juice

It has been a very very long time since we've pulled out our juicer.  Like maybe a year?  Chad had the grand idea to juice this past weekend and I of course was all like "oh that thing has so many pieces and it gets pulp everywhere and then you have to wash it."  But I'm so glad we did!... it. was. AMAZING.

I usually put celery and spinach and cucumber and green things in our juice... which I love, but I didn't have any of those things, so we used what we had:  carrots, oranges, limes, apples.  I chugged it.  It was so refreshing.

Here was what we made on Saturday that was the best juice ever:

2 large whole carrots
2-3 apples (they were leftover from something and in little slices, so not sure how many)
2 oranges (peel removed)
1 lime (peel removed)
* made two glasses of juice

We made something similar on Monday, which was still delicious, but a little more bitter with the grapefruit and green apple addition:

2 large whole carrots
2 granny smith apples
1 red delicious apple
1 grapefruit (peel removed)
1 orange (peel removed)
1 lime (peel removed)
* made three glasses of juice

Ok.  That was supposed to inspire you... now go juice!


.... if you don't have a juicer, you could use a blender, you would just have to do a little more prep... peel and core all fruits/veggies.  and it might be more pulpy (unless you have like a Vitamix), if you're into that kind of thing.  I, for one, do not get along with pulp.  good luck.

I don't want to forget...

How their little fingers and cheeks smell of sweet slobber after a night of sucking their fingers.

When they come into our bedroom at night and whisper "mom, can I lay with you for just a little bit?"

How Beckham corrects me when I don't say things Exactly right, especially in relation to... well, just about anything.

How we look for trucks and construction sites while driving and point excitedly and talk, talk, talk about them when we find them.

How Beck gently rubs my shoulder and says "I love you mom."

That Creighton likes to lay his head on my shoulder while I sing songs to him before bed.

How much they love to wrestle with dad after dinner.

The one day after BSF when Beckham said "mom, I want to tell you what I talked to God about during quiet time."

Their simple joy for digging in the dirt.

When they enthusiastically say "I love you so much, mom!"

How brave Beckham was before his first swim class, as he sat alone and wiped tears from his cheeks, while I watched from the observation room.

How they excitedly say "you're right mom!" when I am (surprisingly) right about something. :) Or "good job, mom!" when I do something nice, like make them food, or fix their toy.

About Creighton's weird obsession with rubbing things with texture while sucking his fingers... like "bumpies" and bug bites and scabs and my dry feet.

How they both love to push the mower and pretend pull start it, just like daddy.

That Beck loves to sing and dance, but he's too shy to dance in front of other kids and sings so confidently, whether he is saying the right words or not.

The moments the boys show love and kindness towards each other... Beckham protects Creighton or helps him out, they are excited to play together, or tell each other sorry and that they love each other.

Beck has a thing for peace signs in pictures right now. :)

Love those boys.

goals

Are you a goal setter?  Do you love to make a list of things you want to accomplish in the new year?

I'm a fairly competitive, driven, disciplined person who loves her lists, but I'm not much of a goal
setter.  I don't like setting myself up for potential failure and I don't like the feeling of being tied to something... I like the option to switch things up if I get bored and can feel burdened by a goal.  If I do set a goal, it's usually a loose, immeasurable thought about an area in my life I want to change, or I'm usually fairly sure I can accomplish it without much pain or going too far out of my comfort zone (like running a mini-marathon at a specific pace).

Chad and I were recently talking with friends about the sin in our lives as it relates to where we turn for comfort and safety, instead of turning to Christ... things that give us a false sense of security and make me feel like my world is "safe and ok", trying to avoid the paid of facing struggles head on.

This can take on many different forms which are usually different for men and women.  For women, it could be having a clean and organized house, eating only certain kinds of food, not using any kind of medicine, your kids, physical appearance, shopping, etc, etc... Usually they are things that seem good and can be good when implemented in a healthy way, but when abused and turned into our comfort and safety, they turn into sin - idols, addictions, fear, control.

