busy!

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Shanda

Lots going on here, lots of plans and preparations; end of summer stuff.

I like being busy, it’s just that I’m so tired!

I can’t believe it’s August, 2011!

The children are growing so fast….sunshine and love does that, you know.

There is so much to be thankful for. Health, smiles, fresh air.

Here are some of God’s little creatures that make no fuss to be noticed.

But if you do happen to notice them, it’s a delight.

Did you ever see the amazing neon colors of the dragonfly? I used to think that God didn’t have a hand in creating NEON, but I’ve since learned (from the dragonfly and the shine on bubbles) that He most certainly did!

I like to see the flying things attracted to my gardens. Moths, butterflies, bees…….

Drops of rain on the flowers.

Discovering a new-to-me moth;

A pretty baby at dusk.

Blessings to you as you enjoy this new month!

this hymn

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Shanda

Jesus, lover of my soul,
   Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
   While the tempest still is high!
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
   Till the storm of life be past;
Safe into the haven guide,
   Oh, receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none,
   Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
   Still support and comfort me!
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
   All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
   With the shadow of Thy wing.

Wilt Thou not regard my call?
   Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—
   Lo! on Thee I cast my care:
Reach me out Thy gracious hand!
   While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand,
   Dying, and, behold, I live!

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
   More than all in Thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
   Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy name;
   I am all unrighteousness:
False and full of sin I am;
   Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
   Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound,
   Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art
   Freely let me take of Thee:
Spring Thou up within my heart,
   Rise to all eternity!

Charles Wesley

(You can listen here. I cried all the way through the video.)
Feeling so achingly thankful for a hiding place, a grace-full, merciful, healing, purifying, eternal, abundant, cheerful, living, safe, plenteous, strong, HIDING PLACE, in my Savior, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.

{two moments}

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Shanda

This week has been FULL of especially precious moments for me. I will share the two I actually got pictures of. Both of these were taken with my iphone.

This has been a busy week of VBS. One night, I was able to leave early with Seth and Sarah, and let Rich stay to bring the other children home. I was distracted all the way by a gorgeous sunset; it was so beautiful to me at the end of a busy day that I pulled into a parking lot to take a picture of it.

Imagine what the sky will look like when Jesus someday appears!

I had to take this next picture last night, for Rich. He is away on a business trip and I knew he would like to see the children around the dinner table.

Oh how we love eating together, laughing and talking over a good meal. It’s always chaotic, but I know that it will be missed terribly when the day arrives that they are grown and gone………

I would just love it if you would maybe *pretty please* share a special little moment from your week, for us all to read and smile over, in the comments section.

friday’s moments posts are inspire by soulemama

book cute

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Shanda

I sat in my room this morning, playing with Sarah. I looked at my bookcase and I remembered that when Grace was a baby, I sat her on a shelf in the midst of my books and took some pictures of her. I wanted to do something like that with Sarah, but she has gotten too big to put in a bookshelf.

So I stood her on a basket in front of the books and gave her some Beatrix Potters to hold in her arm.

I dressed her this way before I thought to take portraits. Life is too short to save the white dresses for a special occasion, especially if you are a baby who grows so very fast. This was Sarah’s Easter dress.

Seth observed all this and as soon as I took Sarah down, he hopped up and said, “My turn!” I couldn’t deny him. He’s a beautiful boy and was so happy to have a chance. As you can see, he wasn’t dressed for the day quite yet. Gotta love the belly and Thomas pj’s.

Books! I love reading………

I took David and Caleb to the library yesterday and we found some new delights:

Big Fat Hen, by Keith Baker; a counting book of the familiar rhyme, with gorgeous fancy hens illustrated throughout.

The Grannyman, by Judith Byron Schachner (of SkippyJonJones fame). She wrote a sweet story about an elderly cat, ready to die, until his family gives him a tiny kitten to care for. It’s just what he needed to be interested in life again. A tearjerker for old softies like me.

Seasons, by Blexbolex; a thick artsy book of simple words matched with a gorgeous illustration. For all ages.

