What lovely greenness is covering our part of Pennsylvania like waves of the sea changing the torraine with each ebb and flow. The greenness is taking over the brownness, the seemingly dead throughout the winter has awakened from its slumber to grow and live again. Rain comes and goes with ferocity at times, leaving behind the fresh scent of Spring. Sometimes the scent is not of Spring, but of worms coming to the surface. After such a long hard winter, I relish in the scents and sounds of Spring. The dawn chorus awakens me every day, bidding me "Welcome to today!" what a lovely day it is going to be! Such a wonderful chorus of birds to welcome my sleeping body to the day.
When we go about our days, we have choices to make in how we respond to everything that happens. When something spills, falls and breaks or if we're sick, do we react with upset...making sure the whole household knows of our condition? Or, do we quickly clean up the spilled milk...or better yet call to everyone, "Quick! Grab a straw and make sure none of it hits the floor!" Making such fun filled memories out of an "oopsie-doodles"...
Just like the above example, every day we have so many opportunities to praise God for every possible thing. Through the past few years, I've had some tooth trouble that started with 2 small "on the surface" cavities. When our first dentist drilled too deeply, one of my teeth began hurting. I was given a choice between a root canal or getting it pulled. I chose to get it pulled. The dry socket that formed was so very painful that I didn't willingly want or desire another pulled tooth again in my life. Forwarding to yesterday, it was time again to deal with that decision of having another tooth pulled. The dentist (a new one) asked me again before he gave me the novicaine if I wanted to see about doing a root canal. Through my own fears and difficulty willingly going through pain again, I felt the gentle nudging of the Lord telling me to get it pulled. The darkness in the x-ray was an "unsure" sign to the dentist. It meant there was deterioration there around the tooth. As I sat there praying, a tear came to my eye, "Oh Lord, please give the dentist's hands gentleness and swiftness. Please have the tooth come out all in one piece without any drilling. Help me to relax in You, Lord." He rubbed this topical numbing stuff on the site where the novicaine shots needed to go in, which helped immensely. He was so very gentle in comparison to the previous dentist. What a Godsend! He and the assistant stayed with me just talking about home schooling and helping kids with homework.
Once he put me back in to the chair and I opened my mouth, I heard the Lord speak peace to my mind saying, "Relax, breath deeply and let me take care of this."
So I did...
As God would have it, He is amazing by-the-way, the dentist was able to wiggle all of my tooth out except for the part that had the darkness around it in the x-ray. It broke off because it was in the process of deteriorating. He pulled it out separately and found a pocket attached to the tip of the root with an abcess on the end of it. He said that a root canal would not have taken care of this problem, even though we could not see it on the x-ray. It came out completely clean! There were no little bits left behind, both pieces came out so very easily, I think that even the dentist himself was amazed. I just praise God!
When my beloved and I came home, we stopped off at the pharmacy to drop off the prescription for Vicodin just in case. He went back to get it on the motorcycle after dropping me off. I figured he needed some fresh air and prayer time on his motorcycle to praise God himself. I think he was more concerned about me than anything else through this time and was relieved that it went so well.
I took some Ibuprofen and sat and talked with the kids about my tooth. I also brought the tooth home for the kids to see. They were completely engulfed in looking at the tooth and how the "baggie" could have formed on the root. How neat! Well, not so neat in my eyes, but I certainly didn't feel the pressure in my mouth any longer. What a blessing!
Forwarding to today, I've had a good night sleep. I only took one of the Vicadin last night to help me sleep. What a blessing! Today I've been taking Ibuprofen and that seems to be working well for me. The site the tooth was in does not hurt at all. The bothersome part is deep inside where the absess was. My sinuses are so close to that site that the sinus pressure has increased on that side of my head. I stand in awe of this amazing working of God. I am completely confused by it all, but yet I stand back pondering and am just so thankful!
God is awesome!
April 26, 2011
April 21, 2011
Daily Schedule
If there has been anything that has bothered me over the years it has been going against my own personal bent toward just flowing with my day. I'm an artsy/creative person. I always have been. Bending toward a schedule and getting things done through that schedule has been extremely difficult, if not tearful for me in times past. It has been so very difficult to go the direction against my natural state. For my kids' sake, I've needed to make things much more structured than I would ever have. They thrive on routine and get more done on a regularly occuring basis when there is a schedule. When they know they get computer time after their chores and school work is done, they work more diligently.
Having said that, these children are given to me as a blessing and as such, they are filled with needs that cause me to grow in my own walk of faith. It has taken such great strides for me to seek out, much less develop how to make a schedule that would work for us. What a blessing it has been to use Managers of Their Homes. I recommend the program to anyone and everyone I come in contact with. It has been a life saver for me....a creative person who has a natural bent toward going with the flow. The Lord sure knew what He was doing when he gave me these children. You see, I had the capacity inside me all along, but I was rebelling in defiance of it for such a long time. My children needed me though. The mother in me said, "It is time to do those needful things." with a sigh and a prayer. In 2005 while we were living in a campground I was given the program to look over. After giving it back to my friend, I decided I needed to get the program to help me have it at my fingertips. I am finding now that it has been such a blessing for me.
