Hate to do this to all of you...but I've decided to start blogging at WordPress. Please come visit my new site here. I've chosen a shorter blog name... Home-steeped Hope. Because I love all things having to do with home: marriage, parenting, home-schooling, writing and I want my blog-writing to be a blessing to you all and to God! Hope I see you over there soon!

Mary

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Two year old was pleased as punch this morning when I told her she got to be Mommy’s helper. Sturdy little legs ran to the kitchen stool and practically leaped aboard. Kind, yet firm, I explained that if she wanted to be my helper she had to be very good! Two quick nods accompanied by, “Okay, Mommee” and immediately she’s looking for something to lay a pudgy hand on!

We were making snicker doodles and let me tell you, two year olds can move fast! My two older girls were doing this plastic/paint craft at the kitchen table and I couldn’t keep up with everybody. One minute my toddler was dipping her hand in the flour canister and the next she’d clambered down, moved the stool to my other side and was sampling the sugar! Trust me, you don’t ever want to clean up spilled sugar. We had a whole canister of that stuff dump once.

The cutest part of having her help was watching her reach delicately for every red spice lid as I took it off the spice container. Up it would go, straight to her mouth for a sample taste. Silly girl…cream of tartar is nasty stuff! So is undiluted cinnamon. She’d twist her mouth up and then go for it again! Babe, it doesn’t taste better the second time around!

Don’t worry, I sanitized the lids when all was said and done. But toddler had a cinnamon chin for a good twenty minutes!

I've got croissant dough in the fridge...time to roll it, fold it, and wet-wrap it again...best rolls in the world!

Mary

There is a forward circulating the net urging Americans to show their support of our troops by wearing red on Fridays. Will it catch on? I'll wear red...if my mommy-brain can keep on top of it each week!

We're a few chapters from the end of Little Britches. Definitely a read-aloud book...for two opposing reasons. One, it's a very addicting read...my hubby is even getting a few chuckles out of it and he's great for long-winded explanations of what singletrees and doubletrees and stackers are (pre-tractor terms for horse stuff). The other reason to read it aloud is to catch the occasional language as I mentioned before. I know, pretty big contradictions. Maybe that's why this book didn't catch on like the Little House series. It's full of great father/son bonding, and portrays realistically the struggle a young 9 yo boy would have between following his own way vs doing the "right thing". Last night's installment included a nice little speech by father about honest men and dishonest men. It all stemmed from the boy hearing about a man who felt like the world owed him a living. It was a great little paragraph.

Busy day ahead...the girls and I are going to make snickerdoodles and oatmeal bars (dh's favorite cookies) and we have quite a few errands to run in town. Dh leaves tonight for a town near Dallas. Got an ebay purchase to pick up. It's funny how many times in the past ebay has been responsible for the directions our family vacations take. This time, we were going to make a fast trip of it together, leaving the girls with Rich's parents, but fil mentioned he'd kind of like to go. So the guys are making the many hour trip together!

Mary

In a strangely generous gesture, I allowed my oldest two to wait up for their daddy last night. He didn’t get home till almost 11 P.M. Oh, and we waited supper on him.

Neither dh or I grew up eating around a kitchen table. Now it’s a pleasure we hate to forgo. So till midnight at least, there we were, laughing and shushing each other (can’t wake the toddler!) as we ate warmed up meatballs!

Poor dh had to roll out of bed at 4 A.M. this morning…this is the busy time of year for cattlemen…time to hit the pastures on horseback and gather up the dogies for shipping. And it’s been so hot. Cattle are dropping like flies. All our animals are listless, dragging. My prayers are with anyone who has to face an outdoor job in this heat. Mon-Weds all hit 105 or higher.

Anyway. My daughters, unused to such a late bedtime, are still sleeping in. So when I got up, I enjoyed the solitude. Fed toddler her banana and toast; then braced with coffee, I turned on CBS’s Early Show.

