Project 52 Date #30

So this date night was earlier this week, but life got in the way and I'm just now posting it, sorry :) Our date night was one that I was looking forward to for awhile! It was pretzels and puzzles. So I picked out a 1,000 piece puzzle (a little too big now that I look back at it) and got an awesome pretzel bite recipe.
So when JT came home we started making the homemade dough for the pretzels bites and even Jocelyn helped just a little as well. It takes about an hour for the dough to rise, so we had to do this part a little early. Then off the little munchkin went to bed and off we went to the kitchen to finish our cooking :) We also moved into the dining room and started setting up the puzzle.



Now as Jonathan phrased it... "I'm afraid you might be one of those people that would wear an adult diaper just so they could stay at the table longer to finish a puzzle"... it was a little extreme but I do like me a good puzzle :) So we got all our edge pieces out first and started working on putting together the frame. Our week had been so busy that we actually started talking tons and the puzzle become a welcome second to the date.
So we didn't finish, but the night was fantastic. On a side note, it got moved into the kitchen and now I get to put a few pieces in every day ! Score!!!


He says: Some of our best date nights are the low keys ones and this one turned out to be one of those nights! We started out with a little mixing action in the kitchen making pretzels with Jocelyn. She really loves helping and trying to be a big girl so this part was alot of fun. After that it was off to bed for Jocelyn and on to part two for us. We popped our pretzel bites into the oven and got our puzzle out on the table. This was one tough puzzle and it took us almost 30 minutes just to find all the edge pieces and get them hooked up in all the right places. Mia's pretty competitive even when working on a puzzle so I did my best to keep up. We had great conversation just catching up on the day and covering several things we needed to sort out for the week. It was really nice to just sit and talk and have the house all quiet and it just be the two of us doing something together.

Love is…Real Life (Week 30)

I don’t know about you guys, but this week has already been a doozy for my little family. Twelve hour workdays, a headache that just won’t. go. away. AND a crabby, teething toddler that is contemplating dropping his morning nap, much to his mother’s chagrin. To be more specific, yesterday was the kind of day where it took me about an HOUR of thinking, “WHERE is that smell coming from?!” to realize that I had runaway diaper doody on my shirt.
Classy.

This is all on the heels of an exhausting weekend, that for my family, consisted of a sweet husband having to study and do homework much of the weekend, thus leaving me to single parent AND entertain myself.
YIKES.

Life can really stack up sometimes, can’t it? Especially when it’s REAL life. The kind of life that happens behind closed doors, when you’re at home in your grubbies with no makeup on. It’s SO easy to get caught up in all that’s not going the way you want it to go and to lose sight of those things that are blessings…even if they’re blessings in disguise.As I was hoofing it around my neighborhood for my morning walk, I was racking my brain for inspiration for today’s post. The others had all come to me so easily and without effort.
This week’s? Not so much.

I kept trying to think of grandiose, monumental ways to show love, but I was looking for love in all the wrong places. As I reflected over my week so far, I began to work hard to find things to be thankful for…to outweigh those complaints that were weighing heavy on my heart and mind. And that’s when it hit me…It turns out that in the midst of my exhausting, non-glamorous week full of “real life”, there was lots of love shared and shown.

For example…Love on Saturday was running errands with my husband. I had a killer headache all weekend long and was not jazzed about the thought of running around town in heat that makes me thankful for my salvation, but I knew that it was one of my only chances to spend time with him. He showed me love in return by taking Owen in to Barnes and Noble with him and letting me stay in the air-conditioned truck, thus giving me 15 whole minutes of silence and alone time. I may have caught a cat nap!
Love on Sunday afternoon was taking my husband to McDonald’s for a 15 minute, 79 cent ice cream cone study break. It wasn’t glamorous, it didn’t last long, but we soaked up those precious minutes as a family and we used that time to talk about things besides school and work.
Love this morning {earrrrly this morning} was rocking Owen at 4:45 when he was awake with stinky teeth. Rather than rushing my time of comfort with him so that I could go back to bed, I pressed into the moment and got some good snuggles in with that little rover. Snuggles that I’m REALLY going to miss someday.
The long and short of it is, sometimes love isn’t a grand gesture. It may not even be something out of the ordinary. It might just be doing something you usually do or have to do, but choosing to do it with a willing heart. Or it might be finding a little moment somewhere within a long day to make a memory. Or in my case today, love might be ironing that stack of your husband’s chinos that have been sitting in your laundry room for WEEKS. Sometimes love is just real life…tucked in between those non-Hollywood moments we ALL have. It might not be glamorous, but it’s the good life.

