Life is Different Here

Sports Photography

2012-01-14T12:42:00.002-06:00

It's been a while and my blog is once again neglected. I have not even gotten the Christmas pictures off of the camera yet, so it's that bad. But I think I need to post something here, and my talented children, David and John, are coming to the rescue. They took photos and videos of our ski trip last week and they are pretty good - at skiing, snowboarding, and catching it on "film."

We need a snowmaker for the backyard this year!

Ski Day!

2011-12-22T23:30:00.000-06:00

He knows when you are skiing...

Safer Than It Looks

2011-12-21T23:30:00.000-06:00

The Pond Octopus

Wrapped Up

2011-12-20T21:34:00.000-06:00

Gotta love that Creative Kidstuff giftwrap!

Since I spent the entire day finishing up my shopping and getting the out of town gifts mailed (just in time, I hope), I didn't have time to take any pictures. But Anna took this one. Nice, huh?

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String

2011-12-19T23:22:00.000-06:00

This morning, I took a rare-for-December outdoor run, since it was only 31 degrees and we still have no snow to worry about! This afternoon, my new treadmill was delivered. You can see in the photo just how far from the front door the 300 pound box has been moved. Getting it to its new home in the basement and assembling it will be a bit of a workout in itself.

So the story of the love-hate realtionship I have with the treadmill has come full circle now. I am ready to face the indoor running again as soon as the real winter comes (as it surely will, even if not before Christmas). And I hope the "hate" part of the relationship will lessen, since I now have a nice treadmill instead of the scary, it-might-throw-you-off-any-time one I used to have. I know I will still be glad to run outside when spring comes, but for now I am pretty excited about being able to do some more specific training because of the speed and incline control, as well as the easy distance measuring.

Should be fun! As soon as we get that huge box down the basement stairs, anyway!

Yes, my foyer tile is that ugly!

Yes, this picture is upside-down!

Sing, Choir of Angels...

2011-12-18T08:01:00.000-06:00

Christmas Card Outtakes

2011-12-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

I'm Dreaming of a Brown Christmas...

2011-12-16T08:06:00.000-06:00

Just Like the Ones I Used to Know!

I'm afraid it's starting to look a lot like Christmas in Alabama, give or take a frozen pond or two. And I must admit it is disappointing to have our first brown Christmas in Minnesota; I'm actually hoping for some snow! I didn't realize how much the snow adds to the wonder of Christmas when driving around (though I do remember that it sometimes adds to the pain of driving around). I also didn't realize how much time my children spend playing in the snow, time that is now spent inside, desperately searching for something to "do."

So far, we have been tempted to fall into complaining: the weather stinks, the kids have been sick, plans have changed, Edwin has been travelling, the Christmas tree even fell down. But these are the moments that have been given to us for our good by a loving God. (Reminds me of this.) So we repent and move on, trying to glorify God in all things. Tonight is our Children's Choir concert, and there will be no blizzard to cancel it this year. And no blizzard for driving to the company Christmas party afterward, either!

He has given us advent, snow or no snow. He has given us Jesus to take away our sins. He has given us everything.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28 ESV)

Happy Anniversary

2011-12-15T18:08:00.003-06:00

December 15, 1990

Moving Target

2011-12-14T22:49:00.000-06:00

Our Friend Judah

Wouldn't Stay Still!

Isn't he cute??

Timberrrrrr!

2011-12-13T21:01:00.002-06:00

Before the Super Glue

Last night, for an unknown reason, our Christmas tree fell. This morning I entered the family room to water the tree and turn on the lights, and I found it horizontal on the floor, ornaments everywhere. This is a photo of some of the aftermath. As soon as David and I got the tree standing again I realized I should have taken a picture of it! Oh well, live and learn.

Sadly, the only ornament smashed beyond repair was a Precious Moments "Our First Christmas Together" ball, a wedding gift. Bummer.

By the way, the Christmas bears have denied any wrong-doing, though I think they do look guilty, don't you??

Anna took this picture!

What's Cooking Monday?

2011-12-12T23:07:00.002-06:00

"Waffleized" French Toast

I know, I used to ask what's cooking on Wednesday. But today is only Monday and this is the only picture I took. I am trying to stay ~~ahead~~ caught up on the December Photo Project, and that is not easy for me right now! (Careful readers may have noticed that there is currently no December 9th, but it will one day slip in, probably unnoticed.) Also, I couldn't bear to leave that pitiful picture of John at the top of the page any longer. So for now we will discuss what I cooked for dinner tonight. I cook on Mondays, too, after all.

First the set up: we were supposed to spend the entire day skiing on this, the first home school ski day of the winter. We were unable to do that due to a certain traumatic illness that is improving (and thank you for your sweet concern and prayers!), but is not at all ready for that kind of activity. So instead we stayed home, except for a doctor visit for the sick child. And Edwin left for a business trip. It was a bit disappointing for all involved. I made homemade hot chocolate. Yum. And then we had waffleized French toast for dinner. Cheer them up with food, a recurring theme.

What is waffleized French toast, you ask? In this case it was French toast made with that chunky cinnamon bread they make in the grocery store bakery, (the stuff that they sometimes {today} put right in the doorway so you can't even get in before you have to pick up some), cooked with the waffle iron. I promise, this idea came right into my head unassisted. But I was not totally confident I could do such a thing, so I typed "other uses for waffle irons" right in the Google box, and guess what popped up? The Waffelizer Blog: 30 Answers to the Question "Will It Waffle?"

How great is that? Of course my French toast idea was there, and there were a lot of other great ideas that I barely had time to look at. But you better believe I will go back there soon. And maybe one day in the near future I will waffle something else and tell you about it here. Maybe I will even waffle on a Wednesday.

Change of Plans

2011-12-11T22:14:00.001-06:00

Well, it's been a weird weekend. There was a whole day of shopping with my husband on Friday. Amazing, and really fun. All day Saturday was supposed to be spent at the FLL Regional Tournament with our Cavemen. That went really well, with the Cavemen (and women) winning first place all around. But John was sick and had a lot of trouble breathing, so he and I left the tournament for the Urgent Care clinic. And then there was that ambulance ride to Children's Hospital. Ugh. It's never a good day with an ambulance ride involved. But he was treated for some big-time swelling in his throat, along with strep, and he is doing much better now.

Proud of me for making a long story short?

In the Ambulance

Feeling Better

God is our refuge and strength,
  a very present help in trouble.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
  I will be exalted among the nations,
  I will be exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
  the God of Jacob is our fortress.
(Psalm 46:1, 10-11 ESV)

Cavemen Win FLL Regional Tournament

2011-12-10T23:30:00.000-06:00

Indoor View

2011-12-08T23:00:00.000-06:00

Some Things are Worth It

2011-12-07T22:36:00.001-06:00

Pictures on the Wall (!)

2011-12-06T16:29:00.001-06:00

It's a pretty big deal when folks like us finally hang pictures on the wall. Edwin worked on them this weekend, and he also hung the huge mirror in the living room! Now when you walk in our front door it looks like we live here. If only we could just find those perfect chairs...

P.S. I just realized these picture frames are the ones mentioned in this post, which is, for some reason, the most-read post on my entire blog! But the curtain rod is still lying around...

Nativity

2011-12-05T11:49:00.001-06:00

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

2011-12-04T13:43:00.001-06:00

For the Beauty of the Earth...

2011-12-03T07:30:00.000-06:00

Valley of Fire State Park

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Light into Darkness, Yet Again

2011-12-02T07:53:00.001-06:00

I think I have taken this picture each year for the December Photo Project. I just can't help it. When reflecting on the advent of Christ, a main theme is light into darkness, and this is what I think when I see the sun going down and the Christmas lights turning on. I did, at least, take a new picture.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

(John 1:1-5 ESV)

Happy December!

2011-12-01T07:18:00.001-06:00

Happy December! We woke up to a white dusting of snow this morning, just enough to make it feel more like December 1st should feel. The temperatures have been all over (60 on Thanksgiving??), but it seems to have settled into cold now so there may as well be some snow to make it prettier. There, I said it.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, and the other decorations are slated to be finished today. Edwin got our outside lights hung in mild weather the day after Thanksgiving; it was probably the first time he wasn't miserably cold doing that chore - a huge improvement over last year's job, which came after our mid-November blizzard.

I am not sure where November went (along with the entire last 6 months!), but I am happy to see December. There is much to do, but we are looking forward to time spent with family and friends, contemplating the birth of our dear Savior. Here at the beginning, we pray that we will keep our focus properly, and not be thrown around by the business and busyness of the world.

I waited patiently for the LORD;
  he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
  out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
  making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
  a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
  and put their trust in the LORD.
(Psalm 40:1-3 ESV)

Coming Soon...

2011-11-20T21:54:00.001-06:00

Busy, Busy

2011-11-02T07:32:00.000-05:00

Well, well, yes, it has been a while since I have visited my blog! So I would not be surprised at all if no one is out there to read this...

I've been a bit busy with work and fun over the last months, and that really hasn't changed now. I do hope to get back to writing here sometime soon, but what used to be my early morning computer time has now been largely replaced by morning runs and (for once) keeping up with school planning and grading. I have to admit that those activities are probably a better use of my time than blabbing away here about whatever comes to mind. But I am not ready to say I won't be back here eventually. Winter is coming, and the time seems to slow down then...

I do hope to finish up a quick update to post here soon, maybe with a few pictures. The super-quick summary is this: the kids are really tall and happy, Las Vegas had some fun stuff even for a nature-nut like me, the beach is beautiful as always, I have run over 300 miles this year, and school gets more complicated every year!

Hope to see you soon!

Wish You Were Here...

2011-09-25T14:06:00.000-05:00

Lutzenkirchen is a Girl...

2011-08-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

This year's caterpillar was already out of the egg when John found it (and named it after one of his favorite Auburn football players), almost starved while we were out of town, and flew away with very little fanfare. We need a new metamorphosis gig...

But isn't Daniel cute??

Another Pictoral Post

2011-08-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

At Grandma LaVonne's House

Upside Down Super Holt

See the Resemblance?

Big Gang of Grandkids

HHS Class of 1986 25th Reunion

Visiting Mawmaw

Play Doh Cakes

More Play Doh Cake

James & Yulisa

Ben After Work

Eating...

More eating...

Still more...

And more...

Still eating!

Skating Rink Fun

Posing

A Silly One in Every Bunch!

Four-Wheelin' Fun

Yes, Granddaddy took EVERYONE for a ride!

I even tried it! (I am a wimp!)

Super John in Metropolis, IL

Wonder Anna in Metropolis, IL

Super Dan in Metropolis, IL

What We've Been Doing: A Pictoral Post

2011-07-25T22:43:00.000-05:00

Off to Camp!

It's an iPod, not a blood pressure cuff...

Baby Robins Under the Deck

Fun at Bay Lake

More Fun!

Happy Birthday Edwin!

Ouch! Baseball to the Face :(

Tasted better than they look!

This needs no explanation.

Fun Time with Friends

One More Ride

Snap!

John's First Zip

Summertime and the Living is Easy...

2011-07-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed I am taking a bit of a summer writing break. We've been happily busy with summer life, so I have not spent a lot of time in front of the computer. All is well here and there will be much to tell one of these days when I sit back down.

This a great time to mention that the easiest way I know of to keep up with an infrequent blogger is to set up a Google Reader account. I know I wrote a blog post about this a long time ago, but I can't find it now! (Please leave a comment if you are more familiar with my blog than I am!) But I am sure I linked to this great post on Molly Piper's blog, written by her husband Abraham, since that is where I learned how to set up my Google Reader account!

Google Reader allows you to go to one page to keep up with all of your favorite blogs. You can read the posts from there or click into the actual blog. Either way you can see right away whether there is a new post (or not, in my case). Easy peasy! If you have included Life Is Different Here on your Google Reader, will you please leave a comment so I will know? Thanks!

Thanks for checking in now and then. I will eventually get back into blogging more, but for now I will concentrate on being a wife and mother of some busy kids. I hope you all enjoy summer as much as we do here. It is one of the ways that life is different here in Minnesota - summer comes and goes in what seems like the blink of an eye. We don't want to miss it!

Freedom Isn't Free

2011-06-22T07:56:00.002-05:00

It's another cool and rainy summer morning. Last week we declared a two week break from the end of our school year so we could enjoy summer a bit and, go figure, it's been cool and rainy almost ever since. Not that we aren't enjoying the break from school; we are, and boy did we need it!

Dreaming of Summer

As a homeschooling family, we have really enjoyed the freedom that making our own schedule affords us. The biggest example of this is that every year, beginning the week after Labor Day (You know, the week that all the schools start for the new school year, at least here in Minnesota where they haven't changed to a May-August plan...) we load the car and take a long drive to the Gulf Coast to spend 2 or 3 or 4 weeks with family in a beach house. The rental prices are cheaper, the beach is uncrowded, the weather is still wonderful, and it's an altogether beautiful time for us. As a result of this lovely family time, we usually do not begin our school year in earnest until sometime in October.

