It was such a gorgeous day outside so we decided to go exploring with the kids. We took them to our favorite park that is not  far from our house. It’s right by the river and has some beautiful trails. This is what came of our big expedition.

Silly Mommy! Trying to get a laugh out of the kids.

Found some nice big leaves to trace later so we can remember our day of exploring.

And of course, every explorer needs their own walking stick. Even the littlest of explorers.

So which way should we go?

Thatta’ way!

She wanted to collect a little bit of everything to put in her pockets and take home.

We found a little fuzzy friend along the way.

How big is the tree, Sissy? SO BIG!

Poor little legs can only walk so far before they need a rest.

And, we’re rested and ready to go!

Living in the midwest, there is nothing I love more than a beautiful, crisp fall morning. Admiring God’s creation first hand was just what my spirit needed today.

And what else could possibly be a better end to our adventure than a picnic.

But don’t forget to pray and thank God first!

Thank you Lord for this beautiful day, for my beautiful family and for these precious moments we are blessed to spend together.

What a perfect day to celebrate life.

No related posts.

And when talking about the Bucks you can’t forget these guys these guys…..

With football season, comes lots and lots of tailgate parties. This is one of my favorite snacks to make and have for any football game. (Or any other time of the year, really.)

She is most definitely her daddy’s little mini-me and mommy’s little baby-doll.

So anyhow, back to football and food. What’s your favorite tailgate food for  game day?

Related posts:

1. Tasty Tuesday | Crockpot Roast
2. Christmas Cheer | Tasty Tuesday
3. Snow Days | Tasty Tuesday

I enjoyed getting to spend some time with some of our family and especially my wonderful husband and of course the 2 precious reasons that I celebrate this special day.

We headed out for lunch after church this morning with Jay’s parents, brother and his family and my brother Matthew and grandparents. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best experience, actually it was TERRIBLE. Needless to say, we will not be going back to that restaurant again. As my hubby said, two thumbs way down! Hahaha

Since our morning got off to a bit of a bad start, we all came home and laid down for naps to start the day over…..3 hours later, there wasn’t much of the day left. However everyone woke up refreshed and in better moods so it was well worth it! After we got up and around, we decided to head into town and pick up some flowers and head out to the cemetery to visit my mom. On our way back home, we stopped by Archies, a local ice cream stand, and get some yummy treats.

Today was a little bittersweet and had a lot to do with why the morning didn’t really get off to such a great start. All I could think about was how Mothers Day last year, I had all of my family, but namely my mom,  with us at our church for Caroline’s baby dedication. I remember exactly what my mom was wearing and how she smelled. Mothers Day last year would be the last time that my mom wasn’t confined to a hospital bed and that memory just brought out so many emotions.

In service this morning I had my first of a couple melt downs as we sang a very familiar hymn from my childhood. I held it together until we got to this part in the chorus. You may be familiar with it.

O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.
I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.

One of my dear friends from high school had stated it perfectly this week as being homesick for Heaven. To unbelievers, that may be hard to grasp, but when I hear about the mansion in paradise that is waiting for me and my heart is aching so badly for my mom, this is exactly how I feel. Homesick.

Of course I did not want my missing mom to overshadow the fact that I have so much to celebrate today and everyday, so I spent a lot of time reflecting on and remembering how blessed I was to have the very best mom and what I want to learn from her. In my slightly biased opinion, my mom was was the perfect example of what a Proverbs 31 woman is. I am so thankful for the example that she set for my sister and I in the life that she lived and the love that she gave. This is my prayer of the kind of woman that I long to be refined into by the grace of God.

10  An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself  with strength
and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.

I know that for so many, today can be so cruel and is not full of celebration for a multitude of different reasons. Maybe you did not or do not have a good relationship with your mom and your relationship is broken. Maybe like me, you have lost a mom and brings up so much pain. Or you have been longing to become a mommy and that prayer has not been answered. Know that I have been thinking of and praying for you today. Know that you have a Heavenly Father that knows your hurts and loves you so much. He is our healer and comforter.

