Gluten Free Shortcake

Sorry, I didn't share this earlier during strawberry season, but I'm making fresh peach shortcake today with some incredible white peaches I snagged at the farm this week. This is a yummy gluten free shortcake recipe that makes little sponge-like shortcakes. Very light. Good flavor.

Book review: A Hummingbird in My House: The Story of Squeak

I enjoyed reading about Arnette's adventure in caring for a stranded hummingbird. Squeak lived in her sunroom for an entire winter, and she did a fantastic job caring for him, as well as documenting and photographing his stay. At just 116 pages, this book is a short and easy read that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in hummingbirds. I can't wait to get some more hummingbird-friendly plants into the garden. :^)

Homestead Blessings Giveaway

The new website Raising Homemakers is giving away a 10 DVD set of Homestead Blessings from Franklin Springs Media. There are some serious skills to be learned from this set!

This Raising Homemakers site looks very promising to me. They plan to have a weekly link up for Doorpost's Polished Cornerstones, which I'd been hoping to start with my girls this year.

Franklin Springs Media has the most tempting selection of family DVDs - I pretty much want all of them.

Here's a sneak peak of this set.





So go here and enter to win.

First Catechism Q52 "What kind of life did Christ live on earth?"

A - " A life of obedience, service, and suffering."

So went our family worship this morning.

We read our current Psalm, Psalm 34,continued our work in memorizing Philippians, worked through some catechisms, and ended with "Amazing Grace." But this catechism struck me.

So we pondered.

What will be said of us? How will our epitaph read?

"She lived a life of willfulness, and did everything possible to make her life comfortable." -or- "She lived a life of obedience, service, and suffering like her Savior."

It's obvious which I resemble more. It's obvious which is easier. It's also obvious that no disciple wants to settle for less than the second option.

Maybe we should live our lives with our epitaph in mind more often. "Loving wife and mother" is good, but we're striving for excellence here, and that is just the beginning. Those may be the printed words, but please God, let the legacy beneath them cry out obedience, service, and suffering for the glory of Christ.

Another glimpse of Rosie's baptism

2010 Church Picnic from North Hills Community Church on Vimeo.

Dove Fledglings in the Birdbath

They hang out on my deck waiting for their parents to come feed them. Then it's a jumble of four doves as they try to outdo each other in the food fight.

At the Gardens With Mama

Last Thursday, before everyone got sick, we wemt to a small botancial garden. It was so beautiful and teeming with life. There must have been thousands of tadpoles. We saw a baby turtle, lot so of interesting bugs, water lilies, a large fountain, geese with goslings, and lots of other things that weren't there at our last visit two months ago.

Oh, and as the children documented the day in their nature journals, it became the first day of our next school year, making it Rosie's first official day of kindergarten, thus the wide grin in the picture below. Although with her, it may be the first day of first grade. She's beginning to spell phonetically, can write upper and lowercase letters from dictation, can read a little, is getting to be quite good at addition - oh, and she can recite the categories in the classification system too. We'll see how far the summer takes us. :^)

baby turtle

Mother's Day

I hate getting behind because then I don't know where to start to catch up.

My mother came to spend three weeks with us. It's so nice to have her here! We've enjoyed hanging out at home watching all of the bird families in the backyard, as well as having some adventures elswhere.

We had Mother's Day plans of church and picnic and downtown arts festival, but Rosie and Ethan got sick last Friday while we were at a birthday party. Saturday Rose was feeling better, but still running a fever. Ethan took a more off and on approach to feeling better. We decided to stay home Sunday morning. We had donuts for breakfast, then hung out and ate lunch at home too. But by the afternoon, we decided to try a short trip to a nearby lake - it was such a beautiful day, it was hard to resist. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Bella couldn't get enough of the geese, and the children enjoyed wading too. I enjoyed taking pictures of them enjoying it. :^) Then we stopped for ice cream, which proved to be a bit too much for Ethan, but he was still glad we went.

shrimp cocktail, veggies and dip, crackers and cheese

chocolate chip cookie crust, cheesecake, chocolate cream pie filling,

and whipped topping

wiggling those pigtails with her shadow

Rosie's baptism

Sorry about the sound. It was at an open air service for our rather large church, and I was in front of the speakers. There were fifteen baptisms last Sunday. The song is Chris Tomlin's "Jesus, Messiah".

