Don't Hate The Okra

photo credit

I visited the West Little Rock Farmer's Market last Monday and loaded up on some beautiful and yummy okra. I can't resist fresh okra. Below is my favorite okra recipe. It's hearty, savory and just delightful.

Fresh Okra and Tomatoes (straight out of the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook)

8 slices bacon

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups sliced okra (1 pound)

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups tomato, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black or white pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat till crisp. Remove bacon, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings in skillet; discard remaining drippings. Crumble bacon, and set aside.

Stir flour into reserved drippings, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until roux is caramel-colored (10-15 minutes).

Add okra, onion, and garlic, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in tomato and remaining 3 ingredients. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until okra is tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with reserved crumbled bacon. Yields 4 large servings.

We served ours alongside delicious, grass-fed, NY strip steaks. :) Hubby is not a tomato lover, but he really enjoys this dish. Hope you like it!

Check here for today's offerings at the WLR Farmer's Market.

Hanging with my Homeys

I made a discovery last week (thanks to the Spirit's work in my heart). When I do something daily that causes me to focus on my children and no one else, we are all in a better place emotionally. I forget sometimes that my mood as Mommy is the barometer in our home. My mood can ruin this day or make this day great.

I've taken my kids to the park, on dates to the bakery up the street, riding scooters in the cul de sac, and for long drives in the car a lot lately. And, I've not talked on my phone during any of these outings. The only reason I keep my phone with me is in case I need to call 911. :) I have found joy in their joy. Doing things that they enjoy is going from a sacrifice to a pleasure for me.

Gotta take these kids to get a treat. :)

Our Boy is 5

Gramm celebrated his fifth birthday in July. I cannot believe my wee little dumpling is five years old. He's almost completely lost all his baby chubbs and that makes this mama very sad.

We had a very low key celebration here at the house on the day of his birthday complete with a (swelteringly HOT) trip to the zoo, watermelon for breakfast, cantaloupe for lunch, Little Caesar's for dinner and yellow cake with chocolate icing for dessert. Sydney came over for dinner and cake and even helped blow out the candles. Mimi and Pops came too, but they stayed away from the candles.

We waited a couple of weeks to have a birthday bash for our boy. We shared the part-ay with the amazing Eli Wilson and fun was had by all. Brooklyn on left, Vivian on right all dressed up for bubby's party.

Daddy helping Gramm skate. Notice Eli's Mommy in the background (orange shirt). Beautiful inside and out.

What is up with the semi-strained smile? My sweet son was strangling me. He just loves me so much, he can't help but squeeeeeeeze my neck till I'm having trouble breathing! :)

What's a party without good food? On the menu: roasted red pepper hummus and chips, veggie tray with ranch dip, mini slap-yo-mama cookies, gooey chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies, rhubarb pie, and peach pie.

We picked the peaches in the pie with our sweet friends, the Majors.

Gramm with a table of some of his faves. He's asking (ordering) Sydney to please not blow out his candles this time.

A little letter to my five year old:

Gramm--

How did you become a little boy so quickly?! You melt my heart with your tight hugs and good morning kisses. I love that every night as I leave your room you say, "Jesus loves you too, Mama!" Your love for people is so evident and genuine. Some of your favorite people these days are Sydney, Eli, Clara, John Isaac, Jonathan and Becca. You are so smart and love to learn and try to figure things out. If you find a screw driver, you will unscrew whatever is within reach. You love to "trim the branches" in the backyard and you've been a great help watering the garden and flower bed all Summer. I love the way your little man hand fits in mine and that you almost always let me hold your hand. You love to look through your mommy and me cookbook and point out recipes for me to try. You are a great eater and really love milk, steak, pizza, "yellow cheese", all fruit, crunchy veggies, and sweets!

Your Daddy and I love you so very much. Your sisters (or "the sissies" as you like to call them) love you, too. Our lives are more full because of you. The day you were born, all I could say was "Thank You, Jesus". I was in awe of the wonderful gift you are to your daddy and me. I still am. I will never stop thanking God for you, my precious son.

Love,

Mommy

He gets me and He gets me good

Okay, so the title of this post was taken from a little joke between me and my hubby after watching this qvc video. Check it, yo. Now, onto the purpose of this post.

My man and I recently attended a marriage conference. One of the many things we took away from the conference is that I must have God time daily if I am to mother my precious babes with kindness and love. The Lord has blessed me with a babydaddy who can scramble eggs for three hungry munchkins and let his wife have a minute with her Father.

