Molly

The puppy

, http://oklahomacity.kijiji.com/c-Pets-Dogs-puppies-for-sale-Rat-terrier-puppies-W0QQAdIdZ57619081

Mary

Poor Mary (this is the dog we,okay, I lost after having for 30 minutes!) Well, here is an update. After a crazy 10 days of posting signs, reposting signs because the rain storms either tore them up or blew them down (the 3rd time I posted them I had them laminated), going to the pound a couple of times, calling pounds and agencies, checking online at all the rescue places we listed her on, going door to door, driving around, more driving around, yet again, more driving around, talking to people, more talking to people, yet again, more talking to people (especially children that are constantly outside), praying, more praying, yet again, more praying... you get the picture. The night before last the doorbell rang at about 9:30. This is unusual so I said, "Maybe it's M-A-R-Y!" (So, the kids wouldn't be let down if it wasn't). Derrick went and answered the door and Bay and I had been reading the bible on my bed so we stayed put. I heard a little girl say, "We found your dog!" My feet hit the floor! Bailey came running too. I called Samantha out of bed and she came running! It was SO exciting! After 10 days, we were beginning to think we'd never see her again! It was her! I wanted to give the 3 kids standing at our door a million dollars! I hugged the girl! She told us that she found her in her garage and she thinks she was eating the dog food in there. Mary looked pretty rough for Mary who is a beautiful dog. Probably one of the first things I noticed was she had chewed through her leash! She had monstrous, grandaddy ticks (as Ryan and I used to call them) all over her and she looked skinny. It was pretty obvious that her leash had gotten caught on something in the field she had run into. She had to chew it off. Now we know that she was out in all those thunderstorms that we had worried about her being in and we had a few good ones too! Atleast she had water! She was happy to see us! We fed her and gave her water. The kids were happy and she followed them around. It was bittersweet too though because we, along with her original owners, decided for her to go back home with them (this was only a trial to see if she would work out well with our family anyway). They are the sweetest family and missed her like crazy through this whole mess! So, they came and got her. She was extremely happy to see them and whined as if she was trying to tell the story of what had happened to her. We were all so happy that our prayers were answered and I am just so thankful! I still have to stop myself from looking for her every time I drive somewhere! Mary has changed my heart about being against adding a dog to our family at this time! So, we are just praying for the right puppy to be an addition to our family for Bay's birthday. Shh, don't tell Bay like Aunt Juanita tried to! Ha! Ha! She said, "So I hear you're getting a dog for your birthday!" I think Bay kind of looked at her funny! I will put pictures on of the kids with Mary soon!

Fireflies

The kids really discovered lightning bugs tonight. There have been so many of them outside. The kids hardly knew which direction to go! They were excited! Derrick, Bay, Sam, & I caught lightning bugs in a jar. Then we all got in the closet and watched them. That was fun and reminded me of when I used to catch them when I was little!

Comments

Sorry, I just realized that I had it set to where some couldn't leave comments. I fixed that so I would love to hear from anyone!

Doing a little renovation!

If you want posts e-mailed to you when the blog is updated instead of having to check the blog all the time, there is a box up in the right hand corner to subscribe.

Isabella's dedication day

We dedicated Isabella to the Lord last Sunday. Yes, she has to make that decision on her own but we pray that she and all her generations to come will say as Joshua did, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 Here she is at Papa Rick's house. He made that dress for Samantha for her dedication!

Elvis Sandwich

My mom had really been wanting to try that new sandwich place, Which Which so we did and I do think it was probably good had my order ( a Monte Cristo, Barb!) been right (Thank you, mom, it was good anyway!) Anyway, they had a sandwich called the Elvis sandwich that we didn't get but it sounded good. It was with peanut butter, honey, and bananas. I guess Elvis used to eat those grilled a lot. Well, I have a healthier version that can be used with honey or jam and it is good! The kids love it too! I use whole wheat bread, NATURAL peanut butter (no added sugar), the preserves the kids and I made (made with Stevia- a natural sweetener derived from the Stevia herb that is found at health food stores and quite expensive but lasts for a long time because you don't have to use very much at all), bananas, and smart balance butter and grill it like a grilled cheese sandwich. It is really good and I think I'll be eating it for the next week!
Okay, so, anyone can probably figure out I love food and to eat! :)

Driller's game with the cousins

My mom had the idea to take the cousins to a baseball game while Dana and Ryan did missions stuff in Chicago and invited us along. It was a scorching hot day and I don't think mom or I caught any of the game but the food was good! We didn't stay long and when we were leaving kind of envied the people swimming at Big Splash next to us! Also, note the picture where the kids were walking toward the mascot and Samantha was headed the opposite direction!

