Birthday Celebration
Our Sweet Brina
The weekend after we got back in town we took the girls to Outback for their birthday lunch. It was nice to have a quiet lunch with them, talk, and celebrate their birthday. I still cannot believe my girls are growing up so quickly. There is so much to be thankful for in our lives.
Our Karlie girl
Brina giggling…always love hearing my girls laugh!
Sweet Karlie with a big smile
Sirloin tips and fries, can’t ask for a better birthday dinner at Outback! 🙂 The girls both wanted steak for their birthday lunch.
Brina’s little gift to Karlie. Love that she wrote a cute message to Karlie – “I love you!” I took each of them out at different times to pick out a gift for their sister. Brina used her money to go to Goodwill and pick out a bunch of used “chapter” books for Karlie to read. It was so cute helping her look through the books and pick out ones Karlie would like. Karlie was very surprised Brina found so many books and been enjoying reading them.
Karlie’s “secret” birthday message to Brina. It says “K(arlie) L(oves) Y(ou) Brina!” Karlie picked up some really cute crafts for Brina. Brina has been found painting and doing a variety of crafts over the past few weeks!
Aw…Karlie got a gift from Brina
My Handsome Man! Enjoying some time with his girls!
Welcome 2013!!!
Happy New Year!!!! I am thankful for a great 2012 and looking forward to an awesome 2013 packed full of fun, memories, and adventure! Wishing you and your family the very best during this new year! 🙂
Born In Me by Francesca Battistelli
Everything inside me cries for order
Everything inside me wants to hide
Is this shadow an angel or a warrior?
If God is pleased with me, why am I so terrified?
Someone tell me I am only dreaming
Somehow help me see with Heaven’s eyes
And before my head agrees, my heart is on its knees
Holy is He. Blessed am I.Be born in me, be born in me
Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me
I’ll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the end
Every moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem
Be born in meAll this time we’ve waited for the promise
All this time You’ve waited for my arms
Did You wrap yourself inside the unexpected
So we might know that Love would go that far?Celebrating Another Year!
When I came home one day this tower of goodies from Harry & David was sitting on my front porch from my Mother-in-Law! The girls were thrilled to help eat the goodies with me! 🙂
I recently celebrated my birthday (on Thanksgiving Day). The year flew by so quickly it was hard to believe I was yet again celebrating another birthday. I have so much to be thankful for in my life. What a wonderful day to celebrate and reflect on the many blessings over the past year.
Cute candle from Karlie
The night before Thanksgiving we had a Game Night with some family and friends. That night my sweet husband brought out an ice cream cake to share. I am not one that thrives on big celebrations and being put in the center of the spotlight so this was the perfect way for me to celebrate with close family and friends.
Brina ready to play the new game (In A Pickle) her and Karlie got me for my birthday.
On Thanksgiving day we had an amazing dinner and relaxed playing games (even a new game the girls picked out for me), reading books, and having fun together. It was so sweet getting the phone calls, texts, birthday cards, and other goodies to remind me of yet another great year.
My Handsome Man reading the directions so we can play the new game!
Then this week once life had calm down (a little bit, maybe) a great of girlfriends got together for a Girls Night Out to celebrate my birthday. It was nice to get out for a little bit and hang out with friends. Thankful for the neat people in my life.
Thanksgiving morning opening my gifts from the girls.
They had a blast picking out their gifts and wrapping them all by themselves!
It is my hope and prayer that this next year will be another year packed full of great memories. May God use me to make a difference in the hearts and lives of my husband, kids, family, friends and people I encounter from day to day. Even though I am another year older I feel like I still have so much to learn. May it be a year of learning, growth, and wonderful experiences!
Recipe: Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins (4 Ingredients)
As the Fall leaves continue to rain down in our yard we are enjoying some delicious treats! These Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins are super easy to make, only contain four ingredients, and taste awesome. The last time I made these for a group of friends only 2 came home with us and the girls begged to take them in their school lunches. You will not have to add any water, eggs or oil to this recipe and the muffin will still turn out with a moist.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins:
- 1 box Yellow Cake Mix
- 1 can (15 oz) Pumpkin
- 4 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 tablespoons Powdered Sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line 24 muffin tins. Mix together yellow cake mix and canned pumpkin until blended (the batter will be thicker than your typically cake mix). Scoop evenly into muffin tins (I use an ice cream scoop) and set aside. In another bowl blend softened cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Drop a small spoonful of the cream cheese mixture on top of each muffin. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar over the top of each muffin prior to serving.
The last time I made these I did about half with the cream cheese and half without cream cheese. Both were a big hit with the group, but the ones with the cream cheese went faster. 🙂
Pumpkin & Yellow Cake Mix Muffins topped with Cream Cheese & a touch of Powdered Sugar
Fresh out-of-the-oven Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
Pumpkin Cheesecake & regular Pumpkin Muffins sprinkled with Powdered Sugar and ready to be eaten
Be My Valentine: Scrapbook Highlights
Do you like to scrapbook? You don’t need to be current with your scrapbooking to do this Valentine’s Day gift (I am way behind on my scrapbooking too). Show your spouse and family you love them on Valentine’s Day by doing a Scrapbook highlighting the big events over the past year. You can do scrapbook at home with your materials or one online at Snapfish or any other great photo place. Think back over this past year and pick one or two big events for each month or two. Here is some ideas of what to include to get you started, even if you do the Holidays you’ll have plenty of special memories.- January – Happy New Year
- February – Happy Valentine’s Day
- March – Springing into Spring
- April – Easter
- May – Mother’s Day
- June – Father’s Day
- July – Independence Day
- August – Back to School
- September – First Day of Fall
- October – Halloween
- November – Thanksgiving
- December – Christmas
- Birthdays
- Fresh Start
- Weddings
- Anniversaries
- Special Trips
- Vacations
- And so much more!!!
Create you book of highlights with the scrapbook material you have or do it online. It will be a fun gift as you reflect back on the memories you made together!
Photo by shimelle
Book: “Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food”
My Mom gave me this book for Christmas 2005 Favorite Brand Name: Cooking for Kids, Kids’ Party Food. The girls were still small then but it has been a great book that all of us have enjoyed over the past few years. We love looking through it and have tried many of the recipes; several have become family favorites. It has creative recipes that the girls love helping me with and some they can do almost on their own with a little adult supervision. Once they start reading it will be even easier for them. There are are pictures along with creative ideas for cooking and parties. If you are looking for a great gift for a young child or Mom and they like to cook this may be an awesome book for them.
Fall Festivities – Pumpkin Carving
Our family enjoys celebrating the different seasons, Holidays, and events throughout the year. It has been a blast going to a variety of family friendly Fall Festivals in our area. The weekends are full of horse back riding, playing in the leaves, hayrides, bonfires, pumpkin carving and all the other fun activities while creating wonderful memories with the family.
The girls have been asking for over a month to carve pumpkins and since they were on sale recently ($3.99 for a 12 ++ pound pumpkins at BiLo) we decided to have a family night together. We had a great evening of carving pumpkins, roasting the pumpkin seeds, drinking hot apple cider and eating caramel apples. Daddy free handed the designs the girls drew out on the disposable table cloth. Everyone had a blast!
If you are wanting to find some great carving patterns that you can download here are a couple websites to check out:
Most of the designs are kid friendly (however there are a few frightful designs). There is a range from easy to difficult ones depending on what you want to do. Enjoy time with together and make it a fun celebration while creating memories together.
