Amber Waves of Grain

Hello, faithful blog readers!! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I actually woke up Thanksgiving morning with some kind of stomach flu and spent the day home alone with my head in the toilet while Nathan & Keegan went to see family. That sounds horrible, but I actually sort of enjoyed it. Not the head-in-toilet part, but imagine a whole day...in a quiet house...and rest. I hated to miss Thanksgiving, but definitely loved the vacation day. If it took being sick to get a day of rest, then by all means! :) Anyway, a lot of people have been asking me baby-related questions so I thought I'd get them all answered in today's blog. Here are the frequently asked questions.......... 1) "When are you due?" (please, don't add "because you look huge", or "because you look like you're about to pop", and so on) My official due date is Jan 1st but the plan now is to induce me early if my body is ready. We are looking tentatively at December...

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, many of us reflect on what we are thankful for. Of course, I am thankful for all of the "default" answers. You know, God, family, friends, health, and so on. I by no means want to minimize the importance of any of these things. However, rarely do I hear people mention BACON in their list of answers. BACON . Seriously, could there be a better food? I'd marry bacon if I could (no offense, Nathan). Whoever thought to rip this particular part out of the pig and fry it was an absolute genious. One way I love to use bacon is in bacon-wrapped pineapple. Here is the recipe; you must try it! Bacon Wrapped Pineapple 1 Package bacon 1 Fresh pineapple, cut into chunks Cut the bacon in half lengthwise (so pieces are about 4" long). Wrap 1 piece of the bacon around a pineapple chunk & secure with a toothpick. Put on a foil-lined baking pan (one with edges due to the grease it creates) and bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Here's another recipe ...

I thought we needed a whole blog on LIMITED EDITION FLAVORED FOODS . I'm a sucker for buying new food flavors that say "Limited Edition". They are fun to try. It's also dangerous because if you LOVE the product, you know it's going away soon. That's what happened to my chocolate orange Kit-Kats. I could still cry about that one. Other limited edition foods out now include: - Candy Cane Oreos (Walmart). They have the great Oreo taste with subtle hints of peppermint in the creamy center. It's like eating an oreo but still having fresh breath afterwards. Leave a plate of them for Santa and his reindeer & they'll appreciate it. - Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash . Enough said. Perfect for Christmas get-togethers. Forget the eggnog. - Hershey Kisses . Have you seen all the new flavors? I've only tried the Mint Truffle ones (delicious). They also have New York Cheesecake flavored creme, Pumpkin Spice (if anyone sees these in a store please tell me where...

I just love random, useless information. Most of you, after reading my blogs, are probably not surprised. :) Out of a lack of anything else to write about today, here are a few trivial facts you might enjoy: 1. A 1-gallon hat barely holds 6 pints 2. A cow produces 200 times more gas a day than a person 3. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge 4. A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans 5. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer 6. Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan 7. Camel's milk does not curdle 8. Dr Samual A. Mudd was the doctor who set the leg of John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln's assassin), and through this shame the expression was created, "His name is Mudd". 9. The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump 10. The 1st toilet ever seen on tv was on Leave it to Beaver. There you have it, folks. Ten completely useless facts. Aren't you glad you read my blog? :)

This weekend has been bittersweet. On Saturday, we helped host a reception for our dear friends, Tim & Andrea which went really well. They are moving to Bangladesh and fly out tomorrow. They will be there for 3 years (and maybe longer...) as missionaries with Food for the Hungry. Here they are. Aren't they a cute couple? We met Tim & Andrea 5-6 years ago at church. They are a fun couple who have big hearts. They told us a few years ago that they both felt the desire to serve God as missionaries in another country. We didn't know when or how or even where. It was all in God's hands. And, let me tell you, God worked every detail out perfectly. We've had the privilege of being a part of their journey as they were chosen specifically to work for Food for the Hungry in Bangladesh. They will work with the people of Bangladesh on programs to help them meet physical needs, while then having opportunities to share the great love of Jesus with them. Tim and Andre...

Nathan introduced a fun little website to me. It's called Church Sign Generator ( www.churchsigngenerator.com ). You pick out a church sign, then add the words you want to appear and press 'go'. In a matter of seconds (really, it's fast), it spits out a photo of your church sign. I was thinking that these are some church signs that I'd like to see: Why not offer snacks during the service? Let's admit we all rushed off to church and were lucky to grab a granola bar. Personally, I could pay better attention with a full stomach: "Ladies fellowship", I believe!: Every pregnant woman's dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: I know, imperfect kids will refine me......... but can't we imagine?: So, give it a whirl and enjoy your weekend!

