• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons vegetarian fish sauce (Anchovy paste was all I had!)
  
• 1 (12 ounce) package dried rice noodles
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (I didn't have any on hand - still tasted great)
• 4 leaves napa cabbage (I used lettuce)
  
• 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts
• 4 sprigs fresh mint (I didn't have any on hand - still tasted great)

1. Mince the garlic with the cilantro and the hot pepper. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the lime juice, fish sauce or salt and sugar; stir well. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rice noodles; boil them for 2 minutes. Drain well. Rinse the noodles with cold water until they have cooled. Let them drain again.
3. Combine the sauce, noodles, carrots, cucumber, mint and Napa cabbage in a large serving bowl. Toss well and serve the salad garnished with the peanuts and mint sprigs.

For those of you who are barbecuing this weekend, you might like to try this marinade. It's a family favourite and was shared by our camping/hunting friend, Juanita.

Juanita's Steak Marinade

4 cups Soy Sauce

-or-

2 cups Soy Sauce

2 cups Red Wine

2 cups Sugar (I usually use Brown)

2 heads, Garlic

1-1/4lbs Ginger, peeled

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Let sit 1/2 hour. Strain through cheesecloth or strainer to take out ginger fibers. Keeps for several months stored in the refrigerator.

To marinade: I usually add whatever steaks I have to a Ziploc bag and pour over enough marinade to coat thoroughly. Let sit for several hours if possible and then grill to perfection. Pour away used portion of marinade.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• fresh dill weed, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Mix inleeks and carrots, and cook 5 minutes. Pour in broth. Season with dill,salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Mix in potatoes, cover, and cook 20minutes, or until potatoes are tender but firm. Remove and discard thebay leaf.
2. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute themushrooms 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Stir into the soup.
3. In a small bowl, mix the half-and-half and flour until smooth. Stirinto the soup to thicken. Garnish each bowl of soup with fresh dill toserve.

This is the last day of the J.Jill sale, both online & in stores. All of their clearance & sale items are an additional 50% off. I found some lovely clothes for spring at Ross prices.  :)

Linen Flared Skirt

Available in several colors - No, I didn't get white. I don't think it'd survive my children. :)

Corded Cotton Cropped Pants

These are very comfortable and just the right waist height (at least for me) that it makes me feel slim without being at my armpits. ;-)

For the past two years I've been searching for a bed for Aletheia's room. She is currently sleeping on a twin mattress set that is stacked on the floor. Today we went out to see a beautiful PotteryBarn twin bed with trundle, but it was sold a few minutes before we got there. :( I keep searching yard sales & CraigsList but either the bed is already sold, it's a piece of junk, or the asking price is sky-high. So, the search continues. But while I continue to search please share your thoughts or experience with me so I can narrow down my selections.

I love the look of older style twin beds like this:

or this (not the decor - bleh - but I do like the iron bed style)

or this (with the pullout trundle)

or this (separate twins that can be bunked if needed)

Can you tell that I've been looking at Pottery Barn?

So, do you have a trundle bed in use at your home? Did you use one as a child? Share your thoughts & reviews for me. The option of a bunkbed is ok, but is less aesthetically pleasing to me.  :) My brother and I shared a room for most of our years and we had bunkbeds. I just remember that it was hard to sit up and read (I had the bottom bunk) and our cousin took a nasty spill out of the top one time.

I'll keep on searching, you should comment and share your thoughts. ;) 

I love a good fish taco and we have several local Mexican trucks (mobile food stands) where you can get decent tasting ones. They seem fairly straight forward to make, but I've always been leery of frying things. It seems like an accident waiting to happen! So with a bit of searching online to find a sauce recipe, here's my version. It makes a dinner under 30 minutes that's fresh & tasty.

Pressed-for-Time Fish Tacos

Corn Tortillas (the small taco style)

Broccoli Slaw Salad Mix (shredded green cabbage works too, but I tried this for a different texture and it's ready to use immediately.)

Fish Sticks - get some that are quality and actually contain real fish :D

Taco Sauce - Just prepare the sauce portion of this recipe. It makes the meal. Fabulous taste!

Lime Wedges - squeeze a wedge over your taco for a bit more zest.

