23 Weeks!!

I was like a walking zombie on Friday and Sunday! Poor Russell was dragging me through our plans for those days. I could hardly put one foot in front of the other!

I know why, now! Rhys was experiencing a growth spurt! My tummy POPPED over the weekend! My gym shorts are so tight around my waist, now, so I'm moving on to working out in EXPANDABLE scrubs!! :)

Isn't he so cute!?!?! :) Can hardly wait to meet the little guy! Especially after spending so much time with all of our friends who are having babies!! We absolutely praise the Lord!

Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is here, and I think I've gone baking mad! :)

I LOVE to bake once it's really cold outside!! I woke up this morning, and it was 55 degrees! We've been leaving our windows open, so I had to bundle up in long sleeves, sweat pants and even my house shoes when I got out of bed at 5:00!

I'd mixed a pumpkin roll batter last night and then put it in the fridge for some weekend baking. Well, I woke up thinking about that yummy mix, and I decided to make pumpkin muffins this morning! The roll is just too much work at 5am! So, simple muffins was the way to go!

They are delicious, but the batter is even better! If you try this recipe, you have to taste the batter (yes, it has raw eggs...oh, well)...it literally tingles your taste buds...maybe it's the teaspoon of lemon juice?

I made the filling from this recipe, too! It's a YUMMY sweetened cream cheese mixture, and I may just drizzle it over each muffin since I opted not to do the roll. The filling is like a cream cheese danish filling. 'YUM!' says it all!

Freshly baked and ready to eat!!

Banana Bread (Low Fat)

I'm too lazy to type the above recipe, but I'm NOT too lazy to share something so good!! My sweet husband scanned in my recipe card. What a sweetheart he is! I'll just have to go home and bake this for him AGAIN! :)

I've been baking this Banana Bread recipe since I lived with Ashley at least 5 years ago! It is low fat, and I actually use whole wheat flour in place of white flour, so it's even healthy! I've just made two loaves in the last few days, and I love to eat it for breakfast, snacks, desserts, whenever! Russell will eat this, too! I like sprinkling chopped walnuts - pretty heavily - over the top just before baking.

Baked and ready to serve!

Enjoy!!

Spinach Brownies

Everyone is posting great recipes, so I'm following suit! :) We'll start with this recipe. It's very much like a quiche...great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacking throughout the day! I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and have been making it for almost a year! Russell loves to snack on these at any time! Makes for great, healthy snacking for the whole family!! (Darby, your kiddies might even eat these! Jenn, I KNOW Rollins would eat these!! ;))

INGREDIENTS
1 (10 ounce) package spinach, rinsed and chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 onion, chopped
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Place spinach in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook until spinach is limp, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in eggs, milk and butter. Mix in spinach, onion and mozzarella cheese.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before serving. Serves 24.

Enjoy!

21 Weeks

...and growing!!

Anyone? Anyone? Joker, Anyone? :)

Russell's been staining and polishing up this little puppy! It's all ready for fun and games!!!

"Thank you, Honey!! It's truly a beautiful, hand-made work of art! Should make for some fun Joker nights!! Yay!!!"

Welcome, James Christian deVilleneuve!

Pictures speak a thousand words, so I'll let the pictures do the speaking...


Mommy and baby are doing great!

I'm certain the deVilleneuve's will be blogging soon!

A Weekend Get Away...

Russell & I got to escape to Arkansas for a nice weekend with one of our best couple friends, Chris & Tara Kear. What did we do? More like...what did we not do!?!?! It's amazing how much can be done in two nights and a day! :)

Friday night, we started with yummy bbq for dinner, followed by a rodeo and then a couple of great games of Jokers! If you know me at all, you know that my new favorite game/activity :) is JOKERS!

Saturday morning, we got the day started out right with yummy blueberry and banana nut muffins and lots of yummy, fresh fruits - blueberries, strawberries, bananas! YUM! YUM! The four of us could sit around their dining table during any meal and literally talk the day away, but Tara was quick to point out that Hurricane Ike was still on the move, bringing rain to our area, so if we were going to get outside to play, we'd better wrap up the table talk and take it outside! :) So, we did!

