A Family Favorite! Easy Peasy Sweet and Sour Chicken!

    The baby is eating eggs and crunchy, crumbly toast in our bed, my side this time. The washing  machine is whirling and twirling around the first of at least five hundred loads of laundry. The gorgeous fall sun is warming up the house and soul. Kiddos are off to school, besides the one littering the bed sheets with tiny toast crumbs of course. My amazing guy is out the door for the day. Its just me, my coffee, Dr. Meredith Grey (How did life exist before Netflix anyway?) poised to take on the day!

    Ahhhh! The quiet lull in between the summer and the holidays. A few quiet weeks between mayhem. Local pumpkin walks with toasty mittens and melty hot chocolate. Leisurely afternoons with my best girls. Perhaps that's really why I prefer Fall? Besides the warm aromas. Crisp morning air filling your morning run lungs. Beautiful scenery..... and on and on. Fall really is special. Last week as we bribed and begged with the little one to smile and pose one more time for the 2015 family photo spectacular, I mused about the year that has so quickly passed us by. Time as usual is flying by.

    All we can do is cherish today. Savor these minutes that will come, and most assuredly go.  Sit down together at the family dinner table and remember this day, this season. The times their faces aren't glued to their phones. The statistics on family dinners are amazing. After the world has its way with your family, welcome them home with a favorite. Enjoy the quiet times in between the whirlwind of life. Here is one of our favorites. From our family to yours!


                                                      Sweet and Sour Chicken

    You will Need:
For the sauce
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup vinegar
* 1/4 cup pineapple juice
* 1/4 ketchup
* 1 T soy sauce
* 1/2 t salt
* 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
* (optional) diced onions and peppers

For the chicken
* 4 chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
* 3 eggs slightly beaten
* 2 cups flour
* salt
* pepper
* olive oil

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350. In a large skillet heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. In batches, dip the chicken pieces in the egg first followed by the flour. Make sure the pieces are well coated. Place them in the large skillet season with salt and pepper and allow them to brown, flipping occasionally. After browned place in a baking pan in a single layer.

       Allow the crust to set for about 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan, mix all of the ingredients. Heat the sauce over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and sauce is bubbly. We prefer a little extra sauce. This sauce will thicken in the baking process. If you would like a little extra sauce for dipping, simply double or repeat the sauce recipe.

    Once sauce is prepared pour sauce and pineapple chunks over chicken. If you doubled recipe, only use half of the sauce over the chicken. Place chicken in the oven and bake for one hour. To keep the chicken coating crisp, allow the chicken to bake for at least 35 minutes before flipping. While the chicken is baking start your rice cooker!

 Enjoy! I'm off to fold laundry. Sweep the bed. Snuggle a lil one while we work on the alphabet. Perhaps grab a shower.... Bring it on Tuesday!

A step back.... Before moving forward

    My teenage step daughter just finished "The fault in our stars" late last night. I awoke to a lengthy hand written note on my bedside. How I wish I had not been so very tired, and had passed out the minute my head hit the pillow. On the other hand she is a talker and we would have been up all night discussing life's injustice! She wrote "It has changed my life!"

    It has been quite a while since I last visited my little corner of the web world! A lot of events and... Life have transpired the last few months. Frustrated emails from "Pinners" brought my attention to my long neglected blog hobby. My domain name had expired and in the mix of small tragedies, and momentous victories I had toyed with shutting everything down. My tutorials and project pictures unavailable from a parked domain. I simply did not have time to sit down and give any more of myself. It has literally been eons since my last project, and I am feeling it. I long to feel my own identity again. Indulge in favorite past times. Relax and breathe... All the little things we give up to serve and care for others.

    Life has changed my life!

    As I read over the words that my step daughter had written regarding her feelings, one line stuck with me. "They did not focus on the negative! They knew they were dying. Yet they chose to focus not on how they were dying, but on how they would live until they died!" Apparently she bawled in her room for a good while grasping to understand the new understanding she had found. 

    Isn't it funny how in the least expected ways we become "aware" 

    In a way we are all living in the same predicament as Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. We are all living until that fateful day. Service to others has changed my life. Embracing friends who have lost all. Encouraging family members who are so close. Will you be happy with your decisions?

