I'm not just a Mom

This post will mostly be about me, not my kids.  :)

I read over at (in)courage and this post, Intentional Living (by Melissa @ The Inspired Room) really resonated with me.

Guess what?  I am seriously considering getting the book, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp, so that I can participate in an online book club.  This book club is hosted by Angie Smith and Jessica Turner and takes place at (in)courage.  Do you think the idea of an online book club is weird?  I think I'm going to give it a try.  I read A LOT of blogs, most every day/evening/night (aka - whenever I can sneak snipits of time). I see real community happening, and real friendships forming because of the blogosphere.  I feel envious sometimes of the fun all these ladies seem to be having and the support they gain from one another.  But, I rarely leave comments or do anything else to immerse myself in this community of women.  So, aside from the fact that I love reading and have heard nothing but good things about this book, joining this book club is my attempt to not just be a bystander of the blog world any longer.  By golly, I am going to participate!  :)

I have been cooking for myself/myself & Jamie and/or myself, Jamie & children since 2002.  That is over 8 years of some tired, old recipes and cooking routines.  My friend, Shirmy, got me The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook for Christmas and I've already tried 5 recipes.  All of them but one I LOVED and will make again.  The other one wasn't all bad, I just didn't care for the texture (it was a berry cobbler and the cakey part was too chewy for my taste).  Just this week I put 4 new recipes on my menu - all courtesy of allrecipes.com.

I am enjoying homeschooling Sophia.  I am actually looking forward to years to come when all three kids will be doing school.  Riley was a real challenge this Fall, but since we've gotten back into our routine after Christmas, he's improved so much!  He pretty much leaves us be, or plays nicely near us, while we do school.  I have really enjoyed reading the "homeschooling" portion of The Pioneer Woman's blog.  She has two regular contributors that write really great stuff and feed my passion and excitement for schooling my kids at home.  Ree (the Pioneer Woman) writes on this portion at times too, but mostly it's two other ladies, Heather Sanders and Kristen Chase.  Anyways, if you homeschool or are curious to the ins and outs of homeschooling I recommend reading from here!

I started working out today, again.  About a year and a half ago Jamie and I gave a serious go at working out and getting fit, but after a couple of weeks I found out I was pregnant with Haddie and stopped serious workouts due to all my previous miscarriages.  After Haddie was born, as with Soph and Riley, I gained weight.  I don't  ever gain much during pregnancy, but after I struggle a lot with post-partum depression and unfortunately my "drugs" of choice are usually food and laziness - so, the pounds compound - ha!  I was working out on and off this summer/early fall and was feeling hopeful for some weight loss.  Then... while traveling to see friends in the Pacific NW I fell and hurt my ankle/foot really badly.  I probably should have gotten it checked out, but I didn't and it took a really LONG time to heal. Even though it still bothers me a bit it can no longer be used as an excuse to not work out.  In addition to the weight loss I am looking forward to the other benefits I gain from working out.  As I've gotten older I've noticed what a difference regular workouts do to help curb my junk food/carb cravings, increase my ability to cope with daily stressors, and make my mood better.  So, today was the day.  Here I go.  Again.  (Please tell me some of you can relate!)

Soccer Tell-All

So, Sophia had her first soccer practice last night.  This particular program divides all the participants up into 4-person teams.  It seemed that two teams were practicing together.  Coaches are mostly parents.  Let me tell you - we scored on our coach!  One of the little boys in Sophia's group had a Dad coaching their group.  His Dad?  None other than the Women's Soccer Coach for our local university!  He even brought some of his players to help out with practice!  So, how did Soph do?  Well, as well as you might imagine a 6 year old girl doing that has never played or done soccer drills before and may or may not struggle a bit with concentration.  :)  Really, though, she was very enthusiastic, tried her best, and never gave up!  I imagine by the end of the season we'll see some major improvement!  All the kids were aged 4-7, so there were definitely some humorous moments.

We met some really nice parents and all the coaches seem great!  We love this program because the focus is not placed on winning or losing, but rather on learning some skills in soccer and teamwork.  Each practice they have a little Bible study and get a verse to memorize for the following week. She'll have practice next Tuesday again and then her first game will be Saturday, February 5.  They will continue to have practice on Tuesdays and games on Saturdays for the duration of the season, which runs through March I believe.

