Pizza Night

Friday nights are usually pizza night around here, but this week it was tonight. We have started a tradition of making our own pizzas and are having a blast. It took a few weeks to come to agreements on crusts & sauces, but we are liking what we are coming up with. The crust we have settled on is DELICIOUS. It can be found at this link ~ Jay's Signature Pizza Crust. I figure if 1,600 people can give it 4.5 stars it has got to be good, and it is.

All of us pitch in with pizza night. Abbie enjoys kneading the dough. Hopie enjoys checking up on the dough and making sure it is rising. The occasional finger imprint lets me know she is doing her job. Mama rolls out the crusts and finds fun new recipes. Papa goes back to Sal's Pizza days and makes the pizzas.

As we have gotten settled in our tradition we are starting to branch out and experiment. So tonight we made our standard pizza plus a gourmet pizza. I found it on Allrecipes. It was pear and Gorgonzola cheese pizza. OH MY!!!!! It was fabulous, or what we call a "keeper" recipe.

I don't know how far we will take these pizzas adventures but stay tuned and we will keep you posted! For now ~ bon appetit!

Rise & Shine & Give God the Glory, Glory

As I laid in bed this morning watching the sun rise, I was thinking of my buddies who were gathering cattle this weekend. Trying not to be too upset that I wasn't with them. I was thinking of what they were doing right about then, which was probably heading down the trail to find some cattle. Then I was brought back home to some familiar noises coming from the kitchen below us. It consisted of some dishes bumping around, then some out bursts of laughter, followed by "sssssshhhhhhhh"! I knew the code. I was to stay in bed until summoned. I laid there with a smile on my face just picturing two little girls trying to figure out pancake mix. There came the occasional question of measurements, which a yell downstairs would do. I did have to intervene when they came upstairs to ask what number they turn the stove on to cook pancakes. :) Alright, Mama will help from here! When I hit a wall of protest, I gently reminded them of the time Mama's robe caught on fire while she was in it! That quickly ended all arguments. We dined on a lovely breakfast of pancakes with chocolate chips. It was fabulous!

wii Adventures

I have yet to post any of our wii adventures on our blog, so I will fill you in and catch you up to date. No doubt there will be future posts! Papa & I got the family a wii for Christmas. We had a blast making mii characters. Yes, Mama has "excited eyes" (See this post for excited eyes insight) and Papa has some great dreads. We got wii fit too and that was not so fun. Mama watched Papa play wii fit Christmas night and he made it look so easy. I (Mama) tried it the next day, mind you it is my birthday, and it aged me two extra years and asked me "do you find you stumble when you walk?" WHAT??? After my initial upset and reminder that my identity is in Jesus, I was able to continue in my wii adventures. We have had much fun on this little game. The girls get a kick out of walking the tightrope or ski jumping. I have enjoyed the strength training and yoga. We have had some good laughs with friends playing the wii with us. Just the other night a girlfriend & I were cleaning up some dishes in the kitchen when we hear a commotion coming from the living room. We find our husbands boxing, loudly I might add, and sweating like crazy. There were even sore muscles the next day for some. Here is their heated match:

FYI ~ I have brought my wii fit age down 7 years since that terrible first day.

The Things You Get To Do If "You're So Stinkin Cute"

It is hard not to spoil this little man in our lives but here are some incriminating pictures:

A boy who gets to eat only olives on "pizza nite"

at the Abshire home!

Making messes of Mama's drawers and she says "how cute is that!"

Licking the beater of cookie batter at 18mo old!!!!!

The girls were much older before this started.

Yep, that's our boy!

The Word

I have loved watching God be who He is in His Word. As I read through Genesis this month I went through many thoughts as I read the adventures of God's people. I kept thinking, why did that happen that way or why would they do something so stupid & wrong! I am just thankful that no one is taking note of my life and shortcomings and printing them in a bestseller for the world to read. I watched scandals unfold, poor decisions being made, sinful people & faithful people, and God's hand at work ALL over the place. He is keeping His covenant in spite of us! Praise Him! There is NOTHING stopping Him from keeping His promises and keeping His covenants! I am so thankful for a faithful God. I am so thankful for a God who loves me in spite of myself!

