What’s In Christmas For You?

This morning, a young man stopped by to check on a project he has been helping my husband complete.  As he was leaving, I asked him if he was ready for Christmas.  It was a casual question.  But his answer caught me off guard.

“Naah.  I don’t like Christmas.  Don’t have any kids to buy for.  There’s nothing in it for me.”

I’m sure my face reflected my shock.  But he didn’t see it, because he was already out the door.

The pastor’s sermon came instantly to mind.  It could have been titled, “What’s In Christmas For You.”

After Adam and Eve sinned, God issued several devastating curses.  Yet, in the midst of that dark moment, God gave them hope for the future.  Hope in a promise he fulfilled with Jesus.

The central message of Christmas is that God’s promises are trustworthy, and that we can have confidence in Him.

A Jesus centered life results in hope because of the promises of God.  The pastor asked us, “Are you in a season of hopelessness, or hope?”

Obviously, claiming God’s promise of salvation through Christ is the first step to living in hope.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

But there are other promises too.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

For it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose.

Philippians 2:13

These are some of my favorite promises.  I’m so glad God’s not finished with me yet.

I leaned out the door and called after our young friend, “You know there’s MORE to Christmas than THAT.”

He smiled, waved, and kept on walking down the side walk.  He never even turned around.

He does, doesn’t he?  Know, that is?  If not, will I get another chance to share just how MUCH is in Christmas for him?  Will my husband?  Will this young man have another chance to hear?

Heavy thoughts.

Is it just me?  Or do we need to slow way down?  Adjust our focus.  Stop hurrying past the people who need to hear about the hope we take for granted.

Lord thank you for the reminder today.  Thank you for continuing to work in me.  Help me not to miss another chance to share our hope.  And, may our young friend find You in his Christmas this year.

Happy Thanksgiving to You!

My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.  I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;  I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.  Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

Psalm 71:15-17

In a world where there is uncertainty about the economy, uncertainty about our jobs, uncertainty about home values, and even concern over the swine flu, and health care…

Lets be Thankful.

Thankful for God’s Faithfulness!

He is our Rock.

He is our Provider.

He is our Salvation.

He is our Sanctuary…

…and our Refuge.

I’ll be taking a break from posting this week and enjoying a little extra family time.  But I wanted to take a minute and let you know that I am thankful for each one of you!  Your encouragement is a blessing in so many ways!  I’m still hoping to do a little visiting (at your place) as time allows.  I’ll bring the pumpkin spice creamer and we can chat over coffee!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Yes, They Do!

Yesterday, I watched Wii’s on EBay while consuming large quantities of chocolate.  (Yes. I have stress issues.)

Ignoring all the things I should have been doing, I sat on the proverbial fence and prayed over questions like: 

• Can we afford it? 
• Would it be better to buy it from a retailer and get less, or in an auction and get more? 
• Is the risk in auctions worth the money saved? 
• Will having a Wii in the living room make it harder for my boys to focus on their responsibilities?  (O.K., dumb question.)
• And, where did I stash the rest of that Halloween candy?

With just minutes left in a tempting auction, I hovered indecisively over the bid button.  I even called a friend for moral support.  Then, just like that, I suddenly lost my connection.  Door closed.  The deal slipped away and I gave up the search for the day. 

But I continued to give thought to the whole Wii-thing-for-Christmas idea. 

• I think we can afford it. 
• And I’m not sure there is a right or wrong answer about retail or auction.
• I found the chocolate. 
• But, how will I help the boys be responsible with their play time?

Then God spoke.  Well, maybe it wasn’t actually God.  But it was as clear to me as the closed door on the auction. 

My oldest son and I were listening to the morning news on the radio and tying our shoes in the living room when this story made us stop and look at each other.

Maybe you heard it, because I think it was on the national part of the news.

A teenager made a call to 911 but then had the good sense to hang up when the dispatcher came on.  The police followed up on the call and when they questioned the boy, he asked, “Do my parents have the right to take my video games away?”

The officer replied, “Yes, they do.”

The look on my son’s face was priceless, and I could almost hear God say, “duh” in my ear.  Lol!

I’m watching some auctions again, knowing that there is plenty of room in my gun safe for all the Wii motes we might own.   

Thank you, Lord, for obvious answers and a good sense of humor!

Four Ways To Buck A Buck

O.K. That’s a corny title.  But hear me out.

