4th of July!!

Man o Man time's a' flying!! I feel like just yesterday we were waiting for the ninja's arrival and now we are on the eve of 4th of July?!

This week has absolutely been insane. Can anybody feel me?! My birthday, meetings for work and church and to cut out the sweetest lady-bug invitations on the planet...seriously people, Christ Church Brenham women know how to throw a shindig. If you are expecting or getting married or coming up on a significant birthday, move to Texas and join our church just so you can get a party. This group of women could write a novel simply on partying it up in shabby chic style. And. That. Ain't. No. Joke.

Digressing....

Anyway, it's been nuts and the forecast is partly cloudy with a chance of almonds. AKA: it ain't changing any time soon. Saturday we have a wedding to attend about 2 hours away, and then a whole gaggle of the hubs' fam arrives. His mom will be back from her east coast tour. No, she isn't the next American Idol. Just the most current American Idol Grandma touring 'round in her Prius to see her grandbabies. Arriving with her will be 3 additional family members and two friends. Bringing the Forman Texas total to 10!

So, for all this celebratory hoop-lah, and the independence of this great nation, I've decided to tackle my first layered cake. Hopefully, it will turn out as fantastic as Mrs. Ashley over at MakeIt-LoveIt.com If you haven't seen this site, and you are crafty, drop everything and go. Go now. Seriously. Stop. Reading. Redirect URL. Stand in awe of her fantastic-ness.

Anyway...Here's a pic of this crazy cake. Hopefully it won't turn out brown in the middle and purple on top...I'm sure the cookie monster that lives at my house would eat it anyway.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Goodbye Roaring Twenties!!!

Well, the day finally arrived. Today is my 30th birthday. Most people say that with a sigh and then go run 4 miles to "prove they can." I, on the other hand, echo the words of my sister-in-law, Megan: "I feel like I'm just hitting my stride."


(Speaking of Megan, she and her hubs are currently texting me a major event that happened every year of my last 30...it's rather insane AND hilarious!!...and super creative. Well done, friends!!)


The big celebration started last night with a yum yum yummy apple pie baked by my friend, Mandy, at small group. Everyone was glad I turned 30. :-) 


This morning I woke up to a giant package creatively wrapped by my handsome man. He ran out of paper, but wrapped it in such a way that I couldn't tell. He just made me open it very carefully...


My first order of the day, however, was to open my card, which was actually 3. Dave, my mom, my sister and her man, and my in-laws all went in together for the gift (you will have to hold on for that part...) and my mom and sis wrote me little notes that Dave beautifully glued to crafty paper for me! He even picked the paper to match their personalities.  

Dave's card also matched his personality and was a perfect reflection of the atmosphere of our home most days, full of laughter, silliness and fun...

He said he couldn't resist the card because of the gift everyone got me....

TA-DA!!!!

"One happy wife and mama" doesn't even BEGIN to express how happy I am about this gift!! If you had asked me even 3 months ago if I would ever learn to sew, I would have laughed and said.."no way! Who has time for that?!" And then, I got roped into sewing some kitchen towels for a friend, the bug was caught and before long I was borrowing a sewing machine from anyone who would let me.  

I couldn't wait to put it to work!! But first, off to Hobby Lobby for some fantastically amazing cloth to fulfill  my fantastically amazing ideas!! 

Jackpot! 

They are all in the wash being loved on by some Tide before being jerked and stabbed into submission. No worries little cotton wares, you will live a much happier life as pillows, dresses, nursing covers and burp cloths. Life is better with purpose, dear ones! :-)

As I said earlier, I'm hitting my stride. 

I'm at home in my community and town. I know I've got some amazing women as back up while I journey this new mommy scene. 

I looking back at old recipes I thought were so hard once and I wonder why they were. I can bake bread, am going to make baby food, and am even tackling a cake that is 5 layers and looks like an American flag when you cut it! ha! 

I have a husband who would lasso the moon for me, who stands guard over me, our daughter and our home and who gets giddy over me getting giddy over something as silly as fabric. (In fact, he's got his eye on a pumpkin print he said he needs made into a table runner before October...told you we were silly most of the time...) He keeps my heart light and my vocal chords strained from laughter. You knocked it out of the park this year, my love. 

Well, there's the dryer buzzer. Off to build something fantastic!! 

And hey there, 30? 

Bring. It. 

It's Mama Flair!

Recently, Dave has been encouraging me to "...just do something for you." So, on my day off this week, I ventured to our local Sally's Beauty supply, and came out with some new adventures on my horizon...

I like to call it "Mama Flair."

As my sister in law likes to say..."I'm just keepin' it real, ya'll"

Time to get a lil messy!! Part Deux...

Well, I'm sure you regulars out there got a little tease from my post "Time to get a lil messy!!!"