bekah

Project 52 Date #29

PLAYYYY BALL! This date nite was one of the 4 dates in the jar that were specific in that they could only be done at a certain time. This one was go on a date to Hooks(our local minor league team) game. So we got a pretty serious hookup on tickets and ended up sitting behind home plate and about 12 rows up. Really good seats. And the best part was we took Jocelyn with us for her first sporting event/baseball game ever. Yes its suppose to be about a date night for us, but she has never been and the weather was perfect so we wanted to give it a try. She was PERFECT. She even took her hat off and held her hand over her heart for the National Anthem! She was really into it and would stare at the pitcher and actually watch him throw a pitch. She ever clapped when there was a good hit or a strikeout?(brings a tear to my eye...sniffle). We were very impressed with her attentiveness to the game and really liked seeing her watch and be interested in something totally new to her. Mia and I got into the spirit of the game with some nachos and a big ol drink. It was so great to sit as a family and enjoy something together. We had a blast even though we didn't stay for the whole game because it's so hot outside(wouldn't want the three of them to melt). And Jocelyn even got a game day rally towel from nice little old lady who was sitting next to us. We might not have caught a fly ball but we def hit the date outa the park!



Mia Says : I am not a huge baseball fan, but I really love to go to enjoy the company. So for me this was perfect! I got to sit next to my husband and watch the two of them interact with something new and the weather was absolutely PERFECT. The Sun had already set behind the stadium so we were perfectly shaded, I couldn't have thought up a better night! Thanks love!

Love is…giving more than “leftovers” (week 29)

Love is…giving more than “leftovers”.

Leftovers are a good thing at our house. Luckily, I married a man that LOVES leftovers and gets pumped about having them for lunch the next day. {Luckily, I also married a man that will eat ANYTHING that I make…even when it’s not delicious. God is good.} Or, if we have a grand compilation of leftovers in our fridge, he’s all about having a “leftovers night” for dinner. We even hold fast to the theory that some meals are even better the second night. Am I right? It’s almost like the flavors do a little fusion dance overnight in the fridge and thrill your taste buds in a whole new way the next day. That’s when leftovers are even MORE super delightful!

When are leftovers NOT a good thing? When that’s all you give to your family. Now I’m not talking about food. {which is a shocker, because if it’s one thing I love talking about (and eating), it’s food!} I’m talking about “Life” leftovers. I’ve come to the realization that it is SO easy to give your best all day long at work and to friends…only to come home with nothing left to give your family except for your “leftovers.” Or, if you’re like me, you stay home all day with a little one and still can have nothing left to give your husband when he walks in the door except for “leftovers.” Leftovers of a stay at home mom can be scary. I can remember several occasions during the first few months of life with a new little one when Mike would walk in the door from work and say, “Hey, Family! How was your day?!” and I would look at myself…still in my pajamas {only now, they’re covered in spit up}, hair that looks like it would serve as a nest to some winged creature and racking my brain trying to figure out if I ever brushed my teeth that day. Oh, and there’s a crying baby somewhere in the background. Somehow I’ve managed to make dinner {or to thaw a frozen pizza} and as we sit down to eat, I’ve actually thought to myself: I don’t know that I have the energy to even ask how his day was, let alone hear all about it. That’s a shining moment as a wife & mother, isn’t it? I’m pretty sure we’ve all had at least one or two of those days! And if you haven’t, don’t tell the rest of us. We’d rather think that we’re not alone.

I’ve now come to realize & appreciate the importance of pacing myself throughout the day…reserving enough of myself so that I have something left to give to my family {specifically my husband} at the end of the day. Something more than leftovers! That may mean not meeting that friend for lunch - so that I can get to the grocery store - so that I’m not having to make a mad dash to HEB in between nap time and the “witching” hour – thus not pushing my toddler to the max. That may mean making my morning hours count - so that I have time to straighten the house - so that my husband doesn’t have to come home to the remnants of Hurricane Owen in our living room. That may mean saying “no” to someone else so that I can say “yes” to my family…a HARD thing to do for a people pleaser like myself!

In other words, I’m trying to look for little things I can do to be intentional with my family. Things that will make them feel “first” in my life – and not like they’re always getting what’s leftover - my unused portion at the end of the day.