Fast forward to May or June. Schools are winding down, and even our homeschooling friends are finishing up right on schedule. And here we are, still chugging along like it is March or April. This would be fine, except as everyone else has free time there begins to be fun things to do, like going swimming, summer camp, graduation parties; you know, things you do in the summer when there is no school.

We have managed to finish up quite a few subjects, but I can't really call it done yet. We still have testing for the younger kids, too. After the break we will put our heads down and finish up, hopefully in time to switch to our summer schedule by August. We'll take some trips here and there and they will get off days then, so don't feel too sorry for the poor kids. Then we will return to our happy beach place in September and be mostly free of school, except for the five (!) online classes that begin on the "normal" schedule...

Freedom isn't free; they may as well learn now.

What's Cooking Thursday? Homemade Popsicles

2011-06-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

Well, the blog seems to be going all recipes, all the time (or at least once a week). That is still not my intention, but I have just been too busy to write much. My commitment to What's Cooking Wednesday seems to be the only thing that brings me back here each week. And I even missed that yesterday. Sorry! I am sure that when winter comes again I will settle back down.

Great news! Summer has arrived, like it usually does. It is hard to believe how quickly things change around here. We had snow the first two days of May, just a month ago, and yet Monday it was 97 degrees. Tuesday was a scorcher at 103. Yes, you read that right! It was hot! But yesterday we settled back into the 70's and today started out at 50 and won't reach 70. Easy come, easy go...

Despite my negligence, I did have a recipe for What's Cooking Wednesday this week, so I will call it What's Cooking Thursday this time. I was inspired by the warm weather to make homemade popsicles for the kiddos, and they turned out well. This is more of an idea than a recipe, since you could do whatever you want here. I had absolutely no popsicle-making equipment (molds, sticks, etc.), but they still turned out yummy. I think I will look into some popsicle molds soon, though, because it would make the whole thing even easier.

Yogurt Pops

Vanilla yogurt, 16 oz (or any flavor)
Frozen orange juice concentrate, about 1/2 can
2 bananas

Blend ingredients together in a blender. Pour into small paper cups or popsicle molds. I threw in some whole blueberries just for fun. If using paper cups, set them on a cookie sheet before filling for easier carrying to the freezer. Cover with plastic wrap. Insert popsicle sticks through plastic into the middle of each cup, or cut plastic straws in half and use those, which is what I did. Freeze for 4-8 hours, or overnight. Tear off paper cups to serve.

Basically, you can make your favorite smoothie of any variety and freeze it to make popsicles. Yum! You could also freeze your favorite juice. These will be healthier and cheaper than most popsicles you could buy. If you resort to freezing Kool-aid, though, you may as well buy the little freezer pops in the long plastic tubes, which will be much easier and probably just as cheap.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Appetizers with Bacon

2011-06-01T13:27:00.000-05:00

After a nice long weekend full of fun with family and friends and the arrival of some warm weather (finally!), I am finding myself shocked today that it is already Wednesday! But I have been mulling over a recipe, though I am hard-pressed to call it a recipe since it is so very easy. But this time of year I find that the easier the better around here, just in case I am distracted by the need to be outside in the sunshine.

A few weeks ago I needed a quick but fancy-looking appetizer, so I remembered that one year for New Year's Eve we had a bit of a puff-pastry theme for finger foods to eat all evening long. The favorite of my family was a bacon and onion tart-like thing, which I will now very creatively call Onion-Bacon Pastry Tart. Here's the recipe:

Onion-Bacon Pastry Tart
(Makes 48 appetizers)

1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 tub garlic-flavored spreadable cheese, softened (I like Alouette garlic and herb flavor.)
12-16 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1-2 onions, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the bacon pieces until just short of crispy; remove bacon to drain on paper towels. Remove all but 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon grease and discard. Cook the onions in the remaining grease until onions are very soft and golden. Drain the onion on paper towels.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out one piece of puff pastry on each pan. You can opt to just unfold it and leave it as is, which will make a puffier pastry, or you can roll it to make it a bit thinner. (I have tried both and like it both ways.) Spread half of the cream cheese on each piece of pastry. This is much easier if the cream cheese is nice and soft before you try it! Then place half of the bacon and half of the onion on each piece of pastry; it will be easier if you just spread it out with your fingers.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is brown and puffy. Remove from the oven and cool a bit before cutting into any shape you like (squares, rectangles, or diamonds are the easiest).

These are good hot or at room temperature. They can also be made earlier in the day and reheated before serving.

Once you try a single recipe with puff pastry you can imagine a million other things to do with it, so don't be afraid to branch out!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Comforting Mac & Cheese

2011-05-25T07:00:00.009-05:00

Well, we've started round two of strep, and I am hoping it won't spread! But since Edwin happened to be out of town last night and James happened to feel miserable, I decided to make macaroni and cheese. I can vouch for how yummy this particular mac and cheese recipe is because Edwin actually does like it now and then, and that is saying a lot since he isn't usually fond of what is one of my favorite things (This is probably best for my mid-section!). James and I on the other hand, love all things mac and cheese, and are even made happy by the old blue box version. But don't worry, this one is much, much better!

The recipe is from the Rachael Ray Show, which I have never actually watched, and from the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine, which I always try to read or hang onto until I have time to read it. But I think I was just looking around on the internet when I found this recipe, which you can see here, along with a short video. (The web page seems to load slowly, at least on my computer, but it does come up.)

One nice thing about this recipe is that you can change it around by leaving out or changing the meat (ham works nicely). It is good without any meat, though my family is so addicted to bacon that they will miss it if I leave it out. Another great thing is that you can freeze this easily, and you know how I love to make things ahead of time! It's just warm and comforting, like food should be when your kids are sick. Nothing fancy. And though it's not the healthiest thing, at least it is 100% real food, which can't be said about the blue box.

I'll list the ingredients below, but take a look at the web-site for the directions. Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken-and-Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese by Rachael Ray

6 slices good-quality smoky bacon, such as apple-wood smoked bacon

Salt and pepper

1 pound whole wheat, short-cut pasta

2 pieces skinless chicken breasts, lightly pounded

EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling

1/2 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

4 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, quartered lengthwise and very thinly sliced

2 rounded tablespoons flour

1/2 cup cloudy apple cider or chicken stock

2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded extra-sharp white cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Chopped flat-leaf parsley or celery greens, for garnish

Spared Again

2011-05-23T13:05:00.002-05:00

I just have to post the pictures I snapped while Edwin was driving to and from the pizza place for take out last Saturday. This funnel cloud did touch down briefly with no damage. And, sadly, there were some worse ones that did cause damage and even a death in Minneapolis on Sunday. Not to mention what happened in Missouri. I am feeling spared again, and thankful for it.

What's Cooking Wednesday?

2011-05-18T07:32:00.000-05:00

What's cooking this Wednesday? Um, nothing. Sorry! Check back next week for something yummy...

Meanwhile, a quick update. Anna's ballet performances went very well. She was (is) so beautiful and graceful, and she really had a great time. I fulfilled a mother's duty by crying afterwards, overwhelmed by seeing my daughter so happy and surrounded by such sweet and loving people. I cannot say enough good things about the Reign Dance Theater.

We have been enjoying ourselves with Edwin's parents here over the weekend, and his mom will stay here until Friday. The online classes are done, so we have been celebrating by having a math-only school week and playing the rest of the day. After lunch today we are going to the Science Museum to see the King Tut exhibit, which can definitely count for school (if we were counting). Tomorrow we will celebrate James's 12th birthday - Fun!

Hence, no real recipe post today. But if you have missed any of the other Wednesdays you can always look back:
What's Cooking Wednesday - Better Than Fast Food Chicken "Fajitas"
What's Cooking Wednesday - Breakfast for Dinner
What's Cooking Wednesday - Do What You Do Best
What's Cooking Wednesday - Eat the Leftovers
What's Cooking Wednesday - Yummy Kebabs
What's Cooking Wednesday - General Tso's Chicken
What's Cooking Wednesday - Red Velvet Cake with the Super-Special Frosting
What's Cooking Wednesday - King Ranch Chicken Casserole - A Guest Post!
What's Cooking Wednesday - Food Link Round-Up

Wow! I can't believe there are that many of those. Enjoy the sunshine!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Food Link Round-Up

2011-05-11T07:00:00.004-05:00

I've mentioned this is quite the busy week for our family, so I will now use that as my excuse to do an easy version of What's Cooking Wednesday. I have been collecting links to interesting recipes over the past couple of months; today I will share them. If you have seen any great food links lately, please feel free to share them in the comments!

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies - Look at the picture and you will see why I really want to try this!
http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2011/04/these-are-simply-amazing.html

Salmon with Basil Romesco Sauce, Spaghetti with Cheese and Black Pepper, and Poppy Seed and Mandarin Orange Salad - I want to try this because I need to eat more fish, I love all things spaghetti, and I love complete menus. Not to mention I love the lady who writes Wednesday Grace.
http://wednesdaygrace.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/im-a-foodie/

Muffin Mondays - I have no idea how I stumbled across this blog, but it was probably from a link in one of the other blogs I read. This lady posts a new muffin recipe every Monday, and lots of them look good to me. Another thing I like about it is how similar the recipes are; it makes me feel like I can branch out and make any kind of muffin by just modifying the thing I already know. I made the Heavenly Vanilla Muffins and they were very good and filling. The one I plan to try next is Whole Wheat Banana Muffins.
http://happyindolevalley.blogspot.com/search/label/muffin%20mondays

And now two from Macheesmo, another food blog I am not sure how I found. I do enjoy it, though, and often talk abut Mr. Macheesmo when discussing cooking or my new iron skillet.

More about Kabobs - Has anyone noticed I can not settle on the way to spell this food? But you know how I love them!
http://www.macheesmo.com/2011/05/the-kabob-job/

Chile Relleno Burrito - This looks so good, and it looks very versatile too!
http://www.macheesmo.com/2011/05/chile-relleno-burrito/

I hope you click and cook this week! Enjoy!

Looking Forward to Esther: Courage to Rise

2011-05-09T07:55:00.001-05:00

I had a lovely Mother's Day, thanks to my sweet kiddos and husband. Fajitas, wine, doughnuts, and Starbucks, sandwiched between two worship services - can't really beat that!

This week is going to zoom by fast since it is the week leading up to Anna's ballet performances on Friday and Saturday. This year's performance is Esther: Courage to Rise, and I can't wait to see it! If anyone is interested in joining us there, let me know (or you can buy tickets through the website). Some portion of our family will be at all three shows, with all of us at the last show on Saturday night. Reign Dance Theater has been great for Anna and I highly recommend it. The big show is the main fund-raiser for what is really a very inexpensive ballet school, which explains the high ticket price. But it is more than your standard ballet recital, believe me! Watch the trailer here.

We also have Edwin's parents coming to town later this week for the big show. And we are wrapping up the on-line classes for the big kids, which means some important tests thrown in with the late-night ballet rehearsals. It should be a very fun week!

For you weather-watchers - I woke to a rip-roaring thunderstorm this morning, which I think means that spring is finally here. We have not seen any snow flakes for a whole week now, and there are a few leaves on the trees! And I think I saw that the high tomorrow is 80. I think this is why I have said that spring is really one of our shortest seasons. That is fine with me - bring on the summer!

What's Cooking Wednesday - King Ranch Chicken Casserole - A Guest Post!

2011-05-04T07:57:00.002-05:00

I must admit that I am so excited about this, my first "guest post." It makes me feel like a real blogger! When I asked for ideas on Facebook yesterday for What's Cooking Wednesday, my friend Julie chimed in with a suggestion. Then she graciously agreed to write a guest post about her recipe, King Ranch Chicken Casserole.

I met Julie at the University of Montevallo, where we were in the same sorority. I remember her as being fun-loving and hilarious, and found out that she is still that way, in addition to being a loving Christian wife and mother, after meeting back up with her on Facebook a couple of years ago. We recently (not as recently now, but compared to the almost 20 years that went by before that, pretty recent) had the pleasure of getting our families together for one short meal, which was really fun. After a stint of moving around, she is now settled in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Tim, and their three sweet daughters. Daughters who, by the way, give her so many hilarious stories that Julie could easily write her own blog! Her cheery way of dealing with whatever life throws her way is enjoyable and refreshing to hear about. And she has a special talent for making animals out of food!

And now, What's Cooking Wednesday, a guest post by my friend Julie!

