Yummy Treats

So, I've been on this baking kick lately. Now, if you know me, I'm definitely not a baker. I love to try new recipes for dinners and stuff like that, but I'm not much of a sweets eater and I certainly don't make them...usually. For some reason lately though, I've been loving baking! I've made the good ol' chocolate chip cookies a few times, but I've made those in the past. I had some bananas one day that were really ripe (I want to puke when bananas are really ripe, they taste disgusting) so I had this sudden urge to make banana bread. I've never made it before, so it was a total experiment, but I made it and it was dang good. I even had enough to freeze some! Mmmmm, a yummy piece of banana bread with butter and a cup of coffee. Now that's what I'm talking about! Then, on Friday, I surprised the kids and made up some sugar cookie dough and mixed half of it with cocoa powder to make chocolate sugar cookies. Then, we used Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore cookie cutters and decorated the cookies with all sorts of different kinds of sprinkles and stuff. The kids thought that was the coolest and it was a fun time for us to spend together as a family too. Now, I have another treat I'm ready to make. I was going to make it today, but I know it's one of Brian's favorite things and he's starting the Biggest Loser competition at work, so I don't want to tempt him. I'm thinking I'll make them and take them to the campground with us this weekend for Halloween camping though. So what is it? Snickerdoodles! Mmmmmm, I can't wait to have the house smelling all cinnamony and yummy. I actually don't eat a whole lot of what I make (thank goodness, because I definitely can't afford to), but I love the way it makes the house smell and I love seeing the smiles and excitement on the kids' and Brian's faces when they eat the yummy treats I make. I'm thinking this winter is gonna be full of baked goods around our house. Such a fun new hobby!

If only

As tons of other people right now, we are seriously running low in the money department. We've gone over our options a hundred times about how we can bring in more money. We have already begun being very frugal when it comes to groceries and that sort of thing and haven't eaten out or bought anything for enjoyment's sake for a while now. Me working isn't even an option because of the amount of money I would be able to make and the amount that would have to go out in daycare. Not to mention, in my eyes (and Brian's too, really) daycare is not even an option. So, I just keep thinking that there has to be something I can do to make money from home. You see people all the time who come up with easy little clever things that they start selling online or at craft shows or something and it eventually becomes a business for them. Why can't I seem to come up with some sort of clever item or service that I can offer from home to help bring money in? Now, don't get me wrong, Brian never makes me feel like I'm not contributing or anything like that and actually tells me he would much rather be in our current money situation than have me working and have Asher in daycare, but I still can't help but feel like I'm just not really helping out enough. Why should he have to work all day to bring in our only income and then stress about how far we can stretch it? He's really working at getting ready to start doing websites for local businesses and we're really hoping that will take off. In the meantime though, it sure would be nice to figure out some way that I could bring some extra money in. How cool would it be to find something you enjoy doing that is sort of like a hobby for you, but brings in an income too?! I guess I'll just have to keep racking my brain for some ideas, but in the meantime, if you know something I'm good at that could potentially earn me some money, could you clue me in? LOL

Ouch!

So, excitedly I go to the dermatologist today to finally take care of this insane acne that has decided to take over my face in the last year. It truly is as though I am going through puberty for a second time. Well, I'm not havin' that. So, as I said, excitedly I go to the dermatologist today...

My dermatologist has a huge, nice new office now (instead of the one that used to remind me of some dingy free-health clinic you might see in a movie or something) and I sit in the waiting room looking around and checking the place out. A nice guy named Jose calls my name and leads me back to a room and asks me what I'm there for. I tell him for the hideous acne that he may have noticed invading my face. He laughs and says he didn't notice, so it must not be that hideous. He fills some stuff in on my chart and tells me the doctor will be in in a few. So I wait...

In comes my doctor and we immediately get down to business. I explain the problem that is plaguing me and he examines my face and agrees that something needs to be done and he proceeds to write me some prescriptions and tell me he's going to take some samples from my acne. That sounds yummy. I proceed to make a few jokes about different things and he says "Sarcastic humor, that's my absolute favorite." and I tell him that's good because I'm full of it. He does the sampling and when he gets to a zit that I've been popping repeatedly for days in the crease of my nose, he says "Oh, that was awesome." I'm feeling insanely gorgeous by this time, let me tell ya.

