My version of chicken cacciatore

I used chicken thighs and legs in this meal but you could also use chicken breast to lower the fat content. Next time I think I will remove the skins before I cook the chicken. Ingredients: One package of chicken legs and one package of thighs. (This amount would feed 7 of us, 3 being children with leftovers) One onion, sliced Two bell peppers, sliced (I used red peppers) 6-7 cloves of garlic, minced 4 cups chicken stock (I used homemade, recipe to come later) 3 cups tomato sauce 2 cups or one large can of diced tomatoes Salt and pepper 1 tablespoon oregano Olive oil Instructions: Heat a large pot (I use a Dutch oven) to medium high heat and put enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown a few pieces at a time in the pot. You aren't looking to cook it through you just want to brown the outside then set them aside on a plate. Keep browning a few pieces at a time until all of the chicken is browned. Next, add the sliced onion, pepper and garlic to the pan and season with salt and oregano. Cook for a few minutes then add the chicken stock, tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes and add salt to taste. Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the chicken back to the pot. Simmer on low until chicken is fully cooked. This will take about an hour. You can serve on brown rice or quinoa. This can also be cooked in the slow cooker. Any leftover can be used as a start for soup.

Lessons from the garden

I love how God uses our everyday experiences to teach us about Himself as well as how we relate to Him. I strongly believe that if we will take the time to look past what seems to be just a mundane ordinary task, we will hear God desiring to speak His truth in our lives. I believe this is especially true when those task involve being outside in the midst of the creation of the Creator. There is something about being outside that just makes me feel that much closer to my Heavenly Father and Creator. Today (Saturday) I was outside working in the garden area. I am starting the process of getting it cleaned up and ready to plant for our spring/summer garden. Because we have a large presence of sand spurs in our yard, we have found that the best chance we have at keeping them at bay in the garden is to put down black plastic. However, despite the plastic there are still weeds and such that end up growing through any hole that they can find in the plastic. So today I was removing the dead weeds that took over one section of the garden after we finished harvesting our bounty last year. In almost every hole that we had made to put a vegetable plant, a weed had take the opportunity to make its home in the now abandoned hole. As I was removing these insidious plants from the plastic, God spoke to me. When I first started this task today, I have to admit that I was a little overwhelmed at what I saw. This particular section was covered in weeds. These weeds were the ground cover type of weed, meaning they spread out for what seemed like miles all intertwined with each other. I couldn't imagine why I was seeing this many weeds when we had put down the plastic to prevent such a take over of weeds. However, being determined to prepare the garden for its upcoming production I set out little by little removing the weeds. With each part of these weeds I removed God started to speak His truth into my heart. The more I worked the more I learned about the weeds and why it seemed that there were so many of them. There actually were not that many individual weeds, but the design of the weeds is what made them so insidious. From one small hole one weed would sprout up and then in turn spread out and around from the center covering as much ground as it could. It didn't take me long to figure out that if I could find the root of the weed then I could loosen the root and the entire weed could be removed. Some of these plant probably measured at least three feet in diameter, but if I could find the root then I could more easily remove the weed. So, I am sure you are wondering just what God spoke to me as I was removing these weeds. You see these weeds are like the sin in our lives. They take every opportunity they can to root themselves in the soil, just like sin takes every opportunity it can to root itself in our lives. Every time we leave holes in our lives by not focusing our entire life on God, sin enters and spreads. And if we continue to let it spread it will take over and keep us from producing the fruit that God desires to produce in our lives. However, with some work and renewed focus we can allow God to remove those areas in our lives that have taken over. Did it take some work and effort and sweat to remove these weeds? Of course, but once I figured out that what I had to focus on was the root of the weed then I was able to remove the weed with greater ease. So, many times we focus on the effects of our sin, when in truth if we want God to remove the sin from our lives we must find the source of the sin. And more times then not, the sin in our lives is a result of not focusing everything on God. When how we think, feel and act are not focused on God then we leave holes that sin can creep in and take hold. God created us as a complex creature. We have thoughts, emotions, physical abilities and a soul. All of these combine to make us the most cherished of God's creation. God created us in His image and because of that we ourselves are complex. That complexity leaves a lot of opportunity for us to loose focus. We have to be strong spiritually, mentally, emotionally, relationally and physically. But thank God He does not leave us to do this on our own. In fact, God has been teaching me that I can not do it own my own, I must rely on Him. I can do nothing good on my own and until I give everything to Him and focus all of me on Him, then I can not produce anything good. Every time I removed one of the large weeds it made me desire to move even more. The more I worked the more confidence I got and the less focused I was on what I thought at first was an overwhelming task. The closer I get to God the more clearly I see the sin that needs to be removed in my life and the more I desire to remove that sin. With every sin God points out in my life and helps me remove, the more I learn to let God have control. Yes, it takes work and yes, it is hard but the end result is worth it. The end result of my work in the garden will hopefully produce and abundance of fresh vegetables for my family and friends. The end results of the work of God in my life are the fruits that His Spirit produces.

