Friday, April 29, 2011

Images From a Day at the Swimming Hole...

Which is your favorite?

There was four-wheeling...

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(Notice the look of surprise on the 11-year-old boy's face, shocked that they are in reality going to let him drive.)

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There was floating...

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There was clinging on for dear life...

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There was swinging from the rope swing...

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But there was also letting go the rope swing too soon and landing with your face on the cement...

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(It really could have been a lot worse.)

There was laughing...

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(Incidentally, it is so easy to get teenagers to smile by saying, "Tell me about your favorite boy! (or girl).)

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There was not so much laughing...

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There was fashion...

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But most of all there was just hangin' out....

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Thanks, BJ, for your inspiration! I'm so glad we're friends!

P.S. I' finally getting skinnier!
See how I'm doing it HERE! :)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

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This rich and easy cheesecake recipe was shared with me by Hermana Layton, an amazing missionary who happens to be my neighbor and dear friend. I could blog for days about the things she's taught me over the few short weeks I've know her, and I probably will. Thank you, Hermana Layton. You're the best!

No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

<p>A rich, easy dessert everyone will love!</p>

See No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake on Key Ingredient.


Ingredients:

1 Graham cracker crust, store-bought or homemade (I used THIS recipe)

For the filling:
2 8-oz. boxes of cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
The juice of one small lime
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the blueberry topping:
¼ cup cold water
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 cup blueberries
½ cup sugar

Directions:

1. With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and vanilla until creamy, then spoon into cooled graham cracker crust, leaving a raised lip around the edge to contain the fruit topping. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. In a blender, combine 1 cup blueberries, cold water, corn starch and sugar. Blend until smooth.

3. In a small sauce pan, cook the blender mixture on medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Let cool, then add the remaining 1 cup of blueberries. Pour this over the cheesecake. Let cool until the topping has thickened.

Enjoy!

P.S. I'm are finally getting skinnier!

See how I'm doing it HERE! :)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Appreciating Tender Mercies

Sometimes God just seems to say to me, "I love you, and you're doing a great job, and here's what you get for it.....", followed by a tender mercy, a blessing specialized for my personal needs at the time. Some might deem these moments as coincidences, but not me, because I prayed for them, or John or my mom or my sister prayed for them for me, and God granted them to me in the form of blessings He had waiting for me, but was just waiting for me to ask.

That's not to say that God doesn't love us when he gives us challenges. In fact, I believe it's quite the opposite. He gives us challenges to help refine us, empower us, humble us and help us to be more compassionate and empathetic. But that's the hard part.

Sometimes He just wants to give us a break. So look what he did for me recently in the middle of the afternoon, something that hasn't happened since last year....

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I had just put Baby Hippo to sleep, had put THIS MOVIE on for the kids and was getting ready to play the piano for the local high school choir when I looked over to see that all of the little ones at home had quietly fallen asleep in the living area of the kitchen. I just stood there, staring at them in awe, wondering what I could have done to be so lucky. Then I realized that this was a gift from God, one that I could and should take advantage of, so I did. As I stood gazing at the angels (because all kids look like angels when they're sleeping), I decided that I would use this free gift of time to do something that wouldn't be undone in an hour, or a day or even a week. I wasn't going to fold clothes, or wash dishes, or make my bed, or sweep the floor. I was going to do something that would last. I could organize a closet, cut out a pattern for an apron, rearrange the living room or hang up pictures. Or I could blog. So I took pictures (although I dared not go into Baby Hippo's room to snap his photo as I was worried the shutter would wake him up, thus ruining my tender mercy), I edited, I admired my beautiful children, and now I'm sharing them with you. This isn't going to be undone and I feel blessed that I could record this moment as a tender mercy for years to come.

What tender mercies have you received lately? I would really like to know.

Thanks for listening. :)


P.S. My sister and I are finally getting skinnier!
See how we're doing it HERE! :)

Homemaker Monday: Developing Character Through Human Interaction

Welcome to the 130th weekly edition of...


Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs.