Drum roll , please!......... HAPPY 50 th BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, can you believe that you've suffered through reading FIFTY blogs already!? Now, some of you might be asking yourselves, "What do you buy someone for their 50 th blogiversary?" I'd say that it should follow normal anniversary gift standards, which would mean GOLD . This gold-plated toilet might be a good idea (especially with our hurting economy... why not invest in a john?): Moving right along....I think that to celebrate my 50 th blog, you should have to read FIFTY FUN AND FASCINATING FACTS about ME. OK, so some aren't so fun or remotely fascinating. It was actually harder to come up with 50 facts than I thought. Here we go: 1. I was once strip-searched in a Mexican maximum security prison (now you want to keep reading, don't you?) 2. I was a Girl Scout for 12 years (that's a LOT of cookies) 3. I once got Red-Cross certified in canoeing 4. I played violin for 17 years (and then a son was...

Just a quick blog to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom (11/8) and to my sister-in-law, Deanna (11/11). By the way, Deanna is expecting too so a new niece or nephew will join us in April! We celebrated Saturday night with our families. Let's see if I can find some pictures..... This is Emmalee, Cody, Keegan , Deanna, and my mom.... waiting to eat cake. The queen and king, of course. Keegan and Grandpa (my dad): This is me with Emmalee (my step-niece): Emmalee narrated a play for us after dinner. Nathan was a good sport and played along. Is that how you spell "narrated"? It doesn't look right. Spell check doesn't seem to care so I suppose it's OK. The 2 birthday girls, Deanna & my mom: So........... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, again! I just wanted to say that I just changed my blog settings so that ANYONE can leave a comment, not just registered users as before. Let's give it a try, anyway. If I start getting a lot of creepy comments from you crazy internet stalkers, then I can always switch it back. :) We'll see how this goes. So, comment away!!!!! Thanks!

Good morning, blog readers! First, thank you for all of the compliments on the photos I took of baby Ella. I received several emails and Facebook messages and had more moms wanting me to take their kid's pictures. I'm flattered! I will tell you, however, that this week marked my last official photo shoot until after my baby comes. It involves a lot of getting up and down and laying on my stomach which I just can't do right now. But, talk to me in the spring if you still want pics taken! Keegan and I have really enjoyed this beautiful fall weather this week. It's been in the low 70s here and sunny all week. Today the temps dropped (high 60) and tomorrow they'll drop even more (high 45ish). So, I really took Keegan out as much as possible this week. Yesterday we went to the park, then the local playground, and then he helped me plant some flower bulbs. Here are some pictures from the park this week! Enjoy your weekend!

Hello, and happy Wednesday!! I had the opportunity today to do a 'mock' photo shoot of baby Ella, Tabitha's sweet little baby (thanks for chasing Keegan, Sarah!). Ella is about 5-6 weeks old now. I've never done photos of a newborn before, so this was all just practice for me. I learned some good lessons and hopefully I got a picture or two that the parents can enjoy. Here are a few I'll share though! I liked a lot of these better in black & white than in color........ the 2nd photo is the same as the first but I played around in photoshop with the colored flower.... She wasn't thrilled about leaning against a pumpkin but she was a great sport: So precious: Trying for an interesting crop: With the piano: Ella did very well and was in a great mood. She is so sweet! Congrats, again, Tabitha!! :)

Hello, blog readers! Just a quick blog to share our Halloween photos with you! Keegan dressed up as Spiderman (no, he did NOT have real web shooters on the sleeves like I had hoped). He only went to about 10 houses. He started out pretty scared (mostly of the older kids with scary costumes) and cried, begging Nathan and me to carry him. But, by the end he was totally into it and had fun. I should mention that I bought Halloween pencils to give out and Nathan (and most of my friends) told me how lame this was. So, I gave in and bought candy to pass out with them. Nathan teases that I'll probably give protractors next year. I'm also the manners cop ("Be sure to say thank you!") for all of the kids old enough to know better. Really, I'm surprised our house wasn't egged that night, ha! My grandma & parents came over to help pass out candy and had dinner with us too. My grandma lives in the ghetto so we like for her to come over halloween night so she's not...

Just a quick congratulations to Sarah & Tim and their little baby, Catherine (Catie). She was born on Thursday & I had the opportunity to visit today. She is adorable and her parents are doing well. Congrats, guys!!!!!!!!!!!