a sweet one word reminder {amen}

I'm constantly in awe of how our God is so attentive to details. And I'm equally amazed at how the Spirit (our Helper) is always ready and willing to speak to our hearts at every stage of our lives.

Let me explain.

For you church going folk...I'm curious if this has ever happened to you.

This past Sunday our worship leader, Jason W, led us in worship by singing Manifesto by The City Harmonic. (GREAT song by the way.) Now I've sung this song a number of times in the past, but never has it spoken to my soul like this past Sunday.

If you simply read the lyrics of the song you'd find that at least 50% of the words are "Amen." Over and over again.

In the past, if I'm being completely honest, I've found my mind wondering to my grocery list or scheduling what I am going to do during nap time during this song. I know... terrible... but true. Not yesterday. Yesterday it was as if the words "amen, amen, amen..." were EXACTLY what I needed to be singing (and what my soul needed to hear).

You see "Amen" is one of those words that very few people even know the meaning of. Because I'm a dork and love a good word study, I know that "Amen" in both Hebrew (OT language) and Greek (NT language) means "so be it" or "let it be so."

'amen - אָמֵן verily, truly, amen, so be it, let it be so

Now for those of you who know us well, you know that we are in an extended season that could easily be marked by the words "Let it be so."

And I'd venture to guess that a number of you reading are also in a similar season.

It's certainly not an easy season...but because God is a trustworthy God, I love that I can rest in the simple word "Amen" and pray that my soul would find comfort in the sovereignty of God Almighty.

My prayer today is that you can rest in that truth as well.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

"Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, 'Amen!'"

- Psalm 106:48

Read more...

Steph's Pick | Southwestern Sausage Quiche

I don't like eggs.

Not one bit.

I don't like them scrambled. Or fried. Or sunny side up. Or sunny side down (is there is such a thing). And I certainly don't like them in a casserole or quiche.

That is until yesterday.

You see I was the last person to sign up to bring food for MOPS and of course the only two items left were two egg dishes. Hehe. I had to chuckle that I'd be making my very first egg dishes for other people.

Turns out one of them was pretty decent. It was actually quite delicious (if I do say so myself).

A Southwestern Sausage Quiche. I just might be turning over a new leaf.

Southwestern Sausage Quiche

From PlainChicken on Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

1/2 lb sausage

2 eggs

1/4 cup Ranch Dressing

1/4 cup sour cream

1/3 cup milk

1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies (Ro*Tel), Drained

1 whole unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie shell

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large skillet, cook sausage until well browned. Drain off grease and set aside. Whisk together eggs, ranch dressing, sour cream and milk. Add sausage, cheese and Ro*Tel. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into prepared pie crust.

Bake 1 hour. Allow quiche to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Read more...

♥ cookie dough ♥

Confession time...

There's no hiding why we make cookies in this home...

for the dough!!!

And in case you're interested.... we've been using Kiley's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (thanks Kiley!).

Read more...

an {indoor} amusement park

Upon receiving Nora's baby book, I noticed there was a "First Amusement Park Trip" page. Now I'll be honest - I thought (and still think) it's a bit weird to have this in a baby book. But because I'm a gotta-fill-out-everything-in-the-baby-book kind of girl I was itching for Nora's first amusement park visit.

We finally had our first opportunity on Labor Day. We had just learned about this new indoor amusement park for kids and figured it would be a fun family outing. So we hopped in the car and off we went.

Now believe it or not - Nora was a bit skeptical at first and wasn't too crazy about trying any of the rides but finally we were able to encourage her to try the swings.

Here she is getting ready for her very first amusement park ride to begin...

And of course a {funny to us but maybe not to you} video...

Now between the swing ride and the little choo-choo train ride Nora was in HEAVEN! She specifically stayed on the train ride for about 10+ rides in a row and was all smiles each time. Too cute!

Our trip to this little amusement park has made us very excited about an upcoming trip to Disneyland that we're planning with the family. Adelyn and Nora are going to LOVE it!

Read more...

elsie's dedication & blessing

This past weekend we were honored to be able to dedicate Elsie at our church.

Now they've changed things up a bit since we dedicated Nora. One of the main things that has changed is that the parents are asked to write a special blessing that they read to their child the day of his/her dedication.

We were encouraged to read the book "The Blessing" by Gary Smalley and John Trent (awesome book - I'd totally recommend it) and pray through the blessing we want to give our children as they grow older.

Here's our blessing to Elsie Grace:

Sweet Little Elsie,

What an incredible blessing you are to all who know you! From the moment we found out we were expecting we haven’t stopped dreaming of all of the great things God has in store for you.

Elsie Grace – today (and everyday of your life) we commit to raising you in a home that is marked by true greatness - a passionate love for Jesus Christ that demonstrates itself in an unquenchable love and concern for others. We pray that you would grow up with a desire to personally know Jesus and that you would serve people with the same love Jesus showed us by dying for our sins on the cross.

As your middle name designates - our prayer also is that you would come to fully understand the truly amazing grace that our Heavenly Father has given those who know Him and that you would grow up to be a woman that is full of grace and truth.

Elsie – we are confident of God’s great plan for your life and so grateful to be able to call ourselves your mommy and daddy.

With much love and humility –

Mommy & Daddy

Thanks so much to all who were able to be with us at church this past weekend - both friends and family. We're so thankful for the incredible people God has put in our lives who also have committed to helping us raise our girls to love and serve Jesus with all of their hearts.

Read more...

make it work

I'll admit - I've only watched one season of Project Runway, so I'm a bit under-qualified to use PR Host Tim Gunn's famous phrase "Make it Work." But that doesn't mean that I don't think that there is some great truth in those three little words.

In actuality I really do think that in everyone's lives we're constantly "Making it work" - whatever that might mean for your family.

Right now for me "it" means (just to name a few)...

- my exhausted, still hugging baby weight body

- the "just didn't turn out right" dinner

- our broken dishwasher

- the french pedicure turned - eh - I have no idea what to call it now

- and finally - we're making a two bedroom condo work with our 4-person family by putting our little Elsie in our closet :) Complete with necklace mobile and personal fan. She's living the high life, huh?

Here's a sneak peek...

**I post this picture solely for our documenting purposes

What is your "it" right now?

Read more...

Steph's Pick | Happy Tots Organic Superfood

It's official... I'm starting a "Mamas of Picky Eaters Anonymous" group.

After seeking advice on Scottsdale Moms Blog this week via my post "Mommy SOS | Picky Eaters" I'm happy to have found a group of ladies that love (wink, wink) meal times as much as I do!

You see, Nora is a picky eater. Ugh... so sad about that because I'm a bit of a foodie. Here's how Urban Dictionary defines a foodie...

Foodie - A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.
A foodie is not necessarily a food snob, only enjoying delicacies and/or food items difficult to obtain and/or expensive foods; though, that is a variety of foodie.

And of course a picky eater is probably the furthest from a foodie by definition. So needless to say we've been having a little battle each and every day around the hours of 8 am, 12 pm and 6 pm.

Well I'm happy to report that thanks to some great suggestions on the above mentioned Scottsdale Moms Blog post we've at least found something that Nora will eat (that contains veggies) - Happy Tots Organic Superfood Pouches!!! Yipee!

Now do I want to have Nora eating these for the rest of her life? - No! But I figure it's at least working now. Like so many things in parenting you sometimes just gotta to do what you gotta do to get through the day ;)

Note: I'm also looking into purchasing a Sili Squeeze so I can make my own little pouches for Nora (at a much lower cost of course).

All for now... just a little something to consider if you too find yourself in a picky eater situation.

Read more...