A Trip

The other day I was thinking out loud and told David, "Wouldn't it be fun to take a trip and surprise Alex at college."  David thought it sounded great so we made it a reality.  We knew it would be a fast trip, so we decided to just take Aidric and go.  I am blessed with daughters who were ok with that and they did amazing.  My mom said that they followed their schedule and even did Bible time and prayer at the right time on their own.  I was so proud of them.  Meanwhile we got in our car and made an over  3,000 mile round trip to see our big son with our little son.  Aidric did absolutely amazing.  He had a couple minutes of cry time but overall I was amazed.  David did most of the driving and I spent a lot of time with Aidric.

After two days of driving we got to stay with some friends that actually used to baby sit Alex for us when he was Aidric's age.  It was a special time and a pleasure to share our second son with them.  The sad part is they have never met any of our daughters.  I guess we'll have to make another trip.

The next morning it was on the road for just a little while longer to see Alex!!!  I know it has only been a couple months since he left for college but we were getting pretty excited.  We were so happy to see Alex.   He took us on a tour of the campus, introduced us to a couple friends and then we got to go out to dinner.  It was very good to spend time with Alexander and see how good he is doing.  This was my first time seeing the college and I was glad to see it. The fall colors were amazing there,  We were able to check out local sites, Aidric got to go swimming for the first time, saw a great church, and spent a day in Branson.  All this was good and fun but truly the best part was just being with Alex again, if only for a few days.  It was fun to see Alex carrying his brother around and so many people let him know what a cute "son" he had.  He was quick to let them know it was his brother.  One of my favorite time was on our last day we went into one of the piano rooms and Alex played the piano for me.  This is something I truly miss and tried to soak it in as much as was possible.  I was so glad we made the trip and loved every moment with my son.  

While there we were also able to spend time with Ivy, my coleader of our Bright Lights group.  It was so good to see her also and we had a great time.

The trip was short and then we were back on the road across this great country of ours.  We went from the beautiful fall folliage of Missouri, to the flat bread basket country, and then to the amazing mountains of the Rockies.  It was nice to get home and be done with long driving days.  There is something special about seeing our state sign.  Aidric was glad to be out of the car and his sisters were glad to see him.  We got home a little earlier then they had expected.  They had planned on going to the zoo, so, why not.  Aidric and I joined them and life was back to normal.

Here are a couple pictures of our trip.  Have a great day and God Bless.

enjoying my sons

Me and my guys

Aidric, Ivy and I

first swim lesson

Alex and Aidric 

Dixie Stampede

Daddy and Sons 

My handsome boy

dinner at Lamberts

going home

my hubby taking us home

Here We Go Again

It's off to the races, as my dad says.  My pajama project for Christmas has begun again.  I ordered my material, got it in, washed it, and set it out waiting to be cut and sewed into our annual Christmas jammies.  This year I am using the ping pong table to cut out the patterns. I think it is working nicely.  Such an ordeal.  Finally today I began really getting down to work.  I had really hoped to have gotten more done, as I am a bit behind, but we got a good start and with all the help from my girls, we'll get them done.  It is hard to find the time.

This year has been especially busy.  We have been trying to get Isabella in to the right therapies to help her.  I wish I could be enough but she is still not talking and needs lots of supervision.  I was blessed to have a friend recommend a wonderful Christian home school mom/physical therapist/natural path who has been where I am, with one of her own children.  She has been able to answer some of my questions, provide insight, and give helpful ideas.  Also, she recommended a speech therapy center.  This week we had our speech eval at this center and Isabella scored extremely low.  They had set us up with a speech therapist who offered great encouragement and told me her story about her own child.  It sounded so much like my story with Isabella.  Somedays I feel like we're the only ones going through such struggles but hearing other people with similar personal experiences, who are trying to help Isabella, brings such encouragement.  Next month we begin occupational therapy, have neurological testing, and meet with a geneticist.  It is like I want the answer to what is going on but am fearful of the answer they might give.  Then I find I have been having a hard time not getting offended by comments made by other people lately.  I look at my beautiful little girl, my heavenly Father gave us and I just want to wrap my arms around her and protect her from everything.   I know that God is with us and He is so much bigger than any of this.  I hope I can be an encouragement to someone out there.  God is never surprised.  He doesn't ever say, "Wow, I didn't see that one coming."  I find in my moments of despair, when I surrender and fall down at His feet, He is there to lift me up.  Rachel Wissmann wrote a song we sang in Bright Lights called "I am your Shield."  Sierra will sometimes play it for us on the piano.  It is a beautiful encouraging song and I recommend it.

