Sunday, December 28, 2008
Don't let their cute faces fool you.....
These two are trouble in 3T clothing. (I wouldn't have it any other way.) :)Saturday, December 27, 2008
The quilt that Hali made
Hali made Granty-poo a quilt for his birthday. The exposure is off, but I'm too tired/lazy to fix it. That's a whole lot of squares to cut and sew together. She really put a lot of thought into each material too. He plays the drums, so there is drummer material. He hunts and like camo material so she included that. Along with tractor, sailing, musical symbols and other interests of his. She did a great job and he loves it. Ice Fishing success!
Look at all of those fish! Cortney took three boys fishing, and look at what they brought home! Apparently they could have caught more, too! That is 100+ fish laying on the table. They are all cleaned and ready to be eaten.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Hope
I had never heard this song before today. It fits in so perfectly with Dekar's memorial ornament. The music is embedded on the left sidebar. With Hope, by Steven Curtis Chapman.
This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again
And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say "Well done"
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again
We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everythingGod promised us is true, so ...
So we can cry with hope
And say goodbye with hope
We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Christmas everybody! I am sharing with you a copy of our family Christmas card. Dekar is surrounded by all of his beautiful siblings.
My wonderful Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep photographer, Danielle Felton, took these photos during a maternity session. She also designed the card for me. She did such a nice job--thank you, Danielle!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Dekar's memorial ornament, 2008
For quite a while I have been looking for a Christmas ornament that really reminded me of Dekar. Today, I found it. I’ve been having some rough days and finding an ornament in memory of Dekar helped to lighten my mood and make my soul smile. It isn’t really an “ornament”, but that’s okay. Here it is:
Although I miss Dekar like crazy I have the promise that I will see him again; I have HOPE because of Christ. A little boy, joyfully displaying a HOPE balloon caught my attention, and I knew it was meant for me.
“Hope is symbolized in Christian iconography by an anchor. And what does an anchor do? It keeps the ship on course when wind and waves rage against it. But the anchor of hope is sunk in heaven, not on earth.”
~~Gregory Floyd, A Grief Unveiled
(The above figurine can be found here. Willow Tree® by Susan Lordi –”Hope”, stock #26163)
Although I miss Dekar like crazy I have the promise that I will see him again; I have HOPE because of Christ. A little boy, joyfully displaying a HOPE balloon caught my attention, and I knew it was meant for me. “Hope is symbolized in Christian iconography by an anchor. And what does an anchor do? It keeps the ship on course when wind and waves rage against it. But the anchor of hope is sunk in heaven, not on earth.”
~~Gregory Floyd, A Grief Unveiled
(The above figurine can be found here. Willow Tree® by Susan Lordi –”Hope”, stock #26163)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
My first Award!
Whodathunkit!
Thank you, LaDonna!
LaDonna, over at Just Our Thoughts gave me my very first award! How sweet! She said, "Hi! Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for all that you do to share and help with awareness of neonatal deaths!" She is talking about my Remembering the Life blog, which I have set up to celebrate Dekar's short life. LaDonna has her own story, and she is a sweet lady.
Thank you, LaDonna!
The rules for this award are:
1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate 10 other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.
Okay, I'll play--not sure I'll be able to do ten, but I'll try to do what I can! :)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Stupid Easy (Turkey) Pot Pie
This is so easy it's stupid. If you are a purist (what I used to be) who only uses fresh veggies and whole wheat, homemade pie crust, then this will be woefully inadequate for you. If you are a realist (what I now am) then this will make you jump for joy. Read the wording in bold for the basic recipe. Read the rest if you want to read more of my experience and advice.
INGREDIENTS:
Turkey
Cream of whatever soup (I use one can celery, one can chicken)
Can or two of mixed veggies, drained (Or you can use frozen. Be sure to thaw first.)
salt and pepper
Frozen pie crust (deep dish or regular)
METHOD:
Take out those frozen pie crust from the freezer and let them thaw while you prepare the rest of the recipe. You will be covering it, so have two crusts for each pie. (Truth be told, I only had three crusts last night and broke up the third to use on two pot pies--they still turned out great.)
Cut up the turkey into nice little bite sized pieces. (I don't measure the turkey, since I just use whatever leftovers I have on hand. Usually I have a lot leftover and can easily make two pies.) Place in a large enough bowl to mix in a couple cans of cream soup and the mixed veggies. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly. (If you use frozen veggies you may need to add just a bit of milk, gravy or broth to moisten the mix. Using canned, I don't have a problem. Don't add too much milk or the filling will be runny.)
