Happy Easter, just a few weeks late!

Things have been rush, rush, rush around here, so this blog post is pretty late.  However, I want to be sure and include it in the blog so that the boys will have pictures to look back on in the years to come, lol!  We started our Easter weekend with taking the boys to my parent's on Wednesday night, so that Andy and I could head out to a sheep show/sale in Richmond the next day.  The boys were absolutely thrilled, because 1, they love Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Jim so much (probably more that us) and 2, Ben got to "skip" school on Thursday, which was an added bonus!

After the sheep sale, on Saturday, we headed up north to spend the rest of the weekend with my parents.  Andy's parents and his Grandma Queenie came up to join us, too.  They've been able to join us the past few years, which makes Easter even more special.  It's great for our boys to be able to share holidays together, with both sets of grandparents, and I'm very thankful.  Believe me, I understand how unique and blessed we are to have this situation.  Our boys get to make memories with all four of the people that mean so much to them, at the same time...how lucky they are!  I hope that as they grow older, they realize how special these moments are.  But, even better than the memories they're making, is the fact that we all got to celebrate together the risen Lord.  There is nothing better than the love of Christ and the fact that he died for us.  Happy, happy Easter (even if it is a few weeks late)!

Katie's Special Day!

Today we celebrated Katie's 1st Holy Communion...what a special, special day for her and her family.  We were so happy that we could spend the day with this sweet girl and witness this milestone in her faith journey.  We love you Katie!

 





Kyran's Baptism

This past Sunday, we celebrated Kyran's baptism.  We were so happy to be able to celebrate with our family and friends.  Kyran, of course, cried through the entire baptism...and then stopped the second it was over!  Dad was able to get all the crying on video, so we'll be able to relive it again and again!

After the baptism, we all came back to the house for lunch and swimming.  The kiddos had a great time.  The weather was fabulous, nice and cool with a breeze, and the pool was warm!  It was a great day for everyone, especially for our sweet baby boy!

Getting ready for his big day.

 Kyran with his parents and godparents (my brother and Andy's sister)

 

 Grandma Debbie made a beautiful cake!

 

They are such cuties!

 



Friday Five

Welcome back for week three!  Hope you all had a great week, and are gearing up for your weekend.  I know we are!

Number 1 - www.grooveshark.com
If you haven't found this website yet, check it out.  You can create playlists, listen to any type of music you like, and the best part...it's FREE!

Number 2 - Individual Mixed Berry Crisps
Another delicious Weight Watcher recipe...each serving is only 5 points!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 T. Splenda
4 c. frozen mixed berries, do not use strawberries (I used red raspberries and blueberries)
2 t. instant tapioca, uncooked
3 T. uncooked rolled oats, do not use quick-cooking or steel-cut oats
2 1/2 T. flour
2 T. packed brown sugar
2 t. maple syrup
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease four small ramekins.  In a large bowl, combine berries, Splenda and tapioca; evenly divide among ramekins

Add remaining ingredients to same bowl and stir until crumbly; evenly divide this mixture over fruit.  Bake until brown and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Number 3 - Lenten Reflections
A great place to find bible readings and daily reflections for the Lenten season can be found at www.boilercatholics.org/lent. 

Number 4 -While we're on the subject of Lent...
I thought I would revisit one of my favorite posts (posted way back in 2010), titled Lent and the Sippy Cup.  Two years later, and I still find myself struggling with what to do for Lent, but continually trying to render my heart to the Lord.  You can read the post here.

Number 5 - Leap Year 2012
In honor of leap year, I thought I would post a cute craft that I found on Disney's Family Fun website, which you can find here...Fly-Catching Frogs!

Friday Five

Wow!  We're going for two weeks in a row...a big accomplishment for me!  I had a lot of fun this week "collecting" five ideas/recipes/etc that I found interesting, and I hope that you'll find something useful from the post!

Number 1 - Pajama Walks
I can't take credit for this, I actually found it in my Parents magazine this month.  It was in their article titled "Savor the Moments", which talked about focusing on the moments you have with your children because we all know they go way too fast!

One thing I didn't realize - there are only 940 Saturdays between a child's birth and their start of college...and by age five, 260 are already gone!

One way they suggest to capture the moment, is to finish supper, get the kiddos bathed, brush teeth, put on their pj's, bundle them into the stroller (or put on comfy shoes), and head out for a evening stroll.  Take the time to talk about your day with the older children, or just enjoy the babbles and chatter of your younger tots...no matter what you discuss, it will be a nice way to finish up the evening and wind down as your little ones prepare for bed.

