Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

Joining MOPS, Fall Baking & Maternity Leave September 17, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Cooking Experiments,Parenthood,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 4:55 pm
Fall Baking

Fall Baking

I’m a big fan of pre-baby maternity leave! Originally, my logic was that I wanted to tie up all my loose ends at work. I didn’t want to be in the office one day and out the next having a baby. I knew I would be less stressed if I took care off the details in advance. It certainly made for a busy summer at work because I took care of the fall season at the same time. I feel good about how I left things in the office.  The plan seemed to work. However, I started to think about how I would fill my time once I was maternity leave. If you’ve been following my blog for any length time, you know that I don’t sit around watching TV and eating bonbons.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m using this free time to connect with a lot of people before the baby comes. I’m having my “Social September” and I’m enjoying time with loved ones.

It’s only been two days of “leave” and I’ve managed to do a lot around the house. I have done three major baking projects. The first was a favorite for Jeremy called Hello Dollies. He loves these and I always make them in the fall – usually around the holidays. I wasn’t sure what my holiday season would look like with a new little one, so I made these goodies in advance. He is enjoying some now, but we froze most of them so he can pull them out at will over the next few months. The second project was out of this month’s Food Network Magazine. I had the ingredients for Butterscotch Pecan Blondies and I needed to bring a snack for MOPS this morning. It seemed like a good opportunity to try a new recipe. They were a hit! I think they are slightly addicting so I’m glad I could share them with the MOPS moms and our staff at work. The final project was for my Wednesday night class tomorrow night.  I have fall cookie cutters that I try to use once a season and this was the time. I spent my afternoon making cookies, frosting them and covering them with autumn colored sugar crystals.

Snuggling with the puppy and a good book!

Snuggling with the puppy and a good book!

Other highlights apart from baking, I’ve had plenty of time to clean and tidy my house. My regular cleaning day for the longest time was Wednesday, but the last few weeks it’s been Mondays. I’ve also had time to read and relax with my puppy. I think that Toby is enjoying my new schedule since he gets to be out of the crate more. Yesterday I took an afternoon nap! I try to get those in as often as I can since sleeping at night has become harder.

Today was my first MOPS meeting. I’ve never been involved with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) because I’ve never been one. I still don’t really feel like I’m a part of the club. Maybe because my baby has yet to be born so the motherhood phase really hasn’t started. MOPS has always been a bit scary for me in the past. Moms intimated me. I’ve been told “Oh, just you wait…” so many times that I feel like they don’t validate my experience working with children. Anyway, this is a new opportunity for me and one that I’m hoping to grow from. Today was a good start, but I’m still unsure how the year will look. I felt like a kid on the first day of school. I really hope the other kids like me… We even had to take pictures for the directory so it felt a lot like back to school. I’m praying this new season of life will open up ministry doors that have been previously closed to me. By actually being a mom in the near future, I pray that I’ll be able connect and relate to this group of women in a new way.

In a lot of ways this season is about slowing down and just enjoying each day as it comes. I know that things will be different once the baby arrives, but for right now I’m just making the most of this pre-baby time. Doing things like baking and having quiet moments around the house really fill me up and give me what I need. In turn, I’m able to be social and add commitments to my calendar that I wouldn’t normally.  Even though I’m “out of the office”, I’m still serving at Bethel and it feels good to keep investing in relationships as we begin a new school year. Things are good. I’m enjoying this time.

 

Good to Go! September 14, 2013

Filed under: Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 9:41 am

Yesterday was a very productive day for Jeremy and I! We started off the day with a Starbucks run. This is typical before most doctor’s appointments since they are usually in the morning. For some reason we were both off and got up and ready an hour earlier than we needed to. The plan for the day had been to do baby shopping and finish getting the things that were still on our list. Because of our early departure, we were able to hit Target before our appointment. Armed with gift cards and coupons, we made quick work at Target! Our doctor’s appointment went well. I’ll see our doctor every week now until the baby comes. That seems strange. It is still hard to believe that we are at this point. After our appointment, we took on Babies’R’Us. We were able to again to use coupons and gifts cards. The savings were great and we even got a free umbrella stroller out of the deal because we spent a certain amount of money.

