Tim Tebow

For the record: I don't like football one bit... I don't watch it and I'm thankful my husband doesn't care for it either.

However..... The Bronco's just recruited Tim Tebow. I don't know all the details... all I know is that this man is VERY inspirational. He was born in the Philippines while his family was living as missionaries there. He was home-schooled his whole life and loves the Lord.

Watch this video...

The Pioneer Woman

Okay I LOVE this lady... she's pretty much the modern day Proverbs 31 woman. If you haven't ever checked out her blog I would suggest doing so right now. She just posted this blog about her vegetables and I feel like it goes perfectly with my blog from yesterday. I also feel the same way about my garden. I love watching, nurturing and watering my precious plants.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2010/06/infancy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pioneerwoman-full-rss-feed+%28Pioneer+Woman+FULL+RSS+FEED%29

One day I'll learn how to do cool codes where you just click on a word and it takes you to the site... until then you can just look at the ugly URL address.

oh baby, baby!

Ever since I was little I've loved babies and kids. I don't know what it is about them, but I just love them. When I got married I wanted to have a baby so bad! That's probably why I got pregnant after only being married for 6 months.

I loved being pregnant... besides the morning sickness, swollen feet and heartburn.. I loved it. It was such a special time for me. Experiencing something brand new with my husband.. it was fun! Then the labor and delivery experience and bringing home a newborn... it's all so raw and new as first time parents. We were like sponges just absorbing all the information being poured into us by doctors, nurses, parents, friends and family. It's extremely overwhelming.

There is something about being a mommy that I feel bonds us to other mommies. We've all been through this similar experience. Whether you're a mom who uses a midwife and delivers at home and never takes your child to the doctor and breastfeeds your child or the mom who uses a doctor, delivers in the hospital with an epidural and vaccinates your children and formula feeds... we're all moms.

I think my biggest downfall is talking too much to other moms about my experiences and what worked for me. I hate feeling like I'm "that mom" who gives unwanted advice. On the other hand, I love getting emails and phone calls from expecting/new moms asking for advice. I don't think I'm the best mother in the world, I don't think I have the perfect parenting skills... but I do like to talk about babies and being a mom.

I love finding other moms who have similar parenting styles as me because I feel comfortable around them, like I can be my "mommy" self. I also enjoy being around moms who don't have the same style as me because I learn from them.

I get excited when one of my friends is pregnant. I want to talk about how to get rid of heartburn, the feeling of the baby moving on the inside, the anxiety about being a first time parent and what to register for for a baby shower. I love the fact that their lives are getting ready to be forever changed. Then when they give birth I love to visit them in the hospital and ask about their labor and delivery story and hear how in love they are with this little miracle. And when they're home and they haven't slept in days and they're so exhausted and they ask "When will I EVER get sleep again???!!!"... it's so fun!

I was made for this. I was born to be a mom!

Strawberry Cobbler

This is my first cooking/baking blog.. I hope it's not too terrible! I think next time I'll have to paint my nails before I take several pictures of just my hands cooking.

I love Vegetarian magazine!

This is where my mother-in-law found this amazing recipe.

Here it is-

All the ingredients you'll need- sugar, flour, lemon juice, salt, baking powder, baking soda, vegetable shortening and fresh strawberries

First cut 6 cups of strawberries in half

Add in 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs sugar, 2 Tbs flour

and 1 Tbs lemon juice

place in greased baking dish.. I didn't have size baking dish they said to use in the recipe so I used an 8x8 instead.

Whisk together 1/2 cup flour, 2 Tbs sugar, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp baking powder and 1/8 salt.

Add shortening and mix well with fork

When crumbly add 1/2 cup water

spread over strawberries

put cobbler in oven at 375 degrees and wait 20-30 minutes

There she is!! Seriously, this smells amazing!

Super easy recipe! Enjoy!

6 cups fresh strawberries, halved

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs flour, divided

1 Tbs lemon juice

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

3 1/2 Tbs non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening

1. Preheat over to 375. Coat 11-x 7- inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Toss together strawberries, 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar, 2 Tbs flour and lemon juice in bowl. Transfer to baking dish.

3. Whisk together remaining 1/2 cup flour, remaining 2 Tbs. sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in separate bowl. Add shortening and mix well with fork until mixture is crumbly. Stir in 1/2 cup water. Spread over strawberry mixture. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until browned and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Mrs. Baker

I go through these phases where I love to cook and bake and then I'm over it until I realize we've been eating the same 5 or 6 meals every week and we're all sick of it. Truthfully, I think I like to bake more than I like to cook... probably because I have a serious sweet tooth!