I'm now looking even more forward to warmer weather!

Number 2 - Turkey Enchilada Pie
We made this Weight Watcher recipe last night, and it was really good.  I enjoy cooking with ground turkey, and love finding new ways to use it.  Give this one a try, you'll like it! 

Ingredients:
3/4 lbs. ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 t. chili powder
3 T. flour
1 c. skim milk
4 oz. canned jalapeno peppers, drained and chopped
1/2 t. ground cumin
3 large tortillas
3 c. fresh tomatoes, chopped (I used canned from the garden, and just drained off the juice)
10 T. fat free shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Place turkey, onion and chili powder in skillet and cook until turkey is browned.  Remove turkey mixture from skillet and set aside.
• Place skillet over medium-high heat and add flour.  Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium; simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat; stir in turkey mixture, jalapenos and cumin.
• Place one tortilla in bottom of a 9-inch prepared pie plate.  Spread 1/3 of turkey mixture over tortilla.  Spoon one cup of tomato on top and sprinkle with 4 T. cheese.  Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.  
• Cover pie plate with foil and cook until cheese melts and filling is warmed through, about 15 minutes.  Let stand, covered, two minutes before cutting into six wedges.

Six servings - 5 points/serving

Number 3 - Lenten Sacrifice Activity for Kids
Lent is right around the corner...Ash Wednesday is February 22nd!

Every year, since I was a child, I've struggled with what to "sacrifice" for the Lenten season. I know Ben is too young to fully understand what the Lenten season means, but I want to start bringing it to life for him.  I came across this idea on a Catholic website for kids; catholic icing (you can find it here).

Even if you're not Catholic, this would be a great idea for kids to begin learning about Lent and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us...

the greatest sacrifice of all.

The idea is to have your child fill a box with toys that are special to them...something that would be a sacrifice to give up until Easter.  Put the lid on and label it with a note that says "Goodbye for Lent...see you at Easter!"  Tuck it away, out of sight, and bring it out on Easter!

What a great way to start teaching children about the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the great joy of everlasting life that comes through Him.

Number 4 - The best crib/toddler sheet I've ever found!
Pottery Barn Kids carries the best crib sheet.  I received one at my baby shower, and Ben has slept on nothing else since.  I love these sheets so much, that it is my standard gift for new babies!  Just thought I'd share one of my baby favorites :) 

They're called chamois sheets, and the great news is that they are available from cribs to queen size beds! 

Number 5 - Dreaming of Summer!

 All this weird weather (wind, snow, rain, fog) has me dreaming of summer sun and fun!

Merry Christmas!!!

What a whirlwind of a week! I apologize in advance for the ultra-long post, but there is so much to share! Ben and I started the week at Grandma Debbie's (one perk of teaching is that I can go home to my parents for extended amounts of time). We helped Mom get ready for a brunch, for the bus drivers, on Tuesday. Basically, I cooked, cooked, and cooked. This is something that I enjoy, so it was a great start to my break. After the brunch, Ben, Grandma Debbie, my cousin Logann, and I were able to spend some time together before the whole family came in for the holidays.

Along came Wednesday...let the holidays begin! We started with a road trip to Lafayette to get my haircut, pick up Andy, Stacey, and the girls, and then head back to Grandma Debbie's. While we were on our way to Lafayette, Mom was on her way to go get my brother's three oldest children...what a fun night at Grandma's (almost all of the grandkids under one roof)!

Thursday saw Stacey, Logann and I cooking, Mom and the older grandkids at the movie "Tangled", and Andy hauling in some beans to the elevator.

Christmas Eve morning brought the stomach flu to poor Katie (for the second year in a row, her Christmas has been spent in bed with the flu). Poor Katie was quarantined to Grandma Debbie's bedroom. Stacey tried to make her day as enjoyable as possible, but I know it was difficult for her to hear all of the kids outside the room playing.

At lunch time, the last grandchild came to Grandma's...Tiffany!!! We all celebrated her second birthday with a HUGE strawberry ice cream cake! After some birthday wishes and presents, it was nap time for all of the little ones, and more cooking time for the adults!

Then, the FUN began. We started the evening with presents (who wants to wait for dinner and the dishes to be cleaned)! It's much more fun to open first...and we adults have learned that we have a MUCH more enjoyable dinner without the constant "are we done yet?" "can we open presents yet?" "how much more are you guys going to eat?" "really, are you done YET?"

Uncle Dave had a good time helping Ben open his presents.

