Goodbye Peas

Little Man woke up puny and fussy and seemed like he needed a couple more hours of sleep.   He certainly needed some Momma love.  

I told him that maybe he wasn't feeling so well b/c he hadn't eaten much lately....thanks to the peas. 
Big tears welled up in those brown eyes at the mention of the peas.  At that point I was ready to throw in the towel. 

But out of nowhere his 9yo brother jumped to his side.
"Momma, I'll eat the peas!" 
"Can I eat the peas for him?"
"I WANT the peas!"
Can I please??"

The tears that I was fighting back were freely flowing now!  And there was hope in Little Man's eyes....and the beginning of a smile. 

Oh thank you Jes!  Thank you for stepping in as the picture of Christ in your brother's behalf!  Your momma is so blessed. 

Jes ate the peas.  All 14 of them.  Cold.  With the same enjoyment as if it were chocolate.  Big smile and a
"Thank you Momma!" 

I'm so in love with this kid!

Catching Up

Did you have a good Christmas?

This was one of my most favorite Christmases.  I think it had a lot to do with intentionally slowing down with regular life and concentrating on the holiday goodness that I've always wanted to do.  Loved it. 

Egg nog night.  A Christmas Carol.  Service projects.  Shoe boxes. Making ornaments.  Ginger bread houses.  Advent. Crafts. Oodles of coloring sheets.  Games.   A special Awana night.  A Texas trip to love on my family.  Goodness galore! I'm so thankful. 

Honey did practically all the Christmas shopping this year.  I'm sure that had something to do with it being one of my favorite Christmases. :-)

And now I'm enjoying my house getting back in shape.  Christmas stuff is packed away and I'm starting to see the floor in my room again. 

~I got a great report from my rheumatologist today.  He thinks I'm doing great.  And once the swelling in my thumb goes away we'll start to talk about weaning off my meds.   I don't go back until March except for labs!

~Little Man and I are having a show down over 14 peas.  He's had them for 3 meals now and he'll have them in the morning for breakfast.  If I had any idea he hated them so I don't think I would've picked this battle.  He's very good natured about it though and understands that he won't see another bite of food until

they are gone. 

           

14 peas My Love.  You can do it. 

~Movie night tomorrow at IBC for the Awana folks!  Oh how I miss my little boys!!  I hope they had a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to hearing about it tomorrow.   Can't wait!

~I'm cleaning out my house.  If you need any junk, see me.

~One of the things I want to teach my kids and be consistent with myself is keeping our bed areas neat.  My boys like to store all kinds of treasures on their beds.  My girls and I like to junk up our night stands.  I'm trying to remember (and teach them) that the first place to start is our own personal spaces. 

~I'm reading this....

Love love love.  I so want to be there.  Or somewhere where we can feed the sheep in a more significant way.  I really want to do a family mission trip next Christmas instead of Christmas presents.  But I don't want to be caught up in my own ideas and plans.  Just open to whatever God has for us.  But I have an idea that it's much more than this.  I better not get started....it'll be a super long post. 

Also reading this...

Sweet family and I always learn a lot from them. 

Fixing to re-read these....

~Oatmeal soaking for tomorrow's breakfast.  Beans soaking for movie night's chili. 
I love winter cooking!

Ramblings Of Discontent

I can not even count the times in my life when I've considered myself blessed by material gain.
A beautiful house.  Reliable cars.  Candles on the table.  A new red Kitchen Aid. 
I'm happy.  I'm blessed.  I'm full. 

But I'm also done.  I'm like the disciples when Jesus was feeding the 5000.  Except when Jesus hands me the bread and fish I just keep thanking Him for such a great lunch.  I don't pass it out.  I keep it for myself and consider myself blessed. 

Is that the blessing?  The things that are used up, broken, lost, or stolen? 

Reading tonight I came across Psalm 67.
"May God by gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!"  (v 1-3)

Here it says we want the graciousness and blessings of God upon us.  But why? 

So that we can share it with others!!  So that they will know Him!  And all the peoples will praise Him!

THAT'S the blessing. 

THAT's what I want. 

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Then I said, "Here am I!  Send me."  Isaiah 6:8

Yes God, send MEEEE!!!

There is a burning in my soul.  A discontent.  A need for more of God to share with others.   The others to share God with. 

It's like VBS 2010 only more.  And I didn't think there could ever be more than that!  I feel an emergency to alter the landscape. 

And I just don't think that my current lifestyle of  houses, cars, a good job, and super foods will cut it. 

She said YES!!

I invited my neighbor to church tomorrow and she said YES!!

Water!

