Whoopsy Daisies

Hello Friends! I took a little impromptu bloggy break for a few days! My dear friend Amber was here for the weekend and it was SO much fun! I'll tell you more about her visit which included peeking in the windows of the moldy house some time soon!

Recently I've been feeling like I may need to blog a little less. I *love* doing it, but it's a big time suck for me, and it's almost impossible just to write my own post without ending up visiting and spending time at other favorite blogs. I sit down with my computer and before I know it an hour or two has gone by and there are *so* many other things that need to be done! I'm needing to reprioritize and unfortunately blogging has to slip a few notches down the list.

I don't know exactly what that's gonna look like yet. I'm fairly certain that I'll still post on a weekly basis, but certainly not five days/week. Thanks for your understanding!

Before I go, I'll leave you with a fun little recipe. A couple weeks ago I attended the Taste of Home Cooking School at our local civic center. It was a very enjoyable evening and I got some new recipes!

This Snickerd*odle Chex Mix is *so* yummy! I'm confident that you'll like it. Enjoy!

1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 c. Cinnamon Chex cereal
2 c. Chocolate Chex cereal
4 c. popped popcorn
1/4 c. butter or margarine

1. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In a large microwavable bowl, mix cereals and popcorn.

2. In a 1-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave butter uncovered on High about 40 seconds or until melted. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.

3. Microwave on High 1 minute. Stir. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture evenly over cereal mixture; stir. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture; stir. Microwave 1 minute longer. Spread on waxed paper or paper towels to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Delish!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Trip to the pumpkin patch

Fall is here and on Saturday we took a family trip to a local farm. It's such a fun little place with hay rides, apple trees, raspberry bushes, a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, and homemade apple pies, jam, applesauce, and honey for sale!

Lily on the hay ride

Taylor and daddy

Lily and daddy

Andy weighing our pumpkins

This picture cracks me up - look how he wants nothing to do with being held for a picture. PUT ME DOWN!!!

Pretty princess among the pumpkins

My last Twins game at the Dome

Friday night we went to the Twins game with a bunch of friends. It was SO MUCH FUN! I absolutely love going to games at the Metrodome.

Growing up I remember trips to the cities and getting to go to a baseball game. I remember sitting in the upper deck in right field and looking over the guard rail and seeing Kirby Puckett! He was my favorite and I had a Kirby penant hanging in my room.

And after we moved to Minnapolis in 1997 we went to many more games! And when I was waitressing and had more "discretionary income" I enjoyed spending some of that on nice tickets to see the Twins. =)

Well, the Twins have built a new stadium and will start playing there in 2010. Which means the game on Friday night was my last time seeing the Twins at the Dome. My husband is SUPER excited for outdoor baseball. And I don't doubt it'll be fun. But I am definitely going to miss watching the Twins at the Metrodome.

So here are a few pictures from Friday night. Enjoy!

I love baseball at the Dome!!!

Love ya, Kirby!

Joe Nathan on the mound

My shmoopsy-poo and I

The rest of the house

After living in this house for almost four months, we are starting to feel like it's home. It takes awhile to settle in and figure out the best places for things. It's a work in progress, but I think we're starting to feel like there's a place for everything, and sometimes we manage to have everything in its place.

You've seen the basement, but here are some photos of the rest of the house. And before you think that this is how our house looks on a regular basis, think again! We live in our house and this is only how it looks when I take pictures for my blog. Which is this one time. =)

I've listed our paint colors and they're all from Behr from Home Depot. We've painted every room, because we love color! But YOU don't have to love our color! You're entitled to your opinion. =)

The Kitchen

Spicy Cayenne

Dining Room

Butter Cookie and one accent wall of Spicy Cayenne

Laundry Room
Autumn Mist



Half Bath on main floor
Liberty

Lily's Room

Candy Coated

Guest Room

(This'll be my friend Amber's room next weekend!!! She's coming to see us and I'm SOOOOOOOOOO excited!)

Mocha Accent

Upstairs Bathroom

Balsam Fir

.

I realized that I don't have pictures of our bedroom or bathroom, Taylor's room, or the living room. I'll have to take some and post those another time. The living room has been in the background of lots of pictures that I've posted before, though!

.

Alright, have a great weekend!

