scones and the like

Umm...so where did the past week go to?  It is the middle of October already.  I am FINALLY starting to feel more settled in the new place.  Today I hung up pictures and put the last of the boxes in the garage.  I have decided that I both love and hate having a one story house.  I don't ever have to worry about Obi falling down stairs now, but he now has free reign of the entire place!  Between Obi and Pooka I am constantly picking up one mess or another.  It is outta control y'all.  Fortunately, Obs thinks it is equally as fun to pick up toys as it is to get them out. The hard thing in this house is the kitchen cupboards.  Our last place mainly had drawers on the lower cabinets, and he wasn't too worried about opening them.  But, my odds of finding a clean pot lid are slim to none here in this house.  He is soooo proud of himself that I have a hard time chiding him for "getting into Mommy's toys". Clean pot lids are overrated anyways.

I don't have any pictures for my post today.  But I do have a question.  Do any of you have a fabulous muffin, scone, snack-ish recipes you'd like to share?  I am in the process of putting together the menu for the coffee shop.  There are so many options out there.  So many fantastic fall yummies. I am pretty sure that all that weight I lost in the past few months is about to go right back onto my thighs.  Crossing my fingers that it won't.  A daily walk won't hurt either.  Anyways, share your fave and if it makes it onto the menu, I'll name it after you.

This week was SO much better than last.  I'll admit, I was almost in tears Monday night.  Those darn hormones.  How's a woman supposed to get any peace in her life if they are causing a ruckus?  But, a few mornings of getting up before my sweet wee one, some time spent with the Lord, several cups of coffee and tea, and many walks in the fresh air have significantly helped my mood and my attitude.

Since I don't have any pictures for you, I will leave you with a recipe that I found from Annie's Eats.  If you haven't ever read her blog then you must DROP what you are doing (unless of course you are holding a baby) and go read it.  Ah-mazing.  I am making these this week.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Oatmeal Raspberry Scones

Ingredients:
1 large egg
½ cup cold buttermilk
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
Pinch of nutmeg
10 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, grated on a large grater or cut into small pieces
¾ cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Combine the egg and buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup.  Stir together; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Add the butter to the bowl and toss.  Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture so that the mixture is crumbly.  Pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork just until incorporated (the mixture will be sticky).  Fold in the berries just until incorporated (be particularly gentle if using fresh berries).  Gently knead the dough 6-10 times, just until it comes together into a sticky dough.  Portion the dough out into 8-12 scones, depending on the size you prefer, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.  (A large dough scoop is a good tool, but not necessary.)

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

yo-yo

Please tell me that other women besides me have days/weeks in life where they feel like they are on an emtional yo-yo!  The past two weeks I have felt hormonal and just not right.  Mostly I have been feeling frustrated, irritable, and just easily upset. This weekend was spent arguing with my husband, and disciplining my kid.  My husband and I have argued more in the last two weeks than we have in months. I even took a pregnancy test the other day to just make sure that I couldn't blame that type of hormone on my recent attitude issues.  And no, I am not pregnant.   I don't know whether it is just that I need more sleep, or the move affected me more than I thought, or that I am stressed.   Thankfully tomorrow is a new day, a new week and a fresh start.  I plan on starting it early in the morning, on my porch with a cup of coffee and my Bible.  If anything is going to recharge my batteries, it will be time with the Lord. 

I am blessed.  No matter my feelings, I need to focus on the Lord and the ways in which He has blessed me.  Here is one of those blessings. A cute one, don't you think?

online again

We moved. That is my excuse this time for the lack of posting.  We moved and it just took me a while to get the other house in shape and this one somewhat unpacked.  I have a complete lack of motivation to decorate this house, even though it is cute as a button and I should be thinking of all sorts of ways to make it into my new home.   I'll get there. 

We have been sick too.  My first bout with cleaning up my kiddo's throw-up was this weekend.  I won't go into details, but I will say that it did involve me taking my pants off in a public restroom so that I could rinse them out in a sink.  My kid was mostly naked in a restaurant.  It was not our most stellar evening. I am happy to report that my "mom instinct" kicked in and I didn't even gag while cleaning it up.  Secretly I have always been worried that the instinct wouldn't work for me. 

I found me camera battery recharger today.  Whew...I was worried it had gotten really lost.  I'll take some pics of the new place and post them.  I really am thankful for our new home.  I am just grieving the loss of my stove.  I loved that thing.  Maybe a little too much.  Pretty sure that if this home wasn't only electric I would sneak back in the old house and somehow haul that thing to my new kitchen.  Sigh. I am pathetic.  I know.

Anyways, I am happy that we getting settled and things are normalizing a bit.  I like normal life.  At least, I like it sometimes.

I neeeeeeeeed one

Ok, this week has been busy.  No, no, this week has been CRAZY!  And this, dear friend, is exactly what I need.

Not just a "oh, that would be nice to have right about now".  No, this is a chin the air, hands gripping the hair, eyes squeezed shut... "I neeeeeeeed some".