We lived in San Antonio, Texas for six years. One of the many things I love about the city is the wonderful food. My Texas friend, who is actually from El Salvador, introduced me to King Ranch Chicken Casserole (KRCC). It's an easy and versatile dish to prepare; it freezes well, and you can make any number of variations to suit your tastes. During our time in San Antonio, I had many versions of KRCC at work functions, church potlucks, Bible study/small group dinners, San Antonio Spurs Championship parties, etc. This recipe makes a lot, I usually cook half and freeze the other half for a night we need a quick dinner.

Read on for the recipe!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

8 skinless chicken breasts--cooked and cubed *I usually just get a rotisserie chicken or grill extra chicken a day or two ahead*

1 onion *Most of the time, I use dried onion flakes. Can you tell I'm a lazy cook?

1 stick butter

1 jar salsa con queso

1 large bag Tortilla chips

3-1/2 cups milk

2 cans cream of chicken soup

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

*Many people add a can of chopped tomatoes with green chiles. My Texan/Salvadoran friend does not; she doesn't like spicy food--go figure!

Sour cream

Salsa

Saute onions in butter. Combine chicken, onions, Tortilla chips, soup, 2 1/2 cups milk and queso. Stir until all the chips are saturated. Add remaining cup of milk. Pour into a large greased baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and salsa.

P.S. Tracey says next time I can talk about the armadillo I made out of Rice Krispie treats, so y'all make me look good!

I am Free to Run

2011-05-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

May 2nd already, yet I awoke to 31 degrees and gloom. Everytime I pull on my winter running pants I think surely this will be the last time I wear them this year. After seeing Edwin off to work I get a text from him: "It's snowing." "Ugh" is my reply. Now we are two for two days of snow flurries in May. I decide I will run anyway and grab a baseball cap in case it turns to rain before I get back. Though complaining about the weather again in my heart if not aloud, I head out the door.

Surprisingly, or better yet mercifully, I begin to feel better as soon as the fresh air hits my lungs, despite the snow I can see on my jacket. It's windy but the snow is more like small styrofoam balls and I don't seem to be getting wet. And 31 is not that cold if you are moving.

Then I begin to pray, something I usually do while I am running though it is not the ideal prayer time - there is the music, the traffic, and the breathing to worry about after all. I thank God for the day, confess my sins (including the complaining), and begin to pray for the victims of the devastating tornadoes last week in Alabama, my home state. I am so thankful my family and friends were spared, yet it saddens me greatly to realize how many homes, businesses, trees, and people are gone.

This is when it hits me (I am sure I would have had this realization much sooner if I were not here, so many miles away from the disaster.) - my house is still standing, warm and full of groceries. My husband is at work, our power is on, we will have a full day of school, cook three meals, do the laundry. The hardest thing I have to do today is probably this run, and I have chosen to do it because I enjoy it. I will not spend today sifting through piles that used to be my home, hoping to find my children's clothes. And I should be very, very thankful to be spared from yet another catastrophe.

Then I hear the music on my iPod - "I am free to run...I am free to dance...I am free to live for You...I am free..." And I realize how true that is. I am free to run today because God has been merciful to me once again. It is true everyday, even, or perhaps especially, the day I will "wake up" in heaven.

So I continue to pray for all of those affected by the enormous tornadoes, once again realizing how God takes care of us every moment. It is impossible to imagine the destruction and how many aspects of life have been affected there, but I do know this: God is sovereign. He did not leave those who were hurt by these storms. He is there, working out His perfect will in a way we may never understand. Lord, have mercy on them. May they feel Your love as never before.

Comment Trouble (Again) **Is fixed! :)

2011-04-28T21:32:00.001-05:00

It appears that there is some sort of Google-related trouble with leaving comments on my blog. I am able to leave a comment, but when I sign out of the account to become anonymous I get an error message and am not allowed to comment.

I hope the problem will be fixed soon. In the meantime, I'm sorry if it frustrated you! Go make a red velvet cake and you will feel much, much better! :)

Thanks so much for reading!

Edited 4/29: I think it is fixed now, so comment away!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Red Velvet Cake with the Super-Special Frosting

2011-04-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

It's birthday season at my house! John turned 10 last Saturday, Daniel will turn 8 on Friday, and then in another three weeks or so James will turn 12. So I have been thinking about birthday cakes. Almost every birthday cake we have had through the years has been homemade. I usually let the birthday child choose what type of cake he wants. Occasionally, I have actually decorated cakes, like the famous Pooh or Bob the Builder cakes of the past, or the baseball, soccer, race car varieties with some plastic figures stuck on top. Now that I think about it, this week could be my last chance to make the figure eight race car track cake that is just right for a boy's eighth birthday! Hmmm...But most often there is just a yummy cake with candles, which our children have always been happy with, thankfully!

The absolute favorite cake, the one most-often chosen by birthday children and adults in my family, and the go-to cake for our Christmas Eve feast is the Red Velvet Cake, made from Edwin's mom, Gail's recipe. Here is what Gail had to say about it:

The recipe was one of Grandma Helen’s. I think she pulled it out of a women’s magazine (Home & Garden, probably). The first I remember it was a Christmas when I was 10 or so. It was the most beautiful cake I had ever seen…and tasted pretty good, too. She was always trying out new recipes on us. Some made the cut and some didn’t. Obviously, the red velvet cake did. Many people make a similar cake now, but they always use the cream cheese frosting…not as good as the other, I think, but easier.

The cake may be a fairly standard recipe for red velvet cake, but the ICING! This is what makes all the difference. Like Gail said, most people frost red velvet cake with a cream cheese frosting. But our family heirloom cake is topped with a yummy, creamy icing that has no cream cheese, but plenty of milk, butter, and sugar. It is smooth and creamy, and holds up very well in the refrigerator (or on the garage workbench if it happens to be Christmas in Minnesota and there is no room in the refrigerator!). Actually, I believe this cake is better a couple of days after you make it, which makes it perfect for making ahead of time (Something I love to do with most things, but hardly ever seem to do with this cake. But we always think it tastes better on day 2 or 3, if it lasts that long!).

Read on for the recipe!

Gail and Grandma Helen's Red Velvet Cake with Super-Special Frosting

Cake:

1/2 cup shortening

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp cocoa

2 ounces liquid red food coloring

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

Cream shortening and sugar, then add eggs. Make a paste with cocoa and food coloring; then add to mixture. Add salt and flour with buttermilk and vanilla, and mix well. Finally, alternately add soda and vinegar - do not beat hard, just blend. Divide batter into 2 or 3 eight-inch cake pans (well-greased) and bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool on wire racks. If you make 2 layers, you can split each layer for a total of four layers (think, more icing!). This is a little bit hard to do, so I usually just make 3 layers. Either way, it turns out to be a big, tall cake!

Frosting: (This is 1.5 times the original recipe and will probably be more than you need, but it is sad to not have enough!)

4-1/2 tbsp flour

1-1/2 cups milk

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups butter, softened

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, cook flour and milk on low-medium heat until thick, stirring or whisking constantly. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, cream sugar and butter with vanilla until fluffy. Add the cooked and cooled flour mixture, and beat until mixture is like whipped cream. Store the frosted cake and left-over icing in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Surely He has Borne Our Griefs and Carried Our Sorrows

2011-04-22T07:37:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 53

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Community Living

2011-04-21T17:12:00.000-05:00

Since it seems I am always writing about food these days, I will start this post by saying that for dinner last night we enjoyed six free pizzas from Punch Pizza, thanks to their Pre-Easter Feaster coupons. As you might imagine, there were quite a few folks there for free pizzas, so the kids and I waited in line (some of the time in the chilly rain) for nearly an hour. At least the day had improved from a morning that looked like this:

Standing in long lines at neighborhood restaurants and events is actually kind of fun for me, and it is just the thing for analyzing a cross-section of the people living around us (or at least the ones who are in the know about free food deals). The pizza-fest last night was very similar to Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day, which we never miss for obvious reasons. It seems the entire town is there, and it is really just a big social event. And it is one of the few times that Minnesotans just stand around and have a chat with total strangers.

"What?" my southern friends may be saying, "doesn't that happen every time you wait in any line for any thing?" Nope, not really up here. Now it may not be hard for you to guess that I often initiate conversation with strangers in line at the grocery store, because that's just me. But, as I've mentioned, I do not always fit in so well here.

This brings me to my point, however, and that is this: I am starting to feel like we belong here. After all this time, I have begun to understand Minnesotans better, I have gotten to know some of them personally, and I have become a part of this place. The cashier at the grocery store knows me. The tall guy at Chipotle recognizes our Tuesday lunch group and knows we order salads. We know and love our neighbors. We always go to the big concert with fireworks near July 4th, and we see people we know there. And this is good.

This same sense of community is a bit wider-spread when it comes to the beloved Minnesota Twins, the hometown team. Our family went to this season's home opener at Target Field, and it was such a fun thing to be a part of. (We even saw someone we know there!) It felt like the whole state was paying attention. Everywhere we went that day almost everyone was wearing Twins shirts, hats, jackets, you name it. And that continues on a somewhat smaller scale every single game day, even though the Twins are struggling a bit. Even in the pizza line last night we were not the only ones following the game on the cell phone.

It does seem that some of the things that really did not matter as much to me when we were still in the moving around mode have started to matter more. We have always enjoyed the close-knit community of our church family, and are so very thankful for that. But it is gratifying to enjoy the larger community as well. If only some of these nice folks could do something about the winter weather!

Back to food: One of the bits of conversation I had last night was about cooking over a camp fire, a piece of Minnesota life that we really do enjoy around here. A lady told me how to fry doughnuts in a coffee can, and I can not wait to try it! She was somewhat surprised that we had never done it, though the kids piped up that we had roasted powder sugared mini doughnuts on a stick over the fire, so that made her feel better. If anyone out there has actually fried doughnuts in a coffee can, I would love to hear about it!

Psalm 16:5-6:
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

What's Cooking Wednesday - General Tso's Chicken

2011-04-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

Saturday night I cooked something I have wanted to try at home for a long time, General Tso's Chicken. Edwin and I always order it from our favorite little Chinese place near our house, and that worked out great when we used to send the kids to bed early and split one order as a sort of stay home date night. Then one day we actually let our kids eat some of our beloved "Chinese food," and they discovered how good it is. Now the $11 cheap date has turned into $40+ of take out. It's no wonder Edwin started suggesting I look for a recipe for that delicious General Tso's!

Well, I have looked around for what might have been years, but I have never tried any of the recipes I found. Then last week I received the May issue of Food and Wine magazine, and guess what recipe I saw? General Tso's Chicken (click the link for the recipe), and I decided the time had finally come. It was definitely worth the wait. And it was even better than our cherished takeout.

I followed the recipe almost exactly (I used chicken breasts instead of thighs, because I just like white meat better.), though I did triple it. We had two guests plus our family, and I wish I had quadrupled the recipe. We ate every.single.bite. It was very tasty, even though it was not as spicy as we are used to. I will definitely add a lot more of the Chinese chile-garlic sauce the next time. YUM. Enough said.

By the way, each Wednesday I have been linking up with Raising Homemakers. Be sure to browse through the many homemaking blog posts there. I found some good blogs by browsing through the links there!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Yummy Kebabs

2011-04-14T08:41:00.000-05:00

Well, it is not my intention for this to become a recipe blog. But those seven days in a week really fly by, so it's already that time again! I hope to post later in the week about our trip to the Twins' Home Opener and all the other things that have been going on, but for now let's see what's cooking!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that it really is OK to cook the same things again and again when you have company, especially if your company is usually different. I branched out and tried something sort of new last Sunday, since it was one of the the first weekends the weather has been nice enough to grill outside. This is a momentous occasion for us, believe me!

I've made kebabs before, and there are many things to love about them, not the least of which is the endless variety of options for pleasing your crowd. You can use chicken, steak, pork tenderloin, sausage, shrimp, or even a sturdy fish, and a million combinations of vegetables and fruits to go with the meat. You can even leave out the meat altogether. This time I made chicken kebabs with onions, green and red bell peppers, and zucchini. I tried new recipes for the "flavoring pastes," from my cookbook called Perfect Recipes for Having People Over by Pam Anderson. I'll post the two I used below, but the book is worth having. It has many terrific recipes for all kinds of gatherings. To me, the cookbook's name implies that it contains recipes for a crowd, though it turns out that Ms. Anderson's definition of a crowd is 6 to 8 people, which is more like my everyday life. Still, the recipes are easy enough to double or triple if your crowd is larger than hers! I doubled the flavoring paste recipes for our relatively small crowd of 9 last Sunday.

To help get most of the food preparation done ahead of time, I cut up the chicken the night before, then made the flavoring pastes and cut up the veggies before church. Putting the kebabs together is messy business with the raw meat, so I prefer to get that done before the company arrives. Some might think it is a fun group activity, though!

