Prayer sticks

We use popsicle sticks for everything in this house, and found another use for them today. I’ve had the hardest time coming up with a good solution for keeping up on prayer requests with our family.  I’ve used several flip photo albums –but have been so bad at actually flipping it over each day and praying for someone different.  (There are times when it’s been on the same family for a whole month.) :( So a few days ago, I sat down with the kids after breakfast and we decorated these popsicle sticks and wrote down everyone/thing we want to pray for on them. Sydney made sure she has every single friend written down and keeps thinking of new requests to add.

So far it is the BEST thing and is working great for us!! It’s something fun for the kids to do and they’re really getting into it.  I was originally thinking we’d pick one stick out at each meal, but should have known that they would each want to pick one out–so we are praying specifically for 4 different requests each time.   I considered making it so that each color is a different category but I’m finding that the more complicated/detailed I make anything, the harder it is to implement and follow through.

Okay– so this isn’t the greatest picture, but it will give you an idea. I’m still trying to find the perfect container to hold them in. (Yes, mom–I will use something that I already have around the house and not go buy something just for this.)

 

Some of them are just random ones that the kids decorated, so I figured we can use those for whatever is current that we may not have written down. These are just a few of them, but I’ll just rotate them every once in a while.

Another Harris Birthday

 Happy Birthday to our sweet Logan boy! Is he really two today? I cannot believe it!! Logan makes us laugh all the time. He doesn’t have to do anything and he’s so funny!  Happy Birthday Logan! We are SO glad you’re a part of our family!                               

August 30, 2006

August 30, 2007

 

Big TWO Year Old now

  

 I definitely did NOT win any mother of the year awards today for making his birthday special. With Sydney going to school and lots of other things going on today, we didn’t have time to do anything that great for him.  I felt kind of bad, even though I’m pretty sure he didn’t.  (I did enjoy some one on one time with him while Syd was at school.) It was a SCORCHER of a day, so going outside for too long was out of the picture.  After dinner we were thinking of all the things about Logan that we love so much. Here’s what Rodd, Syd, & I came up with: His hearty laugh when Rodd’s tickling him, his big hugs he gives, the way he talks and the funny words he uses, his animal sounds he makes, his super mischievous little grin, his feet, his singing, his kiss-ably soft cheeks…and on we went.  We’re having a small party at the zoo tomorrow, so I’ll have more pictures of the birthday boy for you tomorrow. 

 

A new cookbook

Awww. I just found this card and cookbook that my sweet mom left for me.  My mom was a big help with my wonderful (NOT) time management skills while she was here– and this “fuss-free dinnertime solutions your family will love” cookbook will hopefully help in my “better steward of my God’s time” learning process.  They all look really easy to make & really good to eat, so I’m excited. It was perfect because I hadn’t planned my meals for the week yet–so I’ll definitely be trying all new ones from my new book this week.  Thanks, mom! xo

Another month flew by

Our month with my parents has come and gone…much too quickly.  They left early this morning at 4:30 so I said goodbye to them last night before we went to bed.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to be 50 and still crying when I say goodbye to my parents. :) It’s just so sad after having them here with us all the time.  As we were laying in bed last night, Rodd was like, “Well, tomorrow we go back to being parents again.”  :) We’re so spoiled having them here.  (I got used to sleeping in those extra 20 minutes or so-while S & L were in my parent’s room or eating breakfast with them!)  They are a huge help with the kids, the house…EVERYTHING!!  Plus, we just like being with them! Anyway, we sooo appreciate them and are already counting down the days (one year) until we see them again.

One thing I’m thankful for was that yesterday my mom and I got the house back in order and moved Logan’s clothes & toys back into his bedroom (where they were staying). We got the house all nice and cleaned up so it’s not like I have all that “recovery” work to do like you normally would after company leaves.

On an exciting note, Sydney had open house/first day of school today so that was something fun to look forward to! She got to meet her teacher—who I can already tell we are going to love! She did a little craft, played in the room, made a few friends, and even got some “homework” to bring back on Friday.   We are SO excited about this and I am particularly thankful for the peace God has given me about this. I’m not used to having my little girl in someone else’s care like this. I know these are crucial molding/teaching/training years for little ones but I am comfortable with the decision Rodd and I have made and am thankful for the opportunity to do this.  Next year it might be something totally different.  We’re just taking it one year at a time…thankful for God’s help and direction.

Getting in the van

 

Craft time…with Logan’s help

 

Much too late

It was a late night and my dad wanted to teach us how to play Pinochle.   Let me just say… don’t start learning a new game at 10:00 at night. You can see we were all a bit loopy by the end of the night!

