Yes, I'm still alive.....

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I've been extremely tired (too tired to even type if you can believe that!) due to some pregnancy related glucose problems, but I am still here!

These past few weeks have been very hard, but my family has been so great to pitch in and help!

Seth, always ready to help with meals. (He makes great tea.)

Bubbie, content to play quietly at KK's desk.

Sis folding laundry

KK, keeping things picked up

The kids are caught up on their laundry, but Mom's been a little behind...of course the boys don't seem to mind.

I've received so many rude and disrespectful remarks about being pregnant with my fifth child. Everyone seems to think that all I do all day long is laundry and housework. Granted, I do plenty of those things, but there's so much more to my life that makes it very rich and full. Often times, the look on someone's face (disgust) says more than their words, but I hear things like, "Better you than me!" "You must be a glutton for punishment!" "Don't you know what causes that?" "I bet you stay busy!" I usually say something like, "Yes, I'm busy, but isn't everyone? I just like to keep busy with something that's worth my time." (That's the Christian translation of "Trust me, lady, if my kids acted like yours, I'd have had my tubes tied years ago!" As my friend, Leah-Joy has said, the Lord helps one control her tongue!)

I'm so thankful for my husband and children, as well as mine and Jason's parents, for all the help and support they've given me these past few weeks, and always.

I love this time of year!

We have a cocoon! (Seth is pointing at it)

KK is plowing the garden.

Dad and Sis are planting.

Dinner on the patio

KK throwing knives

Mama's Little Saints

Sunday Dinner

Years ago, we ate out every Sunday afternoon. At that time, I had 2 children, and somehow I just thought that cooking while getting ready for church was just too hard! I really got convicted as I began to think about all the workers that I forced to work on the Lord's Day, even as I was leaving the Lord's house myself, on to a liesurely afternoon at home. I found that with just a little effort and planning, I could do whatever I wanted to do. Now I have 4 children to get ready, plus a Sunday School lesson to prepare, plus a husband who's preoccupied getting himself and his preaching message ready, and still, I manage to cook the most special meal of our week on Sunday. I look at it as a way of serving the Lord and my family, and it is not a burden to me at all. In fact, as the years have passed, the Lord has helped me to learn how to reverence His entire day. We rarely leave the house on Sunday afternoons, though sometimes our family and friends get a little irritated with us. We have found that the Lord really knew what He was doing when He set aside one day per week for His children to not only meditate on Him, but also to literally rest. I, for one, do my best sleeping on Sunday afternoons.

Here is what I prepared today:

Creamy Italian Crockpot Chicken

1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 envelopes Italian salad dressing mix (Good Seasons)
1/2 c. water

Put chicken in the crockpot and sprinkle with dressing mix; add water. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Lay out 2 8-oz. blocks of cream cheese to reach room temperature.

When arrive home from church, mix the softened cream cheese with 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, and 2 4-oz. cans of mushrooms (stems and pieces, drained). Stir these into the chicken and cook on high for 30 minutes while preparing the rest of the meal. Serve over rice. Serves 6-8


All you need to add is a quick salad, veggie, and/or bread, and your meal is complete!

For dessert, here is my own recipe that I call "Strawberry Manna". It is wonderful when fresh strawberries are in abundance.

Strawberry Manna

2 1/4 c. cake flour (Swan's Down)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. softened butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 qt fresh strawberries, washed, stems removed, crushed, and divided (mashed, yields about 1 1/2 to 2 c.)

Glaze:
strawberries
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. melted butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350. In seperate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder. In mixing bowl, combine butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Beat for 3 minutes. Then add flour mixture and 1 c. of the crushed strawberries, alternating as you add. When all flour and strawberries are added, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into greased 9 x 13 pan, and bake for about 35 minutes. Let cool while at church.

After cooled, prepare glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and remaining strawberries (about 3/4 c.). Spread evenly over cake. So delicious! Store in refrigerator.

And remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail! The Creation account in Genesis, when speaking of 6 actual days of divine creation, lays out the days as follows: "And the evening and the morning were the first [second, third, etc.] day." From this, I learned that my successful Sunday actually begins on Saturday night. The small sacrifices I make are always rewarded with true rest from the Kind Creator who thought to give us one day off each week.

"The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" Mark 2:27

What's missing?

Our independent little trend-setter seems to have forgotten one important piece of clothing while dressing himself. His big brothers were quick to point it out on his way out the door to rid the world of "bad guys".

Um, just trying to imagine....

Warning to all real Christians: make sure your barf bag is near before viewing this clip!

I'm just trying to imagine what the response of our small congregation would be if this sodomite-loving, baby-killing, whoremongering pervert visited our humble church. Listening to the adoring crowds cheer and applaud this man with so much blood on his hands (who twice vetoed the partial birth abortion ban) in the 16,000 seat "worship facility" reminds me of the ancient Romans as they cheered on the lions and the gladiators who tortured and killed faithful Christians and their innocent children as well. Unfortunately, I know plenty of good Baptists.....deacons...Sunday school teachers... here in our hometown who voted for him, and his wife recently as well.

I thank the Lord each week for the privilege of meeting with a handful of bona fide Bible believers who can thankfully sing of the precious blood of Jesus washing away our sins, than with a mega group of thousands of deceived heretics with blood dripping from their hands.

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20

Sisterly Love

Caleb has been "under the weather" for a few days. I went into his room and found this lying on his desk. (Rocky is his bluetick coon hound.)

Spring has sprung!

The kids found the first of the caterpillars today! We've had great success now for several years, hatching butterflies and moths from these amazing little creatures. Seth rushed in to grab the magnet construction toys and build the little critters a house. They are named "Gomer Pyle", "Mr. Ed", and "Hairy". I love making memories with the kids!

The Hilarious Everyday

My friend, Rhonda, whose boys I watched grow from boys in elementary school to young men in college, once told me that as much as she missed the "little boy" days, she had truly enjoyed every stage of her sons' lives. Certainly there are many blessings to be enjoyed as your babies grow into young adults and become your beloved friends, and then no doubt the roles will be reversed one day, and the children are able to return the sacrifices of caretaking to their own parents.

Knowing this, and being mindful of how quickly every stage of life passes, I try my best to squeeze every ounce of fun out of my family right now. With a house full of kids 10 and under, this is not a challenge at all. Every day is packed full of hilarious sayings, silly jokes, and tons of goofy antics. They've all had me rolling in laughter this week. I'll never remember each funny thing, but here are a few:

M: "Mama, the rabbit's starting to shred."

S: "Mama, do I make you happy when skies are gray?"

S: [at the library] "Mama, I want a 'says' book!" [after much patience, a few tears, and quick thinking, I finally figured out that a "says book" is a book with only words, no pictures...like KK & Sis read!]

B: [looking at a boo-boo] "Bless my heart!"

C: "Mama, how much does a dead battery cost?" "No charge." [note to self: NO MORE JOKE BOOKS!]

S: "Mama, WHY did you blush it?!" [looking at his gum he just dropped in the toilet]

S: [looking at his sucker from the grocery store clerk] "Sis, are you going to eat your sucker?"
M: "No, it's nothing but high fructose corn syrup and dye!"
S: "I love high plutose corn shyrup, and I'm not going to die!"

Here the little monkeys are getting ready to go to the bank drive-thru. They love to make the poor lady at the window laugh. (what she must think of me!)

I'm so thankful I'm at home with them each day so I don't miss a moment!