Monday, February 28, 2011

Brennan's Birthday and D-Now

Brennan's birthday was last Thursday and we decided to do a low-key celebration since his party isn't for 2 more weeks. Being the awesome parents that we are, we woke up on Thursday morning and realized we hadn't bought him one present. Ha! So after getting him out of bed and singing Happy Birthday to him about 15 times that day, I took him to Target and let him pick out a Thomas train. I also made pizza (his favorite) and cupcakes for dinner. We had his friend, Barrett over to celebrate with us. And of course, I completely forgot to take photos (but Jon has video so maybe I can get that from him).


The cupcakes I made B had a yummy whipped topping that tasted like marshmallow creme. I can send you the recipe if you want!

Friday night and all day Saturday was D-Now for the Met students. An explanation of D-Now from the website,

"D-Now 2011 is a high energy "camp-like" weekend experience. Its an experience built around a TRUTH-focused biblical community allowing Students to build strong relationships within their groups, host homes, and weekend Experiences."

We weren't able to host a group of students because we didn't have enough transportation (bummed) so we volunteered on Saturday instead. The students competed in an Amazing Race and one of their stations was to drink 1 gallon of milk. And that's the station they put us at to host. Yep.


Luckily, the rules stated that one person could drink the entire gallon by themselves or they could pass it around between them (hello germs, how are you??). And there were only two pukers,so not too shabby. Honestly, it was SO MUCH FUN! I had a blast. After the Amazing Race, they had lunch (chick fil a), a worship set, a time of teaching, free time, etc. It was so well done for the students and I've heard stories that it was very impactful as well.

We also house-hunted on Saturday night and I'm almost convinced that buying a house could be as stressful as selling a house. See you soon!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Only in Texas. . .

So the soaked rice turned out great! For anyone interested, here's the recipe I used (from this website):

2 cups long-grain or short-grain rice
4 cups pure warm water, plus 4 TB kefir, vinegar, or lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
2-4 Tbsp butter (real butter, puh-leease)

Combine the rice, water and yogurt (or kefir, lemon juice, vinegar) in a stock pot with a secure cover. Allow to soak for 7 or more hours if possible. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, add salt and butter, cover tightly. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID. Cook over the lowest possible heat, for about 45 minutes.
Variations: use 1 cup coconut milk, or homemade chicken, beef or fish stock for part of the liquid.

*Brown rice is the highest of all grains in B vitamins and it also contains iron, and vitamin E.

In other random news, I was driving down a major highway by our house heading to playgroup this morning and traffic came to a sudden stop. I was wondering what in the world was going on. Lo and behold, this was going on and I just had to take video on my cell as we drove by:



I asked some friends at playgroup about it and apparently these trailriders ride on their horses from all over Houston to the Reliant stadium downtown on Saturday to join the Rodeo parade and kick off Rodeo season. I googled it and found this article.
Tehehe, only in Texas. It's a whole 'nother world down here!

Chaeli

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Houses, Healthy Food, Brennan is a crazy talker, etc.

I've got a lot on my mind right now, we looked at a few houses with our realtor this morning and one that we really really like currently has an offer on the table (they're negotiating), so we're seriously considering offering on it TODAY. We'll see, we'll see.

(edit, we decided not to make the offer due to several reasons (one being the seller has a full price offer right now).

Regardless, something really cool happened with Brennan this weekend- he spoke an entire sentence! Jon and I were doing dishes in the kitchen and he came up whining. I said, "Brennan, use your words, what's the matter?" And he said, "I want Daddy to play choo choo (trains) with me". Holy cow! This child is growing up FAST!




I'm reading through the book Nourishing Traditions right now. It's about food and how modern methods of preparation and ingredients really isn't good for our bodies (microwaving, bleaching, heating to super high temperatures, etc.) I wish I understood more of the book but I just don't, it's a lot of medical talk I just don't get. But I have gleaned a few interesting points. Here ya go, take it or leave it, this is more for my benefit than yours, ha!:

- polyunsaturated oils and hydrogenated oils = BAD. Most people benefit from more fat in our diets than less but the fats must be chosen with care (i.e. evoo, good quality butter, etc).

-whole grains are great, but soaking them before eating them nuetralizes the phytates and enzyme inhibitors and basically predigest grains so that all their nutrients are more available to our bodies. (also helps people who are allergic to grains tolerate them much better). Both fats, carbs and proteins are devitalized by processing and refining (i.e. eat them in their whole state).

-animal fats are good (meat, eggs, milk).

-fermenting milk is a process that partically breaks down the lactose and casein and results in yogurt, kefir, etc. Helps people that have trouble digesting dairy. Pastuerization puts a strain on the bodys digestive mechanism because it takes about the enzyme content. However, not sure we're ready to jump onto the fresh milk wagon. Again, go with real butter.

