Eating to His glory…and that is all.

Today has been a bad eating day. If you know anything about my stomach, you know fat=bad. I started a new supplement called 601s, but I don’t know if they have had any time to help yet. We were out of groceries today so, in weakness, we got some frozen pizzas and, yes, doritos. I love doritos. Especially the cool ranch flavor. I thought I would share my afternoon prayer with you:

“Lord, I’m hungry. I pray that this food I am about to eat would be used to nourish my body and nothing more. Please don’t let this yummy pizza send me to the emergency room. Amen.”

Looks like Special K and skim milk for dinner.

Organization

Do you ever find yourself in a huge mess- say moving, for example- and you vow (in the midst of that unorganized disaster) that you will never allow that same scenario to sneak up on you again? Well, here I am and here it is again. BLAH…

There is so much to be said about staying on top of tasks, especially with 3 small children and a crippled husband.

Quick Update

So sorry for the leave of absence. Between the health of my family, Christmas, birthdays, and moving, life is…crazy! Please be in prayer for us as this is a wacky wacky time of transition and life is really crazy. A few prayer concerns that we would greatly appreciate:

1. Wisdom.
2. David’s pain. His knee is recovering well. The first few days were simply awful. I cried watching him suffer. The knee isn’t so much the pain anymore as the nerves in his legs and hips from sitting in the same position for a week. Please pray for relief for him.
3. The tissue David received in his knee. David had to have donor tissue put into his knee because it had a defect. The next 12 weeks or so are crucial in that tissue actually “taking” in his knee. It is kinda like any other transplant if I am not mistaking. His body has to accept it. Also pray that we would have no infections in our family during this time (I say this as I suffer from a sore throat that I was told was not strep throat, but isn’t getting any better). An infection in his body could affect that tissue.
4. Me. I need- more than ever- strength, grace, patience, selflessness, and a nurturing spirit. I really am getting a taste of what 4 children would be like as I care 24 hours a day for 4 (well 5 if you include me) people. I am sick. My children are sick. My house has fallen apart. Please pray that I would experience the peace of God during this tough time and be all that my family needs me to be.
5. The Move LOL. It has been coming for a long time and late this week or next week we will finally close on our new home. YAY! Please pray for our friends as they work SO hard to finish it (and we can no longer help). They have been such awesome friends to us and they have shown such Christlikeness in this home building/fixing/selling process. We are so thankful for them. We know that they are so desiring to get home to their friends and families for the holidays before they move on to their new home and we pray that for them as well.

P.S. I promise I will try to get birthday pics up soon! Our computer is so slow and it is the last thing I have time to do right now!

The Time Has Come

In honor of my mom, here is her outstanding fudge recipe! Not only is it simple, but it is SO good! (Kacie your post made me think to share this=))

Mom’s Peanut Butter Fudge

2 cups sugar
1 cup milk (my mom says only whole milk will do LOL)
1 cup marshmallow creme
1 cup peanut butter

*Never attempt on a rainy day=)*

Combine milk and sugar over medium heat. Stir using a wooden spoon (again emphasis on wooden). Once the sugar and milk are combined well, turn up to medium high heat and boil until mixture reaches soft ball phase. (This will probably take about 15 minutes so don’t think you are doing something wrong if it heats slowly.) Once mixture reaches soft ball phase, boil 1 minute longer. (My mom says this step is critical. My mom also likes to overcook her meat so she knows it safe so take this step or leave it. I usually leave it and pull mixture from heat as soon as it reaches the soft ball phase- especially with this altitude!) Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallow creme. Stir in peanut butter. Spread into a lightly butter 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 dish. *The last few steps should be done as quickly as possible as fudge begins to harden quickly*

Variation: add 1 cup chocolate chips as a last step and swirl to make chocolate peanut butter swirl fudge. I also press some chocolate chips into the top of the fudge once it is swirled=)

One more recipe for fun:

Chocolate Mint Fudge

2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
dash salt
1/2 t peppermint extract
3/4 cup crushed mints

In saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with milk and salt. Remove from heat. Stir in extract. Spread into a lightly greased 8 or 9 in pan. Sprinkle with mints and press into mixture with waxed paper. Chill 2 hours and cut into squares.

Mandy’s variation: the mints hurt our teeth and I don’t think they add anything phenomenal to the recipe so we omit and up the extract to about 2/3 to 3/4 teaspoon. ENJOY!

I Confess

If you didn’t notice already, I’m a theme hopper.

