Announcement from the DMV

WARNING!!!! If you see a small lady--about 30 inches tall, no hair, but definitely wearing a flower headband, grinning ear to ear as she's driving down the road... Get out of her way! She is not old enough to drive, but she doesn't know that! See pictures of the fugitive below...

Please be careful out there on the roads today, folks. As you can tell from these mugshots, she is a little crazy!

How He Loves Us

Today, I wanted to add a new song to my playlist. I've heard so many cool songs lately that are certainly worthy of joining the others, but I just couldn't bring myself to move the first song out of the way. I simply love the message of this first song, as it is the crux of our human desires, to be loved. Oh, how He loves us.

I read a devotional this morning further reminding me of this truth. The writer of the devotional, Gwen Smith, who is also a Christian music artist, wrote, "When you embrace the deep love of Christ as a personal reality, you gain traction for powerful, meaningful living that begins with forgiveness and continues on in truth and grace." And that, my friends, is the Gospel in a nutshell. I was so intrigued by her statement, I read it several times, slowly and out loud, gleaning a bit more revelation each time. (I'm thinking, "Dang, that's good!")

The part about gaining traction for powerful, meaningful living particularly spoke to me. And now I'm going to expose my undeniable redneckness with this next analogy. When I think about traction (or lack thereof), I picture mud-slinging (in true redneck style, that I admittedly have been a part of once or twice in my life)... trucks with oversized tires, covered in mud, out of control and spinning their wheels, burning fuel but not really going anywhere in particular, burning hot and creating a smokey scene as the muddy water meets the engine.

Rather than just meditating on her words and my own redneck analogy, I began to think about how this idea of God's love giving us traction in life lines up with the scripture...

1. Without complete surrender of our lives to Jesus as Lord, we too are like spinning wheels, with no traction to truly move us forward in life. We may work really hard (or not) to be a good person, to do all the right things, but without His grace, we, like mud-slinging tires, toil in vain.

• For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- Ephesians 2:8




• Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

2. When we don't embrace, or perhaps even realize, the unconditional love Jesus has for us, we still find ourselves as spinning wheels, trying so hard to earn His love, or worse yet trying to find love and approval from everyone else.

• "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3:3-4

At first glance, you might not see how that verse, specifically speaking to women, is related to embracing God's love. Bear with me.

As a commonly loud and most of the time, outgoing person, I really felt like I was at a real disadvantage on the whole gentle and quiet thing. I looked in awe at other women who were reserved and physically quiet with gentle dispositions. Why couldn't I be that way too? It just seemed so out of character for me. Then, through encouragement from a friend and further study on the scripture, I learned that the (transliterated) word for quiet in this verse is shaan, meaning to be at ease or rest securely. What a relief to learn that God was speaking about gentleness and quietness as conditions of the heart rather than personality.

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."- 1 Sam 16:7

During so many moments I have felt like a mouse on a wheel (or a mud-slingin' truck) exerting much energy to feel loved, fulfilled, worthy, and approved, all the while dealing with the same insecurities, the same obstacles, the same exhaustion. Jesus is saying to my noisy, restless spirit (not my voice), be quiet. Rest in me. Stop striving. I love you just the way you are. When we embrace the love of Christ for us, when we know, truly know, how much he adores us, our wheels will stop spinning; all striving can cease. There's nothing to prove, nothing to earn. In this, believing Christ's love for us, we move forward to powerful, meaningful, genuine, sincere, and grace-sustained lives. Oh how he loves us. Now that is something our spirits can rest in.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:16-19

Keeping with the food theme...

Continuing to brave the world of unconventional foods, but healthy, whole foods, mind you, I've discovered a few more easy, yummy, and affordable recipes that I don't think you'll regret trying.

First things first, the dark chocolate cupcakes that I promised and that several of my friends are just sitting on the edge of their aprons waiting to recreate! ;-)

See, Grace Louise approves. Her first taste of chocolate! (But only a taste!)

Make these cupcakes. The link to the recipe is above. You won't be sorry!

Disregard the Indian-inspired sloppy joes... Not bad, but I wouldn't make those again. Do, however, enjoy the strange, but delicious Massaged Kale Salad! (The name is what hooked me!) Jimmy was a fan, and that is saying a lot! Kale is a veggie that most people have rarely tried. Cook it like collard greens, or better yet, enjoy it fresh in this nutrient-packed salad!

I got this recipe from Aarti, the newest addition to the Food Network. She's pretty, has a great accent, and wears flowers in her hair like Grace Louise. She must make good food!

Keeping with the food theme... here are some pics of my little eater

Hey! No laughing at the dinner table!