Preheat oven for fish sticks. As soon as oven is warmed, get them to baking right away. While they bake, prepare the taco sauce recipe. Then heat a flat griddle or frying pan. You may need a bit of oil depending on the type of pan. I have a non-stick griddle and I don't. Warm the tortillas on each side. Don't let them get crispy, unless you like them that way. Your fish sticks should be about done now. Assemble the tacos right onto the dinner plates. I put two fish sticks per taco, sprinkled them generously with broccoli slaw and added 1-2 Tbsp of taco sauce. Ready to eat!

Great served with Coronas & fresh fruit.

Any of you readers with a little girl in your life should click on over to Grosgrain and take a look at her latest creation. I think Aletheia would be darling in this outfit! Maybe I could find a mom size version too.  ;-)

Here are some festive gift ideas you can whip up in your own kitchen. They're from the Whole Foods website, but I'm sure you can substitute ingredients found near you for a lot cheaper.

They even supply printable gift tags you can download. Neato!

• Candied Lemon Peels:
• Candied Orange Peels:
• Chile Oil:
• Cinnamon Pancake Mix:
• Citrus Salt:
• Cranberry and Goji Berry Chutney:
• Herbes de Provence Salt:
• Sweet Spice Rub:
• Lavender Sugar:
• Maple Sugar Walnuts:
• Mulled Cider Spice Sachets:
• Preserved Lemons:
• Rosemary Olive Oil:
• Sugared Cranberries:
• Tangerine Sugar:
• Tarragon Vinegar:
• Vanilla Bean Sugar:

P.S. Click the Whole Foods link to go to their page where you can see the recipes, instructions, gift tag links, etc.

One of my roommates in college, Alisha, shared this recipe with me. It's fabulous!

Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins (or Bread)

1 whole orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1 egg

1/2 cup butter

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Wash oranges and cut (whole orange) into pieces to remove seeds. Blend orange pieces with orange juice until peel is finely chopped. Drop in egg & butter; blend briefly. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar & salt. Add chocolate chips and stir. Pour the orange mixture into the dry mixture. Stir lightly, just enough to moisten & combine. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full of batter. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.

To make loaves of bread, I doubled the recipe and increased the baking time to approx. 30 minutes (keep an eye on it so it doesn't brown too much). It will still be quite moist in the middle when the bread is done. Let it cool completely before removing from baking pans. I then wrapped mine tightly in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge overnight. It turns out very moist & dense. Great for a dessert bread.

I don't know about you, but I'm sad to see Linens 'n Things closing their doors. We had one of our wedding registries there and have quite a few items gracing our home from their vast stock. So if you're in the market for housewares, check out their sale before its all gone!

P.S. And if you have friends that are currently registered there....you might let them know before it's too late.

So the kiddos are growing as ever.

Aletheia (3) is becoming more and more of a helper. She now enjoys hearing chapter books read before bedtime (currently, Little House in the Big Woods) and has a super imagination. Her frequent request is for a friend to play with. She is excited that Vance plays with her more and more. Dress-up, cooking & painting are three of her favourite activities.

Vance (7 months) has cut his first tooth and has a second one just about to cut through. He now pulls himself up to stand and is walking around the furniture! His vocabulary is starting to develop too. He says Ma-Ma when he needs me, Nae-Nae (Nursing) or Num-Num when he's hungry, Nie-Nie when he's tired and one week or so ago, when we were leaving our neighbors, he said Bye-Bye and waved his hand. So cute!

I post lots of pictures on my Facebook account. Here's a link to more: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39931&l=c2c9d&id=515214439

And if you're not on Facebook yet, I recommend trying it out. It's the easiest way I've found to keep in touch with friends, share pictures, leave notes, etc. And send me a friend request if you do join. That way you'll be able to see the new kiddo pictures when I post them. It sometimes takes me a while to get them listed here. :)

This is what I put together for dinner tonight.

Curry Turkey Wraps

2 tbsp olive oil

2 - 3 boneless, skinless turkey or chicken breasts, chopped ( used a pre-cooked, leftover turkey breast, so cooking times might be longer if you're using raw meat)

1/2 cup cashews (I used whole, though I'm sure pieces would work fine)

3 green onions, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

1-1/2 tbsp curry powder (or more if you so desire)

1 - 2 apples, chopped

1/2 - 1 head of romaine lettuce, shredded

whole wheat tortillas (1 or 2 per person)

3/4 cup plain whole yogurt

-----------------------------

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add to skillet: turkey, cashews, green onions, lemon juice, salt, pepper & curry powder. Stir thoroughly and let heat 5 minutes or until warmed through. While this mixture is heating, warm the tortillas and then spread yogurt onto most of the tortilla's surface. Add some shredded lettuce, chopped apples and heated curry turkey mixture. Wrap up and serve with fresh fruit.

