My sweet friend Dominique is a baker, an artist, and can pretty much do anything!  She birthed these 4 children in less than 5 years and makes the most amazing cakes you’ve ever seen.  (Those 2 statements are totally unrelated.)  Here’s a cake she recently made for a friend’s party.

Anyway, tonight I made Dominique’s Cookie Cake Recipe.  It takes about 5 minutes to make…or less.  It’s SUPER easy and AMAZINGLY delicious!

Ingredients:

• Butter
• Brown Sugar
• Egg
• Vanilla
• Flour
• Salt
• Baking Powder
• Chocolate Chips

Cream Butter and Brown Sugar.

Add Vanilla and Egg and MIX…I forgot to take a picture of this step.

Next, add Flour, Baking Powder, Salt (or let your little helper do it).

STIR ingredients.

Fold in Chocolate Chips.

After you’ve tasted just a few bites of dough, pour into greased and floured (or greased and sugared, which is my preference) 9 inch round pan.

Don’t spread it to the edges, because it tends to get too high on the sides when it bakes.  Spread almost to the edge.

Bake at 350° for 20-23 minutes.

YUMMY!!!

This next picture is just pathetic!  It tastes so much better than this picture makes it look.  I forgot to take a pic in the daylight, so this is a bad pic i took before I ate the last one at 10:30. :)

Gooey goodness!

WARNING:  You will need milk with this Cookie Cake!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 Stick Butter (Softened)
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar (Packed)
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 Cup Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips (Semi-sweet)

Cream Butter and Brown Sugar.  Add Egg and Vanilla and Mix.  Add Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt.  STIR.  Add Chocolate Chips and stir.  Pour into greased and floured (or greased and sugared) 9-inch round pan.  Bake at 350° for 20-23 minutes.

Enjoy with a big fat glass of cold milk!

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Over a month ago, I had a birthday party for my big girl…and I am finally posting some pics.

My girl loves Candy Land…just like her mama.  She wanted a Candy Land swimming birthday party last year, and her party was SOOOO late that we went with a Princess Party at the Rose Parade, and postponed the Candy Land party until her seventh birthday.  And now, my baby girl is SEVEN!!!

Brad’s parents graciously allowed us to use their pool and their beautiful yard for the party, and it was perfect!

The decorations were super cheap and simple, but that’s the best kind.  Brad’s mom, Kay, helped a lot with them.

Party favors were easy.  Kids got to fill their own bag of candy.

The cake was simple and fun.  It was just white buttercream with fondant and candy accents.  My baby girl LOVED it!  She just giggled and giggled when I showed it to her.

I wanted to make a Candy Land board for the kids to play while they were at the party.  I never dreamed that it would be such a hit.  They played it the whole time.  In fact, I am not sure many of the girls ever got in the pool.  It was very simple.  The rectangles were just sheets of felt from Hobby Lobby.  They were $.25/sheet, regular price, and I am sure that you can catch them cheaper if you plan more than 2 days before the party starts.

The gumdrops at Gumdrop Mountain were buckets and pails and cups.  The lollipops in the Lollipop Woods were very obvious balloons and sticks with cellophane around them.  The stars and “snow” to the right are for the lovely Princess Frostine.  An ice skating rink wasn’t in the budget.

The Peppermint Forest was full of empty cellophane rolls, wrapped in white table cloths and red tape.

After the big girls finished, these three gave it a try.  They are hilarious together!  Poor drew has 2 little mamas.

And this one is just a little sassy!

But drew is so funny, that I know he can hold his own with those women!  Isn’t he the CUTEST?!?!

Some of Lilly Katherine’s sweet friends, Eden, Reagan, and Laura.

Preston and our most favorite TWENTY YEAR OLD…Tayler.

Caleb, AnnaLeigh, Charlotte, Ashley, and Truett.

My little bro and his precious baby girl, his mini-me, Brinley.

I am not sure what Aaron said to the crew on the swing, but it was apparently hilarious!

My beautiful nieces and my little monkey.  I could not make it at these parties without these 2 girls!  LOVE Y’ALL!!!

My big little brother, Taylor and my tired, tired smile.

My baby girl loved the “boons.”

My sweet nephew David (aka “Daby”) is the happiest baby I have ever seen in my life.  His sister, Laurabeth, has combined baby and David, and she calls him “Daby” which I am sure will stick with him the rest of his life.

My mother and cute little Brinley.

My baby loved her party, and I loved it, too!  Good times in Candy Land!

-kate

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So it’s been a whole months since I have blogged.  I have officially fallen off the blogging wagon.  However, I have a whole summer worth of memories to blog, so I will be posting all kinds of things as soon as possible.  I hope. :)

My two bigs are both at the same school this year, and they had a great first day.  I still can’t believe I have 2 babies in elementary school…and one of them is in FOURTH GRADE!!!  How the heck does it happen so fast?!?

I love summer.  I love having my maniacs at home.  I love having no schedule and no agenda.  I love having time to hang out and do whatever we want.  I love not packing lunches or yelling at children to hurry and eat and hurry and get dressed and hurry, hurry, hurry.  Actually, the truth is that Preston is usually telling me to hurry, hurry, hurry.

The start of school always brings tears…from my eyes…not theirs! :)  However, this year, I am so confident in their teachers that it made the first day of school a little easier.  Their teachers are wonderful, and I am so thankful for the women leading my little ones.  So here are all the pics…

Of course we had our annual pencil cake, but this year the first day of school was also Lilly Katherine’s birthday!  My baby girl is now SEVEN!  Crazy!

I love seeing how Preston has grown through the years.  Look how much he’s grown since Kindergarten!

Amidst all the chaos of the morning, AnnaLeigh spotted her buddy, Charlotte, and ran to her to say hi!  They are precious little messes!

And this is Charlotte’s brother, Walker, one of P’s best buddies.

Preston has the best teacher in the world this year!  One of our dear friends, Ashley!  I’m so excited for P to have her!

And as is tradition, we went home and talked about their first day of school…over a piece of pencil cake.

Good times!

I am so thankful to be the mother of these wild ones.  They make me so happy…and so crazy at the same time.  I am so proud of the little people that they are becoming, and I will miss the fire out of them every day that they are in school.

-kate

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Hello!  My name is Kate, and this is my blog.  I do exist, but the more I want to put on the old blog, the more I have going on, and the less likely it is that I will actually post anything.  I feel like I just can’t catch up!  Sooooo, instead of doing the 43 loads of laundry that await my tired body, I will sit and post my baby’s birthday party.

First, let me say that somehow we have a touch of the stomach bug again!  It’s nothing like the horrible one we had a few weeks ago, but it’s vomit nonetheless!

Anyway!

AnnaLeigh’s birthday was in January, but she wanted to have a party outside.  I told her we had to wait until it warmed up a bit, so we waited 3 months. :)  My sister’s son, Truett, is 5 weeks younger than AnnaLeigh, and we have learned that combined parties are best for everyone!

Last year we had a Hello Kitty Dumptruck party.  The year before that we had a Very Hungry Caterpillar party.

This year, we again asked the kids what they wanted.  AnnaLeigh wanted a Mickey Mouse party.  Truett wanted a train party.

Hmmm.

A Mickey Mouse Train party it is.  The themes are getting a little hard to combine.

Ashley and I decided that life is crazy and we needed simple this time.  We just had a few friends, mostly our regular Sonic group, join us at Sonic on Friday afternoon for some happy hour drinks and cake.  Pretty fancy, I tell ya!

It was the perfect day.  The perfect place to have a party.  The perfect time to celebrate their birthdays…even if it was a few months late.  We had a blast!  Here are a few pics.

This little maniac has decided that this is her new smile.  Pursed lips and sassier than ever!  Such a mess!

My sister made the Birthday Crossing sign and the cute food train.  The train had had a coal car (Coco puffs), a log car (long pretzel sticks), a gravel car (tator tots), a produce car (cuties), an animal car (animal crackers) and a favor car (little Mickey pops).  I will post the recipe for the Mickey pops later this week…hopefully.

(Mickey pop tutorial coming soon.)

My sister, Ashley, with her husband and precious Laurabeth.

Garrett is always a hit with the younger boys!

Walker, Preston, Sam…taking a quick break from football.

Brad’s parents and AnnaLeigh

My dad and my baby girl.

I was teasing with Georgia and hurt her feelings.  It was so pitiful, but it resulted in a few minutes of sweet hugs and love.  I love those sweet little cheeks and tiny little hands!

My funny grandmother, Memama, and the birthday girl.  We are so thankful that she is here and we get to see her every week.  It is so special for Memama to be able to attend all these crazy birthday parties.

My Pinky loved her cake…which made me happy!  She ate every bite, of course.

Sweet Truett couldn’t wait to get the train engine.  It was all marshmallow fondant and food coloring.  He ate the whole thing!

Crazy girl!  I love you more than you will ever know.  You certainly keep me smiling and keep my on my toes…and keep me humble!  I love everything about you.

You are a leader already, and the Lord can use you in mighty ways.  Allow him to lead you and let his love spill out of you.

People listen to you.  Speak words of love and kindness and truth.  Be a good friend and look for friends that are wise.  Make wise decisions.  Love your sisters and your brother.  Listen to your mama and daddy.  Give everyone the respect that you want.

I am proud of the little maniac that you are becoming.  I love watching you learn and grow every single day.  You make me smile.  You have my heart.

I love you, Pinky!

-kate

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I have not posted a recipe in FOREVER!  So, it’s time to post one!

But first…

My dear, precious husband knows how to make me happy, happy, happy!  Brad is truly the best husband in the world, and one of the sweet gifts he got me for Valentine’s Day was this coffee cup…probably hoping that I will wake up a little happy, happy, happy-er in the mornings than I do.

And just in case you have a child that decides she wants to

“Pwactice huh wettahs”

(Practice her letters) on your computer screen…

Windex doesn’t touch it.  409 doesn’t work.  BUT the Magic Eraser is truly MAGIC!  It took every bit of pen off of my computer screen, with ease.  And a certain little maniac will never make that mistake again!

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Moving on.

We love salmon.  It was on sale.  I bought a lot of it!

I think salmon is one of the easiest things to cook, and it is hard to mess up!  I usually just put it on foil, put a few thin slices of butter on top.  Sprinkle it with Nature’s Seasons, Montreal Steak Grill Mates, and Garlic Pepper, then squeeze a little lemon on it and grill until it flakes easily.

We enjoyed salmon with baked potatoes, green beans, and this salad, but I had leftover cooked salmon that I needed to use.

So, I made Salmon with Jalapeno Caesar Pasta Salad…

Of course, you could use chicken or steak, but we prefer salmon.

You will need:  Romaine Lettuce, Penne Pasta, Parmesan Cheese, Tomatoes, Salmon (or chicken), and Jalapeno Caesar Dressing (Recipe for dressing below)

While you are cooking the pasta, make jalapeno Caesar dressing.  It is so easy, and adds so much to the salad.

Recipe for Jalapeno Caesar Dressing

You will need Caesar Dressing, a Jalapeno, a Lime or a Lemon, and Freshly Ground Black Pepper.

It is best if you choose a Caesar dressing that you are already happy with.  I used what I had, but a good Caesar would have been much better.  Also, a lemon will work, but a lime offers much more flavor, so use a lime if you have one.

I did not.

Roughly chop the jalapeno with seeds and place it in a food processor.

Add 1 cup of Caesar dressing, the juice from one lime (or lemon), and freshly ground black pepper.  Process until smooth.

Then you just combine the amount of lettuce and pasta that you want, and add tomatoes, Parmesan, Salmon, and dressing.

So easy.  So delicious!

Recipe for Salmon with Jalapeno Caesar Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• Romaine Lettuce
• Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
• Penne Pasta
• Parmesan Cheese
• Salmon or Chicken
• 1 Cup of good quality Bottled Caesar Dressing
• 1 Jalapeno
• Juice from 1 Lime or 1 Lemon (about 1 Tablespoon)
• 1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, roughly chop jalapeno.  Place jalapeno, Caesar dressing, lime juice, and fresh ground black pepper in a food processor and process until smooth.

In a large bowl, combine the amount of lettuce and pasta that you want.  Add the tomatoes, Parmesan, salmon, and dressing for your big, fat, yummy, Jalapeno Caesar Pasta Salad!

Enjoy!

Upon posting that last picture, my stomach has started growling.  It’s 12:30.  I have a cookie cake in the kitchen.  Hmmm.  I think I’ll have one little bite of it…just to make my tummy be quiet.  :)

Happy eating!

-kate

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I have tons of random things floating around in my head, so I am just going to dump them in a post.

Happenings of last week….

Friday I was at home trying to get ready for Georgia’s birthday party.  I was doing laundry and baking cakes and making dresses and there was evidence of all my many projects all over the house!

ALL.OVER.THE.HOUSE!

So, it was 10 in the morning, and I was just minding my own business, baking cakes, and trying to keep peace between 3 little maniacs.  I was busy working in the kitchen…in my pjs and my fancy new house shoes, looking pretty scary!  All three girls were still in their pjs.  All of the sudden, my house FIRE alarm starts going off.  I had no idea why.  I had taken the cakes out of the oven, and nothing else was in the oven.  There was no fire.

We don’t have a house phone, except in the garage, and I heard it ringing and knew it was the alarm company.  I ran out to answer it and assured them there was no fire.  They told me that it was protocol to send the firetruck, and then she said the firemen were already on their way.

HOLY COW!

We live literally 2 blocks from the fire station.

I panicked!

I screamed at Lilly Katherine and AnnaLeigh, “Run to the window and tell me when the firemen pull up.”

I ran to my bedroom and threw on a bra and clothes as fast as I could, and I was shaking trying to get them on so quickly.  The girls screamed “THEY’RE HERE!” and by the time I could run to the door, the firemen were standing there…in full fireman equipment…and hats…with the big ol’ firetruck at my house.

I thanked them for coming and told them there was no fire.

They said they had to come in anyway.

GLORIOUS!

So, these kind gentlemen had to walk through every room of my house, AND my attic, checking to see if there was a fire.  All the while, Lilly Katherine, AnnaLeigh, Georgia, and I followed along, as I apologized profusely for our living conditions.  In my defense, I was working on many projects.

So, here’s a snap shot of what the dear firemen saw in every room of my house.  This is “Project Monkey Dress” or a better name would probably be “A fabric store threw up in my dining room!”  Keep in mind that the party was at my house Saturday morning, so it was all cleaned and put away before everyone arrived.  No, I did not sleep much Friday night.

After the poor firemen were gone, I realized that I am so thankful that they arrived so quickly.  I pray I never need them, but if I do, they are right around the corner.  And I am VERY thankful for how thorough they were and how kind they were.  The world is better because of people serving in rolls such as that.

And don’t you worry, I was telling myself the whole time they were here, “Kate, they have seen worse.  They have seen worse!”

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Also last week…

I decided to try a little Pinterest jewel I discovered.  HA!

I found this this great hair secret on Pinterest that was going to solve all of my problems, and I could not wait to try it out.

My hair was going to magically change into beautiful wavy locks while I slept, with these few easy steps.

Well I should have known things were not going to turn out well when my sock bun was not the cute little bun in her picture, but instead it looked like a monster was attacking my head.

So, what I learned is that if you have a MOP of hair on your head, as I do, your hair will not be beautiful round waves as seen in the above left, but you will look more like I did in the above right, which looked an awful lot like this…

And that really is what I looked like.  Brad was even laughing at me, and he never laughs at my big head o’ hair.  Soooo, give the sock bun thing a try if you have thin hair, and follow the link, because she gives good instructions.  You can have my sock.  I don’t think I’ll be trying this again.

