The Color of Lunch

Did we just spring forward right into summer?

With temps in the 80s this week, our trip to the commissary this week included vacation-style snacks that I normally pass over.  Fun weather calls for fun food...and just for that, Cheetos are in order.  Baked, of course {wink}.  Nothing spells early summer weather like orange-stained Cheeto fingers! 

We are celebrating our final days on base by burnings tons of energy outside playing with neighborhood friends.  Our plans are to live off-base in Italy...so it will take extra effort to arrange play dates.  It's definitely wonderful to be able to walk over to a neighbor's house with kids loaded into the wagon for a few minutes of play before lunch.

Off to clean, pack, and wonder how exactly our household goods multiplied while we were sleeping!!

-Sarah

Schooling

Paul snapped a few photos of the boys playing outside over the weekend, and I especially love this one.  Now that Sam is standing occasionally unassisted, he is trying to do all of the "big kid" things that Russell does outside.  Our little pro golfer can be seen here demonstrating proper putting form.  Littles (Russell's nickname for Sam) is getting in on the action.  A little golf schooling.

Not a whole heck of a lot to report from the Melvey camp...other than our move is getting SO CLOSE.  The only hiccup at the moment is nailing down flight reservations from the military...something that should be completed soon.  Until then, I'm doing my best to remain as stress-free as possible.  Doing.  My.  Best. 

Something strange usually starts to happen right before a PCS (Permanent Change of Station)....similar to the emotions felt right before a spouse's deployment.  Anticipating the pain of saying goodbye, the tendency is to pull back emotionally to make the farewell easier.  I feel like I've always done that in some way, shape, or form.  BUT - this time is so incredibly different.  Maybe it's because I have an awesome group of women on base with whom I have such encouraging fellowship weekly - or the fact that our church congregation is just plain wonderful.  Either way, I am 100% "in it" until the end this time, emotions be damned.  My expectation is that I will be an emotional mess on the last day of church and my last day of neighborhood Bible Study.  So be it - it's not going to kill me to let the feelings ride.

As all of my Navy wife peeps can appreciate...the other exceptional thing about a military move is the opportunity to organize one's house!  We are in organizational full-swing around here, and it feels great.

27 days and counting (yes...our departure date was just moved up by 4 days)...

-Sarah

Throwback Thursday: Zen

So...apparently I missed Thursday :).  In need of a little "zen".

Kamakura, Japan - May 2007

Samuel Aaron Turns ONE

Zoo Adventure with Big Brother

Birthday Boy!

Our youngest Melvey turned ONE year old yesterday.  Where has the year gone?  I could have sworn it was just yesterday that he made his swift and resolute appearance into this world after about a month of pre-labor and one false alarm.  His birth story taught me a huge lesson about childbirth and pregnancy:  it is much better to return home when the hospital nurses tell you your labor is not quite progressing enough for admittance than to be in a hurry to deliver and end up on pitocin just to hurry things along.  I will stand on that soapbox all life long, so help me gosh :).  After heading to the hospital in definite labor...with contractions 3-5 minutes apart...and calling my doula and neighbor/labor coach to meet us...the nurses informed me that even though I was at 4cm, the OB on call really wouldn't admit me unless I was closer 5cm with regular contractions (they slowed, of course, once I arrived at the hospital).  The triage nurse - who knew I was serious about a natural delivery - basically whispered in my ear that "unless I wanted Pitocin (a favorite of the OB on call), I would be much better off heading out." That is exactly what we did.  No embarrassment...no worries.

It's tempting, I know.  Stay....induce...and meet your sweet baby bundle sooner.  I had done my research.  I knew that staying meant artificially kick-starting my labor and heading down the highway of interventions.

But get this...I went home that night and had a fabulous night of sleep.  AND - little Samuel was born on March 7th in a whirlwind - TWO WEEKS after that false alarm.  Sweet baby needed those two extra weeks to bake, and I am so incredible glad I was patient enough to grant him that luxury.  Healthy and fully-baked trumps an induction based on impatience any day.  WORD.

So, here we are twelve months later.

