The questions I get....

Just an example of some of the questions I get....

Light pre-dinner conversation:

I was boiling water to finish preparing dinner. Jacob asked, "If fire is so bad then why did God make it?"

I was listing off the things I needed to do when we got upstairs tonight. Jacob asked to not have to take a bath because he hurt his foot today. I told him I would bathe Logan & give him a "bird bath" (just a quick wash off). I may have mentioned something else I needed to do upstairs. He said, "Mom how are you going to do all that?" Because I answer so MANY questions a day some that don't have a good answer, I said, "I am just amazing! I will get it all done. Don't worry."

He said, "Mom, you tell me all the time you just have 2 hands!"

At least I know he is listening:)

Monkey see Monkey do

Monkey see, Monkey do!

Yes, that is a fountain of slobber falling from the big one.

I may keep Windex in business for the next couple of years!

Coming soon....favorite summer recipes. Get ready to share!

Congrats to the Johnson 7!

If you have read Houston Happenings for a while, you know there are several adoptive families that I follow in the "blog world." I have had the chance to meet a couple of families & was so excited to be able to take donations (with the help of many of you)  for these families to take when they go to Ethiopia to bring their kiddos forever home. 

One of the sweet families I have met is the Johnson 7. Relatively speaking their adoption time period has been average but the road has not been one without lots of ups & downs. When I met Kristi they had just found out the referral they had received would not go thru & they were anxiously waiting another referral. Finally they got the good news that their little Lucy Lane will be coming home! They will travel next month to bring her home to their already very busy house:) Congrats to the Johnsons & we will be praying for you guys as you prepare to leave & bring that sweet girl home!

Strawberries

When you do something 3 years in a row, does that mean it is a tradition? This is our 3rd year picking strawberries now & we really enjoy it. I had the most fun remembering years past. Jacob's 1st time was with our friends who had come to NOLA & we went to a farm with a petting zoo. Jacob was 2 & acted as if he had grown up on a strawberry farm, right at home! The strawberries that year were the best. 

Last year I was "great with child" & wondered if I would squat to pick a strawberry & have Logan right there in the field!

This year was Logan's first time & he was a little frustrated that he could not climb around the strawberry vines. We also found out his latest ear infection was not completely cleared up so maybe that was a reason he was a little unsettled too.

We had lots of fun with Mema & had a picnic afterwards. Who would have thought we would need a jacket in May but it was windy!

My other favorite thing is what you do with the strawberries! Here are a couple of our favorite recipes:

Strawberry Pie

(Grandma Lois' recipe)

1 pint of fresh strawberries

2- 9 inch pie shells (cook according to instructions)

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

dash salt

1 (3oz) pkg strawberry gelatin

cool whip

Wash, hull & cut strawberries in half. Drain well. Place in prepared/cooled pie shells. Combine water, cornstarch, salt & jello in sauce pan. Place over med flame & cook until clear, stir constantly. (OK, it near turns completely clear for me-but just look for the jello to dissolve & look not as cloudy) Cool. Spoon over strawberries. Chill until firm & top with cool whip.

I used a very deep pie pan & used one pie shell but put the entire recipe in one.

Beth's Strawberry Bread

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries (or pulsed several times in the food processer?)

1 1/4 cups pecan

1/4 tsp lemon extract (I am going to use a couple of squirts of lemon juice because I don't have this right now, I think I did that before & it was fine)

1 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt & sugar. Add the beaten eggs, strawberries, pecans, lemon extract & vanilla. Pour into 2 well greased loaf pans. Bake @ 350 for 60-70 min or until tests done. cool in pans for 5 minutes.

This morning I halved this recipe & it made 12 muffins. They were a hit!

What part of this should worry me?

I went into the kitchen for about 7 seconds (because you can hardly leave Logan alone for that short amount of time) & return to this....

& yes, I grabbed the camera before checking the carpet for any "surprises."

A great weekend

We went to NOLA this weekend for this.....

...to see Corrie marry her Prince Charming. We have been waiting for this day, to watch Corrie become Mrs Corrie Moran. And we have been waiting a while! Corrie has been engaged for almost 18 months. When we left NOLA we knew there was no way we could miss their special day. Corrie is a sweet friend who I worked with before the storm & we wanted to celebrate with both of them!

Not only to we get to be there for the wedding but as we say in NOLA this was the lagniappe (a little something extra)......

Time with great friends 

(above me & Jeanine, I miss this girl!)

Below, this is the MMC Baptist crew

When I looked around during the wedding & saw how many people were there that I used to work with, I teared up. Here we are almost 4 years later, we are scattered as far as where we continue to help mommas, babies & families start their journeys together. But there we were  all together again as we helped a dear friend celebrate a milestone in her life. It was so fun to be together but it is never enough time! We were hoarse from talking so much & laughing, we have so much fun together!

And adult time! Inman & I enjoyed our time away. This was our first get away leaving 2 behind. We enjoyed our "2 day date" & came back ready to see our boys! 

Some NOLA time.

 Above is a picture of the second line from the wedding to the reception (kind of hard to tell in the picture) but this is a  NOLA tradition & we had fun in NOLA which always involves good food too!

One of the bonuses of the weekend was that it was also NOBTS graduation weekend.

We got to celebrate with Bruce & Laura McGee.

We are thankful for the opportunity to serve alongside them at FBC Lawrenceville.

We were thrilled to be able to celebrate with the Box family too. After lots of hard work (from Bart & Leslie:) Bart received his PhD! We are so proud of our friend!

Bart & Leslie are friends who we have so many great memories with. We remember some great times crammed into small seminary apartments with this sweet couple. I got the chance to keep Rachel (their oldest) when she was just a little thing. She is growing up too fast & they are about to welcome their 4th child! Where has the time gone?

So thankful for a weekend of new memories & time to reflect on some great times in our lives!

Hats off to Daddy

We are so proud of Inman! This morning he took his oral exam, a pass/fail requirement of the PhD program. I knew I would hear his voice early afternoon or so telling me that it all went well. When I answered & heard his voice, I knew that was the case. He definitely sounded like a weight was off of his shoulders (at least that portion of the weight!:)

Inman works so hard balancing his responsibilities as a husband & daddy, full time ministry & working towards his PhD. Hurricane Katrina definitely complicated his PhD pursuit but he has "kept on swimming" (any other preschool parents out there? Finding Nemo? anyone?)

We are very proud of him & will be by his side for the rest of the way!

Happy Mother's Day

Some times all a mom wants for mother's day is a good picture with her kids....

be it sun in the eyes, distraction as we run into church, this is the best we got.

Again not the best smiles from my kids but still pretty cute:)

And this last one is just proof that we also went to George & Jeanne's house. I brought out the camera, snapped this one & never picked it up again! I promise we also saw Inman's mom & grandmother too! Logan enjoying his cousin Nathan. Can you tell he is crazy about his cousin?

I am very thankful to have the privilege to be momma to these two boys. Even on the busy long days, I am thrilled to wake every day to these sweet faces! Thank you Jesus for this gift!

Big Brother, Little Brother

Remember this????

I would say, "he was so teeny tiny" but Logan Houston was NEVER tiny! This was in Sept '08

The other day I put his "little brother" shirt on one more time.

Don't you wish your fat roll looked so cute?!

Things have changed just a bit

But one thing hasn't changed, they are still very cute!

(remember my kids, my blog....I can be brag obnoxiously:)

Safety 1st

He's not happy about it.... 

But check the phrase above his left shoulder for what has to be the motto around here....

SAFETY 1st!