Good luck to you.

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Also last week…

We were at church Sunday night for a parenting class that Brad and I are attending.  We are trying to get any good advice we can on raising these 4 wild ones!  Brad worked out before church, so he was wearing his athletic shorts and a fairly short t-shirt.  When our class ended, he went to pick the kids up from their classes, and our kids always react so differently.  Lilly Katherine runs, hides, and tells us “NO!” because she would rather stay there forever.  AnnaLeigh, on the other hand, will run screaming “MAMA!!!” or “DADDY!” with arms wide open, ready to jump into our arms.

On a few occasions she has gotten so excited to see us that she has excitedly BITTEN us.  Once, she bit me on the bottom so hard that I screamed and felt I hit the ceiling like a cartoon character.  Another time she excitedly bit Brad…but it wasn’t his bottom…it was somewhere more tender.  :/  He doubled over in pain, and she clamped down so hard it left a bruise.  I was laughing so hysterically!

This Sunday night, Brad got to AnnaLeigh’s classroom and she ran screaming, “DADDY!!!”  She ran up to him, hugged him, and PULLED HIS PANTS DOWN in the church hallway!

His hands were full, and he struggled to grab his shorts from his knees and pull them to his waste!  The saddest thing is that I MISSED IT!  I’m so sad I wasn’t there to witness this moment help my dear husband.

It’s always something.  Always. Something!

And lastly…

We had Georgia’s first birthday party last week, and I just wanted to put a pic of all of my babies at their first birthday party.

Oh my how I love that crew!  That wild, crazy, loud little crew!

Happy Friday!

-kate

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Saturday we celebrated my baby girl’s first birthday.

This is little Miss Georgia Sarullo at 12 days old, and Georgia at one year.

How is that the same kid?  How is that big baby girl my little newborn?

CRAZY!

I’m telling you, I know I say this over and over, but I truly can’t believe how quickly Georgia’s first year flew by.  It seems like this and this happened about 3 weeks ago!

SERIOUSLY!  3 weeks ago!

But Saturday we celebrated my baby girl’s first year of life with a little family party.  We shared the party with my sister’s baby girl, Laurabeth, who is just 6 days older than Georgia.  I love that these 2 are going to be almost like sisters growing up together.

Georgia and Laurabeth both sleep with the same kind of lovie, a sweet pink lovie monkey.  They love them, so we decided to have a Monkey birthday party for our little monkeys.

We used Curious George books as the guest books, and let everyone write a little note for each of the babies.

This was the first time that AnnaLeigh had ever written her name out for me.  Yes, she is four, but she is the third child, and she REFUSES to write her letters.  she loved signing Georgia and Laurabeth’s books, and she did a great job.

We’ll get the left to right thing another time.

Laurabeth LOVES her lovie monkey!

This is my sister and her little growing family…and she is PREGNANT with #4, due in June.  Yes, we are all crazy!
My Uncle Carroll and Aunt Barbara

This is “Aunt Sugar” and she is my brother-in-law, Alan’s, sister.  She is a wonderful part of our family and she loves our kids so much!  She and Georgia share a birthday, so I put Aunt Sugar’s name on the back of the cake.

When Georgia saw the cake, she was so excited…which of course made this mama very happy!

Laurabeth is always picking on poor Georgia…stealing something.  “Oh look!  A bow that I can eat!”

We told Laurabeth and Georgia to grab the monkey’s head.  We had to make special “cakes” for them, because Laurabeth is allergic to eggs and Georgia has FPIES (but we think she is growing out if that quickly).  We couldn’t let them eat regular birthday cake, so they ate rice krispie monkey heads covered in fondant.  Sugar, sugar, and more sugar…with a little butter.

I think I like this!

My mom was teaching Georgia new tricks.

I know this is a gross picture of me, but it is precious of my baby girl and my cute hubby…and I love these two!

My sweet baby girl, you will never know how much I love you!  You are the perfect little exclamation point to our crazy family!

You are fun and funny.

You are my tiny baby girl, and I am so thankful you are so little at a whopping 15 pounds, although I would be okay if you gained a pound or two and slept through the night.  It’s time!

You are a great eater, and you love to play with toys…as long as you can see me.  I love holding you all day and hugging you every chance I get.  You like to stiff-arm me, but I still manage to steal several kisses an hour.

You are treated like a toy by 3 wild maniacs, and you do a great job of rolling with the punches…literally.  Thank you for being tough and holding your own around here.  You are going to need to keep that up…for another 15 years or so.

You are a true joy to me, and I am so thankful the Lord chose you for me to love!

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Lord, thank you for this little piece of heaven.  Thank you for her fire and her fun little personality.  Thank you for her ability to hold her own and still roll with our crazy schedule.  Thank you for protecting her in this wild family.  Thank you for 3 girls that can be best friends, and thank you for Laurabeth, a precious best friend for my little Georgia.   Thank you for the love that Preston has for his baby sister, and I pray that they will have a special bond as oldest and youngest.

You have blessed me far beyond what I can hope for or imagine, and I thank you!  Please bless this sweet girl as you have blessed me…with a wonderful Godly husband, and good health and a precious family that knows you and loves you. 

Lord, thank you for her health and that her little body is fearfully and wonderfully  made.  Thank you for her precious wrinkled nose and her silly little teeth.  Thank you for her little pink toes and her wild hair.  Thank you for her sweet soft skin and her round little belly.  I could eat this little baby up, and I pray that you help me to never forget what it feels like to hold her little body in my arms.  Lord, help me enjoy each new moment and each new phase, and help me to savor this special time.

Lord, my prayer is that Georgia would know you and love you!  Please draw her near to you and help me to teach her and train her the way that she needs to be trained and loved.  Please give me the wisdom to parent my little love, and I pray that her sweet heart would be obedient to you (and to me!) :)

Lord, thank you for Georgia!  Oh, how I love her!

Amen!

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-kate

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I’m still catching up on December…

Christmas!

Christmas at Brad’s parents’ house.

My beautiful niece, Tayler, with my little peach.

Georgia opening a little bunny from Aunt Kara and Uncle Andy.

Christmas Morning.

There is no way the maniacs could come out of their room and not see all of their goodies, so we have to hang something up.  We have a redneck tradition of hanging (with duck tape) my old Strawberry Shortcake sheet in the doorway, so the kids can’t peek before we wake up.   Then we make them wait on the other side of the sheet while we “check to make sure Santa came.”

Love the cheeks!  Love the wrinkled little nose!  Love the total little package!

My big girl loves the same things that I love…and I love her!

Lilly Katherine is taking art from my friend, Carrie.  She did a self portrait, complete with the “side pony” she had given herself that day.  I framed it for her for Christmas, and she was so excited.  I’m so proud of her artwork, and I think she did a fabulous job!

LK also got a tea set, and the girls have loved it.  They had a tea party as they were waiting on me to cook lunch.

My maniacs on Christmas morning.

I took 39 pictures – THIRTY NINE to get the above picture!  It’s still not great, but they are all smiling and looking in the direction of the camera.  Most pictures look like the one below.  Georgia was trying to bust into the M&Ms.  Lilly Katherine was leaning on AnnaLeigh.  AnnaLeigh didn’t like it, so she, of course, was elbowing LK!  Preston just wants them all to straighten up and hurry with the picture.

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Then we went to my parents’ house and continued with the festivities.

Laurabeth and Georgia.

Me, My sister and Laurabeth, My mom and Georgia, and my wonderful, crazy grandmother, Memama.

My entire life, we have taken a picture on the stairs on Christmas morning…and we still do.

Memama and Georgia

In the middle of all the wonderful family time, it started to snow.  I’m not sure we have ever had snow on Christmas, so it was a beautiful surprise!

Caleb and Truett were opening their big gift, and my two big girls were ready for the action with their new cameras.  Maniacs!

Okay, so I HAVE to tell you about this HILARIOUS game that my sister-in-law, Kara, gave Preston for Christmas.  It was the funniest game I have ever played!  Well, I didn’t actually play it.  I watched and laughed until my cheeks felt like they were going to fall off.  I haven’t laughed this hard in a LONG time!

It’s a Jelly Belly game called Bean Boozled.

That little box of Jelly Bellies is a game. 

It looks normal, but you spin the spinner and you land on a jelly bean color.  You choose a bean that corresponds to the color you spun and you pop in in your mouth…but you don’t really know what you’re going to get.  Your bean will either be normal and delicious or HORRIBLE!

If you land on yellow/white speckled, you are either going to be eating caramel corn or MOLDY CHEESE.   If you land on Orange and Brown speckled it is either Peach or BARF!  And it really tastes like barf!  Or so I hear.  I can say that their breath SMELLED exactly like what they ate.  There is a dog food one that made me gag it smelled so much like canned dog food

I’m telling you if you have kids…especially boys, or daredevils or nephews…it is the funniest thing in the world!  I wish I had more pictures of people laughing, but I was laughing too hard to take pictures!  It made our Christmas so much fun this year.

The kids LOVED playing…as totally disgusting as it was.

Preston was all talk…until it was his turn.

I’m thinking it was not the good flavor!

We were all laughing so hard we were crying!

The next day, my brother came into town, and the kids convinced him to play.  It was still hilarous!

My brother brought his sweet little 5 week old baby, Brinley, for her first Christmas!  She is getting so big already, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to pass Georgia up soon!

The 3 baby girls in our family that were born in 2012!  Such special cousins.

My mama and sweet Brinley.  Oh she looks so much like her daddy!

And finally New Year’s Day!

Our tradition is to get together on January 1 to have brunch and celebrate the New Year and also Preston and AnnaLeigh’s birthdays.

I love our annual pancake picture!

I gave Preston a “9” and AnnaLeigh a “4” for their birthdays.  Preston thought his was a “P” so his is backwards.  Oh well.

Yay!  I’m caught up!   Caught up on the blog anyway!  I have so much laundry to do that I will never be caught up there!

Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!

and

Happy Monday!

-kate

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I am alive, and this is the longest hiatus I have ever had from the blogging world.  I know I am not alone when I say that Christmas time is crazy and somewhat overwhelming, and I love every second of it!  I can’t get enough good food, family time, and fun with friends.

But at our house, we’re still celebrating!

You see, for some strange reason and some very poor planning (or complete LACK OF planning) this is what our BIRTHDAY schedule looks like.

December 21: My dear husband, Brad

December 25: Jesus (Christmas!)

January 2: Preston

January 5: AnnaLeigh

January 24: Georgia  (Thank goodness it’s at the end of the month, and CAN YOU BELIEVE MY BABY IS ABOUT TO BE ONE?!?!?!?)

So in one month, our one little family has 4 birthdays and Christmas.  I’m seeing another blog hiatus in my future…but hopefully not.

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Well, Wednesday we got to celebrate my sweet baby boy’s birthday.

And, my sweet baby boy was born yesterday!

Yesterday, in my mind.

In reality, he is NINE!

We just had a little family celebration, because he wants his party to be at the Ranger’s game in the spring.  Thank goodness it’s not in January!  We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, and I think my son was mortified that I told them it was his birthday.  He looked scared to death the whole time he was on the birthday saddle, and as soon as it was over, he was back in his seat before I could blink.  It was hilarious!

Then we ran home to eat a bite of cake with his buddy Walker.

The cake was pretty pitiful.

Brad was home for lunch and as he was leaving, he said, “So I guess you’re not making a cake for Preston’s birthday?”

I took great offense of course, because I ALWAYS make cakes for my babies’ birthdays!  I love making their cakes, and I love seeing their faces light up when they see their cakes for the first time.

So, in a sweet and loving tone I responded, “Of course I am making his cake, but his party isn’t until April!!!”  To which my dear husband reminded me that we probably wouldn’t be able to take a cake into the ballpark!

OH NO!!!  My baby had to have a cake!!!

So before Brad could get out the door, I was pulling cake stuff out.  I had 3 little maniacs wanting to help make this cake.  It was then that I realized why I make cakes in the middle of the night!  I love to cook with my babies, but my skills have never been more challenged or questioned as they were with that darn cake.

“Why are you putting butter in the pan?”

“Why are you putting paper in the pan?”

“I don’t want paper on my cake!”

“Why are you making 3 cakes?”

“Why aren’t you making a pretty cake this time?”

“That’s not how you do icing!”

“You are using too much icing!”

“Why is the icing just white?”

“You just need to let me do it, Mama!  I know how.”

“You had 3 cakes, now you only have one!”

“Why is it so plain?”

“You messed up!”

“I can do that, Mama!  Just let me!”

AGHHHHHHHHHH!

I finally decided that they ALL needed to watch Wildcrats so I could finish!  (Which, as a total aside, I really like that show and so do my kids.  It’s very cool and educational!)

So it wasn’t a fancy cake, but it tasted good and it was a mini-Rangers cake for my big 9 year old.

I am so thankful that this maniac has been in my life for 9 years.  He reminded me that he’s “halfway out of the house!”  It makes me want to cry!  He is halfway to 18, and there are days that I’m not sure we are going to make it all the way to 18!  But if we do, he’s halfway there! :)

I love that Preston is ALL BOY!  I love that he is rough and tough, although a little too rough and tough with the 3 little balls of estrogen that live here.

I love that Preston is my walking calendar, because I would be lost and late (LATER), and I would miss so much if he didn’t keep me straight.

I love that Preston is responsible and self sufficient.  He is so good at taking care of what he needs to do without me asking.

I love that my girls have Preston as a big brother, and I know that one day he will step into the roll as the protector and encourager.  We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it! :)

I love that my 2 boys have each other.  I am so thankful that Brad has a son that is so much like himself.  They enjoy being with each other, and I am so thankful that they have the same hobbies, interests, and talents.  I am also thankful that Preston has a daddy like Brad, because there is no better example in the world of a Godly, hard-working, ethical, loving man!

I am a blessed Mama!  I am so blessed to be the mother of this wild little boy, a little boy that is quickly growing up before my eyes.

A boy that looks like this in my mind.

Or at the most, he looks like this…

But in reality, this is what my baby looks like!

Lord, thank you for my only little boy!  Thank you for this first born, type-A, precious little man!  Thank you for his smart little analytical brain and his ability to throw and catch and his love for all things sports.  Thank you for his smile and thank you that he looks so much like his cute daddy.  Lord, thank you for giving me a child that challenges me to be a better person and a better mother!  Thank you for giving him a mother like me, so that I can teach him to be flexible.  (and stress him out!) :)

Lord, please draw this little man close to you, and I pray that he would seek you and know you and love you!  I pray, Lord, that he will have faith in you and that you would give him joy and love and that comes only from you!  I pray that you will guide him, and that he would listen to your guidance!  Please help Preston to make all his decisions with godly wisdom and discernment. 

Please surround him with good influences and friends that will make him a better person and hold him accountable.  Please, Lord, help Preston to be a good friend, a good leader, and a good example. 

Please protect him from harm, and protect his mind and body from the craziness going on in our world.  Please teach me how to best love him and train him to know you and to be the man that you want him to become. 

Thank you for nine healthy, wonderful, unforgettable years with this little love of my life! 

Amen!

Happy birthday, P!  I love you!

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-kate

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I have no idea how it’s Thanksgiving already!  I’m still wondering where August went!  I feel so behind on life, and can’t seem to catch up with how quickly time is flying by!  However, I LOVE Thanksgiving, so I am happy to have this season upon us.

We have enjoyed many batches of Pumpkin Spice Muffins, and we got a very late start on our Thanksgiving Tree this year, but we’re getting there.

