I don’t know if it was the computer sabbatical we went through or just the quiet time but for some reason  I just can’t get back into blogging right now.  I’ve attempted several times but unless the Lord leads my heart differently I think I’m finished blogging for a long while.  Don’t worry though I will continue to keep records of my kids antics!! Who knows might get them all published someday–  we definitely have some crazy adventures around here!!!

Friends….  thanks so much for checking up on me!!  We’ve been experiencing one of the “when it rains it pours” seasons.  I have a list of things that have had to have repairs or are still broken. It’s all right though, because it seems we see God’s hand in very special ways during these times.  

Our computer did make it back a few days ago, however I’ve learned it’s quite a task to reinstall everything. Sadly we’re are still experiencing a few problems with our internet connection.  We may need to send our computer out again.  So it will be awhile before I’m back.  Hope to get back to normal soon!  Love YOU!

Just letting you guys know… we came home from Christmas festivities and my computer crashed. (I’m on Steven’s at the moment.) We’re not worried about the computer, our warranty is GREAT!  However I am a bit frazzled at the thought of losing our holiday pics  and all my itunes music I hadn’t backed up =(.  Anyway we’ll be shipping our computer out Tuesday from the closest Genius Bar (apple users know what I’m talking about). I’ll be off the blog until it gets back probably in two to three weeks. Blessings to you!!!  I know I’ll miss reading about your lives as well as sharing mine.  Take Care!

We love you!!!  Thank you so much for sharing the past year with us on the blog!!!  Looking forward to doing the same in 2009!

Merry Christmas to you an yours.

I don’t know about you but ever since Thanksgiving came and went I’ve been in a dead run to get everything “done” for the Christmas season.  Parties to attend, events to plan, people to call, recitals to organize, shopping to accomplish, food to prepare, cards to address, gifts to wrap, the house to clean, decorations to hang ect… and then even more things to do.  You get my drift I’m sure- it’s been hectic around here!!!!  I’ve found myself praying on the run and missing the stillness of sitting with God!!  A friend asked me how I was via e-mail. My response: “I’m good but missing the joy of celebrating WITH Christ this season. I find myself partying ABOUT Him instead.”  I’m incredibly GRATEFUL that my heart recognizes this void….  I thought this video was an awesome reminder to love the things God loves throughout a season originated by Him and yet one He so easily is left out of.  My friend Meredith posted it on her blog almost a month ago.  I was so glad she shared:

My most treasured photograph from Thanksgiving week- our four generations pic!

Mamaw Hattie came to see the kidos at the Smithson Thanksgiving dinner- such a treat!

]]> http://whatsupwithus.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/thanksgiving-highlight/feed/ 2 Habbakuk 3:18 img_8188 http://whatsupwithus.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/really-great-sugar-cookies-2/ http://whatsupwithus.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/really-great-sugar-cookies-2/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:25:14 +0000 Habbakuk 3:18 http://whatsupwithus.wordpress.com/?p=627 ]]>

Today I’ve been preparing for a 7th and 8th grade girls Sunday school party my co-teachers and I are hosting tomorrow evening.  I wanted to make some homemade sugar cookies with my new pumpkin and leaf shaped cookie cutters.  However, the recipe I’ve used for years I’ve come to be disappointed with.  The dough is yummy but the cookies are just too crisp once baked!!  In my opinion the words “crisp” and “sugar cookie” don’t go together! 

I’m all about the soft and chewy frosted cookies on the Wal-mart aisle, if you know what I mean. The homemade touch is always special though, so I set out to find a new recipe.  I googled “soft” sugar cookie and had thousands of recipes to choose from instantly.  Isn’t google is amazing?!?!?  I made two of them that looked interesting and sounded exactly like what I was looking for.  My neighbor two doors down came over and helped me cut them out.  Here’s the winning recipe!  It most definitely has replaced the old one.

CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

1½ C sugar
1 C butter
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
3½ C flour
1 tsp baking powder

In a mixing bowl cream sugar, butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
Add egg and flavorings, beat smooth’
Stir together the flour and baking powder, add to creamed mixture and mix thoroughly.

FOR CUT-OUT COOKIES
Chill dough. Roll out on surface dusted with a mixture of ½ powered sugar and ½ flour, ¼ to ½ inch thick depending on your preference. Cut into desired shapes. Place on un-greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375° oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch for the edges to just barely begin to brown if you like a moist cookie. Cool and frost.

