Kiki's Corner

All-Sufficient

On a day where my heart is so heavy for my husband who has several decisions to be made....
On a day where mean girl behavior is starting to grate on my last nerve....
On a day where my daughter wasn't treated fairly by someone who really should be applauding her extra time and efforts and encouraging her instead of hollering at her....
On a day where I would really just like to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head and make the world go away for just a little while....
On a day where I was asked to make a slide show for a funeral for the father of two of my students who were given the news this week that their daddy only has days to live...
On a day where if I look with my earthly eyes it seems the cheaters and the liers win (even though I know and believe God sees it all and He is the righteous judge and nothing goes unnoticed by Him)....

....His grace is sufficient! Sufficient grace for even me. What a Savior! How does this world make it without Him? Thank you Father, that you are over it all, every single thing. Thank you for all-sufficient mercy and grace and for risking your name on us...I am overwhelmed at the thought and humbled by Your fierce love and protection for us.

I reminded my sweet girl again this morning, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31. More than conquerors...carried by an All-Sufficient God!

Hannah Playing Hoops!

Tuesday night basketball...one of my favorite nights of the week! We only have tonight, Friday, and the next Tuesday. {Sigh!} It's been so fun to cheer for our baby girl and to watch her use her God-given talents and abilities on the court. To say that I am a proud momma would be an understatement! Go #50! We are so proud of you!!!!

Last Tuesday the girls were winning by quite a lot, so Hannah and her buddies got to take a little break and had fun cheering for their teammates and watching from the sidelines. I shot this image on the very last play of the game. Love those smiles!

And then we played another game Friday evening. The girls won that game too! Delight!

Way to go team! Way to go Hannah! I'm looking forward to tonight!!!!

College Friends

(Hannah took this picture with her i-phone)

This weekend, Rachel came home from college and brought three sweet friends with her. Our home was filled with lots of giggles, college-pranks, blow-up mattresses to accommodate our guests, sounds and smells of delicious home-made meals, and the sound of my dishwasher. I think I used my dishwasher three times on Saturday.

Our house and our hearts were full this weekend and we enjoyed every second! This morning, as I had my quiet time with the Lord, I thanked Him once again for both of our daughters being home this weekend, and for the joy and laughter we shared, and for sweet friends who came too. My prayer is that they feel like they can come back again any time and that our home was somehow a refuge for them....a place to feel loved, to be well fed, to hopefully get caught up on a little sleep (breakfast was served around noon on Saturday morning), a place they know that they are always welcome. What a gift to have our home flooded with joy and laughter and new friends this weekend!

Snow and Shutter Speed

As I am typing this, the forecast is suppose to be 83 degrees today. Oiy! It's January. and while we normally don't have snow, we normally don't have 80 degree temperatures either.
I didn't get the chance to post my favorite snow pictures yet. So, on this balmy, windy, Texas day, I'm choosing to reflect on the wonderful two days of snow we had during the second week of January.

I had fun playing with my shutter speed. I slowed the shutter speed way down to capture the motion of the snow. I love this effect:

Here is the same angle and composition, but with a faster shutter speed. See the difference?

Here are my raised vegetable beds covered in snow. Once again, I slowed the shutter speed to capture the motion of the major snow we were receiving:

Here it is with a faster shutter speed. The snow was really coming down!

Snow, snow, come again please!!

Snow Ice Cream!

The second week in January brought record snow to our part of Texas and we were thrilled! We have been praying for rain and God blessed us with glorious snow! I love snow. Even the mere mention of it in the forecast, and I am donning my snowflake pajamas for the night and dreaming of snow. What fun to wake up to snow and snow and more snow! And the early out and late start the next day at school was awesome!

Our Rachel was still home on Christmas break! As soon as Hannah and I got home from our early out, we made snow ice cream. It reminded me of childhood days in Wichita, Kansas, when my mom would make snow ice cream.

I found a Snow Ice Cream recipe from Paula Deen. Seriously! I knew it would be delicious and it only required 3 ingredients. Here is the recipe:

Gather 8 cups of freshly fallen snow....and throw a few at your daughters just for fun!

add a can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Have a sweet helper mix it together. I adore Rachel's hat. She bought it from Krochet Kids International. Here is a link to her hat: http://www.krochetkids.org/shop/the-lucille/
Krochet Kids is a wonderful ministry and I just love it that my mission-minded daughter

purchased two hats from them.

I added some fresh blueberries and some Reddi Whip to mine~yum!

Hoping it snow again so we can make more snow ice cream!

First Snow of 2012

The second Monday in January arrived with glorious snow! Oh, what a blessing. Our area of Texas received more snow in the country than New York and Minnesota. Pretty cool! And so fun to watch the snowflakes gently falling to the ground. Snow is peaceful when you are warm inside your home watching it fall.