Happy Easter

As we approach another holiday weekend,  I find myself reevaluating what is really important. There is so much commercialism that bombards us and especially our kids, I want to make sure my kids know what Easter is really all about. Now, I'm not super mom. I haven't been on pinterest at all, we did one craft that had no spiritual purpose, and I'm working really hard just to read them our Children's Bible every night leading up to Easter,  but even then I'm questioning myself. Shouldn't this be the most important part of our every day? Why is it just this week (that happens to be spring break) that I'm making time to emphasize Jesus? Is it because we're not behind schedule by 7:15 every morning this week, do I blame our busy school day schedule? Or is the problem with me? Have I not made knowing Jesus and being in His Word a priority in our house? I'm learning and realizing that I need to make some changes. Maybe a little more structured reading time when we can actually read God's word together. Maybe a short memory verse we can work on together.  That means a little less cleaning,  a little less coffee (ouch), a little less breathing space for me, but I so desperately want for my kids the life changing experience of knowing Jesus as their personal savior.
Easter is a season of hope, forgiveness, and new beginnings. Spring is finally here,  and our Saviour is alive! I am so excited to share that joy with my family. And so grateful that Jesus has redeemed me, in spite of past mistakes,  and what better time than now to start new, make a new priority that is a little less focused on being on time and a lot more focused on making time for Jesus.

The Balancing Act

I've been hearing a lot about balance lately, but somehow it seems to escape me. I just finished doing the Bible study "Makeover: Revitalizing the Many Roles You Fill" by Jen Hatmaker with a dear group of friends. Over at The Better Mom they have been doing a series on finding balance as a busy mom. Whether you work, stay home, have kids, are single, finding balance is something that we all struggle right now.
I posted last week about our adorable new puppy and the challenges of housebreaking her. This week I'm recovering from a cold and trying to figure out how to begin training for the 18.12 mile race I signed up for, and include that into everyday life of trying to have some devotional time, play with and teach my kids, have time with my husband each day, cook healthy meals for my family, train a dog, get the chores done and laundry folded, the dishes done, help at church, and be there for the friends God has blessed me with. Juggling kids activities, church activities, at home time, cleaning, exercise, and everything else seems a little intimidating.
We just began a new study on "Gideon: Your weakness, Gods strength". I'm excited to see what God has for me to learn as I find my place in this current season of my life. And I have blocked out this afternoon for sitting down and planning my "schedule", to include all the things God has put into my life. I think the key for starters is coming up with a plan, and then tackling it moment by moment with the strength and grace God gives us. I'll keep you posted!

Bonus: A link to my current new favorite recipe for homemade granola bars:
Inspired Taste Soft and Chewy Granola Bars

The Tickle Fight that went right

Today was a day. You know, one of "those" days. The ones where everyone and everything is just off. It started out fine, I only cleaned up puppy pee once before 8am. Then we went grocery shopping,  and I lost my keys somewhere between unlocking the car to load groceries and returning the cart. Not a huge distance to cover, but they were gone. So I had to re-unload kids and go and ask inside if they'd been returned. Thankfully they had,  although I have to admit I was a little annoyed that someone's good deed took an extra 15minutes of my time. Because you know if they would have left them where they were I would have found them in a minute. But it's ok, they were doing their best and I wasn't late for anything. Just a little hiccup.
Came home,  unloaded kids and groceries, (I can't remember if I cleaned more dog pee), made granola bars, and then it was time to get my oldest off the bus. It was early for the first time ever, so I almost missed it. He misbehaved at school,  so up in smoke went my dream of a nap. (No screen time if you get in trouble at school.) So we spent nap time writing apology letters (I almost fell asleep spelling "sorry"). Then the boys played. And made jokes. All about farts and poop. All afternoon. I was so tired of it. I sent them outside to play(twice), hoping that would burn off some of the crazy energy they seemed to have today. They came in, still telling weird 3 and 5 year old style farts jokes (like "why did the giraffe cross the road? So he could fart!" Which to boys is apparently hilarious), and proceeded to run laps around the living room for the next hour.
It was at this point I had given up. I know I did stuff, but it sure doesn't feel like I made any progress. I vacuumed the living room,  but only because my middle son had emptied out the dustpan of hair from yesterdays haircuts all over the living room. I sat down as the boys ran laps around me, doing my best to ignore the insanity and obnoxiously loud farting noises, and I felt useless. What was the point? What is the purpose to all this? I'm so tired but I haven't done anything worthwhile. And then it hit me. My perspective needs adjusting. That's when the tickle fight commenced.
Have you ever tried to tickle three children at once? Its hilarious,  and nerve wracking, and exhausting. But it works. My attention was all they needed to get over that edge. My attitude changed, so did theirs. So we tickled. And then I made dinner, and they played *somewhat* quietly (the fart jokes never stopped), and I was reminded of my purpose. The point of it all. To show them the same love God shows me. In spite of my tired, my grumpy, to just jump in and engage. The moments (yes, "those" ones), didn't stop, but my attitude was better.
And maybe,  just maybe, there is something a tiny bit funny about farting giraffes. At least its funny to watch them think its funny.

