More House Pics...

Some things were so rotten that they just caved in! Thankfully no one was hurt in the process.

Ahhh...new construction...my dreams of rescuing and restoring were replaced by dreams of new construction as the old place became impossible to salvage beyond a certain point. But look, there are some original boards there on the floor...and some in the walls...if you look very, very closely you may find them!

Home sweet home...beginning to take shape...

Always plenty of little helpers...

Our House Project

The house we bought, one year ago. We bought it for the property. One beautiful acre surrounded by trees and close enough to town to walk into town. We had plans to restore the house as much as possible and later building a new place.

But, there was so much dryrot, that we were not able to save much. We saved what we could and ripped out the rest. More pictures to come...

Ya Hala and Meriwether's

The kids and I enjoyed some time in the City of Roses. Even though the activities were very kid-centered, I was determined to eat some good food (ie NOT McDonald's) while we were there.

Before leaving I did a little research in order to find some good, kid-friendly restaurants. I had 3 places earmarked. We made it to only 1 of the places and to 1 other spot that was recommended, but not on my list, but we did manage to avoid McDonald's.

The night we arrived, we ate at Meriwether's. Now, Meriwether's was not on my list. It sounded wonderful, but spendier than I had planned. My plans went out the window when we finally checked in to our place and were tired after a day of travel and such. Meriwether's was located within walking distance and we were hungry. Plus my research stated that it was kid-friendly. Well, I would say it is kid-friendly for older kids or maybe one younger child. I happened to have 3 under 6. Lets just say it was a stretch, but the food was excellent and we made it.

We ate outdoors and it was cozy-gorgeous (ie small and intimate garden setting). Except for the local flora and fauna growing, the outdoor experience somewhat reminded me of the outdoor dining in Hawaii. The evening was warm and rainy, it just felt like an outdoor dinner in Kauai. That is a good feeling.

No one else had kids there. Come to think of it, no one there looked like they had kids! But, they must serve kids because they had a kid's menu. And the kids meal was the best I have seen. The price was excellent on the kid's meals. My boys split a PB&J sandwich meal. The sandwich was large, certainly enough for my two. And each received a bowl of delicious locally grown berries.

C and I started with an appetizer of Chickpea Fritters with cucumber, mint and yogurt. It was good and the best part was seeing the pickiest eater in the family, B, eat these! He loved them. So when we came home I went directly to the store for some hummus, thinking that he would dig this since it is made of chickpeas, not so. Oh, well.

I had ribs, along with corn on the cob with a wonderful herbal butter. It was good as well. My mom had chicken which arrived with the leg and wing all attached, like it could limp or attempt to fly off the plate. That always creeps me out a little, but it tasted very good.

Okay, the BEST part of the meal was dessert. We chose two and split them up. We had cheesecake with a marionberry sauce. Marionberry is my absolute favorite berry! The cheesecake was certainly much better than the average cheesecake. But it was surpassed by the absolutely amazing Mexican chocolate lava cake that came topped with fresh whipped cream, sprinkled with little chocolate chips and a side of decaf (the waitress emphasized that it was decaf) espresso ice cream. Holy smokes! It was so delicious! The waitress mentioned that the cake had added cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper (hence being dubbed "Mexican chocolate"). I can hardly wait to try to recreate this at home!

The other place we ate at was Ya Hala (Lebanese for "Welcome"). It was simply incredible. The prices were excellent, the food even better. It was SO GOOD! The kids all loved it! Once again we ate outside. There were only three tables outside. There was plenty of room inside, but I noticed a couple waiting specifically for an outside table. If possible, I suggest eating outside. The restaurant is located on a semi-busy street, so we enjoyed the feelings, sounds and such of the city while we ate. The view is not great, but the experience felt so "city" and fun. This place was all about relaxing with good food and good conversation.

The staff was friendly and helpful in making suggestions when asked. When the owner (?) came out to water plants, he was incredibly kind and polite. This place made me feel welcome and like I wanted to come back. Even the other customers were friendly and nice. It just all added to a very welcoming place. So, it does live up to its' name.

The boys split a cheese pizza. Cheese pizza may sound boring, but this was anything but boring. Whatever cheese they use was super tasty. I had a chicken pita sandwich. Even A exclaimed, "that chicken tastes really good," when he had a bite. It did taste good. The pita bread was like no other pita I had tasted before.

