Fried Mashed Potatoes

Chris received an order from Omaha Steak Company. In the order came some potatoes. We thought we would try them so we cooked them exactly as they told us to. This is a picture of the left overs. We weren't sure what they really were but I can tell you this ..... they were GOOD!! The outside tasted like a french fry and the inside was mashed potatoes.

Chris said he was pretty sure they were fried mashed potatoes.

2 questions

#1
Have you ever tried these?
If not, you should!

#2
Have you ever made these?
If so, PLEASE share the recipe!

Disclaimer: If you are thinking about how unhealthy these are or how I should not be eating fried foods or how many calories are in this or wondering how much butter was used..... STOP! And please don't share with me any of those thoughts!

Our Sunday Pictures

Another glimpse into Hannah's new room. I promise more pictures later of everything... in a couple of week! Promise!!

Right Now

Right Now .....

Hannah is sleeping in her new room.

It is not completely finished but the room is painted, her bed it up and made, and she is sleeping there.

About 20 minutes after we put her down she started crying. A shadow from the nightlight was really bothering her. We changed nightlights and outlet location and she said it was better, laid down and went to sleep. I love that she can kinda tell me what is wrong!!

I will give you complete pictures of how the room turned out when everything is in it but for now, here are a couple of pictures of Hannah checking out her new bed. She is really silly!

Our Day

Today we were so excited because we got to go to the Zoo with the Moss family. We had lots of fun and Hannah was very excited to see Cole and Savannah. Of course we ALL forgot our cameras but we were all together - really - finally!! Hannah got a little off when she went to sleep on her way to lunch and slept in the restaurant about half the time we were there. She then awoke, ate, and was awake the whole way home. We tried to get her to go back to sleep and take another nap but she just wouldn't. She did pretty good to stay in her bed for about 30 or 45 minutes but she talked and sang and whined and fake cried most of the time. (BUT she didn't get up!)

We let her up. She was kinda whiny all afternoon but not too bad. She just wanted to be a part of EVERYTHING which is not all bad. Finally, so that we could get a few things done we let her watch one of her Cedarmont Kid videos around 5.00. I walk in there and she is falling asleep in her chair while she is watching her video. (By the way, I don't think she has EVER fallen asleep during Cedarmont Kids before!) I go get Chris so he can see her. He tells me to go get the camera and this is what we get....

Hilarious.



Don't Worry! After videoing her, we put her in her bed to be more comfortable where she napped while we made supper. (Then we woke her up which did not make her very happy!)

New Book

The Undomestic Goddess was a good book. Definitely a great story about finding yourself, and finding love - all with a good bit of humor. I caught myself laughing out loud several times. Here is the thing about this book... It is a British book. It is set in London about people who grew up in London. That was probably written somewhere on the book but I just didn't realize it. SO, there were definitely words used in it that I don't use or see often like loo or bloody. Also, there is some foul language in it and it thru me a little. Be prepared for it if you read this book. The main character has a favorite word when she gets upset ........

Anyway, I was thinking of trying out some of the shopaholic series. Does anyone know if those are British too?

My new book is the next one in the Sisters and Brides series that my Grandmom is letting me borrow. It is Gift From the Heart by Irene Hannon. It is a Love Inspired book. I am sure it will be just as good as the last one I read. This is the #2 book out of 3.

As always, I will let you know how it goes.

Singing

First, We are a pretty big singing household. (Despite the fact that I could not hit a single note correctly if my life depended on it!) We sing in the car. We sing in the tub. We sing while we play. We sing when we are fussy. We sing when we are happy. We sing everywhere!

Second, I have not ever been one of those moms who talks about keeping their baby a baby for as long as possible. I don't think I rush Hannah, at least I try not to... But I can remember talking to someone when she was not even 6 months old about wanting to be young parents so that when the kids are out of the house we can have some fun times on our own. The person I was talking to said.. "You are already thinking about her leaving? I cried this fall because my son is going to go to Kindergarten next fall!" I am not saying I won't be sad but I feel like the goal is to raise her in the Lord to be a Light and then letting her go to actually be that Light in the world. It is just the way it works - right?