So, we have been impressed thus far with this soccer program and loved to see the excitement and enthusiasm Sophia displayed!

Her first verse to memorize:

Psalm 31:3b
For you name's sake you will lead and guide me.


Did you ever do sports as a kid?  Was it a good experience?

Soccer

Let's see...  tonight starts something new and fun for our family - the wild world of sports!  Sophia has been doing ballet for a couple years, but since the ballet class she was involved with changed times this Fall, it became difficult for us to continue to participate.  So, we have been taking a break from dance since sometime late Fall.  I do want to get Sophia back into ballet, because she really enjoyed it and was starting to really show some talent/potential, but I think we'll wait till the end of the summer to pick that back up.

Our city's community group has a great soccer program for kids and Sophia will be joining that the next couple of months.  Tonight is her first practice.  She'll be having games on Saturdays through February and March.  She is really excited and we can't wait to watch the fun!  :)

My mind is having a hard time focusing at the moment.  I feel like there was more I wanted to share, but now I can't think of anything!  So, with that, I'm going to put us all out of our misery and say bye.  :)

Have a great day!

Show Us Your Singles!

Kelly, from Kelly's Korner, does this fun link-up thing most Fridays that she calls, "Show Us Your Life."  Basically people write blog posts about the particular topic and link up over at Kelly's blog.  Today is the second time she's done, "Show Us Your Singles!"  If people are single, or know awesome singles, they can write a blog post about them and then anyone who is interested can comment and the goal is for some fun connections to occur!  Results from the first time Kelly did this... 3 couples, 2 of which are engaged!

So, today I wanted to share about one of the most awesome girls I know, who also happens to be single... Shirmy!

Shirmy and me, this past April, on her birthday. 

Making a wish - maybe for a godly man??  ;)

Jamie and I met Shirmy late Summer/early Fall of 2007.  She had recently arrived in our town to study for her MBA.  Shortly after arriving she began attending a Bible Study my husband and I were hosting in our home.  That November she gave her life to the Lord!  About a month later we felt led to invite Shirmy to live with our family, and so that December she moved into our house.  She ended up living with us until the completion of her degree, this past May.  

Don't mind the big blur - that's Riley's head.  :)

Shirmy isn't just a beautiful, young woman in her 20s, she is also generous, kind, smart, funny, easy to talk to and get to know, a faithful friend, and a very hard worker.  She is adventurous and willing to work hard to accomplish goals.  She is so brave and willing to try new things.

While living with us she continually served our family with such a servant's heart.  She helped keep our house cleaned up and was always willing to wash all the dishes (none of which she had dirtied usually) after she got home from a full day of class and work.  She always lent a hand with the kids and was such a good friend to have as a housemate.

We love Shirmy and know the Lord has good things in store for her future.  If you are, or know of a great god-fearing guy, please leave a comment with your email and maybe we can set up a date!  

:)  

Sleeping Like Babies

Jamie and I both fell asleep at 8:30 last night!

Haddie is starting to sign a bit.  She is pretty adorable signing "more" when eating.  She will be 10 months old soon - which means we're only 2 months away from her first birthday!  Haddie is an expert crawler and still stands really well, but has yet to show any interest in walking.  She has 7 teeth and is actively working on a few more.  She is starting to eat some table food.  She has learned how to squawk/scream when something is taken from her.  One of our favorite things Haddie does is how she leans in when you ask for a kiss.

Riley is talking like crazy.  He is speaking in sentences now and is starting to really like telling jokes!  On January 1st Soph and Riley got bunk beds and Riley has done exceptional sleeping in his big boy bed.  He is back to actually taking naps, *most days,* and is sleeping great at night.  I have plans to potty train him in the next couple of months so I'm trying to prepare him for that.  When I tell him his pacis will go bye-bye when he starts using the big boy potty he weeps.  Seriously.  So, that'll be fun times.  :)

Sophia's handwriting is improving so much.  When I look at her copy work from the start of the school year compared to now, it is really amazing!  She has been doing simple fractions for awhile now in math.  So far it's all been 1/2, 1/3 1/4, etc...  She was writing which fraction of each shape was shaded today and decided she'd change things up a bit.  While I was away checking on Riley she shaded extra portions of each shape so she could write fractions such as, 2/5, 3/4, etc... She was excited to show me what she did and to tell me on some show she'd watched recently she'd discovered one can write fractions with numbers other than "1" on the top.  She got them all correct.

