Sweet Potato Biscuits

This is one of my favorite flavor combinations. I've been searching for a while for a good sweet potato biscuit recipe. I have found it! 

One of my favorite places for sweet potato biscuits closed a few years ago. It was an old family run business. I did a random search online for their recipe and surprise surprise, they had published it in the newspaper years ago (people used to do things like that a long time ago). 

I found it on Pinterest, where I don't have an account. So, I took a screenshot and zoomed in on the photo to read the recipe. 

I cut the sugar down by half a cup and cut the butter in half, but they still taste pretty spot on. The recipe made 36. 

We are eating them with ham tonight!! Ham was on sale for $0.77/lb. you can't beat that price for meat. I am proud of myself. I sliced and trimmed the whole ham today. Hams have a way of sitting in my refrigerator and not being used up because it seems so daunting to slice pieces off. But that is all finished now! I have a container of nice slices of ham and the bone is boiling on the stove. Hopefully, I will have time to turn the broth into some baked cheesy grits.   

The baby loves them. He's had three. Martin isn't quite sure what he thinks. 

Devotions

For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotions than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotions, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hands. 

C.S. Lewis

House divided

I am a huge UNC fan!! They are normally really great at basketball and okay at football. Speaking of which, this year in basketball was such an amazing year. I didn't expect them to win the ACC championship and I thought for sure they would be the first #1 seed eliminated. They proved me wrong and it was such a fun year to watch. 

Jared is a huge Georgia fan. They normally stink at basketball, but are great at football. 

Our teams rarely play each other in either sport, which means we can cheer for the other person's favorite team. However, this year, for the first time in 45 years, they will play in football. It is the first game of the season. I've polled the members of our household and our votes are in:

I am way outnumbered! 

That is really a lot of red...

Voting day!

We walked to go vote today. The lady at the polling place gave both boys stickers. Warren cried. 

"Why I have a voting sticker and I no vote?" - Martin

Then we came home and ate lunch on the picnic table and played in the yard.  This baby is going to be trouble when he grows a bit bigger. 

Martin doesn't try to escape. He's happy playing with a stick and a ball. 

Baseball game

Martin went to his first baseball game this past Monday. Jared took him while I stayed home with the baby. The baby went to bed and I read my new book! 

He has been talking and talking about it ever since. He even got his own baseball, which we had to explain doesn't happen every time. :)  

The rest of the week we spent sick with colds, an abscess tooth (the same one as in October - which now they think needs to be removed - happy for a final answer and hopefully the end of five years of trouble), and a stomach bug. Ugh. I am ready for some weeks of being healthy. 

Maybe I'll have more to say when my energy returns. 

New book! So excited!

I actually received a box of 21 new books today. 16 of them are presents. That leave 5 for me to read!! 

The baby is in bed and the other two are at a baseball game. Time for some good, quiet, uninterrupted reading time!! 

We do a lot of this.

This is the boys (and my) favorite book. It is Richard Scary's The Best Word Book Ever. 

It has the greatest pictures for asking questions and explaining things. Once the boys have hit around 18 months they start recognizing things inside and outside the book that are the same (ie. That's a chair in the book and right across the room is a chair). They have both enjoyed it before that age, but it is even more fun when they are interacting with the pictures. I remember loving this book at a child. I am glad that I still do and that my boys love it too. I can't say enough good things about it. 

Note: I don't know if there is an updated version. We have the 1963 version. I love it. I wouldn't want to see an updated version. Who wants to look at pictures of people staring at a tv or computer or phone? Boring. I like the old fashion playground and tools. Most everything else is up-to-date. 

One of my favorite things...

I doesn't happen much, but combine a bit of a cold, playing outside, and a late night and it is the perfect recipe for this. I just love him and I wish he'd stop growing up. 

I've been battling this awful chest cold this week. It has completely worn me out. Yesterday, I told the kids, "I am just going to lie on the couch while you play. I am so tired."

He said, "Mom, if you are tired, you should go sleep in your room. We can play out here while you sleep." 

This has nothing to do with either of the above two paragraphs other than it is about Martin. Jared says I should stop answering his why questions in so much detail because it makes him ask even more questions.  I don't care. I want my kids to explore and ask questions and learn so much more than I know about the world and everything God has created!!! 

Bookworms

It was really quiet in my house today while I was getting dressed. I found them reading in their room. 

We love Richard Scary word books in our house. I think these are the Greatest Eord Book Ever and the Best Storybook Ever.  I don't like some of the newer stuff, but I love the old stories and pictures (I think these are copyrighted in the 1950s or 60s). My parents bought Martin this six foot long Richard Scary board game that is pretty awesome too. 

Pyrex Love

Has anyone seen these new retro bowls at Target?!? I am a sucker for all things Pyrex in antique stores. I want to buy them all. Thankful, I have a small kitchen and can't. But seriously, I love all these patterns. The stripes are probably my least favorite, but I'd take them. 

Someday, maybe I'll need these. :) and more polish pottery too... 

Not Friday, but my craft post

It would be so much easier if the app had a way to schedule posts ahead of time, but since it doesn't and I did something crafty today, you get a craft post today. 

Our church has a silent auction and coffee house each year to raise money for various things, usually youth related. I had this table runner almost made for about four or five years.  I've never really liked it. The back is just some squares pieced together. 

