I have created a monster...

...and I could not be prouder!

Miss Pear does a lot of jobs around the house. Her jobs (with supervision) include setting the table, putting the cutlery away when we empty the dishwasher, folding napkins, face cloths and bibs out of the dryer, putting away toys, and other stuff that comes up that she can help with. She is so proud of herself when she is my "big helper girl". Throughout each day I reward her for doing a good job, for staying in bed (something we are working on), being extra good to her little sister by putting beads in a jar. When the jar is full I give her a book (so far just books I have ordered through Paperback Swap).

This week is vacation Bible school at our church, and it is free. But they do collect an offering each day, and it is for a very specific missionary project. Each day a little package of that day's papers come home with ideas such as bring a dime for every pair of jeans, and bring a dime for every light bulb in your house (with the caveat that these are just ideas and you should do whatever you want). We are thrilled to do this, and are having a lot of fun.

In addition, Miss Pear is earning quarters this week for her jobs instead of beads, and she is thrilled. In fact, she keeps asking me what her next job is, and is so proud to put her quarter in her special jar.

We looked at her jar of beads and I asked her if she wanted to sell me her beads for a quarter a bead. It would mean her jar is empty, and next week she would have to start all over earning her book, but it would also mean more quarters to help more people know Jesus.

She sold me all her beads.

I gave her the book anyways.

Then she asked me what her next job could me.

Salt and Light

Sometimes I wonder what God's purpose was in putting us where we are, and sometimes I think we catch glimpses of it. Often we feel so counter culture in Southern California that we feel like aliens (oh, wait, according the USCIS we are! Which is pretty funny because I was pretty sure I was born on earth....)

But this past two weeks we have seen clearly how different our parenting styles are from those around us. Actually, to be perfectly honest how different our family life is.

All around me I hear moms lamenting the trial of summer break and counting down the return to school, discussing daycare provider options, preschool options, and the assorted costs but how it is so worth it. That they don't have to teach their child letters and numbers, the school will do that. That they are looking forward to the fall so that they can have their time back again.

I realize that my heart, actually the very core of my being is different.

Let me see if I can explain.

This week is vacation Bible school at our Church, and I am thrilled for Miss Pear to be there. Our church does an excellent job of really teaching the Bible to even the youngest, and while there are crafts, they are not busy work, they are to teach (you should just see the wall of Jericho craft! I would take a picture but it is looking pretty beat up from all the re-enactments that have occurred since Sunday morning!)

So Miss Pear is at Church each morning this week.

And Baby was beside herself without her sister, she got so excited when I asked if we should go get sister. They love each other.

And as for me? Let's just say that on Monday I was 15 minutes early to pick up Miss Pear. I love having my girls with me! I delight in the blessing the Lord has given me in my family! And I really did miss my sweet daughter for the 3 hours she was away from us yesterday morning.

But today I will take her back again because she is having so much fun, and learning so much, and because for 1 week Mommy can subscribe to the "suck it up, Cupcake" school of thought.

Being counterculture is not bad, from what I can tell it is making me a whole lot happier!

Stand Firm...by being still

In reading along in my Standing Firm calendar I wanted to share with you last week's reading:

Be still, and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10a

In the secret place we simply stand. No great agenda, no mighty ambitions, no rush to move on to the next thing. All we can do is stand and burn in
holy love for our King.
Bob Sorge.

To go along with this Ann at Holy Experience has been writing an excellent Wednesday series called:



This week's post was the start of a new sub-series and the post is called: The Art of Scripture Reading: Why Read the Bible? Needless to say I am looking very forward to Wednesday. What I love about Ann's posts is that she is very focused on the relationship with the Lord, the love, the everyday, and that speaks to my heart!

Peach Baby Food

In all the peachy goodness around here it was actually kind of fun last night to cut up cherries to dry!

But we love peaches...all of us...especially Baby.

So I am making lots of peach baby food and decided to figure out how much this is costing me!

