Friday, February 25, 2011

Sickness abounds

this was Sara on Rodeo day at school....love my cowgirl
It is such a season of sickness, all around. I went to the doctor last week to see about my rash that I thought was poison ivy, well turns out it is not poison ivy....I have Shingles. And if that wasn't enough I also have a strand of mono that has literally wiped me out. I can hardly move, much less chase my little ball of energy around the house. It has been trying, and it isn't coming to an end any time soon by the looks of things.

Then yesterday Sara woke up in the middle of the night crying that her ear hurt. About 4am Kate wakes up and I go in her room to discover that she had thrown up in the middle of the night and apparently just slept in it-gag! I proceeded to clean her up, clean her bed, her room, her blankies,and everything else up. Awesome. Sara went the the doctor in the afternoon and has a bulging ear drum, so we started her on antibiotics yesterday.

So.... I'm sick, I'm exhausted, and I'm taking care of two kiddos who are wanting my undivided attention. This is so motherhood!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Under the weather and a weekend recap

this is my nephew, Caiden, feeding Kate cake at a bday party last weeknd
I feel sick. This seems to be a theme I am seeing in my friends' lives, my blogger friends, my twitter friends, it just seems the bugs are getting the best of some many of us right now. I don't know what I have... I'm EXHAUSTED beyond belief, like can barely make it to Kate's nap time before I crash. I have a weird red rash all over my arms and has spread to most of my body, it itches. Alot. Suspected poison ivy, but now considering other symptoms, I'm thinking it's more of a viral systemic thing-awesome! So, I'll go to the doctor tomorrow and see what they think may be the problem (and please dont' tell me it's "stress" again. There's no pill for that!)

Okay, so on a happier and lighter note...I had a great and SUPER busy weekend. Friday night my girls spent the night with my parents and I went out to Chuy's for a friend's birthday dinner. Yummy. It was fun and a nice visit with alot of folks. I had driven with my best friend Lory and we went back to her house and hung out for a while with her girls and started watching "The Book of Eli" about 11pm and didn't finish until 1am. Yeah, I was tired....so I crashed on her couch. When we woke up Lory, Michelle (her middle daughter) and I had a fun morning playing Mexican Trains (a domino game) and drinking coffee....does life get better? :)

That night we had reservations for Lory's birthday dinner at a great seafood restaurant in Houston. Lory, Michelle, Mandy (her youngest, who'd come in from College Station) and I headed out for a great evening. It was yummy and we had great conversations. I love spending time with those girls, never a dull moment, and always so much love. Only thing that could have completed the evening was if Whitney (her oldest, who lives MANY miles away) was with us, but Maui is a ways off.

*side note- Whit, Michelle and Mandy are my best friend's daughters- they are my sisters in EVERY sense of the word, as Whit has always said, blood couldn't make us any closer- love those girls and they are an integral part of mine and my girls lives. Adore EACH of them :)

Sunday was church, then lunch at Gringo's (another YUMMY meal), home for an hour and a half for Kate to grab a quick nap (and me) :) and then headed back to Lory's for Bible study.  Wow. What a weekend. I'm tired remembering it. Then I started feeling bad and yeah- that's where I am now. Praying it passes. Hoping all out there that are sickly now start turning a corner soon...I'm there in that corner with you for now. UGH!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Valentines Day 2011 Recap


So I'm not a mushy Valentines Day girl, but I will NEVER miss an opportunity to send out cards...it's definitely my love language. So I'd long ago gone to Target and hand picked cards for my loves. I'd sent off several packages the week before to those far-off loves (like in Hawaii and College Station-LOL!) So come the real V-day, I was just up to giving to those around here.

I started the morning loving on my girls and making Sara special V-day chocolate milk (okay, well I called it that but it was the same chocolate milk she drinks every morning, but she went along with the fact that I said it was special and made a big deal over it, maybe just to appease me, or maybe not- either way, it was more exciting.) I got her off to school and got me and little one dressed for the day. Made a trip to Starbucks to pick up some coffee for me and my best friend, grabbed her a bouquet of roses and headed off to her work to drop off some love for the day. After that Kate took a quick nap in the car and we were off to Sara's school Valentine party (with a half-napped toddler-ouch) I always love seeing Sara in her element at school. To see all the Kinders interacting, to see faces to go with all the names. It was great, but only half enjoyed as I chased Miss Kate out the door every .0345 seconds. Then we leave, exhausted.
Head home for nap, doesn't happen round 2- mommas spent. Kate decides to throw the worlds biggest fit for 20 minutes- really. All because she saw a bottle of Benadryl sitting out and wanted to drink it (this kid loves medicine)

So, I'm fried...I'd actually walked in the bathroom and closed the door during said fit because I need quiet for a fraction of a second. She calms down, we proceed out the door to my niece’s gymnastics class that was having bring a friend day, and she’d invited Sara.

We do gymnastics, leave after fighting/chasing Kate for an hour, and head home...grab food on the way home, eat, change into PJ's and all collapse.