Grace (11 years old) is busy reading every Newbery Award winner. Cool idea, huh?

As for myself, I am scared to continue The Book Thief. A few years back, I told myself I would never read another holocaust book because they gave me depression and gloomy feelings after I read them (the exception being The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom). Now, I didn’t know and still don’t know what exactly The Book Thief is all about. I chose it randomly at Barnes and Noble a week or so ago. I bought it, started it, and as soon as I realized it was set in that time period I put it down. Now I glare at it every time I walk by my nightstand. I want to read it, learn from it, love it, but my suspicion is holding me back. Have any of you read it? Is it disturbing? Or redemptive?

As always, I (and any comment readers) would love to hear about your family’s favorite books~

a fish tale

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Shanda

(I like to write stories now and then for the children. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to read it out loud to your youngsters!)

Yesterday, on a beautifully cool summer day, David (who is 8) and Caleb (who is 6) made their own fishing pole with a long stick, a long string, and a fish hook. They found a pale yellow slug and baited their hook with it. Then, they went to the pond to fish.

Before I knew it, they were walking briskly back, side by side, and smiling big.

“Mom! Mom!” David cried. “Caleb caught a fish! Come see it!” I laughed when they ran to meet me, with a big coffee mug brimming to the top with pond water.

I looked inside the mug and there it was swimming in a panic, ’round and ’round. “Isn’t it beautiful?” asked Caleb, proudly. I looked at Caleb, and then at the fish.

It was quite a small fish, and I could see why he thought it was beautiful. Fish are beautiful, if you stop to think about it. Especially if it’s the first one you ever caught.

“Can we keep it, Mom?” they both asked.

While I took care of the other children and forgot about the fish, the two busy brothers put the fish in an old pot, high up on a shelf in their bedroom. They named him Lego and took care of him all day.

They left their fish to help me make pickles (see previous post), and as soon as we were done they ran downstairs to their room. “Let’s go check on Lego!”

“He’s…….he’s GONE!” one little boy said, in awe and amazement.

I went downstairs to see what was the matter. The fish was back in the pot by the time I got there. “What was he doing?” I wanted to know.

“He was just lying right there on the floor, trying to breathe!” There was a wet spot. Lego was desperate to escape.

After that incident, I helped them find a taller fishtank. It was an old big ice cream tub from Schwan’s.

Want to see a picture of him under his lego lily-pad?

Even in the pouring rain that afternoon, David could be found under an umbrella, finding worms for Lego.

Lego was fed, talked to, and gently poked at.

Lego was given so much care that as we went to bed that night, we older ones wondered if he would live to see another day. The next morning, we looked in the plastic ice cream tub. Was he okay? Did he live to see another day?

He wasn’t moving at all. In fact, he was stiff. And, he was over on his side under the water! But, how did we know he wasn’t just sleeping? “Because his eyes were open.” Caleb said.

Well, just in case he really was just sleeping, Caleb and I walked outside and poured him back into the pond.

This afternoon, when I read this story to the boys, they ran outside to see if he was still where Caleb had left him and he wasn’t there!

I will leave you to decide whether or not Lego is alive.

And that is the end of the fish tale, which is where fish tails usually are. On the end.

sink, refrigerator pickles, & quotes

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Shanda

Good afternoon!

I said I would show a picture of Rich’s sink & faucet installation. He did a great job replacing our stainless steel double sink and cheap, leaky faucet. Thankfully, he was able to just put this sink down right where the old one used to be, with no trimming of the counter. He did have to re-arrange the plumbing underneath the sink. It was done neatly and just right. He had me look several times under there, to admire the straight pipes.

No more wrestling with my tall stock pots or juice pitchers. This faucet has a tall, beautifully curved neck.

I like the way we can pull the head down. There are also two different water sprays.

This picture gives an idea of the depth of the sink, for those familiar with the size of fiesta disc pitchers.

It’s deep, with a slight divider in between sinks. I have my Dawn dish soap in the dispenser.