Puppies and Grace.

We have a new dog. She's a puppy. Very cute. Very cuddly. But exhausting. One more "little" to keep track of. More poo and pee to clean. I forgot how much puppies are like babies. We picked her up Saturday night. She was a surprise to the kids, they didn't know we were getting her. Her flight however, was 4 hours late. That's a long time to wait in an airport past bedtime with 3 small children. It was 2am by the time we got home. Poor puppy was all wound up, so it was after 3 by the time my husband and I got to sleep. The next day was rough. Grumpy kids, grumpy parents, an adorable puppy peeing everywhere and chewing on everything. Last night, after putting the kids to bed almost 2 hours early, and taking the dog outside for the fourth time in an hour, I looked at my husband and I was totally overwhelmed. "I think we bit off more than we could chew." She has been great though, aside from the puddles. She's sweet, she mostly chews on her toys and one rug she's grown attached to. She is great with the kids, not overly rowdy for the most part, and loves to just be beside you. I'm excited to have another dog, I just forgot how much work they are as puppies. And today has been better. Sleep works wonders. For everyone. It reminds me again of God's amazing patience with us, His unconditional and everlasting love. Even though I'm far away from my cuteness "saving" me (like Karu), I know He isn't going to run out of patience, He is always there to listen, even at 3am when I'm cleaning puppy pee, and at 5 when I'm changing diapers. I am so thankful His love is not conditional.
So the next week will be a little crazy, but we'll get there. We'll survive one day and a time, and someday, she will learn to pee outside.

The Race...

