changes

If you are a return visitor to this blog, you've probably noticed a few changes. I have been playing today with the banner for the blog and have tried several different ones. I will probably keep fiddling with it until I can figure out how to get the pictures clearer, so don't bother getting used to this one.


I have been suffering from what a friend of mine called "blog envy" for a good while now. I just don't know enough to make my blog as professional looking or even as "cute" as other blogs, but I am learning little by little how to do a few things. I am sure that I could do more if I had more sophisticated computer programs to work with, but that would be a little silly for someone who is doing this just for fun. So, I'll just keep plugging along and, who knows, maybe I'll learn something useful along the way.

my first food post

I had never really thought about doing a post about food or cooking mainly because I am not a gourmet cook and I never really imagined that anyone would be interested in our simple fare, BUT after a conversation at a home school meeting last week, I decided to share a little. So, for my friend, who shall remain nameless, hang on, the lentils are coming!

First up is the pizza I made Monday night. You will notice that there are no vegetables on it. It is just hamburger and cheese. My personal favorite is sort of a fajita chicken pizza ... grilled chicken with bell pepper and onion. But, the kids like the hamburger and it was what I had on hand, so we went with it. I do use my bread machine to make my own crust and since I use whole wheat flour, I feel a little better about feeding the kids pizza.

For my friend at the home school meeting, here's the scoop on the lentils.

I was sharing with some of the ladies that I felt somewhat guilty for enjoying an array of snacks at the meeting while I had left my family at home to eat only lentils and rice. My friend confessed that she wasn't even sure what they were. So, just in case there is anyone else out there wondering the same thing, I'll tell you what I know ... which isn't much.

Lentils are a type of dry bean. They are the closest thing you can eat to a perfect protein without eating meat. They are also perfect for a late planner, like me. They cook in about 1/2 hour, unlike other dry beans that have to be soaked and then still take several hours to cook. I have to admit that I was a hold out on cooking lentils for a long time. My brother, who was single at the time, kept telling me that they were easy to cook and tasted good, but they seemed a little too "health food nut" for me. But, I finally gave in and cooked some and have been surprised to find that they have become my favorite of the dry beans we eat.

I cook mine with lots of water because my family likes the juice ... it is what my Daddy Tom (my Daddy's grandfather) would have called pot liquor. I season the beans with a little olive oil, salt, liquid smoke and Spike (a seasoning blend that can be found in the health food section of some stores ... I like it because it only has one ingredient that I can't identify so I have to assume that it is healthier than other seasonings). I also like to add a little ground red pepper, but my kids don't like it much. One word of caution, if you are planning to cook these little bity beans, don't overcook them, they get mushy very quickly.

Last night, I served them with sausage and corn fritters ~ which are quick, but I really prefer corn bread.

These are D's beans with his sausage and fritters mixed in ... not my favorite way to eat them, but I don't mind as long as he eats them.

And finally, I'll share my healthy version of the kids favorite chocolate chip muffins. They really like the ones that come from a mix. I have to admit, that they are easy and taste good, but we are trying to eliminate ingredients that we can't identify from our diet, so I decided to see if I could find a better way to satisfy the kids. I tried making blueberry muffins, which I love, but they didn't like the real blueberries. (They prefer the "blueberry" pellets in the mix muffins!)

So, as I was looking for another idea, I found a recipe for oatmeal muffins. I figured that since oatmeal cookies are good with chocolate chips that the muffins would be good, too. And, I was right.

They even passed the test of my extremely picky eater. Amazingly all three kids liked them.
Just for the sake of honesty, I must confess that I didn't tell the kids that these were oatmeal muffins and that the chocolate chips were just an extra ingredient. I just called them chocolate chip muffins. I did tell LB about the oatmeal after they finished eating, but we agreed to keep that little tidbit of information to ourselves.

Daybook ~ September 21st

Outside my window ... another cloudy day

I am thankful for ... my friends and family who helped me with LB’s tea party yesterday.

I am wearing ... gray sweats and an orange t-shirt.

I am hearing ... the kids discuss the movie they watched on TV last night.

I am creating ... an updated school/chore schedule and hopefully a place of peace for my hubby to come home to.

