Celebrating Resurrection Day!

I meant I was going to get somewhat caught up so 2 posts in one day!

I decided to try something new with eggs this year.  I went through A’s old ties that he would never wear and used them to dye eggs.  It was a little more work than I had thought and not sure the girls were as into it as traditional dyed eggs but it was something different. It was fun to unwrap them and see what they looked like!

We normally make a bunny cake but this year was a little different.  A lady in our church body died last week and her funeral was on Saturday so we were limited on time.  I was not going to stress over a bunny cake and the girls never asked so we skipped it this year. 

The girls enjoyed their Easter treats We barely had any time before church to take any pics and by the time we all get ready for church the girls just want to go.  A normally goes to the church a while before us but since it was Easter he had stayed behind with us and it was time for him to go SO all of that to say THIS is what we got

Think Sallie was aggravated???AND Millie will one day kill me for this!  Poor baby apparently needed to potty!I do LOVE this one!  I also DO need to clean the dust off my front door!

Once again, you take what you can get!

Each Easter after church we have an Easter Egg Hunt.  Here the kids are coming out to hunt.  YES, that is one of the two twins!Our girls think they can take care of them!  They still are attached to Ell and Sallie is CRAZY about them!  She would not let her go!  They have grown so much.  They are back here for now and doing good.  We do love them!SWEET precious MillieRemington who Sallie also adores!  It makes her day to see Remi!  She is so motherly!SWEET precious LizzieNow Sallie thinks she can take care of both the two twins!  I wish I had gotten a good pic of them from the front but I was too busy trying to make sure Sallie did not hurt them.  Not that she would intentionally but she thinks there is nothing she can’t do!Look at all those eggs!  We still have tons of candy!

After church we joined a family in our church and several other church families for lunch followed by a Passover Seder.  We did this last year as well but we did it on the night before Easter.  We really enjoy it and it was a little more laid back for us this year since we knew what to expect! 

Everything felt a little more rushed than I like but we had a wonderful time celebrating our RISEN SAVIOUR!!!

Bumps and Baskets!

I really was not sure where to begin!  Just when I thought I was on a blogging roll I have now let 2 weeks pass without blogging.  It has been a crazy few weeks!  Well most of our weeks are crazy so I guess I should say crazier than normal! 

Our Easter Week began with a BUMP!  As we were getting out of church on Sunday night Lizzie jumped up on a banister and fell backward and busted her head open on the concrete.  In case you don’t know, the head bleeds A LOT.  I do not do well with head trauma at all.  It scares me and the blood gets to me.  Thankfully she never lost consciousness.  We quickly got her to the ER and stitched up.  After a few hours of observation we got to come home to wake her every hour for the rest of the night.  She has done great!  She has never been sick much and this was her first accident and she is a great patient.  I would have never thought she would be such a great patient.  She got the stitch out this past Monday and she did really well.  It is still sore and not easy to brush her hair but it is healing. 

I know this is gross but it is what it is!  This picture really does not even do it justice.  Yes, it was a job to get all that blood out!  This was taken after we got home and her arms had been cleaned.  It was all over her arms.  Thankful it was not any worse!

Lizzie and Sallie had their class Easter Egg Hunts and Parties on Thursday.  They do them in the city park.  A, Mill, and I helped hide eggs and set up the parties.

Millie enjoyed playing at the park and never said a word about not getting to hunt Easter eggs

Lizzie’s class walked to the park.  Here they are arriving.Waiting for the hunt to beginAnd they are off!Checking out the goods!Play time!  Lizzie loves school and her school friends but she loves her little sister more!The BEST FRIEND a girl could EVER have!!!  Sallie tried to get a head start and Daddy and one of her teachers had to turn her around!I am not sure how Sallie has any independence!  She had a little help from the teachers finding her loot!  I am thankful she is SO loved!Checking out her loot with some of her friends!It was a lot for me to ask of them to stop and take a pic with Daddy!

Ell did not have an Easter Egg Hunt but she did make this arrangement in her floral class.  I thought it was cute!

My goal is to get the rest of Easter blogged this weekend so check back!

Lovin’ Spring!

This weather is great!  We could do without the allergies but otherwise it is great!  The girls want to stay outside every minute they can. 

They want to play right up until dark.  These are a few shots I got of them playing in the yard last Fri nt after dinner and before dark.  Sallie even came back out after she had put her PJs on! 

Giving Daddy a workout!

Elleigh is on the golf team this yr so the little girls have been practicing with her.  A got out Elleigh’s clubs Grandy got for her when she was a little girl and the girls have loved hitting balls!

Always time to pose!

Our garden is also looking really good and we are eating LOTS of fresh asparagus!  We get at least this much every other day!  We have given some of it away and I have been experimenting with new ways of cooking it.  All the girls except Ell really like it and A loves it (which is unusual since he normally does not do green!)  I think it has something to do with him growing it! 

Rodeo-Kindergarten Style!

Each year the Kindergarten here has a Kindergarten Rodeo and Lizzie’s was last Friday.  Each class participates in rodeo style events. 

Yes, she has a Unicorn Stick Horse!  You take what the DG has!!!  She didn’t care!LOVE the hands on the hips!LOVE HER!This is a pic of a dance they did.  I posted a video of it at the end of this post.  Funny!Nothing to do with the rodeo but their class was in the newspaper this week because they have been studying about Texas and the lady in the middle came in costume and read something to them about Texas History and in small towns this is the stuff that goes in the paper!  Anyway, check out Lizzie’s leg popped out!  She really is TOO MUCH!  Very surprised her hand is not on her hip!

A couple of cute videos from the rodeo!

