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C is for

Crockpot - potato and green bean casserole on the menu for tonight with some sausage

Cold - had to give in and turn the furnace on, brrrrrrrrr

Crazy kids - it's knowing they can't go outside that is fueling them I think

Cookies - they are almost gone :(

Carving pumpkins - after school today, what a mess

tookies

My nose is cold and I am in my own home. I find this the perfect excuse to A) use the dryer and B) turn the oven on. While it's on we should probably put it to good use and make COOKIES! I mean just because we have had cake almost every day since October 8th we can't deny the perfect cookie baking day a dream of her own.

Addi has been fighting a cold and her naptime :) for a while now. She whines and grumbles every day. "Mom, I am a big girl, see I have unerwear!", "Mom, but it is not dark out yet." "Mom, my mattress gives me owies." This last one I thought was fairly clever and she demanded it for several days until yesterday when I tried to change her sheets and noticed small holes in her sheet. Um, yeah, the springs have broken through the !@#$ mattress. So, into the bunk beds she goes. Shoot, I felt dumb. But today she took FOREVER to get to sleep so by the time she went down Nora was up and at 'em.

Back to the cookies...

Nora and I started making cookies and I put all the ingredients on the counter.
She eyed the m&m's. She watched them carefully. She helped me by dumping ingredient after ingredient into the mixing bowl. When I came to the chocolate she shrieked when I dumped a part of the package in and her hand went deep into the peanut buttery, oatmeal sugared batter. She was trying to save the colored yummies from a slow and heated death. She succeeeded in rescuing a few of them until I finally gave in and gave her a handful in the measuring cup. She was happy to wait until the "tookies" were done to eat the rest.

I love that little colorful chocolate lover:) Wonder where she gets her addiction?

Rescue

I am not sure how many of you have almost nine year old girls. But, you can be sure there is no chance of me ever buying a costume that I have seen in the stores or online for my nine year old little girl. They are better suited for much older girls or better yet the rag bucket and there may not enough material for a rag. I was soooooooooooo relieved when Maleah matter of factly decided that she wanted to be a puppy.

I dug out the old sewing machine and cut a huge blanket that I thrifted (and bleached) around her tallish, skinny, shape. Then, I whistled a tune and sewed it up. The result? She looked like gumby. She didn't want me to dye it green so I cut out the belly and added a black piece to make a tummy panel. Um, this is when my sister rescued me.




Stay tuned to see the final result!

Three!

Happy Birthday Addison!

Monday Multitudes #609-622

Still counting with me?


I haven't had my coffee yet this morning and we are in full swing with birthdaypallooza. Addison turns three today. She was a real miracle conceived a month after chemotherapy and born whole, healthy and amazingly wonderful. I still have a hard time believing she is mine.

Today, Lord, I have so much to be thankful for. So much more than on this simple list. I am blessed. Ridiculously blessed beyond recognition. I am blinded by all the wonderful gifts you have given me.

a family birthday party with wonderful fellowship and food

a bountiful church supper and country store and most importantly a wonderful time had by all

time for dad to hunt

time for me to attempt to make a puppy costume for Maleah

my sister to come and "rescue" my puppy costume, Jo - you are amazing!

"new" doors

beautiful fall weather

good friends, really awesome spectacularly wonderful friends and even better family!

good health

healing for mom, JoAnn, Harriet, Janel, Pat,and Jack

someone to walk with who keeps me accountable for moving

the strength to bake a cake and finish a puppy costume today, Lord, please

a busy week, again

Frugal is as frugal does

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Nora rides the elliptical I recently found on craigslist!

Have you ever read The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn?

I bought a copy of the book after a dear friend recommended it years ago. It is pretty radical stuff about saving money and raising a family. But, I liked it.

Anyway...in the book she talks about her neighbor or someone throwing away a half eaten apple AND that her attempts to dig it out of the trash to make a single serving of apple crisp horrified the onlookers. Or maybe she didn't do that but she just thought about it, I can't really remember.

For a couple of days now the girls have been begging for apples and eating one or two slices and not touching the rest. So, I being my insane frugal self, have been Ziploc bagging them with a squirt of lemon juice in the hopes of "re"using them. I do the same with the half eaten bananas, only those go right into the freezer for bread. Yep, I am frugal all right; cheap, white-trash, call it what you will...

Today, I noticed a plethora of apple slices in the fridge so I googled a recipe.

YUMMY! You have got to try this one. Easy and healthy. The brown sugar caramelizes a bit in the high temperature and what you end up with is a carmel topped, soft as silk, wheat apple muffin.....mmmmm heaven. She has lots of pretty pictures over on her site. I just have one :)

Smitten Kitchen posted the recipe and I made a few changes for myself...


Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

from Smitten...
These dark, crazy moist muffins will keep well for several days, and the brown sugar on top, should you not skimp on it like I did, adds a crunchy touch, perfect for those of you who know that the lid is the best part.

Yield: she said 18, I got 24
1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I gave up trying to keep unsalted butter around and just used the regular ol' salted kind)

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp of flax seed (ground)

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt (I used 6 oz of vanilla flavored Yoplait and a bit of water to make up for the lack of liquid)

2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped (my pieces were quite large)
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour 24 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4cup brown sugar on top. (YUMMY CARAMEL TOPPING) Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Monday Multitudes #590-608

It's Monday again. The weekend came and went with a couple of blinks. The time is flying by faster than I can count it. The kids are growing up and having birthdays and life goes on, even when mom doesn't want to crawl out of bed. I finally caught up to whatever the kids have had. My body aches (and it's from more than kickboxing class), my throat is on fire and I have a fever. Thank goodness for Monday Multitudes to take my mind of myself and onto more important things...

