monster mash

Luke and Charlie's school put on an annual Halloween shindig, The Monster Mash.

There's nothing like getting your kids dressed in costumes, minus the 8 year old who is suddenly too cool for wearing his costume to school, piling into the minivan, and having your 3 year old crash out for a 5 minute drive to school.



Isn't that how it rolls? We went with it because that's what you do. You plan fun outings even after a 12 hour day trip the previous day to Malibu and soccer all Saturday morning and afternoon. Again, you go with it because you know it makes their memory banks full.





The big deal of the event was Charlie (5) winning a goldfish.



I dreaded one of kids bringing home a goldfish for two reasons:

1. We don't need another pet.
2. I know that goldfish don't live long and I didn't want the drama of a dead fish.

And sure enough, the next morning poor Goldie had gone to fish heaven.



Despite the dead fish, we had a blast. Now we're off to church and to the beach for what may be the last beach day of the year for us. I don't know if we'll have another gorgeous 80 degree day again this year and I don't want to miss the opportunity to make the most of it.

Pumpkin carving will be Kevin's territory tonight. Anyone else way too OCD-ish to handle the goo and mess of pumpkin carving? I gladly take on the role of photographer and seed baker.

Happy Sunday to each of you.

Much love,
Katie

it's all about the process

I love baking from scratch.

I love baking from scratch when I have time.

Lately, time has been hiding from this neck of the woods.

School, soccer, karate, cub scouts, MOPS, etc. have taken up the space of time that lingered around here this past summer.

When I spotted this pumpkin bread mix at Fresh and Easy, I grabbed it and did a happy dance.



Well, I didn't really dance, but I thought about it.

Just kidding.

Or not.

Here's the deal. My boys don't know the difference between from scratch or from the box.

I'll tell you what they do know:

Time with mom.

Measuring and pouring.



Waiting.



Sniffing.



Devouring.



Whether you bake from scratch or from the box, it is about the process with the littles you love.



Much love,
Katie

peanut butter and chocolate ice cream cake

It is not every day that you celebrate your dad's 70th birthday.

And when your dad hits the big 7-0, it calls for some major peanut butter and chocolate because peanut butter and chocolate is the one thing we all have in common in our family.



We may not see eye to eye on everything, but when it comes to peanut butter and chocolate, my parents, brother, sister and I give a collective "amen!"

Not only did we devour the cake that would knock Miss Martha's socks off, but we dug into the carne asada bar, watched Papa open gifts, and caught up with each other.

Pumpkin apple cider anyone?



Yeah, I thought so.







When Papa opened his photo book, which was made in i-photo, Jack (3) exclaimed, "Papa! You got a new computer!"



We're Mac people. He made his daddy proud.




Life is busy. School, work, and sports keep us apart more often than not. Even though we live within an hour of each other, we don't see each other as often as we'd like to.







Maybe if I made this cake more often, that would change things.

You can find the recipe here. Not a peanut butter and chocolate fan? Go ahead and substitute another ice cream. I may not understand it, but I won't hold it against you.





















Enjoy!

Much love,
Katie

introducing karen from happily ever after

Happy Monday! I'd like you to meet my friend, Karen. We are "real life" friends and I can't wait for you to meet her. She has climbed some major mountains with her heath in the last few years. We are swapping spaces today. After reading Karen's post here, head on over to her blog to read about how I'm living with lupus and give sweet Karen some lovin' while you are at it. xoxo

*****

Hi Katie's friends!!  I'm Karen from Happily Ever After. 

 Katie is the one I give all the credit to for starting me on blogging.  We are "real life" friends and I read her blog for quite some time before I finally decided to start my own and enter the world of blogging.  Thank you Katie!!

We met a few years ago through MOPS, the mothers of preschoolers program through Church.  I instantly loved everything about Katie.  Soon after we first met, I learned that she had lupus and at that time I was at the beginning of my health journey.  We would sit and compare many of our symptoms but I think the best part of sharing with her was her understanding.  We don't look sick.  At all!  People look at us and assume we are feeling great because we are up, dressed, laughing and enjoying our life.  Yet we know how each other is feeling on the inside.  I can't trick her, she immedietly knows how I am feeling.

Here is my story

November of 2009 my husband Anthony and I walked in the Breast Cancer 3-day.  Together we completed 60 miles in 3 days.

I had done the walk the year before with my sister and dear friends and made it through fine.  But this time, it was extremely painful.  I never quite recovered from my injuries so I went to the doctor a month later.  We started running blood test but were really coming up empty handed.  I was sent to a rheumatologist who didn't have any answers and then I was sent to a neurologist.  I consider myself very lucky that my primary care physician knew from the beginning what I had and which direction to send me.  He sent me to all the right people and was so wonderful through it all.  I eventually got the muscle biopsy that showed my muscles were dying because my nerves were dying but we didn't know why.  I was sent to another neurologist and had further testing done.  All coming back abnormal but still not sure why.  My mitochondria were to blame.  Off to another specialist for metabolic/mitochondrial diseases and more testing.  And more doctors.  Next step is an appointment with another neurologist through the MDA who is also a geneticist.  I have mitochondrial myopathy and some type of genetic disorder but right now that is all we know.  I have been on treatment {excessive amounts of supplements} but they don't seem to be working as I am continuing to progress downwards.

