Be Still

There is a part of our lives that is taking a ginormous leap of faith right now, and I have worried much (just ask Dev), and yesterday my heart was in turmoil over it (understatement). 

But sitting in the carpool lane with Tagg and Ellee asleep it was quiet,

and in the few minutes of peace I was thinking about it.

As I sat there the words 

"Be still, and KNOW that I am God" 

kept running through my head.

And I felt peace.

God has lead us so many times through things we didn't understand at the moment and things that seemed impossible. So many times Dev and I have looked back and in hindsight seen God's Hand guiding us through some crazy choices.

I need to pick my faith up and know that He is in charge and if we trust Him, He will lead us through this, just as He has before.

And His plan is always the best plan, since He is only one who can see the big picture anyhow.
Too many times I try to figure things out myself when I need to just "be still" and let The Captain guide the ship.

So, anytime I start to worry or fear,

I will think of those words. 

"Be still and know that I am God."

  

Annnd maybe I just need to print it out and place it somewhere I'll see it all day long..

Today

- In Walmart (yes, Wallymart) Tagg, Ellee, and I were in the produce section. 

I know I know I know.

 I don't usually like to buy our produce from Walmart, especially with a lot of locally grown places around, BUT today was a big time crunch and so it was what it was. 

Anyyhow.

I was trying to select the best apples for my bag, hoping for crisp ones, and I guess I took a few many too seconds too long.

Because.

I turned back to see that Tagg had fallen asleep in the cart's basket (miracle?!),

and Ellee...

Ellee had somehow reached into the basket and grabbed a container of ice cream, lifted it up to her perch where she was buckled in, gotten the lid off, and was devouring it with the biggest grin you have ever seen. I mean, she had both hands going to town and she. was. in. heaven.

 Her giggles said, "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVERRRRR!!!" 

Hahaha. I will forever be haunted that I didn't get a picture because it was hysterical. 

When I first saw her I gasped, because, well, I didn't expect to turn around and see her covered in goo. And that gasp got the attention of the entire produce section population and immediately all movement stopped as everyone seemed to wait and see what I was going to do. 

But I mean, what can you do?

 It was so dang funny! I laughed myself into tears while Ellee kept eating ice cream Medieval Times style. A young college student started busting up laughing and after he did the whole produce population was a giggle fest. 

Wow. Craziness I tell you. 

I tried to clean it all up as best I could with the babywipes I had in my purse. 

But I don't think the cashier found it quite as funny as I did as she scanned the half eaten soggy carton. 

- Also in Walmart (same Wallymart, earlier in the same trip) Tagg had an accident. 

Also known as Tagg peed all over the floor. 

In this case I'm really not sure who was more frustrated, the person who had to clean it up or Tagg, or me. 

Tagg has had the other part of potty training down for almost a year now,

 but for some reason he is having a hard time with pee. 

I've tried letting him go naked, just undies, sticker charts, etc etc. But we still have at least one accident a day. I've actually, for sanity reasons, put him back into pullups for a few months before trying again.. and again... 

But we are not giving up this time!! He's really trying his hardest and hopefully he'll catch on soon.

 Because, you know, it's always fun to hunt down the nearest store employee to tell them that their day just got to involve a mop. 

And poor Tagg feels bad because he's really trying hard. He just gets distracted. But again, NOT GIVING UP

 this time.

Potty training. Oy.

- And Tagg's quote for the day, 

"Moommmm!! What if we peed in space! Then people would say, 'Oh no, look out for the pee!'"

Yup, lots of pee talk going on over here at the Johnson's lately.

- I had planned to run 10 miles tonight, but was so tired. So so tired. And cut it by half. But on the bright side I kept a quicker pace than I thought I would. Give and take.

- Dev and I just finished setting up blue crepe paper and balloons for our blue loving biggest boy's birthday tomorrow. And now I'm eating a few doughnuts with one hand as I type this with the other.

Time for prayers and bed.

Just another day in paradise. :)

Tagg's Birthday INSTAnt Replay

We're throwing his real party this weekend (combined with Ellee's), 

but we sure had a great time celebrating our little guy yesterday!

At Four Years Old:

- His favorite foods are noodles, ice cream, strawberries, bananas, quesadillas, shredded cheese, oatmeal (probably his number one favorite thing ever buuuuut I also add a few chocolate chips, ha), peanut butter, spaghettios (don't judge, I know they are nasty), any sort of chocolate, pizza, waffles, any sort of potatoes (baked, mashed, chips, fries, whatever, he loves them).

- He can read, and it's really cute! (I'd like to take full credit here, but I have to give a big 'ol thanks to the Leap Frog videos. I highly recommend them!)

- Tagg loves music of all kinds, and he loves to sing and to be sung to (his favorite is when I sing "You Are My Sunshine" to him and substitute his name for "dear")

- He loves to rub Dev's and my pinky fingers when he's sad or tired.

- He still loves to be snuggles and rocked and carried. He's such a rough and tough kid that it makes it even more sweet when he gets so snuggly.

- Loves to play in dirt. LOVES it.

- He can name the make of 95% of the cars on the road as we are driving around. He loves cars. Understatement of the year.

- He get's really grumpy when he's tired. And he get's it from me. Sorry bud.

- He loves instruments and knows what just about every instrument is called and he can keep some wicked drum beats. I can't wait to get him into music lessons.

- His current favorite book right now is "Good Night Good Night Construction Site".

- His favorite movies are Wreck It Ralph, Jake And The Neverland Pirates, Mighty Machines, and Little Einsteins.

- He thinks "little boy" humor is hilarious. If you mention anything about potties, or burping, or flushing the toilet, or diapers, or anything close to that you can bet he will be doubled over in giggles.

- He looks up to Boston so much and wants to do everything he does. I often wonder if Bost realizes the huge influence he has on his little brother.

