Thanksgiving in Kentucky

Our girl enjoying all of her Thanksgiving Meal

I actually told Ruby NOT to smile in this picture.  I think her Uncle John is teaching her bad picture taking habits :)

This is more like her normal pose when I take a picture

The table...yummy food made by Brian's Mom

Of course the girls started the day out with some swinging time.  

Ruby loves to push her sister on the swing.

This year Grandpa and Grandma Laffin bought Ruby her own big girl swing

Monday Meal Plan

Monday- Chicken Taco Salad (making the chicken in the crockpot with salsa)

Tuesday- Autumn Penne Pasta with Sauteed Brussel Sprouts in Light Ragu

Wednesday-  leftovers

Thursday-  Crockpot 16 Bean Soup with greens and cornbread

Friday- Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza and Shaved Asparagus Pizza with salad
 

Happy Birthday Telia!

Telia turned 2 years old on the 10th of November.  She is such a sweet little toddler who is loved dearly by everyone in our family.  She talks a lot and most of the time you can understand what she is saying.  She loves her baby dolls, playing "night night" with her sister, and dancing.  Here are a few pictures over the past couple of years.

Our 1 year old Telia

A few days old at home

September post in October

Ruby's birthday was September 8th and we celebrated that day by taking Ruby and her friends Lilly and Nora to All About Kids.

We had a perfect day and took a few photos to remember it.

Birthday Girls

Ruby celebrated her friend Nora's birthday in September (their birthdays are 4 days apart)

I just loved these pictures that my friends captured on their camera and wanted to document these pretty little 4 year old friends.

We Remember

A little over 9 months ago we lost our baby boy Ezekiel.  It was the beginning of a time of suffering for us but also a huge time of growth.

I haven't taken much time to write about our deep pains in suffering or even the things that we have learned...I probably won't open up a ton in this post either...that is just not me...especially on the world wide web.

I have been thinking for awhile about this post however...remembering, or more specifically, teaching our children to remember.   It has been important for us to figure out how Ezekiel fits into our family.  I have read a lot from Molly Piper on how she has incorporated the loss of her daughter into the lives of her family.  We don't have any specific plans but we have just kept an ongoing conversation with our daughters about their brother who is with God.  We have had good talks with Ruby and have been so surprised at how much she actually gets the idea of remembering.

Several months ago Brian and I bought this tiny little charm for me to wear around my neck.  I got this idea from my friend Gretchen who bought herself a remembrance ring.  We had our wonderful friends at From The Vault make it specially for us.  It is a tsavorite garnet.   Ezekiel was born and died in January (garnet birthstone) but was due in May (emerald birthstone).  We really liked the green color of this garnet and felt like it brought January (death) and May (what should of been his time of birth) together.  This was our first tangible way of remembering Ezekiel.  It is small and delicate...most people don't even notice it.  That is how I wanted it though...just for me and my family (and whomever else I chose to tell) to look at and remember.  We explained this to Ruby when we bought the necklace...just something for us to look at and remember the precious life of Ezekiel.

 

Well, on September 11th Ruby and I were watching footage of the twin towers falling and of the new memorial in New York.  As any 4 year old would do she asked lots of questions.  I explained it all to her as simply as I could all the while not wanting to freak her out or make light of it all.  When they were showing the pictures of the memorial, specifically the pools where the towers had once been, she asked what they were.  I just told her that the buildings use to be there but now there were pools.  Her little 4 year old mind put it all together and asked me if it was for people to remember.

Photo Cred

The latest item that we have to remember our little one is this amazing picture that my dear friend Tessa painted for me (check out her Etsy shop called Little Kentucky).  About a month ago she surprised me with this picture of a mama bear holding this baby boy who was to represent Ezekiel.  I don't know if I have ever received a more thoughtful gift.  At this point we didn't have to spend much time talking to the Ruby about this picture and how it helps us to remember...she really is getting it.

 

A few more...

He traded 2 little girls for 2 pumpkins

Was this the 4th of 5th one she chose?

She loved taking rides on these concrete animals

Laffins at the Pumpkin Patch

A few more pumpkin patch pictures from my Dad. 

Pumpkin Pickin

This past weekend we had great time taking the girls to Huber's Family Farm to get a pumpkin.  Here are some highlights.

 Mamaw won the coin toss and got to ride with the girls in the cow train.

 Telia checking out the pumpkins

 Goats, turkeys and chickens with Telia and Mama (20 weeks pregnant)

Lots of pictures to come

Brian and I are slowly taking pictures off of our phones from this fall and the end of summer so stand by for lots of pictures.

Meal Plan

I am not really doing a meal plan but listing recipes that I intend to use this week.

I found the Pioneer Woman's Chili Recipe on this blog.
Brian used it for the 2nd time on Sunday and it was delicious.  I think this is pretty much our go to chili recipe now.  We didn't put the jalapeno in it and decided that neither of us like kidney beans so substituted black beans instead.  I highly recommend this recipe if you are in need of a good chili recipe.

Also, I am going to try out this Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup from none other than the Pioneer Woman.
I just noticed (when I was trying to remember what website that soup was from) that there is a lighter version of this soup on skinnytaste.com if you are interested.

Grilled Chicken with Spinach and Melted Mozzerella and Rice

Funny girl

Lately Ruby strikes various poses that look similar to this one when I take a picture. They usually come out pretty funny. I thought I would post a few Ruby-isms for your entertainment. Four year olds are pretty funny.

