Christmas blessings

I'm still catching up on all the Christmas activity, and it's almost the New Year! Honestly, I'm kind of sad to see another Christmas season pass by...I love Christmas! But I guess it wouldn't be so special if it were year-round. But wait...we can celebrate giving, and more importantly, the birth of our Savior...year round, right!? I believe so! Anyway, one of the greatest gifts I have is the gift of family. I have a lot of family...and I love them! I have been so blessed to grow up knowing my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. Now the first cousins and siblings are grown up and have families and children of our own. It's kind of amazing when I think about it. This year I have especially been reminded of how short life is as we have experienced loss. I want to take advantage of every moment and not let the sun set on any anger. Time is a precious gift that I want to enjoy while I'm here on this earth! One of the special moments we had this Christmas is listening to my Grandfather (Papa) read the Christmas story. From the time I was a little girl, we have sat at Papa's feet and listened to the story. Then after that, we also get out the 35 year old wooden birthday cake for Jesus and blow out the candles. We all had to do it...at least once...growing up. This year Sophie blew the candles out. How sweet to see my little one excited to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. I'm so thankful for that tradition. Another neat thing we did that blessed me this year was a little activity at our first family party. We always have a "program" that usually consisted of someone (usually one of the grandchildren) performing in some way, or playing a game, or acting out the story of Jesus being born (some of these we have on video!). This year we were expecting a game when my aunt brought out wrapped gifts for everyone. Then she told us to open them. Each gift was a food item for a needy family. We put all the gifts back in the box and plan to give. That's what Christmas is all about. This was great to me. We have had a great time with family this year. That's the greatest present of all to me, second to celebrating Christ's birth.

God bless you this season...and Happy New Year!

Photos: my dad and Isaac; Isaac looking into the box of items to a needy family; our fam on Christmas morning; Granny and Papa with Sophie and Isaac; another Papa reading the Christmas story; Sophie blowing out the Jesus cake candles

A Christmas Experience

We were able to do something different this year that we've never done before. A family that we know offered their cabin to us for a few days. It was located at Pine Mountain, GA, very close to Callaway Gardens. We had never stayed at that cabin before, and had really never gone outside of the middle Georgia area for Christmas. So this was going to be a little getaway plus a fun adventure. We invited my parents to come as well. We had a nice drive over, all riding together in my parent's van, and everyone was relaxed. When we arrived, it was like a Christmas village! Several of the cabins and the grounds were decorated for Christmas. There was an earthen bridge that we drove over that had lights on it and a lit up toy soldier welcoming us through. Our cabin had several Christmas decorations inside and out. I really loved the Christmas tree sitting on the screened-in porch. We were able to see it through the French doors in the living room area. The grounds had all sorts of games available, from tennis, basketball, shuffleboard, and even horseshoes. Mom and I took a walk around our second day there and played some shuffleboard and horseshoes. There was a beautiful lake with swings and benches around it. We also took some time our second day to go to Callaway Gardens and see the butterfly house. Sophie enjoyed running around and seeing the beautiful flowers, butterflies, and plants. We even saw a few butterflies coming out of their cocoons. Sophie and I had talked about this before (The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of our favs). I kept saying to her, "look, Sophie, look at the cocoon!" I thought she wasn't paying attention. A few minutes later she got out her little play phone and said, "hello? Hello, cocoon!" She'll talk to anyone...or anything...on that phone! That night we ate at a great little restaurant called Cricket's and then went to see the lights at Callaway! What fun! We were so excited about the kids seeing it (and we were excited, too). The second we started driving and the lights came into view, Sophie and Isaac both fell asleep! We tried to wake Sophie up, but it was no use. She woke up right about the time when we were done. We went into the big holiday tent and Sophie saw The Gingerbread Man and a Nutcracker Man (Sophie was calling him the cracker-nut man...lol) walking around. She couldn't get enough of them. She hugged them about 5 or 6 times and had her picture taken with both of them. It was so funny...and cute, of course! That night we got back to the cabin, had a fire, hot chocolate, and The Nutcracker was on PBS. It was so much fun to watch. We headed back the next day to Macon. We had a wonderful, restful time. I'm so thankful we were able to go!

