Back in the Saddle & Book Giveaway Winner

This picture has nothing to do with my post, but it makes me happy!  Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite cut flower and this year, for the first time in my life, I have them in my own yard!  Not just one bush, but about 10!  And, they're blooming beautifully!  The island in my kitchen has a nice bouquet of blooms and I'm looking forward to cutting some more in the next few days.  Next year, I'm going to work on getting some of them to turn blue.  Anyone have any great tips on that??

My little guy turned 1 month old yesterday!  It's amazing to me how fast time flies!  He's already changing and looking older.  He's such a good baby, and I'm so thankful for that!  I'd love to have more continuous sleep at night, but I know that will come in time, so for now I'm just trying to enjoy my precious little bundle!

My desire this week is to get back into my regular blogging schedule, but I'm not sure what that will look like from here on out.  I'd love to continue posting 5 times a week, but realistically that won't always happen.  So, instead, I'm going to strive for 3 posts a week, still keeping a combination of recipes, home projects, and some personal posts along the way.  I hope you'll continue on this journey with me!  I have enjoyed my blog {somehow I missed my 1 year blogaversary while I was recovering from labor/delivery, so I'll try to do something about that soon}, and it keeps me accountable in being creative in my home.  Plus, it's a nice outlet for me in the midst of managing three little ones.  

Yesterday Blogger was not cooperating with me, so I was unable to post.  In fact, I had a great tribute to my mom in honor of Mother's Day, and that has been erased somehow into cyberspace.  Oh, the joys of technology!  I apologize for not posting the winner of the Book Giveaway, but it was comment #19, Roses843.  Congratulations!  You have until Wednesday, May 16, to contact me with your mailing information, or I will choose another winner.  {onlyfromscratch@gmail.com}

Hope you all have a great week!  I have a wonderful recipe using strawberries coming for you soon, plus a few little projects that have been completed around here.  Stay tuned...

Book Giveaway in Honor of Mother's Day

There's a giveaway here on the blog this week, and just in time for Mother's Day!  No, it's not a gift that you will give to your mom, it's a gift that is simply in honor of Mother's Day, because it is a book for children.

The publisher for this book graciously sent me a copy to giveaway to one of you. Here's what they had to say about the book:

"Over 7 million people around the world have discovered their own love language through the best-selling series of books by Dr. Gary Chapman, The 5 Love Languages. But what about our children? Surely they too must have their own unique love language we can learn to speak and understand. Now, in his first-ever children’s book, Dr. Chapman, along with co-author, Rick Osborne, spins a delightfully imaginative story and parallel message to The 5 Love Languages in, A Perfect Pet For Peyton.

Helping parents teach their children these principles of love and allowing children the opportunity to discover their own primary love language, A Perfect Pet For Peyton, conveys principles adults will find meaningful, yet told in a simple, fun and interactive way children can easily understand and enjoy."

In order to be eligible to win this book, simply leave a comment on this post telling me which child you would like to read this book to.


For additional entries:

• Become a follower of Only From Scratch and leave a comment telling me you've done so.
• If you're already a follower, just leave a comment telling me you are.
• Post about this giveaway on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me you've done so.

Giveaway ends at 11:59PM, Friday, May 11th.  A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Mother's Day.  

Winner must have a US mailing address.

Crispy Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I recently picked up a copy of a Food Network magazine at the grocery store.  What about it grabbed my attention?  It was the CHOCOLATE issue!  The front cover tantalized my taste buds and I couldn't wait to tear into it and discover some incredible chocolate recipes.  Near the center of the magazine I was delighted to find several different recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I have always made the classic recipe, printed on the back of bags of chocolate chips, so we've had fun over the past few weeks trying out some of these various recipes.  The one I'm posting today is our favorite so far.  The ingredients aren't too different from the standard, but they get baked at a higher temperature.  I'm not an expert on science in the kitchen, so I don't know why these turn out the way that they do, but the crispy edges and cakey middle provide the perfect textures for a delicious cookie.

