To The Bride And Groom...

My brother and now sister-in-law got married today in England, where the bride's from and where my brother has been living and going to school. It was too big of an expense for our whole family to fly out there for their special day, as well as John being in school currently, so I wanted to post this in honor of the Bride and Groom!! Welcome to the family Michelle - although you were already considered family to us from the start! :) We love you both so much! God bless you today and always. xoxo

Spring Break in D.C.

Well, Spring Break has rolled around again and we all wanted to do at least ONE fun thing this week (besides Aubrey's weekly soccer and piano of course). So we drove up with some good friends of ours (my visiting teacher and her family) up to Washington D.C. to go through the Air & Space Museum. Their oldest daughter is close to Aubrey's age and they had a blast all day paling around. I could tell she was enjoying herself. Especially when she got to ride with her friend and her friend's dad in front of the rest of us in the Lexus convertible. You should have seen those two sweet girls in the back seat swinging their arms around with the top down on the freeway. I should have taken a picture - it was really funny to watch. It looked like they were having the time of their lives! And I'm sure they felt like it. When we got to the museum, it was very crowded. But I expected it, being spring break and all. Not to mention already that it's a huge tourist attraction. We spent a few good hours there, saw some really interesting things and then decided it was time to get some breathing room and jet out of there. Before going ALL the way home though, we all made a pit stop at the Cracker Barrel for some yummy breakfast for dinner. YUM. Never been there before but it sure won't be our last!!!

Happy Easter

This year, Easter snuck up on us really fast - we didn't dye eggs or have our own Easter egg hunt (which I know isn't what Easter is all about anyways but it's still so much fun). We did enjoy going to church and remembering what this day is all about: Christ's resurrection. Makes me really grateful for our lives and all that we have to be thankful for individually and as a family. We were invited to our friend's home for Easter dinner, which was really fun, and then topped the day off with a huge Easter egg hunt in their backyard. (about 15-20 kids). Boy did they have fun! And just look how adorable they look in their pretty Easter dresses! :) They sure do make great sisters.

So Blessed To Have Family

I never made it on our blog to post that my sister and brother in law had their first baby January 3rd of this year. They named him Owen Nicholas and he is just the cutest baby boy! Our family of 4 missed his special arrival day by just 5 days after we flew back home from Christmas. My sister had the opportunity to fly out on March 14th with little Owen to spend a few days with us so we could finally meet him in person and we're so glad that they did!

We had so much fun with them here. Owen is such a great baby. I loved being able to see my sister again and to finally be able to hold Owen. I know that both of the girls also loved having their cousin and Auntie around. Just see for yourself...

Both Aubrey and Jocelyn loved having a baby in the home. They were big helpers and whenever Owen cried (which wasn't often) Jocelyn would run over and try to calm him, whether with his blanket, finding his pacifier, or playing him music from her toys. So cute to see them love him so much. We were really happy to have them come visit but really sad to see them go. Bitter sweet moment I guess you could say. We really look forward to seeing them again and we're grateful for the opportunity to have them out and stay with us. And a note to Uncle Nick...while Jocelyn still isn't able to say your name yet, you were still missed by us all. :) Thank you for sharing them with us. You guys are always welcome here - and hey, maybe next time we'll finally go see some history here in Virginia!

Jocelyn's 18 Month Update

March 14, 2008 - 18 months old
Stats: *29.5 inches (5 percentile) *18 lbs 14 oz ( below 0 percentile - explained below)

*Walks so well she's starting to run
*Refuses milk but still loves her water
*Brings brightness to our family
*Loves to hug
*Loves story time
*Loves going to the park to swing
*Loves to ride on her toy lion
*Loves music and dancing (Really likes us singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider to her. She waves both hands in the air for us to know she wants it sung. So cute!)
*Both a Mommy and Daddy's girl
*Loves playing with sister
*Goes up and down stairs (with supervision obviously)
*Loves the bath
*Loves animals - especially cats and dogs
*Learned to give kisses
*Loves to play with bubbles
*Words she can say: Mama, Daddy, Aubee (for Aubrey), Ball, Eat, Eee-Uuhh (for clean up), and Go. She knows so much more than what she can say though.
*Favorite comfort item: Still her soft blanket
*Loves to sit on the floor, rip off her socks and inspect her toes. I don't know where she gets this but it makes all of us laugh. She prefers barefoot over socks any day. She's so silly.