Here's the video footage. I especially like her face with the first taste of sweet peas. I imagine my parents, godparents, grandparents...and the parents of all of my friends saw that exact same face when I was tot and faced down anything I found unacceptable. Like, riding in the backseat of Uncle Randy's car for instance.... :-D

In fact, the hubs has probably seen that scowl a few times from me as well...and I'm sure I will be seeing it from her for many years to come. Here's to parenting!!

This is our first attempt at solids! Mommy & Daddy bought some wonderfully organic, pure, healthy butternut squash! :-) Maybe we should have started her with cake and ice cream?!

With "Sweet" in the name, one would think an infant would enjoy. Not so, my friends, Not. So.

A House Divided...

Do your mealtimes look like this?

If so, tell me, what's your favorite "healthy enough for mommy and tasty enough for daddy recipes?"

Can you guess which side is mine? :-)

Father's Day!!

Well, Happy belated Father's Day to all you wonderful dads out there!! Dave and I celebrated over multiple days because he had to work this weekend. It all started Friday afternoon with a little fingerpainting action with me and the Ninja. There aren't many pictures because once she realized there was goop on her fingers, choas ensued. Screaming, big fat crocodile tears. Not. A. Fan. But you can see the before and after anyway...

The sweetness, being all swallowed by her swimmy diaper. Yeah, I know, not going swimming, but it was the only disposable in the house. :-)

The Canvas and the Artist. Watch out world, here she comes!

Enjoying the green. (Which subsequently made her hand look cyanotic. Note to self.)

The closest-to-the-end-without-the-hysterics picture I got. Yes. She did eat a little green. Yes. It was non-toxic. No. I do not plan to make a habit of it. ;-)

The masterful finished product. Oh. Yeah. I said masterful. She is an artistic genius. :-)

As I mentioned, Daddy Dave had to work Friday night, so when he got home 'round midnight, he got to see his present.I was a terrible wife and would NOT let him open it. He just had to stare at it! muhahahahaha!  The pics with lil miss were shot the next morning, but this is (essentially) what he saw:

For all the NJ fans on my little space, here are some more shots of her enjoying the feel of the slick paper and the crazy colors.

So, after Dave opened his gift on Saturday morning, we ran off to have breakfast with his dad. It's always a great time with him, so that was wonderful. Then on Sunday, we celebrated fatherhood and children with our Chirst Church Brenham community (blog coming later about that) then with lunch with sweet friends and a grand dinner at home just the two of us. It was a great weekend of celebrating this new season in life.

And just so I don't forget what my fridge looks like with her very first picture on it:



The Great Door Project is Complete!

So, some of you probably read about our little door project. Well, it turned out to be a bit more than we bargained for, but we learned a lot in the process!

Things we learned:
1. Use a metal scraper. After 4 layers of paint, the plastic one will get duller than a #2 during the SATs.

2. Buy the BIG can of stripper. Otherwise, you will spend just as much on the 4 small cans and the gas it takes to get there.

3. Give yourself plenty of time, but work with a deadline in mind. I think Dave and I both would have given up if not for the deadline of visiting relatives and a 3 month old without a door. Thankfully, they were gracious as Dave spent their first few hours here putting the door up.

4. Think lead. When stripping a door from 1929, assume it is simply oozing with lead. In fact, maybe paint it gray first for visual effect. Poor Norah had to cry her face off a few times so we could wash up before retrieving her from her nap.

5. And finally, don't over look that old hardware. With a little stripper and a nice sander, you will have a doorknob that is simply to. die. for.

Check it out!

Spring has Sprung!

Cheesy title. Indeed it is. But, it's truth here in Brenham, Texas. Spring has arrived.

Locals round these parts know the winter frosts are over when the native pecan trees begin their buddin'. One of our two pecan trees alerted us a couple weeks ago that it was time for new life:

Now she is starting to show off for the other trees in the neighborhood.

Since the pecan tree let us know it was time, we obeyed and got to planting. The goal for our garden this year was simple. Make it smaller than last year. And fill it with things we are excited about eating. Last, year I made the mistake of thinking okra was a good idea. After it started coming in, I remembered I really only like it battered and fried. And we had 8 of them. I don't think I ate a single okra from that garden. SO, to remedy that this year we have: watermelon, cantaloupe, two kinds of tomatoes, squash, red pepper, cucumber and strawberries. I am also hoping to make some of Norah's baby food from these fruits and veggies, so we'll see how that goes! 

The strawberries are in two containers on my front porch. My awesome man thought they would serve to add color and foliage to our naked porch for the summer. So. Smart.

 

The red pepper plant is growing nicely. Though, I already see some evidence of critters. hhhmmm....

Yeah, no idea which one this is...Maybe the watermelon

I just have to document this tree in our back yard. It is gigantic. I would love to know how old it is. It's branches cover the back side of our home, which is a GREAT advantage during the summer heat. It helps keep us cool and provides great shade on our back porch. 