Father, I thank you for choosing me to be a mommy to Joel Dewey and Caroline Grace. My life is forever changed because of them and the joy that they bring to my life. I pray that I am the best mommy that I can be to them and always raise and teach them in a way that brings glory and honor to you.

Related posts:

1. Happy Thanksgiving! (A Bit Belated)
2. Happy 2nd Birthday

I honestly can not tell you the last time that it did not rain or snow on Easter but we could not have asked for a more perfect day this year! The sun was out and it was in the mid 70′s so we spent most of our afternoon outside.

So it wouldn’t be a typical Emily post unless I added lots and lots of pictures and then a few more but I just can’t help myself. I took so many picture on Sunday that I had a hard time choosing which ones to share with you so there is a little bit of everything.

Momma’s two little cuties before we left for church.

In years past, the Easter Bunny has usually come during the night so the kids get there baskets first thing in the morning. However, with them getting older (Joel especially) the Easter bunny knew there may be a massive melt down and delay in getting to church on time if he visited in the morning. So this year he came while the kids were down for their naps (to ensure that they got naps instead of getting sidetracked with their goodies). I am glad to say that the Easter Bunny did not bring one single piece of candy to our house as we are really trying to start limiting how much sugar the kids take in. Instead, Joel got some flash cards with shapes, colors and numbers, a few t-shirts for spring, a Bible, frisbee and Play-Doh (I think that the E.B. was out of his ever lovin’ mind for bringing that into my house since momma’s kind of a neat freak!) And for a little treat, some Yogos and Teddy Grahams. Caroline got some new jammies, hair clips, t-shirt, princess bubble bath and a book. All in all, I think that the kids really lucked out with the bunny!

Checking everything out.

After naps, we headed down the street to my mother and father-in-laws house for Easter lunch with Jay’s two brothers and one of his cousins and his family. Joel and Caroline wore themselves out playing with all of their cousins!

Here is Caroline and her cousin Quinn. They are the babies of the 7. Aren’t they just so darn cute?

My little man!

Awww! A tender little moment that was unprovoked.

Our attempt at a family picture that was a fail but this was the best of the bunch.

So if you did not know, my mother-in-law is greek and that lady is one amazing cook! Every year we celebrate both the Christian Easter and the Greek Orthodox Easter but this year they fell on the same Sunday. So that means we got to have the big traditional greek meal. I don’t know if you all like greek food or not but I LOVE it! So here are a few of the things that we had for our lunch.

Greek Salad

Leg of Lamb

Roasted Poatoes

Oh yes, can’t forget these, Spanakopita (spinach pies). I consumed more than my fair share of these!

Greek Easter Bread

Greek Easter Eggs. The eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross. After we eat dinner, everyone chooses an egg and then you go around the table and take turns hitting one end of your egg on another persons egg, trying to crack the shell. You do this until both ends of your egg are broken and whoever is the last one left with an uncracked shell is considered lucky.

Once we finished eating our lunch, the kids were antsy to get outside and start their search for candy filled Easter eggs. Joel double fisting it!

*Please don’t mind the fashion faux pa of the tube socks. Daddy doesn’t know any better

Once we showed Caroline what to do, she had the hang of it and took off as fast as her little feet would carry her!

I just love that sweet little profile and could just simply eat her up!

Joel playing baseball out at Great Aunt Lynnes house.

I hope that you all had a relaxing and rest filled weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Related posts:

1. Great Weekend!
2. Weekend Video

What’s a Valentines party without an insane amount of candy and chocolate?

And flowers too of course! Normally, I am not a fan of carnations but I couldn’t find tulips so I had to settle. They aren’t too bad though.

All the kids decorating their cupcakes. With a little help from their mommys of course.

Can you see the sugar high written all over his ornery face????

Joel debating wether or not he has anymore room in his belly for that cupcake.

What the heck! There’s always more room!