So I have to admit, I have been completely unmotivated the past few weeks. I had two races looming ahead of me, that I felt unprepared for. And I knew that two weeks is no where near enough time to cram for a half marathon. Not that you can really "cram" for a race, but it's a lot easier to wing a 5K or even a 10K.
I'm a lucky girl, though, my husband ran with me, and I have amazing friends who stayed with my kids so we could go down the night before and not have to get up quite so early. The night before, we went to bed at a decent time, I was sleeping great, when BRRING! The hotel clock alarm went off. 3am. Yup. Somebody's idea of a prank was NOT appreciated. My loving hubby hit snooze. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, BRRING! Off it goes again. "Unplug it!" I wasn't happy. But we did go back to sleep. Woke up at 6am to start getting ready for the start time at 8am, and looked out the window to blowing snow. March 23rd, and there is snow accumulating out the window. Where we are due to run 13.1 miles in about 2 hours. Really?
So we get ready to run and expect to be miserable. We walked the .5 mile to the starting line, warmed up inside, and stayed inside until the last possible moment. When we walked out to the starting line, the snow had stopped (Thank you Lord!!), and the sun was beginning to peek out from the clouds. The National Anthem was sung beautifully, and when the gun went off, all 1294 racers began the slow walk to the start line. Apparently, you don't start running when the gun goes off, you wait until your feet actually touch the start line.
The first few miles weren't bad. I was a little slow, but it's hard to get warmed up when it's 21 degrees farenheight and there's a 15mph wind blowing in your face. Finally around mile 3, after drinking some frozen Gatorade, I got into my groove. It was sunny, I was passing a few people that looked like they should have been faster than me, and I was looking forward to hitting the halfway mark and downing a gel pack. Made it to the 6.5 mile mark, and grabbed some GU from a volunteer. Brr. Never before have I actually had to chew the stuff. It was frozen. Drank some more half frozen water to wash it down, and kept on plugging. I still felt like I was doing a good pace.
I kept on going, enjoying the sunsine, and the people, til around mile 9. I started getting tired. And thirsty. I was ready for more frozen GU. But there wasn't a water station. So I started messing with my radio, and watching for a water station so I could re energize. I didn't slow down, yet, I was just getting ready to be done. That was the farthest I had gone in training, and it was the single long run I'd done to prep for the whole race. It was mile 10 when I started slowing down. Finally got to that water station I'd been waiting the last mile for, but at that point I was starting to hurt. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my hips hurt. Definitely was wishing I had trained more consistently. There was more shade here, and my face felt frozen. But, only 3 miles to go. You can always keep going just a few more miles, right?
The last mile I actually stopped to walk a few times. Just a few steps, but every time it was harder to get going. Finally the finish line was in sight. I tried to speed up, you always gotta give it your all to cross the finish, but I don't think all my effort resulted in any actual speed. It was just more pounding the pavement at the same pace. I was so sore by the time I crossed the finish, it felt so good to be done. And inside where it was warm. And there was food. Yum. Food. I'll be hungry for several days after this, but hopefully after a few gallons of water and some sleep I won't be feeling quite so sore.
So am I done with races? Oh no. I started looking that night at marathons. Now I know where I'm at, and I have a good idea of what I need to do to get where I want to be. Plus I loved the t-shirt.:) That's one reason I love running. It's not about being the best or being the fastest, it's about knowing where you are and slowly but surely overcoming and getting better. Pushing just a little bit harder than the last time, and proving to yourself what you can do.
Oh and the final results, for anyone who cares: Place 800, net time 2:10:57.
Happy running!

Do you KNOW Him?

Reading 2 Timothy 1 this morning. Its (relatively) quiet. Kids and hubby are asleep,  its just the kitties playing. Its dark still,  I have my cup of coffee and I'm taking the chance to read and ponder.
Verse 12 stands out to me, even though I've heard it a million times,  memorized it, heard sermons on it. It says "Yet I am not ashamed,  because I know whom I have believed,  and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. "
Now yesterday, we were challenged to be ambassadors for Christ. We were challenged to share the gospel. Its our calling. As believers we are commanded to do this. Yet its hard. It is SO hard. And scary. But why is something that we are all called to do so difficult?
When I read this verse, it started to make sense. Paul's confidence came from knowing Christ. He knew who he believed in. He was convinced of the power of God.
How well do I really know my Saviour? If I really knew Him, I would have the confidence to share Him. Am I convinced of His power? God has done amazing things in my life. I need to take the time to remember those things. To reflect on who He is. And believer, if its been awhile,  if you're not sure of Him, or can't remember the last awesome thing God did for you,  then ask! Ask Him to convince you. Because I truly believe that He wants to be honestly and deeply known. He wants to demonstrate His power in us, do that others will see. Lets KNOW our Saviour!

Experiments in the kitchen...

So I've been learning and experimenting more with "real food". I say "experiment" because I haven't taken it on 100%, I'm just working on incorporating it more into our lives. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up some of my favorite things(sugar), but I do want to be feeding myself and my family things that are healthy and whole the way God made them. It's a process. It's a little challenging to get kids to try new things that don't taste like the old (i.e. homemade whole wheat cheesy crackers as opposed to goldfish), but some things have a been a hit. Today's new recipe I found over at 100 Days of Real Food. I made a few basic changes, since I don't own a dough hook on any of my kitchen appliances. I just used my mixer, and that seemed to work fine. Also since I don't have white whole wheat flour on hand, I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 unbleached white flour. I used olive oil instead of avocado oil. Oh yum. These are delish!!

 http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/05/26/recipe-whole-wheat-tortillas/

I let it sit for about an hour, slightly flattened. Made rolling it easier!

