Banana Bread

The day before my father-in-law had surgery earlier this year (which caused his subsequent stroke), I had made him his much beloved banana bread and smuggled it into the hospital for him to enjoy. After his stroke, he was placed on feeding tubes and it's been hard for him not to enjoy "real" everyday foods. Recently he has been able to finally eat pureed foods. This is a huge step (and he's even able to feed himself). So, in honor of his progress in this area, Chris and I baked him a banana bread to take to him this weekend. I added some extra ingredients to ensure it is ultra moist and, if we need to, I can puree it a little for him. I can't wait to see the look on his face when we present it to him. God is good and we continue to give him praise for the progress Domingo is making.

Here's the recipe for "One Pot Banana Bread"

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar (or splenda)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup orange juice (optional -- I like to use it to make the bread super moist)
2 large eggs
3 large bananas, very ripe (mash them up with a fork to make it easier to mix)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Coat a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients one at a time, mixing well after each addition with a wire whisk. (if mixture seems too dry, add more orange juice.) You don't want the mixture "runny" but moist. Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool slightly, and then turn the loaf out onto a platter or board.

Middle of the Night Revelation

Many of you prayed for my brother last month after his unexplained medical condition that landed him in the hospital for several days. (He had passed out in his car, had excruciating headaches and short term memory loss to name a few symptoms). The doctors ran all sorts of tests and found nothing... it was frustrating for sure and scary not really knowing why this had happened to my brother. Wait until you hear what happened next....

One night while my Dad was here visiting, I woke up at 4:00 am. Oh, not again. This had been happening to me quite often. I wake up in the middle of the night and, usually, I'm unable to fall back asleep. So, I start praying. For everyone and anyone I can think of. I did manage to fall back asleep on this particular night.

When I went downstairs around 7:00 am to greet my father, he told me that he also woke up that same morning at 4:00 am. The Lord woke him up and told him to get up out of bed, email my brother and tell him that the reason why he was sick was because he had been exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning in his pick-up truck!

I was stunned... amazed... The Lord revealed the "why did this happen" to my Dad. As soon as he told me this, I knew in my heart, without a doubt that this was real. I went on the computer, did some research and low and behold, of course all his symptoms matched up to carbon monoxide poisoning. His truck is very old and the poison must have been seeping into the cab of the truck... especially if the windows are closed...

So, my Dad had emailed my brother with all this information at 4:00 am, but I was nervous because what if he was driving to work at that very moment with the windows closed? It was still early and he wouldn't get the email until after he was at work. My sister quickly called my brother and was able to reach him and tell him what God had revealed to Dad. He told us that he did, indeed, have the windows rolled up in the truck the day of the incident. So, he promised to have the windows rolled down for now (and will be hopefully getting a new vehicle soon). He bought a carbon monoxide test for his car and, yes, when he had the windows rolled up and the car running, the levels were extremely high... with the windows down, the levels were normal.

Thank you God for still speaking to us, your children, and for your love and protection every step of the way!!

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor of Parenting Magazine:

I first received your magazine when my son was born 5 years ago. I have thoroughly enjoyed the tips and articles that have been helpful and made me laugh more than once. This past edition, however, shocked me and I was so appalled that I had no choice but to cancel my subscription and thought you should know why. For some reason, your writers felt compelled to use two words that are forbidden and unacceptable to be uttered in my household. This is a parenting magazine, and if your magazine is publishing articles using what I consider swear words that I won't tolerate in my home, why would I want to continue to be a subscriber? Did you think that using such words would appeal to a bigger audience of "cool" moms? I work very hard to sensor what comes into my home - especially for my child's sake. I am sorry to inform you that your magazine is no longer suitable for my home.

Perhaps you will do the right thing and clean up your act and remove the trash talk from your pages.

Sincerely,

Your former reader,
It Is What It Is

*** The sad part of this story that a second magazine that I had recently subscribed too is also going to be receiving a similar letter from me. It's unbelievable!!

