Mocha Shakes

I LOVE Mocha Shakes, Fraps, etc. I LOVE them! I mean I LOVE them! Did I say that I love them? Okay, you get the point. BUT, I cannot keep going to Starbucks, sorry Starbucks. Every once in a while I will try a new recipe at home. We just tried one today and I thought this one was good enough to post on the blog and share with everyone.

Now this is not thick like a milk shake, even though it has ice cream. It's more like a very thick drink and we served it over ice.

A few tips:
Tip #1: I thought with the whole milk, that I could really taste the whole milk, which is not my favorite flavor. So I think you could probably make this with a skim and still get a fantastic flavor.
Tip #2: I read on the website that someone recommended ADDING 1 scoop of chocolate ice cream (not instead of anything else, but in addition to) and it made it thicker like a shake. So you could probably do that with vanilla or chocolate.

So here is the recipe from RecipeZaar.
1 cup strong coffee, chilled (frozen or room temp is also okay)
1 cup of milk
3 TBSP of sugar (I used 1 packet of Splenda)
1 dash of salt
3 cups vanilla ice cream
3 TBSP chocolate syrup (I only had hot fudge and that was good)

First: Blend the coffee, milk, sugar and salt
Second: Add ice cream and syrup, blend until smooth

Serves 3, the recipe on the website will automatically change the portions for you, for different serving sizes.

ENJOY!!!

More Things I Like

I forgot to post my flowers! I love my flowers and I worked hard at this picture. I took a picture of all but 2 of the flowers in my yard and made this college. I always loved having flowers in the yard but I could never get them to grow. Thankfully, this house had them, all my favorites, already planted and thriving.

The Things We Like

A friend of mine, Krista, did a post titled 'Contentment'. I thought it sounded like fun and wanted to join in. Also, since I homeschool my girls, I thought this sounded like a great homeschool project for them as well. This is my post and then I will post Kya and Autumn's.

Here are the pictures of my favorite things around my house. The 'litte things' in life that I am thankful for, that I don't think about that often. Now, some of them do seem materialistic and this bothered me. I debated about really posting them or not. All things material will fade away and what do we have left? Only our relationship with Christ really. So why would I want to find happiness in material things? After pondering this I realized, I don't. But, I am thankful for them. Christ gives us all things to enjoy and so I am going to enjoy them and be thankful.

Here they are:


My bread machine. I have not used it that much lately but I do love it and very thankful I have it.


My swimming pool, no matter how small, because I thought I'd never have one and this is my 2nd pool. We have tons of family time here and the memories are very special. Plus all 4 of my children have taken swim lessons in this particular pool.


The woods that line our back yard. I watch red birds, squirrels, owls, etc as I have my coffee and read my Bible every morning. These woods have been part of many serene moments for me.


The ceiling fans in my home. Seems a weird thing to be thankful for, but I always wanted these and when we bought this home, they were already here.


And, if being thankful for a ceiling fan was not strange enough...I am equally thankful for the remote controls for each ceiling fan. At only 5.3 myself with 10ft ceilings, how else would I change the speed? But, I'll be honest, the 8ft ceilings in my old home still required a chair to change the speed, so the remotes are a dream for me.


Tripp Harrison. Mine and my husbands favorite artist. We have 4 of his lithographs and this one is our favorite. This is on the wall in the entrance to our bedroom.


The pineapple bedpost on our new bed. I know, another strange thing to be thankful for. But I love this bed! It gives our room the tropical feel we both enjoy being surrounded by.



And, finally, my kitchen. I love it for several reasons. I love the blue walls. I love the white cabinets. I love the combination of the white and blue together. I also enjoy the bay window that over looks the other 2 things I enjoy, our pool and the woods.

Pounding the Pavement

Well, it's time for more honesty and accountability. I no longer fit in my clothes and I refuse to buy a bigger size and I can't afford to really and it's not really healthy for me to keep doing that. So with my husband back home, I have a renewed energy to start walking again. Wish me luck! I really need it.

The Celebration Continues

We had Aaron's birthday party a week early. On his actual birthday, Kya and I made him a giant cookie cake and we sang to him after dinner. He loved his chocolate chip cookie. I just love my boy! He smiles so big, all the time. He hugs me tight and snuggles his head in my neck every time I pick him up. He melts my heart.

All my babies grow up

WHY? Every mother must ask this question, I suppose, but knowing that doesn't make it any easier. I wonder: Why do they have to keep growing? Why do I have to face the fact that one day they will leave? Why don't I do more directly with them now, while they are still here in my arms? Why do I mourn the loss of times gone by and still look forward to the future?

On July 4, 2007 our world changed. My own mother, turned....oh, I'm not supposed to say that. But let's just say she turned too old to adopt from China. On July 5, 2007 she and her husband received Travel Approval to....you got it...adopt from China. Wow! How God can move mountains. And, more surprise, she was leaving in DAYS, not weeks. Her new son was turning 14 and had to be adopted before that happened. Then on July 6, 2007 our own son was born, in Guatemala. We didn't know it then, but that weekend we were welcoming 2 boys into our life: my new brother and my new son. We found out about Aaron weeks later, when we received his referral. We first held him when he was 14 weeks old and now here he is 1 years old today. Aaron, you rocked my world. You stole my heart in a wild way and still I cry when I hold you. You are my miracle, the son I never thought I'd have. I still thank Jesus for you and I thank Dale for opening his heart for God's plan of you.

And, even in the sadness that babies grow up, still we celebrate. Celebrate what they mean to us, celebrate the moments we shared over the past year. Here are a few of photos from our celebration. I love you Aaron....more than I can ever express, more than my heart can hold.

We cooked out and swam with friends, then we had cake and presents. Aaron's favorite present, he's eating it below and it's not cake.






I honestly don't know why I don't have a picture of Aaron eating his birthday cake. I'll have to view all the small video clips and check my mom's camera. But he liked it. But, as you can see, he loved his Frisby most.

Soaking up the Sun

What a beautiful day! The girls were begging this morning to spend the day at the beach. We thought for certain it would be hot and miserable, but we agreed to go. Thankfully we were wrong. It was breezy and we were able to stay for several hours. This time we were smart enough to leave the fun before everyone got cranky.





This was the babies first time ever going to the beach. They both loved it very much.




Well, let's be honest. Lily loved until her toes touched the sand.






Just before leaving, the girls wanted to be burried in the sand.



And, then Autumn mopes because it's time to say goodbye. They never want the fun to end.

There She Stands

Our Beautiful Flag, our Freedom, it means more to me every year.

This year, we spent our 4th of July relaxing at home. We set the slide next to the pool for the first time and the girls played on it for hours.




We also let the girls do sparklers for the first time. Kya is very afraid of real fire works, so she will not go outside at night time when they are going off, even the noise scares her. She did her sparklers during the day.

Water Babies

The babies just finished their first set of swim lessons and they both loved it very much. The really enjoy the water and worked hard at learning to roll over, jump in the water, etc. I had a lot of fun spending that time with just them.