Sweet and Sour Chicken

Not long after we were married, my mother-in-law bought me a wok and a Chinese cookbook. I found the recipe for sweet and sour chicken in that cookbook and I've made it ever since. It's very easy to put together and makes a pretty presentation. I do have to add with a laugh that two of my kids say they don't care to eat it anymore as I have made it so many times. But my husband still says that it's one of his favorites.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes
1 green bell pepper cut into thin strips
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
2 small bottles La Choy Sweet and Sour Sauce
white rice

Brown the chicken breasts in 2 T. oil in a wok until cooked through - about 10 -15 minutes.

Add a little more oil if needed to stir fry the bell pepper strips with the chicken until tender.

Add the can of pineapple chunks.

Add the 2 bottles of sweet and sour sauce.

Heat until hot and bubbling and then turn to low. Serve over rice. You may also add egg rolls for this meal.

It's really good and super easy to put together. I've been in a cooking slump lately and have been so tired of cooking. I think I'm just ready to eat fresh tomatoes and corn and good things from off the grill. But we have a lot of snow on the ground right now, so that day is still a ways off.

Enjoy! And here's hoping that spring is almost here:)

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They Will Grow Up and Bring You Cupcakes

 

Our little boy turns 22!

Our first child just turned 22 years old! It seems just like yesterday that I went to the hospital, not really knowing what to expect. Oh, I had heard plenty of horror stories of labor and delivery that some ladies felt obligated to tell me about. But I hoped it wouldn't be as bad as all that. Fortunately, it was a quick delivery and before I knew it, I was holding an 8 pound baby boy in my arms.

Dave and I laugh now over how scared he was driving us home. I sat in the back with baby Evan as we drove slowly home in the snow. (Dave was horrified at the recklessness of every other driver on the highway that day.) Neither one of us could believe that just the two of us had driven to the hospital and now it was the three of us. We were now three. He was with us forever.

I wasn't prepared for colic. I held a screaming, crying baby and cried too, not knowing exactly what was wrong or what we should be doing. But finally, the colic faded away and we had a sweet little baby boy that we fell in love with.

Evan was always an easy baby. We used to take long 16 hour drives to see my parents in Mississippi. I would look in the backseat and there would be Evan, sucking on his round, red pacifier while giving me a grin and kicking his bare feet.

He walked at 9 months. Not long after we bought him the cutest little businessman suit.  I remember when my parents visited and I dressed him in that suit and watched him walk into the livingroom. He also carried  his "briefcase" which was a black cassette holder with a handle. My dad laughed and said he looked like he should work at a bank.

It seemed that Evan didn't stay in babyhood very long. I became pregnant again right away with twins. They arrived prematurely when Evan was just 8 1/2 months old. There were many weeks of Evan coming along with us to the hospital to visit his siblings.

As I've written before, after our twins came home from the hospital, we had days of unbelievable stress. They cried nearly 24 hours a day. This was before we knew that they had cerebral palsy.  I would sometimes escape for an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon and would take Evan with me. Those were sweet days of our sharing a burger and french fries or walking around the grocery store together. I sometimes don't know how I would have made it during that hard time without Evan. But sometimes I worry that he had to grow up too soon.

He used to say to us when he was about  five, "Is it time to put the kids to bed yet?" as if he weren't a kid himself. But I think he liked a little time with just me and Dad at the end of a day.

I remember another time when he was about 7 or 8 yrs. old. We were leaving Mississippi again after being at my parents for a visit. I suddenly realized that it was so quiet in the van. I looked at the seat behind me to see Evan sitting quietly, looking out the window, with big tears rolling down his cheeks. He enjoyed those visits so much with my mom and dad.

 Despite the long hours of being a mom, despite the tears (yours and theirs), and sitting up at night with one who is wheezing or vomiting, wiping runny noses, or walking the floor with a crying baby...it will all too quickly end. You'll look around and that little toddler will suddenly be 22 years old.  He will drive to a place he heard about to buy cupcakes to surprise you and the rest of the family (even though they cost a lot).  One of the qualities I love about him is his delight in buying things for other people. I think he is going to need a very well paying job in order to continue to fund his generous habits:)

Even though I miss his baby days, I love the young man he has become. I love his personality and to see him interacting with friends and family. I can't imagine our lives without him. I look forward to seeing all that God will do in his life.