I am on day 4 of being home without my hubs. This means I am a single momma for the week. How's it going you ask?!  Obadiah = hilariously funny, Obadiah also = getting into every possession that his father and I own. Which, on an average, or even not-so-average week I don't mind.  I am all for him delving into his exploratory curiosity.  But on this week o' pure chaos I need him to reign in that curiosity just a little.

We are moving in two days.  We found out about this move 12 days ago, and though we are just moving about a mile from where we currently live, there are a million details to take care of.  And, let's face it....moving before we had kids, and moving now that we have a kid are two totally different scenarios.   The current moving scenario goes a little like this:

Me packing and cleaning.  Obi unpacking and un-cleaning everything I just packed and cleaned.  Obi naps.  I pack and clean.  Obi gets up, and mysteriously I find my skillets on the living room carpet, the oil paints are littered around as if he was leaving breadcrumbs to find his way.  I currently have a huge pile of toilet paper that has been gleefully unwound off the tube.  This means yet another dose of fumbling around looking for the end of the paper when getting up to pee at night.

At this moment the wee man is in his bed for the night and though the sun is no longer shining I am "making hay".  Hence, the absolute NEED for some coffee.  Four nights of going to bed at 1am are catching up with me, but press on I must.  Because, if I can get a few more things in a box and tape it SHUT, then there are that many fewer items for my son to get into.  Heading down to the coffee pot now. I still have a solid 4 hours before I will crash. Nighty-night!

a baby bug

In the past two weeks I have been to see two brand new babies.  They were both so soft, sweet, sleepy, and just PERFECT!  It reminded me of how much I loved holding Obi when he was just hours old.  One of my all time favorite memories of him was that first night.  I had given birth, fed him, made phone calls, got cleaned/stitched up, and then came the quiet of the night.  Jason was passed out on the couch, and the nurse came in quietly to check on us.  She checked Obi's temps and said he was a little cool, but if I would move over a little in the bed she would put him next to me and he would warm up a bit.  I carefully moved myself over and then his little snuggly body was all cuddled next to mine.  I could hear him softly breathe in and out and he had that fresh newborn scent.  It was heaven on earth.   AHH!!  Seeing those two little babes in the last week and a bit has made me thing "Oh, I need another one".  THere is just something so sweet about a fresh baby.  :-)

But, then I walk out of the hospital and my head suddenly gets screwed on a little tighter and I realize, nah...I don't need another one just yet.  One day, but not today!  To all of you mothers that have kids a year or so apart, props to you. I literally have no clue how you do it.   I cannot fathom bringing home a newborn with Obi being at his current stage/age and ability level.  I guess God only gives you what you can handle and He KNOWS that I cannot handle that.  I did treasure seeing my dearest friend hold her sweet one though.  There just isn't anything that can compare to a mother holding her new baby.

Congratulations E.  You did it!   I am so proud of you, and I look up to you so much as a fellow mom.  I know you would say that you are far from being a perfect mom, but you are pretty darn close!  Your kiddos are blessed and very well loved.  Little A is very lucky boy to be born into your family.  Blessings on you all.

new wheels

Not sure I am cool enough to drive this thing, but I am loving it!  I am totally loving the fact that there aren't any bubbles in the window tint, and that the locks work all the time, and that the doors don't screach when they are opened, and that there isn't a crack in the windshield, and that the AC works, and that it is easy to put Obi in and out of, and that the sound system is AH-MAZING, and that there isn't a dent in the front side, and oh...that it runs!!  :-)

I am blessed.  And I am thankful.  God has provided yet again. 

plans change

We left for Kansas on Friday thinking that we'd go up for a visit to my in-laws, wander around the state fair, and come home on Sunday afternoon after a birthday dinner with my husband's grandma.  And though we did wander the fair and have lunch with Nana...we did not come home on Sunday afternoon.  No.  No we did not.  We pulled in our driveway at 3:30 Tuesday morning. In between pulling out of our driveway on Friday and coming back home Tuesday, is a long saga of a tired and worn out 96 Honda.  And, it was so worn out that it basically said to us "nope, I am not doing it!  I am not going to take you back to Arkansas".  And just like that our carefully laid out plans of buying a car next year dissolved. 

But seeing as we kind of needed a way to get home, we wandered our Wichita Monday afternoon, signed papers Monday night, and left my mother-in-law's Late Monday night in a new (to us) car.  I almost needed a brown paper bag to breathe in and out of.  I was hyperventilating over this decision...because it was a large one.  For the most part, this was the conversation going on in my head:
Breathe in "what did we just do??  AGH!!"
Breathe out "ok, well, we DID need a car". 
Breathe in "but it isn't in the plan".
Breath out "well, it was in the long range plan".
Breathe in "What would Dave Ramsey say".
Breathe out "He would say that we made a mostly good choice, especially given the circumstances".

You get the picture.  I love, love, love the car, and am still trying to get used to it.  I did keep telling myself that though this past weekend was a surprise to me and my bank account... it was not a surprise to God.  He knew it was coming, and what we would do. So we just prayed that God would help us make a good and wise decision and that if we got going in the wrong direction that he would put a huge road block in front of us. 

I don't havea  picture of me in my new car, but i'll take one and post it soon.  I gotta catch my breath first.  Pass that brown paper bag, won't you?!