Mother's Day Gift Ideas

I've been a busy worker bee with Mila Jo lately. I'm not complaining….it's nice to know that there are women out there who appreciate my lovelies!

Here's a few new items that I thought I would share with you. I'm thinking it's a great idea for Mother's Day gifts!

{Find it here}

 {Find it here}

 {Find it here}

 {Find it here}

 {Find it here}

{Find it here}

Happy shopping!

Stolen Credit Cards

I noticed my credit card was missing a couple of days ago. This isn't anything new for me (wow, that's unfortunate to say!) I have this bad habit of putting it in my back pocket after I use it. It happens a lot if the kids are with me. I'm holding a baby, wrangling groceries, and 3 other kids…so yeah…a piece of plastic is easy to forget about.

The cashier set it in front of me and I didn't grab it. Oops…right? Haven't you done this before? Just made a mistake…just accidentally forgot to grab it? Normally, the person behind you would notice and catch you as you are loading your babies into the shopping cart. Well, not the lady behind me. She thought it might be more profitable to put it into her wallet and use it to spend nearly $900 within 3 little hours.

I didn't even notice it was missing until I went to check out. I went to hand the cashier my card and it wasn't there. I just assumed it was in one of my pockets of my dirty jeans. I didn't even think twice about it as all 4 kids were standing in the checkout line with me. It was the last thing on my mind.

Later I remembered that I couldn't find it, so I told James about it and we got to lookin'. No luck. We couldn't' find it anywhere. We checked every pocket, purse, diaper bag and grocery bag. The next morning we woke up to find all of the new charges.

I was so upset, James was more upset. I told him I would take care of it and he was off to work. I called the bank (they are so awesome!) they reversed the charges right away and told me to call the police and file a report. I did so and the sweetest police woman came to file my complaint. With a little digging she had found the woman within a couple of hours. She called to inform me that they found her on the surveillance video stealing my card and they were going to arrest her.

I was suddenly so sad. I was so sad that she was going to have to be punished for this. I was sad that she was going to have to pay thousands of dollars for her unfortunate mistake, and be humiliated by a public arrest. When I told that to the police officer she said "You are nicer than me, I'b be so excited for her to be arrested."

I just kept thinking "what if she has a family with small children?". The idea that she made a split second decision that is now going to cost her so much more than just money was really heartbreaking to me. We have all made mistakes, and we have all felt the sting of punishment.

I realized I had already forgiven her before she had even realized she had been caught. I was never angry, or upset. I was annoyed at the process it was taking me to reverse the charges and deal with the police report, but I was never mad.

Jesus has called us to love and forgive people.

ESV Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Luke 6:27 But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Romans 12:19-21 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Matthew 5:38-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

When I expressing my sorrow to James he said "That is really sad, and the worst part about it all is that if she would have explained her situation to you, you probably would have given her $700". He is probably right. We are compassionate to those who are needy. It just breaks my heart.

I am not saying I am naive enough to believe that this particular woman used my credit card to charge $400 on baby formal and diapers. I have no idea what her situation is, but if she was truly (which we know she probably was not in a dire situation) in need we could have helped.

This world that we live in is so sad. Watching the world news is the most depressing thing I can do. Hearing about how selfish, greedy, and hate filled our world is is exhausting. Don't you think we could all be filled with a little more of Christ's love and a little bit less of Satan's anger? I know it's something we can all work on.

Just remember the wise message of Frozen: Fear and Anger Freezes while Love Thaws.

Wise words from Disney :)

Quick & Easy Pancake Cups

The day before Easter I had a huge craving for something sweet and something savory. Breakfast is my "jam" (you see what I did there?) and I haven't had a good breakfast in a loooong time.

I literally whipped these up in a matter of minutes and they are crazy delicious!

Here's what you need to make these amazing mini "pancake" cups.

Mini "Pancake" Cups
~ Mini Muffin Tin
~ 6 eggs
~ 1 cup milk
~ 1 cup flour
~ 1/2 tsp salt
~ 1 tsp vanilla
~ 1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Using a hand mixer mix eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla together.
In a mini muffin tin put a slat (like 1/4 tsp)  butter onto the bottom of each cup. Pour your mixture about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 400 for about 5-8 minutes. It will fill 48 mini muffin cups.

Pop them out of the oven and onto a cooling rack. When they are cool enough to touch you should be able to just pluck them out of the tin and top with anything your heart desires!

We used Lingenberry jam and home made whipped cream (heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla).

I also topped some with some bacon and chives. These were my favorite! I love savory and sweet combination of the flavors here.

I thought another delicious combo would be sausage and maple syrup. The possibilities are endless and I love that we can get creative with them!

Go on….go make your own. They are too easy to pass up on!

Enjoy!

