Too hot to cook!

What a beautiful day today!! But really - who would want to be in a hot kitchen on a day like today?! (I was, but that's a post on another day)

Here is what I whipped up for dinner:

2 cups pasta (macaroni / shells) cooked in salted water, rinsed and chilled
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts - cooked, diced, chilled.
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup chopped celery (I like the leafy tops)
1 apple cored and diced
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tbs dill weed
6 leaves of romaine (or leaf lettuce)
1 shredded carrot
2 tomatoes sliced

Combine noodles, chicken, onion, celery, apple, cheddar. In separate bowl combine seasonings and cottage cheese and mayo. Toss noodle mix with mayo mix to combine throughly. Break lettuce and line platter with lettuce and carrots. Pile pasta on top of lettuce. Put sliced tomatoes on top. I garnished with "McComrick Grinders" Tellcherry Black Peppercorns and
Roasted Garlic and Sea Salt.

Chill and serve.

Yummy!

A vain attempt to be like Mom

As the weather begins to turns nicer, my kids are sounding like a broken record...

"Can we go outside?"
"Can we go ride our bikes?"

And I love it! Whatever excuse we need.... I'm going to find a way to get dirt under my nails, even if its just for a minute or two a day. Lots to be done, but I am really starting to see why my mom was so drawn to gardening...

So! I thought I'd share my gardening efforts for this season with you. My mom had one of the most impressive green-thumbs I've ever seen, and as a kid, I really wanted nothing to do with it, short of eating the tomatoes off the vine. I wish I'd taken a greater interest as a child. Now I find myself doing a good deal of experimenting. But I am learning for sure.

The garden had been pretty neglected last summer, as I was put on bed rest the last week of June, and even after getting permission to get out of bed in August, found little energy to accomplish much. So... there was a little more work to be done this spring.
these are silk flowers in my front window box, which is really hard to grow real flowers in. Shortly after we moved in, Zelta came over and put some silks in it for me, and then came and changed it the next season... now I change it about every 4 months.

I rented a cultivator from Home Depot for 4 hours... ooh I wish I'd taken a picture of that! It was a day I arranged to have Shane work from home so I could get it done... a bit more planning would have been smart! It was 40 degrees and hailing most of the time that I was tilling. Came back in the house resembling a wet and muddy rat. Took another 5 hours to warm up after that.

I am slowly working away at chunks of the lawn to make more room for more plants. Unfortunately, the cultivator didn't really get up as much of the grass roots as I 'd hoped. Zelta (my wonderful neighbor and good friend) has offered suggestions for getting grass out, that I will use in the future. But now, we have a few plots that need to have the grass pulled out. Noah has been told that I'll pay him by the bucket, so it is something we'll work on together.
I'll start in the back of the house. We used to have 5 rhododendron bushes along the back of the sun room. I pulled them out about 4 years ago.

this is my rhubarb. It is descended from the rhubarb plant in my Dad's garden. I used to grab a bowl of sugar and walk out there, pluck it, break the root and leaf, and then dip it in the sugar... yummy. It isn't doing as well as I'd like and it's been there for 3 years, so I'm trying to think what to do at this point... I think it doesn't get enough sun and might be getting over watered. My Dad's rhubarb rarely was watered (other than rain) and has full sun. Suggestions welcome...


Behind the rhubarb are two tomato "trees" and a tomato -potato plant. I got them from a "Gardener's Choice" catalog as starts... I'm a little skeptical if they are going to produce. (if you look close, they are there in the picture... but could be confused for SMALL weeds) I may grab another start or two as I'd really like to be able to can some tomatoes this year. Quick explanation on the tomato-potato... apparently, the tomato and potato plants are similar and so they grafted the two together. Tomatoes are supposed to grow above ground and potatoes below... we will see!!

Up behind the sun room is where I have my compost bucket... a green machine.
I don't know if I'm doing it right. I recently found a book that came with it saying something about layering grass clippings and food waste... it was mostly food waste until I saw that. I haven't tried to open the bottom flap to see if there is "rich" soil there yet... I'm scared! I might not use the compost soil in the garden until next year...

There isn't a whole lot more that can be done in the back yard, and we hope to have a pool and already have a sandbox back there...

Front yard - had a Japanese maple when we moved in - I give it a bowl cut with the clippers every spring. A few years ago, Zelta and I (with the help of Zelta's son Robbie) went scavenging at a house in the neighborhood that was being demolished. They helped me rescue three rose bushes. I wanted roses, but didn't know if I'd screw them up so didn't want to pay. These three bushes are now around the Jap. Maple.



Above the maple are some herb starts, chives, basil, mint and hopefully parsley that was there last year will return. There is also a lemon balm plant that Zelta pulled from her plant a few years ago. Below the maple is a 3 ft by 12 ft patch of strawberries... when I can keep them contained. I don't know if you know this or not, but strawberries are like the bunny rabbits of plants... they are constantly shooting off vines that root down and start new plants. I had shoots that were 10 feet away! Lots of blossoms now though, so hopefully lots of fruit.nothing really to show in this picture other than my beautiful darling daughter, who loves to dig with us!

