Cute as a Button!

I'm here and I'm actually updating!!!

I had my first appointment the other day, but the doctor wasn't able to find the baby's heartbeat using the doppler. So, we had an ultrasound today just to see what's going on in there.

The results are... A cute little baby with a healthy heartbeat! He/she must have just been hiding the first time.

And here's the first picture on my blog of one of my children (since I'm not a big fan of posting pictures of my family on the internet!). Cute, huh?!

The cat's outta the bag

Where once there were three, there will soon be four!

Estimated due date for Baby Connett is June 12, 2010.

We are so excited and can barely wait!

A bad dream.

So I had THE WORST dream last night.



I was visiting this person's HUGE, new house, and for some reason, I had like 2 boxes of my scrap supplies. My favorite scrap supplies. Meaning me new chipboard alphas and swirls, my best pattern papers, about 10 packages of Thickers in various styles.



As I walked through this gigantic house, admiring it, I set my boxes down for a second in this room that was actually a scrap supply room. When I returned only moments later, this girl (named Tammy, who I knew from Jr High, not sure why she had a part in my dream), had put all my stuff away into their stock. I was so mad! I'd never be able to find it all - all my special papers, my fancy chipboard, my unopened Thickers packages. So I started sorting through their stuff, panicking, and I couldn't find any my things! It turned out that Tammy had stolen my stuff and then played dumb about it! She took it all! I couldn't find a single Thicker of my own in their pile of stuff! I tried to explain to Tammy that this stuff was unreplaceable! I'd never be able to find it all again in a local store because so much of it was specially ordered from online stores! Anyways, I about smacked her! Instead though, I cried. And I told her that was all I had and I have no money to replace any of it. Cry cry cry! I ended up sifting through their stuff though and settled on taking some of their stuff and calling it even. I was really mad at that girl though! I really wanted those Thickers and papers and chipboard!! MY stuff! Not theirs!

The moral of this story is.... Do NOT mess with a girl's scrapbook supplies. E.v.e.r.

Okay, for those of you who have no idea what Thickers are... they are thick alpha chipboard peices that are really pretty and they are already sticky so they are easy to use on a scrapbook page.

Best home-made Chicken Souvlaki & Rice ever!

This is the best recipe I have used for Chicken Souvlaki and Lemon Rice Pilaf. It's to die for! And I can't wait to get home tonight and enjoy it at dinner time!

I found this recipe from My First Kitchen blog.

Chicken Souvlaki
(serves four with one skewer per person)

Ingredients:
- two chicken breasts cut into one-inch cubes
- a few glugs of the best extra virgin olive oil you have
- a good palmful of dried oregano (about a tablespoon)
- half as much garlic powder or 3-4 minced cloves
- several good grinds of black pepper
- salt

Cut your chicken into cubes. Try to make than as much the same size as possible. Toss in a bowl with the olive oil. Then throw in the oregano, garlic, and pepper. Mix it up so all the chicken is coated in the seasoning. Let marinate over night or for a few house.

Put the chicken on skewers. If you put some cut bell pepper between each chunk, it will be the most amazing bell pepper you've ever tasted. You can cook the chicken on the stove (which was very hard for me, took forever, and totally made a mess of my pan), or your can grill it (which is what we're doing tonight).

And now for the side dish... I found this recipe on one of those recipe sites online.

Lemon Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, minced (or just chopped up really well)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups uncooked long grain rice
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Chicken Broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)
Salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, cook onion in butter for 3 minutes; add rice, stirring to coat. Add broth, lemon juice, peel and bay leaf. Heat to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf, stir in parsley and nuts. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Blocks!

Look what I made! Look what I made!!

Now that the recipient of this gift (Andrea) will likely retrieve the package from her doorstep before she sees this online, I can finally show off what I made!

Thanks to the scraps of 2x4's we have lying around our basement and Bill's skillfullness with the saw, I made these adorable blocks! (Yes, I'm very proud of these, especially since this was my first time working with wood!)

Have a slice of cake.

Just as we love our own children, our Creator also loves us. Why then do we strive so strongly for the approval and the love of other people and not just be satisfied with the never-failing and perfect love of our Creator? Why do we feel let down and a little sad when we don’t always feel the love of other people?

