A New Blog

Well, I have taken the leap. I have debated for some time whether I should begin a baking/cooking blog and today I decided to do it. I have often had people ask me for recipes and this will be a great way to share with you. I have been experimenting lately with some of the Tastefully Simple Fall/Winter products and have a couple really good things to share with you. As well as, some recipes that have been in the family for years and recipes friends have passed on.

Many of you know that I love to bake, most of you don't know that I received my first wedding cake order. I am very nervous about it, but plan to practice for the next four months or so. So, if you are in the area you can bet you will be eating cake regularly! My family won't eat all of it, even if they wanted too! I also may start looking for volunteers to receive different things via the mail. I have been debating this for some time and might as well try. So anyone interested? I will let you know when I reach that point. Also, I have my third catering event coming up in three short weeks, so I will probably be sharing with you the menu when the time comes. They could expect as many as 50 people, so it will be the largest event I have done, excluding the "Fireproof" event in November.

So please stop by and as always share your thoughts with me.

Miss Grace

My dear daughter says the strangest things sometimes! She stayed home sick today, she lounged all morning and seemed to be feeling better after lunch. So her loving mom put her to work sweeping. While sweeping, she tried to convince me that she should have some kittens and a horse. She promised to take care of them. To which I responded with the normal, you have other animals that need to be taken care right now. I continued to tell her that if she would show some responsibility with caring for the other animals, MAYBE she could have a horse some day. (You see, she is responsible for feeding and watering the chickens, this is a source of daily drama.) This was her response to me, " Well, Mom, chickens just aren't my style."

What?!!? What a character! I love this crazy girl, who will lay in wet sand with a goat on her belly and yet tell me that chickens just aren't her thing!! Life in the Sandhills is never dull, that's for sure!

**A note**
Gracie just read what I posted and informed me it is because chickens aren't fancy. She is all girl and more!

My Crazy Fisher(men)

Saturday was Dave's birthday. The kids really wanted to go ice fishing, but it has been warm enough out lately that the ice has been melting, so that was out. Dave told the kids earlier in the week if it was warm enough, they would go trout fishing. Saturday, we woke up to cold winds and cold temps. But the kids, begged and begged to go out. Dave finally gave in and everyone bundled up in their wool socks or two pairs of socks, boots, sweatpants, snowpants, turtlenecks, fleece pullovers and winter coats, hats, and hoods and off they went with their rods and reels in hand. They lasted an hour! They seemed to have fun and can't wait for spring to come to go out after those bass that have been swimming in their dreams. Each one of them loves fishing and I am glad. Occasionally, I will join them, but honestly, I am glad they have something they can do with their dad. I love to hear the stories when they come back and wish I had been there. This spring, I will make it more often. I have been known to catch a fish or two.

*** I was feeling guilty for having all sorts of pictures of the puppies lately and none of the kids. I told them to take the camera and I am glad that they remembered to use it. I am not feeling so guilty anymore!!

I am so proud

The last couple of weeks Dave worked at his parents. He extended their closet, made the door, and built the armoire. Now, I am hoping for an armoire for our bedroom. Didn't he do a great job?

Even More Puppies

I think Husker looks like that little creature in the movie "Flight of the Navigator" in the top photo. Does anyone remember that movie?

More Puppies

Lola

Alfie

Husker

The Gordon Setters

To My Husband

Dearest,

I am so glad the Lord brought you into my life. His timing is always perfect.

I remember being so confused by you. You were always teasing me and I had such a huge crush on you. But when I had been hurt by a friend and was working through that you reached out to me. As you have many times since. You are my knight in shining armor.

Do you remember when the girls planted themselves in your dorm room during open dorm night? I 'knew' where they were and saved your room for last because you and I had never actually talked other than you calling me 'ornery'(how you knew I will never know!)and telling me my shoelace was untied. Well, I did come to your room and you found a chair for me and set it right next to you. I was a mess, I was so nervous to be there. You started talking to me and then one of my friends said my name, and you said, "Who is Kristen?" They replied, "She is sitting right next to you!" MEMORIES, but oh, how embarrassing! It wasn't but a couple weeks later, when you came to my rescue. And we have been inseparable ever since.

We have had our tough times. That is for sure, but we have stuck it out. You were the first man I ever kissed and as far as I am concerned the last! You are my best friend. You are everything I had hoped for in a husband, especially when you do the dishes!! You know I love ya!

Another memory that means a lot to me, was when I was pregnant with Aaron. That pregnancy was very hard for me, not just physically but emotionally. After losing Isaac I was a nervous wreck. I didn't think you thought about it all very much, until the night before my scheduled C-section. You and I were trying to decide on a name and all of a sudden you asked me if I was nervous. Of course you knew I was. You went on to tell me how nervous you were that he would be born with 10 fingers and 10 toes and that he would be healthy and alive. It was sooo good for me to know that you had the same concerns I did.