In a sense I feel like getting sick has woken me up.  It has brought my family closer together and made us all realize how fragile life is.  We don't take anything for granted.  We spend our days appreciating each other, sharing joy and knowing true love.  My kids know how much they are loved because I tell them about 1,943,876 times a day.

It is my fear that they will grow up without me as their mom.
I want them to know love and joy and for them to only have happiness in their lives.  I want to be there when they experience heartache but if I'm not, I want them to feel they can get through anything.

People will often ask what they can do to help and I never really know.  I can't ask someone to follow my kids around and pick up everything they drop and I can't ask someone to fix 12 snacks a day or scrub my bathtub.  But I can ask for them to pray.  That is the one thing I can ask and I feel is the biggest help I could get.

Come stop by my blog and see my happily ever after

5 for friday (oops...Sat.) with Janna

5 things I'm thankful for this Saturday.

1. Not a single piece of produce from the store. Thank you Julian apples, in-law's grove, and sister-in-law's garden.



2. After trying to get rid of a sinus infection on my own, I finally gave in after 12 days. My family is thanking the makers of the z pack. I may have been a little off my rocker when I wasn't feeling my best.



3. I've finally learned how to have self control with Halloween Candy. Buy everything that I don't like. I'm making room for all the kit-kats I'm going to borrow from my kids while they are sleeping on the 31st.



4. Our betas have been with us for almost 2 years even though Kevin lets the bowls get like this. Don't call PETA.



5. Catching my oldest napping in the sunlight like a stretched out cat.



Happy weekend to you!

Much love,
Katie

Go on over and visit Janna! You'll be glad that you did.

sustained

With the drum of the dishwasher beating in the background, Jack and I found ourselves in an unexpected moment.

We just returned from a late evening soccer practice and we were starving, but we knew that the chicken waiting for us from the night before was not going to cut it, so we declared it a cereal night.



While I knew Kevin was upstairs creating lego designs with Luke and Charlie, I kept quiet.

I didn't want anything to distract from this moment with my Jack.

We used baby spoons (that I can't seem to part with) since our dishwasher claimed every other spoon in our utensil drawer.



I listened to Jack as he chatted and swung his feet to the rhythm of his voice as he told me stories from his day.



We embraced our little spoons and shared our favorites from the day as the warmth of the hub's flannel over the only real outfit I have worn all week kept us company.



All things so familiar yet treasured all the same.



And being the romantic that he is, Jack concluded our date with a high-five and a fist-bump.



That's right, Jack. That's the way to do it. No kisses. You remember that when you are 25. Okay, 20. Maybe 18???

It doesn't take much to sustain this heart of mine.

What is sustaining you today?

Much love,
Katie

Linking up with The Anderson Crew.

We Climb

*This was a post I shared over at More Bang for Your Bucks as guest post, but I want to have it here for the day that I finally make my blog memory books for the boys (we'll see about that). Happy Friday, friends. xoxo

*****
My journey with Luke (8) has been the biggest challenge of my life.

He has Asperger's Syndrome and from day 1 it has stretched me more than I ever thought I could be stretched. When you love your child so much, you don't want to watch them struggle with every day life. Although he is extremely high functioning, there are still daily mountains for us to climb.

When you find out you are pregnant, you are flooded with emotions. The joy and expectations of raising a child, especially your 1st child are overwhelming. You have so many preconceived notions of who your child is going to be. Not because of who God has already formed them to be, but because you enter parenthood with desires and wishes that stem from your own childhood; whether you want your child to enjoy the type of childhood you had or if you want to offer them everything that you did not have.

When your baby turns bright red and stiffens his body every time you try to feed or hold him, you know that something is not right.



When he is only soothed by the noise of a shower for hours at time, you know that something must be wrong. When the doctors tell you it is colic, you believe them.

They are the experts. You're just a mom.

When your baby starts tip-toeing and is obsessed with celiing fans, you question if you should be concerned.



As he seems to play with non-play objects like sprinklers instead of other children, you mention autism. Everyone says it is just a phase and that he's just quirky.

And when you finally make the call for an evaluation with a pediatric neurologist despite 3 pediatricians telling you that he'd be flapping his arms or picking at the carpet if he was on the autism spectrum, you already know in your heart.

As the expert explains that your son has Asperger's Syndrome you feel the hopes and dreams which blossomed at the moment you saw the plus sign, drain through every pore of your body.

You sit empty.

And then you're ready to fight. Not for you, but for him.



You devour every book possible. You schedule therapies. Your other two babies live in the car at the expense of providing the best intervention for him.

And when I say that it has been the biggest challenge of my life, I don't mean that it has been a challenge that I'd choose to erase for my sake. It has been the greatest challenge in that God is teaching me that I am far stronger and capable than I ever thought possible. All the early doubt and second guessing in my early mama days has been replaced by a mama who gears up every day to teach him about the ways of the typicals and to teach him about himself and how his brain is so unique and brilliant because of the ONE who designed him.

Even though we faced two unexpected peaks this week, we climbed.

We climb new heights and face new challenges. I gear up again today, just like I do everyday. There is no regret or sadness or what could have beens.

I climb because I love him. I love him just the way he is. So we climb.

Together.



We climb.



Much love,
Katie

Linking up with Casey.