Other than that we canned 24 quarts of apples, thank you Amy.  We also froze several bags of carrots from our garden and made a yummy carrot cake with some of our carrots.  Today we made carmel apples with apples we got from my Grandma's tree.  I posted that recipe in 2011 under recipes.  School has been going great.  Sierra, Danika, and Cassandra are in horse riding lessons, thank you Mom and Shana.  The girls are loving it and Cassie is quite fearless.  I'll have to get some picture of that but for now enjoy some other fun pictures.   Have a great day and remember God is always more than enough.

Alicia

my little "Belly Bear"

Aidric never shies from the camera and his sissies love taking his picture

Cassie loves matching Isabella

my big boy figuring out the mirror

Carrot Cake

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter milk

1 tsp vanilla 1 3/4 cup shredded carrots

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp ginger

mix 

combine and fold in...

2 cups flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

bake 350 degrees.  Top with cream cheese icing.  Yum.

Silly

I have to share a little story that will hopefully tickle your funny bone.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I forget what I am doing.  Have you ever been there?  I'm not a real baby food fan but for some reason that is how I generally begin feeding food to my kiddos.  At the dinner table I now sit in between my two youngest.  We enjoy our family meals and sometimes we get into some deep discussions.  At this particular dinner we were in a deep discussion but both Isabella and Aidric were not interested in their food.  I was trying to feed them both and put in my two cents into the conversation.  So, as I was talking, I cut off a piece of the burrito and fed it to the wrong child, Aidric.  I really didn't even realize what I had done until Latisha calmly said "Mom you just fed that to Aidric."  I thought "well of course I did, don't interrupt."  Then I looked at what I fed Aidric.  He sat there with his mouth wide open and burrito sticking out.  But there was a pleasant look on his face like "now that is more like it."  I quickly did the finger sweep much to his disappointment and got it out.  Well, I guess now he knows there is more out there than baby cereal.  The table errupted into laughter and I refocused.  It is the little things in life that can brighten up a dreary day and I really needed the comic relief.  God can use our mistakes for good if we let him.  Have a great day.

Alicia

the girls enjoying a tea party

  

Yummy

Last night we had a little fun.  Aidric has been very interested in food.  When we eat he squeals and wants to be at the table, then reaches for the food as we eat.  So, we decided to give him his first bite of "food."  He was so excited as we put his bib on and placed him in the high chair.

 With great anticipation he watched me stir the water into the dry rice cereal.

 "Finally, let's see what all this fuss is about."

 Ok, let's try this out.

 "hmmmm that doesn't smell like what you have been eating."

 "That was not was not what I was thinking it would taste like."  It was so cute after each bite he would shiver.  Not so good.

 "Well, maybe I'll just stick to playing with the glass."

 After dinner we had a little dessert.  He again wanted to be held and looked at my food and then at me like "that was not what you gave me."  Well, someday my little boy.  But in the meantime here is this recipe if you would like it at the end of my post.

Some beautiful clouds in the evening.  Sierra had fun taking pictures.

