The Colors of FALL

The fields loaded with soybeans!!

And the trees behind them whose leaves are beginning to change their color!!

A neighbor's tree that stands in such bright contrast to the evergreens around it:) Do you see the cotton behind the tree??

The colors (and smells)of fresh baked goodies from our oven that everyone can enjoy!!!

Are Dinner Battles worth it???

Last night I fixed one of out favorites "chicken enchiladas"... yummm!! Quick, easy, allergy friendly, healthy... did I mention easy and quick??

Anyway we get to the table and all three kids start fussing about how they DON'T like their meal. We asked them to stop fussing and encouraged them to try the "new" foods and eat what they liked on their plate. Anna and Christopher finally gave in to trying and liking their meal... they really wanted a piece of cornbread:) But Lydia, didn't budge. She won't try anything, not even a piece of the toritalla!!! We made Lydia sit at the table and encouraged her to eat but didn't push anything.

We've been through this "picky food stage" with three kids now... Lydia, I believe is the hardest!! But we've learned and both feel like it's better to be encouraging about eating new foods rather than having "dinner battles".

We went to the store to pick up pumpkins after dinner. On the way home, Lydia was fussy and said she was hungry and fussing for a drink. So at home while I was fixing her a cup, she reached into the refrigerator and pulled out the enchilada..... hahaaahahaa

NOPE!! I wish.... she did go into the frig though and pulled out some bagels. So she munched on bagels at 8:45PM instead of eating a yummy dinner!

I'm glad we didn't make an issue out of her eating everyhting on her plate. She didn't get to have a piece of cornbread either.... which was the tough part. But we have plenty of training issues to focus on all day.... at dinner we just want time together. I'm just hoping the picky stage will pass quickly:)

Before she got used to the costume

She is the picky-est little thing..... but she was NOT liking the costume and especially not the hat:) But when I reviewed the pictures after the "drama" I just thought she looked soo cute and needed a hug (and maybe a change of clothing)!!!

And here's the after!!

Using Pumpkins for School

I saw a post on my advertisement today.... (click PUMPKIN MATH to the right)!! If you don't see it click HERE!!!

A mom showed all the fun "math" activities she did with little planning and some pumpkins!!! Anyway, I"m ready to go get some pumpkins now.... the activities are really easy and perfect for my little ones:) And it would be super fun for our "school time" tomorrow:)

Maybe we might venture out tonight and get us some cute pumpkins and the extra items we need for our church's HARVEST FESTIVAL tomorrow night....

Throwback Thursday - The Giraffe Costume

The costume I hoped Lydia would ear this year was a giraffe costume... My mom picked the costume up on a clearance rack only weeks after telling her I was pregnant. She figured a little boy or girl could wear the costume....

We've gotten our use out of the costume!! Anna has worn it once, Christopher was worn it twice and ....

now I'm sticking it on my third kiddo, and she was NOT happy about it!!

Lydia did warm up to it a little bit... although it looked a little too small for her....so who knows if we'll actually leave the house with it on her this year:)

Here's Christopher wearing the giraffe in 2006! He was just a crawler then... soo cute!!

And Anna downtown trick-or-treating in 2005!!

Wordless Wednesday - Earrings

Christopher told Anna (when he saw her earrings), "You look like a mom."

A Missed Goal

As you might have remembered, I was determined to have my youngest TWO potty trained this summer!! I think it was a very realistic goal but unfortunately it was... missed!!!

I'm not going to defend myself, but I did TRY!! I used a 3 day program for almost 2 weeks!!! But I ran up against one totally unmotivated little boy and one very stubborn little girl:) And I realized that it wasn't happening and that if I forced the issue it would bring more problems than results!

Since I did use 2 weeks to "train" them though, I've just recently have seen that they KNOW what to do!! They have been "trained" but are not potty users!! How do I know this??

On Monday night, I gave Christopher a bath and then let him run around without clothes while I bathed Anna. Minutes after I let him go I heard, "Man, I've got to go potty!" And then a little boy came running into the bathroom. He lifted the toilet seat and went pee-pee......

