Home Away from Home

The weekend of the Sam Houston game, we packed up and headed to College Station. We only took what is of utmost importance, of course. Did I mention our son’s crib looks like an episode of Hoarders each night? This isn’t even half of it.

 Packing

We had the opportunity to stay at the Spring Creek Ranch Bed & Breakfast outside Bryan.

Spring Creek Ranch

What a neat place! It’s tucked away in the country, surrounded by brush. The one bedroom cabin is cozy, but spacious enough to have a little breathing room. When I say cabin, I’m not talking deer camp ranch house. It’s a newly constructed cabin with great attention to the little details that make staying somewhere nice. The towels were plush; the pillows were not too firm, not too soft; the breakfast amenities were the icing on the cake. 

Spring Creek Bed & Breakfast’s fridge was stocked with perfect breakfast options. Mr. Gray cooked us breakfast; it was just like a Saturday morning at home! Baby Gray was a huge fan of the blueberry muffins and Froot Loops.  

After our fabulous breakfast, we headed to tailgate. Baby Gray had a blast as usual. He still hasn’t met a stranger.

Football

This season, the players have been coming in through the tunnel, and we have been wanting to take Baby Gray down to watch them walk through. We headed down to do just that. The angle isn’t great, and it’s a little long, but it captured Baby Gray’s excitement when he saw the players up close.

Despite the uneventful nature of the game, Baby Gray whooped, cheered, and gigged his way through the game. He had everyone around us laughing as he cheered for his Aggies. 

Game
Popcorn

He could hardly wait until the end of the game when he could finally set foot on Kyle Field to play a little football of his own. Luckily the goal post police let him bend the rules a little and get inside the tape to throw his football. He wasn’t happy when he had to get out, but I’m pretty sure it would’ve been worse if they hadn’t let him in at all. 

Field

Kyle 


SHSU

We didn’t make it too far out of the parking lot before this little Aggie was done for. 

Sleepy

Heads up: all opinions about Spring Creek Ranch Bed & Breakfast are my own. No compensation for my thoughts or opinions–I just really liked it. 
 

 

Hunting and Cooking and Sleeping, Oh, My!

A few Friday funnies: 

We’re still rockin’ the backwards jammers with the feet twisted. Works like a charm! Plus, apparently they’re comfortable–but is this position? 

Sleepy


When Mr. Gray returned from Idaho, Baby Gray set his sights on a few items. 

Hunt


“I hunt,” he said with certainty. Quickly, though, he added, “I cook.” 

Yes and yes, actually. Mr. Gray uses similar gear for each of those tasks. Observant, young Grasshopper.

Not Down; Not Out

It’s Thanksgiving. This is the thankful post. I’ve been struggling with writing this for several days. So much pressure to be grateful. The chance for cliche is quite high. My desire to be such is low.

The truth is, I don’t know that I’ve ever been as acutely aware–daily–of just how blessed I truly am as I have been in this season. We’ve had a crazy-busy fall with lots of life changes and challenges. Through it all, though, we have continued to have faith. We have continued to work together to raise a son who loves God and loves people. We have continued to work to strengthen our marriage. We have continued to make time for the people we love. We have kept our heads above water, and we have continued to swim. We’re not sinking. We’re not drowning. We’re not down. We’re not out. 

SHSU

I’m grateful that we have a Savior who has gone before us. He bore it all so that we wouldn’t have to. Our ransom has been paid. Our debt is gone. We are free to live and love as we are called. I am grateful for a husband who chose to do life with me. I am so grateful for the son we’ve been given. I am grateful for the experiences that have brought us to where we are now.


“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” –Romans 8:37

More than Ordinary

Sometimes the everyday, ordinary can become truly extraordinary. 

Ping Pong


Yesterday when I was cleaning out the garage, I found a package of ping pong balls and gave them to Baby Gray to play with. He enjoys throwing, bouncing, hitting, catching, pretty much anything you can do with any type of ball. He thought they were pretty neat. 

A little while later, we finished a roll of paper towels. I usually give him the empty roll. He asked for it and off he went. 

Not long after, I showed him that the ping pong balls fit in the paper towel roll. That took it up a whole ‘nother level! We played for a good thirty minutes with the ping pong balls, the paper towel roll, a cup, and the drawer to his desk. We tried all sorts of things. It was a great learning experience for him, but it was also a great reminder to me that sometimes ordinary things can become extraordinary.



Hands Off the Chocolate!

I’ll modify many things when I bake. Chocolate is not usually one of them. Don’t mess with my chocolate. Something about this muffin recipe made me think it might be okay, though. So I used this for a basis to test it. 


I loved that these are made in the blender! It made the batter so smooth, and I think that is what made these chocolately and delicious! They didn’t taste like oatmeal or yogurt or anything besides a chocolate-chocolate chip muffin. Pretty dangerous.

Muffins


You will need: 
1 3/4 cup oats (since they’re blended, they don’t have to be quick-oats, which is what I usually bake with)   
2 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I prefer Hershey’s)
 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain yogut
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Line muffin tins (I made 12 regular muffins and 18 minis) with paper liners
  • Add all ingredients, except chocolate chips, to blender
  • Mix until smooth
  • Add chocolate chips and stir (not blend–don’t chop ’em up) to combine
  • Pour batter into muffin tin; fill each about 3/4 full 
  • Bake 14-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted

 
We enjoyed ours warm, straight out of the oven as well as later when they cooled! 

