Weekend Recap

The weekend was a good one. Nice and long and restful, until yesterday. But yesterday was a wonderful day, so the tired today is worth it.

We went to visit Beau's friends at their mountain farm in West Virginia. It was a gorgeous, if blisteringly hot, day. In addition to us, one of their kids' family was there and some church friends. I think there were 9 adults and 7 kids.

These friends are the folks from whom we bought a side of beef (with my parents) a couple of years ago. We signed up for a side of beef this year. We're keeping all of it this time, which means a lot of beef, so we'll need to make sure the freezer is empty in November when it's time to pick it up. Also, we're making the list now of the cuts we want so that when the butcher is ready to do his thing we're prepared.

Here's a picture of the steers they raise. It's hard to see through the window screen. My apologies on that. We forgot our camera and I took that shot with my Blackberry through the upstairs window when I noticed the cattle had moved up close to the bard.

The kids had a fun time running around free on the lawns. Molly was enthralled with the cows and would have stayed there staring at them staring at her all day if we'd let her. Jesse loved having other kids to play with and the large scrape on his knee only slowed him down a little bit.

I think these pictures tell the tale of how their day went?

We got home, both kids crashed into bed and then we crashed, too.

It was a lovely day.

YouTube of the Day: Mother Love

[via julie]

In Memoriam

On this Memorial Day weekend, we remember those brave men and women who have given their all for the cause of freedom.

Thank you to all veterans and their families for your sacrifice.

We remember. Always.

Tragedy and Small Helps

The devastation of the tornadoes around the south and midwest is overwhelming. The pictures of whole towns blown to rubble and sticks is incomprehensible. The loss of life is horrible.

It's times like this that I hold my husband and kids a little tighter, kiss them a little more often, tell them that I love them as often as the thought comes to my mind. And as a worst case scenario thinker, I work out solutions in my head should we be faced with similar circumstances.

I wish there was more I could do to help, but really what these people need is money given to organizations who are equipped and on the ground to lend aid. And so, I am using my small business to do just that. For all of May and June, any sale in my Etsy shop will help the folks impacted by the tornadoes. 10% of all sales revenue will be given to Samaritan's Purse, who has been helping in the south after the tornadoes hit them in April and now in Missouri and other parts of the midwest in the wake of the tornadoes this month.

For the month of May sales have been sparse, but I've been able to give $14.00. And I am matching it with personal funds, so that means an additional $14 has been given. It isn't much, but every little bit helps.

So if you're looking for gifts for teachers or birthdays, consider buying some jewelry knowing that part of your purchase will go to help the victims of this tornado season. Thanks in advance.

EDITED TO ADD: SP is in Joplin, MO.

QotD: Godly Parenting Edition

I think I'm going to have to get this book:

‎"We are not, nor can we be, the saviors of our children. He is the Savior. When we forget this, our parenting will be pockmarked by fear, severity, and exhaustion." - Elyse Fitzpatrick, Give Them Grace

As my mother commented to my posting of this on Facebook, "Psalm 78:1-8 should be emblazoned on the hearts of all parents." Amen.

[Via Jared on FB]

The Weirdness of Dreams

It's disconcerting to wake up from a vivid dream wherein I'm reliving 9/11. I have no clue where it came from - I haven't been thinking about that dark day any more than normal. I don't know why my subconscious put me and my family on the roof in New York, but there we were and I was terrified. There was smoke and noise and fear, and then I woke up.

The clock read 3:13am.

I started praying, asking the Lord to remove the images, and managed to doze off until they came back and I woke up again. 4:05am.

Since the alarm goes off at 4:27am, I got up.

With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!
I will keep your statutes.
I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
O LORD, according to your justice give me life.
They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
But you are near, O LORD,
and all your commandments are true.
Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have founded them forever.


-- Psalm 119: 145-152 (ESV)

The Littles

Here are a few recent pictures of the kids.

First up, Jesse with the tadpoles he and Daddy killed.

The two of them together. They're very sweet to each other - lots of spontaneous hugs and kisses and snuggles. I hope they're always so loving with each other.

This was taken this morning on the way home from church. After a long day yesterday and then some serious playtime in the walkers' room, I guess Molly Ann was tired.

A Fine Meal

Last night we had a low key belated Mother's Day/Birthday dinner. My parents and my Uncle Bill came over for a little family time. Mom and I didn't get to celebrate Mother's Day since my parents went to Disney World that weekend. Then we delayed celebrating my uncle's birthday because that day occurred on the weekend that they returned from Disney.

