Boo!

I hope everyone has a fun, safe, and happy Halloween!

Don't Forget!

Time falls back an hour tonight. So, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour before you go to bed, and enjoy that extra hour of sleep. I know I will! ;-)

Friday Fill-Ins

1. It was a dark and stormy night, and my children found me curled up in bed with a good read.

2. My aunt was giving away some of grandma's old books, so I offered to take the books myself. I now have a ton of old Reader's Digest Condensed Books, and I am looking forward to reading them.

3. Rushing out, I forgot to put my pants on. Okay, this has never happened to me, but I have had this dream several times.

4. Late at night, if you listen real close, you can hear the coyotes...I think I heard a howl! I always think they sound like kids up to no good.

5. Shhhh...my kids don't know I am in the office yet. Once they find me, I will have to answer a thousand questions and listening to a bunch of tattling.

6. I'm hungry! I get mean when I am hungry, so if you know what is good for you, you will give me something good to eat! :-)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to carving pumpkins with my kiddos, tomorrow my plans include decorating Meghan's 3rd birthday cake and passing out candy while Jeff takes our kids trick-or-treating and Sunday, I want to go to church and then we are having Meg's birthday party in the afternoon!

Thursday Thirteen

13 Halloween Books I Have Read To My Children...And Enjoyed!

Pumpkin Town by Katie McKy

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Halloween Is by Gail Gibbons

The Littlest Pumpkin by R. A. Herman

The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler

Gus Was a Gorgeous Ghost by Jane Thayer

Gus and the Baby Ghost by Jane Thayer

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat by Stan Berenstain

Froggy's Halloween by Jonathan London

Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting

My First Halloween Board Book by DK Publishing

Halloween Makes Me Batty by Fran Posner

Dora's Halloween Adventure by Sarah Wilson


Happy Halloween! :-)

Wordful Wednesday

These pictures were taken last Thursday. I was in a cleaning frenzy, since my sisters were coming to town. I had roped my mom into my cleaning frenzy too, so poor Meggie wasn't getting a whole lot of attention. We let her watch Caillou, one of her favorite shows, and this is what happened.

Isn't she just precious? So peaceful!

Of course, her brother came home from school a short time later, and he woke her up. He is such a pistol! ;-)

Join in on the Wordful Wednesday fun!

Heads Or Tails

The theme/prompt for this week, October 27, is:

EDGE - "Any Past Theme"

I am going all the way back to May 27, 2008. It was a TAILS, and you were supposed to tell about your job (Or one you've had).

I got my very first job when I was 15. I was a dishwasher at the restaurant where my mom waitressed. For years after that I worked different restaurant jobs...Hardees, Steak 'N Shake, and Subway. I also worked some seasonal (Christmas) jobs at Claire's and Piercing Pagoda. Finally I got a job as a teller, and I worked at a few different banks doing that. That actually helped get me through college. There were a few other jobs here and there...at a daycare, as a nanny, at a food kiosk in the mall, elementary teacher.

All of these jobs helped get me prepared for my current job as a mom. I cook, clean, referee, chauffer, and volunteer. I also pay bills, manage our home, teach valuable lessons, and do projects with the kids. I could go on. This job is the most demanding. It is challenging. It can also be very frustrating. But you know what? I love it! I am so thankful that my husband not only provides well so I can stay at home, but he also encourages me to do so. Such a blessing!

**This is the last week of Heads or Tails for a while. Barb, I hope your health improves. I will miss your lovely meme, and I look forward to it resuming someday soon. God Bless You!**

Pesky Creature

Squirrels can be such pesky little creatures. Here is one enjoying some peanuts out of my bird feeder.

He really gets into trying to get the peanuts.

I started knocking on my office window hoping to chase him away. It didn't work. Instead, he just took a break to stare at me.

He was quite good at the staring.

I admit I had fun watching him. He might be a pesky creature, but he is also a beautiful creature. He is a pretty amazing one too. If only I could move like that. Fascinating!

With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.~Jeremiah 27:5

Our Menu For 10/26/09 to 11/01/09

I am really going to try to cook this week, so that I won't have repeats next week. I spent last week in a cleaning frenzy, so we just ate quick meals.