Here she is dancing front and center!

More than Pinning!

I do a lot of pinning!  Some of my friends on Pinterest have boards they call Pinned It and Did It!  I think we all do more pinning than doing! 

I thought I would share a few times I have done a little more than pinning in the area of recipes.  I have tried more than this but these are just a few.

 

This first one is a twist on traditional rice krispies.  The taste is not a lot different but some and they are really colorful and fun.  I made these a while back for our Children’s Missions Groups snack. 

Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/3 cup yellow cake mix (dry cake mix)
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal (I never use this many rice krispies because we like them marshmallowey!)
• 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in (dry) cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.

NOTE:  I made several batches of these and the first batch I added in the sprinkles when it was too hot so on the other batches I waited a couple of minutes.

 

I made these a couple of weeks ago for our Sunday night Connection Group and they were SO GOOD!  Really easy too!  I used spring colored cupcake liners and they looked really cute!

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

• 42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.
2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

NOTE:  This recipe makes about 3 dozen so you can adjust depending on the # you need to make. 

The recipe said these are a Martha Stewart Recipe

 

I made these one night for Connection Groups as well.  They could not be easier and very good!

Bacon Wrapped Cocktail Sausages

1 14-oz. package Lit’l Smokies

1 12-oz. package lean bacon

3/4 c. brown sugar

Cut each piece of bacon into three pieces and wrap each section around a cocktail sausage and secure with toothpicks.  Place in dish and then sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake on 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  Note:  I have made these twice and the first time I used 3/4 cup brown sugar.  The second time I put more.  I did not measure it but it was more.  It’s just a matter of preference.  I have not done this but it says these are good if you put them in a crock pot on low after they are done and before serving.  This recipe originally came from www.ourbestbites.com.  I have gotten a lot of great recipes from their site!

Africa and ONE

I just realized that we never shared any Africa pics and an update.  So, I thought I would include it in this post. 

A had a wonderful trip.  It was a different trip for him because it was only he and one other man so he was not as responsible for a big group which made it easier and freed him up to do some things with a little more flexibility.  Of course he loves leading the larger groups as well but this was just different and needed at this time. 

Much time was spent teaching the leaders of the church in Outapi and helping them sort through some issues. 

This is A with Erastus’ son who was born when A and the team were there last summer.  They were also able to travel to another city in Namibia to visit with a couple who digs water wells in Namibia and also has a Hostel there which houses school ages girls.  You can check out their website at www.byprovision.org.  They have a great testimony of the Lord leading them to do this in their 50’s and them leaving behind a very successful business and 16 grandchildren to obey the Lord’s calling.  They are from the Birmingham area.  A is really looking forward to serving with them soon.  The Wilkins (with By Provision) are on each end (doesn’t he look like an AL boy!) and Erastus and Randal (the other man who went with A)While they were in Outapi they did some teaching on The Lord’s Supper and then observed the Lord’s Supper for the first time in the church in Outapi.  A was very moved by this.  Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, we observed it this past Sunday and WOW is all I can say.  A thought he was recording it and after it was over he realized it had not recorded.  Several people have said to me that they have never been so moved in a service.  A worked really hard on it and he takes it so serious(as we all should).  We spent 2 weeks in preparation.  You can check all that out on the Church’s blog (link on the left here).  I am thankful that he takes the time to make sure we are ready and the seriousness of the observance of the Lord’s Supper.  It is more often done as tradition and in a very casual manner and there is so much more to it.   I urge you to check out the church blog to see the daily post from the last 2 weeks.  A with Noah and Erastus.  It is amazing the relationships that the Lord builds with people from different continents!  We are ONE through HIM!!! 

Speaking of ONE in CHRIST, each week we memorize a verse of scripture as a congregation.  This past Sunday our verse was “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”  Romans 12:5  Last week a young woman in our church, wife and mother of 2 was diagnosed with a rare auto immune disease with no cure and debilitating and eventually fatal symptoms.  We have talked a lot in the past few weeks about unity and being one body and all having different roles, etc. and it was no accident that this week as we memorized this verse, we hurt as one body…  A reminder to us all that HE is still in control! 

I just realized as I was typing my own thoughts how much I needed the last line of the previous paragraph!  Once again, HE is still in control!  I talked with our Cochlear Audiologist today and we have appts through Dec on the books.  Of course some of them could change slightly but we are on the books for now.  She also told me that we needed to go ahead and decide which manufacturer within the next week.  She had originally told us we had a little longer but she said she had talked with our surgeon’s office and they decided we really needed to decide soon so that all the insurance stuff could be processed in a timely manner and not delay our surgery.  PLEASE pray for us to know the one because at this moment we do not.  I really do not think it will make that much difference but we do want to make the right choice.  I sat down this afternoon to right down the advantages of each and after about an hour gave up because in many areas they both claim to be the best (of course!).  Also, I was talking with our therapist last night and she was telling me about a patient of hers who was implanted last summer and is only a yr younger than Sallie (which is pretty old for cochlear implant).  Anyway, she said things went really slow for them and it took much longer than they expected to move through his map (this is what they call each patients plan of moving through the different levels or programs of the implant) because he had a very difficult time adjusting to the sound and did not want it on.  There is a great possibility at Sallie’s age that she will have this same reaction.  Our therapist said she spent many sessions just begging him to keep the external components on.  She went on to tell me that he eventually adjusted and is doing great now.  I know this is right and right now am a mix of excited and a little overwhelmed by it all.  I am sure I know nothing about being overwhelmed until June 4th!  FYI, her initial stimulation (meaning the day they turn it on) is June 28th at 10 am!