The apostles creed

"I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen"

i was thinking about this tonite and googled it.

well, as i was reading it i was caught by the phrase "He descended into hell"

wait. what?

has that always been in there? i grew up reciting this and i never once saw that?

what does that mean? Jesus went to hell? i'd love some comments on this one because i am a little taken aback by the fact that i never realized the weight of that phrase until NOW.

i'm going through a time of getting to the roots of my belief system and this caught me off guard for a second.

i guess it threw me off a little that i've recited something plenty of times before and never even explored what it meant.

off to google a little more...

my lasagna recipe

(since jennifer wants it)

it's really more of a method than a recipe, though. and i use very untechnical terms. ;)

sizzle up a pound of free-range organic ground meat (i use turkey, but you can use sausage or beef or ground chix...)
while the meat is browning, add whatever raw veggies you have in your fridge to the food processor and buzz it up.
(i usually use squash, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, green beans, onion, celery, any variety of bell peppers, spinach, a couple cloves of garlic...anything really.)

add a little EVOO to your ground meat and add your buzzed up veggies. sautee for a few minutes.
add 1 can undrained diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, i small can tomato paste, 1/2 a can of pureed pumkin (not pumpkin pie filling! be careful! and no, you can't taste the pumpkin), a splash or two of red wine, few sprinkles of red pepper flakes, italian seasoning (basil, oregano, parsley...), and a bay leaf. plus salt and pepper to taste.
let this sauce simmer as long as you can...the longer it simmers, the better it tastes.
i like to start it early and then put it in the crockpot on low to simmer all day long, adding a little veg broth if it needs it later in the day.

now, mix together one large container of small curd cottage cheese,2 eggs and some parmesan cheese. add a little italian seasoning to that also.
(here is where personal preference comes in...use ricotta if you like it better. sometimes i do half ricotta half cottage, but most always i just use cottage. you can also add silken tofu in the mix and you won't know it's there)

i use whole wheat no boil noodles. use your favorite.

spray your baking pan.

layer this way:
1) sauce
2) noodles
3) sauce
4) cheese mix
5) mozerella cheese
6) noodles
7) cheese mix
8) sauce
9) mozerella cheese

cover with foil. bake at 400 for 45 mins. remove foil. bake additional 15 mins until cheese is browned and bubbly. remove from oven and let sit for 10 mins before serving.

enjoy!

fun times with liam today!

he loves the photo booth thing on the mac. it was a fun afternoon. i told him to do what i did and surprisingly he DID!!
garland was pretty freaked out by the whole thing...as you can see in the last pic. :)

late night with cora

i love it when i get to spend quality time with one of my kids...even if it is at 3am. lol.

sorry it has been so long...

...since i've done an update.

things are busy busy busy in the altork household and although there are many blog posts in my mind, there is very little time to get it accomplished.

i WANT to blog about...

~our vacay to st augustine (fabulous! i love my inlaws!)

~the food that we're eating on busy days to just get by (has anyone tried the zaxbys 'lil nibblers? darn those things...they tempt me more often than not)

~my sweet cora who melts my heart with her smile and the fact that she looks *just* like me as a baby tears my heart to bits. and the fact that i'm not nursing as much as i would like and well, that bothers me. we're working on that.

~my garland, precious only middle child (for now), who adores her older brother so much that she SCREAMS when he leaves her immediate vacinity and mirrors me to an extreme when she's hungry...and she has a rat tail for hair that i refuse to cut.
oh how i love to cram bows into that curly rat-tailed hair.

~my precious and special liam who has been officially diagnosed with autism and all the gut-wrenching feelings that tag along with that...along with the joy and beauty that comes with being blessed with the opportunity to raise a "special needs" child. oh the wonders of that boy! he kills me each day with the canned phrase "i want ME a HUG" and "i NEED me a kiss" and proceeds to climb into my (overtired) lap and smooch me right on the lips. how can anything else compare to THAT???

~my hot hubby who is somehow managing being a SENIOR EDITOR of a newspaper along with keeping the kids 3 days a week so i can work. how does he do it folks? HOW??? i love that man.

~my job at starbucks which i love but it pulls me out of bed at 4am too often.
i run this phrase though my head a millon times a day..."it's for the kids...it's for the kids" which is *so true* because the only reason i'm working is to cover insurance for this family. and i LOVE it. we are making it work within our means and that feels great to us!

~the fact that my toes and eyebrows need serious attention

~the discovery that the woodstock goodwill rocks...seriously buying everything from there from here on out. goodness.

