Is it Spring??

The temperature has climbed into the 50s! It's lovely and sunny. I love all of the fabulous mud pits in my backyard with a small bit of snow clinging to the hope of winter returning. (Did you hear the sarcasm?) I don't like to get my hopes up so I'm waiting for another snowy day or two.

In the meantime, I give you this fabulously fun website (that I found over at Altogether Too Happy) that will help you envision Spring, even if it isn't Spring in your part of the world yet.

The screen will be black and blank; click where you like and create your own Spring picture!

Michael???

Sadly, we missed the first 10 or 15 minutes of the show last night! We got home a bit later than we intended and started taping soon after the first commercial break as we readied our boys for bed. I caught up this morning on the ABC website.

Okay - now I'm caught up... WOW!! I liked this episode better than the Desmond episode last week or was it the week before? Anyhow, I was surprised to see Michael again, but then I remembered from the ads that we were going to see someone we thought we'd never see and then I wasn't surprised, but glad it made sense. How did he get a job on the ship? Obviously, he has an alias as Kevin, but how did he get that? Where is Walt? Who has Walt? Is Walt being held to make sure that Michael keeps Ben informed?

I don't think that Michael will be one of the Oceanic Six.. So far, we have seen Jin, Sun, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid in the future. That's six! But then, there's Ben, who makes it off the island, as Sayid is working for him. Hmmm... I wonder if Michael gets caught spying or decides to go back to the island.

I'm glad that Sun had her baby and that they're both alive, but what about Jin?? Obviously (or just obvious to me) is that he's in Korea working for Paik Auto, buying a Panda, and then Sun goes to Jin's gravesite. I think I would have thought it was a flash-back, except Jin looks longingly into the delivery room where the Ambassador's child just delivered a baby boy. Did he fake his death?

What's going on with Ben, Charles Widmore, and the plane crash cover-up?? ARGH!! So many questions! I guess we'll just have to see what happens next week!

Scranton.... I miss you!

Thanks to Shannon , where I first saw this!

Homeschool Ruling in CA

Would you please sign the petition concerning the State of California Homeschooling ruling? You can read more here and here.

This decision could possibly effect my freedom to homeschool my children.

Whether you think homeschooling is a good idea or not, shouldn't it be the parents' decision to choose what is best for their own children?

Please go to HSLDA and sign the petition. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this, not only for me, but for all homeschooling families across this great nation of ours.

Abundantly Blessed

There are some times when my family has seen God's sovereignty so plainly. Like the day I got married and the weather was perfect that morning, then rain just poured from the heavens after I got to the church (with my hair done) and continued to rain the rest of the day. I admit it, I was a little vain about my hair. Dare I admit that I still sometimes am?

Then there was the time that I went into labor with my second child. It was December and we weren't ready. At. All! We went to my Dr's appointment, found out I was at 3 cm and that jarred us into action. We took our oldest and went to the grocery store because whether or not we went into labor soon, we had to have food in the house! We also went Christmas shopping. Our oldest child was a little less than a year and a half old, why not shop right in front of him? I knew it wouldn't last forever. :-)

My Dearest packed our hospital bag that Tuesday evening. If we had to go tonight, what would we need? He packed it all. I had had a discussion with my mother-in-law earlier that week, who mentioned that since we moved and had to take a new route to the hospital, there was no direct exit to our hospital off of the freeway we were planning to take to the hospital. We had to exit either a mile before or after the hospital.

My Dearest had to be at work the following day (Wednesday) at 5 am and when he came to kiss me good-bye, I told him he wasn't going to work. We needed to get to the hospital. As he had slept, I paced the apartment and counted minutes between contractions. Right when he was supposed to be leaving, my contractions were about nine minutes apart. We called my mother-in-law; my Dearest got the car ready, and notified my doctor and hospital that we were on our way.

The weather was not icy nor snowy, just misting rain... in December! Traffic was relatively clear for 6:50 in the morning. We arrived at the hospital safely and I delivered our youngest later that morning.

This past week's events will be another one of these stories. God's providence so clearly seen.

Earlier last week, my Dearest noticed a lump in his mouth. Not really painful, just there. On Tuesday or Wednesday, I noticed that our 'Check Engine' light had come on... again. We have had some difficulties with our EGR valve, which makes our 'Check Engine' light light up.

My Dearest went on Wednesday to the auto parts store he frequents and bought the part just in time. The owner was going on vacation starting on Thursday morning and the shop was going to be closed for 10 days.

Thursday, my Dearest took the van to work so that one of his colleagues could clean and replace the EGR valve that evening as my Dearest worked overtime. I had the car and would run errands that afternoon with the boys. The lump in my Dearest mouth had started to hurt more and swell... to the point that he felt compelled to see our family physician, who had just returned from a 10 day vacation. Sidenote - what is with these 10 day vacations sprouting up everywhere? Anyone??

My Dearest called me about mid-morning and told me about the upcoming appointment and that it was also 'Leave-your-wallet-and-work-keys-at-home day.' Could I bring his wallet and keys (along with a check for his co-pay) either to work or the doctor's office? Well, one of my errands was only a mile or two south of the doctor's so I fit this into my errand list.

The boys finished school lunch and off we went to run errands. I was so organized and together! I had a list of everywhere we needed to go, what things were to be dropped off where, to whom, and at what time. It was a beautiful thing. We left the house and went down the street and the brakes felt quite a bit slow to respond, which I chalked up to getting used to the car's brakes versus the van's. I changed that story as I slid farther into the intersection than I would have had the brakes not felt 'mushy.' We turned the car around and went back home and thankfully so, as the brakes at that point the brakes failed. We stopped just in time and we were all safe.

I phoned the doctor's office and talked to my Dearest, mailed the co-pay check, and phoned everyone I was planning to see.

My Dearest came home after his appointment so he could rest and have his prescription filled. Since he still didn't have his wallet, I took his prescription to be filled and took care of my errands. It turned out my Dearest has a blocked salivary gland and was prescribed antibiotics, along with sour foods to get his salivary gland to produce saliva and help the gland along the way.

On Friday or Saturday, I learned that my one of my parents was going out of town on business for the week and my other parent will be leaving town later this week. They decided we could use their van while our car gets fixed and the second parent will leave their car at the airport. The first parent will pick up the car at the airport and we will pick up the second fly-ee when they return from out of town. Complicated, perhaps, but God has provided a car for us while ours needs repairs this week!

It's amazing to see how God has planned all things for his glory. How has God been working in your life?

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Phil 4:19-20

GiveAway Follow Up.... Thoughts about Lickety Split Meals

After 123 people were interested in the Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People on the Go Give Away I had last month, I contacted the people at Zonya Health International (ZHI) and asked if they would be willing to give a discount of sorts to you who wanted the book, but didn't win it.

Here's what I pose to you ... Would you rather have a discount on the book or a Zonya CD freebie with purchase of the book?

Leave me a comment with your preference and I will forward the info to ZHI so they can put together an offer for you!

LOST!

Well, it's taken this long to digest what happened on LOST last week. Sayid is one of the Oceanic 6, apparently. So far, that's Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid.

Does Ben count as one of the Oceanic 6? Obviously, he made it off the island, but he had the ability to do so before Locke blew up the submarine. He wasn't on the plane when it crashed. He does, however, have a secret closet, in which he has a stash of passports, various currencies, a respectable wardrobe and more. Hmmmm..... more questions!

In the future, I cannot believe that Sayid is working with Ben. Sayid says, while they're still on the island, that he would would rather sell his soul than trust Ben. Obviously, something significant happens that would put the two of them in this type of relationship. What happened to Sayid that he's now working for Ben?

Over the last few days, I have talked to more people who watch LOST and they are rather bothered by the fact that the show doesn't seem to answer as many questions as it raises. I think that in this age where plots seems to be so predictable, I find LOST so refreshingly suspenseful.

