"Paratha Bread"

I have posted a few recipes from the cookbook "The Wooden Spoon". It is one of my favorite cookbooks! I found this recipe the other day that we tried and liked it a lot! So, I thought I would share it. This is a recipe used in India and is sort of like a tortilla...but different. We ate it with our meal and it complemented everything very well! In a large bowl mix together:
1 cup flour (it says whole wheat, but I was out...so I added all-purpose)
a sprinkle of cumin seeds (oh dear, none of those, so I added crushed coriander) optional
a sprinkle of celery seeds, optional
With your fingers mix 2 Tbsp. butter into flour mixture until it looks like coarse meal.
Make a soft dough by adding 2-3 Tbsp. water (I actually had to add more, about 5)
Knead well and divide dough into 4 parts. Shape each into a ball. On lightly floured surface, roll one ball at a time into a 4 inch circle. Fold the dough twice to make a quarter of a circle. Roll this triangular shape until the length of the sides is about 6 inches.

Heat a skillet, then add triangle. Cook for one minute, then flip. Cook that side also for about one minute and brush with melted butter. Turn one more time. Paratha is done when it puffs very slightly and is slightly brown.

We've made this a couple of times already and love it! I love true ethnic food!

Time with my girls

If I'm not careful, time with just me and my girls doesn't always happen. We made a "date" to have some girl time together. I think I need this together just as much as they do! We played with their dollhouse and had the coolest storyline in the Civil War Time Period!

Of course, I was the owner of a beautiful mansion, and had all the ladies in the "parlor" to chat.

I love you Elisabeth and Brenna and I love my time with you!

My Future Pianist

Silas's new hobby is to play the Piano. My Brenna loves to play the piano and even though I've only taught her a few things, she's picked up on so much and is playing very well. She's noticed that Silas loves for her to hold him while she plays and one day she brought in his highchair to let him play! What a great idea!

He laughed and giggled and had so much fun! Do you see Brenna in the background? (she's wearing Khaki and Teal) She's taking pictures with her new (my old) camera. I think I also have a future photographer on my hands!

Silas's Ticker Tape Quilt

A few months ago I saw a tutorial on crazy mom quilts for a Ticker Tape Quilt. It looked so easy and cute and I had the scraps to do it, so I thought I'd try. Well, it was extremely easy, but it didn't whip up as fast as I thought it would. I finally finished it on Tuesday night. Silas liked the quilt when I showed it to him....well, actually, I don't know if he necessarily liked the quilt, or if he was just excited to play. He loves to lay on a sheet and have us drag him around.

I made this quilt without any batting between, so it's pretty light. Perfect for Spring! What a fun project....now on to the Baby's Quilt!

27 Weeks

Today I am 27 weeks and I also had a midwife appointment. I really like my midwife, Monique Pere. She's a very dedicated midwife and has worked sometime up in the Far North with the Inuits. She has lots of experience and is a blessing to me! She works at the Birth Center along with many other midwives. It's a lot like the Birth Center I had Silas at in Naples, only larger. The building is the old parsonage for the Catholic Priest. It's very old, but well maintained and clean. There are many birth rooms set up in a homey atmosphere like a bedroom. I've told her my "birth wishes" and she's willing to follow them. She also can deliver at home, and that is what we've chosen to do. Although, depending if she's on call and if other women are in labor, I may have to deliver at the Birth Center. This pregnancy is the most different from my others by far. I'm definitely feeling bigger and more tired lately. I guess that comes with 7 pregnancies and being in my 30's. Patrick has become a fabulous 2nd mother. He cooks (he's actually cooking now while I'm playing on the computer!) cleans, does laundry, and make sure everything's taken care of. God has blessed me beyond measure. The baby's heartrate and position looked good, and all is well with baby Gimenez. I still have 13 weeks left to go! Whew! But, that's okay, I have many things to do before the baby is born!

Why didn't I know?

