Messy Cake & Fun in the Leaves

As promised! She had fun and got very messy. I am positive that this is the best part of a 1st birthday.


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The other day I piled a bunch of leaves in the middle of the cul-de-sac and had the kids just go to town, posing and playing. I came up with 515 pictures from this but was able to finally narrow it down to 81. This what came of it.

To break or Not to break

That was the question one year ago last night. Well it wasn't quite to break but to strip. We got home from Home Group at 9pm Sunday night to a message on our answering machine from my Midwife, "Brooke I need to talk to you, please give me a call when you can". I was a week overdue with Sarah, which was unusual for me, and after having 1 1/2 hour labor last time made us all on edge. I think we all thought, well as soon as she goes into labor, bam, that baby will be born.

I called Lisa back and found that her son was in Washington desperately needing his mom to come up and spend some time with him. Hmmmmm, well my last labor was quick so we couldn't depend on a midwife from Eugene, her assistant Rachel had never done a delivery and I was a week overdue so it should happen any minute. I got off the phone, John & I prayed and we decided to have Lisa come over, check me and we would go from there. The other dilema in all this is we live in Lebanon and she lives in Corvallis, 1/2 hour away, so we had to weigh the cost of her driving all the way over here for her to just check.

When she got here, she checked and I don't remember exactly what I was dilated at but it wasn't a significant amount. Lisa has never induced anyone and I really didn't want to be induced but we needed to do something, either decide that if she goes to Washington, we might end up in the hospital or she could strip my membranes and see what happens. She stripped! I also took some kind of herb which I don't remember, to see if that would bring on contractions. Our thinking was, well if the baby is ready, this will start things up, if the baby is not, than nothing will happen. Lisa camped out on our couch and we all went to sleep.

I remember waking up at 2:00 and realizing that nothing had happened. I went out and talked to Lisa and was completely frustrated. We decided that nothing was probably going to happen but she would stay there for the night and go to Washington in the morning. After talking with Lisa, I went back to my bed, pleading with God, "Please Lord, make something happen, bring this baby into this world today" and WHOSH................... my water broke. Literally as I was praying, God said, "OK, it's your time". Then the fun began. I will spare you the gory details but 4 1/2 hours later our little Sarah Elyzabeth was born at 9lbs 5oz, my biggest baby yet. The girls were just waking up when she was born and got to see their baby sister about a half hour later. They sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, it was so precious. Oh by the way, while I was pregnant, we didn't know for sure that she was a girl but of course I had my strong suspicions.

So obviously today is my baby's first birthday. We are not planning anything extravagant, just a simple family party with a few presents and some cupcakes. Of course we can't forget the birthday cake just for herself that she will get all over the place, can't wait! I will post pictures tomorrow. She has been taking steps for about 2 weeks but has not decided to start walking yet. She has 6 teeth and eats everything. She has said, but does not always say, Hi, none (done), dada. She definitely has her own little conversation going constantly though. I don't think we have any worries about speech with her.

One more thing about my labor, everytime that it didn't seem like much was happening or we wanted the next phase to start, I would quickly blurted out a desperate cry and God would answer. The song that so ministered to me that night was "Everlasting God" by Lincoln Brewster and if my playlist on my blog was working you would hear it. This is probably one of my favorite songs this past year. I would recommend a home birth to anyone but would give some heads up on some things.

I LOVE YOU BABY!!!!

Wedding Dress

The girls have asked me for months "Mom, can I see your wedding dress". Well it's not that I'm mean but every time they would ask it was either as I'm making dinner, we're in the car or in the middle of school, not really opportunities to show them. Tonight they finally asked at the right time (and I vowed that no matter what was going on next time, within reason, I was going to take the time since they had asked so many times). At one time I was going to have it perserved and put away in a box but never really got around to do and then at another time I was going to just give it away, thinking "my kids will never want to wear it so why keep it". I am so glad that I didn't, not only did they want to see, they tried it on AND Emma said "Mom, when I get married I want to wear your wedding dress", aaahhhhh, sob sob. It was a really neat and honoring experience to have them really want to know about my dress, the one I got married to their daddy in and the one we started our lives in. Ok, enough of the sappy stuff, on with the pictures.

