Apple and Peanut Butter Lion

I love making this for my kiddos. Great motivator for a healthy treat for little ones that have a hard time consuming nutrient rich whole foods. 😉 It is also just plain fun! 

Directions:

Ingredients:

Half Apple

Raisins

Almond sliver

Take a half of an apple. Scoop out the core and seeds with a small spoon in a circular shape. Fill the cavity with peanut butter. Add raisins for eyes and a nose. Add a half of an almond sliver for a mouth. Use a knife and make lines around the PB face in the Apple flesh. 

Green Bay Packers Cake

Ewok Cake

Had fun creating this little guy for a special 7 year old's bday today. 

Homemade Lambie Birthday Party Invitations

My daughter, Maia, is turning 5 and has requested a

Doc McStuffins  / Lambie Birthday Party.  We decided to make Lambie Invitations

The end product was very cute and I decided to share the steps right here.

Step 1:

Take pink dessert plates and trim off the curved lip.  Then put a

stream of glue around the edge.

 Step 2:

Put 6 stretched out cotton balls along the edge, pressing cotton balls firmly into the glue.  Then take two more stretched out cotton balls and glue them a bit lower than center of each side for Lambie's ears.

Step 3:

Cut out a little bow for the top of Lambie's head and glue.  Then cut out little semi-ovals for the pink part of Lambie's ears and glue as well.

lye

 Step 4:

I am pretty good at judging distance, but I realize this can be difficult for some.

I measured about 5 cm between the eyes and put some dots with a black permanent marker for a point of reference.  Then I made vertical ovals for the eyes with a space in the center or off center for reflection.  Then make three eyelashes for each eye.

The nose and mouth were drawn with light pink sharpiee.  The nose looks like a flattened out valentine heart, then draw a straight line down and make a wide smile with very small ovals at the end of each side of the smile.

Add some little pink freckles under the  eyes and fairly near the nose.

Step 6:

Wait until the little cuties  dry and then turn them over and write out your invitation.

Step 7:

Show your happy little girl!

These invitations are not very postal-friendly and probably will need to be hand-delivered.  We are giving out the invitations tomorrow at church.  :)  You could also use this as a party project or decorations if you don't want to use them as an invitation.

Resurrection Continued

Well, I am testing out my NEW Blogger App on my IPhone.  I wasn't sure how to get pics I was taking on my phone easily to my blog and then I thought...duh!  Is there a Blogger App and lo' and behold there is.  Not sure how great it is so far.  I don't like typing on my phone anyway for long posts, but I uploaded a pic from yesterday's morning coffee with my sweet girl #1 and it looks great to me.  Might need to touch up with Instagram first and then upload, but overall I am very pleased thus far.  Let me know if you have any reviews or criticism of the app, but for small short uploads it appears to be appropriate for my needs.

 

Maia enjoying a muffin and water while watching Mommy enjoying her Hazelnut Latte from Pearland Coffee Roasters! Mmmmm Good!  Oh and a Kolache ( gone! ) :)

Kolaches are a Texas thing we have learned about quickly. See highlighted link above.

I am going to add onto my list from yesterday.   

I am thankful for finally getting to be a full-time stay-at-home-mom!  It was a long-time coming, but with the move to Texas and Kenny's pay increase this is now possible.  It makes things tighter financially, but we see the benefits for our family for sure.  This past year and a half have been a learning experience.  It has been both wonderful and humbling.  As a teacher, I got to reap the benefits of watching other parents victories and blunders over the years and I pretty much knew what I wanted to do and what I definitely did NOT want to do with my own children.  Once at home, I was pregnant with our third in the matter of a month and many of my glorious plans went down the tubes to a point.  I was the most tired and lethargic I had ever been with a pregnancy.  Whew!  Many a day I lay on the couch much more than I like to admit.  Now that Ivy is here, she and Maia take up a lot of my time, which is not a bad thing...but the HOUSE is not necessarily as spic and span as I thought it was going to be when I first launched out on this new experience.  Oh well.  I enjoy spending my days with my girls and also being able to go to many a field trip or lunch with Gideon at his school.  

As a teacher, many of you know that lesson plans, after-school plans, and grading can take away from time you would like to spend with your family.  I have enjoyed this part best of all.  My sweet mom, for the past two Christmases have blessed us with a zoo pass and a museum pass for our family.  This has been a great opportunity to spend time with the kids, especially Maia during the school day.  We meet up with other mommies and their kids and take fun educational excursions.  I will have to do a blog about the Houston Zoo and some of its museums another time.