Just last night while on our way to her Grandparents we had this conversation:

Ruby: Why is it so dark out here?
Me: Because there are no street lights on this road.
Ruby: Why aren't there any street lights on this road?
Me: Because the city didn't put any up.
Ruby: But, the city doesn't have arms.

At lunch today I was serenaded with this song made up by Ruby
I love my Mama. She is strong. She is a good Mama.
and then out of no where she changes the words to this
I love my ranch dressing it is so good. I had a good laugh

For a couple of weeks Ruby has been saying
"Oh Mars" instead of something like "Oh Man" or "Oh no"
I seriously had no idea where it came from until 2 nights ago when I heard my Mom say "Oh, Loz" or maybe it is "Oh Laz"...you know, I think it is kind of a country thing that means "Oh Lord"...who knows how you spell it but a light bulb quickly went off in my head :) We had a good laugh over that one.

Finally, when we asked her opinion about what we should name her baby brother she suggested "Phineas Ferb Laffin."  I think she has been watching too much of this show.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- Dinner with our community group- Chili Night

Tuesday-  Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Wednesday- Chili Cook Off at Sojourn New Albany

Thursday- Southwestern Egg and Black Bean Skillet

Friday- Eat out to celebrate Brian being home!

What?!?! A Meal Plan

Yes, folks I actually am making a meal plan this week...although I cannot say that it will be very interesting.  I am sure that most of my followers here on blogger know that we are pregnant again.  This is the official blog announcement and I hope to put up some ultra sound pic's tomorrow.  So, needless to say, this is the reason that I have not been blogging much and the reason why I have not been cooking much.  Here ya go:

Monday- Tortellini soup with crusty whole wheat bread

Tuesday- Chicken piccata with salad

Wednesday- Leftovers and/or pb and j with some fruit

Thursday- Smoked sausage, sour kraut and macaroni and cheese

Friday- Beef enchiladas with black beans and salad

Saturday- Celebrating my brothers birthday with a cookout so I don't have to cook

Sunday- Spaghetti with Brian's special sauce

Hurricane Party

About a month ago my brother and his family came to town last minute to get away from the hurricane on the east coast. This turned into an impromptu family reunion. We had lots of fun getting everyone together and visiting.

Here is a picture of Grandpa and Grandma Faith with the grandkids (missing Telia, Zachary, and Megan)

Mom and Dad with all the kids and spouses

Ruby Turns 4!

Ruby turned 4 years old on the 8th of September. We pretty much celebrated all week...Monday we had cake and ice cream with our community group, on her birthday we took Ruby and 2 of her friends out for a fun day of gymnastics and ice cream, and over the weekend we had her grandparents and cousin over for a small party. We hardly documented anything with pictures but here are a few from her grandpa.

Walking home from the park with Grandma and Daddy

Of course she got some balloons on her birthday.  She is wearing her new shirt from her Uncle John, Aunt Tina and cousins in N.J.

Ruby got a tent from her Mamaw and Papaw Faith.  Guess who was in it all day?

Testing the play doh ice cream gift that she got from her cousin Holden.

Lake Time

Last weekend we got to spend some great time with my brother Joe and his family. We had a wonderful time going out on Racoon Lake in central Indiana. Here are some highlights (Photos by my brother and sister in law)

Lauren enjoying a swim

Ruby was so happy all day to be on a boat and to be with her cousins

Sweet Logan was all smiles too

Zachary and Joe on the wave runner

Zach trying to so some "cool tricks cool tricks" (Yo Gabba Gabba anyone?)

This baby girl was all tuckered out!

Brian and Telia got to drive for awhile

We all love the lake!!! We will certainly do this again!

Updates with no Pictures

Sorry folks, no pictures this time.  Just thought I would update ya'll with what we have been up to.

* Brian has been working very long hours on a project at work and we are looking forward soon to some normalcy.

* We have found a few moments to go to the beach, hang out with family, and head to the zoo and the science center.

* Telia is growing so big and talking up a storm.  She loves her sister (except after she first wakes up) and does and says whatever Ruby does and says. 

* Ruby has been taking dance this summer with 3 of her friends from Sojourn plus some other little girls who were in her class in the spring.  She really loves going and I like the time to sit and chat with other Mama's.

* Our house is still on the market...this is exhausting but we have had several showings and have recently gotten great feedback.

* We have become addicted to "Friday Night Lights" (check it out on Netflix)!  I could write a whole post about how much we love this show.  Tomorrow we will get the last disc and watch the last 2 episodes.

* We also started watching a BBC show called "The It Crowd" which is a super funny sitcom.  Watch it.

* Several of our close friends have had babies over the past few months and there are more to come.  We are somehow the "seasoned" parents now within our community group because we have an old 3 year old!

* It has been almost 6 months since we lost Ezekiel.  We are doing well and are so amazed at how good God is and how he continues to heal our pain.  We are different people than we were 6 months ago...only by the grace of our good and loving God.

Kentucky Summer

Summertime is upon us in Kentucky.  It has been stinkin hot lately but we got a break today with some cooler weather.  We have been outside a lot more and the girls are loving it.

Telia is getting to be so big

Ruby spent a lot of time on this chalk masterpiece

Telia is a little confused about what to do with the plate we gave her

Mmmm

Telie enjoying her asparagus

After dinner playtime with Daddy

These flowers were really pretty for a couple of weeks

Their favorite evening treat