Ain't it GRAND?

It's BIG news to be such a tiny little thing. But it is growing every single day.

Actually, if it's current growth rate were sustained, it would grow a
WHOPPING
two feet per year!!!

Luckily for everyone involved, that process does slow. God saw to it when he figured out how all this stuff would work. But for right now it's growing very quickly and the changes are discernible even day to day!

Pretty amazing.

And I must say how much I hate referring to 'it' as an 'it'.

After all, this is my

GRANDCHILD

we're talking about!

Yes, Hayden is going to have a brand new brother or sister
sometime around April 21st.
Brie and Josh are happy as can be and Hayden...
Well, let's just say that when you ask him if he wants a baby, the answer is
NO!
(Truth of the matter is, he answers pretty much every question with a NO!)
He'll get used to the idea.

As for me, well all I can say is...

Marvelous Monday!

Okay, so maybe not exactly marvelous, but it has to be better than most of my weekend. At least last night I managed to do this:


This beats what I did on Saturday night/Sunday morning, because then I looked more like this guy:

Well, I don't wear boxer shorts and I do have more hair. But you get my point.

I spent about 3 hours clicking one of these:


And I ended up watching this:


I love Patrick Swayze, but I had forgotten what a cheesy movie this is. Special effects have come a long, long way in the last 20 years. (Yes, GHOST is 20 years old!) It's a great story and I remember the first time I saw it I thought it was a hugely romantic tear-jerker. This time all I could think was 'Those are the most pathetic evil spirits I've ever seen.'

Of course, I was very cranky since I would have much rather been sleeping deeply in my cozy bed and NOT coughing my head off downstairs.

By myself.

In the middle of the night.

All alone. :(

While everyone else was sleeping peacefully.

In the dark.

Did I mention I was all by myself?

Is there ever a time you feel more alone than when you're the only one up during the night? I think not.

And all because of this lovely, flowering weed.

Ragweed is not my friend.

But there are also good things happening in my life.

I'll be sharing some BIG news with you, my bloggy friends!

Just not today.

(That was mean, huh? But I promise I'll share it...soon. Very soon.)

So what do you have going on this Marvelous Monday?

Guess Where I've Been...

Yes, I went shopping for mums. I'm just in a 'FALL' kind of mood. My friend Stacey over at Bloggin' It Like It Is posted a list of all the fall things she looks forward to each year and she really got me to thinkin' that fall can't get here soon enough! (Thanks a bunch, Stacey! Here I am, wishing my life away! )

But I was a good girl today. I didn't buy even ONE mum. I decided to wait until I have cleaned up the remnants of spent summer blooms and pulled the scraggly weeds that constantly threaten to take over my flower beds. I need to rid the porch of the potted plants that baked in the intense heat of July and early August, and wash away the pollen that has settled on the swing, the rocking chairs and the banister surrounding the porch. In other words, I need to bid summer adieu before I break out the bright and beautiful fall decor. : )

Did I ever mention how much I LOVE FALL????

The chill in the air; hot cider; the smell of woodsmoke; the bright blue skies of October; the gorgeous foliage that paints the hillsides; breaking out the flannel shirts, hoodies and cozy sweaters. Not to mention all the treats that I associate with fall! When the calendar reflects the winding-down of another summer, I never fail to start craving pumpkin pie and apple dumplings. Plus hot, hearty, homemade soups and chili. Those things all go hand in hand with fall around here.

Some people rush the Christmas season, and I love Christmas as much as anyone! But I'm gonna rush fall this year. Even though it technically won't arrive for another three weeks, I am going to start putting out fall decor on September 1st.

Yes, that's next week.

WEDNESDAY of next week, to be precise.

And I have LOTS and LOTS of fall decor! I'm not a Halloween lover, so I don't have a lot of the spooky/witchy/devilish kinds of things, but I DO have scarecrows and hay bales and pumpkins and gourds and....well, you get the idea. : )

So tell me how you celebrate fall. : ) What are your favorite things to see, do, cook, bake, or just enjoy about the autumn season?

Kelli's Kitchen....a little lovin' from the oven!

Since ragweed pollen has taken over outside, I have been spending a little more time inside. This means I've been seeing a lot more of my kitchen. It seems that during the summer months I spend less time in there and more time at the grill, but hayfever will lure me back every time.

As busy as this summer has been, we have pretty much relied upon store bought treats to satisfy the sweet tooth. This is not typical of this household. There is almost always a cake on the cake stand or homemade cookies in the pantry. But I am happy to report that fall always puts me in a baking mood! :) Pumpkin rolls and pumpkin pies and pumpkin cakes...Apple pies and apple cakes and apple dumplings...and that's just to name a few.

I guess right now, since I'm pretty much forced to be indoors anyway, I'm kind of practicing for the baking frenzy that is to come. ;)

The other day I wanted to bake a cake but quickly realized I was low on some key ingredients. I really didn't want to run to the store so I was determined to find a cake recipe that didn't require 2 cups of sugar, since I had only about 1 1/2 cups in the canister. (Looks like I won't be voted Homemaker of the Year either!)