Jamie and I have all our teeth and remain potty trained.  You should see how well Jamie is doing at paying the bills, and I wash the dishes really well.  Okay, that's all a joke.  I was just seeing how funny it would be if we spoke of ourselves the way we speak of our kids.  Ha!  :)

We'll see if we can make it past 8:30 tonight.  :)

Wedding Bells

In the summer of 2006 I was volunteering for my church's VBS.  There was a young college student that went to my church and was also helping out.  Her name was Val.  I knew her just a bit, but that summer, during VBS, she asked me if I would disciple her.  I have never been the same since. 

In the years of us studying the Word together, walking through trials, sharing joys, talking for hours, laughing and crying - my life has grown richer and more meaningful.  

Today, Val became a wife.  I almost feel like one of my children got married, and I guess, in a spiritual sense, this is true.

Valentina married Greg today, and I could not be more pleased.

Val is a special women.  She has such a heart for Jesus and strives to follow Him wholly.  

I have been praying and hoping for the perfect man to marry her for awhile now, and that man is definitely Greg!  He is just a fabulous fit for Val and loves her so beautifully.  When Jamie and I first spent time with Greg we felt like we'd known him always.  

Today as they exchanged vows and celebrated with family and friends the joy was just palpable.  I love Val, am so proud of her and happy for her, and I am so excited to welcome Greg into the fold of our little family.  

Congratulations Val and Greg!!! 

Sophia was privileged to be the flower girl at the wedding today!

She did a fabulous job and looked so beautiful!

The happy couple with the exuberant flower girl.

love you friend.

2 healthy girls

This morning Sophia and Hadassah both had well-checks at the doctor.  These well-checks were originally scheduled for the Monday after Christmas, but that would be the appointment I totally forgot about.  The best part was the letter I received from the doctor's office later that week saying that if our family accrued a total of 4 missed appointments we'd be kindly asked to leave the practice to find a different doctor!  Yikes!  Since I was taking both Haddie and Soph, it counted as two missed appointments.  So...  I am half-way to getting my kids kicked out of their Ped's office.  Nice.  You can feel free to send my Mother of the Year Award directly to my home.

At any rate, we were rescheduled for today and I made a point to actually remember.  :)  I had asked Jamie to take the morning off so I didn't have to manage all three kids at the doctor's.  He and Riley stayed home while us ladies went on our way.

Haddie is but a pip-sqeak, weighing in at 16 pounds.  She is 28 inches tall.  Her weight puts her at the 20th percentile on the growth chart, while her height is a the 75th percentile.  She is 9 1/2 months and still wears 9 month clothes.  She is our first kiddo who's age has consistently matched her clothing size.  She is healthy and we are thankful!

Sophia remains on the 99th percentile of the growth chart for both height and weight, as she has her whole life!  She is tall and strong and healthy, and again, we are SO thankful!

Thankfully there were NO shots at this appointment so it was drama free.  :)

Have a happy Wednesday.

bits and pieces

"No, Sophia , even though you dried your hands you still cannot eat dinner in the bathtub."  That girl, she's a thinker - always trying to figure out a way to accomplish her goals.  :)

I had the strangest dream the other night, all of my teeth were falling out.  Wonder what that means?

One of my dearest friends just had her second little girl on the 1st.  I can't wait to meet her!!!

One of my oldest friends (& dearest too!) just had her 5th kiddo, a sweet girl, on the 7th.  And when I say 'oldest friend,' I don't mean she's old, I mean we've been friends for a long time!  :)

My sister just turned another year older.  We got to celebrate with her over the weekend.  I made the cake, and let me tell you, it was YUMMY!  It was a new recipe for me and it claimed to be the Best Ever Chocolate Cake!  I think, for the type of cake it was, just your traditional chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, it was the best homemade one I've ever tasted.  Here is where I found the recipe.  The only thing I changed was that I made the frosting chocolate by adding 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the frosting recipe.

