Steven Curtis Chapman

I just saw on CNN that Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, Maria, was hit by an SUV and killed in the family's driveway. Apparently, their son was driving the car. I can't begin to imagine what their family is going through right now with the loss of their daughter and the heartbreak/guilt that her brother must be feeling too. It's just so tragic. Though I've never been a huge fan of SCC's music (just not my taste), I have always respected Chapman as an artist and, ultimately, as a Christian. He has contributed so much, not only through his music, but also in his efforts to help orphans in China through Shaohannah's Hope. I've always seen him as a genuinely kind and compassionate man.

A couple of months ago, Steven posted a video of his girls singing on his blog. Maria chose to sing Hannah Montana's "Best of Both Worlds," so, of course, Caleb and I ended up watching it several times. She was so precious and really seemed to have a sweet spirit about her. I know their loss is great.

Please keep this family, who has given so much to so many, in your prayers.

Recipe Wednesday

Chicken Pot Pie Pockets

2 TBL butter
2 TBL flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup half-n-half
Salt and ground black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
1/4 cup frozen tiny green peas
1 small carrot, grated and finely chopped
2 TBL fresh dill, finely chopped
2 sheets prepared pie dough
Egg wash (1 lightly beaten egg with a splash of water)


Preheat oven to 400

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in broth and half-n-half and season with salt and pepper. Cook the sauce, whisking often, for a couple of minutes until it has thickened. Then, stir in the Dijon and remove pan from heat. Add in the chicken, peas, carrot, and dill and stir to combine. Set aside

Grease a baking sheet. Lay out the pie dough. Roll dough to about 9 inches diameter and 1/8" thick. Cut the dough into eight evenly sized triangles. Place the triangles onto your baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.

Divide filling evenly among the triangles on baking sheet, leaving a little room around the edges to seal the pockets.



Brush the edges of each triangle with egg wash and top with the remaining wedges of dough, pressing around the perimeter to seal the filling. Use a fork to decorate the border of the pocket.

Brush the tops of the pockets with the remaining egg wash and use kitchen scissors to cut an x in the top of each pocket to let the steam escape.



Bake about 20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.





This recipe serves 4. We usually have a salad with this. Yummy!

Meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog

Today, I took Caleb to the library in nearby Elgin, SC to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog. Caleb has been a fan since receiving his first Clifford book when he was about a year old. Over the past year, Caleb's love of the big mutt has expanded to include more books, the ETV show, a plush toy, and even view master reels. Nothing, however, will remain etched in his mind like today's adventure.

Let me also say that you haven't lived until you've sat on the floor, in the middle of 80 preschoolers, while a huge red dog enters the room! Talk about scary!

Here are a couple of pictures from the visit:

Headphones

Caleb had his first experience with headphones this weekend.

Sunday Spotlight

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A few months ago, Isaac and I found this awesome website that has since been featured on CNN. It's called www.freerice.com. If you find yourself wishing you could donate to a good cause, but don't necessarily have the means to do so, this is a great opportunity! Basically, you try to pick the correct definition for a given word. If you guess correctly, the website donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program (website sponsors pay for the rice).

The site will start you off with ridiculously easy words and build you up to your particular vocabulary level, but you can skip straight to the more difficult words (which I'd recommend). To bypass the simple words, you can click on the options button at the top of the page. This will let you pick your starting vocabulary level (I suggest starting at 40-45 and working your way up)

You can also choose to have the site keep track of your total rice donation, which is pretty neat. Isaac and I try to donate at least 2000 grains a day (it's really addictive, so it's not that hard!). We've only been doing this for about 3 months, but we're up to 241,640 grains so far!

So, you get to contribute to the cause of ending world hunger, while having fun and increasing your vocabulary! How cool (and easy) is that?!

Silliness

Actual dialogue with Caleb:

Me: You're nuts
Caleb: You're doughnuts
Me: You're peanuts
Caleb: You're sushi


What?!?

Just another movie Monday...

This is kind of old, but I thought it was cute. Caleb discovered something new he could do with MultiGrain Cheerios.

Yeah, he's gifted!

Photo Friday

Caleb's Wonder Pets taking a nap


They got scared, so Caleb had to lie down with them... aww.


Caleb insisted that I take a picture of him in his new outfit from Uncle Jason and Aunt Heather


Walking a mile (maybe a bit less) in Daddy's shoes


Cute picture of Joey I took with my cell phone


Caleb pretending to play the violin with two pieces of a wrapping paper roll... such creativity!

Craft Day

Every Thursday is Craft Day for me and Caleb. It's the day we both look forward to the most. This week's project was to paint the birdhouse that he received as a birthday present from his Aunt Victoria. Caleb first saw this birdhouse around October of last year and, since then, we have had to "visit" it every time we go to Michael's Craft Store. He had become so consumed with it that he no longer cared about his first-love, Thomas the Train! Here are some pictures of our project: