LBC Middle School baby shower

The faculty and staff at LBC Middle School threw me a baby shower today after school.

Words cannot describe how touched and moved i was by their generosity. They are all a hard working bunch who always come together in times of both joy and sorrow.

Thank you LBC family for the love and kindness you showed me today.

Gift table

Two of my teacher friends Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Giffin

Check out the diaper cake the 6th grade team gave me :)

At home looking over the gifts more carefully.

Using a recycling bin

The second way the Morrises take care of planet Earth is by using a recycling bin to throw plastic, paper, and cans away.

Just like hanging clothes, there is a selfish factor involved in recycling. Most of the things that need to be recycled are big, bulky items that take a lot of space in our trash can. Items such as milk jugs, cereal boxes, newspaper, breakfast juice containers, etc. So because we have a separate container for these items, our regular trash can does not fill up as fast as it would if we didn't recycle. Hence, we don't use as many trash bags (money saver), we don't have to deal with that chore as frequently, etc. (Don't worry, we are not pigs, we DO changer our trash often enough).

Hanging clothes to dry

I am not en eco-nut, I am not an Al Gore fan, I don't believe that we will drown in water b/c of the melting of the poles, and I don't go around nagging people about recycling.

But i am a steward of this world, and i do believe that it's my job and responsibility to take care of it.

So in recent months B and i have (unintentionally) agreed to make some smart changes to help planet Earth.

A list of these things are:
- Hanging some clothes to dry outside
- Using a recycling bin for paper, plastic and cans.
- Driving my little Ford Focus instead of his Tahoe when going places together.
- Using reusable bags when grocery shopping.
- Leaving the house slightly colder over the winter and slightly warmer over the summer.

So, what do we hang and what don't we hang to dry? We only hang things that take longer to dry in the drier. For example, towels, cloths, and jeans. I choose not to hang the rest of things b/c it's not time efficient. Hanging every single sock and underwear would take an awful long time to do and would eventually discourage me.

The nice thing is that there is some reward in doing this (aside from the clear conscience). I've read that it costs about 50 cents to use the dryer for 45 minutes. If i hang one load per week for 2/3 of the year, that is 33 times a year, i am essentially "saving" $16.50 per year. Not much, but enough to go out on a few ice cream or coffee dates :)

Pizza night with Shannon

B and i are very thankful for the great community we have here in Augusta. We have a great group young married couples who we call friends and feel very much ourselves with.

One of those special couples are Chris and Shannon. Chris is currently serving our country in South Korea for 15 months and his lovely wife is in Augusta patiently waiting for him and being a great friend to everyone in the meantime.

Shannon has also become my yard sale companion and this morning introduced me to Augusta's farmer's market. Needless to say, will never be able to buy produce at a grocery store again after my experience there this morning. They had the most amazing melon!

So after our very successful pizza night last week, we decided to invite Shannon to enjoy the yummy meal. Pizzas turned out great (B claims they were the best pizzas he'd ever have) and our conversation and time together around the table was very pleasing and enjoyable.

Getting the pizzas prepped. This is my prego belly at 25 weeks. My bellybutton is really starting to stick out and i'd have to say that so far this is the weirdest thing about pregnancy (believe it or not).

Ready to go into the oven!

Out of the oven and ready to be enjoyed!

And of course, dessert.

The mom in me.

Exactly one month ago our Sunday School had a picnic to celebrate Easter and enjoy an egg hunt with the kids. It amazes me how many young couples and how many children are in our church community.

During that picnic i was able to hold for quite a while little Baby Price. He is such a doll and love to hold him. The first time i got to hold him was at a baby shower. After a good 30 minutes of me holding him, he began to cry and cry. Completely oblivious to the situation, i just let him cry for as long as he wanted. His mama eventually realized what was going on and told another young mother: "we are going to have to teach Lauren a few things about motherhood." She eventually showed me how to soothe him back into to calmness.

Since then i've been wondering what kind of mother i will become. Here are a list of things that i notice of myself when i am with an infant:

- I have no problem letting the baby cry. I am not going to claim to be completely calm when this takes place, but i just assume that that's what babies do -- cry! We'll see how this plays out once MY little girl begins to cry.
- My arms get really tired of holding them. After a while of enjoying them i just want put them down and run off and do my own thing.
- I love to eat, and most importantly, i love being the FIRST to eat. Having an infant, or a child for that matter, will prevent me from this luxury. I wonder when my next full and relaxed meal will take place once our little girl comes.

