31 Days of Autumn : Day 24 - A note

My parents divorced when I was pretty young, 3 1/2 I think. I did not see my father much for various reason and my parents relationship was strained so I never heard many good things about their marriage. My mother died when I was 17 and my father the next year. While going through their things I found a card. It was written when I was born, just a few short years after my father had a stroke. I'm not sure if anyone will ever truly know what this card has meant to me. I was never able to ask them about the good years, I never heard their "falling in love" story, but this card has given me a glimpse into the love they once shared and the joy that my brothers and I brought them.

On the outside of the envelope it reads:
"For my dearest Mattie Ellen on a very special day,
On this day you life as a mother came one step closer to being complete. You bore a daughter. I wish with all my heart that she will grow up to become very close to you. To share your joys, sorrows, and thoughts as a close and trusting friend and to do things together. I give you this simple red rose a representation of my love and devotion and to say thank you for our children. With all my love Mike" 

The inside of the card reads:
"My dearest Darling,
On this day you bore us our third child. It was a girl. God had on this day fulfilled our hopes and dreams and rounded our family out with two boys and a girl. We both cried as we did with our sons. It was a very special day also in many other ways too! The need to be expressed by me. Our decision and your acceptance to bear us a third child was one of remarkable courage, strength, and unselfish giving on your part. For only you knew the pain, hurt, and scares that would be endured. Fully knowing this you gave yourself joyfully. For this act of unselfishness and many others over the years I will always love and cherish your very presence and existence.
With all my love and undying devotion---I will always remain only yours, Mike"

I will forever be grateful that this card was spared through the many moves. It gives me a glimpse of the love that they shared once and how much they love my brothers and I.

Side note update: My husband called me from work to tell me I need to proof read this post better. Gotta love him! He finds mistakes in Haily's letters that come home from school-makes big red circles around them-HA! Truth is about 1/4 of the words on the card were misspelled due to my fathers stroke and it was hard typing the correct spellings and not the way I was reading it. I think I have them all fixed now :)

31 Days of Autumn : Day 23 - Kairos

From Wikipedia Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature.^[1] Kairos (καιρός) also means weather in both ancient and modern Greek. The plural, καιροι (kairoi or keri) means the times.

Today I started the day with some Kairos 

31 Days of Autumn : Day 22-Toss out the list

I had a list of things to do today. Last night I sat down and wrote it out. It was mostly calls that needed to be made but it included a few things around here. Today I had to forget it though! I've been having contractions for a while now but nothing to worry about. I was in bed last night and while trying to get comfortable, I noticed that they were coming pretty close and were a bit stronger than usual. I started timing them about 12:30am and sure enough they were 4-5 minutes apart. I really didn't think much about it but at 1:45am I thought I'd better get up to see if moving around, eating/drinking would change them. They seemed to intensify a bit while up but they didn't stop. Phone in hand I sat downstairs wondering whether to call the hospital to page my midwife or not. I didn't think I was in true labor but not being 36 weeks yet, I would have to go to a larger hospital in the city if things did progress. About 3am I had talked myself into calling then I noticed that they were spacing out some. I decided to try to sleep and if it was truly the real thing I would not sleep through it.

I called my midwife this morning just to let them know what was going on. They wanted to see just to check things out and ended up sending me to the hospital for a NST. Everything looks good now and they are hoping I stay pregnant through Friday when I will be past 36 weeks (but really hoping for longer). I was 10 days overdue with both of my other babies but you never know. Right now I am just focusing on staying off my feet even though it doesn't seem to matter and enjoying these last few weeks pregnant :)

My list will wait for another day and I got a good lesson in "you can't always plan".

31 Days of Autumn : Day 20

I totally blew the post every day for 31 days idea. I was doing good for a while, I really was :) This wasn't a planned thing nor did I have a specific topic that I had numerous posts in draft mode about. It was more of a "see if I could do it".

Having a teenager, 1 1/2 yr old and being 9 months pregnant has got me down for the count. I am not sleeping at night therefore I'm super tired throughout the day. Sometimes I am able to take a nap but most days it is just resting with my feet up. Getting daily tasks done are more of a chore.

