Happy Spring, Happy Smiles

Happy Spring! Little by little we are seeing the signs of spring - pussy willows, tulips and daffodils just starting to peak their heads up from the earth. It sure is beautiful this world God created!


Its hard to believe, yet again, that time is a tickin' away ever so fast! Baby K will be 11 weeks old this week! She sure is a delight to our family! She loves to smile and coo and kick! She has a very sweet disposition :) See the outfit she is wearing in these pictures? Her big sister M wore it when she was a wee babe. Here, let me see if I can find a picture:


Wow! Thank goodness for dates on digital pictures - I would have thought that was Baby K! My husband jokes with everyone that we only know how to make one kind of baby :) He's right - they sure do look alike. Oh, my heart is swooning this morning looking at how little M was. As I will update you in a bit - she is ever so big these days! Here are some more smiles of Baby K :) You can see why we keep a hat on her so much as in the picture above! She is so bald! It makes me feel like she's warmer with a little cap on :)

Happy Baby!

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Now to update you on our family, we have had a very hard winter with sicknesses. Pneumonia, bronchitis, influenza (the real deal - tested positive at the docs!), stomach bugs, etc. Believe you me, I have had my moments where this has just worn me down. But today, now that everyone seems to be on the up and up, I look back to this winter and see how gracious God is in how He's carried me through. As I've shared, our oldest son has asthma and allergies. I spent the first two years of his life so angry at anyone and everyone whenever he was sick, which was a lot. As I continue on my mothering journey, I realize, it is all in God's hands!

There is a purpose when my little ones get sick. It was so hard to see that the week when all four of my children were sick, and my husband and I were up all night with all of them. It was difficult to see again when my little girl M had a fever of 104.9, and then a few nights later of 105.4. But God didn't allow these sicknesses to happen just to kick me when I was down, as He looked down from heaven laughing away! No!

God never promised me that it would be easy (like I needed to tell you this as you think about your struggles), but God DID promise He would never leave me, nor forsake me (Hebrews 13). I recently came across this story that really says what I am trying to say, so much better!

The Road of Life

At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge,

keeping track of the things I did wrong,

so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die.

He was out there sort of like a president.

I recognized His picture when I saw it,

but I really didn't know Him.

But later on when I met Christ,

it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride,

but it was a tandem bike,

and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal.

I don't know just when it was that He suggested we change places,

but life has not been the same since.

When I had control, I knew the way.

It was rather boring, but predictable . . .

It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts,

up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds,

it was all I could do to hang on!

Even though it looked like madness, He said, "Pedal!"

I worried and was anxious and asked,

"Where are you taking me?"

He laughed and didn't answer, and I started to learn to trust.

I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure.

And when I'd say, "I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed,

gifts of healing, acceptance and joy.

They gave me gifts to take on my journey, my Lord's and mine.

And we were off again.

He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight."

So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received,

and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life.

I thought He'd wreck it; but He knows bike secrets,

how to make it bend to take sharp corners,

knows how to jump to clear high rocks,

knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.

And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places,

and I'm beginning to enjoy the view

and the cool breeze on my face

with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.

And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore,

He just smiles and says . . .

"Pedal."

-- author unknown

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During our recent bout with influenza, my little girl here M decided she was ready to go poo and pee on the potty. This was a little inconvenient for me doncha know. But what was a Mama going to do? She was ready, and I just needed to pedal :) With no work whatsoever, this precious girl of mine is now fully potty trained! Just when I'm ready to let her go through the night without a diaper, she'll have a little accident during the night, so we'll keep the diapers at night for now :) Hey, I'm just glad she did the hard work for me :) Potty training is one of those things I'd gladly hire out if I could! Oh, and don't tell her, because she hasn't realized yet, but I took her pacifier away over a week ago (yeah I know - she was a little old for it).

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Back In the Kitchen Again

After what seems like years (it probably was!) I am back in the kitchen again, cooking away! It has been so fun! I'm back to baking bread - I even baked our hamburger buns for our sloppy joes last night! I'm not a New Year's resolution kinda gal - but this year I did make one - to memorize a few basic recipes to keep under my belt. So far I've memorized pancakes from scratch, and a master cookie recipe. I'm now working on my rustic Italian bread recipe to keep tucked back in my brain. What time this saves not having to go look up a recipe!

PANCAKES

Thanks to NancyToday, I've learned a fantastic, from scratch pancake recipe. Throw away the bisquick! This is WAY easier in my opinion (and so much more filling as it has protein in it)!

You simply need to remember the number ONE and a list of ingredients. If you need to increase your amount of pancakes for a larger crowd, just multiply one by the number of batches you need :)

Take 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of oil, and 1 teaspoon of sugar and whisk it good in your dish. Then add 1 cup of milk and whisk that with those ingredients. In another bowl, take 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder, and whisk those together. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and you have delicious pancakes batter :) To give you an idea of how much this serves, doubling it is perfect for my family. I've made pancakes every morning now for a week, and plan to keep doing this every morning I can. For one it is CHEAP, for two it is HEALTHY, and for three, nothing feels better than sending your husband and son off for the day with a warm filling breakfast in their tummies :) Come on, you can do it too :)

Well, I better go keep my day going. God bless you this week!