Art by Susan Carter

"All Children are artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. "
Pablo Picasso

All through my childhood I have memories of my Mom coloring with me or drawing for us. I was always in awe of the beautiful horses and such she would adorn our paper with. I wished so much that I could make a pencil magically create a masterpiece the way she could with such ease. Unfortunately for me, I was not blessed with that gene. She however, just keeps getting better. Hop on over to my Mom's new blog and see one of her pencil drawings. Better yet, send her an e-mail and inquire about purchasing one! Mention my blog and get a 10% discount off any prints. I hope that you see it with the same wonderment that I do. Keep checking back, there is more to come...

If my link doesn't work simply go to http://carters3oaks.blogspot.com/

I Will Give Myself to You...

I have asked God for many things or blessings, better health for people, to mend strained relationships and broken hearts, to help me to honor Him, be a light, and so very much more but occasionally, I feel like something is missing or doesn't click right...like I ask a question and then insert earplugs...or ask him to show me something and then close my eyes. This week I found an old notebook of mine that Hunter had scribbled and colored in while we were out and about. Flipping through I was brought to tears by what I found. Between his pages of "I LOVE YOU MOM" and drawings of cars, Army men and American Flags, I found this:

Feb. 22, 2005 (Hunter was 8 1/2 yrs old)

Dear God, Help me learn more about you. Help me talk with you often and do what's right so I can be close to you.

Hunter

Feb. 23, 2005

Dear Father God, I will sing to you. I will bow down to worship you. But most of all I will give myself to you.

Hunter

Wow, all this time I have been searching for just the right balance of give and take and there it was hidden in the heart of a child. I showed Hunter his young prayers and even he was amazed at what he had written years ago. I even noticed his morning prayer seemed a little more personal on the way to school today. If only we could sincerely offer those sweet words in prayer everyday.

Oct. 21, 2009 (Mom 33~ Hunter 13)

Dear Hunter,

I love you Hunter and I am so very proud of the young man you are becoming. I hope you never forget how to pray from your heart as you did when you were small.

XOXOXOXO,

Mom

Happy 70th Birthday Daddy...

For years my Dad's health was...well...crummy. Recently he has been blessed and been able to turn things around. He didn't think it was possible that he would "make it" to his 70th Birthday and yet he did. Living proof that it is never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. Happy Birthday Daddy. I am so glad we were able to celebrate your Birthday with you and our family. We all love you bunches!

"Dance as if no one's watching, sing as if no one's listening, and live every day as if it were your last."

My BABY is officially a TEENAGER...

How did this happen? Where did time fly off to? I think I am in shock...my heart is pounding...I am starting to sweat...now I am dizzy...it is official, HE IS A TEENAGER!!! Lord help us all!

Since everyday is a blessing, no birthday around here goes with out lots of celebration and celebrate we did. A weekend of Ranger's games, fireworks, watching softball games, hanging with friends, Jack Ingram concert, and on Monday (the actually bday) dinner out with Miss Morgan, his sweetheart. No Birthday weekend is complete without fireworks...right?

He still loves his Momma

Hunter listening to Jack Ingram

Always ready to party!

A few things to remember:
He is 5'9, 175lbs, and wears a size 13 shoe!

He is taking all four available pre-ap classes and is making straight A's!

He plays sports. Baseball, basketball, golf and surfing when he can, but FOOTBALL is his passion. He plays Fullback and Middle Linebacker. In his first game of the season, he scored the first touchdown and ran over 60 yards.

He adores his sister and his girlfriend...who share the name Morgan.

He loves to eat and never cleans his room.

Most important thing to remember...I love him with all my heart (even when I want to wring his ever lovin' neck :) )

More than a mustard seed...

With my dear Husband Wes, still looking for steady employment. I keep thinking about my devotional and the verse about the mustard seed...

"He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.'" Matthew 17:20 (AMP)

Did I read that correctly? NOTHING will be impossible to me? Why then doesn't Wes have work after all these months of waiting? Why is my house a mess? Why, why, why? I have more faith than that little seed. So I have to rely on this again, For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13.

