birthday happenings. More than you need to know, most likely.

I have had a wonderful birthday week.

On Thursday, Jeremy and I got a chance to go out on an early birthday date, since his parents were leaving on Saturday for Disneyland.  We went out for Mexican (the new Puerto Vallarta in Kingston has enough vegetarian options, so its one of our favorite places to go now) and each got a drink (I probably order two cocktails a year - one on my birthday, and one on our anniversary).  Then we went out to Poulsbo to share a coffee and run a few quick errands without the kids.  You can tell you are a parent when you include errands in your date night!

Friday we spent getting ready for the weekend.  I cleaned the house from top to bottom, caught up on all the laundry, had the kids take good naps, and got them in bed by 6:40 (almost an hour early) since we had to be up so early.  Jeremy and I spent our evening relaxing.  He worked on his sermon.  I listened to it while crocheting a baby blanket for a friend.  Then I practiced some of the worship set I am doing for church this Sunday.  We drank some tea, read a chapter of our book together, and headed to bed around 9:30.  We had to be up at 5am.  Neither of us really slept that well.  I don't know if it was the coffee in the late afternoon, the anticipation for the next day (we were so excited to see people and for our interview), or the strange dream of a dinosaur chasing me around Indianola (that went on FOREVER), but I was happy when my alarm went off and I could get the day started.

The kids were total champs all day.  Even though it was dark and rainy and cold out, they got snuggled up into the car and we were on our way by 6.  We stopped in Gig Harbor at Panera for a little breakfast (dear me, I had so much dairy and wheat this weekend, but I enjoyed every bit of it, even if I felt a little sick afterward) and got to Angela's by 8:15ish.  And you already know how that went.

snuggled up and ready to go!  Kids are snacking on some breakfast bars I made.

chowing down at Panera in pajamas

The interview went really well, I think.  The panel was made up of the district supervisor of Church of God Anderson, the pastor from the church in Yakima that the new plant will be closely linked with and working with for training/support, and another younger pastor we had met years before from a church up in Marysville.  His church is also shifting to a missional approach and I am really interested to hear more of their story and where they are at. Anyway.

It lasted about an hour and a half.  It was very fluid and laid back.  I don't know why it is always so hard to answer the "greatest strength and weakness" question, though? I don't like to talk about my strengths and then I have trouble identifying which of my many weaknesses is the greatest and then I'm afraid I look like I don't think I have any areas to work on, which of course is not true of anyone.
 
We felt a great weight off of our shoulders when we were done.
We are still convinced they aren't going to pick us and now we can get on with our lives.
Sorta.
Of course they could choose us.
We were the only interview that day, so obviously they thought we were important enough to interview to validate a drive all the way from Yakima and Marysville to meet with us on a Saturday morning.  That alone is very humbling and an honor to us.

Lloyd (the main guy) said we will know by the end of the month at the latest.  I think it will be sooner, because he was talking about having the person potentially relocate by December or November!  That seems really soon to us, and we voiced that...Matt, the Pastor of the church, piped in and said that he wouldn't recommend moving a family in December, and then Lloyd seemed to kind of change his tune about how soon it might really happen.  Matt came up to me at the end and handed me a business card with his wife's name on it.  He encouraged me to contact her and talk to her about what its like to have a family in this kind of a ministry position.  Both Jeremy and I  really liked him and thought we would work together with him really well.  I'm hoping to contact her and chat with her, because whether we get this job or not, I feel like it would be valuable information to hear from her experience.  It also made us feel like in some ways, they may feel like they have to "convince" us to take the position, which kind of scares us (because that might mean we would actually have to be the ones to make a decision).  But we will see!  Please pray for us to know if this is really the best direction for us to go.  It's easy if they don't choose us.  The hard part is if they DO and we have to make up our minds to go for it or not.

After the interview, we headed up to my sister and her husband's place.  She decided to make brunch food and my brother Josh joined us as well.  After our fill of pumpkin pancakes, coffee, and other goodies we don't normally have, the kids played and we chatted for a bit.  It was fun to seem them and to see their place again since they have been married.  The last time we were there, David was living there with two other guys, so it definitely has changed a lot.

