Peek!

Little Lily

I think these little hair accessories are so adorable! Lily Stratton makes them and if you're interested visit lilypottery.com

Random snapshots from last week

I just had to put this picture of Emma sleeping in her crib. A few weeks ago she was really sick. The pediatrician said she had a viral infection and she was just miserable. There was a rash all over her body and she was sleeping all day everyday, for a week practically. Anyway, during that week she grew attached to this duck. One night she woke up at 3am screaming quack, quack! quack, quack! And I went into her room and she was pointing to her stuffed animal. I gave it to her and she settled back down instantly. Weird! I don't know why she decided she couldn't sleep without him all of the sudden.
The other picture was last Sunday night. She still has some supper on her face. :)

Muah!

A friend of mine told me about a game for toddlers at Fisherprice.com and so Emma and I decided to check it out. Basically she can touch any key and little animals jump out on the screen and say peek-a-boo! =) It's really cute. Anyway, this is what she's playing while Daddy asks for a kiss.

Turtle Dessert

Prep:10 mins  Other: 2 hrs

17 ice-cream sandwiches

1 (12.25 ounce) jar caramel topping

1  1/4 cups chopped pecans, toasted

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

3/4 cup hot fudge topping, heated

Place 8  1/2  ice-cream sandwiches in a 13x9 inch pan. Spread evenly with caramel topping and sprinkle with 1 cup pecans. Top with 2 cups whipped topping and remaining ice-cream sandwiches. spread remaining whipped topping evely over sandwiches. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup pecans. Cover and freeze at least 2 hours. Let stand 5 minutes before serving; cut into squares. Drizzle with fudge topping. Yield: 10 servings

 

This will look amazing.  ( As if you spent hours in the kitchen)  =)

Splishan and a Splashin

Pool Party!! =)

I'm trying to post some videos of today's outing but at the moment it's not letting me. So, here are some pics for now.

Pool party!! =)

This week has been unusually warm, especially today! We had 80+ weather. So, my friend Kim had the wonderful idea of getting out the kiddie pool and having the girls splash around for a little bit. They had loads of fun! We thought it would be cute if Emma and Chloe would give each other hugs for the camera but in the end...they took a tumble. =) Chloe had lots of love for her friend Emma. Everyone is ok! No worries, Grandma! =)

I think it is so sad that there are many people that believe whatever Oprah supports is the very best thing. This is a real eye-opener.

A 'thought' from my hubby

                                                                 Galesburg

"Poets try to uncover words to describe what was never ours to describe. As if our feeble human words were worthy to give light to one Sunday afternoon's snow. Moments pass without the hint or glisten of the whiteness from heaven. The weatherman keeps telling us that it will happen, sooner than later. But, I am content to keep my heart, mind and soul set on whether or not God allows. Moments turn to hours. We go to church, we pray and listen to the voice of God. Later, Grandma serves up a marvelous meal fit for family, not worthy for kings and magistrates. Friends descend upon her household. Hospitality multiplies and coffee, dessert and laughter are in abundance. Then at last the spots appear outside of Grandma's windows. At first it appears that God is lightly and only momentarily dusting the neighborhood. But the whiteness lingers for a couple of hours. It decides to stick around for a while. The purity of the color transformed the backyard into someplace else. Ironically, the weatherman sits back in his chair, with a grin on his face, once again proud of himself. Later that afternoon, I found out that Grandma asked God for the snow, not for herself or anyone else, but for me." 

Chase Blankenship

Cousin Carrie

This Saturday we had a wedding to go to and Chase's cousin Carrie was so kind as to come over and watch Emma. Between peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the fridge farm, baby dolls and cartoons, the two of them hit it off and had a blast. =) Thanks Carrie!!

Tex-Mex Cheesesteak Sandwiches

4 servings

prep time 10 mins

cook time 5 mins

2 hass avocados

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

coarse salt

4 soft hoagie o kaiser rolls, split (toasted if desired)

One 12.25 ounce box thawed frozen steak for cheesesteaks, such as Steak-umm

2 teaspoons chili powder

8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded 

1 tomato, sliced for serving

Hot pepper sauce, for drizzling (optional)

1. Mash the avocados with the lime juice and add salt to taste. Arrange the rolls open on plates and spread the avocado mixture on the roll tops.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, cook 3 portions of steak over medium-high heat, seasoning lightly with the chili powder, for 1 minute. Flip the meat, sprinkle with some cheese and push off to the side of the pan. Continue adding meat, chili powder and cheese to the skillet until all of the meat is cooked and topped with cheese.

