“Sorry mom… I promise I won’t get into the human chicken dinner again. I’ve already put myself into the corner. Do I seriously have to wear that?”
Feline Friendly Friday (late post)
Well, it’s official…cats are intuitive!
With another snow storm approaching, the cats have decided it’s time for a Disney trip. We cannot blame them, however, it is so funny that today is the very first day that they are sitting in their Mickey Cat beds at the same time as one another.
I seriously think they know the snow is coming and they are trying to tell us something. Little do they know we have been thinking the same thing!
A Month of Paleo
As a family, we decided that we all needed to be watching more of what we ate. Keep in mind that we are already eating gluten free (3 of us are celiac), we eat very little sugar, and we eat all organic, grass fed, farm fresh foods. You may ask yourself what else we could we possibly do. Well, we decided to try a strict Paleo diet for one month. Now, we are for the most part doing that with adding in a few extras like butter, and the rest of the milk we have plus a few cheeses.
We are finding it to be fairly easy, however, eating on the fly is harder still as I have to think about everything and we cannot just make or eat a GF muffin or GF bread with the turkey meat. So, I’ve been coming up with a few recipes and buying lots of veggies to supplement some of our stand bys.
Tonights meal is stuffed cornish hens with rice. Ha, that’s not paleo you say! Well, actually it is. Stuffed with veggies and nuts, and the rice is actually cauliflower that has been shredded. It smells delicious and it looked great.
Stuffing – I chopped up and sauteed the following veggies: Carrots, small red and orange peppers, garlic, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, baby bella mushrooms, 1 large leak and 1 cup of pecans. (I actually only used 2/3 of a cup of the chopped pecans in the stuffing, and the rest of the cup I put into the “rice”.)
Using sea salt, I salted the inside cavity of the hens and stuffed them with the above stuffing mixture of veggies and pecans. See below:
“Rice” – 1 head of cauliflower shredded in food processor. Add 1 large stalk of fresh basil and about 4 garlic cloves, both chopped, and the rest of the pecans. Then I sauteed in a little butter, 1 tsp. sea salt and about 1/2 pint of homemade chicken broth. Just prior to serving, I added a goat cheese that was like a feta. Keep in mind that the pecans turned the cauliflower a light tan color making it looked like either a fried rice or brown rice.
Can you say Yum? 🙂
Abiding in His Love
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2Corinthians 4:7-11
I’ve written it before, and I think it needs to be the reminder in our home right now. Praise God for the glory of His word to teach us, build our character, shape us, and connect us to Him.
For the love of God is eternal, unconditional, just and perfect! May we always remember, live by, abide by and stand firm in His word.
Feline Friendly Fridays
Feline Friendly Friday
I love following these posts that have something on specific days of the week. So I’ve decided to start a “day of the week post”. Coming up with my own spin on this, here is the first of my Feline Friendly Friday. 🙂
Winners and Losers; Character building
There are so many things that I am thinking about, yet for some reason putting them on paper (computer) seems to be an issue. Not sure why, other than I think I am overwhelmed with thought.
Perhaps it’s because our family is going through transition, or perhaps it’s because we once again have been traveling to much, or maybe, just maybe it’s because I find myself trying to explain to my children how to deal with inconsistencies and unfairness in a fallen world. Our lifestyle has us spending a great amount of time with so many who are not what we would call “ideal” role models. My mind swirls in thought on how to parent in a way that glorifies the Lord. Teaching them not to spite, not to be rude, to be the light. In then end, I’m finding these are lessons I too can glean insight.
Let me explain. We just returned from a weekend out of town where the kids competed in the North American Championship. We’ve attended this event for 4 years now, and with great excitement our daughter once again placed, receiving a second place for the fourth year in a row in Amateur for all of North America. Clearly, this is an accomplishment worth being excited about and not something to frown over.
