On Having Faith

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T12:57:00.000-05:00

My Three Beautiful Daughters At Christmas

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T15:19:00.000-05:00

Micah fell asleep on the couch the other night with his furry friend!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T10:37:00.000-04:00

My kids having lunch at the Creation Museum

Let's Catch Up!

2011-10-14T15:17:00.000-04:00

I am such a bad blogger. Days are so full and I find it hard to sit down and write what is going on in our lives.

Do you remember this post? Well, guess what? He is now living inside my home and has made himself quite comfortable!

Here he is sleeping in an empty box from a toy Luke got for his Birthday!

After the first few days of living on our porch, it started raining and got pretty cool and windy outside. The kids started to worry about the kitty, so hubby suggested that we open up the garage a few inches so he could come inside. We put his water and food bowls in the garage as well. He became quite comfortable and would often sleep in a box he found. The only problem was that two more cats found their way into the garage as well! On Saturday morning hubby went into the garage and found a bag of trash ripped open and some pee on the floor near the door. Hubby was not too happy, but the kids told him he couldn't blame it on the little kitty. Maybe the two other bigger cats scared him or they actually did it themselves! So yes, we gave him another chance!

On Sunday morning hubby went out into the garage and found an injured, bleeding, baby bunny in the garage. The kitty was playing with it and the bunny was desperately trying to get away! So, that was it! Hubby got the bunny out, put kitty out, and closed up the garage. When we left for church, I made sure his water and food dishes were back on the porch. However, when we returned from church, he was gone! We could not find him anywhere! The kids and I were feeling a little sad. We took a walk and looked around, but he was no where to be found! After a whole week at our house, he had moved on!

We were pretty sure we would never see him again. But on Friday evening the door bell rang, and the little girls from next door were holding our kitty. He had taken up residency on another front porch down the street. Their mom knew the lady that lived there, and I guess the lady talked about the kitty that she was now taking care of! The girls went and looked at the kitty and said it was the one that had been living on our porch. They brought him to us and we brought him inside that evening. We have no idea who his original owner is, but he is living in our home now.

I knew he was fairly young. I am not sure of his age, but after visiting Pet Smart and seeing the cats they have there, I would guess that he is 3-4 months old. He has lost two baby teeth since being here. Micah actually saw him spit one of them out. He picked it up and brought it to me. He wondered what it was. I told him it looked like a tooth. I checked the kitty's mouth and saw another tooth that looked just like it and it was loose. Micah found that tooth the next day!

The kids are having a lot of fun with him. Just one thing, he and the dog do not get along. At first, the dog was actually scared of this little kitty. She would avoid him at all costs. How can the 60 + pound dog be afraid of such a little cat? As time went on the dog has gotten to where she acts like she would like to eat him. The kitty taunts her. He chases after her, but if she gets too close, he arches his back and hisses at her. She then growls and goes after him. She has gotten scratched a few times. Most if the time they avoid each other, but we keep an eye on them. When we have to leave the house, we make sure that they can not get to each other.

Can you please tell me how to get the cat and dog to like each other? I so desperately want them to live here together in peace. Also is there a way to keep the cat off of the kitchen counters and the kitchen table! That is something I really need, too! Also we are taking suggestions for a name for our kitty. I have always had a hard time naming animals. The kids have thought of a few, but no one can come to agreement on anything yet!

Speaking of Luke's Birthday, he and Anna both recently had a birthday.

Anna celebrating her 10th Birthday!

Luke on his 8th Birthday!

They grow up way too fast!

The other day I took the children to the Creation Museum. I will share some pictures from our trip soon. I also have been crocheting a lot recently. I mostly know how to make scarves and hats. I want to learn how to make some other things as well. I have a hard time sitting down and following a pattern. It takes time and concentration. It is hard to get enough time for quiet around here to concentrate. I am eying a shawl pattern though, that I might try soon.

I have been trying some new recipes too. I hope to share some of them with you very soon. The kids were always wondering why I was taking pictures of food. They are now so used to it that they never ask anymore!

Well, that's all for now. I hope to be back soon.

Have an Awesome Weekend Everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T14:14:00.000-04:00

Isn't he beautiful and a little creepy all at the same time?

I took this by holding my cell phone from below. I think it is kind of neat with the blue sky in the background!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T09:42:00.000-04:00

Yes, He's Still Here! Making Himself More Comfortable Every Day!

This Is Not Our Cat!

2011-09-13T13:15:00.000-04:00

We have this sweet little kitty that showed up on our doorstep a couple of days ago! The children have fallen in love with him!

He seems to be pretty young, as he is still pretty small and skinny. Yesterday we gave him some milk and I cut up some popcorn chicken for him to eat. We also gave him water but he would not drink that! I had to run out to the store yesterday to get some medicine for Luke so I just happened to pick up some kitty food! When Hubby came home he asked, "why do we have Cat food?" I told him that we needed it! He said that we did not need it! Umm, well we kinda wanted something for kitty to eat!

The truth is I love cats. Actually I love animals in general. We have a dog that is allowed inside our house. This dog acts like she wants to eat the cat! The cat stays in the front and the dog goes out the back so that we can keep them apart! We cannot really keep this cat. I am hoping we find his owner so that they can be reunited.

Luke has been having some major allergy symptoms. His eyes have been swelling up really bad. The past couple of days have been even worse. I just wonder if he happens to be allergic to the cat! He wants to go out so badly to play with the cat. I told him today that he has to stay in all day and away from the cat to see if he gets any better. The pediatrician gave us a new allergy medicine to try as well as some eye drops. Let's hope these help. So far I am not convinced!

So, even if the owner is not found and Luke is not allergic, we cannot keep this cat! Hubby and I are not interested in having a litter box and we really don't have a good place to put one anyway!

Yes, I am talking myself out of keeping this cat! He is very sweet and affectionate! The kids adore him. The dog abhors him! What shall we do?

Until we figure it all out, I guess we will be doing more of this!

Monster Cookies

2011-09-09T09:00:00.001-04:00

I recently stumbled upon this recipe and knew I was going to have to try it! Most of you have probably heard of Monster Cookies before. Many years ago a friend gave me a recipe for Monster Cookies that were made from scratch. They were very yummy, but they seemed a bit time consuming!

This recipe calls for using cookie mix that comes in a pouch plus a few more ingredients. Maybe cheating just a bit, but they were yummy and a whole lot quicker! I made the recipe exactly as it is written except for I had some Reese's Pieces on hand, so I added them too! One person who reviewed the recipe mentioned adding peanut butter chips. That sounds yummy too!

Ingredients:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

3 eggs

2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate candies

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir all ingredients except candies until soft dough forms. Stir in candies.

On ungreased cookie sheets, place about 1/4 cupfuls (very large cookies!) dough about 3 inches apart.

Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Store in covered container at room temperature

*(To make 36 smaller cookies, place 2 heaping tablespoonfuls dough about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes)

These cookies are completey low in calorie and fat, NOT! But oh so yummy!

Happy September!

2011-09-08T14:27:00.000-04:00

It is September 8th and life is is full swing! We are near the end of our 3rd week of school, however this was only a 4 day week.

I had started a few posts through out the Summer and hoped to finish them, but I never have. Right now it seems overwhelming to get caught up with all the stuff I have missed on this blog. So, I decided to just start where we are now and possibly add a little about our Summer as I go.

This year I have 6 kids in school, a first grader all the way up to a 10th grader. Last year there were seven, but Rebekah graduated. It seems a little strange just having 6 at home full time. When you have so many kids, even with just one missing, the dynamics change quite a bit.

Rebekah is going to the local University and living at home. She does not have her drivers license yet, so Hubby or I have to drop her off and pick her up. Her schedule is so full, that she is not home very much. She has long days at school and she also works several evenings a week. I feel like I hardly ever see her. She is getting the hang or her busy schedule, but she is quite worn out which is totally understandable!

Our Summer was quite busy with the Musicals from our Church. There were many practices and both Musicals had three performances each. Let's just say that we were doing a lot of running around and dinner was usually on the run. It was a lot of fun, but it was also great when it was all over! I really felt like I needed a vacation afterwards. I only had to transport my kids, I cannot imagine how the people leading these kids through every practice and performance felt. There were a few young ladies that taught the choreography for both groups and some days they had 2 practices in one day. Can you say Workout?! I should have joined in and learned the dance moves too, it would have been a great for weight loss.

We did fit in a visit to go see my Mom in Virginia. It was so nice just to be with her. I absolutely hate being so far away from her and the rest of my family. I wish we could at least live closer so that I could easily go for the weekend or something. Last week she fell and when I got the call, it tore me apart that I could not just get up and go be with her. She thought she had broken her leg, but ended up being a small fracture and some badly bruised ribs. That has got to be painful enough though. The good news is that she got to go home! She hates having to stay in the hospital!

While in Virginia, we did get to go see Faith's grave. While I know that she is not there, but with Jesus, it is still nice to visit, since this is a little bit of her I have here on earth.

The kids always want to take my picture while we are there!

Just like all the other times we have visited, many of the kids run straight for Faith's Grave and the start cleaning it up and pulling away any long grass, etc. It always Blesses My Heart! This year I did not get a picture of it though.

My beautiful necklace from My Forever Child.

Close up of my Necklace

Micah using Uncle Rick's fancy camera! He did not want to give it back!

