Amelie

Do you remember my friends Rob and Lucy from the UK,
they were the ones we became friends with in Antigua.
They had a sweet little girl with them named Amelie.
I made letters for her nursery and a cute little tutu.

Lucy sent me some pictures of Amelie in the nursery with the letters.
They also had Amelie's pictures made with the letters.
This turned out so cute, I LOVE it!

BBQ

Last night we had some friends join us for barbecue. Ali and Aaron just moved to Topeka and we met at church. They are the sweetest couple and we are really excited to get to know them better. Shane and Darci joined us, they have been friend of ours for a while.

This is me in the kitchen. I made BBQ brisket, cheesey bacon potatoes, corn, green beans, I forgot to put out the watermelon. Ooops!

We had a great time, 5 kids 6 adults so the adults were still in charge. Ali is pregnant so once her little man is born we'll probably be taken over by the kids. Ha!


This is Ali and Aaron's daughter Riley, Taylynn is in the back

We play some croquet while the kids played in the pool and on the swing set.

Here are the girls. Darci, Ali, Riley and I

Here are the guys
Shane, my Aaron, Ali's AaronI didn't have the best of luck getting a picture of all the kids. This is as close as I got.
We had a great night and some great conversation. I can't wait to do it again.

Who am I?

I have gained a lot of new blogger friends who probably don't know me very well. I thought I would take today's post to let you know more about me.

Over 26 years ago I was born in Snellville, Ga. I don't remember living there, probably because we moved when I was 9 months old to Topeka, KS. I stand in the same place today. With southern roots, thanks to my parents who will always be southern no matter where they live.

My parents raised me to be a pretty good person. My life revolves around Jesus and I would have it no other way. I have been a Christian for 19 years and everyday I try to follow in Christs footsteps, but I fall short. Although I know it is not possible, I strive to be as sinless as Jesus.

I am married to Aaron Bivens. A man whom I believe is the greatest man to live on Earth today. I am not sure why he loves me as much as he does, but I am thankful and blessed. He is a wonderful man and a hard worker. He works for Payless Shoes and works on computer programs or something. I don't think I'll ever really know what he does, it is way over my head.

I went to Washburn University in 2001 and graduated in 2005. In those 4 years I studied Mass Media-Public Relations and business. I was a cheerleader my freshman year, then moved on to better things, ha! I met a lot of new people, but the only one I really keep in touch with is my husband. We met December 28, 2001, it was one of the greatest years of my life.

I grew a lot during college, in my faith, my maturity, well everything but height. I am 5'1 and not growing.

Aaron and I got married 2 weeks after I graduated college, talk about a stressful month. Actually I was almost carefree, it was walking on clouds really.

I love weddings and once all our kids are in school I plan on starting an event coordinating business. I always said if I go back to work I will do something I LOVE. I have known for sometime weddings were my dream. That is why I majored in Public Relations, it was the closest major to event coordinating and it was suggested by my adviser. I have been a wedding coordinator at my church for 5 years now and love it when we actually get weddings (we haven't had any this year).

My hobbies include shopping, decorating, painting, making things for my kids, reading, the list probably goes on.

I am currently reading the Time Travelers Wife. I just started it today, but I have to finish it by Saturday because Aaron and I are going to see the movie. Three chapters in and it looks like it will be a great book, confusing but great.

If I failed to mention, I am a stay at home mom. I really don't stay at home though. I love to take the kids to the zoo, park, mall. The day just seems smoother if we leave the house. I am a mommy on the go, I presume this will last until they can drive themselves.

I love my kids, Taylynn and Preston. I have laughed more than in the last couple months. They keep me young and cheer me up. I continue to wonder how I am ever going to let them go. I pray daily for their future love for Jesus and I pray for their future spouse, but I just don't know if I can let them go. Maybe when they are teenagers I'll be saying the opposite.

Random facts
My favorite color is green.
I have no pets, maybe someday I will.
If event coordinating wasn't going to workout and I wanted to go back to school, I would love to have a career as a labor and delivery nurse.

If you have any questions you would like to ask then go for it, I'd love to answer them.

Show us your life

Ok this week Kelly is hosting Show us your life wedding reception and honeymoon.

RECEPTION

Our wedding reception was held at The Expocentre Heritage Hall in Topeka, KS. It was in December. I used magnolia leaves and crystals for the table decoration. Also I borrowed A LOT of silver from family to have candle light on all the tables.

I used a lot of crystals including wrapping tree
limbs and using a flood light to make them shine.

The food was fabulous, thanks to my former boss.
We also had a punch fountain which I thought looked
beautiful. I served coffee, tea and water in silver pitchers.

The cake was BEAUTIFUL, a 5 tiered cake with a
creamy champagne flavor, it was yummy.

