Yummy! Butterscotch Zucchini Cake

So in my quest to be a frugal, part-time, stay-at-home-mom who also works outside the house, I thought I would start posting some recipes and pictures of my favorite "go-to" meals and treats. This is my first one, so I'll see how it goes!

Butterscotch Zucchini Cake

This is recipe comes from one of my best friends EV-ER: Kelley Stanley. I ate so much of this at her house that I finally begged her for the recipe. It's a great way to use up some of that summer zucchini that starts to pile up this time of year. (BTW, shredded zucchini lasts up to 6 months in the freezer!)

Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of oil

2 eggs

2.5 cups of flour

2 cups of shredded zuchinni

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup of nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream sugar, oil, and eggs until fluffy. Add zucchini, mix well and add dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chips on top and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Now....if you want try a healthier version, see below. It's just as tasty, but with less guilt!

1 cup sugar

1 cup splenda

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup natural applesauce

1/2 cup egg substitute

2 cups flour

1/2 cup quick oats

2 cups zucchini

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup butterscotch chips

Follow the earlier directions!

The Glory of a Garage Sale (It's A Long One)

Ok, so now that we're through with our latest traumatic event, i.e. the Adoption Garage Sale, I can take some time and reflect over the past few days.

First off, the sale was a tremendous success! We made enough to complete our homestudy and then with the money we have saved already, we will be able to pay the next chunk off with only an additional $858!!! Can't tell you how excited I am. In biological parenting terms, it's like I just felt the baby kick for the first time. I know that $8,000 seems like a lot, but compared to Soph's adoption costs, this feels like nothing!

I have to do my "Oscar Thank You Speech," now. Huge, Giagantic thanks to my mom and dad who helped soooooooooo much! They gave up their garage for a whole week (3 car garage), went and got donations & tables, helped clean up, and worked their tails off during the sale - well, sweated their tails off (who has a garage sale in the middle of July??) Thanks to Mom Romey who got up at 4 a.m. yesterday to come watch Soph. To Karen Sutton who helped take money, to Laurah Unruh who donated half the items & gave my sister a whole new wardrobe! To Jen and Kel who made the clothes tables look beautiful (even if it only lasted 30 seconds). To all who donated: Dave (btw, we sold EVERYTHING of yours!), Laurah, Brooke,Toni, Jessica, Grandma and Grandpa, Dawn and John, Heather, Kim (those jeans went like hotcakes), Kayla, Bethany, Brittany, Jess, Courtney, Mr. Chase and Miss Kelley, all the Aims peeps and probably more who I'm forgetting....whoever gave us the bags of baby boy clothes - see below!

Ok, so now for some highlights:

If you've ever done a garage sale you know how aw-ful they are. We had our garage filled a month ago and then had to start filling my parents. The logistics of getting ready, the panic of "what if we don't have enough stuff?" and the fear of failing had all been weighing on me for at least a few weeks prior; however, God (as alway) TOTALLY came through. Here are some ways:

• Right before we closed a woman drove up in a black SUV and walked up to me and said, "We don't want to buy anything. I'm adopted and want to support you. She handed me a $20 bill." This happened throughout the day too - but that one really stuck out!

• We had an entire table filled with little baby boy clothes. A very pregnant hispanic woman all-but cleaned us out! When she found out I was only charging her $8 this look of amazement and wonder shone from her eyes. Her friend told me she was about to have a boy & didn't have any clothes for him! (I guess God was answering some other people's prayers through this sale too!)

• 1/2 an hour before we closed, we started passing out Wal-mart bags and telling people to fill them for a dollar. There were countless children who ran excitedly through our sale and filled those bags until they were ripping. 3-4 moms also had bags busting at the seams with clothes for their kids. These were families who drove up in cars that were nearly falling apart! It felt so good to feel like our sale was providing for them in some way, so when one little girl (maybe 8 or 9) asked how much the bike cost, I told her she could have it for free! She told me she'd never had a bike before...and if I hadn't sweated out all the moisture in body already, I would have cried right then (don't worry, I am now!)

• I was able to have countless conversations about the blessing of adoption & hopefully plant a seed in some hearts that will reap a bountiful harvest for orphans everywhere.