Between Sunday School and Church I heard a conversation sort of like this:
Elisabeth: There's no way any of you could have seen that!
Brenna: Beth, we all could see it! Were you just trying not to use your french?
Elisabeth: No, I couldn't see those words! How could you read that?
Brenna: Beth! You really couldn't see it?
I asked them what they were talking about and they told me Madame Roy had called on Beth to read something on the wall. She couldn't read it! I asked her about it and she said she just couldn't see it. So, I took her into the SS room and had her read stuff on the wall. I was shocked! She really couldn't see things that should be easy for her to read. I told Patrick about it and we realized she must need glasses. We decided to go check out a couple of malls today....we're getting Cabin Fever!!! And we saw an eyeglass shop. They had some good prices and could squeeze Beth in, so we made an appt. The optometrist was shocked. At first she didn't think Beth could read. She kept asking, "Are you sure you can't see those letters?" Beth did great reading up close, no problem there! But, when the exam was done the Optometrist looked at me and said, "Your daughter needs glasses very badly" I felt terrible! I looked at the prescription and realized her eyes are worse than mine! She picked out some cute frames and is so amazed at how well she can see. She said she never realized before that things were blurry. She just thought stuff looked like that from far away! She said without her glasses it's like looking through a foggy window.

Bless my baby girl's heart! Where've I been? And why didn't I know? Brenna is sort of taking all of the credit for figuring out Beth's eye problem. Thanks, Brenna!

Being a glasses wearer, I am so thankful that now Elisabeth can see well. And doesn't she look so adorable!

Mary, the mother of Mark

I love reading about women in the Bible, especially mothers. Sometimes I feel like God put certain passages in the Bible, just for me. He loves to encourage me and meet the needs I have....everyday! Thank you, Lord for your precious Word!

I was reading in Acts and we find Peter in prison. (Peter is one of my favorites, even though he isn't a woman!) The christians are holding a prayer meeting praying for Peter. Where is this meeting?
Acts 12:12....he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark.

Mary is holding a prayer meeting in her home. I'm not sure everything that took place that night at the prayer meeting, but I like to think about how Mary felt. I don't know if this was a planned prayer meeting or not, but somehow, everyone ended up in her home ready to seek the Lord on Peter's behalf. Her home was ready. It doesn't necessarily say how clean it was, :o) but her home was opened to guests. I wonder if she had food prepared and bedsheets ready close by in case there were overnight guests. She was probably busy that day preparing her home for the people to come and pray. Through this she did not neglect her son. I wonder if he helped her? He saw her faithfulness. I know he was watching and she was influencing him through her service to the Lord. I know this, because in verse 25 it says
"And Barnabus and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Her influence, readiness, and welcoming heart influenced her son to serve the Lord. That's what I want. I know I have 4 (soon to be 5!) pairs of eyes watching me. Am I for real? or am I a fake? Do I truly want to serve the Lord? or do I have other desires in mind? Am I living for the Lord and obeying His Word? or am I looking for excuses and an easy way out.

Lord, help me to remember those little eyes watching. Help me to be faithful and a real christian. I don't want to fail...this is my one chance with them. Thank you, God for your grace and for giving me exactly what I need from your Word!

Americana Family Fun Night

Is your family loving watching the Winter Olympics like ours is? We've had a great time watching and cheering for America. (Although we get so much coverage on Canada, that we're enjoying watching them compete, too!) We've watched a lot of skiing and curling. Sunday night after church USA will play Canada in Men's Hockey, so we're looking forward to watching that game! We decided to have an "Americana" theme for our Family Fun Night on Friday. I started by making a good 'ole American Apple Pie! (Actually, my purpose was two-fold for making the Apple Pie. One of my gifts for Christmas, from my parents, is for me to make a photobook as a cookbook and my parents will have it printed for me. They know I love to cook and so the instructions said to include all of our family favorites into my "cookbook." The cover was to be a picture of me holding one of my Apple Pies. So, Friday afternoon we had a photo shoot! We set the timer and took a lot of pictures of us with our apple pie. It's hard trying to get that perfect picture that has 6 people in it! This is the picture we picked for our cover and I love it! My Mom ordered my book last night and it will come in two weeks. I can't wait! What a cool gift!)

Then, we had Hamburgers, Fries, lots of Ketchup and Pepsi! (There was actually some question as to whether we should have Coke or Pepsi, but we decided on Pepsi!) I told everyone while we were around the table preparing our burgers that we should sing the national anthem. It was actually kind of funny because it sounded more like "O say can you see? Can you please pass the mayo? By the dawn's early light. I need some ketchup please, What so proudly we hail, Can you cut Silas's burger, At the twilight's last gleaming....." We had a lot of fun! Then, we watched the Olympics.

Our Snowball Fight

Today was the perfect weather for a snowball fight! It was about 33 degrees and a little bit of fresh snow fell last night. The top snow was melting a tad, so it was perfect for some good solid snowballs! The plan was boys against girls, I think the girls won!

