Out of the mouthes of babes

I love the stuff that comes out of the mouths of babes......you never know what you are going to get.  Because I have the memory of a pea and can't hardly remember what day it is, when fun stuff happens in my house I have to blog about it or write it down.  So tonight I blog!  Here are a few of the conversations that have (for one reason or another) rocked my world this week.


Conversation #1 (This one will be perfect to bring up before her first date...or maybe rehearsal dinner..)

Elle "Mom.....I need to eat a few grapes, I am contagious....."
Me "Um.....you mean constipated?
Ellie "Yeah, comlicated...."
Me (holding back tears laughing)
Ellie "MOM, why are you laughing this is SO serious!?!?!?!"
(Fall on the floor laughing)
(Elle then walks away and presumes that her mother is crazy.....which is true...)


Conversation #2

Ok, first you need a little background for this conversation.  Picture this.....Ava loves dresses.  I mean REALLY loves dresses.  She has a few adorable outfits in her closet that are not dresses and I am determined to get her to wear them!!!!  I mean they are perfectly good outfits! I don't want to waste any cuteness!!!!  So this particular morning I had laid out a precious little outfit on her bed that happened to be shorts and a shirt.  Meltdown.  Not just any old meltdown.......a full on, hyperventilating, the world is over meltdown.  I had to send her to her room to try to calm down (with no avail by the way), and Ellie kindly asked me if she could go talk to Ava.  I said sure and like any good mother ease dropped by the door.  This is what I heard.....

Elle "Ava, why are you embarrassed?
Ava (sobs)
Elle "Are you afraid that other kids won't like your outfit?"
Ava (quivering sobs) "yeeeeeess"
Elle "Oh Ava!  They will not!  They will probably love it!"  (I love that Elle is a realist and threw "probably" in there....)
Ava "Are you sure?"
Elle (In the sweetest most compassionate voice ever) "Yes honey!  Now Ava, we have to make sure that you don't make dresses an idol"

What in the world!  Is that my child in there?!?!?!  The same child who likes to make Ava cry just for funsies?!?!?!

It was PRECIOUS.  Simply precious.

Give us this day our daily bread....

"Oliver DeVinck was just three months developed in his mother's womb when his mother had an accident.  Gas leaked from the coal-burning stove in the kitchen.  In the bedroom Catherine DeVinck lost consciousness, falling onto the bed.  Oliver's father had already left for work, but at the train station he remembered something he had forgotten from home, and he returned to the house.  Jose DeVinck immediately smelled the gas and quickly carried his pregnant wife outside into the fresh air.  She revived quickly.  When Oliver was born six months later, he appeared to be a healthy boy.
   A couple of months after the birth, Catherine was playing with Oliver before an open window.  She held him up to the warmth of the bright sun, enjoying the fresh air and the sun's soothing rays.  Then she noticed something odd.  Her baby was staring directly into the sun without blinking.
     Oliver was blind.  Eventually the doctors would tell the DeVincks that Oliver not only couldn't see, he also wouldn't be able to hold up his head, crawl, walk, speak, or hold anything in his hand.  The gas Catherine had inhaled early in her pregnancy had affected Oliver's development.  He was born with severe brain damage.
     The DeVincks asked asked the examining physician what they might do for their son.  The doctor suggested they place him in an institution.  Jose and Catherine refused to consider such a possibility.  'He is our son' Jose said.  'We will take Oliver home.'  'Then take him home and love him' the doctor replied.
     They did.  For thirty-three years.
     Even as an adult Oliver was the size of a ten year old.  He had a large head, twisted legs and required care for all of his thirty-three years.  He was fed by a family member three times a day.  He was bathed and changed regularly.  He was in all respects, as his younger brother Christopher would write 'one of the weakest most helpless human beings' you would ever meet.
     Christopher DeVinck once asked his dad, 'how did you manage to care for Oliver for thirty-three years?'
     'It was not thirty-three years' his father replied.  'I just asked myself, can I feed Oliver today?  And the answer was always, yes I can."


