Currently....

Playing along with Lemonade Makin' Mama today. :) 

Currently loving....this season in life with my littles. Is it hard? Yes, at times of course. But I love having a preschooler and sweet baby. Everett is the happiest boy on the planet and so ready to start walking once he figures out how to let go of furniture and get enough coordination. Am I encouraging this behavior? Absolutely not. Crawling already has changed the game quite a bit, walking will bring about even more change. I never encourage mobility! ;) Emersyn is at a sweet age too, her life is one big musical, one song after another. She makes my heart happy. 

Currently reading.....Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst.

Currently waiting for.....my husband to have peace and figure out what he wants to go to school for! It's a big decision. 

Currently excited about....my parents to come visit for a week and a half next week! They get here a week from today. I have lots to do and clean before they get here. They haven't seen my kids since Christmas when Everett was barely 4 months old. A lot has changed. :) 

Currently missing....my Gigi. She would have just melted at Everett's smiles and overall cuteness. And Emersyn would have been really bonded with her, they had very kindred spirits. 

Currently trying....to get into a strength training routine. Hmmm...trying might be too strong of a word as it implies that I have made attempts to start something. Well, I guess I should rephrase to say currently wanting to start...? I so prefer cardio but am not really consuming enough calories for high impact exercising right now. I can do some strength training though! I'm down almost 30lbs (official weigh in on Friday) in 10 weeks. I posted a picture on my other blog. :) 

Currently working at....finishing Emersyn's room. It's ALMOST done!!! Also working at losing 30+ pounds before Emersyn starts school again. It's a lofty goal but I'm going to try my hardest to achieve this milestone. 

Currently enjoying.....the sunshine today! It's been overcast and rainy this week, BOO! We're going to have a picnic at our neighborhood playground for lunch this afternoon! 

Currently using.....? My laptop? Not a very exciting answer. 

Currently wearing....yoga pants and an old t-shirt. I'm babysitting today, I don't dress up for toddlers. ;) 

Currently planning....Everett's first birthday party, Emersyn's 4th birthday party (doing something small and fun for her and a few girlfriends), trying to find a way to visit my BFF once she moves all the way across the planet (okay, it's to Wisconsin but it seems far away)....I've got lots more planning going on too but I'll stop there before you get bored. 

Currently singing....Emersyn's favorite song right now on the radio..."all I know is I'm not home yet....this is not where I belo-ong...". Not sure the song name or artist. Love hearing her sing it though!

Currently needing...oh my, where to start? :) Need is a strong word, I don't have a lot of needs but quite a few wants. :) One thing I do need is a getaway with my man and we have one planned in three weeks (!!!!!!!). 

Currently learning....how to be more consistent at meal planning. We eat at home pretty much every night now. This is sort of a first for us. We used to be frequent Baja Fresh-ers. It's close and cheap and remotely  healthy. However, with two kids and a limited budget, we've had to find other things. I've gotten over my idea that dinner needs to be a grand three course event. Last night I made some chicken, shredded it and tossed a can of black beans into the skillet with it and some corn. Served it in a warmed tortilla with cheese, salsa and sour cream. It was ghetto but Brett and Ems both loved it! I ate some eggs, as I'm not eating white flour (tortillas) and it was a win win and Brett has been so happy coming home to dinner each night. :) Plus, with his short commute now, we're able to eat dinner and still enjoy some of our evening with the kids. Last night we went to the library after dinner and it was fun to get out together.

Currently listening to....OPB kids programming in the morning. 

Currently wishing....I had never bought fruit snacks because Ems asks about them. all. the. time. 

Currently doing....my blog post. :) 

Currently praying for....friends. Lots of friends with lots of needs. 

Currently dreaming of.....Disneyland with my kiddos. I think we're going to go next year for our 10 year anniversary. :) 

School!

Yesterday Brett started his college career and I am SO excited and proud of him. It's hard not to get caught up in the regrets of not pursuing a college education before we had our kids but regrets are a waste of time and energy. The good news is, our kids won't remember this stage of life, at least Everett won't anyways, and by the time they are old enough to really comprehend what is going on, Brett will be done with school. The next 4 or 5 years is going to go by anyways....we may as well have something to show for it. 