Chris & Tara are buying a new house, so they were sweet to power walk :) us to their new home, about a mile away, and we got the grand tour! We're excited with them as they look forward to closing on their new home in one month! Yay!!! "Guys, we love your new home, and we praise the Lord with you for His provision!! I was so thankful to get to hear all your plans!! Just think, you'll get to spend the holidays in your new home!! How fun! I can't wait to see your personal touches and decor!!" :)

Of course, we were ravenous after that power walk and tour of the new home! So, we went to Ta Molly's for a yummy Mexican lunch! We took our stuffed selves home, where the guys IMMEDIATELY got down to business! Chris & Russell built us our very own Joker board!!! It has a 3-man, 4-man and 6-man game on one board!

Chris & Russell working diligently on the new Joker board, as Tara and I peered over their shoulders.
Looks beautiful! Side 1: 4-man & 6-man game!!
Tracing side 2, the triangular 3-man game!
Russell measures for exact dimensions!! This is all very precise, you see!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, and the beautiful, completed 3-man side!

Final step, "Sand the board!" (Sounds like the teacher from Karate Kid! Ha!!)

Well, after all of that excitement, we enjoyed an amazing dinner of grilled Jerk Chicken over freshly grilled pineapple, served with smashed potatoes and squash sautee. Man, I was stuffed yet again! It was only 8:30 on Saturday night, and I was pooped, so I was off to bed for the night, but I hear there were some good 3-man Joker games going on after my departure!! :) Bummer that I missed that fun!

Anyone interested in a game of Joker??? It's simple to learn and simply FUN to play! Just let us know! We'll set a Joker date!! :)

Rhys, I Hope You Like Bananas!

Sweet Rhys, I do hope you like bananas because you are the size of a banana this week!

That's right! You weigh about 10 1/2 ounces and you're around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you for growing and developing so well. We're cheering you on, and we're praying for you, knowing that you are indeed a miracle from our gracious God!

Mommy is 20 weeks along, which means we only have to wait about 20 more weeks to meet you!

Keep up the good work, little man!!

Love you, Mommy

Our Labor Day (a little late)

I just did NOT have any physical energy on Labor Day, so rather than go work out that morning, I decided to go off-roading with Russell in his Jeep! I admit, I was a little nervous. I even asked Russell, before heading out, "Do you think I can handle this?" The thought of crawling over rocks in a topless Jeep sounds really cool and even looks really cool from a distance or on video, but getting out there and actually participating (even just riding :)) can be quite nerve racking!

Russell encouraged me to go, "Sure, you can handle it! It'll be good for you!" He assured me that he enjoys crawling at a slow pace, rather than racing up those jagged rocks, which was absolutely the truth! We had a great time...

Russell in action at the wheel!To get into the real off-roading territory, we had to go through this...about a 2-3 foot deep mud puddle. We just crept our way through so not to get too much mud on the Jeep! ;)Ah, it was worth coming...look how pretty!

So, yeah, I can see why Russell and all of his guy friends enjoy this hobby. They're really very cautious and safe in the off-roading aspect, and then the invitation to get "lost in the woods" truly is a "breath of fresh air" from living in the hectic speed of today's life.

"Thank you for a FUN off-roading experience, Hun! I'm proud of you for enjoying such an outdoorsy hobby, not to mention such a manly activity!" ;)

The rest of my Labor Day consisted of eating and sleeping...lunch at Jim 'N Nick's (Yummy Bar-B-Q! Buttered, mouth-watering cheese biscuits! Salty, greasy French fries! That's exactly what I was craving!) with my sweet husband, running a Jeep errand with him, then crashing for a TWO-hour nap, while Rhys decided to have a growth spurt!

I wasn't kidding! We're 20 weeks and growing! :) Half-way there!!

Sweet, Life Friends

God has blessed me with Ashley's friendship and accountability for six years, now. WOW! "Ashley, can you believe it's been that long!?!?" What a great six years it's been...living life side-by-side...praying through our jobs, home purchases, dating and then marrying our husbands and now praying through having babies!!

How fun is life in the Lord's will! I say this because I didn't have to follow God's leading six years ago, when HE opened the door for me to move in with Ashley and our third roommate, Karen, but I am thankful with all of my heart that I did! I still get to meet with Ashley each week, catching up on our lives, intentionally sharing prayer requests and praises and sharing in sweet seasons of life.
Two women have recently recommended the book Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. Since Ashley's just had Nathan, and I'll be having Rhys pretty soon, I'm excited to go through this book as our next book/Bible study, as we continue to meet for our weekly accountability. Ashley and I met last Saturday and specifically prayed for clear direction on what the Lord would have us study next. What sweet affirmation and direction He has provided so quickly!

I'm sure I'll be sharing as I learn from this great resource! Russell plans to read along, as well. We know we have a lot to learn! :)