I Love Pumpkin Carving

World Impact is having a Halloween party at the new ministry house. The purpose is to meet new families in the neighborhood. Before the party, all the staff is gathering this Thursday to carve pumpkins. I love carving pumpkins.

Sadly though, we have to travel to Dallas to attend a funeral of a friend and former co-worker. That means we will miss the carving party. So, we immediately went to buy pumpkins and had our own carving party - a tradition in our family.

Enjoy the pictures from our fun.

Ready, Set, GO

The World Series was on...we wouldn't dare miss it!

My Pumpkin

Ryan's Pumpkin


Ta-Da - I tried a more 'non-traditional' approach and Ryan made the Houston Astros Star!

Project Update

The time we have between now and Ben's arrival is getting shorter. That is making me want to get all the little house projects done as soon as possible. I actually created my first ever "Honey Do" list. Don't worry though, I created an "Amber Do" list as well. We worked on a couple of those this weekend.

Honey Do:

1. Replace all the tan (ugly) light switches and plate covers. I am not a fan of the tan color, especially since we painted our walls a lovely beige and the trim white. So, Ryan is replacing them all throughout the house. Thanks, honey.


2. Move the numbers on the front of our house. A few years ago, some missionaries that lived here before us added on another living room and a lovely kitchen and pantry/laundry room. When doing this, they made another front door into the newer side of the house. That means there are two front doors on our house. It greatly confuses the mailman and probably many other people. The house numbers were beside the original door, the one we don't use. So, Ryan moved them to maybe make things a little easier. Enjoy my lovely additions to the picture of our house. (No, the new numbers aren't really that big and spaced-out. I didn't get an after picture, so I added the numbers in Print Shop.)


Amber Do:

1. Clean vertical blinds. I really don't like vertical blinds, but we have some and I am not installing french doors anytime soon, so I will live with them. They were so dirty and have been bothering me for quite some time. This weekend, I washed them! Enjoy my nasty picture of the top of the blinds. They are right next to the stove, so I think all the dust was baked on. I had to use 409 to get it off.
I am the oldest of three girls. My dad always said I was the son he never had. That translates to mean I went everywhere and did everything with him. I went fishing with him, learned my way around a tool box, and gleaned from him a "I will try to fix anything" attitude. I of course love this about myself, but I know it causes problems for my dear husband. Ryan even bought me my own hammer and screwdriver set so we don't have to share.

I tell you this to preface this picture:
So, you might be wondering why I would tell about my great talents (that word might be a stretch) at fixing things and then show a picture of Ryan.

Here is the story...Our oven light hasn't worked since we moved in and niether has the light in the refrigerator. I replaced the light in the frig - yeah, I can see my food. I thought the oven light would be just as simple. There were two little screws that I took out and expected to then see the light bulb. I pulled on it a little and POP! Sparks flew. I screamed. Ryan came running.

Everyone was fine. Ryan gently told me that I should have turned off the breaker before attempting this (after giving me a hug and making sure I was ok). I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I do. I was thinking that replacing the oven lightbulb would be just like replacing any other lightbulb. Unscrew old one, screw in new one. No need to turn off the power for something so easy.

So, after my big mistake, Ryan had to take apart the oven to completely remove the wires that went to the oven light because they are useless now that they blew. I know, I know, many of you are rolling your eyes and wishing I would think twice before putting myself and Ben at risk. Sorry! I feel pretty stupid and will be more careful from now on. And, I still don't have an oven light.

It's A...

Boy!

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting Benjamin Ryan around March 19, 2009. We had a wonderful experience with the sono tech. She was so nice and made sure we saw everything! The room was fabulous too. There was a huge, flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite the bed, so I could see everything perfectly. We have attached pictures, so enjoy. They are labeled, but I will try to give a little detail to help you see if you aren't used to looking at these. We took pictures of the pictures, of course, so they aren't extremely clear, but you should get the idea.

We are completely thrilled. Thank you for all the many emails and facebook comments! Your excitement fueled our excitement which made this day that much more wonderful. We love you!
This is a view from below, looking up at the bum and through the legs. The arrow is pointing to the guarantee (cross our fingers, right Jill?) that it is a boy. I joked with the tech about coming back to find her if she was wrong and she offered her disclaimer, but then said, she was so sure it was a boy. We both think this picture is pretty convincing.

The bright white lines are the bones in the arm. From left to right you see the elbow to wrist and then the curled fingers. The hand is just above the head.

Here are both arms. The picture on the left is pretty much the same as the one above. In the picture on the right, the elbow is at the top of the picture, then the arm comes down and the fingers are closer to the bottom of the picture. The arm and hand are on top of his head.