This received 5 stars from John and 4 stars from Aletheia (due to it being spicy), so if you have little ones, you may want to put in less curry powder.

My mom brought me two HUGE eggplants last week. Now, I've used eggplant a few times in curry and it was ok, but other than that it hasn't frequented our table. It's one of those vegetables that seems shrouded in mystery. How to prepare? Salted? Unsalted? It's too spongey....it's bitter, etc. Too much work for not a lot of enjoyment.

Anyway, I'm really trying to keep our grocery budget down, so free food needed to be put to use. I took a look at a few Eggplant recipes on All Recipes and ended up creating my own for Wednesday's Bible study meal. It was great! John who didn't think he liked eggplant said it was fabulous. He kept asking, "Is this really eggplant?"....so here you go.

Moriah's Eggplant Parmesan

large eggplant (the rounder the better)

2 eggs

Italian breadcrumbs (I used a cheapo store variety that was lingering in the back of my pantry)

fresh mozzarella

1. Heat oven to 350F.

2. Peel eggplant (I chopped off the stem area and then used a knife to peel) and slice into 1/2" slices (not too thick or thin)

3. Crack eggs into shallow bowl & whisk until combined

4. Dip slices of eggplant into egg mixture and then thoroughly coat in breadcrumbs.

5. Place on lightly grease cookie sheet and place in oven.

6. Bake for 5-7 minutes; then flip the eggplant rounds over and bake another 5-7 minutes until golden brown.

7. Slice fresh mozzarella (the type I buy at Costco comes in a round log shape and it was a perfect size to fit right on top of the eggplant) and place on top of eggplant. Bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I served these hot with homemade Italian tomato sauce (though jarred would work fine too). Mmm! I'm glad I have one eggplant left to make for dinner this weekend. :)

These are my favourite fragrances at the moment:

Secret Obsession by Calvin Klein

Bond Girl 007 by AVON

Burberry Brit by Burberry

What are yours?

Summer is still flying by. I have lots I think of blogging about, but then two weeks are gone and it's old news. :) And the picture taking is at a minimum. Thankfully our camera survived the pool incident, but it was out of commission for about a week as it dried out and was in at the camera shop.

I was told by many parents that they have tons of pictures of their first child, and very few of the subsequent children. I thought that I would do differently! Ha, not to be. When I have a toddler running around, I keep the camera out of reach, which means I don't grab it when the photo moments are at hand. We have probably 1/4 the number of pictures of Vance that we do of Aletheia at this age. Oh, well. Such is life. Sometimes I think it is more important to live life, than to capture it on camera.

Here's a recipe I've been meaning to share since the Mexican Fiesta we had back in June. It was something I made up on the fly and actually turned out much to our liking.

Shredded Chicken

Chicken, boneless (thighs, breasts or a combination of the two)

Taco Seasoning (choose your spice & heat level)

Cilantro, fresh, chopped (reserve some for garnish)

1. Remove excess fat from chicken.

2. Layer chicken in crockpot. (You can make several layers depending on how much chicken you want to make, but be sure to season between each layer.)

3. Thoroughly coat chicken with taco seasoning (I used 2 packets for two thick layers of chicken).

4. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over top of chicken.

5. Cover and cook on High for 5-6 hours.

6. Take two large forks and shred chicken thoroughly. Stir around in taco juices that have formed while cooking. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

7. Serve with your favourite Mexican meal (tacos, burritos, tostadas, etc.)

--------------------------------

Photo Links (Click to see more)

Vance (Spring 2008)

Aletheia's Birthday Party (June)

Aletheia (Summer 2008)

My friend, Stephanie, shared this recipe with me after they gave us a loaf of this yummy bread when Vance was born. It's super-easy to make. The beer doesn't overpower the taste of the bread and it's great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Beer Bread

3 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 bottle (12oz.) of beer (I used Sam Adams lager)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan. Mix the flour and sugar together. Pour in the bottle of beer. Mix dry & wet ingredients together until they are thoroughly blended. (Don't overmix.) Dump the dough into greased pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Poke holes in the top of the loaf and pour 1/4 cup melted butter over the top and return to oven for another 5 minutes. (I just rubbed a bit of butter over the top so that it formed a buttery glow.) Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This freezes very well.....if it lasts that long! I made two pans and baked them side-by-side. Turned out great.

