Five Things

Our Clairesy is 5 today. 5.

Life today will include omelets for breakfast, pizza for dinner, and a vanilla cream cake fancied up to make a princess quite happy.

Yesterday at breakfast when we were talking about Clairesy's birthday being just a day away, I mentioned that this year there would be no gifts for birthdays, but we would have cake and special food for her special day. She just looked up at me with a smile, nodded her head, and said, "Oh, ok."

Yeah. That's the kind of sweetie she is.

But, of course, there will be gifts for Clairesy!

And just what do we love about our little girl?

1) She is a bundle of joy and full of laughter, scattering smiles wherever she goes.

2) She asks me every Sunday, "May I go with you wherever you go?"

3) She loves nurturing her baby brothers.

4) She's funny, as demonstrated yesterday when she shared with us the "point" of our pastor's sermon on Matthew 18: 1-9, "I know the point! You're to cut off the rest of your body."

5) She's creative and can make a bountiful time of play with the everyday things around her.

Happy 5th birthday, Cutie-Pie! We love you and thank God for you!

Notes From Home

Allie has been with us for over a week, and our time together has been delightful. We're trying to enjoy these last few days to the fullest. I've pinched her at least a hundred times to make sure she's real.

She graciously helped Emma sew a skirt that she's been waiting to make for over two years now. Isn't it lovely?

I've been thinking much about how hard it is for Christians to rejoice with one another. I think the pagans are much better at that than we are. And I think these words from Michael O'Brien, in his book Island of the World, describe well one of the problems with church families not being able to disagree, even fight, and still make up and love one another and forgive.

"Yes! Minds and hearts alive!," Simon continues. "Here, we can struggle and debate and disagree because we are free to speak in an open forum. We are fighting and thinking because we trust one another."

Maybe we don't trust each other very much, and maybe we don't trust God and His wisdom in putting us in the church families we're in. 

I've been using Professor Horner's Bible Reading System since the beginning of the year, and I love it! I timed myself for the month of January, just to get an idea of how long it takes for an average reader to read ten chapters of the Bible. I finished every time in less than 30 minutes, and most often in less than 25. I jot down the verse references I want to return to and do my studying after reading all of the chapters. Even in this short time of using this system, I've obtained a familiarity with my Bible that amazes me.

I finally made a roasted tomato soup that was a hit. It's so simple, and I like that it calls for fresh tomatoes instead of canned ones. BUT, I'd love to know if you have a favorite homemade tomato soup, please, canned tomatoes or not! 

Roasted Tomato Soup

8 medium tomatoes
olive oil
pinch of salt
1 c. chicken broth
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. thyme

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Core tomatoes, and rub the outsides with a little olive oil. Sprinkle some salt in the center. Place tomatoes on a jelly-roll pan, and roast for approximately 4 hours. The tomatoes won't be burned, but browned. Refrigerate until ready to use. Peel skin off roasted tomatoes. In a blender, add the remaining ingredients, and process until you get the texture you like. Pour soup into a saucepan, and heat till nearly boiling. Enjoy!
 (recipe from Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way)

Have I mentioned my favorite wine before? Here it is. Chariot. I've only found it at Trader Joe's. If you ever decide to visit the Poff Funny Farm, you'll get extra chocolates on your pillow at night if you show up with a bottle of this.

All of Ink's siblings adore Allie. And they're always trying to get in the middle, too. Here Elijah is quite successful. And super-cute, as well.

My morning routine usually starts before the sun rises. I always gasp a bit when I get to see His handiwork of breathtaking colors for that brief moment in time before it all disappears.

This month marks the 5 month anniversary of my brother-in-law's death. My heart rejoices every time I speak to my sister and hear joy in her voice. It has been a hard 5 months, and the days ahead will continue to be hard, but God has sustained her. She has many Ebenezers to remind her of His goodness.

Our family prayer this year is Romans 12:9-13, and my word for the year is TRUST. And this month we're memorizing 1 Corinthians 13 again.

Finally, I like this reminder from Anna Quindlen.

"It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the pale new growth on an evergreen, the sheen of the limestone on Fifth Avenue, the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of live."

