Father's Day Recap 2014

As the boys get older, and their bonds with Steve grow ever closer, I find myself enjoying the celebration of Father's Day more and more.  This year, I was certain that baby would have arrived by now and therefore my plans to have a big BBQ, homemade ice-cream and an outdoor theatre created for movie night would have been a smashing success.

But, you know. You know, you know, you know that my big plans never bloomed out of the planning stage because baby aint' here yet!

But, I did manage to shuffle around the kitchen and whip up a little sumpin' special for breakfast, and, thankfully, the boys poured their ever-lovin' little hearts into creating special messages for their papa, fill-in-the-blank style.  I must say I was really impressed with their dish-washing efficiency as well as their surprisingly successful attempt to keep the crazy under control long enough for dad to get in a deep drooling nap, because it's not a real nap unless you drool.

I appreciate, admire and adore Steve for more reasons than I could ever count. One of those you're-the-best-husband-ever reasons is that he fields all of the manly questions that I could never handle without Google and Tylenol. Questions like: Is a 243 bigger than a 7mm? (We're talking guns, not camera lenses here, in case you were wondering.) Or, Does Fendt make a 939 model? (Fendt = Tractors)

They also like to impress him with questions that are meant to be conversation starters, questions that they know Steve will respond enthusiastically to such as, Did you know that LeBron James never played college ball? He went straight out of high school to the pros!

He also handles all requests for paintball wars, hunting trips, playing golf and building large contraptions that require accurate measurements and the proper use of loud and dangerous power tools. All of these "tough" questions make inquiries such as "what's for supper" and "have you seen my slingshot, because I need to kill the rabbit eating the lettuce in your garden?" a a cake walk in the mental park for me!

After the last cinnamon roll was scraped from the pan, it was time for the boys to give daddy their little notes. What I thought was going to be kind of a generic form of expression (fill-in-the-blanks on plain white paper isn't really the poetic expression sprinkled with rainbow glitter that I had in mind) actually ended up being quite humorous and beautifully endearing at the same time.

{Source}

Each boy wanted to be close to their dad while he read their notes, and they insisted that he read them aloud. Steve was really touched by how much the boys knew about him, and as they affectionately awaited his reaction to their gifts, I could see the depths of their need for him to understand just how much they love him, and to know how his example and presence in their lives is of inexpressible value and worth.

 {Henry} My dad is funny because: He teases me.  My Dad thinks I'm funny when: I tease him!

 {George} My favorite thing about my Dad is: He makes life fun.

{Andrew} My favorite thing about my dad is: He is always ready to have fun and he is dedicated to us.

 {Benedict} My favorite thing about my Dad is: He is always there for me through thick and thin.

{Charlie} I just like it when we match.

Here's to all the great dads out there!!

Send Me Your Requests! Plus a Fantastic Father's Day Giveaway!!

Happy Monday, Friends! As the days creep along closer to Friday - the 40 week mark - you can only imagine how much excitement there is in this house for the new little one's arrival!  Every day Charlie demands to know, "When's that baby gonna come outta dare?" Oh, how I wish I knew the answer to that!

Now that the bags are packed, the freezer is stocked full of meals, and the house is relatively clean, I feel ready to go.  There's just one last detail to take care of, and it's perhaps the most important. My sweet friend, Kathryn, who blogs at Team Whitaker just gave birth to her sixth(!) beautiful blessing, Gianna.  One of the things that helped her focus through the pain of labor/delivery was to meditate on list of prayer requests she took with her, requests from friends, family and from her readers.

I feel so inspired by the generosity of her heart, the offering of her pain for others, that I, too, would like to share in her idea.  I would be honored to take your prayer intentions with me to the hospital!  If you'd like to share your intention(s) in the comments below, please feel free to, if you would like to send me a private message, please write to: solesearchingmamma@gmail.com.  Be as specific or as general as you like, just don't hesitate to share! I truly believe in the power of prayer, especially when it is united to a particular sacrifice or suffering!

Now, for the GIVEAWAY!! Father's day is right around the corner, and my inspiration for this giveaway came from a blog that my husband and I have really been inspired by over the past couple of months called The Catholic Gentleman. I frequently check out their Facebook page for inspiring quotes to share with our sons.  Here are just a couple of our favorites (there's many more!):

My husband wants to have a bunch of these quotes made into black and white prints to hang in his dream basement (probably somewhere between the bar and the poker table).  Sweet idea, eh?

On The C.G. blog, I discovered a link to a company called Cord Bands that creates truly rugged and masculine rosaries. The traditional sparkly jeweled rosaries are definitely beautiful, but not so practical, especially in a house full of boys. Does anyone else have a jar full of broken beads that need to be fixed, or is it just me??

