I know that it has taken me forever to blog about this, but I didn't want to blog about it before I read through my notes so that I could share some of them with you!

April 3rd through 5th we drove with the youth of our church to Pacific Beach, WA for a retreat. We stayed in former military housing that has turned into military vacation rentals. The houses were surprisingly very nice! And only $75 a night! Brian and I definitely want to go back there for a vacation when the weather gets nicer!

It rained for 97% of the trip. Luckily being from Washington, most of us are used to it.
I was put in charge of planning the meals and buying the groceries. I had a large budget and thankfully I came in well below it! We decided that instead of buying disposable plates and cups we would buy reusable dish ware and keep it for future retreats.
Laila and I went to Value Village the night before the trip and nearly cleared them out of plates and mugs. Everyone actually really liked the idea of having their "own" quirky mug and plate at each meal!
I was very worried that we would not have enough food for everyone. Boy, was I wrong! I had totally forgotten about the fact that teenage girls barely eat when they are in the presence of teenage boys. We had tons of leftovers!


I love playing games! I was introduced to Take 1 and am now hooked!!
Brian stayed up much later than I did over at the boys house so he took a little nap with Claire. Claire actually did pretty well on the trip! The first night she wanted me to hold her the whole night but the second night she did much better! Thankfully my awesome roomie Barbara was very gracious about being awoken in the night by a crying baby.

Barbara also taught me the art of baby wearing! Neither Claire or I were crazy about the Hotsling but we both LOVED the Mei Tai! I can't wait to get one! I foresee it making grocery shopping at Trader Joe's MUCH more convenient! The beach was cold and windy but still beautiful!

I took this picture for Lydia :) It reminds me of her!

Snuggly teddy bear ClaireAmy was awesome and kept Kenley for us so that we could go!
Pretty seashell that looks like a butterfly
Now, for the notes! Sean spoke his messages that he originally preached at the '05 SR which was our senior year! This trip we focused mainly on Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, and Soli Deo Gloria.

I just want to share a few statements that REALLY stuck out to me.

- We are ushering in a new dark ages by not considering Truth.

- Grace is something for God to give as He wants, not for us to take as we want.

- Let us not let each other get away with weak faith (This was prayed by SKH and it really stuck out to me. How often do we see each other coasting and pretend that we don't see it? Accountability is so important!).

- Every time we sin we question Scriptures authority.

- When you hold onto bitterness you are making yourself an idol because you esteem yourself too highly.

-Theologians used to argue that the chief purpose of man was to glorify God, now we act as if the chief purpose of God is to glorify man.

- Sin happens when you do not have a proper view of God.

- What comes into our minds when we think about God may be the most important aspect of our lives.

You can listen to Sean's original messages from the '05 SR here.

I am so glad that we went on this trip. The messages were convicting and reviving and the fellowship was sweet.

Change

Well I finally changed my blog header. I guess it was time, since Claire has been here for 3.5 months now.... I don't love the new header as much as I loved the old one... So it might not last. I am open to any ideas that you might have for what I could change it to!!

Before:

After:

Peanut Butter Carob Chip Muffins!

These muffins are a great treat for when you can't have sugar or dairy! They are also a great treat for tricking the tofu haters in your life! Just let them enjoy their muffin in ignorance while you cackle about your trickery in the corner. :) Not like I have done that before or anything...

Peanut Butter Carob Chip Muffins

Recipe adapted from The Nest

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 package soft silken tofu

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 tablespoons coconut milk (You could totally use cow's milk)

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup carob chips (or chocolate chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line 12 muffin cups with liners or spray with cooking spray.

Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In a blender, combine the maple syrup, tofu, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla and process until smooth. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until blended. Stir in the carob chips.

Transfer the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out dry.

Kenley trying to be like Mommy with sunglasses on her head!

Today I...

made it to SPU without getting lost or using GPS. That is a first!

learned that I should just stick with coffee and forget about Chai lattes. Under the Red Umbrella is the only place worthy of ordering a Chai.

realized that I should probably also just stick with Starbucks even though I am mad at them for changing the logo.

ate amazing crepes at a French restaurant. Order the Le Alpine Crepe! Potatoes, bacon, brie cheese (I picked it out), and creme fraiche all in a crepe! yes please!

babysat Natester. I like being his aunt. I never get to snuggle with just him since my wild ones are usually all over me... I loved snuggling with him today!

think I can handle three kids... Just not 2 kids and morning sickness (or the freakish things that happen to me while pregnant). I want to adopt. NOW! We have adoption baby fever :)

made a dent in the mountain of laundry. It has now gone from Mt. Everest to K2. Yep I am that efficient

saw my sister. I like her. even if she insists on going to UH next year :)

Kenley's first babysitting job

Nate really needs to start working on all of these puzzles that she keeps bringing to him!

Hi Again.

This past weekend we went on the first annual TECY (Trinity Evangel Church Youth) retreat! It was awesome! I can't wait to share more about the trip!

I am still working on the blog post to share about it but in the mean time you can go over to Amy's blog and see pictures of the fun that Kenley had while she stayed with them! Sidenote: What and awesome blessing it was to us for the Carruthers to watch Kenley so that we could go on the trip!