Then last week, my precious friend Andria shared some Pumpkin Dump Cake with me.  Of course I loved it, and of course I had to make some for myself…and of course I had to change the recipe because I can NOT leave well enough alone.

This is my version and it is no longer a dump cake, but a Pumpkin Cobbler.  It’s still so very easy, and would be a fabulous addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table.

Recipe for Pumpkin Cobbler

What you will need:

Yellow Cake Mix, Can of Pumpkin, Evaporated Milk, Eggs, Butter, Sugar, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Salt

Melt 3 Tbsp of butter.

Add 1 Cup of cake mix to the butter.

Mix well.

Press the mixture into a small baking dish.  I used a 7X11.  A 9X13 will be too large.

Bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes or until the edges begin to slightly brown.

Meanwhile, combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, and salt.

(A scant 1/4 tsp)

Stir well.  Mixture will be runny.

Pour the pumpkin mixture on top of the cooked pressed cake mix.

Then sprinkle the rest of the cake mix on top of the pumpkin mixture. Top the cake mix with pats of butter, using the remaining 5 Tbsp of butter.

(Alternate method:  you could melt the remaining butter and mix it with the remaining cake mix, then sprinkle it on top.  Slicing the butter is just easier to me.)

And by the way, I am usually so particular about how the butter looks, and to any of you that are as weird as I am about symmetry, I know that this is a sad, hot butter mess!  I was in a HUGE hurry!  Don’t judge!

Cook at 350° for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  It is great by itself, but don’t be afraid to throw on some ice cream. :)

YUMMY!  It’s 1:00 am, and now my mouth is watering.  I may just need to get a little bite.  And maybe a little ice cream.  Just a little.

Recipe for Pumpkin Cobbler

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 Stick of butter (divided 3 Tbsp and 5 Tbsp)
• 1 (15 oz) Can Pumpkin
• 1 (5 oz) Can Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Scant 1/4 tsp Salt (closer to 1/8 tsp)

Melt 3 Tbsp butter and combine with 1 Cup cake mix.  Press into the bottom of a greased small baking dish (such as a 7X11).  Bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes or until starting to slightly brown.

Meanwhile, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt.  Pour on top of pressed cake mix.  Sprinkle remaining cake mix on top of the pumpkin mixture.  Thinly slice remaining 5 Tbsp of butter and place on top of cake mix.  (Alt method: melt remaining 5 Tbsp of butter and combine with remaining cake mix and sprinkle on top of the pumpkin mixture.)

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Enjoy plain or with a big ol’ scoop of ice cream!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK!!!

-kate

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Lilly Katherine’s 6th birthday was August 26th, the day before school started.  Lilly Katherine has daily asked when her party would be, but in typical Kate fashion, I didn’t decide to do anything until last week.  If you have read this blog for any length of time at all, you will recognize a pattern here!  Her birthday party last year was in NOVEMBER!  Preston’s 8th birthday party was actually an 8 1/2 birthday, and the list goes on.  I NEVER have the party on their birthday.  This is not intentional, and it’s not that I don’t know when my children’s birthdays are.  I just procrastinate in every part of life.

I’m not proud of it!

And I vow to change every New Year’s Day.

And then I procrastinate on that, too.  I’m good at it.

Not only do I usually have the party much later than their actual birthday, but I am queen of very last minute parties, like this one.  On Monday, I decided that we should have Lilly Katherine’s party this weekend.  I called the church to reserve the date, and Brad’s mom reminded me that it was Rose Festival Weekend!  The Rose Festival is a big deal here, and LK loves to look at all the princesses in their dresses.  Brad suggested (Yes, BRAD!) that we have a few girls dress up and take them to the Rose Parade for her party.

Cute.  Easy.  Free.  Not at my house!

SOLD!

Sounded like a plan to me!  So I threw together some invitations, with Lilly Katherine’s help of course.  Then we ran them to a few friends.

Saturday morning was crazy, but we made it to the parade and had a fabulous time!  The girls were so cute in their princess attire.  Here are 4 million pictures of our Rose Parade Princess Party…

We set up a table with cupcakes and treasures for the little princesses.

The girls arrived with “the boss” leading the pack, looking in charge!

They accessorized with bracelets and rings…

…and crowns and necklaces and wands!  Great treasures from the Dollar store!

Then I armed them all with a noise maker, thinking they would toot on it for a second and put it down.

I was wrong!

It was like Rose Queen meets Duck Dynasty!  The girls blew on these stinking noise makers until they were blue!  The good news is that it drove any crowd that was around us, far, far away!

My beautiful baby girl!

I still can’t believe this little woman is SIX!

Then the parade began!

Lilly Katherine’s friend, Molly, was on the first float.

Lilly Katherine insisted on inviting sweet Molly, even though I tried to explain that Molly would be IN the parade and not able to attend.  That’s when LK had the idea that if the Rose Parade people saw all her friends dressed up, they would let them have their own float.

Hmmm.  Probably not.

But here’s beautiful Molly waving at our princesses.

And our little princesses excitedly waving back at Molly!

The Rose Festival dresses are always over the top and amazing!

Gotta love the Southern Belle Drill Team!

The “party” at the parade.

My three little princesses, AnnaLeigh, Georgia, and Lilly Katherine

The princess party attracted a little extra attention.

They kept asking Lilly Katherine and her princess crew, “Why are you guys here today?”  They were hoping she would say “For the Rose Festival!” or “To see the Rose Queen!”  However, no matter how many different ways they asked, Lilly Katherine’s response remained the same, “This is for my birthday party!”  “We are all here to celebrate my birthday!”  As if nothing else was going on around her or maybe that all those people were there for her.  I was cracking up!

Here are a few party guests.  I didn’t manage to get a picture of everyone…so sorry!

“Prince Preston” was there, but played football in the back most of the time.

Laurabeth and Truett

Mimi and Princess Georgia

Caleb attended, but spent a great deal of time like this, because he was frightened by clowns, loud vehicles, and the darn haunted house people that were in the parade.

Garrett, Preston, Uncle Alan, Caleb

Princess Tayler and King Brad

Oh Ella!  This face says it all!  I love how this child is going to brighten up her mama’s world! :)

The lovely Princess Claire.

My sweet baby Princess Georgia.  She is getting 2 new teeth.  Unfortunately they are not where you would expect.  Looks like I’ll have a little Jack o’lantern for Halloween.

We enjoyed a little hot chocolate and then CUPCAKES!

I made the princess cupcakes with little princess dolls.

I let each girl select the cupcake of their choice…starting with LK of course.

She chose princess Tiana.

The wind was too strong and the candle wouldn’t light, so we had a fake blow-out.

Princess Cinderella of course chose the Cinderella cupcake

While the girls were eating their princess cupcakes, I got to hold this little princess cupcake until she fell asleep.

Then we heard the Rose Queen coming up the road.

Ladybug, I love you!  I love that you had a great time at your party, and I love that life is a party to you!  I love your sweet voice and your giggle and the way you look at the world in a positive light.  I know you are going to touch so many people with your infectious smile and your desire to help others.  I Love you more than you will ever know!

You are a beautiful girl, but you must always remember what Memama, Aunt Barbara, Mimi, and I always say, “Pretty is as pretty does!” (and you may as well tack on “Don’t mess up cute by acting ugly”)

I love you birthday girl!

-kate

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There were several things that happened this summer that I never got around to blogging about, because we were so busy enjoying summer.  However, this is something that I kept thinking I would post and I have put it off WAY too long!

When I first started this fun little blog, I posted about having a heavy heart for my dear friend Kellie.  Kellie and I have been friends for about 7 years, and in that time I have seen her endure more hardships than any person should endure in a lifetime.

Almost 4 years ago, Kellie called me and said “I just want you to know that Mark has been diagnosed with brain cancer.”

My thoughts were “WHAT?!?  How can that happen?  He’s only 33 and has a 4 year old son and twin 2 year old boys.”  I have to be honest, I got off the phone and thought, “Well, I’m sure he’ll be okay.  Yes, it’s cancer, but I’m sure they’ll get through this.”

I was wrong.

Mark and Kellie did everything they could to fight the very aggressive brain tumor, but only a few short months later, Mark passed away.  It was so hard to watch and I can say with certainty that Kellie was stronger than I!  She was a rock.  She mourned and was sad for her loss, but she never missed a beat with those boys.  She was super-mom all the time, and loved those boys enough for the both of them.  She kept her head up and kept going.

A little more than a year after Mark passed away, Kellie’s dad passed away suddenly.

A few months later, her house was broken into while she was at work.  They took everything of value!  They even took her babies’ piggy banks.

A few months after that, she got a call that her 42 year old brother died in his sleep.  He went to bed with what he thought was a cold, and never woke up.

I can not imagine losing my husband OR my father OR my brother, but Kellie lost all THREE in a short 18 months.

Still, Kellie stayed strong.  Of course she cried and had moments of “What the heck are you doing to me, God?!?!” but she continued to pray and love the Lord and know that somehow there was a bigger picture and a plan.

I would have failed this test!

I would have thrown in the towel, but Kellie kept her head up and kept going.

Kellie did not JUST keep going, but she kept going strong!  She went to work part-time for Brad, helping to keep our real estate business afloat for the past 3 years.  She has been a good friend to so many.  She continued to be a fabulous mother, teaching and training her boys to love the Lord and to be respectful and obedient and kind.   She has cooked and cleaned and payed bills and kissed boo-boos and made cupcakes for class parties.  She has wiped many tears and had many long, hard discussions with 3 little men that miss their daddy.  She has done every frustrating bedtime routine and changed every wet bed!  She has attended every school function and boy scout event and baseball game.  She has been a better mom than most of us that have a husband to come home to.  Kellie has truly been super-mom!

Well…

Fast forward.

Kellie started dating.  Now, if Brad were to leave me on this earth with 4 wild maniacs, I feel that I would never date again.  However, Kellie has the advantage of looking like a supermodel!  That is no exaggeration.  Not only is she beautiful, she is almost 6 feet tall and weighs less than my current 5’2″ body!  It’s pretty disgusting!

For so many reasons, Kellie is the total package!  I knew that any man would be lucky to have her, but I also knew that she had 3 little boys to consider as well.

Kellie met Will.

Will was instantly impressed and had a little crush on Kellie. :)  Eventually he met the 3 boys.  Now, Kellie’s boys are just about the most precious children in the world, and I hate to say it, but I don’t always like other people’s children.  (I know that sounds ugly, but it’s just the truth!)  When Will met the boys, he connected with them immediately.  He told Kellie they were 3 little bonuses to the relationship.

Don’t get me wrong, I was looking for things to doink him on…you know, flaws to pick at and reasons she needed to be cautious.  She had so much crap go on in her life in such a short time that I didn’t want some guy swooping in, showing her the world, and then breaking her heart…or breaking the hearts of those three precious boys!

Well, time after time of being with Will and Kellie, I really couldn’t find anything to doink him on.  Kellie started falling in love with this guy and he was falling in love with all 4 of them.

This past Mother’s Day, Will told Kellie he needed to run to the store.  He grabbed the 3 boys and they went to buy flowers.  A little while later, Kellie heard a knock on the front door.  She opened the door, and this is what she saw…

Will and all 3 boys were in suits on the front porch.  The boys screamed “Happy Mother’s Day!” and Will said “Will you marry me?”

And Kellie….she said YES!

Picture taken by Brooke Karaki – KarakiPhotography.com

Will had the the ring custom made for her, and allowed each one of the boys to pick out a diamond for a special little part of the ring.

What a sweet blessing!  The boys immediately (as in moments after the proposal) said “Now can we call you Daddy?”  I have been crying the whole time I’ve been working on this post, but man!  I just can’t help but tear up thinking about how excited those boys were to finally have a DADDY!

Picture taken by Brooke Karaki – KarakiPhotography.com

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On August 7, Kellie and Will were married.  My beautiful friend became a beautiful bride!

Kellie moved to Ft. Worth to be with Will…imagine that!  I guess she thought that relationship was more important than ours.  Friends!  Who needs them?  I’m kidding, but I tell you, I sure am sad she moved away!  I miss our weekly girls nights together, eating a bunch of junk food, watching Modern Family, Friday Night Lights, and just girl talk!

But what I want you to hear is this…

The Lord provided for Kellie and her boys.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

He continually provided for them financially.  I can say this with full knowledge and conviction.  Kellie worked for Brad.  When the real estate market was down everywhere, my sweet hard-working husband was still busy!  His business stayed steady, and we saw how God was faithful to provide home sales for us, which also allowed Brad to continue to employ Kellie!  It was not an abundance, but it was sufficient!

He provided so many amazing people and friendships for Kellie and her boys.  Kellie had older women in the church that stepped in as mentors and “grandmothers” to her boys.  She had friends like Elicia, Monica, and Heather that stepped up and watched the boys at the drop of a hat.  She had a precious friend from Arizona, Lisa, that for some strange reason lost her job and couldn’t find another one.  Her job hiatus was at such a crucial time for Kellie, and Lisa made herself completely available to Kellie, even staying in Texas for weeks!  She had a precious woman, Molly, who sat with her day and night at the hospital and waded through bills and paperwork and insurance junk trying to keep Kellie’s life together.  Kellie had people she didn’t even know bring food for months.  I saw so many people step up to love on this family.  Meredith and I provided junk food and fellowship.  We tried to go to Kellie’s house every Wednesday night from the time Mark died until right before she was married, to hang out and EAT!  Occasionally our friends Tiffany and Elicia would join us.  There’s no substitution for good girl time, and we all benefited from that.  This is a picture from a party we had for Will and Kellie months ago.

(Monica, Me-looking very postpartum, Heather, KELLIE, Elicia, Tiffany, Meredith)

And God, in HIS perfect timing provided the perfect man for them!  Kellie has a sweet husband, her babies have a wonderful daddy, and they are growing together as a family!  Through all of the hardships in her life, Kellie has seen God’s provision and protection, and she is able to look at the past few years and speak about how the Lord has used some awful,terrible, horrible situations to protect her.  To protect her!  Isn’t that amazing!

You know, God sees the big picture.  Even knowing the Lord and knowing he has a plan, it was hard for me to watch Kellie’s life.  Kellie was a modern-day Job!  And she, like Job, remained faithful, and I know the Lord will reward her faithfulness.  He already is!  If Kellie can endure what she has over the past few years and look back and see God’s hand guiding and protecting her, surely I can!

She is the perfect example of Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!”

Will, you better take good care of my friend!

Kellie, I miss and love you, friend!  But I am so happy for your new life, your new start, and I pray that this is your “Happily ever after!”

-kate

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For all of you parents who are hating the attitudes and the meltdowns that the first few weeks of school bring, please just know that you are not alone!  Just as I mentioned in this post last year, starting school has always been hard for Preston and now we have added Lilly Katherine to the mix.  Praise the LORD Preston has been much better this week.  I guess by third grade he has finally figured out that he HAS to read and it’s not my fault that he has to read!  I should also mention that he still LOVES his reading nook and reading pillow and he uses them everyday!  If you need an idea to motivate your little ones to read, something like this AND this may really help.

I have to say that what is frustrating me the most about my kids lately is that they absolutely WILL NOT OBEY!  I feel like I speak another language or maybe they all have hearing problems!  I catch myself screaming the Rush Hour line “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!?” all too often!  They are driving me crazy with disobedience and “delayed” obedience!  You know the old “I was gonna do it, but I was just…”

I find that I am spending WAY TOO MUCH time and effort repeating myself, not being heard, and in turn punishing them.  Not fun!

