Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup (21 Day Fix Approved)

With cold weather coming to the south finally, I find myself wanting to make more soups:) This has always been one of my favorites! I love how yummy this soup is and it is just a little bit spicy!

Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Total Time:
Prep: 25 min  Cook: 30 min
Makes 10 servings(2 cups a serving by 21 Day Fix Standards)
Ingredients:
2 cups diced peeled butternut squash
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 can(14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
3 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (11oz) Mexicorn, drained
2 cups fresh baby spinach

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, saute the squash, carrot, onion, and cumin in oil for 10 min. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add 1-1/2 cups broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10-12 min. or until vegetables are tender; cool slightly.

2. Transfer mixture to a blender; add the tomatoes, cream cheese, basil, chipotle pepper and remaining broth. Cover and process for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.

3. Return to the saucepan; stir in the beans, corn, and spinach. Cook and stir until spinach is wilted and soup is heated through. If desired, sprinkle with fresh sage.
Yield: 10 Servings
Notes: 21 Day Fix Breakdown per serving: 1 Green, 1/2 Yellow, 0.15 Red
Side note: you can always add ham or some other meat to it if you want, just make sure you add to your container count.
This recipe is originally from a Taste of Home Recipe.

21 Day Fix Chicken Salad Recipe

So I have come to realize that I am not a big salad eater. I feel like a rabbit when all I eat is salad. I have, however, come to understand what my body needs and how I can best fulfill those needs, salads have begun to grow on me. 

One of the ways I love to get my salad in, is by throwing some chicken salad on top. This recipe from Autumn Calabreze's book Fixate, has been my go to lunch food for a while now! 

I love how it is there every day in the fridge the chicken salad is there waiting to be scooped out and there is not a lot of prep. I am a mama, and it is hard enough to get both the kids fed and happy let alone myself.

Chicken Salad with Grapes and Green Apples

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Autumn Calabreze, 

(From the Fixate Cookbook)

Revised: by Jules Kaminski

Serves: 4 ( 3 1/4 Cups each)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked whole chicken, skin removed 
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup Honey Mustard Dressing(See recipe below) 
• 1 Green Apple, cut up small
• 2 green onions, cut up real small
• 1/2 cup of red grapes, halved

Instructions

1. Pull all of the cooked chicken off of the bones and place into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in honey mustard dressing and mix well.
3. Mix in the cut apple, green onion and grapes.
4. Throw on salad for extra greens: serving with 2 containers of lettuce greens: 2 green, 1/2 purple, 1 Red, 1/2 Blue, 1/2 orange
5. or put on a lettace leaf for more of a wrap feel: 1 cup of chicken salad to each romaine leaf: 1 green, 1/4 purple, 1/2 red, 1/8 blue, 1/8 orange
6.  or put it in a 8 inch sprouted whole-grain tortilla w/ two cups of shredded romaine lettuce: 2 green,  1 1/2 Yellow, 1/2 purple, 1 red, 1/2 blue, 1/2 orange.

Notes

I can't usually eat more than one cup's worth of this stuff. I get full to quickly. So my suggestion, simply subtract from your containers what you don't eat. Don't stuff yourself if you feel full. The point is to train your body to be satisfied not stuffed full.

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Author: Autumn Calabreze

(From the Fixate Cookbook)

Serves: 8 (2 Tbsp. each)

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup reduced fat (2%) Plain greek yogurt
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard, gluten free
• 3 Tbsp. Raw honey
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt to taste(optional)

Instructions

1. Combine yogurt, mustard, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl; mix well.
2. Slowly add oil, whisking constantly until well blended; season with salt(if desired)

Fear Not For I am With You

My mom and I have been working on a children's story for several years now. The idea started when my mom was going through a difficult season in her life. She was struggling with figuring out what her future was going to look like. Her kids has all moved out and gotten married, and her life was changing.
Out of that change, she felt the Lord asking her, "Do you trust me?"
Her replay was, "I am fearful you will not lead me. What about when I am old? Or in want? What about this, or that?"
Out of all of these questions, this story about a little lamb and a kind shepherd jumped into her head.
I remember the first time I heard the story. I was sitting on the edge of my mother-in-law's guest bed as my mom read me her story. My heart broke.