Arctic Meatloaf

I got this recipe from my cousin Sarah. She, her sister and her mother are all culinarily gifted! I don't think culinarily is a word, but it suits the situation and captures the essence of what I'm trying to say.

Anyway, they're all Miss Suzy Homemakers, Holly Hobbies, the Jills of all Trades. You get the idea! They take pictures, scrapbook, sew, quilt, cook, bake, garden, do their own pickling and canning! I could go on and on. It's unfair for all that domestic talent to lie within one family.

But I have reaped the benefits by tasting some of the products of their talent! And they've been good enough to share a couple recipes with me over the years.

This meatloaf recipe is simply scrumptious! It's so hearty, tasty and filling. And if you're a smaller family, you could divide the recipe into mini loaf pans and freeze for future meals. Or make the whole loaf and have friends over! That's what we did and there were mere crumbs left in the pan.

So here it is! But you know I can't leave well enough alone! I always have to tinker with a recipe and make it my own or put a slightly healthier spin on it. I've put my changes or additions in parentheses.

1 egg
1/4 c. ketchup (organic, of course!)
1 Tblsp. mustard
1 1/2 c. quick oats
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. basil
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup beef broth
3/4 cup chopped onion (I reduced to 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup chopped celery (Also reduced to 1/2 cup)
(1/2 cup chopped green pepper)
(1/2 cup chopped carrot) I do all the veggies in the food processor
(1/2 cup FLAXSEED MEAL!)

1. In a large bowl beat the egg; add the ketchup, mustard, oats, salt, garlic powder, thyme and basil

2. In a small saucepan (I just microwave in a dish) bring the broth to a boil; add to oat mixture and mix well.

3. Stir in onion, celery, green pepper, carrot, flaxseed meal and 2 cups of cheese; Add beef and mix well with your hands.

4. Press into 9x5x3 loaf pan. Then sprinkle with brown sugar.

5. Bake at 375 for 1 1/4 hours. DELICIOUS!!

Wordless Wednesday

Labor Day weekend in northern Minnesota

A little snuggle time with Grandpa Ed

She tried so hard to stay awake and hang out with the adults, and finally gave in around 10 o'clock!

Trying on sunglasses during a little shopping trip

My baby started preschool yesterday

I have a child in preschool! Say what?! It just seems surreal that she's old enough to go to preschool.

We missed the first day last week because of a very unfortunate case of pink eye. I couldn't believe it. What timing! She was so sad, and we were so sad for her.

Needless to say, she was ready to go yesterday! She was up and at 'em quite early and after she was breakfasted and dressed by ten after eight, she asked if we could leave!

In front of our house and ready to go!!!

Her preschool

Hanging up her backpack on her very own hook (the names below the hooks are the kids who come on the opposite days)

I dropped her off at her classroom and she walked right in. Her teacher followed her in and I was just expected to leave. I didn't even get to kiss her good-bye! I managed to hold the tears in as I walked to the car. And when I walked back into the house without her it seemed so quiet. My constant companion for the past four years is spreading her wings and starting to fly.

When I picked her up she looked happy and tired. What a milestone day. My baby started preschool yesterday.

Courtesy of Erma Bombeck

Anybody need a refresher on who Erma Bombeck is?

My mom has been helping my grandma sort through some boxes at her house. And she came across an article by Erma that my grandma had clipped from the newspaper years ago. It's titled Being a mom means you have to show up each day and I'm sharing it with you today. Enjoy!

For the first four or five years after I had children, I considered motherhood a temporary condition - not a calling. It was a time of my life set aside for exhaustion and long hours. It would pass.

Then one afternoon with three kids in tow, I came out of the supermarket pushing a cart (with four wheels that went in opposite directions) when my toddler son got away from me.

Just outside the door, he ran toward a machine holding bubble gum in a glass dome. In a voice that shattered glass, he shouted, "Gimme! Gimme!" I told him I would gimme him what-for if he didn't stop shouting and get in the car.

As I physically tried to pry his body from around the buble gum machine, he pulled the entire thing over. Glass and balls of bubble gum went all over the parking lot. We had now attracted a crowd.

Donna Reed would have brushed away his tears and granted him absolution on the spot. I wasn't Donna Reed. I told him he would never see another cartoon as long as he lived, and if he didn't control his temper he was going to be making license plates for the state.

