Fall is my favorite time of the year. Especially after a long, hot summer like this one. But fall is so much more than the anticipation of cooler weather. Fall is brightly colored leaves falling off the trees, windows open all day, long walks without breaking a sweat, afternoons at the park, apple picking, pumpkin pies, soups and stews for dinner, jackets and warm sweaters, my birthday, Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas...I just can't wait!
These past two days we've had ridiculously cool weather for Virginia in August. Little Boy and I headed over to the park, and when the breeze blew through the playground and rustled those few leaves that fell early, I almost wished we had our jackets with us! For dinner, I just couldn't resist making our favorite sausage potato soup and pumpkin muffins, which we enjoyed sitting in the kitchen next to open windows. Oh, happy day!
I know that we most likely have several more warm (or hot) days ahead of us. I believe last year we were still wearing shorts some days in October. But for now I'm going to curl up on the couch next to an open window with a cup of hot tea and my book and enjoy this brief taste of fall.
Sausage & Potato Soup
2-3 Italian sausage links (sweet or spicy), removed from casing
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 carrots, sliced or chopped
2 cans chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, cubed
1 cup milk (2% or whole for best results)
2 cups baby spinach (or kale)
Italian cheese
Brown sausage in a stock pot. Add and saute onion, garlic, and carrots. Drain fat if necessary. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and simmer until soft, 15-20 minutes. Mash potatoes in soup briefly with a potato masher. Add milk and spinach and simmer for 5-10 minutes until spinach has boiled down. Top individual bowls with cheese if desired. Best served with bread.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Baby Makes Four
Yes, you read that correctly! Our family of three is soon to be a family of four! Aiden will become a big brother on or around March 20, 2009. We are just over 10 weeks, and I wish I were feeling better, but we are so thankful for this new little one that God is adding to our family!
In this ultrasound at 9 weeks, you can see one small arm waving on the bottom left side of the picture.
Thanks for sharing our exciting news with us!
In this ultrasound at 9 weeks, you can see one small arm waving on the bottom left side of the picture.
Thanks for sharing our exciting news with us!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Unscented vs Fragrance Free
Lately soaps and shower gels have been irritating my skin, so earlier this week, I took myself off to Target in search of a gentler, fragrance free cleanser. Personally I love Aveeno products. But I'm not so in love with Aveeno prices so I thought I'd look in to other products first. Dove usually has good beauty products and offers several "unscented" ones, so I started with those.
Now, if you are anything like me, choosing a new toiletry is similar to deciding which college to attend or what house to buy. I have lost many hours of my life standing in beauty product aisles reading label after label, trying to decide exactly which new foundation, lotion, shampoo, etc, would fit me best. This annoying habit of mine has nothing to do with thinking highly of myself or even thinking that a certain beauty product would be the magic formula for all my beauty woes. No. The bottom line is that I detest change. Even small changes, like switching brands of face wash. But I've digressed. Moving on...
...so I'm in Target, looking for a new, gentler cleanser, and I start with Dove's unscented body wash. I'm reading the back of the bottle when I stumble across a line that reads something like this:
And you will enjoy the light fragrance of no scent.
What? The light fragrance of no scent? Does anyone else seen anything wrong with that statement? I start thinking that the statement must be a typo, but just in case, I peruse their list of ingredients, and lo and behold, right near the bottom, what do I see? Fragrance. Let me guess...insert sarcasm here...the fragrance of no scent?
So I put that bottle down and look at other "unscented" products, and sure enough, every single one, including the bars of soap, had fragrance or perfume in it. Now I'm no scientist here, but most people who are looking at unscented products (and the ones I sniffed smelled terrible, by the way) are actually looking for ones without the skin irritating perfume and fragrance. Or maybe that's just me?
Either way, I ditched the unscented products and ended up with the slightly more expensive but truly fragrance free Aveeno body wash. I guess stopping to read the labels actually does pay off now and then!
Now, if you are anything like me, choosing a new toiletry is similar to deciding which college to attend or what house to buy. I have lost many hours of my life standing in beauty product aisles reading label after label, trying to decide exactly which new foundation, lotion, shampoo, etc, would fit me best. This annoying habit of mine has nothing to do with thinking highly of myself or even thinking that a certain beauty product would be the magic formula for all my beauty woes. No. The bottom line is that I detest change. Even small changes, like switching brands of face wash. But I've digressed. Moving on...
...so I'm in Target, looking for a new, gentler cleanser, and I start with Dove's unscented body wash. I'm reading the back of the bottle when I stumble across a line that reads something like this:
And you will enjoy the light fragrance of no scent.