I have obviously never rolled out tortillas before, they're a little bit odd shaped. Just a little.:)

Frying them up. You really need very little oil.

Mmm... ham, cheese, and spinach wrap.

And the kids loved it too!

 

Stay tuned for another recipe test... definitely not "real food" but delicious!!

Traveling...

Wow. I haven't posted in awhile! So here's an update. We just got back from yet another cross country adventure. 10 states and what felt like three seasons, we drove from Arizona back to upstate NY. Highlights included the Grand Canyon, four corners, the Cadillac Ranch,  Big Texan Steakhouse, Williams Creek Battlefield, St.Louis Gateway Arch and museum, Indiana World War Memorial, and good old Charlie the Butcher in Buffalo NY. The kids did great, stay tuned for a post on travel with small children! :) Here at home we still have a couple feet of snow, although its definitely less than when we left. We also have 5 kittens underfoot. Im looking forward to a few mini adventures this week during the last of leave, and getting back into a normal routine and some yummy home cooked meals. On the agenda: homemade chicken stock (a first for me) and some yummy chili and casseroles to share!

Sunshine has arrived!

We are 6 weeks into deployment. We've had our ups and downs, but for the moment things are looking up. Spring has FINALLY sprung, the weather has been amazing this week(ie kicking the boys outside has immensly improved Joey's attitude), and Sarah has slept 6ish hours straight for 3 nights in a row. Gideon is conquering the big boy potty, and we are one day closer to daddy coming home. It's truly amazing what more than 2 hrs of consecutive sleep can do for your outlook on life. On today's agenda: haircuts for the boys and planning a care package for daddy.
In the midst of nitty gritty life, I find it hard to make time for focused Bible study and prayer. I get so caught up with what I want to accomplish in a day, that I don't stop and take time away from my projects or chores to pray, or to spend time reading God's word. I fill my free moments with dishes, laundry, going to the gym, or facebook instead of God's word. This morning I am reminded of how important it is to be in tune with Him, in His word learning what He has to say. Stopping for a few minutes to pray and open my heart to hear Him.

Impromptu Dinner Party...

Sunday, a day of "R&R", or at least putting off 'til the last minute everything that needs to be accomplished for Monday. Yesterday morning I was smart. I got out my crockpot so dinner wasn't a biggie. I loaded it up and realized that WOW. This is a lot of food. So I texted a friend, and asked if they had plans. They didn't, yay! This was a new recipe (to follow), and I decided that hey, I have the ingredients, why not try a cheesecake for the first time ever since we're having company anyway? Yum. I love cheesecake. So long story short, I tried out 3 new recipes on my friends and family. It seems like that is always the case, having people over is a good excuse to try something new.:) Here are the recipes I attempted and the general verdicts:

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken
http://www.getcrocked.com/2011/11/14/crock-pot-balsamic-chicken/
I thought it was delicious. I did substitute chicken breasts for the thighs,  The kids ate it without complaining excessively. Our company seemed to enjoy it. Apparently my husband doesn't like anything balsamic. So sadly, I will save repeat for a night when he's not home.

Wild rice. Just cooked it with some chicken broth and parsley.

Baked Broccoli
http://www.food.com/recipe/crunchy-baked-broccoli-506312
Super simple, and delish! Everyone loved this one, and it reminds me of summer BBQs.... can't wait!

Cheesecake Supreme
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/desserts/cheesecake-supreme/
I cheated and bought a crust. That turned out to be a little too small, so I just baked the extra filling in a small pan without a crust. Still yummy! I didn't know what to expect, so I was a little terrified that it failed completely when I pulled it out of the oven and it was huge and puffy. But it settled down, and tasted super yummy. I want more.

So yeah, yummy food, fun with friends, what more could you ask for?:) Stay tuned for more posts...