He tried to stifle his sobs as he looked around at the staring crowd. Then he did something that I was to remember the rest of my life. In his helpless quest for comfort, he turned to the only one he trusted his emotions with - me. He threw his arms around my knees and held on for dear life.

I had humiliated him, chastised him and berated him, but I was still all he had. That single incident defined my role. I was a major force in this child's life.

Sometimes we forget how important stability is to a child. I've always told mine, "The easiest part of being a mother is giving birth. The hardest part is showing up for it each day."

This is traditionally the day (Mother's Day) when children give something back to their mothers for all the spit they produced to wash dirty faces, all the old gum their mothers held in their hands, all the noses and fannies that were wiped, and all the bloody knees that were "made well" with a kiss.

This is the day mothers are rewarded for washing all those sheets in the middle of the night, driving kids to school when they missed the bus and enduring all the football games in the rain.

It's appreciation day for making them finish something, not believing them when they said, "I hate you," and for sharing their good times and their bad times.

Their cards probably won't reflect it, but what they are trying to say is, "Thank you for showing up."

The reason for my hope

***Updated***

My new friend Elyse let me know that the sermon link I posted wasn't working. So I'm trying a different link. This link will take you to our church's website and down just a little on the left hand side of your screen you'll see:

.

Recent Sermon

September 6, 2009

Grace Exalted

.

And right near there you'll need to click on the word LISTEN.

.

You shouldn't need to do anything else after that. A little window should pop up and it should start playing on its own. And again, I can't encourage you enough to take a few moments to hear it. Have it play while you fold laundry, or start dinner, or whatever. It'll be worth it!

.

.

.

Have any of you women been over to (In)Courage? It's a new website just for women launched by Dayspring. And some of my favorite bloggers are on the team and they're posting really inspiring and encouraging things.

The theme at (In)Courage right now is hope. And women have been blogging about hope and what it means to them. They also opened it up to the general public and allowed anybody to add their own post about hope to the list. There are some really thought provoking posts, so go check it out!

I missed the deadline to add my post to the list, but I've been feeling like I was supposed to write about hope.

I mentioned yesterday that I've been reading an excellent book called A Quest for More by Paul David Tripp. A line from Tripp's book popped off the page when I read it on Friday. I bet you can guess what it was about! I'll get to that in a moment.

And then on Sunday we were listening to Natalie Grant's Relentless CD on the way to church. The song Our Hope Endures came on and I heard it in a whole new way. The lyrics spoke right to my heart.

And then the sermon on Sunday morning was so good, as usual. Pastor Matthew said some things that I needed to hear about God's grace, all within this theme of hope. I can't urge you strongly enough to listen to this sermon. You need to hear the whole thing for context, but the part I really loved is from about the 23 minute mark on.

OKAY, Lord! I'll write about hope!!!

But where do I even begin??? For such a small word, hope is a very big word. Broad. There are several directions I could go. But I think I want to focus on the Reason for our hope, or on Whom our hope is built.

Pause the music at the bottom of my blog and just take four minutes and twenty-two seconds to listen to Natalie Grant's song Our Hope Endures. I've posted the lyrics just below the video and they are absolutely inspired.



Our Hope Endures by Natalie Grant

You would think only so much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this one has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here

Sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear

But our hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend peace within pain
Our joy at a good man's wake
Walk a mile with a woman whose body is torn
With illness but she marches on

Sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear

But our hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

We NEVER walk alone
This is our hope
Our hope endures, the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Let the earth quake
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

.

CAN I GET AN AMEN??? Excuse me while I grab a tissue and dab my eyes. I love this song.

.

One of my favorite lines is this: It's more than our optimism.

.

I pondered that for awhile. Natalie is so right. Optimism can only get me so far in the tough circumstances of life. Where the rubber meets the road, and I'm in the pit of doubt or grief or desperation, I need so much more than plain old optimism.

.

I need Christ. It's HIS righteousness that gives me hope. My ransom has been paid! I'm forgiven and free. He purchased that for me! My sins have been washed white as snow. My life has been redeemed from the pit. The battle is won! The victory is His!

.

The quote from A Quest for More that struck me is this, "Whose righteousness gives you courage and hope as you deal with daily life?" It hit me right between the eyes. It's Christ's righteousness. That's why we have hope.

.

Anything else I hope in is a cheap substitute. Weak. Worthless.

.

Optimism.

Positivity.

Health.

House.

Job.

Spouse.

