Lunch Help

I need ideas for lunch. We sort of alternate between PB&J and chicken nuggets. With an occasional hot dog thrown in for good measure. What do you or your kids eat for lunch? Being pregnant has also made me bored with leftovers. I am blessed with two non-picky eaters, so that is not the issue. Just an uncreative mom.

BTW, according to Micah, we are having a girl, and her name is Hiking Sister. He's very adamant.

Weekend away

Okay, I really should be doing the dishes, but I'm procrastinating, again.

I was able to go to a ladies retreat this weekend with a good friend of mine, Kelly. Kelly and I have been friends for about 10 years, we met at Calvary Santa Ana. They sold out and moved to Spokane last year. Her oldest is only three weeks younger than Micah. Its been so nice to have them only 4 hours away!

Our church did not have a ladies retreat this year, so I invited Kelly to come to the Camp Gilead ladies retreat with me. Camp Gilead is in Carnation, about 30 minutes away. I attended camp there in high school and worked two summers there as a camp counselor. A good friend that I know from my counselor days is the program director there now. It was a great time to get away and catch up with old friends.

A unique thing that Camp Gilead does is leave the first day open with nothing scheduled, letting you do as you please. As a mom, you know how rare that opportunity is! We went on a walk, and even some garage saleing! Nothing bought for ourselves, of course, all for the kiddos! Friday afternoon the retreat program started. The topic was our identity and how it is found in Christ. Ironically, Susan is discussing the same topic.

In closing, I must comment on the Office finale. I think it was one of the best episodes I have seen! I had tears in my eyes at the end! (Must be those darn pregnancy hormones!!!)

TV observation

Have you ever noticed that having lived (or currently living) in Southern California ruins your ability to suspend reality during TV shows? Like last week when Aaron was watching Jericho and I was ironing (half watching). They were in "Kansas". Have you ever been to Kansas? I have. Its flat. Very flat. With trees. That stereotype is very true. They were having a gunfight supposedly in Kansas, but all I kept thinking was "Simi Valley", "Magic Mountain" and "Santa Clarita". Very hard to believe.

This even happens on The Office. It is set in Scranton, PA. Which seems like it would be a place that is very green with lots of trees. Whenever they do outdoor scenes, the first thing that pops into my head is "Studio City". Especially with the hard-to-miss smoggy hills in the background. The episode about the Beet Farm was the worst for me. It in no way resembled anything that I imagined the Pennsylvania countryside to be. In fact it looked alot like Little House on the Prairie.

Prayer for friends

Since many on this blog are adoption-minded, I thought I would tell you about my friends, Mike and Dana. They are adopting a little boy, Matthew, from Vietnam and they are leaving tonight at 2am (which is really tomorrow). We are so excited for them as we have seen the process with them. God has answered many prayers, including that of a mother's heart; that she see her baby on his 1st birthday! They have known about Matthew since December but have been waiting on immigration paper work to be able to travel. Just 3 weeks ago they were given word that they'd have to wait until July or later to travel; missing his birthday. Five days later they were told they were travelling now! It brings tears to my eyes!

Please pray for them as they travel, they have an older son, who is 2 1/2. Pray for safety as no one uses car seats in Vietnam (there aren't even seat belts!). Pray for bonding with Matthew and feeding issues as he has a cleft pallet.

You can see pictures at their blog.

The Office Finale

Update: I just realized I won't be able to watch the finale until Saturday! Eeks, how will I survive! So no comments or discussion on it until Saturday! =)

**spoiler for Susan!!***


I was SO surprised last Thursday night. I could not believe that Miss Pam Beesley found herself to confront Jim IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! It was great!

So what is your prediction for Thursday's finale? Who do you think gets The Job?

scenario #1 I think that Jim gets the job and that is the cliffhanger. We come back from vacation to find out that he passed on the job and passed it on to Karen.

scenario#2 Karen gets the job. Jim stays for Pam.

Do you really think Michael has a shot? I also really can't see Jim leaving the office yet again.

Discuss.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day from my two punkins!

Hope everyone had a fun day with their peanuts. My Dad came over and we went to the park for a picnic. It was much better than going to a restaraunt with the kiddos. Thanks honey for organizing it!

Works for Me Wednesday-Occupy a Toddler on an Airplane

One of the blogs I read, Rocks In My Dryer, sponsors a blog every Wednesday where you can share tips about kids, household chores, cooking, anything! I thought I would play along this week and share some ways I found to occupy toddlers on an airplane after our recent trip.