We’ve all been in charge of taking a dessert or a breakfast treat to some kind of social gathering. Your husband comes into the kitchen after following his nose. The cinnamon…the butter…then comes the harsh realization that he doesn’t get a piece of whatever you’ve made, because it’s for someone else. And you always say, “I’ll bring some home for you if there’s any left!” And then there’s never any left. That’s why there’s a new policy in place at our house – the Mike gets the first piece policy! I was in charge of taking a coffee cake to my women’s Bible Study last week and when I set out the baking dish, there was quite obviously already a large piece gone. That’s because I had cut a piece for Mike before I left. Just a little, tiny, small thing that I can do to make him feel first rather than last.

It can be easy to show love in little ways…but the impact can be big! Never underestimate the power of giving more than your leftovers.

Project 52 date #28

I couldn't figure out a witty or clever intro for what we did tonight so I'll just tell you we made shish kabobs together!

I let Mia pick what kind of kabob's the night before without really telling her what we were making. So today Jocelyn and I made an HEB run and picked up fresh red and green bell peppers and a sweet onion. I was a little iffy on the steak I picked out but it ended up being a good choice. Once we got back home I did alot of the prep work while Jocelyn played so Mia and i could do the fun parts together. I cut the vegetables and soaked them in Italian dressing in a ziplock bag. The steak got soaked in a soy sauce/lemon juice/secret ingredient mix and put in the fridge until it was time to light the grill up.


Once Mia got home and we got Jocelyn off to bed, we started making our kabob skewers. I discovered the two skewer method works alot better then using one skewer per "bob". It makes them easier to flip over to cook both sides. Anyways...so we get our skewers made and go fire up the grill and spent the next half on the back porch just talking and spending time together while our kabobs sizzled away on the grill. Once they were done we sat down at the table outside and went to town on them. They turned out awesome! I was really quite pleased with myself because I wasn't quite sure how the steak was going to turn out with the marinade I made. They really turned out amazing and as you can see from the pictures we pretty much ate em all!




She says: This was a great date because there was alot of cooking time so Jonathan and I had an array of conversations, while waiting for the food to cook, which was fantastic! We sat down outside, without phones in hand, and just talked about EVERYTHING. And when the food was ready, we kept talking with our mouths full with some of the most fantastic food I have had in a very long time. A++++++ Babe!

Love is…Expressing your inner lifesaver! (Week 28)

I’m in my twenties {even if only for one more year…gulp!}, have a 13 month old rover and am expecting a new little wee wonderful in September. It seems as if most of the friends I have right now are also moms of wee ones and are in similar life stages as me. Either that or their older than I am, with teenagers…and those are also important friends to have because they are proof that you WILL live to see a day when you aren’t up to your elbows in spit up, dirty doody diapers and finding yourself humming the intro song to Baby Signing Time while you unload the dishwasher.

Because of this wildly popular life stage that many of us are in, I’m going out on a limb today! And gentlemen, you’ll soon find that this post is dedicated to the ladies. You’re off the hook this week :)

When Owen was born, I ventured into the mysterious realm of nursing, as many moms do. I loved it! It was a great way to bond with Owen, easy, convenient, great for my little guy, free and a good excuse to sit down every 3-4 hours. Many other nursing mothers who had gone before me had stressed to me the importance of building a milk stash in your freezer. Milk for emergencies, for back up, for times when you just don’t want to have to wear a nursing friendly shirt or a bra that dismantles, for times when you just need a break. And so I learned the skill of pumping. And pump I did. By the time my little guy was a few months old, our freezer was PACKED full of milk. Nary a frozen pizza or popsicle could fit. It was then that I came to a crossroads…what on earth do I do with all of this?! I’m a stay at home mom, I was hardly ever using any of it, it won’t last forever and everyday there is more to add to the stash. And so I turned to the all- knowing source for life’s most important questions. I Googled: what to do with a lifetime supply of breast milk. Just kidding. But seriously, I did sit down at my computer to start researching milk banking and milk donation. I had never really heard much about it, but
after reading about this approach to saving lives, I was hooked.

I was super excited to happen upon Mothers’ Milk Bank of Austin. They’re a non-profit organization that works hard for a cause they believe in. After a few inquiry e-mails and a phone interview, we were ready to go! They sent me the information that I needed to complete in order to be an official donor, sent me to get my free lab work done and thanked me a million times over for becoming a Donor Mom. I thanked them for what they do and was so excited to get started.

