April 2009 Photos

Okay. So it's nearly the end of May and I'm just getting my April photo's posted. What can I say? We've been busy and having lots of fun!

April started out with Spring Break and we were able to have a sleepover with the cousins, go to Great Wolf Lodge for two amazing nights and then come home and decorate Easter eggs for Easter. I was in Kansas the middle part of April so no family photo's were taken.

At the end of the month, Madison was able to attend her first "Justice" party and had a fabulous time! All the girls got to have their hair & make-up done and then wrapped up the time with charades & dancing. A bunch of girls having fun being girls...Fun times!

Farm Chicks and Country Living

Mother's Day is just around the corner...so I've dropped several hints and even offered to pick up an item that's on my wish list for my hubbie. My husband's a busy guy and has a tendacy to wait until the last minute to go out and get the perfect gift. I figured, I'm at the store and I see what I've been wanting. I'll just send him a text message and see if he'd like for me to pick up that certain item that he and the girls can wrap up for me...as a surprise for me. I'm trying to be a helper! Anywho! I didn't pick it up. It's still at the store waiting to come home to me.


Curious to know what it is? "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen: Live Well, Laugh Often, Cook Much" Book is first on my list for Mother's Day this year! Check out their website here (http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com/farmchicks/our-cookbook/). They even have some recipes you can try. The book is available at Costco for $17.49 and it even includes a free subscription to Country Living(http://www.countryliving.com/). What a deal! One of the ladies is even from our beautiful state.


There are multiple recipes included in the book as well as some other creative ideas to country-fy our homes with craft projects and decorations. I think I need an adorable new apron to go with it too! Not really but I did a quick search for vintage aprons and aren't these cute! Check out http://www.jessiesteele.com/catalog.php and http://www.couturedreams.com/ if you're in need of a cute new apron. I've got a few that I wear when I'm cooking in the kitchen but not as cute as these. I need to get some new ones for my girls too. We used to have apron's for them when they were much younger but they've outgrown them.


Lately I've been trying more recipes to bless my family at dinner, etc. It's important to make our house a home. My husband is always jabbing me when I come home with a new candle. I always ask him if he likes it and his comment is always "Smells like home". In the beginning I was usually bothered by that. I wanted to hear something like, "Wow! That's really nice." or "I really like that one". But now, I've come to appreciate that comment. I want our home to be filled with comfort, joy, laughter, love and have a sweet aroma.


When I was in Kansas, my blog music wasn't playing in the background. My oldest, Katelynn, made a comment about how something was different to Jack and then she realized that she missed hearing my blog music. I want my children to look back when they are adults and have fond memories of home. The smell of a candle, fresh baked cookies or muffins, etc. etc.

Ladies, take some time to create memories and bless your family today. They'll appreciate it (even if they don't mention it) and you'll feel good about it in the process. Those mundane job's that we do each day, they are a blessing to our families! The toilet doesn't clean itself and the laundry doesn't fold itself.

We all need to be a Proverbs 31 Woman. Proverbs 31:15 ~ "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." Proverbs 31:17 ~
"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." Personnally, I don't get up when it's dark but rather I stay up when it's dark to do some of my tasks. That just works best for me. So, turn on some music, grab your apron, dust rag or your mop and go bless your family!!

P.S. I'm curious to know what's on your list for Mother's Day? Leave me a comment 'cause I'd love to hear what you've got your eye on!

Home Sweet Home

I’m back in town after a great trip to Kansas! Little Gaven is doing fine now. His jaundice is under control and he is starting to gain weight. At 4 weeks he was up to 6 pounds 5 ounces. He’s still a little peanut but thriving and doing well now. My sister and her family are settling in quite well and getting into a routine. Lindsay even got 5 ½ hours sleep one night while I was there! Big sister Capri gives kisses to her little brother and is taking good care of her baby dolls. Proud Daddy, Paul, has a little buddy to watch sports with now. My sister amazingly showed me all over town with her little ones in tow. It was a wonderful visit and I’m so thankful that I got to visit them! We are looking forward to a great visit next month when they come up and we’ll also be throwing them a shower! Following is a recap of my trip to Kansas.

