Interesting facts about Arlington for Memorial Day

Arlington cemetery- Tomb of the Unknown

All three salute the Unknowns who have been symbolically given the Medal of Honor.

I always wondered why the tomb was saluted.

Graduation!

Here she is

Our newest graduate

Here are three of her favorite teachers- Kevin, Cary and Gary
Here is the group that cheered wildly from the audience. Andrew even downloaded an air horn app for his phone to play when they called her name.

Kaitlin and I were talking about her graduation and then she got to counting the wonderful precedent set for her by many that came before her. She was stunned when one of her classmates said that she would be the first in her family to graduate from college. Kaitlin is the 23 graduate on Carl's side and the 10th on my side. My mama was the first one in her family to graduate from college. What a wonderful tradition we are blest to be a part of.

Some things to think about

Here are two articles that I found interesting. One on spiritual growth and how to pray for our leaders and the other on understanding grief.

Desiring God

grief

What is your plan?

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Prov. 16:9

This Saturday is UALR's graduation. We plan to be there early to watch Kaitlin walk across that stage.

When my children were little I thought that once Carl and I figured out how things worked with disciplining one child that that work for all of them. LOL, how wrong could I have been? What worked for one usually NEVER worked for the others in any situation.

Andrew set a goal to have a job the December before he graduated from AUBURN in May. John had his job a month after he graduated from UCA and then got another one about five months later. So what will Kaitlin do, I have no idea. She has a pretty steady photography business and does freelance graphic design on the side right now. So what should she do, this prayer about the Will of God really was encouraging to me.

The Will of God

I hope it helps you today too.

A prayer request for you!

We went to Alabama this past weekend to visit Carl's family. We helped Tina, my SIL, with the Relay for Life and we celebrated three birthdays- my Brother in Law, Ted's 50th, my nephew, Thomas' 21st and my niece, Sammie Jo's 15th. You will see them in my blog header for this month.Please notice that they are NOT standing by their own cakes for this picture!

It was a great family time and I am glad we could be there for the celebration. We needed to be there to see our family and make sure they were okay because on April 27 when those tornadoes ripped through northern Alabama, they went through their town.

We are very blest to have a wonderful support group in Little Rock that prayed for our family in Alabama. One of our friends, Anna Grace age 7, wrote Kaitlin a note. In her note, Anna Grace, told Kaitlin that she was praying for her family and that she was sorry that our family had been through the tornado. I can't quote the exact note because I cried every time I read it.

Kaitlin took the note this weekend and gave it to Aunt Tina. Aunt Tina and Uncle Ted were both moved when they read the note. Anna Grace's mama, Kate, asked for specific names for Anna Grace to pray for. Aunt Tina was happy to comply. Aunt Tina is a school teacher and she had one girl in her class that was impacted by the tornado - Cati Grace, she and her family lost everything. We met her at the Relay for Life.

As hard as that was Aunt Tina always teared up when asking for prayer for another young girl, Arie- pronounced R-ree age 6. She was in a house with her grandparents, her parents, her aunt and uncle and two cousins. Their house was lost and only 4 of the 9 made it out alive. Arie lost her parents, her grandparents and a cousin. There are several others in town that lost everything but when asked what help they need, Tina said that they all say, please help Arie and her family.

Would you please join Anna Grace and pray for Arie too? Thank you

Gifts from God

Some of the many gifts that God has given me

running water to drink and wash clothes

clean clothes- even if they are all over the dining room table- see fantastic book below

a snapfish sale, you can order 100 prints for 10.00$ with the code MOMDAY100. It ends today.

sending out graduation announcements for Kaitlin

blogs and newspapers and friends that share the names of fantastic books

most recent fantastic book is Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

housework that waits on me while I sit and read- no, get lost in- a fantastic book :)

Eating lunch with Kaitlin and Marci- took a break from fantastic book- you girls know how much I love you!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Cheryl and Jeff and Jennifer and Kaitlin

text messaging so that I can keep up with folks in hard situations

my job- I am blessed and honored to share life with some many wonderful folks.

Randomness

Do you want to give something to the folks in Alabama that have had their lives turned upside down by the tornado? This is one way. Baby shower for Tuscaloosa

Here is another way Riverwood Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa is a PCA church that was hit hard.

My friend Lilli Walker has a blog that is now on my blog roll. She is going to be in 11 countries in 11 months doing ministry. Check it out!

I read a wonderful book over the weekend. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova was so fascinating. I was hooked by the first few pages. Sarah has a traumatic brain injury but it is an uplifting book about it.

I have water today so it is a good day!

A new recipe

We plan to try these soon. Kaitlin's middle name could be Nutella!
Nutella Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream and a Nutella Middle

Cupcakes: adapted from GoodLife Eats
2/3 cup Nutella
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Filling:
1/2 cup Nutella

Nutella Buttercream:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup Nutella
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar until they are pale yellow and thick in consistency. Add in butter and mix to combine. Add Nutella and buttermilk and beat until incorporated.

Add in flour 1-2 cups at a time, mixing in after each addition. Scoop batter to fill lined cupcake tins 2/3 full. Bake for 22-25 minutes until tops bounce back when touched lightly. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes.

When cupcakes are still warm, fill a pastry bag with a round tip with the 1/2 cup Nutella. Insert tip into the top of each cupcake in the center about 1/2″ down. Squeeze in Nutella, about 1 tablespoon for each cupcake. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

Beat together butter and Nutella until creamy. Mix in vanilla extract. Add in powdered sugar and mix well. Add cream until desired consistency is reached.

Pipe Nutella buttercream onto filled cupcakes

Gone to the dogs!

I have had a few requests to post pictures of John and Marisa's dogs. These were taken on Easter Sunday. You have already met Albert the tan puppy. Now meet Darcy the black and tan puppy.
They are half brothers. Darcy will be smaller than Albert because his mother was about 2 pounds smaller. Albert likes to lick and wag his tail, Darcy is very chill!

Albert loves to explore while Darcy loves to sleep. Marisa has always wanted to two dogs and she sure has got some cute ones.

water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

There has been lots of rain and flooding in LR. A by product of all of this is a water main burst near our house and we don't have water. Well, no running water inside the house, lots outside!

Boy Scout Carl went to Walmart along with all our neighbors and found out they have no more water so he filled up a HUGE orange drink cooler with water from our church. That is what we are drinking. He put out large containers to catch rainwater for us to use else where.

We have hand sanitizer by every sink and all manner of plastic ware out for eating and drinking in and on.

To be without water makes you think harder.

You have to plan your every water move.

I boiled water this morning to wash a few dishes and that really about did me in with all the planning that had to take place just to wash a few bowls, plates and forks!

Carl just called to say that they can't even work on the water main with all the flooding and it is supposed to rain all day today.

I plan to give purpose today to not having water. Each time I get water today or need water I plan to pray for those who lost everything. This small inconvenience is nothing compared to those who have to start over from scratch.

Kaitlin, being her ever so optimistic self, said that she was glad that no one had the stomach flu when we have no water. We all laughed and thanked God for that too!