Samantha's first hair cut!

Sis and I went and got our hair cut together today!

A unique way of making lasagna

Okay, well, I've been a little busy to blog! Dog hunting is very time consuming! The kids are very well educated now and have been to the pound a couple of times. They like it there, though, sis gets a little scared at times and holds onto my leg. Sometimes we can feel a big dog's breath on us and it even scares me a little! Bay has had a lesson and knows what mange is now. By the way, anybody who has not heard his impression of Job (our cat) when he met the dog we had briefly must hear it! Be sure to ask him what the cat said. I make him do it all the time and it still cracks me up! Okay, so I said there'd be a recipe for lasagna. This is really good! I don't know why I like it so much better than lasagna! It must have something to do with using shell pasta and adding spinach to it. I went to a friend's house to make strawberry preserves and she served us this for lunch. I have made it for dinner two times in a row and as our family eats it quickly (even the kids love it), I would honestly make it for dinner again tomorrow night if I could get away with it! The kids helped me make it (they stirred the cheese mixture and put it in the shells). It was a lot of fun cooking with them and I think I'll try to do it more often. They also helped make preserves (they loved cutting strawberries-and eating some- with plastic knives and mashing the strawberries). Not only do we get to spend time together, though the kitchen is messier, they are not off making a mess somewhere else while I am cooking! I think Bay's favorite part is licking the spoons afterwards.

Spinach Lasagna
First I make the meat sauce. I used 2 pounds of lean ground beef. You can use store-bought spaghetti sauce but I like it with this homemade recipe: 1 can (13 oz.) can tomato puree, 1 (12 oz.) can tomato sauce, 2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste, 1 TBS salt, 1 tsp italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp. pepper. Simmer while preparing meat and onion.
I cook the meat and a sweet yellow onion, drain and then add everything for the sauce and let simmer. Then add the meat mixture at the bottom of a pan. Then you stir cottage cheese (small container), ricotta cheese (whole container), an egg, and spinach (either from a can or boil some spinach leaves until they look wilted. I was actually surprised that I preferred the stronger flavor of the canned spinach. You can't taste the other, it basically is just "health content") together & put it inside large pasta shells. Place on top of meat mixture (make sure shells are deep enough into mixture so they soften and covering pan with foil will also help that), put shredded mozzarella cheese on top (if you want), and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min.- 1 hour.

A wild day!

To all who want to keep up with the dog situation...
So, we had a dog for approximately 30 minutes today. Today has been wild! Well, if I wasn't holding a baby and didn't have a toddler at my feet I could have caught this cute little rat terrier! Here are just some highlights of the day: After I ran inside and put the baby in the exersaucer I still had Samantha running by my side as I tried to catch this dog running down the street. As you know, Samantha can't keep anything around her tiny waist and her skirt kept falling down to her feet and she kept crying and I kept saying, "C'mon!" as I leaned down to pull her skirt up and scoot her along with me. I was right by the dog but one more time I was helping her get her skirt up when the dog just disappeared out of sight! I couldn't keep going because the baby was in the house and I couldn't just let the house out of sight! My mom came back with all this stuff she had bought for the dog and saw me walking empty-handed down the street back toward the house (Sorry mom and thanks for taking care of the kids!). So, after much searching through a field with grass almost taller than my head (with the help of my friends son, thank you!), lots of driving around, posting signs, and finally the grand finale of meeting a neighbor in a most unusual way. I thought I saw a dog jumping in the field of cows that the dog had originally disappeared in. So, I called my neighbor and friend once again (thank you, thank you, thank you!) and she came to watch the kids in the car while I pursued this dog in the field. My neighbor was watching and came over. He assured me that it was okay to go in the barbwired fence because he was a lawyer and he said it was worse to have your property (dog) on their property than to be on it getting it. So, through the barbwire I went and then he said he'd go. So, he went under the barbwire (which was not the easiest thing to do) and ran to "the dog" that was actually two dogs that were not "the dog". Then the big herd of cows began to chase him and my heart began to fall that it was all for nothing! He was so scared he said he almost chunked the dog food which I had given him in a cup to lure the dog (thanks for the tip, Dana!) ;) When I came back my friend, he, & I laughed about the cows being after him and I finally I introduced myself. Embarrassing...embarrassing...embarrassing!

