Simple Pleasures

Today I am finding simple pleasures.

The laugh of my little baby boy, who has found that he likes to play with me by trying to chew on my chin and pinch my face.


Just the thought that this time, for the first time. I'm not stressed about company coming to visit here in the next couple of days. My house isn't in too bad a shape, so now I just need to do a few minor things, instead of the craze I am usually in to get everything in shape. I have been keeping up with things, with Eric's help, a whole lot better than I used to, and it feels great!



Tomorrow Eric and I are going to eat dinner with a couple friends, and I always just love the time we get to spend with good friends, good fun and good food!


For Father's Day, what are your plans? We are going to church in the morning, then probably out to brunch/lunch with the in-laws, and then I think my father-in-law and Eric are going to go play golf, while I hang out with his girlfriend (his father's, not Eric's! :P ). It should be a nice, relaxed weekend for us. I hope everyone else is having a nice time as well!

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your aniexty on Him, because He cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:6-7

Adventures in Cooking (Frugally!)

So, last night, Eric and I went up to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, including some things off of WIC. Well, if you have ever been on WIC (at least somewhat recently) you'll know that you get 5 6oz. cans of tuna a month. Well, we like tuna around here, I will often make tuna salad sanwiches for us for lunch and I love that it has a good amount of Omega-3 to help those brains of ours! But well, every so often, I get bored of tuna salad, and so, the tuna has stacked up a bit. So last night I went googling for a recipe that I had the ingredients for that wouldn't be too hard to make that used canned tuna. Here's what I found.

Tuna Rice Puff Caserole

Ingredients:
2/3 Cup Uncooked Rice (I used white, but that's what I had on hand, I would have used brown if I had it)
1 1/3 Cup water (I had to use a little more, as I always do when cooking rice)

2 Eggs, seperated
1/3 Cup Butter (I used margarine)
1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Water
3 6oz. Cans Tuna, 2 undrained, one drained
1/4 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Teaspoon Lemon Pepper (or to taste)
1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder (or to taste)

Cook rice as you normally would. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs whites until foamy and forming sharp peaks that hold their shape; Set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour and stir until mixture becomes paste-like and golden brown. Gradually whisk in milk and water until smooth. Add seasonings. Simmer for 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in broken eggs yolks and cook for another 2 mintues. Remove from heat and combine milk mixture, rice, onion, and tuna. Gently fold in egg whites until evenly blended. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and bake in oven until center is set and top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Casserole will puff slightly.

This was a big hit. I just served it with a nice salad on the side and it was great. Really yummy, and this will feed our family a second night! Not too shabby for a recipe that I found looking around and had all the ingredients on hand!

Back on Track!

In my last post, I mentioned that I was starting to come down with a cold. Well, it went into a full blown mess of a cold, and I passed it on to Eric Saturday night. So, Sunday morning we made the decision to stay home from church, as we sit in the overflow room with the other parents with small children, and the last thing I wanted to do was get lots of small children sick! Thankfully, today I am feel loads better. I still have a bit of a cough, and my throat is still scratchy, and well, my voice still sounds pretty bad. But I feel so much better. I actually feel like doing things today, which is a good thing, because I have let the house start to get a little unrully in my lethargic mood that the cold brought on. So, today I will be cleaning up and getting everything nice and tidy again.

This morning I was reading in 1 Peter for my quiet time, and I came across this:

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:8

As Christians, it is our job to be the examples for non-believers, so that they may see the love in our lives, and want to learn more about where it comes from.

Life, at the moment

Yesterday I had a pretty long day for me. I went over to a friend's house to look after her children while she was helping out at church for the CHEC Conference and Book Fair. With her three children, and Gabriel, that left the tally at four children under the age of seven! I would have been overwhelmed if I didn't know the children as well as I do, but everything went well. Things went a bit longer than I think both her and I were expecting, so she brought pizza to the house and invited my husband and myself to stay over and eat that so I didn't have to rush home to cook dinner. It's always nice being able to hang out over there, she and I are good friends, and our husbands have been friends for ages, so everyone is happy. So, well, the hubbys decided to rent a couple movies and watch them last night, which meant that Eric and I got home at about 1:30am. So, needless to say, it was a long day.
I've developed a bit of a cold, but nothing too bad and I'm hoping I'm not contagious so I can still get to church tomorrow. Then, next Saturday, my father-in-law and his girlfriend are coming to visit for Father's Day. I kind of wanted to make breakfast in bed for the hubby's first father's day where he is both a son and a father, but I know they will probably want to get something to eat after church instead.
Also, I'm working on a cross-stitch that I had made the pattern for last year, I had meant to have it done in time for Christmas, but well, that didn't happen. So, I'm hoping to have it done soon and be able to frame it and have it hanging in my house. I don't really have any picture frames or anything to hang on the walls and to be honest, I go a little crazy looking at blank, boring white walls all the time! :P

