Good things

(NASB) Psalms 90:14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

(NASB) Psalms 103:5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

(NASB) Psalms 104:28 You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.

(NASB) Psalms 21:3 For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head.

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Frosting: The Need for Speed

I just made a few more batches of frosting and think I've figured something out; the trick is to make it quickly.  The recipe I use is:

6 T margarine or butter

4 1/2- 4 3/4 powdered sugar

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/4 C milk

Mix margarine in mixing bowl until fluffy.  Gradually add half of powdered sugar.  Then add milk and vanilla, then the rest of the sugar, adding more milk if necessary to reach spreading consistency.

I never have to add milk.  This recipe is supposed to frost two small layers of cake, one 9x13, 24 cupcakes, etc.  If you like to pile on frosting like I do, it only frosts 12.  Yum.

So today I made two batches right in a row; one I kept the blender on quite a bit, and was a little slower; the second, the butter whipped up quickly and the whole process took about 4 minutes.  I tried the same method of piping on the frosting for the first and second batches and got the result on the second.  I've learned something.  

Cupcakes on R are batch 1; cupcakes on L are batch 2.  Batch 1's icing fell right away; batch 2's was just firmer and still looks exactly the same 10 min. later.

Teratology

Happiness is...

Here I present the cupcakes I've always wanted to make. Ta da!

Why have I always wanted to make these? Because a) I think they look pretty, b) this is how all the cool kids are doing icing these days, and c) the way the cool kids do it seems good for delivering lots of icing.

I made a single layer cake batter who h resulted in 12 cupcakes. The icing recipe I made was supposed to frost two layers of cake. I think that is supposed to frost 24 cupcakes. I used it up on just twelve.

It was super easy. I just sort of scooped frosting into a sandwich baggie, snipped off the corner, and piped it on in kind of a swirly motion. It was actually easier than frosting any other way. Pretty and sugary.

Good morning

Things fell into place to make the kids happy face breakfasts. We can always use the extra cheer!

Heigh-de-ho, neighborinos!

We have a new family moving in next door and and I don't know their names yet.  I decided to bake a loaf of sandwich bread to take over.  I hope they are not on a gluten-free diet!  In any case, it certainly can't make things worse.  It will finish baking in four minutes from the present moment in which I am typing, and I am hoping it will be sufficiently cooled that I can slice it and take it over while the kids are still asleep.

Some food

I made a few neat things over the weekend: some hamburger buns and son of calzone.

It's all in the timing...

I continue to think about this issue of the right time.  I know that our times are in the Lord's hands.  I read something yesterday that was pretty profound about how sometimes God is just waiting to build the right character in us so that when we have arrived where we are meant to be we can remain there.  Been thinking about this a lot.

I got an e-mail this morning that linked me to a video about making a countdown caterpillar, which is helpful for teaching kids about time and waiting.  Here's the link, just in case it's something you'd like to do.  I think it's adorable.

The Waiting Game

This morning I was hearing more from James, this time about being patient (5:7-11).  It occurred to me that being patient is often referred to as "the waiting game." I first thought to myself after reading about patience that it is not a game at all.  And then I thought to myself that if it were a game, it would be an endurance sport.  So of course I thought of the currently enduring Olympic games in London, and my love for its host city, and national culture.  Keeping calm and carrying on is the way to slowly, steadily, take the gold in the waiting game.

(P.S. I have decided I am a full-on Anglophile.  This is encouraged in part by rewatching season 2 of Downton Abbey.)

According to James

Okay, so it is tax free weekend in Oklahoma, which means you can buy clothes and school supplies tax free.  Yay!

For me.  I don't need school supplies - wait, well, I do, actually.  Gotta think about that.

I was really thinking more about clothes.

I have been having "I have nothing to wear"  moments lately.  Mostly about tops.  And if I had kept myself in shape this wouldn't be an issue, but I seem to gain weight when I bake/cook a lot.  Or just don't exercise.

Anyhoo, I'd been thinking that I really might actually need to buy a few shirts this weekend.  So I can have something to wear.  Like what clothes are for.  So maybe I need to buy just a couple of plain t-shirts.  Yawn.

I've been studying James lately, and the topic of hoarding wealth was the focus of today's lesson.  I've really been pondering it.  Specifically, with regard to what there is to wear in the house.

I hope this is follow-able.  As I was thinking about this, my daughter was watching an episode of Thomas that focused on James.  The Thomas theme song tells us that "James is vain but lots of fun."  During this episode James was feeling particularly proud of his new paint and blacking etc.  He thought maybe Sir Topham Hatt was favoring him.  One of the other engines said to him, "Looking splendid isn't the same as being really useful."  I felt a bit convicted overhearing this.  Then James said, "But the best thing of all is to look really splendid and be really useful."  I laughed and agreed.  But I'm not sure I should.

