What's For Dinner....Thursday???

I've taken a break from "What's For Dinner Wednesday's" because....uh.....I'm lazy (hey, at least I'm honest!). However, I was asked no less than 6 times this week by different people for one of my recipes, so I guess that this whole cooking thing seems to be what I'm known for. What I like about this new "title" is that people seem to think I can cook-ha! I've always thought of myself as a "baker", but nosomuch a "cook". I mean, if you need a cake, cookies, or bread (oh, I do love me some good bread), then I'm your girl (well, I've vowed to be more adventurous in the yeast breads category, but I digress....). To be called a good "cook", well, I'm flattered, but I hate to disappoint you. I'm a pretty simple girl, and lots of my food is just that-simple! What I think I'm good at making is simply easy, family friendly food that rarely has funky ingredients, because you know...I do have 4 kids!

Because it's now officially FALL, which is my second favorite season (I'm a July baby, therefore I must LOVE June, July, and August more than any other months!), I have found myself once again in soup heaven. I love soup! I love everything about soup! It's the ultimate comfort food for me, which is why most of the soups I dream about and crave also happen to have things like butter, heavy cream, cheese, and.....more cheese in them! But, today I'm going to share one of my more innocent and "less-fattening" soups with you. However, don't lose heart! If you are a girl after my own heart (which I know you are) I'll teach you how you too can add some devilishly delish garnishes to this innocent soup that will strip the purity right from it's marrow. Yes, I can be that kinda girl too.............

Spicy Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth (I will beat you with my broom if you use that crappy Swanson's junk in this precious soup!)
15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
2 cans rotel tomatoes (Do not use the "mild" version)
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
juice from 2 limes
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste (Please, make me happy and use Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper)
half cup cilantro (or about 2/3 of a "bunch")
2-3 cups chicken, cooked and shredded (I use about 2 really good sized chicken breasts and cook them in the crock pot all day with some onion and rotel so that they will shred beautifully when they are cooked. I think I usually have about 3 cups)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can of black beans

1 can of sweet corn

Toppings:
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
avocado

1. Let all ingredients (except tomatoes and chicken) boil for 10 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes and chicken and black beans.
3. Simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Add corn and let it warm through
5. Serve with chips, cheese and avocado

*Promise me, for the love of Oscar, that you will not skip the "toppings". They MAKE this soup everything that it was meant to be. But...if you wanna be one of "those" people that is too good for back fat, cellulite, and thunder thighs, then go ahead and eat the soup without all the sin on top. I'll still talk to you, but you can't be my best friend. I'm just sayin'......

Pumpkin Patch!

You Never Let Go

*Praise God that when I find myself losing hope that my savior never lets go of me! What love! What beautiful, unending, beautiful love! I'm full of mishaps and mistakes, blunders and bruises, fear, and even hopelessness. If I'm being totally honest I'd also have to admit to not putting my whole self into my relationship with my creator. I let the trials of this life cloud my vision sometimes, but Jesus loves me in spite of whatever misgivings I posses. He holds me close to His heart.... He never lets go!

************************************************************************************

When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go

When clouds brought rain
And disaster came
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rose
And hope had flown
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul
Overflows
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, my soul
Fills hope
Perfect love that never lets go

Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, what love, oh, what love
In joy and pain
In sun and rain
You?re the same
Oh, You never let go

Mr. Scary

Yesterday Maya and I went on a "nature walk" to collect items for a preschool project. What we came up with was quite possibly the cutest little pumpkin ever! When we finished our project I asked Maya what we should name our little pumpkin man, to which she responded, "Mr. Scary"! I LOVED it! So here he is......"Mr. Scary".

Race Day!

For better or worse, I've been at this running thing now for 3 years! I started off with very little ability and almost NO endurance & I've worked my way up to two full marathons, and a small handful of half marathons. I'm not fast, and I have absolutely nothing to prove...except for that which I prove to myself. For what it's worth, I think it's peculiar that a lot of people think you have to somehow be "good" to call yourself a runner. Well, I'm probably not "good" in the eyes of most athletes, but I'll tell you what I am.....determined!