Satan's Attack on Ministry Families

I am writing this post with a heavy, concerned heart for all of those who are in the ministry. Within the past six months I have heard stories of at least three ministry families whose family has been torn apart as the result of attacks by Satan on the wife/mother of the family. This concerns me greatly and has caused me to pray and try to put some understanding to what is occurring in many ministry families. This concerns me for not only the families who have been destroyed or at best seriously wounded, but also for the ministries that these families were a part of. In all three of these cases the husband was in some kind of full-time ministry. And while I do not personally know these families, my husband is friends with the husband. I do not know all of the circumstances surrounding these families but what I do know is that in all three cases the wife has decided that she no longer wants to be married to a minister. I am married to a minister and consider myself an important part of his ministry. I consider it my calling in life to be a helpmate to my husband and to be instrumental in helping him be as effective as he can be a minister. I am by no means perfect and have at times found myself feeling very unworthy of this calling. However, I consider it a great honor and priviledge to serve with him. Our roles in the ministry are different, his role is more focused on interacting with people, preaching, counseling, comforting families, being the face of the ministry while my role is to be the caretaker at home and take care of the needs of my family. While I am also involved in several different ministries at our church, my primary calling is to be a godly mother and wife and to make sure our family is taken care of. I believe this is where a lot of the conflict occurs. From what I have been able to understand many of the wives feel as though their husbands spend too much time doing ministry. I do have to interject here that being a minister's wife is not easy. There are often many expectations put on you by people outside of the family and yes there are many times that your husband is suddenly called away for some kind of ministry need. Just like people tend to put ministers on a pedestal so the wife and children are often put in a "glass box." People tend to look at the wife and children of the minister with high expectations, like we are to be super human and make no mistakes. This is simply false and often leads to much frustration for the wife because we are looked to as the ones who are the care takers of the home and children. Yes it is my responsibility to be the caretaker of my home and children, but is not your responsibility to be the judge of how well I am performing. As a result of my God-given responsibility to my family and the world-given view of my family and how it is managed there can be a great source of stress for the wife and when you add a husband who is often away doing his God-given responsibility then there is where I believe Satan has an opening to push his way into the heart of the wife and cause much destruction to the ministry family. Unfortunately we live in a society that is focused on self. We are told to do what is right for you and do not worry about what other people say. As women we are told that we have certain rights and needs, and that if those needs are not met then we are being deprived. On a side note, I believe that the women's rights movement did more for destroying the family and the values of this country than any other tool of Satan. If Satan can get us as women to believe that we deserve certain things, then he can get an inroad in to our hearts and ultimately our families. We have been taught that we deserve to have time for ourselves, we deserve to have a fairy tale romance, we deserve to have everything this world has to offer us. The problem with this is that one, this world is controlled by Satan and the things of this world are corrupt and destructive. Secondly, if we deserve anything it is death and eternity in hell. I do not mean to be harsh hear (ok, maybe I do) but in reality the only thing any of us deserve male or female is death. Follow me here, we are born into sin. We are all sinners. God is loving, yes, but He is also just and righteous. And because He is just and righteous he cannot be in the presence of sin. Therefore, in our sinful nature (which we are born into) we can not by any means stand in the presence of God. But praise God He has provided away for us to stand before Him blameless and that