Beautiful Boy

Christmas is making it easy for me to remember to appreciate that God gave me three beautiful children.  I wish I could remember this better every day AND that I would find ways of more actively enjoying the time we have together.  Someday they will be grown with their own families and I will be extra sad when the Christmas festivities are over because they will go home and leave me in the dust.  But for now, they are really loud and they never leave me anywhere and I have almost no personal space...just saying...

Like finding hidden treasure, I rediscovered these precious newborn photos of Brady when I was going through photos for my other job.  Angela Stott, photographer, is a true artist.  She spent four or five hours at our house waiting for the perfect shot of this sweet baby boy who had no intentions of cooperating, sleeping, cooing, or anything else newborns are supposed to do during newborn photo sessions.  It was an experience that we will never forget.

This post is dedicated to My Mom, Gigi and Aunt Ann... Some of the best moms I know...and probably the only people who are reading this post.  :)

Family Fun

My Handsome Husband decided we need an RV this summer.  Not only do we need an RV, but he made the exceptionally fine point that it would be a benefit for my business.  Three or four months post-purchase, I must admit he's right.  Having a place to stay for TONS less than a hotel, but with A/C and a working plumbing is a major plus when doing long-distance site visits.  Of course, I'm not really a camping queen, so Handsome Husband knew he had to come up with some sort of catch to bring me on board with this decision and the business angle did it for me.

We have had some fun family trips, too.  One of our favorite campgrounds is in Charleston, SC.  Beach time with the kids is priceless (and exhausting).  Here are a few photos of their favorite camping activites...

BUGS...

 WAVES...

 BIKING...

 EATING...

trying to take time off

I've been working like a crazy woman lately with my grown-up job.  Sometimes I wonder if I should just move out of the house for the two busiest months of the year (June and October), but I think I would miss my kiddos and Handsome Husband just a little too much.  Lately I've made an effort to knock off work sometime in the vicinity of 5 'o' clock which is way easier planned than accomplished.  However, we had success this week because the girls and I spent Tuesday evening planning Wednesday evening which means one event completely occupied their heads for almost 24 hours!

The fabulous event?  A "Ratatouille" party, in the tradition of the small French rat chef!  The girls made chef hats with our sweet artist friend Lily when she was at the house Wednesday morning.  They also created black and white checked place mats, inspired by French cafes.

We made steak frites for dinner with cream puffs for dessert--all from scratch!  We had so much fun with our grown-up dinner party.  I'm glad so we found time to make special memories.

cream puff with one bite missing :)

My Best Recipe

Aunt Ann asked me for this cake recipe several months ago.  I haven't give it to her...perhaps in hopes that she will think it was a complicated endeavor and be somewhat impressed by my skills.  The illusion will be shattered today.  Here's the recipe.  No need to put anything in the bowl in a certain order and substitutions work well!

Million Dollar Cake (from Nicole)
step 1:  mix together thoroughly
1 box cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup crisco oil
1 stick soft unsalted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 package (small) instant vanilla pudding
4 teaspoons vanilla

step 2: add
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/4 walnuts (something I usually don't have)

step 3: back at 325 for 55-60 min (or until set)

step 4: try not to eat it all in one sitting...like we do

And here is a picture of all the family (including Aunt Ann) gathered for my baby's baptism.  It meant so much to have family and friends there who will support him in faith throughout his life.

Just wondering...  Does it look like we're related?

Family Time at the Ag Center

This weekend I took the kiddos to a really fantastic family-oriented event at the Agricultural Center.  A group of homeschool families hosted this event to raise money for a local teen who has cancer and constantly multiplying medical bills. The event had a cow and "patty" theme and included all sorts of activities such as facepainting

A cow patty walk (sort of like a cake walk or musical chairs, cute Katelyn placed fourth!)

A cow patty walk for bigger people

There was some other entertainment and talking which Natalie and Katelyn enjoyed while practicing their farm girl perch.  Thankfully the photo is a little blurry so you can't tell that my poor girl's pants are drooping...again...

A cow look alike contest (cute Katelyn entered herself in this one before I even knew what was going on!)

Sadly, I have no picture of the Chick-fil-A cow.  Chick-fil-A in Hendersonville was a huge sponsor of the event.  As usual, they put their chicken where their "moo" is.

And finally, the grand finale!  A calf from Tap Roots Dairy was released in the ring to well, create a patty.  The ring represented a giant bingo grid.  Each square "sold" for $10.  If the accommodating calf plopped on your square, you won $500.  The gracious winners contributed their winnings back to the fund to raise over $10,000 for the cause--Naomi's Blessings.  Sorry for the lack of photography skills...still trying to figure out how to work my camera phone.  :)

The kiddos and I had a great time.  I'm now trying to talk their dad into taking us to the rodeo for some good family fun.  Wonder what we'll wear...

Sleep

It's Friday morning and I really just want to go lay in my little bed, covers over my head.  Who knew living life could take so much energy?  However, deep down I know I LOVE my life and would not trade any part of it, except maybe the cooking, cleaning, laundry and other not so fun work things...

So, here's to a weekend of sleeping--some of my favorite photos of the younger kiddos grabbing a couple of winks, or in my Swedish Grandpa's terms, "resting their eyes".

Cute Katelyn ALWAYS seems to have crumbs on her face.  She's a little like the dusty kid in Charlie Brown, poor thing.

One tired chickie.  So glad you can't see the staph infection she had that summer, poor thing...

Please do me a favor and do NOT mention to my handsome husband that his picture is here...  But I love this image.   Daddy and his Boy.

Sweet beginnings.  My children hold my heart in their teeny tiny hands--especially when they're sleeping...