Lunch was a treat at Olive Garden. The fun thing for me was just getting to spend one-on-one time with my hubby. Our time together lately has been with people and his free time is spent it the woods chasing deer and elk, so a day to just hang out and do things together was greatly appreciated. After a couple more errands, we headed home with a full car.  Now we’re good to go. We are as ready as possible when it comes to baby “stuff” anyway. I spent the rest of the afternoon washing things and tucking them them away carefully into their new homes in the nursery.  I am happy to say that the shopping list is complete and so is the nursery! I’ll actually be able to show you the finished product in pictures today! Hurray! On a random side note, we were able to get a free breast pump through our insurance and that arrived yesterday as well. Free is always something to get excited about! It seemed fitting since the day was dedicated to preparing for baby. I’m very happy with the diligence we’ve taken to get good deals and spend our money wisely. There are a lot of start-up costs when it comes to having a kid. It feels good to have this part of the preparations behind us. Now It’s just time to wait. I’ll be full term in a week, so really baby could come at anytime! We’re as ready as we’ll ever be!

View from the door

View from the door

Dresser & Changing Table

Dresser & Changing Table

Glider & Crib

Glider & Crib

Fun Faces

Fun Faces

 

Ready to snuggle

Ready to snuggle

Little clothes on little hangers

Little clothes on little hangers

 

 

Social September September 12, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Parenthood,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 3:36 pm

I’m on a mission this month! The goal is to hang out with as many people as I possibly can. I’m calling it “Social September”. It’s hunting season right now so my hubby is often at work or out in the woods. This leaves me plenty of time to visit and catch up with others without ignoring him. Plus, this is the last month where I can make plans and only think of my family of two… Soon I will be thinking of my family of three. I know that life won’t stop once I have a baby. I know that lunch, coffee and dinner dates will still happen. But I figured it might not hurt to be good and social before the next season of my life begins.

I’m so blessed by the relationships that color my life. I have a great family on both my side and Jeremy’s side. I have wonderful friends and mentors who I can share my joys and struggles with. I also have a great group of young ladies that I’ve had the pleasure of investing in for the last few years. All these relationships have brought such depth to my life and I truly grateful for each on them.

I am just 30 days away from my due date. I have no clue, obviously, when our little one will come, but I’m taking each day one at a time and making the most of it. I am officially on maternity leave as of today, so my calendar has lightened a bit. This allows me to have the energy to be super social as well as it gives me extra time at home to prepare for baby, to read, to bake, to take a nap, etc. I’m doing things that I love with my time and it feels good.

I’m very excited for this next season of life and I am quite ready to meet our little man. I know that this new season will be special in it’s own way and I look forward to all the new discoveries life will bring. Until this new season officially starts, I’m doing my best to keep doing the things I love with the people I love. Social September is a lot of fun!

 

Picking a Plan & Recent Readings September 9, 2013

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Bible — Amy Scott @ 2:09 pm

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about books and I now intend to remedy that. First off, I wanted to share with you about my Bible reading plan. I decided a few months ago that I was going to get “ahead” in my one year plan so I could be finished by the end of the September. My logic was that I didn’t know what October would hold and I really wanted to complete reading the whole Bible in a year. Getting the plan finished before the baby arrived made sense. I guess it’s a good thing that I can read the Bible like it’s a novel because… I actually ended up finishing my plan in the middle of August. I just got carried away. Not a bad problem to have. This left me with the question, “what to do next?”  I’ve liked being able to use my YouVersion app on my phone to track my plan, so I looked there for a new whole Bible plan. After a lot of tempting options… I decided to do the same plan all over again! I know. I totally lack creativity! However, I decided that heading into a new season, that maybe something familiar would be a good idea. I like that the OwnIt365 plan is a 6 day a week plan. It gives you a day off or a day to get ahead. I like that it reads through the whole Bible only once. Some plans have you read multiple sections twice and that adds to the amount of daily reading time. It takes me about 15 minutes a day of reading with this plan and that is perfect. I guess that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it! I am happy to stay that on September 1st, I started my Bible reading plan again with the hopes if finishing in a year or by the end of 2014. We’ll see how that all pans out!