-----------------------------------------

After I bought self-rising flour and used it for this recipe, I thought, what's so special about it....plus I hoped I could find a less-expensive route (self-rising flour isn't all that cheap). So, with a bit of poking around the internet, I came up with numerous recipes for Self-Rising Flour, all of which are the same.

Self-Rising Flour

1 cup of flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix thoroughly and store in covered container.

Note: If you're making a recipe which calls for plain flour and you use self-rising, be sure to cut the salt & baking powder which might be listed elsewhere in the recipe.

Her webstore has just opened! I am eyeing this pattern booklet for various pincushions

and the Trash Ties would make great hair accessories for Aletheia and me.

Every year I look forward to the summer and things slowing down, then summer hits and next thing I know we're 3/4 of the way through July. I'm shocked.

We have been enjoying ourselves during this busy time. Some highlights:

* Aletheia's Mexican Fiesta B'Day Party....

* Mark Knopfler Concert at the Britt Festival....

* News of a new niece or nephew on the way....

* Vance is scoot-crawling, rolling, grabbing everything in sight, and using his voice at its loudest decibal....

* Fresh berries, basil, salad greens, tomatoes...

I do have photos from the party which I think I got off of our camera before it took a dive in the pool.  :( I am hoping and praying that our digital camera (wedding gift) will be ok. Friday, I went to a private pool party with my new-mom's Bible study. One of the gals accidentally dropped our camera in the pool. Ah!!!! It's been drying out for a few days and I will probably test it tomorrow. That camera is one of my favourite things. I take it with me almost everywhere and use it all of the time. We will see what happens. 

When did she grow up?

Age 2 - 2007                       Age 3 -2008

We had a very small celebration of Aletheia's birthday at camp. It fell on "Free-Day" which is unscheduled for activities after chapel until dinner. So by about 10:30 am most of the camp clears out and head up and down the coast to explore. We headed down the coast towards Tillamook which is about 15 minutes away. There are a few thrift-stores we went into (found some great antique linens) and then we headed to Netarts for a seafood lunch. My mom and sister-in-law, Naomi, were along too. All of us ended up at Schooners which was recommended for their great fish & chips! They served the best home-made tartar sauce I've ever had. It had capers, red onion, dill and lots of other tasty ingredients. I'm going to try to find a similar recipe to make.

Anyway, back to birthday business....

The sprinkle cake which was the cause of great weeping....

Some nights the desserts were already waiting at the tables before the food came out. Woe to those who see these great sweet things and then must wait until after dinner! This was one such night and an already tired & cranky Aletheia wanted nothing to do with dinner, but only her cake. There were many tears leading to her removal from the dining room for a "talk" with her Papa.

Age 2 - 2007                     Age 3-2008

At last! She has eaten some dinner and now we can celebrate with cake.

I'm glad I remembered to pack a "3" candle & some matches so we could have a little celebration. It worked great too because the planned dessert after dinner was a sprinkle cake with frosting. Very birthday-like!

We're back from our trip to Family Camp. It was a great week of fellowship. The weather ended up being cold and rainy for many of the days we were there so we didn't get as much "beach" time as Aletheia had hoped. Dr. Leithart was the speaker and gave lectures on the Sermon on the Mount. I only heard them in bits & pieces as I was in and out with Vance as it seemed to hit during his main nursing times. The nursing room was wired for sound, though sometimes it didn't work.

Twin Rocks (Across the street from the camp)

Aletheia made some new little friends and really enjoyed the kid's campfire & song-time. She's suddenly turned shy on us. I think it must be turning 3 that did it!  :-) We celebrated her 3rd birthday at camp, but hope to have a party here this next week. (If I get everything planned!)

The one day we braved the beach. It was VERY windy!