Even though it has been a bit hard to get back into a regular routine of school,etc, it also feels good! Kids just seem to do better when they keep up somewhat of a regular schedule. They also go to bed a bit earlier too!

It has been a really hot summer here, but the past few days have been cool and wet and rather dreary! It just seems that we go from one extreme to another. I really would like to have some nice Fall weather though. Some cool days with Sun, yeah, that's what I want!

Today I will leave you with a song I have on my heart:

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

by Helen H. Lemmel, 1922

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T13:04:00.000-04:00

Someone Thought They Needed To Fight Evil Instead Of Doing His School Work!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T10:50:00.000-04:00

Micah Preparing For A Swim At Aunt Debbie's House

Perfect Peace

2011-08-29T11:21:00.000-04:00

The Lord has been gently whispering to me about His Peace. I desperately need His Peace in my life. The last few days there have been Scriptures about Peace popping up from different sources like friends on facebook or something I just happen to be reading. It is quite obvious that The Lord is trying to tell me something. I really do need His Peace and I seek it! I will pay attention to what He is saying and I will study what the Scriptures say about His Peace.

This morning I woke up with this Scripture on my mind. Then when I went to read my Bible, this verse was part of the Scripture Reading Plan for today. ( I am following a plan to read through the Bible in a year, which I am terribly behind on!) Do I think this is a coincidence? Absolutely not! God is working on my Heart and I am going to pay attention!

Picture Credit

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3

I am sorry I have been absent from this blog. I miss being here and I miss you all! This Summer has been a bit busy, but I also have had a hard time just sitting down to write. I really do hope to be here more often. It is like therapy for me to write here. Thank You to the Faithful few that still read this. I hope to be back real soon!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T13:26:00.000-04:00

Saw this parked in a McDonald's Parking Lot Recently!

Lemonade Cake

2011-07-31T17:46:00.002-04:00

I am always looking for a new recipe to try. Unfortunately for my waistline, I tend to be drawn to dessert recipes! I happened upon this recipe the other day and just had to try it.

Back Many years ago a friend's mom would make a cake very similar to this for our church home group. I do not remember her putting icing on it though. I just remember the moist lemon cake that I just loved!

Lemonade seems to always go with Summer, so if you enjoy lemonade, you should try this yummy cake! I do recommend a light fluffy icing to go with it. When I made it, I used a buttercream frosting. I believe a lighter, fluffier icing would go better.

I found this recipe here and it originated from here.

Picture Credit

Ingredients:

1 box lemon or yellow cake mix

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

1 can (6 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 container Whipped fluffy white or fluffy lemon frosting ( I ended up using a buttercream frosting.)

Yellow colored sugar, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Make cake as directed on box for 13×9-inch pan. Cool 15 minutes.

2. Mix lemonade concentrate and powdered sugar. Pierce top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with long-tined fork, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking. Drizzle lemonade mixture evenly over top of cake. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.

3. Spread frosting over top of cake. Sprinkle with sugar. Store covered in refrigerator.

While this recipe is very delicious, it did not seem to measure up to my friend's mom's version. Pam, if you happen to be reading this, please send me your Mom's recipe!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T17:50:00.000-04:00

My Beautiful Necklace from My Forever Child on Faith's Stone

Yes, I Am Still Alive!

2011-06-24T13:37:00.001-04:00

Hello There and Happy Friday everyone! I have missed being here and hope to be here more often! I miss all my Bloggy friends!

Life has been busy, but really, that is not the main reason I haven't been here. I just have been in a "Quiet" mood. I am not sure what it is all about, but I have just wanted everything to be quiet! Crazy, since I am the mother to 10! Where do I find quiet?

I actually started a post a couple of weeks ago, but never finished it! It is all about the happenings at our house during the month of May. I hope to finish it up in the next couple of days. Now I will have to write about June too!

Maybe this is what God is saying to me right now!

Picture Credit

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

I hope to be back real soon and to more regular posting!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-18T10:22:00.000-04:00

These little beauties were sitting outside my kitchen door!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-27T12:10:00.000-04:00

Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

2011-04-24T00:38:00.003-04:00

Praise God! He Has Risen, Just As He Said!

As I reflect upon Resurrection Day, I am reminded of this Hymn I learned in my childhood. I can still hear the voices harmonizing and especially the bass voices booming from the back row of the choir! I love the message of this song, and I am so Thankful that He Arose! He Arose for you and for me!

Low in the Grave He Lay

by Robert Wadsworth Lowry

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,

Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph over His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;

Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph over His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;

He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph over His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Have a Blessed Resurrection Day!

Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

Trying Another Recipe ~ Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars

2011-04-18T13:11:00.002-04:00

Baking is something I have always enjoyed. I love to search for new recipes. Actually, I Love to read through cookbooks. A new cookbook would make an awesome gift for me, but no one seems to pay attention to that idea!

Anyway, the other day I needed to make a dessert for a function at church. I was looking for something I had never made before and preferably non-chocolate. I came across this recipe from Taste of Home that sounded yummy and easy enough to make. It is called Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars. I love Cheesecake and I Love Strawberries, so this sounded like a wonderful mix!

This seemed to be a hit. The kids are always complaining that I make things for church and we never have any at home. Since the majority of us did not attend the function at church, I made a batch for home.

This is a recipe that I recommend if you enjoy Cheesecake and Strawberries. The only thing I changed was I added sugar to the strawberries. I did not add a lot of sugar and it really could have used a little more. I used unsweetened frozen strawberries, but probably would just use the sweetened kind the next time.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars Recipe

No-Stick Cooking Spray

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries, thawed ( I recommend adding sugar or use sweetened frozen strawberries)

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 3/4 cups finely crushed cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup (4 tbsps.) butter, melted

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 large eggs

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.

Blend strawberries in blender container until smooth. Transfer to saucepan; add cornstarch. Cook and stir until thickened. Cool.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl; press firmly into bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy in large bowl. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Pour over crust.

Drop strawberry mixture by spoonfuls over batter. Gently swirl with knife or spatula.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool. Chill. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 to 3 dozen bars.

I found this recipe here.

Enjoy!

A Little Bit of This And That Plus a Birthday!

2011-04-15T16:48:00.001-04:00

I am still alive! Well, at least I think I am! The kids keep us pretty busy and something is always going on! As I look at the calendar, the next few months seem like they will be busier than ever! Blogging could be pretty sporadic!

The past 2 weekends have been JBQ and TBQ State competitions. I am proud to report that our kids did really well. Our JBQ A-League team (which includes Anna and Sammy) was in a 3 way tie for second place. So it ends up that they were 4th in the gold division. That was good enough for them to go on to Regionals! Anna came in 3rd place individually! She is pretty competitive and she has worked really hard! I should also mention her teammate Tyler came in fourth! They did so well, and we are so proud of them!

The B-League team also did really well. It is an all girl team and they came in first place in the silver division. Micah and Luke are in C-League and they did awesome too! They came in first place in the gold division. Luke worked harder at the end, so he answered more questions than he has before! I believe it has help to build his confidence! He got 8th place individually and was so excited to get a trophy!

Our TBQ teams did awesome too! Rebekah's team came in first and Rebekah got First place individually! This is her Senior year, so what a wonderful way to end her TBQ career! She will be going to Regionals next month with her team. Victoria's team came in second place! So Awesome! They too, will be going to Regionals!

Matthew is on the Middle School Team and they came in First in their division. His Team will be going to Regionals as well!

So, as you can see, there are some of the things that are on our upcoming agenda, not to mention the possibility of Anna and Sammy's team, Rebekah's team, and Victoria's team advancing to Nationals! I will also have to be running our kids to practices every week for our Church's Musical. There are actually 2 different musicals for 2 different age groups. I will have 3 kids in one and 4 in the other. Their practices are on different nights, so it will be a lot of transporting going on. The performances are in August with each group having two performances each. I would also like to fit in a trip to Virginia so that I can visit my Mom and the rest of my extended family.

To add to all of that, Rebekah and Josh will be starting College in the Fall. We will have to help them get ready for that and do all the necessary preparations! I personally find having older kids a bit more challenging than the little ones!

Recently Hubby celebrated his Birthday. I made his cake this year. He pretty much said that he would like any cake except chocolate. I scoured through recipes and decided on a Caramel Cake. Looking through so many recipes on the Internet, I came to the conclusion that most of the recipes were of a yellow cake with a Caramel Frosting. So, I decided to cheat just a little!

I used a yellow cake mix and mixed it up according to the directions and then stirred in some melted butterscotch chips. Originally I made a layered cake, but evidently left the cakes in the pans too long or something. When I tried to take them out, they were completely stuck! I had sprayed the pans with PAM, so that was not the problem. In the process of trying to get them out of the pans, one of the layers broke into pieces.

Yeah, so I mixed up 2 cake mixes and stirred in some melted butterscotch chips and poured it into a large pan. I am not sure of the dimensions, but it is a lot bigger than a 13x9 pan. I thought that since it was such a large cake that I probably should double the recipe for the Frosting. Well, in all actuality it probably wasn't needed. The Frosting was sort of like fudge and in the middle it was at least as thick as the cake! It was really yummy and the kids did not complain about too much Frosting! I wish I had taken pictures after it was cut so that you could see how thick the icing was!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Here is the Recipe for the Frosting!