As for other reading, I’ve been in a re-reading phase. I’ve re-read many good series in the last couple of months – The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Love Comes Softly Series. I did re-read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis though it is not a series. It’s about Heaven and Hell and very thought provoking because it’s done through fiction. It’s a good read and I would highly recommend it. I was torn between a couple of different series to move on to, so I decided to go a different direction for a pause and started Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. I have great respect for Dr. Dobson and the Focus on the Family organization, but I will admit that I am couple of chapters in and I’m contemplating not finishing the book. At this point, he hasn’t said anything that I didn’t already know about boys. Maybe working with kids the last 7+ years has given me a better education into the male mind then I realized. I’ll give it a few more chapters… I’ll especially read the one chapter on mothers and sons. I don’t like to stop reading a book it the middle. My perfectionist nature usually compels me to complete every project I start thoroughly… but… I have more novels I could be re-reading on my bookshelf and they seem to be calling to me and drowning out the voice of Dr. Dobson. Poor guy. I’m sure he’ll recover.

That’s what’s been on my bookshelf and nightstand as of late. What books have been reading? Anything good? I’m always looking for new recommendations!

 

Double the Fun! September 8, 2013

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 2:24 pm

Picture1Yesterday, I had the honor of having a joint baby shower with my sister-in-law, Beckie. Our sister-in-law, Andrea, was a lovely hostess and planned a wonderful shower with double the fun. This shower was an assembly of family members from Jeremy’s side of the family. Now all of my people groups have been able to party and celebrate Baby Scott. I am very blessed!

Andrea had some traditional shower games planned for us. The first was a blind taste test of four different baby foods. I only got two of the four flavors correct. Oh well. I’m not a huge vegetable fan, so I didn’t expect myself to be a pro at identifying them in puree form. There was at least one fruit flavor in the bunch – pear – and I did get that one correct! Go me! The next game was “The Price is Right” with basic baby items. I did terrible at this game. The baby formula costs really threw off my grand total. I didn’t go over the correct total, but I was also nowhere near the right one. I must be out of touch with how much baby stuff really costs. However, both the baby food game and the pricing game were won by the most recent mother in the group. Go figure, she knew her stuff. I realize that I am about to get an education as I watch the dollar signs leave my bank account. The final game was called “My Water Broke” and every lady gets an ice cube with a plastic baby frozen inside. The first person to have the baby break free from the ice yells “my water broke” and wins the game. The same party guest who won the first two games also won this one, so we went for 2nd place to get the prize. Some people have all the luck. This was not my day, but I wasn’t allowed to win a prize, so maybe my heart wasn’t in it…

Andrea did a great job with the joint theme and set up a beautiful table to honor Beckie and I. She had individual mini-cakes that were adorable with our names on the them as well as a bucket of goodies for each of us. The fun for me was sharing this day with someone else. After two showers of my own, it was fun to have the third one be shared. It was also extra special to have all three expecting Scott ladies have some part in the shower. This is such a unique season as we plan on welcoming three new Scotts by the end of the year. As we were talking, we realized that that this might have been the last time all three of us were together in our pregnant states. It’s hard to believe that my due date is just 34 days away. Oh the anticipation! I am so grateful for the loving family that I married into. I’ve really enjoyed this season of sharing the journey with my sister-in-laws. They are both so special and I think might be just as excited for their new arrivals as I am for mine. Being an auntie is a great joy! These are good times in the Scott household!

 

The Calm After the Storm September 6, 2013

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 6:39 pm
How a lazy Friday should look!

How a lazy Friday should look!

Yesterday was pretty crazy day. I had a very productive morning at work and then spent the afternoon busily shopping and running errands with my mom and sister. On the drive home from my afternoon adventures, it was hard not to notice that a storm was rolling in. We’ve had thunder and lightning off and on the last few days, but nothing like the storm we had last night. This storm probably produced the most lightning I’ve seen in my life. Some of the booms of thunder shook our house good and made me cringe. I’m not scared of storms like this, but the intensity of it could not be denied. We even lost power for a few hours in the evening! Our poor Toby dog did not enjoy the show as much as my weather obsessed hubby did. Toby spent most of the night hiding in his “safe spots” and he refused to be comforted.

My turn to snuggle with Toby!

My turn to snuggle with Toby!