Crispy Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a bowl with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, then beat in the vanilla.  Add the flour, salt and baking soda; beat until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.  bake until golden brown around the edges but still light in the center, about 8 minutes.  Removed from the oven and let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

source:  Food Network, March 2012

Framed Photos Matted with Burlap

My in-laws have a photo gallery wall in their stairwell that I have always loved!  Their life and ministry have taken them all over the world, so they have various pictures displayed of special places they've been.  Bradley and I haven't been able to travel extensively together in our almost 6 years of marriage, but we have traveled a little, so we decided to frame some of our favorite 'spots' and begin working on our stairwell.

I had some frames that a friend had given me, so I simply cut some burlap to the size of the frame, placed the picture in the center, and hung them on the wall!  Such a simple project that only cost me the price of printing out the pictures.

Photo from our honeymoon of Mayan Ruins in Belize

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

Highway 1 in California {family vacation 2010}

If you don't have burlap lying around your house {like I do} it really isn't that expensive.  You can purchase it in most fabric stores--you'll find it with other utility fabrics.  I like the texture that it adds to the photos.  Right now I'm keeping the frames in their original stain, but I'd eventually like to paint them an heirloom white.  We have yet to paint the stairwell, foyer and hallways {mostly because of the high ceilings} so until then I am living with builder grade flat paint, which is a great collector for toddler fingerprints!

What simple projects have you completed lately?

Mason's Debut

Since today was the EDD {Estimated Due Date} for little Mason, I thought it only appropriate to share his birth story with you.  I'm so thankful he was two weeks early!  Isabella was 8 days early {you can read her birth story here} and Mallory was 2 days late {find her birth story here}, so I really had nothing to go by with this pregnancy.  Here's how the day began...

April 13:
I woke up pretty early and felt a few contractions as I was getting ready for the day, nothing horrible, but they were noticeable.  Bradley got home from work around 6AM, and I mentioned that maybe today would be the day.  He climbed into bed and I went about my day as normal.  I thought it would be a great day for a baby, but tried as much as possible to go on as though nothing was going to happen.  I didn't want to just sit around waiting for the baby to be born and miss out on life!  The girls and I went grocery shopping, we made banana bread, and I painted a few projects in the garage {posts coming soon on those projects!}.  By the time I had one coat of paint on a chalkboard I'm making, I began to keep track of the contractions I was having.

11AM - The contractions started coming pretty regularly, about every 3 minutes, but this happened for several weeks with Mallory, so I just kept doing housework.  After an hour of this, and having to stand still during contractions, I decided to pack my bag for the hospital.  I wanted to allow Bradley some more time to sleep so he would be rested, should this be the real deal, so I waited until about 12:30 to wake him up and tell him what was happening.  He got ready pretty quickly, put on his 'birthing shirt' {he has worn the same button-down shirt for all the births of our children}, and then we started calling some friends to see who could watch the girls.  This was the only day/time frame that I hadn't really lined up any childcare!  Thankfully, our friends were willing to keep the girls, so we headed out to the hospital.

1:30PM - The girls were dropped off and we were on our way!  I really had no idea what to expect, but I was definitely uncomfortable.

2PM - Arrived at the hospital, told the nurses what was going on and was desperately hoping that I truly was in labor!  I'd had contractions every 3-5 minutes for the past 3 hours at this point.  I got into the lovely hospital gown {who invented those ugly things?!} and they hooked me up to the monitors.  Right away I could see the contractions coming pretty strongly and spiking really high on the charts.  The nurse checked me...I was only at 2 centimeters!!  They wouldn't keep me unless I was 4 centimeters dilated, so they had me drink lots of water and continued to monitor me for another hour.

3:30PM - Contractions were still coming just as regularly, but when they checked me again, I was still only 2 centimeters.  I KNEW I was in labor, though; I've done this twice before, so I could tell this was the real deal.  You can't convince the medical staff of that, though, especially when you're body isn't producing anything.  They chatted with the DR and meanwhile, my contractions started getting worse.  Worse like how I felt when laboring with Mallory dilated at 9 centimeters.

