Cover to Cover, 90 Days

I know, I said I was taking a bloggy break, I had started my Christmas Break to focus on what is important, but during the start of the girls' naps when I was checking email and reading a few blogs something caught my eye, and I felt The Nudge, you know, the one that is God basically saying, "I hope you are paying attention, this is important." And because I bend to God's schedule, not the other way around, we interrupt this bloggy break for something important.

Mom's Toolbox is hosting a Bible in 90 Days Read Along, starting January 1. Today she is asking if we are in, and is asking us to explain why.

Well, the key reason I am in is because God said to.

Okay, done.

Okay, maybe there is more.

There were many a year that I read the Bible cover to cover in the course of a year. And that was great, but it sucked to wait until September to hit the Gospels. Then I had kids and stuff got a bit crazy, I threw out the calendar to read wherever I felt led, and then just started reading a Psalm and and a Proverb a day and another chapter (alternating between OT, OT Wisdom, Gospel, Epistle), before finally just reading wherever I felt led. And that kind of worked but I have found I am not reading as much as I would like to. So this sounded like an excellent way to kick start my reading routine again.

But let's be honest, the second biggest reason for taking on this challenge is the fact that our 4 year old is having open heart surgery January 11. (Before you panic, she is very healthy and her aortic valve is currently healthy, but that will not remain the case without surgery). At first glance this could be a reason NOT to do this, after all, when will we have time? But that is why I need to do this. Without the accountability, the encouragement, my Bible will sit, or it will be picked up for only a chapter at a time. But this is the time when I need to all but drown in the truth and comfort of God's word. When I know I will need God's word more than ever. When my time will be crunched more than ever. When I will be at the end of my mommy rope more than ever.

And so I am signing up for the challenge.

Read the Bible

Cover to cover

90 days

about 4 times my previous rate

Will you join us?

How often do you read your Bible? Is there a schedule you like to follow? Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? (Current Favorites: OT - Haggai, Micah; Gospel - John; NT - Ephesians) Do you have a Bible Reading goal for 2010?

We will now resume our previously scheduled bloggy break (but will read any comments joyfully).

Merry Christmas

We are eagerly awaiting Christmas, such a joyous celebration! Our church has an informal Christmas Eve service of Christmas hymns and scripture reading with a short message that we love, and it is early enough for little ones, but late enough for those who have to work that day. This year we are waiting for Christmas morning for presents, with the plan being stockings, cinnamon buns, and then presents (with lots of coffee worked in!) We love a quiet day just us.

Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day) we have friends over for supper...and the next day we have Boxing Day 2 and do it again because our house is not big enough to do it all at once.

It is crazy and delightful!

So in light of that I am starting a Christmas break today. There is lots of baking and cooking to be done, and Christmas stories to be read.

I wish you a joyous Christmas and Christmas season, and may the Lord bless you.

(I anticipate being back in the new year as my husband has the week between Christmas and New Year off work!)

Christmas is Coming

...in my heart it might as well be Christ is coming!

I love the anticipation of Advent, the preparations, the present wrapping, the baking, the excitement, the fun. But most of all I love how our hearts begin to anticipate, we not only anticipate Jesus' birthday, but also I think the longing in our hearts activates and we begin to anticipate Jesus' second coming.

The presents are all wrapped, just 2 needing ribbon and one to be gifted the day after Christmas needing my attention. Cookie baking will be done today leaving only a slice or two and the logs to be done. Of course I will be making 2 double batches of cinnamon buns, but there is time for that still.

It is busy, it is fun, it is chaotic, and I LOVE it, and pray that each part will be about celebrating the wonderful gift of Jesus.

Thinking in the Season

When I was little I loved the fairy tale of the little elves who would build the shoes at night, and the variations of that. Now I long for the mommy version...when the cupboards would miraculously fill themselves with no shopping trips! Wouldn't that be a fun miracle?

Can you tell we were at Costco this morning?

My mother-in-law arrived for Christmas on Saturday, and is here for 5 weeks. We did have a tough moment, or at least I did when she arrived and I realized how close Miss Pear's surgery is, that at the end of this visit the surgery will be done and we will be in recovery mode.

I am very pleased to say that I am done all shopping for December except for a couple runs to Henry's for fresh milk, fruit and veggies once the end of this week to get to after Christmas and once before New Year's Eve. I will be taking my MIL to Target this afternoon for her to pick up a few things, but I am done Christmas shopping (the Amazon order arrived this morning), and am done the big Costco grocery shop that always makes me a bit crazy.

It is a wonderful feeling to know this! To know that I will not be braving the grocery stores next week right before Christmas.

Now we can focus on the fun stuff like wrapping presents and baking!

This and That

We still have the ick. You know it is bad when my husband says that I am staying home while he takes Baby to her follow up appointment from having her cyst removed!

Her appointment went well. The spot the doctor cut the cyst out is still a bit swollen which could just be from the surgery or it could be that they aggravated the mucus thingie next to it so he wants to see her in March.

I just read the most ridiculous thing, a scientist said that it was better to buy a tree each year than have an artificial one, and part of his reasoning is that an artificial one is only used for a few years and then tossed in the land fill. We have an artificial tree, this is the 11th year we have put it up, it still looks like new. So I have to question part of his assumption.

Then again, my brain is so foggy that maybe it makes sense. Who knows, I studied physics, not climatology and carbon footprints.

I was going to write about some of the special blessings God has given lately, but I cannot think how to phrase them to give the Giver justice, so I will save the details and just say this: Our God is Tremendously Fabulous!

Sometimes It's Okay To Take the Day Off

This is what my husband tells me. Actually yesterday he told me to call in sick. SUCH a comedienne.

The ick has turned into full blown sinus cold for me and cold for Baby. Miss Pear is on the mend after being knocked flat for 2 days last week and Mr. Pear is avoiding the ick, but is run down (one could blame that on work lately...it would make anyone sick as of late).

Therefore we are taking it easy this week, just not necessarily by choice.

Yesterday when I thought my head was going to explode I laid there listening to the rain, a rare pleasure in Southern California and thought how good God was to not only send us much needed rain, but on a day when I can really enjoy it! I was also thinking about the blessing of God putting me in the little family I am in because when my husband came home last night he took over and sent me to bed, and Miss Pear and her sweet efforts to nurse me with her play doctor kit.

A book quote came to mind on the weekend when I was talking to a friend and I cannot remember the source, but the quote is, "life rarely goes as planned." And that is very true, but I realize now that it is not about life going as planned, it is about how you handle life going off kilter and Who you rely on.

Standing Firm, Hanging On

It has been a weird week where we all have a bit of the ick, but we are hanging in there.

It has been a weird week because it occurs to me that some people are just waiting for us to fall apart, almost like they begrudge the fact that we are handing this crazy time, which is only by the grace of God. I caught on this morning when someone actually gave me a firm verbal shove towards the direction of breaking down. It felt like they were disappointed because I was not a sobbing mess telling them how wrong we were to move so far away and it is too hard, we just cannot do it, and oh it is not fair. That would have made them happy. And they would have gloated but offered no real help, just said that if we were closer.... It was someone I thought I should be able to rely on, a close family member who does not live near us. And it was a shock.

Is it so strange to be able to stand firm in the Lord when the storms swirl?

Is it so disappointing to know that we are not a mess?

Why do we no longer encourage each other (actively) to be strong in the Lord?

Why do we seem to spend more time either being neutral or undercutting rather than speaking blessings and kind words?

I just don't understand.

Maybe it has just been a long week and I am tired.

Maybe the Lord has changed us so much since we have moved here 10 years ago that our families no longer recognize us.

Don't know.

But I do know that He is the only one keeping us going right now.

Advent Wreath Resource

On Sunday night we were invited to friends' church for their family Advent event, which focused on getting families prepared to lead the advent wreath lighting with a small devotional, 3 excellent crafts for the kids and a pizza supper. It was wonderful!

The key reason we are using an advent wreath is to focus our hearts and minds on the true meaning of Christmas. So often it is easy to get caught up in the craziness of this season that we lose track of the important stuff. The WHO, the WHY!

At breakfast time we are sticking with our usual Bible reading of one chapter of the Gospels.

At lunch time, once the table is cleared, we are lighting the appropriate candle(s) and using this guide. (lest you think we are spending boat loads of time, yesterday the candle wax barely started to melt before we were done and blowing it out as we headed for naps!)

And at supper we are lighting the advent wreath and reading from our devotional Good Tidings of Great Joy: The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (William Barclay Library).

It took us until Wednesday to figure this out, but at least we did figure it out and we are moving forward this year. I feel quite victorious after a few years of good intentions not paying off and my efforts being thwarted.

Check out this post for a bit more on how they do their advent wreath. (This is where I found the link to the guide we are using.)

Already I am finding that this is easy to do because the planning is done, we just read for that day, it is not taking a lot of extra time, it is allowing us to bring scripture to the lunch table (a goal we had been working to), and it is truly helping to keep us focused on Jesus and not the baking/wrapping/mailing lists!

If you do not have an advent wreath this year, let me encourage you to put one together with what you have, it is such fun and so encouraging! Just be sure to keep your candle wicks trimmed for safety! :-)

So, who else has an Advent Wreath this year? What do you do?

***********

After I finished this post up I read Ann's post called What Advent is Really all About, good reading.

And then I found this post called What is Advent?

Twelve Days of Christmas

Sometimes it is hard to tell at Christmas what honors and points to God and what is our cultural surroundings. For a long time I did not realize that the Twelve Days of Christmas represented different deep truths about God, and I was missing out!

First off, let's just go ahead an listen to the version of Twelve Days of Christmas that I love and tickles my funny bone because I have to get this out of my system first:



(Thanks Donetta! Her review is here.)

How come when my rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas falls apart it never sounds this good?

This year we are going to do something special during Advent with the Twelve Days of Christmas. Actually I am hoping to do it twice.

When this beautiful Christmas Carol was written way back when it was, at least according to legend, written to teach children 12 basic tenets of the Church and was written with the symbolism of the church waiting for her groom, recounting the gifts of the suitor.

With that in mind, here is my plan:

We will be reading: The Twelve Days of Christmas and will sing along.

We will be learning the twelve tenets we read and sing about which can be found detailed here at the bottom half of the post. We will focus on one each day, reviewing the ones that came before. While I have no delusions of my 4 year old memorizing the Ten Commandments, the apostles names, or the Creed this year, I do hope to work towards that.

And we will color that days coloring page from the Twelve Days of Christmas Coloring Pages.

We are starting this week after nap time and I am hoping to go through it twice before Christmas as our after afternoon reading.

We will see how it goes, but I have to tell you, I am hoping for a new family tradition!

Do you know of other great links for the Twelve Days of Christmas?

Finally, An Advent Wreath

I have always loved the idea of an Advent wreath, but each year my plans are thwarted. Either the form is sold out, I think of it too late, or the ones I love are too expensive or large for our small table. Plus there is always the safety issue, and most are not safe with little ones and a small table where they can reach a lot.

Last year I mapped out a rough plan for an advent wreath that would fit on our table and be to our liking. Once again my plans went awry, and it was clear that if we wanted an Advent wreath this year I was going to have to make one with what I had on hand and be creative.

Step 1: I checked my gift wrap stash and found purple tissue, pink tissue and silver wired ribbon that had last served as hair bows.

Step 2: Checked my candle supply and found white tappers and white tea lights...excellent, we are on a roll!

Step 3: Grabbed a candle holder from our wedding to hold the Christ candle.

Step 4: Went to grab the 4 tea light holders only to strike out. What? Where else could they be? We scour the likely places and strike out again! This will never do.

Step 5: Stop and think hard. In the mean time grab the glass plate I knew would be perfect and fit on our small table.

Step 6: Grab 4 quarter pint canning jars....uh oh, there are only 3 empty...ask Miss Pear if she would like a fruit cup for snack. She reminds me that we are making the advent calendar, and I tell her that unless we have another empty canning jar we are not. She grins and eats up.

Step 7: Wash 4th quarter pint canning jar that you made your daughter eat for a snack (keeping in mind that it is her favorite snack).

Step 8: Cut tissue paper and wrap it around the jars, secure with ribbon, insert tea lights. Wrap ribbon the Christ candle and place everything on the plate.

The results will be as follows:




Finished just in time for the night before Advent, and sitting on the table when we got home from Church on Sunday to light the first candle.

Can I tell you how thrilled I am for a make do with what you have project? In my Christmas serving ware I have some small glass Christmas trees which I will be placing amongst the jars in place of the evergreen boughs to remind us of Christ's undying love for us.

Each night at supper we are lighting the appropriate candles and reading that day's reading of Good Tidings of Great Joy: The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (William Barclay Library), our favorite Advent devotional.

What does your family do in this time leading up to Christmas? Do you celebrate Advent? I would love to hear the details!

Multitude Monday 11

I am thankful for/that:

98. Baby's procedure to remove her cyst went very well. The antibiotic she is on did give her a bit of an upset tummy, but a small diet change helped tremendously!

99. A short work week last week. I do miss my husband when he is at work.

100. Our Lord, the Giver of good gifts, the One who never fails us, who always loves us.

101. A wonderful Thanksgiving celebrated with our neighbors.

102. Pumpkin Roll Cake - a pumpkin jelly roll filled with a cream cheese filling. (And all the other yumminess)

103. A happily decorated house for Christmas.

104. The anticipation of the Advent season.

105. Christmas cake waiting in the fridge!

106. Joining our friends for an Family Advent event where we heard the wonderful story of the first Christmas, made 3 excellent crafts, and ate pizza. We came home with a hand out to guide us in our family advent devotional time.

107. I counted 2 beautiful nativities in our neighborhood! And saw some beautiful references to Jesus in the decorating. I LOVE that!

108. A church that loves us, prays for us, and brought us a meal on Monday to help us with Baby's recovery.

109. A friend who spent that same morning with Miss Pear and both acted like it was the biggest treat EVER!

110. Our neighbors are putting up a Christmas train and open it on a schedule, encouraging us to visit and bring friends, so we can include that in our Christmas get-togethers with friends!

111. A very sweet family.

112. A Lord that loved us enough to leave the glory of heaven to come to earth as a baby to redeem His people.


What are you thankful for this week?

Happy Thanksgiving

As Canadians living in the US with two children born in the US who have dual citizenship we celebrate both Thanksgivings.

We joke in our family that we need 2 Thanksgivings because we are extra grateful. This has replaced the joke that we started celebrating American Thanksgiving because it is a 4 day weekend, and for that we are grateful.

But the truth of the matter is that this year our blessings seem sweeter, our gratitude deeper, and our songs of praise more heartfelt. This year we have been through a lot, and each step of the way God has been with us. On Sunday we sang Great is Thy Faithfulness as the closing hymn, and I cried during it. Not because of what Monday morning was going to bring, not because of a heavy heart or weary soul, but because I now understand the words of that hymn in a way that is soul deep. And it is that soul deep knowledge that frames my gratitude this year.

We are celebrating with our neighbors again this year, and it is always fun. She is a fabulous cook who will make a phenomenal meal. And we always have a great time with them.

We will be making dinner rolls, yam and carrot casserole, and pumpkin roll cake.

The dinner rolls are a recipe from a dear friend who is old enough to be my grandmother who prayed for Kyle and I daily for years.

The yam and carrot casserole was a recipe I found when Miss Pear developed potato allergies and we love it.

The pumpkin roll cake is a recipe I found last year when my friend requested a Thanksgiving version of the Christmas Buche de Noel we make each year (actually we make 6 by the time it is New Year's Day).

All new memories and new things to be thankful for.

If we just look for the big things in life we will never be as grateful as we could be. So I look to the little things and find multitudes to be thankful for.

All this week I have been singing the same praise song, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever...." It is the song of a grateful heart.

I wish you a joyful Thanksgiving blessed by our glorious Lord who is truly the giver of good gifts.

Baby Update: The Next Day

Well, except for the fact that she is talking more than ever, you would never know that Baby had her cyst removed yesterday. She is happy and playing, eating well, and having fun. We even made Christmas cake today.

She does have a small red mark on her cheek, and red circles from where the sensors were on her chest, but that is it!

Such a blessing!

I did forget to tell you one story yesterday. When the anesthesiologist came to take Baby I just looked at him and said that no, I had changed my mind and we would be going home now. He smiled at me and said I should give her extra hugs and kisses and then he had to take her. I was only partially kidding....

Baby Update

Good Morning,

I just wanted to let you know that Baby did great this morning at the procedure to remove the cyst from her mouth.

She woke up on her own, but did not fuss to be nursed or to eat (could be the one and a half cinnamon buns and mandarin orange she ate for supper!)

She did good while they were taking her vitals and we were getting her ready, mostly because there was all that new stuff to see. Once we gave her the medicine to make her nice and drowsy she got very docile and was a sweet little dead weight. When the anesthesiologist came for her, he carried her in a nice snuggle, she lolled her head way back and gave him a suspicious “do I know you” look but did not cry or fuss. We only waited about 15 minutes in the waiting room before being called back to the recovery room and she was already awake and protesting. (strange room and strange drugs that make everything spin) Her vitals were all perfect so we were able to unhook her from almost everything except the sensor on her toe and cuddle and nurse her. It ended up that mommy held her in a mostly reclined position while daddy entertained her. She quickly bounced back to her old self.

She was scheduled at 8:00AM and we were home at 9:30.

Baby had very little medication to sedate her because it was such a quick procedure, so by mid afternoon she should be back to normal, just lots of soft cool food today (once she realizes that means canned peaches and pears with a side of ice cream she will be thrilled!)

The way God so carefully took care of her, us and all the details is amazing. The words that come to mind are"...give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever."

Thank you so much for praying for Baby during this, it was very clear to us that God loves her very much.

Thinking and growing

Unfortunately the Bible does not contain any promises of life being easy, in fact, it actually promises that in this life we will have difficulties, that we should not be surprised or discouraged when they come.

Obviously life has been a little crazy around here and difficulties have been frequent guests (maybe not invited, but guests nonetheless!) Through it all, I know one thing: God is faithful.

I am still camping out in Ephesians with occasional forays out to other books to follow themes through the Bible or look up cross references. But right now it is this passage in Ephesians that is catching my attention:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

If life was easy would I be growing in the knowledge of God? Probably, but slowly, and not as soul deep. Would I do almost anything to spare my girls what they would face? Yes! But I am not given that option, so instead I give thanks for the excellent medical care they have, and turn to God again and again with a heavy mommy heart, now knowing that He truly can be trusted with all parts of my life.

I won't have a chance to check in again before Baby's procedure Monday morning, but will try to leave a quick note Monday when she is napping to let you know how it went. Thank you for praying for us.

Supper Tonight

Tonight for supper I am serving:

Baked Apple Pancake (with a base of brown sugar and butter under the apples...yum)

Peach Pie (one of the pie fillings I froze when peaches were in season!)


Why do I feel like I am just serving dessert for supper?

And why don't I feel bad about that?

What are you serving tonight?

Getting Ready

It seems like so much time and energy is spent getting ready right now. Getting ready for Baby's procedure on Monday, for Thanksgiving, for Advent, for Christmas, for Boxing Day, and for Miss Pear's surgery. So much to do, so much I want to do.

This week has been busy. Yesterday while I took Miss Pear to get her N1H1 vaccine Mr Pear got Baby registered at the surgery center. In the afternoon we found out that, as parents of Miss Pear, we were cleared to get our vaccine now too, so that was this morning. It is strange to think that we need the vaccines now to ensure that they are fully functioning and we are fully healthy for the arrival of January.

I have a list of cooking and baking for the holidays and I am scouring the lists to see what I can do early and freeze. Which makes me think about January and what I can prepare in advance, how I can stock the freezer and pantry to make life easier.

We are almost done Christmas shopping, just and Amazon order left to do in December. It is mostly things we need this year under the tree with a toy for each of the girls from us, and one from each other. There are a couple things to be wrapped and shipped. And a Christmas garland with Isaiah 9:6 to be made.

Somehow it feels like my mind and body are in full preparation mode.

And in the midst of this I must be careful not to neglect my heart.

I must not forget to focus my heart on the Lord during Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas, but also during this stress of our girls health issues. The crazier the time the more we need Him. The more pressed we are the more time we need to carve out. It seems contradictory, but a heart focused on God can carry a heavier load because it does not carry it alone.

Multitude Monday 10

87. That God loves Miss Pear, they are buddies. (this was the last one on my last list, and still very appropriate.)

88. That in preparation for the craziness of life coming up our freezer is defrosted and after some baking and a trip to Costco is nicely stocked again (all within our normal grocery budget)

89. All the baking sales - I am definitely stocking the pantry with the deals! After all, Miss Pear loves homemade everything and was shocked to learn that you could actually buy bread in the grocery store.

90. That Miss Pear loves to bake with me.

91. That Baby loves to be in the kitchen playing with the egg poacher while we are baking, or whenever I am in the kitchen and the dishwasher is not open.

92. That I can stay home each day to care for my family.

93. Mr. Pear's business trip last week was worthwhile (and not just to give someone the warm fuzzy).

94. We can study our Bible and read them whenever we want without fear or the need for stealth to protect our copies. And that we have full copies in multiple versions!

95. For God's faithfulness to teach us in His Word.

96. That Baby did well in the nursery today so that I could hear the WHOLE SERMON! on Ephesians 6:10-20, it was excellent.

97. For the love of God, for the righteousness of Jesus.

(P.S. Be sure to read Multitude Monday at Holy Experience next week, I will be at the surgery center with Baby and will not be playing, but it is such an encouragement to share what we are grateful for!)

Morning Reading This Week

This week in our morning reading time we are enjoying:

Bible Time

1. Everything a Child Should Know about God
   Excellent basic Bible doctrin
   
2. The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
   We finished it this week and started again
   
3. A chapter of the Gospels. We are in Matthew
   

Story Time

1. God Knows My Name
   At the end when I read "I will give glory to the Lord for ever for He loves me so much" both girls put their hands up - so cute! I have lost count of how many copies of this book we have given as baby gifts!
2. Baking Day (Rod and Staff)
   A sweet story about a little girl helping her mom bake
   
3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give...) a long standing favorite around here
   
4. Jonah & the Great Big Fish a great retelling of the Bible story
   
   

Read Aloud Time

We are almost finished reading Bunnies in the Bathroom. Miss Pear loves the Animal Ark series, and I love that she will beg for another chapter! We got our copy of this at PaperBackSwap.com.


What are you reading this week?

Who needs the gym...

...I spent the day chasing after a new walker who is not as steady on her feet as she would like to think.

It might just be easier to wrap everything in the house in bubble wrap.

Of course, no way would I trade today for a quiet day, it was great! (Except for when she fell and gave her noggin a floggin', I could pass on that part.)

Big Night...

...Baby started walking at 14 months 1 day...just in time to welcome Daddy home.

Counting Down

We are counting down to Daddy being home tonight in time for bedtime stories. The last day of a business trip always goes by fast and slow at the same time. What can we say, we are one of those families who loves to be together, even if we are all doing our own thing, we are still together.

Monday afternoon the girls woke up from their naps out of sorts, not sick out of sorts just knowing that we were not counting down to Daddy being home for supper. To pass the afternoon we ran a quick errand to Bed Bath and Beyond, and then headed to Target to get milk and a couple other small things (yes, Target has the best price on milk around here right now!). While we were at Target we wandered through the toy section and Miss Pear and Baby happily looked at things and played with the samples that were out. I forgot how blessed I am to be able to do this until I heard children demanding toys, asking for everything in sight and then screaming when they did not get it. My girls were just happy to look at stuff and play with it and then move on. We finished up by going through the Christmas section, always a huge hit.

To reward good behavior we had Burger King for supper, a very rare treat, but one we usually have when it is just the girls (which is not often as Mr. Pear only travels for business about once a quarter).

Yesterday we did our school in the morning and made 8 loaves of bread to restock the freezer (we only got 4 made on Monday, not the 8 we had hoped for), and then went out for a playdate in the afternoon. The family we visited also has 2 girls, but their youngest is the same age as Miss Pear, and their oldest shares her love of dress up! All the girls had a great time and when it was time to leave were all asking when we would be doing this again...an excellent sign!

And the snack was SO delicious that we only had a light supper.

Today we are getting caught up on things after being out so much for the past 2 days. I think I mentioned that we had to get a new vacuum last week because our old one broke? Well, I am very grateful for our new one, after using it twice now it is clear to me that our old one was just not doing a good job anymore. And our new one did an excellent job on the stairs today, a huge bonus for a vacuum cleaner. It also passed the mommy test - can it pick up cheerios the first pass?

I am planning a special treat for supper tonight - rice pudding. In these parts you often see it on breakfast menus, and I am told that is because it is a big breakfast treat in Mexico. We are big fans of breakfast for dinner so we are having it tonight. If it is good I will likely put it in my lunch rotation which needs some sprucing up (it is usually as follows for the week: poached eggs and toast, grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit, granola oatmeal and fruit, tuna sandwiches and fruit, leftovers one day...definitely needs some variety that is also quick!)

What are your favorite lunch ideas? Please include links and recipes, I need some new ideas!

Monday Meanderings

And we will be particularly meandering today. Mr. Pear left for a business trip yesterday morning and I never sleep well that first night. So last night, just as I was FINALLY falling asleep a toy started making noise downstairs and scared the begeebers out of me!

This morning Miss Pear and I took Baby to see the orthopedic surgeon for her check up. Everything is fine. He would have liked it if the left socket was developing faster to catch up, so would all of us, but the fact is, it is developing and it is catching up, so it is fine. He did watch Baby walk and said she is waking fine. So we go back in 4 months.

You know you have too many doctors appointments when your 4 year old is running through the doctors names trying to figure out who we are actually seeing.

Mind you this is the same 4 year old who just could not fathom that there was such a thing as store-bought bread. At first she would not believe me and then she could figure out who would buy it! It was pretty funny.

Our neighbor has the flu, and we were over there Thursday night so I am praying that we are all safe and no little bugs are incubating here.

The big plan for today is to clean the kitchen and make 2 batches of bread for a total of 8 loaves. We will see.

How is your Monday? Did you have a good weekend?

Feeling Motivated!

....or pressured, hard to say.

Life has been a bit crazy, and is poised to get a whole lot crazier in the near future. Here is my upcoming schedule:

• Saturday: Haircut morning
• Sunday: Mr. Pear leaves for a business trip...returns Wednesday night, and I am going to try take both girls to Church by myself.
  
• Monday: Baby has a follow up check up for her hip dysplasia (they actually expect her to stand for an x-ray and not sit down, crawl away, or walk away. Seriously.)
• Tuesday: Play date in the afternoon for kids, coffee for moms
• Wednesday: Do Mom's Christmas shopping for Mr. Pear.
• Next weekend: MUST GO TO COSTCO because...
• Sat Nov 21 we are going to visit friends whose Costco carries the stuff mine doesn't...like baking powder, so I need an emergency list for her!
• Monday November 23 - Baby's cyst is removed (a dear friend is staying with Miss Pear so that we can both go and not worry about her)
  
• Thursday November 26 - Thanksgiving with the neighbors

This has me feeling overwhelmed!

Which has me in stock up and get prepared mode. After a trip to Target last night where the C&H 2lb powdered sugar is on sale for $1.44 (and I had coupons) I am up to a total of 18 x 2lb bags of icing sugar. Once I place my Amazon order with my MIL's stuff I will have all the baking stuff I need for the Thanksgiving through Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, so I feel pretty good about that. She found a place through Amazon that has the Christmas Cake supplies like candied peel, and they have a great price in some pantry staples like dried milk powder even after shipping, so I am stocking up.

I think that once the Costco run is done I will only be shopping for fresh stuff and turkey for the rest of the month. I LOVE that!

This meandering post is brought to you by one overloaded mind.

But, I end with two questions:

1. What is your favorite seasonal grocery sale for this time of year? Are you like me who stocks up on baking supplies and cooks an extra turkey for meat in the freezer?

2. What are your most important pantry staples?

Baby Update

Baby is scheduled for her outpatient surgery on Monday November 23, first thing in the morning.

God has blessed us with a friend who works at the surgery center who gave us a whole run down on the place, so even though she will not be there that day, she has been an enormous encouragement. She also confirmed that taking the cyst out will be simple, and Baby will probably only be away from us for about 10-20 minutes. We will get to hold her while she takes the sleepy medicine that will ensure she forgets it all and is calm, it is once she is a bit...ummm...loopy that they take her.

I just keep reminding myself that God has a good plan and He loves our girls more than we could ever understand. Actually, I am holding on to that truth with 2 fists at the moment!

Morning Reading

Morning reading with the girls is a daily habit around here, and a cheerful one. If for some reason we miss there is great protesting, and reminders later that we still have not done our morning reading!

As soon as I finish feeding Baby we start Bible time. If Miss Pear is done she follows along in the first book and then colors and listens to the rest, otherwise she finishes eating. Baby eats Cheerios or some other finger food.

Bible Time

1. Everything a Child Should Know about God
   We read 2 or 3 pages in this book. It is basic Bible truths and doctrine, and when it gets to baptism, where churches handle this differently it tells about Jesus baptism and says to ask your parents about baptism in your church, so friends of many different denominations love this book. We have 2 copies of this, each girl has her own, so I read from Baby's copy and Miss Pear follows along in her copy.
   
2. The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
   We call this Baby's Bible. We read one story and Miss Pear answers the questions for her.
3. A chapter of the Gospels. When we get to the end of John we go back to Matthew and start again.

Story Time
It is hard to read paper books to little ones, but we think it is important to introduce them to more "advanced" picture books early, so while Baby is still in her high chair we read paper books. Miss Pear pulls a chair around so she can see, and I pull my chair right up next to the high chair and hold the book so both can see. I read the same four books each day for a week, and then I switch all but the first book. We are reading:

1. God Knows My Name
   At the end when I read "I will give glory to the Lord for ever for He loves me so much" both girls put their hands up - so cute! I have lost count of how many copies of this book we have given as baby gifts!
2. God Gave Us Work (Rod and Staff)
3. Canada in Colours
4. If You Give a Pig a Pancake (If You Give...)
   

Read Aloud Time

We then leave the table, clearing it, starting a load of laundry or whatever just needs to be started without a large amount of time needed, and head to the living room for read aloud time. The girls play quietly while I read for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time we have before Baby's morning nap.

We just finished Anne of Green Gables (Unabridged Classics) which we enjoyed. It took us just over a month to read it because it was more advanced than anything we had read so far, so we went slowly so it would not be overwhelming, and Miss Pear enjoyed all the way through! Now we are reading Bunnies in the Bathroom. Miss Pear loves the Animal Ark series, and I love that she will beg for another chapter! We got our copy of this at PaperBackSwap.com

What are you reading? Do you have any excellent suggestions for us?

Overwhelmed...again? still?

We took Baby to the ENT doctor today to have the cyst in her mouth looked at, and he said it will not go away on its own, it needs to be removed. And because children will not sit there happily and let you do it, it is outpatient surgery...I have to call tomorrow to schedule it.

It really is too much.

How do people who don't know the Lord handle life in general without Him?

Busy Monday Morning

Life has been crazy lately, and it is high time to get back on track.

After planting our winter garden last weekend and defrosting the freezer this past weekend, it was time to start refilling the freezer and getting some general stuff done!

So this morning, after morning Bible and reading time but before lunch time, we had:

• Washed a load of sheets
• Cooked and bagged a batch of Kidney Beans
• Cooked and bagged a batch of Black Beans
• Cooked a batch of pinto beans - they are still in the pressure cooker waiting for the pressure to drop
• Placed a tray of tomatoes into the food dehydrator
  
• Made 2 trays of bread crumbs (actually, the two trays are sitting in the over, I popped them in after the bread came out, so they are drying nicely)
• Made 4 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread
• Completed our homeschooling
• Prayed on the phone with a friend
• Put the dishwasher through
• tidied the living room

And I think that is all, or at least the bulk of it. I am still hoping to make cookies this afternoon.

Blissfully there was not much "weekend wreckage" to clean up!

How is your week starting?

One more thing...

I know that so many of you are praying for Miss Pear through this, and we appreciate it so much.

Could you please also pray that we would all handle this and behave in a way that brings honor to the Lord? That the Lord would be glorified through this?

Thank you so much.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
Psalm 34:3

Scheduled

Miss Pear is scheduled for surgery January 11.

The surgeon clarified a lot of things for us, and we understand lots of the finer details more clearly, which is important. The surgeon actually said that he would be surprised if she was not fully recovered in a month, and that the recovery in children is much quicker because they are cutting through cartilage rather than bone and children just heal faster. He also said that in most cases the children go home after 3 days with Tylenol, and that we can expect her to be sitting on the floor and playing.

It painted a much different picture than my husband had been anticipating after seeing his father go through open heart surgery 20 years ago.

But nothing changes the fact that this is open heart surgery and they will be using the heart/lung bypass machine.

The only thing really making this okay is that Miss Pear belongs to God, she is His and He loves her more than we can ever comprehend. I trust Him with this child.

Thank you for all the emails and comments of prayers for our family, they mean so much and we can clearly feel and see the Lord working in this and smoothing out the details and questions.

I decided to take the weekend to try and get my mind in gear again, and then, as much as possible, continue on like nothing is going on, because nothing happens now until January, so for the sake of our girls we are going to try and keep that perspective and act like that.

Therefore, as weird as it may seem, I am going to try to return to normal here too next week. Not to say that there will not be occasional mentions to this, not to say that we are ignoring it or it is not important, but rather that it cannot be my key focus or I will not function between now and January. Hopefully that makes some kind of sense.

Have a great weekend.

Moving Right Along

Well, I think my cry during church on Sunday helped me get a better perspective, and somehow crying before the Lord during worship made me feel like a load was off me. I still feel like I got the pins knocked out from under me, but not like I am trying to hold it together in the midst of a tornado...if that makes any sense. And I have learned the important lesson of not going anywhere without kleenex for the next while.

When I called pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon's office yesterday to make an appointment my options were this Wednesday or next Wednesday...I was shocked to not have to wait! Such a blessing! I took this Wednesday. We go tomorrow at 3:30, and we should have a very clear idea of where we are going after that, possibly including dates too.

Is it just me or do you feel conflicted about the term "pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon" too? Part of me wants to cheer and praise God that there is such a focused specialty to care for our daughter. Part of me wants to cry that such a thing is necessary.

So that is where we are.

Multitude Monday 9

In light of the news we received about Miss Pear last Thursday I am writing my thankful list about that, I need to find the Lord's blessings in it.

I am thankful for:

77. That God is sovereign, and no matter how things look from our perspective He is still God. (this was the last one on my last list, and still very appropriate.)

78. That the results of the appointment were clear, that God made the next steps perfectly clear and did not require us to figure out the next best step.

79. That the cardiologist was so gentle and clear with us, but careful not to say too much in front of Miss Pear. That he is such an excellent cardiologist who just works with children.

80. That he is referring us to an excellent surgeon who gets the thumbs up from other doctors we know. And that we have some flexibility in scheduling so that we can try to fit it in between Christmas and Miss Pear's birthday the end of May (full recovery is 3 months).

81. That God moved us here 2 years ago when this was not our first choice, but it puts us near one of the best children's hospitals.

82. That our church family is rallying around us in a way we never expected, and are carefully respecting our wishes to not tell Miss Pear yet, making sure to be their usual cheerful selves in front of her even when their hearts are heavy too.

83. That no one made a big deal about me crying all the way through the service yesterday.

84. That even though the service was set before we had the news, each song, and the entire sermon spoke to my bruised and heavy heart.

85. That we are not in this alone.

86. That we know we can completely trust God to run our lives much better than what we think.

87. That God loves Miss Pear, they are buddies.

The News

We are home from Miss Pear's cardiologist appointment, and the end result is that she is being referred to a surgeon for open heart surgery to remove the membrane growth.

Last year it was noted that the growth was bigger as was the pressure differential.

This year the pressure differential is greater again, and the valve is starting to leak.

There is zero benefit of waiting, but there are now disadvantages of waiting.

I will be calling the surgeon tomorrow and ultimately we will be trying to schedule surgery in the February time frame...after Christmas but with enough time before her birthday for a full recovery...which is 3 months of restrictions with the first month being the most crucial.

As much as this stinks, a big prayer was answered, and that was for God to make the next step very clear, that we would not have to make decisions with a bunch of unknowns, and that next step is clear. Oh, and Miss Pear was a model patient and had an excellent discussion with the lab tech about volcanoes while he was looking at her heart.

Rumpled Cape

My superwoman cape is feeling particularly rumpled.

This weekend I prepared a full on big deal meal for company who did not arrive, through no fault of their own.

I have mountain on my desk...at least I am assuming that is my desk.

Of course, we will not be talking about my laundry (although the hamper is not quite full) or my ironing (2 shirts...just don't ask how long they have been waiting).

I was supposed to research something, but cannot remember what.

It is time to pull out the summer garden and plant the winter garden...we are trying 2 kinds of peas, 2 kinds of carrots and cilantro this year, plus the citrus is ripening.

I went to buy lavender for a corner of our yard and came home instead with poppy and pansy seeds, selected by a 4 year old.

There are a couple fall crafting ideas we would like to do this year, and I just cannot seem to get them organized...even though I have all the supplies.

My brain feels numb as I think about Miss Pear's pediatric cardiologist appointment on Thursday. It alternately runs through fears open heart surgery this year and fears of waiting again and fleeting glimpses at thoughts of what if it has been healed miraculously? (I know that God still preforms miracles, but I just don't know if her miracle is going to be in the form of the growth disappearing or if it will be in the miracle of what the surgery is.)

My plate is not full, it is overflowing and running off the table and onto the floor. Mainly because my brain needs to reboot and I cannot find the button.

Surely I am not the only one!

So I think I will go get a little one up from her nap as I think she is waking up, then start supper and read lots of picture books. It might not fix all the stuff, but it sure will make me feel better.

Oh yeah, and I am planning another special supper just in case Saturday's company can somehow squeeze in supper with us tonight. It is a long shot, but just in case, I wanted to be ready.

Living Word

So often as I read the Bible it seems like a specific passage pulls me in, speaks to me, prompts me in some way. Lately I have been camped out in Ephesians. A friend called and wanted to talk about something in Colossians, we did, but I immediately returned to Ephesians. And I cannot say why, except that it seems to be where the Lord wants me right now. There is a prayer at the end of chapter 1 that speaks to my heart right now, a prayer for spiritual wisdom.

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1: 15-23 NKJV

Making Baby Finger Food

Back in July I detailed the process and cost of making sweet potato baby food. But now Baby is getting bigger and insists on feeding herself as much as possible which is a messy and time consuming venture for her, but she has fun. So now I am making batches of food she can feed herself.

One of the best is sweet potatoes cubes, mainly because she loves them and sweet potatoes were on sale last week.

It is SO simple.

Buy sweet potatoes.

Peel them.

Put them in french fry cutter if you have one.



Cut these fries into cubes.

Put in bowl, toss with olive oil.


Spread out on cookie sheet (it is actually quicker to do 2 cookie sheets of cubes spread out with a bit of room around than to crowd a cookie sheet).

Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes.

Cool.

Flash freeze (line cookie sheet with waxed paper, spread cubes out, put in freezer) then move to freezer bag.

Now you have a bag of yumminess ready whenever you need it!

Pantry Part 2

Before Baby was born I had done a thorough job of stocking our pantries, and this included cleaning supplies and toiletries. For the most part that held us longer than expected. I had hoped to be back to my usual shopping after Christmas, but with Baby's continuing hip dysplasia and life general it was just too much. At the end of the 1st quarter in the year, we found out that Mr. Pear would be taking a mandatory pay cut, as was everyone in the company, and the pantry became even more important, and much of it held out. Sure we had to buy diapers, wipes, toilet paper, and small amount of assorted toiletries, but somehow it held out better than expected.

This fall some serious holes appeared and I ended up having to pay more than I would like for staple items, and it got me thinking about our pantry situation (and back to serious coupon shopping and CVS!). I was fairly well prepared for Baby's arrival, but not so much for economy's impact on our family. I could have been doing a better job all around, and living in Southern California we should be better prepared, so while some things are not possible to do right now (like invest in a Berkey water filtration unit), some things are, like having a more well rounded pantry.

So here is what I have in the garage now:

This is the book case by the freezer
(that Christian Books Box is canning lids)

This is the shelf and a half of cleaning supplies...
...mostly laundry, dish soap, and toilet bowl cleaner

Actually the cleaning supplies look pretty good still.

I keep paper goods like kleenex and toilet paper somewhere else and the toiletries are under our bathroom sink.

Now that the fruit seasons are coming to and end my goal is to start stocking the pantry with canned and dried goods, as well as some baking supplies. And last night I made a trip to Target for a few odds and ends and Ronzoni pasta was on for $1 a box, and I had $1 off 2 coupons so I picked some up. That with some other purchases already have the book shelf looking better.

Oh, and if you are wondering where cereal and stuff like that is??? It is on top of my top cabinets in the kitchen after the first winter when we had mice in the garage.....

How are you creative with storing your pantry supplies? How do you think you could do a better job of being prepared for life's eventualities? What do you consider a must have in your pantry? What tips do you have for me?

In Kitchen Makeshift Pantry

Remember when I said I would show you how we managed to find room for all the fruit we preserved this year? Well, this is that post. And in fact, the cabinet where we stored all that goodness, or at least the bulk of it, it is the one under the counter in that picture.

It looks like this on the left:



To the right of that box of peaches is where all my cookie trays, muffin tins, half sheet pans etc are kept. Basically I made lots of room by stacking the boxes on top of each other to go 2 high. Really, there was no other option. Also, on the bottom you can see all that extra space in front that does not exist in the top shelf? That is because I stacked loose jars in the back, behind the boxes where little hands cannot reach them!


If you are wondering what is underneath the cookie sheets and to the right of the rice and 4 dozen pints of pears you will find the place my BOSCH mixer usually resides, and behind that:

Flour was on sale for a better price than Costco, so I picked up 10 x 5 lb bags and stored it in the grocery bags to protect the flimsy paper from my cooling racks and general other cabinet mishap...


Now, that is clearly not all my canning, in fact, that one was the easiest because the top was jars and sheet pans, and the bottom left was a big box of oatmeal and some cracked rye, so not much to relocate.

The other spot was a chore. I started by taking out all the canned goods that were in the metal from the manufacturer and anything else that could be stored in the garage.

Then I once again stacked my canned goods.

When you open the cupboard door it looks like this:



If you move the cereal on the top shelf you will see my quarts of tomatoes and salsa:


The second shelf is home to the pear fruit cups:

And the bottom shelf is home to the rest of the pears:


It may not be the pantry of my dreams, but it works, and it holds all the canning I did this year. I do have a few ideas on where to get more space for next year, but that is next year.

For this year I am really happy with the results.

Plod Plod Plod, its a Plodder!

I have been trying to upload pictures to show how we found room for all our jars and what our "pantry" looks like, but our internet is so slow that it is almost going backwards, so I will try again tomorrow. In the mean time we are almost done our apples (pictures on that too) and are working on sweet potatoes (pictures on that too).

So pretty much everything I want to blog about involves pictures...which I cannot load.

So instead I will go to bed nice and early, which is really what I need.

Multitude Monday 8

I am thankful for:

68. The surprising abundance of our little California garden.

69. The amount we managed to preserve this year.

70. Mornings like this one are more the norm as 2 little girls bless me by just being.

71. The Lord continuing to speak through His Word, and the comfort and encouragement that comes with that!

72. A digital camera that works.

73. A husband that encourages me to just try it, what is the worst that can happen?....

74. ...and then encourages me to take a rest and few quiet days when the projects tire me out!

75. Being able to begin the day by reading the Bible to our girls after breakfast.

76. Canadian Thanksgiving...when asked what she was thankful for Miss Pear (4) named everyone at the table and everything on the table....

77. That God is sovereign, and no matter how things look from our perspective He is still God.

I Love Pasta

We LOVE pasta around here, it is a family favorite...you can tell if you look at my pantry, I believe there are close to 20 packages there at the moment....So I am always on the look out for a deal on pasta and good coupons!!!

If you are too, check out It Pays To Eat Pasta giveaway to win groceries, and even if you don't win you can still print off $1 of 2 Ronzoni coupons which make it a great deal at Target even at their regular price!

The crud has come to visit

Well, the crud that is going around has found its way to our house, we are praying it will not stay long because we don't have the time to be sick! (Does anyone ever?)

And I don't just mean the 6 dozen apples on my counter waiting to be dried either!

So I will be back next week with the pictures of how we found room for all that canning, the state of the rest of the pantry and my plan to stock it, and how we decided what to do with the fruit when it was on sale.

See you next week!

This Summer's Canning Summary

This year I decided that I wanted to somehow preserve more of summer's bounty to bless my family all year round. Even though we live in California we have essentially the same selection of fruit as the rest of the country, which is to say it is the best in the summer. So canning started in July with Million Dollar Relish, and ended Friday with a marathon canning pears when they all of a sudden all started ripening at once in the fridge!

Friday's work was the big day and at the end our kitchen counter and bar looked like this:

For those of you wondering that is:

• 2 pint jars
• 17 half pint jars of diced pear
• 46 quarter pints of diced pear (for special snacks for the girls who love fruit cups).

Which explains why there is no picture of the rest of the kitchen after this was complete! Although I am proud to admit that I did not order take out for supper after this...I pulled a frozen pizza out of the freezer instead!

The final count of what we canned this year is:

1. Million Dollar Relish (2 batches): 18 pints, 4 half pints (this is approximate, we have eaten some, so I am guessing.)
2. Bread and Butter Pickles: 8 quarts
3. 7 Day Pickles: 8 quarts...but I think I missed counting 1....so possibly 9
4. Peaches: 22 pints (we also dried a ton and froze 8 pie fillings)
   
5. Salsa: 3 quarts
6. Tomatoes: 8 quarts (plus we dried and pureed some to use in soups and in substitution of tomato sauce and paste, it was a trial to see how it goes)
7. Pears: 59 quarter pints, 17 half pints, 56 pints (plus froze 2 apple pear crisp fillings)

We were officially done canning when I ran out of canning jars! Since Friday 2 quart jars have become available, but they can just wait for either more tomatoes to ripen if we don't eat them or next year.

The only casualty we had was one brand new jar developed hair line cracks while it was processing. It sealed beautifully, but it will be eaten first!

Now we are into apple season so I am making apple chips (dehydrated apple slices) and am planning on freezing apple pie filling and apple crisp filling.

What do you love to freeze/can/dry or preserve some other way to help you in the winter?

My Morning

My morning was a busy and satisfying one.

While I was making breakfast this greeted me on the fridge:


It is Miss Pear's rendering of what "God with us" looks like...that is her and Jesus holding hands.

After breakfast we:

• had Bible time
• read about Canadian Thanksgiving in an excellent picture book and read a couple more picture books
  
• got more apples in the food dehydrator,
  
• planned for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend,
  
• planned for company next weekend,
  
• made this cake:

Pineapple upside down cake from The Cake Bible

• had school time where Miss Pear declared math to be both fun and easy.
• played more
• had lunch
• started Canadian Rye Bread

So now, if you will excuse me, I think I need a nap!

Multitude Monday 7

54. We are done canning pears and found homes for all of them.

55. That Miss Pear has an excellent pediatric cardiologist.

56. A fun card and paper craft party with friends Saturday night. The theme was Christmas and I made two of my favorite Christmas desserts!

57. It is apple season so we have started making apple chips in the food dehydrator - they are so good and Miss Pear loves them for a snack - she was asking for them before I even got the first batch out!

58. An apple peeler where you turn the handle so I can have a little 4 year old helper who is so proud to be a helper!

59. That even though we are all a but under the weather it is a really mild version of it and not a big deal! Just lots of rest.

60. That God blessed us with a kitchen that is an excellent tool for serving our family. Our kitchen is not a show piece and is not for decoration, it has to work hard.

61. For warm cuddly quilts in cool nights.

62. For a little 13 month old who gently rubs her head against against my leg to get me to pick her up or play peak-a-boo with her.

63. For the knowledge that we have a High Priest who understands what we face and intercedes for us.

64. Really cute fleece to make a blanket for Miss Pear for Christmas (and it was on sale!)

65. Really cute flannel to make handkerchiefs for when we are sick so that our noses don't get so raw (also on sale!)

66. Finding all the supplies needed for a special Christmas craft our very first stop (we are making a set of felt mitts with one mitt being Miss Pear's hand and the other being Baby's hand that will be connected to make a Christmas tree decoration).

67. A sweet family to love.

Friday Night? Really?

Honestly, I am not sure where the week went. On Tuesday I posted about Miss Pear's upcoming cardiology appointment here and sent out a more detailed prayer request to our church and friends, and somehow that made it all to real again, and it was overwhelming. It is better now, still weird, but God has given me strength and peace to make it not quite so overwhelming.

And it was a busy week.

I am officially done canning as the pears were finished today and the last of the tomatoes were pulled out of the freezer earlier this week and canned too. (Okay, so the tomatoes were not planned and I just got mad at them when they jumped out and landed on my toe...it probably was not premeditated on their part, but none the less, they were in quart jars within the hour).

It is a good thing we are done canning too because:

1. I am officially out of canning jars in all sizes from quarter pint through quart.
2. I am going to have to be very creative in finding homes for the last of the pears that were canned today. I have some ideas and I foresee the purchased canned foods going out to the book case in the garage that serves as a pantry.

Tomorrow night a friend and I are teaming up to have a Stampin' Up party with a third friend being the demonstrator. The theme is Christmas so I will be making 2 traditional desserts in our family to share and we will all be sharing different Christmas crafting ideas we have for this year (and hopefully ordering supplies!)

So that is where I have been.

I will hopefully have lots to share with you next week including some pictures of how I manage to cram all my jars of canned goodness into my kitchen! Oh what I would not do for an old fashioned pantry!

Miss Pear's Upcoming Cardiology Appointment

Can you please join us in praying for Miss Pear's cardiology appointment October 22?

This is the follow up to the one a year ago where they discovered she may need to be referred to a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. Actually, the doctor said it was more of a case of when she was referred, not if. But we have been praying for a miracle, a miracle that would defy all medical odds that the membrane would either shrink or disappear completely, both completely unheard of medically.

But God is still in the miracle business, and it is Him that we put our trust in.

Multitude Monday 6

There is something wonderful about praising and thanking God. I want to be purposefully thankful with specifics, even though there are generalities and always things that I am thankful for. God, my salvation, my husband, my girls all count and are the always ones! I want to find the rare gems in each week that are unique to that day, to that time, and note them.

I want to purposefully and wholeheartedly thank and praise God for His goodness to me!

So here is some of what I am thankful for from this past week:

44. In this unbelievable heatwave that is just ending we have had air conditioning that works wonderfully! (And the heat wave is ripening all my tomatoes and peppers!)

45. My husband returned safely from a successful business trip.

46. My tomatoes are not just producing (after it looked like we were going to lose them this year), they are producing abundantly! So far, in addition to eating as much as we would like I have canned 4 quarts of diced tomatoes and 3 quarts of salsa. That might not sound like much until you consider that I live in Southern California so my garden is actually just a raised flowerbed!

47. I found the next book to use for Scripture Memory with Miss Pear - it is again a book with a verse for each letter of the alphabet that explains the scripture, and this one has some basic doctrine worked in.

48. We were able to fix our dishwasher for $4.

49. God is good, always, no matter what, no matter how it looks. And He always takes care of His children, regardless of how it looks from our perspective. This is a lesson that God has been teaching me and I think I am finally getting it!

50. God can always be trusted, especially with my fragile heart and soul.

51. 5 dozen more pears to can and eat!

52. My crochet assistant...or comic relief!

Crochet Lessons

My family gave me a DVD of crochet lessons for my birthday, and I am diligently working to learn. However I often face setbacks when someone little, who shall remain nameless plays with my yarn and practice work, gets tangled up in it, and then crawls away...the end results look kind of like this:


It may not be the most productive work, but it certainly is fun!

Do your children...er...help you with your crafting too?

Happy Friday Countdown

Mr. Pear left for a business trip Tuesday morning at 5AM. He will be back tonight landing in precisely 5 hours as I sit and type this. Yes, I am counting. It has been a long trip with both girls feeling yucky with the heat wave and dry weather here. I am not certain how dry it got, but at one point yesterday our thermometer read 43C.

We got through the week by the grace of God, and with the help of 2 Curious George DVD's, a new coloring book and a new texture book.

When the girls were both acting like they had a touch of the flu yesterday (except for the fever part) I set Miss Pear up to watch George while Baby napped and canned 4 quarts of tomatoes. Then while they girls were taking forever to eat supper I chopped up pears to make homemade pear cups (like the fruit cups you buy in 4 packs in the store), and I think they will be a hit.

Here is a picture of the fruit of our labors:

The fruit cup jars are the little 4 oz ones that are used for making baby food. I tried canning mango puree for Miss Pear when she was about 8 months old, and it worked fairly well, but Baby would rather feed herself and there is no seasonal fruit she inhales that I would feel the need to save a massive amount of....except for pears...both girls adore pears, and think canned pears are better than candy!

So as this business trip draws to a close I realize that the reason this is so hard for everyone is that we are one of those unusual families who just love to be together. Which means we are going to have a great weekend!

Tylenol Recall

While I do not usually talk much about stuff like this, I do talk about being a mom and stuff like that, and this is part of it.

I just heard that Tylenol is doing a recall on some of the products in their infant/children's line. You can find the information here. I know that I have to go through our medicine cabinet because this is my go-to medicine for teething and fevers!

A Project for Miss Pear - Can you help?

The Post Office Book: Mail and How It Moves

(this is the book we will be using...)

Mr. Pear is on a business trip, and we need a distraction because Day 1 (yesterday) did not go great. So I decided to try to move up a homeschooling project I had been planning for later in the fall. But to do that I need your help!

Miss Pear has a very active curiosity, and once something piques her interest she keeps coming back to it to explore it until we have taken it as far as we can. She has an ongoing fascination with the mail. She loves getting mail, and if the postman has to actually come to the door to deliver a parcel, that is the best! (I blame the grandparents for this as they send her lots of cards and stuff). The funny thing about Miss Pear is that she does not actually care what comes in the mail, just as long as there is a piece for her! Recently she discovered that not everybody gets their mail the same way we do (a bank of boxes down the street), and this was very curious to her. So we are looking into it.

I was wondering if you could please help us look into this by leaving a comment answering a few questions for us:

1. Do you live in an apartment, house....? (If you could include the region or state you live in - whatever you are comfortable with - that would be fun too because I can show her where that is on a map...she loves maps)
   
2. Where is your mail delivered to? (Box at your house, post office, etc.)
3. Are letters delivered differently than packages?
4. Where do you mail a letter from? (do you have to go to the post office or do you mail it from somewhere else.)
5. Where do you mail a package from?

Some of these questions might seem the same, and in some situations the answers will be the same, but in polling our family we discovered that there are often very different answers!

Thank you so much!