Baby's First Christmas

It is very hard to believe that this is Patricia's first Christmas. She's in the toddler stage already, not the baby stage! She did have a couple of "firsts" on Christmas day. She decided that standing up in her high chair looked like fun and she even figured out how to climb stairs. She scaled the whole flight with squeals of delight at Enoch's aunt's house. 

My in-laws brought back some clothes from India for the kids. I LOVED the way they looked. Here's some pictures.

Verse for thought: "And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. My prayer is that everyone who reads this blog has received the best gift of all. God gave His very own Son as a gift to be received by everyone. His sacrifice was given that we might have eternal life.

Verse for thought: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Acts 16:31

A Tooth's Tale

Today I had my teeth cleaned and they told a story. The hygienist told me that it looks like my teeth have more wear on them then a normal person my age, caused by grinding which is caused by stress. She said she guesses that three children can do that to you. I had to correct her. Actually, I don't grind my teeth any more. I used to when I was a teenager and my jaw used to click from it (a symptom she told me about). She said something about the teen years being stressful. I agreed and left it at that.

That little conversation made me realize anew just how difficult my growing up years were. I'm not going to get into all the details, but I will say a few things.

Most importantly, I love my mom very much and she has taught me many good things. She has taught me, by example, how to build my children up with words. She has never put me down nor belittled me in any way. I am very thankful for that, because it comes natural for me to act in such a way towards my own children now.

My mom, named Patricia, is a very forgiving person. She doesn't hold grudges towards anyone. She is also very giving. She never has money, but no matter how little she has, she's willing to give it away to someone who may need it at that moment. Also, and this means a great deal to me, she loves to do puzzles! ~smile~

Even though she has all of these wonderful qualities she has a MAJOR flaw. You can watch this video of David Hasselhoff. There were many scenes like this when I was growing up. Watching this video brought back a lot of memories and some tears. Alcohol ruins lives. Like I said, I'm not going to get into all the details, but my teeth told the story that things indeed were stressful.

Even though, at one point, I was walking along the same path and would have ended up in the wrong direction, God snatched me from the wide road to destruction and planted my feet on the narrow road which leads to eternal life. I am so thankful for Christ's saving power.

Verse for thought: "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

'Blessing and honor and glory and power

Be to Him who sits on the throne,

And to the Lamb, forever and ever!' " Revelation 5:13

Hyperactivity

The other day I was doing some blog reading and I came across an important piece of information. I decided to do my own research and I found this article.

Here is the jist of the whole thing:

"A carefully designed study published in the British journal the Lancet shows that a variety of common food dyes and the preservative, sodium benzoate-an ingredient in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings-do cause some kids to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible."

When I read this I immediately thought of Seth. I think if anyone knows him they could understand exactly where I'm coming from.

 So, I decided to try and steer clear of this sodium benzoate fellow and keep a closer eye on Seth's actions. I noticed him to be active and playful and sometimes even a little rough, but not too bad. This afternoon, however, it was like the Seth that drives me up the wall. He was thrashing around instead of going to bed (he never did fall asleep). Later it seemed like every minute I had to yell at him for hurting Tabitha, knocking down Patricia, ripping the cushions off of the couch, etc, etc. I thought to myself, "in my mind he's acting like how I'd assume he'd act if he ate sodium benzoate." Wouldn't you know it....I checked the package of pierogies that we ate for lunch and they had it in them! They're a frozen food item, why do they need a preservative? Somebody please clue me in on this one.

I think I've been doing pretty good with the foods they get, but now I really have to keep a watchful eye, especially for Seth's sake. Even some bakery goods contain the stuff. Oh well, I guess that means more baking for me! 

Has anybody else had any experience with this? Please do impart some wisdom.

Verse for thought: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8

Menu Plan Monday

A few notes about last week's menu first. I was surprised with the Reuben casserole. It did taste just like a Reuben sandwich. Tabitha is generally our good eater, with Seth being a little more on the picky side. But with this dish it was the opposite. Tabitha didn't care for the sauerkraut or the rye bread. Seth enjoyed it! 

I had chips on our menu for a couple of the days. I didn't actually buy any, instead I made tortilla chips. I took some store bought tortillas and lightly covered them with butter, then sprinkled them with salt and cumin. I cut them up into about the right size triangle and then cooked them in a single layer on my griddle. The kids really like those a lot. I think the way I make them could use a little tweaking, but they turned out pretty good and I'm pretty sure they're healthier, too!

We didn't get to all of the recipes for last week, so those will be repeated on this list.

Here goes:

Monday- Chicken quesadillas

Tuesday- Greek chicken stirfry

Wednesday- Spaghetti and meatballs

Thursday- Tex Mex skillet

Friday- Chicken Kiev

Saturday- Pork chops with Bleu cheese dressing

We'll also have sides with these, but those won't be anything fancy. 

To check out more recipes visit Organizing Junkie.

Verse for thought: "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:6

Beautiful Surprise

There is a couple at the meeting we go to that celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary today. Their children threw them a most lovely luncheon at a fancy restaurant. There was a lot of out of town guests and sweet fellowship. The couple has raised four children, all of whom, are in fellowship here. 

Beatty, the wife, has a phenomenal talent of china painting. So, as a "party favor" (I hate to call it that, because the term seems so cheap), she decided to paint a plate for each guest. There were over a hundred of us there! I don't know when she did this, but look at each picture carefully. They are all beautiful. That's what I call a servant's heart!

Verse for thought: "Remembering without ceasing you work of faith and labour of love..." I Timothy 1:3

Motherhood

Tired...cranky...sick...angry...frustrated...just plain mean. I don't know about you, but these are some feelings that creep up within me at times. Any other job you can drag yourself through the 8 hours or so, then take a break. BUT, as we all know, moms just don't get to take time off when they're sick or tired or any of the above. As a matter of fact, if we do decide that we need our break, then our kids take full advantage of the situation. The end result is worse than the beginning. I know these days will soon pass and I'll look back on many incidents and laugh (or so I'm told!), but that knowledge doesn't typically help me through the present.

Today I was comforted by the following verse in Isaiah:

"He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Can't you picture a shepherd gently leading the sheep that have young ones? I think we're harder on ourselves than the Good Shepherd is. We end up feeling guilty because we're not able to keep up with everyone else's activities. Or we don't feel spiritual enough at times. We get upset that we haven't done any holiday baking this year or we haven't had guests over in more than a month. I don't think the Lord expects that much from us. We're at a very special time in our lives when we have little ones. We should be focused on them and not everyone else. The Lord is dealing gently with us. Let's take comfort in that.