Christmas goodies

We have had a wonderful Christmas this year, even though we've been on the road a lot. We've been able to travel to several fun places, including good time with family, and a wonderful trip to Pine Mountain with my parents. It was a great getaway! I also made some goodies for some friends. I wanted to post this wonderful new recipe I got for this year. I've made it twice already (it's very easy!) and it has been enjoyed by several...including me! : )

Holiday Popcorn

12 cups of popcorn (about a bag and a half of microwave popcorn)

40 jet puffed marshmallows

1/2 tsp salt, divided

4 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate (I used the off-brand)

1 stick butter/margarine

Preheat oven to 275. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of salt on popcorn and set aside. Melt butter and chocolate in a large saucepan on low, stirring frequently. When it's melted, add marshmallows and melt completely, still stirring frequently. Take pan off of heat and stir in remaining salt. Pour over popcorn. Toss to coat (it's sticky). Spread onto greased baking sheet (I used Crisco because I was concerned about the stickiness). Cook for 15 min in oven and stir. Then put it in for another 10 min and put on wax paper to cool. It'll be delicious and crunchy in a few minutes! : )

In the oven and cooling on my countertop. Don't you just love my silver sparkly countertop? lol

One more goodie...

Chocolate Cookie Bark

2 Tbl. peanut butter

6 squares Baker's white chocolate--melted (I used the off-brand)

10 oreo cookies, crumbled, divided

8 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate--melted (off brand)

Add the peanut butter to the white chocolate. Then add half of the crushed oreos to the mixture. Add the other half of the oreos to the chocolate mixture. Drop spoonfuls on a waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Use a knife to swirl the chocolates together. Put baking sheet in the fridge for 1 hour or until firm. Break up and eat! Yum-O!

Hope you enjoy these treats! I got them off of this website: http://www.kraftfoods.com I get their recipe emails and have really enjoyed looking at them and using some of them. They even have video tutorials for some of them!

I hope all of you have had a Merry Christmas! I'll be posting more pics and adventures in the next few days!

God bless!

Sophie-isms

I love my little girl. She's so sweet and so much fun. I'm so thankful for her! Tonight while we were doing our nightly rock-rock ritual...I rock and sing songs of her choice, she decided to sing along with me to Jesus Loves Me. Sweet little voice. Then we started talking. I said,

Sophie, you know what?
What?
I love you so much!
Mommy?
What?
You know what?
What? (I'm expecting, I love YOU so much)
Rooster. (at this point I'm laughing)
Rooster?
Mommy?
What?
You know what?
What?
Cow. (more laughs)

Then it was night night time. She puts a smile on my face!
God bless!

Merry Christmas from the Daniel family

We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas season. Our family loves to decorate, sing Christmas songs, and give gifts, but the most important thing that we celebrate is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! He was born, humbly, in a stable among the animals. He grew into a man, learning the trade of a carpenter, but knowing His Father's work was His calling. He died on the cross, bearing our sin on His shoulders, died, and rose to life on the third day. He did this so we could have a relationship with a holy God. Amazing. We who are so underserving receive the most amazing gift of all for Christmas. The gift of life.

"How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He would give His only Son,

To make a wretch His treasure."

Thank you, God, for the treasure of your Son this Christmas.

God bless you and your family this Christmas!

Christmas brew....

What would Christmas time be without good 'ole apple cider?! I know that many of you may not have an apple cider tradition over the holidays, but over the past several years, this apple cider recipe has been brewed at Christmas parties, family get togethers, and this year, Thanksgiving. It is so good! Now my mom has one of those big coffee percolators (sp?) that has the basket on the top and the spout outside on the bottom. If you don't have one of those, you could probably put your spices in a cheese cloth tied at the top and let it float at the top of your pot or crock pot that you've got your juice in. Last year I cut some orange slices and let them float on the top...talk about some good stuff! Hope you enjoy! I know I do : )

Apple Cider

• 1/2 quart cranberry juice (I like it a little less tart, so I use the cran-apple juice instead)
• 2 quarts apple juice (or a 1/2 gallon)
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp whole cloves
• orange slices (optional)

Blessings!

The best carrot dish!

