Frosted Tea Cakes

My girls enjoyed making this delicious treat with their mama... and we ALL enjoyed devouring them. With their slight lemony flavor and thick puffy consistency, topped off with light and creamy frosting, these cakes are rich and decadent and sure to please any palette.

Here is the recipe for these bakery pleasures: Frosted Tea Cakes

I adore this site! A baker's delight!

I'll suffice to say that it's a very good thing we had plenty of company around to help scarf them all down and you know... spare us the hassle of clearing the plate all by ourselves.


Because trust me; we would, too.

Fresh and clean... my fifth blessing is destined to be dirty mellow; a laid back, patient one...

Getting a bath, diaper change, hair wash as well as lotion applied {all in the matter of minutes, I might add} is a rarity in her world...

As she is one of five who take up mommy's seemingly low on supply and limited time.

"There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." -Brian Tracy

Soccer, soccer, soccer... and more soccer.

In answer to THIS post:
THIS will be our life for the next few months with 4 of our 7 family members devoted to a soccer team of some sort, size and color. Life revolves around the things and activities you choose to be involved in... and for a season, one of our family's choices is SOCCER!

This last Saturday we had a full day of spectating! Here the kids are finding shelter from the cold wind, while watching Mommy's second in command play her first soccer game, EVER! That's right, she is taking a break from gymnastics to give soccer a try... she did great! Thoroughly enjoyed it. She makes sure she reiterates over and over again, though, that gymnastics is her fave! Well, soccer, so sorry, you're just the unfortunate second favorite.

Both my husband and I think it is good to give kids the opportunity to try many things, activities and sports... it gives them more of a perspective so they can make persuaded informed decisions of their own about which direction to take their lives and what to make a priority.

Her team was a bit unorganized, unprepared and hadn't even had a practice prior to their first game, but they were troopers! They came out and gave the opposing team a run for it!



She played goalie along with giving every other position a try, too (I have NO idea what those are called, HA!).

So along with practices and games, we'll be busy with soccer 5 days a week for awhile... whew... this is going to be FUN!!

My mending basket is overflowing! I suppose it is time to tackle it's contents... patches, seams, buttons, knit flowers... any takers?

A fragrant aroma

A plant is living, it is beautiful and disperses a delightful fragrance when in full bloom! Every Easter, we get our kids a plant, some watering cans or some gardening gloves... something to the effect of gardening!! It's spring and Easter... I just think plants are a delightful companion to those two occasions...

I hide each plant carefully and let the kids hunt for them Easter morning. They enjoy it! Then they look forward to planting and taking care of their OWN plants. Such a joy!



As Christians, we are alive in Christ! We are God's beautiful bride, He looks with compassion upon us and out flows from Him an outpouring of His loving kindness! He finds pleasure in and it is His joy to have a relationship with each and every one of us! Our praises and prayers, rise to His throne and are more pleasing to His heart than the sweet smelling aroma of flowers in full bloom would be to their caretaker.
Just as we are given life, through Christ, live in harmony with other believers and are to live a life worthy of the calling... so these plants will be given life in our flower garden, to work together with all of the other blooms, in harmony, pleasing every passer-by with it's beautiful colors and fragrant aromas, working together to fulfill the purpose they have been given!
Not without the life giving water, though. Just as WE need to be fed the Word, and daily drinking in and accepting ALL the fullness of God's living water... so these plants will be relying on us for their daily drink of life-giving water and life sustaining care.
Weeds will try and choke out these plants, try and discreetly maneuver them selves underneath the delicate flower's leaves shooting down deep roots, hidden beneath the soil... so often it's easy to neglect putting in that extra effort of opening up our hearts to be inspected closely, areas of OUR hearts where it would be painful to have things that have become deeply rooted, removed... those sins that have slowly creeped into the normalcy of our lives. From a distance everything looks green, well taken care of and in order... but when up close, those patches of dryness, bug eaten leaves and green, pokey weeds become visible. Just as a gardener, wouldn't stand from a distance to care for his garden, but closely inspects and tends to his plants, God is there to carefully pull those defects out of our hearts! He tenderly weeds out any and every imperfection... and doesn't stop there!! He doesn't leave those painful holes and bare spots hurting... He fills them with something beautiful. All He calls you and me to do is let go, and HE will make us to be the beautiful thriving flowers he has designed us to be.
The sacrifice He has paid for us was severe, and to deny His gift of life, and the tender care He freely bestows on us, is ever more sad than even a flower saying no to the water of it's loving gardener who has taken care of it since a seedling, and wilting to it's death or being choked out by unruly weeds by choice... how sad!
Let's say YES to Him today, accept the tenderness of His touch, watch as He takes joy in caring for our every need, daily filling us to overflowing with the fullness of His Word and drawing out the most beautiful, fragrant blooms in every area of our lives!

Happy EASTER!!




"Do you like MY Easter dress?"

-My little man

~

Beef and Nerds. It's what's for breakfast?

It's not everyday that you'll find our household, early in the morning, swimming suit clad, chowing down on left-over colored Easter eggs, nerds and cereal for breakfast.

But, alas... today you certainly would have.

~

It's not everyday that you'll find us, instead of using our huge, available table, bar or counter top, eating on the kitchen floor, off of a tray, Microwaved left over McDonald's hamburgers for breakfast.

But, alas...

today you most certainly would have.

That's what's for breakfast!

(The day after Easter anyway)

Before & After

We have owned our house for 4 1/2 years, have lived in it for nearly 3 1/2 years and I am proud to say we have finally finished remodeling the kitchen. (Yes, Yes, YES!)

The cupboard knobs were the last to come, and it was questionable at times as to whether we could get that important little finishing touch DONE... but we have prevailed.

Behold, a finished kitchen(for the most part... don't look too close... heehee)

Before:

Before and then after... a subtle yet extremely beneficial change!
After:

I {heart} my Christmas gift red dishes!
Before:

Notice we've even re-remodeled part of our kitchen since it has been over 3 years and all since we started... A new kitchen faucet...After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Thank you, Father, our provider, and from where all good things come... for the blessing of a roof over our heads and the Love of your SON.

Thank you, my Main man for all of your hard work to give us a lovely kitchen for our family to call our baking and munching home.

~