My new (to me) kitchen

A family at church was kind enough to pass this wonderful kitchen onto Hannah. It took us a while to bring is home b/c I was a little bit nervous about making room for it....but it actually made her play area much more defined and Hannah LOVES playing in her kitchen! Thank you Mikels for the wonderful gift..it's already provided for hours of fun!

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
63 degrees and sunny

Things that make me happy:
listening to Hannah sing...she's been singing all morning and it just blesses my heart!

Book I'm reading:
"The Excellent Wife" by Martha Peace

What I'm enjoying on TV:
This question is going to get boring..because I only watch 2 tv show during the week...I'm enjoying American Idol.

On the menu for dinner:We are going to try cheesy broccoli potato soup.

On my To Do List:
vacuum
sweep floors
bathroom
grocery store
declutter
unload and load dishwasher
(let's hope Hannah takes a looonng nap!)

New Recipes I tried or want to try soon:
(it's been a while since a HHM..so these are from the past few weeks)
Ham and Pineapple kabobs
crispy rosemary chicken and fries ooey gooey butter cake
garlic and lime chicken

In the craft basket:

finally finished the hairbows :)

Looking forward to this week:the beginning of Healthy Living Shows. I'm teaming up with my dear friend Amber to do healthy living shows. For the pampered chef portion of the show, I will teach a healthy recipe and Amber (who is a personal trainer) will teach some good exercise ideas!
Tips and Tricks:
how about a beauty tip this week? Take the extra 30 seconds to curl your eye lashes...it makes a big difference! Then when applying mascara...start on the outside corners...your lashes need more there and your eyes will pop :)
My favorite blog post this week:
I'm trying to read more books, so I haven't done as much blog reading lately, but here's a few that I enjoyed:
Easy Like Sunday Morning
Motherhood is Messy

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):
So excited to find out we are having a little boy!

On my mind:
thinking about and praying for a friend from church/our small group who is struggling with knee surgery complications.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb."
Psalm 139:13

Austrian Pastry

I made this recipe for our international dinner at church last night. I'm not real sure if it's an authentic Austrian dish or not...but it was yummy! A few people asked for the recipe...so here it is! It's super easy and is made with ingredients I usually have on hand.

Austrian Pastry

1 yellow cake mix 8 oz. cream cheese (I use lowfat)
3 eggs 1 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. butter 1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix by hand the cake mix, 1 egg, and butter. Pat into greased 9x13 pan. Layer with chopped nuts. (I love my food chopper for chopping the walnuts)
Beat cream cheese, 2 eggs, and powdered sugar until creamy. Pour over walnuts.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Thanks mom for the great recipe! :)

Happy Birthday Olivia, Addison, & Amelia!

We had a great time celebrating 3 special girls birthdays yesterday afternoon! With the theme of tutu's and tiptoes...there was lots of dancing and lots of fluffy tutus...what a sight! :) Sheri is great at throwing parties...the cake was wonderful, the house was beautiful, and each girl went home with wings, a tutu and a hairbow.

Hannah wants to wear her wings and tutu all the time! But of course...she's been into the ballerina thing these days...so this was right up her alley!!

our sweet little ballerina :)

Happy Birthday Jeff!!

Our friend Jeff turned 25 this past week. We are truly blessed by the lives of the Tebeuas! We enjoy their friendship and also enjoy serving along side them as we work with the wonderful teens of First Baptist Church!

Friday night, we got together with Jeff and Amber and some other friends for an evening of pizza and bowling. It has been such a long time since we've had a chance to get together with friends (it's hard enough to get away just for a date night for the two of us:)). We are thankful for the Mullin's who stayed with Hannah and for the great friends that we have in all of these people!

A brother or a sister?!

We are excited to share (if you haven't heard) that our family is growing and baby number 2 is on the way! We are expecting our little bundle of joy this coming September!
I am 20 weeks today (1/2 way there!) and we were able to have our big ultrasound on Friday. Meet baby number 2....

It's a brother!!!

We are so excited to have one boy and one girl! We are excited to experience the two different genders and bring a little bit of blue and boy into our house. :)

Hannah came with us to the ultrasound and loved watching him move all around on the screen. He looks very healthy...for that we are extremely grateful. My pregnancy has been great so far and we can't wait to see what God has in store for our family and this little life...what a miracle!

