Random Friday

A few random thoughts for this chilly Friday morning!

Carrots:  I am pretty sure I had forgotten what real carrots looked like or what they tasted like!  It had been YEARS since I had purchased a whole carrot.  A recipe I was working on called for large carrots, so I grabbed a bunch, peeled them, and roasted them.  They tasted so yummy and different than baby carrots.  And, I hate to burst any bubbles but I have learned that baby carrots are really just regular carrots cut down.  So, go grab a bag of plain ole’ large carrots, pull out your peeler, and save a few $$$. 

Travel:  One week from today, I will be in DC!  I am leaving next Thursday to spend a long weekend with my good friend Sarah! (And her husband Jay, too!)  I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to some good girl time.  This is the longest I have been away from either one of my boys.  I know I am going to miss them like crazy, but I am looking forward to getting a little rest and good encouragement from a friend who challenges me to grow spiritually.  I am sure we are going to squeeze a little shopping in some where. :)  My mom will be coming down to help Hal with the boys.  Between daddy and grammy, I am leaving them in very capable hands!

On Sarah's wedding day ... I need a better picture. :)

Menu Plans: I am working on my menu plans for the next 3 weeks today!  Since I will be out of town next week, I am trying to make things easier for my mom and Hal.  The next two weeks after that are going to be a little nuts, so I am trying to go ahead and get those planned out as well.  We will see how it goes! 

Books:  Don’t forgot to enter the giveaway for Money Saving Mom’s new book!  Just click here and see how to enter.

Have a great weekend my friends!

Random Friday: 11/11/11

11/11/11 and Veterans Day ... I couldn’t resist a Random Friday post and a few cute pics of my boys!  

-I am thankful for the veterans in my family: both of my grandfathers, my dad, my aunt Bee, and my brother-in-law Ed. 


-This is a great post from Femina on the loving and respecting your calling as a wife and a mother.  It was both a challenge and encouragement to me as I read it this morning.

-Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a custom Family Tree Canvas from my friends at Peace, Love, and Crafts.  It is easy to enter!  Simply enter your information into the Rafflecopter form and then do a few small tasks such as leaving me a comment and telling me something you are thankful for.

-We are still working hard on eating well around here.  This week I was able to wear a pair of jeans I wore before little brother was born ... woohoo!  Now my goal is to make it to my pre-big brother size which is probably going to be a little harder to achieve.  I have really been thinking about how I am going to make it through the holidays and take more weight off.  I love this post by Heather today.  It gives practical help for holiday eating.

-We have a busy few weeks coming up with D’s 3rd birthday, Thanksgiving, and hopefully a trip to St. Louis to watch my brother’s team play in the Missouri State Championship game.

-Studying Acts and the life of Paul has been amazing the last few weeks.  I am looking forward to sharing about my Acts journey with you soon.  I just haven’t found the time to get with my computer and write as much the last few weeks.

Have a great weekend!

Date Night

Hal and I often talk about how we took for granted the time we had alone together before we had kids.  We were blessed to be able to travel a lot before kids, but I don't think you completely understand what a blessing that time is together until you are not able to get the one-on-one time quite as often when kids come along.  We both know it is important to get that time, but it seems life often gets in the way. It doesn't have to be an elaborate meal or a big event, it is just important to spend time with your man when your attention can be solely focused on him and not the hungry baby or inquisitive 3 year old.  Since we took my mom with us to Disney, we were able to sneak away each night for some much needed Hal & Lindsay time. 

Monday night after we put the boys to bed, we just walked down to the pool area at our resort and put our very tired feet in the hot tub. It was nice to talk kiddo free and my sweet man bought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte to go along with the conversation.  

Tuesday night we headed to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping without D's input.  Going in a store with him wasn't a pleasant experience.  He was sure he needed everything he saw! Of course we managed to spend some $$$, but we did pick up several Christmas gifts.

Wednesday night we left mom with both boys and headed back to Epcot around 5:00. We had planned on doing dinner at one of the restaurants in the World Showcase, but once we saw the International Food & Wine Festival our plans changed!  We had the best time walking around and trying food from the different countries that we wouldn't have normally tried.  Each country offered a few different choices.  It looks like we are eating a ton and we did try a lot of things, but the portions were small.  We enjoyed it so much that we would plan our next Disney trip around this festival.  Here is our culinary trip around the world!

Greece: Fried cheese with honey and pistachios

France: Coq au Vin

Ireland: Cheese plate with apple chutney

Japan: Spicy Tuna Rolls and Pork Kakuni(spare ribs)

Poland: Keilbasa and Potato Pierogi

Italy: Ravioli di Formiaggia all Emilliana

Ready for the fireworks!

We found freshly made carmel corn in one of the stores in Germany.  If I could make this for my husband at home he would be a very happy man.

Epcot Fireworks

What is your favorite date night?  Share your ideas with us.  How do you make date night a priority?

Lessons From a Week at Disney World

• Trying to teach an almost 3 year old to wait in a line for 40 minutes to ride Dumbo is impossible and can stretch the limits of anyone’s patience! “Stand up!” “Keep your hands off the chains.”  “It will be our turn in a minute.” Those are just a few of the MANY things I repeated during our wait.  He throughly enjoyed it and his laughter was priceless, even if the ride only lasted 3 minutes.

Riding Dumbo with my little man

• Baby Care Stations are AMAZING.  I ran across the Baby Care Station at Magic Kingdom and I am not sure that I could have survived our trip without them!  I was able to feed and change little man and even washed bottles at the station.  

• Grammy’s are essential to a satisfying Disney experience.  They hold babies, take little boys to the potty, get bottles ready, and just enjoy watching the joy on your kids faces as much as you do.  Don’t do Disney without one. :)

Grammy with her boys

• From backscratchers to measuring spoons, if you want to bring home a Mickey Mouse souvenir, you can find it.

• You learn something new every trip you take to Disney.  This time we discovered that character breakfasts may be a little pricey but they get you in the park before the big rush.  We also discovered that you can get a Fast Pass at Magic Kingdom to see Mickey, Minnie, and a few of the princesses. Fast Passes are amazing and minimize the stress of waiting in line!

• You can understand couples arguing at Disney even in a different language.  I may not have understand the actual words but I understood the emotions!  When you have small  kids and it is hot and you have spent 6 hours at the park, it is easy to get frustrated!  We walked past a couple at the Magic Kingdom late in the afternoon who were having a heated conversation in Spanish while looking at their map.  Their children were crying in the stroller.  It was hot and late in the day.  No translation needed.

Drew was fascinated with the park maps. :)

• Trips like this are lessons in how to turn lemons into lemonade, especially for this planner personality.  I feel like I experienced a “Growth Moment” several times on this trip when our plan didn’t quite work out as we had expected.  Instead of letting it stress me out completely, I was able to adjust adjust and move on.  Wow, that is so much easier than my normal response.  I am pretty sure my hubby would say the same thing!

We really did have a great time.  I will probably have another post to do after our 12 hour car ride home with two boys who are very tired!

8:50 AM

It's Mick Mouse!!!