Daddy Daughter Date at Chick-fil-a

Jason found out about this event at Chick-fil-a and signed himself and the girls to go.  They were so excited they got all dressed up and even helped dad with his outfit. 

They looked great.  Ready for a night at Chick-fil-a and time with their favorite man (and mine too, of course.)

The girls with Chick-fil-a cow was adorable.  The excitement in their faces undeniable!  

I love those girls! 

Daddy and Kiley

Having more fun! 

Daddy, the cow and Karli

The tables were beautifully decorated.  They had reservations, a waitress that took 

care of all their needs and  they also got to go in...

Something that made their faces look this excited...

A LIMO RIDE!!!!  

OH THE EXCITEMENT!!! (Check out the video below for their reactions)

After the Limo ride...they enjoyed a Cookies and Cream shake for desert.  8)  

 Apparently, Karli adored the cow and wouldn't stop giving her a hug.  So they gave finally good-byes to end a fun evening.  

What an AWESOME DADDY!  

They can't wait to do it again!

(Video of their fun reaction)

Blessings of the Heart

So each night we bless our children, each one by one.  We have since this summer and being challenged by our devotional at family camp (Camp Grow).  Last week while I was blessing our daughter Kiley, God laid it on my heart to start praying every night for healing of her heart.  Why not, our God is an amazing God and can do ANYTHING!  And when I mean ANYTHING, He could say tomorrow that her heart is healed.  I believe it with everything in me.  I also believe he can say no.  But, He has challenged me to just ask.  I think part of the challenge is from studying Revelation and the magnitude of importance the prayers of the saints are to Him.
So, each night I hold my hand over her heart and pray.  Pray for healing. Pray that every single problem with her heart will go away and that it will be fully healed.

Tonight, as I prayed over her heart, she looked up at me and said, "Mom, could you add in there that He would allow me to have kids.  I really want to have kids."  She knows, that as of now, the next surgery for her will be when she is an adult.  She also has been informed that as of now the medicine she would have to go on will not allow her to have kids.  As of now.  We know that medical advances came happen at anytime, but she knows.  She also knows that we have a God who cares about our wants and wants us to depend on Him to have them.

Felt like sharing this tonight.  May He be your comfort with whatever you are going through today.  Remember that we have a God who is in control of EVERYTHING.  He cares.  He knows. And He wants us to trust and depend on Him.

Remember Random...

So since my blog is The Random Happenings of Us, and since I haven't posted in a while, I figured I would give some random happenings that have happened since my last post:

• Went to St. Louis and found a museum that allows you to almost kill yourself...and we all LOVED IT!
• Finished our first year at CVCS.
• Got waterlogged at the pool most of the summer.
• Was planning to go to museums all summer, but instead swim ourselves silly.

• Have had a two toads, two spiders (and they were big and freaky looking!), praying mantis, grasshopper, fish, mouse,caterpillar, hamster and of course our ever faithful dog this year so far.
• Karli lost two teeth.
• Our family ran another 5k.

• All the kids learned how to roller blade and are great at it.
• Karli learned how to ride a two wheeler.
• John is playing Fall Baseball and I am loving it. 
• This is the first summer we didn't make it to a Cubs game 8(.
• First summer to go to family camp and our lives will never be the same.
• Fell in love with Pinterest.
• One year anniversary since Kiley had her surgery.  Praise the Lord!
• I directed our first VBS for over 30 years at our church and it was crazy great.

• Emily found a love of caring for babies.
• We built a patio in our backyard for campfires and smores.
• Watched a movie on our garage with a bunch of girls in their sleeping bags cuddled up in front of it.
• Had tons of fun hanging out as a family.
• John and Jason biked the 32 mile bike trail up(up and back) to the Botanical Gardens twice.
• I coached Softball for the first time this year, and it was fun.

Mom's Amazing Pumpkin Bread

Every Christmas my mom and us girls would make pumpkin bread for our neighbors.  The tradition was carried on, although I change what I make every Christmas for our neighbors I still make the delicious bread each holiday season.   

Many people have requested the recipe and so since it is loved by so many I would like to share it with you. I challenge you to share this with others too!

Mom's Amazing Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar                 2tsp baking soda

1 cup oil                       1 1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs                           1 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups flour                 1 tsp nutmeg

1 can of pumpkin       1/2 tsp ground cloves

2-3 large bread pans or 5-6 small bread pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix oil and sugar.

Add eggs (1 at a time)

Add all other ingredients.

Pour into greased pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

Enjoy!

It's off!

Here is Kiley in her cast before the appointment. It had been 2 1/2 weeks since she got it on. She had broken her pinkie by getting it slammed in the bathroom door. Right place. Wrong time. While waiting for the doctor to come and examine Kiley, Emily decided to show us how a REAL doctor ought to act!

John decided to show us how it would look if he broke his arm. Nice acting!

To make the time go by Karli and I decided to make the others laugh by making funny faces. Emily took this picture of us! Great job, Em!

Finally, the cast came off! She was so brave! There was no way I would want a saw coming at my arm! Kiley says, "It tickled and it touched my hand that's why I'm not laughing in this picture. It felt scary, but it didn't cut my hand."



Now it is tickles!

Boys, boys, boys...

So, I grew up with all girls. I always wanted a brother, but didn't have any. My son, J--, he just confuses me so much. I keep trying to figure out what is a boy thing and what is just not a boy thing! It is at these times that I wish I had a brother so I knew. This is a new thing for me. I hope we do it right! Thank goodness that God tells us that we can ask Him for wisdom. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.