- He is such a sweet big brother to Ellee. He hugs and snuggles her and tries to teach her how to do everything he does. He helps her walk around, gives her kisses, annnnnd wrestles with her and shoves her around just enough to keep her tough. Almost everyday he tells me how much he loves Ellee and how he wants to keep her forever as his little sister. Melt. My. Heart.

- Tagg does not like bedtime. At all. Ever.

- He can write his name by himself, though it might not be legible to everyone.

- I'm pretty sure he would just ride his bike all day every day if he could.

- He loves sports of all kinds and jumps right in with full commitment to anything he tries.

- He uses "stink brain" as a term of endearment.

- He is fearless and it's equal parts cute and scary.

We spent the day doing all things that Tagg loves (he chose pizza from Target for his lunch, haha), and his main present was a new bike and helmet, so much of the day was spent biking. Rain doesn't matter when it's your birthday and you just got a shiny new bike. It was really cute because he would ride a few laps then stop and just look at his bike taking it all in, then ride a few more laps and do it again. We bought his bike a month ago and had been hiding it, so it's really fun to see him love it so much!

Ellee kept clapping for him and saying his name ("Datg"), as he rode around. 

He requested a race car cake. Not exactly professional, but he loved it.

Dev had stickers printed for the back of his helmet (and the helmet Boston will get on his birthday). 

He's such a rad Dad.

This happy face just says it all.

We love our little Tagg so much! 

Happy Birthday Roo!

Linking up with Sheena here.

The Fourteen Dollar Tulle Skirt

Ever since I saw Natalie's post last year, and this pin (and dozens of others) on pinterest I have been wanting a tulle skirt.

 SO fun! 

When I came across this skirt on ebay here, I was a bit hesitant because it's dirt cheap from China. Nothing could go wrong, right?

Bbbbbut, I mean, $14 for a tulle skirt...

I caved.

And I'm so glad.

It arrived one week later.

 That has to be a record for the fastest cheap shipping ever from China.

It's pretty long and the waist band is really stretchy, and it can be worn many different ways. 

(I have it hiked up to my ribs in these pics because I wanted it shorter with the t shirt and sequined cardigan I had on). 

Anyhow, just wanted to share the good deal. They have other colors too! And they sent a free pink mustache necklace. You can't make that up. It's true.

Sorry these pics aren't the best, Dev quickly snapped them as we were walking into church. And well, I'm an awkward picture taker. Ha! And no jewelry until Ellee stops breaking my necklaces.

Red Pineapple Curry

As promised, I finally wrote it down.

My other favorite curry to make is a yellow pineapple curry that has ginger and more garlic, and I'll write that one down too next time I make it. Maybe it's just the changing seasons, but I'm loving pineapple lately. I swear I am not pregnant! Ha!

*Disclaimer: I am just a white girl who likes to cook and eat, so this recipe is to my taste and I honestly have no idea what makes a curry an "authentic" curry. I just like it to taste delicious! 

Red Pineapple Curry

Ingredients:

 3 - 4 Chicken Breasts sliced 

(I like to slice mine into pretty thin strips that are about 1 inch wide and 2 - 3 inches long)

1 can of light Coconut Milk

Red Curry Paste

1 - 2 tsp Garlic Salt

1/4 cup Sugar

2 Tbs Corn Starch 

(just enough to prevent it from being runny, but not enough to turn it into Thanksgiving gravy)

1 cup Chicken Broth

1- 1 1/2 cups Pineapple Juice

(If I don't have enough pineapple juice on hand I've used orange juice and diet mountain dew as substitutes before and loved it. Don't judge, haha.)

1 - 2 cups cubed Pineapple

(fresh is best, but I've used canned in a pinch and it was still tasty)

1 Yellow Onion sliced into strips

1 - 2 cups Vegetables of your choice

(I usually buy a few red, yellow, orange, and green bell peppers once a month and slice them up and put them into single serving freezer bags to pull out at meal time to cut down on meal prep time and to save produce since peppers seem to freeze well. In my experience onions don't freeze as well so I like to cut them fresh.) Snap peas, zucchini, and yellow squash also go well with this curry.

To Make The Chicken:

I like to marinade the chicken for a few hours in a gallon zip lock baggie in the refrigerator.

 (In all honesty this is to cut down on prep time at dinner time but I'm sure it helps the chicken to be all the more tasty, right?)

Place the chicken in the zip lock bag.

Add 1 - 2 tsp red curry paste (depending on the amount of chicken you have). 

Add about 1/4 tsp garlic salt.

Add a few Tbsps of pineapple juice.

Zip the bag and mush it all together until well mixed.

Flatten the bag and stick in the fridge.

If you don't want to marinade the chicken just add the above ingredients to your saute pan when you cook the chicken. 

When it's time to cook the chicken place a few tsp of butter or olive oil in your pan and add your chicken. After cooking on medium heat for a minute or two add about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk and a little bit more pineapple juice and let it continue to cook (while stirring occasionally) while you cook the veggies. Once most of the juices have cooked out you can add a little bit more of the curry paste as the chicken browns a little if you like a little extra spice.

To Make The Vegetables, Pineapple And Sauce:

Place desired veggies (including sliced onions) and pineapple in a separate pan from the chicken.

Add a few tsp of butter of olive oil and about 1/2 - 3/4 cup coconut milk and let it start to cook on medium heat.

In a small bowl mix the chicken broth and the cornstarch, add a few tsp of the red curry paste (depending on how much curry flavor/spice you want), add the sugar and mix well. 

Add this mixture to the pan and stir well. 

Cook until the veggies and pineapple reach your desired consistency.

Serve with the chicken over your favorite rice or quinoa or whatever! 

Eat! Nom Nom Nom.