Caramel Frosting From Scratch

2 sticks butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup Pet's Evaporated Milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter and brown sugar and evaporated milk. Cook two minutes over medium heat (no longer than two minutes). Add vanilla. Remove immediately from heat. Add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.. Will frost a three layer cake!

I found this recipe here along with a cake recipe.

Warning: It will give you a major sugar rush!

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T16:21:00.000-04:00

The view from our backyard!

Create In Me A Pure Heart

2011-03-24T13:19:00.001-04:00

I am using a Bible Reading Guide that has you read through the Bible in one year. I actually started this plan in the middle of last year. So today, I was reading from the Day labeled July 30th! Hey it doesn't matter that I didn't start on January 1st!

It is really good to be in God's Word. I have had a hard time being consistent with it, but I have been Blessed by my effort of working on it! I decided that my relationship with God is more important than any other part of my life. To keep that relationship Going and Growing it requires effort on my part. Spending time in His Word and Communicating with Him frequently is how this is accomplished!

I have decided that I will spend time with God and His word before I will open up my computer each day. I feel like I must make Him a priority before anything else! I like to get on my computer first thing in the morning to check emails and of course facebook! I have got to make sure I know what is going on with everyone! But God has to be First!

Anyway, today's reading included some of the Psalms. I really enjoy reading the Psalms because they are a great encouragement to me. I think I need to include the Psalms even on days when it is not on the reading plan!

This Scripture really stood out to me!

Picture Credit

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:10-12

I Highly Encourage You To Spend Time in God's Word Each Day!

Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Ris...

2011-03-23T18:08:00.000-04:00

Or Has it?

The past few days have been just beautiful around here. The feeling that Spring is in the air is bringing relief that Winter is about over. I am reminded of this little poem that my Mom would recite! Looking all over the Internet I found a few different versions.

The version I remember most went like this:

Spring has sprung. The grass is ris. I wonder where the flowers is?”

Bad grammar, I know! I do not remember if there was more to it or not.

Here is another version I found:

It has been pretty warm here, mostly in the 70's. Today has been warm again, but a cold front is moving in and with it Thunderstorms are expected this evening. We are in a Tornado watch until tonight. The next few days are supposed to be in the 40's. It was nice while it lasted!

Here is a reading from the Thermometer in Rebekah's car showing the outside temperature taken yesterday.

I walked around the yard to see if I could find any sign of life. I was a bit surprised to see that my Rhododendrons are going to bloom in the near future.

If you have any clue why there are spots on the leaves and what I can do about it, please let me know!

I found many dandelions. You know a lot of people spend a lot of time trying to get rid of these, but there is something about the pretty yellow flowers that I really like!

After taking these pictures, I realized that we have a lot of weeds in our backyard! But some of them are so pretty!

Are they weeds or wild flowers?

Growing up, I called these violets. I have no idea what they are really called.

Here they are a little closer up. My pictures are not showing their beautiful blue color!

Here is some wild onion growing amongst some of the pretty purple ~~flowers~~ weeds! Our backyard has a ton of wild onions growing this year!

As I was walking along, I also found some really cute kids playing!

Micah on the swing

Luke

Upon further inspection, I found the turtles are coming out of hibernation. Four of the five have been spotted. The smallest one named April has yet to be seen. Of course Zach was the first to be seen. He is the most outgoing turtle and he has personality! Last week, he had just his head sticking out of the ground!

Here's Mr Zach!

I believe that Spring is my favorite time of the year! As the weather grows warmer and new life is starting to sprout, it makes me feel as though I can break out of my shell and out of hibernation! There just seems to be a new hope and a new promise. It makes me feel like I have a fresh new start!

Picture Credit

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Happy Almost Spring Everyone!

Happy John 3:16 Day!

2011-03-16T10:24:00.000-04:00

As I was driving Rebekah to work this morning, I was listening to K-LOVE and I heard them talking about John 3:16 Day! Since today is 3/16/11, it would be a great day to call John 3:16 Day! What could be a better way to share Jesus with the rest of the world!

Picture Credit

Happy John 3:16 Day and Pass it on!

Welcome Baby Uriah Beau and a Few Prayer Requests

2011-03-09T11:50:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Susan on the birth of her new baby boy, Uriah Beau! Uriah was born on Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 8:05 AM. He weighed in at 9 pounds even and was 20.5 inches long. This is a Rainbow Baby for Susan! God is So Good! Stop by and tell Susan Congratulations and see the beautiful pictures she just posted of Baby Uriah!

Congratulations Susan! I am so excited for you!

Please remember to keep praying for the 2 ladies on the Pregnancy Prayer list that are due this month. They both have had some difficulties through their pregnancies. Let's pray for Safe and Easy Deliveries and Healthy Babies! You can visit September here and Michelle here.

I have also received a prayer request for Christina from a friend. She had an ultrasound at 10 weeks and they could not see the baby. Let's please pray for God to intervene in this situation. He is an amazing, miracle working God! Please keep Christina in your prayers!

Just a reminder, if you are pregnant or know someone who is and would like to be added to the Pregnancy Prayer List, please leave a comment or send me an email. My email address can be found over on the right sidebar. If you have a prayer request that you would prefer not to be listed, please let me know that too!

My Heart's Prayer

2011-03-06T15:37:00.001-05:00

This Scripture has been the Prayer of my Heart Recently.

Picture Credit

The NIV reads:

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Dear Lord, Please help me with my Heart and Mind and Fill my Lips with Words that are pleasing to You!

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-15T17:03:00.052-05:00

We usually do not do anything too elaborate for Valentine's Day. I gave Mike a card and some candy. He gave me a card, a pink Snuggie, and these beautiful roses. The blooms on the roses are some of the nicest I have seen in a while! They are quite beautiful!

These pictures do not do them justice, I promise!

On Monday afternoon I decided to make a cake. I picked up a Strawberry Cake Mix and I bought a can of icing too! I know, a total cheat! I used some Valentine's Day M&M's to decorate with.

Kids are so funny, because since this is not the "normal" thing that I do, they kept asking why I was making a cake for Valentine's Day! I told them that it would be fun and would make a great dessert after dinner! They still didn't seem to get it! I had to keep saying "Just for fun!"

Each year on Valentine's Day I usually get the kids a variety of candy and put it in some kind of container. I have purchased plastic Valentine's Day type buckets in the past, but we can never seem to get them all together at the same time. This year I just bought red paper lunch bags and wrote their names on them and added some hearts. Really nothing fancy, but the kids enjoy their candy!

The cake and my flowers with the children's candy bags.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of any of the kids or Dear Hubby.

Hubby and I decided to wait to go out to dinner on a different night because we do not like to fight the crowds. It really does not matter what day it is anyway! As long as we get our night out together! And you know what? I am totally looking forward to it! I Love My Dear Hubby and enjoy my time alone with him!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T16:10:00.002-05:00

They had a disagreement and decided to settle it with lightsabers!

What have I been up to?

2011-02-08T13:27:00.001-05:00

Is it really February 8th? It is so hard to believe that Christmas was almost a month and a half ago. At least our Christmas decorations are finally down. The Hubby took a scarce opportunity and got the outdoor decorations down. We have had a lot of snow and or ice, so when everything would melt and dry up we were too busy doing something else and never got it done.

Time just seems to keep marching on and I am trying my hardest just to keep up! Most of the time I feel like the World is spinning by so fast and I am just holding on for dear life!

I have come here often and wanted to write something. The words have just not been coming to me. I have been a bit busy with some things that really have been a bit stressful.

One thing that has occupied my time and caused me stress is I had to work on paperwork for Rebekah to apply to college. We also had to work on Scholarship Applications as well. I have been wanting to kick myself because I did not keep up with all the paperwork like I should have for her schoolwork, so I had to kick it into high gear to get all caught up! Our next child to graduate from high school after Rebekah is Victoria. Victoria is currently a freshmen, so I will work hard to keep up with all of her stuff!

Rebekah is planning on going to the local University and study Nursing. I am so proud of her and I believe she will make a wonderful nurse! She is so loving and caring and I think she will be very compassionate with her patients.

Josh is also working on going to College next year, so we have been working on his stuff as well! He wants to go to a Christian College that is rather expensive, so God will have to provide the way! Josh is quite passionate about it, so I pray that it works out!

Mike and I do not have the money to send our kids to College. They all have had to work and pay their own way! I am so proud of each of them as they have worked usually a full time schedule and have taken a full course load as well. Please pray that God will provide for Josh and Rebekah to go to College!

One thing I have been doing in my "spare" time is crocheting. I learned how to crochet when I was a kid, but I just recently picked it up again. I mostly know how to make hats and scarves. I have been making hats and scarves for several of my kids. When I finish with all of the requests, I hope to learn how to make something different. I have really enjoyed crocheting and it seems to be a stress reliever for me.

This is Rebekah modeling my first completed hat and scarf combination.

I have 2 or 3 post sitting in draft mode that I want to share with you soon. They are a bit late, but better late than never, right?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-26T12:19:00.001-05:00

Looking out my backdoor this morning! It has been an unusual Winter this year in Kentucky.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-19T12:14:00.000-05:00

I captured a Sunrise from my backdoor. Quite a rare occasion for me! I am not a morning person!

I'd Need a Savior

2011-01-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

I am just popping in to say Hi! Life just seems to be extra busy and I feel so far behind on everything! I am trying to find the right balance of my time between God, my family, blogging and other things.