If I thought I had to be "good" to continue this whole running fiasco I would have given up by now. Can I tell you something? I DO think I'm good....good at sticking to something-ha! I've got a thousand reasons to find a new hobby, but I've stuck with this running thing and slowly, very s-l-o-w-l-y it's paying off. After taking a substantial amount of time off after the birth of my fourth child I decided to throw myself full-tilt back into the running game & I tackled my first 1/2 marathon this past Saturday. I was determined to enter the game right where I left off, which meant I was chasing a 2:10 finish time in last weekends race. Sure, that not an impressive time, but it was my best half marathon finish time & I was darn proud of it! I told myself I HAD to be able to catch another 2:10...or better...no excuses! Well, I'm happy to report that I reached a new half marathon PR with a finish time of 2:07:38!! Mama's still got it!

But....you know what was even better??? BOTH of my sisters ran the KC half with me last Saturday too! How cool is that? After the race I had a little time to reflect on how awesome it is to be able share something I love so much with my whole family. The fact that I belong to such an awesome family was not lost on me that day...nope, not lost at all! At the end of the day THAT is what really matters!



Tiffany & Tricia....I love you more than you will ever know! Thanks for a great day!

1st Birthday Party.

This was the very first time we have had a small family party for one of our kids 1st birthday's, but that's just kinda how things went this time around. To be honest, it was kinda nice to enjoy a small birthday bash this time around. I'm usually one that likes to do things "BIG", but as my family expands I find myself wanting to simplify things as much as possible...and that's just what we did for Judah's first birthday party. I'm sure will have more eventful parties in the future, so never fear!

Here are a few snapshots of the big day :-).

The Birthday Story....

Honestly, I can't remember if I posted Judah's Birth story on here when he was born....but I thought I'd post it now in celebration of his first year of life! I know, I know....his birthday was a few weeks ago, but that's just how life goes in our house! I've had my plate pretty full lately with my little bunch, so forgive me for all the "catch up posts" I'm about to do.

Enjoy! (You know....if your into birth stories and that sort of thing!)

**************************************************************************************

Judah's Birth Story

I had been dealing with non-stop BH type contractions over the weekend & when I came in for my appt on Monday (the 29th) my blood pressure was up a little (138/82) & I was feeling really sick to my stomach. During my appt I had several contractions & I told my midwife that I had been having them off and on since 4:00 am. After we listened to the heartbeat we discussed stripping my membranes again and seeing if that would start a more regular labor pattern. However, when she went to check me she exclaimed "Oh, my...you are a good 5 cm and very effaced, so I don't think I'm gonna push it and do any membrane stripping right now". Then she told me she would be willing to just send me over to the hospital that evening & break my water. From the looks of it I was slowly preparing for labor anyway, so we made the decision to just get the show on the road. I thought that I would go for another spontaneous delivery this
time, but when I found out I was already 5 cm I quickly decided otherwise-LOL!

The main reason I agreed to the AROM was because I know I have a history of very fast labors, and this time the hospital was a good 30 minutes from my home in good traffic. As luck would have it, they were doing a ton of construction on the highway & there was no quick and easy route to the hospital without a bunch of construction delays. I SO did not want to have a "side of the road baby", and the idea of being able to arrange care for my other three kids was very appealing at this point.

We decided to have me check into the hospital around 4:30 and Jeane (my midwife) would meet me over there after she was done seeing her patients at the office. This way she could stay with me the entire time and give me her full and undivided attention. I went home with orders to "rest, eat some protein, and relax"...which is the exact opposite of what I did-LOL! I called Jonathan as soon as I left my appointment & told him "we're having our baby tonight" & he said "you mean...you're in labor!" hehe! Poor guy...he kinda had a bit of panic in his voice ;-). When I told him the plan he was very happy & said "oh, my gosh...this is it!". He left work right away & even got home before me! As soon as I got home I packed my bags (yes...I had been putting this off), called my family and arranged all the babysitting details, put Maya down for her nap, wrote down a few notes about kid care related stuff, and then I took a bath and of course... shaved my legs-LOL!

