The Smoothie Bar is open

We have started a "tradition" at our house of having smoothies for breakfast on Wednesday mornings so here is the menu this morning.  It takes a while because everyone wants something a little different.

Luke and Drew like this one

Strawberry Yogurt

Strawberries (frozen)

A banana

milk 

ice

a little sugar (my strawberries are not sweetened)

Emma's favorite

Milk

big spoonful of peanut butter

ice

vanilla yogurt

Mike's favorite

orange juice

ice

milk 

a little sugar

Mine

I usually like the strawberry banana but this morning I tried to be starbucks

I fixed a shot of espresso (in my Tassimo) poured it in the blender

added some milk, sugar and ice and blended it all up - yummy

You can't forget to top them all with some whipped cream

Maybe this will make our day go a little "smoother"

A pirates life's for me

Too tired to post pictures tonight, just wanted to let everyone know I am still alive after being held hostage by about 12 little pirates today. It was a great party. Drew is a big boy. I am off to batten the hatches and sleep with one eye open, mateys. I am so tired I may close both eyes tonight.

It's Party time

Today is the big Pirate Party.  Can't believe my "baby" is turning four.  Better get busy.  Balloons to order, guacamole to make, treasure hunt to plan for and house to clean.   Pictures coming soon.

Great book for talking to girls

 Here is an awesome book that you should get if you have a "tween" daughter.  It's called The Body Book by Nancy Rue.  The book is part of the Lily series and there is a related fiction book for every non-fiction book.  The book is very well written and is right on the level of 8-12 year old girls.  It's a book that talks about growing up in a direct way without giving "too much" info to freak her out and it does it in a Godly way.  I HIGHLY recommend the book!  It is great for a mom and daughter to go through together and then girls can read it again on their own.   Emma and I had a beautiful time going over it together.  She is turning into such a little lady. I am planning to get her some of the other Lily books soon.

I am excited about our date night tonight.  Mike and I are going to Winston.  We have to do a little shopping and then dinner somewhere.  Thanks to Joe Sangl we have our envelopes to keep us under control.  We'll be eating cheap so we don't use all the eating out money.  We didn't do a seperate date night envelope - maybe that's a thought for next month.  So since it's cheap eating we are trying to decide Chipotle or Mellow Mushroom?  

Check this out

I have been involved in helping plan a community wide children's event for this summer. Praisin' in the Park is going to be awesome. Check out the website for more information and to register your kids. Register early and tell everyone you know! We need your kids and we need adults and teens to help make our first year a success. The plan is for this to become an annual children's event. We are doing an American Idol theme and I kn0w the kids are going to LOVE IT!!

We will not forget

I don't even know what to type.  Such a tragedy and waste of lives.  Pray for healing to continue.

Here is Mike's post

Yummy summer time!

I made this cake last night and thought I would share the recipe.  It tasted like summer

Pina Colada Upside Down Cake

1/2 stick butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 fresh pineapple

1 yellow cake mix

13 oz can of coconut milk

3 eggs

rum extract

15-20 maraschino cherries

1/2 cup toasted sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350

Melt butter on stove top in a 9x13 pan (I think you can get by with less butter if you want to make it a little healthier)

Remove from heat and sprinkle with brown sugar ( I used Raw Sugar instead of brown sugar)

Cut pineapple into rings and place in the pan.  Cut them in half to make them fit.  You can also use canned pineapple slices.

Place one cherry in the middle and place the rest around pineapple rings (I didn't use these because I don't like them)

Combine cake mix, eggs, coconut milk and rum flavor (I didn't use rum flavor because I didn't have any and also I had to use cream of coconut because I couldn't find coconut milk - the cream of coconut is sweetened and the coconut milk is not - but it was fine)

Carefully pour batter over pineapple.  

Bake 35-40 minutes until pick comes out clean

Let cool 5 minutes and invert cake onto serving plate

Sprinkle with toasted coconut - pressing it into the cake

Control Freak?

On our road trip to Charleston to see my sister and her family Drew decided he wanted to drive.  Here was the conversation (I was driving)

Drew: "Mommy, we're at da beach yet?"

Me: "No, we have a little ways to go still"

Drew: "But, mommy me saw a palm tree" 

(it was at the South Carolina visitors center)

Me: "Yes, we are getting closer to the beach and we are going to stop in a few minutes and get something to eat and take a little break."

Drew: (very agitated) "No, me not want to stop and eat.  Me not hungy"

Me:  "Well, the rest of us are hungry so we are going to stop and eat and then when we get back in the car we will have a short trip left."

Drew:  (very, very agitated) "Wet me drive dis car!"

He must have decided if he could just drive he would get us there quicker - no stopping to eat.

In about 2 minutes he was asleep in his car seat.  We didn't stop and eat in Columbia as we planned we let him sleep about an hour and then stopped in Orangeburg.  He was a little happier with a nap and full tummy and he let me keep driving.

