Noah's Turns 5!!!!! (kinda late)

I am REALLY late in posting this.  I left my camera at a friend's house and just got it back, so here is my tribute to Noah and to his birthday :)

I cannot believe that he was ever this small...

He loved this hat

Learning to walk

The day he became a big brother

Another shot of him becoming a big brother

His third birthday

Cuddle time with mom

 Almost four here

Enjoying his fifth birthday cupcakes a few too many days in a row :)

Friends get to the party

Walking up

Let's get this party started

Hopefully they don't all kill me for posting this one...

A little choking

And then some hugging

What happens to food at kid parties

This was our group shot.  Reminds me of another pic in the bluebonnets...

Sometimes swimming alone can be fun

Closing out the day

Just Ask...

I have had this remarkable discovery the last few weeks.  If we ASK God for grace (or help, or just strength to continue), He does it!  No, I have not seen something remarkably change, or even really get easier, but somehow, when we are relying on Him, the load seems lighter.

Hmmm, interesting concept when we actually do what He tells us to do, He helps us.  Brilliant!

Psalm 28:7-The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 29:11-The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 68:35-You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Psalm 73:26-My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

This is ONLY four verses-there are hundreds more.  Hopefully I will remember this again tomorrow.

My facebook status for the day...

Since I do not want to post this on fb and have 20 comments checking to see how I am, I'm going to post it here.  Just to get it out of my system.  And because I can.  That is what a blog is for.

Status: "I'm tired.  Sleepy yes.  But I mean really tired of doing things all day, just to do them again tomorrow."

Ok ;)

Back to cooking again????

Well my 40 Day "thing" is over.  Whatever that means.  If you want to read about what went on with me, it's here and here.  But basically I gave up cooking as much from scratch, looking on recipe websites all the time, and making big meals that required a lot of time or cleaning up until Easter.

It really did change a lot in me.  I see food differently.  I see the poor as closer to my heart.  And I see my time as much more precious.

I never realized how much time I was spending on doing something that really IS a good thing.  But somehow I got lost in it.  It became more about being that "cool" mom who made muffins every day.  And about escaping life.  It was very easy to just sit for hours and look at food, instead of living life.  I was going about it the wrong way.  And it became about not eating this or that.  No beef for me because of antibiotics and fat, or no goldfish for my kids because it contained dyes.  I WAS CONSUMED WITH FOOD...

Whew.  Got that off my chest.  Here I was thinking about, making, cleaning up, shopping for, dreaming about food.  And there are some people that have rice for dinner.  And then rice again the next night.  Oh and then rice again.  And then maybe even nothing at all the next, only to go to bed dreaming about rice.

Remind us of anyone we know...the Isrealites had manna every day for 40 years.  And they survived and they needed nothing else.  I don't want to complain as they did.  I want to be grateful for what I have, and know that I have been given much.  I want food to be a gift, and a way to bless others.  I saved a lot of money on groceries and can now use that money to send candy, toys, etc with Blaine when he goes to Haiti (more on that soon!)

I think I finally get that balance.  So you will be seeing recipes and food here again.  But this time, there will be a different heart behind the pics.  And sometimes, there will even be hydrogenated oil or food coloring in it :)

Better Late Than Never

I wanted to post some of the stuff that we did or made during the week before Easter.  It is my favorite holiday other than Christmas. Yes, the candy is amazing (I know have 14 Cadbury Eggs in my pantry), but it IS the story of life.  It is everything that matters all rolled into one holiday.  Jesus died and ROSE!!!  

We first made this really cool garden/planter thing to depict the cross and the tomb (Eli enjoyed eating the dirt).  I got the idea here.

This was just a snack for the boys.  It is amazing how just taking an extra two seconds you can transform something as simple as a snack and make it a memory!

This was just melted white chocolate (dyed yellow) with M&M's and pretzels

These were white eggs that I spray painted with green chalkboard paint and then put a piece of chalk inside to give to the boys classmates.

I got this idea here, although I used cake instead of ice cream.  It was carrot cake and then a pretzel baby chick for the boy's teachers.

These were my favorite!  They were SO easy...literally sugar, water and gelatin.  Recipe HERE.

How does THAT MUCH fit in there?!?!

My fridge is like a clown car.  Way more is in there than should be or you even think there is.

I found many o' things in there today, including lots of "mystery" containers that I am still not sure of what was ever in there.  I was dreading this all day, but once I got it done, I feel such a sense of accomplishment!!

 Before...

After...

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home

So if you have EVER read my blog, you know that I love challenges.  

And I have not really understood why until I had an aha moment tonight.  I like them because it gives me accountability.  More power to the people who can finish and complete a task on sheer willpower.  I do not own that trait.  So I embrace challenges and will take this one on with open arms.

If you want to follow along, it is from Money Saving Mom.  Today's assignment was to get rid of 7 things, clean up/de-clutter the main areas of the home, and clean out a diaper bag/purse.  

Here is the kitchen before...

And after...

I only really got to the kitchen (if you look really close in the after picture in the far left corner, you can see all the laundry in the other room that I did not touch), and the diaper bag, but hey, it's something!!!

Egg lunch

Sometimes I am so glad that there are really creative people out there, and that I get to use steal their ideas.

So THANK YOU for all the creative juices out in the blogging world.  You are helping my kids to think that I am the coolest mom on the block.

I got this idea HERE.  And this is what the boy's lunches look like tomorrow.  Let's just hope they can get all the eggs open or they are going to be really hungry.