Jonathan and I decided to pick the kids up from school a little early so we could tell them the big news & give them hugs and kisses before we left. Everyone at the school was so excited for us and all the teachers were giving me hugs...it was kinda cute. After that we dropped the kids off at home & headed for the hospital. Once we checked in at the hospital they put me on the monitors & I was having a few contractions here and there, but nothing too exciting. We basically just hung out and watched TV until my midwife came around at 5:30. As soon as Jeane showed up she got me transferred to a "jacuzzi room" because she knew I was not getting an epidural & she wanted me to have some sort of comfort measures. Once we got all settled in the new room she broke my water right before 6:00 pm and we decided to have me do some walking in the halls to see if that would kick start the contractions. We walked and walked, but I wasn't really having any "good" contractions, so we came back to the room and I sat on the birth ball for a little while to just relax. At 7:00 pm my mom came by to "see if I had the baby yet"...and everyone laughed! My whole family is so used to me going quickly that they were sure he had already arrived. I told my mom to go ahead and go home because I thought it was going to be a long night.

Not long after that conversation with my mom I had one contraction that hurt quite a bit & I looked at Jeane and said "Now we're getting somewhere". She asked me if I wanted her to fill the tub & at first I said "no I think I want to wait until things pick up a little before I get in the water". Not 10 minutes later I said "you can go ahead and fill up the tub...this is going fast now". So, about 7:30 I got in the tub and did a lot of my hard labor in the water, which felt wonderful!

However, I started shaking really badly (transition...fun, fun!) & the contractions were coming one right on top of the other & I wanted to get out of the tub and stand. Once I got out of the tub I started making some noise which is not normally how I deal with labor, but it was just instinctual so I went with it. Jeane asked me if we could put the monitors back on for a few minutes since it had been awhile since we listened to the baby. As I was standing up I started swaying back and forth and Jeane just rubbed my back and belly, which felt very relaxing to me.

All of the sudden I felt the urge to push & Jeane asked me how I wanted to push. She told me that the squat bar might be the best option since I had wanted to do so much standing/squatting during transition, but all I wanted to do was sit down on the bed since my legs were feeling really shaky and weak at this point.

The pushing phase was definitely the worst/hardest part of my whole labor. I have NEVER pushed so hard in all my life. I felt like I was being really loud too, but I think in reality I wasn't making near as much noise as I thought. Every time I pushed something felt "off", but I couldn't stop pushing to save my life.

At one point I involuntarily quit pushing and starting doing this quick "panting" type of breathing and I heard the nurse say "is that what I think it is"...to which Jeane did not respond! I figured the baby must not be coming out the right way because this hurt WAY more than any of my other babies, and for the life of me I could not figure out why I was pushing SO HARD! All of the sudden I found myself saying "I can't do this...I can't do this". Jeane and Jonathan just kept telling me I COULD do this & that it was almost over. Right after saying "I can't do this", I got a huge surge of energy and pushed so hard I thought my head my explode, and then all of the sudden I felt the "ring of fire" and everyone said "the head is out!". When I looked down I saw my baby looking at me! No wonder it hurt!! However, it wasn't over yet! I still pushed a few more times for the shoulders. As soon as Jeane laid him on my tummy I said "WOW....he's finally here...and he's SO BIG!".

Everyone was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over his size & saying how they couldn't believe that was inside of me. Then they took him away to weigh him and I about fainted when they announced he was 8.14 :-).

Oh, and his time of birth was 8:49...just over an hour and a half since I had told my mom that I thought it was going to be a long night-ha! They gave him right back to me, but he started doing the sad little grunting noises, and I knew from our Chandler experience that they were going to take him to the nursery to check his oxygen levels.

