3 little Miracles

3 little Miracles

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken from Pinterest

This was a recipe from Life in the Lofthouse posted on 9.28.2010 that I found on Pinterest and posted to my food boards.  My family totally LOVED this tonight, the only change I made to it was using chicken thighs because I didn't have any boneless chicken and for me post GBS the thigh meat is more tender.  The flavor of this was SOOO AMAZING and the coating the cornstarch and egg creates during the pre-oven pan fry on the chicken is TO DIE FOR!  For sure this is a recipe we will add to our regular dinner menu.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt + pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
The sweet and sour sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9×13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

Holly posted this recipe along with a fried rice recipes and she has many other amazing recipes on her website http://life-in-the-lofthouse.com Check her Out!!

My Pinterest Boards:  http://pinterest.com/laura_h_cole/boards/  Follow ME!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Glasses for Rachel

We recently started going through the process of getting Rachel ready for preschool starting in October on her birthday.  Our county has a program for special needs kids through the public school system and they qualify for this program literally on their 3rd birthday.  So Rachel's birthday is October 21st and she will start exactly on that day.

Anyway, as a result of going through this process, Rachel had to be current on shots, go through a physical, evaluations with therapists, hearing exam and an eye exam.  I truly expected the eye exam to be standard with no issues . . . I was wrong.

It did amaze me how they do a eye exam on a 2 year old . . . and Rachel did AMAZBALLS!




Rachel playing in between exams

We headed over to Wal-Mart eye exam to try on our first glasses options




Another set of options . . .

I THINK this will end up being the pair we get for her . . . . unless we can get the ones we truly want for her.

We are holding off for a little bit to get her glasses because with our current vision insurance her glasses will cost us over $250 dollars and we want to get the RIGHT glasses for Rachel.  With another vision insurance option that is available through my husbands work these glasses will probably cost us less than $20 so we are waiting OF COURSE.

There is a company that makes glasses for down syndrome individuals called Specs 4 Us, they specifically design glasses for down syndrome individuals.  These glasses are designed for the lower bridge of DS individuals nose without giving them a heavy plastic nose guard piece to compensate for the difference. The doctor carried these glasses in their frame studio and they were perfect for her BUT I wanted to see if I could find them someplace else for less.  I tried finding them but I couldn't find them anywhere else locally, so more than likely we will return to them unless our other frame studio is willing to special order the Specs 4 Us glasses.

I'll be honest and say I am not really looking forward to Rachel wearing glasses.  I know Rachel will be beautiful no matter what, but I don't like the idea of ONE MORE thing making her stand out and be set apart from others . . . . . one more thing for kids to pick on her for (kids can be so mean to one another).  I am just going to have to keep trusting God, our guidance, our ability to guard her from some of life's meanness and her ability to handle what comes her way.

NO MATTER WHAT our girl is beautiful inside and OUT!

Monday, August 26, 2013

1st day of School 2013




David (8 - 3rd grade) Rachel (2 yr 10 month) and Jon (6 - 1st grade)

Sunday, August 25, 2013

A Surprising and Joyful Conversation

Last night we had a very interesting, joyful, and somewhat funny conversation with our oldest son David. I always do a interview with the boys the night before they start school about their loves and hopes for the future. When I asked David what he wanted to be when he grew up, 
his answer was "Bible Man" 
What is Bible Man?
"He is kind of like a super hero but he shares God with everyone and prays for people"
Why do you want to do that?
"Because I prayed to have Jesus in my heart tonight"

(I had to take a moment here to choose my words carefully and also catch my breath. David and I have prayed for this moment for a long time and I didn't want to guide him, I wanted him to KNOW what he was saying)

What does that mean to you Davey?
"It means I asked God to forgive me and accept Jesus as my Savior"
What does it mean that Jesus is your Savior?
"He loved me and died for me"

At this point I was in tears, because I know that Davey understands but here is the somewhat funny moment of this that Davey will now have as a part his testimony for the rest of his life . . . . When did you do this Davey?
"While I was on the toilet"

OM Goodness . . . . . what do I do with that??? 

We decided to give it a few days and revisit the topic and if he is still feeling the same and wants to follow through with his decision, then we will talk with the pastor but we are so happy to announce that our son David Cole accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior last night in his own special moment and time 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

A Quilt for Rachel

I have made a quilt for each of my children and have for some reason kept putting off making Rachel's even though I had the fabric for hers since before she was born.  BUT I finally got over my fear of my sewing machine and decided to just do it and I am very happy to say the final product is so very cute.



Minky backing
Tufting detail I added to each quilt corner

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Jon's 6th Birthday

Jon wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday, so we drove down to Jville and celebrated with my oldest niece Cassandra and her daughter Finleigh and my parents.
Getting the van ready for the short road trip to Jville and making room for Cassi and Fin
 

BIRTHDAY Boy!!!

Fin sleeping through the noise of the mouse singing right behind her LOL







Love that my dad even got in there and played along side the boys

Rach handling her OWN pizza . . . she didn't want my help

Cassi and Finleigh







Monday, August 12, 2013

Looking forward to Fall

I am already thinking about FALL . . . . . my favorite time of the year and what kind of costumes we will do as a family.  I know it has been done many times before, but I am thinking of a tribute to Dr Seuss.  Pottery Barn Kids has some very cute Seuss costumes this year.
Thing 1 & 2 for the boys
Lorax for Rachel??
I am also thinking of how we might decorate the car for Trunk-OR-Treat at church

Other Halloween decorations that I love:



What fall decorations are inspiring you??