Yes, I had the puffy sleeves, long train and even the bow on the behind! Well what do you expect, it was 14 years ago I found the dress when those styles were "in".


Waiting for her Prince to come!

Doctrine Q. 2

The question this week in our home group doctrine study is (if you are not sure what this is than click here):

Why is Jesus the ONLY way?

First you have to establish that we have a need for a Savior because sin has separated man from God. If we don't need a Savior then we don't need Jesus. There was a fall when Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He chose to go on his own and not follow God which is when sin entered the world.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. Romans 5:12

Because we are sinners, Mankind cannot fix the problem. It is not by anything we can do it has to be by the lovingkindness of God

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us..... Titus 3:5

So if we have established that we are sinners and that we can not do anything to be saved from that sin then how can that price be paid? It is by the death of a sinless man! You can not pay for a $50 fine with only $49 it must be paid with $50 so human sin must be paid with a sinless human, JESUS!

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 1 Corinthians 5:21

In the end, we need a Savior and where in the Word does it say that Jesus is that Savior?

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

I and My Father are one. John 10:30

So to answer this question when someone asks:

1. Are you a sinner?

2. Can you save yourself?

3. How is that penalty paid?

I hope this helps you in your walk and you can now defend your faith when the hard questions are asked. There are so many more references that can be attached to this also but these were just a small protion of the ones we dove into tonight. A good reference to look up more is Blue Letter Bible.

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Next weeks question: Why does God allow "bad" things to happen to "good" people?

Leelou

You'll notice that I change my background periodically. It's all thanks to Leelou. She comes up with these great backgrounds and they are all free. Monday is the beginning of her launch party. You'll have to check it out. She is doing lots of giveaways and new backgrounds. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Favorite Photo Friday

What do you think she was doing?


I guess at 11 months old it would be fun to see if it would ever stop rolling wouldn't it?

Time to replace the toilet paper roll!

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On another note. I was doing devotions this morning and using Blue Letter Bible like I have done other mornings and came across this: Sayings Not Found in Scripture things like "God helps those who help themselves" and "Money is the root of all evil". You'll have to check it out, seems like an invaluable resource.

Doctrine Q. 1

In our home group we are studying doctrine and answering some of the tough questions that we get out there so that we will be well equipped to answer with God's Word. So I thought I would share this also here so that I can 1. understand it better and 2. help others be able to answer these questions too.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

We are asking one question per week and I will share what we found here. Our question this week was:

How can a loving God send people to hell?
(a huge question with lots of different questions within that question)

well the first question to ask is, is God a loving God? We know He is but where does it say that in the Word? As I looked this one up there were at least 50 different references to God's love. Yes God loves us but the two most simple and obvious answers to that are in John 3:16 and 1 John 4:8

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8

Yes, God is a loving God, He gave His son to be a ransom for us so that He could spend eternity with us.

Does God send people to hell?

No, God does not send people to hell, we send ourselves with our own actions.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. John 3:16-21

There is a plethora of verses and so much meat in Romans and especially Romans 1:18-2:8. I could write the entire thing here but I will leave that to you. The good news in all this is that we do have a Savior, Jesus. Yes, we are all sinners, including myself, and the only thing that saves us from that sin is Jesus' blood that was shed on the cross for us. God is gracious and kind to accept our brokenness.

There are so many other questions that could be asked from that one question but I will leave that to you to delve into. I hope that maybe some of this will help anyone else out there. When I first heard about our home group doing this I was really nervous only because of my lack of knowledge but I am so excited about this now that I will be well equipped in the end. I hope you don't mind me using MY blog as a posting ground to spread the GOOD NEWS! I will try to remember to post the other questions we ask with our answers.

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Our next question: Why is Jesus the ONLY way?

Canning

Now that I'm to the end of canning season I wanted to do a review of everything that I did. This is mainly for my own memory but if anyone else can benefit than great.