Perhaps our disappointment in the love we [don’t] receive from other’s should be our sign to offer our love instead? Offer the kind of love and treatment we wish to receive from them. Consider this - Matthew 7:12 says "Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get." (MSG)

Perhaps I shall begin this new mission in my own life – To truly demonstrate the love I want to receive by offering the same to those around me. Action is what leads to results, meaning I can’t just meekly go about my life, and expect meaningful things to happen in the way I wish. I can’t have my cake and eat it too. Instead, I will strive to offer slices of my cake to those around me.

And maybe you shall accept this slice of cake and share it with someone around you.

Oh dear... Oh my!

I want to bake.... NOW!

12-Layer Cake

Psalm 139

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

.....

God's love is greater and more perfect than any love on this earth, and it never fails. I am His.

All the way UP

I'm about to shock you all.

I climbed a mountain last night.

Yes, me. To the top. The tippy top.

Despite my fear of heights, bugs, and animals. I didn't fear the animals that might have been lurking or the creepy crawlies that may have been in the brush I was grabbing hold of. However, I was scared to death the entire way up because I knew I'd have to find a way back down. But, word to the wise, if you ever find yourself atop a mountain and you're afraid to travel the trails down by foot, remember - your bottom may have more surface area than your feet!

I don't know what got into me though. The trail guide mentioned a really spectacular sight that I've only read about in books and I really wanted to see it. Really bad. Even though it meant traversing along a steep, narrow trail that I could possibly slide down into a ravine of rocks with one failed step. But I did it! I made it! And I saw this very old, and very neat, sight with my own eyes!! Going back was very scary though.. I scooted along on my butt some of the way. I don't know that I'll have the courage to get to this spot again.

Continuing up the mountain though, up, up, up, we came to a very peaceful, low-incline area. It was full of oak trees, offering much welcome shade and coolness after the steep, slippery, switchbacks up. There was some ground covering plants with leaves as big as my head, which proved an abundance of water in the area at some point. And finally, alas, we came to our destination - a beautiful waterfall, hidden deep within the mountain! The picture really doesn't do it justice.

Luckily, as my reward for making it to the top alive, nature presented me with a gift. A very useful hiking stick. This really, truly, helped alleviate my fears on the downward trek because it was kind of like having a third leg. It was also starting to get dark too. Perhaps the darkness though is what made me not as fearful of the ledges.

At the end, my feet were alot dirter than they would have been if I had gone to my yoga class instead, but this was well worth the hike. It put me in a position to trust in God to bring me down alive and with all my skin intact, and it allowed me the opportunity to see some of the beauty God has created. The view from many areas on this trail was magnificent as well and I could see the entire valley from where I was. I'm so glad I was somehow able to put my fears aside and do this hike!

Book Review (sorta): Unlikely Angel

Well, I didn't have anything to blog about (that wouldn't require publicly posting family pictures) so I thought I'd give kudos to a book I just finished.

Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero
by Ashley Smith

This is the account of a woman who was taken hostage by Brian Nichols in 2005. I don't remember hearing about this on the news or anything, but from reading the description of the book, I had an idea of what it was about. Because of this, I was on the edge of my seat when I first opened the book. She doesn't waste much time getting right into the story though.

It was amazing to see how God was working during this time in Ashely Smith's life and how she was being used by God to affect Brian Nichols' life as well. It was so clearly obvious who was in charge of this situation, and it wasn't Ashley. It wasn't Nichols either though. GOD is in control. Always.

Promises to you, and you, even YOU, and me.

Ever notice how so many of the promises in the Bible are addressed to a specific person, or a specific group of people, but yet we accept them as promises for us? I wondered about this.. Even though I know in my heart that these promises are true and apply to me, I wanted to know how it figures, such as if I were to try to explain it to someone, what would I say?

Well, I stumbled across an answer last night!

There's likely multiple passages in scripture that make this clear, but this just happens to be the few that my Bible fell open to last night, as I somewhat randomly picked a place to read and just started reading.

Galations 3:22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Galations 3:26-29 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Hallelujah! I belong to Christ! Jump for joy!