Money in the bank.

Fame.

Intelligence.

Family.

My own determination.

Goals.

.

It's all shifting sand compared to the Solid Rock of Jesus and His righteousness. He is who I can and must cling to whenever the storms rage.

.

That makes me think of another song! The good old hymn!

.

The Solid Rock

.

Verse 1. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

.

Refrain: On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

.

Verse 2. When Darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. (Refrain

.

Verse 3. His oath, his covenant, his blood supports me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. (Refrain)

.

Verse 4. When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found! Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne! (Refrain)

.

Both songs reference God being unchanging. Natalie says our hope is unchanged. And The Solid Rock speaks about resting on His unchanging grace. The point is, He is unchanging! Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

.

There is no circumstance you could experience that is too big for Him. His feathers won't be ruffled. He won't be shaken or moved. There is no bankruptcy too desperate for Him. There is no miscarriage too sad for Him. There is no depression too low for Him. There is no job loss too discouraging for Him. There is no argument too huge for Him. There is no relationship too tough for Him. There is no infertility too mysterious. There is no diagnosis too frightening. There is no loss too unpexected. There is no disaster too devastating. Let the earth quake! Our Hope is unchanged.

.

Whatever the situation, the ultimate victory is His. Because of Who Christ is and what He accomplished on the cross we have hope!

.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Is your hope built on Him?

25 things

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then you've seen this before. I posted these 25 things in January. Today was supposed to be the my-daughter-started-preschool-yesterday post complete with pictures, but unfortunately we're dealing with pink eye around here. And she'll have to wait until Monday to start preschool.

So I'm recycling this old post. And I'll try to be back with something original tomorrow!

1. I took piano lessons for 10 years from a wonderful teacher named Hildegarde. She was an incredible lady who loved music and loved her Savior. She went Home to be with the Lord in August of '07.

2. I have been a Mary Kay Consultant for 10 years!!! But I order about once a year.

3. My parents are two of the most wonderful people on the planet and I don't know what I'd do without them. They are my heroes.

4. I am passionate about defending unborn babies. And I highly recommend this book. And right now it's only $2.99 at CBD!!! Seriously! BUY IT!

5. One of my favorite names of God is Redeemer. I have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and I know that my Redeemer LIVES!

"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing for joy O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song you mountains, you forests, and all you trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel. This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself..." Isaiah 44:22-24

6. I met my husband at a Campus Crusade weekly meeting in January 2000. Our first date was November 15, 2000. He proposed to me July 27, 2001 at Munsinger Gardens. We tied the knot October 12, 2002. He is God's perfect provision for me and I am BLESSED to be his wife.

7. I was baptized at the age of 8 by my daddy and Pastor Joe Colaw.

8. We went to Russia as a family for a month the summer of '95. One of the best experiences of my life.

9. I'm a night person.

10. I LOVE a bargain and almost never buy clothes at full price.

11. I like to be "green" and am trying to be earth friendly. This is not because I believe in global warming. Just because I think we should be good stewards of God's creation.

12. Speaking of creation, I do believe in Creation as the Bible describes it. 6 amazing, consecutive days of creation by God. I hope to visit The Creation Museum someday.

13. I'm a coffee drinker. Right now my favorite creamer is International Delights Pumpkin Pie Spice. Mmmmmmm!

14. I like taking pictures and would like to have a Canon someday! And take a photography class, too.

15. I attend MOMS every Tuesday morning.

16. I played the Angel Gabriel in the Angels Aware Christmas program at Brookings Wesleyan Church. In my performance I also "played" the trumpet. I'm a little embarrassed to this day. =)

17. I love raisins and I eat them almost every day.

18. I graduated from St. Cloud State with my Elementary Education degree. I taught Kindergarten at Foley Elementary School and loved it. Lately I've been doing a lot of pondering about what I'd like to do for work after my kids are in school. And I honestly don't see teaching in my future partly because education is becoming so political. I was told several times to keep my mouth shut until I was tenured. Lovely, huh? I'm thinking about some other career possibilities. I'll let you know when I have a better idea.

19. I VERY much enjoy a little grocery store called Trader Joe's.

20. I love Arctic Rush Floats at DQ!

21. I want one more baby. I'm not done.

22. I would rather clean toilets than dust.

23. My love language is words of affirmation. I'm super sensitive to words, either positive or negative. Andy would attest to that. And it's really important to me to be articulate - to say what I mean and mean what I say.

