....Mathios is our son! Go here to see him! And believe me, you want to go see him because he is ADORABLE!!!!
We are overwhelmed with the Lord's goodness to our family.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Short and sweet
A few things that I'm loving this week:
-Mango limeades from Sonic. Haven you tried one? Delightful!
-I'll admit I was a "Saved By the Bell" fan in my day. Have you watched this video yet? Zack Morris on Jimmy Fallon, for real. Hilarious!
-I can only hope to be this organized someday. Check it out and be inspired!
-Our court date is on Tuesday and we received tentative travel dates of July 18-25, which means we could be home with our boy a month from now!
Happy weekend!
-Mango limeades from Sonic. Haven you tried one? Delightful!
-I'll admit I was a "Saved By the Bell" fan in my day. Have you watched this video yet? Zack Morris on Jimmy Fallon, for real. Hilarious!
-I can only hope to be this organized someday. Check it out and be inspired!
-Our court date is on Tuesday and we received tentative travel dates of July 18-25, which means we could be home with our boy a month from now!
Happy weekend!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Father's Day at the Zoo
How exactly do you write about a whirlwind weekend when your mom got remarried, the entire landscape of your family dramatically changed, and you are still trying to catch up with it all? Yeah, me neither! So I won't!
Instead I'll just talk about Father's Day. We had hoped to go boating with some friends, but the weather was not very cooperative so we started the trek towards home instead. Cale mentioned that it would be fun to go to the Columbus Zoo on our way home. So we did! We didn't have a stroller with us and weren't exactly prepared (I was wearing jeans and it was almost 90!), but we rolled with it. Lord willing, a month from now we won't be able to be so spontaneous on account of one small boy joining our family. So it was fun to just go with it and we enjoyed a nice afternoon at the zoo together.
Instead I'll just talk about Father's Day. We had hoped to go boating with some friends, but the weather was not very cooperative so we started the trek towards home instead. Cale mentioned that it would be fun to go to the Columbus Zoo on our way home. So we did! We didn't have a stroller with us and weren't exactly prepared (I was wearing jeans and it was almost 90!), but we rolled with it. Lord willing, a month from now we won't be able to be so spontaneous on account of one small boy joining our family. So it was fun to just go with it and we enjoyed a nice afternoon at the zoo together.
There were animal statues like this all over the zoo and Haven had to pose by every one that we encountered. She chose her own pose on this one- can you tell?!
We took the little boat ride through the Asia area of the zoo. It was a big hit with all of us!
Papa and his girl on the merrry-go-round. Haven loved this! She laughed and laughed the entire ride which made us laugh and just enjoy it with her. It wasn't quite the Father's Day that we had planned, but I think Cale enjoyed himself anyways. We stopped and got some bbq for dinner per the dad's request. We unpacked and then settled in on the couch for some relaxing. I even obliged Cale and watched a surfing movie with him. (Don't tell him I even kinda liked it!)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
One thing after another
Our trip....was fantastic! I have not had that much fun in a very long time! We received wonderful, challenging teaching and encouragement from the Word that was very needed. I still am processing through much of it but am absolutely certain it was just what I needed to hear, at just the right time. Imagine that?! A great, refreshing weekend with the best company...what more can I ask for? How about getting to meet BooMama? We did! (Amber wrote all about it here and posted our picture with her.) She's wonderful and made us all feel good when she couldn't believe how old we were. I believe her exact words were, "Y'all just look so fresh and put together." Made my day!
I'm off tomorrow on another road trip, but this was has a completely different purpose. My mom is getting remarried on Saturday! We are excited for her and looking forward to celebrating with our growing family (25 and counting in our new immediate family!) and 185 of their closest friends. Seriously!?! Isn't that crazy? That's what happens when you marry a pastor and invite the congregation I guess. It's sure to be a crazy weekend and I am in charge of way too much, but it will all be worth it.
I'll be back next week (Lord willing!) and maybe will find some more time for this old blog. Maybe!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Saying goodbye is hard to do
I am getting ready to hit the road in the morning with some of my favorite girls to go to Living Proof Live in Pittsburgh. Amber, Jenny, Marisa and I are leaving tomorrow morning and will get home Saturday night after some good teaching, good conversations, good food and hopefully some shopping.
While I am SO looking forward to this little getaway, it doesn't come without some struggles. For the last several months, Haven has had a very hard time when I leave her here at home. She does fine if we leave her somewhere else, but the idea of her being here at home without me causes her great trauma. We've had several instances of a hysterical Haven crying in the driveway as I pull away. And then she just mopes and pouts for Cale the whole time I'm gone. In light of that, we've been doing our best to prepare Haven for mama's "long Bible study" trip and talking up what she and Cale will do while I'm gone (it's a very long list!). She's told me repeatedly throughout the week how sad she'll be when I'm gone and I've done my best to talk her through it and explain that it won't be for a long time at all.
