Crumbs on my back

I think when it really hit me was a few weeks ago.  We had to do a photo shoot with our graduating class...Like I actually had to be IN a picture. I had to go out and buy an outfit because almost 6 months postpartum I still can not fit into any of my clothes {sigh}. I found an outfit that I felt was somewhat flattering. I did my hair (which I don't always have time to do) and put make up on (never do). I thought I looked relatively okay.  However when we got the group picture back a few days later I was horrified. I guess because I am never in pictures and maybe I don't pay much attention when looking in the mirror.  Seeing that picture made me realize that I really need to get myself into gear. It was the motivation I needed. Also buying a scale (I hadn't been weighed since Kaitlyn was 6 weeks old) and seeing that I have only lost 2 pounds since her birth was another motivating factor. :)

I have never been good at sticking with any kind of work out plan or diet. I always start out with good intentions and then it quickly fizzles out. I want to work out but I let other things get in the way and I don't make the time.  In all honestly I really despise working out. It is HARD.  Especially right now when I am So out of shape.  I do LOVE how I feel after I work out though.  There is such a sense of accomplishment.  I have started a work out routine. I do have high hopes of sticking to it this time around. There are two reasons for that. First, I have never been this heavy this long after having a baby. I have always just lost the weight easily (with the exception of my first baby...took me a long time to loose weight), but not this time.  Maybe it's because I am getting older? Second, I realize I am getting older and the need for me to get/stay in shape increases. I have a long family history of health issues (Diabetes being one of them).

I have thought about this a lot. Maybe years ago it would have just been about me loosing weight and looking/feeling good. While I can't lie and say that isn't something that I still desire, the need for me to live a healthy life is what is driving me. Bill and I have made a decision to walk a difficult but, oh so rewarding path, so for the sake of what God has called us to I want to be healthy and strong. Exercise is just one more tool for me to use towards that goal.  The goal is not self preservation, it's about being a good steward of what God has given me. I know that my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit so I need to do what I can to take care of this body that I have right now.

I have had to start slow. It has been a long time since I have done anything. I tried to start a routine a few months ago but because of school and the amount of homework I had (and the fact that I had a newborn who still got up at night) I wasn't able to do it for more then a week.  I was just too exhausted and lacked the motivation to try and force it.  Life has started to slow down a bit these days so this was a good time to start back up. The first time I worked out I was so so sore.  I had to wait 3 days before I could work out again. I thought I could just push past the pain but Bill told me (from his past experience of weight lifting) that I should wait and let my muscles heal. The next time I worked out I only had to wait two days, and now I am up to the point where I can work out every day. :)

I know it's going to be tempting to quit, especially when I don't see the results that I want. It is going to be tempting to skip when I feel tired and just don't.want.to.do.it! But, I know I can do it this time and I need to.  I don't want to let this become something I obsess about or worry about, it just needs to be apart of my daily life. If that makes any sense.

So while I have crumbs on my back tonight (from working out on my dirty floor of course) at least they're not on my face! {grin!} 

Katy at 5 months

She still smiles all the time

learned to roll from front to back and back to front (look out world)

chews on everything

might be teething

giggles especially at James

is looking more and more like a combination of James and Anna

Can't sit up yet but is working on it

loves her swing 

loves to be in the sling (as long as she can see out)

Needs to see what is going on (especially when nursing)

Melts your heart

is a good sleeper

endlessly entertains us all

is such a sweet soul

Sometimes

Sometimes I forget how old she is. She seems so much older. We hold such grown up conversations. She is growing up so fast. She is so smart and funny. She always surprises me.

But then on nights like tonight when:
~She climbs up unto the dresser and gets into her big sisters lip gloss and uses it as lotion...and makes herself look like the joker.
~Drags a Rubbermaid container out of the closet (when I'm in the other room nursing) and uses it as a stool so she can squeeze/eat a tube of tooth paste.
~Closes her bedroom door, locks it and turns on the fan to poop in her pants. When I try to enter she tells me to go away because she isn't finished yet.
~Finds poop on her blanket because she put it there. (so nasty)
~Cries because I need to wash her blankie.
~Gets out of bed fifty times (Oh why, oh why, can't she be like the other kids and just GO TO SLEEP...Oh and yes I just had to stop typing because Claire got out of bed again. She told me that she wanted to "watch Ice Age the Dinosaurs." What in the world!)
~Has one hundred excuses at bedtime, "I'm thirsty." "I need my tissue." "I need to go potty." and the list goes on.
~Tells me that she wants diapers for Christmas.

And then I remember...

She is still only two! It's a good thing she is so cute. :) When she looks at me with those pretty blue eyes and says, "mommy hold you." I pick her up and she folds herself in my arms and I sigh! Oh I love you sweet girl...even if I am wondering if you are too old to put back into a crib. {grin!}

Putting up the tree

My beautiful bunch

I know I'm pretty biased but I think I am very blessed to be their mom! :)

It feels like fall

It is finally starting to feel like fall here. So in honor of cooler weather I made soup.  I tried a new recipe tonight and the family LOVED it. I thought I would share it with you. 

Creamy chicken and wild rice soup

• 2 stocks of celery chopped
• Half of a red onion (or any onion) chopped
• 2 large carrots sliced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded
• 1 (4.5 ounce) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk

In a large pot saute the carrots, celery, and onion in olive oil over medium heat.  Cook until tender.  Add chicken broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice (and seasoning packet). Cover and remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream and milk, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. 

Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. 