Ben was not participating very well and would barely move enough for her to take the measurement of his head. So, this face picture is really not very good. The face is on the right side of the picture. I will leave it up to you to decide if you see it or not. In motion, we definitely saw it, but this picture just isn't very good.

The foot is the rectangular bit just below the typed words. The ankle is to the left and then follow it right to the toes.

As soon as we left the doctor's office, we went straight to Babies R Us. We exhausted ourselves registering for all the goodies that Ben will need. We are home for dinner and then will go to Super Target to finish off the registering process.My disclaimer:
I know I said I didn't like yellow or green, just pink or blue. Well, some of you have taken me quite literally and I would like to clear that up a little. I just like things that look like boys stuff, not gender neutral. When in doubt, stick to the registry!

Projects

I don't blog about my wonderful husband near enough. So, I am going to brag on him a little and THEN let him read the blog. He is sitting right in front of me now, but will have no clue I am writing about him. Actually, I just took a picture. See, that is me working on the blog (with the sunshine coming through the blinds on my computer) and him at his desk typing away. Ha. He didn't even ask me what I was taking a picture of.


And, this is what he is working on. He just handed me this paper (picture below). He has created a 16 session mini-curriculum that will be a starting point for people that are interested in the 16 class curriculum that he teaches for World Impact. I know, that may be a bit confusing. He teaches classes for Christ the Victor Leadership School here in Wichita. It is pretty intense. It is watered down seminary-level training. It takes a little over two years to complete the program. He has created this watered down version of the Leadership School for people that are new Christians or for whatever reason don't have a good Biblical foundation. This curriculum would only take 16 weeks. Then, the student would hopefully be ready for the Leadership School.


He has been working a lot on creating all kinds of stuff for the Leadership School. It actually only started just before we moved here and just got its new name this week. (Christ the Victor is the name of the church plant movement that is beginning here in Wichita through World Impact. We attend Christ the Victor Church, the newest church plant.)

Below is a picture of the New Student Packet he created to give to students interested in taking classes. He created the logo and everything. TUMI that you see in the logos stands for The Urban Ministry Institute of which Christ the Victor Leadership School is a satellite campus. Make sense? This has been a great fit for Ryan. He has really enjoyed working on all this stuff and is a fabulous teacher. I am taking the class that he is currently teaching.


Onto other Ryan stuff. You might remember that our garbage disposal didn't work. There was one attached to the sink and a seemingly useless switch by the sink, but nothing worked. World Impact bought us a new garbage disposal and this is Ryan installing it. I am so happy to have a working garbage disposal - the small joys in life. Especially being pregnant, my tolerance for nasty, mushy food sitting in the sink trap is just not very high. So, now I can grind it up. Thanks, honey.


You didn't think I would actually dedicate a whole blog to Ryan, did you? I tried, but I have something to share too. I attended a baby shower yesterday afternoon for a girl that I really don't know. But, she is on staff here. I saw a baby sock bouquet somewhere a while back and have been wanting to try it. So, I did.

Here are my materials:
Adorable, tiny girl socks
Floral tape
Floral wire
Greenery
Flower vase and Wire cutters (not pictured)


You role up the socks, wrap the bottoms to look like flower buds and then attach them to the floral wire that is wrapped in floral tape.


Then, after much more work than you might think, you have a baby sock bouquet. It was lots of fun to see the final product. At the shower, some other ladies told me about a diaper 3-tier cake. I googled it and found that some sell for over $100. Whew. I can't wait for an excuse to try my hand at that.


That is all for now. Remember, the gender sono is Monday. I will post later that evening, probably.

Time for a Career Change

I've been doing some thinking. After five years in ministry, maybe it is time for a career change. I have decided to become a professional, tv cook - ya know, like Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray. Can't you see it now - The Amber Carter Cooking Hour?

Well, I'm not really changing careers, but for the sake of this blog, let's pretend I am a famous cook. Here are my homemade bread bowls. Ever been to Panera and gotten your soup in a bread bowl? My favorite! Except the bread is so chewy I don't usually end up eating much of it. I made these french bread bowls and baked them in pot pie foil pans. Perfect! Not too chewy and not quite as large, so I didn't feel bad eating it all up! Ryan cut out the centers for me.


In the bread bowls, I served Shrimp Potato Chowder. A recipe from my former co-worker and office buddy, Sharon. (Sharon is currently battling cancer so it was bitter sweet to think of her as I served this dish.)
Shrimp Potato Chowder is not a very photogenic food, but it sure tasted good.

I also served a caesar salad with almonds and craisins and lots of cheese and crutons, but didn't snap a picture of it.