Two experts were discussing why Peter Cook would cheat on a beautiful wife like Christie Brinkley. Okay. Another celebrity split, what else is new? But two points were made that I found interesting. Rich people—income upwards of $75,000—are more likely candidates for infidelity. One of their reasons…work and money took higher priority than relationships.

Baby~I’m glad we’re poor!

Keep those picket fences in good repair. We may not make $75,000 a year but life is busy. Busy can sometimes equal distant. Distance can feel like apathy. Spouses start to feel unappreciated, insecure. And the walls around hearts start to crack, to let in forbidden sunbeams. Stay faithful.

Be proactive! Every day do the following 3 things: pray for your spouse/marriage, do something to make your spouse’s day, and lastly, on paper or online start a daily list of things you are thankful for in your spouse. Each day add to this list. Then give it to them next Valentine’s day.

Cultivate, nurture, love.

Mary

The stem cell debate continues in the Senate today...

I really appreciate Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. Every day my inbox contains his Washington Update which keeps me 'in the know' on important issues at stake in America. More things to pray about. I hope we're all remembering the President and the legislators this week as they face so many issues that walk the fence between ethics and progressive science. If you'd like to check Tony and FRC out, here's a link: http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?c=ABOUT_FRC 

Anybody familiar with the Fetus Farming Bill? Evidently, New Jersey law allows researchers to gestate human clones all the way up to birth, but no further. For research purposes. That's right...pregnancy for the purpose of furthering science. Harvesting tissue from an aborted clone. Yup, here in the USA. Well, yesterday the Fetus Farming Bill passed overwhelmingly in the Senate...this prohibits creating fetuses for the sole purpose of obtaining body parts for science.

I think some Christians tend to bury their head in the sand (raising hand here, been guilty) when it comes to taking a stand on these kinds of issues. Fact is, some pastors feel that the "separation of church and state" gives them the excuse to ignore what's at stake in our nation's Capitol. With issues like same sex marriage, abortion, human cloning we mustn't continue to roll over and play dead.

First pray for every level of government and for wisdom for your role in it. "If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14  Call/email your Senators and Representatives when crucial votes come up.

Secondly, raise children who love God, care about others, and about the future of America. Did you know that statistics show that more homeschooled/private schooled high school graduates vote than their public schooled peers? If so, the future will be highly affected by the moral values these privately tutored adults hold dear.

The human race as we know it is in danger. The last few years have seen much experimentation with animal/human hybrids, aka chimeras. For instance, last year researchers at Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through them. Next on the list: mice with human brains. The more human-like the animal, the better. In the name of medicine.

And you thought politics were boring?

Mary

I rearranged our living room today while cleaning. I guess you could say I’m not a furniture against the walls type of person. We have a big enough LR that I don’t have to be. This time, I put our pillow-backed navy couch at a right angle to the fireplace and facing our two shabby recliners with the coffee table in the middle. I loved how cozy it was for our before-bed reading and prayer time…the furniture situated around our large braided wool rug just seems old-timey. A beautiful walnut bookcase that my grandpa built is on the wall opposite the fireplace which balances it all out.  With lamps softly lighting the room, there’s no place like home tonight…

Over the years our living room has developed a country feel…with quilts, checked curtains and horse artwork adorning the walls. Our coffee table and two end tables were hand-crafted by my talented father-in-law from horseshoes and cedar…he’s also made me several horseshoe accents such as a candle holder that resides on our as-yet mantel-less fireplace, and a beautifully rustic lamp with a real lantern chimney over the light.

I accomplished more than cleaning…went through all my magazines: Family Fun, Better Homes and Gardens, Taste of Home, and dh’s burgeoning stack of Working Border Collie and tack supply catalogs. Of course, when it comes to his reading materials, I only tame the chaos…he knows which month/year Four Wheel magazine has such and such article about axles and gears and would know in a heartbeat if it was missing…smile…

Toddler’s playpen had become nothing more than a toy catch-all, so I collapsed it and took it upstairs to store in the attic. Now her toys are cached out of the way in a small white laundry basket.