Monday Madness

Little guy is feeling much better (yeah!) and another busy Monday is upon us. So far, we've attempted to rearrange little guy's bedroom, only to move everything back to its original location because he just didn't want the change. Now we are dealing with Verizon because none of our home phones are working (just in case you were trying to reach me, Dad). Then my poor hubby went to start his car only to have a dead battery. Ahh... and it's not even lunch time. Hope your Mondays are going smoother than ours. Counting it all joy, my friends. Some people have it a lot worse than me today.

Big hugs to all my blog readers!!

Out of Stock

I've come to the conclusion, that every family in our small town is constipated. My poor son has had several bouts of this unpleasantness, and his doctor recommended that I give him a small dosage of Miralax. Great. So, yesterday I tried going to Target and they had no Miralax... completely sold out. Found that odd. So, today I went to RiteAid and they were also sold out except for a HUGE bottle which cost $25.00 I don't think so... By this time I'm frustrated. We live in a small town. This is crazy that the stores are sold out of this stuff.

So, then I finally get to Walgreens and by this time I'm feeling constipated just trying to find this stuff. Thank God they had some in stock. I don't know what's happening in our town, but apparently Walgreens is the only business that's got a good stock of this stuff. Hopefully I won't have to go back for a refill. Please pray for little guy that he'll feel better soon.

Pizza, Pizza

Making Pizza for the first time with Mom

Eating the raw pizza dough (eww! but he loved it)

the final product (well at least part of it)

Seven Years

I just rolled my eyes after I heard this message on my answering machine over seven years ago...

"Beth, this is your sister... where are you?? You must still be at church. Anyway, it's Sunday night and I just spent the last 40 minutes talking to your future husband.... AND YOU KNOW WHO IT IS!!! Call me as soon as you get this message..."

Ok... first of all, for those of you who know my sister, she is very excitable, so you can only imagine the squeals of delight that accommodated that message. Secondly, I had no idea who she was talking about or what she was talking about. I was a single girl, living in Lancaster and relatively happy with where I was at with my life. I had great friends, a good job, I was active in an awesome church and was learning how to cope with my mom's passing.

So, after replaying the message a second time, I called my sister back and she rapidly and excitedly told me that at church that day she had run into a guy she knew from college, Steve M. It had been years since they had seen each other and after a few minutes of chit chat he asked how I was doing. Ruth didn't even remember that he knew me (she had introduced us when we were teenagers, we formed a friendship but lost touch once I went away to college). So, she of course mentioned that I was still single (thanks for the plug, Ruth) and living in Pennsylvania. She threw in that I often came to NJ to visit and that we'd all have to get together sometime.

Honestly, my first reaction to this was not very positive. "Ruth, I haven't seen this guy in like 15 years. I'm not the same girl.. I'm no teenager and certainly I don't look like I did back in those days." But she was determined. My sister enjoys being a matchmaker and was successful in pairing up several of her friends. Up until this point, the matches she made for me were anything but successful. One guy tried to sell me Amway products during the entire course of dinner. Thankfully, this was a double date with my sister and brother-in-law at whom I repeatedly rolled my eyes throughout that disaster of a dinner/date. Next up was a blind date with a guy that had a personality of a wooden door -- didn't crack a smile all night. It was painful. I definitely needed someone who can laugh.

Who would have known that eventually Steve & I did reconnect (much to my sister's glee!) I shared with you all last year on my blog about how God brought Steve and I back together through bizarre circumstances (I was living in NJ because of a stroke my father had suffered). Today marks seven years since that "reconnection" and we treat it like an anniversary. I'm so excited and, honestly, marrying a man who loves God, me and our son, was so worth the wait. We often joke about why we never dated as teenagers... how awesome it would have been to not have lost touch for those 15 years... but then we realize that God had a purpose in those 15 years. He used that time to make us ready to be the man and woman of God we needed to be in this marriage. God's timing is perfect.. always

