Today I am...

...one week away from my due date, highly uncomfortable, and just can't wait for baby to come...

...watching my kids pick all the "flowers" (dandelions) in the yard...

...going with my sister to get my hair cut...

...looking for the other lens from my glasses that my naughty little girl ran off with and lost...

...glad that I found the strap to make my only pair of sandals work again...

...hoping to make it to my last choir rehearsal before the baby comes...

...thankful for all the "little things" that make up my life!

God just "happens" to be in charge...

Today was one of those really hard pregnancy days: 38 weeks, just waiting for the baby, got no sleep last night because I'm so uncomfortable, and of course Gabriella wouldn't take a nap today....and then I tried to get some chores done anyway and my ankles got terribly swollen, to the point where I couldn't even stand up anymore. And then I found out Robert had to work late tonight...oh man, there were about to be waterworks!

But God used all of these unpleasant circumstances to provide me with a great blessing instead. A sweet, sweet lady who sings in choir with us at church has been wanting to bring us dinner for a couple of weeks now, and tonight "just happened" to be the night that she was able to do that. She brought us such a lovely meal, much nicer than anything I've been cooking lately! And the kids and I were able to sit down and eat an early dinner without me having to lift a finger. I felt so humbled and grateful. It was like God used her bringing us dinner to say "nothing's going to happen that I can't handle." And now instead of dishes or more cleaning, I get to sit down in my (finally) clean living room and watch a movie or read some books with my kids with my feet up.

It's such a comfort to know that nothing "just happens" on God's watch. I am praising Him for proving that to me through the kindness of Dee from church.

PS Oh and I am so excited that my sister and brother-in-law are going to be home tomorrow!!

;-)

Gluten Free Waffles

Our family LOVES waffles. I perfected a delicious vanilla waffle recipe, and we used to make a large batch every Saturday and freeze the extras for Sunday morning, or for a quick breakfast the rest of the week. But once we found out Jamie needed to eat gluten-free, Waffle Saturdays went out the window with all other baked goods.

But recently I got a recipe on the internet for gluten-free waffles, and decided to try them. They were so delicious! Most gluten-free things taste pretty good, but you can definitely tell they are gluten free. Not these waffles! They are great! (Robert thinks they might be a tiny bit more gritty than regular flour waffles, but I think I can fix that with a more finely-ground rice flour. Need to get some and then try again...) I think the key is the whipped egg whites folded in. It gives them a lovely, light, fluffy texture. They also freeze well, and then you can put them in the toaster for a few seconds to reheat.

In a large bowl, mix together:

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (try finely ground)

1 cup potato starch

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

3 T sugar*

2 T baking powder

1 tsp salt

*increase the sugar to about 1/2 c if you plan to eat them plain, without syrup, which is how our family enjoys them

Separate 4 eggs. In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks with:

1/4 cup oil (I use coconut oil)

2 cups milk

3 tsp vanilla

Beat liquid mixture and add to dry mixture. In another bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold gently into the waffle batter. Pour approximately 1/3 cup (depending on the size) into your heated waffle maker. Enjoy!

I have never made them this way, but after seeing this picture I desperately want a heart-shaped waffle maker now! ;-)

Why Women are Indispensable

If all women suddenly vanished from the earth, the world would fall apart. Other than the obvious re population issues, men would never be able to find anything!

Women, raise your hand if you have had this conversation with your husband (or your son):

Man: "Honey, I can't find any clean socks."

Woman: "Did you look in your sock drawer?"

Man: "No." (pause) "Which one is my sock drawer?"

Woman: "Second drawer from the top." (small sigh) "Same drawer that your socks have always been kept in as long as we've been married."

(pause) Man: "I don't see any."

Woman: (larger sigh) "Hang on, I'll come look."

Now, one of 2 possibilities occurs here. Either the woman goes and looks in the drawer, and finds the socks (which are sitting in plain sight) in 3 seconds, or (and this occurs rarely, but it is a possibility) there are no clean socks in the drawer, in which case the conversation continues as follows:

Woman: "Oh, I'm sorry, honey. I haven't gotten the socks put away yet. They are in the laundry basket."

Man: "Where is the laundry basket?"

Woman: "Sitting on the bed."

Long pause. "Honey, I don't see any socks."

Woman: "I just did a load of whites yesterday. They are there, I promise."

Man: "I still don't see them."

Woman (suppressing desire to throw something): "I'll come look..." 10 seconds later, in a slightly-less-than-loving-tone: "Here are your socks!"

You can substitute almost any object for "clean socks" and still have the same result. Now, I am not trying to disrespect my husband or say men are not smart. In many many ways, my husband is much smarter than me. (technology, anyone?) But when it comes to finding things, I'm not sure why it is, but all men seem to have this inborn, inescapable inability to locate the simplest objects!

Drives us crazy? Yes. Can we do anything about it? No. I suppose we should just consider it job security! ;-)