Anyway, I need to make a little confession that I am no better than my maniacs!  I am one of them!  I have learned a VERY valuable lesson this week and I really feel like it’s one we all need to hear…or maybe I just need to put it in writing so my head knowledge becomes heart knowledge.

Over the last few months I have been convicted that my eyeballs are glued to my phone WAY too much!  I am not talking about texting and calling people.  Of course I text and call, and I will continue to do so.  I am talking about my fun apps like Words with Friends (which I love) and houzz, and Facebook, and stinkin’ Pinterest!  I have way too many fun things to look at on my phone…and I can justify each one of them.

Words with Friends keeps my brain sharp, and few things in my life do that right now.

houzz gives me design ideas for free so I don’t have to buy any home magazines…not like I really ever did that anyway.

Facebook is my connection to the outside world and allows me to interact with people that are taller than 3 feet!  I am a social person and it is a fun way to connect with people.  Plus, it is very entertaining in the middle of the night when you are up 37 times nursing a newborn!

Pinterest is a down-right obsession, and I can easily convince myself it will make me a better wife, mom, cook, cleaner, cake decorator, crafter, etc… as soon as I actually do all the things I pin!

Well, I have felt the Lord nudging me to get my eyes off of my phone and spend time with my babies.  They are young.  They are home.  They are wanting to play with me…and I am playing Words with Friends (and enjoying it!)  Lilly Katherine’s precious Sunday School teacher says (about her grown children) that she would give up all her worldly possessions to spend just one day with her sons as little kids again.  WOW!  I know I will one day look back and wish that I had spent more quality PLAY time with these maniacs!

Sometimes the kids play with my phone or beg to play on my computer.  I recognize when they have been on my phone too long and quickly remove it from their sticky little hands, and then wipe the screen off because I swear kids hands secrete something awful onto iPhones!  I do not love for them to play on my phone, and I rarely let them play on the computer…for many reasons.  I strictly limit their time with technology, but I do not hold myself to the same standards.  Why?  I have no good answer.  This is a classic “Do as I say, not as I do” way of parenting and it is not wise or effective!

Then I pinned something a few weeks ago that said “If you’re too busy to read your Bible or pray, then you are much busier than the Lord intended you to be!” and I was again convicted because this summer a Quiet Time with my Bible was darn near impossible!  However, I could have read my Bible app just as easily as I could have searched for chore charts (that I will never make) on Pinterest!

Also a few weeks ago I realized that I didn’t have an iPhone as I nursed Preston, Lilly Katherine, and AnnaLeigh.  Whatever did I do without Facebook and Pinterest as I sat alone, in a quiet dark room, feeding my babies in the middle of the night?

Oh, I remember…

I PRAYED FOR THEM!

I sang to them!

I looked at THEM, not at a glowing screen!  I looked at their sweet little faces and stroked their little heads!  I kissed their sweet hands and kissed their tiny little fingers!  I thanked the Lord for the opportunity to be the mother of such a precious gift!  Have I done that with sweet Georgia?  NO!  My iPhone and all my “fun” apps have been just as imperative as a burp cloth when I sit down to feed her.

Knowing that the tugging at my heart for this certain conviction was getting stronger, what did I do?  Did I listen?  Did I act?  Was the Lord screaming “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”  Of course he was!

However I continued to ignore his request, just like a 3 year old maniac I know, and I justified my obsession and the stronghold in my life…a dumb phone!

That brings me to last Thursday…

My phone was so slow as I was trying to take this picture of our last day of summer.

I knew my phone was slow because my phone was full of pictures and videos and also because it had not been updated since, well, ever!  I am not sure I had ever updated my phone in almost 2 years.  Genius!  I know.  There are reasons, but I’ll spare you the technical details.

As I slept Friday morning, Brad was on the phone with AT&T trying to backup my phone so he could update it.  Somehow in the process, my dear husband restored my phone to factory settings.  That’s right!  Back to an empty, straight from the store, iPhone!

Because of my computer situation, we could not restore it to a previous backup because there WERE NO previous backups!

I was DEVASTATED!!!  I literally cried all day long!  I was angry and sad and mad, and I was not very fun to be around.  He had not only erased all of my contacts, my apps, my songs, my settings, but also all of my pictures, and all of my videos…the birth of my baby, Georgia’s first bath, the kids bathing her, my dying grandmother holding Georgia and talking to her, Lilly Katherine learning to ride a bike, and a million more!

After I got over the initial shock and devastation, I realized that I had asked for this!  I knew almost immediately that this was a result of my total disobedience from what the Holy Spirit was placing on my heart.  Why hadn’t I just obeyed?!?  I should have put the phone down! I deserved this and He needed to make this painful enough to get my attention!

The people at Apple said there was nothing we could do.  I went to stores that specialize in helping dummies like me, and they couldn’t help me.  My “computer geek” dad worked on my phone and my computer all weekend, and recovered absolutely nothing.  I tried to restore it with a previous backup from November, in an effort to recover some of my pics and videos, and as it turned out the backup never completed in November, so I could not even get that.

In the midst of all of this, I decided the Lord wanted my attention and I started by just reading the Psalm and the Proverb that corresponded to the day.  This is my go-to when I don’t know what to read for my quiet time.  So on August 29, I read Psalm 29 and Proverbs 29, and guess what I found…

Proverbs 29:1

“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed – without remedy”. NIV

or the New Living Translation says

“He who stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.”

Hmm.  Hello Lord!  Would you like to be a little more direct?

My friend asked, “So you really think the Lord erased your phone?” and my response is this…I am positive that Brad erased my phone.  I am positive that the AT&T people were of little assistance in the process. I am positive that I was EXTREMELY upset.  I am positive that the Lord used this to get my attention.  Now, if only my apps had been deleted I am sure I would have just put them back on my phone and rocked on.  By deleting EVERYTHING, I realized how dependent I am on that little piece of technical equipment and how much time I spend on it!  What happened really got my attention!

And now for the rest of the story…(and if you read those words and you don’t hear Paul Harvey saying them in your head then you are too young!)

A local cell phone store gave us the name of a forensic detective (sounds serious!) that could possibly recover any information if there was a shred of info out there.  I had very little faith since several people and computer programs were not able to recover the images and videos.  He looks through computers for the police department and attorneys in criminal investigations.  I’m sure he sees some pretty crazy stuff!

Brad took my phone and computer to him yesterday and he looked on it for a few minutes and found nothing.  He tried almost all of his tricks and nothing!  He said to Brad, I may look one more place, and he saw a file that looked rather large.  He clicked on a tiny thumbnail of an image and it was a picture of my  one week old baby girl asleep on Brad’s shoulder!  Oh my goodness!  Brad said, “That may be it!”

He opened a few more images.  He saw the video thumbnails.  HE FOUND IT!!!!  He is actually still working on it, but we are hopeful that he will be able to recover my pictures and videos, and I honestly have no idea how!  I have no idea how they got on the computer, and I have no idea how he found them.

I do know that I have learned a very important lesson, and I am forever grateful that I have those videos and pictures back.

My plan of action:

I am going to put my phone down.

However painful it is, I am not RE-loading houzz, Pinterest, and WWF back on my phone.  I do still have Facebook on my phone because I have no contacts and no email, so it is my way of communicating with many people at this time.  Yes, I am very good at justifying things!  However, if there is a little maniac standing beside me saying “Mama!  Mama!  Mama!  Mama!” I know now to make that little maniac a higher priority than status updates of people I haven’t seen in 15 years!

I want to be a good example to my children.  I want to value them and let them know that I love them more than my iPhone!  I want to put the phone down and spend time with the real lives the Lord has put in my presence…that NEED me!

Join me!  Put your phone down and join me!

Have a wonderful phone free weekend! :)

-kate

“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed – without remedy”   -Prov 29:1 NIV

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This summer was absolutely wonderful!  We didn’t do too much.  We just had fun together doing things the kids wanted to do.  We did not go to the gym and my jiggly thighs are proof.  We did not go to the grocery store as often as we should have.  We did not clean the house as we should have, but we did swim a LOT, and pick blueberries, and play with friends, and go to the park, and go to museums, and play outside, and just have fun!  I love the ages of my kids right this moment!

I am mourning the end of summer!  I love the freedom and the fun.  This random picture from two weeks ago sums up our summer pretty well.

Preston is in FULL football gear from mouthpiece to shoes, anticipating the start of the Cowboys’ season.  He is loving on/messing with Georgia who looks a little happy and a little scared to death.

Lilly Katherine is quietly working on a little project.  She is wearing red sparkly shoes that were passed down from her friend Laura, and she has rarely taken them off in the past month.

AnnaLeigh is wearing Lilly Katherine’s recital outfit complete with mismatched high heels, and she is “cooking” me some coffee.

Monday all of that changed…

As of Monday, my world once again revolves around the school bells!  My house should be quieter, but AnnaLeigh has made up for any lull with some pretty sweet fits!

Monday, my baby boy started third grade…

and Monday my baby girl started KINDTERGARTEN!!!

So…of course we had to add LK to our annual Pencil Cake!

Preston…my big 3rd grader!

Preston and Nash

Lilly Katherine…my beautiful Kindergartener!

After they got home, we all enjoyed their sweet treat!

I love these big kids!  Seeing them hug each other is a very rare thing…and it ended with a very rough squeeze and some tears!  But the picture sure is cute!

The damage.  :)

I am so sad to see summer go.  Don’t get me wrong, those little people sometimes make me want to LOSE MY MIND!  But I actually like them around, under my wing…as absolutely crazy as they make me.  It’s quieter and easier when they’re not around, and a break is a welcomed treat…but I really don’t like them gone all day every day!  However, I have enjoyed loving on this happy, toothless, sweet little thing a little more this week!

Happy Back to SCHOOL!

-kate

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Preston’s birthday was in January and we had a little family celebration then.  However, in typical Kate fashion, we had his party this past Thursday!  I was 9 months pregnant in January and miserable and he wanted a swim party, so we decided to celebrate his HALF birthday this year!  It was wonderful!

The party was hot and fun, and we are so fortunate to have a wonderful place to have a swim party.  Brad’s parents always willingly open their home and their pool to us and to all of our friends, and our kids love to have parties there.

Preston decided months ago he wanted a Baylor party.  He actually wanted an RGIII or Brittney Griner party and asked if I could make an RGIII cake.  While I was flattered that he thought that was in any way possible, I assured him that it was not!  I told him I would make a Baylor cake, but it would not be a sculpted person, nor would either of those players be making an appearance at the party.  He was fine with it.

I did, however, call Baylor and tell them that I had an 8 year old having a party and asked it they could send me a few Baylor Magazines and any other little goodies for little guys.  They were WONDERFUL!  A box arrived a few days later with magazines, coloring pages, pennants, a rally towel, highlighters for all the kids and more, and it was all FREE.  Preston was thrilled, and I am positive he is SOLD on Baylor!  I also purchased shirts from the Baylor bookstore that were on serious clearance, and all that made for a pretty fun party favor.I wish I had more pics, but I think I was shooting in the wrong mode, because many of my pictures were too blurry to use. :(  Here are a few from Preston’s 8.5 Baylor Birthday Party.

When we received our box of free goodies from Baylor, Preston (my child who does not color, draw, or create ANYTHING unless a teacher is holding a box of sharpened colored pencils to his head) took the Baylor Bear fan, and drew a picture of the bear.  He did an AMAZING job, and I had to hang it at the party!

The cake…a Baylor baseball, basketball, football helmet cake.

I told Preston he couldn’t get in the pool until I had a picture of all 3 of the kids.  I got a quick pic of my kids, and about 5 minutes later I was taking pictures of Georgia and it hit me that I don’t just have THREE kids!  I have FOUR now!!!  Wow!  Sleep deprivation setting in.

George (Granddear) and Georgia

Nolan, Josh, Preston, and Michael

We got to use the field goal my brother-in-law, Alan, made out of PVC pipe for Preston a few years ago.

Ayden

Preston’s new trick!

Will

Papa and Claire entertaining Georgia…or Georgia entertaining them.

Charlotte

Happy half birthday, baby boy!

-kate

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First of all, I would like to state that it’s 10:38 on Saturday night, and I have spent the last 3 hours trying to convince myself I did not need to bake a cake for myself!  I WANT WHITE CAKE WITH BUTTERCREAM ICING!

I have rummaged through my cabinets and refrigerator no less than 43 times tonight trying to find something to satisfy this need for white cake.  I was hoping for a healthy option.  I even took the time to make healthy peanut butter/coconut balls, but they did not do the trick.  However, I did consume a fair share of them before I decided that they were no match for white cake!  I tried chai tea/milk and drank a lot of it, but it, too, did not stop the voice in my head telling me I needed cake.  I even ate chocolate and nutella and everything else I could find, but nothing satisfied that craving for creamy, sweet, delicious white cake with white buttercream icing.

I almost made a batch of icing just to eat (or dip pretzels into) and then I remembered that I had some marshmallow fondant in the fridge.  Well, I have a lot less fondant now, but my craving for cake has been suppressed a little.

The moral of my pitiful story is this:  When I am ravenously craving something, I should just get it!  You would think that I would have learned by now that if I am really craving it, I will eat WAY more trying to not eat it than I would if I just ate what I was craving.

Okay, so enough of the true confessions!  Just wanted you to get a sad little glimpse inside my head…and my fridge!

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So this is the last post about our short trip to Mississippi, but I just had to post a few comparison pics because it makes me so sad that my babies are growing up so quickly.  My cousin, Amy Lauren, and I have always been close.  Growing up, every year I would spend weeks of the summer in Mississippi with my cousins.  I have always had so much fun with them, and I am thankful to be part of such a close-knit family.  However, now that I have kids of my own, I am even more thankful to have family to walk this crazy road with me.  Many of us have kids around the same age, and we share many stories via text, email, and phone!

We often spend July 4th in Mississippi.  Amy Lauren and I took pictures of our girls on 4th of July weekend this year and 3 years ago.  AnnaLeigh’s birthday is January 5, and Georgia’s is January 24, so they are only 3 weeks apart in these pictures…but AnnaLeigh had a TON of hair!

4th of July 2009 (Emma-Kate-3, Lilly Katherine-almost 3, AnnaLeigh 6 months)

4th of July 2012 (Emma-Kate-6, Rosemary 6 months, AnnaLeigh-3.5, Georgia 5.5 months, Lilly Katherine almost 6) and I’m sporting the no make-up, no hair brush look.

Just the babies…

This was our last trip to Mississippi just a few short months ago, in March.  Rosemary and Georgia were about 2 months.

Georgia, Rosemary

And now they are almost 6 months!

Rosemary, Georgia

Then…

Now…

All these people are growing too darn fast!

I am tired, and apparently so is Brad.  He fell asleep next to me on the couch about 45 minutes ago, and his entire upper body is leaning on me…and he’s twitching!  He must go to bed!  Goodnight!

-kate

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We are LOVING summer!  I cannot tell you how much I love spending time with friends all day, hanging out at the pool, eating lunch outside, and having absolutely NO SCHEDULE!  I am a SUMMER GIRL, and we have had a great start to this summer.  Here are a few things that we’ve done over the last couple of weeks (although our summer just started one week ago.)

The last week of school, Preston’s friend Nash was at our house and the kids were hunting for lizards.  They were very successful at catching critters with my gardening gloves.  It was so funny!

Nash caught the lizard.

The boys were excited to create a little “habitat” for their lizard.  I’ve forgotten his name, but my friend Andria said, “That lizard is still alive and kicking.  Well, he’s alive.  I’m not sure he’s kicking.”  Poor tortured lizard.Then they found this little guy!