Now, The Story. Tonight was one of the first times I think I have ever really felt a sadness that one day this stage of Hannah will go away. I was getting her dressed to go to worship and the whole time I was changing her diaper, picking out her clothes, and getting her dressed, she was singing. All by herself. Just singing. Loud, not mumbling but not screaming. Just singing out. Really singing, all alone. I finally just stopped, put our foreheads together and listened. Just Listened. And I felt tears in my eyes. It was some of the most beautiful singing I have ever heard. Today. Today, I had that small bit of wish inside me that she would sing like that forever, even though I know she won't, and that is a good thing... really.

Our Sunday Pictures

Did you think I forgot? NO NO!! However, we did loose track of time Sunday and were in a little bit of a rush.

Wanting pictures with the balloons didn't work out quite the way I planned and then taking them away and asking her to stand still and smile also did not quite work out the way I planned.

Oh Well! Here they are, none the less. Hannah in one of the new dresses she got for her birthday!

Hannah's Party

Hannah's party on Saturday went great, however, I had more pictures I wanted to share but blogger hates me at the moment. I am not sure why.

Anyway, here is the cake that Elizabeth and I made. It turned out pretty good, I think. We had a Color Party, so it was perfect. Not only did it look good but it tasted good too. (Thanks to Elizabeth.) Lucky for us, Hannah thought it was wonderful.

3 of Hannah's friends from church got to come over. These 4 will be getting in trouble together for many years to come, I can see it now. The parents of these 4 are starting their relationship now because we will need to stick together!! :-)

The mom's humored me and helped me to try to get a picture of all four of them together sitting on the couch. It worked for a quick moment. Then the 4 because 3 and then the 3 because 2 - even with the toys on the couch. Luckily, it was a little easier to get them all in a picture when they were eating. Eating is serious business.

Today is Hannah's actual birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Hannah Bear!
Daddy and Mommy love you very much!
We hope to celebrate the day you came into our lives with you for many many years to come!

(I may share more pictures later depending on my patience with this computer and blogger!)

Just An Idea

If you have children in day care (even if you don't - maybe) then you have a TON of "pretty pictures" done by your child. Many Many pieces of construction paper with beautiful scribble on it or very creative random blotches of paint on it. So many maybe, you just don't know what to do with them all.

Well, when I started to think of how I was going to plan Hannah's birthday party I couldn't decide on a "theme." It didn't have to have a theme but I wanted to have something consistent with the decorations and the cake and everything. I tried to look at the sets they had out and think of what she is really in to and I didn't really come up with anything. She doesn't watch a lot of the day time TV because she is in day care so even though she knows who Dora, Big Bird, and Elmo are she is not really IN TO them. You know what I mean?

Lately she has been all about coloring. Whether is be Aquadoodle, or Crayons, or Chloe's Wonder Colors, or a pencil from the church pew, or Magnadoodle... Whatever, she is into coloring so I decided we would have a Colors party. What a better way to invite all of the family she loves and friends she adores to a Colors party than to use her own coloring. SO, I picked out some of the art work from school that we were not planning on keeping and made her invitations out of them. I found a black and white picture of crayons, put it in the paint program to color them and write party information in them, printed them, cut them out, folded the art work, used a glue stick to put the information on and waaaalahhhhh!! we had some invitations. I just had to buy envelopes.

I took a few pictures of 3 of them to show you. I thought they turned out cute. And I found a useful way to use Hannah's "Art!" I would think, if you are in the same pickle I am with a lot of art work, you could use them for invitations no matter what the theme of the party is. Go For It!!

It's A Quiz

OK, I got this forwarded email today from my Aunt. It was entitled "Houses In Weird Places." She said she didn't know if it was all true but they were neat to look at anyway and thought she would forward them. I have looked it up on Snopes.com and some of these homes are real and some of them aren't.

Here are the rules, you can not look it up on the Internet. Just comment with your guess, from looking at the pictures below, which ones you think are real and which ones you think are not real. There ARE some real ones!!

Tomorrow night, about this time, I will reveal the answers.
Answers In Red

#1
This is Fake. Good Job Dad, Mom, Christy, Grandmom, and Poppa Bob.
It was a picture entered into a bizarre architecture contest.

#2
This is real. Good job, Maw Maw, Mom, Christy, Grandmom, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
This is located in France. To see another picture of it you can go here.

