My 3yo (who just turned 3!) started into saying, "God says…" It first happened when I threw a piece of rope away. He found it and said, "Mom! God said, "Don’t throw ropes away!" It was SO funny! Then, yesterday, he told me "God said I’m ‘possed to betect you!" (He was shooting bears!) It was so sweet!! My little man….
It has really opened the door to teach him more in depth what God really says, and how we know what God says.
I have decided to start doing recipes on my blog. I have been making quite a few new recipes, and thought I would share them here. This will be one way I can keep current on my blog, and maybe people will want to stop by more often.
Speaking of which, would you all mind leaving a comment or two when you stop by? I show that I get some traffic, but I never hear if what I am saying is really worth saying. ;-0 Anyway, it would just be nice to know who is stopping by! LOL!
The first recipe I would like to share is my homemade Tomato soup. I have been wanting to eat some, but when I went to the store to buy some, I found that it had corn syrup in it. The reason I have been reading labels lately is because my almost 8yo son appears to be allergic to corn syrup and possibly corn starch. He doesn’t seem to react to popcorn or to corn kernels though. Anyway, then I had the quest to find a tomato soup recipe that didn’t include an ingredient that had corn syrup/starch in it! I browsed many soup recipes on the Allrecipes.com site, and finally found one! Here it is…and it’s GOOD too! I am so glad I was forced to "think outside the box!"
Basil Tomato Soup
In a large saucepan, bring the tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add basil and sugar. Reduce heat to low; stir in cream and butter. Cook until butter is melted.
We had it with Grilled cheese sandwiches. It had a very "fresh" tomato taste, as dh put it. The kids and dh all loved it! By the way, this would be great to make on Valentines Day for lunch, with some heart shaped sandwiches! Wouldn’t that be fun!
Oh, and with some of the leftover whipping cream dh and I made "cool whip" to go on the chocolate pudding that dh discovered in the pantry and consequently made. Here is that recipe:
Whipped Cream Topping
Dh just used a whisk and whipped it. It didn’t take very long either, and was really good! I thought it had a little too much vanilla, but no one else minded it! Homemade is the way to go, especially if you get the whipping cream on clearance!
Thank you, secret sister, for the book of prayers a few weeks ago. I read through part of it the day I picked it up while I waited for my son to have his violin lessons. It was very interesting. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!
Happy Valentines Day! Thank you for your specialness to me! It has been fun!
Grace
Hey there Secret Sister! I’m sorry, I did get a package this week (I think on Wednesday). It has just been an extremely crazy week. Thank you so much for the beautiful beaded bookmark! I have it in my Bible, and it fits perfectly! I LOVE the cross, and having my first initial on it is so cool. Thank you so much. I will take a picture of it soon and post it. THANK YOU for the time an effort you put into making it for me!
Grace
Hello again! We had a fabulous time at our friends’ home. It was just what I needed before starting our schooling back up. Today is our busiest day though, so this will just be a quick entry.
We got the ceiling to the boys’ rooms finished last night! We are doing a drop ceiling, but with OSB (similar to plywood) so we will have about 2.5 feet of storage above their rooms. We will have SO much storage! Next, dh will have to do the electrical work, then we can sheetrock! The boys are so excited, and are already exerting their ownership of their rooms, even though there are only studs dividing the rooms. Micah decided he wanted to move down with the boys, so we moved his toddler bed down last night. While dh and the boys were finishing putting the OSB on the floor of the storage area, Timmy and I cleaned, rearranged and organized Naomi and Timmy’s room. Just taking the little toddler bed out and rearranging gave them so much more room in there! It looks much more like a girls room now too.
Well, I’m gonna get everyone fed and ready to head out the door. Hope you all had a great weekend and are having a good week!
Grace (who is in a much better mood this week!)
This year we have been having a grand time doing things for others! Now that we are living in town, it is much easier to participate in service projects! The kids and I have had so much fun doing things! First of all, the boys Boy Scout troop sent boxes of goodies over to a Unit in Iraq. Each family brought stuff, and when all was said and done, there were 18 boxes! There was everything from tissues, soap, snacks, pens, writing paper, jerky, drink mixes, soups, and even a little Christmas tree that the Scoutmaster’s wife made. The boys also made Christmas cards for each member of the unit…80 cards! Each boy made about 5 each. We missed the meeting where they made the cards, so my boys made theirs at home. They put a lot of effort and thought into them, thanking them for their service, for putting their lives in danger, and for protecting us.
The next thing we did was make some baskets/boxes of goodies for people that we have in our church or that we have been praying for in our church. We are mailing 4 boxes, and delivering 6 baskets. I got on a roll making crafts, and was thereby nominated to be the craft coordinator each month at our Ladies Luncheon. We figured that if we worked on a project each month, we would have quite a bit of things ready for next Christmas’s baskets and boxes! I went perusing on the internet and have already come up with a few easy but cute ideas. It’s kind of fun! I told dh last night, "Somebody STOP ME!!" (If you have ever watched those older Jim Carrey movies, you’ll know what I am quoting, although I’m not even sure which one it comes from.)
