Multitasking

I'm back, but by now I'm sure you know not to get worried when I am silent for weeks on end.

But y'all I was compelled to type because of a discovery that has just made my life in Scotland so much brighter. And with it getting dark here by 4 pm, I'm in dire need.

I found canned crescent rolls in my local Tesco and I am beside myself.

Seriously.  You don't appreciate canned bread until you move to Scotland, mention Pilsbury, and they have no idea what you're talking about.  Or maybe I have just assumed they didn't carry it like other staples (corn tortillas, chopped green chiles, jalapenos, Bisquick etc) and just now noticed them the first time.  Now I can actually make Pizza Roll-ups or Easy Pizza.  See, even though it is 2:17 pm and the sun is starting to set, I can deal.

On to other important things:

1. I've been meal planning for the rest of this week and next while the kids are napping and I have one more day to fill: next Thursday.  You are probably now thinking to yourself, isn't that Thanksgiving?  Isn't she obviously preparing a spectacular Thanksgiving meal for her family?  And the answer would be no because we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday - heresy I know, but when you're celebrating a holiday that basically stems from the fact that you're not living in Britain anymore and you currently live in Britain, no one is too bothered by what day you celebrate it.  So back to my dilemma, I need a meal for Thursday.  Here is my criteria: quick, easy, makes enough to have leftovers the next day, not chicken, little to no handling of raw meat required - help me.  Thanks and gig 'em (like how I associate myself with Texas A&M only after an epic football victory?  Call me two percenter)

2. Elizabeth is having a Thanksgiving Linky Party, so here is my scalloped potato recipe I mentioned last Thanksgiving post. I dislike mashed potatoes, so this was my substitute, and it was a huge hit.

Scalloped Potatoes
recipe adapted from my mom-in-law
*warning: this recipe is not exact and I'm using the "metric" system.  I'll do my best to convert it for you

(insert laughter here if you know me well)

--6 jacket potatoes or Maris Pipers (not sure what the American equivalent would be off of the top of my head - not Idaho or new potatoes...sorry that isn't very helpful, but maybe Yukon gold or something similar?)
--300 mL double cream though I don't use all of it (I think I'd use about 8 - 10 oz of half and half  or heavy cream or a combo of both (is there something in between?) if I was in America)
--250 g cheddar (2 cups)
--salt and pepper
--butter

1. Wash your potatoes - hopefully that is obvious, but just in case...
2. Thinly slice them (I keep the skin on)
3. Spray baking dish (9X13?)
4. Layer potatoes, sprinkle salt and pepper (optional: my mom-in-law also adds nutmeg at this stage), dot with butter, sprinkle cheese
5. Repeat layering till dish is full (ending with the cheese)
6. Pour cream over top
7. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees F/200 degrees C for 45 min
8. Take off foil and bake for 15 more minutes or until golden and bubbly


3. Embracing the Camera with Emily today:

Seth and I are matchy-matchy today not on purpose (though this secretly delights me) but due to the fact that I'm ridiculously behind on laundry (as evidenced by the background of the photo).

And this photo so that Avery doesn't feel left out and to show  my laundry progress.
#Baby steps.

Cheers!

{Embrace the Camera} Meeska Mooska

It was a typical Tuesday evening.  Taylor was washing the dishes, I was sweeping up the remnants of dinner, Ave was bouncing in the jumperoo, and Seth was contentedly playing with the fridge phonics - you know, "M!" says mmmm! "M!" says mmmm! Every letter makes a sound! "M!" says mmmm!  

I hadn't noticed the annoying yet educational chanting wasn't blaring in the background fighting over the staccato nursery rhymes of the jumperoo  until I heard Seth dramatically exclaim, "oh no!"  It was in that voice he uses for playing pretend, so I nudged Taylor to make sure he wasn't missing this, and quietly we watched Seth play out his pretend scenario.

"Goofy, I can't reach the Chocolate Buttons!"  Seth exclaimed pointing to the shiny purple packet of sweets on top of our refrigerator - stored where little hands couldn't help themselves whenever the desire for chocolate arose (I'm talking about Seth here not me...just to clarify).  He hadn't satisfactorily fulfilled the vegetable quota at dinner, and so no dessert was on the menu that night.

Oblivious to the nosy parents eavesdropping at the other end of the kitchen, his one-sided dialogue continued,  "How bout a Mouse-ca-tool?"

"Oh TOODLES!  I need some (pause, finger to chin)... bouncy shoes!"

