Praise and Prayer Request from Jaden's grandmother

This was posted on my church's online prayer list:

"I want to thank everyone for their prayers and response to my need for a dog sitter. I found someone and now I am going to California to help my family. I need prayer for travel, strength,and comfort. God bless you and I will miss everyone here and CBC. Cheryl Kramer"

Please keep Jaden, Cheryl, and the rest of Jaden's family in your prayers.

Thanks!

bread machine fun and tips

I just love the taste of homemade bread! I don't use my bread machine that often, but yesterday I got the urge to make some whole wheat bread to go along with some chicken salad I prepared. I went online to find a recipe, and I was so excited! To my surprise, it didn't rise much at all, and I ended up throwing the majority of it away. I was disappointed. Being the stubborn one that I am, I was determined to make some good bread today. This time I used a box (mix), and as I was reading the box, I came across some information that would have been helpful yesterday. It said to use room temperature water because warm or hot water would prevent it from rising. Well, that explains my goof yesterday. In the winter, I tend to use only warm water at the sink, so I must have used warm water for the bread. At least now I'm aware of what happened and will be careful not to let it happen again. In case you're wondering, today's bread is divine- Hawaiian (sweet bread).

One more bread machine tip- I recommend the light crust setting if you think you will toast or heat of some of the bread later.

Oh, and the great thing about the bread machine is that I'm not nervous to leave the house with it on. I took Samuel for a walk while it was baking. I would never have done that with the regular oven.

I've posted several more times this week, so keep reading!

Sweet potato casserole for toddlers (or any hungry adult)

So, Samuel is no longer a baby, but he still loves sweet potatoes. I have bought the microwavable ones (wrapped in plastic and sold individually). They work great, and I added butter and brown sugar to them! Samuel has also had an Outback sweet potato with butter and brown sugar and was delighted. Last week I decided to make a sweet potato dish that my mom has been making forever. Samuel had eaten it at her house, so I knew he already liked it before I went to the trouble to make this. It's a recipe from the Williamsburg Cookbook. My mom was over last week, and we made them together. Enjoy! The recipe below is my toddler friendly version of the Williamsburg recipe.

King's Arms Tavern Sweet Potatoes
(8-10 adult servings)

5 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Grease a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.
3. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling salted water until done. (We put the potatoes in cold water. Once the water was boiling, we turned the heat down to 3 and kept the lid on. Once the water was boiling, it took about 30 minutes. Just check your potatoes with a fork and make sure that you can poke it all the way in easily before you take them out.)
4. Peel and mash potatoes well.
5. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients and use electric mixer to get ride of lumps. (I did this on a high speed, but watch for flying sweet potatoes.)
5. Put mixture into prepared casserole dish.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. (I didn't cook it right away, so I refrigerated it and when I was ready to cook it, I cooked it longer- like 35-40 minutes.)

Since I don't love sweet potatoes, I decided to freeze this in ice cube trays (just like baby food). Once they froze, I put the cubes in ziplocs like Amy suggested. When I want to give them to Samuel, I take 3 cubes out of the freezer, defrost them in the microwave until warm, and voila! It's a great way to give your little one a vegetable! Since Samuel is a picky vegetable eater (like his mommy), I will be making this recipe often!

Alphabet Fun

At Thanksgiving, Jeremy and I bought Samuel Leap Frog Fridge Phonics. We mainly bought it for Jeremy's parents' house and my parents' house since we had been warned that it would scratch our stainless steel appliances. He has enjoyed using it at my parents' since we got home from Jeremy's parents' house after Thanksgiving. He can even repeat the letters after it plays. For a week or two he has been trying to repeat the alphabet song. Now we're using it at home just on the furniture or on the floor. - Whatever works, right? Today I got him on video saying a couple of letters. Of course, he didn't say all of the ones that he has said in the past, but that's ok. You will hear me on beginning of the video. I was trying to get him to sing along. Then, I let him take over. I think it's cute even if it's only 4 or 5 letters. He's not even 2 yet, so I can't expect him to get it all... It has been encouraging though since I am going to be his teacher from now until the end of high school. He seems to enjoy learning. He's like a sponge. He also loves music. One of us sings to him before bed, and he is learning to sing "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus Loves the Little Children", and "Amazing Grace". We let him fill in the blanks for a couple of the words. It is so sweet when he tries to sing the songs with me. If I could just teach him everything through music...

big prayer request from now until Sunday, Feb. 2

I wanted to give you an update on the attempt to sell our house:

On Saturday, we had a good showing. We are in this couple's top 3. They are moving because of a job transfer, so they definitely will be buying a house. They told their realtor that they will be making a decision by the end of next week. From now until Sunday, Feb. 2, we are going to be praying. We know that the Lord is going to bring a buyer for our home. Maybe this is the one.

By Feb. 2nd, I pray that I will have a post with a big SOLD sign.

Will you pray with us? We would appreciate it!!!

A lot to be thankful for...

We had a good weekend! Four events made it even more special:

1. Jeremy came home on Thursday night, which was a nice surprise and put a huge smile on my face!

2. Jeremy and I went on a date night on Friday night. This isn't something we do regularly, but we hope to start making it a habit. We had a nice Japanese dinner, some Rita's custard and ice, and a little shopping. 2 1/2 hours alone was so nice. My parents were so thoughtful to feed Samuel and put him to bed for us, so that we could have this night out. (Of course, they didn't leave until we got home...)

2. On Saturday morning we had a showing on our house that went really well. Please be praying for the Lord to place our house on their minds. They took a CD Rom, so we're praying that they will look at the pictures and want to buy our house. We will update if we have any more news on that front.

3. Jeremy felt the baby move for the first time on Saturday night. This was a surprise to us since I'm only 18 weeks pregnant and with Samuel it took until 23 weeks for Jeremy to feel him move... This is a very active baby. It also seems like he or she moves a lot when I'm in bed. Last night I had a hard time falling asleep because of it. A great reason not to be able to sleep...
(Only 2 more weeks until we can start calling the baby by name. YAY!!!)

Have a good week!

If you've been praying for Baby Jaden...

I wanted to give you an update on precious Jaden. Jaden's parents flew to get more Aimspro for him, which means that Jaden is now doing better. They have a 3 months supply of Aimspro, so please pray for FDA approval between now and the middle of April. Also, pray for Jaden to qualify for the bone marrow transplant and for the Del Taylors to raise the necessary funds quickly. The Duke hospital will require them to pay for the transplant upfront, which is $850,000. That is a lot of money to raise, but we know that all things are possible with God! They have already done several fundraisers for the Del Taylors, and I'm sure more will follow. You can also donate on their website.

Thanks for praying!