Roller Skating and Yay for Gabriel!

Sunday Romeo, Olivia and I went to Saints North Roller skating rink. I hadn't ever taken them before because honestly, I didn't even think the roller rinks were still in business. Prob and the baby stayed home and napped. Going to that rink brought back a lot of memories from when we use to go with school. The place still looked just the same all these years later. It was really busy and all the children there were about Romeo and Olivia's age. They had a really fun time. I however was surprised at how unnatural it felt to be on roller skates after all this time and found myself holding onto Olivia lol. All in all we had a great time though. Here are some pretty bad pictures but pictures nonetheless. I really need a new camera.

Hoola Hoop Contest





Limbo



Another exciting thing that happened was Gabriel rolled over for the first time. Such a proud moment for us all.



Congratulations handsome (:

Definetly me, but he still loves me anyway

I hate the world today
You're so good to me
I know but I can't change
Tried to tell you
But you look at me like maybe
I'm an angel underneath
Innocent and sweet
Yesterday I cried
Must have been relieved to see
The softer side
I can understand how you'd be so confused
I don't envy you
I'm a little bit of everything
All rolled into one

Chorus:
I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I'm your hell, I'm your dream
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way


So take me as I am
This may mean
You'll have to be a stronger man
Rest assured that
When I start to make you nervous
And I'm going to extremes
Tomorrow I will change
And today won't mean a thing

Chorus


Just when you think, you got me figured out
The season's already changing
I think it's cool, you do what you do
And don't try to save me

Chorus


I'm a bitch, I'm a tease
I'm a goddess on my knees
When you hurt, when you suffer
I'm your angel undercover
I've been numb, I'm revived
Can't say I'm not alive
You know I wouldn't want it any other way

~Bitch by Meredith Brooks

Girl Scout Encampment

This past Saturday Olivia's girlscout troop went to the annual encampment at camp lakamaga for a day of fun with other girlscout troops from around the cities. They exchanged pins and did a bunch of different outdoor activities. Prob was a volunteered driver for the troop and spent the day surrounded by hundreds of women and girls and only a few men, what a brave and good daddy! Here are some pictures he took.

Snowshoeing

cross country skiing

The troop learning survival methods

While they were doing that, Romeo, Gabriel and I had a mother/son day and went out for lunch and got a chance to just chat and reconnect, we actually had a lot of that this past week since he was home from school sick for 3 days. It was sweet though, he just kept telling me how much he loves me and thanking me for all the spoiling I did to him while he was home. It helped me to realize that we really need to remember to esteem our children as individuals and often.

Otherwise the week and weekend consisted of our normal routine with the addition of our new "son" Robert (Romeo's friend) who practically lives here these days. I'm sure glad I don't have two boys close in age all the time because it gets quite rowdy around here and I am constantly worried someone is going to get hurt with all the wrestling and boy games. Oh well, I'm glad Romeo has someone his age and gender to hang out with.

A new recipe we tried this week was zesty minestrone in the crockpot from kraft recipes, which we weren't too fond of so I wont share that one. I did make chicken stir fry last night which is a favorite in our house and Prob's very own recipe.

Chicken Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken breast cubed ( how many you want to make)
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp oil
• fresh or frozen vegtables of your choice
• oyster sauce to your taste

In frying pan or wok add oil, garlic, sugar and cook until garlic is slightly brown, add chicken and oyster sauce. Cook until chicken is cooked through, add vegtables. Cook until vegtables are tender to your liking. Serve with white rice. Beef is also good with this recipe.

 

 

Productive weekend

Saturday was the day. I couldn't take walking down in the basement anymore and looking at all the stuff we have accumulated over the years and the disastrous mess it had become in the past few months. When I was 8 months pregnant I cleaned the entire basement, but with children, we all know things don't stay that way. It always seems like so much more fun for them to play in a space that you've just cleaned too. So I left the baby in daddy's care and while Romeo played outside with his friend, Olivia and I started our 8 hour cleaning, organizing and bagging things for the goodwill task.( Olivia more entertained me with her singing and objections to every little thing I tried to donate). Luckily when she wasn't looking a lot of things ended up in those thrift store bags. She'll never miss them, I guarantee (:








I like to clean and organize well I guess its not that I like to clean but rather that I like the results and I am good at it. But once I start, I don't stop. So after the basement, I cleaned the kitchen cupboard, the silverware drawer and put together the baby's highchair. Today Romeo stayed home sick from school so after we dropped Olivia off we brought about 10 bags to the goodwill. The last few things to get out of the basement are 2 old TVs and a broken computer which I think I will take to recycle once daddy gets off work. Ah, it feels so good to get things done that are on your mind, I love it.