At that point Mom and Dad stepped in - forget the bouncy shoes, Dad is plenty tall enough.  You're getting a Chocolate Button for being so stinking cute.

My Junior Mouseketeer and me

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part II

For my original Kids Say the Darndest Things post click here.


Now that Seth can talk never stops talking, we are starting to accumulate these for ourselves.

The latest installment:

Picture us, on holiday in the Highlands.

It's a quiet morning and the four of us are sitting around the breakfast table.  Taylor and I are lingering over our coffee, Seth is in the high chair between us, and Avery is on the floor in her car seat (the bouncy wouldn't fit in our packed-to-the-gills car).

Seth has started to talk a lot, and it cracks us up to ask him questions - I love seeing how his brain works.

I leaned over to him and asked, "Seppy what is Mommy's job?" curious to see if he even knew what I meant.

Oh, he did.

He turned to look at me and without any irony in his two year old voice and twanged,

Changin' diapers.


Taylor and I about died right then and there but before we could, had to ask the next obvious question.

"Seth, what is Daddy's job?" he looked carefully back and forth at each of us and said,

Reading the Bible.




Yes, Seth.  You are exactly right.

Embracing the Camera with Emily today...

{Embrace the Camera} City Centre

This week I made it to Edinburgh's city center for the first time since I got back from Texas two weeks ago (let's be honest, I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've been since I had Avery in mid-March - what?!). In my defense, I'm a homebody, and it takes 45 minutes to walk there (don't judge - I'm pushing a really heavy double stroller!).

Much to my surprise, I enjoyed trekking it through the rain with my 2 year old and 3 month old.  Maybe trekking it isn't the most accurate phrase since I took the bus.  To be fair, I did have a bit of a walk from the bus stop to Taylor's office.  Our friends, Austin and Lauren, were in town visiting us and seeing bonny Scotland, so we met Taylor at New College, and then walked to a nearby cafe for lunch.   Seth loved getting to see Daddy in the middle of the work day.  We had such a fun time we decided we're making a monthly tradition!  

our family of four in the courtyard of new college

standing in front of the olympic rings on the mound - steps from taylor's office in new college

Embracing the Camera with Emily today...

{Embrace the Camera} Ticking Time Bomb

So I've been planning on doing a follow-up post on our February Budget Blunder to let you know how we did, but that would require me finding looking at our last two grocery receipts and plugging them into our spreadsheet, and I still haven't found the motivation to do it.  Can we say anti-climactic?

I blame it on 37 weeks of pregnancy (38 tomorrow) accompanied with lots of Braxton Hicks.  It's all I can do to get my nesting done and apparently accounting doesn't fall under that category.  Those who know me are not in the least bit shocked by this.

So here I am at 37 weeks:

Large and in charge
(taken last Friday, so you can imagine what I look like today)

This stage of pregnancy is hard.  I've had a lot of signs pointing to fairly imminent labor (I'll spare you the details), so I feel like a ticking time bomb.  I'm trying to soak up these last few days with Seth before I have to share him and enjoy my quiet nights with Taylor before we have a new little buddy hanging out with us past 7 pm.  But I am ready.  And a little anxious.

I don't remember (surprise, surprise) if I've written about this on the blog, but because of my history with Seth (4th degree tear, forceps delivery), I have to have a c-section if Baby Girl doesn't come by March 16th.  My actual due date is the 23rd, but the doctor doesn't want to risk me going into labor once I hit the 39th week.  I was really upset about this at first because I had no idea that a c-section was in my future, but it's been nice to know that it won't be a waiting game.  At least not a seemingly never-ending one.  The Lord has given me grace to accept a c-section if that is His best, but He's also seems to be answering the prayers on behalf of my many prayer warriors (thank you dear friends and family!) to bring her early if that is safe too, so I am trying to be thankful for every contraction and new hormone that comes my way.  He is faithful and His plan is always the right one.  What a stress reliever!

So I am embracing my bump today because next week's Embrace the Camera will be the last possible day I can even take a bump picture.   Wow.  I think I need to go to bed now and sleep while I still can!

{February Foodfest} Recipes with a South Carolina flair

For our first anniversary back in 2007, Taylor and I had a weekend away in Charleston, SC.  Thanks to his parents, we stayed at the amazing Two Meeting Street Inn.

How cute is Taylor in this picture?  Love him.

