Weekend recap

Our weekend was busy and full of fun. On Friday night we decided to take our first family hike of the year. We headed down to a local arboretum with our sneakers on and a picnic packed. The weather didn't look like it was going to cooperate but it held out and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The picnic was a bit chilly and breezy because the sun was nowhere to be found, but we managed. (Although we may or may not have been telling Haven to hurry up and eat every 2 seconds because we were freezing!)

Saturday morning Cale and Haven headed to the pool for Haven's second swimming lesson. She loves it! I get an in depth review of the class from her each week and her swimming buddy (AKA Cale) reports that she's doing great. Her favorite part- the slide!

At the museum with the T-Rex

We are having some work done at our house so we needed to leave on Saturday so we weren't in the way. Since it's opening last year, we have wanted to visit The Creation Museum. We finally made it there on Saturday afternoon. It's kinda pricey, but totally worth it! We all enjoyed the incredible murals, the movies, and the life like displays. We also learned a lot and were just reminded how amazing this earth and its Creator are! The have beautiful grounds and a little petting zoo which was a big hit with our crowd.

This picture would be perfect if Cale had his eyes open!

We rounded out our day with dinner at a Thai restaurant in Cincinnati called Lemon Grass. That is also the name of our favorite Thai place in Cleveland so we figured it had to be good. Plus, Amber and Phil had recently been here and have yet to stop talking about how good the spring rolls were. They weren't lying! Everything was delicious and it was just a nice ending to a fun day.

Sunday was a big day as we celebrated the end of Haven's first year of Tuesday School. She had her "graduation" program last night and it was great. Each of the five classes sang two songs and Haven was enthusiastic in her motions to "Praise Ye The Lord." It was a fun night and we are sad to see Tuesday School end for the year. Haven loved going every week and we hope to have her return in the fall.

Too bad she is so shy! The girl was posing for every single picture!

A fun weekend, but now it's back to reality. Happy Monday!

There she goes!

Guess who got a big girl bike this past weekend? Seriously, what have you done with my baby girl? Look at those long legs! She absolutely loves her new bike and has only had one small crash to date. She has done a remarkably good job keeping herself upright and catches herself when she starts to tip, remaining calm all the while. She amazes me!

She's just a little excited!

On the bike for one minute and already trying to do tricks!

There she goes!

I foresee a great deal of time this summer spent trying to keep up with Haven as she rides off on her bike!

Friday Favorites

Happy Spring! It doesn't feel too springy around here today, but the sunshine helps. Cale has been out of town for most of this week and we are happy to have him home now. Poor guy took a redeye home last night so he and Haven are both napping away the afternoon. Here is some randomness that I feel compelled to share...

--March Madness, baby! We love us some college basketball and for the next few weeks we will watch too many games. I signed up for BooMama's Tournament Challenge and thus far have a 97% rating. That could all change very quickly so I'm going to enjoy looking like I know what I'm doing while it lasts!

--I'm always on the lookout for easy, not too messy and fun craft projects for Haven and I to do together. This one is a winner! It's on the plan for next week and seems the perfect way to celebrate Spring's arrival. And it's too cute!

--Dinner one night this week found me scrambling for a side dish. Pioneer Woman to the rescue! Actually, Kay to the rescue! I made the Potato Corn Mash and added in peas as well....delicious! We all ate way too much of it, but considering it's full of veggies I don't think that's a bad thing. It seems like such a no brainer kind of recipe, but I've never thought to do it before so I'm glad Kay shared the idea. And if you have some time go visit Kay's site; great recipes and beautiful pictures!

--I read some good news earlier this week...negotiations are underway for Friday Night Lights to be renewed for not one, but two seasons! You have no idea the joy I felt upon reading this news!

--I haven't purchased these sandals yet, but you better believe I will be. They will be the Summer of '09 sandals assuming they are as comfortable they appear to be! A little pricier then what I would usually spend for flip flops, but they are adorable and free shipping never hurts either.

Hope your weekend is as happy as mine looks to be!

Riding in style

Haven has it easy. This is her current set-up when we hit the bike trail, which is quite often on account of the spring-ish weather we've been having. A drink in one hand, a snack in the other and her "computer" to entertain. It makes the hour+ that we spend riding much more pleasant for all of us. In fact, in the last 10 days we've already biked almost 50 miles (with me pulling her and Cale just breezing along beside me!) and she has been whiny only once. That's a dramatic change from last year and a much welcomed one!

Cute feet

Yesterday Haven was talking about her baby brother, her favorite topic for discussion. She was asking questions about his feet and was wondering how big they would be. She was using her hands to show me what size she thought they would be and was talking in her high pitched voice reserved for all things tiny and cute. I told her I didn't know what size his feet would be, but that I thought they'd be adorable no matter what. Without even a thought she replied, "I bet his feet are gonna be so brown-a-licious!"

Perhaps we've read Pinkalicious one too many times!

Family of Three

We have been a family of three for just over three years. Three years that in some ways have flashed past me in the blink of an eye. Three years that were full of looong days and sometimes even longer weeks. But the three of us have made it to this point together having learned how to be a good team, how to play together, work together and enjoy each other's company.

That's all about to change. We are beyond excited about the Lord adding to our family through our adoption. But I have to be honest and admit that there is part of me that is sad to say goodbye to our little family of three. I'm holding on to these waning days of Haven being an only child and trying, more then I usually do, to make the most of each day.

Haven is more then ready to share the spotlight at our house. I think she is even more excited then we are sometimes about having a baby in our family. In fact she's already wondering who's next after her little brother. It seems silly to say this, because of course the Lord ordained it this way, but Haven is made to be a big sister. I love talking about how our family is growing and am amazed at the way her three year old mind seems to comprehend adoption.

Our family is growing and changing and we are all as ready for it as we can be. I'm daily trying to strike the balance of savoring these last few moments of our little family while looking with joy at the days ahead when we see the face that belongs to the person we've been longing for. It's coming soon!

I just wonder who's going to hold the baby when we try to take self portraits?

I think we'll gladly figure it out.

Making the most of what I've got

My problem with peppers has been documented here recently. Tonight my pepper overage turned into a really good thing. I realized I had two wrinkly-ish red peppers rolling around in the crisper and a lonely zucchini with no plans to use up. So I chopped them all up, along with an onion, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper and roasted them for 45 minutes. After a brief spin in my food processor I stirred them into a jar of $.35 plain old tomato sauce I dug out of my pantry. A few shakes of oregano and I had a delicious, healthy, frugal pasta sauce to stash in the freezer. I think it will make some delicious lasagna in a few weeks!

Whatever You're Doing

I don't listen to the radio very often, but I feel like every time I do I hear this song. And it is always exactly what I need to hear. For the last year, the Lord has used this song to minister to me and meet me right where I'm at in the midst of some difficult circumstances. I heard it today, and, as always, I needed to hear it. I needed to be reminded that God is doing something new in our lives. It's hard and doesn't feel good; but He is good and I can trust Him. I''m challenged to embrace all the things going on that I don't like because this is where He has us. I need to stop fighting it...I need to take a deep breath and embrace this place that the Lord has brought us to.

Whatever He's doing...I believe that it's going to be good.

"Whatever You're Doing"
Sanctus Real

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to to release all my held back tears

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly

Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Something heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Six months and a new look

We don't post very often on our other blog and it gets neglected because of that. So here's a friendly reminder to go check out our new look and to see some cute shoes. Strange, but true.

Six months down...