In Ten Years Of Marriage

The end of June marked our ten year wedding anniversary, so we celebrated in a cozy tea bistro on a rainy afternoon....

And on a white sand beach on a rainbow evening.

In ten years of marriage you experience the exhilarating, the frustrating, the ordinary, the exciting, the unexpected, the mundane.  You learn what makes each other tick, what makes each other laugh, what makes each other cry, what makes each other thrive.  You have opportunities to succeed where you disappoint yourself and fall short, then surprise yourself by overcoming circumstances that you were sure would take you out.  You feel the wind in your face on mountaintops, taste the sand of discouragement in valleys, and experience both thrills and terror on the curves along the journey.

If you are wise, you do none of this on your own, but depend daily on God for grace and wisdom for the journey, and choose to be loyal teammates through thick and thin, as well as lovers and friends.

In ten years of marriage we have made countless memories.  We have ridden bikes along the shores of Cape May, the ferris wheel at Navy Pier, the old wooden roller coaster on Coney Island, flown in a helicopter through the splendor of the Grand Canyon, laid on the white beaches of the Caribbean, stood on the top of pyramids in Mexico, kissed in front of the castle at the Magic Kingdom, watched fireworks on the front lawn of the Capitol in D.C., skied down the mountains of Pennsylvania, and more.

We have ridden snow tubes down hills at winter camp with students, white water rafted down the river at summer camp, spent countless hours at youth group, leading worship, making visits, making disciples, lending a hand, working together for the kingdom.

We spent one of our wedding anniversaries on a missions trip in Mexico City; one at summer camp; one at an 80's night at a teen week (I even gave Jimmy a mohawk for that one); and this year's was spent leading music at VBS.  (I know, I know...it doesn't get more romantic than that. ;)

In ten years we have worked lots of hours, paid lots of bills, made tons of meals, done even more dishes, washed load after load of laundry, and day after day done the ordinary that makes a life together work.  We have learned that commitment and faithfulness are not always glamorous and exciting, but they are always rewarding.

We had two babies in 18 months and learned the true meaning of sleep deprivation but also the truest, deepest human love possible.  We have stepped on Lego's, cleaned up goldfish crumbs, changed thousands of diapers, weathered our way through weaning, potty training, disciplining, and all the other unknown territory that comes with raising little ones.  Most of all we have enjoyed our kids, trying our utmost despite our own shortcomings and imperfections to raise them to love and respect God and give them a secure, fun, joy-filled home life.  Parenting has been among the hardest things we have ever done and we have a long way to go.  But it is the best, most delightful gift we have ever been given, and we are trying to steward it well.

Our first ten years of marriage have been happy.  They have been fun. They have been daily.  They have been romantic.  They have been busy, and sometimes tiring.  They have been refining. They have been fulfilling, mostly in the giving. We have learned, laughed, loved.  We have faced life's ups and downs together, and grown closer to God and each other in the process.  We have deeply enjoyed marriage and each other these first ten years, choosing harmony and unity.  Choosing to give, not receive.  But in the giving, we always seem to receive.  We feel blessed, and motivated to further serve God who gives such rich blessings.

If I were to choose two passage of Scripture to put around our marriage, these are what I would choose...

James 1:17

 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Philippians 2:3-4

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

The night before we got married, we danced to an old song.  Lovers of classic standards, we laughed and swayed as Sinatra crooned these lyrics...

When somebody needs you

It's no good unless he needs you all the way

Through the good or lean years

And for all the in-between years come what may

Who knows where the road will lead us

Only a fool would say

But if you'll let me love you

It's for sure I'm gonna love you all the way, all the way.

Happy 10 Year Anniversary, Jimmy!  

I love you all the way.

Making Homemade Play Dough And Other Fun In The Kitchen!

Today we made homemade play dough which was a fun, hands-on project for the kids!  Sort of messy, but let's face it, a lot of things that are fun make a mess!  And when my Trev is pouring salt it's just not going to be a tidy moment. But I simply kept the vacuum nearby and let them go to town. They enjoyed seeing how this worked.

