Think Spring or Finally Spring

The farmer across the street has this wagon in his front yard that always has stuffed animals on it. Last week when the temps reached seventy he changed out to these bunnies and put a sign out that said "finally spring", this week when the weather turned to freezing again and he changed his sign. I laughed again and again. It totally made my day. 

Because he made my day I took him homemade Oreos. I figured it is the least I could do. 

Pamela

My New Adventure

I am so excited to tell you about my new adventure. I have started selling Pampered Chef AGAIN. Again, you may ask. I sold it many years ago. I love the convenience of it and that I finally had good quality products in my kitchen. Okay, I love to talk so this was a win win for me. My husband loves Pampered Chef probably as much as I do. As a matter of fact he is probably the reason I enjoy selling it. Last month when we put down new flooring in our bathroom he insisted we use my pampered chef roller. He was right it worked amazing but now I need a new roller. As with any new business I need help getting started. I would love your help getting started. Maybe you need new measuring spoons or maybe you need new pots and pans. I have had the same pampered chef pots and pans for over ten years and they still look new. If you would like to help me by placing a order you can do so right here. Maybe you would like more information on doing a catalog show or even a fundraiser. So easy to do.

The Saddest Eyes Ever

I get so frustrated with this dog, I beg my husband to find her a new home on a daily basis. The only thing that has saved her from the glue factory is this face. How can I be mad with a face like this.

Pamela

Love & Growth & Craziness

This is not a great picture but I love it. He is looking so big these days. I don't know when it happened but he has gotten so big. I love to snuggle up and nurse him because he seems so small.

I love that Jadon constantly loves on him. They are going to be so much fun to watch play. WAIT, three little boys running and wrestling. This place is going to be a zoo.

Pamela

Toilet Paper

Hmm, I wonder who did this. I love that they stacked all the toilet paper but could not put a roll on the holder.

Pamela

Feeling Blessed

I am feeling so blessed. I knew when we moved here I wanted chickens. Actually I have wanted chickens for many years. 

  I have studied more about chickens and goats than I did about birthing babies. 

   I don't know when it hit me but at some point I realized I wanted goats. 

So why am I blessed? Not only did a family from church sale us goats but two families invited us into there home to learn how to care for goats and chickens. They did not laugh when I asked what I am sure is the craziest questions. They answered every question my children had. These ladies have only known my family a couple of months and still treated us like family. I feel so blessed to have found a church that makes us feel like family. 

Be prepared I will be posted pictures of our new little blessings a lot. We are still coming up with names for the baby goats. The mama's are Brownie and Prize. Now it is time to come up with a name for a baby boy and a baby girl. 

Pamela

Homemade Oreo

Who does not love oreos? Now imagine oreo's that you baked. Honestly, I cannot think of a cookie I love better right now. Of course I found the recipe on Pinterest. The recipe originally came from Sugar Cooking. Let's see I have made oatmeal pies and now Oreo's. I think fudge rounds are next, oooh what about swiss cake rolls. I have not seen a recipe for them. Can you imagine me coming up with something on my own. Okay, taking it as a personal challenge.

Feeling Beachie

The statements: 1. I _want to loose weight____ except when I am making chocolate chip cookies_______ 2. I can’t__relax________ when I _have a messy house_______ 3. I used to __hide dishes in the oven when I had surprise visitors__________ but now___i have teenagers who do the dishes three times a day._________ 4. I If I could I would do _baking_______ all day

Baby Chicks have Invaded Trooppetrie

Be prepared for chicken over load. They are so cute and snuggly. We cannot stop checking on them. 

Pamela

Brotherly Love

This is going to be my life for many years. Three little boys playing, little brothers playing with big brothers. 

Could life get any better?

Pamela

Cuddles

He may not be crawling across the room but he can climb up me in a matter of seconds. I love his little snotty face and those two little teeth that have poked through.

Pamela 

Ice Cream in a Bag

It works, it really works. Ice cream in a bag. I have seen it all over Pinterest. 

Baby Goats

6am rob honey did I wake you up

Me: no I have not slept in two nights, honey we have goats coming and no house for them. 

Rob: honey they are goats and we will hey one made 

Me: honey it is going to rain and he is just a tiny baby, then I said when you go into a different country don't you study and learn and worry. 

Rob: honey when I go into a new place I know what I have to do (me looking at him  like I am going to smack him) and he says and what I have to do now is make sure you have a house built

Then he walks over and explains what he is going to do

I love this man who gives me a hard time but really he loves me and how I worry. 

Reece Cup Cheesecakes

I am determined to make more of my pinterest pins more and stop just pinning them. I love making them for others and I love that they let me be test things on them. The Reece Cup Cheesecakes came from Inside BruCrew Life. I have seen several other recipes of hers that I am determined to try. What is your favorite pinterest recipe. Share the link, you know because I need more recipes to try.

Earning A Cookie

I am wondering if I eat only this baked chicken for lunch if I can earn one of these homemade oatmeal pies. Oh man I cannot wait to share this recipe with you. Until then you can find the recipe on my Pinterest board labeled cookies.

Game Time

We have a one hour a day for eclectronics in our house. Otherwise I would never see my children's beautiful face. I am willing to offer up extra time if you want to do minutes on the elliptical or extra chores. Today Michael helped Hope with Math so I rewarded him with extra game time. It actually is a double bonus because right now he is playing a game with dad. So he gets extra time to play but it also means more time playing with dad. 

How do you limit your child's game time or do you?

