Christmas in July!!!

When I heard there was a big sale at Target of up to 75% off I made sure everyone was presentable, threw the kids in the car, and headed to Target. If you have a large family like ours you absolutely MUST learn to shop for Christmas all year long and find the best deals. By the time we got there the toys had definitely been picked over, but it was still fairly easy to find birthday and Christmas presents because of the age range and genders of the kids. In the end I got about half of out Christmas shopping done and one birthday taken care of. This is what I got for $125 - so excited!!!

We did it! - One year anniversay in a blended family

It might sound a little dramatic to be so excited that we made it a year with our marriage and family still intact. Honestly, like all things, it is ONLY by God's grace that we made it through. With all the excitement and trials added to our first year of marriage I feel like I ran into a tornado and was spit out on the other side. As you and I know, the eye of the tornado is beautiful. So at the end of year one I love my husband more than ever. I didn't think we could be better friends, but we are. I love all of the kids more each day. I love my Savior more because of His mercy. I love my new baby boy who lives up to his name - Joyful Healer.

I love tradition, so our anniversary definitely surrounded the idea of it being our paper anniversary. We didn't do anything big. We had four ours to ourselves, so we walked around the local downtown area to visit shops and have lunch. I purchased tickets to a concert for him (the tickets are paper of course) and since we couldn't go out of town this month my wonderful husband put together clues on paper to show that he was getting us a cabin to go back to our miniature honey moon. He also wrote me a poem in Welsch.

So here's to paper! Just like the marriage certificate isn't just a piece of paper, these memories aren't just pieces of paper. To me, it is a reminder of our love for eachother, and God's sustaining love for us, over this first year. May God be so kind to us in every year that follows!

I tried my hand at Dill Pickles - but I'm no Martha Stewart

Take it from the pro, Martha Stewart. I did. My good friend over at Just the morning coffee encouraged me to do this so I tried my hand at Martha Stewart's recipe for dill pickle spears, and they turned out pretty good.





The ingredients







The finished product



Just in case you need to see a picture of how you submerge the cucumbers in the vinegar mixture.

Hope yours turn out delicious too!





Little hands, little feet, little you... BIG God

Kids are intrigued by the smallest things. This is a closed down blockbuster near our house. After a trip to the local frozen yogurt shop, my children stared in amazement at the empty space. As I look across this picture I cannot help but notice the small one. The one whose height seems so big compared to my newborn, but so small compared to the rest of the world. This is my baby girl -  and yesterday I put her on a BUS to her first VBS! For people who know me, you migh think I've lost my mind. I never would have done this a year ago, or really even a month ago. All I can say is God is at work. The reason I would have never sent her before is because I fear so much that my children will be hurt... and they may be... really, honestly, they will be. Someday, someone is going to hurt my children, and my heart will break everytime theirs do. But I also have to believe truth. God loves my children more than I do and will protect them. I did everything to ensure this is a safe church, with safe transportation. I even took down the license plate of the bus. Now I have to believe that God's hands can protect her more than mine ever can. That little girl, so brave to get on that bus with all her siblings, is still just that... my little girl. But more than that she is God's little girl. So I trust that she is in His hands, I pray for her safety and speedy return, and I find joy in all she learns about our Savior in the process. Because ultimately I want her too, to grow up to trust His hands.

And the list goes on

33. Family vacations
34. The zoo
35. Serendipity coffee
36. New clothes
37. A peaceful car ride
38. Adoption finalization
39. A dear friend being our lawyer pro bono
40. Being married to my best friend
41. Three story ferris wheels
42. Red picnic table
43. Kangaroo paws
44. Matthias learning to read
45. Losing more baby weight
46. Walks with my iPod
47. Late night conversations
48. Anniversaries
49. Dinner with dear friends
50. Starbucks coffee straight from the Seattle store
51. Finding the right shade of grey for our walls
52. Buying the couch we had in mind
53. The opportunity to serve because God has blessed us
54. Time with extended family
55. A patient husband
56. Linen sheets
57. Cheap homeschool curriculum
58. The chiropractor
59. Knock knock jokes
60. Amanda sissy moving home!

Fancy free in NYC

There was so much we did on our vacation trip to New York that it will take many posts to cover it all. This was my first trip to New York (except a brief -less than 40 hours- trip a few months ago to see his Omi before she went to be with the Lord) Of course I want to start with my favorite night. The night with no kids! (except baby, but he hardly made a peep) Two nights before we left, my wonderful mother-in-law listened for our kids while we stayed out until 4am running from Manhattan to SoHo. Honestly, we spent most of our time on the subway getting from Long Island to Penn Station to our destinations, but it was an adventure none the less.



waiting for our first subway ride to manhattan



So the first place we headed was to Manhattan to see the place I have been obsessed with since 2001. I have seen the movie Serendipity close to 200 times... really. I love everything about the movie and knew that when I went to NY I would have to go and see the movie's name sake. I knew it so well from the movie that I could spot it from two blocks away based on the street lamp out front.

I was SO excited to be there... even though it was almost midnight.

The staff was so friendly, even though we entered the shop five minutes before closing. I just had to order their famous frozen hot chocolate... mine was mint chocolate and amazing!



FACT: Jackie Kennedy wanted to buy this recipe to serve at a White House function and the owner said no.


I loved the decor... if I could replicate it without being fearful of six kids breaking anything, I so would.




These two photos are the downstairs portion of the shop where we sat.







This is the upstairs




AND this is the table that John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale sat at and said these lines:
Jonathan: This is the ultimate blend to drink. How'd you find this place?
Sara: I first came in because of the name: Serendipity. It's one of my favorite words.
Jonathan: It is? Why?
Sara: It's such a nice sounding word for what it means: a fortunate accident.

Of course I had to take something home, so I bought this awesome platter that I am so in love with.

Just wondering if I should actually use it for serving or decor...



My husband is truly the best for making sure I got to experience this dream :-)

Next we headed down towards SoHo to see a place he wanted to see... a pub called Mcsorley's. Unfortunately we made it there right as they were closing so he didn't get to have a beer there. He's always putting my wants before his... i was really sad we didn't make it in time.

There did end up being a cool little hat store still open next door called Village Scandal, so we wondered in. We bought a couple of hats that we thought were pretty cool.

All in all, I think this might have been one of the best nights ever!

More NY posts to come.

Eucharisteo - "he gave thanks"

So very much to be thankful for:

15. Sweet conversations with my six year old daughter
16. A husband who takes the middle of the night feeding so I can...
17. Sleep :-)
18. God's provision
19. A joyful baby
20. Fresh flowers always
21. Catching up with friends
22. Husband home early from work
23. Rachel Hollis
24. Andrea Hollis
25. Breakfast for dinner
26. Bedtime stories
27. Caramel macchiato
28. God's word- his love letter
29. Evidence of God's truth in our children
30. Motherly advice from...
31. My second mom
32. A husband who never gives up