Frozen blueberries make for a messy, but effective teething soother.

HEALTHY Banana Pineapple Muffins

I have been dying to share this recipe! Because I have an overactive sweet tooth (to say the least), I've been on a quest to create a repertoire of healthy or at least healthier desserts that I can enjoy and feel comfortable sharing with Grace Louise. (My ultimate goal is to incorporate crazy things like spinach and black beans into decadent brownies, but hold on sister, not so fast. Baby steps).

My first recipe was an Almond Honey Cookie which is super easy and yummy. Next was an absolutely amazingly delicious dark chocolate cupcake with a dark chocolate ganache. Hello?!?! (Recipe for that later). In between precious cups of moist chocolate goodness and this mouth-watering muffin, was a brownie recipe, as well as a chocolate muffin, neither of which were worth sharing.

So, on to the star of the show. Banana Pineapple Muffins. I get to post my own recipe, because I tweaked the original recipe so much that it resembles my own creation more than whatever unhealthy mess it was before...

Ingredients
2 mashed bananas
8 oz can of pineapple "tidbits" drained
3/4 cup sucanat (dehydrated cane juice. low glycemic. good stuff. check it out.)
1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Streusel Topping
2 tbl flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbl cold butter
1 tbl brown sugar

Combine the flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in the butter until it turns to coarse pebbles.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mash bananas and pineapple in a bowl and set aside. Combine wet ingredients, including sucanat and the mashed banana/pineapple mixture. Separately combine dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with handheld mixer until batter comes together. Stir in chopped nuts. Pour batter into muffin tins filling completely (in order to get that cute muffin top). Sprinkle streusel on top and bake for 25 minutes.

Okay. I'm clearly no food photographer- or recipe writer for that matter. The only reason I'm sharing this is because these muffins are that darn good! My picture is telling on me, so I might as well come clean. My streusel was a total bomb. Apparently I'm not a good butter cutter. I ended up with more of a paste than pebbles and felt like I was soil testing (ribbon method for all you aggie's out there) rather than streuseling. That only means one thing. These muffins have the potential to be even better than I experienced. Holy Cow.

Grace Louise LOVES to help in the kitchen. Or bang measuring cups together, whatever! (If this picture looks poorly staged, it is! No one is ever around to take pictures of us together!!!)

GO Gators!

The fall is here and our Saturdays are planned for the rest of the year!...Only question is whether it will be a noon, 3 o'clock, or night game. We watched the first Gator game this weekend with Jimmy's family. Here are some pics of Grace Louise in her Gator garb...

And this is how Grace Louise felt about how our boys played. You better tighten up, she says.

A few cute pics from the week:

Grace Louise sporting the new fall fashion line, including hot pants and her cloth diaper booty!

Kisses for Grandaddy!

9 (or 10) Month Pictures

Dreading a drive over to the Brandon Mall Picture People (who really do take simple and lovely pictures), I decided to just stay at home and take Grace Louise's 9 month pictures myself. (I'm a month late, so technically they are 10 month pictures :-) Traditions are powerful... feeling that I must have this child's pictures taken four times (at least) in the first year can be a burden both on the wallet and the schedule. So backyard here we come!

I also told myself that I would like to wait until Grace Louise was standing more comfortably on her own before our next professional photo shoot. (Perhaps you know what is coming next). I take Grace Louise in the backyard... we try a white sheet first.

Doesn't work out.

I'm hooping and hollering, jumping up and down, making funny faces (and noises)... all in the name of a good picture. I stand Grace Louise up with one hand. Try to take pictures with the other.

Doesn't work out.

I think she could sense the desperation in my voice (and the perspiration on my face) as I asked her "Just stand right here for mommy, like a big girl!!! Okay??"

And hot diggity dog, she did. Bless her little soul.

I got several shots of my baby girl squatting and standing over and over for the first time! How often do you catch those kind of firsts on camera!? Thank you, Jesus (in a truly grateful kind of way). That made my day... and made our homemade photo shoot really special in the end.

The pictures didn't turn out half bad. I was feeling quite proud of them, like maybe I missed my calling. That is until Jimmy so honestly told me that they looked like really good amateur photos. Huh. Thanks.

The best ones (of her standing and squatting) will have to make a later debut. I have to get the neon green archery target digitally removed out of the background. (a slight oversight on my part. oops)

this one makes me laugh. like she's too good for the grass.

she's teething that top left tooth like crazy.

By the way, her 9 month check-up (again, at 10 months) was great. 20 lbs 7 oz and 29 inches long. Still high on the charts, but weighed 3+ lbs less than what we had her pegged for.

