Continuing Courtship

Today David and I celebrate our 13th anniversary. One thing I absolutely adore about my husband is his knack for continuing our courtship. He still woos me every day. Here are a few things he does that make me fall in love with him every single day.

• He makes it totally obvious that he wants to be with me. When we are home together he often asks "Which room are you going to be in?" just so he can be in the same room with me.
• He constantly tells me that I'm beautiful. And he LOOKS at me. Even when I'm not feeling particularly attractive David will look at me in a way that lets me know that he thinks I am beautiful.
• He kisses me in front of our children. (They should have NO doubt that their parents are in love.)
• He pays attention to the things I am interested in. He is one of very few men that can quote lines from Anne of Green Gables and Pride & Prejudice.
• He takes care of me. A few weeks ago I sprained my ankle and David made sure I was doctored well.
• He works so hard to support our family. Besides the times he spends playing basketball and softball, everything he does is for us.
• He thanks me for cleaning the bathrooms and doing his laundry. It's so nice to have the work I do noticed and appreciated!
• He tries to dress in coordinated outfits when we go to church. (Notice the picture above. I wore black and gold and so did he.) :)

I LOVE YOU, DAVID!!!

Meet Abe Lincoln

Tomorrow McKenna gets to be Abraham Lincoln for her school's Living Museum.

She has worked hard researching, writing, and memorizing her speech. I'm very proud of her!

I want to make something!

I've been doing some spring cleaning lately. (Washing windows, baseboards, blinds, organizing closets, etc.) And now that my house is (mostly) tidy I have the urge to sew something! McKenna needs some new church clothes and we are having an awful time finding anything appropriate. Everything is sleeveless or slinky! I found this pattern that I think I'll use to make her some new skirts.

Of course the end of April and May are some of the busiest months ever. Hopefully I can make time to satisfy my craving to create.

Have you tried this?

The Publix Premium Cool Mint Cookie ice cream is SO good. If you haven't tried it yet you absolutely must. It's smooth and creamy with mint chocolate balls and chocolate fudge pieces. If there is ice cream in heaven, this is it!

I Can

One of the things I constantly try to fight are feelings of "I can't." It's a relentles battle and it is exhausting. Some days I retreat, but I never surrender. Because I CAN.

I can be cheerful in the mornings. I can love and teach my children. I can support my husband. I can do my best. I can pray and receive strength. I can improve.

And the rest I can let go.

Because someday I'll be old and gray

The other day I went out to my front porch and did a little photo shoot of myself using the self-timer on my camera. I was inspired by THIS picture of Stephanie from Barefoot in the Kitchen. I love how she looks so calm and peaceful. She looks classic and beautiful. But my pictures didn't have quite the same feel. I looked like I was trying really hard to be "all that" (as my girls would say). My initial reaction was DELETE. But then I thought about the pictures we have of my Grandmas when they were young. And I began to think that in 50 years I would have a totally new perspective on these pictures. And so I kept them. I still think I look a little silly. But hopefully my grandchildren will appreciate them as much as I do the pictures of my grandparents.

Little Mamas

When I found out I was pregnant with Chloe I was a little nervous about how I would handle five kids. But five kids has been so much easier for me than two kids was! Because now I have my older girls to help. And oh my are they awesome helpers! Chloe basically has four little mamas who dote on her and take such good care of her. (McKenna changes poopy diapers without even being asked, Lydia is awesome at cuddling and comforting Chloe when she's sad or mad, and Emily and Summer are willing to follow Chloe around outside and to let her play with them!) Chloe is one lucky baby. And I am a very blessed mother.

If I ever have a boy....

...this is the quilt I would make him.

But since I don't have a boy (and don't have any immediate plans to have a boy), this quilt will be delivered to David's office manager and her brand new baby. I really hope she likes it.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Here are a few things you may not know about Emily.

• She is in the Horizons class at her school. She is very smart. (Before she started kindergarten she could coung backwards from 100!)
• She is super creative. Her "projects" are always awesome.
• She can do pull-ups!
• Her sisters have designated her as the "peacemaker" in the family. Sometimes she wishes she didn't have to always be the peacemaker. :)
• She loves to climb things.
• She doesn't like nuts. Even in ice cream. (It's our tradition that the kids get to have ice cream for breakfast on their birthdays. But unfortunately both kinds of ice cream we had in our freezer today had nuts. So, Emily was easy-going and was willing to have a yummy cereal for breakfast. No tears or fussing at all!)
• She likes being the "middle child." It makes her special.
• Summer is her best buddy. Chloe absolutely adores her.
• She is a kind and loyal friend. (One time some boys were teasing her friend Canyon about her name. Emily stood up to them and told them that her friend's parents were very creative and that they should be nice. Go Em!)
• Instead of cake for her birthday she wants me to make lemon squares. I'm happy to oblige!

