Proverbs 22:6

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not turn away from it." -Proverbs 22:6

This is one of my very favorite verses in the Bible. This is also what the message was about today at church, in honor of Father's Day. It is so true... God can do the job all on His own of course, but he chooses to use parents. It is our job as parents to raise our children to know Him. Corey and I believe raising our children in church is one of the most important aspects of parenting, but it doesn't stop there... We have to live our life in God's word everyday. We are Christian's role models and it's so important for us to set a good example for him. The message also talked about how children always look up to their father.. The father is the foundation of the home and should live his life in a way that provides a great example for his kids. Our preacher said something REALLY great today that I will always remember... He said, "I don't care if my boys are straight A students, if they are the best athlete, or if they are college graduates... but I do hope they have their family in church every Sunday worshiping the Lord and raise their children to KNOW God." Wow.. that hit home! Sometimes we get so wrapped up in wanting our children to be the best... We are all guilty, it's natural.. but does any of that matter on judgement day?? No. God doesn't care who the quarterback of the football team is or who the student council president is... He cares about one thing... Do you KNOW Him. That one comment has made me re-evaluate my views on raising Christian. Sure, I want him to be involved in anything and everything he is possibly interested in, and I also have high academic expectations for him, but my number one priority is to raise him right and raise him to know and love the Lord. So, at the end of the service today, the preacher called all the dads up to the alter. As Corey knelt down while the preacher prayed over them, tears ran down my face. It was so emotional for me... Do we, as parents, take raising our children for granted?? I just pray every night that God helps us through this journey of being parents and that we can use every situation, good or bad, as "teachable moments." I know Christian will have a good heart because it will be instilled in him... and for that, I can say I am very proud of us! :) Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!!! 

Until next time... Hope you have a blessed night!
Kristen

To My Husband...

First of all... tomorrow is a very special day.. It is my husbands first Father's Day!! :) I'm very excited to celebrate with him. I love this man with everything in me... He is hands down the BEST husband and daddy I could have ever asked for. God blessed me greatly by putting Corey in my life. I'll start out by saying, he was so supportive during my pregnancy... I was really sick during the first part of my pregnancy and he did everything for me. He never let me know if he was nervous about the labor part because he wanted to stay strong for me... and that he was! I couldn't have asked for a better partner in labor and delivery!! He was amazing... he held my hand for every needle that I had to go through and was an awesome delivery coach. The look on his face when our precious baby was born was absolutely priceless.. It's a look I will never forget. When he handed Christian to me with tears in his eyes, I completely fell in love with him all over again. Having a baby has to be the biggest bonding experience you could possibly ever go through... It's life changing. Christian is no doubt our little angel sent from Heaven. 

After we came home from the hospital, Corey stepped up to the daddy role immediately. There wasn't a single night that went by that he did not get up with me. I got a virus when Christian was a little over 2 weeks old and was scared to go around him because I didn't want to get him sick. I asked my mom to come over and help out... Corey told her to go on home and get some sleep because he could handle it... He did it all on his own until I got better a couple of days later. That right there is something very special to me. I just couldn't believe how natural he was at it... and how much he wanted to be involved. He didn't want to miss a single thing. I'll never forget one night we had our friends over and someone made a joke saying, "well you aren't missing out on much sleep since it's her job to get up are you?" His reply was, "Man, I would never let her get up by herself... that's my bonding time." Oh, how that comment melted my heart!!! He hasn't missed one night of bedtime... Every night we have a routine.. We change Christian, put his jammies on, put him in bed, give him his blankie, and say a prayer with him. I'm so proud of the dad he is. He will be Christian's hero and such a great role model for my little boy. I'm lucky to have someone that equally believes in the importance of raising our children in church. God will always be number one in our life as a couple and a family. I could go on and on about how wonderful of a husband and daddy he is. I am beyond blessed and I hope he knows just how special he is!!!

A little while before Christian arrived..

Handing me our angel for the first time...

Holding Christian's hand at his first doctors appointment

 

 

Christian's first time to church

Bath time

Watching TV with daddy

 

 

Taking Christian to see the Easter Bunny

 

 

Our first pet... Khloe

 

Shaking daddy's hands... His Hero <3

Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband, Corey... We love you so much!!