This is one of my favorite moments in the book, because the
shepherd bends down and tells the lamb that he understands his
worries, and that he has nothing to fear.

This lamb continually comes to the shepherd worried about his life. He keeps asking if the shepherd will take care of him in different circumstances. I don't remember what was going on in our lives at the time, but I just cried as I heard this little lamb's cries.Those cries were my heart too!
For the next year after my mom gave me the story, I tried to draw lambs. Having never really had a visual to draw from or life experience with sheep, I found myself getting frustrated and unsure how to make them come to life on the page.
Almost two years ago, I felt the Lord begin to work in my heart and pick at the fear and uncertainty I was feeling about my future. At the time, it was because we were pregnant with our second and I was afraid of what it was going to look like as a mom of two. At that time I began to see the lamb was starting to come to life in me.
That shift in my heart and my beginning to relate to the lamb was only the beginning though. A couple of months before January of last year, Ty got the news that his company was going to have layoffs after the new year. My heart was nervous and unsure what that all meant. I felt like the lamb. I felt the Lord leading me to start painting, so I did. I poured my worries and heart ache into my paintings. But that was only the beginning.

This is one of the scenes where he realizes he hasn't asked the shepherd
about a certain circumstance.

The day did come when my husband did get the layoff. That was a hard day. Those were hard days that followed. Those days my paintings came out dark and sad.
As the months have gone by, as my heart has ached and struggled with God's goodness and his divine purpose, I have begun to see him work in extraordinary ways.
I never really understood before hard times in my life, how a artist could pour their life into their paintings, until these hard times in my own life. There have been very few things in my life that have made my soul truly sing with joy. Painting my heart in worship before the Lord has become a new and beautiful experience for me.
I have been raw, hurt, felt forgotten, and discouraged, and with each day wondered what the Lord is doing. I have poured those thoughts and feelings into my lamb pictures. I have poured my pain, my hurt, and my disappointments at His feet. And He has returned His love for me ten fold.
My fingers, brain and soul have truly sung like they have never sung before. I have watched a painting come to life as never before in my life. There are times I feel like the Lord is directing my hands to paint, not myself.
The Lord has used my painting to remind me of his plan. Of his perfection. I think of what Mordecai told Esther when she asked why God had put her in the circumstances he had put her in.
"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14
Who knows, Jules, perhaps you are in these circumstances for such a time as this. Perhaps you are in these circumstances so as to see the Lord through new eyes and a new heart. Perhaps this book needed such a hard time like this for you to truly see God's heart.
I am continuing to read the book " Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch. In chapter 8, she suggests the family read and memorize Psalm 23. This is where it all started for my mom those 3 or more years ago when the idea of this story started.
"The Lord is my shepherd:
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever."

The kind shepherd laughs at the days to come! He knows what is to come and he takes care of his children-(is picture is in progress, but I love the shepherd's embrace for his little lamb and the lamb's smile of contentment.)

I have need of nothing! He leads me into rest and peace. He renews my strength. He guides me for his glory! I fear not because my God is right beside me even in hard times. He protects and comforts. He has provided for my every need. I lack nothing. His goodness and love will be with me and pursue me for the rest of my days!
Praise in the midst of the storm is that the Lord is good! He has used this hard time in my life for his glory and fame! Praise him!

