Pinterest mess yet success

I found the idea for banana pops on Pinterest this morning and decided to give it a go during Miles' nap. I'm so glad I excluded him from this activity because it didn't go as so nicely described in the blog. http://we-made-that.com/frozen-yogurt-banana-pops/. 

Here they are, almost gone (don't mind the dinner dishes on the table). They were yummy but a pain to make. I used vanilla greek yogurt and straws instead of cake pop sticks. The biggest problem was the bananas fell off the straws as soon as they were dipped in the yogurt. I don't see how cake pop straws would have been any better but maybe they would have. So now there's a banana in the yogurt. The banana was put back on the straw and then I had to sprinkle the sprinkles instead of dipping. I was hoping the girls would be able to do it alone but not this time. Next time I will freeze the bananas for a bit to see if they stay on the straw. Or maybe I'll splurge and by cake pop sticks. 

      

      

The girls thought they tasted like popsicles .

     

Miles preferred to just eat the sprinkles. 

I will make them again. Fun snack that just needs some tweaking. :)

Art Fest

Recently, Molly and Sophie put on an art show. They're always crafting and displaying art but this particular show had different motives. Money. They wanted me to purchase their art. They were pretty confident I'd give it to them also because Molly was disappointed when she had to settle for a quarter. Nice try, girls! It's not that easy to make $70 and $30. :) 

      

(I wish i could figure out how to flip the picture.)

Donuts

Who doesn't like donuts? I mean, they are delicious and when you eat one, it's hard to just eat one. You've gotta have at least 2. The cream filled are some of my favorites but I also like a good glazed as well. The trouble with donuts is they are terribly unhealthy and not so waist-line friendly.  Miles is obsessed with donuts. He thinks they should be a staple in his diet. He asks for donuts all the time. I usually buy a package at Aldi once a week. They're only $1.89 for 15 and are decent. Not Krispy Kreme, but they work. This week I decided to buy a donut pan so I could make my own. Miles was  excited and expected donuts the minute we walked out of the store. 

We made our first batch that evening and they tasted like chocolate cake. Matt even asked if I used a box cake mix to make them. So good. But still, not healthy. Last night I set out to make them healthier and they are still good. Not quite as good but the kids didn't seem to mind. Miles is currently eating his 4th! 

            

I'll post the original recipe at the bottom but here is what did.

1c flour (next time I'm using whole wheat. I was out of it last night.)

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 c cocoa 

1/4 c sugar

Mix together

1 egg

1/4 c milk

6T plain greek yogurt 

1/2 t vanilla 

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce 

Mix together

Mix all together. Put in donut pan and bake for 8 min. 

I used a powdered sugar, milk, vanilla glaze after they were completely cooled. 

           

http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2013/04/01/glazed-chocolate-donuts/

This is the reason...

I've been asked numerous times, how do you do it? How do you cope and go on with life after losing a child? How are you not depressed? Well, for me, it's simple. It's because of today, Easter. This is the reason. The resurrection. My hope is in Christ and that one day I will spend eternity with Him and with my precious little Lucy. 

Now don't get me wrong, it's not always easy. I don't want to paint this picture that it doesn't bother me that she's not here, because it does. I miss her dearly but know she has it so much better in the presence of God. It's simply because of what Christ did that makes carrying on possible and worthwhile.

I believe in the living, true God. The God who sent His Son to be born of a virgin, live a sinless life and then die the cruel death on the cross for me and you. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." 

The best part of this is that He didn't stay dead. My God is not still hanging on a cross. 3 days later He rose again. You can read the accounts of Jesus' resurrection in all 4 gospels.

Christ suffered so we could live eternally with God. 1 Peter 3:18 says,"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the spirit."

We are unrighteous and unworthy of God and His love for us. Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." However, His love for us is greater than we can ever imagine. He demonstrated this on the cross. Romans 5:8. "But God demonstrates His love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 

"The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus," Romans 6:23. We can't earn this gift of eternal life. No matter how good of a person we are or how many times we go to church or give to the needy or any other good deed it WILL NOT bring us to Christ and give us eternal life in Heaven. Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. 

Here's the way. God is looking at the heart. He wants your heart. Romans 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised  Him from he dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 

So you see, you have to not only believe but admit you are a sinner and need a savior. Then you must ask God to forgive your sins and come live in your heart. This my friend, is when you will have the peace that surpasses all understanding. I don't worry about a lot of things and feel okay about the path God has put me on because I have full assurance that the God who loved me enough to die on a cross for my sins is going to get me through any tough time I encounter. 

The best part is, when I die, I know exactly where I'm going. Straight to Heaven to see my Lord and my Lucy.  

I serve a risen savior, he's in the world today...you ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart! 

If you made it to the end of this, thanks for reading. This is my heart and I wanted to share the thoughts that have been running through my head today. 

Creative!

Molly is such a creative little girl. She's constantly coming up with new ideas and drawing them out or writing books. Sometimes she makes us paper jewelry or things to wear. She likes to make 3-D objects and pop-ups. These are the most recent gems I found in my living room. A lift the flap book about a monster. She's only 2 pages in but one monster eats people's fingers! She has a flap to lift on each illustration. The other is a coloring book. Last Christmas she received an art projector with lots of slides and she used to to create the coloring pages and then captioned them herself. 

   

   

   

   

Sneak is back!

The girls have been so anxious for Sneak the elf to return. Molly remembered he's always arrived on December 1st and was up at 6:15 searching for him. She woke Sophie up in the process. I came downstairs to find them writing a plan to search for him since they couldn't find him.

You see, Sneak forgot where he was going and showed up at grandpa and grandmas house. He was sitting in grandpa's chair. I casually checked my email shortly after getting up and showed the girls this picture. They found it hilarious! 

  

Then, while they were at gymnastics tonight Sneak arrived and perched himself in our tree with his new friend, Glivert. Glivert was purchased at silver dollar city by my parents as our family ornament for the year. Sophie named him. 

The girls didn't see him in the tree until I said, I he's here, in the living room. It didn't take long then. They jumped up and down with excitement and miles kept exclaiming, "sneak". 

Welcome home, Sneak!

The first snow

Sophie has been anticipating snow since last Friday. They talked about it at preschool and she was really excited to see a little on the slide in the backyard. Molly wanted to build a snowman and was disappointed there was only a dusting, if that. Nonetheless, they went out before we took molly to school to see the snow. Molly quickly brought a small handful up for miles to see. He was not impressed and wouldn't touch it because he was so cold. Molly ran inside cold before I could snap a picture of her. Sophie made her snowball and came right in also. We've got some adjusting to do to this cold air! 

      

         Sophie making her snowball

      

          Miles yelling no because he didn't want to touch the snow.