We also went and visited a new church because the pastor had stopped by and invited us. It was a very small church but the message was good and uplifting and Olivia absolutely loved their Sunday school class, she was begging me to go back next weekend, we'll see. Here is their website, they are asking for prayers for a new building so keep them in mind, Thanks. http://northlandbaptistchurch.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

So today I'm spending the day with my boys, life is good, Thank you God!

Treasure Hunt 2011

Yes! It is almost that time. The Saint Paul winter carnival and the annual medallion hunt. I am not much of an outdoor person in the winter except when it comes to the medallion hunt. About 6 years ago when I was still working downtown and had been following the daily clues in the newspaper just for fun, I had the itch
 to actually get out and look for it, so after work late that night,I decided to go to the park I thought it may be in and climb a tree (that's where I thought for sure it was lol). Well that was the beginning of my addiction to the yearly hunt. For the first few years I went alone and a few years ago my mother started joining in then her friend Lou started coming as well. I deemed this "My hunting season" to my husband. He stays home and watches the children and does pretty much everything during the 12 days ( take a few if its found before clue 12) that I live in medallion world and neglect everything and everyone!

Those 12 days consist of, staying up every night waiting for the next clue to come out at midnight online via Twin Cities.com. or going and waiting down at the pioneer press for the paper which comes out before that (this is especially important after the first few clues because the minute a new clue comes out you are sure you know where it is and must get to it before someone else does God forbid.Then researching your butt off to figure out what the heck they are talking about, calling every smart person you know and picking their brain for ideas. Then you pull out maps of all the parks in the city and look at the Ariel views via google maps trying to find something that fits the clues. If you really are stuck there are online discussion boards that can either hurt you or help you and sometimes you end up on those for hours at a time.

Once a day at least (mostly at midnight)you go racing out the door dressed like you are going to Antarctica with shovels and flashlights and the adrenaline that YOU are going to be the one to find it and get the prize of 10,000 dollars and the fame of finding a needle in a haystack that thousands of others are looking for, only to come home empty handed, frozen and exhausted hours later. Sounds terrible but it is such a good time!

 I got my button the other day and sent off the registration card today. (Got to have that to get the full prize and not get a beatdown by the die hards if you were to find it and not have a registered button)

 To learn more about The medallion hunt and the winter carnival you can check out these sites: http://www.coolercrew.com/ or http://www.winter-carnival.com/

Here are some pictures from previous years hunts

Something cool we stumbled upon while searching at battle creek

Some guy taking a break from digging at Swede Hollow

Swede Hollow 2009 hunt, was awesome!

We called this the hill of death, it was pure ice, even the stairs. It was hilarious to watch people come down it, slide down it rather

Thrifty can be good

These past few days I have been on the hunt to find things to better organize our house without spending an arm and a leg. My first attempt failed and I ended up at target buying some Rubbermaid storage bins, which weren't that cheap. Today was better however and Gabriel and I found lots of good things for my organization project at a local thrift store. I feel really good when I find such good deals on things that I need. I even ended up getting a beautiful wool coat for like 3 dollars, hey cant go wrong there. It also reminded mewhat good deals you can find at thrift stores

Yesterday when I went to check on Gabriel during his nap, this is what I found. He wasn't crying or anything and it was too cute for me to go through my mind about the what ifs. So instead I took a picture. 

Tonight for dinner I made a recipe that I hadn't tried before. It came from a cook book, " Easy stovetop chicken recipes of the world" that my mother picked up for me at a garage sale over the past summer. Chicken and bean enchiladas, and they were delicious.

