Good Friends...

We are blessed to have good friends. Friends who will have fun with you and love your kids as if they were their own. Friends whom, when your son calls to tell them that he made Jesus the king of his life, send him a card in the mail and give him a little gift to celebrate. Friends that will text me to make sure I spent time in the Word today. Thank you, Lord, for dear friends and sisters.

We were joking around...posing like the the "young'uns" do these days, and my mom was just snapping away. This one makes me laugh. I'm a dweeb, Julie on the right is a dweeb with me, and Faith is just plain mortified to be seen with us! Ha!

My kids are blessed to have good friends. Friends who will swing and swing and swing with them...

I think Jack and David spent over and hour swinging. So sweet.

And friends they can be silly with....

Birthday Girl...

My baby girl is 3. Firmly past any form of babyhood and quickly leaving toddlerhood for a preschooler. I was reminiscing about the night she was born with a friend today. Weird how it can seem so long ago and yet like it was just yesterday at the same time.

Her arrival into this world definitely matches her personality....fast and furious....and on her own time table. But, my goodness, does this Little Miss bring a lot of joy, laughter, cuddles....and a fair amount of hair pulling... into our lives.

She is a humorous mixture of tomboy and princess all rolled into one curly headed child. She will squat down to talk to a bug, then squash it and walk away. She will ask me if I am ok if she ever thinks I am in pain. And she still likes me to kiss her owies. Her little arms snake around your neck for the best hugs and she sings "Twinkle Twinkle" and "You Are My Sunshine" at the top of her lungs with her Daddy every night.For some odd reason, I have always called her "Lou". Not sure why. But recently, when telling her "goodnight, Lou" as I leave her room, she calls after me, "I'm not glue!".
We love you Miss Molly Lou Glue!

Butterfly Birthday Party

There are times when you realize how incredibly blessed your children are. I had one of those moments last weekend.

My mom has always done an outstanding job of making birthdays special. Without the help of the "experts" at bouncy places or Chuck E Cheese. I have wonderful memories of my birthdays being uniquely fitted to my tastes. Simple, yet always going all the way.

Kenzie, for quite some time, had been saying that she wanted a party only with Nanny and Papoo, James and Emily, and her family. My parents made the butterfly party an unforgettable evening, to say the least.

We were instructed that a butterfly wing contest was part of it. So the week before, the kids and I made wings, glittered wings, and glued jewels on wings. And Kenzie was excited that Daddy made his own wings. (Seriously, how many dads[outside of my own dad, of course!] would design and paint his own butterfly wings....and WEAR them?!)

Once at Flagstaff, we decorated....
And donned our wings....

Is that not one of the cutest little butterflies EVER?!

And we waited for our other guests to arrive. James and Emily (my brother and his wife) were up until 3 am making their wings.....again, my little butterfly princess is so blessed.....

How many Uncles will wear tights? Tights, I say! And emily had on the funnest boots ever!
AND...Emily's sister, Anna, and her boyfriend Justin, came too....by choice. They WANTED to attend a 4 year old's birthday party and dress up.

Here are the male insects....
Obviously quite confident in their manliness. (Justin's wings were so cool....he made them out of disposable bakeware!)

And the ladies....we were laughing. And vying to show off our wings...Emily kept hogging all the room! =)

And the Hendricks Family....butterfly style!
We had crafts....
And of course, a splendiferous Nanny cake:

All for a little girl who wanted a butterfly party. No 25 children. Just a group of family that loves her dearly. And she loved her party. Thanks, Mom, for continuing the tradition of meaningful birthdays! And thanks, Dad, for supporting mom in all her crazy plans to make the day special for Kenzie. The way you quietly encourage, clean up, wash dishes, clean up, wash dishes, make butterflies, wash dishes, wear mylar wings, and do more dishes is such a picture of servanthood. Mom can do what she does best because of how you support her. So, thanks for making Kenzie's day so special.


And here is what Kenzie, Molly, and Jack spent a good portion of the afternoon doing....Butterfly Dances....

Fireworks...

We had the most wonderful location to watch fireworks from....our front yard! When we heard the first "Boom!", we headed out front. We pulled out lawn chairs or sat in the back of the pick-up. No crowds. Beautiful.

