14 Things I love About You...♥

Candle is burning...
Furnace is running...
Music is playing...

Baby, it's cold outside. :)

The temperature is currently a balmy/frigid -5 with a windchill of -25 where we live & thankfully Kyle brewed a nice, fresh, hot pot of coffee once he got out of bed. Hazelnut mixed with Cinnamon Vanilla Nut. Delish. ♥ If only he were here to drink it with me...

Last night Kyle requested Chicken Noodle Soup for supper so I prepared one of our fryers that we butchered last spring & put it in the oven.

Once it was done, we used freshly made bone broth...

Healthy bone broth should attain a gelatin form...

And added homemade noodles that MaKayla put together, using our own duck eggs.

A few months ago she took a few days, several eggs & the other necessary ingredients & made several batches...

Letting them dry...

And then bagging & freezing them for times such as these. :)

The soup was amazingly delicious & it always gives me a feeling of satisfaction when a recipe is made using ingredients that God has helped us grow.

MaKayla has a real love for pepper... :)

As many of you know, we celebrated a birthday last week... ♥

Recognizing birthdays here in our home has always been a big deal to me.
Celebrating life...
Remembering birth...
Rejoicing over the one we celebrate...

When the girls were little things, I did the whole theme extreme with cake, decorations, invitations & everything else to match. We would have lots of food, lots of people & lots of preparation...

And then one year one of the girls suggested that simple is better...

From that time on, we've made birthdays simple but fun. We've turned the attention from all the prep work/expense to the person in which we are celebrating.

Favorite foods...
Favorite activities...
Totally their day to do as they wish. ♥

Mal's birthday... ♥

Every January I look so forward to Mallary's "big day" because the after-Christmas rush is over, life has somewhat returned to normal & almost always, Kyle takes the day off. ♥

Truly, it's a family day. ♥

Mal's appointment for ortho adjustments was two days prior & I had asked her if she would rather reschedule for after in the chance that her mouth would be sore. She thought she would be fine so we proceeded as planned. She had her birthday list made, her menu planned & her desired activities for the day nicely outlined BUT she had no idea that Kyle was planning to stay home. :) ♥

Ortho appointment day came & while Steph worked on Mal she asked what she hoped to do on her big day. :) Mal's response, "I just want to stay home..." :) No hoopla wanted or necessary for her, homebody at heart is what she is. Colors were changed to resemble confetti in honor of her birthday... ♥ Bands were added & by evening her mouth HURT. :( Her cheeseburger & sweet potato fry request went sailing out the door yet she never deviated from her cinnamon/sugar doughnut preference for breakfast. :) ♥

Wednesday evening Kyle & I made a trip to the grocery store for the pertinent ingredients and then some. :) As we were headed back & five miles from home, I realized that I hadn't purchased canned biscuits for the beloved doughnuts... What to do, what to do. I was fairly certain that my cookbook contained a recipe for homemade doughnuts but...

WARNING... An EXCESSIVE amount of pictures as you proceed. 

Penny, I know this makes you happy... :)

Birthday morning came & we had LOTS to do before Mal emerged from bed...
Gifts to wrap... (Procrastination 101)
A banner to make...
Doughnuts to fix...
So we got busy.

The doughnuts were quite time consuming but a fun challenge for me.

Mix.

Melt.

Cool.

Mix.

Let rise.

Shape.

Let rise again.

Fry. (I know it's terrible for us...but it's a birthday, right?)

Drain.

Glaze.

Glaze again.

And the beloved cinnamon/sugar variety...

And delicious doughnut holes with thoughts & affections of Aunt Marci... ♥

MaKayla decorated the table just for Mal... ♥

She loved the banner... ♥

And then we sat down to eat... ♥

Mal decided she wanted to open her gifts in increments so that is what we did... ♥

Pink bow... ♥

Zebra bow... ♥

Just. For. Her. ♥

Gift one... ♥

Silver glitter leggings... ♥

And shoes to match... ♥

SO NOT me but TOTALLY her... ♥

MaKayla thought she needed to make her ribbon into a sash... ♥

She ended up wearing it all.day.long. ♥

And then a game of Clue... ♥

And then a competition of Wii Dance... ♥

Yes, Kyle is a trooper & does it right along with them. :)

It snowed a bit throughout the day...

And then it was time for gift #2... ♥

Her expressions were priceless... ♥

Remember those BRIGHT colors I spoke of in yesterday's post... :)

MIZZOU all the way... :)

And then a round of Scrabble... ♥

Coupled with some chips & salsa... ♥

Supper time arrived & in place of cheeseburgers & sweet potato fries, she settled on chicken fettuccini alfredo, caesar salad & garlic bread... ♥

And then on to round #3 of gifts... ♥

New Wii dance game...

Mulan set...some of her faves... ♥

Cross stitch...

Fresh, new book... (One she has been wanting...)

CD...

A movie she has been wanting that we would NOT recommend... :(

(Sad-to-say this is sold in Christian book stores but has LOTS of questionable content by our acceptable standards. I haven't seen it but both MaKayla & Mal were VERY disappointed...)

Kyle threatened the be-dreaded birthday spanking all day...

And then it became a reality... ♥

We ended the day with a dessert of deliciousness & ice cream... ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It was a most beautiful day... ♥

Celebrating a most beautiful life... ♥

As I lie in bed the morning of Mal's birthday, thanking God for the gift of her life, He brought to mind that this one I love will never be 13 again... ♥

This year of her life has come & gone, never to be relived. ♥

A vivid reminder to relish the moments... 

Savor the times... 

Live every day to the fullest...

Welcome to year 14 of this life you have been given, Baby Girl... ♥

14 Things I LOVE about Y-O-U... ♥

♥ The contagious beauty of your smile...

♥ Your candid realness...

♥ Your sheer determination...

♥ The way that you love without limits...

♥ Your affection towards furry creatures...

♥ Your need for solitude...

♥ The depth of communication you have with God...

♥ Your love for bare feet in lush, green grass...

♥ Your desire to learn...

♥ The way your personality reflects COLOR...

♥ Your longing for simplicity...

♥ That your palate LOVES spicy...

♥ The angelic beauty of your voice...

♥ That you appreciate who God made you to be...

And as I was lying there thinking...

Kyle prayed & gave God thanks that He gave us the ability to create something so beautiful... ♥

So special... ♥

So wonderful... ♥

So amazing... ♥

♥ I. Love. You. ♥