name

Dear Baby, We had the perfect name picked out for you. Your daddy liked it and I liked it. It was going to be so cute. We were going to name you Jackson if you were a boy. And call you Baby Jack. Then, I said your whole name outloud and everything changed. Jackson Michael Van de Casteele. Crap! Sounds like we're obsessed fans of Michael Jackson who are traumatized by his death. Back to the drawing board. Love, Mom

dreaming

Dear Baby, I've had a few dreams about you. In the first dream, you were a girl and your name was either Aubrey or Audrey. This kind of freaked me out because I've always thought you were a boy. And then a few days later, my fortune cookie taught me how to say "girl." But last night in my dream you were a boy and your name was Jacob. So maybe God is just preparing me for either gender. Either way, I'll love you. Love, Mom

wisconsin

Dear Baby, You survived the trip to Wisconsin. It was a long 16 hours, but thankfully we slept for most of it. I was also excited that you didn't even make me pee that much. This past week, my stomach started to pop out just a little bit. I'm excited to finally look a little bit pregnant. Also, this past week I started to feel normal during the day. Yippie! You're still making me sick in the morning, but I'm used to it now. I'm trying to eat more protein like the chiropractor told me, but it's pretty hard. Good thing we're in the cheese state now. Love, Mom

chicken

Dear Baby, I got to eat chicken today!!!!!!! Seriously the most exciting thing that has happened in weeks. You see, apparently you have not been a fan of chicken for about 10 weeks. The thought of it alone was enough to make me run for the bathroom. But today, I ate some and enjoyed it. Granted it was fried chicken so really it was crunchy skin and grease, but still, there was some chicken meat mixed in there. And, come to think of it, I'm not sure if I was nauseous at all today after I threw up this morning. These are the days that make me think there is hope yet that someday I will feel better. Love, You mom

snow days

Dear Baby One of the best things about being a kids is snow days. It's so much fun to wake up in the morning and find out you don't have to go to school (or work now). There are so many fun things you can do, like stay in your jammies all day. When I was a kid, we'd go out back and get some clean snow off the porch and then pour maple syrup over it. It created this kind of candy slush. So yummy. I'll make it for you someday. Stay warm! Love Mom

dad

Dear Baby You're going to love your dad. I think that's why I really hope you're a boy. I know he's really excited at the potential of having a son to go camping with and do crazy things that you don't tell mom about. Not that he won't be excited if you are a girl. You will have him wrapped around your finger so quick. Tonight we celebrated your dad graduating from grad school. It's crazy to believe that he's done. That's the whole reason we moved out here, and yet, we are still staying out here, at least for a little while longer. Your dad is so smart and such a hard worker. There were many quarters I didn't think he'd get everything done on time, but he always managed to. He also managed to keep everything in balance and still make time for me. I know you're going to love your dad so much. I can't wait for him to teach you how to be a man of God and to respect women (if you're a boy). I also can't wait for you to know how much your daddy loves you and thinks your beautiful (if you're a girl.) Most of all I hope you'll always know how much I love him. Love Mom P.S. I really need you to have his hair. Not some wavy version, but all the curls!

Sleep

Dear Baby, I have always known I was a great sleeper. I really hope you take after me in that department and not your dad. Your grandma loves telling the stories of how she used to have to wake me up on Christmas morning because I just wanted to sleep. I've also always been a great napper. I'm really banking on you carrying on that trait as well. I do have to tell you that these past 24 hours, you've taken it to the extreme. I have probably slept 18 of the last 24 hours. Guess that's what happens when you're preggo and trying to fight off a cold or strep. Best thing is that it totally worked. I hope you remember how much you like to sleep when you are here. I'm sorry now if I'm really grumpy when we get up in the middle of the night. Love Mom

comment

Dear Baby, Today I got my first weird comment. Andrea was talking to her kids about how I was having a baby. They were asking all sorts of questions like if you are a boy or a girl. Then, one of the kids asked "Who's the dad?" We got a good chuckle at that. Andrea's response was pretty great too. She just said, "Mr. V. You know, her husband. Have you heard of him?" I'm sure I'm in for some more weird questions these next 6 months. Love Mom

