Veggie-Challenged?... I think not!

I'm very excited. Not that it takes much to excite me, but I have found a new way to sneak veggies into one of Karly's favorite foods! If you know me well you know I am a little neurotic about what goes into my child's belly; and if you have read my previous post you know that she is gluten free. Regardless of what anyone says or thinks about it (yes,I have heard everyone's opinions) my child's digestive system completely changed once we remove gluten from her diet. She is now a little poopin' monkey with NO belly pains! From day one I have made her own food, even opened a little side business making it for other friends & family, and teaching them how to do it. I love the recipe book "Deceptively Delicious"! I bought it when I was pregnant so I could learn all the tricks & if you have a veggie-challenged child (or husband;) I HIGHLY recommend it! It works like a charm, they are eating veggies that normally I would hear a million complaints about & they don't even know it! wwwaaahhhaaahaaaa! (that is my evil laugh!) From french toast to mac & cheese, they are deceived! So today Karly was begging for a grilled cheese, I pulled out her bread & started to make it when I realized I am out of butter! uh-oh! I started looking thru the fridge to see what I could use when it popped into my head- I have pureed carrots!! ( I always have veggie purred in my fridge to throw into something) So I "buttered" my bread with carrots & poof! It looked perfect, took no longer to make, texture was the same & in a matter of minutes Karly had devoured it! Marvelous- a very satisfied Mom, I am! We just took an otherwise not so healthy meal & made it a little more pleasing to a mom like myself. Just wanted to share my successful moment! I really love this book, it is not hard to get your kiddies eating healthy & I have not had anything that taste bad. Plus who doesn't have extra veggies that are sitting in your fridge waiting to spoil?! Blend um up & make something tasty! As you can tell, I get a thrill out of it, my little rebellious side comes out when I cook :) lol!
PS- she has a new recipe book coming out the end of Oct with new recipes-- can't wait!

Busy Busy Bees... whew, what a weekend!

Whew, this was one of the busiest weekends, but one full of so many good things! 


Thursday night I got to head back to my old stompin' ground at the Joyce Meyer Conference, brought back a lot of old memories, good memories! (Jennifer Chislett I miss you SO much! You brought a fullness to my life like no one I have ever met before! And it didn't seem right to be there without you) Ok enough of the sentimental talk! It was great- Hillsong, Natalie, I am always amazed! And Joyce was especially funny & forward. I left with 3 life lessons:
#1- If you can't rebuke the piece of pie in front of you, you certainly can't rebuke the devil, so its no wonder why there are problems in some people's lives! lol. great analogy! So true. 
#2- Too many pews are filled with 5 yr olds still sucking on pacifiers! There are many leaders who need to pull out the pacifiers & just let them cry it out. They will eventually stop crying! (LOVE THAT ONE!)
#3- I will not be easily offended! I am making up my mind to not let people offend me.
It was a great night! 


Friday morning we got to go the Suson Farm Friday with friends (Addison, Jen, Kenley, & Beth) had a pony ride & took a hayride. Good times with great friends! (Sorry girls I need new batteries before I can upload my pix!). Friday night, was magical! I felt like I was 6 yrs old again. My mom bought us (her, Kar & I) tickets to Princess on Ice. We had the best time. We ended up getting front row seats- I could literally touch the characters! We had SO much fun. The performance was more than amazing- flawless! I am not sure of the 3 of us who had more fun, me Karly or Maw Maw. It was a night I will never forget. Getting to share those moments with Karly & my mom is just priceless. We are SO blessed to have such a good Maw Maw who loves us so much! Karly would not wear her princess dress, she wanted a tutu, however, since the show that is all she wants to wear! Karly about had a heart attack when  the 7 dwarfs came onto the ice, I thought she was going to hyperventilate! Yet, she tells everyone that Jasmine is now her favorite princess because "there was a big giant elephant on the ice"! On the way home... "How about we do that again tomorrow?!" It was pure bliss!

Maw Maw & her princess

lighting is bad, but check out her expression!

Pretty princess

Dance Class- Fall 2010

Saturday, Karly started dance again with Miss Sarah Jane. She LOVES dance!!! (Hip hop is her favorite part) Its the Jason Jordan (her god-parent) coming out in her! lol. We have talked about it every day for the past 2 weeks. 


Then after dance we headed to Eckerts for apple picking & dropped a small fortune (since when does it cost SO darn much to pick apples!?!) We had a great time picking & eating & now baking... apple crisp, homemade apple sauce to last for the next 6 months, & REAL apple juice-- YUM! Just got an email "33 recipes for apples", can't wait to get started on those! It was a really fun day for our family. We love Saturdays when we get to have our Daddy home with us!

can I tell you how much I LOVE this picture!!!! Apple Dumplins :)

Noelle & Dino (her boyfriend)

Sunday, day of rest...