I bought about 12 dozen peaches on sale for $0.47 per pound. The only thing that stopped me from buying more was the selection....

Each bag of a dozen cost on average $2.00, so 6 peaches cost $1.

Today I pealed and pitted 6 peaches and ran them through the food processor and got 18 ice cubes of peaches, and 2 cubes is about the same as one jar of baby food in the stores.

We made the equivalent of 9 jars of peach baby food for $1, or $0.11 a jar.

Needless to say I am making lots of baby food with these peaches! This is pretty much the rock bottom price on peaches for the year, but even buying fruit and veggies at the "regular price" still results in substantial savings over buying the jars.

Peachy Goodness

Peaches have been on an excellent price this past week. I bought 5 dozen last weekend and then went back for more!

What did I do with all these peaches?

• dried peaches for snacks
• made peach fruit leather
• made food for Baby
• flash froze sliced peaches for use during the non peach season (I would say winter, but could not possibly do that with a straight face considering we are melting here right now!)
• made peach pie filling

Peach pie filling you ask? I am so glad you asked! (Okay, you didn't, but just play along with me here!)

I have been making peach pie filling and freezing it in freezer bags...here is my incredibly complicated recipe!

Freezer Peach Pie Filling

5 cups of sliced peaches (about 6 should do it)
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup flour

Mix well, if it is too dry to mix well, let sit a couple minutes and try again.

Once mixed well move to freezer bag, squeeze out all the air and freeze flat. (Remember to clearly label!)

When you are ready to cook your pie, the night (or late afternoon in my case), make your pie crust and stash it in the fridge, before bed pull out the pie filling and stash it in the fridge overnight too.

In the morning assemble your pie, lightly sugar the top of your pie crust and bake as follows:
425F for 10 minutes
350F for 40 minutes or until crust is nicely golden brown.

Cool somewhat and serve....with vanilla bean ice cream...and call me to come over and sample!

Tools for Moms of Readers

I think most of us moms want our children to grow up to love reading. Not just for the pleasure of reading, although that is important too, but because if they love reading it will assist them in loving to read and study God's Word.

While I am not sure what we did to deserve such book loving girls - Baby already seems to love books - I am very grateful for the Lord's gift.

There is one problem when you have children who are avid readers, the problem of finding enough books to put in front of them! Frequent library trips help, but when they are taking out the same books time and again, it is time to get our own copy if possible.

Here are some tools that have helped us tremendously!

The first obvious tip is a library card. We have 2 - one for our county library and one for a city we don't live in. This city lets all California residents have a card to their library, for all but 2 cities in California it is free, and their library has one of the best children's sections I have seen! Cities will not advertise this, but many do it. Also, many seminaries and colleges will issue you cards, but they usually charge an annual fee, and many churches maintain lending libraries for their members or members of their denomination.

Friends of the Library - while you are at the library, be sure to check out their used book section usually called Friends of the Library, there are great gems in there!

Swagbucks - I search the internet a lot, often looking for coloring pages (best results are "topic coloring page" such as "turtle coloring page"), you accumulate points randomly as you search, usually once a day if you search a lot, and then you can cash those in for rewards such as $5 Amazon.com gift cards!

Paperbackswap - I use this to get rid of books that are left here by guests or that are passed on to me that I have no intent of reading or that have not worked out for whatever reason. For every book you mail (at your expense, usually between $2-3 depending on if you print your postage and get tracking), you get a credit to request a book, which is sent at the sender's expense. So far I have been able to get almost all the original series of Magic School Bus in hard cover by using the wish list function! Plus I have a few friends who prefer to be given used books so I wish list hard to get or new books for them...after all, I have posted lots of their books! Also, when you join and list 10 books they give you 3 credits to get you going.

Amazon.com and ChristianBooks.com (links on sidebar) - both these carry an excellent selection of books at discounted prices! Amazon has year round free shipping on orders over $25 if you are willing to wait for your order a couple extra days, and ChristianBooks offers promotions on shipping a couple times of year. I love that I can make my book money go further, and that I can find a selection of books on a topic to choose from rather than the take or leave it I get when I go the local bookstore.