Hailey was getting tired. ha ha.

Then we drove up to Redmond to see my other brother, Kit.  This was a nice, relaxing visit!  He made chili and the kids played soooo nicely.  Shea was up in a bedroom playing with his cousins the entire time.  No fighting or anything.  And Hailey just ran around the house playing.  I didn't have to worry about her one bit, so the adults just got to sit and chat and share some wine.

On our way home, we stopped in Port Orchard at my parent's house.  My mom made some cupcakes and my dad gave me a $25 giftcard to target (which I went out and bought an immersion soup blender thing.  I borrowed one from my MIL and used it every day and after I cracked our blender last week, I have been desperately missing having one of these around for soups and bean dips!).  We were so glad to finally get home at 8:30, pop the kids in bed, drink some tea, and then head to bed ourselves.

On Sunday, Jeremy had to go open up the church and he was in charge of the service and preaching.  It was a fun day at church!  Afterward, we put the kids down at his parent's apartment and snacked while watching the first episode of the final season of Breaking Bad on Netflix.  We have been waiting for over a year to watch it, I think!

from a walk last week.  If we move, I will miss our walks out on the dock desperately.  It is all peace and beauty and wild at once.

These pictures of Shea just crack me up.  He was trying so hard not to smile, but he just can't help it!

How can I have my house perfectly clean on Friday night, be gone all day Saturday and most of Sunday, and wake up to THIS on Monday morning?  I don't even know what happened.  I did finally get up the energy to clean this all up.  But phhheeew.  I needed coffee to get motivated.

Bonus of my in-laws being gone: we got to pick the rest of their tomatoes!  HELLO salsa!

Life has been a good busy.

I have been trying to take advantage of every moment before this baby comes, which means I have been kinda tired lately with everything I have been trying to fit in!  I was able to meet up with two different college friends, one for coffee and one for ice cream in the same day.  I hadn't seen either of them in well over a year and it was wonderful to catch up.  Then I got to hang out with Gabe on Tuesday after working my long 4 day weekend (with a double and being a witness to a bad wreck thrown in).  We went shopping at ikea and the tukwilla costco and got some awesome kitchen stuff.  Then Wednesday I had my midwife appt where she said everything is looking good, baby is growing well, though I was measuring 24.5 weeks and I was almost 26 weeks...those measurements can't be that accurate anyway... That was my last 3-4 week appt now I will go every two weeks till 36 weeks, then every week.  

I had a gift card to ikea and didn't know how much was on it. I ended up spending the whole gift card and only 2.43 of my own money, I couldn't have planned better.  It was an awesome trip.  While at costco I saw the biggest nutella I have ever seen in my life!  And the day before I ate the biggest glazed donut I have ever seen.  Its a season of big. :) 

                                     

Then today I got to watch Becca's kids for a few hours while she and Jeremy went to an interview.  Hailey was quite sad when they left but ended up calming down and falling asleep in my arms after 10-15 minutes.  Shea on the other hand was excited to play with toys and watch a show on netflix and wasn't the least bit concerned about his sisters crying. :) While Hailey took an hour long nap Shea and I played planes, trains, and automobiles on our home drawn track in the kitchen.  

                                      

And now for some belly pictures.  I have been good about taking pictures with my good camera every week, sometimes they are a few days late, but hey, if they are done within the correct week I call that success.  I don't get dressed into regular clothes on a daily basis, so it's a special occasion in these pictures. :) 

25 weeks. 

26 weeks!  

 I have a countdown app on my phone that says 96 days till baby's due date.  So close yet so far!  We are more than ready to meet little munchkin, but definitely don't want to meet too soon! Keep on growing baby :)

Opportunity

So, here is a funny thing.  My mind is totally in a manic period right now.  So I'm sleeping maybe 6 hours a night, and it's very light sleep.  Not taking any naps.  And my mind is always racing.  It's an interesting adjustment being manic while trying to keep still all the time.  But it sure keeps my mood happy, and I'm seeing this as an opportunity to work on projects I had been avoiding because of my other responsibilities.