Monday~Chinese Chicken Casserole
Tuesday~Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Wednesday~Pineapple Cranberry Ham Steak, Mac 'N Cheese and Applesauce
Thursday~Mustgoes
Friday~Beef Barley Soup with Grilled Cheese
Saturday~Sloppy Joes and French Fries
Sunday~Pizza...Today we are also having Meghan's 3rd Birthday Party, and since it will be in the afternoon I am not planning a meal. I am going to make Sausage Cheese Balls, Artichoke Dip, Beer Bread with a Dip (any suggestions?), and of course, chocolate cake.

~~~Food Holidays~~~

This week:

October 26th~Pumpkin Day, Pretzel Day, Mince Meat Pie Day
October 27th~National Potato Day
October 28th~National Chocolate Day, Wild Foods Day
October 29th~National Oatmeal Day
October 30th~National Candy Corn Day, Buy a Doughnut Day
October 31st~National Candy Apple Day
November 1st~National Deep Fried Clams Day, National Vinegar Day

Next Week:

November 2nd~National Deviled Egg Day
November 3rd~National Sandwich Day
November 4th~National Candy Day
November 5th~Doughnut Appreciation Day
November 6th~National Nachos Day
November 7th~Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day
November 8th~National Cappuccino Day & National Harvey Wallbanger Day

My Baby

Meghan wants to be my baby still, which is so darling. Especially when she dresses up like this.

She is wearing the baby bonnet that Grandma Rose made for Ali and were passed down to Meghan,

as well as the booties she made.

In no time at all, she will not want to be a baby anymore. Which is why I really need to hold on to these precious moments. Of course, she will always be my baby. Always! Even when she wishes she wasn't. :-)

Bingo!

Tonight I went to a Mom's Life Bingo Night. Mom's Life is our church's mommy group kind of like MOPS. The main difference is that it is for moms with kids of all ages, not just preschool.

Turnout for this event was not so great. There were only 4 of us there, and all 4 of us are on the Mom's Life Leadership Team. So, I suppose some might say this night was a failure, but not in my eyes. No way!

Tonight I got to fellowship with 3 wonderful christian women that I admire and have a great time with. We laughed. We talked. We played bingo. It can't get any better than that. :-)

Of course, to add to the fun, I got bingo two times. The first time I picked a prize for my mom. She has talked about getting a coffee machine that makes one cup of coffee at a time. I hope she likes this one.

The second time I picked up a little something for me. Check it out...

Isn't it adorable? It says "Joy To The World" on the rim and has a holly leaf inside. I can so see myself using that this Christmas season.

Thank you God for great friends and good times with those friends!

I Had The Best Time!

Last night I got to spend time with my sisters. If you have been following my situation, you know that I haven't seen them in over 25 years. It did not feel like that at all to me. Sure, we had to fill each other in on our past and present. Heck, I didn't even know my Kim's last name. But the way I felt around them was odd...in a good way. I felt connected to them. I felt like I had known them forever. I felt like I could be myself.

When each of them arrived, I met them in the driveway, and our hugs were filled with love. You could just tell that we were all grateful for this time together. We spent a few hours just talking in my living room. I felt like we could have sat there for days, but hunger took over.

At this point I ran back to my room to get my sassy boots, and my sassy self fell on my kitchen floor and made the loudest thud ever. I swear I am not a super klutz. Well, not all the time. I must have gotten some pledge on the floor in my cleaning frenzy, and because I was running a bit I went down hard. There was no stopping myself. Kim was on the phone, but Tammy came running to see if I was okay. I was laughing a bit and leaning up against my pantry door. She said, "It's not funny. You might have broken your butt." This only made me chuckle more. I told her I couldn't have broken my butt because I landed on both of my knees. Oh. The. Pain!!! After sitting there for a minute, I got up and dusted my sassy self off. Praise God I could walk and my knees are only bruised. Through all of this though I learned that my sister, Tammy, has broken her butt three times. I'm telling you I learned a lot last night. :-)

Off we went to one of my favorite restaurants. I love the guacamole at Chevy's, and I adore their flautas. Yum! I learned that Kim does not like guacamole, which is my all time favorite food, but Tammy gave it a try and liked it. I'm telling you, if I could only eat one food for the rest of my life it would probably be guac, but it would have to be good, fresh guac. Anyway, at the restaurant there was a whole lot more talking. You couldn't shut us up!

It was getting late, so we wrapped up dinner, had our picture taken, and drove back to my house. Here is our picture together.

I am in the middle. We made a Dawn Sandwich. ;-) I am not actually that much taller than Kim and Tammy. My sassy boots gave me the lift. I will not say this is the best picture ever taken of any of us, but I mean no insult. Each of us had battled sleep issues leading up to our get together. Plus, we each had dealt with our own personal issues, mine being a flooded basement, this week. Not to mention this picture was taken pretty late in the evening. I love that by looking at this picture I can tell that we are happy, especially myself.