Yankee Doodle...

This weekend we took Kar to have her 1st pony ride. She was SO excited, she got out of the car yelling, "PONY PONY, I WANNA SEE PONY!" She lost some of her excitement as she came nose to nose with the pony. But have no fear, Daddy was there to throw her on! lol! She fell deeply in love at first ride :) We are still talking about the pony and when she can see him again. Maybe in time her cousins will have to show her how its done & give her some lessons (hint hint Hannah & Lauren!) Here are some pictures, cause you know me, I am always documenting life thru my camera lens!

Kar on her 1st pony ride

The girls :)

Pigs eat corn & Cows are gigantic!

Love the farm!

Karly talking "turkish"

Getting too big!

There is nothing I love more than days that I have no plans & can just do whatever it is I please- today was one of those days. Karly & I went to purple cow to use our Groupon's (which was such a great deal!) then got lunch at her favorite place, JIMMY JOHNS & then to Susan park to see the animals... in which we were almost attacked by the geese, those guys need to be caged!


I just love spending this precious time with her & watching her learn new things everyday. Today she told me that pigs eat corn like she does & that cows are gigantic! I am not really sure where she gets her vocabulary from, sometimes she blows my mind! I was sitting here working on our calendar for fall & was quickly reminded that my precious baby will be 3 in just a few months. I try so hard to savor every day with her because I know it goes fast, it really goes wayyy too fast! I love the age that she is, with all her questioning, reasoning & innocence. I only pray that we can instill that in her to last a lifetime! I am so thankful for my husband who works SO incredibly hard everyday so that I can enjoy this gift. A lot of people think that staying at home is a luxury, its not luxury, it is sacrifice. It is a life change, but I can easily give up the extras in our life to enjoy the priceless days with this precious little soul. I know I am suppose to be teaching her but I think she teaches me more than I'll ever be able to teach her. I just love being her mom & am so thankful for her. 

Happy Birthday Tracey!

Mom, Me & Trace

Trace & Kim at the Chocolate Bar

Me & Trace with the infamous red flower :)

This weekend I got to get out with some of my favorite people & celebrate my big sister. Yes people, I know that she doesn't look it but she is 10 years older than me (& may hate me for telling you that!) lol! Some might think wow, what an age gap, you must have been a mistake- nope! My theory is that my 2 older sisters must have been such handfuls that it took them 10 years to consider having another... Being the youngest has its advantages, however being the youngest by 10 years, well, that is another story.  God gave me a really good sister. Growing up she always toted me around & never seemed to be annoyed with me (well maybe except when I would take her clothes without asking ;) My favorite was every Saturday morning she would wake me up & ask "wanna go bummin' with me?" Such a good sister. She never acted better than me, or looked down on me because I was so much younger. She just has always seemed like one of my best friends & that is because she is. Me being the overthinker that I am, I always thought that being the youngest meant my children will never have cousins their age to play with... (that was a prob for me!) Oh the irony! I can't believe it but I am so grateful for it, that we have children the same age! If you ask Karly "Who is your very best friend in the whole entire world?" her eyes get a little twinkle in them & she yells "LEVI" ! Family is so important to me & it means so much to me for her to experience that kinda love. I can't imagine my world without my sisters in it (even my adopted one, Kim) ;) Trace I hope you had a great one & next year there will have to be a celebration of the DECADES: 30 & 40!! -- Oh my! 

With this RING, I thee wed...

If you know my husband at all you know there is hardly ever a dull moment that goes by, you also know that he has an obsession with fish-- (yea. don't ask! I don't really get it either, but don't tell him that- shh!)

As you may have read in my earlier blog we took Kar fishing over the weekend & together they caught like a dozen fish. Some people catch fish & eat them, oh no! We bring them home as pets! LOL! All the fish were put into a plastic bucket and had a nice little ride in the back of my car home to St. Louie! Well... in the process of acclimating the fish & cleaning the pond my dear husband managed to loose his wedding ring in our pond. I hear "um honey your gonna be mad at me" never good words to hear. "what did you do now?!" and he goes on to explain... So now his wedding band lies in the bottom of the fish pond that we cannot see. "Oh and honey that was a large mouth bass, I hope he doesn't eat it!" he tells me. Only MY husband! He says he'll find it. I think it is pretty much gone. So we went tonight and found out that not many places sell "fake" men's wedding bands. Ended up in Hot Topic, which is funny in & of itself. Just thinking what the people working were thinking when in walks Jason in his button up polo & khaki's and me in my designer jeans (that no, I did not pay full price for!). Not exactly hot topic customers. LOL! I know the girl was thinking where did these 2 come from? haaa! Good laughs. Never a dull moment. So honey... I guess it is my turn to ask you, "WIll you marry me?"
Oh PS: the picture, yea, if he doesn't find his ring, I am sooo ordering this one!