It's a good thing she's so darn cute!

(i guess he's pretty cute, too)

Matt called me on Wednesday when he got home, and said, "What happened to Mae?" To which I replied, "I don't know what you're talking about." He proceeded to ask me if I had seen her or been home to let her out. We had piano lessons after school and I had been out since mid-morning, so I hadn't been home to let her out the past 3-4 hours... not too long for her to wait, but, I guess it's a different story when you're stomach is upset.

He said she was nasty and must have pooed in her crate and rolled in it. I figured that would be an obvious conclusion, if she was dirty and smelled bad also. Needless to say, I was SO excited to get home and walk into my kitchen, which should smell of yummy cinnamon bread like the way I had left it at 10:45 in the morning. Much to my chagrin, my house did not smell of yummy cinnamon bread, but, rather rotten, nasty poo poo smell. I wasn't sure if my Scentbug from Bath and Body Works could even touch this. Be assured, I was hopeful that pineapple orchid would soon overrule this stinch in my house.

Mae proceeded to look at me and jump around in her normal, "I'm so happy to see you", jolly, puppy way. It's a good thing, because she was indeed covered in dry liquid poo-- and she smelled like a dog who had jumped around and laid in liquid poo too. Matt took the old green truck (green beast-- affectionately named by me), Mae, and the three girls to the lake for a couple of rounds of shampoo and lolickling in the lake, while I had the joy of mopping my entire kitchen, wiping out the crate and quickly moving on to supper prep.

I guess it has made for a few laughs and for a funny story for sure. In some ways, it takes me back to the days of two in diapers and one in a pull-up at night. At least we're not in that stage anymore and the baby in our house can be taken out and hosed down or taken for a dip in the lake when she has poo poo issues.

In Full Swing...

Well, the break in any posts for a while is due mostly to the fact that all three of my girls are in school... all day! You would think that I could spend more time doing silly things like blogging, Facebooking, napping, etc... for a good chunk of the day... but life has really been a dance of sorts lately. As a dear friend said to me yesterday on the phone, "you're just not sure of your steps yet." This is quite true, actually. Many changes for our family lately, and this whole "all day" school thing (however, precious and so thankful for how they are being molded and nurtured daily) is a little bit of an adjustment for our two younger girls.

Ava was quite anxious to pray last night before dinner and the maturity in her prayer... Wow... these girls are growing up so quickly! She also led us in a song based on Psalm 23. The part where she sang "I shall not want for anything". Whoa-- what convicting words straight from scripture that I pray are being engraved on their little hearts.

Riley is also learning a verse a week and her verse last week was Proverbs 15:1-- "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger." Once again, words that I need to hide in my heart as well. She's changing daily it seems and growing up so quickly. She started piano with her Grandma last week and is so excited about this new venture for her.

Emma Grace is quickly approaching double digits in just two short weeks. Where in the world have these 10 years gone? She is approaching little lady-hood far too quickly. She is quite the help around here and wants to assist in most any way she can with her sisters and our animals. I'm so thankful for the bright spot she is in our lives!

I'm so sure the years fly by simply because it is a calling that consumes so beautifully our time and most of our energies. Even when the mama feels a little crazed over trying to creatively fix healthy lunch/snack options after dinner has been fixed and cleaned up and I've cleaned up puppy messes constantly-- as we try to successfully train Mae that "potty goes outside." (speaking of puppy messes-- story to come...)

Lord Jesus, help me to savor these days and bring you glory in such wonderful days. And, thank you that you keep reminding me of my need to be solely dependent on you!

Grill Master

I'm the predominant cook around here. I love to cook! Now, I'll admit... sometimes I would much rather eat out than cook because I don't mind time off from the kitchen and I just am a general foodie at heart. I mentioned before that I've sort of "taught" Matt how to eat well. He sometimes even tries to pick out the ingredients I might of used at dinner time when we are eating a new meal. Matt-- "Do I detect basil?" Me-- "No." Matt-- (very enthusiastically) "MINT!" Me-- "No" Matt-- "Oh, I know, is that the garlic I taste? It's pungent, but it's good!"

So, when it comes to grilling, Matt is the Master. He's tried his hand at smoked chicken, smoked brats, boston butts, beer can chicken.... But, I don't really try to touch his artful way of smoking a burger. Last night he smoked our burger over some soaked hickory chips. It was probably his best ever... just sayin. We topped it off with some muenster cheese, romaine lettuce, red onion and probably our last home grown tomato from the summer season.

Thanks for cooking a jam up burger after a long day's work out in this dreaded humid weather that only South Carolina produces with perfection in late August days. The burger was delish and made the Nascar race you were watching a little more endurable.

