Miscellaneous...

Hope y'all are having a great Monday!! I am linking up a bit late, but the day of doing nothing turned into loads of fun stuff packed in, and I'm just now getting a chance to sit and think. We took the little people to see Kung Fu Panda 2 this morning~ so cute and I made it nearly to the end before crying! It has a sweet adoption story woven in that I wasn't quite expecting...

~We are at the two month countdown to Halle's birthday. (Actually 2 months from Wednesday, if we're being precise...) We are running with the Rapunzel theme, and I cannot wait. I absolutely love parties, and princess parties may be my most favorite! Let the planning begin!

~Last week was a week of experimental recipes. I tried this Italian Beef and this Lasagna, both in the crock pot. I love using it, but feel like I don't have enough to try in it. Both turned out great, and even the littles ate them. This week I'm gearing up for a trip, Trace is going on a different trip, and my in-laws will be arriving, so I don't think I'll be experimenting too much in the next few days. Thankfully my littles have low standards~ they don't seem to have the same momma-grading scale that I use on myself. On the days I'd give myself a big fat 'F', they act like PB&J is a gourmet meal!

~Our garage sale was a bust this weekend. The weather was iffy but not terrible, so I really have nothing to blame... Friday was better, but on Saturday we saw absolutely no one! It was weird, and I was almost beginning to wonder if Harold Camping had been just a few days off in his timeline. We'll try again soon!

~The days have begun when we are outside a ton.  I don't particularly like to sweat... in fact, I hate it. But at this point, remembering the amazing things I got into when I was little outweighs my discomfort. We were out from the time the sun came up until time for bed, with only bathroom breaks and meals to keep us in. I want those things for the littles... so I sweat it out (and sometimes watch from inside my cool kitchen, I must admit). But they blissfully pass out in their little beds after a day of adventures. I totally love that!

So how are you kicking off summer? We went to two cookouts this weekend, and we got a grill~ super excited to have cookouts of our own!

Chocolate Cobbler

Well, here it is... the recipe that had my twitter all abuzz yesterday. I didn't take a picture, because mine never turn out very pretty, but it tastes amazing and uses stuff that I typically just have in my kitchen.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
milk
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1 can evaporated milk
3/4 cup milk

The process:
Combine flour, shortening and salt. Mix with hands or pastry cutter until shortening is evenly dispersed. Add milk, 1 Tbsp. at a time until it makes a smooth ball. Roll out on floured board or pastry cloth as thin as possible.

Spread sugar over dough. Sprinkle cocoa over sugar. Add vanilla to melted butter and sprinkle over dough as well. Roll up dough and place into a baking dish in circle. Cut holes in top of dough and pour evaporated milk over roll. Then pour 3/4 cup milk on top.

Bake at 350* until dough is golden and sauce is bubbly. (about 30 min?)

That's the original recipe. The only places I vary are in the rolling of the dough~ I can never seem to get mine to make a smooth roll that doesn't break. The good thing is that it works out in the end whether you have to cut holes in the top or it just falls apart as you place it in the pan. The more places for the milk to sink in the better, in my opinion!

This is perfect served warm with vanilla ice cream. Coffee is also mandatory. Enjoy!

Miscellany Monday~ Yippee!!

Well, contrary to most, I LOVE Mondays! I know I've bragged about this before, but it's still true. Trace takes Mondays off, and so it tends to be a great, get-things-done-around-the-house kind of day.

~In a strange twist (no thanks to fate, all the glory to God!) I actually finished most of my Monday to-do list on Sunday. I'm truly not sure how it happened, but I finished all the laundry and some of the cleaning yesterday. All that's left is to get my 'fake house' ready to host our Fusion group tonight, and as this is our last meeting, I've quit trying so hard to make things spotless. I am so thankful that God has put such wonderful friends in our life whom I know won't judge whether or not I have dust on picture frames! *that being said, I will probably go and dust... they won't judge, but now that I've mentioned it, it will probably make me crazy.

~T-ball is going great, and I am so proud of Remy. We haven't had an actual game yet, but he's been doing well at practices and participating. And he looks so cute in the little get-up with the hat, cleats, and mitt! Pictures are tonight- praying it doesn't rain!

~I am so excited to share with y'all about some huge ministry stuff that we have coming up, in fact, I could burst! More details to come, but remember how I said I dreamed about going to Africa? Yeah, it's that big...

~After posting last week about my Granny's pecan pie, I started digging up more passed-down recipes. Yesterday I made my other Grandma's Chocolate Cobbler, and it was sinfully good. I didn't take a picture because, frankly, it's not the most beautiful dessert, but it tasted like heaven! I'll try to post the recipe this week~ you're going to love it!

