Happy New Year!!!

My you have a wonderful 2011!

Keep in the Word,

Ladies Christmas Tea and Cookie Exchange 12/11/10

On December 11th I hosted a Ladies Tea and Cookie Exchange for the ladies at church.
There were about 30 something in attendance. It was a fun time of fellowship, crazy hats, both touching and funny stories, delicious cookies and tasty food. Here are some pictures...

Ladies Christmas Tea and Cookie Exchange 12/11/10

Good Morning Girls!

Good Morning!
This morning is the start of my Good Morning Girls Group. I came across the idea at http://www.womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/
great blog by the way :)

Makes me acountable for my quiet time with God and is a way to connect with other sisters in Christ.

This morning was also the start of me trying to get up earlier. I usually have my quiet time after my husband leaves at 7:30 but by getting up 6:00- 6:30 ( it was closer to 6:30 :0 ) I have my time with God, time with my husband and then can start on my daily to do's maybe even get them all done before my little boy wakes up. Please pray I can stick to this time. I am not a morning person. Love being awake so early but my body hates it!

God Bless, Have a great day :)

Banana Bread Surprise!

My little boy loves banana bread. He could eat it all day long! So this morning before he woke I made him 8 mini loaves for this week. He was so happy when I handed him a slice for breakfast. I love being a Mom <3

secrets to a happy home life

What are some of the secrets of happy home life?

The answer might be given in one word—Christ.

Christ at the marriage-altar;

Christ on the bridal journey;

Christ when the new home is set up;

Christ when the baby is born;

Christ when a child dies;

Christ in the pinching times;

Christ in the days of plenty;

Christ in the nursery, in the kitchen, in the parlor;

Christ in the toil and in the rest;

Christ along all the years;

Christ when the wedded pair walk toward the sunset gates;

Christ in the sad hour when farewells are spoken,

and one goes on before and the other stays, bearing the unshared grief.

Christ is the secret of happy home life.

-JR Miller, Secrets of Happy Home Life, 1894

fun day of learning

Baby Home Schooling

Since my son turned a year old I have been homeschooling him. Your probably thinking... " is she crazy? he is a baby!" well, I am not. haha Of course I know he is too young for math, reading, writing all of that, but during baby schooling I am teaching him numbers, shapes, colors, to listen ( as best an 18 month old can) where his tummy is and feet. This time also gives us amazing bonding time, just him and I.
Today we stacked blocks, colored a Christmas picture, learned numbers, and because its Christmas week had a surprise.... bubbles! Mickey bubbles! he loved it!

Goals

Last night I couldn't sleep so I found a pen and some paper and decided to write my loving husband a letter to let him know how much a love him. While doing this I realized I should be doing things like this more to let him know how much he is appreciated. Long story kind of short, I made a list of goals I want to accomplish daily. Here they are:

1. Stick to a devotion time as a family. Some days it will be Logan and I in the morning having devotions, sometimes nightly as a family, sometimes just prayertime. I would love to have it be together as a family, with prayer, songs and bible reading.

2. Get up earlier to have more time to read my Bible.

3. Stick to my " 6 things to do list" and dont get stressed out if I don't accomplish more than those in a day.

4. Exercise atleast 1/2 hr. every day.

5. Drink LOTS of water every day no excuses! ( it gets very dry here and its starting to show in my skin.)

6. Take my vitamins daily.

7.Bless husband daily. Whether it be a letter of appreciation, his favorite meal, a back rub, a lending ear...

8.Speak softer and kinder.

10.Stick to a routine as much as possible.

11. Logan baby schooling every morning.

I know I will fail some days but I pray I will be able to follow this as much as possible

Loving our Husbands

This was written by a lady over at " a wise woman builds her home "



What things are drawing your heart away from loving your husband?

I mean REALLY loving your husband?
We can be so distracted by the meaningless. Thinking that these things matter but they really don't.
I was created to be my husband's helpmeet, but I need to constantly examine how I am doing in this area.
I need to look at my life through his eyes to see how I am doing.

I want to live a quiet life.

A simple life

and be busy with my hands.

And be busy with that which pleases the Lord.

I want to use my hands to build a home.
I want younger women to know that we can do many good things, many meaningful things--but we must do the FIRST things that God has called us to and that is to be a helpmeet and to love respect our husbands. It is so easy to get off track, myself included. The homeschooling, the children, the house, the list can be endless while our husbands quietly take a back seat out of love for us.

I want to bring him good and not harm all the days of his life.

Lord, help me to do just that

Mud Pie!

The name brings me back to my childhood, playing out in the yard with my younger brothers making mud pies aka dirt pies...fun times.

This pie on the other hand contains no dirt, only delicious ingredients all edible and will make you want to eat the entire pie yourself. It's true, this pie has the power to make one selfish and ones hip large. Just so you know.