Praying for your husband

With each day that my husband is without a job, I have felt more and more burdened to lift my husband up in prayer. This has been a hard season for us, but it also has been extremely good for us as well.
We have learned so much our relationship with each other, about our relationship with God and even areas we need to grow in.
I have seen us grow in our communication. I have learned alot about not only what I say but how I say it. My words effect my husband to either motivate him or discourage him.
 I have seen us grow up. When life is normal I feel like there are moments that we can get away with being selfish kind of with out really acknowledging it, but God putting us in this hard circumstance, I have seen my sinful, selfish attitude rear its ugly head.
I am so thankful that the Lord doesn't leave us where we are at! Though this has been the hardest season of my life, I am so thankful for the discipline and the growth that has come from it.
My advice for other wives out there, don't wait till your circumstances are hard to really start praying for you husband!  They need you interceding on their behalf. They are leading your family! They have such a huge responsibility to lead your family well and they are held accountable before God for how they lead.
Let's stop being our husband's conscience and corrector. Lets stop pointing out their flaws. Let's begin praying for them, looking at what they do well and lifting them up with our words and our actions.
What do you think is your biggest stumbling block when it comes to being a prayer warrior/encourager for your husband?

Comparison Is A Thief

Contentment has been a struggle for me lately. I look at the people around me and I see all that they have and I wonder, why don't I have...x, y, or z? Our country has set this really hard standard of what is considered living a happy life. We consider having the right cars, the right home, the right amount of children, the right kind of clothing, the right schools, etc. There is this mad dash to get more than everyone else, to be better than everyone else, and to just be the best. 

   My struggle has been with the lie that I need to have a home to feel settled and a job for my husband to feel secure. Both those things are good, but they will not satisfy me or bring me joy ultimately. Nor will they bring me the things I crave: belonging and feeling secure.

I had a friend yesterday ask me what I was learning about my time that the Lord has me in, and it dawned on me. The Lord has been teaching me that HE is enough. I don't need anything but HIM! I don't need a home, I don't need my husband to have a job, or any of the other things I crave. I just need him. 

Paul's verse to the Philippians has continually come to mind as I have walked this hard journey.

Philippians 4:11-13 

  "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 
  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

We have by no means been hungry or felt true need, but the Lord has provided every step of the way. I have wanted for nothing. There have been some things I have wanted, but the Lord has given me what I need and I have found extreme contentment and joy in that. 

Banana Oat Pancakes

I wanted to take a moment and share with you one of my favorite breakfasts in the Fixate Cookbook done by Autumn Calabrese. I love this recipe because it makes about 5 days worth of breakfasts. As a mom I need simplicity in the morning because I seriously can't handle mornings. I am a zombi till I have my coffee!

Banana Oat Pancakes (Pg 95)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 large eggs
1 large ripe banana
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 dash sea salt
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp extra virgin organic coconut oil
3 cups fresh mixed berries

*If you’d like to make this recipe gluten-free, purchase gluten-free oats and baking powder.

– Place almond milk, eggs, banana, extract, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and oats in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.

-Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat.

-Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the skillet; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until bubbles form around the edges of the pancake. Flip with a spatula; cook for an additional 90 seconds.

– Continue with remaining batter.

-Serve with fresh berries.

Each serving is 2 pancakes. In the 21 Day Fix system, it is 1 yellow, and 1/2 of the purple container for the fruit.

Planning on trying this recipe? Let me know! I’d love to see your pictures!

Pictures brought to you by:  https://leahcrompton.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/banana-oat-pancakes-fixate-week-2/

One Of Those Moms

Most days, I feel like "that mom". You know the one who looks tired and half crazed going through the grocery line. That mom who every five minutes tells her child to stop grabbing food from the shelves...to stop licking their brother... to stop licking the cheese I just put in the basket?...What? Some days I just step back from my frazzled self, almost as if I was in the third person watching myself, and ask, "Who is that person? And what is her problem?"
I know I signed on to be a mommy, and in fact I really always wanted to be a mommy. No amount of other moms telling me would ever prepared me for the daily grind though. Some days I feel like I am just barely surviving. Like someone pushed me into the water and I forgot to swim, so I just keep holding my breath.
Today was one of "those" days. I got a late start since my phone was on silent and my alarm went off and of course I couldn't hear it. So I was a hour and a half behind( You know that feeling like you're playing catch up, but you never really catch up?)
Did some work and headed out to do some chores around town. I don't know why but I always put way too much on my list...Like way more than we could possibly get done with two little boys in tow. Some of my errands took longer than I thought they would, so we finally get home at 1 pm. I think at this point my nose is barely above water. I am starving and so are my kids and my groceries are every where. So as I am putting away groceries, I am throwing food at my kids, longing for the moment to sit myself and eat.
I get what you call hangry...hungry and angry...when I don't have food. I need it like the air that I breath. When my blood sugar drops, I get very grumpy. I am grumbling under my breath and just wanting to run away from the groceries, responsibility, my kids, pressure, you name it...and suddenly a verse comes to mind.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

