Things I'm loving right now. . .

I did one of these posts last November. You can find it here. Several of you commented (and I remember, because I love comments, wink) about how you liked it, so I thought I'd do another "things I'm loving right now" because I'm really loving these things right now! :) So here goes. . .

1. riceworks (my favorite new chips) These are pure deliciousness if you like salt. I do and they were!! I'm normally the kind of girl who goes to Costco or the grocery store and happily takes the samples they offer for a nice little shopping snack. I never intend to buy the product they are selling. However, this past week, the boys and I headed to Costco. We happily sampled the riceworks (sea salt flavor) and fell in love!!! I think Charlie takes after my love of salt because he was addicted right away too and thus we bought them!! If you have a Costco membership---look for them and thank me later. They are super healthy--no MSG, no gluten, no trans fat, etc., etc. Just YUMMY!!! I'm including a picture so you know what to look for. You're welcome.

2. Five Minute Devotions for Children by Pamela Kennedy- This is Luke's favorite bedtime devotion book. We have another Bible story book we read as well, but once we finished it, again, I looked for a new book. This is a great one! Each devotion starts out with an animal story and connects an animal trait with one of God's traits. It has questions for the kiddos, which stump Luke some, but we help him think through them. I believe the age range is 4-8. We started this book a month ago and it seems perfect. I would highly recommend it if you have animal lovers and boys--good combo! If you click on the link above it will take you to Amazon, but I bought ours at Target.

3. Picasa--Awesome photo editing software that is FREE!! As you may know, I have a new toy--my Canon xsi camera. I love it. I'm now paparazzi, but my family is accepting it. Anyway, I've been pointed to Picasa and it's fabulous! A great way to sort/edit/make collages (like mine at the top of our blog). Download it and have fun!

4. Football season--which always brings around our yummy Mexican dip. I've shared this recipe on my blog before, but I have tweaked it some. Here you go. . .

1-8oz. cream cheese

1 can chili---no beans

1 jar picante sauce or salsa

3/4 onion, chopped

jalapeno pepper slices

grated colby/monterrey jack cheese

Frito Scoops

Spread cream cheese in roung baking dish. Then spread chili on top. Next spread salsa, then onions, then jalapeno slices and top with cheese. Heat until cheese melts. We bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes. Serve with Frito Scoops and enjoy! We love it!!

the chronicle of our rainy week

Though there is sunlight coming in my window right now, we haven't seen very much of it over the past week. The forecast continues to look wet as well--rain moves in again this afternoon. Chad and I had a chance to visit Seattle 7 years ago when I did a 3 day walk for breast cancer. We stayed for a week and LOVED it--decided then and there we'd move to the Pacific northwest in a heartbeat. We wondered why people complained about the rain in Seattle (while we were there it was August and sunny the entire trip). Chad and I actually love the rain, storms, and dreary weather that makes you feel like you shouldn't be doing anything but snuggle up with a good book. However, this past week, cabin fever hit bigtime! With rain coming down in buckets and no chance of going outside, the toys in the house quickly got old! The drive-thru window was our only hope of getting out of the house and not getting wet, and we definitely couldn't do that for every meal! Soooo, while we all grumbled about our random monsoon weather, and were surrounded by a jungle (our yard hasn't been mowed in 3 weeks-due to the rain), we had to come up with other exciting indoor events. . .


like big brother making boats out of pillows. . .

and little brother face-planting into them. . .


and big brother building the boats again. . .


while little brother back-dives into them. . .


which looks like so much fun that big brother dives into pillows too!

We also turned our bedroom into a football field. One side of our bed was an end zone and our closet was the other end zone. We each played different positions, but more often than not, Luke enjoyed being quarterback--though he sure ran the ball into the endzone a LOT. Maybe he was actually the runningback! Daddy was a great linebacker and coach too!


See, Chuckles, here's how we play football. . .

you run after the person with the ball. . .


and tackle them. . .


Football is SO much fun--exhausting--but SO much fun!!

World Cupper in the making!

Our budding soccer star!!

Our little Lukey had his first soccer game last Friday, and though he's not quite at all ready for the World Cup next year, he had a blast!! Dressed in his purple uniform, our #3 took to the field and ran his heart out!! He might not have always been running toward the ball, but he never stopped smiling! It was adorable! He'd even turn and wave to us mid-run! Don't let me give you the wrong impression though. Luke made contact with the ball and even prevented a goal (though 2 seconds later the other team did manage to score)! But, that's not the point. We were just so excited to see Luke get to experience a team sport! We only had 2 practices before the first game. Of course there were no uniforms and there was a soccer ball for each player. They did a couple of drills, and so forth, but it was nothing like the game was going to be. So, last week, Chad and I started talking to Luke more about the game and practicing some at home. Luke responded with, "But, why can't we all have a ball during the game?" and "I don't want to play against another team---just our team!" Other funny comments followed, so to see most everything "click" in Luke's head once the game started was just sweet. Our team was demolished (thanks to a super star kid on the other team), but we played great. Everyone had fun and that's the most important part--at least at this age right???

**Should Luke ever score a goal, I'll be back to post pictures, as Chad has been teaching Luke to rip off his shirt and run around yelling GOOOAAAAALLLLL! Nice, huh?

A quick pep talk before the game!

Go Purple!

Luke gets in on the action!

Put me in Coach!!

Luke and some of his teammates!

Good sport!

beach bums

We didn't make it to the beach this summer, so to bring in the fall, the four of us hopped in our car and took a quick (well if you call 8 hours quick) trip to the beach over Labor Day weekend. It was perfect!! The weather was beautiful, the boys had a blast in the sand and waves, and we were able to get some much needed relaxation and quality time together!! It had been since last October that we were at the beach, so Charlie was only 6 months old and barely put his feet in the sand. This time around, he was ALL over the place and had sand ALL over him everyday, but he loved it! Luke had so much fun too! Probably the highlight of his trip was throwing the disc (frisbee to you rookies) with his Daddy in the ocean. He couldn't get enough of it! And, though Chad and I weren't able to lounge around and read on the beach, as we have done in years past, we did soak up some sun and had fun playing with the boys! We've been lots of places, but Chad and I think the beach is just heaven!

Look at the seagulls, Mommy!

Strollin' down the beach

Beautiful beach babe!

The waves got me!

Our family loves the beach!