Rich said, “It’s just too bad we don’t have any little babies to bathe in the sink anymore.”

It touched my heart, because I had thought the same exact thing in the store when we picked it out. But I didn’t say it out loud because I thought Rich would tease me/hoot/spank me/yell/hyperventilate.

Since we are already in the kitchen, lets make some refrigerator pickles with some of the garden bounty.

Recipe:

10 large cucumbers
4 sprigs of dill
6 cloves of garlic
6 cups of water
1 1/4 cup vinegar
1/3 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar

Wash and sterilize 4 (1 quart) jars. Boil water, vinegar, salt, and sugar and let cool. Cut cucumbers into quarters. Add 1 sprig of dill, and 1 1/2 cloves of garlic per jar. Pack jars with cucumbers, pour liquid over cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate at least 48 hours.

I had two little helpers who did everything themselves, with my guidance. I had reservations about letting them use the knife, but I taught them first, and stood right there with them the entire time. David was able to do it just fine, but I needed to do the first cut for Caleb so that he could lay the halves down. Then, he could carefully cut them each in half again without the cucumber rolling around.

The recipe comes from my family; my mom and aunts all use it. The pickles are delicious and will not last long. The hardest part of the process will be waiting until Wednesday before we can eat them.

Caleb just turned 6, and Davy will be 9 in September.

Some helpful thoughts:

“There is a hunger in our heart that is never satisfied, but by Jesus. Do you feel lonesome, hungry? Do you have problems you can’t solve? Do you feel chased and you don’t see a way out? Come to him.”

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

“….Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. It does not enable us to escape evil. It makes us unfit to face evil when it comes. It is the interest you pay on trouble before it comes.”

~(from a Corrie Ten Boom book that I am currently reading, see link)

Have a great day, xanga-bloggy neighbors!

~Shanda

late saturday afternoon

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Shanda

Hello! How are you today? We are good, and have had a busy but fun day so far. It began when we took the children to Crackerbarrel for breakfast, which was where Ethan took this picture of me and my little ones.

About my yellow shirt: Many years ago, when I was about 14 or so, I had a favorite *mustard colored* sweater that I always wore with a magenta skirt. (smiles) Consequently, when I saw this yellow shirt I had to have it, because it reminded me of that sweater. But, really, its those little faces in the photo, that get me. This is probably the best picture I have of Sarah and Seth, with their mama.

After a good hearty breakfast and two cups of coffee, Rich decided he would work on a house project and we better go to the Home Depot. Our kitchen faucet has been acting up. It was a flimsy metal one and was starting to leak. So we went to Home Depot to pick out a new one…and, as often happens, when you look at new faucets you come to realize that what you really need is a new faucet AND a new sink! Oh, yes. I have married a handyman for sure. He is out there finishing up his work, installing a new sink and new faucet. He has kept Jacob and Ethan with him the entire time, teaching them things. I will be sure to share a picture on Monday because it will take that long to clean up the mess.

I was in the H.D. store for the important decisions but then the children and I left and waited in the vehicle. We thought it wouldn’t take long but I guess I still haven’t learned about MEN in HOME DEPOT. By the time he got back we were quite silly.

I took this picture on our way home. We were at a stop light.

We had bacon at Crackerbarrel which prompted Jacob to inform us, “We haven’t had bacon at home in a long time!” Well, that’s because I personally don’t like the M E S S of frying bacon. I’ve been getting the bags of real bacon bits at Costco and just freshening them up in a pan to use in recipes and egg sandwiches. I told him I would “Tell Cook to add it to the shopping list.” Rich overheard and said he thought BLT sandwiches would be great for lunch and not the “limp spinach type lettuce you usually buy, I want CRISP!” Rich doesn’t normally voice opinions over things like lettuce so I agreed. Sometimes you have to chose crispness over nutritional content.

I went to the store while the little ones took naps and the big ones worked on the Big Sink Project.

I forgot to say that we bought our bacon and sour dough bread at Crackerbarrel.

