Joyful Notes

Don’t you wonder what God thinks when He looks down on us and our crazy mood swings and rantings and anger and frustration?  We are so fickle, aren’t we?  We allow ourselves to be tossed to and fro wherever our circumstances blow us.  We forget that God is good ALL the time.  We forget that His mercies are new every morning! 

I have spent several days this week in frustration and discouragement, having little pity parties and despairing that anything will EVER turn out good for our family, thinking that LIFE IS NOT FAIR!  Then…the mercy and goodness of God tap me on the shoulder again today in many different forms, and I wonder now why I continue to fret and worry and complain and weep. 

God, help me when times are hard to lean on you and to remember that you love me and have a plan for my life.  Help me remember that you ALWAYS do what is best for me, and that I must let you direct my paths.  Help me remember that even though people and circumstances try to make my life and the lives of those I love miserable, my joy comes from knowing that You never change and that You are always faithful, even when I am not.  And then, when things seem good, when life is flowing along smoothly, when I don’t have constant worries about money or family or friends or job… please help me to continue to NEED You, to DESIRE You, to THIRST after You!  Because I know that I can only be truly CONTENT when I am in the center of Your will and when I am enjoying a close and loving relationship with You.  Because I need you ALL the time…when life seems gentle AND when the waves of life are crashing around me. 

Thank you for Your faithfulness, for Your love, for Your provision, for Your unchangingness, for Your comfort, and for Your patience.  YOU ARE GOOD!

…that I win my dream appliance, the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, at My Wooden Spoon.  Because I didn’t win the Cuisinart Food Prep.  I know that hundreds of people enter these contests, but I still hope that one day I’ll win something REALLY significant.  I mean, can you imagine what a difference the mixer would make in my life???  Can you imagine the breads and desserts and… I could make???  OHHHHH, the joy.  Anyway, there is a NEW GIVEAWAY up at My Wooden Spoon for a really nice gift set including a KitchenAid Foodmill, a cookbook, and dish towels.  Hop on over, and maybe ONE of us will win! 

We had great weather yesterday, and we went and spent some time at our pool for the first time!!!  It’s a nice one, and there are lots of chairs to sit in!  Abby had THE. BEST. TIME. swimming in the ICE. COLD. WATER.  Mom just sat on the side and enjoyed her book.  I forgot to take my camera, but we were so excited, we had to write about it!  I can’t wait for it to be summer and STAY that way for a while!

I love seeing my daughter light up when another child is able to play with her.  The poor thing was definitely NOT meant to be an only child, yet her parents have decided otherwise so far.  :-)  She makes friends anywhere at any time.  The other day while we were visiting with my mom, my stepsister came over with her little boy, and Abby was immediately thrilled to have a playmate in Lane.  They played on the swings and blew bubbles for a while, and at one point little Lane got mad at his mom for something and wouldn’t come outside to play with Abby, despite her pleas.  Abby kept saying, “Lane, please come play with me.  Please come outside.”  But to no avail.  So she pulled out all the stops: 

“I’m out here blowing bubbles of LONELINESS!”

I made a recipe tonight that I pulled out of my favorites file!  A wonderful lady from our church in Baltimore made these for us and was kind enough to give me the recipe!  Since I am looking for ways to stretch the budget but still make meals interesting, this is perfect!  You can make as few or as many as you want for a dinner side, for breakfast, or even for an after-school snack and the rest of the batter can be put in the refigerator for up to 3-4 weeks.  But don’t think it will last that long once your husband and kids try them! 

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS

1 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla

4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. cloves (ground)

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. allspice

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 lb. (16 oz.) applesauce

Cream first four ingredients.  Sift and add the rest of dry ingredients to above, then add applesauce.  Batter will be thick!  Fill greased muffin tins 1/2 to 3/4 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12 min.