Of course I have many, many memories of my life with you: the births of our children, moving countless times,fishing and golfing (occasionally),car trips (our favorite time to talk), watching you coach, making you laugh, laughing with you, praying with you. . . I could go on and on. But, my favorite part of our life together isn't really a memory, because I don't remember an actual event, it just happened. It is when we just clicked. I quit trying to make you stay home and feel guilty for leaving to do whatever and you started staying home and wanting to be home. It is when I quit worrying about me and what I was getting out of our marriage and started thinking about you. Our relationship is so much stronger now than it was the ten years before we changed. I believe it has a lot to do with that trip to the alter almost seven years ago. Thank you for being my husband. Thank you for loving our children. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for being my lover. Thank you for being my best friend. And most importantly, thank you for loving our Lord and striving to live a life that is pleasing to him.

Life will probably never get easy. We will probably always stress about money. We will probably wonder and worry about our children for the rest of our lives. We will probably move again in our life time. (Although, I hope it is much later in our lives!!) We will lose friends and gain new ones. We will laugh more. Cry more. Pray more. Love more. Live more. Work more. Dream. We will be hurt again. We will question our sanity at times. We may even have a goat again . . . just kidding. No more goats.

But I know as long as I have you, dear husband and God beside me, I can weather any storm that comes my way. I love you.

Always and Forever,
Kris

P.S. Does that picture above remind you of your first post-marriage Valentine's gift? I love you.

**********************************
Please check out other S.W.A.K. 's at We are THAT family. Have a happy Valentine's Day!!

Time is almost up!

Many of you may know that I am a Senior Consultant for Tastefully Simple. If you haven't yet tried any of our Fall-Winter products time is running out. . . March 8 to be exact. So please email me or visit my website if you would like more information. Some of you may want to stock up on your favorite product before it disappears. I am also always looking for hosts, if you are interested, please leave a comment. My site is: tastefullysimple.com/web/kcampbell2. I apologize but you will have to copy and paste. Thanks.

Weekend To Remember

Friends,

I want to extend an invitation to you to join us at FamilyLife's Weekend to Remember. We are going to be attending the one in Omaha on March 13-15, 2009. It will be held at the Omaha Hilton, but you do not have to stay there. I can get info for you on other hotels in the area if you like.

Of all the conferences to attend, this is at the top of our list. We would love for any of you to join us in Omaha, but you don't have to attend the Omaha one, you can attend one closer to you or farther away if you want to escape to someplace warm! We just encourage you to invest in your marriage whether you are doing great or struggling. As husband and wife, you are investing in your future and your children's future when you invest in your relationship.

We feel so strongly about Weekend to Remember that we became group coordinators. Check out the link above and join our group to save $80 per couple. We have heard of incredible miracles that have occurred in broken marriages throughout the years. I promise you won't regret this investment.

I should receive our brochures this week. If you would like one, I would be more than happy to mail one to you. Just let me know. Also, I believe there is a special discount for pastors and their wives.

ROMANTIC

My dear, sweet husband came home from work the other day. In and of itself, nothing out of the ordinary, except for when he pulled me in for a hug and a kiss he told me he was going to do the dishes for me. There have been some things going on in my life lately that have had me in a state of depression and the housework has been suffering. I have asked him for his help before and not much happened until this day. He had been listening to the Christian radio station while he worked and in turn heard the FamilyLife program about marriages.

Later in the evening he started ranting and raving (not really) about the program, telling me, I had it easy. All I had to do from here on out was sit around reading and eating bonbons! Sounded good to me except for the bonbon part. After further questioning, he told me about the acrostic they gave for 'romantic'. It is a way for men to remember how to romance their wives. Dave could only remember a couple of things from it. One of them being to support his wife's dreams. This will be the biggest challenge for him, because poor Dave married a dreamer with big dreams. He is a no-nonsense kind of fellow, so this is going to be a challenge. But, I think he is up for it.

The next day I went online to familylife.com and checked out the transcript. I have the acrostic to share with you in a moment, first I wanted to let you know that there is also one for women to apply to our husbands. At the moment I only have the "R" so when I have the rest of it I will post it as well. Here it goes:

R romance her
O offer help
M make time to listen
A adore her
N nourish & cherish her
T touch your wife (non-sexually)
I invest in her dreams
C commit to romance (out of bed)

Need I say more . . . and I am sure you can imagine what the acrostic that applies to our husbands is about! nudge. nudge. wink. wink.

Actually, I encourage you to visit the site and either listen to the broadcasts for last week or read the transcripts, there are some great things we need to remember on that site. And I will share more on this subject later. I also encourage you to visit my friend's site, she has been posting the Love Dare daily.

Before I go, I should tell you that I have the best husband in the world. And not only did he do the dishes that night, but several nights since. I am very blessed, not because he does the dishes, but because he loves me more than I know and he is very good about showing me how much he loves me.

Feb. 4th - A special day

I cannot believe that Matt is now 10. He is growing up so fast. Matt, we are so proud of you. You are a wonderful, caring young man. But, you need to stop growing . . . you will be taller than me in no time! We love you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!