Lemon Cookies

 

http://tidymom.net/2010/lemon-burst-cake-mix-cookies/ 

I found this super simple lemon cookie recipe on pinterest, and had to give it a try since the hubby loves lemon deserts. They only require 4 ingredients and are very quick to throw together. I snagged the photo from the original blog post and have included the link just below if you want to give these a try. By the way the hubs loved them, and so did I. :)

Shea Family Update

The kids enjoying the time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Our Baby Shea is getting so big.

Princess Shea our big girl showing me her knee booboo :).

  

Bubby Shea, he is such a handsome guy. Look at those eyes.

   It has been a while since I posted on our blog and thought, it's time for an update on our lives. In Sept of this last year we decided to move our family out to North Dakota. The opportunity arose for my husband to get work in the oil boom that is happening in Williston, ND. However, God had a plan in mind for us that we did not foresee. My husband injured his knee after being out there for only about 2 weeks, so we packed up and headed back to CA so he could have surgery to repair the damage. I have to admit, loading back into the car and heading back to CA was defeating to say the least, but we had faith that God had a plan and would cause all things to work together for His purpose. Cavan was able to get a lead on a job during the short period of time he was out there, which would turn out to be a huge blessing.


   We were able to find a great surgeon and get in quickly for Cavan's knee surgery, but again there was a surprise waiting for us. We had been told in the pr-op consultation that the surgery would be very simple ad recovery would be a short 4 to 6 weeks. When Cavan came out of surgery we were informed that his injury had been worse than the surgeon had anticipated and because of that recovery would be much longer, 3 to 4 months, and during the first 6 weeks Cavan would not be able to put any weight on his leg. This was a huge blow to our plans of Cavan returning to North Dakota for the job he had lined up. But again we prayed through our frustration and tried to place our trust in God's plan for our family. We have been staying with my parents during this recovery time, so that we can save money for our move back out to North Dakota. As we all know, living with anyone is difficult once you are adults and married with a family. This is no different for us and it has been emotionally draining at times, and we have certainly had our grumpy days even weeks. But the pluses are, we got to spend one more winter in the mild California climate and we were able to attend some family functions that we would have been heart broken if we had missed because we were our of state.


   We are not quite at the end of this story yet, but Cavan is at the end of his recovery and God is showing us again how much better His plan is than ours, and that if we simply wait on Him, he does great things for us. The job Cavan had lined up in North Dakota took a while to get their contracts signed and get workers hired initially, so had we stayed there would have been a lot of waiting around for work. However, Cavan has been able to stay in contact with the hiring supervisor and will be all set to begin working once he is cleared and able to return to work. Also, cost of living has become extremely high in Williston due to the oil boom, so initially we had planned to live in different cities to save money. But as time has passed while we are in CA, we have learned that the job he will be doing will not provide much extended time off for Cavan to come see us. This became a concern, since we did not want to throw away upwards of $3,000 month on living expenses, but we also did not want to have to go very long periods of time with out seeing each other.


   So again we prayed, and tried to lean on the knowledge that God has a plan even when we can not see it. And I can say in all honesty I had know idea how He was going to pull this one off, but we waited and let Him show us the way. Well, God always provides for His children and this circumstance was no different. He led us to a housing opportunity that we could not have even hoped for, brand new apartments with the 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms we need for our family. The apartments are in Williston, and rent is only about $800 a month because it is income based. We normally would not qualify for this type of housing, but since Cavan is currently on disability our income is lower, we do qualify. The apartments are brand new and just completed their first of 5 buildings at the beginning of this month. The Bible says that God knows the desires or our hearts, and this has proven true; He knew it was important to me to live somewhere nice, that has laundry in the unit and at least 3 bedrooms 2 baths. These apartments fulfill all of our needs and even my wants and all below what we would have paid even to have the family living 5 hours away from Cavan.