All in all, it was a very successful evening. I truly had the best time! We are going to plan a get together for early December, and I can't wait. This time we are going to try to get some of our kids involved. We have 12 between the 3 of us. Tammy has 7, Kim has 2, and I, as you probably know, have 3. Hopefully between now and then we can keep in touch via email, phone, Facebook and/or my blog. God knows our hearts, and He knows that we each value family. I thank Him and credit Him for our reunion. I pray He continues to work in our relationship.

So Good To Know

No matter how much we have failed, the love of God never ceases.

Hallelujah! Talk about unconditional love! I have failed often in my life. I have failed in big ways and in little ways, and He still loves me. Even if I fail tomorrow, He will still love me. No matter what I do, He will still love me.

Knowing this is such a comfort. The closer I am to God and am relying on this truth, the better I want to be. I want to please Him and make Him proud, which I suppose is fitting since He is my Father. Thankfully I know if I do make a mistake, big or little, He will be there to love me through that.

He does that for each and every one of us. Isn't that such a comfort? Doesn't it provide you with a sense a relief? I know it does me!

Life Is Short

My sister, Tammy, called this morning, and it was obvious she had been crying. Turns out one of her daughter's good friends was killed in a car accident last night. My heart goes out to my niece, Karyssa, whom I have never met. Losing a loved one, especially someone that you believe to have many years left to live, is difficult.

Here are two songs that comfort me during times like this.





I am just so thankful that Jesus makes it possible for us to see our loved ones again someday. Our life here on Earth may be filled with difficulties, struggles and pain, but our life in Heaven will be joyful.

Oh No!!!

Around 4 this morning I heard a noise in our basement. I assumed it was Josh's GeoTrax Airplane. I tried to ignore the noise, but I kept having this nudging in my head to go down and turn it off. It was dark, and when I walked off the bottom step, I was shocked and jumped back up on the step. Water came up to the top of my foot. I have spent days cleaning my house. Straightening. Organizing. All to get ready for my sisters to arrive. And now my basement is flooded. Nice! Sweet Deal! Ugh!!!! I still don't know exactly what the noise was. I suppose it was the sump pump that wasn't working. Who knows!

Jesus, please help me to handle this situation with patience. Help minimize my irritation. Give me peace, Lord, and help me to still enjoy this wonderful day. It's in your name I pray, Amen!

Food 4 Thought Friday

Breakfast~What was your high and low of the week? My high is happening later today. My sisters are coming to town for a visit. I have not seen them in over 25 years. My low is the fact that I have not been able to sleep from the excitement. Plus, I have been a nervous wreck. Not fun!

Lunch~What is something you used to do religiously that you no longer do? Hmmmm? Drink? That is all I can think of. I used to drink quite a bit. At one point, I was drinking at least 5 days a week. It was insane. Heck, I was insane! ;-) Praise God for bringing me out of that dark period in my life.

Dinner~What is something that you now do that you never in your wildest dreams thought you would be doing? Going to the gym. Although, in all fairness, I don't go nearly as often as I should. I am, however, working on that. Truly, I am! ;-)

Midnight Snack~How much do you enjoy Halloween? Looooove it! I can't say that it is my all-time favorite holiday, but it is one I enjoy very much. As a child, I absolutely loved helping my mom decorate, going on haunted hayrides, and trick-or-treating. I want to make this time a fun time for my kids, so that they can look back and have happy memories like that.

Recipe of the Week~Instead of your recipe for life, what is it for just this week? God is in control! I can feel that so much this week, and I am loving the feeling.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. The crickets sing, but what is the meaning behind their song?

2. We must learn to be content wherever you are.

3. I want to get far away from the craziness of my home. My kids are driving me bonkers! ;-)

4. I was never in a house that was picked up by a tornado; this was a dream.

5. But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

6. I have a hard time figuring out where I come from. I llived in Ohio for the first 5 years of my life, Wisconsin for the next 10, southern Illinois for the better part of the next 12, and central Illinois for the past 8 years. Where am I from???

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending time with my sisters for the first time in over 25 years (I'm a nervous wreck!), tomorrow my plans include baking a bit and going to a Bingo fundraiser, as well as possibly going to my sister-in-laws Halloween party and Sunday, I want to go to church and relax!

Recipe For A Happy Home

In a large bowl of love, mix;

2 cups of faith
2 cups of patience
1 cup of sympathy

Blend in:

1 cup of forgiveness
2 teaspoons of kindness
1/2 cup of courage

Pour into a heart of joy, sprinkle with harmony. Top with a spread of understanding, sweeten with respect and bake in an oven of trust. Serve with a tender smile.