Preston wanted so badly to grab it.  He sat there for about 3 minutes looking at it with his hands like this…but he could not bring himself to grab it.  I can’t say that I blame him!

However, Lilly Katherine could not get close enough!

Nash came through again, and caught the frog!  He was so excited!

The poor frog was locked in here, until we decided to release him from his plastic prison.

And what was AnnaLeigh doing as they big kids were catching lizards and frogs?

Why she was instructing and pretending to take pictures, of course.

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Now that it is finally summer, Preston loves to come get in my bed after Georgia wakes up so he can come love on her…and jiggle her…and mess with her.  He loves her so much!

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I have spent as much time loving and kissing on my little Georgia Peach as I possibly can!  And by the way, she is a NEW baby!  She is happy, content, and more precious than ever!

I have decided that I want to freeze time right here!

4 months!

4 months is the absolute most perfect age, and I would like to freeze her here!  She laughs, coos, smiles, and loves me!  She can’t go anywhere, she can’t walk, can’t talk, can’t talk back!  She can sleep and sleeps often if given the opportunity.  She is big enough to hold and run around, and still small enough to be my little baby girl. She is happy and can play with her feet or hold a toy, but she is not old enough to reach and grab at things while I am holding her. I just want to stop time right here!  I love this little monkey…and she loves her little monkey! :)

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My beautiful, wonderful, precious niece,Tayler, graduated from High School last week!  I am so proud of the woman she is, and I am so thankful my baby girls have she and her sister as role models!  What amazing women God has placed in my baby girls’ lives!

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I have no words for these two MANIACS!  I could not find them in the house and then I realized they were in the backyard looking like this…

Just scooping poop in their pearls…and heel (singular) and rain boots!

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Nothing says summer to me like picking and eating fresh blueberries!

AnnaLeigh and Audrey

We went blueberry picking this week with this wild crew.  I carted my big stroller all over that farm to carry things like my camera and our lunch.  Then I didn’t take a single picture until we were finished picking.  Now I’m not even posting those pictures because Brad has our camera today.  Oh well, here are a few phone pics that Meredith and Carrie texted me.  One day we’ll be smart enough to take pics before we start, instead of taking pics of hot, tired, hungry children.

Please notice that little maniac in the bottom right corner.  It’s my nephew Truett.  He was NOT excited about a picture…and I love him so much!

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And finally, we have been seeing a LOT of these sweet babies lately.

These pictures were taken last week.  They are in birth order: Laurabeth, Georgia, Eva, Thomas, and Henry

And this week all of our big kids are taking swimming lessons, and the babies have gotten to hang out in the shade.

Yay for a fun start to summer!  I just pray we have many, many more days of summer fun.  I pray that I will be able to teach and train my children this summer.  We are working HARD on attitudes!  I also pray that my kids have fun with each other, with me, and that they will remember the fun times we had together and with friends!

-kate

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I have mentioned my sweet friend Dominique a million times.  She is a precious woman, a wonderful mother, an inspiration, a wise woman of God, an encourager, a cooking/baking machine, and a dear friend.  I am so sad that she and her family are moving to Clinton, Mississippi, but I’m so thankful they will be so close to my Mississippi family that I will be able to visit!

My maniacs love their children, and we love them!  When you have a big family, it’s hard to find another family where the moms get along, the dads get along, and all the kids get along.  We found that kind of relationship with the Jordan fam!  We are very sad to say “Goodbye,” but we know this is a good move for their family.

My friends Elicia and Meredith and myself put together a little surprise going away party for them last week.  Our little get-together reminded me of a college mixer and it was a wonderful night, with wonderful weather and wonderful friends.

Here’s the surprise…

Party pics…

Meredith, Kellie, Tiffany

Betsy, Jenni, Dominique, Me, Megan, Ashley, Laurabeth

Kellie and Dominique

Tyne, Dominique, Ann

Elicia made Dominique this book and I wish I had taken pictures of it.  It was such a precious idea.  We each submitted a family picture and a family recipe and Elicia created a Shutterfly cookbook with all of Dominique’s friends and their fav recipes, then we all signed it (like a year book).

Kyle, Jennifer, and Ben looking at the “cookbook.”Elicia and Scott, Jeff and Dominique

I made them a little cake.  Actually, Mere and Elicia helped.  They kneaded the food coloring into the fondant.  Couldn’t have done it without you girls. :)

Jeff and Dominique

Dominique and Megan

The hubbies…Kyle, Brad, Scott

I just had to put this pic in because it cracks me up.  Thanks, Wade!

Scott and Elicia, Kyle and Meredith, Dominique and Jeff, Me and Brad

The girls.

Dominique, we will miss you so much, friend!  You better come back and visit, and you can count on many late night phone conversations from me in the future…especially on cake baking nights.  You have truly blessed my life, made me a better mother, challenged me, uplifted me, and made me feel “normal” more times than I can count.  You are beautiful inside and out and you and your family will truly be missed!

-kate

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My little Georgia Sarullo is named after two very special people…Brad’s dad and my wonderful Italian grandmother, MamaSara, whose maiden name is Sarullo.

This picture was taken 5 months ago when MamaSara was recognized for faithfully serving the Lord as the church organist for SIXTY-SEVEN years.

(I love that Papa is ready for cake with a fork in his pocket!)

One month after that photo, MamaSara fell and her health has rapidly declined.  I know Georgia will never have the opportunity to know the amazing woman we have all been blessed to know, but she will take with her a special treasure being MamaSara’s namesake.

In December we thought we were going to lose MamaSara.  She had a brain bleed and she got to the point where she couldn’t walk or talk.  My grandfather, who is so completely devoted to his wife of almost 60 years, elected to do a brain surgery that the doctor advised against.  The doctor told them she would never walk or talk again and would likely never go home.  She awoke from her surgery giving praise to God and telling my grandfather that she loved him.  It was a beautiful testament to her life as she is completely devoted to the Lord and to my Papa!

Through what I see as a miraculous recovery, she is home.  Due to the horrible disease of Alzheimer’s, she is not the same woman she was in the above picture, but she walks, she talks, she eats, she loves God and she loves her family.

I have too much to say about MamaSara to squeeze it all in this post, but I love her so very much.  I have wanted to go see her, and I couldn’t wait until Georgia was old enough for the LONG road trip.  Brad and I knew it was not going to be easy, but it was so important to me.

The trip to Oxford, Mississippi is about 8 1/2 hours if driven straight through.  Well, when you’re traveling with an 8 year old, a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a nursing newborn, there WILL BE a few stops!  We loaded the kids up and prayed for safety, speed, and silence. :)  Maybe not silence, but at least a peaceful ride.  The trip was better than we ever dreamed it would be.  Seriously it was so smooth!  Georgia was wonderful!  She cried the whole time we were in Mississippi, but she probably only cried a total of 30 minutes in the car.  Praise the LORD!

When we got to MamaSara and Papa’s house, I hugged MamaSara, my grandmother who has always looked impeccable.  Her hair, make-up, clothes, and jewelry have always been perfect.  She is still beautiful, but now she has a “hospital haircut” from her brain surgery, and she is so cold all the time that she wears whatever layers Papa can find to make her comfortable.

I grabbed her hand and took her to the table to meet Georgia.

I said, “MamaSara, I want you to meet Georgia.  This is Georgia Sarullo.”

She looked at me and said, “Oh my goodness, I’m gonna cry!”

I said, “Well, she’s named after you.”  Then that precious frail woman wrapped her thin, strong arms around me and hugged me so tight and for so long as tears just streamed down my face.  I looked at my cousin Amy Lauren and as she wiped away her tears, she said, “Well that was worth the drive, wasn’t it?”

It was worth every second!  It was a moment I will never forget and will treasure always.

Then MamaSara said, “Give me that baby!”  She spent the next little while hugging, kissing, and loving on Georgia.  She just kept saying, “I love you so much!”   Thanks to my phone, I have it on video.  What a precious unforgettable weekend!

She called Papa in to come hold Georgia.  How blessed I am that my babies know so many of their GREAT-grandparents!

We stayed with my cousin Amy Lauren.  Her daughter Rosemary is 11 days older than Georgia. She is so squeezable and happy.  I just love her little rolls!

This picture was taken on our last visit in November.  My sister, Amy Lauren, and I were all pregnant, and none of us knew what we were having.  We all had girls within a few days of each other.  So fun!

The kids had so much fun playing together.  Please notice the differences in BOYS and GIRLS!  Boys are so wild and so rough.

Preston and Noble – tried to kill each other…

AnnaLeigh, Emma-Kate, and Lilly Katherine – tried to heal each other…

The boys used a truck to try to run over the photographer (me)…

The girls used chalk to create the game of hopscotch…

The boys played basketball outside…

The girls sat on the floor and played with a bird inside…

The boys had a wrestling match…

The girls had a dance party…I am just glad everyone had fun!

My cousin Franci always has random livestock living at her house…in the middle of a subdivision in Oxford!  She’s had pigs, bunnies, birds, chickens, dogs, bees…you name it!

Well, this time they had several little chicks and the girls (especially Lilly Katherine) fell in love with them.

The girls

Georgia and Rosemary

Noble.  I would steal this little man from Amy Lauren in a heartbeat!

AnnaLeigh could NOT stop loving on MamaSara.

Sweet memories…

And the reason for our trip…

MamaSara and Papa, thank you!  What amazing examples you both are to our entire (enormous) family!  We love you very much!

²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

-Proverbs 31: 28-31

-kate

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Life has been so busy around here!  We have had screaming babies, sick babies, spring break, birthdays, trips to Mississippi, and more!

I’ll keep from posting the sick pics, but I need to post about all the other things!  All of these pictures are all from my phone, so the quality is marginal at best.

My mom’s birthday was last week and Lilly Katherine made her a cake.  Well, I made the cake, and LK decorated it with very little assistance.

My mom’s favorite color is yellow and she loves yellow roses, so we made her a mini yellow rose cake.

She received yellow roses from a friend and they looked great together.

Lilly Katherine was so excited to give Mimi the cake she made for her.  She also made this special hair bow for her. :)  LK has such a sweet, giving heart.

Yesterday my sister and her maniacs came over.  Her sister-in-law, Anne (aka Aunt Sugar), made these precious dresses for Georgia and Laurabeth.  I’ll have to get details and show you how.  They are so cute.  Aren’t these little cousins growing so fast?!?!

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I haven’t posted a recipe in FOREVER!  This is my new addiction!

My precious friend Andria brought us this delicious quiche after Georgia was born, and I have CRAVED it ever since.  I have already made it twice and I just had to share the recipe.  It’s packed full of colorful nutritious veggies, and I eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Veggie Quiche Recipe

You will need:

Refrigerated Pie Crust (or make your own if you are ambitious!), Carrots, Zucchini, Bell Pepper, Mushrooms, Fresh Spinach, Grape Tomatoes, Eggs, Havarti Dill Cheese or Swiss Cheese, Milk, Italian Seasoning, Salt and Pepper, Butter

You will NOT need the cute little feet that insisted on kicking up as I as trying to snap this photo.

Unroll your fancy pie crust into a pie plate.  Pinch the edges and poke the bottom a few times with a fork.  Bake for 6 minutes on 375°.  Remove the pie crust from the oven and let it cool.

Meanwhile, shred the carrots, zucchini (or yellow squash if you prefer), bell pepper (red or yellow…or do as I did and use both!)

Roughly chop the grape tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, and mushrooms.  Cook them on medium-high heat until vegetables are tender crisp, stirring often.  Add the tomatoes and spinach and stir to combine.  Remove from heat.

Shred your cheese.  By the way, I have made it with Havarti Dill and also Swiss.  Use whatever your little heart desires.  If you use Swiss, add about a 1/4 tsp of dill to give it an added pop of flavor.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Add the egg mixture and cheese to the veggies.  Mix well.

Pour the egg mixture into your cooled pie crust.

Bake on 375° for about 40 minutes or until it’s set.  Let it rest 10 minutes before cutting.  Crust will brown unless you take the time to put foil on it or have one of those fancy crust rings.  I did not.  I do not.  I do not mind brown crust.  I do not like green eggs and ham.  I think the sleep deprivation is getting to me.

This is the lovely veggie quiche!  Doesn’t that look DELICIOUS?!?!  I might have to make it again tonight!

Recipe for Veggie Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 Refrigerated Pie Crust (or make your own)
• 2 Carrots
• 1 Zucchini or Yellow Squash
• 1/2 Bell Pepper (Yellow or Red)
• 3/4 Cup Mushrooms
• 1/2 Cup Grape Tomatoes
• 1 Cup Fresh Spinach
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 5 Eggs
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1 Cup (4 oz) Swiss Cheese or Havarti Dill
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper

Unroll the pie crust and place it in a pie plate.  Pinch the edges and prick with a fork.  Bake at 375° for 6 minutes.  Remove and let cool.

Meanwhile, shred or chop the carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach.  In a large skillet, melt butter and saute the carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, and mushrooms until tender…about 8 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and spinach.  Stir to combine and remove from heat.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Grate the cheese.  Add the egg mixture and the cheese to the vegetables.  Stir well.

Pour into cooled pie crust and bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until set.  Let it stand 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

-kate

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Things have been rocking along around here, but we are in the newborn fog a little because sweet Georgia has had a cold for about two weeks.  She can’t breathe, so she can’t eat, and she can’t sleep, so I don’t get to sleep too much.  My poor baby.  It’s so hard when they are so little that they can’t tell you what hurts, they can’t blow their little noses, and they have to just depend on mama to figure it out and make it better.

She has spent a lot of time in my arms and a lot of time with a giant green hospital bulb aspirator (booger sucker) up her nose.  I’m pretty positive I’ve stretched her little nostrils out forever.

Anyway, Georgia is asleep for the moment and because I like to procrastinate, I decided I would rather write a short post than clean my house.  Last week she had two good evenings and she slept really well, and as she slept I got to do something that I enjoy doing…I got to bake a cake for my sweet friend Andria’s little boy, Drew.

Since Georgia made her grand entrance into the world, Andria has been picking Preston up from school.  Anyone with school age children and several NON-school age children knows how hard it is to wake up and load up sleeping children to go retrieve the one from school.  Sweet Andria has helped more than I can ever express by saving me that daily trip to get Preston, so I talked her into letting me make her precious baby boy a birthday cake.

Drew loves basketball, so she wanted a basketball cake for him.  He loved it and that made me happy!

(Disclaimer:  I did not come up with this cute idea.  I merely copied this picture I found online.  I certainly am not creative.  I am just a plagiarizer!)  :)

When no one was watching, Drew climbed on the dining table and his daddy caught him just as he was lunging for the cake.  Drew said, “I want to pway wif da ball.”  When they tried to explain that it wasn’t a ball it was a cake, he said, “I want to pway wif da cake.”  He wanted so badly to get the ball from the basket.  That made the cake totally worth it and made me so happy.  Here is a pic of his little attempt at getting the ball out.

Happy Birthday, sweet Drew!

Many of you have asked about my fondant.  This is Part I of the video I used to learn how to make it, and this is part II.  I need to post some pics and helpful hints, but that will be another post for another day.

Now for a few random iPhone pics from this week…

AnnaLeigh has make-upped herself…several times.  Here are 2 pics.

Lilly Katherine tried to boogie board on a pillow across our hardwood floors.  It didn’t work out so well for her.  She missed the pillow and her face skidded across the floor instead.  It was still bleeding 4 hours later when I took this pic.  We went to the dentist, and we think her little teeth will be okay.  It was traumatic for her…to say the least!  Of course, as it happened I was trying to feed Georgia and wipe AnnaLeigh’s bottom, which caused all kinds of screaming from 3 little girls that all needed me at once.

