Chugga, Chugga, Choo-choo!!!

Benjamin turned three this week and I can hardly believe it.  This year I let him choose between a tractor/truck cake and a train cake, and as you can see he opted for the train.  Oh, and chocolate cake was a definite must as well!  We started the day off with some birthday cake for breakfast (hey, there's nothing wrong with having cake for breakfast one day out of the year, right?) and since he spotted it hiding in the oven first thing that morning I couldn't make my little boy wait after hearing and seeing his excitement at the cake he'd been waiting days to finally see!  Then one of his favorite buddies came over to play with him for the morning.  More cake was eaten after lunch and then the day continued as normal with lots of presents given throughout, the best was saved for last - the coolest Thomas the train toy ever seen.  It was a special day for a very special little boy!  Since we celebrated his birthday with Steve's family on our trip, having a big party with two of his cousins, there was no need really to give him another party at home. 

 Benjamin continues to melt my heart multiple times a day with his sweet affection, innocent smiles, and deep, all-knowing eyes.  He's an old soul with a tender heart.  Unlike his sister, he's reserved in his affections for others, shy at first, however once he's opened up, you discover the most animated and expressive, goofy little boy ever!  Oh, and he's incredibly smart too (and no I am not being biased at all)!  Warning however: Brag Alert about to begin.  :)  My little boy can sing his ABC's nearly perfectly, count from 1-20, and is an absolute genius at puzzles.  Seriously it is amazing what this kid can do when you hand him a 24 piece jig-saw puzzle that he's never seen before and after 5-10 minutes he has mastered it on his own.  I think the word I'm looking for right now is..... BRILLIANT!  His favorite things at the moment are trains (obviously), play-doh, legos and Curious George.

Benjamin looks out for his little sister Gracie and instead of tattling on her, he has now taken it into his own hands to simply tell her "no" on my behalf.  It is so funny and so cute to watch the love/hate relationship between them go back and forth.  Lately however it has been more love than hate, which is always good for this mommas heart.  Lot's of hugs and kisses.  Even more giggles and sqeals of joy.  And let's not forget the screaming matches they like to have with eachother just for fun!  My oh my, I am so very blessed to have a sweetheart like Benjamin as my little guy - I love you buddy!

Vacay Time!

I will be MIA for the next few weeks, as we're heading down south for a Ghiringhelli family reunion!  =)  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far and have a a great 4th of July while you're at it!  Write to y'all later.  Peace.

~ Jen

Flowers here and there...

It's no secret that I'm not much of a gardener.  Mainly because I've never had the opportunity to garden until now because of becoming a home owner.  Immediately after buying our house I began imagining the beautiful flower gardens in the front yard, and even a patch of earth in the backyard for a vegetable garden, that I would plant this spring and summer.  And then reality sunk in.  With two young toddlers at home to take care of all day long, this stay at home mom would have to wait another year or two for my gardening aspirations to begin!  :)  A little sad that my time for gardening hasn't yet quite arrived, I realized that it's something for me to ease into anyway.  Having never gardened in my life, this is a whole new world for me and I have a lot to learn.  Thank goodness for all the information that can be found on the internet!

So, I started small.  Steve gave me a hanging flower plant on Mother's Day for our front porch, which is beautiful and unlike any other I've ever seen.  The women's group I go to from church helped out too because at the last meeting of the year they gave all of us a couple of flowers to plant.  Then there are the flowers that were already here when we moved in; a beautiful, white rose bush as well as some other plants/flowers that I haven't yet figured out what they are.  One of which I didn't get a photo of because just as quickly as the flowers bloomed, they also disappeared just as fast.  And what a shame because these flowers were magnificent!  Of course, we have some wild flowers as well, back in the woods.  Last, but not least, I decided I atleast needed to grow some tomatoes in honor of  
the veggie garden that had to wait.  Instead of planting my tomato plant in a traditional way (ie: the ground or in a pot), I bought a Topsy Turvey upside down planter.  It's an experiment and it will be fun to see if it actually works!

