Updates!!

Update # 1: Reagan
Reagan is doing MUCH better and hopefully, if her fever doesn't come back, they will get to come home tomorrow!!! The latest diagnosis was that she got some form of the flu, thus causing her congestion/coughing/fever.

Update #2: The Kitchen!!
We are FINALLY making some progress on our renovations. We started almost 2 weeks ago and were sort of in a holding pattern because we were waiting on the guy who did our plumbing to help us cut a hole between the wall that separates the living room and kitchen. Originally the plan was for him to come yesterday (Saturday) so we waited a whole week (basically) thinking we couldn't do anything else until that was done. So Saturday morning came, Micah called, and the guy said he couldn't make it!! Which he also did the first time he was supposed to come do the plumbing work. Great!! Thanks a lot!! He is a great guy, we totally appreciate his help, and I know they are busy, but seriously, if you know you are busy and think you might not make it, then just say I might not make it! Enough of this false hope business!! Anyway, it really ended up being a blessing in disguise because Micah decided to just do it on his own. Now I must say that I completely thought this was not such a great idea at first, because he hadn't done it before. I had this wretched picture of what our "opening" might look like, but there was no stopping him! He came in with that determined look on his face and I was NOT about to stand in his way ...no matter what the outcome ;) I do have to say that I am SO proud of him!! He just got right to work and it looks great so far, granted we still have to sheet rock the bottom, trim it out, and paint it before it's all done! Now we can start on the counter, which ideally was supposed to be done by now..hehehe!! I am not naive enough to think that we are home free with no more problems, but we are at least making progress!! Whoohooo! Very soon my bathtub dish washing days are soon over!! Funny story about that:

So I have been keeping my dish scrubber in the bathroom by the tub for easier access. Yesterday, I was getting Seth dressed and then I walked into the bathroom to find Mr. Aiden Matthew with the DISH scrubber in hand just going to town scrubbing the TOILET!! I said, "Aiden Matthew...no sir! The toilet is nasty, we do not play in it!! YUCK!" To which he replied, Mommy! I help wash dishes!! AHAHAHAHHA I totally cracked up ;) And trashed the contaminated scrubber. I can only hope this was the first time he attempted to "help" me wash dishes!!! The NEW scrubber is now hidden from the mischievous hands of the little squirt!

Here are some pics: It really kinda looks like a disaster zone, and it is, but we are so excited!



The wall that separates the kitchen/living room...before...


Big boy Seth helping daddy! He is so proud!


this was all making me SO nervous!


view from the kitchen to living room (kinda)! It will be GREAT when it's all done :)


all done with demo of the wall! Micah worked on framing the space that will be open, but I didn't take a pic.

Reagan Grace

Would you pray for this sweet little girl?


For those of you who might not know, this is Reagan Stephenson. She had a heart transplant one year ago (Febuary 15). She has recovered remarkably and is just as precious as she could be!! Anyway, she had her 1 year biopsy of her heart yesterday to check the heart and make sure it is functioning as it should. All looked well until her heart rate sky rocketed and her fever spiked very high. They think she had a reaction from them going up her coronary arteries or a sinus infection or both. The doctors are currently keeping her admitted in the hospital until her heart rate is regulated and fever is down. She seems to be doing a little better, so hopefully, this is just a minor setback, but with all the complications of heart transplants and the fragile state of them, it has the potential to be a big problem. Stacy, her mom, is staying there with her and, as you can imagine, is really upset/stressed/scared/tired/etc. Rex, her dad, is heading back to San Angelo today because he needs to be back at work and home with Reagan's brothers and sister. If you would just say a quick little prayer (or long...if you like!) for Reagan and her family, I know it will be a great blessing! I will keep updating as I hear anything new :) Thanks so much!!

A few things...

RECIPE: Here is the recipe for the "almost PF Changs" lettuce wraps I made recently! I didn't follow it exactly and had to improvise on a few ingredients, but for the most part it was easy and tasted GREAT!!