Menu Plan

I have always planned all of my meals a week in advance, what i haven't always done until recently is have an exact meal plan. Having an exact meal plan has almost revolutionized the way i approach meals.

Here are a few things i have noticed happening since doing specific meal plans (and by specific, i mean having a certain meal assigned to lunch and dinner each day):

- I can never keep up with it. For example, i was supposed to have had quiche this past week for lunch, and i am yet to make it. Unexpected things come up or i decide last minute that i don't feel like having it.
- We go out to eat much less. B and i don't go out to eat much to begin with compared to many people, but on a normal week we'll go out for a hamburger or something simple about once or twice a week. But during this past month that i have been meal planning, it has become maybe once a week or zero times a week.
- Knowing what's ahead in the menu allows me to multitask in the kitchen. For example, this week i plan on making egg McMuffins, pizza AND the quiche i never made last week. Instead of getting the frying pan dirty three different times (and hence wash it on three different occasions) i will cook all of the bacon all at once AND the sausage for the pizza that i will use for all three different meals. One pan, three different meals, all at the same time.
- My fridge becomes much more crowded. Because i am multitasking in the kitchen, i have to store everything in the fridge. The good news is that it's all food that i know will be out of there in less than a week.

So here is this week's meal --

Friday
Lunch: PBJ with sliced watermelon
Dinner: Taco salad

Saturday:
Lunch: Egg McMuffins with fruit
Dinner: Homemade pizzas with Shannon :)

Sunday:
Lunch: out with family
Dinner: Egg McMuffins

Monday:
Lunch: quiche
Dinner: Veggie chicken soup with corn bread muffins

Tuesday:
Repeat Monday

Wednesday:
Lunch: Quiche
Dinner: Chicken, corn and black bean casserole.

Cards

I am about to reveal something about myself that should be kept as a secret forever --

I buy my cards at the Dollar Tree for 50 cents each.

It's done, i've said it, the cat is out of the bag and i hope you don't think less of me for doing so.

The reason why i say this is b/c this has become a great money saver for us. When we first moved to the States almost 2 years ago i was quickly burdened by this "card culture" that i had never been exposed to in my life. (A little culture teaching moment: cards are extremely uncommon and barely used in Mexico. Just trying to find a thank you card is next to impossible.)

So, every time we had a birthday or an event or something, i would find myself spending about $2-$3 per card. An eureka moment came to me when 1. i discovered the Dollar Tree, and 2. i saw that they sold GREAT cards for much much much less.

So this is my strategy --

- I make a list of birthdays or events (such as mother's day, father's day, Easter, etc) that will be taking place in the next 3 - 4 months during which i will be needing a card.
- I make ONE trip to the Dollar Tree and buy all of them at once.

This ends up giving me a good 80% savings on something i was planning on doing anyway.

Cravings

Many people ask me what are my pregnancy cravings. I never know how to answer that questions b/c i am a person who craves everything and all the time, regardless of whether i am pregnant or not. I enjoy food, especially bread, chips, cheese, chocolate, and french fries.

But i have started to notice a pattern during the last few weeks when i grocery shop -- i buy a lot of fruit! A lot more than normal and i usually run out of it half way through the week.

So the answer to your question -- fruit! I long and crave fruit. In particular strawberries, mango, pineapple, and bananas. This is of course in addition to my regular cravings :)

Veggie Quesadillas

I love these! This was a meal my mom made for us growing up. They are easy, yummy, and frugal. I will do my best at putting measurements, but do realize that this is a Mexican dish and therefore measurements are very vague. Feel free to modify.

Veggie Quesadillas (a.k.a. Tacos de Chile Poblano y Queso)

- 2 chile poblanos - broil them for about 5 minutes on each side until dark and crisp. Place them in a plastic bag, close bag and let cool. Then peel the skin off, remove seeds and slice in strips.
- 1 1/2 cups of corn
- Half an onion, sliced in strips
- 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup of cheese (use any Mexican blend cheese or favorite)
- 6 Tortillas

Melt butter in pan. Add onions and let fry for a few minutes. Add corn, peppers and salt and pepper.



When nice and warm and mixed well together, turn off heat and sprinkle cheese on top.


Let melt. Serve on tortillas and roll up. Enjoy!

