You Ain’t Seen Cute, Til You’ve Seen This!

B and L decided they wanted to be salt and pepper shakers for Halloween.  Isn’t that great?  It was totally their idea and I was sold on it from the first time they mentioned it.  A quick trip to the craft dept. at Wal-Mart, a few bucks, and one evening later, here they are:

Here’s a closer look at their “lids” an upside down tupperware bowl with a 10 inch cardboard circle on top, some metallic fabric, and black paper dots.

We thought long and hard about what Ellie should be and finally decided that she should fit into the theme somehow.   We considered another spice, then we brainstormed about what we put salt and pepper on, and came up with this:

Isn’t that the cutest little ear of corn you’ve ever seen???  Darling.  The tassles made me laugh so hard.

Ready to hit the street for some trick-or-treating:

Our neighbors loved them!

Here we are walking down our street.  I like to hand out candy too, but since we aren’t home, I bring it with us and hand it out to kids on the street.  That’s what that crate is under my arm, in case anyone wondered about that.  That crate is part of a set of 3 nesting crates that my dad hand made for me.  I will sell you the set for $7.4 million.  Just email if you’re interested.

And one more of my sweet baby corn on the cob.  Cute, I tell you, CUTE!

In other news, the Phillies are playing in the World Series which means my husband is a happy guy.  I just heard the National Anthem playing so I’m off to chill out on the couch and watch some baseball!

Food for Thought

I promise I will update soon (you’re all waiting with bated breath, I know), but in the meantime, I was inspired by this blog entry.  I’m not even sure how I stumbled across her blog, but her story of conversion from Atheism to Catholicism is an interesting one.  Enjoy!

A Run in With the Mob

Okay.  So I just got back from the Fall Festival held at B and L’s elementary school.  It’s a sweet little event that The Mother’s Club puts on every year:  cotton candy, games, hot dogs and lemonade, etc.  It’s nothing major, but the girls really enjoy it and we enjoy the opportunity to meet other parents.  The event takes place in the (very tiny) gym and to say it gets crowded is an understatement.

I helped the girls get their food and we were looking for a place to sit.  The only open seats were at a table on the opposite side of the room.  As soon as I got there, I figured out why they were open:  someone had put their sweatshirt across the bench in an effort to “save” those seats.  Well, the food line was huge, the gym was packed and there was no other place to sit.  So I looked around, shrugged my shoulders, and moved the sweatshirt out of the way so my children could sit down to eat.

About 3 minutes later I heard a booming voice behind me say, “Hey, I thought there was a sweatshirt there!”  I turned around and found my self face-to-face (actually I think it was more like my face to his left nipple) with a guy who was HUGE.  I’m saying he was probably a linebacker in his earlier days.  His head was completely shaved and he growled at me.  I think.   I’ve been trying to think of the right word to describe him and I just can’t come up with it.  Certainly not ‘gentleman’ or even ‘dude’.   No.  I think I’m gonna go with ‘thug’.  T.H.U.G.  Thug.  Yep, that’s it.  And he had a New Jersey accent, only we live in Ohio, so the whole thing didn’t make sense.  Amazing what goes through your mind as your life flashes before your eyes.  Anyway, in a voice that was so calm even I was impressed, I said, “Yes, there was a sweatshirt there, but I moved it so my children could sit down.”   Then he said, “Well, it was MINE!”  And  I handed it to him and said, “Can I help you find another seat?” then I calmly gestured to the bench behind him that had just opened up (Did I hear a hallelujah??).

Well, apparently, he didn’t want those seats.  He said, “I had this sweatshirt there because I was saving the seats.”  And I said, “In a room this packed, with a line that long, saving seats is really quite rude and inconsiderate of you.”  And my voice did not quiver one bit.  Not even one tiny bit.  I remember thinking to myself, “This guy is a jerk”  and “I can’t wait to tell my sister about this.”

And then he got mad.  He started to clench and unclench his fists (you might think I’m exaggerating, but I promise you I’m not!).  I looked over to Conrad hoping for a little backup and found him happily stuffing a hot dog smothered in ketchup down his throat.   In the noise of the crowd he was completely oblivious to the entire situation.  I was on my own.    Through clenched teeth The Thug said, “Ok.  You’ve stated your opinion.”  and I remember thinking, “Really?  Is that the best line you could come up with?”  I don’t think he’s used to having a 5′3″ woman stare him down like that.  I think he was intimidated.

Then I decided to be the nicer person in the situation.  I mean I am a pastor’s wife, after all.  And I introduced him to Conrad who was guzzling lemonade.  I said, “Let me introduce you to my husband, Conrad”  and no joke, The Thug looks at Conrad and says, “You got somethin’ to say to me?  You got somethin’ to say to ME?” in a Jersey accent!  I’m not making this up, people!  And poor Conrad didn’t know what was going on.  I tried my best to redeem the situation, I really did.  But, well, there just wasn’t any redeeming it.