3. Place a few tomato slices on each roll bottom. Divide the steak among the 4 sandwiches and sprinkle with hot pepper sauce, if using. Set the roll tops into place.

photo booth

Everyday pictures

Emma's room

There have been toys thrown all over our living room floors for several months now. (I do pick them up at the end of the day.) But then they just go in a basket. I was trying to figure out a way to organize Emma's toys so that she would have easy access to them and yet display them better. I found this little house bookshelf at ACmoore and I love it!! Emma has really been enjoying it as well.

Funny Names =)...what would yours be?

Gangsta Name

Favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie:

Mango chocolate chip

Detective Name

Favorite color, favorite animal:

Purple Retriever

Soap Opera Name

Middle name, city where you were born:

Joy Kankakee

Star Wars Name

The first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name:

Blara

Superhero Name 

"The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink:

The Pink Coke

Nascar Name 

The first names of your grandfathers:

Fred Harold

Witness Protection Name

Mother's & Father's middle names:

Marie Frederick

TV Weather Anchor Name

Your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter:

Trennepohl Tacoma

Spy Name

Your favorite Season/holiday, flower:

Summer wild flower

Cartoon Name

Favorite fruit,articleof clothing you're wearing right now +"ie"or "y":

Strawberry Shortsie

Rock Star Name

First Pet & current car:

Sissy Quest

Hippie Name

What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree:

Cereal Cherry

(Thanks Michelle =) )

Yard Fun

Where were you?

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements-surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were it bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
and said, Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed?
Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.
From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you o
have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
... Then Job answered the LORD and said:
I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

Job 38:1-18, 42:1-3

Lots of hugs

Chloe Rackley came over today and Emma just loved to give her hugs! They were too cute. =)

A play-date

Night, night

Emma got this stuffed animal from Granny Blankenship on Easter. Tonight she didn't want to let go of it when I put her down.

Lies Women Believe

 "A career outside the home is more valuable and fulfilling than being a wife and mother."

"Half a century ago, a handful of determined women set out to achieve a philosophical and cultural revolution. Convinced that women needed to throw off the shackles of male oppression, they wrote books, published articles, taught college courses, marched in the streets, lobbied Congress, and in myriad ways; succeeded in capturing the minds and hearts of millions of women.

They redefined what it means to be a woman and tossed out widely held views of a woman's priorities and mission in life. Concepts such as virtue, chastity, discretion, domesticity, submission, and modesty were largely eliminated from our vocabulary, and replaced with choice, divorce, infidelity, and unisex lifestyles. The daughters and granddaughters of that generation have never known any other way of thinking. One of the more devastating objectives and effects of this 'new' view of womanhood has been to demean marriage and motherhood and to move women -both physically and emotionally- out of their homes and into the workforce. Dr. Dorothy Patterson observes: 

Women have been liberated right out of the genuine freedom they enjoyed for centuries to oversee the home, rear the children, and pursue personal creativity: they have been brainwashed to believe that the absence of the titled, payroll occupation enslaves a woman to failure, boredom, and imprisonment within the confines of home'

Whoever expected we would have to live with such things as...

• pressure placed on women by their peers to "do more" than be"just a wife and mother"
• the status of a "homemaker" being devalued to something less than that of a serf:
• millions of infants and toddlers being dropped off at day care centers before daylight and picked up after dark:
• millions of children coming home from school to empty houses or being relegated to after-school child care programs:
• mothers giving their best energy and time to persons other than their husbands and children, leaving those women perpetually exhausted and edgy:
• families that seldom sit down and have a meal together:
• children subsisting on frozen dinners and fast food eaten on the run
• emotional and physical affairs being fanned by married women spending more quality time with men and work than they do with their own husbands
• women gaining enough financial independence to free them to leave their husbands
• women who don't have the time or energy to cultivate a close relationship with their children and who end up permanently estranged from their grown children
• children spending countless hours being entertained by videos, TV, electronic games, and computers
• elderly parents having to be placed in institutions because their daughters and daughter-in-law are working full-time and can't manage their care.
• inadequately supervised children becoming exposed to and lured into pornography, alcohol, drugs, sex and violence

In determining our priorities as Christian women, we must first ask: Why did God make women? What is His purpose and mission for our lives? The Word of God provides women of every generation  and culture with the Truth about our created purpose and primary role and calling. When we embrace the Truth and establish our priorities and schedules around it, we experience true liberation. In Genesis 2:18 we find the first and clearest statement of why God created the woman:

"The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

There you have it-God created the woman to be a helper to the man-to complete him, to be suited to his needs. Her life was to center on his, not his on hers. She was made from the man, made for the man, and given as God's gift to the man. Her relationship with her husband was the first and primary sphere in which she was to move and serve. Her husband was responsible to work to provide for their material needs. She was to be his helper and companion in reflection the image of God, taking dominion over the earth, and reproducing a godly seed.