I use MS Excel to form our daily schedule.
I usually start with writing everything down that we have to accomplish in a day. From that point, I plug in the important stuff like meal times, family times, Bible Study times, then fill in school times and prep time for meals, clean up, chores, time for sewing, time for showers, piano practice and so forth. Inevitably there is always something that is overlooked or overscheduled. There are nips and tucks to make and as children change, there will be changes made there too. The important thing is to not be discouraged.
I don't have a Saturday or Sunday Schedule yet, but this past weekend has shown me how very essential a loose schedule would be for each of us to know what needs to be done instead of roaming around waiting for someone to tell us something. LOL
I have our schedule posted on a nice bulletin board (at hubby's request). I also left some room to add a weekend schedule in the middle. I'm hoping to get that finished here soon since our busy season is quickly closing in on us.
A note of encouragement~this schedule is the goal. It is not the driving force. If something happens or we have someone over, the schedule goes by the wayside. We can always pick the schedule back up once things settle down. The key is to not fret or stress out or stress those around us about keeping up wth the schedule.
Another thing~I do not schedule my husband. I let him know that I would like to spend a particular time with him during the day, but ultimately, he has final vetoing power in our home. I do not stress out about this. He is the God ordained head of our home and if he wants to change the schedule around a bit for the day, then I encourage that. He needs to feel that if he'd like to do a "spur of the moment" fishing trip as a family that we can have the freedom to do so. One never knows if there is a God given lesson that He is intending to teach us through my husband or us through our children (God is that way, huh?). We need to be flexible when times call for flexibility. Copperswife uses the terms "hold our plans loosely". I love that saying!
Remember the goal for having a schedule is to bless our homes and families and as a reminder to help us accomplish the things the Lord has given us to do. We are not to hold the schedule so tightly that stress reigns in our homes. Our homes need to be a place of peaceful sanctuary for those who are blessed to be called our family, and occationally those who come to visit.
Blessings,
Having said that, these children are given to me as a blessing and as such, they are filled with needs that cause me to grow in my own walk of faith. It has taken such great strides for me to seek out, much less develop how to make a schedule that would work for us. What a blessing it has been to use Managers of Their Homes. I recommend the program to anyone and everyone I come in contact with. It has been a life saver for me....a creative person who has a natural bent toward going with the flow. The Lord sure knew what He was doing when he gave me these children. You see, I had the capacity inside me all along, but I was rebelling in defiance of it for such a long time. My children needed me though. The mother in me said, "It is time to do those needful things." with a sigh and a prayer. In 2005 while we were living in a campground I was given the program to look over. After giving it back to my friend, I decided I needed to get the program to help me have it at my fingertips. I am finding now that it has been such a blessing for me.
I use MS Excel to form our daily schedule.
I usually start with writing everything down that we have to accomplish in a day. From that point, I plug in the important stuff like meal times, family times, Bible Study times, then fill in school times and prep time for meals, clean up, chores, time for sewing, time for showers, piano practice and so forth. Inevitably there is always something that is overlooked or overscheduled. There are nips and tucks to make and as children change, there will be changes made there too. The important thing is to not be discouraged.
I don't have a Saturday or Sunday Schedule yet, but this past weekend has shown me how very essential a loose schedule would be for each of us to know what needs to be done instead of roaming around waiting for someone to tell us something. LOL
I have our schedule posted on a nice bulletin board (at hubby's request). I also left some room to add a weekend schedule in the middle. I'm hoping to get that finished here soon since our busy season is quickly closing in on us.
A note of encouragement~this schedule is the goal. It is not the driving force. If something happens or we have someone over, the schedule goes by the wayside. We can always pick the schedule back up once things settle down. The key is to not fret or stress out or stress those around us about keeping up wth the schedule.
Another thing~I do not schedule my husband. I let him know that I would like to spend a particular time with him during the day, but ultimately, he has final vetoing power in our home. I do not stress out about this. He is the God ordained head of our home and if he wants to change the schedule around a bit for the day, then I encourage that. He needs to feel that if he'd like to do a "spur of the moment" fishing trip as a family that we can have the freedom to do so. One never knows if there is a God given lesson that He is intending to teach us through my husband or us through our children (God is that way, huh?). We need to be flexible when times call for flexibility. Copperswife uses the terms "hold our plans loosely". I love that saying!
Remember the goal for having a schedule is to bless our homes and families and as a reminder to help us accomplish the things the Lord has given us to do. We are not to hold the schedule so tightly that stress reigns in our homes. Our homes need to be a place of peaceful sanctuary for those who are blessed to be called our family, and occationally those who come to visit.
