Tilapia Dinner

Tonight's dinner was Lemon Garlic Tilapia, with a side dish of Greens with Carrots, Feta Cheese and Brown Rice. Click on the links to get the recipes. 

In our approach to eating healthier, there's this challenge to learn new recipes. 

Jamie and I liked it. Breeson did okay, and Eagan we had to spoon-feed him. At one time when Jamie was about to give him a spoonful, he took his fingers, pointed at the food and acted like he was shooting it!! :) He's a hoot.

(we may and may not have used ice cream to entice them to eat - we are not above bribing)

Visit from Granny

Jamie's mom (aka "Granny") came for a visit from Mississippi. She came last Monday and left today. I'd have to say this was one of the best visits with her. There was a lot of one-on-one time with her and the boys, and we just enjoyed our time together. 

We didn't too much "touristy" stuff this time around. We did go into Estes Park one day and played.
This is the aerial tram we rode. It's worth doing it if you have time. We didn't go into Rocky Mtn National Park this time around. The boys get bored sitting in the car for a few hours looking at scenery. :)  So this took the place of RMNP.

  

We tried Fun City where we rode...

the big slide (several times over)

  bumper cars

 and race cars

Mom was gracious enough to let us slip away for a date night:

 

We went to the last summer concert on Main Street here in Longmont, where eating Gelato and dancing took place...

Granny getting jiggy wit it...

On our way to church and then to the airport for Granny:

I am here, kind of.

Well, it's been a while blog world. I've not only neglected writing on here, but I don't even spend the time reading other blogs as much.
This is not going to be a lengthy blog - but I'm just writing a quick blurb letting you know I'll soon return with an actual post.

Since April, we've bought a house, moved in, and have been doing a lot of remodeling, unpacking, and settling in to our new life, in our new town.

Until next time...

Kudos to stay-at-home moms

Being a stay-at-home mom is SO hard. This is the first time for me to do it, and I'm not quite 2 weeks into it!! :) I applaud all women (and men!) who do it. Even after having Breeson I worked full time. Jamie was actually "Mr. Mom" when I went back to work because he was a part time student at that time. And after having Eagan the boys went to daycare after my maternity leave. I then started working part-time more consistently. It's not like being at home these last 2 weeks is the first time for me with the boys. It's just that knowing the end isn't really in sight. Whereas when I was on maternity leave, or extended vacation days, I knew when I'd go back to work, and where I'd go back to work. Both of those things are unsure right now. We know that I'll stay at home until we get fully settled into our new home. We hope/pray we close mid-May.

I've always told Jamie that I'm happy to become a full time stay-at-home mom when both of the boys are in school full time!! :)

In the meantime, we have our good days and our bad days. The hardest thing for me is keeping them occupied, as well as myself. I'm not the type to just sit around the house. So we try and find places to go. So far we've been to the rec center 2 times, library reading time (which they didn't end up having b/c it's spring break), park several times and lots of trips to the grocery store! Thank goodness for the weather being nice and warm. We enjoy our walks and it's healthy - in more ways than one - for us to get out.
I pray every day that the Lord gives me lots of patience, extra love, and contentment during this season. I'm sure one day I'll look back and be sad that I didn't enjoy it as much as I should. My boys do bring a lot of "joy" to my life and I'm thankful for them.
*side bar: as I'm writing this and saying how wonderful they are, I'm actually shooing them off so I can type this while telling them not to nag me right now. I'm such an awesome mother. insert sarcasm.

Sometimes I'll read other blogs or see "statuses" on FB about how some girls are just so thankful to be full time stay-at-home mothers and how blessed they are. They kinda make me want to cringe but at the same time feel guilty about how I don't desire that. I do have to be careful that I don't let Satan control me in this area and to not let him attack me with his lies. I realize that we're all gifted and desire different things. It seems like such a fine line of trying to learn to be content with where God puts us in different stages in our lives and also realizing that He did wire in me a certain way when He created me. So I do have an inner battle...

So this me just being open and honest about my feelings as a stay-at-home. Please know that I love my boys more than words can describe. But what I don't love is being bored at home with them and all of us getting on each others nerves 7 days a week. And I know that is an exaggeration. But this is my blog and my thoughts.

The end.

Unveiling...

We have so much to be thankful for and to give God praise. Thanks so much to our family and friends who have been so supportive in praying for us as we waited on God's plan for the next phase in our lives. It gives us great joy to tell you that our house is under contract, and we have officially accepted a position in Longmont, CO. Jamie will be the Associate Pastor at Epiphany Anglican Fellowship, working with Fr. Gerry Schnackenberg.



We are thankful to get to stay in Colorado. Longmont is around 35 miles North of Denver. We'll be closer to Loveland, Eldora and Rocky Mtn National Park!
Although I'll (Joy) miss the many perks of big city living (ahem, Ikea - sad face).
We are excited to work with Epiphany because we can already see how sacrificial and faith based they are. God already has a great team of people working in that church and the fact that we get to be a part of it is humbling.