The amazing thing was he had no warnings about making accidents, he had no reminders and I wasn't making him use the potty with him whinning and fussing!!! He needed to go b/c he didn't have a diaper and he went!!

So I'm getting all psyched up to try again soon. We've been talking about when he turns 3 about how big he will be and how he'll be able to use the potty like other "big boys" we know:)

And Lydia is right behind him..... yesterday in the library, she declared very uncomfortably, "I need to make stinky!" Then louder, "I need make stinky!" Then she stood there for a minute or so with that look.... and said "I have stinky."

So maybe it's soon:) Hopefully it's soon.... the good news is that we're NOT starting from square 1 again..... the other thing is that Lydia is very motivated when she's not the one Momma's focused on... so maybe they well become "potty users" at the same time:)

Bats and New Safe Eats

This morning during our writing time, Christopher grabbed the markers and started drawing. Anna never did much drawing of anything but letters... but Christopher will draw animals and people, trucks, shapes and letters!! He's very creative... at least I think so (totally biased, I know!!)

So you want to guess what this is??? (just read the title of the post and you'll get it)

At the grocery store yesterday I scooped up a new brand of cereal that I had a coupon for... my coupon was for $1 off, so it met my under $2 cereal criteria:)

Anyway, the cereal is called Cascadian Farms organic Granola. And we got the "oats and honey" variety.... our Walmart carries like 8 different varieties. Usually speciality cereals have milk or peanut issues and so I just picked a cereal out for me... isn't that soo selfish....

So as I was putting away the cereal at home I was deciding what shelf to put it on.... the lower "safe food shelf" or the higher "not for the kids" shelf (yes, they are labeled at my house)! It was then I realized that it contained NO milk ingredients and had not been on shared peanut equipment!!!

Last night for a snack, Anna asked for the "new cereal we haven't tried yet" which we were very surprised to hear from out little girl who never tries new foods... well I guess it's not NEVER anymore:)

For snack this morning, my healthly kids (hahahaa) are munching on (and dropping it all over the kitchen floor) organic granola.... which is totally allergy friendly!!! Yay!!

And another allergy friendly company that we've been enjoying lately is ARNOLDS... on their website you can even find food that are ok for your fmaily using a search that will eliminate the ingreidents you have to avoid!!!

Like the Father

I read this last night from a "prayer for my children" book:

"You must be holy because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16

Am I actively and intentionally teaching my children about their Heavenly Father? They can't learn to be holy (like their Heavnely Father) if they don't know about Him? KNow what He likes? Know what He desires from them? And know His LOVE for them?

Box of Goodies

Grandma did warn me to check the mail for a box of goodies that a "little birdie" told her was coming for the kids. I wasn;t sure when it was coming, but I mentioned the surprise box to the kids this afternoon and they were determined to see if it had come.

And it had!! They rode all the way back home from the PO with the anticipation of opening the surprise box.

I love how easy to please my kids are!! They dove into the box without any of us knowing what was inside. They were soo excited when they found a couple of books, new markers, a new Matchbox car, a train whistle, stickers and letters from the sender!!

make your silly sounds www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are soo blessed to have many sweet, loving people in our community, our family and sweet friends that pray for us regularly, encourage us and are so generous to us and our children. We have much, much, much to be thankful for. And in this case we are thankful for Miss Gail, a sweet family friend who watched my husband grow into the man he is now and even taught him some tennis!!!

Also, as I was watching my kids excitedly rummaging through all the fun items in the box I caught a glimpse of some of the joy that Operation Christmas Child brings to needy children all around the world!! I was already planning to pack a box or two.... but I'm totally ready to start packing my Christmas Box for a child really needing an encouragment and needing to know that there is ONe what cares from them in this harsh world! You can pack a box TOO... find out how HERE!!

Reminder

In our Sunday School class yesterday we had a great reminder of how we should be practically living our lives, specifically taking an assessment of whether we are truely living by the Spirit as believers in Christ.

