Peanut Butter Pie in July

All I can think about is how badly I want peanut butter pie right now.  In fact, during my lunch break on Wednesday, I went to the store and bought all the ingredients to make one.  Life is certainly better with peanut butter in it.  Thank goodness no one in our family has a peanut allergy.  PBJ's are Karson and Miles's primary food group.

Here's my recipe for those who are interested:

Chocolate Pie Shell

3 oz. Cream Cheese

12 oz. Whipped Topping

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Confectioner's Sugar

1/4 Cup Milk

2 teaspoons Vanilla

Bag of Mini Chocolate Chips

*Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Fold in other in ingredients and mix well and place in pie shell. Chill overnight.

June was over about as soon as it began.  Karson has been pulling double time duty with both volleyball and basketball open gyms.  She wasn't able to go to the beach with Matt and the boys because of tryouts.  She's officially a 7th grade Spartan Volleyball player.  (team pic below)

 I sometimes think the social side of volleyball is sometimes more fun than the actual sport.  Karson has made some wonderful friends already on her new team and has lots of "old" one's from playing last year.  Her group has their on instagram account and group text account.  One time I picked up her phone, and she had 150 missed texts.  Sheesh!  Smh!  I wish I had some pictures from the two-day basketball camp at South that Karson participated in.  I was able to sneak away from work some and see two of her games.  She's a tough little player and worked hard.  Her team lost most of their games though - the teams they played were club teams which have been playing for months together.  I am anxious to see what the district and regional teams look like - hopefully, more like our team.

Speaking of sports, Miles is completely obsessed with golf. It's his new passion.  Matt has taken him to Riverview a few times and Paul Walker.  When they aren't playing on a course, Miles is either at Otte Golf or practicing at home with foam balls.  He.loves.it!  I got home from work on Tuesday and he said, "it's almost Sunday."  I said, "yeah, I guess?!? What's on Sunday Miles?"  He says, "well, the day after that, me and dad are going golfing."  Matt mowed a fairway and putting green in our backyard for him to practice on.  And, while we are on the subject of golf, Matt has decided to accept the Boys Golf Coach position at South.  Look out high schooler's, lil Miles Deaton is going to be the assistant coach.  However, golf runs entirely parallel to Karson's volleyball season, so our lives are about to get super crazy in the next two weeks (once KHSAA dead period is lifted).

 

Pool parties and hanging out with friends pretty much monopolizes our summer months. Well, that, and loads of Popsicles and water balloon fights.

 I mentioned in my last post that Matt made the decision to step down from ministry after about 19 years.  We have taken a couple of Sundays off to try and relax and re-group.  Church is a big part of our lives and will continue to be.  We haven't really committed to a new church group, and honestly, I'm not sure if we will settle down in one place.  I did know that I wanted to spend Father's Day at my home church - Greenwood Park - with my dad.  I grew up going there and have many memories and loads of friends there.  It was like a family reunion when I went to service two weeks ago.  In fact, I don't think I even got to talk to my dad because I was catching up with so many friends.  Two of my very closest childhood friends were at GP that morning (which is rare because they both don't live in BG).  We decided to take some selfies. I put our old camp photos in the collage.  Both Karson and Isaac will be going to camp with the GP group next week.

 Community hosted a farewell party for our family, the Vernon's and Katie Colter our children's minister at Barren River State park in mid-June.  We're thankful for our time (and memories) with the church and love all of our friends, young and old.

Last Thursday was ultra exciting in the Deaton house -- the NBA draft.  I had two little boys glued to the television for hours and commentating the entire time.  We're looking forward to next season!

What's Going On...

Our summer is officially underway, and while I am stuck at work, the rest of the family is in constant motion enjoying their summer break.

• We've had friends over to play and done lots of swimming.

• Karson has been pulling double duty at both volleyball and basketball open gyms on top of working out at home doing lots of jump roping and conditioning.

Spartan Volleyball camp was last Saturday.

Karson received a practice jersey to wear at open gyms for basketball and plans to participate in the team camp next Monday and Tuesday at South. I am limiting her to one open gym per day.  I don't want her to get hurt, yikes!

 

• Miles has been doing some golfing at Indian Hills and Paul Walker.  He's a natural and is constantly asking Matt questions about every aspect of the game.  Hands down - the cutest golfer ever!

• Matt has been playing in lots of scrambles recently. He played in one for HeathCo with his dad and brothers (John works at HeathCo) and won some cool prizes.  He played in the Member/Guest tournament at Indian Hills last weekend with Paul.  Their team took 3rd place and also won son nice prizes. 