Every day (well, so far just yesterday and today) I pick five things from a list of projects or things I want to spend time on, and I've been setting a timer and spending half an hour on each one.  The list includes:

• Concentrated Bible study and prayer
• Go through old Facebook messages
• Go through emails
• Catch up on blogs and/or write blog posts/comments
• Organize files on computer
• Current writing project
• Study Spanish
• Read something educational
• Plan Christmas

 In addition, I write down all my other little things, like stuff I have to order off Amazon or phone calls to make!

And I have a "coping plan" so I don't zone out.  I haven't followed it completely but they're really just guidelines to strive for:

1.       As able, change positions and activities often.  This mentally punctuates my day so it doesn’t feel so long.

2.      List small sitting-down tasks (email, writing, planning) in between watching TV or playing games.  This keeps my mind sharp.

3.      Be near a window and focus on something far away occasionally.  This gives my eyes a break from all the close-up stuff I’m doing, and calms my spirit with a bit of nature.

4.      Do one thing at a time.  If watching TV, don’t do computer at the same time; I have all day, so savor each thing that occupies my mind, however simple.  Drink tea while just sitting.

5.      Discipline myself with a routine as much as possible.

6.      Discipline myself by setting a schedule with times, and using an alarm or a timer.

7.      List my accomplishments.

8.      Discipline myself by doing some things I don’t feel like doing, like reading something educational.

9.      Encourage others selflessly.  Seek out hurting people so I don’t think about my own hurt.

10.   Be spiritually fed.

This is really helping me not to get too doldrummy.  Except I think it's not really so much my willpower and fantastic planning, as much as the manic state of my hyperactive brain.  Oh well, it sure beats depression.  And I'm feeling very accomplished - as well as getting a lot of Grey's Anatomy in!  Turns out I was two seasons behind, not one, so I have been watching a lot.

Anyway, I'm doing great, hoping you ladies are too!  Any of you can come and visit any time - one of my daily "to do's" is to do something social, and it's much more fun to have an in-person social date than a cyber one!

 

morning

#1 a clutter free counter
#2 my every day staples: coconut flour (needs to be refilled), flax seeds, tapioca flour, honey.
#3 my favorite piece of furniture, which was in the house when we moved in.
#4 our loft bedroom.  Shea pulled out all of his clothes looking for his "mario" outfit (overalls and red shirt)
#5 loved ones framed.
#6 clean floors (mostly) and clutter free view.
#7 folding and stuffing cloth diapers - a moment of peace in the mundane
#8 tea in my favorite cup.
#9 slipper season.
#10 girl eating noodles
#11 french press.  I broke ours a few months ago and just found this beauty at the thrift store yesterday.
#12 my kitchen windowsill.  Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist, as I always have things floating in glass jars.

Some mornings start out on the wrong foot.

This was one.  I have been feeling tired and edgy since I woke up.

Inspired by my landlord being in town this weekend, I was finally able to get some of the clutter and chores done that have been piling up all week.  Finally vacuumed and picked up all the odds and ends around the house, I even swept behind a few pieces of furniture and cleaned up the bathroom.   

This took some time, as Hailey has been extra needy this morning.  Shea has been in a “be mean to little sister even though she did nothing to bother me” mood.  She didn’t get very much sleep last night either.   She never really does.  She has always woken up and cried several times during the night.  It’s just that now, she goes back to sleep without me doing much other than giving her a reassuring pat and reminder to go “night-night”.

But last night, she woke up screaming like she was scared to death. Jeremy even hopped up out of bed to check on her before me, and he doesn’t usually even seem to notice when she cries at night.  I’m not sure if children that young get night terrors, but that’s what it was like, because it took a while to calm her down.  She is napping now.  And Shea is patiently waiting while I have some mommy time before we play and do school work.

I’m glad to have some time to restart my day.  I made myself a cup of tea.  Black peach tea with a drop of honey and my homemade almond milk.

