Mmmmmmm.

Definitely in the running for my birthday cake! 

So good. 

Test Run of Birthday Cake

I made two cakes this weekend for a shower for my friends that are adopting five children. It seemed like a good time to test run this cake. 

It has been cold

We've been doing a lot of this to keep from going crazy. 

Notice that my candlesticks have taken a beating from crazy antics inside. 

We are excited that the weather is finally warming up! Yay!!

Does It Look Like Us?

Bha ha ha ha. 

We went to Jared's company dinner last weekend. Honestly, I would have rather gone out and eaten a good burger and taken a walk in the park. :). But it is fun to get dressed up and get drawn as a cartoon. I never realized my nose stuck off my face so far... 

2018 - Book 12

Continuing on the trend of books that teach me about something I don't know much about and are from a different perspective than mine... 

This is my book of the year so far! The writing is suburb. I couldn't tear myself away. I felt the author's agony as his world crumbled. His devotion, love for truth, and love of God put me to shame. 

It reminded me of Secret Thoughts of An Unlikely Convert in some ways.  Mainly, how to relate to and walk with someone over many years as you share the gospel with them. Change is slow. Relationships are crucial. 

The author spends the first half of the book explaining how Islam works, how it is studied, what books they read, how important culture is, etc. I found that whole section extremely helpful in just thinking about how other people think about life. The discussion about the Eastern vs. Western way of thinking about life was fascinating (and also helpful for dealing with ESL students).

When the author talks about coming to the end of himself and surrendering, I cried. When he talked about knowing what the decision would do to his parents and then explained how their relationship changed afterwards, I cried.  It left me wanting to know Jesus more and to love him more.  

Pages: 287

2018 Book 11

Pages 169

A fun little book with lots of examples.  

Another Abandoned Book

I read 9/13 chapters for a Bible study. I couldn't bring myself to finished the middle four chapters (we were assigned readings from the book, so they weren't in order). 

I found myself writing editorial notes in the margins of the last two chapters that I read. 

Things like:

"Wordy"

"Personal story distracts from point"

"Remove made-up example and let verse speak for itself"

"Confusing"

"Try saying this in one or two sentences instead of 15"

"How does these points flow? What is the point? Try arranging them in a different order."

On top of the poor writing the book is formatted horribly. There are different fonts, varying size fonts, and bold an underline words everywhere. It is extremely distracting and unpleasant to read. 

This book needed a good editor to give it some clarity and flow. It had some good points, but it hurt my eyes (and head) to try to get through to them. 

Also, as noted before, I don't like books written specifically for women. 

Hot Cross Buns

My icing was a bit thin. But they were still delicious. Recipe coming soon. 

Look how tall they are! 

Library Holds

When your socks match your library holds. 

Also, I am in love with my hardwood floor still. 

Newest book and some interesting stats

This book was recommended to me two weeks ago at our missions conference. Then this week at the Mercy Ministry Conference someone actually gave me a copy!! 

There are lots of other stats that I want to comment about. But this is all I will start with. I am going to look online and see if anyone has compiled a total refugees by state. 

2018 - Book 10

Pages: 224

I read this book in two days. It is one of my favorites of the year so far. 

I know this is dated material (printed in 1968), but I couldn't help imagining:

1. The same situation in other "closed" countries today 

2. How being a "closed" country affects the people in their country. When I read reports or articles about different news events in other countries I should take into account their biases. We all think a certain way because of the environment that we are raised and live in. 

3. How have we taken advantage of the boarders being opened?

4. How little I trust God and doubt his provision and fail to seek his face. 

Books like this remind me of how big the church of Christ is and how much I still have to learn about faith. 

What We Ate

Monday:
Rosemary and Garlic Baked Chicken (kind of like this, but rub a paste of garlic and rosemary under the skin before you cook it)
Stuffing
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans

Tuesday:
Chicken Crockpot Mexican Dish
Cheese
Sour Cream
Guac

Wednesday:
Chicken Noodle Soup
Oatmeal Bread
Apples

Thursday:
Leftovers

Friday:
Apple and Raisin German Pork Stuffing
Salads

Saturday:
Lunch:
Leftovers

Dinner:
Butternut Squash Risotto
Cheese and Crackers

Sunday:
Cajun Beef Stew
Mashed Potatoes
Cream Puffs

Kitchen Mini Update

* We are going to paint the counters (a nice calm gray - instead of this yellowed white with gold specks) either next weekend or the weekend afterward.
* And we still need to paint one more coat on the laundry closet doors and trim.
* And we want to paint the refrigerator (maybe a canary yellow... thoughts?)

But it is coming along!  It was such a wonderful surprise to come home to this refreshed kitchen after a weekend away at our Women's Retreat. Thanks to my husband for this fun surprise.  It isn't often that 1) I am surprised and 2) I don't have a hand in house projects.

A few costs:

New lighting fixture: free (we had bought it for the old house and never installed it)

Lights over counter: free (hand-me-downs)

Chairs and table: $70 on Craigslist + free paint and poly that I had on hand

Paint for cupboards: $30 + extra paint leftover from other rooms to prime

Paint for handles: free - already had black spray paint

Before - realtor photo (cats - bleh)

After - ignore the scattered toys :) 

Before

Yes, those are the same drawers. Jared painted them purple and they look some much better. 