We came home from a GREAT Christmas weekend trip to TX and discovered that night that our goldfish pond was full.  Weird.  Did it rain? 

The next day it was fuller.  And the walkway was wet.  And some of the yard. 

So my 15yo, Ethan, and Honey worked until dark trying to fix it.  They turned the water off.  Dug a big hole.  Made a big mess.  While the little boys were just hoping for an opportunity to get in the middle of it. 

Our neighbor made an emergency run to the store for needed parts. 

It didn't work.  No water. 
The plumber had already been called but he didn't make it. 
It's dark.  It's cold.  Time to throw in the towel. 

Honey and CT went to the R family's house to shower since they had to be at worship practice that night.  The kids brushed their teeth with water bottles.  And the dinner dishes were piled high!! 

Why didn't I do laundry as soon as we got home?  With the vacation laundry and the extra towels I estimated about 11 loads waiting. 

This morning I expected the plumber bright and early since he didn't show yesterday.  I called at 8:02 just to make sure.  He'd be here in 3 hours. 

No big deal.  We could make it 3 hours. 

Meanwhile the boys hauled in water from the pool to flush the potty and we tried not to make too many dishes. 

As time went by the dishes started to stink.  Meg loaded up 2 laundry baskets full to take to Ethan's to wash...as well as a load of laundry to throw in his washer. 

Another neighbor came by to offer up her washing machine and George offered to bring us water. 

Our friends are the best!!  Mally and I took laundry in the wagon to my neighbor down the street plus some empty pitchers to fill from her sink.  That made a huge difference.  Just having a bowl of water to wash your hands is sure a luxury!

11:01.  No plumber.  Time is up. 

We call the Roto Rooter guy and he makes it in no time.  He fixes it in less than an hour, and we're back in business!!  

Flushing, washing, showering, soaking, mopping....oh the goodness!!

Our older girls felt the inconvenience more than the others.  Our younger set thought it was great fun. 
And of course they didn't get through the day without a reminder that ppl all over the world do not have clean running water of any kind. 

Thank you God for water! 

Surprise!!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!  My favorite cookbook!!

A huge surprise and I have NO idea who sent it.  No return address and handwriting that I didn't recognize.  No note.  Just pretty butterfly paper.  Was it YOU?? 

Thank you thank you thank you!  I absolutely love it!  And it comes at a time when I was needing to return my library copy.  Perfect.

I feel so loved. 

I now have something new to pack in my book bag to TX this weekend.  Happy day!

Awana Last Night

The last one of the year. 

1/2 the Awana year over already!  And I don't feel like I've accomplished a whole lot with my classes.  Gotta get busy next year!

Last night we did something different.  The Pre-K through 6 grade bunch did a craft making hot chocolate.  I loved this idea, but I couldn't imagine how we could make it work with measuring all those powdery ingredients.  We would still be there cleaning up the mess!  But Misty's great idea of buying the packets and let them pour them in was just the thing.  Sometimes I forget you can buy that kinda thing in the store. 

Have you seen the What God Wants For Christmas kit?  I got to borrow this to tell the Christmas story in a different way.  I need to get one of these for my own kiddos.

I'm missing Big Boy.  It's been a few weeks since he's been there and last night his sister said he was sick. 
I'm hoping he'll make it for movie night on the 28th.   And btw, where was MJ and Desiree? 

Caleb gave me a sweet present.  A picture of himself with Santa.  I love that boy.  He has such a pleasant and funny personality.  I have a cork board in my bathroom with pix of some of my Awana kids and now I have a new one to add. 

At the beginning of December I asked my class if they had their Christmas tree set up.  Matter-of-factly Caleb told me that he doesn't get to decorate Christmas trees b/c they don't have one. 

Why did this bother me so much?  I know that Christmas trees are not the biggest deal in the world.  But to think that he and Hayden did not have one made me so sad for them.  And my first response is to want to fix it.  Like how much could a little Christmas tree cost anyway?  But at the same time I knew that wasn't the answer. 

Last week in class the first thing Caleb told me was that he already had a present under his Christmas tree. 
Wha???  Christmas tree?  He went on to say that they are getting to borrow one this year and they got to decorate it! 

How I rejoiced in the sweetness of God!  Because seriously...what does it matter?  But for some reason it mattered to me and God knew it.  And I am overcome with thankfulness.  Not just for one boy's Christmas tree...but for the tenderness of the Lord.  For His great mercies.  And for the small part He lets me play in loving these kids. 

The Truth About Santa Clause

At story time today Ms. Lynn read a story about Santa being late.

She asked the kids, "What would cause Santa to be late?"

Mally answered "Nothing.  Santa's not real!"  With an attitude that said she couldn't believe Ms. Lynn didn't already know that. 

