  We got a new addition to the family today.  No, not another animal.......a swing set!!!  We've been talking about getting one for a while now, but before I was looking to buy a Little Tikes, or Step 2 type plastic structure.  It has been really hard to find them on Craigslist and even when I do, they are still pretty expensive for what you are getting, and Maddie is a very big girl and would outgrown one of those pretty quickly.  We bit the bullet and bought a nice cedar set with an 8 foot slide and a couple swings and a sand box underneath.  All we need to do now is buy an infant/toddler swing to put up until Maddie is big enough to use a normal swing AND Dan needs to assemble the whole thing! lol  Bummer it's been raining all day today and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow!  Sunday is scheduled to be nice and sunny, so unless our yard still resembles a small lake, we'll have a swing set.  I'm really excited about this because the park we go to has a HUGE play structure and I don't trust Maddie on it alone yet, and the more pregnant I get the harder it is for me to climb up there with her and go down the huge twisty slide and once the new baby arrives it is going to be hard to hold an infant and run after a toddler at the same time.....having something on a smaller scale in our back yard that I trust Maddie on and not having strangers all around in case I need to tend to the baby will make it easier for her to get some of her energy out and enjoy our yard!  I can't wait until it's all set up, I think she is going to love having a swing set!!!!
  
  
  
  
• Mar 6, 2008

  girls night out

  Current mood:excited

  Tonight is girls night out.  I talked with Dan yesterday about not going because it's a Thursday and he would have to get off work early to get home and stay with Maddie so I could go......and we have a few projects coming up soon that are keeping us a little cash poor.  You know what my darling husband told me??  He insisted that I go out!!  He recognized that I don't get to do many things outside the house without Maddie and he really wanted me to go.  Extra husband points for him!!!!  So, after a mellow day of Maddie wrangling and baking (2 loaves of amish bread and 2 loaves of raisin bread) I am now showered and relaxed and waiting for Dan to come home early & I'm drinking a soda with lemon in it anticipating my night out.  No dinner to cook, no baby to bathe or put to bed, just relaxing time with some girlfriends.  I'll let ya know how it goes! 
  
  
  
  
• Mar 5, 2008

  hoping for yeast

  Current mood:content

  I've become a little obsessed with bread making recently.  It all started with a starter for Amish Friendship Bread that Dan brought home from work.  For those who don't know what that is, it's basically a sweet bread that starts the old fashioned way by growing yeast for 10 days and then making new starters for friends and making loaves of bread.  I thought it was a lot of fun, so I began researching bread making and it seemed like a great idea for a new hobby......I'm always big on a hobby that you can eat in the end! lol  So, since my inaugural friendship bread, I've made a fantastic French bread kneaded by hand and I've got 2 sourdough starters in the process of feeding and growing.  I've been told by many people that sourdough is a difficult process, but it is by far my most favorite bread, so it's a no brainer that I have to attempt it.  And for those who don't know me.....I will succeed.....I will continue making sourdough bread and starters until I get something that I can be happy with, even if it takes forever to get there.  I'm also thinking about getting some Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter because it might help me to make my own starter better just by seeing something that has succeeded for over 150 years.  We'll see.  I'll let y'all know how things are progressing.....until then, feast your eyes on my very first hand made French loaf:

  
  
  
  
  
• Mar 4, 2008

  dinner with a kick

  Current mood:sleepy

  The other night I tried a new recipe for dinner.  It was spicy sweet potato and mango chicken over jasmine rice.  I must admit that it was delicious!  It was truly spicy and I thought maybe even a little too spicy for my liking, but the rice cut down the spice a little and made it pleasant.  I highly reccomend this dish to anyone that likes a little bit of that mouth on fire feeling.  Here's the 411 for those interested:
  
  INGREDIENTS
  2 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes
  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
  1 clove garlic, minced
  6 tablespoons soy sauce
  3/4 cup water
  3 tablespoons honey
  3 tablespoons hot sauce, or to taste (I used Franks Red Hot)
  1 ripe mango, peeled and cubed
  1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  1 teaspoon cornstarch
  1 tablespoon warm water
  DIRECTIONS
  Place the sweet potatoes into a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover.
  Simmer over medium-high heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
  Stir in chicken, and cook until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes; set aside.
  Stir garlic into the skillet, and cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.
  Pour in thesoy sauce, 3/4 cup of water, honey, and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the sweet potato, chicken, mango, and red pepper flakes.
  Cook and stir until hot.
  Dissolve the cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of water, and stir into the simmering mixture; stir until thickened. (but not too thick if you are going to have over rice.....a nice sauce is good with rice)