My Irish Twins

Yes, I have twins!!! Well...Irish twins. What are Irish twins??? I didn't know, until I had them haha.
I guess if you have two kiddos that are less than 12 months apart, they are called "Irish Twins". I Love my baby boys :) This week is another special week, because they both turned a month older! Ayden is now 18 months, and Zachariah is 5 months!!
   Ayden's vocabulary is growing so fast! He can speak 2 to 3 word sentences, and just this past week he learned to shake his head no, as well as say "no", when he doesn't want something. I'm blessed that so far if Mommy or Daddy replies back with a "yes", he does not persist with his "no". He still LOVES reading, and enjoys our one-on-one reading times each day! He now asks you to read the same book at least ten times over! And he will sit through each time :) I Love it!! He also, Loves baby Zachary and would do anything for him :) Every morning, as soon as he wakes up, he asks "baby???baby??" and as soon as he see's him, filled with delight, he runs to him to shower him with kisses!! Slowly he is learning the hard lesson of "sharing". Zachary loves playing on the floor with his big brother, but as soon as he has the cool toy...Aydens "needs" it. I Love watching them both grow and learn right from wrong! It is such a blessing to stand on this side "the mommy side" and watch these beautiful boys explore.

I would have to say that Ayden's Favorite part of the day, would be when Daddy comes home. As soon as Ben sends me a txt that he is "on his way home", I tell Ayden to go see if Daddy's home. So he runs to the front door, and stands there until he's home. Then (usually from the kitchen) I hear, "Datty, datty, datty"...That means, he's home! His second favorite time of the day is....BREAKFAST!!! Haha...of course..he is a lil guy..and that's what they do...Eat, eat and eat some more ;)

 The following is a lesson learned in brotherhood! Don't be too quick to laugh..BECAUSE......

 It could be you...

Just another fun picture my sister Leslie took!

   Zachariah...a.k.a...Our Stud...He never ceases to amaze us!! From the day he was born (seriously) he would ride in his car seat in the form of a crunch (or sit up). I would force his head to lie down, only for him to pop it right back up. So it didn't surprise me to have him sitting up at 4 months! He turned 5 months this week! He Loves chatting and trying to follow his big brother around! Zachary can army crawl, and get into a crawling position to rock back and forth. Like Ayden, he has stolen a piece of my heart! Ayden adores his Daddy, Zachariah adores his mommy!! He LOVES snuggling, kisses, mauling, cheek squishes and more. I adore him! I couldn't imagine life without my boys (including my hubby).

   Ben and I were just talking about if we would rather be married with no kids, or take the life we have. And we both agreed, we wouldn't want our lives any other way! The "no kids" life would be boring! We also agreed that we were blessed with two WONDERFUL boys!!

What's for Breakfast??

We have pretty much cut all cold cereals out of our breakfast routine. Let's be honest, there is rarely anything good in them anyways! I just recently discovered that Kashi Cereal uses GMO products!! So much for it being a healthier choice. I liked Kashi, it made me think I was doing something good for myself in the morning! I guess not! The problem is, that all these healthy little products come out, then once a bunch of consumers start grabbing on, the Big Wigs step in....offer the little healthy man lots of money, then junkify the "use to be healthy" foods so they can make it cheaper! I am in the middle of reading a book called "The Pure Cure"..and WOW is it an eye opener! Greed sure has taken over! It saddens me that man thinks they can take what God created and somehow make it better, bigger and produce more than it was created to do!
   All this has sent our family off on a journey to remake our diet by going back to how things were meant to be...raw milk, no GMO's, no artificial and what not! But, I can only make it happen one baby step at a time! otherwise I get overwhelmed and discouraged!
   I am starting with what we eat for breakfast!! Yay! I personally am not a huge motivated eater! So it's easy for me to skip meals or just snack...but that's not healthy either..and my Hubby Loves me enough to make sure I get the nutrients I need lol! I was inspired by a couple people around me, to start making my own smoothies in the morning! It has actually been so much fun! My Main smoothie consisted of the following:
                                  Kale-Couple Leaves/Stems
                                  Spinach-A Handful
                                 Around 10 Strawberries
                                 A cup of Organic Frozen Blueberries
                                 1/4 Cup of Ground Flax Seed
                                 2 Tbls- Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
                                 1/2 cup of Almond Milk
                                 (Sometimes) 1 cup of Plain Yogurt.
                                   1 Mango or Peach
                                   1 Banana
Being that my little Ayden is now on a "no dairy" diet, I often opt out the Yogurt and add extra Almond milk. Also, After recent research I have done, I discovered that "green smoothies" can be more damaging than they are good for you. As long as you use things like Spinach and Kale in moderation, you are fine. But, due to the high levels of "Oxalates" in the Spinach, there is some research that show an increase in Kidney Stones due to high Oxalate diets! People who had suffered from kidney stones, were told by their Doctors to cut out the green smoothies, but mainly the Spinach! I still want to do some more reading up on this, but I sure found it intriguing!  Anyways, I love the smoothie idea (minus some of the Spinach now), it's fast..yummy and I feel great in the morning! I make enough for 2 1/2, bottle one up for Ben (for the next morning), then Ayden and I polish off the rest!


