Three Kinds of Bakin'

I am by no means a baker. When I try to make something, sometimes it turns out well; other times, not so much. I don't know whether it's semi-related to pregnancy nesting urges of what, but I've been in a makin' and bakin' mood lately (but not a cleaning mood, so that leads me to believe it's not nesting-related). As I was sitting here getting ready to type this post, I realized that I've kind of being doing three kinds of baking today/lately (if you really stretch the meaning of "baking"). Luckily, I've been pleasantly surprised with the outcomes of all three (so far). I'll describe them and show you pictures so you know what I'm talking about.

1. I'm baking a baby. Here's me at 36 weeks. I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow which means I'll be full term which means at any point now Winky's timer could go off and it'll be time to take the cake out of the oven, so to speak.



2. I baked a cake from scratch today for my dad. It's a Black Walnut cake (his favorite flavor). It's my first cake in my endeavor to bake all the cakes in the book All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray (an excellent read, by the way). Pardon my pride, but I'm very proud of my not-perfect, but beautiful in my eyes nevertheless because I'm its "mother", cake.



3. I'm "baking" a veggie garden (there's heat, water, and ingredients involved - that's kinda baking). I have about 6 tomatoes that are growing quite nicely, my zucchini are flowering like crazy, my peppers are taaaallllll, and my cinnamon basil has lovely purple flowers all over it.

So there you have it. My three kinds of bakin'. Yay!

Photo Update

Kevin got his first incentive ride on Friday in an F-15 jet. I watched while he took off and landed. It's funny how a ride in a fighter jet can be used as a reward for some people (i.e. Kevin) and as a threat of torture for other people (i.e. me).

Anyway, here are some photos. This first one (below) is him in the jet with his flight mask/helmet on.



This one is of Kevin's jet taking off straight up into the air (it's called an unrestricted take-off or a maximum climb take-off).



This is Kevin and his pilot after they landed.



On much less thrilling but more exciting (in my humble opinion) note, here is the beginning on my vegetable garden. We already have 4 baby tomatoes growing. The biggest one is about the size of a pencil eraser. They're so cute! And I've already made two batches of iced mint tea with our chocolate mint and some smashed potatoes with our parsley! I can't wait for the actual vegetables to begin growing! Right now my next challenge is getting rid of aphids in the mint and zucchini.



And just because the following picture makes me laugh and roll my eyes, I had to include it. It's a few months old, but I forgot it was on my camera. Kevin and I came home one evening to this scene. The bag on the floor is a Frosted Flakes cereal bag...and it's empty...and there are cereal crumbs everywhere on the floor. Oh, the joys of living with Ruby.

The Iron Stomach

Our dog has a death wish.

I guess we should already know this. She's eaten ant poison, a telephone, cat food, various trash items that I won't be specific about, old food, dirt, Bobo barf, soap, enough dog food to last a month - in one sitting - and other things I can't even remember.

And now, she's decided to branch out and try plant fertilizer.

I'm telling you, if Ruby doesn't die from being poisoned from something she eats, she will live forever.

The Education of Cameron Lawracy

The last time I visited my friend Kelsey in Georgia, I wrote about how much I was learning from my four-day stay with her. I learned about parboiling, the Pioneer Woman blog, cooking vs. assembling ingredients, why I should cherish my food processor and other things. Trip number is turning out to be equally as informative as the first.

1. Icing vs. Frosting vs. Glaze - These three things are apparently different. Icing and frosting are not synonymous. Frosting is a thicker substance usually with a butter or fat base. Icing is thinner and has a sugar base. Glaze is even thinner.

2. Boxed cakes and mixes are still abhorred and looked upon with general snarkiness in the Peterson household. Consequently I get to eat homemade-from-scratch coconut cupcakes instead. Oh, the humanity!

3. When a soccer player gets the ball kicked through his or her legs, it's called being nutmeg-ed.

4. Some doors in houses are hollow. Never knew this. Thought all doors were some sort of solid wood.

5. Home grown beans grow at least 6 feet tall. Crazy!

6. There is a great way to garden called square foot gardening that eliminates 80% of wasted time and gardening effort and supplies.

I'm sure there's more stuff, but for right now, those have been the topics of my Kelsey/Eli lessons.

Bellies, babies, and house buying

I didn't realize that my assignment to you to choose favorite belly photos from our photography session was quite the task that it turned out to be. We decided to choose 35 photos to have the digital rights to and choosing 35 was hard! But I finally did.

On another random note, Kevin and I have been house hunting in Montgomery. We've been going back and forth trying to decide to buy or rent. We found a few really awesome houses and finally (I think) settled on (I'm pretty sure) buying. So we submitted an offer. Talk about scary and exciting simultaneously. I'm not sure which I'm more excited about: first time home buying or having a baby. It's a close tie (I'm sure it's not supposed to be a tie - babies are more special and all - but darn it, I'm a personal finance geek and buying a home is interesting to me). Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated on what happens with the offer. We went ahead and took photos of the house just in case it does work out so we can start planning furniture and stuff and post some photos. Keep your fingers crossed!

Belly Photos

Kevin and I got professional belly photos done by an awesome lady who takes amazing photographs. They're unconventional, cute, and fun. We had a blast during the photo session. Here is the link to the proofs she sent us. What're your favorites? Let me know.

http://web4.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/vue_lawracy/Cover.asp?sets=vue_lawracy