summer photos

I could ramble on and on about VBS, Jr. Camp, Youth Camp, and all of the in between planning that goes into each event, but instead, I'll just share a few pictures.

VBS and Jr. Camp happen in the same week - and let me tell you, there is no tired like Friday afternoon of that week tired. It's so fun, though! I got to travel around with the 2 and 3 year olds again this year, and they're so sweet. It's all new and exciting to them, and as Lena Rae called it, "ABCD" is a very grown up experience to these little people. (Once Lena finally remembered the correct letters were VBS, she pronounced it as "b-b-ee-us")

Many parents don't want pictures of their children online, so here are just a few of the pictures I have where none of their faces are visible.

The parachute is THE. FUNNEST. GAME. (or so I've been told)

The Jr. Campers put on a skit for the kids at VBS on the Prodigal Son. This was the riotous living. ;)

Lena Rae was very willing to put on the outfit when we "visited Mexico". 

VBS starts at 9am - by 11:30, Duck Duck Goose is way too demanding.

Silly Supper

Kaitlyn and I decided that the kids needed to experience a Silly Supper like we did "back in the day"

Silly Supper explanation: We came up with a menu, and then assigned each item gross, silly descriptions - such as Shredded Stock (roast beef), Swarm of Lice (lima beans), and Swine Husks (corn on the cob), just to name a few. We told the kids to dress up for a "nice dinner" and then each of our waiters (teens and young adults) dressed up in ridiculous outfits, us females wore pigtails or whatever other unusual thing we could do with our hair (see above picture - this was after supper so we're a little disheveled), and acted proper while seating them, watching them stress over their very strange menus while taking orders, and then serving them their Scorch (brownies) or Sweet Disappointment (lemonade). It's a lot of fun and the kids had a blast!

After that week was over, we had Saturday and Sunday to clean up, do laundry, regroup, and pack  rest before heading out to Youth Camp on Monday. Youth Camp this year was incredible. I once again had the 13 year old girls in my room and we had a lot of fun. Our camp is entirely tech free so there were no phones, iPods, cameras (expect for the designated photographers), or anything like that all week. I had my phone because I was a counselor, but I only took this one picture on the last afternoon. I kept mine off and away like everyone else and it allowed for a clear mind and better ability to focus on what God wanted to do. I believe it was one of our best camps yet.

We've had three weeks free, and it's been wonderful! One week from today Music School begins, and even though that's a little overwhelming, having these weeks to just rest and have fun has really helped. We've kept ourselves busy, but it's been a good busy.

One early Saturday morning Amie and I took a hike with a couple of our friends at a lake nearby. I thought it was going to be a stroll by the lake. Nope. It was a hike. We had 6 miles in by 8:30am though, so it was a lot of fun and by the time we finished it was up to 85 degrees so we beat most of the heat!

We finally had another girls' night after about a year. We realized the last time we did this was when Lena Rae was just a few months old, and now that Tara's back in Tennessee we should do it more often.

We ate at Puckett's in downtown Franklin and had dishes like chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, and mac-n-cheese BBQ. I highly recommend this restaurant! It was really small, was also a grocery store, and had live music (we weren't sure about that at first, but the man playing an instrument I've never seen before just played songs like Wonderful World, Fools Rush In, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow, so it was actually nice). We then walked around window shopping because all the shops were closed and got ice cream at Kilwins. I love Franklin!

And now, it's July 4th - my favorite holiday! After Christmas but tied with Thanksgiving. ;) I hope everyone has been having an amazing summer!

thanksgiving week | monday

 

Making cupcakes AND frosting from scratch isn't always my idea of a good time, but during the holidays it's my favorite thing ever. I started Thanksgiving week early this morning by mixing these up at 7am. I did not have one for breakfast, but the finished product this afternoon was well worth the wait. Try them out! 

