Summer Birthdays....Better Late than Never

Summer has come and gone and so have a couple of our family birthdays!  Don’t ask why I am so late in posting these, because I really don’t know how they got away from me!  

Mitchell turned 17 and we celebrated with a family dinner of his choice…. Pulled Pork Sandwiches, some sides I honestly can’t remember now, and homemade Moo-wiches! Mitchell is fast becoming a man and my momma’s heart is beginning to feel the reality of the fact that this maturity will inevitably come quicker than we can imagine.  Oh the tension of wanting to see him grow and holding onto that little boy I used to snuggle so often. He is a senior in HS this year and enjoying his second year in the Running Start program at our local Tech College.  He still greatly enjoys being a Police Explorer and we are so proud of him as he won the TOP Selections Cadet at his last Explorer Academy this summer. He continues to LOVE his piano and is working hard in anticipation of his Senior Recital in the spring and he has a great job at a local diesel shop.  Our prayer for Mitchell is that his heart will always remain tender to the ways and workings of the Lord in his life. We are so proud of him and look forward to seeing what God will do in his life and where he will lead him!

 

 



We acquired a second teenager in the house this summer!  The teenage girl aspect is certainly new to us but we have greatly enjoyed it! She is still a sweet little girl in so many ways but it has been a joy to begin to see a true young lady blossom inside of her.  Thirteen is a big deal and of course it called for a party.  She had a blast with a few of her dear friends and made some precious memories. She is in 8^th grade this year and while we anticipated that the middle school years could sometimes be hard, we have been blessed and are so thankful for the young ladies in her life.  We look forward to the years to come and to see how God can strengthen them into lifelong friends. The girls played a game where they were paired off and had to apply makeup to their partner while blindfolded.  They laughed, actually we all laughed so hard… it was the best teenage girl game! Our prayer for Isabelle remains the same as Mitchell’s, that her heart will always remain tender to the ways and workings of the Lord.  We are so proud of her and are looking forward to the remaining teen years with her.

 

Umm.... I am pretty sure Isabelle and Hannah did not place first for proper make up application!  

Actually Danica and Colby didn't do too bad compared to Isabelle and Hannah!

 

 

My guess is that Caroline and Payton won!   They did a great job for being blindfolded!

 

 

 

 

 

40

Not in pounds but in years...Yesterday we got to celebrate Chad's 40th! We actually celebrated twice for this special birthday, once with a SPAM party last week and then just with our little family last night. Thankfully he did not request SPAM again for last night's dinner. :-)

Chad LOVES SPAM…yikes! In fact did you know there is a SPAM Museum in Minnesota?  Unfortunately Chad has added it to our list of stops for our cross country trip next Fall! J Did you know there are lots of recipe’s and ways to use SPAM??  Last week I made SPAM “cupcakes” and SPAM buns.  The “cupcakes” were simply mini SPAM/hamburger meatloaves with mashed potato “frosting” and SPAM buns is a friend’s recipe and honestly I have to say I could eat the SPAM buns.  The SPAM buns are grated SPAM, Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce (the original recipe calls for ketchup but Chad doesn’t eat ketchup) and garlic salt all mixed together then you top a potato roll with the SPAM mixture and grated cheese then broil them for a couple minutes and WALA … you actually have edible SPAM... it tastes like pulled pork!  For dessert we had Lazy Daisy Cake that Isabelle made and I made a Beer and Bacon Ice Cream Sundae Toffee Sauce that is poured over vanilla ice cream and topped with bacon crumbles, toasted pecans and sea salt!  No worries… all the beer cooks out J It actually turned out quite good, better than I expected!

Last night his dinner of choice was chicken fried steak with country gravy, homemade biscuits and eggs. He finished off the evening with a Bourbon Cherry Rhubarb Pie.  Gee… I think I am starting to see a pattern here with alcohol J… JK... honestly it cooks out and it is just the flavor left! I guess he has no worries about clogging any arteries at this point!  

Hard to believe my precious husband is 40.  We sat around the dining room table last night as the children and myself spoke of all the things we love about Daddy.  His kindness and patience, how he takes the time to teach them, his wrestling and tickle fights, how he is a good example of being a Godly husband and father and much more. It was precious to hear the children speak and a gift all in itself.  I love this man God has given me more than I can rightly express.  I am blessed that he unconditionally loves me, he is patient with my impatience, he is tender, longsuffering, sacrificial and unassuming. He is a special man who gives his all for another and loves his Savior with his whole heart. These years have gone quickly as we have grown up together. I pray the Lord will bless me with the gift of many more years with Chad as I have much to learn from this man. 

