Hard Places

We are going through a hard time right now. It's scary and sometimes I don't understand why the trails never end but here are some verses I am going to meditate on as we seek God's will:

Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you: He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Psalm 55:22 NASB

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
Proverbs 21:30 NIV

The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.Psalm 138:8 NLT

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55:22 KJV

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2 NIV

Hungry Tummy Tuesday (Wednesday!)

So I had the flu yesterday and I never got around to posting a recipe, I didn't remember either!

So here is goes:

EASY Crockpot Pot Roast

I make this often, my family enjoys it as do I! It's great for toddlers too because the veggies and meat get so tender so it's easy for them to chew.

1 chunck roast (or cut up stew meat which is what I buy)
1/2 package of baby carrots
2 large pototoes cut up
1 package of Lipton onion soup mix
1 can of Golden Mushroom Soup

Put the meat in the crockpot, then the veggies, then sprinkle the onion soup mix, and pour over the golden mushroom soup. Set it on low and check if every few hours because my crockpot cooks faster then I would like. I took me all of 5 minutes to throw it in and dinner was ready on time!

Our Wedding!

My friend Kara Noel is doing a wedding blog today so I thought I would join! Here are some of my favorite memories of that day:


Practicing my stroll at my parents house before the festivities began!


I was so nervous before we walked down the aisle, I told my dad that I was going to cry and to make me laugh. So he said his fly is down. I was shocked and said that isn't funny!


My dear hubby wiping the tear from his eye when he saw me! I never let him live that down!


He wrote a song for me and surprised me with it! I felt so special!


Our amazing wedding party!

Highs:
It was sunny
I loved my makeup and hair
The food was great!
We had layered cheesecakes for our cake, yum
All our friends came
We floated away on a boat back to my parents house

Lows:
It was 90 degrees out and I was dripping with sweat
The DJ played the wrong song when I walked back down the aisle
I broke a champagne glass!
Devin's dad couldn't come
We had to get on a plane just hours after the wedding so we had to leave early

All in all it was a great day! For sure one I'm going to remember for the rest of my life! Thank you for letting me share my day with you!

1 year in Illinois

This time last year we moved from sunny Southern California to snowy, frigid, icy, windy, humid, stormy, and sometimes pleasant Central Illinois! My husband took a worship director job at a church here and we felt strongly that God was leading us here.



Now I will admit, it was a big move especially for me because it would mean raising my 2 year old and 2 month old boys away from my parents. I saw my parents everyday since they lived down the street. They are amazing people and love their only grandchildren (my boys) so much! They knew however that this was a great opportunity for Devin's growth and my independence away from them.



We started out in a house that was old and drafty about 15 minutes from the church. There we just froze and counted down the days until we could have a place of our own. There was a minor flood downstairs and we lost electricity once but other then that we were okay. Once we moved into town:



We really enjoyed our house and still do however here are some of our trials:
wind that knocked down our fence, two floods in our basement, no landscaping, no grass, bunnies dieing in our regress windows, frogs in our regress windows, mice, mice, and more mice!



We have grown so much through all these trials though and I have really seen Devin grow in his relationships with God, me, and the boys. I feel like I've gained alot of independence here and I've had to really 'run the house' like I always dreamed I would do. I have even had to humble myself to clean houses when I never really felt like I knew how to clean and it's a lot of work!

The people here have really been supportive and although at times it's really hard for me to be here, I know it's where I'm suppose to be. I pray that this next year will bring us closer to God even more and that he will use our lives to touch others as he works through us.

The flu stikes again!

Seriously is our family allergic to Illinois? If it's not a cold then it's a cough or ear infections or the flu! Kai woke up in the middle of the night crying and vomiting all over his sheets. My kids just had the flu 4 weeks ago. So I'm praying Nash doesn't get it (but I know its inevitable) and I'm taking Zicam around the clock to ensure my safety!

I hope everyone else is staying well!