I start singing the old Steve Green's version I remember as a kid. As I sang, I felt the Lord changing my heart about my day. So what if I got to eat my lunch around 2 pm. So what if the kids were hard today. Where does my strength come from? It comes from God! There is no mistake he gave me my two little boys. Yes they are rambunctious and some times a little crazy, but God has given me the ability to be their Mamma.
The truth is in of myself, I can not be the godly mamma they need. I am a sinner saved by grace. It's through Christ that I am clean. And it is through Christ that he begins to change and grow me into who He wants me to be. Today I was empty. I was trying to fill myself with being a productive mom. I need to fill myself with Christ. Only then can I find the strength on even the hard days to be patient, kind and loving toward my little men.

Having a Grateful Heart

I went to a Ladies night at my church in Tomball, and they had a speaker come and share with us about her journey to having a heart of gratitude. Her name is Kristen Welch. Kristen shared the journey that God took her on to showing her that she had become ungrateful and how God changed her heart. I am reading her book “Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World”.

Let me share a quote from her book that has really rocked my world as well:

“Visiting an orphan-let home in Kenya just weeks before had turned my life upside down. That’s where I met Vincent. I will never forget standing in Vincent’s home, which was the size

of my master closet. Water dripped on my head in the dark room as he lit a candle and explained how he walked an hour to school each way and cared for his little brother because his parents were both dead. As he told us about his life, he smiled from ear to ear with joy.

“How can you be happy?” I asked as I looked around at all he didn’t have.

“I have Jesus. He is enough,” He answered confidently.

His answer was my undoing. Because I had Jesus, too, but he wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more-more money, more stuff, more to fill the emptiness.

That’s the day I started my quest for contentment and found it not in building my American Dream, but in giving it away.” (P. 47-48)

Contentment has been a struggle for me lately. I have been in a season of drought. My heart longs for my husband to have a job. We are going on five and a half months now, and it is hard not to feel like the Lord has forgotten us.

I have dreamed for 5 long years to have a home of our own, and I had it within my grasp, signed contract and everything in Alabama, and the Lord closed that door. My heart hurts. I have watched this dream die for now with no telling if it will ever return to me. And yet the Lord is asking me to place it on the alter. That is painful! Specially in a society where we feel that owning a home is owed to us.

When I look from it in a material standpoint, it does kind of feel like God has forgotten us. We don’t have an income. We don’t have a place to live right now that is our own.  So from the American dream standpoint, we are poor and forgotten.

As I have been reading this book, I have felt the Lord pushing and challenging my perspective on how we are truly not forgotten! The Lord has provided for our every need. Before all this happened, we paid off our school loans and our mini van. The Lord blessed us with a severance package so my husband could look for work. He provided in-laws who were willing to host us in their home to help us save money.  My mom has this awesome tradition called a “blessing box”. Whenever the Lord has blessed her or our family, she would put a slip of paper or a picture in there with that blessing and the date. Last night my mom pulled out her Blessing Box and began pulling out examples of how the Lord took care of us when I was a kid. I just wanted to cry. Some of them were so simple, like glasses for me, or bunk beds for the boys, but they were tangible reminders of how the Lord had provided.

God taught Israel to make monuments anywhere where something of significance happened to them that God provided for.  Joshua 4:1-7 is a great example of what God taught Israel to do to help them remember.

“ When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. ³ Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. ⁵ He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁶ We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.””