This summer I cut the counter off and painted the fireplace room. 

It is going to look even better once the counters are painted. The paint is waiting in the garage. 

Before - look how little everyone is (and how dark it is - bleh)

After

Before - the day we signed the papers

After 

Photos from the Kids

The boys asked to take a photo of me while they were playing in the yard. 

The first two are by Martin. 

The last is by Warbs. 

This is one of my favorite Christmas presents. My in-laws bought me a rocking chair. I have wanted one since we moved in. I used to sit in one of those tiny chairs (that you see to the left of me) when I watched the boys play in the yard. 

Memes was sick in these photos and wanted to rock with me. But he wanted to sit on the edge of the chair and lean back. It was more comfortable then these photos make it out to be. 

I love his face in this one. 

By the time Warbs got his turn to take a photo Memes had had enough sitting still.

2018 - Book 9

This book was okay. Not great. Way too repetitive. The profanity in it got tiring. 

The interesting thing was hearing a first hand experience of how the poor is trapped in a cycle that is hard to break out of. For example: how the author had no idea how to apply for college loans or what foods were healthy or how to budget money well. 

I found it helpful in thinking about things from another persons perspective. I used to wonder why all the kids in my old neighborhood didn't obey traffic laws when they rode their bikes. Then it hit me one day, I bet they didn't have a parent that took the time to teach them. Some times the answers to questions about another persons behavior aren't clear unless you have lived through the same events. Books like this help me think about things differently. And they make me grateful for the family I have been blessed with. 

I mainly finished it because it was an easy read. 

I leave you with one statistic:

Children who come from a working-class family in American face a level of instability unseen elsewhere in the world. In France the number of children that will live with more then three maternal partners is 0.5%. The second highest country is Sweeden at 2.6%. In America it is 8.2%. The percentage is higher in working-class and poor homes. 

Researchers have proven that a child's brain will rewire itself to deal with stress and instability. This rewiring is permeant and causes a "flight or fight" feeling even into adulthood. These children also have no model of what a healthy relationship looks like. 

Who will teach them? 

Pouring money into a broken system doesn't work. As the author acknowledges, too many people know how to game the systems that are in place. 

How do we help? 

What can we do?

Again, I feel rather helpless. I know that it will take time and relationships, getting down in the trenches, walking through life with people, being burned, giving up things, doing hard things, and loving like Christ. 

Pages: 370

What We Ate

Monday:
Leftover Lasagna (from Church dinner)
Rolls
Salad

Tuesday:
Chicken Enchilladas
Cheese
Sour Cream
Guac

Wednesday:
Pan-Grilled Burgers
Baked Beans
Apples

Thursday:
We used our Chick-fil-a calendar cards and got our free nuggets and bought a large fry to share.
Grapes and Strawberries
Salads

Friday:
Sour Cream Chicken
Rice
Green Beans

Saturday:
Lunch:
Pancakes
Sausage
Eggs

Dinner:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Christmas Chili

Christmas Chili

Christmas Chili

~This is one of our favorite winter meals. All of the boys like it (even baby Memes - he picks up the bowl and tries to drink the leftovers). 

~We serve it over rice with cheese, sour cream, and chips. I usually make it one day ahead and reheat it the next day.  The flavors are better after then meld. 

~Sometimes I will freeze half of the chili (before I add the beans). Then it is a quick meal for later (take out of freezer, put in slow cooker, add two cans of beans). 

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs ground beef or turkey or pork (brown/drain/rinse)

2 medium onions, finely chopped

5-6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 15oz can of tomato sauce + 2 cups water

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

10 peppercorns ground

8 whole allspice (1/8 tsp)

8 whole cloves ground (1/8 tsp)

1 large bay leaf

1-1/2 tsp of salt

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (decrease this if you want less spicy)

1 tsp of ground cumin

1/2 oz of unsweetened chocolate grated

3-4 cans Black beans

1. Brown meat with onions. Drain meat and rinse. 

2. Grind the whole spices (if you don't have a mortar and pestle, put them in a baggie and use a hammer or crush them up with the edge of your knife and chop with blade - this is what I do)

3. Return meat to pan. Mix all the spices and garlic into the meat and allow them to bloom. About 30-90 sec. Until you can smell them. 

4. Dump the meat and spice into the slow cooker. 

5. Add in chocolate, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, water, and bay leaf. 

6. Cook in a crockpot on low 4-6 hours. 

7. Refrigerate overnight and then reheat. Add the black beans when you reheat. We start with 3 cans and add more if you need to feed more people. 

8. Eat over rice. We like brown. 

Here is how I made brown rice really fast (22 minutes). 

Jolly James, Firemen, books, and a birthday (in photos)

He is mostly always this jolly. 

They ran off and came back like this, dressed as Fire Fighters.

We made another trip to the library. 

Pops was the only one in town to come to celebrate Martin's birthday. 

They say Memes looks like him. 

Jared does the wrapping in our house. Pffft.
We also only buy Christmas wrapping paper.