Maybe one day...

Maybe one day I'll be able to blog on a regular basis again! Sometimes I'll start to write something, save it in drafts and it never makes to the actual blog. Like the other day I was going to write about this pregnancy, but it got put on the back burner, because someone needed something or woke up from a nap or something. Maybe I'll add a few things about this pregnancy in this one, after all I am 27 weeks...almost to the third and final trimester. For now, it's time to play catch up again!

We had a great memorial day weekend. There is something about being together as a family, for more than an evening that I just LOVE (ok who doesn't). Then I find myself after it is all said and done missing my companion, counting down the hours until he comes home from work, and desiring an adult conversation every now and then.

Anyway...it all started with us painting...what were we painting? The girls new shared room, which includes a big girl bed for Ana. It really turned out pretty cute. Not everything has a place yet. Stuff is still here and there, but it's functional and that's what matters. They have been doing pretty well. It's not so much the sleeping part that's a problem, but the getting to sleep part...which I suppose should be expected for two little talkative girls. The first night Ana wasn't really upset, but for some reason Isabel felt the need to console her none the less. She was telling Ana, "It's ok, God is always with you." Then she started reciting some verses she's memorized. I must say it was a proud parent moment (they seem rare sometimes).

We played Wii one night, which we hadn't done in awhile and this was Ana's response EVERY TIME the pins got knocked down with bowling!

Some other weekend highlights included, patriotic sidewalk chalk (don't count the stars and stripes, it's not accurate), visiting with old small group friends at a new park (a new park for us anyway, including a really fun creek to play around in), pizza on the grill, hanging with more friends, and keeping cool in our kiddie pool.

And so after our busy weekend...the fact that I am 27 weeks pregnant kicked in. I had a really hard day. I could barely walk. I have had a lot of back pain this pregnancy (well, more than the other two). I'm sure I often do more than I should and feel the consequences later in the day. I took a sick day from work and laid around/iced as much as possible.

With the whole moving around the girls rooms, it's brought out different feelings. I'm not sure if it was that it meant they are growing up, or the fact that we are making space for a new addition to our family, which will change life yet again. I know everyday, I feel more and more I need to rely less on my own strength and more on the strength from the Lord. Grace's parenting sermon series couldn't come at a better time for our family. I'm still trying to process all I am learning, but I think what I've held onto the most is that I need to try and deal with my sin, even before I deal with my girls. We are all learning, that's for sure.

Beef and Chipotle Burritos - Made in the Crock

As promised:

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef round steak, cut 3/4 in thick
1 - 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)
1 to 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (I used one can, 2 would add more heat)
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
Flour tortillas, warmed
Top with: shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream (whatever taco toppings you use)

1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 6 pieces. In a crockery cooker place meat, undrained tomatoes, onion, chipotle peppers, oregano, cumin and garlic.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Re meat from cooker. Using 2 forks, pull meat apart into shreds. Place meat in a large bowl. Stir in cooking liquid to reach desired consistency. Divide meat among warm tortillas.

Enjoy! Yum!

You could also serve it with a Chipotle (as in the restaurant) style rice. You can find a recipe HERE that I've used for it.

Spring

We been enjoying spring and all that comes with it, rain and all. We've had two little robin nests in around our house this year. One in particular is in a prime location, just under our deck. We can be in the basement and watch out the back door and just watch the nest. Check up on the little baby bird and watch the momma feed it. It's been fun especially for the girls being able to see it so up close. And on the rainy days we've had to stay inside it qualifies as a good 20 min. activity or so. The girls check the nest everyday to check-up on the baby. It's cute.

The mommy at the nest (taken through the window)

The baby. Not the cutest thing in the world...really kind of ugly. It's actually really hard to reach the nest, the mommy picked a good spot to avoid predators. Lee just had to reach the camera up and hope he got a picture, which he did.

wetvbnmm,a32517 (Isabel was asking me about typing while I was writing this, so consider this her first blog post)

We did some projects this past weekend. Bought paint to paint the girls room they will share (soon hopefully), planted flowers (annuals), mowed, etc.