An annual party that kick starts the holiday season around here! There were 53 ladies that participated in the White Elephant style ornament swap. It took awhile, but it was so much fun. I'm so grateful for sweet church members and friends willing to host that many people for so many years in a row!

april 2015 recap

It's hard to believe we're beginning the month of May. April zipped right on by in a flurry of raindrops. We had some hard, sad days at the beginning of the month. As a family in our church went through an incredibly difficult time, my memories of the beginning of the month are of tears and so much prayer as our church banded together at heaven's door for them. God is faithful, and through it all He is good and sovereign. When we don't understand His plan, and question why He allows certain things to happen, He comes to us in whispers. Gently comforting us when we face the cruel realities of life on this earth. All in all, April was a good month.

This isn't a great picture because it was taken with a phone but it's the only one I have right now. This is all of the girl cousins on my mom's side of the family. We had a baby shower for my cousin (the brunette in the middle) and her baby boy due on May 4. I love spending time with family, and it was a happy day. We can't wait to meet our new little cousin!

Easter Sunday was cloudy but pleasantly warm. As per tradition, out came the dressy spring clothes and lots of ham and sweet potatoes were consumed. We don't celebrate Easter like most people - no easter bunny! - and while we know that it's not the actual date of Christ's resurrection, it's nice to set an entire day aside to appreciate and celebrate that blessing.

Sisters! We all ended up matching - can you tell which pair of sisters belongs to each other? ;)

We celebrated the sunshine with trips to the park, bike rides, and picnics. It's still just spring here, but it's slowly getting warmer and I love it! The boys and I have lots of big plans for this summer - the  new niece or nephew is due to be here early July, so we'll be making our own summer bucket list!

I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but I cooked up a storm in April! The majority of my Saturdays have been spent in the kitchen and I'm loving it! I'm not sure if recipe posts are a thing y'all enjoy on here or not, but if you see something in the above picture that you'd like the recipe for let me know and I'll try to get around to sharing it! (They were all quite good, if I do say so myself!)

FROM THE BLOG

ending - my one and only April Fool's Day joke. Turns out it really did fool some people! 

summer bucket list - an early start on some practical plans for Summer 2015

grilled salmon & avocado salsa | recipe - a heart healthy meal with recipes and pictures included

And that was April in a nutshell. I'm playing around with the layout for my recap posts, still not sure what I like best but I'll find an easy-to-read format soon! I hope your April was beautiful, and that God was there in every day.

What were some of your favorite moments from April?

grilled salmon & avocado salsa | recipe

some facts I looked up before making this meal:

1. Salmon is one of the most heart healthy foods you can eat.

2. Avocados are great for your skin, and are also very heart healthy.

3. Carrots are good for you all around (seriously, Google their benefits sometime!).

(According to my nephews, while they're chewing a carrot they can see our church from their house. It's several miles away.)

I have been in the biggest cooking mood all month. It started with desserts. I decided to spend part of my Saturdays experimenting with sweets and so far I've had one hit and one miss. Then it was muffins. Last week we had five different types of muffins in our house and I don't know how but they were all gone by Wednesday.

Monday evening it was just me, my mom, and my sister at home so I decided to try a new recipe. It turned into two recipes, and then the final count was three new recipes. I'm always pleasantly surprised at how relaxing and enjoyable cooking is when I'm not on a time crunch and can set my own pace. This meal was much easier than I anticipated, and didn't take very long at all. I'd say about 40 minutes total - that's because there's a marinading time and a roasting time. You'll see.

I started out with the salmon. It came frozen, individually wrapped. (Nowhere around us sells fresh fish that I know of, and I wouldn't know how to pick it out anyway.) I put four of the wrapped pieces in a bowl of hot water. They were completely thawed in about 15-20 minutes. While they were thawing I made the marinade:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper

I rubbed olive oil on each piece of salmon and then distributed the marinade evenly between them. It took about 1 T. of olive oil.

I put the fish in the fridge and let it marinate for no less than 30 minutes. This was the perfect amount of time to prep my carrots for the final recipe.

