My mini skirt days are gone...

I am thirty. Does that mean it's time to start shopping the anti-aging aisle? It was a good birthday week. We had our young adult Christmas potluck on Wednesday. One of a meals was the amazing stir-fry and there was rice made with a rice maker. Marc was all over that and the joke of the night was that he was going to get me a rice maker for my birthday. (Forshadowing).

Thursday, as you know, I had a little surprise party which was a lot of fun. Friday was a crazy day. We hit the gym in the morning so the boys could play and run a bit. Then we hit the grocery store after that (I was really pushing lunch and naptime by now). By the times the boys got up from naps, it was time for our sitter to come over and we headed to a Christmas dinner with our original Bible Study small group from our old church. I really had a lot of fun.

Then Saturday was my actual birthday. We got up and I got to open a few gifts. And what was the first gift I opened?! Yep - a rice maker. My hubby, the jokster. He also got me a pair jeans and a black sweater that he bought on sale and both fit me perfectly. Dream man or what?! And I got a Bigby (Beaner's) gift card. I LOVE that place! We pretty much just hung out most the day. Marc canceled our cable (that's right, guys, no basketball, football, ESPN, local channels, nothing), so Marc and Andrew built a fort in the afternoon, while AJ napped (check out how we found AJ napping.)

That evening, our sitter came over once again (3rd time this week) and watched the boys and the Dresslers and us went out to dinner and coffee (I did have that gift card), before coming home to put the boys down and play some cards while eating birthday cake. Not a bad day if you ask me.

Today, despite the snow, we made it to church, took long afternoon naps, and had a nice leftover roast dinner. Marc is currently over at a buddy's house (just 'cause WE don't have TV doesn't mean he can't watch it somewhere else.) I made some Spritz cookies (without swearing) and some peanut butter fudge. I may not be in the full Christmas spirit, but the baking bug got me hard.

I'm off to clean up my mess in the kitchen (and sample the fudge) before heading to bed.

Added - I just went back and proofed my post and have to add that I am so blessed! It's been a great thirty years!

It's DeLovely...

Have you seen that Kohl's commercial? "It's Delightful, It's Delicious, It's DeLovely"? It's a catchy little tune that I get caught in my head.

So, what is DeLovely? How God showed up in a BIG way with Marc's job today. Praise Him!

My day today...

I was planning on running errands today, Noah ended up coming over, which is fine. His poor pregnant mama was contracting at a mere 26 weeks. So we stayed home, played, danced to the veggie dance song from Sesame Street a dozen or so times, and I made Christmas cookies. And with three little ones under foot, it took me all day to make them. Andrew helped me decorate them.Man, cutout cookies are time consuming. At one point, Andrew was with me and the little boys were just a little too quiet for comfort. So I tracked them down, only to find them up in the boy's room quietly sitting reading books.

Then, Marc came down stairs after coming home from work and announced that tonight is "Family Fun Night", but he wouldn't tell us what. So we got the boys ready and left as soon as Noah was picked up. He ended up telling me we were just heading to the mall to let the boys play, but first he needed to stop by the Sischo's to drop off something. (I started to get a little suspicious here). And sure enough... the Sischo's and Marc had planned a little impromptu surprise party for me. I turn the big 30 on Saturday.

They even ordered me a special pepperoni and pineapple pizza - my favorite!

Boys' Favorite: Baked Oatmeal Recipe

Baked oatmeal is one my boys' favorite foods. And well, since it's so healthy - I try to keep it around. It's great all by itself. Or with a little milk over it. Sometimes we put a little peanut butter or syrup or both over it. And sometimes, we make it a 'special treat' and top it with vanilla ice cream and some chocolate syrup. It goes fast in this house.



So tonight, the boys are in bed, Marc is playing some pickup ball and I am having some nice quiet time. However, I thought I would make some baked oatmeal, since it's been like two weeks since we've had any and I keep getting requests. It's one of those recipes that I could probably make in my sleep, the kind that just kinda become part of the family, if you know what I mean. Or you just think I am crazy right now. Anyway, this blog is about preserving memories and well, this recipe is one I want to remember. So I am posting for me and for you, if you are interested.

Baked Oatmeal.

• 6 C. oatmeal - I use quick,not instant. I will also substitute in about .5 cup wheat germ.
• 1.5 C. brown sugar
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• .5 C. unsweetened applesauce
• 4 eggs
• 2 C. milk
• raisins and cinnamon (opt.) - I do a few dashes of cinnamon, no raisins.

1. Preheat oven to 350, grease 9x13 pan (I usually foil line mine first and spray that)
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Mix wet ingredients
4. Mix all together and pour in pan.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.

This can keep in the fridge for a week. However, I usually let cool, then lift the oatmeal out of pan. Cut into 24 squares, flash freeze individually on cookie sheet, then throw in a freezer Ziploc. I can then just pull out how many I need and nuke for a few seconds.

Guess what we're having for breakfast tomorrow.

My Man.

I have an amazing hubby and I praise God for him.

BzzAgent

Ok, so I am now a BzzAgent. Which is a word of mouth company. I don't get paid, but I get to try products for free and tell people what I think. I do not sell the products at all. Anyway, I just started this and they sent me the Phillips Sonicare Sanitizer for free ($50). I am just supposed to try it out, tell people what I honestly think and report back. The better I report back and more campaigns (free stuff) I get to try.

