Archive for May, 2008
Saturday, May 31st, 2008
What got done today:
- Went over to my elderly mom’s place this morning to help her with some needs.
- Did some shopping while I was in her community.
- Picked up some of Lydia’s friends to spend the day, and took them home again after dinner.
- Did pretty much nonstop laundry, since Deb cleaned her room and some bedding was changed today.
- Baked a dessert and made some nummy broccoli salad to go with the steak that Rick barbequed for dinner (He cooks them to perfection. So tasty.)
- Played some Scrabulous on Facebook (I love to spell; what can I say?).
- Kept checking Laura’s blog to see more pictures of baby Carly. (Laura’s blog Waking Early is about her pregnancy with Carly, and now has some cute pics of the little girl herself posted there, as well.)
What didn’t get done:
- I wanted to bake bread, too, but just ran out of oomph.
- Balancing the checkbook (not urgent, but I like to get it done).
- Taking the doggie for a walk.
OK. This is a boring post. But, I’m taking stock at the end of the day, and that’s the result. Now, I’m going to do dishes, put in one more load of laundry, and put sheets back on a bed. Goodnight!
Posted in Family, Homemaking | 2 Comments »
Saturday, May 31st, 2008
6 LAYER BARS (from my friend, Amy H.)
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
1 package Graham crackers
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips
1 bag coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Melt butter in 9×11 cake pan; smash one package (from box) of Graham crackers. I put them in a large zip lock bag and roll them with a roller until fine (or let one of my kids smash ’em). Press into bottom of pan. Layer butterscotch chips, chocolate chips (in either order) and finally coconut. Pour entire can of milk evenly over coconut and bake in oven at 350 degrees until coconut is golden brown, about 25 minutes.
If you put walnuts in between the chips then they are called 7 layer bars.
(I did prepare this dessert today; it’s candy, really. So nummy! I apologize that there’s no picture to accompany this recipe. Our camera is at one of the children’s places this week. I hope to get it back tomorrow. Will I, Kayla?)
Posted in Homemaking, Recipes | Comments Off on Six Layer Bars
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
I have wonderful news! Our daughter Laura and her husband Darren have a new little daughter, born today: Carly Annalise. We are so thankful to the Lord for Carly’s safe arrival. At birth, Carly weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces, and was 19 inches long.
Here’s an interesting comparison. Laura is a twin, and I carried her and her sister Sarah full-term (actually a week or so over). At birth, Laura weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Her sister weighed 6 pounds 10-1/2 ounces and was 20 ¼ inches long.
Here’s an old photo of our family. I’m holding Laura and Sarah on my lap. Our son Philip is by Rick, and Rick is holding baby Michael.
Posted in Family, Favorite Photos, Things for Which I am Thankful, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
1Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
verse 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
verse 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
verse 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
This Thursday 13
I’ve chosen to list 13 ways I show my family I love them:
- So, I thought of the most important thing last, after completing my rough draft of the list, but I’ll put it first now for you: Attitude is EVERYTHING! Day by day, I keep an eye on my attitude. For example, if I’m irritable with my family, I am not loving them. If I’m resentful, I am not loving them. I go to God for His grace to be patient and kind with my family, to truly LOVE them.
- Cook a special meal (or even any meal at all when the schedule is extra busy!).
- Take one or two children out for a special coffee.
- Bake a special dessert, just because.
- Play card or board games with them.
- Listen to my husband and children when they want to talk.
- Go with them to games at the Middle School, the High School, and for our local minor league basketball team.
- Be available to answer questions during homework time.
- Facilitate get-togethers with their friends (Think: sleepovers!)
- Take them to the movies, or out shopping.
- Plan fun birthday celebrations!
- Be especially comforting and helpful when they’re not feeling well.
- Recommend books to one another; read the books; talk about the books (ditto on music, restaurants, interesting web sites, etc.)
Posted in Family, Fun Things, Thursday Thirteen | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
One thing that makes me so happy is our children being kind and generous to one another.
Yesterday, one of our grown sons came home for a bit, bringing a large Lego kit for his youngest brother with him. He and our oldest son evidently decided that Seth would benefit from getting into Lego building a bit more, so they went together on this gift:(Sigh . . . Something is buggy just now; I can’t insert a picture into my post, so I’ll just describe the set.)
The kit is for a Jedi Starfighter with hyperdrive booster ring. When I figure out the picture problem, I’ll post a photo of Seth with his new neat thing, courtesy of brotherly love. 🙂
Posted in Family, Fun Things, Things for Which I am Thankful | Comments Off on Brotherly Love
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
The prompt this week at One Single Impression is REFLECTION. This prompt was suggested by Gautami Tripathy. For me, the word REFLECTION brought to mind “thinking about thinking”:
Reflection
Metacognition
Thinking about thinking
Equipped with the tools to learn
Learning becomes a joy; true progress is made.
Fueled by hunger for knowledge, and
Curiosity about miracles small and great.
The mind becomes a willing servant
To the dedicated student,
To the one who is willing to work, to understand
That there is no quick fix.
Posted in Education, Learning, One Single Impression | 5 Comments »
Monday, May 26th, 2008
The prompt this week for Ten on Tuesday
is “Ten Favorite Time Wasters.” I prefer to say, “Ten Favorite Ways I Relax,” or maybe, “Ten Things That I Call Recreation That Others Might Call Weird.” But, I HATE to think of time being wasted. So, here you have my Ten Favorite Activities that are not work:
- Playing Scrabulous on Facebook (Spelling and strategy are good, even when they’re not “work.”)
- Lil Green Patch on Facebook (Do I really help save the rainforest when I use that application?)
- Posting on my blog
- Reading the blogs of others (Just one more . . . )
- Taking our dog for a walk
- Playing Spider solitaire (when the internet is down and I can’t get on Facebook)
- Playing Freecell (ditto)
- Playing card games with my girls
- Reading recipe books (Hey, I get good ideas that way!)
- Reading, reading, reading
Posted in Fun Things, Ten on Tuesday | 6 Comments »
Monday, May 26th, 2008
Antipasto Loaf
(This recipe is from http://www.kraftfoods.com.)
1 French bread baguette
1 tub (8 ounces) Philadelphia Cream Cheese spread
3 Tablespoons pesto
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (the kind that are dehydrated rather than in oil are nice)
½ cup drained marinated artichoke hearts, chopped (optional)
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (or not)
Cut baguette lengthwise in half. Remove soft insides from both bread halves. (Reserve removed bread for another use.)
Mix cream cheese spread and pesto; spread evenly onto insides of bread shells. Fill evenly with tomatoes, artichokes, Parmesan cheese and spinach.
Reassemble baguette; wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Cut into 25 slices to serve.
This is such a delicious sandwich. When I made this, I didn’t scoop out any bread. Also, I used thin-sliced ham, and I didn’t refrigerate the sandwich before serving.
This is also good made on La Brea Bakery Roasted Garlic Loaf, sliced very thin (since the bread is so chewy)
Posted in Recipes | Comments Off on Antipasto Loaf
Monday, May 26th, 2008
My online friend Amy didn’t even know that she expecting a baby for most of her pregnancy. Can you believe that? Amy missed out on morning sickness. Ain’t that a shame? 😛 Anyhoo, her darling second son was born this past Sunday, just missing her birthday by a few minutes. She tells a little bit of the story here.
Posted in Friendship, From a friend's blog, Things for Which I am Thankful | 1 Comment »