As I went through the baptism booklet in preparation for her baptism, I asked Rosie when she first believed. She said, "When I was three...no, when I was one." That pretty much sums it up for her. Some children believe from a very young age. We've never focused on a single defining event with our kids. We focus on their hearts and whether they believe right now, and if their life reflects that truth. Some children will have a very defined moment of salvation, others will not remember ever not believing. Rosie knows that she was born a sinner and every sin deserves the wrath and curse of God. She also knows that Jesus died for sinners and that His blood washes sin away. And she believes this with all her heart.

Oh, and a funny for you. Near the end of Rose's baptism booklet my mom asked Rose, "And what is sin"? To which Rose replied, "Sin is the bad things that you don't want to do because if you do them, you get a spanking!"

Ministering with young children

I think what I would like to work on is ministering within the home. Being okay with everything not being perfect and balancing that with having a home that is welcoming. Then having people come in that might be forgotten. My mother says, "Charity starts at home." It needs to start at helping our parents care for our grandparents, and visiting and honoring great-grandparents. Then looking after elderly members of the family that do not have direct descendants (or don't have any actively assisting them.)

Our focus during this season of life should be on how to minister to the people around us rather than trying so hard to go out to minister. It is difficult to get out with little children! This can be done occasionally, but time and resources would be better spent learning to minister from within the home, then this can become more of an outward movement as the children get older. It's taken me a while to get this. I had the best daydreams of weekly trips to the nursing home, and for some people that might be what they are led to do, but I think we need to focus on what we can do from here for the most part.

It's about being able and willing to set aside my schedule and convenience to help other people, but not forgetting that happy babies in a household hoping to remain somewhat peaceful can't regularly miss their naps! Balance. I want to be flexible, but also intentional. I'd like to start putting ministry or visiting appointments in my calendar. It might not always happen, I might have to reschedule, but at least it will stay on my radar and not get lost in the busyness of life.

Some practical ideas:

1. Throwing a tea party or simply baking a birthday cake for an elderly neighbor or relative. We quickly baked a cake and decorated the table for an impromptu birthday tea for an elderly relative and she could not stop talking about it. It is a huge thing to them, and really pretty simple for you to do.
2. Taking in the laundry from someone who is sick.
3. Putting together a sick baskets of soup and cookies and a book and delivering it to someone that is sick. You would be amazed at how big a deal this is to people! Have soup stock and ingredients on hand for this. Keep a small stash of inexpensive gift items and perfect condition books from the thrift store on hand.
4. Picking up an inexpensive bunch of flowers at the grocery store and delivering them on the way home.
5. Working together to raise money or deciding what to do without in order to sponsor a missionary or child in a foreign country. We were talking this morning about a lemonade stand since a water park is opening just down the street from us this summer.
6. Having a yard sale or bake sale to raise money for a missionary ministering in the area of a crisis (such as the earthquake in Haiti).
7. Inviting neighborhood children into your family activities and sharing your home and the gospel.
8. Doing Christmas boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

Some of these are things I've done and some are things I'd like to do, or do more of, in the future.

I hate sin!

The sweet mockingbird mama, Magdalena, is calling and searching for her lost ones this morning. She fearlessly fought off and saw the attack, and yet she boldly and desperately searches for them still today.

Makes me hate cats.

Makes me hate sin even more.

One more curse from Adam's fateful choice.

Romans 15

16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it,in hope

21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons,the redemption of our body.

24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

1 Corinthians 15

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

27 For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet."

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

My baby birds

April 3 -

Facebook status: Just found a birds nest, Mockingbird, I think, in the jasmine vine by my front door - four blue eggs! :^)

Facebook status: Named Mama bird "Magdalena" in honor of Easter and Mary Magdalene. Her offspring, when they hatch will be named Lily, Cadbury, Susan (this is from Rose because she just found out yesterday that Susan means lily), and Peep. Bonus - We get to sing "Magdalena Cagdelena".

I went out and bought a hanging bird bath and suet feeder for the front porch.

