pizza bagels

I'm working too much to have much interesting to blog about. But tonight I actually made time to make dinner. So while I was at it, I snapped a few shots to share with you. (And I say why the heck not snap photos of what you eat!? It's part of our heritage, right? I mean, I don't think either of my grandmothers were much into pizza bagels back in the 1950s.)
There is no time for dinner. When things are less hectic, we're more into meal planning. For the past two weeks, I've been on a taco salads and pizza bagels kick. I know... poor John. Has to eat the same thing all the time. Whutever.

Really, don't feel bad for him. He LOVES the pizza bagels. I tried them once on a whim and he fell in love. Lucky for me, he likes the stuff that's easy to make and the harder stuff he usually could live without. So I'll tell ya how we make pizza bagels here. They are QUITE delish...

The shopping list:

• 1 package of refrigerator bagels (I usually buy the Lender's whole wheat variety)
• pepperoni
• pizza sauce
• mozzerella (I buy it in a block and shred it myself, it melts better that way)
  
• banana peppers
• fresh mushrooms (you could buy the ones in the jar... but fresh work well)
  
• can of sliced or chopped black olives
• onion (I happened to have some scallions leftover from the previous night's taco salads)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 365 F. Split the bagels into halves, lay on baking stone or pan. (Usually one bagel serves on person.) Shred cheese, set aside. Spread pizza sauce over each bagel half. Line with pepperoni. Add other toppings. Top with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

We like different things on our pizzas... so usually John has banana peppers on his and I have black olives and onions on mine. Great meal for kids... they can top their own!

showered with love

Dear JT,

Your mommy and daddy's closest friends had a shower for you today. I hope you realize how much love surrounds you. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. We are sitting at home now surrounded by all these wonderful gifts for you thinking that we are spoiled, spoiled (and so are you!).

Three hours seemed like it flew by today. I love, LOVE having all our friends in the same place. It is the most wonderful feeling. We are so lucky to know and be loved by SO MANY caring, beautiful, and talented people. It touches our hearts to know that these people will be an influence in your life as you grow up.

And in case you were ever going to ask us why we live where we do... these folks are the number one reason we live here. Your aunts Jenny and Becka threw you such a wonderful party today... your dad and I are still on such a high from the whole afternoon!

Everyone sends you their love... especially your mom and dad!

Hugs & kisses, baby boy...

play this country song backwards...

Today is like playing a country song backwards... my computer is fixed and back in my arms, the ceiling is done and looks lovely, and I lost 1/2 a pound.

Here is a pregnancy update...

How far along: 28 weeks.
Last thing I craved: Raspberry Truffle ice cream from Bruester's
Pounds gained so far: 18.5. Down a pound since 3 weeks ago. Hmm.
Last time the baby moved: 5 minutes ago.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: Swollen ankles.
Progress on the nursery: Still stalled at 5%.
What we're reading: Haven't been so good at reading lately.
What we're listening to: Classic rock.

Next post it's going to be time for some photos, I think.

:-)

being present for just a moment

Ali Edwards mentioned this Washington Post story on her blog today: Pearls Before Breakfast. I read it. It's a very long article. But I've read the whole thing and recommend it to everyone. It actually made me tear up to think that we are so busy and wrapped up in the day to day that we wouldn't notice a masterpiece blaring right in front of our noses. And I wondered as I read it which person I would be. As much as I want to be the person standing along the wall taking in the moment, I think I'd probably be the person barely noticing there is something different going on. And isn't that enough to make you cry? That life, art, and beauty presents itself every day and you just don't have time for it?

Oh and don't get me started on the mom who stands between her son and the musician so he can stay focused on getting where they need to go. That's probably me, too. How sad that we suck the creativity out of our kids' lives. I have made a mental note on it right now for JT's sake. (Yes, even though he's going to be a football player, his mother still thinks it's important to develop his creativity!)

Speaking of JT, he's 28 weeks today. He's doing well. He kicked his dad in the head tonight and we've taken two walks today. (Who knew a fetus could have such a busy day?!)

My computer was supposed to be away for a week getting repaired. Since it's been "in transit" since Saturday, I decided to actually talk to a person about it today. Apparently, it's lost. I am trying not to think what that means. It had better get found and back into my hands soon. I'm not sure if I mentioned or not... but I really miss it!

