Week in Review

Some exciting things have been happening in the Daukas household. Way more exciting than MRI's! Rylee has cut her first two teeth!! Her first bottom tooth broke through the skin last week and the other broke through this morning. We are all rejoicing... teething is no fun for baby or mommy :-) But even in her misery she is still a sweet thing. Also, Rylee has mastered crawling. She began around five months and this past month she has gotten quicker and moved from an army crawl to a hands and knees crawl. Lately I'll find her in the kitchen, hallway, trevor's room. She is quite the explorer!


There has also been some sweet moments with the kids enjoying Rylee. They'll get on the floor and crawl with her or sit and play with her. There is even one toy that gets all three playing together! She gets the biggest kick out of her brother and sister.

Do Not Fear

"Do not fear" Zephaniah 3:16
"What? Not even a little?"
"No, do not fear."
"Surely I may show some measure of fear?"
"No, do not fear."
Spurgeon, Beside Still Waters



I was thankful that I read this before my MRI yesterday. I repeated these words over and over as they pushed me into the tunnel. I repeated something else my husband told me minutes earlier... "don't open your eyes tara, don't open your eyes." It worked for a little while but then it got to be too much and well, I opened them. "AHHHHH get me out of here" my body screamed. I broke out in sweats everywhere and began to shake. My neck felt like is was going to expload from holding still. Now, amazingly enough I didn't ask to be taken out but I did move my head. Which works just as well as asking to be taken out, without having to face your pride. The lady came in very quickly and pulled me out saying "you moved your head". She had to reposition me and start over. Oh man I had no idea how clasustrophobic I was until yesterday. Supposedly it was an "open" MRI. But I've never felt more closed in in my life!! By the grace of God only did I make it through that test! I literally prayed and begged for mercy the entire time!! I was always a second away from losing it completely. Which I find comical. There is nothing painful about an MRI. I should've enjoyed being able to sit still for 40 minutes and not having to chase kids around. But unfortunately I did not find laying completly still while loud noises beep in your ear enjoyable. If I ever need one again they will have to drug me :-) Or as my old pastor said to me in response to him getting another MRI " Forget drugged I need to be completely unconscious!". You may wonder why I got an MRI. Well I've had some periodic numbness in my hands and arms recently and when I saw my dr. last week she thought it best to rule out some things before going to the more likely explanations like pinched nerve etc. I'm in complete faith for the results and just really glad the MRI is done!

Crazy Hair Day

This brings crazy baby Daukas hair to a new level... no joke I didn't do a thing she just woke up like this...




but thankfully it's nothing a nice bath can't fix!

God who Saves

I was reminded afresh last night that it is God who saves! On Tuesday nights, for six weeks, our church hosts a class called Life 101. It is, after date night, my favorite night of the week. Life 101 for you old sovereign grace folks is our church's version of Alpha. It's a place to invite unbelievers or maybe new believers seeking to grow in their faith. Guests arrive and are greeted warmly by some members from our church. They'll then join a table of six to ten people, eat a nice dinner, hear a talk on who Jesus is and afterwards a table leader will lead a discussion. Their are a couple of things I love about Life 101. One is seeing people from our church giving up a night to serve others. It can often be a family event. Some teens and singles serve in childcare, we have table servers, greeters and of course as I mentioned earlier table leaders. In many ways it reminds me of when Chris and I planted a church. To see members come and take ownership of life 101 and evangelize to their friends is well very refreshing!

Chris and I like to attend but we also like to invite. We haven't always had success in our invitation. Last life 101 class we invited our neighbors. Out of the three sets we invited the one we thought was least likely to come, came. They finshed the class and now are attending the church regularly and continue to seek and ask questions about Jesus. So this class we again invited our other neighbors. One set we've invitied four or five times. I'm so thankful for my husband who is persistent. Chris again invited him Monday and last night he came. He is not a believer but is very open and curious about Christianity. He sat with Chris and after the class asked him what we mean when we say "we are saved". Chris had a great discussion with him and he said next week he is going to bring his family! Also last night my aunt who I invited came for the first time and brought her niece and nephew! So Chris sat with our neighbor at one table and I sat with my aunt and her guests at another. During the message I was praising God for the miracle of salvation! So many different faces in the room, many not saved but in God's sovereignty came last night and heard the gospel. Seeds were planted and I pray that God will do HIS saving work in their life!