For I will pour water on the the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. Isaiah 44:3

Blessings flowing around here include but are not limited to the following;

a two year old who was so excited to put her coins in the birthday bank at church

cupcakes baked by daddy, missing a key ingredient, but it was the thought that counted

a chilly football game, but an exciting win with some surprising plays

cinnamon coffee, yum

friends who have been great at encouraging my strength and helping me move again

good health, thank you Lord for our health and for doctors who help us regain it

a hand that is healing, slowly but surely

fall decorations around the house

cookies baking

candles burning

sweatshirts and socks and slippers and blankets

beautiful leaves

getting a few birds this weekend with Shiloh

precious time with grandmas

faith, even with a diagnosis of the bully, for a dear friends mom

healing for Harriet, Janel, JoAnn, my children and my hand

a grocery trip, finally, and a fridge stocked (once again) with yogurt, baby oranges (clementines) and real butter :)

being able to type again, slowly...

Two

The big kids gave Nora two spankings yesterday for her birthday and she was stomping mad, "No, don't spanka me butt!" She screamed. I asked her if she knew how old she was and she proudly nodded her head. "Are you two?" I asked her. She shook her head no and matter of factly replied, "I yellow". And with that she went on with her normal daily business of making messes. Happy birthday baby Nora!

um, smarty pants?

Monday Multitudes #575- 589 (on a Tuesday:))

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see...

Hebrews 11:1

In the children's sermon on Sunday Pastor asked the kids something and one of them answered with the word, LUCKY. Pastor jumped on that so fast my two year old jumped. "It's not luck" he said, "you are blessed!"Amen. Faith will get you through this life. It is the only thing that can get you through. I am praying that you all have some. Here are the blessings I can identify in my life a direct and intentional gift from my Lord and Savior.

#575 - one last camping weekend with friends in late September (it has been a long time since I counted my blessings)

a fantastic reading rally program put on by an adorable first grader and his classmates. I sure love that my kids love to read.

a productive church rummage where I broke my hand but also sold a car. The bake sale and lunch was a huge a hit, too!

my mother, who cleaned up my items for me since I was swollen and broken, I am so thankful for my mom, she is always right, whether I choose to admit it or not at the time :)

project season for daddy aka project man, in the works; a new mailbox, roof repair, new garage shelves and insulation, new bifold doors in all the kids rooms, and a hint of actually installing the sink that has been sitting on the floor of my laundry room for years now...and I am still working on the kitchen remodel we're closer than we have ever been before

a beautiful and warm entrance to my favorite season of the year

a diagnosis of mono (which was a blessing because I thought it was something much much worse) for the birthday boy.

an awesome bowling birthday lego football bonanza for my one and only boy, he didn't even know he was ill

a family baking session for the lego cake, if I hadn't had broken my hand I would have never had so many helpers, it was a really wonderful activity to share with the kids

plans for a wedding and a shower in the family, the third blessed event this year alone

a new niece or nephew on the way, a surprise blessing, I have a few of those in my family:)

a celebration of life for an awesome grandpa of my dear friend, thank you Lord for sharing him with us even if just for a while...

a prayer for health and healing of a dear friends mother who is undergoing surgery again this week, one of several...Lord, guide the professionals to do your will and be with Harriet and her family as she faces this challenge Lord, all things are possible Lord, all things...

a new kitchen aid mixer for the broken mommy that came with a promise of never leaving the cookie jar empty, great for dad's tummy, not so great for mom's rump :) oh the sacrifices I make

two more birthdays this month and a full ten days when I will have two two-year olds in the house, prayers graciously accepted ;)

pulling my first all nighter with Nora last night, my heart aches for sick children, she couldn't keep a tablespoon of water down, hoping and praying that she can get through this and without a lot of suffering and pain for her, I am blessed and reminded that I have four healthy children and an occasional illness wonderfully reminds me of how "lucky" I really am, this month alone we have been blessed with an ear infection, pink eye, mono, and now Nora's upchucking and then there is my hand, but technically that was last month...Lord, thank you for all the months of the year when we are healthy and take it for granted.

Birthday Boy

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something good

Shh...Don't tell my mom I slipped the brace off for a minute to post. I am going through major blog withdrawal. The pain is worth it. I have an ice pack here to rest on inbetween paragraphs.

I want to get this MSG version of the Holy Bible. I am going to start looking for it. When I read one of the verses in my daily Scripture devotions I always love the way it speaks so lay person like.

This is the recent verse that I just loved;

God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves...and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28

I have had a blessed couple of weeks. So many I can hardly count them. I wish I would have plunked them out for the last two Monday multitude posts. Ridiculouly blessed I am again and forever.

I am baking cookies right now with one of my blessings, a new in the box kitchen aid mixer for lots less than the retail price. I have used it every day since Ryan has brought it home, which may account for the right hand swelling. It's perfect timing since October is the month of brithdays in our family.

In the oven today...a brand new original recipe from Coconut and Lime, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pumpkin cookies. She just posted it today. I did make a tiny bit of alterations adding my fall colored m&m's with chocolate chips and substituting flax seed for eggs when I tripled the recipe. YUMMY! And they have no oil or butter, so it's a DIET COOKIE!!!!! Think cakey, moist chocolaty sconeish type cookies...perfect for fall, ya'll!

It is gorgeous today! Go for a walk! Then reward yourself with two of these cookies:)