Thank you, Lord, for...
Salvation
Grace
Unending favor
Strength
Merit with You because of Jesus
Family
Friends
Unending love
Care
Comfort
Smiles
Hugs
Love
Blessings
Messy, lived-in houses
Clean, sparkly houses
Health
Money
A job
Dogs
Leashes
Trees
Pretty flowers
Funny-looking fish
Crazy things to watch on tv
Cool stuff for my home
Roses
Memorials
Thoughtful people
Jesus and His life on this earth
The disciples and how much they messed up
Babies grunting and scootching around in bed after waking up
Anticipation of good things
Comfy sofas
Turtles
Books
eBooks
Authors who write great books
Snuggly soft blankets
Marshmallows
Fruit
Burning coals to look at
Comfy pants
Hoodies
Travel
Safety
Electricity
Knowledge of You
Worship
Music
Babies
Marriage
Beautiful things
The jigsaw puzzle of life
Most of all, thank you, Lord, for You. You made all of this and make life worth living. I'm excited to meet you one day! May you help me live honorably before You before then!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
a dinner favorite
So I have had a lot of fun dinner "successes" lately, but here's a recent favorite that is easy to make.
Homemade Rice-a-Roni
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a pan (I haven't experimented yet with reducing this, but you might be able to!). Put 1/4 lb. uncooked, broken spaghetti noodles in it (about a handful) and 1 cup rice. Saute in the pan for about five minutes - stirring - the noodles will brown.
Season with salt, pepper, and seasoning of choice. For me, I've done paprika and Lawry's with chicken, and paprika and a steak seasoning with venison (a beef substitute). Put beef or chicken broth (maybe a can?) into the pan. Put small cubes of raw steak/venison or chicken in as well as onions, green peppers, mushrooms, etc. Bring to boil; reduce to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes or so. (Maybe check at 10 minutes to make sure there's enough liquid.)
With my chicken version, we had plenty of broth so it was more of a soup. With the venison version, we had much less broth, so we ate it with a fork. Good flavor, and an easy dish to make in a flash! It took me about 40-45 minutes to make it - but I had frozen meat I defrosted briefly in the microwave first.
You can make this with just the noodles, rice, and broth or add the meat and as many or few veggies as you'd like and make more of a meal out of it.
Enjoy!
Homemade Rice-a-Roni
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a pan (I haven't experimented yet with reducing this, but you might be able to!). Put 1/4 lb. uncooked, broken spaghetti noodles in it (about a handful) and 1 cup rice. Saute in the pan for about five minutes - stirring - the noodles will brown.
Season with salt, pepper, and seasoning of choice. For me, I've done paprika and Lawry's with chicken, and paprika and a steak seasoning with venison (a beef substitute). Put beef or chicken broth (maybe a can?) into the pan. Put small cubes of raw steak/venison or chicken in as well as onions, green peppers, mushrooms, etc. Bring to boil; reduce to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes or so. (Maybe check at 10 minutes to make sure there's enough liquid.)
With my chicken version, we had plenty of broth so it was more of a soup. With the venison version, we had much less broth, so we ate it with a fork. Good flavor, and an easy dish to make in a flash! It took me about 40-45 minutes to make it - but I had frozen meat I defrosted briefly in the microwave first.
You can make this with just the noodles, rice, and broth or add the meat and as many or few veggies as you'd like and make more of a meal out of it.
Enjoy!
Saturday, June 2, 2012
three month pictures
I posted a few pictures from Brayden's three month photos. (http://laurawegener.blogspot.com/2012/05/no-longer-newborn.html) I have a ton more... so I figured I'd take a blog to post them because I'm horrible about printing them, passing them on, etc. Some are so cute I thought my friends and family would enjoy! :-)
Hugs and lotsa love!
(P.S. If you haven't already, go vote today and tomorrow (Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3) for Brayden in this photo contest. No registration required! http://photos.parents.com/
Hugs and lotsa love!
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| Smile! |
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| Love! |
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| Brayden and Daddy |
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| "Oh!" |
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| My family! :-) LOVE! |
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| Full pouty lip in action! |
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| Hi there! |
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| He's not so sure about this whole kissing thing.... |
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| Just laying around |
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| My snuggly, cuddly boy with adorable cheeks! |
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| The three of us again! |
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| Coke anyone? :-) |
Friday, June 1, 2012
food for thought
I just had the strangest thought.
