Quilting Party

My mom is an avid quilter, so as you can imagine, Charlie has lots of fun floor quilts to play on. Grandma was visiting last week to help with Charlie while his sitter was on a much-deserved tropical cruise (thanks Grandma!), so I got to help her build a new quilt for him. We picked out the fabrics last summer (before we even knew about our little guy!) and Grandma got to work cutting and cutting and cutting! I had seen a quilt at a show with mom many years ago that had all of these little puffed-up, stuffed squares sewn together. I always had that in mind as the quilt I'd ask my mom to make when we had a baby.


Mom (btw, mom & grandma are the same person...just depends on what I'm feeling like calling her at any given moment!) brought her old sewing machine & showed me how to wind the bobbin & load up the thread & all that good stuff. I had so much fun sewing all the little squares into strips. I don't think I've used a sewing machine since 8th grade home-ec class, so it took me a while to get the hang of it. As we started to build the strips, I realized that I liked the texture of the pleated squares all by themselves with no stuffing at all. That's the great thing about making your own stuff. The creative process kicks in and things just kind of evolve into what you want it to be. I can see why my mom loves quilting so much. It's awesome to see the pieces come together to form something great. (I love this picture, because calculators come in very handy when you're designing quilts - who knew?!).

Grandma packed up the goods (minus the old sewing machine - I get to keep that. She has a much fancier, experienced-quilter-type jobbie she uses) and is working to finish things up back at her house. I can't wait to post the final result once it's done!

Spring in California

We're enjoying our last day in California visiting friends & family. Charlie has loved getting to see GG & Nay Nay, his cousins Mason, Ryann & Landon, Uncle Cade & Aunt Chelsey, Grammy Bonz and so many others! He did great on the plane ride out and has officially adjusted to the new time zone - which should make the next few days back on EDT fun! The weather has been great - lots of clear blue skies offering beautiful views of Mt. Shasta & Mt. Lassen. Definitely a change of pace from the flat lands and rolling hills we're more accustomed to. We're headed to Chico today to have lunch at the Sierra Nevada brewery before heading back to pack and hit the road back to SFO around 5am tomorrow!

Sweet Surprises

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Aesop

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I was treated to the most pleasant surprise today. My friend, Neysa, included me in an article about our work together at her house for an upcoming issue of Cincy Chic. I typically count myself a generally happy person, but I find that I'm smiling even more than normal today from such a simple act of kindness. Go spread your own kindness today - it's contagious.

Our 3am Pest

Boy, am I behind on postings! I feel like I have so much I want to share as I'm driving around, but when I sit down in front of my computer, nothing seems to flow! So, nothing terribly useful today, but I will share a funny story from this week.

For a few months, I've been vaguely aware of a family of raccoons that is nesting in our back wooded lot. I've seen the hole they crawl down & I've seen them loping along through the driveway sometimes late at night. To the best of my knowledge, they've stayed away from the house, so I've chosen to let sleeping dogs (or raccoons) lie.

One night this week, I was awakened by the sound of a terrible scratching noise coming from our bedroom door off the deck. It was awful! I honestly thought there was a pack of wild animals crawling through our attic. So I went over to the door to see what I could find. One of the raccoons was sitting on the deck railing, scratching & pawing at our door & doorknob! I seriously think the little booger was trying to figure out how to open the darn door! I bent down, looked him straight in the eye and told him to get lost. He kind of stared at me for a second, and sauntered off. I guess I don't have the ability to strike fear in the hearts of raccoons at 3am.

So as I lay awake the rest of the night I added calling pest control to my mental to do list (a real no-no, by the way...you should write everything down!) for the next day.

St. Patrick's Day Cottage Pie

One of the make ahead dishes I've turned to lately is cottage pie. I didn't know, but cottage pie is made with beef, while traditional Shepard's pie is made with lamb. Like most of my meals, this came about from a combination of recipes and changes based on what I have in the fridge on any given day.

1 lb ground beef
1 -2 T olive oil and/or butter (I usually use 1/2 of each)
salt & pepper to taste
garlic
1/2 bag frozen mixed veggies (or combo of onions, celery, carrots, etc. - again, whatever you have on hand)
2-3 T flour
1-2 c. chicken stock (or beef broth or water...you get the idea)

3-4 c. prepared mashed potatoes (make 'em any way you like)
butter

Saute ground beef & seasonings in oil/butter until no longer pink. If a lot of fat accumulates, drain off all but a couple of tablespoons. Stir in flour and cook for a couple of minutes to absorb the fat. Add liquid and stir to create a thick-ish sauce. Add frozen veggies - check for seasoning & adjust accordingly. If using fresh veggies, saute together with the meat before adding flour & liquid. Transfer mixture to 9" pie plate or other shallow dish. Cover w/ mashed potatoes. Dot a pat or 2 of butter (in small pieces) over the top of the potatoes. If all ingredients hot, broil to brown top of potatoes. If room temp or cold, bake @ 350 till warm & bubbly & lightly browned!

One note on the mashed potatoes. I recently added 1/2 package of garlic & herb Boursin cheese to my regular mashed potatoes for this dish. (Why? Because it was in the fridge, silly.) Delish!

Birth Parent Prayer Service

In addition to our regular goings on , I've also been busy working with other area families planning the Friends Through Adoption annual Birth Parent Prayer Service. Our lives have been so enriched through the beauty of adoption and this is one small way that we can honor & give thanks to the brave birth parents who choose to make an adoption plan.

The service is Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 2718 Dixie Highway,
Crestview Hills. You can also read this article in the Kentucky Enquirer regarding the event.

Of course, the service is open to all and we would especially welcome those touched by adoption. Let me know if you have any questions - I'd be happy to answer any as best I can!

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it's March 11 already - where on earth did February go?? Life has continued to be a whirlwind of activity around here. Daddy had shoulder surgery last week and is recovering nicely, though it's still very hard for him to hold Charlie, which is sad for both of them. I didn't get to spend as much time last week during Matt's recovery phase on my real estate courses, but I'm determined to get through this and get things wrapped up next week.

I was very proud of myself last week as I spent nearly the entire day in the kitchen on Tuesday preparing a week's worth of meals to have on hand while caring for my patient. I made stuffed shells, cottage pie, chicken soup, chicken salad, banana bread & daddy's favorite Chocolate Cherry Cookies. I probably spent 6 hours or so in the kitchen and it really was nice to have a fridge full of food to just heat 'n eat until Sunday. I think I'll try to build a cooking day into my schedule over the coming weeks to prepare for busier work days ahead.

I did have to come up with a fancy trick to cool my two loaves of banana bread & two dozen cookies all at the same time. I'm not a huge baker, so I've only ever had one wire cooling rack in my arsenal. I created two additional "cooling racks" by inverting a pizza pan with holes in it over a base of 3 ramekins & by inverting a muffin tin on the counter. Both allowed the air to circulate around the cookies & bread just like a wire rack would. I'm always so proud when I come up with my very own "a ha" solutions around the house!