5 Months Old!!!!

Here we are again! Another month older!

We love her! We love her! We love her!!!!!!

Very near perfection!

Once upon a time there was a young girl who visited a tea house with some dear friends and tried scones for the very first time. They were round, light, moist and delicate. Topped with a bit of cream they were absolutely delicious! Much to her dismay she soon discovered that anytime anyone spoke of "scones" they were referring to hard, dense triangles that brought back not a bit of that old delight.

As you may have guessed, that poor confused girl is me. And while I have come to appreciate the regular scone, and have even had some I greatly enjoy, I still had fantasies in my head of those never forgotten delicacies.

Oh the joy that flooded my heart the other day as I discovered that my dreams could be a reality once more! "British Scones" were what I was dreaming of. Not sure why it took me so long to figure this out. My friends that I learned all of my tea loving times from are very English.

I found a recipe that we are loving so I thought I would share it with you!

Here's how it goes~
Preheat oven to 425'
Mix~  2 1/2 cups flour
          2 tsp. baking powder
          5 Tbls. Sugar
          1 tsp. Salt

Blend in 1/2 cup butter with a fork, pastry blender or fingers.
Gently mix in 1 1/3 cup milk
Add as much flour as you need to get it to a workable consistency.   ( Be careful to not overwork at this point or they will get tough!)

Pat out to 1/2 - 1 in. thickness and cut out with a biscuit cutter or any handy cup you have on hand!

Place parchment paper on cookie sheet and place scones on it.

Bake for 10-12 minutes

This batch made 15 scones (Sisters Rachel and Anna are over!!!)

We ate ours with whipped cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam.

*Lemon Curd*

Mix in double boiler and cook on medium heat~

3 eggs

1/3 lemon juice

3/4 sugar

After approximately 10 min. it will thicken. ( Use a whisk if you don't want lumps!)

Remove from heat and stir in 4 Tbl. butter until melted. Add 1 Tbl. lemon zest. Cool

I now LOVE lemon curd!!!

A beautiful cup of tea. A delightful light, flaky and moist scone, topped with whipped cream and lemon curd making for a creamy, sweet and slightly tart flavor. Ahhhhhhh! Just about as good as it gets!

Something I am or Something I do???

I read a beautiful article about this earlier this morning and it really has got me thinking. Is being a wife and a mother some I am or something I do? Or does it even matter?

I am a wife. I became one the day I said I do. I am a mother. I became one the day my first child was conceived. But that really says very little about me. With that way of thinking I could be a wife and never speak a word to my husband. I could be a mother and never spend a day of their life with my child. In thinking that being a wife and mother is something that I actually do or don't do brings with it serious and even grave implications. 

Why serious? Why grave? Because if it is about something I am doing, that means it is either something I am doing well or something I am doing poorly.  My husband is a contractor. But he is either a poor contractor or a skilled contractor. He is not admired and appreciated simply for being a contractor but for the diligence, skill and hard work that he puts into his work. He is a master. Not because he has his contractor's licence, but because he has learned, practiced, developed and used his skills in a masterful way.

I wrote recently about what the heart of a mother needs to be, but the most noble and devoted heart is no good if it is not put into action. Here is where I constantly fall. I'm ever drawn to the path of "convenience".  Cooking, cleaning, resting, playing, decorating, dreaming, learning, exploring. They are all more easily done on my own. How often have I snapped at my girls for interrupting while I'm blogging to you all about loving your children?  My desire to be a godly wife and mother is often drowned out by my selfish desires, or even more often, my lazy desires.

There is a reason the Bible instructs us as wives to be "busy at home". We are not talking about being stressed, overwhelmed chicken's with our heads cut off. We are talking about wisdom, diligence and self-control. My most stressed moments come directly from my own laziness. My most peaceful and beautiful days come from being faithful to the things the Lord has called me to.

James 4:14~"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

We only have one shot at this. One chance to do things right. Not for our own merit or reputation, but for the Lord's. Today I cannot go to the amusement park with my friends because I have a nursing baby. I can't go on a canoe trip for the weekend because I have small children who would fry in the sun. I can't go out to eat whenever I want to because we have six mouths to feed every day. But I also will not have small children forever. They will grow. All of them. Much sooner than I realize, I will not have a baby of my own. I won't have little girls to crawl onto my lap. Little children to ask me questions about every area of life. Will I have done my job well?  Am I being faithful with what the Lord has blessed me with? Am I the wife and mother that the Lord wants me to be. When I stand before Him, will I have run my race well? I decide that today. And tomorrow. And the next day. By God's grace and only by that, will I strive and fail and strive and fail and continue striving to truly be and do all that will bring Him glory! Come strive with me!

6

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. My hubby snatched me away to the coast for a day of shopping, seafood and the gorgeous Oregon coast. I am so in love with this man I can hardly believe it. The last six years with him have been amazing. I love living every day with him and can't wait for many, many, many more years to come!

(For those of you who noticed, yes, I did just get glasses. I have needed them for a very long time, but it is taking some getting used to!)

All mushy and time crunched!

Tomorrow is our anniversary and today I am filled with thoughts of my amazing husband. Did I say amazing? I mean, AMAZING!!! I met him when I was three years old, fell in love with him when I was thirteen, married him at eighteen and have never doubted for one moment that he is the most incredible man alive and that he was created perfectly for me. I wanted to write out our whole story but then I remembered, "Oh yeah! I did that last year!". I was then going to scan pictures from our wedding but, you guessed it, I did that last year too! So, with great feeling and warmth I say, go read our story here. And for pictures of two kids who were madly in love look here. Everything I felt then, I feel now, just 100 times more!!!   

It's June, and you know what that means!!!!

I Love LOVE LOVE,June!!!!! I would have to say it is my favorite month. Not only is June a beautiful month with flowers, veggies, and sunshine, it also holds some very special days. Our anniversary, my husband's birthday and Father's Day all fall within a few weeks of each other. Get ready for some hubby bragging coming up! We girls look especially forward to these times of spoiling "our man".

But, now to what we've been waiting for........The winners are...............................


Signing Time~ Staci !!!
Little House in the Big Woods~  Grace!!!
Tracing books~  Season !!!

I must say, I truly wish I could give a prize to all of you, I'm so appreciative of you stopping by here. More giveaways will definitely be in the future so come visit again soon!

4 Months Old!!!

She has actually been four months for a little while now, but I wanted to wait for my home schooling saga to come to an end before I got distracted!

My little bug is growing up so fast. This is my infant folks!!! How can she be this big already?

What is she doing these days? Drooling. And putting everything in her mouth. And wiggling. All of which made getting a decent picture of her most difficult!

Let's see, she still sleeps great, eats great and smiles and giggles fabulously! She has also discovered her scream. I was beginning to think that she was going to have her infant whimpering forever, but I shouldn't have been worried! Her lungs are very strong. Thankfully, she is such a joyful and contented baby that she hardly ever uses them. Maybe rarely would be more accurate. Or not too often.

She is the sunshine in our family and we are all delighted in her!

(Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Only 1 more day!!!)