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb."
Psalm 139:13

Spring fun with bubbles

On one of the beautiful days last week Hannah and I spent lots of time outside. She loves to blow bubbles play with sidewalk chalk, drive her car, and walk up and down the sidewalk. It feels so good to spend time outside and we are always glad to see the sunshine! I picked up these bubble wands for her at Target and she loves them. Here Auntie Erica taught her how to just wave the wand back and forth to make bubbles...so these big wands are perfect for that. We had so much fun!

A day with Milan

We enjoyed getting to go to mops this morning. Hannah loves playing with her friends and the caregivers there...and I love the fellowship and encouragement of being with the other moms. My friend Julia came today pretty tired from being up with her infant every few hours last night...so we had Milan come home with us. It was so much fun to spend the afternoon with her. We had lunch together, both of the girls napped like champs- then we played, went for a walk, and had dinner. Milan was excited to ride back home to see her mom & dad (who she missed) in Hannah's car seat. It's so neat to see Hannah developing friendships at such a young age. I loved watching them talk to each other and interact. What a blessing!

Milan and Hannah enjoying a snack after naptime

Enjoying a beautiful spring day side by side in Julia's great double stroller.

Another family weekend

We got back from KY on Thursday evening, met my dear brother in the Toledo area with my baby girl (boy it was good to have her back) and then headed to the other side of Ohio to visit with Seth's parents for the weekend. It made for a crazy day of driving, but was the only free weekend we have this month, so we thought we would take advantage of the chance to make a visit. The weather was cool, but we enjoyed the time to relax and just be together.

Grandma and Papa have a beautiful tree in their yard...it was in full bloom!

We enjoyed a visit with Cody and Erica and baby Eli. It had been a while since we saw them last...Eli has really grown! Don't the cousins look so alike in this picture?

opening her Easter bag from Grandma and Papa

she loved her new princess glasses

A week with Pop & Nana

I had a great week with my Nana and Pop while Mommy and Daddy were in Kentucky learning about Jesus. Here is just a little bit of what we did during our week together:

I got to visit with my great-Popo...it's been a while since I've seen him...we were both happy to see each other! When I went to bed that night I told Nana that my Popo loves me.

Nana took me to story time at the library. I had fun singing "Hickory Dickory Dock" and playing with the toys there too!

I got to meet some of Nana's friends

...but most of all I just had fun hanging out with Pop, Nana, and Uncle Jeremy. Tonight at dinner I prayed that God would bless Nana, Pop, Uncle Jay, Jake, Buddy, and Summer (their doggies)...I know he will! Thanks for the great week Pop, Nana, and Uncle J!!

A family weekend

Hannah and I are just returning from being away from home for over a week. I had the privilege of attending the Together for the Gospel Pastors Conference in Louisville, KY with Seth and some others from our church. My parents were kind enough to watch Hannah while we were away. I took her down on last Friday and was able to spend the weekend which my family which was always great!

On Friday evening we had a cookout at Beth and Adams house...the burgers were SO good!

Saturday, we went to a family fair at the mall. There were tons of things for Hannah here are just a few:

she made a bookmark

watched a snake and a hedgehog from the Akron zoo

and loved wearing her paper princess crown and waving her princess wand.

after dinner we went up to Daffodil Trail for a walk. Saturday was the peak of the daffodils blooming season and they were just beautiful!

It was nice to get to visit my parents church on Sunday. Here's Hannah all ready to go in her dress from Nana and Pop

We met Beth, Adam, and Ethan for lunch after church...Ethans smiles were the highlight of the meal!

