Delicious Spinach

First, sorry the pictures are so big. I had already downloaded them before I realized it and truthfully....I am lazy and just don't feel like redoing them.

For the most part, we are healthy eaters. Of course, I love chocolate and hubby loves Doritos- sorry, but it's true! I am one of those mean Moms that make my kids eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. I don't make them "clean their plates", but they absolutely have to try everything! And I would much rather they eat all of their broccoli and strawberries than finish the hamburger. If they are not very hungry at meal time, fruits and veggies first then we'll see if they'd like to move on to the "main dish". All three girls are great eaters (some better than others) and probably because they are expected to eat what is prepared or not eat at all. I know...mean, mean, mean!!

Raw fruits and veggies are the best for you and spinach is such a healthy treat! The girls eat it without complaining in salads and such, but I have decided to try to add fresh veggies to many other things. Today we added lots of the green leafy stuff to both lunch and dinner.

For lunch we had these- Sun dried tomato feta, spinach, and fresh tomato quesadillas. And guess what, ladies? They were so yummy!!

And for dinner...well, the girls walked in just as I was preparing this in the blender.


"Ummm, Mom, what are you doing?!!"



"Ummm....Mom?!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! IS THAT DINNER?!!!"




And yes, it was dinner. I added pureed spinach to spaghetti sauce. The entire family ate lots and even said, "Hey, you can't even taste the spinach! This is good!"

And to add a little more goodness, we made smoothies with frozen strawberries from last year's picking extravaganza and Trader Joe's mango! Love that stuff. Sometimes we add banana or fresh blueberries. Anything to get some more vitamins and goodness in us!

Try it...secretly. I bet they'll never even notice.

In Him,

E

More praying...

First, why can't I just get what I want when I want it, already?!! Honestly. That's how I like things! And while I'm laying it all out there, waiting makes me crazy!! And I do mean crazy! But...deep down I understand (although I don't like to admit it most of the time).

So, with that being said, I ask all of you for prayers tonight. I'm not able to elaborate right now, but God is having to work overtime (is that possible?!!) on us. Our main focus is that we are true to Him and to His word. We want to follow EXACTLY what He wants from us. We're just trying to figure out what that is. Please pray for guidance and peace. We WILL follow but have to know which way to go!

And just for the record, I do need God. I need Him like I need breath. But He doesn't need my help to make things happen. That just amazes me!!

In Him,

E

I just want to add a bit to my last post. I was blessed to be able to meet Grace's family last Sunday. She is blessed with Down syndrome and is living in an orphanage in Taiwan. Prayerfully, they will be able to travel and bring home beautiful Grace by the end of the summer. Grace's Mommy posted something that struck me to the core this morning. I hear this over and over again from adopted families, but I am blessed to have a front row seat and watch God work as I follow this family's journey. To read more of their story, please visit their blog here. This is a portion of her post this morning-

"Let me tell you... If God is calling you to do anything and you are afraid to step out onto "thin air," I can ASSURE YOU that God is faithful and will do more than you can imagine if you are walking in faith. And if any of you have felt led to adopt a child but haven't (for any number of reasons), I'm here to tell you that there are miracles in adoption. If God calls, step out...HE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST! We are living proof of that. Never in my entire life have I seen such obvious and visible signs of God's fingerprints as I have in this adoption journey."

In Him,
E

A Mother's Love

A mother's love. Look at each of these sweet faces. Each of them are motherless by worldly standards. They each need a family to love and accept them totally, for what God created them to be. I pray for all of these angels today. I cry as I look at each of their sweet faces. I pray for God's peace for them.



You can tell just by looking at each face the potential they hold. Please, give them a chance. Visit Reece's Rainbow to learn more about one of the most amazing ministries I have ever been involved with.

There are waiting children all over the world who don't know a mother's love. And what extraordinary things a mother's love can do!

Several of these angels have either already been transferred to a mental institution or are on "the list". There is no love in those places.

