Stream of consciousness daily happenings

7:36am A tiny, hoarse whisper in my ear wakes me up: "Mommy...it's 9 o'clock" This is funny because no matter how late Dane works, I always send the kids in to wake him up at 9am. So they think any wake-up time is 9 o'clock. I hoist Ember up into our bed to snuggle between us for just a few more minutes. This is a third trimester luxury for me. Usually I try to wake up one to two hours before the kids for my workout, prayer, and Bible time, but for the last few months I've been hitting snooze until they're awake.

8:00am I can't put it off any longer. By now Katelyn has joined us and the girls are wrestling over covers and pillows and space. We head into the kitchen and they "help" me make oatmeal and scrambled eggs. Everyone has a scratchy throat and stuffy nose so I serve breakfast with a side of vitamin C, echinacea, and quercetin on top of our regular vitamins, probiotics, and fish oil. I feel like a homeopathic pharmacist (if there is such a thing) by the time I'm done. 

9:00am The dishes are done and the laundry is going, and I am supposed to send Dane and the girls out to run errands, because Tuesday is Deep Clean The House Day. But instead I find myself asking him to put everything off until Thursday, and just hang out instead. It doesn't take a lot of convincing. We drink coffee and watch a movie while the girls destroy the sunroom. At some point I get everyone dressed and make a batch of bread dough for the week. Dane and I finally chat about our Christmas budget and Big Give offering - God has given us each separately identical amounts again this year. Truly cool.

12:00pm We're still full from breakfast, so I pull out the playdough and let the girls roll, shape, and mash to their hearts' content while I attempt to make paper snowflakes for the windows. To my amazement, they actually look pretty cute. Dane is ready for work. He kisses us goodbye and leaves, his exit sending a blast of icy air our way. Yeah, I am NOT leaving the house today.

1:00pm Lunch. Black beans, cheese, apple sauce. I was feeling lazy (if I haven't already made that obvious).

2:15pm The dishwasher is humming and the sunroom is tidied up as I set up the pack'n'play in the master bathroom. The girls still can't nap in the same room successfully. Ember is the happiest little napper these days. I scoop her up and give her a hug before depositing her into her snug nest with her blankie, Peep the sheep, and paci. I won't hear from her for three hours. I send Katelyn to her room to put away laundry. I settle down with the laptop to take care of emails, meal planning, and scheduling, and remember to drink some water.

5:15pm Ember is up! The girls play a hybrid pretend game of Peter Pan and cats/dogs while I make my new favorite soup , salad, and a loaf of bread.

6:30pm Dinner. I'm starving.

7:00pm Baths. The new Dora shampoo is a hit.

7:30pm Jammies. Brush teeth. Comb hair. We're leaving for my midwife appointment at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, so I lay out their clothes to expedite that sure-to-be-hectic departure while I supervise Katelyn finishing up the laundry task I gave her five hours ago.

8:00pm Switch on the noise-maker and say a quick blessing over the babies. Good night.

8:15pm Sit down to write this and while doing so, realize I forgot to do our Jesse Tree devotional. We'll have to double up tomorrow. Dane will be home in a couple of hours, and I'm giving myself until then to get the dinner dishes clean...so rocking on the yoga ball while watching Netflix it is. I may even have a cup of hot chocolate.

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If you made it through all that...bless you. Today was so comfy and lazy I don't want to forget it. 

PeiWei Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls

I've had certain cravings that have appeared each pregnancy. PeiWei's Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls are always on the list. So I set out to recreate the dish at home. I've never attempted copying a recipe without a tutorial, so this is fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants style. Nevertheless, it turned out beautifully. This is one of my favorite restaurant meals and I think it tastes nearly identical. Oh, and it's gluten free!

Please excuse the photos...the cell phone was closer than my camera and these days that matters a lot!

Don't let the lengthy ingredient list turn you off...most of the sauce ingredients I had on hand and everything is easy to make. Promise.

Homemade Vietnamese Chicken Salad Rolls

Ingredients:
3-4 sprigs Fresh Mint

2 handfuls Lettuce (I just used green leaf lettuce)

2 handfuls Napa Cabbage

2 Carrots

2 Green Onions

1/2 cup Peanuts

1 Chicken breast, cooked and shredded

Lime Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Sweet Chili Sauce (recipe below)

Peanut Dipping Sauce (recipe below)

2 cups Rice Noodles

8-10 pieces Rice Paper

Start by channeling your inner Pioneer Woman and assemble your ingredients. The measurements don't need to be exact. Wash and pat dry all the veggies. Give the mint, lettuce, cabbage, green onions, and peanuts a rough chop. Dice the carrots (I'll probably just buy shredded carrots next time). I set everything on a plate and put it in the fridge while I made the sauces.

Lime Vinaigrette

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons honey

1 garlic clove, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

5 tablespoons olive oil

Combine everything but the oil in a mason jar and stir until combined. Add the oil, screw on the lid, and shake. 

Sweet Chili Sauce

4 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons warm water

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 pinches red pepper flakes

Combine everything in a mason jar, screw on the lid, and shake. 

*Bring water to a boil and cook the rice noodles according to package directions while you make the peanut dipping sauce.*

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1 cup water

1-2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

3 tablespoons peanut butter

1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Measure the water into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until combined. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until it thickens slightly and remove from heat.

Now that the sauces and noodles are done, it's time to assemble these bad boys! Get a container of cold water to dip the rice paper in - a pie plate worked perfectly for me. Submerge one piece completely, shake the water off gently, and lay on a flat, clean surface. Don't be like me and get so excited about your rolls that you drop the package of rice paper on the floor and break the edge off all your perfectly round wraps. 