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. "James 1:17

Getting Ready for Summer

Summer break is coming. I know, you are probably thinking that I'm a little late or having a very blonde moment. But, since Chris was in an extended school year (4 extra weeks of school), this Friday is the official start of his summer break. He's really enjoyed these last four weeks -- it was really more of a camp. Nothing intense, just some opportunity to reinforce the social skills and have fun! I was a little concerned because I had never met his teacher and, unlike his preschool, I am not getting regular feedback on how he's doing. So, I must rely on what little information he shares. The other day, however, he came home and told me that he was sad because he didn't get to hear the entire story that the teacher read in class. When I asked him why not, he promptly informed me that he had received a "sad face" for not listening to instructions and was in the time out area for part of the story. So, after our little heart-to-heart about the importance of following the teacher's instructions and directions, he looked at me with big eyes and burst out with, "Well, at least I only got one sad face... my friend Jason got t-h-r-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e sad faces today." Jason's mom must be thrilled.

To prove that he "got" the message on the importance of following the teacher's directions, the following day he came home and announced that he did not receive any sad faces (whew!). However, when my husband tried to correct him for something later in the day, Chris exclaimed, "Dad... you are not the teacher." So, we had another heart-to-heart explaining that while it is important to listen to teachers, they do not out-rank Mom and Dad. I can just hear him in school tomorrow, "Mrs. C... you are not my mother." Here's crossing my fingers that he won't go there... and earn another sad face.

Worship Bloopers

Recently, Steve & I were listening to a Christian Radio station and they were asking parents to phone in funny things your kids have said or done. This one mom called in and said that she had quite the chuckle when her child was sitting in the car singing Chris Tomlin's "Holy is the Lord" song... The chorus is supposed to be "Holy Is the Lord, God Almighty" but what came out of her mouth was, "Holy is the Lord, Calamari". I thought that was hilarious.

While living in Lancaster, PA, I was on the worship team at church and boy did we have some powerpoint bloopers... Instead of "Arise and Sing, Ye Children of Zion..." the words on the screen came up as "Arise and Sin, Ye Children of Zion". Also, instead of "The Zeal of God"... it came up as "The Seal of God".

Steve told me that once in his church, the words for "You Are Awesome in This Place" came up as "I look upon your continents (instead of countenance)" I still can't sing these songs to myself without smiling. Have you had any worship/powerpoint bloopers??

Kid Funny

I had quite the chuckle a few days ago while in Target. (Seems like I'm there every day but that's another story). When we walked into the store, Chris gasped with glee and squealed, "Look, Mom, they have your name on a sign!!!" He was bursting and could hardly contain himself. I was confused for a minute and asked him to point to the sign he was talking about. "Over there, Mom". But of course... the sign said "Bath"... very close to Beth. "What do they have in that department?" I replied, "Well, if it was the "Beth" department, I would hope it would have all my favorite things: fusilli, lots of chocolate, ice cream and someone to play Scrabble with... but since it is the "Bath" department I think I'm out of luck."

Hit Or Miss

I don't know what is worse, having a child who strictly follows all game instructions (to a fault), or one who likes to make up his/her own rules in order to win. My child is in the stage where he doesn't quit grasp all the concepts of certain games, so playing with him, can be challenging... let me share an example...

When my Dad was visiting us a few weeks ago, he offered to watch Chris for me so I could run to the grocery store. While I was gone, they decided to play the game "Battleship". A quite, easy game.. no drama... just put your ships on the board, call out coordinates, and it's either a "Hit" or a "Miss" until someone sinks all the ships. Well, when I got back from shopping, they were still playing the game. My Dad looked frustrated. So I asked him what was wrong. He said, "I keep calling out numbers/letters and every time I get a hit! The problem is, I'm not sinking anything." So, apparently, my little guy didn't know the difference between a hit or a miss. He just yelled "hit" no matter what. I thought that was pretty funny. Then to add insult to injury, Chris only had placed 2 out of the 5 ships on his board! We're working on learning the rules on that game.