Because we don't have a wooden plank or fish rack for our grill, I used heavy duty aluminum foil and sprayed four pieces of it really well with cooking spray. I placed the marinated salmon skin down on the foil, and then  brought up the long sides of the foil and folded them over together, and then folded up the short sides. My mom grilled them for me, and I believe it took about 10 minutes. She grilled it until it was around 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and then unfolded the top of the foil to let some of the "grill flavor" in.

During this time I was making the avocado salsa. You will need...

• 1 avocado, chunked 
• 1/4 small red onion, chopped
• juice of 1 lime
• 1-2 T. finely chopped cilantro (depending on how much you like cilantro. I think I used about 2 1/2 T.)
• salt to taste

My favorite thing about this salsa is you literally just put it all in a bowl and mix it up, and viola, you're done! It was SO. GOOD.

 While the salmon was marinating, I was slicing 3 cups of baby carrots. You could skip this step, but my personal preference when it comes to cooked vegetables is that they be as soft as possible without being mush, so I thought slicing them would help make the softening process a little quicker.

 

Here's what you'll need...

• 3 cups of carrots
• 1 T. honey
• 1 T. olive oil (or some cooking spray if you're out like I was)
• sea salt
• ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Put your carrots in a bowl and coat generously with 1 T. oil or cooking spray, salt, and pepper (this is to your taste). Arrange carrots on a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes. Shake/rearrange carrots about halfway through so they can roast and get crispy on all sides.

Return the carrots to the bowl and add the honey. Stir to coat well and then taste to see if they need any more salt and pepper...or just put them on the table and let each individual decide!

We often have a big bowl full of salad in the fridge that we'll eat for lunch or pull out for an extra side, so I added that to this meal. My mom and Amie make an Asian dressing that they love and they added some cuties to their bowl. I kept mine simple with a few croutons and a spicy dressing that I make. 

Here's the finished plate:

honey roasted carrots | grilled salmon & avocado salsa | fresh salad | sweet tea because...sweet tea

My "dessert" for this meal was my drink. I'll drink my sweets any day over dessert or candy.

I hope if any of you are able to try this you like it! In case you were wondering - all of these recipes make exactly four servings. I couldn't have orchestrated it better! I tweaked a few things, but the general idea behind them is not my own. Maybe one day I'll be creative and come up with my own recipe, but for now I rely on Google and Pinterest!

Let me know if you get around to trying any of these!

How do you try to stay healthy?

What's your favorite spring time meal?

break the fast | recipe

There are a few non spiritual things that I think are very important, and breakfast is one of them. Ask any of my friends, and they'll tell you. Especially ask the friends of mine who don't eat it - they've all heard me berating them for it!

I'm not going to explain it because I'm not an expert and that's not my job, but I do encourage you to do some research and I definitely encourage you to break the fast every morning!

I'll be the first to admit I am NOT, by any stretch of the biggest imagination, a morning person. I don't love mornings or anything that goes with them - breakfast included. I used to skip it all the time - my mom making me eat a piece of toast or a muffin when I was younger was torture. When I was a 95 pound 15 year old that was ok, but not so much the older I get!

A year or two ago when I read up on the importance of breakfast I made a genuine effort to eat it every single morning, and let me tell you - it was not easy at all. I really, really did not enjoy breakfast! A piece of fruit, a granola bar, a muffin, a small bowl of cereal - and only one of those things was all I could force down. 

I did finally realize that I just don't like bread first thing in the morning. I wake up with a dry mouth, brush my teeth, come down and bread just isn't appealing to me. We eat biscuits every Saturday morning, and I like them covered in gravy. I love pancakes if I have plenty of blueberry syrup. I will smother a muffin in butter. I wanted to find something I actually enjoy having those first few hours of my day. I did realize that drinking a lot of water first thing helps as well. That, and then just sipping on it while I'm getting ready makes breakfast much more tolerable.

