Trying something new

My friend Cary came over to practice with our cameras together.  You see...she is WAY better then me, but she is also willing to teach-Yay and thank you!  She was learning how to pan and freeze frames and we thought we would practice some.  It was super fun and my kids were great models and baby Joel a great napper! 

inside photo of our princess cowgirl...oh so sweet! I LOVE that I caught this moment.   You can't tell, but she is wearing a "hawagee" (her pronunciation of hawaii :) dress with a "hawagee" cowgirl hat.  Creative?  In everything!

and on to outside...Oh, skip do dee do

 Katie's got some ups!

 and downs

 Oh, hello Cary!

 Please run Owen??  Go fast!!!!

 WOW, you are super duper fast!

Zooooom!

 He was so fast my focus was on the back handle. :)  And look at those feet!!!

 You got some air under those boots!!  Way to go, O!

 what facial expression is that??  :)

Fun times...lets do it again Cary!

Daddy and Owen to breakfast

It has been TONS of fun to watch our kids learn to LOVE going on dates/outings with their Daddy.  I get some dates too :), but as a mom it is precious to watch my kids love love love their Dad time.  Owen's last outing was for breakfast in which they brought me back a decaf coffee and K a bit of smoothie.  

Thanks sweet boys!

Katie asks and responds

"I have this really hard question I think I should ask you."

okay Katie, ask...

"What if my fan came off my ceiling?"

Humm....I guess we would fix it or pray about buying a new one.

"What if the light bulbs fell down at night?"

I have never seen that, but if it did we would put them back up.

"What if my other light fell off of its string?"

It would probably bounce off your chair and roll into the room.

"Would you probably come into my room to check on it?"

Yes.

-stalling questions before going to bed.  :)

______________________

In the car on the way to church yesterday...
Daddy was imploring Owen to should keep his shoes on (since he ALWAYS takes off his shoes in the car).

"Owen, if God was supposed to keep his shoes on, he would".

And Owen who right now, is responding to any obedience questions with, "God", said just that, God shaking his head, yes.

Katie jumped in and said, "Daddy, God lives in heaven and he doesn't wear shoes since he is always living on Holy Ground".

Two kids version of reheating pizza

I turned around and laughed out loud...

I gave the kids cold pizza and they were reheating their slices on the vent!

oh fun times.

Wisdom from Momma 1.

I have been on the search for wisdom. Wisdom as it relates to parenting, to growing older well and being a quiet and gentle wife/woman.

In my praying I decided to ask some other (older) moms ~10 questions if they were willing.  Here is one friends response to my questions.  This mom has three kids in Junior High/High school.

I hope they encourage you as they have me!

1- What traits or verses have you prayed that God would instill in your kids? 
There are so many. Hard to say just a few but as they get older I think my focus is on their love for the Lord. It's so easy as children to trust and believe. It's easy for my teenagers too but to really live it gets hard! I also pray for hearts that not only love him but want to serve him, are generous to others and see others the way Christ sees them. That's tough for me too.

2-What is one lesson you are glad you trained your children in at an early age?
Hmmm...learn to laugh at yourself. Don't take yourself too seriously. Laughter is great. Keep your home full of laughter. Laugh with each other every chance you get.

3-How do you balance time between your husband/kids and your own need of personal quiet time?
tough one. I think as a mom you sacrifice your own needs much of the time. I don't mean your quiet time with the Lord, but perhaps you don't get to do everything you want to do. I put my husband and kids before my own wants. Time is so short with them. Your time will come to have lunches or get your nails done. I tried really hard to work around my kids schedules so I could be available for them and to be with them. I tried to keep a date night each week when possible with my husband. Now it is a date lunch bc the girls schedules are tighter in the afternoon/evenings. But let your kids know that your time with their father is very important to you and your family.

I honestly didn't do much when my girls were young. They were my ministry as was A and supporting him and our household. You can certainly serve in other areas but I tried very hard to keep my family first always-that meant saying no to some good things. My brother told me one time to remember that there will be time to do other things later- not to try to do everything I was asked to do!