Below that are more starts from the catalog... still skeptical.... 6 watermelon plants and 6 yellow squash and 6 green zucchini.

To the west of the maple I have installed a lattice for my beans.
I started these myself in a Jiffy dome... will definitely do those again and would recommend.
Almost every seed I put in started into a plant and it was so easy! Next to the beans there is another hill that I threw some seeds to Edible Pea Pods... didn't start inside, so we'll see how that goes...

To the west of the beans I'm putting in some sunflowers (the starts you see aboce), and any other flowers I come across before I say I'm done planting.

since I'm new at this, I'd love to hear any advice, criticism, suggestions or the like..

OK -little PS... the other day, sunny, warm and working all day out side. Maggy takes a nap and we continue to work outside, with the monitor close at hand. After about 2 hours I make note - wow she's been asleep for a long time. I ask the kids, "the monitor is still on right?" "YEAH MOM".... an hour later, I think I better make sure it's working....

Zak turned it off :-(

Maggy was pretty distraught... I don't think she was crying for more than a half hour, but no way to be sure.

This is Zak telling Maggy he's sorry after being punished... poor baby!

How I spent Mother's Day

In years past, we have waited for hours to get into a Mother's Day brunch (even with a reservation), went to restaurants on Saturday to avoid the crowds, gone bowling... all fun - usually because of the company. But I think this may have been one of our best Mother's Days since I have been blessed enough to qualify!We had a lazy weekend in Dallas (Oregon, not Texas) at the In-Law's house (Jan and Ken Frederic). It is a beautiful place to go, every visit feels like a vacation, the kids got to play, we shared incredible meals and I watched my children enjoy themselves....

what greater gift can a mom have?!

We were also fortunate to get to spend the day with Grandma Morgan - Shane's maternal Grandmother - She's a legend! An awesome woman of God, INTENSE prayer warrior, wonderful conversationalist, adoring grandmother, so loving.... I could go on.
She has 4 children, 2 step children, 16 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren. (I think my count is correct?!)

The Frederic abode is a comfy house, full of comforts, wood burning stove... always buzzing with visitors. People will stop by just to say hi. (Like Grandma and Grandpa Frederic -Ken's parents, Oscar and Betty - sweet people!)

The 3 acre property sits along the Little Lukimute River.
There is Louie... a Dalmatian- Mastiff mix, as gentle as any dog I have ever seen.

There are rock piles to play in.
Almost all year round, there is always something yummy to pull from the ground or a tree and eat. The kids really enjoyed the rhubarb.
Noah got to help Ken pull weeds out of the area that is going to be made into a pond. He loves to work with Grandpa!

Shane got to ride on the tractor, his Mom says its fun - like therapy for her.

Zak and Hannah helped.

It was a great weekend. No one wanted to leave to come back home.... not one of us...

I'm really looking forward to our next trip down - Hannah's Birthday is May 31st and we'll spend the weekend at Grandma's, per Hannah's request.

That doubt people have...

So, there was a really cool post on Internet Cafe Devotions yesterday, responding to Oprah's comment about why she couldn't believe in God.... "how could a kind and loving God allow so much pain and hurt..." People don't understand all of Shakespeare, but they still respect him.... why is it if we don't understand God we think he's not valid or relevant. ... hello - God created Shakespeare....

Anyway - Read it

Along those same lines.... our special Grandma Pauline, sent this to us today... cute, and same sort of idea. Nothing original from me today, just good thoughts.

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. Eventually the conversation touched on the subject of God and the barber said

"I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out on the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and re-entered the barbershop and said

"You know what? Barbers do not exist. "

"How can you say that?" the barber was surprised. "I am here and I am a barber, and I just worked on you!"

The customer responded, "No! Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside. "

"Ah, but barbers DO exists. That's what happens when people don't come to me."

"Exactly!" Affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God does exist. That's what happens when people don't go to Him and don't look to Him for help. "

I was inspired by my friend Julie C today when we talked about what methods we use to educating our kids. She told me that Abraham Lincoln only used the Bible to learn. It was all he had, no fancy curriculum there. OK, maybe that might sound archaic, but he became arguably the most significant president in the history of the US. What is really critical that we teach our kids? Is it arithmetic, social studies, literature? All these subjects have value, but for Julie, "more than anything else, I want my kids to know Jesus, and know that Jesus is the most important thing to know."

Over-energized!!!!!

Crazy Day!