Special Sauce

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Chinese hot mustard powder (see Tidbits)
2 teaspoons water
1 to 3 teaspoons garlic chili paste

Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 skinless chicken breast fillets
1 cup minced water chestnuts
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic (1 clove)

4 to 5 sliced iceberg lettuce cups

1. Make the special sauce (for spooning over your lettuce wraps) by dissolving the 1/4 cup sugar in 1/2 cup water in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve the lettuce wraps. Combine the 2 teaspoons water with the Chinese hot mustard and set this aside as well. Eventually you will add your desired measurement of Chinese mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over your lettuce wraps. In the restaurant chain, skilled master craftsmen prepare the sauce at your table the same way, depending on your desired heat level. We'll talk more about that later.
2. To prepare the filling for your lettuce wraps, bring 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Sauté the chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Remove chicken from the pan to cool. Keep the oil in the pan and keep the pan hot.
3. As the chicken cools be sure your water chestnuts and mushrooms have been minced to about the size of small peas.
4. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
5. When you can handle the chicken, hack it up with a sharp knife so that no piece is bigger than a dime. With the wok or pan still on high heat, add an additional tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chicken, garlic, water chestnuts and black mushrooms to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and sauté the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it onto into a dish lined with a bed of fried rice noodles (maifun).
6. Serve chicken with a side of lettuce cups. Make these lettuce cups by slicing the top off of a head of iceberg lettuce right through the middle of the head. Pull your lettuce cups off of the outside of this slice.
7. Make the special sauce at the table by adding your desired number of mustard and chili sauce to the special sauce blend: 1 teaspoon mustard and chili sauce for mild, 2 teaspoons each for medium and 3 teaspoons of each for hot. Stir well.

Tidbits: Follow the directions on the package for frying the maifun (rice sticks) -- usually by pouring 2 inches of vegetable oil into a pan and heating to around 400 degrees. Add maifun, a little at a time, and when it floats to the top remove it to a paper towel. This expansive crisping process is actually quite exciting. Rather than powdered Chinese hot mustard, you can instead use the kind that comes already prepared in the bottle so that you don't have to add water. Your choice.

KITCHEN: We are on hold until Saturday :( We are knocking part of our wall between the kitchen and living room out to create a window/opening and the guy can't come til then. I am super excited about the window, but a little frustrated about the longevity that this project is requiring! I KNEW it would happen that way, so I don't know why it's frustrating, but it is!!! Oh well!!

DISAPPOINTED: Anyone else completely saddened by American Idol last night?? For one...I am not a fan of the new format....too confusing! And second...I guess the top three from the first group will be EASY to choose. I never really understood a lot of times when the judges talked about song choice, but boy did I ever understand it last night!! Too bad, because I think there were some super talented singers in that group :( BTW- I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Danny G. (the last one to perform last night)!! He's my fav!

KIDDOS: I love these boys!! They are such a sweet blessing in my life and teach me so much about myself daily!

FINALLY...pics of Demo!!

I finally found my little white cord.....right where I left it...in my computer case...go figure!! Who would have actually thought to look "there??!!" I guess I am so bad at misplacing things that it never occurred to me that it might be in the last place I left it :) Anyhow..... below the post are the pictures of the demolition of our pale, yellow, 1950's honeycomb tile!! Honestly, I was kinda sad to see it go... NOT REALLY!! I hated it!! We are waiting on the plumber to take care of some things tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to start putting everything back together soon. I know it will be worth it, but I am soooooo ready for a meal other than a sandwich and looking forward to NOT washing the boys sippy cups and other random dishes in the bath tub :) Funny story about all the sandwiches we have been having:

So we have had A LOT of sandwiches lately, because...well our kitchen is technically in non-working order and that's just what you eat! Anyway, so the other night (I think it was day 4 of demo, which translates to 6/7 sandwiches) Micah and I had the "what do you want for dinner" discussion. Here is our dialog:

