some recent pictures..

I love Reid in his rash guards. He and Mason have gotten closer the past 2 weeks. I often find them playing together..or Mason just following him around. I finally get a break from being followed by him..
Vara is getting in her Teeter-Totter all by herself now. She climbs up and hangs out for a bit. She's getting better at rocking and bouncing herself, too.
Court, here's one of the new diaper covers I found. Like the puff balls? Talk soon, love you!

Hibiscus Flowers

I found something new(to me, anyway) at Trader Joes the other day. Sweet and Tart Hibiscus Flowers. They are sweetend and dired and so good! They make a great snack and salad topper. Last night, I topped my Goat cheese and Nut Salad with the flowers instead of cranberries. These taste alot like dried cranberries except less tart and a little more chewy. So, if you are at Trader Joes, look in the dried fruit and nut isle...they cost about $2 a bag. Enjoy!

Vara's scoot..

Vara is walking around alot now, so this is something I'll soon miss. I am always amused by her method of getting around..what creativity!! Im am thankful for the sweet touches God gives to our children's personality. This memory will always be a treasure to me. Dont grow too fast Sister!!

Carob Cake..as requested

Just remeber, it's not Betty Crocker, it's healthy!



Carob Layer Cake (from Mothering Magazine)



1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup carob powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup melted butter or corn oil

2/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, or honey

1 tablespoon apple cider or brown rice vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs, separated


Preheat oven to 350º. Oil and flour 2 8-inch cake pans. Sift the flours, baking soda, sea salt, carob powder, and nutmeg together. In small bowl, beat egg whites until firm but not dry. In large mixing bowl, beat butter or oil, water, sweetener, vinegar, vanilla, and egg yolks until completely blended. Beat flour mixture into wet ingredients. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake about 30 minutes, or until tester inserted in center of cake comes out dry. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Serves 12



*I used Whole Wheat Flour and Unbleached Wheat flour with the Germ...it turned out fine

*I also chose Maple Syrup



For the frosting... (from Nourishing Tradtions)

8oz Cream Cheese, softened

1/4c butter, softened

1/2T vanilla

1/4c raw honey



Blend all ingredients together very well,until smooth.





I chose to put strawberry(blackberry sounds good, too) "All Fruit" in between the cake layers along with some frosting. I then spread the remaining frosting on top. You could put fresh fruit on top to go with the fruit spread flavor.

Enjoy!

Reids birthday celebrations!

I woke up to Reid calling my name. He usually comes right into our room, but he was a bit shocked by all the balloons around him. Mark and I usually fill the kids room with ballons for their birthay morning. He stood around asking "what these 14 balloons doing there for?!?!" He was, of course, very excited. We jumped and played with those a bit ... Vara joined us soon after.

We had a birthday breakfast (no cake until saturday) of Banana Nut muffins and grapes.
We let Reid open his gifts from us. Vara got him some cool stickers. We got him a wooden farm you put together. It was a hit until Nana and Papa arrived... They blessed him with a Trashman!!! He has been asking for a "trashmam" for months! He continued to play with it for hours.
Daddy came home early (yay!), so, after nap we went to B&N to play with trains. This is one of Reids favorite outings. We got burgers to finish off a great day.

I had to include this...Reid put these gloves on his feet.

Reids Party!!

Clara and Anderson joined us. Reid loves his friends. They spent time playing in the sprinkler and eating yummy foods. Thank you friends for you company!

Some action shots...
Anderson had great moves!!
Gift time..
The cake. It was a Carob layered cake. Reid loves carob stuff, so I thought Id give it a try. It wasnt too bad...everyone ate it. (oh-if you are interested..Micheal's sells these train letters for 50 cents each right now) Happy Birthday Reid!!

playing catch up

This is a bit out of order. I wanted to post some happenings that have been flooding my camera...enjoy!







Monday, we headed to the beach. I usually clean on that day, but the weather was TOO perfect after so many hot days. Vara waiting to leave..
Reid TRULEY braved the water this time. We all sat in it together for a while and when I headed to clean up our things, he stayed enjoying the waves.
This is our dirty little girl at work.