Here was the statement that caused me to stop, ponder and assess (paraphrased to talk to me):

"What occupies my mind, how do I spend my time and energy, what do I give myself
to - all are determined by whether I am a person living in the flesh or living
in the Spirit." (paraphrased from Jere Phillips in Life Words, Lifeway Press, fall 2008)

Are my thoughts, actions and energies spent on growing closer to the Lord? Serving my family with a cheerful spirit? Being an encouraging wife**? A loving, available and creative Mom?Attempting to serve the Lord outside my home? Or am I distracted?

I praise You God for this reminder and time of reflection for me. Thank You that it came in moments of stillness and not in the midst of tears or crisis. I praise You for the creative outlets you have given me, but allow me to have the right balance and the right priorities. I praise You for giving me Your Spirit to guide me to be more like You!

**If you are not a regular girltalker.... you've missed something these last few weeks. They've been on the subject "Doing your Husband Good"... check it out this week as some of the reader post creative ideas to "do you husband good"!! I've really been encouraged by their recent posts on homemaking and having home as a priority!

Little Squirt

On Saturday afternoon, when the kids woke from their naps we headed over to the church to "help" Daddy with the bullentins for Sunday:) Since we have revival this week, he spent more time over there printing off both sets (Sundays and the Revival bullentins)!!

So we "help" in the office and then "help" lay them out for our members to get in the morning! And then we walked back to the office so that Daddy could get his stuff an head back to the house with us.

Lydia had run off somewhere in the fellowship hall as we are leaving. And so Brian and I called out for her to come.

Then we heard Christopher, "Come on, Little Squirt!"

hahhaaa... he was calling out for her, saying she was a little squirt when he's not much taller than her:) Anyway, it was very cute and a little touching too because here is a big brother helping to watch over his sister:)

*** Picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when the "paci" was still around:) We are still paci-free although Lydia asked for it again tonight and I just casually reminded her that it was broken because she chewed a whole in it. She was fine with the answer and continued on our way to bed:)

More Fire Ants

Looked innocent enough to play on, right? I mean fun little hill to climb up on and then a small tree to swing around!! At least that's what Chris and I thought this morning as I chatted with neighbors outside the house on our way back from church !!

Anyway, the quiet of a warm fall afternoon was interrupted with Christopher running to us screaming!! I mean we knew something was Wrong!!! Brian got to him first and realized it was fire ants.... AGAIN!!

We just stripped him down right there on the sidewalk in front of our house. We pulled off EVERYTHING!! Checked to be sure all ants were off of him and then brought him inside to bathe him!!!

I went back outside to borrow some lotion from our neighbors and saw his pants STILL covered in ants.... I mean Indiana Jones a

nd the Crystal Skull (almost moved b/c they were covered in ants)!! And I snapped a picture of the ant "nest".... ewwww... they were still out and busy!!!

Christopher had been covered in them..... the only thing he had going for him was his church clothes. He was in thick socks and cluncky tennis shoes and he had on LONG pants... so many ants were on the outside of his clothes and only a few made there way under his clothes...

I think he had at least a hundred ants in him, probably more.... his navy pants were almost maroon when we first pulled them off!! So I wasn't sure how many bites this poor would have???

Can you believe he has maybe 5 or 6!!! Amazing!!! (Although one bite drives me nuts for a couple of days!!)

Here Christopher is after getting bathed, a dose of Benadryl, partially dressed, and lotioned up:) And he is excited because he has some "treats" Miss Sue-sue brought over for the "wounded" and his caretaker sisters:)

He 's been acting normal. We napped and went to church this evening... with no problems. And he really isn't even itching at them....

And the strange blotchy picture is of his biggest bite. It's actually a couple of bites bunched together, but they've actually formed the little white tops which did not happen when they got bit a month ago.

I put some more Hydrocortizone cream on them this evening and will probably try to stay on top of that so they might not bother him!!

Last month when I talked to the doctor about Lydia's 50 bites, they said if they don't have a bad reaction then the next concern is the bites getting infected... so we'll be watching for that as he tried to heal.

