Moving

So, we bought a house 2 days ago. It is adorable and in a great neighborhood. It has a cute fenced-in backyard and a big porch on the front where we can sit and relax. It has a sunroom off the kitchen were Will can play while I cook in the kitchen. The basement is perfect for students to come over and hang out. We close on it December 15th. Sounds great, right?

Here's the catch- We moved into our current house back in June and were told that we'd close at the end of the month. The seller let us move in prior to closing, we just had to pay utilities. It was a short-sale so we were getting the house for a great price. A contract was signed. Every thing was done on our end. We were told every single month since June that we'd be closing at the end of that month. It never happened. Mid-October we got a call from the seller's agent telling us (again) that we'd likely close at the end of the month. Two days later we received an eviction notice from the lawyers for Freddie Mac telling us that we needed to move out because the property had been foreclosed on. You can imagine our shock. It turns out the seller knew the property was foreclosed on back in September but didn't want to tell us b/c they were trying to resend the foreclosure and didn't want to lose us as potential buyers. We tried contacting the lawyers for Freddie Mac and Freddie Mac directly and never heard back from anyone until a couple of days ago. To make a long story short, we have to move out by this weekend. 2 babies, 2 parents, all of our earthly possessions and 3 weeks until we can get into our new place. Praise God that we have an amazing church family and friends that are making sure we are taken care of.

All of this is bittersweet. We are sad to leave this house because we have made it our home in the last five months. We adore our neighbors here and will miss neighborhood dinners on Tuesday nights and little ones knocking on our door almost daily to see if Will can come out and play. We will miss the high schoolers that live across the street that come by to hang out with Brad. We will miss being walking distance from Brad's work and downtown Kirkwood.

That being said, we are so thankful that we were able to find another house so quickly. By the grace of God they accepted our offer even though it was much lower than their asking price. The seller said something like "Well, if it will benefit the Kingdom we are willing to consider it". Brad also randomly saw the owner outside mowing the lawn and stopped to chat. The man thanked Brad for what he did for a living (working in student ministries). They seemed genuinely sympathetic to our situation.

We are a little overwhelmed at the thought of packing and moving again, especially with two little ones. I also keep thinking about how long it took us to unpack and get really settled in here. It is time to trust that God will provide for all of our needs. He always does. We praise him for our new house. I will post pictures once we are all cozied-in.

Feta-Stuffed Chicken

This is a tried and true in the Lucht house. It literally takes only 10 minutes to prep and I often have all the ingredients on hand.

Feta-Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c breadcrumbs (make your own from sprouted bread!)
2 Tbs Butter
4 Tbs Feta Cheese (T.J.'s has Feta w/Med. Herbs which is extra good!)
4 tooth picks


Directions:
Pound the chicken breasts flat with a rolling pin or meat mallet. They should be about 1/4 of an inch thick. This keeps the meat nice and tender and allows it to cook quickly. Rinse the chicken of with water and then dredge each breast in breadcrumbs. Put one tablespoon of feta cheese onto each breast, and then fold over. Hold the stuffed breasts closed with a tooth pick. Melt the butter and poor it over the chicken breasts. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Serve over fresh spinach leaves with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. You will love it!

Swiss Oatmeal

This stuff is the best. . .well, it is the best if you like oatmeal and yogurt. I have been making this in big batches and then keeping it in the fridge to eat for several days in a row. I'm obsessed with it right now. I first had Swiss Oatmeal (I think another name for it is Cold Oatmeal or Summer Oatmeal) years ago at Corner Bakery and then a friend of mine gave me a simple recipe for it. I toyed around with that recipe and some other recipes from online to get a flavor and consistency that I liked. You can totally doctor this up any way you like to meet your tastes. Enjoy!

Swiss Oatmeal

Ingredients:

-1 1/2c Water
-3/4 c Old Fashioned Oats
-3/4c Whole Milk
-3/4c Whole Milk Vanilla Yogurt
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 c banana
-1/4 c dried cranberries
-1/4 c granny smith apples peeled and chopped

Directions:
Cook the oats in boiling water for about 8 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes but not too long or it will be too difficult to stir in the other ingredients (you can also soak your oats beforehand to get more nutrition out of them). Add the milk, yogurt and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Refrigerate overnight so the oats can absorb the other liquids. The next day stir in the fruits and enjoy! You want to wait until you are ready to eat the oatmeal to add the fruits so that they stay fresh. No one likes a slimy banana or a mushy apple. :)

*You could stir in raisins, almonds, walnuts, etc according to what you like. You could also use low fat milk and yogurt. We just like to eat full-fat dairy products in our home. If you want to know why you can check out this.

Mini Cupcake Tin Advent Calendar

This week I decided to try my hand at making an advent calendar for Will to use once we get to December. This one was super easy and I had all of the materials that I needed already except for a few sheets of Christmas themed scrap-booking paper. I can't wait to fill it up and hang it on the door!



Directions:
-Cut 24 circles of patterned paper to cover the muffin tin holes
-Cut 24 circles out of adhesive magnet sheets to stick on the back of each paper circle
-Print out the numbers 1-24 on card-stock in any font you like on the computer
-Punch the numbers out with a 3/4 inch craft punch
-Glue numbers onto each circle
-Embellish and decorate each circle however you like
-Drill 2 holes in the top of your muffin tin
-Fill each hole with treats/notes/stickers etc.
-Hang with a ribbon

Here is a close-up of some of the circles

More Grace

Ok, so life with two little ones is super exhausting and on certain days (like this one) it is difficult for me to have perspective. Ruby is sensitive and wakes up every two hours at night. Will is two and has a lot of strong opinions. I am a short-tempered sinner. Ruby spent much of the day crying and William has really been testing me to see if I mean what I say lately. Days like this leave me feeling angry, trapped and desperate.

At bedtime we sing William songs before putting him down. Brad often sings "Grace that is Greater" and I regularly sing "Amazing Grace". He always begs for more songs. Many times on days where I feel like all I did was battle my kids he will sweetly say "More grace please Mommy?" at bedtime. He is referring to the song but the Lord is speaking to my heart. More grace, please. I almost cried the first time he said it. God is so faithful to give me perspective when I lack it.