April 16 -

Brian first sees the new little baby birds. Only two. We thought there were three eggs after a few more counts. Not sure what happened.

April 26 -

I can finally see them now. They are growing so much and have lots of feathers.

April 27 -

They make such a racket! I got to see Magdelena feeding them.

Facebook status: I sometimes think that my kids are running me ragged, asking for different things at once. But sitting here, listening to the baby birds in the nest outside my front door chirping their loud demands to their poor overworked mother, I'm thinking I have it easy. At least they're only babies for a few weeks. Hang in there, Magdalena!

April 28 -

Facebook status: I heard a racket outside my door and a wicked cat had one of my poor little birds in his mouth. If I see another cat on my property, I'm going to kill it.

My heart is broken.

I woke Brian to check the nest and see if there was anything we could do.
Both my babies are gone.




KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS!!

Credit where credit is due

Like my new header? I won it in a contest from Sashwhy's Studio a looong time ago. Like nearly two years ago. But thanks to my having an ftp blog, I couldn't use the updated and customizable blogger templates that she created it for. So it's been sitting on my computer unused - until now.

So go check out Sashwhy's designs. I'm thinking I might need more than a header...

Kiddisms (copied from this month's Facebook statuses to be preserved for posterity)

Rose has decided that we should just eat blueberries, broccoli, and panacakes for every meal. (Not necessarily all at the same time.) Then after being happily surprised to find a dinner that included all things that she liked, she said that she forgot to add meatballs, and wice, and cawwots to the list. (See Gramma, she does eat more than just peanut butter and jelly!)

Me: Rosie, you're crazy.
Rose: No, I'm not! I'm good and beautiful.

Anna, Rose, and I were playing memory. Rose won with five, Anna had three, and I had two. They proceeded to declare pace standings.
Anna: Yeah, you're first, I'm second, and Mommy's third.
Rose: No, you're first loser.

Anna: "My eye, matey. That's how pirates say, 'me too'."

Problem Solved!

Yippee! After weeks of limbo, my blog migration issues are over and my pictures are back - woohoo! I've missed blogging, but didn't want to invest a lot of time here when I didn't know what was going on. Now I'm excited that I might actually be able to work with my template and upgrade my look soon - stay tuned.

Best Baby Toy from Recycled Household Stuff

Don't you love that title?

Sorry, I've been absent lately, but if you've looked around the blog lately, you can see we're having issues here. Blogger was going to stop supporting ftps, so we treid to migrate the blog, but after it finished - the images and pictures suddenly dissappeared! Still trying to recover those. So, while I've been desperate to blog, I hated to input energy into something that is in a state of disarray, especially since I have no idea what will need to be done to resolve the issue.

But I wanted to share this baby toy idea since this is the day to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. :^) I think I started it for Ethan, and all of my babies have loved it. It's probably Bella's favorite toy.

Our favorite Chinese place has these great take-out containers for their soup in quart and pint sizes. I save them all - they stack and the lids fit either - plus you can see the contents. But, if your Chinese place isn't that awesome a quart size yogurt container or other similarly sized container will do. Cut a slit about 1/4 - 1/2 inch wide on the lid.

Save your frozen juice lids - they don't have sharp edges (but check yours to be sure) and they make a delightful clink as they drop in on top of each other. We've also had a few of those flat plastic balloon weights from time to time. You only need a few to start the fun - I've been saving them for a while.

I think that Bella has been able to do this since about 9 months. And now - I've found a way to extend the life of the toy. Bella loves the foam stickers that I get the kids from the Dollar Tree. We had basic colored flower and butterfly stickers left over from Easter. I put them on the indented side of juice can lids in pairs. She tried to peel them off, but couldn't. I don't think that they would be a serious choking hazard even if she did since they're not stiff without the backing - you decide for yourself. But since I put the stickers on in pairs, the lids can now be used for color sorting, matching, and memory games. Rose and I played three rounds of Memory in a row and she was delighted with them too.

So there you have it!

And for another idea, I also made a square block dropper by cutting a square in the lid of a thin diaper wipes container and using the classic wooden blocks.

Have fun!

