What is a Parents Job?

Where is the line between learning information at home and learning information at school drawn?

     My 5 yr old son came home the other day and said, "mild-not too hot and not too cold". I asked him where he learned that and he said school. I immediately thought why haven't I taught him that? Did it just not come up yet? Is it my job as a parent to teach my son the meaning of words, aka vocabulary? Seems that is something he should learn at school, but what takes me off the hook? I birthed him.. I brought him into this world... Isn't my job to make sure he is prepared and ready for real life? 
     I believe the job of a parent isn't to just merely feed, clothe, and clean a child. There is so much more to raising a human being. We need so much more as a person. I'm not sure I'm capable of providing every aspect of life that he needs but it is my job to try. I will try to love him unconditionally even when he screams at me or doesn't listen for the 10th time. I will provide words of wisdom even when he thinks he knows everything. I will try to explain the world when something unexplainable happens such as losing a close friend or losing his chance at the president spot in his favorite club. 
     I will do this because it is my job, but also because I love this child more than anything else in this world. He is me. And if it's the greatest thing I ever do, I will try to be the best person for him and teach him things that I wasn't. I will be who he needs me to be even though I may not like it. 

Yes, we are still here!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written anything! Sometimes I guess you just want to live life and not document every second. With having Facebook and Instagram our lives are pretty much out there for people to see everyday. Anyways, for the family members that aren't on Facebook here is an update!

Landin and I are in California. We have been here for over a month and will still be here until August 20th. Trev has been home in Washington this whole time...alone. He has traveled a bit for work and actually just landed in Orlando this evening where he is going to a convention for work. He will be joining us out here in CA in a couple weeks also. So, Landin and I have been just really hanging out and being lazy. We play outside when the temperature isn't scorching. We have seen our family, gone to the movies, and played at parks. For Landin's birthday we plan on going to Disneyland instead of the traditional birthday party. He is so excited to see the new Cars Land. I finally got around to seeing the wedding location in Oak Glen! I quickly fell in love with it after the first few minutes of the tour. The buildings are older, but have so much character and charm. The decorations are perfect and have been collected by the location owners. Talking about the owners/wedding coordinators; they are soo sweet and knowledgeable! I know I will be in good hands with them. We are going back in a couple days to see the place at night all lit up. I know it will be beautiful and perfect. It has re-ignited my excitement for the wedding. Things will hopefully start falling into place.

I think that's about it! Here are some pics!

Where we say "I do"

The guys' house to get ready in.

Inside the guys' place. Fake bear!? Awesome, right?

Tasty Corn

I have another recipe...sort of!

I made this tasty butter for our corn tonight to go with our tacos! I found the ingredients from someone in a forum that I no longer know where I found it. :-/ It is very delicious though!

1 stick of butter
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp salt
juice of 1 lime
small handful of cilantro

All of these ingredients are going to be put into a food processor. First, I cut up my stick of butter into pieces and threw them in the processor. (It helps if you soften or even melt the butter a little bit before putting it in.) Next, I dropped in my cilantro, chili powder, salt, and juice of my lime. Finally, pulse until the mixture is creamy. And voila! That's it!

I had corn that you cook in the bag in the microwave. So, I cooked my corn, then put it in a bowl and stirred in my butter mixture. It was the best corn I have eaten in such a long time! I bet it would be great to rub on some corn on the cobs too!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta

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Yum Yum Yum!! This Buffalo Baked Chicken Pasta was delicious!!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta
serves 4-6
1 pound pasta (I used whole wheat mini penne)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into chunks
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3-4 handfuls of a Mexican Cheese Blend1/6 cup buffalo wing sauce
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
for garnish: 3/4 cup chopped green onions, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, additional buffalo wing sauce.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare water for pasta and cook according to directions.
While pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add in grated cheeses and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in buffalo wing sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Spray a baking dish (9 x 13 is fine) with non-stick spray. Add pasta and chicken, then pour cheese sauce over and mix thoroughly until everything is coated. Sprinkle with additional grated cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately top with Mozzarella, green onions and cilantro. Drizzle with buffalo wing sauce.

**I only topped half of the dish with the green onions, cilantro, and extra buffalo sauce, so that Landin would still love it. Since I only put 1/6 cup of buffalo sauce in the cheese sauce the taste was very mild. Landin LOVED it! Trev, of course, had to add extra extra buffalo sauce to make it to his liking. I served the pasta with celery with ranch dip and cheesy mashed potatoes. 

*Recipe adapted from How Sweet it is

Our Life Lately

Spring has finally hit us here in Washington. We had a few days that were just absolutely beautiful. On those days I thought to myself, "This is why people live here. I am so thankful I get to experience this". Really! It was so perfect I had to stop and just enjoy it. I do not like the hot weather and usually stay out of the sun's rays as much as possible. Up here though you can sit in the sun and not get too hot. I just love it!

