Fall Fun

Love his reaction when he saw that there were more tractors coming!

I have so many more great Fall pictures to share, but they are taking too long to download, so I'll just start with these.  :)  We've had such a fun Fall this year.  The weather has been beautiful and we got to go to Taylor Farms twice for hayrides.  Josiah loved watching the tractors pulling the hayride and seeing the pumpkins and animals.  It's hard to believe October is over and it'll be time for Thanksgiving and Christmas before we know it!   

Friends

Josiah goes to storytime at the library every Thursday and it is wonderful! It makes me think preschool would be really good for him. His teacher always tells me how smart he is and he has a lot of fun. We also occasionally go to storytime at the aquarium on Tuesdays but that is much less structured. He has gotten to see a live vulture, hold some live worms (ewwww!) and see some cute puppet shows though and it's a fun outing. Here are some of his storytime friends. I think he's telling us that there are 4 of them sitting on the bench :)

I'm trying to write this post from my phone since I have some unexpected free time during my first day back to subbing. But I'm not sure how to arrange the photos in order so you'll just have to figure out which is which. The rest are of our time visiting the Hortons last week. Josiah loved playing with Lily and Silas!

Freedom

I've felt like I needed to do it for a while, but I finally did it:  I deleted my Facebook account.  What?  Crazy?  A little.  I'm sure I'll go through some major withdrawals. I know we live in a very Facebook-centered culture right now... but here's a news flash:   Facebook is NOT essential for life!  It is NOT the only way to stay in touch with people!  It's a really fun tool to use, but when it becomes something that keeps you from your real priorities in life... it's time to reconsider how beneficial it is. 

Check out what God's Word says:  "You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you. And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything."  1 Corinthians 6:12

For me, it was addicting.  Like a drug, or alcohol, or cigarettes, or sports, or shopping, or gambling, or anything else that can control your life.  Sometimes even "good things" can enslave us.   But here's the thing:  God is doing some incredible things in my life.  He's doing some incredible things in our marriage and our family and in our friends' lives.  And He has a purpose for me that requires me to live in complete FREEDOM, not enslaved to anything of this world.  So honestly, I'm excited.  It's just one small step of obedience, but I know He has so much more for me.

I will try to update this blog more often... not because I need to fill my time with this blog instead of Facebook, but because I do enjoy having a central place to share with lots of friends and family about what's going on with us.  So coming soon... some pictures from the last few weeks.

Here's just one that made me smile.  I was going through coupons one morning, and he wanted to "read the paper" so here he is with his breakfast and morning news (ie: a Toys R Us ad):

Reality

I usually try to post "flattering" pictures or videos of my son, but I couldn't resist sharing this one.  What you may or may not be able to decipher is that he goes from intense/mad whining, to speaking in "voices" (like a really deep/low man-voice - which I can't help but laugh out loud at) and then to cocking his head to the side and trying the "sweet" approach.  He keeps saying "I want some TV" over and over.  (He REALLY wanted to watch TV, but he'd already watched enough and I had said no and stuck to it). 

Oh the joys of parenting a 2 year old. 

One more OAMC post

*** Disclaimer:  If you're not interested in freezer cooking... don't read any further.

Okay, so truth be told, I don't think that the way I do once-a-month cooking is the easiest option.   It works for us, but I don't think it's as easy to replicate as some other methods.  It does take a lot of time to plan all the meals, shop for them, prep the day before and then spend an entire day of cooking.  However, here's why I do it. 
1.  More than anything, I really like spending the day with my two cooking friends!   
2.  We split up the labor (ie:  I plan the menu and make the shopping list, the other two girls do the shopping and prep) so it's not so much on any one of us.
3.  We save money.  A lot of money.  This past cooking day was our biggest yet, and we spent $130 each.  Because we're buying in bulk, we don't have a lot of waste and we take advantage of bulk pricing. 
4.  As busy of a week as it becomes (I try to plan the menu the weekend before, do the shopping list by Monday or Tuesday and send it to the other girls for review.  They shop on Thursday, prep on Friday and we cook on Saturday), it's DONE!  For about 7-8 weeks, I don't have to think about what to cook, find time to cook it or make huge shopping trips.   SOOOO worth it!
5.  We get to try lots of new recipes. 
6.  As much as I'd love to think that I would do a little extra cooking each week, or something like that, chances are, I wouldn't make the time for it... and this makes me do it, and then enjoy the fruit of our labor for almost 2 months!