I'm attempting to soak rice this afternoon, I'll letcha know how it turns out!



Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Toddler Games

I recently got this book out of the library and I've been attempting to play at least one game a day with Brennan.

One of the ideas in the book is to put some flour, rice or cornmeal in a casserole dish or cookie sheet to let the toddler play in. It was a hit. I pulled up one of our chairs to our island and he played in it for at least 45 minutes.

This was his face when I told him to say "cheese":

I wisened up after a few minutes and stripped him down to his diaper, he was covered in flour!!


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Homemade






I posted this idea a few months ago from another blog I follow and finally decided to do it- easy peasy scrapbook paper pictures. What I love about this idea is that I can switch out the paper very easily and change the entire look. I bought 4 frames at Walmart for $12.00 and four pieces of scrapbook paper for $1.00 at Hobby Lobby. Not too shabby for $13.00! I wish I would have bought frames with very little border instead of these thick black ones, so that would be my suggestion to you if you're going to do it!

Today I made this tuxedo cake I found on this blog. I am really falling in love with cooking and baking and I love trying out new recipes. My goal is to try one new recipe a week. Anyways, I made this cake for Jon for Valentines Day and I'm pretty sure it's a winner. I had him try the whipped cream topping and he wouldn't stop eating it so I'm guessing he likes it. I'm bummed the chocolate glaze didn't turn out thicker, but I was running low on heavy whipping cream so I used evaporated milk instead, what can a girl do?

Anyways, those are some fun homemade things I've been doing lately.

Washing the car with Daddy


The best part was when he got out his cozy coupe and started washing that. I love this kid.

It was warm and sunny here today so we headed outside after church and naps to enjoy it. Houston has terribly hot summers, but at least right now it's amazing out! We're thankful!



Friday, February 11, 2011

Chazown!

Hey y'all.
We just found out we have tickets to go see Keith Urban at the Houston Rodeo this March. I'm now using "y'all" every day and going to the rodeo. That's what 18 months in Texas does to a woman. :) I kid, I kid. Kind of.

This weekend, The Met is hosting a Chazown experience and I'm going to go. Check out Chazown here. The staff took two days to go through Chazown earlier in January so Jon really encouraged me to go this time around when they offered it for everyone. I'm a little antsy from sitting in training for 2 weeks for CASA, but I'm sure it will be worth the time. Anyone else gone through Chazown?
From the website, Chazown is: "It's the Hebrew word for vision, and it's what God had in mind for you when you were created. Each of us is a masterpiece, placed on earth for a unique purpose that's solely ours to fulfill. Come uncover God's dream for your life - your Chazown."

Lots more going on around here but I need to run. We are completely out of breakfast food and I'm not going shopping again for at least a few more days. I'm going to make some cinnamon scones and cinnamon buns to get us through the next few days. Take care!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

"Snow" Day


Yesterday, Houston had a snow day. But it didn't snow. But there was some ice on the roads, so they shut down all the major highways and cancelled all schools and activities. We were bummed because I was supposed to have MOPS on Friday and there was a Parents Night Out that night. We had invited some friends over for a game night during PNO so we had to cancel that as well. BOOOO. Here's a brief recap of B and I's day at home:


He played with his cars behind the couch cushions (so weird, he loves to play with them in the couch cracks)

We colored together. And then he colored on his face, which leads us to the next photo. . .


(JUST KIDDING, NO NAKED PHOTO OF THE B MAN ON THE WEB!)


Then I gave him a bath and let him run around naked aftewards (his all-time favorite activity). I couldn't get him to stop running long enough to get a good photo.

I made kale chips.

After his nap, my friend Laura and her kiddos came over to play. We were both ready for a change of pace so it worked out great!

Today is sunny and 60 so we're heading outside to play, yay!! Stay warm, y'all.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Worship Night




To cap off the 21 days of fasting at The Met, they had a worship night on Sunday night. It was awesome. The Spirit moved, it was thought provoking and fun and worshipful.

Sunday morning, Jon, B and I went downtown to watch our friend Cathi run the Houston Marathon. We were able to see her around miles 17, 22 and the finish line. It was perfect temperature but a little drizzly. I totally forgot to take my camera out of my purse so I don't have any photos. Of course I cried watching the people finish, just like I did last year. Cathi, we're super impressed by your work ethic, you're a rock star!!

I realized I hadn't put very many photos of Brennan on here in a while so these are for the Grandparents in Michigan!



"Helping" us roll out pizza dough Saturday night


B and Barrett swinging at Barrett's birthday party

Jon and B

I heard the Midwest is getting a huge snow storm today/tomorrow. . . stay safe and warm everyone! Dad, no crazy driving, you hear me? :)