Go to the Cookie Company in the lower level of Gateway Mall (or Gateway Westfield Shopping Town or whatever you want to call it). The cookies are one dollar each and are huge. Iced ginger is my favorite.
I’ve been to the newly renovated mall twice in two days—a record for me! Our family met Grandma Tredway and Auntie Bean there last night for part of the grand opening festivities. Despite the chaotic, shoving crowds of the Friday night opener, Sunday night proved more peaceful and definitely less crowded due, in no small part I’m sure, to a $5 entry fee (given to charity). We entered contests for shopping sprees, picked up free Cokes for sampling, listened to the very fun, very talented String Beans (more on them later), ate in the new foodcourt, and did some very serious shopping. The special sales were unbelievable; one lucky family member of mine will be the Christmas recepient of a $44 shirt marked down to $19—beautiful.
I felt greatly encouraged today by the TEAM Mom program at my church. For a mere $5 fee, I experienced renewal from teachings from the Word of God, babysitting for the wee one, friendship of great women, and a delicious brunch — can’t beat that! I learned this morning that I need more encouragement in my life, more heroes to look up to, higher goals to aspire to. In so many ways I’ve become complacent — in my spiritual life in Christ, in my marriage, in my parenting, in my interactions with friends and strangers alike, in my day to day living. I want to be a better woman, and I’m grateful for people like Kerri K., Carrie M., Indra B. and my mom who push me to follow God’s truths.
Here’s a quote worth considering taken from a handout this morning:
Marriage requires a radical committment to love our spouses as they are, while longing for them to become what they are not yet. Every marriage moves either toward enhancing one another’s glory or toward degrading each other.
– Dan Allender and Tremper Longman III
We have been friends together,
In sunshine and in shade;
Since first beneath the chestnut-trees
In infancy we played…
We Have Been Friends Together, Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (1808–77)
Livia: Ma-Ma.
Jeremy: I’m Daddy.
Livia: Ma-Ma! Ma-Ma!
Jeremy: Da-Dee.
Livia: Ma-Ma!
Jeremy: Da-Dee. [pause] Can you say “Daddy?”
Livia: Daddy.
Last Monday I carved pumpkins with friends. Interestingly enough, Renae had never carved a pumpkin before and Joie almost sliced her pinky off with her pocketknife. But, all’s well that ends well, right? I’ve heard Jo-Jo’s finger is healing nicely and Renae’s first pumpkin looks great (“now gimmee some candy”). I strung some orange lights on the porch, lit a few extra candles out front and now I think we’re officially ready for trick-or-treaters tonight.
Speaking of trick-or-treaters, this little giraffe is one UNhappy camper. Clarification: this is not the costume she’ll be wearing. Sure she looks cute, but the hood is too heavy and Punkins got kind of claustrophobic inside it. She’ll be making the neighborhood rounds in another giraffe outfit, the one I knew was a bit small when I bought it and now it’s really too small so the hood doesn’t fit on her head, but oh well. She still looks adorable in it.
Enjoy the day, friends!
My mom and I made this recipe last Thursday and it yielded a really delicious fall soup (or “stoup” as Rachael Ray terms her recipes that are somewhere between a stew and a soup). I found the recipe in the chef’s 30-minute Get Real Meals book.
2 TB vegetable oil
2 TB butter, cut into pats
3 knockwursts, diced into 1-inch cubes
3 bratwursts, diced into 1-inch cubes
1 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
2 lb red cabbage, quartered and shredded
1 t caraway seeds
salt & pepper
1 12oz bottle dark beer
1 qt veal or chicken stock
2 C tomato sauce
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
3 TB finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 Red or Golden Delicious apples, peeled and diced
juice of 1/2 lemon
Heat a big soup pot over med-high heat. Add 1 TB of vegetable oil and half the butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the cubed worsts and brown them on all sides, 5 minutes. Remove the browned sausages and add the remaining tablespoon each of oil and butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and caraway, season with salt and pepper, and stir. Cook the cabbage for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the beer and cook down 1 minute. Add the stock, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, and bay leaf and stir to combine. Add the wurst back to the pot. Cover the pot and bring the stoup up to a boil, 2 or 3 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for 5-10 minutes longer, until the cabbage is tender. Remove the bay leaf. Combine the parsley, apple, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Ladle the stoup into shallow bowls and top with generous spoonfuls of the flavored apples to stir into the stoup as you eat it.
**We used Emeril’s Chicken & Apple Sausage in place of the wursts simply because it’s what we had on hand. In retrospect, we should have added these fully cooked sausages at the end of cooking. Also, it took longer than 10 minutes to produce tender cabbage. Nonetheless, the stoup made for an unusual and delicious dinner!
I thought the Internet should enjoy this photo as much as I do.
Jeremy had to dress up in order to get into his office’s Halloween party on Monday. And me? Well, I look like this everyday.
I awoke with hunger pains this morning and, instead of feeding Livia first, I shut the baby in the bathroom with Jeremy and ran downstairs for bowl of cereal. Halfway through the Grapenut O’s, I heard, “Rebecca, come up here, please!” Something about Jeremy’s tone of voice, and the fact he was using my full name to address me, made me run for the stairs.
What I found in the bathroom was hysterical. My husband, only partially bathed (our old house doesn’t have a shower), standing and holding on to a dripping wet, fully-clothed Livia. My mind needed a few seconds to decipher this picture: Baby still dressed, sopping wet… Okaaaay.
Apparently Livia’s love of walking along the bath’s edge while patting Mommy or Daddy with soapy hands resulted in a full-on bathtub dive. Jeremy tried to stay calm as he described what she looked like under water, eyes and mouth closed, hair waving about her head. All I can say is that I’m glad I wasn’t on duty when the Diving Baby Act took place!
We’re addicts. Thanks to our friendly neighborhood supplier, we’re hopelessly hooked on LOST.
Can’t. stop. watching.