And one last pic.  This little angel…she’s just growing too stinkin’ fast!

Have a lovely Saturday night!

-kate

My sweet baby girl is 12 days old already, and I love her even more today!

She is so sweet, and rarely cries…except when I’m ready to go to bed.  Some of that is due to the fact that I simply can’t put her down.  I hold her 99% of the time.  Brad asked me a few days ago, “Did you hold Preston this much?” and my pitiful response was, “Absolutely not!  I was afraid I would mess him up if I held him too much.  I didn’t want to spoil him!”

Isn’t that sad?!?

My advice to any new mom is HOLD THEM!  I know what the books say.  Preston was a BABYWISE baby!  I worked full-time, he was in daycare, and I left work to nurse him twice a day.  He HAD to be on a strict schedule, so I read Babywise, used it, referred to it, stressed about it, and I just knew I was ruining his 2 week old life if I made any missteps.  Well, this is my fourth child and my philosophy has changed a little.

HOLD THAT BABY!

What I’ve learned is that your little angel (and my little Georgia) will be bigger TOMORROW!  They grow every single day.  One day you’ll look up and realize that you can no longer pick up that sweet little baby.  It’s a sad day.  I can barely pick Preston (8) up, and I know my days of being able to lift him are numbered.  Not that I lift him often, but just to know that I can never pick him up again makes him seem so much bigger…older.

So for that reason, I will hold this baby!  I will hold her, love on her, kiss her, squeeze her, and I will be perfectly happy to spoil her rotten!  Of course I want her to learn how to go to sleep without me holding her, but she’s 12 days old…I have time for that later.  Now, my house is the thing that may be suffering from my new way of thinking.  Eventually I will have to put my little bucket o’ love down and pick up my bucket o’ cleaning supplies.  Sigh!

The other wonderful thing that has made it possible for me to constantly hold little miss Georgia is that we have precious friends who have provided so much for our family!  Our friends have brought food every single night since we’ve been home from the hospital.  I cannot tell you what a blessing it has been to have so many delicious meals, and I have some new recipes that I can’t wait to share with you!  Thank you to all of you who have provided for us this past week!  Brad and I are truly grateful and appreciative!

Other than wonderful meals, we have received so many sweet gifts.  It’s been fun to see GEORGIA written and monogrammed on several little pink things.  I love gifts with my babies’ names on them, because we have so few of them.  I guess that’s because we never know what we’re having!

I just had to post a few pics of some of the gifts I have received that were cute and unique.  With this being my fourth, I was surprised at the things I had never seen before, like these…

A Stroller made out of diapers!  I’ve seen diaper cakes, but never a STROLLER!  Some of the precious women at Brad’s office, Sheryl and Penny made this, and I know it was a labor of love!  LK and AnnaLeigh think this is for their babies. :)

Dominique brought her fabulous cookie cake to the hospital the night Georgia was born for all of our family and friends to enjoy.

Meredith and Carrie brought a meal and these AMAZING cookies that our friend Amanda makes.  She brought 6 little (actually they’re big) pink crowns with Georgia’s initials on them.  I ate 5 of them.  I couldn’t help myself, they were just too darn good!

Michael and Lisa sent a cookie bouquet, and they were so sweet to have a cookie made for each child.

It made these 2 maniacs very happy, despite the forced smile on AnnaLeigh’s face.

When Laurabeth was born 6 days before Georgia, our wonderful friend, Peggy, brought Ashley these cute little panties.  I was a little jealous because I could picture a sweet little 7 month old girl crawling around with a tush full of ruffles, and I knew I wouldn’t have a ruffly baby girl.  HA!  When Georgia was born, sweet Peggy brought my baby girl her own pair of ruffle panties.  They’re MudPie, and they will be so cute on those 2 little bottoms!

Okay, now this is a gift that I know many of you will want to copy!  This great gift was given to me by Angie, a friend that I really wish I knew better!  Our husbands play basketball together in the middle of the night (4:45 in the morning) and we run into each other occasionally.  She is always doing crafty things for people, and I know if we ever got to hang out we would have so much fun!  This is called a Memory Can, and I’ve never seen one before, but I will definitely be copying her idea…you should too!

My two bestest friends in the whole wide world, Kimberly and Samantha came in town to meet Georgia last week.  That is truly one of the best gifts you can give!  More on that later.  They brought loads of monogrammed goodies for Georgia, and this was one little treasure that I’m sure most of you have heard of.  I have never had one of these little guys, but I’m so excited about it!

You put your wipes and a few diapers in it and keep it in your diaper bag.  As the baby gets older, this is all you have to lug around.  For me, this is a great alternative to having diapers bunched in my purse with goldfish crumbs smashed in them!

My friend Holly organized all of our meals, plus she made us  PW’s Cinnamon Rolls and PW’s Apple Dumplings and some yummy enchiladas!  And let me not forget to mention that one day last week my friend Amy called to ask what I wanted from Starbucks and she left a hot Starbucks coffee at my door.  That’s certainly a treat no mom would pass up.  My friend Elicia is also so good about offering Starbucks.  When you’re stuck at home with little ones, sometimes that’s just the pick-me-up you need.

Lastly, I have to tell you about the gift that my amazing hubby gave me.

(MEN: make a mental note of this!!!)

Brad had a bracelet made with 4 diamonds on it, one for each child.

It’s dainty and beautiful, and I love it!  It was a wonderful surprise, and the perfect “push present!”  My dear husband has been there for 4 babies now, and he has finally figured out that his bratty wife would like a little “thank you” or “good job” for carrying and bearing his children.  It took several children for him to learn (and maybe a little help from my friend Kellie), but I would say it was worth the wait!  Thank you, babe!  This beautiful gift was a true surprise and much better than flowers!  You went above and beyond and I love it!  I will wear it everyday, always!

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Thank you to all of my sweet friends!  Thank you for blessing my life and my family!  We truly appreciate all the thoughtful gifts and meals you have given us!

-kate

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Today was a long, exciting day!  Yesterday morning my sister, Ashley, and I went walking, both determined to get these babies out of our bellies!  Last night we were both timing contractions starting at about 9 pm.  Mine were 10-15 minutes apart and hers were getting a little closer.  At 2 am she texted me and told me she was heading to the hospital.  I was awake until 6 am timing contractions, and finally fell asleep for ONE WHOLE HOUR!  I just knew we would both be at the hospital together.

Ash’s contractions continued to get stronger.  Mine continued, but didn’t get stronger.  I packed.  I showered.  I got everything ready to join her at the hospital.  We even asked the nurses to reserve the room next to Ashley.

By noon, Ashley had a baby.  We didn’t know what it was yet, but she had a baby.  As I did squats in the waiting room, I was losing hope that I would have mine today.  I was right.

Attractive isn’t it?

Sorry.

Anyway, Alan came and got Caleb and Truett so they could be the first to find out if they had a brother or sister.

Then we all got to go into their room and find out that Ashley and Alan had a beautiful baby girl!

Miss Laurabeth Anne was a whopping 6 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches long.  She’s tiny and perfect and we love her already!

Sweet little hands!

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Sweet little toes!

Then these maniacs arrived to meet her!  (Thank you George and Kay!)

Truett told them it was a boy.  :)  He’s such a mess.  Have I mentioned that he stuck a peanut up his nose this week?  I love that little man!  And he LOVES his new baby sister!  He could NOT stop kissing and loving on Laurabeth!

Neither could this little one.  Truett and AnnaLeigh just love her so much.

We gave her a little pink outfit…that may one day fit that tiny little body.

And she has already received a birth-day cake from Aunt Sugar (Aunt Anne).

As Truett and AnnaLeigh were loving on her and kissing on her, Lilly Katherine, Caleb, and Preston were much more entertained by a cell phone.  Kids these days…

Uncle Taylor and Aunt Kelly were able to drive in today to meet sweet Laurabeth.  Taylor has been in the military, and he was overseas more than he was home.  They have never been able to come on the day the baby was born, so this was a special treat…to all the kids!

Laurabeth is already fussing at her cousin, “COME OUT!”

Hopefully soon.  I wish I had pics of my new little maniac today, but I know the Lord has much greater timing than I.  After the afternoon I had with the 3 I’ve got, the Lord may be teaching me that I need a little more time to grow than my precious baby does.  Some days are exhausting.  Only getting 1 hour of sleep doesn’t help.  Now, I need to get off the computer and get sleep while I can!

Nighty Night!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  And praise God for sweet Laurabeth!

I can’t wait to spoil you, sweet girl!  (And AnnaLeigh can’t wait to “polish” you…with nail polish!)

-“aunt” kate

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Right before Christmas, my sister and I realized that we needed to have Truett and AnnaLeigh’s birthday parties asap, because both of us are due in January.  Truett’s birthday is February 11, and last year we did a joint Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party, and it worked out beautifully.  We have the same guest list, so we might as well combine our efforts, plus the kids love doing their parties together!

I asked AnnaLeigh what kind of party she wanted, and she said she and Truett wanted a Hello Kitty Party.  Hmm.  I’m not sure that would be Truett’s first choice.  She disagreed.  I tried to convince her to do something else, but she wanted a Hello Kitty party just like Lilly Katherine had a few years ago.  Why argue.  I decided to let the girl have the party she wanted.

Truett’s very into big trucks and dump trucks, and we decided that we didn’t have to have a unified theme.  They could both have their own theme…at the same party.  They could literally have their cake and eat it too! :)

In typical Kate fashion, I was running late.  As our families started to arrive for the party I was not all the way dressed, had no make-up on, hadn’t fixed my hair, was in the process of “decorating” (if you can even call it that), and I was scribbling “AnnaLeigh” on the cake.  Why oh why can’t I just be ready on time?!?!

Anyway, here is our Dump Truck and Hello Kitty Birthday Party.

My mom and I made the invitations, which were a dump truck invitation with a Hello Kitty driver.  The “dirt” pulled up and out for party details.

The rocks in the front end loader and the Hello Kitty Pops are both Oreo balls, which are so flipping delicious! Here are my very imperfect Hello Kitty Oreo Balls.  I know most people use cake, but I prefer Oreos…plus they’re way easier.  I just copied this design.  Not too difficult.

My girl…she loved the Hello Kitty “cake pops.”

Ash made Truett’s precious dump truck shirt.  I used the Hello Kitty Pillowcase dress I made for Lilly Katherine a few years ago.  AnnaLeigh was excited to wear it, and I was excited to recycle it.  Win-Win! :)

The cakes!  Ashley made delicious “dirt” for her dump truck!  Boy-moms, this is the greatest cake ever!  I did this for Preston’s 4th birthday.  Just buy a cute dump truck (it will also double as a gift) and fill it with “edible dirt”…Oreos, brownies, heath bits, peanut butter chips, and pudding.  Serve it with a little plastic shovel.  Easy and delicious!

My cake was not as successful…or easy!  The cake tasted great, but something went wrong and I didn’t have the patience to figure out what!  I was icing the cake at midnight (which is super early for me!) and the icing just wouldn’t stick.  This ain’t my first rodeo, but something just wasn’t working.  I’m so tired and uncomfortable, that when I visualized myself picking the Hello Kitty cake up and throwing it across the room I decided it was time to stop trying to ice the cake and go to sleep!  The cake was not my best, but AnnaLeigh was excited about it and that’s what matters.

You like the chunks of icing missing?

Pinky had to sneak a little bite of icing.  She’s my girl!

AnnaLeigh got a car for her Build-A-Bear from Nana,

a giant Hello Kitty from Memama (my grandmother) that now sleeps with her,

and a “Minnie the Pooh” movie!  :)  We watched it in the theatre and she loved it!

The guests were our family.  (Taylor and Kelly, maybe one day y’all can come join the chaos, too.)

Claire and AnnaLeigh

Caleb, Lilly Katherine, Claire, AnnaLeigh, Preston, Truett, and Garrett

AnnaLeigh and Mimi (my mom)

Brad’s brother, “Silly Unlce Andy,” loves to harrass my girls everyone, and he does it well.  He was messing with AnnaLeigh and she loved it!

A pic of my Pinky and her very large and very tired mama!

I’m only including this because my mom says that one day I will be glad I have pictures of myself pregnant.  I’m not sure this is the pregnancy I would like to have documented, but here goes.  AnnaLeigh asked Ash and I to take a picture back to back, so we did!

OUCH!  I look miserable (as my grandmother points out every.single.time.i.see.her!)  Brad also might have said to me this weekend, “It just looks like your belly is hanging!”  YES DEAR!  It IS!!!  Oh my, I’m having a contraction just thinking about that conversation!

Soon and very soon we will meet this new little one and I will officially have 4 kids…and 3 KIDS’ birthdays to celebrate in January!  Woohoo!

Happy Birthday AnnaLeigh and Truett!  Let’s keep those double birthday parties going as long as possible! :)

-kate

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Today my first born, my baby boy, turned 8!

8 years old!

He’s not a baby, or a toddler, or a little boy anymore.  He’s 8!

I remember being 8!  It wasn’t that long ago.  Ok, so it was.  But still, I REMEMBER being 8!

And now I HAVE an 8 year old.  A pretty stinkin’ cute 8 year old!

My baby boy has worn his football pads, eye black, and sweat necklace every.single.day since Christmas!  He’s a man with a plan, and he’s planning on wearing this whole “get-up” for career day…whenever that may be.

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This morning our wonderful family came over for brunch, chaos, and a birthday/New Years celebration.  It was the perfect way to celebrate the New Year and Preston’s 8th!  We plan on having a “friend” birthday party for him this summer.  He wants a swimming party for his half-birthday…which, of course, must take place on his half birthday!

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Here are the kids with our annual “year” pancakes.

2012: Lilly Katherine, Garrett, Caleb, Preston, Claire, AnnaLeigh, Tayler, and Truett

These gifts may seem odd for an 8 year old boy, but my boy doesn’t really play with toys.  He likes sports, sports, and all things sports.  He was so excited about his new “sports” clothes.

I realized after he opened all of his gifts that we had not sung happy birthday, and I had forgotten to put candles in his #8 pancake.  Someone suggested that I put candles in our leftover football brownies from our Baylor Bowl Night, and so that’s what we did.  Pretty fancy!

Nothing like finishing off your cinnamon rolls and pancakes with a brownie!

Happy Birthday, baby boy!

During the party, AnnaLeigh was busy being a HAM!  She’s a total maniac these days and loves to giggle and entertain as she hops from family member to family member.  She’s the life of the party and loves everyone!

She loved on Aunt Kara…

…and Tayler

She did her own make-up, in case you couldn’t tell.  Then she did Claire’s make-up.  Lucky Claire!

It was such a wonderful morning.  It was so much fun to celebrate my baby’s birthday and the New Year with so many people that we love.  We are so blessed to have this family!  We are so blessed to see them often.  We will hopefully be seeing this same crew Saturday as we celebrate AnnaLeigh’s 3rd birthday!  Crazy!

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Happy birthday sweet boy!  I’m glad you had so much fun today!  I love you so much and I am so proud of you!  I still don’t know how in the world you are 8, and I don’t know how in the world I birthed you.  We are so different.  Thank you for challenging me, trying to make me on time, and being my human calendar.  We would be a mess without you!  Thank you for your intensity and dedication to the things you love.

