A Tribute to the Boys

Actually, I mean a tribute to the men. 

Who I didn’t mean to slight.  After all, I wouldn’t have any furniture to sit on if it weren’t for them.

At the slight risk of starting a tiff, I simply couldn’t resist posting a rebuttal blog post to a little email that the Hottie sent out to his fellow testosterone producing friends. 

The Hottie thought my moving day post was a little biased towards the ladies who helped us this weekend.  Though completely unintentional, I would hate for anyone to feel slighted.

Of course the men worked.  They didn’t just play Wii.

See?

To all of the men who produced copious amounts of sweat, burned calories, and had sore muscles after this past weekend . . . thank you soooooo much.  I appreciated your hard work . . . and that many of sacrificed precious time with your family or simply relaxing to help us. 

Thank you.  I didn’t mean to ignore you.  I’m pregnant, remember?  And I’m a girl—I was working with the girls.

Hospitality

One of Mr. Smackdown’s gifts is hospitality.

OK . . .  Seriously.

However, the Hottie just thinks that a little boy wanted to sample some cookie dough.  I prefer to think he genuinely wanted to meet and bless our new neighbors.

Since the day we moved in to our new house . . . so since Sunday, he has asked me if we could bake something and take it to each of our neighbors. 

We made one batch of cookies yesterday . . . and I found a way to accomplish this without chocolate chips.  (I only make chocolate chip cookies.)

Let’s just say that cooking is way easier in the new house.  They stood on one side of the counter and I on the other.

I think the kids will get to try their hand at fermenting soon.

And I am sure there will be some theatrics to accompany their new culinary skills.

By the way, we made thumbprint cookies.  No, they weren’t exactly organic . . . or whole foods.  But they were made with local blueberry jam.  That has to count for something, right?

Giveaway Winners

All winners were chosen by www.random.org . . . but I’m not going to show you pictures today to prove that I actually used www.random.org, which I really did.

I just have things to do.  Like unpack.  Or drink the chai beside me made with leftover Azeri tea from yesterday. (This truly is a big deal to me—it is my FAVORITE tea in the whole world.  Thanks Auntie T!) 

Conditions – send your snail mail address to thegranolamom4god at gmail dot com.  And you have 48 hours to respond back to me.  If I don’t hear from you then I shall pick a new winner.  Each of you have been sent a notice via the comment you left on my blog.

Congrats!

Tropical Traditions Red Palm Oil -- #20, Rachel.

EcoKids Play Dough -- #40, WillowSprite.

Pocket Purifier -- #8, Jessica.

CSN Gift Certificate -- #66, Charity.

Moving Day

We’ve moved. 

The truck that provided transportation was gi-normous. 

 

We are still unpacking . . . organizing. 

And when all of the moving stuff is done, I am sure that as we come up for air, Sweet Pea will be born.

Such is life.

But here is a small testament to all of the AMAZING people who basically dedicated ALL of their weekend or some of their weekend to moving us.

(Casey was moving so quickly that I couldn’t capture her!) 

It was an honor to be served by these people. 

(Jackie cleaned my blinds . . . they umm . . . hadn’t been done in awhile.) 

They cleaned, told me to sit down, packed, organized, took a swing set apart, set up our Wii, unpacked our kitchen, set up our school room, organized the boy’s rooms, CLEANED some disgusting bathrooms at the new house (including fingernails), made my bed, watched our children . . . and so much more.

It was AMAZING.  Our home fellowship, family, and friends  R.O.C.K.

(Desperate for a table, I guess, someone set the kiddos up for dinner on top of Mussie’s dog food table.  Hmm. . . don’t know how I feel about that, but it worked.) 

And here is what was truly fun to see . . . when all was said and done-- the boxes unloaded, full bellies, the truck returned . . . God used our new house for its intended purpose: a place of refuge, fun, and fellowship.

All the guys were found downstairs playing the Wii . . .

 

To all of the countless people who helped make our move possible . . . we thank you.  We love you all and felt so insanely blessed by your labor and love.

Thanks again . . . because . . . well, I probably won’t get a thank you note written and put in the mail. 

I Entered the World of Chutney

I enjoy a good chutney.  Now, the only ones I have experienced have been used to properly digest Indian food. 

I read a blog post about cherry chutney (that for the life of me can’t find), and simply could not get it out of my mind.  I purposed in my heart to make it . . . despite the fact that we are moving this week.

But I am slightly obsessed with fermenting.

It really was easy to make.  I don’t know why I haven’t experimented with fermenting fruit sooner than the busiest season of my life thus far. 

What made it easy was the cherry pitter.  I highly recommend that you get one if you like cherries.

Cherry Chutney

• 4 cups of cherries, pitted and quartered
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole cloves
• grated rind and juice of an orange
• 1/2 cup of cane sugar
• 1/4 cup whey
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup water

Mix the beautiful red cherries with spices, orange rind and liquids.  Transfer ingredients into a wide mouth mason jar and press down lightly.  I found that my Vita Mix wand worked perfect for this task.  Add more water if you need to so that your cherries are fully submerged.  Tighten your jar securely and allow this colorful creation to sit out on your counter for 2 days, before placing it in your refrigerator.

Can’t wait to try mine in the new house! 

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