Aberdeen Update ~ March 2012

If you are interested, here is our quarterly update letter we send out to our supporters. We are so thankful for the body of Christ and the support it provides, allowing us to prepare for future ministry. God is so good. You can choose to download it or just view it in your browser. 

Spring has come to Aberdeen and we sure are glad to see the flowers and SUN again :) 

Maddy, Rose and I walking in front of King's College

Rose loved the open grass and flowers

Maddy making a run for it!

Menu Plan Monday~ March 26, 2012

Tim leaves Monday morning for to attend SST conference in York, England. He'll come back home Thursday around 2pm. In the meantime, I am finishing up technical edits on my thesis (during nap time and bedtime). If all goes well, I will be giving my presentation on Monday April 2nd at 9pm my time. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. So if you think about it, I would appreciate your prayers for me this week!

Due to several husbands being gone for the conference this week, the AWF (Aberdeen Women's Fellowship) has decided to organize combined dinners and play times for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night to help us get through the "witching hour "- oh I mean dinner hour without husbands :)

Monday - Dinner out at Burger King - We'll all meet at a park nearby and let the kids play outside for an hour or so and then treat ourselves to NOT cooking :)

Tuesday - Spaghetti Dinner - We are all meeting at a friend Melissa's house for some spaghetti and sauce. We'll all bring sides

Wednesday - Hot Dogs - Everyone is coming to my place for hot dogs. Others will bring sides. I'm so thankful for the body of Christ and a wonderful community like this that rallies around one another when we are most in need of help and encouragement! I'm not sure how I would survive without these wonderful AWF ladies!

Thursday - Baked Mac and Cheese, Salad

Friday - Chicken Fajitas

Saturday - Baked Chicken

Sunday - Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm linked up with orgjunkie

Preschool Quiet Time Ideas

In the past month or two I realized that Maddy wasn't getting in enough quiet time activities in a day. This girl loves to run, dance, jump, sing (just about anything but sit still ;) I really do love that about her because it's just like me-ha!

But I realized that I wanted to spend more some purposeful time(maybe jut 30-45 min) in our day where she and I did a quiet activity together, teaching her to sit still and focus for a period of time on a project as well as getting in some quality one on one time :). I am also hoping to work on her letters, number, shapes etc during this time.  It fits in best in our day when she wakes up from her nap and Rose is till snoozing. That way, she and I can do something a little more involved. I've come up with a pretty limited list of ideas(sometimes I mix a few ideas into one day).  But I would LOVE to hear some of your ideas :)

* painting (letters, numbers, shapes, pictures)

* glue/glitter

* Tea Party

* coloring books
* white board
* chalk board (can you tell I was a teacher?)
* baking/cooking

* play dough
* reading
* spreading shaving cream on the table and writing letters, numbers or shapes with our fingers
* puppet shows(we each did our own). It was much more fun than I thought it would be :)
* playing make believe with her ponies
* sorting colored beads

* puzzles
* threading beads on thick string

So does anyone else have any FUN ideas for me?

Menu Plan Monday~ March 19, 2012

It's been a bit of a "sick week" for the Baylors. In the beginning of the week, Rose spiked an almost 104 temp and was sick to her stomach with a nasty nose. Poor girl. She just laid there staring for a couple of days! The immediate care nurse relieved my concern by checking her out late one night. The fever broke and in about 3 days or so she was back to normal. Then of course slowly each of us caught the bug. But fortunately for Maddy, Tim and I it was only a nasty head cold type of flu. I think we are all on the upswing now. I am never as thankful for health as after we have all been sick!

On a positive note, we are getting more and more light back each day! It's been so refreshing and uplifting to our spirits! The sun is coming up now at about 6am and going down around 6pm - woohoo -10 hours of sunlight! But before we know it, there will be more light than dark. So I need to get moving on finding some black out blinds for the girls so they will still sleep :) But I'm not complaining!

I was able to use plenty of leftovers last week and we were also invited over for a few meals, so I have 2 repeats this week.  Hope you have a great week of cooking in your house!

Monday~ Broiled Parmesan Haddock (402 calories a fillet), crispy broccoli

The recipe uses Tilapia, but it's easier to find Haddock here. So use whatever sturdy white fish you can find :)

Tuesday~ Pat's Famous Beef and Pork Chili (469 calories per 1 cup), cornbread

Wednesday~ Beef Tacos, guacamole(105 calories per serving), chips

We cannot seem to get off this guacamole train - so yummy!