Ev, I'm so glad you were born. You've made our lives so much richer. I have said this about all the kids, but I say it about you today...what would we have done without you?

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He Will Calm Your Storm

Many of you today may be in a hard place. Discouragement, despair, depression...those awful "D" words.

If I could blow peace over you in the same way we blow dandelion seeds into the air, I would.

photo courtesy of chrisroll/freedigitalphoto.net

Sometimes we feel that God has forgotten us, but He hasn't. Our feelings are so fickle. They can be up one day and down the next. But God is a very present help in our time of trouble, whether we "feel" it or not.

God is close to the broken hearted.

Is your heart broken?

Is everything around you, your circumstances, your thoughts, raging in turmoil?

Ask Him to come and show you how much He cares for you. He isn't too busy and He isn't unconcerned. You have a very real enemy who plants doubts and fears in your heart. He constructs events in such a way that you begin to feel convinced that God is too busy for you. But those are lies.

He is infinitely and tenderly concerned about what concerns you.

Take a few minutes today and just lay on your bed or floor and ask Him to reveal lies you have believed and to begin to show you instead what He is saying about you. Your enemy delights when you say you are too tired to try anything else or when you say, "What would be the use of praying?" Exactly. That is what your enemy wants. That is what he is working hard on 24 hours a day.

But God longs to take you by the hand and calm the fierceness of the storm all around you. He will push back the heavy curtain and let you see the bright sunshine that's always been there. You just haven't seen it in awhile.

Dear God, bless whoever is reading this today. And I declare over them that You will reveal your tender love and care for them today no matter how they feel, because You are stronger than any feelings.

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Target Find

There's just something about Target.

 I go to Walmart because I have to. I have a big family and the prices on the thousand boxes of cereal I buy are cheaper there. But I go to Target because it's fun!

My husband and I ran in there the other day and I found this bargain - buy 1 watch and get 1 50% off. I really don't wear much jewelry, but I loved these watches. The first one was $14.99 and the 2nd one - half off.

If you're looking for an inexpensive watch, I think the sale is still on.

What kinds of things have you found at Target lately?

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What to Do with Leftover Birthday Balloons

Our daughter just turned 16 years old. We surprised her that morning with 16 balloons and 16 roses. It's so hard to believe that she is this age!

She enjoyed the balloons on the stairs for a few days afterwards. Then we decided to send those leftover birthday balloons on a mission.

We attached small stick it notes with a message and also our church name and city.

Next, we sent the balloons on their way.

 

I wonder how far a balloon can travel?

 

We thought it would be neat to send someone a message that God cares about them. Who knows? Maybe it will float to someone's home who could use some encouragment. Stranger things have happened.

 

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I'll let you know if anyone contacts us.

 

Have a great week!

 

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Sonic and True Love

It is a cold, snowy night in Iowa. The wind chill outside is  -14 degrees. But this afternoon as I made pancakes for the kids for supper, I longingly thought about a lovely hamburger on the grill with tomatoes, pickle and onion. Of course, that wasn't going to happen. It will be many, many weeks before my first bite of a hamburger or hot dog on the grill.

But my wonderful husband brought me this:

A Sonic burger with onion rings! I am going to enjoy it. I may even share my onion rings with the kids.

That is true love on a cold Iowa night.

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Those Sweet Little Moments in My Day

Our oldest son is now 21 yrs. old.  Our daughter is also 21 (she was born 9 months later). Our youngest child is now 7. 

There's also a sprinkling of ages in between...19, 15, and 13.  I think we would all say that our 7 yr. old is a sweet ray of sunshine in our home. He's had some health problems since the age of two, so we all tend to dote on him a bit. He's always making us laugh (he cracks us all up by reciting a State Farm insurance commercial word for word) and still likes to snuggle with me. Each evening, he makes his nightly rounds and asks his siblings if he can sleep in their room for the night. Usually my daughter gives in, even though she says she can't get a good night's sleep with him taking up most of the bed.

I've home schooled for about 16 years.  Now I have a first grader again! This time, we are doing Abeka's web streamed 1st grade program and I love it. Miss Weiler is an excellent teacher and he has learned so much. Here's a picture of him with his "class" and teacher.

 

 We sit together at the computer and do a basic curriculum with her which consists of Bible time (with a lot of scripture memorization that we do with the entire class, singing, and Bible stories), phonics instruction, and reading. I do the math, handwriting, and two workbooks with him separately.