And as Christians, it's so easy to get caught up in being busy, even busy with very good things, that we forget how blessed we are, how many mercies God is pouring out on us every minute of every day.

Mercies like sunrises, roasted tomato soup, home and family, godly future spouses for our children, church families, wine, fabric and sewing machines, and trusted friends.

With love,
Trisha

Ranch Pretzels

For movie night--here's a twist on the ranch-seasoned oyster cracker recipe. :)

Ranch Pretzels

16 ounce package of small pretzels (or buy big ones and break into pieces)
2 ounces of ranch salad dressing mix
3/4 c. oil
1-1/2 t. garlic powder
1-1/2 t. dill weed

Place pretzels in large mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate mixing bowl and pour over pretzels, tossing to coat. Pour onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 200 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Beautiful Thirteen

  (courtesy of resident sign-maker, Luke)

Happy 13th birthday to our dear Emma! 

Thankful Thursday~The Celebration

I'm thankful to celebrate ONE again. I'm thankful that I've learned my limits, to know that frozen pizza and store bought cupcakes have their place, too, in the midst of homemade and handcrafted and that what our children remember most is the atmosphere. Is it joyful or stressed?

I'm thankful for children who love to celebrate and who rejoice in the little things, who say "thank you" around the dinner table. I'm thankful for homemade pancakes and a baby who loved his balloons more than his gifts.

I'm thankful for fields of wildflowers and the color yellow. I'm thankful for cameras and buttercream frosting smeared on the tip of Sarge's nose. I'm thankful for the birthday cards and packages and birthday wishes and for the people in our lives who take the time to show they love us.

I'm thankful for the unexpected circumstances yesterday that reminded me of God's sovereignty. I'm thankful He's transforming my thinking so that I view disappointments as opportunities instead of roadblocks.

 

I'm thankful that every day the Lord lets me taste and see that He is good.

With love,
Trisha

Life in Pictures~The Fourth

Happy 4th and 10

My Mama is so generous--she fed me a donut this morning so I could practice for the BIG day when I get to mash into a million pieces enjoy CAKE. Happy 4th everyone! It's gonna be a party around here.

Hello, Mexico City

So the big guys, Ink and Jake, left today for Mexico City. They'll be gone for three weeks  19 days. Well, three weeks 19 days for them. It will fly by. But, for us, it will feel like, oh, maybe a couple of years.

What a picture our families give us of the Church. We're reminded that when just one of us is missing, we sharply feel the absence. Every person is an essential part of the whole. 

Yes, there will be an extra load of work for the rest of us to carry, but what we'll really be missing are an extra two loved ones to fight over the little bit of sweet tea left, to leave traces of their late night cravings for chocolate milk, to interrupt conversations with quotes from their latest reads, to make us laugh, to say, "Thank you for dinner, Mom. This is really good," to add their voices and hearts to our prayers and our singing--yeah, we'll miss everything about them.

And I won't even share a picture of Cap'n looking longingly and mournfully at Jake as he watched him load his luggage into the car. No, I just can't be responsible for making your heart break.

Prayers for safe travel are much appreciated. And please pray, too, that our sons would be a mega-blessing to the dear family, the Pliegos, who are showering them with such beautiful hospitality over these next weeks.

With love,

Trisha

3 in 10 and A Most Handsome Sixteen

Little Big Man, who is obviously no longer little, is 16 today! Happy Birthday to our dear Jake! He's an ever-flowing fountain of joy in our home, and we praise God for the privilege of training him up in the way he should go.

Today wraps up 3 birthday celebrations in 10 days. Whew! I'm getting a bit tired, but I'm not growing weary. What a blessing to make such memories and remember God's goodness to us. Don't take your little ones for granted, dear Mamas. As they say, "The days are long, but the years are short."

With love,
Trisha

Happy Birthday Cookie Stack

This is the yummy birthday dessert Ella chose, and it was a success! The original recipe calls for using Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies, but I used our own favorite recipe which you can find here. (Don't overbake!)

