It's a Snowman Gathering

I saw these cute little guys on the internet and I just had to try them out. Aren't they just darling?

Wanna make these guys yourself?

Go to...

Disney's Family Fun Website

This is my stoic snowman.

These two are my sympathetic guys. They look a bit worried, don't they?

And Finally, Here is my Chorus Line of scarves and top hats.

I broke a few in the process and they do taste yummy as well.

Also, instead of orange gel for the nose, I just cut little bits of orange gum drop for this beak instead.

Ladybug's Heart

Well, I am pleased to say that Maia's heart appointment two Fridays ago went very well. We were very much prepared for her cardiologist to say that she needed to have a heart cath procedure next month, but we got just the opposite. Her heart is looking fantastic.

Her VSD is only 2 mm in diameter. We thought he would want to go in and close via a catheterization process, but he said that it is not growing any larger and the cath won't be necessary! Woohoo! Praise the Lord!

Dr. Zales went on to say that her pulmonary valve continues to grow more in ratio with that of her left side and those thick walls keep getting thinner and thinner. We are just amazed!

Thank you, Dear Lord, for all that you have done for our daughter! For the prayer intercessors she has! For the amazing medical community that has intervened on her behalf! For your healing power for Your Glory!

She is a feisty, smiling, almost two year old who loves life! We love her so very much. May we be all we can be for her! Lord, please make us the best parents for this amazing child with HRHS.

12th Birthday Celebrations

We had a wonderful time celebrating Brenna's 12th birthday with her. It was so nice to have most of the family there. We miss you, Joseph! Happy Birthday, sweet niece. Hope it was all that you had wished for. We love you and miss you already!

Fun Friday with Fam

Uncle Micah, Cousin Kaya, and Maia are having fun together!

Silly Pizza

One thing I really appreciate about the summer is the time I have to be more creative with my children. When I am off from school and the daily stresses are no longer lurking around every corner, I am freed up in my mind to be a more pleasant and fun momma. I try to be that way during the school year and I succeed every once and a while, but it definitely is more apparent during winter break, spring break, and during the summer months. I think it is partly because my brain takes a lot longer to geared up now and it just takes me longer to come up with inventive stuff.

So here is one of our little fun lunches. Now that I built up this "creativity thing" you are probably expecting this amazing feat of genius, but no...just a fun afternoon making silly pizza faces with my son, Gideon.

Of course, my final success came when Gideon tried out the pizza and told me that it actually tasted like real pizza. I think he fears my cooking. During the school year we do so much already, pre-cooked type meals that he doesn't know that his momma can actually cook. LOL Hopefully this year will be different. I have my new line-up of classes for the upcoming academic year and it looks much more stress-free than this previous bear of a year. I am excited to see if my kiddos can actually get a more on-top-of-it mother this year. We shall see.

Look at those cute little eyes looking up at you! You just have to smile. Right? :) (I'm not talking about the pizza's eyes either!) LOL

Final Product. The Crust was made from Costco's whole wheat wraps. They were very tasty!

The Rest of Our Day!

Okay, I can only blog 4 pics at a time via Picasa / Blogger so here is the rest of the slideshow of our day. It was so very fun!

Let's Party!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating with the White family today!
Amelia turned two today!
Her mom, Lauren, was Maia's babysitter most of this school year.
It was a beautiful day to have an outside party.
Here are a few of our memories we made today.

Our Little Boy...Not so Little Anymore

Gideon is offically a first grader now! We had a great time celebrating his promotion to the next grade on Tuesday night this week. Come take a look at our evening together.




Thank you for all you have placed within him, Lord. He is such a precious gift to our family. May we continue to guide him in all your ways.

Here with My "Peeps"!

Dominican Republic Trip 2010

Our Seniors from Calvary Academy are in the Dominican Republic, as I type this blog. I am so very excited for each one of them and their chaperones. I can't wait to see how God will provide for them in this country. May God use them in the lives of many and may they also be touched deeply by His eternal and everlasting presence as they obey Him these next few days!

You can view their daily posts by going to our school blog. Just click on the photo image above and it will link you to this site. You can also sign up to follow the site and get updates when a new post is uploaded.

Please pray with me for not only this one small group from our school, but for so many around the world who journey to this country and their neighbor, Haiti. So many need so very much! God can and will provide. Let us obey in prayer and action.

By the way, G.O. Ministries is a great organization that you can support for an ongoing, long-term ministry to the D.R. and Haiti. My friends, Jeff and Vicki Rogers, are a part of this amazing ministry that God is using in extraordinary ways. They have been there for many years before this year's devastating quake and will continue, with God's provision, to do so for many more.

Seniors, you are missed, but press on! Touch! Grow! Minister! Be ministered to! We love you and are praying for you daily! May God radically use you in phenomenal ways that will blow your mind! May you just catch a glimpse of Who our God really is! May the people there experience that same glimpse and hold on to our Savior and never let go!

Oh, to be Sixteen Nowadays!

This is definitely more the trend the past few years! I made this cake for a girl that is turning sixteen today. I guess with all the cake decorating shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, plus all those cake showdowns on the Food Network, kids have a much grander idea of what a cake should look like! Ha, ha!

I truly enjoyed doing this cake. The Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty are made of fondant that I cut out free hand and then all the buildings are also fondant. The stars are molded white chocolate with a little silver dust on them. Many of the ingredients were purchased at The Chocolate Belles in Brick, NJ, on Chambersbridge Rd. The rest is good ol' buttercream, white cake, with a raspberry torte! Yum! It was a lot of fun! I hope the young lady is as pleased as I am with this cake!

Wonder what kind of cake she'll have for her wedding in a few years?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Celebrating my Lovin' Man!

We have laughed, lived, and loved...

for 10 years now!

I thank the My Father for bringing such a perfect mate

to me!

Kelly Moore Bag Give-away from MckMama!

Do you love Kelli Moore's designs? Here is an awesome give-away from MckMama's site for a gorgeous camera bag. Go over to her site and sign up for the give-away! Hurry up! It will be closing soon. Click on the bag above and you'll be directed to MckMama's giveaway page! Good Luck!

Kentucky Christmas: Nice Memories

Kenny, Gideon, Maia, and I travelled to Kentucky the Eve of Christmas Eve to spend some very much needed quality time with both the Sutherland and Gerdis families, as well as many good friends. We spent nine days in Good Ol' Kentucky and we sure were blessed by so many of you and just catching up with you.

We started our Christmas festivities over at the Sutherland Clan on Christmas Day and then had our Gerdis Christmas the next day. Kenny and I just felt the busy-ness of our lives just melt away and the warmth of family fill our hearts.

The following days we were able to get together with the Paulson Family (unfortunately we forgot our camera that night), Abby, Joel Nussbaum, The Tenney's (to celebrate Heather's birthday), the Henson's to celebrate the New Year's with dinner, a play, dancing, and just pure fun. The last night we spent over at Joel and Toby's and finally got to see my niece, Kaya. I have only seen her one other time and it was so good to hold her in my arms. We had a treat and Julia and Gina were also able to come!

Here is a very long slide show of our time there. You can click on the slide show and go to the pictures uploaded on my web album on Picasa.

WE love you all and had a wonderful Christmas time!

Happy Birthday, Meaghan!

My, sister-in-law, Meaghan is celebrating her birthday today!
She has been part of the Sutherland Clan now for five glorious years!
Hard to believe the years have flown by that quickly?!?

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Hope it is a Wonderful, Glorious Day and Here is to A Fabulous New Year!