I am going ... to stay at home as much as possible this week.

I am reading ... the Nancy Drew book that LB got for her birthday.

I am hoping ... to work through a mountain of laundry today.

On my mind ... Ronnie and his work … this promises to be an insanely busy/stressful week and I want to keep our home life as simple as possible to help.

From the learning rooms ... co-op work today ~ LB has to create a timeline for Paddle to the Sea and we need to work on the vocabulary for Zoology. I think we’ll all do the timeline together, since I think JW would benefit from it too.

Pondering these words ... A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grevious words stir up anger. Proverbs 15:1 (I’m still working on this one from last week)

From the kitchen ... leftover mess from the tea party this weekend.

Around the house … catching up on the work neglected while we planned the birthday party.

One of my favorite things ...fresh sheets.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... nothing much outside of our normal weekly plans.

A picture thought I am sharing with you ... my baby girl on her 10th birthday.

Don't forget to visit The Simple Woman's Daybook to see lots more daybooks or to learn how to join in the fun.

double digits

This morning at 7:45 my firstborn child turned 10 years old. I have been dreading this day for weeks, but I am over that now ... it isn't like I could stop it from coming, although I did try to talk her into going backward this year ... she wouldn't go for it.

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the baby girl who completely changed my world on this day, 10 years ago. At this moment, her Daddy was proudly introducing her to her two grandmothers. He was so happy to be able to tell them "It's a Girl!" She was a beautiful baby, with a head full of blond hair! I will admit to being biased, but I am supposed to be, so I won't apologize for it.

I had an incredibly easy pregnancy with her. I lost weight, never got sick and didn't start wearing maternity clothes until I was 7 months along. If all of my pregnancies had been that easy, we would probably have 5 or 6 kids by now! There was very little drama in my pregnancy with LB, which she has more than made up for in the last 10 years. The only trouble came in the last half hour before she was born when my labor wouldn't progress properly and her heart rate began dropping and my blood pressure began rising so the doctor decided to deliver by c-section. I must tell you that this was my biggest fear all through my pregnancy. My sister-in-law had a c-section with her first son and it was a nightmare ... one I didn't want to experience. And, truth be told, I didn't. I recovered very quickly, with very little pain and no real problems. And none of that mattered because I had my sweet little girl to hold and that was the only thing I could concentrate on.

Fast forward a few years and I'll admit to lots of struggles with that sweet little girl, who has a personality much like her mother's. Poor thing, she looks just like me, too! But, today, I am celebrating my daughter. I have never doubted that she is a gift from God, for which I will forever be thankful.

Daddy's tree frog - the day she came home from the hospital

Her first day at church

On my parents' porch

My favorite outfit!Almost 2

Mother's Day, 2007 ~ wearing my dress

With her baby girl ~ Maria

Happy Birthday, little girl ...

you'll always be my baby!

pumped

It happens about this time every year. I get excited. I start planning what I am going to pack and talking to the kids about what they want to do. The kids start getting excited, too.

So, what sparks this excitement in our household?

The power of a simple gift.

I first heard about Operation Christmas Child about 7 or 8 years ago when it was introduced to our church by a lady who had lived in California and participated in the project there. I have to admit to be a little slow to catch the vision for this ministry. I had never heard of Samaritan's Purse or Operation Christmas Child. Of course, I had heard of Franklin Graham, but that didn't impress me too much. Still, packing shoe boxes was easy and fairly inexpensive and LB thought that it was fun (she was the only child old enough at the time to participate with me) so we got on board, slowly.

But, it wasn't until I really began to understand the impact of this ministry that I truly "caught the vision" for my personal involvement and, along with others in our church, began to see an opportunity for the church to get involved as well. As a result, for the last few years our church has served as a relay center for OCC and has been truly blessed in the process.

Over the years, I have come to love this ministry. If the only purpose was to bring joy into the lives of hurting children, I would still love this ministry. But, this ministry goes beyond simply supplying momentary excitement through the receiving of a gift. Every box that is packed and prayed over represents at least one opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a child who might not have ever heard the name of Jesus before.

Last year, that number was 7.4 million children.

