So little, yet so big

As I watch Makayla grow right in front of my eyes, I can't help but think how big she is getting. 

 



But at the same time, she's still little.  Granted, she's not the baby she once was, but she's still little.  And still my baby.  As long as I can hold her I'll consider her just as that. 

 

If only I could hit the pause button..I'd keep her this way for a little while longer!

 





Through a Child's Eyes

Do you ever stop to wonder the world looks through a child's eyes?

"Flowers"

"A horse"

"A big tree"

"Water"

 

The world is a big place for our children.  Its full of possibilities.  Full of adventure. 

 

Its also a place full of sin.  And wickedness.  Its our duty to steer our children's paths in the right direction.  We have a huge responsibility to raise them right.

 

 

With our help and the Lord's, the paths of this world won't have to seem so scary to them.  They can rest assured that even when times are tough, and they will be, we are there for them.  And most importantly..so is He.

 

 

 

 



Winter Storm

We were blindsided by a snowstorm last week.  What was supposed to of been a 2-4 inch snowfall ended up being a foot deep!

You could say the weatherman was way off!

But it was a lot of fun.  If you didn't have to go anywhere, that is.  It was Makayla's first really BIG snowstorm. 

Turns out, she's not a fan.

She likes snow and going out in it.  But not when its so deep that she can't walk around in, apparently.

 

Poor baby.

 

Here are some more pictures of our big snow day!  By the way, I had quite the look going on with some of Damon's clothing!  I am so unprepared for snow!  I need to get new snow bibs, asap!

 

 

This week we are in a big 'thaw'..temperatures in the 50's and 60's!  I'm predicting a swampy mess in our backyard!!

 



Outfits fit for love

So I 'tried' to get a picture of Makayla every day last week, and I halfway succeeded!  She had a lot of outfits that were worth of Valentine's Day so each day I tried to dress her in something accordingly.

Here are the outcomes.

 

My cutie.  Always my Valentine!



V-Day disaster strikes again!

If you know my family well enough you know one thing about us and Valentine's Day.

We have bad luck.

Don't know why.  But it seems over the years, that one disaster or another has struck either on or very close to Valentine's Day. 

Truth be known, I almost dread the holiday because I don't know what tragedy is going to happen.

Thankfully, this year we managed to avoid any tragedies.  Well, almost.

The day was going pretty well.  Instead of getting to celebrate the day before with a dinner out, a day of shopping, and all that, we got snowed in.  Not that it was a bad thing.  But it kinda left me hanging the day after as to dinner plans at home.  I needed to hit up the grocery store!

So on Valentine's Day we got the driveway dug out enough from the 12 inches of snow that had accumulated beforehand to where I could get my car out and I could make it to the nearest grocery store (granted, not my usual place) before the next snowstorm was suppost to hit.

And yeah..my trip down there wasn't good.  I encountered more than one rude person on my shopping excursion.  In every aisle I went down.  Hmmph.


But me and Makayla survived and made it home, groceries in tow.  So we decided to make Daddy a big cookie 'pizza'..you know..like they have at the malls.  With writing and all.   We were on a mission.  A cookie pizza mission.

All was going well.  We made up some chocolate crinkle cookie dough and got it spread in a greased pizza pan.  Put it in the oven to bake.  Thing was, I wasn't sure how long to cook a cookie "pizza".  So I guessed and left it in for about 9 minutes and figured I'd check it after that.

Well, I pulled it out of the oven and did the toothpick check.  Underdone.  So back in the oven it went.

And that's when tragedy struck.

What I didn't know about my fairly new non-stick pizza pan was just now incredibly non-stick it was.  Added in that I greased the pan before putting the cookie dough on it, when I slid it back in the oven to bake for a few more minutes, it slid right off the pan and half of it landed in the bottom of my oven.

And so the tradition continues.  Hey, at least it wasn't a stomach bug, someone getting their head gashed open requiring staples, the flu, or something like that!  And yes, that has been some of our experiences in Valentine's Days past!!

Thankfully the following day, we redeemed our cookie project and made one and it turned out good, with a very careful plan to not drop half the cookie in the oven.

And of course, we didn't have to worry about it being the 14th.  :-)

Valentine's Day!

Since tomorrow's blog post is more reading than pictures, I'll spare you all of that today and let the pictures do the talking!  And somehow, Damon and I managed to not get a picture together on Valentine's Day..we'll definitely have to do a 'make-up' picture this week!  Hope you and yours had a wonderful day!



Red Beauties!

So Makayla and I went out the other day.  I had several reasons for our spur of the moment trip.  Fish supplies for my ailing fish, household supplies, Makayla's bacon that I forgot to buy on our last outting.

Oh, and strawberries!

I saw that morning that they were going to be some people over that way selling strawberries from Florida.  And they were supposed to be out of this world.

How could I not go?

So we came back with a full flat of the red gems.  Totally worth it too.

                                 This was the inside of my fridge..packed full of them!

So far I've made a strawberry crisp......

And I've spent a few hours today making some jam.  Strawberry and also strawberry-banana.  

Cooking.....

Filling the jars....

Finished product.

So worth it!  Plus I still have 3 pints left!

My "Dot"

I like my dot.

Dot on the map, that is.

We all live on a "dot"...whether it's a small town dot or a big city dot.  I happen to live in a small town (in case you haven't figured that out by reading my blog for a while).  And I actually like it.

I know some people around here who don't..for various reasons.  And I don't blame them.  You know how the old saying goes, everyone knows your business before it leaves your house in a small town (or however it goes!)...it's true most of the time.

And yeah..not much exciting happens around here.  Save for the occasional ball game or festival 30 minutes away that happens every summer.  And church, of course.  But no, we aren't off to see the newest art exhibit around the block on a Friday night or anything remotely close.

What got me started on this, you might ask?  Well, as I was doing some spring cleaning a bit ago (yes, I started and yes, it's February!), I remembered a conversation I had with a delivery man a while back.  I told him the reason he probably wasn't catching many of his regulars on his route home that afternoon was because there was a big "game" that evening and a lot of people were going.

He responded with a "well no wonder...there's nothing ELSE to do around here!".

True, I suppose.  But if you don't like my "dot" and would rather have your city lights and constant noise, then that's your opinion.  I'd rather see this out my front door than a bunch of traffic and commotion any day.

Yes..that's Christmas garland on my post on my front porch! 

Electronic "babe"

I think I've created a monster!!

 

My little electronic babe.  She LOVES my kindle and requests to play "A" about a dozen times a day (its a preschool learning game).  She calls it "A" because it has a huge letter A in the cloud when your flipping through the apps.  She might need her own Kindle before her 3rd birthday!

 

Kidding, of course!  ;-)