~the new house. love it. LOVE IT!

and on a side note, if anyone can tell me how to get liam into an inclusive preschool for less than $1000 a month, i'm all ears. goodness.

that's all i've got tonite folks.

stay tuned.....

new menu

i'm going a little trader joes crazy lately.
it's a great place to shop, my sister works there, it's right around the corner so it's easy to work in a shopping trip after work and well, everything is easy and good for you! can't beat that!!

our meals in no particular order:

~TJ's tilapia citronette that we never made last week. it has roasted veggies (asparagus and carrots) and instead of plain quinoa, i picked up a pack of TJ's "harvest grains blend" which has couscous, orzo, baby garbonzo beans and red quinoa. i'll cook it up in the rice cooker with some organic broth, EVOO and kosher salt

~TJ's mandarin orange chicken, organic jasmine rice, sauteed bok choy with garlic

~TJ's cabernet beef pot roast cooked in the crock pot with TJ's baby confetti potatoes (a mix of red, white and purple potatoes), TJ's french green beans sauteed with garlic.

~TJ's flame broiled turkey meatballs simmered in timmy's homemade BBQ sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, big salad

~grilled buffalo burgers on whole wheat buns, TJ's hawaiian style BBQ chips, sliced seedless cucumber, red bell pepper and carrots with TJ's tzatziki dip

lunches are pretty much always leftovers.

breakfast is our daily smoothie which i have discovered is awesome with TJ's coconut milk and starbucks matcha powder...it's just dried green tea and has a big antioxidant punch! i also make sure to sneak in organic spinach and half an avocado. it's a great meal first thing in the morning and the kids love it.

menu this week

lots of quick fix meals this week because we're so busy.
i'm only planning 4 meals a week since one of us is gone 3 nights a week lately.

(TJ's = trader joes)

meal #1
TJ's ham, caramellized onion and gruyere pizza, caesar salad

meal #2
TJ's tilapia citronette with grilled asparagus and sliced carrots, quinoa

meal#3
homemade lasagna made with ground turkey, goat cheese, whole wheat noodles and my "special sauce" which includes tons of veggies and even pureed pumpkin!, TJ's garlic naan (we prefer this over garlic bread these days)

meal #4
kung pao chicken and broccoli over brown rice, TJ's coconut curry chicken stix

my babies

we had a great 4th of july and there is nothing better than dressing your kids alike and taking pics.

enjoy!

made me chuckle

a game of tag...

for my dear friend jen...

1. Were you married at the time? Yes.

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? i was at my SIL and BIL's house and headed out to target early in the AM to get a test. it was glaringly positive. i remember looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and seeing myself as a mama.
i ran upstairs and shoved it in tim's face. he went nuts. it was one of the best moments in my life.

3. How old were you? hmmm. 27?

4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I took a test because i was off BC and obsessive about knowing if i was. i wanted to make sure i wasn't. haha. well, let's just say i was surprised!

5. Who did you tell first? tim. and then brian and linh. (sil and bil)

6. Did you want to find out the sex? Nope

7. Due date? april 1 2005. april fools day!

8. Did you deliver early or late? 7 days late

9. Did you have morning sickness? nope. just major food aversions.

10. What did you crave? taco bell bean burritos...hold the sauce.

11. Who irritated you the most? no comment ;)

12. What was your first child's sex? Boy

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 20lbs?

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? nope

15. Where did you give birth? valley, alabama

16. How many hours were you in labor? 46 loooong hours

17. Who drove you to the hospital? timmy

18. Who watched? tim, laryssa, mil, mom, dad (dan and fil were outside the door)

19. Was it natural or c-section? natural forcep delivery

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? uh yeah. at 36 hours. i was climbing the walls.

21. How much did your child weigh? 7 lbs, 4 oz

22. Did your child have any complications? no

23. What did you name him/her? william (liam) baxter

24. How old is your first born today? 3

our menu 7/5 - 7/11

TONITE: grilled korean bulgogi beef, jasmine rice, sauteed mix of broccoli, carrots and snow peas

SUN: leftovers (i work)

MON: homemade pizzas: one veggie, one meat, salad (we never had this last week)

TUES: chicken cacciatore over brown rice, salad

WED: leftovers (tim works)

THURS: red snapper piccata, orzo with zucchini (didn't have this last week either), corn

FRI: fried chicken, potatoes au gratin, green beans

when is the last time you pulled an all nighter?

i'm headed out the door for work.
it's 4 something in the morning and i've been awake since 6am yesterday.
tonight my kids decided mommy needs zero sleep....the fun events of the wee morning hours even included a trip to wal-mart for some rice milk...since, well, we were out and *someone* can't sleep without it.
yawn.
let's hope i survive my morning shift at starbucks.
sheesh.
i think the last time i did this, i was in labor.
need sleep. need sleep.

heart ramblings

i stay up way too late every night.
why?
well, for one reason, i have a nursing baby that will awaken me even if i sleep, so i tend to take every opportunity while she's sleeping to get some personal time.
this happens from 1-3 am most nights. so. i'm up late. always.

