Sarah Has Been Baking!

If you know Sarah (our oldest daughter) very well then you know she LOVES to bake! She really enjoys it and has lots of fun! I wanted to share two of her recent creations! 

 Chocolate cupcake, strawberry preserve filling, strawberry buttercream icing, chocolate ganache drizzle, and topped with a chocolate dipped strawberry! She made these for her basketball team and she was kind enough to make enough for our family too. :) These were supper yummy!!

Pineapple upside down cake in a heart shaped pan. I love anything pineapple and Sarah did a great job on this cake! Have to say this is one of my favorites that she has made! So delicious!! Actually just seeing that picture makes me want another piece right now! :)

What do you think of Sarah's baking? Which one would you like to try?

State Bound!

When Isaac was in the 7th grade we got involved in 4-H. One of the things I wanted my kids to do is the Public Speaking in 4-H. Being homeschooled our kids don't get the opportunities to stand in front of a class and give speeches or presentations, so I thought this would be good for Isaac and Sarah. The first speech Isaac gave was in front of our 4-H homeschool group, then he went to the county competition and won! In 7th grade the next competition is sub-regionals and guess what...he won 7th grade sub-regionals! Then we did the speech again in 8th grade and he won sub-regionals that year too! 

This year he is in 9th grade and instead of competing in sub-regionals it is competing in Regionals. We had a tough start this year with his speech and was really just wanting to make it through county competition. We really didn't think he would do well enough at county to advance to Regionals, but ended up he was able to advance to Regionals. Because his speech got off to a rough start we had told ourselves that we were proud of him no matter what and it was a great accomplishment to make it to Regionals. 

The night of the Regionals competition Sarah got sick so Bryan took him and I stayed home with the rest of the crew. We prayed that he would just do his best and that was all we could ask. It seemed like forever before I heard from them, but when I text Bryan and ask how Isaac did Bryan sent me a picture of a plaque that read 9th Grade Regional Winner!! WHAT!!!!???? We were so excited! This meant that he would now be competing in the state competition! Below is a picture of him with his Regional plaque and ribbon.

 Going to state meant that he would be going to 4-H Congress in Nashville for 4 nights and 4 days! He was very nervous and even asked several times could he back out. Bryan and I knew that this was an opportunity that God had given Isaac and it would be a great experience for him. Isaac began preparing for Congress. He arrived in Nashville on Saturday and his speech competition was Sunday morning at the Music City Sheraton. We all took him up there and would be there the next morning to hear him give his speech. We were very blessed that my parents were able to go with us! The picture below is of Isaac and my dad right before speech time. Isaac placed 3rd in State of Tennessee 9th grade 4-H public speaking! Very proud of him!!

Because he was a regional winner he was able to participate in things that the other students (4-Her's ) didn't get to. He met lots of new friends! On Monday they got to tour the capitol and he had some educational sessions to attend. Tuesday they took a trip on the General Jackson and that night had a formal dinner. Isaac arrived back home on Wednesday morning around 10, he was exhausted but full of all kinds of stories to share. Very thankful for him and all of his accomplishments!
Love you much Big Man! :)

Joanna Looses Two Teeth

One night while Joanna was playing a basketball game she got knocked in the mouth. One of her front top teeth became really loose and she got a busted lip. Both top teeth were a little loose but this made one of them get pushed back and was really uncomfortable for her. We knew she would end up loosing it but didn't know when.

 On Monday this week she finally asked me to see if I could pull her tooth. It came right out! That afternoon she was playing with Elijah and Timothy, Elijah came to me and said "Mom, we playing and Joanna's tooth came out." He handed me her tooth. Then she came to me and sure enough that other top tooth came out. She lost two teeth in one day!

Here is our girl with her new "toothless" smile. :)

Two Deer, One Happy Young Man

Isaac is our hunter around here. He has killed a deer each year that we have lived here, but this hunting season he killed three! He got one in November, you can read about that here, and then he killed these two in January, the weekend it snowed. You really need to hear him tell the story of shooting these two and then tracking them down. The ending of the story is that it was a family effort to drag in that second one. Isaac is delighted that he has put meat in the freezer for our family. :)