Recently I found a recipe from my favorite cupcake company.. Sprinkles!! My favorite cupcake is the red velvet. I couldn't find that recipe but I did find the one for Strawberry cupcakes. I made them this last week and they were Ah-mazing! It's a good thing I have neighbors to take extra goodies to, otherwise I'd be sick to my stomach from all the sweets!

The recipe can be found here:

http://www.oprah.com/food/Sprinkles-Cupcakes-Strawberry-Cupcakes

-My one complaint is that it's missing an ingredient. If you decide to make these add in 1/2 tsp baking soda.

I have this recipe I'm going to make today. It's Strawberry Cobbler!!! YUM!!!! My mother-in-law made it on Memorial day weekend and it's so delicious. Maybe I'll be like The Pioneer Woman and photograph the baking process... we'll have to see... :)

Hope you all are staying cool in this VERY hot weather!

Words

I've been thinking about my words a lot lately. It seems like an odd thing to think about, until you realize people are actually listening to the words that come out of your mouth. Jayden is my little parrot. He's repeating everything I say and it's caused me to remember to think before I speak. I don't want him walking around saying words that aren't appropriate for an almost 2 year old... that that I say "bad" words. I really hate the use of the words: freak, freakin', frick, fricken.. etc. But for some reason these words are in my vocabulary. The last thing I want to hear is my child walking around saying, "I want my freaking cup!". I'm hoping to break myself of that habit before it turns into one of his.

The other reason I've been thinking about words so much is because as parents our words are very valuable. When it comes to discipling we have to keep our word. If I say, "If you throw your food on the floor you won't get anything else to eat until the next meal." Then I better mean it! It's not always easy to keep my word but I know that my kids will test the boundaries and that when they do they will know I'm not moving. Especially when it comes to saying, "If you do that again, you're going to get a spanking."

I was talking about this with my dad awhile ago and he said there were times he wished he wouldn't have said those very words because in all honesty whatever it was I was doing wasn't really worth getting a spanking over, but since he said it he had to stick to his word. My dad is so good about keeping his word and not being persuaded by a child who isn't getting her way... ahem.. I remember when I was in middle school I wanted to stay the night at my best friend's house who lived across the street and my dad said no. I went to the store and bought him a card and his favorite candy bar and I begged and begged and begged and he still refused to let me stay the night. I was so angry with him because I wasn't getting my way!! Years later I found out the truth about why he said no and I respect him for it now.

I took a parenting class through my church when I was pregnant with Jayden and I remember the teacher saying that our no must mean no and our yes must mean yes! I never thought about how important it is that when we say yes we mean it.

Another reason I've been thinking about my words is because of this scripture:

Proverbs 18:21
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

The words we speak have so much power.. life and death are in the POWER of the tongue... What are we speaking over our children? Over our spouses? Over our finances? Are we speaking blessings or curses over them? Are we gossiping about our friends or family? This is a daily walk.. it's something we have to be aware of all the time!!

I've been known to talk a lot. In fact, my nickname in elementary school was motor mouth. I feel like I always have something to say and it should be heard. Well the truth is there are times I'd be in a better situation if I could keep my words to a minimum. So this is truly a challenge for me.

Teething.. RAWR!

It's funny how God didn't decided that we should be born with a full set of teeth that we'd have for the rest of our lives. Why are babies born with just gums and then have to go through the painful process of teething???

Gabriella is getting her teeth in the strangest order. She got her bottom two at about 4 months old. Then a month or two later she got the tooth right next to her bottom left tooth. Now she's getting the tooth to the right of where her front tooth should be and then a couple of days ago her front right tooth started to cut through.

Now Jayden has all of his teeth except a couple of his 2 year molars. The other day I was tickling him and noticed his top right molar was cutting through. I was so happy because he didn't act like he was teething. Last time he got a 2 year molar it was 4 days of being miserable for everyone in the house, especially Jayden. We tried everything during those 4 days. We bought Hyland's teething tablets, gave him Tylenol, popsicles, cold wet wash clothes and a clove paste. I honestly think the only thing that helped was the clove paste. We just took some of the ground cloves that I cook with and added some water (then Jordan added honey and vanilla... he always has to add something..) and then rubbed it on his gums. Jordan and I both tried it and it really worked!

I don' know if you caught that... but BOTH my kids are teething right now. Yuck!! I think this is one of the downsides to having babies close together. They actually haven't been too bad though, so I really shouldn't complain.

They are both up from their naps so I better go...