Orange Rosemary Paste, from Perfect Recipes for Having People Over by Pam Anderson, p. 59

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
2 teaspoons brown sugar

Jamaican Jerk-Style Paste, from Perfect Recipes for Having People Over by Pam Anderson, p. 59

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons hot red pepper sauce
1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate

The directions for both pastes are basically the same:
Heat oil and spices in a small pan over medium-high heat until they start to sizzle. Add remaining ingredients, and simmer until mixture reduces to a thick paste. (If you are impatient like I am, you will not wait until it resembles a paste; I found it was still yummy even though it wasn't exactly as thick as paste.) Mix the paste with the kebab ingredients (Cut the meat into larger chunks than the veggies for even cooking.), then thread onto skewers and grill.

I cut up more veggies than I needed for the kebabs by mistake, so I threw the leftover veggies into a little aluminum foil packet and cooked them on the grill, too. It turned out really well! Just be careful to cook the veggies long enough to feel good about the raw meat juices they had been mixed with earlier!

I served the kebabs with yellow rice with green peas, a green salad, and some ancient grain bread. Simple and nutritious, and it looked beautiful on the plates! We had a store bought angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert, along with some ice cream since Cub had a buy one ice cream get TWO free special. The flavoring pastes made a huge difference in the taste of the kebabs! I am sure we will be re-using these recipes this spring and summer!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Eat the Leftovers

2011-04-06T22:47:00.004-05:00

I must admit right up front that this is a serious Do-as-I-Say-Not-as-I-Do moment. Just tonight I "fed the sink" some food that could have been enjoyed by my family, but instead it stayed in the refrigerator too long and died there. Ugh. And to think, if I had only managed the leftovers better I could have enjoyed some good food that was.already.cooked. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy eating food that I did not just cook?

So, why am I, unqualified as I am, even daring to give advice on this subject? Once upon a time, in a life not too long ago, I read a book called Dinner's In the Freezer by Jill Bond. And in the midst of having five small children only seven years apart, the concept of preparing food ahead of time was a life-saver - a necessity, even. Our family lived by the *cook ahead once a month, always have something to eat as long as you can thaw it* plan for a long time. It was great while it lasted, but in time I became more able to manage planning menus on a weekly basis and cooking almost every day (though I do still double many recipes that I cook and store the extra in the freezer). But somewhere along the way between then and now I must have forgotten how to manage the refrigerator and the leftovers.

In her book, Mrs. Bond mentions the need to have a Clean Out the Refrigerator Day, known as CORD, on the menu frequently. I used to do that faithfully, grabbing everything out of the fridge and letting everyone choose what to eat, and reheating it plate by plate in the microwave. That is not always the best way to do it, especially if you like to have everyone sit down and start eating at the same time (I do), since the serial microwaving can take a while. But there is more than one way to slay the fridge monster.

Here are some ideas, and I promise to try to take my own advice:

If you know that you will not eat the leftovers, cook less food. Quit wasting it.
If you know that you will not eat the leftovers soon, package them up (don't forget to label it!) right after the meal and put them in the freezer. Do not think that you will put them in the freezer if you decide not to eat them in a few days; you won't (Oh wait, that's me, but you might not either.).
If your family (read, husband) does not appreciate leftovers or does not enjoy eating the same meal again very soon, then be sure to follow one of the first two suggestions above. Your other option is to come up with creative but different ways to use the leftovers the second time. I'm sure someone out there has some ideas.
Eat the leftovers for lunch the next day and be done with them. This works especially well if you have a biggish family who happens to be home for lunch most days, but I hear that you can pack lunches to eat away from home.
Plan a night each week as the designated CORD dinner. If you have an especially busy day or afternoon each week this might be a good night to choose. Decide ahead of time to give yourself a break from cooking.
Last but not least, and this is the one I stink at, check the refigerator often. See what's in there that should be "on special" that day, and find a way to eat it, or really go ahead and put it in the freezer. But then you have to check the freezer too...

Goodbye Winter?

2011-04-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

It's the 144th day we've had snow in our yard, but I think it may be the last! The pond across the street is still frozen, so the view from my front door isn't exactly springy yet. And we are among the fortunate ones in the neighborhood, since many homes facing different directions have yards that are still totally white! But I now believe we will not have snow piles near the driveway until June, like I truly believed earlier! It has warmed up nicely around here; I have hope that spring will come. Do we count highs in the 50's and lows in the upper 20's or 30's as spring? I guess we do here, so I guess spring has come, outdoors anyway.

Our furnace has been mostly off for the month of April, but it's not because we don't need it. It died an on-again-off-again, slow death, and now the indoor temperature is holding between 59 and 63. That sounds so warm if it's the outdoor temperature, but it is chilly in here! It is perfect for sleeping, but getting up is tough (er than usual). Tomorrow is the day for the new one to be installed! I am looking forward to being warm again, both inside and outside!

See you tomorrow for What's Cooking Wednesday! For now I better figure out what is cooking on Tuesday!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Do What You Do Best

2011-03-30T16:06:00.002-05:00

I've heard a lot of people talk about ways to make hospitality easier, and one of the best suggestions I have heard is to pick out one or two menus and stick to them for a while. Pick out a main dish, some sides, a bread, a few appetizers (or just little munchies), and a dessert that your family likes to eat and you know how (and can afford) to make. Then just make that every time you have guests.

We like to have lots of different people in our home over a period of time, and they probably do not realize that we served the same thing at our house last Sunday after church, too. Even if they do (I am sort of letting the cat out of the bag here!), does it really matter? The main point is that being hospitable does not have to be stressful. It can be fun for the guests and the cook, if the cook is relaxed and knows she can manage this meal for a crowd. It gets easier every time you put it together.

I do not always stick to this plan. I have gotten more and more used to cooking ahead for a crowd over time, so I now have quite a few of these options available to me when I need them. It seems they go by season: in the summer I like to (have Edwin) grill hamburgers or kebabs, with some cold side dishes; in winter we lean towards heavier things like roast beef, brisket, or lasagna. As long as your family likes it they will not care if they see it over and over again. And you will know just what to buy at the grocery store.

Here's what I've been cooking lately:

Beef brisket, with a semi-homemade BBQ sauce (Sam's sells them big & cheap.)
Hash brown potato casserole: 32 ounce bag of frozen hashbrowns mixed with 16 ounces of sour cream, 2 cups of shredded cheese, chopped onions, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 stick melted butter, & yes, the dreaded cream-o-chicken soup. Top it with crushed crackers, cornflakes, or whatever you like and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Edwin's mom made this famous for us and I will not mess with the recipe, though you could do a homemade substitute for the soup if you want.
Baked beans: Have I mentioned we do most of our entertaining on Sundays? This is the day we can really enjoy feasting and forget most of our dietary requirements of the week. This is why we have things like potato casserole and baked beans. Yum. I learned the baked bean thing from my mom, watching her dump in lots of stuff along with good-ole canned pork-n-beans. It's impossible to measure; I just know what it is supposed to look like (color). I pick out the disgusting pork blobs but leave the juice in the beans, then add ketchup, brown sugar, chopped onions, a little mustard, and sometimes BBQ sauce. If you top it with a few bacon slices you get many extra bonus points! Cook it in the oven with the potatoes, till it is thickened and bubbling.
A big green salad, or cut up raw veggies: This helps with the guilt feelings associated with the above combination of food!
Rolls or buns in case people want sandwiches, or just to be eaten on the side.

This menu really lends itself to making ahead; though as long as the meat is cooked on Saturday I can whip up the rest on Sunday morning before church. Even though it is ready to eat, it is still nice to have some munchies sitting around while the guests arrive and get settled. I usually cut up some peppers or carrots and have hummus, along with some crackers. We might add some chips & dip or salsa to that or some popcorn. Just something easy so we (this is really my issue) do not starve before the food gets on the table. When we grill food in the summer it is even more important to have something substantial to eat as it takes a while to cook 15-20 burgers!

Most of my entertaining is casual, because we are just casual people. But you could also come up with a meal that is fancy that you pull out on special occasions. (My Christmas Eve feast is getting easier to do now that I have stuck to mainly the same dishes for a few years.) Having a plan, like in most areas of life, will make entertaining easier no matter what the occasion.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace...
I Peter 4:8-10

Yes, I Stink at That

2011-03-28T15:32:00.001-05:00

Ever have one of those weeks when you begin to recognize all the things you kind of stink at? Well, that was last week for me. But, thankfully, this week, instead of being depressed, I feel like starting to do something about some of it, at least.

The house needs to be organized, the laundry is behind, the kids are in need of attention in many ways (and some are still sick - ugh), the snow took away my running path, waah, waah, waah. Quit whining and do something about it, or at least about what I can fix.

So if I am going to eat the elephant I will do it one bite at a time, and hopefully without too much complaining. I made some goals for the week and I will try to get them done. Then do some more next week. We'll see. God's strength is made perfect in my weakness. Wow - that takes a load off!

This week's plan is to get the kitchen in order and deep cleaned. I cleaned the oven this morning, which is a good start. The refrigerator, the pantry, the drawers, and the cabinets are going to be dealt with too. And just maybe I will get a clue about what is lost in the freezer and the basement cabinets, so I can quit buying groceries and just eat what's already here for a bit.

If I can tackle the kitchen this week I may find the strength to hit the office next week...

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

What's Cooking Wednesday - Breakfast for Dinner

2011-03-23T14:09:00.001-05:00

Wow! Wednesday again already! Last Wednesday I took James to the doctor for pneumonia. Since then I've gone back with four out of five kids and I may need to take one of them back today. So I have been in the high-maintenance parenting mode that involves lots of medicine and TLC while dealing with children that are less-than-content and really pretty miserable.

Enter Breakfast for Dinner. Who can be too sad when there are waffles for dinner? I do know that food can not fix everything, but it is a good tool a mom can use to give comfort and cheer now and then. So last night we had blueberry waffles, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and fruit salad for dinner. The sickies ate and were merry. They forgot for a moment that today we will be stuck inside at home again, with no ballet or piano, no trip to the library. The highlight of the day may be looking out the window and watching it snow (but it's the wrong time of year for that to be too exciting).

Another good use for Breakfast For Dinner is when I have a grocery crisis, since these ingredients are usually on-hand. I always have eggs, and breakfast meats have nice, long expiration dates so they are easy to keep on hand. Waffles, pancakes, or biscuits can be made out of pantry items, and if I have some fresh fruit, that's a bonus.

My sweet children gave me a very nice waffle iron for my birthday recently, so we have been experimenting with waffles a lot lately. Last night's blueberry waffles came from a mix, and though they were indeed blueberry, they were not nearly as tasty as the plain waffles I have been making with the Bisquick recipe. (Watch out for trans fat in Bisquick! Look at the label. I buy the Heart Smart version, or the grocery store or ALDI brand which do not have trans fat.) But I would rather leave the Bisquick behind and use only ingredients I can pronounce. So here are some healthier (?) waffle recipes I will try in the near future.

Pumpkin Pancakes, from the Raising Homemakers blog - I made these tasty pancakes and they were a huge hit. I love the idea of adding vegetables to a pancake or waffle and getting away with it! I need to research exactly how to change a pancake recipe to a waffle recipe. I am fairly sure it involves using a bit less liquid (milk) and adding some vegetable oil. The oil may not be needed since this recipe already has melted butter in it. (If you double the recipe you can just use a can of packed pumpkin.)
Blueberry Waffles - without the mix. I will try this next time we want blueberry waffles. This recipe has blueberries and blueberry yogurt.
Whole Grain Waffles - Some version of this, with whole wheat flour, will most-likely become my basic waffle recipe. We are used to the taste of whole wheat and really have no business eating too much white flour.

Another food-related thought for today: I just discovered a web-site called E-mealz. It is a service that plans a seven meal menu that feeds four to six people based on the specials and sales at a specific grocery store. It seems to be a southern thing, based on the grocery stores they use, but they have Wal-Mart and ALDI on the list, so I may give it a try. I don't know if I am the kind of person who can stick to a plan like that, but I think it would be nice to go on auto-pilot for dinner plans for a while. I'll definitely write about it later if I try it!

The 100th Post - Why Life Is Different Here, Still

2011-03-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

Well, this is the 100th post on Life Is Different Here, but I just can't see the necessity for a lot of fanfare. Maybe I'll save that for the 1000th post! ;) Still, a short(-ish) but somewhat random list has been floating around in my head for a little while, so I thought I could use this as an opportunity to share it.

Something one of my children said that I know no one in Alabama would say: "There are always frozen raccoons in the drains." This statement was met with no surprise and general agreement among the siblings.

Here is what the first day of spring looked like; though, admittedly, it could have been worse.

