Nine Years Ago

Nine years ago today Chris told me for the first time that he loved me. I wish I could say my response was the same and I so badly wanted to say it back but had heard it before and I was not about to give my heart away if he was not the one. I believe my exact response was "Thanks for telling me." Yeah, made him feel good, huh. When I told my Dad what I said he started laughing and said that I ripped his heart out and sure enough it did. I am happy to say though that that next Labor Day I was able to say it and mean it with my whole heart. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Chris was my answered prayer.

Nine years later he still loves me which I cannot fully understand but I am so grateful. I don't know what I would do without him. He makes life fun and he makes me laugh. There are days when I can't wait until it is just he and I again. He is the one I have prayed for and I love him more everyday!!!!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above."

Summer Photo Contest

OK...I'm going to try this. I am not a photographer like my friend Crazy Daisy but I sure think my babies are cute and take great pictures :)!!!! I really think I gave birth to fish. Not one of my kids are afraid of water. They have had a great time swimming this summer.

Monday Munchies!!

Many of you have done blogs with recipes on them and so I thought I would give you some of my favorites and of course, they will mostly be sweet recipes. Well, because I LOVE sugar and anything with sugar and chocolate...oh, so yummy. In my 8 short years of marriage if Chris and I have the munchies, he goes for nachos, pizza or something like that (which is a meal to me); I on the other had go for the cookies, cakes, brownies, etc.

We have some friends moving this week and are having them over for dinner tonight and I made one of my favorite cookies for dessert and thought I would share it with you. If you LOVE chocolate and gooey cookies then these are for you. I would warn you to be careful because after tasting them you will want to eat the ENTIRE batch.

So here goes...

CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (you are going to LOVE these)

12 oz. Chocolate Chips (I always add a little more...as Chris says, "If a little is good, then alot is better.")
1 C. Butter
1C. Sugar
1 Egg
2 T. Milk
1 t. Vanilla
3 C. Flour
1 t. Baking Poder
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 C. Sugar

**Lightly spray pan with non-stick spray.**

1. Melt 1 C. chocolate chips. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar together. Add egg, milk, vanilla, and melted chocolate chips.

3. Combine dry ingredients and add to cream mixture.

4. Stir in remaining chips. This is when I add a little more chocolate chips.

5. Roll into balls and then roll in the 1/2 C. sugar.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 6 - 8 minutes.
**I know this is not very long to bake and when you pull them out of the oven they
will not look done; however, when they cool they have a slight crunch at first
and then yummy gooiness (is that a word?).


**ENJOY!!!!!**

Thankful Thursday

1. I am thankful the kids have learned to swim this summer.

2. I am thankful that the kids swim teacher each time we met prayed and showed them that God could even use swimming for His glory. Kaibryn prayed Monday before the class started and asked that "everyone would be brave and learn to swim because they might be missionaries some day and they could use swimming to tell people about Jesus." She remembered this from the first lesson this summer.

3. I am thankful that the swim teacher called this morning and said she was going to be gone this afternoon and that we could come over and swim while she was gone. Yes, we did and it was so nice.

4. I am thankful for the air-conditioner.

5. I am thankful for our new front door. It is black and it is beautiful. I'll post pictures later.

6. I am thankful that Christopher got a good report on his ears this week and is not going to need tubes.

7. I am thankful that my kids are old enough to help out around the house. It is so nice to give them a job and know that it is going to be done correctly.

8. I am thankful that my Mom took each one of the kids this week to buy some "school supplies." It made them feel special and feel like they were going to "real" school as Christopher puts it.

9. I am thankful that school books have been ordered and I am getting an idea of how to schedule schooling (Pre-K, K & 1st - yikes.)

10. I am thankful that I am a stay-at-home Mom. If I was not I would not be able to do some of the fun things with my kids that I have been able to do this summer. Although, it is the hardest thing I have ever done, it is so worth it.

Hope everyone has a thankful day. What are you thankful for?

A Big Thank You

I would like to say a big thank you to whoever (I'm sure it was a grandparent) who blessed us with not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 recorders...all different colors of course so everyone would know which one was theirs. As my husband has said before..."it makes me want to punch my ears off."

Enjoy the seranade which I have had the privilege of listening to for about 15 minutes. I'm only blessing you with a few short seconds.

Kind of annoying and funny at the same time. They have had a blast and have not been whining, complaining or arguing which all mothers know is music to our ears.

At least they are making a joyful noise, right?

She Smiles

Well, very rarely can we get a picture of Kaityn Mae when she is smiling. I got ONE this weekend and thought I would post it.

Home Sweet Home

We just got back yesterday from spending the weekend at the lake with Chris's family. His Aunt is here from Taiwan and my sister and brother-in-law drove down from Kansas City. It was a long and hot weekend. The kids really enjoyed swimming and riding on PaPa Clark's boat. They were exhausted and there cheeks got a little pink but they had no complaints. It was fun to see Christopher and Kaibryn put in to practice what they have been learning at their swim lessons.

Saturday was a long day for me. Kaityn got to get in the lake in the morning, which she loved. She has no fear of water just like her brother Cooper. She went right in and was putting her face in the water and splashing. That afternoon she and I stayed in the trailer while the others were outside. It was so hot and she gets red from the heat very quickly and I did not want to deal with a hot sunburned baby. She and I sat in the trailer and stacked those red "Dixie" cups over and over and over and over and over...I think you get the point. She enjoyed it. She is such a MaMa's girl and would not go to anyone else but me. I felt like I had a growth on my hip.

However, even though Saturday was long and not the most fun, Sunday made the trip all worth it. We went to a little church in Rubottom, Oklahoma...yes, there is really such a place. His Aunt got up and spoke about Taiwan a little bit and then sang "How Great Is Our God" a capella. She said that if anyone knew the song then just sing with her. Well, evidently no one in the church knew that song except for us. Chris and I sat in the back with Kaityn and the other three sat up front. When Larissa started singing, the only people who sang with her were our kids. It was the sweetest sound to my ears. They might have not been singing on pitch or with the same rhythm as their Aunt but to hear those sweet voices singing "How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God and all will see how great how great is our God." Chris and I were in the back with tears flowing down our faces. After she got done singing PaPa Clark got up and had Cooper go up on stage with him. You see, Rubottom Baptist Church was the church that PaPa Clark was the interim Pastor when Cooper was born. They prayed for Cooper and ask about him all the time. When he was holding Cooper, once again the tears flowed down my cheeks. What a miracle that little guy is. Sometimes I get so busy in my daily "doings" that I forget that. What an awesome reminder to me of how blessed we are and how great our God is.

If you can please pray for our PaPa Clark (Chris's Granda). He has the shingles and it is pretty bad. It is a miracle that he was able to get up Sunday morning and preach. He is in alot of pain. After church we went over to their house for lunch before heading back home and even though he was in pain he and Kaibryn had a little dance together. Talk about love. He loves each one of our kids so much and I noticed that he went around to each one of them and told them that "PaPa Clark loves you." What an amazing, sweet, spirit filled man to put aside his pain to dance with his sweet Granddaughter who loves him so much.

We are home now and we have our little cousin over this week to play. The kids are having so much fun. I'll post more pictures of our weekend later.

Hope everyone has a great week. Take time to remember and praise our God for being a great God.