We had a Scotch-English-Irish meal, inspired by a throw-away request from Uncle Bill for colcannon sometime. I had to do the research on colcannon - I had heard of it, but wasn't sure what it was. Turns out is is a delicious mashed potato, cabbage, ham/bacon (I used bacon) dish of Irish tradition. Here's the recipe I used. Of course, with Beau's milk intolerance and my weight loss work, I tweaked the recipe. I used Smart Balance instead of butter (and I reduced the quantity by half!) and I used rice milk. Also, I used bacon instead of ham since it was a side dish. Using ham would make this a lovely one pot meal.

The main dish was this Steak and Guiness Pie. Oh. My. Goodness. This is so good. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that I did use beef stock instead of chicken stock. Next time I may add more radishes. I'm not a fan of radishes, but these turned out tender and almost sweet. Delicious. Also, this will be how I make a basic beef stew, with radishes and Guinness.

Since our meal was on the heavy side, I wanted a lighter dessert and opted not to do a birthday cake. Instead, we had Pavlovas with Custard and Berries. I've made these before, when we had dinner with the Sleepy Family. I made the meringues last weekend and stored them in the freezer. Last time, we all decided they were a bit too sweet, so I cut 1/2 cup of the sugar. They were perfect - not too sweet at all. We had both vanilla-coconut pudding and also a chocolate-coconut pudding. And a mixed berry combination of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries that macerated for several hours with a teaspoon of sugar and lemon juice.

I had a blast planning and preparing the evening. It was fun to be in the kitchen again. Not as much fun to clean the house, but Beau did the motherload of cleaning so mega-props go to him for that. Thank you, Beau! It was a good meal. It was a good time with beloved family. The kids loved seeing their Marmie and Pop and Uncle Bill, too.

Until the next time...

Only You Give Life and Breath...

When Is a Love Triangle Not A Love Triangle?

Before I read The Hunger Games novels, I had heard a few complaints about the love triangle between Gale-Katniss-Peeta. So I went into them cautious about that aspect of the story, maybe with a jaded eye. I came out of it thinking that there really wasn't as much of a love triangle as readers may have thought.

***The following is spoilerish to all three of the novels. You have been warned. Also, those who have not read the books can move along - most of this will make no sense to you.***


In the first book, Katniss and Gale are best friends with nothing romantic between them. She is aware of Peeta only as the boy who gave her bread and then as her fellow tribute in the arena. We the audience are made aware of Gale's potentially not so platonic feelings for Katniss at the station before she is on her way to The Capitol - when he yells out at the last minute, "Katniss, I l--." It's broken off. We assume he was going to declare his love.

Then she and Peeta are thrown together in a sense, but things take a turn when he declares his love for her in the interview with Caesar Flickerman before they go into the arena. She's completely taken aback by this news. And also suspicious because it could be a game tactic he can use against her. That Haymitch encourages it doesn't help.

So Katniss and Peeta go through their time in the arena, trying to survive against the other tributes, pretending to be in love to help their case with their mentor, the game makers and the audience, and ultimately prevail by surviving together. Then they're thrown back to reality at home, grappling with what occurred in the arena still, and the expectations of the people to whom they have returned. But they are not the same people who left. Everything has changed.

Now we get to the second book. I believe it is in this one that Katniss states clearly and more than one time, that she never intends to marry or have children because she doesn't want to bring kids into that world, ensuring their chance of being reaped for the hunger games and certain death. But she's now dealing with the complicated feelings of and for Peeta from their time in the arena and also from Gale, who has made it clear that he loves her, too.

So here's where we get to a sort of love triangle in the story. Peeta loves Katniss. Gale loves Katniss. Katniss loves who? She loves both, differently, but I believe equally. And while it may read to some as a love triangle, I don't really believe that it is in the classic romance novel sense. First, she isn't interested in a mate. Second, she is in survival mode and has been since her sister's name was called in the reaping.

As I read the story, I didn't really care if Katniss ended up romantically tied to either one of the boys. I liked them both and thought they both were important to her. Each has a role in her life. To me the story was more about their battle for survival and victory over the evil of The Capitol, which is where the third book, Mockingjay, took me. For me, The Hunger Games was more about good versus evil than Gale versus Peeta.

Of course, then we get the epilogue, which wraps up the romantic bow neatly (for some). But I would have been fine without that postscript, too.