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

Menu

Well, just as the snow is beginning to melt, we are due for another big snow storm tonight! All this cold weather gets me in the mood for cooking. Here is my menu for the rest of the week:

T: Chili with cornbread
W: Chicken Parmesan over spaghetti
R: Toasted subs with homemade french bread and Creamy Carrot Soup
F: Turkey Enchiladas
S: Homemade Pizza with whole wheat crust
S: French Dip sandwiches

We've also been enjoying yummy warm rice pudding on these cold mornings.

Catching up

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post! December was quite a busy month, then I spent January trying to catch up and now it's February! Every time I have sat down to try to blog I usually have ended up doing something else because it felt too daunting. I will do my best to recap all that has happened these past couple of months...

1. We had a Christmas Party for the neighborhood kids and Sunday School kids. It was a lot of fun. We had 11 kids from the neighborhood and 11 from church. I pray that the Lord would be working in each of these little hearts.

2. Olivia turned 4 Months old



3. We got new windows



4. We went to a local Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree.





5. We had a nice Christmas in Iowa. I actually got to stay for an extra week with Landon and Olivia unexpectedly. We had a really nice time. Landon got a battery-powered Thomas train which he was very excited about and Olivia got a teddy bear "from Samuel."




6. Landon is out-growing his nap... and I am not. One day I was so tired I let him play while I slept (obviously I was not thinking). He finished off the cornbread muffins (I think there were five) and ate a little of the wrappers too.



...then he emptied the wet wipe box and made this artistic design on his train track.


7. Olivia turned 5 months old



8. Celebrated Christmas (in January) with Seth's side of the family



9. Kids got RSV, I got strep throat - were cooped up for a little over a week

10. We celebrated Seth's 28th Birthday



11. Got the biggest snow storm Tulsa has ever seen- cooped up for almost another week so far...


Here is "Snowy Olivia" as Landon calls her in this outfit...



10. We celebrated my 27th Birthday



11. Landon's prayer the other night, "Pray for Carlos, and for Gregory, and for Daniel, and for Potipher's wife, A-men"
Carlos, Gregory and Daniel are from Joshua Club and he has a movie about Joseph, so that's how he thought of Potipher's wife. I have no idea, however, why he associated them together - silly boy!


(Kids from Joshua Club. From left: Gregory, Carlos, Meme)

Anyway, we have had quite the busy last couple of months, but hopefully things will start to slow down and I will be back to posting more regularly. Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying your families!

Landon at 2 1/2

Time goes by so fast. My little baby boy is growing up so much quicker than I want him to! How can he already be two and a half?? I know that I will blink and he will be 5. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time to different points in his life. Like when he was just learning how to laugh, or walk, or say his first words. I don't want to miss a thing. I don't want to ever be too busy that those sweet moments pass me by because I did something that I wanted to do. I want to be faithful to raise him in the way that the Lord would want me to teaching him things of the Lord. I pray these verses are lived out in our home:

"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deut. 11:19,20).

Since time does go by so fast and I seem to forget things so easily, I wanted to post things about Landon that I want to remember from when he was 2 1/2...

He sees the world in letters and shapes. He often will make something with his legos and say, "It's a diving board" or "it's a cross!" When we were walking somewhere the benches were in a zig-zag shape and he said, "it's a Z!" He'll magnet his trains together and say, "it's an octagon" or "it's a kite" (four in the shape of a diamond then the others as the tail). The other day he put his train track in a big "S" shape and said, "it's an S!" It's so fun to see the world through his eyes. His favorite letter to spot is "L" and he'll say, "It's L for Landon!"




He drew this on daddy's iPod touch (which is sadly no longer working) back in July and said, "It's an A!" Sure looked like an A to me too :)



He is fascinated by the story of David and Goliath. He loves to swing something around and pretend to sling a stone at Olivia and have us make her fall over. He laughs and laughs.

