My sister Lena

and her family are in the process of adopting a beautiful, precious little bundle of joy named Anna Faith.

She has started a blog to chronicle her family's adoption journey-and boy, is it a beautiful one! Would you mind clicking on over to my sister's blog and checking it out and praying for my beautiful niece and her family?

My son...

Christian, now has his own music page on facebook...

Click here to check it out and like it!

Spring Break Fun!

We were supposed to spend a day picnicking at San Antonio Falls near Baldy summit during spring break, but it rained just about the whole week. The one day it didn't rain it wasn't warm enough to take the girls up there.

A cold day demands hot chocolate! We decided to have a "tea" (hot chocolate) party. The girls and I made homemade biscuits to go with our hot chocolate. Gwennie had hot herbal tea. The girls did a lovely job setting the table with all kinds of mismatched dishes and teacups, and some cute, cheery placemats with a cherry motif. All stuffed animals residing in the household were invited to partake of our festivities.

The bottom plate of biscuits were large and round. The top rack of biscuits were little heart shaped biscuits. They were super cute! The recipe we used had half white flour and half whole wheat. The biscuits rose beautifully, and they came out absolutely delicious!

Hubby bought me a variety pack of Knott's Berry Farm jams on our trip there last month, so I kept them in my bedroom until I could make homemade biscuits for the whole family. (When you have teenagers, if you open up all that jam it is gone very quickly! I wanted to make sure everyone in the family got to have some.) The jams were so yummy! We had strawberry, grape, apricot/pineapple, blackberry, and apple cinnamon to choose from. My favorite was the apple cinnamon, followed by the sweet, dark blackberry. All of the different flavors were really great! Jenna decided the gold bow from the wrapper would look nice around our jam display... :0)

We had a lot of fun on spring break, but I think my two favorite things out of the whole week were our tea party, and when we all went to see "Mars Needs Moms" in 3d. It was an excellent movie with a great family theme! It's too bad spring break couldn't last longer...

Highlights of the Week

Jenna does her daily read-aloud in the kitchen. Every evening she reads to me while I cook dinner.

Autumn in her "cardboard box Jeep" for 1st grade safari day. The first graders got to "safari" all around the school and show off their Jeeps. Autumn's had real working taillights. :0)



Gwennie got the citizen of the month award at school! Great job, Gwennie!

Perfect Peace

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You. ~Isaiah 26:3

Unequally Yoked

I'm grateful to be married to a fellow believer, but I know there are so many Christians out there who are not. This is the best article I have ever read on being unequally yoked. Absolutely beautiful, well written and encouraging-in fact, I love Courtney's whole blog altogether!

Thriving In A Spiritually Mismatched Marriage

The ending is spectacular, and I think there are several principles we can use in marriage even if our husband is saved.

Disneyland!

All aboard the Disneyland Railroad...



At the end of the day we went on the Astro Blasters....



We were having so much fun we didn't even take very many pictures! I'm so happy that I got to spend a day with my family at Disneyland. My littles had never gone before, it was an awesome experience.

Valentine's Present

For Valentine's Day, my hubby bought me new kitchen appliances. A fridge, and a new electric stove. I'm so grateful, because our last 2 stoves were awful-the first one kept making these big popping noises and then going out on us. The second one had one large burner that kept going out as well, and a very small oven with only one rack. It also burned almost everything. Even when I turned it down to low it kept our food happily boiling (burning). It was very frustrating. This...is my new stove. It's a Frigidaire Gallery series freestanding electric range with ceramic cooktop.



Please excuse the blurry pics, there was not much room in my kitchen to take a pic of the front of the stove. My kitchen is pretty small.





Our fridge has been making these terrible groaning noises, mostly at night. It sounds like it is dying a long, slow death. It also freezes just about everything in the fridge compartment. Making salad out of frozen veggies is pretty yucky. They thaw and get all wilted. Ack. William and I were seriously afraid the fridge would go out before we had the money to buy a new one. Thankfully, it didn't. Our new fridge is a Frigidaire, is black and has the same texture as the sides of the stove. They match! Of course, the way the stove is shoved into it's alcove, you can't really tell, but, I think it's kind of fun to have matching appliances. I didn't do it on purpose, they were both on sale, and happened to be going for a really good price.



Autumn wanted to be a in the picture. :0) It has water and ice features too! Yay! I waited so long for a fridge like this!



I think i'm going to have to repaint my kitchen. That yellow is seriously loud against the black appliances. I'm so happy to have a working fridge and a stove that makes cooking enjoyable again! 3 cheers to the best hubby in the world!