Last night we watched Cars 2 as a family right after dinner. We rented it from the library and it is due back today. After the movie, I took Ems to bed and Brett got started on school and he worked on it for three hours. It was a strange feeling for me. There have been many days and nights where I have been the one working on real estate stuff while Brett chilled and played video games or whatever. The tables have turned. I'm excited to make the most of this season in my life too. I am prepared to step it up and serve my husband better then ever by taking care of our kids and our home while he works and goes to school. I'm thankful for online classes so at least he can be home with me in a physical sense but I will miss our evenings together. It's such a small sacrifice though for a bigger and better future. And obviously we've already had our fair share of enjoyable evenings back when we were newlyweds and all our friends were working hard in college. 

I'm so proud of my husband for taking the steps to better our future and I'm going to take advantage of our quiet evenings but reading more and investing in myself as a woman, wife and mother. 

Please keep praying for our family as we make more and more decisions about what direction to take our future....lots of decisions on the horizon. God is good and His faithfulness never ceases to amaze me! 

Who needs money to have fun? ;)

 

On Friday afternoon I got an email from our good friends, asking if we wanted to do dinner and then let out kids play. Normally I'm not good at being very spontaneous due to having plans a lot of the time, but Friday evening was free and clear and so I said YES, let's do it! However, since the ol' budget has gotten rather slim, I suggested we do a picnic at the park instead. I made our dinner (can't go wrong with PB&J) and spent zero dollars! At the park we let our kids play until their hearts contentment and again, spent zero dollars. I'm so thankful to live in a city that invests in beautiful parks for families to enjoy.

 Sophia, Everett's future betrothed and Ems future bestie sister-in-law.

 

Normally Ems is not very brave when it comes to fountains but she's getting there. 

Such a fun night with friends! I loved getting to chat with Rachelle while our husbands spent quality time with our children. I'm looking forward to many more of these nights to come this summer!

A summer of INTENTION

See you in September KOK!! 

Today is Emersyn's *real* last day of school. She had her last day of preschool three weeks ago, had a week off, and then returned to the school for a two week long day camp. It was a great experience and she got to do a lot of fun things. It was, however, exhausting to get up every.single.day and get her ready to go. I miss our lazy mornings! 

I had originally signed up Emersyn for a VBS with one of her buddies that would start the week after next but I've decided not to send her. (I feel like I may have already blogged about this but am too lazy to go back and see if I indeed have so just skim this part if it's a repeat). I miss my girl! I miss our mornings together. I miss running errands with her. I miss having quality time with her when Everett takes his morning naps. There is going to come a day (sooner then I'd like) where she will be gone Monday through Friday from 8-3 or whatever, and I will miss the days of no school. I want to seize this time and make the most of it. Everett is growing up SO fast too and I know that before I know it, they will both be in school and I'll be living the life of the stay at home mom with kids in school, eating bon bons and watching TV. (That sounds accurate, right?) Ha ha. I kid, I kid. 

I saw a printable on Pinterest of Ecclesiastes 11:4 and it perked my interest....

Obviously, this isn't literally what the Bible says so I looked up the verse for myself. This is what it read....

"Whoever watches the wind will not plant, whoever looks at the clouds will not reap". Ecc 11:4. 

Ouch. 

I immediately thought of parenting when I saw this verse. I always think that for me to have time to invest in my children intentionally I need to have my entire house clean, laundry folded and put away, and an area set up with educational resources for my children where they can sit and learn, dressed to perfection, hair combed and styled. Oh and quick, let me get a quick picture of this beautiful moment so that my Facebook friends will see how put together I am and commend me for my amazing mothering skills. ;) However, if I wait for such conditions to occur, I will never get anything done in the lives of my children.

I've decided to commit Everett's nap time to Emersyn this summer. Normally this is a time where I drink my coffee, maybe read my Bible, write in my prayer journal, send an encouraging email to a friend, blog, clean, do laundry, etc. However, while I'm busy *doing* things, *watching* my daughter grow, I'm doing nothing to plant seeds in her that can grow while I'm busy doing things that inevitably have to get done, such as taking care of her baby brother. 

Emersyn is at such a sweet, vulnerable age and is my mini-me to the core. She yearns to do whatever I am doing, absorbs tremendous amounts of information and lights up when I take time to praise and affirm her. I am her biggest fan in life but what good is that if she doesn't know it and see it demonstrated by my actions. 