He has started to tell us a series of events. A few weeks ago we all went to the YMCA and left Landon and Olivia at the childcare place there. On the way home he started saying how a boy hit him and he would say, "he hit me like this, BOOM!" (while hitting his head). He told us everything that happened (see movie below). It was pretty funny. He has had a hitting problem since about a year old, although he has gotten SO much better. I was glad when he said he didn't hit the boy back.



He is very honest and I really appreciate this about him. When he does something wrong he will tell us. We always ask him to tell us what he did wrong before we disciple him and he always is honest and says, "because I didn't pick up my trains," or "because I threw my bobby (his drink)," or "because I said, 'AHH'" etc... He'll even offer information without me asking, like after BSF one day, "I hit David" (poor David!).

He is really into puzzles right now. We got a couple of those 24 piece puzzles and he does pretty good with them. He needs help, but he's getting to where he can put a part of it together on his own. He really likes to put together "Sally" on his Cars puzzle :)

He loves playing with his trains and legos. He will sit really well and play for a long time which is nice when I need to get something done!

He loves his baby sister. He is always concerned about her well-being. He will talk to her when she cries saying, "It's ok Olivia, it's ok, IT'S OK!!! (if the first few "it's ok" don't work and her crying continues, he starts to yell this...). He'll hold her hand in the car and will get upset if her can't find it. He brings her toys. I just love watching them together.

Our little Landon brings us so much joy and I am so thankful that the Lord has entrusted us with such a gift!

Menu for the Week

M: Baked Spaghetti (didn't get to this last week)
T: Chicken Pot Pie
W: Potato Soup
R: Farmhouse Chicken
F: Chicken Fajitas
S: College and Career - Make your own pizza night with this crust
S: Oven Fried Fish

November

We have had a nice November. It has been quite crazy, but a time surrounded by family and friends which is always great! We traveled to Iowa to celebrate my parents 35th wedding anniversary. We had a nice dinner with just the immediate family. It was so nice to all be together. We talked about how they met and their wedding. My dad proposed after his first date with my mom!

Here is a picture of my parents that was actually taken at our wedding, but I thought it was a nice one. It is actually their anniversary today, so Happy Anniversary mom & dad!


Here is a cousin picture (minus Olivia, Aubrey, and Logan) - these are so hard to take these days!



...and a picture of all of Landon's Iowa friends (which was hard to take too!)


Olivia turned 3 months. She's always sticking out her tongue like a little lizard...





We also had a Thanksgiving Party for the neighborhood and Sunday school kids. We had a great time. I pray that the Lord will grow the little seeds of the gospel that were planted and that these little ones might be saved at young ages.




Then, we celebrated Thanksgiving down here. The Bloom family made it down as well as Brian, Rachelle and Wesley. We had a great time together and ate lots of yummy food and had a couple shopping trips with the girls. My sister, Heidi, and her family stopped through on their way to Dallas and on their way back. We are so thankful to have such wonderful families on both sides. The Lord has truly blessed us.

Here is my menu for the week:

M: Chicken Lasagna (didn't get to this last week)
T: Lime Chicken Soft Tacos (...and I didn't get to this) with chips and salsa
W: Ham & Potato Casserole
R: Asian Peanut Wraps with fried rice
F: Homemade Pizza
S: Chicken Noodle Soup with bread
S: Baked Spaghetti with Italian Cheese Wedges

Samuel's Birthday Recap...

It's been a little over a month, but I meant to recap Samuel's birthday. So, here it is a month later...

We had a really nice day as a family celebrating Samuel's birthday. We went to the cemetery and found 4 balloons at Samuel's marker. That was a sweet surprise. Then, we went out to eat at Steak n' Shake and talked about what life might have looked like if Samuel were here. Landon had helped me make a cake, so later that night we sang "Happy Birthday" to Samuel.

I have thought of making a cake in the past, but never felt up to it. I just never felt like celebrating. This year, I decided to make one and that we would do a little party. It was really nice. I think it was good for Landon to start to understand who his big brother is and show him that he will always be a part of our family.