So, you've been warned, just in case you come over for a visit and Chris asks you to play Battleship with him.

Cross It Off The List

What a weekend!! For those of you who are Facebook friends, you already know that at long last, we are now former homeowners. Yes, the closing on our old home in Florida finally took place on Friday. I can't express how wonderful it was to call up all the utility companies and the guy who mows the lawn for us and CANCEL our services. Can you imagine having to pay utilities for a year on a home you did not live in? That's right.. one year of electric, gas, water, and lawn care. Believe it or not, the bank who held our mortgage made us sign a document saying that we were "maintaining our property" to ensure that we did not abandon it. You may think that the monthly bills would be low, but let me tell you, the water bill, especially in the summer, could be brutal. Not to mention having to pay utilities up here in NJ.

Anyway, we are very thankful to everyone who prayed along with us and we owe a huge thank you to Dave Ramsey of Fox Business News. Yes, Dave Ramsey. You see, we found our realtor through his website. Our original realtor did a lousy job in handling our home sale. We were so disgusted that we had to find someone else. One day while browsing on Dave's website, there was a section on real estate and low and behold he actually recommends realtors around the country (good tip for those of you contemplating selling your home). His team connected me with a realtor in Tampa who was amazing. We met her personally last December while in Florida for Christmas. They were so on top of things. Amazing.

So, that prayer request comes off the list. Also coming off the list is prayer that Domingo would be released from the hospital. He came home on Saturday afternoon. Please continue to pray that he gains strength so he can continue with in-home rehab and that the Lord will provide the right people to assist the family with his care.

It's so wonderful to be able to see God answer prayers... big prayers and small prayers. I hope you all have some answered prayers coming off your list as well. Is it just me, or is it extra gratifying to cross off the ones that have been there for what seems like forever? Then I chuckle knowing that to God it probably was only an instant.

9-1-1- What is Your Emergency?

Well, I called 9-1-1 last night. I didn't want to do it and waited a little while before doing so, but my sense of being a "good neighbor" kicked in and knew I should just pick up the phone and make the call -- even if it didn't really pan out to be something major.

You see, last night while I was playing Wii Sports with my son in the living room, I noticed a well dressed man walking down the street. He went to my neighbor's door, rang the bell, and after a few seconds walked away. I figured he was a friend of his. But then, the man didn't walk back up the hill to where I assumed he parked his car. Instead, he proceeded to another home (that had no car in the driveway) and rang that bell. Same scenario, up and down the block ringing random bells. The side of me that wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt figured he was selling something, but he didn't carry any notepad, and he wasn't wearing an ID badge. So, the don't let your guard down/city girl in me knew that he was likely scoping out the neighborhood to see who is home and who is not. It was just odd.

So, he continued to wander around the community from what I could gather from my front window. There is only one way into our community and one way out. THEN.... he walked out of our community (at this point I was spying on him from my back sliding door). It was obvious that he did not drive into our community, he was dropped off. That put me over the edge... Next thing you know I'm on the phone with 9-1-1 giving them the details. As I'm talking to them, the guy walks back into our community again and starts ringing more bells. (Mind you.. he never rang my bell because my car was in the driveway). Then, he walks out of the community again and proceeds to sit down at the corner and just wait... At this point the dispatcher puts me on hold, and when she gets back on the phone tells me that the police are aware of this guy (apparently another concerned neighbor or two has also called in) and not a minute later, I see a patrol car pull up and approach the guy.

By this point, my little guy is more concerned about being allowed out on the deck to blow some bubbles, and I'm trying to keep him inside -- as if opening my door would somehow signal to this guy that I was the one who placed the call to the cops.

As it turns out, he was trying to sell magazines and there were a total of 5 guys that had been dispatched from a shady white van into neighboring communities. The cops gathered them all up, more cop cars showed up and after much discussion, etc. the scene finally breaks up about 20 minutes later. No arrests. But total peace of mind on my behalf. I'd certainly want my neighbor to call the cops if something didn't seem right in the neighborhood.

