Hammies

A long time friend from MOPS gave me this recipe and it's become a staple in my house .  I call her Sara Stewart because she is a wonderful cook and is extremely crafty. She always puts her heart into everything she does.  I needed something easy to make for dinner for our priest at church a few months ago and they loved them!   

Recipe:

Potato Rolls ( I use Kings Hawaiian Rolls in the deli section)

Sliced Ham

Provolone Cheese

Sauce:

2. T Mustard

4 T. Brown Sugar

2 T. Poppy Seeds

2 Sticks of butter

1 T. Worcestershire

Cook sauce - put ham & cheese in rolls and drizzle sauce on top.  Cook at 350 covered for 20 minutes and 10 minutes uncovered.

Singing a New Song

Because of yesterday's post, I decided it wouldn't be fair to leave that open without adding a few things I like to do to get me through some of those days we can all relate to.   I have found singing a new song in my heart does amazing wonders for my house:)

I play Pandora or Music Choice almost all day long.  My stations change based on the mood of our house.  It’s amazing how the simple sounds can perk up the emotions.  I personally can't stop laughing when Colson shows us some of his baby moves.

I often light a candle. My favorite scent is cinnamon and much of the time I light with intentions for friends and family going through a difficult time.  It’s a simple way to be reminded of those I love.

I open my blinds.  Light is good for the mind, heart, and health.  I personally find I’m always more energetic.

I fill my mind with beautiful words. Even if it’s five minutes, I aim to read or listen to scripture.  Reading Psalms in the bible, I have a few pod casts I listen to while I’m folding laundry or doing the dishes.  I love words that settle deep into my heart. I try to memorize a promise from the Bible.  I write them on index cards and post it on my bathroom mirror or in my car.   Hebrews 13:6, James 1:5, Psalm 15 are a few of my favs. 

I take a walk with my kiddos or spend some time in our backyard.  We always find an interesting rock or leaf to remind me that God has many creative and beautiful ways to accomplish His purpose in my life. 

I love to volunteer and take meals.  I find getting out of my own world and help those around me my spirit is always lifted.  I find great joy in being the answer to someone else’s prayer with a wonderful meal or simple help or encouraging words.

I have a journal and write about my feelings.  It’s a great outlet.  Just writing out a list of grateful things in my life helps put things into perspective. 

Here lately going to bed early and taking naps have helped me have a clear head and has helped me get back on track.

I love to spend time with encouraging friends.  It ALWAYS renews my soul ;) 

I hope in some small way this can help you get through some of the crazy and sometimes exhausting days of motherhood:)

The Story of Our Life

Enough said.

Tea & Testimony

A God sized dream became realized this year in my MOPS group.  65 women for 40 hours came together to share motherhood and life together. 

Introverts, extroverts, moms with 1 and moms with 11 (Thanks to Suzanne Hollman our mentor mom:). Leaders, followers, a magnificent paradox of women created a real life community that was seeded on motherhood, and came fruition on this day.

The Lord used MOPS this year to speak differently to each woman in this group.  He opened our eyes, quieted hearts, birthed new friendships and new babies and allowed life to bloom.  It has been such an over the top God thing.  "THANK YOU LORD."

As I watched new face book posts, and read the comments, one truth resonates in my heart, "We needed this.  We need real community."  Not the Webster's dictionary kind of social group community, but community that calls us to bring our messy, our misunderstood, and even our mundane.  Community that allows us to acknowledge our failures, but will also let us celebrate our success.  Community that will sometimes just "be."

Community is hard sometimes.  The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, wired us to crave community, and when the fellowship of Christ occurs, it points others to Him. 

Community is not just about being together, it's about doing life together.  That is what happened in my MOPS group.  I thank this group for giving me a place to share my struggles and joy as a mommy and for making the last six years of motherhood so wonderful.  I pray God will continue to shine his magnificent  light in this wonderful group of women. 

I am forever blessed!

1 Corinthians 16:14 "Let all you do be done with Love."

Muffins with Mom

Muffins with mom was the highlight of my day today.   Bailey's teachers did a great job making all of us mommies feel special and loved.  She told me tonight she had a really good time too!

She has a smile that lights up the world.

Random kinda stuff

 The snow cone lady is officially in business!  THIS is why I LOVE Summer.

Kinley found a frog in our back yard last week.  She came to the door to show me and I started to scream.  The frog jumped out of her hand and went hopping around the living room. 
As she was looking for the frog, the three of us were sitting on the counter in the kitchen.  At that moment it was evident that she is my husbands child.

Bailey in front of the new McDonalds by our house.  We couldn't resist  a snapshot.

Our MOPS group had a fundraiser at Chick-Fil-A.  Another great reason to eat more chicken! 

Climbing the walls

If you did this...

Your childhood was awesome.

Doctor Checkups

I took the girls for their six and three year check up today.  One of the advantages of sharing their birthdays, is having the choice of scheduling check ups together. It actually makes it easier because Bailey had her big sister Kinley to help ease the nervousness. It was sweet to see Kinley comforting her baby sister.  It warms the deepest part of this mommys heart.

As a child growing up, I secretly always wanted a sister of my own. There's a special kind of bond they share together.  They see their innermost fears, and show their true feelings with each other and they can simply be themselves.  I pray this is a bond that will never be broken.

 If you have a sister, give her a call, write her a letter, send some pictures, an e-mail, a smile or a hug.  Take the time to treasure the moments shared throughout your life together.  I hope my girls will reminisce on the memories they've shared and be blessed with a lifetime of true friendship in one another. 

All three kiddos checked out great. Bailey better start eating more vegetables because you'll notice Colson is  four pounds away from weiging the same as her. 

Butterflies

The girls have been catching butterflies in our backyard for the past few days.  

