A Surprise!

Hi friends!

I have been AWOL for a bit, and if you want to know what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks, go here. I've been hard at work, writing HTML for a teacher resource website!

If you are a homeschooling mom, there are lots of printables that you can print for free there! Have fun! :o)

Our Peanut

And here is our "Peanut"! If you look closely, you can see the baby sucking its thumb. Amazing. :o)

Trick or Treat!

We had a wonderful Halloween here in our home! We started with a round of pumpkin activities. We first read It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall, then we guessed how big around our pumpkin was by cutting yarn to wrap around it.

Christopher had a perfect guess, Johnathan was off by about an inch, and Mommy guessed WAAAAY too big (just for the record, when Daddy came home from work, he guessed too big, too! LOL). Then, it was time for fun! We cut a circle around the top of our pumpkin, lifted off the "hat", and the boys got to feel the insides. EWWW! Since our pumpkin has been sitting on our front porch for the past 2 weeks, it was rather cold inside.

Christopher suggested triangle eyes, Johnathan a square nose, and Mommy picked a mouth with 2 teeth. Then, we put a tealight inside and lit it up! The boys loved it! :o) For lunch, we had macaroni and cheese and "pumpkin sandwiches": I used a cookie cutter to cut a pumpkin shape out of the top slice of bread (exposing the lunch meat) and squirted some mustard on for a pumpkin grin. And here are the boys ready to trick or treat! We took several bags of goodies for our favorite neighbors with cards attached that the boys had drawn. They were a big hit! This year, Christopher was a fireman and Johnathan was a beaver. Wish I had a shot of his waffle tail! LOL They had a lot of fun and both slept about 12 hours that night! :o)

A Healthy Baby Wilt

Good news for the Wilt family!

Mr. Wilt and I went to my OB visit today and saw our baby for the first time! It is a single (much to the surprise of my friends who told me I was huge- LOL) and a healthy little one, too. We saw his heart beating and he was sucking his thumb when my OB snapped a pic to print.

I have to say, I think it might be another boy, but we'll see! My pink/blue ultrasound should fall the first week of January, so we'll start the new year planning for a baby boy or girl! Mr. Wilt will be scanning in the ultrasound pic tomorrow, so I will post it then. If the baby is a boy, we have decided on Stephen Nathaniel, and if it is a girl, she will be called Elizabeth Grace. We are thrilled! :o)

Miracle of Miracles

I went for my first OB visit today and interviewed with a nurse. She asked me all kinds of questions about my past, my health, etc. My least favorite part? Getting on the scale.

Did I hear a collective groan? So, you've been there too! LOL You've seen my belly. I was thinking I had gained, oh, maybe 10 or 15 pounds or so. I mean, I AM already looking fairly 2nd trimester, even though I am barely 12 weeks.

Her news sent me reeling. I had lost 6 pounds! Woohoo!

I am in love with my baby already. ;o)

NOTE: The boys and I are headed down to NC today. They will be staying with Nana and Gee all weekend, and Mr. Wilt and I get to have some time together to finish projects, consign some items, and hopefully, have a date or two! :o)

Image Courtesy of Allposters

A Deliciously Magic Dough

"We make dough at L'abri on Saturdays, enough to feed a hundred or more people, and then form poppy seed rolls, twisted rolls with sesame seeds, and braided rolls with caraway seeds. These are used for hot dogs, hamburgers, or tuna fish salads. We take the same dough and make sticky buns full of lovely fat raisins, or orange rolls and apple dumplings."
-Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

After reading The Hidden Art of Homemaking last year, this particular quote stuck out to me like a sore thumb. Oh, how I wished I could reach through the pages of this book and ask Edith to "jot down" that recipe for me! LOL Well, a year later, I found a recipe in an old-fashioned cookbook that will do exactly as Mrs. Schaeffer promised: a "magic dough" that will do just about anything! Today we used it to fashion some lovely cloverleaf rolls (seen above) as well as some fun shaped breads as well. Here is the delicious recipe:

1/4 c. warm water (not hot- 110 to 115 degrees)
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3/4 c. lukewarm milk (scald the milk then allow to cool- it will help the dough to not be as "sticky")
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
1/4 c. shortening
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

In bowl, dissolve yeast into water. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening, and half of flour to bowl. Mix with spoon until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to handle easily. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth (5 min.). Put mound into a greased bowl and turn the bottom side of mound to face upward (this will lightly grease your top of the loaf so it doesn't stick). Cover with a cloth. Let rise in a warm place (85 degrees) until doubled in size (1 1/2 hrs.). Punch bread down; let rise again until almost doubled (30 min.). Shape, let rise, and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Here are some of the pretty shapes I experimented with today:

To make these lovely breads, roll the dough (see recipe above) onto an oblong 12 inches wide and a little less than 1/2 inch thick. Spread with soft butter. Fold 1/2 of dough back over the other half. Cut strips 1/2 inch wide and 6 inch long.

From the top of the plate counterclockwise:

The Snail: Twist and hold one end of the dough strip down on the baking sheet. Wind strip around and around. Tuck end under.
The Knot: Twist and tie each strip into a knot. press ends down on the greased baking sheet.
The Figure 8: Hold one end of the strip in one hand and twist the other end, stretching it slightly until the two ends when brought together on the greased baking sheet form a figure 8. (I hid my meeting point toward the middle of the piece so it wouldn't show!)

Also, the cloverleaf rolls seen at the top of the post are made by rolling 1 inch balls of dough. Then drop 3 of these into each cup of a greased muffin pan. Let rise for 15 minutes, then bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

There is no limit to what you can do with this recipe: cinnamon rolls, hamburger buns, even stollen...let your imagination be your guide!

Worshipping Through Prayer

In our ladies' Bible study, we are currently reading the book Lord, Teach Me to Pray by Kay Arthur. It has been such a blessing to sit and discuss prayer with these like-minded ladies- an oasis in the midst of a week of wiping noses, picking up toys, and doing laundry! No, you all know I LOVE being a mommy, but it is a time to refresh our spirits and encourage one another in our faith.

At the beginning of this study, we have been taking an extensive look at the Lord's Prayer as a pattern for personal prayer time. What a rich treasure of discussion we have had! Although there have been many good points thus far, one thing that was articulated to us in our book is how the Lord's Prayer is bookended. It begins and ends with worship.

"Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name.Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heavenGive us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen." (Matthew 6:9-13)

Notice the bold phrases above. When Jesus spoke this prayer as an example to the disciples, He began and ended it with phrases of adoration for His Father. How convicted I felt when I realized how often I pray and only ask for my needs or the needs of others! Yes, there are plenty of times throughout the day when I may just have a brief moment to pray "Lord, help me"; but should I make it a pattern in my life? Definitely not.

Friends, I'd like to challenge you today when you take a moment today to speak to our Heavenly Father, praise Him for who He is. He is worthy to be praised! :o)