The Sound Of Music (Apple Dumpling Recipe)

Come on Thursday night, would you get here already?  We are super excited about the LIVE production of The Sound Of Music tomorrow night on TV.

The Menu

 

Wiener Schnitzel

German Fries

Crisp Apple Strudel

We are making an evening of it.  Musicals are my all time favorite.  I grew up singing.  From the time my sister and I were little, we sang in a little group.  As I got older, I had the privilege of singing with All-Region Choirs, All-State Choirs, Symphony's...I went to college on a music scholarship...I love music.  My all time favorite music is musicals.

We've seen Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum in Memphis and Les Miserable on Broadway in New York.  Musically, my favorite is My Fair Lady, I love the songs.  The Sound of Music is in my top 5 though and that is why I am so super excited to see it LIVE tomorrow evening.

So, let me tell you about the menu and share a recipe with you.

Wiener Schnitzel

 

Traditionally, Wiener Schnitzel is a breaded thin cutlet of veal.  I'm not your animal activist friend, but even I won't eat veal. For our Wiender Schnitzel's, we are going with the Oscar Meyer all beef frankfurter. 

German Fries

 

I am hoping the French don't mind if we change the name of their fry for one evening.  I cook these a few minutes longer than the directions say because it makes them extra crispy.

Crisp Apple Strudel

 

I'm Southern, so the way I translate Crisp Apple Strudel is to make a pan of my Apple Dumplings.  When the boys helped me unload the groceries, they immediately spied the 20oz bottle of Mountain Dew and cheers broke forth in the garage..."Yay!!!!  Apple Dumplings!!!"  They know what a bag of Granny Smith's and a bottle of Mountain Dew means...here is my recipe.

• 2 (8 count) cans crescent rolls
• 3 -4 granny smith apples
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (sometimes I use a little less)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 (12 ounce) cans Mountain Dew soda

 Directions:

1. Spray a 13x9 baking dish or pan.
2. Peel and slice apples into 16 pieces.
3. Roll each apple slice in 1 section of crescent roll.
4. Place rolled slices in pan in two rows, put extras along side.
5. Melt butter, add sugar and cinnamon and pour over apples.
6. Pour can of Mountain Dew over all.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

The Getting Dressed Experiment

So I was reading a book on the disciplines of the beautiful woman.  It was a funny little read because it was written in the 1970's.  Anne, the author, recommends things like "creaming your hands" before bed.  We call it putting on lotion.  She encourages you to plan your shampoos so you don't end up at the grocery store in your hair curlers.  As you can see, the book was filled with sound advice.

I'm joking around about it, but it really did get my wheels turning on practicing some new routines in the beauty department.  I can say this with certainty.  It is easy to get frumpy fast when you are at home with nowhere to go.  Every once in awhile I fall off the fashion wagon and when I fall I fall hard.

A couple weeks ago I knew I had fallen off the wagon again.  It was the day that all we had on the agenda was a trip inside the bank for some business.  I sure as heck wasn't about to shower and put on make-up just to go to the bank.  While I was perusing my closet for something to wear, I landed on a bleach stained pair of non-maternity velour pants paired with my Banana Republic yard sale sweatshirt that is so worn it is getting a hole in it.  I know.  I know.  It is worse than you imagined.  And yes my rear is about 3 sizes too big to be wearing non-maternity pants and yes the front rolled down under my belly like an accordion window shade.  I'm telling you, it was bad.  For some reason I threw on a silver stud earring to complete the look.  As if that was going to salvage the outfit.

You will be proud to know that I in recovery.  Today I am on Day 16 of getting up and getting showered and dressed with clothes, shoes, jewelry and make-up.  I have allowed myself 2 pajama days in this run and today I am still in my gown because...well...it is cloudy and I felt like it.  My hair and make-up are fixed though!  My mom stopped by for a surprise visit but I think me in my dragonfly gown surprised her even more.  Lesson:  Being dressed allows for drop in visitors!

So another part of the experiment included being ready by 8am each morning.  Yeah.  About that.  I don't know what I was smoking.  Ya'll, I'm just not a morning person.  I'm having to take this experiment in bite size pieces so for now, that has landed with getting presentable the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning.  Shower, face, hair, clothes, jewelry, shoes. 

The first morning I came out of my room all dressed I created a disturbance.  The menfolk of the house were all piled on the couch peacefully reading.

But when they saw me dressed and ready for the day?

