4-27-12 Simple Joys

4-26-12 Twenty Years

 

BLINK.

 

A. Sarah, A. Jill, U. Dave, Glen, Cheryl, Angie. Nate, me, Dad, Doug - -

(Marcy, Derek, & Trent were home with chicken pox)

A. Marj, A. Marcia, A. Renee, A. Janet - -

 

A. Sandy, Cheryl, Angie, A. Joyce - -

 

                      Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good.  Psalm 106:1

4-25-12 Buster Bar Dessert

First a bit of catch-up.

Sunday was an extremely nice day with many visitors from many places for the first all-church invite-a-family. Beautiful singing, encouraging messages, sweet fellowship. After supper we all enjoyed the monthly singing and then again the second singing. Wonderful times of worship.

Monday was routine except that ASK brought out bars for Jacob’s birthday.

They were very much appreciated as always!!

Pre-processed hamburger ready for the market.  :)

Jacob’s birthday dessert – a new recipe we tried for the first time. It was a hit, sure to be repeated. (Thank you very much Paula!)

Excited audience!

These three had so much fun with this crazy stuff!!

What is it? SUPER SNOW!

Yesterday was much warmer than Monday, yay!!! In the morning we sang with the residents at Restmor, and then after a bit of school and many jobs, there was time for some fun. That bird is actually a kite!

Last night was a beautiful evening.

Playing with this helicopter-thingy-toy. Jewel is reaching up to catch it.

 

Gorgeous sky.

Walnut tree behind hog shed, which we transplanted from the levee tree about ten years ago.

 

Every time Jewel shot the helicopter toy she made such a funny grimace. So cute!

Did I mention it was a beautiful evening?!!

 

Another tree we planted about ten years ago – hard to believe it’s been that long.

One lone kitten was in the barn driveway. Odd? Indeed! **gulp** It fell from the hayloft. It seemed none the worse for its tumble, and was very friendly but scared too.

Everyone got a SHORT turn holding it,

then it was taken back up to its very worried mother. The haymow mama is very wild so her kittens probably will be too. Which is just fine because they stay away from the house (and vehicles) but still keep mice out of the barn. Good deal!

Spanky’s kittens are getting big too but are not as big as the haymow litter. The kids have little incentive to tame the haymow kittens because it’s likely that Spank’s kits will be very friendly, like she is, and there will be plenty of kittens to hold soon.

A Barn Is Just A Fun Place To Be!!

 

***A Recipe to Remember***

Buster Bar Dessert

Layer in 9x13 pan: 

1 package (42) oreo cookies, crushed (with 1/2 cup reserved for topping)(generic is fine for us), mixed with 1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 gallon softened ice cream

1 jar chocolate fudge topping (or half of A. Marcia’s recipe, see below)

1 cup peanuts (obviously we didn’t do this part)

8 ounces cool whip, thawed

reserved oreo crumbs

Freeze!

Very very VERY easy and DELICIOUS!

**Since I LOVE peanuts in this, I just sprinkled some onto my serving before I ate it. ALMOST tastes like a DQ Peanut Buster Parfait!**

 

***Another Recipe to Remember***

A. Marcia’s Chocolate Sauce

Melt 1 stick butter with 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Add 1 cup evaporated milk and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.

Mix well. Adjust milk and sugar amounts depending on desired sauce consistency.

4-24-12 Something To Memorize

 

Others

Lord, help me live from day to day

In such a self-forgetful way,

That even when I kneel to pray

My prayer will be for others.

Others, Lord, yes others.

Let this my motto be.

That while I live for others

I will have lived like thee.

 

~author unknown

4-23-12 Happy Birthday Jacob

 

                                         We love you Jacob Daniel!