The show doesn't follow the typical hour long mystery format: The first 5 minutes acquaint you with the characters. The next 5 to 10 minutes show you circumstances of the crime or murder. Then the next 30 minutes deal with chasing clues and finding who dunit and the final minutes deal with explaining how they found out who dunit and everyone marvels at the ability of the solver.

I find this show is so refreshingly atypical. It doesn't bother me that more questions are raised every week. Now, when the series ends and all of the questions aren't answered, then I'll be very peeved, but right now, I look forward to my weekly dose of LOST.

Update on "We've Moved!"

Well, apparently I did not articulate our fish's thoughts very well in my post titled, "We've Moved!" It's not that we have moved, but rather that our fish have moved. Instead of writing about our tank leaking from our point of view, I thought it would be more fun to write about it from their point of view. Sorry about the confusion.

We've moved!

We saw the smallest one come and peek into our room and home very early this morning. He peeked and left quickly.

About two hours later, we saw the biggest one enter our room. We noticed that we couldn't swim as freely as we once did only hours earlier. The biggest one peered into our home and moved our filtration system out of our home. He also cleared off the flat surface that has four sticks that touch the floor where the two smaller ones do something with paper, plain and colored sticks of sorts, and bound paper. This is where he put the things he took out of our home. What's going on?

After the biggest one cleared surfaces and moved things out of our home, the world started shaking and moving and we could see things that we hadn't noticed before. The next thing we knew, we were put upon a slightly squishly surface in a room with squares on the floor, a cabinet, a huge floor to almost ceiling length cloth, and a looming white stool or chair of sorts.

We saw the long-haired one go into our previous room and she used this large barrel-shaped thing on wheels with a long hose, which she moved across the carpet. It was very noisy. The biggest one was no where to be seen. After awhile, the smaller ones looked at us and they seemed confused and groggy. It seemed we were in a room we weren't supposed to be in.

The noise died down and all four of them came into our view. The biggest one lowered a large vessel into our home and tried to catch us. We eluded the vessel and the bigger one by separating and swimming away as best as we could, though our water level was down to 3 inches now. He caught two of us, then the other three and put us into a smaller home with not nearly enough room. As we adapted to our new home, we realized that gravel was raining down into our home! We dodged the gravel as best we could.

Our much smaller house started shaking again and we were set upon a blue surface in a room with a large water source and shiny receptacle; a big surface, out of the top which fire leapt and the front had a large door with shelves inside; and we could see the biggest one and the two smaller ones eating something, but they didn't eat right out of the water like we do. Nor did they eat while they played or chased each other around the room. They ate out of these concave shaped things with shiny things in their fins, but they didn't really look like our fins.

After relaxing most of the day and adapting to our much smaller home, the biggest one took us through a door and boy, was it cold! We went to a building nearby and are now in a house that is much larger and we have more friends here. We hope the furry, barking thing on four legs and the furry, slinking thing that looks at us won't disturb us, but the thing that levitates around the room makes us very nervous.

Please don't send any house-warming gifts. Our home is well stocked. We hope to see the biggest one, the long-haired one, and the two smaller ones soon.

Is it a cold or allergies?

It has been a crazy sort of week. I've been fighting a cold for about 4 days and this past Sunday night, it hit me. HARD. Of course, if one stays up until 4 am on two consecutive Friday nights, then gets up at 6:30 am to work an All Day Crop or a Unit Meeting for my scrapbooking and stamping business, then stays up for most of the rest of the weeks until 2 am, the cold that's been hovering is going to hit and it will probably hit hard.

Yup, that is mostly what happened. Throw in a late night watching the first two discs of LOST (Season 3), cutting more paper for a workshop, and taking the whole family on a sleepover to our friends' house for more LOST after we put the boys to sleep.

So Monday comes and I wake up with a full-blown sore throat, coughing, and sinus pressure. I supervised school from my prone position on the couch. After school and lunch, I put in both discs of Pride and Prejudice and intermittently slept and watched both discs. I don't think I made dinner that night, I think we ate something my Dearest whipped up.

On Tuesday, I realize I cannot remember the last time I was sick. Two years ago? Three, or was it four? I almost feel like I'm dying. In addition to the sore throat, coughing and sinus pressure, now I have other symptoms. My nose is alternately running and stuffed. Breathing through my mouth is difficult and drying my throat.

My brother told me about grapefruit seed extract pills* and their ability to cut short the duration of a cold. I also read that cod liver oil* or more specifically the vitamin A & D also help with lessening the duration of a cold. I started popping pills to see if this will help.

By Wednesday, I realize that I'm acting like a typical male who is sick. Oh, you know what I'm talking about. I realized the reason I was acting this way was because I don't normally get sick! Usually, everyone else in the family gets sick and I don't.

Could it be my spring allergies are acting up and it's not a cold? We have had very interesting weather here lately - 40 and 60 degree days, then plummeting into the teens, plus lots of rain, sleet, snow, and every so often we had a dry day.

Something else to ponder as I try to breathe through my mouth until my nose clears and not make my sore throat worse.


*I make no claims about the efficiency of either grapefruit seed extract or cod liver oil capsules to lessen the duration of colds. I am not a doctor nor do I have medical training. Contact your family physician or herbalist for more information.

Why do they want Ben??

Please don't read any further if you haven't seen LOST yet; there may be questions I pose that spoil the episode for you. If you don't care, read on!











Nobody likes Ben. Why do they want him?? Who does he have on the boat? What kind of information does he have that could be helpful or useful for these people? What is the original pilot of 815 doing piloting a chopper back to the island? What are a physicist, "soil sample analyst" or medium of sorts, pilot, and anthropologist doing together? Not to mention that it sounds like the beginning of a joke.

On the other hand, I'm glad they answered the question of why they're on the island - to get Ben. But why? Questions, questions, questions. Looking forward to next week!

Bloggy Winner Announced!

Thank you to everyone who entered my Giveaway for Zonya Foco's book, Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People on the Go!

Congratulations to number 100: Mo! Email me your address so I can have the book shipped to you! If I don't hear from you by 7 am (EST), Saturday morning, I will choose another winner.

Congatulations, again, Mo!

LOST Season Premiere

We really enjoy LOST and have been waiting anxiously since the finale last season. But the questions they raise! So many questions! Who are the "rescuers?" Why is the freighter near the island, if not to rescue the survivors of Oceanic 815? If Hurley didn't choose to go with Jack, how does he end up off the island? Who are the other 3 who make it off the island (Hurley yells, "I'm one of the Oceanic 6!" when he's being arrested)? Who chooses to stay on the island?

So many questions and I can't wait to see the rest of the season!

What do you think is going on?

Bloggy GiveAway!!

Today is the start of Bloggy GiveAways hosted by Rocks in My Dryer!

I'm giving away an autographed copy of Zonya Foco's Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People On the Go! This is one of my favorite cookbooks and I know you'll LOVE it!

This cookbook has the following sections in it: breakfast, "Appeteasers," 1 minute mini meals, 5 minute meals, 15 minute meals, 30 minutes meals, oven-exercise-eat, pasta, pizza, stir-fry, soup, slow-cooking, salad and sides and sweet things. All of the recipes are do-able and taste FABULOUS!

Some of my favorite recipes are: Unstuffed Peppers, Cranberry Pork over Noodles, Beef Stroganoff, Beef Barley Soup, Parmesan Turkey Cutlets over Angel Hair, Salmon Burgers, Creamy Chicken Dijon over Noodles, Breakfast in a Cookie, Oatmeal Cookies.... My family, including my 6 and 7 1/2 year old boys, love EVERYTHING I've made out of this cookbook.