BTW.... for anyone interested.... I am still hanging on to my tissues. Saturday and this morning made me think I was actually getting over this, finally!! But then tonight, I'm back with the tissues at my side.... I'm ready to be DONE with it... even broke out the prenatal vitamins I had stashed away. So I'm ready for a tissue-free week....soon:)

Siblings... even watch TV alike

I caught this the other day and had to snap a pick. We've been working on Anna about this but I'd never seen Chris:)

Food Allergy Article

Brian saw this article ..... anyway, it's always good to hear about people becoming aware of food allergies, unfortunately it's becoming more and more "common"!

The title of the article says it all "1in 26 kids affected last year, 18% up from 1997"!!! And there's a video,too!!

Fun Giveaway

Thought you might be interested in these:

* Baby Signing Time vol 1-2 being given away by Northwest MOM Finds.....HERE
* Organic Baby Sling from Mom Most Traveled.... HERE

And SIMPLE has plenty going on:)

Loved It!!! and Another Idea

We went and the kids did fine without us for the afternoon.... thanks to Miss Sue-sue!!!

I did enjoy Fireproof... it certainity was a tear-gerker....good thing I already had my pockets full of tissues for my runny nose. I"m thankful I don't have the marriage that the movie first protrays but it was a good reminder that Marriage takes sacrifice, service to one another, and the One who allows us to love beyond ourselves:) And I loved all the reconcilitations.... I don't want to ruin it for those who are even further behind than I am:)

I have been thinking of contacting Sherwood Productions!! I have another idea:) What about a strong marriage that is challenged with child rearing and the worthless worrying and over-parenting that many of us struggle with?? Come on... throw in some good parenting skills, reliance on the Lord, and the importance of date nights.... hahhaa

OK..... my kiddies are wanting their Momma back:) Off to play and cook some dinner:)

Date Afternoon

A couple of days ago my hubby surprised me.... he said that he had asked Miss Sue-sue to come over and watch the kids on Friday afternoon so that we could go to the movies and watch FireProof.....

We've heard soo much about this movie and we've actually been to the moview twice since it's been out and NOT seen it!!! From what I've seen, read and heard it sounds like a movie that needed to come out....a movie about preserving, encouraging and strengthening our REAL marriages:)

So this morning I'm taking care to get my house in order so that Miss Sue-sue and the kids will have a fun afternoon together!!! Then I'll get their lunch together and Brian and I will be off to watch FireProof....

Thanks to Miss Sue-sue... BTW, the kids are soo excited she's coming and have been looking out the window and waiting for her all morning:) Hopefully they'll have all their energy out and take their naps for her:)

Family Cookie Night:)

Some may think that an evening at home is quiet and relaxing! Hmmm, not at my house:) We had plans to venture to a local Fall/Halloween Community party but since more than half of us are sick or getting over "the Crud" we thought it best to "stay in" :)

We attempted to have a family night by making cookies together!!! We already had the batter and all the kids had to do (this time) was mix in some raisins in on batch and some semi-sweet chocolate chips in the other:) But tonight, even this small task got a little wild!!

I left the kitchen for a nano-second to grab the camera and capture this fun memory:) And of course the camera did catch them eating the batter!! (which is fine for our egg-free cookies) and you LOVE Lydia's job....be silly and make everyone laugh:)

Finally the crew got to taste their work!! They all wanted chocolate chip but settled for a oatmeal raisin while they waited for their oatmeal chocolate chip:)

Hahhaa... Daddy had to share his batch after all:)

Sweet family night!! Here are the kids enjoying their cookies and one another's company:)

Quick add-ons:

1. We baked our egg-free cookies with Ener-G egg replacer... works great in baked goodies (NOT pancakes)!! But doesn't work with boxed mixes.... so we just have to do homemade!!
2. Like the Christmas Dishes??? Hahhaa... I never got all of them put up this year. I finally got it in me to out them away and realized that Christmas was less than 3 months away and then the days started getting cooler and I just started using them again:)

Tissue Issues & Throwback Thursday - Ballerina Again

I've had it in my mind to do a Throwback Thursday ever since last night. We were heading off to bed and my dear husband was patiently waiting for me and then giggled. He revealed the reason for his giggle....