Thursday~ Coconut Chicken (419 calories per 4 strips), parmesan green beans (green beans cooked in olive oil and salt and pepper in a skillet for about 10 min, then sprinkled with Parmesan.

Friday~ Spaghetti and Meatballs(303 calories for 1/4 of the meatballs in recipe, then add calories for whatever pasta you use), Salad

For more recipes check out orgjunkie

R.L.B. is 18 months :)

Oh our sweet Rose Bud! I can't believe she's already 1 1/2 years old. She has certainly won the hearts of our family! She's endearing, lovable, thoughtful, snuggly, smart, and HAPPY :)

*Her language skills have really started taking of this past month. She's trying to copy words that we say now and is so proud of herself. She has a slew of words that she knows and uses them! I'm so glad too. There's not much more frustrating than a toddler screaming (for some unknown reason) and they can't tell you why. YAY for words :)

* She LOVES to dip her food into anything(humus, ketchup, dressing). As soon as I put food on her tray(it could be anything from a carrot to a piece of cheese) and she'll say, "dip dip," and repeat it until I give her something to dip her food in. It cracks us up!

Playing with a stick at the park. Looks a little like a "Harry Potter" stance to me :)

*She tries to count, but only comes out with Wun(1) Wee(3) Wun Wee, Wun Wee - over and over. She grins ear to ear and is so proud of herself. I love it!

This is with our friend Stacey. I love that she looks like such a big girl  here!

*Her new favorite toy is her baby doll stroller. From the minute she wakes up she is busy busy pushing that little stroller around. Now mind you, it seldom has a baby in it. It's contents are more likely to be a brush, toy, sippy cup, granola bar, or her favorite blanky.

Chasing Pigeons in Edinburgh. She has recently gotten her "toddler run" down. I just love it!

* Her all time favorite food is oranges - but unfortunately she gets a nasty diaper rash when she eats them :(  But when she can't have an orange, she'll take some baked beans(I know, weird right?!)

* She loves loves loves to eat! It's hard to believe for as tiny as she is, but this girl basically eats all day. She has several different ways that she will tell us that she is hungry:
#1 She'll climb up into her chair and say, "foo" (food)!!
#2 She'll open this low cabinet we have and pull out the crackers, raisins or granola bars and bring them to me to open. When I ask her if she wants to eat it she says loudly, "yea!'
#3 She will stand by the fridge door and yell, Peese!(please) as she tries to pry the door open with her little fingers.

* She will often run to me with open arms and when I kneel down and scoop her up she hugs me and lays her head on my shoulder. ahhh ... I tell you what, that will get you through a tough day!

* She loves to spin and dance with her sister to Princess music, but she does NOT like her sister to lead in the dancing- which totally annoys said big sister :)
But at the end of the day they are all hugs and snuggles.

* Whenever I come to Sunday School to pick her up after church, she runs with open arms to me saying, "mama!" squealing sweetly. I kneel down and she runs into my arms and gives me the best snuggle in the world!

* When Daddy come home from work she jumps and squeaks and spins shouting, "Dada! Dada!". She looks up at him with those BIG BLUE eyes and he can't help but give her whatever she wants :) This is her looking up at him asking him to read her a book - which of COURSE he did!

* She has gotten more spunky and has started to throw little fits when she doesn't get what she wants. She just melts to the floor and flails a bit. Sad to say, but it's pretty hysterical.

* She has also started to stand up for herself more with Maddy, which is great! I think Maddy is learning that she has to be kind and fair if she wants to co-exist well :)

* She is still as teeny as ever. She can still fit in this little back carrier and is happy to do so(well, most of the time).

We are just so thankful for you Rose Lillian Baylor! You truly are a blessing from the Lord and special gift to our family! We love you sweetheart!

