Such A Beautiful Day

Back in March while Isaac was at 4-H Congress the other children and I had a fun spring day! It was such a beautiful day that we ventured out for a walk in the woods, a picnic, and lots of sunshine!

 The three younger children always enjoy playing in the woods. During our hike through the woods they would stop and show me where they play. The dogs enjoyed going on our adventure too!

 Sarah and I stop for a selfie. She is such a blessing!!

 Here we are on our picnic. Yummy sandwiches and chips.

 Another picture of our picnic. Our children enjoy picnics, they are lots of fun!

Joanna found a flower and wanted to show me. She loves finding flowers!

Those days we just do something different and are together makes for such a great day! The only things that would have made it better is if Bryan and Isaac would have been able to join us!

Culinary Camp

Last week Sarah had the privilege of attending a 4-H Culinary Camp in Murfreesboro! She loves to cook and bake so this was just perfect for her! The camp was from Tuesday morning til Thursday afternoon. Sarah did some baking and sold her baked goods to raise the funds needed to attend this camp. I was very proud of her for working hard to raise the money herself to attend camp!

 On Tuesday they visited the Farmers Market, participated in Food Fear Factor, cooked super and baked a dessert (the above strawberry shortcake), visited the Avenues, and got their room assignments.

 On Wednesday they were able to go to Kroger and Publix to get a "behind the scenes" tour, had a cupcake decorating war, and packed bags at the salvation army. During the cupcake time they were able to decorate several cupcakes with different techniques (above is three of Sarah's cupcakes).

This was one excited girl! On Thursday they had a "Chef challenge" and had to make a meal with egg plant in it. The only thing that upset her is that she will be too old to go again next year. She had a great time! It was hard for me to leave her but I know this was a great experience for her. We will be keeping an eye out for other opportunities like this. Sarah would really enjoy having a job at a bakery for the experience. We feel blessed and very thankful that God provided this opportunity for her!

Elijah Is Now In The Double Digits!

Happy 10th birthday to this little man! He is our builder and fixer! Elijah loves to build things with his Legos or anything he can get his hands on. If it is broke he wants to try fixing it. 

 Elijah is definitely Dangerous, just like his shirt says, on and off the field! Never a dull moment with this boy around!

 We took him out to eat for his birthday and he enjoyed every bite of his meal and dessert! He chose to go to Golden Corral, he picked up his plate and headed to the buffets, looked around and said to Bryan "I don't know where to begin!".

Such a blessed mom to call this boy my son! He is a joy and blessing to me in many ways. I know that God has great plans for Elijah and I can't wait to see how all that unfolds. I could see Elijah being a builder on a mission team and sharing with others God's love and goodness! Praying for his little man to be a man after God's own heart and to be a blessing to everyone that crosses his path. Love you Elijah, more than you will ever know!

No Bake Energy Bites

As I have said before Sarah is our baker and she loves trying new things. One of the things she has made are these energy bites. We Mommy really likes them! 😀 They don't last long at this house. She used this recipe and changed a few things to make it with the items we had on hand. These are very easy to make. I wanted to share "our recipe" with you. If you make these please leave a comment and let us know what you think. Enjoy!!

Energy Bites

2 cups of rolled oats

1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips

½ cup of ground flaxseed

½ cup of nuts (peacans)

1 tsp of cinnamon

2/3 cup of honey

1 cup peanut butter

1 TBSP Chia seeds

Combine dry ingredients and mix together. Add in honey and peanut butter and mix together well (may have to use your hands). Scoop onto silicone baking sheet (on cookie sheet) using cookie scoop. Freeze for one hour and enjoy! Store in air tight container in refrigerator.

My Dad

I actually started this post on Father's Day 2014...just couldn't find all the right words to say. Not sure I have the right words now but I really wanted to share how I feel.

We have some amazing Father's in our family! Bryan is a great dad and I am so blessed that God chose him to be the father of my children. My Father-n-law is a great father and grandfather. He likes to take the grandkids riding on the farm and spending time with them. My dad is the best dad I could ask for! 

I love this picture of my dad and Joanna! She looks so little and this is a true picture of my dad...he LOVES playing whatever the grandkids want to play, even if it is Minnie Mouse! He has always been this way. I remember as a little girl he would play with me for hours and it was always whatever I wanted to play. Barbies, baby dolls, dress up, or dancing to a silly song...you name it and my dad would spend some quality time with me. Those are memories that I hold dear! 

This time last year I thought we would loose my dad, he had two heart attacks. We were completely surprised and very unexpected. I thank God every day that he has given us more time to make lots more memories with dad! He is a very special man and he loves my mother more now than ever before. He would do anything for anyone, a very kind hearted man. Dad is very crazy about his grandkids and I know he wishes we lived closer and he could spend more time with them. Because we don't see them all the time it makes the visits we do have very special. He still calls me doodlebug and he would still drop whatever he is doing to be right there for me if I ever need him. My dad has been a great father-in-law to Bryan. Dad thinks of Bryan as a son and treats him like one too. I have seen God do great things in dads life and I can truly see that God has changed my dad's heart spiritually.

Dad, I love you more than words can say and we look forward to spending lots of time with you and mom. I am so thankful that God has given us these times to make more memories that will last a lifetime! Love you Dad!!  

What is Elijah up to?

I wanted to post some pictures of Elijah and what he has been up to. Of coarse Elijah is always busy doing something. If he isn't doing school he is building something. He has been taking piano lessons since September 2016 and has done really well. He enjoys practicing each day and even making up his own songs. :)

 Here is a picture of him and Joanna at the piano. He was trying to teach her a song.

 This was Elijah's first year in 4-H and he was able to do the speech competition. His speech was on courage. He won second place in the county contest. Very proud of him!

Elijah likes having a snack! Here he is eating bananas and strawberries. He is such a adventurous child! Never know what he will be up to next. Very thankful God gave us Elijah and we get to celebrate his birthday next month!!

Timothy Turns 8!

Yes I wrote that correctly...he is 8!! This little man will steal your heart! He is always melting my heart! We had the best time celebrating his birthday with grandparents. This past weekend both sets of grandparents were able to come up on Friday. We had supper Friday night and then had cake and ice cream followed by presents from grandparents. Saturday morning Timothy and Joanna had a soccer game that we were able to watch, then we took Timothy out to eat to his restaurant choice. We spent the afternoon riding around to see the Amish and then back to our house for supper and presents from us. The weather was so nice that we were able to spend the evening outside watching the kids play. 

 Here is a picture of Timothy driving the gator around Pop and Gigi's pasture.

Here is Timothy helping with the dishes. He is a huge help around the house.

We are very blessed that God has given Timothy to us! He is a joy to our family! Timothy has a special bond with each of his siblings. Him and Joanna love to play together in her little kitchen. Timothy and Elijah have a great time playing Legos together or having an adventure outside together. Sarah and Timothy enjoy being silly together. Him and Isaac enjoy picking on each other. It is a blessing to watch each of the kids interact with one another and enjoy their siblings! Praying God will change Timothy's heart and that he will be the man of God that God has created him to be. May Timothy's life bring glory to God and cause others to glorify Him. We love you Timothy!!