Today, however, has been a different day. The rain started off steady, but that wasn’t surprising after the amount we’ve seen lately. At one point, we had over 3 inches of rain fall in 24 hours. Pretty impressive. Jeremy had a later start, but still decided to go out hunting this morning. Toby and I tidied around the house, did some laundry and settled in for a day of reading and resting. On days like this my hubby comes home for a mid-day hunting break. I always love seeing him during hunting season because each time he is here and not in the woods feels like a treat. The hubby, doggie and I settled in for a quiet afternoon. Jeremy played video games and caught up on TV shows. I read more and took a nap. Toby pretty much slept and played with his toys. There was a contentment in our house. It was really a lovely way to spend a lazy day off. Well, lazy for me. Jeremy did put in a bit of walking this morning in the woods and now he is back out and at it again. Since Jeremy is gone, Toby is once again my buddy (I’m not as interesting when Jeremy is home and the dog flocks to him). We’ve made some dinner, finished a good book and now he sits by my side as I blog.

I love quiet days like these. Especially after long weeks, crazy thunderstorms and right before full weekends. These days bring sanity to my life and give me the strength to keep moving forward. My little introvert gets filled up during these quiet times at home. I’ve done nothing too impressive, but that is okay. There is time for impressive things later on. Right now I’m just enjoying the calm after the storm.

 

Feels Like Fall September 3, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Getting Creative,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 6:08 pm
New class bulletin board!

New class bulletin board!

I know that fall doesn’t technically start until later in the month, but for me, the beginning of September is the beginning of a new season. As you know from previous posts, I’ve been anxiously awaiting this new season and now it’s finally here! It’s finally fall! Hurray! This morning I woke up to rain outside my window. I watched the school bus drive down my street to pick up kiddos. My husband is now officially into hunting season and he took off early this morning in hopes of killing an elk. These are all signs that fall has arrived. Not to mention that I put my small amount of fall decorations out this weekend. I love driving home and seeing an autumn wreath on my door. It just does something for me! I’m also in the midst of preparing for my new class of girls tomorrow night. The 4th graders are now 5th graders and will be moving up! I’ve been planning and preparing for this new class and now it’s right around the corner. Of course, with a new year comes a new bulletin board. I always love decorating the classroom fresh and new. We’ll make a new poster tomorrow with all our names on it and we’ll decorate pumpkin picture frames to put up around the classroom. These days are some of my favorites! After two weeks off, I’m also back to baking for my girls, so tonight I made oatmeal M&M cookies. Good stuff! Even oatmeal seems fall like! Okay, I think I’m an autumn high! It’s just so good! What are some things you are looking forward to in this new season?

 

All in a Day’s Work September 1, 2013

Filed under: Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 3:41 pm

My hubby is a pretty adventurous guy. He’s laid back and usually is cool with about anything. I admire this trait in him a lot. Today at church we threw a big Labor Day Block Party for our community and Jeremy, of course, was very involved. He and our youth pastor, Josh, led “Minute to Win” games before our big animal shows. It’s always fun watching him play the role of game show host. During the animal show the pastors got called up a couple times for the fun job of being covered in snakes. Yes, Jeremy went down and very calmly had a python wrapped around him. At one point he had a handful of corn snakes. Now, I might be considered Pastor Amy, but I figured for the safety of my blood pressure and my unborn child, I would let others get in on that action!  In between animal shows, Jeremy was in the dunk tank as a fundraiser for the MOPS group that meets at our church.  He was a very popular pastor to dunk amongst the kids and the adults. His own father even got in on the action. Jeremy certainly did a lot things that aren’t normally in the job description today, but he did them with graciousness. I can’t say I would have held those snakes as calmly as he did. They kept giving him hand sanitizer every time he went down and handled a snake, but honestly, I think he needed it everywhere the snakes touched… Eww! He is a good pastor, a hard worker and I’m proud of him!

Job Hazards - Snakes

Job Hazards – Snakes

Job Hazards - Dunk Tanks

Job Hazards – Dunk Tanks

 

42 Days and Counting August 31, 2013

Filed under: Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 10:12 am

Today I’m officially at 34 weeks! 42 days and counting until my due date! It’s crazy how fast and slow time goes while you’re pregnant. It can seem like an endless process sometimes and then I’m hit with the reality how close I actually am to the finish line. I’m praying these next 6 weeks (or however many), will be a great time with friends and family. As we head into my favorite season, autumn, I’m already thinking of decorating the house and I’ve purchased yummy fall favorites to bake. With good company, good books and good food, I’m sure the time will fly by.

