5 on Friday: One Year Of The Blog

1.  One Year

Well folks, it has officially been a full year since my first blog post of Faith & Samuel.  In case you are a new reader, or just want to reminisce like me; here are a few highlights from the year.  I tried to pick a variety of posts about all of us and a family favorite recipe.  It’s fun (bittersweet) to see how much the kids have changed in this one year.  I’m glad we got to partake in some pretty special moments.

 

A little background on my babies:Wee-Ones 

Our Son’s Story

Our first trip to Disneyland

Just a weekly 5 on Friday

One of our staple meals during a weeknight: Chicken &Sweet Potatoes  

Our Maui Vacation

Tess Turns 4

A little Get to Know Me

A glimpse of lake life and my parent’s home-Lake Livin

Our summer birthday babies’ celebration at Great Wolf Lodge

2.  Apple

A couple weeks ago the hubs surprised me by reserving me the new Apple i-phone. I have been eligible for an upgrade for over a year and haven’t taken the plunge.  The phone I have (the 4S) works great and to be completely honest I love the small size.  It fits in my bra just perfect; and I’m not ashamed to admit that is where I store it way too often!  Anyway, I have been talking about finally trading it in and today is the day!  Goodbye small phone; hello better camera! 

3.  University of Iowa

In a couple weeks we take Brady to Iowa City for another procedure to check his kidney and bladder function.  I always have anxiety prior to any of his appointments but for some reason this time it is a bit more.  We’ve been through these procedures enough and haven’t had great outcomes, so I am really hoping this time things will change.  I have been telling myself often to not think or worry about the day too much because quite frankly we aren’t in control.  In my opinion I have been doing a pretty good job of that, until yesterday.  I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Brady’s nurse.  We were discussing/confirming appointment times and verifying that a child life specialist will be there to assist if necessary.  Finally, the nurse brought up the option of sedation.  This has never been an option for us in the past.  However, the more we discussed it and I had a chance to think about it; we are going to use sedation for this procedure.  Brady is at the age to know that there is something going on so he does get quite worked up in clinics and hospitals.  Also, he’s two.  What two year old do you know that will sit still and/or not fight being strapped down to a table.  The down side to this is that he needs to be NPO for eight hours prior to our procedures.  Iowa City is a good two+ hour drive from our house so not having anything to eat or drink in the morning will be very hard.  That being said, I think I have decided to book us a hotel near the hospital; maybe one with a pool.  We can tire the kids out, let them stay up really late, and have them sleep until it is absolutely necessary to leave for the hospital.  Now, this is all good in my mind but…

4.  Costume Ideas

We have been discussing Halloween costumes in our house for nearly three weeks now.  Out of the blue one day, Miss Tess said that she wanted more than anything to be a goldfish.  And no, I have absolutely no idea where that came from.  My only thought is that she and little brother have been fishing up a storm this summer at my parent’s house.  I gave it some thought and realized maybe I could make that work with her idea that “I want Brady to be my fisherman.”  He does have a lot of props already to fulfill that costume and it is his most favorite activity on this Earth.

Then this week we were watching a favorite family Disney movie, The Princess & The Frog.  If you haven’t seen it, you must!  I love this one to pieces and the music is fabulous.  Although I have always believed deep down that I should have been raised in the South so maybe that’s part of my obsession? Well, and let’s be honest; I was certain I was going to marry Prince William for most of my life too. ;)  Anyway, back to my point.  Little man B has a known history of ribbiting to different rooms and up the stairs.  I have videos of Tess trying to catch her brother as a frog.  So, now she thinks he should be a frog and her a princess. 

I’m certain about twenty more ideas will surface from now until Halloween, but I am going to go with one of the ideas listed above.  Any thoughts from you readers on how to make these costumes happen?

 5.  Another Week, Another Recipe

You guys, I just have to post this one.  We made this on Tuesday, had leftovers on Wednesday, and I secretly wish we had more.  The recipe for this week was Korean Beef.  We don’t make a lot of Asian dishes in our home.  I don’t know if it’s because they are so full of flavor or what but they just aren’t “cozy” meals to me.  My opinion on them is completely different from my husband’s.  He could eat Asian food for at least one meal of each day.  Maybe it’s his Indian background?  He’s got quite a bit of Sri Lankan blood in him; and if you need to look where Sri Lanka is on the map, it’s okay.  I had to when I met him. ;)

So, after the meat was cooked, we served it over basmati rice.  I added green vegetables to mine but the hubs just had meat (sound familiar in any of your homes)?  The kids loved the meat too so when it’s 4 for 4 it’s a sure win in our home.  I am ready to make this one again soon!

I feel like I could keep going again today but I'll save some topics for next week.  I hope you all have wonderful weekends.  Ours should be pretty low-key...my favorite type. 
Go Cowboys!