Molten Cake

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup 4 tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar

6 eggs beaten

1 slightly heaping cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 tblsp cocoa

raspberries

Grease cupcake pans for 18 cupcakes.  In a double boiler on low heat melt chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate.  Add butter and sugar.  Mix in beaten eggs.  In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and cocoa.  Beat warm mixture into flour mixture with mixer on medium speed until slightly thick, about 5 minutes.  Fill cupcakes with mixture, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze at least 3 hours or until ready to bake.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake 7 to 9 minutes.  Do not overcook.  You want the edges sligtly set and the middle glossy.  While warm loosen with a knife and invert onto a plate.  I then added raspberries and sprinkled with powder sugar.  Enjoy.  

 time.   

The Seasons

Well here it comes, another change of season.  I love it when seasons begin to change.   When winter comes and the first white snow covers the dirty ground, or when spring is in air and the daffodils expose there flowers and the fruit trees shine forth the beginning of new fruit blossoms, or the summer goes into full bloom with all the plants fully dressed in leaves and flowers, my heart beats with excitement.  Today I was driving down the road and saw it.  I have been waiting for it and I saw it.  The beautiful trees beginning to change colors.  The trees were just in the beginning stages.  The stage where they are all rainbowed with color.  There they were with a lovely green stripe, followed by a beautiful yellow stripe of leaves, then at the end a vivid red stripe- all on the same tree. So gorgeous, decorated with the different colors of the season of life it is in.  Kind of like me right now.  I am in a season of life full of much color and changes.  One in where I have been blessed with an array of colors of my season.  One color is that of a mother with an adult child away from home, another with a child just graduated and spreading wings.  Then there is the color of the child entering her teens and another entering her adolescents.  Not to mention the early elementary child, the child with colors all her own, and finally the baby whose year is filled with so many firsts.  They are all apart of my season of life and I am blessed to be sharing this season with my best friend of 23 plus years, my husband.  I looked at myself the other day in the mirror and thought, boy do I looked tired, but I hope what the world sees is that I am colored with the season I am in and am delighted to be blessed with this season of life.  Yes, I do get tired and sometimes it shows but I am so excited with where God has me and wouldn't change one of my colored stripes for the world.

I wish I would have had my camera with me so I could share a picture of that tree with you but since I didn't let me share some lovely pictures of my little ones all streaming with color.  God bless and have a great day.

Mama and baby

Aidric starting to sit on his own

He loves his tongue

Cassandra loves to entertain him

Aidric's first time on swings with the big sissies.

God bless and have a great day.

Alicia

That Time of Year

My poor pantry is looking so sad.  We have almost depleted its resources.  Last year was a prosperous year and this year I have not had a great harvest.  I really have enjoyed the rain we have received the last few day, but other than that it has been a very hot summer.  I especially love the clean smell that comes with the rain.  Hail on the other hand I do not care for.  The other day we had an amazing hail storm that was very hard on my garden.  I'm not sure I have ever been in a hail storm with hail that big.  The hail was exciting and the kids danced around the house amazed by its force.  I was concerned for anyone caught out in the weather.  It was about that time of day when kids are walking home from school, and what about the motorcyclist or homeless.

As a child, my cousin Chris and I were at a family reunion.  We had been down playing at the water when it began raining.  Others had gone back to camp but we didn't mind the rain.  The sky darkened and I remember a sudden wind came up and then pelting hail began beating on us.  The hail really hurt and we were out in the open with nowhere to go.  We had been playing with a tiny raft when the hail came and we squeezed together behind our sad little raft for the shelter it provided.  We began to cry and to that point of my life, I was the most scared I had ever been.  I remember praying out loud trying to pray louder than the storm.  Suddenly we saw my Grandpa's station wagon coming to the rescue.  It drove down the hill and across the sand to us.  We jumped in and with tear stained faces received our answered prayer.  We sat in the car for quite a while waiting for the storm to pass.  It did pass and we are here to tell our story.  I find that effective in life as well.  Sometimes we just need to cry out louder than the storm, receive God's shelter, and wait for the storm to pass.  It will pass and God will be with us through the storm.