Here are some shots I thought were fun. Reid and Vara love to wrestle together. Really, they are just rolling around each other and Vara sometimes lays on him...its sweet to see them getting so close.

Mark turned 27 earlier this month. We celebrated with family and friends. We hung out till late and ate crabs (mark's been craving them!)

That weekend, Mark flew to Seattle. I missed him SO much, but it was a great weekend. I had a chance to have a day date with Reid...Lori took Vara overnight. We had the best time together! I loved getting that alone time with him. We went to the Heritage for lunch (skipped nap! woo-hoo!), then to an art show at Chick's Beach. Reid loved running around through all the trees and hunting for ducks.

Oh--the first shot is that morning...we were getting Vara to practice her walker. She now is walking around about 40% of the time. Very exciting!!

Reid loves a cactus for some reason. I told him not to touch it, but he did. Ouch!

Happy Birthday Reid!!

Reid is younger here...this is him taking pics of himself.

Toady my boy is THREE!! I almost cant beleive it. I went to bed last night and couldn't get to sleep, my mind was filled with thoughts of him.

Dearest Reidy, I am beyond thankful for you. God has made our lives so much richer when He gave you to us. I love your spunk and your creativity. I love how silly you get and your excitement for simple things. I am always entertained by our conversations and your re-phrasing ofthings I say to you. You are a beautiful boy! I love the face you make when you are listening to me...such big eyes and full cheeks!

Thank you for being so sweet and obedient. I see your love for God creeping out more and more. I hope you enjoy this year of your life. I hope your love for the Lord will grow rapidly as you gain understanding of His kindness. Thank you for your patience with me as I seek grace to train you up. And thank you for being sweet to sister, you know she looks up to you!!

For now, you belong to us, and I am honored to mother you. Praise God for His creation in you!

Love you to peices, Mamma

* * * Reid has more birthday pictures to come, look out!! * * *

If you've got young ones...

This was emailed to me, I thought it was worth reading. Hope you all find encouragment too!
Ginger


This column is for mothers of infants and toddlers.> I am going to attempt to> do something I never thought I'd do: I'm going to> empathize while not in> your situation. My hope is that it is all so fresh> in my memory that I can> have both perspective and relevance.> > What you are doing, what you are living, is very> difficult. It is physically> exhausting. It is emotionally and spiritually> challenging. An infant is> dependent on you for everything. It doesn't get much> more daunting: there is> another human being who needs you for his very life.> Your life is not your> own at all. You must answer the call (the cry) of> that baby, regardless of> what you have planned. This is dying to self in a> very pure sense of the> phrase. And you want to be with him. You ache for> him. When he is not with> you, a certain sense of restlessness edges its way> into your consciousness,> and you are not at complete peace.> > If you are so blessed that you have a toddler at the> same time, you wrestle> with your emotions. Your former baby seems so big> and, as you settle to> nurse your baby and enjoy some quiet gazing time,> you try desperately to> push away the feeling that the great, lumbering> toddler barreling her way> toward you is an intruder. Your gaze shifts to her> eyes, and there you see> the baby she was and still is, and you know that you> are being stretched in> ways you never could have imagined.> > This all might be challenge enough if you could just> hunker down in your own> home and take care of your children for the next> three years; but society> requires that you go out - at least into the> marketplace. So you juggle nap> schedules and feeding schedules and snowsuits and> carseats. Just an aside> about carseats: I have literally had nightmares> about installing carseats.> These were not dreams that I had done it wrong or> that there had been some> tragedy. In my dreams I am simply exhausted,> struggling with getting the> thing latched into the seat of the car and then> getting my baby latched into> the carseat. I'm fairly certain anyone else who has> ever had four of these> mechanical challenges lined up in her van has had> similar dreams. It's the> details that overwhelm you, drain you, distract you> from the nobility of it> all. > > You will survive. And here is the promise: if you> pray your way through this> time, if you implore the Lord at every turn, if you> ask Him to take this day> and this time and help you to give Him something> beautiful, you will grow in> ways unimagined. And the day will come when no one> is under two years old.> You will - with no one on your lap - look at your> children playing> contentedly together without you. And you will sigh.> Maybe, like me, you> will feel your arms are uncomfortably empty, and you> will pray that you can> hold a baby just once more. Or maybe, you will sense> that you are ready to> pass with your children to the next stage.> > This is the place where nearly two decades of> mothering babies grants me the> indulgence of sharing what I would have done> differently. I would have had> far fewer obligations outside my home. Now, I see> that there is plenty of> time for those, and that it is much simpler to> pursue outside interests> without a baby at my breast. I wish I'd spent a> little more time just> sitting with that baby instead of trying to "do it> all."> > I wish I'd quieted the voices telling me that my> house had to look a certain> way. I look around now and I recognize that those> houses that have "that> look" don't have these children. Rarely are there a> perfectly-kept house and> a baby and a toddler under one roof. Don't listen to> the voices that tell> you that it can be done. It should not be done. I> wish I hadn't spent 16> years apologizing for the mess. Just shoot for "good> enough." Cling to lower> standards and higher goals.> > I wish I'd taken more pictures, shot more video and> kept better journals. I> console myself with the knowledge that my children> have these columns to> read. They'll know at least as much about their> childhoods as you do.> > I wish I could have recognized that I would not be> so tired forever, that I> would not be standing in the shallow end of the pool> every summer for the> rest of my life, that I would not always have a baby> in my bed (or my bath> or my lap). If I could have seen how short this> season is (even if mine was> relatively long), I would have savored it all the> more.> > And I wish I had thanked Him more. I prayed so hard.> I asked for help. But I> didn't thank Him nearly enough. I didn't thank Him> often enough for the> sweet smell of a newborn, for the dimples around> pudgy elbows and wrists,> for the softening of my heart, for the stretching of> my patience, for the> paradoxical simplicity of it all. A baby is a pure,> innocent, beautiful> embodiment of love. And his mother has the distinct> privilege, the> unparalleled joy, of watching love grow. Don't> blink. You'll miss it.