We hadn't really planned on letting the kids stay up till 9 to watch them. But it ended up that we had friends over and they were still here when they started...so we all got to watch them together. Fun! I had to talk Jack through all the safety precautions that the people who were shooting the fireworks had taken to protect everyone from the "fire in the sky". He was concerned that he just had to trust me that there was a firetruck there, just in case. He kept wanting to see it. Ha. my little OSHA inspector in the making. Kenzie covered her ears through pretty much all of it. Molly peed on David (SO glad she was on HIS lap...not mine!). Other than that, it was fun!

And I am finally getting around to pulling pictures of the fireworks off my camera. A couple favs...

All these were shot manually atISO 1600, 1/40 sec, and f2.8 - for those that care!

My Princess Kenzie turns 4

Today is my sweet Kenzie's 4h birthday. I am really having a hard time believing she is four. I really think she must be three. I sat and just watched her a bit today....and I think she must be four. She has long gangly legs.


And scraggly hair that somehow always looks like a mess...

And she has some attitude....

But she always wakes up from her nap wanting to cuddle with me for a few minutes. And she likes to containerize. Bags. Plastic totes. whatever....it gets repurposed for her "stuff". And she carries it around for days. And she loves Goolash. And she likes to convince me of things by telling me "that's a good idea"...like, "Mom, we should go get a cupcake. That's a great idea!" And while she can push all my buttons so quickly, I love this princess to pieces and pray that all her strong-willedness will be tethered to being glory to her Lord. She has a tender heart...wanting to pray this evening for a mother in China who is imprisoned for her faith in Jesus. (Voice of the Martyrs) She can be such a momma hen to Peter....whether he wants it or not. And she always always makes us laugh.


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July has been consumed with VBS and homeschool curriculum. VBS went well. I was totally blessed by the volunteers...such work and heart was put into every little bit of it.

And now it is time to think about the school year. Goodness, I sure can whisk myself into a tizzy about it. I mean, my oldest is going into Kinder. And I think that I need to read every catalog, complete with highlighting and dog-earing (yes, that's my new word). One day I will have it all figured out. I go to sleep and then suddenly, I don't have it figured out. Sonlight Curriculum. Tapestry of Grace Curiculum. Keep It Simple, He's Only In Kinder Curriculum.

This weekend was the Homeschool Convention. I actually did not attend any sessions, though I walked around the exhibit hall and drooled. I left my wallet with my mom. This prevented rash buying...the having to ask your mommy for your wallet thing. And I did good. I am so excited about the school year. And about our Co-op. And about being able to run again. And about making over 20 loaves of bread a week. And about sleep. And about....

But I think I have it figure out. At least for the next 6 hours, right?

Homemade Caramel Corn

Homemade caramel corn is the devil.

Hi, my name is Carrie. And I am Foodie.

A foodie meaning that I like to eat food, yes. But even more so...I like to MAKE food. Alot. And I really like to make food from the BEGINNING....

So I got my Mother's Day/Tax Refund Gift early this year:

AND...

This has been pure bliss for me. That Gorgeous Bosch can handle the mixing of 8 loaves of bread at a time! The sound of that 800 watt motor just kneading away is music. Of course I cannot fit 8 loaves of bread in my oven, but that's not the point. The point is that the Gorgeous Bosch CAN do it. And I get to walk away whilst it does it.

I have been making bread for 11 days. That's cool. But the somewhat alarming thing is...I have made 30 loaves of bread in that 11 days. Is that normal? Does my butt look bigger?

It helps a little that much of that bread has been given away. I now have 6 families whom I am making bread for on a weekly basis. My house smells like a bakery. All.The.Time. Did I ask yet if my butt looked bigger?

I documented the inaugural run of it all:

J is my official wheat grinder. He loves to keep on eye on it.

Jack took this picture of the grain hopper. A mixture of hard and soft wheat as well as some Kamut thrown in for yumminess.

A giddy Carrie, fighting the urge to throw that warm flour in the air and break out in a song and dance. (I had more energy then, way back 11 days ago before my butt got big)

The first loaves. Maybe your computer screen is scratch and sniff? Probably worth a try, because it smells amazing.