Brenna worked on digging a wall of protection for us girls...

...while Elisabeth gathered snow for us to make snow cream later. We can't get enough of that stuff! (actually just me, beth and brenna like it, we mix the snow with milk, sugar, and vanilla...mmmm)

I pounded Josh with snowballs! Can you see the snow flying in front of my face? You're not supposed to aim at the face, right Mom? Please tell Patrick that for me, because there's a good chance I'll have a bruise on my right jaw tomorrow!

Then, I pounced Josh good, threw him in a hole, took his hat off, and scooped (not really throwing!) snow all over his head. What a great feeling!!! "Girls are better than boys are, girls are better than boys!"

My New Camera!!!

When I came back from Florida Patrick told me he bought me a Valentines Day gift on Ebay. He was so excited that he couldn't wait until Sunday...he had to show me right then on the computer! (He's never been really good at keeping surprises too long, you should've seen him at Christmas!) I was so excited when he showed me that he bought me a new (to me) camera! Yay! My camera had a slight mishap a couple of days before Christmas. Although it works, it's hard to keep the rubberband wrapped around it to stay powered on and for the memory card not to fall out! We've been waiting for our new camera to come in the mail and yesterday it came! I was so excited. It's a Canon Powershot sx 100 Is. (whatever all that means!) There are so many cool features. We had a blast experimenting with them yesterday. The close-ups are amazing! What a great gift! I feel a photo shoot coming on now!

Carnaval de Quebec

While I was in Florida, Elisabeth called me with exciting news. "There's going to be a Derby at the Carnaval de Quebec on Saturday!" "Can we go? Can we go?" My Bethy loves horses and was so excited when a flyer came in the mail about the Horse Derby. This was the last day of the big Winter Carnival here in Quebec, so we were so glad we could make it! It was cold, and a little windy on Saturday morning, Elisabeth was armed with everything she needed...especially her camera! It was so neat to watch the horses go around the track for the derby. They were fast and the two riders on back looked like they could fall off at any minute.

But, I think Beth's favorite part was when they let the ponies, then the donkey come out and try the course.

We saw the Ice Castle and it was gorgeous! So much ice! There were also lots of snow sculptures that reminded me a lot of the sand sculptures on Fort Myers Beach.

We bundled Silas up really well. He's usually pretty quiet when we go out in the cold. Unfortunately, on this trip, he figured out how to take his gloves off!

But, my favorite part was when we saw signs for "Tire sur neige" My friend Estelle had been telling me about when you pour Maple syrup on snow how it thickens and tastes wonderful. We tried it and I have to agree! It is absolutely delicious! I wish Grandma could have gone with us to try it...she's a big maple fan!

I was a little worried that Elisabeth would have to have a major haircut when we got home....the maple ended up in her hair, but we're thankful it washed out!

Going to the winter carnival was something we have wanted to do since we've moved to Quebec. We've heard so much about it! I'm so glad we were able to experience this, because next carnival we'll be in a place a little warmer! :o)

Valentines Family Fun Night

Happy Valentines Day everyone! We had a great Family Fun Night with a little Valentine theme for our game. I made up a corny poem (poetry is definitely NOT my forte!!) It said something about being my valentine....then ended with "your gifts are hidden where you wash your faces" I wrote the 5 line poem on paper, then cut up the words. Then, I folded them in half, put a heart on them and hid them around the house. The children had fun collecting all of the words, then putting them together to figure out the poem. They did a great job! When they realized what the poem said, they ran to the bathroom for their treasure! For Valentines Day we bought them (of course) chocolate hearts. You can't have Valentines Day without chocolate, right? Also, we bought them a "bathroom basket" for each of them. It's time that Patrick and I face the fact....our children are getting older. Boo Hoo! We want to teach them to be clean and take care of their bodies and try to encourage them along in this area. We decided instead of each of the sharing bathroom products, that they would like to have their own. I know I do! So, now they each have a basket full of the toiletries they need (except toothbrush and toothpaste) to get ready every morning...face wash, moisturizer, mouthwash,
q-tips, floss, deodarant, etc. We've also told them if there is any other products they would like to try or a certain scent, then we will try to get it for them. They really enjoyed looking through their new basket and it's been a pleasure to see our idea work as they take their basket into the bathroom with them every morning!

My "Welcome Home"

When Silas and I came home on Tuesday we had many surprises waiting for us. We had this wonderful poster. Patrick, Joshua, Elisabeth, and Brenna each took a square to decorate for us. It turned out so cute and they are so creative!