is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only through the cleansing blood of Jesus can we stand before God blameless. This truth is only the result of God Himself. We can and have not done anything to earn it. It is only because of God's mercy and grace do we have the ability to believe in Jesus' death and resurrection and therefore have our sins removed from His sight. So, if you want to talk about what any of us deserve then the only conclusion one can come to is that we deserve death and eternity separated from God. So, if you want to understand why I serve Him it is because Jesus did for me what I could not do myself. I owe him a debt I could never repay. Satan has caused us to believe in the lie that we deserve certain rights and privileges as humans. If he can get us to focus on what we want or think we need, then he has taken our focus away from God and what His desire is for our lives. When the Psalmist says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart," he is not referring to any type of fleshly desire. He is talking about the desires that come out of an intimate walk with God. The desires that come from God alone and not from our own desires of the flesh which only lead to destruction. These are just a few of the Scripture that speaks about our desires: Mark 4:19; Ephesians 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:3, Titus 2:12. Galations 5:24 says "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." WE ARE NOT TO GIVE IN OR LET OUR OWN DESIRES CONTROL US. Satan is a liar and a deceiver, he will make what is not of God look pleasant and right. John 8:44 says "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." We must make it our mission as children of God to be aware of the lies of our enemy Satan. He seeks to destroy us. Those of us who are directly involved in ministry are particularly vulnerable to Satan's attacks. If Satan can get into the head and heart of the wives that our needs or desires are not being met, then he has he can cause us to focus on ourselves and not God. My husband should not be the one who meets my needs. If I am looking to him to be the one to meet my need and desires then my needs and desires are worldly focused. How dare I put him in the position to be the one who meets my needs or desires. He is a sinful human being just like me and if I set him up to be the source of my strength and my provider of my needs, then I am setting him up for failure. God is the only one and should be the only one who meets my needs and desires. When the source of my strength is God and the source of my provision is God and when the source of my desires are from God, then this frees my husband to be the man God has called him to be. Will my husband fail me, yes. Will I fail him, yes. We are two sinful human beings who are married to each other. Neither one of us are perfect and for either one of us to put the other in the position of being perfect is a lie straight from Satan. There have been times in my marriage when I have been guilty of making my husband my source of strength and the provider of my needs. It was during those time that Satan would use even the smallest annoyances to bring out frustration and anger. However, through spending time in God's Word and in prayer, God showed me that the problem was not with my husband but with my relationship with God. God should be the source of everything I need and desire. I had allowed my relationship with to suffer and therefore my focus was on my needs and fleshly desires. Only when I started focusing on my relationship with God was I able to see that I was the problem and I had allowed Satan to influence my thoughts. Satan is author or lies and God is the author of truth. We are either following Satan and his lies or God and His truth. Please be in prayer for all of those you know who are in the ministry. You may never know exactly what is going on in their lives. Just because someone has been called into full-time ministry does not mean that they are perfect or immune from the attacks of Satan. If anything the opposite is true. As a minister's wife, I call on all other minister's wives to pray for each other and to make sure that your relationship with God is the most important focus in your life. Because if it isn't, then Satan has a foothold into your family and can cause much destruction. Please seek godly counsel if you are going through a difficult time. We are not in this alone. I'm going to end with at request that you read Ephesians 2. There is much truth and hope in these words.

