The Pumpkin Patch

Elizabeth's 1st visit to the Pumpkin Patch!


Josiah in full-cherub mode once again.



Isaac also in full-cherub mode.

Of course we couldn't get everyone to look at the camera at the same time.

Keith and Isaac did the corn maze together.

A desperate attempt to get a shot of all 3 kids.

With us this year were our dear friends from Michigan, Troy and Denise Bryant along with their four children: Caleb (9), Rachel (8), Sam (5), and Sarah (4). So, yes we had seven children in our house that weekend, but it was a blast!

Catch Up

I just want to say if you've never read one of Francine Rivers' books, you must! Even with three children, ages three and under, when I pick up one of her novels I cannot put it down. I finish her books within about three or four days. I just completed The Last Sin Eater-AWESOME! I am concurrently reading Mary Pride's Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling as well. However, Mary Pride's Complete Guide is over 600 pages long and, while I am interested in learning more about homeschooling, it's not exactly the type of nonfiction you can't put down.

Tonight I painted our foyer. It's so exhilarating to work on our house again, even if it's just a tiny entryway. I fear this fire will not be quenched until we paint every room in our house that hasn't been painted already.

Back to painting....

Bikes & Boof

Per Nana Drudy's request, here are some pics of the boys on their new bikes, and Elizabeth ,aka Boof, on her 10 month birthday.

The King of Cute reigns!

My biggest boy, Isaac, just couldn't be happier.

A Great Weekend

I know it's Tuesday, but I want to share about our awesome weekend.

Keith was off work Friday (which was awesome all by itself!), but I had to go out in the morning to buy some groceries for our picnic Saturday and buy a birthday gift for the boys' friend, Noah, who turned 5! I had a nice morning shopping with the boys. Naturally, when we were at Toys R Us the boys wanted everything! Before we checked out I took the boys over to the bikes and got a couple down for them to ride. They loved them! And they looked so adorable on them! But I wasn't going to buy them without Keith, so I put them back. Oh, you should've seen the puppy dog eyes! Isaac literally said to me, "You're not friendly with me, and you're mean because you take my bike and my toys away." I nearly dropped over dead. But we checked out and left. When we got home I told Keith about the bike drama, and he subtley (sp? is that even a word?) hinted he was going to buy the bikes when he went out to get his haircut.

We had lunch and a normal afternoon, the kids and I. Keith did go out for a haircut. While Josiah and Elizabeth were still napping, he came back, with the bikes! They had to be assembled, of course, but Isaac was thrilled to assist! It was such a joy to see him so excited about his new bike, and his Lightning McQueen helmet, too! I got the cameras out, and after a couple still shots of him standing next to his bike with his enormous helmet on, I switched to the movie camera to capture his first bike ride. Only thing is, we were in the driveway, which is slightly downhill. Isaac hadn't figured out the brakes yet, and started heading right for the street. Thankfully, I was standing at the end of the driveway, but I had to grab the bike to stop him for careening out into the street. When I did this, Isaac flipped over the handlebars, and landed face first in the grass. Thank God it was the grass! Funny thing is I caught most of it on video. Incidentally, however, Isaac did not want to get back on the bike. The whole things was more hilarious than anything. He took a little break while Keith assembled Josiah's bike.

So Keith got Josiah's bike put together, Josiah & Elizabeth woke up from their naps, Isaac got over his apprehension, and the boys rode their bikes for the rest of the evening! (With a brief intermission for dinner.) It was such a joy and a delight to watch them ride their bikes for the first time!

Friday nights have also become movie nights for Keith and me. We relaxed on the couch with a bottle of Chianti and watched part 1 of The Return of the King. We've been watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so we just have part 2 to go and we're all done with that. It's been years since I've watched them, and they are my all time favorite. I might even like them better than Gone With the Wind.

Saturday we had a family reunion picnic in South Park. The weather was fabulous, and there was a nice playground for the kids there. There's also a Game Reserve in South Park we took the kids too. One of the best parts was that Isaac met his cousin, Ping, who lives in Vienna, VA. They're about the same age, within a year. They were both bashful at first, but it didn't take long for them to warm up to one another. They were pals for the rest of the day!

On Sunday after church I took the boys to our friend Noah's 5th birthday party. After lots of playtime in the hot sun, and lots of sugar, our wonderful weekend had come to an end.

Spending lots of time with family and friends is one of my favorite things to do. I especially love with Keith and I just spend entire days at home playing with the kids.