YOURS: Today's "YOURS" goes to Suzy over at "Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom"! If you like environmentally friendly products, you'll love Suzy's tutorial on how to make recycled popsicle stick bracelets. The 16-year-old girl is sooooo going to love this. Look how cute!...

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For Suzy's tutorial, click HERE. Thank you so much, Suzy, for linking up and feel free to take the "I Was Featured" button from my left sidebar. We'll looking forward to hearing more from you in the future! :)

MINE: I love it when my kids have character-building experiences, and one of the best ways for that to be accomplished is through getting to know a variety of people with varying personalities, strengths and gifts.

We are fortunate to live in a small town where friends and neighbors get to know each other well and there is ample opportunity for myself and my kids to learn how to interact on a deep personal level with so many different types of people.

For example, their grandfather lives across the street, and although he's a man of few words, he's a mountain of a man in the acts of service he performs, which seem to be an innate part of who he is. He is a FANTASTIC example of righteousness, sacrifice and love.

Then there's my sister-in-law and her husband who live two houses down. He's a brusque cowboy who pretends he's mean and nasty. In fact, the 4-year-old boy's first sentence was "No, Mel!", shouted when his uncle roped him as he was trotting by. He's got a soft, mushy interior, though, and loves nothing more than to hold a baby and make kids laugh. His wife, on the other hand, can often be found squatting down at eye-level with various children in my family and showing enthusiastic interest in whatever they happen to be excited about at the time. She has a true gift for this and she makes children around her feel interesting and loved.

On the flip side, we have the family in town who insists on teasing the kids, such as when the grandma grabs the twins faces and says with a loud voice as she looks them in the eye, "Why don't you look me in the eye when I'm talking to you? Hasn't your mother taught you that that's what you do when people talk to you?" Or when her son grabs a twin and throws him up into his arms and questions when he's going to learn to play basketball, like his son. These types of overtures understandably make the twins uncomfortable, but they are having character-building experiences as they learn how to deal with various personality types.

Even Baby Hippo is having character-building experiences. We recently had new neighbors move in who show enormous amounts of love to our children. Baby Hippo is learning how to love someone in addition to immediate family members and he's learning to trust. Here's an example of just that...

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He'd never been for a solo ride on his brother's Plasma car, but because of his relationship with someone new, he learned and trusted and had one more experience that advanced his character.

Thank you, all of you in my little Mexican farm town, who give my kids experiences that make them stronger, more loving, patient, understanding and more Christ-like. I can only hope our family can do the same for your kids!

OURS: Okay, I'm so excited, as always, to see what homemaking tips, recipes and how-to's you have for us today. If this is your first time linking up, feel free to dig through your archives and link anything homemaking! Thanks so much for your visits and links and have a GREAT Homemaker Monday!



P.S. I'm finally getting skinnier!

See how I'm doing it HERE! :)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Images From an Easter Picnic

Which is your favorite?...

The photographer...

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The happy driver...

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The curious 11-year-old...

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The beautiful photographers...

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The pensive 14-year-old...

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The curly-haired toddler...

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The cowboy too cool for the camera...

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The boy surprised that there was a pink hard-boiled egg in his pink plastic Easter egg...

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The father who, when I asked him to make his baby look at me, did...

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The baby recovering from her father's antics...

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The red-hot grandma...

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The smokin' redhead...

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The hugging little ladies...

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The over-heated 11-year-old...

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The smiling cowboy (I guess he's not too cool for the camera when the smokin' redhead is standing beside him)...

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The tug-o'-war team...

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The quarterback I had to literally hold still for him to let me take the shot...

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The funniest man in town, according to the 19-year-old boy...

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The cuteness...

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The cuteness close-up...

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The satisfied father...

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The triumphant boy...

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The lonely toddler...

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The refreshed 9-year-old girl...

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The 13-year-old girl engaged in conversation about her cats...

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The twin putting up his feet on Dad's ice chest as he rides in the back of the truck down a Mexican dirt road...

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Thanks for listening!

P.S. My sister and I are finally getting skinnier!
See how we're doing it HERE! :)