I can get easily discouraged when I get so far behind and feel like I could just give up! That's when I find myself begging God for help to get me out of the pit I am in. Why, oh why, can I not remember to invite Him into every single one of my days and my daily activities, no matter how mundane they are. Life would go so much smoother, wouldn't it?

If I were to say I had a New Year's Resolution, it would be to Seek God more and more. To invite Him to every part of my life every day!

Yes, there are other areas of my life I need to work on, like lose weight. I believe that if I am inviting God into every part of my life, then things like losing weight will fall into place. Yes, I need to do my part, but if I am seeking God to help me with my eating, then I believe it can happen.

It sounds so easy as I type this, but in reality I know that my old flesh will get in the way. My love for food will want to takeover. So when I get off track, I have a Loving Savior that will help pick me up and put me back on the right path.

I have been a bit discouraged about a few things, and the past couple of days this song has been on my heart. One thing I have learned in my Christian Walk, is that when I am in distress and feel I cannot do anything else is to call on the name of Jesus! The name of Jesus has ministered to me so many times! Thank You Jesus for being my Friend and You are what I can hold on to!

Your name is Jesus

You’re the wonderful, counselor, my friend

You’re what I hold on to

I know that You brought me through

How many names

Can I use to explain

The love of my Jesus

The life that He gave

And so many times

Will I praise You today

I lift up my life

Cause You’re always the same

And my offering

To you I bring

Your name is Jesus

You’re the wonderful, counselor, my friend

You’re what I hold on to

I know that You brought me through

All the days of loss and to the cross, You knew

That I’d need a Savior

How many songs

Can I sing to proclaim

Your wondrous love

Oh and beauty so great

Oh and, What would I say

If You brought down the rain

And everyday I walked through the pain

My heart would still say…

......All the days of loss, and to the cross You knew,

That I'd Need a Savior Well, I'd need a Savior....woah

You're what I hold onto, I know that You brought me through

All the days of loss and to the cross You knew,

That I'd need a Savior

I'd need a Savior,

I need You Savior.

Thou Art My Hope

2011-01-16T15:13:00.000-05:00

Photo Credit

In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

turn your ear to me and save me.

Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,

my confidence since my youth.

Psalm 71

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

Taken on Faith's 2nd Heavenly Birthday 10/28/10

Happy New Year and an Update on the Pregnancy Prayer List!

2011-01-01T16:34:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I pray that 2011 will be a Blessed Year for each of you! I know that many have had some great trials during 2010 and I pray the 2011 will be a year of healing and Blessings!

I need to update the Pregnancy Prayer List. Both of the ladies listed for January have had their babies.

First, Congratulations to Jessica on the Birth of her Rainbow baby, Potter Joseph. He was born on 12/19/2010 at 12:32 pm and weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. Potter Joseph is also welcomed by Daddy Kevin, 3 older brothers, and his older sister who is in Heaven. You can visit Jessica here and Congratulate her!

Congratulations Jessica and Kevin and Family!

Congratulations also goes to Whitney on the birth of her son, Aiden Lee. Aiden was born on 12/28/2010 at 3:37 pm and weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long. He is also welcomed by Daddy Charles and big brother Austin.

Congratulations Whitney and Charles and Austin!

Please remember to keep the rest of the ladies on the list in Prayer. It means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to them!

If you are pregnant or know someone who is pregnant and would like to be added to the list, please send me an email or leave a comment. My email address is listed at the end of the Pregnancy Prayer List, up on the right sidebar.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

O Holy Night!

2010-12-24T14:37:00.002-05:00

I had intended on doing a few more posts about my favorite Christmas Carols, but the time just got away from me. I Love most Christmas songs, but their are a few that are my favorites. It is probably a tie between Silent Night and O Holy Night as my absolute favorites. It is so touching to my Heart to think of that night so long ago when our Savior was born. It truly was a Holy Night!

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

I pray you have a very Merry Christmas as we celebrate the Birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

Sharing a Birthday Cake Recipe ~ # 4

2010-12-21T12:22:00.002-05:00

Here is the fourth and final recipe from this Birthday Post.

We call it Better Than Anything Cake, but it has been called a variety of names. You can do a google search and find hundreds of different recipes for this cake. This is a very easy cake to make and pretty yummy too, However, I am not sure it lives up to its name!

Here is the recipe I used. You can also find it here.

Better Than Anything Cake

Ingredients:

1 German chocolate cake mix ( I used a Dark Chocolate Cake Mix)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
caramel topping
12 ounces Cool Whip
3 heath bars, crushed ( I buy a bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee bits that are located in the baking aisle near where they sell chocolate chips, not all stores carry these)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan. Prepare cake mix as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. After 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Continue baking until cake is done.

While cake is still hot, poke holes in it with handle of wooden spoon. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cake; let cool. Top with caramel sauce, then whipped topping. Sprinkle with candy bars.

Here is Josh with the Better Than Anything Cake. I doubled the recipe and baked in a larger pan.

Now on to prepare for Jesus' Birthday!

Sharing a Birthday Cake Recipe ~ # 3

2010-12-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

The next recipe that I will share from this Birthday Post, is the Chocolate Mint Layer Cake. I originally made this cake back a few years ago for Josh's Birthday. The Recipe for the mint filling calls for green food coloring. I told Josh he could pick any color he wanted. Back then his favorite color was orange, so we had orange mint filling! (A little strange I know!)

I cannot find a picture of Josh's cake, but here is Sammy's. Yellow is Sammy's favorite color, so I decorated his cake with yellow M&M's and the filling is what else ....... Yellow! Sorry, I did not take a picture after cutting it, so you cannot see the filling. I cheated this time while making this cake, Instead of following the recipe for the cake part, I used a chocolate fudge boxed cake mix and then continued with the rest of the recipe. It turned out great!

Sammy

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

FILLING

1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 to 4 drops green food coloring, optional (or color of your choice!)

ICING

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract
1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

Line two greased 9-in. round baking pans with waxed paper. Grease and flour the paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Combine milk and water. combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture.

Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and extract; beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in food coloring if desired. Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with filling. top with second cake.

For icing, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chips and butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Beat in evaporated milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Frost and decorate cake. Chill 2 hours before slicing. Yield: 12 servings

I found this recipe from Taste of Home and can be found here.

Here is their picture:

Picture Credit

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

Plus

Equals

Yes, I slid into the mailbox! At least it was ours!

But No One Getting Hurt!

Equals

Glory To God In The Highest!

2010-12-14T00:43:00.002-05:00

I absolutely love Christmas Carols. Well actually, I love music in general, especially Christian Music. Praising God in song can be so uplifting to the soul.

I know a few people (who will remain nameless!) who do not like Christmas Music at all! I do not understand this, but pray that someday God will change their heart!

Anyway, back to Christmas Carols. The Christmas Season is so full of wonder and excitement, but celebrating the Birth of our Beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ, has got to be the best part! I enjoy the fun songs like Jingle Bells, but my absolute favorites are those that are sharing the Good News of Jesus!

I thought I would share a few of my favorite Carols between now and Christmas. Today I will share Angels We Have Heard On High.

I truly believe that the Angels were rejoicing on that Day of Jesus' Birth. How amazing was it that the Savior of the World was born.

The refrain of this song is "Gloria In Excelsis Deo!" It means Glory to God in the Highest! Yes, Glory to God in the Highest! God's only Son was born! Jesus was born to come and to die for us. None of us deserve it, but He did it anyway! Thank You Jesus for coming as a baby and living and dying for me!

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

Angels we have on heard high

Sweetly singing ore the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains

Gloria in excelsis Deo

Come to Bethlehem and see

Christ whose birth the angels sing

Come adore on bended knee

Christ the Lord the newborn King

Gloria in excelsis Deo

See him in a manger laid

Whom the choirs of angels praise

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid

While our hearts in love we raise

Gloria in excelsis Deo

Gloria, in excelsis Deo

Gloria in excelsis Deo

Chris Tomlin - Angels We Have Heard On High - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Sharing a Birthday Cake Recipe ~ #2

2010-12-11T15:29:00.001-05:00

The next Birthday Cake recipe I am going to share with you from this post is Blueberry Pound Cake. I originally found this recipe in the Cooking Light Magazine several years ago. I wrote down the recipe on an index card and eventually lost the magazine. I now see that this recipe was published in 1998.

My oldest son Jeremy has always been fond of this cake. He has requested it several times. He even learned to make it himself. He actually asked me to make it for his birthday last year, but I was rushed for time, so I talked him into me buying him a store-bought cake. I told him I would make it when life wasn't so busy. Time got away from me, so when I thought about it again, I could not find fresh blueberries. I never did make that cake.

Fast Forward to this year and we were out of town for his Birthday. His Birthday is in August and we finally coordinated our schedules for early November. Well, early November is not exactly the best time to find fresh blueberries! I decided to go ahead and use frozen. The frozen work really well too and this cake is light and delicious!

Blueberry Pound Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light butter

1/2 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened (sometimes I use regular cream cheese)

3 large eggs

1 large egg white

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (8-ounce) carton lemon low-fat yogurt ( I use whatever lemon yogurt I can find)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cooking spray

1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg white, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 tablespoons flour and blueberries in a small bowl, and toss well. Combine remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in blueberry mixture and vanilla; pour cake batter into a 10-inch tube pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool cake in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl; drizzle over warm cake. Cut with a serrated knife.

