Baking Season Begins!

I love the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays!  I love what they represent--a God who loves us so much he sent his son to earth as a baby.  I love the time with family and friends.  And I love cooking and baking!  We had another Saturday at home yesterday, and spent the day putting up decorations in the house, and working in the kitchen.  I did some baking for a couple upcoming potlucks, and made a nice supper for us!  

First, I tried a recipe I had seen for pumpkin marble brownies.  I was uncertain if I would like there--I enjoy pumpkin-chocolate combinations, but am not a huge pumpkin pie fan because of the texture.  However, I do love brownies.  I thought it would be a good thing to make for a potluck--I get to try them, but hopefully there will be enough other people eating them that if I don't like them, I won't have to eat or throw away a whole pan! 

The pumpkin topping--pumpkin, cream cheese, and spices

The brownies are from scratch (not from a box!), and then you marble the pumpkin on top and bake.

 I followed the cooking time instructions, and even used the "just barely set in the middle" rule for brownies.  Then I let them cool in the pan, then pulled them out to cut.  It was at that point that I discovered that the middle was very, very gooey.  The outside edges were just perfect, so I put those into a container to take to Sunday's potluck.  I decided to put the gooey ones on a plate and see if I could finish them in the microwave--I figured I would be throwing them out if they were this gooey anyway, so I might as well tried.  It actually worked really well, and gave me a chance to taste them before serving them.

a plate of gooey microwaved brownies.  They still tasted good, but it was not pretty!

 Next I made a batch of granola for another potluck coming up later this week.  I am also going to make yogurt for that event, but was not able to do that this weekend.  I ended up burning the granola that was on the edges of the pan...I seem to do that every time I make granola, even though I cooked it LESS than the time called for.  So I saved the unburned portions, and threw away the rest.

Next I started on food for supper.  I made an herbed bread in the crockpot.  It rose just fine, it tasted delicious...but of course when it was done it stuck to the bottom of the crock pot, so half the bottom crust was missing.

Finally, I made cherry chicken spirals for supper. I have never made a stuffed chicken breast before, so it was a new and exciting experience for me.  When I went to roll them, the first one worked perfectly...but I had not pounded the other three near enough, and they did not roll as well; I held them together with toothpicks! 

Chicken breast rolled around bacon, dried cherries, and honey mustard

Next you brush a little more honey mustard on the outside of the chicken, roll in panko, and bake.

 These were really good!  They baked up really well, stayed together, were nice a moist, and the cherries added a nice sweet/sour taste!

Laurel resisted napping Saturday afternoon, and finally fell asleep about 2 hours later than usual.  As a result, she was not really ready to go to bed last night...but then, does she ever want to go to bed?  I finally got her to sleep around 11pm, after sitting on the foot of her bed for over an hour telling her to lay down and go to sleep every time she sat up.  *Sigh*  But, we did have some good bonding time on the couch before she fell asleep.

Laurel was pointing at the letters on my shirt and repeating their names after me.  She may be the youngest person to be able to spell "Chicago" some day soon.

Yay!

PS--I did not leave the house Saturday.  Thus, I did not do my hair, did not put on make-up, and wore sweatpants all day.  Please forgive me when you see these pictures.  :)  You can see my nice baby belly.  

Cleaning the gutters and playing in the yard

Last Saturday we had what might possibly have been the last day of fall weather!  It was about 65 degrees in the afternoon, so we took the opportunity to clean all of the leaves out of the gutter.  Well, Scott did most of the cleaning--he does not like heights, but at 6 months pregnant, I should not be on a 20 foot ladder cleaning out leaves!  So Scott did the gutter!

What did Laurel do while Scott cleaned and I helped move the ladder and took pictures?

Play with leaves!

Run up and down the stairs!

Run around the yard!

Run straight at Mom every time she tries to take a picture!

Sit by the tree!

Be cute!

 Laurel really likes to be outside. 

Don't kiss me, Dad!

I'm glad we took this opportunity to do some outside work and let Laurel run around in the yard.  Sunday afternoon it started to get cold...and Monday it snowed!

Monday was Veteran's Day, and Scott had the day off.  We made our 5th annual breakfast trip to HyVee for the free breakfast for Veterans with our friend Jake.  Then we made our 2nd annual trip to Applebees for free supper for veterans.  We also hung up a few more pictures in the house, installed an additional shelf in our closet, and cleared enough out of the garage that we now have 2 cars parked there!  It was a good, long weekend!

Mommy Play Date! (and the kids too...)

Scott was out of town for almost a whole work week at the beginning of November.  He had initially planned to be gone Monday-Friday, but ended up coming home Thursday night, which was great!  I think the hardest part when Scott is gone is the evenings...Laurel is a night owl (like her parents!), and even when I get her ready and sit her down with me at 8 or 8:30pm, she rarely falls asleep before 9:30 or 10pm.  Don't ask what happens when I just stick her in her bed--hours of crying throughout the night just isn't worth it!  So when Scott is gone, I am home alone with Laurel all day, and then all evening as well...when I don't get any alone time, it is hard to feel refreshed!  And since I usually fall asleep earlier while pregnant, that was the whole day!  I did get a little break on Tuesday when I spent the afternoon in Pella at my parent's house.

On Friday my friend Sara and her son Eli came over for lunch and some play time.  Sara and I were roommates before each getting married, and she is a great friend!  Eli is a little shy, but Laurel did her best to make sure he always had a toy in his hand!

Here, have this toy!