We let each girl pick out a flower and plant it in a pot.

We also have these mystery flowers that we started growing inside during the winter from this little green house kit we got at Home Depot. It was back when we were learning about seeds during her preschool. Well, the flowers (or should I say vines) went nuts and were huge. We finally planted them outside and have no idea what they are or what kind of flower they will bloom (if any). I didn't think they were suppose to be vine like, but they sure are.

So all in all, we've been taking full advantage of the sunshine. You can see other fun activity pictures here.

I soon noticed yesterday how much fun we'd been having outside, when I came face to face with my pile (dump truck size) basket of laundry. Ooops. 6 loads later, we are all set with some clean clothes, towels, etc.

Where do I begin? The longest blog post ever...

Where do I begin? It has been a craaazzzy couple of weeks, amazing, but crazy! For several days, we debated about driving up to MI to see Lee's parents one last time before they head back to the other side of the world. Pretty much the only thing stopping us was the 8 hour drive and gas prices (but I guess it's cheaper and shorter then flying to the Philippines), so finally last minute during church when I was helping Lee with a project he said, "when you get home pack the bags and we'll head out when I get home." So Sunday afternoon we headed out. We are SO glad that we went. We had a great time with his parents. Not doing anything extraordinary, but just enjoying being with one another. An extra added bonus was one morning we came up from downstairs, where we were sleeping, and there was a mystery person sleeping on the couch. It was Lee's brother, Will. He had driven up for the day just to see us and the girls. An extra special treat for Isabel who loves him to death and follows his every move. It might not seem like much to people to take a visit to see grandma and grandpa, but when you only get to see them once a year or even longer if that, it means the world to us.

Playground down by the marina. It was only 40 degrees so we had the whole place to ourselves:)

Can't go to Ludington without a trip to Dairy Queen

Hanging out at a local coffee shop

While there I read a entire book, in two evenings at that. I felt pretty good about how fast I read it until I looked at the back and it said Jr. Biography.:) So what, it was for like a 13 year old. It was a really good book and fast read. It was about the life of J.C. Penney. A truly amazing story and pretty cool that his business was built on Christian principles and beliefs.

We headed home and on the weekend we attended a surprise 50th birthday party for my boss and dear friend, Carl. It was a Hawaiian theme, so we had fun dressing up. I even borrowed one of my mom's 70s Hawaiian dresses from when they lived there. It was stretchy enough to fit over my belly. A great time and excited Carl was surprised!

We were home for the weekend and then Monday morning, my parents, along with my brother (who had just finished a 7 month tour at sea with the US Navy) and his family drove down to KY to visit us. It was an special visit because they live in CA and we don't get to see each other often.

Backyard football

They LOVE big cousin Joshua

During their visit we had a special visitor as well. We were playing outside on one of the 80 degree days. I noticed this lady stop her car right in front of our house. When she got out of the car I thought maybe she was coming to ask a question or something. No, she was stopping for this rather large snapping turtle that was right in the middle of the road. She tried to pick it up, but it started going crazy and she dropped it. I told her to drive around and we would take care of it. My dad was gone at the time, so being resourceful I went to the garage, grabbed some gloves and was going to try and pick it up and move it myself. Again, it started going crazy when I picked it up, so I dropped it. I decided to get a shovel and at least push it out of the road onto our lawn until my dad got home. Once my dad got home he had the idea of picking it up, putting it in our little wagon and dragging it back to our woods behind our house. I warned him when he picked it up that it would go crazy, but he didn't quite believe me, until it happened to him. We did get it in the wagon though and finally was able to transport it to the back of our woods, even with it climbing out once and having to put it back in again. We read online after the fact that snapping turtles can amputate your finger because their head can reach all the way to their tail. Glad we read that after the fact. We named the turtle Willy because we freed Willy!