We had about 80 inches of snow this year (with more forecasted for tonight and tomorrow), making it the Twin Cities' seventh snowiest winter ever. That made it our family's snowiest winter ever.
There has been snow on the ground for the last 130 days. The picture above shows the least amount of snow that has been on the ground during the last 129 days.
My first blog post was published on November 11, 2009. Since then the blog has been viewed 3510 times, most of them by Edwin (my views do not count) or my sweet mother-in-law, I am guessing!
Shockingly, this blog has been viewed by people in 10 different countries! I think it may be due to random clicking on the "Next Blog" button at the top of the page.
My favorite blog posts so far would have to be the ones in the "metamorphosis" category. I mean, if you have a whole category for metamorphosis that is saying something! If you have time, start at the bottom of the category and read your way up.
I would love it if everyone who reads this 100th post would say hi in the comments. You can introduce yourself or remain anonymous if you'd rather. I would be pleased to meet you! Thank you for reading!

Friday - House Cleaning Day

2011-03-18T08:58:00.004-05:00

I used to be pretty sporadic about house-cleaning, doing whatever needed to be done whenever it needed it. Or maybe not doing it at all for a good while. Or really cleaning before someone came to visit. Our home usually looked presentable, especially if you did not look too closely. I could get away with that when there were only two of us!

Now things have changed drastically with seven of us here. Have I mentioned that most of us are ALWAYS home? The house never gets a breather: three meals a day for 6 or 7 people (at least), every day; five different grades of school, five days a week; six sets of sheets and seven towels used every day, not counting the hand towels which really should be changed every hour or two! Which brings us to the bathrooms, four of them (I am very thankful for that number!), two of which are very heavily used by five children (Have I mentioned that four of them are boys?) who are still learning to see the messes they make!

At some point in the last 15 years of having children, I accepted the fact that the house needed to be cleaned every week at some level, just to keep the place from becoming unsanitary. Also, though Edwin and I are generally in favor of neatness and sparsity over clutter, a lot of things can get out of place in a week, so that needs to be dealt with. Over time that has evolved into a Friday house cleaning plan.

I did not just wake up one Friday morning and decide to put this plan into place. As my household became harder to manage I began to seek advice from many places, from relatives and friends with children and well-cared-for homes to blogs such as Large Family Logistics and the Fly Lady (You know: Shine your sink! Tie Your Shoes!). I read cleaning books like Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell and Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson. Over time I figured out what needed to be done daily and weekly, and that still changes occasionally.

The first thing that is helpful is to decide which day of the week you will spend cleaning more thoroughly than the others. We still have daily chores: room cleaning/bed making/toy pick-up, sweeping, dishes, trash/recycling, bathroom wipe-up/towel changing, and some high-traffic area vacuuming. This is because there are so many of us always home; a smaller or more absent family could get away with less on a daily basis. But on Fridays we concentrate on really getting things pretty clean, and all at the same time, which I really enjoy for the half-hour it lasts.

My mother-in-law, who is a much better cleaner than I am, likes to clean on Monday. For her, cleaning up after the weekend and starting the work week with a clean house is the plan. I can understand that logic, but Mondays are not great for us - starting the school week with a two hour cleaning break is not good for us right now. So for me, Friday is the day. We clean up from the week and start the weekend, when we are more likely to have guests, with a clean house. Maybe you need your husband home to help with the cleaning so Saturday is the right day - we were there for a lot of years, too. Anyway, pick a day and stick with it until your needs change. The point is to stick with it. So-so cleaning every week is better than great cleaning only now and then. I've tried them both.

I have to say that our family can clean our fairly-large house in 1-2 hours, but that is because there are six of us working, some of us are very highly motivated to get done quickly, and my standards are not super-high. We do not dust every ceiling fan and every set of blinds every week. That extra, spring-cleaning type stuff gets done on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, or when the grandparents or my sister's family are coming to visit! :) You have to decide what is right for your family, and know that if you teach your little children to clean with you, it will pay off when they are older. Taking the time to teach them how to clean a bathroom is hard now, but it is time well spent. So it may take you much longer if you have more learners than helpers. Hang in there! Children get older quickly, as I've noticed.

It is with fear and trembling that I will post what we do each Friday. I used to be a lot more paranoid about if we are clean enough and if people would think we are slobs if they knew we did not clean the top of the refrigerator each week. But if you have been to my house and if you are tall enough, you already know that we are not neat freaks. Our goal is to have a clean, comfortable, and inviting house for our family and guests. We tend to put things off or get stuck in the middle of projects, so if you come here often enough you will see that the curtain rod that we can not decide about is still on my bedroom floor and the large grouping of picture frames for the family room is still leaning against the office wall.

All that said as a disclaimer, here is what we do each week if we can:

Bathrooms - The three oldest kids each clean a bathroom and I clean the master bath. This consists of scrubbing the sink, counter tops, toilet, and tub. They sweep/vacuum/shake the rugs, make sure the bathroom is well-supplied, and deal with the dirty towels, wash cloths, cups left behind, etc. I have always come behind them to deal with the mirrors and floors, but they are old enough now that I should be making them do that part too. Now and then I really get after the tubs with bleach and wash the shower curtains and mats, but not every week. We have one plastic tote full of the cleaning supplies that we all share, so this job has to be staggered among the other jobs to keep things moving along. Storage space in the bathrooms does not allow us to have a tote in each one, but that would be nice. Bathroom cleaning requires lots of training, but, like I said, it is worth it!
Vacuuming - We vacuum all the carpets and the stairs. The kids do all of it, with the three oldest each taking one level and the two youngest each taking a set of stairs. This is really nice for me. We have one good vacuum, so this job needs to be staggered as well. They use a hand-held vacuum on the stairs, which makes it easier for a smaller person to handle.
Room Cleaning - The kids clean their rooms really well, including their closets and drawers. This is the day the desks get cleaned up, the junk comes out from under the beds, the already-finished library books go back to the library baskets, etc. They also dust and empty the trash. Then we all work together to get things put away in all the rooms - games, laundry, what-ever is lying around. This is the day the great Lego cities that have been out all week (or PlayMobil, or...) get put away, blanket forts come down, and all the recyclables that have been used for Tech Deck skateboards get hauled out (most of the time).
Dusting - I am still OCD enough to want to do this myself, except for the kids' rooms. I need to train them better and let this go, but I do need to be working too... I also include rotating the couch cushions in this job, another OCD problem.
Kitchen - This is what I do during most of the cleaning time. I scrub the sink, deal with any dishes or those wine glasses that sit around too long waiting to be washed, wipe the counter tops, cabinet doors/drawers, and use the special cleaners on my stainless steel appliances and ceramic cook top. I clean the chairs as I am dragging them out (or, more often, have the kids drag them out) so I can sweep and mop. I usually clean the window above the sink and the glass doors to the screen porch too. It would be a good time to clean out the refrigerator, too, and I do that sometimes; though more often that job gets done in conjunction with a big grocery shopping trip.

I would love to hear how your family handles the cleaning chores, what you do on a weekly basis, and tips for making it easier. Please leave a comment!

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

What's Cooking Wednesday - Better Than Fast Food Chicken "Fajitas"

2011-03-16T16:37:00.004-05:00

Monday night Edwin was out of town, so I felt a bit "off the hook" as far as dinner went. Still, there were six people who needed to eat, so I wasn't really off the hook. I considered fast food for a few minutes, but had plenty of reasons to think better of it. I needed to go to the grocery store anyway, so I hatched the plan for the super-easy chicken "fajitas."

I bought a rotisserie chicken, which is what caused me to put the word fajitas in quotes; real fajitas involve some grilled meat. The key to this plan working for me is that without my husband (and with a Pi Day dessert) I decided we could survive with only one chicken. We have grown into a 2 or 3 chicken family, which makes the grocery store rotisserie chickens quite pricey! But if you are a smaller crew or your budget allows, the rotisserie chicken can save a meal now & then.

Here's how to do it: Heat some olive oil in a skillet or stir fry pan (I like to do this on medium-high heat as long as I am there to pay attention to it.) while slicing up a large onion. Add the onion to the hot oil once it is ready and stir it around a bit while you slice up a bell pepper or two. Throw those in and stir them often.

Remove the skin from the chicken (Do not eat the skin of the rotisserie chicken, especially if you are just standing there picking at it. Throw it away. It is not worth the fat and calories. If you want to roast your own chicken and do something to the skin that is worth it, then eat the skin. But for this, forget it!). Pull off the meat from the chicken any way you can - I usually just use my clean hands or two forks - and cut/rip/pull it into reasonably-sized pieces. Throw it into the pan with the veggies, but sprinkle it pretty heavily with cumin before stirring it. Let it heat up, and you're done. If it seems dry (mine did), pour in some apple juice, chicken broth (if you have an open container of that in the fridge), or white wine (ditto the open container). Really you could just add some water, but the apple juice made me feel so much more chef-ish, so I went with that.

Heat some tortillas, grate some cheese (better yet, have the kids do this while you are doing the rest), and serve with avocado slices, salsa, sour cream, and whatever else you can find that sounds good. Yum! If I were a real food blogger I would have taken a photo. Maybe next time!

Here's a more real-looking ingredients list, for those of you who work that way...

Better Than Fast Food Chicken "Fajitas" (Served 4 big and 2 little hungry people, with not a bite left over)

1 Rotisserie Chicken (or enough left-over cooked chicken for your family)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 large onions
1-2 bell peppers, any color
Cumin, about 1/2-1 tablespoon, or more to taste
Tortillas, cheese, salsa, avocados, sour cream, etc. for toppings

What's Coming Up...

2011-03-13T17:24:00.000-05:00

My old friend Jill (who is not old since she is as old as me, but is a friend from long ago) has a blog called Jumpin' In, and each Wednesday she shares a recipe in a post she calls "What's Cooking Wednesday." This week I plan to join her and begin to post a recipe or two each Wednesday. I hope this will encourage me to post something here at least once a week, so my blog will not be lonely as it sometimes is. Time will tell!

Also, last week I thought that my 100th blog post was coming up so I began to feel pressure about what to write for such a monumental occasion! Then I noticed that several posts that were being counted were drafts and revisions, making the 100th post a little further removed. But it's coming. No clues as to if it will be worth reading! But I am planning a little report from my statistics page, which I only very recently realized I had.

Lastly, what's coming up is a perfectly normal school week, for which I am thankful. Decent weather, in the form of 30's, 40's, and maybe even 50 degrees (!) is in the forecast. I am hoping to take my first four mile run this week; I have never run farther than 3.5 miles, so we'll see. I am amazed once again at the blessings God has given us, especially in the wake of the great devastation in Japan, and the hard things going on even in the lives of our friends. There is much to pray for, as always.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8

Running Along

2011-03-10T15:55:00.003-06:00

The treadmill broke again. Well, it's not exactly broken; it will run, but if you run on it the belt slips and randomly tries to stop. If you have ever spent any time on an untrustworthy treadmill, you know that this is a very bad thing. Ugh. Edwin already replaced the belt, so we have determined not to spend any more money on the really cheap, used treadmill we bought through Craig's List. Now I just hope we can get it hauled away without having to pay someone. Do you think anyone would want an unreliable treadmill if I listed it on Craig's List for free?

My sweet husband intends to buy a new treadmill for me, and I know I will be very glad to have it next winter. I have accepted the fact that I may be able to run in cold temperatures but I can not really run on snow. I am not going to be able to run outside all year. And sitting on the couch all winter has not worked out very well for me in the past! But right now I have just about exhausted my patience for running in the basement, going nowhere.

My relationship with the treadmill was always a bit of a love-hate kind of thing anyway, so fine. It's March now and time to run outside. (You do not want me to whine now about how March is very wintry here, especially this year, do you? I did not think so.)

One day last week I noticed that the bike path along my favorite running route was clear of snow and ice- it actually looked like a sidewalk. So on Friday, in honor of my birthday, I bundled up and headed outside to run while the kids made breakfast. It was 25 degrees and I picked the right clothes. I even got hot and took off my gloves. I ran my three miles, listening to my happy music, smiling most of the way. I beat my treadmill time by almost 5 minutes. I felt like Superwoman. Running outside is better, cold or not.

Then our family went to the water park over the weekend (fun!), most of us went skiing on Monday (fun!), and Tuesday I was moving pretty slowly so I opted for the exercise bike. Wednesdays are too busy for exercise, so that brings us to today. I almost lost heart when I looked out and saw how white everything was (more snow yesterday), but I suited up for 23 degrees and headed out. The neighborhood roads are fine if I run in the middle occasionally(which is ok since it's the neighborhood), and I was looking forward to the bike path that had been so perfect on Friday. However, the new-improved, warmer weather we've been having most afternoons and the new-improved sun angle have allowed for a decent amount of melting, which causes the water to run all over the path, only to freeze again over night. So I had to walk some, dance around the ice patches some (not literally), and I even performed a couple of good Scooby-Doos, but I did not fall. My time was still good, amazingly. And I was still delighted to be outside.