Mmm. 

I opened my devotional and it was basically exactly what I needed to hear at this moment.  It was a challenge and reminder for me to try and see things through God’s perspective and to let the little things go.  The passage it took me to was 2^nd Corinthians 4:17-18:

 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 

When I think about this in the context of parenting, I see how it is so easy to get stuck obsessing and fretting about the seemingly constant negatives that I see in my children’s behavior (and my own!) each day and forget about the bigger picture.  The part I don’t see is what I am instilling in them each day that will come to fruition when they are older – whether that be good or bad.  

Yesterday, I read a preschool devotional to Shea and we talked about planting seeds of good words and actions, because what we plant comes up.  It was helpful that we had planted some seeds together in the garden and harvested vegetables as an illustration.  I constantly am wondering, “What things am I planting in my children?”  I suppose a tree is known by its fruit, and someday, I will see.  I know every parent has regrets, but at least if I am actively pursuing a fruitful harvest (not perfection) in my children’s lives, then I can trust God to fill in the gaps.  

I am trying to remember that these “momentary troubles” are nothing in light of God’s glory and grace and are in many ways, what causes us to grow.  Discipline becomes much easier when viewed not as a chore, but as an opportunity for growth (and not just me disciplining my children, but when I am being disciplined also!).  And when we display patience and love and peace and encouragement and tenderness in these moments, a seed is planted.  In the same way, when I react in frustration, annoyance, inconsistency, and unkindness  I am planting another kind of seed.  Many times, the reason for this reaction is selfishness.  I am too busy to properly "deal" with (insert situation here).  It is simply my “ME-centeredness” that keeps me from being the kind of parent and person I know God would want me to be.  Oh, that I would learn the kind of servants heart to drop everything for the people around me!  It seems an impossible task.

And maybe that is precisely the point.

LIfe.

I am sitting here at Ambers house, we are "hanging out" by both laying on the couch on our laptops and doing seperate tasks.  I was just telling Amber how it's funny how productive I feel getting all my computer stuff done even though if I was doing this same stuff at home I would feel like I was wasting my day away when I could be cooking, cleaning, or doing yardwork. It's all about perspective. 

I love that Becca just posted about dairy and gluten free and I am posting ice cream and cereal. And oh man did they taste good. Baby craves this stuff and this momma indulges. 

A few iphone pictures from the trip to San Juans.  I loved getting to hang out with my family and I smile every time I look through pictures.  Daniel and I at the lavender farm, Paul and my new boat ;), at the top of our "hike" and baby bumpin like crazy.  

On Sunday Paul gave me his wedding ring so that I could take them to the jewelers to get the white gold replated.  I hate dropping our rings off but love the end result.  It was fun to wear his ring for a few hours. :)  And I had on the pearl necklace he gave me a few days before we got married and the white coat I have wanted forever but talked myself out of because seriously, who can keep a white coat clean?  I finally got it for our anniversary at the outlets this year.  At target on Sunday I was really only going to get my mom some dish soap (we love the meyers stuff and we make it into foam soap) and some facewash.  But those candy corns and candy corn oreos were calling my name at the checkout.  The candy corn oreos are super sweet, but I love to have one or two after dinner as a special treat.  

I finally got a new spice rack also!  I have been wanting one for quite some time since mine only took up a little over half of the shelf space and all the other spices were thrown in at random, but never wanted so spend money on one.  Well, at bed bath and beyond I had a 20% off your entire purchase coupon so I decided to splurge on a new spice rack. Best $11 I have spent in a long time.  I guess waiting forever after you want something makes you appreciate it that much more.  I still need to make a few more labels for the bins in that cupboard but overall am quite happy with how it turned out. 

Some of the wrapped Christmas presents.  The rest showed up today and I will wrap them either today or tomorrow, it feels so so good to check that off my list.  The cats were loving all the string and boxes I was using to wrap.  Boxes are "cat traps" and they work quite well. ;)

My lunch has been expanding and shrinking all at the same time.  I have started packing more items but smaller quantities because that is how I have been eating lately.  I eat breakfast when I get to work at 6:45, snack of yogurt and granola at 10ish, lunch at 1ish and then dinner around 6pm and sometimes a snack around 8pm.  