Rebecca's graduation

The 5th and last of the Morrises has graduated. Congratulations to Rebecca and congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Morris who have raised and put all 5 children through college. What an exciting moment!



I can't help but to share a fun and exciting experience for me this weekend. One of Rebecca's roommates is the daughter of the governor of Tennessee. So of course he was there, along with his wife and four bodyguards. This was such a cool experience for me i had to resist the urge of taking a pic of them :p What i did not resist was talking to them.

Pizza night

After about 4 -5 attempts to find the perfect pizza dough recipe and mechanism, i can now say i have nailed it. With the help of my new KitchenAid, the dough turned out great, and best of all, it was done very cleanly. Pizza night may need to become a weekly special at the Morris home. Byron was already asking today when we can make them again -- "soon Honey, very soon. Next week :)"



We even had enough for leftovers.

Baby stuff

Byron came back from Bible study tonight with the following items:

1. A bouncy chair (you can tell i'm new at this... i am not sure what the official name for it is) -


2. And an infant car seat with a stroller that attaches to it -


Our friends Nate and Julia have an almost 1 year old daughter who no longer uses these items. I am so happy we get to borrow them b/c it means we don't have to store them somewhere when our little girl grows out of them. We will still need to get an "older infant" car seat, though, which we are registered for :p

All i can say is YAY! Thank you guys :)

Meal Plan

It's only Wednesday and i am unusually dead tired from the week already. Even though i am still in my 2nd trimester, i think i am am starting to feel some changes in my body that indicate that 3rd trimester is just around the corner.

Yesterday, for example, i came home from school and took a 1 hour nap. This is major, b/c if you know me at all you know that i NEVER take naps *sigh*

But lets get down to business. Meal plan for this week is as follows:

Wednesday:
Lunch: I was supposed to have some leftover food that i stole from my in-laws last night, but i forgot it at home. Ended up buying a sub from subway :p
Dinner: Sloppy Joes with coleslaw and potato wedges.

Thursday:
Lunch: Hopefully i will not forget my lunch this time -- leftover food i stole from in-laws.
Dinner: HOMEMADE PIZZA! This will be the first thing i use my kitchen aide for - to make the pizza dough. Pictures to come.

Friday:
Lunch: Leftover pizza from Thursday night.
Dinner: Out?? It's Re's college graduation.

Saturday:
Lunch: Out.
Dinner: Egg salad sandwiches on homemade wheat bread, also made by using my new kitchen aide :)

Sunday:
Lunch: Out with family after church.
Dinner: Church event.

Monday:
Lunch: Quiche
Dinner: Egg salad sandwiches.

Tuesday:
Lunch: Quiche
Dinner: Taco salad

Wednesday:
Repeat Tuesday

My first mother's day

Stage: We are at Moe's having lunch after church on Mother's Day. Both of Byron's parents are there, along with Joseph and Nana.

Scene 1: Byron walks into Moe's carrying a giant (and very heavy) wrapped box.

Scene 2: Puzzled at what it may be, i open one side of it. I see what it is and cannot believe my eyes! Without thinking i exclaim to Byron: "You did NOT?!"

Scene 3: I fight my tears, look at Byron's big smile and continue to open my mother's day gift.

Scene 4: It's a Kitchen Aide mixer! My dream gift! The gift i told Byron i would one day like to get -- maybe on our 10th year anniversary, maybe once we have a couple of kids, maybe... maybe one day.
Scene 5: He shares the story of why he decided to make my first mother's day memorable by giving me such a special gift.

Thank you Honey <3

The crib

Our little girl is going to get to use the same crib her Memma used when she was a little girl and the same crib her daddy used when he would spend the night at his Grandmother's house. The crib our little girl is going to get to use is about 60 years old and has been passed down to us by B's grandmother.

The catch? It has 4 coats of paint!

Even though my sister-in-law has offered us the crib she used with her children, i would really like to use this particular crib. So my loving husband has agreed to spend countless hours (and a little more money than i had hoped for) to get this crib to look exactly like i want (natural wood color).

B began to work on it this past Saturday. After about 4 hours of intense work, this is how far he had gotten:

As you can tell, not very far. B then went to Lowe's a SECOND time, got some stronger stuff, and was able to get this far:

I am thankful for my husband who is more than willing to do this silly project that my heart so much desires. I know our little girl will love it :)

Happy mother's day!

