Random, Important (some more than others) Things

We've been a family of three (under one roof) for almost 4 months now, and will be a family of four (under on roof) in less than a week! How's that for a few major life changes in a short time?!? I guess I'll be able to report just how THAT is in a few days :)

So, I just wanted to pause for a moment and praise my husband, and wonderful father to my children.

Bobby. Is. Amazing.

I am so thankful for his willingness to serve our family by working hard day, and sometimes night, so I can stay home with our boys. And, he makes our bed in the morning, too :)

From day one with Owen, when I semi-expected myself to be amazing at parenting and Bobby to be pretty okay, he was AWESOME! It's been so cool to see Bobby's natural ability to parent and connect with Owen.

My husband also has ultra patience, with me. I can be too critical of the little things I think he doesn't do, especially when I'm stressed. I'm so thankful that he is able to communicate lovingly with me at these points - when I certainly don't deserve it!

Thanks, thudie, for all that you do! Oh, and that includes everything I didn't mention or don't notice too - think that should cover it :) Love you.


The other random, and not so important thing, I wanted to share is the music I've been particularly enjoying this week. Josh Garrels' Love & War & The Sea in Between. Free!

Hitting Home

There are several families from our church adopting from the same African country we have/are and we had a little get together yesterday. My good friend, running buddy, and key adoption resource, Jen (and her husband Jason) hosted and shared some insights they'd learned from an adoption conference. We also watched a video from Empowered To Connect. It was super good and led to some good discussion about adopting children from hard places.

Then, today I got a new post by Katie from Amazima Ministries in my RSS feed. SOOOO GOOOD and totally hit home based on our discussion yesterday and thoughts that I have regularly about our two sons. Though there is so much we don't and can't know about their past, there is comfort in knowing God has been with them through it all, and He brought them to us.

On another note, Gibson's visa was finally approved!!! Still waiting on travel info but so thankful and relieved to hear this good news. Thanks to all of you for praying! Looking forward to having our family of four under one roof!

Sour Cream Scones

Yesterday most of the gals in our Connection Group got together for a little afternoon quality time. I brought scones for a little snack. I've made these several times but this time tried 3 other flavors in addition to the plain scones (which are delicious too!). Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon and, of course, Lemon Blueberry :) were the new flavors. I just added a few ingredients to the basic recipe for each.

Basic recipe:
1 c sour cream
1 t baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups wheat flour
1 c white sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 c butter
1 egg

Chocolate Chip:
1 c chocolate chips

Cinnamon:
sub 1 c brown sugar for 1 c white sugar
2 t cinnamon

Lemon Blueberry:
1 T lemon zest
1 1/2 c fresh blueberries

Directions:
In a small bowl, blend sour cream and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter. Stir in sour cream mixture and egg into flour mixture until just moistened.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Roll or pat into a 1/2-3/4 inch thick round. Cut into wedges or squares as desired. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment covered or lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom.

For Chocolate Chip scones, add choc chips to flour mixture with sour cream and eggs.
For Cinnamon Scones, add sugar and cinnamon before cutting in the butter.
For Lemon Blueberry, add zest to flour mixture at same time as sour cream and eggs. Then add blueberries, gently folding in.

NOTE: This dough also freezes well so you can stop and freeze after you've cut into wedges or squares.

Lemon Blueberry... EVERYTHING

I'm kind of obsessed with the combo of lemon and blueberry at the moment. We went out to eat a few months ago at Stomping Grounds here in town and I was reminded of a wonderful lemon blueberry crepe I had there last summer. Since then I've been on the hunt for just about anything combining these two flavors.

Most recently I tried an amazing muffin recipe from my friend Meg and a drink from Keep It Simple Foods. So summery, so yummy!