Black & White

God is doing a transformation in me.
I have notoriously been a rule-follower, legalistic, naive, black & white thinker (and do-er)
It seems as if He is now taking away the lines on my page and I am blindly coloring all over the place!

I quit my job

I don't know how or when I am going to get my hours to sit for my licensure exam (even if you ask me...I
still don't know how! And why does everyone ask me?  How do you all even know what this is and that I have to work towards it?!)

I let dishes stack in the sink

I let Mylin pull out all the tupperware in the drawer and play with on the floor that I haven't swept in a week.  And then just put them right back in the drawer

I have patience

I am becoming flexible in my once rigid schedule

I realize that even processes with stated rules will look different when people (who are all different) are involved

I will not get as much time to myself as I want to

I can cancel plans because I am too anxious, rushed, tired, exhausted, or over-scheduled

I can say no to commitments or opportunities

I will have to die to myself every day - and each day that will look differently - if I am going to whole-heartedly be obedient to Christ




I don't know about you - but this is freeing to me!
I thought it would be painstaking (and some if it can be) but overall, I am thankful for how God is radically molding me
Lord, help me to be clay in your hands, and not my own

Simple Pleasures

In dedication to our Mom Life discussion today, I am going to try to start blogging once a week about 'simple pleasures'
I rarely have time to blog (or make time to blog) right now, but this will be a quick and easy way to stay at it!

This week's simple pleasures:

open windows

candle scents

rainy days

12:04 (when Joel gets home for lunch)

Sully's happy noises

Mylin singing to Sully when he cries

baking cinnamon rolls

eating cinnamon rolls :)

my favorite sheets on the bed this week

hairbows in 2 year old's hair

fellowship with friends

reminder my of my name's meaning

being the first one kissed when daddy gets home

God's renewal and strength to endure and enjoy each day



What were your simple pleasures this week?!

Autumn at the Draper's

Today we have been celebrating autumn's early arrival in our kitchen!
We got 2 bushels of apples and stayed up until 1:15am last night/this morning making and freezing applesauce!
We were at it again by 8am canning the rest of our tart and tangy applesauce
AND making some yummy desserts:
1. Apple butter
2. Pumpkin pie dip
3. Cinnamon and pumpkin cheesecake
crescent rolls layed out on bottom of 13x9, topped with pumpkin, cream cheese, and sugar mixture w/ cinnamon chips.  Top that with more crescent rolls and then cinnamon sugary butter goodness.  Bake at 350 until golden brown :)

Also, it is 2pm while I type this...everyone is napping in the house but me, and we still haven't showered...

I LOVE these kind of days :)

And so this blog isn't too dull and boring - a photo shoot I took with the babes in August... :)

 

What are you favorite foods to make when the weather turns colder?!

The kiddos, lately

This past week we've had a lot changing around our house!

Little Mister 3 month old decided he'd like to sleep 12 hours a night and go down to 4 feedings a day.

Ok :)

And then Little Miss silly goose has been gladly obliging to potty breaks every hour or so and often keeps her diaper dry throughout the majority of the day!

Is this for real?!?!

 

We still are getting up each night to either:

1. soothe the 2 year old scares (I hear a lot of parents say at 2 kids start waking up with nightmares/dreams/being scared)

2. soothe baby boy until morning

3. pump Sully some milk

4. lay awake and talk because we're not used to getting the opportunity to sleep this much!

 

Now, don't let me just gloat and not tell you the goory details either...

The first day I tried underwear with Mylin?

She pooped in them. At my in-laws. While Joel was busy.

For reals?!

Yuck.

Thankfully my mother-in-law rocks and she totally washed them for us :)

So then I stuck Mylin in a new pair and she went out side with her Aunt and totally peed in them like immediately

Ok Rachel, looks like you're a little zealous with the underwear...

 

ALSO...

We loved having a long weekend this past week and kicked it off by hosting a 'Notre Dame playing in Dublin, Ireland viewing brunch party' (that was the official name) Saturday morning

We had 3 of our 4 parents, 4 other couples, a 6 year old, four 2 year olds, and two infants in our house for the shenanigans :)

Great food, fun fellowship, and dividing the chaos between all of us - I love hosting and creating community in our home!

 

Here's a Draper Irish picture from that morning

 

 

(Oh yes, Mylin totally has a Hello Kitty Irish shirt!)

Obedience: Health

Well, I know this is no news flash...but I had a baby 3 months ago (Yay Sully is 3 months old already!!!)
That means that I'm on the way down from a huge weight gain

With Mylin I gained 35 pounds over the 9 months I was pregnant with her and lost it in about 4 months
And then I gained 40 pounds with my big boy this past year!! (He was a pound bigger than her at birth....)
And here I am, 13 weeks later looking at how to lose the rest of my baby weight with him...

I had been struggling to lose the last 15 for over a month...but I had 7 of those MELT AWAY the last 2 weeks!!!
And this is how I think I did it:

1. Breastfeed my baby boy! This helps the pounds come off and my mood stay elevated (which in turn effects everything else in a positive way!)

2. Started reading Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
- basically, it's all about how God created us to crave...but that is meant for Him, not food, sex, shopping, smoking, drinking, facebook checking, desserts, etc. etc...

3. I've begun to add these things to my diet:
- attempting to drink as much water as 'prescribed': 8 8oz glasses a day
- eating at least 1 apple a day - which contains pectin, which naturally gels and slows down my digestion, keeping me fuller for longer
- eating a spinach and fruit smoothie every afternoon (I make with fruit juice, so I still get the not-so-good-for-me sugar)

4. I've begun to eliminate these things from my diet:
- cow's milk: it's natural job is to make big baby calves into even bigger adult cows...
- bread: this has been hard - I LOVE my breads...but I'm open to learning and experimenting to baking gluten free and substituting peanut butter toast to start my morning with peanut butter and apples...

Next on my list is oatmeal - something I don't love...but think I can experiment with and enjoy!

What I'm not giving up: All sugar.  I love dessert, cake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.  And dove chocolate. And rolos. And hershey's kisses :)
And here lately homemade ice cream - from a super simple recipe that I don't even need an ice cream maker for!!!
(If you don't want to crave these extra calories you better not click on that link!)

So while I do want to decrease my sugar intake - I am still going to enjoy a good dessert once in awhile (just not 6 cookies during naptime while I facebook...)

So...I'm looking for more ideas!
Shout out to Kami and Leslie who have blazed the trail before me!
Send me over your best kept health secrets (if they aren't that big of secrets!)