This is for Lacy...

LACY! I'm hoping you actually read my blog haha (I guess this will tell me!) But I ran across THIS blog and its awesome! right up your ally :) if you look through everything in her sewing category its so fun! I'd love to try the highchair cover and the little boy costume...you'll see...anyways, I know this says "this is for Lacy" but its also just for anyone who likes to sew :)

Days like this...

So...for all of you mama's who have been pregnant, you know those last few weeks just draaaaaag on by. Im 37 weeks and man, what I would do to have this child evacuate the premises which are my insides. Chasing a 3 and 2yr old, upstairs, downstairs, church, outreach, long drives...oh my. And my poor husband in all this just sits back and watches hurricane sophie manifest her way through the days haha..I fell asleep on the couch this morning after I got the girls dressed, house cleaned, beds made, and when I woke up, this was laying on my pillow beside me.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A rural housewife, Fay Inchfawn, who lived a generation ago, wrote these lines on her need and expectancy of God's presence which speak to us of the more sophisticated frustrations of our modern day:

Sometimes, when everything goes wrong;
When days are short and nights are long,
When wash day brings so dull a sky,
That not a single thing will dry.
And when the kitchen chimney smokes,
And when there's none so "old" as folks;
When friends deplore my faded youth,
And when the baby cuts a tooth
While John, the baby last but one,
Clings round my skirts till day is done;
And fat, good-natured Jane is glum
And butcher's man forgets to come.
Sometimes I say, on days like these
I get a sudden gleam of bliss.
Not on some sunny day of ease
He'll come...but on a day like this.

Dear God...

Boys who wear skinny jeans and then sag them...we have begun the revolution of the homosexual gangster...oh God, please come back soon.
That is all, thank you.
Amen

The Magic Onions

Mrs Anne of Alamo (well..really yuba city) is officially my hero because she sent me link to this awesome blog, The Magic Onion...oh my I could read about all the adventures this mommy has with her kiddos, allllll day long..so fun and inventive and magical indeed!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!

Today is Johns birthday, he's 26, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!!!!!!! So, I know this is an open forum, but I cant let today pass without bragging about my incredible husband, and since its his birthday...well...hope its not too sappy for you.
I am lucky. No, I am incredibly blessed beyond what I could have ever imagined in all my girlhood dreams and reasonings. I am married to John Foley.
I remember the very first day I met him; I was six years old and his parents had just taken over the McMinnville Church, mine were pastoring in Kaiser and they were coming for dinner...I had already heard from the girls at church that the new pastors son was the cutest haha, and I remember peering out of the living room window as this very serious, very very cute boy walked up the drive. And I rememeber him leaving and thinking to my little self, I will marry him. And I did.
We have been through so much, so many storms and so many beautiful days, heartache, dreams that didn't quite come true, battles that seemed bleak on so many fronts, but here we are, dreams still in tact all the battles accounted for and so far no one lost. And its all because I married John.
I know Sophie, I know ME, I know how incapable I am and how easily I could run and hide, but this man I married, he never does, he never runs, he always looks the next hurdle square in the eye and says, when we get over this one I promise I'll still love you...and it has changed me.
Gods love has changed me beyond what man ever can, but here in mortality, in the land of the fallible, John's love has changed me, and saved me, and dignified me...and captured all of my heart.I am so in love...
I don't dare try to capture his character in words, just know, there are men, and there are good men, and John is the goodliest man I've known. How I managed to trick him into marrying me, I'll never know, but Jesus must surely smile on me to give me such a treasure. I know his heart is mine, and so long as I live, I will keep it very very safe in mine. I love you John..Thank you so much for being a father I could only dream about, for being a husband I only thought was in fairy tales, and for being the captain of the boat that is our family, in these waters that look so dark and scary, you always see the sun..and I could never love you more for that. Happy Birthday.

We have a website!!

So, this week has been nuts, the devil sure knows how to throw his punches, but we're rolling with the punches, and hello! this war is ours sucker so you'll have to try harder than that. Yes, I'm playing chicken with the devil, don't worry, we'll win.
After a couple hours in the urgent care, lots of IV fluids later, I think I can keep down juice. whew. like I said, devils a punk. But we got a super awesome website up and running for the church, check it out here!! Pottershousechico.com

ZUPPA!!

