Family

did I mention there is a STRONG possibility I will not be blogging on the weekends??? Well, it's true. The weekends have been beautiful and anticipated more and more in our home as the girls get older.

This weekend the girls especially anticipated it! You might be thinking it was because of the Fair that came to town and camps out two weeks over the first part of November, but it wasn't.

A few months ago, we were talking as a family and decided that since we celebrate birthdays and we celebrate anniversaries, why not celebrate family. So we started a new tradition. Every 6th day of each month (because that day will never interfere with a family bday or anniversary)  we will celebrate our family.

There are three rules-

1.) we ALWAYS have to celebrate it that day. No matter where we are or how much is going on.
2.) we have to go or do something that we normally do NOT do as a family. In other words, it has to be a stretch.
3.) we have to end the evening with an affirmation to each person (last night was naming a certain characteristic we appreciate about them)


Yesterday was our Family Celebration day and we chose to go to the movies. We never go to the movies as in, we might have taken the girls three times their whole life.


The girls have been wanting to see Courageous and so that's what we went to see.


We cried the whole movie, or at least I did.....

I have heard statistics on suicide, divorce and domestic violence many times about children of fatherless homes and it is heart wrenching. But last night it hit me so much harder. I guess that the fact that there is a very strong possibility that my girls will marry a man that came from a fatherless home, just really made me morn.






I am not just talking about the homes where father's haven't been present since conception. I am talking about the homes where the father's might very well be physically present, but emotionally and spiritually absent.



This movie did a fantastic job of showing the importance a father's role is. It also brought sorrow to me as I watched a father make a decision not to dance with his daughter in public because of the embarrassment it would have caused. Or when he wouldn't run the race with his son because he never liked running, or sitting in front of the television after a stressful day at the office just to "tune in" to believing this is what he deserved, just so he can "tune out" what he didn't want to do with his responsibility and love.





It's all about decisions in life. We make them every day. Many many times a day. If fact, every thing we do is based off of a decision.

Parenting is such tough stuff. It is by far the hardest thing I have had to do in my life. We have pre-teens in our home that are starting to decide who they want to be. Who they want to listen to. Who they put their trust in. Where they find their security. How to handle what this life brings.






And with every decision they make, every single day, there are times I wish I could go back 5 years and pour into them more and more.







We are by far not perfect parents. And I am grateful to God that He pours His everlasting grace and mercy into our lives, because sadly, so many times I just want to "tune out".







I am so very thankful for the father my girls have. I am so thankful that he takes time, hours in an evening to listen and to guide our girls. I am so thankful that when I want him all to myself sometimes or have a honey do list, I find him playing softball with them, fixing their bikes, or teaching them how to build something. I am so thankful that he has given them the perfect example of how to love me as Christ loves His church. He would lay down his life for me and for them and I know that they know that. But most importantly, I am thankful that he has shown them the total dependency he has on his Heavenly Father and that the bible is truth. They need to see that, they need to hear that, because apart from God, there is nothing.

It's more then just taking them to church,  making it to the soccer game, the piano recital or the yearly trip to Disney.

It's about decisions.

still working on my groove....

I have missed blogging, but have been so busy lately that it seems that if I were to sit down and start blogging then it would be "forced". Does that make sense?

I actually have become very fond of writing over the last year. I have never really been a "journal" kind of girl (although I encourage it now :) ). In fact, the last journaling I did was when a friend gave me a journal after I had my hysterectomy 7 years ago. She told me that she kept a journal for every major event in her life and encouraged me over that major event in my life that I journal about it.

Even when writing it, I remember being so mad at some points that I would hope no one would EVER find it and read it. To say I wasn't very nice over that week is an understatement. I believe that probably most of my journals throughout that event was triggered by my most absolutely hot temperness towards Tim. For what you might ask????..... not getting flowers sent to me while I was at the hospital.

Yes, yes, I am that selfish and I would like to to blame a lot of it on my hormonal state, but truth is, I held on to many stupid things like that and so therefore I think I was vulnerable to blowing my top even more with the state I was in. Just writing this brings to reality just how many crazy lies Satan fed me that I used to hang on too. Man, God is Good. That was an emotional time....hmmmmm, maybe journaling about that wasn't so bad of an idea.