This drawing is open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike. Please make sure you leave me an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner! Please note that you must have a U.S. mailing address to win this prize. I will use a random number generator to choose a winner on Friday, February 1 at 3 pm, EST.

Be sure to click on the button to see what else is being given away this week!

One Week!

January 31 is only a week away!! That means LOST is premiering in one week! Are you as excited as I am??

Who are the people from the freighter? Who was Naomi working for? Who leaves the Island? Who stays? How do they leave? Why are people coming to the Island, but not coming for the survivors of Oceanic 815? The answers start coming in one week!

Bloggy GiveAways!!

It's that time again! What to give away?? Hmmm..... Hand-made cards? Scrapbook layouts? Other crafty things? Recipes? Hmmmmm..... Stay tuned and check back on January 28th to see what I'm giving away!!

Winter?

Well, apparently 60 degree days in January in one of the Mid-West states isn't meant to last. It has been cold for the last week and I'm really looking forward to Spring, or at least consistent 50 degree weather. It snowed Monday night and Tuesday early afternoon. It's so cold, our snow is all powder, which is fine for all of you snow-sports enthusiasts, but it's not suitable for snowballs or snowmen. We shoveled it the best we could; as it is powder, it just kind of blows all over with any amount of wind.

What have you been doing and how is the weather where you are?

Walking Speeds and "Movement"

I have resolved that I need to start moving regularly. Of course I move from one room to the next, but by move, I mean exercise-types of movements. I haven't exercised in a quite some time and it's time to do something about it!

I used to run track in high school and can remember I used to be able to run 5 miles without being very winded and now... let's not even talk about how far I can walk now! Although, I can still walk quickly, I just need to work on walking longer than through the mall or grocery store.

My friend Monica is tall, about 5'9" or so. I am 5' 5" so for me, anyone over 5' 5" is tall! Anyhow, when I was at the Barry Manilow concert last month (I hear some of you people laughing already!) my friend Monica had trouble keeping up with me. She has had people (and her own family) complain that she walks too quickly and could she please walk slower. It was a treat to find someone who can and enjoys walking quickly.

When My Dearest and I were dating, he had a dream he was chasing after an Asian girl through a mall because I walked so quickly when we met.

Now, all of this changed when my children were born. They surely couldn't learn to walk when I was walking so quickly. Now that my youngest is 6, I can start to walk a bit more quickly.

All of this is to say that I need to start exercising, but I'm going to call it "Moving" and "Movement." Quotes included. Do you want to play along? Join me over at ScrappyMom Movement. I'll be moving my Recipes of the week over there, along with my movement progress. Perhaps we can inspire each other along!

Coffee-Mate Give-Away

How do you take your coffee? Cream? Sugar? Flavored creamer?

For all of you who like creamer, flavored or otherwise, Coffee-Mate is giving away coupons for free creamer! This campaign is called Stir Up Something New. Enter your info and they will send you a coupon for a free bottle of Coffee-Mate creamer.

Do I need to tell you how to use it? If so, use it to try something new, your trusted standby or pass on to your coffee-drinking friend. :-)

Enjoy your cup of coffee!

Wouldn't you just know it?

Of course after yesterday's dreary weather post, today is a "yummy, sunny day!" The temperature has dropped back into the "normal" range of 40s, but it's clear and sunny outside!!

Have a great day!

Balmy Weather & Spring Cleaning

Monday and Tuesday were downright balmy here! Now, if you live anywhere in the Mid-West and especially near the Great Lakes, you know that "January" and "balmy" generally do not go together, but I swear, we had fabulous temperatures! It topped 6o on Monday and almost reached 60 today. Now, perhaps you noticed that I wrote "temperatures" and not "sunny." Nope. We had fabulous temperatures.

See, here in the Mid-West, we get dreary winters. Very little sun once January hits. Somehow, November and December don't seem nearly as dreary. We generally have cloudy skies, bone-chilling damp weather, and SNOW. We rarely see the sun, not until March or April at the earliest or so it seems. A dreary, rainy January 60 degree day was most welcome.

This sudden burst of warmer temperatures reminded me of Spring. It sparked my creativity and compelled me to do a bit of pre-mature Spring cleaning!

On Monday, I threw open the windows to air out the house a bit and give us some much needed fresh air. I noticed several of my neighbors did the same. I'm taking full advantage of warm weather while it's here! My creativity ran wild as my boys were playing outside in the mud building forts, fighting some sort of storm trooper or another, and yelling like banshees. I cleaned out all of the newly retired stamp sets in my collection (32!) and then decided that it was time to move furniture in our living room.

I had moved a couch, coffee table and emptied a bookcase to move when I received a phone call from my Dearest who was leaving work. I told him I had a surprise for him and hoped it would be ready when he got home. He paused a moment and said, "I'd like to eat dinner tonight." I started brown rice in the rice cooker, then I scrambled to finish moving the couches, bookcases, and re-shelve the books. I didn't dare move the TV, entertainment cabinet, and various other TV paraphernalia.

He snuck in through the back door, but he liked what I had done. So far. He came up with the idea to keep moving furniture. We rearranged a bit more and are happy with our fresh, new look. Just in time for "Winter" to arrive... again.

By the way, we had salads, seasoned Mahi-mahi, asparagus, and brown rice for dinner, to my Dearest's joy.


For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven...Ecclesiastes 3:1

Expecting!!

Not ME, you sillies! I had you going, didn't I? :-)


My dearest Sister and Brother-in-Law are expecting their first child. They broke the news over Thanksgiving, but seeing as I've rarely blogged since... well, before Thanksgiving, I thought now would be a good time to share with the world.

No, they're not going to find out before hand what gender their child is.

She's due in early June.

She's feeling well. Not much (morning) sickness at all.

(Yes, I can hear all of your questions now.)

Sadly, I've been bugging, I mean prodding, I mean encouraging my Sister and Brother-in-Law to have offspring for quite some time. Granted, they've been married for about 3 1/2 years. In some circles that's seen as a long time. In others, it is seen as no rush, no fuss. I mention this because my Dearest and I got pregnant on our honeymoon. We are of the view that they were taking a long time, only because of our own circumstances.

Our children are 6 and 7 1/2 so we (okay, I) have been encouraging my Sister and Brother-in-Law to have children, because after all, our children need cousins on this side of the family!

Now that they are expecting and we own a mini-van, the talk has come full circle back to us. Our child will need cousins his or her own age! You could have more children. Don't you need a girl? You have three empty seats in your mini-van, ya know! and every other conceivable reason why we would need more children. No pun intended!

Tonight, at dinner, as talk turned to meatball cannons, Legos, cars, and other boy-ish topics, I felt it again. Acutely female in an almost male-dominated home. This time, instead of just grinning at the "boys will be boys" behaviour, I mentioned it to my Dearest. I laid my head on his shoulder and said, "I feel acutely female."

His way of comforting me was something like this:
"Well, if we were to multiply, there's no way to determine the gender."
I answered, "I know. We could have more of this!" nodding my head at the boys.
"Your Sister and Brother-in-law have no way of knowing either. If we did, we wouldn't know until the birth* anyhow. We don't know if the genders will be compatible or not."
(I think he meant similar. tee hee hee)
He continued with, "Well, it's best not to try."

*We are some of those people who chose not to find out the gender at the ultrasound. We like being surprised at the actual birth. For me, it's remembering my Dearest looking at me with such emotion on his face as he announced that we had a son or another son. Memories I'll cherish in my heart forever.

Anyhow, those of you who know my Dearest know that he's always said that whatever God has planned for us will be and who are we to stay God's hand? If it happens, we'll love that child as much as we love the ones we have now. If not, then not.

Football Results

The end of the regular football season is over. For the football widows out there, I'm very glad for you. All you must endure now is playoff season. It will officially be over on February 3 ... about 10:30 pm.