So now I must decide what to do about my pantry.  Should I buy some fruit to can or just buy from the store till next year.  My mothers garden has done quite well and she has provided me with cucumbers for pickles.  She actually started a batch of 10 day pickles and let me work on them.  Unfortunately we went camping on day 9 so my mom was so sweet to finish them and can them for me.  Thank you mom.  :)  Then someone at church was giving away the most amazing peaches, so we grabbed a couple bags and made some pies.  I kept a few seeds as a science experiment for my 10 year old to see if we could grow a new tree.  Here are a  couple recipes of them and some pictures.  Have a great day.

God Bless
Alicia

The hail bouncing down

so exciting when you inside

Danika trying it out on her feet

Cassandra collecting some

My poor flattened garden.  

10 day pickles 

 10 day pickles
1 gallon cucumbers-thick sliced or chunked
1 cup salt
  Mix with enough cold water to cover, place in cool place for 2 days (stir/shake each day)

Day 3 and 4
    drain each day and cover with clean water

Day 5
drain and mix with 1 Tbsp alumn, 1 cup apple cider vinegar.  Mix with pickles and add enough water to cover.  Heat and keep hot for 2 hours

Day 6
drain, rinse.  Mix syrup-1 qt vinegar, 5 c sugar, 1 tsp celery seed, 2 sticks cinnamon, 1 tsp whole cloves

Day 7,8,9
heat syrup from off pickles and put back on

Day 10
heat cucumbers and syrup together and put in clean jars and seal.

Peach pie
Combine 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tblsp flour, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and dash salt.  Add 5 cups sliced peaches.  Mix.  Let sit till glossy.  Place in 9 inch pan, dot with 2 tbsp butter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Seal with top crust.  Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.  

On Schedule

We did it again.  We sent our son off to college for another semester.  This time Alex had to get up early in the morning and he was thinking it would be an easier goodbye because everyone should still be sleeping.  But in a house with lots of girls goodbyes are never easy.  I was putting Isabella to bed and he came in and said good night.  Not too terribly bad, Isabella isn't quite sure what all is going on.  Then I told Cassandra to tell Alex goodnight and the waterworks began and didn't stop till the last sister  was in bed.  Poor Alex, I sure hope we don't make him feel bad for leaving but just feel good because he knows he is loved and missed.  Then a couple days later I had to say goodbye to our dear friend Ivy, as she went off to college also.  We went to lunch and found another friend who was getting ready to sent her daughter off to college also.  Then today a couple of my friends sent off their boys.  Not fun.  Tis the season.  

In order to keep our schedule the same as Alex's we began school on Monday.  I want to be able to be on the same breaks when he comes home.  It was good to get back to a schedule and be able to do school with the girls again.  Aidric adds a little more excitement to our day but so far so good.

One fun part of the end of summer is all the tomatoes we grow.  I really enjoy making meals with fresh tomatoes.  It just adds a little more taste to spaghetti, lasagna, a salad, and whatever else we might be making.  Here is a recipe we enjoy, hope you enjoy it also.  If you are also one of the many sending your beloved child off to school or the one going off, know we're all in this together and God works all things together for good.  Have a great day.

Alicia

cute op ripe tomatoes

cooking down the tomatoes

Spaghetti and meatballs

1 can tomatoes (I cook down 3 cups cut up tomatoes)
1 can tomato soup
1 small can tomato paste
1 can tomato cause (not needed if you cook up fresh tomatoes)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, thyme, cayenne, paprika
salt and pepper
2 Tblsp sugar
1 Tblsp olive oil.

Cook and simmer.  Add meatballs before serving.  Serve on top of cook spaghetti.

Meatballs
1 lbs ground beef
mix with 1 bag crushed saltines
1/3 cup catsup
1 egg
salt and pepper
roll into balls and bake 350 degrees 20 minutes.  Add to sauce.