i have a crazy life.

my kids are so close in age and that is starting to wear on me.

dear Lord, i wouldn't trade a single one of them, but goodness it is hard. so very hard.

my sweet liam has major developmental delays which adds quite a few challenges to the mix of raising babies.

i will have a lot more to say on that issue, but for now...

let me just say that life is interesting these days.

i am head over heels in love with my hubby, but we seem to be playing tag team with the working and watching over our little "arrows". it is hard to find time to just connect. i know that many of you out there understand.

i want to brag on him tonite because he took it upon himself to schedule a babysitter for us tomorrow nite so we could have a date. a real live date!!

we so need this. big time.

i have absolutely ZERO clothes that fit. (no idea what i'll wear on the date...)

my eyebrows have needed waxing for probably 6 months now and my toes? lets just say that pedicures aren't exactly on the top 10 of things that can happen when you have a million babies and zero time.

but! folks, i'm happy. shaggy eyebrows and all.

my heart hurts sometimes and i feel a little too "grown up" a lot of days and overwhelmed every single day, but goodness i'm blessed.

i am completely in love with my babies and my hubs hung the moon.

hard times are always going to be there...it's just a matter of getting though them with a smile.

i still have that ability and for that, my friends, i am grateful. late nights and all.

our menu this week...

we do have family coming in town this week, so the menu is a bit extra.

but anyway...

here we go...

tonite: my parents are in town and treated us to a seafood supper...yum! i had grilled grouper.

sun: ham and cheese paninis for timmy, tuna salad wrap for me at work.

mon: tim works late...i'll make a little pot of black beans and rice for me...maybe some homemade guacamole too.

tues: pork and cilantro sausage (hormone free!), homemade mac and cheese, collard greens, cornbread

wed: homemade pizza, salad (i have the BEST recipe for homemade pizza crust...ask me!)

thurs: broiled fish of the day (i get whatever is fresh and on sale at harrys farmers market), my friend denise's orzo w/ zucchini, prairie rolls

fri: grilled turkey burgers w/ fixins on whole wheat buns, sweet potato fries, pickle spears

sat: timmy's awesome ribs on the grill, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans

PASS IT ON!!

we did something fun today. so super fun!!!

my little brother, daniel, just graduated from high school and is getting ready to start college in the fall.

well, since we got our minivan, we have an extra *old* honda prelude that tim had been driving forever...i mean it's OLD. sporty with a sunroof, stick shift, awesome gas mileage...feels like driving a go-cart...lol.

tim bought a scooter to ride to work so we could save on gas and we also have the car we used before the van (old eagle given to us) for an "extra" car when tim needs to cart the kiddies around.

we were planning on selling the honda...getting *maybe* 1K for it at best, but we decided to surprise daniel with it as a gift while they are in town for a visit. we ran the idea past my folks and they approved...but said that dan would have to make the money himself to fix the AC, get insurance...etc.

so after a big family dinner tonite we all gathered 'round and tim reached in his pocket and pulled out 2 keys and handed them to dan.
tim said, "i've got these for you...maybe they go with something in the parking lot"

dan freaked!!

it was a blast to see how excited he was. he kept getting in and out of it...lol.

my uncle gave us the eagle in the same way 3 years ago and we wanted to pass on the giving within the fam.

so super fun! if you have something to pass on, do it! the feeling afterwards is such a high!

yay for my little bro!

"new" job for me (and lifetime fitness)

there is one that opened literally 1/4 mile from our new house. they had major promotions going so we decided to go for it.

OMG.

lifetime fitness...it is so *nice*

i went there this morning at 3am to workout before my 4:45am starbucks shift (uh, yeah...not doing that again...too dang early)

but it is really a very nice gym.
we get 8 hours a week of rockin' childcare with the membership...like incredible security and a paging system if your child cries.
i can bring my kids in cloth dipeys too. whoot!
and there is a cafe with wifi, indoor and outdoor pools, a spa that offers everything from haircuts to pedicures to massage...all on site so you can drop your kids off in the child care and get your nails done or lay out by the pool.

we can walk there!!

i am a little overwhelmed by it. i feel very spoiled. i want to go there everyday just to take a shower and blow dry my hair alone. lol.

hopefully i'll get some definition going in this postpartum body.

yes. i've been an on and off starbucks employee for 10 years now...lol.

i just went back after 5 years because we need a little extra to cover the costs of liam's special diet, his school in the fall and also for the amazing benefits.

the insurance that you get for working only 20 hrs/week will be great for his therapy and such.

so, yes...back to the working world at 4:45 am.
i HATE early mornings, but i also want tim to be with the kids while i work, so my shift ends at 10:45am and tim gets to work by 11.
it's perfect for us although i'm pretty tired.