It was all you could dream of when thinking vacation to Charleston and we had a great time - especially eating!  I came away from there with two dynamite recipes that I wanted to share (one being the reason for Monday's inevitable run to Tesco).  (I have to say that I was able to avoid it today - I texted Taylor instead - blessed husband to the rescue).

We would eat our breakfast on the wrap-around porch each morning.  It was divine - the atmosphere and the food!

This first recipe was my favorite thing they served for breakfast.  And I have to say, I can be difficult to please when it comes to breakfast.  I basically stick with oatmeal or pancakes because I am obsessed with carbs am very particular about how I will eat eggs - no cooked yolk thank you very much - which rules out everything, but fried over-easy and that's not fancy enough for Charleston.

Sausage Wellington
serves 24 (great for freezing!)

3 lbs sausage
2 T onion, grated
1/2 t sage
16 oz cream cheese
1 c shredded cheddar
1 can sliced mushrooms, pureed
3 pkg puff pastry sheets, thawed
2 pkg Hollandaise sauce mix
1 c butter
2 c milk
dash of Tabasco
18 slices tomato

1. Brown sausage, add onions, and sage.  Drain fat.  Add cream cheese and mix well.  Add cheddar.
2. Cut each pastry sheet into quarters. Put 1 heaping T of sausage mixture in the center of each square and fold pastry over to form a triangle; seal edges with fork.
3.  Bake pastries for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.
4. While pastries are baking, in a saucepan, mix Hollandaise sauce mix, butter, milk and tabasco until sauce is thickened.  Pour over cooked pastry.

So yeah, my recipe doesn't say what to do with the mushrooms or tomato.  My guess is that the idea of pureed canned mushrooms grossed me out, so I left them out, and I think the tomato is supposed to be a garnish.  Be creative!:)



When we lived in Charlotte,  my cheerleaders, would beg me to make this second recipe each week for our Bible study lunch meetings.  They are a fun take off of brownies or blondies (the recipe not my cheerleaders).  Oooh, I could really go for a blondie right now actually - please comment with a good recipe if you have one!

Orange Brownies 

From Pillsbury Bake-Off

1 1/2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 t salt
1 c butter, softened
4 eggs
2 t pure orange extract
1 t grated orange zest

Glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
2 T OJ
1 t grated orange zest

Grease a 13x9x2 in pan and reserve.  In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt.  Add buter, eggs, extract, and zest, and beat with an electric mixer till well blended.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or till light golden brown and set.  Remove from oven and pierce top of entire cake with fork.  (I actually used a toothpick instead because the fork was pulling up the cake too much).

Glaze:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Stir till smooth.  Pour over hot cake.  Cool cake and cut into small squares.

These are yummy garnished with a single raspberry on each square.  I would take a picture of mine, but they are devoid of raspberries because it's the end of the month though if you've been reading along this month, apparently it wouldn't matter if it was the beginning of the month either!  Plus, I used a pan that was too small, so they came out too tall and thick - more like cake.  Tasted great, but legit Orange Brownies are thin.  I wouldn't want to steer you wrong.

Our first anniversary

This was definitely during that phase of I am a newlywed, so I must chop my hair.  Bad idea jeans, Robin.

As you can see in older posts, I haven't succumbed to that during the fairly new-ish stage of motherhood, maybe because Seth isn't a hair-puller.  Pray that Baby Girl is the same because, wow, that Mom cut doesn't look good on me!

Embracing the Camera (back in 2007) with Emily...

{Embrace the Camera} Mama and Baby Girl at 33 weeks

My friend, Sarah, is an amazing aspiring photographer.  She was kind enough to take over shooting Seth's month to month photos for the first year of his life once we moved to Edinburgh. I had grand  plans of posting my favorite from each month under my photos button, but I hate uploading photos onto blogger, so yeah, he's 20 months old now, and I've done zero.  I'm sure once Baby #2 comes, I'll be on it.

Right.

Anyway, Sarah is building up her photography portfolio and asked if we could do some fun pregnancy pics, and being obsessed with photos, of course I said yes!  I was not on top of this when I was pregnant with Seth, so I was thrilled at the chance to get some with Baby Girl.

Here are some of my favs:

She knows my obsession with nests well!:)

Headband I got Baby Girl on Etsy - it will be fun to post a pic of her actually wearing it in the coming months!

33 week bump 

Seth already loves his little sister
Sarah had a tough time getting this shot because he kept kissing my tummy over and over - so precious!

Check out the red nose - it was freezing outside when we took these!