~Purging. I'm getting things around for a garage sale next weekend and listing bigger items on Craigslist. We just have so much. I listed our double stroller on Saturday, and 4 hours later it was sold. I love that! The hardest part is that while exhuming things from the deep, dark places in the littles' rooms, they see them and exclaim 'I was just looking for that!'. Every single time. (sigh) We're trying to teach them about excess and giving, but it's so hard. I'm ready for this to be over. I love the results from a good garage sale, but I hate the execution...

My Favorite Homemade Dish

Hi, girlies! It's Third Thursday, so once again I'm joining in the hop with Hearts at Home bloggers. The question this month was 'What's your favorite homemade dish?'. I struggled with what to say, because I don't consider most things I make homemade... I make and bake a lot, but I use lots of quick cheats and shortcuts. When I think of 'homemade', I think of slaving away for hours in the hot kitchen... climbing uphill both ways in three feet of snow... Okay, maybe I'm just being hard on myself. 

I decided to share with you today a SUPER TOP SECRET recipe that was handed down to me in my sweet Granny's handwriting on the recipe card. (I only call her Granny behind her back~ she hates that. Something about her mother being Granny, but the name totally fits her!) My Grandma is a small, southern pistol that makes a ton of wonderful things when working in her little kitchen. Her Pecan Pie is my absolute favorite. 

Pecan Pie

Beat 3 eggs slightly, add 2/3 cup sugar, 1 cup white corn syrup, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup melted butter, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir in 1 cup pecans and pour into unbaked crust. Bake at 375* for 40-50 minutes until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

This is my grandma's original recipe... now for my variations~ I use halved pecans (granny uses chopped). I also use 1/2 cup corn syrup with 1/2 cup maple syrup because I like the darker, nuttier flavor. For the crust, you can use a purchased, frozen pie crust. I typically make Martha's simple pate brisee or basic crust like this if I don't want to use butter.

Sorry the only picture I could find right now is this terrible yellow one, but you get the idea~ this pie is gorgeous every time! I'd love for you to link up and check out the other H@H bloggers today~ I can't wait to see what awesome things they're cooking up!

Tea Party!

So I am no photographer (not news to you, I know!), but I like to think I know how to party! I have such great memories of fancy teas with my mom and friends that she included, so I decided to gather a few of my girlies together on Saturday for a tea party of our own. We get so little time to just hang out without little ones, husbands, agendas, etc, and it was wonderful just to sit and chat for a bit. I was really hoping to have things set up out on our patio, but the sky that had been threatening rain all week decided to open up on Friday night and continue on all day Saturday. Thankfully I had reserved the church just-in-case, and it all came together!

~The Menu:

Chocolate Cake Balls

Sweet Scones with Peach Butter

Cucumber Sandwiches

Lemon Pound Cake

Berry Tarts with Mascarpone and Fresh Whipped Cream

and of course, TEA!

*PS, I've decided to try the disqus format for commenting. I think it's just a nicer way to keep the conversation going... hopefully it's an easy transition! Thanks so much for your awesome feedback!

Monday, Monday

Good morning and Happy Monday!

~I almost always begin the week a bit tired... life in ministry doesn't allow for the weekends to be times of rest or relaxation, but they are most always filled with tons of people we love and time encountering God. It's a worthy trade-off!

~ My boy is loving t-ball. So far (unlike with soccer) there hasn't been any talk of quitting, so that's progress! He loves the hat but refuses to wear the team t-shirt. I think this secretly makes his non-conformist daddy proud.

~I love seeing my littles with their friends. I love the hand-holding of little girls while they play, and Remy and his buddies become ninjas every time they see each other. On one hand I can't believe how big they seem, but on the other I'm so thankful that we are surrounded by so many awesome families.

~Speaking of friends, Remy attended a birthday party on Saturday of one of his friends from school. The party was at Monkey Joe's~ have you heard of this place?! It's filled with inflatables, and the insanity was almost more than this momma could handle. It was a dark rainy Saturday, so that meant everyone in town decided to go... Needless to say, my boy spent a looooooonngg time in the tub when we got home. But he had so much fun~ another worthy trade-off!

~My tea party was on Saturday! I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow. It was a dark rainy day, so we were forced inside, but it was so much fun to spend some agenda-free time with some friends of my own with no one asking us to clean anything up, chauffeur them anywhere, or wipe hands or noses.