     When I found out we were having a fourth baby I struggled for faith.  I didn't know how I was going to care for another baby.  I failed to see how I could possibly manage a house full of loud crazy kiddos.  How would I grocery shop?  Would I be able to homeschool all of them?  How would we go on play dates?  How in the world would we pull off helping them through college?!?!?!
     Whenever I would cry to my friends and family they would always assure me that God would provide.  He would provide the strength, grace, wisdom, and even finances to manage the gifts that He had given me.   He may not give me the faith for what we will need five years down the road, or even five days.  But He promises in His word to give me exactly what I need, the moment I need it.  "Give us this day our daily bread."  Each day there is enough grace, enough peace, enough strength for that day. I need not worry about tomorrow, next month or even next year.  I know his Grace is sufficient.

Roasted Veggie Pasta

I love my church.  I have said it a hundred times, but it's true.  I love it for so many reasons, but one main reason is because I am surrounded by super women who can cook like no other!  I'm not gonna lie.....I'm not the best in the kitchen......I can mess up french toast like nobody's business.  So it brings me great excitement and joy when a super women from church brings me a meal after we've had a baby.  We've had four kids now and two of them we've had since joining Cornerstone.  What this means is that after two babies were born, we were given the amazing gift of meals brought to us for a straight month by women who actually know what they are doing!!!!  My family loves this tradition.  They finally get a taste of real super delicious food that did not come from a box.  One of our favorite meals was brought to us by a friend named Mel.  I begged and begged for the recipe because I would sit and daydream about it from time to time......probably not a healthy habit, but I did.  So here it is!  It takes a little more prep work than I like (did I mention the four kids?)  But, this recipe is totally worth it in the end!  


Roasted Veggie Pasta

4 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch slices
2 large onions, cut into wedges
2 medium yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch slices
1 cup fresh baby carrots, halved lengthwise 
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 1/2 cups uncooked fusilli pasta (I like to use the tri-color rotini)
2 cups (8 oz). shredded fontina cheese (I always use havarti from the deli and have them cut it in a chunk)
1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 roma tomatoes chopped 
1/2 cup grated Parm. cheese, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 t. pepper

In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients.  Transfer to two greased baking pans. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 min. or until crisp-tender; set aside. Reduce heat to 350.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Add the fontina cheese, tomatoes, 1/4 c. parm. cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir in vegetable mixture.

Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish (I have always had to use two dishes because this recipe makes so much!).  Sprinkle with remaining parm. cheese. Bake, uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Garlic Bread (from a Williams-Sonoma cooking class)

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, pressed (I've been chopping mine lately)
1/4 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried oregano (sometimes I will use 1/2 t. of italian seasoning in place of these two spices)
1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch slices (I usually use the take-and-bake loaves from Kroger)

Combine first 5 ingredients, and spread between bread slices. Reassemble loaf and wrap in heavy-duty foil; place on baking sheet.  (I usually put it right on the oven grates). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Open foil and bake additional 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Random thoughts of a humbled mother.....

Several years ago I would have never imagined that I would be
A mother of four
A homeschool mom
"That mom" in a restaurant with a screaming toddler

I never would have imagined that I would
Bottle feed my baby
Let my children watch way too much TV
Scream at my kids....apologize....then do it again several minutes later

I could have never pictures myself
Letting my toddler eat off the floor
Going to the store without any makeup
Bribing my children with sticks of gum

I would have never have imagined
So much chaos
So many tears
So much joy

Life has changed me
Children have changed me
God has changed me and I am forever humbled..

A (Fairly Lame) Ode to Mothers

By Jen Hatmaker

An ode to the marvelous woman called "Mother"

Though not one of us is exactly like another.

From the second we're born to the minute we die

Our preferences are as limitless as stars in the sky.

We might have been perfectly gracious before

But childbirth entered us in the Mommy War.

Rather than letting everyone else be

We criticize parenting that isn't exactly like....me.

So once and for all let me put this to rest

None of us owns the title of "best."

Natural childbirth doesn't make you hippy

Epidurals are not just for women who want to feel trippy.

In a bathtub with a doula or in a hospital bed

We all got a baby with limbs and a head.

Nursing is great if nothing goes wrong

But some nipples turn inward and refuse to play along.