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I do not like sweet potato souffle. I know it's a traditional Thanksgiving dish, and also served many other times during the year, but I just don't care for it. When I was in Thailand, sweet potatoes were not available in our grocery store. I didn't really miss them. But when holidays come around, most people enjoy having sweet potatoes. One of the team members had a great recipe for carrot souffle. Carrots were readily available in Thailand. They are huge, too! But anyway, we would always have this carrot souffle at Thanksgiving and I LOVE it! It's rich and delicious (and of course, pretty fattening). But it's a great addition to the Thanksgiving/Christmas buffet. Most of the people I've made it for have said that it tastes almost just like sweet potato souffle...but not to me! :D Hope you enjoy!

Carrot Souffle (this recipe makes two servings --two pretty big servings! You can half it for just one family gathering)

• 3 lbs carrots (I like buying the bags of the little carrots that are ready to eat...they're sold in one lb bags)
• 6 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder (I used the aluminum free)
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups butter (!!)

Cook carrot in boiling water, about 15 minutes. Position knife blade in food processor (I just have a blender...it works fine); add carrots, butter, and remaining ingredients (I had to mix the ingredients together in one bowl and put carrots with some mixture on top in the blender. It was so much that I had to do it in about 3 or 4 rounds. Then I would pour each batch into a big bowl just to make sure all the ingredients were mixed together well). Process until smooth. Spoon into 2 lightly greased 1 1/2 quart baking dishes. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I must say that this is my favorite time of the year! I love the weather, the fall smells and colors, Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas, and Christmas time! It's the best! We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We began by celebrating with some of Joe's family and some family friends on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Joe's cousin, Dan, grilled some amazing steaks (his specialty : )), and I made some carrot souffle and some Not-Yo-Momma's banana pudding. Yum! (I will try and post the carrot recipe tomorrow...it is sooo good!). It was a lot of fun. The next day we headed over to Macon to eat Thanksgiving at my parent's house. I wish I would've taken a picture of all the food we had there. My word! It was enough for everyone to eat their fill, eat supper later that night, take plates home, and there was still some left. So much food! But I gotta say that it was incredible! My grandmother's dressing is the best stuff I've ever had. I've got to get that recipe. I was also able to do a little shopping with my sister that night (found some good deals at Michael's) and then my sister colored my hair for me (Yay!). We got back late that night and did a little Black Friday shopping. I love getting a good deal! I found some nice jewelry and used a great coupon at Bath and Body. That night Joe and I had a great, long date. Today was Christmas decorating day. I played Christmas music, put up the tree, decorated it, and put up the decorations. I'll have more pics of that, later. I just love being with my family, listening to Christmas music, and preparing for the fun-filled, busy month ahead . I'm so thankful for God's blessing on our lives and the way He provides for us.

May He be the center of our season! God bless!

A lasting legacy

What a crazy week. For those of you out there who don't know, Joe's dad unexpectedly passed away on Tuesday night. We had a good bit of family come in for the visitation and funeral. I just want to say to everyone that we were so blessed by the food, cards, flowers, and so many other expressions of love towards all of us. It was also a blessing to hear the story of how Joe's father became a Christian and the legacy that he has left behind. So that makes me think...what do I want my legacy to be? Joe and I talked about this before we got married. We talked about wanting to pray that our children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren would know the Lord and serve Him. Joe's dad didn't grow up in a Christian home. In fact, he dropped out of school in the 8th grade and started working. He did some construction and electrical work, and one day started working for a holiness preacher. This preacher would share about Christ with Joe's dad, and one day was praying for him and asking God to turn him from his wicked ways. He didn't know Joe's dad could hear him. But hearing that prayer turned Joe's dad to the Lord and changed his life forever. Joe's uncle and others told of times when Joe's dad witnessed to people he came in contact with. It made me think about how I need to be more bold...and excited and fired up...about sharing what God has done for me. To do this, you must think ahead, be prepared, but also follow and obey the Lord's leading. You have to be proactive. If Joe and I do this, think of the legacy we will leave for our children. They will see how much their parents value sharing the Good News. What do I show my children now? If they looked at how I spent my time, what would they think was the most important thing in my life? I shudder to think of the answer to that question. Oh, how I want to leave them with a legacy of Christ...knowing Him, serving Him, and proclaiming His truth to others. At the graveside, the pastor used this song as a way to describe Joe's dad's life. It was recorded by Steve Green. It's entitled, "Find Us Faithful". The chorus says,

Oh may all who come behind us, find us faithful

May the fire of our devotion light their way

Let the footprints that we leave

Lead them to believe

That the lives we live, inspire them to obey

Oh may all who come behind us, find us faithful



Great song and a great challenge to me.