What? The light fragrance of no scent? Does anyone else seen anything wrong with that statement? I start thinking that the statement must be a typo, but just in case, I peruse their list of ingredients, and lo and behold, right near the bottom, what do I see? Fragrance. Let me guess...insert sarcasm here...the fragrance of no scent?
So I put that bottle down and look at other "unscented" products, and sure enough, every single one, including the bars of soap, had fragrance or perfume in it. Now I'm no scientist here, but most people who are looking at unscented products (and the ones I sniffed smelled terrible, by the way) are actually looking for ones without the skin irritating perfume and fragrance. Or maybe that's just me?
Either way, I ditched the unscented products and ended up with the slightly more expensive but truly fragrance free Aveeno body wash. I guess stopping to read the labels actually does pay off now and then!
Oh, and buyers beware. Unscented does not equal fragrance free.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Cleaning
I hate cleaning.
Actually I don't mind doing the actual chores. Sometimes the activity of cleaning and the end result is actually therapeutic. What I mind is how quickly those chores become undone. Here's an example:
This morning, after Little Boy showered my kitchen floor (and the cats) with two large handfuls of soggy Cheerios, I decided that sweeping and mopping the floor needed bumped to the top of my priority list for the day. Along with emptying the litter box I hadn't cleaned in over a week and vacuuming the living room floor which had started to rival the garden for how much dirt, leaves, and mulch had accumulated on the carpet.
By mid-afternoon my cleaning list seemed complete! The kitchen floor had been swept and mopped, the litter box emptied, the living room cleaned and vacuumed, PLUS two loads of laundry had been washed and chicken for dinner could be found marinating in the fridge. Yes, friends, I felt good about my day!
And then Little Boy came home from an errand with Hubby.
Within ten minutes, toys carpeted the living room floor, Little Boy spit out a chewed up animal cracker on to my sparkling kitchen floor, and the cats tracked pawfuls of litter throughout the house, probably to spite me for waiting so long to clean their box out in the first place.
After dinner, with dishes piled high on the table and counter, Hubby and I looked around the house, and honestly, you would have never guessed that at 4pm, the house shined as though ready for company.
And that is why I hate cleaning.
But, friends, I do love my Hubby who cleaned the kitchen and put away all the baby toys, so that the house looks moderately clean again! Thanks, Hubby!
Actually I don't mind doing the actual chores. Sometimes the activity of cleaning and the end result is actually therapeutic. What I mind is how quickly those chores become undone. Here's an example:
This morning, after Little Boy showered my kitchen floor (and the cats) with two large handfuls of soggy Cheerios, I decided that sweeping and mopping the floor needed bumped to the top of my priority list for the day. Along with emptying the litter box I hadn't cleaned in over a week and vacuuming the living room floor which had started to rival the garden for how much dirt, leaves, and mulch had accumulated on the carpet.
By mid-afternoon my cleaning list seemed complete! The kitchen floor had been swept and mopped, the litter box emptied, the living room cleaned and vacuumed, PLUS two loads of laundry had been washed and chicken for dinner could be found marinating in the fridge. Yes, friends, I felt good about my day!
And then Little Boy came home from an errand with Hubby.
Within ten minutes, toys carpeted the living room floor, Little Boy spit out a chewed up animal cracker on to my sparkling kitchen floor, and the cats tracked pawfuls of litter throughout the house, probably to spite me for waiting so long to clean their box out in the first place.
After dinner, with dishes piled high on the table and counter, Hubby and I looked around the house, and honestly, you would have never guessed that at 4pm, the house shined as though ready for company.
And that is why I hate cleaning.
But, friends, I do love my Hubby who cleaned the kitchen and put away all the baby toys, so that the house looks moderately clean again! Thanks, Hubby!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Adventures in Eating Out
Now we do not eat out that often, but when we do, I consider Little Boy to be exceptionally well behaved at restaurants. Since he loves to eat, he's usually content to just sit at the table and snack from the moment we arrive until the moment we leave. Of course he has his antsy and impatient moments now and then, but he tends to charm everyone around him, so no one seems to mind. What I can I say? He's cute and perfect!
(Those of you who have seen his legendary temper tantrums are laughing just about now...I can hear you!)
This past week Hubby came downstairs from work to hear this statement from me: I don't want to cook, and I don't want to eat anything that we have in the kitchen. So what do you want to do for dinner? We settled on an early dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, a super yummy steakhouse that offers an exceptional dinner special before 5:30pm.