One fun thing about the menu is that it had calazone, salads, pizza and such. The foods were familiar, but with wonderfully unique ethnic flavors. And as a bonus, there was a market attached to the restaurant. I love natural food stores, ethnic markets and such, so this was a huge plus to me. I picked up some sesame candies, Greek olives (the jar had a fun shape) and a box of Turkish Delight. I fully intend to reread the section about Edmund in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and eat some with the kids. Ours is not magical, so it may not be as tasty, but since it is not magical, it will be better for us.=)

A Grateful Citizen

My husband, being in the military, is gone on occasion for training and such. Recently he was traveling, by plane, with a group of about 15 other soldiers. A woman, in her 50’s, expressed appreciation and thanks to the soldiers on the plane. Then, after exiting the plane she walked up to my husband and said, “I hope this does not make you feel uncomfortable, but I want you to take this and buy the guys each a hot dog and a beer. I really appreciate your service.” And she slipped him a $100. The group was surprised and encouraged by this kindness.

To the appreciative woman who encouraged my husband and his buddies~

Thank you. Not just for the money you gave, but for truly appreciating your freedom. Thank you for being bold and humble enough to say “thank you” to some soldiers about to go through some very grueling training. Such a small act of kindness is a huge boost. It is one more thing to keep those soldiers pushing that extra step when they feel like they can’t take it any more. And thank you for being an example to my children. Thank you for blessing them through the story that I can tell them about your kindness as I tuck them into bed tonight. Thank you for giving them one more reason to be so thankful to have a daddy that serves his country, even though it means we miss him sometimes. Thank you also for reminding me to do the kind deed and say the kind word. We can be thankful in our hearts, but to take that thankfulness and turn it into action is so powerful.

~The wife of a soldier.

Blackberries

We are sitting on a great money-making opportunity! I was in a grocery store recently and saw blackberries for $2.50 for .6oz. Holy smokes, $2.50! We have been eradicating those nasty vines from our back yard! We have tons of them! Maybe we should just let our yard go, harvest the berries (easier said than done, with those prickly vines) and sell them. The maintenance is easy, just do nothing and they will come, grow and thrive. The birds will reseed for us (through their poo as they eat the berries and pass the seeds for those who haven’t take biology in awhile or for those non-country folk). Of course the yard would look atrocious (wow! I spelled that correctly the first try) and be completely unusable…but $2.50 for .6 oz…*grin*

Farmer's Market Fruit Crisp

6 cups fruit (for this crisp, pie cherries, raspberries and marionberries were used. A variety of fruit can be used; this recipe is also great with apples. If fruits are combined take into account different cooking times-for example apples need to cook longer than berries. Apples can be combined with berries but I suggest precooking the apples slightly so that all is done baking at the same time.)
1 1/2 cup oats (suggested regular, not quick, oats)
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour (suggested 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cream

Wash and prepare fruit (ie pit the cherries) and place in a baking dish. In a separate bowl mix the oats, sugar, flour and spices. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Pour oat mixture over berries and gently mix a little bit with fingers. Most of the oat mixture will stay on top, but mix a little bit into the berries. Then pour the cream evenly over the top of that.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream flavored with vanilla.

Serves: Well, that depends on how much people eat=), but this crisp made about 10 servings for us.

Farmer's Market Bounty

Go to your local farmer's market or Saturday market! Just look at this yummy food! And you should taste the difference! All locally grown, all fresh, mostly grown without chemicals or pesticides. The carrots actually have the tops on them and a little dirt and sometimes a bug or two=). For some reason that green top attached to the carrots thrills my boys, they love eating carrots that way!
What I made: pasta with fresh veggies and an Alfredo sauce-yum! Baby food for l. For her I did up some potatoes, carrots and zucchini and froze it for her. She loves it, it is so healthy and and so cheap!

To make the Farmer's Market Baby Food Blend (from this week anyway) I steamed (in the microwave), but you could boil or bake, the carrots, zucchini and potatoes, separately until tender. Let cool. Then run through the blender adding liquid (water or broth) as needed. Then stir to mix well and let cool thoroughly in the fridge. After it is cold, freeze it. I freeze mine in gallon freezer bags. I put enough in there to create a fairly thin layer, so the desired amount can easily be broken off for use.