I pray that I can live out these words- "Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

In Him,

E

My Mom

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God upon every remembrance of you. ~Philippians 1:2-3

My Mom- she is the world to me. I could write and write all the same things everyone else is saying this day, but nothing I can say can truly express the love I feel for this woman. She has literally seen me through thick and thin. When I walked through the deepest valleys of my life, she was the one walking beside me. There is hardly a day when we don't speak and many days we are blessed to be able to see each other face to face.

My children are honored to have "Mimi" in their lives. I cannot imagine any of my grandparents acting the way she does!! She is definitely not that stuffy kind of Mimi!! She is the most fun to be around and we all know that she genuinely loves spending time with each of us.

Wearing her "World's Best Mimi" crown at her Grandmother's Club meeting.

Helping her Dad with a puzzle. My Mom blessed us with a trip to visit her Dad during one of the last years of his life. Thank you, Mom, for such a wonderful gift!!

Umm....trying to beat my youngest at soccer.

She was in such a hurry to find the eggs that she didn't even bother to zip her boots!!

One of her favorite places- the beach.

With my precious niece, Stella, and my aunt this past week.

Growing up, we were the poor, deprived children who weren't allowed a trampoline because they are so dangerous. This is my Mom earlier today. Does it look like she's having fun?!!

And yes- that's my nephew, Buzz, my Dad, Woody, and my Mom, Jessie, at our Hoedown this past fall.

Mimi getting ready to run through the sprinkler!!

And there's something about the eggs!! She's trying to race the kids to find them!

I LOVE YOU, MOM!!!

In Him,

E

I HATE CANCER!!!

There. I said it. And I'll say it again- I HATE CANCER!! Today I am angry. I don't understand why so many people suffer from this horrid disease. And it makes me mad.

There are several mothers in my life who mean the world to me and I couldn't imagine my life without- one of those being my sweet sister-in-law, Markana. I have written about her before. She is courageous. She is my brother's perfect match. And she is the greatest Mom to beautiful Stella.

Please pray for Markana and for her total healing. She received some news this week that wasn't what we all hoped. Visit her Caring Bridge site to read the latest, hear her story and put a gorgeous face to her name.

Markana, I pray for an extra special FIRST Mother's Day for you this year! WE ALL LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

In Him,

E

**I wrote a post a few months ago about M. You can visit it here.

Strawberry Heaven

Strawberry Heaven- that's where we began our day. Well, let me start over. We began our day looking at good 'ole http://www.weather.com/. Gotta love those guys! After a full week of rain, our forecast today was suppose to be 0% chance of rain until this afternoon. At least that was the forecast until we were about 2 miles from the strawberry patch.....when it decided to rain. Not only did it rain but it poured complete with HAIL!! What to do with 4 kids, 30 minutes from home, picnics packed?! Go to Walmart, of course. And run!! After a bit, the rain stopped and we were able to venture out. We hurried over to the strawberry patch only for it to begin raining again. We were the fastest strawberry pickers this side of the Mississippi, I tell you!

We ended up at a sacred place- a camp that both my sister and I went to as kids. My sister met her husband while working as a counselor there. They later married in the chapel and even later, baptized their oldest at this very spot.

And our picnic- since it was still a bit drizzly, we found a pavilion for lunch.

This is cousin love!

Look at this sweet angel boy frolicking in the water (aka splashing his cousin!). He looks like he's having so much fun!!

And this is the same boy when that cousin had enough splashing and decided to splash him back. And yes, he is the sweetie who was baptized in these waters!

What started out as a frazzled morning, turned into bliss until this guy showed up....I've NEVER seen my youngest run so fast through rocky bottom water!! I do believe our friend is poisonous.


And this is what I saw when I turned around from comforting her sister after the snake incident. What sisterly love!!!

We had a great night last night at the 2 youngest girls' recital. They both love taking "Swing Kids" and boy, did we love watching their performance!!

Our middle child is in the very center of this picture- in the dark pink skirt.

And there's the youngest in light pink at the sock hop!!

Sorry to cut this short- my eyes are blurring I'm so tired. More later...

In Him,

E

FREE FOOD- PRINT TODAY!!

