Menu Planning...

Menu planning has always been such a struggle for me, I'm not sure why. I'm not the most organized person in the world. I'm not good at checklists, organization or planning in general, so menu planning just doesn't come natural to me. I am really trying to grow in these weak areas and also trying to not let guilt weigh me down when I feel like I'm failing at everything... I'm trying to remember that my sweet little ones are only little for such a small portion of their lives and tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. I'm trying to remember that I'm not defined by how clean or cute my house is or what we eat. I pray that I can reflect Christ to these sweet little ones and not get bogged down and stressed out when things aren't perfect. I was reading a book by Sally Clarkson the other night and it was such good reminder to find contentment and be thankful in ALL circumstances and to seek the Lord and what He wants us to learn in each situation.

With that being said, I haven't posted my menu in a while, but I love being able to link to it from my phone. I'm much more likely to stick to a plan and not eat out or eat mac and cheese when I can just click a button :) It's amazing the difference that having a menu plan for the week helps everything go a little smoother...

Breakfasts:
Eggs and smoothies x 2
Breakfast Quinoa
Baked Oatmeal
Morning Glory Muffins
Bagels, fruit and yogurt

Lunches:
Ham and cheese Hot pockets with cauliflower
PB and J with carrot sticks and cucumbers
Leftovers

Suppers:
Italian Chicken over pasta with Broccoli
Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos with salad
Hamburgers and potato Fries and salad
Honey Lime Chicken with Rice and stir-fried veggies
Enchiladas with Beans and Rice
Chicken and Rice Broccoli Casserole with salad and cucumbers

Where has the time gone?!

Where do I begin? ONE post last year? Wow... well, I guess I'll start with this past week and hope to go back and fill in some blanks.

My newest nephew was born on March 12th, Judah Nathaniel. We were thrilled to be able to go up and meet him when he was only a day old! He was so tiny and precious! We are truly praising the Lord after a very complicated pregnancy. We are very thankful for him to be here safe and sound! Here's a picture of Logan with his new baby brother.

We were also glad to spend a little time with my brother, Josh and his wife Laura before they move even further north. This will be the first time a sibling besides myself will be moving away from Iowa. A little sad for me because I’m used to going back and seeing everyone when we visit. Hopefully, we’ll be able to plan our trips so that will still work out!

It was just the kids and I who went up. Seth was directing his first Teen Retreat back at a camp the same weekend. Thankfully everything went well. It was an encouraging time for all, a challenging time as they looked into God's word and were reminded the importance of loving the Lord Jesus and each other.

We sadly got sick with a stomach bug a couple days into our trip so, it put a little bit of a damper on things. We made the best of it and had a fun time at my parents. My mom was helping Heidi at her place and my dad left to go work, so we had the place to ourselves. I figured we'd have been alone at home anyway, so it didn't really matter where we were! Sarah started to pull up. Can't believe how big she's getting so quickly. She is crawling all over, I have to figure out a solution to the whole Lego situation, if anyone has any ideas, let me know! They end up all over and she will find them...

The weather was nice after we were better, so I was able to meet up at a park with some friends. I'm so excited for spring to pretty much be here! Landon was thrilled to find a tree that he could climb, he's been wanting to for so long. It was sweet of little Roman to share the pinecones he found with Sarah :)

 And we had fun getting free DQ afterwards! I think it was James' first ice cream cone, he loved it and finished the whole thing! So thankful for so many friends and family that stay close even though we are miles away!

Eight Years!

I can't believe it's been 8 years since I married my sweetheart! It feels like yesterday I was standing with him, hand in hand and saying, "I do." I can't express how thankful I am to the Lord that He brought us together. Seth is the most selfless, loving, godly husband and I can't believe I can call him mine :)

I've been doing some reflecting over the last eight years and thought I'd share.

2006 - Got married, moved to Oklahoma, found out we were pregnant with a honeymoon baby, lost our sweet Samuel at 20 weeks.

2007 - bought our first house, found out we were pregnant with Landon, had appendectomy and thought we were going to lose him as well, but the Lord graciously spared him!

2008 - Had our precious Landon. Lost both Seth's grandpa and grandma.

2009 - Lost my grandma. Found out I had Lymes disease and began treatment

2010 - Had our first girl, Olivia!

2011 - Bought our 2nd house 

2012 - Lost Seth's sweet aunt, Donna. Had our sweet Jamesy boy

2013 - Lost another of Seth's sweet aunts, Joyce. 

Found out we were expecting again with another little girl!

2014 - We can't wait to meet this precious girl due July 4th

Not too mention all the nieces and nephews that were born and the brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws I've gained over that time! 

Eight years ago, I never would have anticipated all we would go through together and where we would be today, but I am so thankful that the Lord has our lives in His hands and we can trust Him with whatever comes our way.

September/October 2013

I have been a terrible blogger! I truly miss documenting our life on here. In an attempt to catch up, I plan to catch up two months at a time... I can't believe 7 months have gone by since I posted! Alas, here I am. 

The day after Labor Day, we began our first official homeschool year. Landon in kindergarten and Olivia in preschool. We chose Heart of Dakota as our curriculum and my sister-in-law loaned me her Sonlight read alouds. We have loved it so far! I truly enjoy the opportunity to watch the lightbulbs go off and my favorite thing to do with the kids is to snuggle down and read lots of good books. It has been hard to figure out how to keep the house clean, plan/cook meals (it feels like they are constantly hungry!), be involved in different activities and homeschool. It's a balancing act I'm trying to figure out, constantly reevaluating what to be involved and what to step back from. Praying for wisdom along the way. We are enjoying it though, and look forward to this school year.