4-Is there something you wish you would have done more of with your kids? 
perhaps more service projects with them...but it's hard with little ones. We have been on several family mission trips and that has been wonderful. Might have started that earlier! But I have no regrets as far as time with them. That is so important!

5-Any book make an impact on your family life?

Anything from James Dobson!
Dobson-The New Dare to Discipline
John Rosemond-love his books- New Parent Power!
Honey for a Child's Heart-by Hunt gives you great books to read together or as they get older-good resource
Faith Training-Joe White(anything he writes!)
You Can Raise a Well-Mannered Child-Moore
Let's Make a Memory-Gaither and Dobson-great creative ideas for holidays etc to make them special. Love this one!
Heritage Builders put out a set of Family NIght tool Chest books which are great for family nights centered around Biblical teachings! We had fun with family nights!
Shepherding a CHild's heart by Tedd Tripp-one of my favorites! A must read.

On down the road!!!-
Preparing for Adolescence by Dobson
Parenting today's adolescent by Rainey
           both of those are great
Passport to Purity when the time comes is a great resource by Family Life


Sarah Knott's parenting class-can get CD's from CBC if you don't already have them.

6-How have you dealt with fear/anxiety and the what ifs of life?
Give it to the Lord! I honestly don't have those thoughts often. I go back to the fact that the girls belong to Him. He is sovereign over all things...all things. Even my mistakes.

7-What is one trait you would like your children to remember about your family life?
I will ask them that but would hope for laughter and fun times together! Hope they see our hearts for the Lord and generosity.

8-Is there one place or experience you and your husband are thankful you took your children to visit or experience?
Definitely mission trips to S. America to see children who have nothing but are so happy! Also this may not be what you are asking but my kids love the memories they have of our family vacations. We have started going to the same place the last few years which has been really special. I wish we had made the tradition sooner. Even if it the same beach house that you rent each year- such memories- the good with the bad but still fun memories.  

9-If there was one thing or one word you could encourage me when raising young kids, what would it be?
Enjoy it! Oh my it passes so quickly. T is off to college in 7 months:( I passed a mom strolling her kids the other day and just about cried. What wonderful days of play dates and swinging on the swings! As you fold all that laundry, thank God that you have children. Love on them as much as you can.

10-As your kids have gotten older what are one or two things I could be thinking about to instill in them personal devotions-to make their faith their own and not to live on the faith of their parents?
Don't beat yourself up. Be diligent with devotions as they grow but remember some will be great and some won't. There will be days when no one listens and you think it is a waste of time. It is always worth it. Keep a devotional appropriate for their age especially as they grow. Even now I will ask mine in the mornings if they had their quiet time. Just an encouragement and also an openness with them. I let them know( and they see it of course,) that I am not perfect. I mess up, get busy, forget my time with the Lord but don't give up. The Lord is faithful even when we aren't. We still pray with the kids at night. Sometimes all together sometimes separately in their beds. Let them see your heart- not just the hear the words.

Two workers.

If Daddy is working....so is Owen!

Owen wanted me to tell everybody that he has on his 'work boots'.  :)

Journaling-"Listening" for 2012

I've contemplated for the past few weeks my thoughts for this new year.  I've read some blogs and listened to a few folks talk about their new years resolutions for 2012.  I've prayed and asked the Lord, what is it He wanted to me to focus on...and it seems to be elusive. Should I pick 10 things or two to work on...should I list them or develop the ideas into categories....Then it popped into my head yesterday, this one word...

LISTEN

Listen to ME.  Listen to your husband.  Listen to your kids.  Listen to your body.  Listen to your friends.  Listen to your family.  Really, listen to what is going on.  I think that I 'thought' I listened well,  but have come to realize that I don't.  I can't do two things at the same time very well.  I am to caught up in my own thoughts most of the time that I miss things.  I need to stop and be okay focusing on one thing to listen (and understand!).

