My compassionate boy

I have had a little cold or allergies or something and last night one of my ears plugged up - you know, that feeling like when you're on an airplane? No matter what I did I could not get my ear to pop or drain or whatever it needed to do to hear normally again. I was talking about it with Seth and Landon was around. Then, this morning, one of the first things Landon asked me (with such a concerned face) was, "Did your ear drain mommy?"

I just love how he notices things and is concerned for people. Now, he is not always this way, but I pray that he will come to know the Lord and notice the needs of others and serve the Lord in whatever way he is called to.

By the way, my ear still hasn't popped! Have any of you had this issue before and how did you get it unclogged??

Short Menu for the week

T: Chicken Capri Pasta (didn't get to this last week) with rolls
W: Lasagna with garlic bread and salad
R: Bierocks with salad
F-S: Volleyball Conference

Eye for an Eye

Don't let this sweet face fool you... "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Well, we got to know a little bit of it tonight.

Seth had just laid Olivia down for a nap and Landon was playing with some louder trains so Seth told him he couldn't play with those particular trains until Olivia woke up from her nap. Landon kept begging to play with them and this is how the conversation went...

Landon: "Can I please play with the noisy Thomas?"
Seth: "Not until Olivia wakes up from her nap."
Landon: "Please can I play with the noisy Thomas?"
Seth: "No, you may not. You need to wait until Olivia wakes up."

A little while later...

Olivia: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Landon: "Olivia woke up, now can I play with my noisy Thomas?"

So Seth goes to get Olivia and notices the door is already opened.

Seth: "Landon, how did Olivia wake up?"
Landon: "I poked her in the eye... Now, can I pleeeaaase play with my noisy Thomas?"

Let's just say his little conniving plan didn't work after all. He didn't get to play with his noisy Thomas, and then had to go straight to bed for a little shut eye...

Everyday Life and the Menu for the Week

A picture of our sweet Olivia at the park today - she loves the swing!

Also, a few funny things Landon said this week:

If you have never heard the Thomas the Train song, there is a line in there that says, "Percy, pulls the mail on time."

Landon had his Percy train with three baggage cars connected to him. He pointed to the baggage cars and said, "Mommy, are these mail-on-times?" :)

Then, we were driving and we drove by a guy with a beard who was walking on the sidewalk. This is how the conversation went:

Landon: "Look! I see Jesus!"
Me: "No, that's not Jesus, it's just a man. Jesus lives in heaven."
Landon: "Actually, it is pretty Jesus"
Me: "No, Jesus lives in heaven, that was just a guy with a beard."
Landon: "Did you see him mommy, did you see Jesus?!"

A few days late on this, but better late than never, right?

M: Calzone with Salad
T: Ham and Cabbage Potatoes
W: Chicken Capri Pasta
R: Veggie Stir Fry over rice
F: Lime Chicken soft tacos
S: Baked potatoes with all the fixin's
S: Thunder Game!

Olivia at 7 Months

I was gone and really busy most of Olivia's 6th month, so here are a couple pictures and what she is up to at 7 months old.

Weight: 16lb 12oz (35th percentile)
Height - 28" (90th percentile)
Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: 6-12 months
Sleeping patterns: She usually takes two naps a day. She loves to have her monkey and blanket with her.
Nick names: Livy Lou, sissy boo

- She said her first word: "Da da" this month! She loves her daddy.

- She is sitting up very well now, and wants to crawl, but isn't quite there yet.

- She loves her brother - he can really get a belly laugh out of her :)

- She started eating some food, but isn't very interested yet...

Menu

I didn't get to try all the smoothies that I wanted to because I got to the store and they were out of pineapples and the bananas were really green. The bananas didn't ripen until the end of the week! I did try a few though, so I will let you know what I thought of those.



Avocado Smoothie: Definitely can taste the avocado, a little bit of a weird combination of flavors. I will say that the texture was perfect! I may experiment with this base minus the avocado...

Orange Cream Smoothie - Yummy! This was really refreshing. I think the quality of this smoothie will definitely depend on the quality of your oranges - mine were really sweet and perfect, but that's not always the case with oranges...

Groovy Smoothie - Nothing extraordinary, refreshing and simple.