Deer Roast Recipe

Here is my recipe for a Deer Roast, but actually it can be adapted to use for a beef roast too. Heat some oil in a large pan. Season the roast with Lawry's Meat Tenderizer and brown the roast on all sides once the pan heats up. Transfer the roast to a slow cooker. In the same pan cook 1/2 chopped onion and 3-4 cloves of minced garlic. When onions are soft add enough flour to the remaining oil to make a mixture that is about the consistency of pancake batter but slightly thicker. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. With a whisk stir in about 1 cup milk. At this point you want the mixture to be like a canned cream of whatever soup. Add milk as necessary to get this consistency. Season with some salt and pepper. Next add 4 cups of water and 4 beef bullion cubes (or use beef broth), 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, and 1-2 tablespoons of Dales' sauce (optional). Add the mixture to slow cooker along with the other 1/2 of the onion cut up. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. This can also be cooked on the stove or oven by using a Dutch oven. Brown the meet in the Dutch oven take it out then follow the steps to make the gravy then add the roast back to the pot. I am guessing it will take about 3-4 hours in a Dutch oven on 350 degrees in the oven. If you are using a beef roast the time needed to cook will be less, because deer roast usually have a bone in them.

My little girl is growing up.

My Hannah B. is growing up so fast, well actually all three of them are. However, this week Hannah has accomplished two rites of passage for a child. First, she has learned to ride a bike without training wheels. The past few weeks she has been able to ride if somebody got her started but this week she figured out how to start all by herself. She was a very fast learner. A few weeks ago when we started teaching her to ride without training wheels, she took to it immediately. We were very surprised at how quickly she took to it. Within 30 minutes of her first ride she was able to circle the yard. The other day she decided to learn to start herself and within 10 minutes was starting herself and riding all over the yard. She was very proud of herself, and we were too. It makes a mama's heart proud to see a child accomplish a goal she wanted to achieve. I wish I had had the camera out there to capture the smile on her face. I wish for my children that they will have the courage to overcome any fears that they have and will not let fear keep them from accomplishing their goals, and I was able to see that displayed through Hannah. Even when she fell she would get right back up and try again.
Another rite of passage she conquered this week was learning to tie her shoes. Her Memaw showed her and then she did it. Again, she was so proud and had to demonstrate to all of us several times her new ability. While it breaks my heart a little to see my children growing up, I am also proud to know that Craigan and I are following God's guidance in raising our kids to be the adults God has created them to be.

Park and Picnic

We went to the park this evening with my sister and her family for a picnic and some fun on the playground. It was beautiful weather and the kids had a blast.

Christmas 2011

I'm sitting here reflecting on this year's Christmas season. For my family, for the most part it was absent of the usual busyness that comes with this time of year. The parties were few, the shopping was minimal and the feelings of needing to cram every possible Christmas activity in before the "big day" was non-existant and to tell you the truth I am so thankful. Thankful that this season was spent in much more reflection of its true meaning. Even though this Christmas season brought me closer to experiencing Christmas in a way that I believe honors God's greatest gift to us, I am still left with the feeling that there are many more aspects of our celebration of Christmas that need to be evaluated and changed. It is my desire that for the 2012 Christmas season that my family will experience Christmas in a new way. That we will spend our Christmas season focusing our hearts on Jesus and the mercy and grace He showed us and that we will in turn be a reflection of that mercy and grace to others. It is my desire that we spend Christmas 2012 with an attitude of giving. I believe that this attitude of giving however must start with the other 364 days leading up to December 25th, 2012. It is my heart's desire this new year to instill in my children an attitude of giving, and I believe that it must first start with me. I am desiring that God will give me an attitude of giving and guide me throughout this year to experience the joy that comes from giving back that which God has given to me.

Individual apple crisps

The other night I wanted to fix something sweet but wanted to do something super simple so I cooked Individual apple crisps. They were very simple and tasted good too.

I cut the very tops of of four apples (this recipe can be adjusted for however many you need) then took out the core. I didn't take out all of the center, I left enough at the bottom so the stuffing wouldn't come out of the apple. I place them in a baking dish and sprinkled them with cinnamon.
In a bowl I combined equal amounts of brown sugar and quick cooking oatmeal. I stuffed the mixture in each apple and them topped them with a pat of butter.
I put about a 1/4 inch of water in baking dish and covered it with aluminum foil. I baked them on 425 degrees for about 20-30 mins covered and then another 5-10 mins uncovered of until the apples were soft and then served them hot.

