This is a list of projects we are either doing or are have done. This will make for an easy way to track and commit to a project. If we have not already completed the tack, we intend to post an estimated time of completion along with a list of what we intend to do. Hopefully this will serve to make us more productive and to make our dreams a reality.
I decided to make a Cars cake for Pete's 2nd Birthday Party and it was a lot of fun. Moist Chocolate cake, a car, parchment paper and some fun decorations - oh, and don't forget the icing!! Bryan and I worked on it together the night before the party and had fun planning it out together. GOOD TIMES!
I plan to post more about this subject but I just wanted to say that God has really laid on my heart that I need to relax and focus more on my kids/home/husband and less of everything else, including MYSELF. I am mainly talking about the TIME and ENERGY I give to these things. It is easy for me to stray away from kids/home/husband and follow selfish desires like ME wanting to talk to my friends, me wanting to browse my emails, check out my google reader, do my workout, MY, MY, MY. Seriously, when I go to bed and the end of the day, what my stuff is going to be fulfilling? I'm not saying that MY stuff is bad. I need my time but when am I taking MY TIME? Angie sent me this link after I shared with her my heart about this matter and it was put so perfectly. I seriously doubt God is pleased by some of the choices I have made in a day. We are constantly faced with decisions as parents to choose our priorities. Thinking of what benefits our kids should absolutely be towards the top of our list under serving God (which coincidentally ties into focusing on our family) This is easier said than done. I struggle with "self" on a day by day basis. My prayer is to no longer see "self" but to simply be the person God intends for me to be. Someone who possesses His characteristics. I desire to be a wife who is gracious and steadfast, a devoted mother who is stern, considerate, compassionate and loving - a homemaker who is hospitable and who takes ownership and pride in her home.
As I typed the last few lines the old hymn, "Have Thine Own Way," popped into my head. I think it is appropriate and will always be so long as we are living.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way! Hold o'er my being absolute sway. Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see Christ only, always, living in me!
I leave you with a couple of videos of our kids. Aubrey says the Pledge of Allegiance in the bathtub and Pete laughs at a silly ball. THIS is what fills my heart with joy at just the remembrance of it.
Bryan and his dad built an office in our garage so both Pete and Aubrey could have their own rooms. It is awesome!! I am so glad they can have their own space which means Bryan and I can have our own space. Now, there is adequate room for everyone's clothes, toys and more room to play :) As I was putting away the baby room stuff for Pete and getting new stuff for his room (which Nana & Grandad happily bought for him), I took down a canvas; I remember paying $40 for it. I decided then that I would color and create personalized canvases for them to save some money. I really had a lot of fun creating My kids some canvases and decided I would make some for some of my nieces. I plan to do more in the future. Here is what I cam up with.
A robot for Pete's room: (a friend, Melissa Brown, drew the robot and I painted him)
Aubrey's room has beautiful bedding from target. It was so fun making this one!! I saw the idea online from some pottery barn type store and decided I could make a bird like the one I saw. It was so fun because I went to Hobby Lobby and got to pick out all of the scrapbook patterned paper to match the bedding. Aubrey really liked the bird idea and LOVED the canvas which I am very happy about! These last ones are some I made for my nieces, Evie, Allie, Alexa Bear and Lysie. I was so glad they liked them. I guess if they didn't, they could at least put them in their closets :) These made for fun, personalized, Christmas gifts. NOTE: Allie, Alex & Lysie all share a room so I thought the three matching pictures would be appropriate.
ACA (Alpine Christian Academy) entered a parade in which the younger children could be pulled by their parents on a wagon behind the float. My mother-it-law (Debbie) really was great at coming up for ideas about what we could do and was really the driving force in Aubrey having a special wagon at the parade. Bryan ended up making a little sleigh with sheets of plywood around the wagon then he tied Aubrey's little rocking horse to the front of the wagon. We just added a few decorations and it was ready to go. Everyone at the parade loved it! So did sweet little Aubrey.
I had the idea for an R2D2 cake for Bryan for his birthday so I asked Amanda Spiess to help me. She agreed and we came up with this little guy. Amanda did most of the work (thank you for that) while I took care of my kiddos. It was made from scratch and was a Southern Living recipe. We were pretty proud of the end product.
We have considered making a few cakes on the side. If you would like for us to make a creative cake for you, just contact Amanda Spiess or myself and we could give you one for a decent price.
This past Independence Day we made some homemade strawberry ice cream. I had fond memories of my dad (the late Howard Ray Allen Jr.) making this delicious treat for us kiddos when we were young. I didn't know the exact ingredients he used and neither did my mom but one thing I do remember is that it had Big Red in it. I called my sister and she looked up a recipe online that called for Big Red. I thought I would share this delicious blend of ingredients:
HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
YOU NEED: - 16 oz of frozen strawberries - 5 cups of Big Red - 3 cups of milk - 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk - 1 pint of whipping cream
Mix all ingredients in large bowl then pour into your ice cream maker. Add more milk if you desire it to be less sweet. (If you own an ice cream maker, hopefully you know what to do from there :)
I decided to make a Cars cake for Pete's 2nd Birthday Party and it was a lot of fun. Moist Chocolate cake, a car, parchment paper and some fun decorations - oh, and don't forget the icing!! Bryan and I worked on it together the night before the party and had fun planning it out together. GOOD TIMES!
I plan to post more about this subject but I just wanted to say that God has really laid on my heart that I need to relax and focus more on my kids/home/husband and less of everything else, including MYSELF. I am mainly talking about the TIME and ENERGY I give to these things. It is easy for me to stray away from kids/home/husband and follow selfish desires like ME wanting to talk to my friends, me wanting to browse my emails, check out my google reader, do my workout, MY, MY, MY. Seriously, when I go to bed and the end of the day, what my stuff is going to be fulfilling? I'm not saying that MY stuff is bad. I need my time but when am I taking MY TIME?
NOTE: Allie, Alex & Lysie all share a room so I thought the three matching pictures would be appropriate.
ACA (Alpine Christian Academy) entered a parade in which the younger children could be pulled by their parents on a wagon behind the float. My mother-it-law (Debbie) really was great at coming up for ideas about what we could do and was really the driving force in Aubrey having a special wagon at the parade. 
Aubrey and I also decided to spice up our pumpkin just lying around on our back porch so we painted a tree on it which was fun.