I am purposefully writing this before the episode is over because I can't resolve this right now.  I just wanted to share what I'd heard from James.

Pop culture

The kids are having Popsicles and popcorn for a late snack. I didn't give them soda pop, but could do pop tarts one of these days. And maybe some
Rice Krispy treats for that snack, crackle...

Passing the torch

So I cried a little when I watched the American women's gymnastics team win a gold last night.  It was a very sweet win!  I remember watching as a kid and thinking how graceful the gymnasts were.  I myself learned to do a cartwheel in my lifetime.  Could even do one on a balance beam.  Oh, yeah.

Now that swimming is wrapping up and most gymnastics are done, I think I'm going hand off the games to others to cheer the teams on.  My husband and I talked about how much more we've enjoyed watching this time around because it is all in HD.  Such a spectacle!  Yet I am too inspired by the athletes' discipline not to feel like I need to get to work.

Oh yeah - I loved the girls' jackets on the medal stand.  They're actually for sale.  Guess who won't be buying one?  But I predict this will be a new fashion trend.

Why it matters

To quote from a few classic films:

Casablanca: Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. 

The Naked Gun: It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!

 Above, you see a picture of the lentils that my husband cooked yesterday while I was out. They were delicious.  We had them for dinner, and will have them again today for lunch.  It seems like such a small thing, but it's a big deal.  I didn't have to cook last night, and today, I can just have a good time with the kids and not have to worry about fixing lunch.  It makes a big deal.  It spoke volumes of love and encouragement to me.

Here's lookin' at you, babe!

I don't think it's selling my birthright to be thrilled over these bowls of soup.  The little things, as well as the big, matter.  I keep thinking of this song by Sara Groves when it comes to creating music.  It's easy to get discouraged and thing that what I want to write or sing about doesn't amount to a hills of beans in this crazy world.  This song encourages me and reminds me that a song can be like that cup of cold water - refreshing, life-giving.

Here is Sara Groves performing "Why it Matters"  at an International Justice Mission event.  Enjoy!


GPG 2009 - "Why It Matters" by Sara Groves from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

Hey, Jude!

I would like to borrow on the Olympic theme so I can introduce my nephew.  But first, a happy little family drama.  I was watching the opening ceremonies without great hopes, and then my eyes began to widen as I realized I loved it, and I started contacting my family in a later time zone to let them know they should tune in.  Halfway through the show on my brother's end I checked to see if he was as enthralled - he texted, "Relatively confused but entertained." Ha!  I thought it was so appropriate we were texting about it since the scene he was watching was the "digital love story" of Frankie and June.

Anyhoo, I knew we were supposed to be expecting Paul McCartney in there somewhere, too, but it was just as good as it could get, at least for my family.  My dad is/was a serious Beatles fan and my brother is a rocker who named his little boy Jude after the song which Paul McCartney sang during the ceremony!  

So of course I texted my brother and my dad that they had to watch the show all the way to the very end because I knew they'd be wild about the performance.

Yesterday my SIL, Jude's mommy, sent me a few pics of the eponymous little guy.  Isn't he adorable?  Can't you just put these pictures together and imagine Sir McCartney directing him as he sings?

                Na na na                                                               Na na na na!

Hey, Jude!

Isn't he cute with his daddy in matching hats?  I had to ask my SIL permission to put these pics on my blog because I think Jude is the sweetest, cutest little thing but didn't want him overexposed.  So, here he is.  Thank you, Sir McCartney, for making the introduction!

Making good neighbors

They say good fences make good neighbors.  Well, we have no neighbors on this side of the house, but now we have a better fence, so maybe we will get better neighbors.  This was one of Scott's many acts of love over the weekend.  I can wait to blog them all (those I haven't eaten already).

Lord of the Rings

So, last night was the opening ceremonies of the Summer olympics in London.  I L-O-V-E-D it. So theatrical, funny, beautiful, brilliant, and British.  I loved how the music helped tell the story, and the fact that there were twenty things going on at once on a huge field and that the cameras were able to zoom in on certain vignettes so we could follow the story.  There were parts that were a bit confusing to me and I was glad that the commentators were explaining.  I hope that all of the members of the crowd had some kind of guide in their programs.

