What's Up Wednesday?

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so that means I'm linking up to share what's up with our family!

What we're eating:
Mediterranean Orzo Mac-n-Cheese is a staple that I make quite a bit.  We can get two dinners out of it, so Mama doesn't have to cook one night ;)

We're going to try this pesto pasta meal (leaving out the chicken) this week.  Looks simple enough and (bonus) I bought the ingredients to make it last week and then for some reason didn't, so had everything on hand!

I made this cod with crayfish bayou sauce a few weeks ago and everyone loved it.  Not gonna lie, it is a bit rich but it was very tasty!  Anytime I can weave fish into the weekly rota is a good thing.

What I'm reading:

First off, Jennifer Scott's At Home with Madame Chic.  This was another quick read all about how to bring that certain "Je ne said quoi" into your daily life.  There were some good tips and simple things to try in order to become more mindful as you go about your everyday life.

The second book was one that we actually finished for bible study.  I've read quite a few of Lysa TerKeurst's book and let me tell you they never disappoint!  Her humor mixed with honesty always hit home and she really addresses how to make your Christian walk relevant.  I'd highly suggest it!

What I'm reminiscing about:

Sum-Sum-Summatime!  We had a great summer and seemed to strike the perfect balance between down-time and fun-filled activities.  I wrote about it here.
What I'm working on:

I've been working on putting our China trip to bring Mei Mei home into a video.  Now let me be the first to clearly state that I am sooo not techy!  We made a video for the Noodle, but that was 7 years ago and J did more of it than me.  This time, however, I'm trying to figure it out.  We'll see how it goes!

I'm also taking an on-line course this fall until mid-October.  It is an HQT social studies course because, long story short, this was the last one that I needed.  When I go back to teaching special ed, I'll have the flexibility if I want to teach at the middle or high school level.  Now seemed to be as good a time as ever to do it.

What is our favorite back-to-school tradition?
I'd definitely say "girl's day out" is a favorite tradition to usher in the new school year.  I did it with my mom and now I'm doing it with my girls.  Always fun to go out and have a little one on one time!

Referral Anniversary

On August 21, 2013 I was fixing lunch for the Noodle after our trip to the ER for her broken wrist.  It was the second time that summer for her breaking the same wrist.  Ugh.  I would have been back at school for my first professional day but since we needed to go to the hospital, I was going in late.

It just shows how God can use all things for good and His glory because if we hadn't been home, we would have missed the phone call from our agency informing us that they had a referral for a two year old girl that they thought would be the perfect fit for our family!

Now obviously they would have left a message and tried to reach us on our cell phones, but the fact the Noodle and I were home to process through this momentous call, just shows me that God has his fingerprints all over our situation.

Now fast forward two years.  Our little Mei Mei chatterbox, who is equal parts sweet and stubborn, calm and feisty, well behaved and mischievous!

You are a delight and are always keeping us on our toes.  You complete our family!  We love you to the China moon and back!!

What did you do over Summer vacation?

This is the standard question going back each year, right?  Here's our answer in (mainly) picture form.

We played at lots of different parks,

ate ice cream at all the local joints--and even made our own a couple of times,

went swimming at the pool,

the Lake,

and even the ocean!

We saw the Minion movie,

had lunch Downtown with Daddy,

and ate lots of picnic meals down at the Lake with friends.

We searched and hunted for beach glass,

picked berries,

read and read and read some more,

perfected our chemistry skills,

climbed a few trees

and generally let our creative juices flow...

 

We shopped and ate our way through AsiaTown,

and took a few trips--some closer to home

and some farther away.

 Farewell Summer!  We've enjoyed every minute of you!