The difficulties come in when, as a parent, you watch your child stressed over such an upcoming event that she isn’t sleeping, she’s practicing for months, spending hours with both of her instructors and confident that this is the year she will take first. With great hopes of moving up to compete next year in the Gold. After her competition, she was given a thumbs up by one of the judges, while many more, including the president of the event told her it was a gold medal winning performance. All day we had to hear that “she swept away the other competitors.” Yet, in the end, it was a fourth second place. Disappointment…yes! Tears…yes! Bewilderment…yes! Were we alone in our disbelief…NO!
In times like these, we sit back and wonder, is it worth it? Okay, I shouldn’t use the word “we”… I wonder if it’s worth it. I’ve spent the last 5 days considering my words to my daughter and how to continue to reassure her that her natural talent and her ability to pull off a win were there. After all, she did meet with all three of the judges the next day and together the four of them discussed how she could better her performance next year and she was able to learn what they were looking for. She also learned that she basically tied for first and they “split hairs” to choose a winner.
Through this I have been pondering the lessons we teach our children when they are in competitive sports or competitive situations. As well as how we as parents respond to any injustice or defeat our children are forced to accept.
There are winners, and there are losers. This doesn’t mean that the loser is insignificant. It just means that at that performance, the winner had a great day and they did well. We should be happy for them, cheer them on and just try harder next time. Who knows, next time you may be the winner and it would be nice to have others happy for you.
Life isn’t always fair. Learning to live in a society where there are favorites is something we all have to live with. Learning as a child that contentment in a life serving the Lord is more important and will help you to gain perspective, strength, confidence and endurance to get through ANYTHING in this world.
How you feel you played is what counts. If putting your best foot forward was what you gave in a performance, then you have done your job well. Especially when you are being affirmed by others that you are their inspiration and that they enjoy watching you perform. That should be worth more than the blue.
Spite and bitterness are nothing more than the devils path to destruction.
Hebrews 12:15 (ESV) 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
Is it hard to not look at the obvious evidence that there is some bias at times? Of course it’s hard. However, no one said that life was going to be easy and if we are going to participate in activities that many of the “lost” are participating in, then we have to remember that we cannot expect moral uprightness.
Accept the things we cannot change.
God’s plan is not our plan and His timing is not our timing. Teaching patience to our children can be and is so difficult. After all, we too struggle with patience. It’s good to teach our children that prayer for the willingness to wait upon the Lord is important.
Success is not measured in numbers or colors. Blue, Red, White, Gold, Silver, Bronze…1st, 2nd, 3rd… How should we measure success?
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” – Booker T. Washington
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” George S. Patton
In our book, she’s a winner. Her perseverance shows success and character. Her ability to perform in such a way is far more than her own mother could take on. And, she is excited that even though she thought there were age limits, she is able to move up to compete in the gold next year… even though she took second. The judges told her that it was her choice and that if she chose to stay in Amateur then she would likely take the gold but if she wanted to move up to Professional, she may not place and she will have to pay her dues (in being at that level of course. After all, in their book, she’s just an amateur). Her response… “I want to move up to compete for the gold next year. I want the challenge, and I want the competition as well as the experience.” I call that success!
Do I wonder if I’m doing okay with my “motherly” advice to my children? Of course! Am I always on target with my response to their heartache? No! Do I pray for the wisdom and the the courage to overcome, for them as well as myself? Absolutely! Am I encouraged in leading them when I see them persevere and continue on even through persecution, in justice, heartache and criticism? Most definitely! Do I still have work to do on my own reaction? The fact I am even writing about it shows that YES…I find this is also character building for myself! With the help of the Lord, we will all persevere and next year, I’m hoping she places in the top 5 in the professional… Or… Takes Gold altogether! ha ha
Making Memories To Share
Making memories:
One cat slept this way. Not sure why he likes the blood to pool into his brain. Perhaps it’s his “high”. He does this quite often. Although, this time was a marathon.
The fascination this cat has with the fireplace is crazy. No one can sit in front of it for too long as it’s just too stinkin hot. Well, the cat sits in front of it, much longer than any of us can stand it, and then he jumps down onto the floor sprawling out until he cools down and then does it again.