Summer Thunder Storms...

This morning I woke up around the usual, 7:00, to feed Christian.. I put him in bed with me since daddy left for work and we went back to sleep. I woke up to really loud thunder but he just slept right through it. We snuggled until 11:00!! It was the best time ever!! I love summer thunder storms anyway, and I really loved snuggling up in bed with my little angel while listening to them. He is such a sweet baby.. He just never really gets upset. He's so content and loving no matter what we are doing. Every time we go in public people comment on what a great baby he is... I know we got very lucky, or should I say blessed. He is my precious little angel.

We finally got up and ready for the day... We went to see Grandpa at work and he had to show Christian off to every single person that he works with. It makes me so happy to see how proud my dad is his little grandson. His face just lights up when I bring him in. Christian was flirting with all the ladies in the office, just giggling and screaming away! They loved it! When we left there, we headed out to do some major shopping! Christian has officially out grown ALL of his clothes! It was finally time to move up to 6 months!! I can't believe it... I feel like I just stopped buying newborn clothes.. :(  Anyway.. that we did! He got so many cute new outfits!! I can finally take all of his clothes out of his closet that does not fit anymore and hang all the new clothes up... sad but exciting all at the same time! He got quite a few new Polo's that are super cute... one of them is exactly the same shirt that his daddy has! That will be a cute picture of them together!! Poor little guy was so shopped out... I was having to hold him and push his strolled by the time we went to the last store because he was not having another second in that stroller! haha By the way.. if you haven't checked out the new kids store in the mall, "Crazy 8", you need to.. Cute clothes!! Christian is set on clothes for vacation now!! We are going to San Antonio next weekend... his first vacation.. and we are so excited! I got him a cute little shark shirt to wear to Sea World! I will be posting pictures of that, don't you worry.... ;)


Tonight, my best friend, Amber came over to visit. We talked about the old days all night... It's so much fun to reminisce every now and then!! We had some great memories, that's for sure!! I just love her to pieces! We could go years without seeing each other and just pick up like we saw each other yesterday... a friendship like that is hard to come by! Christian was already asleep when she came over, but we had to wake him up for a little while to visit! He just stared at her pretty much because he was so sleepy! We got a few little smiles out of em' though! :) He went right back to sleep as soon as I laid him back down! It's off to bed for me now.... 


Hope you enjoyed your day!!
Kristen

Christian's First Swimming Pool Experience...

Megan called us this morning and invited us over to go swimming. Christian was super excited since it was his first time in a swimming pool!! We got his cute little swim trunks on and away we went! I tried putting him in a floaty but he isn't quite big enough for that yet, so I just held him and floated around most of the time. He was so content in the water! I think he had a good time playing with Brylee and Talon, too! 

ALWAYS has his hand in his mouth..

  He was so sleepy when I was getting him ready to go... He fell asleep before I even got him snapped into his car seat! That water wore him out! I put him in his bed when we got home and he was sound asleep for a while!! He fell asleep holding his foot and stayed that way for atleast 30 minutes... haha It's amazing what all he does now.. I love that little boy more than anything!!! 

Silly boy

Wide awake and ready to play!

 

I made a new desert tonight so I will share the recipe with you... I got it from a co-worker and it is soo good... a great summer desert and perfect for 4th of July!! 

Berry Patriotic Trifle

Recipe:


Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 (4-serving size) package instant lemon flavor pudding mix
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 (10 3/4 oz.) loaf frozen pound cake, thawed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
• 1 3/4 cups fresh blueberries

Beat sweetened condensed milk, pudding mix and milk in large bowl with electric mixer. Fold in sour cream. Chill 5 minutes.

Reserve about 1/4 cup pudding mixture. In 2 to 2 1/2-quart clear glass bowl, layer half of the pound cake pieces, half of the remaining pudding and half of the raspberries and blueberries. Repeat layers. Spoon reserved pudding mixture on top. Cover; chill at least 2 hours. Top with Star Garnish, if desired, before serving.

Hope everyone had a great day!!! :)

Kristen

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home...

A lot of people don't know this about me but I LOVE to cook!! It might be one of my absolute favorite things to do. I'm excited I have time to try out some new recipes while I'm on summer break. I thought this would be a great way to share with you the ones that are really good! I know I love when I get a good recipe, so why not share it with everyone! :) I hope you enjoy!! 

