Happy Halloween!

Here's a few pictures of our Halloween!

Chicken in Basil Cream

Here is a recipie from my good friend Sara (who is one of my cooking heroes!). We had this at her house and loved it, and I just made it for supper the other night and it was SO yummy! I am NOT a cook, and this dish makes me feel like a gourmet-it looks really nice when you are finished with it! Here goes:



1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. dry bread crumbs

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 tbsp. butter

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 c. whipping cream

4 oz. jar pimentos drained

1/2 c. grated parmesean cheese

1/4 c. fresh basil minced

1/8 tsp. pepper



place milk and bread crumbs in seperate bowls. Dip chicken in milk then coat with crumbs. In a skillet, cook chicken in butter on both side about 10 min. or until done. Remove and keep warm. Add broth to skillet, bring to a boil over med. heat; stir to loose browned bits from pan. Stir in cream and pimentos. Boil and stir for 1 min. Reduce heat. Add parmesean, basil and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through. Pour over chicken.



Note: This is REALLY good with mashed potatoes- use the extra cream sauce for gravy. This is not a diet-friendly meal!

Interview with a four year old

Here is a transcript from a recent interview with Isaac:

Mom: Isaac, mommy is going to put a few of your favorite things on your website. What is your favorite color?

Isaac: Red

Mom: TV Show?

Isaac: (looking at the TV and seeing what is on) umm, Jimmy Neutron

Mom: Movie?

Isaac: (looking at the TV again) Jimmy Neutron

Mom: Are you sure? Think about all your DVD's. What about Finding Nemo, you've been watching that a lot lately.

Isaac: Yeah, Finding Nemo

Mom: Favorite place?

Isaac: (without hesitation) Grammy and Papa's

Mom: Favorite thing to do?

Isaac: Play by myself

Mom: Favorite book?

Isaac: my Barney books. No, I hate Barney. My Bible.

Mom: Your best friend?

Isaac: Ricky (from Cubbies at church)

Mom: Your favorite pet?

Isaac: a kitty

Mom: Your favorite place to eat?

Isaac: Applebees

Mom: Your favorite thing to wear?

Isaac: (looking at what he has on right now) umm, my army guy outfit.

Mom: Your favorite game?

Isaac: Candyland

Mom: Your favorite food?

Isaac: Chicken and fries (surprise surprise)

Mom: Your favorite drink?

Isaac: Water

Mom: (thinking, "yeah, right") Are you sure? Think about everything you like to drink.

Isaac: ummm, pink lemonade!

Mom: Your favorite toy right now?

Isaac: My pet shop stuff

Thanks Isaac!

The Smells and Sights of Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The sky is a brilliant shade of blue, and the leaves are such unbelievable colors. I love the smell of the crisp, fresh air outside. Inside, there are yummy smells from my mulled cider candles burning! Here are a few pictures from our outings this fall to the AWANAS hayride and the park by our house. Happy fall!

Here are a few pictures of the day we added another Buckaroo to our little family. Let me tell you a little bit about our precious addition. Graham Dallas Gerald (after both our dads) was born on June 5th. He weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces. He lost quite a bit of weight those first couple of days, so by the time we brought him home, he was SO tiny! Isaac was a really big baby, (and two weeks overdue-he practically came out asking what took us so long to come in and get him!) so it was a new experience for us to have a baby so tiny to take care of. Graham was a bit jaundiced those first days, so he slept a lot. Other than that, he was completely perfect and healthy. We were/are so thankful.

You may have noticed that he has a birthmark (called an angel kiss) on his forehead. It was quite dark when he was first born, but we think it has lightened considerably since then. It still gets really red when he cries. His doctor says that it will continue fading until it is almost completely gone by the time he is 1 or 2 years old.

Graham seems to have a very laid back personality (at least until he learns a few things from big brother!). We think he might end up a lot like Grandpa Jerry in his nature, which would be so great. But, whoever he turns out to be, we will love him with our heart and soul and pray to be the kind of parents he needs us to be for him!