Tuesday was tough, Mailey got the stomach flu, and it really hit at midnight, and between then and 7am she threw up 13x..whee. Then morning came, and with three hours of sleep I tried to brave the day..then 9pm hit and Em decided then would be as good a time as any to take her time on the puking merry-go-round..such good times...BUT! Tuesday was also a triumph because, 3 yrs ago, John and I went to the olive garden (yes its been 3 yrs since ive gone back, its expensive!) and I had this INCREDIBLE soup called zuppa tuscana, and I've dreamed about it ever since. Here in Chico, there is an olive garden right down the street and I've been dying to go, but babysitters are rare and we really couldn't swing it, so I found THIS recipe, and gave it a go, and my oh my, I cannot wait to make it again, it was incredible, everything I remembered and more!! I made it with THIS chicken alfredo recipe (it was yum but I had to add a lot of salt and cream cheese to really like it) and yes we totally carbed out, but it was so worth it...I cannot wait to make it again!!
p.s. kale is amazing...anyone know any really good kale recipes? I have a bunch left over and want to use it up!!!

We all scream for ice cream...

Why is it that dinner time ALWAYS includes lots of threatened spankings, timers being set, little birdy appetites and carols of "my tummy hurts" "Im full mom" "I smell sompin funny" (courtesy of mailey)...but once the dinner has been cleared, dishes rinsed, ice cream scooped...suddenly we have children DRINKING the last remnants of their scoop?!?!?!?!!??!!?!? AND!! on top of that, all the sudden I'm hearing "im hungry mom" "I think I need more ice cream".....ah children.

Recipe of the week!! whoop whoop!!

So I LOVE great harvest pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, like I really, really like them, and we have a great harvest right down the street. Great harvest muffins are almost $3 dollars each...yikes. So, as much as I love pumpkin muffins I love my husband more and he definitely doesn't understand buying $3 dollar muffins ha ha, I found this recipe and MAN!! They taste exactly the same (possible better) and are quick :) enjoy! (If the fat content is just too much for you, there's a lite version available here, but seriously they're worth the fat!!!)

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
30 min | 10 min prep

30 muffins

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
20oz pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (yes, 1 1/4 cups)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus an extra handful or two) (Regular or mini, I like mini best)

In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth.
Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.

Jesus loves me this I know...

Most of you know that we're expecting a little girl in exactly 40 days :) (February 24th if you don't feel like counting)and this pregnancy has been a breeze, definitely more tiring since we moved to a different state when I was 17 weeks pregnant, but unlike my other two babies, this one has had such peace to it...and whats weird, is that I didn't start seeing a doctor until I was 33 weeks pregnant. I know thats crazy, but insurance became an issue when we moved and then other insurance's wouldn't take me because I was "pre-existing"...finally I got qualified as an emergency through the state medical program, which I definitely don't like being on, but they were the only company that would take a pregnant woman past 20 weeks. SO! this entire pregnancy has really been sweet, I appreciate doctors, but they have to give you the worst case scenario and that seriously gets old, I understand that they are (in the words of Sam Rice) "Covering their butts", but they forget that I am the woman carrying this child inside of her body, and my humanity gets lost on them. With both my girls some very scary things were predicted and none of them happened, yet I spent too much time trying not to obsess about the "possibilities". With Mailey I tore my placenta and they said I would probably get very sick, with Em, She was breech at 37 1/2 weeks, and when I went in to try and have them turn her they found my fluid had completely dried up and they rushed me to the hospital for an emergency C-Section and said she could die at any time because of that. This little one however, has been so special, while I agree that one should be seen regularly during pregnancy, I dunno...I've really enjoyed just trusting the Great Physician...and now that I have seen a doctor, lo and behold, all these issues have begun to present themselves. The biggest one is that I cannot find a doctor who will give me care if I don't consent to a C-Section...and um..I adamantly do not. Mailey was born completely natural and everything was fine, Em was C-Sec. because she was breech, not because my body failed to labor correctly, So I had no intention of scheduling a c-section just for fun. Both the hospitals in my area said they would not do a VBAC (vaginal birth after csection) and that really really put a downer on everything. Can they really FORCE someone to have a surgery if there isn't a medical emergency? They all said yes they can, so I went online and read some literature (Ican-online.org is a GREAT WEBSITE)and found out that a hospital absolutely cannot force a C-Section, they can strongly recommend one, they can even make you feel like a bad mom for "risking" your unborn child, but they cannot strap you down and wheel you away kicking and screaming. So I went to our hospitals comliance officer and basically said "what the heck?". She then set up a meeting today with the head of the birthing unit, the legal representative and herself (by the way she was a hardcore lesbian, like I thought she might've been a man I was so confused) to have me basically plead my case. I seriously felt like David and Goliath and I was david (obviously haha). So...every support group I found basically said, you'll be shut down. But they don't know God or my wonderful church who prays for me. Today I sent out a text to everyone asking them to pray twenty mintues before I left. When I walked in I loved the head of the birthing unit, her name is tracy and she looks like Kris Altringer, obviously beautiful :) and she has four children all born natural. Immediately she launched into the legal and medical risks, then I reminded her that the risk of my uterus rupturing (the biggest concern) is less than 1%, but the risk of the doctor accidently cutting the baby during the c-section is 4-6%, I'll go with the first one thank you very much. She laughed and said good point, at that time the legal dude scribbling away and looking homosexual had to leave for a meeting, and as soon as he was gone, Tracy got real. She said, "Listen, you're right, we can't force you. You can sign a waiver saying you know the risks and have this baby naturally." then she gave me her personal number and said when I go into labor call her and she'll make sure she's on my case so she can sign off on everything. I was blown away! Can you believe it? So, like I said, Jesus loves me this I know...and I also know my wonderful wonderful friends back home who prayed for me, love me too. There are a few miracles in these cases, and I got one of them...thank you thank you thank you.