You can also find this recipe here.

The finished product

Sharing a Birthday Cake Recipe ~ #1

2010-12-09T19:42:00.000-05:00

I was asked if I was going to share the recipes from my recent Birthday post. I had planned on doing it, so here goes. I will do them one at a time.

I will start with The Banana Cake. This cake is usually requested at least once a year, if not more. Tim almost always asks for this one!

This recipe comes from an old cookbook from the Church I grew up in. It was submitted by a dear woman who was a wonderful cook. I am quite thankful to have this recipe.

My Mom had a recipe from her Grandmother that she thought was the absolute best, but somewhere along the way she lost it. She says this recipe comes very close.

Banana Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of shortening

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups of sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of buttermilk

1 cup of mashed bananas ( I usually do a little more, it makes it a little more moist.)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

Cream the shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly after each one. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir flour mixture in alternately with the milk and bananas. Add vanilla. Pour into two 9 inch greased layer pans or a 13x9 pan and bake 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool completely and frost with buttercream frosting.

Here is the recipe I use for Buttercream Frosting. It comes from the Domino Confectioners Sugar box.

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 (1 -lb pkg) of Confectioner's Sugar ( approx. 3 3/4 cups)

1/2 cup of butter or margarine, softened

3 to 4 Tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl with mixer on low speed. Beat on medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency. Makes enough to fill and frost a 2-layer cake, or a 13x9x2-inch sheet cake.

This Buttercream Frosting Recipe can also be found here.

I do not have any great pictures of this cake, but here is what I have.

Tim and Naomi on his Birthday with the Banana Cake

The icing was a little runny. I put the cake in the fridge and you can see after sitting out for a while, it is starting to run again!

This is a yummy, moist, cake. If you like bananas or banana bread, you will love this cake!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

Birthdays, Birthdays, And More Birthdays!

2010-12-07T12:28:00.001-05:00

I am so far behind on posting about the Birthdays around here. So, I decided to put them all together in one big post.

We could pretty much have a birthday a month around here except for, four of my boys were all born in November. Faith's actual due date was in November also.

I still have a cake for each birthday, but it is getting to be a bit much. I have usually let each child pick out their own cake from a bakery like Walmart, but the older they get, the more they want me to bake something special.

I will start with Jeremy. His birthday is in August, but we did not get to celebrate then. We were actually traveling to Virginia for my sister-in-law's funeral on his birthday. I told him we would make up for it sometime. Well, it took longer than expected because, between his schedule and mine, it was hard to coordinate. I finally said let's do this! I found an evening he did not have to work and planned to have his Birthday dinner and a cake. It just happened to be early November!

Jeremy requested Lasagna for dinner and a Blueberry Pound cake for his cake. I haven't made homemade lasagna for many years until we were visiting my Mom in September. My two oldest son's were not there, so they wanted me to make it again.

So, the day arrived and I worked on making the cake and making lasagna. I had the children help me clean up so we could celebrate that evening. Well, when Jeremy came home from work , he was feeling pretty sick, so he went straight to bed. When it was time for dinner, he came up and laid on the couch. He was shivering and he had a fever. He could not eat anything, he felt so bad. So we had Jeremy's dinner and cake without him. It was a few more days before he could eat, so we saved some cake for him. I felt so bad for him!

Jeremy's Blueberry Pound cake

Here is a picture of Jeremy from his Birthday last year. I believe this is the most recent picture I have of him.

September:

Anna's 9th Birthday

October:

Luke's 7th Birthday

Here are our November Birthdays:

Matthew's 13th Birthday

Timothy's 22nd Birthday (Banana Cake)

Sammy's 11th Birthday (Chocolate Mint Layer Cake)

Josh's 19th Birthday (Better Than Anything Cake)

We are done with all the Birthdays for the year except the most important one, Jesus!

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas Parade

2010-12-06T12:23:00.001-05:00

On Friday night Hubby and I ventured out with our five youngest children to the local Christmas Parade. We have lived here almost six years and have never been to the Parade. I actually did not even know that they had a Christmas Parade. Hubby just happen to read something about it and suggested we go.

I do not know when was the last time we have been to a parade. Back when we lived in Indiana, we used to go to the 4th of July Parade every year. Our youngest five do not remember that. Well, two of them were not even born when we lived there.

Anyway, Friday we left about six and the parade started at seven. It was only about a ten minute drive, but we were not sure how hard it would be to get a parking space. It ends up, we probably did not need to be that early.

It was an incredibly cold night for us here in Kentucky. We bundled up really well. When we first got there we were right in front of the Court House.

Anna and Micah and Luke

Matthew, Luke, and Samuel

Micah

Anna

See that tree behind Anna's head in the picture above? Well, it just so happens that this was the night that they were going to light that tree. We had no idea until about a minute before.

We heard singing and talking, but we did not pay a whole lot of attention to it. We were just trying to get a good spot for the Parade.There was a crowd gathered around back in that area. Well, the longer we were standing there I was trying to hear what they were saying. I finally realized they were getting ready to light the tree.

Samuel, Micah, and Matthew laying on the very cold ground!

The tree before being lit

The tree just after being lit

Matthew, Luke, Samuel, Micah, and Anna

Soon after the tree was lit, Hubby went walking down the street a little bit to see if it was less crowded. He came back and we decided to move.. As we were walking, we were able to get some hot chocolate. A local church was passing out free hot chocolate, and boy was it yummy!

Micah with a hot chocolate mustache!

Samuel with his Hot Chocolate

Anna with her Hot Chocolate

Here are a few pictures from the Parade. Sorry the quality of the pictures is not too great! I need to learn to use my camera better, especially at night. Most of the rest of my pictures were just too blurry.

My kids were really excited to see this one, Herbie, The Love Bug!

Herbie!

The one thing I found a bit strange was they allowed people to park along the street of the Parade Route. There is normally Street Parking, but to me it would make more sense to not allow that during the Parade. We had to go to the other side of the cars to watch the parade. The up side to parking along the street is if you get one of those spots, you can sit in your car during the parade and stay warm. Hmm, maybe next year we could do that, and whoever wants to get out can, and whoever wants to stay in the car (me) can do that!

We had a good time, and survived the cold, but it did take us a while to warm up afterwards! I am glad we went, because the children enjoyed themselves. I would generally just want to stay home and stay nice and snug in the warmth of my home, but I enjoyed the children having fun.

Remembering At Christmas 2010

2010-12-04T19:14:00.004-05:00

If you are missing someone you love this Christmas, someone of ANY age who is spending Christmas with Jesus this year, I hope you will join us on this very special Walking With You. We are sharing our Christmas memories and the ways that we remember our loved ones who have gone home to heaven at Christmas time.

You can click here to join in and link up too. There will be some giveaways too, so be sure not to miss it!

As Christmastime is coming upon us, I am finding I am missing Faith even more. I think about her being a two year old running around and wanting to pull ornaments off the tree.It would drive me crazy and I would love every minute of it!

She would love the lights and all the decorations and you could see the joy and delight in her eyes!

Well, she is not here, so I can only imagine these things. I miss her and wish I could just hold her. I think about her all the time and will always hold her in my heart. Those of you that have lost a child know exactly what I mean. It is like a piece of you is missing and always will.

I must admit, that I have found it hard to get into the spirit of the Season since losing Faith. I have always loved Christmas and all the sights and smells associated with it. I love the joy that the Children display with the different things we do at Christmastime. So, I try really hard for the kids, to participate and keep traditions alive.

It has taken most of the week, but we have our tree up with lights on and finally the ornaments.

Last night as we were putting on the ornaments, it was fun to see the kids remembering each one and showing such delight! Of course, when Faith's ornaments came out everyone wanted to be the one to hang them on the tree. She is special to them also, and we hold on to whatever we can to remember her.

I find that I am missing my Dad and my Brother Doug a lot more at Christmas too. I think Christmas was my Dad's favorite time of year. The wonderful thing was, is that he never expected anything.

In so many ways he was a simple man, and just about anything made him happy. Just having the family around made him happy. He did not need anything else! By that, I mean, that by the world's standards, he was not a rich man. God did however, supply all his needs. But, his family meant more to him than anything money could buy, and oh, how he loved his grandchildren! I believe most of us could learn to be more like that!

I remember as a kid I would go with him up to the local Fire Department and pick out a tree. We would then bring it home and get the lights on and finally we could decorate. He had his favorite twinkle lights that he put in the window of the living room. As time marched on, he and my mom bought an artificial tree, but the twinkle lights were still in the window! When he became too frail to do these things himself, others have pitched in to keep the lights burning and now a-days that is usually my niece Corrie and other helpers that she can recruit.

This is me with my new Swingy Doll. That is my Dad in the chair. He usually always wore a red sweater or vest on Christmas! That is my cousin Sandy standing nearby, who I absolutely adored!

My brother Doug also enjoyed the Christmas Season. He usually helped my parents decorate their home. He was very efficient and very helpful.