Sadie

Dear Baby, Sadie is going to love you. I think she may already. She tries to cuddle with my stomach sometimes. Even though right now she's really just excited about ball, she is excited for you to come. She's probably most excited for when you're older and she can sleep in your bed. She just doesn't know it yet. Sorry for all of your toys that she will chew and all of your blankets that she will get hairy. You're going to love Sadie. Love, Your Mom

enough

Dear Baby, It would be great if you could stop making me throw up. I think 8 weeks is enough for one person. I do love you, but some days I'm not your biggest fan. Good thing your Dad still likes you. Love, Your Mom

Heartbeat

Dear Baby, I heard your heartbeat today. It was probably the coolest thing ever. I also got to feel where you are in my stomach. The nurse said you're doing great and that it's ok that you don't like to eat right now. Someday soon you will. I can't wait to meet you. Love, Your Mom

clean & congrats

Today I started to move stuff in to our new house/apartment. My wonderful friends Melissa and Carey came over to help me move stuff and clean our new place. We took over two car loads of stuff and then tackled the cleaning. It wasn't too dirty, but the cabinets and windows needed to be wiped down and the bathtub needed to be cleaned. Carey did wonders on the tub with some comet and Melissa tackled the kitchen cabinets while I cleaned the windows. Katie even stopped by with her lunch. It was so much fun to show off our new place. I can't wait to have all of our things there. Tonight, Mike is graduating!!!!!! Even though he won't be quite done with classes, it will still be fun to celebrate him. I am so proud of how hard he has worked. I'm excited to see what God has for our future (but I'm secretly hoping it involves staying in Colorado Springs for a little while more.) I can't believe that Mike is actually done (almost). It still doesn't seem like we've lived here that long, but it will be 3 years this September. We're so thankful for our small group and how they have become our family.

busy month

July has been a busy month so far. Lots going on and lots of great time with friends. We signed the lease for our house tonight so now I really have to start packing. I've been procrastinating that for awhile. We also are dog sitting one of our favorite doggies Riley and Miranda and Holly are coming for a visit soon. July is just going to fly by. And then it will be time to think about school again. I'm sure I'll get excited once it's time, but right now, I am not ready to go back. On the veggie front, we made kale and black bean tacos again. They were much better because we used canned beans this time. Plus, I had them in hard shells which I liked much better. We start getting fruit this week. Lots of cherries. I realized this week that I don't think I've ever tried a real cherry. Hopefully I will like them since we're getting lots.

who knew

last week, we got some new veggies. One in particular interested me. We finally ate it tonight. It was kohlrabi. It looks like a circular potato base with big leaves coming out. We just cut it up and Mike had it on his salad, but I just ate mine with some salt on top. One of my favorite things is raw potato with salt. This tasted just like it. It's so nice and crunchy with not much taste, but would be great for dipping in things. I even tried dipping it in a little salsa, which was yummy. Another thing I did not know until today was that some kids are very emotionally attached to their particular method of multiplying. Now, for those of you who don't know, there is now the traditional method (what we learned at school), partial products (what I teach now) and this thing called lattice method, which they teach in 3rd and 4th grade. It's this weird boxy graphic organizer for multiplying and I hate it. I don't let my 5th graders use it. I'm teaching middle school math prep for summer school. We were talking about ways to multiply and I told the kids that we weren't going to use lattice because the middle school teachers don't like it. Cue crying kid screaming, "what do you mean i can't use lattice......" I sent him to the hallway where he proceded to climb under a table. After I got the rest of the kids started on their pre-test, I went to the hallway to talk. He was still crying but willing to talk and told me that he was, "going to fail middle school because he only knows lattice and I said he couldn't use it." whooops! We made a compromise where he can use it but we're going to try to learn some other ways. So it looks like it could be a long 3 weeks, considering all this happened within the 1st hour today.

pirate fun

Our friends Jennifer and Garret had a wonderful 3rd of July pirate party. It was so much fun finding costumes at Goodwill. Here's what we came up with.

camping pictures

Finally some pictures from our camping trip. It was such a great time. Sorry there are a lot of Sadie, but I tend to think she is really cute.