Ikea!

I'm not a big shopper, but I love Ikea! I only get around to going there about once a year, but when I do get to go, I spend half of my time there looking around saying, "I LOVE that! I LOVE this!" and wishing I could totally redo my house Ikea style. What a fun place! Well, last Tuesday I was able to go up with the kids and my mom and meet my best friend, Kim, who I haven't seen in over a year, and her son, Elijah. It was awesome just to get to see her. It was fun to be able to shop around together and get some neat things. It was like old times.

Here are some pictures of some of my favorite things that I got. I bought this green leaf canopy thing to go over Isaac's bed. He has a lot of windows in his room, so I thought this might block some of the light. He also doesn't have a mobile, so I though this would be something fun for him to look at. I also LOVE these mixing bowls. One is kind of small...just right for small amounts. The other oneis really big, which is great for cakes, etc. I wish I would've bought more, since they were only about $3.50 for both of them!! They also have a rubber bottom so they won't slip. The ones in this picture are white, but the ones I got are sky blue color. So...if you're ever in the mood to go to Ikea...just let me know :-).

Blessings!

Conversation with Sophie

Sophie is at such a fun age. I can sit and talk to her and have a conversation with her and she will say the funniest things! We were just sitting at the lunch table and she was talking about Swiper the fox. For those of you who are not familiar with Dora the Explorer, there is a "sneaky fox" named Swiper on the show who likes to take things from Dora and her friends. Back to the table...

Sophie: Swiper, where are you?! (loudly)

Me: Sophie, Swiper's not here. Where is he?

Sophie: He's at work.

Me: Oh, really? Where does he work?

Sophie: At the class.

Me: Ok, what kind of class?

Sophie: (Gives an answer I don't understand...then says..) Mom, Swiper LOVES Kristen (a girl at church in her class).

Me: He does?

Sophie: Yes, He LOVES Kristen. Swiper loves Annie, too. (another girl in her class)

Me: Does Swiper love you?

Sophie: No. (pause for a minute) Mom, I love Swiper. I want to call him.

Me: Ok. If you call him, what will you say?

Sophie: Buenos Dias (in the voice of the Sleepy Sloth on Dora...so cute!!)...

Me: (smiling) Sophie, that is so cute! You sound like the Sleepy Sloth!

Sophie: Yes, I sound like the Sleepy Slopth (she pronounces it with a "p" in there...makes it even cuter :))

At this point, I try to get the video camera to see if I can record her saying this stuff...but the battery didn't work! So I had to run in here and type it up before I forgot!

Sophie also loves to draw on her magna doodle. She was drawing all these lines. She said...Mom, I drew a snake! I said...wow, Sophie! That's a good snake. She said...it's a PRETTY snake :-). Then she drew some more lines...one that looked like a letter J. I said...that's a J Sophie! She said...it's a PRETTY J. :-)

I love these kiddos!

It's been a while!

Wow...it's been a while since I've blogged! I've missed getting on here, but we've been so busy! Last weekend, Joe and I finally got to get away for our anniversary, which was actually last month. It was so much fun! We headed over to Macon and spend the night at my parents. The next day we left the kids with my family and headed off to Braselton, where we went out to eat and spent the night. The next day we were able to go to the UGA vs Tennessee Tech game in Athens! We had a great time at the game! The time just seemed to fly by. It said that it was 68 degrees...but for those of us who were in the direct sunlight, it felt more like 78! After the game, Joe and I headed back home and went through Madison on our way. I love Madison! We had a great meal at the Chop House and I was able to get a chocolate/caramel dipped apple (awesome!!) at a candy shop there! Then we got to Macon and I stayed at my parents until today, which Joe got back from the Georgia Baptist Convention. I had a lot of fun with my family and friends in Macon, but I'm glad to be back in Eastman. Here are a few pics from our time at the game.

Hope you all are doing great! God bless!

Happy Reformation Day

We had a great time this past weekend! We got to eat with my family at Red Lobster for my mom's birthday. Sophie had a great time putting the biscuit basket on top of Mimi's head :-).
Later that night we were at Mimi and D's house and Uncle Carl put his Dawgs hat on Isaac. Go dawgs!


