sometimes

sometimes, you can mention your need to replace the felt chair pads on your all-too-old kitchen chairs. and sometimes your husband will suggest picking up the pricey plastic ones. "i'll screw them in and we won't have to deal with the felt ones anymore, hon", he says. umm...cha-ching...but it'll be so worth it. and sometimes you can go with the plan and then wait. for, i'm not sure what, but wait and wait. *sigh*
sometimes that can happen.
but sometimes, you can casually acknowledge his desire to have a greenhouse. you can helpfully remind him of the stacks of old windows he's collected from a recent replacement job. you can share with him a great idea found on pinterest for using reclaimed windows to create a greenhouse.

(courtesy of curiousbird.typepad.com)

can anyone say, "so cute!"? thought so.
anyway...sometimes, that kinda conversation would make his eyes glaze over and wonder what the heck "pinterest" is. but then, some other times, he nods with approval. he throws out some pros and cons. he leaves for work. and then he comes back early to create this...

it's not a greenhouse. it's a hothouse. smaller. convenient for starting plants, with a hinged roof for easy access. the large greenhouse was a bit daunting with all that glass and with all those baseballs. and sticks. and rocks. and boys.
...so, this is the baby that was born of my mere suggestion.

 

the chair pads? well that someday hasn't come yet. but, feel free to come by and check out my hothouse. if i invite you in for a glass of water, however, you may want to gently scoot the chair back when you're done. wouldn't want to leave a scratch. would we?

sixteen

if this was my birthday, i'd be old enough to {finally} drive. i would be getting ready to run some errands with mom so that my sisters could decorate for my surprise birthday party complete with volleyball, guacamole and frozen yogurt pie. i'd be anxious the whole way home because i figured about the party and i'm not good at faking surprise. i don't like added attention on me, so that would add to the butterflies. i would, however, love the green peace-sign tee shirt given by my sisters' friends who had taken a liking to me. i would wear out the "anything box" cassette and dance my legs off to 'living in oblivion'. i would always be grateful for people who love me and were willing to show it.

well, it's not my birthday, but i am sixteen. sixteen years married, that is. old enough to drive this marriage on and on forever. old enough to wake up early and make my husband breakfast and prepare his favorite foods for a quick dinner before youth night at church. old enough to get butterflies knowing we'll have the chance to go out this weekend, if only for a couple hours before he has meetings saturday night. old enough to know that the best gift i could receive is chris coming home early today to finish the fence for the chickens. old enough to appreciate the road we've traveled and how very far we have left to go. 

sixteen is pretty sweet.

two

two things asa loves for breakfast...
hot dit (grits)
pancakes

two things asa loves to do...
climb on marshall's bunkbed
chase the chickens with a stick

two places asa loves to go...
church (really the nursery)
kayak with momma

two shows asa loves to watch...
dinosaur train
cat in the hat

two books asa loves...
mary engelbreit mother goose
big red barn

two things asa loves to wear...
yellow boots
hoodie

two reasons we love this boy more than anything...

                                               happy birthday asa!

technique

a relaunch doesn't mean a full cruise schedule. just in case you've been waiting with baited breath for my next post. these things take awhile for me.
with that said, i have made a discovery and need to share with you fine friends. cookies are a staple and they don't take a genius IQ to get them right. they do, however, require some tweaking along the way to get them just right. i am one step closer.
here is what i do with my chocolate chip cookie dough. after mixing it all together, chill for at least a half hour. you can do this! then, roll into balls. make sure your hand is good and greasy, just like mine. that means you've used the appropriate amount of butter.

then, do something crazy with that ball of dough. rip it in half. right through the center. take the two torn halves and smoosh them together ripped sides up. this makes the tops prettier and the cookie bake more evenly. place them on the tray and bake away.

make sure you have a bed-head toddler lying around the house. that way, if you mess them up, he'll never let on.

i, however, have full faith in you and know you are good for this task. your cookies will be one step closer to that holy grail we all know is out there. the perfect cookie.

and for your baking pleasure...

                                      white chocolate almond cookies

2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Mix the dry ingredients: the flour and baking soda, together in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and two sugars together. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and mix. Now add the dry ingredients and mix till an even dough forms. Add in the chocolate chips and almonds. Mix till evenly distributed.
Now you can divide the dough how you choose, into 1/4 cup portions for 18 large cookies or 2 tbsp portions for 36 smaller cookies. Divide your dough and shape each portion into a ball. Then pull each ball into two equal pieces. Turn both pieces so that the jagged side of each half faces upwards and then squish them together. Place them jagged side up on parchment lined baking sheets.