Before the ceremonies, I was feeling completely exhausted and discouraged by all that there was to do.  I felt the Lord remind me to "cease striving, and know that I am God." I read the rest of Psalm 46 while I rested.  It was good.  In college it was brought to my attention that "Be still and know that I am God" is just half of the verse; the other half is, "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

So, as I was watching the historical drama unfold on the olympic field, I was quite struck by all of the hymn singing.  I want to find out what some of those hymns were - one sounded like "Bread of Heaven" or something like that.  And it seemed like at one point in the children's hospital scene that the Mary Poppinses and others were dancing to "Good Christian Men, Rejoice."  I imagine it's just a traditional tune.

I watched almost all of the opening ceremonies.  I was tired, right?  And I was (and still am!) an English major, a somewhat closeted Anglo-phile, so I seriously soaked the whole thing in.  It didn't seem as long as it really was, to me.

Coincidentally, my daily Bible reading for yesterday also included Psalm 46.  It made me glad for the acknowledgement of Britain's Christian past, and a little sad that it was just considered part of the past.  It left me wondering if hymns and Christianity could be a significant part of Britain's future.

Thy Mercy

"But he gives us more grace." James 4:6a

I was meditating on God's very great grace toward me, grace that extends to every believer, and read these words from a favorite Bible teacher, "He is enough.  When you need more, you will have more.  When your woes are great, His grace is greater.  When our sins are vast, His mercy is deep.  We cannot exceed Him.  We cannot outrun Him."

I began to think of how "sin would reduce me to utter despair" if it were not for His mercy, which causes my spirits to revive, over and over again.

It reminded me of this hymn, which has been modernized by Sandra McCracken and recorded by Caedmon's Call and others.  Every single lyric I know, I can sing wholeheartedly.  I looked up the lyrics to double-check my memory and found that there were more lyrics than are included in the modern versions; not surprising since modern songs need to be cut to around 3 minutes or so and all six verses of a hymn sometimes cannot make the cut.  I like the editorial choices that were made, and yet the extra lyrics I could sing just as wholeheartedly.

His free grace alone, from the first to the last, has won my affection and bound my soul fast!


Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue.
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.


Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here.
Sin would reduce me to utter despair,
But through Thy free goodness, my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.


Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground
And weep for the praise of the mercy I've found.


Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own
In the covenant love of Thy crucified Son.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine 
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.


Amazing grace.  How sweet the sound!

Thankful

It has been in a thoughtful, though not unproductive, day. Learning new skills or adapting to change takes energy. I planned at one point to write a gripey post about how tired I am. Then I remembered that I ought to be thankful in all things. I am grateful for solutions to problems that come at just the right time. Like dinner tonight. I had some ground beef and noodles and was trying to figure out how to use said beef without serving a version of what I served last night (a sausage goulash). I recombined things in my mind with other available ingredients until I realized that I could serve this. Meatballs with chipotle ketchup and pasta primavera. I was really pleased that it turned out tasty, appealing, and a little bit special because of the ketchup (see prior post about making ketchup). My husband made a point to teach my daughter to thank me for cooking and for always keeping them fed.

Worth the Wait

This morning I went for a walk around our neighborhood lake, just to stretch my legs.  The lake level is quite low - a dry and weary land, indeed.

When I came home, my little girl was enjoying one of yesterday's pop tarts.  Were they good?  The answer from this little foodie was an emphatic, "Mmmm - hmmm."

This little cutie makes me laugh and smile so much.  Right now she is actually standing on a five-gallon bucket, looking on, amused that a picture of her is on the computer.  She's wanting more pictures of herself, and wanting to watch a movie.

We have a few good kids' albums we play a lot, and she's started to memorize and sing them.  Yesterday in the store, she was singing, "He is watching over you/ Ever faithful, ever true/ So be still, my soul, be still/ And know that He is God." This is from the first scripture lullabies album.  We also have a few of the Seeds Family Worship albums, which are also scripture set to music.

Sometimes this little girl reads my mind.  This morning as I was on my walk, I was thinking of the song that says, "Blessed are all who fear the Lord/ Who walks in His ways/ Walk in His ways." Maybe I was humming it or something, because then this morning I heard my daughter singing the same tune, but she had made an adaption to the lyric.  She was singing, "Walk in mistakes/ walk in mistakes." I had to kiss her sweet face and laugh.

That's exactly what I was thinking about this morning as I pondered my walk and listened to Sara Groves' song, "I'll Wait." Well, this little one isn't quite going to let me wait, so I'll embed this unlicensed video of it.  I can so relate to the feeling that there is so much I could do that would be ultimately a waste instead of an investment.



I was also thinking this morning about times I did not wait for the Lord, and ran with the horses right out of safe pasture.  I learned painful lessons that way, which ultimately brought me back closer to my shepherd.  I thought of Psalm 119:71, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." I have thought of that verse quite a bit, unfortunately.  But the Lord leads with cords of kindness, out of the wilderness, and I am still blessed to walk with Him.