The Pool!

It has been ridiculously hot here recently (think 85 degrees in your home as you go to sleep at night) and has not rained for months which makes it feel even hotter (whoever says that "dry heat" doesn't feel as hot obviously has not spent an extended amount of time living in it).  So as a fun little prize we bought a cheap little blow-up pool for the kids to play in.  And play they did.  They basically lived in the pool for the entire weekend.  They had a blast and loved splashing, squirting, and squealing in their little pool.

Cute Pics of Our Sweetie Pie

Just recently I was talking to David about how thankful I am that our kids seem to take turns in their extreme cuteness and their extreme fussiness- that way when one is super fussy, the other one's super cuteness balances it all out. These pictures are definitely from Auburn Grace's super cute phase. At that time, Elijah was going through a time of learning to respect mommy and daddy better. And now, Elijah is super sweet often telling me out of the blue that he loves me, and of course, to balance things out, AG is definitely at one of her fussiest stages EVER (getting teeth, getting over a cold, getting more independent). It is always great to have these pictures handy when she reaches the heights of her "rascalness".

Tot School- Fire Engine Week!

This has been one of the most fun theme weeks in homeschooling thus far for both Elijah and me.  I loved all the fun activities, super cute crafts, and the best part of all was a field trip to the fire station to see real, live fire trucks!



Working with patterns- our first time to do this. It was actually

more difficult to explain than I thought, but end the end he did

just fine with it.



 

Kind of a silly face.  Such a fun craft though-
a Footprint Fire Engine!

This week he asked to trace this page over and over and over
again... and always with a different color!

Sorting firefighters and fire tools

We really got some strange faces throughout the pics this week!

Elijah loved this craft- Marble Painting! 

You add a few globs of paint, toss in some
marbles, roll them around and...

Whallah!

We played this fun race up the ladder game about 10 times
in a row.  He loved it!

A Dalmation paper bag puppet craft- Eljah wanted to paint the
whole bag by himself, and I must say that he actually did a very
thourough job with it.

Gluing on the body parts. He LOVES gluing things!

Cute little boy and his puppy

And on the last day, we did "Field Trip Friday" to the local Fire Station which Elijah thought was the best thing ever!  The firefighters were so friendly to us, and took their time to show us around the place.  It was a perfect way to end the week.

He was captivated by the "heuge" ladder.

Inspecting the hats, coats, and boots

Just taking a break

Elijah was enamored by the wheels and how big they were!

See this face of shock as he realizes that the
wheel is as tall as he is?

He is really into climbing these days and
loved being able to climb the fire truck ladder.

He felt so cool!

This was his favorite part!

Priceless face!

To Love God More

One of the blogs that I love to read is A Holy Experience by Ann Voskamp.  Ann writes in such a way that always causes me to search my heart, reflect on my life in light of the gospel, and challenges me to always go deeper with the Lord. 

Today's post was so rich, and as I read it one sentence really pierced me.

"If one’s not praying regularly, it’s only because something else is regularly loved more than God."

Ugh! A shot right to the heart. 

Prayer has always been difficult for me: partly because it requires that I sit still and quiet for long periods of time and partly because I just don't love God enough.  I want to; I really do.  I want all of me to always be all about all of God every moment of every day.  I want to love Him more and most.

But I must confess that it is a daily struggle to sit before the throne... waiting... listening.  There seems to be so much to get done; so many ways to serve God and others; so many people/things/situations vying for my time. 

But the real battles are won through prayer as people of God cry out to Him and He hears their cries and responds with justice and mercy.  Like when Moses pleaded with God to spare the lives of the idolatrous Israelites; and He did.   Like when Elijah pleaded with God to send fire; and He did. And like when Jesus pleaded with God to forgive the sins of those who nailed him to that cross at Calvary; and He did. 

