A Plea for Help

I think 99.9% of you that read this are moms (the .01% is you, Bart :)), so everyone is qualified to help me. As ridiculous as this sounds, making meals just became a priority to me since I quit working. I know that's shameful but that's how it is. And since we went to Target every other day the first few months, I could just figure out something to make and get the ingredients on an as-needed basis. That's not working anymore. I would like to only go to the store every other week except for milk and bread. I am ok with sitting down and planning meals and a grocery list but the problem is the recipes I've picked sometimes end up being duds. I cannot TELL you how much that frustrates me. It's so time consuming to find recipes, make a long list, soothe/entertain the troops while shopping, then unload and put away all of it with two little ones wanting your attention....not to mention cooking it!
So I need more recipes, to make a long story short. PLEASE either comment on this post, on my facebook page, or email me your fave easy recipe. And easy is really a requirement. I gave my friend this recipe and she commented that it was easy. That's hilarious because it's the most complicated thing I make! It's good though. And if something goes in the crockpot, that's even better. Here's my current fave.
Rosemary Chicken
I add 2 cans of chicken broth and double (or triple!) the amount of dressing and spices.

And I'm giving you a bonus....just because I'm nice.
Put a chuck roast in the crock pot. Pour two jars of banana peppers over it. Turn on low for 8 hours.
DONE.

If you use one of these recipes without leaving me one, your washing machine will stop working. It's like a breaking a chain letter......don't chance it. Leave me a recipe. Thank you :)

I  love this verse. Isn't that good news?!?!
 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

Nothing to see here

It's been business as usual. Harris is getting sweeter by the second. I went to dinner with some friends the other night and wasn't home at bedtime. That sweet boy picked up the living room so it would be clean for me when I got home. How precious is that?? For the record, Tom would have done it after bedtime, but I absolutely love Harris' heart in that sweet act of service. I went to the grocery store with both little boys today and they were sitting next to each other in the front of the cart. At one point, Harris put his arm around Walker and just loved on him for a minute and even gave him a little kiss on the forehead. Getting to see him show affection to his brother and other people makes me so happy I can't even describe it. Please don't misconstrue this as bragging because he can be sweet as pie one second and in the next breath turn around and push Walker down while ripping a toy out of his hand. But lately his gentle-ness has been coming out and it's awesome. I don't want to forget these sweet little moments. In the pic he's trying to teach Walker how to do a Look and Find book. Poor Harris really wanted Walker to participate, and Walker had zero interest. I love that they're sitting together in that little cubby though. That is a lot of cute-ness in one little space.

Walker is starting to talk a little bit more. Everything is "DIS!!" while leaning way over and pointing to whatever he's spotted. I had to wrestle Tom's glasses away from him the other day. He's gotten so used to protecting his loot from Harris that it's getting difficult to get things away from him, especially delicate things like glasses.  They almost didn't make it.

Tom and I are clearly a little touchy about breathing issues right now. We took Walker into the ER in the middle of the night the other night, since both of us decided he was breathing too fast. He was fine. Totally fine. They checked him out and made sure he didn't have the flu or RSV, since he had a teeny cold, but it was all negative. No need even for a breathing treatment. But it was ANOTHER great experience at Methodist Children's. Everyone was just as nice as the first time and didn't even roll their eyes at our obvious over-reaction. I am so thankful for health insurance. I felt bad that we wasted money on a healthy child but what a blessing to be able to immediately get your child examined at the first hint of a problem. And I saw this today too. It's a project to collect cloth diapers for orphanages in Ethiopia. Can you image not being able to diaper a baby? It is such a basic thing. I pray that I never take these blessings for granted. Many orphanages literally just don't have diapers. None. Two friends went on a mission trip to Africa recently and mentioned the same thing. I really can't wrap my head around that.  It's so easy for me to get caught up in the world around me that I forget I actually want for NOTHING. Yes, this is coming from the same person that just ordered a kindle. Don't think I didn't notice that.

This verse keeps popping up for me this week.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Lots and lots of pictures

We've just been getting back into the swing of things after the business of December. Our Bible Study has started back up, we've been to the zoo a few times, nothing major. After the Christmas post, I realized there were no pics of the boys together in their cute little outfits. So before I took the tree down, Tom and I wrangled them into their outfits and attempted to get a pic of them both smiling, while looking at the camera, while sitting next to each. I don't know why I was so ambitious that morning but I was SWEATING when it was all said and done. This one wasn't bad.

 Tom was behind me trying to get them to smile and look. He must have stepped up his game, because look at them here.

 I should have turned around and gotten a pic of whatever he was doing, since it was obviously so funny.

There were LOTS of this kind of thing. One of them is always trying to escape. But how cute are they in their little sweater vests? If I weren't so cheap and didn't insist on making Walker wear all of Harris' clothes, I would dress them in matching clothes every single day. When they match, Harris says, "Walker looks just like me do!" Cute cute cute.

Here are some pics of the zoo trips lately. Yes, this is in January. No, they didn't need coats.

If you look just past Harris (in the black) there's a monkey at the window. He kept coming down and running back in forth in the window, playing with the boys. They didn't seem to get how neat that was. They played with him for awhile, then just kind of wandered off.

 

Walker running towards me with his arms outstretched is pretty much his default pose. There's a high pitched whimpering that accompanies this move. 

Harris is in a full sized bed now. Poor thing, I think we kept him in a toddler bed too long. He falls asleep much faster and sleeps a little longer. I think he'd outgrown his little mattress awhile back. That means I have a bedroom to re-do. Woo hoo!! I was trying to sell his bedding and was taking pics of it. He kept asking me to take picture of his foot. So for every bedding picture I have, there's two of a little chubby toddler foot.