Bookstore Discount Racks - All I have to say about this is hardcover Winnie the Pooh Treasury for less than $10, 501 Science Experiments for $6. And woo hoo!

Costco and Target - be sure to check out their books when you are there as they are nicely discounted!

Birthday and Christmas - books are excellent gifts for our girls and I let people know that! Both our girls have Amazon wishlists that I maintain so that our families can easily find books for them. I also let them know what topics are of interest to Miss Pear so they can be on the look out!

Rewards - occasionally we want to reward our oldest for something such as good sharing when we have company who is not good sharers or some extra special help she has been or an accomplishment, and this usually comes in the form of books.

Sharing and Trading - we also pass books back and forth with our friends and neighbors. This works great, we just make sure to clearly say which books we want back, and which books we don't want to see again!

Personal Library - the final tool is the personal library in our home. We have carefully picked books for our girls, and when we have made a mistake we have been willing to admit that and either pass the book on or list it on Paperbackswap.

Of course, no list of tools for moms of readers is complete without a couple sources for reading lists, which are easy to come by, but hard to come by good ones.

By far my favorite is The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition. It was really the confirmation that we were on the right track with reading to little ones who could barely hold their heads up, and a challenge to keep it up! We loved the reading lists in the back, they have been an excellent jumping off point for us! We have given numerous copies of this as gifts.

The other one I have heard excellent things about and I trying to get my hands on a copy is Honey for a Child's Heart.

These are tips that truly work for me!

So, what have I missed? What are your favorite sources for books? What are your favorite reading lists? We moms of avid readers have to help each other out, so please share your favorites with me so that I can have new ideas too!

Deciding Where to Start

I have been re-evaluating my Bible time, trying to find a way to make it more consistent and more than a lick and a promise some days, and I am making progress.

I am doing better about getting my kitchen Bible out again. (Rather than just using Daily Light)

I discovered that if I put my copy of Daily Light out when I cross stitch or knit or quilt it is excellent for meditating on, which is how I had been using it in the kitchen (Daily Light is a devotional that is a compilation of scripture, so for each morning and evening there is a selection of scripture on a common theme).

I am consistently doing Bible time with the girls at breakfast time. (As well as trying to work in using Rod and Staff's Bible Stories to Read and Bible Stories to Color after lunch, which is only working every 2nd or 3rd day as lunch is right before nap time).

Mr. Pear and I are consistently reading together right after we put the girls to bed. (He chose the minor prophets for us to read - such an excellent perspective right now!)

And I am finding my way in a quiet time during the first part of afternoon nap time rather than waiting until bed time. Although I am still working on it I am currently working my way through a Bible Study that is an area I feel challenged in. I am also trying to do more reading in general throughout the day.

All this to say that as I was contemplating how to get going in a meaningful way again I seriously considered what level of depth I could handle (gone are the days of in depth Bible study on my own with commentary only to clarify parts I simply could not understand and then to compliment my own study! I know I will get back to that, Lord willing) I realized that while Baby and I are not sleeping through the night, and am still nursing Baby I needed something to guide me and to help keep me focused, hence the Bible study.

But before I reached that conclusion I considered the wealth of excellent advice and teaching I have received in the just over 10 years I have been serious about my faith and actively studying and learning. There are 2 points I would like to share with you.

1. Daily Study A dear friend who I would consider to be a mentor to me, shared how she does her daily quiet time, a method that has worked for her for years. Each time before she starts she asks the Lord to teach her something new, for new and fresh revelation. And she stays until He does. And each day she faithfully records it in her journal. She has stopped dating her journal, except to date the entire journal book with a start and finish date because she simply knows that the entry before today's was yesterday's, and the day before that etc.

Her relationship with the Lord and her practical and intellectual knowledge of the Bible testifies to both His faithfulness and hers.