Micah- "What's the plan for dinner?"
Me- "Well, lets see....hmmm...we can do sandwiches, sandwiches, or get take out."
Micah- (pause) "I tell you what beautiful (that's what he calls me), we can do sandwiches but we can embelish them!"
Me- (thinking-oh yummy, something different!) "Embelish them? Like with what Babe?"
Micah- (no joke-this was his reply) "With Chips!!!"
Me- "hahahahahahahhahahahhahahhahhaa, REALLY? Hahahahahahahaha!"

Ok- really, I thought this was too funny! I am still chuckling thinking about it! If we think that adding chips to our sandwich meal is an "embelishment" then we need to get out more!! Are chips not the #1 side dish for a sandwich? Anyway- gotta love my hubby for trying to make something "blah" seem exceptional!! LOVE HIM!

Demo Pics:


Before...



Micah actually chipped these off about 2 years ago b/c we thought we might redo the counter top then...never seemed to get back around to it!!


no turning back now!



I don't know if you can tell, but there was this chicken wire stuff that was mortared to the backing that was mortared to the tile...ummm...NOT easy to get off!!


First "war" wound! It was right on the elbow bone and we wouldn't get it to stop bleeding, so I put a gauze pad under a band-aid and then secured it with painters tape!! Shoulda taken a pic of that!!


After about an hour, Micah finally got a big chunk pried off!


bye bye yellow tile!


"is that a sink full of counter top?" Yes Sir!



Our friend Ryan came over to take part in the festivities!


This is the last pic I took, but it doesn't look like this now, ALL the stuff is cleared out, so it's a little neater than that ;)

More pics to come as we make progress!

Love Notes...

For those of you who may not know, my husband and one of our closest friends Ryan Dalgliesh
have created a Love and Romance conference which originated from Ryan's book Love Notes. Our church hosted one of these conferences this past weekend and it was amazing! Micah led worship, Ryan preached about God's biblical design for love and marriage. I definitely don't brag on my husband enough, but he is amazing at what he does and both of these men have an incredible understanding of the Word and a passion to make it known! I was incredibly convicted about so many areas in my life that are lacking! I could list them all, but we'd be here ALL night ;) If you really wanna know all about it and have a few spare hours... I would love to share it with you! Or maybe when I am feeling "lengthy," I will dedicate a post just to that :) Anyway, the conference was super fantastic and I would completely recommend Ryan's book and/or the conference to anyone who desires to love like Christ intended us to love! In addition to "recommending"....... Love Notes now has a blog that you can check out here with practical applications and challenges for your marriage on a weekly basis! Awesome!!

That's all for now!! I will hopefully post soon with some pics of the DEMO on our kitchen counter.....if I can find my "little white cord that lets me put pics on my computer!" Anyone seen it????

5 Things....

1. I love my husband!! He is a total and complete blessing...even if we aren't always on the same page ;0)

2. Tonight was one of those nights that I realized how much I love being a mom! Of course I always love being a mom, but sometimes it just hits ya in moments you don't expect and it's an overwhelming flood of emotion! Does this happen to anyone else?

3. Has anyone else noticed a decline in Texas driver courtesy? Does anyone not remember the "Golden Rules" of moving over to the shoulder so someone can pass or more importantly...waving/flashers as a sign of thanks to someone who pulls over to the shoulder so you can pass? Am I the ONLY one who still holds to these at any level of importance?

4. I made "almost" PF Changs lettuce wraps last night......YUMMY!! They were actually pretty similar except I couldn't quite get the special dipping sauce right, so I will have to work on that ;) Or just "borrow" some from the restaurant next time I am there....hehehe

5. There is NOTHING like the first sip of an ice cold Dr. Pepper! It has the ability to make all my troubles disappear- at least for a few seconds anyway!!