You will need to eye this up. If you like more meat than veggies, only add one can of veggies. You can always add more, but you can't take them out! Same with the soups. Start with one can, and add another if desired. My basic recipe uses two cans of soup and two with the meat. It depends on how much meat you are using.
Slop into pie shells. Cover with other crust. Make a small slit or two on top to vent.
Bake at 350 for about half an hour. Since everything is already cooked you need to just heat this through. When it's done the crust will be nicely browned and the filling will be bubbling out of the vents.
These are SO good and SO easy.
BONUS INFORMATION:
This is easilty adaptable for any leftover meat you have on hand. For chicken or turkey I like to use cream of celery for sure, and then cream of chicken. If I have to I'll use cream of mushroom, but I don't prefer that taste with turkey or chicken. You could also use cream of brocolli, or a cheesey soup. You can be as creative as you like. It's really hard to mess this up.
I have made these with venison, so using extra beef would work equally as well. Shredded or small chunks--I suppose ground would work, but it doesn't sound as appealing to me. For this pie I use only cream of mushroom soup and a bit of beef broth for extra flavor. (Not too much broth, because then it gets too runny.) I'm sure there are other cream soups I could experiement with, or maybe I can just use extra gravy.
WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE THIS RECIPE:
These are GREAT for bulk cooking, as they easily freeze and can be popped in the oven while still frozen. I use a vacuum sealer for storing these in the freezer. Using a couple large ziploc baggies or two layers of aluminum foil would work too. (But a vacuum sealer is SO worth the money.)
I like to have these on hand for mothers who need meals due to sickness, births, or deaths in the family. They can have it in their freezer until they need it. I write the directions for baking on the top with a Sharpie.
If you have more filling than pie crust, freeze the filling for a later time. All you have to do is defrost it, place into thawed shells, and bake as usual.
INGREDIENTS:
Turkey
Cream of whatever soup (I use one can celery, one can chicken)
Can or two of mixed veggies, drained (Or you can use frozen. Be sure to thaw first.)
salt and pepper
Frozen pie crust (deep dish or regular)
METHOD:
Take out those frozen pie crust from the freezer and let them thaw while you prepare the rest of the recipe. You will be covering it, so have two crusts for each pie. (Truth be told, I only had three crusts last night and broke up the third to use on two pot pies--they still turned out great.)
Cut up the turkey into nice little bite sized pieces. (I don't measure the turkey, since I just use whatever leftovers I have on hand. Usually I have a lot leftover and can easily make two pies.) Place in a large enough bowl to mix in a couple cans of cream soup and the mixed veggies. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly. (If you use frozen veggies you may need to add just a bit of milk, gravy or broth to moisten the mix. Using canned, I don't have a problem. Don't add too much milk or the filling will be runny.)
You will need to eye this up. If you like more meat than veggies, only add one can of veggies. You can always add more, but you can't take them out! Same with the soups. Start with one can, and add another if desired. My basic recipe uses two cans of soup and two with the meat. It depends on how much meat you are using.
Slop into pie shells. Cover with other crust. Make a small slit or two on top to vent.
Bake at 350 for about half an hour. Since everything is already cooked you need to just heat this through. When it's done the crust will be nicely browned and the filling will be bubbling out of the vents.
These are SO good and SO easy.
BONUS INFORMATION:
This is easilty adaptable for any leftover meat you have on hand. For chicken or turkey I like to use cream of celery for sure, and then cream of chicken. If I have to I'll use cream of mushroom, but I don't prefer that taste with turkey or chicken. You could also use cream of brocolli, or a cheesey soup. You can be as creative as you like. It's really hard to mess this up.
I have made these with venison, so using extra beef would work equally as well. Shredded or small chunks--I suppose ground would work, but it doesn't sound as appealing to me. For this pie I use only cream of mushroom soup and a bit of beef broth for extra flavor. (Not too much broth, because then it gets too runny.) I'm sure there are other cream soups I could experiement with, or maybe I can just use extra gravy.
WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE THIS RECIPE:
These are GREAT for bulk cooking, as they easily freeze and can be popped in the oven while still frozen. I use a vacuum sealer for storing these in the freezer. Using a couple large ziploc baggies or two layers of aluminum foil would work too. (But a vacuum sealer is SO worth the money.)
I like to have these on hand for mothers who need meals due to sickness, births, or deaths in the family. They can have it in their freezer until they need it. I write the directions for baking on the top with a Sharpie.
If you have more filling than pie crust, freeze the filling for a later time. All you have to do is defrost it, place into thawed shells, and bake as usual.
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