Chase Understands

I am realizing more and more everyday that Chase understands a lot of what we say. On Sunday I asked him to go and throw something in the trash...and HE DID IT! I was like, wow. I had not shown him how to do that. He certainly knows what is the refridgerator, the laundry, the bath, upstairs, downstairs, lovie, and several others. He is trying to say some words. He is saying "HI" and "BI" with the most wonderful southern accent. He definitely knows the word "NO" and has no concern what-so-ever. The downside is he also knows what "time for night, night" means and now he runs and hides.

Angel Kisses

Lately, Ryan insists on giving me angel kisses. I have no idea who has taught him about angel kisses and I have been inclined to keep it a mystery. To most people they would seem like ordinary kisses on the check. However, given my great expectations of God, I know where they really come from. Who says that we can't see God and feel God. His angels have been giving me kisses. And I have actually been asking for some. I have been thinking about it a lot this week and I stumbled across this verse. "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers (or loved ones), for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:1-2. Every time I get one of these angel kisses I think about this now. I really do believe that kids experience God in a totally different way than adults do. Their lack of inhibitions and lack of need for reasoning gives them a greater ability for faith and hope. We make conscious efforts to look for God, but I think they see God without even thinking about it. I think we can learn a lot from them as we begin teaching them about faith.

I hope you have an opportunity to receive an angel kiss, and I hope that when you do, you recognize it as that.

Ryan goodnight prayer

Last night Ryan's prayer cracked me up..."God, I want to be a man one day like Daddy with hair on my chest, in Jesus name, Amen." ha!

Reflecting on Today

I love my Fridays with the boys. Today especially was nice in Atlanta. It was overcast all day and it was a bit cooler than usual. It was so nice to have a brief brake in the weather. This afternoon I decided to nap as the kids were napping. With Chase sacked out in his crib, Ryan and I each choose a couch and got to snoozing. I felt sure I would wake up in a few minutes to commence the laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. Nope, Ryan and I both woke up after 2 HOURS. Are you kidding me? I don't remember the last time I have had a 2 HOUR nap. It felt so nice. Tonight we watched a few minutes of "Stripes", a movie about a zebra. Chase was squilling at the zebra which is his favorite animal. And Ryan fell out in the floor when the pelican poo-pooed on the rooster and the rooster went running across the barnyard into the hen house. I don't think I have ever heard him laugh so hard. I am sure to hear about this for several days. What is it with boys and bathroom humor? What a fun day!

Recap of July 4th Vacation

Okay, I know this is pretty late in coming but just wanted to share a few pictures of our vacation to KnoxVegas. We had an absolutely wonderful time with family. We packed a lot of fun in. Here are a few highlights....Dollywood with the family and cousins, Will and Sara. Powell July 4th parade. Playing with Gigi. Catching lightning bugs. Cooking out the papaw Allen at the lake. Enjoying a night at the Buckhorn Inn in the mountains while the grandparents babysit. And celebrating Kristi's 35th.

for some reason it is not letting me add pics. i will try again tomorrow.

Old Fashioned Peach Dumplings

Okay, my grandmother makes the BEST apple dumplings. Resolved to figure this out, I looked up a few recipes and decided to give it a whirl. She, ofcourse, has no recipe. I decided to try some peach dumplings. I love, love, love peach. Anyway, I started this process on Monday and finally got them made tonight for dinner. It is an understatement to say that they were FANTASTIC. Here is the recipe and I had to take a pic because they turned out pretty too. The recipe is a combo of my mother-in-law's pastry recipe and an internet assembly & sauce recipe.

Yvonne Martin Pastry Recipe

1 cup flour

1/3 cup crisco shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

For Pie Crust: 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup shortening, 3/4 teaspoon salt

Cut up w/pastry blender into peasize. Make a well in center of mixture. Add tablespoons of ice water, mix gently from the center, shape into ball. (approx. 8 Tblsp water) Chill. Roll out on foured surface.

Old Fashioned Apple Dumplings

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie
6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored

or any type of fruit that sounds good! peaches...yummy
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups water
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch pan.
On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a large rectangle, about 24 by 16 inches. Cut into 6 square pieces. Place an apple on each pastry square with the cored opening facing upward. Cut butter into 8 pieces. Place 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; reserve remaining butter for sauce. Divide brown sugar between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples.
With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of pastry square up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners, and seal. Slightly pinch the dough at the sides to completely seal in the apple. Repeat with the remaining apples. Place in prepared baking dish.

In a saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla extract and reserved butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings.
Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Place each apple dumpling in a dessert bowl, and spoon some sauce over the top.

Swim Class

Thanks to Jane Anne and her wonderful ideas, I enrolled Ryan in Swimming Lessons. He is not real, shall we say, comfortable in the water. But I thought it would be a good learning experience. The first 3 lessons his little voice resonated across the huge swim class building, "I want my Momma". His teacher assessed that he is indeed not afraid of the water AT ALL, he just doesn't want to leave me. Not sure how that is suppose to make me feel, but anyway. On the 4th lesson, in desperation, I did something I would never do... I bribed him with a treat. It went something like this, "if you are very brave and don't scream and cry, you can have a treat." Worked like a champ! I hope to not make this a habit but it just absolutely amazed me to see what motivates him. He was so brave and had a great time in class and was so proud of himself. I too was very proud. So much in fact that as I was watching him from the bleachers, I saw him go under water for the first time, I felt myself lift off the bleachers to my feet, I was clapping and crying like a crazed Mom. I came to my senses to look around and see all of the other parents amused by my display of proudness. I don't know a single one of them and I didn't care to much. For we are making great strides. Thank you Lord, I love being a parent.

The moral of this story...never underestimate the power of a treat. Just make sure to use it only when it is absolutely necessary.

Did I mention....

I love, love, love this new schedule!!!

Auntie Kristi

It's a girl!! I just found out that I am going to be a aunt again and it is a GIRL!!! I am so blessed to have 3 neices and 1 nephew through Darryl's family and one nephew on my side. And now, my sis is pregnant again with a girl. AND, the best part. She will be born in the US!!! Yea! Lord willing, I will get to be there. I think the due date is or was Christmas Eve. What a gift? I cannot wait to meet her. My boys are so lucky to have so many cousins. And I am lucky that I will have someone to go shopping with. I hope she is blond and blue-eyed like Terese!!

Catch Up!

I've got a lot of explaining to do. It has been a while. First of all, I have lost the distinquished title of Word Girl. Currently, Ryan has no super-hero name for me. I like to call myself back to work girl though. Bummer. Darryl put my booty back to work. I have been off for 2 weeks and it is un understatement to say that I have been having a lot of fun. (Will write about that later.) As for this week....I'm back to work. I am really liking this part-time gig though. 20 Hours a week in the same job I left in June. It is wonderful. I will be at home with the boys tomorrow. Yipee! No more word up. I gotta come up with a new salutation.

As to all my new/old friends on Facebook, howdy and welcome to my blog. Facebook has been tearing me away from my blog. It is both addictive and fun. However, I am ready to get back to blogging. Stay tuned....