WigHouse Update

This was taken by my Dad before he and my Mom returned to Germany on Monday. I wanted a picture of us in front of our house before we move away so we always remember how little the kids were at this house (in this pic, they're REALLY little!). I updated the pictures in the slide show today...to the tune of 70 pictures! I had to include the best of my camera, my dad's and my mom's. Though, I admit, most of the pictures are my Dad's. Below are my four favorites that he took:



Thanks for such wonderful pictures, Dad! The best part is that they truly captured what a lovely time we had with you two.

My parents graciously watched the kids as we house shopped EVERY day for two weeks! Some how we still found time to enjoy each other. They got to see the house we chose to bid on as well. It's probably silly of me to write about the following now as we should find out in the next few hours whether we won the bid or not, but I'd rather include you all in our journey and not just in the outcome.

As I shared previously we wrestled with all the choices before us. If we were honest, we'd admit we wanted our cake and to eat it too. Slightly roomier house with acreage for half the price! Well, when we looked at houses that were half the price, if they actually had any land with them they were barely inhabitable. Two didn't have a kitchen or a bathroom! As we realized something had to give if we wanted a cheaper house, we looked at trailers and land, houses in town with a yard, we explored all our options. As it began to look dismal, I started to realize my "need" to live debt free was becoming greedy in it's own way. Funny how in their extreme forms both materialism and frugality can reveal a greedy heart.

Finally, last Friday we looked at a great house, roomier than we'd ever need and it had 1.25 acres. I asked God if this was the place and I felt Him say to follow Ben's lead. So, turns out Ben loved it. We made a super low bid on Monday, the asking price is about 20K more than our TOP bid. They came down a little, we came up a little, but still we were 18K apart.

Last night as we talked about how much to counter offer we got talking about another house we had looked at and discussed how much we'd bid on that one in comparison. The more we thought about it, the more we realized that it was just as good of a house as the one we bid on and we'd be just as happy there. We slept on it last night and decided this morning to make our final offer on the big house, knowing we had another house we can bid on if this doesn't work out.

Now we wait..wait to hear how much of a buyer's market it really is right now. The owner says he has 30K more invested than they had in the starting price. Will they come down another 13K just to get it off their hands? I have a peace either way, but I'll keep ya posted!

Our Big Boy Helper

This is what is going on outside as I write this. Ben took the day off to get caught up on stuff he wants to do. Little did he realize what a helper we had under our own roof! Earlier they stacked a bunch of wood that Ben had already split and Z scratched his cheek all up from carrying the wood. Now they're out there unloading the wood in the truck bed and splitting more (hence the ear protection). Perhaps I'm not the only one nesting...


As I mentioned before I have two recipes to share. They were SO awesome and I was just too busy this summer to blog about them sooner.

POWER BALLS (found in the Wonder Years magazine)
Mix 1c. peanut butter and 1c. honey
Add 3 c. rolled oats, 1/2 c. flax seed, 1 c. dried fruit (ie. raisins, craisins, etc.) and nuts,
1 c. chocolate chips. Mix well, roll into balls. Refrigerate for an hour or freeze.

Now here's my feedback after making them three times. I recently added a half cup of wheat germ and would have added nutritious yeast if I'd had any at the beginning with the flax seed. Don't use too much flax seed as it gets overwhelming, but in moderation it's my favorite part of the texture. I did a cheap version and a fancier version. I love it with pecans, walnuts and craisins, but honestly it's just a good with cheapo nuts and raisins. I did not like the chocolate chips in it and omitted them all together this last time. I added chex cereal and some granola in it's place. Tiny choc. chips might be OK though. Also, I like these straight out of the freezer, but maybe that's because I'm pregnant and I like frozen stuff more right now than usual. They are very gooey and could be called "Gooey Balls", but they're easier to manage when frozen. Oh yeah, spray the bowl before you start and spray or butter your hands before rolling to help with the stickiness.