Doug also enjoyed wonderful music. He could play the piano beautifully and he also appreciated listening to great music. He would often say, Karen, you have to hear this. Of course I enjoyed it too. I love music, but what I miss most, is Doug sharing a new song with me. Now sometimes when I hear a new song, I will think, Wow, Doug would love this! ( I know I have a picture of Doug playing the piano somewhere, but I cannot find it! For the sake of time, I will leave it out. : ( )

This year, there is another who we will all miss at Christmas. My sister-in-law, Debbie passed away in August. She was another person who was just grateful for the simple things in life. She enjoyed her family, and her kids were the world to her. I know that they will feel this loss greatly, as well as my brother Rick. Please keep them in your prayers as they go through their first Christmas without her.

Christmas 1986 at my parents house. I am holding our oldest son Jeremy who was 4 months old. It is hard to believe that there were only 8 grandchildren at the time. There are now 24 grandchildren and 6 great grand children and 1 great grand child on the way!

One other person I am remembering is my grandmother, My Mom's Mom.

I have a large extended family and my Mom's side of the family all gathered at my Grandmother's house for Christmas. Just a few days ago my sister was asking little trivia questions on facebook about Christmas at Grandmother's house. She asked where did Grandmother sit when we were passing out the presents? I was the first to respond and I got it right! She always sat on the piano bench. In the picture below you can see me sitting with her on the piano bench.

We lived next door to her and she was a major part of my life growing up. She loved the Lord with all her heart and that was her biggest desire for all of the rest of us. She was known for praying for each of us, and I know that those prayers have carried our family through so much. She taught piano lessons and I took lessons for many years( but please so not ask me to play for you!) It is such a Blessing to have such a wonderful heritage!

My Grandmother, Me with Jeremy, and my Mom

There are so many other loved ones that come to mind as I write this post. I am thankful to have the memories etched in my mind and will forever hold them in my heart! So as we are remembering those that have gone on before us, let us first remember the one who died for us, Jesus!

( I wrote this post before I went back and read last years post. There are a lot of similarities, so I guess it is quite obvious who I am missing more this time of year!)

You can read my post from last year here.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

These were part of our dessert for Thanksgiving. Jeremy's girlfriend, Leigh, made them for us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:49:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! Enjoy each other and be Thankful! I pray you have a Blessed Day!

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

~ Hello There! ~

2010-11-17T14:10:00.001-05:00

I am a bit behind updating on here. Life seems to keep moving so fast and sometimes I feel like I am just holding on for dear life! With 3 kids in TBQ and 4 in JBQ, that in itself can make for a busy schedule. JBQ has their meets on the first Saturday of the month and TBQ on the second.

This year I have been working on being more involved with the kids in Bible Quiz. The JBQers have practice on Sunday Mornings and so far I have never made it to a practice. The TBQers have their practice on Sunday afternoons. I have been helping out with the TBQ practices and I am learning as I go along.

My Hubby is the coordinator for JBQ at our church as well as for our part of the State. He has had me jump right in and officiate at the 2 meets we have had so far this year. The last meet I was the Quiz Master for the very first time in my life and I hope to never do that again, at least for quite a long time. I need to learn more about the rules and how things run. I am sure that the people that had to endure will agree with me!

I have been working on some different projects around here. I have needed to get some of my school things in better order, so I have been working on that. I still have a bit to do in the department.

On Saturday, Hubby and I worked on cleaning out the garage. We accomplished quite a bit and got rid of quite a lot of stuff, but we still have a ways to go. This was for two purposes. One was because it needed it badly and the other was so we could get to our Christmas Decorations. We are wanting to get lights up outside while it is still warm. In years passed we have always waited just a week too long and it was soooo cold! This year our goal is to get it done when it is warm. And no, I do not care that it is too early! Anyway, we probably won't put up our tree until after Thanksgiving.

It is such a busy season around here, so I do not know how much I will be posting. Besides Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, we have four Birthdays to celebrate in November. Having a large family sure keeps us busy in the Birthday department.

I have a couple of more posts in the works. One is sharing pictures from Faith's Birthday and the other is on all the other Birthdays that we have celebrated recently. So watch for them!

That's all for now, I just wanted to stop by and say Hi! Hopefully I will be back soon!

Welcome to Babies Ava and Lillian!

2010-11-17T10:26:00.001-05:00

I am excited to share with you the birth of two babies!

Congratulations to Sarah and Michael on the birth of their identical twin daughters born on Monday, November 15, 2010. Ava Lynn weighed in at 5lbs 12 oz and was 19 inches long and Lillian Renee weighed in at 5lbs 07oz and was 20 inches long. They are also welcomed by their big brother Malakai and a large extended family. I hear that Mother and Babies are doing well!

Congratulations Sarah and Michael and Malakai! Ava and Lillian are just Beautiful!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-03T13:02:00.000-04:00

Just Another Visitor at Our Front Door!

Light Of the World

2010-10-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

The following is one of my favorite Worship Songs! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

Look Who's Driving!

Pregnancy Prayer List Update ~ Welcome Baby Hannah

2010-10-27T09:52:00.001-04:00

Congratulations are in order for Jamie, on the birth of her new baby girl! Little Hannah Joy was born on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and is 20 inches long. Stop by Jamie's Blog and see the beautiful pictures of Baby Hannah and tell her congratulations!

Congratulations Jamie and Family! She is a beautiful baby!

Delicious Pumpkin Bread

2010-10-21T11:15:00.002-04:00

For some reason, I have been wanting to bake a lot, more recently. My family has enjoyed it, but it sure isn't good for the diet!

One of my most recent endeavors was Delicious Pumpkin Bread. I love just about anything pumpkin, so this looked yummy! I was very pleased on how it turned out. It was quite moist and tasty! Since Hubby and a few of the kids do not like pumpkin, I was able to enjoy this treat for several days! I did make some Banana Bread several days later just for Hubby, but it was gone quite quickly!

If you like Pumpkin, then you will probably enjoy this Delicious Pumpkin Bread. You can find the recipe here.

Delicious Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1-1/4 cups canola oil

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 packages (3 ounces each) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture.

Pour batter into five greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 5 mini loaves (8 slices each) . Bread may also be baked in two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans for 75-80 minutes. (I did the two 8-in x 4-in. x2-in. loaf pans)

Fresh out of the oven and still in the pan.

Large slices that are so much cheaper than Starbucks and a lot more yummier!

I Definitely give it 2 thumbs up!

A Visit With Faith ~ Updated

2010-10-20T15:19:00.004-04:00

The past several days,I have been reliving the day that Faith was born, and the days that followed. It might be because this past Friday was Pregnancy and Infant Lost Remembrance Day, or maybe because on the 28th of this month, it will be Faith's 2nd Heavenly Birthday.

Probably Both!

For those of you who do not understand, Yes, she was born. I carried her for over 37 weeks and I saw her heart beating on the ultrasound numerous times. I felt her moving inside of me. She was full of life! She was just born still. I had to go through labor and delivery just like for any other baby.

I would have to imagine that losing a child would have to be the hardest thing anyone would have to face. I know that it has been for me. The next hardest thing in my life was when my son Tim was diagnosed at the age of 4 with Leukemia.

Tim spent 2 1/2 years going through chemotherapy. Yes, those days were quite difficult! The truth be told, the statistics were that he had a good chance of survival, but no guarantees. We became familiar with other children at the clinic and then we would not see them anymore. We would learn that they passed away. It was very stressful and difficult. At the same time I believe God was holding us in the Palm of His Hand. He gave me a Peace in my Heart that I knew could only come from Him! Praise God, Tim is almost 22 years old and married Naomi this past January! * Updated : My hubby reminded me that Tim had T-Cell ALL and the survival rate was about 50% at that time. If it was the more common form of ALL,( I do not remember what it was called) the survival rate was about 60-70%? I do not know if those percentages have changed since 1993. They probably have but I am not up to date on any of that information at this time. I am not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this. I guess since so many years have gone by my memory is not what it used to be. The Point is, Tim is healed and doing Well! Praise God! *

I have mentioned before that Faith is buried in Virginia, where I am originally from. My Mom still lives in the same house I grew up in and my siblings live anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours away. Sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision to have her buried there, but overall I am content with that choice. She is buried at the foot of my Father's grave which I am so grateful for. The hard part is that I usually only get to visit about once a year.

In September when we visited my Mom and the rest of my family, we were finally able to go visit Faith's grave. This was Mike's first time to actually see her stone in person. He was not able to go with me last year when we went, so all he saw were pictures.

We all loaded up in the van and went over for a visit. My Mom rode along with us as well. Mike and the kids had all gotten out of the van as soon as we got there. I took a little longer as I was talking to my Mom. When I finally got out and made it over to Faith's grave, I saw something so very sweet. Anna was cleaning off dirt and grass from the stone. She was doing this all on her own, without anyone saying anything about it! It brought tears tears to my eyes. She was taking care of her baby sister the only way she could!

Anna was overjoyed when she found out that Faith was a girl. She was so excited to finally have a little sister! She had big plans for this baby sister! When she found out that Faith had died, she cried for probably an hour straight. Each of the children have dealt with the loss in their own way, but I would have to say that I see how deeply it has affected her.

This first picture is right after Faith's Memorial Service. I found Anna just sitting and crying. I had to go over and hold her! It still brings tears to my eyes every time I see this picture.

The rest of the pictures are when we visited Faith's Grave in September.

Anna Cleaning Off Faith's Stone

Micah joins in to help Anna clean the Stone

Anna sitting and lingering over Faith's Stone

I hate that my children have had to experience the pain of losing their baby sister, but it is so wonderful to see their love for her. She was so wanted and loved by us all!