Trevor's First Swim Lesson

Today was Trevor's first swim lesson at the swim school. We have been blessed to have our good friend Becky Ross as a teacher. She started teaching Taylor at age two and Taylor been going on and off since. She is doing AMAZING by the way. She has mastered freestyle, backstroke getting their with butterfly and is starting to learn breaststroke! Why so young you ask? Well in AZ there are pools everywhere (including my parents house) and sadly all summer long you hear about drowning after drowning. So we view it as a survival skill. And really up until age four survival skills are all they are taught. Another reason we picked swimming over other sports is because Chris swam all throughout high school and went to college with a swimming scholarship. So you never know it could be in their blood! I for the record swam competively too when I was young but once I hit high school the 5am practice was too much. I still dislike 5am :-)

Taylor & Trevor are completely opposite in almost every way and it's no different when it comes to the pool. We enrolled Taylor because she was scared to death of the pool. If she ever feel in she would completely freak out and drown. Trevor on the other hand has NO fear and will jump in a pool at any given opportunity! Did I mention my parents have a pool...
Ok so here's some pictures from the morning.





doesn't look to bad huh? Well once he figured out it wasn't going to be all fun & games he screamed the entire lesson! I mean screamed at the top of his lungs. And guess what his teacher Becky told me afterwards... he'll be way easier to teach then Taylor! Haha! Thank you Becky for putting up with mine and countless others crying children!

My New Friend-edited

Meet my new friend...




An evenflo gate! We've been looking for a gate wide enough to fit our walls for awhile now! None of the ones at babies- r -us or target worked. We gave up hope until a month ago when we visited Chris' brother and wife (thx- Jeff & Brandy) and saw a gate at their house. They gave us this website and we were off and running. It arrived a few days ago and I LOVE it! It helps keep Trevor out of trouble. Well some trouble...Trevor's a smart boy and if he can't get into trouble in the kitchen and living room he'll find it elsewhere. Since the new gate he has been more curious about what's behind closed doos. I've found him in the bathroom playing in the toliet, in my bedroom smearing lipstick everywhere. Oh yeah and he found some crayons in Taylor's room and, no he didn't color with it, he ate it! So I've concluded that I need not only one gate but a few... maybe a big playard to coral him in all day :-)

trev, as you can see, is not to fond of the gate...


often I'll find him on the other side saying "up, please" again & again. It helps that he's so darn cute!!!

Are you ready to meet God?

Walking out of his father's hospital room where just moments earlier his father passed away, John Piper(pastor,author,speaker), asks a young man " Are you ready to meet God?"

I once heard in a sermon that the statistics are quite surprising when it comes to death. 100 out or 100 people will die! Yet it is so easy to go about our days forgetting the inevitable. We will all stand before a holy judge one day. William S.H. Piper was ready to face his maker. He has lived a God glorifying, fearing life and left behind an incredible legacy. John Piper penned a journal entry the night his father died and has humbly shared it on his blog. Here is a taste of what you'll find:

Tuesday, March 6, 2007. 2 a.m.

The big hospital clock in room 4326 of Greenville Memorial Hospital said, with both hands straight up, midnight. Daddy had just taken his last breath. My watch said 12:01, March 6, 2007.

I had slept a little since his last morphine shot at ten. One ear sleeping, one on the breathing. At 11:45, I awoke. The breaths were coming more frequently and were very shallow. I will not sleep again, I thought. For ten minutes, I prayed aloud into his left ear with Bible texts and pleadings to Jesus to come and take him. I had made this case before, and this time felt an unusual sense of partnership with Daddy as I pressed on the Lord to relieve this warrior of his burden.