Rhubarb Crumble from Grandma J. in TN (Thanks Grandma!!)
1/2 c. walnuts
1 c. flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter at room temp.
2 lbs rhubarb
3/4-1 c. white sugar
5 T flour

Preheat oven to 375 F. Toast the walnuts in a baking pan until lightly browned and aromatic. Let cool and coarsely chop. Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and stir to mix. Working quickly with your hands or a pastry blender, add the butter until the mixture has a crumbly texture. Stir in the chopped walnuts and set aside.

Wash and trim the rhubarb in a large bowl and add the sugar and flour. Toss until the rhubarb is well coated. Microwave for 8-10 min., stirring occasionally to pre-cook the rhubarb. Spread the rhubarb evenly into a 12 in. baking dish. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake until the rhubarb is tender and bubbling, approx. 45 min. to an hour. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

You can replace half the rhubarb with strawberries for a yummy twist.

Feedback: This wasn't as hard as it sounds, I realized I had a pastry blender and didn't know it, so that made it quick and easy (it's a hand tool, not electric!). I made this for a vegan friend of ours and used Earth Balance as a butter substitute. Worked great! I think I doubled the topping as that's my sweetie's favorite part. I made this at the end of rhubarb season and wished I'd tried it earlier. Next year, we'll surely be using this as an alternative to pie, which is usually all we do with our rhubarb. I highly recommend printing this and saving it for next year or buying some frozen rhubarb so you don't have to wait. It's that good.

Lake House

Here's some pictures of our time last weekend at Ben's Dad and Amy's Lake House, I think you can make the slideshow bigger if you click on it. Just a two hour drive away, we had a lovely time. I only wish I'd gotten some pictures of the hosts! Sorry guys! I also missed out on pics of Ben's sisters, Biz, Debbie, Bekah and her boyfriend, Jeremy. Time flies when you're having fun!


Z is feeling better now and getting his appetite back. I only wish he weren't in the whiney, "No, No, No!" phase right now. Then things would be perfect. Thankfully, he's only randomly saying "No" and not to us when we tell him to do things. I wonder where he got that from...

We're in the market for a cheap, used, pop-up camper or something small like that to sleep in when we go to WV. Often there's so many people that go, it would be nice to not take up one of the two bedrooms, which we've been so graciously given time and time again since I've been pregnant. If anyone has advice for us in the world of RVs, do share! We don't know much. Thanks!

Finally...Christmas in July (at least it's still July today)...
We made home-made ornaments last year for family for Christmas and couldn't share about them with you or else I'd ruin the Christmas surprise. So, I took pictures and planned to share them later. Since I'm just starting to think about Christmas presents and what I can make I thought I'd share our last year's Christmas craft with you:

Using foam paper from the local craft store, we used a razor blade and cut out circles (with a glass as our guide). It was hard not to make them stringy (or hairy), but the razor worked the best for us. Ben was better at doing this part.

We glued tiny pictures (printed from a Kodak machine) to each little circle. I considered putting our names or the year on one side and a picture on the other, but opted for two pics instead.

...glued the circles together...

I made wire hangers with beads on them, you can use ribbon or a paper clip, anything would work. Foam paper pierces easily.

We got fancy and crocheted the edges with cotton string, but you could have kids help and weave pipe cleaners or yarn around the edges. This helps detract from any hairy edges on the outside. Yes, Ben crocheted a bunch too!

And voila! Each ornament is two-sided.

I have no idea what we'll do this year!!! Something easier. My Sweetie heart would like that, I think.

Just a little bit to share...

Modern Day Mayberry

Back by popular demand, I had to chuckle when I saw this down the road from my house. Yesterday, I heard tons of sirens, found out from my friend, Melissa, there was a house on fire near the high school. Turns out, a boy was playing with the signal flare on a boat, set it off and caught the boat on fire, which caught the side of the house next to it on fire. Which, as you can see, also singed the neighbor's house too a bit.