It also looks like a wife who agonizes in prayer for an adulterous and cancer-ridden husband, begging God to heal him and return his heart to his first love, Jesus; and He does.  And sometimes it looks like a war with depression that seems like an out-of-body experience that only God can deliver from; and He does. It looks like souls saved, wayward children come home, and famines lifted.  God does that too.

So what is it that I love more than God that would cause me to miss out on the amazing victories that come through prayer?  Personal glory maybe?  Achievement possibly?  Sleep and exercise? Heaven forbid it!

In Philippians 3:8 Paul writes, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." God, that is truly the desire of my heart- to live like that.  Would You make it a reality and would You cause me to be ever before you in prayer knowing that Your glory will come? Help me to love You more. Amen.

Thoughts During the "Sleep Mode" Times

A friend asked me recently what I thought about when I wasn't really focused on anything particular.  I asked her what she meant.  "You know. Like when you are prepping for and cooking dinner. Or when you are drying your hair.  When you aren't working on something particular and your brain is just kind of in 'sleep mode'." 

Honestly I had never really thought about what I actually thought about during those times.  So I spent some time thinking about it. Then I realized how much time my brain actually spends in "sleep mode", and how unpuposeful all that time is, and how I want that to change. 

So I set out to take three of those main times each day and do something glorifying with them.  During my shower I lift up local partners.  While drying my hair, I pray for my family.  And while getting dinner ready I think on strategic ways that I can support David, reach out to others, and better love my children. 

I'm sure there are lots more times throughout the day that I need to make more purposeful, but for now, I am starting with these three in hopes that I will have a much better answer to the question next time I am asked and that I will have seen lots of answers from the Father in the process.

Operation Flab Attack

So now that Auburn Grace is fully weaned (it was official on Mother's Day), I (with the help of Jillian) have engaged in an all-out war against all the leftover fat that still remains from pregnancy and nursing of baby #2.  Normally, I would take my time in getting the extra weight off, but I am so anxious for a little getaway with the girls, and I definitely want to be able to do a little clothes shopping at H&M while we're there, and I definitley do NOT want to buy ANY. MORE. TRANSITION CLOTHES. Yuck!  I am so ready to be back in my normal clothes I can hardly stand it- especially now that summer is here with lots of outdoor acitivities and swimming. 
I worry that this may just be an exercise in vanity- I hope not.  It's just that after 9 months of obscene fatness and lethargy in pregnancy and then 11 months if semi-fatness and exhaustion in nursing I am ready to get the weight off and get my energy back.  Actually, during the weaning process I already began to feel much more energized, and now, I am ready to go!

So I have my dvd player loaded with Jillian, Bob, and Pilates' lady to help me with the moves.  I have two alarms set for EARLY to help me do the hardest thing and get out of bed.  I have my children who keep me super busy during meals which helps me eat smaller portions.  And I have my sweet husband who encourages me by telling me how beautiful I am and for doing power yoga with me at nights! 

Look out flab!  You're soon to be history!

Tot School- D is for Dolphin

This week we really had so much fun with everything we did in Tot School: games, crafts, tracing, reading, ipad apps, puzzles- and all based on the theme "D is for Dolphin".  Here are some highlights form our week:

Elijah really enjoyed all the fishy songs and dances that went along with dolphin week.  It has been fun to see him grow in this area and even to the point of asking to sing songs and asking if he is doing the dances right.  It is great to have a dance partner for all future dance parties!

He really wanted to color the dolphin this week
rather than tracing only which was a first!

We made this little dolphin mask the first day,
and he ended up wearing it as a necklace all week!

Here Elijah is making the top part of his dolphin mobile.
This was the first mobile we had ever done so he was really
interested to see what it turned out to be.

...and the dolphins to hang from the mobile...

The finished product!  He loved it and kept going
back to play with it throughout the week.

Counting to 20!  We just started going up past 10 and he is
doing really well with it.

Fingerpainting his letter "D" craft.

Cutting dolphins to glue onto the "D".

Tracing shapes- he really knows his shapes!