Here is how our Pigskin Pick'em team did:

I am so excited to say that I placed first in our group overall. Yay!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope that 2008 will be a wonderful year for you.
May God lead you even closer to Him and continue to sanctify you.

Multiple Recipes of the Week

Okay, so I've been very lax about posting my recipes of the week. Here, I try to make up for it! Here are some of my very favorite recipes.

Most of them are from Zonya Foco, who is a Registered Dietitian and has a FABULOUS cookbook called Lickety Split Meals: For Health Conscious People on the Go. I highly recommend this cookbook; everything I have made out of this cookbook has been well embraced by myself and my family - even my 6 and 7 1/2 year old boys!

Oven Baked Lentils and Rice - My 6 year old requested this for his birthday meal this past winter.

Beef and Barley Soup - We really enjoy our slow-cooker and love the fact that when we've had a busy day and come home, dinner smells so good that my boys can't wait for dinner time. Hooray!

Beef Stroganoff - My Dearest absolutely loathes Beef Stroganoff, but he really enjoys this recipe!

Salmon Burgers - An easy way to get Omega-3 in our diet.

Salmon fillets a la ScrappyMom
Season your salmon with salt, pepper, and lay sliced lemons over, completely covering it. Bake or broil until done. Enjoy with brown rice and vegetables of your choice.

Bon Appetit!!

So Much Easier!

I was trying to create some .jpg and .pdf items for my scrapbooking website and as I was away from home, I couldn't do my usual multi-process solution: Print, scan, save, and then use it as needed.

My brother-in-law, who is very computer-savvy, suggested an Open Source program for a pdf creator. I googled it, asked if what I found was the correct one, downloaded it, and started creating all sorts of .jpgs and .pdfs. So happy!! It's so easy to use and even better yet is that there is no cost! Want to try it? Go here.

Merry Christmas!!

Shannonn tagged me before I had a chance!

Perhaps it is because I haven't posted in so long, huh? I'll be back to "schedule" soon.

In the mean time...

Merry Christmas!


For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called,
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6, ESV

Homemade Tofu

Here's a unique Recipe of the Week - Homemade Tofu!

When we were at my parent's for Thankgiving, my sister wanted to learn how to make tofu and I sat in on the lesson. Little did I know I was as interested and I ended up helping quite a bit, due to my sister's "delicate condition." Quick side note - yes, my sister is pregnant with their first child and boy, is everyone excited! Our boys have been praying for their cousin, aunt and uncle; it touches my heart so.

This recipe is time consuming, but tastes so much better than what you'd find in the stores. Apparently, tofu in it's natural state is very perishable and commercially available tofu tastes plastic-y, according to my parents. I have also wondered what kind of additives and preservatives are in commercially available tofu to make them last on store shelves.

My parents double this recipe when they make tofu, but I don't think most of us have stock pots large enough to accommodate this recipe doubled.

Ingredients & Necessary supplies:
2 1/2 c. dried soybeans
Water
2 T. Epsom salt
Large cotton bag with a narrow opening
Large muslin or poly piece of fabric
Large stock pot
Ladle
Flat paddle-type spatula
Basket with drainage holes

Soak 2 1/2 c. soybeans overnight in about 10 cups of water. Rinse beans and water until clear.

Blend with two times as much cold water as beans. (1 ladle of beans, 2 ladles of cold water)

Pour bean mixture into a large cotton/poly bag. Repeat with remaining soaked beans.

Close the bag (or hold the opening shut) as you extract as much of the liquid as you can out of the cotton bag by squeezing and rubbing the bag. Remove extracted liquid into a large stock pot

Pour warm water into the bag and continue extracting liquid from the bag, then removing extracted liquid into pot.

When all of the liquid is extracted, the soybean remains should be dry and crumbly.

Bring the soybean liquid to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and turn heat off for 10 - 15 minutes. No peeking!

Dissolve 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt in 2 cups of water.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of Epsom water over the surface of the soybean liquid. Stir once using flat-paddle type of spatula. Cover for 10 minutes. The Epsom water and heat will start to separate the soybean curd from the water. When you stir once, you will start to feel some resistance from the curd.

Repeat with all of the Epsom water. The water and soybean curd will start to separate, the water on top will be straw-colored and clear.

Ladle off as much water as you can. Moisten a large muslin or poly cloth, line your basket (we used an organizing basket with "latticed" sides for the excess moisture to escape) with the moistened cloth. Pour tofu into the "mold," then fold excess cloth over the top. Lay a heavy weight that fits onto the surface to drain out the rest of the water. Let sit overnight.

The next morning, invert tofu onto a cutting board, cut into portion sizes. Place tofu into a container and add enough fresh water so that it just floats. If tofu isn't prepared and eaten right away, drain and add fresh cool water every other day to keep fresh. Tofu will keep fresh with this method for 2 to 3 weeks.

Fresh tofu is hard work, I won't deny it, but the taste is so worth it.

Chal muh-guh-sae yo!

Christmas Trivia

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? After Isaac's birthday

4. When do you take the tree down? Early January

5. Do you like egg nog? Usually just a cup or two per year

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Nothing comes to mind

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dearest

9. Easiest person to buy for? My kids!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Have you heard of the Cobbler's children?

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I know I've gotten a couple of things but can't think of them off the top of my head.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Charlie Brown Christmas - I think it counts! Plus all of the Home Alone movies.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Early December

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope! I keep everything I get!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Potato Pancakes (latkes) and the cookies!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored

17. Favorite Christmas song? Christmas hymns are my favorite!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Perhaps if I tried really hard.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

22 . Most annoying thing about this time of year? Shopping for groceries and trying to find a parking spot

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? The ones my kids have made

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? No tradition, it varies every year.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Hmmmm... nothing, really.


Want to play along? Just leave me a post telling me.

Words, words, words...

We are spending Thanksgiving with my family. My sister and brother-in-law are coming into town and I am looking forward to it. We are a loud bunch, fond of playing Scum, Dutch Blitz, Speed Scrabble, and Euchre. We like our numbers and words.

Why not make a difference with a love of words? Here, I scored over 600 grains of rice and have a vocab level of .... well, let's not say. Let's just say I wish my score was higher.

Spinach Salad with Apple, Pomegranate, and Celery

This has become one of my favorite salads! I first had it at one of my customer's homes at her scrapbook class. She insisted I try it and I'm glad I did!

Ingredients:

3 c. chopped apple
1 pomegranate worth of seeds
3 ribs of celery, chopped
9 oz baby spinach leaves
1/4 c toasted nuts (optional)
1/2 to 2/3 c. Honey Dijon Dressing*

Honey Dijon Dressing
3/4 c mayo
3/4 c. plain yogurt
1 T sugar
3 T honey
3 T Dijon mustard
2 T vinegar
1/2 c. oil (I used olive)
1 T dried parsley

Blend all ingredients except for oil and parsley in blender.
With blender running, slowly add oil.
Blend in parsley.
Keeps for about 1 week.

To assemble salad:
Combine apple, pomegranate seeds, and celery with 1/2 to 2/3 cup honey dijon dressing.
Just before serving, toss with the spinach leaves. Sprinkle with toasted nuts.

Bon Appetit!!

Yes, this would be the second Recipe of the Week recipes. Enjoy!

Four Things...

Four Things You May or May Not Know About Me


Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Nanny
2. Waitress
3. Receptionist - ICEE
4. Homeschooling Mom :-)

Movies I Would Watch Over and Over:

1. Pride & Prejudice - BBC Version
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. Bend it Like Beckham
4. The Italian Job

Four TV Shows that I watch:

1. Chuck
2. Heroes
3. The Office
4. The Unit

Four Places I have been:

1. Korea
2. California (up and down the coast)
3. Nantucket
4. Martha's Vineyard

Four People who E-mail / Call Me Often:

1. My Dearest
2. Brother
3. Sister

Four of My Favorite Foods

1. Mexican
2. Thai
3. Spinach, Pomegranate, and Apple salad
4. Clementine Tangerines, any fruit really.

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Mackinac Island
2. Chicago
3. A warm beach
4. Anywhere with my family

Things I am looking forward to this year:

1. Thanksgiving and Christmas
2. Moving into our brand new church buildling
3. Regency Ball at my church (1800's style English Ball)
4. Watching my children learn


Want to play? Consider yourself tagged and please let me know you decided to play!