I sit down and my whole body aches. LONG DAY. Wow- what a Valentines Day. (This is pretty indicative of a normal day around here....I'm hoping it one day slows down) But it's my crazy life and I love it. :)

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Crock pot Chicken Tacos

Okay, so another go to, easy crock pot recipe that I make every few weeks is my crock pot chicken tacos. These have AMAZING flavor. They are so good, and once again-all I do is throw on some Spanish rice and grab the fixings and dinner is ready. No stress, very little time for prep, it's a dream dinner. :)

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can rotel
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning (or I use chicken taco seasoning if I can find it)
about 2 lbs chicken (thawed or frozen)

For Tacos (fixings):
Tortillas/ taco shells
Grated Cheese
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Picante or Pico de Gallo

-Put chicken in crock pot; mix other ingredients and pour over chicken

-cook on High for 2 hrs or cook on Low for 3-4 hours

-Shred chicken in crock pot and serve. So good!
ingredients
rotel, cream of chicken soup, & taco seasoning mixed
all the "fixins"

all in the crock pot ready to cook

Monday, February 7, 2011

Where do you find community?

my first year as a leader at our High school church camp
We were all created for relationship, for community. It's in the deepest sense of who we are. To connect with others, do life with each other. God knew we weren't good alone, so He created a "help-mate" for us. We are wired for it. Sometimes we go through phases in our life where it comes easy.

For me college was this type of time. To find like-minded people took no effort. I went to a Christian college. I immediately jumped in feet first and got involved. Living on campus it was easy to find events, Bible studies, just the cafeteria was a regular gathering place to meet, talk, do life. I flourished so easily in college.

Now that I'm married, have two children, and don't work outside of the home I find community doesn't come so easily. You have to seek it out, find it and work for it. Not that I didn't work on it before, it's just it was so natural. I'm trying intentionally to find community in this season of young children, of keeping a house running, of wiping noses and doing reading homework at night.

Where do you find community in your life?

Thursday, February 3, 2011

So, we're supposed to have snow?!?


Life has literally come to a screeching halt here in Houston and surrounding areas due to a chance of ice/snow. It's almost laughable to others who aren't from here (okay, it IS laughable.) We have an extreme overreaction to snow, ice, sleet, winter weather "mix" as they call it on the news. Who can blame us? Give us 100+ degree weather and humidity so high you can't breathe- we're fine. Hurricanes- no biggie, we're old pros at boarding up the house and "hunkering" down. But below 30 degree weather and ice, possibly snow? Work lets out early, schools close, the weather forecasters report with impending doom as if Armageddon itself is looming at our doorstep. It's quite comical. Don't get me wrong, I'll be staying home tonight and tomorrow and enjoying the warmth of my house and fireplace. But I just get a kick out of our weather forecast. People...it'll be in the 60's again on Saturday- you don't have to stock up on groceries as if we're getting snowed in for weeks. It's ONE DAY!  :)

Okay...I feel better that y'all have heard my winter angst. Thanks for understanding.
*However, if it DOES by any chance snow, you will probably find a post with pictures of me and my girls building inch tall snowmen, because as ridiculous as the hype is...I'm a little kid all over again at the first snowflake.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

House-Decorating Diaries

We moved in last April and I am still in the process of decorating the house. I put pictures on the wall, stare at them for a month, and then decide I want to completely change the wall. So I take pictures down, patch up holes, touch up paint, and then start all over again. I think it's a sickness, I am addicted to redecorating. The minute it is "done" in my mind, it's a challenge to re-do it. My husband has said repeatedly if he were to come home in the middle of the night and not turn on the lights, he'd kill himself because furniture is moved around here on a regular basis. I try to be content. I do, but there is so much fun in the re-doing process.
I'm in love with the idea of taking old objects and making them new. I love taking unexpected objects (like forks or spoons) and making a decoration out of them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I see beauty all around me. I love the meaningfulness of a house-having purposeful decorations. The idea behind my decorating is that when you look around my house you see the things that matter to me:  God, family, my girls.

My comfy chair where I read to the girls

my fun double sided mantel- love decorating this

my "formal" living room

my dining room and FAVE china cabinet-Love it!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

meet Kate


My sweet one year old Kate is such a joy. She is the most spirited, strong willed, opinionated one year old that I have ever met. She is a pistol, to put it nicely. I should have known this would be her personality when I was pregnant. Never a still moment, never a quiet day. Pre-term labor from 27 weeks on- yeah. She was destined to be a spit-fire.
I adore this girl and all of her stubbornness, because as stubborn as she is, she is also the cuddliest little thing in the world. She loves to just roll all over me and can't get close enough. She wants to be "on" me constantly. Her little kisses are adorable (okay, so maybe she licks me, but she's attempting a kiss.)
Sara and her are precious to watch together-when they aren't fighting. Kate adores her big sister. She laughs at her more than she'll laugh at anyone else. He big "sissy" is her favorite person right now.
Kate's favorite hobbies are eating, playing, swinging, and going for walks in her stroller. This girl can eat, and eat she does. Anything and everything around. Nothing is off limits to her. I do not leave my house without a well stocked diaper bag of snacks. It's the only way we can make it through anything.
Kate is now walking, climbing stairs, and turning our house upside down. What a fun time!
She is a joy, really is, and is SO MUCH FUN, even in the tough parenting moments. Thank you Lord for my sweet baby girl.