A couple days after Samuel's birthday, I helped with a ceremony called, "A Walk to Remember." It is basically a time for people to get together and remember the babies that they have lost. It was the most beautiful day, and we had such a sweet time remembering our little Samuel.

I made a little movie of Samuel's birthday this year and the clips and pictures at the end are a part of that ceremony...

2 Week Menu

Breakfasts:
Mocha Frappuccino with Waffles
Baked Oatmeal
Cold Cereal
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with caramel
Fruit Smoothies

Dinners:
T: Beef Tacos
W: Vegetable Calzones
R: Taco Grande Pizza
F: Chili with Cornbread
S: Cilantro Chicken over rice Iced Pumpkin Cookies for dessert
S: Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches with homemade buns

M: Chicken and Apple Curry over rice
T: Vegetarian Penne with Italian Cheese wedges
W: Chicken Lasagna
R: Thanksgiving! (still need to decide what I'm making...)
F: Ham & Cheese Sliders
S: Homemade Pizza
S: Lime Chicken soft tacos

Marriage Seminar Recap & weekly menu

We had a great weekend at the annual young couples marriage seminar in Topeka. Steve Price spoke on several areas in marriage that were good to be reminded of.

Here are a few things that stuck with me:

Brake easily - Be quick to admit you are wrong to your spouse. Don't look at their wrong and dwell on it, but treat your sin as the only sin in the room and confess it to the Lord and your spouse. Don't hang onto your pride, but brake easily.

Spiritual Gifts - Find out your spouse's spiritual gifts and look for ways to allow him/her to cultivate and use them, don't hinder this process through your own selfishness.

Marriage Design - The man needs to feel respected and the woman needs to feel loved - this is the best way to create peace in the home. I've heard this a million times, but it's always good to be reminded to be conscious to show respect and appreciation to your spouse.

Others are watching - Your kids and others that you interact with are watching how you treat each other. Work to have a marriage that honors the Lord and gives the picture of marriage that God intends that of Christ and the church.

It was so good to be reminded of these things. All the messages will be up on the Topeka Gospel Chapel's website in a couple weeks. I would highly recommend listening to them.

Here is my menu for the week. I had fun browsing through different recipe blogs and am excited to try some new recipes! It's a short week, because we plan to visit my family next weekend. We are going to celebrate my parent's 35th wedding anniversary! It should be a really nice time together.

M: Minestrone Soup with garlic cheese bread
T: Broccoli Rice Casserole with a salad
W: Easy Fiesta Chicken with cilantro lime rice
R: Chicken Divan over rice

Oh, and these pumpkin caramel cinnamon rolls look amazing... I don't think anything would smell better that these baking in the oven.. MMmmaybe I'll get to these this week :)

Olivia update

Olivia Ruth is doing very well. She is growing like crazy. She had her 2 month appointment (at 2 and 1/2 months) and she was 12lb 12oz (90%) and 24 3/4 inches long (95%)!

Here are a few things that our little girl is up to:
She is wearing 3-6 months clothes and had grown out of some really cute outfits - that is always so sad to me!

She has rolled over in her crib a couple of times (from tummy to back).

She is starting to almost laugh. She smiles really big and then lets out the little coo.

She is practicing her voice cooing a lot. I love having "conversations" with her.

She still hates her car seat (she has hated it since the day we took her home from the hospital). She is very stubborn and will cry for a looong time before falling asleep in her car seat.

She likes us to lay her down in her crib when she's tired.

She just fights sleep harder when we try to rock her to sleep.

She's a really light sleeper. Landon sleeps hard - I could vacuum and do the dishes while he slept, but with her we have to be really quiet.

We are so thankful for this little girl, she brings us such joy.

She loves the swing, bouncy seat, and bumbo - I just rotate between the three.


She loves to play with her hands like this, I think it's so sweet.


Landon is such a sweet brother, he is always giving his sister kisses and holding her hand when she cries.


I guess I better start buckling her in!