Pumpkin Extravaganza

You are about to hear a family secret. Are you ready?

My dad has a strange obsession. One word...

...pumpkins.

Dad loves pumpkins. He loves pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bread, and anything else that you can think of that has pumpkin in it. And, of course, since he loves pumpkin products Dad absolutely must buy the big 'ol orange squashes once they are being sold in the stores. Oh and we're not talking about the cute little pie pumpkins. Oh no. Dad wants the medium to big pumpkins... and more than one. Last week he came home with 4 pumpkins. Not to mention the fact that we already have one and a half gallons of pumpkin puree left from last year's pumpkin craze. My family is still trying to come up with ideas of how to use the squashes... we may or may not be stuck.

Because of Dad's pumpkin love I decided to make him a pumpkin spice cake for his birthday.I probably shouldn't feed his desire for pumpkin, but, hey! it was his birthday. What can I say? Only that this cake was the absolute most moist and delicious creation ever!! So, without further ado, I give you...

...PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE with NUTTY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.

Ingredients for pumpkin spice cake:

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 
  

• Directions:

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 12x18 inch pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

1. In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread batter into prepared 12x18 inch pan.
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
3. 

Ingredients for Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy and add chopped nuts. Spread on cooled cake.

Note from Moe: "You may need to add some milk to this frosting... it was a bit thick when I made it."

This is the kind of frosting that is finger-licking kind of good. And yea... I did a lot of licking (just in case you were wondering).

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for the mess that will ensue if you allow your child to help you with the making of this cake and frosting.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to THE most awesome Dad in the world!

Obedience...

I was at summer camp standing around with my friends waiting to go into the concert room... we were all excited! Tonight, we were going to hear John Gray speak!

I looked around and noticed a girl leaning against the door frame. Her left leg was wrapped up and she was carrying around crutches.

"Sweetheart... go introduce yourself to that girl and pray for her leg." I heard the voice of the Lord speak oh so clearly.

Doubts and "what ifs...?" began to cloud my mind instantly. I had no idea who this girl was! What if I embarrassed myself? "What if... ? I don't think... I can't. No."

I gave the idea one more thought, pushed away my guilty conscience, and proceeded to walk through the doors leading to the concert room. I didn't give what I'd done another thought as I sat down. I had lost a chance to show my faith in my God.

__________________________________________________________

It was the last day of camp. Testimonies were being given about what God had done that week. A girl went up on stage. I instantly recognized her as the girl God had told me to pray for. Two things were different... she no longer had crutches and the wrap that had been on her leg was gone.

"Hi" she began. "I've had this condition in my left leg that didn't allow me to walk correctly for a long time. I had to use crutches to get around. Well, a few days ago one of the camp leaders came up to me and asked if he could pray for my leg. He did and I immediately knew that if my leg was going to be healed I would have to show faith in God that He would heal it. I stood up. I could walk! I could jump! My leg is normal now!!" The joy in her face was incredible. God had touched her and it was obvious.

It wasn't until a few months later that the impact of what really happened hit me. Now, my only thought is, "Oh my goodness! Moe, you are the biggest doofus on the face of this earth! What do you think? Are you smarter than God? God knows you better than you know yourself! God knew that you could handle what He asked but, no. Of course not! You said "NO"! All because you couldn't push your pride out of the way and do th

e simple thing that God asked of you."

So, what am I doing now? *Sigh* Repenting (that's a lot of fun, huh?) and praying to God that He'll give me another chance.

Introducing...

... ME and MY FAMILY!

I know that none of my followers have ever seen me or my family's faces. Because of Internet safety and all that good stuff, Dad didn't want me posting faces of us... but, that changed. A few days ago, he finally said that I could show y'all what we all look like. Hurrah!

Ok, now on to 'da photos...

First and foremost... Mom and Dad! These are the most wonderful and awe-inspiring people in my world. They are amazing. I'm dead serious... they have raised and are raising us kids in the way of the Lord. They continually care for us, laugh with us, and help us in the "growing up stages" of life. These are the kind of parents that you can talk about pretty much anything with... they don't mind if you speak your opinion (as long as it is spoken respectfully ;) and will talk through things with you until a situation is resolved. Not to mention the fact that they have been married for 23 years (I think), and have stayed together through thick and thin.

Mom and Dad, you are amazing... I love you so much!

