Friday, January 30, 2009

The wordless book

My mother-n-law Fran told me a neat story about her childhood the other night. She said that when she was young and one of many children in a single mom's household that a woman from the "Good News" club came to her neighborhood to teach her about Jesus. In addition, she gave her a book called the "Wordless Book". It's pages were blank but each page had a different background color. There was black for sin, red for Jesus' blood, white for forgiveness, and green for growing in faith. She memorized verses to go with each page and still has the book. 

Several things struck me about her story. 

1) How important it is to minister to children in big and small ways because those seeds will last a lifetime
2) That we have to believe God has a plan and that we do good for Him, even if we don't understand it and we never see the fruits of our labor
3) Even though our faith does grow our whole life, it really is simple and childlike, and we should try to keep it that way even when life throws us many obstacles

Thanks for the story Fran! I love you! Just like Mrs. Hunt from the Good News club planted seeds in you, you have planted seeds in us that will last a lifetime!


You know your day is really not that bad when.....

You hear your sister has broken her ankle in two places after slipping on the ice Wed night. During surgery today they put in a plate and 11 screws! Yikes! 

Please say a prayer for her if you are reading this, her name is Amanda.




Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Duggar Family

I am reading the new Duggar family book and it's really making me like them even more! They are a neat family and I love all the tidbits and recipes in the book. Even though some think they are nutty, I think they get more things right than most people (no I am not going to have a lot of kids). My favorite thing about them is how loving and friendly they are to everyone. They are a true example of returning love to hatred or negativity. The oldest just got married, now I wonder if he is going to share his parents philosophy on having as many kids as the Lord will give them??

http://www.duggarfamily.com/index.html

Snow Fun


They both like sledding and throwing snow. Later we will try a snow man!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Donut Tradition

We rarely have donuts in our house but the tradition is if you are "stay at home" sick you can have donuts. Our poor Papa has been sick and requested the traditional "rat-turd" donuts (pardon the expression). These are the Entemann's chocolate glazed with little chocolate glazed droppings on top. I went to Dierberg's, Schnucks, and Walgreens yesterday and couldn't find them. I did get him some Entemann's Pop'ems but if anyone spies the "rat-turds" for sale, please let me know!

Good Winter Recipe

Stuffed Pepper Soup
2 lbs ground beef
1 lg onion chopped
5 green peppers chopped

Brown the above ingredients and drain well. Then add:

6 cans tomato soup and 5 cans soup water
1 can beef broth and 1 can broth water
2 tsp brown sugar
2 small cans tomato sauce
3/4 to 1 cup uncooked white rice 

Simmer on low until the rice is cooked. It thickens the longer it cooks, you can add more water if you prefer. 

Word to the wise, this literally feeds an army. You will have enough to give some away, for leftovers, and for the freezer so you may consider halving it if you don't want that much. It's really good with some shredded cheese on top. 

Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Cosby Show

We love to watch shows on DVD. My favorite is The Office but we have others that we enjoy very much. The latest one is the first season of the Cosby show and we have let the kids watch this one with us before bed. They seem to like it and it is a good clean family show. I think it is funnier now watching it as a parent then it was when I was a kid.

Partners in Crime #3


The raided Abby's underwear drawer....

Pilobolus Review

Today my Mom, sister, and I went to lunch and to see Pilobolus with the tickets I won on the radio. Don't get me wrong, I love dance, even modern interpretive dance, but I was a little disappointed. In Amanda's words "I can't say I didn't like it" but it definitely wasn't the type of dance that inspired me. It was even at times boring and they advertised "thrills, spills, and eye popping feats". Well the dancers definitely had strength, endurance, and flexibility but the only eye popping thing was the four male dancers wearing thongs in the fourth piece. Jeesh.

I did get to spend some time with my mom and sister (minus kids) and that is always good. :-)
Also, the Touhill Performing Arts center is a beautiful venue. 

Monday, January 19, 2009

Fireproof FREE showing at church

Abiding Savior Lutheran church is showing Fireproof and the new Veggie Tales: Abe and the Amazing Promise FREE this weekend:

Fireproof - Fri and Sat at 7PM
Veggie Tales - Sat at 10am and 2PM

I believe we are going Fri night and Sat morning.


Partners in Crime...the saga continues

So when I last wrote about the "Partners in Crime" they had smeared diaper cream everywhere and we threatened them with their Piggy Bank Money. Since then, there have been probably been about two crimes a day and I am thinking we will just start a tab and give them the bill when they are out of the house. 

So today, we had just eaten a pancake breakfast since Papa was home and the kids had run off to play. We were sitting at the table drinking coffee, skimming through the paper, and chatting, ahhh what a morning, dum dum dum, we realize the kids were playing too quietly again and were debating to go check, so finally Chris did. We found them naked in the bathtub. They had dispensed a WHOLE bottle of soap on themselves and about 1/2 a bottle of shampoo (we had mentioned we were going to give them a bath earlier so I guess they were getting a jump on it!). They also had about 4 unused pull-ups in the tub soaked in soap and the clean pull-ups in Abby's room were all over the floor. So we are adding $4 to the tab. 

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Today I will make a difference.

I really like this weekend devotional I got. It's called "Today I will make a difference" and it's by Max Lucado: http://dailyscriptureblog.com/devotional/today-i-will-make-a-difference/

Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Lucky 9th Caller

So today something happened to me that has never happened before.....I was the lucky 9th caller! I was in the car driving home and I heard on Y98 that they were giving two free tickets to a dance performance at Touhill to the lucky 9th caller. So I dialed once and got a busy signal and dialed the second time and they answered and said "Congratulations, you are the lucky 9th caller!" and I said "I AM!?!?!" and she said "Yes, you just won two tickets to see Pilobulus at the Touhill Performing Arts Center" and I said "That's incredible, thank you!". So me and my mom are going next Saturday to a FREE dance performance. How cool is that?




