Imaginations

I love the imaginative ways that my children play! They never cease to amaze me with the ideas they come up with and when I realize they are learning. Yesterday was a pretty warm day and the boys were out running through the sprinkler and having a great time. A short time later George comes in the house with his shirt on his head and I said that he looked like an Egyptian. I guessed right as that is what he was supposed to be. Apparently he convinced his younger brothers to be the Hebrew slaves and he was their taskmaster with some old caulking he found for a whip -- but NO he was not whipping them, it was just for show. I found them outside putting dirt into a bucket, filling it with water and dried grass and mixing it according to their "taskmasters" instructions. They were apparently going to make a mud pot. We have been studying the life of Moses in the past months so this was right on track.

My little Hebrew slaves and their Egptian taskmaster (you can't see the whip here)

Race Season has begun

 

My husband races a Super Buggy car off-road (on dirt but over jumps not just around a circle) and this past weekend we traveled to Minnesota for the first race of the season. We travel in a motor home which is great as there is no luggage to pack and unpack and there isn’t much of a need to stop since the bathroom is right on board. The scenery was beautiful as we crossed the Mississippi river with all of the hills surrounding it. The weather was good for racing although we did have storms keeping us awake much of Saturday night which made for a very muddy track.

Missy Blue at the races

The boys create mud pots from the mud off of Daddy's car each race

My husband had a great weekend coming in 7th in the first race even though he got bumped and ended up with a flat tire. At the beginning of that race he passed 6 cars to get to 6th position winning him a “hard charger” award. The next day he pulled out front almost from the beginning and held onto 1st by quite a distance. I made the mistake of saying “it was a boring race” as there wasn’t any action. Yes, I learned now that I need to be thankful for a great competition with little action as I recall the day before there were two cars in his race that rolled and were quite damaged. It is fun to watch how much the boys enjoy racing and see how proud they are of their daddy. Each year they get more involved trying to help scrape the mud off of the car and other odd jobs. George especially knows more about what goes on at the races than I do. Our summer will be filled with racing and while that may not be my cup of tea I enjoy the time we have together and am proud of all my husband has accomplished.

George helping Daddy put the new wheel on.

The boys proud of Daddy's first place finish!

Podium win holding his winning check.

Must-have book

I really enjoy the materials by Answers in Genesis but my favorite children's book written by Ken and Mally Ham is "A is for Adam". I have found what a tool this book can be in the lives of my children. While it does have cartoon type drawings the writing is biblically based teaching the gospel starting in Genesis. The rhymes for each letter are catchy so that the truths they teach become ingrained. I found this out today while the boys and I were going through our fields and seeing all of the things growing. We saw the wild blackberry vines and talked about the thorns as someone got caught on one. George said he knew why they had thorns, "Because Adam and Eve sinned. Thorns, thistles, and cursed ground for man's sake." (speaking of what happened when sin entered the world.)

This book has been wonderful in pointing my three oldest boys to Christ. It does not dumb down the gospel or gloss over scripture that we need to hear. It clearly shows God's plan of salvation while also showing there is eternal judgment for those who do not trust in the Lord. A few years ago George was convicted of his sin when we came to the letter "P" for God's plan. Then this past school-year we went through the book using the devotional guide in the back and this time God's plan for salvation brought Pete and Re-Pete to start questioning how to get to heaven. We have had many good discussions with them and in the past month both of them have accepted Christ as their Savior! Praise the Lord! I am delighted with how God is working in their lives already at such a young age and I look forward to all that He has in store for them.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 1:4

Yummy Bagels

I found a wonderful recipe website thanks to AHappyHome. I make as much as I can from scratch so this website is perfect and I always love to see recipes with the picture to know if something really looks worth the effort. Of course I can never leave a recipe as I find it and modify it to suite my tastes. So, today I decided to try making bagels. I have made them in the past and tried adding chocolate chips which made a big mess with the boiling but they did taste good.