  Now I am the first to admit that I am lacking in patience when it comes to life's changes, and I would tend to say my husband is the same. I even felt strongly as soon as we had to return to CA that patience was probably the lesson God was teaching us in this circumstance. I can't quite say that I am "good" at waiting yet, but I have learned that waiting on God is always worth it. I am still eager to get out to North Dakota to get my family settled, but I will wait for all things to come together and for God's timing to be right. This experience has been such a teaching experience for both my husband and myself and it has showed us just how important it is to seek God and follow His plan in all things.


 

Psalm 27:14 (KJV)

 ¹⁴Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Princess Birthday

Headed to the movies with her Daddy

I made her the embellished purse for one of her gifts.

Just got her hair done, and ready for the movies.

   Our little princess turned 4, and we did her birthday a little different this year. Daddy said he wanted to do something very small this time, so we took her out for a date/princess day with mommy and daddy. After 4 years of life and never having a hair cut, we figured it was time for that milestone. So, we took her to the kids salon and had her hair trimmed and styled in a beautiful princess do. 


   After her hair appointment it was time to go see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. We didn't quite make it through the whole movie, because princess got hungry. So we skipped out early and went to dinner at Red Robin. We had a great time, and peanut was so excited that she got to take home a balloon. :)

Hair Extensions

Before

After

So, I had the opportunity to get hair extensions and decided I would try it out. I have had my hair short for quite a few years now, and thought hair extensions would be a nice change. I love them, even though they can be kind of itchy.  The extensions style so much easier than my natural hair, and give some extra volume as well. These are 18" extensions I have in, and I think it is a great length, long with out being excessive.

A few things about hair extensions that you might want to know. They take much greater caution to care for than your natural hair, and stay looking healthy longer if you can go a few days between shampoos. You can also get natural human hair extensions or synthetic. I have the natural human hair extensions and think they are great, they blend well with my hair and I can use hot tools to style them. Also, I have the micro bead extensions, there are very simple to put in and cause very little damage to the hair unlike glue in methods.

Family Pool Day

This is more of a photo post, so I will let the pictures tell the story. Enjoy.

The whole family at the pool for some summer time fun :)

JUMP!

Everyone in the water splashing around.

 

Baby Shea loved the water.

 

And they played the sneaky pool monster game.

 

Then we had a post swim snack.

 

And the sour Squirt face : *

 

And Princess kisses for daddy!

 

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

This is great for cold Fall/Winter nights.


Feeds 4-6


Ingredients


4-6 Potato's Peeled & Cubed into bite size pieces
1 Can (15.25oz) Whole Kernel Corn (Undrained)
1 Can (14.75oz) Creamstyle Corn
1 Can (12oz) Evaporated Milk
1-2 Medium Onions Chopped
8 Slices of Bacon Cooked and Crumbled (I sometimes use turkey bacon)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 tsp. Pepper


Directions


Place all ingredients in slow cooker and mix together.


Cover and cook on Low 6-8 hrs
on High 3-4 hrs


Tip: Pair this with some sour dough bread to complete your meal.

Quick Simple Spaghetti Recipe

This is one of the staple meals in our house, I make it pretty much the same as my mom always did growing up and my kids and husband love it. 

Feeds 4-6

Ingredients:

Ragu Spaghetti Sauce-2 Jars

Ground Beef-2 lbs

Garlic Salt-1 Tbsp

Pepper-1 tsp

1 Pkg (16oz) Spaghetti Noodles

Optional:

Zucchini-1 (cut into small slices)

Yellow Onion-1 (chopped)

Directions:

Fill large pot with water and place on stove on high heat to boil. In large skillet, brown ground beef, sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. (Optional: In small skillet, saute zucchini and onion and add to cooked ground beef.) When fully cooked, drain excess fat from ground beef and return to pan. Reduce heat to medium and add both jars of Ragu sauce and heat through. Add noodles to water, cook 7-12 minutes or until noodles are cooked through. Drain noodles and add 1 Tbsp of butter to keep noodles from sticking together.  I like serving this with a quick garlic bread, shown below. 

Garlic Bread:

French Bread Loaf-Cut long ways

Spread butter on both slices and 

sprinkle lightly with Garlic Salt.

Broil in oven until lightly browned. 

Serve and ENJOY!!