It looks pretty good in here…only thing out of place so far is the red fuzzy blanket dh had over him earlier (you’re thinking ‘her AC must be set way too low!’ nah, he overdid it in the heat today and was fighting off a headache)…Now tomorrow by ten A.M. it will be well on it’s way back to bedlam. Wooden floors show every particle of dust (that’s okay, btw, I’d rather see and deal with it than have it accumulate in carpet!), toys will be strewn all over, books too...

Home sweet home…hubby's off the phone...I'm outta here...

Sleep tight,

Mary

Do you own a cookie scoop? You should. I love mine. For one thing, it makes cookie sizing a breeze for my young girls, not to mention practically mess free. And my favorite use for it? Meatballs!

Below I'm posting the best recipe I've ever tasted/used/found for BBQ Meatballs. I make these in large quantities to freeze for future meals. Mega-cooking is a mama's best friend! Lightly brown these in the oven, not cooking them completely, then cool them on a rack. Once cooled, fill freezer bags in nice stackable layers...when ready to cook simply empty bag onto baking sheet and bake! My whole family absolutely LOVES these. We are blessed to get our meat from the feedlot where dh works, but in past years I would stock up on hamburger whenever our grocery store had a meat sale...I hope you have a large Tupperware fix and mix bowl!

BBQ Meatballs (a triple batch of these yields 253 mini-meatballs)

2# lean ground beef, 1# ground turkey,1 can sweetened condensed milk (or make your own:1 cup dried milk/3TB melted margarine/two-thirds cup sugar & one-third cup boiling water), 2 cups oats, 2 eggs, half an onion chopped, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 TB chili powder, 2 tsp salt

Mix all together well. Form into balls with cookie scoop if you have one! You can freeze these on a tray before dumping them in a freezer bag, or follow procedure I mentioned above.  When ready to cook, place the frozen meatballs onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 till slightly pink in center. Coat with sauce, bake additional ten minutes to glaze. These can also be cooked in the microwave.

BBQ Sauce

2 cups catsup, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 TB liquid smoke, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp onion powder

Boil together. Cool. Store in labeled squeeze bottle or other containter in the fridge until needed for meatballs.

Mega-cooking has many advantages other than the obvious. Filling the freezer with meals means less spontaneous dining out expenditures, more time for other things, more money for other things (cooking in bulk means buying in bulk which often shaves money off your groceries) and one of the best things: if someone needs a meal in a pinch, you're prepared to drop one off. Our favorite recipes to triple also include burritos, chicken lasagna, pizza pockets (calzones that you dip in pizza sauce), chicken tetrazzini, shepherd's pie, croissants, and peanut butter choc. chip cookies that thaw in a few minutes for a quick lunch addition or daytime snack. Get a few friends together at your church kitchen and have a cook-fest! It's a blast and your family will thank you!

Ring a bell?  'Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens'…from "My Favorite Things" in The Sound of Music...I’d think we’d all agree with Rodgers and Hammerstein that little girls in white dresses are pretty precious...

Last week I found several adorable sundresses at Wal-Mart--on sale even! I got each daughter one, and one to put away for next year. I so rarely find "pretty" dresses these days...at least not ones that are reasonably priced. I can't see buying name brands when my girls will outgrow them so quickly. I know, we can pass them down, and we do, but give me a break! $60 for a little girl's dress?

My darlings love dresses! They'd choose them over pants any day...except for when chore time rolls around! (Got to protect legs from bugs, dogs and pasture grass!) They also love long hair...both my older daughters have no bangs and hair to almost their waists. They'd tell you it's because 'Daddy likes it that way'—and this from a man who was raised by a mom and sister who won’t wear dresses/skirts!  To him, femininity is synonymous with long hair and dresses…a preference, not a mandate.

