Seein' The Sites

Here are a few fun pictures from a couple of our site seeing days with Josh... we were able to get out and about and see several places, which was great!




Off to show Uncle Josh around:






Josh left today and has already been missed! Come again soon, Josh!!!

Uncle Josh Is Back!

You'd be smiling too! :-)


After a visit down south to see Mark and Sherry, Josh is back up here for a few days with us, before heading on home. Already, some fun times have been had!






Observing the craziness!


While down south, Josh shot Mark and Sherry's engagement pictures, and he showed us a slide show of their top favorites (he'd shot over 500 total!)! And WOW! They. Are. Beautiful. I was very impressed! He did an excellent job and is becoming an outstanding photographer! Way to go Bro!

Learning, Growing and Fun!

When you're three months, trying to grab a toy can be work!!!!

"Hmmmmmm... these two things that are always waving around in front of my face seem to belong to me! It's really hard to make them do what I want them to though!"




And a few shots from the little man's three month birthday:





A few more fun pictures from camp... Clara thought helping herself to water was just so great! I'm afraid it was a little too fun though... and a good deal of water and drinking cones where completely wasted!

Some Verses That Stood Out To Me Today...

"Oh give thanks to the LORD,
call upon His name;
Make known HIs deeds
among the peoples.

Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.

Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek
the LORD be glad.

Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face continually.

Remember His wonderful
deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the
judgments from His mouth,..."

I Chronicles 16:8-12

Lately...

Well I haven't been the most faithful poster but there has definitely been some post-worthy news around here these days!!! To name a few:

On July 21st my brother Mark popped the question to his lovely girlfriend, Sherry, and she said yes!!! They are planning a December 18th wedding, which I have already been looking forward to! Sherry is going to be such a dear, wonderful addition to the family!


Mark, Sherry and Hilkiah, on a visit shortly after Hil was born.

My brother Josh is out in this part of the country right now, for a visit, which is very special! He's down visiting Mark right now and then is planning to be back up here for most of this week! Clara has the "Josh" part down, but we need to work on the "Uncle" part! :-) A few times she said "Uh Josh", but then just shortened it to "Josh".


Hilkiah had his three month birthday this past week! How time flies! He's getting to be quite the big boy and is such a precious! He's doing well at night, though he usually has one feeding still and we usually pop the pacifier in at least once during the night, but that's not too bad. His smile and occasional little laugh and his sweet cooing / talking sounds can just melt your heart!

And that folks, is some of the VERY post-worthy news from around here!

Camp Memories!

As I mentioned in the last post, we got back Sunday evening from a wonderful week long vacation! We were at Greenwood Hills for a Family Camp, and what a treat it was... full of great memories! We also got to spend the last weekend with some dear friends in DC!

Here are a few of my camp memories:



Sitting on a bench, Clara on my lap, sharing a Root-beer snow-cone with my little girl.


Three yummy meals a day... that I didn't have to cook OR clean up after!


The adventure of staying in a rustic family cabin!


A little girl enjoying getting to climb the stairs in the cabin... and even being willing to go to sleep up there all by herself!


Hilkiah sleeping through the night!!! And doing it for about four or five nights straight!!!!


Delicious corn on the cob, on the corn roast night!


Three excellent speakers who the Lord used to convict, encourage, challenge and draw us closer to Himself!


Meeting many lovely believers from around the country!


Clara having fun making new friends... and watching her learn and use the new names!


The dear girls who would come and take Hilkiah during meals, so we could eat in peace!


Those same dear girls baby-sitting both kidos so Stephen could take me on a date for my birthday!


Taking my little girl swimming.



A little girl eating snacks and hanging out on the porch of our cabin.






A playground... right outside our cabin! And new friends to play with! How good can it get!




And along with all the good times, there needs to come some good naps!



Just a few of the memories!

We are back from a wonderful vacation! This last week we were able to go to Greenwood Hill Bible Camp for a week long Family Camp. We were soooo blessed!!! I will try to do a longer post soon with memories and few pics.

For now a quick post to share a few pictures of Hil. These were from tonight during bath time. He likes the bath and is starting to kick and splash! Fun, sweet times!

Honesty Is Always The Best Policy... Even When It Comes To Cheese!

After supper last night, I didn't put the food away for a little while and a little girl found her way back up to the table and began grazing. After a bit we discovered that all the cheese had been eaten off what remained of the casserole. When Stephen and I jokingly pretended we were surprised and wondering about where the cheese could have gone and he asked Clara in mock puzzlement "where the cheese had gone?", she opened her little mouth wide, pointed inside and said "Mouth". :-) Who could be upset with that cuteness!

Honesty is always the best policy!