Being the Beth Moore junkie that I am, I picked up my copy of Jesus: 90 days with the one and only and have been loving praying through scripture and learning more about Jesus. Today, I read Psalm 113: 5-8 per the book's suggestion. Here it is:

Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated in high,

who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

I have a new study bible which really clarifies certain verses. I checked to see if there was any clarification offered for these verses and this is what stood out to me among the writing:

"God's majesty never implies His remoteness from those who look to Him, it implies instead His exhaustive attention to detail, and His inexhaustible ability to care for His faithful. "

He cares for me in every detail. He knows my every need and I don't wear Him out. He truly cares about the details of my life between cooking for our fam and disciplining our babes. Mostly what this scripture spoke to was my bewildering desire for another child. Mothering is so blessedly wonderful and difficult right now. Each day is a challenge. Why would I so strongly desire to add another little one to care for into the mix? He assured me today that He knows my desires. He grace for me is inexhaustible. He has surrounded me with children, He may surround me with more children and He will give me the strength to love them. His ability to care for me (as I care for my babies) is inexhaustible. Thank You, Jesus!

I am reminded of the chorus to a beautiful hymn:

I need thee, oh I need thee;

Every hour I need thee;

O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.

Terrific Times with Twins

Whenever I see a mother with twins, I talk to her. I say something like this; "Hi. You have twins? So do I!" And, if her twins are younger than mine I try to encourage her and nearly offer babysitting services to a stranger in spite of the fact that I have three small children.

If her twins are older than mine, my question of choice is this: "What's been the hardest age with your twins?" The unanimous answer is 2 years old. At this point, I say, "THANK YOU for validating me! This is so stinking hard. When does it get better?!" Most moms say that age three is better.

I love my girls. I love my son. Having two children who are 27 months old is not for the faint of heart. There's one problem....I AM THE FAINT OF HEART! :)

Some super fun things the twins do these days:

• Brooklyn is potty trained and only wears a diaper at nap and bedtime. If she tee tees even a tiny bit in her diaper, she wakes up, takes the diaper off, throws it in the floor, puts her pants or panties back on, falls asleep and pees all over her crib in her sleep.
• Vivian is not potty trained and will be sometime by the time she is 18. In spite of peeing an pooing exclusively in her diapers, she often whines and states that she needs to go peepee or poopoo, thus confusing all caregivers (minus Justin and I) and then she will take her diaper off, sit on the potty for 2 seconds and then whine till I put her diaper back on so she can go peepee in it.
• The girls love to color. They also love to destroy and eat crayons and markers.
• They are such good buddies that they often bite, push and pinch each other. The offended child will come to me amid wailing and tears, while the offender usually comes to me all smiles and says, "I push!"
• The girls love to jump in their cribs. Daddy won't let us get a trampoline, arguing that they get to jump in their cribs which is a perfectly safe alternative. Both babies have now almost completely broken both cribs. The cheaper crib is held together by Gorilla Glue. The nice, precious, sentimental crib is now totally without one side and beyond repair.
• They give great kisses and hugs.
• They say, "Mommy HOME!" whenever I return after being away from them.
• Both Vivi and Brook will let me rock them and pretend that they are still little babies.
• Speaking of little babies, they LOVE babies, dogs, cats, etc.
• They love their daddy and kiss and hug him whenever they get the chance.
• They still compliantly ride in their double stroller. HUGE BLESSING!
• They are fruit and veggie fanatics and especially enjoy cantaloupe, pronounced "Ca-la-lope" by the gals. See below. Vivi:

Brook:

All in all, I am blessed to have these girls. This stage is at times overwhelming and I've been pushed to be more patient, more kind, more loving and more selfless. Their brother is also quite a handsome, loving, hilarious little thing. The Lord is growing his 5 year old heart more each day to serve and love on his sisters. I am so proud to be the mama to three little ones!

Bread Making Fun and Vacation

Hey friends, I just spent some time putting together a post on how I make our bread. Go here to read it.

In other news, I've taken a bit of a break from blogging because we went on vacation. My precious younger sister and her fam met our fam in North Carolina for six wonderful days. It was a huge blessing to be able to spend that time together. My sweet, super extroverted son was in heaven. He loved every minute spent with his cousins. And, the twins fell in love with my sister. So sweet! My sis and I cooked for each other a lot which totally filled our love tanks. Here is the butterscotch pie I made for her, complete with NINE eggwhites in the meringue:

The gals enjoyed my sister's creamy shrimp pasta. Soooo goot.

I so enjoyed spending time in the mountains away from cell phones and every day life. The Lord ministered peace to my heart during our trip. I returned much more relaxed than I was when we left.

The "babies". My niece is just a few months younger than the twins.

Gramm posing as a tiger. :)

Uncle B and the big kids:

Our view:

What's this? Oh, it's a HOT TUB! Party on, Garth!!!!!!!!!

Me and my seester. Love her.

Gramm and my nephew hugging good-bye. Precious.

Feminine Friday

My gal pal, Julie, had a little babe 4 weeks ago today. Every Friday, Julie has a Feminine Friday post on her blog and I'm joining in the fun.

These pics of the girls at swimming lessons are so precious. Gramm took lessons at this time as well and it was crazy stressful for me, but the kids loved it.

Vivi and Coach Karen:

The pic below personifies this child. She is super social, loves the water and loves to say "Hey!" with a wave. She was extending said greeting to her Shermee, who graciously came along to help at our lesson.

My sweet Brooklyn baby:

Another pic of my very, very laid back girl (Brook) chillin' with her Mama.