Pears - Purchased 28 lbs ($20)- Made: 12 qts of slices & 7 pints of pearsauce
Peaches - Purchased 25 lbs ($20)- Made: 12 qts of slices & 5 qts of peach pie filling
Green Beans - Purchased 12 lbs ($6)- Made: 20 pints
Apples - I really don't know how much I had ($0)- Made: 14 pts of applesauce
Relish - Purchased 12 cucumbers and all the other ingredients to go with, ($10 all ingredients)- Made 10 pints
Salsa - Received 22 lbs ($3 onions)- Made: 7 qts & 5 pints

All of these numbers are approx because my brain just doesn't retain much more than 3 minutes ago. I don't think I did enough for our family (especially salsa). I will try to stick to mainly quarts next year though, a pint just isn't big enough especially as Sarah gets to be eating more. I would probably try to double this for next year and either 3x-4x the salsa. It is so nice to be able to just plan a main dish for dinner and know that I have side dishes up on my cupboards, pair that with a salad and you have a fairly healthy meal.


She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness. Proverbs 31:27

I'm probably lazier than the Proverbs 31 Woman but I do TRY to be wise in the ways of my home.

A new serving dish

Yesterday as I was preparing lunch I decided to put a new twist on the normal "plate". I found this on another blog awhile back and decided to try it, the kids thought I was nuts. Something to just keep a little silliness in the home. They each had 6 cups and sat side by side sharing (always a plus in my book). I think it's fairly balanced too, Mac & Cheese, apples, ham slices, yogurt, carrot sticks & almond, raisin cheerio mix. That does seem like a lot of food and I would say they don't eat that much food normally but I had to fill up all the holes and the holes are only about 1 cup each.



A little later in the day Emma handed Sarah her Bible and said to her "Now Sarah, you have to be careful with Swords". Pretty clever.......I was definitely an impressed and proud momma at that one.

Burritos

I've been waiting to post this recipe until I had photos but each time I make it I forget to take pictures. I think it's because it's so good that I am too excited to take any pictures I just want to sit down and eat it. These burritos are sooooo good they remind me of Baja Fresh. If you add some spanish rice, guacamole (or baby food as Emma calls it), and sour cream and you'll feel like your sitting with your very own Baja Burrito, and you've saved all that gas money :) I think the best thing about these is that it is soooo easy and they are fairly healthy.

1 1/2 lbs round steak, trimmed of fat

1 cup frozen corn

1/8 cup cilantro (approx)

1/2 cup beef broth

20 oz jar salsa (I just use pace picante)

15 oz can black beans, rinsed & drained

Place all the ingredients into crockpot and let cook all day (approx 7-9 hrs), the longer the more tender. Remove the meat from the crockpot when it's fork tender. Pull all the meat apart so that the meat is in shreds and place into a large frying pan. Add approx 1/2 of the mixture from the crockpot into the frying pan and let simmer on low for approx 1/2 hr. Add more of the liquid mixture as needed so that you have a nice burrito mixture (not too much liquid but not too dry). When you are ready to eat, put meat mixture into tortillas and add rice, guac and sour cream. I usually make up a double batch and than take all the leftovers, prepare burritos, place them on wax paper, freeze and when they are frozen, place them in ziploc baggies. This way we always have some for a quick lunch or dinner.

These are definetly a favorite around here. If you make these, you'll have to let me know what you think. I'll try to include pictures next time I make them.

Yes, it didn't have anything to do with burritos but it was too crazy not to share

Mixed Emotions

Angie & I headed up to Portland this weekend for the Women of Faith conference/concert. Concert is what some of it felt like. I enjoyed all the biblical teaching but the concert part I could have done without. I have such a hard time putting into words what God has shown me (especially when 5AM came so early and I don't have any creamer for my coffee, phew, it's a tough morning). One thing He did show me is that sin & God CAN NOT co-exist. Which doesn't mean that we need to be perfect but we need to ask forgiveness and leave room for God's grace. In order to receive His forgiveness we must forgive others too. I love it when I have heard people say and they said it this weekend, "you have to give yourself permission to fail". If we expect that we are going to make the perfect decision every time then we are not leaving room for God's grace. I tell my children all the time "You do the best that you can, and LET God take care of the rest". It is so true for all of us. If we are doing our work as unto the Lord than He will honor our best and pick up the rest. I have also learned some great things about obedience and joy and serving. Obedience has to come first in anything that we do, sometimes the joy won't come until later but if we are obedient first than the joy will come from that obedient heart. Serving is obedience too, we have to have a servants heart and a servants will otherwise we will not grow in our Lord. Servanthood came easy at first but in the last few years has not been quite so easy the more I have had to do at home but it's just an excuse, God wants our first fruits in EVERYTHING. God just wants us to put others first, show grace, show forgiveness and most importantly LOVE HIM!