For me, these are the things I often turn to for comfort instead of Christ:

1. entertainment - a show or browsing social media
2. shopping, buying something new
3. exercise, desiring a specific body image
4. things I think will keep my family healthy and avoid sickness.  because being sick is.the.worst.

In 2016, my "goal" is to turn to Christ for comfort and safety instead of these things.  To realize that they can all be good when used properly, but to be honest when I'm replacing Christ with these things in my life.

.... and to blog more. :)

..... and to try to start implementing the idea of a capsule wardrobe (would help with item #2 above!)

more on AZ

my oh my... can't seem to find time to sit and write up a post these days..  I'm going to go with "better late than never" and finish my post on AZ :)

_____________

Another year, another great trip.  This was the first trip that we didn't go in the spring or fall, but in the Summer.  Hot. AZ. Summer.  Chad was on a mission trip in MX the week we were there and met up with us at the end of his trip, which is why we went in June and not October.  I kind of thought we would die in the heat, but it wasn't quite as bad as I expected... maybe b/c I had in mind it would be awful?!  I can't say I was in the direct sunlight for more than a few minutes at any one time, but we were still outside quite a bit.  We did some outings and swam in the pool.

This was also the first year (since those simple pre-kid days) that it felt like we didn't have any babies, making us feel more mobile and up for activities out-and-about.  My highlight is always time with B... when we go out for a late dinner, or a quick trip to a store while the kids nap (yes, we leave them home alone... ;)), or an early morning hike.

But since that's not usually what gets photographed, here's some of what does:

A day at the zoo

the jeep was very popular... as you can see by C's response to not getting to drive

not sure how little Norah is strong enough to pull Beck!

being monkey's at the monkey exhibit

C and See trying to get along... they had their share of friendly two-year old battles :) 

fireworks!

finger suckers :) 

fun at the children's museum

 And a play-by-play of the kids enjoying their donuts :)

And a few more memories that didn't get captured:

- summer movie at the theater - Penguins of Madagascar
- yummy dinners out, including the Best Vietnamese food ever... I've been craving it ever since we went!
- story time at the library [twice]

We will be back soon, AZ!

pics of the boys

About a month ago we went on our annual trip to AZ to visit Seth and Brandy and their kiddos.  While we're there, I usually have B do a quick photo shoot with the boys, since she has a nice camera and seems to enjoy it.  

It's always a little unknown how the boys are going to do during pictures.  In general, I've observed that little boys care much less about getting their picture taken than little girls.  Little girls like to pose and smile at the camera.  Little boys kind of look at the camera and do a cheesy-fake smile here and there while trying as hard as possible to not stay "in pose."

This session turned out to be one where we got some fun pics, but Beck was grumpy, then Creighton was grumpy, and it took lots of convincing to get the smiles out. :)  I kind of like the grumpy ones though... they show their real moods and personality!

Here's some of my favorites.... Beck is 4.5 and Creighton is 2 (although he quickly says he's five! if you ask him :) )....

our first attempt at smiles... "shoot guns!"

love the drool pictures...

trying to hide from the camera....

playing peek-a-boo with the camera 

ready for pictures to be done... love the pouty face :)

made him spit his gum out for pictures and gave it back a little too soon

Beck trying his hardest not to smile!

important life updates

... ok, so maybe not really important, but here's a random assortment of information about our life as of late:

Beck got his first ever short hair cut in time for summer.  Loved his longer hair, but he gets sweaty from fairly minimal physical activity and Chad was always promoting a short 'do, so I finally caved.... and Beck finally decided he was brave enough for the trimmers.  My first thought was "oh no, what did I do" after I cut it... hair is such an identity and it totally changed his.  He looks more grown up and I think he even got more of an attitude the minute it was done. :) 

Beck also got his first set of real kid golf clubs and went to the real golf course with Chad and loved it.  Chad tried to go play a few holes by himself the next day and Beck's sadness just wouldn't go away.  We have a family membership to a course close to our house and I have a feeling they'll be spending as much time there as possible.