However. I have a love-hate relationship with this tree. I love the benefits it provides us, but despise...let me say again...DESPISE...it's little seedling children. Now, I love kids. I love other people's kids. Shoot, I have a kid! But this tree's kids just never stop coming. They fall, I sweep. I sleep. They fall, I sweep. I sleep. They fall. And the cycle continues for weeks on end in the spring. 

I spent hours in our orange-green yard last Saturday raking these suckers up, only to see the picture below a few days later. Alas. God bless the seedlings...

Saving the best for last. This is our old clothesline. No telling how many years it's been here, but it was looking kind of lonely and naked out there. A short trip to Lowes, and following my nose to the plant who's smell was filling the place, and we are now the owners of this fast growing extremely fragrant, Pink Jasmine. I love it thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much.

I would love to say that I have beautiful pictures of our baby girl lounging in the Blue Bonnets this part of Texas is so nationally known for. Unfortunately,  thanks to what the media is calling an "Expansive Drought" - the Blue Bonnets are few and far between this year. For now, this picture is an example of what we normally see out here in Blue Bonnet Country.

Valentines Day...with baby

We celebrated our first Valentines Day as parents last night.

It was a beautiful day. We spent the morning with our Christ Church Community (love. those. people.). We had lunch with some wonderful friends, then retired to our outdoor swing to enjoy the beautiful weather.

This is what is left of our Valentine's Dinner...

We decided to have steaks, baked potatoes, chocolate covered strawberries and some red wine for dinner. The ninja slept soundly throughout the entire afternoon, trip to the grocery, and even the cooking and dinner preparation.

I lit candles to set the romantic valentine's mood we have grown accustomed to over our last 7 years together and set the table...just as Dave swished through the door with perfectly pink meat. And just as we finished garnishing our potatoes with baco's and butter...we were reminded that we were no longer alone.

It all started with a sweet and simple: "Oh she just needs to eat..." One may think this detracted from our romanticism, but oh no...we Forman's are opportunists. So, while I bottle-fed our little one, Dave fed me!

Unfortunately, we new parents are still learning our wee one's cries. This resulted in us overfeeding our sweet girl. This, in turn, resulted in a 2 hour scream fest until she finally had one giant spit up - covering the right leg of my jeans, part of our couch and one of our couch cushions. Somehow, she managed to miss herself entirely. Now that's talent.

They say not to cry over spilled milk. What about crying over spilled breastmilk? Can I cry over that?! Thankfully, we were both able to take deep breaths. Dave sopped up the spilled "gold" and I lulled our little one to sleep. It only took another half hour, 3 "cross your fingers I think she's finally settled...", and her first "taking" of the pacifier..but she finally closed her sweet eyes and big mouth (got that from mama), and drifted off.

I will now sing the praises of the following:
1. A helpful husband
2. Pacifiers
3. Red Wine

I could be super spiritual and mention how much we prayed for peace and wisdom through this ordeal, but that would be way to serious for this posting. Perhaps tomorrow?

So...how was your Valentine's Day?

He Plants.

I am so inspired by my sister-in-law, Lara. She has the ability to see God in the everyday. Check out her latest blog about this very subject here: He Asked I have been so inspired that this morning in my overly drowsy state while waking, I asked the Lord for this gift. Lord, let me see you in the everyday, in the mundane parts of my day, I want to see you. 


Imagine my surprise when He answered! ;o) He's so good at that isn't He?!


Dave and I have been preparing our little 25x20 foot garden. The soil is fantastic. It's dark with tons of earthworms. The tree in the middle of our porch provides just the right amount of shade over the yard so that the Texas sun won't scorch the plants. It seems that the landscape of our yard is just right so that the water runoff flows through the garden. Once we add a little soaker hose, it will hopefully be fantastic! 


Let me backtrack to this fantastic tree I mentioned. I have a love-hate relationship with this grand creation. While the shade it provides is amazing, it is in the process of "popping out" for spring. Bright green leaves are filling out and it is dropping  thousands upon thousands of its seedlings. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but the seedlings are long, brown and snaky looking. ....And they have COVERED my precious garden soil. 


So, today, Dave and I are in the garden raking these blessed tree children out of the garden. (We are prepping to plant tomorrow since rain is coming later this week). As I'm raking, I was finding myself rather impressed with the dark soil I was uncovering. It was beautiful. And then it hit me. 


God knows the soil that we have beneath the messy things the world drops on us. He sees the potential that lies beneath. Like the gardener, He gently works the soil, pulling the mess off the top and sometimes digging a little deeper to pull out the weeds. And then sometimes He surgically removes that which would strangle the very life He is about to plant. (I have images of Dave and the 1/4" in diameter tree root he found today. That poor root got its guts chopped to bits -sweat and dirt and root bits flying everywhere, poor guy.) And when the soil is right, when it has been prepped and made ready to receive, He plants. 


Thanks Lord for showing me You in the everyday. May my eyes continue to be open.