A trip to the Zoo...cake...and lots of celebration.

At 1 year, Sam is 25 lbs, 30".

He is boisterous at times, cuddly at times, and always smiling.  Eight teeth and more coming in as I type.

His daily routine consists of nursing 3 x daily (wake time, after nap, bedtime), a couple of sippy cups of soy milk, three solid meals and one/two snacks, one 2 hour nap, and lots of play time with big brother Russell.  Favorite activities these days are crawling and toddling around the yard (almost walking) and going on wagon rides around the neighborhood.  Reading, of course, and caddying for Russell.

We are just in love with our little Sam!

Interruptions

So...not to get all "preachy" or anything...but I want to share another noteworthy entry from the daily devotional I try to read every morning (I say "try", because my obedience in this area is definitely a work in progress).  It's called Portals of Prayer, and it is published by Concordia Publishing House.  Free copies are available HERE.

Yesterday's entry spoke directly to my life at the moment.  I can definitely describe the flow of our family life as structured.  Structure and routine give me great comfort - and I feel like it is important to provide structure and routine for both children.  But you know how it goes....life just "happens".  In those moments, structure cannot always contain the natural spontaneity of life with little ones.  I'll admit - I don't always react well to unplanned hiccups, something I definitely could stand to improve.  My first born is the same.  Move his cheese, and things can get a little ugly.

I love this.  The words are circling on repeat in my brain, especially the part about "turning interruptions into opportunities to share [His] love".  I pray that I can learn to embrace interruptions to routine in a more understanding way, especially as our little family unit quickly approaches our move overseas.

Schedule, Interrupted
Read Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 90

"He went about doing good."
- Acts 10:38

Jesus' itinerary during His ministry seems, for the most part, remarkably random.  While bookended by an intentional time of testing in the desert and His final journey to Jerusalem, the rest of Jesus' ministry seems almost haphazard by comparison.  He spies Zacchaeus up a tree.  He calms a sudden storm.  he bumps into a woman by a well.  In hindsight, Peter summed up those years: "He went about doing good."

As purposeful people of God, we often judge the success of our days by how much we can squeeze into our day planners.  For us, interruptions are obstacles to our goals.  But for Jesus, life has no real interruptions.  Oh, there were moments that seemed that way.  The crowd crying for help.  The woman healed by touching His clothes.  But somehow, Jesus always saw past these so-called interruptions to the people behind them.  For Him, these interruptions were opportunities to display God's great compassion and care for people.

Most of us would rather let our daily interruptions pass us by.  We don't need them, and we don't want them.  But the sooner we learn to enjoy interruptions for what they are - personally designed opportunities from God to show His Kindness - the more we will learn to enjoy our wonderful, creative God of interruptions.

Lord, turn today's interruptions into opportunities to share Your love. 

Marvelous Makes: Chocolate

Paul returned from a short work trip on Friday evening, so to celebrate the occasion, the boys and I (well, just I) threw together on of our favorite quick dessert recipes.  Perfect for the home cook who has no patience for repeatedly loading cookie sheets, baking, cooling, stacking, etc.  That would be me.

The best part?  A totally egg-free treat that my husband and son (both allergic) can enjoy.

It's too bad we devoured the cookie cake already...because after this morning's crazy behavior olympics, Mama needs a chocolate fix. 



Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Cake
Adapted from an original recipe from Williams-Sonoma

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 3/4 tsp EnerG egg replacer + 2 TBS warm water OR 1 TBS ground flax seed + 3 TBS warm water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup oats

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with butter. Sprinkle some flour in the pan and shake and tilt the pan to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Turn the pan upside down and tap out the extra flour.

Make the dough
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes, Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg substitute mixture (or flax seed mixture) and vanilla and beat on medium speed until blended.

Turn off the mixer and add dry ingredients. Beat on low speed just until blended. Using the wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and oatmeal

Fill the pan and bake the cake
Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with the rubber spatula. Put the pan in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it, about 30 minutes.

Using oven mitts, remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Run a table knife around the edge to loosen the cake.

Throwback Thursday: March 6, 2004

Athens, GA 3/6/2004