Starbucks Caffe Mocha Truffles

Remember the Blogoversary over at Lisa's Stop and Smell the Chocolates?
I won the Starbucks Caffe Mocha Truffles. I got them in the mail Tuesday. Chocolate. Need I say more? :)



Until next time...

Word-filled Wednesday - Proverbs 22:1

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,
and loving favour rather than silver and gold."
~ Proverbs 22:1

Yeah, I'm weird.

For more pictures of Stellan's name go here.

For more Word-filled Wednesday submissions, go here.

Until next time...

Orange for Stellan

All in orange for Stellan. Stellan was supposed to have surgery today. Pray for him. To read his story go to the Pray for Stellan button on the top right.

Until next time...

Cocoa Brownies, like I promised

Cocoa Brownies

Ingredients:
2 sticks margarine/butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup pecans, chopped

Melt margarine, cool slightly. Beat eggs till light; stir in sugar and vanilla. Sift flour and cocoa together; add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Add pecans. Bake in a greased cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

This one had a frosting with it, but I didn't like it. If you want a frosting, make your own favorite or use a store bought one. Or they are good without a frosting.

Chocolate Friday - Cocoa Brownies

For more decadent desserts, go visit Lisa at Stop and Smell the Chocolates.

You see this? It's my all time favorite cookbook. It has 3 taps at the top holding it together. It's falling apart, stained, written in. I love it!

When I make a recipe, I write the date I first make it, then make a note on whether it's absolutely delicious, good, just ok, or don't make it ever again. :)
















So here's the recipe I recommend today. (I'm in a hurry, so I'm just taking a picture of it and posting it like that. I'm on my way out the door).

















I'll copy it out tomorrow, I promise.

Until next time...

Sales, sales everywhere

There's a lot of Spring sales going on right now. You'll see up at the top right that Vision Forum is having a big sale on history dvds and cds.

Motherhood Maternity is having a 2 for 1 sale on maternity t-shirts. Not that I need any right now, but surely someone reading this or someone you know could use some cool maternity tees this summer. Follow this link and pick some spring-y colors.

Warm up your maternity wardrobe! Spring tees starting at $9.99 when you buy two or more at Motherhood Maternity.

CBD is having sales on gifts for Mother's Day. There are some really neat things over there. If you are looking for something in particular, use the search engine on the right sidebar. Or here's a good idea.

101 Blessings for Mom, Box of Blesings With colorful borders, each card in this deck of 51 contains special inspiration and blessings for Mothers. Featuring one on each side, and packed in sturdy flower-themed storage box, it's a pick-me-up gift sure to encourage for any occasion or every day giving. Glossy card stock; includes quotes from respected statesmen and authors, as well as Bible verse quotations. Box size 3.75" x 2.5", with whimsical design graphics.

My nine-year-old daughter is currently reading the Sugar Creek Gang series.

The Sugar Creek Gang Series, 36 Volumes By Paul Hutchens / Moody Publishers For over 50 years, generations of 9- to 12-year-olds have thrilled to the faith-building adventures of these courageous Christian boys. Now your youngsters can enjoy their legendary escapades---from catching a bank robber and meeting a mysterious hermit to confronting a ferocious bear. Each edge-of-your-seat novel will keep your kids reading from beginning to end! Approx. 140 pages each, 36 softcovers from Moody.

They make a good gift for 8 to 12 year old boys and girls. They are adventurous and teach a Christian message too. They sell them individually, or buy the whole set or portions of the set.





Until next time...

9/52 photos of me

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52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
____________________________________________

So, like, every Thursday I suddenly remember that I need to get a picture of me. I'm trying to rotate through my children. This week it's me and the Princess. This girl is all girl. Anything you can think of that has to do with girly-girl, Princess-y stuff she has done or will do. She is such a joy and blessing to us. (And she looks like her daddy). Please excuse the puffiness of mom's face. Dh and I were up past midnight talking. With him working 7 days a week, and not getting home until really late, that's the only time we have to talk. Kind of draggy today, but hey, I have a good excuse.

Now head over to Carin's and see some more mysterious moms. :)

Until next time...

Word-filled Wednesday - Psalm 103:12

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. ~ Psalm 103:12

In case you're wondering, the first picture is a sunrise, the second is a sunset; east to west. :) Isn't it a wonderful reminder?

