Ten of my favorite aspects of not-trying-to-juggle-a-million-things living:

• Casey is now proficient in Penelope-talk, and only very rarely requires a translator.
• We eat together.. and even cook together, sometimes.
• That nagging “there is something else I should be doing” feeling has disappeared.
• (Exhausted)Casey took a nap and didn’t wake up stressed.
• Family day trips, and even a couple of overnight trips, are on the horizon.
• I get to see my guy love on our kids every single morning.
• Date night is never cut short by a looming quiz or paper.
• We have time to talk about fantastical plans for the future.
• We take long walks in the middle of the day.
• We can stop and laugh, excitement in our eyes, when we realize he only has one more year to go.

Chicken Pot Pie!

It isn’t really spring food, but I figured the flower on top would redeem it :).

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup chopped onions
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cooked, shredded chicken breasts
• 10 oz bag frozen veggies
• 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
• 2/3 cup milk (2%)
• 2 prepared pie crusts

Melt butter over low heat, then blend in the flour, onions, salt, and pepper. Stir constantly till smooth and bubbly. Stir in chicken stock and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil (yep, still stirring) for one minute. Add the chicken and veggies. Taste it, season as needed. Set it aside and prep the crust. Line pan with bottom crust, add the filling, top with the other crust. Cut slits (or get creative). Flute edges. Bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes, till crust is brown.

I covered the edges with little strips of foil, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. The pot pie was incredibly tasty. Penelope dubbed it “Chicken Flower.” I like that it had enough shortcuts to make it a quick weeknight meal, but not so many that we felt like we were eating frozen/processed food. This will certainly go in our meal rotation next fall/winter– comfort food for sure!

we had a quiet day together as a family, and then spent the evening with friends (the crousers and the martins),  enjoying a delicious feast.

case and i couldn’t help but marvel at all of the lord’s blessings in our lives.  it was a sweet day of reflection and joy.

we didn’t take many pictures.. but here are a few, just to document the day:

the master plan..

the turkey..

…and the other turkey

one day, penelope and grandma built a fort..

it was loads of fun…

the perfect place to sit and look at stuff…

but i must warn you… no boys allowed!!

this video was taken at approximately 11pm a couple nights ago. i thought she had successfully made the switch when she was sleepy at around 730pm. i put her down. she woke up a few hours later wanting a snack and thinking she had just had a really great nap. i enjoyed her silly mood and started over the next day…

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on another happy note, i am beginning to feel better! i was hesitant to celebrate, as this is MUCH earlier than last time around… but an ultrasound today confirmed that everything is progressing as it should, and still, i’m  hardly sick at all. i’m often tired, but i have quite the appetite. after all, i have some weight loss to make up for.

in case you doubt :pregnant confession warning: casey just made me clam linguini at 11pm. and it was definitely my second dinner of the evening.

okay. back to the ultrasound. baby lemon seems to be VERY laid back. s/he was mellow, cozy, and couldn’t be bothered with such trivialities as stretching out to be measured. baby preferred to tuck a single arm behind his/her head, and curl up comfortably. case & i were both a little nervous at the start of the ultrasound.. because we were accustomed to seeing a firecracker jump and dance around (read: penelope) and didn’t know that it was okay for baby to be sleepy. we have one picture, but no real way to get it on the computer right now. it isn’t very exciting anyway… kind of like… yep… there’s a head, and there’s a body. the 20 week scan should be much more photogenic.

since this pregnancy has been dramatically different than last time (more intense sickness, but for a seemingly shorter time) we’re both thinking boy now. we’ve finally settled on a (sorry, surprise) name for either gender, and since i love them both so much, i feel more prepared for either. . something about having that name to attach makes a baby so much more endearing. the tech was pretty excited that we’re going for a delivery room surprise.

okay. so apparently this is a long post. since i haven’t blogged at all in the month of august, i suppose you all had it coming ;).

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casey started school today. this semester he is taking hebrew (intro), history (baptist), and galations (greek exegesis). the hebrew class is pretty much going to kill him, so i’m glad he’s getting it out of the way before baby comes. apparently the professor is a bit like a drill sergeant, who eases up in later semesters. this morning he spent the whole class period saying “if you are doing _______ while trying to take this class, you might as well just drop  it now.” many students looked afraid for their lives.

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MY MOM IS COMING TOMORROW. i’m super excited. we moved the day before we left for california, and hadn’t unpacked a single thing. you know those shows where people confess to being pack rats? yeah, that’s what my apartment looked like when we got back from california. just what you want to see after spending all day wrangling a toddler on a plane… while pregnant. needlesstosay, reinforcements are kindly welcomed. i can’t wait to see her. i feel a little like we’re somehow cheating… we just got back from california, and i don’t even have to get homesick before i get a visit from mom. sweet.

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i have quite a few pictures to upload from our trip… it was a wonderful, refreshing, restful time. just what we needed. we spent lots of time relaxing, a bit of time exploring la with friends who had never been, and loved being around family. it had been 7 months since we had last gone home.. entirely too long! i’ll work on getting the pictures posted throughout this week.

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i have a list of crafts i want to start that is about a mile long. i think it is time to reinstate some sort of craft night. once we settle into our semester routine, i’ll send out an email and get it started :). i feel like i’ve been isolated for so long! too much time spent on the bathroom floor the past couple of months, i’d say. time to remedy that. and see people. i’m excited :)

okay. this is reaching epic-novel length… and none of it is epic-novel worthy.. so i better just stop. go watch that video again. it’ll redeem my rambling..

my  latest painting project has been our kitchen table and chairs…

sanded:

primed:

finished: