Yada Yada Yada

The Ministry and Me

2012-01-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

With all my recent photography posts, ya'll are probably thinking that is all I spend my every waking hours doing. {And just between you and me- sometimes I DO spend more time on my new hobby than I should!} But really, my photography endeavors are a little further down on my priority list.

Nearer to the top is "The Ministry", as we call it. =) I guess that's just an abbreviated term for the service for God that we feel called to do. We happen to get a pay check from a church, but I know lots of people "in the ministry" who are technically accountants, engineers, doctors, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers. Okay well I actually don't know any butchers or candlestick makers, But I do know a baker!

I don't post much about our ministry here or the ministry in general. I guess it's because I feel hesitant to influence any one's perspective on full time ministry, or being an APW - Assistant Pastor's Wife, thank you very much- based on something I say. I'm afraid the ministry is overflowing with servants in the ministry, particularly women in the ministry, who feel like they don't "measure up". There can be such stiff stereotypes about what exactly makes a "good" pastor's wife (or any other position title you want to insert there, but probably the biggest would be the pastor's wife). I know of several ministry wives who don't feel like they have the right personality, talents, skills, knowledge or spirituality to be in the place that they are in. What's ironic is that one particular pastor's wife I know who really struggles with these feelings of inadequacy and lack of "what it takes" said to me that "she just isn't like Mrs. McCoy" - my late mother in law. And the kicker is that my mother in law never ever thought she was the quintessential pastor's wife at all! She felt like she never fit in at meetings for pastor's wives. She never enjoyed standing up and speaking in front of a group of women. She had to really muster up her courage to simply pray at a gathering like a baby shower. And there are many other specific areas that she was for sure not the "typical pastor's wife". But isn't it funny how to some, she represented everything a pastor's wife should be? When I told her how my struggling friend thought of her, she rolled her eyes and couldn't understand it.=)

As for me, I'm not much like my mother in law either. And I'm not too much like my home pastor's wife. But I do hope that I have little bits of pieces of them in me. I'll never be the ultra practical and mostly introvert that my mother in law was. But I hope I picked up some of incredible work ethic, and I hope that I learned from her to read the Bible for myself and let the Holy Spirit instruct me, instead of only living off of what someone tells me the Bible says. And I may not have the wonderfully ability to diffuse personality conflicts like my home pastor's wife did- but I sure hope I can someday!! {really need to work on that one!} And I absolutely hope I learned how to love unlovely people who can offer nothing in return like she did... as I was a recipient of that love.

I don't know all there is to know about surviving and thriving in the ministry. I know it's weird life. =) Tax preparers don't even know where to start with us. We have zero flexibility and yet we have lots of flexibility. Make sense? =) One thing I never like to say about ministry life is that we are busy. Look around you- who ISN'T busy!?! At least, we get to be busy together and doing for the Lord! It's actually a sweet deal.

Am I doing it "right"? I don't know.

My ministry consists of:
Loving Seth
Loving our girls
Helping Seth do ___________. {God fills in the blank.See? Told ya- weird, sweet life.}
Teaching SS, or helping others teach SS.
Nursery nursery nursery.

What I want to add:
Having a better attitude toward nursery. =)
Interacting more with the teen girls. In a way that doesn't involve them babysitting my children. =)
Being a true friend to the ladies in our church.
Encouraging the members of our church
Reaching out more effectively to those not in church.{Winter + young children = me feeling like a very unfruitful witness. Would love anyone's ideas for improving in this area. One thing I've decided to do is when strangers approach me to compliment or talk to my girls, I'm going to give them tracts and invite them. It's something I should already do I know, but so often I just have friendly chit chat and then they walk away and I think- duh! Should've invited them to church!}

I loved college. LOVED it. I learned a lot. But I don't know if one can actually teach the ministry. It's kind of on the job training kind of thing. So this is my "in a nutshell" thoughts on it.

Love,

Week 4/52

2012-01-27T12:42:00.000-08:00

The nephew photo shoot con't.

Love,

Week 3/52

2012-01-21T15:15:00.000-08:00

My cutie pie nephew is now 3 months old. So my sister in law came over and we spent about 2 1/2 hrs. on a make-shift photo shoot, with my house turned upside down by a. me rearranging furniture to get the baby in nice light and b. the 7 other children (yes, that would 8 children in total!) running amuck while we tried to make the baby stop fussing (tummy issues) or sucking the life out of his hand. It was a fun, hectic afternoon! While shooting, I thought well, this isn't going well, I'll probably get 4 good ones from the whole thing. And then while editing them (all 88 of them!) I got excited about how many I liked. But, of course, by now I have stared at them and picked them apart and found all the flaws. But, still, I think I like them overall.

I think the above storyboard looks funny- like he's dancing or something! =)

Love,

The Crowded Bathtub

2012-01-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

As I was getting these photos prepared for posting, it occured to me that Maddie may be reaching the age where bath photos shouldn't go online. So.... I'm going go ahead and declare that this are the last of them. =)

After many many attempts, I have finally figured out how to create storyboards. And truthfully, I actually downloaded the template here, and followed these instructions. Even which such great explanation, I'll be honest and tell ya: this was hard for me to learn! I *think* I can finally wrap my head around it now though. I am working on Photoshop Elements 8, the baby brother of the full Photoshop. I've had it a couple of years now and still have so much to learn. Of course, by now, Elements 9 and 10 have been released. Technology is a bit frustrating that way... you only have the latest for about 2 seconds.

But what is really giving me fits lately is my computer. It is a good 5 yrs. old which I guess in computer world is a grandfather. It originally only had 1 GB... after replacing the hard drive a couple of years ago, we figured we'd go ahead and put in another GB since Vista was taking that lonely GB all to itself. My Elements was more than it could handle. But about 354,986 photos, mostly saved in large files, later.... it's on it's death bed. =( I was given a lap top with 4 GB but it has some issues of it's own and can not connect to the interest. So now I'm debating what to do.... maybe put some money into the lap stop to fix it.... but I'm not sure about editing on a laptop. I'm so mouse accustomed. (I guess I could plug a mouse in a lap top, right?) Blach. This is not where I like to spend my time or money. But it's kind of necessary.

Love,

The mid-night run for a pregnancy test

2012-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

If that title doesn't draw in you, I don't know what will! =)

Yup. A few nights ago I sent my husband out to the store for a pregnancy test. I'd been intending to grab one all day and never got a round to it and I really didn't feel much eagerness about it... until trying to settle down and sleep.

"um, honey...."

And he was up, dressed and back in 15.

And it was negative. Both of them. =)

But in the hours, possible days, that I considered a 4th McCoy (girl, no doubt!) to be a possibility, a few noticeable changes took place that I think have been helpful to me.

With the idea that our house could get {more} crowded soon and that my already busy days would get busier, I immediately started to "man up". You know what I mean... stop whining about the nitty gritty hard work stuff that comes along with having cute and energetic and normal children. Why bother getting annoyed at the long lost of things you never have time to finish- just get busy doing your best and "hanging the rest". Yup, I'm tired. Who isn't? Yup, we're usually broke. We're in good company. My van is a perpetual dumpster. Okay it is a little gross sometimes and I need to be vigilant about getting every member of the family who can manage it to grab something on the way out of it. But a nice clean shiny new car is like not even on the radar right now. Oh well. It really doesn't matter.

What did (and does matter) is that I've got little people learning from me how to live, what attitudes to adopt, what to believe and if what I believe and what I do are at all connected.

So even though it's just the 5 of us still, I think this little rush of "what if's" this week was good for me. And what is kind of funny is that had anyone asked Seth or myself a week or two ago if #4 was on the wish list, we wouldn't probably have said not right now, we'd like to wait if we can. But you would never have guessed that by the cheesy grin on Seth's face when he came home with the tests. And no, I'm not exactly disappointed by the negative tests.... 3 babies born in October? Poor Eden would be so left out! I would have been very happy with a plus sign instead of a negative, too. It's just how we see it. I'd have to be a very difficult situation to not be excited and happy about a new baby. The craziest part of all is that the part I was starting to look forward to the most is the delivery. I know!?!! What in the world! But as painful and long and a little scary as it is, it's probably the most exciting thing in the world... to go the hospital with an empty back seat and come home with a tiny cooing little sweetie pie in the back seat. I was also starting to happily plan on more hair bows but don't tell Seth that part. =)

So for now, Leila continues to be "The Baby" and I am "manning up". Except for today, because I'm sick. =)

Love,

Week 2/52

2012-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Baklighting in a feild.... always nice. I'm not sure I *LOVE* these and am still learning how to shoot backlit situations but am committed to actually posting photos taken during the week, not better ones from a month ago. =) Hopefully by the end of 2012, I'll see marked improvement.

We had a nice warm week weather wise. Lots of illness at out house though. Today it was my turn. Blach.

Love,

My life these days

2012-01-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

A recap of life with my cute silly noisy family lately:

- Cold and flu season. I don't want to talk about it. ;) (But Maddie's asthma is doing well)

- Leila is 14 mo.s and loves food. LOVES food. Eats more than her big sisters. She sleeps and naps really well, so I'm a happy mama.

- Eden said one day "Mawm, (Mom) some people call me 'Eden' and some people call me 'Eden Gwace' (Grace) but my name is 'Eden Gwace'". "Oh, okay. Would you like everyone to call you 'Eden Grace' then?" "Yes, or 'Pinky'. She's really hesitant to express her opinions on matters, as you can see. ;)

- Laundry, laundry, laundry. I don't want to talk about it.

- Couponing... I've definitely slowed down with it. Maybe it's just me, but I'm really not finding as many fabulous deals as I used to. And some deals I'm not interested in- I still have several years worth of toothpaste and shampoo/conditioner. But I did just finally run out of toilet paper after stocking up in November 2010. Yeah- over a year of not buying TP. That was nice. And I also have learned that just because canned soup is cheap doesn't mean my family will eat it. I'm the big soup consumer in the family and I'm a bit of a soup snob and want homemade soup, or soup from a diner. So the small stock pile is good to have in case of emergency, but I don't need to jump on every Campbell's Chunky Soup deal I find. Still, other items I would love to restock up on but am not finding any great buys. So if you find outrageously awesome deals for toilet paper, dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent or breakfast cereal, let me know! =)

- I'm barely keeping my head above water when it comes to organizing and keeping this house in relative cleanliness. And believe me, I'm not striving for absolute perfection here. I'd be happy to settle for being able to walk without tripping on princess shoes, or have a counter top without mushed up banana finger prints. Leila has a blast emptying drawers and I need to be more consistent with having the girls put away one set of toys before getting new ones out. My husband's cousin's wife (wow- that's a mouthful!) has some great ideas here on her blog.

- Another link for you: my Bible reading schedule for 2012. The girls and I read the 'family" selection before starting school.

And that's all I've got time for folks. =)

Love,

Week 1/52

2012-01-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

I'm starting this off with some shots from a practice engagement session with a young couple that attends our church. It was really great to have subjects who were cooperative adults! Such a nice change from the riff raff I usually photograph!! ;)

And it was fun to hang out with these two and get to know them a little (any other mamas/nursery workers out there feel like by the time you get out the nursery, the bulk of the congregation has left? yeah-- missing some fellowship for sure!)

I initially like these a lot, but have now had time to pick them apart and have a list of 157 things I should have done differently. =) But in the end, it's all about:

;;
(Although big beautiful diamonds don't hurt either!)

And being together....

...(being cute isn't a bad thing, neither!)...

... on the journey of life.

Love,

My favorite guy

2011-12-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Christmas this year... I hope you did too!

We had a nice Eve of Christmas Eve with extended family. The girls were spoiled rotten with gifts from Nana on Christmas Eve. And then Christmas morning, our little family read of Jesus' birth and opened our own gifts to each other. I had found a play kitchen for the girls to share on clearance way back in the summer so it was fun to FINALLY give that to them (Not as fun to assemble, however!) We had a nice Christmas morning service. The choir sang two songs, without much practice. he he he Always interesting... We stumbled only a little and it's completely allowed on Christmas. =)

We spent most of the day at my father in law's, enjoying a house full of family.

I was thinking back on what my favorite element of Christmas 2011 was, and though I had fun with relatives and received some nice little treasures for myself, I really think my husband was, and is, my very favorite part of Christmas. Not a particular gift (though he did give me several... and only one made to Christmas day! He can't help himself and gives me presents early all the time.)

He's just so very good to me. I could elaborate and make ya'll nauseated. But in a nutshell: he is thoughtful of me. Like all the time. He's hopelessly convinced that I'm attractive. Poor guy has terrible taste in women. He's nice. And considerate. And works hard. And has absolute integrity.

There is an age old problem with young couples having unrealistic expectations in marriage. You know what I mean... he thinks she'll look like a super model 2 seconds after delivering a baby. She thinks he'll jump to take out the trash the very instant it's full. Or whatever else people dream of and expect of their future/current spouses. Of course, the fact that she is a sinner and he is a sinner doesn't cross their mind. Somehow they dilute themselves into thinking a perfect marriage can result of two imperfect people. And so that is an issue dealt with (hopefully) at some point before or early on in marriages.

But you know what I've noticed among younger generations growing up and getting married? They don't have unrealistically high expectations: sometimes they have no or low expectations. In 2011, young people don't envision the marriages of Ozzie and Harriet. The envision the marriages of Raymond and Deborah on "Everybody Loves Raymond" or Kate and her husband with the 8 kids. I personally see more young couples forming views of marriage that says lying is fine and customary, sarcastic cutting remarks are normal, regularly scheduled fights are to be expected, fidelity is nice but a lot to ask, and each partner is entitled to their own approach to parenting, even if it conflicts with the others.

I've heard lots of wise people recommend losing our unrealistic expectations of a perfect marriage. but I also want to encourage young couples to have a dream for their marriage. Dont' let the unhappy couples you observe, whether in real life or on TV, lessen your hopes and dreams of what your marriage can be. Perfect? Of course not! But not mean and selfish. No lying. Ever. Fidelity is absolutely expected. I'm not Harriet (thankfully...really don't love that name!) and Seth is no Ozzie. But overall, our marriage is a source of joy and a huge blessing to us, not a source of strife and a curse. And it's my hope that it always be will.

Love,

Ladies Christmas Coffee & Cookie Exchange

2011-12-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

Merry (day after!) Christmas!!! We had a very nice holiday... sweet service at chruch, a wonderful gathering of family (pretty soon we'll need to rent a banquet hall, I tell ya!) and just a fun relaxing day. I may have another post coming with more on our personal celebration of Jesus' birthday but today I wanted to share about a church ladies' fellowship. I really have one major reason for sharing... many of my friends are also in the ministry and we are ALWAYS looking for ideas to incorporate for our own churches!

This flyer/poster was printed on festive paper.

For refreshemtns, the ladies brought their "specialties" so we ended up with a sausage roll, spinach roll, a few different cheese dips and other similar goodies, along with a couple different varieties of coffee and fancy creamers. I love love love flavored creamers. =)

We ate our snacks, and then I had a very short devotional. I won't include the entire thing but my theme was "Chilled but Filled". The basic idea was it's a cold, stressful, somtimes difficult time of year and if we don't avoid it on purpose, we'll be filled with many negative things. But with Christ's help we can be filled with a some wonderful things. Several Scripture verses contain the phrase "filled with" and it's a fun Bible study to do. I particulary liked the vereses dealing with being filled with "wonder and amazement" and "joy and peace". Of course, the way to ensure being "chilled but filled" with the good stuff and not the bad stuff is keep our personal devotional time with the Lord a priority, especially during a time to celebrate His birth, and by doing for others, which is part of why we gave a portion of the cookies from the exchange away (see flyer).

I gave each lady a little momento pertaining to the devotional theme. These pockets made from scrapbooking paper contain a hot cocoa packet and a chocolate dipped peppermint stir stick.

Next was a simple game. I had several gifts wrapped mulitple times (varying from 3 times to about 10). I stood by a CD player with Christmas songs playing while the ladies passed the gifts around in a circle. When the music stopped, whoever was holding a gift carefully unwrapped ONE layer of wrapping paper. If they revealed the box itself, they won the gift. If they revealed another layer of wrapping, the present stayed in rotation. It was fun and rawdy! The gifts were: several sets of inexpensive Christmas pot holders, a beautiful christmas candle (the kind with a reflective finish on the inside- LOVE those!), and a cute cookie platter.

At that point, we did the exchange. Everyone gets their empty tray/platter and we walk around the table, each taking the same amount of cookies until they are all gone. No picking and choosin' - we all leave with the same variety/quanitiy, and no hurt feelings. Of course, this year, we first made little goody boxes of cookies for a short list of people we thought needed some extra holiday cheer. Volunteers delivered the cookies with a beautiful Christmas card that all the ladies had signed.

I think it was fun and it wasn't a ton of work for just one person either. I am no great party planning myself but I know it's helpful to me when other share the details of their own events so hopefully, I gave you enough info to be useful!

Looking forward to another year to serve the King of Kings! ♥

Love,

Working on: Focus and Processing

2011-12-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

I know- I promised a non-photography post. THIS is not it. I am planning to share about our ladies cookie exchange at church but (ironically) have to upload my photos from that still.

But in case you are actually interested in reading about my latest photographic adventures, here we go....

I have MUCH to learn still and honestly, this is a hobby that can be quite overwhelming. The day I took my camera out of the box, I switched it Manual and haven't turned the dial back. It's sort of like driving stick shift, with a million a half things to concentrate on all at once. So, lest I get overly discouraged, I'm biting off specific areas to work on, little by little. Lately, it's been focus and post processing.

Focus is a little elusive to me still. Of course, I only post the pictures on here that are (I think!) in focus. But trust me, there are probably 10 out of focus images for every one that is! Achieving sharp focus, for me, is like trying to make gravy. I do the exact some thing every time but get varied results, as was apparent last night when we smothered our country fried steak with some sort of dark brown goo in a gravy boat.

So there it is people. Manual mode is like driving a stick shift and focus is like gravy. A publisher will be knocking on my door to write a photography book at any moment.

If any of ya'll have some ideas for me, I'm all ears. I've googled and read until my eye balls bleed and still.. not nailing it.

Eye balls bleeding is by far the grossest metaphor I've used to date. Sorry.

I do think I'm improving in post processing. I'm still looking for ways to illuminate skin tones without making people like bizarre. (Do you other bloggers have get annoyed by how many sentences you begin with "I". Blogging can feel totally egotistical at times.)

But here are some examples of what I hope are post processing success:

My original edit back in October (I think it was October... I'm not looking it up!)

And then my recent re-try:

I think seeing these side by side, the re-edit looks a little overdone, but when this was printed, the colors were muted and I really liked how it printed.

Another from that same day:

Re edit, which I already dis like. Look how pink that "white" shirt is:

Oh and by the way, those are 2 different pictuers. Oh well. It's about the same with the actual picture that belongs there.
And Little Leila, looking more than a little yellow:

And now, hopefully with her jaundice cured:

And of course, I have the feeling that a year from now I'll look at these re edits and cringe and wonder how in the world I thought they were good. =)

And I finally got around to creating a watermark because apparently the internet is full to the brim of mean dishonest people. Who knew? ;)

Love,

The trouble with winter...

2011-12-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Well, first off, there are several things I could mention that trouble me about winter. But since we've been having really nice unusually warm days, even in December, I'm not going to complain. Much.

Nope, not gonna complain about the drama of finding gloves and hats for each of the girls (who cares about me. By the time I get into the car I've worked up a sweat getting them ready and am peeling off my coat!), Then get a coat on, one without itchy fur bothering certain little girls over sensitive chins, and zipped up, which of course means taking OFF the gloves we just wrangled on. And then the perpetual heap of boots and coats that weren't hung up upon re-entry. No I am not going to complain about that. And those "heaps" and "drama" of finding things is WITH "a place for everything and everything in it's place!" Oh for the days of slipping on flip flops and skipping out the door.

The real trouble with winter is that we can't play outside. And mama can't get good pictures without natural light. Flash = not my friend.

So my mission this week was finding the light indoors. Which also means weird, distracting backgrounds. Check out the grass and cat tails growing out of the girls heads while in their room. (I also had a bunch from a different room indoors but seem to have mis place those somewhere on my PC!)

I'm not 100% crazy about the light and how it falls on their faces. I need to find a way to succeed inside though.

Or ya'll ready for anon photography related post? One is a comin', I promise. Meanwhile...this is my relaxation technique. And with winter and all it's trouble, I need some way to relieve the stress of boots and gloves right? ;) Just jokin'. I'm glad my girls have all the winter gear they need to stay cozy.

Love,

Once a week

2011-12-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

I take a shower, whether I need it or not.

Okay, not really. I actually take one every day. But that's the first thing that came to my mind when I typed that title.

I have a really strange sense of humor. I used to try to hid it. I've given up.

Maybe I should type posts first, then title later.

What I really am implying by "once a week" is how often I'm committing to post photos. So now I have a dorky question: Is a 52 project like an official thing that one signs up for? Is there more then one? What's the best one? What does it mean to join one? How often do you take a shower? What is the meaning of life?

What in the world was in that Mocha whatch-ma-call-it drink from McDs?? *sigh* Probably lots of caffiene. It's gonna take a melatonin pill to get to sleep tonight. I'm so worn out in the a.m., it's take some serious coffee goodness to get going and then so wired by bedtime, I need some "natural" melatonin supplement to drift off before 2 am. Just a few steps away from Michael Jackson, I tell ya! Nothin' "natural" about that! =P

Anyway, how cute is Maddie? The other day, my sweetie pie honey bunches left these single pink roses all over the house with little notes. They're on their last day or two, so I let Maddie hold them while posing for me. It was pretty cold out (in the 30s!) so I got her a hot chocolate to warm up and thank her for helping Mommy work on photography. I'm still not nailing a few technical aspects. Bummer. It's sort of frustrating to not improve on something when you study up on it and work at it. But ultimately, I think the practice of being patient and not expecting instant expertise is good for me. For instance, I wasn't instantly good at snarky ridiculous sarcasm. It's taken years of practice, right? Well, no actually. I think I was born this way. Okay, bad example.

In other news, Christmas is soon to be here and it's a great time of year to be a mommy to 3 little ladies. We drove around looking at Christmas lights tonight. The older girls stared out of window shouting "LOOK AT THAT ONE!!!" to every house with so much as a lit up wreath! Maddie spotted little princess cell phones in a dollar bin and asked to buy some for her sister and friends. So she did and wrapped them herself. There's a LOT of tape on those little suckers! =) We're still carving out new holiday traditions for our young family so our plans for Christmas day aren't exactly settled, other than church. I love Christmas falling on Sunday. It just seems right to have a church service for Jesus' birthday.

Enjoy the season! ♥

Love,

Catching up...

2011-12-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Let's see how much catching up I can do before one of the younger girls wake up or the older one comes home from her Grandpa's....

We had a nice Thanksgiving... well okay it wasn't the absolute best Thanksgiving of my life. The flu hit our home on Monday with Leila, than on Wed. (yes, that would be the night directly before Thanksgiving!) Maddie contracted the grossness. Then poor Seth had it right smack dab on T-Day. He was sick in bed all day. We had a really delicious spread. But Seth didn't eat a morsel of it until the next day. And another not so great part of Thanksgiving was that my step dad passed away. It's very sad and I wish I had some positive spin to put on it. It is what is. He led a sad life and died in a very sad way. A part of me feels like there is not much point in being upset about it. While he was alive and doing poorly, there was a reason to be concerned and pray for him and cry over him. But now? No reason really. That may sound horrible cold. It's just how I feel about it right now. Maybe that will change. (A woman change the way she feels? Ha. It's been known to happen.) And while a death in the family right on a holiday is far from ideal, at least I had a fridge full of comfort foods at my disposal. Always something to be grateful for.

And by the way, the images I'm including in this post have literally nothing to do with what I'm writing.

We spent the day after Thanksgiving at home, enjoying just each other's company after the previous day with a house full of relatives (and enjoying not getting pepper sprayed at WalMart!). Seth recovered and gave food a try while I decorated our house in a Christmas flurry. I really enjoyed decorating this year. It's our second year in this house so I had a better idea of what I wanted to do. And ya'll should be very proud of me because with Seth still a bit disabled, I lugged my massive Christmas containers up and down the stairs all by myself! Exercise and Christmas decorating at once! =)

I did run out to Rite Aid to snag some fabulous deals on Thanksgiving day... yes, even with a sick hubby and lots of cooking/cleaning to do. BUT sadness of sadness, I accidentally THREW AWAY $25 in UP+s!!!! I couldn't believe it. So disappointed about that. Oh well. I just have to think of all the money I've saved over the past year with couponing and just let that loss go.

We're planning a cookie exchange for the ladies at church. Very excited about it! We'll each bake 6 dozen cookies and give some away to some people we think could use an extra little blessing this holiday season and then divide the rest up amongst ourselves for a scrumptious variety platter of cookies for our families. 6 dozen is a lot of cookies and now I'm slightly regretting stating so many but we'll manage. Maybe (if we do it next year) I'll lower the amount. I'm planning a game and the ladies are providing snacks. I have a devotional all typed and ready to go, even with a little favor to compliment it. But I'm lacking the nerve to actually give it. It just feels presumptuous to be a 28 yr old. giving a devotional, short as it may be. If a friend of mine said the same thing, I'd dismissed her hesitancy and whole heartedly encourage her to do it. But for myself... I'm still on the fence. =P

1st try at family photos

As far as my future as a blogger.... here's what I'm thinking:

Most of my computer time is spent trying to learn photography. So I'm considering joining the 365 thing but am not sure if I can actually commit to posting a picture every day. Maybe I'll do 52... once a week? We'll see.

Let's see what else...?...

I made my own hand soup. Just grated a bar (I used a 4 oz. bar of Yardley's Lavender soap), melted with 2 Tbs. of liquid glycerin and a gallon of water. I like it fine... it smells pleasant to me: like lavender (duh) and well... soap. =) I guess soap should smell like soap! The only negative to me is that when you pump it, it leaves an annoying string... you know, like melted cheese on a bite of pizza and makes a tiny mess on the counter. Something about store bought hand soap makes it not do that long strand of soap. But it was very very easy and made a TON for about $2. My plan is to use it when I can not get hand soap (or sometimes I just used dish soap in my hand pumps) for super cheap (with coupons of course). I've personally been having a dry spell with the fabulous coupon deals so this will do just fine.

Maddie is done with her Kindergarten phonic program. She started 1st grade L.A. and has half a year of K math to do. I know I've set myself up for complication later with being "off" her exact age / grade level, but I just couldn't see holding her back. I feel like in this one area of liking a goal and being challenged she is like me and I know if that appetite isn't satisfied, she'll get frustrated and loose interest in school all together. Just ask my former elementary teachers. They're motto was to keep me busy and challenged or live to regret it! ;) Of course Maddie would never do the horrible things I did to my teachers! =P I shudder at the thought! I think eventually, she'll run into something she struggles with and it'll slow her down enough to put back on the normal tract of curriculum. For me, algebra was that for sure and for certain. I never did figure who was that elusive Mr. X and frankly I just don't care! Or maybe she won't run into a subject to slow her down and we'll enter her in the kids tournament of Jeopardy and makes lots of money and retire. But probably the former. =)
Girls up and home. Have a great weekend!
Love,

That's the kind of blogger I am

2011-12-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

The kind of blogger who neglects her blog (and blog-world friends, even worse...sorry) for a month and then pops on just to shamelessly post of picture of her cute baby.

yup. That's the kind of blogger I am.

Actually, I've got lots I've been meaning to "catch up" on. It's just been very busy. Holidays, home school (just y one lil' kindergartner but boy it's just "one more thing" that for some reason zaps my time!), church stuff, and I don't know if you realize this or not, but 3 children are kinda time hogs! Who knew? ;)

Anyway, I do plan to blog more in depth as soon as possible. I've been thinking of what direction this blog will take in 2012 (can you believe where almost there already?!!!) and have (obviously) lots of pictures to share.

The above pic was taken today. I kinda love it. I don't think I've really loved any image of mine thus far. Yeah. Improvement (I think). Yeah!
Love,

Getting started with photography

2011-11-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

I am completely NOT at a skill level to teach photography. But having just gotten started, and having several friends inquire, I'll share some things that have been helpful to me.

You know that cliche saying "Life is about the journey, not the destination"? Well... it majorly applies to photography. As much as I would like to read a few books, try a few things and instantly be great.... it's not happening. But... I am still really enjoying myself. And am pretty sure I'm going to be enjoying photography for the rest of my life. So hopefully, somewhere along the way, my photos will improve. It's bound to happen, right?

Right?

Anyway, there are a thousand ways to skin a cat (as if you'd ever want to). But here are some resources and tips that I have found useful.

The basics of exposure, focus and composition is pretty much what it's all about.

This book was very highly recommended to me and helped me understand the basics, and inspired me to try some techniques he describes. Keep it away from your husband's eyes though because the author included photos of his wife and she's got a great figure. At least in the 2004 version. Maybe the 2010, one she's let herself go.☺ The above book is older version from 2004 which my library had. The one below is the most recent.

This post about the basics of exposing in manual mode from Click it Up a Notch helped me as well. Check out all the posts on her 'best of" tab. She also has a few videos with helpful instructions on setting focal points on individual camera brands.

The Pioneer Woman also has a series about exposure that may make the concept more clear. I also was helped by several posts made by contributor "Miz Booshay". This one in particular was very influential in my choice of camera and lense.

Handsome Man

Obviously, whatever camera you have, you've got to learn how to use it. Study your camera and it's manual until you can operate your camera without needing to think about it. (Which I'm not quite there yet.)

Cute nephew with big brown eyes

And another obvious point... practice. I happen to have 3 adorable practice subjects. BUT....

It's really helpful to practice on non-children. When you're trying to concentrate on so many things all at once, and you finally get everything how you want and you're ready to snap the picture.... the toddler waddles away. Or the 3 yr. old decided looking at you is just too much to ask. Now, Maddie thankfully, is a willing (usually) and calm volunteer. But children are not the easiest subjects to photograph and can be down right frustrating. So practice on adults when you can. Or salt and pepper shakers. Or lamps. ☺

Kids and other moving objects need faster shutter speeds

Shooting in RAW is generally the way to go according to.... everyone. ☺ When you have the RAW format, you can improve your photo so much in ways that otherwise just is not possible. If a photo is too dark, or too cold due to indoor lighting, a quick slide of a lever can make it all better. The reason I bring up RAW at all is to give you a head's up on a couple frustrating problems I ran into while transitioning from jpeg to RAW:

1. You need the resolution on your screen high to open RAW photos. It's simple fix of just right clicking on your desktop and increasing the resolution but it tooks me HOURS to figure that little thing out.

2. You may need to convert your RAW files from your camera to dng to be able to open them. This was so frustrating. I sat at my computer trying to figure this out and was ready to throw my whole desktop to the curb. I just want to take photos, not be a computer nerd!! Because my version of Photoshop Elements is a few years old and my camera is brand new, the two don't know how to play nice together. So I have to convert to dng format and then open with PE8. And extra step. But now that it's figured out, I can deal with it. Here is an article to help understand that issue.

Seth & Leila

While we're taking about annoying technical aspects that I really didn't know had anything to do with photography, color management is on that list. Did you know that the color you see on your screen is probably slightly different than what I see on mine? And then when we are surfing the Internet (or posting pictures to it) it's different again? And what Internet browser you use can change it yet again? This bring you into the subject of monitor calibration (setting your monitor's color to a set standard for consistency with other people's monitors). This can be expensive and I'm not forking over any more money right now. Photography can be one of those hobbies where one purchase leads to another which leads to another and I'm just not going to play that way. If I ever photograph professionally, then I will calibrate. Color management also bleeds into sRBG vs adobe RGB, which strangely enough people have strong opinions on and will debate emphatically. Personally, I find this whole arena a black hole that I don't want to get lost in. All I want to know is enough to be able to print and share photos online with the colors looking good to the normal eye. But it so sad to work on a picture and love it, then print it and be disapointed by it. So while it's not fun, figuring out color issues are important. Here's an article on color profiles . In a nutshell, convert your image in sRGB before posting online. (In Photoshop, you go to the "Image" tab to slect the color profile.)

Newborn Nephew

Speaking of printing, professional printers really do a much better job. I didn't want to accpet this. I wanted to be loyal to good ol' WalMart. But after printing the exact same photo at WalMart and at a local pro lab, it was painfully obvious that WalMart couldn't hold a candle. Of course, I'm not planning to print every single photo, or those that I do, sometimes WalMart quality is fine. But when it does matter... got to shell out a little more cash for quality.

My last bit of advice to is find a group of photographers who will critique your photos. All your non-photographer friends will love and compliment every shot you take. But other photographers will notice the technical aspects, be they failures or successes. It's hard to honestly evaluate your own work. And though hearing all the flaws on a image to which you are emotinally attached can be disheartening, it's really helpful in improving. Online forums can be a great source of information and tutorials as well.

And though it may not affect your photos, you sure will look cute wearing an adorable strap cover like this one! So wanting one like this!

So that is about it. Right now, I'm trying to work on light. I've noticed my photos tend to have harsh light (big shadows over the eyes, skin too bright), or not enough contrast (just dull, flat light). I'm looking for tips for placing myself and my subject properly in relation to the light source (which for me is the sun, since as I already said- I ain't spending no mo' money!)

If anyone has any tips about anything regarding photogrpahy, I, and I think others, would looooove to hear 'em!
Love,

Did I mention....

2011-10-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

that my baby is one?

And though this post will be about her first year, I am not including any photos. It's feast or famine around here! ;)

Of course, as every mom in the world laments, I can not believe she is already one. A toddler. Her infancy is over. In all honesty, she was my hardest infant. But these days, in her babbling, tottering around phase, she is much happier. And her cheeks.... on. my. goodness. Softest, most kissable cheeks ever. Still fairly bald, but I'm okay with that. I don't have time to do any more pig tails in the morning anyway! She {FINALLY} takes a short nap at 10am and long nap at 3pm. She's getting down right religious about it!

One thing that I think contributed to my fatigue and just general I'm slowly dying of sleep deprivation feelings during this past year is exclusively breastfeeding her entire first year. Well, I don't know if exclusive is the right word since she did eat solids but never ever ever a bottle/sippy. No juice. No formula. Not even expressed milk in a bottle. Just nursed the whooooooole first year. Now... I am very glad to have nursed my babies, and obviously don't regret it. BUT. It would have helped me if she would have taken a baba once in a while!

Here's the moral of the {terribly uninteresting} story:

When you read in the baby how-to books that if you don't introduce a bottle to your baby, ideally at 2 months, they may never accept a bottle, they really do mean that! They ain't jokin'! Not even a little! It may not apply to every baby. But let me tell you: It does apply to some! Namely, Leila Christine McCoy.

I was pretty "by the book" with the older girls and made sure they could switch from breast to bottle comfortably. But with Leila I though oh fooey on the book; I'm sure it'll be fine. And of course it was fine in the sense that the child was fed and grew and pooped and grew and all that. And {I think} I survived it too. But around 6 months into it, I began to really really wish the baby would take a bottle... you know... at church or in the car or with a sitter or (and here's a big one) in the middle of the night! Even if she did accept a bottle, I still would have continued nursing... it just would have been nice to have a little variety in the "soothe the baby" tool bag. Because when only one thing and one thing only soothes the baby.... that one thing may occasionally want to pull the covers over her head and go back to sleep.

So maybe someone out there is thinking That's just crazy!A baby who won't take bottle? Absurd.

And last year around this time I would have agreed with you. But now I don't. =P

Yes, I just stuck my tongue out at you.

yes, YOU.

So the following guidelines will be in place should I have another baby:

1. At exactly 8 weeks, the baby will be introduced to her (because of course, it would be a girl☺) new friend, and my old friend- a bottle.
2. Bigger hair flowers will be worn.
3. The baby will pose for hundreds of photos.

I reserve the right to add to the list at any time without advance notice.

Love,

Attempted Maternity Shoot

2011-10-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend and her cute lil' girls were willing to let me practice on them. I had several ideas, most of which completely flew out of my mind as soon as we started. I had wanted to try a few techniques for custom white balancing but only actually tried one.... but it was a learning experience for sure. Between an amateur photographer and a self conscience subject, it's amazing we got anything at all! Now look at this pregnant chick and you tell me: she's beautiful, right?

Given the chance, I think I'd do some things differently. For instance, we had set up in one spot where I was thinking oh I love the light right here! These are going to be so pretty! But in actuality, once on my computer, the light was very harsh and only one was salvageable. And of course my goal isn't to salvage photos! Reading the light is for sure an area to work on. But as I said, learning experience.

Here's the link for all the pics if you just can't enough of my bland photography!

(This silhouette would be more effective without all the trees, but try to find an un-treed landscape in Upstate NY... go on- just TRY! (I have and failed!) As is, she was on a picnic table!

I know that these last three are super similar. I suffer from a case of I never know which one is the best-itis.

Thank you for looking. I must now go put an end to the kung fu princess drama going on in the other room. I give 'em marks for originality in make believe! (No marks for keeping the noise level down though...)
Love,

If you like excessive pictures of someone else's kids....

2011-10-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

then this post if for you!

So now that it's just me and my mom, I'll get right to sharing some of my practice shooting. I'm still in "basics" land... trying to nail focus and exposure. Lighting is an important factor, and reading the light is not as easy as I thought it would be. Before the pictures, in case any of ya are interested, here are two blogs that I've found helpful in this beginning of my photography journey:

The Coffee Shop Blog

Click it Up a Notch

And now, lots and lots of redundant pictures, because I can not decide which ones are the best. ☺

And at this point, it was time to put down the camera and catch the streaker!

And now my beautiful 5 yr. old:

I'm dying for feedback so if you have critique, I'll gladly take it!
Love,

Thoughts on this Thursday

2011-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Eden asked if she could play with my wedding veil, so we made a deal: she'd pose for pictures in exchange. I should have been more specific in our contract and included a "look at the camera" clause.

Obviously, my heart just hasn't been into my blog lately. I am keeping up with the blogs that I follow but just don't have the time or energy to write these days. Many evenings, around 7 pm. I am just DONE. Done done done.

I am enjoying learning about photography. There is really do much more technical information to absorb that at times, I feel frustrated and overwhelmed and doubt I will ever learn enough to be any good at this. But I'm trying to bite off one chunk at a time, and have fun in the process. I have not been doing much editing; the above photo is the first one all week I've done much post processing with. I'm focusing on getting quality pictures in the camera. Nothing spectacular yet, of course. I'm sure I'll be sharing more photos in the future. Hope you don't mind that.

In other news, it's birthday month at our house! ☺Leila just turned 1 (wow!) and Maddie turns 5 in a few days. I turn.... 28... a couple of days after. Candy land cake is planned for a simple party on Sunday. Maddie is literally counting down the days. It's really fun to have kids old enough to actually get into their birthdays!

For me personally, I'm just plugging away at the typical mom/wife stuff. I feel like it's a 'steady as she goes' kind of phase for me right now. No great highs, no terrible lows. I get bits of encouragement and instruction from my Bible every day, and it's enough to hold me over until my tank is empty 24 hours later.

Love,

Dear 14 yr. old Leila

2011-10-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures of an uncooperative, but playful, almost 1 yr. old you. You had fun but didn't pose at all how I directed you to. You're future as a model is highly doubtful. And besides, your beautiful baby fat would not be appreciated in all it's pinch-able deliciousness.

Tutu. Check.
Glittery butterfly wings. Check.
Flower and headband. Check.
Put headband back on 76 times. Check.

What was missing?

Earrings. Little studs of sparkle glistening from your ear lobes.

Yes, by 14 yrs. old, you have realized that your older sisters have pierced ears, and have had them since infancy while you do not. Now you are faced with the choice of continuing a non-earring existence, or subject yourself to the pain of getting them pierced in your mature, conscience state.

Before you come to the conclusion that as the 3rd child, I loved you less, let me explain.

I also am the third born in my family and have been careful to take just as many if not more pictures of you. Decorated your room all pretty frilly just like I had with Maddie's. {Eden never got her own room!} Every once in a great while, I promise to put you in an outfit not worn (ie. worn out) by your sisters. But even with the best of intentions, I have yet to get your life insurance set up (you can just bum off your sister when it's time for you to go to college, k?) and um...well.. I don't give you a bath half as often as your sisters. But you don't stink, usually. Other than that, you've all been treated equally.

But with the earrings.... sigh. Mostly, I've just turned in to a big ol' bucket of smoosh and don't want to make you cry. Your older sisters cried less than a few minutes but still, I feel differently about now than I did then. Back then, beauty is pain was my motto. ☺ But now I feel like I might as well be binding your feet or some other cruel custom. Even yesterday, in the grocery store, a lady was pushing her wailing newborn around, not seeming to mind his screams. A few more minutes of it and I was about to go put his binky in for her. With more children, come grayy hairs, cavities, bigger feet, saggy all sorts of parts, and a backbone made of jello when it comes to crying babies.

But after looking at these pictures and foreseeing an irritated teenager in my future, I stiffened my jello spine and took you to the mall today. The lady working there didn't win my confidence. I still was going to go ahead and do it. I started to fill out the form, while you goo-ed and ga-ed from the stroller, no doubt looking forward to pretty silver studs in your ears. Or maybe not...

But then the lady said she was the only one working at the moment and so we wouldn't be able to do both ears at the same time. So I wadded up the form, snatched my credit card back, grabbed the stroller and ran out of the mall.

So that's why your ears aren't pierced. Don't hate me.

Love,

Photography

2011-10-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

For a few years now, I've considered buying a DSLR camera. After a few months of really wanting to learn photography and browsing through countless pictures of other bloggers and/or photographers, I decided I needed to put the idea out of my head. For a two reasons:

DSLR are a bit expensive.

Every other mommy blogger in the world was doing it, and I'm just ornery enough to not want to do what is popular at the moment. I want to be different like every one else. (☺). So instead of a fancy spancy camera, I got a photo editing program and tried to fake it, with limited success. But still, I have cute kids and therefore had cute pictures.

But after a couple years went by and I found myself frequently thinking Gee that would be a beautiful photo if some with the right equipment and knowledge were here to take it as I went about life, I talked to my husband about it and he was very supportive of the idea. So with an agreement that I'd save/earn some of the cost, he'd be my sponsor for the rest. ☺ I'm always asking him to be my sponsor. It's a nice way of saying Fork over some cash, man!

So.... I got a camera. Canon Rebel T3. Not the biggest fanciest but I'm more than pleased with it.

And now, to learn how in the world to take good pictures with it! I wasn't sure if I'd share this journey on my blog, because I know many of my friends take fantastic pictures and mine won't compare. But I'm honestly having fun learning and look forward to improving. If anyone has constructive criticism, I'd gladly take it; no worries about hurting my feelings. Just as I felt about my point and shoot, the subjects (primarily my girls) are the saving grace for any photo I take! ☺

Since getting the camera on Tuesday, I've taken a million horrible pictures of things like salt and pepper shakers, earrings, my kids, a lamp, etc. I am also squeezing in some reading about exposure and focus. But I'll share the least awful ones thus far, featuring my girls and my brand new nephew (doesn't he look adorable, especially for being only one day old?!):

Love,

Young Love

2011-09-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

And I'm takin' REAL young.

Back in July, our family attended a conference in NJ, at what our girls call "the New Jersey church". From her first class with the other 4 yr. olds, Maddie began talking to us about a little boy in her class named Nathan. We didn't think it was at all unusual for her to make a friend who was a boy, since she tends to gravitate toward playing with boys. Out of her 15 cousins, only 2 are girls and she rarely sees them. So she often plays with boys.

As the week went on, however, some unusual things did come out of her mouth.

"Hey Mom, you know my friend, Nathan... he's cute."

Hmm... that's a first. Babies, kittens, outfits. Those things are cute for a 4 yr. old girl. A boy? No.

And then, later, "Mom, Nathan is a KING!"

Wow. This little guy has made quite an impression.

Just so you know, we're not really big into the boyfriend/girlfriend pretend stuff for little ones. Sometimes I joke with friends of mine who have boys the same age as my daughters and we arrange their betrothment, but I never joke with the girls themselves about having a boyfriend. But I also didn't want to make much ado about nothing, so we just kind of smiled and nodded whenever Maddie talked about this cute, kingly boy named Nathan.

By the way, I never did get to met Nathan. So if you live in New Jersey and have a 4 ys. old boy named Nathan, kindly send me his picture and bio for a background check.

Now, here we are in September, and with ZERO prompting from us (believe me!) Maddie continues to bring up Nathan. Just today, she was reading a story and the character's name happened to be Nathan. She stopped reading and grinned at me, "Just like the boy at the New Jersey church that I fell in love with!"

Um, excuse me?

"You did not fall in love with Nathan."

I take partial blame for this: I used to term "fall in love" once when explaining to Maddie why so-and-so were getting married. Now I know I should have said that they were getting married because he worked a good job and her daddy said it was okay.

"But Mom," Maddie insisted, "I DID fall in love!"

"No, you did not".

"Why not?"

"Because 4 year olds aren't allowed."

So at this point in time, Maddie is planning a wedding to a boy named Nathan, Seth is sharpening his knife collection and I'm wondering how is it that we are having these conversations so soon.

I think it's time to introduce Maddie to harsh truth of cooties.
Love,

Fall has arrived.... and neat videos

2011-09-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

I know... who says "neat"? It's right up there in the list of terms no cool people use like "swell" and "dandy". But I just have a soft spot for out dated exclamations so I will continue to use them freely.

You may have guesed it by my lack of posts: I'm a busy girl these day. I've thoughtof post ideas a hundred times but lack the time to sit down and share. In no particular order, here's what's been keeping me from my keyboard:

cooking food
cleaning up food
buying food
teaching Maddie K
keeping little ones busy while I teach Maddie*
decorating for fall.... mums + pumpkin + my front porch = smile
revival meetings at church
weeding through closets to get the right size/season for all these people who live here
scrubbing basement walls to "dry lock" them (well, okay to be fair Seth has done all that)

Exciting things:

Leila walks. Not far and not steady but she does.

We have a pool table... awesome lil' story. Seth, who has forever wanted to have a pool table in our basement, was approached by an old neighbor/friend who wanted to know if we'd take a pool table of his hands. It's beautiful and they just wanted to clear the space so... um yeah. Jolly good!

Finally making progress with Maddie's asthma/allergies. New doc., new meds, no dust allowed in my house. No mold either, which is why the dry lock in the basement. Now if only my neighbors would all kindly chop down their oak trees and if Congress would please out law rag weed, we'd be all set. I'm sure rag weed is the only thing left for Congress to meddle with. =)

*And now, to share some DVDs I've loved and wanted to let you all know about.

The complete set of 8 is available here.

My sweet friend sent these to my girls a while ago and they love them. The cartoon stories about different heroes of the faith are done in such a great way. They are entertaining and teach great lessons. The DVD special features have GREAT documentaries that Seth and I enjoyed a lot too. We actually showed one of the documentaries at church. They are geared for school aged children but my 3 and 4 yr. old seem to be able to follow the plots easily enough. Some stories have scary parts (Jim Elliot's martyrdom, for example) but, in my opinion, it's not done in a graphic way. Mostly, the feelings of danger is created with music. One DVD, of Amy Carmichael in India, has a scene with a little girl being left at a temple by her mother and that is actually the scariest for my girls so we fast froward it.

Anyway, if you're like me and always looking for something safe and helpful for your kids to watch, here is an idea for you.

And that is all. Have a great day!

Love,

Can't hardly believe it!

2011-09-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I picked out clothes for my daughter's first day of school.

I have a school aged child.

Wow.

And no, she is not wearing the above outfit. Just the most recent picture of her.

She is SUPER excited. She doesn't get to go the school every day, since there is not enough staff to handle Kindergartners. But she is going for the first day "Opening" in which mean ol' Principal McCoy (aka Daddy) lays down the law, has a few contests, treats them to donut holes and other first day exciting activities.

All day long she has been saying to us, "Don't forget to walk me up early early in the morning for school!" No matter how many times we assure her that we will have her up and ready in time, she seems to be really anxious over us forgetting that it's her first day. And I just loved when she throw in: "Mom, we better remind Dad because you don't get up in the night time morning like he does."

While her and I decided what she'd wear tomorrow, I told her the sweater she'd picked wouldn't work because it wasn't in dress code because it has writing on it.

"What's dress code?" Oh man. So much for her to get accustomed to.

"It's like the rules for what you're allowed to wear to school, and if you aren't in dress code you get a demerit." I said.

"What's a demerit?" She wanted to know.

"You get a demerit when you do something against the rules."

"And you get put into jail?"

*chuckle*

"No... you don't get put into jail.

"Do you have to pay money?"

"No...."

"Do you get hit on the head?"

"NO!" What in the world? Where'd that come from? Kids are so weird.

By now, I'm thinking nothing much actually does happen when you get a demerit. You just get one. Nothing quite so bad like jail, or fines, or whacks on the head.

"You don't get to play when the other kids get to. And you get 3 in a day, you get in BIG TROUBLE."

None of this seemed to lessen her excitement for her first day. ☺

I'm excited for her. But amazed that it's here already. She is no longer a baby, or toddler or preschooler. She's a school aged kid. *gulp* Just a little ways away from being a bonefide Big Kid.

This parenting thing is intense. And hard and exhausting. But it seems to be going by so fast, that I know it'll be over before I know it. Not that there'll ever be a day when I'm not a parent. Because of course, each of my children will buy homes on my block and come eat dinner at my house every single evening for the rest of their lives. ☺ But even so, the days of discipline and teaching and training and punishing them, or bathing them, dressing them, nursing them, feeding them, or 24/7 care and responsibility for them will one day end. And I want to have no regrets. Which is probably an impossible goal. But how about few regrets? The days are passing quickly and I want to give it 100% while the window of training is open.

Maddie will never be a prechooler again. Never again a baby or toddler. It won't be long before other milestones are reached and I'll say good bye to her childhood entirely. So I'll mother the 4, almost 5 yr. old that she is now at full capacity, not mourning the days gone by, because I lived in those moments fully, nor to eager for the next phase for it will come in time's relentless fashion.

When it's all said and done, and my girls are all grown up, living right next door, and come check in on their elderly, yet mysteriously youthful looking mother, as she pets the pampered little lap dog that Daddy finally conceded into buying for her, complete with pink satin bow regardless of the dog's gender... I hope I can look back on these playful, tiring, messy days with satisfaction that I held nothing back and that my girls knew they were loved by a big God and a kooky mommy.

Love,

Baby Prayer

2011-09-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Children praying = pure listening enjoyment.

Today, this was Maddie's prayer before eating her lunch. (Background: "Aunt S. is having boy #5 at the end of the month, and two other ladies at church are expecting... one for sure a boy and one unknown).

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this food, please bless it to our bodies (said very fast).

(Now, more emphatically) I pray for all the mommies having babies. Please keep them safe. Please make the babies healthy. I pray that some will be girls and some will be boys.

God, I really wanted Aunt S. to have a girl but she is having a boy.

Amen.

Good thing God has Maddie around to fill Him in on these things. ☺

Love,

Solitude

2011-09-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

In solitude, where we are least alone. ~ Lord Byron

☺

Love,

How To: French Braid Around the Head

2011-09-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share this pretty but functional (as in... actually stays put longer than 3.4 seconds) french braid idea. I do this on my girls a lot and I think it's pretty stinkin' cute.

In Maddie's pic above, I stop the braid on one side and connect it with another braid below the ear. Dutch braid meets side pony tail. On Eden's pic, you can see that I wrap the initial braid all the way around. Very darling. Stick some flowers in it and she'll look like a cherub. Excpet not naked. The first idea (on Maddie) does hold up better while the chickies climb trees and jump off furniture.

I made a (cheesy) "how to" video on you tube. My husband (graciously) served as camera man and was in a bit of a hurry. {What, my dear? You DON'T want to spend all evening videoing me french braiding? I suppose the manicure session I had planned for later is out too.} In the video, Eden thought a fly was going to attack here, and claims child abuse for every slight tug at her hair. And Maddie was chatting away to herself in the background. But Leila was good and quiet. One of out of three. That's the best I hope for these days. ;) (kidding') Anyway, hopefully you can figure out what I was doing. And at the end, you may want to take a comb and smooth out any funky looking hairs on top (I forgot that on the video).

If I make no sense at all, have no fear. Pony tails will always be in style.

Love,

Sisters

2011-09-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's nice growing up with someone like you. Someone to lean on, to count on... someone to tell on!

Love,

I'm famous

2011-09-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, I did a guest post on Raising 4 Princesses. Didn't know I was a blog celebrity, did ya? ;)

Maria's blog epitmoizes why blogging is fun. You make new friends, you keep in touch with old friends, you learn new ideas. You share your own hair brained ideas. You're inspired to flex your creative muscles. You're encouraged to get through another day. And now, you'll get a silly method to make a mundane week night dinner a little more fun. ☺

Thanks for askin' me, Maria. It was fun!

Love,

Lying vs. Pretending

2011-08-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

Before I even begin trying to explain my thoughts on this issue, let me just start with the facts:

1. I don't have all the answers. (Duh!)
2. It's none of my business (in other words, it is not for me to judge) what other parents do or not do with their children in regard to this (or any other topic).
3. You may be utterly confused by the end of this, or any other post I have written.
4. My clothes do not match today.

Lying is obviously a serious no-no and Seth and I have tried to be very clear and strict in our intolerance of it with our children. Our approach has always been that lying in itself is far worse than whatever misdeed the child is trying to conceal.

Pretty cut and dry. Black and white.

Well.... yesterday, my girls were perched by the living room window, watching for their Nana to arrive for dinner. In their excitement, they had set up their surveillance very prematurely and had a good half hour to wait and watch for Nana. As I went about cooking dinner and picking up around the house, I would hear one of them gleefully announce that Nana had arrived. Hmm. She's early. And I came to the door to unlock it. But my Mom wasn't there. And the girls looked up at me with mischievous happy expressions.

"Is Nana here or not?" I asked.

"I was just joking."

Hmmmm. I'm not sure I like this "joke". I asked if they were lying. "No... just being tricky". Well, I for sure don't like "tricky". So, I said "You may pretend but when I ask, I would like the real answer". So for the next 20 minutes, "Nana's here!" was exclaimed while the other cheered, then they both laughed and the other took their turn with the false advertisement.

This is what poor kids do for entertainment. ;)

I was not, and am not, completely satisfied with my response. But I made a point to mention it to Seth and asked him what he thought. We both agree that malicious lying is always met with punishment. But we also agree that we like the girls to pretend and use their imaginations. So here is my question, which I hope others can add input to, provided it's done in a polite way:

How do you distinguish the line between children pretending vs. lying?

I'm imagining some have a scowl on their face by now because they think we're being too petty. But maybe to some, we're far too lenient. But although I would like to hear from friends on what has worked for them, the bottom line is that I want please God, and be careful in this responsibility of child rearing. This same logic is what has formed our family's stance on Santa. We don't tell our girls that he is real or brings them their presents, because this feels like lying to us. Neither do we cover their eyes every time we walk by him in the mall in December and chant "Santa is Satan with the letters mixed around!" We just see him as a fun, make believe character like Charlie Brown or the Easter Bunny. They can watch Christmas movies with Santa or have a chocolate Santa in their stocking. We're just not going to try to convince them he is real. I think Eden may think he is, but finally, at 3 yrs. old, Maddie demanded to know one way or the other: what's the deal on this Santa guy and why does the one on TV look different than the one at the mall? So we told her: he's just a fun character lots of people dress up as.

Though Santa is just an example I'm using to demonstrate pretending vs. lying, even growing up in a home that wasn't exactly Christain, I don't remember ever really believing in Santa. Presents said "From Santa" on on the tags but Santa's writing looked remarkably like my mom's, and you bet your biscuits we thanked Mom and Dad, not Santa. And there is a horrible but true story of me, as an 8 yr. old girl, sitting an adamant Santa believing friend down one day and letting him know it was all a fraud. The reindeer, the red suit, the half eaten cookies and half drunken milk... all an elaborate scam. He was literally devastated. I've never seen an 8 yr. old boy cry harder. Even ones with broken arms did not wail as this poor kid did. And (how sick was I), I remember feeling like I had done him a great service in bursting his bubble now and sparing him to pain of finding out as a middle aged man. Yes, I was a cynical kid in every way.

But if Santa is "real" at your house or not, no biggie to me. I know lots of good folk who have a grand family time with Santa at the center. And if you make delicious Santa shaped treats, you may share with me and I will gladly eat them. I'd like one right now, in fact.

The real point, which somehow I have completely deviated from, is making a clear distinction with children about pretend play and being deceitful. How does one do that? I'm definitely nixing the "tricky" or "sneaky" stuff. But imaginative play of the non-sneaky/non-tricky nature seems like a good thing to me.

For the time being, we continue to just say "Stop pretending and give me the correct answer" when we want the girls to return to reality for a moment. Maybe that will be sufficient. I just thought Hmmm... maybe some other moms have experience with this and wanted to open up the (hopefully gracious) conversation.

Love,

Leila {10 Mo.s}

2011-08-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

Love,

On second thought...

2011-08-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, something seems like a really great idea at first.

But after we try it for a while...

we change our mind.

Love,

Extending Grace

2011-08-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

I came across a verse today that smote my heart. I feel so convicted by it and wanted to share it you.

Job 24:12b "and the soul of the wounded crieth out; yet God layeth not folly to them.

I see in this verse an important element of God's character. For me, it reveals an attitude that can only be a result of God's great love and mercy toward us.

In this chapter of Job, we read a description of some very bad practices. And right smack in the middle of a long list of awful behavior is this statement about God's reaction to a wounded soul crying out.

What I find so convicting in this verse is that I'm afraid that if it were me, I probably would "lay folly to them". My attitude might be:

That's what they get.

They should have known better.

You made your bed, now lie in it.

Could have seen that coming.

They brought it on themselves.

But not our God. He hears the wounded... even if their wounds may be self inflicted.... and He lays not folly to them. After all, crying out to Him is the wisest thing they could possibly be doing. Our Father hears the cries of His children and doesn't think them foolish. He is always ready and eager to help us when when call upon Him.

How about me? When wounded souls cry for help, is my first reaction to just want to help, wherever they are? Or do I first have to think of all the failures they have done to deserve what they're suffering and think they are fools to want help now that all the damage has been done.

Because if the latter, I have surely forgotten what is written just a few chapters earlier:

Job 13:23 "How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

Do I offer a helping hand, or a turned up nose?

As people who have been blessed so abundantly with God's grace, let us not be reluctant to extend grace to others.

A partial retraction: A few hours after posting this, my husband came home. I, still excited over what God had shown me in my quiet time with Him, shared these verses with Seth. Instead of his usual positive comment, he took my Bible and read that chapter of Job. Then he read the one preceeding it. And, in the nicest of ways, told me I was a heretic. ;) Not really. But he did say he thought the verse didn't exactly say what I had taken it to say. I had been thinking of the word "folly" in the same way as foolishness. Like "oh you silly head to be crying out". But Seth said he believed that word folly was referring to the people's sin. And sure enough, the actual concordance agreed with my human concordance.

Folly in this verse comes from the word tiphlah: unsavouriness, unseemliness (moral).

So in light of this correct defining of "folly", I think Job 24:12 might be saying that God did not, at that time, hold them responsible for their folly, or moral unseemliness. But in verse 24 of that chapter it says "They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn." In other words, they got the spanking they deserved.

I'm leaving this post on, since I really spoke more of what the verse had made me feel rather than form a position of hard and fast "Thus saith the Lord". If anyone feels it would be a stumbling block, please say so and I'll remove it entirely.
Love,

Delicious Summertime Dinner: Chicken Club Sandwhiches and Corn Salad

2011-08-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

The secret to great food pictures contines to elude me =)

With the changes of seasons, our lives change as well. Sheets, clothes, smoke alarm batteries, shoes, hairstyles, even scented candles seem to be a reflection of the weather outside. Just like a "Clean Cotton" candle suits summer better than a musky cinnamon, we don't usually crave a piping hot pot roast on the hottest days of August. The dinner pictured above hit the summer craving spot perfectly.

I made this chicken recipe. I used Monterrey jack cheese instead of cheddar, and then I plopped them on a toasted bun with lettuce and tomato (and mayo for me, but no one else in the hohousehold!). As we've learned from experience, wrap these sandwiches up in foil to take them to-go (or to just wait for the rest of dinner to be ready), and the few minutes spent warming and meshing in the foil seem to cultivate wonderful yumminess. Or just eat them right away. Whatever.

For the corn salad (which I know, sounds weird but just trust me... I love this corn salad. I make it giant batches and fill half of my plate with it. I really really like it a LOT) I make a variation of this recipe. My changes: I don't use any hot peppers (because I want other people in the family besides myself to like it) but instead I throw in a bit of chopped green pepper (which I roast with the corn) and red onion, which I stir in raw. And I've personally never run into shredded coconut that was NOT sweetened, so I just use the regular sweet stuff. Sounds strange, I agree. But if people married salads, I marry this one.

Let me know if you try either one, but ya better hurry: Summer is rapidly coming to it's end! {Sadness perices my heart.}

☺

Love,

Turn a pair of jeans into a skirt

2011-08-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

A successful sewing project? From ME?

YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Perfect? No. It's better than perfect. It's done. ☺

A friend of mine (hi, Korina!) makes these and we've been wanting to get together for a little tutorial sewing session but... pregnancy (hers, not mine), kiddos, sickness, trips, LIFE seems to be keeping us from being able to do that. I had the materials (no cost!) so I thought why not try it on my own. So I did.

And I think I like it! Maddie really likes it. Woo-hoo!

I'll let you in a funny little secret though: the pink insert you see there... it's the legs of my old PJ pants. Cute ruffle action, huh? The waistband on these pants were stretched beyond usefulness, which is what happens when one wears non-maternity PJ pants through 3 pregnancies. Or just keeps any PJ pants for that long. But snip snip snip and viola: jean skirt insert. My friend had let me know that I should use a material for the insert that had a bit of stretch to it, so this was perfect-o!

I'm sure there are very helpful online tutorials or videos. Just a basic run down of what I did:

Ripped the inseam out. Continued ripping out the seam to the belt loop in back, and the zipper on front.

With the skirt/jeans inside out, sew the back together first, using a ruler to make a semi straight line from the waistband to the existing hem. This leaves excess material where the crotch was formally; this gets cut off after sewing. I then put a zip zag stitch along the inside of this seam to help make it more sturdy as my little tom boy plays. I will admit to you that this step had to be ripped out and redone, as this was an experiment. I've since done another pair with an elastic waistband and no back pocket and it was very very easy. This pictured skirt needed a little bit of tinkering to get the pockets to look normal and to have a gradual, A-line shape but the end product looks fine to my unprofessional, non perfectionist eyes.

With skirt turned right side out, sew the pink material into the upside down V. The front of the skirt had retained a hemmed appearance along the upside down V (though the hem was ripped out, the fold was still there). I placed my pink material inside where it looked good to me. I pinned the two bottom hems together first, then worked my way up the V. Then I used a zip zag stitch and put 'er together.

Maybe it looks totally dorky to some people. I think it's rather cute, and Maddie is a big fan! ☺ Since the jeans were hand me downs, and the pink material was salvage, it was FREE. ☺☺That gets TWO smiley faces!

Love,

Simple thoughts and books

2011-08-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

In these busy last days of summer, I have much on my mind. Some things are heavy in my heart. Some disappointments, concerns, regrets, wishes. But the practicality of life ~ the daily grind ~ leave me with limited time to dwell on all of it. Which is probably a good thing. So instead of the messy issues of life being put neatly into well thought through boxes, all I have these days is a random smattering of philosophies and ponder worthy thoughts. In no particular order:

The God of the work is more important than the work of God.

Self inflicted wounds hurt just as much as any other kind.

Happiness is the result of doing right.

I'm also reading through about 4 books right now! I never start books with some still unfinished! But I had several beckoning to me, so now I'm in a constant state of craving more time to read them. =) Oh well. They will all get read through sometime.

This one I came across while cleaning the church office (which I will post "after" pics of eventually):

I am about half way through it. It's a simple approach. Probably common sense to those who already have a handle on the subject. I am so far finding it helpful and a good reminder of what real obedience actually is, and is not.

This sobering book:
A Biblical Perspective of what to do when you are abused by Your Husband

has me ever so grateful for the kind and godly man that I have for a husband. I do feel that it is perhaps the best material from a Christian, Biblical perspective on this heart wrenching subject available, at least from what I have encountered.

And I'm picking out a few stories from:

Some of these short stories and poems are beloved favorites, others I don't care for at all and we simply skip them.

What is on your side table these days? =)

Love,

Returned

2011-08-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

So... we've returned from our trip. Now we're getting ready for a youth conference next week! ☺ Love the summer....

We had a really encouraging time. I feel soooo challenged to be a better student of the Bible. How in the world can I expect to be useful to God and helpful to others without knowing God's Word?!?! I had some very special moments in which God did some personal work in my heart. I may share later, or may not. I have bunches to do and these days I tend to spend my "free time" (whatever THAT means!) doing things other than blogging. I'm learning to knit with the Knifty Knitter, which is super easy. I've also gotten my hands on some fantastic ladies' Bible studies that I am eager to read. AND, on the drive home from our trip we received a call from one of the deacons at church. The home improvement store where he works allowed him to take a BEAUTIFUL office display home so long as he donated it to a not-for-profit. Wouldn't you know that the dimensions are PERFECT for the church office!?! So Seth and I are clearing out about 2 decades worth of paperwork and warranties and all sorts of STUFF that accumulates in an office for the finances and school of a church. I'm hoping to get before and after pictures to show you the transformation. We're really excited about this project though we are time crunched to get it done before leaving for the youth conference. Oh AND... I started "mystery shopping". Very fun.

Boring post. Not a single picture. Or even a joke. But I did want to let you know I am not still in New Jersey. That would no doubt be cause for concern. Because New Jersery is only for visiting.... not staying.

Love,

Packing...

2011-07-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

It brings out the crazy in me.

We're going to be attending a conference this week for pastor's and their families. We're so excited. The girls look forward to the "big New Jersey" church every year. We soak in the encouragement, teaching, fellowship, preaching while the girls have a FaNtAsTiC time of their own.

But today... today is not much excitement and fun. Today is laundry, folding, packing, repacking, squishing, debating what to bring, trying to figure out a way to NOT bring 4 pairs of heels for a 3 day trip (don't ask...). Packing reveals the dark side of my personality.

The side that shoos kids away 'cause their driving me nuts. The side that says "FIND YOUR OWN DINNER!". ☺The side that cleans little girl dress shoes with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. The side that puts the matching jewelry for each outfit in it's own zip top baggie and attaches it to that outfit's hanger. Even the clothes in the suit cases are packed on hangers. So that in the hotel, I just hang everything and for the rest of the trip I'm not digging through a dis-shoveled mess of a suitcase looking for one teeny sock on the bottom. The side that gets out the crevice tool for the vacuum and declares war on every crumb in the ever dirty van. Why I do this? I don't know. It's just gonna to get even dirtier on the trip. But when we pull that van out of the garage, it will be clean and organized and I will know where every single thing is. For a minute anyway.

I have a packing spreadsheet. It's true. A detailed list of everything we'll need. Or might possibly maybe need. Because when you travel with 3 kids 4 and under, you bring it all. You just never know when some one's gonna throw up or wet their undies or come down with a case of TB.

So I'm gettin' back to it now. Because those toiletries aren't going to label themselves.

Love,

McCoy Reunion

2011-07-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

After a few days of "just the five of us" at a campground, we headed out to my husband's cousin's dairy farm for a family reunion.

I like farms. Visiting them anyway. I can't say I'd ever be up to running one... but they sure are fun to visit, especially if you're a kid. The huge barn was set up with tables and a big spread of food put out. After a delicious roast beef lunch, the kids jumped on a trampoline, played in the slid-n-slid, checked out the cows, squirted water guns filled with ice water at other, played "Can-Jam" and rode the horses. I did not take very many pictures, because I was busy eating and yapping and enjoying myself. But I did get the camera out when the kids took turn riding the horses.

Maddie was very interested in the horses but too afraid to actually ride them. Maybe next time. Eden however did not hesitate to jump on "Princess" with her cousin and go for a trot.

My nephew, Eli riding with Grandpa

My nephew, Isaac, riding, even with a very badly broken arm

Jack, the big tough guy, was too afraid to ride solo

Sure you don't want to ride, Maddie?

Yeah I'm sure!

Love,

Vacation 2011 in Pictures

2011-07-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

McCoy Family Reunion pictures coming soon.

Love,

I'm back!

2011-07-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

From vacation, that is. You didn't even know I went on vaca, did you? Well, I did. We took the girls on our first ever real family vacation... just us 5. ☺We went camping for 2 nights and then joined up with extended relatives at a family reunion on my husband's cousins dairy farm. Talk about kid paradise! Horses, cows, slip-n-slid, lots and lots of cousins to play with, a trampoline, a swing set.... Maddie and Eden would have stayed forever.

I'm uploading all 157 pictures that I took over the 3 days. Yes. 157. Wow. I will be posting some soon. But don't worry... I won't post all of them!

In a nutshell: we had a great time. We relaxed and took our time and felt no rush or hustle (what a feeling... not used to that!) The girls (hopefully) have some fun memories of their first camp out. And it was wonderful to see family that we haven't seen for a long time.

Hope you've all been well!

Love,

Spring...um, I mean SUMMER cleaning

2011-07-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Spring was too busy. Summer is pretty busy so far too but I had some time today while the girls all were napping and so I tackled some neglected areas.

I was in the library recently looking for a particular book. I did not find the book I wanted, but found myself perusing a shelf full of housekeeping books. I checked several of them out, and have read through the first two (which were small). Can you believe that one of the books I checked out had cursing in it? In a housekeeping book? Seriously? Very disappointing. Now I am in the middle of this huge book, Home Comforts. I love the title, but have a love/hate relationship with the book itself. I love how detailed it is, but I hate how detailed it is. ☺ It is extremely thorough. I partly feel inspired to clean like the dickens, and partly overwhelmed with all that having a clean clean house entails. As I hold the 3 inch thick book, I think who in the world has time to do it all?! I'm too far along to abandon it now, but I will not be ironing sheets. I will not be folding fitted sheets. I will continue to fold/wad them as neatly as I can in 30 seconds, then stuff the fitted, flat and extra pillow case inside the remaining pillow case and shove the whole caboodle in the closet. This book does have me on the look out for microbes and any microscopic bacteria lurking about my kitchen, ready to contaminate my food and poison my family. If you see one, let me know.

I'm exaggerating a bit, of course. The notion creating a safe, comfortable haven for my family is a worth while endeavor, and not at all defined by excessive cleaning. It's a continuing process, with no end. I much prefer the term "home making" to "house keeping", or even worse "house wife". I am not married to my house. And I am not a hired maid putting in my hours for a paycheck. A home maker's salary couldn't ever possibly be calculated. Nor could her duties be strictly listed. They are slightly different in every household. It does seem universal though that good meals and relative orderliness go along way to creating a pleasant home.

So allow me to share some of the helpful info I've picked up, which maybe you already know:

*Ya gotta wash sheets in hot water. It kills nasty little bad guys. I have always washed most laundry in cold water to save energy (and cause that is how my Mom did things, and we do tend to keep house the same way our mamas do, don't we?!)

*Unless your hot water tank is set to reach 180 degrees (which is not likely), that all assuring "sanitize" setting on your automatic dishwasher ain't really sanitizing. So if your husband does as one lady I know did and put the dog's pooper-scooper in their dish washer thinking all would be sanitized and fine, stop him. And put a straight jacket on him before he hurts himself.

*Good pots and knives should never go in the dishwasher. (So wait... I'm expected to actually hand wash some things? Maybe the communists have the right idea about burning books...)

*Peroxide is a great bleacher. (I actually did already know that... it gets blood out super well.)

*The treatments put on fabrics to make them "wrinkle resistant" or "flame resistant" only last through apprx. 30 washings. (I don't know about you, but our clothes stick around for a lot longer than that! So this explains why my husband's shirts need {much} ironing, and why my kids occasionally burst into flame. Okay... that last part isn't true.)

I've also learned many helpful facts about different kinds of fabric and caring for them, but I won't attempt to explain it all. I learned it just well enough to be a little more efficient with cleaning them but not enough to teach it to someone else.
Maybe I'm a dork for even reading such books. But to me, keeping fresh and inspired in my efforts to clean or cook or teach little ones or be a godly wife or mother, or any other responsibilities that I'm privileged to call mine, helps me stay motivated. Blogs are also a great source for inspiration and new takes on old concepts.

Any handy household tips to share?

Love,

Bath Baby

2011-07-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I know... I just did a post with pictures of Leila. But I don't care; she's cute. So here's another.
Love,

Leila these days

2011-07-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Leila Christine McCoy

A few days shy of 9 months old.

Crawls, rolls, scoots. Says "da da da da da da" and a funny little growling noise. Wants no binkie, no bottle, no cupie. Only mama. Likes pears, apple sauce and cereal. 6 teeth. Oddles of rolls and squishy softness. 16 lbs. Loves playing in the bath and wading pool. Loves people! Any people... oh if only people would look at her and play with her all day she'd smile all day long. But when the people go away, she's sad.

She's my baby. But she's getting big awfully fast!

Love,

My Best Friend

2011-07-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, my Beloved and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. I know it's cliche. I know it sounds cheesy. But I really do believe our marriage gets better and better as time goes on. We know each other better, we appreciate each other more, we understand each other more, we communicate MUCH better, we simple enjoy each other more.

Seth is an amazing man. And frankly, I feel sorry for every other women in the world who isn't married to him. ☺ Seriously, he's wonderful.

When I was a teenager, I was so bored that I resorted to reading the celebrity biographies that my mom collected. Along with learning some weird non-useful information about Yul Brenner, I read something I've never forgotten. When George Burns was asked what was the secret to his long, happy marriage to his wife Grace, he said the secret was being married to Gracie. She was the reason it worked. And that truly is the case with Seth and I. We're happy. We don't fight. We don't argue. We don't need breaks from each other. We don't belittle each other. And it's not because of me. I'm likely to pick fights. I'm pretty good at arguing. I can have a tongue so biting and belittling, you'd be shocked. But Seth just doesn't participate. Ever try to argue with yourself? It's boring. From the very start in our relationship, he has set a tone of peace and loving kindness.

Seth is a man of principle. This is probably his greatest attribute. On matters of right and wrong, he doesn't waver. Do I occasionally disagree on what is "right" and what is "wrong"? Yes, of course. But I'm happy to pass the buck to him, because I know that one day, he will stand before God and give an account for our family. I want him to have a great judgement day. If he chooses to err on the side of caution, I can find security in this. And there have been several instances when I initially thought he was being more conservative than necessary but later came to see a great deal of wisdom in the decision. And on those occasions where I feel like we're doing or not doing something that God would want, he's always very willing to hear me out. We both have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, after all. And then the rest of life's choices... the opinions and preferences... Seth is always willing to surrender his wants to mine, or our children's. Or just about anyone. Seth is slow to express opinions. I'm literally happy when he does so that I have an opportunity to do something the way he likes.

Also, it doesn't hurt that he's such a good loookin' guy. I mean, just look at him... you'd never guess he's had 3 children. ☺

We enjoyed a delicious dinner out on our actual anniversary. Today, we took up a baby sitting offer from my husband's fantastic aunt and uncle, and went golfing together for the first time in way too long. (Last summer I was way too pregnant!)

As we headed to the course this morning, we both set goals for the 9 holes: Seth was aiming for 50 while I hoped for 90. Yes, I'm a bad golfer. I get the same score golfing and bowling. This is not good. But I do really enjoy golfing... with JUST Seth. I'm too self conscience to golf with other people. For one thing, I take a very long time, and another is that part of the correct golf stance is sticking your hiney out, which I try not to do in front of people, if I can at all help it.

But after Seth snapped these pictures of me, I now have a new reason to never golf with anyone else. Just look at this expression on my face!

We need a close up of this monstrosity:

Wow. Please tell me I don't make this face all the time! I literally had no idea my face could even do this until I got the pictures off the camera. Scary! Wow. I'm abandoning all vanity to even post this but it's so comical yet freaky I must share it with the world. I really wasn't concentrating that hard!

Despite my face's look of consternation, we had a very relaxing, fun time. Not only did I reach my goal, I surpassed it! I got a 61! Yeah!!! This was the best I have ever done. Seth didn't do as well as he would have liked (52)... but he looked happy none the less:

The course was beautiful and quiet, and the temperature was absolutely perfect. By the time the heat of the day began to come, we were finishing up. Golfing is a great date; I highly recommend it. Get a couple cool drinks, snuggle as you ride the golf cart, give each other saucy, inappropriate names on the score card, and pretend you need his help with your swing (wink, wink).

I'm looking forward to many more anniversaries with my best friend!

Love,

Exciting days

2011-06-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Oh where to start? We've had some busy, exciting days recently.

Firstly, let me just begin with my thoughts on this blog.

I occasionally get visions of blogger grandeur in my mind and I think: I am going to consistently pay good attention to my blog and build it into something good and helpful and entertaining: a real real blog. But the truth of the matter, as you may have already guessed, is that I just simply do not have the time to devote to it, on a consistent basis. My life's priorities just don't allow it. So you'll just have to tolerate my on again, off again, mediocre style of blogging. =)

Now, on to the glad happenings of late:

Last Sunday, Father's Day, Madison trusted Christ as her Saviour! Yeah!

She is 4 and a half and has been, for quite a while, been discussing matters of eternity with both Seth and I, and her other spiritual advisers, her cousins- ages 8 and 9. ☺It's only natural for a child who has been in church since birth to ponder Heaven and Hell a bit younger in life than most... but still, sometimes I wonder what people who are not in church, or not as involved in church, would think of the unusual conversations we have with our young children. It probably seems bizarre, or even morbid, for my 3 and 4 yr. old to easily talk of Hell, Heaven, the Devil, God, Jesus, sin or eternity. And I'm sure I have raised eye brows as I push my (at the time) 2 yr. old Maddie around in a shopping cart in Wal Mart while she happily, and loudly, sings about God hating our sin. I did try to direct the song's theme to more happy truths about God but no, God hating sin was all Maddie wanted to sing about that day. But this is how our girls are raised. In church. With the Bible, and it's topics, openly discussed. So we talk about what Heaven and Hell are like. They play baptism in the tub. We pray for healing when we have boo boo on little knees. And we are okay with youngsters thinking about where their souls will spend eternity.

After eating out for Father's Day, we had stopped by to visit a family who had unexpectedly lost a loved one. Maddie wondered why the house was so full of people. Why had the man died? And then she really wanted to know where that man was right now. All of these topics have been covered many times, of course. After leaving the house full of mourners, I took the younger girls home for afternoon naps while Seth and Maddie went off to run some errands. In the van, on Father's Day, Seth got to lead our daughter in a prayer to become a Christian.

The following day, Seth went off the a week of summer camp.... as a counselor. I think. ☺ Camp went really well. The boys from our youth group who went seemed to open themselves up and allow the preaching to work in their hearts. There were many fun activities for them and they all returned very tan, sore, tired and smiling.

I was exceedingly glad to have Seth home!!! I do. not. like. being home at night without him. I'm really fine during the day. I miss him, but I get things accomplished... do my own thing. Eat yogurt for dinner. Put the girls in bed at 7:30 in the evening. ☺Put them back in bed for the next hour and a half. Regret trying to put them to bed too early. Take Motrin Pm so that I have some hope of falling asleep. Turn the fan on super high to drown out the noise of every axe murderer walking by. Wake up freezing. Then repeat it all again for 5 days.

Somehow we survived. There was an embarrassing moment during the week, however...

In the 7 yrs. we've been married, Seth has always filled the tank with gas. I don't really even pay attention to the gas gauge at all. Occasionally, if Seth knows I plan to drive all over the state to shop or visit friends, he'll remind me to look at the gas gauge once in a while. But generally, he takes care of it completely. Well.... his perfect record is now tarnished. With a bazillion things on his to do list before leaving for camp (it was the last week of school, so lots of records work, preparing for schooling program, preparing for Father's Day at church, financial mumbo jumbo at church, etc) he did not fill up the tank before abandoning... um I mean leaving me for his life's work. ☺So as I headed to the park on Monday with the girls all sun blocked and ready to play, I for some reason looked at the big "E" on my dash. Uh-oh. Do I even remember how to pump gas? It's embarrassing... I know. A 27 yr. old mother of 3 really should be able to pump her own gas without issue. So I pull in, and start the process. I'm simply following the prompts. But something isn't working!! I did everything like I'm supposed to but the stunkin' (and it really does stink) gas is NOT coming out!!!! I'm started to get flustered. And yes, a bead of sweat or two is forming on my brow. Grrrrrrr. I'm pretty sure the other customers are looking at me wondering how an idiot like me even has their license. And then, from the back window of the van, I hear the sweet voice of my 4 yr. old.

"Mom, what's taking so long?"

"Mom, maybe you should just go inside and ask for help."

Grrrrr.

Cell phone out, calling Seth... in the middle of whatever he is doing, 5 hrs. away from me and our gas-less van.

"What am I doing wrong?"

He doesn't know. He can't see. He doesn't have good reception where he is.

I abandon that gas pump. It's obviously defective. After pulling up to a different pump, I start anew. It doesn't work. The whole station must be broken. Was there an explosive episode in the OPEC nations that I hadn't heard about? Can a girl just get some gas????

We go to the park. Still on "E".

I drive home, stopping at the only full service station I know of and pay a ridiculous amount of money for my ridiculous gas.

I'm ready for electric cars. I think I can mange plugging in a cord.

After the week of Seth being gone, we were so happy to have him home again. He came home 15 shades darker and tired to the bones. After a day of recovery, which was actually a busy day as all seem to be lately, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday. I intend to dedicate an entire post to our anniversary but for now, the highlights:

Steak dinner. No children present. Amen.

I brought my wedding veil to church with me and plopped it on my head for a while. Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that it was no ordinary day. ☺

Love,

Do I win an award?

2011-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Mundane Mondays? Nope, not here, not today, at least!

Starting shortly after breakfast, my girls and I:

- Went to our favorite park, bringing Maddie's bicycle along, and went around a long trail, picking flowers, trying fancy bike tricks and "looking" for frogs (just between you and me, I wasn't looking too hard).

- Played at the playground, swinging and sliding with glee, for about 2 hrs.

- Ate lunch at McDonalds. Played in Play Place for over 1 hr.

- Napped/read books at home.

- Had pancakes for dinner

- Went to a Farmer's Market

- Walked to the library, checked out 8 books and a video.

- Had ice cream cones at home.

- Watched rented video.

The girls are filling out the nomination forms for my "Mother of the Year Award" as I type. Of-course we all know that tomorrow could disqualify me.

But for tonight, it is a house full of happy little women.

Love,

My favorite Daddy's on Father's Day

2011-06-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Dads everywhere woke up this morning to coffee mugs, t-shirts, card or banners reading "World's Greatest Dad" In fact, those are all inaccurate because I just so happen to know the world's greatest dad - the real one.

It's Seth.

Honestly, he is amazing. My girls are very blessed to have the Daddy that they have.

We gifted Seth with our customary photo coffee mug, a giant poster declaring our love and appreciation and a batch of "No Bake Cookies", which the girls helped make him. Maddie also had a the idea of wrapping up a DVD (one that we already own) for him. ☺ She picked Pride and Prejudice. {ha ha ha ha} That was funny. We also took Daddy out to the restaurant of his choice. Of course, since I have no income, he paid. ☺

On Father's Day, my mind goes straight to my husband. Then to my father in law. It wasn't until today, as I observed others celebrating Father's Day, that I realized my mind doesn't naturally go to my own father. I don't think of him at all. I do have a step-dad that I call Dad, and send him pictures of my girls periodically, but I honestly don't think of him primary on Father's Day either. There is no anger or ill will for either of them in my heart. Honestly, I feel mostly pity, concern for their eternal destinies and just plain old acceptance of the circumstances of my childhood. There is no changing any of it. God knew what family I was born into and in His mercy, He came to me. He sought me and saved me, in more than one way. I can be nothing but grateful.

As I see my husband interact with our daughters... the pure love between them, the security the girls find in Daddy's arms, the fun they have in his company, the instruction he gives them, the material needs he provides for them, the genuine interest he has in them.... all the elements of this vital relationship in their lives, and I am filled with hope for their future. By God's grace, they'll have a foundation they can stand on as adult women one day.

As for me, I distinctly recall the day when I was 12 yrs. old when in prayer I said to God, Be my Daddy. He was already my Creator. When I received Christ as Savior, He became my Father, and I became His child. But I needed Him to be even more. I needed Him to be my Daddy. I needed Him to protect me as a Daddy protects his little girl. When I was interested in a certain boy, I had to go home and ask my Daddy: my Heavenly Daddy. When decisions came my way and the counsel of an earthly daddy couldn't be found, I turned to my Holy Daddy. As a 16 yr. old girl headed across the country to college, I needed my Daddy to make sure my school bill was paid. And to make sure I wasn't joining the wrong crowds. And I needed my Daddy to check out the handsome young man that wanted to date me. My Daddy said Seth was a keeper. ☺

So Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, and to my Father, the King of Kings.

"...your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things" Luke 12:30

Love,

Commenting Issues

2011-06-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Several people have mentioned to me that leaving comments on my blog is difficult, if not impossible at times. I'm at a loss why that is, but I dug around in Blogger Help to try to find some solutions. I changed some settings on my end, and I am hoping it helps. I am sad thinking of all the comments I've missed! But I also understand how annoying it is to try and re-try to leave a quick little comment with no success!

So give it another try and let me know of your experience. I do moderate comments so it will not appear immediantely, although you should be told that it was entered successfully.

Love,

Nephews of mine

2011-06-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am by no means a photographer, but I would like to save up for a SLR camera. I have not made any progress with that actually.... boo. But recently, I had my handy point and shoot camera and happened to be a lovely location and so I forced two of my nephews to sit still for me. ☺

"You don't have to smile if you don't want to. Just sit for me." So they did.

Love,

Didn't think it would ever be done....

2011-06-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'm FINALLY done stenciling Leila's bedroom. The walls were painted the boring beige last year when we moved into the house, and I left two walls untouched. Just the walls in the picture got the lavender stencil action. I plan to install a chair rail onto the wall with a solid lavender bottom half. I'm even considering tackling that on my own since my handsome husband is a very busy man right now. Keep ya posted on that adventure...

I'm happy with the result but will probably never attempt this again. The hardest part was keeping the stencil clean. The ornate nature of the design made paint goop up a real issue. As paint dried on the stencil, the design would begin to look smudged. So I had to stop and clean it often, which was extremely tedious. I know that I spent more time cleaning the stencil (peeling away at tiny strands in between the scrolls and curves) than actually painting.

In case you care, I used a 12x12 wall stencil I found at Hobby Lobby. I sprayed the back with stencil adhesive, which was useful but I found I also needed a few pieces of blue painters tape to really be safe. Don't want a paint filled stencil falling down on your floor! I applied the paint with a 6 in. sponge roller but I think a crafting sponge (the natural sea sponge kind) would have worked better. But once I started with the roller, I wanted to finish with the same technique for consistency. It was not hard to line the stencil up and repeat the pattern, because it has a nifty guide system which was easy to figure out. Getting the stencil into corners and along the window was NOT easy. I think I say "super easy" in half my posts but I will not be using that phrase to describe this project! If I ever do stencil an entire wall again, I'll be picking one without a window! Or corners... ☺

To complete the room, I need the chair rail and possibly some sheer curtain panels (the lilac valance will stay... snagged that at a garage sale!). I'm also planning to paint an old toy box to match. And of course the crib in and the elliptical out. Unless Leila expresses a desire to get in some cardio. ;) Pictures will be shared!

Love,

Fajitas with homemade salsa and guac

2011-06-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

My house smells like a Mexican restaurant right now. And I like it.

Being born and bred in Southern California, in an area where "wedos" were in the minority, I am physically required to consume food of Mexican origin at least 3 times a month or my big toes shrivel and my left rotary cuff twitches. My husband has the same condition regarding pizza.

In case you are lost right now, "wedo" (or the feminine "weda") is a derogatory term us white folk were called. It's okay. I've accepted the fact that I am white. I no longer try to wear deep brown lipstick. And I've burned all pictures of that phase.

As for my toes shriveling and my rotary cuff twitching, it's personal. You don't want to hear any more.

Back to my Tex-Mex, spicy food addiction.

I love NY. Mostly. But it does have it's flaws. For one thing, a church pot luck in my region consists of pasta, sausage and peppers, more pasta, greens, pasta salad and something half of you will not recognize and shouldn't bother with anyway: tomato pie. Tomato pie is a local favorite, and is basically a pizza that the cook got tired half way through making and called it quits before adding pepperoni or final baking. Sounds bad, right? It is.

As any good California girl knows, a church pot lunch SHOULD contain carne asada, chili quillas, and sub sandwiches. (Hey, every pot luck, regardless of ethnic preferences, should have subs!)

So in the interest of my toes and shoulders, I make dinners containing tortillas, chili powder, and cilantro often.

I love cilantro. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. If marrying herbs were legal, I'd marry cilantro. I might date basil, because it's pretty good too. But definitely would make it official with cilantro.

Tonight's menu:

Steak fajitas with homemade salsa and guacamole.

Steak, lettuce, peppers, onion, salsa & fresh cilantro on flour tortilla = party in my tum tum

Early in the day... btw, starting dinner early in the dinner is pretty much always a good idea. Make sure the meat is defrosted, marinate it, chop veggies, pre-cook what you can, etc. Makes that stressful time between 4:30 and 5:30 pm, when the kids are up from naps and grouchy, the hubby is just coming home (and wants a glass of cold water and a smooth from his honey), the baby is hungry.... all that chaos! Makes that much more manageable if dinner is already off to a good start.

Anyway, early in the day, I put a chuck steak (about an inch thick... of course flank steak or any better cut of meat would be awesome, but I just used what I had) into a plastic bag with the following:

2 Tbs. lemon juice

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. crushed cherry pepper (that jarred stuff I love so much and elaborated on here)

I totally just made that little marinade up... anything with some sort of acid (lemon juice or vinegar of any kind, even Italian dressing from a bottle) along with the flavors of your desire with do the trick. I might try cumin, soy sauce, or just a pre-mixed Mexican spice blend.

With the meat getting happy in the fridge, I made salsa using this SUPER EASY recipe. I had all but given up on homemade salsa. Because NY's other major flaw is that tomatoes here are not that great. And they're not that cheap. So when buying tomatoes you're taking a gamble: when you cut into it, will it be red all the way through, or that nasty white mealy business? It's a gamble I've lost too many times. In the list of things I miss about California, after family and the weather, is fruit stands. We would buy the biggest, juiciest, reddest tomatoes from some dude selling produce from under a tent on the side of the road. They were so yummy, you could shake on some salt and eat it like you would an apple. Anyway, the recipe I used today calls for canned tomatoes, and as sad as it is to say this, canned worked much better than fresh in my salsa today.

I set some salsa aside and mixed into 2 mashed avocados and called it guacamole. I don't know if that is actually how you make guac, but it works for me.

Those both are best when refrigerated a while to mix and mingle and let all the ingredients get to know each other better.

Then, all that's left to do is cook the meat, caramelize some onions and peppers, and serve with tortillas, lettuce, cheese, salsa and quac. Sour cream? Yes that too. Spanish rice? Absolutely. Corn? Hey, good idea! Olives? Well, all right, if you want to go ahead but I'm not.

I cooked my chuck steak in a skillet. A grill would have been wonderful, but sadly, we don't own one. Booooooo. I think next time I have a cheaper cut of meat and want to make this, I'll slow cook it and shred it. But pan searing about 5 minutes on each side, then slicing worked pretty well tonight. When the meat was removed from the pan and covered with foil, I threw the onions and peppers in. When they were done to my satisfaction, I sliced the meat and set it on top on the cooked veggies.

The Right Way (ie. Kayte's Way) he he he

Then you set it all the table and let everyone make their own, to their own liking. A handy tip I think I learned from my sister in law, Tara, is to warm the flour tortillas in up in a microwave. First wrap them up in a damp paper towel and zap 'em for 15 seconds. So easy.

Seth's magic mix - steak, lettuce, nacho cheese, salsa

Maddie's "Purist" Fajita- Just meat and hot sauce

So there you have it: everything you never cared to know about what we had for dinner tonight. ☺

Love,

Mini Vaca

2011-06-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a big believer in the power of a mini vaca... 5 - 10 minutes to just relax, recoup, recharge.

I can not manage a power nap. No matter how tired I am, I always require a good half an hour to fall asleep. It's one of the things I literally envy about my husband. He's asleep before his head hits the pillow. Attempting a power nap only leaves me groggy, grouchy and longing for 3-4 days of solid sleep. But taking a hiatus from duty and work in the middle of the day is my salvation. I often play a mental game with myself: Finish this difficult / boring / tedious task and then take a mini vaca, such as:

Cup of tea and a few chapters of a good book.

Soaking in a bubble filled tub

Lawn chair, sunshine, cool drink. Must have sunglasses.

Reading my favorite blogs

Occasionally, my husband will send me off to the bookstore without children and I'll get a ridiculously over priced Chai Latte, and sit and read for a while. Oooooohhhhhh so nice!

And then there is this highly effective mini vaca:

Cleaning.

I know. I just lost half, if not all of you. It's not that cleaning is fun fun hip hip hooray! But I speak from my own experience that when I feel frazzled... irritated.... ready to snap at any moment (don't pretend you've never been there! ☺) I know that one thing will immediately have a positive effect on the whole scene:

Pick up the junk. Throw away the trash. Finally scrub away at that stupid smudge of raspberry jam on the carpet that has been screaming at you since yesterday. Deal with the sink full of dishes. Put away the basket of clean laundry taking up real estate on the couch.

Am I suggesting doing all of that and pretending that it is a vacation? No. But I do say pick one... the one thing that is gnawing at you the most... and just get 'er done. And then sit back and enjoy your raspberry jam free carpet.

Doing what I don't want to do (but need to) leaves me feeling good. And a little less overwhelmed. And much more able to really enjoy the mini vacations I mentioned earlier.

How about you? What do you do for a mini vaca?

Love,

Over-reacting Mama

2011-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel that you are one? Asking the mamas right now, of course. Because if you're a man and you feel like an over-reacting mama, you might want to get that checked out.

For me, I have had fought the urge to over react since the day the two pink lines showed up on the at home pregnancy test. Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I don't. It seems, however that I am usually surrounded by people who tend to under-react... so there is balance after all is said and done. My husband is Mr. Steady. He doesn't get overly excited about too much. And the other man involved in my children's well being, our pediatrician, is the most mellow man you've ever met in your life. One time, during a well child visit, I told Dr. T that Madison's head occasionally falls off and I have to fasten it back on. He still gave me his standard reply to just about every concern I bring to him: That's perfectly normal; she'll probably outgrow it.

Okay, so I did not actually have that conversion, and Madison's head has never actually fallen off. Came close but never did entirely dislodge. And I'm not complaining about my doctor or my husband. They're good for me. They help me take a deep breathe and count to 10 and pop a sedative and put my head in between my knees and visualize a beach with tranquil waves. All right, they do none of those things; I guess I'm in the mood to write fiction today. They simply help me to refrain from over reacting.

Like I did today.

The older girls are in the habit of picking flowers for me all the time. Just about every time they go outside, they find a dandelion or buttercup or some other plant to pick and proudly present to me. I looooove this stage. It's just so cute to see them frolicking around with handfuls of wildflowers. Sometimes, when they pick an abundance I put them into a mason jar on my window sill. Beautiful. Sometimes, when the girls have braids in their hair, I weave the stems into the braids. Even more beautiful.

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch nursing Leila, while the girls ran around outside while Seth did some yard work. Suddenly, Eden came charging through the door, running full speed at me with a squirming lizard in her hand! My heart just about jumped out of my body and plopped onto the ottoman. Reptiles and amphibians are. not. welcome indoors. The welcome sign on the door does. not. apply to lizards. I started screaming, "Get that out of here!!! Go! Out! NOW!"

Leila started crying, and Eden's jubilant expression was immediately replaced with shock and bewilderment. She did as told, turned right around and headed out the door. As I watched her leave, I looked more closely at the Evil Lizard of Doom, and realized it was leaves. Unusual, fern-like light green leaves that she had picked to bring me. Not a lizard to contaminate my home and infant child. Just leaves.

I called her back and she very timidly, slowly inched her way back with her now rumpled gift. I told her about my misunderstanding, which she thought was quite funny. And the funniest part of all is that I never need fear Eden even touching something slimy like a lizard... it's Maddie's who I need to take a closer look at what she's mashing in her hands. (Yes, caterpillars have met their demise by her over adoring hands.)

So there you have it. My latest episode of unwarranted hysteria.
Love,

Now accepting applicants

2011-06-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

Some people call it the "Terrible Twos"... some just call it life with kids. Some, I've heard, deny it's existence.

I'm referring to that age in early childhood when your sweet little cherub adopts the misguided philosophy that they are the ruler of the universe.

For Maddie, it happen young: 14 months. It was like a switch went off and she put on her crown as Queen of our home. And for the next several months I worked very very hard at dethroning her. For, as I say, she may be the Princess, but I am the Queen. ☺

Eden has always lacked Maddie's amazing persistence (ie. stubbornness). The stiff necked, dig in your heels for all out war did not come at 14 months. Or age 2.

I thought I was home free.

I was wrong.

Though her campaign for world domination takes slightly different approach, she has none-the-less decided she would like to be the CEO of McCoy Enterprises. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that she would like the become the guardian for every child under the age of 5 within the Northeast corridor. So, be forewarned, children within a 50 mile radius, that if Eden even suspects you are being naughty (which is loosely defined by her personal appraisal of your behavior) she will emphatically rebuke you and quite possible administer a spanking, with or without a signed parental consent.

We are currently accepting applications to enroll preschoolers and toddlers for Eden's day care services. Sign up only if you hope of reformation by Eden's unorthodox techniques.

Love,

Guess what I'm up to....

2011-06-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

Stenciling a crazy intricate design all over Leila's bedroom wall.

What was I thinking?

It's looking pretty but I am calling it quits for the night. I'll be sure to show you the finished product when it is done... which may be a while! This afternoon, I had the two big girls napping, Leila was freshly fed and bouncing happily so I started. And then Maddie woke up needing a breathing treatment. And the Leila was no longing happy in the bouncer. And then Eden was up. Then it was dinner time. And time to clean up after dinner. Oh well. The days of starting a project and working on it until it is done, without any distractions are NOT these days. These days are days of pick away at projects when you can and don't expect to have more than 1.32 seconds at a time.

As for my other decorating issue, the china buffet, we've decided to look for a bench second hand and sell the china cabinet. If by the end of summer I can not find what I want, I may refurbish the cabinet. Seth would prefer not to do anything permanent yet though. Looking at the ideas you all posted however has me itching to paint a inn table I've had (but neglected) for a while. First, though, I must finish the crazy stenciling.

Love,

Pork Fillet, Stuffed and Wrapped

2011-05-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mighty good dinner

We all have our different approaches to grocery shopping and menu planning. I suppose it's just a matter of finding what works best for you. Your resources, as well as your priorities, whether budget or convenience or health is most important to you, surely all play a part in what method one employs. For me, this is how I roll:

Every week, I buy the foods that are cheap, either with coupons or sales or both. I fill in the rest (milk, produce, etc.) at Aldi's. Then I look in my cupboards and freezers and plan what to do with all of it. My primary reason is obviously to save money, but there are other advantages, namely variety.

Typically, different foods go one sale from week to week. If ground beef is on sale this week, it probably won't be next week. Therefore, switching up our menu repertoire is automatic.

I had a few pork fillets in my freezer from a good sale a little while ago. Normally, I would just season, or maybe marinade and bake. Easy and good. But I happen to have a copy of one of Julia Child's cookbooks right now, borrowed from the library. Reading all these fancy gourmet recipes left me longing for a little more flare in tonight's dinner.Though not following the recipe at all, I stole ideas from the beef wellington mentioned in The Art of Mastering French Cooking, Volume 2,

I had two short pork fillets, which I slit open longways and pounded thin so I could stuff. I do this often with chicken breast. Using wax paper to prevent guts from splattering all over my kitchen, I whack the fillet to a uniform thickness. I seasoned it with McCormick Montreal steak seasoning, which is a peppery spicy flavor. Salt, Pepper, Dried red pepper flakes... you get the idea. Then I plopped about 1/3 cup of stuffing:

Stuffing (I really don't measure but I'll estimate as best as I can):
1/4 c. each chopped onion, bell pepper, carrot
salt and pepper
1/3 c. parm cheese
1/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c. broth (I used beef.... is it against the law to use beef broth in a pork dish?)

In a skillet, I melted about a Tbs. butter, and added about a Tbs. of olive oil. Over med. heat, saute the veggies a few minutes, then add bread crumbs and broth. This create a mushy stuffing. After cooking bread crumbs and broth a few minutes, your veggies are pretty tender. Add cheese, stir and turn off heat. Let cool to handling temp. while you get violent on your meat.

Roll the pork around the stuffing and secure either with kitchen string (easiest) or toothpicks. Keep track of how many toothpicks you use so you don't kill someone!

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season the tops. I used paprika, 'cause I like it. You use what seasonings you like.

I had done the previous steps in the morning so I put my fillets in a baking dish, covered and refrigerated. At least an hour before dinner time, put it in a 375 oven for 35-40 minutes. (I let mine sit at room temp. for a little while before cooking.)

At least 2 and a half hours before dinner time, make a simple pastry dough. You need the extra time so the dough can rest in the fridge for a good hour or two before being rolled out.

Julia Child's Pastry Dough:
3 1/2 c. flour
2 sticks chilled butter, unsalted
6 Tbs. chilled shortening
1 egg plus ice water to equal 1 c.
2. tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar

Cut butter into 1/4 in. pieces. Mix butter and shortening into flour on moderate speed until it looks like course meal. Take care that the butter doesn't get warm. If the kitchen is warm or it starts to melt at all, refrigerate for a while and resume later. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Mix into flour mixture only until incorporated. As soon as dough clogs blades, remove onto wax paper. Form a dome, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2 hrs or more. May be frozen at this point as well.

After the stuffed pork is cooked (you don't want to wrap it until it is already safe to eat) and the kitchen string or toothpicks have been removed, remove pastry from fridge and roll half of it to cover the fillets. The other half will make a great pie shell later in the week. =) The half I used for tonight was rolled into a big oval, cut down the middle and one half was used for each fillet. My fillets had been cooked and sitting on the counter for about 10 minutes so they were warm but I could handle them without burning my fingers. Wrap the pork fillet in pastry, brush with egg wash and bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.

Let them rest for a few minutes until your husband gets off the phone with the IRS and then carve with an electric knife and dig in. =)

I doubt any one will closely follow this non-recipe recipe, but maybe it will give you an idea of your own. Look at what you've got on hand and think of a new way to put it together. I'm pretty sure everything tastes wonderful and looks divine when wrapped in pastry.

And, since I referenced good ol' Julia Child, I am suddenly and unexpectedly, a devoted fan. I never saw her shows and was never interested in her books but after cracking it open, I'm hooked. I actually have no desire to learn French cuisine, but Mastering the Art of French Cooking is so much more than a collection of French recipes. It's a book teaching techniques and methods of cooking. The objective was that a regular American house wife would be able to confidently prepare anything, with the knowledge to swap out ingredients to suit her tastes and resources. So despite the fact that truffles will not be found in my kitchen and tripe will never be a dish I serve (or eat... ever) I'm really learning a lot reading through the book. Volume 1 was checked out of the library so I settled for Volume 2.... I'm eager to get my hands on the first! I do need to put butter on my shopping list first....

Love,

Bible Quiz 3 Anwers

2011-05-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

1. In order to be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, you need to be _____________.

humble as a little child (Matt. 18:4) or servant (Matt. 23:11)

2. Who did Jesus call the greatest man born of a woman?

John the Baptist (Matt. 11:11)

3. Fill in the verse: "And now abideth ______, _______, and _________, these three; but the greatest of these is __________."

faith, hope, charity....... charity (1 Cor. 13:13)

4. Job was the greatest man in the east. How many yoke of oxen did he have?

500 (Job 1:3) or latter end 1,000 (Job 42:12)

5. What is the greatest among the herbs?

mustard (Matt. 13:31-32)

The winner is....... Missionary Mama in the Making! Elisabeth also had the correct answers, as did some facebook-ers who played along. Ya'll are smart! =)

I hadn't thought about the fact that #4 would have two answers, or that #1 had two as well. Not trying to be tricky on you!

Thanks for playing! Missionary Mama, please send me your mailing address: kaytemccoy@yahoo.com

Love,

Bible Quiz 3 ~ Gotta prize for the winner!

2011-05-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

1. In order to be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, you need to be _____________.

2. Who did Jesus call the greatest man born of a woman?

3. Fill in the verse: "And now abideth ______, _______, and _________, these three; but the greatest of these is __________."

4. Job was the greatest man in the east. How many yoke of oxen did he have?

5. What is the greatest among the herbs?

To re-cap the rules:
Since I have no way of monitoring whether or not you look answers up in your Bible, it is obviously allowed. If you're looking to challenge yourself, try answering without. Either way, cracking open that big black book (or brown, as mine is!) is never a bad thing. I use the King James version, so will be referring to that for correct answers.

The first person to enter the correct answers is the winner. This week, I have a prize for such a person:

I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, as well as allow every one's comments to be visible. So be ready to email me your mailing address if you suspect you're the winner winner chicken dinner!!!

This is an enjoyable book, and was fascinating to contemplate. I'm always a bit skeptical about "coming back from Heaven (or Hell)" stories but this one was really an encouraging account and just a good reminder that there is a real place, one which is so spectacular we can not even comprehend it, waiting for us one day. The book was sent to me from a dear friend and I've loaned it out to share with a few people and want to pass it along for someone else to enjoy.

PS
If the winner happens to be outside of the US, I will try to send the prize to you. If it costs a million dollars to ship (or anywhere in that ball park) I'll need to do something else for ya. But I will do something.
Love,

"In His Steps" Ladies Luncheon

2011-05-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Banner / Cards on Each Table

Today, our church held a Ladies' Luncheon, with the theme of "In His Steps". We had almost 50 ladies come, and we had a great time. We ate a delicious meal... chicken malainiase, rigatoni with marinara, meatballs, greens, rolls and salad. For dessert, each table had a taramisu cake on a pedestal. My only disappointment over the event was that (once again) I didn't not think of pictures until the end. =( So sad about that. The decorations looked so pretty. I had even written "TAKE PICTURES" on my notes but... I was just too distracted. So here are a few to give you an idea:

The cakes had molded pink chocolate high heels placed around them, with a super cute pink high heel on top. Here, obviously the heel was removed and the cake sliced up for serving. So use your imagination to picture what it originally looked like.

The banner closely resembled the cards (pictured above, which were held in cute shoe photo holders on each table).

And a giant 5 ft. tall pink high heel.

Also on the tables were favors at each seat: small clear high heels filled with pink candy, tied with either a pink or black ribbon and a verse attached:

Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth. Psalm 86:11

After dessert, we had a group of sisters sing 3 beautiful songs centered on the theme of walking with the Lord:

Nothing Quite As Sweet

Each Step I Take

All the Way

The Weber Sisters did a lovely job. As they sang, one played the acoustic guitar and another played the violin. So pretty!

I gave away several prizes. Again, I wish I had pictures of the prizes; they were fabulous. For the highest high heel, a lady won an adorable apron that read "I'll Cook for Shoes". For the biggest shoe size, a lady won a copy of the book, In His Steps, a lady who happened to be wearing a pink shoe won a very cute tape dispenser in the shape of a shoe, and the lady with the oldest shoes on (which I was second place for!) won an under-the-bed shoe organizer. Then, I drew 2 random names: one won another copy of In His Steps and the other, who happened to be my mom, won the cute little shoe themed box from which I drew names.

Then we watched a sweet video made for the special moms of Harts Hill Baptist Church. This video was also shown on Sunday morning on Mother's Day. At the luncheon we also watched the blooper reel (which I did not upload to YouTube) and I gave copies to the moms with children in the video.

After one of our wonderful church ladies shared a testimony about the difference the Lord has made in her life, the Weber sisters sang one more song: Thirst for God

At this point, I introduced our terrific speaker, Mrs. Amy Vassak. Mrs. Vassak is a pastor's wife. Her husband and her began the Northeast Baptist Church of Danbury, CT 17 yrs. ago. I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her better and to hear the encouraging lesson she brought to us. I think all of us were helped and challenged in our personal walks with Christ.

I think the event turned out well. I myself enjoyed it and usually, I don't say that about things I organize! But with good food, great music and a funny edifying speaker, what else really matters? ;) I really hope to have more special events for the ladies in the future,

Love,

Enjoying "these" days

2011-05-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

We're having a nice hot day here. I'm loving it... flip flops and light clothes. I love dressing Leila in some of her cute summer dresses, letting her soft rolls get some air. Her bare feet making their way into her mouth. Three separate times today, as I ran some errands with the girls in tow, I got remarks like "All yours?" or "All girls?". Almost every time my husband and I attract attention for our little brood of cuties, we get the same admonition: Enjoy those days. They go fast.

And they sure do. It's amazing that Maddie is the tall 4 year old little girl she is. And Eden... she's hardly a baby anymore. Leila was JUST born. I still have her hospital bracelet on the kitchen window sill.

I do try to consciencely enjoy these precious days of cuddles and owies and naps (love those actually...) and story books, ponytails, sippy cups, baby dolls, and w's instead of r's. It does go by so fast.
Love,

Reasons why I could never do a reality tv show

2011-05-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Besides the fact that no one would watch it.

1. The way I look and sound for the first at 20 minutes of every day.

Not to sound mellow dramatic, but I often feel as though I am very slowly dying from sleep deprivation. Ok, that sounds quite mellow dramatic. It is my honest feeling though. And it is my excuse for the frightful way in which I begin each day. Usually, a bright eyed Eden sneaks into my room, after finally getting too bored playing on her own for however long it has been since she got up with the chickens, puts her little face 3 inches from mine and she begins: "Hi Mommy. Can you get me some ceweal (cereal)? I wan (want) frosted mini wheats. Do you have frosted mini wheats? Can you wook (look) downstairs for frosted mini wheats? Can I have owen wooose (orange juice)? Can you put owen woose in the pink cup?" and on and on she goes, while I try to pry my eyes open and stumble to the kitchen, grunting responses to her.

2. "Kate" does not rhyme with "three".

3. Sing along books. We have this one, and another similar to it. They are great and I love them:

there's just one problem with them:

I can actually carry a tune. An average voice, but I can a carry a tune. These books, however, are all made in the worst possible key for anyone. So as my kiddies and I crowd on to the couch and they take turns picking which song Mommy will squeak or croak (there is no in between) through next, I am so glad that no one but my children can hear me.

4. Pajamas. Me and my children go to bed each night looking homeless. It's true. Although matching sets/cute night gowns do exist, by that particular point each day, I've stopped caring about matching and cuteness. You see, we most definitely match during the day, with hair bows, socks and shoes that "go" as I we say. But by jammie time, I just can't care anymore. So the girls put on whatever. If it's clean, I'm good with it. Sometimes I'm good with it even if it's not clean.

Now that I think of it, even if we did wear our cutest jammies, I don't want anyone to see them. Although apparently by the assortment of plaid and sports themed flannel I often see there, PJs are perfectly acceptable to wear to WalMart.

5. We're weird. I suppose that is what the attraction to reality TV is... a display of oddness that is more common than we dare think. But I'd rather keep our particular brand of weirdness private. Well, not completely private.. I am blogging at this very moment about it, aren't I?. But writing it as opposed to watching it still gives me control over what exact acts of strangeness I share and what we just keep to ourselves. Like I wish I could have done when Maddie announced to every person standing our church foyer that she has warts on her hand. Ewww. Oops. I just shared that again.

That is all. 5 important reasons.

Love,

Bible Quiz 2 Answers

2011-05-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

1. Who stole the accursed thing?

Achan

2. Who was the beloved disciple?

John

3. Name the 1 of the 12 spies that gave a bad report of Canaan.

Any one of these names: Sammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur (think I just found a new nickname for my husband... maybe I'll try it out next time he's being negative? ;) ), Nahbi, Geuel.

My spell check is going hay wire over that list!

4. What book of the Bible starts: "There was a man in the land of Uz."?

Job

5. Where was Samuel buried?

In his house in Ramah

Both Marisa and Beth had the correct answers, but Marisa got them in about 23 minutes sooner than Beth. Good job, gals! =)

Love,

Say WHAT???

2011-05-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

The laundry. It goes on and on.

The nerf guns do too. You'd think, without any sons, I'd have a nerf weapon free home. But my husband is a life long nerf gun commando, and the girls need to be able to defend themselves against his foam darts flying through the living room.

Being blessed to have a washer and dryer in my basement (ie. no laundry mat, no scrub board at a creek) I do laundry almost every day. I like to keep the beast under control. And plus, if I don't, my house smells like urine.

Urine is not a nice smell.

Typically, I fold and hand the girls small piles to put away. Most of the time, this is no problem. One benefit of doing laundry daily is that the piles of folded clean clothes stay pretty small and manageable for a 3 and 4 year old. Occassionally, though, the laundry routine doesn't appeal to them. And today was one of those days.

Eden clearly did not want to stop playing long enough to take her stack of clean undies to her drawer. With a very serious, drawn down face and raised eyebrows, and with her hands emphasising each word, Eden said, "Mom, I can not do everything awound (around) here."

Say WHAT???

About a year ago, I recall Maddie making a similar statement. Is this phenomenon common for all children to make the same claim of child labor?

Oh, honey child, you don't even want to know the plans I have for you! HA! There is a reason I had all daughters: this house keeper is planning an early retirement!

Of course, I did not tell her this. I simply put the stack of undies in her hands and gave her a love pat on her tushy, sending her down the hall to do "everything around here".

Love,

Bible Quiz 2

2011-05-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

So here we go again. Let's see if we can work the kinks out this week; I've got a prize in mind for next week.

To clarify some things:

Looking answers up your Bible is not cheating. Breaking into my house, searching through my desk to find the 3 x 5 card with the answers on it is cheating. Please refrain.

The official winner is the first person with the correct answers. I will not publish comments until I post the answers, either Monday, or Tuesday... we'll see how many participants we have before I decide.

Put your answers in the comments! I suppose if you're really shy, just answering in your head is fine too. But you'll deprive me the joy of seeing how many are playing along. Which is fine. Do what you want. Except break into my house.

Of course, last week I told you that my husband usually picks questions for our Sunday School opening with a theme in mind. And so naturally, this week... there is no theme. He went free style on us. It's okay. We'll be all right with random questions, won't we?

Here we go: Quiz #2:

1. Who stole the accursed thing?
2. Who was the beloved disciple?
3. Name the 1 of the 12 spies that gave a bad report of Canaan.
4. What book of the Bible starts: "There was a man in the land of Uz."?
5. Where was Samuel buried?

Love,

Sharing the inspiration

2011-05-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired lately from a few blogs and wanted to share a some favorites with you.

T'Time Challenges at Raising 4 Princesses is a feature to encourage us busy moms to take a few minutes and focus on our kids. Maria, or her guest contributors, provide a simple, oh-so-doable prompt to help us Take The Time. I love it and I need it. I'm a totally task oriented person and taking a minute to do something simple, like teach my kids a knock knock joke, can all too often seem like a distraction from my "real" work, when in fact it is exactly just the thing I ought to be doing. You'll like T'Time; they are easy and fun.

The Brown Eyed Baker is the reason why my stomach will never ever be flat again. These peanut butter oatmeal creations and these amazing chocolate chip cookies are completely worth it though. My husband is exceedingly glad that I have discovered this blog because I've been whipping up cookies like it was my job. Which according to him, it is. Seriously... whenever I intend to have a serious discussion with Seth about what my priorities are... whether I should take on a new project, or something like that, he always seems to throw into the conversation that I should make more cookies. He doesn't really mind clutter. All the clothes dirty? Who cares. Cereal for dinner? Fine. As long as there are cookies, he's happy.

Parents Say "No, and that's the end of it." is the title of a recent post on Journal for Women. I wish I could make a thousand copies and pass them out to parents as they shop for or with their daughters in the mall. I do not know if would make anyone change their mind. But it should.

Joy Unspeakable is a new blog (to me). It's a wonderful insight into the life of a missionary adjusting to a new field. She also has some great looking recipes that I plan to try. I have tried her Pizza Pockets and I'm pretty sure I was the coolest Mom on the block that day.

Probably my favorite thing about blogs is the ability for missionaries to keep in better contact with friends and relatives or just America a bit easier. I imagine it's a blessing to them, but it is for sure a blessing to me. Two of my wedding bridesmaids are, or have been, foreign missionaries, as well as several others friends of Seth and I. I hope I can say this without offense, but sometimes, in our churches we put missionaries up on pedestals and think of them as some sort of "Super Christians". As if the sacrifice of leaving home and country and doing without so many things is easier for them because they are a different breed of Christian than you or I. Do you know that sometimes missionary families, when visiting churches, sleep on gym floors because, after all, "they are missionaries... it's better than a hut." Or that sometimes care packages are sent with things like already used tea bags... because, after all, they are missionaries and can still get another use or two out of those bags.

Do I admire missionaries? Absolutely. I truly believe in my heart that if God called, we would go without hesitation... but they HAVE. While I think they're are heros and I love them, I think they are regular people like you and me. Okay, well I may not be "regular" but you know what I mean. They like microwaves. They like Super-WalMarts. They like safety for their children. They like medical care if needed. They like attractive homes. The missionary wives I know in tropical locations were not born with any great appreciation of giant cockroaches, and spiders the size of lobsters. I'm pretty sure they don't like 'em, just like I don't like 'em. My point is that I greatly appreciate blogs as a window into the day to day lives of missionary wives. They have highs and lows, just as I do. Imagine that! And sometimes, it's a good reminder to count my blessings and just quit griping. Perhaps most important of all, we get to know specifically how to pray for our missionary friends. Pray for their children. Some of the places in which they are called to minister are dangerous. Their children need our prayers.

And though no missionary has asked me to say this: please, keep your used tea bags state side.

=)

Love,

Do we have birthdays in Heaven?

2011-05-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today is my mother law's birthday. But I'm not sure if we celebrate birthdays in Heaven. I somehow doubt it but can't be sure.

There is so much about Heaven we don't know. It's a fascinating subject to me; I could read and ponder it all day. Mostly though, I think we'll just have to wait and see what exactly is awaiting us when we get there. All I know for sure is that it will be good. And that our loved ones who are there now are thrilled to be there.

When our loved ones leave this crummy world and start enjoying Jesus' presence, it changes many things for us here, doesn't it? Holidays take on new meaning. Christmas, Mother's Day.... all have slightly sad undertones. It's good to remember those who are missing vital people around those occasions. And let it motivate us to cherish the ones still in our company all the more.

When sadness creeps in, I remind myself that my babies and my mother in law and all the other people dear to me that are in Heaven are really celebrating. What we have here is just a shadow of things to come. Our family gatherings, however busy and fun, can't hold a candle to the gathering of the entire family of God we'll enjoy one day.

What a glad reunion day that will be!

Love,

Bible Quiz 1 Answers

2011-05-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Okay so not many takers on this quiz. You either didn't want to leave your answers in the comments for fear you are wrong. Or it's just a dumb idea and you don't want to play. So I'll take my ball and go home. Wait... there is no ball involved.

Either way, here are the answers:

1. How many friends came to comfort Job?

3

2. How many men were in Gideon's army?

300

3. How many altars did Balaam tell Balak to build?

7

4. How many chapters are in the book of Daniel?

12
5. How many lepers went into the Syrian army's camp and found it empty?

4

So how'd you do? Some were easy... or at least would be easy if you've seen a few Veggie Tales videos. =) Some were hard. All easily found by looking it up in your Bible. Except. #3, which was a little obscure. It's in Numbers 23:1.

Love,

Your opinions, please...?

2011-05-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

When my handsome hubby and I tied the knot almost 7 yrs. ago, we literally had no furniture. I don't mean we had little furniture, or furniture we didn't like. We had NONE. And we really didn't care.

Obviously, we bought a mattress right off. Sleeping on the floor didn't appeal to either one of us. It was actually comical though, as we set out that day with Seth's parents to mattress stores. Neither one of us had any idea what anything other than gas and convenience store coffee cost. Pre-marriage we had either lived at home, or in college dorms with "lovely" 2 in. thick pads they called mattresses, which were part of our room and board. So we put little thought into just how expensive mattresses and any other kind of furniture would be. Lugging home our motel quality, full size mattress, we came to realize that would could never afford convenience store coffee again.

Well we got over that conviction pretty quickly! And we still have that same mattress. It's fine. Except that my husband's arms are 5 ft. long and end up jabbing my in the forehead most nights. Anyway, this post is not about mattresses or coffee. Although I would like some coffee. And a new mattress.

After I began working a part time job, I started scouring the paper for used pieces of furniture. I soon found the quality three piece oak set we have used ever since. I love our table... with 3 leaves, we can seat a crowd. The buffet is handy as well, folding up when not being used to serve the fancy foods like pigs and a blanket and chips-n-dip that I use it for. The china cabinet pictured here... is well.... a china cabinet. I don't exactly own any china, or have any use for it. Not knowing what else to do with it, I requested some pretty dishes for a birthday. My husband knew it was one of the (many) unpractical, un- useful decisions I would make, and later regret. But because he knew I'd like them, he bought me the {thankfully} inexpensive set we keep in the china cabinet. We never use them. Ever. Because they are not dish washer safe. Because when we have company, I resort to paper plates, or my washable indestructible every day Correlle dishes. Because I only have service for 6. Because our company isn't the kind that require impressing with fancy wanna-be-china dishes from a china cabinet.

I do keep glass serving dishes in the cabinet, which actually do occasionally come out to be put to work. And since Maddie has been doing pre-school, I keep her school things in here. But for the most part, it's a giant waste of space. In the beginning of our married life, wasted space was okay. It was better than a bare wall. But now we have stuff... and kids. And kids' stuff. My husband's practical nature has slowly penetrated my soul and I crave more function out of all this space.

All of that to say: What should I do?

I have already boxed up the "fancy" dishes, and with Seth's whole hearted approval will sell them. I've considered removing the glass doors and simply using the shelves as... shelves. School stuff, craft stuff, books, etc. All in cute containers that match the room. I had already painted a shoe box for such purpose, which lasted less than a day before someone.... I suspect a certain red head... used it for a stool and put their little foot right through it.

Or...

Maybe I should sell the whole cabinet, separating it from it's siblings (the table and buffet). Something feels wrong about that. But maybe it's not wrong. Maybe I could sell it for enough to buy an entirely different thing altogether... a bench to provide a place to take off shoes when we come inside? Here in upstate NY, we do the whole Mr. Rogers thing and remove shoes as we come indoors. Because 9 months out of the year, it's snowy and muddy and leaf-y and yucky outside.

Another thought is to remove just the hutch part and leave the base cabinets (which I do use) and make that a sort of bench that isn't really a bench but we can put a pad down and sit on it anyway. A bench for the girls to curl up and and read a book?

I'm also considering (if I take the doors off but leave the hutch) covering the glass shelves with fabric so that it's not constantly showing finger prints or in other ways being damaged by the children as they get down their stuff.

I would love your input. I am definitely doing something with it. I need the area to be much more useful and earn it's keep. But I want it all to look nice too. Look nice but not look like it belongs in an 98 yr. old lady's parlor. Which it kind currently does. I'm embarrassed by that but I just didn't know what else to do with the thing! Please remember that at the time, I was a 20 yr. old newly wed who had never decorated anything other than a 3 ring binder cover. At least I knew enough not to decorate the cabinet with Lisa Frank stickers.

Any ideas? Thank you...

Love,

Living the good life

2011-05-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Warm sunny days have finally arrived in our neck of the woods. I am in agreement with my daughters that these precious days of clear blue skies and warm breezes should be spent out doors, soaking in every ray we can.

While I chase my fair skinned red head around with a bottle of sun block and floppy hat, begging her not to burn.

When we woke up this morning to beautiful, bright sun shine pouring in every window, our agenda was clear to everyone, even 7 month old Leila. Well, okay... maybe Leila wasn't in on the plan, but she certainly did not object to it either. Our mission: to eat, dress and clean house as quickly as possible to get outside for our customary walk around the neighborhood. When fair weather is present, we walk. Every day. While Seth is at school, or maybe we walk to school to meet him at the end of the day. Or maybe not until after dinner, with Daddy making the walk even more fun. On bikes with training wheels, tricycles, scooters, stroller or dress up princess shoes. Whenever, however... but we will walk. Oh yes. There will be walks.

This afternoon, before the current hiatus for naps, I sat in a swing on the church property while my playful infant happily slobbered a hair clip in my lap. While the older girls played with cousins, Grandpa and Daddy methodically mowed nice straight lines through the church lawns. And I basked in not only the sunlight, but also the fact that we live a good life.

I do not know what ministry life is for other pastors or assistant pastors and their families. I can not compare, nor would I want to. I did not at all know what to expect when marrying my young pastoral theology major. He probably did know what life he had been called to, since he grew up a pastor's son. I had a few misconceptions, and a few expectations that were correct but mostly, I did not know what life for us would hold. And largely, I still do not. The ministry is people... so whatever plans we may make, we're always prepared to drop them at a moment's notice. Outside of the school routine, I do not know what Seth's duties will be next Thursday. Only that today, it was taking care of some needs on the church grounds.

One of the notions I had thought life "in the ministry" held was that there would be little to no time for family. I do not know why I believed this... maybe I had heard it from other pastor's wives, or maybe I had falsely assumed the ministry would be as hectically busy as college life. But the truth is, I feel blessed that my children and I get to see Seth probably more than many husband's working to support their family. Sure, some seasons are busier than others. There are certain time frames throughout the year when Seth is gone before the girls wake up and isn't home again until after they are in bed. But the majority of the time, we have the tremendous blessing of spending lots of time together as a family. Seth usually eats lunch and dinner with us every day. Many responsibilities can be completed with some or all of us tagging along. Church needs toilet paper? Lets all go. The girls make good companions for driving an elderly person to a doctor's appointment, or sitting on his lap while Seth mows. Sometimes Maddie goes with him to plow in the winter, but usually that chilly task is done before they (or I!) am awake. I make a decent secretary when record keeping or media projects come up. And I don't have to worry about his secretary flirting with him (and I surely will be). The girls really enjoy going out on Saturday mornings inviting people to church. What 3 yr. old doesn't love ringing a door bell? (And have to be restrained from ringing it 7 times in a row?!) Our dining room table makes a perfect assembly line for everything from mailings to candy bags to sorting Sunday School material. Complain about Seth bringing his work home? NEVER. I love it. While obviously, many things must be done with us at home, and Seth at church or elsewhere, I feel as though it is not Seth in the ministry. It is the whole McCoy family.

It's a good life. No fat bank account. We will not likely ever own our own house, or even two vehicles. Two week long vacations to tropical locations aren't in the plans. But it's a good life. We lack nothing. I get to be a stay at home mommy. We witness God working in people's lives. We get to invest our time into eternal matters. We've even had the extra blessing of having our children's grandparents live nearby. But mostly, today I am thankful that there is no choice to be made between serving God or being "there" for our family. Duties never conflict. We get to do both, and (usually) have a fun time doing so.

Love,

Bible Quiz

2011-05-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday mornings at our church, all the children and adults gather for what we call "Sunday School Opening". During this time before being dismissed to graded classes, we sing a few cheerful songs, hear the latest update from missionaries, pray for the missionaries and take up the offering for their support. We also play a quick round of Bible Quiz. Usually, about 5 questions, with one being specifically for the 11 yrs. and younger and one "bonus" question which will get you a slightly bigger candy reward. See the young man standing next to my husband? It's his job to run the fun sized candy bar to the first person with the correct answer. It's a lot of fun and you may actually learn something!

I thought it might be fun to allow my blog readers an opportunity to test their Bible knowledge! So the plan is that every Sunday afternoon, I will post the Bible quiz questions that my husband asked the church earlier in the day, replacing the 11 and under questions with another adult appropriate question. Put your best answers in the comments and I'll let you know the correct answers on Monday.

Prizes? Maybe... the wheels in the head are turning. For now, be rewarded with the satisfaction that your know your Bible. Unless anyone would like to volunteer to run candy out to my readers....? =)

So here we go... your first quiz. Typically, my husband picks a theme for each week's quiz. This week is numbers:

1. How many friends came to comfort Job?
2. How many men were in Gideon's army?
3. How many altars did Balaam tell Balak to build?
4. How many chapters are in the book of Daniel?
5. How many lepers went into the Syrian army's camp and found it empty?

Love,

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

2011-05-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Love,

A big no-no

2011-05-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

I did a bad thing.

A dumb thing.

I wanted to wash the nice fluffy pillow mattress topper that we keep on our bed. I know the tag says "dry clean only". But I'll tell you a secret: I wash many things that say "dry clean only". Only suits and wool coats actually make into my car and to the dry cleaners. Most other things... I just put them in the machine on gentle cycle, line dry and hope for the best. So many of my girls frilly dresses say "dry clean" only and seriously, I'm just not gonna do it. I've actually never run into a problem with this cheap...uh....lazy....uh..resourceful.... method.

Until now.

As I shoved the mattress pad into the washing machine (while water filled the basin) I quickly realized I was on my way to a catastrophe. As soon as water came into contact with the pad, it began to expand. As it bloated before my eyes, I began to envision myself telling my husband that I had broken our washing machine trying to save $25 or however much it would have cost to just dry clean the dumb thing. I'm no mathematician, but $25 to save a $700 appliance? Yes. Worth it.

By the time I arrived at this genius conclusion, the pad was mostly soaked and rising like bread dough. I turned the water off and tried to pull the pad out of the machine. This was no easy task. It was exponentially heavier wet than dry. I finally freed the entire pad from the machine. Now what? I'm getting wet holding onto it but the concrete floor of my basement, where my laundry machines are hooked up, is no place to set a wet, white mattress pad. I resign myself to the fact that I shall be as soaked (but hopefully not as bloated) as the mattress pad and hug it to my body to keep from dragging it as I climb up the stairs. The best solution I could think of was a rope stretched across our garage, which we used to dry swim clothes in the summer. I drape the wet and now oddly lumpy pad over it.

Then I went back to the basement and hugged my washing machine and promised to never try another stunt like that again.

So now... I am the not-so-proud owner of a misshapen, lumpy and still dirty mattress pad. I've called a couple dry cleaners and they apparently, do not clean mattress covers. Hmph! Don't they know that the tag says "dry clean only"!!!

What should I do? My mattress is so... not fluffy. We should have all just stuck to making mattresses out of hay.

Love,

Happy 3rd Birthday, Eden Grace! ♥

2011-05-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe my tiny 6 lb. 8 oz. baby girl is THREE. She was just born. Seriously... can we slow this ride down a bit, please?

No longer a fuzzy headed bundle of squishable softness, she is an enchanting angel possessing all the charm that poets have ever written to describe little girls.

Since the guest of honor is a lover of all things pink and princess-ish, a castle cake was required. Sadly, it got a little droopy. =( Guess I didn't build it up to code. Seth did a structural analysis for me and determined that the layers weren't level enough (the corners weren't touching; I filled it in with frosting. Looked good last night...) So lesson learned: must have VERY flat, level layers.

We do not always have parties for our children's birthday... we always celebrate but sometimes with just simple cake and ice cream and gifts after Sunday dinner. Eden's last birthday, we had just moved into our homes, and Maddie's last birthday came directly after Leila's LITERAL birth day, so it has been a while since we had a PARTY. And even this party wasn't elaborate. As the kids get older, I would like to do more... Seth however draws the line at renting the bouncy tent. ☺

Anyway, we had simple (easy) fare: baked potatoes and/or nachos with an array of toppings to choose from. Nacho cheese, chilli, chives, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, shredded cheese and butter. 'Cuz butter should always be offered.

Eden is a wonderful birthday girl. She adores every gift, squealing with delight as each is presented. She cheerfully lets her sister or cousins help her unwrap. She seems to relish being the birthday girl and it is really fun to watch.

Birthday parties really demonstrate the differences between my two older girls. Eden, as you can see in the pictures, is having a blast being sung to. If this was Maddie, she would be buried in her Daddy's neck at this point, wishing that everyone would just leave their gifts and go home. Or at least stop looking at her! Even Maddie was telling me today how funny Eden was while we sang to her. "She wasn't scared at all!' Maddie laughed. "I know!" I agreed. "Maybe when it's your birthday next time, you won't be afraid either?" To which Maddie laugh and said "NO, I probably will be." Hmmmm. I don't get it.

By now, I have (finally) cleaned up all the mess of a birthday party with 10 children enjoying birthday cake and ice cream. Eden has tried on every piece of dress up clothing and accessory. The tricycle has been assembled and named a motorcycle. (Eden has decided it was too hard and gave it to Maddie... just don't tell Grandpa.) New markers have made their marks on my dining room table (thank you, T for getting washable ones!!!) Naps have been taken. Eden's new lip gloss has been (liberally) applied to everyone except Daddy and Leila, though Eden repeatedly offers to let Leila be "pretty" too. Frosting has been washed from the door knobs throughout the house. Daddy is working and I must get the frosting washed off the bodies and hair of my girls so that they can be clean for church (and Mother's Day!).

Happy Birthday, Princess Pinky! I love you and thank God for you.

Love,

Ol Yeller and Baby Scheduling

2011-05-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

Cooking, cleaning, cuddling, coloring, crafting (a little), couponing, church.

These are the activities that fill my days. ☺

My husband went on a 2 day trip to a men's conference last weekend. I usually really hate my husband being gone over night. I can hardly sleep. This time went better than in the past, for a few reasons I believe:

- I made no plans to get extra projects done. I don't know why I do that anyway. When half of the parenting team is away, why even hope to accomplish extra? The girls and I went to a local (expensive) indoor playground to use a gift certificate. The rainy day (and equally gloomy little girls missing their daddy) made for the perfect day to enjoy that treat. We also rented Ol' Yeller and cuddled on the couch.

- I refused to let my mind go into those horrific what-if's of being home alone at night. I turned the humidifier on high so that every creak of the house didn't cause my heart to skip a beat. I also took the advice of a friend and quoted Scripture to myself as I lie in bed. God hath not given us the spirit of fear....

When Seth returned, he brought me this lovely ladies' devotional. So far, I like it immensely.

Leila has welcomed her first tooth. It looks very cute. She is trying her best to sit unassisted and has begun rolling playfully on the floor. We've finally gotten some hearty belly laughs out of her. Truth be told, Madison has the gift of making Leila laugh. We're also (finally) settling into a somewhat regular nap routine.

A word on routine/scheduling babies: If I ever want to generate comments on my blog, the key phrase of "baby scheduling" seems to do the trick. ☺I've come to realize that scheduling a baby means different things to different people. Some envision a mom wearing a stop watch around her neck, withholding nourishment or comfort until the typed out schedule stuck on the fridge (or the baby book) dictates that it is time. Maybe for some that is how it is. But not for me. When I say "baby schedule" what I really mean is a steady, mostly consistent routine. Waking up, eating, taking naps and going to bed roughly around the same time every day. Don't you usually eat or go to bed about the same time every day? I don't look at the clock to figure out what my baby needs. But a "general this is what we usually do" helps me to plan ahead, and know that gee, Leila is crying and it's 10am. I just fed her, so by George, I bet the girl needs a nap.

I own and gleaned some help from a BabyWise, which is a book about parent directed baby care. I agree with the underlying philosophies of the authors: that babies need parents (two of them). But I don't really follow the suggestions strictly. For example, Leila usually is nursed or cuddled to sleep, as were my other girls. I completely see why the authors, and many parents, are adamant about lying baby down groggy but still awake. I'm not opposed to that by any means. Nursing just usually knocks her out when she is tired, or in the case of most evenings, Seth and I enjoy snuggling with Leila after the older girls are put to bed. It's not usually intentional... she just always falls asleep. So we put her in the crib, and we cuddle with the only people still awake: each other. ♥

And I never let a hungry baby stay hungry. Nope. Got milk? Why, yes I do. With a routine, however, I almost always can count on a good 3-4 hours before Leila will be hungry again. Exceptions occur, obviously. My girls were generally big time sleepy heads as newborns. So I put great effort (especially with extra sleepy Eden) to get a nice big feeding in so that I wasn't nursing every hour. By a month or so old, I felt confident that they wouldn't need me for long enough to run to the store or sit in a church service, for example.

So there is the Kayte philosophy of baby scheduling. You were dying to know, I'm sure. =)

The older two were in a steady routine very early. It was easy and they seemed to naturally welcome it. Leila has as well, except for naps. She's been all over the place with naps. I do believe she thinks that, at 6 months, she doesn't require naps. Which of course she does. We've taken to calling her "Kittty Kat" because she is the queen of cat naps. It's like she just doesn't want to miss any of the action. She loves people and wants to just visit all day long.

I like visiting too. But I must pull myself away from virtual visiting now. Have a wonderful day!

Love,

Celebratin' Easter

2011-04-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Grateful that Christ arose from the dead! Grateful that I'm saved! Grateful that we're free to celebrate Jesus' resurrection! Grateful for family with whom to celebrate.

The older girlies had a great time decorating some hard boiled eggs with a kit from "Auntie Cheryl". In the picture below you see them adding some gold glitter to each egg. ☺

Quick tip: My mom suggested the BEST way to boil eggs for yummy taste and bright yellow (not gray) yolks: Put eggs and water in pot (duh!), put on med. heat and bring to boil. When the water is boiling rapidly, turn off heat, cover pot with lid and set timer for 20 minutes. Rinse with cool water and you've got yerself some mighty fine hard boiled eggs.

I do not know why I constantly resort to talking (or um... writing?) with a southern accent. I'm a Californian living in New York. This ought not be.

Easter morning, the girls woke up to Easter baskets and cinnamon rolls! By 8am, they had consumed an entire year's worth of sugar.

Too bad this pic is so blurry... =(

The girls got all fancied up for church... Maddie of course did not want to get into her brand new beautiful Easter dress. When I found it on a clearance rack for $12 (marked down from $65) she told me then that it was too fancy for her. Most of the time, I consent to Maddie's simpler tom boy preferences. But on Easter... everyone is fancy and that is that!! Sadly, I did not get a picture. But you'll have to believe me when I say they were adorable. I found cute Easter hats in Target's dollar bins to top off their pastel frocks.

Maddie and Eden joined their daddy on the bus route while Leila and I finished lunch prep and headed to church. Instead of Sunday School, we had a special Easter themed edition of "Bible Quiz", the choir sang about the cross and Pastor read the account of Christ's resurrection from the Bible. Then we assembled in our fellowship area for muffins and fruit. I'm told that the Sunday morning service was very special but... I spent it in the nursery. Where we had a special time too. ☺If you consider diapers, time outs and story book reading special. Which I do.

After church, some of our family, and some friends from church, came to our home for a big ham dinner.

I'm in the habit of making simple place cards for our extended family meals. Not because I'm formal. Not because they are cute. But because it drives me CRAZY to be asked 100 times "Where should I sit?" or worse, people just mill around. Just. Sit. Down. already and eat!

I'm such a gracious hostess, you can tell, can't you?

And for dessert, my mom made a beautiful angel food cake, and I made a pound cake and turned it into this bunny rabbit.

Just look at that face! Poor thing has no idea that in just moments, we will drown him with strawberries and whipped cream and shove him into our mouths.

Lest you think I'm a pagan for having a bunny cake, here is the cake I sent to school for the students and staff:

After dessert, a Easter egg hunt!

I borrowed this idea for Resurrection Eggs. As the kiddos opened their eggs and found something special (and so un-candy-ish) they would bring their little symbol to me and try to tell me what it had to do with Jesus' Crucifixion or resurrection. When they did, I replaced the token with candy. (Of course the wee ones had extra help figuring out what nails had to do with Easter...)

I absolutely loved all the children at church being dressed in their best. Every single one looked adorable. My nephew Eli looked great in his suit. But the hat really completes the ensemble, don't you think?

And this little man, my nephew Noah, is ALL business.

Personally, I would have done without the meal and the candy and the hunt and even church and just taken pictures of my cuties all fancy and cute all day long. But in reality, this is the only picture I got of a dressed up princess. The older too were way too busy having fun to sit still long enough for me to capture their Easter elegance.

It was a really pleasant holiday for us. Hope you enjoy the day as well!

Love,

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

2011-04-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

We have a special day planned for tomorrow as we celebrate our Savior's triumph over the grave. I'll share (with pics, if I remember!) soon. Hope you have a glorious Easter Sunday!

Love,

Public School Outreach

2011-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

Although I'm several weeks late sharing this with you, I do want to take the time now to describe the public school outreach the our church sponsored about a month ago. My two reasons for really wanting to share this:

1. To praise God for the great work He did!
2. To possibly encourage some of my friends in the ministry to consider bring Bob Holmes for an outreach in their school district.

Bob Holmes has been an evangelist for decades. Burdened about America's public schools, he was praying for a way to reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He had never been athletic and was the last kid picked for sports teams; but as a middle aged man, he suffered an injury and it was suggested to him that he try volleyball as a means of physical therapy. Surprisingly, he was quite good at it. So good, that by himself, he consistently beat large teams. Thus began a new ministry: Beat The Odds (That link would be the site for school princliples to learn about what Bob does in the school assemblies).

Bob travels all over the country as a one man volleyball team. Using a positive anti drug, anti bullying message, he is scheduled as a motivational speaker in public school assemblies. With 2-3 assemblies each day, he sees thousands of junior and senior high schoolers during the week he is in town. During these public school assemblies, Bob can not, by law, present the Gospel. He does, unashamedly, tell what Jesus means to him, but can not have an invitation or lead the teenagers to Christ at this time. However, during the school assemblies, the teens are invited to a Thursday evening rally, hosted by the local church. Pizza and awesome prizes are announcement, and Bob lets them know that he will tell them the rest of his "Beat the Odds" message at that rally. The teenagers really enjoy the assemblies. I will honest... I thought a middle aged man playing volleyball would not really get them excited. BUT... it is very fun and aside from how impressed the kids are with him beating entire teams on his own (which he does in the assemblies), his message really gets to their hearts. So many teenagers are hurting, and they open up to him in a remarkable way. Suicide, drugs, sex, bullying... they face these issues every day. His facebook page is loaded with grateful comments from the teenagers.

During the rally on Thursday evening, held at a gym that has been rented by the church, he plays "celebrity" teams such as the fire department. He has even played pro sports teams, like the Buffalo Bills. But as Seth said, beating them isn't such a great feat. ☺

My husband was preparing for the week's events for several months before Bob actually came. There were times when nothing was working out. School administrators weren't interested. Assembles weren't being scheduled. A gym wasn't available ANYWHERE for ANY price. We were praying. Seth was getting that horrible knot in his stomach that we all get when no matter how hard you work and try, things are just NOT coming together. I'd gather the girls several times a day and we'd pray. And then, about a week or so before the outreach was schedule to happen... details began to fall into place. I wonder if God just wanted us to keep in mind Who would be running this show! ;)

Here are the HUNDREDS of people who came to the Thursday night rally. We actually had to turn people away! We ended up with a very crowded gym, with about 800 people packed in.

As people entered, we asked them to write their name and address on a plain 3x5 card. They took the cards to their seats, for later collection.

(That crazy lady is my fabulous sister in law. Mother of 4. Looks 14 yrs. old. Plays piano awesomely. She is my friend. I ♥ her.)

Bob played several teams that evening, including our local police department and fire department, the riot team at the jail, and some varsity sports teams. He, of course, beat them all.

We had promoted free pizza for all in attendance. Some was donated, some the church bought. So this is what 800 slices of pizza looks like, in case you've always wanted to know:

After playing, and beating, every team, Bob went right into presenting the Gospel to the crowd. Here he is telling them of the One who beat all odds and can help us do the same.

800 people hearing about Jesus!

After leading those who want to trust in Christ in prayer, Bob asks them to take the 3x5 card with their names/addresses on it and fold down a corner if the just received Christ as Saviour. Then church volunteers collected the cards and the prizes were given away via drawing the 3x5 cards. We had a Game boy, bike and gift cards to giveaway. (Again, some were donated, some the church provided).

And then everyone is given a slice of pizza on their way out. Impressive stack of empty pizza boxes, eh?

When it's all over, we were left with a bucket overflowing with 3x5 cards. In our excitement, we sorted the cards that same night. 380 cards had bent corners! In addition, Bob was able to speak in a local Catholic school during the week of school assemblies. Since that was a private school, he was able to preach the Gospel there as well and approximately 180 high schoolers raised their hand declaring they had received Christ. WOW. To God be the Glory!

We then took the cards with bent corners and organized them by streets and have begun visiting each one. This was a perfect opportunity to start a bus route so that is exactly what we have done! Last Sunday was the second week of offering rides on the bus and we had 8 awesome kids and teens come to church on the bus! It's thrilling.

Love,

Roasted Chicken: The dinner that keeps on givin'

2011-04-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

And now it's that time (again) where Kayte pretends like everyone cares what I feed my family. ☺

Cooking from scratch sounds really hard to some people. But, the benefits- healthier, cheaper, tastier- are worth the effort. Whenever possible, I try to cook a BIG batch when I do from scratch cooking. Why not? It isn't much more work at the time and will save lots of work later on. Thank goodness for freezers! ☺

A few years ago, I kept noticing whole chickens going on sale for 88 cents a pound. I passed it by, simply because I didn't really know what I would do with the thing if I did buy it! Finally, when it came on sale again, I decided it was time to learn how to roast a whole chicken. And if I'm gonna roast one, I might as well roast two! Last week, I bought these whole chickens for 77 cents a pound. Digging through the pile for the biggest ones, I bought one for $4.74 and one for $3.73. I plan to make the most of that $8.46...

Chicken Marinade:
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 soy sauce
1/2 lemon juice (save the lemons)
Whisk together.... (look at me- doing fancy sequence shots like a cool blogger... instead of the negligent blogger I actually am ☺)

Unpackage, rinse and pat dry the cute little birds. They are kinda cute, right? Even though they are dead. Resist the urge to name them. It'll make it awkard when you're eating them.☺ Into each bird's cavity, I stuffed the 4 lemon halves that I previously juiced, along with some poultry seasoning. Over the skin, I sprinkle sea salt and cracked pepper, then pour the marinade over, followed by a sprinkle of poultry seasoning. Into the larger of the the two, I inserted a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. I set my thermometer to alarm when it reaches 180 degrees, which will take about 2 hrs.

Before setting the chickens into a 450 degree oven, I cover with foil, trying to create a tent to trap steam but without directly touching the chickens. Its easy on the bird with the thermometer in it... it serves as something to stick the foil to. It's harder on the other. After several frustrating minutes trying to create a tent on the second, I give up. Once you've got them looking nice and UFO-ish, put 'em in to bake. ☺ This is easy, right?

Now somehow my sequence shots went awry. Hmmm.... well the top picture shows them fresh out of the oven. Here, obviously, I carved out what my family would eat for dinner. We actually had leftovers from this serving plate, but wanted to be sure to have everyone's favorite peices.

So this is super easy so far.... the real work is after dinner. While we eat our moist and flavorful chicken (and sides), the remaining chicken cools off. Then I (with my hands) pull off every scrap of meat on those chickens. It is not glamorous. It's not gross either. Put on some happy music. It makes the whole thing better. ☺ And try to refrain from nibbling on chicken as you work. (Ok so maybe I did sample a little...)

What you end up with is a pile of delicious meat, a pile of skin/cartildge/unidentifiable chicken gunk.... and bones. The bones go into a BIG stock pot, along with some onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, sea salt and cracked pepper. Fill pot (almost) with water. Bring it to a boil, then simmer for several hours. (I let mine go for 4 hours).

The beautiful meat gets pulled or cut into smaller chunks and packaged for future use. I put 1 tupperware in the fridge for the next evening's dinner (enchiladas!!!) and 2 bags into the freezer for super easy meals in the next couple of weeks. So many meals require cooked chicken; having it handy and ready to use is fantastic. Plus this chicken has been raosted on the bone so it's so moist and gooooooood.

And here is the waste pile. Maybe I am freakishly frugal but it makes me happy to see such a small amount not be usable.

After the broth simmers for hours and hours, allow it to cool. For me, it was bedtime, so I strained the broth into pitchers and put in the fridge. The next morning, I skimmed the fat off and poured into ice cube trays.

After freezing, I popped them into freezer bags. Here are 182 broth cubes. 2 cubes = 1/4 cup. So this is almost 23 cups of broth. Broth that I don't have to buy. Broth I don't have to figure out what to do with the rest of the can, or worry about the carton not being used before going bad. Broth that will defrost quickly. Broth that is healthy.

I think 4 meals main ingredient, plus loads of broth is worth a little time. It really isn't hard. And it really did taste great!

I'm looking for more ways to cook from scratch. Any good recipes/ideas, friends?

Love,

Enchiladas, with Spanish rice!

2011-04-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

We ♥ enchiladas.

Easy, doesn't take too long and a great way to redress leftovers. Here's what I do:

10 fajita size tortillas (I used 8, and then 3 low carb tortillas for my mom... the low carb ones are a little smaller)
1 big can enchilada sauce
1 small can re fried beans
A little over 2 cups cooked chicken (or beef....leftover pop roast? Shred it up!)
Cheese, salsa, taco sauce, olives, sour cream.... the possibilities are endless.

Since I like to make Spanish rice with this, I start soaking the tortillas in a pie pan filled with the enchilada sauce as I brown up 1/4 c. chopped onion, 1 tsp. minced garlic and 1 cup of rice in a bit of olive oil. Once the rice is golden brown, I add 1 small can tomato sauce, 1 and a half cups chicken broth (I just use the tomato sauce can to measure), about 1/2 tsp. chili powder and a bit of pepper. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, remove one tortilla from sauce at a time. Smear with re fried beans... I know, they are cold and straight out of the can. Ew. But it's all going to work out fine in the end. Top beans with a small handful of chicken, then cheese, and salsa.

It can get a little messy. But it's going to be fine, I promise. And let me just insert here that salsa should come from the produce department, folks. I'm a salsa snob.

After putting in your desired filling ingredients, fold the top and bottom down and then roll the whole kit and caboodle up. Place seam side down in your baking dish (I used 10x14). Once all your enchiladas are assembled, whisk in 1/2 c. of sour cream into the remaining enchilada sauce. Go ahead and mix it right in the pie pan. It will work. ☺ Then pour that creamy goodness over all your enchiladas. If you are one of those people who don't believe in TOO much cheese, you can sprinkle cheese on top. (And olives, or basically whatever you want.) I used to cheese to mark my Mom's low carb enchiladas.

Bake at 425 for 25 - 30 minutes. I usually cover with foil, but I was out, and guess what? It turned out just fine. ☺

By now, your Spanish rice is cooked, your table is set (hopefully), your kids are hungry, your baby is crying, the phone is ringing.... must be dinner time. ☺

Love,

Happy 6th Month Birthday, Leila!

2011-04-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

{Chubby}

{Drool gettin' ready to drip}

{Classic Leila furrowed eyebrows}

Love,

My Brain Binder

2011-04-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have surgically removed my brain and imported it into this 3-ring binder. Well, maybe I stopped just short of surgery. Truth is, I feel very scatter brained these days. Keeping up with household responsibilities as well as all the wonderful, exciting things at church has been leaving me overwhelmed and frankly, tired. And the result has been disorganization. Disorganization rears it's ugly head in a few areas of life here and there, and usually a little time devoted to setting things in order remedies the situation without much harm. But when a mama is disorganized about getting food on the table come dinner time, well that is a serious problem, in need of serious attention. When I entitled my dinner recipe section of this blog, "What's for dinner?" I had no idea how prophetic I was! So in an effort to not feed my family boxed macaroni and cheese every other night for dinner, I have a binder that is now serving as my brain until such a time as my brain can function adequately without it. Maybe when my last youngin' leaves the nest....

My poor photos leave me no choice but to explain what every tab is for. The thick plastic dividers with pockets are labeled: Menu, P.C. (stands for "Price Chopper", my local grocery store), Rite Aid, Target, Toiletries, Baby, Household, Grocery.

Under the Menu tab, is...you guess it... my dinner menu. I also typed a list of family favorites, of which I came up with 25. That leaves a few nights a month to try something from my "wanting to try" stack of recipes in a different binder... my longtime used recipe binder. As I filled in my plans for dinner for the next couple of weeks, I made a list of items I need for the store. I keep extra paper for such lists in this area of the binder.

Under the individual store tabs, I keep the store ad, store coupons and manufacturer's coupons I plan to use at the store (because they are offering that item on sale). I also have RiteAid's coupon policy, for handy reference when a inexperienced cashier doesn't know what to do with me and all my coupons. ☺

After the store tabs, begins my coupons. After the category of "household", I created subcategories using these cute tabs (I found mine for 50 cents on clearance at Staples) such as "air fresheners", "laundry", etc. I stuck the tabs directly onto the plastic covers that contain my coupons. Above, I used 4x6 photo sized plastic sheets.

Here, I used trading card sized plastic protectors. It certainly is easy to find exactly what coupon I need and sized perfectly for this category: "baking", under "Grocery".

One of the reasons I switched to a binder as opposed to the expandable little coupon clutch is that I am tired of cutting out every single coupon. So I now will just cut the coupons I am fairly sure I use, and leave the "maybe's" or "not likely's but will hang onto it just in case a sale allows me to get it free" coupons uncut and store in full sheet covers.

And in the back pocket, gift certificates and restaurant coupons.

In the very front, is my to-do list, bills I need to care for, etc.

So there ya have it. I always suspected my brain was pink and black plaid and now I know for sure that it is.

Love,

Weary

2011-04-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

How is THAT for a depressing title? ;) Not a good title, but an accurate description of how I feel. In the past week and half since my last post, I've though of probably 10 post ideas. Many things are happening around here that I would like to share with you. But when the opportunity to sit and write arises, I stand in the doorway of my bedroom with my eyes shifting between the computer desk and the bed. Computer desk - bed. Computer desk - bed. Bed wins.

A synopsis of recent happenings:

- Our church sponsored public school outreach in our local school district with over 400 people putting their faith in Jesus to save them! Wow!

- I made three adorable fleece blankets for my three adorable children.

- I was interviewed by our local paper. Though I dislike how the interview ended up being printed, it was still fun to have a reporter hanging on my every word (something of mom of 3 little ones is not used to), although she tweaked my words (something a mom of three is more used to than she wants to be!)

- I've begun a new way of organizing my shopping, coupons and menus.

- I decided to part my hair in a different way than I normally do, thus making a dreadful discovery: I have several gray hairs. Did you think I'd say lice? I'd rather have grays than the nasty "L" word.

I may elaborate on some of these subjects when I have more energy. Until then, the laundry beckons (again).

Love,