These cookies rolled out so easily and looked perfect once baked.  However, I’ve yet to find the perfect glossy frosting glaze.  Any suggestions???

I am the proud recipient of my very first blog award – the Smile Award.  Meredith really made my day through her words of encouragement! One of the requirements to receiving this little ditty is that you pass it on of which I have failed to do so here is my “pass it on” post.  Here’s the deal with the “Smile” award.

Criteria:

1. Display a cheerful attitude.
2. Love one another.
3. Make mistakes.
4. Learn from others.
5. Be a positive contributor to the blog world.
6. Love life.
7. Love kids.

And the rules:

1. Link back to the award’s creator.
2. Post these rules if you receive the award.
3. Choose 5 people to receive the award after you receive it.
4. Fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award.
5. Post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. Create a post sharing your win with others.
7. Thank the giver.

I think this idea is great simply for the fact that you can really find alot of encouragement from blog’s and this concept let’s others know where some of the best ones are…..

I’m usually a “follow the rules” kind of gal, but I’m going to break #3 and only nominate three of my favorite bloggers.  And who am I to say that I’m not really breaking #4 too – you can be the judge of that. Here’s my nominations:

1. Debi:

I met Debi almost eight years ago.  I traveled the country for two years with her oldest daughter Jenna who is a dear and precious friend. Debi loves the Lord, her family, and her children.  She also takes pride in learning about photography and is QUITE talented. The beauty she captures digitally is breathtaking!!  I read her blog for almost a year and a half before I decided to start my own.  I found within her post a place of quiet, peace, and inspiration from an older woman’s heart.  It was through her blog that I saw how blogging is not just a “trend” but can really touch someone else because of how her blog touched me.  Debi keep up the GREAT work!  You are a beautiful person that makes me SMILE…..

oh and if you check out her site be sure to view the journal entries as well as the photography page!

2.  Cynthia

Cynthia is a bit new to the blogging world but I already know she meets all the qualifications of the SMILE award.  Cynthia’s is a great wife and proud mamma of two handsome boys!  She’s very special to me because she’s also my cousin. We weren’t close growing up however, God redeemed some of that lost time when He allowed Cynthia to make a big difference in my life several years ago during some critical decisions.  She has since loved on me through some other stormy seasons.  She LOVES women and is committed to encouraging and ministering to hearts on an intimate level.  When scrolling through her blog you will find inspiration and spiritual insight that comes from a pure and genuine love of both Jesus and women. She’s the real deal, loves to laugh, and I know her blog deserves the award!

3.  Holly

Holly and I met a LONG time ago. She most likely doesn’t remember me but I used to think she was the MOST beautiful girl I ever saw!!  She was Godly and gorgeous and I just wished I could have been her…  mature huh?!?!  Anyway, I came across her path in blog land. She is now a pastor’s wife with preschoolers and it’s GREAT to hear her stories.  We received her parents ministry newsletters for years and now I find it so neat to continue to see within the walls of this family on a weekly basis.  Holly loves her kids, her husband, and her calling to Jesus.  She’s a great girl and ready to be real!  She’s a leader of hearts and an avid lover of Jesus– one who I am challenged by.  You go Girl!

Hat’s off to the three of you! Okay so that’s it…. I have reciprocated and maybe you’ll enjoy visiting these sites as much as I do.

Have a great day!

Being away from the blog a few days has been a new experience. I find myself anxious to sit down and catch up and yet not exactly sure how to start.  I’m afraid I cannot accomplish a review of the week without being “listy.”  So instead trying to be creative and putting off catching up I’m just going to have to be “listy”. Here’s an embarrassingly long day by day of our 7 day trip.  I PROMISE to never write a post this lengthy again….

DAY ONE

Traveling was nice.  I love to have focused conversations with Steven.  Our kids are pretty good little hitchhikers so with their cooperation Steven and I generally get some good “talk” time together. Thus the process of de-stressing began…

Also we took our first trip to Silver Dollar “Silly” as Eli called it.  You can see below that we jumped right into the thriller rides.  The kids were fine…. I was scared. =)

I know you won’t find this surprising but Eli wanted to ride EVERYTHING and was scared of nothing.  There were a few instances he cried because we told him he wasn’t tall enough to ride.

DAY TWO

Our next trek to Silver Dollar City.  The highlight of this day was dancing with my boys.