liam's mental health means enough to me to do it, though.
also, i'm a double tall mocha junkie and that in itself is saving us money by working there...lol. (free employee drinks)

way too cool!

the coolest thing ever happened tonite and i wanted to share!

when i was pregnant w/ garland tim and i were tossing around names and i mentioned that i had *always* loved the name "garland" ever since i had an aquaintence in college with the name.

he loved it and we decided that even though we wanted to use family names that it was the perfect name for her. we just *knew* it.

her name is "garland iris" with the "iris" being a tribute to my paternal grandmother because it was her favorite flower...also, garland was conceived at my late grandmother/grandfather's house (it is now a family house and we lived there for 3 years) and there are purple iris that spring up all around at the right time of year. my name, heather, is a purple flower and yes, we think way too much about meanings...lol.

ALSO "iris" means "rainbow" which has deep meaning for us in that we had a double rainbow at our wedding on the beach AND when i was 3 mos preggo w/ her i started bleeding VERY heavily. on the way to the ER we saw a very random rainbow in the sky and i swore to God that if He would keep the baby safe, and if she was a girl, i would name her "iris" as a testimony to that. (we didn't know the sex at that point)

anyway, garland iris she is. she fits the name.

so fast forward to tonight.

my mom and dad are in town and have been doing some major geneology research on my mom's side...they put together a packet of info about it and we all were reading it and discussing.

my sister said "OMG! heather! look at this!"

apparently i am a DIRECT decendent of a lady named "elizabeth GARLAND" Shocked Shocked Shocked

is that not the coolest thing ever????????????

let's try this again

getting back on track.
we have been eating out waaaay waaay too much since about 2 months before cora was born.
i just didn't have any desire to be in the kitchen or have anything to do with food when i felt so huge from being pregnant.
but now i'm back!

BREAKFAST
~smoothie
~bacon egg and cheese on a toasted TJs multigrain english muffin

my absolute favorite bacon is applegate farms peppered bacon. i love the turkey bacon too.

i am so uninspired in this tiny apartment kitchen. we're moving in a couple of weeks and although the kitchen in the new house isn't that much bigger, it has more light and i won't feel like i'm cooking in a cave.

SNACK
~glass of TJs "green plant" juice

seriously folks, don't be scared of this stuff. it looks like slime but it's power packed and very yummy. our whole family just loves it! we used to get odwalla "superfood" but it was like $7 a half gallon...this stuff is only like $3 and tastes practically the same. super yum.

LUNCH
~TJs organic bean and rice burrito w/ sour cream and salsa
~pelligrino w/ lime

SNACK
~couple of TJs jo jo cookies

DINNER
~curry chicken broccoli casserole over brown rice
~pelligrino w/ lime

this casserole is the standard recipe, but to make it a wee bit better for you try using health valley organic cream of chicken soup in place of campbells...and use vegenaise instead of mayo.
it's one of those comfort food meals for me.
i made this before cora was born and froze it so all i have to do is pop it in the oven.
awesome!

pasta tuesday

dinner tonight is pretty simple...

~buitoni whole wheat three cheese tortellini
~buitoni pesto with basil
~steamed broccoli
~baby spinach salad w/ carrots and cucumbers
~garlic bread

i need to make my menu for the week so this meal is a quick solution with the help of buitoni and my local target's refrigerated section. ;)

**we just had dinner and i wanted to add that this was VERY good. i steamed the broccoli and mixed it in with the pasta and pesto...stirred in some parmesan and served. we all loved it!**

choosing your battles

two of my kids are complete opposites when it comes to food...

garland will eat anything that is put in front of her - and lots of it!
liam has a list of about 8 things that he will eat and that is IT.

i have spent about 2 years now fretting over the fact that my son does not seem to enjoy food. i have forced him to try things, pleaded with him, ignored him, starved him, prayed for him...everything! all to no avail.

i recently made a huge discovery about liam. he is a highly sensitive child and simply prefers to stick with what he knows.

Parenting A Highly Sensitive Child
By Terri Goodwell
"I have also learned that highly sensitive children have accentuated taste buds and food preferences. Now, I simply deal with my daughter’s needing one shape noodle over another, her having to eat one food thoroughly before starting the next thing on her plate, her refusal to eat anything bruised, misshapen, or imperfect in any way, and her avoidance of mixing foods at all costs. Lisa, the mother of Nicholas, says, “for years now he’s been a picky eater, at one time agreeing to eat only 7 or 8 foods, and refusing to try anything new."

so now we are choosing our food battles.
he will drink a smoothie in the morning and i make sure that i power pack it with goodness. he gets a multi-vitamin and then i relax.
if he grazes on raisins, flax chips and granola bar all day, then so be it.
he's healthy and he's happy.