Riley cracks us up.  He's the pickiest eater at times, especially at dinner time.  Last night he broke his biscuit in half, making it look sort of like a hen.  He then proceeded to have the biscuit "hen" sit on and then eat all the peas, which he was calling eggs.  He never did eat any of the peas himself, but I'm so glad his hen got a full belly.  :)

Haddie delights us.  She is starting to say Mama.  When I leave the room she'll often crawl after me going, "Mama, mama."

I'm so glad the holiday season is over, I'm ready for a break!

Our tree is still up.  Shhh... don't tell anyone.

It has been snowing all day.  It is pretty, but I just know Jamie is dreading all the shoveling that is to come.

Do you have snow today?

A Christmas Date on New Year's Eve

I mentioned in a previous post that instead of exchanging gifts this year Jamie and I would each plan a date of surprises for the other.  I took my turn this past weekend on New Year's Eve.  It was SO fun to plan every detail of the date and pack it full of activities that I knew Jamie would love.  All Jamie knew going into Friday was that we were having our date and that we'd be staying overnight in a hotel.  I think I also told him my mom would be watching the kids.   It was SO hard keeping everything a surprise, but well worth it!

So, Friday we drove to my Mom's and dropped off the three kids.  The first part of our date was a drive to the city to enjoy lunch and a visit to the art museum.  We chose a delicious Italian cafe/bakery for lunch.  The art museum was wonderful.  I wish we'd had another hour or two to spend there but we had an itinerary  to keep to, so we had to leave.  Visiting art museums is one of Jamie's favorite things to do in a city and I love it too!  It was wonderful having a few hours just the two of us.

We had to stop by my Mom's to pick up Haddie before continuing on with our date.  After giving lots of hugs and kisses to Soph and Riley (he was so sad we were leaving - it just about broke my heart) we headed out, with Haddie in tow, to the next part of our date.

So, a few weeks ago I made arrangements with another couple to meet us for dinner New Year's Eve for a double date.  This couple is SO dear to us!  Tim is Jamie's best friend and his wife Amy has become one of mine!  We haven't seen them in a year and I just knew Jamie would flip out if we got to our table and Tim and Amy were sitting there.  This was the hardest surprise to keep because I kept catching myself almost saying something about how excited I was to see Tim and Amy!

I intended for us to go check into the hotel, get settled there, change for dinner, etc... and then we'd go to the restaurant.  Tim and Amy were arriving right at 5p and then I said we'd be there around 5:20p.  Well, we made a wrong turn or something and didn't make it to the hotel in time to do all that before going to the restaurant.  We actually found ourselves really close to the restaurant while trying to find the hotel.  Well, changing for dinner wasn't actually a huge deal, but we didn't have time to go to the hotel and we were also to early to go into the restaurant.  So, I sort of pretended we really needed to change and we found an empty parking lot and changed in our vehicle!  :)  We pulled into the restaurant at just the right time and when we were seated Jamie was SO surprised and so happy.  I did it!  I kept my mouth shut and it was so worth it to see his surprise and delight!!!

I was so curious to know if Jamie had any idea all of this was going on.  He said he didn't!  He was curious as to why we were going where we were for dinner and our hotel overnight.  It seemed to be a totally random place to go, and it would have been except for Tim and Amy.  They live 2 hours from us, but would be at Amy's parents' over New Years - which is much closer to where we live.  So, I just picked a place that was close to them and close to us to meet up.  It worked out perfectly!

We enjoyed a fabulous meal and then headed out to enjoy some coffee.  We ended up spending four hours together and it was just so great to talk and talk and talk, and laugh!  We miss them already and are determined not to go a whole year before seeing them again!

After they left we went to our hotel to check in for the night.  Haddie wasn't really into going to sleep, so while she fussed we watched some TV.  Once she finally gave up we settled in to watch Inception.  We both really liked it - though it gave Jamie some really weird dreams!

The next morning we were able to sleep in and take our time getting ready to move on.  After checking out we drove an hour to pick up some bunk beds we'd bought off of craigslist.  Then we headed to my parents' to get the kiddos.

It was such a fun date.  I just love being with my husband, he truly is my best friend!  We always have so much fun together and laugh and laugh.  We are SO corny.  :)

Jamie is working on my date and I can't wait to see what he comes up with!!!

So that was my New Year's celebration.

Did you have a nice weekend??