Consequently I have concluded that running outside is better for now, even when the conditions are not great. Somehow I can dream of summer, or at least spring, while chugging along with huge snow piles on either side of me, and for that I am grateful. Surely in another month or two things will improve dramatically. Then I will dodge mud puddles instead of ice patches. But at least I will be breathing in the fresh air and going somewhere - well, there and back again anyway! Come, Spring, come!

"That is one good thing about this world. . .there are always sure to be more springs."

Lucy Maud Montgomery, from Anne of Avonlea

Not Much Different From Them

2011-03-02T08:08:00.001-06:00

I have to admit that March is usually better than February here in Minnesota. Yet, that doesn't take away the sting of waking to a temperature of negative 7 degrees. I had a little trouble getting out of bed, and it was partly because March is supposed to be better than this. It should not be below zero in March. Ugh. And even the encouraging but noisy tweety birds have not returned like they usually do this time of year. And while being a whiner I managed to lie in bed long enough to watch the temperature drop to negative 8. It gets worse before it gets better.

Less than twelve hours earlier our family had gathered around the computer to listen to a sermon most of us had missed last Sunday, a sermon about how God is sovereign over every little thing. I believe it in my heart, I know it in my mind, and it has gotten me through many trials. Yet I forget it every day. I whine and complain against God and the plan He has chosen for me, a plan for my good. I forget that He has not wound me up for His own amusement, but that He loves me enough to die for my transgressions.

In the sermon, which I highly recommend you take 30 minutes to listen to, our pastor Joshua Moon quotes the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism. We have not been very familiar with it, as we have always worked on the Westminster Catechism in our family, but I now know from the first question (Not to mention its long history of recommendation from many godly, more educated people before me!) that it is something we should spend time memorizing. Here is the first question and answer:

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

That pretty-much covers it, doesn't it? God is sovereign over the hairs on my head and the temperature, whether it is March or not. I must work to memorize that, and quickly. I complain and I forget His love and care for me. A recent trip through the book of Numbers in my Bible reading reminded me of what a big bunch of whiners the Israelites were. But I am not much different from them. God is right here with me, too, loving and caring for each hair on my head, yet I complain about the cold. He is here and has provided me with abundantly more than I could ever need or dream of. May I go forward with a grateful heart.

Psalm 16:5-6, 9-11:
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Tale of Three Women

2011-02-27T21:36:00.001-06:00

This weekend I had the privilege of giving the devotion at a baby shower for three friends, two of whom have just had their fifth babies and one who is about to have her fourth baby. Since I am fresh out of writing material I thought I would post the talk here, though I am so bad at never really sticking to what I write if I am speaking that it may not really be what I said at all. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. :) If you already sat through this feel free to check back in with the next post!

Here we have 3 women, Heather, Julie, and Lisa. Two of them have recently given birth, and one may give birth at any minute. They may all be getting about the same amount of sleep. But not one of them is new at this baby birthing thing. These are experienced women.

All 3 of them are close to 40 years old (2 are closer than the other one!) and have been married 10 years. Soon, they will have 14 children: 9 boys, 4 girls, and a little mystery child yet to show his or her face. They see these children as blessings from the Lord, which of course they are. But did they just wake up one morning and find they had 14 children? No.

First, they were pregnant for 3935 days (and counting). That’s closer to 3 years for Lisa, and closer to 4 years for Heather and Julie. If you are wondering, Julie was the big winner at very nearly 3 years and 11 months. I’d say I can’t imagine, but, actually, I can. While pregnant all of those days these 3 women gained 450 pounds. That’s like a man, woman, and child all put together. Then after 3935 days they gave birth to 109 pounds of baby (so far), which is like a young teenager. By the way, that left them with 341 extra pounds to deal with!

Most of the time, God gives us one baby at a time. Thankfully, Heather did not give birth to all 44 pounds of five babies on the same day. No, somehow she managed to have 5 babies, each one weighing in at exactly 8 pounds 13 ounces, but not all on the same day. So a new mom takes one look at that one baby and is overwhelmed – overwhelmed with love, joy, and thankfulness, and, if not at first, at least eventually, overwhelmed with all the work and energy it takes to care for that one baby. There comes a day when a new mom finds herself at home alone with a screaming infant, a ton of dirty laundry, a dirty house, nothing for dinner, and tears streaming down her face. She has no time to do the things she used to do for herself and her husband, and she cannot imagine how she will ever catch up on her work, or her sleep. But God’s grace is sufficient for the day, though it may be hard to feel.

Now fast forward to the weeks following the birth of the fourth or fifth baby. Does it look different? Does it feel different, at least? Most days it does. Now our new but experienced mom is not home alone. There are 3 or 4 little kids running around. There is even more laundry than she could have dreamed of several years ago. The house may be a mess, but she has learned to accept that for a time. The newborn may be crying, but mom probably is not. Some of the children are old enough to help a bit, maybe a lot. And at least mom has lived through it several times and knows things will improve greatly over the next couple of months. God’s grace is sufficient for the day.

Three times Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove the thorn from his flesh, but the Lord responded, “"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9) I think a new mom, whether it is the first baby or the fifth, knows what it feels like to be weak. If you really believe that God’s power is made perfect in weakness, then we have a faultless combination here. God’s grace is sufficient. He is working for our good. Knowing that should bring contentment – we are where God placed us, home with these many children. It is a blessing.

But even when you are well aware of the blessing that it is, it is easy to get discouraged by the seemingly never-ending list of needs that must be met, over and over, every single day. How do you stay content in a life that does not revolve around you? I believe it is easier than when your life does revolve around you. Nancy Wilson once blogged, “Selfishness breeds discontent; selflessness breeds contentment.” And “Joy comes from self-forgetfulness.” I think that having four or five children, ages 10 and under, is one of the best ways to forget yourself!

Psalm 16 says, “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” You have to believe this is true. Your job is from God; He assigned your cup.

This is a good verse to memorize, so it can pop into your head at 3 am when necessary! It is easy to forget how delightful the tasks of raising children can be when you are right in the middle of it. One of the extra blessings of this, however, is that you often have so little spare time that you cannot dwell on yourself enough to become discontented. Besides, God’s power is made perfect in weakness; His grace is sufficient. Be content where you are, messy house and all.

No matter what we do, our real job is to glorify God. Whether we are discovering new chemical compounds or changing diapers, we are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength. We are to think about His commands all the time – when we sit at home, when we walk, when we lie down, when we get up. When we do this and communicate it to our children, watching them grow in godliness and seeing them glorify God - it is a beautiful thing. Yet it is no small job to be a Christian wife and mother, especially during the short period of life that finds you home with many young children. It can be so easy to get caught up in the little moments of tedious work that you forget to think about God’s commands. But we have to do the next thing to the glory of God.

So how does one mom effectively manage four or five kids alone? Thankfully, she does not. Thankfully these 3 moms have Christian husbands loving and helping them. Yet the reality is there, Dad goes to work and mom stays home for a time, alone with all of these needy people. So a mom needs a plan, at least a little sketch of one. And the sooner the better. Maybe the plan is to pray and read the Bible with the kids, prepare and eat 3 meals, do some laundry, feed the baby and change her diaper (6 or 8 times), load the dishwasher, play outside for 15 minutes, move the children along to a new play activity when needed, do some school work with the older kids, and make sure everyone who needs a nap gets one. These are not lofty plans, but they can really take all day, or even longer! The plan is not to have expectations of this time of life that are too high. You are not super woman, but God’s grace is sufficient.

At least after having the fourth or fifth child the older ones have to be old enough to understand a few things, which is very helpful. They may have noticed that mom cannot do more than four or five things at a time. You can use their understanding of this explain to them that this means that they occasionally have to wait for you. They will have to wait for you; there’s no getting around it. There are a few times in the life of a young child that having learned the lesson of waiting for mom early in life can be extremely beneficial.

One of these times is first thing in the morning. Who’s in control of when the day starts? In reality, it is probably the newborn. Mom tries to get as much sleep as is reasonable and that ends when the hungry newborn screams for breakfast. Not a lot to be done about this at first! But mom can have a plan about what the older children are to do to start their day. Does she allow them to get up whenever they wake up, or does she prefer them to stay in bed until she gets them? Or maybe they play quietly in their rooms if they are waiting on her to get them up. There is no perfect answer that applies to every family, but I can guarantee that any planned answer to the question will start the day off much better than the chaos of not knowing what to expect. The older children tend to be very good at rising to their parents’ expectations, if you train them and back it up with loving discipline.

How about a real life example? When our tired mom arrives in the screaming baby’s room, she finds her to be soaked, along with the sheets. Maybe the bumper pad is wet, too. Maybe it is more than wet. Then child #3 or #4 comes in with wet pj’s. Children #1 and #2 are starting their day with a screaming match over a toy. And this is all in the first 5 minutes. How can mom manage all that at one time? Simply put, she cannot. A screaming, frantic mom is not what her children need. So, even though she had no clue all this would happen on this particular morning, she can be prepared to deal with it to some extent. What can she do? Lots of things. But they all involve prioritizing. Maybe you tell #1 & #2 to be quiet and sit on their beds until you get there. If you have a habit of consistent discipline they will know you mean business and obey. Then you can deal with the little ones – change them, and maybe even feed the baby before dealing with the older ones. The thing that is most important, and that your children will learn quickly, is that mom cannot do too many things at once, which means they will need to spend time waiting for you. This is a good time for them to learn that life is not all about them. Mom is busy learning that, and they can too.

Another time of waiting for mom comes every 3 hours when mom is nursing the baby. This takes up a ton of time! How can a 2 year old control himself when mom is so tied up? They really can, especially if you help them along a little bit. There is the classic snuggle with the toddler and read him books while nursing solution, which is great for some times of the day. Another good answer is room time. Each child plays alone in his room or some assigned spot (moms of many children must be creative about finding a spot for each child) during one or two of the times mom is feeding the baby. A baby gate might be needed at first to pull this off with young toddlers, but they will learn to stay in there in time. You can also use the divide and conquer plan – the oldest plays with the youngest toddler in one room while the middle kids play in another room. You know which kids can handle each other for 40 minutes, and which cannot. Conflict reduction is the key here! Or you can have them all in the room with you, but with planned activities, not chaos. The 2 oldest play a game, the middles do a puzzle. This is hard, but you can even choose one nursing period each day for your kids to practice sitting quietly with a book or quiet toy, kind of like church practice. Set a timer and increase it little by little. They can do it and you will enjoy the peace and quiet.

There are a million variations of this, and you guys have probably already thought of much of this. But I cannot over-emphasize how having a plan can help a mom to be both content and joyful around her children, allowing her to be the godly example of womanhood that they need. And in a few short years when you no longer spend 5 hours a day feeding a baby, you will see that the plan can be expanded. You can leave the house more often and without ruining the rest of the day. One day no one will need a nap; they will all tie their own shoes and go to the bathroom by themselves. They will help you clean house and cook dinner. And you will wonder where the time went. And, hopefully, you will still wonder in amazement that the Lord has given you boundary lines that have fallen in pleasant places. God’s grace will still be sufficient for the day.

Happy Music

2011-02-17T14:58:00.001-06:00

Here I sit, at the library, in a too-small chair in front of a computer in the children's area. My i-pod is playing happy music in my ears and I am content. We are here because it is drippy and nasty outside, and my children are easily cheered by the chance to sit at the computer and play games for an hour - something that never happens at home (especially all five of them at the same time!).

I guess I am a very simple person. I downloaded some new music last night and I can hardly sit still or keep from smiling (dancing in my mind) while sitting here listening to it for the first time. It's the new, improved "happy music." I have always enjoyed having a moment to listen to my happy music. When I was a pharmacist in Florida I had an especially stress-inducing partner, and I soaked up the happy music on the drive to and from work every day. It stuck in my head and really helped. At that time it was a mish-mash of praise music that played on the Christian radio station. Now there is still some of that, but a better description would be a little bit of everything!

Another use for happy music is filling time during super-long drives on family vacations. Each year we make some new mix cds for the big drive, and it's very fun to learn the songs together and sing to the top of our lungs. Last summer we even impressed (?) the relatives with a big singing/dancing moment (some of which was recorded on video, unfortunately), and we were all inroduced to some music that was a bit out of our normal listening range. Hello Black Eyed Peas!

These days my life is not usually stressful, and there is no commute. Now the happy music fills time as I run miles on the treadmill or pedal miles on the exercise bike. I did enjoy listening to music when I ran outside in the summer, but I almost could not live without it during the boring monotony of the treadmill. The songs motivate me. "Just don't look at the control panel till this song is over," runs through my mind a lot, as well as a few very useful Bible verses I've memorized. I have been amazed at the sheer will-power it takes to run on that treadmill, but so far I am usually glad I did it once it is over. So I will continue to listen to the happy music until, and probably even after, spring comes.

Then, like always, will come a new time and place for some new happy music.

