Church at Home & A Secret Mission

~*~

We are going to have church at home today because we've got a 

top secret mission with our kids that we have to arrive early for!

It's not often we miss a church service but when we do, 

we always try to have "church at home" and now that they are a bit older,

they enjoy a little more of a challenge now and then.

Today we are going to focus on the 

"Beatitudes" found in Matthew 5:3-10

and to get their brain working while eating their cinnamon bread toast,

I have several websites in my favorites that I go to for lesson aides

that I print out.  Today I chose this fun half crossword / half word search.  

We'll read the verses aloud from our bible so they'll have the answers to locate it in

the word search.  Then we'll spend some time talking about the life application part of it.

Then we'll be off to our Secret Mission surprise!

Here's a hint...

Permission to come aboard... Sir!

~*~

Reflection

~*~

What Matters Most Is How You See Yourself

I saw this the other day in a restroom and I thought

how appropriate for it to be in there...

a women's restroom...

where often the reflection we see is not confidence

but rather... insecurity.

Today I'm going to be a LION!!!

~*~



Re-connected

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Ahhh, I'm finally reconnected with the new computer,

gotten all the bugs and kinks worked out and can even print something again. ha ha

I'm soooo ready to re-connect with my blog and friends 

while enjoying some Afternoon Tea again!

Let's go!

~*~

Happy 4th of July

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Happy 4th of July!

Remember our Freedom wasn't Free!

I'm especially enjoying this holiday weekend because it's allowed us to buy our new computer at discount holiday prices and the extra time to set it up.  You don't realize how much you rely on one until it's not available... thank goodness for Smartphones during that down time!  ha ha

I look forward to posting and visiting my blog friends again soon!

~*~



Coffee lurve

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I recently discovered these ...

I lurve them... 

Sigh...

Baileys Coffee Creamers (non-alcoholic)  

My favorite flavor is the original Irish Cream

~*~

One for the Queue

~*~

We recently watched a great movie called

"The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry"

and really enjoyed it!  Great cast and story line 

of a wise old christian man who teaches Biblical truths to three

boys during the summer of 1970.

I highly recommend this for the entire family, add it to your queue!

~*~

Harnessing a Memory

~*~

This past week my daughter and I spent a week up in the Redwood forest

to complete the final credits for her Science class called

Outdoor Education.  Although not required, the experience 

is better than a textbook in the classroom.

I went along as a "Counselor",

however this title is cleverly disguised under the multiple headings of

Parent/Guardian, Discipliner, Harnesser, Hiker Aide, Zip Line Aide, 

Naturalist Aide, Camp Song Aide, Kitchen Police, Trash Bag Poncho maker, etc, etc, etc.

I didn't get to take many pictures because my 
camera battery died soon after we arrived

and I was busy, busy, busy with the kids. I averaged 1-hour of 
free time for myself each day while the kids were in the 
care of the Camp.  


The kids had "class" 3 times a day and on our first day it was only a few hours

after we arrived and immediately I could see this was more than I bargained for.

"Class" consisted of many challenge themes designed to take the kids

out of their comfort zones and push themselves to conquer fears

and learn how to work together to solve multiple initiatives as the "leaders"

and "followers" emerged in the team exercises.

As parents, we helped the Facilitators with each class and we naturally stepped into
female and male roles when it came to specific duties.

What I didn't see coming was that I quickly took on the 
role of getting all the children harnessed up for 

all the Zip Lines and Repelling we did each day.  The guides gave me the instructions and

away they went up into the trees leaving me with the huge responsibility

of knowing that I was the one to get them geared up safely.  
But before each child was released they always checked my worked.

And I didn't even break a nail all week and I've got some LONG nails! (smile)

My favorite part of the week was actually on our way home
when we stopped to walk beneath the natural moss 
paths under Redwood tree canopies. It was very beautiful!
Our guide was very knowledgeable about the region and the kids were
very attentive to everything she had to share. The kids were very excited 
to walk beneath a tree that had previously fallen and it's bark
was slowly stripping off.


I had stayed toward the back of the group, slowly walking 
and taking in the beautiful views.  Then suddenly, out of the corner of my eye
I saw my daughter skipping along the pathway.
I thought, "Wow, when was the last time you saw a child skip?"
How simple and child-like to freely play among classmates, 
not caring what anyone thought, lost in her own enjoyment!


