Welcome, Spring!

Hello First Day of Spring! Finally. Time to head outside and play in the . . . snow?  A little (2-3 inches) snow wasn't going to stop us from enjoying the backyard. This is the (first) day (of spring) the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

A little swing and slide action. I only had my iPhone in the backyard and I left the HDR on. Not the best set-up for action shots.  But, I had to document our snowy day in mid-March.

When God gives you snow, make snowcastles! And snowmen! And snow angels!

Happy Spring!!

More Green Fun

Not sure why we were all about St. Patrick's Day this year. I think maybe it all started with Marshall's Irish dance performance. Or, maybe because that same red-headed wonder just happened to get new green All-Stars. He picked them out, totally on his own. I love seeing what my kiddos will choose for themselves when given the opportunity.

Oooorrrrrr, maybe it was because I found these cute pot of gold treats on Our Best Bites and decided we had to make them.

As a friend pointed out, it would be helpful if I posted pictures like this before the holiday so the rest of you can make them too. Oh, to be that organized. I guess you can just save this idea for next year. [And I'll try to be ahead of the game for Easter activities.] I'm lucky I even have a picture of the finished product this time. Thank you to my fabulous neighbor/friend Amy E. for snapping a photo before her kiddos munched on this one. 

They were a super easy craft. The kind that I could handle. And that kids can easily help out with. Just be prepared to hear "Can I have another Rolo?" or "Can I try another Twizzler flavor?" so many times that it will challenge your sanity. Also - don't open the bag of Rolos until you are ready to put the treat bags together. Trust me. Just trust me. You will find yourself back at the store buying more Rolos. I'm not saying that I ate a whole bag of Rolos or anything . . . 

Oh, and please excuse the iPhone quality of this picture. Yes, my camera battery pack is still dead. Don't judge. Please. Uhthankyou.

Back to the treats. Rolos and Rainbow Twizzlers in a treat bag, tied off with green ribbon. I found the Rainbow Twizzlers on Amazon. But, later discovered that Fred Meyer carries them too. If our printer hadn't been out of ink, they would have had cute gift tags attached as well. There is a link for free adorable gift tag printables here. 

New topic. Shamrock Run. So fun, so fun. Eric and his friend, Conrad, ran the 15K. Not just a 15K. A 15K with a massive hill in the middle of it. More like a mountain. So impressive. Our friends, Michael and Dana, and I ran as well. Just in the shorter distance races. Somehow I missed getting a photo of Dana and I. (By the way - you can see her adorbs family here.) But, here are a few of the rest of the crew. (Some lovely, post-race, we're freezing cold photos.)

And now . . . my right knee officially hates me. Apparently, I am getting old. I almost couldn't walk last night. So, it's down to Gallagher's Fitness I go. I think I am giving in and trying Altras. Here's a picture.

They are so ugly. Eric and Conrad, I'm sorry. But it's true. Ugliest running shoes ever. This random woman came up to Eric after the Shamrock Run and asked about his Altras. She said they are the Birkenstocks of running shoes. So true. Function might win over fashion this time, though. I need to keep running to burn off all of those Rolos. Ugh.  

Leprechaun at Lancaster Mall

As I type this, I'm sitting in a hotel room with the hubs. We get to spend the night in Portland before tomorrow's Shamrock Run. I know, I know, another night away. Please don't hate me for having amazing in-laws. They are also giving my kids a Red Robin fix. So we don't have to. Oh gosh, now you really hate me huh?

However, this night away seems like an ample reward for having spent part of our day at Lancaster Mall. Only if you live in Salem would you understand the pain of such an event. Oh Lancaster Mall, how I loathe thee. Half of you probably think I'm a snob now. That's okay. The other half of you are nodding your heads in agreement with me . . . I just don't find much redeemable about this particular retail outlet. 

But, our sweet redhead boy was performing there with his Irish dance class. We don't even know if we have any Irish in our genes. But we have a redheaded son who looks Irish and another son named after Irish whiskey. So, it's fitting that we would have a little guy who loves Irish dance. 