These rosaries are perfect for guys.  The military inspiration gives them a cool, rugged look that is truly masculine. Besides offering specific rosaries for firefighters, law enforcement officers and soldiers, they also take requests for custom orders!  I love the rosary ring lanyards pictured above that can clip to a back-pack or belt loop - perfect for travel, for students or to keep in the car!

Any one of the beautiful medals pictured above can be added to any rosary as well.

1.2.

3.

In honor of Father's Day, I'm giving away one of the three rosaries pictured above to one lucky reader! (1. Rattlesnake, 2. Multicam or 3. St. Benedict)  The giveaway begins today and ends on Friday.  Happy Father's Day to all you awesome dads out there!!

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Sunday Sip & Luscious Lemon Coffee Cake

Baking has always been a favorite hobby of mine, and I have truly come to enjoy the challenge of baking healthfully for our family by reducing or replacing sugar for healthier options and experimenting with different types of flour to make the product more wholesome.  However, certain times and occasions call for those crazy good recipes that you just shouldn't mess with.  Father's Day is definitely one of those occasions!

Yesterday, I made a surprise brunch for Steve and his dad (more on that here).  There were NO recipe makeovers here, and I wanted to include Steve's two favorite flavors: lemon and cinnamon. Here's what I served up:

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Casserole

Crispy Bacon

Fresh Fruit Salad

Cinnnamon Bun Ebelskivers, 

(The world's easiest, yet oh-so-luscious) Lemon Coffee Cake

The Sunday Sip

Coffee

The lemon cake is really like having dessert for breakfast, because it's so sweet, so serve it with a cup of hot coffee or tea!  Finally, just for sipping, a twist on the traditional mimosa, made with ginger liqueur and citrus flavored sparkling water.  Since the cake and the cocktail are two of my favorite recipes that can make a brunch truly special, I thought I would share the recipes with you!

{View Printable Version Here}

Cake:
1 box lemon cake mix (with pudding in the mix)
1 package (3.4 oz.) vanilla instant pudding
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Filling:
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 TBS lemon juice

Directions:
Combine topping ingredients and set aside.  In a bowl, combine cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, eggs and oil.  Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Pour 1/2 of the batter into a greased bundt pan (the batter will be very thick).  Using a spatula, spread the batter evenly across the bottom of the pan.  Then, sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over the batter.  Finally, top with remaining batter, again spreading evenly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until cake tests done.  Turn upside down onto a cake to cool.  Pour powdered sugar and lemon juice into a ziplock back and work until smooth.  Snip off a very small corner of the bag and pipe glaze onto the cake, allowing it to run down the sides.  Enjoy!

{View Printable Version Here}

Ingredients:
3 oz. fresh orange juice (not from concentrate)
1 oz. Canton ginger liqueur
Citrus sparkling water (La Croix), or club soda

Directions:
Measure orange juice and liqueur into a shaker filled with ice and shake well.  Strain into glass of ice and top with sparkling water.  Optional: Garnish with a lemon wheel or mint sprig.  Cheers!!

{Thanks for Pinning!}

WIWS - Father's Day & Brunch Undies

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. 

- Henry Ward Beecher

Since the boys are out golfing with daddy and grandpa on this glorious 101 degree day, I figured it's a perfect time for me to park it with a cold ice tea and whip out a lil' post for Fine Linen and Purple's What I Wore Sunday while the babe slumbers.  Here's how this Father's Day Sunday is shakin' down....

Life is very intense on the farm right now.  Steve works incredibly long hours, sometimes until late at night, while I do my best to keep the house from burning down.  We were supposed to go out of town to a wedding this weekend, and see my parents as well, but Steve couldn't break away from the demands of the farm. In light of the very long days and super short nights, we decided to go to mass Saturday evening so that everyone could sleep in today and have an honest day of rest and relaxation.

You would think that given the fact that our eyes are blistered red with exhaustion we would have hit the hay at a reasonable time last night, but oh no! Why not find the biggest bag of pretzels known to man and chase it down with that un-opened bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed and some coke over a mindless movie?? Genius. We are genius. Out of that Rare Breed came a rare idea, which I had to share with my lover (talking during boring movies is totally allowed), "Babe, you sleep in tomorrow, and I'm going to make a monster brunch for you and the boys, okay farmer boy??"