My Valentine #3. Crazy girl with some crazy hair. I comb it, and this is how it looks 2 minutes later. Boys are definitely easier in that aspect. I love initial shirts and saw one similar to this on another blog that I follow. After taking a closer look at it, I decided that it was something that I could make on my own fairly easily.

This shirt doesn’t require any sewing what so ever so if you would like to make one for yourself all you need is so scrap fabric (you can buy a small sample of fabric for a $1.00 or so at most craft stores and even Wal-Mart if yours has a fabric department), a solid colored t-shirt (I got this one at Wal-Mart for $3.50), steam-2-seem (found at Jo-Anns or other craft shops), floss thread and a cross stitch needle.

First you need to find the size of circle you want. I just traced around the edge of a bowl.

Choose your letter. For this, I just got onto the computer, found a font that I liked and blew it up to the size I needed (about pt.540) and print it off.

Trace your circle and letter onto your steam-2-seem paper on the side that sticks to the webbing.

Remove the sheet that easily removes from the webbing of the paper and place that side onto the wrong side of your fabric.

Steam with your iron for 15-20 seconds.

Carefully cut out your circle and initial.

Remove the other side of the paper from the webbing and place your circle in the center of the shirt.

Carefully steam for 15-20 seconds.

For a shabby look, take your floss (in an accent color) and stitch around the inside of the circle and the outside of your initial.

So there you have it! For about $5.00 you have your custom made initial shirt.

Related posts:

1. Thoughts Of Spring Blog Party Day 1

I remember when we would have a snow day during our school years, it usually consisted of being in jammies all day, playing board games or putting together puzzles and watching a good Disney movie or a classical musical. I specifically remember one puzzle in particular that was from Discovery Toys that we used to work on with our mom that was a colorful forest scene and had a tucan. Funny how you remember little things like that and have very specific memories tied to them.

I think about my mom almost on a daily basis and miss her everyday. Some days I miss her more than others. I suppose that’s normal. Today was the kind of day that I was missing her like crazy but my thoughts were flooded with warm memories of her so it didn’t sting as badly. I thought about all of our snow filled days that we spent together for over 24 wonderful years and it made me long for them. So after I finished some cleaning and got dinner in the crock pot, I decided to sit down and fold some laundry while I watched a movie that we always enjoyed watching together. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

If there is anything that my mom taught my sister and I (and I suppose my brothers as well) it was to appreciate good old fashioned movies. We were brought up watching classic movies and especially musicals. I found myself thinking today that I wished they still made movies like these, especially musicals with such wonderful scores. One of my favorite parts of watching an older movie is having the credits in the beginning while the film score plays. I am really making myself sound old fashioned here but I don’t mind. I have always jokingly told Jay that I should have been born in the 30′s or 40′s because of my love for all things from those decades. Anyhow, taking the time to watch a movie that reminded me of my mom was just what I needed. I thought warmly of how she would sit there and sing along with every song in the entire movie (as would I) and then she would walk around the house whistling them non-stop as she did her chores for the rest of the day. After I finished the first movie, it put me in the mood for more. So I decided to pop in Meet Me In St. Louis.

Another great one that was watched many a time in the Rarey household. After watching MMISL, I had the trolley song stuck in my head a good portion of the day. I love Judy Garlands beautiful auburn hair. It reminds me of my mom.

So after my walk down memory lane and random babblings of all things musical, even if my idea of a perfect snow day is not your idea of one, I think that we all love something warm and delicious to fill our bellies on a cold winters day. So without further delay, Tasty Tuesday. This may be one of my new favs. First of all, it’s made in a crock pot and second of all its just down right yummy!

I ended up serving this soup with crusty bread for dipping and had loaded baked potatoes along with it instead of doing the usual salad. This is a recipe that I will definitely be using again in the near future. I hope that you all enjoy it as much as we did. Have a happy Tuesday and stay warm!

Many blessings!

Emily

Related posts:

1. Cashew Chicken Stir Fry with Mandarin Oranges | Tasty Tuesday
2. Christmas Cheer | Tasty Tuesday
3. Mmmmmmmm Meatloaf | Tasty Tuesday