Only in Oklahoma

Only in Oklahoma could it be November...the END of November...and it be nice enough outside to go to the park and play. The kids were so excited. They love the "dinosaur park". We were able to take Aunt Candace with us. I think they had more fun and like her more than me...I'm only the mother, right? I'm kidding. We all had alot of fun. Hopefully, the kids used up all their energy and won't be as hyper as they were last night at our house. Chris and I could not wait until it was time for them to go to bed.

As I was watching them play I am realizing more and more how quickly they are growing up. It is so fun to watch them play together and do so many things on their own. Time goes by so fast. I hear people say alot of times that "this age is their favorite." I really don't have a favorite. There are special things about each age that I have loved but I love the age that each one of them are at right now. They are all so different and unique and are just so fun. They make me laugh, cry, PRAY, trust and love. I am so thankful that I am able to stay at home and soak in everything that I can because this time is so quickly passing.

We are blessed beyond our wildest imaginations or dreams.

Thankful Thursday

1. I am thankful that my kids are outside playing and I am in here enjoying the peace and quiet. No worries...Kaityn is taking a nap.

2. I am thankful for my new little niece or nephew...coming 2009.

3. I am thankful for a fun week at home with my kiddos.

4. I am thankful that Thanksgiving is coming quickly & then Christmas.

5. I am thankful that I enjoy cooking but LOVE baking.

SO...I'm going to share with you two of my favorite bread recipes. These are absolutely yummy and my family eats them up quickly...NO LEFTOVERS. We love bread around here. I thought I'd share them with you.




KILLER BUTTERMILK BISCUITS...when you read what's in these you'll see why it's called "Killer".

2 C. All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
2 T. Sugar
1/4 C. Shortening
1/3 C. Whipping Cream
1/3 C. Buttermilk
1/3 C. Milk
1 C. Flour, for rolling
2 T. Melted Butter

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Butter 8 or 9 inch cake pan.

Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl and with paddle attachment mix in shortening until there are pea size pieces. WIth wooden spoon stir in cream, milk and buttermilk. Let sit 2 minutes. Dough should be wet and look like cottage cheese.
Place 1 C. flour on sheet pan and flour hadns. Use small or medium ice-cream scoop, dip in batter and place on flour until pan is full. Carefully toss scoops of batter into flour.
Place pieces around buttered cake pan, then in center; pack tightly.
Bake 15-20 min. Brush with butter.


**We are having breakfast for dinner tonight and I am making these biscuits. If I think about it I will try to take a picture and post. I'm hungry for them right now.



CHEESE MUFFINS

1 1/2 C. Flour
1 1/2 T. Sugar
1 T. Baking Powder
1/2 T. Salt
3 C. Shredded Cheese
1 C. Milk
1 Egg
1/4 C. Melted Butter

Whisk dry ingredients, stir in cheese. Whisk eggs, milk and baking powder. Pour into dry ingredients. Stir with soon to combine.
Bake in greased muffin tin at 375 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes

The Little MaMa

Today I could not hear Kaityn so thought I'd better go check out what was going on. When I found her she was in her room with her baby sitting in the high chair and she was feeding her. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen...I seriously almost cried.

We laugh alot at how well she takes care of her babies. She has never been around a newborn and Kaibryn does not play with dolls but, she is so tender towards them. She loves on them, feeds them and takes care of them so sweetly. God is so good for building that into little girls. She will be a great Mama.

Look at her smile. Love it. She has stolen our hearts.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

I'm a few days behind.


This week we celebrated Kaibryn's 6th birthday. I CANNOT believe how big she is. She is such a blessing to our family. She has been looking forward to her birthday since Christopher's in August. She told a friend of mine Sunday that she was excited because she "gets all the attention." Yes, don't worry we have talked to her about that.

From the time she woke up she asked when everyone was going to be there for her party. Monday night we had the family that lives here and some friends come over to celebrate. She told me that she knew what she wanted to wear. Early that morning she set out her "Sleeping Beauty" dress and had it ready for the big moment...when she could put it on. I fixed her hair and she smiled from ear to ear whenever she saw herself.