Sure enough, the nurse said she was worried because he sounded like he was in distress, so Jonathan followed Judah to the nursery, while my midwife stayed with me and waited so I wouldn't be left alone. About 15 minutes later Jonathan returned to the room with little Judah and announced that he was fine! I guess he quit the little grunting noises as soon as they got to the nursery. We both snuggled him and kissed him and then our midwife took a family photo for us.

It was absolutely the best feeling in the whole world to be snuggling my little guy! After all the snuggling he latched on right away and nursed for a good 40 minutes.

After we made a ton of phone calls to tell everyone Judah had arrived, Jonathan and I looked at each other and said...."I'm starving!". However, it was nearly 11:00 pm and all the nurses could come up with was crackers, PB, and sprite. So, I sent Jonathan out in search of a giant cheeseburger and fries-LOL! He returned shortly after with Wendy's, and let me tell you...that was the best cheeseburger ever!

1 Amazing Year!

I vowed to take a picture of my forth child EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH. during his first year of life, and I'm so proud to tell you that I didn't go back on my word! So, without further ado I give you: Judah's first year of life :-).

What we have been up to

Just thought I needed to do a quick run down of what the White gang is up to:

-Jonathan has finally found a BAND! He is having a great time practicing with his new band members & I couldn't be happier seeing him find an outlet for his musical talent.

-I am training for a 1/2 Marathon. It's a small goal, but it's a goal nonetheless! As much as I'd love to have a full on my calendar, I have to take it one step at a time.

-Chandler lost his first tooth & is so excited to be a "big" kid now (apparently you are not a "big" kid until you go through this rite of passage). Chandler is also in first grade this year and....he doesn't love it so much :-( School+ Chandler= misery (most of the time)! What Chandler does love is playing outside, dressing up like a super hero (still!), and helping mom cook. I think I see a budding chef in my little man.

-McKenna is now an author! She has made several handmade books that are also self illustrated & she has been selling them to family member for just $1. She is taking orders now, so just give her a call if you're interested :-). She is in second grade this year & she of course LOVES it. She is a great student & she never gets tired of learning. I just love that about her!!! She makes me want to love learning a little more just by being around her. She also has an impressive rock collection (consisting of decorative rocks that she steals from all the neighbors rock gardens....sigh...) just ask her about it sometime.

Maya is in preschool and is also loving it! She still has no attention span whatsoever, and she very much loves the mirror! We are buying her a giant mirror for Christmas because that seems to be the only thing she is really interested in. Well, that and stuffed animals! She still eats exactly 4 foods....not food GROUPS....4 single food choices! They are peanut butter and jelly, mac-n-cheese, apples, and yogurt. She has been on this trend for a solid year and has somehow still managed to grow, so we just leave her alone and hope & pray that one day she will try something new! She is having a GREAT time hanging out with mommy and Judah during the day when the older two are at school & I have to admit I'm kinda loving having her all to myself sometimes too.

Judah is going to be the BIG ONE on Tuesday! I still can't believe it's been a year! Makes me a little teary-eyed to think about it. He has been crawling all over the place, as well as pulling up on the furniture and cruising around things to get from point A to point B. He currently has a love affair going on with toilet paper & unfortunately his siblings greatly encourage this unhealthy fascination he has with TP (because they think it's hilarious to watch him tear up an entire roll of TP). He also loves to go fishing...toilet fishing that is-Ewwwwwwww! This boy is keeping me on my toes for sure! He is so curious right now & he went from quiet and sweet one day, to showing quite the strong will the next! He protests a lot these days when we have to take something away from him & while it's kinda funny to see him throw himself on the ground in protest and kick his little chubby legs, it also alarms me a little to think he is already getting into the fit-throwing phase. He still has the sweetest disposition though, so it's hard to ever be too mad at him. He is showing a STRONG love for music and guitars too, which makes his daddy very, very happy ;-). Oh, and he has 7 teeth now, with an 8th one on the way. He also got his first haircut while we were on vacation in MN. He STILL does not sleep through the night, but we are being patient with that since he is most likely our last little one.

For Such A Time As This.

Ever wonder why life happens the way it does sometimes? Ever ask God... why me? Do you ever scratch your head and wonder if God really meant to do that?