... The woman was uniquely designed and equipped -physiologically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually-by her Creator to be a bearer and nurtured of life. In a multitude of ways, she was endowed with the ability to add life, beauty, richness, fullness, grace, and joy to the family unit. There in no greater measure of her worth or success as a woman than the extent to which she serves as her the heart of her home.

... The Scripture is clear that a married woman's life and ministry are to be centered in her home. This is not to suggest that it is necessarily wrong for a wife and mother to have a job outside her home-unless that job in any way competes with or diminishes her effectiveness in fulfilling her primary calling at home. Further, it is important for women to evaluate their reasons for working outside their home and to identify and deception behind those reasons.

For example, it is widely assumed today that a family simply cannot make it without two incomes. It is true that one of the unfortunate by-products of the feminist revolution is that our economy has become dependent on two-income families. However, that does not necessarily mean that families cannot survive on one income.

The Truth is that God gave to the man the primary responsibility to be the "breadwinner' for his wife and children. The Enemy has seen to it that it has become extremely difficult to function this way, but it is always possible to live according to the Truth if we want to.

... Even many secular women recognize the tension that is created when a woman tires to marry a career with a family. In an interview, actress Katharine Hepburn said:

"I'm not sure any woman can successfully pursue a career and be a mother at the same time. The trouble with women today is that they want everything. but no one can have it all.

Another actress, Joanne Woodward, agrees:

My career has suffered because of the children, and my children have suffered because of my career... I've been torn and haven't been able to function fully in either arena. I don't know of one person who does both successfully, and I know a lot of working mothers."

In contrast... women can choose to be mothers that are 'choosing life every day'...

• with every meal they prepare;
• with every load of dirty clothes they wash
• with every trip they make to the grocery store, to school, to the dentist, to piano lesson, to soccer practice, or to the shoe store
• with every scraped knee they bandage
• with every encouraging word they speak
• with every night hour they spend rocking a sick or scared child
• with every dispute they arbitrate
• with every moment they spend building Legos, coloring,
• helping with math problems, reading a Bible story, or listening to a husband or child describe his day
• with every moment they spend interceding for the spiritual growth and protection of their family.

"Day in and day out, they are building a home: they are being life-givers: they are laying a foundation and building a memorial that will outlive them for generations to come: they are honoring their Creator in the greatest possible way." Demoss (pgs. 124-131)

Ultimate Indulgence

SCOTCHEROOS

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

6 cups rice krispies

1 2/3 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup semi-sweet chips

Coat 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Combine peanut butter, sugar, corn syrup in large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat. Add cereal, stir until coated. Press into pan. Microwave butterscotch and chocolate chips for 1 minute, stir. Microwave for additional 10-20 minutes until topping is firm. 

TIP: Store in air tight pan and eat quickly, they go stale quick.

Easter

Easter cont.

Easter Sunday

Chloe and Emma

Apple butter pork loin (5 Ingredients)

One 2-pound boneless pork loin roast

1 1/2 cups apple butter

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup long grain rice

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the pork with salt. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat, then brown the pork. In a small bowl, combine the apple butter and cayenne, slather the mixture onto the pork, Roast until a thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the rice, coconut milk, 1/4 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 25 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve with the pork.

'Don't Make Me Count to Three'

"Teaching your children only to change their outward behavior is no more commendable than teaching a seal to jump through a hoop." Tripp 

"When we focus on our children's outside behavior and neglect what is on the inside, we will cause our children to become manipulators. They will learn to please us by jumping through the hoop (by acting the way we tell them to act out of a fear of punishment) but they will not learn the righteousness of Christ. As a matter of fact, if we only focus on the laws of outward behavior but fail to train their hearts in accordance with God's Word, we risk them viewing Christianity as a set of burdensome rules. As a result they may never experience what it means to truly know Christ and His power to transform lives.

God's law does demand that we require proper behavior, but we cannot be satisfied to leave the matter there. God says that we are to train our children in righteousness. We must help our children understand, that their straying hearts produce wrong behavior. If we are to really help our children, we must work backward from the behavior to the heart. We must be concerned with attitudes of the heart that drive this behavior. We do this by communicating with our children in such a way that they are caused to not only understand a Christ-like attitude, but they learn how to flesh it out in their lives (Plowman, p.34)."

An idea

I got this idea out of one of my 'Baby Talk' magazines. Emma likes to play in her room now and I had her medicine on her changing table shelves. She would always want to see what was in her medicine basket so I had to come up with some place else to store it. I saw this in an article and thought it was a neat idea. Just get a big clear jar and stick all the bottles and such inside. That way it is safe from baby and you can see at a glance which medicine you are looking for!! Problem solved. =)

Where is??...

Cupcake Cutie

Ball...

Ball Popper