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Thursday, September 29, 2011

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.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

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!) :) 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

4 Years

I doubt many people even read this anymore since I've been so slack at posting, but I thought I'd do a little update now that another month has gone by!   I can't believe it's September and the summer is over.  Hopefully we'll take advantage of our "beach-house" location a little more this Fall than we did the last month or so.  I don't know why we stay so busy!  We do take evening bike rides down to the beach every week or so though and that's fun.  This past weekend was the American Music Festival, so we went down there twice and got to hear some good music while we played in the sand. 

Mike and I will celebrate our 4 year anniversary this Thursday!  We decided that since we live at a "resort location" we will enjoy a little mini stay-cation without having to travel!  Josiah is going to go spend a couple days with Grammy & Gramps, and we are going to enjoy some of the beach fun.  I was kinda hoping for one last week of summer-weather so we could go sip margaritas on the beach and enjoy relaxing down there kid-free, but Fall has moved in quickly so we might have to be a little more creative.  The one thing we're doing for sure, is having breakfast at Doc Taylors one morning.  We tried to go last month but there was an hour wait... and reading the menu, we're not surprised.  Maybe we'll have dinner at Waterman's (where we had our rehearsal dinner 4 years ago) too.  Oh why is it that I love to eat so much?  :)  I guess that's why I asked Mike to get me a membership to the Virginia Beach Rec Centers for our Anniversary.  It's actually an awesome perk of living here... the membership is only like $6 a month and all the facilities are quite well-equipped.  The only thing they are lacking is childcare, so I'll just have to go workout once Mike gets home, but we have one within walking distance to our house and I've decided it's time to get my butt in shape!  Mike's anniversary present was getting cable with the sports package for College Football season :)  We've only had the bare minimum package with DishNetwork (and only had that to finish out our 2 year commitment from a while back) but I knew he'd go crazy if he couldn't watch his beloved Michigan games this Fall, so we upgraded just through January.  ;)  And then there's one more thing that is totally out of both of our comfort zones....  couples dance lessons!  Ha!   Mike mentioned it a while back that it would be fun, and last week a deal popped up on Groupon, so we decided to give it a go!   I'm almost cringing just thinking about it.  Neither of us has an ounce of rhythm.   It's going to be hilarious... or awkward... probably both.  :)


I almost made it through an entire post without talking about Josiah, but I'll at least leave you with a bunch of pictures :)
















Monday, August 1, 2011

August Already!

So much has happened since I last updated this blog so this will be super long!   We moved into a new little condo by the beach, we catered a wedding in NC, Josiah turned 2, I found out my job is falling victim to budget cuts and will be no more after Aug 15th, a lady backed into us in a parking lot and totaled our van, Mike had ear surgery, I spent another Saturday with good friends doing Once A Month Cooking, and in my "free" time, I have been shopping for a new van and a new job.  Thankfully we found and bought a van today, but I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do for work.  No wonder my brain is dead and I have a hard time writing a blog post anymore. 

So besides all of that craziness, Josiah continues to keep us smiling.  He is such a fun kid, but he sure knows how to push the limits.  Boy is he ever my kid.  Independent, stubborn, creative-thinker (ie: when Mommy says no, he immediately turns and says "Dad, can I do that?").  I see my little sister in him when he puts on the charm when he's asking to do something I'll probably say no to (Raises his eyebrows, cocks his head to the side, smiles and says "I want to watch the Trucks movie again. Umm.. Okay!").  And he's still talking our ears off like his Uncle Brett.  He's got his Daddy's cautious approach to new situations, and his friendliness - Josiah loves just about everyone he's ever met and will gladly talk to them, share with them, and wants them to join in whatever he's doing.  (whenever there's a new kid at the park, he gets right up to their face, and asks them to come play with him "hey girl, you wanna come up here with me?  come on.  let's go!") 

He's carrying on complete conversations these days, and it's so cute to hear him think about something and say "ummm" when we give him a choice.  (Josiah, do you want to go to the store with me?  "Ummm... sure!"  or lately when the answer is yes, it's "Oh yeah!")  And he's quite the encourager... to others and to himself.  When he's trying something hard, I will hear him giving himself a little pep talk under his breath "one more.  You're doing a great job." 

And then there's the complete randomness.  Like when he was jumping from his little soft chair onto a pile of pillows, and he just blurted out: "I want to say 'TRAVEL!" and then he said "TRAVEL" and jumped.  Then got up again and said:  "I want to say 'BLADES'! (helicopter blades) and did it again.  Mike and I just look at each other like "Where does he come up with this stuff?!" 

He's learning how to spell a few words, which is just crazy.  Tonight in the bathtub, he recognized "Josiah, Mommy, Car, Go & Hot"  He can tell you how to spell "Josiah," "Hot," and "Mommy".   He LOVES to read the Bible each night before bed, and every single night asks to read about the burning bush, Adam & Eve and Noah's Ark.   If I stop and ask him, he can fill in the blanks with the burning bush story, Noah's Ark and the Battle of Jericho.   It's amazing to me how much he's actually comprehending.  He is an extremely passionate pray-er.  I have got to capture it on video.  It's priceless.  He gets so into it at the dinner table, that he's actually bonked his head on the table before because he closes his eyes and shakes his head as he prays.  No clue where that came from other than his own passion.

I could go on and on, but suddenly I'm realizing that it's getting super late and I can hardly hold my eyes open.  I have a ton of pictures I should share, although most of them are on Facebook, so maybe next time.  ;)  Thanks for reading!   If you made it this far, you're the best!  

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Check it out:

Check out this pretty jewelry and giveaway at:

thevintagepearl.com

Monday, June 13, 2011

Take our picture Mommy


 Usually getting Josiah to smile for a picture (and not make a crazy silly face) is pretty challenging.... but the other day, he wanted me to take pictures of him with his cars and airplanes, so I took advantage :) 






Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Confession Time

I found this post that I had started writing back in November:

I am a HOARDER.  It's true.  I have such a hard time letting go of things.  I think I'll surely need them again one day, or I hate to get rid of it and then wish I hadn't... especially if I can't afford to buy a new one later.  So I have a TON of stuff... and everywhere I turn, there is chaos!  I think I'm about to hit a breaking point.  So I'm getting ready to start purging.  Clothes, toys, decor, papers, random random random stuff.  I'm not sure where to begin... maybe with the clothes that are 2-3 sizes too small.  As much as I'd like to think one day they'll fit again... let's be honest...

Well, it's 6 months later, but I finally did hit that breaking point, and now I'm loving the freedom to let go of so much stuff.  Over the weekend, I've passed along some outgrown toys, donated 3 huge bags of clothes, a few boxes of miscellaneous junk,  sold two things on craigslist, and we took our 150+ DVDs out of the boxes, put them in a CD binder, and threw the massive pile of boxes in the recycle bin!  It's addicting... I'm anxious to do more! And there's more to it than just going on a cleaning-binge... but that post is still to come. 

Any other hoarders out there? ;)