Shrimp and Grits

I tried my hand at shrimp and grits for the first time tonight and it turned out very well for my first time. I wanted to get the recipe down so I wouldn't forget it. It is super easy and fast. As I mentioned before some of the amounts are estimates.

two cups of chicken stock (one can)
1 cup of milk (I used 1% because that is what we drink)
I cup of water
I combined all of these in a pot and brought them to a boil then slowly added 1 cup of grits while whisking and turned the burner down to simmer and covered with a lid. They took about 5 mins to thicken.
At the same time I sauteed in olive oil in a cast iron skillet
1/2 onion diced small
1/2 cup bell pepper diced small
4 cloves of garlic diced
Seasoned with salt and pepper, red pepper and Italian seasoning
I seasoned one pound of deveined and shelled shrimp and seasoned them with salt, pepper, taco seasoning and Italian seasoning.
I added the shrimp to the hot skillet and let the shrimp cook.
When the shrimp was finished I removed the shrimp and veggies from the pan and then added about 2 TBS of butter and about 1-1 1/2 cups of shrimp stock I had defrosted from the freezer.
I let the sauce cook down a few minutes and used a spoon to scrape the bits off of the bottom of the pan. Then I added the juice from half a lemon and added the shrimp and veggies back to the pan.
While the sauce was cooking and after the grits were done I added about 2TBs of butter and about 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese and salt and pepper to the grits. That is it supper fast and easy. We put our grits in a bowl then topped them with the shrimp and sauce. I am already thinking about how I could improve the recipe or change it up some but it was quite tasty the way it was.


Shrimp Stock

Shrimp shells
Water
Italian seasoning

combine in a pot and simmer with lid on until dark colored. Add salt to taste if necessary.

Christmas Pictures of the Kids!!!

This shows his personality perfectly!!!
She was not in the best mood, but still a cute pic.
My beautiful girl. Such a sweet smile.
I was very thankful to get a good picture of all three of them.
I love my precious babies!!!

Little Miss Attitude

It is hard to believe that our little unexpected blessing from God is almost 15 months. She is growing so fast and is now a full fledged toddler. She started walking right around her first birthday. In fact it was the day of her birthday party that she decided to display her new found talent. The whole family was at the house and she started putting on a show for them. By now she is quite thrilled about her new freedom and loves to explore the house. She gets quite upset if you put her in her pack-n-play. She believes she deserves the same freedom as her big brother and sister. She has a fairly large vocabulary and is starting to put two-word phrases together. She loves her brother and sister and is starting to interact with them in terms of playing. Her favorite game is to throw her toys out of the pack-n-play and wait for Cayden or Hannah to throw them back in. She thinks it is so funny. She is starting to want to wrestle with Craigan in the mornings. It is the tradition of Cayden and Hannah that when they wake up and get in our bed they wrestle with their Daddy. Now Zoe has caught on and does her form of wrestling with him. Over the past few weeks she has developed a little bit of an attitude. When something is not how she wants she will fuss and sometimes throw her body back like she is pitching a fit. It is quite cute but I am doing my best to discourage the attitude. If I say "Zoe Sarah that is not necessary" she puts her head down in shame. It is so cute and I am very impressed that at almost 15 months she knows that when I say her middle name that I am serious. Despite her little attitude she is a little sweet heart. I am so thankful that God in his sovereignty gave us a third child despite our fears. She is an absolute blessing (as are all our children) and I am humbled that God has chosen Craigan and myself to raise them to be godly men and women. It is an awesome and scary responsibility but we are trusting God for guidance.

I thought of a few other cute things to say about Zoe. She loves music. She loves to dance and it is so cute when she shakes her little rear end and twist her shoulder (which is her signature move). She likes to sing. Her favorite song is the ABC song. She can't say all of the letters but she gets the rhythm and you know what she is singing. She knows what sound a dog, duck and horse makes and she is learning her body parts and how to say them. It is amazing how much they can learn at this age.

