Pecan Surprise

I made this for the Above Rubies conference and it was gone in about 20 minutes (both batches!)
I am calling it Pecan Surprise....
4 cups pecans
2 cups pumpkin seeds
2 cups coconut
1 cup raisins
1 package carob chips (optional - can also use cacao chips or another dried fruit)

Coat this mixture with maple syrup until it is damp - should not be any maple syrup sloshing around in the bottom..

Dehydrate at 115 overnight

For those of you without a dehydrator I would put it in the oven on the lowest setting and prop the door open just a bit. I would probably start it in the morning so I could keep an eye on it - would probably take 6 or so hours. This will crisp up a bit more after it drys.

I am working on other recipes to put on here - due to popular demand! :)

How the adoption is going....

Wow - the Lord is at work in Greg and Cara's life! We have some wonderful friends - Greg and Cara Green, that are adopting two beautiful little boys from Haiti. I wanted to tell you a bit about them and ask you keep them in your prayers and even consider helping bring these two boys home to them - Here is their blog . Greg and Cara are a wonderful couple that have been praying for a baby for many years now. They saved up for a long time for Greg to go back to school and now they are living in Florida seeing that dream come true. While in Florida they felt the Lord calling them to adopt ("what!" they said - "don't you see we have no income right now!") - still they felt they should adopt and went forward on faith that the Lord would provide - and provide He has. It still amazes me to look at their blog and see the boys homecoming get closer and closer. Talk about trusting in Him - I think I would have said "Oh, Lord, we will just wait until we are financially ready".... Thank God for Greg and Cara's faith in Him and that I am allowed to see it in action. I can honestly say I cannot wait for those boys to be out of the orphanage and in a home with two VERY loving parents. Let's help get these boys home where they belong!

The Kill

Cookie has earned her keep - this is a very large rat she is proudly displaying in front of her! He has the scar on the side of her face to prove she fought for her dinner yesterday......

My Little Ones - A Happy Mothers Day!

My 4 precious gifts!
Katie is 9, Card 3, Bell 2 and baby Jack is 8 months!


















Normal Card face - looks just like his namesake....






















Smiling Jack - rare these days, I think we are teething!


















Katie

















The Girls!

Name That Dugger

Want to help name the newest Duggar baby???

Name That Duggar...
I of course picked Jack as the boy name - help it get some votes!

#18 On The Way

The Dugger's are at it again! I just checked this site two days ago and it did not have this!

Happy Mother's Day:
Woman pregnant with 18th child
By JILL ZEMAN,
Associated Press Writer28 minutes ago.
It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman as she's pregnant with her 18th child.
Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins."We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing.The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.The fast-growing family lives in Tontitown in northwest Arkansas in a 7,000-square- foot home. All the children have names that start with the letter J and are home-schooled.Michelle Duggar has been been pregnant for more than 11 years of her life, and the family is in the process of filming another series for Discovery Health.The new show looks at life inside the Duggar home, where chores or "jurisdictions" are assigned to each child. One episode of the new show involves a "jurisdiction swap," where the boys do chores traditionally assigned to the girls, and vice versa, Duggar said."The girls swapped jurisdictions, changing tires, working in the garages, mowing the grass," she said. "The boys got to cook supper from start to finish, clean the bathrooms," among other chores. Duggar said she's six weeks along and the pregnancy is going well. She and her husband, Jim Bob Duggar, said they'll keep having children as long as God wills it."The success in a family is first off, a love for God, and secondly, treating each other like you want to be treated," Jim Bob Duggar said. "Our goal is for each one of our children to be best friends, and everybody working together to serve each other makes that happen."The other Duggar children, in between Joshua and Jennifer, are Jana, 18; John-David, 18; Jill, 16; Jessa, 15; Jinger, 14; Joseph, 13; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 10; Jeremiah, 9; Jedidiah, 9; Jason, 7; James, 6; Justin, 5; Jackson, 3; and Johannah, 2.

Not the best written article....Congrats for Michelle!
Some fun Dugger facts :

Michelle’s been pregnant for 135 months of her life
Average number of months between Duggar births is 18
The Duggars do approximately 200 loads of laundry each month.
Every Duggar child learns to play both violin and piano.
The only person in the Duggar family whose name doesn’t start with "J" is Mom — Michelle.
The Duggars feed their entire brood for less than $2,000 per month.
The Duggars are debt free.

Sweet Boy

This is my sweet boy. In this picture he is peeling bananas to freeze to make banana ice cream (we put the banana's through the juicer and it makes a raw ice cream). This little boy (as rowdy as he is) is the sweetest 3 year old I know. When he sees me sit down he brings me a glass of water. If I dont have a snack he offers to bring me (and of course himself) a nut bar. He colors me pictures everyday and I always have fresh flowers in my windowsill. He is always thinking of me and was so sad that daddy did not get me a shake the other day when they stopped - he gave me his. I was thinking on this today and I know that children learn things from their parents - I believe this little boy has been learning from the master - Daddy! Will is always thinking of me and the kids and Card sees that. Our daddy works very hard so we can live here and have our home and our farm. We are so blessed to have the best daddy in the world - thank you Lord!

Feet

Card loves to take pictures of feet - here are some of his latest shots....

































got a 3 for 1 here :)

Bella Hair

I promised Will I would not post the one of him in his sweatshrit and boxers - he and the kids made pacncakes a few mornings ago. I think the boots just make Bella's outfit - dont you? Mommy has this weird rule that we all dress before we make breakfast, but no such non-sense with Daddy!

Katie Piano Recitial

I am finally getting around the posting these! Katie had an awesome recitial - she played a number that she herself wrote :)



Katie with Papa and Mimi















Jack with Nanny














Katie's piano teachers mom decorates cakes - this was such a neat cake!



















Katie and her teacher Beth


















Katie swinging with some friends after the recital