It's time to head back home. My little dinosaur is sound asleep....

Hope you had a great Reformation Day!

Is it Thursday already?!

This week has been a good week. Most of my days are spent trying to do things with the children and around the house, and then my nights are spent tutoring, going to church activities, and then trying to get in some fun time at least one night a week! It's gotten really busy lately! One thing that has encouraged me this week, though, is spending some prayer time with some of my sisters in Christ. Me and a few other women are seeking the Lord's guidance on some things, so we decided to meet for prayer about it. Of course, I was looking forward to doing this, but those few minutes of prayer time really ministered to me. It's so good to pray with other believers...but I especially enjoy praying with other Godly women. It reminded me of a book/Bible study I did when I was in college. May be time to get that one out again!

Prayer is so essential in the Christian life...yet I think I neglect it too much. Especially prayer with others in a small group or just a group of women. We do a lot of corporate prayer in the church, but I miss the small group prayer times. Meeting yesterday reminded me of past times of meeting and praying with friends and how God worked through that. I pray that the Lord would continue to provide more times like yesterday!

Other than that, I'm just trying to keep up! :-) I'm sure many of you know what that's like!

Hope you have a blessed day!

Amazed by Him

Last week I kind of had some trying days. There was nothing anyone did to make me feel blah, it was honestly kind of unexplainable. Physically I wasn't feeling that well, so that may be part of it. But I was struggling a little and really wanted to feel some encouragement. I was looking to different sources to encourage me...friends, family, sleep, cleaning house...but I wasn't having good quality time with my Lord. Isn't it weird how the correlation between not having time with God and having a not-so-great week is so strong?! In my life it is! So last night I sat down and started catching up on my Bible study (Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer), which I think is awesome, and there was a verse that stood out to me. It was Matthew 11:28 and Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." That's just what I desired. I wanted rest from my anxious thoughts, my weariness, and just feeling blah. I thought, ok, God, I need to come to you with these feelings. I felt a lot of peace last night. I realized that I need to go to Him more for rest, not depend on all those other things to give me rest. I went to bed and woke up today and headed off to church. The title of the sermon today was "Come to Jesus." I love that Chris Rice song (Untitled Hymn) that has that phrase in it's lyrics. I thought, this should be a great sermon. The text...Matthew 11:28-30. Pretty amazing, huh?! I was amazed. The God of the universe set all this up so that I can be encouraged in my daily life. I wrote out the entire passage in my journal.
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Wow...He knew just what I needed. He's already told me twice in less than 24 hours. I wrote at the top of the page, "God, you are GOOD!!! Thank you for speaking to me!!"
What a great way to start out a new week. Today I was spending time with other believers and studying God's Word and I have felt so encouraged. But most of all I am blessed that I know the one true God, who knows my needs, who loves me, and who wants to encourage me.
Amazing!

Sophie-isms...

I love when my little girl knows just what to say to encourage me. I've got a little cold this week and I haven't been feeling that great. Tonight she climbed up into my lap and whispered, "Mommy, guess what?" I said, "what?" She said, "I love you!" Then she whispered again,"guess what?" I said, "what?" She said, "I want to give you kisses!" Precious girl. I needed sweet little girl kisses tonight after a long day! I also love that sweet smile!

Joe told me that while he was rocking her he said, "Sophie, you're my girl." Sophie said, "You're my girl, too, Daddy."

Although Sophie is the only one who can talk, I must add that Isaac brightens my day with that sweet, toothy smile of his. I can't get enough. He also has the best laugh. He's so ticklish and I love tickling his little tummy and chin.

I'm so thankful for my kiddos! God bless you today!

Hobbies...

There are several things that I enjoy doing...the only problem is that I don't have enough time to do them! It's hard to have a good block of time where there aren't any interruptions! As I've mentioned before, one of my hobbies is trying to sew. I definitely say trying because I'm just a beginner, but the better I get at it, the more ambitious I get! I like getting help, too. I seem to learn things when I actually do them as opposed to trying to read the manual.