So it is not about faith, it is about seeking Him with all my heart full of faith. I pray that I don't get so busy in my everyday world where it is so common to be surrounded with inappropriate language and behaviour that I don't spend nearly enough time seeking Him. There are so many distractions, so much to do, be here, go there, clean this, sort that, and all the hours I spend driving in that car! But He is bigger than all of those chores and deserves so much more of me. This morning, hours before my family will wake, I sat on my patio and prayed I could always have strong faith, that I would be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. That God's love and forgiveness would shine through me. That I could be better at forgiving and receiving forgiveness. That I could show others His love through me. The rest of it, is all small stuff in the grand scheme of things. I believe that God knows our needs and will provide for us just in time and I am so humbled by His forgiveness.

I borrowed the picture from Wikipedia. Take note of the tiny size of those lil' seeds. If faith that small can move mountains, imagine what we can do with our faith.

Always growing and changing...

It seems that Hunter and Morgan are having a race to see who can grow and change the most at the same time.

With Hunter, I come home and feel like a total stranger is standing in my house. He is so tall and handsome. His tan skin is the most beautiful color I have ever seen and it draws out the green in his eyes. When he talks I catch myself staring at him as if he were an alien! What happened to the cute cracking voice of my little boy!? Now he sounds so grown up and well...kinda rude!!! I was not ready for all this. My sweet thoughtful, helpful, brilliant Hunter Bear has turned into a hormonal know-it-all teenager. It leaves me sitting here wish for a whole pitcher of margaritas and asking what happened? Is there a cure for this? Maybe an instruction manual? HELP! Again, I am not ready for this!!!

My little Bear started 7th grade last week. He was so anxious and nervous it was kinda sweet. He is in all four available pre-ap classes again this year. He just took a placement test for math Friday and we received an e-mail that he did really well. We were relieved as it is his least favorite class and I was second guessing my decision to keep him in the advanced class. Now I have to giggle because as a 7th grader he is in a higher level class than his father and I took as a senior in high school. That is just sad! This will be his first year to play football for his school and is thrilled. He hasn't complained once about getting up early to be at practice at 7:15 a.m. He likes to be there early too. We can't wait to find out which team he made so we can see his schedule. He weighed himself the other day and was 175lbs, he is about 5'8-9, and wearing a size 13 Nike (with a little room to grow)!

On to smaller problems, I mean children...Miss Morgan. Let me tell you, this girl is a mess. I know I have said this before, but the mess got bigger! Much like her big brother, she is beautiful and brilliant, and much like him she is hardheaded and well...rude. Seriously? Did I just say that my 15 month old angel is rude? I sure did! She goes from lovingly doting me with kisses to slapping or hitting or just ripping through a room like a lil' Texas tornado. She hates the word "no" and boy does she let us know it. You would think that hearing it a million times a day she would understand the meaning. Apparently not. Actually, that is not true. She has no problem telling me "no" when I am about to discipline her, take something away, or attempt a time out.

Her vocabulary seems to grow everyday and keeps us laughing as she mimics us. She has started calling Wes Da more than Daddy. Sometimes when I call out his name you will hear this sweet whisper of her saying, "Wes" behind me. When Wes was peeling her banana (her favorite breakfast) she said, "me, me,me, me, me, me" while motioning her hands as if to say give it to me! The week before last, she clearly said, "bye" as she hung up her play phone. We have been trying to get her to say Grammy forever and on Thursday she Finally called out to her plain as day with Gram! I think it made Grammy's day. I am sure I will have to come back and add to this list but here is a list of words and phrases she now says: Momma, Daddy, Da, Bubba, Me, dog, dog sit, I did that, it did that, whats that, shoes (shoosh), Gram, Papa, Nana (was nana for banana but she quit calling it anything at all), love, and today she said, "thank you" as she handed me the dirty laundry over and over. She can sign more but not as often as I would like. I will ask Wes and Hunter to remind me of the words I have forgotten in the morning.

As for me and Wes, we are still praying that he finds a job soon. The financial strain puts such a heavy weight on all of our emotions lately. Whenever I want to feel sorry for myself I am reminded of how blessed we are to all be healthy and for our beautiful children. There are so many worse pains and burdens so many families struggle through. This is hard, but we will recover. We still have faith that God has a beautiful plan for our family.