I want to build a memorial before the Lord. I have seen Him do some pretty hard things in us. I would call this my wondering in the desert time. But I have seen his faithfulness! I have seen Him provide for our family and bless us, not in the ways I would have expected, but He has taken care of us.

 I want to do this well. I want my kids to look back on this time and ask me what does this memorial mean? And I want to confidently tell them “This is what the Lord did for us!” I want them to remember so that some day when I am old and I see them struggling, I want to pull down my memorial box and pull out my memorials and remind them that the Lord will take care of them just as He took care of us.

Going back to the quote from the book I am reading, where the little boy says “I have Jesus. He is enough.”  Can I say that? I don’t think I can every moment of every day.  I still struggle with contentment. I am not fully there yet, but the Lord is working on me. I am so thankful that He will continue the work in me that he began at the beginning. I am his.

I love how Paul says this in Philippians 4:11-13! :

“¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

My prayer is that as the Lord stretches me and changes my heart, this verse will become me. That no matter the circumstances I will choose to be content and that would permeate through every part of me.

First Day Of Shakeology

Testing Out Shakeology

Today is the first day of me testing out Shakeology and trying it out for myself. I am what you would call a true skeptic when it comes to people claiming something is healthy and good for you. I not only want to see the why, but I also want to see what it is in it and how it will effect my body in the long run. Thanks to my coach, Katy, she stuck with me and challenged me to give it a try. So here we are. I am not only going to take that challenge, but I am planning to learn as much as I can about this product. For the next week, I want to share what I find:)
The first thing that I have come to understand about Shakeology that I find interesting is the amount of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and super foods there are in this one little shake. Here is a video that talks about some of the many herbs and other vitamins there are in Shakeology.

Here is the break down of what is in Shakeology:

One of the big things I was concerned about is the fact that pretty much every "energy" powder has soy or some form of it. Shakeology doesn't have any soy, soy lection, artificial flavors or sweeteners. 

I still am a skeptic, but I am looking forward to hopefully being proved wrong as I continue to learn more about this product and try it for myself.

My biggest reason for wanting to give this a try, is because one I have seen how it has effected my friend and coach, Katy Coffey. She has gained energy, lost weight, and has done it in a healthy manner.  I have always struggled with having enough energy. This may have something to do with running around with two little toddlers or maybe it has been because I have grown two little babies inside of me and fed those two little babies. Call me super mom! Sadly I don't feel like super mom most of the time! So here is to trying something new to see if it will help. 

I will continue to let you know what I learn and my conclusions from my research and test.

Why I decided to become a Beach Body Coach

My reason for becoming a coach with Beach Body

So I remember my friend Katy Coffey telling me about her journey on facebook and how much it had changed her becoming a beach body coach. I was intrigued, but kind of nervous about committing to something like that. I got invited to a fit accountability group that she was running, and I began to see how much fun it is to be held accountable and have a community of other people to encourage and be encouraged.

My reason I decided to take the plunge is: I love a good challenge! I love working out. I love the way it makes my body feel when I can work hard and actually achieve something! I love being healthy. I know what it is like to have a sweet spot when your body will do what you ask it with out complaining. I know what it is to be strong, and I want to get there again. I want to be the fit mommy that can keep up with my kids and love every moment of my time with them. Through all these goals I want to encourage and impassion others to pursue those same things.

My main reason for wanting to be more healthy and fit is because of these two wonderful little men that are mine. They are so full of energy and life and I want to stay fit to keep up with them. With each baby I have had a harder time shaking off the "baby weight".This is super discouraging. When I get discouraged I tend to eat more and avoid working out until I feel guilty, then I start working out and eating really well till I get discouraged. So you see there is a cycle that takes place. I am sure we have all been there!