WIW: A New Cut

I recently chopped 12 inches of my hair. (YIKES)
Unfortunately I couldn't donate it….they say if you have highlights they cannot accept it…boo!

{Before}

I usually cut my hair once a year (yes, I'm that cheap) and I usually don't cut it quite as short as I did this time. James loves my hair short, he may be the only man who begs his wife to chop off her long locks. I finally decided to go for it and went with an a-line.

I think I like it, it's hard for me to style just right when it is totally straight so I've been throwing a few curls in there to give it a messy, beachy look.

Along with the new hair I've been wearing a baby lately.

He's usually pretty content, but he must be goring through a growth spurt and he's eating all. the. time. Yesterday it was every 1.5 hours (and yes, we've introduced rice cereal and he's still eating like a newborn!)

Well, he's getting held a lot more…but it could have to do with his fantastic chubs. I just love me a fat baby!
I'm extremely grateful for my moby wrap…I never used one with my other kids, but bring it on with baby number 4!

Happy Wednesday….time to attend to the children!

Kitchen Decor

I have decorators ADD. I am always changing, adding, removing, painting, and rearranging my home.
I can't help myself!
Since the last time I posted on our kitchen I've added and changed a couple of things.

I found this darling rod at IKEA and I knew I had to add it to my island!
I love the way it adds some more natural elements to the kitchen.

The best thing about the canister is that it has a drip pan at the bottom, if I wanted to add succulents or something that is actually alive…I could! Or if you had a sunny place in your home you could grow a mini herb garden.

This is a perfect example of my decor ADD…I have already added new chalkboard labels to the oil, and the jars…I have a problem…

Here is my ultimate favorite new "toy" in the home…our new kitchen table. I can't tell you how much I adore this table. It has 2 leaves the aren't pictured right now and we can fit 1000 people at our table now! The bench was the best idea we've had as parents. No more ruining the fabric chairs, and we can fit up to 4 kids on it. Love it!!

I framed one of James' grandmother's old recipes here. She was an amazing cook!
Fork and Spoon from Hobby Lobby…naturally….

I also added a command hook the to the other side of the island and that is where I hang my hand towel now. I really like that it's not visible from the main view of the kitchen and now it's not hanging on my stove or cabinet door.

This year I am currently in charge of the MOPS crafts and this fridge frame was one of our recent crafts. I like it a lot! I use it to frame around Josiah's sight words. I find that if they are visible I will work on them with him much more. 

So there it is….I have problems…but I love to decorate and I love to freshen things up every now and again. I'm sure it will change in a few months, but for now I love it!

No Maintenance Fairy Garden

Ella and I had so much fun making this fairy garden the other day. In normal "Bethany" manner I decided one morning that we were going to make one, we packed up and took a trip to Hobby Lobby and picked out our supplies. It was so much fun and I think every little girl needs one!

Here's what you'll need to make your own.

Large Pot (some people just pick an old stump or the base of a big tree)

Potting Soil

Faux Plants (we used succulents we found in the clearance section and they were $1 each)

  

Decor Moss

Doll Furniture (find a ton at Hobby Lobby!)

I found this unfinished fence and stained it to match the well.

Small, Flat Stones

Faux Flowers

Imagination

Step 1: Fill your pot with the soil.
Step 2: Choose your layout.
Step 3: Add a large rock and cover with soil for an added "hill".
Step 4: Get to work!

This was so incredibly easy to put together. Literally Ella did it! She chose where she wanted the succulents, and flowers and I just took charge of placing the moss where is needed to go. I just ripped pieces off and placed them where they belonged.

I love that it looks so real and yet, it is totally fake. Every aspect of this garden is faux and will take no maintenance!

4 Months

Sweet Caleb…

This boy is crazy good looking! 

And happy as can be. 

4 month stats
:Probably nearing 14-15 lbs (I should take him in for his check up!)
:Smiling all the time
:Rolling from tummy to back
:Laughing (it's adorable…eek!)
:Clasping and Chewing on Hands
:Eating 5 oz every 3 hours and getting super fat
:Noticing his hands and toys
:Sleeping through the night
:Takes horrible naps 20-40 min 3 times a day

He is loving his siblings (especially Josiah), and wiggles whenever he finds them.




When I took this photo I had no idea how tired I look…all…the…time. At least he looks tired too. Naps anyone?

One of the best things about this baby is how much he loves me. I wrote earlier about attachment and adoption and this smile leaves no doubt on how feels about me.
He is such a mommy's boy, maybe more so than any of my other babies. I was so worried that not nursing him would hinder our relationship, but that is not even close to the truth.
I love the following photo because my feet are in it. This is how he looks each time I walk near him.

I also love how often I hear how much he looks just like me. Our complexion, eye color and lips do seem to be so similar. It's so amazing how well he fits with us. He was created to be in our family. So blessed…so, so blessed.