I haven’t posted a baby update specifically about our little guy in a while, so I thought I would give some new details. We had an ultrasound on Thursday to check up on the baby. I was measuring small so my doctor wanted to make sure that the baby was growing properly. Waiting two weeks for the ultrasound was hard. I kept thinking of all the worst case scenarios of why I was measuring small and what was wrong with our baby. It turns out that nothing is wrong with our boy. He is measuring just right! In fact, we was a day ahead in measurements and the technician mentioned he has a big head. There is no doubt that this is a Scott baby! However, my mom said that she has a big head and not to blame the Scott genes entirely. All I know is I have a small head, so he did not get this trait from me.  He is also in the right position with his head down and will probably stay that way from here on out. The technician also mentioned that the baby is a still a boy. I’ve heard plenty of stories along the lines of “They thought it was a ______, but right before the baby was born and  after the nursery was all decorated they found out they were having the opposite gender.” I’m happy to say that will not be our tale to share with others.

Family of Three!

Family of Three!

Many have asked about the name and yes, we do have one. This month, Jeremy and I took some time to flip through the baby name book together and do some research. It’s been an interesting process to decide on a name because I found out that I’m not the picky one! I had about 30 names that I like and Jeremy had 2! We decided on one name and had discussed how it could be gender neutral, but we knew no little girls with the same name, so we figured it would be okay. That same week, a friend posted on Facebook that her new niece had the same name we had chosen! This changed our minds about the name and we went on to the second name that Jeremy liked. (By the way, both names that Jeremy picked were on my long list of names, so it wasn’t a his names verses my names kind of a conversation.) Name number two has stuck so far and we’ve been using it a bit between the two of us to sound it out and get used to it. On our Leavenworth trip, we even had an ornament personalized with “the name” on it! That made it seem real. However, it’s a $7 ornament, so if the name does end up changing again, it won’t be the end of the world. At this point though, I don’t plan on things changing. So, what is the name??? You’ll just have to find out in October! Patience!

I have one more baby shower with my husband’s side of the family and a few small items to add to the nursery. I especially want to post a nursery blog, but I’m waiting for the completed project. Give me a few weeks and you’ll get the grand tour. Jeremy has been super motivated to get things in order before hunting season starts in September. It’s been a blessing to watch the nursery unfold and realize that a new member of our family is going to inhabit this space. My excitement level has definitely been building as things take shape.  These are fun times in the Scott household!

 

Crustless Pumpkin Pie August 30, 2013

Filed under: Cooking Experiments — Amy Scott @ 5:42 pm

The Whole PieI’ve been itching to do some baking and with the fall quickly approaching, I had pumpkin on the brain. Okay, I always love pumpkin, no matter what the season. I try to hold my desire to bake with pumpkin off until at least September, but this year I slipped up. It’s like listening to Christmas music in July. Somethings just can’t be helped.

I had purchased all I need to make a classic pumpkin pie, but once I got into the kitchen I decided I wanted to do something different. I went through some recipes and compared them to the supplies I had ready and on hand. In the end, I decided on a crustless pumpkin pie. A lot of factors went into this decision. The main reason would be laziness. I didn’t want to make a crust, bake it and then add the filling. The next reason was the crustless pie recipe I chose had a brown sugar-oatmeal crumble on top and that sounded good.

Just a sliceThe results where quite tasty and it was a surprisingly healthy recipe. Who knew subtracting the crust also subtracted calories? Go figure! The pie comes out a bit more custard like than the average pumpkin pie, but that is okay because my husband was trying to talk me into making a custard pie earlier today. I think I do miss the element of a crust and I probably won’t do crustless again. However, for a first time experiment, I’m glad I branched out and tried something new.

Because my pumpkin stash happens to be the big cans from Costco that make two pies, there is a good chance that there will be another pumpkin something produced from my kitchen in the future. I only used half of the can of pumpkin, so there is another half a can just waiting to be turned into pumpkin goodness. I’m thinking either muffins or bars! I’ll keep you posted!