Incidentally, no one has contacted me about the bedding. Apparently baseball toile with red corduroy is not what most people want for their little boy's nursery. They just don't know high fashion like I do. Clearly.

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? I Cor 1:20

Belated Christmas Post

This is really just for myself, since I doubt anyone else wants to hear about Christmas anymore. If you do choose to keep reading, hum the "Christmas Shoes" song to get you back in the mood. (Not really...)
Pretty much all of my Christmas plans for how the morning was going to go went out the window because Harris was not himself, so we went straight to the presents. That and breakfast basically took the whole morning, then he was ready for naptime.

 

 They are crowded around a tool bench, which was the hit of Christmas morning. They both love it and play with it constantly. I took the screwdriver away because Walker was running around the house with it and I was afraid he was going to fall and hurt himself. Harris is STILL telling me how he needs a screwdriver to "do some things."

This picture is so funny to me. Walker's playing with a tambourine, part of an entire set of musical, noisy things that my brother gave him. For years, literally YEARS, my brother has been threatening me with all the obnoxious toys he's going to give my kids as a payback for what I gave his girls when they were little. In my defense, I had no idea I was giving irritating toys.   Apparently the kicker was a Blue's Clue's alarm clock that got played with for an entire roadtrip. Anyway, they like making music, so mission accomplished Justin :). It actually doesn't bother me. When they're both awake, our house is so noisy I've learned to tune it out. He has girls, maybe they're quieter. Yesterday Tom and I carried on an entire conversation while Harris was pedaling through the kitchen on his trike with Walker toddling behind him, screaming with excitement. 

  

 That's my brother, with Walker. Bummer that this pic is blurry! Notice Walker is holding a piece of orange plastic. It's a pretend phone from the tool bench, but it doesn't make noise, or move, no buttons you can press....just a piece of orange plastic. He LOVES it. He has a couple of phones that do everything my cell does, and he loves the random piece of plastic more. You just never know. 

 

Above, they're playing with a Cars book that has tools with it. I can't tell you how many times we've read that book since. When you hammer in spots, it makes hammer noise, same with the wrench and screwdriver. So cute. Harris LOVES it.  Something is wrong with the formatting, I know, but I can't fix it for some reason. Sorry, not going to waste time messing with it. Anyway, the boys had a good time. My brother and I got to take a walk that afternoon and spend some time together, which was so nice. Usually when I see him we don't get to talk, because things are so hectic. Then the evening and the rest of the visit was spent in the hospital, which I already talked about. I am SO thankful we were able to spend Christmas with family. It's such a blessing for us and our kids to be able to be around family, especially on the holidays, and it's tough because we live so far away.

 Tom and I didn't really do presents for each other, but he did put tickets to see Legally Blonde in my stocking. Yay! Can't wait! We went to plays at the Majestic Theater all the time pre-kids. I don't think we've been back since Harris was born. What a thoughtful gift! My parents gave us a camping equipment and we are soooo looking forward to using it. 

If anyone is still reading this after all the rambling, I hope you like the verse today. I think it's timely, since so many people have New Year's Resolutions and things they're trying to tweak right now. 

I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 

2010..

2010 was possibly the best year ever. Not to be dramatic, but it just was. It's the most relaxed I've ever been, as a wife, certiainly as a parent, and just letting go of some of the unnecessary expectation I put on myself. It was a year of transitioning to the new normal of 2 kids, then from working to staying home, and all the changes that meant for our marriage and family.

Going from 1 child to 2 was so much easier than 0 to 1. I thought we were sooooo busy and overwhelmed with just Harris when he was a baby. HA! But it was easier to get into the groove of two kids than I expected. Walker started out as such a mellow little man. Even at his first few dr's visit's, he just let himself be looked at, no big deal. Our pediatrician made a comment about how easygoing he was and how he would probably stay that way. She clearly jinxed us. But regardless, we still learned how to function with 2 kiddos, even if one was not quite as easy as we originally thought.

Leaving my job was........hard to explain. I was so happy to be with the boys more but, again, completely panicked at the thought of being with them all day. I had no idea what we would DO. I was used to having every minute accounted for since that was really the only way to get everything done. That passed pretty quickly but we did spend numerous mornings at Target before I came up with other things to get us out of the house. Our days are so much more relaxed. Now, it's early to me if we have to be someplace by 9. When Harris was in daycare, I would have given him a bottle, breathing treatment, a jar of baby food and gotten us both ready and out the door by 6:30. Ok, lots of days it was 6:45, but still. And he wasn't sleeping through the night, either. I don't miss that hectic pace of life at all. This year I was able to quit living by my watch and just chill.  That has been awesome.

Tom and I also got closer to our friends than we ever had been as a married couple. We grew in our faith and I hope that this year we grow even more. We've had good times with great friends this year and relied on them for support more times than I can count. 2010 has been such a good year. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store.

And I'm only throwing this picture in because it's one of my faves from 2010. I'm sure Walker is hoping NOT to see the mullet wig in 2011. We'll see. He's able to move now. In this picture, he was just a defenseless baby......what does that say about me that I find this so entertaining???

Anyway, I don't really have any resolutions. I'd like to be more consistent in general, though. More consistent with the priorities in my life. Yes, I have more concrete plans than that but that's enough to blab about on the internet. And I did start a new prayer routine with Harris at bedtime. When Walker becomes less crazy, I'll include him too. Someone sent me this. It's 31 scriptures to pray over your children. So we do 1 each night. I like the idea and it introduces the concepts to the boys, even if they're too young to really get the full meaning.  It's neat that a new year feels like a fresh start and a chance to make a change, but what's even better is that it doesn't have to be a new year. We have this chance every single day! Our God is a God of new beginnings and second chances. Praise God and Happy New Year!!

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfullness. Lamentations 3: 22-23

And BOOMER SOONER!