Today I tried a recipe from Tammy's Recipes and modified it to make my favorite bagel of all time, Tomato Basil. Natural Ovens used to make one but they haven't for awhile now and I am unable to find any others. To the basic bagel recipe I did use part fresh-ground whole-wheat flour and then simply added pizza sauce, basil, and oregano. The boys couldn't wait for them to get out of the oven. George especially was oohhing and aahhing after the first few bites. (He can be quite the food critic at times). I thought I'd try other flavors another day but George says to stick with these "pizza bagels". They are so yummy but one batch doesn't last very long! So, if you are in the mood for yummy bagels give this recipe a a try.

Interesting Things About Me?

I was tagged by KindredHeart and Living4HIM and wanted to play along but it took awhile to come up with 7 interesting things about me. Here is how it works: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Here goes...

1.  When I am intently listening to someone speaking my fingers often start typing out the words I hear. This habit started when I took a speed typing class in college and had to type as the person spoke.  It drives my husband crazy and I don’t usually notice I am doing it until he puts his hand on mine to stop me or asks what I am typing. Occasionally I do the same thing but with music and my fingers move as if playing the piano.  (Odd thing is that my sister "types" also).

2. My neck turns red instantly if I touch it or if clothing irritates it. So if it ever looks as if I have a large red birthmark on my neck most likely I was probably just holding one of the children and they brushed against it or some such thing. My brother-in-law gets a kick out of this so will often poke my neck for the fun of seeing it turn red.

3.  I cannot stick my tongue out except maybe a hair past my bottom lip. I guess I am tongue-tied and the doctor had told my Mom when I was a child that they could clip it underneath if it hindered my speech but it didn’t so they left it alone. All it has hindered is that I cannot stick my tongue out at anyone but it is a good conversation piece. The children think it is funny.

4.  I enjoy art and cooking often feels like an art project to me where I need to have every piece in its perfect spot. For example I cannot just throw the pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives on a pizza, I really like to have it evenly spaced with just the right amount of topping in each bite. Thankfully I have children to help me loosen up in this area and I “try” to let them arrange food as they see fit.

5.  I am constantly changing my mind and therefore have a hard time deciding on things such as paint colors because I know that in no time at all I will see something that I like better.  If I find the "perfect" thing then  I usually like it for all-time. But sometimes the "perfect" thing only exists in my mind.

6.  I have a problem with clothes that are itchy from tags to seams or certain fabrics. I always feel the seams in the sleeves before I buy a shirt to make sure they are not sticking up too far. I get goose bumps when my husband insists on drying his jeans outside as they get so stiff and the thought of them on my legs makes me cringe. There are a few pictures when I was a child where I am either crying from a lacy dress my Mom had me wear or from a robe with itchy seams so that I stood with my arms straight out with a look of “when can I take it off?” on my face.

7.  I have an associate’s degree in the computer field and worked at a computer helpdesk for a number of years. This seems so far removed from who I am now, especially since I am not technically- minded but it was something to do while I waited to get married and have a family. If I had it to do again I would choose a job working with flowers/gardening or interior design.

Tag...you're it!

Diane
EEEEMommy
AmyLu
Sahmto4orMore
Aligirl
Angellwaves

 

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

I saw this on another blog awhile ago and thought it would be fun to post today on our anniversary. Take a look at the short slide show I put together of just the two of us.

1. Where/How did you meet? We met in our Junior year of high school (we attended different schools) at Campus Life, a non-denominational youth group similar to Campus Crusade.

2. How long have you known each other? About 16 yrs. 

3. How long after you met did you start dating? John was interested in me awhile before I knew about  it. We hung around with the same group of friends from Campus Life and had fun together as friends. 

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? We dated for 5 years all-together, although I would have preferred getting married sooner.  John wanted to concentrate on college and graduate first which in the long run was a good idea.