For the larger cookies, bake for 12-15 minutes, and for the small cookies, bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown and set and the centers are still soft and puffy. Do not overbake. Take them out of the oven and let them finish baking on the sheets, placing the baking sheets on cooling racks. Enjoy!

Makes 18 large cookies or 36 medium cookies.

boots

gracie had her blanket. that's about my only experience with this kind of thing. she received her blanket as a newborn and attached herself to it for the next 30 months. we were considering fashioning a backpack out of it in the event she couldn't part with it come kindergarten. her wedding dress may have been affected, too were it not for a bribery deal that involved a target shopping spree. who knew the equivalent of one's life security would be found in a vanity set, a barbie movie and a bratz doll?
well, here we are again and this time i am the perpetrator. this time i made the purchase.  asa's halloween costume came down to whatever the thrift store had in store for me yesterday.  as i turned the first corner and saw these bright yellow rain boots, i knew he would be a fireman. of course the rest of the costume came together in that store because that's the kind of day i was having. nothing slowing me down.
asa seemed to attach himself to these boots and little did i know...come naptime, my easy to sleep child turned psycho baby when i tried to pull off the boots. bedtime, same story. 

all i have to say, is it's a good thing these suckers are a couple sizes too big, cause it'll be a couple years before target bribery will stand a chance.

relaunch

here i am. guess i should say "we". asa is never far from my lap or this here computer. we're back, in more ways than one. after our morning trip around the bay, chasing ducks, white egrets and anything else we happen upon, i took the time to dust off the site and delve into the blogging i've ignored for so long.

it's not that i haven't had anything blogworthy. it's not that i haven't had the time. FB is just too darn easy. period. sure, you miss out on the nitty-gritty. the details get reduced to a pithy one-liner view of your day. feasting on appetizers can be fun for awhile, but sooner or *much* later, you'll be craving the full meal.

speaking of meals, i'm still parking myself in the kitchen most hours of the day. today's ventures included french bread, tomato pasta sauce, bechamel and roasted zucchini. i'm thinking these babies will go together in a casserole dish for a cheater's lasagna with farfalle. chris works late tonight and i need something i can keep warm.

well, it's friday. the children are probably expecting a movie. i'm tiring on redbox/blockbuster express. maybe i can convince them to play a game with me. maybe a chocolate cake can sweeten the deal?  i'm thinking a one-layer deal, not too heavy on the frosting. they'll probably still expect a movie. it's getting harder to choose a movie with the age ranges so spread out.

thanks for stopping by. i'll be checking in on you more often. i always get my best ideas from you anyway. if you need me this weekend, you know where i'll be. here in the kitchen. baking bread, filleting fish, picking crabs, making dinner, cleaning up.

updates and important dates

pretty sad when you relish the breaking-down of the car one day and having a sick child home the next. love having a reason to stay home and not get dressed. got the pics i promised oh-so-long ago. we are awaiting a couple inspections on the house before the drywall goes up. from there, it shouldn't take too long.
ok, here goes...
the house looks done from the outside. makes the neighbors happy. looks different from before, ya think?
my favorite part, so far, is the porch. we couldn't find the door we wanted until chris stumbled upon this mahogany beauty unfinished at Home Emporium. it took awhile to finish it, but i love how it turned out. we're gonna have some ceiling fans out there, too.
once again, the reason we bought the place and uprooted our family.
i think it's worth it.

now, onto something of equal importance. i would be remiss if i didn't include my dear first-born and her recent celebration of 12 whole years on this earth. she's fun and brilliant and confident and sassy. i couldn't live without her and i wouldn't want to try.

twelve things you may not know about harley...
1. her middle name is susan, after my mother and sister.
2. she was only 5 lbs. when she was born. not early. just skinny.
3. when she grows up, she wants to be a commercial writer.
4. her favorite meal i make is stuffed red peppers and she drools for bruchetta, too.
5. currently, she's only 1/4 inch shorter than my 5'4".
6. one hour of her day is spent on the piano.
7. writing is her favorite subject but she thinks grammar is for the birds.
8. she's the last to go to sleep and the last to wake up.
9. a self-proclaimed choc-o-holic, she thinks nutella is a gift from God.
10. she gets her expensive taste in clothing from my sister hilarie.
11. my biggest critic and most fervent cheerleader.
12. thinks that the Twilight Saga is the new four standard works. (thus, her Rosalie costume for Halloween)

happy birthday Harley! sorry the power went out as i was making your birthday dinner and stayed off long enough to have to postpone your party. you have to admit, opening presents by candlelight is kinda fun :):):)