I'm so in love. . .

The video recording malfunctioned during today's appointment with the specialist so we have this great new photo for now. Can you see why I'm so in love? As I type this, our new little guy makes me well aware of his presence as always with constant kicks, rolls, and hiccups. I love those reminders of our precious new life. I will say that we have pretty much decided on a name but realize there is plenty of time left in which we might change our minds:)

Doc said the baby is growing extremely well and on track and is surrounded by a slight excess of amniotic fluid. Basically he said that just means there is room for twins in there and is just what happens after a woman's womb has held this many other little lives. We cannot thank God enough for the good report each month so far and for blessing us with His children. They are truly the richest, most joyful blessing aside from the gift of salvation through Christ.

"Stock-Up Saturdays"

I thought I'd share with you a new venture of mine: "Stock-Up Saturdays." Because homemade things are so much healthier and cheaper but not as easy to have in a pinch, I made a list of those foods to make in bulk on Saturdays. Things like homemade whole wheat tortillas, cinnamon raisin bread, dough for pot pies and quiches, cooked beans (from dried), hummus, burger buns, dinner rolls, and these types of items that I would love to just open up and find on hand in my freezer! So for the first Saturday, we went with tortillas. Conventional whole wheat tortillas at standard grocers have things like high-fructose corn syrup and/or hydrogenated oils in them and the ones at the natural foods store are over $3 for 10. So for a third of the cost, we made a few dozen to freeze. We don't have a tortilla press or anything professional, but if we went out and bought that we wouldn't really be saving money anyway, right?! If you would like the recipe, the link I used is here:

http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/07/ho-made-whole-wheat-tortillas-its.html

It has a video with great tips for rolling out the tortillas without a press. If you're going to try this yourself, I will warn you that when you do a bulk attempt, it is very time consuming the first time around. I think next time, with Vince's help again, we'll have it done in half the time. I will definitely be doing it again!


For dinner that evening, we used a pound of dried pinto beans (under $1) to make homemade refried beans. (Of course, those did take some prep ahead of time.) With about $1.50 worth of homemade tortillas and some toppings, our family of six had a taco dinner for under $6. (And there is a small bowl of leftovers in the fridge!) I've created an entire list of dinners for a family of 6 for $6 or less that I'll share on this blog in the future. Stay tuned. . .

Weather & The Creator

We've been studying weather for science and decided to make rainsticks. Of course, we didn't have any empty cardboard tubes, so we now have tube-less rolls of Christmas wrapping paper in the attic:) Paper towel rolls would have worked but the longer ones are so much more fun!

We filled our tubes with rolled up brown paper bags to create the filter for our rice. With paper and duct tape on each end to prevent rice from being found all over the house, the kids went to town decorating with stickers and markers. Whenever the kids do projects with markers that are going to be handled a lot, it seems their hands get covered in marker stains every time they play with it. So this time we covered the decorated tubes with clear contact paper. Voila!

We discussed how people that don't believe in God would often conduct dances and rituals to try and make the rains come and fall on their crops. We talked about how even when we know and love God, we sometimes have a tendency to try and do things on our own without acknowledging God first. On each rainstick, we wrote the verse:

"Sing to the Lord and give thanks to Him. He covers the sky with clouds. He supplies the earth with rain. He makes grass grow on the hills." (Psalm 147:7a & 8)

The truth planted in our hearts today is that God is the one in charge. He's not just some dictator that makes things happen for amusement. He is a perfectly loving Father that makes things happen for good, because He can't be or do something He isn't. We can either put our complete trust in Him or try (unsuccessfully) to make things happen our own way. (I wonder each day if I'll ever stop going back and forth between those two extremes in this life:) Proverbs 16:9 says,

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Proverbs 19:21 also says,

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Isn't it comforting to know that God already lovingly has each day planned out for us and all we need to do is live it, enjoy it, and thank Him for it?!

Baby Update-20 weeks

Today was our appointment with the perinatologist. We were referred to the specialist because I have always been high-risk (for preterm labor, preeclampsia, etc.) and our last ultrasound showed what looked like an irregular mass inside the womb. Today's 4-D Ultrasound showed us that we have nothing to worry about! There were no more tumors or anything irregular and the baby is in perfect health. It seems I am at least a week farther along than we estimated so our due date is May 20th. (In the picture below, you can see the baby's hand and arm against the side of his face on the left side of the picture.)

