Merry Christmas

Got these mailed out last week, but ran out of envelopes... so if you didn't get one I am SO sorry!!! I pray that you all had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Too Much...

WARNING: the spell check button was missing when I wrote this post.... SORRY! :)

Too much has happend in the past month that my computer has been down to even think about catching you all up, so here is a list and I am probably forgetting something:

1. We spent the night in the ER/Hospital two weekends ago with Ryland. She had RSV and Broncialitus and was having very low blood oxagen levels. It took her about 9 days to recover, but as of this past Monday she is better! --- this event showed me how little faith I have in the Lord and how much I fought to give him control over MY (...His...) daughter. More to come on this in a longer post.

2. Brenley is by far the easiests, sweetest baby I could have ever imagined! She sleeps wonderfully, loving her paci and a blanket, that she does not need me to help her fall asleep. She takes great naps, especially when Ryland takes one too... they will both sleep for well over 2 hours in the afternoon. I LOVE being a mom of two and I am suprized at how Brenley just fit right into our life.

3. My sister and I are flying to Albquerque this afternoon with the girls for the Christmas holiday. Kyle will join us late Monday night. I am SO excited to spend time with both my family and all of Kyle's, ridiculously large family! The flight should be interesting as both girls are ridding on our laps... but hey, it's only two hours... I can get through two hours of anything.... right!?!?

4. The pastor of our church, Matt Chandler, had a seizure on Thanksgiving morning, they found a tumor, which they removed the following week and last week found out that it was cancerous and they were unable to remove the entire tumor. I am extremly saddend by this and also amazed at how he and his family are handling it! He is only 35 and has 3 very young children, but as Matt said, "he is amazed that the Lord would consider him worthy to carry such a burden." WOW! I am challanged by him and convicted at my lack of faith.

5. I am in a really wonderful season in my walk with the Lord right now. I feel his wooing consiantly and his gentle nudging to grow me. The scriptures are more alive to me then they ever have been before and I can feel the fruit on self-disipline starting to bud. He is amazing in how he softens and molds in just the way He wants and not at all in the way I thought he would.

OK, now the truth of the matter is that I have a HUGE pile of clean laundry that I need to fold so that I can pack for my trip and I really don't want to... thus I am killing time on here... and now... I must. go. fold. laundry.

Because I never got it sent out...

Enjoy!

Computer Probs

Sorry for the long delay in posts! Two weeks ago there was a power surge in our house, caused by a tree falling on a line up the street. The surge blew out a surge protector in our living room and our computers power source. Some friends of ours let us borrow their power supply for now.... so I will try and post a few pictures before anything else happens.

Carving Pumpkin Pictures.... Overdue

Yes, I realize these are overdue, but oh well. Here are some pictures of Kyle and Ryland carving our pumpkin. :)

Sactification Through Marriage

Our church is amazing and our pastor is a vessel used by the Lord to "yell" truths into our lives. He did a sermon on Sanctification through Marriage.... sheesh... not an easy sermon for me to hear, but OH MY how it convicted me! For several weeks now I have been working through the things he said and the things that are so desperately needing change in my life.

But for now, I know this to be true: Kyle cannot "save" me from my tiredness, or my messy house, or my overflowing trash can, or my laundry piled high, or my leaf covered front yard... yes he can help with those things, but there will always be MORE to do and MORE "saving" needed. My saving comes from God alone! No matter if my husband is an "idiot at times" - Matt's words not mine - the Lord still feels sorry for him because he has to live with ME (the overbearing, contentious woman that Proverbs talks about)!!!

Please go listen to this sermon. You will be affected and I hope you heed to His calling on your life.

Kyle - I love you for the wonderful man you are! You have provided richly for our family. You listen to me with understanding ears. You give direction to me when I am not listening to the Lord. You encourage me in my weaknesses. You challenge me in my strengths. Your commitment to our family is something I look up to. I am so thankful that the Lord ordained you to be my husband and gifted me with your life. I love you!

Sweet Love

I know... it's blurry... deal....

She is my sweet oldest child and I LOVE her! She hardly looks at the camera anymore these days, so I take umm when I can get umm... even if they are blurry....

Ironing

Just in case you hate ironing as much as I do, try this: 

It will change your ironing life forever!

***I know Kyle is happy! :)

Northpark...

Escaping the madness of 'home'...

Pumpkin Patch

Pictures from a few weeks ago when my sister and I spent the morning at a pumpkin patch in Flower Mound, TX. It was fun, muddy and Ryland did NOT want to look at the camera, but here are some cute shots. :)

Babies Don't Keep

by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue.
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due.
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?  (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up,  I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Babies don’t keep.

Quotes

Shopping

Royal Jelly Body Butter... I want this!!! Check out Farmhouse Wares, a new store to me and quite frankly a new favorite!

This is such a cute site with really great packaging ideas for gifts. The picture shown is the Winter Essintals Kit and it goes for on $34.00. If you have time, hop on over to Nice Package and check it out.

Quotes

clear nail polish

According to Real Simple, 5 uses for clear nail polish:

1. Keep an eyeglass screw in place. If your glasses are a bit wobbly, tighten the screws and top them off with a dollop of polish.