Lord, please guide and direct this child as he grows.  Help him to make wise decisions about the friends he chooses and the friend that he is to others.  Please help Preston to be a good brother and a good example to Lilly Katherine, AnnaLeigh, and this new baby.  Please give he and this baby a special bond.  Lord, please tug at Preston’s heart and give him the desire to know you, love you, and want to follow you.  Lord, thank you for this little man that you put in my life.  I need him!  I love him!  Please teach me how to always show him I love him.  Thank you for the amazing earthly example he has with a daddy like Brad!  Please help Preston to be a man of integrity, hard work, wisdom, loyalty, and devotion to YOU, just like his daddy!  Thank you, Lord, for P!

-kate

Every New Year’s Eve we hang out with my sister’s in-laws (Alan’s parents) and we ring in the new year at their house.  We’ve gone there since I was pregnant with Preston.  This year, we will be attending a wonderful wedding for a precious, fun, and very deserving woman, Morgan…YAY! :)

Since New Year’s Day is on a Sunday, we are going to push our annual Pancake Breakfast to Monday morning, which is actually Preston’s birthday.  We’ll have the whole family over (or anyone willing to wake up and join us for brunch), and make our annual “YEAR” pancakes, plus celebrate my baby’s birthday…2 birds with one stone!  Since we’ll be doing it on Monday, I thought I would post past pics of 2009, 2010, 2011.  I’ll post 2012 next week.

This is such an easy, fun tradition that the kids love, and I love seeing how much they change from year to year.

The pancakes are no work of art.

The kids are a sleepy, pj-wearing mess.

That’s the way New Year’s morning is supposed to be!

2009-Caleb (1 1/2), Preston (5 on Jan 2), Lilly Katherine (2 1/2)

2010-Preston (6 on Jan 2), Caleb (2 1/2), Lilly Katherine (3 1/2), Truett (almost 1), AnnaLeigh (1 on Jan 5)

2011-Truett (almost 2), Caleb (3 1/2), Lilly Katherine (4 1/2), Preston (7 on Jan 2), AnnaLeigh (2 on Jan 5)

2012 pic to come, then in 2013 there will be 2 more precious babies in the picture!!! :)  I can’t wait to see what they are.  What a blessing and what a way to ring in the NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year!

-kate

Lilly Katherine’s 5th birthday was August 26th, and we had a family party for her, but she wanted a Build-A-Bear party with her friends.  I’ve been promising for MONTHS that we would do it.  Last week she asked, “Mama, do you think we’ll have my birthday party before April?”  Even though I knew she had no concept of when April was, I felt so badly that I had put it off for so long.  In typical Kate fashion, I decided last Tuesday that I would have the party (today) Monday.

My mom is a “scrapper” so she and LK made these cute bears together, and I stuck them on some paper for her Build-A-Bear Party invitation.  Easy enough!

Each child got to build 2 bears.  They built one to keep and one to donate to the Children’s Advocacy Center.  Several months ago I was at the Children’s Advocacy Center and learned so many horrifying facts about children all around us that are physically and sexually abused.  The CAC is a voice for the children.  It is a safe place where kids can go and tell their story and be loved, comforted, and protected.  When they arrive, they get to choose their very own bear and blanket to take for comfort, which have been donated to the CAC.

I was talking to the ladies that work at the CAC about the bears and my wheels started turning.  My sister, Ashley, had just planned a baseball party for Caleb and all the kids brought cleats to donate to the Dominican Republic.  LK wanted a Build-A-Bear party, and our invitation list was getting so out of control!  There’s just nowhere to stop once you start the birthday invite list!  One of the main reasons I put the party off for so long was because of “THE LIST!”

Lilly Katherine loves to make things for people, she loves to be a giver, and she has such a heart for others.  When I asked her if we could drastically cut her list and allow each person to make 2 bears (one to keep and one to donate) she happily, willingly agreed to doing something that would make a difference in a few other people’s lives…as long as she still got to keep a bear, of course. :)

As an added bonus one of my BFFs in the whole wide world, Kimberly, happened to be in town, so she and Clara got to join us!  Woohoo!

The employees at B-A-B were more than helpful and so sweet, but they were brand new and we totally overwhelmed them!  It was so chaotic, but the kids had fun, and Lilly Katherine was so excited that she never stopped smiling.  :)

Here are a few a lot of pics.  The lighting in Build-A-Bear was strange, so the pics look very orange/yellow.

LK and Clara

Preston and Walker…up to no good.  They didn’t build bears.  They just kept each other entertained by throwing angry birds at each other the whole party.  I was so glad P had a partner in crime!  (Their dads were partners in crime…always!)

AnnaLeigh loves Benjamin!  I’m not sure the feeling is mutual…yet.

LK and Laura

LK and Truett

Giving their bears baths.

Pinky and Paige found a car that their bears loved!

Izzy and her zebra bikini bear

Laura and her “sweet treat” bear

Let me see your bears!

Clara and LK.  My daughter has her Nana’s taste in clothes.  She picked this little sparkly number and silver sandals for her blinged out bear.

After the party we ran to the other end of the mall for some Chick-fil-A.  I asked Lilly Katherine if she wanted a cake or CFA ice cream for her party, and her answer was CFA ice cream!  Hallelujah!  It was so much easier on this pregnant mama!  Plus, I had already made her an owl cake for her “real” birthday, so I didn’t feel too bad not making her another.

LK and “Aunt” Kimmy

After the party Ashley and I delivered the bears that the kids made to the Children’s Advocacy Center.  The party lasted much longer than I had anticipated, so the friends that had planned on joining us to deliver the bears had to get home to relieve babysitters and get their kids down for naps.  I totally understand that!

The kids and I have been making fleece blankets to donate to the CAC.  We delivered the blankets with the bears, and they were so thankful to have the gifts from these children.  I think it’s so important to teach our children that even at their age they can make a difference!

This picture was taken by the CAC, but I thought it was too cute not to post.  The blanket that Preston is holding is one that he made.

Click here for more information about the Children’s Advocacy Center and how YOU can make a difference!

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To my baby girl…Happy VERY LATE Birthday!  I hope you had a wonderful day!  I’m proud to have such a loving, sweet (and wild), giving, kind-hearted little girl like you!  Lilly Katherine, I love you!

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-kate

Let’s hear it for a delicious recipe that only has TWO ingredients!!!

This is one of my most favorite recipes in the fall, and it is by far the EASIEST recipe I could ever share with you!  There are TWO ingredients!  TWO!  I’m sure most of you know about this little treat, but for those that don’t, you need to try these.  They’re simple and delicious and they just taste like fall!

Pumpkin Spice Muffin Recipe

What you need:

Brace yourself…

A box of Spice Cake Mix and a can of Pumpkin.  That’s all, folks!

Place the spice cake mix and the pumpkin in a bowl.

Mix well.

Place a large spoonful in each muffin cup.  I filled 9 cups pretty full.  They don’t expand too much, and I like large muffins.  You know, because no matter how large they are they’re all the same amount of fat and calories, so you might as well make them large…right?!?! :)

You could stretch it out to 10-12, but 9 was a good number for me.

Cook at 350° for 15-20 minutes.

Eat and enjoy!

My intention was to cut the Pumpkin Muffin, put a little butter on it, and then take a picture.  However, I cut it, buttered it, and that stinkin’ muffin was SCREAMING at me to eat a little bite.

I have no self-control.

NONE!

I just had to have a little bite before I took the pic.  I thought maybe you wouldn’t notice, but when I went back to upload these pics I felt the need to confess…just in case you DID actually notice.

The maniacs LOVED the muffins!  LK said, “Mama, those are delicious!  Can I have another one?”

I said “NO!  The rest are for me!”  :)

Preston enjoyed his muffin so quickly I only got a pic of it stuffed in his mouth…with a little milk mustache.

Recipe for Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Spice Cake Mix
• 1 (15 oz) Can Pumpkin

In a large bowl combine Spice Cake Mix and Pumpkin.  Mix well.  Put a large scoop of mix in 9-12 muffin cups.  Cook at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until the little peaks on top start to brown slightly.  Enjoy!

Refrigerate any muffins that aren’t eaten within 24 hours.  They’re so moist that they tend to mold quickly…or so I hear.  They never last that long at my house.

I hear these go well with a side of Halloween candy from your children’s Halloween buckets (or Easter baskets.)

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17 Years!

Just typing that number makes me feel VERY old!  Last night, my high school sweetheart and I celebrated the SEVENTEENTH anniversary of our first date!

SEVEN-TEENTH!  That’s just CRAZY!!!

It was our Junior year, we were both 16, and that cute boy with the great arms, Brad, asked me to go with him to the Robert E. Lee Homecoming Dance on October 8, 1994.  Here’s our little souvenir from the dance, or maybe it was our ticket.  I can’t remember…it’s been SEVENTEEN years, and I’ve slept a little.

Brad was “supposed” to be setting me up with one of his friends.  (Chad, I’m not sure if Brad ever talked to you, but if he did, thanks for not being interested.)  I was “supposed” to be rekindling Brad’s flame with his ex-girlfriend and a sweet friend of mine, Brooke.  Let’s just say Brad and I spent a LOT of time on the phone talking about how we were going to talk to Chad and Brooke, and I’m not sure how much talking either of us were actually doing with Chad or Brooke.

Brad asked me to Homecoming, and I was more than thrilled!  The night of the dance I nervously got ready, rolling my (then straight) hair with hot rollers, making sure that no hair was out of place, and spraying my “wispy” bangs so that they would be perfectly curled and spaced.

I was 30 minutes late as he waited downstairs with my crazy family.  He should have hit the door running right then, because I’m still running late and my family is still crazy.  (I love you, family!)

We left my house, met another couple (Scott and Sarah) to take pics and then headed to the restaurant.

Allow me to mention just a few things about this great picture…

1. This is the ONLY picture we can find from before the dance.  I’m sitting on his knee.  It’s a very awkward pose, and I’m not sure what we were thinking.
2. That large thing on my shoulder is called a MUM.  That’s what Texas girls (maybe just EAST Texas girls) wear at Homecoming.  They are large, heavy, and the more obnoxious, the better!  Brad’s mom made my mum, and I loved it!
3. Somewhere under that mum I have on a black dress, and I wish you could see it better.  You’ll know why in a second.
4. Brad is wearing a garter on his arm.  That’s what guys wear to Homecoming.
5. What?  You didn’t notice the garter because of Brad’s sweater vest?  Yes, he is sporting a fine American Flag sweater vest and tie!  I thought he was pretty handsome!
6. The sweater vest was hysterical to some of our dear friends in college, and the Baylor Kappa Sigma’s used it in pledging.
7. The sweater vest is lost and gone forever…thanks to the Kappa Sig pledges.
8. The black dress is not. 
9. Yes, I do still own that dress…17 years later!  Not because I plan on wearing it, but because I wore it on our first date, and I wanted to save it.  I never dreamed I would be able to squeeze into it at 5 1/2 months pregnant, and I do mean SQUEEZE into it.  I put it on as a joke.  Don’t worry, I didn’t wear it to dinner last night!

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Brad and I spent about 5 minutes last night trying to think of where we ate that Homecoming night.  We can’t remember.  We must have been in a group, because the picture from the dance is with 4 other friends, not Scott and Sarah.  Here’s the pic from the dance.  These guys are still some of our dear friends, and we love all of their spouses.  Please don’t kill me for posting this pic, Jenni, Kyle, Sam, and Robert!

Last night Brad and I ate dinner, then we ran to Olive Garden to pick up our all time most favorite dessert, Black Tie Cheesecake.  We took our dessert to a restaurant that was closed for the evening to eat on their porch.  We were the only people there, and we sat and ate, talked, and looked up old Garth Brooks songs, like the one we danced to on that wonderful night back in ’94.  We even had a little dance before we left.

I tried to convince him to take me to the REL Homecoming dance that was going on last night.  I was willing to crash their party and ask them to throw on a Garth song just for us…so we could dance and he could twirl me around again just like he did on that special night.  He wasn’t interested in crashing REL Homecoming ’11, because we had our own private dance party going on.

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I know that I am a VERY blessed woman!  I honestly do love this man more than I did yesterday!  I love him more than I did last year, and I love him so much more than I ever knew I would on that first date back on October 8, 1994.  The Lord has given me a true gift, and I realize how blessed I am to have a man like Brad!  He is truly the love of my life!

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ILYMED, babe! (and I always will!)

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⁵ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

-Matthew19:5-6

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¹⁶ His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is altogether lovely.
This is my lover, this my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.

Song of Solomon 5:16

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For her birthday, I gave Lilly Katherine the gift I always dreamed of receiving…an Easy Bake Oven!  I was always jealous of the girls on TV that looked like they were having so much fun baking their own cakes and cookies in their own oven!  I never got one as a child, but I have one now so I gave LK one for her birthday! :)

This weekend my dad took AnnaLeigh on a long trip by herself to visit MamaSara and Big Papa, so we only had our big kids.  Man, going from 3 to 2 is easy…which kind of stresses me out going from 3 to 4!  Anyway, tonight Brad took Preston hunting, and I decided it was the perfect time to bust out my new LK’s new Easy Bake Oven.

We baked all afternoon.  We had so much fun, and she just giggled the whole time!  She LOVED it!  As I’ve said a million times, Lilly Katherine is MY CHILD!  I love her so much, and I love that we have so many of the same interests.

This is my girl…and her first (and certainly not last) Easy Bake Oven experience.

She could not wait until the cake was ready.

However, I didn’t expect that the pan would be so hot from a little light bulb (duh!)…and I might have dropped it as soon as we took it out of the oven.  I tried to stick the cake back in the pan to take a pic.  It didn’t work, and we didn’t eat the dirty little cake.

Then LK made chocolate chip cookie sandwiches with chocolate fudge frosting in the middle.  She was in heaven, and kept saying, “I’m baking all by myself!”

With that wild hair, it looks like she had a long day slaving away in the kitchen!

My little girl with her great big heart ate two cookies with giggly glee, she gave me one, and saved the last three for her daddy, Preston, and AnnaLeigh.  She wanted to make sure they each got one.  She loves to give gifts to others, and she was so excited to show them the little bite-sized goodies she made for them.

It was a sweet weekend spending time with a little lady that deserves so much more time than I give her.

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How in the WORLD do I have a second grader?

I just dropped my sweet little man off at school, and I actually had to tell myself not to cry as the lump formed in the back of my throat.  I still can’t handle sending him to school.  I really do love to have the little maniac home…with me…even on the days he makes me crazy!  Oh well, he’s there, and our lives once again revolve around the school schedule.

Every year I make Preston a pencil cake for the first day of school.  It’s no work of art, just something fun to get him excited.  We’ll dig into it as soon as he gets home.  I plan on doing this every year until my last baby goes to college.

Last night as I was getting ready to make the cake I looked back at Preston’s Kindergarten pics and his First Grade pics…and of course I started crying.  How has he grown up so fast?  As my mom reminded me the morning…The days pass slowly but the years pass so quickly!  So true!

First day of First Grade

First Day of Kindergarten

Alright, posting those last two pics next to each other has brought the tears.  He has grown up so much!  I know I’ll blink and he will be in college.

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Oh, my precious gift…I love you!  I am proud of you!  I am thankful that you are such a sweet, smart, wild little man.

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Lord, thank you for Preston!  Thank you for how different we are.  Thank you for his smart little brain and his amazing athletic ability.  Thank you for giving me a strong boy first – to keep me in line.  Thank you for his smile and his intense little personality.  Thank you for his competitiveness, and I pray that you will help me channel it in a positive direction.  Thank you for his desire to learn and to do well.  Thank you for his desire to make good decisions and I pray that he will love you and walk with you all the days of his life.  Please, Lord, help Preston to use your Godly wisdom and discernment in all decisions and choices he makes.  Please bless him with sweet friends that will be good examples and I pray that he will bless others with his example.  Please give his teacher patience, strength, and wisdom this year as she guides and teaches Preston and his classmates.  Thank you, Lord, for this precious blessing and gift!  Thank you for PRESTON!

