mr. independent

Whether it's playing with the shoes at the back door or peek-a-boo with my bags he's unloaded...

our #2 child is appearing to be more and more independent as the days go by.

He'll hang out in the trap 'n play...
and get so tickled when sister climbs in to join him!

Or I'll find him playing or reading in one of their rooms.
And that smile gets me every time!


^"For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you."
Psalm 71:5-6

afternoons

Afternoons are always a tricky time for us.
We're all a little cranky as the day comes to an end.

Luckily, K's been able to go outside lots, play at her sand table,
run in the yard, wait for Marshmallow to appear, etc.

She'll play out there for a good long while.
Then she'll come in for bath which occupies another good chunk of time!

Little one stays in and "helps" me around the house vacuuming,
emptying out my cabinets while I make dinner, begging for bites...

Which reminds me of another curly-headed little "helper" from long ago!

music update

I may be the only one, but my praise music needed a big update.
Like my last favorite CD was the one our campus RUF ministry put out
when I was in college (Derrick Harris anyone?).

I heard a few songs from this album a few weeks ago
and couldn't get them out of my head.
I so recommend an album download for this one!

Anyone have another recommendation?
Especially workout/running music??

"I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High."
Psalm 9:1-2

Spring is here???

Anyone else wondering if spring is here to stay???
We're soaking it up!

Climbing trees...
Playing with the neighbor's cat who K has renamed "Marshmallow."We totally owe the neighbors a bag of cat food.
I think having their cat come around has totally
bought us some time that we don't have to get another pet!

We've hit the park for picnic lunches in the sun!

If you're not in the south enjoying this weather with us, don't be too jealous.

We can only stay outside sans water till May-ish when
the heat/humidity force us to the pool every day!
I cannot believe that is right around the corner!!!


And God said,
“Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”
And it was so.
Genesis 1:14-15

No pride in parenting

There are moments as a parent that make me smile --
it's exciting to see things come together we've worked on or prayed over.
Those kind of moments are few and far between.

No matter how many times we pray for gentleness over K, there are still moments like this:
As happy as can be attacking her brother. At someone else's house nonetheless.

We hung out with friends the other night,
and the evening provided great fellowship and continued laughs.
Their kids are right on age with our kids, but they may end up in different grades.
It's a bummer how that works.

Anyway, Kirkley and Taylor played super sweet.
And Jay and Gray were adorable with their matching khaki bottoms.

My proud, proud parenting moment came at the dinner table.
We'd just sat down to an awesome dinner.
As I was taking in the yumminess about to occur,
apparently Kirkley was surveying the daddies.
Taylor's dad has a buzz cut, you know, Matt Lauer style. :)
We're ALL at the table, Kirkley looks at Alex and says,
"Daddy you have a lot of hair!"
We froze knowing what was coming.
"That daddy has no hair!"
Oh my, how on earth do you teach don't be a big mouth!?
Taylor's dad had a great comeback, and we laughed it off.

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

Earlier that day she told me
(while I was sporting the probably too young for me Nike shorts),
"Mommy, you have a big tummy!"
"Kirkley, we don't say that to people."
"Mrs. Adrienne had a big tummy. We told her."
Thanks, Kirkley. Mrs. Adrienne gave birth to a baby 5 days after we saw her baby tummy!

Pride takes a backseat in parenting!


"Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness."
Psalm 115:1

cookie time!

Girl Scout Cookies have hit the streets!

These afternoon snackers could not be happier...

This snacker takes a while to warm up after nap!

Grab an extra box of Thin Mints and stick them in the freezer...

I'll be back one day with an easy Thin Mint Cupcake recipe!

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Daddy Daughter Date Night is such a funny small town tradition to me!
I would soooo pay to be a fly on the wall.
Alex swears there are dads sweatin' it up dancing to "Ice Ice Baby" and "Put a Ring on It."
I hate to be missing out on that sight! Or maybe not.
Kirkley loves her dates with Daddy -- Alex is precious to give her a date every Saturday morning at the breakfast place of her choice!
She's always ecstatic to be heading out on her own with him!

We met up with Kirkley's sweet school friend Margie Grace before the dance for pics.
Seriously, there are no two girls that love to hug {and talk} more. I am grateful K has found someone that loves a sweet hug as much as her! :)
Then they were off with their dates to Chappy's!

And this little man has gotten super speedy and was not slowing down for a pic! I do love this night and the fact that it points out the need/importance of that one on one time.
They headed to dinner/dance, and Katie and I took our little men out for a pizza date!


And, for fun, here are the date nights of the past:
2010

2009

Atlanta Adventure

We had such a good time a few weeks ago getting out of town for the day that I decided to try it again!
I don't know what sounds so daunting about it to me -- we had a great day!