As great as this weekend started, the end was difficult. We were able to send Storm to a new home yesterday. This was PAINFUL! This dog has been such a source of anger for me and now hopefully that will change but it was probably one of the hardest things that we had to do. It was so hard hearing Emma's voice wavering through the tears, "bye Storm" (and I cry as I type this even). John put it best when he told Emma that having Storm here was just like making her stay in her bedroom ALL the time and she could come out but only for a little while and only when other people were not here. Some people may not agree with our decision but it doesn't matter to us because this is our family and this is what we had to do for our family. Yes, it is difficult to watch Emma have a hard time with it but she can't be shielded from it. It's just like when God makes decisions for us that we don't like but we have to endure them and grow in them. He hates to see us greive but He also knows the best decisions for us. I read a post from a fellow christian that was titled "God is a God of disappointment". It's so true, we may have a certain idea/vision for our own lives and we "involve" God in that idea/vision but ultimately it's up to God to make those decisions for us and we may be very disappointed with what He has for us. It's not the answer we wanted but it's the best answer for us. We didn't want to take Storm away from the family but it's the best decision for our family at this time. We did get pictures from her new owners and she was running running running and looked like she was having fun.

A few people have asked why we didn't sell her, well it simply goes like this, we didn't want her to be a "sold item". Yes if you sell her than you know she is going to someone who has invested money but money isn't everything. Yes we spent a lot of money on her and we probably could have recouped part of it but she wasn't an item, she was a family member. We just wanted her to go to someone who had heart. God gave us a peace about where she was going, we know she went to a good owner.

It turned out ok, we took the kids to Subway for dinner and Cold Stone for dessert. After the food indulgence we came home and assembled some new lego projects. And can you believe it, I didn't get any pictures. What kind of mom am I?

Follower?

If you are a follower please add yourself to my blog. I have just added a Followers section on the sidebar. I'm always interested if I'm talking to myself or if there really people out there listening. I would love to be able to link back and take a peek at your blog too. So fess up and make yourself public :).

I've been playing with my very basic picture editing software, Picasa and I have been having so much fun seeing what kind of things I can do. Here are some of the pictures I have edited.

Before
After


Before

After


Before


After

Before

After (My favorite!)


Before


After
These are some pretty major differences (made them look more old fashioned without going just sepia) and I could have made them quite a bit simpler but I was having fun. Digital is amazing!

It's Time :(

This is the day I have been hoping and praying John would finally say, OK! But it's coming harder than I thought it would be. If you know me, you probably already know what I'm going to say. Today is the day that we have said "She needs more space", "We need more freedom", "I can't handle the hyperness anymore", no, it's not one of the daughters....... it's the dog. We have finally come to the conclusion that we can't do a dog or at least this dog anymore.

Bless her heart, she tries and she is so sweet but I think it's because I'm just not an animal person. I have to wipe dirty butts all day, do I really want to scoop dog poop, not so much. I have to feed 3 maniac children all day, do I really want a dog to have to feed too, not so much (although she is a great vacuum cleaner). Most of all I just feel really bad for her, she is a coonhound, she needs a space to run and we definitely don't have that on our postage stamp size city lot. So we have come to the decision to give her a new home. Know anyone???

Seriously though, if you know anyone who would really like to have a dog that your kids can really enjoy please let me know. I would really like her to have a good home and maybe with some kids on a farm.



This truly is such a hard decision but I know it's time.

Birthday & Football (What could be better?)

We started out our weekend on Friday evening with spaghetti & a movie. Nim's Island, not a bad movie, but a little different. It was definitely family friendly though which deserves an A+ for today. Emma now wants a lizard friend that she can carry on her shoulder, could you imagine????