We love you, Emily!!!

We're grillers!

I was a vegetarian for a long time. So, a grill was never a purchase that excited me. But now that I can eat a little more meat (chicken if it's cut up, fish, and ground turkey), I'm totally excited about our new grill. And I'm even learning how to use it!

Last night I made grilled turkey burgers and they were yummy! Even my super-picky kids ate them. (And David ate THREE!)

Grilled Turkey Burgers

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 T. soy sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. Refrigerate the mixture about 10 minutes, then form into patties. (About 6)

2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat.

3. Place patties on the grill. Cook for 20 minurtes, turning once, or until well done. The inside of the burgers will look whitish in color when cooked through.Serve as desired.

Tech savvy

My girls grab every chance they get to use David's IPhone. It still intimidates me. But they have no fear. They navigate around the apps like little pros. Even Chloe knows that she can scroll around on the screen by touching it. :)

"Go"

The highlight of Chloe's morning is getting to walk her sisters to the bus stop. From the minute she wakes up she follows us around saying "Go? Go? Go?" And since I don't have time to get her dressed before the bus comes we just put her shoes over her jammies and she's read to "Go."

Whip it. Whip it good.

For the G* family Easter Brunch I made Strawberry Bread and Strawberry Butter. The bread was easy. But the butter was a labor of love. Luckily, it was worth every minute I spent whipping it.

Strawberry Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. cinnamon
2 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. strawberries; frozen, sliced, thawed, NOT drained

Combine first 5 ingredients; mix well. Combine eggs, oil, and strawberries. Add to dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Strawberry Butter

1 (10 oz.) pkg. strawberries; frozen, sliced, thawed, drained slightly
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl; mix until blended and smooth. (It took me about 40 minutes with a hand-mixer. With a stand mixer, use wisk attachment and work up slowly to high speed and then leave it for about 30 minutes. Once it's done it will no longer look chunky and separated but smooth-- like whipped butter.) Store in the refrigerator.

Criminal Injustice System

All of us on David's side of the family have had a nightmare of a couple weeks. It's shaken my faith in our nation's (or at least our state's) criminal justice system.

To make a long story short, my nephew Jonathan (the one that lived with us for a few months a while ago) was charged and convicted of abusing his baby and on Wednesday was sentenced to 20 years in prison and then 20 years of probation. It is a tragic situation. A couple years ago Alex (Jonathan's baby) stopped breathing and ended up slipping into a coma. He suffered brain damage and has serious medical problems. He is blind, has seizures, has breathing problems, and cannot eat normally. His life expectancy is low.

But we do not believe that Jonathan abused his baby. We don't believe him capable of abuse. Jonathan is far from perfect, but impatience and aggression are not his weaknesses. But for some reason Jonathan was the only suspect from the beginning. (Even though his wife and in-laws also had regular care of the baby.) I hate to make accusations, but Jonathan's mother-in-law worked for the county sheriff's department and I wonder how much her position protected her family from investigation. DFCS prohibited Jonathan from having any contact with his baby, pushed Katy (his wife) to divorce him if she wanted to retain custody of their child, and ultimately granted custody to Katy and her parents. At first Katy supported Jonathan, but somewhere along the line she changed her mind and is now one of Jonathan's most ardent accusers.

And the judge and jury somehow found "overwhelming" evidence to convict Jonathan of nearly killing his son. But for me, there are some huge questions that I still haven't answered. And without those answers, I cannot fathom how they came to the conclusion that Jonathan was guilty.

1. There is some doubt as to whether or not Alex was actually abused. He had medical problems early on that may have been the cause of his coma and brain damage. How can they absolutely determine his problems were caused by abuse?

2. If Alex was abused, how are they so sure that Jonathan was the abuser? Both he, Katy, and his in-laws took turns caring for the baby. Why were they ruled out in the investigation?

It is so frustrating because the entire process is subject to human bias and error. The doctors may have misdiagnosed Alex's condition, the investigators may have missed critical evidence because of their partiality to Katy's mom, Jonathan may have been represented better with a more skilled attorney, the jurors may have not been given all of the relevant information to make a truly informed verdict, and the judge may have been mistaken in her analysis and judgment. The system is so far from perfect that it makes me ill. And it seems like Jonathan's case is the perfect storm. He has been powerless against all of the forces working against him.

To be honest, I cannot say for 100 percent certainty that Jonathan is innocent. But there are SO many doubts as to his guilt that I cannot believe a jury was able to reach a unanimous verdict. It really makes me distrust the system. If I still have these questions in my mind, how was the jury able to over-rule them?

Jonathan's lawyer is filing an appeal, so our faith has to be that the appellate process will be more objective than his trial was. If Jonathan did abuse Alex he absolutely deserves to be punished, but until they can prove that to me beyond a reasonable doubt, I will not believe that justice is being served.