Remembering ~ Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

2010-10-15T12:48:00.000-04:00

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. We are Remembering all the babies that were lost way too soon from Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Infant Loss.

I am remembering my sweet babies that are now Safe In The Arms Of Jesus!

My Two Babies lost due to Miscarriage in 1985 and 1992

And

Faith Evangeline ~ Born Sleeping on October 28, 2008.

I also am remembering so many other Babies that went to Heaven Way Too Soon! Sending Hugs to each of you that have experienced a loss or losses!

Vacation 2010 ~ Part 2

2010-10-14T11:11:00.005-04:00

OK, I know that I have been a very bad blogger recently! Sorry about that! Since returning from our vacation, I have been busy getting back into the swing of real life! I am working on getting my priorities straight on being a wife, mom, and teacher. My family means the world to me and I want to keep them my priority right after God.

This post has been in the making for about 2 weeks. It has been a bear to edit! Some days Blogger would not cooperate at all, and some days I just can't figure it out! There is one picture that is not centered and for the life of me I cannot make that happen! This will be the last post that has so many pictures.
(Update: My Dear Hubby who is a genius with computers, got all the pictures centered for me!)

After our week in Myrtle Beach, we went to Virginia to see my Mom and the rest of my extended family. We usually only get there once a year, so I like to get in all the time I can just visiting with my family.

One day we took a trip into Washington DC. Most of us rode the metro (subway), but my brother drove my Mom because she needs to use a wheelchair, so it was just easier.

My niece Corrie, (who just happens to be the sweetest person in the entire world!) is loved by everyone but especially by all of her cousins. My kids look forward to seeing her! She is a lot of fun and she tries to do things with us whenever she can!

I was 14 years old when Corrie was born, so she is more like the little sister that my parents would never give me! It was her Mom that just died in August. It was less than a month later that we were visiting, and she was trying to keep up entertained! She is so thoughtful and gives of herself, more than anyone could ever know!

Anyway, Corrie planned out this day trip to DC. She is a great tour guide and knows how to get places!

Here is eight of my kids with Mike and my niece Corrie waiting for the train.

Sammy still waiting!

And then there is Josh texting while waiting!

Matthew, Rebekah, and Luke still waiting!

Anna and Micah with Corrie

Micah found a feather and wanted me to take his picture with it!

The train is finally coming!

All Aboard!

Micah and Matthew on the train.

Sammy with Corrie and Victoria behind them.

Looking at the map after we arrive!

Our family with the Capitol Building in the background.

We turned around the other direction and now the Washington Monument is in the background.

A Stop at the National Museum of American History

My family entering the building.

They had a wonderful exhibit of the Star Spangled Banner. This was the outside of the exhibit. We were not allowed to take pictures inside this particular exhibit.

They had a section that had things from Popular Entertainment. I believe the kids enjoyed this part the most. Here are a couple of pictures from that area.

Kermit the Frog

Fonzie's Jacket and Minnie Pearl's Hat

After we were done with the American History Musuem, we had a Picnic out on the Mall. We had a lttle visitor that just wouldn't go away!

One crazy squirrel!

He was not afraid of us at all, but we were a little wary of him!

Here is part of our group eating lunch.

Standing at the base of the Washington Monument looking up!

The Washington Monument

Anna and Rebekah standing by the Washington Monument.

Sammy

Corrie and Micah. My Mom's oldest and youngest grandchildren out of 23

Another view of the Washington Monument.

Anna with Corrie

Micah and Luke with my Mom.

World War II Memorial

Another view of the World War II Memorial.

Looking toward the World War II Memorial, The Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial.

As we were walking, I zoomed in so that I could get a picture of the White House

We had a great day in Washington DC. We did a lot of walking. Next time I hope to take the kids to the Air and Space Museum. I believe that they would really enjoy that!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-13T11:33:00.003-04:00

Pregnancy Prayer List Update ~ Congratulations Traci!

2010-10-11T10:28:00.002-04:00

Another Sweet Baby has been born! Traci from Just The Ten Of Us , gave birth to a little girl on Friday. Traci had a bit of a difficult pregnancy and this little girl was born at 32 weeks 5 days . Praise God she is doing well and breathing room air. She is in the NICU though, so please pray that she will continue to do well and go home as soon as possible! Go over and visit Traci and show her some love! Traci, we can't wait to know her name and see pictures of your sweet baby girl!

Congratulations to Traci and Kenny and family!

Vacation 2010 ~ Part 1

2010-09-28T18:30:00.002-04:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this post up. I actually started this post over a week ago, but as you can see, it has taken me a long time to get it finished. After returning home from vacation, it has been hard getting back into the swing of real life! Everyone has finally started school. Some actually started before vacation, but not everyone. Hopefully I can get used to this again very quickly!

Our vacation was wonderful! The first week we went to Myrtle Beach. My sister Debbie invited us to go along with her and part of her family. She has a time share that she shared with us, and it was amazing. We stayed in a 4 bedroom, 4 1/2 bath townhouse complete with a full kitchen and a nice size dining table. We also had access to 3 televisions hooked up to cable TV. That was a real treat for the kids, but I am so glad that we do not have cable TV at home! There is not a whole lot that I want to watch or want my kids to see, so it is a lot of money for a whole lot of channels that never get watched!

We had access to a very nice pool and a lazy river. You will see several pictures here of the lazy river as we enjoyed that quite a bit. We were about a mile away from the Beach, so we had to drive to get there. I absolutely love the beach and could spend all day there. It is so peaceful and relaxing to me. Unfortunately most of the rest of my family were not that in love with the Beach.

My hubby is not big on the Beach and my kids have not been there very much, so they are just not in to it! Most of Debbie's family is not either, so I think someday Debbie and I will just have to go without the rest!

Most of the time we were in Myrtle Beach, the weather was picture perfect! Hurricane Earl was churning out in the Atlantic that week, so we were keeping a close eye on it. Fortunately it missed us and we did not have to evacuate! We had one day that it was overcast and the waves were a bit rough. All the other days the sky was a beautiful blue!

These first six pictures are of our first evening at the beach. We just went and walked on the beach and the kids collected shells. For some of the children, they were so young when we went to the beach last, that they do not remember it at all. Needless to say, they enjoyed it so much, especially Micah, who had a big smile on his face most of the time!

Anna collecting shells.

Luke and Rebekah

Rebekah

Micah walking along the Beach

Anna walking on the Beach

The Kiddie Pool at the Lazy River

Luke and Sammy and some of our gang at the Lazy River

The Lazy River at night

Micah having a Good Time!

See that smile!

Luke

Micah again!

Luke and Sammy at the Hot Tub

Matthew

Luke playing in the sand

The castle built by Luke and Tori

Luke and Tori enjoying time together!

Josh spent his day at the Beach reading a book sitting under an umbrella!

Jon and Rachel and Baby Bethany!

Luke loved playing in the sand!

Anna playing in the sand

Luke again

A little friend that followed us around for a while!

And of course Faith in the sand!

We had a great time and it was so good to get away! Thanks again to Debbie for taking us along with her. We appreciate it so much! I will be back to share about our second week of vacation soon!

He Has Become My Salvation

2010-09-26T08:41:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

Isaiah 12:2

Pregnancy Prayer List Update ~ Welcome Baby Lainey

2010-09-23T10:05:00.003-04:00

I am excited to share with you another sweet baby that has been born. Congratulations to Holly on the birth of her Rainbow Baby. Lainey was born September 22, 2010 at 2:48 p.m. weighing 7lbs 4oz. I am so thrilled for Holly and her husband. They have been through so much, and Holly has reached out to so many baby loss moms. What a true Blessing! Stop by and tell them congratulations!

Please remember to pray for the other ladies on the list, and if you are expecting and would like to be added, please leave me a comment or email me!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T09:27:00.000-04:00

Let's Play Catch Up!

2010-09-13T14:13:00.000-04:00

Wow! I have missed a lot of time on here and I have a lot to catch you up on! We have been away for 2 weeks and just returned home yesterday.

After returning from Virginia from my sister in law's funeral, I spent the next several days preparing for our vacation. We left on August 28th for Myrtle Beach. My sister has time shares and she invited us to go along with her. We were able to spend a week down there. I love the Beach and it was wonderful for me to get there.

After we left Myrtle Beach, we traveled to Virginia to visit my Mom and the rest of my extended family. We usually only get there about once a year, so it was wonderful to see everyone! We made a trip into Washington DC one day and we were able to go visit Faith's grave.

I will do more posts to show some pictures of our trip. I am trying to get things in order here at home, so I am trying not to spend too much time here. Today the kids are doing schoolwork, but a little more casual than usual. We are trying to recuperate from our trip, but tomorrow we must dive right in and get busy.

Before we left, Jeremy found these eggs in the turtle habitat. The turtles will often bury themselves way down and it can be hard to find them. He was digging around trying to make sure they were all OK when he found the eggs.

There is a total of 4 eggs!

When we arrived home yesterday we found this little guy.

Isn't he or she cute?

We have not seen any other baby turtles, so we do not know if they have hatched or something has happened to them. We are hoping there are more out there somewhere.

I have to go and get busy getting something done around here. I will post more about our vacation real soon!

Pregnancy Prayer List Update ~ Welcome Baby Joshua!

