Over The Grave

I don't think that I have ever mentioned that I worship with a bunch of amazingly awesome talented artists. I am talking about wonderful singers, musicians, song writers, photographers, painters, etc. So, here is my favorite c.d. right now and has been since it came out. I am blogging about it this week because I realized that I never did before. Also, it came out on itunes last week so look it up and buy it. You will not be disappointed.

Meal Plan

I changed my mind and decided I felt well enough to do a meal plan so here goes:

Wednesday- tonight we had some sort of greens from our farmer, sweet potatoes, and black bean burgers (recipe from my friend Kristyn)

Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 can black beans, well drained
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 slices bread, crumbled
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp season
• seasoned salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying

mash it all together and fry in skillet with oil.

Thursday- Chicken in a Pot recipe from my friend Kathleen

Friday- Spaghetti Squash with Spinach, Raisins, and Walnuts from this awesome new blog that my friend Ashley showed me. I don't like walnuts so I will probably use pine nuts

Saturday- Sloppy Lentils in Crock Pot with salad

Sunday- Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage and salad if we still have some lettuce from our CSA. Thanks to my friend Beth for this recipe

Busy Week

I have the flu so will not be posting a meal plan. I actually think I am over the worst of it thankfully.

We are very very busy this week on top of me being sick! We got carpet in our 2 bedrooms yesterday and today we are getting insulation put in the attic. Hopefully both will help out bills this winter.

We are also continuing to prepare for the coming of baby Telia. Evidently, you are full term when you are 37 weeks...so, any day now. My friends, Hollie and Angela, threw a small shower for Telia this weekend. We mostly just invited family and a few friends. It was real nice and Telia got some great stuff. Here are a few pics:

37 weeks and 3 days

Ruby's 2 Year Pictures

My friend Jessica took some great pictures of Ruby last month when she turned 2 years old. Here are just a few that I picked out. Thanks Jessica...you did a great job!

2 Year Photo Shoot

Happy Birthday Hollie!

Today is my friend Hollie's Birthday! We have been friends for a long long time (about 21 years) and I still cherish her presence in my life. Happy Birthday Hollie!!!!

Shower for Telia

A few of my friends threw me a small shower last weekend. It was so nice to spend time with them and to get a few items just for Telia. I got some pretty adorable hand made things and the girls did a pretty awesome craft for Ruby and Telia's room. Here is the link to the idea and i will post more when we get it hung up. We had some great fall treats, good conversations, lots of laughs talking about labor and delivery, and 4 of us were expecting our 2nd little ones. Here are some pics from the day:

Mom and Daughter

My dear dear friend Kristyn

Cori, Laura and Rachel working on the craft

Emily working on the mobile

Lindsy and myself! Lindsy was the master mind behind the shower and did a fantastic job!

I love this pic because I feel like the topic was labor and
delivery which turned pretty humorous pretty quickly.

Random Thoughts

* Ruby threw her last remaining broken pacifier away today! She got some Sesame Street stickers as a reward. Bedtime went okay. She asked for her paci and we reminded her that she is a big girl and doesn't need it. She cried for about 30 seconds and then went to sleep.

* My friend Rachel gave Ruby and Telia adorable dolls that her sister Melissa made. I will take some pictures and post them on here. Ruby is already attached to both of them and calls them Ruby (the bigger one) and Baby Telia (the smaller one). The Ruby doll had to leave us tonight because her arms were "sick" and Ms. Melissa had to fix them...she handled it pretty well.

* St. James Art fair was a lot of fun although I didn't really find anything that I wanted to buy. I did purchase a cute homemade ornament for Telia and we had a bunch of yummy food including a pumpkin roll and pumpkin pie ice cream. Mostly we had a wonderful time with our friends from the north Erik and Smith. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.

* We have less than 5 weeks to our due date!

* I have been researching more in depth about cloth diapering and am thinking of upgrading my system. I started using the cloth diapers this week again with Ruby and tonight she threw a fit when we tried to put them on her...I am afraid the covers are too small and hurting her legs...especially since she kept telling me yesterday that her legs hurt when I would change her.

* Ruby is all about changing her babies diapers. Today she wanted to put a diaper on her bear and yesterday she kept telling me that Pooh Bear poo pooed.

* I am looking for a couple of cute matching outfits for Ruby and Telia to have. I also want a Big Sister/Little Sister shirt. I know, I am one of those cheesy mom's who thinks it is sweet when their kids match. I think I found some shirts on Etsy that are cute. Check out more stuff at the Lullaby Loft shop


* Speaking of Etsy...my friend, Kathleen, from college has a new Etsy Shop. Check out Kathleen Jean Photography by clicking on this This is my favorite picture that she has up.


* Brian and I have been taking the Financial Peace University class at church. It has really helped get both of us on the same page with our finances and is helping us be better stewards of our money.

that is all

Goodbye Old Friend

Ruby officially said goodbye to her pacifier about 3 or 4 weeks ago. After her 2 year check up we decided it was time to get rid of it since the doctor encouraged us and her teeth were starting to get crooked. After a little bit of research we decided to clip the tops of the paci's and just let her notice that they were broken. She did notice but still held on to them. She kept repeating "paci broken" but wasn't ready to throw them away. I would love to tell you that it has been an easy process and she has had no problems but that would be a lie. It has been awful. There have been days that I would've given her a new pacifier if I had one. There has been lots of crying and little to no naps. She also got a cold in the middle of the process which didn't help but we stuck to our guns. We have now cut the paci all the way down and she has thrown one away completely (and got a new toy for this). She still has one paci that she just holds at bedtime and has added 2 baby dolls to her bedtime routine. Some days are better than others. Yesterday, for instance, she took a one hour nap with little to no crying. Today, however, she has cried for a long long time and only slept for 1/2 an hour. It is like we are sleep training her all over again. I hope she gets used to this before baby Telia comes along. Please pray for us as we try to be consistent.

Poem on Motherhood

I have read this poem several times this week on motherhood so I figured I should post a link to it. Read it and don't be surprised if you cry (especially if you are a mother). Found it on the Passionate Homemaking Blog.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- Butternut Squash Soup with grilled cheese. I bought a humongous butternut squash this week...I don't know how much it weighed but it cost $8!!

Tuesday- We are going to have friends over to celebrate their engagement with some turkey bean chili with this crock pot cobbler recipe

Wednesday- Tortellini Bake with Broccoli

Thursday- Chicken with rice and veggies

Friday- leftovers

Saturday- Going out to eat

Candy Corn Hershey Kisses

These are ridiculously good and dangerous to have in my house

St. James here we come!

I was inspired by my friend Beth to blog about my favorite part of the autumn season...St. James Art Show! It starts today!

I have been attending since I lived in Old Louisville in 2004...back then I just had to walk out my front door and there were all the wonderful booths of art, crafts, jewelry, and lets not forget the food...homemade pumpkin rolls and apple cider.

****I now need to interrupt this post to report on what my crazy dog just did. She saw a cat out the front door and ran to the window to bark. She hit her head against the window so hard that she broke it. Awesome...stupid dog! ugh.******************

Last year we didn't plan well and I didn't have any money to spend which sucked but this year my wonderful husband put aside some money early on for me to have! I can't wait to see what treasures I find this year.
This is my wonderful husband



We are also going to be introducing the art fair to our good friends, the Schwartz, who are coming down from Chicago.
The Schwartz

I am super excited and I will try to remember to document our day with some pictures. Here is Ruby's first visit to St. James....she was about 1 month old.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to our nephew Austin Joseph! It is getting harder and harder for me to keep track of my 9 neices and nephews ages but I believe he is turning 6 years old today!