Utter randomness.

cotton candy : love stories : snow cones : blankets : pj pants : hugs and kisses from my little one : conversations with my 2 year old about random things : conversations about life with my love : elevation church : frozen yogurt : chocolate necco's : my mom : avacados: unexpected emails containing good things : my dad: yoga : glitter : pretty scrapbook papers : un-posed pictures : heaters : fictional books : i love you's : friends : funny, light-hearted movies : new clothes : pink sugar perfume : experimenting with new recipes : lemon scents : baking : people eating food I've made : ballet : wise words : letters : David Crowder Band : surprising someone : warm, cozy sweaters : helping someone in need : Prince : presents : cupcakes with tall frosting : friends : getting packages in the mail : chefs suggestions : people who help keep me grounded : a clean house : unexplainable joy : smiling babies : snuggling : making others happy : my family : back rubs : desserts of almost any kind : getting lost in a good book : nachos : scrapbooking : peace and quiet : chicken enchiladas in a white sauce : sprinkles : singing loudly to a good song in the privateness of my car : doing something good for my body : my husband : my son : online shopping : naps : gentle nudges from God : sixlets : sharp cheddar cheese : the funny things my boy does : frosting : Proverbs : books on CD : music that makes me want to break out of my shell : knowing the solution to the problem : feeling loved : showing love : God .

Perfectly imperfect.

Have you ever paused to think of how incredibly boring life would be if everything came easy? Imagine... If you never had to work hard for anything, or push through pain. If you were able to easily accomplish, with perfection, any and all endeavors you went after.. Slam dunk, every time. Triple pirouette, flawlessly done. Warrior pose, firmly grounded. Full marathon, first place.

Imagine a friendship or a relationship that came easy and quickly, and imagine how shallow and weak it would be. The time and energy we invest in something will give value to the final outcome. Because of this, we can take pride in our small achievements. There is depth to them.

No matter how well we can do something, or how skilled we are at something, there's always some measure of improvement we can strive for. We will never be perfect. We can always work to become even stronger than we even think is possible. And for this, I am grateful! Where we think there are limits, we don't even know! Only God knows where the limit lies, and with Him, anything is possible!

The phrase, "No pain, no gain", comes to mind too.

Thank God He made us as He did, with plenty of room for improvement!

Drown your iPhone.

"Make a conscious choice to move the attention of your anxious heart away from the waves and direct it to the One who walks on them." -Henri Nouwen

What might happen if you shift your attention away from the waves to the One who walks on them?
What concrete thing could you do to help redirect your attention?

- excerpt from SOLO.

Well, for starters, you could dunk your iPhone into a large bowl of water....

I've been having an 'off' day. Actually, quite a few 'off' days in a row. Like something is missing. Or more like something I previously had has been lost. I started asking myself what it could be, what has changed. A thought came to mind that maybe I should de-Face(book) for a while. And de-email. And de-Solitaire. And de-FML. Well, no sooner did this thought come to my mind that I heard a plunking sound. Yeah, you probably guessed it. My iPhone... my pride and joy, my vehicle for these distractions... had drowned itself.

I was shocked, but in all honestly, I wasn't completely and totally upset, which is surprising. Of all the phones I've had, I haven't liked one as much as I have liked this one. It was kind of like I knew I wouldn't really be missing out on that much without it though. Sure, it's a great source of entertainment and I absolutely love it, but I know in my mind that it's not a necessity. I can go back to writing my grocery list on paper. And I can start singing the songs in my head when I run instead of listening to my playlist. And people who email me or text me will certainly survive if they don't receive an instantaneous reply back.

So I took my 'off' self to bed. I was already feeling like burying my head under the blankets and staying there for a few days. In addition to this feeling, some other things were nagging at me too but I knew it was too late to change the course of those things. I just wanted to cry. But, if you know me at all, you know that I don't express outward emotion very well and my tears are usually shed internally. So, I don't cry. Instead, I decided to do a little reading in hopes that it would lift my spirits a little.

Well, tonights devotional did offer some guidance. It also offered a challenge. What would happen if I shift my attention away from the waves and instead put my attention on the One who walks on the waves? Hopefully I'm about to find out!

Maybe I'm the shopping cart?

Is 'the world' a major flip-flopper lately, or is it just me? Is it really just my own attitudes and perceptions that is changing things? I really can't tell. I feel like I'm genuine though, but just because I feel like that, it's not fair for me to point a finger and assume 'the world' is not.

Wait a minute.. Stop, stop, stop!

Why am I concerning myself with 'the world'? These things are so small and petty in the big scheme of things. Why am I letting this bother me and take up valuable thinking time with something so small? 'The world', though? Small? Not hardly! But I think maybe it's time that I give myself a hard jolt and refocus on something that's even bigger than the world! He, Jesus, is bigger than the world! It's about Him, and not about other people. Refocus! Refocus!!!