He was looking at our wedding picture on the mantle and was thinking,"Isn't my wife beautiful" (sweet isn't he) and then he turned around to look at me snuggled on the couch with tissues up my nose.... hahhaa my nose seriously just wants to RUN and so I'm just waiting until it all runs out:) sorry for the details...

So I decided to post a Cuter Throwback...my beautiful little ballerina!! For her 3rd Halloween Anna, we dressed Anna as a "dancer" - she understood that:) But this year Anna actually wanted to be a ballerina and tried on her old ballerina costume. To our amazement the outfit still fit, although this will be the last year!!

October 2006

Last week at the pumpkin patch:)

A Couponing 1st

A couponing first for me today... I saved MORE than I spent:) The difference was only a few cents but it was AWESOME!! I don't think the ladies behind me in line at the checkout we as impressed with my accomplishment as I was:)

Word"less" Wednesday - Chilly Cuteness

My little man can be the cutest little thing in the universe when he shines me his "charm"!!! Anyway, outside yesterday with his "new to him" little sweatshirt he looked so grown yet so little... the only way I can't even attempt to keep these sweet memories is to snap a pic!!!

A Smile for a Sick Day

I haven't been feeling well the last few days.... We were hoping to head to the zoo today... ohhhh, what a beautiful zoo day we missed!! I just felt rotten enough that I really won't have enjoyed the drive or walking around all morning and afternoon:) So maybe another time when my head doesn't feel like it's about to burst and my nose isn't dripping like a fountain.....

I was looking through more wedding pictures and ran into this sweet video! I'm pretty sure I haven't posted it yet. We were all waiting for the the last few guests to arrive and the wedding to start. Brian and Lydia were standing on the porch getting the wiggles out before "quiet time" (AKA wedding ceremony)!!



In the background you can hear the ladies trying to convince the ringbearers to hold the little pillow:) Christopher just didn't want to and David wanted to play with his digger (a gift the bride and groom gave him)!!! We had two different languages within the wedding, so they're speaking to David in Spanish and English and Christopher in English... The little boys never did make it all the way down the aisle.

I've also added some more wedding pictures to my flickr account.... HERE!!

BTW... isn't my sweet hubby so handsome in a tux:)

No Baths for Superheros

Last night Brian had a meeting so I had the kiddies to myself... And I had a meeting with some ladies of my church who are working with me to put together a Harevst Festival for our church:)

So after the kids had an hour and a half of running around our fellowship hall barefoot and hiding in all those unknown places that usually are a lttle dusty :) So as the kids were coming into the house I mentioned to them that we would be taking baths before bedtime.

That's when my little man spoke up,"Mom, I don't need a bath."

Me: "oh, you sure are... all that running around. I bet you're a little stinky."

He responded, "Mom, I'm a superhero and superheros aren't stinky."

Who can argue with that? But he still did take a bath and had a blast (as usual) :)

humor in the classroom:)

Part of morning homeschooling routine (when it is routine) is to do Five In A Row. This is a cirriculum that takes children's classics and creates days worth of lessons from the book... everything from language arts, social studies, and BIble to math an art!! Anyway, we read the FIAR book and then do one or two of the activties for that story each day.

This morning we started The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. I was instantly amazed at how well my kids listened to the story today... they were captivated:) Maybe because the story is a little suspenseful escpecially for little ones:)

We talked about trusting (parents and God), explained some of the new terms (like fortnight), Anna cut out magazine pictures of gardens to "make" her own garden like Mr McGregors' garden and then we reviewed the main points of the story.

Although the story didn't say exactly why Peter ventured into the garden against his mother's wishes, it did say that he immediately started eating a lot of vegetables. Anyway, one of the last questions I asked the kids was, "Why did Peter go into the garden against his mother's directions?" I honestly was expecting blank stares, or because he was hungry, or he was bad.