I got some new succlents while in the San Juans and I love them!  They have a happy home in happy new pots on an awesome piece of furniture that was my grandmas.  All those towels and gloves were hers as well.  I love how a blank corner of my house turned into one of my favorite corners. 

The end.  I am off to go swimming and hopefully vacuum my house before the hubby gets home.  I hate how the cats drag litter everywhere, I feel like I vacuum nearly every day off! Soon it will be cold and I will wear slippers everywhere and wont be able to feel the litter...and maybe I won't be as paranoid about how "dirty" it feels. :)

hello, sunshine!

I am happy to have some energy today.  And for the sun!

Yesterday, I was sooooo sluggish.  It seriously felt like an extreme feat just to climb the stairs (which I seemed to have to do A LOT yesterday, or maybe I just noticed more?).  For some reason, my leg muscles were extremely tired and I just could not wake up.  Perhaps because I didn't sleep well, and then was up early that morning with the kids.  And it was kind of rainy and dreary out (although, I won't lie, I enjoyed the rainy day being cozy at home, except that the kids were a little stir crazy).  Either way, I was so happy when Jeremy got home and even happier when I got in bed that night.  I was tired.  Also could have been because I made 12 pints of applesauce from the apples we picked on our old tree and canned them (which I have never done before).  Glad I did it, but PHEW, it was a bit of work.

So, I have been on a mostly gluten free/dairy free diet.  Our family has actually been totally dairy free now (at home) for two months.  I have had eggs and other grains, but then we started limiting our grains too, because of some other research I have been doing.  I have been feeling amazing, but I still feel like I have a long way to go to figure out a good balance...but I was craving some bread real bad the other night.  So, I texted Jeremy while he was at work and said, "LETS GO OUT!" and we went to Panera.  Shea and Hailey split a grilled cheese sandwich, and we got a demi-loaf and a bowl of brocolli cheddar soup to share.  And a huge cookie.  Oh my, what a splurge this was for us.  And we enjoyed it THOROUGHLY.  Going out has become such a special occasion now, that Shea is incredibly well behaved and extremely grateful and sweet. Of course I ruined my diet, but it was one of the most enjoyable family dates we have had.  Not sure if it had anything to do with my energy level the other day or not, but it was sure worth it.  I always have to remind myself that although we are trying to eat what we eat intentionally, we really are not trying to live forever, and people are so much more important than what we eat, which makes it that much more enjoyable when we eat something we don't normally, and especially when we share it with others.  I have just become so obsessed with it, because of the time I am blessed with right now.

Today was our second week at Preschool.  I went and prepared most of what we were doing the night before, but then right when we got in bed I received a message saying that another mom was joining us with her daughter.  I wasn't expecting them to show up for a few weeks, so I was thankful when another child didn't come because I didn't have to prepare an extra set of our activities for her!

It's fun, but always a little interesting to figure out the details.  There is one boy, Thor, he is a JOY to have in the classroom.  He is eating up every moment and loves being in school.  Then there is the new little girl, Lucy.  She reminds me a lot of Hailey, only older.  Very independent and able to do a lot for her age.  She is just young, but she does a pretty good job of paying attention.  And then, there is Donavon.  It took only one week for him to get comfortable and say "no" to everything and start talking back to me.  Shea and him do not get along.  At all.  Donavon hit or kicked Shea about 4 times today.  Now, I know every kid does this, so it's not like that is impossible or unexpected to deal with.  I was really glad to see that Shea didn't hit back, though.  He did yell at the top of his lungs, so the next step will be learning to use words or just walking away, but not hitting back was a huge step.  I even saw him about to hit and then quickly pull his arm back and stop himself.  I guess its about going in stages to eventually have him able to solve conflicts on his own without my intervention.