When the story was over, Mally rolled those big brown eyes at me and said, "THAT was fiction."

Our Family Picture

What do you think?  Color...?

Or B & W..?

I like the black and white.



Christmas Fun

We played this game yesterday afternoon.  Mally won!  The boys were like, "Why does a snowman even need a broom?"

I'd had such fun with my kids this month.  Lots of wrapping, decorating, crafting, singing, and playing. 

There's been some school too.  But not as much.  Because I don't want to miss a second of all this fun. 

This week we...

~Watched  A Christmas Carol snuggled in blankets sipping cranberry tea

~Served dinner at the homeless shelter

~Stuffed stockings and food boxes for Salvation Army

~Colored Christmas coloring pages

~Shopped and wrapped

~Made some homemade Christmas presents

~Played Build A Snowman

~Practiced for the Christmas play

Today we're going to the Nutcracker!!  Some of my kids have never been.  Of course our little girly is the most excited! 

2 New Recipes

This first one is PERFECT.  I love it.  And since we ate 1/2 a gallon of this today I'm guessing the rest of my family did too.  I got this one from Pinterest.  Super fast to make with ingredients you already have.   Forgive the awkward measurements.  I mean who dices peppers and then measures them in a teaspoon?  Eyeball it.

Chili's Copy Cat Salsa

1/4 yellow onion
4 tsp jalapenos
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sugar

Using a blender, pulse the onion and peppers.  Add everything else and blend.  Like I said...Perfect!
But do NOT confuse 4 tsp of peppers with 4 whole peppers......let's just say my first batch was flaming hot!

And here's the next one.  I changed the name because it was Raw "Chicken" Sandwich Salad and that just sounds gross. 

Chickenish Salad

1/2 C sunflower seeds, soaked 3 hours
1/2 C. cashews, soaked 3 hours
2 inch piece of cucumber
1/2 celery stick
1/4 C pecan pieces
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 carrot

Drain seeds and nuts.  Add everything into your food processor with the S blade and process until chunky.  Transfer to a bowl.

Add some mayo and sliced grapes until it reaches a chicken salad consistency.   Ta Da!!

We had this for supper tonight with carrot sticks, grapes, and popcorn.  This is good with bread or wrapped in a lettuce leaf.

She Did It!!

On the way to the police station she said, "Mom you're not going to take a corny picture of me standing in the building are you?" 

I assured her it was standard procedure. 

She protested but when I ran back to the car to get the proof of insurance she snapped one of herself! 

Isn't she a good girl??

I hated watching her drive off.  But the lady she rode with seemed nice.  Still!  I texted Honey and told him to pray for her. 

It seemed like she was gone forever.  I couldn't sit down.  I just stood by the window....waiting.

Hours  Awhile later she drove up in one piece with a big smile on her face!

 

I think I was more excited than she was!

Congratulations Lane!!

Finally!

LOVE this cookbook!! 

And do you have any idea how long its been since I've had such a cookbook crush? 

Let me tell you.

10 whole months.

TEN! 

There have been plenty of cookbooks to come and go in the 10 months since our diet re-vamp.  But none that have turned my head like this one.  Vegan cookbooks use sugar and grains.  Gluten free cookbooks use meat and dairy.  And just when I thought there was not another person that ate as freakishly as me, this cookbook hit my library shelf. 

Oh happy day!

The sad thing is that the library just might be wanting it back in a couple of weeks and Paper Back Swap doesn't have it.  I may just have to fork out the full price for it on Amazon.  What is the world coming to? 

But it's ok b/c it feels so good to have a cookbook that fits ME!! 

Back in the spring, LB and I went to a raw food workshop.  I thought they were weird. 

But they had a cool blender. 

And now I think it's funny that all this time I've been searching and experimenting and making all kinds of yucky stuff in my kitchen to try to figure out just what I'm comfortable with and I learned about it right from the beginning. 

Now I wish I had paid attention.

Putting Up The Christmas Tree!

Some of the putter-uppers

Which part is the top?  And who is that upside down?

Coming together!

The fun part..decorating!

The angel is the finishing touch.  Or as we call it, The Dude In The Dress

TaDA!  The lights out picture! 

Lovely.  It's so much more fun putting up the Christmas tree with lots of helpers.  They get so excited unpacking the ornaments and saying "Oh yeah!  I remember this one!"  It's cute. 

I don't think I'll ever be one of those ladies that has a themed tree or something elegantly decorated at Christmas.  I just don't think the paper chains would match. 

Back Blogging Thanksgiving Crafts

And whew! I'm getting it in before December!  Not that it matters....but still.  I really wanted to record this and not let it slip by. 

