Max & Kaylee

Sometimes it feels hard.  To walk through this life.  To get up each morning and selflessly love on my husband and babies.  To give so much of my time and energy to making sure they are fed, clothed, learning, and happy.  Sometimes it feels hard to love on them, to choose to love on them.  When my husband throws his clothes on the floor, day after day, or tracks mud in on my newly swept floors, it can be hard to choose love, to look beyond and see that he is simply an absent-minded man, excited to be home and doing this thing.  Or when my daughter hits her brother for the 15th time in one hour, it can be hard to choose love, to choose patience and to keep disciplining in love and grace.

Having kids, being married - it's not always easy, and it's definitely not perfect. There are rough days, there are frustrating moments, there are disagreements, there are hurt feelings.  BUT, loving on my man and my babies?  Worth it, all the time.  I have learned and am learning so much from being married and from having kids. God is constantly teaching and refining me into the woman that He's made me to be - I don't always learn well or graciously, but when I seek after Him, God changes my heart and shapes me more and more into the wife and mama that He desires me to be.

The song, 'Worth it', by Francesca Battistelli, reminds me of these things.  I've been meaning to share it for some time now.  When it comes on the CD in the car, I turn it up and let it wash over me.  Love is worth it.  Always.

I can't play the song directly on my blog, because of copyright purposes, but if you have time, take a few minutes to click on the link above and listen to the song - it's good :)

Linking up with Goodnight Moon today.

I wish I could be excited to post that we can now say we have a 4-day weekend, but not so much.  Max woke up yesterday morning super sick.  Like lay-in-bed-moaning-and-try-to-make-it-to-the-bathroom super sick.  I think he has what I had a few weeks ago.  Poor guy.  Of course, he had to go in to medical, so they could sign off on him being sick.  He told me he threw up all over the place there and that's why they gave him off until Monday.  He hasn't moved since he got home and I'm trying my best to pump him with liquids and easy foods.

We were doing ok and I thought we were in the clear, but then last night, after dinner, on our walk, L spewed throw-up EVERYwhere.  And proceeded to do it a few more times after we booked it home.  Poor baby.  Thank the Lord for good friends who come over to help get Ezra ready for bed!  It was a rough night last night, trying to get her to sleep and feel ok.  She just wanted lots of water (which is good!), but everytime she would drink some, it came back out.  She started keeping stuff down and woke up feeling ok (at least she's acting pretty good!) and even ate breakfast!  I hope whatever she had was short-lived and is now over.

I woke up this morning and have been feeling nauseous all morning.  Ick.  I hope I don't pick up whatever it is that is floating around.  That would be bad.  What happens when mama gets sick and is supposed to take care of a sick husband, a sick toddler and a bouncing-off-the-walls-teething toddler?!  Oh the joys of marriage and motherhood!  I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Pray for us this weekend?  For good solid rest so our bodies can heal and mend?  And for strength and patience and grace, as I nurse these sickies back to health?  Thanks...

We LOVE us some good hummus around here.  And I mean, we scarf it all down pretty much as soon as it's made.  I started making it a few years ago, after realizing how easy and inexpensive it can be, especially after seeing how fast we can burn through the delicious dip!  I thought I'd share my take on a basic hummus recipe, with a few suggestions for twists if you're feeling adventurous.  I first found a classic recipe online (the site I found it one is no longer up and running) and have since tweaked it - I actually never even measure or use a recipe anymore - just throw some stuff in the food processor and let it do it's thang!



Basic Hummus:
2 cans garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas), with liquid reserved
2 Tbsp Tahini
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Put the garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic, salt and lemon juice into a food processor (I found it does the best job!) and turn it on until everything is ground up.  It may appear to be a bit dry, so add some of the reserved garbanzo bean liquid (start with a Tbsp or two.) until it becomes more of a creamy consistency. Stop and taste - I always add a bit more salt or lemon juice, depending on how I want my hummus to taste - then continue processing until the hummus has reached your desired consistency.  I usually let it run a few minutes, because I like my hummus super creamy, but I know some people that like a little bit of texture in theirs.

For some twists on the basic recipe...
Sundried Tomato/Basil: add 10-12 fresh basil leaves + 1-2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes
Garlic Artichoke: add an additional garlic clove + a can of drained artichoke hearts
Spicy: add a seeded jalapeno
Olive: add a handful or two of black or green olives
Roasted Red Pepper: add 2-3 Tbsp roasted red peppers


I have a lot of fun adding different flavors and serving a few different colors of hummus (red = roasted red pepper, green = spicy OR basil, black-ish = black olives)!   I serve hummus with hot pita pockets or pita chips or crackers or carrot sticks or green pepper sticks or as a spread on a sandwich- there are so many options!

Oh!  And the tahini?!  You can usually find it in most grocery stores in the "ethnic" foods section.  It might seem spendy, but that jar usually lasts through many, many batches of hummus!

...so the last few days have consisted of me laying in bed (sleeping or catching up on episodes of Grey's Anatomy, ha ha!), resting on the couch or making new best friends with the bathroom (ok, TMI, I know).  I've been pretty miserable and am way ready to be done with this nasty whatever that I have.  We think that I finally got what L had last weekend (oh the joy) and I definitely didn't get the light end of the bargain.  I'm on day five of this blasted thing, but at least I think I am finally on the upward slope.  My headache is gone, I can stand up straight again, and I finally feel like eating.  Max has been such a trooper: taking care of me, dealing with the babes, doing household tasks, etc.  He's not used to being "Mr. Mom", but he's been doing a fine job of it and we are all in one piece!  I think it'll be a few more days before I'm back to good though, so the blog may be a bit slow this week...