What a gorgeous day!

Has anyone been outside today?? It's absolutey beautiful- the weather is PERFECT, or at least it is in my opinion. Both of my children are sleeping, I've got laundry going (of course), my windows are open, my candle is lit, and I'm just enjoying life right now. I'm about to look up a recipe at allrecipes.com for some simple chicken strips for tonight. With it we'll have some okra and couscous. Sounds like a winner to me. Enjoy your day. O Give thanks unto the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever!

Take a look at this beautiful verse I found:
For thou art my hope, O Lord God:
thou art my trust from my youth.
~Psalm 71:5

Can you tell I'm starting to feel better? Yay! :)

Well, it was bound to happen

This evening I burnt supper. Yuck. And we ate it anyway. My Joseph was so sweet about it. He said that it wasn't bad for cooking for him almost 9 years. Now our house stinks. I let Mikayla have some cereal instead being the reasonable (ha!) mother that I am.

Then we drove to Dairy Queen and drowned our supper sorrows with 2 small blizzards; one strawberry cheesequake and the other chocolate xtreme. Yum! Boy, the price of those things has sure gone up!

Looks like we'll be heading to Louisiana in a few days. I'm terribly excited about our stay there. We hope to all be feeling better so we can tackle the trip this weekend.

Has anyone ever watched I Survived? It's on the biography channel. Pretty neat show.

A different direction

What nice comments I've received- thank you! I truly love being a mom. There's nothing quite like it, and there's really nothing to prepare you for the journey.

With Joseph (or as we call him Big'n) I've decided to take weaning a little slower than I thought at first. After reading/thinking about Shaunna's comment, I'm now feeding Joseph in the mornings around 7 and at night around 7 as well. With 2 bottles in-between. Maybe in a few days I'll cut the morning or evening feeding and will probably continue nursing until my milk supply dries up. Here are some things I considered:

*I'm really in no hurry
*As long as I'm producing some, it's good that he gets it
*Quitting cold turkey without a pump HURTS
*There's no "right" or "wrong" way to do it or when to do it

So, that's where I'm at right now. What an exciting revelation, eh? And the good news? It's no longer a fight getting him to take a bottle. I'm so thankful for that!! And today Mikayla fed him. Precious.

In other news, our next passage to memorize is Psalm 103. Some of you know, it's my favorite chapter in the whole Bible. I've memorized it once before, but I've not been good about keeping it refreshed. I'm excited about learning it again! :)

Our whole family is not feeling too well. I'm not sure what it is, but we're definitely feeling it. Lord willing, we'll be over it by the weekend. We plan to go to Louisiana to see my wonderful in-laws for about a week. We're REALLY looking forward to that.

Hope you're all staying warm. It's COLD outside. Brrrrr... Definite hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar on top weather... mmmm...

Will somebody help me pick up the pieces to my broken heart?

My body told me it was time today. For what? To start weaning my son Joseph. My heart feels like it shattered all around me. For the first time in 10 1/2 months, our Joseph had a bottle. It was a battle. I'm serious. He HATED!!! it at first. and we fought for nearly an hour. I was pretty determined to win. We bought 2 different kinds of bottles with different nipples and 2 kinds of formula. We were ready to tackle the project. After much blood, sweat and tears (well, 2 of the 3- no blood!) he's now finished his first bottle and is quietly sleeping.

Why is it so hard on a mommy's heart??? Mikayla weaned herself at 8 months and as some of you remember my heart broke then as well. There's just something about the awesomeness and closeness of your child totally living off your own body. That's the way God so beautifully designed it. I never thought I'd like nursing. My mom would always tell me, Oh, you'll LOVE it! I didn't think so. But, she was absolutely right. I DO love it. I will miss it with my big boy. :(((

Just thinking about it makes me very sad. I love my son so much. My body kinda got to a point where it wasn't producing as much milk and he'd only eat for a little bit. So, the process has begun. Grace, my cheerleader in it all, wanted updates; so, here it is, Grace. I'll keep you posted.