She is such a sweet girl. She enjoys school and loves to read. There are days when I really don't think I could have gotten some things done without her. What a huge help she is to us. It has been fun to watch her grow and listen to her heart and how God has been drawing her to Himself. We look forward to what God has in store for her.

Questions & The Only Answer

"What are we going to do?"

"What is going on?"

"What happened?"

I'm sure you have heard more.


These are some of the questions that I have heard in the past few days about our election and our future President. And to be honest with you I have thought some of the same things and have felt such a heaviness leading up to this election. However, on the day of the election I woke up with a peace. God is reminding me that He is on His throne, He is King forever, He is in control. He is still going to be a good God, He is still going to be a God who works in the lives of His people, He is the same God yesterday, today and forever.

Strangely, my kids are all asleep right now and in these few brief quiet (& much appreciated) moments I sat down and just started thinking and praying. There is so much on my heart and found myself feeling this heaviness and I opened up my Bible. I am learning that people can say things to encourage you and God can use those people and those words but the time I am most encouraged and blessed is when those words come from God Himself.

I started reading Ps. 37 and God used these words to calm the heaviness of my heart. You can read the whole chapter which is so amazing. I'm going to share just the few verses that stood out to me and encouraged me.

v. 1 - "Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants."

v.3 - "TRUST in the LORD, and do what is good;..."

v. 5 - "Commit your way to the LORD; TRUST in Him, and He Will act, MAKING YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SHINE like the dawn, "
**This world is dark and getting darker. This might be a call for all followers of Christ to be that light. I heard somewhere that the darker the dark the brighter the light shines.

v. 7 - "Be silent before the LORD and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans."

v. 8 - "Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated - it can only bring harm."

v. 9 - "For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the LORD will inherit the land."

v. 16 - "Better the little that the righteous man has than the abundance of many wicked people."

v. 18, 19 - "The LORD watches over the blameless all their days, and their inheritance will last forever. They will not be disgraced in times of adversity; they will be satisfied in days of hunger."

v. 27, 28 - "Turn away from evil and do what is good, and dwell there forever. For the LORD loves justice and will not abandon His faithful ones."

v. 39 - 40 - "The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD, their refuge in a time of distress. The LORD helps and delivers them: He will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge in Him."

God is the answer. Our world is in darkness. Sometimes I get discouraged and wonder if there is any good. Yes, there is GOD IS GOOD and we can TRUST Him because He loves us and will deliver us. God has called us to be shining lights. I pray that I will be one that can shine brightly for His glory.

Thankful Thursday!!!

1. I am thankful that no matter what is going on in this world I can trust that GOD is enthroned as KING FOREVER (Ps.).

2. I am thankful that even though my dryer is still not working I can laugh. As I was putting some jeans in the washer a little while ago I thought to myself..."Don't put those in the dryer, they might shrink." HA HA HA!!!

3. I am thankful for my Mom who brought us pizza for lunch today. Sure wish they would take us to Hawaii with them.

4. I am thankful that my brother and sister-in-law are home from Mexico.

5. I am thankful God has provided piano students for me to teach out of our home. The little extra money is nice.

6. I am thankful that in a couple of weeks we will be putting up our Christmas tree!!!!! Oh dear, I just thought I had to keep a constant eye on Kaityn Mae.

7. I am thankful for kids who are in the other room laughing their heads off at a spinning top...does not take much. :)

8. I am thankful that we are having family (not company :) ) coming this weekend.

9. I am thankful for beautiful fall weather & the changing colors of the leaves...YES, I am getting old.

10. I am thankful that since my kids are entertaining themselves with a spinning top I have a few minutes to SIT DOWN and type this out...OOPS, too late...here they come!!! Rest time over. :)

Hope you have a Thankful Thursday!!!!