Pictures

For Mother's Day this year, Mark got me a photo shoot with Amy Bare. We just now got the pictures and framed them. (Yay for Micheal's sale!)

It was a lot of fun getting these done!! Amy does a really good job. This is the first professional photography we've had done. I tried to take pictures of the pictures (ha!) but they didnt turn out so great....but you'll get the idea! Enjoy!

Things...they are a changin'

Well, tonight we had another Titus II meeting at the Wasko's house. I am so grateful for Mel and her attention to us girls. This night we talked about being a godly mother. I am provoke in may areas and really encouraged to grow towards glorifying God in my children's eyes. One little way that I haven't been trusting The Lord was highlighted tonight. I want to share in case anyone else might benefit as well. So, here it goes:

Whenever I sin against Reid, I try to confess to him and ask for his forgiveness. He always says "yes" to forgiving me...but seriously, he doesn't fully understand yet!! Therefore, I go on to make it up to him by doing more for him, or being super sweet to him. (Im desiring for him to be happy towards me again.) In this, Im not trusting the Lord's forgiveness of me, which never ceases...and, Im teaching Reid that when he is sinned against, he is also owed something. I would hate for him to grow up with those expectations!!

Now, my prayer is for more faith in the Lord in this area, and for Him to show me practical ways to be an example of forgiveness to Reid and Vara. I am glad for the encouragement I received, and I hope to make God bigger in my home in this way, by His grace alone!

One more thing-(this is funny to me) On the "being a godly wife" night, I was encouraged in taking part in something that interests Mark. He is so sweet to often pursue my interests and I regularly pass over his. I was convicted of my selfishness, then challenged to part take in one of his favorite activities. SO.....I went to a hardcore concert! HA! I have never seen people thrash around like that! And, believe it or not, I had a lot of fun! Also, I was so glad to make Mark happy in that way. I have a battle wound, too. :) While I tried to stay as far from the "mosh pit" as possible, someone did slam into my knee. Nothing but a surface bruise, though. It was worth it.

To maybe calm some of your thoughts on this, these hardcore musicians ARE Christan. You probably cant tell, though, because their lyrics are difficult to understand.

Anyway--that's the latest on God's work with me and how I am an example to my family. Praise Him for His intimate attention!