These fine entrepreneurs were making the most of the local gawkers and rubber neckers by selling Kool-Aid. Two of the boys said they live in the house that was burnt, and all denied that it was them that started the fire. "It was a little kid," they said. "Oh," I replied, "how old?" "Seven" they replied. Just a baby to them, I guess. "Do you plan to donate what you make to help repair the house?" "I do with my part of the money," replied the one on the right. Yes, I did buy a glass of green Kool-Aid, which my son screamed for, it was his first Kool-Aid!

WebWorld

Last week, I was surprised with a box in the mail. In it, was this perfectly knit baby girl sweater and matching hat, and a shirt for Z and a note. It was from my friend, Kristina, over at Yarnsticks. I found her site when I Google searched, "free washcloth patterns" about a year and a half ago. I got reading her site and left her a comment that I was in awe of her knitting abilities, which I still am. We got writing and regularly e-mail nowadays about theology, personal stuff and budgeting. She has become my mentor in how to CVS shop for pennies and to maintain a budget. Oh, and she inspired the recycling of junk mail I told you about in my last post. We have lots in common including a son and a daughter (soon), and a love of craftiness, cleverness and resourcefulness. Receiving a home-made gift from her, is so special because it reinforces that she's real (not just an internet persona), really can knit, and is truly a sweetie heart. Thanks so much, Kristina! By the way, those are tiny heart buttons!!!

Cooking with Becca

I'm just so excited to have made these, I just had to share. I love Indian food and love love love vegetarian Samosas. While sitting in some doctor's waiting room a few months ago, I read that you can make you own quickie samosas. A long time ago, I had my friend, Audrey over and we made from scratch, home-made samosas, where we rolled out the dough, boiled potatoes with veggies, then deep fried them. They were awesome, but took all day to make. Here's the cheater version. Buy pre-made pie crusts, and roll them out. Cut into triangles and with cold water seal two sides together to make a pocket. Stuff with the below, seal, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. No frying, no making dough! It gets better...
The stuffing is just potatoes, random veggies and seasoning, fried in a little butter or ghee if you have it. Get this, you can use fake potato flakes if you want for the potatoes! I actually had more potatoes than flakes, and so boiled potatoes. I never had tried running cold water on them right after boiling, but I did it and sure enough, the skins just about fell off. I was feeling lazy and was planning on throwing them in skins and all, but they came off easy. This is really backwards, sorry, but here's the beginning. Into some melted ghee or butter I toss in frozen corn, peas, chopped bell pepper, carrots, garlic and onion. Also, the seasonings (chili powder, cumin seeds, coriander powder, cardamom, celery salt and sea salt...in order of most to least). Fry up till the carrots are soft, add cubed boiled potato or fake mashed potato, stir and fry for about ten minutes. Use a little spoon and stuff your triangles, seal and bake. Voila! And they're better for you because they're not deep fried!



OK, so, it's the longest post ever (or maybe this one is). This is what we finally decided on for a solution to Z's birthday present. We researched sandboxes and found them ridiculously expensive for what they are and set out to find one used. This, though old, came with a lid that fits well and is sturdy enough for several kids to jump on it, and is big enough to allow two kids to play inside and was only $25. We had a gift card to Home Depot and so the sand was only $14. So, we're happy we didn't break the budget and Z has something fun to do everyday on our own back porch!

Warning to those with foot squeamishness, the following photos may contain a lot of foot nudity.