Most families from the church hosting the camp had been hit with a nasty stomach flu the week prior to camp. Most everyone was feeling well by Thursday/Friday before camp, but apparently some were still sick. The flu spread through many of the visiting families as the week progressed. We didn't get it at camp.....we however, did get it on Saturday. That was one of the most unpleasant trips back from camp. Aletheia got car-sick from a very winding section of coastal highway an hour into the journey and it went downhill from there. I was thankful to have packed a roll of paper-towels and some trashbags. We made it home with several more accidents, a diaper blow-out and general discomfort.

Yay! The slides were finally dry.

My Mom helped us out so much...she held Vance many times throughout the week. I don't think she minded. ;)

Saturday evening about an hour after we got home I started in on the stomach flu and Aletheia followed later in the night. John ministered to us all night long, cleaning up mess after mess. Poor Theia had never thrown up until Saturday and she didn't know what to do. She kept saying "Me be all done. No more spit-up." John ended up canceling worship services on Sunday and it's a good thing. By noon on Sunday, he joined the ranks and was miserable. We gimped around and helped each other make it through. All of our laundry was already dirty coming back from camp, so we had a HUGE stack of wash after all was said and done. Even with all of my anti-bodies, Vance ended up sick 4 or 5 times on Monday, but his case seemed to be mild.

Enjoying the camp's cornbread

Whew! We played catch-up all of this week and are now unpacked, laundry done, fridge re-stocked and in general back to normal life.

If you want to see more pics, follow this link. 

This link for a great sale at Crabtree & Evelyn was in my email this morning. Take a look at their $3 items!

I was able to stock up on some gifts. If you sign up to receive their emails you'll receive a code for $10 off your order & for certain sized orders you can receive Free shipping. I ordered with my mom so we'll get the Free shipping. I love shopping from home!

One of my friends, Lindsey, is selling oilcloth and I'm considering ordering a roll to cover our large dining room table. Many of the swatches on the website are too country or floral for me and since we have a huge dining room table, I don't want a pattern so bold that it overwhelms the room. So here are my two of my favourite patterns that will match well with my dining room wall paint (antiqued red):

Istanbul

Roma

If you go to the oilcloth website I linked above, you can see each individual swatch up close to get a better idea.

What do you think?

I'm so glad my husband keeps changing over the years. :) When we married, John had a handful of dishes he could cook, the smells of which, we soon discovered after I got pregnant, sent me running for cover to another room. Over the past four (almost) years, we've had lots of good discussion about food & feasting and have tried to pattern a home with a bountiful table around which to have fellowship.

Along with our discussions, we've read some great food authors who not only share recipes, but their memoirs of life & history of food that make you want to break out the ingredients and create your own memories! A few recent reads have been:

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones

and

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl

One of John's most recent kitchen forays has been to try his hand cooking & baking for breakfast. Several weeks ago he checked out The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham.

Since then he's tried his hand at making a number of the recipes with great success. A few recent favourites are Custard Filled Cornbread, Green Mango Fool & Ginger Pancakes and Cream Biscuits. I love it when he cooks us breakfast!

Custard-Filled Cornbread

2 eggs

3 Tbsp. butter melted

3 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups milk

1-1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8", square baking dish or pan that is about 2" deep. Put the buttered dish or pan in the oven and let it get hot while you mix the batter.

Put the eggs in a mixing bowl and add the melted butter. Beat until the mixture is well blended. Add the sugar, salt, milk and vinegar and beat well. Sift into a bowl or stir together in a bowl the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda and add to the egg mixture. Mix just until the batter is smooth and no lumps appear.

Pour the batter into the heated dish, then pour the cream into the center of the batter - don't stir. Bake for 1 hour, or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

"Residents are advised to stay inside unless you use sunscreen or are very, very hairy."

Harry Shearer as Kent Brockmon on The Simpsons

Well the past month has been very full, so blogging took a very back burner. John and I both had Strep throat which really zapped us of energy. We've also been working on our backyard and garden area. My vegetable garden is mostly planted and I've removed several plants & bushes that were here when we moved in that I didn't care for. We also were able to get our compost ring in place and have started adding lawn clippings & organic kitchen material. We should have some healthy compost mulch to use this fall.

What I quite frequently find her wearing

Aletheia is anticipating her 3rd birthday in a few weeks and is also excited about the upcoming family camp on the coast. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps & bounds and she loves to sit and "read" for long stretches of time. I imagine I'll start working with her more formally on some pre-school work this fall. She has been telling me that I need to help her because "I don't know my words, mommy."

