Serious, Silly and Yummy...in one post.

Serious
We have the greatest friends...some near, some far, some old, some new.  While we were in Ethiopia we made wonderful, lifelong friends.  Friends that understand what we are going through and what God has called us to.  On our second trip to Ethiopia, we met the Seever's and became fast friends.  Jeff and Katie live in Ohio, have 4 bio kids, and are adopting 2 unrelated siblings from Ethiopia, Bedilu (4) and Meron (2).  They have been submitted to Embassy for their daughter, Meron, but their son's case is more complicated and Embassy wants more information.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, it does to me to.  Please join us in PRAYING for this awesome family that means so much to us.  My heart breaks for them because I know EXACTLY how this feels.  Bedilu and Meron need to come home to their family, soon! Please pray that the information is easily accessible, that all authorities will be on top of this situation, and that Jeff and Katie will have peace that passes all understanding.
 

    We have reached a major milestone, folks!  We can now ride through our town without Owen mentioning something about the tornado, tornado damage, or talking about one of the buildings affected by the tornado.  Five months later, my 4-year-old is starting to heal from that awful tragedy.  Praise God!

We had a great first week of school....hectic, but great.  Here are a few pics taken last week.

Silly

Just in the last week, I have learned that Riley does a great Elmo impression.  Funny how having a baby in the house again changes things!  It is so realistic that I have caught myself wondering "Who turned on Sesame Street?".  It is quite hilarious!  She also has a monkey imitation that makes everyone go into hiding....except Cooper....he loves both.

If you have seen my statuses on Facebook about Walker's "Rules in Life", I have one to add....#323 Sisters always know where missing shoes are.


Yummy
So, I stumbled upon (o.k., o.k. I found it on Pinterest) this fabulous blog, Delightful Order.  It is all about organization.  Each room of her house is organized to the nth degree. And when I mean organized, I mean every. single. item has a place (actually more like a box, bin, tote, or basket!).  It is so cool and has inspired me to get busy here.  I'm starting small...the laundry room, and I'm already loving the results. (Yes, this definitely falls in the "yummy" category...just for you Amy Pierce)

Crockpot recipes are my fav!  I love them. I love the fact that I don't have to slave in the kitchen for 2 hours prior to dinner time.  I love the way they make my house smell all day. So, recently I found a recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Roast.  I'm sharing the recipe with you, because I believe it is the bomb!  And, probably the best thing about it, is the fact that you can prepare the roast, freeze it, pull it out to thaw overnight and the next morning plop it in the crockpot. Bonus!  So, literally, I spent 5 minutes on dinner!

Slow Cooker Pork Roast
1 pork roast (about 2 lbs.)
1/4 cup paprika
2 T kosher salt
2 T black pepper
1 T garlic powder
1 T dry mustard
1/2 c. liquid smoke
barbeque sauce for serving

Place pork roast in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Mix seasonings well, and sprinkle on meat.  Rub in and shake the bag to coat evenly. Add liquid smoke. Freeze or cook immediately. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Meat will be pull-apart tender.  Serve with warmed barbeque sauce.  Great for sandwiches or my favorite, bbq nachos!

Happy Fall!

One of the great things about homeschooling is the freedom to take off a day or two here or there and just do whatever! We did that in October and I decided to use part of the time to take some pics of the kids. We went out to our friends, Ken and Leigh Ann's farm and let's just say it was bearable. Boys + taking pictures = hard work, a lot of bribing, and negotiating for Mommy! Here are some of the better ones....

A Season of Birthdays

Since I am so behind on blogging, I decided to devote one post to the kids birthdays and their parties. With three birthdays in a 3 month span, we obviously didn't plan very well!

Owen turned 2 on July 6th and a Sesame Street birthday party was definitely a must! We had a great time and all his little friends did, too. Birthday parties for little ones are so easy as long as you have a playground! We had the party at our church, the weather was hot, but good, and everyone was in good spirits (sometimes you never know with 2-year-olds).