Jocelyn's 18 month check-up went pretty well. She's a healthy, happy and active little girl and I couldn't ask for anything more than that. Her weight is slightly low for her age but I'm honestly not concerned. Aubrey was actually the same way and it took her forever to get to 20 pounds. Who knows...maybe she'll be short like her mama. Most likely not! :) We're going back in a month for her 2nd dose of the flu shot and to also recheck her weight. The doctor also has referred us to a speech pathologist. For some reason she's again concerned (besides the weight) that she's not saying enough words. Again, I'm not worried about it. Granted, I would be if she didn't say the words and jibber jabbering that she already does. I think mothers know their children best, but I'm still going to take her to double check if there really is a concern. We'll see come May 8th how it goes. All in all though, she's great! :) And my oh my she's growing up FAST!!

Sweet Moments

I know. I know. I'm eternally behind in the blogging world. I feel guilty about it in a way but things have been seriously busy with our family life that I have had to tell myself time and time again to just adapt to the day to day routine of things and I'll get to write about what we've been up to when the time permits. It may be baby steps but I will catch up someday. :)

I have been reflecting on one of the days I was recently cleaning like mad in our home (killing head lice). I was busy doing LOTS of laundry. I felt bad that I wasn't spending my normal time with the girls and Jocelyn was basically hanging on my legs and whining. I was sitting there trying to fold the laundry as fast as I could so I could throw in the next load and be able to take a break to be with them. It went downhill for Jocelyn at this very moment though. She started to cry while tugging on my pants. I felt horrible but I am only one person with a million and one things to do that were recently thrown onto my list. It then occurred to me: A clean home may be nice but it isn't everything. My girls (and John) are everything to me and I need to treat it as such. So I stopped in the middle of folding, got down to her level by sitting on the floor and she then wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hug for the longest time. She then sat in my lap and we sang songs for awhile. Aubrey was busy off in the other room practicing piano but she wasn't forgotten in this sweet moment. She received lots of hugs soon after. I love my girls so much and this day made me realize (again) that my children are a gift to me! A beautiful and special gift. They are way more important to me than a clean home. It's great to relearn things like this. I hope to be able to ponder this day for a long long time so when life gets thrown around, which it usually does from time to time, I'll be able to still notice the important things...MY FAMILY! This was such a sweet moment for me.

Show And Tell

Aubrey has been doing so well in school (nothing new really - she's always doing so well) and has been bringing home many art projects and awards for how good she does on them. Here are just a few that I thought you'd enjoy.

Every year, children choose one piece of their artwork that they feel really proud about and use it with this company that can turn the child's artwork into a pot holder, pillow case, journal...you name it. She was so proud of how it turned out that she wants it framed in her room.

A piece of Aubrey's artwork was on display for a week and was awarded a free kids meal at Chic-fil-a

For Aubrey's Social Studies project on China, she gave a great presentation and made a word search for her visual. She was awarded this certificate for how well she did.

"Good Job Aubrey!" :)

Reminiscing

Walking around the block got me reminiscing about good ol Oregon. The sun was out. It was breezy but it felt nice. Even the smell was in the air of what reminded me of Oregon - crisp and clean. As we stood at the mailboxes down the road waiting at Aubrey's bus stop for her to come home, I closed my eyes for just a brief second as the sun was shining and the wind was blowing and it reminded me of home and being at the beach. The smell of spring in the air always makes me happy! :) But come summer time here, it will not bring this same feeling to me. The humid summers in Virginia are not enjoyed by me - unless air conditioning or a pool are in close proximity!! LOL Hope you all are enjoying the spring weather...wherever you are!

Spring Cleaning - DONE!

First of all, I wanted to let everyone know that we're alive and doing well!! I haven't meant to be away for so long but some crazy weeks (fun and not so fun times) have passed. This particular post doesn't depict a fun experience or even offer something pleasant to share but such is life, right? I mainly wanted to record these memories for our family more than anything. Here's our story (sorry no pictures this time):

Two weeks after John started up school things around here started to get a little chaotic. With 3 days left before Aubrey's first spring soccer practice, I took her to get her hair trimmed. The hair cut process unfortunately didn't get very far as the lady said she couldn't go any further and then showed me: head lice. (found out later on that some of her friends at school and on the bus had it) GREAT! The lady apparently couldn't finish the cut so I decided to wait a few days for my sister to help me even things out. Poor Aubrey. The next two days were for sure cut out for me...CLEAN, CLEAN, and CLEAN!! Really, that feels like such an understatement. At times I thought I would cry. No. Wait. I did! I was exhausted with just the normal everyday routine doing things all on my own with John in school and treating Aubrey for head lice was over the top. I'm sure that this thought has run across many minds when life seems to become unbearable: "What else could go wrong?" I don't dare say it in the event that it comes true! The thought scares me. So, spring cleaning is basically done in our home. Not by choice. But I'm very happy it's done. The first night of treatment took 3 hours to shampoo and comb her hair. If any of you can relate to this experience, you will know what I'm talking about with all of this crazy cleaning that must be done in order to treat correctly. Wash all bedding, spray mattresses and couches, vacuum mattresses, couches, and carpets, shampoo hair on day 1 and 10, comb/ check hair daily for lice, more laundry, bag up stuffed animals/ dolls for 4 weeks, bag coats in closet for 2 weeks, etc. We have decided pulling up her hair for school on most days will hopefully cut down on the chances of her getting it again. I'm so paranoid now. If we get it again, I will surely cry my eyes out!! LOL. After this whole fiasco, a song came on called "Life Aint Always Beautiful" by Gary Allen and here are some of the words that best described how I was feeling at the moment:

"Life ain't always beautiful. Sometimes it's just plain hard. Life can knock you down, it can break your heart. Life ain't always beautiful. You think you're on your way. And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day. But the struggle makes you stronger. And the changes make you wise. And happiness has it's own way of takin' it sweet time. [chorus]No,life aint always beautiful. Tears will fall sometimes. Life aint always beautiful. But it's a beautiful ride."

And those words are so true. No matter HOW hard life gets, it IS a beautiful ride. The challenges more often than not become strengths and are worth it in the end. Hold your head high and carry on . . .

Keepin Busy

On the run with her lion - one of her favorite toys and her get-a-way car when Aubrey pushes her around the house.

Mommy & Jocelyn playing a game of Peek-A-Boo. Jocelyn would laugh as soon as she opened the door and saw me.

Jocelyn is all SMILES here! And yes, that's her holding a plastic pumpkin from Halloween. Sister's pumpkin to be exact. I know it's March but she loves to walk around the house with it like it's a purse or something. Holds her water cup, toys, and just anything those little hands can get into.

Vegetable Purees - Update

I spent this past week pureeing carrots (10 large carrots = about 3 cups), a head of cauliflower = about 3 cups, and 2 sweet potatoes = about 4 cups. I packaged them all in freezer zip locks in 1/2 cup measurements. Most of the recipes in Deceptively Delicious call for a 1/2 cup of puree so this is the measurement that I used for each zip lock. I saved out a zip lock bag of carrots this week to try and froze the rest and then made these Applesauce Muffins with carrot puree mixed in. I was impressed. They taste really good! As you can see from the photos, both Jocelyn and Aubrey were happy eaters with this recipe too. Jocelyn didn't really know what to think of at first because she's never had a muffin before but she dug in and enjoyed it. I was pleased to find out that one of these recipes so far has passed the test! (I also want to add that I spread a little remaining carrot puree from when I pureed the carrots (about 2 Tbsp) onto toasted cheese sandwiches before I grilled them and that also was a hit. They did notice the added orange color in their sandwich but the carrots only gave it a hit of sweetness to it and they kept right on eating.)

And here's a little preview of the puree process I completed. Last night I roasted the 2 sweet potatoes for an hour, threw them into the chopper and then the blender to puree (don't have a food processor - can usually get by with just the blender but the sweet potatoes were still a bit hard), and then once smooth and creamy, a 1/2 cup is then scooped into a freezer zip lock with a label of what veggie, how much and the date. Whala! One hour's work makes 3-4 cups of puree.

Milk Strike

Water vs. Milk. And the winner is.......WATER!

If a picture could say a million words this would be no exception! Monday Jocelyn started getting a cold. She also chose this day to no longer take her milk from a bottle. I'm happy that she has finally put the bottle behind her. It was definitely time. My little girl is getting so BIG right before my very own eyes! The downside to her being completely weened off the bottle is that she no longer drinks her milk at all. Whether she refers to a sippy cup to "only water" as she has had it that way since 6 months old or refers to the bottle as "milk only" or whether she's just being a stinker and on a milk strike. (I'm guessing the later one!) I still offer milk in a sippy at every meal but don't force the issue. She loves water and I love that she loves water because if she was on a water strike too...we'd be in trouble! So just to be sure that she was getting enough calcium with not drinking milk anymore I took her into see the doctor today and she said for a child at this age, they need about 3-4 servings of dairy a day. Jocelyn loves (and eats) string cheese and yogurt every day so this was good to hear. The doctor also said this could be a stage or that some children just decide they don't want milk anymore or no longer like it. A multivitamin in liquid form was suggested to give daily. (This topic could be a post all on it's own!) Also to try Pedisure, smoothies, or milk shakes. This past week I've exhausted myself trying to figure her out and even offered her milk by warming it up like she used to have it in her bottle. That didn't work either. Children also at this age and stage like to be in control - or think that they are. She could be testing my limits. In any case, I'm doing what I can do to offer her the 3-4 servings a day of calcium rich foods and a vitamin and sitting back to enjoy the rest of being a parent. It's hard enough being a parent alone without these road blocks. The vegetable this is exhausting by itself. :) This battle I'm afraid is not mine to win. I'll be interested to see what becomes of this stage down the road.