Anna Kate's Seventh Birthday Letter

Anna,

Sleeping Beauty. I've never seen anyone sleep as well as you do. Rose will have already had second breakfast, Ethan finished another level of his favorite DS game, but you will still be sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the world around you. If they ever give medals for sleeping, you will take the gold. But it must be beauty sleep because you are definitely a beautiful girl.

But once you get going, you are up a tree. You can climb so well. The other day, you shot to the top of the magnolia tree and were announcing to the world that you could see the backyard. You even said you could see "tomorrow." You may not don costumes as much as you used to, but you still have a great imagination.
And you are determined to milk the tooth fairy for all she's worth. All you need is the slightest wiggle and you do all you can to get that loose tooth out, so you can cash it in for charms. I remember the satisfaction of pulling my own teeth, but you delight in it.

You are quite the artist, too. You think outside the box. Sometimes mommy thinks you think outside the project, or outside the normal color spectrum. But you are being very creative. I've seen you do amazing things with colors, putting colors together that others wouldn't have. That doesn't mean they are wrong together. You're being creative in ways others have not been creative. And someone has to go first. Well, I'm glad you enjoy exploring color. And I think you'll find your harmony soon.

You still love to dance. And many nights you want to put on a show. But you're also a tomboy. You enjoy climbing trees and rough housing with Ethan and William. Sometimes it gets too rough for you, but sometimes you get too rough for them. So it all evens out. What will the world do with this beautiful dancing tomboy?

Sometimes you ask me difficult questions. You are always probing, wanting to learn. Maybe you just want to see if we really have an answer for you. But I'm glad that you ask. I want you to learn and I'm glad you have questions. Keep asking questions. I'll keep looking for the answers for you. We'll learn together.

You may not always quote along with everyone else when we are memorizing something. And you do need to keep up with us. We want your participation. But you also delight in rattling off the books of the Bible. Once you've memorized something, it is yours, and you cherish it. You like showing us what you know. So, do your best. Learn more. Share with us what you know. We like to hear it as much as you like to say it. Just say it at the right time.

Know that we love you very much. And we are so glad you are our daughter. I think of you often while I am at work, and I wonder what you will one day be. I even imagine the conversations we'll have together someday. I hope you always see us as a safe place to be - the place where you are always welcome and loved, accepted and appreciated.

You sure do love Jordan. If we've been away from home, the first thing you want to do when you get home is run through the gate and see if Jordan can play. I'm glad you have a friend so nearby. But you have a strong sense of justice and fair play when William is over. You must come inside every minute to report if the boys are not treating the girls the right way. Just don't take it into your own hands.

You're eager for Bible study. I can tell that you enjoy the stories and you enjoy learning. You especially enjoy being able to tell us what happened in the last lesson. Sometimes your questions are difficult or just catch me off guard. But I am glad you ask. And I want to make sure I am always teaching you what the Bible says and not just what I think. So keep the questions coming.

I don't think you'll ever seek approval by being nice. No, that's not your way. You have your own moral compass and you do follow it. Sometimes you might act out, because you think someone is being unfair. Well, it is my job to keep your moral compass pointed in the right direction. I'd rather you have a good moral compass and follow it, than just be nice for the sake of being nice. Sometimes I have to remind mommy that you are taking three steps forward for every two you take back. But I don't know. I think you might be taking a step forward everytime, you're just following your own compass. I'll have to do better in keeping it working properly - keep the north pointing toward "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, any excellence, anything worthy of praise" (Philippians 4:8).

Those were special days this year when you and I sat together in church and took Communion together. I think those were the happiest moments for me. And I could see that you understood Communion and you were enjoying it, too.

I love you, Anna Kate. Be patient with us.

Love, Daddy

My 34th birthday

my Publix birthday cake - I love Publix's cakes!
everyone getting a turn to blow out the candle

It was a beautiful day! I was able to take the three older kids to a children's theatre production, then we rambled around the university, eating ice cream and taking more pictures. Later we had dinner at the Dickie's Barbecue (because kids eat free in March and I hate spending money, even on my birthday, lol).

The next day was my birthday dinner at Brian's parents. His dad and mom made the boxes to replace some old canvas bins that hold our large amount of library books under the coffee table.