*Gasp*! I know. You're thinking, "Gee whiz! This lady is gorgeous, beautiful, etc. etc. etc." Yea, that gorgeous gal with the green eyes just happens to be my oldest sister, L4J. She is very talented, can groom any dog to perfection (perfection in my eyes at least), crochet, knit, sew, and all that good stuff. Honestly, I do more crafting and whatnot than she does, but whenever L4J does decide to craft her results come out way better than mine. Oh, and did I mention that people think that I am her twin? Yup! That's great and upsetting at the same time, if you know what I mean.

And, here is my crazy brother, Patrick. Yup! that's the guy that plays the piano like an angel, produced a CD (which is published with Tate Music Group) by the time he was 17, AND currently works as a web developer. Am I proud of him? Heck, YEA! He's a nutty, friendly and outgoing sort of guy. Patrick loves to hang out with people and is always making us laugh dreadfully hard. Seriously... one day, he's going to make one of us laugh so hard our lung will get coughed up, or something.

Mhm... that me. The best blond brunette you'll ever find. My brother says that I should be a comedian... not because I can crack a witty joke. Oh no, I'm not that witty... It's because I say crazy random things at crazy random moments. It's ok. I'm learning to live with myself (and I say that jokingly :D).

Oh me, oh my! This pretty gal is Anne (who has a blog, and calls herself PolkaDot)... down-to-earth with a bit of sass mixed in would describe her wonderful, crazy personality. Honestly, she and I are, in a lot of ways, opposites. Which of course makes us best friends forever!

This is our green eyed, rosy cheeked, dark haired beauty named Mary. She is a quiet sort of person with a glorious smile that brightens a room instantly. Mary loves to make things and is interested in becoming a chef. Yes, I GREATLY encourage her in that interest. Who doesn't want an awesome cook in the house?

Ah, the brain of the family! This is Alva... he is very academic. I mean, this kid is quite a few years younger than me and he says things like, "Did you know ______ ?" and I'm just going, "Um... yeeeaaaah. Of course I knew that *racking my brain for information that just isn't there*!"

Oh yeah! This is Abigail (The one on the left)... our toad grabbing, lizard catching, dirt loving, caring little tom-boy. One time, she saw a squirrel get killed... did she even think of being grossed out? Noooo, that's not how Abby is. She grabbed that bloody squirrel up in her hands and ran to Mom.

"Mom! I think it's dead. Can you fix him?" Poor gal. She was really concerned about that poor squirrel!

Thankfully, Dad was in the room when Abby ran in. Otherwise Mom (who's a through and through city girl) would've gone ballistic grabbing Dawn soap and any other disinfectant she had available to wash Abby's hands.

Awwwww!! This is Joy. She is our adorable, princess, city girl who loves lace, jewelry, earrings, lip gloss, lipstick, mascara and anything girly. Mom has to hold her back and make sure she doesn't get really, really"big girl" things until she is a "big girl"!

This is Grace and I. Grace is cool... she really is. She is a sweet little spitfire that is a wonderful mix of girly and tom-boy. Her imagination is nothing like I've ever seen. When she was 3 or 4 she had an imaginary farm... the horses were pink and the sheep were green with panties on. Wouldn't you love to see a farm like that?!

This chubby-cheeked little boy is Robert. He is the last of Mommy and Daddy's 10 kids... and is very obviously THE baby. Robert says the most adorable things, that makes me want to laugh all day. Do you want to hear one of those adorable things? Oh yea... I knew you would.

Me: "Robert, where did you come from? (I was expecting to hear, "From Mommy's tummy" or something like that)"

Robert: "Um, Jesus." Out of the mouth of babes, y'all...

Oh, and did I mention that when you get him to give you a hug they are the squishy-est (this is a word in my dictionary) most cuddly hugs on the face of the earth? Well, he does gives that kind of a hug... but I have dibs on them first, ok? He's my bro.

___________________________________________________________

We are like every other family out there:

We get mad at each other.

We sometimes yell at each other.

We say things we shouldn't.

We apologize over and over again.

We have devotion together.

We hide cookies, bags of chips, and cans of soda from each other.

We watch Tim Hawkins together.

We laugh up a storm.

We fight over who gets to read "that amazing new book from Amazon" first.

We go to church together.

We do "karate" at each other.

We go camping together.

We annoy each other until the person getting annoyed wants to punch somebody.

We love each other.

__________________________________________________________

Because that's what families do. We are a family and we are thankful for it.