It's probably pretty evident from the snippets of my life that I choose to blog about that I've had my fair share of moments where I asked God "why?". I'd be a liar if I said I always choose to trust God first. I know that's what I SHOULD do...but honestly I struggle with always doing what I know is right. Who doesn't?

Lately, I've been tempted to come back to God and ask "why" questions again. However, something occurred to me as I was going through the motions of my every day mommy tasks the other day. A question literally just popped into my head & I even said out loud..."What if the very thing I've been resisting is really just preparation for something bigger...something better". When I was able to look at things through a different perspective I began to see to see some of the heartache in my life as something totally different...a blessing! Yes, a blessing!

After I let my heart begin to focus on something other than all the questioning, I found a great Bible Study lesson on Queen Esther. You may recognize the quote above: "For such a time as this" from the book of Esther (4:13, 14). Mordecai said to Esther: "And who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this". As you may know, at this time Haman (the prime minister) had an evil plot to have all the Jews killed. The only problem with this plot was that the kings beautiful wife (Queen Esther) was a Jew!

When I read this story I'm always struck by a couple of things: First-Esther didn't really try to be become the queen. She was just doing what she was told to do. She also did not ask for anything special to be done to her to impress the king... yet he still chose her. Second- Esther was not even in a position where she had much "pull" with the king. True, she was his wife, but back in those days the king had to request her presence...which he had NOT done. Third-I see through this story that sometimes the only thing that can give us true confidence in difficult circumstances is believing that we are not alone! In order to rise above something so difficult sometimes we have to move forward not in our own strength, but in the knowledge that we are God's children. If God is for us...then who can be against us?

I LOVED this little paragraph from the Bible study I read & I wanted to share it with you. You know...just in case you are struggling with some of the same things I've been struggling with.

"You see, believers are a part of God’s great program on earth; they should be living with confidence as people of destiny. God does not want us moaning over our plight and looking for a way out. He will be honored when we claim His grace to be what He wants us to be and do what He wants us to do in our present circumstances. We must take advantage of the opportunities He has made available to us in the here and now. He may later open wider spheres of opportunity if that suits His purposes, but that is in His hands. Our responsibility is to let Him use us where we are."

The only thing I am sure of is this: I don't know why things happen the way they do, nor the reason God allows them. The only thing I do know is that perhaps God has called me to be right here, right now...for such a time as this. As a Christian, I can't see how letting my circumstances get the best of me is honoring to God. Sure, I can hurt, and I can even wonder...but sometimes I think it's just better to trust that God has all the answers, and we don't need to know all the reasons in order for Him to still be good. He is good because He's God!

****************************************************************************************************************

Side Note:

I want to take a moment here to be a little more transparent...which can be really tough when you are writing things of a personal nature on a blog where you may/may not know who your audience is. I want to be clear that when I talk about going through "difficult times" that it is not interpreted incorrectly. The truth is...it's tough to just come out and say exactly what's on my mind. So many times I'd like to do just that....but then I remind myself that I don't always know who may be reading this & what their relationship (if any) is with me. As much as I'd like to be more direct in regards to what's on my mind, wisdom sometimes tells me to "tone it down a bit".

I will tell you this: Jonathan and I have been through a lot over the last couple of years & the one thing these trying times have produced in our marriage is a level of intimacy and commitment that has changed us for the better! We've never been happier or more content in our marriage than we are right now. Often, we've had only one another to cling to when the storm clouds gathered all around us & let me tell you...THAT is character (and marriage) building at it's best my friends!

Whether it was facing tough decisions about finances, friends, or sticking together to survive raising a child with special needs, we've navigated our way through all of it together! I truly don't know where I would be without my husband...he is my rock, the real glue that keeps me together when I feel like my life is falling apart. I hate to sound all cliche' like that, but it's true!