Other than me enjoying the sun, Landin has gotten to play outside! Hooray! We have been playing inside for the past few months which means endless rounds of tag and hide-and-go-seek. (It's not very fun when you HAVE to hide in the same spot 10 times in a row because Landin says so.) Our outside activities include riding bikes, watering the grass/flowers/weeds, playing fetch with Dotti, and digging in the rocks. It is really fun stuff.

So most of you that read this already know that Landin is a handful. I'm still waiting for the 3-year-old phase to pass. It isn't going quick enough. He can be very extreme in his emotions and actions. One minute he will come up to hug you which will then turn into a full on choke hold that you aren't getting out of even if you ask nicely 3 times. Trev and I just continue to look forward to the future when he no longer thinks it is fun to smack, spit, run, and not listen. It is will happen....it has to!!!

In other news Trev and I just started the Insanity program yesterday. The first day is just a "Fit Test" where you do a certain move as many times as humanly possible in one minute. There are 8 moves that will KICK YOU BUTT at the end of the test. I was huffin' and puffin' like I was a crazy bad wolf or something! (haha one of Landin's favorite book: "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" by Jon Scieszka. Check it out!) So, we are going to kill ourselves over the next 60 days. Wedding body here I come!!!

Life in General

Life can get a little dull at times while other times you can't even catch a breath. I'm figuring out how to balance life. My main focus these days is the house, school, and Landin (with quality Trev time thrown in). I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with Landin right now. We usually have so much fun together and he pushes me to be better. Although, just last night we had a minor explosion. He wouldn't listen to me to lay down in his bed for bed time. Landin is a free spirit and very stubborn. When he wants to play or be funny it is hard to get him to stop. Even after warning him multiple times I usually have to make a point by walking away or taking away something he really loves. Last night I told him I wasn't going to read him his bedtime story. Of course this was a horrible punishment. How on earth could he go to sleep without his bedtime story?!? (I probably should have thought of something better, but I improvised in the moment like most moms do.) He cried and cried and screamed. I walked out of the room to give him some time to calm down, but that just made it worse.

So, I did what I usually do best. I sat down with him and talked to him in the sweetest, calmest voice I could muster up. He cried some more, but it wasn't the I'm mad and hate you cry. I picked him up at his request and let him cry because he was sad. At this moment I felt horrible!!! I sat him back down and asked him why he was crying and he said, "You made me sad and mad." I apologized while almost crying myself. I have always taught him to use words and say how he feels, so in these moments I feel like the worst mother ever. He sat there all puffy and teary-eyed. I asked him if he loved momma and he said no because I made him sad. (Double blow to my heart) I apologized again and asked if he forgave me, which he said yes. At the end of the conversation we ended up saying sorry to each other and he did say he loved me. It was so sweet and sad. It's just one of those moments when you give in and forget what the problem (or bad behavior) was in the first place. You have to appreciate the little human you are raising and thank God that you have another day to try again and be better the next time.

I love my little guy more than anything and sometimes if I just forget about all the bad stuff life can bring and focus on him, then life is a little more simple and better. I forget what is important in life and that each day I wake up is because I have a purpose.

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Little Moments

Let me start by saying that 3 years old has been the hardest age so far. My sweet, cuddly, obedient, little boy turned into this independent, angry, mischievous monster. I couldn't believe the transformation and most days I still can't. I'm patiently waiting for the day my sweet boy returns. Until then there will be a lot of yelling (from him), time out (for me and him), crying, and slow breathing (from me). So, in all this craziness sweet moments rarely occur.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to experience one of those sweet, stop-and-really-take-it-in moments. Landin still hadn't woken up from his 2 1/2 hour nap, so I went in and opened his door an took his blankets off him. (I didn't wake him up because that results in uncontrollable anger and stomping) I continued cleaning the upstairs waiting for him to wake up. A few minutes later he sleepily came walking out of his room. He asked me to holdge him and go downstairs. I picked him up and we went downstairs. I sat on the couch with him still laying on my shoulder in my arms. We sat there for probably about 5 minutes. I had my phone hooked up to our little speaker think playing songs from Pandora. As he was laying there with me rubbing his back "Don't Stop Believing" came on the station by Journey. Seems completely unrelated and useless except for that is song we played on repeat for Landin when he was a baby and couldn't sleep. We literally had this one song on a CD and played it in the car or in his room. It seemed at one point it was the only thing that could quiet him down. It seems cheesy, but in that moment I thanked God for this moment in the midst of hard, long, exhausting days. I thanked God for this little man in my lap and I saw a future where there might be more moments of quiet cuddling.

I love that little guy, but he really challenges me everyday and pushes every limit I have and ones I didn't know I had.