more & better life {Easter}

Being the new kids on the block, also makes us the new kids at church.

Thank goodness for a sweet, sweet church a couple miles away that feels a lot like home already. I can't stop thinking about one particular line the pastor shared this past Sunday.

"Easter kills the monster of hopelessness by drowning it in life." 

That's truth for me. & joy! There is a life abundant...everlasting... greater than I can imagine... all yet to come.

And in this moment, in this life gift here... we celebrated our Savior and loved on our littles.

Happy first Easter, sweet Coco. You are loved beyond measure. 

 A sudden thunderstorm pushed our little egg hunt inside! We were craving the beach and sandy eggs. 

Dear Blake, may you always find fierce joy in this day! Happy Easter.

"...I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." --John 10:10 The Message 

Blakely the Brave {turns 3}

Aloha...from Texas!

My sweet girl... the one who made me a mama...the one with gorgeous red hair and an infectious laugh... the one who has changed my life forever... juuuust turned the big three. What a dream age for a little girl. Oh, to be three... *sigh*

The girlfriend wanted a Merida Brave birthday party... and while being the new ones in town doesn't exactly make it easy to throw a party, it does make it all the more important.

Here's our take on a Scottish game themed princess party! We very much wish you could have joined us. And to those who did come--THANK YOU! We feel crazy blessed to already have sweet friends in this new place.

Fabric scrap banners were an easy way to pull together our blues, greens, and plaid! 

 Coloring station and Celtic temporary tattoos... I might be rockin' mine for a few more days. ha.

Take home gifts: games and wisps (Trader Joe's lollipops)! 

Pile of Merida hair -- separated out so each girl could rock the red curls should she want!

I snagged any Merida items laying around the house and repurposed them for the day! 

A kid-friendly Scottish food menu -- not pictured: our friendly take on "Haggis" -- hot dogs and gourmet sausages instead. :) 

Found great tutorials online for PVC bows and arrows -- also a take-home gift for any interested kiddos!

 Easy corn-hole out of plywood! 

We super loved having Uncle Ricky in town for the party! 

Blakely Girl, 

We are so proud of you and we adore your charisma and spark! You are true to your emotions and you feel much. You are determined and lively. You keep us guessing and engaged...and we love that about you. Sweet girl, we pray that you always use these gifts that make you -- YOU -- for the glory of God. After all, all you are and all you know is a gift from your Jesus. We are on your side. Love you, Missy B. Happy 3rd birthday... and please stop growing so quickly! ;) xoxo, Mom and Dad

Starts with L {Blake & Colb}

This one.

I tell you.

:)

She learned the letter L the other day. When I asked her what starts with L, I was surprised that she could list off four things quickly. When I prompted her for more, she even said, Liam (our friends' dog). Not bad!

Over the next couple of days, we had several conversations that went exactly like this:

Blakely, what starts with the letter L?

Ladybug starts with L
Lion (ROAR) starts with L
and Miss Lizabeth, mommy.

What else? 

Lizard starts with L
and Liam, mama.

Cute, right? Probably standard for her age. I don't really know. But here's what is really cute, er, not-so-cute... :)

I took this video after several flawless rounds of "what starts with L?" I thought for sure she'd practically sing it for the iPhone camera.

What am I talking about? I've never even heard her say that before!
Oh, my girl.

My other one, too. I can't get enough. She is three months and some change right now! She grabs at everything, especially her owl taggie that Auntie Anna made her. Our daily goal is still to keep her sweet skin from being scorched while we chase after big sister. She flips from her back to stomach constantly and pretty much owns the Bumbo. The girl sleeps 12 hours a night and the way she sucks her fingers, well, they might as well be pixi sticks! Already can't imagine this family without her.

Easy Coffee Cake (with Greek Yogurt and Cranberries)

My little blue-eyed one is munching on my new favorite cranberry coffee cake creation.

I scheduled a couple of morning play dates last week and I wanted to come bearing coffee cake. Some concoction of banana bread or muffins (laced with flax seed and whole wheat everything) are my morning stand-bys for taking along. But, this time I decided to shy away from uber amounts of fiber and make something a tad richer.

Still, I wanted to use greek yogurt and well, I just can't put away my flax seed. I searched online for a recipe using sour cream and Bisquick. Sooo not my usual keywords, but I had easy and delicious on my mind. I  read over a few recipes and adapted from there. I swapped in greek yogurt, cut back on sugar, and added some extras.

The end result was pretty darn good. Definitely worth sharing (it's fast and easy) and a recipe I want to archive for my own sake!

Here it is uncooked...

Here's what I did...

preheat: 325
grease 9x13 pan

Combine the following to make the cake:
2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup sugar
flax seed (however much you like)
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt (I used Greek)

Mix on medium speed until batter becomes fluffy

Combine (in a separate bowl) the following to make the topping/filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon (or more) cinnamon
nutmeg to taste (if you like)
1 cup cranberries (pre-soaked and strained -- to soften)
chopped nuts or dark chocolate (if you like)

Now...prepare in pan:
spread half of cake batter in the bottom of the pan
spread half of topping/filling over batter in pan
spread rest of the batter over the topping/filling
use rest of topping/filling as final layer
use a knife to marbelize by creating a zig-zag pattern in the pan

Bake for approximately 45 minutes (I'm sure ovens vary). A toothpick should come out clean when done. Cake will appear golden. 

While great for breakfast, I preferred it later in the evening as dessert...warmed with cool whip on top!