Picture Perfect Tutu...

A while back I made my first tutu for Morgan so that we could have her pictures done with it and then let her have a blast dancing around the house. When I saw her pictures I realized how sweet it made her look! Sooooo....I decided to make them and sell them! You know what??? I have been having so much fun making tutu's! I broke my good camera but was able to snap a few pictures with our cheapo camera to give you an idea what they look like.

You can custom order any colors your little heart desires. For a little extra I can add ribbon, flowers, rhinestones and such. The best part of all of this is that if you order a tutu from me, Brooke of Maddie Pie Creations will give you a discount on a mini session for your little princess! How cool is that? You have to flip over to her blog asap because the special only last until the end of September :)

Finally, Hunter is Home!!!!

I have missed him all summer and just couldn't wait to see my handsome boy last Sunday. Driving there, I was so excited that my tummy turned like it does just before you step on a roller coaster. I wondered how much he had changed in the 50 days he spent with his Father. Hunter has always been a little taller than most of his classmates so I expected that he had grown. I didn't expect him to be taller than both his Father and I! I was shocked to be looking up at my 12 year old while he looked down and grinned at me. Morgan was shy with him and you could tell he was hurt that she wouldn't go to him and buried her face against me so he couldn't see her. All summer she has been shy with all men except her Daddy. It didn't take her long to warm up to him and soon they were both giggling and laughing in a way that they only do with each other. It was heart warming.
Hunter came home standing about 5'9-5'10 and wearing a size 13 shoe! My little boy is now a very handsome young man. We had some issues to go over and new ground rules when he got home. He handled the change really well and we had a great first week just hanging out at home. We took his little girlfriend to the movies too. Hopefully this week we will get out and about and see more of his friends. Off we go....

Morgan's Photoshoot with MaddiePie Creations

I asked Brooke of MaddiePie Creations to shoot Morgan's one year pictures for us and much to my delight she was able to fit us in! She was wonderful and patient with Morgan which as we all know is much needed with a one year old. We are so impressed! She really captured Morgan's little personality in the pictures. I can't wait to print and frame them!

Go on over to her blog and check out her work. Better yet, book a session with her. You won't be disappointed!

If you can't stand the heat, get out of my kitchen...

Desperate times call for desperate measures and I have been trying to find ways to be more thrifty with my time and our money. One of the things I have been doing is preparing all of Wes's meals for the week on Sunday. This way I just divide up the food and we both have a weeks worth of meals without a ton of dishes or two grocery bills. So many people have asked for the recipes each week I thought I would post a few of them here.
On top of my normal routine to cook all day and night on Sunday, I was treated to a fun surprise when we opened the deep freezer on Saturday and found that it was not working!!! HORROR!!! Most of the food was still good and some was even still frozen. God must have sent an angel to keep it cool in there. Seems like it had been 103 plus temperatures outside all week and yet, my food was spared. We had a smorgasbord of food Saturday cooking the thawed frozen dinners. What we couldn't refreeze we cooked, and cooked, and grilled, and cooked. Wes grilled steaks & pork chops. We made homemade BBQ chicken in the crock pot. I am trying to satisfy Wes's request for "cool" foods to help him beat the heat so I prepared Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Chicken and Grape Salad, Fresh Salsa, and a bushel of fresh fruits for him. I had to rescue the frozen hashbrowns so he also ended up with a Hashbrown Casserole and my variation of a Breakfast Pizza. You can click on the meals above to view the recipes.

BREAKFAST PIZZA

1 lb. bulk pork sausage
1 refrigerated pizza crust
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese, Swiss or Monterey Jack
2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
5 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 small onion
1 bell pepper (I used yellow but red would have been better)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Brown sausage and drain. Roll pizza doe out on cookie sheet. Press over bottom and up sides to form crust. Sprinkle with sausage. Cover sausage with chopped onion and bell pepper. Top with cheese. In bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and sauce. Pour over sausage. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake in 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Supposedly great for that holiday breakfast.
****I was originally going to use a bag of frozen hashbrowns (thawed and patted dry) but ruined them and had to improvise...it was delish!!!

Let me know what you think of the recipes. Smooches y'all!