Frosting covers a multitude of sins…..

  Well, this was going to be a post to honor our 11th anniversary, complete with pics from that wonderful day.  Pictures that evoked such tender comments from my children, heartwarming comments like “Wow! I didn’t know they could make such beautiful cakes way back then!”  or “Um, Daddy looked kind of weird back then, he sure looks better now!”  ;oD  BUT, technology got the better of me and I could not for the life of me get the pics onto the comp, because way back then we didn’t have digital pics.  Back in the dark ages cameras used something called film….. if any of you young whipper-snappers don’t know what that is, google it.  Anyhow, I tried taking pictures of the pictures, I even tried the portable scanner thing that I got for Christmas….. I couldn’t get anything to work for me!  :oP  So, instead we will focus on school again.  We have been studying the world and memorizing continents and oceans and our activity for yesterday was to make a continent cake.  This ended up being a bigger headache, er, project than I expected.  We were supposed to make paper dolls of kids from around the world but that didn’t go so well. I am blaming it on the plastic backing of our butcher paper. My folds were not even and we ended up with a bunch of headless dolls. It was quite disturbing. I gave up and thought we would try again this weekend, if I get brave enough. 

  Now, as many of you know, my little family suffers from a plethora of food allergies. I went ahead and bought an allergen free cake mix and decided on a butter cream frosting made to suit.  I, naturally, assumed that our teeny, tiny, health food store would carry natural food colorings.  It just seems like something that every health food store should carry because so many people don’t want, or can’t have, those nasty fake colorings. Well, a few days ago I discovered that NO local stores had them. Sigh, so much for blue oceans and green continents!  I almost gave up but, after posting a question on an ECC forum, I decided to just do white/vanilla oceans and brown/chocolate continents.  Now, in my minds eye this was going to look very artsy…..

  So, Friday came and my kids were beyond excited.  We made the cakes and, in what I hoped would prove to be a stroke of utter genius, I decided to line the cake pans with parchment paper. Our allergen free baking is notoriously sticky and I didn’t want out worlds to shatter.  I *thought* the cake batter would be heavy enough to push the paper out and make nice round cakes that didn’t stick. Well, my genius missed the mark and the cakes looked like our planets had been struck by a meteor storm:

 

  Great!  I wondered if our planets were going to look as if the apocalypse had already occurred!   Well, thankfully, frosting covers much!  We frosted and decorated.  The kids had trouble trying to get all of the continents on such a tiny space but they were pleased with the end product.  We took it to Papa and Grandma’s and shared it with them. The girls were both able to say all 7 continents and J(8) knows all 5 oceans as well. B(6) knows most of the oceans.  So here is the finished products (the first is J’s the second B’s):

   I hope you have enjoyed a little peek into our school projects.

Teacher or Student?

   We are almost finished with our second official week of school, we also have an unofficial week under our belts, and I am reminded daily just how much I love our curriculum!  I sometimes wonder if the kids are learning as much as I!  ;o)

  This year we are learning World Geography with a focus on missions. We are only in week 2 and yet the conversations we are having do this Mama’s heart good! Last week we were reading one of our books and I came upon this little gem regarding prayer:

   When nothing seems to happen, remember that prayer is like planting a seed in the ground. For weeks and months you may see nothing, but a lot is happening underground. Keep on trusting God, because one day you will see the answer to your prayers (Matthew 21:22), one day you’ll see the plant begin to grow.                                                       (Windows On The World by Daphne Spagget with Jill Johnstone)

 

    I just keep mulling this over and over……  There is so much encouragement, so much food for thought, and so much hope in that analogy.  I think, also, that sometimes we (ok, I, but it seems lonely to say I! I want to believe that I am not the only one that does this!!!) plant different seeds than we intend.  We plant from the seed pkg marked violets, and often don’t even recognize what’s growing as the answer to our prayers because the seeds were in the wrong package, and actually belonged to a rutabaga!  ;o)  I have been pondering my prayers lately and wonder if my focus is off, not wrong per say just not best, and that if I prayed more for the courage to face what he brings, the strength to make it through another day, and the joy to accept what He sends, if I wouldn’t see more answers.  I don’t think that praying for a job for my husband is bad but maybe I need to pray more for how I accept it, for gratitude for a job even if it doesn’t fit MY requirements and ideals, and help to be the encourager my man needs.  Instead of praying for a job with 4 tens and little to no traveling, maybe I should pray for the strength, courage, and health, to be the the woman I need to be while he is working, regardless of hours, the ability to make wonderful memories with our kids regardless of how much he is gone.  Instead of reminding God of the dream for our family that we truly think is from Him, maybe I should be asking God to clarify our dream and to grant me the patience for His timing for His plan for us. Instead of asking for a time of reprieve from the trials I should ask for the grace to be an example to my kids during the hard times. 