Blowing out the candles on his Elmo cupcake

Sophia, Addison, and Owen eating pizza

Micah, Owen, and Brad on a wagon ride

Riley's birthday was next on July 28th and she wanted a slumber party with her closest friends, Lacey, Vannah, and Skylar. I took them for pedicures, we had pizza for dinner, watched movies, worked on some crafts, and did lots of girly stuff. What sweet girls!

Make a wish!

The girls painting canvases

Lacey, Vannah, Riley, and Skylar

Walker's birthday was on September 27th, and we had a bike party at Oak Mountain State Park's BMX track. This is such a cool place, and if you go at the right time, you can have it pretty much to yourself. We went on a Sunday afternoon, took a few friends and had a great time. We are definitely going back in the Spring, and this time we won't forget our helmets!!!

Making it up the hills...

Owen and Walker

Walker and Blake

An Egyptian Princess, a Sitter-Upper and a Walker Funny

This week has been CRAZY at our house. Doctor's appointments (no one is sick, just check-ups); school programs; piano, basketball, and singing practice; laundry piled up like Mt. St. Helens; auditions for a children's theater musical; and let's not forget the all-important Bunco and major sale at Old Navy!

Among all the craziness, we had some fun, bright spots here and there.

Riley played the part of an Egyptian princess in a school program about Ancient Egypt. She did awesome and sang beautifully! She was so excited about wearing all the make-up, but was definitely ready to get it off at the end of the day. :)

Owen is now officially sitting up. I sat him on the floor, just yesterday, to see what would happen and this was the result. I took a picture because he was too precious. He actually sat there for 5 minutes. He is getting so big, too fast.

Walker asked the other day, "Why is Jesus' name Amen?" I thought it was hilarious. I know he has heard us say at the end of prayers "in Jesus' name, Amen" and probably thought that "amen" was Jesus' last name? Who knows. The things kids say...

So, there are some highlights from our week. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

B is for....

Baby

Owen is now 4 months old, and growing like a weed. I can't believe four months has already gone by! Here is what is going on with him right now:

• He is smiling and laughing a lot. He has this deep, belly laugh that cracks us all up.


• He grabs at toys and books.


• He likes to sit in his bouncy seat, and Bumbo seat (see previous post), but does not like the swing.


• He slept throught the night, last night (8:00 pm - 5:00 am!!!!) and he has been doing great with naps.


• He has great head and body control. He has been leaning forward, some, too.


• He loves his passy, but lately, has taken an interest in his fists.


• He is so laid back and pretty much goes with the flow (I don't think he has much choice, though).


• He loves to be outside.


• He follows moving objects with his eyes.

Birthday

Tim's grandfather (Big Poppa to Riley, Walker, and Owen) turned 92 last week. We celebrated with a family get-to-gether at Macaroni Grill. Here are a few pics from the evening:

Walker, Riley, DD (Tim's mom) and Big Poppa

Riley reading her "birthday story" to Big Poppa

Belt

Lately, Walker has been infatuated with a certain elastic belt. It came wth a pair of jeans that he has long since outgrown. It has a plastic buckle and must be very comfortable, because he wears it all day long and to bed at night. We have learned that the belt has several different uses. Here are some of them:

1. a "head light" or thingy that miner's wear so they can see in the mine (where he came up with this one, I have no idea...)

2. a lasso (great for catching the family dog, Rudy)

3. a fishing pole...if you can picture Walker standing on the piano bench, holding one end of the belt and slinging it...all in an effort to "catch" the chandelier. I didn't take a picture of this one, for fear I would encourage the craziness.

4. last but not least...a holder for his beloved swords. I bet you had no idea that a belt could be so useful :)

Basketball

Riley is about to start playing Upwards basketball. Upwards is a really well-organized, instructional, church league for children. She played Upwards soccer a few years ago and decided she wanted to try basketball. She is so excited and practices every day. It is so nice to have such a self-motivated child! Practices start in December and games start in January.