Instead my little budding scholar said, "Peter wanted a salad" with a smirk.

I about fell out of my seat laughing! Where does she get this humor from???

Mei Tai for Anna

I'm over at SIMPLE again today...

I was able to review the cutest item:) It's a doll mei tai/diaper bag set for Anna!!

She has brought that diaper bag EVERYWHERE!!! In fact as I'm writing this, our set is hanging out in the Lost&Found at our local Walmart.... she carried it in and left it on a table at the Customer Service desk:) We will be retrieving it VERY, VERY soon and that is not soon enough for Anna:)

OK, Back to SIMPLE!! Amy from AMY MAY's MEI TAIs is giving one set away on SIMPLE... HERE!!


Very cute for any little girl who loves babies:) And they are very affordable at less than $15, plus Amy is a SAHM... like some of us:)

My Bargain Shopper Hubby

I'm not sure if all wives can "brag" about their husbands liking bargains as much as I can about mine!! He's the kind that walks immediately to the clearance racks at stores when he's shopping:) And he usually finds some pretty good bargains:) He definitely credits his mother "for training him up right" :)

This morning he was sporting a new tie he bought last week on vacation. He went shopping with his dad and came back with 2 Stafford ties, a pair of dress pants,a Dockers golf shirt and a long-sleeve collared casual shirt from JC Penneys all for around $30 (about the same price as one pair of pants)!!!

He was so proud of his tie!! He even shared the price with our Sunday School class... ha aaaahhaa!!

Ok, so I have something going on my my head... it's stuffy, I have pressure and my teeth hurt. It usually shows up about lunchtime (good timing for naps)!! So Brian decided to let me nap this afternoon and go get some medicine and weekend grocery sales for me.

Funniest thing.... there he was at the checkout with the store' competetors' ad and a handful of coupons:) He said he got a rush as he saw the total price of his bill continue to drop.... aha haaa....

We might have another couponer in this house:)

Sweet Sunday Sleep

The girls napped for almost 2 hours this afternoon, but Lydia woke up grumpy and so I pulled her into the couch with me. Second later Anna was climbing onto the couch with us! And minutes later both girls were alseep again:)

Brian came in and thought we were soo cute:)

Palin Sightings

For all those interested....

I was just told that Sarah Palin would be on SNL tonight!! I'm not a regular SNL watcher... they can be crude and rude, but I'm interested:) And a proud Sarah Palin supporter!!

*** Well I did watch the opening and a good part of the show... but then as usual the show was offensive to me and not what I choose to be entertained by so I turned OFF the TV and regretted that I mentioned it my blog..... hope you decided not to watch or turned it off before me!!!

What I'm up to this Morning:)

I'm checking out my post on SIMPLE.....

I had the chance to review an Icky Bag... AKA a really cute wet bag to tuck into your diaper bag to bring home wet and dirty clothing:) There are many different uses but for us, the Icky Bag will be a big help with potty training (again and still)!!

We are also hosting a giveaway!! We are giving away one of these cute Icky Bags.... HERE!!

Quick Stop at the Pumpkin Patch

This evening we headed out to a local farm to enjoy their fall celebrations:) We met Andrea and her crew out at the farm just for a quick visit since we were trying to beat the rain:)

We had the kids dress up into their Halloween costumes!! I'm glad they did because usually they get to wear them once (maybe twice) out of the house. Although on Wednesday Anna wore her outfit for a good portion of the day:) This year Anna is a ballerina (with a few extra clothes on a cool evening)! Christopher will be dressing like a skunk... it's a very cute little outfit from Old Navy (I figured he'll wear it this year and Lydia will wear it next year)!!! I have hopes that Lydia will wear our giraffe costume this year....hmmm, might not happen, she's pretty picky about her attire:)

Christopher loved the petting zoo and animals!! He is such an animal lover:) He was very gentle with the baby goats and later told me that he wanted a goat!!! He's not scared of any of the animals.... on the way out he stuck his fingers into a chicken coup and said the chicken bit him! Then he tried to feed the donkey and wasn't fearful at all when it looked like half his hand was in the donkey's mouth:)

Here are a few more pictures of our adventures:)




Andrea posted some pictures she took... on her blog and her flickr :)

Practicing Relationships Through Play

In was in the kitchen this morning, finishing our breakfast dishes... Anna was at the table starting school and Christopher was getting out the "quiet" toys for him and Lydia during "school time".

