Annabel's Art

Finally Annabel is getting better at coloring and drawing pictures. She has had almost no interest up to this point in coloring at all. At church when I pick up her pictures there is usually just one line drawn on it and the rest is blank. I know her well enough to know she drew her one line and ran back to play with her toys. I am always blown away by kids who can sit quietly and color for long periods of time.

Well, the other night we sat together and drew pictures for probably 30 minutes. It was great. Annabel drew pictures of her family. So...here they are.

Her first portrait was of me...

As you can see she has some things to work out.

Next she drew Daddy...



David is looking a little better.

Now for her self-portrait...

And last but not least Jude...

No doubt about it Jude turned out best. It is amazing to me the each picture got a little better. She knew Momma did not turn out right. Well, that is the latest.

Psalms

Okay, so my favorite verse over the last few months has been Psalms 103: 1-6. It gives me so much hope and security in Christ. Here it is:

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

The Lord works rightousness and justice for all the oppressed."

I LOVE this verse. As I have matured as a Christian I realize that a lot of these benefits may not be realized on earth, but we have so long with Christ and I love that as Christ-followers we all are subject to recieve these benefits for our belief! What a blessing to be a follower of Christ. Today I am remembering that the blessings of Christ aren't new cars, big homes or anything that can be purchased here on earth, the blessing of Christ CANNOT be bought. It is such a burden to think that so many people on earth will miss these blessings.

I love the part that God satisfies our desires with good things. We serve a good God, who has our best interest in mind. We have to trust Him through every trial!!

"Praise the Lord, O my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name."

Haircuts, Cookbooks and Mommyhood.

Annabel and I got our haircut together for the first time on Friday. She was so cute sitting beside me while the hairstylists did our hair at the same time. Annabel was having conversation with her stylist and it was so adorable. We ended up with very similar styles even though that was not my plan. I figure she will never want the same style as her mom again in her life, so it is probably okay just this once.

David bought me a cookbook magazine and I am going to start my adventure of cooking through it for the next two months. I already have my schedule for dinners figured out for August and I am really excited. I start tonight with a chicken and rice recipe. The funny thing is David surprised me with the cookbook and at first I was a little disappointed because I thought I wanted to pick it out myself. As it turns out it was a great choice because the meals are not too difficult and I don't have to make the decision of which cookbook is best (going back to my indecisiveness). Another good thing about this cookbook they are not grouped into the type of meat...so I can go in order and we get something different each night. I will let you know how it goes. So far I have made a delicious Summer Berry Cheese Pie...yummy!

Jude is getting big. He is sitting up on his own and crawling. He has even pulled himself up to a standing position. He is almost done with nursing and I am having mixed emotions about that. I nursed Annabel for 11 months and Jude is not quite 7 months...but he seems fine with it so that is a relief. It is sad becaue I know he is getting bigger, but good because he is becoming more independent.

Right now I am loving being a mom and wife. I don't know if I say it enough, but being a mom is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. I never want to take it for granted. God has truely blessed me with my family.

First Time for Everything.

So...I got my first evil death stare from a mother yesterday at Chick-fil-a. Let me go ahead and define evil death stare so we are all on the same page.

Evil Death Stare- a look from another mother while she holds her crying child that says, "You are a terrible mother. I can't believe you have such a horrible child. Where did they learn such behavior? You must push your children around all day, because I don't see how else they could have learned such a horrific act."

Okay, I may be exaggerating a little...but only a small amount. It was bad. I had no idea what or if my daughter had done anything to her child because they were out of our sight when the terrible behavior occured, but Annabel's demeanor said it all. She had guilt written on her face. I am not writing about this to wave responsibility from my child or myself. Annabel got in trouble and further action is in place. I say this to say to other mom's out there. Give me a break. Do you seriously mean to tell me your child has never done anything they are not supposed to? If your answer to that question is "No" you are in denial.

My child (who is usually very good) sometimes does things that leave me and David looking at each other in wonder. Sometimes she does and says things you have no idea where it came from. And I have a feeling it only gets worse as they get older.

I write this to say...Moms, yes stick up for your kid when they are wronged (that part of you job), but also remember that it is likely you will be on the other side oneday. No one understands better then other moms how you feel about the burdens of raising a child who is a responsible and kind human being. But lets support each other and give each other the benefit of the doubt...and lets save the evil death stares for our husbands. :)

Yummy Recipe

Whoa... It has been way too long! Today I am writing to post a yummy recipe that I thought some of you guys might enjoy. David loves it and it is really easy (so that makes it yummy in my book).
After watching a review of the new movie Julie and Julia, I think it would be fun to cook through a cookbook. I am not going to blog about it (well maybe a little if I find a really good recipe) but since I can tend to be indecisive when it comes to picking new meals to try, I thought this would be a great way to get past that. I have been in a rut lately when it comes to cooking and if I can find the right cook book I think this could help.

Creamy Chicken:

2 pounds Chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. cream cheese softened (chive/onion flavored)
1 Packet Italian Seasoning Mix
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup water

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix together the last five ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 stirring occasionally. When done serve with noodles or rice.

I have served it with both and it is really good over noodles. Enjoy.

Beach Week 09

So, I just got back this evening from my first Beachweek summer camp with BBC Students. It was so awesome. We were in Pawley's Island, SC at a really nice resort. I brought the kids and we stayed in a very nice two bedroom condo. It was so great to see the students worship and just soak everything in that God was doing. The last night we had 18 kids get baptised and had and amazing time of worship. I love being in ministry like this! I feel so lucky to be able to serve God alongside my husband!

MIL and DIL came to stay with us and helped BIG time with the kiddos so I could be involved. I already miss them so much. Annabel was SO happy to see them and when we were leaving she was sad. She said "I want to go with Grandma and Pop." It was sad, but I am so happy that she loves her family so much. Pop was great with her, he carried her to the pool and they were so cute together. Grandma fed Jude and watched Lady and the Tramp with Annabel like 500 times :) She will never want to watch that movie again!! I love being in Asheville and serving at Biltmore, but I miss and love my family!! You guys are so great!! Thank you so much for all you do.

Update

First, I wanted to give an update on potty training. As much as I would love to make the announcement that we are done... I can't just yet. We have had many days with no accidents and Annabel wakes up most mornings dry, but I am still hesitant to take her out in regular undies. She stills has accidents at church a lot... I guess she gets sidetracked and forgets she needs to go.

We are so close!!

Next, I have sold 4 Little Piggys and have about 6 more in the works!! Yay! It is so much fun. Here are a few pictures of recents ones.

In other news... Annabel got her first pair of roller skates. They are a little large for her still, but she was very excited to try them on.

We are leaving tomorrow to go to Beach Week (our High School camp). I am super excited. It is going to be so much fun. Since David is leading worship I get to go and bring the family. David's mom and dad are coming to meet us there and help with the kids a little. It is going to be great and hopefully I will have tons of pics next week.