Tonight as we were putting Haven to bed, she lost it. She was acting out and obviously very upset as she thought about me leaving in the morning. Cale and I were trying to console her and tell her that we can talk on the phone while I'm gone. She replied, "But I need to see her happy face!" Cale laughed and said we can look at her picture and see it. Haven wasn't satisfied. She said, "But I need to be able to look at her beautiful face and just talk to her all around the house like we always do." She breaks my heart! As sad as I am that she is so upset about me leaving, it fills my heart with joy that when she thinks of me she thinks of a happy, beautiful face! May that always be so!
While I am SO looking forward to this little getaway, it doesn't come without some struggles. For the last several months, Haven has had a very hard time when I leave her here at home. She does fine if we leave her somewhere else, but the idea of her being here at home without me causes her great trauma. We've had several instances of a hysterical Haven crying in the driveway as I pull away. And then she just mopes and pouts for Cale the whole time I'm gone. In light of that, we've been doing our best to prepare Haven for mama's "long Bible study" trip and talking up what she and Cale will do while I'm gone (it's a very long list!). She's told me repeatedly throughout the week how sad she'll be when I'm gone and I've done my best to talk her through it and explain that it won't be for a long time at all.
Tonight as we were putting Haven to bed, she lost it. She was acting out and obviously very upset as she thought about me leaving in the morning. Cale and I were trying to console her and tell her that we can talk on the phone while I'm gone. She replied, "But I need to see her happy face!" Cale laughed and said we can look at her picture and see it. Haven wasn't satisfied. She said, "But I need to be able to look at her beautiful face and just talk to her all around the house like we always do." She breaks my heart! As sad as I am that she is so upset about me leaving, it fills my heart with joy that when she thinks of me she thinks of a happy, beautiful face! May that always be so!
Monday, June 8, 2009
What's for dinner?
I love to try new recipes. In fact, we probably eat 2 or 3 new things every week. Because of that we rarely eat the same thing twice in the same month, but this recipe is an exception. I made this a few weeks ago after watching Rachael Ray make it on her show. I had planned another pasta dish for dinner that night but after seeing her make this I knew I needed to amend my meal plan. We just happened to have all the ingredients on hand and we enjoyed a delicious dinner. It's so good and easy that we're enjoying it again just a few weeks later!
Veggie Florentine Pasta
Ingredients:
1 carrot, cooked (I did it in the microwave)
1/4 cup white wine (or use chicken stock)
1/2 lb whole wheat rotini
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic cloves, grated
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, crushed up (I used my mini food processor)
A few leaves basil, torn (could use dried)
Salt and ground pepper
1 bunch spinach, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
Nutmeg, to taste
Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat and then add 1 Tbs olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Grate cooked carrot into skillet and then add the wine or stock. Add crushed tomatoes, a few leaves of basil and season with salt and pepper. Gradually wilt the spinach into the veggie mixture, a handful or two at a time. Then drizzle in the cream. Season with freshly grated nutmeg if you have it. Let the veggie sauce thicken over medium heat for a few minutes. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.
Adapted from this recipe
Veggie Florentine Pasta
Ingredients:
1 carrot, cooked (I did it in the microwave)
1/4 cup white wine (or use chicken stock)
1/2 lb whole wheat rotini
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic cloves, grated
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, crushed up (I used my mini food processor)
A few leaves basil, torn (could use dried)
Salt and ground pepper
1 bunch spinach, chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
Nutmeg, to taste
Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat and then add 1 Tbs olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Grate cooked carrot into skillet and then add the wine or stock. Add crushed tomatoes, a few leaves of basil and season with salt and pepper. Gradually wilt the spinach into the veggie mixture, a handful or two at a time. Then drizzle in the cream. Season with freshly grated nutmeg if you have it. Let the veggie sauce thicken over medium heat for a few minutes. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.
Adapted from this recipe
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A Thursday in June
Today has been a just-about-perfect June day. It's been filled with great weather, time with friends and new things to see and do. Amber and I took the kiddos down to the Krohn Conservatory to see the Butterfly Show this morning. We spent a few hours walking through the butterfly exhibit as well as the rest of the conservatory. The kids were enthralled with the beautiful butterflies and desperately wanted to "catch" one only to freak out when it actually got close enough to touch. Amber and I both had some close encounters with the butterflies and required assistance to remove them from our persons. We finished up our visit with a picnic and 30 minutes of the kids climbing up, down and around in a rock garden. Apparently we don't need a swing set at our house, just some sort of rocks to climb on!
This little guy decided to land right on my pant leg so Amber helped remove it and was showing it to the kids. Maya's not so sure what to think about it!
Haven really did enjoy herself, but she was not feeling very photogenic. She's still cute though!
Cale, Haven and I finished out our lovely June day with a trip to the strawberry patch. I've been wanting to go pick berries for the last few weeks and we finally made it over there today. Now I've got 9 pounds of beautiful berries to turn into all sorts of deliciousness. On the docket: jam, shortcake, smoothies, homemade ice cream, and of course, straight up with a sprinkle of sugar.
I love June!
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