...I want to hear what Katie is so excited about and get excited about it with her.  I want to engage in the story Justin is relaying to me and communicate back with him.  I want to take those short naps, listening to my getting older-can't make it all night without sleep-body. I want to listen to family and friends and hear what it is they are trying to say.  I want to listen to Owen as he learns new words -the joys and struggle of communicating.

So this year, I want to listen.  I want to hear the funny moments, the hard moments of rebuke, the songs my kids sing, the compliments my husband gives me, the struggles of my friends, the joys of my family and most importantly the Word of God.  -"Oh that My people would listen to Me." Ps 81:13

And I want it to change the way I live.  I want to have a listening heart that grows in truth.  I want to listen to older women telling wisdom, hear them and then put those nuggets into action.  I want to therefore listen and follow through!  It is a blessing to be able to grow old.  But not everyone grows old well.  And I want this year of listening to grow me into a better wife, momma, friend, sister, daughter, child of God.

Keep me accountable peeps who read my blog!

-And I am thankful as I look back over last years post here, that I have done a lot of these things, these 10,000 little things.  Though I haven't done everything as much as I would have liked it was a great exercise for the year.  Thankful to look back and see God's faithfulness in the mundane.

My feet just got a headache

Katie ran outside without her shoes and then came back in after I finished talking to a friend.

"Mom, my feet just got a headache.  Did you know that feet can get headaches? It was because they were chilly."

:)

love

 love her.

Food

Food thoughts-

Over the past few weeks I have been on a mission to plan my meals, shop at the grocery store a few times a week (instead of everyday because I am not prepared) and to try new things.  So far I have been pretty successful.  Still working hard, yet living by grace.  :)

I was also talking with my sister who was in a rut about food and decided I would email some menu ideas to her that were easy and we had eaten in the last week or so. Plus, another idea that I am doing is calling a friend or two that I appreciate their cooking, asking what they have had for dinner and then adding their menu to ours!  It sure has saved me from hours of planning and also we have added new things to our plates-yay!

Below I am going to post a few things so that I don't forget some yummy new foods we tried and/or to help anyone out that is also stuck!

Oh and my friend, Kristin (thank you!) pointed me to this site-100 Days of Real Food and it is WONDERFUL.  Please check it out if you have a desire to learn about foods or get good ideas for healthy menu item or to take their 10 day challenge to not eat processed foods!  If I could have written something like this I would have!  Of course she is a much better written then I ever will be and more organized :)...high fives to the author Lisa!  A sweet site.  Go check it out! :)

Foods we have enjoyed lately:

1. Kale Chips-I honestly didn't think I would be addicted to these....but alas I AM HOOKED!  They have a similar texture and taste to potato chips, but healthier and in season right now! Disclaimer-I took one bite and liked it okay.  But then I tried another crunchy piece and they sure did grow on my taste buds.  :)

2. Anything with sweet potatoes.  These as well are in season and full of nutrients!  We have tried sweet potato biscuits, sweet potato smoothies and sweet potato cookies.  Next on the docket is sweet potato hummus and a soup!  Everything has been a delicious amount of sweet and also very moist.  Cookie recipe-I changed the pumpkin to sweet potato, flour was spelt and used honey granulars instead of sugar, cutting down the sweetener to 1/2 cup which was plenty since it was a 'sweet' potato.  :)   Biscuit recipe-yummo.  I used spelt again and honey granulars with good success!

3. Smoothies.  We've done smoothies in the past and then it just fell away.  Probably when Owen was born, I was to wiped out and so the smoothies stopped.  But after seeing gorgeous photos on Pinterest I was reminded of what a great nutrient benefit these are to our diet.  Plus it really really helps us all get enough liquid into our bodies in the winter.  We've tried this green one which is light and yummy and then have made some blueberries/raspberries ones that are tasty.   I try to add some extra Vitamin C powder, flax seeds and probiotics for our systems to have a boost.

And lastly....here are some of what has been on our menu these past two weeks!