Pamela

Feeling Beachie

The statements: 1. I __am a soldiers wife and__________ require a lot _of patience when the Army changes our lives________ 2. Sometimes I _get overwhelmed___ if _I do not plan properly and have too much to plan_____ 3. it is very unusual but I _do not eat veggies, I know, I know not good but seriously I only eat green beans.____-/li> 4. Is it illegal to __find the person who had my house last and force them to come back and fix everything that is broke or not built well. Daily something else is breaking.____

Train Sets and Eye Lashes

One of the best Christmas gifts I bought this year was this train track. He plays with it for hours. We actually keep most of the toys in the basement except his blocks and this train set. It gives him something quiet to do when I am doing school or when we have guest and want adult conversation. 

I love his little fingers and hands and oh those eye lashes. Oh wait I am talking about quiet toys not how sweet he is or how he melts my heart daily.

Pamela 

Wordless Wednesday

Someone does not understand why he cannot have his sisters coffee.

Dress Up or Torture You Decide

Doesn't every little brother get the privilege of having a big sister to play dress up with. I told him to be glad it was only a cape and not hair bows.

Dad is Away

When dad is away things get wild. The girls dress up the boys and mom feeds everyone chocolate cake for dinner. 

Cake for Dinner

How about this cake. We made a chocolate cake and put vanilla icing with chocolate chips in the middle. Then we iced the cake and decorated with cookies and cookies.  I would share the recipe but everything is store bought. My daughter wanted this cake for a party. When the party was cancelled I let the kids (okay and myself) have it for dinner.

Pamela

7 Months

I don't know where I have been but it does not seem like he could be 7 months. He got his first tooth last month. I did not even know he was teething. He just woke up one morning and it was there. 

I don't remember how tall he is but I know he weighs 16.3 pounds. He still loves to cuddle. He loves to sit up beside me or in the floor but only when someone is close. Jacob has no desire to roll over or lay on the floor. The kids are doing everything they can to teach him to crawl. Last week Hope decided he could not crawl because his belly was too big so she held it up with a towel. 

 He is starting to eat Cheerios and loves Greek yogurt. Jacob has decided baby food is not for him and that is okay with me. 

I have to be honest and say I am totally in love with this child. I can't stop kissing him or looking at him. 

I wish I could show you his hair. It is the perfect length to rub now. Although hard to see. I am pretty sure it is going to be blonde. 

Pamela

Bed Bombs

My husband went away recently and I know it sounds thrilled but I was thrilled for the time to sleep alone. Well with a little blessing. I however did not agree that these two could sleep with me.

Pamela

Feeling Beachie

The statements: 1. _Planning a menu________is my way to__keep from eating the same thing every day.________ 2. My favorite _meal to plan__________is ___any meal I can double for the freezer____________ 3. I am nothing like _my daughter who loves salad, I would prefer to eat nothing green._____-/li> 4. One thing I wish I could do better is ___make pie crust so I could make homemade pies and homemade pot tarts. _________ Okay, I think I need to make breakfast after talking about cooking.

My Porch

When we bought this house I started counting on mornings spent setting on the porch. I forgot we were moving in when it was freezing. I cannot tell you how relaxing it was to be able to set outside for a few minutes this week. Even if I had to have a blanket to keep warm.

Wordless Wednesday

One of my least favorite things about this house is that the washer and dryer are in the bathroom. Hope does the laundry for our family. She is teaching Jscob to do laundry in hopes that he will take over it soon. Or maybe she is potty training him. Heck if I know what Hope was thinking. 

Pamela

Flat Daddy

Flat Daddy is back. Jacob does no like to lay on the floor at all. I decided to try it with flat daddy and he lasted about 5 minutes which is longer than normal. I do not think this little boy will ever crawl because he only sets up. I am completely okay with that. I will not miss the dirty need stage.

Modesty Or Not

Sometimes I feel bad for Faith, she is growing up so fast. She wants to be treated like a young lady but then again she wants to play dress up. Sadly she has outgrown our dress up clothes. Recently she put her sisters outfit on and my heels. I about died.

I love how different my children are. Hope lives in long skirts. Asking her to wear pants is torture and not worth it. 

Standing Guard

Abby is standing guard so no one can stop Hope from doing school. Now if we just had  7 Abby dogs.

Dressing A Boy

Mom you are seriously not going to make me wear this tie. 

Guard Dog

This dog drives me insane and steals my heart every day. My kids love her to death even when she chews up the toys. 

These pictures show her watching Hope do her math. The next is her begging for forgiveness after chewing another baby outfit.

Pamela

Oatmeal Pies

Okay I know Little Debbie makes a decent oatmeal pie but seriously these are so much better. I am so grateful for all the amazing bakers who copy cat recipes and then let me steal them for my friends and family.

I found this recipe on pinterest. I have said it before and I will say it again. I am determined to make more of my pinterest finds instead of just collecting them. This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs Cookies and Cups . I love how she said she copies recipes. I doubled this recipe because I was making them for church. It worked out great because I sent some to a friends son. So the recipe I used was Cookies 1.5 cup butter 3 cup white sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 3 Tbsp molasses 4 eggs 2 tsp kosher salt 4 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp ground cinnamon 4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats 4 tsp baking soda 6 Tbsp boiling water To Make: Preheat oven to 350° Use parchment paper...the cookies come out delicate and you do not want to have to move them around. Plus now the cleanup is cut in half Cream the butter, sugars, and molasses together with your mixer. Add eggs and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, flour, and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture. Add the cinnamon and oats. Mix everything well. In a bowl add the baking soda to the boiling water, and then stir the mixture into the rest of the batter. Mix again and scrape the sides . Drop by rounded tablespoon onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart Bake until edges are brown, 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will look not quite done in the middle but if the edges are brown they are done Let the cookies cool completely on the parchment baking sheet then carefully move to a wire rack. I did not use her filling recipe because I did not have one of the ingredients. I used this recipe.