    I miss blogging. I miss the community. I miss the inspiration. I miss the freebies! I want to be an inspiration, to share what I learn... I am ready to reclaim that stupid old dresser in our bedroom. Ready to gain my clarity and courage again. Feel as if I can breathe again. Ready to live out the summer of 2014 with all its intent. Chasing little blonde pigtails through soft green grass. Watching from a safe distance as a young lady gains her confidence.This little family has been hard at work. Together and individually. We are ready to get back to "normal"

    New perspective, lessons learned and love in our hearts. It is time to move forward to whatever the next chapter holds!

   

    

Fall Feelings!

    I am antsy to get my Fall fingers busy! Unfortunately life has been a little too crazy lately! My patience will have to remain intact until next week! My final race of the season is Saturday! It is bittersweet! I have had a triumphant year, but I am ready for a break! My hometown beckons with its annual celebration, and family will join together on Saturday to pay tribute to our amazing legacy!

Next week its so on!

   Until then enjoy this post from the archives!

    After a weekend of sight seeing I had to get home and create! I was feeling a little burned out and not looking forward to the tasks at hand! A trip to the city set me straight! I received so many curious emails and a comment or two asking about the original picture I posted showing the Fall leaf mobile I had created. I am flattered and feel sort of silly because it was so very easy and cost me nada...

Anthropology! 

One word for love! I immediately fell in love with their display! How clever! I came home from our trip craving a new project! My husband, who is a geologist was not as enthused as I hoped he might be about hanging a rock mobile from our ceiling?! Men! 

So many things I would love to tackle!

While it is not rocks...

The leaves add just the right touch!

    I found some old white string and dismantled an old garland I had stashed, the challenge was trying to figure out how to hang the leaves above the stairs to create the cascading look....Last year for my Coke can Snow flakes.. 

    I used handfuls of thumbtacks to hold them to the ceiling....

  Facing that prospect again, and possibly sudden death as I leaned out over the banister?! I looked around until I found this old wire basket we used for Baby K's socks! It was perfect! I think this would look amazing with real leaves...I was just to antsy to go get some:) I also love the look of the string! It creates a great contrast! So there it is ladies!

Easy Peasy! I want to see your creations!

If the slipper fits...

                                           Fall 2012 Shoe Guide - Runner's World

     I have recovered from my race exactly a week ago today! I feel great and even more encouraged to pursue my fitness goals! My desire to complete the annual 10K race in my hometown has been a long time goal of mine. Years ago a much more naive me believed I could just step on the race course and complete a race...just because! My last place status was the largest slice O humble pie ever! I have wanted to prove to myself ever since that I could do better, accepting the fact that some effort is in fact required!

    A older and wiser me now knows and respects the many obstacles a runner must face in training, during a race, and the recovery. Weeks ago when I began training I joked with a friend how I only had a few minutes to myself each day in between naps, diaper changes and SAHM life in general... "I get five minutes to think each day, and now it is to exercise! I hate exercising!" Funny how the course of training has changed my attitude and having completed my goal has me thinking of life in race form. Sometimes it is just plain hard and we wonder what the heck we are doing! We start out slow carefully approaching the task at hand, then we pick up momentum and gain confidence, finally with the end in sight we know we have survived!

    I have enjoyed the feeling of well being immensely. My body now looks forward to training. I am encouraged to set my goals even higher! This morning my daughters and I wandered out to the road to watch the TOU runners pass by.... I felt it in my heart that I wanted to be a part of what they were doing! Perhaps if I stick to my guns next year will find me in marathon shape?

     Now if I can just get my feet recovered! Rigorous weeks of training have left my feet hammered! I had two pairs of the wrong shoes to train in! I went through the usual breaking in of blisters and debilitating shin splints! The use of potassium daily seemed to help. I am also now in the market for a new running shoe! I found this awesome tutorial on how to determine your arch type:

The Wet Test

Perhaps Santa will come bearing Saucony this year!

Mommy moment...

    I stood in shock staring at the woman who held my car keys. A million thoughts racing through my mind. ...

    When sweet baby K is in need of my attention she makes no mistakes in letting me know. She will try to keep up with me while I clean the house, tugging on my pant legs until I pick her up. Then if she still has not caught me at one hundred and ten percent she will lean forward and look at my face until I make eye contact with her, she will then smile and all is right. It is admittedly hard to be at one hundred and ten percent attention all the time....

