Amazing Marshmallows!

     Today I am bragging about Amy!  It is actually easy to brag about her most any day, but today she made the most amazing marshmallows.  These days she experiments with a lot of grain free recipes and found this Organic Marshmallows recipe that has no corn syrup or the eggs that you find in packed marshmallows.

Photo by Sam O'Brien

The recipe calls for "mild flavor," so she used good ol' vanilla flavoring.  We also use a gelatin from Great Lakes Gelatin that is, in my opinion, much better quality than Knox brand. I look forward to using these in s'mores sometime.  Thanks Amy!

Molly Lost Her 1st Tooth!

A Fun Tradition

     Once a year comes Thanksgiving dinner, and never without much baking and preparation. And everyone knows baking is never without a mess-at least in our house. So with that in mind we have started a tradition of making aprons to somewhat shield our clothing from the torrents of flying flour and the odd flying mashed potatoes. This year Amy choose our color scheme, mom whipped them out with ease, and we adorned ourselves as a soldier adorns for battle.  Only we aren't off to a battle, but we are at praise and thanksgiving to our God for His abundant goodness and His undeserved mercy towards us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Amy, Mom, and Molly with their Thanksgiving armor aprons. As always, the picture took about ten minutes to get a good one.

"So what was his name?!"  says Molly as she took a bite of her Thanksgiving turkey.

Fall!

Hard at Work

        This                     and                    This


                                  equals

                                                                            This

A Poem For Father's Day

Hi, everyone! This is Amy, and here is a poem I wrote for my dad for Father's Day. I may have written it for him, but this poem includes every father that goes out daily to fight for his family and friends.

Fathers

By Amy O'Brien

While lying awake, I hear the gong,

The clink, the crash above their song,

The building, the fight still going strong

Brick by brick they lay up the wall.

I rise to see how it goes,

Men rising on ladders to serve their blows

A tool for the wall and sword for their foes,

Striking them down to the depth of below.

To the right, one fighter, I see him trip,

His ankle is caught by the Devil Foe's whip,

But he is saved by his brethren's grip,

He will not let his brother slip.

Still the demons wish to destroy,

The wall about my father's joy,

But I take a tool, I wield a sword,

For me and my house, we will serve The Lord!

And every moment of every day,

The cries of slain demons never sway,

But I can rest without a worry,

I know my father makes a way.

      Happy Father's Day!

 

 

My Dad and I



A Prayer for Father's Day

     

"Dear God, You have given to me my wife, children, home, and property. I receive these as your desire and will care for them for Your sake. Therefore, I will do as much as possible that all may go well.  If my plans do not all succeed, I will learn to be patient and let what cannot be changed take its course.  If I do well I give God the glory, I will say: O Lord, it is not my work or effort but Your gift and providence.  Take my place and be head of the family. I will yield humbly and be obedient to You."
                                                                                                              Luther's Prayers

A Picture..............

Not sure how we managed an animated type of picture, but it's kinda neat.

My Father's World post by David

My Father's World: We have been enjoying our early summer vacation an...: We have been enjoying our early summer vacation and it's just the perfect time for taking beautiful pictures of God's artwork ~ Dav...

About those Pop Rocks......

 

     If you don't let them pop on your tongue, and you eat a bunch at one time, you can hear them REALLY loud in your stomach!

Welcome Home

"I don't care what government honors, financial security or far away happiness I sought to gain. I know now there is nothing that will replace the honor, security and happiness I felt today when I walked back into the memory filled door of my family's home. Dad, Mom, John, Pete, Ben, Amy, David, Sam and Molly. I love you more than I can describe"

                                                                                                                                       said Seth, our oldest son, who is officially out of the Marine Corp

Easter Hike Video

This is my feeble attempt at making a video.  It was quickly made with my unedited photos and footage from today's hike with Dad and the girls.  Maybe sometime, if I ever have time, I will make a nicer one-but for now at least it's not just sitting on my phone forever unseen and unenjoyed :) 

Most Holy Night (Good Friday)

Most Holy night, most blessed of nights

When Christ broke the chains of the darkness

God’s mighty love is stronger than death

Christ our light shines forever

Rejoice O children of the earth and holy ones of heaven above

Be glad this blessed night and join creation’s song

Rejoice and sing O mother church, the Savior’s glory shines on you

O let this holy place resound with joyful songs of praise

Let every tear be wipes away

Let every sorrow fade

For Jesus the Christ has risen from the grave

For truly it is right and just that on this night we sing with joy

To praise and thank the unseen God and Jesus Christ the son

The power of this holy night dispels the darkness of our shame

For Christ has saved us with His blood and ransomed us from death

O happy fault of Adam’s sin

Oh blessed day of grace

Which gained for us a Savior Christ the Lord

For this is the Passover feast of God 
when Christ the blessed lamb was slain

Whose holy blood has marked our door and sheltered us from death

This holy night makes all things new, our hearts restored to holiness

Wash clean of every sin and bathed in heaven’s light

How wonderful your care for us

How boundless is your love

To ransom a slave, you gave away your son

Most Holy night, most blessed of nights

When Christ broke the chains of the darkness

God’s mighty love is stronger than death

Christ our light shines forever

O happy fault of Adam’s sin

Oh blessed day of grace
Which gained for us a Savior Christ the Lord

My Father's World: This is David. I took these pictures this morning....

My Father's World: This is David. I took these pictures this morning....: Click on the link to see :)

This Mornings Breakfast

The boys like to experiment once in awhile with their morning eggs by trying different spices, sauces, etc. to make them a little more exciting. Sam has been learning how to cook his own eggs and this is his take on making eggs more exciting - fried eggs with sprinkles.  Instant breakfast party!

Picture taken by Sam

All Seeing Blender

We have a Magic Bullet. 

This little blender knows who is using it (it seems).  It will not work for anyone but Amy. So it really seems a Magic Bullet.

Kid Logic Friday

"Mom says she doen't want a dog because they lick........... I don't think she understands that they don't lick ALL the time."

Some things......

Some things will always be remembered;
like the night our whole entire family

 played a rousing game of

 Duck Duck Goose

 

(picture taken by Molly)

Kid Logic Friday

"To bad life doesn't have a rewind button"

We had to privilege of visiting dear friends recently.  These friends most always request that the kids sing a hymn or two...or three.  Hymns are so edifying and remind us of who God is and His goodness and care for us.  Of course, I love hearing my own children singing them too :)