Nothing like a little real life drama before bed.

Eat Your Veggies!

I would definitely be a millionaire today if I had a quarter for every time my parent's said to me "Eat Your Vegetables!" I was notorious as a child (and.. ahem.. as an adult) for not eating my vegetables.. particularly if it was a green one. I spent most of my childhood sitting at the kitchen table long after everyone else had been excused staring at vegetables willing them to go away without having to put them in my mouth. Not sure why I have such "veggie trauma" as my hubby calls it, but nevertheless, I have not outgrown it. There are very few "approved" vegetables in my repertoire.

But, low and behold, I have turned a page with a new product on the market.... The V8 V Fusion. This 100% juice product gives a 1/2 cup of fruit and a 1/2 cup of veggies in an 8-ounce glass. They also have a V8 V-Fusion Light version which is lower in calorie. I love this stuff! After a glass of it, you feel like it gets right into your blood system and gives you a boost. I am a particular fan of the Strawberry Banana flavor. Is it a replacement? No... but at least it's a step in the right direction.

What's Inside Your Child's Teddy Bear?

Have you heard about this? From the Daily News article:

"Bronx Build-A-Bear toys stuffed with millions in heroin. They don't stock this option at your local Build-A-Bear store. Authorities announced Saturday a massive heroin bust in the Bronx, where dealers were moving millions of dollars in dope inside Build-A-Bear dolls (they sliced open the backs of the bears and filled them). "

What Day is It?

I don't know about you, but I'm all out of whack. Friday felt like a Saturday, Saturday felt like Sunday... you get the picture. All I know is that the calendar (and my laundry pile) tells me that today is Monday.

We had an action-packed weekend. Drove down to south Jersey to spend time with my father-in-law who is still in the hospital (please continue praying for him!). We squeezed in a round of mini-golf which consisted of mostly Christopher putting his golf ball 3 inches from the hole and then getting a "hole in one". We drove back home on Saturday afternoon and then drove to a neighboring town to watch a great fireworks display. It was Christopher's first time sitting outside to watch them and he absolutely loved it. If you were following my blog last year, you may recall that we spent last Fourth of July sitting in a hotel room because the movers were several days late in delivering our furniture from Florida. So, needless to say, this year was a big improvement.

Yesterday was church - it was the second weekend service in our brand-new sanctuary in Rockaway, NJ. I served in Nursery which always exhausts me and reminds me how wonderful it is not to have to change diapers. Although, I must admit, I never tire of holding a little baby. After church it was off to visit with some dear college friends (Diane and Jerry for those of my college buddies who read the blog) who I hate to say I haven't seen since my wedding!! Yikes!! Diane and I were roommates my junior and senior years of college. They live only a few miles from our church so hopefully we'll be getting to see a lot more of them. I still feel like I just graduated from college although the mirror and the fact that we are all married and have children tells me otherwise. It was lots of fun and a great way to end our weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Fourth of July

We live in America today because our relatives came to this country so many years ago in search of a better life. Although it seems at times that our country is headed in bizarre directions, I am very grateful to be here and to have freedom that other people can only dream of. My Opa, who immigrated to America in the early 1900s, wrote this poem and I thought it appropriate to share for the Fourth of July:

"They came in multitudes, from nations all over the globe,
In search for freedom, liberty, a new life, a new hope;

They came with their belongings, just what they could carry,
And the sight of the "Liberty" made them happy and merry;

They came with their traditions and skills, determined to succeed,
To be Americans and loyal to the flag, was their plea;

They came and settled in every corner of this land,
Honoring God with thanksgiving for His gracious hand;

They came, they came, and still are coming - there is no end,
For this our land is the greatest - it's heaven-sent! "
Henry D. Stender

I'm taking a little break from blogging for the holiday weekend - we are going to visit Steve's family. Please continue to lift Domingo up in prayer -- he was taken to the hospital last night because he had a fever and some difficulty breathing.