Our Little Angel

If you look closely you might catch a glimpse of the

white, radiant angelic aura surrounding him. :)

Happy 9 Months, Knox! 

Life would be so boring without you. ♥

A Few Things I Love About My Mom

She's so pretty.

One of her main gifts is hospitality...her home is beautiful and she makes everyone feel welcome there.

She is very passionate about what she loves.

She can visit with anyone.

She is disciplined and determined.

She trusts God with her daughters' lives...even when it means He takes them to China, and Indonesia.  Texas, Arizona.  Chicago.  That is not easy and it means so much to us.

She understands deeply the importance of family, and roots, and history; that it is significant to who we are today.

She loves to take long walks outdoors.

She makes the best macaroni and cheese in the world.

She grew up on a farm.

There has never been a moment in my life when I didn't know she loves me.

When she's tired she loses it and starts giggling uncontrollably until she nearly chokes to death.

She is organized and always works hard.

She lets me lick my dessert plate.  Waste not want not, mom. :)

She loves Jesus.

She knows how to make special days really special.

She is a little old-fashioned.  In a good way.

She pays attention and knows that Courtney loves her rhubarb pie, Josh loves her strawberry-rhubarb coffeecake, Justin loves her coconut bars, and Leah loves...well...all of the above.   :)

Her initials spell B.E.S.T. They do!

Mom, I'm so blessed to have you for my mom.  I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Tuscan Chicken Sandwiches

I gave you my focaccia bread recipe yesterday.  

Now I'm going to show you one of our favorite ways to use it!

My mom is the one who found this tuscan chicken sandwich recipe and it's still one of my favorite things that she makes.  

It's SUPER easy but comes out tasting (and looking) really special.  Think Panera Bread...only way better. :)

Here's how it goes.

Throw:

One jar of roasted red peppers

Several cloves minced garlic

3-5 chicken breasts 

in your crockpot and cook on high for 3-4 hours.

When chicken is cooked through (and your whole house smells like heaven), shred the chicken with two forks and add SALT and PEPPER, to taste.

Mix some pesto with a little mayonnaise for your spread,

slice a fresh tomato...

...and start building your sandwiches.

We definitely recommend using this fresh focaccia, but you can use any bread you choose.

YEAH!

Thanks, Mom! :)

Rosemary Focaccia

Here is my favorite focaccia recipe!  

I don't make loaf bread very often, but I do make focaccia regularly.  It goes with everything.  Italian dishes, soups, salads, everything.  And it's good all year long...focaccia never goes out of season. :)  It still has to rise for a long time (twice, take note!) but it somehow feels more manageable to me to make than other yeast breads.

Josh said the last time I made it, "I think this is the best bread I've ever eaten in my life."

It is really good.  

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Rosemary Focaccia

1 2/3 cups warm water

1 (1/4 oz.) package (2 1/2 tsp.) active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

5 cups flour

1/4 cup plus 3 Tbl. olive oil

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbl. dry or chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp. coarse (sea or kosher) salt

Stir together yeast with warm water, yeast and sugar in stand-up mixer bowl until yeast is dissolved.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Add flour, 1/4 cup oil, and regular salt and beat with paddle attachment at medium speed until a dough forms.  Switch to dough hook and knead dough at high speed until soft, smooth and sticky, 3-4 minutes.

Knead with dough hook about a minute longer, then transfer to lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Generously oil one 15x10x1 inch baking sheet or two cookie sheets.  Press dough evenly into large pan or form two circles and place on cookie sheets.  Cover completely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425.  

Stir together rosemary and remaining oil in small bowl.  Make shallow indentations all over top of dough with fingertips, then brush with rosemary oil, letting it pool in indentations.  Sprinkle coarse salt evenly over top.

Bake until golden, 18-25 minutes. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.  Best eaten same day you bake it. 

Knox, King of Blocks

 

Spring Cleaning 101

I wish I could be uploading pictures of pretty decorated cookies right now instead of my bookshelves...because that is what I really wanted to be doing this past week.  Decorating cookies.  Or going to the mall. Or taking a long walk with Knox.  Or reading a book.  Or just about anything else besides spring cleaning.

But no, it was time to tackle this huge list of mine, which I wrote back in January, and have been finding excuses to delay ever since.

Do you notice that each and every item on the list now has a check mark next to it?! 

Last week was officially Operation Organize week here in our apartment.  Everything was turned over and inside out and we are now clean as a whistle.

I am not fond of organizing or deep cleaning.  I keep things clean on the outside but if you open a closet or cupboard door you better be ready for the attack of clutter and dust.  My mother tried to teach me better than that, but it just didn't work.

But now, after 5 days of hard work, we are truly clean and organized. 

At least for now.

I have this vague idea that when you write a blog about organizing you're supposed to give everyone your super duper organizing tips.  So here it is.

My strategy for Spring Cleaning/Organizing looks like this:

1.) Write a list.

2.) Try to do the things on the list.

3.) Months later, when that hasn't worked, bribe yourself with a reward (Tiff's Treats warm & fresh cookie delivery, for example).  And then get busy! :)

Worked like a charm.

And let me tell you, a week of Spring Cleaning burns a LOT of calories.  I totally deserved this, people.

Happy Spring!

The Two Story, Double Balcony Tree House

It's the end of an era.


On Saturday morning I called my family and my Dad said the words I have been dreading to hear for a long time.

"It's time for the tree house to come down."


When I was little...8 or 9ish years old...my Dad had my sister Courtney and I sit down and design the tree house of our dreams.

We grew up with acres and acres of woods as our playground.  So it was a no brainer.  What are all those trees for if not for a tree house?!

I remember the planning session.  My sister and I put our heads together and dreamed.  We dreamed big.  It was going to be the coolest  tree house known to mankind. 

We wanted it to be TWO stories high and to have stairs inside.  We wanted it to have an outdoor balcony off of each floor.  We wanted it to have real glass windows.  And - most importantly of all - it had to have a swinging ladder as the main means of entrance.

Only the best Dad in the world could make such a dream come true.

Luckily for us, we have that Dad. ♥

I remember him building it, and I remember helping.

(Does Mom know we helped nail shingles on the roof?)

I believe Courtney and I were going to paint the inside black and splatter paint it with hot pink, purple and turquoise.  That was the only part of the dream that didn't come true.  We never got around to it, thankfully. :)

These photos were all taken Saturday, just before the demolition began.  As you can tell, it really was time to bring it down.  The unfortunate thing about trees is that they grow.  And pull tree houses apart.

After 20-something years our beloved tree house was tearing apart and rotting inside.  The glass windows were partially broken.

It wasn't safe any more.

So Dad and Justin pulled it down.

Sadness.

Because this wasn't just a tree house...

It was a beautiful mansion.

A ship in the middle of the sea.

A castle.

That my Dad built for us.

I'm sad that Knox will never get to play in our tree house, but Papa has already promised that when Knox and Baby W. get a little bigger there will be yet another tree house planning session.

I can't wait. :)