By the way, last week I featured my whole belly as I got a doppler reading, this week my feet, next week I'm thinking a close-up of my elbow. Whaddaya think? About ten years ago I bought these Doc Martens from a seconds shop in England when my folks still lived there. Probaby paid $40 for them. Definitely got my money's worth. This week they were replaced. Drum roll please...
Anyone heard of Earth shoes? I knew from my friend, Cara, that they were awesome and had been wanting a pair for years. Found these on ShoeBuy.com on sale, then found a coupon code on their site for 20% off, then got another 10% off for registering with the site. And they always have free shipping. Earth shoes are neato because they tilt your feet back (Kalso negative heels) in a way that makes you have better posture, which relieves back pain and burns more calories when you walk (toning thighs and calves, they say). I'll let you know when I've worn them for a few months if any of this is true. They're not very exciting looking, but they'll go with most everything and they are very comfortable. Eric, at the airport, called them "Jesus sandals", yeah, but will these soles never die? (Bad pun, I know) We'll find out as I wear them for the next decade, but I do really really like them! The only problem I'm having is reaching over my belly to buckle them.
Z is still recovering from his MMR reaction, but is slowly getting back to his normal self (it's been a doosy of a week!). The doctor confirmed that it's just a reaction, nothing else. No fevers anymore now, thank the Lord. We've got big plans for this weekend, I'm sure you'll hear all about it, and no, it's not in WV! Thanks for reading, I believe that's all folks!

The back side of my family

I didn't mean to take so many pictures of people's back-sides, but I did! So, here they are scattered among my collection for this post. I kind of put blogging on my "low priority" list these past few weeks as I've been busy traveling, spending time with my parents and generally just being busy. The neat thing about that is that I have TONS of stuff to blog about now! So watch out, I feel a super jam-packed post about to happen here.

Chronologically, the first thing I have to share is a couple of pics from my sister-in-law, Deb's pre-prom. In case you weren't aware, I'm an only child, so when I married into this large family and gained three sisters and a brother, then even more as they marry, I'm in heaven. My new sisters are precious and understand my need for sisters and don't rub in the "in-law" part too much. Deb was five when I met her and now, here she is, all grown up!

I read on this site some ideas of things to do with your kid and this is my variation of one of their suggestions. They said to use bowls of different cereals and then put one of each type in a egg carton and have your little one match them up (from the bowl to the carton). Z didn't much see the point in moving cereal from one place to another, but enjoyed the display of snacks and helped himself. Once, in grabbing a handful of All-Bran he dropped a twig into the rice krispies and took the time to fish it out and put it back into the proper egg cup. That was good enough for me, he gets it, they're different. We used the egg carton full of snacks for a few days for snack time until the novelty wore off.

Our Memorial weekend was spent at the family cabin in WV. As always it was relaxing and fun. Only two of my siblings were able to come (we missed you Biz, Jer, Andy & Missy!). Z missed his cousins, but revelled in the constant attention from his aunts and Ben's cousin, Megan. Bottoms from L to R we have Gramma H., Bekah, Megan and Deb.

Aunt Bekah and Z on one of our hiking trips

Some ferns we found along the way

The four ladies and "The View" as we now call it. Breathtaking in real life! I mean the view of the scenery, not my family's backsides. Not that they don't have lovely bottoms, yadda yadda yadda...

Finally, I finished my book while out in WV. Z slept over three hours Sunday and Monday which felt like a vacation in and of itself. Before I read the book, "Addicted to Mediocrity" by Franky Schaeffer I wasn't thinking about his relation to the author Susan Schaeffer Macaulay who I reviewed in this post. The two are siblings and supported each other in their premises that we (especially as Christians) should aspire to excellence and provide our children with exposure to all sorts of greatness whether it's labeled "Christian" or not. As you might notice from the title he has a problem with the complacency of Christians. In this book, though, he focuses on the fact that as a church and somewhat as a society as a whole we have given creative endeavors low priority in our lives for the past century as creativeness has been deemed impractical or useless (settling for bumper sticker art). We see evidence in most every Protestant church you visit, often times in gymnasiums, we have become utilitarian and pragmatic in our view of worship, service and worse yet, of people. We have separated creativeness in terms of "Christian" or "Secular" forgetting that all creation is God's creation. We need only separate ourselves from sin. This book made me want to paint, to get rid of our cable subscription, to become an activist in the things I'm passionate about and to get off me duff! It's super short and I devoured it. We had to pay $2 for our interlibrary loan to find the book (from Greenville College in IL, where artists Jars of Clay and Jennifer Knapp attended). I wish now that we had just spent the $9 it would have been used from alibris.com with a $1 off coupon from this site. I'm inspired to read some of his suggested readings and perhaps some from his parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

Just for you...