For more inspirational pictures and verses, go visit Amy. Post your own and link up.

Until next time...

Gargoyle or grotesque?

Here's a little something new I learned today. Follow this link and learn about gargoyles, of all things. Here's another little history lesson on gargoyles. You'll have to follow at least one of the links to understand the title of this post. Unless you already know about gargoyles. I didn't. Now I do. :)

Until next time...

More Controversial Subjects

Some interesting questions came up when I posted my view on Easter.













We also don't do Santa or the toothfairy (I totally forgot about that little tradition). We spent a few Christmases by ourselves or with other families that don't "do" Christmas, but since some of my family moved close by, we spent Christmas with them a couple of times. By not "doing" Christmas I mean we don't do the tree or stockings or decorate or anything really. We used to in the beginning of our marriage, but studying things out made us quit. I don't want to make this a long post, so if you want to research it the internet has a plethora of information on the subject. A good place to start is here. A good short article on the history of Christmas can be found here. Here and here are a couple of links that compares Jesus Christ to Santa Claus. Scary? I also know the story of St. Nicholas who was actually a real person. I wonder what he thinks about the figure known as Santa Claus? And that some people believe it to be modeled after him?

Another good comment mentioned the fact that we worship on Sunday instead of the Sabbath (Saturday). Well, technically, our family can't be accused of that since we don't go to a traditional church. :) We meet with other believers whenever we can, and sometimes that is in the middle of the week. I believe that was the way the 1st century Christians did it. They were being persecuted, so they didn't exactly advertise where they would be meeting next.

I could get into a really long discussion on holidays vs holy days, but I'll leave that to others.

Just so you know, we don't go around telling everyone that they are wrong to celebrate these days. In this country, we have the freedom to "esteem one day above another". One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. (Rom 14:5 ) We visit family when they are celebrating and don't go around preaching at them with a sour face, being holier-than-thou. By the same token, we would like to have the freedom to NOT celebrate certain days. If anyone asked us, we simply state that we don't do those things and leave it at that. We don't use that as an opening to blast them with our beliefs and say that they are less of a Christian than us because they do those things. (If I came across that way in my original post, I certainly apologize). If they honestly want to know why we don't celebrate, I would give them the information we've found, and let them decide for themselves.

And if someone argues that I put this on a public forum, well, it's my personal website and I said that I would be writing down some of my thoughts. These are my thoughts. Thank you very much. :)

Everyone is growing and learning new things throughout their life. My question is: Does what you do glorify Christ? I myself fall short so many times. It is a lesson I learn daily, moment by moment. If you think I'm wrong the best thing you can do is pray for me.

I must ask, please don't make this a flaming, YELLING discussion. I welcome comments, but keep it nice and clean. Please.

Until next time...

Book Review - Beloved Counterfeit

Beloved Counterfeit
Fairweather Keys book 3
by Kathleen Y'Barbo

A sweeping love story begs one woman's confession, one man's forgiveness. When the less-than-reputable Ruby O'Shea washes up on the shores of Fairweather Key, she's determined to bury her past and make a new life for herself and her three nieces. But doing so will entail secrecy and deception. Is that any way to start anew? When Micah Tate, a wrecker, widower, and soon-to-be preacher, falls for Ruby, it seems a wedding is certain and her past unimportant. But as Ruby's secrets are uncovered, Micah finds himself falling short of the grace of forgiveness. Will Micah abandon the heart that God has won? Or will he stand by his woman against all odds?

Well, I got to read the next book in Kathleen Y'Barbo's series, Fairweather Keys. It was just as good as the second book. It starts with a bit of background on Ruby O'Shea, so that you can understand a little of where she's been in her life. She had a really rough start. You can sympathize with her when she starts having trouble with her present life. She is a new Christian and struggles with leaving her old life behind. If that isn't difficult enough, she has three neices to protect and raise, and Micah Tate seems to want to court her. For what reason, she can't fathom. Micah has his own demons to deal with; a sense of guilt for past mistakes, a sense of failure in the most basic area a man feels he needs to succeed. He, too, struggles with living a new life in Christ. They both have accepted the forgiveness of the Lord, but have to learn to forgive themselves and forget the old sins. Due to circumstances, they find they have to marry. Partly a marraige of convenience and partly a marraige of attraction, but they try to find a way to make it work. When trouble from the past comes knocking at their door, it seems life is against them. They have difficulty in getting past this rather large bump in the road. Their faith in God and each other is put to the test and tried in the fire of life. Where do they go from here? Will they help each other or fall apart in the trial?