Getting Creative!

For a little while now, Jocelyn has been refusing to eat regular vegetables. I completely stopped the puree baby foods a few months ago because she's too old to be eating them. And they are really expensive. She's more independent now and she's old enough to eat foods that we eat as a family - on a limited scale obviously. I've been having a hard time knowing what to do to get her to eat vegetables. She LOVED the purees. I made a call to her pediatrican today and told the nurse my concerns. She has her 18 month check up in 2 weeks but I just couldn't wait until then to do something about this. They referred me to this book called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.

We are in luck!! The book was already sitting on my shelf next to the other cookbooks. I bought it a few months back "just in case." The idea this book gives to parents is to "hide" the vegetables into the foods they already eat and enjoy. I don't really like the word "deceptive" because I don't agree with using that approach on my children. But if this helps her to finally eat some vegetables when she won't eat it them alone, then I'm up for the challenge! I want to do whatever it takes to contribute healthy foods to her diet. This book offers recipes and how-to's on how to puree your own fruits and vegetables that can then be cooked into their food. A lot of the recipes sound and look good too, such as: french toast (with butternut squash), applesauce muffins (with carrots), banana bread (with cauliflower), pancakes (with sweet potato), and chicken nuggets (with broccoli) just to name a few. Tonight I'm starting on carrots and cauliflower purees. Hope this goes well. First time doing this. Wish me luck! And luck that she eats it too! :)

Okay Let's Face It

There just aren't enough hours in a day sometimes to get it all done. And there are many days that I'm fine with that. But this past week has been a struggle to get even HALF the things on my list done while doing a lot of it on my own. I have to remind myself that the kids are healthy and happy and that everything else will work itself out somehow, someway. So I need to rely on that faith I suppose or I think I'll go insane if I don't. HA! So to those of you who have written and I have not replied PLEASE don't think I forgot about you. I promise that I will get in touch with you very soon. I love you all. If it makes you feel any better to hear just how tired I have been lately (that may not sound right, again, I'm tired) - I put hair conditioner on my face the other day instead of face wash. I was so dumbfounded with myself. That's when I knew that I had to write this. I have a million and one things to do and on that list is to catch up or even just write something in Jocelyn's baby book to keep things current. Um. Good intention and a very good thing to do but, well, typing is faster at this moment in time. So I'm running with it. (You can stop here if you wish to not read any further. It's nothing too personal so those that do want to read on, be my guest.) :)

"After sister got home from school today I thought it would be fun to go to the nearby playground for a little while. It was beautiful today. About 72 degrees, windy, and blue skies. Perfect weather I think. Aubrey brought some bubbles she got from school with us and while you were swinging, she blew bubbles near you and you just cracked up laughing the entire time. It was so much fun to watch you guys play. What a great sister you have! Then she put the bubbles away and climbed onto the swing next to you and you both swung side by side for a good while. You would see Aubrey swinging higher than you with her head back looking up at the sky and you started copying her doing the same thing with your head back. You really have a great sister to look up to and you both play so well together. Then...you two were off to the slides! Even mama went on them with you guys. I have to say it was fun feeling like a kid again. I don't think you're ever too old to be a kid. The playground is for everyone! :) You sat on sisters lap and went down with her on the slide a few times. One of those times you two went on a really curvy slide that made you go real fast and you both hit your bottoms on the bark dust. You were both fine-I had to hold in the laughter though. (Your sister was more worried about getting the bark dust off of her.) It was very windy out today but that surely didn't stop you from having fun. While I pushed you in the swing, I asked you if you felt the wind moving your hair and you put your hand up on your head and started to swish your hair all over the place. What a silly girl you are. At least I know that YOU know what I'm saying for the most part. Every day you seem to know more and more. It's incredible how fast you pick up on things. Great sense of humor you have too. Today you've started getting cold symptoms so we didn't stay out too long this afternoon. Glad you guys enjoyed yourselves. I forgot to bring my camera with me but I'm almost glad I did because it gave me more time to watch you play and get in and have some fun with you both. We should have more days like today. To take a break from the fast passed world of life and take the time to embrace the most important thing: family! You heard me right. No, the most important thing is not your favorite blanket that you got mad at me washing today. You and Aubrey are my Angels. I love you so much!"