Joel is 19 months. I think between 15-26 months is the hardest age bracket to occupy on an airplane. Its not like you can reason very effectively with them. They just want to run around and play! TV is generally not effective, maybe 5 minutes. Here are some activities that kept Joel's attention for 30 min to an hour.

• Deck of cards. Bring a deck that you don't mind losing a few cards (obviously). Joel loved to put the cards in the box, one by one. He was very meticulous about it too.
• Sticker books. I would have to show him where they went, but he loved lining them up and putting them in the book.
• Pennies and a small can. Make a small can into a bank--maybe like a small peanut can that has a plastic lid. Since you're sitting right there you can regulate if any go in the mouth.
• Leafing through the inflight magazine and asking him to find things on the page, like the dog, a certain letter, a ball, etc. I let him "color" or circle the items too.
• Completed sticker books. My 4 year old loves sticker books too. Once he is done with them, I give them to Joel, who loves to take the stickers off, on, off, on, off on. Eventually they all end up on the floor. Who cares? They have both had their fun with it.

Of course, by the end of the 6 hours flight he was jumping on the seat, but these were a few things that kept my sanity.

Do you have your own ideas? Please leave a comment!

Hiker Joel

Today was a gorgeous day, 72--not too hot or too cold. Since its been awhile since we've seen this weather, we live outside when these days come along. Today we went to a new park/playground that also had trails through the forest. After playing hard on the playground we went for a walk in the forest. Joel refused to be carried. I let him walk, but then tried to carry him when I thought he was getting tired. No. Can. Do. What a little trouper he is!! He wanted to walk and do it himself! This was not a flat trail, either--lots of hills, some pretty steep. We walked a total of about 2/3 mile and he walked every inch.

Tomorrow we'll be tackling Mt. Rainier. 14,000 feet, what do you say?

In case anyone was thinking about...

....reading Linda Berdoll's book, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, I have one piece of advice. Don't. Its a "continuation" of Pride and Prejudice and takes up where Jane Austen left off, with the courtship, wedding and 1st few years of marriage. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, Ms. Berdoll likes to focus on one aspect of marriage, and wash it up with Austenesque language. Berdoll is much more explicit than Austen would ever dream to be. So after two chapters, I refused to read furthur. The Amazon reviews I read all liked the book, so I thought I'd give it a try. Big mistake.


Has anyone else found any worthwhile "Austen continuation" storytellers? (for lack of a better word)

Less Stuff

I read this article today in the Seattle Times. Its about a groups of gals who have vowed to not buy anything new for a year, except for food and items related to health and safety. (So they do buy tooth brushes and deoderant). Its pretty interesting and one that I have thought often about. I try to go by the Children's Hospital Thrift Store every now and then to see if they have any kids clothes for the boys. While there I sometimes find a household item or gift wrap item that I need too.

BK, (that's before kids, not Burger King), I used to do more garage sales. Often I would just happen to find things that were on my list to buy at Target. Such an awesome feeling. I love the "thrill" of the hunt.

I think its interesting read and a good idea to scale down the amount of "stuff" that we have.

One more thing...

Forgot to mention... remember the shoulder injury? Well, another funny thing. Exactly the day after I finally decided, that yes, I would have the shoulder surgery done, I find out I'm pregnant. Whoops! Guess that won't get done!

Any guess on my ER bill on Maui? We got the amount today. Not a bill, thank goodness as it is going to insurance.

Birthdays

Micah's birthday is in December. I tell everyone, don't have a baby in December (as if you can control it!) It gets very hectic with the holidays and wanting to make his birthday still special. Then there is the whole present overload issue. I used to hide some presents and dole them out during the year. But now that he is older he knows everything, keeps track of all presents given.

God has a sense of humor. Guess who is now pregnant and due November 30? Yup, me! Since my babies have a history of staying put in the womb; another December birthday is in my future.

I talked a bit about how I was dehydrated when we were on Maui. The reason I was dehydrated was because of the pregnancy, flying and not drinking any water (only diet coke b/c of nausea). It also doesn't help that they don't allow water through security; you must buy it in the airport. It was the most horrific experience I have ever had, and I do not wish it on anyone. I thought I was going crazy, my muscles were spasming, my eyesight was blurry, my heart rate would skyrocket and jump around. I remember looking at the doctor in the ER and having to push up my forehead in order to be able to look at him because my muscles were cramping so bad and forcing my eyes closed. They put 2 liters of fluid in me and I did not need to use the bathroom at all! We've had 2 ultrasounds since and baby is doing great!

What You Know About Math?

The math teacher in me couldn't resist posting this video.

