Three little birds

Tonight I'm listening to this song and remembering. Remembering the little boy who grew up to be the man who claimed it as his favorite song. I wish I had known that man better. Regrettably, the first time I knowingly listened to this song was on Monday when I stood next to his grave and said goodbye.

But tonight I'm believing that "every little thing gonna be alright."

Someday.

A new favorite

One of our favorite local restaurants has a delicious item on there menu called Baked Hummus. Imagine a pita slathered with hummus, topped with the most random assortment of vegetables, including, but not limited to- carrots, peppers, mushrooms, beans (any kind!), broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, tomatoes and peas. That concoction is topped with cheese, broiled and then given a healthy drizzle of their homemade garlic sauce. In a word: delicious.

Now imagine my delight this past weekend when I created my very own version of Baked Hummus! In my own kitchen! And it didn't cost me $7.50! This is my new favorite meal. It just begs for variation; I've already come up with about 20! We're going to be on a heavy pita-themed rotation around here!

Please, please try to make these! Homemade pitas are infinitely better and make this dish so darn good! You will be so impressed with yourself when you turn these out of the oven. So we started with a homemade pita (and by the way this time I used white whole wheat instead of regular whole wheat and they were even better!) and layered on a healthy spoonful of roasted red pepper hummus. I wanted my kids to eat them so I used veggies I knew they liked as a starting point. Enter a steamer bag of carrots, peas, corn and green beans. That got thrown on top of the hummus. The grown-ups also got sauteed onions and mushrooms and roasted red peppers added to theirs. Then a sprinkle of sharp cheddar and under the broiler they went. Once they came out the pitas were doused with garlic sauce. . It's not even similar to the one from our restaurant, but it was still good and a great contrasting flavor to the rest of the dish. I used this recipe, but would add more garlic next time to up the garlicky-ness!

We all loved this and ate every last bite. I've eaten this three times in as many days and just might fix it for myself again tonight! The possibilities are endless. I can't wait til we have lots of lovely summer produce like eggplant and zucchini and fresh picked tomatoes to add to the delicious mess!

Try it. You'll love it!

Worn out

A long day for our boy. He couldn't stay awake during the short hike we took while Haven was at Awana. Is there anything sweeter then a sleeping baby?

Didn't think so.

Ask me again (again)

I wrote this post three years ago today and it's still all true. So here's my first ever re-post...

Ask me again

Five years ago this very day, Cale asked me to walk alongside him and become his wife. It took me all of 1/10 of a second to yell, "YES!"

I have such a vivid memory of that precise moment in time; the warm air on my face as evening set in...the smell of spring and newness and fresh cut grass...the feel of that ring sliding on to my finger...and the look in Cale's eye knowing he was the one my heart wanted for always.

And there hasn't been a single moment I have ever regretted my answer (questioned my sanity a time or two, but regretted, never!).

I love you, Cale!

My new view

This is my view from the kitchen window. Ain't she pretty?! Haven certainly thinks so and Mati's pretty enamoured himself. Me? I'm in love! It might not be the grandest thing to look at, but don't waste your breath telling us that. In the 10 days that its been part of our family Haven has spent most of her waking time on it. She gets up in the morning and wants to play. She eats her lunch and wants to go swing. She gets up from her quiet time and wants to push Mati on his swing. She wants to run out for a few quick minutes before dinner. Basically she's living on it. Never mind that I've already lost count how many times she's fallen off a swing or run in screaming from some injury. She quickly rebounds after appropriate consideration has been given to her latest boo-boo and is heading back outside for more. I love that she loves it. And I love that I can see her from the kitchen, the living room and my upstairs bedroom. I love that my response to pretty much everything these days can be, "Why don't you go play outside?"

And every one's happy!

Don't cry over spilled milk?

Does that still apply when it's two gallons on your kitchen floor???

Praise the One

A happy Easter...there's been celebrating and egg hunting and time with family and friends. We posed for pictures and looked cute. We enjoyed a feast, swung on swings and enjoyed all the flowering trees. We went for a hike, ate too much candy and soaked up the sunshine.

And through it all, we praised The One who gave us such an abundant life!

Jesus paid it all

All to Him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow

O, praise the One

Who paid my debt

And raised this life

Up from the dead!