When we bought this house, it was pretty much a house in a field.  There was little in the way of trees to offer protection from the wind or the sun.

So before we were even unpacked, we set about planting hundreds of trees.  Many of them white, blue and Norway spruces.  But some were ornamental flowering and shade trees.  We dreamed of how nice it would be in ten years.

Only, many of the trees took serious hits from the deer.

Deer would eat all the tender new growth in the spring.  And then in the fall, the bucks would rub on the trunks, totally decimating any branches that dared to grow.  Often, the buck would break the poor little trees clear in half!

So we declared war (insert Rocky song).

The first year of our war, we spread moth balls at the base of each little tree and even hung moth balls in fabric sacks from their branches.  We bought BOXES AND BOXES!  The deer didn’t like them much. 

But neither did we! 

One neighbor told us later he spent weeks trying to figure out what that smell was and where it was coming from!  Lol!

Then another year we tried soap.  Irish Spring, to be exact.  We did it two different ways.  Rubbing a bar on the trunks.  And then dissolving a bar in warm water and using a spray bottle to apply the  solution to leaves and buds.  (Great for Roses, btw.)

It worked, and smelled a lot better.  :)  But we kept having to re-apply it.  That was no fun.  Not with that many trees.

So I got to thinking.  What about dryer sheets?  I found the smelliest ones I could find and began ripping them almost in half lengthways to make long strips.  Then, we tied them onto the tops of the little trees. 

This time, neighbors shook their heads and asked us who TP’d all of our trees, lol!  It did look ridiculous.  But it worked!  The bucks bypassed our trees.  And the dryer sheets lasted much longer than the soap.Here’s a buck rub on a willow tree we didn’t catch in time this year.  The dryer sheets we hung have kept him from abusing it further.  But the damage is already done.

And finally, we have discovered that if you leave Christmas lights on trees year-round, the deer don’t like that either.  Yes, we do that! (Don’t worry, we stop plugging them in by Easter.)

If you have tender vegetation the deer keep damaging, perhaps one of these ideas will work for you! 

Bucking the Bucks works for us!

This post is linked to the Works For Me Wednesday Meme over at We Are That Family.

Six Personal Updates

1.  The female cardinal lives on.  She is thumping on my window as I type.  I guess my husband was too busy on Friday to notice her.  That is good for her.  Bad for me. 

Do Cardinals fly south for the winter?

2.  After being down for the count with the Mother Of All Viruses, my computer has been “healed”.  Unfortunately, many files became casualties.  So although my computer lives, and I am typing on it now, it doesn’t remember what I would like it to. 

Hey!  That sounds like me!

3. My mom is doing pretty well after her fall at a restaurant on the way home from visiting us in Indiana.  Her knee (which she had surgery on in the past) is stiff and swollen, still.  But she claims it is no worse than before, and that it might be getting a little better.

I’m not sure if it is wishful thinking, or if it’s true.  But she does seem to be getting around, so I am thankful.

4.  My oldest son is 7 months into his Orthodontics Treatment.  He has upper braces and a Herbst appliance.  (If you are new around here, you can read about my family’s introduction to the Herbst appliance here.)  The device looks intimidating.  But the adjustment to having the appliance put on was so much easier than what we had prepared ourselves to go through. 

Even he is glad to be going through it, because it has made a drastic change in his appearance.  Not that he, or we, noticed much before.  It’s just that he looks totally different, now, and we realize how much he needed it.

But this really deserves it’s own post.  A post with “before” and “after” pictures that he approves of and doesn’t mind me putting out there.

5.  Our renovation project in the boys play room is nearing completion.  The patio door is installed, the drywall is up, and the wall has had its first coat of paint.  There is light at the end of the tunnel!!

6.  A Home Depot crew came in Friday to blow additional insulation into our attic spaces. Hopefully, we will enjoy a warmer house this winter and reduced energy costs next summer.  For the most part, we are happy with their service. 

I do, however, have a few repairs to make.  Several drywall nails in my hallway “popped” through the plaster on the textured ceiling.  I’m not at all sure what to do with them.  Anyone have any ideas?  I’m all ears.  :)

That’s about it, for now.  I think I’ve covered all the big happenings around here.

Have a great Tuesday, friends! 

Easy Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

 

Peanut Butter and Chocolate are one of my favorite combinations.  So this Taste Of Home recipe caught my eye and I soon found myself adapting it to fit the ingredients I had on hand. 