Anyway, so I got this thing in the mail a few days ago and just got around the setting it up last night. And I guess my initial thoughts on it would be that if it really does what it says it does, then great. But, how do I know it's doing that it says it's doing? It is supposed to sanitize our toothbrush heads. And, at this point, I have no reason, I guess, to believe that it isn't doing just that. What do you think? I guess the sanitation level of my toothbrush was never a real concern of mine before. I guess there is all kinds of grodiness that can live there - next to the toilet and trash can... I just never bothered with bothering myself with it before. What's your take? Is a free standing product that takes up space (minimal space) on your bathroom counter worth it, if your toothbrush is sanitized.

Ok, I guess that is not to much of an opinion on the product, just thoughts, per se. I've only used it the one time - so maybe I'll form a stronger opinion of it later. By the way, if anyone is really interested in the Sanitizer, let me know in the comments. They did send me some pretty good coupons I can pass along.

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength

All of You is more than enough for
all of me For every thirst and
every need You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You're my supply
My breath of life
still more awesome than I know
You're my reward
Worth living for
still more awesome than I know

You’re my sacrifice
Of greatest price
and still more awesome than I know
You’re my coming King
You're my everything
and still more awesome than I know

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me
More than all I know
More than all I can say
You are more than enough for me

------Chris Tomlin

It's beginning to look a lot like.... well, you know.

We are well into December and I have just not been in the Christmas spirit. I can't say that I've been in a scroogie mood either, just not feeling Christmas-y. We did have a naked tree up, but that was it, and that was all that was going to be. Marc and I just didn't feel like bothering with more.

But tonight, we decided to 'just do it'. Whether we feel like it or not. And though I still may not be singing Deck the Hall through the house, I am glad we did. Marc even put the village up. We have lights in our windows. Stockings are hung. And Andrew even decorated our tree with ornaments. Of course, after he went to bed, I needed to 'adjust' the ornaments a bit. I found quite a few twigs with 4 ornaments crammed on it. And everything was on the bottom two feet of the tree. But it kept him busy and out from under foot and, most importantly, stiffled the endless, never ending, non-stop questions every 6 seconds.

Not a whole lot else has been going on. I am still under the weather (we all kinda are) and feeling kinda crummy... so I'll just blame my mood on that. We've just been around the house, Bible Study on Tuesday, gym on Friday, watching Noah. We had some friends over last night for dinner and cards. Tomorrow, we are praying that we remain healthy through the night and we will make it to church. It seems like it's been a while.

Man, what a downer post this it turning out to be. Here is a picture of the three boys watching CARS.

Snow Play

Well, I am trying to think of something to write about since it's been a while, however, not much as been going on. In fact, we had Bible Study this morning and when I had to fetch the boys shoes from way in the back of the closet, it dawned on me, that we haven't even left the house in the about a week.

We've all been under the weather a bit, plus I watched Noah a couple days and it's always harder to go out with three kids, plus we were sharing a car, plus it's just been snowy/slippery out. Those combined meant, we just stayed home. We do have our Christmas tree up. It is a fairly naked Christmas tree with just lights and garland, but it is pretty anyway. In fact, we may just leave it that way this year... might just save some headaches with two, sometimes three, little boys running around.

The boys have been able to get outside a bit. You know how it goes... takes 20 minutes to dress them and 10 minutes to undress them and they stay outside for 15 minutes, total. But it was good 15 minutes. The fresh air was good for them and they were rewarded with some hot (lukewarm) chocolate.

Noah wouldn't leave his mittens on, but would get sad when his fingers got snowy.
Andrew could have stayed out all day if I let him.

Poor AJ was the boy from "Christmas Story", he was so bundled up, he could hardly move.

Oh! And big news!! Yesterday, for the first time, Andrew took a nap in his undies (his request) and stayed dry. He is totally potty trained except for when he is sleeping - so this is a big step. He is napping right now, so we'll see how it goes.

I totally feel like I am all over the board with these random thoughts. I should get back to work. I am finally tackling the job of going through all the boys clothes and weeding out what fits, what doesn't, what they don't wear, etc... Fun Fun.

We've dealt with this before... but never with this kid.

Last night, Marc invited the guys from our Young Adult Bible study over for the evening. Nothing special was planned, just pizza and hanging out. I was planning on heading to some friend's house with the boys to spend the night. That way, the boys could run and we would be out of the guy's hair so they could watch movies, play video games, etc...

However, I am still not feeling super. Not terrible, but not fabulous. I have a little more voice (although it sounds like a male smoker's voice), but now I have this cough. Again, not terrible. It's worse at night - so I just wanted to sleep at home. Anyway, long story short, we stayed home. And I am so thankful we did.

The evening went well. Marc and the guys seemed to have a nice time. We put the boys downstairs with the CARS movie until bedtime and they went down without a hitch. I went to bed later than evening as the guys were putting in a movie. Around 12:30 am, AJ woke up crying. This is not completely unusual, sometimes he needs a quick snuggle and he goes back down fine. I got up with him to find out that he was sick. Sick-sick. Burning up and covered in puke. I call Marc and into the shower he goes. (AJ did NOT like this at all).

And well, that scenario, occurred four more times throughout the night. A lot of clothes changes (for AJ and me), a lot of sheets and towel laundry in the middle of night. I kept thinking that I was SO thankful that I was not at someone else's house without Marc.

Eventually, AJ did go back to sleep for the night… in our bed with me (poor Marc got the couch). We were out of clean crib sheets and really didn't want him sleeping alone either, since he seemed to choke every time he got sick. However, every time he moved or coughed, I was up ready to 'catch'. So it was a long night.

But we are up now and you would never know he was sick. He did sleep in this morning, and he's been running around, eating, drinking even provided us with a nice stinky diaper (which I didn't think was possible after last night). So, hopefully something just wasn't sitting well with him and he's fine now.

So, now that you know more about my child's night that you ever wished to know. Wish us a nice napful day and I wish you one as well.