I talked to Donavon's mom, and I am going to start a "happy heart" chart next week, where they earn stickers for their good behavior, and I will probably be a little more strict about "talking out" in circle time.  It is a little tricky with all the mom's there.  Communication is so important, because I don't always know how much they WANT me to discipline or if they want to jump in.

Shea actually does pretty well during school, other than having a fit about sharing every once in a while (but I find that if I offer a reasonable solution, things usually resolve themselves quickly).  Hailey is all over the place!  Last week my MIL watched her, but she wasn't around this week, so Hailey was just constantly wanting to be a part of everything.  She wants to do school, too!  Its cute, but distracting, and hard for the other moms to help because she is one head-strong girl and knows how to use her voice.

Anyway, I'm glad we do it, and I'm glad I'm home now for the week.

And now, of course, pictures!  These are Hailey heavy today.  Can't get enough of this girl and the crazy fun stage she is in!  Shea also, seems to be maturing a lot lately.  He is still hyper at times, but he is also becoming much more self-controlled and sensitive lately.  Last night, we sat on the couch and he told me ALL about the wife he is "asking God to make for him".  Oh girls, I wish I could have captured that moment in a bottle to open whenever he does something that upsets me.  It was precious.  He had so many details and he just wanted to keep telling me all about it.  I hope I can always have such wonderful, open communication with my children.

Hailey at breakfast.  This girl LOVES to eat.  She loves to sit and take her time and eat every single last bite of her food.  It is so fun to have her at the table with us.  She teaches us to slow down.

 I'll put the rest "after the jump"!

Beautiful San Juan Vacation

I reach burn out status at work on a regular basis, but all it takes is a short vacation to revive me, and that is exactly what this trip to the San Juans did.  I met my parents in North Bend on Tuesday where Paul dropped me off because he had to go to class on Wednesday before he could join us.  

We had amazing sunsets every single night, and I got to take some great silhouette pictures with some very cooperative family. :) 

On Wednesday we tried to pick the activities to do that we thought Paul would enjoy the least, since this is the only day of activities he would miss.  We went to the lavender farm and man on man I have never smelled stronger lavender in my life. 

My mom and I wanted to read about the process of lavender distilling and the process to make essential oils but this little barn area about knocked me out with the lavender smell, we hung around for a few minutes but that's all we could take, I could taste the lavender! 

After the lavender farm we headed to town for a little shopping. Originally we were going to get Daniel a bike to rent so he could bike around the island but it turns out they had a ton of cute shops in a one block radius.  I found a ton of cute stuff for the baby (and then added it to my amazon wish list instead of paying full store price for it all).  I did get a few succulents and this cute bird as well as some grey and white striped paper straws and my mom got the baby the sweetest and softest kitty stuffed animal.  These pictures are all from my camera, but I have some pictures from my phone I will have to upload later. 

On Thursday Daniel hiked all around the island while Paul, my parents and I went to the sculpture park and then on a "hike".  This hike was really a walk, and seemed really easy when I did it 5 or so years ago, but lets just say 650ft elevation change in a one mile with 20lbs of pregnancy weight a belly that is squishing my lung volume that hike was anything but easy!  Good thing I had Paul to push me along. :) 

More sculpture park.  This was one of my favorite pieces.

Paul put up with 3 minutes of pictures taking and I was able to snap a few keepers.  These were all taken with my camera set on a table and using the remote control.  Every time we take pictures of a couple I think, only a few more months of this and then we will have a little one to pose with! 

I kinda love him. 

Daniel snapped this with my camera (and yes Becca every single picture I am wearing a different pair of pants from you :)  ).  I love how it captures how chill life is.  We have time to lay around and fiddle on our phones simultaneously.  I know this won't last for long. 

We got home Saturday evening.  On the way home we stopped at the Asian grocery store and got a cart full of fruit and veggies for $30, it was amazing.  When we got home I spent the next 2 hours unpacking and cutting up and washing fruits and veggies. 

Sunday morning I woke up around 7:30, laid around in bed for a while and finally got up around 8:15 or so and showered and got ready for errands, church, and pictures of course! 