My hope and prayer for the 2013 as a SAHM is that I will be more intentional with our time together and make each opportunity a way to learn more about the world around us and enjoy it more thoroughly as well as the Great Creator of it all.  I also want to make technology less of a priority for all of us, so that we are learning more about what is in each family member's heart and enjoying each others spirit even more.

That's it for today.  Off to meet up with another Texas family in a bit.  Take Care!

New Year 2013... And A Resurrected Blog!

Wow! I am actually doing this!  I haven't put one word or photo to this blog in about a year and a half and so much has happened.  As the New Year begins, I desire to be more involved in blogging once more.  It was very cathartic and took on a journalling type aspect for me, the four years I devoted to it up in New Jersey. 

No pics today.  Just me with my words and thoughts.  I was looking back at the beginning of this blog.  There was a video of Gideon with his little tiny voice and his big lofty thoughts.  It truly was amazing (for his mom at least).  I update regularly on Facebook, but it isn't the same.  Blogging is much more of a creative outlet to journal our everyday lives that I can look back on.  It forces me to be more introspective and deliberate and when I look back on it (which is much easier to get to on this blog than FB ever is)...it makes me appreciate the journey of our lives oh so much more!  Here is a piece of of my blog (the highlighted is a link) with two videos of Gideon fives year ago.  The second video on this linked post has much more conversation with him.  So good to look back at these videos.  I am going to have to try to upload a lot of the videos from the past year and a half from FB onto here. I know it is going to be a process, but well worth it in the long run.

What am I thankful for as this New Year begins and what are my hopes for these next 12 months?

I am thankful for God's presence in my family's lives.  I hope and pray that we relish his presence even more and sit at His feet listening to his guidance and Words for us.  

I am thankful for family that have had a chance to come to visit us in 2012.  We had three visits from My mom, two visits from my dad, a visit from Kenny's parents, and a visit from Kenny's sister and nieces.  What an awesome family to lay down vacation time and money to put us as a priority.  We feel very loved by them.  We also. of course, feel loved by our other family members that couldn't make it out here.  They always communicate with us via a text, snail mail, email, or a phone call sometime throughout a month.  They are all so very precious to us.  Love you, Sutherlands, Gerdises, and Lewises!  My hope is that we can reciprocate more this year...now that Ivy is a bit older and will hopefully be able to handle a long trip.

I am thankful for our new church family in Pearland, Texas!  God sure provides above and beyond all that we could ever hope and dream of.  What a special group of people they are and we are blessed to call many of them good friends now.  He did it amazingly well in New Jersey with our sweet friends at Cornerstone Calvary Chapel and also at Calvary Academy.  Of course, He did it again here in Texas as well with Covenant Community Church.  My hope is that we can serve this community and our neighbors in Pearland as a family fully devoted to Him.  May we bless others even more richly than we have been blessed ourselves.  May we not think of ourselves but others more highly. 

I am thankful that Kenny was able to go back to college for the first time in forever.  He was never able to finish a college degree and yet the Lord blessed him and moved him up in the industry even though most of the positions required a such a degree.  Kenny has been working full-time and going back to school with at least two courses each semester for four semesters now.  He has gotten A's in courses I couldn't even imagine obtaining a C in, like Organic Chemistry.  Yikes!  My hope for him is that the Lord will give him rest and peace in the midst of a very chaotic upcoming semester.  He will be taking four classes.  It will be a bit insane the next few months and I pray that we all will be centered on the Lord and will His Holy Spirit to have control and not our emotions or lack of rest to get the better of us.  It is just a SEASON.  There will be an end.  I pray that I can be a support to Kenny wherever he might need it.  May there be excitement and joy in the journey.  He hopes to be done with his Associates Degree in Chemistry by summer and will transfer to University of Houston in the fall to finish up his Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree there. Woohoo. I am so very proud of him and all he is doing for our family as well as for himself professionally. 

I am thankful for my little ones and I guess not so little one now. 

Gideon is getting to be such a young man lately.  I showed him the above video link this morning and he shook his head in disbelief that he was ever that little or ever that squeaky. LOL  Gideon is engrossed in reading The Hobbit right now and then it will be off to reading How to Train Your Dragon....both Christmas gifts.  He wants to learn to play the guitar this year as well as earn badges in Cub Scouts.  He is also going to try his "feet" to soccer once more this season.  Gideon still has such a heart for worship.  I love to watch him sing and praise God not just at church but spontaneously as he is going about the house.  I sure love that boy of mine.

