nothing says "good morning" like a mini muffin

since nana and the girls will be here to visit starting tomorrow, i made some muffins tonight and thought i'd share the recipe with you. it has quickly become my favorite because it makes enough batter for 24 mini muffins (don't like having to wash my pan and then do another batch), uses no butter or oil, you can use whatever fruit you have on hand, and it takes 30 minutes from start to finish. i modified this recipe from one i found online, so i hope i'm not plagarizing! 1 c. unbleached white flour 1/2 c. whole wheat flour 1/4 c. wheat germ 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. salt Combine in small bowl. 1 c. pumpkin 2 eggs 1/2 c. milk 1 tsp. real vanilla 1/2 c. brown sugar (i like to use the brown sugar/splenda blend) Make sure fruit is pureed or well-mushed and combine ingredients in large bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet. Once combined, pour into well- greased mini muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 mins. This recipe is really user friendly. For example, with the pumpkin i like to use 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg. With banana, you could add 1/4-1/2 c. of mini chocolate chips, or pecans to the mixture. tom thinks blueberry would be good, but i'm not sure what spices would be best. now that you know what caleb will be eating for breakfast in the morning (yes, with cream cheese on it), let me know what you think!

17 months old

best friends caleb and his gran celebrating mother's day it's hard to believe that caleb is already 17 months old. some days, i watch him run around and see a little boy, not a baby. here are a few things that our little boy is up to: 1. words galore. new favorites are "momma," "dada," "ma men" (amen), "bye-bye," "bye bul" (Bible), "baybee" (baby), "crak er" (cracker), and "tuk" (truck). he can also make the siren sound for the firetrucks--we hear alot of them going down the road where we live now. 2. body parts. caleb knows his belly, nose, mouth, eyes, sometimes his ears, and oh yeah, his man parts. while we use the correct term at home, not so sure that i want to put it in a blog for people to search...ewwww. 3. running. after a bumpy start, he's motoring around the house like a pro. he loves to take off down the hall, look back at me to see if i take the bait, and the chase is on. 4. food...still eating well, but not gaining a ton of weight. he's still plodding along the growth charts at his own pace. 50th percentile in height and head and roughly 10th percentile in weight. he loves all fruits, especially peaches, mandarin oranges, and blueberries. another favorite is soy sausage. aside from the occasional peanut butter & cracker and scrambled egg, it's the protein of choice. oh yeah, cream cheese. i make ultra-healthy muffins (think banana, pumkin, wheat germ) and the boy licks the cream cheese off and leaves the muffin. crazy kid! caleb has a wild sense of humor, the occasional temper tantrum, and the sweetest hugs. happy 17 month birthday little boy!!!

tea time

today at church, some ladies organized an afternoon tea. it was a great time to get together, have some cute and delicious food, and be encouraged from the Word. it was so amazing to see approximately 80 ladies (of varying ages) there. to top it all off, we were given cute tea cups to take home as a reminder to pause each day and have time with the Lord with tea (or coffee) as our only companion...quite a task some days when you have a little one(s) around. here's hoping that you take the time to satisfy your soul in the Word during the next week.

water baby

it was a blistering 94 degrees in nashville today. way too hot for caleb to play outside for very long. i had a flash of mommy brilliance and decided to take a small tub, fill it with water, and give caleb some kitchen utensils to splash around with outside. after changing caleb into his trunks (complete with sunscreen), we headed outside to find some shade. tom made fun of me for insisting that caleb wear a swim diaper and trunks, but i'm glad that i did. while my reasoning was that we bought 'em and need to use 'em (after all, they won't fit next year), caleb had another idea. after a few minutes of splashing, he decided that the tub i use to hold ice and drinks for parties was just the right size for him to climb in and sit. and by golly, he was right! we spent the better part of a half-hour just sitting under the shade tree watching traffic go by and splashing in our resourceful pool...resourceful sounds so much nicer than cheap, or redneck, lol! what a great way to spend a way too hot morning.

better???

i doubt that this snazzy new template will fix my posting problem, but it sure looks pretty. i'm sure that it will change again since i've found free template...yay!!!

i hate this template

why does this stupid blog template not let me space things out in the body of a blog?????? it does it in the preview, but once i post...gone...arrrrrrgghhhh!!!!!! see below for a lovely example.

tagged!!!

so, i haven't blogged in forever...and since sweet ms. kelley tagged me, there's no better time to catch up. what was i doing 10 years ago? graduating from high school and getting ready to attend summer orientation at ut. i think i still have my student id from there. it's funny b/c: 1. i was soooooo young, and 2. my hair blended into the orange background...real attractive. 5 snacks i enjoy: chocolate in any form the new natural popcorn from orville retenbacher in salt & black pepper chips & jack's brand salsa (it tastes homemade) Mayfield's ice cream (i can eat an entire half-gallon by myself...no kidding) did i mention chocolate??? 5 things on my to-do list: if i have to pick just 5, then laundry making pumpkin mini-muffins (yum) vaccuming (yuck) playing outside with caleb (double yum) ironing (double yuck) 5 things i'd do if i were a billionaire: give to the local church bodies that i have been a member of pay off tom's college loans pay off credit cards (shocked...i'm sure) buy our house in nc just so we wouldn't have to worry about selling it anymore buy a new house in nashville wow, buying a new car didn't even make the list... 5 jobs that i've had: wife & mommy accounting clerk at brock mcvey in lexington family court judicial secretary in louisville administrative assistant in criminal defense law firm in k-town camp counselor in k-town 5 of my bad habits: ummmm, i've narrowed it down to one...pride. now, i know pride isn't a habit per se, but it does result in the stubborness, lack of mercy for others, etc. that i do practice every day. and if you really want to know how that pride manifests itself, just ask tom. i'm sure he can rattle 5 habits off pretty quickly :) 5 places i've lived: strawberry plains, tn louisville, ky winchester, ky chapel hill, nc nashville, tn people i'd like to tag (or people i'd like to see start blogging): amanda b. paula g. jeff and ashley stephanie k. 1 more random thing about me: i was voted "most likely to succeed" and was the valedictorian of my high school class. wonder if people will re-think their vote when they find out i'm a SAHM?!?