Yesterday

Beginning this summer Keith has had every other Friday off. The 9-hr workdays really aren't that rough. It's been great! Yesterday Keith was off, so I scheduled the whole family for a sitting at JCPenney Portraits. We've had great luck with them in the past and Isaac was overdue for his 3-year picture, Josiah for his 2-year, and Elizabeth for her 9-month. In addition, we'd always talked about getting a family shot. Penney's advertised a "Road Rebel" background which included a toddler-size Harley Davidson motorcycle for a prop. I thought this would be a great way to draw Isaac and Josiah out and help them cooperate with the photographer.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. Our appointment was for 11:20am. The morning went great! Everyone was freshly bathed, fingernails clipped, teeth brushed. I woke up before everyone to wash and straighten my hair. We arrived at 11, plenty of time for the kids to get adjusted to the environment, only to find out that someone hadn't shown up for work at the studio and there was only 1 photographer running the whole show. She was already an hour behind.

Come hell or high water, we were getting our pictures taken! My good friend Jess' father is a photographer. I called him up and asked him if he could photograph us in an hour. It just so happened he was home alone and available! What a save! We went to the foodcourt for lunch because I had promised the boys pretzel-dogs from Auntie Anne's. Keith and I got Subway and we took off for Mr. Fesz' house.

The pictures were taken outdoors. The kids know Mr. Fesz so there was no timidity to overcome. If only Josiah were more cooperative! He's just at that 2-year-old defiance age. Oh well. I'm sure we got at least 1 good family shot, 1 of just Keith and I, and maybe one of Elizabeth. He'll have the proofs for me next week I think.

The Fesz household is in the same neighborhood as my parents, so naturally the kids wanted to go to Pappy-Ga's as soon as we got in the van. I love my parents dearly, but they don't do the heat very well so I knew all the kids would do was watch TV all afternoon. I convinced Keith it was best to keep the kids with us and just go home for nap time. That's just what we did.

It turned out to be a great afternoon. Isaac helped Keith cut the grass with his little toy lawnmower. I harvested a few tomatoes and several jalapenos from my garden. I also made some phone calls that I had been wanting to make for some time to a couple ladies from my moms group (more on that later). I finished reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, though I didn't enter it on my reading list yet. Because I skipped the chapters that didn't pertain to my children I will make my next reading list entry plural and enter it then.

When Keith was all finished with his yardwork, he made dinner! What a man! The menu included delicious grilled pork chops, toasted pine nut couscous, green beans, and corn on the cob. After dinner was cleaned up I took all the kids outside for about an hour of playtime before bed (everyone woke up very early-you know, for the portrait sitting-so I planned a slightly earlier bedtime).

After the kids were in bed my parents came over with my nephew, Damian. Keith and I played 500 bid (don't know the official name of it, but it's a card game...I think it's a lot like Euchre?) with my parents, dipped a freshly baked beer bread into a garlic infused dipping oil with fresh basil, and drank a very nice Pinotage. Damian was watching Mr. Mom on DVD in the family room. We got rid of cable two weeks ago, and to be honest, I hardly notice it's gone!

So after a frustrating morning, where all my best laid plans were laid to waste, it turned out to be a most enjoyable family day at home.

Sidenote...obviously it's tough for Keith and I to go out on many dates. What we've been doing lately is just making more of our Friday nights movie nights after the kids go to bed. We usually drink some wine and eat some kind of snack. My favorite is tortilla chips with bean dip. Having game nights are another great way to have some fun at home. Last night we waited until after the kids went to bed, but one time we invited a couple friends over who have kids and had our own little game evening while our kids played together.

About my moms group...I decided I'm not returning this fall. After much prayer and discussing it with Keith I decided that I need to simplify for a season. In addition, with Isaac being 3 1/2 years old and my intending to homeschool, if I'm involved in any kind of support group I believe I should be looking for a homeschool support group at this point in time. It was tough to get everyone ready and out the door for 10am moms group, and towards the end of the year last year people just stopped showing up. So yesterday I called the leader of the group and the friend who invited me to join the group to let them know I would not be returning. It was a blessing overall for the couple of years I was involved, but it's time to move on.

Lastly I'm going to share a yummy vegetarian recipe I made for the second time last week. It's called Quinoa and Two Bean Salad. Last week I served it with BLT wraps (simple & quick). I served once before with grilled chicken. It's a great sidedish. It's not an original recipe. I found it on www.bestlife.com Quinoa is an excellent source of protein for vegetarians and vegans as it is a plant source of all the essential amino acids. The recipe calls for serving the salad chilled, but I serve it almost immediately when cooked. When I eat the leftovers, I just warm them up to room temp.

