Funk

So I've been in kinda a funk lately. I was telling my friend today, who clearly caught me in the middle of my funk, that I feel kinda blah. And this "blahness" has been most evident in my marriage and interactions with Ritchey. Our evenings are spent, what do you wanna do, I dunno, what do you wanna do, more t.v.? Which then end with us having a random conversation then both going off in opposite directions to do our own thing on our own computers in sep. rooms. Anyhoo, you don't want to hear about my marital woes, and really this isn't the place to talk about them, right babe?. And it is just a phase really, all of us go thru those blah weeks. But the scary thing is that sometimes these phases stretch on and on, and sadly can even end a marriage after so much junk gets built up. So I had a good talk with my friend today, and agreed that I would at least talk with Ritchey about this funk I'm in and my concerns, and was this all really in my head. A part of me didn't want to have one of these chit chats, or heart to hearts, cuz do they really solve anything in the end? Well, the answer is yes. Ritch didn't provide any earth shattering perspectives or answers. He admitted his general  fatigue with the energy level of our boys these days. And also told me that I was probably reading too much into the blah and really sometimes our own emotions are our worse enemy, more so than the actual circumstances. But most of all, we kept a short account tonight. I told him I am frustrated and in a funk and can't figure out how to get myself or us out of it, and we talked thru things. We didn't solve anything, but at least we took the time out to deal with it, get it out in the open, and have a nice discussion which then led to more nice discussions and family decisions. And so now I'm not listening to that aweful nagging voice inside my head that points out my faults, his faults and all the annoying things. So here is to not letting things, even the small things go on to bother you for too long, and for not numbing the situation or annoyance with t.v and computer! oh wait, i'm blogging

A little dinner trick I learned along the way.

So I am pretty much not a great cook. I can cook any recipe you give me, and probably cook it well and have all 5 aspects of dinner all timed perfectly and done in the exact minute. But I am not good at making up new recipes, about making fancy adjustments, other than leaving out things I don't like or adding more Tony's or salt and pepper. So really, anytime I post anything about food, it is merely to help those like me, who have to feed their families, fast, easy, cheap, and in my case with basic ordinary ingredients. Tonight I did one of my tricks I learned along the way. It is called in very fancy restaraunts as "pounding the chicken to death." Well, maybe not, but it should be. Some of you may be way smarter than me and have done this for years, but I've only been doing it the last 6 mo or so. And basically all I am doing is taking my fresh chicken breasts that are normally crazy thick and ginormous and well, pounding them to death. I think there is another term for it, chime in if you know it. But tonight I took 3 hugely thick chicken breasts and turned them into 6 nice and thin, edible to chicken cutlets thats probably not the right word. Let me tell you why this trick is great, and why I am so glad I broke down and bought the cheapest meat cleaver I could find. One, when I buy my chicken in bulk, I divy them up into dinner portion freezer bags. But before I do this I put the chicken breasts between plastic wrap on a cutting board and hammer away till they are nice and thin. My kids, and myself, hate biting into a huge chunk of chewy white meat, so this makes the breasts nice and thin. The upside to this is they thaw faster, they cook faster, and they are chewed up faster, oh and somehow 3 breasts turn into 6 which stretches the meat budget and shrinks the waistline. Tonight we had black bean chicken, which is basically spiced up chicken breasts, baked in the oven, then the last fifteen minutes I dump black beans and mont. jack or pepperjack cheese on top. Very yummy, especially with a dollop of sour cream, maybe a squeeze of lime or cilantro garnish. But not tonight, tonight you can clearly tell which of these portions belong to my picky boys. Happy cooking to all 8 people who read this blog :)

Pardon the ugly pictures and the picture placement, I can't figure out this stupid thing!

random Saturday

Ok, just some random things, because my eyes are almost shut. Sophie woke up with a nightmare at 4:30, then up for good at 6:15. But its been a while since I blogged so here ya go.

I had a great meeting yesterday with my new bff at the VOA (my new wonderful volunteer gig). We could have met for hours brainstorming and planning and getting to know each other. She kept saying, I hope you don't think I"m crazy. I just met you and somehow have convinced you to undertake a major project with me. But I told her, yes the situation is kinda crazy, but when God is at work behind things, it can begin to look a little crazy from this view. We are at the very baby stages of planning a parenting program for young and needy moms in the area. I love Crisis Pregnancy Centers and they have a great parenting program that we will look at. But as Kirstie and I worked together it was like harmony, our gifts complimented each other so well. She an idealist with lots of ideas floating around, me a realist who knows how to put passions onto paper and plot the way. So all this to say, I am still so excited about this opportunity. I have no idea when I am going to have time to actually work on the things I need to do for that i mean of course right now while I'm napping and blogging would not at all work but it'll get done.