You can order Beloved Counterfeit, and the other books in the series, from CBD right now. Go to the search engine on the right and type in the title of the book or the author. It will bring you to the page you need to order it. It is very reasonable priced.

Until next time...

Aftermath, or not

Well, according to my counter I got a lot of hits, but not many comments. I kind of expected that. Oh well. Not much of an aftermath. Good. I prefer it that way.

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In other news, my 2 year old's tongue is healing nicely. He is graduating to more solid foods, but not hard or crunchy. And he's still taking his medicine.

My 8 year old son hit a baseball in the backyard yesterday when I specifically said not to. I told all the kids that the baseball hitting had to stay in the front yard (which is huge) so they wouldn't bust out any windows. Well, you guessed it, the windshield on the van is spiderwebbed. So we are staying home until it is fixed. Which will be mucho bucks. It's a 15 passenger van. Which reminds me, I need to call the library and renew the books we have checked out. Because we can't return them, see. BTW, he is in big trouble. He was also disobeying by sneaking out when he was supposed to be sweeping the floor. Trouble times two. Whew! He will be working quite a bit in the future.

Some new additions to our canine family:




Aren't they cute? They are Chihuahuas and some of them are going to be long coats. Their mom is a black short coat and their dad is a white and peach long coat.

Well, that's about it for now. Maybe more later.

Until next time...

Is Easter Biblical?

At the risk of losing my readers I am posting this. Click on these links to find out where I'm coming from. I don't belong to this church, nor am I a Jehovah's Witness. I am simply a follower of Jesus Christ and it concerns me when I see other people say the same thing and then celebrate pagan holidays. I am certainly no expert on the matter and our family is still learning as we search for answers. But I ask you, what does the Easter Bunny, rabbits, and colored eggs have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Does It Matter to God? I do not agree with everything written by this organization, but they do have some very good stuff. If you think they are wrong then research it for yourself and find the truth. Here are some other things on the history of Easter. Fertility Symbols: Beneath the Dignity of God, The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection, The Resurrection Connection, Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth.

We are led to believe so many things by people we think are to be trusted, or we blindly follow traditions we have had in our lives for so long. I am troubled that Christians excuse the things they do by saying things like "I'm not celebrating a pagan holiday, I'm celebrating the birth/resurrection of Jesus. We can do it any time we want and I choose to do it now." I ask, "Why?" So we don't look odd in the eyes of our family and friends? Let them mock. Jesus suffered far worse for us. So our children won't "miss out" on fun and presents? Let them be deprived. They will learn a far more important lesson when they see their parents standing for what they believe in. The children of the first century Christians were "deprived" in that sense. I wonder what they think now?

Some people say that Easter is in the Bible. Yes, but it is a pagan holiday in the Bible. It is not wrongfully translated. It is not really Passover. Why would Herod observe a Jewish holiday? He wanted to have his fun and then afterward get back to the work of persecution. (This is one point in which I disagree with the article in the links above).

I hope I don't come across as prideful or critical. I am asking you to search out the reason you do certain things. My children have never hunted Easter eggs and don't believe in Santa Claus. We teach them the truth. And they don't feel deprived. We don't substitute Resurrection Sunday for Easter. We don't do a birthday cake for Jesus at Christmas. At the risk of flames I'm asking, "Why do Christians do these things?" I will also say that the Bible says if you observe one day as special you have the freedom to do so. So please don't get upset with me if you are offended. Ask yourself why you are offended? "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165

Now to sound really far out there; I am currently researching the history of birthday celebrations. Currently we have a special meal for the child on their actual birthday, then we have a big party in the summer. A birthday bash we call it (we copied that from the Jeub family). The only difference being that we specifically say don't bring gifts. We give out little goody bags to the kids and fix a big meal for everyone, have fun and games, and pinatas. If you think there is anything wrong with this please let me know. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. I want to know if I am doing anything that would cause my brother to stumble. (1 Cor 8)

When we stand before Jesus Christ, will He say, "Why didn't you celebrate Easter and/or Christmas?". No, we will be judged for our works, whether they will stand the test of the fire or not. (1 Cor 3). I am purposely not putting these verses in so that you will look them up for yourself.

