Country Boy

Remember a while back I told you about my country boy?
Well, I finally caught him on video. He says it several times!
Sorry about the sick hubbie in the background, hopefully he'll be better soon!

God's plans vs. mine

This morning, I woke up with about a million and forty things that I needed to get done today. This Friday evening and Sat. morning, our church is hosting a "Loving Well" retreat and I am basically the organizer.
We found out yesterday afternoon, that Steven's uncle passed away suddenly. Please pray for his sweet wife, Edna, who is probably one of the most faith-filled women I've ever met.
I so hope this doesn't sound harsh but with this death, I knew that Wed. and Thurs. will be filled with being with the family and attending the funeral. Which in turn meant, that I could try and get as much accomplished today for the retreat or I could take my chances and wait until Friday and have to spend the day in a rush. I opted for the first. Because even though I'm the organizer of the retreat, I still want to enjoy it! Silly me. :)
So I dropped the kids off at school and headed back to the church. Picked up the things I needed there and then headed to Wal Mart. My intention was to purchase the food for the rereat, drop it off at the retreat cabin and probably get back in time to pick up the kids from school.
FYI- My kids' school is about 30 minutes north of where we live. Walmart and the retreat center are about 40 minutes south of us.
On my way to Wal Mart, I got a call from a friend, telling me that another friend had been admitted to the hospital and had suffered a miscarriage. I immediately knew that God was asking me, "Are you going to stay focused on your plans, or are you going to take the time and reach out to this friend?"
When I hung up the phone, I said this prayer out loud,
"Lord, give me your priorties today."
I let go of all the things that I felt like I just had to do and let the Lord guide my steps.
I was able to visit my friend, please keep her in your prayers.
I was able to get to Wal Mart and purchase the things we need for our retreat. Caleb took me out to lunch. And as we were headed back home, I was thinking, "we'll get home and have to head back out to get Emma and Dougie in less than an hour..... it's raining.... Caleb soooo needs a nap....."
Then I hear......
"my chains are gone, I've been set free" (that's my ringtone btw!)
And I hear the sweetest words from my hubbie,
"I'll pick up the kids from school."

A man's heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Too funny!!!

Welcome to motherhood!

For those of you who don't know, Caleb is my hubby's first biological child. So this journey into toddlerhood is a brand new experience for him. But it's so nice when things like this happen so he (Steven) can get a glimpse of what I experience every day. Caleb is starting to become very attached to his daddy (which is so precious). He is beginning to follow him everywhere and is constantly asking for "dada." This was the scene that just took place a few minutes ago:
Let me set the stage:
Steven walks through the kitchen towards the bathroom, Caleb is close behind. When Steven nearly reaches the bathroom door, he turns to Caleb;
Steven: "Caleb, Daddy's going to the bathroom, you can't go with me." (laughing and joyful)
Caleb: stands there in silence, a stunned look on his face.
Cheryl: spoken as if Caleb is saying it: "Why not daddy, I always go into the bathroom with mommy."
Steven: "Well, ok." Caleb and Steven proceed into the bathroom together.

End of scene.

WELCOME TO MOTHERHOOD, DADDY!

TA-DA!!!

Here it is!

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then read my post from yesterday.
The pie turned out beautifully and tasted de-LICIOUS!

Sure wish you were here, 'cause I'd love to serve you a slice!

Pioneer Woman, I am not...

If you've never checked out the Pioneer Woman, it is a must! She has some incredible recipes and for visual learners like me, she includes photos! Last week, I even made this and it turned out great! It was a true family pleaser! (Next time, I will cut the amount of salt.) Well, when I saw the recipe for her chocolate pie, I couldn't wait for the opportunity to arise for me to attempt it. And today is the day! We are hosting a mission conference this week and tonight I'm cooking dinner for our guest speaker. I threw a good ol', never fail, roast in the crock pot and I could hardly wait to start on the pie! (Just a side note, if you ever eat a meal at my house, I almost always try a new recipe on my guests! guinea pigs........who just don't know it!)

I baked my pie crust just like the PW told me to and it turned out well.

Now in the PW's exlanation, she very clearly states that you really need a stand-up mixer to successfully fix this recipe. Well I don't but I sure wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop me. I mean, surely, I could hold my hand mixer, add the egg, scrap the side of the bowl and set the timer to make sure I mix it for 5 minutes, all at the same time!

This is what happened when when I tried to prop my handmixer (while it was still on) to set the timer! I'm sure you'll never see a photo like this on PW's website!

And I promise, the beaters never touched the floor!!

The pie is in the fridge as I am typing this and I'm just praying that it turns out!

Oh, and I even made homemade whip cream AND I made the chocolate curls!

Go me!!!

Fit Friday, Valentine's

It seems like my "Fit Friday" has become a catch-up time!
So here's my report:
Mon.- walked 2 miles
Tues. gave blood, couldn't do any strenuous exercise, oh darn!
Wed.- renewed gym membership. 30 mins. of cardiovascular between
the treadmill and elliptical machine.
Thurs.- I think it's like against the law to workout on
Valentine's, isn't it?
Fri.- 30 mins. on the elliptical machine and lifted weights (very light weights!)
Check out Kelly, I was one step ahead of her today! I believe in strength training exercises!

Just wanted to take a moment and brag on my wonderful hubby. He made yesterday such a great day for me. It started with him getting the kids up and getting them ready while letting me sleep. When I did get up, he had cooked breakfast! After eating the scrumptious meal, he and the kids gave me the sweetest cards and some yummy chocolate. Last night, we took the kids to a dinner theater that was being put on by our youth group. And though it wasn't 'romantic', we had a great meal and laughed our heads off! And when we got home about 8:30, we couldn't wait to get the kids in bed so we could..................watch LOST!
What.....how dare you?! :0 What kind of blog do you think this is, anyway!
I'm a preacher's wife, for goodness sake! LOL!!!

I am so thankful for the wonderful, loving husband that God has given me! I am truly a blessed woman.

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day filled with love!