The goal of parenting is to work yourself out of a job. The goal of parenting is to send young adults out into the world who are prepared to live as God’s children and as salt and light in a corrupt and broken world.

Paul David Tripp

Wordless Wednesday....

Thankful.....

Being thankful comes in many different forms. One of the blessing we are very grateful for is Natasha our precious sitter. She is a treasure and delight. Sam adores her and Jacob enjoys it when she comes too. We are able to go on dates nights or help me out during the day when I have an appointment or need some time to myself. She is 18 and has lived in the states just about 4 years. She was adopted from Russia and her new family has adopted 6 girls (5 from Russia) and I met her mom in our homeschool community. We don't know how long we will have her as she is growing up and will likely go to college this fall but we treasure the blessing!!!

Sentimental Sunday....

We took a family vacation in October 2008 a few months before Sam arrived. With Andrew growing up and with a baby on the way, we knew it would be the last vacation with just the 4 of us. I am so grateful we took that trip. I will always treasure those memories. Often times when you are pregnant they have a phrase called a "babymoon" for that one last trip before the baby arrives. We didn't do a babymoon during our pregnancy but a "familymoon"! That was the best thing for us at the time. One of the things the Lord has been teaching me is that the Holy Spirit can be very specific and to tune in and listen to what He has for me. While the Lord has been gracious to put mentors in teachers in my life he doesn't desire for me to run to them with the daily BUT to run to Him! It has been neat to see the fruit of finding His best for our family. I LOVE ocean pictures of my blessings and can't wait til we can take Sam to the ocean. We are hoping and praying our Destin beaches are kept safe from the oil disasters we have had lately if not we might have to find a new beach.

Summer favorites....

At the gathering we went to last weekend we brought a few of our summer favorites. Fresh fruit with our favorite fruit dip is always well liked and quick and easy to make. It last for a while in the fridge after too. The summer pasta salad was a new version that I tried and it was very good! I love to play around with pasta salad and see what I can come up with. My family is now used to whole grain pasta so it can actually be a healthy meal too.

Summer Pasta Salad

1 box of pasta in the shape of your choice

1 cup of sun-dried tomato dressing (you can use more or less to you liking)

1 cup of cubed monterrey jack cheese

fresh basil finely shredded

cherry tomato's cut in half

After the pasta is cooked and drained I add in the dressing, basil and tomato's. I stir well and lastly add the cheese so it doesn't melt to much. You can serve this warm or cold and when I serve it as a leftover I often add a bit more dressing as it can be a little to dry the 2nd time around. Enjoy!!!

Fruit Dip

1 8 oz block of cream cheese

1 jar of marshmallow cream

1 8 oz container of sour cream

Soften the cream cheese, mix in the marshmallow cream and add the sour cream. Stir very well and chill. I like to make it the day before so it can get good and cold. I often add a touch of red food coloring to it so that it is pink and people recognize it is a sweet dip to go with the fruit. When I leave it white I often get a lot of questions as to what it is. This easily keeps for a week afterward in the fridge.

A new word.....

This week Sam wore an outfit that a friend had given me and it had Goofy on it. After we took it off and put it in the dirty clothes he went and got it out, threw it on the floor (so the front could be seen) and pointed at Goofy and said, "dog" for the first time! After that he wanted to carry around the shirt and kept saying it. He even did a good attempt at a bark! Later that day I had a twinge of sadness that he never really got to know our dog of 15 years and that we know longer have him. We are not desiring at this time to get another dog (although Jacob is reminding us that every home should have a dog!) so Sam and Jacob will have to have a stuffed animal or love on silly Goofy shirts for now.

Memorial Day.....

The pictures are actually backwards! The one of Sam sleeping was as we drove off! We were there in the afternoon and although we had a great time it was partly during his nap-time and he let us know when we left that he needed rest. We had a great afternoon with friends. Jacob was at camp so it was just the 3 of us. We had yummy food, great conversation and lots of laughter. Our friends there all had kids too but most of them were older so they were running around and keeping busy. There was a baby there and Sam enjoyed trying to connect with him.