Last week I celebrated…a birthday.  It hurts to admit it, but I guess with 3.5 kids I’m hardly 23 anymore.  I’m now 30-3!  I still feel like I could jump back into college (except for the 3.5 kids thing) and I have to say I do love my crazy, wonderful life…even if it does mean I’m “IN my THIRTIES!”

Deep Breaths! :)
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The day of the party, I picked blueberries with the kids, and Brad had scheduled a massage for me for that afternoon.  I ran home nasty, hot, and sweaty from picking berries, jumped in the shower, dried my hair as fast as I could, kissed my babies and my wonderful hubby goodbye, hopped back in the car, drove like a mad-man to the spa, and busted through the doors of the spa (late, of course).

THE SPA!

Oh, it was like another land…a land I rarely enter.  A happy place.  Everything was beautiful and peaceful and quiet, with the sounds of dainty, calm harps playing next to a bank of trickling water.  Their was a delightful aroma of lavender, eucalyptus, and mint.  There were no smells of old milk or macaroni and cheese or Totino’s pizza.  No one was fighting or screaming or whining or calling some obviously crazy lady named “Mama!”

When my time in this happy land was complete, I hoped they wouldn’t notice if I hung out in the women’s lounge a few extra minutes on their soft white couches in the sunlit room, drinking some lovely orange juice concoction.  However, I felt like there was a different kind of happy land that needed their crazy mama back.  I slowly made it to the car and back home…relaxed and rejuvenated.

It was a nice, generous, much appreciated break from reality!  Thank you sweet, wonderful husband!

I was greeted with the warm welcome of 3 wild maniacs running at me with their arms wide open calling, “Mama!” as if I had been gone for days.  Then I realized I was in my happy place.  I belong with these crazy people.  I belong in this messy house, with these 3 loud kids and this maniac dog and this wonderful man.  A SPA break is an extra special treat, but I am truly so thankful for this crazy, wonderful life in which I’ve been so richly blessed!

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So after my relaxing massage I wrestled kids for a little while, then it was time for dinner.  I hate washing my hair, and I was determined I was not going to do it twice in 4 hours, so i didn’t.  I’m sad my hair is in my “mom” ponytail for my birthday dinner, but the massage was worth the pony. :)

We had dinner and cake, played putt-putt, then had more dessert.  It was a fun evening with friends!  (We were missing one fun couple.  Brad had a crazy week and realized an hour before the party that he forgot to call some of our dear friends, Michael and Amy!  I’m so sorry, guys!  We love and missed y’all!)

I don’t have many pics, because I was apparently taking pics in Manual Focus instead of Auto and didn’t realize it.  Here are a few…

The birthday girls

The girls (minus Elicia, who had run home to put our cake in the fridge)

But here’s Elicia, in true form.  She found a jet ski machine at Putt-Putt.

Meredith had a hard time.  She ALL-Most got a whole in one.

Then her ball got stuck under an obstacle. :)

Love you, Mere!

Beautiful Dominique and her sweet hubby, Jeff.

I’m sure I’m giving Brad some amazing pointers in this pic!

Thanks to Jeff and Brad for a wonderful night out for our birthdays! Thank you, Dominique for being a precious friend!  Happy 29th (wink, wink) Birthday!

Thank you babe, for the massage and the great game of Putt-Putt!  I love you!

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“He who walks with the wise, grows wise” -Proverbs 13:20

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I’m a little late posting this, but it’s important to me to document things such as this.  Preston completed first grade about a week and a half ago.  Here are a few pics from the last week of school.

Splash Day Parade

Preston, Christian, and Jalen

Connor, Preston A., Preston enjoying the Splash Day Parade

Preston, Preston A., and Connor linked arms and running

The cutest little spectators with their Aunt Kara

Somehow I didn’t get a single picture of Preston having fun at Splash Day.  I was there, but I guess I forgot to take pics.

Last Day of School

Preston asked me to eat lunch with him on the last day of school.  I was excited to, and went from working out to his classroom, thinking I was having lunch with my baby…no big deal.  I didn’t realize that they were doing a little end of the year party with pizza, cookie cake, ice cream floats, and awards.  There were several parents there, and I was a little embarrassed but glad I was there to celebrate the last day of school with my big bug!

Preston and Ms. Kerley

The awards…

Please allow this mother to brag for just a moment.  I was so proud of my baby that I was a little teary.  There were 5 kids in the class that received a “Citizenship Award” meaning that they never had their star moved all year long.  They had “perfect” behavior (I use the word perfect very loosely).  My baby was one of the five that received the Citizenship Award.  I was so proud of him!

The other 4 kids that received the award were 4 of his best friends.  It makes me so happy that he’s choosing friends that also make good decisions.  I have prayed this for each of my kids since the moment I found out I was pregnant.  I want them to choose friends that will make them better kids.  I want them to choose friends that make good decisions.  Of course I want them to be friends everyone, but I want their closest friends to be good examples…iron sharpens iron.  I am so proud of my big bug!

The funny thing is that this child comes home and acts like a total maniac.  I know he uses up all his “quietness and stillness” at school and he has to get all his wiggles out the second he steps foot in the car.  I would rather him be good at school and wild at home, though.

I did however find out one way he was able to stay so quiet when I opened his pencil box.

That little maniac!  I guess there’s no real harm in sharpening a few pencils, right?

Time is passing so quickly.  Here’s a pic of the first day of school…

And here’s one of the last day of school.  I can’t believe my baby boy is this big!!!

School’s out for summer!  And what a better way to start the summer than with a ton of sugar and food coloring!

Happy Summer!  I think I’m going to keep him in first grade forever.  I’m not allowing second grade in this house!  My babies are NOT allowed to grow up this fast!

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A little syrup to jump-start Valentine’s Day!

Preston ate pancakes this morning, too, but he ate them so quickly I didn’t get a picture.  Getting to school on time was his main concern and focus.  With me attempting to cook before school, I stressed him out a little.  I Love my little prompt, type-A baby boy!  I need him in my life!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

“Love it patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.”

– 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

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Today was a great day!  I’ve been trying to be productive.  It’s a new thing for me!

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The Lord is teaching me some valuable lessons this year through BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  Every year I have different convictions, but this year I am actually going to try to act on my convictions.  (SHOCKING!  I think that’s WHY the Holy Spirit CONVICTS us!  I’m a little slow at times!)

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I was very convicted that television needed to go…temporarily.  However, I have really enjoyed not having TV in my life the past few weeks.  I have decided to continue with my New Year’s Resolution to give up that great big TIME SPONGE and I would encourage you to give it a try.

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I have also started to realize that so much of what I do in these early years shapes

THE REST OF MY KIDS’ LIVES!

Talk about pressure!  I am far from the perfect mother…in fact just typing that is laughable! (haha!)  But I do love these little maniacs and I want the very best for them! One day they will have kids (which would make me a grandmother, and the thought of that stresses me out, but…) they will either blame their mistakes on me or they will realize I loved them, prayed for them, taught them, and trained them with Godly wisdom and discernment.

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A verse we studied today at BSF was Isaiah 40:6-8

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“All people are like grass,

and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

The Grass withers and the flowers fall,

because the breath of the LORD blows on them.

Surely people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures forever.”

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I am a very visual person.  This is how I read this verse…

We are all like the grass.

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We might be grass that is starved of nutrients and sunlight (the WORD of God) and we will still grow, but we won’t thrive.  We will be weak, puny, unproductive, and leave behind few seeds.  We will wither and die and leave very little to this earth.

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Or we could be beautiful, lush, thick, green grass that is fertilized, watered, and in full sun (reading, memorizing, studying, living the WORD of God).  We will be strong, producing many flowers of faithfulness.  They will be beautiful and healthy, releasing many seeds to the earth.  Even the strong, nurtured flowers and grass will die, but they will leave behind many healthy seeds.

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Only God is eternal, but our actions do make a difference FOR GENERATIONS!

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I am learning over and over this year that there are several things I need to be doing with my babies…planting seeds in their little hearts…and strengthening mine!

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*Scripture Memory

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*Bible Time as a family.  We have always read a short Bible story before bedtime, but since Preston has been in all-day school, we’ve gotten lax because we want him in bed on time.   (again, priorities!)

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*Praying about issues as they arise.  Praying together as a family.  Allowing my babies to see my prayers about them as individuals.

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*Keeping my Bible open so they see that it is important to me to read God’s Word!

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We are so temporary.  The Lord is so constant, permanent, ETERNAL!  I need to be focussing on things that are ETERNAL!  I guess that means that for now, Cupcake Wars, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Office, and The Real Housewives would probably not fall into that category.

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This post may seem like a long ramble, and it kind-of is.  I just want to document my thoughts, let this be a reminder to myself, and and encouragement to other moms and dads to focus ETERNALLY.  For our sake, for our kids’ sakes, for their kids’ sakes.  What we do now won’t last forever, but it will effect forever!

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-kate

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Yesterday my baby boy was born.  Yesterday!  How can it be that he was 7 years old yesterday?  I know i saw his sweet little face for the first time just yesterday, but yesterday was his 7th birthday.  How does that happen?  I remember every detail about his birth, the labor, delivery, being at the hospital.  I LOVED IT!  I vividly remember my sweet, sleep deprived husband lovingly gazing upon his newborn son the first night in the hospital, and in the sweetest daddy voice he whispered, “I love you, baby Presley!”  It was then that I, in a not so sweet voice, reminded him that our son’s name was PRESTON!

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Yesterday after church our family met for lunch to celebrate with the little man.  We are so very blessed to have almost all of our immediate family here.  We just wish Uncle Taylor (my brother) lived closer, but he’s in the Air Force fighting for our country.   He comes home from the Middle East this week!  YAY!  (We hope to see you soon, Taylor and Kelly!)

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Anyway, we went to lunch.  Preston got all kinds of goodies from aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Sports, hunting, and guitars…that’s Preston’s life!  This child can do the batting stance of almost every single Texas Rangers player.  It’s so cute!  His favorite two players…can you guess?  His aunts and uncles did a great job!

What would I do without my sweet boy?  This 7-year old is such a precious gift from God.  I have prayed since birth that he would be just like his daddy, and he is almost a carbon copy.  For that, I am so thankful.  There’s no greater roll model on this earth than Brad!

7 things about my 7-year old…

1. Preston is all BOY! He’s a wild maniac!  He’s aggressive, tough, loves to wrestle, loves to hunt, loves to be a boy.  He tackles his sisters, he makes a ball out of any object in his hands, and he wants to be outside every single moment.

2. Preston is sensitive and thoughtful! He doesn’t want to do anything to upset anyone.  He wants to make sure everyone has exactly what they want and will willingly give up what he has for another.  He has a heart for people.  He loves to share and does it well.

3. Preston is Type A! He is a first-born male.  He wants things to be fair, just, and according to the rules.  He wants to be on time.  He lives by the clock and is always telling me when we need to leave.  (Who is this child and how did he come from my body?)  He enjoys routine, loves tradition, and will hold us to it.  He’s cautious, logical, analytical, and careful.

4.  Preston is an athlete! He can throw a ball further than I, kick higher than I, and make more baskets than I.  He loves all things sports!  He lives for stats on SportsCenter in the morning, and doesn’t forget any of them.  He’s competitive but still wants to include everyone.  He wants everyone to love sports.

5.  Preston is smart! He constantly amazes me with what he remembers, how he figures things out, and how quickly he performs work.  We don’t know where he received these brains, but we’re very thankful for them.

6.  Preston is loving and kind! He loves his mama, loves his sisters, craves time with his hero (his daddy).  He still gives me kisses, hugs and holds my hand.  He loves Lilly Katherine because she’s so funny and full of joy.  He loves AnnaLeigh because they are joined at the heart.  They have a special bond that is so sweet.

7.  Preston is responsible! He takes care of his homework without being asked.  He reminds me what needs to be taken care of.  He is my calendar, appointment book, and alarm.  He keeps this family going!

I love you baby boy!  I will love you forever!

Thank you, Lord, for this perfect, precious gift!  Thank you for entrusting me with this child!  Thank you that he’s more responsible than I and keeps me on my toes!  Thank you for his sweet heart, his mind, and his abilities.  Please help him to use all of these for your glory!  Lord, please give Preston your Godly wisdom and discernment all the days of his life.

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Now a few more random pics…

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Cupcakes were made that morning.  I didn’t have enough eggs, so they were a little crumbly, but still good.  The icing is always homemade!  I just can’t buy the fake stuff.  I’ll post the recipe soon. This is my little helper.  She could not wait to lick the icing from the beater.  The avocado green KitchenAid mixer was my Papa’s.  He gave it to my father YEARS ago, and my dad passed it down to me.  Still working great, and I love that it was my grandparents’ mixer.

I put Preston’s favorite candies on top of the cupcakes.

There’s my girl.  Just like her mama, she only ate the candy and the icing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BOY!

Oh, my daughter…she is so very much like her mother and it’s going to DO.ME.IN!

I love her so very much and everything she does makes me smile.  She is happy and joyful and the most “blonde” person I’ve ever met.  I think I’m going to create a new section of the blog called “real quotes” so I can post all the funny things she says.

She just came to me and her mouth was blue.  I asked if she had eaten a cupcake (today is Preston’s birthday…more on that later) and she said no.  I went to the kitchen to assess the damage and I found that she had not eaten a cupcake.  She just stuck her finger in the icing of every single remaining cupcake.  I can’t reprimand her for this…because she is ME!  I totally understand her rationale.  She wanted to taste it without eating a whole one because she knew that wasn’t allowed.

When I was a Senior in High School my mom brought home a box of Shamrock cookies on St. Patrick’s day.  I saw that one had a leaf broken off, but I knew she needed the cookies for her Mah Jongg group that night.  Instead of taking a whole cookie, I broke a little piece off of every one of them.  I thought she was going to kill me when she opened the box.

Now I understand.  LK just stuck her grimey, dog-petting hands in every single cupcake.  Oh well, can’t say I blame her.  I love that maniac!

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UPDATE…

As I was posting the pics on the blog, I heard a noise coming from the kitchen.  Sam found the cupcakes!  BAD DOG!  At least I know they’re liked by all!

The cupcakes have now been put away!

A new year, a new chance to be a new person.  It seems like every year (since birth) I’ve had the same New Year’s Resolutions.

#1 Stop picking my fingernails

#2 Get organized

#3 Stay organized

#4 Go to bed earlier

#5 Eat better or exercise (I see no need for both)

Every.Single.Year!!!

Since I have obviously failed miserably every year, I’ve decided to go to the root of the problem…TV!  My New Year’s Resolution is simple this year…NO TV!  I have a few exceptions, but simply said, I am not allowed to touch the remote.  In order to set an attainable goal, I’ve committed to no TV for the month of January.

If I cut out the useless, mind-numbing, waste of time that fills my head with nothing positive, I will have time to blog, to sleep, to play “words with friends”, to exercise, to spend time with my husband, to do laundry, and to be the kind of mom my babies need.

For the past 3 years we’ve made New Year’s Pancakes.  We looked a little rough this morning.  Okay, a lot rough!

Truett and Caleb are my sister’s kids…and my babies’ best friends in the world!

Our past pictures…

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” -Phil 4:8

HAPPY NEW YEAR!