Monday morning we enjoyed a girls breakfast just my mom, Beth, and I (with our kiddos of course). Hannah sang "Zaccheus" for us while we ate :)

sisters...with our babies who didn't want to look at the camera :)

I left that afternoon to head back home for our trip to Kentucky. It was harder for me to say good-bye than Hannah. She was thrilled for the time with her Nana, Pop, Uncle Jay and their puppies. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

My 2 Year Checkup

I went to see Dr. Bullach today. I've been reading "Biscuit Goes to the Doctor" with Mommy and Daddy for a while now...so I knew just what to expect. I couldn't stop talking about him checking my eyes and listening to my heart all morning. When we got to the office I told the ladies at the desk that I was there to see Dr. Bullach..they thought I was so cute :) I weighed in at 24 lbs (I'm up from the 10th percentile to the 25th) and I'm 33 inches tall (50th percentile). Dr. Bullach did check my eyes, and listened to my heart, along with the other normal check up things. I loved seeing his tools! After he left, the nurses came back and gave me two pokes in my legs....Mommy said that it would poke a little but then I could have a lollipop. I was super brave and didn't cry one bit. I was so happy to have an orange lollipop! Here I am excited about my lollipop, and ready to head to church to have lunch with Daddy.

After my visit with Dr. Bullach, Mommy and I headed to church to have lunch with Daddy. While I was there I got to see Aaron and William...they were playing music. Aaron let me sit on his lap and play the drums....it was so much fun!

Mommy and I spent the afternoon at Ms. Ambers house. Usually, I sleep while Mommy and Ms. Amber hang out..but today I wasn't all about taking a nap. I enjoyed playing with Strike and Sammy and munching on the popcorn treat that Ms. Amber made for me.

At home, we had dinner with Daddy. By this point in the day I was running a low fever and my legs were a little sore. Mommy made me a special dinner of animal chicken nuggets and french fries. Daddy had a project at church tonight and the Crosstrainers are on Spring Break so Mommy and I stayed home. We made some cookies and then I headed to bed for an early bedtime.

This was my first time making roll out cookies. I loved using the rolling pin and cutting out shapes. Mommy made some cookies on Easter Sunday during my nap, but didn't finish all of them. Now they are just "spring" cookies and boy were they yummy!

Between the raindrops

This morning we didn't have a scheduled mops meeting, so several of us met at the park to enjoy some playtime. It was a little wet from the storm last night, but we had fun and enjoyed getting to see each other and play. Hannah and Noah had a great time playing together today. The kids went onto the tennis courts and just ran. Hannah loves to run! Either she kept up with Noah...or he was patient enough to play with her...but I think it was a little of both. He is such a sweet boy...it was fun to watch him be so kind to little Hannah.

They ran and ran....

...until they couldn't run anymore. Doesn't this picture just make you smile!?

We thank the Lord for the joy of friendship!

Another great spring day!

It was another beautiful spring day today. We headed to the library for story time this morning, went for a walk, then to the park for some playtime in the sunshine. We have so much fun together!!!

I think this was her first time on the tire swing

and she LOVED it!

and the slide is always tons of fun!

my little teapot :)

After Hannah's nap this afternoon, she was walking around the house with her snack of melon, walked up the mirror (which she often does) and started to sing "I'm Little Teapot". By the time I got the camera to tape her...it was her 3rd time through...so now she has gone from sweetly singing it to being rather silly. I'm posting this for my mom though, because I think this is one of her favorite children's rhymes. I try to catch the sweet version on tape soon. enjoy :)

Resurrection Sunday

We had a wonderful Easter! The worship service and church was wonderful, it was great to celebrate a risen Savior with our church family. Pastor Marian talked about why the resurrection is important...you can hear his sermon here.

We rejoice knowing that our Savior has risen and is alive and active today!

Luke 24:1-12 gives the account.

We thank God for the sacrifice of His son, Jesus...and that through his blood we can have eternal life. Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus?

"Jesus said (to her) "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11:25-26

Jesus wants to have a person relationship with you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although we missed being with our families...we did enjoy the quiet weekend together. Here's a little bit about our day:

While Seth was practicing with the praise team, Hannah and I went outside and took some pictures in her Easter dress...I couldn't help but share a few of my favorites with you:

Hannah usually crashes very soon after we get home. So...we had a quick lunch and put her down for her nap. It was nice to have some quiet time. I worked on Easter dinner and made some Easter cookies. When she woke up we went outside while the ham finished cooking.

We started with an egg hunt in the back yard...

Hannah had fun pointing them out and then running to them

but of course the best part was checking out the loot inside

After the egg hunt, we used Resurrection Eggs to tell her the Easter story. Here she is showing the cross.

she took the linen cloth out the egg and put it right onto her forehead.

we finished with her Easter basket

then enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans and rolls.