For those of you who like KFC, visit this site TODAY to print out a free "unfried" meal coupon. You MUST print today but the coupon is valid until May 19th. You may print this coupon up to 4 times. Now GO!

In Him,
E

This is how I decorate

One glass jar with cool lid for $1.51 at thrift store. A hubby who is a very good pecan gatherer. And one gumball. Why do I show you this, you ask? Good question.

In Him,

E

An emotional day

Phew! What an emotional day it has been for two of the dearest people in my life. As many of you know, my sister-in-law, Markana, is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. She is my age- YOUNG!:) She and my brother had a trip scheduled to MD Anderson in Houston this week for another PET scan. Markana finished her last of 12 rounds of chemo a couple weeks ago.

Mom and my aunt are there to keep precious Stella this week. The flights were booked. Hotel booked. Rental car taken care of. Or so everyone thought. They found out the hotel was in fact 12 miles away from the hospital instead of the 5 they were told. Insurance company denied the PET scan just hours before their flight was scheduled to leave today. Not sure what happened to the rental car. The floor was crumbling underneath them!!

But God works miracles!! At literally the last second everything fell into place. Markana found a B&B that had a room- what in the world is happening in Houston this week?!! Not a single place to stay! And the Super Shuttle is able to pick them up from the airport. They will rely on cabs the rest of the trip. What about the PET scan, you ask? It was finally approved just minutes before they were suppose to leave. Oh and the hospital has been trying to get this thing approved for days only to find out that the insurance company computers were down- for 2 hours on MONDAY MORNING!! FOR MAINTENANCE!! What?!

Yipee! Chip and M are finally in Houston! They still need our prayers, though. This is the first time they have both been away from Stella for any length of time. (And don't tell my Mom and aunt that I am asking for prayers for them. They are the ones taking care of that sweet angel!) And MAJOR prayers for Markana's doctors and her tests. Pray she is cancer free!!

You can follow her progress by clicking on her photo in the right sidebar.

GOD IS SO GOOD!!
In Him,
E

PLEASE PRAY

For my sister-in-law, Markana, and my brother, Chip. Details later.

In Him,

E

Grace...it's amazing!

Sorry I have been MIA. Actually, I knew exactly where I was! This weekend has been busy, but I'm back!

The sale was awesome! We met some amazing people, were able to share our story and raise funds at the same time. The grand total was.....are you ready.....JUST OVER $1400!!! God worked miracles especially with the weather. Rain was forecasted on and off for both days but we only felt sprinkles once for about 30 minutes. We began closing shop around 2:00 Saturday afternoon and at about 2:15 the skies let loose. He knew we wanted to make it until 2:00 and He let us. It was raining so hard that I do believe I have some hearing loss. The sale was in our barn with metal roofing and we were caught inside it during the downpour. I love the sound of rain hitting that roof, but it was deafening!

I was blessed yesterday by a visit from this amazing family. They are the ones bringing beautiful Grace home from Taiwan. Grace was born with Down syndrome which in so many countries is not accepted. But praise God!! Grace will be joining her new family here in the States very soon!! Please, join me in praying her home. If you feel lead to do so, hop on over to their blog and donate a few $. Every penny counts, and they are so close! Oh, and I was even blessed to receive one of these treasures. And I do mean it will be treasured- thank you!!

It looks as if more storms are coming today, and of course, I have errands to run. I hope to update more this evening. I do have a few stories to tell about the people I spoke with during the sale. God is amazing!

In Him,

E

Just postin'

We're still selling but my heart is sad. I'll update the sale later. In the meantime, watch this wonderful video. I pray one day everyone realizes how worthy all people are. Remember to turn music off at the bottom of the page.
In Him,
E

In the midst of it all...

Our sale today was very successful and it is so easy for me to get caught up in "life". But in the midst of it all....I am heartbroken tonight. I just found out this dear angel has probably been transferred. I love her as if she were my own though we have never met. Please pray for her. Please pray that she isn't scared. Please pray she has enough food and isn't cold. Please pray that her Mom and Dad will find her soon. I can't say more.

In Him,

E