WHOA!!

WHERE YA' GOING MOM???

WHY ARE YOU DRESSED UP?

Oy.  It was so funny.

Here is what I have learned from my experiment of getting dressed each day.  Some of my finds annoyed me.  I suspected they'd be true but hoped I was wrong.

• Being ready for the day gave me more energy.  So frustrating to me for some reason.  I want to have energy without getting ready for the day dadgumit.  Is that too much to ask?  It did make me feel much more productive to be dressed and ready. 

• Shower first.  It was surprisingly easy to make this transition.  The minute I get up, I am getting in the shower.  If you wear make-up, put it on when you get out.  If not, moisturize your face, fix your hair and get your clothes on.  This is my biggest daily battle {the putting on real clothes part}.  Gosh.  I love my pajamas so much.  I always want to get ready and then put my pajamas back on.  Before my experiment, I had my Bible reading time first thing in the morning but then I never wanted to take the time to get ready after.  Switching the order of shower and reading has made ALL the difference in the world for me.  Who wants to get ready?  No one!  That is why it is best to get it over with first thing.  Plus, Anne suggested that maybe God gets tired of facing all those millions of hair rollers and old robes each morning.  {insert chuckle here}

• Make the bed.  This is where you really start feeling good about where things are heading.  You are up, dressed, ready, your bed is made and you are off to a great start.

After I make my bed, I get my coffee and let the boys know we are one hour away from starting school.  This is their time to finish their playing and prepare for school and it is my time to spend with Jesus. 

I ditched the alarm clock for  now.  There is a place somewhere between discipline and grace and that is where I want to live.  There are sacrifices to staying home but there are also some great benefits.  Freedom in your routines is one of them.

I also discovered that I'm not so much concerned with a schedule as I am with establishing strong routines.  A schedule, in my mind, is structured with the clock.  If you get off schedule you are behind.  A routine is a flow of the day.  It creates a rhythm.  Both a schedule and a routine do something great for children.  They create expectation.

So there you have it.  My experiment I've been working on.  She is getting up and getting ready for the day and it is making her more productive. 

My next mission in the beauty department is thinking through my clothes and personal style.  This one will be a few months in the making but for now I'm people watching to think about what looks I like the best.

My Holiday Planner

I have found it works out really well for me to get most of my planning and shopping for Christmas taken care of in the first week of December. My goal is to have everything bought and wrapped by the first Saturday (which would be this weekend) of December.  This frees me up to focus on other things we enjoy-things like opening our home to family and friends, watching Christmas movies, looking at lights and drinking hot cocoa.

We did end up doing some shopping on Black Friday after all (much of it online).  Today I wanted to show you my festive holiday planner.  I like to refer to it as Grand Central Station.  As you can see, it is a lovely spiral notebook.  My cover is actually blue because I pulled it from the school room.

This little notebook is where I keep track of all the gifts we've purchased and what we still need to purchase.  It keeps my grocery lists for the month.  Today I am spending some time in my office thinking through menu's for the month.  I am also including snacks/desserts/fun drinks in my menu planning.  I want to be prepared for last minute drop-in's or those spur of the moment evenings when we want to invite someone over for coffee and dessert.

Here are a few tips on planning and shopping for the holiday season:

• Keep it simple.  Sometimes this is easier said than done.  Have you considered the three gift idea?  Something they want, something they need, something to read?  We are using this as our baseline this year and I can already tell it has relieved pressure on me to create the perfect Christmas morning experience.  Because I know me, I'll supplement some more fun things to unwrap.  Things like this metallic coloring book.  Our boys LOVE these things.  They are super cool!

• Plan.  For some this comes easy, for some it will feel like the death of you.  There is a huge amount of value in spending a few minutes thinking through your priorities for the month.  Include menus, gift lists, events you'd like participate in or create, and people you'd like to have over for dinner or dessert.  Last year we took the weekend before Christmas and went to Branson.  We took our own food, our Christmas books, candles, games and fun snacks and just got away as a family for part of our gift to each other.  I can't tell you what a blast we had.  We did not turn on the T.V. in the condo.  We spent the time being intentional.  Because we planned a little, we were able to make it happen.  Planning can reap huge harvests of blessings!