Painting a plate blue for our acquarium diorama- he did a great
job following instructions on this whole project.

Coloring fish for the diorama.

 And a video of the finished product!  This is quite possibly my favorite craft Elijah and I have ever done together.  It was really fun, engaging, and turned out so great!

Lacing and tracing has been difficult for him to
get- he has never quite gotten the hang of lacing
in order around the letter. But this week he really
concentrated and did a fabulous job!

Doing a dot! An all-time favorite! Even I love it!

Wall Art

And for Saturday morning while Daddy was on a hike we had
lots of playdough fun!

2 New Recipe Loves

I have kind of been a bit of a rut when it comes to trying out new recipes.  This is partly due to the fact that I am always and forever trying to keep up with the massive quantities of baby food my sweet little princess eats up on a daily basis and don't have time for experiment cooking and partly because I have just trying to make easy things to keep up with the busy season we have been in lately.  But this past week I stumbled upon two recipes that I just knew I had to try out.  They were both surprisingly delicious!

Chicken Cakes with Tangy Remoulade from Paula Deen  (makes 16 cakes)- If you don't like or don't have access to crab meat, this is a creative recipe where chicken makes a wonderful variation of the standard crab cake.  I really should have put a picture of these so maybe when we eat the leftovers I will snap one to update the post with.

• 4.5 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup butter, divided (I like to use olive oil instead)
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup celery, minced
• 1.5 cups crushed saltine crackers
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1.5 tsp. Caribbean jerk seasoning (I did not have this so I used a combination of original chicken seasoning and "kickin' chicken" seasoning.)

1) In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp. butter over medium heat.  Add onion, pepper, and celery.  Cook about 5 mins until veges are tender.
2) In a large bowl, combine chicken, onion mixture and crackers.  Stir in eggs, mayo, mustard and seasoning.  Form mixture into 16 cakes. Cover and chill about 30 minutes.
3) In a skillet, melt 1.5 Tbsp. butter.  Add chicken cakes to fill pan and cook for 3-4 mins per side until golden brown.  Serve with Tangy Remoulade.

Tangy Remoulade

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. minced green onion
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. Caribbean jerk seasoning

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate up to 3 days.

The Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart whose recipes are always a hit.  This is a great recipe for a simpler breakfast main dish that can be prepped the day before in case you want to get up early for a run or just sleep in (does anyone with little kids really do that anyway?)  For a variation I added caramelized onions, chopped my bacon up into bits, and beat the eggs with cheddar and a little milk before putting everything together.  Sensational taste and reheat well too!

Hope you love these!  And if you have any new dinner ideas you are willing to share send them on!

Prettiest Little Girl in the Whole World

Her Little Walky-Thing

A couple of floors below our apartment is a wonderfully, large patio area where the kids can ride their toys and just play (there are even some chickens that they love to look at there).  We have often taken the kids down to play, and Auburn Grace always gets so excited to watch Elijah ride around and around, but now that she is growing up (so sad, right?) she wants to be down playing with Elijah.  So we borrowed a "Awn-Gray's little walky-thing" (as Elijah calls it) from one of our local friends, and let her go.  She loves it!  She mostly goes backwards, but occasionally you can catch her going forward in hot pursuit of something.  Go girl go!

In Mommy's Kitchen

Tot School- Rainbow Week

This week was Rainbow Week in tot-school.  I was hoping that working with rainbows each day would really help Elijah in recognizing and naming his colors.  He really seemed to enjoy the week- we did lots of coloring, tracing, cutting, and crafts. 

Tracing and coloring



Playing with circle magnets- He loves this!

Working on a rainbow craft- using the glue was his favorite part.

So proud of the finished product!

Doing a dot with his friend Emma who joined us for school
that day.



He loved rolling out the playdough and making
a rainbow with the long "noodles".  Thanks Gigi
for all the fun colors of playdough!



We made this pipe cleaner rainbow together,
and he thought it served as great earmuffs!