Zechariah 13:9
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Zechariah 13:9
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Broccoli is one of the vegetables that we like to put in the freezer. Lots of it, too. It is fairly simple to process and it holds up well frozen. And it is very, very good for you. The broccoli is sweeter if cut after a frost. Tonight, I started our first batch for the season. A friend of ours offered to pick up veggies for us at the local produce auction, and he came home with broccoli this week. I start out with washing the heads in cold water. I add Basic H (Shaklee) to help clean the veggie of chemical sprays.
Then I cut the heads apart into smaller pieces. Some people throw away most of the stalks, but I save them, peel the thick "bark" off and include the tender delicious insides with the crowns, or we eat them raw. They are great with dip. Next, the pieces go into a steamer and steam just until the broccoli turns a deep green. We do not like mushy broccoli, so I cut the blanching time.
Let the broccoli cool on towel and them pack in freezer bags.
My favorite way of serving broccoli is over baked potatoes. I rub the potatoes with olive oil, bake on the oven racks until done. The skins will be crispy, but very delicious. We mash the potatoes on a plate, top with butter, broccoli, cheese and sour cream. A very healthy, and dairy promoting, complete meal. If you want to include meat, make a hamburger gravy for on top, but this is a great dish if you want to have a meatless meal. Enjoy!
Until next time.......
Friday, 23 October 2009
Solomon is now 16 and is chomping at the bit to get on the road. He is waiting to go for his permit and then, if he passes, clear the road.
No, really, he is a good driver. He has had alot of experience with equipment and seems to have a real knack and talent for handling anything with wheels and a steering wheel. I am always teasing him that he is going to have to drive this dump truck, because I know that it does not go very fast.
He does not agree with me, of course! He was able to find a 96 dodge pickup that he got extremely reasonable. It needs some work, but nothing that he cannot handle and it will keep him busy over the winter. We had a birthday party for him last Saturday evening and we had a really fun time playing games with friends.
We also had a cake for a friend who was also celebrating a birthday
2 of the girls that were Kelsey's bridemaids were here, also, so I couldn't resist this picture.
Until next time.........
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Three weeks ago, Solomon and Oliver had their annual heart checkups. Solomon’s checkup was real good. Oliver had an echo, which revealed that the left side of his heart was enlarged. The area where the surgery was performed when he was a baby showed narrowing and he has a bicuspid aortic valve, which was in question on whether there was some "backwash". The Dr. was not sure on the cause of the enlargement, so he ordered a stress-echo test to examine how the valve and narrowing would react to stress. The Doc mentioned that blood pressure meds would be the first thing they would try, depending on the findings of the test. Yesterday, Oliver had the test and today the Dr. called with the results. He said that nothing showed up, everything looked good, Oliver has no restrictions at this point and that he (doc) has no explanation on why the heart would be enlarged. They did not double check the measurements yesterday, just the function (makes me wonder if his heart is still enlarged?). He said that he would check Oliver again in 6 months. Now the most exciting part of all this….? Oliver was anointed this past Sunday and God had His hand in the test results, for sure! Why are we ever surprised when prayers are answered? God’s will was done and we have huge grateful hearts right now!! Thank you to all of you who have been praying!
Georgie had his tonsils and adenoids removed today – another event that was prayed for by many - Thanks Much – he felt them!!. Georgie was so peaceful, calm and brave that the nurses could not stop commenting on it. They said he was doing better then some adults. The surgery went real well and the time in the recovery room was good. He did not get sick on his stomach like some people do and he was able to down some pops soon after he arrived there. Now don’t get me wrong, he has a really, really bad sore throat, BUT he is quite impressed with how easy he can breathe out his nose. The doc said that his adenoids were so big that they blocked 85% of his nasal cavity!! No wonder he can breathe easier!! Now to get him through the next week…….
Times like these are a test of faith and a time of wondering……would I give thanks and praise if the diagnosis is sad news? Would I give thanks and praise if the surgery did not go well? I want to think that I would and I told myself that I would, but when it really comes down to it, would I? Thinking about it, I came to the obvious conclusion that it is MUCH easier to react in thanksgiving and praise in times of good news and reports. In times of suffering, sadness, or bad news it is ONLY possible in God’s strength and power and a MIGHTY strong faith in HIM.
Until next time………
Wednesday, 07 October 2009
On September 18th, the homeschool coop that we are involved in, called HIS, had it's first class day. This is a fairly large group and the children are divided by grade levels. This year Dave committed to teaching Civics/History to the older children. Our (I am helping Dave) class consists of 11 students from the ages of 11-17, 6 boys and 5 girls. For the first class we went over 2 class rules that Mr. Dave had established.
1.) Do all you have agreed to do
2.) Do not encroach upon another person or their property.
We talked about how societies have changed all through history. Man's social and economic conditions have changed - liberty and tyranny, poverty and prosperity, safety and terror. What are the conditions that cause these changes? A small example of this that was brought up was: our grandparents never locked their doors at night. Why do we lock ours now? What caused this change?
We did a small representation of society by assigning each child a different role. We had a farmer, banker, retired person, pizza shop owner, etc.. Then Mr. Dave gave a scenario of a severe drought. We had a lively discussion as the drought effected more and more people besides the farmer. Example: price of food goes up, farmer can't pay bank, which effects retired person's investments, etc.. We had a good time!
Class 2 - Talked mostly about how governments got started in the early days of mankind spreading across the earth. How class distinctions arose among peoples. Talked about man advancing from family-clan-tribe to village-city-citystates. We began to talk about 2 of the most famous city-states, which were Athens and Sparta. We began to discuss how some of the ideas of Ancient Greeks effect us today. We had 2 students give current events and 1 student gave a report on Sparta.
Next class is October 16th.
Until next time............
Sunday, 04 October 2009
She arrived into this world Saturday, October 3rd, weighing 6# 12oz. and what a sweety she is! Kelsey is now a mama and I a grandma. I am wondering if the reality has really sunk in to either of us? I am confident that she will be a wonderful mama and I am still contemplating this idea of being a grandma. From the bottom of my heart, I LOVE the idea! On the other hand, my role is now different to this wee one then to my own children. I always looked forward to having my babies, but in the midst of it, I realized that the full responsibility of this child laid on Dave and my shoulders. We were the ones who would love, feed, clothes, discipline and raise this child how the Lord would lead us. Being a grandparent is different. I looked forward to the arrival of Oakley in a different way. I was going to be a grandma, not a mother, and there is a difference. Now Gordon and Kelsey will raise her how the Lord leads them, they will love, feed, clothes and discipline her. My role is to be supportive, encouraging, and helpful wherever I am wanted, but to allow God to run their family and to give them room to learn the lessons that come with parenting - giving me freedom to TOTALLY spoil (and then send home) this little person who is now a part of our family.
Until next time...........