If our homes were filled with all of the bold words, what wonderful places they would be! I think this is one recipe I want to follow! :-)

Thursday Thirteen

October is Apple Month. In honor of that, here are...

13 Things You Can Do With Apples

1. Make Apple Prints

2. Eat Smiley Apples


Ingredients

1 red apple
8 teaspoons peanut butter
16 miniature marshmallows

Directions [Do I really need to post these? ;-) ]

Cut apple into quarters; remove core. Cut each quarter into 4 slices. Spread 1/2 teaspoon peanut butter on one side of each slice.

With kitchen scissors, cut each marshmallow in half lengthwise. Place 4 marshmallow halves over peanut butter on 8 apple slices, extending slightly over peel of slice, for teeth.

Top each with remaining apple slice, peanut butter side down, to make smiling mouth.

3. Create Apple Candle Holders~You can find different styles here and here.

4. Make Costumed Apples

5. Create Dried Apple Crafts~Out of dried apples you can make a wreath, garland, or an apple stacker.

6. Go Bobbing For Apples


7. Make & Eat a Cute Edible Apple Turkey


8. Make Shrunken Apple Heads~These can turn out pretty cool. Check out some I found on the 'net.


9. Aromatherapy~In a saucepan, cover some apple peels with water. Add in some cinnamon and cloves. Simmer this mixture on your stove. Your home will smell scrumptious!
10. Enjoy Some Apple Bread

11. Make Apples & Cheese Spoon Bread~Look how pretty this recipe looks...


12. Make An Apple Centerpiece


13. Make Apple Cinnamon Bars

Ingredients

For The Bars:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped peeled apple (1 medium)
1 cup cinnamon-flavored baking chips (from 10 ounce bag)

For The Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add apple butter, eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended.

On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda and salt until well blended. Stir in apple and cinnamon chips. Spread batter in pan.

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and top is evenly browned. Cool in pan on cooling rack at least 1 hour.

In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over bars. For bars, but into 8 rows by 4 row.

Yields 32 bars
3 points per bar

This recipe & photo comes from the Pillsbury Fall Baking cookbooklet, Spetember 2008.

Public Service Announcement

I am all for the "Pull 'Em Up Campaign."

I most certainly do not want to see your tighty-whities!

Words To Live By

Go to your Bible regularly;
Open it prayerfully;
Read it expectantly;
Live it joyfully.


I found this in a perpetual calendar, and I just love what it says. I love the verbs, as well as the adjectives. The verbs are so simple. We don't have to do anything major. We just have to Go, Open, Read and Live.

How we do them is a little more tricky. We need to do them Regularly, Prayerfully, Expectantly and Joyfully. I think this takes more work on our part. Not hard, strenuous work. It takes putting Jesus before your worldly life. It takes building a relationship with Him. A wonderful, beautiful relationship. Once you do this, it is hard not to live joyfully.

Wordless Wednesday

I know this is a little weird, but I find cemeteries fascinating. They are peaceful, a bit eerie, and filled with so much history. Of course, much of that history will never be told.

One night I stopped at a cemetery that is down the road from us, which I had wanted to do forever, and I took a couple pictures. This tombstone caught my eye. I had never seen one like it before. It was dark, and I had a hard time reading what it said. So, it wasn't until I got home that I realized that it was the grave of a little boy. His poor parents!

It just intrigues me to think about this poor family from over 125 years ago, living in the same area as myself, and dealing with a loss that would bring my world to a crashing halt. I can't help but wonder what they were like. What was their day to day life like? How did this poor boy die?

I'm telling you, cemeteries are fascinating places. It's okay if you think I am a little odd because I think so. Even I think I am a little odd from time to time. ;-)

Heads Or Tails

The theme/prompt for today, October 20, is:

HEADS - "Stop"
*OR*
TAILS - "Go"

I think I will go with heads...Stop.

I can't make Satan stop speaking, but I can stop listening to the lies he whispers (or yells) at me. He doesn't know me inside and out like God, but Satan does know my weaknesses. He has heard me say them often enough, and he has watched me long enough to know what they are. He is clever, crafty, and conniving.

Like many women, I have self esteem issues. Mine have been in check for quite some time. As I have grown in Christ, my self esteem has improved. However, since I found out that my sisters and I were getting together this Friday, after years of not seeing each other, Satan has been whispering like crazy. It's getting to be a loud whisper.

He is telling me that I am fat and not very pretty. He is letting me know that I am not smart, and that I am not a worthy person.

Well, guess what Satan? You can STOP! You are wrong! I am a beautiful child of God. I am His daughter. He loves me whether I weigh 80 pounds or 680 pounds. He most definitely thinks I am smart, and He teaches me things all the time. In His eyes, I am a worthy person.

His eyes are all that matter! So, Satan, you can just STOP!! I am choosing to listen to and believe God and not you.