It’s a rich, moist and delicious bar cookie that would be great to take to a party or get together.  (It’s easy, and looks pretty, too!!!)

Ingredients

• 1/2 C Butter, softened
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1/2 C packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 C creamy peanut butter (I used @ 1/2 C, since I didn’t have peanut butter chips on hand)
• 1/3 C peanut butter chips
• 1/3 C baking cocoa (I plan to use a little less next time.  The chocolate flavor was pretty strong.)
• 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips (Again, I plan to use slightly less here, too.)  

Directions

Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and milk.  Mix.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt,  Add it and mix.

Divide batter in half.  To one portion, add peanut butter and peanut butter chips (if you have them) and mix.  To the other portion, add the cocoa and chocolate chips and mix.

In a greased 9 inch square baking pan, spoon chocolate batter in eight mounds in a checkerboard pattern.  Spoon seven mounds of peanut utter batter between the chocolate batter.  Cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

That’s it!  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 

This recipe is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tasty Tuesday.

Rats!

Over the weekend, my husband realized that we picked up the Mother-Of-All viruses while surfing for some video gaming information.  (Feel free to groan with me and feel our pain.)

The good news is (first) as far as we can tell, the virus did not get the vital information it was designed to steal.  And (second) it only severely infected one computer when it could have traveled through our entire network.

The bad news is, the computer that took the hit is the computer on which I work the most.  It has all my Live Writer files and photos which making blogging so much fun for  me.

For now, I’m borrowing time on another computer.  And hoping that my husband will be able to discover a trick to kill the so-far indestructible virus.  He has used every program he has, and then some, and so far, none have been able to remove it. 

This morning, he took it to work to see if any of the guys can think of something else to do with it.  It’s funny, or not, how dependent we become on these machines and those little things we call our favorites!

If I Say “Uncle”… Will It Stop??

Last Spring, we had a male cardinal that kept thumping on our window.  It’s one of those stories you have to read.  So click on back and read it.  I’ll wait.

Are you back?  Well, that bird about drove me crazy, and I was ever so glad when he “mysteriously” disappeared.  (My husband later confessed that he “may have had something to do with it. ”)

Now, there is another demented cardinal who is tormenting me. 

From sun up to sun down.  She thumps.   And thumps.  And thumps.

She has been at it for more than THREE WEEKS, now.  I can’t see out my windows in places and there’s no point in cleaning them.

Once again, I’ve tried everything to discourage her.  Rubber snakes.  Window clings. 

Sending my screaming five-year-old running out the door. 

Throwing whatever-I-can-get-my-hands-on at her. 

She’s giving the energizer bunny a run for his money.

And I know what you are thinking.  Maybe it’s the mate of the male cardinal who met his demise in our yard last spring.  I don’t think so. 

She has a mate.  Who sits idly by.  Just watching her shenanigans.  (He’s desperate, if you ask me.  He could do far better than this crazy chick.  If he had any pride at all, he put a stop to her foolishness.) 

Indeed, if her dear mate loved her, he’d make her stop.

Because danger lurks.  I know.  Which is why I feel compelled to issue this one last plea.

Dear Little Messed Up Birdie,

Consider this your very last, deep from my heart, warning.  My husband is staying home tomorrow and he has less patience than I.  If you want to survive to be crazy another day in another place, you’ll fly far, far away. 

Just say in’.

You all might want to pray for Mrs. Cardinal.  No doubt tomorrow will be life-changing for her.

Finally, A Durable and Well-Made Book Bag!

Are you tired of buying new book bags in September, only to have them fall apart by Christmas?? 

Me too! 

The straps rip.  The seams fray.  The bottoms wear thin.  And they generally look ratty and leak important papers long before we’ve gotten our money’s worth.

Well, last summer, I came across some great reviews on L.L.Bean’s book bags, or Book Packs, as they call them.  Some said the bags still looked new after a whole year of use. (Yeah, right)  Many said they still looked new after years of use.  (Mm-hmmm.) 

I imagined reviewers with delicate little girls who handled their book bags with little white gloves.

Knowing my boys, and how abusive they are to their book bags, I was doubtful we could ever be so lucky. 

But I was also REALLY tired of buying poorly made bags and needing to repair or replace them before the school year was halfway through.

So I crossed my fingers and took the jump. 

I ordered a set of L.L.Bean Original Book Packs for roughly $28 each.  One in black.  And one in navy blue. 

