Trusting

"Often God seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty, leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape; contriving a situation which no human judgment would have permitted, had it been previously consulted.  The very cloud conducts them thither.  You may be thus involved at this very hour.

It does seem perplexing and very serious to that degree, but it is perfectly right.  The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you hither.  It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power.

He will not only deliver you; but in doing so, He will give you a lesson that you will never forget, and to which, in many a psalm and song, in after days, you will revert.  You will never be able to thank God enough for having done just as He has."

~Streams in the Desert


How true this is!

I've been there, and I'm there right now.

The choice is between fighting and being ungrateful, forgetting all of His past mercies, or submitting to His will, knowing that one day you truly will be able to thank Him for doing just as He has.

Our difficulties truly are the "platforms" that display "His almighty grace and power."

What will you do with the difficulty you're in right now?


Be encouraged,

She's On Her Way

It's amazing what power one M&M can have.  It will move the tiniest legs to make their path across the room.  Here's Claire's first attempt.

And her second...........

And, yes, she got that M&M!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Scribe and I watched this together last night.  It's not a family movie, and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone under 12.

All I can say is this....

Oh my.  Watch this movie.  Period.

Dangerous Homemade Crescent Rolls Even I Can Make

I can't believe these actually turned out well for me.  This recipe is yummy, and if I can make these, anyone can!

Amy's Butter Crescents
(originally posted at Preschoolers and Peace)

Makes 16 crescents

1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/4 T. yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 egg
4 c. all purpose flour

In a saucepan, heat milk until bubbles appear around the edges of the pan.  Add butter, sugar, and salt, and stir off heat until combined.  Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand until foamy.  Beat yeast and egg into milk mixture.  Mix in 2 cups of flour until thick.  Mix enough flour until dough pulls away from sides of pan.  Knead very gently until smooth and elastic, 2-3 minutes.  Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover loosely.  Let rise 1 hour, then punch down and divide in two.

Let divided dough rest 10 minutes.  Roll dough into a circle and then cut into 8 wedges.  Roll up from the wide edge first, then form into a crescent.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Cover rolls and let them rise in warm place for 30 minutes.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

We doubled this recipe, and every roll was gone by the end of the next day.  Yes, these really are dangerous!

Enjoy!

Life in Pictures~2/20/10

What fun!  For the first time ever, I was able to find the same pair of shoes for all three older girls....even better, they were ridiculously priced on clearance!

Claire's latest favorite hangout is at the spice rack, making music with the sprinkles.

Reaches Up enjoys entertaining Claire at the piano with his lounge music.  (Yes, he's still at it.)

Still a popular way to pass the time in our home......cuddling and dozing with Claire.

Ahh, another reader in our home.  I've heard those horrible stories about avid readers bringing forth.....

NON-READERS!  Let it never be so here, please!

This really does happen in our home....children in a row reading great books. 

Reaches Up's current design project...oversized dinner menus made with lots of love.

If you dropped by one afternoon, you're very likely to find Scribe fixing these donuts and donut holes.

Enjoying every minute,

Happy 1st Birthday, Claire!

We had such a happy time celebrating Claire's birthday yesterday.  I think part of the reason the celebration seemed especially joyous, at least for me, was that I resolved to keep it simple.:) 

I did the unthinkable and actually used a cake mix for her sweet cake, as well as, gasp!, a can of Duncan Hines frosting!  Dinner was spaghetti with homemade crescent rolls (a new recipe I tried which is so delicious, and I'll post later.  It worked for even a poor baker such as myself!).  There were 2 toys and a new book.  The results....a happy, stress-free celebration with much laughter.

Claire especially loved the ballons that Scribe filled with helium for her.  She was truly in wonder over it all.

Scribe did a pre-celebration mini-photo shoot with the birthday girl.  You know, just to make us smile.

As we started to open gifts, Claire still couldn't get over the balloons all around her.  Oh, to take such joy in the simple things..

Claire had no problem tearing into the wrapping paper...with a bit of help from Daddy.

She was so enamoured with this book....It's Time to Sleep My Love. (which I think has a bit of a silly ending, but the pictures are quite captivating.)

We then moved on to a fun bathtub toy.

And the favorite of all and highly recommended for the large family that has everything :), Tumble n' Twirl Top by Playskool. 

We made our traditional birthday sign...a birthday card gone LARGE!

Then it was time for cake!  Claire had miniature vanilla double layer cake with vanilla frosting.

She quickly caught on that the singing was all for her.

After cutting into the cake....it was TIME...time to watch the wonder of diving into the normally forbidden..to have everyone laugh as you take each bite, to carelessly smear frosting and cake anywhere you wish.

***Warning....there are LOTS of pictures to follow.  It's just what the grandparents love, though, so here we go!

And then, certain older children thought it necessary to help Claire out a bit with cake on the face. Lest you think that was cruel, she was quite the sport, didn't get upset at all, and instead just enjoyed the moment and the extra icing.

Happy Birthday, Claire.  You've brought us so much joy this past year, and we thank God for the honor of being your family.