Delight

Turning one is so significant. It was only a year ago (a little over a year now) that I had never laid eyes on this precious gift.

Natalie's pregnancy was so long and difficult for me but I love looking at her and thinking, "you were worth every minute of it and I would do it all again, and then some."

I love the joy this baby expresses and experiences. I bought a rosebush in honor of Natalie and it is called "double delight". When I look at it's gorgeous, fragrant blooms I think of my baby and the word DELIGHT seems to fit perfectly. And of course - Double Delight because I have two to delight in :).

I took a couple of pictures a while back of her at the same place that we had Noelle's one year pictures taken. I just hadn't posted them. Here they are. Also, below are some of Noelle, just for fun.

Tea anyone?

Ryan is a tea lover. We buy loose leaf tea from Tea Gschwender online. The link is below if you want to check it out. We have loved their decaf chai! We like to make it at night, especially for company. Add a little cream and sugar, delicious.

Ryan usually likes to buy the fancy ones that taste very pungent and strong (like Assam Mokalbari and China Oolong Kwai Flower). I prefer a fruit flavored black tea (like Strawberry Cream).

Anyways, thought you all might like to check it out...
Guess I'm in the mood for sharing with these last two posts. It could be that I don't get out much and just want to share what I enjoy somehow :).


http://www.teamerchants.com/Catalog/Default.aspx


p.s. The Peachy Green Rooibush is really good. This red tea is high in antioxidants and caffeine free.

Jesus Revealed

There are continually messages that I hear at our church Rock Harbor that are encouraging and/or challenging. Often there is a lot of depth and theological insights. Last week the message was pretty simple but profound at the same time and really encouraged me. It seemed a good fit to pass on.
The focus was finding Jesus throughout the Old Testament. In doing, it really points towards God's love.
If you want to hear it, the link is below. If you have an ipod, download it and keep it handy for when you get a free moment (exercising, cleaning, waiting, etc.)

http://rockharbor.org/resources/messages/index.php?series=Jesus+Revealed

Enjoy.

Another favorite recipe...

This is simple and we really enjoy it.

Mom's Spanish Rice

· Cook 1 lb hamburger meat with 1 cup chopped onion until brown (in large skillet with lid)
ADD:
· 1 lb can tomatoes
· 1 ½ cups water
· ¾ cups uncooked rice
· ½ cup chili sauce (like Heinz brand, near the ketchup)
· 1 tsp salt
· 1 tsp brown sugar
· ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
· Dash pepper
COVER AND SIMMER 30-40 MINUTES.

We serve with garlic bread and maybe a salad! The girls eat this up.

Brazil

On the weekend his team (four of them) visited Ubatuba They had lunch right on the beach. I think he said they ate fried shrimp. ?

He ventured into this jungle...

He thought he was Tarzan.

He didn't have me holding him back from being adventurous...

Ryan spent 11 days in Brazil for work. His new position as part of the Lean Manufacturing Team involves some traveling. They are rounding all of the C&D facilities in the US and Abroad and providing a pretty intensive training. They then maintain contact and support with the facilities and continue to encourage growth and change in the area of lean manufacturing.

I am getting the question all the time, "What is Lean Manufacturing?" I don't think I'm explaining it well. So, I googled it. Here are the two definitions I came across that put it into more concise terms.

"Lean manufacturing or lean production, which is often known simply as "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Working from the perspective of the customer who consumes a product or service, "value" is defined as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. Basically, lean is centered around creating more value with less work. Lean manufacturing is a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System (TPS) (hence the term Toyotism is also prevalent) and identified as "Lean" only in the 1990s.[1] [2]. It is renowned for its focus on reduction of the original Toyota seven wastes in order to improve overall customer value, but there are varying perspectives on how this is best achieved. The steady growth of Toyota, from a small company to the world's largest automaker,[3] has focused attention on how it has achieved this." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing

Here, let's try again...

"A business philosophy and/or strategy that focuses on eliminating waste, which includes all steps or processes that do not add value to the final product or service. It is usually employed along with the concept of kaizen, or continuous improvement." www.windowanddoor.com/article/resource/industry-glossary

So, that's what it is. Some of you may have connected with that but I'm sure you can all imagine that their training process is not without obstacles and a lot of people just plain don't get it (I can see why). But this is very valuable to the company and they are already seeing some success and potential for success.

Being a Mom!

Here are a couple pictures from Mother's Day.

I have to say that I absolutely cherish the gift of being a mom. I feel so loved and supported by my husband and I adore my girls.

Being a mom is such an interesting journey. I am continuously humbled and streched in the process. I guess I had a secret hope that my kids would not be difficult and that somehow the stories you hear would just not apply to me.

Well, not so.

Ryan is in Brazil for work - 11 days. I'm struggling a little. We don't have much going on and Noelle has had some trying moments.

Today, we got out of the house - an exciting trip of dropping off library books and getting gas. I was hoping Natalie would fall asleep but she didn't and I knew I better go home and put her down (try again). So as we are driving down our street Noelle begins to cry and complain that she doesn't want to go home. At this point I feel like I can't take it anymore and then she says,

"I don't want to go home. It's dirty and I always step on food."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a low blow.

But in the end she's right and so I went home and swept the kitchen.

And yes, tonight after just finally getting them both to bed, I'm still incredibly thankful to be their mom.