Homeschooling Wish List

I just came across some homeschool humor - a wishlist from homeschoolers to non-homeschoolers. I found this over at Consent for the Governed.


Here are some of my favorites:

1. Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2. Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

10. We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

14. Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

To see the complete list of 25 wishes, visit here.

Please realize that just because I homeschool doesn't mean that I think that you should. I feel very strongly about every parent's right to educate their child in the matter best suited to that child and family situation. I know that we as parents make decisions based on the best interests of our child(ren). I don't want that right questioned or taken away.

Rear Sensors ... on CARS!

Did you know that if you drive a car with a rear-impact sensor not only will it detect when you are about to hit something or someone, but it will do the complimentary - it also will sound when someone gets too close to you.

I found this out from my neighbor who owns such a car and was sitting at a railroad crossing when the car behind her decided that if they creeped right up to her bumper, the train just might move on the tracks faster and they might be able to cross the tracks quicker. All of a sudden, her sensor starts beeping and she had no idea why! She finally figured it out and scooted forward a bit, but so did the sensor-offending car behind her. Only when the train cleared the tracks and traffic resumed, did it stop.

Okay, since I've been informed I have been on the lookout for these cars - not to harrass them, but only becuase they have a distinguishing characteristic on their bumper. Today, I wasn't paying attention, but my Dearest was.

We were turning off the freeway/expressway/whatever you call the Interstate and into a left turn lane that had quite a few cars in it already. Our van wasn't quite in the lane and had it's right rear end jutting out into the lane next to us. I could clearly see the rear bumper of the car in front of the car in front of us through it's windshield, but they were not inclined to move forward. Since they were not creeping forward, I creeped a bit to get the rest of our van into the lane and not disrupt traffic in the lane next to us. This is when my Dearest noticed that this car in front of us had a rear-sensor. He said, "Hey, they have a sensor in their bumper! If we get closer, they will start beeping and move forward!" We started laughing uproariously at the though and idea. Ethan asked us what we were laughing about and we explained to him about this feature. Isaac then asked, "May we do that, please?"

Recipe of the Week

Okay, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming! It seems that everyone has something that works for them - ordering Chinese, preparing a prized recipe handed down through the generations or experimenting every year with something different. How about some awesome breakfast recipes?? Dinner is not the only meal, people! These are my absolutely favorite and easy breakfast recipes, unless my Dearest is making his pancakes. That recipe to come next week!

Baked Oatmeal Vegan Style
We are not vegans, but Dearest's sister is and his brother and sis-in-law are vegetarians.

Ingredients:
½ c each brown and white sugar
½ cup oil
3 c Rice Dream
4 c oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 chopped apples
dried cranberries
cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
2. Preheat oven 350*. Grease 9x13 pan. Pour in the oatmeal. Bake for 30 minutes.
3. If you sprinkle cinnamon on top before baking, run the spatula over it so it gets a little wet & won’t burn.

This is very tasty served in a bowl with Rice Dream.

Baked Oatmeal, non-Vegan and non-Vegetarian Style

Ingredients:
~1 c sugar (brown, white or a mix)
2 – 3 eggs
½ cup oil
3 c milk
4 – 5 c oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
raisins
cinnamon
a finely chopped apple


Directions

1. Mix sugar and eggs.
2. Add oil and milk. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add oatmeal, salt, and baking powder. Mix thoroughly.
4. Preheat oven 350*. Grease 9x13 pan. Pour in the oatmeal. Bake for 30 minutes.

Egg Casserole

Ingredients:
potato patties or hash brown potatoes
8 eggs, beaten
1 c. milk
1 lb breakfast meat, cooked
shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Layer the potatoes in the bottom of the pan (if using patties, a single layer, if using shredded potatoes, about 3/4 inches deep)
2. Mix eggs and milk. Pour over potatoes.
3. Scatter breakfast meat and cheese over eggs. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350* and bake about 45 minutes until eggs are set.

Overnight Caramel French Toast

Ingredients:
1 c. brown sugar
1 stick butter
2 T light corn syrup
12 slices bread
6 eggs, beaten
1 ½ c. milk
1 t. vanilla
¼ t. salt

Directions:

1. Combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in saucepan and bring to a light boil, just until sugar melts and mixture looks like caramel.
2. Spread mixture evenly into bottom of 9x13 pan.
3. Place 6 slices of bread on top of syrup. Cover with remaining 6 slices. – You should have 2 layers of bread, each layer with 6 slices.
4. Blend remaining ingredients and pour over the bread slices evenly.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight (about 8 hours)
6. Place in pre-heated 350* oven for 45 minutes

These recipes was originally posted on Jan 1, 2007.

Bon Appetit!

While We Were Out

My Dearest and I went out this past weekend and spent some time with friends from church, as we do monthly, to play Euchre. Participants bring a snack to share and an "entrance fee," a small gift with our favorite Bible verse taped to it.

This past time, everyone brought some Christmas gift-wrapping supply item (wrapping paper, gift bags, Christmas cards, etc.). We play tournament-style, changing partners after each game. After we finish playing, we tally out points and pick our prize from the entrance fees that were brought. We had a fun time and I even placed 2nd out of 8 players; I usually place in the bottom half. YAY me!

When we got home, we had a fun recap of the evening from my m-i-l. I learn so much about our children every time someone else watches them!

Isaac picked up Gram-Gram's water bottle and proclaimed, "Gram-Gram! You need to stop drinking this water right now! It has total carbs!"

I'm trying to be a better steward of my family's health and improving our eating habits. I have always been a foodie, and have been reading labels and apparently, my boys have picked up on my habit. I have tried to tell them that it's not just the words, but the number accompanying the words. That part hasn't stuck yet.

We rarely eat fast-food, but if we do, our fast-food of choice is Wendy's. Another funny moment was Ethan asking Gram-Gram, "Will you take my to McDonald's?" She responds that there is too much fat in their food. He responds with, "But, Gram-Gram, I need you to drive me there so I can put up my sign in their window that says, 'Stop the Fat!'" The funny thing is that he hasn't been exposed to low-fat food, low-carb diets, or protests. He's a one boy protest.

Recipe of the Week

With the thought of hosting family over the holidays, I thought I'd repost one of my favorite recipes. According to my friend Nikki, this has become one of her friend's favorite recipes as well. This recipe was originally posted on Sept 2, 2006.


From my friend Mary:

Mary's Awesome Pork Dish

Combine:
1/3 c flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Use flour mixture to dredge:
2 lbs pork loin, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
Sear pork in skillet, place into ungreased 9x13 pan.

Saute:
2 T. butter
1 c chopped celery or onion (if you don't like onions, celery works well instead)

Add and boil:
1 garlic clove, minced
2 c applesauce
¼ c brown sugar
¼ c soy sauce
¼ c apple juice
½ tsp ground ginger

Pour mixture over pork into 9x13 pan. Bake @ 350* for 1 hour. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes or rice and your choice of veggie.

Drumroll, please!!

Thanks to my random number generator, the winner of my Fall Ya'll Giveaway is Entrant # 39 - Shannon! If I don't hear from her by Tuesday, November 6, I'll choose another winner.

Congratulations, Shannon!!

It's Fall Ya'll!!

