Moles, Rats and Biscuits, Oh my!

The days are getting shorter and darker and the rain seems to have come for it's fall/winter/spring stay in the NW.  And, in all honesty, I don't loathe it like many.  However, it does take a little getting used to...  I tend to get a little quiet, a little down, a little withdrawn when it first shows up.  But, I think this is God's way of getting me to slow down.  To enjoy what my life is.  To cherish the comfy clothes, reading with my kids while snuggled in front of the fire, hearing the rain blow through the trees...

It's days of baking and sweatpants.  Days of pony-tailed hair and rain boots.  Days and days of coziness...  Oh, who am I kidding, that pony-tail is always there :) 

Yesterday, I prepared for dinner ahead of time.  I was determined to make a roast that would fall apart.  A roast that my family would love.  Determined.  I started my searing the sides in the morning. mixing together various flavors of yumminess and putting it ever so carefully in the crockpot.

What I love about the crockpot??  It gives me the entire day to get everything else done.  Do work in my daughter's classroom, get LOADS and LOADS of laundry done, to run and become a hot sweaty mess on the treadmill, to shower, to do homework with the kids AND even make biscuits too! 

I'm terrible at multi-tasking while cooking.  My family rarely gets side dishes because it's all I can do to get a main dish on the table.  Seriously.  It's usually chicken and rice and broccoli.  Those sides I can do.  Anything else and forget about it!  So, last night, while the roast cooked, I decided to attempt homemade biscuits.

I pulled out my trusty dusty Joy of Cooking and followed the directions step by step.  I was talking to my sister and told her that I figured if I messed them up, at least it was only flour, milk, salt, butter and baking soda that I had wasted.  I was not optimistic that they would turn out...

The timer went off and would you believe it??  They looked so tasty!  What sat before me was a tray of biscuits that Pillsbury would have been proud to call their own.  They had buttery layers.  They were golden.  They looked so tempting!  I'd be lying if I told you I didn't consider eating one.  However, my brain was smarter than my stomach and knew that a sleepless night due to my wheat allergy was not worth it. 

While my family sat at the dinner table ooing and ahhhing over my biscuits we talked about our favorite parts of the day.  When it came to my turn I couldn't list just one.  The smell of pumpkin muffins baking when I picked B up from preschool, working in E's classroom, running, getting laundry done, the biscuits, oh and the fact that my dog caught her very first mole and I killed it!!  Yes, my friends, I killed my very first mole.  There was no squeamish screaming.  There was no hesitation.  I just took that shovel and took care of it.  Stupid mole!  Take that!  That's for digging up my strawberries and poppies, and yard.  Dumb mole.

When it was my husbands turn he finished with, "oh, I didn't tell you.  I found a dead rat in the barn the other day.  It was this big and it's tail was this long."  Seriously????  Oh.  My.  Word!!  While I can handle a mole, a rat was a whole other story.  SICK!  I went ahead and let him know he didn't need to share that...

It's been days of cherishing life's moments.  It's been days of coziness with my kids.  It's been days of reflection and prayer...  Praying for my sweet friend Harmony over at Keep on Keepin' On.  She has been on my heart and mind constantly.   She is facing some trials that have made my heart heavy.  God and I have been having LOTS of conversations about her and her family.  Would you join me in praying for her family? 

Cherish your days.  Cherish your family.  Cherish life's moments...  .you will never regret it.