I missed Kenley a ton while we were gone. However, today with her was a bit rough! She didn't get a nap because we were out and about which left both of us cranky. I just read this post on Femina about motherhood and I could not have read it at a better time. This quote from the post totally ties in with what we heard at the retreat too!

"Often times when we say that we really love, or need _____ , it is just a more subtle way of saying that we love or need ourselves."

CONVICTING!!

While you ponder on that quote you can look at some cute pictures of our girls that I took last week.

Kenley thought that she was being hilarious by 'sitting' on sissy's lap



Kenley's favorite book is this book about Jonah. I have it memorized. Apparently she does too because she sat down and 'read' the whole book to her baby!


Lastly, I feel like this song is written about my life! I ask Brian to call my phone at least once a day and I am constantly losing things!

Cutest Cousins Ever

Its April 1st!

Random Sugar Thoughts:

The day I have been waiting for is finally here! At 12:01 am this morning I ate my sisters leftover Reese's cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and a glass of chocolate milk!

I have totally regretted that consumption today though! Claire has spit up at least 18 times today. all. over. everything. So no more dairy! For reals this time!

This no sugar month was actually so much harder than the last time I did it! I did have a sip of coffee punch and i accidentally ate a fortune cookie. I put it in my mouth before I even thought about it being a cookie. dumb. If I knew I was going to have sugar that night I would have chosen a much tastier cookie type! :)

I have eaten approximately 68 bananas covered in peanut butter. seriously. My record was 4 in 1 day. Maybe thats why I haven't lost as much weight as last time :). We have gone through 3 1/2 jars of peanut butter this month.... I seriously buy a jar of peanut butter every time I make my weekly Trader Joes trip!

I actually haven't really eaten much sugar today.. Now that I can have it I don't want it quite as much as I did yesterday. Though I would love a chai latte! I guess I better get to work on a homemade version using coconut milk!

Amy did way better than I did.

I am still going to continue only buying products without unnecessary ingredients... because lets face it, there is no reason for mayo or bread to contain sugar!

Claire's Baby Shower

Our Church threw Claire and Jayne Rothenberger (1 week younger than C) a baby shower two Saturdays ago! What a blessing! I honestly was not expecting the church to throw us a baby shower since she is our second girl born so soon after Kenley. They really gathered together to bless us!
Jolie Hall made the cake! She is amazing! When I was pregnant with Claire she used to tell me how great I looked. Trust me she always made my day! If you see a pregnant woman today, tell her how great she looks! It will make her day!
See that coffee punch in the corner? I love that stuff. It has sugar in it... I had a sip...
Esther organized a craft of painting onesies for Claire and Jayne! It was such a fun project! I love crafts and I definitely got engrossed in making a onesie for Jayne!
Claire slept for almost the entire shower. She looks so sweet when she sleeps.


Obviously Kenley loved when I grabbed her to take a picture with me. :)
My Sister and My Mom were about to come to the shower too! Look! Mom's eyes are open in a picture!! It only took 3 takes :)
How sweet are those tutu onesie decorations?
And how sweet are the precious babies in the tutu decorations!!
They weren't too happy about Nadene and I putting the tutus on them. I want to add funny captions to this photo!
I love this picture of their tutu-ed buns! Isn't that quilt gorgeous! A sweet lady from church made Claire and Jayne each a quilt!
Thank you sweet church family for blessing us!

Rainbows and Randoms

I like Rainbows. This one went all the way across the sky. Isn't God's creation so amazing?
Little C.Lo is starting to smile! We have yet to capture the absolute cuteness on film but here is a sort of smile picture. She is also starting to lose her hair. SAD! I love her dark crazy hair!
Cal loves Kenley. Kenley loves Cal. Bonus... He is wearing a UNC shirt :) I don't know whats with the Army hat though! Her Marine Daddy will have to set him straight!
It seems Claire and I have come down with a cold so I am going to try my darndest to kick it to the curb before this weekends Youth Retreat!! I am really excited to get to go! Especially since the theme is Soli Deo Gloria which is what our senior years snow retreat theme was!! Class of '05 represent!

James & Kenley

The Carruthers boys came over to play tonight! After a messy dinner of fettuccine alfredo, green beans, and kiwi the two blondies were ready for a bath!

Who will get the shark?!?

( I LOVE the following sequence! )
Daddy, you missed a spot in J's hair!
Dont worry James, I'll get it for you!

I will have to capture some pictures of the brunettes tomorrow night!!

Look what just arrived!!!!

Hmmm

3 Months Old!

ClaireBaby is 3 months! She has just started to smile at us this past week!

Her face totally lights up and she looks completely like her Daddy when she smiles.

The first time she smiled, she was looking at Kenley! That totally melted me heart!

I think she may be the slowest nurser ever! She nurses for about an hour at each feeding.

She is like clockwork with her 4 AM wake up.

I quit eating dairy and have seen a huge improvement in her spitting up. It is so hard for me to cut out dairy so sometimes I slip up and have some. When I do slip up, she lets us know. So for now I really need to be stricter about the no dairy. Hopefully the dairy thing wont be something that she has to deal with forever!

She is such a sweet baby and she really loves cuddling with her Mama which I love!

Friends!