***Sticky Post!***
All other posts will appear below this one until the winner has been chosen for my drawing!

The weather is crisp, leaves are gorgeous and Rocks in My Dryer is hosting her Fall Ya'll Giveaway! Her last one was so much fun! I think my counter just recently recovered from my last giveaway. It needs a workout every now and again, don't you think? :-)

Here's what I'm giving away this time:




The winner will receive 2 each of 4 card designs, 8 envelopes, a card holder, and a matching pen!

Fine Print:
To enter my drawing, please leave a comment!
You do not have to have a blog to enter.
Please be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!
Unfortunately, I can ship to U.S. addresses only.
I will close the comments on Friday, Nov. 2 at 4 pm Eastern and draw a winner using a random number generator.
These cards and holder are made using Close To My Heart products (stamps, inks, and papers) and are copyright by Close To My Heart.

You might be my winner!

Not a Perfect Week

It's Tuesday. The morning after. After Monday Night Football, that is. I picked the wrong team to win last night's game. It seems Favre's arm does work well in the cold. He does play for GB, after all. That's a pretty cold city. Plus they play outdoors, not in a dome. He is also the most experienced QB in the league, as well. I guess I should have taken that into consideration before I picked Denver over GB. I assumed that the altitude would be more of an issue than it was. I guess the game day temp being in the high 60s made up for whatever altitude issues they might have encountered.

Nevertheless, I am in the lead for the week, and I have tied scores and rankings with My Dearest. I still say, Game On!

Go see her!

I met Karen at my moms group last Spring. (The group was previously affiliated with MOPS, but decided to branch out on their own, creating their own independent group.)

Karen is an awesome speaker. She has lots of wisdom and encouragement for mothers, as we are in the trenches on Planet Motherhood. By the way, she is not my Mrs. H, although the initial fits, lol!

She is giving away a copy of her book, "Confessions of an Irritable Mother." Click on the book image to enter for your own copy and tell her you came from my blog!

Forgive me, I don't know how to underline book titles in blogger!

Recipe of the Week: Chicken, Artichoke, and Rice Bake

I think Fall is actually here! We're supposed to dip below the freezing point tonight. That means slow-cookers, casseroles, and comfort-food recipes to come! I tweaked a classic Campbell's soup and rice recipe for this much-loved recipe in our house.


Chicken, Artichoke, and Rice Bake

Combine and turn into a lightly oiled 9x13 pan:
1 - 10 3/4 oz. cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 c. water
3/4 c. uncooked rice
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 - jar artichokes, drained and chopped

Place 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts on top of rice mixture. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 375* for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Guten Appetit!

Week 8 Wins!

I don't normally blog about football, but I'm SO. EXCITED. ABOUT. THIS! You know I like football. You know I do picks. THIS. IS. THE. FIRST. TIME. EVER. that I've picked correctly for the whole day, let alone perhaps an entire week's picks. In the last 3 years I've picked, I don't think I've ever picked anywhere near 100%.

I'm not as confident about Monday Night Football. I've picked Denver over Green Bay. I know Brett Favre has been really unstoppable this season, but I think the altitude is going to be an issue for him and the rest of the GB team, although not too much of one as I've picked a fairly low-scoring game with a ten point difference between the two teams. Yes, I call 27-17 a fairly low-scoring game. Have you seen New England's scores this season? They've been averaging over 40 points for each game. Okay, perhaps not an ordinary example. How about Indianapolis? They average over 30 points scored per game. Okay, maybe another extraordinary example. Okay, I've called a moderately exciting football game based on my predicted score. We'll see how it goes.

Fall Ya'll!

Well, I've been pondering this give away thing for a couple of weeks. Do I give something away? Do I just sit this one out? What to do??

Well, I've decided to join the fun again! My giveaway will be posted sometime tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Gym and Ice

The boys have been taking gym classes at our local sports/recreation complex. They have a fun program for children which meets weekly, and we decided it would be a sanity saver to put our children in an organized physical education program. Plus, I thought I'd take the time to ice skate while they were in class. 2 uninterrupted hours of cool, ice skating bliss. After the previous ice skating incident, I was a bit hesitant to get back on the ice, but the uninterrupted time was calling my name!

The first week, I had to prep a scrapbooking workshop so I spent my time cutting paper. The second week I had a dermatologists appointment for a spot of what turned out to be eczema, which I need to treat with a topical cream.

This past week, I did it! I started out finishing some cards, adhering card fronts to card bases that have just been begging me to make them into complete cards. After I finished, Jessica and Lydia, 2 high school aged gals from my homeschool group, compelled me to join them skating. After getting my rental skates and starting to lace them, Andy, the employee who filled out my accident report before, saw me and asked, "Is this such a good idea?" I could see that he just had visions of filling out another report, collecting statements from witnesses, and I could just see him heading back to the office to get the clipboard at the ready, just in case.

I was undaunted and we had a blast. These two gals were so much fun and encouraging about me getting back on the ice. I noticed that Andy was standing out by one of the windows talking to another employee as we were skating. The girls and I had a fun time imagining their conversation and poking fun at my previous ice skating incident.

Car Update

Well, it's been a few months since our car issues started. It has been resolved, I just haven't updated ya'll. Here's the update!

We remembered that one family was selling their Honda Odyssey and we decided that it would be great to have more cargo room, especially since we seem to like this camping thing and we're planning on making it a yearly event. No more Big Mac box on top of the car! :-) Do you know what I'm talking about? Are you too young to remember Big Mac boxes made out of Styrofoam?

Anyhow, we are the owners of a mini-van. It's a 2000 Honda Odyssey EX with a hauling package of some sort. We have had it since sometime in August. The boys love the automatic doors; I admit, I do too, especially when it's raining! I'm not even ashamed to admit I like driving it. :-)

Recipe of the Week: Crab Dip

Nikki replied to my Foodie post and I had forgotten about my Crab Dip recipe! It's time to revive it as the holidays are coming (yikes!!) and this dip is great to take to your holiday gatherings.


Crab Dip

Mix thoroughly:
2 - 8 oz Neufchatel cheese, softened*
1 - 6 oz can crab meat
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
5 dashes Worchestershire sauce
3/4 c. cocktail sauce (or until creamy or to taste)

*Feel free to use regular cream cheese, if you prefer.

Chill at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with textured crackers.

Guten Appetit!

Last Week's Recipe of the Week: Turkey Barley Chili

We have one eater in our family who is particular about certain foods. Actually, I don't think it's the food, it may be the texture of the food. Anyhow, this is one recipe that my particular eater has requested and is enthusiastic to eat! For those with cholesterol issues - did you know that barley is better at lowering cholesterol than oat?


Turkey Barley Chili - modified from Quaker (Chicken Barley Chili)

Brown 20 oz ground, lean turkey in a large pot.

Add:
1 - 14.5 oz can diced tomato, undrained
1 - 16 oz can tomato sauce
1 - 14.5 oz chicken stock
1 1/2 c. pearled barley
4 c. water
1 T chili powder
1 tsp cumin

Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 - 20 minutes.


Add:
1 - 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 - 15 oz can whole kernel corn, undrained

Simmer until barley is tender and beans and corn are warmed through.


Bon Appetit!

A Breath of Fresh Air

Forgive me for not posting this week. Today is my day to post last week's and this week's recipe of the week, along with some tidbits of wisdom I've gathered.

Earlier this week at my Moms group, I dropped my boys off in their classrooms and feigned casual-ness as I asked their teacher how they had been behaving and acting, as they have had days where I'm ready to tear my hair out and send them to the moon. Hopefully, they would act better than they were at home.

Mrs. H stated that she has no problems with the boys and they were kind, patient, well-spoken, and got along with the others in the classroom. I paused a moment and asked if she knew which boys were mine. I told her some of the difficulties I'd encountered during the week and some of the frustrations I've had. She laughed and said, "Look at it this way, your home is like the classroom. That is where your children learn about how to behave in the world and test their limits. If they are testing you at home, but are behaving out in the world, you are doing your job. You just need to stay the course." I felt so encouraged!