Menu Plan Monday~March 12/2012

Monday- Pat's Famous Beef and Pork Chili (469 calories per 1 cup) and corn bread- I froze half  last time I made it. So YAY! No cooking :)

Tuesday- Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and Broccoli  Lo Mein

Wednesday- Chicken Enchiladas, salsa and chips

Thursday- Coconut Chicken with sweet chili dipping sauce (419 calories per 4 strips, plus 25 calories per 1 T dipping sauce), corn, chopped potatoes baked in olive oil and salt and pepper. We LOVED this last time we had it and we're trying to do it again!

Friday- Pasta with homemade sauce and salad - the recipe link will take you to a chicken parmesan recipe that we love, but I am just using that sauce recipe and going meatless on this one to save money.

Find more recipe idea's at organizing junkie

#101 Maddy Says

* In a rental car with our friends the Barkers on our way to Inverness, Maddy shouted out, "It smells like poop in here! Mama - you need to to change Rosie's diaper!". The hilarious part is that Rose's diaper was clean. The car actually did smell like poop!

* After watching a "Diego" episode she said, "I wish I could be a chinchilla and have big ears to hear scary animals in the woods so they won't get me!"

* Rose had a stuffed animal that Maddy really wanted and we told Maddy that she needed to wait until Rose put it down and then she could play with it. Well as soon as we were out of sight we heard Maddy say to Rose, "Wosie! You can't come in hewre(into the bathroom) unless you give me that aminal!" We could not believe it! What a little briber!

* When I found Maddy's coloring book in the fridge, I asked her why she put it there and she told me, "So Rosie won't get it and rip it up" - well then girl - mission accomplished :)

* She will often say,  "Here's my deal: You drink the Coke all, then I drink the last sip".

* After evening prayer Maddy says to me: "Daddy, why did you pray for me to have a new heart?"
Tim: "That's what Jesus does for us, sweetie. He gives us a new heart to serve God and love others."
Maddy: [eyes widening] "I made a heart for YOU today, daddy. It was red and I put stickers all on it. And I'm gonna stick it right on your belly and you'll look just like a Care Bear!"
Tim: "Uh . . . "

Precious moments: 
*Maddy and I were watching "Tangled" together tonight when the song "Now I see the Light" came on (we both LOVE this song) and she grabbed my hands just as the two main characters held hands. Then she says, "Mom, lets hold hands and sing to each other". We sang the rest of the song holding hands looking at one another and smiling. I totally burst into TEARS! It was such a precious moment! Love that girl!

*Rose, Maddy and I were sitting up in the window sill watching for Daddy to come home from the office one day. We were playing the, "That's not my Daddy" game. It goes something like this: A woman walks down our street and we say, "That's not my Daddy, he's not a girl; he's a boy". Then Madison followed this statement up with, "Mom, your a gurwl, I'm a gurwl, and Wosie is a gurwl. Then with a very sad and concerned face, "But Daddy is NOT a gurwl! He's a boy! He needs us gurwls so he won't be alone!" It was just so precious!

Menu Plan Monday

Our friend Stacey from Chicago has been here this week with us and we have been enjoying showing her around the area a bit and just enjoying spending time with her. It's always fun to have a familiar face around and to step out of the normal routine to see a few different things. We're enjoying our time! We just found out that Tim's parents will be coming to visit at the end of April for 3 weeks - yay!


Monday- Chicken Noodle Soup and Salad

Tuesday- Stuffed Shells (210 calories for 2 shells)

 I make mine by memory from an old recipes, but I includes: 1 container of cottage cheese, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese,  1 cup mozzarella cheese, an egg, oregano, browned ground beef, salt and pepper- all stuffed into cooked pasta shells. Then I just pour spaghetti sauce over top,

 sprinkle with a little mozzarella and bake til bubbly. 

Wednesday- Cheddar Bacon Burgers (466 Calories a burger). A juicy American style hamburger is hard to come by here. The beef just tastes different is prepared in a "funky way" at the restaurants. By that I guess I mean that the meat seems very dense and pack together with very little seasoning or flavor - much like a hockey puck of meat - blah. So I scoured the web for a burger that infused flavor and "juiciness" into the burger - haha :) We love it!

Does anyone else have a good burger recipe they love?

Thursday- Beef Tacos and Homemade Guacamole (105 calories per serving-not including chips.) I love this recipe-so zesty and flavorful!

Friday- Orchard Chicken Salad - I didn't get a chance to make this last week and really want to -looks so fresh and tasty!

I'm linked up with orgjunkie