HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

Today we baked a cake for Daddy's birthday!! WOOHOO! OK.... It's not from scratch - big deal! :) We can make a cake from scratch but... my boxed mixes needed to be used!
They both cracked an egg for the cake - this was a BIG job!
Then we had to wait....
So why not eat some batter while we wait! :)
They really found their rhythm to batter eating!
They were pleased with the cake before....
Now it's time to make Daddy's B-day cards!
Ta-dah!
What artists?!
Then it was off to HC and Daddy's favorite restaurant.... WINGS!
There was a cool clown who made HC this butterfly and....
she made JB this blue dog. Hey... wait a minute! I thought it was DADDY'S special day! Oh well!
Daddy felt the love when it was time for cake!
It wasn't the prettiest cake but... it sure was good!

Happy Birthday DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Celebrity Look-alikes

I followed Just Mom as she copied Momma Roar as she copied and on and on it goes.... I think it is fun to see what celebrity I 'look' like. Out of all the celebs I've been told I 'look' like .... NONE of these have ever been mentioned. I don't see it clearly myself but... this was fun.


Let me know if you try this too - so fun!

Our Surprise in the Mail

Thursday afternoon we had a 'surprise' arrive in the mail. A surprise to the kids and... well to Steve too but I was expecting this package. We received our ants in the mail. ;) Steve asked me where I found the ants and I told him they came via US Postage! He was surprised at that news. The kids and I were preparing the ant hill for the ants when I realized the ant hill called for 'spring' water and I had bottled water but it did not say spring water anywhere on the bottle. Who knew ants were so particular regarding water (since they usually receive their H2O via the clouds above)... so we waited for Daddy to bring home bottled water for us Friday evening (he was on a mini-business trip Thurs and I forgot when we were out Friday). So Saturday morning Daddy got ant duty! He helped HC and JB put the ants into their new home. The instructions tell you to put the ants in the fridge for about 10 minutes before you put them in the ant hill. This keeps them from biting you when you dump them in the ant hill. They are harvester ants.
They hardly moved when we dropped them in and I was concerned that they died. They finally began moving about.
They were so excited to watch the ants.
And today I noticed 2 of their mini-trails. This started off with one straight line. Sad thing is I just noticed them making a mini-mound on the other side of this contraption and very little activity on this side. The whole point is for the kids to see what the ants do underground. If they are stealing the sand to hide out on the other side then we may be out of luck on this lesson. Oh well - it was only $4 for 25 ants. Not a bad loss - the kit came with our curriculum. We can do this again if it is a total bust. :) For now we will hope the ants will quit building their secluded mound and return to the side that lets us see them at work!

Seems we lucked out with the smarty ants! :)

Sewing Again

Click this link if you want to see the flower girl dress I made! It is beautiful!

Pumpkin Day!!

HC and JB have been counting down until Pumpkin Day!! That would be the day we go to the Pumpkin Patch with our Homeschool Group. Here were my 2 playing with a friend after our picnic lunch. We took a group photo with Mr. Baker - he was celebrating his 100th birthday! Please ignore the boy child lying on the ground in full blown tantrum mode. :) I don't know whose child that is!
Hay ride to the pumpkin patch
JB found a pumpkin - we seem to always hit the pumpkin patch when the pumpkins are picked over. Next year we will have to make a trip with the pumpkins are in abundance. We've yet to see what that would look like. But my two were content - they had a pumpkin! That's all that mattered.
HC found hers - boy was it heavy!
Posing!
They made it back to the hay ride safely - and proud of their finds!
Then there was the hay bail slide!! WOOHOO!!
Ready.... SET..... GOOOOOOOOOO....
WHEEEEE...........
A little farm animal lesson..
She took great care of us - and the cotton field lesson was GREAT too!
Here's a pic of MY precious son - I don't know who that other boy in the group shot was! :)
A quick walk through the corn fields and we are OUTTA here!!!

Until next Pumpkin day - with hopes to see what a full pumpkin patch looks like next year!