Here is Marshall and his two minutes of fame at Lancaster Mall. We're still not sure why exactly they were performing there. But, Marshall loved loved loved it. He's so proud. Which is all that matters. Nowhere else we'd rather spend St. Patrick's Day. We must really love that little leprechaun.

Marriage, Soup and Reality

So - anyone who has ever had a post-baby dinner delivered by our family is likely aware of my ability to rock chicken tacos. It's not like it's hard. Just toss boneless, skinless chicken breast (frozen or fresh), some chicken broth and a package of taco seasoning into the crockpot. Let it cook. It works on any setting. I've done it for four hours, six hours, eight hours and ten hours. So . . . every setting on my crockpot. It works the same every time. If you happen to have an amazing husband like mine who makes homemade chicken broth it will taste even better. But, canned chicken broth works just fine.

New topic. But it's related. I promise. I have this new-ish friend named Ashley H. (Not to be confused with Ashley H. of The Bachelor-fame) (And ... ahem ... she needs a blog... just saying, Ash...).  Have you ever had one of those friends who, as soon as you meet them, you like them? Ashley is one of those friends. She quickly endeared herself to my heart with her love for the Lord and her love for my kiddos. And she's fun, an added bonus!  It is so easy to look at this young woman's life and see how she has been the Lord's from the time she was little. I've been blessed by her a bunch in the last few months.

Ashley is married to Eric's longtime friend, Sean. Sean and Ash are newlyweds. They've been married for a short and sweet six months. By the way - here are some BEAUTIFUL pics of their wedding. Ash did a lot of the decor herself. Look at the pics and you'll see why she needs her own blog ASAP. (Come on, Ash . . . you know you want to). Plus, they are just one adorbs couple!

I have been impressed by their desire to build their marriage right from the start. Sometimes, the first year of marriage isn't 100% smooth sailing, and they have been determined to work out those kinks early on. They've been spending Thursday evenings at our home with us watching the Mars Hill Church sermon series, Real Marriage. You can download the sermon series FREE at the Mars Hill website. And, there is a correlating book written by Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife, Grace.

We have dinner together on Thursday nights before we watch the sermon. A few weeks back, they showed up with this chicken tortilla soup for dinner. Ohmyyum.

Ashley H's Tortilla Soup 

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (If you're short on time, you can cook the chicken in a 9x13 glass pan in the microwave. Seven minutes per pound.)

1 can chicken broth 

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can diced green chiles

Directions: Combine chicken broth, cream of chicken (plus one can water) and taco seasoning in a pot on medium heat. Whisk together until blended. Shred your chicken. Add chicken to the broth/soup/seasoning mixture. Stir. Add tomatoes, beans (I drain the beans a little bit, but I don't rinse them), corn and chiles. Mix well. Keep on medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring often. When it’s all ready to eat, top with cheese. Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream.

How easy is that?? So - I told you this related to me making meals for people. I think this is my new go-to. Forget chicken tacos. If you've had a baby recently and we are bringing you dinner, speak up if you don't want this. Because you can be 99% certain that this is what I'll be holding on your doorstep when I come bearing dinner.

Finally, I've had some people mention recently that they think my house must be spotless all the time. To dispell the myth, I'm swallowing my pride and posting the following pictures. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) by the end of the day my kitchen looks like, well, a disaster. And, sometimes it even looks like this in the morning. Like, first thing in the morning. Because I didn't clean up the mess the night before. Here's the proof. Here's my daily reality. And, you can't even see the cookie that Jameson took around the house and smashed all over the floors while I made soup while making one twenty minute phone call. But, the soup was worth it - like heaven in a bowl. And the conversation was a little slice of heaven too - thanks Katie K for the sweet fellowship over the phone this afternoon. Made. My. Day.