At that moment, we harnessed a memory!

Would I do it again... hmmmm... my first response is No,

but I've got another child in the wings who'll be going to

Outdoor Education in a few years and I might get called back 

for Harness duty! ha ha

~*~

What did I get myself into?

~*~

When God looks in my direction,

change is on the way.

He proves my strength behind the scenes

before putting me on display.

On display to be the clutzy-gal that I am at 

Outdoor Education with my girl.

Knowing that I am not

pioneer woman, I whined...

"Why did I volunteer?"

My friend replied...

"To make a memory with you daughter...

and I'm sure within 10 minutes you'll already

have something to blog about."

You're probably right! ha ha

~*~

I'm Popular... with the little people

~*~

We went to our local Armed Forces Day event 

and while walking through the different vendor booths

I spotted this electric bubble blower!

I instantly thought of a commercial...

Cost of dinner & treats at event: $33.50

Cost of roundtrip gas for event: $15.00

Cost of bubble blower: $6.00

Suddenly being the most popular 

person to everybody under age 5:

P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S

~*~

Spring Tea 2011 and a special Blog Guest

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This year I hosted a table at my Women's Ministry

Spring Tea event.  Because the event was the day after the Royal Wedding, 

I chose it as my theme... 

"A Royal-Tea Table"

And it also won 2nd place! Yea!

Here are some pictures of my table as it was being created.

This one is my favorite because below the picture is the Crown

Butter Knife my beautiful friend Jenifer gave to me!

The pink and white jewels add that special touch

My sister lent me her beautiful Lady Carlisle china!

And here it was just moments before the door opened for the guests!

 And here are some of the other table themes on display...

Bloom Where You're Planted

Sweet Treats

Coca-Cola Polar Bears

Fun In The Sun

Birds of  Feather Flock Together

Simple Elegance

Tip Toe Through The Tulips

Here was the first place winner...

Simply Spring

And here was the third place winner...

Beatitudes in Ivy

Here are the stage decorations for our spring inspired event...

This is Sue and I...

Sue and her husband pastor our church and I am always in amazement in

wondering where do they hang up their wings at night?  Ha Ha

We co-lead our Women's Bible studies together

and she's just a beautiful woman, inside and out.

I could go on and on and on and on about her but she would tell me to stop,

so in obedience I will... ha ha

And here are some of my friends who sat at my table!

Pat and I, 

Pat has been coming to our church for a year now 

and we met after she joined my book club last summer,

she always makes me laugh with her humor 

and my Man loves her candy making abilities!  

Just beautiful and loves the Lord!

She blesses me with her prayers and her gift of service.

 Lesley and I,

Lesley and I met when she and her Man joined the same 

small group and us for our all church bible study last fall.  

Leslie is a gifted manager /administrator in the work world

and in her free time, she excels at making gift baskets!  

Oh my stars, you should have seen what she and Pat put together

to bless me at the tea.  I am SO SPOILED!! 

And finally I've saved the BEST for last...

I had a special BLOG guest at my table...

Mrs. Jean from In The Garden With Miss Jean

And let me tell you that she is even MORE BEAUTIFUL in person

than what you see of her on her blog!

I was so excited to finally meet her!  Kind of like having a controlled fan-attack 

when you see a celebrity walking down the street!  ha ha  

Her personality is just like what exudes from her blog,

genuine warmth and grace!  And Jean KNOWS her blog friends, 

and by that I mean she gave me the most beautiful cross shaped tea strainer!

It's a beautiful piece of craftsman ship that I will treasure every time I use it.

Here we are making a memory... 

the celebrity star that Jean is and the fan that I am of her!

Thank you again Jean for making the long drive 

to be a special guest at my table this year!

She brought her lovely friend Nikki too 

but unfortunately I didn't get a picture taken with her... bummer!
UPDATE:  Miss Jean got a pic of Nikki and I with her camera!  Yea! 
You can view her lovely post here.

See you next year for tea!

~*~

My Prince Tea and Diana Ring

~*~

Wow, has your life been as busy as mine lately?  

I've missed my friends here in blog-land!  

But tonight I'm ready to settle in and pull an all-nighter with my sister as we watch the Royal Wedding!