• Set some deadlines.  If you enjoy going out on Christmas Eve for last minute shopping then do it!  But if you'd rather spend it sitting by the fire and playing games, then that will require getting your act together early.  The longer I have to accomplish something, the longer it is going to take me.  This is why I have the goal of completing my shopping the first week in December.  This week I will shop online as much as possible and Friday I will spend the day wrapping up loose ends-making sure I have wrapping paper, tape, bows, stocking stuffers. 

• Take advantage of online shopping.  Amazon is one of our best friends this time of year.  You can get better or comparable deals and it ships in the perfect box.  All you have to do is wrap it!

• Pray over the details.  Pray for creativity in shopping and gift giving.  Ask God to lead you to the right stores, websites and sales.  Ask for Him to stretch your dollars.  I even wrote out a little prayer at the top of my gift giving page.  "LORD, please lead and guide us, help us keep you at the center and focus of our shopping." 

Celebrating Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Our family did not grow up celebrating Advent so the addition of celebrating it has been new to our family tradition.   This will be our 3rd year as a family to observe Advent.  The word Advent means the coming or arrival of something important. 

I've fretted in the last couple of years over finding "the perfect" way to celebrate.  I've learned the important thing is to pause each day to read the Word and reflect.  The guides do not have to be followed to a T.  We miss days.  Some of the resources I've purchased did not work for our family {aka the ones that suggested we do a family craft together each day}.  Even done "imperfectly", it has still been an addition to the Christmas season that has helped take our focus off of the glitter and gifts and pointed us toward the coming of Christ.

This year we are using several different resources.  We will follow along with the Advent guide provided by our church.  We will also decorate a Jesse Tree using ornaments provided from Ann Voskamp's book, The Greatest Gift.  When you purchase her book, she gives you access to free ornaments to use in decorating your Jesse Tree.   The book also includes short, daily readings.  In the picture below, I moved Day 24's ornament to the front so you could see what it looks like.

I loved the idea of having the ornaments strung by ribbon in the kitchen.  Each day we will add a new ornament to our Jesse Tree and read the corresponding stories and scriptures.

 

Here is a picture of our Advent area.  I chose to place it in the living room since that is where we will gather for our readings each evening. 

 

We have placed four candles around an evergreen wreath.  The evergreen wreath symbolizes God being eternal.  He is without beginning or end.  Technically there are supposed to be 3 violet and 1 pink taper.  But I'm not too wound up over it being "perfect" and The Dollar Tree only sells red and white.  The center of the wreath is supposed to house a white candle-which will be lit on Christmas Day to represent the purity of Christ.  The middle of our wreath houses our Jesse Tree. 

 

To make our tree, I pulled bare branches from the yard and stuck them in a vase.  Each evening, we will light a candle, read the scriptures and stories, and add an ornament to the tree.  I am really anticipating watching this tree fill up with meaning and richness.

 

We will also be reading through Jotham's Journey as a family.  Each night we will plan around 30 minutes to read and celebrate Advent together.  On evenings where we will be out, our goal will be to complete the readings before we leave for our evening event.

Here is a list of supplies I used to create our Advent area, with the exception of the wreath which came from Hobby Lobby, I purchased my materials from The Dollar Tree.  You could also use fresh evergreen to create your wreath!

• 3 violet tapers
• 1 pink taper
• 1 white pillar candle
• vase
• branches from the yard
• The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp (she gives you a code to print her ornaments for free)
• Jotham's Journey

There is no right or wrong way to celebrate Advent.  The web is full of ideas on creative ways to countdown and build anticipation of the coming of Jesus.  My biggest piece of advice is to not get bogged down with perfection.  It has taken me three years to hang something cute from the kitchen window-ha-and my candles have never been "the right" color. 

There is something so beautiful about seeing the light get brighter and brighter each week as Christmas Day approaches.  I forgot to mention how to light the candles.  This week you light one, the 2nd week you light 2, the 3rd week you light 3 and the 4th week you light 4.  On Christmas Day all 5 candles are lit.  It keeps getting brighter and brighter as the day draws near.  Try it!

(I actually have a small Advent book we're not using this year...if you want it I'd be happy to give it to you.  It is probably more geared toward a family with children.)

Date Night Crashers

It is Friday night. We have been planning a date night all week.  This means putting the kids to bed at 7:00pm and enjoying crunchy peanut butter and Oreo shakes from our favorite local joint.

First kink in the plan.  The Grinch and Shrek the Halls.  We promised the kids we'd watch it Friday night.  Bad parental planning.  It is OK though, we're only an hour behind schedule.