I'm starting to feel better about the basement, so I can actually mention it again without having a breakdown. John has been working with a contractor since Saturday to get the CeilingMax installed. Don't let their video fool you, it's not exactly like playing with Legos. There are mathematical calculations, measuring, geometry, etc. in a ceiling tile installation. It's just a few hours from being completely finished. I'll post some photos when it's 100% and all the debris is cleaned up. I've postponed the couch delivery twice now. I'm hoping we can finish up the last few items by next week. Keep your fingers crossed.

And don't forget to read Pearls Before Breakfast. Print it out and take it with you, read it in bits... just read it. Does it apply to your life at all? Which person are you... do you rush by hardly noticing? Notice and toss some change his way? Or do you stop and listen to the whole performance?

little clothes are so cute

Yesterday I went to a community "baby items sale" with one of my girlfriends. Hilarious to see women with strollers line up outside before it opens so they can get first dibs on "stuff"! Not wanting to miss anything ourselves, though... we were right there in that line.

I have no clue what we are going to need. There are a few obvious things like crib, stroller, car seat, bottles, etc... that I can think of. But for the most part, when confronted with a gymnasium full of baby stuff, I end up with a few articles of clothing and a well-worn Green Eggs and Ham. Oh, and I did get a mirror to put in the car so I can see JT's face when he's in the rear-facing position. We'll see if being able to stare at my baby while driving is a good or bad idea. :-)

And today, the most exciting thing I've done is wash all the little clothes I got at the sale. It's the first time ever washing baby's clothes... awww. They are so little and so cute. I just stare and them and imagine the little bundle of joy that will fit in them. As you can imagine, laundry is taking a little longer today than usual.

Saturday night John and I were laying on the couch watching tv, or rather passing out on the couch denying how tired we really were. Well, JT pretty much did a total 360 in utero that woke both of us up!

In other updates... The Apple support line says my computer has been repaired and is in transit back to the store. Let's hope they call soon. I'm going through mac withdrawal. And the basement remains behind schedule. So the schedule keeps changing. But there has been much progress this weekend on the ceiling. I find that I am slightly less stressed when there is visible progress.

what a week

Ugh. What a week. Here's the bad:

• Computer died last Saturday. It's away for repair for another couple days. I miss it.
  
• Basement still not done. Making me CRAZY. (You wondered what happened to basement photos, huh?!)
• Weather has been cold. The flowers didn't make it. I'm holding out hope for a few of them, though.
• I ordered maternity pants from Old Navy. They didn't fit, returned for exchange... they were OUT OF STOCK! (But I do have to say... hip, hip hooray to oldnavy.com for $5 shipping and free returns/exchanges on maternity stuff. That is the right answer.)
• The garage door opener broke. Boy that sucks.
  
• Work is crazy.

There is plenty of good though:
Been doing a lot of scrapping. My friend Jenny is keeping me motivated! I highly recommend the free rubber stamping class at Archiver's. I'm not entirely new to stamping... but it was nice to learn a few new tricks like alcohol ink. Mmmm, might need some of that!

The baby boy has been a little womb-raiding ninja lately. He's kicking like crazy. It is so cool to be able to "interact" with him now. He's kicking hard enough that you can see and feel his kicks from the outside... very cool. And no pregnancy issues... very thankful for that.

oooh, my husband just made me a sundae... gotta go. :-)

I'm into group photos

For a long time I disliked group photos. They always seem so posed and the people all look so small. Plus, they reminded me of 4-H camp photos where someone always looks dumb.

Well, now I'm kind of into them. I like to have one now at every occasion. I like to have at least one photo that shows EVERYONE who was there.

This photo of our friends taken at a wedding in January is just such an example... Sure it's not perfect. Some eyes are closed, John is making a face, some are too serious... there is another version of the photo where the people who are off in this photo are on in the other one. And folks are missing... I was taking the photo and Becka was probably filling me up another plate of food. :-)

Anyway, I was just uploading some photos for printing (got scrappin' to do this weekend) and was thinking about this. Happy Friday and Happy Spring to all!

week 25 status

How far along: 25 weeks.
Last thing I craved: Anything chocolate and GRAPES.
Pounds gained so far: haha. ha. ha. My last report was 6 lbs. Today it's 19. No more pans of brownies, I tell ya that!
Last time I felt the baby move: Oh he is kicking all the time.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: Gas. Not the smelly kind, but the kind that fills up your gut and causes PAIN.
Progress on the nursery: 5%. The basement is still the priority. But Mom and I did recover the rocking chair. It's lovely... can't wait to have a room in which to put it. And I think I mentioned that we ordered the crib, too.
What we're reading: I've started reading to JT at night. This week we are reading LullaBible that his Aunt Jen got him.
What we're listening to: JT likes singing to Ollabelle in the car. What can I say? His mom likes to belt it out in between bursts of road rage. :-)

autism speaks

Oh, and one other thing... I donated to Autism Speaks today through Ali Edwards' site. It's pretty amazing what these scrapbookers are doing. She's doing this through Network for Good in conjunction with Kevin Bacon's Six Degrees site and she is currently in the lead with the greatest number of donations. So what the heck... there are a few days left for Ali to make number one and I think the prize is that Kevin Bacon makes a $10,000 donation to the winning charity.