I've been cooking new recipes lately, unfortunately to no avail. I tried Pioneer womans beef and bean burritos, but the magic sauce she uses, wasn't so magic, and well, it was just a barely glorified soft taco. Then I tried this garlic, spinach, ricatta pizza. It wasn't so good either. Plus I burnt one of the crusts. And I think I have finally gotten the hint that ordering pizza, especially when it is Little Caesar's $5 pizza, is just so much easier, actually cheaper, and because I'm a not so good cook, yummier. But, alas, last night I finallly did something right. It was an ice cream, I dunno, loaf. That sounds attractive. Anyhoo, softened ice cream layer in a loaf pan, then a layer of reeses cups, then the rest of the ice cream, then broken pretzels on top. It was crazy good, but looked a little white trash with the pretzels on top. But my friend was so impressed with my culinary skills. Ice cream pies always impress but little does she know all I did was scoop ice cream and a couple other things into another pan. But last nights was like having a yummy blizzard, and good thing, there is half a loaf left to get me through the weekend.

And finally, my husband and I just spent the last 15 minutes strolling down memory lane. It started cuz Cooper asked me about college days. Ritchey and I were talking about the first time we met, first time he met some of his other good friends, and how all those crazy college years are another example of God fitting pieces together. Then we realized that was 14 years ago! Wow crazy. What went from me bumming rides off one of the few people I sorta knew with a car, and having group lunches in the dining hall, here we are 3 kids later knowing now the full extent of how weird we both are, but still laughing all the way. Anyhoo, not that you care about any of that. But it was  fun trip down memory lane, and it kinda rekindles my love for this goofball husband of mine. So go for it, pick a random thing from your past, and think about it about it for a while, and figure out how God fast fwded time to to get you here.

Oh one more thing, I mowed our massive yard today. Normally that is Ritchey's job, but the thought of being couped up in the house for the 2 hours it takes him, didn't sound fun, and I needed the exercise big time since I didn't make it to the gym yesterday and thanks to the ice cream loaf. So I literally jogged behind the lawn mower. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy or an over achiever, but it was nice, and I finished in 1/2 the time, and was left alone, outdoors with my thoughts for a while.

Well thats it. Thanks for listening to my random Saturday musings, I will now nod off or go get a slice of my ice cream loaf.

Puzzle Pieces Fitting Together

Can I tell you how excited I am. Can I tell you what a masterful weaver God is in placing all the pieces together, even in lives that connect in no way, except at that God ordained minute!. Ok, ok, let me back up.

So I mentioned that I was interviewing different agencies to find a great fit for me to get back out into the world and do some good although I think the most good I can ever do is to raise wonderful godly future citizens btw! My search brought me to VOA- a catch all agency that does about everything. I had a great meeting with the director as she rattled off all the things I could do for them. We were going to meet this week with another person that was actually over the areas I was interested in. One of them being the work they do with parents, classes, mentoring and nurturing young moms. But then I got an email from her saying why don't I go ahead and meet with Kirsty who is over pregnancy and adoptions services. She noted that Kirsty was really short handed and could maybe use the help. I was fine with all this, afterall this was my prior work experience, but I had the feeling it would be a lot of the same that I had already done, I was looking for something new, and I was looking more along the lines of behind the scenes, strategic planning, admin, project management kinda stuff, cuz crazy as I am I love that kind of stuff and am fairly gifted at it, thanks to my event planning neurotic mother (hi mom). Anyhoo, so I obliged this director and met with Kirsti despite thinking I wanted to go another route. Little did I know that Kirsti, had been praying for this need, and well for me, for months now, and as she kept saying during our time, I must have dropped from heaven. Clearly the first obvious cool thing is that she is a Chrisitian, and she is young, and pregnant with her first, yay a new friend for me.