Haha. Oops.

To make a nice roll, the filling should leave enough room on all four sides to fold.

Sprinkle on a pinch of mint, then a bit of the lettuce, cabbage, carrots, green onions, and peanuts. Then next to that little pile of goodness, lay some rice noodles and shredded chicken. Drizzle a teaspoon of the lime vinaigrette on top of the chicken, followed by a teaspoon of the sweet chili sauce. I figured the noodles and chicken would sort of absorb the sauce best.

Fold in one long side...

...the two short sides...

and roll the whole thing towards the last side, being careful to keep the filling contained. Lay the roll seam side down and it should seal up nicely. 

Repeat until the filling is gone...I was able to make 8 rolls. Serve with the extra peanut dipping sauce and sweet chili sauce. 

SO good. The kids ate them, but they weren't crazy in love with the rice paper so I just tore the rolls open so they could eat the filling with the peanut sauce. I made a couple without the sweet chili sauce for them, because it is a tad spicy. 

Hooray for successful dinner experiments!

Never Once

FAITHFUL
steadfast in affection or allegiance: LOYAL
firm in adherence to promises
given with strong assurance: BINDING
Merriam Webster


I needed the reminder this morning...maybe you did too?


When I'm faithless, when I fail Him again...and again...and again, He stays true. We're held in grace, no matter what. There is no failure in Christ, only redemption. There are no dead-ends, only fresh starts. 


Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no we never walk alone...You are faithful, God, You are faithful.

Around Here Lately...

Brought back from Grandma's mission trip to Mexico.

Helping me fight lingering morning sickness.

It's the Husband's birthday month. 

Catching up.

Yoga. 

Just breathe.

Dane's vacation, cooler weather, MOPS, and Bible study will be here soon. 

A Season of Renewal

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before me. 
{Isaiah 49:15-16 NKJV}

He has written us on His hands. We never leave His mind. He bears the scar of His love for us forever. Yet He remembers our sin no more. It's gone, wiped clean, and we stand before the Father bearing the image of His Son's perfection. This memory of our Lord, it is a marvelous thing.

As I awaken from the haze that is a first trimester of pregnancy, I'm renewing habits and family traditions that have fallen off the calendar for months. Food inspires me again (for a while it was my enemy). I've been blessed with energy to play and create with the girls. In fact, I attended my first homeschool conference as mother and former student this past weekend and came away feeling both pumped and soothed. I've been nervously researching methods, curriculum, and schedules for preschoolers for a month or two, and felt apprehensive and intimidated. Thankfully I attended a seminar for parents of preschoolers based on the Charlotte Mason Method (which I've always admired) that relieved my fears. I'm throwing traditional preschool out the window, and we're going to read (and read and read), play, paint, and run around outside until Kindergarten. With a new little one joining our family this winter, a relaxed schedule is important to me. This will be perfect for our family. As we settle into a rhythm, I'll share our "schedule" and some ideas as we figure out what works and what doesn't.

One last thing. This hearty stew is simmering in the slow-cooker now. I haven't made it in a long time and I'd forgotten how easy and healthy it is. There's something peaceful about chopping up fresh veggies and stirring them together for your family. I love on my people with food.

Crockpot Vegetable Soup with Potatoes

1# hamburger, browned and drained
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 potatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14-oz can tomato sauce
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 cup water
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas

1. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on LOW 8-10 hours.

Tips: If using leftover vegetables that are precooked, add during the last hour of cooking so they don't turn to mush. For a vegetarian version, use pre-cooked dried beans or lentils, and substitute a cup of vegetable broth for the bouillon cubes and water.

Until next time...may you all find yourself in a season of renewal and peace. Love to you.

The Sunroom: Curtains!

Dane hung curtains in the sunroom last week! He had lots of help.

My precise husband measured and marked exactly where he needed to drill.

We made our very expensive, very fancy curtain rods out of a $5 10' length of 3/4" conduit and a $2.50 package of straps (conduit fittings that bolt it to the wall). This brilliant, cheap idea is not original to me, I first saw it here.

Dane was impressed at how securely he was able to attach the rod to the wall. With two curtain-swinging little ones, sturdiness is pretty important.

I think it turned out great, especially since it's made of electrical hardware (!). I think it would look even better painted or wrapped in twine, but for now I'm quite pleased with it. With the delicate floral print of the curtains, it adds a nice industrial chic vibe to the room.

The Fresh Start

photo credit

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the blinds as I slid out of the wrong side of bed, trying not to disturb the little one snoozing on my pillow. She fell asleep quickly, after a morning of attitude and drama. Some days it seems like she has all the emotions of a grown woman in a three-year-old body.

I headed to the bathroom to wash the morning off and tried to decompress two months of stress in ten minutes (it didn't work). 


Motherhood is hard. Give of yourself, without feeding yourself, and eventually you'll have nothing left to give.


All my complaints hit the cold walls of the shower and bounced back, echoing until they multiplied into more than I could bear.


The tile obviously wasn't listening. So I lifted my pain to the One who always listens, even when what hurts is something under which only this foolish heart would buckle.


Good Friday. If I'm called to lay my self down and offer grace and peace to my children as a sacrifice to Him, how small is that gift compared to the Gift? The day that the Son was put to trial and executed, when His creation turned its back on Him is called good. Good for us. He loved us first, before there was time and before we realized that we are incomplete. 


I'm learning that my sacrifice of praise is good to His ears, and good to my soul.


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We celebrated the Resurrection yesterday. Today is a fresh start. He Is Risen. 


(I also got 7 hours of sleep last night, and made it to work out this morning at 5am. A fresh start indeed.)