I Dream of Red

The only part about Fall that I've come to realize that I'm not too fond of is that Fall means no more fresh tomatoes... but should it?

Well, I've done a little research and have found that you can pick unripened green tomoatoes and store them!

Store tomatoes and peppers in boxes, 1 to 2 layers deep, or in plastic bags with a few holes for air circulation. If you have a cool, moderately humid room, simply place them on a shelf. Keep fruit out of direct sunlight. They may be stored in the dark. As tomatoes ripen, they naturally release ethylene gas, which stimulates ripening. To slow ripening, sort out ripened fruits from green tomatoes each week. To speed up ripening, place green or partially ripe fruits in a bag or box with a ripe tomato.

Let's hope these babies look like this in awhile!

Abolishing The Spirit of Fear

I had a side effect late in my pregnancy with Samuel that was nothing shy of painfully miserable most days. There was not much I could do about it and they said that with each subsequent pregnancy it would get worse and it would start earlier on in the pregnancy than it did the one previous.

That time in this pregnancy has come.

I was so discouraged because it came MUCH sooner than it did with Samuel and hit harder than I imagined it ever could. I was torn up inside. I couldn't imagine going through 23 more weeks of this, let another any other pregnancies. My heart was broken. Was this our answer from God as to how many children he wanted us to have? Andy and I refused to believe that God was speaking to us in that way.

On Wednesday nights, I have been attending a class at our church on prayer, taught by the wonderful Denise. As hard as it was going to be to share the details with the class, I knew I needed as many people lifting this up to the Lord asking Him for a miracle.

Last Wednesday night the Lord did a miracle in my life!

Since Wednesday I have not had once ounce of pain in my entire body. I had reluctantly claimed it was the Lord and thought deep down it also had a lot to do with my avid efforts at relieving my symptoms.

It has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with our Lord.

Denise reminded me that I cannot let the spirit of fear set in and act as though God has not taken away this pain, whether it be for a week, a month or for the entire rest of the pregnancy I need to live like I believe.

Andy also brought to my attention a story in John 6 where the disciples had just witnessed Jesus feeding 5 thousand with 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish, and then saw Jesus walking on water. The disciples then asked Jesus, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?"

That is exactly how I was acting! I have been healed, but yet I'm still acting like what He did for me wasn't good enough. I needed some sort of 'sign' to prove to me that it was Him. Oh, what little faith I have...

I am now back to walking every day and have even started running. If God has healed me, I am going to rejoice and enjoy it, not sit back and cautiously await for the pain to return!

Tears well up in my eyes as I write this post because I know that the creator of the universe loves me more than I could ever imagine. I am so humbled by His power and in awe of his love for His children.

Fort Eckert

Building forts was my childhood passion. I would bring B.J. into them with me and we would be in there for hours. I am determined that Samuel and Joseph will like forts too. Well, it's been pretty easy to convince Samuel that they are fun. We have built many small forts, but the other day we did an entire living room makeover and gathered the whole gang for a pretzel party in our family fort. They weren't homemade pretzels, but they were still a crowd pleaser.

Homemade Soft Prezels

Andy and I have been wanting to try to make some soft pretzels lately and last night was the night. I found a great recipe and they turned out wonderful. Here's the recipe if you want to try them out. They are super easy and very yummy!


1 1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp yeast
2 TB brown sugar
1 TB oil
4 1/2 cup flour

Combine water, yeast, salt brown sugar, and oil, then add flour and knead like bread dough. Let rise till double then roll into strips, if desired shape into pretzels. Dip pretzels into water/soda mixture*, place on greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 450, just till a little brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and dip in melted butter.

*For dipping, prepare 1 cup warm water mixed with 2 tsp soda.

You can serve with mustard, cheese sauce, caramel dip, cinnamon sugar, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, or sesame seeds. Or you can even go the Amish way and wrap the dough around a hot dog before baking.

We tried one with parmesan cheese and spaghetti sauce and then another with dijon mustard. We loved both. You'll never look at the mall pretzels the same.

Mostly Samonster And A Little Mama

I thought I would share a few photos and stories today to keep you all informed on our happenings. Samuel is up to his usual boy adventures. Just last night we went on a family hike. Andy was responsible for getting Samuel ready as I was getting dinner in the oven. Both of them stood there waiting at the door, Andy with no shoes or shirt and Samuel had no shoes. At least he had a shirt on I thought! My favorite comment is "He's your kid too!" If Andy wants to make that call, then I'll let him. I'm not the only decision maker in the house. I was the one who told him to get ready, wasn't I? Well, of course Samuel walked the entire trail with no shoes on and didn't miss a beat! He loved it. A boy after his own Dada's heart. They truly are two peas in a pod! Wish I had photos. It was a cute sight to be seen.

Other Samonster updates:

He's decided he doesn't like wearing diapers. He takes his diaper off frequently! Since it's been a lot warmer in our house lately because of the warmer temperatures outside I haven't made him wear any clothes. This only makes him have easier access. So much to his shagrin he's having to wear clothes now so he doesn't have easy access to being a naked monster! He's not happy about that. If only he can figure out how to unsnap those snaps!

He's discovered foods that he can put his finger into and then put them in his mouth. We discovered this for the first time at Nana's with Cheerios. These currently are his favorite pastas since he can do this with.

I've had to make a homeschooling adjustment. NO MORE COLORING! He is obviously too young to realize the concept of not eating his crayons. It's rediculously funny to see his teeth bright blue. But, it's not funny that we've gone through a whole set of 8 crayons in less than week! I give up. Until later, it's off the list.

Samuel had his first cookie making experience. He got to lick the batter off the mixer. He of course found it to be more fun to beat the mixer on his tray. Figures. This is a kid who likes peas more that anything sweet!

After his first cookie. He's showing me he's all done!

And here he is with his peas, happier than a clam!

And I couldn't have an update without sharing my first belly picture. I apologize for it actually being extremely hard to see the exact size of my belly. But, just take my word, it's big! This isn't even a maternity dress! WHAT?! I know, that's what I said! My mom practically bought out Old Navy for me, and 90% of the stuff wasn't even maternity. What's the deal with the enormous tops these days. If I wasn't pregnant, I would be quite angry at the latest fashion trends. But, since I am, I am well pleased. Stay tuned, I have MANY more adorable outfits to share in the months ahead. Thanks to my Mama, a fashion disater has been adverted for many months!

And I had to share that I finally finished another baby quilt. Even though this one was started oh, about a YEAR AGO. It was a group project. One person was given a certain group of fabrics and told to make a 9 inch square then it was passed to someone else and they added on 9 more inches around that square, and then to someone else, and then back to me to finish. Well, here is our attempts at making a group of random fabrics look attractive. It's fun to have games like this during our quilting guild. It spices up life. Basically it's a great way to get rid of a ton of scrapes too! I'm currently working on a baby girl quilt and I will send them off to my old church in NC so they can then donate them to babies in a local hospital around there. I sure miss my group of girls that I quilted with, but I still love quilting!