Randomness

I hope everyone had a great weekend! The following is a post of random thoughts, if you don't mind. :)

"God deserves to be trusted"

A point that was mentioned in the Sunday school lesson I planned for this morning. The lesson focused on Job and how we can trust God regardless of our circumstances because He is in control. That particular thought stuck with me.

Mr. Manners

The other day William wanted some cheese (he could live off the stuff). I said, "William, what do you say?" He said, "Please, thank you, welcome!" All three without skipping a beat. I don't think it was as much his desire to be polite as it was to say whatever it took to get what he wanted! You crack me up, little guy.

Picture update

Lazy Sunday afternoon



Mommy's little helper (Yeah, he actually -demands- to help- we'll see how long that lasts!)


Caught in the act (The other day it got quiet and William was out of sight. Normally, this is not a good thing- it usually means he's up to something! Well, needless to say it put a huge smile on my face when I found him quietly reading in his room!)


MRBC
A quick shout out to all my Mid Rivers Baptist chapel youth group alumni! I've seen several of your blogs (thanks to Johanna at http://apartmentfiveb.blogspot.com) and I'm thrilled to get a chance via the internet to see what's going on in your world. It's pretty awesome to see where the Lord has taken us since our days of retreats at Logan Valley and the Smoky Mountains. What sweet memories! If you happen to stop by French Tales, I'd love to hear from you!

Rob rocks!
Can I just say how much I love my husband!? Specifically, I love how he helps me keep proper perspective at all times.

Alrighty, that's about it for now...oh, one more thing, please say a little prayer for me. Tomorrow is my second day back reporting for the station and my last story was...oh, how shall I say...a little rusty! Thanks guys!

Love,
Jamie

Truckin' along

Just a quick check in..here's a brief update on the little people in the French household:

Wild William: Banjo and Baseball

These two words are almost as dangerous as the word 'outside' in our household! Just a mention of these words and he's ready to strum or swing. Here's a shot of him using his trusty imagination. He's playing the banjo while singing into his pretend microphone (aka some of Mommy's old wrapping paper). My little entertainer! (Wonder where he gets that from?!)

Speaking of pretending, within a matter of moments a tube of wrapping paper can become a baseball bat. Here's Will at batting practice! He is so determined to play baseball the other day I saw him pick up an object the size of a tooth pick and practice swinging at small piece of lint as the ball. Now that's determination, I love it!


Sadie Baby: Somebody wake me!

Our little lady continues to be a dream come true! She's eating well, sleeping well, and just an all around happy gal. I really think our trip to the lake helped her adjust quickly to new surroundings, people, and just go with the flow. She loves being entertained by her little brother- that is, when he's not crawling into her crib and jumping on the mattress while she's in it- Lord, help me!! Here are some shots of Sadie I took a day or two ago- she's really trying to scoot!

I'm flying!

Ooh! What's that!?!?

Wanna play?


More later!

Opa!

Here's a quick recipe that I don't want to forget. If you like salmon and Greek food you will love this healthy and delicious recipe! I found it on the back of the "Full Circle" frozen salmon packaging. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Salmon Salad

Ingredients:
12 oz. Salmon
2 Tbls. lime juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. dried basil
2 Tbls. white wine vinegar
1 to 1-1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup feta cheese
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
1/8 tsp. oregano
Assorted fresh vegetables and greens

Directions:
Rinse salmon with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Place salmon in large skillet in just enough water to cover. Season water with lemon and onion slices, bay leaf, and black peppercorns to taste. Cover and simmer. Do not overcook. Salmon should be pink in the center when removed from heat. (The recipe doesn't give an exact time on this- and to be honest I didn't really watch the clock, I just periodically checked the fish.) Drain, cool, and break into large chunks. While salmon is cooling, make dressing by combining olive oil, lime juice, wine vinegar, soy sauce, mustard, garlic, oregano, and basil. Gently toss salmon with dressing. Serve on a bed of fresh chopped lettuce. Garnish with tomato wedges, onions, olives, artichoke hearts, and cucumber slices. Sprinkle with feta.

Yummy!

Date night!

Saturday night Rob and I went out on a date! It was excellent. :) Jessica, a sweet young woman from our church, graciously agreed to watch Will and Sadie and we were on our way! I'll tell you, there were many weekends we had thought about going out but put it off. I reasoned that once Sadie and Will got to bed (by about 8ish) we had plenty of quiet time to watch a movie or whatever, but I had forgotten how much fun it is to be on an actual date!! Once we got out the door, there was a certain skip to my step! It was a simple night- dinner and listening to some live music in our little downtown area. Just walking into the restaurant holding hands felt like we were "kids" again- back in Valdosta, GA when we first met!! Yep, definitely something we're going to have to do more often!

Say, "Cheese!"

Yesterday morning I was breaking a sweat! Was it from a really intense workout? The sweltering summer heat? Nope, just trying to get my two little ones dressed and ready for their official first phot shoot together. Mercy! By the time we got to the studio I was ready for a diet coke break! :) The plan was to get some really cute pictures of Will and Sadie in their coordinating outfits. I envisioned a sweet shot of William leaning over and kissing his sister gently on the cheek and so forth. Well, needless to say that didn't happen- but we did end up with some pretty cute pictures of Sadie! You see, at our last photo shoot about a year ago William took a nose dive off the platform. It was pretty traumatic for both of us! I wasn' sure how he'd respond this time around but honestly wasn't that worried about it. Well, Will wanted -nothing- to do with getting behind that camera! We tried several tatics to try and warm him up to the idea. Not gonna happen. As my husband says, "Flexibility is the key to air power" and I'll add to that parenting! So, we quickly changed gears and made it all about Sadie girl! We'll go back in about a month to try again with Mr. William! I'll try and post some pics from the shoot later. Meantime, here's a candid shot of Will- our banjo player with shades!

Summertime!

At the prodding of a couple individuals (you know who you are), who kindly mentioned that the 'Happy Easter' post was getting a little old (which it is!), I am finally back in bloggerland! :):) Thanks for patiently waiting, my friends. I've come to the conclusion that the most successful bloggers (Brittyne- for example) blog frequently! That way you don't get into the position that I've been in for a while. You know, the thought that too much has happened since the last post and I don't have time to write about everything; thus, I don't do anything! Well, no more of that thinking. So here we go...

I'll start by saying that these past few months have been great. Lots to catch up on- including a six week trip to St. Louis while Daddy was on assignment, my brother's huge and tons-of-fun graduation party, Sadie rolling over and sleeping through the night (whoo-hoo!), William's ever expanding vocabulary, baby and wedding showers, the birth of Riley Addisen Fitzgerald and Christopher Scott Sage Jr., and a lake trip- just to name a few!! I don't have much time to go into details right now, but I will include some of my favorite pics!

Lots of love to all of you and I promise I'll get better at updating our blog more frequently!!

William's new 'do'! (It's about time, eh?!?!)


Sadie taking in one of my brother's baseball games


Brother sister bonding ( Sadie: "Mom, help!!")


Playing at MiMi and PaPa's house


Sisters proud of their little bro'


PaPa teaching Will how to catch a big one!

PICT0015Originally uploaded by grandma mi mi

More to come!

Love,
Jamie