My friend Amanda and I met up at the mall with our girls. The girls love to go to Rainforest Cafe! They were playing in the photo booth and Amanda started to get some money out to let the girls take pictures. I was thinking that it would be a waste of money and then Amanda said something about making a fun memory and she was so right. I love these pictures! Noelle loves looking at them and commenting on all of Audrey's faces. So cute.

Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup

While on the topic of what things my kids will eat or not eat - whenever I make this soup they both eat so much of it. Natalie is a really good eater so far but still picky when it comes to vegetables. Noelle is a little pickier and then has her allergies to milk and wheat so its a little more difficult. (We hope that by four she'll be able to eat them). But they love this soup and eat everything in it. I'm considering making it once a week :).

1 lb or more Stew Meat
1 can diced tomatoes
5 cups water
3 beef bouillon cubes (I substitute a box of broth and less water)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, sliced
3 celery ribs, sliced
3 carrots, sliced
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½ cups your choice of frozen vegetables (I usually add green beans and peas for sure and then whatever else I can find in my freezer).
1. Combine first 3 ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on High 6 hours.
3. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on High 2 hours or more, or until meat and vegetables are tender.

Super Smoothies!

Noelle has really started to love making and drinking smoothies with me. We have one of those hand blenders and a big plastic cup and we make them multiple times a week. My cousin Lindsay gave me some ideas of what to put inside them and it makes for such a healthy treat. I thought I'd share our ingredients to add to the ones you may use and would love any recommendations.

Smoothie:
Vanilla Soy Yogurt
Juice (usually Apple)
Tofu (a big chunk of soft)
Flax seed (approx. 1 Tbsp ground)
Frozen Spinach (approx. 2 Tbsp)
Frozen Strawberries (handful)
Banana (half)
We experiment with all sorts of different frozen fruits along with strawberries (peaches, mango, blueberries, etc.)
Honey (approx. 2 tsp)
We just started adding a little frozen Acai (too much is too sour).

You can't taste any of the healthy stuff and the tofu actually gives it a really great thickness. They taste so good!
I wasn't really ready for Natalie to start drinking them (they have so many things I hadn't tried with her yet) but she wanted that cup so bad. I put it in the middle of the coffe table one day so she couldn't reach it. I went out of the room only to come back and find her sitting in the middle of the table downing that smoothie as fast as possible. She had found a nearby object to climb up on. She quickly looked up to see that I saw her and tried to keep drinking as fast as she could. So she joins in the fun now too.
Like Lindsay, we use those cool cups from the Disney store and just put our own straws in them.

Birthday Girls

We partied...opened presents...played instruments (my dad got Noelle a drumset)...

Bap Bap and Natalie did "Ta das" (little flips)...

Noelle was thrilled with her new twirly skirts and showed them off...she has three on in the picture...

Noelle was in to her presents as you can see...

Wow, I can't believe that an entire year has gone by since Natalie was born. And of course I can't imagine life without her. She is such a joy! It is so funny to see how she toddles around the house with a big grin looking for fun. I love when she comes running for me and buries her head in my shoulder, kicking her legs. My favorite thing she says, is "Ohwell" (for Noelle and in a high voice mimicking me call for her).

And Noelle, now my big girl. She is such a sweetheart. It looks like we are finally getting potty training on a right track (we'll see). It seems as though being three brings some ups and downs emotionally for her as she tries to figure life out but it also brings new interests and new abilities. It is so fun to see her get excited about new things.

Here are some pictures from their birthday party at the park. We had a really great day. I always wish that I had more time with my adult guests at the end of the day. I guess that I need to accept that birthdays are for the kids or maybe brainstorm some new birthday party options, like my friend Carly talked about on her blog (Pray Family).

Thanks to all of you who came and celebrated with us!

Easter

Grandma Julie came down for Easter weekend. It was a great weekend. We really enjoyed time with Grandma and celebrating together. Julie, my mom and I went to Rock Harbor's Good Friday service and I am always so moved, reflecting on His death. Saturday Ryan and I celebrated my birthday by going to Glen Ivy Hot Springs- woo hoo!!!!! Sunday was great enjoying church and easter eggs. Noelle still only cares about finding an egg and quickly emptying it's contents into her mouth. Maybe next year she'll actually be interested in the "hunt". Natalie just walked around pointing, mimicking mommy.

Twirl

Noelle has entered the "twirling" phase. She wants to wear a skirt or dress "that twirls" everyday. Natalie has picked up on it and this morning she began to twirl when I put a dress on her but it was too big so I took it off and she cried. I put another one on and off she went. This video was from a few days ago.

My Loves!

I have really enjoyed having this new camera. We went down to the beach on a random Monday night when Ryan got home from work. The girls just love being outside and running around.


I know so little about photography or lighting but it sure seemed like we caught it at a good time. Little Nat is so photogenic. Noelle on the other hand can only bear to standstill and look at the camera for a quick second and then she's off. I'm sure Nat will be that way soon.

I feel as though I am coming out of the fog that is pregancy and newborns. Don't get me wrong it is an absolutely wonderful time of life but not a time that I feel fully present or myself. Lately, I have been really enjoying the girls and my husband. Thankful that seasons change and for this one right now. Also thankful that God uses every season for its purpose and for good.


I love my family.

HAPPY EASTER!

Road Racing World

I've been meaning to post this for months! My brother works for Road Racing World magazine and had a story written on him. Great pictures huh?! Click on picture to read article.

More Wedding Pictures!

Noelle and her cousin Brooke with extended family: Natalie and Abby. So cute!

Me, Lindsay and Sarah

My brother and Sarah

Married!

My Family