Our son eating the mussels he so longed to try. He enjoyed them enough that the waitress gave him the recipe. Although, we laughed when she said the chef wasn’t there and that she knew where to find it and that she would make a copy of it for us… ooops! Thank You!
A few of the 15 deer that we woke up to on Christmas morning out our bedroom window. I could only capture a few of them. They were in the yard and in the woods. We counted 15 that morning, and the next day there were 21. Yes, that is all together at once, not spread out throughout the day.
Our Christmas tree with Olaf enjoying warming himself by the fire. ha ha
Merry Christmas
This year the family has, for the first time in years, felt like the season has come so quickly we just don’t feel as “merry” as we usually do. We have stumbled through the last few months considering the changes that once again are at foot in our lives. With the restructuring of my husbands job and the opportunities for change, we’ve just been too busy.
Well, last week I finally bought a new tree and put it up. We all laughed as it’s a skinny tree that snugs up nicely next to the fireplace. It currently has one ornament on it, and that is all this skinny tree will see other than lights this year. I also put some lighted garland up the banister and a nice scene of snowmen in the front hall. And lastly, there is one large standing ornamental pot with sticks and lights on the counter. We all agree that we need to spend more time in the front hall as it’s the only room in the house (if I can call it a room) that has the feel of merriment.
All that being said, last night we decided we needed to spend family time together and get with the program and enjoy the lights and lawn decor that so many take so much time to put up. We’ve lived in our current home nearly 8 years and we have heard about a neighborhood about 5 miles away that calls itself Candy Cane Lane. People drive from all over to go through it and see all of the houses and their charming Christmas decorations. We had not yet driven through Candy Cane Lane and decided last night we needed to. So, I made some air popped (organic) popcorn (I had to dig out the air popper out of the basement because we no longer eat popcorn) and filled two bags, one for the kids, one for my husband and myself and we drove over to this neighborhood. We were amazed to see the line of cars sitting on the main road waiting to turn onto Candy Cane Lane, which wound around about 8 long streets. It was a beautiful sight and quite entertaining as we saw everything from blow up dinosaurs to flying pigs to the reminders of the birth of Christ. Some of our favorites were the snoopy and Disney themed lawns as well as the simply elegant lighted displays that didn’t offer anything other than white lights lining driveways, bushes, trees and the houses.
The best display of all was one that should be a reminder to all of the true meaning of Christmas. It had spot lights on a simple sign that showed a tree, and a hand holding a stake with a written reminder of the grace of the Lord who sent His son to die for the sins of sinners. I wish I had taken a picture of it as it was quite nicely done. We laughed out loud and thought the funniest display was the house next door to this one that had one sign made out of plywood with lights that spelled out “ditto” and an arrow pointing at the sign next door.
We came home and drove around our own neighborhood enjoying the lights, until we pulled up into our own driveway… We all at the same time said, “Oh look at this house, they must be Jewish.” (you guessed it… for the first time in 8 years… no outside decor dresses this house. Actually… I think it’s the first time in 21 years our home hasn’t seen christmas decor outside. Not even a wreath! Quite different than the days when my husband was just like Clark Griswold and placed lights on the roof. From 1/2 mile away at the top of the street you could see a halo of lights it was so bright.)
We enjoyed our family evening driving around, eating popcorn and looking at the lights. Are we in the Christmas merriment spirit? That’s yet to be seen…
Either way, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that you will be reminded that this season isn’t about us, lights, gifts or food. It’s about the birth of the Messiah who came in the flesh for the sole purpose of teaching and bleeding for His sheep that are called to follow Him. A sacrifice, for the sins of those who will one day be with Him in an eternal Kingdom.
Olaf Rocks
Last weekend at a friends house, I saw a hat she had made as a gift for one of her nephews. In a moment of charitable mercy, she agreed to make me one when I boldly declared I needed one. ( I am so blessed she didn’t boldly reply back with a big fat “NO”)
I don’t know if I can possibly thank her enough. Had to share the fun I’m having already!
All I have to say is…. OLAF ROCKS!