Ok, I'll skip to the point then show you all the behind the scenes stuff God did. So most girls these days are not choosing adoption but are choosing to parent. And she feels there is a huge gap in their services for those who decide to parent. These young women need parenting classes, mentoring, resources, encouragement and baby supplies. But Kirsti is the only worker for all of their pregnancy counseling, adoption work, training, foster work, for all of Central LA. She has passion for this need but does not have the time nor the gifts to take her ideas and make them a reality. She needs someone who is great at thinking big picture, planning, researching, teaching and one knowledgeable in parenting, uhhh, hello me! She asked her boss for part-time help but the funds weren't there so she started praying. Both she and I had chills as she spoke (and teared up) and I acknowledged over and over again that what she was describing was exactly what I was looking for. It is behind the scenes, from home, couple hours with her working, all in an area I have come to realize I am extremely passionate about.
Can I share about this passion for a moment, I know I'm going long, I promise not to blog anymore today, or even tomorow. My husband's passion in life is to help others reach their passions and it drives him crazy that I don't have any hobbies, desires, passions. But it has dawned on me in the last week and during my meeting with Kirsti today, that I have a passion for moms. If any of you close to me have had a baby, I'm sure you've gotten more advice and emails from me than you have ever wanted. I have read tons of parenting books and have filtered thru the crap and the really good stuff. I am a self-proclaimed parenting expert! whether it works or not, who knows. And as Kirsty was talking today I remembered a time back in college that a woman came and spoke to a social work class of mine about her church reaching out to young moms and holding parenting classes. I thought then, wow, I would love to do that someday. And I also spent time at a Crisis Pregnancy Center back then, and loved the work they did with the women who decided to parent. I had forgotten about all of those seeds.  Fast forward 12 years and 3 kids later, just last year as I was having to go thru this gifting/passions test at our church they asked an interesting question to probe at what I may be passionate about. "What makes you angry in this world". Well the only thing I could think of was when you're at Walmart and you see moms yelling at, hitting or berating their kids, I hurt for those children. But I also know this is the only thing these parents probably know to do. So there was that seed planted of what God may do with me someday. So all this to say, Ritchey get ready, I am passionate about children being raised in good homes and equipping those mothers who are overwhelmed, uneducated, and have been modeled very poor parenting skills. And today as I sat in her office, it all came back to me. And she sat there describing to me exactly what she needed, what her gifts were and were not, my jaw kept dropping, because what she needed was ME, in all my craziness and certain giftedness.
My family went through a rough end of our summer, some things happened that really stunk and had me question why God had led us down this long and in the end, painful path. But it was at the end of this hurtful path that He birthed in me the desire to find something new and different to do with myself, to shake off the dust and put myself out there. And here I am. Well, I hope you kept up with all that, sorry for all the details and background, but I always marvel at how God works things together, sometimes with both parties not knowing what in the world he is going to do I tell you about how Ritchey and I got together another time. But He is a sovereign God, a master planner, He takes his time ,darnnit, but He works things out. That may sound cliche' or naive to some of you, but its the TRUTH! and I'm excited to see how He'll work this out.

What a Difference a Girl makes

So today was kinda officially Sophie and I's new life together as a twosome. We waved goodbye to the boys, turned on the music, put on costumes and Soph got a bath. Then what was the agenda, but hit the mall! I think I learned once, that is all it took, never to take my boys to the mall. It always involved hiding among the racks, begging for gumballs from the machines, pretending to be manequins, and stashing goods in the stroller. But Soph, well, she is a girl and she is in her element shopping with mama. The truth is I probably woldn't have attempted this but I had a coupon to Pennies oh yes this booming metropolis has a JcPenny, notice how I call it Pennies, I'm a local now. so off we went, snacks, strollers, coupons in hand. And she was a star. She pointed out pretty sparkly sophie shoes, pointed out Daddy shirts, ate her snacks and looked around while I browsed. My $10 coupon got me some earrings and a Buzz Lightyear shirt for Cooper I know, I don't know why I feed his obsession. And Sophie scored some $10 jeans with a cute little ruffle on the hem from Children's Place. That is the other thing I have learned with girls. Just plain khakis, jeans etc. aren't good enough unless they have a little girly flare! So here's to more mother daughter shopping in the years to come.hopefully not always at pennies, or Forever 21 and HotTopic that also graces our mall for that matter.

Here is a pics of my girly girl Soph, and one of the boys sophie!

2 lifechangers.

First before I get to this post. I just wrangled the boys to get them into bed. The dentist says we need to floss. shocker. So we've been at it a week. to Cooper- Luke, you must come floss.skywalker of course. Mommy, of course Luke never flosses. darn it, he's quick, but I eventually got him in my grips.

