Happy Birthday Jeremy!

Can't believe Jeremy is 15 years old! We had a great time celebrating his bday with him. Here he is with his pudding cake and 15 candles. :)

He seemed pretty excited about his new basketball...here are some of the poses:

#1

pose #2

and my favorite pose #3

watch out for this guy!

Chick-Fil-A

This past weekend, we went to visit my family to celebrate my brothers 15th birthday. Friday, everyone but my mom had to go to work...so we suffered through the day together. We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. It was my mom & Seth's first time and only my second. They were having an anniversary celebration, so we got some great deals! We bought waffle fries and each got a free chick-fil-a sandwich. Along with free coffee (all winter long) and anniversary cake...all for $1.29 each! It was wonderful! I love the play place! It was clean and the perfect size for Hannah. It was her first time playing on a play place and she LOVED it! I tried to get some pictures, but as you can probably imagine...she was a busy girl...and wasn't very interested in holding still for a picture. She climbed up and down the steps many times until she got brave enough to venture into the tunnel. Then she went back and forth in the tunnel and finally found her way to the slide. She found the slide and loved going down on her belly...I'll tell you...this little girl knows how to have fun!

Cody and Erica introduced us to Tim Hawkins...if you like Chick-Fil-A at all..check out this video..it makes me laugh every time! :)

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods: 34 degrees and sunny. We bundled up and went for a walk today...it was wonderful!

One of my simple pleasures: phone calls with my sister

On my bedside table: still working on Toddler Wise

On my TV: off

On the menu for tonight: fried potatoes and kielbasa

On my To Do List: Laundry, bills, clean shower and tub

New Recipe I tried last week: I can hardly believe that I went a week without trying a new recipe...but I really don't think I tried anything new last week.

In the craft basket: Hannah's scarf, some Valentines Day crafts with Hannah

Looking forward to: Valentines Day

Homemaking Tip for this week: Got this quick tip from watching a few minutes of Dr. Oz last week...to replace salt in your cooking...use garlic powder or lime juice.

Favorite Blog Post(s) of the week (mine or other):Do Not Be Discouraged When You Feel Judged: A good post about moms tendencies to compare with each other, We Need More Tebeaus , & Practical Submission : struggle with submitting to your husband? Or maybe just looking for some practical ways to show him respect...check out this post!

Favorite photo from last week: My crazy brother (who is now 15) posing with his new basketball.

On my Prayer List: friend with an interview on Tuesday, friends traveling on Tuesday, Hannah to come to know Jesus at a young age, good health, my hubby.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" Prov. 16:9

mops and family relationships

Last week, we had another great mops meeting. I'm behind in my blogging, but have been wanting to share these verses. We talked about family relationships and were able to encourage one another with things that have worked for us and got to know each other better by sharing a little about our own family dynamics. We read these verses that speak well to our family relationships:

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her hands the foolish one tears hers down." Prov. 14:1

"Bear wtih each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Col. 3:13

"In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." Eph. 4:26

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Prov. 15:1

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but on humility consider others better than yourselves." Phil. 2:3

"Carry each other's heavy loads. If you do, you will give the law of Christ its full meaning." Gal. 6:2

I'm blessed to have wonderful family...but will be writing these verses in my prayer journal...they will be great reminders I know!

We also had a great time making a wire word craft together. I was so excited about mine that I had to take a picture to share with you :)

I went to pick up Hannah from moppets and she had a hand made Valentine for me that made me melt. What an encouraging/blessed morning I had!

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods: 30 degrees and cloudy...I'm ready for spring :)

One of my simple pleasures: laughing with our teenage girls :)

On my bedside table: Toddler Wise

On my TV: Monday's just aren't really a tv day for us.

On the menu for tonight: chicken alfrado with fettuccine

On my To Do List:Grocery shopping, laundry, Valentines Day decorations, missions meeting

New Recipe I tried last week: Clone of a Cinnabon I made these for the teen girls for our overnighter Fri/Saturday...got the recipe from my sister in law...they were delish!! Seth said they were the best cinnamon rolls he'd ever had and asked if I could make them every week. yum! I also tried: cheese lovers pasta roll-ups, zesty chicken tortilla bake, and italian sausage and pasta bowties.

In the craft basket: starting a scarf for Hannah

Looking forward to: celebrating J's 15th birthday

Homemaking Tip for this week: motivated moms : I'm so very excited about my new chore planning system. For $8 I got a years worth of lists that include daily and weekly chores. I had a daily chore system that I was using, my house was clean, but I wasn't getting to organization or odd cleaning jobs. This list includes cleaning the oven, fridge, organizing the basement, and clipping my little Hannah's fingernails. Hopefully this will help me to keep a clean and organized home. :)

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): What is Ministry?, It all comes back to who HE is (a great post by my friend Mandi), A 5 O'Clock Club Story (are you up for the challenge?! I am!)

Favorite photo from last week: my yummy cinnamon rolls

On my Prayer List:Family and Friends

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

John 15:1-4

"I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

tryin' to have fun even when feelin' bad...

My poor baby just isn't feeling well. She's had a runny nose since Saturday...and the off and on fever started on Sunday night. She's been miserable with stuffiness and your normal cold stuff which seems harder for little ones. Today we were home bound again, so we tried to have some fun even in the midst of not feeling good.

First we played snowman dress up. I printed off the cute snowman pieces on tag board and covered them with contact paper for sturdiness. Hannah had fun giving the snowman different scarfs and hats. If you want to make this little "craft" with your little one...I found the pattern here. (there are a few other great winter activities to do with your little one and a game that you can play with the snowman if your kids are older)

Then we had fun with good 'ol shaving cream. This took me back to my teaching days. I used shaving cream at kindercare with the preschoolers and in kindergarten. It was a great way to teach letters and get the tables clean too! In spite of how sad her eyes look...Hannah really did have fun. It took her a while to dig in...at first she just wanted to cover her hands and then arms

....but before long she was making big circles and designs on her tray. What fun!

Notice the binki? Even it got shaving cream on it! When she doesn't feel good...her binki is a must!

Touchdown Taco Dip

I made this pampered chef dip for our small group on Sunday and could have ate all of it myself! Thought I would share with any of you who are planning treats for your super bowl parties. I will for sure be making this again for our teens on Superbowl Sunday!

Touchdown Taco Dip

1 can refried beans

2-oz cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)
1 pkg. cream cheese softened

1 medium tomato, seeded
1 cup sour cream

1 /4 cup green onions, with tops
2 Tbs. taco seasoning mix

2 Tbs. fresh cilantro or parsley
2 garlic cloves

1 /2 cup pitted ripe olives

Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread refried beans over bottom of Deep Dish Baker using Classic Scraper. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning. Finely chop garlic using Utility Knife; add to Batter Bowl and mix well.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over beans. Grate cheese over top using Deluxe Cheese Grater. Bake 15-18 minutes or until hot.

To prepare toppings, slice olives using Egg Slicer Plus. Dice tomato and thinly slice onions using Utility Knife. Thinly slice cilantro using Pizza Cutter. Sprinkle olives, tomato, onions and cilantro over dip. Garnish with additional sour cream if desired. Serve with tortilla chips.