 



 

 

 

 

 

A Swimmingly Good Birthday Party

So... only 3 months AFTER their birthday we finally have completed the twins 10th birthday party with friends!  This had to be one of the easiest and truly extremely fun parties we have done to date for any child! It was as simple as swim, swim and swim some more... eat a quick couple fishie cupcakes and had to open presents outside. We utilized every minute we could out of swimming so no time for present opening before the aquatic center closed! It was a bit chilly after being in the pool but Will and Shelley made quick work of the gifts and they all loved it! I am rarely in the photos with the kiddos as I am usually taking them so I was blessed when a momma there thoughtfully suggested a photo of me with the twins...a novel concept ... photos with my children!  :-) I have to get better about that!
We are blessed with a great group of friends for all of our children and I am so thankful for the memories that were made for both William and Shelley. :-)



A Visit and a Concert

This last weekend we got to have Grandma Honey up for a visit! She was here for two-fold reasons.  First, she got to see Mitchell perform a piano piece at a local concert series and the second is that we got to have her here to celebrate her birthday! We always love having her here and this time we also enjoyed seeing photos from her recent trip to Ireland.  It was a grand weekend for sure!

 

Moments in March

 

 

 

Isabelle's first batch of cinnamon rolls sans any help from Mom as I was gone at our church's women's retreat. They were declared delicious by all who had them!

 

 

 

 

Good Morning Birthday Boy!

I don't know how I missed this cutie pie picture in his birthday post...I couldn't resist!

 

 

 

 

 

Cowboy Kitchen Crew

 

 

 

Celebrating Ressurection Sunday with our sweet friends the van den Heuvel's and Grandma Kay. 

 It was replete with delicious food, excellent fellowship and good 'ol football!

 

 

 

 

 



Little Man

I know, I know… I am quite behind in my posts, especially about a little man who turned 6 last month!  What fun we had celebrating JD’s birthday, complete with a “SPAM-tastic” breakfast for dinner.  JD is Daddy’s true spam partner….hands down he loves the stuff!  Some of the other children will eat a slice here and there for breakfast when Daddy cooks it but JD will request a “SPAM-tastic” Saturday morning with Daddy.  Silly boy, he even chose it for his birthday dinner! 

Oh how we love our little man!  Yes, there are many days that are extremely challenging but there are many more days that are sweet, sweet, sweet!  God is growing and changing our little boy and we are reaping the benefits all the time. I love the precious relationship he has with his Daddy.  For JD, not one person on earth is he more connected to than Daddy. I cannot tell you how vital I think that is for every part of his development both emotionally and physically.  I know he recognizes Chad’s unconditional love for him and I so deeply appreciate how Chad has poured his heart and soul into our sometimes troubled little man.  He is longsuffering, patient and loving but oh so importantly, he is consistent

I love seeing JD grow into being able to play well with his siblings, especially his very patient older brother Will!   JD takes great joy in puzzles, Legos, KNEX, board games and anything to do with a sports ball….soccer, baseball, football, ping pong, golf, whiffle ball ….ANYTHING that involves a ball and a sport! He is doing fantastic in school and enjoys Kindergarten! He is an eager learner and is even doing a bit of a 1^st Grade workbook I got him and he loves it!

Isabelle wanted to do a little photo shoot for his birthday so we have some cute photos to share! We thank God for another precious year with our “number 5”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Double Digit Midgets

We had the joy of celebrating the twins 10^th birthday last week!  I kept thinking really …. 10??!??  Ten is such a big number for me as a momma!  At this age sometimes I feel desperation to slow the hands of time as I have noticed over the years the speed at which 10 becomes 13 and then 13 becomes 16! While they are both growing independently in so many ways, I love it when they do something similar and I will hear one or the other say … “well we are twins”.  J

10 is a big deal around here for a few reasons.  You get to have a “friends” party, you get to go out to dinner with just momma and daddy and possibly the biggest of them all for a Honey….your first “cuppa”… cup of coffee that is!  Shelley in particular has been unabashedly anticipating her cup of coffee for many, many months now!  I am so thankful our machine did not disappoint for her, she absolutely LoVeD her cup! Poor Will on the other hand was a bit like his sister Isabelle in that the delicious steaming cup of coffee just did not meet all the big hype and they both could gladly go without.  Our tally is 2/2 now… Mitchell and Shelley are coffee lovers, Isabelle and Will, not so much!  JD is already talking about his cup of coffee he will get in oh …. 4 years … so hopefully the tie breaker will go to the “cuppa”!!

