Hot Salsa Fun!

No, we did not go Salsa dancing....We do plan to go and hopefully that will be another post. We did, however, break out the blender and large pots, pick lots of yummy garden tomatoes, and can salsa. It was a family affair. (We had the weirdest weather here in Boise this weekend-- we woke up Saturday morning to a thunder storm and it rained hard all day. I don't usually stay in bed, but there was something about the morning storm this weekend that had our whole family in bed late both Saturday and Sunday mornings) Now back to the salsa.....The girls dressed up in their rain gear Saturday afternoon and picked lots and lots of tomatoes. Josh and I used a recipe from my sweet friend Lucy to make the salsa. Josh made his hot and spicy and I made mine mild and then another jar half and half. I put in a little too much cilantro, and he put in a few too many onions so we think the half and half jar should be about right. It took us from about 6-12 to finish the canning. He LOVES salsa so we should be through the jars within about a month! OH wait.... Just in from the WUBBA WAh (that is my pet name for Josh; the condensed version:)), we WILL be making more in a couple of weeks...

The girls and I also made apple butter last week. We used papa's recipe and his grandmother's strainer apparatus and sang a silly song as we made the applesauce. The girls LOVE to use this cool contraption! This too was a long day in the kitchen as it has to cook in the oven for about 8 hours. I think I took mine out a little early so I could can it and get to bed before I had to get up again!

I remember sharing with my mom last year that I was learning to make jam and apple butter-she couldn't believe it! I was never very domestic, but it was always a goal of mine to learn how to make yummy food for my family. I knew it would not come easily because I could hardly boil water for mac n' cheese when I got married. I remember adding butter to the pan to cook hamburgers at my college graduation!! Poor Josh , right?!! I have come a long way. Each year I am learning more and having more opportunities to make food to share with others. This is really what has given me the interest to learn. First for my family and then for friends in a cooking co-op, and now for other families needing a meal or who have blessed us by helping our family. I am so thankful that the Lord has provided opportunities for me to step out of my comfort zone.

Here Come the Hillbillies!!!

Br Nuh Na Ner Ner NER NER NER!! (So this is my hillbilly music playing in the background because I am not up to finding any and downloading it. It is almost midnight). You can hear it playing, right? Okay, so, imagine us going into the Goodwill store, looking for white angel costumes, and as I get Noella out of her car seat, this is what I see (please look at photo above) Yes! She is covered with chocolate --Thank heavens not poop, but none the less, COVERED and we have no wipes, napkins or anything really to wash off with. Like any hillbilly mother, I decided we should continue on into the GW store. I thought, well, maybe we could wash off in the bathroom...not going to happen. The employee does not know where the key is. So, I persevere and decide to look for the costumes anyway explaining to Noella, "Don't touch anything!!!" as I hold her arm with one hand and go through costumes with the other. No angels, so we get back into the car and head to the Wal- Mart across the street. (Hear the hillbilly music again)?!! We walk in and all three of the greeters give us this, "I know you are hillbillies" look. Well most of you don't know the look but if you have ever given it to someone that seemed a little red, you know it! I explained we were needing the bathroom and so we went and cleaned up. It was better, but still all in her hair and all over her shirt. We picked up the few items we were there for and went back to the truck. So, Noella climbs into the truck and spills Madeline's Fun Dip all over the seat and Madeline starts wailing. Great, huh? After scooping up the grape goodness off the seat and handing it to my eldest in all her sadness, we now have a new car rule-- no chocolate and no powdered candy in the car...and mom has wipes.

It Works!!!!

Ya'all won't believe what happened yesterday-Josh fixed the truck!!! All by himself with the advice of his brother Donny and some help from a guy at Shucks! Wooo-whooooo!!!! Today I was a free woman:). I am sooo exhausted because we did our normal school time, ran errands, went to a child training group, visited a new doctor's office and cleaned mom's house. I am off to bed. Good night and God Bless.

September Fun

We are off to a fun month! We have had several fun park days, a zoo day with K12 (Madeline's home school online school) went apple picking, went to Boondocks to celebrate Hadley's 4th b-day, and this past Friday, went to the Sara Evans concert. I have to admit that I don't listen to country music much. I like it-I actually like most genres of music, I just haven't really listened to much of the new stuff. I had never heard of her, but, she was great!!! I must have her cd! We had so much fun spending time with our friends the Weavers, Johnsons and Carrolls! The kids loved it! We found a spot on the grass where we could see and they had room to run around (behind the scaffolding) without bumping into too many other folks. Yes, they did bump into a few other folks, but that was kind of okay , because they saw us coming and choose to sit there anyways. The kids got so crazy at one point I thought hey were going to start a mosh pit:) I looked over at our sweet darlings and thought, oh my, if they were not OUR sweet children I would have been sure that the display I was witnessing was a result of poor parenting:0(....But we were all out with out hubbys on a date night and that in itself was worth allowing them to wrestle around and throw grass.