We stopped in an old barn with probably 300 elderly people.  Some of them were square dancing while “woody’s round-up gang” played.  Of course they really weren’t “the gang” but Eli believed it.  Eli and I went out on the dance floor to which all of the older couples thought was just precious.  Some dance partners stopped and asked if they could keep our kids while Steven and I danced.  For the very FIRST time Steven really truly danced with me in public. He would say he did horribly but I thought it was FANTASTIC!!!  He probably was 10 shades of red for the remainder of the morning but I was sooooo proud!

DAY THREE

We went to our timeshare presentation.  SIGH…. not fun but our lady was precious and not pushy at the end when we told her “no.” You do what you must when traveling with a budget.

Krispy Kreme, Rib Crib, good shopping, and a beautiful excursion to the Branson Landing were the points of interest on day three.  I must tell you I knew in advance that the Springfield Symphony Orchestra would be performing that night…..  as I listened I cried!  I know crazy, but the level of performance they gave was impeccable. With a year of music major background I have an ear for the perfection required to perform at that level and it was just AMAZING!!!  I was never gifted enough to achieve such standards but I love to listen to those who are. Steven was so kind to walk the kids to the playground while I listened to the remainder of the performance!!!

DAY FOUR

Time to load up and move out to “Gateway to the West” -St Louis!!! Upon arriving we shopped at a few malls, ate dinner, and then watched a red box movie in the room.  We were very low key this day and VERY glad it wasn’t time to go home.

DAY FIVE

While planning our adventure I did alot of Internet research and let me just say if you are looking for lots to do at very low cost St Louis is a great place to go.  They have TONS of great places to go with kids and just for adults that are totally and completely free.  We honestly could have stayed a few more days and still had things to do…

Anyway the St Louis Zoo was our attraction of the day.  The elephants, penguins, grizzly bears, and butterfly exhibits were our favorites.  All these animals seemed to be aware they had an audience and really put on a show for us!!  Our kids went 3 1/2 hours past nap time and weren’t complaining at all…

DAY SIX

If you are looking for a completely abstract and out of the ordinary experience we had it on day six.  The first stop was a place called The City Museum.  Upon entering we were informed that there were no maps to the five story location.  We were “just to experience as we went along.”  For this “type A” girl let me just say I didn’t quite know what I thought of that concept…  Anyway my kids had a BLAST!  I was pretty hesitant to let them climb on the outside play structure but Dad was cool and took Eli with him.  Check out the pics below…..

After our “artistic” enlightenment we ate lunch at Union Station and then made a drive to the Arch.  Monica was asleep by this time so no, we didn’t go to the top.

DAY SEVEN

It was time to drive home but we weren’t ready to end our adventure.  We made one last stop-  Purina Farms.  It was a place that many national dog shows are held.  We didn’t know quite what to expect but to our delight found a magical little place filled with animals, barn swings, hay mazes, wagon rides, and more.  We LOVED it!

So I will end with that.  We have learned that traveling with toddlers requires a relaxed pace, activities that can be paused for afternoon naps, and evening events that everyone can enjoy such as malls or hotel swimming.  Our time away was very peaceful! Steven and our kids experienced that time of bonding so desperately needed in these crazy times.

If you made it to the end– I’m impressed.  Thanks for reading and like I said it won’t EVER be this long again.

All day PJ ventures seem to be coming to a close now that Eli is going to school.  Yes I most definitely had those!!!  However, since Eli has started preschool he and Monica both seem to think that we have to get up early everyday, including Saturdays.   I’m talking between 6:00 and 6:30.  I know that’s not early to some of you, BUT they used to sleep in until 8:00!!!  This allowed me to either sleep in with them (which was needed when they were up in the night)  or get up before them and get things done before they were awake.

It seems those days are gone…. sigh. To survive I’ve been living on caffeine. Did you know that caffeine can be lethal? I learned that from the info below.  No wonder it’s so great– Anyway Coffee and Coke classic are my survival drugs (yes it really is a drug!) – very bad I know, but you do what you have to do.

Okay so that’s all.  I’m tired and I’ve used spell check way too much on this post because my fingers are asleep.  Soooooooooooo off to get another cup of coffee.

CAFFEINE FACTS

Excess Caffeine
3 cups of coffee is considered an average or moderate dose, but 10 cups of coffee per day is considered excessive.

• Jitteriness
• Difficulty sleeping
• Headaches
• Anxiety
• Flushed face
• Nausea
• Accelerated heartbeat

Info gained form this website- http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/caffeine/a/caffeinefacts.htm