Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Favorite Fall Recipes

With Fall, comes a bunch of yummy recipes. Here are a few of my favorite!

Pumpkin- Apple Muffins

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

2 t. baking soda

1 small can pumpkin

2 or 3 apples peeled and chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and sugar. Mix in rest of ingredients. Bake for 20 min. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top while the muffins are warm. makes 2 doz.

I think this would be really yummy with about a cup of white chocolate chips thrown in too!




Barb's Apple chip cake

1 1/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
3 cups peeled and chopped apples (hence the name, "apple chip")
Preheat the oven to 350. In a bowl mix oil, sugar and eggs. Beat until smooth. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and beat into wet ingredients to form a still batter. Add vanilla, nuts and apples. Stir to blend. Spoon batter into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake 1 hour.

Optional Frosting:
Mix 1 cup brown sugar with 4 T. cream. Cook until sugar is melted. Add 1/8 t. salt and 1/2 t. vanilla. Pour over still warm cake.

Nikki's pumpkin Fudge

1 1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. evaporated milk

1/2 c. pumpkin

2 TBS. butter

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. mini marshmallows

1 pkg. (12oz) vanilla baking chips

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Line 8 inch square pan with foil. Grease the foil. Butter the sides of a heave sauce pan.Combine sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin, butter, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir constantly while bringing it to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, continue boiling 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallows,vanilla chips and vanilla extract. Stir until all ingredients are melted. Pour into square pan. Chill until firm. Cut in squares and store in the fridge.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Esther's Birthday






Esther turned 8 on Saturday and even though it was kinda cold and wet, we still managed to have her birthday party at the picnic shelter at church. She has a pink and purple barbie themed party. The cake was so good and she got lots of nice gifts. She had asked for money from her Florida grandparents and took her money to Toys r us today and bought a barbie dream house. She said it was the one she had wanted all her life!

Monday, September 21, 2009

My organization system

I just wanted to share how I organize for each month. I take a folder and on the front I staple a printout of my calendar that I have on ical. I sync my ical to my phone and so it usually has all of the events that I know are coming up in the month, but I have room to add in any extras as the month goes along.




On the inside in the left side pocket, I place recipes, coupons, school experiments, birthday invitations etc. Just stuff I know I will want to look at again throughout the month . I am sure I will be adding
adoption paper chase information soon! :)

On the right I paper clip my weekly event from that I made. It tells me the meals I have planned for the week and has a section to elaborate on each day and also a "things to do/buy" area. I change this
out every Sunday






On the back of the folder, I paper clip my Motivated Moms chore chart. I decided not to buy the 2009, but then later in the year
decided I wanted it, so I am just using the 08 and writing in my
own dates until 2010 when I buy the new one. I change this out every Sunday too.

I just keep this folder on the counter or at my desk and it is a reminder of what needs to be accomplished within the week.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

We did it!

We signed and mailed our adoption application to American World Adoption in Mclean, Va. I know that there will be many many adoption posts in the next year and so I have started an adoption blog. I have been playing around with the blog layout for a few weeks and so some of the posts will be duplicates of this blog, but from now on, I will be posting adoption updates over there. :)



As a family of five we prayed over the application before we mailed it. We felt God's peace and His assurance. We are so excited!!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Flag Football




Nathan had his first flag football game yesterday. His team won and he was great on defense. I think it will be a fun season for him.

What we do in Sunday School




These glasses were in the SS curriculum box for the K-2 grade class. We had fun with them yesterday.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Being an example

I have never really liked to be an example. Usually as a kid if someone said they were going to " make an example out of you" it meant you were going to get in trouble and they were going to use the consequences to let other kids know they better not even think about doing anything such as you had just done. Or sometimes worse, if you did something right and you were made an example then there was a standard you had to live up to.

Maybe it is wrong or bad, but I like being average. I have always looked average. Never really turning heads walking in a room, but I don't think I have ever been called " a dog" either :) I have always been an average athlete, never MVP, but I was able to contribute to the team. I always hates softball though because of having to be up to bat and everyone watching just you.

Grades were the same way, a B average was okay with me. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be invisible or hidden, but never really wanted to be the one people were whispering about either. Being the " Go To" girl was not my dream.

I think that there are a lot of girls like me out there and that is why the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer has been such a huge hit. The heroine , Bella was like that, just wanting to make it through high school and not cause any ripples and when she falls in love with a vampire and he loves her back, it puts her right in harms way of much more than she could ever imagine. When, by the fourth book, she has become so much more than she thought she could be and she ends up being very special, almost destined to greatness, even though she was unwilling to step up to the plate. This theme resonated with every girl who longs to only be average because deep down inside she is afraid that she really is just average and if she is made an example she will eventually fail.

What does this have to do with an adoption and on an adoption blog?

As much as I long to adopt a baby and as much as I feel God has called us to do it, that its not just a whim or a phase, I don't want to be an example. To those who think we shouldn't adopt a baby of another color. To those who think three children are enough. To those who don't understand why we would even want to.

I don't even want to be a biblical example of a christian who follow James 1:27 and looks after orphans. Why? Why if God has called us to it wouldn't I want others to look and to learn of His Love and how He made all colors of skin and loves us all the same. To witness His provision to care for more children and that they are a heritage unto Him. To teach others that when we care for the least of these we are caring for Him. Shouldn't I be excited for that? Why do I shy away from that part of adoption?

Because I'm scared.

Scared that I might fail as a mother to a child that doesn't have the same heritage as my own. Scared that our extended family wont except him and that I will feel defensive and hateful to them. Scared we won't have enough money to get through this process and raise more children.

Then He whispers something so simple yet so profound to me....I can't, but He can.
He brings back verses to my mind that I learned as a child like,"The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it" and "Cast your cares upon Him for He careth for you."

The one that sealed the deal on my questioning was "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

See, I'm not average.I am victorious. My life doesn't belong to myself. I gave it to Jesus as a little girl and it wasn't just a ticket to heaven, it should encompass every part of my being.

We teach our children to be "a sermon in shoes", we tell them to let their " little lights shine". Well, then, I am not going to shirk my responsibilities and calling just because it might make me uncomfortable to be the topic of conversation or the reason for debate.

So, if you think we are crazy or you have negative things to say, I am sorry. My life is not my own...I am bought with a price. So yeah...I'm an example.



Friday, September 11, 2009

happy place


I bought myself 2 heavy duty LL Bean totes this year for School stuff and Church stuff. It makes my head happy to see everything organized and in it's proper place. Now, if only my closet was as easy to do.....

abby and volleyball



Abby is playing volleyball for the Oak Level Crusaders jv team this year. She is new to the sport , but is learning pretty quick how to play.

Fun at the Mall





Greg's parents came in to town last weekend. We went to the mall and the kids got to play on the bungee jump that we always tell them they can't do when we go to the mall without grandparents. :) They had a lot of fun on it though.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wake Forest Football






A friend of ours from church was able to give us some tickets to Wake Forest's first football game of the season. We had such a fun time tale-gating with friends. I love football season!