1. Pizza, salad and sweet potato cookies
2. Taco Salad (buying and cooking extra for sloppy Joes), and dressed up Pico.
3. Pinwheel chicken, salad and sweet potato cookies
4. Left overs
5. Sloppy Joes-(seasoned with your favorite bar b sue sauce!), peas and baked/seasoned potatoes
6. Spicy Veggie Chili and sweet potato biscuits
7. Grilled DELICIOUS chicken and Potatoes from Bobby Flay-recipe below from our friends the Muses! It is SO worth putting this recipe into your 'to try' box.  Justin tried this and IMMEDIATELY he said, DELICIOUS and he said...I over ate and LOVED it!  :)  Oh and the sauce is great on subs or as a salad dressing or a dipping sauce.  Make sure you read through the directions, but know it is easy peasy!
8. Chipolte....love that place.  :)
9. Spaghetti and meatballs, bread, salad
10. Lentil soup with chicken sausage and sourdough bread

Recipe for you!

SOOOO good Bobby Flay Dinner!!!

Grilled Chicken with Roasted Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette and Grilled Potatoes--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients:

For the roasted garlic-oregano vinaigrette: (I made this the day before)
8 cloves roasted garlic
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves-I used dried for this one
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes...-forgot this ooops!

For the grilled chicken and potatoes:
12 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed
Kosher/sea salt
Olive oil
4 (8-ounce) bone-in chicken breasts
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Keep some fresh oregano sprigs, for garnish-optional
Fresh some fresh parsley sprigs, for garnish-optional

For the roasted garlic-oregano vinaigrette
Combine garlic, vinegar, oregano, parsley, honey and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil and process until emulsified. Stir in the red chile flakes.

For the grilled chicken and potatoes:
Place potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until a paring knife inserted comes out with some resistance. Do not cook the potatoes all the way through because they will continue cooking on the grill. Drain well and when cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise.

Heat the grill to medium. (I do think this recipe would also work baked in the oven if you don't have a grill)

Brush the chicken and potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on the grill, skin-side down and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn the chicken over and continue grilling until just cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. A few minutes before the chicken has finished cooking, place the potatoes on the grill, cut-side down and cook until lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes Turn over and continue grilling about a minute longer. (*FYI-the chicken took about 25 minutes for me, a bit longer then the recipe says and I put the potatoes in a sauté pan on the grill to finish the cooking.)

Remove the chicken and potatoes to a platter and immediately drizzle with the roasted garlic-oregano vinaigrette. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with oregano sprigs and parsley sprigs.

EAT!

Ok that is all I have folks.  I hope someone can glean from this post...and if not, it will be a great reminder for us! 

The Park in January

We tried a new park to us...North Hills.  What a neat tucked away park!  It is literally 3 minutes from the Target and a great place to enjoy letting off energy, eat lunch and bask in the sunshine.  :)  We stopped by Justin's office (right around the corner) to say hi and then headed to play.  I think you can tell by the photos-we had a lot of fun!

Anyone want to join us sometime soon if the weather stays warm and beautiful?

:( Bummer, I set my camera to adjust to the shade and then forgot to change it back when I caught this smile.  But you can still see her joy of going down the very high twisty slide!

*it is jam on katie's chin, don't worry!

:( Same bummer camera setting!  But love the smile!

The tender side of Owen

 A few days ago when Katie was out with Daddy, Owen took it upon himself to put down the 'babies'.  He moved the trash can over to his door (no idea why he choose the trash can :) then placed everyone on top.  He found a pink blanket then tucked them all in.  Clifford got to be with them as they went to sleep and the soccer ball was there too-I don't know why!  What a sweet brother for tucking in Katie's dolls!

How we did our 'new year'!

We ate homemade pumpkin donuts-here is the recipe I used-yummmmmmmy! I did switch a few things to make them healthier for us and I think we will have these on special occasions!  Everyone LOVED them.

We also had hot chocolate which is super yummy.  

I am so thankful that we can buy almond milk for our family!  

Then we ate our 'picnic' lunch on the porch...it was that warm-wahhhhooooo! We really enjoy eating lunches like these.  They are festive, easy and filled with a variety of good foods.  I think the kids now enjoy everything on the board.  That does mean that Justin and I have to make sure we get a few things before little hands snatch it all in their cute hands.  :)  *it does look like Katie's tummy is strange-don't worry it was just that she was standing funny and leaning against me!*

Then we did some ironing...my two helpers.