Here are a couple of my favorite stories from the "Isaac Archives:"
(age 3 1/2) We were at the park and a little girl, who was a couple of years older than Isaac, was picking on Isaac and saying, "You're a baby. You still wear diapers." Isaac took this taunting for awhile, and after a few moments looked at her and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

(age four) We were at the park and a brother and sister around Isaac's age were playing with him. The brother and sister began fighting. Isaac said to the boy, "You should do what she says. You should say you're sorry." The boy walked off and Isaac followed him. I could see them in an intense conversation across the playground. Pretty soon Isaac ran over to me and excitedly said, "Mommy! we had a little talk and he said he's going to say he's sorry to her!"

(age four) Isaac says, "Mommy, I want to say a bedtime prayer. Dear Heavenly Fadder. Please protect me from the darkness that is all around me. Thank you for my food. Thank you for everything. Please keep me healthy and safe. In your name I pray, Amen."

We were playing with a mom's playgroup at the playground. I was visiting with some other moms and occasionally glancing over to where Isaac was playing some distance away. During one of my occasional glances, I saw that Isaac had gotten a wood chip from underneath the swings in his shoe (one of his pet peeves) and was sitting on the ground dumping his shoe out. On my next occasional glance over, I saw him begin to pull his pants down, working to get a wood chip out of his pants that must have gotten there while he was working to get the wood chip out of his shoe. In horror, I watched the progression of events unfold even further as he began to pee on the ground in front of everyone (you know, since he was already out in the open anyway!). I was mortified.

Isaac and his Bible

Isaac is changing rapidly these days. He is more interested in quiet activities like looking at books and pretending to read them, playing computer games on the internet, putting puzzles together, etc. He started preschool this fall and even though I have to encourage him to get ready for school in the morning, he does really well and has a great time when he is there. He comes home with all sorts of stories for me. The other night we were laying in bed. I thought he was already asleep for the night and in a sleepy little voice he said, "Mama! I forgot to tell you. The teacher said, 'who can be bathroom leader?' and she said, 'Isaac can because he has been sitting criss cross applesauce all morning and listening so well!" I was so proud of him! Today bathroom leader, tomorrow the world! He has been very interested in writing and I have had to put my computer paper up high so he has to ask for it because he has been going through it like crazy, practicing his letters.

Isaac asked for a Bible the other day, and that was one thing I certainly was not going to say no to! We went to the Christian Book Store on Saturday and went Bible shopping. There are SO many Bibles for children to choose from. I finally found one that I liked, and of course he had found one that HE liked, so we walked away from the store with two Bibles. Anyway, it has been his new favorite thing (he gets attached to different things for a span of like three days where he takes his beloved possession with him everywhere)-he has been sleeping with it at night and everything. He had to take it with him to church today because "that is what daddy does." All weekend he has been "reading" me various scriptures, which are bits of Bible stories he has heard mixed in with just a little bit of Isaac's own spin. It makes for very interesting Bible stories. He has been learning real Bible verses at AWANAS through our church-which he loves going to.

I was thinking today as I looked at Graham and Isaac about how we are all born with so much possibility. I look at them and think that they could do just about anything in the world they want to, and its so exciting to see what they will become.

Dave started working from home a few days before the baby was born, which will enable us to move to ND in the next few months. We are really looking forward to moving home. We both tend to be a bit more homesick on Sundays when we know that would usually be a day we are with our family. We usually go out to eat on Sunday after church and just sort of stare at each other over the table, both wishing we were there with our family.

Welcome to my blog!

I recently became intrigued with the idea of blogging as a way to stay in touch with friends and family. In the year we have been away from our loved ones, I have come to really appreciate the time I spend with friends and family that live far away. I have learned that it is truly quantity time with loved ones, not quality time, that counts!

It seems like Isaac says something hilarious (or at least thought provoking!) nearly everyday. And most days, I feel like the only ones who get to see all of baby Graham's fun changes are Dave, Isaac and me. So, I plan to share with you what new tricks he has been showing us lately so you can "watch" him grow too! And, as I tend to ramble anyway, I am sure I will throw in a few random thoughts from my daily life as a wife and mama. Thanks for taking some time with me. I would love for you to comment so that we can stay in touch!