Beautiful Mountains

Sadie Loving the Hike Crossing the Water

Snowball Fight

Sadie Helping Pack Up Camp

obedience

Today was class #1 of obedience training for Sadie and I. She was pretty good. Not too hyper considering our walk got cut short because of the lightning. We learned sit, stand and down with hand signals. We have to work on the loose leash walking a lot. Not so good at that. She really just wanted to go see all the other doggies. I think her favorite part was when she got to go through the tunnel. She went right in the first time. I was a proud mama. We have way to many veggies still and are getting more tomorrow. Tonight for dinner we had black bean and kale tacos. Not my favorite. Pretty much, saute up some garlic and cumin in some butter. Add some kale and put a lid on the pan for 2 minutes. Then throw in some black beans and heat till warm. We added a can of rotel to spice it up a bit. Then put on tortillas with all your favorite fixings. It would have been better if our black beans weren't still crunchy. I'm actually still pretty full from the dinner.

new place

We just put down a deposit on a house to rent. It's the front of a house and is two bedrooms. I will have a front porch to sit on and read books. I've been obsessing about curtains because there are these great windows in the house. Now I have some boxes to pack before we move in the middle of July. We went camping this last weekend. It was a blast. I'll post some pictures once I get them off the camera. We did an 8 mile hike on Saturday and a 4 mile hike on Sunday. I was a little whiny, but persevered! Sadie was great and has been sleepy all day.

rhubarb and dabling

I made these yummy muffins for our small group last night. They didn't turn out as planned (mostly crumbs), but were still a hit. If I were to make them again, I would lessen the sugar and probably use half and half instead of whipping cream. I had to use up the rhubarb from last week's delivery. We got all new veggies yesterday from Grant Farms. Lots more kale and spinach, but also some yummy strawberries and basil. I'm thinking there is some lasagna coming next week. We talked last night about James 4. It was tough, but really good. We shared a little bit about how we are trying to be different than the world. It was really encouraging to hear how my friends were being noticed at work and other places for being different. In the Message version, one of the verses said "quit dabbling in sin." It really convicted me and made me wonder where I have allowed sin to creep in and I don't think it's sin because it's not one of the "big ones." Definitely some things to think about. STRAWBERRY RHUBARB MUFFINS 1 cup strawberries, chopped 1 cup rhubarb, chopped 1 1/4 cups sugar 1/2 cup whipping cream 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, melted Sugar-cinnamon mix Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine strawberries, rhubarb and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in cream, eggs and vanilla until well-blended. Add strawberry mixture to flour, baking powder and salt mixture. Add butter and stir just until mixed. Spoon into 16 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mix. Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins. (Really makes way more muffins)

spinach

What to do with spinach. My hubby suggested a wonderful pasta that we've had before. I first made it for my friends Carey and Andrea while we were grading papers. It doesn't look like there will be enough sauce, but there will. Trust me. We're looking for a new house to rent. I have an ideal house in my mind, but know that we won't find something like that in downtown. Trying to figure out what I can live with and what I can't. Today I learned that it was scary bathtubs. Here's the recipe. Ziti with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Sauce Total time: 40 minutes. 4 ounces uncooked ziti 2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 garlic clove, minced 6 tablespoons half-and-half 3 tablespoons Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled 1 cup fresh spinach 1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. 2. Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and minced garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in half-and-half and Gorgonzola cheese; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in spinach and pasta; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, tossing occasionally. Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)CALORIES 335 (28% from fat); FAT 10.4g (sat 5.9g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.4g); IRON 2.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 26mg; CALCIUM 129mg; CARBOHYDRATE 49.9g; SODIUM 485mg; PROTEIN 12.3g; FIBER 3.6g Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2008

veggies

We joined a CSA (community supported aggriculture) for the summer and fall. One problem. I hate vegetables. There aren't really any that I actually like. So this could be quite a challenge to fnd things I actually like. Thank goodness I have Mike, who loves veggies. This week, we got a ton of greens as well as some rhubarb and herbs. So far, I have enjoyed what we've made. We had salads yesterday with very yummy lettuce. Mike made a wonderful dinner. We had lemon and dill chicken and spicy parmesan green beans and kale. Now, it was not something that I would ever crave, but it was surprisingly good. Here's the recipe. Spicy Parmesan Green Beans and Kale Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis Serves: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, sliced 1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered (about 14 mushrooms) 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and slice into 1-inch pieces 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup white wine 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 bunch kale (1/2 pound), rinsed, stemmed, and roughly chopped 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon) 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan Directions Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, green beans, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and continue cooking until the green beans are almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and the kale and continue cooking until the kale has wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and the Parmesan cheese. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

caved

Oh no. I have caved to the blogging world. We'll see what happens.