Another hobby, I guess you could call it, is planning birthday parties for my kids. I love it! I love looking up ideas on the net from other people's parties and putting my own together. I love making the cake/cupcakes, making the invitations, getting/making the decorations, etc. I know that my kids are too young to probably remember it, but honestly, I think I have more fun than they do. Plus I enjoy having friends/family over to celebrate with us. I'm already looking up ideas for our first double party (Isaac and Sophie's birthdays are 4 days apart!). I'm thinking we're going to do a Peter Pan/Wendy party. The ideas are already brewing! :-D

I did the ladybug cake and cupcakes for Sophie's first party, along with the styrofoam ladybug magnets for party favors/find the ladybugs in the yard game. Last year I drew/wrote out what I wanted and my mom, bless her!, made/decorated it for me (I was very large with child at that time). She's a great cake maker/decorator. But anyway, both parties were a lot of fun!

I have other hobbies I enjoy, too, but these came to mind because it's what I'm thinking about and doing lately. I really love homemade things. I have enjoyed making things for Sophie to take as gifts to birthday parties. Growing up, my mom would help us make our own Christmas gifts for teachers, family, and friends. I hope to make memories like that with my own little ones.

What do you love to do?! I would love some comments! :-) They make me happy! :-)

Blessings!

Husband's Delight

That is what was cookin' tonight. I pulled out my most used write in the recipes cookbook and thought this afternoon about what I would make tonight. It's been one of those crazy days...got up early to exercise, then went for a walk with friends, had to take little man to the doctor (another ear infection), and then on to Walmart. After Walmart it just seemed to continue to be crazy trying to get kids settled and start supper early. Some of my plans changed and some unexpected blessing occurred. One of those days. But God is so good. I'm continually amazed by His goodness to me. I want to share this real quick story...I had to call a friend today at the last minute to help me with the kids. I hate to do that (don't want to inconvenience anyone)...I actually have rarely done that since we've had kids. But I was supposed to tutor tonight. Well, the tutoring fell through, so I called my friend to cancel. But it was with a heavy heart because I really wanted to see my friend and just spend time with her. When we hung up, I prayed, but didn't really believe it would happen, so it was almost like a wish. I was like, Lord, I really want her to call me back and say that she'll come anyway. Honestly. I just kept thinking that over and over. Not even 5 minutes later, the phone rings. My friend called me back and said, "Hey, if the hubby isn't going to be home and you want some company, I can still come over and we can hang out." Wow. My faith is SO small....but God is still amazingly good to me! I had a great time with my friend. I needed it and the Lord knew what I needed...and He knew the desires of my heart. I'm just in amazement.

And now...here is the recipe :-)
Husband's Delight

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 clove chopped garlic (or garlic salt--sorry, my recipe doesn't have the amount...I'm guessing just a sprinkling)
• 2 small cans of tomato sauce (I only had one can, so I filled the other can with pre-made spaghetti sauce and omitted the sugar and garlic)
• dash pepper
• 8 oz noodles (I used the whole wheat spirally noodles)
• 3 green onions
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 cup grated cheese (I used a combo of cheddar and mozzarella)

Brown meat, drain, put back into pan and add sugar, garlic, and spaghetti sauce. Cover and simmer for 15 mins. Cook 8oz noodles as directed on pkg. Chop 3 small green onions very fine and mix with 8 oz cream cheese and 1 cup sour cream. Grease baking dish (13x9) and put layer of noodles, meat sauce, then cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle 1 cup grated cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20 min. Yum! And it makes a good bit...so if you don't have a large family, it will freeze.

We had this along with spoonbread (I have this recipe on a previous post). Sophie ate it up...so did Joe and I! It was really good! Hope you enjoy. And I hope that God blesses you today as He did me!

Anniversary and fall festival

I've gotten a little behind on my posting! I wanted to give a brief little summary of what's been going on! Joe and I celebrated a wonderful 5 years of marriage last Friday. Time sure does go by fast! Some of the highlights of these past five years include going on mission trips to St. Petersburg, Russia and Toronto, Canada, experiencing the pregnancy and birth of two precious children, home improvements, church visits, sharing the Gospel, and several fun vacations to Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and even right here in Georgia. So many wonderful memories. I'm so thankful for my patient, kind, and Godly husband! He was so worth waiting for! God is good! We had a fun date Friday night and we're looking forward to going to a UGA game later on to complete the celebration!
Tonight our church had a fall festival. It was a chilly night, but we had a good time! The favorite movie right now in our house is Peter Pan, so Sophie was dressed as Wendy and Isaac was dressed as Peter Pan. We had a good time and I think my little ones looked adorable! But what can I say...I'm a little biased ;-).