Eli and Sara

Wedding, Family, and Playing with the Ball

One of Scott's cousins got married in Key West a couple weeks ago, and had a reception in Council Bluffs this past weekend.  We decided to make a weekend of it, and drove out to Scott's Mom's house Friday evening.  I had a plan--we would skip Laurel's nap that day, and then she would sleep the whole way there in the car.  I understood that she might get really crabby before we left with no nap, and she might then not ever want to go to bed when we got there.  However, my plan worked perfectly!  She did not get crabby that afternoon, she slept the whole way there, and she went to sleep easily (mostly because she was sleeping in the bed with Mommy and Daddy).  

Saturday morning we went to check out Melanie's new apartment.  Then Scott's brother and family arrived to hang out with us for the day before the reception.  Laurel really likes playing with her cousins!  

Cousin H and Laurel building a tower.

This picture makes her look like she has huge feet!

Laurel is showing Grandma how to cook...

 Saturday night we drove to Council Bluffs for the reception.  It was nice to see all the relatives again (we've seen then a lot this fall between weddings and funerals!).

Laurel loves her sister Melanie!

Family Picture.  Laurel did not want to smile.

Jamie and Jason, the lovely bride and groom

Laurel got antsy after a while, so we went out to the lounge area and let her play on the couch.  She enjoyed putting a pillow on the coffee table and pretending she was sleeping.

 On Sunday I had to be in Des Moines for a club director meeting for work.  Since it was on the way home, Scott and Laurel got to hang out there for a few hours!  Our office is in a facility with a gym, and the meeting was in another area of the facility.  Laurel got to play with all the animals and balls in the office, and also got to spend some time throwing balls in the gym with Scott.  This is one of her favorite things to do!

Volleyball!

Two balls!

Pass that basketball!

Staining the Deck Part 2

On Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church, my sister Carrie called.  They wanted to come see our new house, and asked if they could come that afternoon.  I told her we needed to stain the deck that weekend, but they could come, have lunch for us, and hang out in our house while we tag-teamed the deck.  They thought that sounded good (especially since they would be able to watch the Bears game at our house!).  So after church we went home, had chicken dinner from Hy-Vee with the Klinges, and started in on the deck.  We were extra thankful they came, because they watched Laurel and her cousins played together in the living room with Carrie and Tim, while both Scott and I were out on the deck staining!

The kids had pretty much every toy and book out!

Oren

Kendall watching the Bears

Here is a shot of the railing.  You can see where we have already applied the stain (on the right) and where we have done nothing (on the left).

Done with the railings!  That took forever and was a tedious job.

If you look really closely, you can see rain drops on the floor of the deck.  The forecast did not call for rain, but for most of the afternoon there were moments when it would start spitting!  We would then pray that the rain stopped, and it always did.  Right before we started rolling the stain onto the floor of the deck, it rained a little harder for a few moments, but then stopped, and we were able to finish!

I'm glad we did the deck when we did.  This week the forecast is 40 degrees, rain, and even possible snow!  It was 80 degrees only 2 weeks ago...I guess we're mostly skipping autumn this year, which stinks because it's my favorite season.

This morning when I looked outside, I could see the water beading up nicely on top of the new stain.

Staining the Deck Part 1

This past weekend we decided it was our last chance to stain and weatherize the deck.  We had debated whether we should try to do it before this winter, and based on the weathered look of the wood, decided it had not been done in a while, and we'd better get it done.  On Friday we gathered up all the supplies we would need, then got up Saturday morning to clean and powerwash.  It was only about 45 degrees when we first started, but warmed up to about 60 by the afternoon. 

Laurel loves being outside, and wanted to help sweep the leaves off the deck.

Here is a before shot of the deck.  

First Scott used a garden sprayer to spray on a deck cleaner.

Then he used the power washer to wash off the cleaner and get the deck ready to stain!

Here is a "just washed" section next to a section that has not been treated or washed yet.  The washing made the wood a little brighter, but we could definitely tell that it needed to be stained!

 While Scott power washed, I put Laurel down for her nap, and then did some work for my job.  As I did that, I realized that Scott had decided to power wash the entire house!  I guess since we had the machine, he wanted to put it to good use.

The deck had to dry for 24 hours, so we finished off the evening doing a few other new house projects, like:

Hang a second towel hook in the master bathroom

Put up a few door stops

Install a shelf above the washer/dryer in the laundry room

Put the legs back on this lovely creation.  This at one time was a lectern at Central College.  I bought it and installed the legs, and used it as a coffee table.  While in storage, the legs bent, so I had to fix those.  Now it is in Laurel's room as a drawing/reading station.

JFC Ladies Outing to Rozie's Roost

Two weekends ago the ladies group at my church (Jubilee Family Church--JFC) had a lunch outing to a place called Rozie's Roost.  This is an old barn out in the country that the owner has cleaned up and decorated, and uses to host her family events, as well as small groups, Bible studies, etc.  The owner prepares a meal for you, and you give a free-will donation in return (she donates everything she receives over the cost of food to charity).  The barn was quaint, tastefully decorated, retro, mis-matched, and right up my alley!  After our delicious lunch, we did some "get to know each other better" games, then headed home.  What a fun afternoon!

eating lunch--soup, cheesy potatoes, all kinds of salads, hot cider

I was not planning to take Laurel along and was looking forward to a Mommy afternoon out...but at the last second Scott was asked to help a friend do some emergency tearing down of his house, so I brought her.  I am blessed to have a daughter that is very curious, but overall well-behaved.  She ran around the barn and really enjoyed the cat (stuffed doll cat...not a real one), but she did not destroy or break anything, and did not scream and cry!

Getting dessert

This was Laurel's favorite part of the barn: a classic car with a balloon pig and cow looking out the windows.  She stood there pointing it out to everyone most of the time we were there!

The drink station