3/4 cups of crushed Nilla wafers
1/2 up pecans
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Combine and flatten into a pie dish, bake 10 mins ( 375) ,cool

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cup whipped topping ADD GENTLY

Combine pour on top cool pie crust

Mix
1 3/4 cup cold milk
1 large pkg. chocolate instant pudding mix

Spoon onto cheese mixture

top with more whipped cream and a few pecans. WOW!

Sunday School Tree...finished!

Pionner Woman Cinnamon Rolls!!!!!!!

For Thanksgiving I made the Pioneer Womans cinnamon rolls. Boy oh boy those things were good! Good but fattening, but let's focus on the good shall we.

• 1 quart Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
• _____
• MAPLE FROSTING:
• 1 bag Powdered Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
• ½ cups Milk
• ¼ cups Melted Butter
• ¼ cups Brewed Coffee
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Note: My rolls don’t work for me at 400 degrees anymore. I now bake them at 375 degrees.

Teaching Children to Listen

I came across this on a website I often visit and thought I would share.

EAR TRAINERS

Part 1

"The ear that hears the reproof of life abides among the wise. He that refuses instruction despises his own soul: but he that hears reproof gets understanding"
(Proverbs 15:31-32).

What is the first thing we should teach our children? When I ask women this question at seminars they give me lots of very good answers, but usually not the one I am looking for. What is my answer? I believe that the first thing we teach our children is how to listen.

If children do not learn how to hear, they will not learn to obey. If they do not learn to listen, they will not learn to hear the voice of God speaking to them. If they do not learn the art of listening, they will not learn to acquire knowledge. If they do not learn how to hear, they will not come to faith, because "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). How you train your children to hear will determine their relationship with God!

It is possible to hear but not really hear. That's why Jesus constantly said, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear." We have to learn to listen with our ears but this takes training. All parents are ear trainers. By the way we parent; we train our children to have obedient ears-or, disobedient ears, lazy ears, dull ears, defiant ears, resistant ears, gullible ears or even forgetful ears. What kind of ears are you training your children to have? When you ask them to do something but they take no notice of you, you are training them to have defiant ears. When you ask them to do something but they delay doing it, they have dull ears. When you ask them to do something, but they don't bother doing it until you have asked for the sixth time and by now you are shouting, you are telling them that they do not have to obey until the sixth time! You are producing lazy ears. What will God have to do to get their attention?

What kind of ears does God want our children to have?

SHAMA EARS

When God told Solomon that he could ask God for anything he liked, Solomon responded by asking for "an understanding heart" (1 Kings 3: 9). The margin in my Bible gives "hearing" for "understanding." The Hebrew word is shama and means, "to hear with attention and obedience, to give undivided listening attention." This is what Solomon wanted more than anything else, more than riches and fame-a hearing heart. May God give us wisdom to teach our children how to have hearing hearts.

The word shama is synonymous with obedience. Proverbs 25:12 says, "As an ear ring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reprover to an obedient (shama) ear."

Proverbs 1:5 says, "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning." There is no way we can teach our children to be wise without teaching them to hear with undivided attention.

QASHAV EARS

When King Saul disobeyed the word of the Lord, the prophet Samuel came to him and said, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken (qashav) than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

The word qashav describes acute hearing. It means "to prick up the ears, sharpening them like an alert animal." Children with qashav ears will be ready for God to use as soldiers in His army.

TACHUS EARS

James 1:19 says, "Let every man be swift (tachus) to hear." This Greek word means, "prompt or ready." Most Bibles translate it as "quick to hear." It describes instant obedience. True hearing results in immediate action. I used to say to my children, "Delayed obedience is disobedience."

How do we teach our children this kind of hearing? As soon as they can understand a command, we teach them to obey that command. But before they can obey, we must make sure that they have heard us. Sometimes, you may have to get your little child to repeat your command to make sure they have heard you. Don't yell commands from another room. Always give commands eye to eye and face to face so that you know your children have heard what you ask them to do. When you know that they have heard, teach them how to obey straight away. Don't accept anything less. This takes time and effort, but remember, mother, you are an ear trainer! This is one of your most important tasks as a parent!

May God help us to be parents who train prompt and obedient hearers.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Oh God, please forgive me for not diligently training the ears of my children. Please help me to train children who have obedient ears. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am a diligent ear trainer!

Salisbury Steak recipe finally!

Patties:

2 slices of soft white bread, cubed, crusts removed
1/4 up finely chopped onion
1 egg
1 tbsp. onion soup mix
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 lbs. lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 tbsp. olive oil

add all but meat and oil in a large mixing bowl; mix well. add beef; mix well. shape into six oval shaped patties. about 1/4 inches thick. add oil to skillet. place patties in skillet and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or just until brown.
place in baking dish.
preheat oven to 350.
for the sauce I use a can of mushroom gravy ( NOT cream of mushroom) poured it over the patties and cooked until no longer pink.

* next time I want to use more gravy