Piece of Cake

"Try these fruity ice cream cakes - or dream up your own! Mix the fruit with softened ice cream and layer with slices of cake in a round cake pan or loaf pan line with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least two hours."

2 cups Fruit + 2 pints Ice Cream + 1 Store-bought Cake

blueberries + vanilla i.c. + lemon pound cake

pitted cherries + vanilla fudge i.c. + chocolate pound cake

raspberries + coffee i.c. + vanilla angel food cake

sliced peeled peaches + butter pecan i.c. + sour cream coffee cake

sliced bananas + dulce de leche i.c. + banana loaf cake

This is taken from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Somewhere beyond the blue...

Amidst various house improvement projects, Andy and I were commenting that we may be putting too much of our energies into caring about the house. Andy said,
"if you think about it, we'll be living in a mansion for eternity anyways".

This really hit me! Why am I so concerned about this box that we live in? Yeah, yeah, I can say I enjoy it, call it my hobby, my little outlet of creativity, making a house a home...

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." Mt. 6:19-20

I think the Lord is showing me the freedom in not holding onto this earth so tightly that if it was snatched right out of my hand, I'd be ok. The energies that are "heavenly" are those of Christ's mission and are not only fulfilling in the here and now, but also will make eternity so much sweeter!

"This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore."

We can now do cartwheels in the kitchen!

I wish I had taken before pics of the kitchen, but here are the after (or in progress). A couple walls came down to open our narrow, cramped, L shaped kitchen. Remember the bathroom remodel? Well, that included closing off a small room thus making this kitchen into a big square shape. It is such a relief! I LOVE the space, especially with 3 small children who always want to be where I am. With some cheap peal and stick linoleum (see the 2 patterns?) it is very usable, even though the walls are exposed. We will probably work in long spaced-out phases: drywall, flooring, cabinets. So check back in about 3 years for the complete after pics!

Nothing like Martha to inspire you!

I've never gotten into scrapbooking...maybe it's been a rebellion thing, because it's such a craze. Maybe it's because I tried it and was totally overwhelmed and in an instant bad mood. The weird thing is, I love crafts and photography. So I've always been surprised I haven't become a "scraper".

I must say Martha Stewart's line here and in Michael's just about does it for me! I've seen a few of her scrapbooking shows and loved how you can make books that are sophisticated and elegant as opposed to homemade and tacky. It would be amazing to have one for each child...

The dilemma: how would I ever catch up with the past 7 1/2 years of marriage and children? How would I find the time when there is so much else I need to do?

This is a double baby shower put on by our church at my house.

The two lovely new moms, Aliesha and Kaci.

Adorable baby #1, Carson Tyler
Adorable baby #2, Emma Rene.
Our wonderful group of ladies & girls.
Fondue.

Attention!

New Law:

With the high rate of attacks on women in secluded parking lots, especially during evening hours, the Minneapolis City Council has established a "Women Only" parking lot at the Mall of America. Even the parking lot attendants are exclusively female so that a comfortable and safe environment is created for patrons. Below is the first picture available of this world-first women-only parking lot in Minnesota.

This came via Josh. Thanks, I liked this one.