When I am not completely scattered and exhausted this is the method for daily quiet time / study I use, and while I have not attained her level, the Lord uses her to encourage me along this way.

2. In Depth Study So often when we look at a book of the Bible to really dig deep into, to really go through verse by verse, word by word, and spend extended solid time in we gravitate to the best loved books....John, Ephesian, Hebrews, James....

The best advice I ever received completely turned that on it's head, and completely changed the way I approach this.

The advice was that if we use that method we will be strong in only our favored portions, and only shore up our strengths. Which still leaves us weak. Better that we would open our Bibles to the table on contents and carefully read the list of books. Make a list of the 5 books you know the least. Read those books and then organize them in order starting with the one you understand the least, or is the most confusing to you.

Congratulations, you now have a list of 5 books for this method of study!

He also recommended to take that list and ask your pastor for a list of recommended resources. Not only will this give you an excellent start on your research, it will probably make your pastor's week!

Once you have worked your way through this list of 5 books, repeat the exercise. This way you are shoring up your weak spots, and are becoming stronger! Especially if you are rewarding yourself by reading one of your favorite books through as a gift to yourself after your heavy studying! And be sure to keep your study notes!

The Cost of Baby Food

Over the July long weekend I had some catch-up projects to complete. This worked great because it was hotter than blazes outside, and my husband wanted nothing more than a restful weekend at home.

One of my many projects was to make baby food.

Baby's favorite food is sweet potatoes. I am convinced that she would eat nothing but sweet potatoes if we let her! While I am sure that taste is the biggest issue, the fun texture and ability to get it in her eyebrows is surely a huge factor as well.

While I was making my 2 batches of sweet potatoes I started to wonder exactly how much I was saving. So I calculated how much each cube or blob of sweet potato cost. Each blob came in at just under $0.13. I ended up with 2 sizes: ice cube sized (qty 24) and #30 scoop size (slightly larger, qty 34). I would say that 2 ice cubes is about the size of a jar at the store, and for the sake of ease of calculations we are going to ignore the fact that the #30 scoops are larger). So I am getting the equivalent of one jar of baby food for $0.26.

The bonus is that I know exactly the quality of that food because I carefully cut out any soft spots or scars, and steamed them.

How much work was this?

Well, I pealed and chopped 4 sweet potatoes, popped them in the steamer (2 batches), ran each batch through the food processor adding water that was used to steam the potatoes to get the consistency I needed and to get the mixture actually going, then I filled the ice cube trays and used the scoop to drop little mounds on wax paper and popped it in the freezer. The next day I moved all the cubes into freezer bags for storage. Now I just pull out what I want and pop it in the microwave or thaw it gently in the fridge if I remember in the morning. So very little work for the savings and quality.

The Mommy Bible

...no, not the kind that is the guide to being a mommy, God is still showing me the way on that one, for which I am am thankful because we would be in trouble if I was on my own!

What I mean is that you only have to look at my Bible to know I am a mom.

If the stickers stashed in there did not give it away, some other things might....

....like the pages that Miss Pear crinkled in her little hands when she was too little to know how to flip but loved the crinkle pages.

....like the crinkled pages from when I could keep Miss Pear occupied for a long time by just letting her flip through my Bible to feel and hear the pages.

....like the page in Hebrews that sports a huge pen mark across it and part of the next page, also courtesy of Miss Pear.

....or like Baby's addition yesterday when in her excitement of discovering the crinkly pages (I don't use my study Bible to read to the girls, I use a NIrV Bible, so simpler, but still a full on Bible without the crinkly pages). Baby's addition was to almost rip out half a page of Genesis. I lovingly taped it back in while assuring her that while it is great to get excited about God's Word, when we talk about digesting God's Word we don't mean literally, so please don't pull the pages out....

Wowie Maui Chicken

Fishmama is hosting the Ultimate Recipe Swap and this week is Chicken! So I thought I would share with you a family favorite recipe that I have been making since before I was married...did I mention we just celebrated our 10th anniversary?

