Hello Monday {Downtown Chicago}

I can't believe that it is Monday again. These days are flying by!

Four of our English family members came from Herefordshire and stayed with us for two weeks. It was so fun touring the city of Chicago. It was like we were seeing the city with new eyes. 

So hello ... to new adventures!

Hello ... to gifts from my daughter. I never knew rocks and tiny flowers could look so beautiful!

Hello ... to rainy days inside watching Caillou. Oh man does she love Caillou. 

Hello ... to sleeping on the couch. This little one has decided that having full blown conversations at 3 am is a fantastic idea. Her dad, on the other hand does not, it could have to do with the fact he works with heavy machinary all day at work. So her and I wandered downstairs to sleep. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well.

Happy Monday! 

Would you like a cup of coffee with me?

It has been a very long two weeks for me. My mind feels like it is on constant alert and I am just exhausted.

If you were here with me to enjoy a cup of coffee {with cream and sugar} or a cup of tea {with milk and sugar} I would tell you ...

That Little Miss is not a good sleeper. She goes down easily but then wakes up 30 minutes later screaming. She does nap better than she sleeps at night but we are both tired and irritable. {She does look quite happy here though}

 

She is standing up all the time now! She loves this activity table and would play with it all day if I let her. The only down side of her standing is that she cannot sit down from this position and screams until you help her sit down. 

 Our town has been declared in a state of emergency due to flooding. Fortunately, we are safe, the power has remained on, and there has been no flooding in our house.Some people are not as fortunate! The National Guard has been here taking families out of their homes by boat.

 We tried to go on a walk but there were very few roads we could walk down. Little Miss was happy that we were out of the house. She is definitely an outside kind of baby. We have been trying to walk 2 to 3 times a day but the last two days we have stayed inside due to all the rain.

 

I applied for a teaching position at a home school university. I went in for the initial interview, observed the class for a few hours, and then taught a history lesson. I just got word that I didn't get the job but that there are some substitute opportunities and possibly a Kindergarten/First grade position open. This job would have been the perfect fit for my family but God has other plans for me.

My husband is also struggling with his job. The company he works for used to be a wonderful company. They put family first and had several benefits. Now ... the benefits are very few and my husband is burnt out. I feel like God is trying to get us to take a step of faith because He will provide for us.

There is an opportunity to watch two boys for the summer. I am praying that this will be right for my family and would make our finances a little better.

Also, I have started going to the women's bible study at church. The study is on James by Beth Moore. I have loved meeting new friends and I really look forward to going on Wednesday mornings. 

Then, my husband and I are taking a parenting class to get Little Miss dedicated on Mother's Day. {Last year's Mother's Day I was graduating from college} We ran late last week so hopefully this week we will be on time. {I can't stand being late but it happens so often}

In August my sister in law is getting married in Port Aransas, Texas so we are planning a family road trip. {18 hours in the car with 3 kids ... doesn't that just spell F-U-N} We have saved some money but we will need more in order to make this a family vacation. Pray that we can get the funds we need so we can be there for her and her soon to be husband. 

So if you were hear today sharing a coffee or a tea with me... That is what I would tell you. I would lay my heart out on the table. I would ask for prayers for everything that is going on.  If I shared coffee with you what would you share?

Hello Monday {Little Man's 10th Birthday where mustaches are cool}

Hello Monday!! It is so nice to see you again! What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating Little Man's 10th birthday. As you can see things got a little fuzzy {in a mustache kind of way}. We are officially on Spring Break this week. I am looking forward to everything this week has in store & catching up on things that need to get done.

Hello Monday ... and my super handsome 10 year old!

Hello Monday ... and my mustache wearing brother and grandma!

 

Hello Monday ... and my good looking men!

 Hello Monday ... and my cute cousins and super cool brother!

Hello Monday ... to my wonderful Mom and my mustache wearing little girl!

Move Me

All day I have been in a mood ... not a good mood or a bad mood but a mood. I hardly got any sleep last night.

Little Man woke up and climbed into bed with me because he had a nightmare. He told me that he dreamt he was in a jail cell and someone let deadly snakes in to kill him.

Little Miss barely slept. She was fussy and tired. She has been fighting a cold that has left her stuffy and congested. I can feel it in her lungs.

Needless to say, all 4 of us in a queen size bed left us with very little room to sleep so none of us really got any.

I got up with Little Miss at 5:45 am and came downstairs. He smiled and cooed as if she was having the best time ever. I made the coffee. I made a lunch for my husband. I packed Little Man's lunch. I picked up the scraps of paper off the coffee table from when Little Man was teaching himself oragami. I grabbed all of the glasses semi filled with liquid and dropped them in the sink.

Little Miss finally fell asleep at 7 am.

I took that opportunity to jump in the shower to try and give myself more energy than I really had.

I woke up Little Man and instructed him to get ready for school.

He drank his morning coffee and so did I.

I put the baby in her carseat and drove Little Man to school. He loves listening to the radio and singing along with every song ... loudly. I dropped him off at school while Gangnam style was playing on the radio. I saw his lips moving as he joined his classes line. I know he was still singing the song.

Little Miss and I came home. I began washing the dishes, doing the laundry, nursing the baby, and drinking more coffee.

My Husband called and told me to take a nap. He told me that nothing really had to be done at home so I should just relax. He also told me that we are going to need a bigger bed. {I agree} We hung up quickly because he was busy at work.

I did nap right before Little Man came home from school.

I decided breakfast for dinner would be good and easy.

I burned the bacon. I took too long making the pancakes so the eggs were cold. The whole house was filled with smoke.