We've been watching way too much TV lately. The kids have had the flu, on and off for about 10 days, for poor Hannah and Zak, came and went more than once. It's too easy to say ok, pick a movie. So I made a decision, today, no TV until after naps. Wow- I got SOOO much done! Here is what I did today:

Slept until 8, woken by Hannah and Zak, who were woken by Maggy - all happy!
Got them dressed.
Breakfast
School Time with Noah
Put Maggy down for nap
Started load of laundry
Played a game of checkers with Noah
Mowed front lawn while kids rode bikes
Found a package of pea seeds, planted in garden
Mowed back lawn, clippings into compost (Yeah!!!)
Maggy was up, jumped in Johnny Jump Up while I showered
Made lunch - PB&J and Oranges
Ran to drugstore to pick up pictures for an album I need to finish
Got gas (17 gal - $67 OUCH!!)
Put kids to bed
Another load of laundry
Devotions - reading bible, played piano - I haven't done that in AGES!
Maggy was up (too short of a nap) - played piano some more
Chatting with my hubby on IM - looked at stuff on Craigslist
Folded laundry - Ironing
Kids wake up and go play in the driveway while I iron more - Maggy in back pack
Talked to Liz (my sis)
Tidy-up kitchen
Make dinner (Steaks, potatoes and salad - hotdogs for the kids)
Feed Maggy - pureed zucchini and acorn squash and vanilla wafers (new experience)
Load dishwasher
Another load of laundry
Fold more laundy
Kids to bed
Watch American Idol on DVR
surf blogs
Im with JP who bugs me to update my blog :-p

Nite!

Pray that I can keep the idiot box off tomorrow and be just as productive!

Everything

Where I found my peace...

I count myself fortunate... I realize that peace is not something that one comes by easily. I think I've had it for so long that I almost forgot how much of a difference it can make, I almost forgot the cost.

(As I told JP on Sunday - I over explain just about everything I do... don't know why I feel the need to share all the details, but it is part of who I am. I'll try not to go into too much detail here...)

When I was 13 I had a salvation experience. I was attending a Christian retreat and had an experience of being "born again"... what I really experienced was a revelation... Not only did God exist, but he knew EXACTLY who I was and am, and he really cares specifically for me. At that stage in my life, that was a life changing experience. Everything was different from that point forward. This revelation did change my entire perspective on the world as I knew it, but understanding more of who God is and future revelations didn't expand much beyond that at that time.

9 years later, another retreat, I found my peace...

We spent time talking about what the Bible says, who is the Holy Spirit, how the Devil works to confuse and frustrate us. The leader of the retreat prayed that the Holy Spirit would reveal lies that the Devil was using to work against us. He then spoke up and said that one of us didn't believe that there really was life after death.

"Could he really be talking about me?" It wasn't that I didn't believe, but... see here's the thing. Over the years that I have considered myself a Christian, I heard many times the scripture (john 3:16) "God so loved the world that He gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." It says what will happen if you believe, but I inferred if some one didn't believe in Jesus as their savior, they'd be damned. A few over-zealous evangelists who still pursue the 'fire and brimstone' preaching, turn or burn, perpetuated my confusion. I hadn't explored my faith to much depth or read my bible thoroughly enough to consider the error in a 'turn or burn' salvation. God's character doesn't want us to come to him out of a fear of hell... I know that now...

Regardless, my parents had raised us in a Christian tradition. We went to church every Sunday. We learned about Jesus, but mostly from what was taught to us in Sunday School. I don't ever recall my Mom reading a bible or verbally expressing her faith to me. She was a private person, who, unlike me, did not talk alot about her feelings or beliefs. And, I was only 17 when she died, so I may not have had the maturity to receive what she would have, or maybe did say, and I simply don't recall.

so yeah, I do think he was talking about me. If I couldn't say for certain if my Mom was in heaven or hell, it would be easier for me to just not think about eternal life at all. I definitely didn't want to ask God that question... what if he answered and I couldn't hear the answer because I don't want to...

My heart was pounding in my ears. I was more nervous than I'd ever been, more nervous than playing a solo in a concert, more nervous than speaking in front of hundreds of people, I literally thought I could faint. I knew I needed to ask God this question, completely terrified to know the answer. But I knew I had to, so I prayed, silently. "God, I know you love me, I know you care for me, and I know I'll experience eternal life with you, but how can I know that my Mom will? I need to know where she is." And almost as soon as the thought was spoken in my mind, I had an answer. As sure as I would have been had it been spoken audibly, I'd heard "She's with me."

He answered - "She's with me"

Instant peace. For the first time in the 4 years since she'd passed, I could think about her and experience JOY! Since that day, I have thought more on how wonderful she was and what she has given to me and how proud I am to be like her than on the pain of her illness and death or how much she is missing or how much I miss her. I won't say that I don't have such thoughts, but the sad thoughts are quickly replaced by thoughts of joy.

And as for the cost.... which I can so easily overlook, that which was sacrificed that I might experience such a complete peace. If God had not sacrificed, if Jesus had not gone to the Cross, innocent in himself, but punished for the sins of the world, we would be forever separated from God.... no hope of heaven - for me and for my Mom; no hope of a Holy Spirit, who can speak to my heart and in an instant with a word bring peace....

... that is where I've found my treasured peace.