Tonight's menu:
Marinated Grilled Shrimp
Coleslaw
Hushpuppies (I just cheated and bought the frozen kind, so no recipe for this one!)
& Strawberry Shortcake (yummm...)

Marinating the Shrimp

Thanks to the hubs for doing the grilling!

First time to make my own coleslaw

Strawberry Shortcake... Our favorite summer desert!

Here are the recipes.....*

Marinated Grilled Shrimp:

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
• skewers 

In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl and stir until evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for an hour stirring once or twice. Place shrimp on skewers, piercing once towards the tail and once near the head. Cook shrimp on grill for about 7 minutes on each side or until opaque. (My husband put foil down on the grill and cooked them on low.)

Coleslaw:

Ingredients:

• One bag of pre-chopped coleslaw mix
• 1 cup of Miracle Whip Light (I use light to cut calories but you can use either!)
• Milk (no more than 1/4 cup)
• 2 tbsp Cider Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Sugar

Put Miracle Whip, vinegar, and sugar  into large bowl and stir with a wire whisk. Add milk until the consistency is creamy like a salad dressing. Add in your coleslaw mix, stir, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to absorb the flavor. 


Strawberry Shortcake:

Ingredients:

• Package of strawberries
• 1/2 cup of Sugar
• Package of Shortcake 

Cut up your strawberries and mash them however juicy you would like. Add in your sugar and stir together.. Pour on top of your shortcake! (I'm sure most of you know how to make this, but thought I would add it in case!! It sure is good!!)

I hope you enjoy these recipes... I'll be posting more as I make something that tastes really good!! :) Leave me a comment if you try this and let me know how you like it!


Until next time... Have a blessed day!!
Kristen

School's Out for the Summer!

WHOO HOO!!! School is out for the summer which means, I'm off work for the summer!! This is the first time I have ever had a vacation period, much less a 7 week vacation! Needless to say, I'm super excited about it! The most exciting part is... I get to spend every day with my sweet angel baby!! It feels pretty weird sitting here on a Sunday night, not getting things ready for work tomorrow! Ahhh... what a great feeling! :) I've already started ordering things for my classroom next year that I'm really excited about... My favorite recent order was for blue light filters to put over the lights in my room. They are calming and therapeutic... and best of all, perfect for kids with ADHD and autism. I can't wait to try them out!

You can buy them at Target but they are a little cheaper to order on Amazon!

Just thought I'd share for you fellow teachers! :) Anyway... this weekend was pretty fun.. Corey was off work which always makes me very happy! Saturday, we went to Chad & Alana's wedding in Rogers and then went to Carrabas for dinner and Corner Stone afterwards for some ice cream. :) We had a perfect little date night! Today we tried a new church, Kibler Baptist. We have been struggling with finding a new church for a while because our current church does not have a lot for kids and that is VERY important to us since we have Christian now. I know that is a little way down the road, but we would both like to get settled in to a church that we are going to raise our family in. I can't say enough great things about this church. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming!! The preacher was awesome and exactly what I have been looking for. Corey and I both really liked it and plan on going back next Sunday. I have to thank my sweet friend, Miranda, for inviting us to visit. It was also the first time we had ever dropped Christian off with anyone besides our moms! I had a little bit of anxiety as I walked away from the nursery, but I knew he was in good hands... When we went to get him after church, he was snoozing away! haha That's always a good sign.. I guess he approves too! ;) 

Taking Khloe on her first walk.

Christian loves going on walks!

before heading to the wedding

Tonight was taco night at the Iovinelli's... it happens to be a favorite night around here! :) You should have seen all the food for just TWO people! Geez... I think I over cook.. I get that from my momma! She always made enough to feed the neighborhood.. and that she did! haha The neighbors always looked forward to it! To this day, she still takes her neighbors plates for dinner! She has such a big heart! Anyway, I made homemade guacamole for the first time and it was delicious! It's my hubby's favorite so I thought I would give it a try. It was easy to make.. I will post the recipe!

Yummy!!

Guacamole Recipe:

Ingredients: 
3 avocados (peeled, pitted, & mashed)
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Refrigerate for 1 hour. 