The majority of women in our area attend church in pants or capris. I honestly don't have a problem with it, having worn pants to church before myself! But how times have changed, and I wonder if our adult complacency has bled over onto the younger generation. After all, most teens push the line of what’s acceptable in matters of dress. Remember when long flowing floral-patterned dresses were en vogue for teens? When Daisy Kingdom creations turned little girls into princesses? Now, skirts are uneven or short...jeans with extravagantly embroidered hip pockets, tank tops and flip-flops are the standard.

Seems our culture is intent on invading every pore of the church...from Christian rock stars whose appearance is no different from those of their secular counterparts to "tolerance/acceptance" being the new norm. Today’s issues ripen behind scenes, and before you know it, a church splits.

Is it okay for instance, to throw a baby shower on church property for an unwed, unrepentant, expectant mother? Initially, not an issue with me. But what about all the little girls in white dresses who thought up to this point that God only gave babies to married people? My daughters believe this. And they LOVE baby showers...

Oh how I hate to shatter that kind of innocence. And layer by layer, we’ve shattered it. Our 8 year old was only 3 when planes crashed into the twin towers and she watched it with me. We’ve talked divorce. We’ve talked abortion. She helps me every spring to raise money for the local crisis pregnancy center. She called all her cousins when Hurricane Katrina hit and they put their dollars together and raised over $250 for relief efforts. Then we watched the desperate of New Orleans shoot at their rescuers. She can handle the truth.

But children tend to see everything as black and white. At least mine do. They question everything. I wonder, do the teenagers in church ever think about what impact they have on the children growing up...watching their every move? Does every church have a pew full of teens that sit together during the service so they can pass notes and totally ignore the pastor's message?

When the 7-10 year old girls are clamoring to have our 8 yo join them in their parent's pew I've said no. Thankfully, 8 yo understands. She actually likes to fill in the blanks on the sermon notes in the bulletin. If I'd allowed her to sit away from us, she may never have developed the discipline to sit and pay attention. And once you give a freedom, just try to take it away without resentment on the part of your child. Really. Whether they are a toddler or an 8 year old...or worse yet...a teenager!

Why not keep the standard high? Maybe we’ll contribute to a better trend. After all, God has a few things to say about causing little ones to stumble.

And as every mom knows, it takes diligence to keep those little white dresses unstained.

Mary, who tweaked her original version of this entry

Ever have cornsilks on your bare toes? It's a delicious feeling! This evening the 5 of us invaded (at neighbor's invite) a field of sweet corn and picked a laundry basket full. Mmm. Shucked just enough to plunge into boiling water for supper...can't cook it for more than 4 minutes--some say 3--or you overdo it. So yummy slathered in butter and salted to taste! Once toddler was tucked in the rest of us went outside and finished shucking...pure country fun. People in the midwest make parties of it...getting together with their truckloads--shucking, shelling, bagging ears of yellow gold for the freezer. My girls figured out that the amount of corn we picked would have cost us $16.50 at the grocery store if corn was 4 for a dollar. They had a blast counting up the ears...

So tastes of summer would have to include sweet corn, juicy watermelon, red-to-the-core vine ripened tomatoes, onion-cuke salad, my mom's tropical slush...marinated steaks on the grill...Mountain Blast Powerade (cuz this is the time of year I'm always mixing/bottling it up for dh since he works outside full-time)...

I helped out in the nursery at church this morning...we have so many babies/toddlers (3 more due in January!!) and a no-show for the family whose turn it was to man the troops...several of us moms were talking about having a canning marathon. Canning...cooking up some of the best smells of summer...like salsa with fresh cilantro...or pears simmered in sugared water and cinnamon sticks...

Well, I need to get off and let dh have his turn...we have a second computer but no place to set it up. He's talking about making an L-shaped computer desk out of barnwood (we are tearing down an old barn on our property)...I hope he has time to do it before homeschooling time rolls around! He's such a talented man! (Hi honey!)  He hates it when I brag on him!

Mary