God's blessings

I just wanted to share with y'all how thankful I am to God. He is always giving us just what we need when we need it and from many different directions! We were double blessed today with just what we needed, foooooood! :) Amongst other blessings, we received everything from flour, venison, jello, oatmeal, and the best bread on the planet!!! Thank you God for amazing family and friends who love us and share there blessings with us. May we be so gracious when we have the means to be.

Wishing my camera were permanently attached!

Well, today's blog was suppose to be about the fun trip we had out to a friends farm..... AND IT STILL IS!!! But, unfortunately this time around yours truly forgot the camera!! SOOOO sad:( But, we have a open ended invitation so I PROMISE to take it next time!! The farm was a lot of fun. The girls got to feed goats, chickens, ducks, and a horse!! ( oh and the dogs by thievery!) They had a fun time getting all muddy with the animals. Our gracious host then let us all sit down to a warm cup of hot coco afterwards!!! Thanks to Kate for the fun time! Hopefully next time we can visit a little longer and it will be less muddy!! Pictures next time I promise!!!!

slow day...

Not much going on today, but the girls made some cute bag heads and I thought I would share them with ya'll:) Enjoy your night!

Rocky Road Lands first BATH!

Rocky became a part of our family in late November as a long anticipated gift to our two "desperate for a dog" daughters:) Because of the cold, and admittedly, a bit of laziness on our part, Rocky is SOOOO overdue for a bath!! Today is bath day!!
This is Rocky timidly ready for his bath....

This is Rocky re-thinken this whole bath thing....oh, and Sammy getting very wet!:)

Scrubba Scrubba Scrubba....

Can't these sweet eyes get me outta here!!

This is a clean Rocky...now you won't be able to tell, but believe me, smell-a-vision would be a good thing here!

2:58 am... If ya can't BEAT um, join-um!

After a miserable game of puppy yelping and me tossing a turning thinking of evil things to do to him, I have finally given up. SOOOooo, what else better to do when it's ( now ) 3:23 am but to bake mini cupcakes in my new infra wave oven and blog about it!! LOL , YES, this is me, in the EARLY morning, baking cupcakes on my counter..... I DID tell the kids I would make them a few for breakfast this morning... this was NOT my original vision, but I'm just going with it!






THIS is my infra wave oven..... have been having a bit of fun with this lovely Christmas gift:) Here's a rotisserizing beef roast from sunday...mmmm.....so yummy, and we only ate half. SOoooo fantastical french dip frenzy for lunch tomorrow, LOL, I mean today!


Ok, so here is the first finished product.....well most of it. Yummy, slightly uneven though, but hey, it's REALLY early in the morning!! Tryed to fill um more on the second one....think I went alittle over board....oh dear...

Crafty Projects I have made in the past...

I thought it would be fun to share some of the crafty things I like to do on here. Here are some pics of some of my past projects. PLEASE feel free to share yours here too. You can post a link to your page of pics/tutorials etc... Always interested in a fun craft/sewing project!!


MOP CAP

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Baby Pants ( great tutorial & video HERE

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OWL PILLOW

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SMALL STUFFED ANIMALS

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More to come later!

Ben's Hospital Visit

Well we JUST made it to Ben's appointment today. I didn't realize there was security to go through at a hospital! Plus, getting to the actual surgery clinic was a maze that we had a personal escort to help us go through. His appointment was pretty short, and even though I forgot the CD of his ultra sound, the doc knew just what it was. It's a fluid filled hernia:( Yes...a hernia.... Sooooo, he will be having surgery, NEXT WEEK!! Thursday, January 28Th around noon time would be a great time to give up any prayers to him for a safe surgery. It's a 30 minute surgery and not to much of a big deal...to the doctors. Now to me, the mommy, any slice into my son is a big deal. BUT, rest assured that God is in control and can watch over him much better then I ever could! Here are some pics of our trip this afternoon. There were some really cool hanging sculptures there! It's quite a neat, brightly colored and fun children's hospital! I'm thankful it is available for Him for BOTH of his upcoming surgeries.