Finally we needed some creativity around dinner time.  Our Knight came out and so did Minnie!

What a start to our new year.

Owenism

Yesterday I caught Owen chasing Katie around desiring to discipline her.  Hummmm...

He is working on 20 weeks for potty training...some days many accidents....some days (like today) great! He does like to repeat Duck (from a potty training board book)-wait, wait, wait, GOoooooo!  And he is doing better when he earns stickers in order to watch, "Bob the Builder"!

He still drinks like an elephant and has learned to eat pretty much anything-thankful!  His favorite right now?  Eggs!

During errands today he managed to ring the bell at Trader Joes (which is for management to come),  drop to the floor protesting my rules for "no touching, eyes only", and pull Katie to the ground when he was supposed to hold her hand in the parking lot.

He LOVES his big sister and they can be found playing together every moment of the day.  One favorite thing lately is for Katie to try and read to Owen.  He Loves to read and be read to!

Still sucks his two middle fingers and we just moved him to a big kids bed!  He is a cuddle kid-which this mommy loves!

Sleeping is still a work in progress...going to bed at 7:15-7:30 pm and waking up at 6:15 am. He is working on playing or going back to sleep until 6:45-7 am when we go into get him up.  One nap about 1:30ish for an hour and a half.  The bad news is that he still wakes up a few times a night. Daddy and Owen are working on this one!

Tonight Owen put to bed Lily the baby doll and Katie's doll house family on top of the trashcan lid with a blanket.  He will make a great Daddy some day!

He LOVES to be outside working, riding his tractor or 4 wheeler.  He can almost reach the pedals on the tricycle and loves to pick dandelions, rocks and sticks (we've found some within the past few weeks...that is how warm it has been!)

Within the past few weeks his vocabulary has grown by handfuls of words.  Most of the time his words are one syllable, but understandable.  One of my favorite words is, 'kip, kip, kip' (skip!)  then he gallops like a horse!  He also waves and says hi to about anyone walking on the sidewalk or on the path while we are taking a walk.

He wears 2T clothes and is average in height and weight.  If he has pockets on his pants his hands are sure to be in them!

'Mo' is is favorite stuffed animal-a monkey.  Mo gets to dance a lot with Owen.

He is enjoying all his cars, airplanes, work vehicles and lately we have been taking them with us in the car for him to hold.

He loves to spin around when he is dancing.  He can also do some break dancing and the snake aka-the worm.  :)

He has started to request daddy outings (dates)-which is wonderful!

Nicknames-hops, bubs, buzz, little man, sweet boy

And now he has called me back to his room 6 times to give me 'one last hug'.  Sweet (and a bit manipulative :)

Our little man sure is becoming a piece of work.  Love you O!

A favorite baking ingredient

I am always trying to cook with natural or ingredients in their most raw state-for the nutritional benefits.  I have tried to redo a lot of recipes with success by changing out the oils or flours or sweeteners.  There is a little bit of tweaking that takes place, but for the most part they can be equally substituted and taste relatively the same.  For sweeteners we now use maple syrup from a farm in PA (thanks Beth!), local honey or on occasion we have raw sugar.

One of my favorite finds was granulated honey!  It is WONDERFUL.  I use it in all my baking and think that it is an easy peasy way to use more natural ingredients.  I have tried to research the health benefits of this process for turning liquid honey into dried pin sized granulars, but haven't found much yet-I will keep looking.  But until then if you are looking for a great substitute in your baking try granulated honey.  I buy ours from Bread Beckers and though shipping is high, if I split an order of 3-4 pails with friends it is worth it and well priced!  And a five gallon pail will last quite a long time.  One can also buy it from Amazon to give it a try.  Oh and remember that honey is naturally sweeter then sugar so use about 1/4-1/3 less then the recipe calls for if you do give it a try!

Happy Baking!