Mr. Independent

Bray is doing this new thing were he wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. I guess he's been doing that for a while. What's weird is that if I tried to hold his hand or try to fix something for him he makes this whiney noise and then bends over sticking his butt straight up in the air and plants his face in the ground. It's so funny! I don't let him see me laughing. It's like he thinks that's going to keep me away from him. classic.

I will post a picture of him doing it soon. ha!

Book worm

Went to the Y today with Braylen. He loves it there! One of the child care workers told me that he loves to sit on her lap and read books with her. She said that he gets book after book to read. So cool! That is definitely one of his favorite things to do. He loves to read Curious George books! We have one George book but I have gotten a few from the library. When I say "where's George?," he points to George on the book. He is just learning and growing so much.

Tonight Guy has class from 6-9:15pm! Bah! It's his longest class. We miss him so much around here! Jess comes over to watch Braylen while I go to bible study at 8pm. It's a busy night. What a blessing it is to have such a flexible, easy going child. :) Guy is planning a daddy and Bray "day" next Saturday when he doesn't have his class. That will be fun! It will be a nice little break for mommy too. What should I do.........

Tonight I made BBQ Chicken Pizza. So delicious! Here is the recipe:

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 can of pizza dough (10/11 ounces)

2 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small pieces

1/2 chopped red onion

1/2 chopped red pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 BBQ sauce (I use Kraft Honey BBQ)

2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese (or less)

Garnish with chopped cilantro

1) Preheat oven to 400. Unroll dough on lightly greased pan. Bake for 12 minutes or until brown.

2) Meanwhile saute chicken, onions, and red pepper on hot pan with olive oil for around 8-10 minutes.

3) Spread BBQ sauce all over baked pizza dough. Top and spread chicken mixture over BBQ sauce. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

4) Bake pizza for 5-8 minutes-until cheese is melted.

5) Garnish with cilantro.

*Serve with side salad or fruit salad!

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo with Jess and Vince! Going to be a great time!

Rainy Weekend

It has been raining so much these past few days. I actually like rainy days. It's just fun to stay at home with Braylen and stay warm and cozy. It's also nice because Braylen has been loving television lately! He watches one show everyday called "Jack's Big Music Show." It's on the Noggin channel and we watch on demand. So he could literally watch it all day long! Which I don't let him so don't worry. He grabs the remote and says "Jack" (well tries to say Jack) and then sits on the couch. It's really cute. The show was canceled a few years so they don't sell anything like toys or stuffed animals-I've looked everywhere! Anyways. The songs from the show HAUNT me every night! I try to go to sleep and I'll hear "Come on everybody give your foot a tap, come on everybody give your hands a clap.........!" I've tried to switch to "Melmo" as Braylen calls it (Elmo/Seasame Street) but it's just not what he wants to watch! It is really neat to see him start to prefer certain things. He is just so smart!

I have been so interested in learning how to cook lately. I've watched a few shows on the Food Network and Jon and Peggy got me a magazine subscription to Cooks Country-which is awesome! I've also been trying to establish a menu every week for our family. My friend Jenna told me about this website moneysavingmom.com and she has a ton of tips on how to save money at the grocery store by using coupons and menu planning. For some reason, I just don't get how to do it! But I've listened to a few blogs from her so I'm going to start working on it next week. Apparently she spends $35 a week on groceries for her family of four. Including household items! wow! I'll keep you updated on how it's going. Any ideas out there?

Have a great weekend! Here is Braylen saying "CHEESE!"

Taco Soup

Tonight I am making Taco Soup for dinner and thought I would share the recipe because it's so easy and delicious! Please who doesn't love soup in the Fall!

Taco Soup

1 pound of ground beef or ground turkey

1/4 cup of chopped red onion

1 1/2 cup water

1 can corn, undrained

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 packet of taco seasoning

Sour cream, guacamole, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese

Cook ground beef and onions until no longer pink. Drain grease. In a large pot, mix beef and onions with water, corn, beans, and taco season. Simmer for 30 minutes. You can also add more water or chicken broth.

Serve with sour cream, guac, cilantro, cheese

Makes 4-6 servings.

So bad at keeping up with this....

Well, I can't believe it's the first day of Fall! Time sure does go by quickly. We have had an amazing summer! We went to 4 weddings, Young Life camp in Virginia, Clearwater Beach, and on Family Camp! So many fun times and memories. We also threw my mom and dad a 30th Anniversary Surprise party! We had over 40+ of my parents friends and family come and celebrate this rare and special event! We had a great time and my parents were so surprised! What a great night!