5. How long was your engagement? Two years. He proposed in November of 1995 (partly because my grandma was dying and we wanted her to know) and got married in May of 1997 right after John graduated.

6. How long have you been married?  10 years

7. What is your anniversary? May 3

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? We had an average size reception but fairly simple held in the church fellowship hall.  

9. What kind of cake did you serve?  We had a wonderful cake that everyone commented on.  Each layer was a different flavor but the only one I really remember is chocolate with apricot crème filling. Yum!

10. Where was your wedding? A beautiful Reformed Church in a quaint town. We did not attend there but selected that location because honestly I didn’t like the look of my own plain church. It also worked well as they had a large fellowship hall to accommodate us where our church was not large enough.

 11. What did you serve for your meal? We had it catered by a lady who made everything so beautiful with baskets for the foods and such. Our wedding was a garden-type theme and I only remember a few things so I know we had orange chicken on skewers, tortellini salad, finger foods and salads. I was too nervous to eat anything and only picked at my food. I was so thankful that my Mom packed a couple of plates full of food to take along that night. I was starving by the time we got to our hotel!

12. How many people were in your wedding party? We had 8 people. My sister was my Maid of Honor and my Aunt and a good friend were bridesmaids. John had two friends and my cousin stand up with him. We had a sweet little flowergirl and my cousin was the ring bearer.

13. Are you still friends with them all? For the most part. One of the groomsmen moved away so we haven’t seen them in a long time.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? Yes, but not nearly as much as I did. 

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? The most special moment was my Dad walking me down the aisle. We had the song “Butterfly Kisses” (before it became popular for weddings) sung before I walked down. Dad and I stood in the back and he had a really hard time which didn’t help me any. As we stood in the doorway ready to go both of us had shed quite a few tears but he was all smiles and held me tightly as we walked together arm in arm.

16. Any funny moments? Not that I can recall.     

17. Any big disasters? The only thing that went wrong was that I didn’t get the cake design that I had ordered. I walked in the reception hall that morning and asked whose cake that was because it didn’t look anything like I asked for. Thankfully we had extra flowers to fill in for some color as it was more on the plain side. I had wanted lilac type flowers draping down the sides but it was just plain white basket weave. The flavors of the layers were correct for the most part except that they made one layer poppy seed which we hadn’t wanted since my Dad and Grandma cannot eat them.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?  We spent the first night at a hotel across from the airport as we had to catch a really early flight to Tennessee. We rented a log cabin in the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg. It was unseasonably cool that week but the sights were absolutely beautiful!  We did a lot of hiking and got to see two bear cubs and stood beneath a waterfall. We also stopped at Dollywood and one of those fun meals with a show.

19. How long were you gone? A week.

20. If you were to do your wedding over.... I would change the bridesmaids dresses as I didn’t like how they turned out (someone made them after looking at a picture I liked) as they didn’t look much like the picture.  I would have stressed to the florist to have a LOT of color in my bouquet. I love color and the bridesmaids had gorgeous bouquets but mine was quite plain.

21. What is your song? We don’t really have a song. When we started dating the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner was new so the love song from that reminds me of that time. The song we had sung at our wedding was by Steve Green, called “Til the End of Time” and that says it all.

22. Describe your wedding dress. It was fairly simple and elegant.  The bottom was a light chiffon that floated beautifully. The top was made of appliqué lace that covered the heart-shaped form of the simple top. My veil was a floral type thick headband.  

23. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? I had white tulips, lavender freesia, pink stephanotis with pearls in the centers and ivy flowing down. The bridesmaids had dark purple irises, pink daisies, a bright yellow freesia, purple statis, and bright pink kolanchoe. (I loved their flowers!)

Today we look much the same, maybe a bit older. My hairstyle has been in constant change over my lifetime so that we can tell what year it is based on my hairstyle so of course that has changed. My husband had gained a bit of weight over the years but has taken that off in the past year so he looks much the same but he gets more handsome with age to me!