Psalm 40:1-3
Iwaited patiently for the LORD;
   he inclined to me andheard my cry.
He drew me up fromthe pit of destruction,
   out ofthe miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
He puta new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the LORD.

Under the Weather

2011-01-26T14:18:00.002-06:00

I have noticed a disturbing trend on my blog lately. That is, almost every entry has something to do with how I do not have time to write or post anything on my blog. Ugh. So I will not say that today, as I am writing something; therefore that statement would obviously be untrue.

Instead, I will take this opportunity to ~~complain about~~ describe the weather we've been having lately. Today it is a lovely, though wintery, sunny day. The snow is still knee- to hip-deep, of course, as I have continually pointed out that it never melts, or it waits till sometime in April, anyway. The last time I heard, we had gotten some amount of snow every single day in January except for one; we may be up to two or three snow-free days by now, since I haven't seen any flakes flying today. But this does make me appreciate even more the beautiful sunshine today. Another great thing about today is that the temperature is a toasty 27 degrees, a whole 49 degrees WARMER than last Friday's season low of -22. When I woke up last Friday morning the fancy time-and-temperature-flashing-on-the-ceiling clock was out of range for temperature, which means that it measured the temperature at some point below its low of -23.7. You just have to use sheer will power to pull yourself out of bed at that point!

It was cold. If we go with the Weather Channel's official temperature of -22 (though my fancy clock would suggest it was lower in our yard), let's just take a moment to see how that compares with some familiar temperatures:

-22 is 66 degrees colder than most refrigerators.
-22 is 22 degrees colder than most freezers.
-22 is 54 degrees colder than the freezing point of water. This is why we do not use the term "freezing" to mean 32 degrees, like we often did in AL, because it would really be considered a warm-up on most winter days if we hit "freezing!"
-22 is 24 degrees colder than the average low of 2 degrees for January 21 in Plymouth, MN.
-22 is only 6 degrees warmer than the record low for January 21 in Plymouth, MN.
-22 is 72 degrees colder than the average low for January in Melbourne, FL. Most of you will recall that our family has moved from there to here TWICE now. Oh well.

So if you want to know how different it feels to live here (Though, actually, we are not even talking about wind chill here, but actual temperatures!), just stand in your freezer a while and try to imagine yourself 22 degrees colder. (No wonder my refrigerator feels so warm to me every time I come in from grocery shopping! This is why I own a refrigerator thermometer.) Maybe then you will understand why my children are, at this moment, outside basking in the weak January sunshine, playing in the snow with only snowpants, sweatshirts, and gloves. Who needs coats when the temperature has gone up 49 degrees?

I Corinthians 7:17:
"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him."

Maybe Next Year...Which is Now This Year

2011-01-04T22:21:00.001-06:00

Well, I did it again. I failed to complete the December Photo Project, which was supposed to be a picture each day for the first 25 days of December, to commemorate all the celebrations of the Christmas season. I was doing so well, too, at first. Then the whole thing went downhill, and it can be explained by the photo for December 21. I got a nasty cold, right before Christmas. I was not even able to sing in the choir on Christmas Eve. Ugh. Sure, I was barely keeping up and things were about to spin out of control anyway, with a million activities and a lot of relatives on the way up here, but I am still blaming the cold!

Now the cold is still here, but Christmas and New Years have come and gone; and, thankfully, much fun was had by all. I feel better but still can't breath. But now I have been joined by nearly the whole family, even a few out of town relatives (sorry!). I am not usually the one who starts the family illnesses, but I guess we each take our turn eventually.

All this is to say that I am now going to post those last three (Only three, see I almost did it!) photos, since I did take pictures on those days. And since I have waited so long and already confessed, I will back date them without one ounce of guilt!

I hope everyone had as nice a Christmas and New Years as I did - minus the cold!

Happy (almost) New Year!

2010-12-29T23:01:00.005-06:00

Even More Family!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:39:00.001-06:00

The world must see this!

December Photo Project

Luke 2:8-14:

...there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T22:26:00.000-06:00

The Family

Our dear friends, Bryonie and Josh

Silliness

More Silliness

Family Tree

2010-12-23T22:21:00.002-06:00

December Photo Project

Snowhara Desert

2010-12-22T22:02:00.000-06:00

December Photo Project

Better Watch Out...

2010-12-21T22:20:00.000-06:00

December Photo Project

Precious Moments

2010-12-20T13:34:00.001-06:00

December Photo Project

Snowy Glory, reprise

2010-12-19T23:55:00.000-06:00

From December 2009

Kings and Queen of the Hill

2010-12-18T21:53:00.002-06:00

Today's December Photo Project pictures are from the Christmas card photo shoot. The closer pictures are better, but do not do justice to the size of the snow pile next to our driveway. So I felt compelled to include the out take so you can see the mailbox and the driveway for a bit of perspective. You can also see that even though the kids are older now, the let's-look-happy-with-no-hat picture plan still has its difficulties...

This Train is Moving Fast

2010-12-17T23:53:00.001-06:00

Well, there is much to say, including a full description of the Train concert Edwin and I went to, along with how very Minnesotan we were to stand outside for an hour and a half before said concert, but I have no time to say it. We've had a fun week! But Christmas is only one week away, and today we really have to buckle down and get it all done or at least planned so we will have time to enjoy our special days and our guests. So I will attempt to keep the December Photo Project going, but continue to have little to say!

Merry Christmas, and may we all remember the reason for the season...

Luke 1:68-70
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old..."

20 Years Later

2010-12-16T09:00:00.000-06:00

December 15, 2010

December Photo Project

Happy Anniversary!

2010-12-15T07:47:00.000-06:00

December 15, 1990

Disco Santa

2010-12-14T09:38:00.000-06:00

Disco Santa has been on my Christmas tree all of my life that I can remember. And that is saying a lot, considering that my family did not have a Christmas tree ornament tradition, or not one that I was aware of, anyway. We, like many families, had some old ornaments, some new ones, some that my sister and I made at school or church, and some that people had given to us. Now and then there was a year that Mom would decide to do something more trendy with the tree and buy new, coordinating ornaments of some variety. But for the most part, there were a few ornaments that were always there, and this was one of them. I'm not sure how Disco Santa went with me when I got married and left home, but he did, along with a few other ornaments from my childhood.

Edwin's family, on the other hand, has a Christmas ornament tradition. While growing up, Edwin and his sister, Amy, received an ornament from their grandparents each year. Most of them are dated, so we have ornaments on our tree that go back to 1968. Many of them are hand-painted, and they all hold great memories. Getting married in December means that we also have a few cherished "first Christmas together" ornaments from thoughtful wedding guests.

The Christmas ornament tradition has continued in our own family, as now Edwin's parents give each of our children an ornament every year. As you can imagine, our tree is filling up quickly with five new ornaments added each year, but we do cherish those ornaments. When we decorate the tree, we divide the ornaments into groups for each child and they admire them a bit before hanging them on the tree. Then they proudly point out their ornaments to any and every visitor who walks into our home.

I'm not sure what will happen to our Christmas tree when the kids leave the house with all of their ornaments, and I am not going to think about that now. But I have a feeling that one day, Lord willing, we will be buying Christmas ornaments for our grandchildren, too!

Psalm 144:12
May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace...

Great View

2010-12-13T09:35:00.000-06:00

December Photo Project

Outdoor Seating

2010-12-12T23:24:00.004-06:00

December Photo Project

All That Deep, Deep, Deep Snow! All That Snow Has to Go!

2010-12-11T10:26:00.000-06:00

December Photo Project

Children's Choir Concert

2010-12-11T10:17:00.000-06:00

Last night the Good Shepherd Children's Community Choir Concert took place, a whole five hours before the blizzard began. (It was originally scheduled for last Friday night but was postponed due to a big snowstorm.) All children did a great job! I love to be able to actually hear my kids' voices (Anna, James, and John are in the choir; David has moved on to the adult choir with a deeper voice, and Daniel is anxiously waiting till next year to be old enough.) among the small crowd. Our church has been blessed with very talented choir leaders and the kids are learning so much, and they really enjoy singing to the Lord!

[Choir photo to come...]

Meanwhile, I think we may be seeing our first real blizzard. Wow! the snow is deep and flying sideways. Stay tuned to find out if we make it to the work Christmas party, which is tonight at a fancy downtown hotel...

Ready & Waiting

2010-12-10T08:49:00.000-06:00

December Photo Project

Mmmmm...

2010-12-09T23:44:00.001-06:00

December Photo Project

December in Minnesota, reprise

2010-12-08T07:57:00.001-06:00

My grumbling about the temperature this morning has led me to remember when life was not as easy. Well, that, and the fact that one of my children has been practicing the 12 Days of Christmas on the piano all week!

I wrote this on Dec. 19, 1999. David was 3, Anna was 2, and James was 7 months. We are now living proof that God carries you through the rough spots, and children do get older!
Reflections on a not so great month...

You know the tune...

December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
A slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Seven is the high temp,
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Eight boots to tie,
Seven is the high temp,
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Nine diapers to change,
Eight boots to tie,
Seven is the high temp,
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Ten bags to pack,
Nine diapers to change,
Eight boots to tie,
Seven is the high temp,
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Eleven gifts to mail,
Ten bags to pack,
Nine diapers to change,
Eight boots to tie,
Seven is the high temp,
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.
December in Minnesota means lots of things to me:
Twelve days in Missouri (for Edwin),
Eleven gifts to mail,
Ten bags to pack,
Nine diapers to change,
Eight boots to tie,
Seven is the high temp,
Six trips to the Doctor,
Five antibiotics! (really six)
Four inches of snow,
Three infected ears,
Two sinus infections,
And a slight case of pneumonia.

.

I Don't Want to Get Up...

2010-12-08T07:44:00.000-06:00

Today's December Photo Project photo is Edwin's alarm clock, which projects both the time and the outdoor temperature on the ceiling. (I've written about it before, as it is one of the winter thorns in my side - seeing the temperature flashing on the ceiling while I am in my cozy bed. ) Thankfully it rounds the temperature, so what I saw on the ceiling was not -0.9 but just a big. fat. zero. Time to get up!

Does It Look Cold?

2010-12-07T15:11:00.003-06:00

I looked out the office window and saw a big, beautiful, pileated woodpecker in the tree right outside. I nearly froze to death chasing it around for a photo, but it finally got mad enough to fly across the street out of range. The only picture I got with the bird actually in it did not do it justice, hence the tree, alone. I guess I need more bird-watching experience, or more photography experience. Probably both! That's what is great about the December Photo Project!

Abandoned Fort

2010-12-06T17:33:00.000-06:00

December Photo Project

Slowly but Surely

2010-12-05T23:56:00.000-06:00

We bought our Christmas tree today, and it was covered in snow. (The picture was taken after much of the melting had occurred.) This leads to melting in the house, which is pretty much equivalent to raining. Oh well, at least it's here! The rain is over, the carpet is drying and we hope to have it decorated by the end of the week. I'm not kidding, it will take that long once you add all the other things that have to be done this week!

The December Photo Project has lots of great pictures, all of them much better than mine! Click on the link and look around at all the images of December.

Lego Day!

2010-12-04T21:23:00.000-06:00

Today's Photo Project picture is the kids' First Lego League team, known as the Cavemen. The tournament was today and they did a great job, after working hard over the last four months. Now they are on their way to the state tournament in January. Great job kids!

Groovy Cookie

2010-12-03T22:07:00.000-06:00

Anna, 13, took today's December Photo Project picture! Another edited phone photo, but I like it!

Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

2010-12-03T07:48:00.001-06:00

There's a first time for everything, and this is my first time to participate in a blog link up. (Though, in reality, I guess the December Photo Project is that sort of thing too.) If you want to participate, or just get some awesome cookie recipes, hop on over to the Raising Olives blog.

Here's my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, slightly adapted from a cook book that, if you are from Alabama, you will know as the "Yellow Phone Company Cookbook." The kids love to open this book to this page because it has a note from about 19 years ago slid in the book there, telling Edwin where to find things and what to do so he could bake these cookies a long time ago. I think someone was coming to visit and he was going to be finished with classes before me. Fun times!

Oatmeal Cookies
*Believe me, if you have anything close to a large family you will want to double or triple this!

1 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1.5 c flour
3 c oatmeal
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts (optional)
1 c chocolate chips (optional)

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs. Add flour, salt, and soda (I never pre-sift these - just mix well!). Add vanilla. After this point, you may need to stir by hand, depending on the size and strength of your mixer. Add the oatmeal, nuts, and chocolate chips and mix well. You could form the dough into a log and refrigerate over night or wrap well and freeze for later, treating them like slice and bake cookies. Or just cook them now without chilling in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the cookie size.

Enjoy! And please leave a good cookie recipe in the comments or join the 4 Moms cookie exchange link-up!