I finished and lay down. Good. Thank you, Lord. It will not be long. And, grace upon grace, hundreds of prayers are being answered: He is not choking. The gurgling that threatened to spill over and drown him in the afternoon had sunk deep, and now there was simple clear air, shorter and shorter. I listened from where I lay next to him on a foldout chair.

That’s it. I rose and waited. Will he breathe again? Nothing. Fifteen or twenty seconds, and then a gasp. I was told to expect these false endings. But it was not false. The gasp was the first of two. But no more breaths. I waited, watching. No facial expressions. His face had frozen in place hours before. One more jerk. That was all. Perhaps an eyebrow twitch a moment later. Nothing more.

for the rest of the entry go here

Let Piper's question be asked of you today: Are you ready to meet God?

New Recipe For The Weekend

My mom has a heart problem and for the past few years has been restricted to a low salt diet. Poor thing! It's not easy being on a low sodium diet- you start to see how much salt is really in the everyday foods we eat. But not willing to be defeated she has researched and come up with some amazing, healthy, new reciepes! This is a recent favorite of mine from their house that has become a favorite in our house as well.

Spaghetti with Wild Mushroom Sauce

1 T olive oil
1 C sliced mushrooms ( we use the cremini mushrooms from Trader Joes)
1/3 C chopped onion (can use any type but I like the sweet onion)
1 med clove of garlic
14.5 ounce can no salt diced tomatoes undrained
1/2 C water
1 T brown sugar
1 Bay Leaf
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/8 ts pepper
6 ounce can no salt tomato paste
1/8 tsp cayenne (opt)
1/2 can of small tomato sauce

Heat a large nonstick skillet over med. high. Add oil swirl to coat bottom, cook mushrooms, onion and garlic for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer covered for 1 to 2 hrs, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf before serving.

* for meat lovers this goes great with Meatballs. But even my husband, who eats meat with everything, loves this recipe on it's own!

My Tax Rap Video

An old friend of Chris & I's, James, did this video for a Turbo Tax rap contest. We got a kick out it and hey if you vote for him he can win 25,000 dollars! I think he said if he won he'd share the money with those who voted for him.... right James?

Give it five stars here...

Has this ever happened to you....

I had a mommy brain moment this morning. They used to be pregnancy moments but have transfered into "I have three little ones under four and each have taken a part of my brain" moments. A guy called this morning to schedule a life insurance appointment with Chris and I. He asks for our address and I pause and say "464, no wait it's 494..." he writes it down and as he asks some more questions I go and get my liscense to confirm and have to go back and say "uh sir, sorry, my address is 484 " good thing this wasn't an emergency :-)

*don't worry mom I used fake number to protect my privacy!

A must try recipe

You don't see me posting recipes on here often... or ever. My husband likes what he likes and only occasionally does trying something new bless him. Usually the recipe would need to fall into a meat or pasta catergory. Even better if it's both. However, when I saw this recipe from on Megan's blog I knew it would be a winner! We LOVE this meal! We tried it a few weeks ago and then made it again for some friends earlier in the week. So for those of you who haven't seen this recipe yet here it is! Give it a try this weekend. In AZ it's perfect grilling weather!

*side note- we found the gravy to be more of a dipping sauce...not a drench all over your meal type. Just our preference though.

BOURBON & BROWN SUGAR FLANK STEAK
w. GARLIC CHIVE MASHED POTATOES (Cooking Light magazine)

STEAK:
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. minced green onions
1/4 c. bourbon
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 (2 lb) flank steak,
cooking spray
1/2 tsp. Cornstarch

To prepare steak, combine first 7 ingredients in a large Ziploc bag; add steak.
Seal and marinate in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally.
Remove steak from bag; reserving marinade.
Broil or Grill steak, about 5 minutes each side. Cut diagonally across grain.
Combine marinade and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

GARLIC CHIVE MASHED POTATOES:
3 lb. Sm. Red potatoes
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 c. sour cream
1/3 c. 2% milk
2 1/2 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1/4 c. chopped fresh chives

Place potatoes and garlic in a large pot, cover with water.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Return potatoes and garlic to pan and place over medium heat.
Add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, and 1/4 tsp. Pepper.
Mash potato mixture to desired consistency with a potato masher. Stir in chives.

