a J.E.T Roll Over!

The Roll Over...

Woo Hoo!!

Hope you got your "fix" :)

-Paige

Where's the booger sucker thingy?

Phrases I have heard around our home today... (it's only 9am):

"Is that you I smell, or the trash?"

"Is it green?"..."More like chartreuse."

"My nose holes are closed."

"Where is the booger, sucker thingy?"

...here's to a wonderful day!

 Lord, please heal our family of this sickness!

I hope to be back to blogging with photos and more interesting posts VERY soon, but as of today, I have a sick family to tend to. Thanks for being patient and praying with us for our health to return quickly!!

-Paige

Trains, Rootbeer floats, Eyebrow threading & Randomness.

My blog seemed to fall by the wayside the last few weeks. I have missed writing and *hope* you all have missed reading!! 

My last post was on the 17th, when James turned 3 months! And today, the 29th I sit and rest for the first time since then! It has been a busy 12 days to say the least! Jimmy was given the task of directing the church's VBS program this summer. The church chose a curriculum called Mega Sports Camp. I played sports, as did Jimmy, but neither of us have done so recently. It was quite a challenge for us to work on a program that was sport based when neither of us are super "athletic" :) We ending up coaching soccer and our group consisted of boys from 3-6. oh my. I think I got a view into what to expect with our little boy and I will be the first to say, I don't know what I'm in for! The camp went well and we had one little boy accept the Lord! Even if all of our hard work was only for that one soul, It was TOTALY worth it! Jimmy was able to talk to him one on one and connect with him. 

My mom came to visit us the past week! She rode the train...for 27 hours :) It was so wonderful to spend some time with her! I was very thankful she was able to come the same week as Mega Sports Camp and watch James so we could devote our time to coaching soccer. It was hard for me to leave James, even though he was only in the church nursery, he was still away from us for the first time. I am so happy they got to spend some quality cuddle time together <3

One of the highlights of the week at Mega Sports Camp was the rootbeer floats on Friday night. They we delicious.

My mom tried to talk me into getting my eyebrows threaded. It is an alternative to waxing that is apparently better for your skin... We went to the Mall of America and found a shop that did it... Then we saw the video of the woman violently ripping out each eyebrow hair one by one... I refuse. I am a sissy and I know it. There is no way I'm doing THAT to my face! Ouch!! Have you ever done it? My grandma swears it feels "good"... Let me know, I would love to hear your experiences.

My sciatica is acting up again. It is very frustrating... not nearly as bad as when I was pregnant, but, sciatic nerve pain is pain no matter the degree. 

This Sunday is our last sunday in Minnesota. Jimmy said today "it feels like we just pulled into town!" I would totally agree. We are just finding our place, finding friends and getting comfortable and its time to head back to school! Crazy!! We have truly enjoyed our time here and the internship went very well! I think we have both learned alot! 

We will be heading back to NoDak for a few days then heading to Montana to visit family & work for a few weeks. While we are there one of my good friends is getting Married and I am honored to be her photographer and we will also be attending jimmy's 10 year high school reunion.

Phew! Now that I have caught you all up on what our family has been up to, I am going to nurse my baby and then immediately go to bed. We are wore out from all the happenings the last few weeks and need to catch up on our Z's before we have to make the 20 hour trek home! :)

Have a wonderful evening!

-Paige

1/4 of a year!

James is Three months old today! Thats 1/4 of a year! Holy smokes that went by fast!

At three months, James:

- loves to shove his entire fist in his mouth

- sleeps 7 hours a night consistently

- loves to talk to him daddy WAY more than to me

- is so close to rolling from back to tummy, but not quite!

- weighs 11 lbs 5 oz

- sleeps with both hands behind his head 90% of the time

- stays awake in the car, cooing & playing with Geoffrey, when he isn't looking out the window or intently at the "Warning" label on his carseat

- would watch TV all day long if his mama would allow it

- kicks and wiggles ALL the time

- finally has rolls on his thighs <3

I love this boy!

-Paige

A God That Heals

I believe in a God That heals. 

I am blessed by our church families who prayerfully intercede.

I am thankful for the health of our son. 

I can see God's hand in our son's three short months here with us!

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for our family.

James 5:16

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Delicious Black Bean Quesadillas

I always struggle with good recipes using beans. My brain automatically thinks "chili". But, being summer, chili doesn't even sound good to me! I was searching for easy summer time meals and came across this recipe from Eating Well. I think next time I will add a can of drained corn to them and possibly some chicken, just to make it a little fuller. But they were absolutely delicious and SO easy! I altered the recipe a bit from what the site originally called for!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
• 1/2 cup prepared fresh salsa (see Tip), divided
• 4 8-inch tortillas
• olive oil

• PREPARATION
  1. Combine beans, cheese and 1/4 cup salsa in a medium bowl. Place tortillas on a work surface. Spread 1/2 cup filling on half of each tortilla. Fold tortillas in half, pressing gently to flatten.
  2. Turn BBQ to low heat, brush outside of tortillas with olive oil to prevent sticking. Place quesadillas on grill & cook, turning once, until golden on both sides and cheese is melted, 2 to 4 minutes total.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  TIPS & NOTES

  • Look for prepared fresh salsa in the supermarket refrigerator section near other dips and spreads. Like this one from WalMart:

  

  
  
  We enjoyed some chips and the extra salsa and topped our quesadillas with taco sauce & sour cream. (We don't live avocado, or else some guacamole would have been great, too!) A side salad would be great with this meal as well! :) 
  
  
  OH- and sorry for the bad pictures, all I had was my husbands cell phone! ha. :)
  
  
  -Paige 

Meal Planning

"What's for dinner?"

You glance up at the clock as your husband walks in the door after a long day at work and then at the empty stove. oops! Its 5:30 and you still have nothing out for a meal! Meat? frozen. Veggies? we're out! Potatoes? I don't think they are supposed to smell like that...

I love to cook, but am terrible about cooking the same ten meals over and over again if I do not plan ahead. Since discovering the usefulness of a Home Management Binder, meal planning has become a necessity! Not only does it make your day easier to glace at the chart and know exactly what you need to remove from the freezer, you save money by preparing meals that use some common ingredients and by only shopping once a week! 

On Saturday mornings (because we go shopping on saturdays!), I usually sit down with my coffee and some scratch paper (multiple pieces) and start the meal planning process.

First, I find the meals I want to make and gather recipes I need. Second, I jot down each day of the week, and fill in which meals we will have each day. I then draw a line down the middle of the page. On the right hand side, I write down all of the ingredients and groceries I need to buy. After this list is complete, I grab a second piece of paper and make my real grocery list, putting each item in order from the back of the store to the front. (No zig-zaging throughout the store for me!) Last, I grab my Weekly Meal Guide (which is in a clear page-protector) off the fridge door and my dry erase marker and fill in which meals we will be have each day (these should be written down on the FIRST piece of scratch paper!) and Viola! You have a Week worth of meals, planned out, with all of the groceries freshly placed in your fridge, pantry and freezer! 

Meal planning has been such a huge help to our family. We have pizza on friday night. always. If we have enough leftovers, Thursday night is leftover night. For the remaining 5 days, I ask for input for 2 meals from Jimmy and I choose 3 that somewhat correspond with the things he chose! Done! Yes, it takes some time, but I am much less stressed during the week. I have started to enjoy sitting down and planning meals my family with love and discovering new recipes to spice up our diets! Click Here to get a free Meal Schedule Printable I made just for my readers!  

So begins your journey to Home Management!

-Paige