I feel like most days I am just going through the motions and I am not really "good" at any of my duties. The house is not really clean just straightened up. The laundry is folded but it just sits in baskets. I have yelled at Little Man for not writing neatly on his homework assignment and for forgetting his science book. I get frusterated with Little Miss because she is crying but won't nurse. My husband goes to bed early because of his lack of sleep last night.

I am not connecting with my family. I am not being intentional. I am not giving them the attention they deserve.

As I sat down at the computer tonight I was wondering if I was the only Mom/Wife who thought she was doing the right thing. I wondered if what I did today in the mundane touched my family. I wondered if I was good enough.

I just wanted to be moved. I want my world rocked so that I can become more intentional in the things I do.

Then I read this ...

Boy was I rocked. The tears just flowed. I am not the only one who wonders if the decisions they have made are the right ones.

I discovered that right now things may be tough but I was put here to "just love them".

Then I realized that I must be doing something right if my Little Man seeks me out when he is scared because he can feel my love and I keep him safe.

Little Miss smiles and cooes at me because I have shown here love.

My Husband calls me to remind me to relax and to thank me for making his lunch and coffee this morning. He can feel my love too.

I am just here to love them.

Some days are going to be better than others and today may not have been my day but when I get discouraged and feel like I am not doing enough ... I can just love them!

My Grandpa

I know that I was supposed to get better about posting this week since I had an impromptu hiatus last week but obviously life happens and I have not been posting.

On Tuesday July 24th my grandfather, Colin, passed away suddenly. We are all overwhelmed with grief as we plan the arrangements for his funeral.

Please pray for my family as we deal with this very traumatic and difficult time.

Chicken Bam {Recipe}

Dan is an amazing cook! He can have a few ingredients and make a gourmet type meal for the entire family. I, on the other hand, need a recipe of some sort in order to make something.

This is Dan's recipe. He calls it Chicken Bam. It is light and delicious. A perfect summer time meal.
{Sorry the photos are not great ... I took them with my IPhone 3G}

You will need ...
* a box of Fettuccine noodles
* 3 Roma tomatoes
* 1/2 a red onion (diced)
* 1/2 of a red pepper, orange pepper, and yellow pepper.
* 1/2 a stick of butter
* 1 tbsp of minced garlic
* 1 small can of sliced mushrooms
* Juice of 1 lemon
* 1 pound of chicken tenderloins
* salt and black pepper
* 3 tbsp olive oil
* 1/4 cup of water

First, you will need to slice the peppers. I sliced the entire pepper for each color and placed the half not needed into a baggie to use for my Pepper Steak recipe. {I will be making it later this week!}

Also slice the tomatoes the same way as the peppers and dice the red onion.

Throw all the ingredients into a skillet except for the fettuccine noodles.  Allow everything to cook down and the chicken to cook thoroughly.

While this is all cooking, get a large pot of water and bring it to a boil to cook the noodles. 

Once the chicken has been cooked. Take the chicken out of the skillet and let it rest while the pasta is cooking. Take the skillet off of the heat.

Once the chicken has rested for a few minutes. Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and place the chicken back into the pan.

After the noodles have been cooked and drained pour the chicken mixture over the hot noodles.

That's it ... all done!

You can top the pasta with parmesan cheese.

If you do make this ... let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Hello Monday! {Wheaton French Market}

 Hello fresh flowers! So beautiful!

 Hello possible nursery colors! Can't decide what colors I want to use. My husband wants it to be very girly!

 Hello fresh veggies! I wish I could have taken them all home!

 Hello fresh fruit! Large cartons of blueberries wanting to be baked in breads and muffins.

 Hello fresh lettuce! What a beautiful salad this would make!

 Hello hydrangea! They reminded me of my wedding bouquet that was hydrangea, calla lilies, and tiny white roses! I love my husband!

Hello sweet baby girl! I cannot believe that you will be here in 2 months. I can't wait to kiss your tiny face!

Easy Summer Dinner

I don't know about you but making dinner during the summer can be difficult. My husband does not work a typical 9 to 5 job and sometimes {like last night} comes home around 10:30 p.m. Little Man loves to play outside and will often only come inside when it is too dark to be out any longer.

 With that being said ... I made Italian Noodle Salad. This salad can be made earlier in the day, placed in the refrigerator, and then brought out whenever someone is hungry and ready to eat.

 To make the Italian Noodle salad you will need ...

1/2 pound of spaghetti noodle {or whatever noodle you have on hand}

1 bottle of Italian dressing

Lemon pepper

3 scallion onions

Cucumber

Broccoli

Green Pepper

Tomatoes

A large bowl

 Begin by quartering the cherry tomatoes and tossing them into bowl.

 Then quarter the cucumber and toss that into the bowl {See how easy this already is!}

 

Chop the rest of the veggies and throw them into the bowl as well.

  

When the water boils ... put in your pasta. You want your noodles al dente because the italian dressing will soften them up as well as it sits in the refrigerator.

 Once the pasta has been cooked. Drain and rinse with cold water. {This stops the cooking process and also will not wilt any of the veggies already in the bowl.}

 Throw the noodles in the bowl and top with a lot of italian dressing. You think that it will be a lot at first but the noodles and veggies will soak up the dressing.

 Mix everything together. If you made this in advance cover your bowl and put in the refrigerator. If you are starving like I always am ... eat right away.

Yum Yum!

We make this dish as the main course for dinner ... a lot! But you can make it as a side with grilled chicken or fish.

So there you have it. The easiest summer dinner!

Enjoy!!