So the other night I was sitting quietly reading through a daily devotional. It was about listening for God's voice. The 'action' part of it was to sit still and quiet and try to listen for God's voice yourself. So I did it. I don't know if it was because I was getting sleepy and maybe subconciously thinking about my To Do List, but I had this image come into my mind. I'm not going to move away and start my own country over it, but I think it's loose interpretation could be beneficial in my life. The image was of a shopping cart. The cart was moving, but the back end of it, the end you push from, got caught on something. This part didn't move beyond the thing it was caught on, but the front end did. It continued on for a bit. The cart sort of stretched.

So, I can think of this as just a reminder to watch where I'm going while pushing around the shopping cart so I can be most efficient while in the store, or I can see it another way. Maybe I'm the shopping cart. Perhaps I'm getting hung up on something and it's keeping me from fully and completely going where I need to go, and in the process, is stretching myself thin over a number of the things in my life.

Maybe I'm putting too much effort into the things in life that don't matter, thinking that these are the things that will help me to grow, but in actuality, I need something else. I need food. Spiritual food. And I'm not going to get it from marking a bunch of things off my To Do List or trying to make things happen on my own. Maybe this is a portion of the answer to my prayers about guidance in finding my place. Rather than giving me a specific here's-where-you-go answer, this is a here's-where-you-don't-go answer. Or maybe I should just stop trying so hard because things will happen in due time. In God's time.

I've got a feeling..

Well, I've had this feeling for a while now. A feeling like there's something I'm meant to be doing, but the timing isn't right yet and I have no clue what it is. I'm so anxious to jump right into this thing that I know nothing about though! I think this is part of the uncontainable joy and excitement that lands upon me at times that I have no explanation for.

Until then, I'll carry these verses in my heart as I pray (and beg) that God shows me what I'm supposed to be doing.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Joyful noise!

My heart is full and threatening to burst with joy once again this morning. There's no real, tangible reason for this though. It's a wonderful feeling - not having my joy hanging on something wordly, something that is meaningless in the long run!

I've been having mini-revivals in my car every morning for the last two days. (Perhaps this has been the spout for this faucet running with joy?) Both days, something in the lyrics has been almost taking my breath away, catching in my throat and in my heart. A verse (found multiple times) in the Bible comes to mind - "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!". I am hearing! And I am grateful!

We're gonna sing like the saved
A joyful noise we will make
You put this joy in our hearts
We're gonna dance like the saved

- from Sing Like the Saved by David Crowder Band

YOU put this joy in my heart, God!

I made a few setting changes to my blog so i'm just testing this out to see if a new post really, truly appears! Ready, set, GO!

Praise Him!

I will dance
I will sing
To be mad
For my King
Nothing Lord
Is hindering
This passion in my soul

- from the song Undignified by The David Crowder Band.

Ever feel like you have so much passion, joy, and energy in your soul and you are desperate for an outlet for it all? I feel like that today. I'd like to run through a field on the top of a mountain, loudly singing this song!

Today is...

... World Fist Bump Day!

http://www.worldfistbumpday.org/

Gimme some knuckles!

Don't drink the bath water!

Aren't I on a roll getting two blog posts in on one day?

My boy has already learned to fake me out. Last night during bath time, he kept picking up one of the bath cups and going in for a drink of bath water. I'd say, "Yuck! Don't drink the bath water!". But, the kid kept doing it! After a few times, I got up to move the cup from his mouth and again tell him that was gross, but ya know what? The cup was empty!!! He continued faking me out by letting the water dribble down his chin occassionaly, likely so as to throw me off guard by putting a cup with water up to his lips.

Brown Eyes not so Brown..

Well, this week E has been battling the dreaded pink eye. Luckily, it hasn't spread to anyone else, but the poor kid looks so sad when he looks up at you with those goobery, pink eyes. We've been using the prescription eye drops since Sunday, but it's slow going clearing up. The problem though may be due to the extremely difficult task of getting stinging drops of medicine into a 2-year old's eyes.. Though bribery is encouraging him to cooperate, it's still a natural reflex to close your eyes when you see something coming at them!

Here's hoping for a bright and clear holiday weekend, with no pink except for the frosting on the cake! (Yes, I may be baking a cake because I just got the COOLEST giant cupcake shaped baking pan and I reaaaally want to try it out!)

Success! Sort of ...