As I loaded one of the last dishes, I heard from the floor, "Ok, now you have to apologize to each other." And he was turning the little men heads' toward one another...


Sweet morning play!!

Enjoying the Day

Thanking God for our beautiful afternoon and our picnic lunch:)

Taking in the beauty of each bloom:)

Amazed at all the blooms to come !!

Thank you Lord for the beautiful afternoon!!!

Horse Baby & School Time

Lydia voice being crackly and deep started the last day at Grandma and Grandaddy's and has gotten a lot more noticable. At first we thought it was because she was talking more due to NOT having her paci all the time! But now I'm starting to wonder if all the wet weather or exposure to sickness somewhere has caused her horseness??? We'll be keeping an eye on it... for sure!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is also a glimpse into a "normal" "homeschool preschool time"..... in some ways it's not normal b/c I'm holding a camera and not working one-on-one... but the different activities of the kids and the noise is about normal. You can't see Anna and Christopher but Anna was working on her math workbook and Chris was cutting up his writing and drawing work this morning (at least I can't feel guity about throwing it away when it's in tiny pieces and he's working on scissor use which is a very good hand-eye coordinate and fine motor skill)!!!

Another One Bites the Dust

With food allergies we are always a little on guard when we eat out. This weekend was tough.... at both the rehearsal dinner and reception we brought or bought food to take with us for the kids! It seems like our allergens are EVERYWHERE... (Can anyone make a chicken nugget without eggs and milk)???

Our last meal with Grandma and Grandaddy we visited Chick-Fil-A.... the kids love this restaurant b/c of the playground and the Waffle Fries. We are very cautious though because all of their breaded items are dipped in a "milk wash" before they are breaded... so that leaves us witht he Chargrilled Sandwich.... which in the past the kids have been fine with...

But now with Christopher's new problem foods it looks like the Chargrilled (and Chick-Fil-a) is a problem, too!! Being a former Chick-Fil-A employee I remember the Chargrills being soaked in a marinade that included pickle juice!!! Yep, those cucumbers are popping up everywhere!! Some of Christopher's first bites of the sandwich did have a pickle so maybe that contact started the reaction... but the whole piece of chicken has pickle juice soaked through it!!!

One good thing about the kids' different allergies is that if one breaks out and not the others, it's easier to pin point the problem food...... like this time. All three were eating the same sandwich!! But Christopher was the only one to break out.... so it couldn't have been a milk reaction or else all three would have broken out. And it couldn't have been an egg reaction because Lydia didn't break out!!

So it looks like we'll be avoiding Chick-Fil-A for the time being and find a new playground or pack Chris food (which definetely takes the convience out of fast food AKA quick unplanned meal)!!!

Another Wedding Pic and Thanks

We never did get a good family or even grandparent picture using my camera on this trip. I think we were all pictured out from the weeding events.... anyway... I don't have a good pic but I do have a ....

BIG THANKS!!

I am soo thankful and grateful to my sweet in-laws... they are such a sweet blessing to us and me. They are always very generous to us! Like to let us come and almost totally take over their home!! (I wrote almost b/c it depends on which you ask about whether it's really a take over or not.) Their normally quiet, relaxed days are quickly turned into chasing grandkids, stepping on toys scattered and trying to please three little ones who don't always know what they want or know exactly what they want!

Thank you for letting us stay. Thank you for all the great meals! Thank you for our date night:) And for all the extra outings for me to find "good" deals!! FOr your servant example to us and our children! Thank you!

We are blessed!

Wordless Wednesday - Funny Faces

Chocolate Smile by Lydia:)

Drawing from Chris this morning:)