I did not take my camera so most of the pictures included are from the web. Before heading to the town of Yoder as planned, we had to stop for some delicious BBQ at Danny Boy’s in Hutchinson, Kansas. My husband would love it there! There were probably no less than 20 different barbeque sauces that you could choose from. Next, we got a short visit into the town of Yoder. They were having an auction in town so we saw several of the horse drawn buggies and tractors primarily being driven by the hard working Amish women. The one Amish man that we saw, we gave the name of “Jedediah”. It just seemed to fit him with his white beard flowing in the breeze and his straw hat.


It was fun to experience the simplicity of this small town and I was able to pick up two jars of Yoder Candles at the Kansas Station Gift Shop! One is called Countryberry Flapjacks and the other is Cinnamon Apple. Yum! They also had a great little restaurant in town where we each picked a different slice of yummy pie. On our return trip home, we had a hail storm where the hail was so big that it was a concern for denting the vehicle as well as some lightning. I just love a good lightning storm! I always tell my girls that God’s rearranging furniture in heaven preparing it for us.

Lindsay’s mother-in-law watched Capri one day so my mom, sister & I as well as the little man could get in a shopping trip to Wichita. We were able to go to Hobby Lobby (http://www.hobbylobby.com/). Wow! I sure wish we had one of these around us. It was about two times the size of Joann’s and had so much more to offer. Then we hit a store called Accessory City (http://www.accessorycityonline.com/). The whole store is filled with earrings, necklaces, purses, shoes, wallets, etc. all very reasonable priced. I did not purchase anything but my sister got the most adorable pair of shoes for $10!

Next on the list was a Starbucks and then off for some truffles at Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates. If you want to see some yummy treats, check out their website at http://www.cocoadolce.com/. The truffles were almost too pretty to eat. They were absolutely delicious but pricey. My favorite was the Crème Brule truffle and it shows up as one of the featured ones on their website. I was able to find a recipe of theirs if any of you want to give it a try and save yourselves the trip to Kansas and the expense…http://www.chocolateatlas.com/Chocolate_Recipes/S051_Classic_Bittersweet_Truffles.htm.

We were also able to hit downtown Newton and do a little bit of shopping with the kiddo’s on another day. We walked through an Antique store, a bookstore for a Dora the Explorer book for Capri and a great Kitchen Store. My favorite store was in an old brick building called High Street Company (http://www.highstreetco.com/) which was similar to the stores in Sumner. It is actually a sister store to the kitchen store but it was my favorite! Then it was off to Sonics (http://www.sonicdrivein.com/home.jsp#/home) for something cold to drink and if you go between 2 and 4 p.m., the drinks are half price! Our Sonics just opened but I hear it’s had quite the line-up so you may want to give it a week or two before trying to go.

On my last night, we headed into Wichita again and had Mexican at Abuelos (http://www.abuelos.com/) which is located at “The Waterfront” (http://www.thewaterfrontwichita.com/shopping-dining.php) and was very pretty. After dinner we drove around looking at all the ritzy homes nearby. With the tornadoes that come through Kansas, most of the homes are made of different bricks or stones. They were beautiful! Then, we had to end the night with another coffee. A girls got to do what a girls got to do!




My family was missing me and ready for my return. So, I put on my ruby red slippers and headed home. Thank you for hosting me guys and a big thank you to all of you prayer warriors. The power of prayer is amazing!

March Madness, etc.

Ever had one of those days/months or in our case, year?!? This has been quite an unusual year for our family. Jack had surgery and then was hospitalized for 11 days for his blood clot. I had 2 steroid injections for my neck and then surgery finally (after 6 1/2 years of pain). My dad followed one week behind me and had foot surgery. We're still smiling though and are looking forward to "normalcy"...whatever that is! Laughter is great medicine.