I have since purchased commercial bread pans that are not so wide.

Today was a new venture. Tortillas. Armed with only wheat flour, a pinch of salt, a bit of oil, water, and a rolling pin....we produced these:


And then, before I knew what had happened, an avocado jumped into my hands, fell open, and spread itself on one of these tortillas...

I inhaled the first one so fast, I had to make another avocado/tortilla roll to taste test. It was really yummy. The tortilla was soft and full flavored.

And then, a mere 30 minutes later, it was lunch time....
Some homemade re-fried beans (I don't re-fry, though, I just mash), cabbage, avocado, sour cream, and hot sauce in a yummy soft, supple, full-flavored tortilla.

What will it be tomorrow?

Easter Dresses

Growing up, Mom always did Easter dresses for me.....they were a way bigger deal than Christmas dresses. Last year, I attempted some simple dresses for the girls....then wound up having a baby on Easter morning. Talk about plans getting changed! Anyway....I bought some material.....

And a pattern...pretty sure it has been over 15 years since I have used a pattern....
Loved my new island for cutting, measuring, pinning, ironing....

They still need to be hemmed, but I can't/won't do that until after this Sunday so the girls cannot coerce me into letting them wear them THIS Sunday. [Whew...that was a run-on sentence!]

Can't wait to see them both dolled up in matching digs!

Cultivating Love

I want my kids to grow up being best friends. Don't laugh....because I think it truly can be done. And in not a weird, "I'm-homeschooled-so-I-only-have-my-siblings-as-friends" kind of way. There are lots of moments throughout the day where I fear that this is just a very far fetched dream. Like to today...and yesterday, when J pushed his sisters...again and again. And then again for good measure. And it frustrates me! But I choose to hope. To hold onto "those" fleeting moments....

Little Miss M was scared here...her first real "roller coaster" ride at Knott's Berry Farm, and J grabbed her hand and started consoling and reassuring her. I pray often that this boy's tender heart will always be so compassionate and empathetic.

(he pulled his blankets next to her bed to sleep....I found them like this last night)

We recently started emphasizing to the kids that God gave them very special best friends when he gave them each other. Why is it that we have to intentionally cultivate friendship between our children? When one of them mistreats another, I ask if they would treat [insert some friend's name here] that way. "No, way, Mom! I wouldn't treat them that way!" So we are working to understand that our siblings are worthy of the same treatment.

I feel like I have that above conversation alot. But then there are those times when you get to eavesdrop on a conversation between them. This one between my two oldest....nearly 5 and nearly 4:

"K, are you my best friend?"
"Yes, J, you are my best friend!"
"Oh, thank you!"
"You're welcome"

"Hey, J, are you MY best friend too?"
"Yup, K, I am!"
"Oh thanks!"
"You're welcome too!"

And that was it. They went on with their playing, each with a little grin...that special knowledge that you have a special friend.

Here they are giving each other an "elephant hug" at the zoo...

So I think we will keep working on it. Looks like it might be worth it in the end.

Of our Favorite "Michael Michael"

This week is my baby brother-in-law's birthday. So I thought we would compile a little tribute to "Michael Michael". The kids call him that because, well, apparently "Uncle Michael" is confusing and hard, and saying his name twice is just kinda fun. So Michael-Michael he is. =)

I first met Michael when he was like 7 or so. This adorable freckle faced kid who has such a tender heart. I remember he made me a daisy chain once. I truly do feel blessed to have married into a family where I didn't inherit "in-laws" but gained brothers and sisters....friends.

This was at our wedding....David with his siblings...Michael looks sooooo young here! This is May 2001

Probably my all time favorite picture of the two of us. Summer of 2004, I think.

Michael got me hooked on Scrubs while we were in Oregon one Christmas. We had far too many Scrubs marathons that week. This picture is a tribute to the Janitor's wife (or mom?) who only had the thumb/pinky combo.


More recently, Michael came and visited (and SAVED OUR BUTTS!) in December and helped redo ALL the ducting in our house that had to be done due to the kitchen remodel. It was soooo wonderful having him here....I had a running buddy....the kids had a lego engineer......

And David had a fellow project-a-holic!

Happy Birthday, Michael-Michael! We love you and thank God for you!