My little hedgehog

Vance started teething at about 8 weeks and is steadily drooling & gumming whatever he can find. I even saw him eyeing his feet and trying to reach them when he was sitting in his bouncy chair the other day. He is a very social little guy and loves to smile & interact. When he wakes up each morning, he babbles away inbetween us until we wake up and talk with him.

This past week we had John's parents stay with us for a visit. They seemed to enjoy spending time with the grandkiddos and spent a lot of time just reading & relaxing.

We also had a very quick visit over coffee on Friday morning with our friends, the Landis', who are living in Moscow. Their kiddos sure have grown! It would have been great to spend more time with them!

Anyway, that's a brief run-down of some of our latest news. I keep thinking of things I want to blog about, so hopefully that will become a reality.  :)

I received this quote in my parenting email today.....a good reminder especially on a day when I was despairing over my messy house.

No one on her deathbed ever wished she had spent more time cleaning, and no one on her deathbed ever regretted spending too much time with her children.

It's an excerpt from 25 Things Every Mother Should Know  by Martha and Bill Sears.

Grandma Elsie & Aunt Sandra - 2006

My sweet Grandma died peacefully early this morning surrounded by her daughters, me & Vance. We miss her so much (and have for the past few years as her mind degenerated due to strokes & Alzheimers) and look forward to the day we can be reunited with her.

Grandma was a pioneer in spirit and worked so hard to make a good life for her children & grandchildren. She sacrificed herself in so many ways so that we could have joy. I have lots of good memories of her...picking flats of strawberries, blueberries & blackberries...homemade ice cream on the 4th of July...sharing her love of thrifting...helping start my teacup collection...flocked Christmas trees...the seashell collection we grandchildren loved to listen to...pink curlers...cranberry sauce...and so much more.

I love you Grandma!

Things have been very busy around here. John was gone Thursday-Monday this past week on a trip out to Greenville, South Carolina. With him gone, I decided to go out and stay at my parents' home during his trip. This made it much easier on me with the two little ones.

Saturday was Vance's baby shower. What a blast! We were extremely blessed with the presence of so many family members and friends & their generous gifts. And I must say, contrary to what I used to think, there are great boy clothing items to be had. Vance's wardrobe is starting to fill out a bit. We had only a handful of boy's clothes when I gave birth, so it's been great to receive not only hand-me-downs from a friend in my mom's group, but also many new outfits from the shower.

On the cooking front, here's a new recipe I've made a few times in the past month and which we LOVE. Cauliflower will never be low on my vegetable list! It's from the March 2007 edition of Everyday Food (my favourite cooking magazine).

Cauliflower Gratin

Vance started smiling and interacting so much more on Easter afternoon. He has such cute dimples! I've tried to capture it on camera but I keep catching it halfway. Soon...

edit:

Ok, he obliged and I was able to catch one smiley pic this afternoon. It's a little dark but you can still see it.

We started out the week with a trip to Nana's home to dye Easter eggs. This is the first time I remember doing it and it was Aletheia's first as well.

Aletheia was very excited about the egg dipper!

The finished product.

On Saturday we baked a coconut cake. Theia was the taster and she was very enthusiastic about her job. Sorry - no baking pics. Things were a little too sticky to have the camera out!

Vanilla Cake with Tart Lemon Filling. Topped with Coconut Frosting, Dark Chocolate Cadbury Eggs & Fresh Mint.

All ready to go to church. In her new Easter finery. The gloves were a big hit!

We had a wonderful Easter service & fellowship lunch with our church family. Several of our church group were home, sick or taking care of sick family members. Missed you!

I had fun putting together our table settings. It included lots of edible fun (peeps, chocolate, candy corn & boiled eggs) which the kiddos enjoyed.

Playing Outside After Church

Vance slept happily through most of service & lunch, so no pictures of him today. But we're still celebrating, so we'll see if we get more later.

Rejoice! He Is Risen!

I found this site the other day and really like their funky skirt designs. Here are a few of my favourites:

Scherenschnitte Skirt

Toadstool Skirt

I just read Nancy's entry on Easter over at Femina. Go read it! She has some good ideas about how to make our Easter celebration joyous and something our children really look forward to.