Oh, yeah, and "it" is a "he!" Yes, a fourth boy with sweet little Faith stuck smack dab in the middle! She admits she wanted a sister but is so excited to be a big sister again. She's happy that she'll be old enough to change diapers and do so much more to help out. She also likes that our Mommy-and-Faith Girl Time will remain the special time for just the two of us girls.

The specialist had me schedule a follow-up visit with him in three weeks where he said if we bring in a blank DVD, he can record a video of the baby for us during that checkup. Technology is pretty cool, huh? (Some of it anyway:) This way, the fifth baby isn't going to be one of those younger siblings that doesn't even get a baby book! No names are on the list yet, so we'll gladly take suggestions. Of course, if you know us, you know we like strong and uncommon names, preferably Biblical in origin. God has made it very obvious that He has a very sure plan and future for this child, so it would be nice if we could find a way to remind this child of that in his name.

Thank you everyone for your prayers; they have definitely been answered thus far. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for God that He is graciously giving us so many of His precious, wonderfully healthy, little ones. It is our prayer that this baby continues to grow healthy and strong and that we will once again be blessed with a safe and natural delivery when the time comes. Of course, we'll be posting plenty of updates before then!

A Christmas Full of Blessings & Generosity

What a wonderful time we had celebrating our Lord's birth this year with dearly-missed friends and family in Minnesota! It was so much of a blessing and encouragement to our hearts and spirits. (The picture above is Vince's special creation. It's tradition for us to bring a birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" at my mom's annual Christmas party.)

This blurry picture was taken at my dad's Christmas party. On the left is my little-big brother, the middle is my older sister with my 8-month old niece Katrina (whom I hadn't had the pleasure of ever meeting until that day), Vince on the right (filling his big, hungry teenage belly!) and I think it's my stepmom in the background but am not sure:)

Here's Dad's party again. The three teenage girls are my beautiful nieces with their dad and my brother-in-law Steve (my twin sister's husband) in the middle. Dylan and Faith love hanging out with this group!

Here's Pete with his younger brother. We met him, his wife, and their son for lunch and had a great time catching up.

Here's our kids with Pete's brother's son Matthew who was born just 3 months after our Gabie. What a cutie, huh?!

And evidence of our white Christmas. We thought we would have to be in Minnesota for a white Christmas but had our Okie friends tell us about the 10" of snow that arrived on Christmas. That broke all of the old records for snowfall in December for Oklahoma. At least this way we got to have a white Christmas with so many good friends to go sledding with! This picture was at our awesome friends' the Minks' home where we stayed during our visit. Not only did they have awesome, comfortable accommodations for us, but with them and their two boys, we also had great company during our stay. (Their youngest son is the one in the background ready to whip a snowball at Pete!)

Here's what 10 kids eating Christmas dinner together looks like, although two of them wouldn't like being called kids (and one of the little ones is hiding behind someone)! This was our Christmas party with our dear friends the Padillas. They have six children with one on the way and we have our four with one on the way. Next year, there'll be 12 children around the table! Our kids have so much fun with the Padilla children. We're so glad to have met them during our time living in Zimmerman four years ago. Their friendship has been such a blessing!

Faith and the Padilla's daughter Haruka are absolutely best buds. These two princesses are two peas in a pod and treasure their time with each other every Christmas! Because they're the same age, I'm guessing we can expect Faith to start losing her teeth soon too!

Here's what we came back to in Oklahoma! If you look carefully, you can see Gabie's two little snowmen by him. Faith and Gabie said the two little ones are Peanut (our unborn baby's current name until we find out the gender) and Gabie, and the big one is Mommy. Too bad these guys are melting so fast since it's been over 32 for the last two days. Well, it was fun while it lasted!

Before I end this post, I would like to thank everyone for the incredible generosity and hospitality you have shown us this Christmas. Some of them must remain confidential, but some of them I would like to list. For those not shown for confidentiality reasons, please know how much your gifts blessed our lives! Some of the other ones are:

1. The gift of a wonderful place to stay for free. Had it not been for that, our trip to see everyone and spend Christmas with loved ones would not have been possible. Thanks again Minks family! Not only did you give us a place to stay but you gave us so much more, including, as always, spiritual encouragement and inspiration.