So if you talked to me much at all last week, you would have known how utterly excited I was to begin construction on a Barbie cake for my wonderful daycare lady's little girl's birthday. I was so excited that I dreamt about it for at least two days before and the night before, I had to will myself to go to sleep! Well, the construction was a success! We made it on Friday night and cut it at the party on Saturday afternoon. It looked great and tasted great, stayed standing overnight, and the birthday girl thought it was pretty neat too!

It's triple later, with the top later being a trimmed-up bundt cake. The layers had home-made chocolate frosting, and the outside was vanilla frosting.

After having such a success with this, I thought I'd try making a double layer cake with easy-pour fondant on Sunday. Well, that didn't work out so well.... In fact, I didn't even get to the fondant because I had made such a mess of the cake. But Bill and I cut ourselves a piece and happily ate it anyways. It wasn't pretty, but it was still good.

Next on my list... Red Velvet Cake Balls.

And next on YOUR list if your a baker at all, wander around Bakerella's blog. She's got so many fun ideas! I love it!

Give. me. coffee!!!

Check out all the delightfully delicious coffee and teas they've got here - www.coffeebeandirect.com.

Want to win a gigantic gift basket full of some of this yummy stuff? Go here!
www.gograhamgo.com

My next big project!

So I'm going to attempt to make a Barbie cake with my wonderful daycare lady for her little girl's 4th birthday this weekend.
Here's the detailed plan:

We're going to use cake mix and 1 or 2 round cake tins and a rounded bundt pan, all layered to make Barbie's skirt. We're then going to use home-made buttercream frosting (powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, milk) for the outside of the cake and then maybe some chocolate buttercream for the layers (by adding cocoa powder).

Here's what the cake will HOPEFULLY turn out like. I'll be sure to post a picture of the actual cake when it's done!

Awesome Giveaway!

But you have to be sure to get your entries in today!!

http://www.giveawaytoday.blogspot.com/

Open Skies

I don't blog much (obviously), but this seemed blog-worthy to me this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwM8vgulzdI

This song feels like a breath of fresh air! It's got momentum that could just carry me right through the day. And it got me thinking too about how God is like an open sky. Big, wide and emcompassing, and always present - no matter where you are geographically (or emotionally, spiritually, wherever you are in your life journey). You have to only be able to open your eyes to see it right there with you, always. Although, even if you keep your eyes closed or if it's dark, the sky is still there, whether you acknowledge it or not.

I love coupons!

Can I just take a minute to express my newfound love for coupons? I have been saving so much money! And no, there aren't coupons for everything I purchase, but when there are coupons I use, I can stock up on those items! (Okay, so only if I can print them a bunch of times!)

So at my last grocery shopping trip to Target, I saved $28 in coupons. The time before I saved $20. And at Walmart, I saved about $9. This is so cool!!!

Here's an absolutely amazing website by a lady who really knows her stuff and does her homework. She knows where all the deals are and tells you the best way to use the coupons to save the most money. She also includes links to printable coupons, which there are many out there!

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

And here's some of the awesome sites I've been using to get my print my coupons.

http://www.organicgrocerydeals.com/forums/view.php?pg=coupon_generator
http://coupons.smartsource.com//index.aspx?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO
http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=13927&zid=ym31&nid=10&bid=alk090403110420hccgvayy

If there happen to be any coupon clipping readers out there (or any readers at all, let me know you're there!), tell me your secrets!

What to name this.... Hmm!

So I couldn't decide what to name this blog.. I don't even know how much I'll write on it or what I'll even write about. Bill thought of 'Gabby Scrapper', and then we thought up 'Gigglebit Gabber'. This ended up going into 'Fields of Bubbles', or of Laughter, or of Smiles, but it was either taken already or didn't quite fit. I suggested to Bill, 'Bubblegum Bubble Bisquit'. I think this was the name some joke email donned me a few years ago. Bill said I was just getting silly though. Silly? That made me think about how my arms used to laugh. This would mostly happen during handstand contests when I was a kid, which is the reason why I rarely won. My arms still laugh on occassion though, but unfortunately its gone beyond handstands.. Sometimes they start laughing when I'm trying to go to sleep. In fact, they are starting to laugh right now! Aaahh!

So that's how I came to name my new blog, 'Upsidedown headstands'. Because I can do these kinds of headstands for a long time and if my arms start to laugh, I won't be disqualified from the contest. But if my legs start laughing......