24. I enjoy watching movies by myself after the kids and my husband are asleep. It's called Alone Time, People! And I need it.

25. I have bungee jumped. Now I want to skydive.

For the sake of something new, I've decided to add 5 more. Without further ado:

26. I reeeeeeally enjoy Top Chef. That show fascinates me.

27. I like to read, but haven't had as much time to do it the past few years. Weird, huh? =) Right now I'm reading A Quest for More by Paul David Tripp and it's already changing the way I think about how I live out my day to day life. I find myself wanting to shout "AMEN!" every other page or so. It's so good.

28. In February we went on our first family vacation to Disney World. It was one of the best weeks of my life. I truly loved everything we did on that trip, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! We loved the Magic Kingdom - even my hubby said it truly is the most magical place on earth! We also enjoyed the Animal Kingdom. If you go, you MUST have breakfast at the Tusker House. The buffet is delicious and you get to meet Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy! Another Top 5 experience of our trip was the Kilimanjaro Safari - so cool!

We used a website called A Baby's Best Friend to rent a couple of items that made our lives easier on our vacation. They have just about any baby related item you can imagine - cribs, strollers, gates, rocking chairs, bumbo seats, potty chairs, baby tubs, exersaucers, etc!!! We took one of our own strollers with us on the plane, but rented another one and a microwave, and they were waiting for us at our hotel when we got there! We used both of those items a lot during that week, and then we just had to package them back up and take them to the same place in the hotel we had picked them up by 10:00 am on the last day of our trip. What a snap!

29. I try to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup in my family's diet as much as possible. Even though those silly TV commercials try to tell you that it's made from corn and isn't bad for you, BEWARE! HFCS is a nasty little sweetener and has several negative effects on our bodies.

HFCS was introduced in the 70s, became popular in the 80s and now we consume more of that than real sugar in America! Yuck!

Here are a couple articles you can read for more info, if you're interested!!!
Fructose: Friend or Foe
The Murky World of High Fructose Corn Syrup
Sugar coated
Soda Warning? HFCS Linked to Diabetes, New Study Suggests

These are just a tiny sampling of the info that's available - the tip of the iceberg! I think it's worth your time to look into the matter yourself and make your own decision.

I know that HFCS is in TONS of products, so I've become more vigilant about reading labels. It's in things like yogurt, ketchup, jelly and even bread! I cannot afford to buy all organic, but I have switched to organic yogurt, ketchup and jelly, because those are things we consume pretty regularly at our house.

I am not a control freak about it and we do consume HFCS. I just try to limit it where I can.

You can get recipes and coupons for organic products from MamboSprouts.com. You're welcome!

And THAT WAS WAY MORE INFO THAN YOU WANTED ABOUT THAT TODAY!!!

Moving on.

30. I'm a fan of Ikea. If you've never been to an Ikea, I enthusiastically encourage you to go! Right now my sister and I are drooling over the Vika Glasholm table. You can pair it with the legs of your choosing. We think it'd made a super shiek scrapbooking table!!! It's sort of tricky to explain, but they have a model of it at the store and a picture of it in the catalog and it's so cute!

Wordless Wednesday with some words

I'm sorry this post is so late today!!! Lily was supposed to start preschool this morning. When she woke up, I took one look at her face and knew she had pink eye. She and Taylor both have it!

Poor Lily was so disappointed about missing her first day of preschool. Monday feels very far away!

It's been a long day. They both felt couped up (and so did I), we went to the doctor and got eye drops and we're hoping they take effect SOON, I washed a lot of blankets, sheets, clothes, etc.. and I'm absolutely pooped.

But I wanted to post these pictures and videos from our weekend excursion to Andy parents' cabin. We went golfing (just to clarify, I do not golf and did not play) on Friday afternoon and had a great time. The kids had a blast riding the carts, playing in the sand traps (!), and walking barefoot in the soft, cool grass.

This was my hubby's first round of golf this year! He used to do a ton of golfing, but has lacked the money and time the past few years. I know he loves it, and I hope he'll be able to play more regularly in the future.

Anywho, Happy Wednesday!

Taylor and Grandpa Becker

Lily eating chocolate and loving it. A girl after my own heart!

Please remember to pause the music from my playlist before watching the videos!