Another part of my day that I love is this view of him I often see from the kitchen - the top of his little blonde head on the couch. It never fails to melt my heart.

I also often see this. A bowl of mini marshmallows. Sometimes he may eat the whole bowl, but more often than not, I see a bowl like this one somewhere in the living room. He may have had a few, then went on downstairs to play Madden 12 on his x-box. It's a good day when he finishes any kind of food.

As our 7 yr. old often says to me, "Life is good". And he's right...life isn't perfect...whose is? But it is good.

These are just some of the sweet moments of my day.

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Jesus Sees You So Differently

This will probably be the world's shortest blog post, but I hope so much that it will encourage someone else today.

I was praying a short time the other morning and telling the Lord how sorry I am that I'm so inconsistent when it comes to prayer and Bible reading. I really am inconsistent in those things. I do great for a week or two, then I slide back into a hit and miss routine.  I let out a big sigh and then went downstairs for my day.

Later that day, I gave our littlest boy his meds and formula through his g-tube (he looks like a perfectly healthy seven year old, but has a metabolic disorder that requires the g-tube since age 2 ). I walked over to the counter and opened a notebook I keep there and wrote down the time I gave his meds to him. Then, suddenly, the Lord spoke to me.  He said, "I don't think you are inconsistent at all. You've been doing this job of giving Nathaniel his meds for five years." I was so shocked and also flooded with Jesus' love for me. I never thought about it like that. I thought He was more interested in how much I read the Bible or prayed during the week, but He was showing me that He didn't look at me and my efforts as a giant check mark on His calendar.

He feels the same way about you. He sees your heart and that is what He is most concerned about. The things we do for Him and forget - He will NEVER forget. He lovingly watches you throughout your day and He remembers each and every thing you do in His name. His heart is tender towards you.

Have a blessed day!

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Classic Books to Enjoy

I love to read when I can and I loved reading books to my children while they were (and are) growing up.

I still have the remnants of my oldest son's favorite Mickey Mouse board book. It finally just wore out. My littlest boy loved to have me read Goodnight Moon to him over and over. He always laughed at the page that read, "Goodnight, nobody." I could see his anticipation building as we approached that particular page. Sweet memories!

courtesy Google

If you are just starting out reading books to your child then  The Little Engine That Could and Winter Barn  are two books that kids have loved forever. I love books that illustrate the four seasons.

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton is a sweet story about a little house out in the country and all that it sees and experiences as the city grows up around it. You can see how worn my copy is.

My First Little House Books are beautifully illustrated. This scene is from Winter Days in the Big Woods.  I love the detail that go into these pictures.

The Arthur books by Marc Brown always caused my kids to laugh out loud. (Give me a rainy day and a blanket and I can be happy as a clam engrossed in an Arthur episode on PBS. I like the older episodes best).

When I was about eleven years old, I discovered Nancy Drew.  I read as many as I could get my hands on. I like to think that Nancy Drew is timeless. I wonder if young girls still read them?  I also read the Robin Kane mysteries. I don't think those were as well known, but I loved any kind of girl detective/mystery. I also remember finding The Happy Hollisters at the library. They were a fairly old set of mysteries at that time, so I'm not even sure libraries have them anymore. If I remember correctly, the Hollister children all had red hair and loved solving mysteries together.

Images Courtesy Google

Two of my very favorite books during junior high were The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. In case you're wondering, the first book is not about witchcraft or witches, per se.  It always amazed me when people were reluctant to read it based on the title alone. It is a story of a misunderstood Quaker woman and a young woman whose life becomes connected to hers. It is also a Newberry Award winner.  A Wrinkle in Time is a story about a family whose scientist father has disappeared. His children and their friend meet three ladies who help them travel through the fifth dimension to rescue him from a distant planet.

courtesy Google

Finally, for you or your older readers, there is the classic story To Kill a Mockingbird. If you've never read the story of Scout, her brother Jem, and their father, Atticus, you are in for such a literary treat! These characters walk off the pages and become real living people that you'd like to know.

courtesy Google

These are just a few of the books I've loved sharing with my kids and even love re-reading myself. I don't think you're ever to old to re-read A Wrinkle in Time. During this winter hibernating season, going to the library for a book is one of the things we enjoy doing. I'd love to hear some of your favorites!

