Gratefulness: A reality check

I find myself surrounded with so many blessings, and yet even in this month of giving thanks there are times that I sink into the "I wants."  Over the weekend I found myself feeling a little jealous of some friends who were discussing a fun clothing shop that is way over my price range.  I've come a long way in the past two years, but every now and then  self pity can rear its evil head.

And then a good shot in the arm with a dose of get-over-yourself is in order.

I stumbled upon Meg's blog and was drawn to her sense of style.  But that's not why God had me land on her site.  I stopped on her Africa button and stayed there for a long time.  It totally changed my perspective.  Do I want to go to Africa now?  No.  I'm still scared of everything that comes to mind when I think of that region of the world.  But it sure brought me to my knees. 

 These precious little ones come to meet Jesus and receive ONE egg and some vitamins a week.  One egg.  As a treat.  To get some protein.  As Meg put it, "would my children even eat it?"  Would we be grateful?

    This is reality for so many.

Two days after discovering Meg's blog, I came across this blog.  You need to go there.  Take some tissues.   Katie is a beautiful, young woman who has chosen to live permanently in Uganda.  She has adopted 13 children on her own.  The joy that emanates from her can only be from the Giver of Life. 

She writes so beautifully about the blessings of following the Lord's call and yet your heart will break over the love, pain, hunger, beauty, and desolation that surrounds her.  She is living the Word made flesh.  

After spending several hours one night this week reading about these precious little ones I fell on my face before Jesus.  Oh that I would be grateful for all that He has blessed me with.  

Blessed beyond measure.

Grateful...

~fire in the fire pit
~half eaten ring pop on the coffee table
~tomato basil soup
~watching home videos
~a gift from a neighbor
~peak week of fall foliage
~36 library books
~waiting with my daughter until her friends arrive at youth group
~visiting the LEGO store for the first time with my little boy
~watching my 9 year old be excited for her brother
~homemade bread
~laughter in my home
~my husband's tough exterior, soft heart
~nuzzles from my dog
~blue jeans and down vest season
~clean sheets

Pumpkin Bars from Heaven

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cloves/nutmeg/cinnamon)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/2 jar pumpkin sundae topping (if unavailable, use caramel)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, nuts, sugars and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add butter, mix until crumbly. Reserve 1 1/4 cups of the mixture. Pat remaining mixture on bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan.
2. Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, allspice and salt; mix well. Pour evenly over crust. Mix reserved crumbs with 1 tablespoon flour. Sprinkle over pumpkin mixture.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes. 
4. Drizzle sundae topping over bars before cutting into squares.
5. Serve warm. Or cold. (we like them both ways) Store leftovers in refrigerator.

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Sunday Rest

Let us not become weary

in doing good,

for at the proper time

we will reap a harvest

if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

May I Suggest... {book edition}

Even though I want to do a "May I Suggest" post on all of the yummy fall delights I recently found at Trader Joes, I decided it would be better for us all if I chose something a little less fattening. :)My first suggestion is my ALL time FAVORITE series.  There are five books in the Chronicles of the Kings series and trust me, you will wish there were more.  A friend suggested the series to me and  I waited about a year before trying it because it didn't fit into my typical genre of choice.  This series stretches to almost every reader's preference.  My dad loved the series as much as my mom and I.  Seriously, you need to give it a try.  Our local public library carries the series.  Here's a close up of the first book:

 My favorite author boasts many titles I could suggest to you, but if you haven't read this one, I'd try it first.  Francine Rivers writes in a manner that you don't want to put the book down.  Even to feed your offspring.

Enough about me.  :)   We found this next book in our church library.  Remember the "Where's Waldo?" books?  This is the Bible story version of it.  My little boy loves any kind of I Spy book, so this was a fun way to read some truths while he looked for the clues.

This children's book by the same authors of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See" is a great rhyming book for the pre-K children in your life.  I think it would make a neat gift, too.

 Each page is filled with beautiful colors as it travels through the characters of the Bible.

We just discovered this series.  There are at least 12 books in the Time Warp Trio series, probably more.  We started with this one because we had just studied gladiators in history.  I read it aloud to my 1st grader, so it is probably written for a 3rd grade reading level.  He loved it.  There's enough boy humor to keep him laughing and enough history to keep me happy.