So I was making cereal this morning and added some frozen strawberries and fresh blueberries. Not sure if that sounds strange to you, but it works for me. :-) The frozen is nice to just have around for when you don't have fresh fruit. And it's funny because I thought to myself, I just spent $7 or $8 on this big bag of frozen strawberries so I could have them on hand for nutrition in the morning (and because I love them!). Even though I only add five or six to a cereal, I realized that I fully expect me to get an unseen pat on the back because I was being good and eating fruit and those five or six strawberries would make all the difference in the world because they made my day slightly healthier.
On the other hand, I have blamed pregnancy and nursing for higher than usual sugar cravings ... my hubby would say it's completely normal and not worth blaming Brayden for them, but I don't mind the "excuse" ... All that to say, I've been craving sugar quite often and almost every time I have it I think, "Well, it's just a little sugar; it's no big deal."
So I finally caught up to the double-mindedness. I expect a small amount of nutrition to make this amazing nutritional difference in my food intake for the day, but want all the bad sugar intake to just slide by. Then I wondered how much I do that with my life. (I know, rather deep thoughts while eating breakfast....) I want a couple minutes of prayer to transform me, but time wasted on ___________ to just "slide" by and not be noticed.
All that to say, I need to be more cautious about how I expect my time to affect me. So-called good, bad, and indifferent uses of my time all affect me and if I really want to see an increase in my life from time spent with God, I need to take a lot more time than a few minutes here and there. A "nutritious" life is one that is a lifestyle of nutrition, not a few moments or a few strawberries of healthiness.
:-)
So Brayden's photo contest is still going on, and if you haven't yet voted for him, could you do so? You can vote once or twice a day per computer from now until Sunday at midnight. :-) You don't have to register... just click on the link, vote, and type in something to show you're not a computer.
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1322737
Thanks. I'm having fun watching Brayden go up the ranks in the contest and I appreciate every vote to make it happen. :-)
So I was making cereal this morning and added some frozen strawberries and fresh blueberries. Not sure if that sounds strange to you, but it works for me. :-) The frozen is nice to just have around for when you don't have fresh fruit. And it's funny because I thought to myself, I just spent $7 or $8 on this big bag of frozen strawberries so I could have them on hand for nutrition in the morning (and because I love them!). Even though I only add five or six to a cereal, I realized that I fully expect me to get an unseen pat on the back because I was being good and eating fruit and those five or six strawberries would make all the difference in the world because they made my day slightly healthier.
On the other hand, I have blamed pregnancy and nursing for higher than usual sugar cravings ... my hubby would say it's completely normal and not worth blaming Brayden for them, but I don't mind the "excuse" ... All that to say, I've been craving sugar quite often and almost every time I have it I think, "Well, it's just a little sugar; it's no big deal."
So I finally caught up to the double-mindedness. I expect a small amount of nutrition to make this amazing nutritional difference in my food intake for the day, but want all the bad sugar intake to just slide by. Then I wondered how much I do that with my life. (I know, rather deep thoughts while eating breakfast....) I want a couple minutes of prayer to transform me, but time wasted on ___________ to just "slide" by and not be noticed.
All that to say, I need to be more cautious about how I expect my time to affect me. So-called good, bad, and indifferent uses of my time all affect me and if I really want to see an increase in my life from time spent with God, I need to take a lot more time than a few minutes here and there. A "nutritious" life is one that is a lifestyle of nutrition, not a few moments or a few strawberries of healthiness.
:-)
So Brayden's photo contest is still going on, and if you haven't yet voted for him, could you do so? You can vote once or twice a day per computer from now until Sunday at midnight. :-) You don't have to register... just click on the link, vote, and type in something to show you're not a computer.
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1322737
Thanks. I'm having fun watching Brayden go up the ranks in the contest and I appreciate every vote to make it happen. :-)
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
God is watching over us!
Hi there! Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend! We enjoyed being with family. Always a blessing! I learned once again that traveling throws off a baby's schedule quite a lot... Brayden didn't really get a good nap in on Saturday or Sunday. Finally by Monday he either gave in to the fact we weren't at home or was that exhausted and slept a good chunk of the day!