This is a choice for each mom - it's her route

So it's just A+B and everyone else can C their way out.

Schedules and timers do not make you cruel

Feeding on demand does not make you a fool.

In the nursery with a monitor or in the family bed

Every chick gets to pick where her baby lays his head.

If I see one more mom roll her eyes at "organic...."

"Partially Hydrogenated" throws some of us into a panic.

But neither judge Sonic burger and fries

Some of us just want to enjoy food before we die.

Preschool, homeschool, public, or Montessori

Listen my friends, and I'll tell you a story:

Two moms differed on favorite school trends

Their kids turned out pretty much the same.  The End.

If a girl gets the title of "mom" accidentally 

the worst thing we can do is treat her judgmentally.

How about some love, some help, some advice?

She needs our love and we shouldn't think twice.

Discipline through various methods will prevail

Look, we're just all trying to keep our kids out of jail.

These things are just preferences, not right or wrong

What matters more is teaching our kids to get along-

To love and to share, to speak gently and kind, 

To obey so that mom won't go out of her mind.

Showing them Jesus is our common ground

Teaching them how he can always be found.

He's present in public school and Waldorf (so trendy)

He's over at Whole Foods but also at Wendy's

Jesus never cared about these sorts of things

It's our hearts that he wants and the worship we bring.

It's time for us moms to call a truce

Regardless if we buy Capri Sun or 100 percent juice.

My way is not your way, and your way isn't mine

But both of our kids will turn out just find.

Rather than judging and looking down our noses

Let's enjoy the common ground motherhood poses.

As believers, we all love the same good Lord

We all have children who tell us "I'm bored."

We all need more sleep than these tiny five hours

Most of us struggle to find time for a shower.

We haven't been to the bathroom alone in an age

Our mothers have all told us, "Relax, this is just a stage."

We all love our babies so much we could die

We'd take a bullet for each one without batting an eye.

Though we are different, we're in the same tribe

Motherhood requires a similar vibe- 

Love and affection, sacrifice and grace

Laughter, which keeps the whole mechanism in place.

Though different, by the grace of God, I suspect:

ALL our children will rise up and call us.....collect.

"She looks well to how things go in her household....Her children rise up and call her blessed."

Proverbs 31:27-28

The Birthday Girl!

My beautiful baby girl turned seven today! I had visions of surprising her with a fabulous breakfast, a trip to the salon for a manicure, and dinner out at her favorite restaurant. What actually happened today was a totally different story. She did have a fabulous breakfast (even if it wasn't home made), but most our day was spent watching t.v. and trying to recover from the awful tummy bug that invaded our home last week. It has been rough.....there have been many tears shed......but it is what it is and we are rolling with it. One of my favorite things about the kid's birthdays is the tradition (that I stole from a friend) of the birthday interview. I love looking back and seeing how things change over the years. So here is what is going on in Elle's life at the ripe old age of seven......

1) What is your favorite color? Pink

2) What is your favorite food? Fish sandwiches

3) What is your favorite movie? Peter Rabbit

4) What is your favorite T.V. show? Curious George

5) What is your favorite book? Dr. Doolittle

6) What is your favorite subject in school? Science

7) What is your least favorite subject in school? Math

8) What is your favorite thing about Daddy? He plays with me

9) What is your favorite thing about Mommy? Cuddling

10) What is your favorite thing about Ava? She plays with me

11) What is your favorite thing about Beckett? He is so funny

12) What is your favorite thing about London? She is just soooo cute!

13) Who is your best friend? Eliza Slack

14) Where is your favorite place to go? Tutarus

15) What is your favorite restaurant? Chic-fil-a (of course) and Applebees (odd since we haven't been in years)

16) What do you want to be when you grow up? A Vet

17) What is your favorite thing that God made? Pies.....well actually family (good to know..)

18) What are you most thankful for? Today is my birthday!!!

We love you baby girl!!! You are such a gift to us!!

Brotherly Love

Beckett has really started to love "his baby". When she is laying on the floor he loves to join her. Even the slightest coo makes him giggle. I hope his love for her will always be this way!