2010-09-08T21:57:00.002-04:00

I am happy to share with you another baby that was born to one of the mom's from the Pregnancy Prayer List. Audrey gave birth to her new baby boy, Joshua, on September 2, 2010, at 11:17 P.M. Joshua weighed 7lbs.1oz. and was 20 inches long. Audrey went through quite a lot with this pregnancy and as well as with many of her previous pregnancies. Praise God that Joshua is here safe and healthy! You can go here to visit Audrey to learn more about her story and say congratulations!

Congratulations Audrey and Family! God is so Good!

Please remember to keep the rest of the ladies from the Pregnancy Prayer List in your prayers. There are still a few more that are due really soon! Also, if you are expecting and would like to be added to the list, I would love to add you! Just leave me a message or send me an email.

Hello There!

2010-09-01T11:09:00.000-04:00

I wanted to let you know that I am still alive. Life has been a bit crazy and to be honest I just didn't feel like I could take the time to blog. The next couple of weeks are going to be busy too, so you might not hear much from me then either. I do read all comments and my email, so feel free to contact me.

Thank You to each of you that prayed for my brother and his family. Prayers were definitely felt, but are still greatly needed. I was able to travel to Virginia for my sister-in-law's funeral. Tim and Naomi and Jeremy and Leigh also went. Mike stayed home with the 8 youngest so that they could be in the Musical at our church. I left on a Thursday Morning and came back on Saturday. It was a very quick trip, but it was so good to be able to be with family.

Debbie was such a sweet, caring, kind and loving person. Her presence will be greatly missed! My brother and his children are feeling that loss tremendously. Their youngest daughter is 16 and she was very close with her mom. My thoughts and prayers are with each of them. I have known Debbie since I was about 9. I had just turned 12 when Rick and Debbie got married. They use to drag me with them all over the place. They usually took me on vacation with them too! It is so difficult to say goodbye, but I look forward to the time that I get to see her again! Heaven will be so Sweet!

The one added bonus of traveling to Virginia was meeting my new great-niece Bethany Joy! Remember this post? Jon and Rachel also came up for the funeral so I was able to get my hands on her! She is the sweetest baby. She doesn't cry very much except when she is hungry. I couldn't get enough of her!

Me and Bethany. Isn't she sweet?

Please remember the ladies on the Pregnancy Prayer List. There are many who are approaching their due dates. Let's pray for quick, easy, and healthy deliveries! Also if you are pregnant and would like to be added to the list, please leave a comment or send me an email. I would love to add you!

I have our school stuff to get ready, organized and started, as well as a few other things, so I will update when I can!

Just A Quick Update

2010-08-16T12:39:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't been on here much recently. Life seems like a whilrlwind right now, and I sort of feel like I am just holding on for dear life.

I have 8 kids participating in the musical at our church. This year they made it into two musicals and divided it into younger kids and older kids. I have four in each group. That has made for a very busy schedule! Last week I had to have kids to the Church by 6 pm each night. It made it quite interesting to have dinner each night. Performances started on Friday night. The younger kids performed on Friday and the older kids performed on Saturday.

We had a busy Sunday but we had a break from the musical. This week we have Monday and Tuesday off, which I am taking advantage on getting things caught up around here. The Laundry is about to overtake us! I am also trying to get things organized for school. I was hoping to get started this week with school, but we are just not ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had asked for prayer for my Sister in law Debbie recently. Saturday night God called her Home. Could you please keep my brother Rick in your prayers? He and his four children need God's comfort right now. I am so torn because they are in Virginia and I am in Kentucky. I am trying to figure out how to get there for a couple of days for her Funeral. My family means the world to me! I hate not being there with them right now. Debbie is going to be so missed. She had such a sweet spirit and loving heart.

I probably will not be on here much this week either so I can get some things accomplished. I also might be traveling and we have more musical rehearsals and performances this week as well. I hope to be back just as soon as I can!

Let Us Fix Our Eyes On Jesus!

2010-08-08T09:53:00.000-04:00

Picture Credit

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

For Real?

2010-08-06T13:35:00.002-04:00

If you are a bit squeamish, then this post might not be for you.

Besides my garden , I have a large pot that I usually grow tomatoes in, by my back door. I bought a lovely tomato plant this year, but with all the other flowers that I delayed planting, it started looking kind of scraggly. After I finally planted it, within a few days it started perking up quite a bit. Things were looking up and I thought that I would get some good tomatoes!

Earlier this week I noticed that some of the little tomatoes were getting eaten up. I thought that maybe there was some kind of little bug was eating them. I picked the bad ones hoping that would make things better. A few days ago I noticed that the tops of the plant were being eaten off. Oh Joy! I figured that some large animal was snacking on my tomato plant. We do have a lot of wild life around here!

Let me break here and ask really nicely that you do not laugh too hard at my expense! I try to garden, but really I have no idea what I am doing!

Anyway, about 2 days ago Matthew asked me if I saw the caterpillar that was on my tomato plant. I said no, but at the time I was busy and did not pay a whole lot of attention to him. Then yesterday he said the caterpillar was still there and asked me if I ever saw it. A little later I went out and found this creature.

See the horn!

Actually, there were three of them!

Isn't this one interesting?

I had to get on the Internet and research what these things were. So I typed in caterpillar and tomato plant and I immediately found out what it was! It is called a Tomato Hornworm. Interesting! Then I found pictures that looked so much like mine. What are those white things on that one? After reading further I found this info here.

Because the hornworm is so large (about the size of a pinkie finger), the easiest way to get rid of him is to simply remove him from the plant and dispose of him. You may be lucky enough to attract parasitic wasps to your garden who will do the job for you. Parasitic wasps won't hurt you.

A natural predator of the tomato hornworm is a tiny beneficial insect called the braconid wasp. This wasp lays its eggs inside the hornworm. As they hatch, they eat their way out, killing the hornworm in the process. It's a bit off-putting to see this creature on your plants, but you're better off letting him be and letting the wasps do their job. Once they hatch, they'll be enough braconid wasps to keep your garden hornworm free.

OK, so I didn't follow instructions very well. First I waited for hubby to get home so he could see them for himself! He didn't seem too impressed. Then I asked him if he could remove them and squash them. After ~~much begging~~ some sweet talk, he did the squashing! I did not watch, but I heard that they squirted a whole bunch when squashed! Thought you really wanted to know that!

This has been a ~~fun~~ interesting Summer in the creature department around here!

Safe In His Arms

2010-08-05T14:24:00.000-04:00

My heart is a bit heavy right now. I shared with you in this post about my sister in law. She is now at home and Hospice has been called in. She is very weak and spends most of the time in bed.

I hate being so far away from my extended family. I hate not being there and helping in any way that I can. This really STINKS! I am so torn because I have 8 children that are participating in the musicals at our church which will take place the next two weekends. I cannot just pack up and go! What would they do if 8 of the cast members just pick up and leave town?

The song "Safe in His Arms" has been a great comfort to me. Wow! The hands that hold the World are holding my heart! He will be with us always! When Everything is falling apart, we will be safe in His Arms! I don't know about you, but this brings me tremendous comfort. I like being Safe In His Arms! I like to imagine His Arms Wrapped around me, holding me tight! There really is no better place.

TO THE ONE WHOSE DREAMS ARE FALLING ALL APART
AND ALL YOU’RE LEFT WITH IS A TIRED AND BROKEN HEART
I CAN TELL BY YOUR EYES YOU THINK YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN
BUT YOU’RE NOT ALONE

HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE ONE WHO CAN CALM THE RAGING SEA
GIVE SIGHT TO THE BLIND, PULL THE LAME UP TO THEIR FEET
WITH A LOVE SO STRONG AND NEVER LET YOU GO
NO YOU’RE NOT ALONE

YOU WILL BE SAFE IN HIS ARMS, YOU WILL BE SAFE IN HIS ARMS
‘CAUSE THE HANDS THAT HOLD THE WORLD ARE HOLDING YOUR HEART
THIS IS THE PROMISE HE MADE, HE WILL BE WITH YOU ALWAYS
WHEN EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART YOU WILL BE SAFE IN HIS ARMS

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE VOICE THAT BRINGS THE DEAD TO LIFE
IS THE VERY SAME VOICE THAT CALLS YOU NOW TO RISE
SO HEAR HIM NOW HE’S CALLING YOU HOME
YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE

THESE ARE THE HANDS THAT BUILT THE MOUNTAINS
THE HANDS THAT CALM THE SEA
THESE ARE THE ARMS THAT HOLD THE HEAVENS
THEY ARE HOLDING YOU AND ME

THESE ARE THE HANDS THAT HEALED THE LEPER
PULLED THE LAME UP TO THEIR FEET
THESE ARE THE ARMS THAT WERE NAILED TO A CROSS
TO BREAK OUR CHAINS AND SET US FREE

SAFE IN HIS ARMS, SAFE IN HIS ARMS
SAFE IN HIS ARMS
WHEN EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART
YOU WILL BE SAFE IN HIS ARMS

Would you please remember Debbie in your prayers and also her husband (my brother) Rick, as well as their four children. They all really could use a touch from God right now. Please pray that God's presence will be felt in their lives and that He will heal, comfort, and bring Peace! I pray that the words of this song will minister to them as well!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-04T11:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, this creature is real and alive! We found it on our front porch!