Looking back to the past 26 years of my life, i realize that so much of who i am and who i have become is thanks to my mother. She has been a great mother who did a great job raising both my sister and i.

So in honor of mother's day, i decided to take a walk down memory's lane and make a list of lessons my mom has taught me through the years, whether they were intentional or unintentional.

- My mother always taught me to be a servant at other people's home. Don't ask your host HOW you can help, but instead just BEGIN to help. Wash the dishes, fold the clothes, set the table, clear the table, etc.
- She always made sure we said thank you, no matter how small or simple the gesture. Basically, don't ever take anything for granted. A car ride, a simple note from someone, a gift, etc. - always say thank you.
- She taught me to be kind to others, even when it becomes an inconvenience. This is really something that stands out in my life. Even though my parents were divorced when i was young, my mother always made sure we had a gift for my father for father's day, his birthday and Christmas. This was also true for my dad - he always gave us money to go take my mom out on special occasions or buy her gifts.
- She taught me to be a smart shopper. Whether it was on groceries, school supplies, clothes, or even braces, she always made sure she got the best deal.
- She taught me to love education. To both love being an educator and to be educated.
- She taught me to love to cook. Even though my mother is as Anglo as they come, she can cook the best Mexican and Lebanese food. She loves learning new recipes.
- She taught me to love reading. I remember at one point growing up she made us "buy" TV minutes - for every minute we read, we could watch 2 minutes of TV.
- She taught me to enjoy the simple things in life. If you've ever seen my mom eat a good corn on the cob, or any good meal, you can see her close her eyes and just say: "mmmmm...."
- And last, but not least, she taught me to love Saint Bernards. Oh my, did she make me love Saint Bernards! I could never own any dog unless it was a Saint - enough said!

If you have grown up with me and gotten to know my mom through the years, please leave a comment with any other things that comes to your mind when you think of her :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Baby clothes

After my post on yard sales, my college friend Shelby (who has an almost one year old girl) suggested that i keep an eye out for baby clothes at garage sales. Yes, i'll be getting a lot of baby clothes at showers and what not, but my girl will grow out of them really fast and it's nice to have the next size up clothes handy for when i need them.

So with that in mind, my friend Shannon and i went out "yard saleing" today and hit a couple of good sales. There was one sale in particular that was "jackpot" in regards to baby girl clothes. They had an awesome variety, and many outfits still had tags.

So at the end of the day, this is what i ended up with:

This swimming suite will probably be too small by the time our little girl has her first swim, but it was SO cute and only 25 cents. I couldn't leave without it :p

B was so funny when he saw it. He jokingly inspected it to make sure it covered everything that needed to be covered.

Best of all -- all of these items, plus one that is not pictured, ended up ringing up to a total of $5!!

Easy Chicken

Our friends Doug and Amy just had a baby. I signed up to take them a meal yesterday and i chose to take "Easy Chicken." This is a tasty, easy and frugal meal that will feed a number of people at once. And best of all, you probably already have all of the ingredients you'll need for it in your kitchen!

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup of margarine
- 1 cup of diced onion (more or less, depending on how much or how little you like onions)
- 1/4 cup of flour
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 1 cup of milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups of diced cooked chicken (i use one whole small chicken)
- Rice or pasta to serve over.

Procedure:
Saute onion in margarine. Stir in flour and cook until thick. Add chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until fairly thick. Add chicken. Serve over rice or pasta.

A middle school moment

I am wearing a (slightly tight) green maternity, long sleeved, blouse at school today.

In the middle of my lesson, a student politely raises his had.

Me: "Yes, student?"

Student: "Mrs. Morris, i don't mean to be rude, but that shirt makes you look like Kermit the Frog."

Me: *sigh*

Meal Plan

Thursday:
Lunch: Homemade cream of potato soup with crackers and a muffin.
Dinner: Parmesan pizza over garlic bread

Friday:
Lunch: Teacher appreciation week lunch provided by our PTO
Dinner: Mc's bday!!!

Saturday:
Lunch: PBJ for Byron and veggie quesadillas for myself
Dinner: I am going to leave this option open... something usually comes up Saturdays.