    Now that I am at home I am still grasping onto the fact that I am ten times busier as a stay at home mom than I ever was while I worked full time.  I often envied my friends who were lazily passing the day away at home with their kids....all apologies for never realizing until now that a stay at home mom's work is never done. Relaxing on the couch with Bon Bons while watching Days is a pipe dream. Showering is a luxury and being covered in animal crackers and yogurt is the new fashion trend to hit the home front. I love my life and the blessings that I continue to receive.

    I am married to a man who has given me the once in a lifetime opportunity to be home with my baby. To finally after years of daycare having the choice of being here when kids come bounding in the door after school...

    Each day begins like the last. Kids out the door. Housework. Errands. After school snack. Dinner. Love....

    While at the store yesterday baby K begins to think she no longer wishes to be strapped into the cart. She would like to be held and must have all of my attention immediately. I take her out and push the loaded cart with one hand while she covers my face in wet sloppy kisses. Heartfull moments...

    As we approach the checkout line I realize my card is not in its usual back pocket space and I must do a little digging. When Sweet baby K is placed back into that silly old cart she begins to wail. Not even thinking I hand her my car keys...something I have done a million times. Keys that may not be the cleanest but do receive a good hefty alcohol spray regularly. Baby happy I locate my card only to drop it on the ground. As I bend down to retrieve it K begins to scream again and I hear a strange woman soothing her, Prepared to thank the soothing stranger I stand instead to face a accusing glare and I see my keys in her hand?

      "How irresponsible are you?" She demands! Before I can answer she continues " Why would you give your poor little baby these dirty keys to play with? That is disgusting not to mention very hazardous!"

    By now heads have turned and I feel anger rising in my body like a burning fury! How irresponsible am I?  I can handle the rest of her statements it probably isn't the greatest idea, however she is judging my parenting by a seemingly honest act....

    I am the irresponsible parent who gave up a good job and promising career to be a mother. I am the irresponsible parent who hands down, ninety nine percent of the time puts the needs of my children before my own. I am the irresponsible parent who has sacrificed. I am the irresponsible parent who falls with the heartache of my children. I am the irresponsible parent who rises with their triumphs. I am the irresponsible parent who works part time even though I don't have to, to keep my family ahead...

   So the mommy moment here is not that I had given my eleven month old filthy dirty cars keys. Silly old tired wore out mother! No, it is finding within me the ability to look this woman in the eye even as my fury was mounting, retrieving my keys and having the bravery to reply "You are right! What was I thinking? Thank you so much!" Satisfied she turned heel....

     I turned back to baby K who for the first time in twenty minutes seems to be content. My face burning I took a deep breath.

    That woman did not know the first thing about me. She did not know who she was scrutinizing...

    But I did! 

    Once in the parking lot I took baby K out of the cart and we stood, just the two of us together cuddling for an eternity....

 

Of nursing pads and granny panties...

Getting my bod back after baby K...

    In under two months and counting down, and after nearly two years of being body snatched I will soon be my own again! First were the nine months of pregnancy. Then the choice to nurse. The choice to nurse up to the year mark has been a daily on the fence straddle...The realization that the one year mark is right around the corner has been bittersweet and a bit intimidating.

    How does one begin this very personal transition? Some days I want to throw my hands up and be through that very second! Dancing around the burning pile of nursing bras! Other days and especially at night when sweet sleep is one feeding away I cannot fathom how the complete task of weaning is to be accomplished...

Then there are the emotions of an inexplicable bond you form...

    But I am ready. We are ready. Baby K is a very special baby. The first child my husband and I share together and the last child to born into our family. Knowing she is my last I have felt the need to experience all the facets of motherhood I was denied with my first child who is now eight. In some regards it was easier the first time. In some regards it is easier this time...

But I am ready...

    We are ready to transition into the realm of toddler. We watch with excited eyes and pounding hearts as she stands on her wobbly little feet and raises her arms high above her head little three toothed drooly smile...

    It will be nice to have my body back to its original owner. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the P.I.N.K method and ready to reclaim my shape...

It is my heart that will never belong to me again!

Now thats love...