They weren’t much more expensive than the ones I was buying at the department stores.  So, I splurged and had my oldest son’s name embroidered in the blue one for an extra $6 bucks.  Just for fun.

The verdict??? 

We are now well into the second year of using these book packs.  And as unbelievable as it is, they still look, dare I say it? 

Almost new!

The only place I can find any sign of wear is a tiny amount of roughing up along the front of the shoulder straps, and that is barely worth mentioning.  There are no holes, no rips, no frays, no loose stitching, and not even any thin places.  Oh, and the zippers still work perfectly!  

I am sold! 

However, even more than the quality and durability of the book pack itself, I love the reflective strips!  You can see them (above) reflecting the light from the flash. 

L.L.Bean uses 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material (on both shoulder straps and across the front pocket) which is highly visible to motorists at night. 

On dark foggy mornings, waiting along our busy highway for the bus can be dangerous.  These strips make all the difference.  I took this picture to show you just how much of a difference it makes.   

I won’t be buying another book bag without this feature ever again. 

I may not be buying my boys another book bag at all if the ones they have continue to perform well! 

That is, unless the boys want a larger one to carry more books, because they want to study more.  (Don’t laugh.  It could happen.)

And if so, I’ll be shopping at L.L.Bean.  The little bit of extra money up front will save me much more later on!! 

Check out L.L.Bean and see if there is a book pack there your kids would like.  They have tons to choose from in many colors and styles.  You won’t be sorry!  Hey, it might even make a wonderful Christmas gift for someone on your list! 

Getting quality practical book bags that LAST definitely works for me!!

You can check out We Are That Family for more Works For Me Wednesday tips!

FYI, this review is totally spontaneous and I’m not being reimbursed one cent for my opinion.  I’m not even getting a free bag…                                                           

…though I wish I were. 

Rich and Delicious Cream Cheese Christmas Quiche

Twelve years ago, a friend brought this quiche to my door for my husband and I, who were adjusting to the squalling bundle of joy we had just brought home from the hospital.  We absolutely loved it (and the baby, btw) and before the leftovers were even cold, I was on the phone asking for the recipe!

The quiche has become a favorite treat which even my boys now look forward to having.  I like to serve it on Christmas morning because I can put it together the night before, set it in the fridge, then pop it in the oven first thing in the morning.  I love sipping my coffee, watching the kids open their presents, and smelling the quiche cooking in the oven!

My recipe is totally adjustable depending on the size of your pie dish and your own personal cheese preferences.  What you’ll need:

Christmas Quiche

• Pie crust (I use bought, don’t tell mom).
• 1  8 oz. package cream cheese, softened.
• 1/2 pound breakfast sausage (we like sage) browned and crumbled.
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (I broke up American cheese because it’s what I had, but you can use cheddar, Swiss, or whatever you like.)
• Roughly 5-8  eggs, beaten (depending on the size of your pie plate)
• @1/4 to 1/2 C milk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Press pie crust into pie plate, making sure to close any rips.  Spread Cream Cheese evenly across the bottom of the pie shell and sprinkle sausage over that.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs and milk, and pour some into the pie shell, being careful to leave room to add cheese.  Add cheese.  Then finish filling with egg/milk mixture.  (You might want to take turns adding cheese and egg to make sure you have the balance you want.) 

Bake 35-45 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.  I like to bake it over a cookie sheet in case of spills or overflows.

Enjoy!

For more great recipes today, visit Lisa’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

From Time-Out… To Out-Cold… In Under Three Minutes

Lately, between the hours of three and four in the afternoon, my little guy has been melting down.  It’s as though all of his problems turn into big green monsters when the clock strikes three. 

Some days, I can relate.

I’ve had a theory, which I’ve voiced to him on several occasions.  But each time, he has denied it vehemently.  The theory was that he was tired and maybe, just maybe, he needed a nap. 

Seems reasonable, no?

Well, over the weekend, those big green monsters were out in force and he earned himself a time-out.  In less than three minutes (no lie) I looked down and this is what I saw…

“I’m not tired.” 

Indeed.  :)

A cozy blanket, and 45 minutes later, I had my happy camper back.  I stifled a chuckle when he woke up confused and wanted to know why I never told him he could get up from time out.

Don’t you wish all of life’s problems could be knocked down to size with something as simple as a nap??

Safely Home

For those of you who offered prayer for my parents, thanks!  They made it safely home and Mom is doing pretty well.  She is sore, but getting around.  So that is a BIG praise!