Examples at a Young Age

This morning bright and early...8:15 to be exact. I loaded the kids up and took them with me to the post office to mail a package. Well, when we got there we were not the first ones and I saw that the office did not open until 8:30. There were 3 people in front of us and then after we came in MANY more followed. Sometimes I get nervous with alot of "waiting" time with kids. I wonder if they are going to get restless, loud, have a blow out diaper or have to go to the bathroom (this one never fails).

So we waited and waited. MANY adults were complaining of the wait quite loudly, there were a couple who were getting frustrated at a lady talking loudly on the phone and let her know about it, there was a lady speaking Chinese (Cooper said it was Spanish) and two ladies standing beside her were talking about how that frustrated them...if in America, speak English. I could not believe all I could see and hear. What kind of examples were they setting for my children...they weren't. Many things came to mind that we have tried to teach our kids..."Do EVERYTHING without grumbling or complaining", "Be kind to one another", "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb",

As I am listening and seeing this I look down and what are my two sweet boys doing? Standing there quietly and looking at a poster talking to each other (Kaibryn is with my Mom today for her "birthday day"). They never once got ancy, they did not complain about the wait. Cooper asked one time why we could not go in and I just said it was not time to open and we needed to be patient. He said, "OK." That was it.

I was so proud of my boys (& Kaityn). They were an example to those adults. God is so good and reminding me that what I do is so important. Sometimes I wonder if they are learning anything or if they are listening. THEY ARE!!!!!!!! My job is to teach them and train them for when they go out into the world (now & on their own). Today I saw fruit of our labor. I was encouraged not to faint and grow weary because I know that in due season we will reap what we sow.

God is good. To Him be the glory.

Pumpkin Carving

We finally carved a pumpkin. The kids had alot of fun trying to figure out how many seeds were inside. Don't laugh at the final results...I really can't believe I'm posting the pictures of the end result.

However, the kids thought it looked great.

I 've Been Tagged

Well, Mrs. Troop has tagged me, so here goes.

SEVEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. Not really random, but I LOVE Sonic...Vanilla Diet Coke Easy Ice...it might be an addiction. My husband knows this is the way
to my heart.

2. I have always wanted four children and from the time I was little I wanted to name one of them "Christopher Michael". That
is my husbands name and the name of our oldest.

3. I have always been a home-body and having people over for dinner stressed me out. Now, I love having friends over for
dinner and almost every Thursday night we have people over for dinner & football.

4. I love college football and know more about it now than when I was in High School. Pretty sad because I was a cheerleader
and only knew that when we had the ball we were on offense.

5. All during Jr. High I had a major crush on a certain guy. He married my friend over at "Mrs. Troop."

6. My husband and I even though have always gone to the same church almost our whole lives never really hung out until Falls Creek 1999. He won my heart there playing ping-pong. He says he let me win but we all know I really won. When I prayed for my husband, I was pretty specific. One prayer I prayed was that he did not necessarily have to be good
at playing sports but he needed to know just enough to carry on a conversation with anyone about it. Well, if you know
Chris...he knows ALOT about sports...even random sports that you would not think of.

7. I love to plan out meals for our family. Last month I spent less than $200 on groceries. I might be bragging a little bit but
am proud of myself. Hopefully, no one will show up for a meal tonight; needless to say I need to buy some serious
groceries. God is good and has provided for us and I know He will continue to do so.

**Thanks Mrs. Troop for "tagging" me. Now, I'm tagging Candace at "Sheandishow" and my friend Becky at "OutsidetheCamp."

Hope everyone has a great Monday.

Fun Friday Night!!!!!

A group shot. We are so blessed!!!






I love this guy!!!! He's AMAZING!!!!






Our cutey girl!!!!





We're off on our quest!!!!!!!!





Our little Spiderman, Batman, Angel & Butterfly!!!!!


***OK, I know, the pictures and the captions got mixed up and I can't get it fixed so I'll let you figure out which picture goes with which caption...consider it a game!!!! :)