Song of what????

Tonight Ross had a late meeting and I had bedtime duty. We got a late start at 8:15.

I'm tired, the kids have their pj's on, are in the process of teeth-brushing, yet still want to start their new CD book, Drift House that we got at the library today. I'm lugging clean, folded laundry upstairs, and realizing that I still need to get clean sheets on the girls' beds. Ugh. I'm kind of excited for the new CD book too, but don't want to skip our Bible story time. Since it's getting late I ask El to read everybody the Bible story while I do sheet duty. She very willingly grabs her Bible and I hear her gathering the troops. I start to hear her read as I'm making beds - good - it's quiet except for her voice. I realize I need the pillowcases, so I quickly walk to the hall closet, passing her room as I overhear,

"Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle...I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit...oh may your breast be like clusters of the vine...etc., etc., etc...."

I'm laughing inside thinking of all of the chapters in the Bible...she opens up to about THE most descriptive, although beautifully poetic, chapter in Song of Solomon.

Then I overhear her offering the other 3 kids some of her very own commentary: "Uh guys, this guy is talking about how he really loves His wife....geesh...he sure talks about breasts a lot in this part."

(I walked in right as she was ready to dive into the next chapter. It was so cute - she was getting kind of squirmy reading it and the other kids were completely clueless. After I explained the possible double meaning about God's love for His people, she was like, "OH!" with total visible and audible relief. Really hilarious. I wish I had a video of the whole thing. Writing about it just totally doesn't capture the moment.)

Brer Rabbit goodness

I'm sitting here (as the wind howls outside) all warm and cozy in my new long underwear from Target having fun catching up on friends' blogs and facebook pages. And I'm thinking how incredibly dry and boring my blog has been - so I'm gonna make it moist and delicious (ok, that was gaggy, but bear with me here) by sharing my ultimate, favorite, most-wonderful fall cookie recipe. I know, I know, I just said a couple of posts ago that I hardly have any tried-and-true recipes, but that was kind of exaggerating. I have a handful of winners passed down from my momma and grandmas that I return to again and again. And most of those are seasonal recipes - make me think of fall or winter, Christmas or P-fest parade morning. :) And I thought maybe if I post some of my new recipes in the future, I'll actually remember what I've tried and what's a make again! So, try these Brer Rabbit cookies and let me know what you think. This is probably a serious breach of family loyalty and secrecy to share this, but I'm so confident you'll love 'em, it's worth it. :) (And luckily Grandma doesn't have a computer.)

Brer Rabbits

Melt 3/4 c. butter in large saucepan, remove from heat and add:
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon

Roll into balls and then into sugar. Bake about 7-9 min. (or until top begins to crack) at 375 degrees. Don't overbake!

They're great alone, but even better with orange buttercream frosting, we think.

Buttercream:

1/3 c. butter
4 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Soften butter and add the rest. Beat until creamy. Add food coloring if you want.

These are seriously the best. Soft, chewy goodness.

Mini-update

It's been almost a month since I've posted about our adoption, so I thought I'd give a little mini-update. We've been waiting now for almost 5 months, and at the time of submitting all of our paperwork, we were told we'd wait about 6-9 months. Since then, the projected wait time has increased greatly to 12 months. But since that new wait time was announced, referrals started picking up again this month and we're all hoping and praying for a continued steady flow.

Another waiting mom on our agency's forum devised this great "unofficial list" of the people waiting for toddlers. Now, instead of being #61 on the big list (including those waiting for infants and sibling groups), we're #5 on the toddler-boy list! This is really fun to see. We still have NO idea when our referral might come, but it's definitely fun to be movin' on up that list. (It's called "unofficial" because it's not an official list from our agency, but a list compiled by other adopting parents. They estimate it includes about 1/2 of the people waiting.)

Another cool little tidbit - last night my dad called and said he had dinner with one of his good friends who is Ethiopian. My dad told his friend of our adoption plans. His friend was so excited and told my dad that his brother is actually a judge in Ethiopia! What are the chances? It's a small, small world. Anyway, I think it would be AMAZING to meet my dad's friend here in the states and his brother in Ethiopia...it will be interesting to see if we'll be able to connect somehow.

Well, like I said, mini-update. Not much, but things are happening!

Yeah!

I'm in!!! I can't believe it - I don't know what changed, but today - after 3 wks. of trying with NO success to log into my blog - I did it! I kept getting this error message that my connection had been interrupted every time I attempted to sign in - so I couldn't post or comment (and no other website was affected - weird.) The first day I couldn't log in I wanted to post this hilarious, yet perhaps a little sacrilegious video of a 70's worship band singing "Jesus is a Friend of Mine." I thought maybe me not being able to post that was God's way of saying, "Not a good idea." So, point taken - instead I'll move on to my double-tag. Two friends, Kristy and Janell have tagged me - thanks guys! Despite my blog-absence, you didn't give up on me. :) So here goes - I guess I'm supposed to write 7 things about myself. There's a little blog tag I should post on here, but I can't figure it out. I guess I'm a bit rusty.

*Edit: Janell helped me figure it out!!! Thanks, my dear!


1. I LOVE to sing and worship. I feel like that's why God made me and He's given me a deep passion for both.

2. That little uvula in the back of our throats...mine is split like an upside-down heart. My dentist friend told me years ago it's the same sort of defect as a cleft-lip/palate - just not complete.

3. I have a degree in English. I've never used it professionally, but think someday I'd like to go back to school. For what? I don't know, maybe just to be a professional student. I loved it.

4. I had 4 kids by age 28, barely. I turned 28 six days before Miles was born.

5. I love New England. I was born in New Jersey (Neptune, NJ to be exact and Ross loves to makes jokes about that.) :) I also lived in Connecticut for 2 yrs. as a child and we did tons of traveling. Maine is probably my favorite.

6. I've moved 15 times in my life and never lived anywhere longer than 6 yrs.

7. I'm a total foodie. I love good food and experimenting in the kitchen. I rarely make anything twice - which is a bad thing because I don't have many tried-and-trues and most guests are my guinea pigs! :)

Now I'm supposed to tag 7 more friends. I don't know if I know that many people in blog-world, but here goes: Danae, Lisa, Sarah, Katie, Megan, Genese ,
and Shelley.

Have fun, and no pressure!