Faith

In my quiet time today, I was reading Hebrews 11, and it really hit hard for me. As anyone who knows me personally may know, my husband and I are going through a rough patch financially. I think that I have been fairly good about running to God when I get worried about how we are going to get through this, but reading Hebrews 11 really woke me up. Just in one chapter, it says ,"By faith" 17 times. 17! Do I have the faith of Noah? Of Abraham? Or Sarah? Of Moses? I can't honestly say that I do. But, I'm getting closer than I once was, and that's the best I can do, take it one step at a time. God doesn't call us to be perfect, we couldn't be if He called us to be. He calls us to be faithful, to have faith in Him and to run to Him with everything. I think I have found my passage in scripture to go to when I am stressed or worried.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. - Hebrews 11:1-3

No Bible, No Breakfast

I have started a new bit of a "training" exercise lately. When I wake up in the morning, I used to get up, change and feed (if he was hungry) Gabriel. Then, I'd check my e-mail and respond to any that needed it, check various websites that I am a member of, and begin painting in Photoshop, or doing other tasks on the computer to kill time. If it needed to be done (and, to be honest, only when it really needed to be done) I'd do the laundry or dishes.

I didn't pick my bible up as much as I should have, and because of that, I wasn't as happy as I should have been. Of course, I went to church Wednesdays and Sundays and listened to what Pastor Broggi had to say, but I didn't walk as closely with God as I should have.

So, I've started to do something about that. I've started a "No Bible, No Breakfast" rule for myself. Well, I actually do get something to eat or drink while I am reading and reflecting on the passage I've read, but the objective is still there. And you know what? It doesn't feel like a chore at all. I love my morning bible studies, my quiet time with God. I've included Gabriel in this while he is too small to have his own quiet time. I pray and read aloud so that I can be sure that he is seeing and hearing Mommy talk with God and read His Word. But I'm not doing it just for Gabriel, I'm doing it for God. I'm doing it for me. I'm doing it so that I can walk closer to my Savior.

And I'm learning alot too :)
I've been in Hebrews the past couple of days, and it really gripped me, when I read Hebrews 4:14-16 yesterday:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may recieve mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:14-16

I don't know about you, but I don't confess my sins as much as I should. I feel embarassed and ashamed of it, but Jesus understands. And like a child who comes to his father, telling him he was the one who ate the cookies, with crumbs on his face, we are to come to the Lord and tell him what he already knows. There is no sin that we can hide from God, nothing. But God is not a wrathful God to His children, He loves us, and forgives us like no other can.

Today I was reading still in Hebrews and came across this, which also pertained directly to my life at this time, in a way that only God's Word can.

Concerning Him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not soild food." - Hebrews 5:11-12

Without being immersed in God's Word, we cannot grow in Him and will always be like babies, always needing milk. I don't want to be this way. In a few days over a month from now, it will mark the one-year anniversary of the day I became saved. I don't want to know as little now as I did then. I don't want to look back a couple years from now and have nothing to show for it in God's eyes.

I want to be a better Child of God, a better wife, a better mother. I want to be better, and I know that if I stick with this rule I have given myself, I will. I love the Lord with all my heart, and I want to show that to Him.


For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to seperate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans8:38-39

Late Spring Cleaning

Yesterday I decided to start a little Spring Cleaning project, even though I'm a little later than your typical spring clean. Late is better than never, right? So I made myself a list, and admittedly, I didn't get through everything on it. Here's my list, and what I got done:

Clean Bathrooms (mostly done, just need to sweep and mop)
Organize bathrooms more effectively
Tidy and rearrange living room (done, with Eric's help moving the furniture)
Vaccum (done)
Tidy desk and kitchen counter (about half done, I still need to tackle the desk)
Tidy Gabriel's room (Again, about half done)
Have quiet time with God and Gabriel (done)
Fold and put away laundry (done)
Put away dishes and start to reload dishwasher (done)
Reorganize diaper bag (done)
Work on curriculum
Work on blog (didn't get it done yesterday, but I am now! :) )
Organize Gabriel's room more effectively
Organize and tidy master bedroom
Organize laundry area
Laundry (done)
Renew library books

So, I had made a pretty extensive list. I feel like, even though I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, the apartment already looks so much better and today I can get the rest done (hopefully). I decided to do this for a number of reasons. The main one being, I have this sceanario in my head. Someone comes over for a few minutes and walks into the apartment and says, "Wow, your apartment looks really nice! How do you do it with such a young child?" and I would say ,"It's not me, it's God."
Truth be told, I'm not the world's greatest homemaker. I never have been, I never had chores as a child and really, I'm kind of learning as I go here. But I want my home to be that - a home, no matter where we live. I had been telling Eric, "Oh, I'd keep the house so much better if we were renting a home or had a home of our own." But God showed me, this is my home. Home really is where the heart is, and so no matter where we live, I am going to treat it like the home it deserves to be.

Perhaps in September, when our lease is up and we have to either renew it or move, we will get a nice cozy little rental home. Who knows? It all depends on what God has in store for us.

So, I offer a challenge ladies, a challenge for all of us. I challenge you to, maybe while the kids are done for a nap, or having quiet time, spend some time just reflecting on what a home is, and how you can make yours feel more homey :)

She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her saying: "Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all." Charm is decietful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. - Proverbs 31:27-30