I said all that to say "NO", the difficult times I've alluded to in the past have nothing to do with my marriage! To be honest, they have a lot to do with a conviction and a promise we made to ourselves a few years back to seek God out in new, and often unconventional ways. Choosing to make those kinds of changes in our life was huge for us because so much of our faith and our friendships were wrapped up in one package ("Church") & when we set that package down at the alter many of our cherished friendships stayed there too. It was never what we wanted to happen (or even what we thought was going to happen), but we have to trust that when God impresses something like this on your heart He will not return it void!

Personally, I feel like I'm starting to come out on the other side of this "struggle" now. I've been out of the institutional Church long enough now that I'm starting to see all the positives, and less of the negatives that come with making this kind of change. It's been the most life-giving experience for me & my family that I don't think I could ever regret it! The changes that we had to make, while painful, were part of the "birthing pains" that gave us a brand new life. How could I ever feel anything but grateful for that?

MN Trip Part 2.

We went to "The Mall of America" on day 2 of the trip, but after we left we realized that we didn't take a single picture at the mall! That's what happens when you've been to The Mall of America several times...it just kinda seems like, well, a mall-ha! It is HUGE, and it does have an amusement park inside of it, but really... it's just a mall. I do love to go there though, if for no other reason than to people watch! So, I'm sorry, but I don't have any mall pictures to share.

However, I do have a handful of state fair pictures! Oh, the great MN State Fair! The real reason my husband eagerly packs up the car with 4 squirmy children, and endures the long car ride up north! Yes...all for a fair! Some years I think he's just plain crazy to love the fair that much, but I have to admit we do always have fun! At the end of the day that's all that really matters anyway.

This year our friend Michelle spent most of the day at the fair with us (and ALL day at the mall with us!), and she lived to tell about it! She was such a trooper, and SO very patient with us and our troop of small children. However, I'm not surprised that Michelle was such a good sport considering the "good stock" she comes from ;-). Her parents (Hi, Bob and Irene!) always host our family when we make the trek up north & they are the most gracious and giving hosts anyone could ask for. We've come to love them like our second family & always look forward to getting to spend time with them. It also helps that they have known my husband since the day he was born & have a great sense of humor when it comes to surviving a visit from a family with 4 very small children. Not many people could host a family of 6 and keep their sanity in tact, but Bob and Irene make it look easy (which I know it's anything but easy!). So, here is a HUGE....H-U-G-E thank you to our friends "The Stahl's", for once again welcoming our family into your home and being such wonderful friends to us. I know these trips to your house are the kind of family memories that my children are going to take with them and cherish forever. We love you guys!

Bob with the kids.

Judah likes his first trip to the fair!

Peach scone with sweet cream & iced coffee.

Happy girls.

Michelle and I pulling stroller duty.

Kiddie Midway!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Roasted sweet corn!

Miracle of birth barn. This is so cool (if you are into farm animals giving birth!). We always end up spending a lot of time in this barn every year because the kids are fascinated with all the baby animals. In years past we have seen live births of calves, lambs, pigs, and baby chicks hatching. We didn't get to see any births this year, but we did get to pet lots of baby animals :-).

The girls waiting to see a chick hatch.

Ice cream + Maya = cute!

Caramel apples with cinnamon ice cream-so delish!

Cotton candy!

Snow cones with dad.

More kiddie Midway fun!

What an exhausting day!

We had to get Sweet Martha's before we left! That $14 worth of "I think I'm gonna be sick now" cookie goodness!

That's Jon saying: "For the love of Pete...have we had enough sugar today?".

For those of you who might need to know, here is the list of fair foods we sampled at the great MN State Fair this year (loosen up your belts, you might just gain a pound or two reading this list!
-Tiny Tim doughnuts
-Deep Fried cheese curds
-Peach Scone with sweet cream
-Fried green tomatoes
-Deep fried pickles
-Roasted sweet corn
-Pot roast sundae
-Cotton Candy
-Snow cones
-Fish taco
-Strawberry frozen custard
-Sweet Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookies
-Caramel Apples with cinnamon ice cream

*Oh, my goodness....NOTHING was on a stick! How in the world did we do that???