MCFH: On my Table, the Sequel

Our table has reappeared out from under the piles of books! It’s nice to have it back. I'm a little afraid to see how long/not long it lasts, but for now, I'll enjoy it.

Hosting our Bible study group is always good motivation to move projects along and regain our home. 

Best Laid Plans

The baby prince let it be known early on that he was not bound by anyone's schedule!

He was due in early July or mid-July, depending on whether you believed LMP dates and the mid-point ultrasound, or the early ultrasound.  So Princess Bossy, figuring he'd make his appearance by sometime in between, scheduled her visit for a "safe" distance after the later due date.

But as she arrived via airplane, he was arriving via C-section.


Princesses Artiste and Eager did chauffeuring duties, and the 3 princesses and Bossy's mother-in-law, who came along to get to know the family better, came by the hospital on the way home... just after Princess Sassy and the baby were settled into their hospital room.

Not only had I planned to have the house sparkling (I can dream), the larders full, and all sorts of things organized and planned before our guests arrived... which couldn't happen since I was out of the house for the 2 full days before they came... but Princess Bossy had also planned to host a shower for her sister and new nephew.  That just wasn't going to work, since Princess Sassy was still in the hospital on the appointed day. 



Plan B was proposed by the new mommy.  Princess Bossy, her mother-in-law, the photographer (Prince Cuddle Bunny), and I sat in the hospital room that day, and the shower guests were invited to stop by.  This gave those who wanted to the opportunity to see the baby and Princess Bossy during her short visit home.   (My brother-in-law also took wonderful photos, some of which are mixed in with CuddleBunny's here.)

4 generations: Mama watches as Grandma introduces
the new prince to his Great Grandpa

The shower decorations didn't go to waste, as they welcomed the new family home and celebrated a big family dinner later that day.

Celebrating Additions

...No, not the garage addition yet.

...No, not the grandbaby yet... or, specifically, not his arrival.

Terrible phone photo
of the happy newlyweds

But we did gain a brother-in-law and a grand-niece so far this week!!  Wonderful blessings, and we hope our grandson joins the party soon.  

--Very soon, and his mama would sure agree!  Especially with 90 degree temperatures here this week.










Actually, we did celebrate the baby last weekend, as well as his daddy's new degree. 

Prince Steadfast's degree completions always seem to be a bit overshadowed.  When he got his Associate in Arts degree, we were in major wedding planning mode.  Now, after 2 years of intense dedication, the accomplishment of his Associate in Science - Transfer Track 2 for Engineering was almost lost in baby preparations.  

Not wanting to let that slip by unrecognized after all of his hard work, we celebrated both important events with a combination graduation party/baby shower.

Grad cap cupcakes.. (made with mini Reeses cups
and Ghirardelli squares)

...and pacifier cupcakes (large Lifesavers and jelly beans).
All by our cupcake aficionado,  Princess Eager

Baby is growing & growing!
Princess Sassy bought a new
dress the week before,
but by party time it was too small,
so she had to find something else
at the last minute.

The cutest thing ever?  After the party, Steadfast had the help of one his best friends in trying to figure out the MobyWrap baby carrier.  ;-)

Wanna-Be... A lot of things!

I might consider this sort of my daily "Bucket List" - Please forgive me repeating ones you've heard before:


I want to sew... quilts, baby clothes, clothes for myself, clothes and projects for others.

I want to crochet --I should say learn to crochet--and then make fantastic afghans for my children grandchildren to cuddle in, like my grandmas did.

I want to bake and keep the bread drawer, granola container, and cookie jar full.

I want to learn to make, then keep us supplied with, tortillas.

I want to cook full and delicious dinners, and serve family dinner at the table.

I want to do cook-ahead, freezer meals for busy days.

I want to get up early and make sure my family has nutritious breakfasts in the morning, and for those who leave, take nutritious lunches with them.

I want to read the Bible and related studies.

I want to read books about quilting, cooking, baking, sewing, art, and architecture.

I want to read entertaining books.

I want to learn to play the cello...like Yoyo Ma... in about a month.  haha

I want to be very fit and healthy.  Maybe even sculpted.  Definitely want to be sculpted.  I suppose this means actually moving...  (But Katie at Domestiphobia says, "It's the thought that counts!")

I want to ride my bike and be able to manage changes in terrain without so much effort.  I don't think thought alone will accomplish that one.

I want to be fully involved in homeschooling my children... Finding fun ways to learn and great projects to work on... Instilling a love for learning, and a love for doing things like math, writing, sewing, baking, building...  Going on adventurous, interesting, and fun field trips.

I want to garden.  I want my yard to look neat and beautiful, but mostly, I want to grow (and preserve) good, fresh food for our family.

I want to have people over for dinner, and the house (and 'larder') be ready for guests at all times.

I want to keep my home de-cluttered, dust-free, and comfortably beautiful and warm.

I want to keep better organized files and records of financial papers and other household business.

I want to integrate Bible verses into our home, following the admonition in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 "...These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

I want to help make or save our family a significant amount of money to improve our monthly finances.

I want to share our projects and a bit of our lives on this blog... Not only sharing ourselves and preserving memories for family and friends, but hopefully, feeding others in some positive way.

I want to start a kitchen design page on the blog for those who yearn for a functional and family-friendly layout, and may not be finding the help they need elsewhere or are having trouble organizing their wishes into a plan.

I want to feel more willing to reach out and get involved in church projects and programs.

I want to be the greatest wife my husband could ever dream of....Supportive, accomplished, cheerful, attractive, helpful, respectful, loving, builder-upper.

I want to spend more 'couple time' with Hubby.

I want to be the greatest, most helpful, encouraging, supportive, loving, and beloved mom to my children... and also confidante and friend as they grown and become adults.