Yesterday was my weekly appointment. I gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks - YIKES! My weight was doing good up until the last 2 months. I haven't been able to walk/exercise due to my pubic pain and it is fall. That means a lot of baking goodness going around. I'm still within the recommended range but I have 5ish weeks left. Things could get ugly :) I'll think about it as my body storing up for the nursing marathons that are about to take place! That is a good enough excuse for me. My midwife told me to take it easy the next couple of weeks. I've been having contractions/cramping and she says it's too early to have a baby. 

I noticed that some of my body parts are starting to look like marshmallows. My hands and face are swollen - good news is that my feet are still normal size :) With my last 2 pregnancies they were the first things to retain water. I remember them looking like this all too well and I still had almost 3 months to go at that point. I was able to paint my own toes though. See, I did a pretty good job ♥








When the rest of my house awakes (and I get out of my pajamas) I'll add a 35/36 week photo. I hear an alarm now....better go get them moving!

31 Days of Autumn : Day 11 - Dine Locally

•Pork Loin Chops•

•Buttercup Squash•

•Green Beans •

My brother brought me some goodies from Virginia straight out of a friends garden. I had pork loin chops in our freezer from the pig we just picked up at the butcher.

Dinner was local for both of us and DELISH!!!

31 Days of Autumn : Day 10 - Family

I totally missed day 9. I am really not sure were yesterday went??? For today, I had planned on going outside to take some pictures of the beautiful fall leaves but ended up doing a lot of running around today. The morning started off running late, then I had to pick my sick girl up from school, dropped her off at home then headed to work for to get some important things done. When I got home I laid down with Gunnar to get him to sleep and ended up sleeping with him for an hour. Upon waking the bus came with the boy I "keep and eye on" after school. I was doing the dishes pondering what I was going to make order for dinner when I heard a knock. I thought I had locked the door mistakenly but when I checked my brother was standing at the door. My brother Eric all the way from Virginia came up with a friend who's dad lives 30 minutes away. SO COOL! I being my pregnant emotional self cried and then sent him upstairs to wake Hails up. Can not say how surprised I am and that is one hard thing to do. Only a handful of true surprises in my entire lifetime :) Hails, Gunnar, and my husband are pretty excited too. I guess I'm still a little girl at heart ♥ and get all giddy to see family!

Enjoying some reading with Uncle Eric

31 Days of Fall : Day 8 - BLESSED

A few weeks ago I turned 30. To celebrate , I hosted my first giveaway. The winner requested the word BLESSED on her banner. Loved making it for her and I couldn't help but know how blessed I am as well. I serve a risen savor who loves me more than I could ever understand, I have a wonderful husband, 2 beautiful children with another on the way, a couple of big brothers who serve our country and take care of their "squirt", in-laws who treat me as their own, a warm home, food on my table. The list could go on a really long time! I'm gonna try to remember how blessed I am every day. It doesn't mean each day will be grand or each relationship I have will be perfect but still I am blessed :)

How are you feeling blessed today?

31 Days of Autumn :: Day 5.6.7

Where to begin...

Day 5 started at 4am for me. After trying to fall back asleep and being unsuccessful, I gave up. I had laundry started, a cup of coffee and devotions done by 5am! The rest of the day was a complete blur ending with the Ladies Tea at our church.

Day 6 marked 5 years of being married to my lovely husband. We spent the day cleaning, organizing, cooking, and ending with dessert. It was busy, productive, and just wonderful to spend it with him.

On to Day 7...As I type this I am listening to a SCREAMING toddler. He is mad because he can't have his way and in the words of his daddy "There are people who get poked with a hot iron that don't scream like that"-That's how bad it is :( Not giving in though. Yesterday we organized the attic and brought all the fall stuff down to be cleaned and purged. That's what I did today after church-I went from 3 bins and numerous bags down to 1 bin. LOVE letting go of stuff that I don't use or need. I broke down and put some fall stuff up because it's my favorite season but didn't go overboard knowing I'll be 37 weeks along when I am putting it away and getting out the table Christmas tree. I decided that since the house is small and we will all the baby stuff out that it just makes sense to only put up a small tree.