Summer Highlights

Even though I'm not teaching away from home anymore and Grace Louise is not in school yet, I can't seem to get away from the mindset of the school year calendar. (I guess that comes from being in school one way or another for 20 years).

The summer (weather) here in Florida is by no means over, but since most of our friends and family are back in school, the fast pace of summer is starting to wind down. With the fall season in the Sunshine State comes the occasional long sleeved shirt, dreams of places where leaves change color, hunting season, pumpkin and cinnamon (preferably in a pastry and Starbucks coffee), and of course, Gator football, Gator football, and Gator football!!! Did I mention Gator football?!?! (We're really excited about that in the Hurst house).

We've had such an exciting first summer as a family of three, I thought I'd highlight a few activities from the past month.

Addi- The Birthday Princess

One of Grace Louise's best buddies, Addi Fann, turned "1" at the end of July. We enjoyed her pool party princess birthday and were so thankful that she graciously shared her new toys with Grace Louise. It's hard to believe that we too will be planning a first birthday here very soon! (I think Grace Louise has put in for a bouncing turtle like the one she was riding at Addi's party!)

Meeting Renee

I was so excited to finally introduce these two very special girls to each other! I met Renee when she was only in the second grade through the CHAMPS (Collegiates Helping As Mentors in Public Schools) mentoring program at the University of Florida in 2002. I visited Renee every week for the four years I lived in Gainesville and developed a great relationship with her. Now she's going into the 10th grade and is growing into a smart and extremely kind-hearted young lady. During her visit she played Big Sister to Grace Louise (and was a tremendous help, by the way). We did a little school clothes shopping, went for a picnic and swimming at the lake, kayaked, and really enjoyed our time together.

Englewood Beach Trip

We left daddy at home for this one and went to the beach with LaLa for our second summer vacation adventure! This was all about fun in the sun; it was nice to take a break from the hard work of fishing and just enjoy the beach and pool. Don't worry... daddy will have us back out there wettin' a line in no time!

It's kind of like fetch for babies...

And she got it!

*Pppplllllllllltttttt

Sweet time with mommy. These moments are abundant. Pictures of us together, however, are hard to come by.

Uncle Bubba's Birthday Celebration

Lake Clinch

Somebody is not paying attention to the baby...

My Baby Can Read (but my SD Card Reader can't!)

I was beginning to think that I would have to endure seven plagues of technology failure before I'd ever get back to this blog! (I think I was on #4). Nevertheless, my FIL came to the rescue and now I have a card reader that actually works! As for the first part of the blog post title... yes, what can I say, my daughter is a genius! Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of the Your Baby Can Read program or seen the infomercial with the three year old reading the Declaration of Independence (or Brown Bear Brown Bear, whatever). And you've probably been pretty skeptical about whether or not it truly works... (I was).

The learning program is pretty basic, teaching babies to memorize sight words, which will ultimately help them learn phonics. Okay, sounds good to me. I'm in. I've been showing the short video to her once a day for a couple of months (though I do miss some days here and there). I also show her the flashcards and books that come with the program.

First, and most importantly, she enjoys it, clapping along, waving, and interacting with the children on the video. Secondly, it works!!! She responds to the word/picture combination for many of the words (mouth, clap, wave, hi, tongue, eyes, nose, dog) and for the first time last week, she actually "read" her first words. I showed her the flashcard with the words Arms Up and she put her arms up in the air!

Though I'm sure Grace Louise will be a great reader, regardless, I'm giving the Your Baby Can Read program two thumbs up for starting kids off early with a love for reading and learning.

Catching up from my technology woes, here are some random pics of the past few weeks.

Learning how to walk with her new push toy!

And already standing on her own! As you can tell, she still doesn't have her sea legs, but is getting more and more confident every time!

This is why crayons are non-toxic!

Right now this is Grace Louise's favorite place to hang out- on the sliding glass door. She walks in and out holding on to the door and gains great satisfaction from conquering the ever so daunting obstacle that is the threshold.

"Sister Golden Hair"... not sure if that is her Indian name or her nun name. Sounds like it could be her hippy name too. You'll have to ask her LaLa.

Grace Louise and two of her Papas! See where she gets those good looks?!

Even though you can't tell by her expression in this picture, riding in Granny DuBose's wheelchair is another one of Grace Louise's favorite things to do. (Maybe she's mad because Lizzi is taking up all the room!)

Pops has a hot date at Norby's!

Yes. Yes. That is my child in the dog kennel. We've got to find her some better role models!