I want to really know each of my children as individuals, and have a close relationship with each, encouraging and supporting their dreams and ambitions, as God leads.

I want to be able to sit and enjoy a movie or favorite TV show with my family.

Downloadable images suitable for making reminder wall hangings
from Live the Way you Want to be Remembered by Kristen Duke,
in which, among other good things worth reading, she says:
"...I want to live in such a way that they will remember our time fondly. I don’t want them to remember me always on the computer, but spending time with them or reading to them or taking them on adventures."
Yes!

I want to be the best grandma to my soon-to-arrive grandson and other future grandchildren... I want to be the kind of grandma who bakes, sews, reads, cuddles, and is cheerful, loving, and fun.

I want to meet with close friends.

I want to spend time with my parents.

I want to connect with the Lord all day every day, trusting and living in faith instead of fatigue and fear.  --Sitting in confidence of my salvation, walking in the path He has for me, and standing with Him in the face of whatever my days bring.  

I want the spirit of faith, thankfulness, praise, love, service, and family to be contagious in our house, and, with the Lord's help, I want to be a main 'carrier.'

And.... I since I want to feel energetic enough to get out of my chair and do these things... I want more sleep!

Timing is Everything

Sometimes timing doesn't work out perfectly, but you just have to go with it.

Princess Bossy and Prince Helium arrived yesterday from their state far away... Yay!  On Sunday we'll be hosting a family Christmas celebration for approximately 27.  It's an event I very much look forward to, but have yet to prepare any food or baked goodies, and I still have gifts to sew.

But my dining room and kitchen currently look like this...

Complete with dogs' behinds...
and I'm too lazy tired to take & upload another shot of chaos

And this photo is too wide... but see lazy comment above

A bit of a disaster, to be sure, but it's a sign of good things to come, like, specifically, 

OUR NEW KITCHEN FLOOR!  

It goes in today, and I'm so excited to have that accomplished.  Not only am I eager to see how it looks, feels, and performs, but after having our the floor, plus baseboards, at different stages of "torn up" and piled in different areas of the house since September, I am SO looking forward to having my house put back together!  Hopefully, well before 2 PM on Sunday...  ;-)

The Tale of Two Thanksgivings

I know it might have been more helpful to discuss Thanksgiving menus before the big day... But there has been a request to see what was on Princess Bossy's fancy Thanksgiving menu I showed in a photo in my last post, and I'm glad to oblige.











While Princess Bossy expressed her passion for Thanksgiving through a more complex, gourmet type of meal, I enjoyed Thanksgiving more than ever, preparing more simply.  So before I unveil her menu, I thought I'd share ours, which was based on everyone's Thanksgiving favorites, and desires for less fuss and mess:



Appetizers:

• Crackers and various cheeses
• Hot Shrimp dip with small French bread slices
• Taco dip and chips

Dinner:

• Turkey, prepared using Safeway's 2-hour recipe... So easy!
• Croissants from Costco for making the aforementioned turkey into sandwiches
• Whole cranberry sauce (thanks to Costco again)
• Green Bean Casserole
• Grapes
• Mashed potatoes and gravy (A late addition.  Apparently, it's necessary to keep this one, traditional, fuss and muss item.)
• Dill Pickles and Black Olives

Dessert (Prepared by Princesses Eager and Artiste):

• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Cranberry Eggnog Cheesecake
• Eggnog Latte Cheesecake

Now, with royal permission, of course, I am happy to share (show off) Princess Bossy's wonderful menu:

Rolling with the Season

I started at 6:45 AM so that I could get this task underway
and not worry about it all day.  Highly recommended!

It was our turn to host our Bible study group, so I needed a treat idea, and was craving something pumpkinish.  Somehow, pumpkin cake rolls popped into my mind, and I searched the web for a recipe.  RecipeSource.com and TasteofHome.com are both favorite sites for finding highly rated recipes, and they didn't let me down this time.  I settled on one from Taste of Home (here) with a couple changes taken from others I'd read through.

Baking sheets sprayed lightly with oil spray, and lined with
parchment paper, also sprayed lightly

I chose this particular recipe because of its denser cake, compared to those with separately whipped egg whites for a "floofier" cake.  (Not a word, I know, but descriptive, and I happen to use it a lot...)  Anyway, I prefer a moister, more substantial, less fly-away cake texture.  Without that extra step, it was also an easier/quicker process, which was welcome, as I needed to make 2 for the gathering, and 2 for the family, who would revolt if I made goodies only for guests without enough for them.


One change I made to the original recipe was to sprinkle 2 of the cakes with chopped walnuts, adding nutrition and balancing some sweetness.  I preferred the nutty cakes, as did most of the guests and family members.

Baked cake inverted on towel lightly dusted with
powdered sugar

Cake and towel rolled gently from a narrow end

The kids got up and wondered why I had a bunch of rolled
towels on the counter, since the cake was in hiding

You can see I got a couple of minor cracks, but on an inner
roll, it didn't show when finished.  I came back to make the
filling and spread it about 4 PM, well after the cakes were
cool and I'd run around doing my daily tasks and errands

The comments on this recipe indicated that it was easy to roll, then unroll without a lot of cracking, which was also a big plus, since I haven't made many rolled cakes in my life, and none lately.
























The other change was to use 8 oz of cream cheese and 2 Tablespoons of butter per cake, instead of the 6 oz and 1teaspoon, respectively, for more volume and richness to the filling.  

Wrapped in plastic wrap to refrigerate or freeze
for an hour or more so that they form more solid
logs, giving me time for making coffee,  and
doing other last minute set-up

These were a huge success with both groups.  The recipe and process are easy, and the result is attractive for entertaining.  Tasty, too, which is, of course, what counts most!

Sprinkled with powdered sugar and sliced... Pretty!