Erik and I were extra grateful last night to make it home safely because we drove by a very bad accident that Erik guessed had happened just a few minutes before we passed. That means if I hadn't forgotten what kind of sunflower seeds Erik wanted at the gas station and had to go back and check with him before we decided to go through the drive thru for food or if we hadn't gotten stuck behind a super slow driver, we might have been in it ourselves! Not to mention two other instances of crazy things happening on the road where it could have an accident if Someone up above wasn't watching over us! Thank you, Lord!
In other news, can you do me a favor? I entered a cute photo of Brayden in a photo contest just for kicks. Could you vote for him? You just have to click on the link, vote, and type in numbers to show you aren't a computer. You can do it every day between now and June 3. here is the link...
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1322737
Thank you! Have a great week!
Erik and I were extra grateful last night to make it home safely because we drove by a very bad accident that Erik guessed had happened just a few minutes before we passed. That means if I hadn't forgotten what kind of sunflower seeds Erik wanted at the gas station and had to go back and check with him before we decided to go through the drive thru for food or if we hadn't gotten stuck behind a super slow driver, we might have been in it ourselves! Not to mention two other instances of crazy things happening on the road where it could have an accident if Someone up above wasn't watching over us! Thank you, Lord!
In other news, can you do me a favor? I entered a cute photo of Brayden in a photo contest just for kicks. Could you vote for him? You just have to click on the link, vote, and type in numbers to show you aren't a computer. You can do it every day between now and June 3. here is the link...
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1322737
Thank you! Have a great week!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
a lesson learned from Hollywood, Avengers style
So I have to admit it. I'm a fan of superhero movies. In fact, I've been waiting for a few years for May 2012, when the Avengers was released.
I have to follow those statements by saying, no, I'm not a movie buff. In fact, I shy away from a lot of movies because of content I don't care to watch. But I am a creative person who loves a good story. (That's why I get super excited about movies I actually want to see!)
I also love watching Hollywood take biblical truths about how to live life and turn it into a movie plot. That's exactly what I saw in the Avengers. I could rave on and on about all the truths I saw tucked away in the movie, but I won't bore you with the complete ramblings of my brain. Just some of them.
After pondering my excited thoughts about the movie (and yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it), I came to a few conclusions. (Okay, I was drawing conclusions all the way through the movie, to be honest!)
1. The other worldly creatures Hollywood portrays in movie have one thing in common: they don't have individuality. 99.9% of the time, alien invasions are done by creatures who obey orders. That's pretty much all. Some aliens have personalities (Transformers for example), but when the power source to the alien world is shut down, the aliens shut down too.
2. Humans have a common strength which double as their common weakness: their individuality.
The Avengers portrays this perfectly. If you haven't seen it, I don't think I'll be spoiling anything by saying that the Avengers don't work together so well in the beginning. In fact, they fight against each other... which I was thoroughly annoyed by as a casual viewer. I kept thinking, "Don't you know you're fighting for the same cause? You each have strengths, and if you just put them together...."
I couldn't help but think of the body of Christ right then. The body of Christ has moments of brilliance where we work together in amazing ways. We complement each other and portray Jesus as He truly is. Then we also have moments of stupidity where we fight against ourselves. We compare ourselves against each other (yep, the Bible talks about that) and mistakenly view each other as the enemy.
Now here's the cool thing. When good ultimately battles evil in movies (think: climax), the darkness has a solid attack plan that can only be thwarted when all the good side (humans, in this case) use their individual strengths in a united stand against the evil. That's when the dark is pushed back and ultimately conquered.
Our weapon of individuality truly is our greatest weakness and strength. It makes us prideful. It keeps us humble. It makes us opinionated. It gives us diversity. It divides. It pulls together. It causes a web of wonders that can truly be used in our favor if we choose.
I'm guilty of being on both sides of this equation so I'm glad this movie reminded me to pull together, not apart, in our walks of life on earth. When we embrace other people's differences, it actually helps us. It allows their uniqueness to complement our own individuality and ultimately strengthen the body of Christ.
Neat, huh? :-)
I have to follow those statements by saying, no, I'm not a movie buff. In fact, I shy away from a lot of movies because of content I don't care to watch. But I am a creative person who loves a good story. (That's why I get super excited about movies I actually want to see!)
I also love watching Hollywood take biblical truths about how to live life and turn it into a movie plot. That's exactly what I saw in the Avengers. I could rave on and on about all the truths I saw tucked away in the movie, but I won't bore you with the complete ramblings of my brain. Just some of them.
After pondering my excited thoughts about the movie (and yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it), I came to a few conclusions. (Okay, I was drawing conclusions all the way through the movie, to be honest!)