You'll need 30 cookies for this beautiful stack of sweetness. Here's the recipe for the whipped filling. It makes a lot! However, I was quite reserved in my application because I didn't want the filling to be overwhelming, so that's why I had so much of it left over.

1-1/2  (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1-1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1 (13.6 ounce) can coconut milk
2-1/2 c. chilled heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and coconut milk; beat just until combined. Add cream; beat at low speed until mixture begins to thicken. Beat at high speed until very thick.

On a large serving plate, arrange 7 cookies in a circle; place 1 cookie in center of circle. Dollop 2 c. of cream mixture over cookies; gently spread over and in between cookies with a spatula. Arrange 6 cookies over cream mixture; place 1 cookie in center of circle. Dollop 2 c. of cream mixture over cookies; gently spread with spatula. Repeat procedure twice, arranging cookies closer together with each layer to form a pyramid-shaped stack. Spread remaining 2 c. of cream mixture on top of cookie stack. Cover, and chill for 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Just before serving, top with berries.
~from Celebrate magazine

Tips:

~Top with strawberries and blueberries for a festive 4th of July dessert.
~Cookies start to soften after 4 hours, so you might need to cut with a serrated knife instead of just pulling from the stack if you chill them that long.
~It's messy, but delicious. Let your children enjoy it, and don't fret over how much whipped cream they get on themselves. :)
~Customize the amount of cream used to your liking--as I said, I had a lot left over, but was pleased with the amount used on the cookies.
~The taste of coconut milk is not overwhelming. We bought the half-gallon size available in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's.
~I chilled our cookie stack for about 2 hours. The chilling makes a big difference--don't leave that part out.

Enjoy!!

With love,
Trisha

Eight Looks Good on Her and Other Reasons This Day is Bright

Happy 8th birthday to Ella! 8 looks good on you, darling daughter! And this birthday of hers reminds me of God's mercy as I recall that after Ella's birth I was so, so ill from Crohn's that I wasn't sure if I'd ever ever walk again without a cane or know another day without enduring extreme pain. He has given me what I don't deserve, and I stand in awe of His provision.

And it's a great day all around (I know it's only 9:00, but things look very promising.)

1) Ella is 8!

2) Ink's inbox is, for the first time EVER, bigger than mine. :)

3) Today's menu includes pancakes, FRIED chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, a chocolate chip cookie stack (if I pull that birthday dessert off, well...)

4) It's the first day of our summer break!

5) We have soft water.

6) Luke is teaching Ella how to make pancakes and starts with the words: "Now for a family our size, you must double the recipe."

7) God's fed me well with His words in Isaiah.

8) I get to be home with nine of the most fabulous children and hear them argue and laugh and sing and play. I get to discipline them and encourage them and pray for them and weep for them and clothe them and feed them and clean up after them and teach them...

The past few weeks have been hard, so I'm taking the mercies of this day, this bit of a breather that the Lord has given, and I'm running with it. It's gushing water in the midst of a season in the desert, and I'm grateful for the refreshment!

With love,
Trisha

Dear Ink

My son, you know it doesn't take much for me to cry, but I wasn't prepared for the emotions I'd feel this morning when I realized it's your last day of high school. I remember agonizing over the "perfect curriculum" for you when we started our first day of school 13 years ago. It was Calvert. Expensive and more than we needed. But it made me feel like a teacher. (Because, at that point, no one reminded me that I had been your teacher from day one.)

My educational philosophy has changed greatly over the years. I could never duplicate what I did with you, for our family has changed, and I have changed. I understand so much better God's command to teach you when I rise up and when I sit down--you know, all along the way. I've surrendered those petty concerns that first consume a homeschooling mother as I see that you manage to write quite well even though you rebelled against the traditional pencil hold, and you navigate the sea of words like an expert even though I never got around to those formal writing courses. And yes, I've given up my conviction that all children should love math.

This is the moment I'd hear other mothers speak of, but because it was so far away for me, I couldn't grasp how bittersweet it would be. Those doubts are vying for attention--did we do well by you? Did we do enough?