Please understand that I am writing this out of concern for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If I did not care, I would not say anything. If you disagree; well, isn't it wonderful that we have that liberty?

And my reference to Easter in an earlier post? We are having a ham dinner, but we are not celebrating Easter. Remember, no egg hunt? :)

Until next time...(if anyone comes back)

Homeschooling article

Here's an interesting article on homeschooling.

http://www.djournal.com/pages/archive.asp?ID=274594

I only posted this because I thought it was interesting. I'm not intending to offend anyone that send their children to public school. This is my blog and I support homeschools. If you don't agree please don't flame. You don't even have to read it.


Until next time...

Tongues

Did you know that they can put stitches in a tongue? Our two (almost 3) year old hit his chin on his 5 year old brother's head and bit a gash in his tongue. And I mean a gash. I would take a picture of it, but I don't want to gross anyone out. I had to warn my husband not to look at it. He can't handle things like that.

I loaded everyone up, met my husband in town, and he took him into the ER. I would have went, but they won't let a nursing baby come back with the mother when it's not the baby being seen. You know, all those germs. We went to visit a friend while they were in there. 5 hours later they were finished. They have a policy to not do stitches in a tongue in the ER, so they had to take him to another part of the hospital. They had to do a general anesthesia on him and even asleep his tongue moved around so much they were only able to put one stitch in. It's right in the middle; I guess in the most crucial part. Poor little guy. He's on a liquid and ice cream diet until it heals up. He's got his antibiotics and his ice cream so he's all set.

We're postponing Easter dinner until next week so he might be able participate. (It's my brother's Easter next week anyway; he's Orthodox). The doctor said that there are so many blood vessels in the tongue that it will heal up fast. Looking at it this morning I saw the cut is already fused back together.

We decided to leave the stickers? tabs? on until they wear off. He also still has the cotton ball-tape bandaid they put on after an iv. Why inflict more pain in ripping them off when there's no need? He actually feels better than what the picture shows. He was probably thinking "What in the world is this crazy lady doing taking a picture of these things?".

If you have a couple of seconds, say a pray that he will heal quickly with no complications. And also pray for a more serious matter. Stellan is doing much better, but is still in the hospital. To read his story go to his button at the top right and click.

Until next time...

Chocolate Friday - Chocolate Puddles

Last fall, I bought a new magazine. Taste of Home's Best Loved Cookies and Bars.


I had a goal of trying every cookie and bar that sounded good. I made 46 out of the 265 recipes in the magazine. I was sick of cookies. Well, for a day or two anyway. I gave away most of them and froze some. There are still a lot of recipes I want to try...eventually. It was a good investment in a cookbook.

My favorite, absolute favorite of all the cookies I tried were a cookie called Chocolate Puddles.


The recipe is kind of long so I'm putting the link on here. Just follow it to find the best cookie recipe this side of the Rockies...or Smokies...wherever you live. Chocolate Puddles recipe. I promise you, the time put into these cookies are worth it. Yummy-yum-yum!

And now to find some more divine chocolate recipes, go to Lisa's site, Stop and Smell the Chocolate. She's also having a wonderful contest going on, so while you're there join in. I have to say...I won today's prize! Yay! I'm da winna!

You're still here? Stop reading this and go check out her page! :)

Until next time...

8/52 photos of me

********************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

While trying to take a decent picture with my almost-2 year old...


...I gave up and kept this one. We had fun anyway. :)

Now go over to Carin's at Forever in Blue Jeans and see more pictures of moms.

Until next time...

Vote for me!

Oh. My. Goodness. I am so excited! I was picked as a finalist in Heidi's Iron Chef contest. Go visit her site to get the links for all 3 finalists. Try the recipes and tell Heidi your favorite. I just know it'll be mine. :) You've got almost all month, so try a recipe every week. Oh, and - vote for me!

Until next time...