Chicken and Bean Enchiladas (Serves 4)INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• salt, black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 red onion
• 1-10oz can kidney beans
• 1- 8oz jar salsa
• lettuce (your choice of kind)
• 8 corn tortillas
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
• goat cheese or feta cheese (crumble)

Cut chicken breasts in thin strips and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and cumin. Cook in skillet until done. Drain beans and rinse in cold water. In saucepan add beans and salsa, heat through over low heat. Chop lettuce, chop onion finely, finely chop cilantro. Warm tortillas in a small amount of oil in pan. Lay out tortillas on a cutting board and spread bean mixture, then top with chicken and lettuce. Roll up and top with onion, cilantro, and feta cheese. ( I liked squirting lime on top of mine too)

Milestones, Milestones

It seems like in these past 2 weeks Gabriel is learning a lot of things. Lets see, he started cooing loudly, which seemed to only last a few days, then he moved on to getting up just once in the night to sleeping through the night (we got 2 nights of that but last night he decided he'd get up once again) oh well at least we know its in the near future and besides, we can handle getting up once. He also is starting to grasp things and everything heads straight to his mouth. His newest thing today was that he rolled on his side and I almost thought he'd roll over had he not been on our soft bed. All these things are just happening back to back, it's crazy how fast they start to blossom. I remember all of these milestones with my other children but it has been so long that I couldn't remember at what stage everything happens.

Gabriel reaching for his toys

The children started back to school this week so it's just me and baby with a long list of things to do around here. Yesterday I organized the laundry room and got my new system all in order to make laundry easier for the kids to help with. We labeled baskets in the basement for each color and set up a laundry table where the children will pick up their clean clothes as they drop off their dirty ones from their personal baskets in their own rooms. They know how to sort now so all I have to do is wash and fold.While going through everything in the laundry room I found a pile of things that need to be fixed such as needs a button or has a small tear that needs to be sewn, so I thought today I'd make myself get that done.

Yesterday I went to bible study for the first time in awhile and that felt really good. I told one of the ladies at bible study that I haven't been feeling so well and she said, "You just need us". She was right, I do and I need God. So I am starting my daily devotions again and my bible reading which I had been really slacking on. If there is anything that I must get done daily even on my toughest days, it's that, then I'll have the strength to go from there.

Well, duty calls and before I forget Happy New Year all, hope it brings wonderful things!

Calii on New Years

Remembering Me

Since I started having children, I've also always had a part time job or been in school. This is the longest  I have ever gone without doing either since school ended in may and I quit my job as a home health aide to just take care of myself while I was pregnant and the family. I always wanted to give up those things and just be an at home mom thinking that it would make life easier to not have outside worries so that I would have more energy for my family. I  have realized in these months of being home that it is easier per se but I notice that without an outside source of fulfillment, I don't feel like i am exercising my gifts within and that I get restless to do something just for me.

I am reading a  book called "The rules for marriage". One of the rules is "Keep up your own interests, have a life". I think a lot of people lose themselves throughout the course of a new relationship and then into a marriage. I think we feel like if we aren't giving 100% of who we are to our family, we somehow feel like we are doing something wrong.  I've learned over the years as a wife and a mother that if I don't keep up my own interests and allow my husband to do the same, that things get not only dull  but that we struggle more in our relationship and in being the parents we want to be.

Growing up, one thing that I remember about my dad and that still stands out to me to this day was his motivation to do physical activities. He was always teaching my brothers to play sports, or taking us sledding or to the park, EVERYTIME we saw him.Even now at family functions, his side of the family plays wiffle ball, we go bowling, have family golf tournaments or games of pictionary where everyone is roaring in laughter.He instilled that in us and i hope to instill that into my children. I want them to have the drive to live life to the fullest. Children learn what they live and I don't want them to think that all their is, is to be an at home mom or a dad that just works and watches tv.

Gabriel slept through the night for the first time last night and I told myself that once he did so I would start back to school. Summer session looks like it will be a good time to do that. I think ill start out slowly with just a class or two until I can get the feel for it again. I also think ill start a hobby class next month and return to weekly bible study. Anyway, when I start getting down on myself for wanting some me time I remember this, I'm only human and it's ok to feel that way, its not a bad thing and it helps me to be more content and happy, which in turn makes me a better mom and wife. Everyone wins.