P.S. I almost forgot one of the best books ever...Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It is a life changing story about a girl named "Much Afraid" and her journey to the high places.

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Goodbye, Holidays

It seems like I can hardly wait for the holidays to come. If you know me at all, then you know I begin to get in the holiday spirit on September 1st. I thoroughly enjoy the fall colors, crisp weather, pumpkin patches, pumpkin bars and Thanksgiving.  Then, in a wink, it is Christmas time. There is a childlike, magical quality to Christmas, isn't there?

My kids and I were talking that it seems to be harder to get in the Christmas spirit. I don't know if that occurs as we get older or if it is the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, or both. We have six children, so there is some pressure in getting all their presents purchased and wrapped. I love it but can get stressed out about it all at the same time.

 I planned to watch the Waltons Homecoming Christmas a couple of times this season. That always seems to help me get more in the spirit. One of the scenes I like the best is when Grandma announces that Olivia will make her applesauce cake for Christmas and that she is down in the basement getting the apples for her cake. Here's a picture of Patricia Neal (Olivia Walton) coming up from the basement with a plant she had found blooming.

Just like Olivia Walton's applesauce cake, there's something about moms and the things they make each year for the holidays that seem to make it special for their families. I did make the things my kids like such as fudge and gooey butter cookies. But still, I didn't seem to get in that Christmas spirit that I was yearning to find.

We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Year Without a Santa Claus. Who doesn't get in the Christmas spirit while watching Linus give his speech about the real meaning of Christmas? I even watched what my husband calls that "spooky" Christmas Box. I always feel Christmas-y when I watch that. But it was as if I had seen all the Christmas shows and listened to all the Christmas music, but still couldn't exactly find that spirit.

On Christmas Eve, we opened gifts, sipped our punch, had a few goodies to munch on and watched It's a Wonderful Life. That was almost reaching the ideal I had in mind.

But I think I know what it is now. I think Christmas brings both joy and a bit of sadness. Sadness because I don't shop for GI Joes, Barbies, and baby strollers anymore. As I looked at my children, I had such joy in seeing them sitting at the table all together. It seems unbelievable to me that they could be in their teens and early twenties. There's a part of me that wants to make time stop or even go back and see them as they were just one more time.

I also tend to look back more to when my brother and I were younger. I remember going to my grandparents house for Christmas Eve. On the way home, we would hear the radio reports of Santa Claus and which state he was now close to.  It was fun to experience Christmas through his eyes. Just last year I was back home for a short visit and stood on the stoop of my grandparents' home. The house is no longer there, but if I closed my eyes, I could imagine the living room and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins inside. My dad is no longer with us, but in my mind, I could see him sitting inside that room as well.

But I opened my eyes and there we were. My husband and my children standing on the lot where I have so many memories. My husband picked up a piece of a stone from the foundation and placed it in the van. He understands how sentimental I am. Even though so much has changed, their presence meant so much to me - just to have them there looking with me and listening to me remember.

Granny's house also is no longer standing and she too, has went on to be with the Lord.  It seems as if we should walk into her kitchen and see her standing over the stove stirring the fried potatoes and putting the rolls into the oven.

Would I really want to go back in time? Maybe for a few minutes to look on faces that I can no longer see. But my world and my happiness is in the right now. Even though there is some sort of sadness to Christmas, I think it might be in the remembering of Christmases past. What I have to remind myself is that while those times were beautiful, right now is the most beautiful time of all. All of those experiences are still with me in a kind of golden light. But I'm thankful for the right now, too.

If you have little ones at home, I know how stressful holidays can be.  There is the shopping, wrapping and then packing away of all the Christmas ornaments, lights, and the miscellaneous odds and ends. But as you pack away the last item and store it on the shelf, stop and listen to the voices in your house. Those voices won't be little forever. Determine within yourself to enjoy every moment this year with those that you love and that love you. Each season has something wonderful to offer. Wintertime is a time to snuggle within the four walls of your home with blankets and pillows and hot chocolate. Say goodbye to the holidays, but let hope and peace reign in your heart as you begin your New Year.

I bless all those reading with the declaration that this will be a year of peace, hope, and joy for each one of you. I bless you, your children, your husband, and your entire family. Even if some of you are going through a dark or lonely time right now, I bless your tomorrow with joy. In Jesus' name - Amen:)

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