Missed you Jon & Marisa!

One of the last things we wanted to try to fit in before my parents leave on Wednesday was a get- together with Gene & Sherrie, Jana & Joe.  We kept trying to find a date that would work for all of us–and this was the one night that everyone was free, so we met up at a fun little Mexican restaurant, ate lots of chips and salsa and shared a lot of laughs!   

Missed you (sister-in-law and friend), Marisa!

How we stayed away from Fay

Sydney loves Cinni-minis from BK, and since we had to stay out of the rain all day anyway, she and my mom decided to make their own little cinnamon rolls.  They were SO GOOD. I was a little very concerned watching my mom give Sydney ingredients to put in the bowl with no recipe in sight, totally wondering how they would turn out and sure they would be a total flop with 4 C of wasted flour.  It was cute to listen while my mom gave Sydney “kneading” lessons.  As it turns out the recipe was the one and only dough recipe she used for making bread, rolls, donuts etc in PNG.  No wonder she had it memorized! They really were SO delicious!!!

Mom’s Dough

3 Tbl sugar, 3 Tbl shortening, 1 Tbl salt, 2 C warm milk, 1 pkt yeast, 4 C flour +  Mix liquid ingredients first. Add first cup of flour and yeast and then gradually add the rest of the flour a cup at a time.  May need more flour but work with the dough to a soft consistency. **When not teaching your granddaughter to “knead” I like kneading the dough in a large mixing bowl as it saves on a messy counter.  Knead well for 2-3 minutes. Add a tablespoon of oil to bowl. Roll dough in oil. Let raise one hour in warm place.

 The kneading process followed by letting them rise

Almost ready to eat– icing them: 

The face of a satisfied little baker

A day at the beach

Probably our favorite day was spent at Fort Lauderdale Beach. It was a beautiful day and a gorgeous beach.  There were nice big play areas on the beach for the kids, the water was warm,  wide open spaces with hardly any people, a nice breeze blowing the whole time… It really was glorious!!

My dad bought this kite in Bali and my mom hand-carried it to FL on the plane for the kids. After he and Rodd figured out how to put it together –we had the funnest time with it. It really was a neat kite!

Mission Accomplished: Flyin high in the Sky

We’re back

After 5 days in Ft. Lauderdale, we made it home Wednesday afternoon!  We had a great time together as a family!   We thought our time might be ”ruined” by Tropical Storm Fay-but other than one less day in the pool, we were affected very little.   Ever since we’ve been home however–it has not stopped raining! There is flooding everywhere. I went out several times today and could not believe how bad it really was.  I feel so sorry for those whose homes are being flooded. We never lost our power so we are thankful for that as well!  Here’s a picture of ”hour 2″ of our 3 1/2 hour  WET trip home, and much of what today looked like too.

Some of the higlights of our mini-vaca:

• Spending the day shopping with my mom while Rodd and my dad took the kids to this really cool place.
• Watching the Olympics– particularly when Shawn Johnson got her gold
• Letting the kids stay up late just because
• Swimming
• Taking long naps with S & L
• Each person had a “special day” so on their day they got to choose what we would do, where we would eat, what games we would play etc.
• Eating at a yummy mexican restaurant
• Discovering that one of the reasons I love Rodd so much is because he is a male version of my sister. I might explain the similarities later–but it really is so funny! They are 2 peas in a pod and I love them both to death!
• A coloring contest:  Rodd would’ve won first place but got disqualified for taking too long, Dad got honorable mention for effort, Sydney got most improved on her new coloring abilities, Logan got the award for keeping his paper intact, and mom and I were the judges I guess…

We can’t get rid of “The Ripper”

Seriously…what is it with this boy? 

We were getting ready to go out for dinner and I had decided that he was going to wear this cute red shirt that my parents brought back from Thailand.  For some reason he did NOT want to wear that shirt, but being the decision making mom that I am–I stood my ground and decided that he was not going to wear his long sleeved, 2 sizes too small, button up shirt that he was wanting to wear instead.  So as I’m finishing putting on my makeup he comes into the bathroom with a funny look on his face–and again asks if he could take off his shirt. Again, I say no. He then proceeds to pull me into Sydney’s room, and shows me the little red scissors on her bed. I looked down at his shirt with an “oh no you didn’t” look and realize that YES he did. He totally cut a hole in his brand new shirt!!! I can’t even tell you how much of a rascal he is.

I don’t know if you can see the hole. It was hard to get a good picture. (It’s under the ‘o’ and ‘n’.)