Corn on the cob

 Sweet Corn is in season in central Texas!

Part of eating local is eating things when they are in season...not whenever we want. Corn from the grocery store at other times of the year likely traveled here from across seas! So, when it's in season...we eat our hearts out. That really goes for any produce. Right now...we're eating corn. Lots of corn. And I won't mention any names but I have a couple of addicts on my hands. One in particular who is around 3 years old can put back two cobs a sitting. LOVE...

What will we do in a couple of weeks when corn season is passed? Luckily I think we're almost to melon season. Whew!

My big helper

Cupcake is an amazing big sister. Period.

She LOVES Cutie Pie so much and Cutie Pie is absolutely in love with her big sister. In fact, the only complaint I would have of Cutie Pie is that she refuses to sleep when she hears big sister up and around. She just wants to be in the action with her sissy!

Cupcake is ALWAYS willing to help with Cutie Pie. Cupcake could tell you better than I could what Cutie Pie's favorite toys are and already they have some secret favorite games that guarantee squeals from Cutie Pie and don't work when I try them. Sigh.

Here's a normal occurrence: I run upstairs to get laundry. I tell Cupcake to keep an eye on Cutie Pie. I leave her on a blanket on the floor. I come back and Cutie Pie is not on the blanket anymore...she is with Sissy. Here they are watching a morning t.v. program while I cleaned up breakfast.

Oh...to have a sister!

Dedicated

 In 1 Samuel 1:27-28 Hannah dedicates her son to the Lord:
" I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there."

Our church does a similar process for babies and a few weeks ago, the Hubs and I publicly dedicated our sweet Cutie Pie to the Lord. Here are a few pictures: 

Cutie Pie, at 6 months, wearing my baptismal gown. It was so sweet on her and I plan to keep it for the next generation!
 

During her dedication she fell asleep in Papa's arms. She just snuggled right in and dozed off while we all prayed over her. 
 

Here's one group shot though neither of the girls is smiling. Fail.

How sweet it was to have some close friends and a few family members pray over our sweet girl and dedicate her to the Lord. She is His, not ours. We love you Cutie Pie and we pray you'll know the Lord. We're committed to do what we can to teach you about His abundant love for YOU!

Happy Mama

 Dear Time Magazine,

How bad are sales these days? Are you struggling to compete with social media and the truth that my generation doesn't prefer a newspaper or magazine to cnn.com? Have you hired so many Moms away from their primary role as a Mom that you've no sense of motherhood? It just makes no sense to me why you would pit mothers against each other by preying on the sensitive question of are we good enough just days before Mother's Day...a day where we should be celebrated not questioned. Regardless of a mother's decisions on infant and toddler feeding, sleep training, discipline, and child rearing style I can be sure one of thing....mama's hearts are sensitive where their children are concerned. You took that and abused it. I'm not going to express my opinions on which side of your article I fall. I don't entirely agree or disagree with what was written. I do however disagree with a shocking cover, intended to cause a stir, in one of the most undervalued jobs my generation now faces. You have lost my business....permanently. Thankfully your magazine never has nor ever will have any say in the value of a mom or a person for that matter. Here are a few things the true authority says for those Mom's still sucked into the media hype and questioning if they are Mom enough:

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's MASTERPIECE created anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good works He planned for us a long time ago."

Psalm 139:13-14 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well”

Thankfully that same reference is an excellent guide for shepherding children.  With study and meditation on His word you have all you need to be Mom enough...the Mom you were intended. I'll get off my soap box...but I won't be buying any Time magazines.

My sweet family chose to celebrate the Mom that I am rather than comparing and questioning my ability. Here's a few pictures from our day:

Sweet baby girl gives her first Mother's Day hugs:

Lots of pink = one happy Mama!

More pink! A dozen beautiful pink roses from the man who made me a mom. I LOVE that man!!

Talk Derby to us!

 I'll have another!

Another Derby Party that is! We have officially survived our 1st Annual Derby Party and we had a blast! By inspiration of my brother and sister-in-law we decided to use the Kentucky Derby as a fun way to invite the neighbors over. How could they say no to two minutes? It's not like we were asking them to come to the Superbowl....it was just 2 minutes. Of course they were able to come early and stay late and most did. With the hubs spending a chunk of his life in Kentucky we had true ties to the traditions and I even had been gifted a Kentucky Derby cookbook when we married. I used it for most of last week and we really had a Kentucky inspired week. Here's some pictures from our Texas style Kentucky Derby! Oh...and Congrats to the winning horse: I'll have another.

The invites hand delivered by our little Derby princesses:

 

The entry way:

 

The table: lots of Kentucky fare

 Infield popcorn! A fun idea...that I won't do again! Popcorn is literally all over my house. Oopps!

 A little centerpiece! If only the Twin Spires were in the backdrop!

 Cupcake LOVED watching all the hats on TV and of course wanted to wear her own.

 We had a mini-derby of our own outside after the race. J-man was the youngest jockey but still made it all the way around the course!

 The hubs looks so handsome in his hat! I think next year I'm going for the fascinator.

 Serious cute! They were soooo happy in their big hats! Hopefully they will wear them this summer when the sun is burning.