I Know You!

I just finished my Bible reading time this morning and wanted to share the verses with you, my friends. There are not many mornings that I am able to complete the reflective part of my study. I fit in my prayer time first, then I read the scriptures, and then, if my husband and children are not in need, I can write down what I want to glean from the passage. A mentor, Lori Gammon, has shared the three questions that she asks herself after her reading and I have decided to write down my responses to those questions so that I do not leave my chair in the morning and forget what I have read and/or do not go a step further and ask myself, "Okay, now how should I be living in light of the wisdom and new understanding I have just received?" The questions are, 1. What is going on in this passage/ what are the main facts? 2. What does it mean/What are the lessons to be learned? 3. What does it mean to me personally?



Today I read, The Disciples Grief will Turn to Joy- John 16:17-33

Basically, Jesus knew that the disciples were questioning in their hearts what He meant when He told them, "in a little while you will see me no more and then after a little while you will see me. "



He KNEW what they were thinking and so went on to explain what He meant to them. After his explanation, the disciples said that they then could see that He knows all things. He does not even have to have anyone ask Him questions! Because they knew that He knew what they were thinking, they BELIEVED that He came from God; that He was God.

I can just imagine myself standing face to face with the Lord and KNOWING He is GOD. It really would not be difficult to identify Him, because as the disciples found, God knows more about them than they know about themselves. He knew their every thought. I have not met anyone like this in my lifetime and I feel certain that if I met God, I would know Him and a huge part of that is because He would know me. There would be a special connection between us --like none I have ever experienced; thus, no confusion. For me, this means that when the time comes for us to meet face to face, we will not be strangers. There will be a relationship; a love, a closeness, an understanding.

Josh's Red Cross Event

This past weekend Josh worked at a Red Cross event and as he usually does, gave blood.

You all know this is not my favorite topic, but my sweet husband gave to help others and so I wanted to share his story.

Josh said that lots of people were there to watch the concert, but as the event was close to ending, there were only 40 pints of blood given. The DJ came up with an idea--someone would give a large amount of blood and the station would give concert tickets to anyone else who then decided to give blood. The doctor that was at the event told Josh he could donate up to 4 pints and be okay. He said that he would have to rest for about 45 minutes then could go about his normal business. So, Josh gave 4 pints of blood. He said that he has never felt worse. It took him through the night to feel his normal self. Yesterday he woke-up with a cold. Poor Guy:( But, there is a silver lining. By the end of the Blood drive there were 250 pints of blood! WOW!!

Where does my help come from?

If you have spent any time with me-yes minutes count!- you know that I struggle with directions. I have gotten better over the years, but if I do not have them written down and have not made the trip at least 5 times, the chances are favorable that I will need some sort of assistance to arrive at the destination. This past Saturday I needed to drop the girls off for a play date. I had been to the house twice, and did not have time to Google the directions so I thought, okay, I will give my friend a call as we head out of our neighborhood. I got the machine and decided to make a go of it anyway. As I was deciding my route, Madeline says, "Mommy, you aren't going to get lost again, are you?" Well, of course not! I couldn't do that a third time! She continued, "Why don't you ask God for help?" I sat there thinking for a moment...well, yeah, that might work, but really? God is too busy to help with something as trivial as directions. I need His help with the BIG stuff, and oh man, have I been relying on Him lately! But, have I been relying on him completely and in every matter.? It was apparent from my faulty thinking that I have not been. I was thinking, third time will be a charm! I can do this all by myself. Sound like any of our sweet toddlers and preschoolers?

Isn't it amazing what you can learn from your children?! It did not take long, fortunately, for me to realize that she knew what I needed to do and so we stopped and prayed, asking the Lord to guide us. He did just that. I took the right street and recognized the turn and found my way in less that half the time than our prior trips.

This week I have also been encouraged by my 3-year-old. We were doing school and I was coloring with her as she said to me, "Mommy, are you doing your better best? Jesus likes it when you do your better best!" I wish that y'all could hear Noella play World Traveller! She will take on a Russian, French or even Spanish accent and keep it going for the entire play period and it is absolutely HILARIOUS! If I ask her to do it, she will pretend like she does not know what I am talking about, so I may have to set up a hidden camera!

We had our last pool day this weekend with our friends Nayibe, Javi, Jojo, Laurel, Paige, and Carson. Noella got to hold baby Carson and was so excited! She is really into babies lately and loves to be the big sister to all of our friends' new arrivals.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful friend Cassie for helping me get rid of the hieroglyphics on my cookie post, list my blogger friends, and direct me to Playlist! THANK YOU:) You know what they say, two heads are better than one. ...and when it comes to directions and computers, most other heads are better than mine! I just love it when a friend stops by to say hello, and love it even more when they can stay and visit.