#3
This is fake. Good job Dad, Mom, Christy, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
Another entry in the bizarre architecture contest.

#4
This is fake. I think this was the trickiest one. Good Job Grandmom!!
This is another entry in the bizarre architecture contest.

#5
This is fake. Good job Maw Maw, Dad, Mom, Christy, Grandmom, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
Yet another entry in the bizarre architecture contest.

#6
This is real. Good Job Maw Maw, Mom, Christy, Grandmom, AW and Mollie
This is a treehouse restaurant in Japan. Go here for another picture of it.

#7
This is real. Good Job Maw Maw, Dad, Christy, Grandmom, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
This is the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse in Maryland.

#8
This is real. Good Job Maw Maw, Mom, Christy, Grandmom, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
This is the 20th century lighthouse of Westhever located in Germany.
#9
This is real. Good Job Maw Maw, Dad, Mom, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
This is actually an old mill in France.

#10
This is fake. Good Job Maw Maw, Dad, Mom, Christy, Grandmom, Poppa Bob, AW and Mollie.
You guessed it. Another entry in the bizarre architecture contest.

25 Weeks Pregnant

Seriously, I look at these pictures and think "What?" I feel so much bigger!! (Not to say I am not plenty big - I just feel different from what I think I look in these pictures.) Oh well, I am not thinking straight since I am so tired!!

Talking On The Phone

If any of you have ever talked to Hannah on the phone, you know it can seem to be a little crazy. Yesterday, before we took her swimming, we let her call a few special people and I tried to capture for you a little bit of what we see.....Enjoy!

(Doesn't the Black and White make it all seem a little more dramatic!)
:-)

Happy Father's Day!!

To The Absolute Most Wonderful Daddy!
Mommy Loves You.
Hannah Loves You.
And Justus Loves You.
Thank You For All You Do, Chris!

Our Sunday Pictures

I've
Decided.

I
Really
Like
Paisley!

A Little Behind

I get emails about different things when I am at work. I forward them to my home email address when I want to share them. Mainly, I want to share them with you. Then I get so busy, pictures of Hannah are easier and now I have 119 emails I need to go thru and figure out why they are there. Some are there because I wanted to blog about them. Some are there because I want to save pictures from them. Some are there because I need to write someone back. Others are there just because I have forgotten to delete them when I didn't need them any more. So.. The ones I wanted to blog about are the first ones I am going to get to. Just some. Don't worry. You won't be up all night reading it!!

First, Have you heard this story about a child kissing her mother on the ear and causing her mom to go deaf in that ear. It is like she just caught her ear at just the right angle and sucked during her kiss just long enough that it made her mom deaf in that ear. Isn't that bizarre? You know that mother wouldn't turn away a kiss from her child. I guess we just all need to be careful when our children want to kiss us on the ear. WOW! Crazy!

Second, Have you heard about these people that have never been discovered? The article says it is one of "Brazil's last uncontacted Indian tribes."
A couple of things come to mind about this. Am I so naive to think this really wasn't possible? Especially in Brazil where there are places very developed? It is fine - really. I don't mind you laughing at me but it made me do that weird thinking where everything is a question and there are no answers. Do you ever hear something and the only responses you can think of are questions? Like.... Are we near April Fool's Day? Is someone playing a trick? Do they have spears? Why am I surprised that there seem to be 3 different "color" of people there? What do they do all day? What will those women think when we introduce them to epidural? (I am pregnant, ya know!) How will people get to them? Do they have new diseases? Will our diseases kill them? Who is going to take the first step to talk to them? Are we going to try to show them how to use a computer? Will they really believe people all over the world have seen their picture? Do they know what a picture is?

Seriously.... I could go on and on. This is another thing that just seems crazy to me.

What is so interesting about this is that I just read an article in the January edition of THINK magazine. (Yes, I am a little behind.) It talked about people who ask the question about the "poor innocent Aborigines in Australia going to hell because they have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ." It is a wonderful article that anyone can borrow if they want to read it but the scripture that he talked about that really struck me about this is Romans 1:19-20 that says "Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" You can know God because He is in you. They are without excuse.

OK, as I keep cleaning out my email, I am sure I will find more but this is all for now.