Hungry Tummy Tuesday

No Cream Creamy Broccoli Soup

1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onions
3 tablespoons oil
2 (14.5 ounce) cans fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup MINUTE Premium White Rice, uncooked
2 cups milk
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese


Cook and stir carrots, celery and onions in hot oil in large saucepan on medium-high heat 5 min. Add broth and pepper; stir. Bring to boil.
Stir in broccoli and rice. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 to 15 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently.
Add soup, in batches, to blender or food processor; cover. Blend until pureed. Return soup puree to saucepan. Add milk and cheese; cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

I like this soup. It's really healthy and it's good for being healthy. So far no one else in my family wants to try it but if your families aren't as picky then I say you should try it. I had some for lunch and I think I'll have some for dinner too!

What a night!

Since I met my husband it has always been clear that he was a die hard Steelers fan. I of course had no team so Steelers became my team as well. When we won the Superbowl a couple of years ago I knew I picked the right team! So last night we celebrated that the Steelers won and I'm rooting for them all the way at the Superbowl!



On another note, I decided to include this cute video of Nash and the way he says 'ewww'. It melts my heart.

Pajama Rama

Before I was a SAHM I worked part time at a church. I just had Kai and he was a baby. I showered and got dressed up (anything other then pajamas is dressed up right?) and went to work. I had a neighbor who stayed at home and she often would joke that she is lucky to shower and stays in her work out clothes all day. I thought that I would hate that and I ALWAYS want to shower and dress up. However now that I do stay at home, I have to say that most days are in my lounge wear and a ponytail. It's hard not to feel unattractive when you aren't getting 'ready' everyday so today I put in some extra effort. I was wearing my usual lounge wear and sporting my pony tail but today I did my full makeup and put on dangling earrings. So if you took a picture of me from shoulders up I felt attractive but then I'm still not dressed! Oh well, I tried right? I'm sure my boys noticed and appreciated my efforts ;)

What...it snowed?

Devin came home late last night and told me it was snowing pretty hard. I didn't remember anything about a lot of snow on the news? So this morning I opened the garage to go clean a house and there was a wall of snow as my garage door opened! Ah! I'm from California, how do I shovel snow? Is there some special art to it? So I went at it in the 17 degree weather and it took me about 20 minutes to just do my side. I posted a picture of my lovely job. :) There is also a picture of my back door and how I can't open it up or snow will come caving into my warm house! And then of course my favorite 3 year old boy! By the way, when I got to the house I needed to clean, they told me today isn't a good day. Boy are they glad that I let things roll right off my back and that I don't blog about them. No really I am not mad and totally understand that I needed a lesson in shoveling anyways.

Too good not to make!

For those of you who have been ignoring my recipes and NOT writing them down like you should have...humph! That was me making a strange upset noise. So anyways, I made this Macaroni and Cheese recipe last night and it is just too good not to make! I've had this a lot of times at my mom's house but I haven't made it myself and I really needed some comfort California food since it's so cold and snowy here. (more on that in the next post!) So write this recipe down and go to the store get the ingredients and make it tonight for your family! You won't regret it! Even Mr. Picky Pickerson Kai ate it! Now that has to say something?

1 1/2 cups of uncooked macaroni
1/4 cup of butter
1 small onion(1/4 cup)chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 cup milk
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese in cubes

Cook and drain pasta. Cook and stir butter, salt, pepper, and onion until tender. Then blend in the flour. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until smooth and bubbling. Remove from heat; stir in milk. Put back on stove and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in cheese until melted (or almost melted). Put in ungreased casserole dish. Bake 375 for 30 minutes.

The Goodwill

Out here in Illinois our town is big on Garage Sales. I started going once a week during the Spring/Summer and got hooked! You just can't beat a good deal. Since it's Winter here the Garage Sales are on hold so I decided to check out the Goodwill. I walked out feeling very lucky and here are my finds:


$1.00


car $1.99; puzzle 0.49


shorts for Kai $2.50

Where do I start?

WARNING: If you are weak in the stomach this post is NOT for you! Please skip down to the more pleasant posts about Christmas and new lamps.