Wednesday, January 14, 2009

It's REALLY cold!

Is anybody else freezing their patootie off? I had to leave the house yesterday but today I refuse! Unfortunately, we do have to go out tomorrow to take Toby to school and so I can make my dr appt. It is supposed to get below 0, yikes! I can't wait for some snow to go with this cold weather. I think both kids will have fun out there this year.

Last night I think I made the highest fat/cal recipe I have ever made. It was called "World's Best Lasagna" and it had 5 stars on allrecipes.com. It was good but not one I will make often. I even followed the recipe to a T, and I am usually known has "The Great Improviser" (to myself nobody really calls me that :-)).

World's Best Lasagna
1 lb sweet Italian sausage 1 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 pound lean ground beef               1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup minced onion                          1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic                                       4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1(28ou) can crushed tomatoes           12 lasagna noodles
2 (6ou) cans tomato paste                   16 ou ricott cheese
2 (6.5) cans canned tomato sauce       1 egg
1/2 cup water                                         1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp white sugar                                 3/4 lb mozzerella cheese, sliced
1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves                   3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1. In a Dutch oven cook sausage, beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 tsp salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4. Assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of the mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. To prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure it doesn't touch cheese. 
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.  

I had leftover meat sauce that went well with my breadsticks. The sauce was very yummy!

I also made a easy Bread Pudding recipe from my Mother-n-Law Fran.

Bread Pudding
5-6 slices day old bread
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup moist raisins
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs beaten
3 cups milk, scalded
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Toast bread and spread with butter while hot. Arrange in baking dish (I used 9x13 but can use smaller). Sprinkle with raisins. Stir salt and all but 2 tbsp sugar into eggs. Add milk and stir to mix well. Pour over toast and let stand 10 minutes. Press toast lightly down into milk occasional so it soaks up the milk mixture. Mix cinnamon with remaining 2 tbsp sugar and sprinkle over top. Place dish directly on oven rack and bake for 25 min at 350 degress or until knife comes out clean. Makes 5 to 6 servings. 

Monday, January 12, 2009

January Blahs

January is a tough month. You are out of your old routines and good habits due to Christmas and you haven't quite got in the swing of your new ones, plus it is really cold and not too sunny. 

I have the January blahs. I really need to throw myself into some new healthy habits. It's not that I'm not trying, I just really haven't committed yet. 

So here is my prayer of the day: Lord, please help me commit to some new healthy habits. Help me to take care of my body (exercising and eating right) and mind (reading, praying, and thinking positive) and help me to be a good influence on my family and friends. 

Ok, no more blahs!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Partners in crime

The day Chris and I have been waiting for has finally come. The day where the children run off and play quietly together and we don't hear fighting for at least five minutes. However, this peace comes with a price. Case in point: 

Last night we were talking in the kitchen and the children had disappeared into Abby's room and were playing. Chris says "I want to go check on them but then they will follow us back in here". So we waited, and finally I went to go check. 

The two of them had taken a lot of diaper cream and smeared it on the diaper genie, the floor, and each other. I just kind of stood there and watched. Then I called for Chris to come take a look too.

Yes, they were making a mess but they were having fun, together. So, though they are "Partners in crime" I am going to try to focus on the "Partners" part because one thing we hope and pray is that they will have a close bond that will last a lifetime. I was chuckling though when Papa told them they would have to buy more diaper cream with their piggy bank money....."NOOOOOO!!!!!!".

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New Year's resolutions cont....

Also, I am going to try harder to love our dog more and give him a hug once a day. Not only does he deserve it but I read on the RealAge test that it is good for your health. With my sister getting a puppy it has made me realize again that dogs need love too. Oh and I wanted to introduce my new doggie niece "Winnie Pooh Pooh":


New Year's resolutions

I have never been one to take on New Year's resolutions, I guess I have been afraid of setting myself up for failure. However, this year I have two on my mind and am putting them on paper (or blogger) to help solidify them. So here it goes:

  1. Eat less sweets
  2. Get up and eat breakfast with my husband (which requires going to bed earlier)

The good news is the list is short and I am truly committed to these. In addition, both lead to good habits in other areas, especially #2 because I have time to read, pray, and blog before the children wake up. The bad news, especially for my husband, is that I failed at #2 today. However, I did get up shortly after he left (did not sleep in) and am going to try it again tomorrow. 

Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year!

Chris and I reflected on the things that were most impactful/memorable in our lives in 2008. Here's some of the things we came up with.


2008 Family Happenings
  1. The layoffs at A-B (Dec)

  2. The death of our PC (Nov)

  3. My 30th birthday (Oct) - Mostly because we had a wonderful family vacation at a cabin

  4. Abby's growth! (Sept) Meaning she would not have to start growth hormones

  5. Toby starting school/CDO and Abby doing Little Gym (Sept)- helped them develop their characters

  6. V.B.S. (June) - Very scary at the time but now I can see how that experience really developed my character and helped get to know many at our new church, also I saw how much fun Toby and Abby had

  7. Family pictures with Chris' Mom and family (May) - We will treasure these.

    8. Visit with California family and doing karaoke, good times!

    9.  Valentines getaway to a cabin, just the two of us (Feb)

    I wonder what will be on the list for 2009....