Twisted Whiskers: Potty Animal @ Yahoo! Video

This year is flying by! It's been 7 1/2 weeks since my surgery and life is beginning to get normal for me finally. March was another tough month though. I am still recovering from my neck surgery and I had kids home sick 3 weeks in a row! The wall's were beginning to move in on me! I needed to get out of the house and I'm happy to say that April brought me my freedom again and healthy kids. Yea!

Then little Gaven was born and he is still struggling with jaundice. He is off the jaundice blanket (only because insurance doesn't cover it now!) and his blood is still being checked frequently to see how he is doing. I get to go see my sister and her family on Friday though and cannot wait! Please continue to pray for them and for safety for me while I travel.

I tell ya! I don't know how people get through life without Jesus! He is my comfort during times of trials. One always needs to put things into perspective. I've got a beautiful home, a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, an exchange student that God brought to us, family & friends who love and support us, a great church...the list continues on and on. Life IS good! It comes with challenges but we are made stronger because of it. We are each truly blessed!

Easter Sunday our church gave a wonderful message of hope for all. Our church has not posted the video yet but this is one you can view on youtube that's similar. These are real people just like you and me. Grab a kleenex and watch this amazing clip! Be sure to pause my blog music on the side first...

The people in our church who stood up and did this were bold but the impact that they had was amazing. Who knows what will come of it and who it spoke to!? I hope that each and everyone of you has this same hope that I do. Jesus makes all things possible and heals all your hurts. If you do not know Him, please take the time and reach out to a friend to get answers to your questions. Even a young child can do it. My sweet daughters made the decision at young ages, as well as my husband and I. We have a wonderful future ahead of us in heaven.

Just yesterday morning the girls were talking about going to heaven. This came after a conversation of how the Science Van was at school and how gross it was...a real brain in a jar that smelled really bad, bones, etc. The oldest asked "Are you or dad an organ donor?" Followed by the youngest..."What is that?" After a brief explanation from me, the youngest said, "I don't want to die...I just want Jesus to come and take me up to heaven!" Now how precious is that!

In closing, here are a few more pictures from March 2009 (even a couple that Maddie took that she wanted included :~) while she was home sick with the flu). I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Easter with your family!

Ruby Red Slippers

I'm flying to Kansas in two weeks! I just ordered the ticket today so I can see my sister and her family. Gaven was checked again today & his jaundice levels are still rising. He will be checked again tomorrow to determine if he needs to be hospitalized again. When he was in the hospital before, they were talking about a transfusion. We don't want this to become a reality so continue praying for the little guy. He is pretty lethargic and getting more yellow since they came home. I'm really excited to be going and I figured this was a good time to make a quick trip back there and help my sister out.We amazingly had enough points for me to fly for just $35! What a blessing!! I've never been to Kansas so this will be great to see my sister's house & the countryside around her and spend some quality time with them. I'm voting for nothing but blue skies while I'm there & no wicked witches of the west or tornadoes!

I'm told I'll be heading to a small town called Yoder for some siteseeing while I'm back there. My sister has always talked about it and wants me to be able to see it while I'm there. Yoder is a quaint Amish community in Kansas. She has bought me some yummy candles from http://www.yodercandles.com/ and my recommendation is Amish Harvest! We might have to get a trip in to Hobby Lobby too since we don't have one around here and she's always bragging about going there!

Then I'll put on my ruby red slippers 'cause there's no place like home. My kiddo's are bummed that they cannot join me and have told me more than once, it's not gonna be the same with you gone mom. Sorry babe! Looks like I am still the apple of their eyes! I keep reminding them of how you managed the house after I had my neck surgery and I was pretty much asleep all the time recovering and in pain. Katelynn would like to stuff herself into my suitcase so she can go. Thank you Jack for making the arrangements for me! You're the best!!