Saturday was my birthday and Riah said the cutest thing while talking to Emma, "I can't believe Mommy is 19 today!!!". Oh honey, how I wish. Actually to be perfectly honest, I don't think I would want to be 19 again. I would want my 19 year old body back but oh well, I won't dwell. It was a nice relaxing day. John took the kids to Home Depot for their building workshop and then we met in Albany for lunch with my mom. After lunch my mom and I went and did some shopping and some scrapbooking. A blessing of a day.

Sunday our church was host to Potter's Field Ministries. This is an amazing 90 minute presentation about how God is the Potter in our lives and we are a piece of clay that in the end, if we allow, will be a beautifully molded, gorgeous piece.



If anyone is interested in seeing this full length DVD please let me know. We were able to obtain a copy of it and it is definitely worth watching, it will change your life.

After Potter's Field we headed to a Pop Warner game with Angie's son's team and Courtney's son's team playing each other. It was fun but I was really not comfortable cheering for either team. It just didn't feel right. It was a good time of visiting and watching the little offspring play with heart.

I hope your weekend was just as blessed!

It's movie night right?

In our house Friday is pizza and movie night (although I don't think we'll do pizza tonight, long story of why not) so I thought I would share our favorite popcorn recipe with you. What's better with pizza and a movie than popcorn right? We have a WhirleyPop and that's how I make it but I'm sure if you used an 8 Qt pot with a lid it would work, just make sure you shake it continuously.

Cinnamon Crunch Popcorn
2 tsp cinnamon
1 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt (opt.)

Combine above into a small bowl and set aside

1/4 c. popping corn
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. sugar

Preheat stove before placing pot on the stove. Once the stove is hot, combine popcorn mix in pot and cover and shake continuously during cooking. Remove from stove when popping almost stops. Remove lid, dump in the cinnamon mixture and stir together until mixed well. You might need to transfer to another bowl and mix but do it quickly so the popcorn is still nice and hot while you are mixing. You will not regret trying this, it is FABULOUS!

Mommy Loves You!

When Riah was a baby I used to sing this cute little song to her. I used to sit there and sing it to Emma and Riah together and Emma would join in while Riah would cry. It is such a precious memory to me. (Sung to the tune of Jesus Loves Me)

Mommy loves you this I know,
For my heart does tell me so,
Emma & Riah to Mommy belong,
We are weak but He is strong
Yes, Mommy loves you,
Yes, Mommy loves you,
Yes, Mommy loves you,
My heart does tell me so.

Yes there is no Sarah in that song, after she was born I tried putting Sarah in it and it just didn't flow right. What kind of fun songs have you sung to or with your cutie patooties?

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“This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as an entry for a contest sponsored by Bush’s Beans.”

Pajama Ride

We found a new crazy tradition, pajama ride! I got this from another blogger who I don't know but has amazing ideas Bakers Dozen. The whole thing involves ice cream, and ice cream is good any time of any day. So here's what we do, we get the kids ready for bed and make them think they are going right to bed after story and devotions and psyche.......PAJAMA RIDE!!!! We than make them get their shoes on, w/ their pajamas on, and we load 'em in the car and go get ice cream. The kids LOVE this, they go bananas over this, they do jumps, leaps and crazy contortions w/ their bodies, they love it! So last night was our second pajama ride and the conversation went something like this......

"ma, I'm hungry, can I have a snack before I go to bed"

"no, you don't need food this late"

little did they know what ma & pa (our latest names since reading Little House on the Prairie) had up our sleeves, heehee (snickering)

"but ma, I'm really really really hungry" (well I don't know that they actually said that many reallys but you know, they usually do so why not.)

"great, you'll eat your breakfast really well in the morning" (yes, I can sound so mean sometimes) "no more arguing, it's time for bed"

So off to bed they went, and pa was about to come in to do devotions and instead we come barreling in "PAJAMA RIDE"

Did I mention before how much they love this??? Well they do, in case you missed it, they absolutely love this. I think they get even more excited when they see this big ole' ice cream cone coming towards them. Emma's eyes just about shot out of her head last night when she saw the cone.

Waiting in excitement

YUMMMMM!

Now how do we put these "pumped on sugar" kids to bed???

It is a fun adventure. The best part of it all is the spontaneity and the memories.