Like any typical toddler, the wrapping paper and boxes were a bigger hit than the toys!

Jason and Addie celebrating her very first Christmas!

After dinner, dishes, church, and loading up, we headed back home to await Santa's arrival at our home. Boy, did Santa do well! Andy and I had so much fun seeing the delight it Ben's eyes...it didn't matter if it was clothes or toys, they all evoked the same emotion...huge eyes and a big gasp of excitement! The big hit at our house was his new motorized car. He's not great at steering it, but he sure can make it run into walls :)

After Christmas at our house, we headed off to Papaw and Grannie's. Ben kept up his excitement throughout the whole morning!

Somewhere along the way, Ben acquired a ribbon tail...it sure didn't slow him down. I can see that he has inherited my lack of patience! Andy could not get the toys out of the box fast enough...and Lord help him if they needed batteries!!! He was prepared though, screwdriver...check, box cutter...check, extra batteries...check!

Our week finally came to a close with the Oppy/Olin Christmas party in the evening. More great food, more friends, and of course, more presents for the kiddos! It was a nice way to spend the evening...chatting with friends while all of the kids played with their new toys. The remote controlled cars were a big hit!

Ben and Blake took time out of their busy play schedule to at least look at the camera. You can tell by their faces that they were NOT going to give me a smile...they were completely put-out that I would even consider taking pictures while they were trying to play!

Through all of the rushing, visiting, unwrapping, and eating...we still took time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. It's always humbling to think that a little baby came to save us all...that is the best present of all!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Giving Thanks!

We're now back to the "same-old, same-old" at our house after a wonderful four day Thanksgiving Break! We have so much to be thankful for...most importantly, a healthy son. Unfortunately, I did not do a very good job of taking pictures (sorry for not posting any). Even though we lacked the camara, we were still able to spend time with both of our families, do some Black Friday shopping, and even take Grandma Debbie's Christmas card pictures. It was a weekend full of laughter (I think Mom, Stacey and I were in tears from laughing so hard), family time, down time, games, wonderful food, and lots of fun. It was sad to go back to work, but in three short weeks, we'll start all over again. As we close out November, I think back to all that we have to be thankful for...and I look forward to December and all the joy that comes with Christ's birth!

Easter

I'm now officially on Spring break, which is AMAZING!!! I don't know who was more ready, me or my students. We had great Easter weekend with my family, and now I'm looking forward to some relaxation time with my boy :) Here are some of the latest pictures of my little guy...enjoy!

Ben playing peek-a-boo with the wipes box

Eating a homemade blueberry muffin (doesn't look like a muffin, but I promise it is)

Showing off my bottom teeth...this picture looks like I have a mouth full, but I only have 2.

Easter outfit...this is before I slept fell asleep during the Easter vigil

(a 2 hour church service is a long time for an 8 month old)

Hanging out with Grandpa after church...that nap really helped!

Just too tuckered out after Grandma's Easter dinner

Getting ready to take on the dinosaur...not sure who's going to win the match

Lent and the Sippy Cup

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which officially marks the beginning of Lent. You may be asking what in the world a sippy cup has to do with Lent. Well, for me, it finally put it into perspective. I've struggled with Lent since I was a young girl. I would spend 35 of the 40 days trying to figure out what I was going to "give up". I would forget to not eat meat on Fridays. I would try hard to do something good each day of Lent...the stories could go on forever. With all of these trials, I managed to continuously lose sight of what Lent was intended for. I would spend so much time caught up in what I was going to do or not do, that I forgot to prepare my heart for the Easter season. Don't worry, this is where the sippy cup comes in!

As I was feeding Ben last night, I was thinking about Father Dave's homily. I was thinking of how he said to spend this Lenten season preparing our hearts. He asked us to think back on the year (or years) and look at ways in which we have "hardened our hearts". He pointed to Joel 2:13 "rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and relenting of evil". He challenged us to work during Lent on "rendering our hearts". Well, as Ben was struggling with his sippy cup (something we've only tried a few times), it hit me!

Duh, Lent is like Ben's sippy cup. He had it turned upside down. He was drowning in too much liquid. He had it on top of his head. He was chewing on it. He had it on the floor.

But, finally, he had it in his mouth and was actually drinking from it. This is how Lent has been for me. I've been around it, under it, over it, etc...but finally it's in perspective. This year, it's not about what I'm going to "give up" or what I'm going "to do"...it's about focusing on rendering my heart and returning to the Lord!

Thank goodness for that sippy cup!