Counting....

His goodness... His mercy... His grace... His love...

# 89-100

- Rain

- Gift cards= dinner out with my family!

- Listening to my hubby read about The Lords Supper

- The cross

- Making Resurrection cookies!

- Cadbury Eggs

- Being Called "Mommy"

- Resurrection = Hope!

- Watching my boys play with friends

- Late night movies with the Hubs

- Messy house after the holiday weekend

- Happy House noises: washing machine, dishwasher, pandora, boys playing...


(These two sweet faces call me "Mommy"... what blessings!)

Good To All... Counting

God is so very sweet....


#67-76

- Listening to Luke tell stories as he plays

- Pancake Night



- Smiles around the table

- A tiny Pansy growing in the crack of the sidewalk



- Brotherly love



- Sweet prayers to God from Luke

- Popcorn popper from Mom



- Husband folding laundry

- Sunny, windy days.. perfect for flying and riding in the wind!



- Fresh flowers on my stove

- Friends in my home, talking... laughing

"The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made." Psalm 145: 8-9


,

The Great Things... Counting

It's April! Bring on the warmth and sunshine! What a beautiful weekend we had! I'm, continuing my counting... and I pray that if you haven't you'll pick up One Thousand Gifts, read it and start counting!


Gifts... #58-66

~ Iron burns on the carpet, but not on Eli



~ Time alone to think and pray
~ Funny People
~ Sunshine after many cloudy days
~ Tiny tomato plants leaning toward the sun
~ Mom's birthday and chocolate cake to celebrate



~ Mary's song of praise (Luke 1)
~ Watching the boys eat cake at a birthday party
~ Friends


In the words of Mary, "for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." Luke 1:49

Counting... 3/28/11

Counting the ways He loves...

38-57


~ Curious squirrels
~ The boys pretending
~ My heart - beating
~ Fingerprints on mirrors
~ Bananas
~ Eli cooking with me (see below)
~ Sink full of dishes
~ My church family
~ Planting flowers
~ Blue's Clues (when Eli wakes up on the wrong side of the bed!)
~ The peace of God
~ Being a mommy to Luke and Eli
~ Friendly faces
~ Lemons
~ Deep red cranberry juice
~ No condemnation in Christ
~ Jeans ringing up $0.97 cents at Old Navy
~ Being able to serve
~ The Body of Christ... colorful, different, beautiful, His

Counting...

I'm a day late but we were busy yesterday! The Hubs took off work and we had a fun time at the McWane Center! The past week was a difficult week for me. I have a lot of things going on, but I'm still counting. He is faithful. He is trustworthy.

# 21-37

~ Sweet cantaloupe in March
~ Husband reading the Word to our boys
~ Makeshift tents in the kitchen
~ A dandelion.. the first in our yard
~ Thunderstorms that aren't dangerous
~ Little boys waking up laughing
~ Eli in cowboy boots
~ Group of silvered hair ladies seeing a movie together
~ The hallway where little feet run up and down
~ The bed where Husband and I sleep
~ Messy rooms where my boys have play
~ A day with my family
~ My boys running
~ Laughter in our home
~ Eli's grin
~ Luke's big brown eyes
~ My husband, holding my hand

Here is the Hubs reading to the family... notice Eli's glasses. He was "reading" along too! So thankful...

Counting

I started counting last week shortly after I began reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I've been counting the ways God loves me. And while, like Ann, at times I've felt foolish this counting has began to change me. Oh I am still here, still struggling. But it's true, what Ann says, "Count blessings and discover Who can be counted on."

Here is the beginning...

1. Warm shower water
2. Blowing bubbles and laughter
3. The gospel proclaimed
4. Eli laying on my chest- still my baby
5. Text messages from my hubby
6. Messy hands
7. Orange juice
8. Hand written notes from far away friends
9. Tiny finger pushing my cheek to 'look'
10. Warm sunlight shining through windows
11. Muffin crumbs
12. The Jesus Story Book Bible
13. Foreheads to kiss
14. Sunlight glistening on a roadside lake
15. Jesus interceding (Romans 8:34)
16. Holy Spirit - groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26)
17. Yellow Pansies
18. Rain- steady rain
19. Hungry little boys
20. Goofy faces in Target mirrors

Thanksgiving..