Make people feel special - and they'll be back

This is a great post I just read.  If you know anything about Newspring Church you will know that they are crazy about volunteers and making people feel welcome.  So Cornerstoners - read this before Sunday and lets make sure our visitors (and regulars) find a place that feels authentic and a place that they feel like they are our special guest.  Most people decide if they are coming back way before they hear the sermon.  Let's be known as the church where people can come and leave with a smile on there face because they feel like we were truly glad they were there.  See ya on Sunday - with a smile on your face!

South Carolina Sunshine

I am looking at the Atlantic and getting ready to take kids and my niece and nephew over to play in the sand!

Filed our taxes!!!

The printer is whirring right now as I type because Mike just finished efiling our taxes and is printing out about 1000 pages of stuff. All I know is we are getting some money back - yeah! Only time of year that I love the IRS. But since Joe Sangl was here this weekend teaching us how to get our finances straightened out we are planning to plan. I added Joe's blog to my blog roll because he has some awesome tools on there for getting a handle on your money. Gotta go get ready for some sleep. Big day ahead. We are headed to Charleston to visit my sister and her family so lots of packing and cleaning to do tomorrow. Can't wait for some South Carolina sunshine and the feeling of sand between my toes! And we have all that tax money to spend - just kidding!

Financial Freedom is on it's way to the Morris house

Joe Sangl came to Galax this weekend and brought his Financial Freedom Experience with him.  We had the assignment of making a monthly budget last night as homework.  I won't say it was fun - but not as bad as I had expected.  Following it may be a little harder.  Joe did a great job of giving practical, biblical reasons to make your money behave.  If you ever have the chance to go hear Joe - you should go.  He is passionate about seeing people freed from financial prison.  I am actually excited about getting some discipline into our finances.  It has been about 9 months since Mike started full time ministry and left his engineering job and we have had some financial changes that we really haven't spent time evaluating.  This crusade, as Joe called it, came at just the right time.  Another thing I am excited about is teaching these principles to our kids.  We are planning to order Financial Peace Jr. from Dave Ramsy to get us started on helping our kids be good stewards of their money.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Hold on to your britches!

My middle child Luke is a skinny guy.  I have always had trouble finding pants that didn't fall off of his waist.  Saw this over on Goody Blog.  I can remember searching all over the mall one Easter, when Luke was 3, looking for a belt to fit him.  End of search - here are some belts that will hold the pants on those skinny bodies.  And, they are easy for potty training - velcro.  

Cute too.  As usual - the girl ones are cuter.

Thanks to Old Navy and Gap slim sizes and adjustable waist pants I haven't had to search for a belt in a while but these were worth sharing.

7 Random Things about me

Holly did this over on her blog and thought it looked fun.  If you blog - do the same - it's fun reading about each other.  I think I might do one for everyone if my family.  

1.  My favorite place in the whole world is the beach!  I love the warm temperatures, the breeze off the ocean, the sand, the salt water, everything about it.  I have only visited the North Carolina and South Carolina beaches.  Been to Virginia Beach a couple of times to visit family and friends but didn't go to the beach while I was there.  My favorite is probably Isle of Palms, SC.  I think God lives there - it's beautiful.

2.  I taught Home Economics (food service and nutrition) at Grayson County High School for about 2 months.  Liked the students - hated the class.  I came into the job without any resources and very little experience in the food service part.  My degree from VT was very broad and I didn't even know how to operate the equipment in the industrial kitchen.  Guess my heart just wasn't in it.  I was only 23 and didn't have a clue what I was doing.  Turning in that resignation was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  

3.  We lived in Winston Salem, NC for a year after we got married.  Wonderful city - still go about 2 or 3 times a month to shop.  We were members at Calvary Baptist Church - amazing church - we learned so much while we were there.  It is an example of how a church that is 50 years old can keep growing, keep being relevant and keep reaching people for Jesus.

4.  Our kids are home educated.  I don't blog about it a lot.  Not sure why - I love my kids and am passionate about them but not really about home education.  It works for us right now and I wouldn't trade the time I spend with my kids for anything.  You won't find any militant home schooling opinions here.

5.  We live in a small town but I have always thought I would like to move to a bigger place.  Everytime we visit somewhere I am forever saying  - " I would like to live here".  I guess I think the grass is greener on the other side.  There are some wonderful things about living in a small town.  It is an awesome place to raise a family and close enough to Winston or Charlotte to visit often.  Could we just get a Starbucks? 

6.  My favorite food is Mexican.  Pretty much anything Mexican.  Chipotle has the best guacamole in the world.  Wish we had one here but we do have a great local mexican resteraunt in Galax, El Parian,  that is almost as good.  They have great food and great service and it's always super fast.

7.  I am married to the most wonderful man in the world.   We are going on 13 years of wedded bliss and it has been a great ride.  I can honestly say I have never regretted marrying my high school boyfriend for a minute.    He's not perfect and neither is our marriage but God has blessed us beyond what we deserve.  Can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!