Homemade Play Dough

Pour 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 3 TBSP vegetable oil into a medium bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. Add 1/3 cup water tinted with 17 drops of desired shade of food coloring.  Knewad dough with hands until it feels smooth.  If dough is crumbly, add more oil; if it's sticky, add more flour.  Store in the refrigerator.  Add scented oils if you would like.

We definitely found we needed more oil for ours.  And as for 17 drops of food coloring, I'm thinking Madi's number was a lot closer to that than Trev's who had blue food coloring dropping out so fast I could barely keep count!  It turned out pretty neat - sure we had play dough on hand they could have used, but it was more about the process and keeping those minds and hands busy on a summer day.

On Saturday, two little dolls helped me make the morning waffles...

And Trev had been begging me to make banana bread, so last week I had 3 ripe bananas that I used to make him a loaf using this recipe from the Food Network.  I am always willing to make the kids anything that has fruit or vegetables in it!

This afternoon I tried a scrumptious recipe that I will share with you soon.  Be on the lookout if you like shortbread.  Mmm, mmm, mmm. We are just having too much fun in the kitchen these days!

And I Can't Leave Out Trevor's "Whoofie" Pies

Not only did we bake an apple pie today, but Trev found a little mix for whoopie pies in the pantry and he wanted to make them so badly, mainly because he saw the picture on the front and wanted to eat them.  (He enjoyed helping make the apple pie, but wasn't interested in eating it.) Since it was a simple little project I told him that he could do it, and boy did he take ownership of that idea and think he was something else!  Watch out Bobby Flay, there is a new kid in town!

He had his first successful egg crack which his sister, a long time baking helper of mine, was over the moon about.  He worked very carefully pouring, mixing, dropping, icing.

And it is safe to say he was pretty happy about the finished product!

So much so that he couldn't wait to tell his daddy and grandparents about the "whoofie" pies he made, encouraged [forced] them to try some of his "whoofie" pies, and thanked God at least three times during prayers before bedtime for something regarding "whoofie" pies....that he got to make them, eat them,  and that there were still two left so he and Madi could each have one tomorrow after "wunch."

To which we said amen and tucked this sweet, enthusiastic, and chocolate-loving boy into bed.

As American As Apple Pie

I've had this tray sitting on my kitchen counter for the past few weeks...

And with the celebration of the Fourth of July I had been wanting to bake a good, old-fashioned, homemade apple pie with the kids.

Today we were having a staying-inside-from-the-heat-but-not-turning-on-the-television kind of day.  I pulled out an old Longaberger cookbook and we set to work making Grandma Bonnie's Apple Pie.  I have only made a homemade pie crust once or twice so this was something new for all of us!  The kids were really into the sifting...

And even helped each other out when their hands got tired.

Madi did most of the work...I only helped a little.

But they both helped prepare the apples using the apple peeler/corer/slicer which is always lots of fun!  They get the biggest kick out of cranking that handle.

After lots of teamwork we had the pie assembled and in the oven.  As it was baking and I was washing dishes, I heard a commotion of laughter and squeals and looked out to see this....

The kids were having sack races down the hallway using their pillowcases!  Talk about good, old-fashioned, all-American fun!  When the pie came out of the oven it smelled of cinnamon and sugar and the crust, though not perfect in appearance, was cooked just right.

We let it cool on the table and then we did what any good family would do...

We had apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dinner!

The Kitchen Is Her Studio

And the past two days my little artist has been busy at her easel!  I love to take a peek at her working while I come in and out of the kitchen.  A Disney Pandora station is often playing in the background while her little mind and hands are busy creating.  My two recent favorites are....

Our Home

The Cross and the Empty Tomb

Today many of her paintings were for the "set" of a play she and Trevor were working on.  And one of her last and favorite paintings from school is still hanging in the kitchen.  She told me they made one boat bigger to make it look closer and one boat smaller to make it look farther away.  I  think it is just lovely.

I never knew I would be the owner of such precious, valuable art!