Galatians 2:20

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Nonni & Papa Visit!

My parents flew in for a really long weekend and we had a blast! We were definitely blessed by their spoiling! It had been since Christmas since they had seen Lily, and of course she has changed a ton in 4 months! I have to say, the little reunion was just sooo sweet to watch!
Of course Miss Lily was showered with gifts the second her grandparents walked through the door. Here she is in her new Princess chair her Nonni bought for her. It's just her size, and it makes her look like a little lady. When she's sitting in it you can tell she thinks she's big stuff...just too cute!

Watching Praise Baby...her favorite and Mommy's too! I love listening to the praise music in the background while I'm getting things done. It's funny because as much as she watches it I have joked saying that instead of talking she's just going to jsut break out in song one day!
Lily showing off one of her new tricks to her Papa. The girl loves her some Patty Cakes. As soon as you sing the first word of the song, she starts smiling, kicking, and clapping her little fist together like crazy!!!

More Patty Cakes (instrument block style) just before bed with Nonni and Papa!


On Saturday we headed into Raleigh for a picnic at Pullen Park. So many of my girlfriends have raved about this park, so I couldn't wait to go. The park not only has an awesome play area, but an outside carousel, train, and bumper boats. It's a must if you live anywhere in the area.


Here we are on the carousel! It's funny because after watching Lily on the carousel, I think she might have her mommy's weak stomach when it comes to things that go round-n-round! All I can say is I have lots of love for my daughter because I was one naughtiousmomma coming off of that thing! See the horse she is holding below, well as soon as it cranked up and started moving, she clamped down on the the poor horse's nose and never let go!



All Aboard...chuga chuga chuga chuga, choo choo!

After leaving Pullen, we drove over to Duke University to see the Duke gardens...just gorgeous to see God's beauty displayed through His creation.

Lastly, a labor of love! My dad never leaves without completing some kind of project. This go around he felt like I needed a "city" garden, which consist of tomato's, squash, strawberries, and eggplant...yeah!!! I am so excited about fresh veggies!

This and That!

For Miss Lily's first Easter we wanted to start a new tradition...an Easter egg tree! What a beautiful teaching tool the egg is...representing New Life! It is our desire to teach her even now that she can Praise her Heavenly Father who sent His son Jesus to pay the debt that none of us could pay through His death, burial, and resurrection. By His Grace you and I don't have to be trapped in "darkness" like an unhatched baby chick surrounded by the shell of it's egg, but instead we can "break free" and live in the "light" of our Savior! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a New Creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17
A little egg side note: if you are looking for decorative eggs, then check Marshall's and TJMaxx out. These stores are great for fun things like this! For all you WF sisters, my personal favorite is the Marshall's across from Triangle Town Mall! I seem to never walk out empty handed...badness, I know honey! If you've never been, it's a must!
I am constantly getting questions from my girlfriends of where I get my decorative sticks for my arrangements. Well, I'll tell you where I get them from it's a bargain of all bargains, because the "store" is called The Outside Nature Store By: God! Yep!...they're real and just snipped from a tree outside...gotta love God creation! I'm going to share with you the secret of the ones below. The Crape Myrtle tree is great to catch right as the flowers are budding in the spring. The buds are a really pretty sage green color and the color is preserved even after they dry.

April 15th, was a Hallelujah day in the Lewis household...last day of tax season.....whoo hoo!!! So we celebrated with Michael's favorite, strawberry shortcake! Guess what the the words are written in?...icing!?....nope! I actually used food coloring to dye the extra cool whip I had left over (something I have never dyed before). It was so easy to work with and so fun to write with...try it out sometime!
I thoughtI would put a little "plug" out for my Pampered Chef friends and say how wonderful this cake decorating gadget is...no mess and easy clean-up!
So we're trying to eat healthier in the Lewis house, so I've been getting a lot of recipes offline. One of my favorite websites is: http://www.allrecipes.com/! One of our new favorites is Black Bean Burgers! I doctor them up a bit more than the recipe calls for. Some other things I've added are: guacamole and cheese. Happy Healthy Eating!
Black Bean Veggie Burgers: 1 (16 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed, 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces, 1/2 onion, cut into wedges, 3 cloves garlic pealed, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon chilli powder, 1 tablespoon cumin (I don't like it and leave it out) 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce, 1/2 cup bread crumbs
Directions: If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly oil baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
Finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
In small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and hold togeher.

Bows...we don't go anywhere without them...we're girls! I do have to say that Easter day I was super sad that Lily was bowless for our pictures simply because the bow I grabbed kept slidding out of her hair, so we put a fix to that! My friend Tracy gave me some cabinet liner. You simply cut a small strip the size of your clip and hot glue it on the backside of the clip...whaaa laaa, an easy solution to having no slip bows!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Pre-Easter!

Saturday was gorgeous...so what better to do than an outside photo shoot...ok, I know, shocker huh! me and a photo shoot! :) Since I'm usually the one behind the camera clicking away at what seems to be every move Miss Lily makes, meaning we're not lacking in the department of Lily pics., but we are in the mommy/lily dept. So my neighbor and I decided to tag team behind our cameras as we helped each other set the "stage" for some pre-easter pictures of our girls, but also capture some mother-daughter shots as well. Thank you April...I will treasure these!


Moma was singing Patty cake behind the camera. Here she is getting ready to do her pats!

Lily and Eden. Let me just tell ya, Miss Lily loves her some Eden. Aren't they too sweet holding hands!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter!

What a beautiful, great, and glorious day to celebrate that our Savior is Alive forevermore!!! Sing with me...

Oh praise the One who paid my debt,
who raised my life up from the dead.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!!!
In this post, I thought I would also reintroduce my husband since he hasn't made it in one post due to him being MIA during tax season...Welcome Home honey! You're girls love you!


Gabby and Lou Lou, who we would consider to be our adopted daughters and Lily would claim them as her big sisters!

After church our building got together for an Easter lunch and egg hunt! The families in our building have become so dear to us, truly family away from home! We were blessed with beautiful weather and fellowship!

Lily Lew being loved on by my dear friend and neighbor Trichelle.

My dear sister and friend Megan Barley...love you girlie!

My dear sister and friend Tracy Chatraw. Our girls are only a few months a part, so we love getting together as girls!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

ALIVE! Happy RESURRECTION Sunday!!!


If you're not singing this morning, then sing with us....Alive, Alive, Alive forever more, our JESUS is Alive, Alive forever more!!!! It is because of His Resurrection power...The Creator, dying for the creation of man that you and I can have life abundantly! There is soooo much that I have been pondering about this Easter that I will share later, but it's Sunday morning and we are busy getting ready for church. Grandparents this early morning post is for you...pictures of our precious Lily Lew!!!