Play Time

2010-12-02T17:24:00.000-06:00

Winter Backyard

December Photo Project

Twice as Nice

2010-12-01T23:57:00.000-06:00

Well, I must admit that Daniel, 7, took the first photo for the December Photo Project this year. He took it with my phone and edited it himself. And yes, there are two trashcans in the picture, but that's ok. Maybe he has a future in photography...

Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T14:26:00.001-06:00

Psalm 111

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,

in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the works of the LORD,

studied by all who delight in them.

Full of splendor and majesty is his work,

and his righteousness endures forever.

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;

the LORD is gracious and merciful.

He provides food for those who fear him;

he remembers his covenant forever.

He has shown his people the power of his works,

in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;

all his precepts are trustworthy;

they are established forever and ever,

to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

He sent redemption to his people

he has commanded his covenant forever.

Holy and awesome is his name!

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever!

December Photo Project

2010-11-18T11:40:00.002-06:00

I tried to do this project last year, but I hope to actually do it this year - a picture every day for the month of December!
If you are interested in joining this project, click on the picture above for instructions.

New View

2010-11-13T09:23:00.000-06:00

Still (Different) Here

2010-10-27T07:57:00.001-05:00

Well, it has been a while! We had a lovely three weeks in Mexico Beach, Florida, with family. That was followed by two weeks of school-starting chaos (It always seems more chaotic if you wait to start school in October!). Then I was lucky enough to tag along with Edwin last week to the annual big work meeting, held this year near Austin, Texas, so the kids got to spend another week with their grandparents (Thanks, Ed and Gail!). And now we are back to chaos...

Every morning it is darker and darker, so it is time for me to face the fact that winter is really coming, like it always does. There's the darkness, along with today's high of 39 with light snow in the forecast. The wind is howling like mad. And that is the end of fall, which was nice this year, though I was not around for too much of it! Winter and, surprisingly, summer are the two seasons which begin very suddenly here. Winter always too soon, and summer always too late, but both always start very abruptly. It seems the temperatures go from 60 to 30, or 50 to 80, overnight and then there is no looking back. And such is life, different here.

One day in the near future I hope to write some "real stuff" piling up in my head, but for now I just wanted to say I am still up here somewhere, and I couldn't bear to leave the "Comment Trouble" post at the top of the page any longer. If there is anyone out there who still checks my blog after this long of an absence, I thank you heartily!

Comment Trouble

2010-09-06T22:33:00.000-05:00

Something weird is going on with my comments. If you have tried to post a comment lately, it probably disappeared. I only know about the problem because a few people have mentioned that they commented, and yet I never saw it. Sorry about that! I will try to find the time to look into the problem soon.

It is normal for your comments to NOT show up immediately under the blog post. This is because I have chosen to "moderate" the comments before publishing them. That means I read them first and then publish them. It is my blog, and I want to maintain complete control over what is here, not to keep away opinions that might disagree with mine, but to be sure that I know what is published under my name. This will continue.

But, normally, your comments should be posted within a day or two after you make them. I usually check for comments more frequently after posting, allowing them to be published quickly. So please don't stop commenting! I will try to fix the problem soon.

You could help by trying to post a comment below. The comments I make get published right away, so I can't really experiment with a fix unless I have some "real" comments! Thanks!

Running...

2010-08-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well, we've just about run out of hot weather for the summer, I'm afraid. I woke up to 50's and walked (instead of ran) in the bright, cool sunshine. A high of 72 is a bit disappointing for the last week for swimming at the pool, but I guess it does justify why they close even before Labor Day!

I have finally made some progress on my goal to be able to run 3 miles without stopping. Unfortunately, at nearly the exact moment that I began to feel like I might, perhaps, one day, begin to like running, and that it may actually be possible for me to achieve this goal outside, before getting back to running on the treadmill in the basement, I started noticing a pain in my hip that continued to worsen. Ugh. I am officially old. Now I am plugging the Aleve and back to walking for a week or so, and not getting too far with that.

In researching hip pain in runners, and by talking to friends who are actual runners, I have determined that the whole "Oh, my bursitis" issue is most-likely due to running in the wrong shoes. So last night Anna and I went out shopping and came home with a shiny (and very cute!) new pair of actual running shoes of a very specific variety, hopefully the exact shoes that will cause my joints to line up in such a way that I can continue to run and not be weary. And get out of the car pain free, like a 42 year old should. Time will tell!

...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Time Keeps On Slippin', Slippin', Slippin'...

2010-08-12T07:49:00.000-05:00

Wow! August already! I want to assure you (I know really of only 1 dedicated blog reader) that we are still up here. We are enjoying summer and staying away from the computer. Stories are building up in my head, so maybe one day I will write them. For now I will keep going to the pool as much as I can, and steaming toward arranging the Fall schedule for school which is, of course, more complicated than ever (I say that every year!).

This summer has been loads more summer-like than last summer because it has been HOT! I like hot, so I won't complain. But it's actually been in the upper-90's a good bit, with the "heat index" reaching over 100 more than a few times. Humidity in MN, wow. My kids asked what the heat index is, and I said it's kind of like the opposite of wind chill. That struck home right away, no more explanation needed!

That's all for now. There's laundry to do and boxes of school books to open before the pool calls this afternoon. I hope all of you are enjoying summer as much as we are!

Home Improvement

2010-07-16T07:49:00.000-05:00

There is an ice cream social for the Women in the Church at my house next Tuesday. And there is a gi-normous dumpster in my driveway. If that doesn't illustrate the first principal of hospitality, you-can't-wait-until-your-house-is-perfect-to-have-people-over, I'm not sure what does. So when you come over, don't look at that dumpster. Just sit in the unfurnished but air-conditioned living room and enjoy some ice cream!

And if you have a large item to dispose of, give me a call. The dumpster is too big for our needs and probably has room for some of your junk, too!

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another...(I Peter 4:8-10)

Summertime...

2010-07-06T10:40:00.001-05:00

I've been largely absent from the computer lately, and I must say it is nice. If summer is anything here in Minnesota, it is short. But it has been lovely so far and we have been soaking up every moment.

We enjoyed a lively visit from my sister, her husband, and five out of six of her kids. (We'll not mention their drive up here through tornados and that quality time in the gas station bathroom!) It was like a vacation for all of us, since we did all the fun things we could cram into three days - Como Zoo, Minnehaha Falls, a Twins' game, and the Mall of America. There was also a lot of play time around here and a lot of eating!

That visit was followed by the annual Music in Plymouth concert with the Minnesota Orchestra and plenty of really good fireworks. And that was followed closely by two days at the pool, lots of work around the house, a day of rest, and a church picnic. There was also a plumbing thing; it seems we may be back on the leak-a-week plan. We have a large plumbing project ahead of us, but the rain in the unfinished part of the basement has stopped for now. Whew! I declared we had to stay home this morning to do important things, like laundry, that never seem to do themselves. Then we're back to the pool, I hope!

The home improvement before and after shots will be coming soon. The front door will get redone tomorrow and we can declare the exterior done. The trouble with it would most-likely not show in a photo, but that is still my excuse!

I hope all of you are enjoying summer as much as I am! If you have any local, Minnesota must-do's for summer, I'd love to hear them!

Summer Reading

2010-06-22T08:05:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading The Old Man and the Sea, for the first time as far as I remember. I could say I’m not sure how I missed that one, but I think I have figured it out already. I didn’t read much in school, and I read almost nothing that wasn’t assigned. Actually, I did not really read that much of what was assigned, except in a skimming or Cliff Notes sort of way. What I remember about literature in school was that we never could just read anything; we had to pick it apart, write about it, and discuss it, ad nauseam. I know comprehension is important, and writing is very important. Don’t worry - my children are required to do these things in school, too. It’s just that I feel like if we do that to every assigned book they will turn out like I did and not enjoy reading. And there would not be time for them to read the quantity of good literature out there that I hope they can cram in before college. So yes, I’ll admit it, most of the assigned reading for my kids’ school is just that, reading. Throw in a dinner table discussion and check it off the list.

I should mention that Edwin and I received good educations from the public schools we attended. How did I get away without actually reading most of what was assigned? The crowd helped. I was smart and could easily do well and get by doing the bare minimum. If there had been a bit more one on one attention, a good teacher would have noticed that I was lazy and doing as little work as possible to make an A on the test. Then she could have stepped up the expectations a bit, to my benefit. But as it is I am now faced with educating my own children, and the thought terrifies me! In the last 9 years I have discovered just how little I did learn in school. I have been trying to make up for that, frantically at times. One of the most enjoyable things I have done to help in that department is to read many, many books. I have learned to love reading, and I am thankful that my children are learning to love it, too.

My summer reading this year is going to be mostly American literature. I so love English literature that I have neglected most of the American writing. I’d love to take suggestions from those who are more educated than I am. Please leave a book suggestion in the comments!

Gigantor Lives!

2010-06-14T22:56:00.004-05:00

Let me state up front that this is a long and rambling story. Sorry about that! A better writer would condense this somehow, but I am a talker, not a writer, so listen if you have time…

My Sunday morning started with an orange juice shower. No, it actually started with me making a (very large) pot of chili at 7:00 am. I have a bad habit of putting off the fellowship lunch preparation until Sunday morning. It’s a combination of being too lazy or too busy on Saturdays, but either way, it results in the family waking to strange smells. Then I headed to the shower, a real one. It was shortly after that the orange juice shower occurred. I wasn’t there to see the scope of it, and by the time I arrived on the scene it had been cleaned up, or so it appeared. Thankfully there were no church clothes involved, since a few of the kids are so short of nice clothes it would have resulted in a serious wardrobe malfunction. So I moved on to getting ready to leave.

Fast forward 20 minutes. I came back down to the kitchen, all ready to go except for my shoes. That’s when my feet stuck to the floor, and I discovered the scope and reach of the orange juice shower as well as the deficiencies of the clean-up effort. Now I have no choice but to mop the floor before church. Ok, I do now realize there were some other choices, but this was my feeling at the moment, which I know some of you can understand completely! I grabbed the two nearest boys who were fully dressed and they began to move the seven chairs and four stools out of the kitchen. One of them began to scrub o.j. off the chairs, too. I grabbed the bag of trash someone had pulled out but not really dealt with and sat it on the garage step (still not dealing with it). Then there was a flurry of super-fast aerobic sweeping and mopping. I ended up quite hot, asked another boy to get me some water, and dashed up the stairs for my shoes. We were still going to be to church on time!

Edwin was then the first one out the garage door, where he ran into the bag of trash. He picked it up to put it, finally, into the big trash can. Under the bag of trash he saw this:

Gigantor, who turned out to be a Polyphemus moth instead of a Luna moth, was out of his or her cocoon at long last, and probably nearly met an early end to an already short life (as a moth, anyway) by my rudely placing a trash bag on the step! This resulted in the need to fully examine him and take some photos, and figure out what to do with him. After seeing the state of his bowl it no longer seemed a good idea to let him just live his life on the screened porch so we could watch him (Since the moths do not feed and we thought it was a beautiful Luna moth, it seemed like a good plan before.). Finally, we drove to church, and we did make it there in time to deposit the pot of chili in the kitchen and get seated before the announcements. Amazing!

Why was Gigantor in the garage, you ask?

Well, we had all but given up on the moth. Here’s the back-story. The kids found the really large, green, and quite disgusting caterpillar at church last year on August 2. Thankfully, it made a cocoon very early the next day. I was glad about this since it meant we didn’t have to feed it and clean up after it, which is quite nasty with even a small caterpillar. And this was no small caterpillar! Unfortunately, I had hastily placed it in one of my most-useful bowls, thinking I would find it a more-suitable home the next day. But, lo, the next day Gigantor was busy permanently attaching to the side of my bowl. Ugh. Still, it would come out soon enough.

Or would it? After a month in the house with no action, I decided it may be too cold in our house (this is a recurring theme) for the poor moth to know what season it was, so we moved it out to the screened porch. All of our previous caterpillar experience was with Monarch butterflies, so we had expectations of seeing the moth in a month or less. We took the bowl to a friend’s house in case he emerged while we were on vacation. We came home a whole month later to find it unchanged. So it stayed on the screened porch.

Eventually, it snowed, the wind blew, and Gigantor’s cocoon was covered with snow. We learned that Luna moths do sometimes over-winter in the cocoon, so we waited. Some of us thought it was surely dead. I held out hope. Surely it would come out in the spring. Spring came and almost went, and I started to waver. I determined we would dissect the cocoon if it was still sitting in my bowl in mid-July.

Not long after that decision the time came for the house to be painted. We ripped the old screen down and cleared out the screened porch. We nonchalantly sat Gigantor’s bowl on a shelf in the garage, somewhere between the paint scrapers and the baseball gloves. We certainly did not know that after 314 days, Gigantor would emerge and not even be a Luna moth. And to think, Gigantor may have never been seen again, but for the orange juice shower…