Tea Party!

Listen To What I Mean, Not What I Say

“Do not run with food in your mouse!”

Uh, that would be MOUTH, not mouse.

Ask and you shall receive

It amazes me, sometimes, how my children can act nasty and then within minutes ask me for something. Something, like a treat or other favor, something undeserved, yet desired. They ask without shame and with complete confidence that, I, their mother, want to give them a good thing.

And it does not cease to amaze me that my heart longs to give them a good thing, even after they have acted nasty. Depending on the circumstances, sometimes I am able to bless them with the good thing they request, other times the truly good thing is to withhold the requested favor or item.

As I experience that desire within myself to give good gifts to my children, I am reminded of Matthew 7:7-11, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

I also think of The Parable of the Prodigal Son, in Luke 15:11-31. How pained the father must have been when his son left to live such a foolish life. Yet, his love shines as he embraces his humbled son when he returns home.

The feeling of love I have toward my children in the times mentioned above must be a small, tiny reflection of the vastly superior love God has for us. It is times like this when I am so in awe of the depth of God’s love. When I consider that the greatest offence of my child against me is nothing compared to the hugeness of my “smallest” offence against God. And yet He makes provision for forgiveness, grace and mercy through the sacrificial death of His son Jesus Christ. If that had been all, Dayenu! But that is not all! He goes on to lovingly bless us with good gifts that we don’t deserve.

Some Words From Tim Keller

Carole recently mentioned Tim Keller to me. I have enjoyed reading some of his writings on-line and was pleasantly surprised to see his name mentioned in the front of The Jesus Storybook Bible. It is funny how I had never heard of him and now have found his name mentioned in multiple places.

The quote and prayer below have blessed me this week and I wanted to share them.

"The Bible's purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible's purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome... religion is 'if you obey, then you will be accepted'. But the Gospel is, 'if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey'. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference."
~Tim Keller

"Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and receive you as Savior. Amen."
~Tim Keller

Last night M took The Jesus Storybook Bible in to read to the boys as they were going to bed. A looked at the book and said, "Dad, did you know that God LOVES me?"

The Jesus Storybook Bible

We are enjoying The Jesus Storybook Bible. Everything about it is delightful, from the artwork to the grace-filled stories. If you would like a good story Bible that mentions the saving sacrifice of Christ in every story, then this is the one! We have been blessed as we read the stories and are regularly reminded of God's amazing love. It is a great book to stock up on and have on hand for gifts, from birthdays to baby showers.

Lavender Lemonade and Lavender Cookies

After visiting the lavender farm a couple of weeks ago, I have been inspired to try cooking with lavender. At the farm they offered lavender lemonade. I searched google for recipes and they seemed easy enough, so I made some of that.
Here is the recipe that I used. It is based on several that I read and adjusted to suit my liking.
Take 1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar and put it into a sauce pan with 1 1/2 cups water. Heat until the sugar dissolves, making a syrup.

Heat up 1-1 1/2 cups water to boiling and then steep about a tablespoon or so of lavender flowers. Let steep for about 5-10 minutes, like a tea. See the picture here, one of my little containers opened and some flowers escaped. I strained it into the lemonade when I was ready for that.

Take 1 1/2 cups of fresh squeezed or ReaLemon juice and add it to 9-10 cups of water in a juice pitcher.

Then mix in the syrup and steeped lavender tea.

Refrigerate until chilled or pour into ice filled glasses and drink right away.

Next we made lavender tea cookies using this recipe. The only adjustment I made to this recipe is to omit the lemon extract because I did not have any on hand. The cookies turned out well, but the lemon flavor would have been a great addition.


This site has a recipe for lavender whipped cream. That sounds so yummy to me.

Note: When cooking with lavender, buy lavender that is grown for culinary uses or buy organic lavender. That way your recipe does not contain harmful sprays that may have been sprayed on lavender intended to be used for decorative purposes.

Family Lullaby

My kitty my kitty
My little grey kitty
I have hunted the house all round
I looked in the cradle and under the table
But nowhere was kitty to be found
So I took my hook and I went to the brook to see if my kitty was there
And I found my kitty had drowned
Then I gave up in despair.