I got a ball of iceberg lettuce and a big organic tomato at the grocery store. (Organic seems to taste so much better).

On the way home I stopped and got a dozen ears of fresh sweet corn.

We had our early supper and the corn was so good. So were the BLT’s. Rich said, as usual, we made a great combination. His idea was the sandwiches, mine was the corn. Perfect.

And um. Are the corn-cob holder things adorable, or what? My Aunt Mary gave them to me! This was the first time I used them.

Oh and I wanted to show you a picture of my new dress. It’s soft and heavy and swirly and I love it. Davy took the picture for me. It’s so nice to add some new pieces to my wardrobe after being pregnant and/or nursing for the last three years.

Happy Saturday! What’s happening in your neck of the woods?

Aren’t w e e k e n d s wonderful?

a few moments I was thankful for this week:

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Shanda

Discovering my gentle little girl knows exactly how, and delights in, playing with dolls.

The solitary walk I was able to enjoy.

Holding my two year old during the only moments in the day that he can sit still; just after waking up from his nap.

Starting a homemade washcloth.

Finding myself in that familiar place; my kitchen, with a little one in my arms. Were we dancing? We often are.

A little note of explaination to the few folks who may have seen my vanishing blog entry yesterday; I took it down because it made me uncomfortable. I felt like I shared something too personal to explain properly. ((hugs))

Something I will be looking forward to today: Rich said this morning, “It’s way too hot for you to cook dinner tonight so I’m taking you out. A jean skirt would be nice. Not too long. And a tank top with a pony tail. I wouldn’t even mind if you went shopping today. I’ll look forward to seeing you later.”

Mind you, he didn’t say these things as rapidly as I just typed them. There were many thoughtful pauses in between each sentence. And one other request that I can’t publish. The meaning is clear: He loves me. And I am blessed,

happy,

thankful,

overwhelmed much of the time,

but so grateful for this stage in life which is teaching me so very much.

I would just love it if you would maybe *pretty please* share a special little moment from your week, for us all to read and smile over, in the comments section.

a charming quote

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Shanda

“She pecks here, there, and everywhere. She’s indefatigable.
Now and then, she takes a rest.
Her neck sticks up under her red revolutionary bonnet, she has a lively eye, she’s pouting with conceit, listening first with one ear, then with the other.
Reassured that all’s well, once again she goes off searching.
She lifts her feet up stiffly, as if she’s got gout. She spreads her claws and puts them down cautiously, without making a sound.
You’d think she was walking barefoot.”

Jules Renard

berries and a butter dish

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Shanda

Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts! ~James Beard

We currently revel in wild berries picked up the road on the left hand side. Alas, the pickin’s are few and we also eat them out of hand so if we manage to pick a full cup and a half, what do you suppose we do?

We of course make muffins. Our memories of these years will be filled with muffins, served warm with butter. Such a quick treat to make from scratch, and so satisfying. Also, when you need a snack for 8 or 9 people, muffins are the way to go.

Where, you ask, did I find my fabulous butter dish?

I found my butter dish at Marshalls discount store for a mere 12.99. My friend Karen came over yesterday and exclaimed that she had the same one! I had a bee in my bonnet for months, to find one that would hold more than one stick of butter at a time and this one does. I put 2 sticks in, but with a little packing and smoothing I am sure it could hold three or four. It’s Portmeirion china, and my friend Christie collects it too, so I know she will be happy with my find. This butter dish will remind me of two very dear friends and plus, it is very pretty. Well worth the wait.

*****************************************

Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

~grease muffin tin (this recipe makes between 10-12 muffins) or line with paper cups. I prefer not to use liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Make well in center, pour in egg, milk, and oil. Gently stir until slightly mixed. Add a teacup full of berries and lightly stir them into batter. Spoon mixture into muffin tins, place in oven and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Let rest in pan about 5 minutes then tip out over a wire cooling rack. Turn them over and sprinkle white sugar on top. Add a small pat of fresh butter. . . .and watch them disappear.