Wowie Maui Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
2-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 x 14oz can pineapple tidbits in juice, undrained
1-1/2 cups uncooked long grain white or brown rice (25 min cooking variety)
3/4 cup finely chopped carrots
1 chopped green pepper (can use frozen peppers)
1 chopped red pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 minced garlic cloves
3/4 cup chopped green onions (optional)

Spray a large saucepan with non-stick spray. Add chicken. Cook over medium heat until no longer pink.

Add remaining ingredients, except green onions. Stir well.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, until rice is tender. Stir occasionally.

Stir in green onions during last five minutes of cooking time. And serve immediately.

Note: This is easily doubled if you have a big enough pot, then skip the green onions as they do not freeze well.
Also, can add lots of veggies if you do not want to bother with a side salad or side dish.


Other favorite Chicken recipes around here are:
White Chicken Chili
Chicken Breasts stuffed with Pesto and Chicken Cordon Bleu

What I am learning

For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12: 3-11 NKJV

Life is never easy, we are not promised it would be. Yet in the difficulties, in the challenges, in the pain, in the frustration and tears is the reminder that we are His children, and He has not abandoned us. We don't serve a Lord who will suddenly turn around and say, "Oh there you are, I had forgotten about you...what is your name again?" We serve a God who loves us enough to chasten us to encourage us in our growth.

Discipline is never joyful at the time, but is always worthwhile.

All is Good

Baby's follow up with Ortho went very well. Her hip test looked great, and the x-ray showed things moving right along...this time we could even see the hip cup developing too! The sides are still mismatched as the impacted side has a some catching up to do, but the doctor is very happy.

We don't have to go back until NOVEMBER!

So our slow and steady miracle continues.

I have learned that much of life is a slow and steady miracle, and the Lord is definitely teaching me to see them, which is such a tremendous gift!

Now my little slow and steady miracle is in her crib and snoozing...another sweet miracle, she falls asleep almost immediately just about every night.

Baby's follow up Monday morning

Tomorrow morning we are taking Baby back to the pediatric orthopedic surgeon for her first follow up visit. We are not really sure what to expect. Daddy thinks that the appointment will just be a formality. Mommy agrees, but has that little bit of anxiety too.

We will let you know Monday afternoon how it went.

Happy Birthday Canada

I just wanted to wish you a very happy Canada day...even if you are not Canadian it is always fun to celebrate a birthday even if it is not yours! :-)

It is also a special day around here. 10 years ago today we arrived in Southern California from Canada to our first home...an apartment in a complex everyone called the birdhouses because of the large round windows that looked like bird doors on bird houses.

We left Canada 3 weeks to the day after our wedding, our honeymoon was a slow drive down here after a long weekend at a cottage immediately following our wedding. And in that time the Lord has truly cared for us in a sun scorched land.

And because we will be starting a nice 4 day weekend tonight, Happy 4th of July to my American readers! Yes, we do celebrate both...we also celebrate both thanksgivings.

Whirl Wind 2.5 Hours

I had a long to do list today, and in the two and a half hours between Baby's 2 naps I we got the following done:

1. Cleaned kitchen (put alway all clean dishes from yesterday and emptied dishwasher)
2. Browned 3 lbs of ground beef in the oven
   
3. Made 2 x double batches of banana bread for a total of 6 loaves because I wanted to use up all the frozen bananas (the last 3 loaves are in the oven)
4. 2 loads of laundry (with the second one just waiting to go in the dryer because I lost track of it) and 2 loads to go.
5. 1 double batch of cookie dough made and in the freezer
6. Plan for the meal we are taking to a family from church whose first baby just arrived...3 weeks early. I am hoping to take them some extra goodies to help them out a little bit.
7. Cleaned kitchen (all dishes but the 6 loaf pans are done).
   
8. Fed everyone lunch.
9. Finished supper prep, or at least what I could reasonably do early.
   

So I really think it is nap time.