So, when the alarm went off at 7 a.m. (I can't believe I had enough pulse at 1:30 a.m. to set the thing), I was like, "Frozen waffles are going to jam this Father's Day!" Roll it over.  Back to sleep. Mmm, Yes! But, then, I peeled one eye open and saw my sweet love snoring softly, drooling slightly, finely wrinkled around the eyes, and hair disheveled.  My farm boy.  I love how you love me. 

When the heart beats with love and admiration, you know you can't let Eggo's be the brunch fantastique you had promised the night before.  Out of the comfort I rolled, and with swollen feet and sticky eyes I miraculously shuffled my way to the coffee maker (consuming a bucket of salt before bed does frightening things to the flesh. I don't recommend it.).  Then, I shuffled back to the bathroom to make myself presentable to the team...nothing impressive, mind you, I just thought I'd shock everyone with some non-running attire and an up-do (also known as a ponytail).  Make-up is for overachievers.  The only thing missing was a box big enough for me to jump out of.  Surprise!!

PANTS:  Tarjay. Old. 4 kids ago old. Pre-baby, post-baby, elastic, linen-y comfort.  
(I will seriously have them forevah.)

T-SHIRT:  Wild Olive Tees (you must have one of these, they are righteous!)

FLIP-FLOPS:  Clarks 

APRON:  Catholic Cuisine - a sweet gift from my sister-in-law!

ACCESSORIES: Sur-La-Table
ATTITUDE: Czech with a dash of German

The stitching on the apron is really lovely.  I love Blessed Mother Teresa's wisdom.  Here's some unwisdom:

Do great big things, because you have to, because you offered to, in a Wild Turkey moment.  

Me and my sweet ingredient, Charlie.

Old Indian Proverb: She who cooks with baby, cooks one handed (and makes big mess).

Here's the front of the tee.  (Photo courtesy of Wild Olive Tees website.)

This is the back of the tee, and yes, that's me, because it has the focus of an eight year old chewing on bacon while snapping the snazz.  Hebrew 12:1-2, my favorite lines from scripture (after: "Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish." Proverbs 31:6).  Just kidding.  Mostly kidding.

I love to see my boys eat.  The love might be borderline co-dependant in nature.

Hello, I love you, let me feed you, because it makes me happy.

Every year each of the boys picks out a funny card for dad.  And, then they laugh hysterically, each one wanting theirs to be the funniest one.

Then, it's gift time.  Golf was the main theme this year, but Henry and George strayed from the norm and found the following treasures at Target: 

1 bag of Oreos 

1 package of breath spray

1 pair of bacon and eggs undies

Maybe they should have a gift basket business.  Or not.

Boys in blue, heading out to golf with grandpa.  Seriously, I'm not sure how this happend.  Our ability to match our own clothing, let alone others is about as strong as our Latin skills. Andrew and Henry, who are missing from the shot, opted to stay home and perfect their water-balloon throwing form instead of tagging along with the rest of the crew.

Last night, on a whim, I typed up these little Father's Day letter pages for the boys to share with Steve.  I thought I would share our oldest son, Benedict's loving expressions:

A FATHER IS....

Courageous and brave.  He makes me laugh, teaches me, is smart, cool and fun.  He teaches me to be a man and teaches me about my faith, is encouraging, kind but firm, good at sports, is a hard worker, tough, trustworthy, generous, talkative and strong.

Thank you, Dad, for teaching me all about my faith and how to be a man.  I don't think there are very many fathers who do that.  I love you and hope you have a Happy Father's Day!

Love Your Son,

Ben

More fashion awesomeness here!!

Tubing at the Lake

Hi Everyone!

So, tell me how you spent your Father's Day weekend! BBQ-ing?? Baseballing?? Napping??

We spent ours at the lake.  Well, not the Lake, just a lake, a little spot called Horsethief about an hour east of us.  Yes, Virginia, there are lakes in Kansas!  Nothing like the Great Lakes, of course, but where there is enough water to float a boat, you will find land-locked natives desperate for water out to find some fun!

Steve's sister, Jennifer, brought along a camera, so we all took turns snapping some pics of our afternoon together.  

Here's what went down:

Next to snacking, tubing was definitely the main event.  We didn't even attempt to get the skis out, because the water was too choppy, but no one was about to back down from a tubing challenge.

There was so much energy on the boat, and the kids were totally wound up with excitement to go tubing.  I tried to show them how to make the "hang loose" sign with their fingers before I snapped this one, but the pinky and thumb only instruction was a bit challenging.  They kept making the devil sign.  I was having mental flashes of them head banging at an Aerosmith concert (Lord have mercy). It sort of defeats my "Honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker. 

The 7 little offspring of the boating crew were just sure that Jen and I could not handle the tube.  

Wrong-O!  

