Stepping Outside Our Comfort Zone

After church today we were invited to make sack lunches with a couple of families and then go downtown and pass them out to the homeless.  I have always had the desired to go help but I believe Satan keeps putting lies in my head and I've made excuses not to go....we're tired, Josh is at school and I have to work, we have two babies and it's not safe, they don't want our help, I don't know where to find them or where the right place to go is, and the list goes on.  In reality I just was scared and was too selfish to go.  When we were invited last Sunday to join these families, I committed ourselves.  I told them we would go so I couldn't backout!!  Josh and I packed our car this morning preparing for rain or shine (thank God we had shine!!).  It was such a great experience!!  I'm so glad we decided to do this.  According to the Portland House Bureau there were close to 1, 600 homeless people JUST IN PORTLAND in 2009.....and that was an 11% increase from 2007.

Garrett was such a big helper!!  He helped get the bags ready and then he wasn't at all scared to go ask someone if they wanted some food!!  He would go up to them and say, "Are you hungry?  Here's a hotdog!"  It was so awesome to watch him!!

Josh and Aric preparing to help!  :)

Noah trying to help!

"I'm ready to hit the streets!!"

"We are too!!"

"Hotdogs, Hotdogs!!  Who wants your hotdogs!!"

Josh ran into one of his classmates helping at Potluck in the Park!!  It was a pretty awesome set up.  They had food, free check ups, free haircuts, free cleaning supplies like shampoo, soap, etc, free dental work, etc.  They said they meet at this park every Sunday all day!!

All the homeless people gathered around for the free clinic!

It was an awesome experience and we would like to make it a habit!!  If you live in the Portland area and would like to come with us, we'd LOVE the help!!!  

Garrett's Dentist Appointment

Last week Garrett kept complaining of his mouth hurting.  Josh took a look and found a couple of sores right under his teeth.  He hadn't been to the dentist in over a year so I decided to make him an appointment.  He did AWESOME!!  He got his teeth x-rayed, they cleaned them, and he was such a big boy!!  Here are pictures I took with my phone.

They let him pick some sunglasses so the light wouldn't bother him...those are the ones he picked.  He picked a pretty pink pair for Haylee!!  :)

I also found this picture of Haylee I took on her birthday.  Why I made her 2 year old check up on birthday I don't know...but the poor little girl had to get a shot!!  She was such a big girl!!  She didn't even cry, just said "ouch, ouch, ouch!!"  Garrett on the other hand was under the table crying because his sister had to get a shot!!  

Metropolis presents.......

Metropolis just announced that Clark Kent is training a side kick!!!  

A Yummy Playful Time

It's alway's fun when Daddy comes home.  There's a new energy in the house as soon as Josh walks in the door.  The kids are excited (partly because they get to eat :)  but after dinner Josh always gets on the floor and plays with the kids which always in tales smiles, giggles, shrills......and sometimes crying if the playing gets too rough.  :)

I bought WAY TOO MANY mini M&M's for Haylee's tiny two, so now I'm stuck with them at my house so I decided to make a little treat for life group tomorrow night. 

Peanut Butter Candy Cups

1 recipe for peanut cookies (my recipe is below)

candies to fill the cups 

(mini m&ms, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, or a variety)

1.) Make your peanut butter cookie batter.  Shape dough in 1 inch balls

2.) Put balls in a lightly greased mini muffin pan (no need to smash the balls down, they'll form to the shape of the pan)

3.) Bake for 10 mins in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees

4.) Take out and gently smash center down to make a well.  (Be careful not to burn yourself)

5.) Fill well up with a chocolate chips or other candies

6.) Bake for another 5-8 mins or until cookies are brown around the edges.

7.) Cool for about 10-20 mins or until cookies are firm enough to remove from muffin pan.

8.) Let cool!!  

Peanut Butter Cookie Batter

1/2 cup of soften butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

 In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add the sugars, baking soda, and powder.  Beat until combined.  Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining flour.  If necessary chill until dough is easy to handle

New Cakes

I made two new cakes this month.  One for Haylee's tiny two party!!  It was so much to make a miniature tiered cake!!  I used a 6in cake pan (the size that is usually on the top of a wedding cake), a canned chicken can for the middle tiered, and a tuna can for the top!! 

The second cake a made was for my very dear friend, Kristin's 21st birthday!!  She LOVES tie dye so I wanted to do something cool but still elegant, look what I came up with.......

What the outside of the cake looked like!!

This is what the inside looked like!!

