It's a Girl!

Ah, blogging. How I miss you. This has been a crazy year. I have had little time to sit down and write. And most of what I would have written was a little less than happy. It has been a rough year. Adoption is hard, and it has taken a toll on me.

Through it all God is good. We are so blessed. Last week we met our daughter. She is perfect!

We are now waiting to bring her home. Hopefully, she will be here in the next few weeks. Until then I am trying to keep busy preparing.

 We are doing her room is the fun girly owls. It is so exciting to have girl clothes and toys to organize and play with. Dolls, tea sets, dresses, and shoes are all so much fun!

We are so excited to bring home this precious blessing. She  is such a gift and I am so thankful for her, for the journey it has been to get here, and for the future God has for our family.

Impromptu Freezer Cook

This week Kroger had a sale on bone in chicken. I decided to stock up. Since I had all the meat in the fridge I thought I'd just prep this weeks meals.

First I cut the meat off of several chicken breasts I then threw all the bones in the crock pot to make this broth. Once that was started I boiled the breasts for shredded chicken.

Next up I threw together a few dump recipies

Chicken Caccatore
Caramelized Baked Chicken
Crock Pot Beer Chicken
BBQ Drumsticks

I also had some ground turkey so I threw together some yummy Johnny Marzetti. This is one of my faves!

I used half of the shredded chicken to throw together Honey Lime Enchiladas. These are a family favorite.The other half I froze for some later recipes.

I will use some of the chicken stock to make some chicken noodle soup for lunches this week.

Hopefully, this will keep my evenings a little easier and my freezer a little more full. 

Seven years ago I went into the hospital with a bag packed, a 5 page birth plan, and no idea what I was in for. I was joined by a nervous hubby, my best friend, and a huge belly. I went in at 8am on February 19 to be induced. It took forever. I remember watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". I was so hungry. I wasn't allowed to eat anything. So by about lunch time I was ready to order a pizza. My sweet man ditched me at about this point to go grab a bite with his parents. Not at the hospital cafeteria. Not at a quick drive through. NO they went to a steak house. And then they had the audacity to bring the leftovers to my room. So now I am hungry and I have to smell food. (Seven years later and I am apparently still holding on to some bitterness.)

The winter Olympics were on, and I couldn't have cared less. But there isn't a ton to watch at 3am. After a nap I woke up feeling like all those drugs they had given me were wearing off. (Yea, 5 page birth plan out the window.) Nurse came in and announced it was time. Doctor arrived. A few pushes later boom, there he was. My first born made his appearance on the scene. Looking just like his daddy and perfect in every way. I was in love.

 Now seven years later, and I am blessed everyday by this kid. He is such a joy. I love his passion for life. His excitement for all things. I love his craziness that is unending and sometimes exhausting. So much of who Isaac is has been the same since he was born.

 He still loves to be outside. He loves an adventure or a special trip.

 He is still a good helper. Being the oldest is a lot of responsibility. He does such a good job helping his momma out with picking up, taking care of the pets, and helping out when asked.

This boy has always loved to eat. The older he gets the bigger his appetite seems to be. He can easily out eat his mom at this point. Polishing off an entire adult meal when we go out is nothing for him. Look out grocery budget. He isn't getting any smaller or less hungry. 

 He still loves his friends. He loves making friends. He loves telling jokes. He loves making people laugh.

 He is still a total goof ball some times. He keeps us all entertained.

This has been a big year. Isaac started first grade. He is still playing soccer. He also started basketball. He is growing so fast. He is in size 8 already, but he is still so skinny it is hard finding clothes that fit well. He still loves animals. Our family got a new pet rat this year, and Isaac takes good care of her. He is such a fun dude. I am blessed to be his momma. 

Happy Birthday, Isaac. I love you!

Laundry

I am sitting in my  living room folding laundry.  There is always laundry. Today I was folding all the little athletic wear. Little soccer shorts, basketball shorts, practice shirts, under armor, shin guards, and soccer socks. I am realizing how fast it has gone. There isn't a single onesie in these baskets. I have tons of pair of little underwear, but no diapers. They are growing so fast. We are leaving the world of sesame street for the world of super heroes and video games. Each of my boys is in a sport. Each of them is growing up.  I am just amazed at how fast it is going. They warn you, but when you aren't sleeping through the night and you are up to your elbows in diapers you don't believe it will fly by. I guess I am thankful that I realize it now. While they are still excited about playing UNO with me. While there are still hot wheels cars, Avengers, and nerf guns consuming my house. I love this age. It is busy, and I don't get to sit much, but I love it. I love these little men who are my life. And I love the reminders in everyday to cherish this time. Well, back to the laundry.