We also helped out with the Secret Santa program. The older four children and I went to a big warehouse where they had collected all kinds of toys, winter gear, games, blankets, books, crafty items, bath items, jewelry, etc. and volunteered for 3 hours. We were given a wish list written by the mother for each of her children, gathered several items off of the list, as well as some stocking stuffers, hats and gloves, and wooden cars made by local prisoners, put them in a big black garbage bag, and took them out to the big garage area that was FULL of black bags! We were able to select presents for 11 children, ages 1-16. The kids had such a great time picking things for the kids. It was really neat to see their eyes light up and say, "He/she would LOVE this!" the kids didn’t want to stop, but since Daddy was at home trying to work with the two little ones, I had to drag them away. Even on Christmas morning a couple of the kids mentioned that they wondered how the kids liked their gifts. We will definitely do it again next year, and maybe be able to go several different times. It really makes you grateful for the things that we were able to do for our kids.
Here’s hoping that you had a lovely holiday season and a blessed Christmas, and that your focus remained on the good gifts that God has given to you.
I just HAD to sneak on here and post. Wow, what a month! I can’t believe our 3-week break is almost over. we are heading up north to our friends home for the weekend tonight. I really, really, want to go, but I don’t. The thought of "losing" the last couple of days of being able to get things done is hard. Maybe that is why God is sending me away, so I will be forced to just relax. Our friends have 8 kids still at home, and our kids all really enjoy them. Their best friends live there! They plan to go sledding and maybe ice skating all day on Saturday. The older two girls adore my little boys, so I will probably hardly even see them. They will be carried around, gotten food and water, etc. We will probably play games, eat good food, and visit. It will be relaxing…but, there is so much to be done here!!! But isn’t there always? I am trying to change my attitude this morning. Is it showing?
We did so much this holiday! It will take a month of postings just to write it all down!
1) Made church baskets
2) Went to Grandma’s
3) Delivered baskets
4) Went to Smiths
5) Did Special Santa program
6) Christmas Eve in Talkeetna
7) Christmas morning at home
8) Christmas dinner in Palmer
9) Started building boys’ bedrooms downstairs!!!
10) Celebrated Micah’s 3rd birthday!
11) New Years Eve watching movies/eating popcorn with the kids
12) New Years Day Family Christmas Party at our house – FUN!
13) Started building the boys’ ceilings/storage area
Wow. That makes me tired just re-reading it. I guess we got more done than I realized! We were SO busy. Next year we are talking about just going to Talkeetna for Christmas, and spending 2-4 days up at the cabin. I think that would cut down on a lot of the hustle and bustle and driving and cooking and packing and unpacking etc.
And the Special Santa program was totally neat! The kids and I will definitely be doing that again next year! That will have to be a whole post!
I better get something done around here before we have to leave…like take a shower, pack, clean the kitchen, fold laundry, blah, blah, blah…..
Grace (with an attitude)
I went to mail something to MY secret sister, and FOUND a package from mine!
This is what I found when I opened it! This is such an awesome manual. The funny thing is that I was just thinking about this book over this last few weeks. I have been wanting (needing) to go through this book again! I guess God really thinks I need to also, eh?
If you don’t have this book, buy it, borrow it from a friend, find it used somewhere, whatever it takes. You will not regret it! It is worth every penny of the $18 Above Rubies asks for it! Ok, I am going to plug Above Rubies. A couple of other items that you should get for yourself are Serene and Pearl’s CD’s Soothe Me and Peace All Over Me! I used my birthday money last year to buy them, and I love mine. They make me cry, smile, relax, and love on my kids. Oh, and subscribe to the magazine, email devotionals, and email newsletters for f*ree! They are so wonderful. I devour them when they arrive. Nancy came up last year, but I wasn’t able to attend because our chuch was having a history conference on the same weekend and the kids were participating in the program. I was SO disappointed that I couldn’t go!
Anyway, thank you, Secret Sister, for your extremely loving, generous gift! Thank you for allowing God to use you to make sure I dig into this book again! I know I appreciate it, and I am sure my dh and children will appreciate it also!
Grace
I got my first package from my Secret Sister! Thank you! The recipes are darling, and I LOVE Pampered Chef! How did I get so blessed?! My kids love the scrapers, and I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes. I love new recipes and have been on a bit of a new recipe kick lately. (So far only one flop…the spinach burritos didn’t go over too well. Haha!)
I actually got these on Saturday, but am just getting a chance to get the picture posted with the post, just so you can figure out how long it takes to get up here. I didn’t think to look at the cancellation stamp to see when you mailed it though.
Thank you again for making my Saturday!
Grace