I have heard it said way to many times that once you have kids, your body is what it is and you should just accept it. I never been okay with settling with this statement, and I want to work on instead of gaining more weight with each child, loosing weight and becoming more fit with each child(yes we are thinking of eventually having more:) 

My upline coach with Beach Body, Katy Coffey, has been a huge encouragement over time just seeing her face challenge after challenge and succeed in her journey to getting more healthy. I see how she is helping others and encouraging others to become healthier and more fit and I see myself wanting to head that direction as well! Being fit and pursuing it is contagious.

Here's to a new adventure towards greater health and fitness!

Overfed Fish and Spilled Tea

These last couple of weeks have been such an adventure for me as a mom. I was just starting to feel I had gotten things figured out with two boys...as they say "pride comes before the fall". Que teething baby and curious, mostly naughty little toddler to the scene.
I am beginning to understand why most moms with multiple kids are constantly saying they don't get anything done. They are too busy trying to keep their children from killing themselves, their siblings, or making unnecessary messes with things they should not be playing with.
This week has been full of "those" kind of moments. Just yesterday, I came down stairs to see my son had "fed the fish", umm, almost the entire bottle of fish food. Yes it made me clean the tank, but lets just say if the fish doesn't keel over and die from stuffing himself, then he won't need to eat for a week!
This morning is another great example of the craziness of my toddler. I had given him peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. Don't judge, being on the Whole30 diet doesn't give a lot of options for Ike and he doesn't love my breakfast of eggs and veggies very much. I guess I left the jar on the counter. I went to the living room to eat my breakfast in peace while he ate his in the dinning room.
You know that feeling you get as a mum when you realize all of a sudden that it is very quiet and you know that is not a good thing. I walk into the kitchen to find him sitting on the floor. His hand is covered in peanut butter and had eaten a little of the jar of peanut butter.
I laughed, took the jar from him, cleaned his hand, and told him that he couldn't eat peanut butter when ever he wanted and he needed to ask. I put up the peanut butter and went back to my tasks, thinking I had done such a good job teaching him to ask before taking.
Fast forward half hour: I come into the kitchen again. He smiles up at me, his face covered in peanut butter and his hand sticky with it. I pick up the jar...He had scraped it clean! He had eaten half a jar in one sitting. Crazy Child! Truth is, if I was his age and burned that many calories in a day, I might actually eat that much peanut butter as well! Oh to be young again!
You think that is all, well lets just say a tin with my favorite tea that my mother-in-law had brought home from England got dumped on the floor. And yes, I did pick up as much as I could...there may be a few hairs in the tea leaves now, but tea is tea. Is it possibly to cry over spilled tea?
There has been almost the death of my vacuum on several occasions over this last week when he has decided to stuff one of his cars up or down one of the pipes. Inevitably he would come to me distraught saying something was stuck. I managed to wiggle my fingers in the hose enough to save his precious cars and my trusty vacuum
One night he decided that Zed needed to be fed. Now this is normally his job, but he decided to feed him, Lets just say it was like a all you can eat buffet. Our flat coat retriever could eat till he died, much like the poor fish. I think I am starting to see a pattern here.
His newest adventure is one he hasn't taken up in months, because he knows he is not suppose to. He has taken to giving his cars "baths" in Zed's water bowl. Sigh. Lets just say big water mess all over the floor and sopping wet child.
I got a good laugh today though when I heard the dogs lapping up their water in a feverish pace. I come in and he had decided to feed the dogs. He had put their food in the water and they were feverishly trying to empty their bowls so they could eat their food.
In the midst of all of this, I have had some good moments, and some not so good moments. I was just thinking as I cleaned up another soggy mess in front of Zed's water bowl, "When will he get it! I tell him over and over again, and I correct him over and over, and yet he still goes back and does that same thing again, Even when he knows the outcome.  I felt the Lord pricking at my heart. "Do you not also do this to me Child? Do you not listen to what I teach you, and yet turn around and do what you want? You know what is true and yet you walk in your own way."
May we all take moments to stop and remind ourselves of the big picture. We show grace to our children and love them and discipline them, because God first did those things for us. He has done all those things with greater abandon and absolute love than I will ever be able to. Praise God for giving us a perfect example to follow!