That being said, I'm starting to throw in a few extra things throughout the month.   For example, this morning, I was going to make some pancakes from a Pumpkin Pancake mix I just got at Trader Joe's, but instead of just making enough for me and Josiah to eat this morning, I went ahead and made the whole box.  So we had breakfast, I let the rest of them cool, and then I put them in a freezer bag, cleaned up the mess, and we can have pumpkin pancakes anytime we want!  It might have taken an extra 10 minutes!  Very easy!

I have also made cookie dough and some healthy energy bites to have on hand.... again, super easy, just double the batch, eat what you want then, and freeze the rest.

Or if you see a super good sale on meat or something, buy a bunch, and just go ahead and season it and freeze it.

It doesn't have to be a big overwhelming cooking day, but having a 2 year old (or several little ones) and trying to plan, shop, prep, cook and clean up from dinner every single night was already plenty overwhelming to me. 

:) 

Some things never change

Josiah last May (10 months old)...

And today, wearing the same exact outfit... (2 years, 2 months old)!

Same crazy boy with mouth wide open... fitting in the same clothes 16 months later :) 

*For those of you that are curious - this is a Calvin Klein 24 month shirt (runs slim).  At 10 months old, he was wearing mostly 18 months, and now, he wears mostly 2T-3T, but as long as they aren't too short, he can still wear some of his 24 month shirts.

OAMC

Sometimes I hear myself giving another plug for freezer cooking, and I laugh at myself... but it honestly has been such a great discovery for us, so I just want to share it in hopes that I can help someone else out!   (Note to self:  why do I not hesitate to share something as trivial as cooking tips when I think it could benefit someone, and I yet when I have this life-changing relationship with God, I hold back sharing about it for fear that someone might not want to hear about it?)  Wow - something to think on.  But I'll keep it light for now... back to cooking.

We are gearing up for our next big cooking day this Saturday.  My good friends Danielle & Stephanie and I all cook together about every 7-8 weeks).    Danielle posted our menu on her blog (and so I'm totally stealing it here to share) :) 

-Here's what we're making on Saturday for OAMC (a.k.a.  Once A Month Cooking):

• Pizza Hot Pockets
• Pesto Chicken Hot Pockets (with homemade pesto sauce)
• Black Bean & Chicken Burritos
• Pasta e Fagoli Soup
• Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
• Poppy seed Chicken Casserole with broccoli
• Shepherd's Pie
• Black Bean Soup with Chicken
• Turkey Meatloaf (with feta & sun dried tomatoes)
• Teriyaki Chicken
• Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork)
• Herbed Fish Cakes
• Spinach Quiche
• Creole Chicken

We each get 2 of most of these dinners, so after a full day of cooking, we'll stock our freezers with 27 dinners, 16 hot pockets and 16 lunch burritos!   I can't tell you how nice it is to have all of these meals planned, shopped for, prepared, and cleaned up!

I've also started doing a few mini freezer cooking sessions in between.  Like this week I found a crazy good deal on some ground beef at Target:

So we seasoned and made hamburger patties, and I browned the rest, mixed 1 lb with taco seasoning and kept 2 lbs. plain to add in to spaghetti or anything else.  That's the beginning of 4 dinners in less than 30 minutes. 

I also made these delicious (& nutritious) No Bake Energy Balls that I can't stop eating.   Seriously... they are addicting.  It's like eating cookie dough, except that they are pretty good for you!

I'd like to do some breakfast burritos soon for Mike to grab in the mornings.   IF ONLY I HAD SPACE FOR A DEEP FREEZER!!!!  :) 

Even Josiah likes to help out in the kitchen these days!  :)  Here he is whipping up some French Toast - he's actually a pretty good little helper (as long as I don't turn my back for too long!) :)