The dawn of a new score...

Tomorrow is Caleb's birthday.  This is his very last night of his teen years. 
I am not sure how a score of years has passed so quickly.
There have been so many milestones in these first twenty years.
First steps... First words

First fish

First Car

Hunting trips with Dad

Getting baptised

 Finding his own style

High School graduation

Although tomorrow, by the world's standards is not a milestone birthday, I don't agree. Embarking into your 20's is a milestone - an exciting one.

We are proud of the Godly man that Caleb has become, and look forward with expectancy to see how God will lead him and grow him in the years to come. 

Stay tuned to see the celebration.



  

Number three and One Whole Hand

The third birthday in February for us to celebrate is Abbie's. 

She just turned 5.  One whole hand.

Here is our girl in her special birthday chair...

Opening gifts in the morning...

{some special Lego horses from a special brother}

 {a beautiful princess dress made by Hannah}

 {fun coloring books from Grandma}

Abbie's birthday fell on a Sunday, so off to church we went.  Church was followed by a potluck, and then off to Sarah and Tristan's we went.  They hosted a fun birthday party for her.
They went all out with a darling table display.  Sarah found pink rock candy, pink swirly suckers, pink lemonade, pink cupcakes with white frosting.  Super cute!

Sarah also came up with her version of pin the tail on the donkey bunny.  She drew this darling bunny and enlarged it at work.   Then she made pink fluff ball tails.

They loved the game. 

and her real bunny too. 

A bit of cake...

and a couple of gifts too.

I'd say that Abbie felt like a princess for a day!

{She sure looked like one.}

Five years ago, this little one graced our lives.  

and we are so thankful that the Lord saw fit to add her to our family.  

Here are some fun facts about Abbie:

• I'm often asked if Ellie and Abbie are twins.  {Incidentally, both were 9 days late, and both weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz.}
• Her labor was the shortest of all my children. 
• She cried a lot as a baby, but has a great laugh now.
• She was born with a lot of dark, curly hair.
• Her favorite color is "dark pink".
• She loves all things girly: painted fingernails, curled hair, and pretty dresses. 

It's so fun to look back on pictures and see how she has grown and changed.  The Lord has recently given us glimpses of some changes of the heart as well, evidences of patience and kindness...beauty on the inside. True beauty. 

We eagerly look forward to this fifth year to see just what the Lord would have for her. 

Super simple and satisfying soup



I tried a new soup recipe yesterday and boy was it delicious and satisfying.

The recipe is the kind that is so flexible.  Tweak as you go to your liking. 
If you need it to be vegetarian, omit the meatballs,.  If you need it to be gluten free, omit the pasta.
If you made this during the summer, you'd likely have most all the ingredients fresh from  your garden. 
AND...it is made in the crock pot, freeing up your afternoon.
What's not to love about this soup?

The original recipe is below. {and what I did is below that.}

photo credit: Taste of Home

Veggie Meatball Soup

{from an old Taste of Home booklet sold at the check out stand.}

 
25 frozen cooked Italian meatballs
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
3 c. beef broth
2 c. shredded cabbage
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained.
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 c. fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 c. water
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 c. uncooked elbow macaroni

In a 5 Qt. slow cooker, combine all, but the pasta.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.  Stir in pasta and cook another 30 minutes. 

Serves 6

~ * ~ * ~ *

I had some ground turkey so I made my own meatballs using a basic recipe and baked them at 400 for 20 minutes.}

I didn't add the extra cup of water, because I didn't add the pasta.

For our large family I basically doubled the recipe, but kept the tomatoes and carrots at their original quantity.

Give it a try; I really think you'll like it.

Another Sweetheart Birthday

Not another Valentine birthday, but MY sweetheart's birthday was yesterday. 

So in keeping with our tradition ~ A special birthday chair...
See it in the background, behind the gifts?

Opening gifts before he heads off to work...
{Because you never know if there might be something you will need for the special day ahead.}

See what I mean?  A loaded gift card from our favorite latte stand along with dark chocolate covered espresso beans - a MUST for the day.

His special dinner...
Lasagna with salad.

And birthday pecan pie.

Things you probably know about Eric:
He's a surfer, a farmer, a skateboarder, a hunter, and a high-tech geek.  

Things you might not know about Eric:
He enjoys tinkering, he collects stickers, he walks really fast,  he multi-tasks very, very well, and he is a great cook. 

Things I'd want you to know about Eric:
He's brave, and bold, and honest, and caring, and self-less. 

And after 25 years, his kisses still melt my heart!

The Birthentine Boy

The first birthday in the calendar year to be celebrated in our home is a very "sweet" birthday.
Daniel was born on Valentine's Day.  I suppose it's a good thing that his favorite color is red, it makes for easy decorating.  ;-)

Birthdays mean a special birthday chair...

Gifts in the morning before Dad goes off to work...

a photo-bombing big brother...

and a special dinner of their choice. 
Daniel chose hamburgers and bacon-wrapped shrimp. {And in true style of the foodie that I am not - I forgot to take pictures of the food!}

But, I remembered the finale - Birthday apple pie.

When the older children were little, we often had a birthday parties with several friends in attendance, but even though we planned simple themes, it always seemed to cost more than we planned.  Then we had a light-bulb idea.  Instead of spending money on parties, we could use the money to celebrate as a family and go somewhere.  We have all really enjoyed that.  What we chose to do depended on what the birthday child liked at the time.  
We've enjoyed ice skating, the Children's Museum, the Fort Lewis Military Museum, the Reptile Zoo, the Museum of Flight, the aquarium, the zoo, just to name a few.  It has been a great way to be able to do and see some fun things, that ordinarily a large family can't just do just on a whim.
  
This year, though, Daniel asked if he could have a party.  Why not?  It had been a long while since we had done that.  We decided to have a scavenger hunt because eight boys, all about the age of eleven, need to be outside and run around! 

Eric decided to divide the boys into two teams.  He had previously made up several clues that he put around the property for them to find.  

In the end, each team found a box that contained a Lego mini-figure for each boy.  A true treasure, in their opinion. 

Matt grilled hot dogs {in the rain, no less} while the boys searched. 

After their treasure-trackin', the boys came inside to eat.  They had a grand time being together,  talking about Lego and newest Lego movie out in theaters.  Gifts and cupcakes followed, as did getting entirely soaked running around outside again.  All in all, it was a complete messy success. :-) 

I am thankful for the fun bunch of friends that Daniel has made.  

Here are some things about Daniel that you may or may not know.

1. He is just about 2" shorter than me.
2. His favorite toy is Lego (Bet you couldn't guess that.)
3. He loves to read.
4. His favorite subject in school is history.
5. Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are his favorite. 

He has such a joyful disposition and a tender heart and we are so thankful that God gave him to us.  The BEST Valentine gift ever!