Look who got a swing.....and loves it.

Emma and I read today in Psalms. I read to her how she was fearfully and wonderfully made. And how God created her her inmost being, and how He knit her together in my womb. I am not ashamed to say that I was crying as I was reading to her. I was just overcome with thanksgiving at the precious little gift that God has given to me.





Later I read these verses and they have sort of stuck with me today.....
Psalm 141:3-4 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.

Just a thought.....I wonder why he is talking about our words and guarding what we say and then in the next breath he says.....do not let me eat their delicacies. That little tidbit is thrown in there and it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense right there. Do you think it's just because they were talking about the mouth, or do you think it was something more?

Really, I would like to know your thoughts on it.

While I was getting ready this morning little miss chatty cathy was laying on the bed just a talkin away. It was adorable. I am so glad I took the time to record just a little bit of her.

A first....

I know I sound like a broken record. But I really can't believe that Emma girl is 4 months old now!

Simply put, where has the time gone?

Emma girl ate oatmeal for the first time.

It went well. But she did good with the spoon.

She spit a lot out and I don't think that she really "ate" a whole lot

Nathan. I love that boy. He was right there with me. He was taking pictures and he even made a video of her 1st "meal." I will spare you the video, it shook around so bad, it almost made me sick.

The last couple nights Emma has woken up several times in the night. I don't really know why she did. She would just snack and then go back to sleep. I don't know if the oatmeal had ANYTHING to do with it, but last night, she slept through the night again.

I really had wanted to wait a while longer to give her food. But lately she has just been watching us while we are eating. She has just seemed very interested in cups and spoons and the such. She has also seemed to be eating so often the past week or 2, and then with her waking up again during the night (especially after sleeping through the night for a month at least) I just thought she might need a little more.

Today is a good day to get some things done. I am already on my 3rd load of laundry. I have 1 of them on the clothes line blowing in the wind. I love the clothes line. :) I have the dishwasher humming away and soon will be sweeping up the floors for the 12th time this week. Oh the dog hair!! Anyone interested in a precious dog? We have 2!!  I think, with the dogs shedding now, I could knit a sweater with all the hair.

I have to decide what to make for dinner. What I want is a casserole that was made at the Taste of Home show I went to the other night. But it has cheese in it. I am trying to avoid dairy since I think Emma has a sensitivity to it. ( miss cheese. I miss pizza.) I wonder if I could make it without cheese, but then I figure...what's the point?

Have a blessed Thursday.

An eventful weekend.....

Joanna was sick on Sunday. With Mike working such crazy hours, she was alone with the kids.

I felt awful for her. So I called her up and told her we would take the kids for the night and I would send them off the school the next morning.

I remember once, man, my kids were little. Maybe 1 and 2. Maybe even younger. But I was sick. I mean the kind of sick were you can't get out of bed but to run to the bathroom. Jeremy was working. The day seemed like it would last forever and it was only 6:30.

Nobody was there. I was alone and in tears.

I called Joanna.

She came immediately. She grabbed my kids and took them to her house for the day. No fear of catching the bug for herself. She was just there.

I will never forget it.

She has done that many times over for me. When she is needed and even when she just feels a break is needed, she is there. Taking the kids. Offering a break. Showing Christ's love.

I admit. I am awful at that. I think I am way more selfish. But with Christ's help, I am trying to put others first. To see a need and to help. Not thinking. Just doing.

The kids were good and had fun playing together Sunday afternoon. I think Eli was plain tuckered out from following Ethan and Nathan around all day. At one point, we bribed Eli to let the boys be for a while so they could play without Eli getting in there way. ;)

After baths, Nathan did Eli's hair. He said that he was going to do the mo hawk for school the next morning. I didn't quite know how that would go over.

The next morning, Nathan did try and do Eli's hair. But I quickly took over! I didn't think the mo hawk would quite go over that well.

Elisa and I were watching Emma before bed. Emma is getting to be quite the strong little girl. Although she still isn't rolling yet. I really need to work on that...putting her down...thing. ;)

I'm only joking. sort of.

The next morning, after I kissed the kids off to school, Emma and I sat in the rocking chair and relished in the quiet of the morning with a much needed cup of coffee. It was blissful. :)

recipes I love

Pineapple upside down cake....

delish!

Nonstick cooking spray 3 cups cake flour, plus more for pan 1 cup butter, softened, plus 1/2 cup, melted 2 1/4 cups sugar 5 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups whole buttermilk 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar 2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple slices in juice, drained well (reserve 2 tablespoons juice for frosting) 1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained well Pineapple Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows Chopped pecans, for garnish, optional Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour. In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and set aside. In a small bowl, add the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Divide the brown sugar evenly into each pan. Pour the melted butter equally over the brown sugar. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar. Reserve remaining pineapple slices and cherries for another use. Pour equal amounts of batter over the fruit and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely. To assemble the cake, carefully arrange 1 cake layer, pineapple side up, on a cake plate. Carefully stack the remaining cake layer, pineapple side up, over the first layer. Frost the sides of the cake with Pineapple Buttercream Frosting. Press chopped pecans into sides of cake, if desired. Pineapple Buttercream Frosting: 1/2 cup butter, softened 2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar Beat all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. The recipe is a Paula Deen recipe. I love her. I didn't take a picture of the finished product. I ran out of time. As you can tell, I didn't make it in the round pans like the recipe calls for, I made it in a 9x13 pan. I also did add the frosting and the nuts on the edges of the cake.

When did

I looked over at Maddie girl today and thought....when did she get so big? It seems like yesterday when she was Emmas age. Time is a thief. Enjoy your little ones. You will look back and wonder when they grew up.