Now, back to what I started this post with!

When I feel as though I can't get to the computer and type, or that computer decides it doesn't have enough space to load anymore of my pics and tons and tons of recipes are backing up in my head and I am not it my groove.....well, I just don't "feel" it in a post. Like it is "forced". I love it, I want to, but I feel like I am jumping hurdles sometimes to get to it.....


So, I have decided that I WILL post every other day, at least through this month. Why??

1.) because I love it
2.) because I need that challenge
3.) because sometimes I need a little forcing
4.) challenges me to cook more
5.) encourages me to dig deeper for creativity and activities with our girls
6.) and documents pieces of our life
7.) keeps me sane



so without further ado. I made this recipe last night. It is not a new one, I have had it several years and it is a favorite of many.....


Potato and Leek Soup


This is what you will need......

Chop your bacon (I normally use a half a pound, but I only had a quarter) and add to hot stock pot.....

while bacon is cooking chop and clean your leaks (two)...if you haven't ever cooked with leeks, they can be VERY dirty. Best way to clean them is cut off the bottom(where roots are) and slice length wise all the way down (creating two long halves) then flip to the flat part and chop them like you would a green onion and add to a large bowl of cold water and run your hands through them to separate them and the dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl.

When your bacon gets done cooking, remove it and set it aside. Reserving about 2 tbls of dripping in Stockpot.

You can use any baking potato, but I found a bag of these minis at Publix and well, they were cute and I thought it would look nice and cut my prep time down. So wash, and slice in half all potatoes and add to med high heat in your stockpot with reserved drippings....

this is where you will need to season with salt. So sprinkle 1-2tsp of salt (this depends if you get sodium free chicken stock). Toss and cook for about 5 mins....

Then add your leaks......

Stir leaks and let those two ingredients cook for about 3-5mins....

When you remove all your leeks from the bowl of water to discard, you will happy you cleaned them this way, and you will see the bottom of the bowl full of dirt.


Now add your stock....

Give it a stir, cover with lid and let it simmer on med high heat for about 30-45 mins.....

Stir in your bacon right before serving.....

Also, serves up awesome with a grilled cheese! Enjoy :)

Shall I.....

 give you an update??

Over all, life has been busy. VERY busy! And I realize, this blog post might be all over the place, as I jump back into the swing of things and try to get my groove on :)


This month was full of sorrow, joy, excitement, planning,  overwhelmness, praise, thanksgiving, a birthday and lack of sleep, just to name a few! I don't have too long to blog, so I will leave you with a ton few pics over October! Below will be outings we took to see the Scarecrows at the Botanical Gardens, a trip to Landmark Park, a stroll to the local Friday Farmer's Market at Dothan Nurseries (where I got the eggplant for our little grub below!), several pumpkin patches including this one, and additions to our Booth at Highland's Antique' Mall (continue to shop with us out there!).

We are tying up all ends with the close, including cancelling phone service, which will then cancel my Centurytel email account, which this blog and my facebook is registered under. If you subscribe to this blog and after this post no longer receive any posts via email, then you will most likely have to come back and re-subscribe :/ sorry! I hope it will be an easy transition and it will not have to go that far, but sometimes these little problems can turn into big ones. But for now, enjoy the outings below.........

This is my favorite time of year, and I truly LOVE the fact that we have a local Farmer's market going on through the third week in November at Dothan Nurseries.....

Sometimes, we just love to eat fresh simple things, locally grown, for an easy, yet beautiful lunch......

And don't forget while you're at the Nurseries to pick up some beauties.....

And for some odd reason, I feel as though I must put a sentence here to divide up these pics and explain the ones below. So for the ones that haven't seen or visited our booth at the Highland's, then here's a sneak peek.... (two sentences.... I feel better...)

We officially closed our shop the day before my birthday....

Little did a friend know that when she dropped off a little something for me on my last day.....

Truly, one of the most special and cherished gifts I have received........

Lil Light O Mine created these precious, beautiful scripture cards with children in mind. But I assure you, they will bless and encourage any age......

 I hope you will visit their website. These would make an awesome gift!

I also hope you enjoyed the pics and they give you a little inspiration to get out, visit and enjoy these local places! Be back soon with more recipes and ideas including this one.......

  Good night y'all!