It was a win/win! I got to restock my freezer with things that sustain my WHOLE family…things like chicken breasts and ice cream, all while making a huge difference in a little bitty tiny fragile life.

Here in Corpus Christi, the local area drop off is at Driscoll Children’s Hospital. You just take your donations there, leave them with the ladies in the Mom’s Place and you’re done. From there, they send it through the pasteurization process and get it to the little tiny ones that need it the most.




As soon as we found out we were expecting our 2nd I had to put a halt on my donating, but I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby #2 so that we can start up again! They will accept a one-time donation {there is a minimum donation requirement}, but they really thrive on the frequent donations. I took my initial stash, then pumped once a day alternating one day for Owen’s stash, one day for the milk bank. Our little system worked great. Owen was all too happy to share.

As a busy mom, it’s hard to find ways to feel like you’re making a difference. Especially to feel like you’re making a difference for anyone outside of your own little family. It takes a LOT to keep life going. Laundry doesn’t do itself and dinner doesn’t magically appear on your table each night {but I’ve waited just to see several times}. This is a great way to show love to a new little life – and also a way to show love to the family that cares more about that new little life than anyone in the world! What a rewarding gift!

If you’re not able to donate cold milk, they also accept cold cash :) MMBA is
experiencing a serious shortage here in Texas and could use any and every donation!

Here’s an article that was recently written about MMBA, the importance of milk donations and how donated breast milk can actually save a life! http://www.kens5.com/
news/health/Breast-milk-like-medicine-to--125189639.html
They need 500 donors in order to keep things rolling and they only have 250 so far this year. Could you be #251? And if you’re one of those people that will do anything for a free t-shirt, look no further! You’ll get one, I promise.

Share the Love, if you can. I’ll be right there with you, come September.

For more information…
Mothers’ Milk Bank Austin – www.milkbank.org
Or contact them at 877-813-6455
- Bekah

Project 52 Date #27

This date night my card said to play card games with my hubby. Super easy but I wanted a good variety. So I looked up fun card games for two and found a TON, but I was able to narrow it down to just four of them; War, Golf, Speed and Go Fish.

We started with War and soon realized that it was a looong game so we put a time limit on it. we also realized that since JT had all the aces I really couldn't win, until we got into a few Wars and I ended up with 3 out of the 4 aces, wahoo! But, with the time limit I couldn't save myself in time :)

Next we played my favorite airplane game that I used to play all the time with my brother, Golf! Very easy simple game, but since it was a new one for JT I let him slide on a few good cards that he threw down until he got the hang on it. Then he totally beat me!

After that we played Go Fish, yes with two people. It was really more of a memory game, but that one was alot of fun too and I ended up dominating in that round.

Last was Speed, we saved the most intense for last! This one was new to both of us so we read the rules, still were confused, and attempted to play. I'm still not sure we did it right so if anyone out there knows how to play and wants to play with us, we would love to learn the real way because Jonathan said I was too fast :)

Great date night over all and we even ended up playing for over an hour and a half (while enjoying dinner and dessert at the same time). So the saying is true, time does fly by when you are having fun!

My five card STUD!

He says:

Tonight was Mia's to plan and she brought out the old school card games. I can't remember the last time I played cards of any kind so it turned out to be alot of fun.

First game we played was War. Right off the bat I end up up with all the aces and almost every face card. So needless to say even though Mia made a valiant comeback it just wasn't enough and got the first W of the night! About time too because I pretty much never win at any card game or any other game for that matter when I play against Mia.

Next up was Golf. I don't think I had ever played this one before so it was cool to learn a new game. And I ended up winning that game too...what's better than 1 win? why 2 of course :) So on to game 3, Go Fish! I'm pretty sure I haven't played Go Fish since I was about 10 so this one was a trip down memory lane. Fun game but kinda predictable towards the end. And Mia won this one....

Last and new to both of us was Speed. Not sure we read the rules right but it was quite alot of fun and naturally a fast paced game. And because it involved kindergarden math I pretty much totally lost to Mia because I have to use my fingers and toes to add most of the time....just kidding...sorta. Needless to say but she won, so we tied to card champion of the night. I really enjoyed playing cards, especially how every time it was my turn at Go Fish and I would say "Caasssssandraaaa, do you have any 8's".