Now onto getting rid of the the Multi Vitamins, and replacing them with a Whole foods supplement, and maybe some Cod live oil along with Butter oil!!

SURPRISE!

Ben and I have been enjoying having company over often! We like hosting our couples Bible Study (which is this Saturday for those who attend or want to attend!) having parties and what not! All of my life I had an amazing example of what it looked like to be hospitable! I just hope I can live up to it. My Mom had, and still has, a way of making guests feel welcomed! She would have batches of homemade cookies stored in the freezer, so that when we had last minute guests, she would have something to serve them and make them feel at home! If someone called and said they were in town and wanted to stop by, My Mom would make sure the house was spotless, candles were lit, and snacks were on the table. That way when they showed up, it appeared we were expecting them all along! I know the scripture says that some have the gift of hospitality, and my Mom is one of those! Also, whenever us kids were headed out to hang out with friends, or goto a party, she would say, "Make sure you bring a blessing with you." We knew what that meant! That meant we were to find either some snacks, or even make a batch of cookies ahead of time to bring with us. And it sure did bless many people! Thanks to my Mom's example, I felt very prepared when I moved out to have company! My prayer is that when we have guests at our home, they feel welcomed always! I have a lot to learn still, but practice makes perfect...or better...haha, because we all know that no one is perfect but Christ ;)
Yesterday we threw a Surprise Birthday Party for my 2 brothers who were born on the same day 12 years apart! Buddy and Gabe!! It was a great turn out and so much fun to see some people that I haven't seen for years! Around 5 it started to down pour, which had me worried for a bit because I was planning on Volleyball and a fire! Thankfully around 6:30 it all stopped, and the Sun popped out! Gabe was surprised for sure, and seemed to enjoy himself a lot! Buddy, on the other hand, I had to tell last week because I received news he was planning on heading to a friends that weekend! He was still surprised to see his friends he hadn't seen for years! Happy Birthday Guys!! 

   I'm pretty excited about this coming weekend! Ben and I (mostly "I") have decided to step out of our (my) comfort zone, and throw a neighborhood party! I am not sure what to expect, but I want to get to know our neighbors and hopefully impact their lives for Christ, while He has us here! It is very easy for me to have familiar faces over often, but to have random people who I don't know...ya defiantly harder! But, we may be the only "Jesus" they ever get to see! So for me, it's time I get serious about living out my faith! Jesus didn't live a comfortable lifestyle...and No...He wasn't silent about His Faith. In fact He was so honest and stern with people, it often turned them away. Not from His sternness, but the requirements to following Him! For myself, it is sosos easy to make excuses on why I don't need to be "too" serious about reaching others, dying to flesh, being intentional... and so on, but I believe Jesus' words when He said in Matthew 7, "²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Now I need to start living it!! 


Here are the pictures from the party! I'm excited for my next post, where I will show you my recent sewing creations!! Be Blessed! 

My family is VERY sarcastic at times, so as Gabe entered, I think he thought it was a  joke! 

Gabe and Betsy

My sweet nephew Isaiah

The cheapest (not money wise but work wise)
Cupcakes I have ever made, due to lack of extra time haha

 So of course we played V-Ball, but these pictures I find funny.

To much squash from the garden???

Summer Squash!! (Make-Over)

I LOVE summer Squash!! I know that my whole family does as well! Before I had only had it sauteed in a pan with a little bit of butter and salt & Pepper, or I would use it in a veggie stir fry! BUT I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com, and it has quickly become, yet another, staple in our kitchen! Ben and I LOVED these. The flavor was outstanding, and these boats served as an excellent appetizer for our dinner last night! Of course, I made a few changes to the recipe. So here it is!! I would HIGHLY encourage you (even if you aren't a summer squash fan) To make these ASAP!! The following recipe is off Allrecipes.com, but I added into it my changes!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium zucchini 1 slice WW Bread, torn into small pieces 1/4 cup Turkey Bacon cut in small pieces (I didn't cook it ahead of time, just to save me some time) 1 tablespoon minced black olives (I didn't have on hand so avoided) 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (Didn't have this, so avoided)  3 tablespoons diced green chile peppers

1/4 cup minced onion 1/4 cup chopped tomato 6 tablespoons shredded sharp Cheddar cheese 1 pinch dried basil seasoned salt to taste ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Prepare the grill for indirect heat. Or turn oven to broil.
2.	Place the zucchini in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 7 minutes. Drain, cool, and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp to about 1/4 inch from the skin. Chop pulp. Take the zucchini shells, and absorb as much of the water in them as possible, by using paper towel. (this helps in avoiding super soggy squash)
3.	In a bowl, mix the zucchini pulp, bread pieces, bacon bits, olives, jalapeno, green chile peppers, onion, tomato, and Cheddar cheese. Season with basil, seasoned salt, and pepper.
4.	Stuff the zucchini halves with the pulp mixture. Seal each stuffed half in aluminum foil.
5.	Place foil packets on the prepared grill over indirect heat. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. I did these in my oven on BROIL for 20 min! Worked great! Uncover the foil for the last 5 minutes, for a crunch!!

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 8/15/2012