• Matt and I celebrated 16 years of marriage on the 5th.  We went to our favorite restaurant Chuy's with Paul and Shannon and played cards afterwards.  We are party animals!  I knew Matt would show me up on the anniversary card front - he wrote a long and hilarious love note.  I can't imagine doing life without him by my side.  He makes me a better person and is my match in every way.  SO thankful God brought us together 19 1/2 years ago.  Whoa! 

•  We celebrated with John and Laura, my new little niece, baby Mae Kathryn, who will make her appearance in mid-August.  The Maglinger's hosted a baby shower for them last weekend.  I cannot WAIT to have a baby in the family again. 

• Matt and the boys had a little getaway to Destin, Florida with Paul, Shannon, the cousins and Meme.  Karson had to miss out on the fun because of SWMS Volleyball try-outs which landed this week.  If nothing else, she's a dedicated lil' athlete.

• Karson decided to chop her hair.  She's terribly tender-headed and wanted a short 'do' for the summer.

• Matt and I are officially taking a sabbatical from ministry. We have been hard at it for last 19 years.  After being with our current church for 13 years, we decided it was time to take a step-back and focus more on our family and what's best for us and them at this stage in our lives.  We've needed this for quite some time, but it's been a difficult decision.  I know God is at work and leading us in the direction he wants us to go.  For those of you praying bloggers out there, please add us to your list during this transitional period.  Full-time ministry has been a central part of our lives for our entire marriage.  It's strange to think about a weekend off - what is that exactly? 
  Our dear friends Weston and Katie joined stepped down from full-time ministry as well.  We've made lots of memories at Community and have nothing but love for the church and members that worship there.
  
  
  I'm sure I will have many more summer stories to tell, but this sums up the last two weeks or so.

Jerry Deaton and Intelligent Isaac

 Isaac and Jerry Deaton have been inseparable for the last 10 years.  We started celebrating Jerry's birthday on June 1 a few years back.  Isaac looks forward to it every year.  We invite all the stuffed animals in our house and usually a few party guests and have a celebration.  I buy Jerry Zebra cakes which are his favorite.  Pap bought Jerry a cookie cake for the party.  When I got home from work today, Isaac was covered on the couch with all his party guests (below) along with Uncle Seth, Pap, Nana & Meme.  He invited them all over for the party at 4:30 p.m. and they were all watching Mall Cop.  Funny side note about Mall Cop:  Isaac went to see the new Poltergeist last Friday.  I wouldn't encourage the average 10 year old to see a PG-13 movie, but Isaac really wanted to see it so I let him go with Pap.  I asked Pap how he liked the movie, and he told me Isaac said, "it was the best movie he's ever see.  Ahead of Mall Cop 2."  Yep, that sums up how my son thinks.

The party guests.

Jerry Deaton, a silent but important part of our family.

 

Isaac received a gift today - a letter of acceptance into 212 Academy.  I can't imagine any child being more "right" for Warren County's program than him, and he will benefit greatly from this program over the next two years.  He was reluctant to apply and gave me all kinds of grief about writing the two required essays for the application.   I'm glad I forced made him apply.

  Any kids that gets that excited about a stuffed animal's birthday party, needs to be in the gifted program, right?!?!

Final Fantastic FOUR

 The Fantastic Four made it to the final four in the Marshall Outdoor Tournament last Saturday. The weather forecast prediction was horrible - 80% chance of rain on Saturday.  We definitely weren't going to do a repeat of two weeks ago.  Thankfully the forecast changed, and it turned out to be a lovely day.  The day started bright and early - 8 a.m. and began with pool play.  We had five teams in our pool, and it took most of the morning and mid-afternoon to get all of those games in.  The girls played really well together and had a winning streak for the most part.  Out of the 10 games played, our team won 7 1/2.

One the teams were placed in brackets, the actual tournament started.  It was single elimination, and we started off playing a team from BGHS.  They were pretty tough, but we managed to pull out a win meaning we would be playing in the final four.  The next team we played was the team that had beat us two games in pool play.  The girls knew they would be a hard team to beat.  They played their hardest but ended up losing.  I thought all the girls played well.  It was a long but fun day.

There's a wonderful treasure right next to the interstate - Jerry's Restaurant.  I have loved going there since I was a kid.  It was on the By-Pass for years before moving out to Louisville Road.  I absolutely love their spaghetti.  It was actually the highlight of my Saturday.  I believe Karson and I have eaten there together 2-3 times over the last couple of years.  We aren't on that side of town that often, so we take advantage when we can.

Karson has started reading hte Twilight series books.  She's reading Eclipse right now and was wanting to check the movie out.  I got on WCPL's website to see if it was 'checked in'.  The DVD was at the Smiths Grove library branch so we took a little road trip down I-65 to retrieve it.  We also made a stop at Flavor Isle for a chocolate cone and hot fudge cake.  It was a Fantastic Saturday!