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Today I came up with a new recipe. I needed something to cook in the crockpot because Craigan and I were going hunting and I wanted supper to be ready when we got home to avoid the usual take out meal that is our go to when I have not planned anything and we get home late. I have been trying to be diligent in planning meals so that we aren't tempted to fall back on the take out meal. I'm not one to be able to do any long term meal planning but I have found this week that if I take a few minutes in the morning to plan the days meals it makes a huge difference. I am in the process of becoming more organized in all aspects of my life and planning meals has been the easiest to accomplish. Once I realized that just by deciding what I will fix that morning I have been able to save money and time. So that lead me to a new recipe today. Like I said, I was looking for a crockpot meal and last week I had planned a "rough" weekly menu which included using ground sausage to make a stew or soup. I wasn't really sure what it would be but I had an idea. That is usually how I cook. I have an idea of what I want and then make it up as I go. Most of the time I do not use a recipe with exact measurements (unless I am baking, which is not a norm for me) so the following recipe contains estimates. I am typing it out to give me a guide the next time I fix it, but feel free to give it a try if you want.

One pound of ground sausage ( I used deer sausage because that is what I had, I think it would work with any kind of ground meat, but would probably need a little more spices if using plain ground meat.)
Diced tomatoes (I used some I had put up in the freezer from our garden. I would guess it would equal to about 2 cans of diced tomatoes.)
Dried Lentils (I used probably about 1 to 1 1/2 cups)
Beef Broth (3-4 cups depending on how "soupy" you want it. I used beef bullion granules with water.)
One chopped onion
1/2 - 1 cup chopped bell pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic
Spices (I have no clue how much of each but I will estimate)
salt and pepper to taste
chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon (I probably could have added more because it wasn't spicy, but I wasn't sure how spicy the sausage was so I was hesitant to add too much.)
ginger 1/4 teaspoon
dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon
paprika 1/4 teaspoon

I cooked the sausage about half way, then added all ingredients into the crockpot and it cooked on low about 5-6 hours.

It was a hit with my family. I fed my family of five and my in-laws and there was none left. The only one who didn't like it was my son Cayden but he has not discovered the joys of trying new things. I'm not sure if he actually tried it or not. Hopefully this phaze will end soon.

My Little Man

Three words to describe Cayden, full of life. There is never a dull moment with Cayden. He is full speed all them time. He loves to laugh and have fun and it is hard to get him to be serious and listen. So needless to say he gets to spend time in time out. He is such a little cutie that it is hard to discipline him sometimes. He loves trains, cars, balls, superheroes, pretty much anything boyish. The other day as we were watching the Gamecocks play baseball and he told us that when he gets bigger he wants to play ball on TV. Although he is quite full of himself he still loves to cuddle. He likes to get his sippy cup of milk and sit in your lap while he holds your finger and you hold his foot. He loves to give hugs and kisses and about every 5 minutes he says "mommy" and I say "Yes," and he replys "I love you" and I respond with "I love you." I don't think I could ever hear those words too often.

Hannah B.

My sweet little Hannah B. is quite the little princess. She loves anything girly but also loves to get dirty in the dirt and she loves bugs. She would play in the dirt for hours if she could, but she also loves to dress up and be girl. She wants to be a superstar when she grows up and loves to practice singing, playing instruments and dancing. She has a sweet voice and I finally got her to sing at church one Sunday night. She sang "This is the Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli. She would only sing it if she stood behind the pulpit, so that people couldn't see her. She did a wonderful job and was swinging her hip the whole time. It was so cute, I just wish everyone else could have seen it.
She is a little on the bossy side and can convince her little brother to do about anything, which has gotten both of them into trouble. She can be a little sassy but we are working on that. She is a very big helper when it comes to her little brother and sister and she loves them so much. She still loves to cuddle and loves to have "mommy time." She is very inquisitive and loves to read. I can't wait to start homeschooling because right now she is eager to learn new things. We are so blessed to have Hannah as our daughter. I pray that she will always look to God for guidance.