Hope you enjoy!! We sure did! :)


Until next time... Have a blessed night!
Kristen

Our newest addition...

My husband has wanted a German Shepherd for as long as I've known him... I on the other hand, have serious issues with my house smelling fresh and clean always, so the thought of a dog in the house made me a little crazy. I also don't want to put a dog outside all the time either... it's just too hot in the summers and too cold in the winters! Sooo... I gave in and decided a German Shepherd puppy would be the perfect Father's Day present for my hubby! After a LONG search I finally found one that was reasonably priced and had the markings like he wanted. It took such a long time for me to find one because they are super expensive! I'm talking thousands of dollars!! I should have known it was too good to be true to have found one for $500 that looked exactly like we had wanted... but I was so excited I called immediately and made arrangement to pick him up the next day in Missouri. Well, long story short, I think it was a scam.. the people insisted I wire money before they would meet me. I was so disappointed and had kinda given up. At this point, I had already showed Corey the pictures of his new puppy and he was excited too. He just thought the whole ordeal sounded a little fishy. The next morning, Corey called me and said a lady had listed some in the paper so I called the number.. She was out of Oklahoma and was SUPER sweet and informative! We went to take a look at her puppies as soon as Corey got off work and picked out our new little addition, Khloe. She is just the sweetest natured puppy! She came up to Corey right when he bent down and started loving on him. He knew she was the one. We took Christian with us and he just loved all the puppies!! I'm so excited that Christian will have a dog to grow up with.. I think pets are so important to kids and Khloe is already very protetective over him. She follows him around and lays right beside him wherever he is. It's so sweet! Christian just smiles and giggles all the time at her. :) So far the housebreaking is going really well. She sleeps in her crate at night and we have been taking her out to potty very frequently. She is a very smart girl!! We are hoping to have her trained really well in the next few months so that she will follow commands. Corey is in heaven with his new dog and I'm just loving our sweet family!

picking out our new puppy

Khloe getting brushed after her first bath

She loves Christian!!!



Khloe Genesis

He loves her!!

I think our famliy is complete... for now.. :) Until next time... Have a blessed day!!

Kristen 

Memorial Day Weekend

Yes, I know.. I'm super behind on blogging. I can't skip Memorial Day weekend though because it was such a great 3 days with my family! Corey and I went to the lake Friday night for the "Elliot's Annual Friday before Memorial Party." It was our first night away from Christian.. :(  I called and checked in about every hour like a crazy mom but it was the only thing that made me feel okay about being away. Don't get me wrong, I know he is in GREAT hands with my momma, but I just missed  my baby boy a whole lot! It was nice to get away with the hubs though... we had a wonderful night out together! :) We came home early Saturday morning because I couldn't handle being away any longer! 

One of the pictures we took at the party :)

Saturday was a great day filled with hanging out around the house with my little family. Saturday night we went to Avery's parents house in Ozark for her birthday/going away party. She is going to the Middle East for the summer to teach English (brave girl). It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL out at her parents house. We had the best time!! Christian thoroughly enjoyed being passed around to everyone! We rode the 4-wheelers down to the barn and saw the baby colt... so precious! It was so much fun!

Watching the deer run around

Sunday we had a cook-out with my mom and Curt, Dee and John, and My Aunt Vickie and Uncle Warren. Corey cooked out a ton of food and it was a great time! Once again, Christian loved all the attention!! Monday was Memorial Day and Corey had to work. :( He has been wanting to go kayaking really bad lately and had a trip planned for Tuesday with the guys. I thought I would surprise him and go buy him a kayak and have it on the Jeep when he got home!! Dad and I went to Academy and bought him everything he needed! I was so excited for him to come home and see it!! The look on his face was priceless!! He was so happy! I plan on getting one myself at some point this summer so I can start going with him! They have a really cute pink one that I think would fit me just perfect! ;) 

My wonderful hubby cooking for us!

He was so excited!!!

He was wore out from all the excitement over the weekend!

 I feel like I'm a little more caught up now.. I'll try to stay more up to date! I'm off to bed now though.. ready to tackle my last 4 days of work for the summer!! :) Whoo hoo!!

Until next time... Have a wonderful night!

Kristen