Twirls 'n Curls

"A friend loveth at all times." Proverbs 17:17

My girls love to help me cook, and I have great memories of helping my mom in the kitchen. Determined to carry on the tradition, I started Chef School with the kiddos a few weeks ago. My husband, who is a pastor, is busy at church most of the weekend, so it's the perfect time to get messy, and there's no time crunch. We always have a bunch of people over on Sunday night, so the girls help me cook on Saturday. (They help at other times too, but I plan to use this time to teach specific skills.) Project #1 - Peeling potatoes Someone gave us 15 pounds of potatoes that needed to be used fast. So, aprons on and peelers in hand, garbage bags laid out on the grass, we set to work. I taught them to peel away from their bodies, just like I learned, to minimize accidents. My oldest peeled 5, the middle peeled 1, and I peeled about 453. But it was so much fun spending that time together! Look for more Chef School posts coming soon! P.S. Click here for our favorite make ahead mash...

Our house was abuzz with excitement when the caterpillars we ordered began to emerge from their chrysallises as beautiful butterflies (click here to order your own!). Hannah, 4, was especially amazed. "Mama, it's a miracle!" She exclaimed. I opened my mouth to correct her with something like, "Not really, honey, it happens all the time..." but I stopped myself, and I'm glad I did. By definition, a miracle is "an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God." Just because God happens to be in the miracle making business, like keeping planets in orbit and bringing nearly 500,000 babies into the world each day ( answers.com ), does that make any of these events less miraculous? If we're not careful, though, we can get so used to seeing miracles happen firsthand that they become commonplace. Sometimes we even forget about Who really made them happen. So let's take our cues from the children God wisely placed in our lives. T...

I really enjoy watching little friendships develop between our girls, now 6, 4, and 2 next week, which inspired this post. I found most of the quotes below here . A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~ M. Garretty     My sister taught me everything I really needed to know,  and she was only in sixth grade at the time. ~ Linda Sunshine A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and  very much not ourselves, a special kind of double. ~ Toni Morrison   In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips.   What's the good of news if you haven't a sister to share it? ~ Jenny DeVries A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit,  and a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~ Isadora James

Click here to view this photo book larger I just made my first photo book, I plan to make one for each daughter. This is from my oldest daughter's first year. Love it! P.S. Groupon has great deals, I made this one for under $20!

The older I get, the more I realize it's the little memories that make life so sweet, not just the big events and milestones. Here are some of our fun "little things" lately for this Miscellany Monday :  ~ I had such a nice Mother's Day - Linsey made me a picture, Hannah made me a craft in Sunday School, and Natalie sang "Happy Birthday to You" for me all day. Today has been even better - Tom made me breakfast and we're going out to sushi tomorrow! ~We are in the process of hatching ladybugs and caterpillars - Hannah's dresser looks like a science fair. According to my observations, these insects eat and eat until they're about 3 times their normal size, curl up and sleep for a week or two, and emerge with new bodies.  All I can say is, Where do I sign up?? ~ My 2-year old is Dora-obsessed. She watches it so intently that she mixes English and Spanish words. She'll point at a door, stare at it, and say, "Abre!" to o...