Our booth ended up being set on a raise platform that would have put a high chair substantially lower than the table, so Little Boy got to sit in a booster seat at a restaurant for the first time. In his excitement, all good restaurant behavior seems to fly out the window. Nice.
We had three older ladies sitting in the booth behind Little Boy and Hubby. Little Boy was chatty, chatty, chatty while we were looking over our menus, and at one point, I saw him telling a long "story" to the woman sitting directly behind him. She did not even glance in his direction. As I started to say, "Little Boy, turn around and tell Mommy your story," his patience with the inattentive woman ran out, and he shouted, "HEY!" directly in her ear. She turned around looking stunned (and slightly irritated) as we offered apologies. Nice.
Just ten minutes later, our food arrived. Little Boy refused to eat anything, and at one point, grabbed a piece of chicken nugget, wound up his arm, and flung the piece as high in to the air as he could. I gasped a "No!" as Hubby watched the nugget arc gracefully over his head. In the split second that the nugget was still airborne, I thought "Oh no, the nugget is going to hit one of older ladies!" and then "Oh no, the nugget is going to land in one of their waters!" The nugget landed smack in the center of their table and did not land in their hair, water or food. And thankfully none of them even noticed! Definitely nice!
We wrapped dinner fairly quickly after that and hurried Little Boy home to an early bed time. I know parents have had even greater adventures eating out - I think I'll pass on those, thanks - but this was our first and worth documenting!
Any funny dining out stories of your own?
(Those of you who have seen his legendary temper tantrums are laughing just about now...I can hear you!)
This past week Hubby came downstairs from work to hear this statement from me: I don't want to cook, and I don't want to eat anything that we have in the kitchen. So what do you want to do for dinner? We settled on an early dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, a super yummy steakhouse that offers an exceptional dinner special before 5:30pm.
Our booth ended up being set on a raise platform that would have put a high chair substantially lower than the table, so Little Boy got to sit in a booster seat at a restaurant for the first time. In his excitement, all good restaurant behavior seems to fly out the window. Nice.
We had three older ladies sitting in the booth behind Little Boy and Hubby. Little Boy was chatty, chatty, chatty while we were looking over our menus, and at one point, I saw him telling a long "story" to the woman sitting directly behind him. She did not even glance in his direction. As I started to say, "Little Boy, turn around and tell Mommy your story," his patience with the inattentive woman ran out, and he shouted, "HEY!" directly in her ear. She turned around looking stunned (and slightly irritated) as we offered apologies. Nice.
Just ten minutes later, our food arrived. Little Boy refused to eat anything, and at one point, grabbed a piece of chicken nugget, wound up his arm, and flung the piece as high in to the air as he could. I gasped a "No!" as Hubby watched the nugget arc gracefully over his head. In the split second that the nugget was still airborne, I thought "Oh no, the nugget is going to hit one of older ladies!" and then "Oh no, the nugget is going to land in one of their waters!" The nugget landed smack in the center of their table and did not land in their hair, water or food. And thankfully none of them even noticed! Definitely nice!
We wrapped dinner fairly quickly after that and hurried Little Boy home to an early bed time. I know parents have had even greater adventures eating out - I think I'll pass on those, thanks - but this was our first and worth documenting!
Any funny dining out stories of your own?
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Unintentional Hiatus
No, I have not given up my blog.
I took an unintentional blogging hiatus for the following reasons...
1) We visited Hubby's family in Michigan for a week (including two 12hr road trips, one involving an extremely car sick Little Boy. I now know how to completely dismantle the car seat in order to put it through the wash! Yuck!)
2) Little Boy cut four new teeth
3) Little Boy had a stomach bug (think 5-6 liquid poo diapers every day for a week)
4) Little Boy has a summer cold
5) As a result of 2-4 above, Little Boy gave up napping for almost two weeks
Yes, friends, I've had a long three (or four?) weeks. At the end of the day, I literally had no brain cells left to compose even a single sentence, let alone an entire blog post.
But I am back now. The situation at our house is looking up. I finally unpacked the last suitcase from our mini vacation to Michigan. Little Boy's teeth are coming in smoothly and more fully. The stomach bug is gone. The summer cold is almost gone. Little Boy took an hour and a half nap today, the longest nap he's taken in over 10 days. I did not collapse in exhaustion after dinner tonight. And I think I actually have a few brain cells in working order this evening. Yea!
So now you've heard the bad from the past several week. I am pleased to announce that there is also good to report! Here are the highlights from the past several weeks...