Is over.. :-(
I really intended to do a "What I am Thankful For" post Wednesday, but it just didn't happen! We were too busy! That's not really a bad thing though.. it just meant that we had a BIG Thanksgiving to get ready for! We had a great time with family over the span of yesterday and today... and of course we ate too much. But it wouldn't really be Thanksgiving without a little gluttony!
I am so thankful for so many things... but I think I will save that post for another day. I really try to make everyday Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100:4~"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."

Luke did get to meet Santa tonight and let me just say that it was not a warm and fuzzy meeting. Luke was terrified. I guess attempting to go to the mall and sit in Santa's lap is out of the question. I am not a fan of making a scene... and I'm afraid if I tried that, we would definitely have a scene!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving... we sure did! Oh, and my pumpkin pie was fabulous! ;-)

~YUM~ Recipe and menu (sort of)..

Since this week is Thanksgiving week there isn't much on the menu. We will be having dinner with family a few times and I'm sure will have leftovers as well to take home. Last week was a busy one so I just now made the last 'meal' from last weeks menu. I will post the recipe at the bottom. So here is our 'menu' minus Thanksgiving.

~ Shrimp Scampi over thin spaghetti, salad (seriously, this sounds fancier than it really is- it's Contessa Shrimp Scampi, some boiled noodles and salad in a bag. Woo Hoo!)
~ Frozen Pizza (another really difficult dinner)
~Tuna Salad Sandwiches (man, I'm outdoing myself this week), baby carrots w/ ranch dressing

Ok, so it's nothing spectacular, but it's easy! And that's what I'm looking for this week. I'm not actually doing a lot of cooking, not at my house anyway {I'll be helping my mom Friday}.. but just the hopping from house to house alone will be enough! Not complaining.. just saying I will probably have no desire to cook anything fancy schmancy.

The only thing I was actually requested to make this week was a pumpkin pie. And I don't even really like pumpkin pie. I'd much rather have a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake (minus the nutmeg). My hubby loves pumpkin pie though.. and my mom has been craving one.. so that is what I will make. If I put enough whip cream on top it will probably be good. :) I'm also doing yeast rolls.. but really, I haven't even come close to attempting any kind of bread making... so they are frozen. I'll put bread making on my 'to-do' list. Seriously, I would love to know how.. The rest I will just be helping my mom with Friday. I know she's doing chicken & dressing, broccoli casserole, carrot souffle, something with sweet potatoes and creamed corn. I honestly don't have a clue what kind of meat we're having.. turkey or ham? Who knows... Anyway, here is the Crockpot BBQ Chicken recipe that I made last night. So YUMMY and easy!


Crockpot BBQ Chicken, 6 servings

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 & 1/2 cups ketchup
3 TBSP brown sugar
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tsp soy sauce
3 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all ingredients for the sauce in the crock pot. Add the chicken and coat it well with the sauce. Cook on High 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours or until chicken is fully cooked all the way through. (I halved the recipe and cooked 3 chicken breast that were still partially frozen when I put them in. I cooked them 2 hours on high and then one on low and they were perfect. When we were about ready to eat, I took the chicken out and covered it with foil and then put the sauce in a uncovered pan to thicken. I just turned it on med low for about 15 minutes and stirred it often. The BBQ sauce is soo yummy.. kind of Asian inspired w/ the soy sauce & so good!)

We had the chicken with green beans (I buy frozen whole green beans and throw them in a pan w/ a little olive oil and a chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Let them cook until tender but still a little crisp!) and roasted potatoes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomorrow is flu shot day. Yay. I could go on about the flu.. because I have actually had it.. Not just 'Oh, I've got some kind of flu' or 'Yeah, I've got the flu (when they have no real flu symptoms).' [seriously, you have no idea how much that gets on my nerves since I have actually had the real deal]... I was 'one of the lucky ones' as my doctor put it in March of this year, technically after flu season was over, to get the real FLU, Influenza Type A! I got tested and it was positive. I have never been so sick in my life! So, we are getting the flu shot tomorrow.. R has already had one so Luke and I are getting ours tomorrow. Ok, so I know there are worse things out there than influenza.. but thankfully (and I say that with all sincerity) in my life I haven't experienced them. I should get off this little soapbox of mine.. but just be warned.. don't tell me you have the flu.. unless you REALLY have the flu.. and if you do, it better be over the phone and NOT in person. Go get a flu shot! Sorry for the rant.. this ends my public service announcement.
:)