So I turned around and wiped ketchup off the faces of my little girls, and found that my hands were trembling just a little bit.

Christmas Gift Ideas

As I wrote about a few weeks ago, I am trying to get my Christmas shopping done really early this year.  I’ve been researching and brainstorming, budgeting and clicking, and I think I’m done shopping for the girls.  I thought you might like some ideas for your own kids.  The first two are items that we’ve had around for a while that my kids absolutely love.

Great Big God is a series of music done by Vineyard Music and it is the best stuff for kids I’ve ever seen!  We love it all!  If you have kids in your life, or if you are shopping for a kid’s music leader at church, etc. I highly, highly recommend this CD.  If you hit the Vineyard Music Website you will also find the Fruit of the Spirit CD series which have background music tracks on them which makes it super easy for performing songs in church.

I came across Sound Bingo about a year ago and instantly fell in love.  The game comes with a CD full of sounds.  Just stick it in your CD player, hit randomize and you’re good to go.  My kids love it, and it’s teaching them to recognize the sounds of different musical instruments (among other things like animal sounds, a train, a flushing toilet, etc.).

Next to Usborne products, I love Melissa and Doug stuff the best.  I purchased this set for Ellie and can’t wait to give it to her.  Good activity for wintery days.

The older girls have been asking for a Nintento DS for ages.  I refuse to get them one for a number of reasons.   I had a good friend who was selling the V-Tech handheld system that she bought for her son a year ago, so I bought that from her along with several games.  I somehow feel better about video games if there is some educational value to them!  I got a good deal on it and the girls will never know (nor would they care) that it’s used!

That’s all!  Hope you got some good ideas for your own Christmas shopping!

Total Randomness

If you are looking for pictures from Christa’s wedding, they aren’t here yet.  The pictures that I took are not that great because 1) I am not a great photographer and 2) I was too busy attending to my duties as a matron of honor to take very many.  I am waiting on several people to get their stuff posted so I can steal it from their sites and post it here for you to see.

In other news, Conrad is officially a grad student!  He started taking classes this week through Fuller Theological Seminary.  The classes are all online with the exception of 2 weeks every year when he will travel to campus.  This is something he’s wanted to do for many years but the timing never seemed right until now.

I cleaned my bedroom.

We are going camping this weekend.  As I write this, it is 36 degrees outside.  I am not an enthusiastic camper under any circumstances, so you can probably imagine how I feel about that.

If you haven’t noticed, I put another link on my sidebar over there on the right.  If you haven’t been on “The Pioneer Woman” website, you have been missing out!  Great recipes, fun stories, and lots and lots of things to click on.  Enjoy!

I Should Be Ashamed of This, but Instead I’m Proud

I try to be a good housekeeper, I really try.  But this weekend was a crazy one, and I found myself stopping at home just long enough to drop something off, pick something else up, and head straight back out the door again.  By the end of the weekend, my bedroom looked like a bomb had gone off.  I walked in there last night and was so overwhelmed I didn’t know where to begin.  So I took a picture.   Or two or three.  My husband is deeply ashamed by the state of our bedroom and is horrified that I am posting pictures for all to see, but I had to show you just how bad it really is:

And here’s a wedding picture just to whet your appetite:

More to come next time. . .

Wedding No. 2 and Yummy Soup!

I am gearing up for another big wedding weekend!  My very dear friend, Christa Keim, is getting married this weekend and I am one of two matrons of honor!  What fun!  Christa, with all her talents in fine arts, has put together a dinner theater style wedding.   We are in for a fun and original wedding ceremony and I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Yesterday I stayed at home to get my laundry done and my house under control.  Today and the rest of the weekend are devoted to helping Christa out however I can.

One of my responsibilities for today is to take lunch to everyone working at setting up the church.  I made a huge batch of  my favorite soup:

Italian Vegetable Soup:

1 lb.  ground beef

1 cup diced onion

1 cup sliced celery

1 cup sliced carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can (16 oz.) tomatoes

1 can (16 oz. ) tomato sauce

1 can (16 ox.) red kidneys beans, undrained

2 cups water

5 tsp. beef bouillon granules

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. salt, optional

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup macaroni

Brown Beef and drain.  Add the next 14 ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.  Add cabbage, beans and macaroni, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer until vegetables are tender.  Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.  Serves about 12.

My notes:  I use whole wheat pasta, I leave out the garlic and sometimes I leave out the green beans.  The recipe card says that one serving is 152 calories and 4 gm fat, if anyone is interested in that.