Thursday, Lee and I then left the kiddos behind with grandma and papa and headed to Gatlinburg for a Grace Fellowship staff retreat. We had never been before and it was so much fun just getting away, enjoying the other staff, relaxing, and getting know others we didn't know so well. We had a lovely couple, Syl and Mini, drive along with us for the 4 hour drive and they were so much fun to talk to and fellowship with. There were 15 couples that went on the retreat and our cabin had the smallest number in it, only 3 couples. We had a blast, poked a little fun, maybe (I'm not admitting anything):) a few pranks, and again enjoyed the fellowship. The weather was gorgeous. When we were outside it was nice, when were were inside it rained. We enjoyed a hike in the Smoky Mountains up to a waterfall. Lee and I definitely said someday we want to go back and bring our family. Supposedly they have this AMAZING knife store too that we just have to go to...someday.

A night out to dinner. The ladies.

Hike in Smoky Mountains National Park

Grotto Falls, where our hike took usWhich one is Nate? Which one is Lee?

The whole gang
Our cabins "band" picture

And just if you ever wonder about the pastors/staff at Grace. They are amazing, truly amazing godly people. If you attend there, you should feel amazingly blessed!

And now we are home. Our family is gone and our life is going back to normal...for the time being. Oh yea, I guess our normal will change in a few months when baby Jelly Belly decides to arrive.

My only belly picture of this pregnancy thus far...24 weeks.

Mother's Day Lessons

It was a week ago and I was driving to church with the girls. It was early and I was singing that morning in worship team so had to be there extra early. The girls were listening to music in the car and I was just thinking to myself about the new Parenting series that was starting at church. I was really excited to listen to what Pastor Peter was going to be speaking on to kick it off. I was hoping to glean anything that would help me with parenting. It had seemed like for the past few weeks Isabel was really testing me/us. Maybe it was because of travels, visitors, and really off routines, but none the less it had been some challenging parenting weeks. Out of the blue on our car ride Isabel asks me, "Mom, did Papa and grandma spank you when you were little like me?" I responded, "Yes they did. When I disobeyed and deserved a consequence." Then she responded, "Do they still spank you now?" Hmm...how should I answer this? "No, they don't." Isabel - "Well, sometimes you speak rude to me." Me - "Your right Isabel, sometimes I do, and mommy is wrong and has learned she needs to ask for forgiveness when I do."

This whole conversation came to mind when Pastor Peter was speaking today on our whole lives and actions being the biggest example we can show our children. That we too are sinners and the "do it because I said so" mentality isn't going to change our children's heart issue(s). I'm still contemplating all of this, but the conversation with Isabel did make me evaluate my own sin and how I need to respond to situations to come.

So after leaving church today, Mother's Day, as most Sundays I do, I got the girls in the car and headed for home. It has sort of become a tradition for us on Sundays (since daddy is working) to go through a drive through, go home, get comfy clothes on, and have a picnic lunch in the living room where we watch a movie. It's probably not the norm for most families. We don't have a sit down dinner like I did growing up, but for us it works and we enjoy ourselves and our time together. So today, since it was Mother's Day I decided to go through one of my favorite drive through places, Long John Silvers. The girls, ok Isabel, was being rather impatient and I was really trying to put the sermon into practice and be a good example, trying to empathize with her how I feel the same ways sometimes when I'm tired and hungry. We got home and I thought, "Okay, we made it, let's eat." I pull our food out only to find they had given us the wrong order, completely wrong, something the girls and I both wouldn't eat. I about burst into tears (that could have been my disappointment or the pregnancy hormones). I would have normally just thrown something together at home, but since we had been our of town this past week I had no food in the house. So I pulled myself together, threw the girls in the car, and ran to the closest McDonald's. It seems like such a trivial thing now, but my reaction even to having been given the wrong food order was witnessed by my girls and probably was less than Christ like.

I'm so thankful for being a mom, but even more thankful for a Savior who pours out his grace when our actions and attitudes fall short.

On a lighter note. I mentioned we put "comfy clothes" on when we get home from church. I usually let Isabel pick out her own clothes on such occasions and this was her combination today (you can't see, but she has 3 shirts on).
Happy Mother's Day!!!