God is so good to us & throughout both of these adoptions I tend to forget that it's HIS kids we are adopting. He loves them waaaay more than I ever could and He will provide every cent to bring our little one home.

The greatest moment I've had in this adoption journey was a few weeks ago at church. The teens had come back from CIY and when we were singing, "Oh happy day, happy day...." they all (plus the sponsors) came running in and danced before the stage singing. There was an African American girl that caught my eye and I watched her as she jumped and sang, "No, No, No...forever I am changed!" I flashed-forward 13 years imagning that it was Soph, and I suddenly realized the true reason for adoption: by choosing to adopt Sophie she will be raised knowing the love and saving grace of her heavenly Father. She will live a life filled with His Holy Spirit and some day rest in His love and peace. THAT is the redemption of adoption....not just that her life is redeemed, but that her heart is redeemed for HIM!!!

This is my calling and I am honored to answer it! Even if it means spending two days sweating in the heat fighting with people over $.25 for the price of a picture frame!

Sweet Endings

So tonight as I am kneeling next to Sophie's bed, she asks if she can sing me a song. Sure I say. Put your head on my lap she demands....amused I obey. She then proceeds to sing (in her sweet little voice that can't yet pronounce the "r's" correctly), "Lullaby and goodnight....." the whole way through. All the while she sings, she is stroking my head - just like I do to her every night. I couldn't help but let the tears run down my face! Truly a moment I never want to forget all of my life.

Mama's Girl

Ok, so last night was a rough one at the Romey household. Soph was obviously exerting some independence (Lord knows she has a lot of it) and I was exerting a case of "lead-ass." Sorry to curse, but it's true. However, over the past few weeks I've been noticing so much about my girl and marveling at God's handy-work. I've said many times before that God created Soph to be our daughter, but now I'm actually seeing it in our everyday lives.

This is probably weird for those of you who have biological children - you expect to see yourself in your kids....physical attributes, habits, character traits...etc. But we don't get that - I will never look at Sophie and think, "she's got her father's eyes." I can't pull out old baby pictures of me and compare them to hers - and truly I'm ok with that. Yes, sometimes there is a twinge of pain, but at the same time, I would never trade what we have in her for a daughter who looks like me!

I say all this because lately I'm starting to "see us" in Sophie! Ok, obviously she will never have George's coloring (thank God), but the other night we were watching our cat and she and I both laughed at the same time with the same lilt in our voices. And by lilt I mean that really obnoxious laugh that I do (sorry world). I was so taken aback by it that I longed for a tape recorder so that I could replay that moment over and over. Then, there's the fact that she is obsessed with Ralph on "A Christmas Story!" I mean, this girl is quoting lines from the movie....and she's only 2 1/2!!! I watch the same movie every night during the holiday season - truly a classic.

I know this all sounds silly, but I feel like God is reassuring me that Sophie was "wonderfully and fearfully made," to be our daughter....obnoxious laugh and all!

Putting it out there....

Ok, so I'm just going to have blogarrhea here - I have so much I want to get out, and I must do it on blog so that when this is all over, I can look back on it and see how God has moved!

This year has probably been one of my most challenging for me as a teacher. I love my principal and am inspired by her daily. I don't know if it's the kids, the fact that this is my 7th year, or becoming a mom...but I'm feeling pulled away from teaching. Yikes, did I just say that? Not that I don't want to be a teacher....I do, I do, I do! I love my kids, I love watching them make connections, and I LOVE when the lightbulb goes on! But it's this one student that's really getting me....the one I leave at home everyday: Sophie.

She is my everything, and I feel like she's growing up without me! Each day I come home (exhausted - mentally, physically, emotionally) and she has lived all this life without me! I know what you're thinking - I'm that crazy mom who wants her kids with her all the time. And to that I say, "Yes!" I want to be there when she's learning, and I want to be there when she discovers who Jesus really is. I want to see her make connections and watch her lightbulbs go on and watch her become the woman God made her to be. Now here's the hard part....I can't do all of this and teach everyday.