Sunday:
Lunch: Out with family after church
Dinner: Sloppy joes with baked french fries and coleslaw

Monday:
Lunch: Veggie quesadillas
Dinner: Sloppy joes with baked french fries and coleslaw

Tuesday:
Lunch: Cream of broccoli soup with crackers and muffin.
Dinner: Homemade wheat and apple pancakes with fruit (courtesy of the J&J Gieser)

Wednesday:
Repeat Tuesday.

23 weeks

Our little girl is 23 weeks old. To celebrate each week, Memma (my mother-in-law) always leaves a little gift for our little girl at our doorstep each Wednesday. I love driving back from school each Wednesday wondering what will be awaiting me when i get home.

A few things she has left in the past:
- A dinner meal
- Pink wash cloth
- Ice cream gift card
- A pink PJ
- Sample size baby wipes

Today, this is what greeted me at my door:

Mrs. Morris

A student of mine felt compelled to draw a picture of myself and give it to me today. He has in the past given me drawings of a turkey for thanksgiving day, or a "Merry Christmas" sign for Christmas, etc. But today he drew me. Hmmm... what do you think of it?


I must say that this was his second drawing. The first time around he only made my top go half way through my body, which meant that my stomach and belly button literally were sticking out. I told him he had to redo it and this is what he came up with.

Please notice my long earrings, my prego belly and my Spanish :)

Yard Sales

I love yard sales. I love everything about them. I love a good deal, I love the friendly faces that greet me when i arrive, I love running into people i know, I love noticing what people try to get rid of, and I love to see how things are priced.

But something strange may happen when you yard sale -- you end up with things that you did not need in the first place. Yes, they were a great deal, but... did you really need them?

So i have a few guidelines that i follow when i yard-sale:

1. I set an amount of money each Saturday and i am not allowed to go over it (usually $5, but most times i barely even go over $2).
2. I try to incorporate my yard sale route with other errands, this way i make the best use out of my gas money and get other things done at the same time (this also prevents me from feeling guilty if i don't buy anything).
3. I say "no" to an item if i know that the only reason why i picked it up was because it was a good deal.
4. And lastly, i keep a mental list of the things i am looking out for and stick to it. This last one has become particularly difficult since every other yard sale i've been to recently has had cute little girl clothes. I can proudly say that i am yet to purchase anything for my little girl at a yard sale :)

A few items that are on my mental list are:

- Maternity clothes
- A crock pot
- A small lamp shade that matches our living room
- Clothes pins
- Thank you cards
- Decoration related items for the house.

Here are a few pics of great buys i've found at yard sales / estate sales:

Three veggie (already framed) pics.

More framed pics, a lamp and one picture frame.

By far, one of my best finds - a GREAT bookshelf! Only $5 :)

Sunflower decorative plate.


Another lovely picture frame.

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of elbow macaroni noodles (measured dry), then cooked according to the package directions
- 1/2 stick of margarine
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 3/4 lb cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups of milk
- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Pour cooked macaroni into a casserole dish and add margarine, then allow a few minutes for the hot noodles to melt the margarine. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Cook at 350 for one hour.

I love my Sunday afternoons!

Unlike most people, instead of spending Sunday afternoons taking a nap, i enjoy my afternoons in the kitchen. I think that cooking and trying new recipes is most definitely my favorite hobby, and Sundays are a time when i can do it without having other things on my to-do list and time restricting me. So i turn Pandora radio station on and get going in the kitchen.

Today was especially fun. In about a 2 hour period, i accomplished the following:

- Grill, peel and chop the peppers for my veggie quesadillas.
- Pre-prepare the mac and cheese casserole.
- Cut my chicken breasts into strips for my chicken fingers.
- Bake one dozen pear-oatmeal muffins
- Prepare cream of potato soup from scratch.
- And most importantly, clean up afterward.

These were all things i would have had to do throughout the week anyway, so being able to get them all done ahead of time allows me to enjoy my weekday afternoons a lot better. And as an extra bonus, doing them all at the same time is a HUGE time saver.

These are my pear-oatmeal muffins. This is my first time baking them, and they taste wonderful!

This is Nana Morris's famous mac & cheese casserole. I like to get it all ready ahead of time so that when it's time for dinner, all i have to do is stick them into the oven. No clean up and no messy counter.

Finally, this is my cream of potato soup. This was not on our weekly menu, but i realized i had 6 potatoes that were about to go bad if i didn't use them. So i tried this new recipe as well. It made exactly 3 servings. Two will go to school with me for lunch, and one of them will be for B's dinner tonight.