 I could still say about Will much of what I wrote about him on his 9^th birthday!  He is still faithful in his tenderness in response to instruction from us, he is always willing to work with rarely a complaint, he still LOvEs building all he can with KNEX and LEGOS!  He still constantly asks Daddy how he can help him or if he can work or build with him around the house, and his handwriting is still beautiful! He is the faithful caretaker of our dog Rocky, and he is growing stronger this winter as he hauls in wood almost every day for our fireplace.  He has come to love RC items, especially the helicopter and airplane he received over this last year for Christmas and birthdays.  He spent many hours mastering his helicopter before it met it’s demise and now he is mastering the RC plane he just received for his birthday.  Hands down, he still is one of the most longsuffering big brother anyone has ever met….someday JD will have the privilege of understanding what a gem he has in his older brother William.

 

Much is the same for Shelley also!  She is all girl, all the time and we love it! She has a deep love for horses and cooking, she loves spending hours listening to stories/books on CD while her imagination is living the story in her mind. She still so enjoys “playing out” those stories for hours on end with her siblings in their makeshift frontier home. She is still a faithful student and is loving her sewing and knitting instruction this year.  I can’t wait to post about some of her completed projects! Hands down she has the most beautiful penmanship of ANY of our children.  She still excels at helping me around the house and is always willing to do the next thing I might ask of her. She has become an excellent reader aloud as she has spent many hours reading to Will for school and JD for pleasure.  Still one of the best ways to pass the time for JD is to snuggle next to his big sis for a story time. Yes, she still loves being “little momma” and gets better at it each year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Years and Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Yesterday marked Isabelle’s 12^th birthday…..where does the time go?!? She started off with pop-tarts for breakfast, yes a special birthday treat, not a normal breakfast choice in the Honey home! We spent the afternoon at the lake and the evening eating very nummy food, of her choosing!  Her birthday dinner consisted of steak with the Zesty Flank Steak marinade, thick baked beans, baked artichokes with melted butter and homemade corn fritters with honey butter….yikes it was a delicious meal!! Oh… and I cannot forget, she got her first Mountain Dew!  Soda Pop is a treat here for the Honey children. You don’t get your first real can of pop till your 6^th birthday and then smatterings of drinks thereafter.  When you turn 11 you get a pop the first Friday of the month and Mt. Dew is definitely off limits until your 12^th birthday!  Per Isabelle style, she opened it, drank barely any, shared it with her big brother and the rest sits in the fridge slowly losing carbonation and becoming a sugary syrup undrinkable drink!  For dessert, she had chosen Pink Lemonade Cupcakes from this neat book …. Fun Stuff Cupcakes.  At first I was unsure as the frosting is a little different and it is intended to look “melted” hence the “lemonade drink” look but they turned out really quite well and they were fun and pretty simple to make. 

There are so many things to love about Isabelle, but here are a few heard around the table last night…. “ I love how she is always willing to play with me and play Little House and she is the best sister”, “I love how she lets me build the cabinets she needs in the red building for Little House”, “I love that she goes the extra mile and helps others”, “she is kind”, “I love her cheeks”!!! She is tender, kind, compassionate, giving, has a tender heart for things of the Lord, an excellent sister, an invaluable mother’s helper and a precious daughter.  She is truly a joy to our hearts. 

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

1 package white cake mix

1 cup water

3 egg whites

1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup thawed pink lemonade concentrate, divided

2 T veg oil

5-8 drops red food coloring, divided

4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

Fruit slice candies, straws

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18-22 standard muffin cups with paper baking cups

2.  Beat cake mix, water, egg whites, 1/3 cup lemonade concentrate, oil and 4-6 drops food coloring in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until well blended.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.

3.  Bake 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool cupcakes in pans 5 minutes, reove to wire racks to cool completely.

4.  Beat powdered sugar, butter and remaining 1/4 cup lemonade concentrate in medium bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add a pinch of milk or cream if frosting is to thick.  Beat in remaining 1-2 drops red food coloring until desired shad of pink is reached.

5. Pipe frosting over cupcakes, garnish with candies and straws.