I am going to attempt to try the rest of the smoothies I didn't get to try this week since I was able to get pineapples this week and the bananas I got aren't quite as green as the others. I would also like to try this Strawberry Smoothie

M: Chicken Cheddar Pizza roll em' ups (Didn't get to this last week - This turned out very good, very kid friendly)
T: Southwestern Egg Rolls with Spanish rice
W: Grilled Hamburgers with grilled potatoes and onions
R: Tomato soup and grilled cheese
F: Homemade Pizza
S: Chicken Breasts with balsamic vinegar and garlic over pasta
S: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Florida

The kids and I had a great time in Florida. This was sort of a last minute trip for us, so it was a little crazy right before we left. We had a Valentine's Neighborhood kids club on Saturday and then left on Monday morning. Here is a picture from the club...



Anyway, it was hard leaving Seth for almost two weeks, but it was nice being with my family that I don't see very often for that long. The kids did pretty well on the airplane. Olivia slept most of the time and Landon watched a movie. He was almost asleep so I was putting away his DVD player and he woke up. Boy, was he cranky when I did that! He eventually settled down and we made it...





We spent most of our time at a condo in Fort Myers - it was so nice being able to all stay in the same place. We all had a part in putting this puzzle together. It was fun putting together a puzzle that was more than 24 pieces ;)



The weather while we were there was perfect - 80s most days and I don't think it ever rained! The beaches in Fort Myers were crowed, but they had the most pretty white sand. We visited Sanibel Island a couple of times. The shells there were beautiful and the beaches were really nice. We actually saw a dolphin only about 50 feet away from us at this beach! Landon loved playing in the sand more than anything. He loved making castles and then breaking them. He would get scared of the big waves. Olivia loved running her hands through the sand. Logan, her cousin, was so excited and loved the beach! It was so fun watching him, he would throw sand over his head and eat it and crawl everywhere - he had a blast. Poor boy though had to have stitches while were there! Clayton and Halle loved looking for shells, getting buried in the sand, and braving the big waves.







We found a fun train park that the kids (especially train lover Landon) really enjoyed. There was a miniature train that we all rode and a little water park. It was a lot of fun.











We rode back with my parents, so it was a very long trip for the kiddos. Nanny bought Olivia her first doll which helped - she loves it!



We had such a great time. Goodbye Florida!

Silly Conversations

Landon, Seth and I were each given a specific kid to pray from the Joshua club. Landon knows who we all pray for, but here's how the conversation went:

Seth: "Who does Landon pray for?"
Landon: "Carlos"
Seth: "Who does daddy pray for?"
Landon: "Juan"
Seth: "...and who does mommy pray for?"
Landon: "Two!" :)

Then, a conversation Landon had at the mall public restrooms today:

Landon (while he is peeing): "Beautiful!"
Me: "What?"
Landon: "Those bubbles are beautiful!"
Me: "Shhhh"
Landon: "Do you think those bubbles are beautiful mommy?"
Me: "Shhhhhhh!"

We were working with Olivia to say, "da da"

Seth: "Say 'da da'"
Olivia: "da da"
Landon: "Say, "Skippy John Jones, Olivia"
Olivia: "da da"

On our way back from Kansas after spending almost two weeks with my parents in Florida:

Olivia: Crying...
Me: "Why are you crying, Olivia?"
Landon: "She misses Nanny"

Menu Planning Monday

The kids and I just got back from a great trip to Florida with my family. We had a wonderful time and I hope to post pictures soon! We also stopped in Kansas over the weekend to meet our adorable new niece, Haven. She is such a doll!

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after being gone for almost two weeks. So, here's a start - my menu for the week!

Breakfasts: Smoothie Week! - I'm going to try a new smoothie every day and see if i can find some keepers. Strawberries are in season now so there are some great sales on them! Aldi has some great deals on fruit this week here - Pineapples $.99, Oranges $1.49/4lbs, Strawberries $1.69, Apples $1.29/3lbs

M: Orange Pineapple Smoothie Recipe
T: Strawberry Wild Smoothie
W: Orange Cream Smoothie
R: Groovy Smoothie
F: Green Slime Smoothie
S: Tropical Smoothie
S: Avocado Smoothie

Dinners:
M:: Spaghetti - recovering from Florida trip, definitely cooking something easy tonight!
T: Quesadillas with Green Chicken Chili
W: Satay Chicken Stir-Fry with Snow Peas and Cilantro over rice
R: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with a salad
F: Thunder Basketball Game
S: Chicken and Cheddar Pizza roll em’ ups with a salad
S: Slow Cooker Beef Stew