At home dates are the best.  They don't require any fuss.  No dressing up.  Just being in the comfort of your own home.  Things were going well.  Kids were in bed, we were enjoying our shakes, when date night crasher #1 rounded the corner, plaid pillow in hand.  We let him stay.  Moments later, date night crasher #2 emerged, Cars pillow in hand.

It turned into a double date.  Us and the big boys.  It was a fun little night.  They felt like really big boys getting to eat a fun snack with Mom & Dad and getting to stay up a little later.  We told them when they got married and started having little date night crashers of their own that they needed to make sure they still did special things together with their wives.

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

We had a sweet, laid back day that we kicked off with the Macy's parade. Nana made the most incredible lunch (as always!) followed by the Cowboy's game and napping.  It really doesn't get much better than days like today.  Tonight when we heated up leftovers, this little turkey grabbed the leg that was as big as he is!

We used to be Black Friday shoppers until Dave Ramsey entered our lives (Boo!, haha).  Now we just chill out at home in our pj's.  I'll admit, it is nice sitting by my tree in my pj's eating Cuties while the football game is on.

This year we are tossing around the three gift idea.  Something you want, something you need, something to read.  I'm not sure I can pull it off.  I LOVE buying fun gifts for the boys at Christmas.  I love Christmas shopping in general.  It is so stinkin' fun going on the hunt for sweet gifts.  And don't even get me started on my love for stocking stuffers :).

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Weekly Focus

Last week we had a weekly focus and it helped me so much.  All week long we focused on making our beds each day as well as putting our clothes away when we were done.

I only had to wash one load of clothes last week.  Can you believe that?

Our weekly focus for this week is putting others first.  As you might imagine, that was birthed from a fight over Lego's on Sunday.  Someone had the audacity to start WWWIII because he took the desired arms for the Storm Trooper that happened to be in high demand that day.

It is living room week over at Flylady.  I'm not really focusing on only the living room this week.  I'm using that as a springboard for something fun.  As I shared earlier this week, I am using this week to think through each room in our house.

 

What is the purpose of this room? That is a question you should be able to answer for each room in your home.  Is this space functioning in the most strategic way?  Is there another creative way we could make the space work better for our family?

 

I have seen my friends do some genius things in their homes.  Several years ago, my friend and her family had three children, and were living in a home that was maybe around 1100 square feet.  She did something daring and out of the box with her space. 

 

They turned the master bedroom into the kids room.  Since they had 3 children sleeping in 2 sets of bunk beds in one room and another on the way, they just swapped the master bedroom and kids room.  It made everything about taking care of the little one's easier.  The bathroom was right there so getting ready for bath and bed was more convenient.  The bigger closet housed all the kids clothes, plus homeschooling materials.  Then the parents room and nursery were on the other end of the house.  It was one of the smartest, most creative things I've ever seen done.

 

It is just amazing how you can creatively think through a space.  I actually pray over how to use our rooms.  I'm embarrassed to say that for a nano-second I actually thought maybe we should buy a bigger house just because I found out I was having another baby.  Temporary moment of insanity I guess.  We have a 1900 square foot home with plenty of room. As I look around my home, there is no way I'd want to move.  We've spent four years cultivating it to our tastes.

 

Everything is painted, carpeted and tiled how we like it.  We've spent hours in the yard re-planting and sodding.  And now I am re-thinking spaces again.  My two biggest challenges right now are where to put school materials and a crib.  I just love a good decorating challenge.

 

Source

 

As I daydream about decorating, this hutch is the thing I can't quit thinking about.  Don't you know it used to be a glossy oak with glass doors.  Somebody probably found it for a steal, painted it this glorious light blue and lined the back with paper.  So a hutch like this to turn into a book shelf is on my radar.  So are ugly lamps.  Our poor lamps.  They are all wompy jawed.  I'm on the hunt for big ugly ones to spray paint and make wonderful.

 



The other high profile thing on my decorating wish list is a gaudy frame that I can turn into a chalkboard for the kitchen.  We sit at the table for school and I need something to write on that is, ya know, cute as can be.  I can't be havin' no Plain Jane dry erase board up in the kitchen.  We all know that.  But something like this mirror, hung the other way (horizontally), painted in, eh, I don't know, aqua, this would hit the nail on the head.

So there ya' have it.  This week we're trying to put others first and I'm off in la-la land daydreaming.