Mr. Cool on the trike we found in someone's trash last year, isn't it awesome?!?

The day before my parents returned to Germany we went to a drive-up in the Fury. Mom and I wore scarves in our hair and we drank yummy root beer. My Dad took the pic.

I really wanted to share my ultrasound pics with you and so went to WalMart and scanned them onto a CD. Turns out you can bring your own CD and save some money, lesson learned. Still, only $3 to share this with you...

Here she's playing peek-a-boo!

The one below is my favorite, up close it looks like you can see her one eye looking right. I love seeing her face shape, looks like a Wigton to me!

The last pic that got cut off was a less than modest angle as you might gather from the title, "It's a girl!!!". Our Mommy Group zoo trip got postponed due to weather and sickness, so hopefully next week is nicer. I'm having a garage sale next week, well, more like I'm hosting one, I've already given all my junk away, so I'm just sharing my front yard. Let me know if you have stuff to get rid of! Also, we leave tomorrow for the family cabin! My first trip this year, can't wait! I'm reading another really good book, look for a review next week!

Thanks to all you wonderful veterans out there for serving our country. I'll be remembering you this weekend as I enjoy my freedom in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia.

On our way out...

Well, has any of you ever heard of the kid's show, "Yo Gabba Gabba"? We're not dedicated fans by any means, but I like the clothes they have the dancing kids wear on the show and so attempted to recreate my own version. You can print out the characters from the website. Turns out, when you use iron on transfer paper you can't see the color unless you're transferring onto a white shirt. So, our "Plex" shirt has a vintage look, not on purpose. At least it's not a boring old plain red T-shirt anymore. Oh, and the shadows on Z's forehead are not a strange haircut, but rather are from the odd shape of his forehead (he has me to thank for that).

Here's my new hired hand working the soil before I planted okra, squash, leeks, onions, bell peppers, brussel sprouts and my "eggshell starters" of spinach to go with the rhubarb you see and the raspberries you don't (they're in the back yard). We don't have a lot of room, so it was a tight fit. I bend the rules on how close to plant things...I know...I'm so naughty!!!

Ben went to WV for the weekend to help open up the family cabin so Saturday night Z joined me for a girls night with my friends, Molly, Laura, Coleen, Carolyn and Joan. Click here to see a picture of us all. After a super yummy vegetarian dinner and gourmet cheesecake we went to the stables where Molly and Co keep their horsies. Since Z only had shorts on and it was getting chilly I put his p.j.s on him for warmth. So, for his first horsie ride he traveled about five feet, bareback, in his p.j.s. He LOVED it! If I wasn't so allergic I'd move out of town and buy a farm and stable and keep all sorts of animals. Here he is with Molly...

Z with Co and Molly behind Rayah, her horse.

Must tell you about two books I've read recently and really
enjoyed. Simplicity, by Mark Salomon is a wonderful perspective on where Christians often go wrong in dealing with others. The author is the lead singer for Stavesacre, a band Ben used to play on his "Rock Radio" show on the local Christian station.

Escape, by Carolyn Jessop, is one woman's account of her life in the FDLS (Fundamental Mormonism) and polygamy. As I read it I described it to others, "It's like junk food," not that it wasn't well written, it was just so addicting, I couldn't put it down, but compared to Simplicity it wasn't nearly as edifying or beneficial. In found myself praying for those in cults a lot and women in marriages against their will. In Simplicity I found someone who understood the jadedness and cynicism that my husband I have sometimes with others that call themselves Christ-followers. It was an honest account, in which he owned his own faults and pointed to ways we can be like Christ and break out of the cultural expectations often found in churches.