Will you being watching?

~*~

A really big show!

~*~

Tonight we went to my children's school Talent show! 

I just lurve seeing the excitement of the kids and the anxiety of the parents! ha ha

My favorite act was the Hawaiian dancer...

So much energy and her hips were like a M-A-C-H-I-N-E!

I was exhausted just watching that darling gal...

Youth is wasted on the young! ha ha

~*~

3 Weeks...

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In preparation for Easter my family is going to participate along 

side our church in a corporate Fast until Easter.  We've got 

2 huge prayer requests that we are seeking answers for. 

(not to be confused with the Catholic Lent period)

My Man and I have decided to do the Daniel Fast,

while our children will eat normally but will give up their after dinner treats.

The Daniel Fast is a biblically based partial fast...

essentially for the next 3 weeks we will be eating only

whole grains, fruits, vegetables and water.

There are no restrictions on amounts, just the food groups.  

For example, I bought some natural peanut butter because

regular peanut butter is loaded with sugar. 

That's right - no sweeteners, no meat, no dairy, no animal bi-products, no coffee, etc.

So what's for breakfast?

Puffed Sea Salt Rice Cake with natural Peanut Butter and Banana slices.

~We are going to closely follow the guidelines as best as 

we can with ingredients that are available to us and modify when necessary~

So in preparation for my grocery trip yesterday, I sat down with my cookbooks 

and thought about some menu ideas and was inspired by one of my 

favorite animated food movies!

Of course after this scene you HAVE to try cheese and strawberries together.

Oh come on, you know you already like Strawberry Cheesecake! ha ha

The inspiration for dinner this week is the movie itself...

Ratatouille!

 A French side dish of vegetables 

(tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions, 

carrots, and other spices are simmered in a tomato based sauce) that is perfect

for our food guidelines and I figured if a Rat could do, 

so could I...

... but ours won't have eggplant because the store hasn't 

had it in stock for months due to weather freezing the crops.

~*~

Lesson learned from the Farmers Wife's

~*~

Today I was going through my collection of cook books 

and while reading through 2 specific books I noticed a big difference.

One was an Amish collection and the recipes feed A LOT.

I'm talking pot luck serving to feed a crowd but that's not surprising 

as they tend to have large families to work their farms, etc.

The other was from the Farmers Wife collection (1893 - 1939) which feeds A LITTLE

... as in 4 people... maybe 6 at the most.

What struck me the most interesting was that in the Farmers Wife cookbook,

they cooked much the same as the Amish people did with wood stoves and not much space for refrigeration except a true ice box.  My Mom grew up in a log house with a wood stove and I lurve to look at the old photos and see their garden planted in the background.

The Amish spend a great deal of time working their farms 

throughout the day and burning off those calories!

In the 1930's... people simply ate smaller portions because food was being rationed.

They could still have meat but would have the choice of lesser grades of meat (chuck instead of sirloin).  They also ate a lot of soup but that's not surprising when you look at old photos of soup lines.

And of course my favorite.... they ate bread!  Bread is like manna from heaven!

I pondered that for awhile as I searched for Scalloped Potatoes with Ham 

recipe.  I could either make enough for dinner tonight 

or enough to last us through several meals this week.

Hmmm.... lessoned learned!

Smaller portions mean less calories and less weight gain.

Think about it... 2 pieces of bacon, an egg, a piece of toast 

probably have less calories and sugar than a bowl of cereal (ie... corn syrup)!

I lurve retro photographs and gravitate to a lot of them 

with the Wife in the kitchen cooking something on the stove...

Most people back then ate a large Sunday Dinner with left overs during the week stretched with rice or oatmeal.  Makes me think of Meatloaf and Chipped Beef on Toast with gravy! ha ha  

The other thing I noticed was ladies did more canning with their surplus fruit and vegetables because convenience food hadn't arrived yet.

 They also prepared a small dessert and it was eaten only a few times a week, if that!

Cake was popular (think pineapple upside down cake made in a skillet) 

and cookies went a long way too.

Fast forward to the year 2011... this ChaCha Momma works full time and needs a few leftovers during the week, so I opted for the Amish recipe that made more.   

It was a great time of reflection learning from history!

~*~