10 Lessons I want our Kids to Learn.

I saw a list on Pinterest of things that we should want our children to learn from us- my husband and I.  I decided that it's something that I really want to remember, so I wanted to blog about it.  Here's a simple list of ten things that I want Tenley and our future child(ren) to learn from Mike and I.  I think during our next date night we're going to talk about these things- which ones we do well, which need some work, etc.  I love how we are constantly striving to make things better.

1. Affection: I want our children to see us holding hands, hugging, kissing, etc.  I want them to know what appropriate affection looks like.

2. Saying “I’m sorry”: I want to be quick to use this phrase and I want my kids to hear me say it.  

3. Affirmation: This isn't my primary love language so I have to work at dishing out compliments and affirming language.  But I want our kids to hear us tell them daily how proud we are of them, or what a good job they did, etc.

4. Attraction: Our children need to know that my husband is pretty good looking :)  And vice versa!

5. Time: I think it's a great message for our children to see us trying to spend time together- one on one.  Whether that means stealing time away to go sit on the deck, or go on date nights, take a walk, etc.

6. Laughter: We laugh a lot in our house.  I want my kids to see that and to know that we can always make each other laugh.

7. Respect: Simple signs of respect.  "please" and "thank you", opening doors for each other.

8. Faith conversations: I pray that our children hear us talk about Jesus constantly!  That they know He is just as much apart of our household as they are!  We have already begun to pray with Tenley not just during meals or bedtime, but before we leave for the sitter every day, before a trip, etc.

9. The value of friends: I want our house to be well worn from the traffic of friends in/out of our house. We love having people over and as Tenley gets older I want it to be a house for all of her friends as well.

10. Servanthood: Always asking, “How can I help? What do you need to make life better?” Serving one another is seen in the daily, little things and there’s many opportunities to serve locally and abroad.

New Pictures!

Finally!!  We finally got some great family pictures taken and also T's 18 month pictures!  Here's a sneak preview.  My amazing cousin Lindsey took them - I can't wait to go back to her in six months for Tenley's 2 year pictures!!  2!?  I don't even know how that's possible.  Our little bug is growing up!

This is a favorite.

Family

So fun!

Thank you Lindsey for the captured memories!  I can't wait to put them up at home.  Don't worry Great Grandparents- I'm hoping to get the cd from Lindsey in time to bring you some copies when we're in Florida!

The Effects of a Good Meal.

By now, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you have heard and have visited the website phenomenon of Pinterest.  If you haven't, you're really missing out.  This might get you motivated to head over and check it out-don't be overwhelmed..just do it.  A lot of my new recipes lately have been coming from pinterest. We had one of my absolute favorites last night.  Here's a little background of how the day went...
I was off work yesterday so Tenley and I had a day to be productive at home!  I had laundry to do and I wanted to try out a new recipe.  I got everything going in the crockpot for Italian Chicken.  T had different plans though.  The crockpot was convienently placed on the counter just within her finger tips reach where she could move the dial from "Low" to "Off" in a simple little flip of the wrist.  More than once I went to check on my frozen chicken breasts only to find that the crockpot was OFF.  That little stinker.  I finally moved the crockpot to another counter and mentally added another hour to the cook time.  This is how the rest of our day went:  Whine Whine Whine Whine.  Mickey Mouse.  Coloring.  "No Tenley, you can't color on your high chair."  "No, mickey isn't on right now."  Scream.  Whine.  More whining.  I'll admit, I lost my cool more than once and had to walk away.  Are we nearing the terrible twos?!  There can just be so much attitude in such a sweet little girl (Grandparents, I know you're rolling your eyes not wanting to believe such things).  But it's true!  By dinner time she had me looking at the clock wondering how close we were to bed time.  With Daddy's help we got her settled down and in bed early.  I went to check on my great recipe and while it smelled delicious, it was just one of those days where I wanted to burst into tears and order a pizza instead.  But I knew I had to keep going.  So I made some egg noodles, shredded the chicken, and plated this meal:

Now I have to tell you, that I looked at Mike before we sat down to eat and I said, "This smells good, but I still just want pizza."  I felt defeated.  That beautiful little girl just got the best of me.  He grabbed my hand and sweetly said, "If this isn't good, we'll order pizza.  I promise."  I laugh about this statement now, because it was meant to be so nice and assuring- but now thinking about it I think he really thought this meal was going to be awful.  We both took a bite, looked at each other and exclaimed "It's good...really good!!"  And it was.  Sigh.  I relaxed knowing that even if the day didn't go as planned, at least SOMETHING still came together.  Something as simple as a crockpot meal.  To top it all off, Mike said after his second helping, "That was the best meal I've had in a long time."  I'm feeling less defeated now.  And I think I'll double this recipe next time. Here it is for you and here's hoping it has the same effect on your family!

Italian Crockpot Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1 packet dry Zesty Italian dressing 

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending how cream cheesy you want it)  *I only used one and I thought that was fine.

Place the chicken in a crockpot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it. Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low in the crockpot for at least 4 hours. You can leave it in there all day.  Once chicken is done you can leave the chicken breasts whole, cube it, or even shred it. 
If you feel the sauce is too thick you can thin it to your preferred consistency with a little milk. Serve over pasta or rice.