I had just gotten out of the shower and Nash was screaming in his crib trying to go to sleep. I thought I heard another cry but wasn't sure. After a few minutes I was sure I heard Kai crying in the basement. So I ran down there and followed that cry to the bathroom. I walked into a room covered in poo: the walls, sink, toilet, ground, and of course my son! To make matters worse there was toilet paper everywhere.
Apparently Kai had to go so he ran to the bathroom but didn't make it in time and went in his underwear. Then he took them off and sat on the seat (which explains the dirty toilet) then finished in the toilet but got off too soon and put some on the floor too. He decided he need to clean it up so he grabbed toilet paper and put it all over the floor. Somehow it was on his feet, hands, legs, and face. Yuck! Are you grossed out yet? Hang in there! I stuck him in the shower, which he is afraid of, and had to wipe him down. Then I cleaned the bathroom again! (I just cleaned it yesterday, moped and all!) All the while Nash was STILL screaming.

No one every tells you these joys of parenthood. Just about the sweet things your children do and the wonderful smell of a baby. I think someone needs to talk about the TRUTH: You will be puked on from time to time and cleaning up poop is under the description of MOM.

Snotty nose, croupy cough, fever oh my!

Well 3 weeks ago we had the horrible stomach flu that went through our house so you would think we would be spared such a horrible cold but you were wrong. So far it's just the kids. Kai is so tough that he just coughs until his eyes bulge and has been sitting around (actually running around?) with a 103 degree fever for 3 days. So I took him into the doctor thinking they would say there is nothing we can do but wait it out but instead they said he had a severe ear infection and another one on the way! When he was asked if it hurt he said no. Then he told me the rest of the day that he's not sick. Crazy kid! So he's on antibiotics that I have to practically force feed him because he doesn't like the taste. Actually I have to give him juice and a chocolate candy to get him to take it.

As for Nash, he got it from his brother of course and doesn't have the fever yet but we are hoping he will NOT get the ear infection since he had tubes placed in his ears on Tuesday. However he wants to make sure I know that he is still sick too so he is up about 6 times a night. Thanks Nash, I get that you are sick too.

Devin and I have so far been lucky and have no symptoms. I'm beginning to think that winter is the WORST time of year and a season that really doesn't feel like you'll ever see the end of. Here's hoping Spring will come soon!

Oh so thankful

What was my favorite gift from Christmas time? Well it is a hard call because I feel so very blessed by everything we received but this lamp in particular is so pretty. It really fits my living room and creates a certain ambiance in the room. So a big thank you to mom for brightening up my winter!

Nash's surgery

After having fluid in his ears for longer then 3 months and a persistent ear infection, we decided to go ahead with the tubes. We were really nervous about this surgery and Nash being put to sleep. All went well though and we were only at the hospital a couple of hours. He was pretty upset when he woke up though. Amazingly a little liquid and a cereal bar made him happy again. Thank you for all your prayers!

Wii

With our Christmas money we decided to purchase the Nintendo Wii. I would like to first say that I've been against all video game systems in my house until this point. However with winter here and Kai's pent up energy I thought maybe it would be a good outlet and perhaps bring the family together in some friendly competition? So we bought it and here are some fun facts:

*Kai beats Devin in boxing often (he's so short that he gets away with a lot of body punches)

*Devin is good at Tennis and I am not

*I rock at bowling, you don't even want to play me ;)

Nash likes to run around us and watch how we freak out when he threatens to touch the Wii system. It's been really great to watch Kai and Devin bond through these games since it's too cold to go throw the ball and such. Now Kai asks to box all day long!

New hair

I decided that the hair in my face is so annoying and it's time for a change! So I cut bangs. Here is my new hair:

If you could keep one thing clean...

So here is my problem, my house doesn't stay clean! I think what bugs me the most is my floors. If my carpet could always looked vaccuumed and food off of it, my wood floors always look sparkling clean, and my bathroom floors be nice and hairless then I would feel a little more like my house isn't always a mess. So here is my question for you: If you could keep one thing clean in your house or one thing always done (laundry, dishes, etc) what would it be?