Who wouldn’t want to dig into a steaming hot bowl of this on a crisp fall evening?

Fall, Glorious Fall!

Yesterday marked the first day of Fall.  Normally I love Fall, but this year I’m a little sad to see summer go.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that  Summer didn’t make much of an appearance around here.

So to celebrate the beginning of Fall, I am making my favorite soup.  And I am changing what is hanging on my front door.

Good-bye summer lemons:

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Hello Fall Pumpkin:

A Note About Usborne

I love Usborne books!  In fact, I love them so much that a year ago I became a consultant for them.  100% of my profit goes into a separate checking account and I use it to pay for piano lessons for my girls.

It just occurred to me that I should put a link on my blog to my Usborne site in case anyone wants to take a look.  So right over there on the right is a link that you can click on and browse the store if you want.

At the risk of being obnoxious, let me point out some of my favorite things:

The thing that first attracted me to Usborne was its huge variety of art books.  They range in level from kindergarten on up and they are set up in a step-by-step way for kids to easily follow.  I recommend this one for really little kids.  This one and this one are some of the favorites in our household.

This one is new and I think it’s adorable!  Kinda like paper dolls only the clothes are magnetic!  What little girl wouldn’t go crazy over it?

How smart is this? Dry-erase flash cards full of fun activities for a trip (or a long wait in a restaurant, or to keep them entertained in a waiting room, etc.).  I think this is my all-time favorite Usborne product for the shear genius of it!

I could go on and on and on. . .Usborne’s current catalog has 1400 titles in it and I have yet to find one that I don’t love!!  Some of them are just plain fun, and others are very educational.  Lots of homeschooling families use them as part of their curriculum.

Okay.  I think maybe I’ve crossed the line into obnoxious salesmanship!  I can’t help myself!!  But here’s the real clincher:  if you are interested in ordering you can do so by clicking onto any of the links on this page or the link that is now permanent on my sidebar under “Friends and Family”.  Feel free to just browse the site and if you have any questions, you can leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!

Thoughts on Christmas

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas.  Not a love/hate relationship with it’s meaning, just the holiday itself.

I love Christmas music, gingerbread houses, molasses cookies, wrapping gifts after the kids are in bed, getting out my favorite decorations, shopping with my husband for just the right thing for each of the girls, and the general anticipation of it all.

I hate the stress that accompanies it, and the way I feel rushed from one thing to the next.  I hate how I am forever checking off a mental list of things to get done before that next Christmas party or family gathering.  I hate how every year, I find myself asking, “Jesus, are you really being honored in all of this?  Are you being recognized in this hustle and bustle? or is worshiping you just one more thing on my never-ending ‘to-do’ list?”

The last several years have been completely overwhelming and I definitely find that the hate side far outweighs the love side in my attitude toward Christmas.  So I’ve been evaluating all of this and I’ve decided that several things need to change:

1.  I am taking a different approach to gift-giving.  I am not going to ask for a list from anyone (with possibly one exception, but that’s too complicated to address here).  I have been irritated the last several years with the idea of exchanging lists (we do it with both sides of our family plus our own children). How impersonal to look at someone’s list, click a few buttons on the computer, and then scratch that name off and declare, “Finished with that one!”!!  AHHH!  What about that is gift giving??  We might as well be transferring money from our bank account to the accounts of the people on our lists and call it good.  This year I am going with my heart.  If I come across something that makes me stop and say, “ooooh, wouldn’t Candace (or Kim, or Tera, or Chad, or Cara, etc.) love that?” then that’s what I’m buying!  Don’t care if it’s on someone’s list or not!!  It just feels like a more personal approach to giving.

2.  I am shopping early.  And I mean E.A.R.L.Y.  I’ve already begun, and I am hoping to have every single item done by the first week of November.  Yup.  The closer we get to Christmas, the crazier shopping is and I’m trying to steer clear of crazy!

3.  I will listen to more Christmas music.  I love music.  Always have, always will.   It soothes my soul.  Christmas music does that and it puts a little extra bounce in my step.

4.  I will focus more on Jesus.  It’s so cliche’, but He is the reason for the season!  Without Jesus, there would be no reason to celebrate at all!  I hope to honor him more, worship him more, thank him more, and recognize him more amidst the chaos that is sure to accompany the next several months, no matter how much I plan ahead.

It’s only September and the first snow flake is yet to fall.  But I deeply desire to have a different experience with Christmas this year, and I hope that these changes will help me accomplish that.  I would love to hear from any of you reading this, what you do to keep Christmas special.  Not just family traditions, and special memory-making times.  But how do you prepare your heart for the celebration of Jesus?