HE's AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I picked up a partially used journal I used as a notebook for church. I've been in several places where I knew I would want to take notes lately and so I pulled it out again. As I flipped through I saw the date of April 30, 2004, not a significant date to me until I started reading the notes I took on that very day. In April of 2004 we had an almost one year old little girl in our world. No clue that life was due to change for us so drastically. No clue whatsoever... but God knew!

Not only did He know - looking back at the plethora of notes from staff meetings, Bible studies and church in general... the mandate was clear - God wants to be our only source, God is the fullness of all security, do not be moved by fear, live by truth, absolute surrender, let's go to the other side, we grow in the valley, God took them through a transition time that seemed downward to man, this was no surprise to God! WOW! That is a glimpse of messages I heard in about two months time - a time when (as I look back now) was perfection to me then and now. I was happy thrilled with my church and my job (which was at my church) and I ADORED being a Mother and Steve and I were dreaming of our own business - to fulfill a burning desire within.

In 2004, we were convinced that HPC was our church for life - we had found our home. We were thriving and being fed and did I mention how happy we were? Ahem... Then in February 2005 we gladly welcomed our precious son home (after opening our restaurant in January) and felt like life was really becoming settled for us. Life was good. Two wonderful kids and a busy life that felt perfect to us.

Then August 2005 Hurricane Katrina blew through our world and turned New Orleans and Baton Rouge upside down. Our newly opened business was hanging on but had been slow due to the normal ebb and flow of restaurant life - summers = slower business. August was the beginning of the end of that slowness. Hurricane Katrina had different plans. Although we had faithful customers and friends ... we soon saw life was really starting to look glum for us. We both felt an urge to go. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before or since. A burning knowing that it was time to go but in the natural 'WHAT are you thinking?' was the name of that tune. We tried to find a local solution but kept feeling PUSHED out of BR. It is the strangest thing - to some/most it may sound crazy (and believe me it FELT crazy) but there is NO doubt in my mind that we were hearing anything BUT the voice of God.

The last three years have been a whirlwind of sorts. I have gone from numb to an utter mess and still feel unclear as to what is next. I (like most I would guess) do not like the uncertainty of the unknown and so I ache for the absolutes of life. Things like where will we live long-term, will we stay where we are now, I want my kids to grow up in one area.... many other things like that which cries out to my soul like air. I ache for certainty! I ache to find MY place in this new place! I ache to know what in the world God is up to in our lives! Since we've moved I have felt so unlike myself. We do not have the home we want, we haven't found our fit in key areas of our lives, I feel like it is all temporary, then I feel strong, then I feel like if just the right (or wrong depending on the moment) word is said.... I can become a ball of emotions - a fountain of tears that wails from within. Grief I guess. Grief of what was, what is not, and what will really be. Transition! Transition stinks! :) Really - it does!

I don't know the answers but looking back at that journal (and God has brought me back to just the right journal at just the right time when I've been desperate to hear from Him) has shown me a mini-glimpse of how carefully and purposefully God was preparing us before we moved- even though I had to go through many ups and downs within the last 3 years to fully grasp the truths of it all - He began pecking away at my heart in these areas WAY before I thought we would ever move. What an awesome God He is!

I just thought that I needed to praise Him for Who He IS and He is loving, kind, gentle, long-suffering (because I have definitely been thick headed in grasping some truths), empathetic (I have cried more in the last 3 years than I can remember), TRUE, dependable, honest, soothing (to my very SOUL - the most deepest darkest places of pain)! He is STRONG! MIGHTY! POWERFUL!! ALL KNOWING!! VICTORIOUS! HE IS ALL and ALL!!! I can't believe the details He cares to dive into - just to let me know He is there and has ALWAYS been. To hold me as I cry and or ache for the easier road. To send an encouraging word just when I don't think I have another step within! He is beyond AMAZING!

