20 Weeks and It's a....

Boy! We think. :) The lady doing the sonogram was new and wasn't sure. At first we all thought it was a girl, but when she took a closer look we all thought it was a boy. The doctor looked at the pictures and seemed convinced that it's a boy. I probably won't have another ultrasound unless I go past my due date, so we may have a surprise at birth! But we're going with boy for now. :)

Everything looks great with the baby, and I've only gained 5 pounds so far. I've always gained a good bit more than that by 20 weeks, but I'm sure I'll be gaining plenty in the weeks to come. I tend to pack it on in the third trimester...as does the baby!

Another Giveaway!

Laura over at The Muncks Quiver is hosting another giveaway this week! There are several different items to pick from. I'm really excited about this giveaway because they were giving away a beautiful apron last week and I forgot to enter. But there's an identical apron included this time!! Click here to see what they're offering and to enter yourself.

Work is Fun!

I'm a pretty big fan of teaching children that work is not drudgery. In all honesty, I enjoy housework most of the time. I get a great sense of satisfaction from seeing a shiny, white kitchen floor that was not shiny and white before I mopped it. Maybe I'm weird...I don't know. But I think it's important to teach the children that accomplishing things (in our case it is usually household chores) is enjoyable and rewarding, and most importantly that doing our best at the task at hand is one way to glorify God. I know all too well how often they mimic the attitude that I have about something, and I know that if I hate housework and complain about it, then they most likely will too.

Laundry is one of those chores that I definitely enjoy. I get frustrated with myself because I can't seem to get it all washed, dried, folded, and put away in one day (even with all my help!), and therefore there is always laundry somewhere in the house that needs to be attended to. But I really do enjoy the actual process. It's kind of therapeutic, for some reason!

The children seem to enjoy chores most of the time too, which is great! After breakfast on Monday mornings they make about 15 trips up and down the stairs shuttling laundry to the laundry room. They had been bringing it one armload at a time, but today the girls figured out that they can bring more at once if they all work together to carry a basket full of clothes. Joshua carried his own basket, and they thought it was great fun! I wish I had gotten a video of the whole process and all the commotion. It was pretty funny. Like I mentioned before, I enjoy laundry, but I don't usually laugh hysterically while I'm doing it like they do. Maybe I need to learn from them!

This picture cracks me up because the girls have a small basket overflowing with clothes and Joshua has a big basket with one lone pair of tights in it! :)

I Actually Made a Curtain!

I have a friend here who is wanting to teach sewing lessons in her home after her children are gone. There are a few of us young-ish mothers who don't know a whole lot about sewing, but would like to learn. (I say "young-ish" because I'm not feeling so young anymore. I'll be...*gasp*...30 before this baby is born. Ack!!) So she has decided to make us her guinea pigs and give us free sewing lessons! She has two teenage/preteen daughters, as does one of the other ladies in the class. They have volunteered to watch the children (8 children under the age of 7) while we sew! I'm pretty sure we're getting the better end of this deal!

Our first class was on how to make a curtain and I chose to make one for the nursery. Poor Noah has had a bare window since he was born. Not that he cares, but I think it looks nicer now! I was trying to find gender-neutral fabric since the next baby may not be a boy. This wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I'm pretty happy with it.


Right after I finished it I laid it all nicely ironed in the laundry room so that I could get the curtain rod up. Adam had asked Abigail to get a pair of scissors out of there, and she decided that it would be fun to use them on the curtain. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled. Thankfully she only cut the ribbon, and I was able to replace it fairly easily.

Speaking of Abigail, Adam took her and Esther out for a run/walk in the jogging stroller one day last week. Abigail saw something and asked him a question about it, and he proceeded to give her a thorough answer. When he was right in the middle of his answer, she interrupted him with a question about something totally unrelated. He said, "Abigail, are you listening to me, or am I just wasting my breath?" To which she replied, "You're just wasting your breath." :) That girl is something. Sometimes the drama is just a little more than I can handle!


Speaking of drama, I found a dead frog in Noah's mouth last week. I know...gross. I try to keep the floors really clean since he's eating anything and everything that he can get his hands on. I have no idea where he found the thing. Probably under a piece of furniture. It had obviously been there a while!

My Kind of Black Friday Shopping

Vision Forum is having some great sales today and tomorrow! They have a plethora of wonderful products, many of which are on sale. Through midnight on Saturday you can get a number of free products, depending on the size of your order. They are also offering free shipping!



We have really been enjoying Jonathan Park lately. These are wonderful for riding in the car or around the house. The children love them, and they're fun for adults to listen to as well. Vision Forum has the 6-album pack on sale for $99 right now, which works out to be the same price-per-album as you can get them on Amazon. If you combine that with the free shipping and the free product that you would qualify for, it makes a pretty good deal and a wonderful gift!



I ordered the Mysterious Islands for Adam for Christmas, but we decided that we couldn't wait. :) We watched it the other night and it is great! I really learned a lot about Darwin and how faulty his thinking was, certainly in light of the Bible, but also in light of what we know about science. It's really amazing and Joshua especially enjoyed it too. There are fascinating shots and descriptions of the different animals of the Galapagos Islands.



I'm a Vision Forum affiliate, so feel free to click on any of the above pictures or the link in my sidebar if you want to place an order. :)

Menu Plan Monday with Recipes!

Monday - Lasagna, Salad, Rolls
Tuesday - Tarragon Chicken, Broccoli, Rice
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Thanksgiving!!! (menu below)
Friday - Thanksgiving leftovers
Saturday - Pasta with Pesto, Walnuts, and Feta Cheese; Spinach salad
Sunday - Chicken Noodle Casserole, Spinach Salad, Applesauce

I'm trying Cristin's recipe for lasagna today. I have a recipe that I really like, but it is complicated, time consuming, and expensive. Sounds like a great reason to look for another option! I'm doubling it so that I can have one in the freezer to pull out on a busy day.

I found this recipe for Tarragon Chicken online and thought I'd try it. I prepared a froze it a few weeks ago, so all I have to do tomorrow is pull it out and bake it. We'll see how it turns out.

Tarragon Chicken
8 chicken breast halves, skinless
6 zucchini squash, small
2 c small mushrooms, whole
6 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 t paprika
1⁄2 c butter or margarine, melted
2 T lemon juice
2 t tarragon, dried
1 t salt
Remove skin from chicken breasts; place in freezer food storage bag and freeze.
Wash vegetables. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, then again into quarters, and cut into 2-inch spears. Peel carrots and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place mushrooms, zucchini and carrots into freezer food storage bag, bundle with chicken and freeze.
To prepare: thaw chicken breasts completely before cooking. Arrange chicken, meaty sides up, in ungreased rectangular 13X9X2 baking dish; sprinkle with paprika. Place zucchini, carrots and mushrooms around and over chicken. Mix remaining ingredients; drizzle over chicken and vegetables.
Cover and cook in 350-degree oven until chicken is done, 50 to 60 minutes.

And here is our Thanksgiving menu! We're having two other families over, and they bringing sausage stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce (my favorite), lemon meringue pie, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I have somehow misplaced a couple of my recipes, but I found others on Allrecipes that are very similar, if not exactly the same. I am making:

Brined Turkey and Gravy
Canned Cranberry Sauce (Adam's favorite)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sour Cream Noodles
Rolls
Pear Salad
Green Pea Casserole
Turtle Pumpkin Pie

For other Menu Plan Monday ideas, visit Laura.

Giveaway #2

Laura at the Muncks Quiver is having another giveaway this week (and will be having one every week for a little while!). This time it's a scrapbook and three packages of stickers! Go here for more info and to enter.