Painting Pumpkins!  And this year I was especially appreciative that my older kids still think this is fun.  As a matter of fact, some of them repainted their pumpkins after they dried the first time!

Does this one look like it's been slaughtered?

And then we made these super cute turkeys and used them as place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. I got this from Pinterest.

They are supposed to be brown but our pack of construction paper didn't have it.

He says, "Awwww....my chicken looks sad." 

HILARIOUS!

The finished products.

Birdie's Birfday!!

The big number SIX!! 

The R family came over for cupcakes and ice cream.

It was hard to balance the 4 + 2 on a cupcake but since we just got this snazzy cupcake holder with the little topper that looks like a birthday present, we had to give a shot.

Aren't they cute with their cheeks all puffed out?

ZBoy is always willing to lend a hand...or some hot air.

Presents!

2 things she wanted for her birthday...

#1- a piggy bank

We rescued this one from the R family's pile of stuff to auction and they even filled it with 200 pennies!

Oh the joy!

And #2- a hoola hoop!

Go Mally!

Here's where the fun begins!  Of course everyone had to give it a try.

I don't remember Nate ever hoola hooping before but he does it like he's practiced every day of his life.

But THIS guy is hilarious!  Check out the face.

It was a fun day.

She helped make and decorate her cupcakes and enjoyed lunch out with Momma and Daddy.

We did a special craft and just spent the day being together...with NO school.

This little girl brings such sweetness to our family.  We are so thankful for her. 

 

Happy Happy Birthday Mally Bird!

We love you so much!

A Thankful Moment

I still have lots of back blogging to do with Mally's b-day and Thanksgiving but I didn't want this day to pass without recording this sweet moment with Nate. 

Sticking with our Friday night tradition, we have kids sleeping all over the place.  3 of them are in my room. 

Restless and wishing they could stay up later they were not settling in like usual.  The little boys were playing soccer from their sleeping bags.  Mally was up adjusting her blankets over and over and getting it all just so. 

I started reading to them from Jes' favorite book Squanto.  They immediately started settling down and were eager listeners.  We read 2 chapters then I turned on the Bible for them to listen to as they fell asleep. 

Jes and Mally were asleep before the 1st chapter was over but Nate lay awake and listened quietly.  Meanwhile, I was sitting on my bed reading some mail and listening too.  I kept glancing over at him and little by little I got to watch his sleepy eyes fall asleep!  He looked over once and smiled at me.  I smiled back and just kept watching.  And pretty soon he didn't open them again. 

It was such a sweet moment with my big boy that isn't too cuddly anymore.   I'm very thankful that he still likes sleeping in my room and listening to his momma read to him. 

Happy Wednesday And Third Day Of Vacation!

Is it the third day of vacation for you too?  The first?  Or maybe it doesn't start until tomorrow?  Please tell me you get tomorrow off at least!! 

I have LOVED this week! 

But on Sunday night I decided to set a couple of "rules" for vacation so I wouldn't squander them away and be disappointed at how I spent the time.  Not dead set "this is everything we're going to do" rules, but just some flexible ideas to keep me focused. 

~Get completely dressed every day.  I didn't wanna hang out in my pjs just b/c I could.  I knew I'd end the day feeling lazy. 

~Keep up with regular chores.  Because I'd go crazy if we didn't.

~Keep computer time to a minimum.  And please...no Xbox or Wii. 

I wanted to feel good about the way we spent our time and so far, I've enjoyed every minute of it. 
I still have some things on my "want to do" list and some that have already been crossed off.  This morning we're working on some Thanksgiving crafts.  (Thank you Shannon!)  And  LB and I are going to Leola's to sew.  I'm also picking up some new reads from the library and working with my kiddos to clean house for Thanksgiving. 

And do you know one of the things I'm most thankful for this year?  The fact that I CAN clean house with my kids!  Or, for that matter, I could do it all by myself.  But I'll let them help.  Just to be nice.  But seriously it just feels so good to feel better and I'm VERY thankful for that. 

Yesterday we celebrated Mally Bird's 6th birthday...preciousness that I hope to blog about later.  Oh!  And I also want to share with you this nifty idea for journaling I got off Pinterest.  I'm having such fun with it. 

I still want to create a play list for chores.  Maybe get some new Christmas songs.  Do some scrapbooking.  A bit of Christmas shopping.  And decorate my cookbook. 

OH and today is Meg's first day at home!  4 whole days without school and having her pretty face around.  I'm hoping she'll help me do some Christmas-y stuff that requires concrete because she knows how and I don't.  Aren't you wondering what I'm doing with concrete?  No? 