Dessert: Apple dumplins. I have been craving these for a while and I found this fabulous recipe online. YUM. It was so easy. And look how delicious it is. The apples I bought were so big that Ryan and I had to share a dumplin. No problem - that means leftovers.

Now, the worst part of me not actually being a famous chef is that I still have to do all my dishes. We had a couple over for dinner when I fixed this spread. They didn't confirm that they were coming until 3pm and it just happened that I was low on quite a few things in my pantry, so I had to run to the store. I got home at 3:30pm and had all this on the table by 5:30pm. Fantastic, I know. But, I didn't have time to wash all my prep dishes. I rinsed them, but they weren't washed. (Remember, we don't have a dish washer which is good for washing and for hiding dirty things.)

And, we invited them because the four of us are taking a first year missionary training class with World Impact. That started at 7pm. So, we barely finished dinner and dessert before it was time to jet out the door, run across the street to work, and attend this training class. So, all the dishes were just piled on the counter. Gross. By the time we got home later in the evening, I didn't feel like washing all those dishes. So, I did something I try not to ever do - I waited until morning. Ryan had to leave at 7:30am this morning to help some people move, so I had the privilege of spending an hour doing the dishes. Woohoo. But, the dinner was worth it.

Here are all the recipes, just like on famous cook's blogs.

French Bread Bowls

1 T sugar
2 tsp salt
2 pkgs yeast
5 C flour

Combine sugar, salt and yeast. Add 1 3/4 C hot water. Stir until disolved. Add 2 C flour until combined. Then, add remaining 3 C flour.
Cover and set in warm place to rise (about 20-30 minutes).
Grease 4 pot pie foil pans. Divide dough into four equal parts and put in pans. Place all four pans in warm place, uncovered to rise until doubled in size.
Bake in oven preheated to 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
(Use same measurements to make 2 loafs of french bread, but bake for 20-22 minutes.)

Sharon's Shrimp Potato Chowder

1/4 C chopped green onion
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T butter

Saute together.

Add:
2 cans cream of potato soup
3 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 soup cans of milk
2 C cooked shrimp (I prefer the small, salad shrimp in the frozen section for convenience.)

Simmer 10 minutes.

Old Fashioned Apple Dumplins

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1/3 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 C water
1 1/3 C white sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 recipe pie crust (make your own or buy one in the refrigerated section)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 8x8 baking dish.

On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a large rectangle. Cut into 4 square pieces. Place an apple on each pastry square with the cored opening facing upward. Cut butter into 6 pieces. Place 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; reserve remaining butter for sauce. Divide brown sugar between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples.

With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of pastry square up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners, and seal. Slightly pinch the dough at the sides to completely seal in the apple. Repeat with the remaining apples. Place in prepared baking dish.

In a saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla extract and reserved butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Place each apple dumpling in a dessert bowl, and spoon some sauce over the top.

Corn Maze & 16 Week Update

Fall is coming to Kansas. Having lived in Houston and Dallas for the last 9 years, I have no memory of fall. The changing of the leaves is something that only happens in far away place. But, now, there is a sign of fall just outside my window. Not having a dishwasher, I stand at my kitchen sink a lot and discovered I have quite a lovely view. This picture is what I see looking out the window towards the neighbor's house. Isn't it great!
We also tried another Kansas thing. Remember, our first was the volleyball game where we totally wore the wrong color. I saw a commercial for a corn maze and just had to look into it. We went to a corn maze about 30 minutes south of Wichita. I really didn't know what to expect and must admit I was a little hesitant when we drove up to it. It is a 'mom and pop' type place. The people were thrilled that this was our first time there. I guess they get a lot of regulars. This aerial shot and lights in the dark are things I stole from their website. Cool, huh. This picture of us is very unflattering, but it was a good idea, so I thought I would share it anyway. The corn was about two feet taller than us, so once you were in, you really couldn't see much. They did give us a map and there were 150 trivia questions on posters throughout the maze. We used to map (well, Ryan used the map) to get us from trivia to trivia. We had a fun time laughing at the questions and trying to figure them out. If you get 2/3 of the questions right, you win a pumpkin. So, we worked really hard and only missed 29 questions, so we won these two little pumpkins. Ahhh. We went before the sun went down. Apparently, the trend is to go in the dark and maneuver the maze with a flashlight. The whole maze took us about two hours, so it was pretty dark by the time we finished. It seemed like screaming 12-15 year olds came out of the corn in the dark! Quite literally at times. So, we were happy with our choice to be boring, old people and come early. We were just finishing when they were all arriving. And, the dark freaked me out a little. I am not a big fan of scary stuff, so I was more than ready to go once it got dark. But, if we live in Kansas for a while, I will definitely try new mazes every year! This last picture is a little better. Ah, baby's first field trip to a corn maze. I think he/she had a fabulous time.