I remember when I first whispered my concerns to you. It was an affront to you, for wondering if I had taught you well implied we weren't pleased with the man you are and continue to become. How far from true this is! But, in this sin-cursed world, guilt seems to be in the air a mother breathes, so the questions creep in, and the best weapon against them is His Word.

And His Word is where you often point me. What mother wouldn't say that her children have taught her far more than she feels she's taught them? You are no exception. You have taught me new things and reinforced those truths I already know.

You've taught me fun things, like learning to love fiction and movies and soundtracks. You've taught me that birthdays don't require cake, for pies will do just as well, if not better.

You've taught me that I second-guess myself to an extreme, and that I make hasty judgments and rulings from parent-court when I'm stressed about other things. You've taught me that two people can argue intensely about something without it coming between them, like after we've disagreed, and you say, "Hey, Mom, did you know...?"

You've taught me contentment as I've watched you cheerfully live within our means, not once complaining that our bank account wasn't bigger or that we couldn't give you more---a car, a paid-for college education, a bedroom of your own...

You've taught me submission to God's will as you've endured painful surgery and a three-year long process of healing. There was no fist-shaking from you or "why me?"

But most of all, you have taught me with your life that God is faithful and gives the increase. The grace you've extended to this wretch of a Mom, because, yes, I am, astounds me, and I know you can only give me grace because of the grace He has worked in you. John said there was no greater joy than to know his children walked in truth, God's truth, and this is our joy, too. To watch you end these high-school days as a young man who firmly grasps the truth of the gospel, who firmly clings to the truth of His Word, who loves His Savior and desires to glorify Him, is the greatest joy of our homeschooling journey with you.

God is faithful, my son. May He always find you so in whatever He calls you to do.

I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love,
Mom

Thankful Thursday~A Crawling Sarge, Happy Eleven, and X Marks the Spot

"What am I, that the Lord should do thus and thus for me! 

O that ever so great and holy a God should thus be 

concerned for so vile and sinful a worm!"

~John Flavel

I'm thankful my temporary crown is still on! Only a few more days to go!

I'm thankful that God shines His light on the deceitful places of my heart, often using friends as instruments of His truth. I'm thankful for the good news of the Gospel, which reminds me that I am forgiven.

I'm thankful for numbing agents (even that excruciating shot to the nose that leaves you teary-eyed and wanting to leap off the table), for biopsies to rule out cancer, and for liquid nitrogen. Yesterday I saw my dermatologist and endured some cutting and freezing. I was a wimp on the table--shots to the nose are just WRONG. The good news is that the doctor did mark the right spot and then cut properly. The bad news is that the other spot she planned on freezing--well, she missed that one and froze something different instead. The good news is that it will all heal in the end. (I'm thinking that if I had to watch these procedures when I was a teenager and had been given just one shot to the nose, sun-bathing would have lost its charm.)

I'm thankful that teething is not a permanent condition, and that sleep will be in my forecast again one day. I'm thankful Sarge has done everything slowly, so that I don't feel too painfully the rush of his growing up.

 Yay! Sarge, knowing his 9 month birthday is fast approaching, decided he wanted to be on the move, so he crawled TODAY, ditching his former G.I.Joe efforts for the real deal. This is his victory smile. Sweet!

These baby feet are growing too fast, so I'm capturing them at every turn. There's something precious about tiny toes peeking out from covers.

I'm thankful for 11 years with our dear son, Luke! Yesterday he celebrated his birthday, and we enjoyed a mother/son date and then opened his gifts last night. This weekend we'll have a special birthday dinner and dessert.

I'm thankful for Luke's giving heart, for the thoughtful questions he asks, for his gift for drawing, for his inquisitive spirit that wants to know how things work, and for his spontaneous hugs and kisses!

There was a bit of muffin mania going on this week. This recipe was only supposed to make 24 muffins, and I ended up with 24 regular-sized muffins plus 24 mini-muffins plus 3 oversized muffins. It reminds me of what God does with our meager efforts, how He blesses and multiplies beyond our reason and expectations.

May you be overwhelmed as God brings to your mind His many mercies.

With love,
Trisha