Brothers

I have to end this post with a picture that I just love. The picture itself isn't that great, but it is worth a thousand words. While I was putting a load of laundry in to wash, Walker decided he wanted to be near his brother and this is how I found them...

Here is a recap in pictures of what has been going on at the Dreyfus household in the past couple of weeks:

Riley and Walker are enjoying their little brother, Owen. They love to hold him and kiss on him. Walker keeps asking, "When can Owen crawl?" I know they will have fun playing together.

Riley and Walker had a great time playing at the pool, this summer. Riley really came out of her shell, by swimming without any flotation device, jumping off the side, and going down the slide. Walker has always been my "no fear" child.

Riley had a great time at theater camp. She and her friend, Carrye Ann learned all about acting, learned some new songs, and played a bunch of fun games.


Riley is now a first grader at Taylorville Primary. Her first day at school was last Thursday. She loves her teacher and her best friend is in her class. What could be better?




Here are few more of my favorite pictures of Owen.

I know I am due for a huge update. It seems like forever since I blogged, but I do have a good excuse. Back in November we found out I am pregnant. I have felt horrible for about 3 months now...could barely do laundry and keep the house straight, much less sit down and compose a few thoughts. So, now I am 14 weeks pregnant and starting to feel a little better. I went to the doctor on Thursday and everything looks great! Yea! We are very excited and so are Riley and Walker.

In other news:
- We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! Over Christmas we told our families about the new baby. Everyone seemed really excited and happy for us. Our traveling just consisted of trips to Birmingham and back...we are very fortunate to have our families so close! The kids got a ton of toys. I was so glad I went through and cleaned out before they got new stuff! New Year's was a lot of fun. We went to Birmingham with 4 other couples and ate at Bonefish Grill (love Bang Bang Shrimp!) and saw "We Are Marshall". Awesome movie, if you haven't already seen it.

- Riley is still loving school. Her class will be singing a few songs at the PTO meeting in March. I knew they had been practicing for it, but was so surprised to hear that Riley has two solos. I am so proud of her! She has really enjoyed Kindergarten and her teachers. Wednesday will be the 100th day of school. Riley has a 100th day project due that day (which we haven't started on)...they really make a big deal of being in school 100 days.

- Walker still keeps us in stitches. One day last week, Riley and Walker wanted to go outside and jump on the trampoline. That was fine, except it was 40 degrees! I told them if they went outside, they must wear coat, toboggan, and mittens. Walker was so excited. He just kept saying, "Oh thank you, Mommy! A snow hat, a snow hat!" and pretending he was throwing snowballs at us. He wore his toboggan and mittens outside and then the next 2 days straight! He wore them to bed, at the dinner table (I did convince him to take off his mittens to eat), to pick up Riley from school, everywhere! It was hilarious! I kept meaning to take a picture of him, but as you can see I forgot.

- Speaking of snow...I really wish it would snow here... before my children are in college! Hello! Walker has never seen snow, and Riley was 6 or 8 months old the last time it snowed in Tuscaloosa. Needless to say, they have never played in the snow. How sad!

- I love a clean house! We had Leah, Abby, Jeremy and Stephanie (our adopted college students from church) over Sunday for lunch. Tim helped me clean house Saturday, and I love the feeling of having a clean house. I just wish it would stay that way! I do have laundry to catch up on, though! Uggghh!

I hope everyone has a great week! Happy Monday!

A Pirate, A Princess, and Some Baseball

Halloween has come and gone and I must admit I am somewhat relieved. The week of Halloween always seems to be so crazy, with parties, fall festivals, and kids hyped up on candy. Let's not forget the all-important search for the perfect, yet original, costumes. I say every year that I'm going to order Walker and Riley's costumes, so I'm not having to make them. This year, once again I ended up making part of Walker's...and I think it turned out pretty cute. My mom made Riley's Belle dress (Thanks Mom!) and it is beautiful. At Trunk or Treat, we decorated our trunk in a baseball theme and all four of us dressed as baseball players. Tim downloaded a bunch of "stadium songs" and we handed out Baby Ruth's. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the holiday.
*(I have to comment on the picture of Walker by himself -- What's up with the rapper-pirate? Don't know where that came from! Hilarious!)