The Rest, As They Say, Is History

Around this time of year, Mr. Gray and I–mostly I–start talking about Christmasday. This is quite different from Christmas day, but equally important in my mind. Christmasday is the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when we cut down our Christmas tree(s) and get our home and our hearts ready for the Christmas season. 

Dining
A little snippet from last year. 

 

I started thinking about how this started, as it is something we started in our marriage, not something either of us did growing up. It was fun to reflect on our first married Christmas and how it fell together to become a tradition. 

Slightly prior to Thanksgiving that first year, Annie and I made a quick trip to New York. Everything was decorated for Christmas. Something about Macy’s and the Saks and Bergdorf Goodman windows had my Christmas spirit in hyper drive. I couldn’t wait to get home and decorate–but not before Thanksgiving, of course! 

At the time, A&M and t.u. were playing on Friday (it was before it was moved back to Thanksgiving Day), and Mr. Gray and I spent that Saturday in Waco with Papa and that side of the family. On the way home Sunday, we headed to the Christmas tree farm to cut down our first (ever) Christmas tree. We did our decorating and called it a day. We had lights on our little condo in College Station and our nativity scenes spread throughout our home.

The following year, I remember making it a point to cut down our tree that Sunday and do our decorating. I wanted it to be our family day dedicated to the Christmas season. I have no idea when we actually started calling it Christmasday, but sometimes that’s the way it goes with traditions. 

Through the years, it’s grown and changed some, as has our home and our family, but it’s always been Christmasday for us. The time we get our hearts ready for the coming Lord and the season of giving. We’ve already mapped out our Christmas scheme for this year, and I can’t wait to go get tree(s)–we’re still not sure on one or two–Sunday! 


Cool Styles

The cooler weather presents many opportunities for mixing and matching all sorts of apparel! Baby Gray didn’t let any opportunities go to waste this week. 

Gotta have your socks with your frog shoes for the cold. 

FF3


And a ribbon necklace, too! 

FF4


It’s also important to look cute in the case of asking for chips; moms love to say yes to the cute ones! 

FF6


He picked out this outfit and wore it all day yesterday. The pants are size 18 months, and they’re about 5 inches too short.

FF7


Even in public. I was totally that mom with the kid in the weird clothes and the teachable moments all throughout Walgreens while we waited on them to fix our photos.

FF8

We had some hand-me-down 3T jammers that I was able to leave the feet in and twist to keep the zipper in the back. He hadn’t had feet on in so long, he cried and told me they were “scary, Mama.” 

FF9


Here are a few forgotten photos from last week that were on my camera card: 

Yeah, that’s a feed bucket. When in Rome. 

FF1


I was being a creeper with the camera; he was done. 

FF2



Open

Opening weekend is kind of a big deal around here. We all get together, eat prime rib, and enjoy The Ranch–and wifi, apparently.

High Tech


This year was no different, except that Baby Gray joined in. The long and short of it is, he’s my kid at heart–cautious almost to the point of scared with a slight aversion to getting his hands dirty. 

Opening Weekend

Also like me, though, once he’s in, he’s in. 

Opening Weekend1
Opening Weekend2
Opening Weekend3


We saw a rainbow on the way home; I had the wrong lens, so the photo isn’t super clear. It looks like it’s coming out of the scrawny tree top left of the mailbox. 

Opening Weekend4

Whether it’s visible here or not, it was the perfect way to end our time in our hometown.


Soup. It’s What’s for Dinner

This time of year calls for soup. All varieties.

I saw a recipe for lasagna soup last week, and I thought I’d try my hand at a similar dinner dish. 

Lasagna Soup


You will need: 
Olive oil
1 pound pan sausage 
1/2 onion, chopped (I like mine chunky)
5-7 garlic cloves, crushed 
Fresh basil, shredded
Oregano
Crushed red pepper 
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes 
1 box (32 ounces) chicken broth 
12 ounces Rotini pasta
8 ounces cottage cheese (ricotta would be fine; I don’t use it in anything because I don’t like it) 
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
Course ground black pepper 
Mozzarella cheese, grated 

  • Heat large pot over medium heat
  • Add a tablespoon olive oil and pan sausage
  • Brown
  • Drain 
  • Add onions, garlic, and basil and simmer 
  • Sprinkle in oregano (fresh or dried) and crushed red pepper to taste–about a teaspoons or two of each
  • Add tomato paste, stir, and bring back to simmer 
  • Add crushed tomatoes (with juice) and chicken broth; bring to a boil 
  • Add pasta and allow to continue boiling until tender 
  • Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve 
  • In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, and pepper
  • Stir 
  • Add a spoonful of cheese mixture to each individual serving bowl
  • Top with mozzarella cheese
  • Spoon soup over cheeses, stir, and enjoy!




Too Much of a Good Thing

I talked a while back about the season we’re in right now.

Two weeks ago, Kelly Dykstra at The Crossing Church spoke as part of their Make Room for Life series, and it really hit me that cutting some good things out, when necessary, is okay. 


Too much good stuff is still too much. She likens it to pouring out some coffee to make room for the cream. I prefer to think of it as dumping a little hot chocolate to make room for Amy’s homemade Mexican vanilla marshmallows.

Marshmallows


Tomato, tomahto, right?

I’m in no way affiliated with Amy’s Ice Cream; I’d be more than willing to start an affiliation if they asked, though. Who wouldn’t?