Again, I know what you're thinking..."teachers have it so easy! They get all holidays off and summers paid! What do they have to complain about?" True, I do get an awful lot of time off (and btw, summers are really only 10 weeks anymore). But teaching is so all-consumingly-consuming! My day doesn't start at 8 and go until 5....and I rarely have a weekend where I'm not grading or planning. So where does this leave my daughter? Where does it leave me and George? It leaves me empty, deflated, and unsatisfied.

So where do we go from here? I have to make money - that's a fact. In our family, I am the bread winner. But we figured out that if we can get our car paid off and our last credit card, that with me making 1500/month we'd be....dare I say "comfortable?"

Yet, here's the uncomfortable part: where does this leave us with our adoption? Each time I pray I continually get conformation from God to move forward, but we still haven't. We're now off the waiting list and with a few paperwork items and $2600 we're on to the next step. And that's where I'm stuck. I don't know where this money is going to come from. I don't know how we'll pay off our car and our credit card. And so here I sit....procrastinating more and more...and feeling more and more miserable at school.

(Heavy sigh) I'm going to go take some blogmodium!

Wait for your crib, Debby!

So Thursday morning I was in the place I do my best thinking....no it's not the bathroom (well sort of)...it was in the the shower. Something about the silence, the relaxation, and the peace make it the spot where grand ideas are birthed. I was thinking about my friend Nicole. Nearly 8 months pregnant, she is reaching the peak of her "nesting phase." The baby's room is painted, clothes are hanging in the closet, and everything is in place except for one thing....a crib. As an expectant mom, that is a huge piece of the nursery missing. Suffice it to say, she's getting nervous.

Her sisters, along with another colleague and I are planning a baby shower for her. While discussing some of the shower details with her, she became very anxious and started asking if it would be rude to suggest on the invitation that people pitch in to purchase a crib. Ummmm...invites have already gone out, Nikki! I could see the fear brewing just beneath the surface! A few hours later her sister called me...Nicole had also talked to her and pleaded her case for a crib. Frustrated, her sister complained that family members had already joined together and not only was she getting the crib she wanted, but also the travel system she had registered for! If she will just wait, she's going to get everything she needs! her sister exasperated.

So back to the shower.... there I was thinking (and laughing to myself) about this situation. It dawned on me then that this must be exactly how God is looking at me right now. Here I sit, wanting another child soooo badly. We're having to wait (yet again), and all I can think about is how to make this process go faster - what could I do to get another baby now? Seriously, in my mania I've been questioning our agency choice, whether we should switch to foster care, even contemplating getting pregnant (ummmm...yeah right - no thank you!).

And up in Heaven God must be shaking his head and laughing as He thinks to Himself, if she will just wait, she's going to get everything she needs!

Stupid shower epiphanies!

The Mountain....

So this afternoon at lunch I received a phone call from our adoption agency. Yes, all the initial paperwork is in, however, because of the high number of waiting families, we will have to wait three months to begin the process. Ummmm...ok, what's three months? I think.

Then, hearing the slight discouragement in my voice, she tells me that we need to prepare ourselves for a wait. She told us that typically birth mothers pick families who are childless because they want to fill a void for that family. Really? I think. We were overlooked so many times with our first adoption because the birth mother wanted her child to have siblings. So by this point my discouragement is palpable. I look over to Jenny who tells me just to get up and go to the car (she always knows best!). I will not cry...I will not cry...I will not cry....yeah right!

I tell all this to Jen and feel I am instantly transported back to my own personal mountain. For those of you who don't know, it's the same metaphorical mountain that the Israelites were delivered to a few thousand years ago. Here God had set them free and performed incredible miracles right in front of their eyes, yet when they got to the wilderness, they couldn't even trust Him to take them on a 2 week journey to the promise land! Instead, they went around and around and around the same mountain for 40 years!

Now, here I am again at my mountain. Two years ago I witnessed an incredible miracle...the birth of my daughter! Yet, now I'm once again not trusting Him to take me through this adoption process again???? No, I don't want to go around this same mountain again!

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding." Proverbs 3:5

I will lean on you Lord - I will trust in You - and I will put all my confidence in you, your plans, and your timing. I will not listen to those words of discouragement...your plans are better and you are greater!

I will not go around this mountain again.