Starting small and recognizing my picky breakfast tendencies, I have found a few things I really like. I love smoothies. In the summer, I could drink one every single morning. Still though, I'm picky about them. I don't like yogurt in them, they can't be too citrus-y, and I have to make them myself. I finally learned to like eggs. Until last year, even the smell of a scrambled egg made my nose wrinkle, but now I love them - just not with cheese or peppers or ham. I like oatmeal now, too - a certain flavor, a certain way, but I like it.

If you don't like breakfast - start small! Make it a habit to eat even the smallest thing every single morning. If you're picky - make it yourself, your way! My mom and sister absolutely love breakfast, and I'm convinced they love every breakfast food ever invented. They've made more varieties of muffins than I can count, and we've reached a point where they don't mind if I don't eat one and I only feel  a little bit guilty now when I don't.

This morning I woke up hungry and decided to try a couple of new recipes. I now have a new favorite breakfast, and I hope you'll try it out if you can!

This smoothie recipe is one I saw on Pinterest and just adapted to my tastes and what I knew I would like. It's supposed to help with energy, but I'm not sure if it actually did or not.

From the bottom of the glass up I have: frozen banana chunks, canned pineapple chunks, and frozen strawberries. The liquid is a little bit of orange juice and the rest is milk. I should have added a little bit of vanilla or maybe some honey because it was a little tart for me. My mom, on the other hand, would have added some vanilla yogurt and no milk just orange juice because she likes the citrus flavor and creamy texture. I like mine sweeter but with and icy texture. If you use fresh fruit, just add some ice to thicken it up, it's really your preference. If you want an exact recipe, here's the one I kind of sort of but actually didn't really use: Energy Boost Fruit Smoothie

This avocado and egg toast combination is really, really good. I love avocados, but they're so expensive around here. My mom found them on sale recently and got several so we've been eating them on everything. 

All you have to do for this one is toast a piece of bread, mash half of a ripe avocado, and scramble your egg. Assemble it, and then add salt and pepper to taste - because of the blandness of the toast, avocado, and egg, you could use a variety of spices. I was just trying it out this morning, but some garlic pepper, or creole, or anything else with a little spice would be amazing. If you use wheat bread, it's also pretty healthy!

I hope this post was helpful, and I hope you're eating breakfast faithfully! Please let me know if you're able to try these recipes, or how you adapt them - I'd love to hear about it!

  

Have a happy morning!

DIY Christmas | brunch + 2 recipes

Welcome to DIY Christmas, Sincerely, Kelley style! (where "this is how I did it" would be more accurate!)

It's been busy, busy around here! So busy in fact, that this brunch almost didn't happen. But when my nurse friend is off work and my Kentucky friend is in town on the same day some getting together must happen, whether it's in the middle of Missions Conference or not! :)

We planned a brunch at my house for 9:00am, perfect time to sleep in a little extra, but still get home with plenty of time to spare. Here's what we had!

Pumpkin cream cheese muffins, eggs, sausage balls, and apple pie apples. And of course, plenty of hot tea and coffee!

Writing this post is making me hungry!

Now, for the recipes...

 

 

My cousin made these for Thanksgiving, and our entire family absolutely loved them! I've made them twice since then, and I'm going out today to buy the stuff to make them again! They're super easy, and once you slice them up, they won't last long!

You will need...
Granny Smith Apples
Caramel Apple Wrap (cheat and use these instead of dipping, it's so much easier!)
Vanilla or White Chocolate Almond Bark
Cinnamon Sugar

• Wrap your apples with the caramel and put them in the oven on 200 for 5 minutes.
• Let them cool while you melt the almond bark
• Once they've cooled off, dip them in the almond bark and immediately sprinkle cinnamon sugar on them.
• Let them harden, then slice and serve! SO YUMMY!

 

I got this one straight from Pinterest, and I'm just going to copy and paste the recipe, because I just exactly follow it when I make these!

Ingredients

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions

• To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.
• To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
• To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
• To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

 I hope you try these recipes out, and let me know if you do! They have become favorites at my house!