Serve 2-3 steak slices with mound of potatoes, and drizzle all with gravy. Serves 6-8 people.

Boy + Rain = Mess

I made the mistake of letting Trevor go out back after lunch yesterday forgetting that it had rained early that morning. AZ weather will do that to you. It'll rain for five mintues then back to clear blue skies five later! I came out to check on Trevor and he had, not suprisingly, found a huge pile of mud and was eating it. The concerning thing was he didn't seem to care that he was eating mud...

Continually Come

I read Psalm 71 & 73 this morning during my devotional. Both Psalms had the word continually in them.

Ps 71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come
Ps 73:23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel.

I was struck this morning by that word and very much aware of how I continually need God and his strength and wisdom. It's so much more than just meeting with him in the morning. I need him to continually meet me throughout the day. He's strength is there when it's 4:45am and Trevor decides he is ready for the day. He's strength continues to be there when it's after breakfast and the kids begin to bicker and fight, he's wisdom continues to be there when I need help discerning the heart of my child and again he is my refuge when I lack energy in the afternoon and sleep is still far off. I am so thankful for this truth! May you turn to God continually today to meet you in whatever need you have!

Rylee- 6 month update

Rylee turned six months this weekend. Wow how time flies! She is such a sweet little girl and continues to be an amazing sleeper (thank you Lord!). In the past two weeks she has also learned to crawl. It's not the normal on both hands and knees crawl yet, although she's close. It's more like an army crawl, knees go up then she lunges forward, knees up, forward etc. Bottom line, she's mobile. So much for my "let's not put her on the floor till five months" tatic to keep her from crawling early :-) Also, as of this weekend, she was officially weaned. It's the earliest I've weaned any of my kids but Chris and I both felt it was time. I have been nursing and or pregnant for 2 yrs and 9 months straight. Now I don't say that to complain, it's been my joy to carry and feed these kids! That being said it is nice to be done for a little while- plus there is a whole wardrobe in my closet that will be opening back up to me!

Rylee was placed by the pink pillow and I come back out to find her over by Trevor...


What was it that made her pass all the other toys and head off in this direction?


On no, another train lover! Trevor wasn't too happy when he saw that Rylee was eating one of his trains... so it begins!

I've had fun dressing the girls in matching clothes. Taylor loves it!

Trevor's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Trevor's birthday. In keeping with tradition he awoke to balloons. Awaking to balloons in your room on your birthday is something my parents started when my brother and I were young. I loved that as a kid, and even now I sometimes secretly wish for balloons on my birthday:-) So we strayed a little from the tradition this time and put balloons on the rug instead of his room. There is enough things that seem to wake him up early we didn't want to give him one more thing to wake up and get out of bed for. Later on we packed up and went to the park for some pizza and cake. We were joined by our friends and family.

Here are Trevor's friends! They each were given a thomas the train sippy cup and bubbles as party favors.

Isn't this the cutest train cake! Our friend and sometimes babysitter Denise, made it for Trevor! It was so hard keeping him from digging his hands into it. I finally put it in our car until it was time to eat.
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My parents got this motorized train set for Trevor. When we were cleaning up Papa D set it up for him and he just sat for 10-15 minutes in awe of it.


Rylee and Zoe, who are one day apart, chilled together in the double stroller


Here are my two cute pregnant friends! Lory, holding Rylee, is due any day now and my other friend Tiffany is due in a few weeks. Both are having future girl friends for Rylee!


My parents with Trevor


Chris' Mom with Trev


Trevor with his Thomas the Train backpack and train book