So this summer, I'll be unavailable between the hours of 10-11:30 to anyone except my girl. There's books to read, crafts to do, projects to start and finish, tea time to be had, prayers to be prayed, letters to be traced, scriptures to be memorized, giggling to occur, chores to be done (together), pictures to be taken, and tickling to endure. 

Parenting is so much more then hanging out with your kids. It requires being intentional with our time and actions. It means not getting to do all the things we want to do sometimes. But as with any good investment, it yields a great return in the future. :) 

School

I'm so excited for Brett! He is officially enrolled in school for the summer and his financial aid came through. It helps having two kids, that's for sure, when it comes to financial aid.

I've been thinking about going to school. I definitely want to have a {part time} career once my kids are in school full time and then I plan on working full time once they are grown and out of the house. I have been in real estate for 8 years and I love it *but* I wonder if I should pursue a career that is more consistent.

I love selling homes and helping friends, past clients, referrals, etc. The part I don't like and am not as good at is getting NEW business, knocking on doors, following up with FSBO leads, etc. I used to be great at this aspect of the business but I think having kids kind of killed that in me. My time has a new value that it once didn't have. Before kids, who cared if I spent 40 hours a week trying to generate business.  However, now that I have children to raise and arrange child care for, this becomes a new issue.

I have always been drawn to the medical field. I was in a program in high school that allowed me to intern in several different hospitals and I even got my CNA as a Senior. I loved many aspects of the career but ultimately wanted to work with kids. At the time, pediatric nursing was fairly competitive and I lacked the ambition and confidence to pursue the career.

Nursing is such a lucrative part time job and would work well with a family I think. But nursing schools are hard to get into.

It's just a big decision.

Ultimately I want to go to school for *something* though. I think education is important and I want to be a good example to my kids.

I'm praying that the Lord would put the desire in my heart for a career that glorifies Him and allows me to use my talents and abilities. The sky is the limit, right?

I'm also still praying for direction for Brett. He still doesn't have a clear idea of what he wants to do. Oh to be 18 and starting your college experience.....it's hard not to have regrets, even though our lives wouldn't have turned out the same had we gone down a different paths.

We'll see where this journey takes us!

Never a dull moment

Yesterday was a lovely day so we decided to take the kids to our favorite little lake to feed some ducks and let Everett enjoy his early birthday present from his Great Auntie and Uncle. 

I think he *might* like it.  

Look at that snooty attitude. He knows he's a cool kid. :)

Lots of {blonde} hair coming in! So much for my dark haired baby! :) 

After we played with Everett in his car, Emersyn and I decided to take a *run* around the lake and leave the boys. Upon returning I heard Brett make this yelp noise and then look in horror to the middle of the lake where is brown loafer was floating. Are you kidding me??? 

Apparently he tried to kick and piece of bread into the lake to the ducks and proceeded to launch his shoe.  

Trying not to laugh at Daddy.

My husband gracefully hobbled around the lake looking for a branch and was able to locate one. 

Slowly but surely he guided the shoe to a nearby shore. 

The rescued shoe. 

I've always told Emersyn to NEVER kick food into the lake because of this very reason. I didn't think to tell her Daddy the same thing. :) 

Needless to say, we had a fun evening that turned out to be much more entertaining then I anticipated. 

Miscellany Monday

{1}Ever since we got Netflix, I've enjoyed having a show of my own to watch. Brett and I watch most of our shows together and he has a few things that he likes to watch on his own but I don't usually. However, I've found a couple things on Netflix that I liked, such as "Drop Dead Diva" (the title is embarrassing but I loved the show!) and more recently "Ugly Betty". Brett and I actually watched Ugly Betty together back when it was current but then we lost that channel for a time and never got caught up again. I decided to get caught up again and watched the last two seasons and loved it. I was actually really sad when I finished it on Saturday night, waiting for Brett to get home from Seattle. It's sad when you really like a show and it ends....you're left wondering what happens to the characters even though they aren't real. Anyone else feel that way? Oh...and anyone else have some shows on Netflix to recommend? :)

{2} I have now lost 24lbs and am down two pant sizes, how cool is that? It's really fun to try things on and have them fit when I didn't think they would. Yay.

{3} I officially have a crawling baby boy. Emersyn is SO excited for him, it's too cute. She is his biggest fan I think, other then myself. Everett is almost 10 months old and I can't even talk about it. I try to channel my sadness about how quickly he's growing up into ideas for his birthday party. :)

{4} Everett has two teeth. At this same age, Emersyn had EIGHT! Ha! Her food choices were more expansive then Everett's at this point.