I'm always looking for a new good book.  Have any suggestions?  How about a favorite kids book?

Fancy Tail

 It's been a long time since I've been tailgating.  So when our friends the Moores invited us to join them we were very excited.  When Kim called to ask me if we like fruit on our salad, I knew this wasn't going to be the typical bucket o' chicken kind of tailgate.  I offered to bring something and she said, "I think I've got all covered."
She was not kidding.  Right down to the mini stick of butter to go on our baked potatoes.  Yes.  BAKED potatoes.  Not spicy fries from Bojangles.

 The king of the grill, aka Andy, pulled this mini Egg out of the trunk of his car and did a little magic.  I don't know the last thing about grills, but apparently this, my friends, is the holy grail of grills.  After the tasting it's offspring, I'm a believer.  The best filet I've ever savored.  Ever.

 I thought I was living it up when we had bread with dipping oil, salad with fruit, meat with potatoes.  But then they pulled this out:

 Uh-huh.  Baked cookie in a mini cast iron skillet WITH ice cream and chocolate sauce.  Have you evah???  I didn't want to leave the parking lot.  But the men folk insisted that we move into the stadium since, well, that's why were were there.

I'm all about a good football game, and this one did not disappoint; but the main attraction at any event with massive amounts of humanity is watching the people.
Not only did we enjoy the fashion lesson from the coeds (cowboy boots go with any outfit) but the two 60+ year old couples sitting in front of us kept us entertained.  You see, earlier in the evening, I was mystified by this sign in the women's bathroom:

 Really?  People actually do that?  But then we noticed that the two couples in front of us were drinking copious amounts of lemonade.  Lemonade?  As the evening wore on their ability to hide the little glass bottles became less and less and their laughter and sway grew.
By the end of the night we were laughing out loud at the unabashed thievery taking place in front of us involving too much lemonade and a bag of peanuts belonging to someone on the next row. "Itsth, all goooodddd." He told us.  Yep.  Just what I want to be when I grow up.

Regardless of what I've led you to believe, I did watch the game (I can multitask) and it was a great game to watch.  Kim and I even got to do the Wolfpack victory sign at the end of the game.  As we headed back to the car everyone was happy.  The boys were happy about the outcome of the game (us girls, too) and I was still savoring one of the fanciest tailgates I've ever been a part of.  Thanks friends!

This is Why I am Tired

 We love doing fun stuff, but if you're like me, it seems to be feast or famine.  Over the long weekend, it was a FEAST of fun.
Since Thursday, this is what we have packed in:

Thursday night we enjoyed a NC State/ FSU football game with some very dear friends (more on that tomorrow)

 Friday we joined a group of homeschoolers on a field trip to a farm.  My children learned

How to race rubber ducks while pumping water (they'll need that later in life, right?)

How to search for, and choose the perfect pumpkin

The joy of immersing themselves into a crib of dried corn.

How to defy gravity.

Saturday was filled with taking children to various morning activities; followed by an afternoon neighborhood pumpkin carving party. 

 Every time we have a neighborhood party, we realize what great neighbors we have.  A Christmas party is already in the making (woot, woot!)

Saturday night we were living the high life with some awesome tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey game, thanks to my sister in law (who happens to have some serious connections).  We were in the Champions Club which is a nice way to say we were stuffing ourselves with tons of free food and sitting in plush leather chairs that really should be in my family room.

Since the Canes were shut out by the Penguins, I was thankful for a soft chair to sit in while Laura and I chatted, the kids ate 14 pieces of pizza, and the boys grunted at each other about various plays.



Sunday started with probably the most alive and moving (literally) church services we've seen in ages.  I love it when the brothers and sisters of color come for a visit from the church down the road and show some of the {all too serious pious} Baptists how to really worship.  It was fantastic!

For lunch we celebrated the end of Little League Baseball season with this:

To really make me tired have fun, we had a scrimmage between the boys and the moms.  My main goal was to not make an idiot of myself not strike out.  Strike out?  No.  Pop fly out? Yes.  Needless to say the boys whooped our momma-tails.

To finish the weekend, we took the kids to a party and did a little twick-or-tweeting.  While the fall festival at church has always been nice, it was fun to do something a little different this year.

So.... today we are having a candy hangover.  The kids are happy drunks and I'm a sleepy drunk, so we started school with recess while the teacher got her act together.