Goals For 2008

This is being posted a little later than I planned but I've justified it since it's still in the early days of 2008. There have been a lot of random things that I have been been working on. Last year was a very busy and paper-piling, clutter-everywhere kind of year for us and so these random things I've started putting to use will hopefully bring us a better year. I also found out last year that I have high cholesterol. I did find out that one of the culprits was that it's in my family history. Over the past couple of years when I was working full time and going to school part time on top of raising our children, I don't think I made my nutrition a priority as it should have. So last year, I made some immediate changes in my diet. I didn't have to do a whole lot --- just drink more water and eat more veggies and fruits and less eating out and making more homemade meals. I told myself to start out in baby steps because I know that if I do too much too fast, I get burned out and my changes cease. Well, even with these changes and a little exercise (still working on that part!) I'm proud to say that I've lowered my cholesterol by 70 some points without medication. I still have about 30-40 points to go but I'm really happy with my progress. So...with this year, I honestly feel that 2008 is going to bring great results in many areas!

1. GOAL: Lower cholesterol & continue healthy eating habits.

As I said, last year was a changing time with my diet. It was also a good change for the whole family. With John and I as parents, we are to set the example as our children often look up to us and for the most part, eat the things we eat. I looked and searched for many healthy recipes to make for our family meals and with these lovely items given to me this past Christmas from my step mom and hubby, I know I'm in for a TREAT! **THANK YOU!!**These gadgets seriously make me want to cook all the time!

2. GOAL: Form and maintain a healthy lifestyle of exercising - for myself and for my family. I think this goal is more geared for me but again, I help by setting a good example for the rest of my family. This goal also coincides with my goal of lowering my cholesterol. My doctor told me that increasing my activity level will help push out the bad cholesterol and raise the good cholesterol. And lets face it, I want to be around in my children and their children's lives as long as I possibly can. I personally don't like the atmosphere that the gym brings to me. I suppose it's a little intimidating. Been there and done that so I work out in the mornings from the comfort of my own home before the girls wake up and the daily activities begin. I'm still in the beginning stages of this but I'm coming along and enjoying it. I have found that I have more energy and it helps me stay on track with my healthy eating habits. Okay, okay - getting new aerobic shoes also seemed to help in the motivation department. No complaints here! Also, when it's nice outside (above 50 or 60 degrees) our family likes to go on walks around the neighborhood and take a trip to the local park/ playground.

3. GOAL: Organize! As I mentioned, we have had some organizational issues since moving to our home here in Virginia. One being that we have gone from a garage, to no garage. Makes things hard to store our seasonal stuff like we used to. So we've had to be creative as well and donate the things we absolutely don't need and can live without. It's a great feeling to live with less. Less is more sometimes, right? Sorting papers, shredding what is no longer needed, and filing what we need to keep has for sure been a task! And a continual task at that! It's in fact, still in the works and probably always will be but I had to recently put my foot down. I'm beginning to stress out over paper. PAPER!?!?! I want to live a simpler life so this task MUST be tackled. I don't want to stress over paper...I want to instead enjoy spending time with my family. Too bad we no longer have a dog. The shredding process would go a lot faster!! :)

4. GOAL: Projects I've been anticipating for quite awhile. Not too long ago, I finally broke out my sewing machine and have some projects lined up waiting to be made. Haven't sewed since my high school years but I'm bound to learn and get back at it again. My list of projects include: finish family name sign, 2 hand bags (see picture), quilt & shams (see picture), napkins, pillows, place mats, and a baby quilt (see picture). I also have a few cross stitches that need to be completed and my long list of books to be read. I don't know if I'm going to get to all of my projects in 2008 but I sure am going to try!

{Pretty material scraps for a future project. A pillow maybe? Haven't really decided yet.}

{I made this wooden house late last year at a women's church activity but wanted to show you how cute it turned out. It also has a light attached to the back that lights up the windows and door when it's plugged in.}

5. GOAL: Remodel our home to prepare for a possible move in a year or four. LOL When we moved into our home, the backyard was without a fence. With the spring and summer coming soon, we'd like to have one up so the girls can play freely and we can have some privacy. And BBQ's hopefully! We also want to gut and redo the kitchen and bathrooms entirely, install hardwood throughout the main level, and redo the front door frame (dry rot) and install a new door with a peep hole preferably - note to my dear hubby! :) We know that the market is slow and unpredictable right now. But we hope these changes will add a lot of value and hopefully attract many potential buyers when the time is right. By then, the market should be better. (cross fingers!)

{Don't have any pictures of this goal yet, as it hasn't begun. Will post before and after photos for you to see when this process starts.}