Blakely was happy to share hugs and some scrumptious coffee cake with these little ones!

The baby sisters got in on the fun, too... well, their idea of fun anyway. :)

Enjoy!

The Macro Happens

Sometimes I struggle with my feelings towards social networking.

I have an iPhone.

When I wish I'd grab my bible, I sometimes find myself scrolling through my Facebook news feed or glancing at Instagram photos.

When I wish I'd stay solely in the moment with my daughters, I find myself pulling up a camera app, grabbing a shot, doing a quick edit, and texting my mom.

Ugh. I love the creative technology, but I hate that it tugs on me so.

Today, while cruising Facebook, I noticed an article. I needed to hear this.

*From momlifetoday.com (post titled: Kids, I Quit!) --emphasis is mine:

I am convinced that my daily life with my children teaches them how to react to their world.  They model behavior they learn from me, from you.  So, if my child mopes, pouts or lashes out I need to sober up and realize they just may have learned to lash out from me.  Ouch!

One of the problems we moms have is that we try to do mothering under our own power and as a result we make the mistake of concentrating on the micro instead of the macro.

Yes, you’ve wiped down the kitchen counter for the seventh time while asking your daughter to play nice with her little brother and share (with a kind word) for the seventeenth time and there’s so much left to be done – still.

But, what have you really done that you are not always quick to recognize?  You have taught your children hour after hour how to react to life.

How to care for others, how to work hard and do what needs to get done, how to get along well with others – all good things that will serve them well. Don’t lose sight of the vast importance of how you wear each micro task in the macro of God’s plan.

To read the post in full, click here.

I need to remember that in the little things, big things are happening! My girls are watching. learning. absorbing.

For various reasons, this week has been both trying and amazing. But, I have no room for ungratefulness in my life.

Moments--any and all--with my girls are a treasure. In the midst of the micro, the macro is happening!

Perhaps more often I will silence my phone, ignore my apps, and even let a few picture perfect smiles be captured only by my mind. :)

I invite gratefulness and silliness to fill my home.

May my girls find it only natural to have happy and thankful hearts, oh and goofy spirits!

Join me! xoxo

Potty Training: the weekend that worked for my willful one

Three weeks ago...

Our lives changed just a tiny bit...I think for the better.

We started potty training!

Perhaps half of "potty training" is training the parents! I never knew I could keep such careful mental record of ounces (of juice), hours (between trips), and good ol' #2.

I'm sure all that fades. We're just three weeks in.

The best thing about potty training?

Easily...seeing the most glowing look of pride on Blakely's face. It's an expression I hadn't yet seen. I can't get enough.

Next best thing?

The encouragement I all of a sudden receive.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, Blake?"

"You go potty?"

"Yep, I went shi-shi"

"Good job, mommy!"

"Well, thanks, Blake."

"I'm so proud of you, mama"


Since I can't remember being two, I certainly don't remember anyone ever expressing pride in my ability to use the restroom! ;) How nice.

Here's what we did/learned/worked (for us). Tactics vary. Kids are different.

Mine happens to be incredibly willful. We went heavy on the "buy-in." I knew it would either completely work or totally fail.

I had read some articles about potty training in a day (here's one link for a post I liked). We aimed for that, but it stretched through the weekend. The first two days were so-so successful (and kind of hard), but it clicked in pretty well on the third day!

1. Pretty potties (maybe that's a girl thing?) :)

2. Prize chart! She had to "earn" so many stickers in a row to get the prize. I shopped the party section of Walmart to find uber cheap trinkets that would spark her interest. After a day or so of her having the prize, I swept it up and put it back in a prize jar for another time.

2. Underwear options that I knew she'd love (Hello Kitty & Little Mermaid). The goal was that she'd want to keep them clean!

3. Stuck to the unds! She woke up on Friday, June 29th. We took off her diaper and never looked back (well, we did "look," we just didn't "go." hehe).

4. Napped in underwear. This was hard for the first week. I changed a lot of sheets. But, it actually worked out, too! She figured it out.

5. Excitement! Energy! We celebrated trying, sitting, going, etc... we toned it down each day throughout the weekend as well. She really worked for this ducky prize

6. Night night underwear (aka: pull ups). I was resistant to using a diaper at all because I didn't want Blakely to prefer the diaper over underwear. We just downplayed the pull up and called it her night time underwear. Who knows if that's a good idea or not. It's just what has worked so far. Some nights she's dry, some she's not.

7. Late night potty run. Before I crash for the night, I pick up my sleep beauty and plop her on the pot. She usually shi-shis in a half-sleep state.

8. Keepin' it simple. To ease big distractions for the first two full days, we played with toys, did puzzles, watched only short shows, and of course used the new prizes! She might have applied her whole thing of lip gloss in one application. :)

9. Coffee! I drank lots of delicious coffee the first two (trying) mornings.

10. Back to real life. Monday rolled around quickly -- Day Four of our "training." Blakely was doing awesome, but I was still worried about a car seat soaked in pee or an accident at the post office, etc.. Well, we had to jump back into routine sometime. We took the plunge! I now tote her little seat in one of my bags or throw her mini potty in my trunk.... just in case!

We are still new at this!

In fact, she's on the potty right now... I'd better go give her a thumbs up!

Happy Friday (and happy potty training if that's in your current or near future! xoxo)

p.s. I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to potty train :) I'm only sharing our limited experience because it was fun and it worked of us (so far)!