So, there you have it.  Click on the link below to have yourself a look at some of the flowers I've been trying to keep alive!  I must say that I really do love nature and watching these flowers grow is bringing me so much pleasure.  :)

https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/Flowers?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKnHuc2_kJCo1QE&feat=directlink

Happy Daddy's Day!

Here are some pictures from Father's Day. We all had a really great day celebrating Steve and the wonderful daddy he is to our little bambinos! We decided to check out Westcott Beach on that beautiful day and we all had a blast there! I wish we would have known of this place earlier because it's stunning and the perfect place to bring the family for the day. Next time we'll pack the swim suits - HA! Since we didn't know what to expect on our first visit, we figured we'd just splash around in the water for a few minutes with the kids and then head out, but we stayed for quite a bit and could have stayed much longer! :)

From Pools to Pigtails!

The weather was warm and beautiful a few weeks ago (unfortunately that hasn't been the case recently but hopefully the warm sun will return to us again one of these days) and so we got the kids their first kiddie pool for some fun in the sun. There is something so incredibly cute about little ones in their tiny swimsuits, splashing around in the water!  Benjamin, who is especially fond of tigers, is thrilled to have a tiger pool, just in case you were wondering.  :)  Today I had the joy of pulling my little Grace Willow hair back into her first ever ponytail and pigtails!  I have been looking forward to this moment for a long, long time.  With her tight and tiny little curls it has been an especially long wait, but it has certainly been worth it!  Here are the cutie pies......

https://picasaweb.google.com/109422547282724009386/DropBox?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO27heTcs6G_1wE&feat=directlink

The Ultimate Daniel Fast

In my quest to get more healthy and get out of the rut I have found myself in with craving and eating unhealthy foods I decided it was time for a detox.  I needed a plan to jump start my eating habits into what they used to be - better and healthier!  So, I immediately thought of the Daniel Fast.  When I 've done this fast in the past my body always felt amazing afterwards from the detox it got and so I've decided it was a good choice as a "diet".  Therefore I honestly admit to you that this fast wasn't spiritually inspired this time around, atleast I don't think so... you never know for sure with God though!  Sometimes He has plans for you that you never saw coming, leading you unknowingly into a certain place for a special reason....  And as I am writing this I am discovering that this actually is the case with me right now!  Wow.  Isn't it awesome when God blind sides you like that?!  So. cool.  Anyway all of that to say that in the beginning  of this fast my motivation was purely "natural", even though it seems that God has other intentions!  :)

So, my reason for sharing all this with you is because I have found a wonderful source of information about doing a Daniel Fast and it has made this journey so much fun for me!  And a lot easier too. Perhaps you are contemplating doing this fast sometime soon or down the road in the future.  If you are I am certain you will greatly enjoy the following blog as it has been an awesome resource for me!  Check out "The Ultimate Daniel Fast" blog to find really yummy recipes.

http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/2010/12/ultimate-guide-to-daniel-fast-by.html

Some of my favorite's so far have been:

- Pesto whole wheat pasta with grilled veggies
- Vegetable Green Curry with coconut milk
- Date honey (so yummy)
- Gimme More Granola
- Coconut Rice with sweet potatoes

Seriously, all of this stuff has been delicious and it sure beats falling in the Daniel fast "rut" of only eating peanut butter and bananas every day!

Outnumbered

Okay, so I just have to share my latest find with you!  As I was flipping channels one night I came across this show on PBS called "Outnumbered" and I was instantly hooked.  It's a British sitcom (I don't know why but I've always been a sucker for british sitcoms) about the typical, crazy family of five and it's brilliant!  I seriously cannot get enough of this show, it is sooooooo funny!  I read that it's part improv, probably because the two youngest kids are so little, and I think it's already in it's 6th season?  I'm not sure.  Thanks to the internet I've been able to watch the first 6 episodes of the first season for free, but after that you either have to have a Hulu or Netflix account (I don't have either) to keep watching.  I think I'm going to have to get one of these accounts, so I can keep watching because I'm hooked already and I'm dying to watch the next episode!  :)  Once a weeknight on PBS just isn't going to cut it when you know you have multiple seasons to catch up on.  Anyway, you should definitely check it out if you're looking for a good laugh and a new series to watch that's worth investing your time into.