We're planning on giving him formula til he's 1. I just asked Mikayla why she thought Brother was crying tonight and she answered, he didn't want his bottle. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. After he fell asleep in my arms, my tears just fell on him and I thanked the Lord for my boy. What an enormous blessing he is in my life.

ps. how do people stand bangs in their eyes??? I can't do it. Big forehead or not, I can't stand for hair to be in my eyes. oh well. so much for the new hair-do...

A date with Sarah

Yes, that would be me. I had a date with myself, and boy, was it ever enjoyable! My precious husband (who is the object of my affection) so kindly let me have the evening off. Here's what occupied my evening:

*to the mall for a haircut- I was nervous b/c the girl who usually did my hair MOVED. I was so sad, but another lady hopped right in. Boy, she new what she wanted to do with my hair. "you have a big forehead," she told me. Somehow she said it just right and did not offend me. So, she gave me...bangs. well, sorta. They're the kind that go to the side. Her name was Rose, which totally did not match her personality. funny:) I'll be back!

*Chick-Fil-A! where I ordered a #1 with lemonade. Quite delicious. I know, I know it was fried food, but I don't have it too often and it was good. While there I practiced and nailed down! Psalm 8. I'm doing the Bible memorization thing I mentioned before and I've finally got this chapter memorized. Such a blessing it's been! This lady kinda gave me a funny look. I was sitting in the back all by my lonesome with my Bible and I was writing out the chapter and saying it to myself quietly. I probably looked kinda strange. But mainly b/c I'm trying to get used to these bangs, so I was probably tossing my hair a lot. ha!

*Peddlers, JcPenney

I was going to head to Big Lots, but Jody does not like for me to be out at night by myself. So, I just came home an hour early. My little family was happy to see me. I'm so thankful for them!

Next time, maybe somebody can come with me on my date with Sarah. Like MOM or GRACE. Just a thought.

good night, friends.

Miss Cindi's Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

A few weeks ago my Granny gave me a Guideposts magazine. I was a bit confused at first at why she would. The magazine is not my favorite. Sorry, but that's the truth. There are some nice stories, but it's basically fluff and sometimes worse than that.

My point is- I finally figured out why she gave it to me. It was for the recipe for some really yummy muffins. I know, I know, if there's no picture, nobody really wants to make them. BUT, I say- give it a try. My husband really likes them, and these are the only ones that we'll eat the leftovers. I don't know about you, but when we make those blueberry muffins from the box, we rarely will eat any that are left. They're good fresh out of the oven, but after that.... So, if you're in the mood to bake, get after it:) For supper tonight we had these and eggs. A good/cheap/easy meal!

Miss Cindi's Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup (or less) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Stir sour cream and baking soda together. Set aside. Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating well. Beat in sour cream mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. Don't over-mix. Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake for about 18 minutes. Let cool for a few seconds and then ENJOY! Yum:)

Mikayla makes me laugh

I fixed chili tonight and Jody was trying to get Mikayla to take more bites. He said, it has meat! tomatoes! celery! beans!... Out of blue she said, I. don't. like.onions! She made us both laugh:) (I realize to some that might seem, um, spoiled or obnoxious, but it made us laugh nonetheless. Maybe you had to be here...)

And, she was playing in the living room after supper and kinda hit her head on our recliner. She said, I think I need a helmet. I laugh just thinking about it...

Speaking of heads. Mine does NOT feel well. I guess I've got some kind of sinus pressure or something. My head hurts, my ears hurt and it hurts to swallow. Too bad it's not kept me from eating OR talking. My precious husband has helped out SO much. with laundry, the kiddos, the toys, baths, etc! What a man. Oh, how I love him.

We had a fun day of baking at Christy's. It was just the girls. We did pretzels, choc/pbutter candy, peppermint candy, chow mein noodles/peanut/butterscotch chip thingies, and shortbread cookies. Very yummy. Too much sugar. I need to go for a walk. About a 100 mile one. Anyone want to join me?

A quote from William Secker

It is no wonder that Christ should be so much undesired--when He is so much unknown.

Can you SEE IT??

My big boy just turned 10 months old and finally got his very first tooth. :)- (Bottom left as you're looking at the picture)