Joel's First Haircut

Joel had his first haircut today! We go to a great barbershop nearby. They have toys on the side to play with if we have to wait and a tv with cartoons to distract during the haircut. The owner knows us and recognizes the boys when we come in. She was even careful to save some of Joel's hair for me. Best of all their prices are great.

We also planted Micah's vegetable garden this weekend. Tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, salad mix, onions, and peas were on the menu. We also planted strawberries in the backyard.

Jars Of Clay- Dead Man Carry Me

I have always thought this song sounded just like the OK GO song, Million Ways (posted below). What do you think?

Ok Go -Million Ways

From the guys who did the treadmill dance--this was their first video. I love the fact that they turn on the camera themselves. Try to catch the Matrix reference.

We're Back!

We just returned this week from spending 2 weeks in Hawaii! It was a great time with fun times had by all. We spent 10 days on Maui, then the boys and I went to Oahu for 4 days to visit Jodi and HER boys. =)



Highlights from the trip:

• The first day was spent in the ER because I suffered from severe dehydration. NOT fun, I would not recommend that for anyone. More on this later.


• snorkeling at Molokini, a crater off the coast of Maui and swimming with giant sea turtles


• Warren and Annabelles magic/comedy show in Lahaina


• Drive to Hana


• Swimming at "Big Beach" in Makena and Micah getting stung by bees 3 times!


• Relaxing and playing with Jodi's kids; Micah saying "I will miss Josh".


• Taking the kids on the Pineapple Express train.


• When the kids woke at 4:30 (b/c of the time change) having Grandma and Grandpa there who were already awake!!
• I got to get a Dole Whip TWICE! I love this pineapple soft-serve ice cream. The only place I've found it is in Hawaii and at the Tiki Room at Disneyland.
• Haleakala crater. At 10,000 feet, it looks like the moon up there! Its one of the steepest drives in the US going from sea level to 10,000 feet in just 2 hours.
• Dinner by ourselves (sans kids) at the beachfront restaurant, I'O in Lahaina. It was delicious food. Thai Curry Asparagus Soup---yum!
• I was so impressed with myself that I drove us from the airport to Jodi's house from memory with no wrong turns!

Here are a few pictures from Oahu. The Maui picts are on the other computer. I've done all the toursity things, so we just hung out and did mom things like take the kids on the train, McD's playland, and the park. Its so great to have a friend you haven't seen in a year and it feels like you live next door. Love you Jodi! I'm so bummed that I didn't get any picts of Daniel!! Head over here to see some cute ones.

Can you believe that Josh took this picture of us? He is quite talented!!

WOW!

If you know Daphne, you need to go here and find out the SHOCK of their lives! My jaw hit the floor!

Question of the Day

Today is a wonderful day. Why? Because today marked the official end of March Madness. WOOO HOOO! (ducking right now for pillows being thrown at me from a certain somebody) Every March my favorite shows are pre-empted or moved around for College Basketball. Basketball is a sport we have never learned to watch around here. Although Micah says he likes it. He is tall for his age....

On to the topic at hand. There is a new and much anticipated episode of The Office airing this Thursday. I thought I would throw this out there:

What is your favorite episode of The Office and why? If you mention an episode from Season 3, do Susan a favor and type SPOILER at the top for her, so she knows to skip it.

Here is my favorite:
Hands down, it is The Injury. Watching Michael wallow in self-pity is just too funny. The scene in the van when Jim drives Dwight and Michael to the hospital was hilarious!

Radical Reformission

We are reading the Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll in a small group. This week a paragraph resonated with me.

"Arguably most Christians and churches prefer the past to the present or the future, because the past is over, while the present and the future still require a lot of work. A naive romanticism in each of us desperately wants to believe there was a time after Genesis 2 when the world was a wonderful place to live, when things were better and easier than they are today. This powerful delusion enables us to excuse our laziness and failure to be about reformission because of the difficult days we live in." pg 50

Recently, this idea that things were so much better 50 years ago has become so tiresome to me. I guess its because there is nothing you can do about the past, and like the quote says, it distracts us from what God has called us to do for the present and future. We live in a fallen world and we always will until God redeems the land. How do you expect fallen people to act?

Another irritating idea out there is that, and I'm paraphrasing, "we shouldn't let the culture into church, be in the world but not of the world." Would you say this to Hudson Taylor when he went to evangelize to the Chinese? Most misisonaries will tell you that before you can be effective in reaching those for Christ, you need to learn the stories of the culture and then relate the gospel in terms they will understand. This idea applies today to our American culture. You need all three: church + gospel + culture, to be relevant.