Sometimes, when asking for advice from other people because I felt that I was at the end of my rope and I was feeling so discouraged, hopeless, and as if I was all alone on planet Motherhood, I'd receive the trite and usually worse-than-useless, "Oh, honey, just enjoy them because they grow so fast!" I know these people mean well. And looking at how quickly the younger years went, I can appreciate it somewhat. However, when you are in the Motherhood tunnel and you cannot see any glimpse of sunlight, I was in desperate need of some real encouragement.

Mrs. H is a wonderful, godly encourager. May all of you find or have someone in your life like Mrs. H.

Recipe of the Week: Pizza

50 Toes has asked so nicely for the recipe and I thought I'd share it as my first official Recipe of the Week! Thanks to Mandy for sharing her recipe from "that Italian woman in Italy."

Pizza Dough:
Add ingredients in order into a bread machine pan:

• 1 cup water
• 15 oz flour
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp yeast

We use the French Dough setting on our bread machine; it runs for 1 hour and 48 minutes. Experiment with what works for your machine or create by hand. This recipe makes enough for 2 - 9x13 pans. You can get 2 - 9x13 pans, plus 1 - 9x9 if you prefer thinner crusts.


Pizza Sauce:

• 6 oz tomato paste
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 1 T water
• 1 T sugar
• oregano, to taste (we use 3/4 T to 1 T)
• garlic, to taste (we use about 2 or 3 cloves worth)

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan (use a whisk for smooth sauce with nary a lump of tomato paste). Simmer sauce for 3 - 5 minutes; DO NOT BOIL as it will make the sauce very acidic!

This recipe makes enough for 4 generously-sauced 9x13 pizzas.


Toppings:
We generally use pepperoni, pineapple, and black olives. We also like bacon and black olives. Yes, we really like black olives. If you're with us, yay! If not, let it go and be happy that we're eating your share of black olives in the world. We bake our pizzas at about 400* (My Dearest, is it 400* or 425*? 450*?) for about 25 minutes to 1/2 hour. Go forth and create your own pizza masterpiece!

We have also found that the glass 9x13 pan gives the crust a nice crispness, without making it too crispy. For more fabulous pizza recipes, look through this book. It's the one that started us on our journey towards finding our pizza.

Bon Appetit!

Healthy Tip of the Week

This is one of our family's favorite new things: Greek yogurt! It's like sour cream, but without all of the fat and calories.

Take plain, all natural yogurt, spoon your desired amount into a coffee-filter-lined colander or strainer and refrigerator for at least 8 hours. The whey drips out of the yogurt (watery liquid) and you are left with a thick, creamy, sour cream substitute. I had my Dearest try it. He said, "It's like sour cream, but so much better!"

We use it in place of sour cream for Mexican food and I will be trying it this weekend in a Spinach-Artichoke dip. Details to come!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

It's football season! Yes, it's been football season for 5 weeks, but I'm just getting around to actually blogging about it. For the last 3 years, we have been doing football picks, which started with my Dearest and some of his co-workers. He heard a few guys talking on Fridays sharing what they thought would happen with the up-coming weekend's games, but he rarely heard them talking about it on Mondays so he suggested keeping track.

It started with a simple spreadsheet, then it involved sheets of stats - which team has played when, what the scores were, which teams won where, what their streaks are, etc... It started with adding me to his co-worker pool, then the boys wanted to be involved and "do picks" as we call it. It's a fun way to be involved with my Dearest's enjoyment of the sport.

Now, we all pick at ESPN.com on their Pigskin Pick'em page. If you'd like to see where we stand, go to my Dearest's blog for more details.

I enjoy the sport, I understand the sport, but I'm not entirely obsessed with it. My Dearest can tell you all sorts of facts, stats, and who ran where and who did what... in various years, even!

Game On!! May the best picker win!

I am a Foodie, Hear Me Roar!

I love to cook. I know, call me crazy. I know most people love to bake, but that is just not my thing. I enjoy baking on occasion when necessary, but I LOVE to cook. I enjoy all things about food.

When I was growing up, I remember my mom tried her best to have us eat healthfully. She was a nurse for umpteen years and was very interested in nutrition. As most Koreans are, my parents are very health conscious. Or maybe it's just my parents and it's not a cultural thing. Anyhow, we rarely had soda or pop, or whichever terminology you use for carbonated and sugary beverages; we had 7-up only if we were sick. My mom only bought whole wheat bread. We had wheat germ on top of our cereal. We rarely had sugary cereal. Wheat germ on top of Cheerios. Shudder. We ate lots of veggies and fruits. We rarely had dessert or baked goods; perhaps that's why I don't enjoy baking as much.

I say my mom tried her best for a couple of reasons. Firstly, when we had to have wheat germ on top of our cereal, my brother and I sneaked outside to dump it into our tomato patch. We had a bumper crop of fabulous tomatoes that year! Yes, my mom knows all about this. We had a bit of a "do-you-remember-when... " session at our last family get together. Secondly, after I moved out, I rebelled and ate what I wanted. Now, things have come full circle.

As it invariably happens, girls usually turn into their mothers. We generally raise our families the way we were raised. There are some things that we very consciously change, but for the most part, we go with what we know.

I have also started a new journey down the path of healthier eating in our family. We are eating whole-wheat products, brown rice instead of white, lots of veggies and fruits, more fish and less red meat, etc. You'll be seeing more food related posts soon.

One of our weekly indulgences is pizza. If you hang out at our house on the weekend, you're very likely to stumble into our pseudo-pizza kitchen. Now, we don't actually have a brick oven or any of that jazz, but we take our pizza making fairly seriously. We measure our flour for our dough and make home-made pizza sauce, the recipe for which I got from my friend Mandy whose family lived in Italy while her father was in the Navy. It's an authentic recipe, as far as I've been told. It's fabulous, in any case!

We have experimented with baking dishes, stones, temperatures, dough and topping ingredients, and length of baking time. It is one of our favorite meals all week, especially one that the boys enjoy.

Here's our pictorial pizza diary. Bon Appetit, or as one of my sons says, "Bun up a diet!"

Here are our ingredients all assembled and ready to be made into pizza.

Measuring flour for the dough - we use both whole wheat and regular white flour.

Adding ingredients to the bread machine pan.

Pizza sauce ingredients.

Readying the toppings.

Dough, ready to be stretched into a crust.

Nicely stretched and ready to be topped.

Oiling our preferred "pizza pans."

Pizza saucing ensues.

Some toppings go under the cheese...

and some go on top of the cheese.

Ready to bake, along with a bulb of garlic.

Removed from their pans and ready to cut and eat!

Starting to Think Pink

Did you know that being a woman is the number one risk factor for breast cancer?

Most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no other known risk factors.

Most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

I learned these facts from Judy, a speaker from the Karmanos Cancer Institute, who informed us about breast cancer and it's symptoms at a ScrapPink fundraiser last weekend. She was an engaging, fun speaker.

The most important piece of information I came away with was that every woman should be doing monthly breast self exams (BSE) starting at age 20. We cannot rely on our annual visit to our doctor and think he or she will find something if anything is there. If we are doing our BSE monthly, we are more likely to find abnormalities quickly and find the best course of treatment for it, in order to have the greatest chance for survival. We are our best advocate for our health.


Thanks to 50 toes for the heads up on another Pink issue! 5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a pink Dyson! Enter for your chance to win here.

Lack of Sleep

Are you one of those people who can function on very little sleep? I could when I was a teen, of course. I thought I could when I was in my early and mid-20s. Then I became a parent. I realized I need sleep to function and to be a coherent person.