The inside of our house is pretty much finally done so now it's time to focus on the outside.  Patio and landscaping.  Here's the patio, but the landscaping is still quite lacking.  If anyone wants to come do it for us, that would be great.  We'll even let you do it for free. :)

I love food.  I love cooking.  I need to talk about food more.  I also love Costco and food from Costco.  Sometimes I think about starting a food blog to promote Costco products just b/c I used them so much.  I can find simple, quick food to make from there that still feels fresh and delicious.  If you happen to have these three items on hand,  you can make some amazing lettuce wraps:

Think: the dressing from the slaw mix tossed on the noodles and topped with the peanut butter, grain mixture.  Then I topped it all off with some pickled onions & cucumbers, chopped peanuts and lime juice.  They were quite colorful and pretty but I didn't think of taking a picture until after they were devoured, so just close your eyes and picture it.

And speaking of pickled onions.  They are one of my favorite food accents right now.  On burgers, tacos, Asian... love the tangy, zesty crunch they add.

It's funny to hear yourself in your kids.  I like to say "say ok, mom" to Creighton to make sure what I'm saying is sinking in (or it makes me feel better about the interaction at least).  Beck caught on to this and he'll frequently lay out a situation to Creighton, explaining how they are going to play or what Creighton is going to do, followed by a "say ok Creighton," ensuring himself that Creighton is going to oblige with his desires...

My favorite phrases these days are "Creighton, stop screaming.  That is an awful noise.  If you need something just ask me." and "Beckham, just leave Creighton alone and give him some space.  If he's screaming that means he doesn't like it."  and "Creighton it's not ok to scream when you don't get your way."  Creighton is a screamer.  Beck was not.  It's not fun.  Advice?


I catered a rehearsal dinner.  First time for that.  It was  fun  enjoyable, but it is a lot of work for one meal.  I think my favorite part of it all is the menu planning, working with friends the day of the event, and having someone tell you that they tried something new and liked it.  My not-so-favorite part is the many, many details that float around in your head that you try to keep straight (list, new list, updated new list).... but I am an organized person that can handle details, so it works out.  I would do it again, just wouldn't want to do it every week.  I mentally told myself to take pics of the food, but the night of was too busy for me to remember, so a menu list will have to do, should you care what we served (the bride and groom wanted Italian):

Appetizers:
tomato.basil.mozerella toothpick kabobs drizzled in balsamic reduction
roasted grape and goat cheese crostini - p.s... I used the leftover roasted grapes to make a peach/grape crisp kind of dessert, topped with vanilla ice-cream and roasted coconut.  First time I had roasted grapes in dessert form and it was yummy!
prosciutto wrapped melon drizzled with mint pesto
sausage, cheese, and walnut stuffed mushrooms

Meal:
Bread w/ olive oil
Salad
Pasta with an alfredo, basil pesto, oven dried tomato sauce
Chicken stuffed with prosciutto, provolone and asparagus with a lemon sauce

And thankfully I didn't have to make dessert, which was ice-creamy and delicious.


Chad is letting his creative side come out and made this etsy-inspired piece of artwork for our living room out of scrap wood we have lying around.  He's scheming up his next project for the back yard and I'm all for it.  Love being resourceful and making cheap things that look great.  Turns out it's handy to live in a construction zone where they are regularly throwing away wood pallets. 

... and the most important one... Creighton took his FIRST drink out of a straw!!  Yes, he probably should have done this like 2 years ago, but every time I would offer him a straw, he would just kind of look at it or kind of put his mouth on it, but I COULD NOT get him to actually take a drink (but I didn't really try very hard).  Then at Costco he decided he could drink out of the straw!  So yes, this is huge.  I had to take sippy cups everywhere that used straws, unless I wanted him to just drink out of a regular glass.  Freedom!  He hasn't been consistent with it ever since though, of course. :)

The goof balls that are a delight and exhausting all at the same time:

Riding "fast backwards" mowers (Beck's name for mowers that go fast, backwards, of course!) during one of our many trips to Lowes.  They love climbing on the mowers and Beck always pretends to be "Scott," the name of the guy that mows aunt Sheli's lawn.  He has a "fast backwards" mower and he is very cool.

a sweet moment while watching the rain

first trip to the pool for the summer!