I donated because John and I have a nephew with autism. Caden is growing by leaps and bounds and making such good progress in school (he's 4). But it is still going to be challenging for him and his parents as he grows up. Here is a photo I took of him last year when he was numbering the stairs. He wasn't speaking much at the time, but he had memorized the order of numbers and alphabet letters and was crazy about putting them all in order. It just breaks your heart to know that there is a brilliant mind and loving heart trapped behind that disease. I'm all about finding finding a cure or new therapies and preventing it in future children.

chocolate raspberry truffle

Well, swolen ankles may help me keep up with blogging. By evening I am ready for some feet-propped-up time. And while I am sitting here, I may as well catch up on some email and blogging!

I cleaned three windows and the back sliding door this evening. Now, all the other windows in the house look EVEN DIRTIER. Grrreat. Well that moment of inspired-cleaning backfired. If I focus on just those back windows, though... they do look stunning. And I achieved a sparkling view of my back yard that I raked and weeded into shape yesterday evening. Man, I need a patio back there! (Photo from last year.)

Here is a hot cleaning tip for you: Clean windows with a linen cloth to prevent streaking and small bits of cotton fiber left on the window. My windows are supposed to be wiped with just water. So I use a wet linen towel and a dry one to get them really clean. But even if you are using amonia + hot water or window cleaner, try the linen cloth.

We met B&J for ice cream tonight. I had a scoop of chocolate raspberry truffle in a (warm) waffle cone. YUM YUM YUM. I am going to dream about that for a while. Actually, I'll just add it onto the dreams of Dairy Queen ice cream cake I was already having. Yeah, if you are watching what you eat, I'd recommend avoiding me. I am a bad, bad influence. Come back in August to find out how that's working out for me. :-)

Has anyone read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne? Folks keep talking about it. I'm not usually into self-help books, but I'm intrigued by what I'm hearing about this one. Have you read it? Did you try anything the book suggests? If so, how is that going?

blink and step into the sun

WOW! The weather the past couple days has been phenomenal!!

Yesterday evening I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Tonight I raced home so I could spend time cleaning out at least one of the flower beds. Everything is starting to come out: the lilac, the peonies, the daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, spirea, the redbud tree, and every other unidentified plant in my yard.

By the time John got home I had raked leaves and trash out from under the pine trees and out of the flower beds so he could help me pick up and bag the piles. He complained and called me names the whole time. But when we came back in, he did say it was nice to be outside for a little while. Turd.

I think I haven't mentioned in a while how much I love yoga. I'm still able to do most of the stuff in my Monday Hatha yoga class (with a few modifications). It feels so good to do that class. Sure, JT gets a little scrunched in some of the poses... but I feel like a new person after that class. My back feels better, I have more energy, my mind is clear, my pickup truck runs again, my dog comes back... etc... you get the point. :-)

On Saturday I tried one of my new DVD workouts: Tai Chi for Expecting Mothers. I loved it. Tai Chi is great anyway. But for right now, I'm just thankful that I will have something to keep me moving through month 9 without hurting myself.

I bought JT some books yesterday. Crazy good deals, even if the books are a little bit old for him. One is called The Paper Dragon by Marguerite Davol and Robert Sabuda. I am in love with this story! It has fold-out pages with chinese-style paintings of people and a dragon. The story is beautiful as well. A painter saves his town from the fire-breathing dragon. And the ultimate moral of the book? "Nothing is stronger than love." Awwww!!! It's art, life, culture, all rolled into one book. If you have kids, you should read this to them... they'll love it.

And here is a good way to end a random and wandering post... Check out this article about a wandering mind: When Our Minds are Wired to Wander on MSNBC.com. No really, look at the image of the article on my screen. The article talks about how much our minds wander during the day and how it can be a big problem. But look at the very screen on which the article is written. How do you keep focused in reading a 2-page article that is bombarded with advertisements that interrupt the reading?! Gee, why do our minds wander? Maybe we are trained to lose focus... we watch tv 10-15 minutes at a time, interrupted by commercials. We visit with friends only until their cell phone rings and we are put on hold. Anyway, the article is interesting, but the context is completely ironic.

just like leprechauns!