Little Helpers

As our family did some outside chores the other day, Mama couldn't resist snapping some pictures of her fabulous clan!

Mama's Little Helpers

Luke pitching in!

Bentley wondering why everyone is working so hard!

I am NOT tired!

Yesterday Mama was ironing clothes and Hopie was finishing her homework. Hopie was insistent that she was not tired. Mama could tell from the whining tone that accompanied that comment that the opposite was true. Hopie refused to go lay down in her bed or the couch and Mama just kept on ironing. After a couple of songs Mama thought Hopie was awfully still on her chairs. Upon investigation, Hopie was indeed a sleep across three bar stools. But hey, she wasn't tired!

I did not just say that!

The Abshire home was having a tough day. Things were falling apart, children were falling apart, the house was falling apart, and homework time was falling apart. It just kept spiraling downhill. Mama tried to fix everything as it was coming at her, as this is her nature. For anyone who knows our Hopie, she can be very emotional. Upon being sassy to her Mama she was sent to her room until Mama could settle other things down and go talk to her. Abbie, meanwhile, is asking for food, dancing in the kitchen, whining for help with homework, and can't find a pencil, all at the same time. All the while, Luke is perched on Mama's hip taking it all in and whining for something too (but his excuse is he can't talk, so figure it out Mama). Hopie is trying to be patient for our talk and catches me at the wrong moment. She comes out of her room handing me Jesus and says "you need Jesus Mama"(see this post). In all the chaos, I take Jesus that she is handing me, which I took as an excuse to leave her room, and state, "that I don't need Jesus", referring to the statue that she is handing me. WHOA, that stopped Mama in her tracks, Hopie falls to even worse pieces because of how precious her statue is to her, and Mama falls to pieces because what just came out of her mouth is the farthest thing from the truth. Mama looked at Hopie and told her that yes, I did need Jesus. We all take a moment in an "Abshire huddle" and acknowledge our deep need for Jesus and forgiveness from one another. After many hugs and kisses and thank yous and love yous we regrouped by His grace. I was so thankful for Jesus gettin' in the middle of all this. The statue of Jesus sits in my kitchen now to keep an eye on me :), and remind me of my great need for Him in all things!

The Word

Reading in Genesis 11 the other day I was stopped at vs 4. It was a certain part of the verse that stayed with me that day, "let us make for ourselves a name". I could not escape that God wants to fill every empty place in this heart of mine. I don't want to be of myself but of Him. He revealed some places in my heart that He wants back and I gave them to Him. I was making a mess of them! I am so very thankful that He is faithful to reveal to this heart of mine who He is, how great His love & mercy are, and how intimate & safe He is.

Chocolate Moose Sighting

No words neccessary!

Neighbors Got Talent

We are so blessed to have fabulous neighbors. Our children have such a blast together and never cease to surprise us with what they will come up with. Tonight we (The Abshires & Stewards) got to attend the first ever "Neighbors Got Talent". As if that wasn't enough, Aaron, Elizabeth, & Matthew got to be the judges for this talent show that the children put together. The girls each did a routine to music that they picked and did a final number together. Sawyer was the DJ had a lot of pressure with those girls! As for judges, Papa was Piers Morgan (of course), Mama was Sharon Osbourne (and did a great impersonation of her), and Matthew was David Hasselhoff!!! We had a blast!

The Word

It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how many times I have read a passage that the Holy Spirit is ever faithful to teach this heart of mine. I recently started my Bible in a year reading and always look forward to Genesis. I was surprised at the things that the Spirit brought to me this morning. I have read through the creation story a number of times and it struck me just today that after each day of creation "God saw that it was good" yet after creating us "it was very good". That very had been all the other times but for some reason it struck my heart

in such a sweet way this time.

~ Elohim, thank you for creating me and seeing it as very good.

It also struck me that in Genesis 2:25 that the man & his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. It may sound crazy to you but I wanted that! I want to be able to stand naked in spirit before my God and be unashamed. I want to know & feel that I can stand, sit, sing, praise, or play before God. That He can see me exactly how I am (the mess and all), and I be unashamed in His presence. What an amazing place to be. I know it in my head, it is the 12 inch drop that likes to fool me into believing otherwise. I am His and He is my Abba ~ may I live naked in spirit and unashamed before you Abba.