The Drunk Monkey and the Marshmallow Smiles

What we did today . . . another food craft. thank you, pinterest.  (For all of you to whom I said "no pinterest for me!," you can now say I told you so. It is the best.) The natives were restless today. The time change has the kids just a little "off." And Jameson had reached drunk monkey status. You know. When he's so tired that he is delirious. And he thinks everything is funny. And he hides in the cupboard. and dances. and bobbles his head around like a crazy man. and giggles. and giggles. and giggles. Much, much better than a cranky, tired baby.

We had hours to go until Eric was home. So, we made apple, peanut butter, marshmallow smiles. Messy and fun and yummy. They were not nearly as pretty as the ones on Pinterest. But it just didn't matter.

We cored and sliced an apple. Spread on the peanut butter and stuck on the marshmallows. (Yes, Marshall is in his Christmas pajamas. again. Don't judge. Like I've said before - pajamas are better than just Lego Star Wars underwear.)

And then we ate.

And ate.

And ate.

And got messy.

I have the .... Best job ever. Best kids ever. 

Me! Me! Me Me Me Me Me Me ...

A few weeks back, I received a phone call. It was Ken, the dad/husband of one of my all-time favorite families. He also happens to be one of the pastors at our church. Ken wanted to know if I would share for 2-3 minutes at church on Sunday. Ummm - I wanted to say nothankyou. But, I knew the Lord was saying "do it." So, I said "yes." And I was trusting that the Lord would show me what it was that He wanted me to say.

Some of this is redundant. A summary of what the Lord has been teaching me lately, much of which I've already written about on the blog. But the Lord used a new scripture to gently highlight the things going on in my heart yet again. So, I thought I'd share here what I said (well, kind of what I said. i'm still not sure how much of this actually made it out of my mouth that Sunday).

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:16-17

For a long time, I stopped in my theology at this point: that all things were created by Jesus and through Jesus. I didn’t acknowledge in my daily life that all things were created for Him. From the way I acted, and sometimes still act, you would think that I believe(d) all things were created by Him and through Him, for me.

I had plans and I was going to see to it that they came to fruition. Reading every marriage and parenting book I could get my hands on, I knew “how” to be a Christian. How to study the Bible, all about biblical womanhood, how to be a godly wife, how to parent with godly discipline. But, it was all for my own ends. For my life and family to fit the mold that I wanted to squeeze them into. It was not primarily for the praise of His glory.

I had tried to control everything around me, thus not really trusting Christ or allowing this life to be His. I wanted all things to be for me and the way that I wanted them to turn out. There is a song that my kiddos sing at their Music Together class. It sums up a lot of my attitude. It goes like this: "Me, me, me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me ... me ... me .... me ... me!!" The kids sing it to a cute little tune and point to themselves over and over. Adorable when Jameson does this at 15 months old. Not so cute when it's my attitude before the Lord.

Well, Jesus had other ideas for my life. For the last two years I’ve been faced with a messy reality. I faced a miscarriage. Then two months later, another one. Then one month later, I was pregnant again. And several times we thought I was going to miscarry baby Jameson. Then when I had a one-month old baby, we faced crisis in our marriage and post-partum depression all at the same time.

This wasn’t exactly the ideal life that I had been striving for. This was painful and messy and hard. Jesus has been prying my fingers off of the details of my life. My husband, my marriage, my children, my life. 

But what I am experiencing is that– when I surrender to Jesus and take the perspective that this life is “for Him” – experiencing Christ in the mess is so much better then if I was living out what I thought to be “perfection." I have experienced reconciliation in my marriage, a new depth to my relationship with the Lord, forgiveness, love, God’s provision, fellowship – all in ways that I never would have without the messiness that God allowed. He created my life, my marriage, and my family. He created it for the praise of His glory, and it is His to do with as He wishes.

Whether willingly or unwillingly on my part, my life is for Christ. When I am an unwilling servant ... I struggle. I throw spiritual temper tantrums because things don’t go MY way. Everything is frustrating. I am resentful, angry, depressed, bitter and eventually exhausted.