Proverbs 26:21 The Contentious Christian

Proverbs 26:21 (New King James Version)
21 As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire,
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

A wise friend shared this passage with me this evening. In my drive to share my love for Christ and his Word with others, I have fallen flat on my face with this passage to many times. Just when I think that I am past that and have potentially become more mature in my walk, I am shown I have far to go. Even with the best intentions, Christians can cause much more harm then good when trying to push people into there beliefs. When I was first saved, I was red hot on fire for the Lord. I took that fire on vacation with me soon after to visit my extended family. I will be working on the outcome of that trip for years to come. Christ can't be forced, no matter how desperately we want our loved ones or anyone else for that matter to see heaven. Trust in God to save, for only He can. He is working on each one of us at our pace. He is sovereign and loves us more then we ever could imagen.

Shepards Pie

Trying this recipe from "The Packet Queen" blog (http://packetqueen.blogspot.com/2009/11/shepherds-pie.html) for dinner tonight. Doubling it so that we have one for next week! Will let you know how it turns out! Check out her blog for great pics of each step! I used frozen corn, frozen green beans and a can of peas for my veggies. I also used water and beef paste instead of broth cause we're out. Looks and smells yummy in the stove! Fingers crossed!

Eagle Day!

Today was Eagle Day at Wyandotte county Lake. The Library there is hosting a bunch of awesome raptures ( predator birds). With daddy away at a class, the kiddos and I jumped in the wagon:) and took a ride over there. SO glad we did. There we a lot of animals to see up close and some great information too!! Here are some of the pics of the day!!







These are some pics of Kayla up front. She got chosen to see how heavy it would be to try to carry the bald eagle on her arm using weights. SERIOUSLY HEAVY!!:) She was a good sport:)

Latch hook!

Just wanted to report that my girls are having lots of fun with there new Latch Hook kits! Their sweet Grandma Land bought these for them for Christmas and they are actually enjoying them quietly!! YES!! They're both doing a great job and are really coming along!!

Johnny Cakes!!

Our Newest activity on the trail was to make Johnny Cakes! This is a recipe they would have used on the journey ( we used the buttermilk from the butter we made as well as the butter for on top!), probably when they ran low on flour or for something different. They could have bartered for corn from the Native Americans along the way. Here's some pictures of how it went. The Verdict: Not my favorite, but Sammy LOVES them and Kay thinks there ok. If I were a grits girl I'm sure I would like them, but it's the texture that does them in for me. Not horrible, but I'll take flour over corn meal for my cakes!! :) For fun, we did one on the wood stove and the girls had it for part of there lunch:)
BENJAMIN UPDATE:
Ben has a doc appointment on Monday to find out what to do about the sist. Will continue to update as I know more!

Hospital photos in...yes...even in the hospital!

OK, so YES I took the camera and YES I used it!! :) Might as well document this occasion I say! Here are some fun pics from this morning. Gotta love the ones with the girls ( and yes, there mom did make them bring school this morning!! Heee:) The first one is the "come on and smile" photo. Next comes reality.... lol:)

Trip to the hospital...

Well, this morning has been eventful and we've only been up for 1 1/2 hours!  My little Ben has a lump above his left groin.  I took him in to a walk in visit and she confirmed it.  She thinks it's a swollen testical/hernia.  We are having a ultra sound at st. johns this morning done.  Please pray for our family during this.  Benjamin already has surgery sceduled march 5th and looks like he will need another one for this.  This is a pretty hard time for us with all these medical situations and litterally having only pennies to our name.  God is good and soverign over all of this I know.  Thanks so much for any prayers and may God bless your day!!  Will update as soon as I can!

HOMEMADE BUTTER!

Time for some good old fashion butter making!!! FIRST: Take some heaving whipping cream and fill and small container ( we used small baby food jars) half way full. Screw the lid on TIGHT!









SECOND: SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE!








NOW: You should have a jar with a nice lump of butter that's surrounded by BUTTERMILK!!

THIRD: Take that yummy buttermilk and strain it into another jar.

THEN: Plop out your butter in a small bowl, add a bit of salt ( around a pinch to an 1/8th tsp.) and WALLA!! BUTTER!! Spread on something yummy and consume!!