And now I'm off to get dressed and ready for day 3.  I wonder if next week I'll blog something like..."it's nice to be back in routine." 

I don't think so.

I'll leave you with this random picture of Nate in a tree.  I love that happy face!

Love God, Love Others

That's what it all comes down to right? 

Then why am I so bogged down with everything else?  I have so much to be thankful for this year, but it's also been a year of extreme stretching.  I'd like to say that I'm in better shape from it all, but I don't see it. 
And as the year comes to a close I am not at all sad.

I look forward to 2012.  It almost feels like another chance to start over.  To try again.  "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead".....

This is certainly not a jump on a list of New Year's resolutions.  I think I better steer clear of any of those.  But as I was checking my calendar for next week (VACATION ya'll!) I started thinking of all the things I'd like to do.  And then that led to more things I'd like to do in general.....or someday.

~play outside with my kids
~find some new reads
~send out more letters/cards
~write notes to my kids and leave them on their pillows
~a little bit of Christmas sewing (maybe??) 
~organize the pantry
~reach out to my neighbors more

I wonder how people get so much done.  I feel like I'm "doing" all the time and it's still never done.  I'm actually ok with that considering my season of life and the busyness of my household.  But it does keep me from doing much of the "others". 

I'm still listening to Beverly Bradley and enjoying every word of it.  And her words, "Love God love others" kept coming to mind tonight as I was scrambling to finish dinner and looking at the 6 loads of unfolded laundry. 

Love God, love others. 

Where does laundry fit in?  I don't know but I do know this....the best part of my day was playing football with Jes in the street, playing Gold Fish Go Fish with 5 kids, and wiping up Nate's face after he'd been throwing up.  (yes, I even like the last one.  Is that weird?) 

Somehow I just hafta figure out how to balance it all.

Almost On Vacation!!

One more school day and then we're DONE!  And did I mention that I'm not too fond of Friday school either?  nevermind.

~Next week I want to do some Thanksgiving crafts with my favorite people.  I haven't done any Thanksgiving crafts at all this year.  Not that I ever go overboard with that, but I do want to do something...even if it's just hand print turkeys.  I found some easy stuff on Pinterest that I think they'll like.  Except I didn't plan ahead and I need more toilet paper rolls.  We unusally only go through 2 rolls of toilet paper a day and that's not enough.  Anybody wanna share? .......Jodie?

~Do you have big Thanksgiving plans?  We're having the R family over and hopefully Ms. Ruby.   No turkey over here though.  My kiddos aren't crazy about the traditional Thanksgiving fare so we usually do a big breakfast for supper instead.  Pancakes, eggs, sausage, gravy, biscuits, bacon, and juice.  And the men will make it.  Do you think I can talk them into cleaning it up too?  Or would that be pressing my luck? 

~To make my menuing easier, I've divided into catagories.  Pizza night, Sandwich/wraps night, Mexican night, Pasta night, Date night, and I still need 2 more.  Maybe Breakfast night and Soup night but soup isn't a fave with anyone except Lane and me.  Anyway, the sandwich night is certainly new and (kinda) a fun challenge.  Since most sandwiches feature meat and cheese, I'm working on coming up with a selection of vegan recipes.  Here's last night's.....

Spicy Black Bean Wraps

WW tortillas (Josh pressed these out for me.)
Spicy black beans (cayenne, garlic salt, and black pepper) tossed with 1 bunch of chopped cilantro
guacamole with chipotle
cucumbers and tomatoes
lettuce
red onion

FULL of flavor!  We had these with chips and salsa and stewed apples. 

~Apples are on sale for 48 cents at WM.  And while Jonathans aren't my fave they'll certainly do for that price!

~No Awana next week.  I sure hope my little Awana peeps have a good Thanksgiving.  Especially Haley...I'm more concerned for her.  She reminds me so much of our little Geneva who's been gone for almost a year I think.   And please pray for Desiree's mom to get a job.  I have a feeling that's a big deal for their family so I want to pass it along.  I love that little girl.  She has such a happy personality!

~I layed down with my ZBoy last night in his tent.  He hasn't been sleeping in his tent lately and if I were him I'd sleep in it every night.  It's sooo cozy in there! 

~My dryer is taking 100 minutes to dry a load of clothes!  Crazy.  I googled it and I think we need a part that costs about $20.  I figure if I'm wrong I haven't lost much.  If I'm right, I've saved us a lot of money on a guy.  I hope I'm right both b/c I want to save money and also b/c it gives our boy some experience at appliance repair. 

~Off to start the day....oh and did I mention it's the Friday before VACATION???