Daddy and his girls...

I love how much our girls love their daddy, the scream everytime he gets home from ANYTHING because they're so excited (of course after spending a day with a tired hormonal pregnant mum, who wouldn't be excited to see someone new?)For the last three weeks, John has been on unemployment, which financially is not ideal, but oh how I have loved having him here, his presence is so good for the girls and me. Yesterday he took them over to the park to get outside in the sun, Em had an accident within five minutes of playing, hence the picture of her tears because she no longer could sit on the swings...ha...she does this everytime we go...she holds it and holds it cause she wants to play, why do I always forget a change of clothes?!?!?! Dont you love the picture Em giving John "noses"?

Best auntie LaLa ever

Illy came and stayed with me last week so John could go to conference and we wouldn't have to worry about me being alone at 34weeks pregnant...it was so nice to have my sister...I so miss them, anyone who has sisters knows they're best friends you never ever lose, so its been so painful to miss them constantly...while she was here she pulled an awesome aunty trick and made green eggs and....blue pancakes haha, didn't have ham so made cool pancakes instead. Mailey was seriously over the moon, she couldn't believe her eyes, real green eggs and blue pancakes!!! Dr. Suess is one of her all time favorites, and I must admit, mine too because its so easy to read, its entertaining and often his stories have a sweet moral message hidden inside...yertle the turtle is one of my favories, so is "Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?"....if you haven't read them, you must! Thank you Illy (la la to Em) for coming...I miss you already.

Sewing for Kennedi

okay...sorry about the post overload but so much has happened!! So most of you know, but we are expecting little baby Kennedi february 24th! Another little girl to spoil love and adore, I am so blessed. It seems with each child the anticipation grows and each pregnancy gets sweeter and sweeter. The first one was so exciting but so new and scary that every change took me by suprise and the idea of being responsible for a human life overwhelmed me...then came Emry, my second pregnancy was sweet but having a 9 month old to deal with meant my mind was so distracted...and now here we are, eagerly awaiting number three...I know, 3 kids, 3 years, I must be crazy; honestly though, I have never felt so ready or excited, with Emry I wanted time to slow down, I was so afraid of what 2 children would be like, but this time february can't come fast enough...Im already so in love and really, this ain't my first rodeo ha, I feel pretty good about what to expect. SO! nesting has hit BIG TIME and in the last 2 years I've fallen in love with sewing and making my own things, it just feels so good to accomplish something ha. I made the diaper bag and changing pad from a pattern in Lotta Jansdotters book, "Simple Sewing For Baby" (its an incredible book by the way) and the little kimono tops are from the book "weekend sewing" by Heather Ross. Im so proud of myself! I've pretty much taught myself how to sew and end up guessing and winging most of it so I'm so happy these turned out. The changing pad is quilted on one side and super soft and cozy, the bag is mostly a big pocket with two outer pockets and the first kimono top seemed to big to be newborn so I scaled down the pattern by a half inch and was much happier with the tiny little-ness of that size...here's the results!!

