Message of June 25, 2009

"Dear children! Rejoice with me, convert in joy and give thanks to God for the gift of my presence among you. Pray that, in your hearts, God may be in the center of your life and with your life witness, little children, so that every creature may feel God's love. Be my extended hands for every creature, so that it may draw closer to the God of love. I bless you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to my dad and to my husband, the 2 finest men I know.

Today, I am grateful to my dad for:

*having the most generous of hearts
*coaching and cheering for my sister and I in all the sports we played
*taking us through the McDonalds drive thru after basketball games (who knew then what we know now?!)
*leading by example in the areas of hard work, service to others, and dedication to family
*carrying our sleds up the long, steep hill after my sister and I effortlessly sledded down
*coming to visit me when I lived in Washington state
*always making sure that we had a way to call home for free ;)
*supporting me in many ways through college
*falling in love with Isabella
*for still taking our growing family on family vacations

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Today I am grateful for my husband, a wonderful father, for

*being incredibly patient, gentle, and kind
*working so hard to support our family
*treating Isabella as the "sunshine" in his life
*reading book after book after book after...
*playing guitar to help our baby/toddler to relax
*making all of us laugh and take life a little less seriously
*running all over the county for homeopathic remedies and pregnancy cravings when one or both of us are ill
*making the morning coffee
*believing in me as a stay at home mom
*being the "sunshine" in our lives

Happy Father's Day, Dave!

Happy Birthday, Fran!

Happy Birthday to my godmother, Fran, who fills my life with love and light. Love, Bella

Isabella had been looking forward to Fran's birthday party the entire week before. She wanted to make sure that "everyone" would be there including Fran, Grace, Nana, Papa, Grandma, and Lindsay - and they were! Isabella especially enjoyed Fran's delicious birthday cake which meant that mommy got short changed on the piece that they shared.

"The greatest gift you can give your child is another sibling." Pope John Paul II

We are alredy heading into the 2nd trimester of this pregnancy. The past 12 weeks were quite difficult for me, but I am thankful for a very supportive husband, a very knowledgable midwife, a little girl who reminds me what a privilege and joy it is to carry a baby, an encouraging pastor, and very understanding family and friends who helped me in more ways than one. Thank you. Thank you.

Dave, Isabella, and I got to hear baby White's hearbeat for the first time just a few days ago. Judy, our homebirth midwife (yes, we are planning for another homebirth, more on this in another post), estimates that the baby is 12-14 weeks in size at this point. Oh, my, another big one. And if baby White is anything like his/her big sister, we may very well have an early arrival!

Thanks for all of the good wishes that everyone has been sending our way.

Asparagus - Our New Favorite Food

This is not officially a food blog but it is fast becoming one! This dish is so delish that I felt compelled to share it so others can enjoy it too. This meal came together because my husband worked the grill while I worked in the kitchen.

Summer Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, Baby Spinach, and Asparagus

Marinate trimmed asparagus generously with olive oil, salt, and pepper
Grill asparagus diagonally
Cook 1/2 lb whole grain pasta according to directions on package
Meanwhile, saute 3-4 vine ripe, roma, or plum tomatoes in olive oil with 2 cloves fresh minced garlic.
As tomatoes breakdown add in a few handfuls of snipped baby spinach until wilted.
Add 2 small ladles of salted cooking pasta water to tomato spinach mixture.
Cut grilled asparagus into 3 sections and add to cooked, drained pasta.
Pour tomato and spinach mixture over asparagus and pasta and toss until evenly distributed.



I served this alongside a piece of grilled salmon that my husband prepared and it was the perfect meal. Isabella ate a nice serving of salmon and especially enjoyed the asparagus. Dave and I loved the combination as well. I think I will be making this weekly as long as asparagus is in season here. Note: I think that this dish would be good too if you roasted the asparagus in the oven in case you couldn't grill it.

Summer Meal Idea

Fritatas are a beautiful, nutritious, and frugal way to serve up a protein packed meal, incorporating the bounty of the season. This fritata, is based on my friend Carrie's recipe, a recipe that has made her a local celeb. She delivers this meal to postpartum moms and their families so that they have one meal off and can care for the newborns. I haven't yet sought permission to share her recipe, but to give you an idea, I modified her recipe to include spinach, tomatoes, onion, and cheddar. Fritatas are very forgiving so feel free to include whatever you have on hand, asparagus, sausage, broccoli, squash, fresh/dried herbs, parmesan cheese, diced potatoes etc. Serve this up for a weekend brunch, midweek lunch or dinner, accompanied by roasted rosemary potatoes and/or thick slices of whole grain bread. It is a great meal idea for the summertime.