Remember my new favorite blog, My Wooden Spoon, and her weekly giveaways I posted about yesterday?  Well, I went back tonight to see what amazing new recipes I could find, and I literally SQUEALED with excitement (that doesn’t happen often!) when I saw her newest giveaway!  My DREAM APPLIANCE!!!  I have wanted the KitchenAid Stand Mixer for a LOOOOOONG time!  You just have NOOOOO idea…  And here is my chance to win one instead of just dreaming about it.  As I said, since we are down to one income now I am making meals at home EVERY day, three times a day.  That’s a whole new ballgame for me, so I am trying to find recipes and techniques that will make it easier, and let me tell you…this mixer would be sooooooo wonderful!  So here’s hoping…and dreaming…

I just found a great new site called My Wooden Spoon…I can’t wait to read and explore around her site, because it looks great!  I love new ideas for cooking and baking!  (Check out this post for “mash potatoes with baked potato taste”! YUM!!!)  And she is beginning 3 months of weekly giveaways on her site, the first of which is a Cuisinart Food Prep Plus Processor!!!  VERY cool!  Since we are eating at home 3 times a day, 7 days a week now :-), I could find some fabulous uses for this appliance!  I wouldn’t even ask for a Mother’s Day gift if I won this!  LOL!  I’ll be putting a button in my sidebar for the giveaways, and I’ll be trying to highlight them each week!  In the meanwhile, I’m off to find some recipes I can make with MY NEW CUISINART! 

Abby has been looking forward for weeks to having her cousin Caity spend the night!  They had the best time together, playing and imagining and creating.  I loved hearing their giggles!  Here they are forming their creations:

After they baked & cooled, they painted them with beautiful colors!

Taking a break for lunch on the porch…

The finished products were fabulous!

Cousins are wonderful!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Aunt Jenny has gone WAYYYY outside her comfort zone to organize a craft for Abby & Caity’s sleepover.  On the one hand, it is heartwarming to see how much fun they are having, but on the other hand I think I have set a precident that I’m sure will now become a “staple”.  Abby has already asked if we could make clay when Courtney comes over so she won’t feel left out, and Caity quickly pointed out that we could do something “different”, so they could each have something special…UGH!  Okay, you crafties…I’m going to need some MAJOR help!

So as these two little pixies are painting away this morning on their homemade clay creations (made from flour, salt, and water), the following conversation takes place (I love the minds of seven-year-olds):

ABBY: Wow, this is the best sleepover EVER!

CAITY: Yeah, this is so much fun.  I can’t believe your mom let us make clay and paint it.  This house is way more fun than my house!”  (Yeah, we do these things every day…mmm hmmm, yes we do!)  “Your house is like a DREAM house, Abby.”

ABBY: Well, it’s not exactly a dream house, but it’s pretty nice.

Aaaaaaaand…SCENE! 

Thanks to all who prayed for my mom as she had her surgery!  She finally DID get in early Monday morning.  The surgeon came in to speak to her before the procedure and told her that as he was studying her pictures, it looked like the by-pass would happen, and that the surgery would be about 4 1/2 - 5 hours in duration.  We all waited anxiously, and we were surprised to be told less than 4 hours later that she was out of surgery!  The surgeon came out to tell us that it was a success and that he did NOT have to do the by-pass!  God is good!  We also had the “privilege” of seeing the plaque that had built up in her artery!  :-)  Mom had a rough first few days recovering in the hospital, enduring a lot of pain and discomfort, but she is now home and resting.  We are praying she will be up and around soon!

Abby had been having what we thought was bad allergies, but on Wednesday she could barely swallow her breakfast.  I peeked into her throat and discovered it was bright red and swollen, and the left side was covered in white.  Sure enough, she had strep throat…so we holed up here in the house for a few days and it seems that the antibiotics have worked their magic. 

Tonight, we were able to have Chloe and Caity over for the evening while Kevin & Christy took Courtney out for a special night.  Caity is staying overnight as well, and the girls had lots of fun playing together.  I even ventured outside my comfort zone to do something CRAFTY!  I know…now pick yourselves up off the floor.  I let them make clay out of flour, salt, and water and we baked it.  Tomorrow they can paint their creations.  I’ll have some pictures soon.  :-)  After a couple of snickerdoodles and milk and a few arguments about whether to leave the bedroom door open or closed, they fell sound asleep.  The funniest reason they gave for NOT going to sleep at first was that they were “worried” about what we would have for breakfast. 

That’s all for now…I’m going to BED!!!