 I finally got Bailey to sit down (quietly) long enough to capture a few close-ups.

 I now have a butterfly cage hanging in the laundry room filled with several that have been held captive by these little people.

I'm slowly sneeking them one at a time back into the yard so the girls won't notice.

Isn't it amazing how simple beauty can always be found in unexpected places?

Freaky Friday

Did Friday the 13th freak you out? Strangely I suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia, the scientific term for fear of Friday the 13th. Do you know that over 21 million people also fear this day? But unfortunately, there is no known cure for overcoming this superstition. But they say the hardest thing in life is letting go of what you thought was real right?

 

The morning started off a bit rough with Bailey up most of the night.  So I determined our luck might be better to stay home and hang low as much as possible.

After giving Bailey a much needed pedicure and nap, we decided to venture out. ( I know my limits.  I don't pay any attention to them, but I know them.)

My friend Tina helped me overcome my fear of this freaky Friday by celebrating the afternoon with a scavenger hunt with the kiddos. We Started off at the park eating lucky charms and hunting for both good luck charms and conquering bad luck superstitions. 

The list included the kids taking pictures of: a black cat, an open umbrella indoors, spilled salt, walking under a ladder, stepping on a crack, crossing your fingers, knock on wood, find a four leaf clover, find a horse shoe, a pot of gold, a rainbow and a rabbit foot.

Strangely enough, we found a black cat at the pet store and a few other items at the dollar tree.  The kiddos had a wonderful time making scary faces.

even though today helped me get past a few of my silly superstitions, you certainly will not be seeing me making any arrangements this weekend for a wood cabin at camp crystal lake. 

David vs. Goliath

Now, this is one amazing goldfish!

This is a reminder to NEVER give up in life!

Diaper Jackpot!

I’ve been at the couponing thing for almost a year now, and what a difference it has made. When Russell and I looked into where our money was going, we found we were spending over 1,000/month on food and other supplies!  Yikes!  Since then  I’ve been trying to be more conscientious about spending and I thought using coupons was a good avenue to start saving.

At first I was overwhelmed by the logistics of couponing and I thought it was a waste of my time.  But after several months of practice, I can honestly say it’s become a pretty rewarding hobby that has saved my family lots of money.

All of the misconceptions I had about couponing have been thrown out the window.
I'm not one of those women who spend every second of my day cutting out coupons either. Yes, using coupons takes some time and planning, but it hasn’t taken over my life.  It takes about 20 minutes per week to clip and sort. I normally wait until mid-week to review what I have, compare prices and check the blogs. Getting  organised has been the biggest challenge, but since I’ve found a system that works, I’ve been able to spend less time preparing my trip.  It's been a wonderful time savings for my family and just enough of a challenge to keep me entertained.

A friend of mine found a great coupon deal on diapers a couple of weeks ago and took full advantage.  I ended up supplying our local pregnancy center with lots of diaper packages to help with their new babies.   Pick your jaw off the floor because I only paid $30 for all of this!

Hoppy Easter!!

A special day of love

As we near the end of Lent and my whining ends about giving up Starbucks and face book and begin to get excited about having this all back on Sunday, I'm reminded how this sacrifice I made was minuscule compared to what Jesus did for us. I have no idea what a sacrifice it really was for Jesus to take our place on the cross.

As I ponder today, on how great His love for me as He was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body, so He may now be fixed in every part of my soul.

For the last 40 days I've reflected on the life of Jesus and what he went through. I’ve imagined had it been me...I never could have made it all the way to the cross. He was alone - all his disciples had deserted him except for his mother and three women along with John, the beloved disciple.

His death was agonizing and humiliating. If it would have been me, I would have called the whole thing off the first time Peter said he didn’t know me. I couldn’t have borne Judas’ betrayal, couldn’t have stood still for his kiss. I would have jumped off the cross long before a sword pierced my side, long before “It is finished!”

There is no greater proof of God’s love for us than the willing sacrifice of his son on the cross. Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit knowing that the strife was now over and the battle was won. Even on the cross Jesus knew the joy and victory. But the real suffering on the cross was when the Father turned away from the Son and strapped our sin on Jesus’ back and inflicted the punishment that sin deserves and we’ll never know.

He could have jumped off that cross, but didn’t. Instead He begged God for us. He breathed, “Forgive them.” This act bridged the gap our sin put between us and God. He stayed on the cross until dead – making resurrection possible. He never turned back but instead said to His father “Not my will, but yours be done.” He boar the suffering and endured the shame and paid the price and defeated it all – to the end of glory so that we all may have life eternal.

Psalm 23

 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
  He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
  he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Are you listening?

I turned on the news tonight and I cry at the tragedy of human life. My candle flickers in the darkness of this broken world. Poverty and tragedy flood our news as I see innocent families torn apart. I begin to wonder where are you God. I feel angry and I pray for help on those who suffer injustice.

I try to comfort a friend who is going through a tough marriage while seeing the helplessness she endures because her heart tries desperately to do your will. I ask you “What’s happening to our prayers, God?” “Are you using their trials for a greater good in Heaven?" We need you Lord to come down and lift us out of this darkness that surrounds us. Why do you hide your face?

But still in this gloom, I hear a small voice saying to me “how long must I wait for you to put on the mind of Christ?” “How long must I wait for you to live in my image?” “What are you doing with your prayers?” “Are you making them a cushion under your own feet?” “What are you doing to increase the light in this dark and needy world?”

Since I’ve become a mother, my heart aches a little more when I see these tragedies happening around me. When I watch the news, it only creates bitterness in my mouth. But it’s the world we live. This face of suffering happening in the world is something I must share with my children as my responsibility.

I turn the television off and head to bed. With my heart filled with heaviness,  I lay still and  pray my children will have the wisdom to see past the distorted images we create of our loving father.