You never know what theme you’re gonna get when you navigate yourself to my page=)

I went back to the old one cause I missed it=)

And since I am uselessly posting right now…

has anyone ever noticed that my blog lives in the future? Everything I have posted today comes up as December 19. Kinda spooky, huh? Is it Dec. 18? Or 19? I don’t know. New Mexico is weird LOL.

For All You Mommies

Have you seen the bottom of your hamper in years? I mean, besides to sort through it?

I sure haven’t. Sometimes I think people sneak clean clothes in there when I’m not looking.

The Importance of the Parables.

Do you ever read a passage of Scripture and find that, unlike every other time you’ve ever read it, you finally get it? It can be a verse in the Bible that you know back and forth, could recite from memory, and love to talk to others about. But one day the Spirit opens your eyes to it in a whole new way.That was today for me.

In college, being the genius religion major that I was (LOL), I was taught by several professors that a parable is defined as: “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” I have never had a problem with the earthly story part. I love to read stories. Stories help me to understand something that if you just explained it to me I may not have understood. However, it was always the heavenly meaning that I forgot to apply when attempting to properly interpret Scripture.

Today I was so candidly reminded of the need to remember the heavenly meaning when reading the parables of Jesus. Take the prodigal son, for example. It is a story that is engraved in my brain. I know exactly how the story goes. I know the who, the what, the where- you get my point. Problem is, as I was thinking today, the Spirit impressed upon me that I always forget that God is the Father in the story. I am so quick to forget that this parable is an example of our natural tendency to stray from the Father. Isn’t it amazing how we can read a story so many times and not get it?

I am thankful to God for revealing more of Himself to me today. It is a little embarrassing that it had to be with a story as familiar as the prodigal son, but I am thankful none-the-less. I myself have been a prodigal daughter to my Lord and I can look at this story now and see the beauty of being restored to the Lord without hesitation or delay on His part. What an awesome God we serve!

As I spent time today reflecting on the dark time in my own life that I spent in outright rebellion to God, I am reminded as well of the prodigals who find themselves in that same situation today. My heart grieves for those persons as I can remember that time of wandering and the pain it entailed. It is still vivid in my mind and will probably forever serve as a reminder to never go back there. The Lord’s chastening and His rebuking were so real and the consequences for those sinful choices still affect me today. My prayer for those who have left their First Love is that they will not wait one second longer to run as fast as they can back into the arms of the Savior. When I think of the time I spent away from Him, it literally pains me. I would never wish it for anyone else.

In conclusion, can anyone relate? Does anyone else have any “God smacked me over the head with that verse” moments? Feel free to share. I would love to hear!

Sick Simon

My poor baby has a bad cold. He had to miss the boys birthday party due to its severity. He has been resting up and I hope he feels better as today goes on. Take a peek at the poor guy:

Isn’t it pitiful?

And we’re almost ready.

Yes, I started a sentence with and- deal with it=)

The Pirate Party of the Year is almost ready. I have never done a themed party- ever! I always felt way too uncreative, but I got brave this year. Noah and Sam are pumped. Sam would kinda prefer an engine party, but he’s okay with the pirate stuff as well.

Want a look inside the shindig?

The look:

Noah and Sammy are going to be all adorned in these. I think they will look so cute. Along with the hats, they have swords, self adhesive moustaches, and tattoos=) The guests will be dressed the same, minus the hats. I am thinking of buying bandanas but I don’t know if I will.

The games:

1. Walk the plank. We have a 2 x 4 that the kids will take turns walking across. As time passes, the obstacles will get more difficult, such as hopping and walking backwards. As kiddos are eliminated they will become the sharks in the “sea” distracting the pirates still on the plank.
2. Ocean in a bottle. This is more of a craft. Each kid will get a bottle and fill it with cooking oil and vinegar. Then they will add blue food coloring and glitter and watch their little oceans. Then I will glue their lid on and they will get to take these home.
3. Hook the treasure. Each kid will have a cup on their hand with a candy cane hook put through it. They will have a certain amount of time to hook pretzels with their hooks.

The food:

1. Fish and Chips: LOL. So cute.
2. Pirate planks: celery with PB and raisins.
3. Pirate face cupcakes: I am going to do white cupcakes and white icing and do a pirate face on each one with a patch. I figured that was way easier than the ship I was gonna attempt.
4. Buccaneer Banana Punch: LOL again. YAY!

Adults get potato and tortilla soups. Boring, I know.

I am so pumped. I hope it goes great. There are supposed to be about 20 kids there! EEK!