My great-Grandma used to sing this to her children, then my grandma used to sing it to her children and my mom sang it to me. I broke the tradition for two reasons: my singing voice is not pretty and this is morbid! Some families have sweet lullabies that have been passed on and we have one about a drown kitty! Honestly where did this come from? So, out of a desire to maintain tradition to some degree, my mom sings it to my children. I found this out because the other day my three year old walked out of his bedroom singing it! I asked him where he heard that.
He replied, “Nana sings it to me.”
I didn’t need to ask, I already knew she had sung it to him.
I asked, “what happens to the kitty?”
“He drowneded.” He replied quiet matter to factly. Obviously this was not traumatic to him, just how the song goes.
And it is how life goes, kitties die sometimes, but I still resist singing about it!

A Reason to Buy Local or A Reason to SPEAK UP!

A couple of weeks ago I stopped by the local mart store to buy some milk and an avocado. I noticed, as I usually do, all the bikini-clad girls on cardboard cutouts set up around the store. After I made my purchase, I asked if the manager was available. Now, let me pause here. I don’t share this to toot my own horn, I almost didn’t write it because I didn’t want it to come across that way, but I decided to share this because it is so nice to see positive change and to feel ones voice is heard.

I calmly shared with the manager that I like to buy local, when possible and that I want to shop at his store, but I do not appreciate those cardboard cutouts. When confronted with those, it causes me to be more likely to just take my kids to Cost-Co where I don’t have to deal with that. I don’t like my preteen daughter to be bombarded any more than this culture already does, with this type of female body image. And I don’t like for my young sons to be bombarded by this type of image. This mart sells quite a bit of beer along with great dairy products from a local dairy. I explained that it is doubtful that they will sell less beer just because the cardboard girls are gone.

The manager listened to my case in a respectful way and shared that he is just sent those and that they are not his preference either. Now, I left the store appreciating that he listened to me, but wondering if anything would come of it.

Well, last week my husband ran into that store to grab a few last minute items for our BBQ. As I sat in the van with the kids, I noticed that the cardboard girls were not visible. After M came back to the van I asked him if he had any of them set up, and he replied, “probably, they always do.” I sent him back in to see if there were any in the store, he gave me a “why are you asking this of me” look, but ran back in real quickly, came back and replied, “no, there weren’t any.”

That was so cool to me! In a small, locally owned store, change like that can be implemented quickly and it was. My voice, for whatever reason, was heard. That blessed me and makes me want to take my business there more and more often.

A couple of points:
· One voice, spoken in a calm, respectful, affirming way can make a difference.
· Sometimes a customer “complaint” helps a manager to make changes he or she is already open to making. I think of the young girls who work in that store and were confronted by those images throughout their entire shift. Having those removed makes a better environment for them.
· It is easy to complain about all the negative images and messages our culture contains and the impact of those things on society. So often we are limited in making changes. We can’t go out and tear down inappropriate billboards and things like that, but we can get rid of TV or just turn it off, we can monitor the magazines and internet content that enter our home. Focus on the changes that can be made.

One Year Ago, in Oklahoma

The sign says, "NO glass containers and NO profanity." I just thought it was funny.

A Miracle in the Cheerio Box!

Well, maybe it is not a miracle, but this Cheerio with the heart-shaped center is pretty cool. C found this and we all were quite impressed.

Happy 4th of July!

July 4th! What I hope to do...

July 4th is one of my absolute favorite holidays. It is just a fun day and it honors our great nation. There are no presents to buy, no trees to set up, decorations are completely optional. All of that stuff is great fun, but it is nice to have a holiday where that is not required or expected. With July 4th, you just show up and all is good.

Basically we wake up in the morning and go to a local parade where they throw lots and lots of candy, then we eat at the local gut-bomb restaurant. I only eat there on July 4th, unless some other occasion requires it and thankfully, it usually does not. Then we come home and get ready for our annual BBQ with M’s college buddies. After stuffing ourselves, good conversation, and relaxing, we go to the local park and enjoy and wonderful home-town fireworks display. It is a good day. Lord willing, tomorrow will follow in this tradition.

An additional tradition…cinnamon rolls in the morning. That reminds me I need to whip those up tonight!

Ahhh...Saturday...

At the lavender farm...

painting her bookshelf...

working on our remodel...

getting dirty...

Ahhh...Saturday...afternoon...

getting clean, step 1...

getting clean, step 2...

helping brother into the water...

l's first time at the river...