2. The wonderful anonymous Christmas gifts from our church down here in Oklahoma and the mystery gifts that showed up at our back door after church one Sunday. They were a blessing beyond description. Our prayer is that God will put us in a position to do the same for others in the future.

3. Kind words and encouragement from our extended family members and our church family at River of Life. What a gift those things can be for hearts that have long-awaited familiar faces. Thank you for showing us how much we mean to you.

Finally, thank you everyone for so many things, big and small. It all meant so much and will live forever in our memories. Each and every one of you gave us something whether you think so or not. You are all in our hearts, prayers, and thoughts. What a way to start a new year! Bless you all!

Been So Long. . .

Wow! I lived for years without a computer and then suddenly, three months without it seems excruciating! Our house was struck by lightning and it fried my computer's motherboard AND our modem. Geek Squad couldn't seem to fix it successfully and after three attempts and three months, they decided to give us a replacement.

What a lot has happened in those three months too. The most notable, of course, is an unexpected but much celebrated pregnancy. We thought we should be done having children, God thought otherwise. For two months, I was incredibly sick and tired and completely unable to do anything. Thankfully, I am now eating and maybe even gaining the weight back that I lost while I was sick. We are very excited and will be finding out in just a few short weeks if God is adding a boy or a girl to our family. Of course there'll be a post for that (provided we don't have any more computer problems!).

Also by God's grace, we are planning a much anticipated trip to see so many of you for Christmas soon. It will be wonderful to see everyone and rejoice together over the many wonderful things God is doing! So we'll hope to see y'all soon!!! In the meantime, may your Christmas be a wonderful time of new life and blessings!

Fruits & Veggies--Oh the Possibilities!

Wow--could a person ever fully come to know all of the possibilities that fruits and veggies offer? Do you ever have one of those weeks where suddenly no one eats the bananas? We had a week like that recently and as I watched that bunch of bananas begin to decay, I rushed through my virtual memory of recipe ideas to make sure they didn't go to waste. Here's the result:

Homemade banana creme pie; even the crust had to be homemade. Not only does it save a ton of money that way but it also is made with only natural, healthy ingredients. I didn't have one of those fancy pastry bags so I just used a zipper bag with the corner tip cut off. Not as professional looking but still yummy!

Next up on the menu is one of my all-time favorite lunches: veggie wraps. First, I mix creme cheese with garlic seasoning, a tablespoon of salsa, and lots of chopped, fresh spinach. After spreading it all over a whole-wheat tortilla (see picture above), I roll up whatever fresh, sliced veggies we have on hand in it. Usually it's cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded cabbage/carrots mix, and sliced red onions (onions for mom and dad only). We've used this lunch for picnics, lunches at the zoo, and lunch at our homeschool co-op group on Tuesdays. I just make the wraps the night before and they're ready to go in the morning! You can cut them into one-inch strips and make them into pinwheels for parties or easier finger food for kids.

Last year, my good friend borrowed me some of her cookbooks. I really enjoyed one of them; "Deceptive Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. I got it again from the library and went on a puree rampage.
In this picture we have broccoli puree, sweet potato puree on the right, and butternut squash puree in the baggies. The farm where we volunteer has had an excellent crop of butternut squash this year and we have enjoyed the fruits (or veggies) of that harvest! I made one of the muffin recipes in the book with butternut squash puree and everyone loved them! Pete said they kept him full at work all morning, which says a lot considering how many calories he burns at his job! Other than using the purees with the recipes in "Deceptively Delicious," I plan on using these purees for many other things. For example, any of these would work spread on tortillas with some cheese to make veggie quesadillas. Spinach puree can be hidden into italian dunkers for lunch or even a dab in smoothies. The possibilities are endless!

Finally, although it's not a fruit or veggie, here is the result of our cheese-making adventure. It was really fun and it went right along with our readings in Little House in the Big Woods. The kids learned about curds and whey and we all got to enjoy some delicious cheese. To be quite honest, I didn't expect it to taste that well. Boy, was I surprised! If you'd like to try this yourself, go to my homeschooling blog (link to the right). There you will find a step-by-step video that is really helpful. Have fun and let me know how it turns out!