I leave today for Tennessee with my giant lap child. I think I'm all packed! We'll see! Ooh, on a totally different side note - (an informal "Web World" installment) I found this link for house cleaning inspiration on my friend, Jenn's website and am giving it a shot. Can't do much while in TN, but the "Fly Lady" on there already got me to shine my sink like I've never shined it before! I'm looking forward to getting another perspective on house cleaning and more than anything, on routine and structure. I'm so erratic sometimes! Check it out if you're interested in getting her free e-mails (you can consolidate the many daily e-mails into one daily e-mail digest).

Slideshow

My mom left on Wednesday after a very nice visit together. I'll see her again super soon (and my Dad too!) at my cousin, Rachel's, wedding in a couple weeks. So, it almost doesn't feel like they live in another country! I'm very much looking forward to my trip to Tennessee. I'm staying with my grandparents (paternal) who live there, but also get to see my entire family from my mom's side at the wedding while I'm there. Z is still technically a lap child, a 32 pound lap child, so that saved some money. Ben can't leave work to come, but plans to use our absence to get some painting done around the house that we evidently interfere with. I can't imagine how!

Yesterday, it was beautiful out and after Z's nap, we went out back to our patio, I fed him a big lunch so he wouldn't be grumpy, then gave him a grape popsickle and cut that wild Wigmop off his Scottish melon of a head. Boy does he look different now! There's one picture of it in the slideshow which I had fun making on Slide.com. I had a sucker ready when the popsickle was gone and we got the job done. He has never behaved so well for any hair cut!

I didn't mention that while my mom was here our Mommy Group at church had a fun outing at the roller skating rink, Stroller Skating! Unfortunately, not many of the pictures turned out, all super blurry from us speeding around and the poor lighting. But, it was lots of fun! We're going to the zoo next month together.

The answer to last post's Veggie Tale Challenge was: "Gideon: Tuba Warrior" during the counter top scene. By the way, anyone ever notice that in the show Gideon wasn't playing a tuba when he defeated the Midianites? Ben told me it was a euphonium. I thought it was a trumpet. Shows how much I know! Either way, don't buy this video just for the name, it's a little misleading, but DO buy it because it's my favorite Veggie Tale video (George Mueller story AND Gideon on it).

I'm hoping to have Ben take a picture of my growing belly soon to compare to pregnancy pics from Z. So, come back soon!

Easter Greetings

Well, we had a nice Easter, below is our attempt at a traditional Easter picture. Z had a super cute Easter dress shirt on with khakis but had to be changed into Easter outfit 'B' after the great Easter poo of 2008. It took both Daddy and Mommy to clean that one up. I was sad our phone wasn't working for Easter thus making contact with family a bit difficult, but we got our Vonage box in the mail Monday and are now in business. Our number will be transferred by April 2nd so all should be well after that. We have a temporary number until then, e-mail me if you're in need of it or just call our cells.

We went to Agland's, a pet and farm supply store, to visit the Easter Bunny (who was too skinny and just a little scary) and some real bunnies. I got all itchy just from being near them, I'm SO allergic! Z doesn't seem to share my allergies...yet.

We're still doing swim classes at the Y. Daddy usually gets in with him as I can't be bothered to get all wet for just a half hour, so I'm the helper before and afterwards. Z is getting so much more comfortable in the water. Ben's started letting him fall in when he jumps before Ben counts him in. He goes under, looks up at you from under the water, then bobs up. He's kicking, using his arms, turning around to climb in, and today he climbed out all by himself. He loves to inch along the side wall all by himself.

Daddy was being silly decorating our son, who loved it. We were both shocked when a letter floated by and Z said, "T", which it was! We were so proud! We do A LOT of alphabet work, so it's nice to have a little reward like that once in a while.

I call this one, "Finale."

Well, if you think of it, pray for us this Sunday. We're singing at church for a little "talent show" they're having. It's been years and years since we sang for an audience. For those that don't know, we led a worship team at our college for about three years then started a youth group band at a youth group we volunteered with after college for two years. So, it's been about eight years and it's exciting and scary all at the same time.