Love that sweet boy

Oh and please leave a comment if you have fun ideas for newborn pictures once Baby Girl comes in March!  Thanks Y'all!

Embracing the Camera with Emily today:

30 years.30 weeks

On Saturday I turned 30.  

30.  

I keep rolling it around in my brain waiting for a reaction.  It's hard to believe I've entered a new decade, but I have to say the transition has been surprisingly smooth.  I'd been wondering all year how I would take it because I totally freaked out when I turned 26.  

I mean 26?  

Because that's a milestone.  

For some reason 26 felt as if I was hurtling towards my thirties - the horror!  And now that I'm here, it's no big deal.  I mean, husband's been 30 for almost 3 years, we have 3 kids and live in a different country...I better be ready for 30 by now,  right?   

And how fun is it that the Lord chose for me to be 30 weeks preggo with Baby Girl on my 30th birthday? 

So I thought for Embrace the Camera this week it'd be fun (and possibly a little depressing) to walk down memory lane.  Here is a photo from back in 2010 when I was 29 weeks preggo with Seth followed by a photo from today of me at 30 weeks with Baby Girl.

To be fair, I will be 31 weeks tomorrow, so this picture isn't quite accurate!
But it's obvious that this sweater needs to be put back in the maternity box for next time.

It's beginning to look kind of like Christmas

So I meant to take a picture of me and my 21 week bump - how have we already passed the halfway mark?? But I was too busy putting up our Christmas tree.  I know it's shameful to do this before Thanksgiving, but seeing how we live in a place where Thanksgiving doesn't exist, I went for it.

Don't judge.

Now all I need is Pandora, so I can listen to some Christmas music, oh yeah, and hooks so I can actually hang up our ornaments - par for the course or what?  I'd like to blame it on Baby Brain, but we all know better don't we...

Instead I've chosen a photo of me and the hubs (these seem to be few and far between these days - our camera is dominated by Sethers) taken by a friend a couple of Saturdays ago.  We may not have Thanksgiving here, but we do have a castle (that big fortress-y looking thing in the background).

Thanks "Big Seth" for snapping a photo of us!

Embracing the Camera with Emily today...

Ode to The Mullet

At one month of age, Seth Robert Ince lost all of his hair.  That is, on the top of his head only.  The back continued on even through the adversity of a "back sleeper."  His mother talked of getting it cut especially after instances when people asked if she cut his hair.  Offended greatly, she quipped, "No I didn't thank you very much and if I did, I would not choose a mullet.  Yes, I may be from Texas, but don't live near the river." OK, maybe she was just thinking that in her head while she grimaced out a "no" to the asker.

Even still, she didn't have the heart to cut his golden locks.  

Mom, don't even think about cutting The Mullet!

Dontcha think it's cute?

Pure gold

She would finally build up her resolve, and then he would wake up like this:

Mom, please don't cut my hair.  You hate change.  I will not look like your little baby anymore if you do...

So he carried on as he was, The Mullet firmly intact.

 The Mullet lived on even through a photo shoot while wearing his Pakistani outfit given as a gift from one of our friends. Are those shoes the cutest?

Don't miss the hair flip 

This one is mostly for the pose, but The Mullet is also alive and well if you look closely.

I mean The Mullet has it's own shadow for crying out loud!

And then little Seth was woken up for church one Sunday and The Mullet had turned into this:

Business on top

Major party in the back.

Oh,My.Curls.

And she again resolved to get his haircut immediately.

But somehow, he charmed her out of it again.  Even with lunch all over his face.

The Mullet withstood Tutu's b-day photo...

Yes, Seth has a bit of a shoe fetish.  Why do you ask?

as well as Soup Night.

 And then resolve was once again restored, when he found a girl's hair clip and insisted his mother try it on him.

It worked way too well.

 Next, he found a hair band.

The length of that pony-tail has most girls his age green with envy.  

And that was the last straw.

The waiting room at the Barber Shop

Ignorance is bliss 

Mom, what is this alien thing you've given me?

I think it has little strawberries printed on the package.

I like this Barber Shop place!

The Mullet's final minutes

What's going on here?

Lollipop, where have you been all my life?

Nothing in the world is happening except for my consumption of my first lollipop, copious amounts of drool, and the distant the singing of "Lollipop, Lollipop" intermittently interrupted by a snip, snip sound...

Tada!
First haircut = total success!

Bittersweet moment for Mommy as she watches her baby grow into a little boy. ..

Check out that new do!

Embracing the Camera with Emily today...