A Quote about marriage

John Piper said this (Building Strong Families, Dennis Rainey) of marriage, "But there is another deeper, more foundational level where the glory of God must shine if these roles are to be sustained as God designed. The power and impulse to carry through the self-denial and daily, monthly, yearly dying that will be required in loving an imperfect wife and loving an imperfect husband must come from a hope-giving, soul-sustaining, superior satisfaction in God. I don't think that our love for our wives or theirs for us will glorify God until it flows from a heart that delights in God more than marriage. Marriage will be preserved for the glory of God and shaped for the glory of God when the glory of God is more precious to us than marriage."

Adopt a Pug: Kinko: Petfinder

Adopt a Pug: Kinko: Petfinder

What is beauty?

Is it putting on lipstick, having our hair done, getting our nails done...or does it go much deeper than that? I was reading an article today and I stopped when I read, "Politeness is to a man what beauty is to a woman." Of course, this was not a new idea to me but it struck me again anyway. So, I asked Derrick if it were more important to him that I be polite or attractive. He immediately said polite. Not that we shouldn't make ourselves to be attractive but how much more profitable for us to have beauty on the inside than the outside? I guess that's why the Bible says, "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Since beauty is fleeting I think I'd do well to focus more on the inner. Our pastor spoke today of having integrity by being the same person at home as in public. It humbles me because I fail so often. Shouldn't we treat those closest to us the best? I aspire that...I aspire that. I know I can only do it by the grace of God.

Bella eating solids now!

Sam on the baby brother bandwagon and the dog!

As many of you know, Bailey has been praying for a baby brother and a dog for some time now. Now, Samantha is convinced she needs a baby brother too! One day we were all driving in the car and Bailey was asking us if he could have a baby brother. That night Samantha (who had climbed into our bed- thunderstorm or something) woke me up at 4 a.m. saying in a soft, sweet and always raspy voice, "A baby brudder, mama? A baby brudder?" I cannot describe how sweet it was. She must have been dreaming about it! Now, as for the dog, it looks like it may be closer to being added to our family! My mom seems to think she needs to get him one for his birthday (Mom! Don't deny this! Why else would you ask the child, "Do you want me to get you a dog for your birthday?") Either I look like the bad guy (I couldn't get Derrick to say no, just that it's my decision) or he gets the dog! ;) Okay, so I'll admit part of me thinks it would be nice to have one but I also know it seems like a lot of responsibility! The dog in the picture is my father-in-law's "Sissy." She is the sweetest, lickiest dog you will ever meet!

At the park

We got together with some family (a small reunion) and had a picnic at a water park! It was fun! We hadn't seen their kids in awhile and I think you kind of freeze them in your mind how you last saw them! I couldn't believe how much they had grown!

Sam's bunk bed!

Yay! We finally got it! She loves it!

Babysitting anyone?

Our anniversary is coming up! The 29th of this month we will be celebrating 6 years! That only leaves 44 until our big 50th bash! I'm looking forward to that one!

P.S. Derrick, what are we doing? ;)

A school day

Samantha's "hat"

A friend of mine had asked me what to get for Samantha's birthday. I said, "Don't worry about it! She would be thrilled over a pack of gum!" Which, this is true! I remember Bay's party last year. He pulled everything out of his bag, found some gum in the bottom, didn't even look at the other stuff, and went around and showed everyone his pack of gum! Well, our friends weren't able to come to her party and had sent a gift home with Derrick the other night. She had put an outfit and two packs of gum in it. Well, Samantha did like all those things. But what seemed to really thrill her? The tissue paper! She said it was her hat! Here she is with her new outfit on and her "hat"!

A Fun Day

This was a fun day! Derrick came back from Tennessee that night! On the way to Ashley's party there was a bad storm. We got hailed on for a couple of minutes. Then we saw some buildings that got torn up just before we passed (they were on the news)! I couldn't believe the weather was good enough that the kids could swim by the time we made it to Kellyville! Later that night my mom made a really good dinner and had the cousins and us over. Derrick brought shakes home that night (the kids with the two straws).

Last day of school!

Today was our last day of school! It's been a fun year! They ate firetrucks but their official "end of school year" party will be the next Friday Derrick has off (he has drill this weekend).

Bella's first word

Of course, just like her brother & sister- "dada"! She started saying it yesterday and says it over and over again! Bay & Sam wanted her to be the "flag holder" today!

Gymnastics

Samantha moved up to Bay's class today and felt so big! She was so excited that G-ma Bobber came to watch them today!

Thank you

Just want to say thank you to all of you encouragers and faithful readers! It makes me feel loved that you enjoy reading our blog!

Brave Little Amber

After reading the "Brave Samantha" post my mom sent me this picture of me after having my own scraped knee around Sam's age.