All's well until he asks me if there's anything else he can do for me and I say "Oh yeah, I wanted you to look at the scar from the mole you removed on my back last summer." I turn around and lift up my shirt and he says "Whoa, that's one heck of a keloid." For any of you who don't know what that is, here's the definition: an abnormal proliferation of scar tissue, as on the site of a surgical incision. Well, I'm no stranger to keloids, I've had a few doozies and get my lovely scarring skin from my father. He then proceeds to show me quite the scar on his hand that is flat now, but he says that is was once like the scar on my back and some injections made the dramatic difference. So, he proceeds to get the injections ready...

REWIND: "So, excitedly I go to the dermatologist today to finally take care of this insane acne that has decided to take over my face in the last year." In no way was I expecting any form of shot, injection or the like. So, you can imagine how I felt at that moment as he was getting things ready. I said in a joking manner "Oh, that should feel good." and he looks at me with sympathy and says "It really is going to hurt, I'm sorry." Yay, I feel so much more at ease now. Thanks. He has me lay down on my stomach and says, "I know what this feels like because I've had it done before and I know it hurts, so bear with me." He sticks the needle in and I think "I'm cool, I can handle this." and then the intense burning and feelings of a sharp object being jabbed into my scar take over. I let out a little grunt and proceed to kick my foot ever so slightly on the table and tell him I'm sorry and he says "Hey, do whatever you have to do to get through it, because I know it's miserable." Well, it was and I was still in pain for a few hours after it. Right now though, it feels ok and I'm excited to see how it does. He did say that I may have to have a couple more injections, but I guess that would beat having this big ugly scar that I can sometimes see through my clothes and that I'm super self-concious someone who hugs me or puts their arm around my waist will feel.

All in all though, it was a good visit. I got some things taken care of that I've been needing to do and I'm looking forward to a zit-free face. So, wish me luck that the medications he gave me will clear my face up and that my scar will get better without having to have too many injections!

Tub Time and a haircut!

I've been needing to cut Asher's hair for a while, but he hasn't exactly been cool with that idea. Well, today I thought I'd ask to hear him say no again, but to my surprise, he said "Ok!". So, I didn't waste my opportunity, I took him in and cut his hair. He looks so old to me lately. There's no more of that baby look to him. He's like a little boy now. So sad. Anyway though, he wanted me to take a picture of him "swimming" in the bathtub after his haircut, so I decided I would, since he's getting bigger and bathtub pictures will start to get kinda weird before too long. So, here he is!





Doesn't he look old?

From the mouths of babes...

I seriously heard the most adorable, sweetest conversation between Gavin and Riley today. Gavin had been watching the weather channel (for any of you who don't know, he watches it everyday and can tell ya a whole heck of a lot about storms and all that good stuff) and was commenting on that they were saying there were possibilities of tornadoes for today. He and Riley were getting out the PlayStation and Gavin said, "We better play this because if a tornado comes through, we won't have it anymore." Then, he paused and looked at Riley all serious and said "Actually, I don't care if there is a tornado because then we'll be able to go to Heaven." Riley looked at him and said, "Yeah and Heaven is the best place ever. I don't care if there's a tornado either." I was giggling silently from the kitchen and also swelling with joy that my boys are excited about going to Heaven someday and then it came...the "kids say the darndest things" moment...Riley said "Heaven is awesome and you can do anything you want there. Like, you can see Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy." LOL Just a little reminder to me that kids are kids and they never cease to surprise ya!

Oh how I love the rain.

I love rainy days like this. It's just so calm and quiet around the house and it makes everything feel more cozy. I can't wait to curl up on the couch with some coffee and watch some t.v. with Brian. The kids are even more calm on rainy days. And really, what could be better than a rainy Friday? Knowing that we can laze about and sleep in in the morning is just awesome! Dinner is cooking in the crockpot and making the house smell all yummy. Yay, it's just an awesome rainy day. I seriously love a thunderstorm though, so it'd be cool if one of them rolled through.

God Loves Me!

In my bible study I went to this morning, we were told when we left to take the week and look in God's Word and see that He loves us. We were given several parts of scripture to look at and I left feeling very excited about really getting into the Word and getting closer to God and thinking about how much He loves me. On the way home, the song that I have below came on and it's a song I've heard many times, but today it was different to me. Today I really thought about what it was saying and it touched me in a new way. The most amazing part was when I was searching for it with the lyrics on YouTube and found it. Not only did it have the lyrics, but at the end is a verse that we read and talked about in the study today and it just pulled it all together. Coincidence? I think not. God really telling me He loves me and letting me know that He was there with us at the study this morning? Definitely.

Thank you, Lord!