~Today is zoo day with Remy's class, and it looks like the rain has stopped. The sun is finally shining! We've yet to explore the zoo here, so I'm as excited as the littles, I think!  

What are your plans for the day, lovelies? I'll be back soon!

Not Quite

I was thinking the other day about the Shel Silverstein poem called 'Almost Perfect... But Not Quite'. I'm not sure why it popped into my head, but living under the perfectionist cloud that I do, I often am frustrated by the almost, the things that should be better.  But today, I'm living in the 'not quites', shaking off the feeling that I should be doing more, and concentrating on being just who God has called me to be today.

My laundry is folded but not quite perfectly stacked... Because Halle wanted to get her own towel to wash her face and took one from the bottom of the pile.

Remy's bed is made, but his comforter isn't quite perfectly spread out because that's where Starbucks likes to burrow.

 

My table is almost cleared off, but not quite because we left the Slip n Slide box there when we decided to use it yesterday afternoon. There's also a stack of papers listing Remy's memory verses for T-Ball.

The play room is almost clean, but not quite because Polly Pocket and some of her Pet Shop friends were 'taking supplies to friends in Albania, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh'. (Remember, we're alphabetically making our way through praying around the world... so far we're at 'B'. You can read about the book we're using here.)

I realized today, that sitting in the not quites is exactly where I'm supposed to be... because the trade off, perfection in some areas, would mean there would be a gaping hole in others.  I'm speaking to myself here, but also to you, sweet lovelies, who read this and then email me asking how I do it all... I don't!! And please forgive me if I ever come across that way. I can do all things through Christ, which today also means leaving some things undone to be a mom. What are your not quites today? Do you realize that the trade-offs are so much more valuable?

As For Me & My House {My first Review!}

Joshua 24:15 "But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord."

So I love, love this verse! When I saw that this was the theme for the May specials in the (in)courage shop at Dayspring, I was so excited, especially when I saw that they were giving bloggers the chance to review one of the products. Have you checked out the (in)courage blog and shop before? I subscribe to their daily emails of blog posts, and it is truly one of my favorite emails to get every day~ loaded with encouragement and great writing from bunches of different contributors.

I received the As for Me and My Household Charcoal 5x7 frame, and I sincerely love it! It is much bigger than I expected (I know, the site gives dimensions, but I'm one of those who just needs to see it...). I also really like the texture on the charcoal part. it's hard to see in the pictures, but the finish almost looks brushed.  After a little debate, I decided to put it on the wall in our kitchen where we will see it every time we sit down for a meal or fly through on the way to somewhere else. Deciding which picture to put in was the hardest part! I've also intentionally placed it off-center above my new (to me) buffet because I have an idea about some sconces or iron thing-a-ma-jigs on the right, but that will have to wait.

The kitchen is definitely the most used space in our house, and we can always use this reminder. I've always loved the first part of this verse that says 'Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve'. It reminds me that we get to choose to serve Him and need to be intentional about living this way... How awesome that we serve a God who isn't forcing us into some sort of slavery, but rather He lovingly shows Himself to us and allows us to willingly follow Him.

As an added bonus for readers, You can use the coupon code: MAY20 for 20% off your order at Dayspring.com! You should check out their shop for tons of cute stuff for gifts, your home, even your little ones!!

(*disclaimer* I was given this frame at no cost from Dayspring in exchange for my honest opinion about their product. All opinions are completely my own!)

Miscellany Monday

Happy Monday!! Linking up again for the randomness over on Carissa's blog... click the button and take a look!

~1~ Remy's school had their annual 'Mother's Special Day' program on Friday, and it was just as sweet as last year. Though, also the same as last year, when it came time to act out the nursery rhymes, my little shy guy chickened out. Not sure where he gets that from, but he just doesn't seem to like the spotlight like his mom & dad. But he shines regardless to me! Here he is serving me cookies and juice:

~2~ The weather is finally getting nicer, which means we spend lots more time outside. This also means I spend twice as much time sweeping and mopping the kitchen, but I'll gladly do that to have the fresh air and worn out little ones! I am amazed at how much time the littles spend treasure hunting, 'training' the dogs, and building things.

~3~ I've been using my pioneer coffee pot, and I have to tell you, I love it. It cracks me up every time, but something about not using the electricity and the way the coffee tastes is extremely gratifying. (Okay, I admit I am a HUGE dork...) Trace still refuses to drink anything I make from it, and I think he's going to borrow a pot from the church for our small group tonight. I suppose it would take six years to make coffee that way for our group... But I have no intentions of spending anything on a new coffee maker for a while.

