My Ryan, he is well… 3.  I love it!  And if you ask Joe he’ll say “I wish they were born this way, I don’t like babies.”  Ryan has fully developed quite the personality! He is strong willed and loves to do things on his own.  He LOVES pretending… he likes to pretend he can’t hear me! (not something he’s allowed to do!)  He is also VERY much a first child, with first child syndrome: beat up younger siblings.  NO really, he adores his little brother and is very protective.  He recently had a panic attack when we were disciplining Logan.  Logan received a light twack on the hand as I told him “no no”… all of a sudden Ryan started WHALING as if he were serioiusly hurt! “DONT HURT MY LOGAN- MOMMY YOU MADE ME SAD AND MAD”…. so yes, he loves his brother.  But most importantly is his understanding of who Jesus is, and what He’s done for us.  He goes to Sunday school and loves his little friends, likes to do the crafts and sing the songs.  His favorites are B-I-B-L-E, The wise man who built his house upon a rock, Father Abraham, and Deep and Wide.  Recently after returning from vacation we went to Granny’s church before heading home… he brought his craft and showed us the picture he colored of Esther.  When asked what the story was about he replied “zip your lips”… and I was a little angry. ME: RYAN, you do not tell me to zip my lips, I am simply asking you about your story. RYAN: MOM! MY STORY SAID ZIP YOUR LIPS!!!   I died with laughter, not necessarily the best thing to do, but I realized he must have been asked to “zip his lips”…

Then just today i was asked him if he remembered the verse we learned yesterday -  Gen. 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”…. he recited the verse to me, and then said “Mommy he made the dark too. That’s my verse too,  dark is from God.”  Oh  how I love his innocence…  his childlike faith, creativity, unconditional love, and the cutest things that come from his mouth! I want him to stay this age… well, forever.

EGGPLANT SUPPER SOUP!

After I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday I needed to find a new way to use eggplant… I came across this recipe and it was AWESOME! The perfect spices in this made it quite tasty! I hope someone else enjoys this as much as we did… this is a new favorite for us.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 pound eggplant, diced
• 3/4 cup sliced carrots
• 3/4 cup sliced celery
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry macaroni
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Add to Recipe Box
  My folders:
• Add to Shopping List
• Add a Personal Note

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion, beef, and garlic until beef is evenly brown. Drain grease, and mix in eggplant, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Pour in beef broth. Mix in sugar, and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through.
2. Mix macaroni into the soup, and continue cooking 12 minutes, or until macaroni is al dente. Mix in parsley. Top with Parmesan chreese to serve.

Our Crazy Busy Lives…

Wow! It’s been awhile since I’ve updated you all… Well, we’ll start with Logan turned 1 in May, I turned 27 in June… yikes.
Blessings – there have been SOO many!
1. We were able to take a week long family vacation to Cape May, NJ… what an awesome time we had!
2. Some friends of ours GAVE us another car… one car is difficult, not impossible to do, but difficult. SO THANK YOU TERRI & PAUL.
3. Ryan had a successful surgery – tonsils, adenoids, tubes in ears.
4. Ryan is potty trained. (except at night he still has the diapers…)
5. Logan is walking, feeding himself with a spoon, and saying a few words like mama, dada, hi, ryan, doggy, night night, and bye.
6. I got a job! Pt to start, working up to full time. HUGE BLESSING!
7. An awesome christian childcare provider who truly loves my  boys.
8. Joe turned 24… and the surprise party was a hit.
9. Our community group was able to meet through the summer and was a big blessing for us.
10. Someone gave Joe and I a 7day cruise as a GIFT! We will do that in April… yippee!
11. Heather also got a pt job at an ice cream shop through the summer before the new job started… it kept her sane before going back to work ft.
12. Joe has been able to be a part of his dad’s life… very much needed.
13. We have been healthy all summer!

I know there is more than I can list here… but I wanted to share these especially. Will follow up with more randomness from Ryan…