2. Secure buttons. Apply a thin layer of polish to the center of a button to keep the thread from coming loose.

3. Avoid rust stains in the bathroom. Coat the bottom of a shaving-cream can to fend off rings on the ledge of the tub.

4. Seal an envelope. When a flap won't stay stuck, find closure with clear polish.

5. Extend the life of jewelry. Paint a thin coat onto a costume bauble to prevent it from losing its luster.

Quotes

Jars

Loving this Esty store right now! I am loving the simplicity of these vintage Ball glass jars! The Midwest Finds shop on Esty dot com has several different types of Ball jars and set up for several different uses. Totally loving them.

Quotes

Mom's Lemon Lush

(image from here)

Mom's Lemon Lush

1 stick butter

1 cup flour

1/2 cup pecan pieces (these are optional and do not have to be included)

1 large package (8 ounces) cream cheese

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 cup Cool Whip from a 9-12 oz. carton, save the rest for topping

2 small packages of lemon instant pudding (or one large package)

3 cups milk

First, melt the butter and add flour and the pecans. Press into a 9x13 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool before adding the next layer.

Soften the cream cheese and add the confectioners sugar and 1 cup of Cool Whip. Mix these and spread carefully over the cool crust, trying to not crumble the crust. This is a bit tricky.

Next, mix the pudding with the milk until a firm pudding consistency and pour this over the cream cheese layer. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to set up a bit.

Then top with the remaining Cool Whip. Garnish if you like with pecan chips or leave plain.

Cover the dish and let it stand in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight to become firm.

Enjoy!

Quotes

Fun things...

Vintage Jar Dispenser (I love this one) from Midwest Finds on Etsy dot com

Blue Bird Nest Soap Set by LoveLeeSoaps on Esty dot com

Tear Drop iPod Water Resistant Bathroom Speaker from MollaSpace

Pop-Up Sponges from Williams-Sonoma

Magnetic Birdie from See Jane Work dot com

Magnetic Measuring Spoons from Crate and Barrel

Quotes

Ryland Talk

Ryland is a surprisingly well talker for her age. I'm not bragging, just speaking the truth. She can say just about anything, answer most questions and is speaking in three or four word sentences. It makes parenting her pretty darn easy because she usually can tell me what she wants or needs before a "melt-down" occurs! I love it. But there are some really funny things in her vocabulary that I also love and thought I'd share:

"busquito bites" (mosquito bites)

"cho-cate nilk" (milk - she thinks ALL milk is chocolate milk)

"boobuery" (blueberry)

"ladybug" (any and all bugs that crawl on the ground)

"bee" (any and all flying bugs)

"baby Bruney" (she will only refer to Brenley as this)

"Pun-kin Patch" (the name of the pumpkin in the picture)

iPod Zoom

Wondering if this really works??? It's a gadget proclaiming to zoom up to "6X capabolity" --- if they spell 'capability' wrong on their site does it suggest that the product is faulty? You can find the actual product listed here.

Quotes

Cell Phone

I can also update my blog via my cell phone! How crazy is that!?!?

Posting

Ha! The more I mess around on blogger dot com the more I learn about it. I just found this awesome option that lets me schedule posts. So that means, I can write a bunch of posts when I am feeling creative (and Kyle's home to watch the girls) and then schedule them out to publish over the week! So awesome!!!

Shelley's Soup

Hot Soup

Shelley's Soup

diced onion

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 oz can diced jalapeños

7 oz can green chili, chopped

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 cans chicken broth

4 chicken breasts - cooked and shredded

2 cans great white northernbeans

top with:

monteray jack cheese

sourcream

tortilla chips

enjoy!

Pumpkin Love

Of course, I LOVE the unusual pumpkins. The off colors, the short and fat, the ones that usually cost more to buy... grrrr. Here are some of my pumpkin loves:

(country living dot com)

(www.sxc.hu)

(mbcdesignstudio)

Junk

(simple home basics)

I am residing myself to the simple fact that my junk drawer will NEVER look like this! I think that I am rebelling against the idea of an organized junk drawer... because junk is NOT organizable!

Quotes

Saturday Morning - Pancakes

Kym's Pancakes

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup oil

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Mix milk and oil into beaten eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and prepare to taste.

Enjoy.

Quotes

I love this idea stolen from Design Crush. My wonderful sister-in-law introduced her readers to the quotes that she loved on her blog and in turn I was inspired to steal the idea. I created this using gimp2 and hopefully will have a quote or two per week for you to read. Thanks Keisha and Design Crush for the idea!

Headers

I'm totally in love... gimp2... its GREAT and free!!! No need for Photoshop (ha, who am I kidding, but its a great substitute and did I mention it was free!)... so I am playing around getting used to it and I will be trying out some new elements on my blog. Not feeling like writing much these days, but feeling extremely creative.

FYI... on the home front, we are all well, sleeping, eating and getting through everyday and I am feelin' pretty good that I can at least say that. :)

PS the great font came from here and its free too!

Pun-kin Patch

Our first trip to the Pun-kin Patch on a very cold day! Ryland LOVED it and is now attached to her little pun-kin... hopefully she grows out of the attachment before the sweet little pun-kin isn't so sweet anymore! :)

time

lots going on...

not a lot of time to write about it all...

someday I promise to catch you all up to date...

for now...

I'm sorry...

you'll just have to wait!

Photo Shoot at Stuido 23

Here are a few of the shots we got of Brenley and one with Ryland from our photo shoot this weekend at Studio 23 in McAlester, OK. The session was great, both girls did about as good as any 20 month old and 1 month old would do. But, the pictures came out beautifully! I wish I could post all of them on here, but these are the only digital copies we have.