4 PM {ish}- They couldn't keep me any longer, so recommended that we go walk around the mall for another hour and then come back.  I was thinking to myself, "There is no way I'm leaving this hospital!  And, there's really no way I'm going to the mall to give birth to this child on an escalator!"  My genius husband requested that they check me one more time before we left.   They agreed and we were all very thankful to find that I was now at 4 centimeters!!  So, I could stay.

5PM - I GOT AN EPIDURAL!!  I am terrified of needles, and really enjoyed my other two labor/deliveries with no pain meds.  But, this time, I seriously felt much more pain earlier on.  I didn't want to know anything about what they were doing to my spine, and I literally almost passed out right after he stuck the needle in me.  Oh my goodness, though, how amazing it is to not feel ANYTHING!  It was cracking me up to watch the monitor and see contractions happening rapidly and strongly, but not even knowing they were going on.  "Better living through chemistry," as my dad would say.

6PM - A new DR was on call, and he came in to introduce himself, and he checked me again.  I was at 7 centimeters at this point, so he broke my water and we just waited.

6:50PM - Checked again and was now at 10!!  My OB/GYN walked in the door as they were giving me this news and I was thrilled!  I have never had my actual DR deliver my babies, so it was very nice to have him present for this one.

7:09 PM - The pushing began.  Let me just tell you that this was the weirdest thing for me.  I didn't know when I was supposed to push, obviously, because I couldn't feel anything, so it was a bit of a challenge.  That was really the only thing I didn't like about having an epidural.

7:28 PM - After a little help with the vacuum, our little BOY made his grand debut!  I wasn't surprised that it was a boy, as I had thought it would be all along, but Bradley was shocked!  I think he was anticipating have a house full of estrogen for the rest of his life!  What joy it brought me to know that my little guy was born, he was healthy, and just perfect.

My placenta took awhile to detach, so the next hour was VERY uncomfortable for me as the DR had to work to get that out.  I'm SO thankful I had the epidural or this part would have been unbearable.  I lost a significant amount of blood during that time, but they were finally successful and I thankfully didn't need any further medical treatment.

I wasn't able to hold Mason until two hours after he was born, and that was hard for me, but when they placed him in my arms, I was rejoicing in another precious little life that God had blessed us with. He is the sweetest baby and has quickly become such a part of our lives.  We look forward to all that God has in store for this little man!

Ready to push!

First breaths 

Meeting his biggest sister

The girls got Mason a stuffed tiger, and named him 'Tiberius'

Meeting his other big sister

Sweet little baby boy

 

Napping with Granddad

Snuggling with Daddy

Thankful my parents could be here for those first days

Me and my little man

Our growing family

Introducing...

Henry Mason

Born: April 13

8lb 4oz

This is the first time I've even logged into my blogger account since Friday when I went into labor and then had my little boy.  He is absolutely precious!  We're planning to call him Mason, but that's still up for debate in our home, and we're tossing around things like Henry, Hank, Mason, Mase, so he might get confused!  I'm sticking with Mason, though, so that is how I will most likely refer to him.  I'll share more about his birth story later, and hope to get back to my regular blogging schedule soon. 

Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Apricot Couscous

This recipe is one of those ones that you can whip up in several minutes and it tastes so good you wouldn't even know that it took barely any thought.  {These are the kinds of meals I need to be cooking right now at 38 weeks pregnant!}  I was a bit skeptical because of the cumin and cinnamon combination, but this entire meal was delicious!  I might suggest tossing the chicken with some of the cinnamon/cumin as well as the mushrooms, for some added flavor.  The next time I make this I'm going to try that as the chicken needed a little something more.  My only regret is that I didn't make the amount of mushrooms that it calls for; Bradley and I both were longing for more.

Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Apricot Couscous


1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, halved
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts {2-2 1/2 pounds}
1 cup whole-wheat or regular couscous
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 400F.  Toss the mushrooms, 2 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, cumin, cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste on a rimmed baking sheet.

Rub the chicken with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Arrange the chicken skin-side up among the mushrooms.  Roast until the chicken skin is crisp and golden and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165F; 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the couscous with the chopped apricots as the package directs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer the chicken to plates.  Serve with mushrooms and couscous.

source:  slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine, March 2012