Back to the point of my post. 2 lifechangers for me and my household. The Swivel Sweeper (google it) 5:00 cleanup. Ok, so the swivel sweeper was a random gift from my mother in law. She had this little broom type sweeper at her house and my boys used to love to "help" her clean up with it. So she thought it would be fun to buy me one so they could help. Well little did I know it would change my life. You see I never sweep, I never clean really thank goodness for my $25 cleaning lady! And with kids and babies, you can imagine the cheerios and chewed up raisins stuck to our feet just by passing thru the breakfast area. But alas, swivel sweeper to the rescue. I literally use this 2 times a day probably. It swivels past anything and picks up almost anything, then you just empty the trap and hang it back up. I recharge the batteryback maybe once a week. So now my eating area is sooo immeasurably cleaner now, I 409 and swivel sweep every night and have cleanliness to welcome me in the morning. I'm sure some of you clean folk are thinking, geez I've always done that, she is nasty! I've also taken out my dish rack on the other side of my sink, that contraption was way to easy to store dirty dishes in for long amounts of time, so thanks to flylady even my sink area is looking better.

ok, on to life changer #2. Five o'clock cleanup is what is says it is. At 5 o'clock I set the timer to 15 minutes and pump up the jams and away my boys go, cleaning away. Yes you heard me, my boys, not me. Wohoo. They each take a room to start off with, but the entire house gets clean (the main living areas anyway). Every toy off the ground, every cup put away, every lego, book and stuffed animal. At the end of 15 minutes. I go through the house, if there are obvious piles they missed that is a strike. 3 strikes your out and they are not rewarded with dessert that night. I used to say, you lost your dessert, but I turned it into a reward thing instead and now it is you didn't win dessert tonight. We've been at this for over a month. I LOVE it. My house is clean in time for Ritchey to get home, and for the most part the rest of the evening. The b and moan a bit another non pastor wife statement!, and I have to provide a good amount of direction to my 4 year old and stay on him during the process. But for the most part, this habit has officially stuck. Yay for my clean house. So there ya go, give the swivel sweeper a try and find someone to do a 5:00 clean up for you.

Here is a picture from the hotttest day we have

ever gone to the zoo, all for the sake of free!

Use the Force!

Ok, well if you know my boys, as Elizabeth Smith has pointed out, they love superheroes. This isn't just a phase, we have been in this "phase" for 5 years. Cooper skipped over liking Thomas trains and blocks and all those wonderful 2 year old things because his brother, who was 4 at the time, had discovered superheroes. So 5 years now we have been collecting everything from batman, ironman, spiderman, superman, they even love green lantern who the heck is that? and can tell you the alterego names of each. Did you know that Robin's real name is Dick Grayson, me neither. And poor sophie, some of her first words have been superheroes and she knows how to fly them around, not to mention the excellent sword fighting skills that she has. Well, barely sprinkled throughout this love of all things super, was Star Wars. They definitely know what it is, have had a life saber for years now, and knew a few of the big characters, but that was about it. Until now, the night before school started we finally let them watch the first, er, the Vth starwars, whatever. And now they are hooked line and sinker however that saying goes anyway. The funny thing is they watched it on a library VHS, which just totally embarrassed my high tech hubby, but they don't care. So last night we were as bored as I think we've ever been, so what else could we do but go borrow Empire Strikes Back. So now my boys have been waking up with light sabers in hand, talking all things star wars, and checking out all books that have to with star wars. Parker gets most of it, Cooper probably about 1/2, and Ritchey, maybe 1/4 :). And I"m left clairifying what's going on every 5 seconds. I'm already finding it really hard to explain where clone wars fits in and the whole, they did the last movies first the first movies last kinda thing and how Annakin can be a kid and darth vader at the same time. Oy vey, someone help me! I get to say oy vey btw because I'm 1/4 jewish. So I guess all this to say, we've embraced the Force and may now be in another 5 year phase. Yikes. Well, may the force be with you this hot and humid weekend.

Look at me go!

Look at me, two posts in two days. I'm going to be one of those stellar bloggers. Not one of those who leaves you hanging not to return for months (you know who you are!). In honesty those people probably have a busier, cooler life than I, but here I am eager, excited, and have kids napping. One thing that came to mind after I became an official blogger, was oh crap, are pastor's wives allowed to blog, are they allowed to say crap? Are things I post on here going to be too honest, too random, and too, well, me, that people may judge me, my ministry, or even worse my husband's. So you Grace folk, you are only allowed to read it if you pretend I am someone else, and promise not to question Ritchey's judgement in his lifemate and therefore other areas. Ok, we'll just see how it goes. Ritchey is being alerted to every post so that he can be big brother,( hi honey!) and keep me in line. Thankfully I'm at a church who will allow for some of my zany side.
Ok, so let me bring you up to speed on life around here. My oldest just went to 2nd grade. His teacher is not there because of ruptured disks so the 3rd grade teachers are tag-teaming his class. I'm trying to trust God on this one, but not the best news on day one of school. I sent my 2nd baby, Cooper, to school for the first time this year, he is in pre-k and after I dropped him off the first day he cried for 30 minutes asking for his "bubby" his brother. But the good news he went today and no tears! So now I am left with Sophie, my 2 year old at home with me. I've never had just a 2 year old home with me for long, I've always had another baby to come along and occupy us around this time. So this is kinda new territory. I'm not sure what we're going to do with ourselves. Ok, I have two intended points in this post, and I'm getting there.

