First Fruits

make that first foods...rice cereal to be specific.

And she loved it. She was so proud of herself. 

Oh how I love her expressive little face.

Every little milestone is a reminder of how quickly time passes.

How quickly they turn from tiny to toddler. 

{tear}

As parents we have precious little time to pour into these ones. 

It is vitally important to give them healthy food to nourish their little growing bodies, but what we feed their spirits is of even greater importance. 

I pray the Lord will give us the wisdom, strength, and grace to raise these babies to know Him,

to know how precious and dearly loved they are [by Him & us],

and to honor and obey Him.

In the midst of a society that will want to feed them lies and convince them that worldly gain and pleasure is all that matters; 

We must show them the light, the freedom, the joy, 

the peace, 

and the life

that comes from walking in obedience to God.  

It is a lofty responsibility we parents have.  These are lives being molded, minds being shaped, and ultimately, futures being determined, one lesson after another.

Be mindful of what you are feeding your little ones.

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3boys&3girls

I love these little people. And their mamas.

 Boys, bubbles & baseball.

Swinging, playing, laughing..

Two of my best friends, Tawny & Nichole, both have sons that are Jack's age and daughters close to Claire's age.

We all have so much fun together, and it is such a blessing to have such sweet friends along side us in this journey of parenting

and motherhood.

My friendships with these girls are priceless.

Watching our babies grow up together is priceless.

So blessed.

Birthday Cake Card

With all of the birthdays last month, I decided to try my hand at card making.  I've been itching to get back into crafting and/or scraping, so it was a fun [and cost effective] way to be creative.. for a purpose.

I saw the idea on this adorable girls blog. Love Star! She is so cute and so creative! Loved her version of this card, and decided it looked simple and yet not homemade :-)

Here are mine (don't laugh)..ok..go ahead and laugh.

Robot Whimsy:

These were for my brother and father-in-law.  Have I mentioned that Jack likes to talk in a robot voice? Its the cutest thing ever. He puts his hands up by his face and in a perfect robot monotone he says, "I am a robot- bleh" (sounds like a beep) He ends every sentence with "bleh"...hence the "Happy Birthday Bleh." 

            
This one was for my sister:

I also made another one for my Nana, but forgot to take a pic!
They were a little cheesy, but I had fun doing it.

Watch out Hallmark...[haha]

Mmm D'Licious: Texas Sheet Cake

Here is the recipe for the only chocolate cake that I will eat. 

{I'm much more of a cheesecake/pie kind of girl}

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter
1 Cup water
4 Tbs cocoa

2 C sugar
2 C flour

2 eggs
1 C Knudsen light sour cream
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Bring butter, water, and cocoa to boil in a large pan.
Remove from heat
Add sugar and flour to mixture.
Mix well.
Add eggs, sour cream, baking soda.
Beat into mixture.
Pour batter into greased jelly roll pan
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes

Frosting Ingredients:

1/2 C butter
1/4 C cocoa
6 Tbs milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond
3 1/2 C powdered sugar

Directions:
Bring butter, cocoa, and milk to boil.
Remove from heat
Add remaining ingredients
Mix well
Spread on cake as soon as it is out of the oven
Allow to cool

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla (or mint chip) ice cream!

Goodbye July!

If you want to be in my family you basically have 2 choices for your birthday month: July or December.  Birthdays in clusters, thats just how we do it and it's funner that way [wink]! We were  in party-mode during July, celebrating 6 of my family members and 1 close friend!

Happy belated Birthday to:
my sister-in-law Jessica (July 8th)
my bestie Aly {you know of the mommie diaries...we are real life friends since 7th grade}
my Father-in-Law Dave (July 21)
my sweet Nana (July 21)
my brosie Matty & the big 3-0! (July 22)
my sister Melissa (July 26)
my lil niece Olivia (July 28)

Here are some pics of our parties! [I was lame and forgot my camera a couple of time..so really its only pics of Dave's bday and Mattys. Doh]

Dave is a chocolate lover- so I made a Texas Sheet Cake for him! I'll post the recipe soon :-) It's a family favorite.

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We had a big family party to celebrate Matthew Hartley 

(same middle name as Jack :-)

 30 & Flirty & Thriving!

Matty and his new bride Mara are the cutest newlywed couple ever!  They are both gorgeous people inside and out! 

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For my sister's birthday my mom made her famous Cherry Pie. It is an old family recipe from her grandmother Mimi.  I'm so bummed I didn't have my camera because it might be as gorgeous as it was tasty.

That pie and her Pumpkin Pies are the only pies I like...because they are divine. She is the master pie maker in our family, but maybe I'll try my hand at it one of these days. 

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We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our family and in our lives! We are thankful for each one of the July birthday people :-)

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Oh July...where did you go? 

I meant to post this one before I left on our vaca to Hume Lake...

Oh well :-)