Welcome to Crazytown!

This week has been CRAZY! I have hardly had time to eat and sleep, much less blog...sorry! Here are a few things that have been going on...

Last Saturday, we went with our friends, the Carpenter's, to the metropolis of Fayette, Alabama for "Balloon Blast 2006". Fayette is only about an hour's drive from Tuscaloosa, so it was a fun little outing. When we got there we let the kids jump in a few moonwalks (or jump houses, depending on what part of the country you are from) and Riley got to ride a horse, named "Star" and a pony, named "Spot". You could not wipe the smile off of her face...she was in heaven. Tim & I were in shock. We couldn't believe that our unadventurous child that doesn't like to take risks, went with a stranger into a pen with 5 strange animals she had never laid eyes on before, actually talked to the unfamiliar people and animals and was happy doing it. Because of weather uncertainties, we were not able to see the hot air balloons take off (the reason for the whole event/trip), but they did do what they call the "Glow". This is where they just blow them up for everyone to see, but do not leave the ground. We ate at Lisa's Bar-b-que, which was very good...awesome fried okra and baked beans, and then headed home.



On Tuesday, Riley and I got to keep baby Clayton while Tesney had a dentist appointment. He is so precious and sweet. Riley had a ball reading books to him and talking to him, and I got a quick baby fix. Walker slept through the whole extravaganza, completely. That's probably a good thing...I think he would have been a little jealous.

I help organize our church's School Supply Drive, every July. We attach supply lists on the front of paper grocery sacks, our members pick up the sacks, shop for the needed supplies, and return the filled sacks. After we get in all the supplies, we look at what we still need and use any donation money given and head to Walmart for a last minute run. We then sort all the supplies and put them out on tables, setting it up like a store. We send out invitations to hundreds of families around town and ask them to come "shop" (it's all free) for their children's school supplies and eat free pancakes with us. Last year we gave 394 children school supplies and fed around 500 people pancakes. It is one of our church's biggest projects, and a much needed one. Many of these people can't even buy food for their families, much less buy school supplies. Being a former teacher, I know how important it is for children to come to school prepared to learn. So, I say all that to say, the last few weeks have been spent planning, planning and more planning for the big day. We have made the announcements, sent out most of the invitations, put the volunteer sign-up lists in classrooms, etc., and we still have a ton to do. Our children wanted to get in on the action, so they decided to have a lemonade stand. Carrye Ann, Caroline, Anna Leigh, Mary Helen, & Riley (from left to right in pic below) set up in front of Winn Dixie yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. They sold lemonade, chocolate chip cookies (which Riley & I made), and brownies. They made a whopping $400 in about 2 1/2 hours!!! Glisa, Christie, and I (their moms) were so proud of them. Anna Leigh did most of the talking (she is 9), and the other girls dipped ice, poured lemonade, & handed out cookies. Many people just gave donations when they heard why we were doing the sale. At the end of the evening, the girls were exhausted, but learned a lot about the generosity of others. We took the girls to Walmart, and let them pick out the supplies to donate. We used a calculator so they could see how much we had spent. Our buggy contained a lot of girly notebooks and folders, but they earned the money, so they got to spend it. Thanks to everyone from church that stopped by and sent people our way!!!

Riley's birthday is today and her party will be tomorrow. She wanted a gymnastics party, so that's what she is getting. This is probably the easiest party I have ever done. We are only having cake, ice cream, and potato chips (for the sweet/salty people), and drinks. I can't even set up the party room until 15 minutes before party time....it's about to kill me. That's o.k., it's just a party, right? Her present from us is an old school desk that I have repainted, along with some notebooks, markers, crayons, art paper, and of course a book. Since Kindergarten is less than two weeks away (AAAGGGHHHH!), I thought the desk would be a great place for her to do school work at.

Anyway, a lot going on at the Dreyfus house. Update and pictures from the party coming soon!