We had a splendid week in Michigan with Hubby's family! We met our niece Jenna for the first time (cutest niece ever!) We saw the movie Dark Knight (excellent film! I bit my nails through the entire movie!) We saw the musical Wicked (amazing! Loved it! Best musical I've seen in some time!) And we spent a lovely afternoon at Lake Michigan (naps in the sun! Need I say more?)
The best part by far, though, was waking up early to Little Boy's cries several mornings during the week, only to have Hubby's mom tell me to go back to bed while she got up with the baby. And, friends, I HEART sleep! So sleeping in past 6:30am is an unspeakable luxury for me. So, thank you, Cathy! You are the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for!
My mom and cousin stayed in our house while we were away and literally cleaned the house from top to bottom. I'm not sure the house has been cleaned in its entirety like that since Little Boy was born. I mean, we are talking everything from changing sheets to dusting to mopping to wiping off baseboards in the bathroom to scrubbing out the cats' litter box! My house sparkled like it had not sparkled in about 19 months. So, thank you, Mom! You are the best mom a girl could ask for!
And a final highlight from this week - we replaced our central air unit! Our old system, a lower grade brand, had lasted three years beyond its 15yrs expected lifespan. We have slowly been losing cool air all summer. And the straw that broke the camel's back? An exorbitant electric bill and a house that was only five degrees cooler than the 90+ degree temperature outside. We had to work an unexpected monthly payment in to the budget, but we now have a shiny new heat pump, cool air, and no more nagging fear about the system just giving out on us one day. I also have high hopes for a more affordable electric bill next month!
That's all for now, folks! I will be blogging more frequently now, so keep checking back for enlightening (or not) posts!
Oh, and as a bonus, here are two pictures of Little Boy at Lake Michigan...
I took an unintentional blogging hiatus for the following reasons...
1) We visited Hubby's family in Michigan for a week (including two 12hr road trips, one involving an extremely car sick Little Boy. I now know how to completely dismantle the car seat in order to put it through the wash! Yuck!)
2) Little Boy cut four new teeth
3) Little Boy had a stomach bug (think 5-6 liquid poo diapers every day for a week)
4) Little Boy has a summer cold
5) As a result of 2-4 above, Little Boy gave up napping for almost two weeks
Yes, friends, I've had a long three (or four?) weeks. At the end of the day, I literally had no brain cells left to compose even a single sentence, let alone an entire blog post.
But I am back now. The situation at our house is looking up. I finally unpacked the last suitcase from our mini vacation to Michigan. Little Boy's teeth are coming in smoothly and more fully. The stomach bug is gone. The summer cold is almost gone. Little Boy took an hour and a half nap today, the longest nap he's taken in over 10 days. I did not collapse in exhaustion after dinner tonight. And I think I actually have a few brain cells in working order this evening. Yea!
So now you've heard the bad from the past several week. I am pleased to announce that there is also good to report! Here are the highlights from the past several weeks...
We had a splendid week in Michigan with Hubby's family! We met our niece Jenna for the first time (cutest niece ever!) We saw the movie Dark Knight (excellent film! I bit my nails through the entire movie!) We saw the musical Wicked (amazing! Loved it! Best musical I've seen in some time!) And we spent a lovely afternoon at Lake Michigan (naps in the sun! Need I say more?)
The best part by far, though, was waking up early to Little Boy's cries several mornings during the week, only to have Hubby's mom tell me to go back to bed while she got up with the baby. And, friends, I HEART sleep! So sleeping in past 6:30am is an unspeakable luxury for me. So, thank you, Cathy! You are the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for!
My mom and cousin stayed in our house while we were away and literally cleaned the house from top to bottom. I'm not sure the house has been cleaned in its entirety like that since Little Boy was born. I mean, we are talking everything from changing sheets to dusting to mopping to wiping off baseboards in the bathroom to scrubbing out the cats' litter box! My house sparkled like it had not sparkled in about 19 months. So, thank you, Mom! You are the best mom a girl could ask for!
And a final highlight from this week - we replaced our central air unit! Our old system, a lower grade brand, had lasted three years beyond its 15yrs expected lifespan. We have slowly been losing cool air all summer. And the straw that broke the camel's back? An exorbitant electric bill and a house that was only five degrees cooler than the 90+ degree temperature outside. We had to work an unexpected monthly payment in to the budget, but we now have a shiny new heat pump, cool air, and no more nagging fear about the system just giving out on us one day. I also have high hopes for a more affordable electric bill next month!
That's all for now, folks! I will be blogging more frequently now, so keep checking back for enlightening (or not) posts!
Oh, and as a bonus, here are two pictures of Little Boy at Lake Michigan...
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