Quinoa and Two Bean Salad

Salad Ingredients
1 1/2 cups frozen cut green beans
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed, well-drained (the brand I used was already rinsed & ready to use)
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
4 medium green onions, sliced

Dressing Ingredients
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 to 5 drops red pepper sauce

Directions
1. In 2-quart saucepan, stir together green beans, water and quinoa. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer 12 to 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes.
2. In medium bowl, mixed cooked quinoa mixture, cannellini beans and onions. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled. (I didn't refrigerate mine. I dressed it and served it immediately).
3. Meanwhile, in small jar with tight-fitting lid, place dressing ingredients; shake well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (Again, I just dressed the salad and served it. No chilling for me.)
4. Just before serving, pour dressing over salad; toss gently to coat.

Notes:
Uncooked quinoa has a bitter coating and therefore must be rinsed and drained thoroughly before cooking it.
Serve with 3 ounces of cooked fish, skinless poultry, lean meat or tofu and a piece of whole grain bread.

Servings: 6, 1-cup servings

Enjoy!

Book #14: Nutrition Therapy: Advanced Counseling Skills

I'm finally done with continuing education courses until May of next year, when my next five year cycle begins and I have to get 75 new credits. This one was excellent. I only wish I had done it about 7 years ago when I first began my job at West Penn Bariatric Surgery Center counseling morbidly obese patients.

I'm wondering if my fellow blogger at Bent Over Bookwards had her baby yet? Haven't heard from her in a while.

Elizabeth is not only crawling, but pulling herself up to standing and saying "mum-mum-mum" all day long. I did have to give her a manicure today though because she keeps clawing off my flesh every time I nurse her. Yes, she is still nursing at 9 1/2 months. There's no point in stopping now, even though at times it's quite clear she's losing interest. I am NOT going to buy formula for 2 months. We're just going to stick with breastfeeding for the first 11 months at least and then go straight to milk. Still working on the sippy cup.

Isaac is still doing pretty great with letter recognition and letter sounds. He loves when I give him little chores to do too like feeding Maggie, or letting her inside after going potty. Speaking of potty, I'm trying to get Isaac to use the big potty for #2 now. He still uses the Elmo potty for it, so from now on he only gets a mint if he poops on the big potty. He also likes to dress and undress himself now. We just have to work on buttons. Those are tough!

Josiah's newest thing is getting rid of the sippy cup. I also let him put his own chapstick on after brushing his teeth tonight. I've tried putting him in underwear, but he just wets himself and has no idea what he's done so I'm not sure if this is the best time for potty training, even though it would be awesome to only have 1 kid in diapers by the end of the year! I'll try again. Besides reading to him and teaching him songs, I can't think of anything else to teach him right now. He's very good with his colors. We can always use more work on shapes. Is he ready for numbers and letters? I do some simple sign language with the boys that they pick up on right away, but is there anything else I can do with him right now?

Now that I got that self-study course done I'm looking forward to the final novella in Francine Rivers Lineage of Grace. After that, I don't know what! I'm anxious to read something about homeschooling, but I may want to stay in the fiction realm for a while.

Quick Update

Elizabeth is growing by leaps and bounds. She now has 4 teeth, and has 2 more coming in. She is crawling and sitting up on her own. She is also becoming more and more verbal. I'm trying to teach her to say "mum-mum-mum" but it comes out more like "va-va-va."

Isaac is taking swimming lessons at the Y, and just enjoying the hot summer days outside. Josiah got a little baby swimming pool for his 2nd birthday, which he's still not too sure about. Isaac loves it, though. Isaac also loves playing with the hose and playing in his jungle gym.

Josiah is also rapidly developing from a toddler to a little boy. His speech is getting so much better, we don't need the Jozo-to-English dictionary so much anymore. Still the king of cute, he has learned to peddle a tricycle so far this summer. He, too, loves spending these hot summer days outside.

All 3 kids still love books. In fact, we're participating in the Summer Reading Program at the Plum Library this summer, though I bet I'm the only OCD mom out there who's actually logging her 2 and 3-year-olds' books in the computer. The boys know their colors very well, but we're always working on shapes. Squares must be the hardest shape to learn, for some reason. Isaac is also learning letter recognition and letter sounds.

From Baby Einstein and Kindermusik to Third Day and the Newsboys, music is a biggie in our house, too. They have lots of little instruments like rhythm sticks, tambourine, shakers, bells, and recorders. We're going to be getting my mother's piano soon as well, just not sure where to put it yet.

I planted a vegetable garden this year. I also spread 2 yards of mushroom manure around the yard and planted some pachysandra on the side of the house. I LOVE gardening, and I've been waiting 2 years to be not-pregnant and able to do some yard work.

Signing up for Sewing 101 at Joanne Fabrics on 7/10.

Family vacation to Mackinac Island coming up soon.

Gotta go. Can't turn my attention away from my kids for a minute.