• Had a great weekend.
• Spent some good quality time with the fam - Mom, Bill, Theresa, Joan, Wayne, Jessica.
• Ate corned beef and cabbage. And pretty much anything else that didn't run away.
• Ordered a crib for JT from Schlabach's. Thanks, Mom!
• Drank some hot chocolate from Seattle's coffee shop.
  
• Loved on my nephew, Bailey.
• Learned to play Settlers of Catan - loved it.
• Can't believe another weekend is over. Off to bed now...

as exciting as watching paint dry

You know it's an exciting life when all I can talk about is drywall and paint. Hey, I've moved on from wood and electricity, right?

The basement remodel continues. We got drywall at the end of last week and since Sunday John has been painting our new walls. Check out the new photos on Flickr.

I spent the weekend with my mom... it was all about hanging out and going for walks. 4 miles each day - yahoo! Saturday morning was unbelievably (and unexpectedly) nice. We went for a walk and then had breakfast on the deck before the rain started. Can you believe it - we not only were able to be outside without freezing, but it was actually comfortable to sit in the sun and eat outside!

The only constructive thing we did was cover the old rocking chair will go in JT's room.
The chair was my Grandma's, then my Mom's. My dad was rocked in the chair, my aunts and uncles, me, my brother. It's not all that pretty... but it's in good shape and with a new turquoise chair pad... it should be rockin'. Alas, the chair is still at Mom's house, so photos will have to wait. Plus, I'm not ready to talk nursery yet... we're working on the basement right now, remember?

remodeling the basement

We are remodeling our basement... I think I mentioned that yesterday. We are half doing it ourselves and half contracting the work. We had a contractor install glass block windows and we had 2 heating vents put in and a main heat duct reworked so it didn't drop as low into the room. We have framed it, wired it, and put up insulation. The drywall guys are coming tomorrow - yahoo - walls!

Check out the photos of progress so far.

Another exciting thing that happened today was the arrival, assembly, and installation of my new laundry shelf. Ok, act like it's not exciting. But my detergents have all been stored on the floor... it takes up a lot of space and is really inconvenient. So I ordered this shelf from Home Depot. It came today and John and I put it together and put it in place. Oh, and by the way, my laundry area isn't nearly as pretty as this photo. I'll take a photo of it when the drywall is done and we can uncover it.

update on a few things

Here is the latest baby update...

How far along: 22 weeks.
Last time I yacked: Still, Christmas day.
Last thing I smelled with my super-smelling abilities:
Last bit of food I snarled my nose at for no reason: This is getting better... but really, chicken is out and seafood is in lately.
Last thing I craved: Chocolate craving is back with a vengeance. Oh, you know those little yellow cake donuts with the gelatinous chocolate coating? They have been having those at church sometimes... they are lucky I don't eat the whole tray.
Pounds gained so far: Last week it was up to 6, but my pants were tighter today, so I am guessing a bit more.
Last time I felt the baby move: He started kicking where I could feel it about two weeks ago. (It's really very cool to know he's there and doing well.) Today I think he hardly slept at all. He kicked me at least once an hour. And his favorite new trick? Punching me in the bladder.
Latest annoying pregnancy symptom: Losing sensation in my limbs. I can't sit still too long without losing feeling in my legs. And night is the worst... I have to roll over every hour to get feeling back in the bottom leg.
Progress on the nursery: 0%. You may know, we are finishing our basement first. When it's finished, we'll clear out JT's room and get going on that.

So speaking of the basement... it has been framed and wired with electrical outlets and lights. The lights are great... it gives the room great ambience. John hung the insulation this week. The dudes are coming on Thursday to drywall. This weekend is painting. Last Sunday we chose a sectional sofa in a rich chocolate brown. It should be quite lovely, I'm excited to have a space ready for it. It was the smallest sectional we could find. We had restrictions on the entryway to the basement as well as the downstairs room itself being pretty small and narrow. Plus, we like the clean lines of this one... not overstuffed or otherwise ghastly in appearance (I'm picky on furniture, can you tell?) AND it has recliners on both ends. Can you guess where ma and pa are going to pass out after long days of toddler chasing?