We left bright and early and kicked off the day at IKEA.
We went straight from our car ride to the snack area to devour one of the $1 cinnamon rolls.
Worth the whole dollar. Oh my do they taste as good as they've always smelled!

We hit the store and were so pleased to find kid areas in every section!
We met up with Em and Abby Jane and had a successful trip:

I knew before we went, we'd be leaving with that puppy.
Kirkley's been begging for a puppy {and a baby sister}.
As soon as she saw it among the zillions of stuffed animals,
she said, "Let's get that puppy for Jay!"
Sweet, and, of course, now it's snuggling in bed with her!

Then we were off to the Swan Coach House.
Em and I hadn't been there since bridesmaid luncheons long ago.
This place SO reminds me of my college roommate Wynn -- she loves this place!
We loved how they tucked us all away upstairs on the porch!Look who learned to make ridiculous faces every time a camera appears.
6 pictures like this, all just as ridiculous as the others! :)
Thanks for that, K.

I'm excited our girls are getting to know each other -- twice in a few weeks!
Abby Jane was born after the Grosses moved to CA.
Thrilled that they are so close now that we visit a few times a year!
The girls loved the fancy lunch!
The mamas loved catching up!
Em has been my go to girl with this half-marathon training --
great to see her at catch up between manners lessons!
We are email buds trading recipes, crafts, parenting, etc.
I am grateful for her spirit of encouragement and her confidence in Him as a mama!

We didn't tell Jay it was a super-girly, ladies lunch -- he was busy flirting!
The classic swan dessert was a hit!

We left lunch and hit Homegoods, Trader Joes, and loaded up just in time for afternoon naps!
Loving our days away!
I've decided to try to take better advantage of this time K isn't locked into school...thinking on our next adventure!


I guide you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
Proverbs 4:11-12

Dinner Date

We enjoyed a sweet Saturday afternoon and geared up for a dinner date for four downtown. Kirkley asks every time we are at church to see the fountain.
We decided to head to dinner early and make a stop by there!

I gave her pennies to throw each time she gave me a real smile...Dinner was busy and fun!
It was our first run at taking them to a "adult" sit-down restaurant.
Something we really want them to be able to handle.
Pretty sure we were the favorite customers of the evening:
two children three and under + a restaurant.com gift certificate! :)
They did great, and we started a new monthly tradition!

Strawberry Cake

I love this cake! It's super easy and starts with a mix. The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook is one of my favorites for a quick dessert! Make this one as a bundt/loaves and top with a quick glaze or as cupcakes/layer cake and do strawberry frosting (tub if you can find it, if not add strawberry extract to plain frosting). This is great for a quick teacher treat for v-day!

I have several cakes I do quickly in a bundt pan. This is the fastest type of cake to make if you need something in a hurry. You can glaze while still warm and get it out the door! Some tips -- use Pam with flour or Baker's Joy for the pan, set a timer for mixing the cake batter, and invest in a squeeze bottle (found in craft/baking section) for the glaze (I cut the top a little larger).


Strawberry Cake

Cake:
1 package white cake mix
1 3 oz. package strawberry gelatin
3 T flour
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 cup strawberries, diced (I use frozen and dice still frozen)
Cooking spray with flour (Pam w/flour or Baker's Joy)

Strawberry Glaze:
*If doing a two-layer cake or cupcakes, use two tubs of whipped strawberry frosting*
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 T butter, melted
1-3 T milk (to desired consistency)
1 t strawberry extract

- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Mix all cake ingredients except strawberries and beat on low speed for 1 minute; scrape sides of bowl
- Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, add diced strawberries near the end, and do not over mix
- Mist bundt pan with cooking spray with flour
- Pour batter into the pan and smooth out the top with a spatula
- Bake the cake until it is light brown about 45-50 minutes (toothpick/tester should come out clean)
- Prepare glaze adding more milk or powdered sugar as needed
- Remove cake from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes
- Remove cake from pan and put on serving platter
- Drizzle half of glaze over the cake while it is still warm slowly so that it doesn't run totally off (I usually do this in shifts)
- Cool
- Drizzle remainder of glaze on slices when serving

embrace the camera

It's been a long time since I've done an embrace the camera Thursday.
June to be exact -- a running pic when I was in the first weeks of Couch to 5K.
I couldn't even do a mile then!

I had to search for a recent pic of us with the kids.
We'll be working on this.
Today's pic is of me and the little man courtesy of our fingerprinty oven.
Clearly windex the oven door was not on the list that day.
Nor was dressing Jay. :)
All of his walking hasn't slimmed him down yet!
I've loved sending out the list -- hope it's blessing you as much as it does me!
If it doesn't or it's annoying, chunk it.
It may just be that it fits my type A personality!

"You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in You."

Isaiah 26:3