After a little dance warm up to Mustang Sally we were ready to show 'em how it's done.  I remember the days when being able to roller skate or play my saxophone really impressed them.  It's not so easy anymore.  What's next, sky-diving?

I realize that this isn't exactly a super close-up shot of our strength and bravery, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that we were awesome!!!  

The dads did their best to capsize us, but they failed. Jennifer put it well when she said that we were like Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump hanging on to the mast of the shrimp boat in the middle of the hurricane screaming, "C'mon! Is that all you've got??"

She's hilarious, that girl!  I laughed so hard I nearly lost my voice.  Praise the Lord it came back just in time for me to yell slightly raise my voice at the boys today when I needed to break up a fight.

Who's the captain of this boat, now baby?  That's right, I am. I mean we are - the Tubing Queens and Charlie!

Speaking of Charlie, he lu-u-u-ved the water.  It looks like he is shriek-crying here, but he's actually laughing. He likes to show of his man-teeth.  You can only guess how much fun it's been getting those molars in! I know he's only 1, but I'm hoping that this means he's also advanced in other areas of life like math and room-cleaning skills.

Here he is, takin' in a little smushy cheeky smooching' from Daddy after a nice cool dip in the lake.  Babies are so yummy!

Speakin' of yummy.  My kids were in hog heaven.  You know when you catch your four year old consuming a stack of about 30 Pringles (which he called his chip sandwich) you may be a junk food Nazi. According to our estimates this is the amount of food consumed by 6 of the ship mates, not including Charlie (and they were still hungry when we got off the boat):

 - 5 cans of Pringles potato chips

 - 12 granola bars

 - 6 packages of Twizlers

 - 5 packages of peanut butter crackers

 - 1/2 bag of cherries

 - 16 Capri Suns

 - 3 quarts of lake water

Not to worry, though, they earned every non-nutritious bite, because the Tubing Queens made sure that the crew kept the deck swabbed and the tube reeled in.  

After five hours of boating, swimming and tubing, we all went home and fell into bed.  

It was definitely one to remember!

Father's Day ~ 2012

In our home there are 

50 toes and

10 little soles

to follow your example

wherever you go.

We have a love affair, you and I with our babies' feet.  Each one of them has been tickled and kissed too many times to count.  They carry our boys as they jump out of bed in the morning, climb up trees and run to the door to see you the moment they know you are home.  

Over the past couple of days I've been thinking about where their little feet will carry them in life.  Our oldest son is growing so fast, and will be walking out into the big world before we know it.  Little Charlie is trying with all his might to master those first steps without holding on to a pinkie or a couch.  And, all of the marching in between by younger brothers trying to catch up to the oldest, they are all in one way or another hoping to grow into your boots.

You know, without a doubt, how much your boys adore you.  But, I wanted to take some time this Father's Day to tell you why I believe that they will grow up to regard you as not just a father, but a friend, a mentor and a hero as well:

The number one example that you lead our sons in is love for God.  You may not know it, but they notice you with your cup of coffee, early in the morning, bible open praying in the quiet.  I believe that they also overhear the short conversations we have here and there during the day about life-matters, good and bad, and how you often speak of real struggle and real success in relation to our Father.  And, perhaps right now, praying with them at night and teaching them about the beauty of our faith after supper is just routine, but some day it will be reward.

Next to loving our Lord, the love that you have for me is setting a beautiful example for them.  You are always respectful, and helpful, affectionate and encouraging.  It is not so easy to live in a world saturated with images meant to turn a man's head and heart in every direction except toward his wife.  My heart swells with gratitude for the strong-hold you have on that temptation, and for the sacrificial love you pour into our marriage.  I think that they will remember with fondness the way you tease me, how much we laugh together and dancing together in the kitchen. The children feel safe in our love, they smile when we are close, we cannot underestimate the power of that gift for them.

Finally, there are just so very many things that you can give our sons, that I cannot.  I see God's design in our complimentarity, because it is so very visible throughout the days.  They are connected to you on such a masculine level, that I can only stand by with admiration.  Thank you for stepping up to the plate of quality time.  You could always be more invested outside of the home with work, projects, meetings and hobbies or parked in front of the television oblivious to the the little hearts longing to throw the football around or be taken fishing.  The energy that you pour into everything that they do from sports, to experiences on the farm, to their education are all so vital to their formation, and I could never do it alone.

I hope that this Father's Day you know that within our very imperfect life there lives five little souls who look up and see you as nearly perfect.  Their love for you cannot be contained, their admiration cannot be hidden - cherish it, as they so cherish you!

~ Happy Father's Day!! ~