Aaron and I love to dance, so I had to though
in a picture of what we were really doing that whole night.

HONEYMOON
We went to Ochos Rios Jamacia and stayed at the Sandals resort, Ochos Rios Grande. We had a blast, I just wish the weather was warmer. January was still too cold.
We did snorkel
Zip Line tour
Dunns river fall
It was wonderful!!!

What will they eat?

I posted this a while ago, but it pretty much is still true, the oatmeal is the favorite around here because they help make it.

With a 2 year old and one year old, I find it hard to make something healthy for them to eat for breakfast. I have been experimenting with some new things to see what they like and to give any of you out there some ideas for your kids.

Day 1
The first day I made oatmeal. Not just any oatmeal, health oatmeal. I took about 1/3 cup of quick oats and some whole milk, just enough to wet the oats and microwaved for 30 seconds. I then added a bit more milk and cooked it in the microwave another 30 seconds. I took it out added some apple sauce, 1 tablespoon of wheat germ and 1 tablespoon of flax seed. I topped it with blueberries, bananas and cinnamon.


Both kids LOVED it. It was so easy to make. I recommend this is all moms. Plus you can add whatever you have in the house, brown sugar, honey, apples etc.


Day 2
Today I tried something mt friend Keri told me about. You take a piece of bread, take a cookie cutter and cut out the middle of the slice of bread. I then buttered both sides and put it on the frying pan. I had one egg yoke that I already scrambled, I poured that into the cut out slice of bread. Let the egg cook and bread toast, flip and let the other side cook.
While it is cooking, take a slice of American cheese and a small amount of milk, microwave until melted (only a few seconds). Once the egg is cooked through glaze with the cheese and ta dah....
This one took a bit more work and for me wasn't worth it because the kids didn't eat it. I would eat it if I wasn't drinking slim fast.

Day 3

This is easy. My kids love the whole wheat blueberry waffles, but today I thought I would dress them up. After toasting the waffle I added spreadable cream cheese then topped with grape jelly.They enjoyed it, but I think next time I'll just do the cream cheese.

Day 4

Ok I love being creative with our pancakes. I have thrown in so many ingredients in the past, but I'll just share what I did today. I took pancake batter, prepared as the box requires then I add quick oats, apple sauce, then I added cooked carrots (some we had left over) mashed them up then mixed all the batter together. While one side of the pancake cooks add a sprinkle of brown sugar to the uncooked side. Flip when ready. The brown sugar gives the pancake a crunch and a sweet favor so you don't need sticky syrup.
I always make more than we can eat so I can stick them in the freezer for another morning. The kids really liked these pancakes.

I hope this helped you. If you have any ideas please share them with me.

HIVES

I am sitting at home, covered in hives. I am tried and itchy. I first got hives in high school and they came and went for two years. Once they were so bad I had to make and ER visit in the middle of the night.
I think I have had them three times since, but they have always gone away pretty fast.
This is my third day and I am just waiting for it to pass. My hands and feet are bruised from the swelling. I kinda feel like I am back in my third trimester completely swollen and sore, bad news is.....I am NOT pregnant.
I have no clue where these hives come from. I have been tested against all kinds of allergians and nothing showed. They said in high school it must have been stress related, but I don't feel any stress now. That is the hardest part, not knowing what I did to cause this.
I spend my days tired and sitting in an oatmeal bath (which does make me feel good for about an hour after the bath) and since I have been taking Benadryl I sleep a lot.
Aaron has been working from home so I can rest and not worry about the kids. Right now he took the kids to go get lunch. I am glad I can still eat and taste food.
If you will pray for me that they go away and don't come back.

Blog Hop words of encourgaement

This weeks bloghop is words of encouragement. The best words I can find and will ever find are all written out for us in the Bible. So many times God has shown me the right passage for the right moment.
I am a strong believer in serving God and serving him in the place he wants you. Aaron and I are in a transition at our church and we have been praying for God to place us in an area where we hang make a HUGE impact on others. We just want to show others the light as we were once shown.

The last few weeks we are doing a study in Ephesians at our church. I consider the entire book of Ephesians words of encouragement, but I am going to give you some verses that stand out to me:

The end of the Prayer for the Ephesians
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we all ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen
Ephesians 3: 20-21

This is when God is telling us to be light children in him

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5: 1-2

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth and find out what pleases the Lord.
Ephesians 5: 8-10




Start here with your content. Replace this paragraph, and everything down to AND INCLUDING the word: STOP. DO NOT REMOVE OR CHANGE THE CODE BEYOND THE WORD STOP BELOW! This week's Blog Hop is your favorite quote, spiritual passage , life lesson, saying, PHOTO or encouraging thought. Post your favorite or most meaningful, and then include a sentence or two about what it means to you personally, and how it can encourage other people in their lives.