Hello, Monday.

Hello, lazy Saturday morning.

Hello, cute friendship.

Goodbye, lazy morning.

Hello, road trip!

Hello, beautiful graduate.

We're proud of you.

Hello, beautiful graduate's beautiful best friend.

My girls adore you.

And your technology.

Hello, visiting old friends.

So good for the soul.

But now I miss them alot.

Hello, cutest mohawk ever.

Why does kidnapping have to be so illegal?

Hello, world changers.

Pray for these three as they head to Africa next month.

They'll be training Liberian young adults in Child Evangelism Fellowship.

Hello, waiting for a little friend.

With a make-shift, labeled playroom.

Hello, crazy-haired eclipse watcher.

Do you see the crescent moon in her mop?

Hello, golfing friends yelling "crescent!!" every five seconds.

All "double-rainbow" like.

Such a crazy night.

Yet so normal for our front lawn.

Well, minus the crescents.

Those were special.

A full, fun weekend.

Happy Monday!

InstaFriday: Oh Yeah, I Have a Blog Edition

Um.

Hi.

So.

Dave's home!

Woohoo.

Serious woohoo.

We missed him.

Ashlyn was disappointed he did not bring her a real cheetah.

Have I mentioned that I love that she is a nerd?

The Super Moon had her in a frantic tizzy.

We had our annual meeting with the school district to decide Ashlyn's future.

Super easy?

No.

Super happy with the results?

Yes.

She'll stay at her current school for the summer program and next year for Kindergarten.

And continue with intensive speech therapy, 5 days a week.

Exactly what we wanted and all on the district's dime.

Booyah.

Summer is almost here!

And my little fishies couldn't be happier.

Ashlyn cannon-balled solo in the deep end.

Then grabbed on to the neck of a Russian-speaking man we did not know.

That was fun.

She survived.

To play mama with Abi.

Abi didn't like that game very much.

Dave took all his ladies out for Mother's Day.

Minus my mom who decided a cruise to Europe with my dad was more fun that lunch at Celia's.

Rude of her.

I taught Kayla how to clean the bathroom.

And she likes it.

Happy Mother's Day to me.

Ashlyn likes the gas at the dentist.

I like Ashlyn liking the gas at the dentist.

And Lion King live streaming on the ceiling.

Pediatric Dentistry is where's it's at.

Every Wednesday, Grandma Cee Cee picks the girls up from school and keeps them 'til dinnertime.

Everyone loves Wednesdays.

Except her cat.

I cleaned out our pantry yesterday.

And if you live anywhere BUT the San Francisco Bay Area, don't make fun of my pantry.

Unless you're rich, you don't have pantries here.

We convert cabinets to pantries.

Lean and mean.

Happy Friday, friends!

Pintertest Kitchen 8: "Skinny" Desserts

I got called out last month.

Name is hidden to protect the identity of my most favorite baby onesie maker in the whole world.

Crazy, amazing needlepoint skills.

And I have to make her happy until I'm 100% sure I'm done having kids.

But she was totally right.

My Pintertest Kitchen was not the healthiest.

So here, my friends, is my first ever reduced calorie recipe review.

Favorite baby onesie maker, this is for you.

I knowwww, right?

The name alone almost made this a deal breaker.

But also so intriguing that I had to try these two ingredient marvels.

Not bad, I tell you.

Especially at only 138 calories per brownie.

Not awesome.

But not terrible.

Worth making.

We can't have the world, people.

It's black beans we're dealing with.

Recipe here.

This was my favorite of the three recipes I tried.

Especially at 128 calories/muffin.

BUT.

The original recipe post has a pretty critical typo.

Baking with 2 TABLESPOONS of wheat flour looks like this:

Baking with 2 CUPS of wheat flour looks like this:

MUCH better.

Also, I was almost out of honey after the first round so
I subbed 2/3 honey for 1/3 honey + 1/3 sugar-free vanilla Torani syrup.

Next time I will use the full 2/3 honey because I feel like they would have been better had they been sweeter.

Dense but good, especially considering the calories.

Recipe here.

You have to scroll down a bit.

And be sure to adjust the wheat flour.

Unless you're into inverted, soupy muffins.

And well, we can't win them all.

These coconut cookies didn't work out.

But it could have been my burn out after the double batch of muffins.

Or the fact that meringue and I don't really get along.

Your turn.

What have you been up to?

 

Africa, Jolly Ranchers and Conviction on the 505.

Dave and the team made it safely to Africa.

We were able to chat last night for me/this morning for him via FaceTime.

Kayla told him about the faux gold nuggets that Pop Pop gave her yesterday.

And asked if there were goats there.

Gold and goats.

That's about right.

Ashlyn asked if he got his shots yet.

She wanted to go with him until she heard about the vaccination requirements.

Lightweight.

God is doing amazing things in Sudan.

I love that I can kind of see it.

And I can't wait to hear more when they are home.

I went to a funeral on Saturday.

For a dear soul that taught Sunday School in the church that I grew up in.

I was blessed to have her.

And blessed by the Jolly Ranchers she gave me when I memorized verses.

Her family spoke of her devotion to Christ and His Word.

How they would recall hearing her pray out loud, early in the morning.

Very often she had her bible in hand.

Any time she talked with you, she looked you in the eyes and gently grabbed your arm.

I remember that about her.

And she did not have an easy life.

Much harder than mine.

Yet she remained loyal.

Devout.

Committed.

On the drive back, I got to thinking.

What will my kids remember about me?

What will they say after I'm gone?

That I always had my bible in my hand?

Or that I was always holding my phone.

Am I praying out loud in the morning or ever?

Am I intensionally teaching them?

And, more importantly, am I LIVING what I'm teaching them?

Or just surviving until bedtime.

A good dose of conviction was received on the 505.

And one I'm going to listen to.

I want to be remembered for my devotion to Christ.

Not the things of this world.

Now hear me.

Obviously, technology is not evil or bad.

I actually think it's a gift from the Lord, if used rightly.

Fellowship on steroids.

I love it.

I have no plans to give it up.

I just want to use it less.

I don't want to be remembered for it.

Even if I really, really, REALLY love it when we're 9077 miles apart.

Thank you, 505 and your 8 zillion bugs.

Thank you, Dorothea Jacobs.

God used you to teach me something.

Unrelated.

This.

Link up.