~4~ Jello-palooza was last night at our youth ministry. Going into it, I had no idea what Trace had come up with, but I knew enough to put on old clothes. The games went from a relay in which you sifted through a giant bowl of gelatin with your feet to find pieces of candy to speed eating. The finale consisted of liquid gelatin being poured into a length of plastic tubing. One person stood at each end, and when the 'referee' said Go!, each contestant blew as hard as he/she could trying not to get the gelatin in their face. Disgusting, right?! Kind of like tug-of-war, but with jello and blowing... I'm not sure where my darling husband comes up with this stuff. It turns out that all my days singing have well equipped me for a game involving hot air, and I actually won this one. So happy!

So what did you do this weekend? Hope you have a great day, lovelies!

One of Those...

Yesterday was one of those days... I know you know the ones. I woke up tired, wasn't feeling all that great, the littles didn't seem to want to listen, and the coffee maker broke. I know, that last thing is a big one. In truth, it's been on its way out for about a week, but I have been in denial. A broken coffee maker isn't something easily acknowledged to this coffee addict, but a new coffee maker isn't quite in the budget either. So I was at an unusual crossroads... what to do at 7 in the evening when I just needed a cup. So here is what I came up with:

AND IT WORKED!!!

 All I did was take an empty glass jar and put a coffee filter and coffee on the top, fastened with the ring-thingy (that's the technical name, right?!). Then I poured hot water slowly into the top. The pouring part took a while because I was trying to avoid an overflow, but the wait time was well worth it. The coffee tasted amazing, and Remy was completely amazed at our little 'Little House' experiment.

I was then reading a post about God speaking through His word, and Jen talked about Psalm 121.  I love this Psalm. In my Bible I've penned 'Remy & Halle's Psalm' across the top of this one because I often whisper this sweet song in the darkness as they sleep or quietly speak it to scared little ones in the night. It reminded me that even in my crazy days God is with me. And seriously, who am I kidding about rough days?! My broken coffee pot and moments of parenting stress are fleeting and trivial... But regardless, my God is the same.

Psalm 121
I lift my eyes up to the hills- where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber,
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

So I enter into this weekend in gratefulness. I am thankful that in my broken-pot-moments, God is never sleeping, never taking his eyes or his hand from me. 'Loving God loving me... is that selfish? He loves you too, you know, As do I, sweet lovelies! Hope you're weekend is full of things you love!

Sow Love

I was reading this post the other day called 'One Better', and the concept really took me sort of captive. I encourage you to read the whole post, but the quote that had the most take away for me was this: "It’s hard to do everything, but it isn’t hard to just do one better. " True, isn't it? God is calling us even in the midst of difficult moments to try harder. To do one better. I have many moments when I feel like giving up because I can't move mountains, and this isn't necessarily what God is asking me to do. But as Jesus shapes and refines my heart, as I take in His words and trust Him that He is working in me to make me more like Him, I can do more. I can do one better.

Let me illustrate how I am thinking here... My Halle is prone to waking up between 3 and 4 in the morning. Almost every morning. The sweet little thing can't tell time, so some mornings it's just 'Is it time to get up yet?' and others, like last night, it's that in waking up, her diaper has soaked her bed. I am tired. And other than for the Royal Wedding, I do not usually want to get up at 3am. Last night, as I heard that precious voice from across the hall I didn't have warm fuzzy feelings. But I heard God say 'Sow Love'. He was telling me that even at 3am, I had a choice to make. I could silently rush through the motions of changing her jammies and sheets, or I could do one better and show my girly the love of Jesus. Before my bare feet hit the cold floor I had determined to do the latter. I walked into her dark room to see the smile of a two year old who was genuinely excited to see me. I grabbed a clean diaper and baby lotion, changed her and gave her a massage before putting clean pajamas on her. I asked her to be my helper and change the sheets with me~ something she loves but makes the job take twice as long as when I do it myself.  I tucked her in underneath fresh covers, and as I kissed her soft cheek, she whispered 'Thank you for saving me'.  She fell asleep quickly, knowing that I love her.

When I woke up this morning, I was reminded of how Mother Theresa said that 'We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.'. I love that! It takes some the pressure off from trying to attain some perfect ideal, and at least in my life, allows me to embrace who God is making me in each moment. We are often faced with a choice to make, and I am finding that I am (ever so slowly) taking the high road more often. I encourage you, as did the author of the original post, to try it... I am amazed at how this concept is changing me.  Happy Tuesday, Lovelies!