Eating Instructions From A Two Year Old

At supper this evening I found myself being instructed by my precious two year old to "Eat, eat". She was indicating a piece of broccoli on my plate. I obediently complied and was immediately rewarded with "Good girl. Yaaay!" :-)

You got to love it!

This and That

Cute one of Hil anyway! :-) I think Clara may be "taking a picture of me" with her phone! :-)


I've been meaning to get Clara a piggy-bank for quite some time now... but the other day, an idea came to me. Why not just make a simple one? It would do the job and would give me a little project to do with her (I struggle with coming up with creative projects/activities to do with her). So, I found an empty yogurt container in the recycle can, cleaned it out, penciled her name on some paper, let her decorate it, cut a whole in the lid, and covered the container with her art... and there ya have it... a piggy bank!


Absolute, Total, No-questions-asked, Complete, 100% Preciousness!!!


And some cute Clara-isms: When she sees a mail truck she sings out "E-mail!" There have been a couple times lately when I have disciplined or talked sternly to her and she has popped out with "I wuv ew" afterwards. :-) Awwwww. Talk about melting a Mommy's heart! And she's taken to saying "Good man" to her Daddy (and it also sounded like she was saying it to me:-)). Sometimes when she's enjoying the food she'll say "Good Mommy." Makes a mommy's day! And I love the "Wow. Cool." that she occasionally pops out with!

Our Precious Kidos

Here's some shots from this last week:












And I LOVE these two pictures! I was able to snap these today! Clara can be challenging to take pictures of, at times, because she often wants to run over and just watch videos on the camera. However, she was willing to smile for the camera today and we were able to get a couple great ones of our two precious packages!

Had to share this shot of a FILTHY DIRTY girl, from 4th of July! Although she doesn't look too happy in this picture... she had been having a great time... in the dirt, as you can see!


And another cute picture of our sweet little fella taken recently.


And on another note altogether, Eating Well scored again in this household, with their Mediterranean Wraps. When I saw these back in the June issue I wasn't super impressed and didn't end up trying them. However, I put them on the menu for this week and we had them Monday. They were so delicious and full of great flavor! Stephen and I both really enjoyed them! The recipe is simple and they are so healthy, loaded with fresh herbs, cucumbers and tomatoes. And use whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat cous cous and you can truly feel good about this scrumptious meal! I chopped the recipe out of the magazine and it has earned a place in my recipe binder!

Note: In true "Me" style, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. Here are a couple of the differences: I didn't buy spinach wraps, but just used whole wheat tortillas that we already had and wrapped them up burrito style. Also, instead of parsley I used cilantro, which we like better. I didn't measure the amount of herbs I put in, but combined I guess it was between 1/2 and 3/4 of a cup after being chopped... less then what they called for.

One Of The Joys Of Summer...

A Snickers ice cream cone on a hot day!




Got to love her technique of eating down the side! :-) This was a pretty fun experience to watch! When Stephen would ask her is she wanted help she would respond "No, fine, fine." :-)

Another cute Clara moment from resently has happened a couple different times when she's done something funny and Stephen and I have been laughing. The little lady has got miffed at us and said "Stop fraughing". :-)

Spinach, Steak and Blueberry Salad

Ok folks, don't let the thought of steak and blueberries being combined scare you off! This salad was so yummy and not difficult to make. Also, if you don't want to grill the meat... just fry it inside, like we did. It was so delicious... and with blueberries and spinach it's super healthy too. Serve it with some toast and butter and you've got a great meal!


If you give this fabulous salad a try, you're likely to have a look on your face something like this one:

May We Recommend...

I've been on something of a "new recipe" kick lately... though I guess cooking and baking is a hobby of mine and I'm often on that kick. :-) Anyway, plenty of the time the results are ok, but not something you really enjoy. But sometimes you come across something yummy! Here are a few "winners" from lately.

I've been enjoying my Eating Well magazine and this Peach Custard Pie is one of the recipes from the latest issue that I tried. Stephen REALLY liked this and said it made it on to the "make-it-again" list! :-) If you read over the recipe, it may look complicated and time consuming. But I'll tell you a secret. I think a big chunk of that is making the crust, which is probably a fabulous crust and much more healthy then the normal pie crust. However, if you want to do a faster version you can do just a regular pastry crust recipe. That's what I did and it worked out fine.

My dear hubby, who isn't a big chocolate guy was actually bragging about these Chocolate Ricotta Muffins! Fresh out of the oven, they were sooooo yummy! They had this chewy texture, and combined with the ewwwy gooey chocolate chips... mmmmm good! And if you can't get rid of all of them while they're hot out of the oven, warm the leftovers up in the microwave and put a big scoop of cool whip on top! :-)

Got to run for now... but I shall try to return soon with a link to a FABULOUS Blueberry and Steak Salad!!!