{5} Emersyn's room is still a work in progress. Brett is out spraying her bed as I speak. I bought the fabric for her dollhouse and her baby doll bedding. Slowly but surely. How do people find time to do anything other than the basics with a family?

{6} I dream of having a home with a good sized backyard and a pantry. Nothing fancy, just those two things. Here in Oregon we have this lovely thing called an urban growth boundary which makes it so the city can't spread out throughout the entire state which has it's pros and cons. Because of this UGB, lots are expensive and builders tend to build more houses on smaller spaces. As a result, we have a teeny tiny yard. We could have bought an older house with a larger lot but that's not what we picked, regrettably. Anyways, someday I'm excited for God to bless us with a yard big enough to play and entertain in.

{7} I'm obsessed with BBQ chicken salads. I copied the recipe from The Cheesecake Factory. Once we were eating it there and I decided that it was ridiculous to pay $15 for something I could recreate at home. And it's SO good!!!! Here's the recipe!

BBQ Chicken Salad Recipe

Boneless Chicken Breasts, 1 per person, Grilled with BBQ Sauce (we marinate the breasts overnight in a little olive oil and BBQ sauce)

Lettuce (I use a mixture of green leaf lettuce and iceberg)

Corn 

Black Beans

Jicama cut into small cubes

Cucumber

Red Onion

Fried Onions (the ones that go on top of green bean casseroles) to garnish on top

Diced Avocado

Tomatos

Use as little or as much of ingredients as you like, you can't go wrong!

Dressing:

equal parts BBQ Sauce & Ranch Dressing (we use Hidden Valley's Light Ranch)

Miscellany Monday

{1} We had a productive weekend in Emersyn's room. We picked out a paint color and Brett and his dad put the first coat on Saturday. Well, Sunday morning we woke up and it was a bit......bright. It looked GREAT on the paint swatch but a little bright in person. We kind of have a habit of doing this (see the green paint in the nursery). :) So we decided to lighten up the color a bit and after two coats of that, it's done and we LOVE it. More importantly, Emersyn LOVES it!

This week we are going to be painting her bed and I'm going to be assembling her doll house that was inspired by Pinterest. SO excited!

{2} Despite our current financial woes, it's amazing to see how the Lord is providing. One of the ways that He has provided is by having had us purchase things in advance. I had already paid for Emersyn's day camps before Brett got demoted so she can still go to them. We already bought most of the stuff for Emersyn's room (with the exception of a few things) and so we can put that together with almost no cost. We had bought a Groupon for a night away at the beach and we are going to need that this summer in a big way. Yay.

{3} My kids are on a great schedule. They take a nap at the same time every day TOGETHER and it's magical. When they are napping, I actually get excited for them to wake up because I miss them. I get so refreshed from my time alone and then enjoy the rest of the afternoon with them.

{4} On Saturday we had a fun women's event at my church and I got to sit with two of my favorite ladies.

{5} I found pics from when Ems was the same age as Everett. How on earth did I give birth to the two cutest babies ever??

Fill in the Blank Friday

These blanks were from last week but we were on the road so I'll play along this week!

1.  The best surprise ever would be,   a surprise vacation. With just my husband. Preferably to somewhere with sun and a pool. I think the best surprise I have ever received was when I casually asked my Aunt (a year ago) if I could stay at her house while I visited CA for Father's Day and she planned the most magical two days for us in Napa. I could cry every time I think about that trip......I felt so loved and special. I will treasure those memories forever.

2.    Both of my children's births (though not Everett's actual labor)   is my most favorite memory .

3.  The hardest, but most worthwhile thing I've ever done was     ha ha, speaking of Everett's labor! That actually might be one of the hardest things I've ever done. I can't really think of anything else.

4.  The best part of my day is   nap time, of course (hallelujah) and the evenings in the summer after dinner where we take walks or play as a family. 

5. Something I like that most people don't is       mushrooms? It seems like more people don't like mushrooms versus do like them.

6. Something I am willing to fight for is     healthy boundaries in any relationship, whether it be my marriage, with my parents, Brett's parents, etc.

7.  Something you might not know about me is   I have to plug my nose when I swim underwater. Lame, right?? :)