I hope everyone is having a very merry holiday season!

Week's End Review

Let's just take a minute and look at this beautiful little squishy face, shall we? Yes, I do believe it was a good week.

This was one of those weeks where I felt like I saw my family all the time, and yet not at all, you know what I'm saying? Sunday - Wednesday was our Labor Day Meeting at church. It was so good, but I sadly don't have any pictures. I needed to make room in my purse for my Bible, and guess what I took out? My camera. Oh, well. Some memories are better when they've been "snapped" in your mind, anyway!

Although the meeting ended only a half a week ago, it feels like much longer. It's been very busy around here - living in a house under construction and trying to keep it clean plus helping Amie get ready for her two week trip to Indiana had us all running everywhere all the time. One night this week Jacob came over to tear out a coat closet and brought the family. We got to spend some time with them, and that's always nice. :)

I'm on a pumpkin craze right now! I made these pumpkin cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting Friday morning and they. were. so. good. If you're interested in the recipe, let me know! I'll be making them again, especially as we get close to the holidays.

This morning for breakfast I had a cream cheese filled pumpkin muffin with my English Breakfast Tea. Another wonderful recipe that's a keeper! This recipe made 24 muffins, and with all the construction going on, we've been cooking in a small convection oven that will only bake 6 muffins at a time, so I will not be making these again until after our new kitchen is complete!

Fun Fact: I stayed up until after 11:00pm on a Saturday night making these. Is that an old maid qualification or something? I feel like it is. ;)

RENOVATION/ADDITION UPDATE:

We have light!

tear out the back porch
dig footer

pour footer

lay block

build floor & walls

build roof & put shingles on

take out counters, island, & cabinets

take out wall separating the old from the new

build new pantry walls
electrical started
ceiling dry walled
walls insulated

Week End Review | #3

As you know, we dealt with a great loss this past week. Yesterday was the funeral, and it was one of the best that I've ever been to. It was a scorcher all afternoon, so by the time we got home from the cemetery, we were hot, tired, and emotionally spent. Since it's been such a solemn, yet very busy week, I don't have very many pictures to share with you. I didn't take any at the memorial service yesterday, although I would have loved to because of how classy and patriotic it was. A beautiful way to say goodbye to a man who gave so much to his country, family, church, and missionaries. Please pray for the family and church family as we learn that life does go on, but there is a legacy to uphold.

Some of these pictures are simply snapchats I saved at the last minute, and pretty much all of them were taken on my iPad. I hope you enjoy them anyway! :)

When you're little, shouldn't you end at least a few summer days sun drenched and water logged?

 

Am I the only one that thinks breakfast food is pretty? Regardless, I think it is, and I take pictures of mine. ;)

We are officially moved into our new kitchen, aka the laundry/sewing room, for the next few weeks!

RENOVATION/ADDITION UPDATE:

tear out the back porch
dig footer

pour footer

lay block

build floor & walls

build roof & put shingles on

take out counters, island, & cabinets

Week End Review | #2

Monday

Shopping day with Amie, and we met our brothers for lunch.

Tuesday

Bowling and Baskin Robbins with friends.

We laid on the concrete and "star gazed" when we got home from bowling.

 Thursday

We drove to Antioch Baptist Church's revival - this picture was taken close to 11pm on our way home :)

Friday night/Saturday morning

(it was 4:00am. it felt like night time to me.)

I watched Patrick & Iris get married (live!) in Germany!

Saturday

My mom's birthday was Thursday, but we celebrated on Saturday.

Jacob's ribs were a HUGE hit!!

cornhole!

RIBS

Jacob sent us pictures of the rib rub and smoking process every 30 minutes or so. By the time he arrived with them at 4:00, we were quite ready to dig in...we were not disappointed!!! 

 RENOVATION/ADDITION UPDATE

tear out the back porch
dig footer

pour footer

lay block

build floor & walls