I also had some fresh flowers awaiting me and some Valentines gifts. Each of the children bought me 2 gifts and I opened them early! I received some great chocolate, kitchen gadgets, a candle and all sorts of goodies. I sure am spoiled! I am so blessed to have a great hubby take care of things while I was gone. The house was spotless, laundry all done, and groceries for the week bought. It was a great feeling to be able to have a great time in Florida and know things were being taken care of at home....Thanks, Babe!

Gorgeous SW Florida

Silas and I returned from our wonderful trip to Florida on Tuesday. I feel like I need to give a huge warning...LOTS of pictures are to follow!

On Friday, January 29th, we went from this...



.... to this! When we left Quebec the wind chill was 28 below zero. (Can you see the snow on the plane? We had blowing snow warnings and they had to de-ice the plane before takeoff!) When we arrived in Fort Myers it was absolutely gorgeous and in the 70s. That's about a 100 degree difference! Wow! Our main purpose for our trip to Florida was for Silas to have surgery to have his clogged tear duct unclogged. We praise the Lord that his eye cleared up about a week before we left Quebec! We kept our appointments with the Pediatrician and the Pediatric Opthamologist and they said his eye looks wonderful and it looks like it cleared up its own! God is so good! I think He knew we needed a little Sun from Florida...or that some grandparents really needed to see their new grandson (It's been 9 months since we've seen them last)

On our first evening there my family all had dinner together at Mom and Dad's house. I have such a great family and we love to be together. My sister Taylin planned a surprise party for Silas's first birthday. How sweet! She even bought him a "smash cake" for him to eat all by himself. Wow! He was a mess!


Of course while in Florida you have to go to the beach! I love to go in the evenings and watch the sunset.
Silas has only been to the beach once and that was for a quick picture when he was 2 months old on Biloxi Beach.

Silas absolutely loved the beach. At first he didn't want to move, then he wanted to eat the sand. He loved the water and was very brave running in and out of the waves.

Believe it or not, I actually did some studying of French while in Florida. I'm trying my hardest to not get behind!

This is me with my Dad, Mom, and 3 sisters. I have a great family and we are all very close. I'm so thankful for all of them!

Silas loved playing with my Dad. My Dad is a wonderful Grandfather and truly loves all of his grandchildren. I love it when he gets down on the floor and plays with them. He usually gets stepped on, glasses smudged and rolled on, but he loves it.

Silas also loved seeing his Grammy (Patrick's Mom) and his Uncle Marc. Silas wasn't so thrilled about meeting their chihuahua Chico!

My nieces Kaylie and Kiara were excited to hear some french words. They would laugh at the words that I translated for them.

We went to my Grandma June's one night for dinner. Silas loved running with Chloe and Logan. I love the smiles on their faces!

Silas with his Grandma June.

Going to Grandpa's carlot. My Dad taught Silas how to check the pressure in tires. Now, everytime Silas sees a car, he checks its tires. His hands get so dirty, thanks, Dad!

We went to the Farmers Market one day with Mam-maw. I love the smell of fresh vegetables!

In the car with cousin's Logan and Chloe.

We ate out at a lot of different restaurants, but this is one of my favorites...Salsa!!

I think Silas started missing Patrick, Josh, Beth, and Brenna. I played the video for Denise of Patrick preaching and Silas stood by the screen watching his Daddy the whole time.

Silas with Mom in her Sunday School classroom.

Playing in Grammy's van while waiting for Marc at the busstop.

On Sunday before church I asked Mom if she could take some pictures of Silas. Mom prepared a backdrop, checked the lighting and had everything ready to go. The minute she sat Silas down he pulled down the backdrop and rolled around in it. I don't think he quite understands picture time!

Some of the cousins

4 generations

Silas is blessed to have 5 grandmothers. 4 of them are in this picture.

Even though wherever Patrick and the children are will always be my home, there's just something about being back at home with my Mom and Dad. I feel like a little girl again. I still believe everything Dad says, even if he is just joking, Mom still tucks me in (just like she did the night before I was married), and I still giggle with my sisters and act so crazy.

Thanks, Mom and Dad for everything. I'm so glad I was able to come home. I'm so glad you were able to see Silas and how he is as a one year old. We love you all so much and wish we could see you way more often than we do. But, I'm content being in God's will. I love you both so much and I'm so blessed to have you as my parents, just as my children are blessed to have you as their grandparents. I miss you already!