    There are two types of people...those who can function without sleep and those who cannot! I cannot! The couch and I have been great buddies since the birth of Sweet baby K...

    Finally at ten months of age she is in a somewhat reliable sleep schedule. Save the nights that she is cranky from teething or overstimulated by the days events I would dare say she is sleeping through the night. At nearly forty years of age my husband is not in a reliable sleep schedule...

   Bless his sweet heart! The days of taking hits from various sports to the youthful face have caught up to him and he snores! Loud like a bear! His sinuses are a constant source of discomfort. He is also a night owl. One of those that cannot sleep without the T.V... Again I am neither of these! I am in bed with the chickens and prefer nice and quiet!

    For years I have dismissed his sleeping habits with a kiss and pillow over my head. Now however I believe he and Baby K are in cahoots! My husband will be up until two before finally falling asleep and beginning to snore.....loud like a bear! I barely settle on the couch, which lets face it...I hate! Not being in our bed or snuggling drives me batty but the urge for sweet sleep drags me to the living room! Anyway I barely settle when the baby begins to fuss! Making mom a grizzly in the morning and throughout the day!

    No one likes Grizzly bear mom! The sorrowful look on his sweet face when he realizes his Sawzall antics have forced me onto the couch are often enough to smooth down my fur....after a week straight of crazy nights...not so much!

    I entered the kitchen after a save me cup of coffee and a steaming hot spare my sanity shower to find my sweet husband with four 2x4's....

    That morning he raised the head of our bed four inches...which actually is an amazing concept! If you are ever bored look into the health benefits! I had never given much thought to the effects the plain and simple act of lying in bed flat have on our bodies and honestly after a few nights of sleeping this way I am a believer! 

Ahhh off and random again! ANYWAY...

    He also made his way to the store to find Melatonin and saline for his poor nose. I love everything about this man. I love the simple gestures he makes to try to keep me happy and helping himself to feel better only makes everything he does greater. I am happy to report that the last two nights have been blissful and full of sleeping! Even Sweet baby K is back on track!

Our kids are laughing at us because our bed resembles a Craftmatic...

Age! Own it!

Of baby food and Christmas chaos...

Life is most definitely a dance....

    As the Christmas Holiday quickly rushes upon us I can't help but find myself standing still amongst the whirring crowds. Standing still to catch my breath. Catching my breath to keep up. Keeping up with a most hectic life. Living a hectic life to it's fullest....

   Counting my blessing and understanding all to well how life can change on a dime. Hoping and praying for those who are in pain. Laughing in this moment and living as if the next blessed moments are priceless gifts not yet in our grasp....

   Grinning up at me from the floor below blue eyes sparkle and wonder fills a sweet angel face. Each day is new and fresh to sweet baby K. Every thing she sees is still so brand new. I wonder if we could learn something from life through her eyes...

Treasure hunt...

      This morning before the fondant goes on the cake, and dinner is put into the crock pot...Even before the house is clean and preparations for tomorrow are final I have made a choice. Inner me has been begging for five minutes. Five minutes for just me. Sounds selfish right? Nope:) Everything I do is for the benefit of my family. The smile on their faces and the memories we are making. Five minutes for mom is a good thing!

    So of course I went to the DI...Lol! I love that place! For fifteen bucks I found several items that with a little love are going to be wonderful additions to our home. I received an awesome compliment from our daughter the other day:D She loves how bright and inviting our home has become since I have made the transition to working from home. I thought to myself about this for a minute...isn't that part of the deal? To create a environment that makes my family feel the love I have for them! I read this quote this morning...

" Life is not about waiting out the storm, it is about learning to dance in the rain"

Happy Friday!

Good reads!

If you enjoy Dan Brown... Angelology by Danielle Trussoni is up your alley! Awesome book! Sequel coming soon!

If you are a Hunger games fan, and Katniss Everdeen all the way! (Cannot wait for the movie!) You will definitely enjoy the adventure plight of Thomas! The Death Cure is the third and hopefully final (I cannot handle any more suspense!) book in the Maze runner trilogy by James Dashner! The wait is nearly over! This book will be released in October, plenty of time for you to catch up on the first two! Just make sure that your chores are done, family is fed and all other distractions are at bay, because you will not be able to put these books down!