So what are your plans/traditions for your Easter celebration? Special recipes? New clothes? We don't have many traditions yet, but I want to start some more this year. Time flies after becoming a parent! With Aletheia nearly three, I am realizing how important it is to get some more traditions in place for her to have memories of later on.

Front of the church

(local Grange Hall we rent on Sunday)

Being baptized

(I love the purple stole John wears during Lent. It's an antique with beautiful embroidery)

Us, after church

Baptism Cake from Nana

Bonus pic of tired me.

It felt good to be out of the house for the first time, but was I ever tired by the end of the day. Aletheia's ER trip contributed to the exhaustion factor too!

"Waiting to be seen by the Doctor in the ER room"

Aletheia had her first visit to the hospital due to a bad scrape/cut on her leg. She was climbing in a chair that had an exposed screw and she slipped, cutting herself on the way down. We got to the hospital around 9pm and didn't get in to see the Dr. until after midnight. She was a trooper and waited very well the whole time.

The Doctor said that her cut was deep enough to take stitches, but he thought it would be more traumatic for her to have the stitches. Either way the wound will probably scar, so we decided on no stiches. He numbed the wound and then gave it a good cleaning and bandaging. At 1 am we were set to go home. What a long day!

Poor girl was so tired by the time we got to a room, she was a trooper though and did really well.

After wearing maternity clothes for seven months, I'm excited to start wearing my non-pregnancy clothing again. Since it's been so long, it's almost like having a new wardrobe!

Here are a few fashion finds I spotted while net-browsing. This kind of window-shopping is a lot easier than going to the mall when you spend most of your day home and nursing a newborn. :-) I've mentioned Down East Basics before. Their prices are very affordable and they carry some great feminine pieces.

The Whimsy Top

$12.99

Arboretum Skirt

$24.99

Marina Skirt

$26.99

Do you have any spring clothing links to share?

Since we've been blessed with a boy, I'm needing to get some non-girly sleepers. We have a handful of yellow, white & green ones, but very few and he doesn't really fit the newborn ones. :-) One of my friends has offered me her boy's clothing which will be a huge blessing! My aunt & sis-in-law have also offered to host me a shower, so I'm making up a list of things I'll need/want for Vance.

Any mothers with sons out there that have some good suggestions of items you needed/wanted after having a son?

Here are my registries so far, listed under Moriah Barach:

www.target.com

www.babiesrus.com

Since we co-slept with Aletheia for the first six months or so, we never used her crib much at all. Her crib bedding was adorable, but hasn't been used but for a few weeks or so. She's been in a big bed on the floor for a year or more now and I'm looking forward to redoing her room soon. I think I'll wait to actually pick bedding for Vance until he's in a twin bed. Though I do know I'd like to decorate his room in a bright (red/blue/yellow) vintage safari/jungle animal theme. We have some great Tin-Tin book pictures that will go well in his room.

Newborn baby Vance

Day-Old Vance

Aletheia meeting her brother for the first time - a few hours old.

Her commentary went something like this...."Oh cute....darling.....my brother....cute....teeny..."

After 5 hours of labour, John Vance Barach, III, was born at our home on February 29th at 5:12pm!

Vance weighs 9lbs, 4oz and is 21" long. He has chubby cheeks like the rest of his family. We think he's handsome!

Will try to post pics soon. Thanks for all of your prayers these past months. We're thrilled to have a little boy as a part of our family. 

Here are some of the latest Etsy items that have caught my eye....

For the kitchen:

Red Tea Towel

For the Baby:

Baltic Amber Teething Necklace

For Aletheia:

Pink & Red Birdseed Apron

For Me:

Gumball Drop ~ Earrings

For John:

Roasted Black Tea & Tobacco ~ Man Soap

I'm ready to meet this new little one! Please keep us in prayer for a safe delivery & healthy baby.

During this pregnancy some of my iron counts have been low. Around two months ago I started taking a liquid supplement called Floradix Iron + Herbs which has helped immensely, not only in improving my iron counts, but in my overall energy level.

This form of liquid Iron gluconate is very soluble and hasn't caused me any of the side effects that many people complain about when taking Iron. I'm planning to continue taking it after the baby is born. It should help especially postpartum, as nursing is a huge drain on iron levels in many mothers. Hopefully I won't be as tired this time around like I was with Theia.