Did you ever notice how almost every cake recipe out there calls for 2 cups of sugar???

Then I found it. It was in one of my church cookbooks and I should have known I'd find it there. Almost every yummy recipe known to humankind comes from a local church cookbook. Those church ladies know how to cook! :)

This ended up being extremely delicious and I wanted to share the recipe with you. While I didn't think to take pics of the mixing and baking process, I did snap a shot of the finished product.



Well, almost finished. You know how I am. I can't leave well enough alone. I absolutely MUST do some little something to make it my own. Before I served it I added a raspberry glaze and dusted it with powdered sugar. YUMMY!!!

Here is the recipe:

Jam Cake
1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine
4 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup blackberry or raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly grease and flour bundt pan.

Cream margarine an sugar thoroughly. Add well beaten egg yolks. Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices and add alternately with buttermilk to sugar/margarine mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff and add to batter. Stir in jam* and mix well. Bake for 60 minutes or until done.

*I put the jam in a small bowl and stirred it up well until there were no lumps. This allows it to blend into the batter much better.

For the glaze I added...
In a microwave safe bowl, heat about 1/3 cup jam (the same kind you used in the cake) in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir well to remove any lumps. You may need to heat it a few more seconds to get it to the right consistency...you want it to be 'pourable'. Use a spoon to drizzle it over the cake, allowing it to run down the sides. Just before serving, dust lightly with powdered sugar.

While you really don't taste the jam that's in the cake, the glaze adds a definite POP of flavor! :) If you like spice cake, you'll love this. It is moist and delicious!

FINALLY!!!

Hello, bloggy buddies! :) How I've missed you guys! The last few weeks have just been insane. I haven't had time to stop in here much, let alone actually post. So now I'll try catch you up on all the happenings in the World of Kelli...

*My friend Charessa is doing so well! :) She is a walking, talking miracle of God. Thank you all so much for your prayers and please continue to remember Charessa and her family because she still has a long road ahead of her.

*The kiddies are back in school. Their first day was Friday (why on earth would they start school on a Friday?) and I managed to snap a quick photo with my phone on our way out the door. TOTALLY forgot to break out the camera. So much for Mother of the Year. ;)
Perri (12 yrs. old/8th grade) and Tucker (8 yrs. old/3rd grade)

As you can tell, they have trouble posing for a serious shot. ;) But hey, I'd rather have happy-go-lucky kids than buttoned-down geeks like I was. ; )

*I got a very special package in the mail from our very own Rita of Grammy's Sweet Nothings.
She was having a giveaway to celebrate her 100th post and in the end she decided to send something to everyone who posted on her giveaway thread! How cool is that? Rita is a very special lady and if you haven't visited her blog, you really should go take a peek. Here is what I received from her:

A handmade potholder, several handwritten recipe cards, adorable bookmarks, and a sachet. Isn't that sweet? :)

*Fall sports season has begun, so I am once again running Mom's Taxi to and from practices. Tucker is playing fall baseball and Perri decided to give volleyball a try. After a week of tryouts, she found out on Friday that she had made the team. :) I can only hope I find it much more interesting than track. ;)

There is so much more I could tell you but I think I'm gonna give it to you in small doses.

{ Just PLEASE don't make that face! You'll hurt my feelings. ;) }

No more staying away for so long. You can count on it...tomorrow,

I'LL BE BACK!

Update on Charessa

She came through surgery beautifully! :) She did manage to set a record for St. Mary's Hospital....LARGEST aneurysm ever! Not the kind of record one hopes to set, but hey...Charessa doesn't do anything halfway! ;)

No further info yet this morning, but I'll post when I know more. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Charessa and her family. God has definitely had her in the palm of His hand throughout this entire ordeal.

It's Been Awhile

So much going on lately and when I have to decide between home/family/real life and blog land....well, blogging falls by the wayside. Not that I don't love you guys, but you know. ;)

I'm just stopping in for a minute today to make an introduction and ask a favor.

This is my friend Charessa. That's her adorable son she's holding. She also has two beautiful little girls and a pretty terrific husband. Charessa teaches classes for a local college, she's a loving mom and a great friend.

And right now Charessa in a battle for her life. When she suddenly lost normal vision in one eye, she went to her eye doctor and he sent her to a specialist. The specialist sent her for an MRI on Saturday, where it was discovered that Charessa has an aneurysm in her brain. It is classified as 'huge' and she was immediately transported to the hospital for surgery. The doctors decided to run further tests and come up with the best plan of action for her situation.

Today at noon, the doctors will operate on Charessa to do a coiling procedure on the aneurysm. The surgery that would typically be done to repair it is simply too risky because of the size and location of the aneurysm, so it was decided that the coil was her best bet.

I ask that you please keep Charessa, her family and her surgeons in your prayers today. There are people all over the country who have been holding her up in prayer throughout this entire ordeal and Charessa says that she feels peace.

Thank you. And I will post an update as soon as I receive word from her family this afternoon.