24 weeks and a cantelope sized baby. :) 

Eric and Eleanor wanted to join in on the picture taking. 

Errands on Sunday were as follows. 

Safeway

Fred Meyer

Costco

Break for church

Ross

Target

Joanne's

Home for a quick lunch

St Vincent de Paul

Gap

Banana Republic

Eddie Bauer

Fuego

Levi's 

Boys and girls drop off 

And then home to order the rest of the Christmas presents on Amazon. 

Yes, I have finished our Christmas shopping, minus one thing I need to order after I finish this post.  I didn't want to wrap presents with a huge belly and I didn't want the stress of the holidays while being full term.  This much prepping will enable me to enjoy the holidays in full! 

And here is the belly compilation.  The 24 week shot was taken in awful lighting and I need to edit the picture so it doesnt appear that my belly is glowing, I will do that before baby is born. ;)

Paul just got his tdap and flu shot today and it's my turn next.  Love that my hubby is more prepped for baby than I am. :) 

this week's snapshots

I have been loving the fall weather.  Yesterday, Jeremy got off early because it was so rainy (nice to spend time together, not great for job) the rainy/slow season is definitely start to set in!  Jeremy's parents agreed to watch the kids for a couple of hours, so we got to sneak away on a little date.  We went to the thrift store, sifted through some different books at Barnes and Nobles and then sat at Panera drinking some coffee and chatting for a little bit before heading back.  We haven't been on a date sans kids in months!  It was so nice to get away.  When we got home, I didn't feel like making dinner, so we splurged again and went out to Mexican.  We shared some amazing vegetable fajitas (never thought of putting squash in a fajita before - so delicious!) and the kids had some quesadillas.  We don't buy dairy other than eggs anymore, so having cheese was a super big treat for the kids.  Shea would not stop saying "Thank you!" and in his prayer at bedtime he said, "and thank you that I got to go to the..." 

turning and whispering to me: "mommy, whats type of rest-er-naut did we go to?" 

Me: "Mexican."  

Continuing in his normal voice: "and thank you that I go to go to the mexican resternaut even though it had skulls on the wall and they were scary.  amen."

ha.

But, I did feel like cooking that morning, so we had this nourishing soup for lunch!  I filled my cast iron pot with 8 cups of vegetable broth and added in a few small potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes, red lentils, and split peas and some other seasonings.  After everything was soft, I put it through the blender and added some curry powder and a little coconut milk to make this delicious bisque!  SO good.  I also made some gluten free flax meal crackers to go with it.  My first try...they were OK.  Next time I want to make them a little bit crispier.  We had the soup again today, only I cooked up some black beans in cayenne pepper sauce and added them.  sooooo good.  I am so happy it is soup season and I am looking forward to having pumpkins and other squash to make soups from soon!  Makes meal planning so much easier.  And I could eat a thick soup like this every day of my life, I think.

Shea after our first day at school, gobbling down his food.  I am amazed that he now likes celery after not wanting to touch it for so long!

I am trying to use up my fabric scraps, so I started making a rag rug.  I have never tried it before, but it's basically just crocheting a big circle out of strips of fabric instead of yarn.  I decided I am going to make it into an ottoman/beanbag type cushion for Hailey, and then I will probably make one for Shea too.  I've been wanting to make something like that for a while, but didn't want to buy heavy weight fabric for it.  This stuff is super strong, a fun texture, and I get to use up all my fun colored scraps!

And, we just got back a little while ago from my second early birthday gift....it is still wrapped in saran wrap, so the picture isn't great (plus it needs to heal up still), but I am ecstatic about the way it turned out!  Jeremy's aunt just opened up a tattoo parlor on Bainbridge Island, so she did it for free (wasn't expecting that!). It was super fun to chat with her and her assistant, as she is just starting out.  Jeremy ended up having the day off again, so he walked the kids around the island while I had it done, and afterward we went down to Blackbird Bakery (one of my favorite bakeries on Bainbridge) and got some treats for us and the kids.

That's all!  Happy weekend, ladies!