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats all I can say really...its sad to lose the Mammens, God has used them in our church so tremendously...but how sweet to gain back the Foleys. I remember the transition between the Hills and the Foleys, and then the Foleys and the Mammens, and its always so hard, so achy on your heart, to have them return to us is such a blessing, almost as if God is showing the McMinnville congregation his favor towards them you know?
Getting back old friends will make the change so smooth and sweet...and bittersweet instead of cautious and wondering...
And, ahem...they are a pretty rockin' family if I do say so myself.

Recipe of the week..

Did I mention I'm in love with breakfast food? okay...so I love cooking and love finding recipes that don't need tweaking. I made this today and its super yum, super easy. I like to mix it all the night before, cover, refridgerate then bake it in the morning, it really does make for a nice soft almost cake texture. ENJOY!

Baked oatmeal

3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
additional brown sugar, for serving
additional milk, for serving

Mix all ingredients (except the additional brown sugar & additional milk) together.
Pour into a greased square glass baking dish and bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick tests clean.
Scoop each portion into a small bowl, then pour a splash of milk over each- it should be just enough to be absorbed by the oatmeal (not soupy).
Sprinkle each with some brown sugar to taste and serve warm.

The gentle art of domesticity...

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much." -- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Ever since I became a wife and mother I've become obsessed with domesticity..in this era, the feminist rule, and the housewife is a silly little girl who is wasting her brain and silently suffering in her status in societys totem pole. Not so...This job is the most cherished occupation I have ever been involved in. I have never worked so hard, been so tried or so rewarded. I can't wait to get this book, its the one pictured above, its called "The gentle art of domesticity"...saving up for a good sale, it looks darling! This woman has simply devoted herself to this gentle wonderful art of homemaking...and it is a skill to be sure. And this blog is the sweetest thing, a mother and wife who loves her job... I've had to literally fight back against the ridiculous stigma that I am simply, "a homemaker"...does anyone realize what that means? I literally make my little place in this world, a home...a refuge, a shelter, for my babies and my husband, and its no small task. This great occupation is not for the weak or the easily broken. Its a forged and fought for, success. So many women forget that before they are mothers, they are wives...my husband was my first obligtion...these little wild things demand more of my time and physically aren't capable of existing without me...but my darling hero who works so hard, puts up with so much, was the original owner of this heart and I owe it to him to never forget that. It means so much to him to have a house that is warm and loved... one that his wife has poured her heart into. It calms him so much when I take time to prepare a meal for him, when I care about being frugal,and when I quite simply, make myself his completely. I am his and he is mine. So anyway...I've looked through little exerpts of this book and it touched that part of me that exists in every woman, that gentle, domestic, i need a man to take care of me, part...and truly, I believe its the part of womanhood that truly should flourish iside of me...and if I don't succeed at another thing in this lifetime...if I am the mother and wife that God made me to be, I will have lived a grand, happy life indeed.

"I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best I could bring to it." -- Rose Kennedy

Deck the halls with sunshine...

This year we made the trek to Yuma AZ...and my my...it was a christmas of warm fond memories I will never forget.The girls haven't had much time with their Foley grandparents, because until we moved to chico they were far far away. So we drove 12 hours and had a week with them. I've never had Christmas with anyone but my family, and I must admit,I was a bit anxious anticipating the emotion that would come with this christmas. We got there on a tuesday, left on a monday afternoon, and it was sunny and just right. Mailey made her little self right at home and walked right in while Em took a little bit to warm up...but oh my, when she did...watching her with her grampy broke my heart it was so sweet. This picture of Grampy reading to the girls is one of my favorites by far, Emry is usually so cautious and not into letting other people hold her, but she loved her grammy and grampy, and wednesday the Yuma church did a christmas play that seriously was extremely annointed, so touching and beautiful...these were the dresses the girls wore...little angels. Anyway...maybe more later, just trying to get something up ( here's to you patti :) )
Thank you Janet for a christmas I'll never forget...for making me feel so loved and at home, for being so hospitable and spoiling us beyond what is ever ever needed...you are incredible.