   Lately I have just felt weary, done, and fearful.  Much as the last few years have provided us with a new “normal” that is not pleasant it is now normal, it is what we know.  It is hard for me to avoid feeling fearful over the future. Frightened that it will stay the same, frightened that it will change for the worse, frightened…..  I am not foolish enough to think that things can’t get worse than they are. I know that, though we have had some very difficult years, things could be way worse.  As we hurtle on down the path of life I find myself reluctant to leave where we are for fear that where we are going will be even harder, will be worse. I am weary and want a rest. Sadly, that seldom is what is beneficial for making me into who HE wants me to be.  My head knows that God will carry us through whatever He has planned for us but my weak faith is crying out in fear that it is too tired, too weary, too scared to go on.  Thankfully God doesn’t give me that choice or I could miss out on His blessings and, regardless of may failings, HE remains faithful.

  As there is no option but to keep living life, to keep on, to keep moving one tiny step at a time, I will try and change my focus yet again. To once more try and stay focused on HIM and trust.  Praise God, HE alone is worthy!          

For Emily

Dear Emily,

  It's gone..... you now have no excuse  ;o)
 Lol!!!

Your friend,
  B.  :oD

One Year

  As I have contemplated this post, edited pics (some old favorites and some never posted before), I kept wondering if I could put too many pics here…. You may count that as your warning that this will be a long post ;o)  
  Today my baby turns one and I just don’t know where the year has gone.  He has brought us so much joy, so much hope, so many smiles, and kisses.  I honestly can’t begin tell you what a blessing he is! ♥ Here is a little re-cap of his year

Right after his birth

  

Resting with Daddy…. Isn’t that just too sweet. 

 

Playing in a pretend beaver’s lodge at the High Desert Museum on his first vacation :o)

 

Practicing his crawling skills in March

 

Bath time

Playing outside in July

First hair cut in August. Man, that emphasizes his blondeness and makes him look grown up!  I had a harder time of it than he did!  

Playing outside at our favorite place this month….   This picture just melts me! He is just so full of fun and laughter ♥

 

He loves to explore 

 

Today, taking a birthday wagon ride at Papa and Grandmas. He and brother have so much fun together!

 

So, there you have it. A year of smiles, of laughter, of kisses, cuddles, love, and joy.  My baby is one….. 

August kid pics

Here are some random pics from August:

 

 

Here is what happens when you show a baby how to blow dandelion fairies and he tries too ;o)

I was so excited to finally get a real smile!  He has got to be my hardest yet to get a good picture of…….  I like this one so well I would frame it

T-Ball

   This summer we joined T-Ball.  The kids were thrilled and it really was a lot of fun.  :o)  Monday was the last night.  Grammy and Aunt Angela sweetly made the long drive to see the fun, Papa and Grandma came, and, all in all, it was regular party!  :oD  Here are a few pics from the last night of T-Ball  (just for you Mom ♥)

Daddy was one of the coaches…. He did a GREAT job!

 

 

Papa, Grandma, Grammy, and Aunt Angela held my busy little guys so I could take pics

 

He insists on wearing his hat in such a way as to squish his poor little ears, it rather adds to his cuteness, don’t you think?  ;o)

Papa also played catch with the girls for awhile.  They love playing with their Papa! ♥

Adventures in photography

   I have, thanks to my sweet husband, a ridiculously nice camera.  :o)  Sadly, I have never really done much other than the auto settings.  I have many excuses, I mean, reasons for this.  I could detail them all for you but would probably bore you to tears, so I will move on to the good stuff.  The other day I went out with my camera, while baby was napping, to try and capture the flowers in the kids’ “gardens”.  I was very excited to be out with my camera but the lighting wasn’t very good and, within a short period of time, I became so frustrated I wanted to throw a screaming tantrum.  I managed, barely, to refrain from this because I didn’t want to explain to the kids why it was ok for me but not for them. I knew I couldn’t fool them! ;o)  The pics looked like this:
 

Over exposed and crummy.  I came in the house and plopped down in front of the puter to pout when a random idea came to mind. I decided, once again, to read THIS great series on making the jump to manual settings.  I read and re-read the series and then went back out.  I decided to start the process slowly and just use the Aperture priority setting on my camera. The results were not what I had hoped for

STILL over exposed!  I was sorely tempted to give up and just figure that noon on a bright sunny day was impossible but I persevered and decided to try Manual.  The very word strikes fear in my heart, makes my palms sweaty, and my stomach churn. I decided a long time ago that I was too stupid to learn it and really didn’t want to prove it to myself that day. My first attempt was not as over exposed, but the depth of field was off because my aperture setting was wrong

 

So I tried the opposite extreme and it was, no surprise, under exposed

I then fiddled with some middle of the road settings and got these:

  

and my favorite

None are perfect but they are better than I thought I could possibly do, so I am pleased. I am also encouraged to keep on trying to learn manual settings.  :o)  My friend Abbi O. is spurring me on also. Maybe, before I am completely old and gray, I will have it figured out! ;o)

*All pics in this post are SOOC*