Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Monday, June 17, 2013

In the great outdoors...clouds that will hopefully produce a nice, long, steady rain this afternoon. Tree branches sagging under the weight of ripening peaches. We’ve picked five so far. Bugs had gotten into a couple of them, but the good ones were really, really good!

Within our four walls...kids playing happily, taking a day to just rest.

A heart of thanksgiving...for friends. Some are safe places for deep needs and prayer requests. Some love on our children like extra aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Some fill our need to enjoy the company of others. Most of them cover more than just one of those areas!

A heart of prayer...for rain.

Random observations...there is a fly buzzing around me. It has been bugging me all morning, buzzing in my hair and face like crazy! But can I kill it? No, of course not! But, the zapper is in my lap. It’s just a matter of time…

My silly children...are words really necessary?

Well, I suppose maybe they’re necessary for those who do not understand all of the components here. The Lego girl is “Olivia” from the Lego Friends sets. On the right is a Dalek, a “bad guy” alien from the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who (have I mentioned we’re a geeky family?). And now we know what the Doctor and his companions have always been lacking when facing the Daleks – light sabers.

Thoughts from the kitchen...it’s hot. I don’t like to even think about the kitchen when it’s hot. Although we did find a frozen yogurt recipe and have started experimenting with turning our homemade yogurt into homemade frozen yogurt. I can handle that kind of activity in the kitchen when it’s hot!

The first experiment was too vanilla-y, I think, but it’s still good. Especially with the praline almonds and caramel I added in! Obviously, we’re not trying to make healthier ice cream or anything!

On my bookshelf...should be finishing up Finding God in the Hobbit this week and starting What I Learned in Narnia soon. I have an apologetics book entitled Defending the Faith due in a few weeks, so I’ll probably start on that this week. It’s specifically geared toward apologetics in women’s ministry, so I’m excited to read it. And I still really want to squeeze in some fiction…

Projects...I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to tackle this week. But, I’m determined to do at least one project each week that is not related to school, reviews, or editing. I’m determined, I tell ya!

Sounds of the moment...that stinkin’ fly, music from the next room that I actually meant to turn off while I was in there, and the kids playing in the back. Legos, I’m sure. Does a better toy exist? I have my doubts!

Last week we learned...that Angie can sew meticulously straight seams! She had such a wonderful time at sewing camp.

A favorite thing from last week...introducing the kids to Star Trek via “Trouble with Tribbles.” Fun stuff.

The planner...low-key today, at-home schedule all week, preparing the girls for next week’s camp adventure (am I really sending my girls off to camp?).

Because visuals are fun...he loves his sissy. He shows it by dog-piling on her at every opportunity. And, do you notice her hand on his head? She loves to spike his hair. Sillies.

P.S. Ding! Dong! The fly is dead!

Yogurt

Well, a lovely dose of food poisoning changed the course of my week, so I didn’t get as much posted as planned. I’m now trying to play catch-up on everything I missed while out of commission!

We used this recipe (click the picture for the link & recipe):

The blog author says to use whole milk. Well, we didn’t. In fact, Doug mixed up a gallon of powdered skim milk (because that’s what we had on hand that day). It worked just fine! True, it’s not the rich yogurt whole milk would have made, but it’s still quite creamy. And it kept us from having to buy an extra gallon of milk on shopping day that we then would have had to find a place for in the fridge. It’s hard enough to find a place for all of the little half-pint jars! (This is only a few of them – the baking sheet was full!)

Definitely very easy and much cheaper than a tub of yogurt, even if we had bought a gallon of whole milk! The kids didn’t like the unsweetened, plain yogurt on its own, but they have enjoyed it in their smoothies. And, now that we know what we’re doing, it will be very easy to make some fruit yogurt next time around. Yay for another easy, money-saving recipe!

Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Monday, June 10, 2013

In the great outdoors...summer is finally settling in. I love that it waited so long – a “real” spring was nice. Oh, and the peaches are ripening beautifully! This is the same peach I posted a picture of last week. It’s not the best picture, but can you see how the color has changed in just a week?

Within our four walls...everyone busy with projects. Livie’s finishing up school work and Angie & Steven are assembling a wooden model airplane.

A heart of thanksgiving...for a good start to our week.

A heart of prayer...for a godly man who has had a very powerful impact on our community. His wife was killed in a car accident on Saturday.

Random observations...My baby boy has changed and grown so much! The child who once would not even look at people outside our immediate family (including grandparents!), much less talk to them, now races to be with other people. Nearly every week he asks to sit with someone else at church. Never other children – always some adult. Some days he really surprises me with the people he chooses. I always tell him that he has to go ask permission from the person he wants to sit with. He leaves his bag in “our” pew, goes to ask permission, and then comes back to get his bag.

Last night at church, we were doing a VBS recap for the evening service for the sake of those who were not able to be involved in VBS. The children made crafts that are being sent to other children, and they were asked to take their crafts to adults in the church and ask them to pray with them for the children who would be receiving each item. Steven didn’t wait to be assigned an adult. He ran straight to a man he frequently sits with, someone he admires and loves very much. I could just barely hear their voices (not what they were saying) as they prayed and talked together for those few minutes. It was so precious to me!

Adults frequently don’t realize how much children want to interact with them! Our churches offer fantastic opportunities for generations to merge and mentoring to occur. I’m so thankful for a church full of adults who are willing to love on my children and stand as examples of godliness to them! What a precious gift!

My silly children...(this seems like such an abrupt shift from the previous comment, but this is how our life goes…one extreme to the other in a matter of moments!)…It seems that my precious children never cease to come up with hilarious comments or conversations. I’ve taken to writing them down as they happen so I can share them. I’m not going to share one today, but there will be a post later this week!

Thoughts from the kitchen...we tried something new and it worked! Homemade yogurt – crockpot style! I’ll post more later this week.

On my bookshelf...a self-pub YA fiction duo. The girls loved it. I’m not exceedingly motivated.

Projects...I’ve actually gotten several mending items taken care of. I still need to finish Steven’s second pair of pj shorts. I made a mistake on them yesterday and I’ll have to go back and correct that.

I also need to tackle a major picture project. I haven’t sorted pictures in sooooooo long! That desperately needs to be done!

Sounds of the moment...kids playing. A/C running.

A favorite thing from last week...a relaxed Saturday afternoon after a very busy week.

The planner...not much. Angela has sewing camp this week, so we didn’t plan anything else.

Because visuals are fun...Smokey says, “Yes, you WERE done with that math!”