           Thou hast put gladness in my heart…I will both lay me down in peace,

          and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:7-8

4-22-12 Death of a Saloon

Well not much exciting to report but as always lots going on which made for a blink week. As in, BLINK where did it go? Monday was a routine school day except for haircuts after supper. Tuesday was a routine school day except for an ortho and Aldi trip. Wednesday was a routine day with piano lessons in the morning. Thursday was a routine school day, period. Friday was a routine Friday except for a few afternoon errands (which by the way I won’t do again- town traffic was heavy and everywhere I went was packed! I usually do errands earlier in the day and things aren’t nearly as busy. Live and learn!!). Friday night we had another wonderful evening with good friends. After they left (and this is VERY unusual) I stayed up until Saturday reading a Pablo Yoder book which is an amazing testimony of the miraculous saving power of Jesus Christ. I usually try not to start any Yoder books because they are so hard to put down and I don’t have that time to “waste,” but this one has so much food for thought and conversation that it was well worth every minute I should have been sleeping. Granted, I was a little draggy yesterday, but really not too bad considering my bedtime, and I found this true story on my mind often. The back cover reads:

“Teodolinda and her family moved to the rough Zapotal highlands of Costa Rica to find a better life. But as the years passed, things got worse. Much worse. Life became a cycle of work, moonshining, drunkenness, and fighting.  Frightened, disgusted, and angry with herself and her family, Teodolinda wished desperately for change.

“She hung religious symbols on the wall, lit candles to the saints, chanted prayers, and walked miles to visit a priest, all to no avail. She vowed to do better, but soon faltered. Nothing she did made a difference.  The family just slid deeper into sin.  Finally they were ready to take desperate measures.

“Death of a Saloon is a remarkable story of a soul-sick family and a testimony of the great mercy and power of God and of the miraculous deliverance and new life available through Jesus Christ.”

Published in 2011 by Christian Light Publications, Inc., this book is worth every dime of its $12.95. It is available at

http://www.clp.org/product/death_of_a_saloon_2746.

However, if anyone local would like to borrow it you are very welcome once Levi is done with it. He would NOT be happy if I loaned it out before he is finished, and since he has started planting with Uncle Randy, I’m not sure when that will be. But after that it will be available for loan; give me a call, text, or email.

Anyway. I have a few more Yoder books on the shelf that I haven’t read (all non-fiction), and after I’m done digesting this one I might have to work another one into my schedule.  I don’t read many books so tend to be pretty choosy when I do read one, and this one was a home run (actually Jesse picked it out at the convention). Also, over the years I’ve tried to read chapter books aloud to the kids, and sometimes I do good but other times I don’t. Lately it’s been kind of don’t. Last weekend a speaker at the APACHE convention reminded us of all the benefits of reading aloud with our families (which I know but forget so easily), and I want to do better, so I’ve purposed to be more consistent with this going forward. I read aloud four of five days this week so am off to a good start; we’ll see how it goes.

And yesterday was kitchen work for the girls and me in the morning, rides on the tractor with Levi for Ben & Josh, vaccinate Uncle Randy’s hogs for Jesse, and lots of miscellaneous tasks for Dad & Jacob which included some time in the South Grove where they were joined by the rest of the crew as their various other jobs were finished. For supper Levi & Jesse enjoyed a young group cookout at the Beutel cabin while the rest of us had a fun albeit wild cookout here in the backyard (px to follow!).

Friday evening smiles.

 

 

More work in the South Grove yesterday -

Go Kate!

 

Joshua’s joy for life is so contagious!

 

(and isn’t his hat a riot?!)

Suppertime. (Thanks Sarah for taking these px!)

 

(Camera back to me.)

Hot fire!

Somebody had the great idea to put this huge box on the fire.

Somebody else didn’t stop him.

Yeah -

Great idea.

Great fire.

Not so great consequence.

Yum!!

After supper stroll.

 

Back home again.

 

Notice anything different in this picture? As in something different about the (formerly) brand-new trampoline net? As in something different than the before-supper pictures?

Yeah. Nice holes. :(  Not the coolest thing that’s ever happened on this place, to burn a huge stupid box. But oh well. Kids will be kids right?