1. The other worldly creatures Hollywood portrays in movie have one thing in common: they don't have individuality. 99.9% of the time, alien invasions are done by creatures who obey orders. That's pretty much all. Some aliens have personalities (Transformers for example), but when the power source to the alien world is shut down, the aliens shut down too.
2. Humans have a common strength which double as their common weakness: their individuality.
The Avengers portrays this perfectly. If you haven't seen it, I don't think I'll be spoiling anything by saying that the Avengers don't work together so well in the beginning. In fact, they fight against each other... which I was thoroughly annoyed by as a casual viewer. I kept thinking, "Don't you know you're fighting for the same cause? You each have strengths, and if you just put them together...."
I couldn't help but think of the body of Christ right then. The body of Christ has moments of brilliance where we work together in amazing ways. We complement each other and portray Jesus as He truly is. Then we also have moments of stupidity where we fight against ourselves. We compare ourselves against each other (yep, the Bible talks about that) and mistakenly view each other as the enemy.
Now here's the cool thing. When good ultimately battles evil in movies (think: climax), the darkness has a solid attack plan that can only be thwarted when all the good side (humans, in this case) use their individual strengths in a united stand against the evil. That's when the dark is pushed back and ultimately conquered.
Our weapon of individuality truly is our greatest weakness and strength. It makes us prideful. It keeps us humble. It makes us opinionated. It gives us diversity. It divides. It pulls together. It causes a web of wonders that can truly be used in our favor if we choose.
I'm guilty of being on both sides of this equation so I'm glad this movie reminded me to pull together, not apart, in our walks of life on earth. When we embrace other people's differences, it actually helps us. It allows their uniqueness to complement our own individuality and ultimately strengthen the body of Christ.
Neat, huh? :-)
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
no longer newborn!
So Brayden is no longer just a newborn baby "doll" I can play with and dress up and put to sleep! :-) He's starting to develop personality. Of late, here's what he's learned.
1. He's learned how to protest. Apparently he's not a super huge fan of being carted around in his car seat all day... which leads to not being a fan of his car seat in general. He sticks his bottom up in the air and arches his back like, "No, Mommy, I don't want to be in here!" That doesn't stop me from putting him in the car seat, but it definitely makes me aware that he has definite likes and dislikes and I have to get used to considering those when I go about my day! :-)
2. He's learned to roll over. Yep. Mobility has begun... and we can tell Brayden seems to wish he was a whole lot more mobile than his body will allow him to be! We help him stand up on his toes (love how that looks when he's all wobbly) and he just leans forward like, "This is how I walk, right?" It's pretty cute. Same thing when he's on the ground sitting. He folds himself in half because he seems to know that's the direction of "motion."
So life continues to get interesting with him. Right when I think I have it down, something changes. His smile and hugs and squeezability is amazing!
Bray turns four months on Friday... but I have a ton of wonderful pictures I have from his three-month photo session that I haven't posted yet. I'll probably keep sharing them over the next few months, even though he's changing all the time! Thanks to my family at Beyond Photography for their great photos! Here are just a few!
1. He's learned how to protest. Apparently he's not a super huge fan of being carted around in his car seat all day... which leads to not being a fan of his car seat in general. He sticks his bottom up in the air and arches his back like, "No, Mommy, I don't want to be in here!" That doesn't stop me from putting him in the car seat, but it definitely makes me aware that he has definite likes and dislikes and I have to get used to considering those when I go about my day! :-)
2. He's learned to roll over. Yep. Mobility has begun... and we can tell Brayden seems to wish he was a whole lot more mobile than his body will allow him to be! We help him stand up on his toes (love how that looks when he's all wobbly) and he just leans forward like, "This is how I walk, right?" It's pretty cute. Same thing when he's on the ground sitting. He folds himself in half because he seems to know that's the direction of "motion."
So life continues to get interesting with him. Right when I think I have it down, something changes. His smile and hugs and squeezability is amazing!
Bray turns four months on Friday... but I have a ton of wonderful pictures I have from his three-month photo session that I haven't posted yet. I'll probably keep sharing them over the next few months, even though he's changing all the time! Thanks to my family at Beyond Photography for their great photos! Here are just a few!
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| Halfway through the photo shoot... he wasn't too sure about all this! |
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| Our favorite picture of him! |
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| me and my boys. Love. |
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