Blessings,
April 19, 2011
My Chili Recipes
White Chili
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cooked with garlic, sea salt and pepper to taste-cubed
One Purple Onion Finely Chopped
1 Pint of Chicken Broth
One Yellow Pepper coarsely chopped
6 Cans of Lima Beans
6 Dehydrated Jalapenos or Sliced from the can
2 Cans Potatoes cubed
White Pepper
Open 3 cans of Lima Beans and drain the liquid. (This is the "thickener" of this chili.) Add to crock pot with chicken broth and blend with a hand blender. Add dehydrated jalapenos, yellow pepper, and onion. Cook on high for an hour with the lid on. After an hour, remove the lid and add remaining ingredients. Continue to leave the lid off until desired thickness is achieved, stirring occationally. Serve with home made rolls or with garlic bread & salad. This particular recipe "could" be a little more spicy if you add more jalapenos with the chicken as you cook it.
Regular Chili (as was made a couple days ago)
1 Pound Each of Ground Beef and Ground Venison browned and seasoned with sea salt, pepper, minced garlic and 2 Chili Season packets (I use Aldi's brand).
1 Purple Onion
1 Green Pepper
2 Cans Chili Beans
2 Cans Black Beans
2 Cans Stewed Tomatoes with green chilies
2 Quarts home made tomato sauce
Put everything in the crock pot on high for a couple hours and serve. I've found that with making my chili this way, I don't have to add more chili powder because the little bit of spiciness from the green chilies does a wonderful job adding flavor to the chili.
Here are both types of chili side-by-side~
This is to give you a better visual as to how much each recipe makes. :0) The crock pot on the left is a 6 quart crock pot. The crock pot on the right is a 7 quart. The one on the left is a 6 quart.
Enjoy!
Blessings,
Regina
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cooked with garlic, sea salt and pepper to taste-cubed
One Purple Onion Finely Chopped
1 Pint of Chicken Broth
One Yellow Pepper coarsely chopped
6 Cans of Lima Beans
6 Dehydrated Jalapenos or Sliced from the can
2 Cans Potatoes cubed
White Pepper
Open 3 cans of Lima Beans and drain the liquid. (This is the "thickener" of this chili.) Add to crock pot with chicken broth and blend with a hand blender. Add dehydrated jalapenos, yellow pepper, and onion. Cook on high for an hour with the lid on. After an hour, remove the lid and add remaining ingredients. Continue to leave the lid off until desired thickness is achieved, stirring occationally. Serve with home made rolls or with garlic bread & salad. This particular recipe "could" be a little more spicy if you add more jalapenos with the chicken as you cook it.
Regular Chili (as was made a couple days ago)
1 Pound Each of Ground Beef and Ground Venison browned and seasoned with sea salt, pepper, minced garlic and 2 Chili Season packets (I use Aldi's brand).
1 Purple Onion
1 Green Pepper
2 Cans Chili Beans
2 Cans Black Beans
2 Cans Stewed Tomatoes with green chilies
2 Quarts home made tomato sauce
Put everything in the crock pot on high for a couple hours and serve. I've found that with making my chili this way, I don't have to add more chili powder because the little bit of spiciness from the green chilies does a wonderful job adding flavor to the chili.
Here are both types of chili side-by-side~
This is to give you a better visual as to how much each recipe makes. :0) The crock pot on the left is a 6 quart crock pot. The crock pot on the right is a 7 quart. The one on the left is a 6 quart.
Enjoy!
Blessings,
Regina
April 17, 2011
New Skirt, Different Look
A few months ago, I bought my dear daughter HJ a corderoy pencil skirt from ebay. When it came in the mail, the slit UP THE FRONT of the skirt was waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. We decided to redo it somehow in a nice contrasting fabric. Needless to say, I haven't found a nice contrasting fabric....that is...until today when my HJ suggested this pair of tan corderoy pants to use. I thought, "Hmmmmm, that just might work!"
I cut triangles from the legs and made some pretty embroidery at the bottom.
All while these were cooking...
And the boys were "blowing" the lids off of pringles cans...
And if you see in the background, there are cookies on the cooling racks...
All while Momma worked and worked...
I originally did not plan to make a slit in the back, but to make the skirt fully functional for an active 13 year old precious daughter and look nice, I added more to make it pretty. :0)
My day is not nearly done at 10:14PM. Those crock pots of chili above...they made 4 pint jars each with some left over. They're in the pressure cooker right now and they're almost done. Whenever we're out and about and we have no leftovers, my hubby can be blessed to know there is chili in the pantry just for him.
The one on the right in the picture above is just a basic White Chicken Chili. I will post the recipe for you upon request.
The one on the left is basic chili that was made with beef and venison. The beef is grass fed and the venison is from my son's first buck! 
I'll post the recipe for that upon request as well. 
I'll post the recipe for that upon request as well. 
These were packed in pint jars that had been sterilized via water bath, then the contents added while everything was piping hot. The jars were sealed tight and placed in 2" of water in the pressure canner you see in the above picture. The burner was put on high until the pressure guage read almost 10 pounds of pressure, then the temperature was decreased to med-low. Once the guage read 10 pounds, we set the timer for an hour and a half. We checked the guage every few minutes, released any extra pressure (above 10 pounds) and went along with our clean up. Since these contain meat, they have to be pressure canned in this manner. I'll date them for yesterday and put them on the shelf. Once it goes past 6 months, the contents are thrown out, if they haven't been eatten.
Next week, it's Split Pea Soup!
Blessings,
Regina
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)