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.