But, when I fix my eyes on Jesus and live willingly for Him, my burden is easy and my yoke is light.  When I have this perspective – that everything is for Christ -- my depression is alleviated. I find true joy in everyday life. I am free to love my husband, love my children, love other people. When I submit to the truth that everything is for Jesus, I live as His blissful servant. When I maintain a “me first” mentality, I end up living as His enemy.  

When I live with the “for Jesus” mentality as my perspective, it also leaves me free to experience Him holding all things together. Jesus holds my marriage together, my family together and me together.  No matter how many books I read, women I get ideas from or methods I study, I cannot hold my life together. Sometimes I believe a lie that I can – and it leads me to a path of frustration and defeat.

This is something the Lord is still working out in me. I still struggle with moments, minutes, hours, days where my sinful nature so badly wants everything to be for me. But when, by God’s grace I have the proper perspective – that all of my life is for him – I experience Him holding my life together.

Home From Vay-cay

Aloha! We just got back from Hawaii. It was amazing. Really really uh.maz.ing. But don’t hate us for it, m’kay?

First, a gigantic mahalo to Gram and Bampa (Eric’s parents) for taking care of Marshall, Eliza and Jameson for the duration of our trip. After this week, more than ever, we appreciate the blessing of family that is willing to take care of our babies. Vacations like this would be so difficult (maybe impossible) to take without that help. Although, ahem, they may have taken care of them a little too well. Marshall said he would like us to stay away for about eight more days. I might have hurt feelings, except that I would not have minded staying away for eight more days.  Haha . . . I really do love my kids.  Really.  But seriously, it is an amazing gift that we are able to go and not worry for even a second about our kiddos … they think it is a vacation for them too!

Now, here are a few more pics to capture our trip and one quick paragraph to sum up the highlights. Then, I’ll spare you all the rest of the love fest.

Highlights: Having my hubs all to myself for six days and five nights. Breezing quietly through airport security without a diaper bag, car seats and stroller (i.e., not becoming a public spectacle in the airport). Sleeping for ten uninterrupted hours every night minus the sound of a baby monitor. Dinner at Nobu, where everyone looks famous and I learned to love sushi and sashimi.  The cute freckles my hubs gets when he’s tan. Spending seven to ten hours every day in the same lounge chair. Staring for hours at the Pacific Ocean and Waikiki Beach. Fresh pineapple delivered poolside. Driving a topless Jeep Wrangler around the island to visit the North Shore. Ooing and aahhing over Japanese brides from the multiple weddings at our hotel.

(okay I lied– two quick paragraphs) Falling in love with the Moana Surfrider. Reading, and actually finishing, books I’ve been dying to read. Sitting on the Moana’s home-y porches in big wooden rocking chairs. The constant sound of the ocean. Dinner on the porch at the Beachhouse, with the most amazing table of all time. Watching Eric's sheer joy over playing with the iPad drink menus at said Beachhouse. Making new friends during our hours in the sun. Morning running with beautiful views, followed by iced coffee at the Bux.  Feet in the sand on Waikiki Beach. Having my hubs all to myself for six days and five nights. (oops… did I say that already?)

One last thing: Honolulu Cookie Company. I am obsessed with these little goodies:

Holy. Shortbread. Here I am back home craving more of these. Any flavor of them. I have yet to find one I don't like. And, let me tell you, I've tried them all. They have unlimited free samples in their cute little stores. And one such store was in the same building as our hotel. Yum. And dangerous.

At about a dollar per cookie they aren’t overly-economical to purchase in mass quantity. So . . . what’s a girl to do? As I was lamenting their absence in Oregon, Eric pointed out that I could just learn to make them. Smart boy, he is.  I’m now on the hunt for the perfect shortbread cookie recipe. I’m open to suggestions and recipes. Glad I’m training for the Shamrock Run at the same time that I’m recipe-testing . . . seems providential to me.