Zoe's Eight Month Update

There is a lot to tell about Zoe this month. It seems like when she turned eight months she decided to start doing all kinds of new tricks. Right before she turned eight months she starting sitting up by herself and from there within about a week she was able to go from lying down to sitting up. As soon as she turned eight months see starting crawling. She has been doing the belly crawl for about a month but she is now a full fledged crawler and is so proud of herself. She has also started pulling up and she even cruises around her bed and pack-n-play. She has attempted to let go but isn't quite ready for that step. She should definately be walking by a year and probably before. You can tell that she wants to, she is a very determined little girl. So far she has started on two teeth, one on the top and one on the bottom. They are about halfway out and there partners shouldn't be too far behind them. She is eating cheerios now and loves them. I'm not sure if likes them so much because they taste good or if she likes the independence of being able to feed herself. I have started her using a sippy cup and she does pretty well with it. She is at the stage where EVERYTHING goes into her mouth, even the cats tail. She loves the cat and anytime he comes near her she gets excited and grabs him and usually she ends up with a clump of fur in her hands and they go straight to her mouth. She is starting to babble some she says "bybyby" and occasionally makes the "mama" sound but I'm not sure if she knows what she is saying yet. She loves to give nice slobbery kisses and we love receiving them. At her well baby checkup she weighted exactly 20 pounds and was 27" long. She has those chunky little legs and cheeks and I just love them. She is growing up too fast, but she is a complete joy. She is a happy baby (unless she is hungry, tired, or sick) and just a special blessing from God.

I absolutely love this picture.







My little beach baby.






Cayden was crying because he wanted to ride again.



Too precious.


Mister personality.

Family Beach Vacation 2011

This week we had our annual family vacation at the beach. My in-laws rent a house in Garden City and we get to stay the entire week. This time my sister and her little boy got to stay the entire week with us. Her husband got to stay Saturday through Monday but had to go back home to work, and my father and step-mom got to spend the last few days with us. It is so nice to be able to be together and enjoy the beach. We never really make any kind of real plans and decide from day-to-day what we want to do, which usually involves relaxing on the beach. Most days we got up, fixed breakfast, got everybody dressed with sunscreen and headed to the beach for a few hours. We were usually some of the first out there and with four small children (my three and my sister's one) a morning trip to the beach worked out nicely. We would come home and eat lunch and then it was nap time. Even my oldest two took naps most days. We also enjoyed hanging out under the house where the kids could ride their bikes and we set up a pool for them to play in. We rented a golf cart this time so we got to go on some rides around the neighborhood, and the kids got to ride their bikes on the rode for the first time which was exciting for them (except when I unknowingly sent Hannah down a street that went down-hill, but she handled it well with no scrapes).
We got to see a lot of wildlife while we were their. Underneath the house (it is on stilts) we were priviledged to watch baby birds in three different nest. Two of the sets of birds actually flew out of their nest for the first time while we were there. On one of our golf cart rides we saw a raccoon and then during a trip to a near by park we encountered another raccoon. This one got a little too close for comfort and caused our trip to the park to be cut short.
We ate out three different times while we were there. The first was to Sara J's which is our usually can't-wait-to-eat- there place. However we were disappointed this time because they had cut back on their portion size but not the price. It was still very good, but we just felt cheated. The second was to Crabby Mikes for crab legs. We had never been there before and was pleasently surprised at the food. The third was the best. We went to our friends new restaurant in Aynor called Miss Ellie's Dinnerbell. It was delicious and we got to hang out with our friends which made it even better.
Our one big outing was to the Family Kingdom. The kids had a great time. There are some many rides that they can ride. It was so great to see their huge smiles as the got to ride each one. The most memorable one was the Log Flume. They had ridden all the rides that they could by themselves and so we were on our way back to the car when they saw the Log Flume and obviously didn't know what it was all about because they wanted to ride it and guess who got to go with them because they weren't tall enough to ride by themselves (not that we would have let them anyway)--mommy was the chosen one and I do not particularly care for water rides. But we got on and the attendant told them they were going to get wet which completely went over their heads when mommy tried to tell them they would, and they started to have second thoughts to which I explained that they were out of luck and had to finish the ride at this point. So we went over the first small hill and they were about ready to jump out of the boat. And again I had to explain that that was not possible and they had to finish the ride. I tried to be as positive as I could while secretly dreading the huge drop myself but I didn't want to make them panic anymore then they were, so I went on and on about how fun it was going to be. I think I convinced Cayden, but Hannah was not at all fooled. We made it to the bottom of the drop and came out of it not as wet as I had thought. The kids were not in fully panic mode and Cayden even said he wanted to ride again. Hannah still wanted no more of the ride and was all to ready to get off. We have a picture of us coming off the ride. We are all three wet(although not drenched) and Cayden is crying because he wants to ride again. I think it was more because he didn't want to home.
The weather was pretty nice. The temperature was very bearable, however the winds were a little rough a few days. It didn't rain the entire trip.
Our trips to the beach were fun. Hannah loved the water and sand. I think she would have played all day in the sand and ocean if we would have let her. Cayden on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the water. The ocean was just too scary for his little three-year-old self. He did play in the sand far away from the water but if you tried to take him to the water he would cry and ask to go home. Usually Cayden and Parker were playing in the sand near where we set up the canopy and chairs and Hannah was playing in the water with one of us. One day Craigan and her dug a huge hole near the edge of the water and sat in their "warm tub" as they called it. She enjoyed walking down the beach and collecting shells. Her and Memaw (my mother-in-law) were looking for a special shell which is called an olive shell I believe and were able to find three of them.
The trip to the beach was great. It was nice hanging out with the family and spending quality time together. I can't wait for next year.