Homemade Pop Tarts

I got a lot of questions about the homemade the homemade pop tarts at Haylee's party!!  They were SO yummy....and better yet EASY!!

  

Homemade Pop Tart Recipe

1 c. pureed fruit  
3 T. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 T. water
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 pkg. prepared pie crusts

1.) Heat the fruit, sugar, cornstarch, water, and almond extract on the stove until thick.  It takes a while, but it will get thick and gooey!!  

2.) Cut out whatever size or shape of the pie crust.  I did tiny little rectangles for Haylee's party but you could do regular size pop tart size or fun shapes!!

3.) Put a spoonful of fruit goo on a shape to fill it up then put another shape on top

4.) Seal it with a fork all around the edges.  

5.) Bake in a pre-heated oven 400 degrees for 8-10 mins or until brown (mine took about 10 minutes but they might need a little more time if they're bigger)

5.) Let cool

Yummy Frosting you can Color ANY color!!

We made this recipe of frosting but it was WAY too much so I halved it (hence the HALF of a 1/3 cup of milk :)

1/4 stick of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of powered sugar

HALF of 1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix that until smooth...it will be runny.  You can color it whatever color you want.  We just took the cool pop tart and dipped the top of the pop-tart in the frosting then put the pop tart on a cookie sheet or wax paper.  You can also paint the frosting on if you want make a cool design....the frosting recipe is from a sugar recipe!!

The frosting will dry when the butter solidifies...you can speed this process up by putting the pop tarts in the refrigerator.  

Happy 2nd Birthday Haylee

Haylee was born TWO years ago.  That just seems too hard to believe!!  Part of me can't remember life without her but the other part of me feels like she was born yesterday.  I remember cuddling her little 6lb body...now I cuddle her big 26lb body!!  :)  

Thursday was her actual birthday and today we had her birthday party!!  

On Thursday the kids and I had fun!!  We went out to lunch with a friend (Haylee did NOT like the restaurant singing Happy Birthday to her in the LEAST!!!) and then that night our good friends Aric, Kristin and their baby Noah came to eat Haylee's favorite....HOTDOGS!!  We opened presents and had ice cream sundae's for dessert!!

She was so concentrated on opening those presents!!  Grandma Jackson, you got her the Cinderella doll (she's smiling and holding it at the top) and Grandma Joan you got her a Little People Cinderella horse coach (she's opening it up on the far top but it's hard to see it).

 "I'm TWO"

"Happy Birthday HayHay"

Today we had a "tiny" birthday party for Haylee!!  All our friends came and we had so much fun!!  It was "tiny" pink and orange themed!!  I got the idea from this AMAZING blog lullaby lubbock

We had a tiny cake, tiny cupcakes, tiny m&m guess, tiny Jello, tiny pop-tarts, tiny treat bags, tiny hot dogs, tiny tacos, tiny hamburgers, and much more!!!

Happy Birthday, Haylee!!!

We also had a tiny little village!!  Josh and Aric had a blast getting ready for the party the night before!!  They were fluffing masters!!!

The kids having a ball!!

Shrink-a-Dinks

Before

After

I got this paper from Michaels!!  You can color on, print it, cut it, or whatever else you want to do....it starts off big....you put it in the oven for 5 mins. and it shrinks!!!

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Catching Up....

So yes we made it make to Oregon safe and sound.  It was a close one and a trying one but we made it back.  We are still catching up though.  I had to go back to work the day after we returned and now I'm busy getting everything ready for Haylee's 2nd birthday party!!  Can you believe she'll be two!!!  Well I decided I should probably get the rest of our Arkansas pictures up....because if I don't soon, they won't get up!!  :)

Haylee giving kisses to "Pappy"  It was getting confusing with all the Grandma and Grandpa's so we gave "Pappy" and  "Grammy" a new name!!

Sweet GREAT Grand Babies

Grandma trying to get Haylee to pet Angel (the dog)

"Haylee this is how it's done...."

".....oh I can do that!"

Haylee throwing a fit.....AND watching herself in the mirror throwing the fit!!

This is my good friend Adina.  Adina and I became good friends in 6th grade in Germany.  After talking and getting to know each better we discovered that her dad who taught my 9th grade science class (in Germany) taught my dad's 8th grade science class (in Arkansas)!!!  Small world huh?  Adina now lives in Siloam Springs, where her parents are from and is married to a great guy.  We had the privilege of meeting him this visit!  

Super Bowl XLV!!  While the Packers were playing the Steelers I was dealing with a 2 year old getting in red paint!!  The crazy thing is it didn't get on ANYTHING!!

Until next time!!