I am looking forward to a new week-continuing to get everything on my list done before I can't do anymore. I want the the month of December to be focused on family and enjoying our new little babe and not Christmas shopping, running around, etc.

I need to finish up my night routine and get to bed (on the chance that morning comes at 4 again).

~Jac

31 Days of Autumn::Day 4 - Quilt update

As mentioned before, I have had my little guys quilt fabric since before he was born. Four quilts finished later and I have his quilt top done :) It actually went pretty fast once I started it. Tuesday I cut out all the pieces, Wednesday morning I laid it out and sewed every chance I got throughout the day finishing it about 10ish on Wednesday night. Maybe I have a problem, once I start a sewing project, it consumes me until it's finished (or at least until I get to the binding). Maybe it's just my mother coming out in me :) I like that excuse! I wish she were around to see how much I enjoy sewing & cooking now - 2 of her loves! I'm just glad she didn't see the red marker all over her machine, LOL

So happy with how it turned out. It makes it even more special that his Daddy picked out the fabric!

31 Days of Autumn::Day 3 - Pumpkin Oatmeal...err...Bread

Every Wednesday morning we have to be ready to go at 8am. I have been putting oatmeal in a small crockpot that I picked up for $10 at Target. Usually we have some butter (earth-balance soy free for Gunnar), cinnamon, and maple syrup on it. Since it's fall and pumpkin everything sounds good, I thought I'd try pumpkin oatmeal. I put some pumpkin spice and pureed pumpkin along with the butter and maple syrup. I only ate about 1/2 my bowl and my little guy wouldn't eat any of his :( FAIL! You never know until you try it.

I don't like to waste anything so I saved what wasn't eaten and will add to some oatmeal bread. I will be a nice subtle flavor instead of an overpowering pumpkin flavor. Maybe I'll get to it tonight or maybe tomorrow. I'll let you know how it turns out.

To see the rest of the series visit 

31 Days of Autumn::Day 2 Little Helpers

This past Saturday we were trying to get a few things done before heading out to pick up our butchered chickens-YUM! I was in the kitchen mixing something up and since my husband was planning on mowing, he took our little guy out with him. I kept checking out the window to make sure Gunnar was not getting into too much trouble and couldn't help stopping to watch as my men mowed along side each other. I grabbed the camera and was able to capture this moment as a reminder of his eagerness to help. Too often parents shoo their children away when they want to help. Maybe it's because they "get in the way" or "don't have enough patience" but we really should be taking the time to "teach" them!

I had already decided what today's post would be about and when opening up my devotion for this morning was in awe of God's plans. The scripture was Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

So while your children are learning and helping beside you, make sure to teach them about their maker too :) These are the perfect moments that will make lasting memories. Even if they hate it now as does our teenager most of the time, they will cherish these times as an adult. 

 

31 Days of Autumn::Day 1-Butternut Squash

It's 10 pm...I almost missed the first day! I can see this is going to be challenging but I signed up for the challenge, remind me of the will ya. I have been working on a post, actually two since 9:30 this morning. 

Then life happened...

My littlest was supposed to be sleeping and when I went to check on him, I found this

 

He can destroy a room in such a short amount of time.

Here is a "close up" of his toy corner. Craziness!!!

The chair is supposed to be in the kitchen but he carried it into the living room so he could get to his special things.

Alright...onto the real post

Butternut Squash

I used to cut squash in half, scoop the seeds out, then bake. Most of the time it is really hard to cut through the tough skin and it was always a game of keeping it still so it wouldn't roll all over the place. One day the light bulb went off. Why couldn't I bake it before cutting it open - I almost always mash it any way.

First cut a little slit off the widest part of the squash.

Make sure to poke some holes/slits into each side.

Bake at 350 or 300 until soft. I usually stick it in the oven when baking other things to save time & energy.

After it cools, cut it open length wise and scoop out the seeds.

Then scoop out the squash. Sometimes I have been able to cut the squash for bite size pieces
but I baked this one a bit long for that.

I used this in a squash soup recipe that I will be posting soon. This is also how I cooked it when I was making Gunnar's baby food and for dinner side dishes. It really can't get much easier.

What is your favorite way to prepare squash or your favorite squash recipe?