So, I threw in some binding and still didn't like it that much... It needed something to go along with it. My sister-in-law makes little felt ornaments and sells them on etsy (which is another failing of the app that I can't add a link). I thought I would make a little stuffed ornament to go along with it. 

I was inspired by the fact that I woke up this morning and there was snow on the ground, in April. What?!? It was a pretty surprise, but what?!? It was 65 degrees yesterday. 

And here is the back modeled by Martin. He really wanted to help out. 

Here is the web address for my sister-in-law's shop(if you look under reviews you will see examples of her Christmas ornaments. She is much more creative than I am. Jared's whole family is a bunch of creative geniuses. That is why he wraps the Christmas presents in our house. I'd just use newspaper):

https://www.etsy.com/shop/linnearuth?ref=listing-shop2-all-items-count#items

Chicken update and Brain Attics

I forgot to take a picture today while it was daylight. However, I wanted to mention how entertaining these chickens are. I go out to change their water or give them more food and I end up watching them run around for 5-10 minutes. They are also becoming more friendly and will perch on your hand if they are in the right mood. After three weeks, I am still a big fan. :) 

Also, the coop has a door made. All the other supplies have been purchased and some cut. Jared worked all day in the rain on it for me. This can count as my Christmas and birthday gift for several years. 

And lastly, a Random Sherlock Holmes quote that my sister and I were discussing and I just wanted an excuse to include it in a post. I find it somewhat useful when considering which facts to remember and which not to bother thinking about: 

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that this little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it, there comes a time when for any addition of knowledge, you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones. 

A Study in Scarlet

Haircuts and Grace

The more you practice sitting still, the easier it is. Tonight is the first night I didn't have to hold the baby's head while Jared trimmed around his ears. He's growing up. Now if we can teach him to sit still during Bible story time (he is improving) and church (not so good)...  Practice makes perfect though. We will keep working with him. 

One of the hardest things in parenting is recognizing when your kids are old enough to be able to handle a certain task and actually taking the time to train them. Left to their own kids will always take the easier route because they are sinners like us and we like ease and comfort. We want to be in control of what feels good to use at the moment. Parenting takes effort. It is hard work to train up a child and to teach them self control. So many days you feel like you are fighting the same battle over and over and over again. As an adult I often want to do what is easy - let my kids do what they want, but I know that won't be good for them in the long run (even though it seems fun now). It is a blessing to see the fruit of your work in small things, such as sitting still for a hair cut and listening to almost all the Bible story quietly.

Press on. Your labors aren't in vain. God uses broken people for His glory. I am so glad He is in control because I so often fall short of being a good parent, wife, friend, etc. He is always gracious. I am so glad. 

Simple game

I have been waiting for Easter clearance since last year, when I missed it, to make this game. Two packs of eggs cost me $0.89. I owned the Sharpie already. 

First, Martin lined the big ones up. 

And then he found the matches.  I tried to make similar letters on different colors. 

He finishes them all, but he takes a lot of breaks in between letters to roll around the floor and sing the alphabet song again or sit in my lap. 

And sometimes he does this and laughs. 

I wish the colors were not as similar. I should have bought a pack of pinks and traded them out for some of the blues. But otherwise, it works as well as I had hoped. 

And this is probably my Friday post, but if I wait until Friday I will probably forget. So, I am just posting today. :) 

These chickens...

Half fluff and half feathers is a bad look for anyone. I can't believe they grow so fast. Today is their two week birthday. 

They try to hide from me behind their waterer. 

Look, I got a group shot. 

Grow, chickens! Grow!

In only a week they have almost doubled in size. They are also starting to get ugly feathers that are popping out of their fuzz. 

I spend most of my time cleaning out the wood shavings from their waterer and feed dish. Silly birds. They love to practice scratching. I can't wait until they eat bugs in my backyard! 

They have started practicing flying and they jump on the waterer quite often. Sometimes two of them jump up and push each other around.  

And they eat all the time, which I guess is why they are growing so much. We bought them a 50lb bag of feed today.  It is supposed to last until they are almost ready to lay eggs...in another 18 weeks. :) 

It has been such beautiful weather this week. I spent the afternoon edging some of the flower beds and trees, after I replaced the wheelbarrow's wheel, which I broke on Thursday trying to clean out some of the flowerbeds. 

And I've been trying to finish a Charles Dickens book, Martin Cuzzlewitt. I finally finished last night! That makes my 12th book of the year. I need to update my book list. 

So, those are my excuses for not having a post up yesterday. 

Chickens

Look who is here! 

Spring forward

I have a question today. If you wake up in the middle of the night, do you look at the clock? 

I do not. It stresses me out knowing what time it is, how long it was since I was last awake, and how long I have until I have to wake up. 

Jared, I find out this morning, is stressed out by not knowing what time it is when he wakes up. He likes to know if he has 5 minutes, 30 minutes, or several hours of sleep left. 

So, which camp do you fall into? Do you avoid the clock or look for it? 

Friday post

The boys had colds and fevers again. I've been doing a lot of this and reading books. So, maybe I'll have a real post next week. 

The chickens are coming!!

I went around the front to pick up the mail and when I came back I found this. It was a gorgeous day to spend outside and burn extra energy. 

He probably worried about being replaced by our latest additions. We are finally getting chickens. I am so excited!  We (Jared) is working on building the coop this weekend and next. He has some extra time since they just live in a plastic tub for the first few weeks. I can't wait to for my first eggs ... In about 20-30 weeks...