Mom and Dad’s Visit, And The Long Drive Home

I posted earlier about Mom and Dad visiting from Pennsylvania.  We had a super nice time.  But the time just flew by. 

They left yesterday morning to begin their 13 hour trip and now that I have a few minutes, I thought I would share a few fun pictures of their time with us as well as a prayer request, which I’ll get to. 

Here is the little guy hiding as they walked in the door on Friday.  He didn’t know they were coming.  But when he saw them walking down the sidewalk, the look on his face was priceless.  It was funny to see him scramble to hide behind the door.  It didn’t take him long to warm up, though.

By mid afternoon, he got down to the business of showing Grandpop all his latest Hot Wheels Cars.  I dare say that Grandpop didn’t get much napping done while he was here!  Lol!

Although we visit Mom and Dad each summer when we go east, our time is always divided among tons of family and friends. 

So, as their health permits, Mom and Dad like to make the long trip to Indiana so they can spend a bigger chunk of time with us.  Isn’t that nice?  We worry about their traveling, but appreciate that they want to come! 

This is actually the first time in two years they have attempted it.  The year before the last, my mom fell the week before they were to come out, and ended up needing knee surgery.  Then last year, Dad gave us a scare with his heart and wasn’t well enough to travel. 

So their making the trip this fall was extra special.

The boys would have done just about anything to keep them here longer.  But I’m pretty sure they were missing their own beds, not to mention a little peace and quiet, maybe?  :) 

This is my favorite picture of their visit.  My little guy is posing with them in front of our red maple tree.  It’s a great picture of them! But it’s special for other reasons, too.This tree started it’s life beside the crick I used to play in growing up.  It was a seedling of the red maple my father planted when I was about the same age as my little guy.  My husband and I transplanted it to our yard in Elverson (PA) where it spent a year, and then was dug up and brought along with us to Indiana almost seven years ago.  So the picture represents tons of great memories.

Anyway, I’m rambling.  Sorry.

Mom and Dad left yesterday morning, as I said, and made it as far as Jackson,Ohio last night.  Then they had a mishap.  Mom fell across a rise in the threshold of the Ponderosa where they stopped to eat.  She apparently bent her bad knee backwards and hit her head pretty hard. 

Thankfully, there was a paramedic just behind them who was able to help get her up and onto a bench to check her over. 

When I talked to her this morning, her knee was, of course, painful. But she was feeling really sore in her shoulder as well.  Not to mention pretty mad at herself for tripping.  Poor Mom!

I’m sure they would appreciate your prayers as they push on to finish the trip home.

I’m hoping to hear from them this evening that they are home safe and sound. 

Pond Update

With my parents here visiting this week, I’ve had a great excuse to neglect many of my normal household chores and just sit.  Since the weather has been so nice, some of the sitting has been outside in the sunshine. 

Back by the woods where my husband has done so much work is now a beautiful place.  It is hard to believe just how much the area has changed. 

For fun, I thought I would dig through some older pictures and show you an early picture, and then pull a recent one to show you what it looks like now.  Don’t you love before and after pictures??

This was earlier in the summer.

And this is now!

Slightly different angle, but you get the idea. 

All hard work brings a profit…

Proverbs 14:23

Profit can be interpreted many ways.  But for us, simple enjoyment and the satisfaction of a job well done are profit enough.

Hayride!

This is the second year my husband used his FARMALL M tractor to pull the trick-or-treat hayride.  With Halloween falling on a Saturday, neighbors and friends gathered for a cookout and campfire in our back yard before the hayride.

Since we live in a small homeowner’s association, we pretty much know everyone on our road fairly well.  This has become a great time for us to get together.  

Those of us with trick-or-treat-age children ride with the kids.  The rest man their candy bowls at home!

To make the weekend even more exciting, my parents arrived Friday from Pennsylvania for a visit.  Since they drove for two long days, they were quite happy to simply man the candy bowl at our house.  They watched the Phillies and rested while the rest of us rode beneath the almost full moon and laughed with the kids.

What a great night!  We are so blessed!

When we came home, we gathered round the campfire for more stories and fun.  Fall is one of my very rite seasons.

I’m not sure how much I’ll be posting in the next few days while Mom and Dad are here.  I want to spend some time with them.  But by the end of the week, I hope to be back in the full swing of things.

Have a wonderful week, friends!