I hope you enjoy!  Next recipe I am going to share is for {easy} homemade bread.  I got the recipe during our scratch cooking class. Oh I still need to do a post on our simple living time.  That is coming soon.  I promise. :)

Back to the land of technology and electricity

It's been a long two weeks but we made it. We survived our simple living class...where we had to go without any electrical appliances and make every food item from scratch.  I can't wait to write more about it but for now just wanted to let you all know that we are back online. I will be back soon to tell you all about it.

Until later...

4 months

4 months already!

Almost rolling over. She did it once but I suppose I don't put her down often for her to practice.

Katy is always smiling! This is kind of a goofy picture of her but I wanted to show off her dimples.  I need to work at getting a better picture of that precious smile.

Loves, LOVES to chew on her finger! She always has that hand and those fingers in her mouth. And she is always drooling. She needs to wear a bib all the time because if she doesn't she soaks her clothes and I have to change her several times a day.

What a sweet and pleasant person she is.

I need to do an actual 4 month photo shoot, these didn't turn out how I was imaging them to. Oh well, just another excuse to take more pictures of my baby. {smile}

In love?

Ryan announced after dinner tonight, "I'm in love with Trina!"

Me- "In love? With who?"

Ryan- "Trina, she's my girlfriend."

Me- "Girlfriend?"

Ryan- "Ya. I have two girlfriends now.  Ella and Trina. I guess I'm going to have to decide who I want to marry."


Me- "What?"

Ryan- "Yeah and Riley is mad at me."

Me- "Why? Who is Riley."

Ryan- "A girl in my class.  She's mad because I said I love Trina. But Trent loves Riley."

(apparently there is some sort of love triangle going on here)

Me- "When did this happen?"

Ryan- "At the beginning of the school in Writer's workshop."

Oh  my word!!! I wasn't planning on having a conversation like this until MANY years to come.  My 1st grader thinks he is in love? Needless to say we had a chat about the fact that we don't need to have a girlfriend in 1st grade. {smile} I asked Ryan if he was old enough to get married, he laughed, "No."he replied like he thought I was silly. We talked about the purpose of having a girlfriend and we all agreed that it was to find a wife or husband. There seems to be some confusion in his mind as to what a girlfriend is.  I had a hard time not laughing during this conversation because of his innocence and matter of fact attitude about it all. With that being said, seriously I was not expecting that! I am simply amazed at the things my kids come home saying (and amazed in not a good way). This just makes me all the more excited to start homeschooling again in December. Anyway...

I just love that boy and the things he says and does! He is such a sweet guy.  I can see why all the little girls at his school like him so much! {grin}

Weekly Wrap

Ahhh, my time has been so limited lately.  We have been up to our eyeballs in homework (all things Dobu) so I have not been able to get on here. To sum up my week I could just say HOMEWORK, HOMEWORK, HOMEWORK! I think you get the point.  We have been busy analyzing all the info we got over the past 2 months in the culture we were studying. We have one more week to go and then we will be done with this class. This upcoming week is more paper writing and analyzing. I have analyzed so much I dream about it until my brain hurts. LOL

We had our last session with our language helper on Friday.  We decided to keep Anna and Ryan out of school for the morning so we could take them with us. We prepared them as much as we could. We weren't sure how they would feel being involved in the simulation. They did great however. They were both very attentive during the session.  Ryan kept leaning over and whispering to me and pointing out all the interesting things in the room. Anna didn't say a word until we got home.  Then she took some time to vocalize what she had observed. One interesting thing that she picked up on is that our language helper is unsaved (the character is unsaved that is, not the person who plays him) because she noted that he talked about putting sickness on the trees. She noticed some worldview things that Alo (our language helper) said that don't line up with what we believe. I was excited that it turned out to be  a very positive experience for both of them.

Picture of our language helper and his hut.

It was bittersweet to have our last session in Dobu. We really enjoyed it. It was a lot of work (and all those wrap up papers will be a lot of work for the next week) but it was worth it.  I learned things that I wasn't expecting to learn...things about myself.  I don't have time to expound on that right now but I will soon.

I think this is all I have time for tonight. I am hoping to get back to write the things my heart has been learning.  We start our simple living class a week from tomorrow. That will be two weeks of no electrical appliances, no electricity after 10pm, cooking TOTALLY from scratch, no computer/Internet, etc. Sooo, hopefully between all the papers I have this week I can make time to get back on here, if not it might be a few weeks. {grin}

That's a wrap. Until next time!

What do I know of Holy

 Aching to lay at His feet
Struggling to find the time
Realizing that I don't know as much as I thought I did
I've know Him since I was a little girl but wondering how well  I really know Him
Realizing His goodness in spite of my weakness
At a loss for Words as He proves His faithfulness to me and meets me where I am.

I want to know more
I want to go deeper
I want to know Holy


This is where my heart is at.

"What do I know of Holy"
I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?


What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees


What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?

Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of Holy?
 ~Addison Road

If you want to hear this song go here

J-man

I feel like I don't write often enough about the little men in my life. So in case anyone has forgotten, I do in fact have BOYS... {grin} not that I could ever forget that. My boys are loud and crazy but also a lot of fun!

I decided this afternoon to do a quick photo shoot of James. He was a blast to play with. I just let him do his thing (with a little guidance of course). The only bad thing about these pictures is that he is badly in need of a hair cut, oh well. I still love them because they totally represent James to me in this stage of his life. James is just one of those kids who, even as much trouble as he can get in, you just love...or at least that's how I feel about him. 

So without further ado I give you: J-MAN

Man I just love that kid! So thankful he is in my life. Life wouldn't be nearly as exciting without him!