Shopping day!

I want to say how thankful I am for good friends! My friend Jennifer, bless that girl, offered to come over this morning, help me with my kids (hers were staying with her parents for a few days), and go shopping at the Goodwill and the grocery store. What a blessing to have help! We had a fun time looking for good deals. I was excited to find lots of fun dress up clothes for Sophie at the Goodwill, including some really fun hats. I've been wanting to do a dress up box for her, so I went specifically looking for dress up stuff, and was excited to find some! I also found some cute clothes for Sophie and Isaac. You can't beat 20 cents for an article of baby clothing! I also found me a yoga/pilates kit with a mat, blocks, and strap for a few dollars, and lots of children's books. I love getting books for the kids. Especially when they're only 25 cents a piece! Here's a pic of Sophie's new dress up stuff...hats are in the front :-).

Next we headed out to Harvey's. It's become my new grocery shopping place. I look at their sale paper or online and figure out what it is I want or need. Then I see what coupons I can find to match the deals. The greatest deal I've gotten is on meat! I now have a freezer stocked up with more meat than I've ever had! Today I bought large quantities and divided it into smaller bags, labeled them, and put them in the freezer. Here are all the bags of meat that I had just from today's purchase!

This is my now full freezer! It's never been this full before. It's exciting to see all that God's provided for our family. On this grocery trip I saved $65! Woohoo! Thank you, Lord! So in two weeks I've been able to save a little over $100 on groceries. God has provided for us!

I'm so thankful to know Him! God bless!

31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids

I have this little pamphlet that we keep in the bathroom. It's put together by Bob Hostetler and I really like it. When I have a few minutes, I look at this list and pray for my kids. I don't do it enough, but I think this are great things to pray for them and I wanted to pass it on. It's excerpted from Pray! magazine issue #4. You can also find info. on this magazine at www.praymag.com. I'll list the virtue and a verse with it. God bless!

1. Salvation--Is. 45:8, 2 Tim. 2:10
2. Growth in grace--2 Pet. 3:18
3. Love--Gal. 5:25, Eph. 3:2
4. Honesty and Integrity--Ps. 25:21
5. Self-control--1 Thess. 5:6
6. Love for God's Word--Ps. 19:10
7. Justice--Ps. 11:7, Mic. 6:8
8. Mercy--Lk. 6:36
9. Respect (for self, others, authority)--1 Pet. 2:17
10. Biblical self-esteem--Eph. 2:10
11. Faithfulness--Prov. 3:3
12. Courage--Dt. 31:6
13. Purity--Ps. 51:10
14. Kindness--1 Thess. 5:15
15. Generosity--1 Tim. 6:18-19
16. Peace-loving--Rom. 14:19
17. Joy--1 Thess. 1:6
18. Perseverance--Heb. 12:1
19. Humility--Titus 3:2
20. Compassion--Col. 3:12
21. Responsibility--Gal. 6:5
22. Contentment--Phil. 4:12-13
23. Faith--Lk. 17:5-6, Heb. 11:1-40
24. A servant's heart--Eph. 6:7
25. Hope--Ro. 15:13
26. Willingness and ability to work--Col. 3:23
27. Passion for God--Ps. 63:8 (KJV)
28. Self-discipline--Prov. 1:3
29. Prayerfulnes--Eph. 6:18
30. Gratitude--Eph. 5:20, Col. 2:7
31. A heart for missions--Ps. 96:3

The fair!

We had a great time going to the fair together. We were pretty excited when we found out that the price would be cut in half and children 10 and under were free with each adult! Woohoo! So we picked up Joe from work on Thursday and headed off to Perry. We needed a little family outing since we have been so busy. We walked around, went to the circus, and the night was complete once we got a funnell cake before we left! Oh...and my favorite...we saw the fireworks right as we were leaving. I love fireworks! This just affirms the fact that it's fall...even though the weather was so hot that evening! We were all sweating! I guess that's Georgia for you! :-)

Happy fall, everyone!