Learning the tricks of the trade

The alarm rudely went off this morning at 4am. Matt politely turned it off and set it to go off 1 hour later-- 5am. (although not much of an improvement) Matt has been getting up at this time much more since the birth of our new lawn business, YellowDog Lawn Care. But, myself, well, I'm not too keen on early mornings... Matt is not too keen on them either, however, it is 2 degrees cooler at 5am in the morning than the rest of the day.

We pulled our sleepy girls out of bed around 5:40 and hit the road for Georgia to buy an enclosed trailer. Due to our super long day and early start, I traded with Matt around the half way mark home and hit the road so he could attempt to rest (tough at times with three chatter boxes in the back). Although a little timid about pulling this gi-normous trailer, my sweet husband encouraged me that "I had this in the bag". It wasn't too bad, I must admit. He hit me with one more challenge as we pulled up to our house. "Honey, I'm gonna coach you, but I want you to back this baby in the driveway." Whoa... did he remember how much we just paid for this thing and how nice and shiny it is?

I have to say, I even impressed myself. I better be careful and keep some of my talents under wraps or I might be finding myself learning some other tricks of this trade.

By the way, babe-- thanks for all of your sweaty, back-breaking work you do daily to help us eat and pay bills. You are incredibly driven to provide for your family and I will be eternally grateful to you for the sacrifices you have and continually make.

On an extra note, I've trained Matt to enjoy food, not just eat to survive. My parents have always been fans of eating in local restaurants and what we affectionately refer to as "holes in the wall". Matt is almost more passionate about this than I am. But as we got close to our destination in Georgia, we passed a tiny restaurant that looked a little sketch. (Which is all the more appealing if you know what you're doing.) There was a makeshift smokehouse right by the road next to this little "hole in the wall". Matt saw that billowing smoke and he had to check it out, once trailer was in full tow. We got a half rack of ribs and two barbeque sandwiches for the road. The bbq was decent (insert important information here: we've been exposed to some of the best bbq in the south and are quite picky about our bbq. Mostly because my dad can cook some mad crazy, yummy low country style mess! Mmmmm!) The ribs however where pretty tasty. They had some good dry rub action and salty bark on the outside. It was of course accompanied by some good, sweet iced tea. I love our adventures together, even when they are spent in a truck all day eating tasty ribs and traveling through countless podunk towns.

Maybe the last rodeo for the radio flyer...

We've slowly been going through some of our junk and have determined that we are ready to part with some of the things that don't get much use around our house anymore. One of them being, the radio flyer wagon that once held our two youngest for trips to the park, zoo, fair, highschool football games, etc. With our new little buddy in tow, Ms. Mae (our new puppy), Ava gladly decided to be along for the ride in the radio flyer trip to the park. We had a friend playing a tennis match at the park just up the road from our house.

What two little cuties! Everyone is so treasured in our home... but, look at that little girl in a 4th of July outfit (sporting it mid-August mind you :) and that little puppy who gladly took the ride in our little red wagon together. (It won't be long before she wears us out before we can wear her out)-- that is, Mae.

So thankful for the sweet little reminders of what really matters in life. Our prayer is that we are leaving a legacy for these little girls God has entrusted to us. A legacy that includes loving God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength... living a life that boldly proclaims, "Lord, anything, anytime, anywhere-- I'm yours"... and of course a legacy that possibly involves a yellow lab in the future also.

this is a first...

I've made all kinds of cakes and desserts before, in fact, if the truth be known... I get really excited about trying new things. This German Chocolate Cake was a first for me, per a request from a dear friend. She wanted a German Chocolate Cake for her mom's birthday. (It's her favorite kind of cake.) Because she knows me so well, she knew that this would not only tickle me to help her out, but, like I said before... I get excited about the whole process and challenge of baking something new. Apparently it was a hit, so I'll have to include it in my "file" under, "do this recipe again". (Which doesn't exist really, unless you count the disorganized basket in one of my cabinets.) Maybe I'll make it again, sooner than later, for a special aunt in our family who also loves this classic.

It's not the most attractive cake, but don't they always say, "it doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it tastes good."

Our newest addition

So, for those who know us well, this will come as no surprise... but the Beyer family is deep in love. Let me explain. I'm not referring to my loving marriage, or our three girls whom we love deeply, but the kind of love that sometimes even catches you by surprise when you least expect it.

She is blonde like the rest of the girls in this family and if you are a sucker like all of us, you shouldn't visit the Beyer household for a few weeks because you are bound to fall hard as well.

Her name is Mae and she's here to stay.