I have been scrapping quite a bit lately, too. I was in a creative slump there for a while, but now I really feel like it's flowing. Tonight I scrapped with my friend Jenny for several productive hours. I am now 95% complete on a gift album that I promised in November and started in January. It should be done by this weekend... I'm pretty pumped about that. Maybe I'll post a few pics when it's ready... it's not totally ugly. :-)

That's all for tonight... I am off to bed. G'night.

crop night

Friday night was scrapbook night at church. I helped plan it and was in charge of the make-n-take. I've never done a make-n-take or ever demonstrated any scrapbooking thing, for that matter. (Believe it or not!) I feel like I'm a hack who teaches herself and I couldn't possibly share what I do in a way that anyone else could learn from it.

But I came up with a project to share and it was a hit! There were only about 10 of us at the crop. The gals came up with their own spin on my layout and totally made it their own. It was so great to see all the ideas that can be born from a single idea!

The layout was about "my church"... since the event happened to be at our church. I provided the background paper, the photo of our church for the layout, the white journaling sheet, the colored cardstock for the hidden journaling card, and the foam stamps and paint. I showed them a few techniques. Distressing the white journaling block by tearing the edges and smuding on distress ink was the first. The paint and foam stamps for the title was another. The last technique was using the Basic Grey Die and Notch cutting tool to make a closure for the hidden journaling card.

But the more important part of the lesson was about including your everyday life in your scrapbook. How different would my mom or my grandma's page about "my church" be from mine? How different would this page be 10 years from now when we have a couple kids who go to church with us? And since it is something that we do every week, that makes it a pretty important part of our lives, right? It would be a shame not to document this part of our lives for our kids and grandkids to know about us.

The page also shows two kinds of journaling, and why not have both on the same page? The visible journaling is very straightforward, the things you would tell an acquaintance about your church. The hidden journaling is more for your family and close friends. These are your thoughts about your relationship with God and how your church facilitates that relationship.

So I think that last week's crop got folks inspired for our scrapbook nights. We're planning another one for April. Not sure what I will do for that make-n-take... but I'm looking forward to it.

a boy named JT and a snowy weekend

We found out Friday we are having a BOY!! The picture is the view from his "bottom"... looking at his butt sort of. John is soooo thrilled. I've provided an heir to his throne, so I can avoid the guillotine.

On Saturday we went to Michigan for a retreat weekend as chaperones with our church youth group. You know, getting used to teenagers. WHAT an adventure. There are stories, of course. But at the moment I am still thinking, writing, and talking like a teenager. I hope I remember in the morning that I'm an adult again...

Anyway, here's another ultrasound picture of our bouncing baby boy and a pic of us on a frozen lake... hope your week is off to a good start!

snow day

Is everyone having a good snow day?

No adventures for me today... worked from home to avoid the mayhem. I'm still in my pajamas (oops... where did the day go?!)

John was sent home early, so he built me a fire to go along with the snowy scenery and birds at the backyard feeder. We stayed cozy warm inside listening to the sleet hit the house.

Ok, that's enough sleet though... bring back the snowflakes...

step 1: framing

So now that we have a baby on the way, we have stepped up our efforts to finish our basement. Maybe I have mentioned before that we were planning to do this. We have planned and argued and designed and bickered and argued a lot over it in the past year and a half.

Last week we tackled a couple of the items that we contracted out. A mason came and knocked out a few rows of blocks in the opening to our partial basement. We have a lot of room over there for storage, but access wasn't easy when the opening was more like a window than a door.

We also had some work done on the heating ducts in the basement. There was a main duct across the middle of the room that would make for a really low ceiling, so we had that swapped out for a wider, less tall square duct. They also installed two new registers so our new basement space will be nice and warm in the winter.

And the biggest thing we've done so far? Framing! I didn't know I could be so excited about 2x4s. Thanks to my husband, brother, and our friend Scott, we have walls and door openings now. I can actually picture what it's going to be like when the walls are finished. And hey, maybe if we get it finished, we can find something new to argue about. :-)

Sammy weekend

John has been sitting for our friend's dog, Sammy, this weekend. We aren't dog people. But this little guy is awfully cute, so we suck it up and act like we are for a weekend.

He's really very good as far as dogs go. He's actually watching me type right now, whimpering a little because he wants me to play with him. (Dude, I'm pregnant, can I take a break from chasing you around the coffee table, please?!) Oh lord... now he is ON my lap.

He has gone insane 3 times. On Saturday I went to visit my grandparents. When I picked up my bag to go load the car, he barked at me like I was a total evil intruder. And he kept barking until I was gone. Tonight he barked at John for wearing a tobogan. Uh...ok. THEN... did you see the Super Bowl commercial for Budweiser with the dogs? Holy crap... Sammy came off the couch and went over to the tv and REALLY showed those dogs who has the bigger bark!