Of course there are those who prefer and dare I say, enjoy, the babbling and blathering people. My Dearest is one of those people who can function fairly well with very little sleep. He enjoys the babbling, blathering, and blithering ones, quite a bit, I think. He humors those people very nicely.

The first thing I noticed when I lost my sanity, forgive me, I mean my sleep was that I could function fairly well, but my mouth and body were pretty much disconnected. I suppose that means that I wasn't really functioning well; I only thought I was.

After we arrived home with our first child, we were so unexpected (that should read, unprepared) for parenthood. We had a basic grasp of the utmost necessities. Change the diaper when wet or dirty, hold and comfort, rock and sway, and perhaps most important of all, feed!

Add the lack of sleep and guess what you have? You would probably have something like this:

Late one night, a young and hungry infant cries and both parents rouse themselves from as deep of a slumber as you can get in about 2 hours. Because the husband is very supportive of his wife and wants to aid in any way possible, he asks if there is anything he can do or get to help his bone-tired nursing wife. Never mind the fact that he's probably just as weary as she is. As she heads to the living room couch, she mumbles over her shoulder, "...baby..." and proceeds down the short hallway. Before she gets to the couch, her husband asks what it was she wanted again. This time, she mumbles again, "...baby..." He looks again and can't find what it is that she could possibly want or need. He asks again and she clearly says, "I want the baby!" He laughs a bit and says something akin to, "The one you're nursing now?"

When the baby is crying and you're soothing him, it helps to actually pick up the baby and comfort him instead of patting the pillow next to you as your spouse takes care of the baby and looks at you funnily. It's also quite embarrassing to wake up mid-pat and realize what's going on.

You'd think that when infancy ends, you'd catch up on sleep and be, well, a bit less of a babbling, blithering, blathering sleep-deprived person, right? Sad to tell you my friends, it doesn't. It especially doesn't if you pretend you're not parents after the children go to sleep and you stay up to watch movies, tv, play Dutch Blitz, Speed Scrabble, or the like. If you engage in behavior like this, then the following scenario is probably very likely to happen.

You dream about a person whose legs from the knees down are covered with chocolate cake and frosting and casually walking through the room while clumps of cake and frosting drop with every step onto your creamy-almond-colored carpeting. You sit up and exclaim, "Oh my goodness! Do you see what's happening?" and your spouse calmly says, "It's only a dream." Perhaps, normally, this would work, but this time it only serves to make the sleeping one exclaim, "Come on, I'll show you!" and you both proceed out of bed and into the hallway where the sleeping one has since woken and realizes that the children's bedroom door is open. Now would be a good time to check on them; you're up anyway, right? You lovingly straighten limbs and covers and head back to bed. As you sit on the edge of your bed, you realize that the person with cake-and-frosting-legs was walking about where your closet is and that was why you got out of bed in the first place. Now, there's no trace of it; it was a dream, after all. You realize your spouse is watching you from the doorway and you sheepishly wave before laying back down.

Not that I know about any of this...

Operator Error

My Dearest took our boys to the bathroom in a restaurant to wash hands before dinner this evening. They discovered the automatic hand-dryer, which required them to put their hands under in order to turn the unit on. After experimenting and quickly mastering it, one boy noticed there was a paper towel dispenser next to it. This was the type where each sheet was folded into the next, kind of like inverted pop-up tissue or moist towelette dispensers. Our son tugged gently on the paper towel and asked my Dearest, "How do you operate this?" He's such a precious boy.

Reverse Teaching

As I reflected on the chaos of last week, God brought this thought to my mind this morning. "Your children are sinful creatures, as are you. However, they aren't Christians yet."

I was immediately humbled and ashamed of my behavior last week. Where are they going to learn about God, His love, mercy, wisdom, and grace if not at home? Yes, I need to teach them to pick up their rooms. It is necessary to teach them about strangers, shoe-tying, and table etiquette. But, it is more necessary that they learn about God. Within the framework of God's commands, everything else should fall into place.

I am learning that I need to deal with my children graciously, gracefully and mercifully while accepting who they are, not what I want them to become or who I think they are. God is working in me as He works in my children.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6, ESV

Smelly Fingers and Three Things

It has been quite an emotionally charged week. It's been a week (a week, people!) of power struggles, messy children's rooms, and lots of tears (shed by my children and me).

Yesterday, everything fell from the spinning plates that were so delicately balanced in the air. I wanted to send my children to the moon and even still, I wanted to hold them close and love them even more. Motherhood (Parenthood, for those male readers) is a juxtaposition of emotions.

At the end of the day, after I had shed more tears than I can remember in a very long time, my Dearest came to me and said that it was time for prayer. After we prayed with the boys and got them into bed, about 10 minutes later, one of my boys (his identity shall remain protected, but you have a a 50/50 chance to suspect correctly, lol!) came to me and said, "Mom, we need to clean my ears! When I take my fingers out of my ears, they smell!"

After the difficulties of the week, I couldn't help but stifle my laughter and lovingly tell him we would clean his ears, although my Dearest and I were sorely tempted to tell him to not take his fingers out of his ears.

###

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness (or resentment)

Three things in life that you should never lose -
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family & Friends
3. Kindness

Three things in life that are never certain -
1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams

Three things that make a person -
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work

Three things that are truly constant -
Father - Son - Holy Spirit

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30, ESV

A Giveaway!

Ya'll know I love a good giveaway, as well as host my own -- run over to Preacher's Wife and enter her giveaway; her giveaway ends tonight at 10 CST!

She is giving away an Effective Parenting DVD kit from Walk Thru the Bible.


By the way, I'm not really southern, but the "ya'll" just jumps out of me sometimes. :-)

And to think I only have two...

I've been MIA for quite a while and thank you to those who've emailed to check in on me and make sure we're okay. We're okay! We're trying to squeeze in the last of summer and I'm trying not to send my children to the moon! This is now my phrase of choice - "to the moon." It used to be "drop-kick" with a number of football fields.

After reading this, I'm not nearly as frustrated and I've had quite a good laugh.

Sunday Morning Fun

As we were driving to church this morning, my Dearest saw a sign on a hotel marquee:

Special $79
Internet
Breakfast

What does this sign tell you? To my Dearest, who has the ability to make me laugh over just about anything, it means that you call the hotel and request of them information regarding this breakfast. What size is it? How much space do you need to download it? Is it Windows compatible? Does it come with cookies or java? "I've had cookies through the internet, but not breakfast," he says. The fee seems high; is this an annual fee for Internet Breakfast? If I use dial-up, should I download it the night before?

May you be able to find fun in simple things as well. Have a silly day! We all need one now and again. May today be your day.

Follow the Links!

I have been on a quest for an ESV Bible for awhile now. I tried the local stores, but was not able to find any. Perhaps I didn't know where to look or they were out of stock or perhaps shopping with two young boys when you don't know what you're exactly looking for and don't know if they will have any does not work very well.

A couple of nights ago, I was reading My Life on the Gerbil Wheel over at Musing of a Housewife. Very good read, very fun blog - go check it out if you haven't and tell her you came from here.

At the bottom of the post, there was a link to Do the Next Thing, which was also just a phenomenal read, very inspiring during this slump of I-don't-want-to-do-what-I'm-supposed-to-do, otherwise known as laziness or our sinful nature running amok. That keeps popping up again, doesn't it?

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41

There was a link on the side to the ESV blog and on that page, lo and behold, a "Buy an ESV" link. I took a look. Guess what I found?! I found Quality Seconds, Bibles that have are slightly used or damaged that are still in good shape. I bought two, perhaps my Dearest would like one, and they arrived today. Absolutely fabulous condition! Of course, I didn't realize they weren't study Bibles, but I think it'll be okay. I have an ESV Bible! Rejoice with me!