My parents are so cute and they are still so in love. They have set a wonderful example for us. God is so good and I'm so thankful that my parents made a decision to follow him. I've just been learning so much about how the choices and decisions you make today really do reflect and change the outcome of your future. And not just for yourself but for everyone around you.

We also went on the annual Labor Day Family

Camping trip a few weeks ago to Brookeville!

We had a blast! Braylen had a great time & loved being outdoors all day long. There were two

highlights of the trip: 1) Fried oreo's!! Yum!, 2) Mom saying, "it's on the loose!"-referring to a boat that came loose and was rolling down the street. It eventually crashed into the woods and managed to not hit anything else along the way. It was crazy. Here is a picture of our family on the last day.

Guy is in the midst of trying to balance working

full-time, going to school full-time, being a dad full-time, being a husband full-time, and being a Young Life leader FULL-TIME! He is our hero! He has been working so incredibly hard for our family. He is so anxious to be a teacher. If only he could speed through school!

Next month is my cousin Sara's wedding which we are excited about. Jessica is a bridesmaid and Braylen is the ring bearer! I'm so anxious to see if he will walk down the aisle. It could go either way. He might love it and wave to everyone or he'll just be super shy. Hopefully he will get a good nap in him beforehand. For Jess and Vince's wedding, he fell asleep right before going down the aisle in his stroller. So cute!

Thanks for checking in! I will be posting more things for sure!

A Walk in the Park

Tonight, Guy and I took Braylen up to Central Park to walk their trail. Guy brought the back pack so we didn't use the stroller. Braylen loves to be on daddy's back! Then we took him to the playground. The boy has no fear when it comes to climbing on things or sliding down huge slides. He climbed up a slide tonight and almost fell off. He just laughed. We also ran into some friends-the Hart Family! They have 2 boys and it was good to catch up with them.

Braylen and I recently came back from our Florida trip! We had such a great time with my mom and sister. Braylen loved the ocean and the sand. He was so amazing this trip. He didn't cry or whine once! When I would say, it's time for bedtime, he would go right down. What an amazing kid! He ran right into the ocean and would laugh when the waves would knock him down. He didn't even mind the salt water being in his face. He's crazy. He also loved the sand. He would take his shovel and play with it and put it in buckets. He also liked throwing it which wasn't as much fun for me. :) He usually ended his time on the beach with sand in his hair, face, mouth, and shoes. Thank goodness for swimming pools!

Braylen was like a little celebrity everywhere we went. He would wave and say hi to everyone. Most people wanted to stop and talk to him. One time he climbed out of his chair at a restaurant, walked over to another table, and climbed up in one of their chairs. The couple ended up being from Louisville so it was nice to talk to them. At the airport, he walked up to this lady and climbed up into her lap! She was an older woman and it just made her day. We continue to pray that the Lord would use Braylen to bring joy to those who need it! Joy and kindness seem to burst out of this kid. He's so awesome.

This weekend we have our leader retreat and next weekend is Family Camp during Labor Day! Lots of things happening! Hope everyone has a great day! Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Summer Fun

We have been on the go this whole summer! We've had so much fun though! Last weekend we decided to go to Idle Wild park in Burlington to take a walk on one of their trails. When we got there we saw that they were having a "Touch A Truck" event. They had tons of huge trucks for kids (and adults) to check out! Braylen was so excited! He loved sitting in the drivers seat and "turning" the steering wheel. One trucker accidently left his keys in the ignition and Braylen tried to start it up! If he would have kept turning the key, he would have! Guy captured the moment below-

He is so sneaky! He got on fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, tractors, semi's...just about every truck you can think. We thought he might be nervous from all of the loud noises but it didn't phase him a bit. He even honked the horn a few times-even the big semi horn too. He's so cool.

On Monday we took him to the Boone County Fair. We were meeting some of our YL students there so it was a good opportunity for him to go and ride the rides. Which of course, he loved. He had so much fun. Just loving life. He just runs around like crazy. And then Wednesday we went to the Red's game! So fun! Braylen danced and waived to everyone. We taught him to say "Go!" and point your fist out in the air. It was so cute.

He has been learning and growing so much. When we say, what does a cow say? He says moo! Same with a dog-woof woof! But everything is high pitched and cute sounding. Please! Mama! Baby! Dada! so cute! We are so amazed that the Lord brought this little boy in our lives. We pray every night that Braylen would have confidence in Jesus and be so secure in his faith. Only time will tell......

On another note, Guy is starting school in a few weeks so things are about to get a bit crazy! We are so proud of him for going back. He is going to be the best elementary school teacher ever.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We are headed to a YL 40th Celebration tonight and then Goetta Fest tomorrow! Woohoo! :) It's the small things in life that are the most fun.