Maia is truly becoming a little lady in her own right.  She loves reading books, dancing to her Nickelodean music, playing with her dolls.  We have signed her up for soccer as well.  I think she will like it.  It is a learning league and there truly is no pressure, which she will need.  She has been improving with her left side motor abilities via PT and OT this year.  She loves both her teachers and we sure appreciate all that NTS has provided via Miss Stephanie and Miss Kelly this year.  Maia only has yearly heart exams now.  Her last one was in June of 2012.  At that time everything was looking great, but the cardiologist also made it clear that by the time Maia is a teen she will most likely need a heart valve replacement surgery.  She is such a full-of-life little girl, it is hard to imagine that she even has a problem right now.  We are so thankful for God's provisions for her, but also pray for her future.   This has been our prayer for Maia since her diagnosis in utero at 26 weeks... May she bring glory to God for He is good.  She definitely has done that with her life thus far and no matter what we know that she will continue to do so.  This is our hope and prayer for her.

Ivy is now 7 and 1/2 months old this week.  She such a sweet little addition to our family.  I know that Gideon wanted / wants a brother, but Ivy and him have such a sweet bond.  You should see how both of them look at each other.  Usually the last thing he does before heading out in the morning and the first thing he does when he returns home from school is pick up his little sister and love on her. He is a great big brother.  I think he would be the same way with Maia, LOL, if Maia would allow him to love on her more (Miss Independent soul! :))  Ivy is beginning to take solids this week.  She is eating some banana and has been tasting some cinnamon muffin just this morning.  She also pulled up from a sitting position on the couch to a kneeling position by the arm rest.  Yea!  Love these times in a baby's development.  She also has two bottom teeth and four, yes four, coming in on top.  She is teething machine lately. :)  My hope and prayer for Ivy is that she continues to develop perfectly in the Lord's time and that she will begin to see the Lord's goodness and love through her Daddy, Mommy, big brother, and big sister.  She is one loved little girl for sure.

We have a new addition to the family as of yesterday.  The Sutherland's welcome Dash Sutherland to the family...a.k.a. the gerbil.  He truly is a "Dash" but also very nice so far. He doesn't nibble or bite when held by me and calmly closes his eyes as the kids stroke his fur.  He even licked Gideon.  That truly blessed my son's heart.  A nice bonding moment with his first pet.

Well, for now... I am going to finish this blog post.  It will be continued in a day or two.  Don't want to take away too much time from my motherly duties. 

Happy New Year to you all!  Have a great year that will reveal more of God's precious truth and love into your lives.  May you see all circumstances and situations as a way that God is allowing you to glorify Him more...for He is oh so GOOD! 



 

CapeMay Zoo

And Let There Be Calla Lilies!

The Top

Back Side

I Had Problems Getting the Fondant all the Way around So I went with a Button Motif.
I think It Gave the Cake a little bit more Character and Spunk! :)

For the First Time Attempting Gum Paste Flowers, I am satisfied and I know some New Tricks for next time that I want to use to make them even better.
Oh Those are Gumpaste Leaves as well.

Happy Anniversary, Tim and Liz!

Let's Go Out to the Ballgame! (Brrrr!)

It was such a beautiful day yesterday! The temps got in the high 70's and there was a blue picturesque sky with puffy white clouds everywhere. However that all changed by 6 that evening and the fog started rolling in and the temps went down in the 50's.

The kids still had a great time in the cold and played with a sweet little girl from our church, Brianna. You can see they were a bit silly at that!

Kenny's men's softball team from Cornerstone had a game last night so we took advantage of our Spring Break schedule and watched a few innings before Maia had to go down for the night. It was a fun night, but definitely a icky, cold night as well.

Most importantly, our team won by a landslide! Way to go, Cornerstone!

Easter Sunday

Maia and Gideon struck a few poses before Sunday Church yesterday. For some reason, Gideon was having some weird poses. Finally the last one turned out great of the two of them. But I loved Maia's pose on this first one, so I cropped Gideon out and focused on her. Hope that doesn't appear to be a rude mom. LOL!

They are just too cute!

Happy Easter to you and yours!

Gone Fishing Cupcakes

I made these cute little creations for a good friend's wedding yesterday. Andrea's now-husband, Dustin, loves fishing and we thought this would be a nice addition to the wedding cake. I got the idea from the fabulous website, lacremecupcake.com! You should check out her website. She has some major skills! She has so much creativity and I hope that my copying was a form of flattery!

Well, the bride and groom called me today on their way to their honeymoon in the Poconos, just to thank me! How sweet is that?!? They said the cupcakes were wonderful and they tasted better than the cake that the reception site had made. Love to hear that! :)

Have a wonderful marriage, Dustin and Andrea! May God Bless you in all your years to come!

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!