And many of those boxes opened the door for the Gospel to be shared with the families of the children ~ parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings. People who are hurting, desperate, and forgotten and who all of the sudden realize that somewhere, someone cares and they want to know why anyone would care about them. And then someone tells them ... the person who packed this box loves you because God loves you. He knows who you are and what you have done and He still loves you.

He knows who I am and what I have done and He still loves me.

If God can use me for His purposes, surely He can use a simple shoebox filled with gifts and dedicated to Him so that He can minister to a hurting child that I have no opportunity to touch in any other way.

I suppose that you have noticed by now that I am passionate about this ministry. I would love to share with you all of the reports that I have heard over the years of how this ministry has impacted both the lives of the children who receive the boxes and those who pack the boxes, but I can't. But, you can visit the Samaritan's Purse website and find all the information you need to see the impact of this ministry and also to get involved.

I hope you will catch the vision quicker than I did.

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ September 14th

Today, I am rejoining the ranks of daybookers. For those who may not be familiar with daybooking you can check it out at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Outside my window ... big white clouds overhead and gray ones in the distance, and a yard in desperate need of mowing.

I am thinking ... about the busy week ahead.

I am thankful for ... forgiveness.

I am wearing ... lounge pants and an old VBS t-shirt.

I am remembering ... my Granny, who would have been 90 yesterday.

I am creating ... plans for a special birthday party this week.

I am going ... to a kick-off for Operation Christmas Child tonight.

I am reading ... The Canon of Scripture and Family Driven Faith (again).

I am hoping ... just to keep up this week.

On my mind ... my Daddy's shoulder surgery on Wednesday.

From the learning rooms ... the kids are doing chores at the moment since school is after lunch on Mondays.

Pondering these words .... A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grevious words stir up anger. Proverbs 15:1

From the kitchen ... I need to plan a menu for the week, but for now, I am planning to cook chicken and peas to take to my parent's house tonight since they are babysitting the kids for us.

Around the house ... laundry and cleaning ... normal!

One of my favorite things ... packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... a homeschool mom's meeting tomorrow night and preparing for LB's birthday party this weekend.

A picture thought I am sharing with you ... I have used these before, but it seems appropriate to share these again this week. This picture was given to my great-grandmother by my Granny - the one who would have been 90 yesterday.

anticipation revisited

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about looking forward to a family reunion the next day. Well, it was a great day. I enjoyed catching up with my cousins and seeing our kids play together.
This weekend, we repeated that same exercise, just with a different family. Today's family was my mother's father's family. So last night I again spent the night cooking and this morning, after sending the kids off to ride with my parents, Ronnie and I packed up the van and enjoyed the 45 minute drive to Roosevelt State Park without any squabbling children and managed to find something to talk about other than our little angels.

I truly wish I had some pictures to show you of my children walking a large drain pipe close to the picnic pavilion where this annual party is held. These pictures, if I had any, would be even more fun (for me anyway) because my cousins and I walked that same pipe as children, though very few of us were brave enough to try it today.

Alas, though, I don't have any pictures because my digital camera has bitten the dust (with a little help from my sons) and the only one I have available is the old 35mm my parents gave me in high school. I am not sure if it even still works, but I may have to try it out since we have a milestone birthday coming up this week.

And finally, I suppose that this is our week for squirrel encounters. Today, while walking our little Hurricane to the clubhouse to find a more sanitary restroom, he met a small squirrel on the path. This little fellow (the squirrel, not the boy) had obviously been fed by visitors to the park at some time, because he got within six inches of my little guy and would have come closer with any encouragement from him. Since we didn't have anything to feed him (which I am sure you aren't supposed to do anyway) we just watched for a few minutes and proceeded on to our destination. Again, it would have been really nice to have a camera about that time. If I could have captured the moment you would have gotten to see how excited it made D to be that close to the squirrel. At first, he couldn't decide if he wanted to be excited or scared, but then he calmed down and loved it!

I realize that this post has been rather rambling, but it kind of fits the kind of day I have had so I guess it is appropriate. It is now past the time I should be in bed and since my hubby is already snoring, I think I'll head there now.