Thankful Day 1 and 2

Well, as usual, I am a little late, but that doesn't mean I won't catch up! This month is November which  means Thanksgiving. I have decided to do a thankful tree this year with the kids. Hopefully everyday I will ask each of them what they are thankful for. We will write it on a leaf and tape it to the wall on our "tree". (3 pieces of brown construction paper...) I love the reminder of all God has done for us. I love the oppurtunity to teach my kiddos how to give thanks for our blessings. It has provided some good learning times already. I am looking forward to hearing more of what is in their heads.

Today I am thankful for the sun shine outside, a warm cup of coffee, a comfortable hoodie, and the home that God has given our family.
Isaac is thankful for animals.
Asher is thankful for God and presidents.
Levi is thankful for God.
Balen is thankful for his family.

I'm hoping that each day we will get the chance to share what we are thankful for. I am trying to teach the boys that we can be thankful for even the small things in our lives. Hopefully,each day we will continue to remember the ultimate blessing of the Gospel.

What are you thankful for today?

Crazy

I am not an athlete. I have always hated running. But I admire runners. I want to be one of those people who get up every morning and put on a cute running outfit and enjoy a long run. Unfortunately, this is not the gift I was born with.

I do have running a 5k on my bucket list though. It is, after all, only 3 miles and change. I can do that, right? So, I decided to sign up for a local race. It is one I have wanted to run the past few years, but an excuse always came up. This year there is no excuse. I am signed up. I payed my money. I am committed.

So call me crazy. I am getting up most mornings and working on my goal. But when I roll my chubby butt out of bed it is not nearly as pretty as the runner on the Nike commercials. Nope, I throw on some sweats and put on my ipod and clumsily trot down my street. I'm sure the neighbors are laughing.

countdown

We are in countdown mode, people! We have 5, count them, 5 days until we leave for vacation. I am really excited. I have our bags almost completely packed. I have our food in a bin ready to go (or in an area of the fridge set aside for vacation goodies). I have fun travel stuff ready. I have a really long word document with details for the trip. I am super duper stoked!

I feel like a kid at Christmas. The only difference is that I am plenty exhausted so I do sleep. I have been working on preparing early for this trip. Most of the stuff we will need while there is pretty much packed. That is the easy part. The part that I have to really organize is the travel. With three busy boys we find it easier, more fun, and less expensive to drive. We really do enjoy road trips and so do our kids. Thanks to modern technology even when boredom strikes we can pull the last resort of a movie or video game.

I started my planning a few weeks ago by scheduling out activity and snack times for the trip down. While this may seem like over kill it has been super helpful in packing. I always pack too much...by a lot. This way I am able to see exactly how much food I need, what activities to bring, and feel like I know when and how they are being used. I will of course bring extra food just in case. My motto on trips is "Just keep eating". I have a bag of new fun goodies to whip out in case of shear melt downs.

So in case you were curious what our trip could look like. Here is our plan:
Driving plan
4:30am On the road. Abby driving.
    Coffee!!!!!
    Jonathan park or Mark Driscoll
8:00 Border of KY and TN  (25 mins or less)
Gas stop, potty break hand out breakfast.
    Breakfast-sandwiches, Peanut Butter balls, cereal, yogurt, banana, oj
    Travel games, school work- coloring and workbooks
10:00 Snacks in the car
    Lunch bags with cliff bar, grapes, string cheese, and fruit snacks
    Color, Tag books, car bingo, games
    DS
1:00 Atlanta (1 hour)
Stop at a park for lunch
    Chicken salad/PBJ, chips, string cheese, carrot sticks, cookies
    potty
    play football, bubbles
    Naps
    quiet work
4:00 Snack in the car
    crackers and cheese, apple
    DS, leappad, leapster
    read, color, jonathan park or kid’s music
6:00 Dinner
    Chick Fil A or Chipotle
    Movie
8:00 arrive at Hotel
    yogurt, granola
9:00 bed

Monday
6:00 Breakfast
7:00 on the road
9:00 arrive at Disney
    Check in
    PBJ, cheese stick, apple

We shall see how that goes. :)  I did buy each kid their own headphones to plug into their annoying noisy little games. That should help my sanity. I am also hoping to keep the car candy free as much as possible. I will have a bag of suckers if things get sticky (get it... sticky).

I'm sure I will post more as we continue to get ready. Did I mention I'm excited!