This post is for the preggos, the mamas who need more time, women who always wanted to make bread like their great-grandmas probably did, and those who love a good faith-based blog. Links are in bright blue!

Oh Baby – Pants!

These leggings have been making dressing during my first winter pregnancy a little bit easier. They are not flimsy legging material and they have back pockets. So, I don’t feel like I’m wearing leggings, although I basically am.

I wear the band folded down 95% percent of the time, not like the model shown here.

I also wear them 100% of the time with short black boots. Not high heels as shown here.

Also, this photo doesn’t show the back pockets well. But, the pockets really take these from “leggings” to “pants” in my opinion.

Fringe Hours by Jessica Turner of The Mom Creative

I read this book over the last week or so and enjoyed it, but I felt very challenged. Jessica spends the first third of her book talking about why women don’t make time for themselves. And, she talks about how all those excuses are…just excuses.

This was an encouraging read, but a hard one. After all, it is easier to throw your hands up in the air and not do anything for yourself. It is hard to make time for what you love.

Key Points for Me:

• After your babies are sleeping through the night, get up early. That’s fringe hours.
• Don’t sit on the couch night after night watching TV if you really want to be sewing, quilting, or crafting. Go do it. That’s fringe hours.
• I’m not a night person, so I think that my evenings are best spent prepping to make mornings more smooth and productive: going to bed early, laying out clothes, re-filling diaper bag, packing lunches, finishing dishes. Or, no matter how tired I am, I can always just take a bath and read. That’s something I would do in the evening, I wouldn’t probably work on a complex quilt or write a few paragraphs for a book.
• Nobody said “it” would be easy, they just said “it” could be done. Making use of fringe hours is harder than passively letting them pass by, but certainly more rewarding.
• Stop wasting fringe minutes on technology. Take a book with me everywhere.
• Isn’t it funny how most of the answers to life’s questions and frustrations are simply: get up earlier. Darn it. You want me to write my next book or blog post at 6 AM? But, I wanted to sleep!

Let me know if you read this book and what you thought of it! What tips were helpful to you?

A Holy Experience

Just discovered Ann’s blog lately and I can tell I’m very much going to enjoy it. Her posts are generally long, so don’t try reading them on your phone. Save it for the iPad or Laptop screen. I also just started her book, 1,000 Gifts, so stay tuned for my review on that.

Girl Scout Cookie Creamer + DeCaff Coffee = Warm and Cozy without the Buzz

The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I am still loving this easy break-making method. I posted about it a lot this fall and I have used it at least once a month since then. (One batch = 4-5 loaves = 15+ loaves since I bought the book.)

This morning, for the first time, I used the “Master Dough Recipe” to make carmel rolls in the sweets section. Since I used the same pre-made dough for both, I was able to make the rolls and a loaf of bread with very, very little effort.

The dough was already ready in the fridge, so it was just a matter of making the carmel sauce and being home for the rise time and baking time.

I literally did this while Joslyn had her breakfast, watched me and played in the high chair with measuring cups, and then played on the kitchen floor with a bunch of shoes. We also watched two episodes of the Pioneer Woman. All this to say, the bread-making is easy enough that it didn’t take my full concentration and I was able to talk with her and watch TV.

Have a wonderful weekend!

PS: Does anyone have a good fudge recipe? Or, tips? I cooked the devil out of my first attempt this week and had to soak my pot for 2+ hours just to get the glass-fudge out. I was trying to entertain Joslyn and simmer it at the same time and it got way too hot!