Our closing date on our house is the end of the month and we are set to move to Longmont around that same time. We plan to live in temporary housing until we find the right house to buy there. Please continue to be in prayer as we pack up, and will soon be adjusting to a new place and new people. Pray especially for the boys that they can be flexible and adjust well to their new environment. One of my top prayers is that wherever God moves us, there will already be a young family where the boys can make friends with kids around their ages.

Praise be to God...

An update...of sorts

I guess I figured I would give a quick update on the sale {or lack of} of our home and directions in where God is leading us.
To say that He isn't leading us anywhere would be far from the truth. But to say that we are 100% in knowing where we're headed is also a farce. We know that God is working behind the scenes, but we're still waiting on those doors to open. This journey has definitely been stretching for us. We have had quite a few showings, just no bites. We once had an offer, but the girl low-balled us and we later found out she was shopping out of her price range. It's been a bit frustrating that our house hasn't sold, and yet I'm so thankful it hasn't at the same time. !? Huh? What I mean is that had it sold a month ago, we'd be packing up our belongings and heading nowhere. Well, not really nowhere. We both have loving family (and friends) who wouldn't allow us to be homeless, but the thought of moving somewhere temporarily with 2 kids and a dog doesn't sound appealing.

I've had my moments where I've cried out to God and asked "where" and "why". I can't say that I've had much feedback, except there have been times where I've felt an overwhelming sense of peace. I think a lot of that has to do with my husbands faith rubbing off on me. His faith and dependence on the Lord thru all of this has been amazing. I know he's not perfect, but he's been my constant source of strength (apart from the Lord) in reminding me that God has a plan for us all and that His timing is truly perfect.

As we head into this Lenten season, may we draw to Him and be reminded that God is all powerful and all knowing...even when we don't understand the "why's" and "what's" in life.

Life with boys...

...is fun, but exhausting!

They test my patience more than anything else in this world. Yet they give me so much love that I'm literally overflowing with pride. To be the "queen" of the house is gratifying, 

but can be lonely at times. 

I do long for the day to have a girl...so I can have the excuse to buy cute girl clothes and do her hair. Although I'm not exactly girl-y myself, it'd just be nice to know that once my children are grown, they won't get married and run off with their wives and leave me all alone (oh I'll still have Jamie! :)) 

However, I need to enjoy this time while I have it. B is my little Romeo right now. He is currently at the age where he constantly tells me he loves me. And that he wants to marry me, and buy flowers...and a plant (??!). We keep telling him he needs to wait 'til Valentine's Day to get them for me. Jamie tells B that he's already married to me and that "he needs to find another woman", which ends in (a fun) yelling match. It's quite humorous. 

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In other news...

The boys are beginning to play more and more together...while having fun. We enjoy hearing them play in the other room - talking and laughing together. But like all brothers, they have their moments (some days more than others), that they fight like none other. I can't say that there is typically one over the other that starts it. They both do their share in causing the fight. Balls and trucks are their thing. They especially love bath time together. But with all of this bonding, I'm still not ready to move them in the same room. Breeson still wakes up early in the mornings to go to the bathroom, and I'm not sure he always goes back to sleep. Whereas Eagan will typcially sleep til 7:30 - 8 a.m. 

Why disrupt a good thing!?  :) And here's the beauty in all this, since Breeson is used to staying in his bed until we get up, we can usually sleep in 'til 7:30-8 (whenever E wakes up) until we have to get out of bed ourselves.

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As you can see in this picture, Breeson was in need of a haircut. It was after we got home from his last hair cut (awhile back), that I realized the barber didn't do a very good job. But I figured I'd just let it continue to grow.

Today Jamie took B to get another haircut. This time I actually looked online to find a cut I wanted, rather than telling them to trim/cut it. So now, he looks so much older and his toddler looks are slowly fading. Sad face.

 

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As for this guy...we don't call him Eagan Monster for no reason. This guy has a set of pipes on him. I won't have to worry about losing him in a store - he's SO loud. everywhere. all. the. time.

And although he has a sweet face, don't let that fool you. He's a handful. While 85+% of the time he's in a good mood and is quite loveable, he's just a handful. Not sure how else to say it. And he's ALL BOY!! I was able to keep most of Breeson's clothes to give as hand-me-downs to Eagan, but after Eagan wears them, we'll have to toss them. And let me tell you, this boy can eat. He's constantly saying "more, more, more..." We usually have to stop him and B at meal times. I dread the day of when they're 13 & 15. 

Right now, he's in the stage where he says "yup" to most questions. But the way he says it, he's a typical guy, giving it a short influx of the voice and is straight to the point. It's pretty darn cute when he says it. 

As for his hair...I can't bear to cut it just yet. This pic isn't the greatest at capturing his curls in the back, but they're sweet. I want to keep them for a while longer...