First of all, our sweet James turned one! I can't believe how fast this first year went by. He is such a joy to us. He absolutely loves music! Whenever he hears it, he raises his hand and waves it back and forth. It doesn't matter if it's a hymn or the Wild Kratts theme song, he will get into any music. His other love is balls, he can say, "baw" and gets so excited when he finds one. Landon has a marble works set and James seems to find any stray marbles and puts them in his mouth. I can always tell when he has found one and have to squeeze his cheeks to get it loose. Thankfully he hasn't swallowed one yet! 

He had a family birthday party here in town. He was very excited about his football cake! Here he is in Iowa celebrating at one of my favorite restaurants, Hickory Park. It was fun to hear them sing to him their special birthday song and brought back many birthday memories from my childhood.

James also got his first haircut. It was bitter-sweet, he looked so much bigger after Papa was done!

The kids and I got to spend two weeks in Iowa with my family. A friend had given us a couple Monarch caterpillars to watch change into butterflies, so we brought them along too. When we got to Iowa, they had just started to go into their cocoons! There must have been an egg on one of the leaves because we found a baby caterpillar a few days after the two made their cocoons. I love this picture we got of them, at all three stages. It was such a cool thing that the kids and I were able to watch.

October was a busy month with two big weddings! First, my baby brother, the last in our family, got married to a wonderful young woman, Laura. We are thrilled to have her as part of the family! 

Landon had the privilege of being the ring bearer - a job he took very seriously :) 

There was a second wedding in October, no, not Landon and Sophie :) Chris and Stephanie! I am so happy for them and excited for this new phase of life that they are beginning together.

Then, Samuel turned 7 year old. I can't believe it's been that long since we held our sweet firstborn boy. The kids and I made a cake and we took balloons out to the cemetery and released them. We wish he was here with us, but we know that the Lord had different plans and that His ways are good. We are so blessed to have these three bundles of joy with us and know that they don't belong to us any more than sweet Samuel does. We treasure each moment the Lord blesses us with. What an eternity we have to look forward to, being with our wonderful Savior forever. No more sadness or pain, the former things being passed away! He is so good.

11 Months Old

So, this boy will be one next month! How is that possible?? I guess time flies when you're having fun :) This boy is so much fun, his demeanor is so calm and content. He loves to wave and give a big goofy smile with those big teeth of his to everyone he meets! He tries to say "dog" now by saying, "gog" and he also calls birds and any other living creature a, "gog." We call him our "monkey boy", because he's always climbing onto things and wanting to be a part of whatever Landon and Olivia are doing. He's always sitting on his knees like this too.

 And here's a picture of our sweet Olivia

...and our creative Landon

...and our currently sick James :(

Olivia's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe this sweet girl of ours is three years old! I love this precious smile of her's :) She brings us so much joy. This is her favorite thing to do, ride her little tricycle - it's amazing how fast she can go! I guess she has to keep up with her big brother. 

She still loves her "bear bear." The other day when I asked her to pick up her bear, she said, "She's not a bear, she's my baby, silly mommy." She's never been that in to dolls, but she treats her bear like it's her baby. She also likes to play trains and hide-and-go-seek with Landon. She loves her baby brother and always clenches her teeth (in a loving way) when she rubs his head. She still loves anything pink or princess and she'll always be our little princess :)

We started her celebration by bringing her breakfast in bed. She was so excited - especially about her special cereal, fruity pebbles. It's funny how little things like picking out birthday cereal can be so exciting. 

Landon picked out this Rapunzel hair for her, she was very excited. She very adamantly corrects us when we call her, "Olivia," and she is wearing her Rapunzel outfit, she says, "I'm not Olivia, I'm Rapuzel!" 

We took her, along with Landon, James, her aunt and uncle, and her cousins out to the new movie, "Planes." I couldn't believe how well James did during the movie. He just LOVED it, he would bounce when the music played and coo or scream when he got excited. After the movie, we had banana splits and sang, "Happy Birthday" to this sweetie.

James got his first taste of ice cream :) Of course he loved it, I think he has a sweet tooth like his mama.

Here's a picture of the crew, I love each of these kiddos so much! It was a very sweet birthday for a very darling three year old.

Summer

Here's a glimpse of our summer thus far... 

James got to spend time with his cousin, Madison 

We went blueberry picking. It was a lot of fun, definitely something we will try to do every year!

Seth had his work family day at Incredible Pizza, the kids had a blast

Then, we made it out to an amusement park with friends. I loved this place, there was no ride to small for these little guys.

Next was the Fourth of July so we headed north to visit my family. I love this picture of Olivia with Nanny :)

We had so much fun with family and friends

 Landon loved the sparklers! Olivia on the other hand, burnt her foot on one so did not like them a bit. They all really enjoyed the firework show though! 

 I got to take the kids to their first parade, they loved it!

We had a great time at the annual conference as well. I love that Landon is starting to form friendships with my lifelong friends' kiddos.

Landon took swimming lessons, he is getting so close to learning how to swim, he can now sort of doggie paddle, and just loves the water!

We harvested our pumpkins that Landon was so excited to plant earlier this year, I guess we planted them a little too early since they were ready early July! I then proceeded to bake, de-seed and make pumpkin puree - my, was that a project that I do not care to do again! There's a reason that they are supposed to be harvested in the fall, the kitchen was like a sauna.

Then, we had more cousins come to visit. It was a little crazy because we had a huge wind storm that knocked out power for a lot of the city. We had a great time despite the craziness.

The boys got to go to see a real submarine. They all came back talking a mile a minute about how many doors (Landon's guess 100 :) ), bunkbeds, and bathrooms there were and how cool it was!

 We lost a tree at our rental house in the wind storm. Here's a picture of Landon helping Seth cut up all the branches, he's a hard worker!

We have had a wonderful summer so far (it's not quite over). We're gearing up for school now, Landon will be in kindergarten this year, so we're excited to begin this new phase of life.