Although the last 3 years sounds pretty horrible (if you base your opinion on what is shared in this post).. it has been THE BEST THREE YEARS OF MY LIFE!!! I have walked WITH God in places and spaces and moments that are way TOO precious to me. God has shown up mightily and powerfully way more than I can share here. He has been hand in hand on this journey with us and man is that amazing. We have grown together as a couple (Steve and I) as a family and as believers. Guess what - if you take a leap of faith and follow that crazy voice of God whispering in your ear (be sure it is God and not bad pizza by the way).... HE CATCHES YOU AND YOU ARE IN FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!! My God IS amazing!

Goodbye to 'Lellow' my dear friend

JB just said 'yellow'! How sad is that!? He's been saying yes and such with no problem... so we knew 'lellow' would leave us one day but not today! Not now!! :( He's not a baby anymore already - I know but the little things like 'lellow' made him still seem like my baby!

I knew this day was coming but it really did make me a little sad to think he's grown so much already! My baby boy is not a baby but is forever my baby!

('Sink' has been replaced with 'think' too!)

A Tuesday We Will Remember!

A look back at my Election Day. Tuesday began with my getting ready to take JB to his music class. I hoped to vote before the class so I tried to hustle in my morning routine. I was making good progress when my little man walked into the bathroom with his mouth tightly closed and with a slight grin... as if to say 'wook at me'.... I thought he had a mouthful of water and blew my hairdryer towards him to get him to laugh. No laughing and he walked away. He kept showing HC his peculiarly shut mouth and I became curious. I said "JB... show me what's in your mouth." He opened up and I saw coinS. I had him spit them out and he had at least 10 coins in his mouth.
My first instinct... "EWWWWWW..... the germs alone could be deadly!" Then my mommy brain kicked in and I fussed profusely explaining how he could die if he swallowed these coins. His heart was broken and he cried profusely. I felt badly and consoled him. Telling him how dangerous this was and to NEVER do this again. He agreed ... went to brush his teeth and then came back to report that his 'bewully hurt' (belly hurt). I asked him why and he said "Because I ate the money." I said "You are ok. You didn't eat the money... you just swallowed the yucky juice." (I had to use language he would understand - EWWWW!) He said "No mommy I eat the money.. I eat 10 moneys." I quizzed him like an interrogation lawyer and he finally confessed to eating 4 pennies. He said "I sorry Mommy. I no want to die!" I told him he would be fine but to NEVER do that again - it is VERY dangerous.

I called the pediatrician and they said as long as he eats, drinks and swallows without trouble... all is well and the coins will find their natural exit. :) We left and headed off to hopefully vote early!

No such luck. Time was too short - we went to JB's music class and returned to vote to find an eternal line. (Oh... when we got into the van HC asked where we were going and I said we were going to vote for the President. She said "OH YAY! Now we can listen to music again and not the news!! Right Mommy?" Sad fact is my kids were tormented with my news addiction during the last 6 months!) Timing was not mine Tuesday! We waited to vote and my kids were STELLAR in their behavior! I was so proud of them! When it was our turn to vote HC asked "Where's the President Mommy? How will we vote for him?" I explained he wasn't there but we were voting for him. :) After our 1.5 hour wait we had lunch and got ice cream! We returned home to see the votes unfold and the rest is history! It was a busy day of ups and downs! Glad Tuesday is over! Whew!

Voting Rocks!

People in front of us (not counting the 100's within the building ahead of us - literally) People behind us.... thank God we were ahead of all of them (although we stood in line when it was THAT long)..
How do you get two kids to behave in a voting line for 1.5 hours while you wait to vote? Promise them ice cream of course!! Mommy said "If you do NOT complain and do NOT argue and if you ARE great listeners.... then..... ICE CREAM!" They really impressed me, we were in line from 10:24 and finally cast our vote at 12:04pm..! That is when we officially walked out of the door - I was THRILLED we made it without a meltdown or without needing a bathroom break! :) I have tried to bribe them before in key situations where I NEEDED their cooperation before and this has not worked! Thanks be to GOD alone that this time the bribe worked! See the reward of voting (this was after making a bee line to have lunch first, of course)! Clearly voting has it's privileges!
YUMMY YUMMY
TO MY TUMMY!!

HAPPY VOTING EVERYONE!