1- I'm sure you've noticed the massive number of people who have status updates re: kids going back to school and how hard it is, well here are my thoughts. It is really hard. I'm surprised every year at my sadness. I'm not even one of those mom's whose lives revolves around their kids. I love mine to pieces, but I love leaving them too sometimes and love having my own life. But geez, there is something about school. I think the thing is, especially when you are a stay at home mom, is that it is the mourning of the end of a phase. This phase, as mindnumbing as it is, went so fast and really was so sweet and special. The days were long but the years were short. And now my cooper is in school. Men don't get it, Ritchey isn't sad much at all. But these kids are my friends, my whole day, and now there is one left behind! I have been so grateful these last days to God for the opportunity to get to stay home with my children, I know many don't have that privilege. And as impatient as I am with them, as crazy as they drive me, it is a privilege and worth every financial and social sacrifice. They will always be what is best about me and what I have to show for myself at the end of my life. And now they are big, getting bigger, not needing me as much and not as cuddly, and that is sad. Its a weird tension, wanting them to grow up and get out of diapers, or learn to read, or be in a regular seatbelt, whatever, and also still wishing they would rock with you, fall asleep on you, and jabber in the way on a 18 mo old can. If someone finds the secret to cherishing these little things at the time while also letting go, please let me know!

2- Ok, so the second and I'll keep this very short and save the rest for tomorow, is because of all the above post, I am looking to get out into the real world again! I have lived life with children and church the last 5 years. Pouring my life into both- but also neglecting a part of life that is inside of me. The part that wants to return to some of my social work, community mercy, roots. So I have met with 3 different directors of 3 different community agencies, Red Cross where my friend is director, Children's Advocacy Center, and Volunteers of America, (which basically does just about every service a community needs). And over the weekend I'm going to pray about each one, and see where God will lead me. I am sooo excited about this. But the options even at the VOA alone are overwhelming, and if any of you have ever shopped with me or eaten out with me, you'll know that I don't do so well with numerous options, I'm a tad indecisive and tend to overthink things. (I one time ordered 7 pairs of boots and brought them home cuz I needed more time to choose just the lifechanging right one, and I've even quizzed a McDonald's worker about menu items). I'm excited to relight some passions, get out there, be productive outside of my home. So you'll see posts to come about that and I'll probably solicit advice on where to end up.

Thanks for putting up with this post. I imagine most newbie bloggers have diarrhea of the mouth their first couple of times. So pass the pepto!

One of my many superhero protectors. The underwear on the head makes him think faster! (Plus I'm trying to figure out how to post pictures and captions, any ideas?)

Ok, so here I go.

What on earth has moved me to start a blog at 9:45 on a Thursday night. Well, my husband is gone, I've read a good magazine and had some chocolate. And my mind has been full of lots of thoughts lately, my camera full of pictures, and changes are going on all around me. Plus this summer I've started to follow some friends blogs that I love. And I'm very aware as school has started that life is moving too quickly so I better capture some of it now. So here I am, a loser on a weekday night starting a blog. A few disclaimers. If you know me, I talk fast. Well I type and think fast too. But like my old test taking skills, I will not go back and proofread, or edit or spell check, pretty much stream of consciousness here folks.(ooh, I bet that is spelled wrong). Friends always tell me they like getting emails from me cuz it sounds just like me, well the blog won't fail at that either. So what will I write about you ask. World peace, cajun cuisine, home decor, umm, no. Like millions others out there, I'll just write about my normal boring, but full life. Which happens to contain 3 crazy kids, a pastor husband, and a middle of Louisiana backdrop. That last sentence there explains the title of my blog. How in the world did I end up with 3 kids 7 and under at the age of 32, the wife of a pastor, in the middle of Louisiana? You got me, its an unplanned life!