Fun at the Park!!!

Zoe's Six Month Update!!!

Zoe turned six months old on the 30th of March. While I hate the fact that she is growing up so fast I was excited for selfish reasons. Zoe being six months old meant that I could drive again. If you are wondering why I couldn't drive until then it is because hours after Zoe was born I had an eclampic seizure because of high blood pressure. And because of the law I could drive for six months. It has definately made life easier since I can drive again. Didn't realize how much I missed it. Well enough about me on to the more important stuff.
Zoe weighed 17lbs 11ozs at her check up. While for us she seems like a big baby because the other two were barely 20lbs at one year of age, she is actually in the 50th percentile of weight. The doctor said she is growing great and doing everything she is suppose to. At about 5 1/2 months she learned how to roll over and is now turning over at will either way she wants. She loves to sleep on her tummy now. She is close to being able to sit up by herself. She can sit up while leaning on her hands but she can hold her whole body up for about 30 seconds before falling over. She likes baby food but still loves her bottle. She likes to jump in the Jump-a-roo, and has come to appreciate tummy time now that she can roll over. This has greatly helped her flat head, which is improving nicely. She is very nosey (just like her dad) and sometimes would rather watch the action than drink her bottle. She is such a loving little baby and gives great kisses and hugs. Just today she along with Hannah and Cayden were sitting in my lap and she started giving us hugs and sloppy kisses. It is so sweet. Most of the time she has a smile on her face and likes to flirt. She doesn't have any teeth yet but she is steady working on getting them.
She is such a joy and I am so incredibly grateful to God for allowing us to have a third child. I am humbled everyday at the blessings God has given me and I do not take any of them for granted.

Cayden is Potty Trained

I am pleased to announce that my little man is officially potty trained. Woo hoo. He has been pottying in the big boy potty for a while but he would only go if you reminded him. So a few weeks ago I decided to put him in big boy underwear because the pull-ups were just not working, and he was showing every other sign of being ready to be fully potty trained. I bought him some Thomas the Train underwear and put them on him, and within a few days he figured out that he could go potty whenever he needed to. He still needs a pull-up on at night, but during the day he keeps everything dry. It feels so good to only have to buy one set of diapers (for Zoe) and a pack of pull-ups every couple of weeks. It helps the grocery bill out tremendously. I am so proud of my little man. He is getting to be such a big boy. In fact in a few weeks he will be three.