OK - now for the stuff many of you really want to know. The 16 week check-up!
Mom and baby are doing great. Remember, at the last check-up they couldn't find the heartbeat and the doctor had to do a sonogram and I was completely freaked out. This time, the nurse prodded on my tummy a couple of second, put the doppler down and immediately we heard the heartbeat. It was great. The heartrate was 147 bpm. That is much lower than the previous times and I think that is all attributed to me being calm this time around so that my heart rate was normal. Weight gain is going great. I never can remember what I weigh (or maybe I subconsciously try to forget), so I asked the nurse how I was doing. She looked at the computer screen and said, "Oh WOW!" Now, normally, when I hear a reaction like that, I think negative things. I said, "WHAT?" and she immediately said, "Oh no, that was a good wow." But then she left it at that. So, when the doctor came into the room, I asked again about the weight gain and she said I actually haven't gained anything since my 12 week appointment and have only gained 9 pounds total. Yeah. I really feel like I eat just like I did before getting pregnant with the absence of guilt if I do splurge for an ice cream or other wonderful treat. But, really I am just trying to keep doing what I was doing.
I am scheduled for the gender-telling sonogram in two weeks - mark your calendars - Oct 20th. The doctor said I could have done it next Monday because I am already 16 1/2 weeks, but I wanted to wait just to give it that extra bit of time to prepare the baby to participate and show us everything we need to see! Ryan and I will begin our parenting techniques now in telling the baby just how we expect him or her to behave in the sono room :) We will let you know how that works out for us!

Random Stuff

I guess I have missed filling you all in on our day-to-day lives, so I felt like blogging. The problem is, I don't really have much to talk about. But, I will give it my best shot.

Since finding out I was pregnant and enduring the sickness of the first trimester, I have not been responsible for many things around World Impact. The one thing that I did put my personal touch on was our recent 100 Hole Golf Marathon. Many of you that know me well might know that I know nothing about golf and really have no interest in the sport. But, I do know how to organize things, so that is where I helped. I helped with details stuff and coordinated things on the day of the event. Here is the picture postcard I created to send to all the people that financially supported the golfers. We are on the far right!Ryan has started teaching a class here! I am thrilled about it because he is loving it so much. The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) is a part of World Impact. Wichita has a TUMI satellite and the missionaries in Wichita teach the classes (well, those that are qualified...never fear, I will never teach a class). The satellite in Wichita is new and this is only the second class they have offered. Ryan is teaching The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom. He has six students total. Four of them are fellow missionaries (including me) and the other two are community people that have a relationship with World Impact missionaries and are desiring to be in a more leadership position in their church. Here is a picture from our first day of class. That is me in the cute yellow and black maternity top, but my back was itching right when she took the picture. Oh well.Since I don't work outside the home much, I have tried really hard to be a good housewife. Ryan comes home for lunch everyday and I like to have it ready when he walks in the door. And, I have gotten more adventurous with my cooking skills. I am still learning. I was a pretty good cook in college because I did most of the cooking. But, once we were married, I quickly realized Ryan was the better cook and gave in to the life of a dish-washer. Well, now I am both. But, I don't have a picture to share of myself cooking. However, I do have this great photo. The stove we were given for our house was previously cooked on and took some special cleaning. However, I could never get the stove drip pans (what are those things really called) sparkling clean and I like them to be sparking clean. So, I invested in some new ones and thought you should see them too. The old, dirty ones in the middle don't look too bad in the picture, but they just wouldn't come clean. I promise!
One last thing...
Have you ever had sour towels? Oh, I despise sour towels. We don't even live in a wet climate, but it is our tiny little bathroom that causes me this frustration. The bathroom is so small that the towel rack was hung behind the door. So, when we are finished in the bathroom and leave the door open, as one would naturally do, the towels are smushed (yes, that is a word) behind the door. It took me a while to put two and two together, but that was causing the terrible smelling towels. So, I got out the tape measure, found another place for the towel rack. Got my screwdriver set (yes, Ryan bought me one because he was tired of me using his) and went to work on my bathroom. It isn't ideal. I would love to redo that whole bathroom (but that will never happen). However, I am hopeful for fresher smelling towels. Maybe if I can remember, I will do a little scientific study and sniff them for you each day and report back later!

Smushed Towels


Unsmushed Towels


Pregnancy News: We go for our 16 week appointment next Monday, so we will have some news for you then. Right now, my tummy is just getting bigger and bigger!