At the end of the day

I need to be loyal to my Lord...my God. I need to be true to Him. I need to fully submit to only One...nobody on this Earth matters as much as Him. I don't live for man's approval, I live for the Love of Adonai. El Shaddai. The only One in my life capable of raining his Agape love down on me. The only One who has mercifully forgiven me of every dirty sin I have ever committed. At the end of the day, I can sleep peacefully...only if I know I have a heart that is truly submitted to Him.

Today, join me, ask yourself...are you living for the approval of man, or the Lord Most High?

Praise...

Lord, thank You so much for the awesome message I received at church this morning and the cleansing time I got to spend with You in communion. Thank You, also, for making me feel refreshed as a mother and wife this weekend. Please help me to do my job with a joyful heart, and know that I am beyond blessed with the wonderful husband and precious children You sent here for me to love and nurture. In Jesus' name, Amen

I was feeling so tired and discouraged, and He picked me up, and made me feel so refreshed and grateful.

Psalm 62:6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

This was cross-posted from my Facebook.

Romans 12:8

Romans 12:18 (New International Version)

¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Quadruple Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe

Quadruple Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe

2 c. pumpkin (see below)
2 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. vegetable oil
1. tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Pumpkin pie spice: (see below)
2 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. ginger
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves

walnuts (for garnish)

Pumpkin: You will need one small pie pumpkin. Cut a round hole in top, scoop out seeds. Cut pumpkin in half and place cut sides down on greased baking sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees for an hour and a half. Take out of oven, let cool, scoop pumpkin out of shell and mash. Measure out 2 cups for recipe. This may be done well ahead of time and placed in fridge until needed.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: Mix together pumpkin pie spice ingredients in a small container. Reserve 2 tsp. for cake recipe. Remaining spice can be stored in cabinet for several weeks.

To Make the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s).

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.

In another bowl, combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. (I Beat everything by hand with a wire whisk and my cake came out great.) Spread into pans.

Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Test with toothpick in center of cake to see if it is done. If toothpick comes out clean, cake is done.

You may bake this in 2 layers, and cut each layer lengthwise. I baked 4 little layers and just checked them and took them out a bit earlier. I was afraid of the crumbs getting into my icing if I sliced the layers in half...

Ice the top of each individual layer with your favorite icing or ganache. (I wasn't happy with the icing I used on this cake and will change it next time I make it.) When you place the top layer on, ice the top and then garnish with a crusting of walnuts.

Quadruple Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake

I made this last night to go with dinner. If I have time today I will try to post the recipe. It was yummers! I think i'll use a different frosting next time though.

"...and then I got saved. The end."

Today I am joining the Good Morning Girls for Women in the Word Wednesdays.

Romans 10: 12-13 states:
" 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentiles-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." "

I love how this verse proclaims that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be blessed-no doubt, with eternal life, but also, I believe, with blessings in this lifetime. No matter who you are, or where you live, you most likely have at least one thing to be thankful for. (Shall we start with salvation? The BEST thing to be thankful for!)

We are blessed when we call on Him-but it doesn't end when we call on His name! It's just the beginning!

I was sitting in on a high school Bible study with one of my teens while my littles were attending Awana this past Monday. One of the facilitators, Ian, started talking about people and their testimonies. He shared that often, people who have grown up in the church, and don't have a dramatic testimony, feel that their testimony is "boring" or that they don't really have a testimony, compared to those of us who have gone through crazy things and then miraculously experienced salvation. Ian brought up an excellent point-he stated that just being saved is an exciting testimony in itself.

Ian went on to point out that many people with riveting, dramatic testimonies tell all this amazing detail about their lives before they were saved-they weave these wonderful stories that reel us in, and then end with: "...and then I got saved. The end." as if nothing exciting happened to them after they got saved! This was a huge revelation for me, because it was something i've never noticed. As someone who has a pretty wild past, I have thought many times about writing my own testimony, and, to be honest, before sitting in on this discussion, it probably would have ended with "and then I got saved. The end." After hearing what Ian had to say, I started thinking about some of the fun, exciting things that have happened to me since i've been saved. It really gave me food for thought.

I was saved in May of 2008. I went on to be baptized in August of 2008. I am still just a baby in all of this, but I have been so blessed even in such a short amount of time. This is a very small list of some of the blessings that have occurred in my life since I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior:

*I got custody of my 15 year old daughter, who had been raised by my mom since I was 18 years old. (Yes, I was a teenage mom-to two children.) I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to spend a few years with her before she reaches adulthood and possibly moves on. This is one of the biggest blessings in my life, as I had never thought it would happen after all these years.

*After years of being a single mom, I married the most amazing man ever. He treats me like a princess and I am so thankful that I don't have to do this alone anymore. I feel that my husband and I truly are a team.

*I have had the blessing of seeing 4 of my 5 children baptized so far.

*I get the pleasure, every Sunday, of taking my whole family to church-laughing with them and spending time at church events and praising God. This is an amazing, beautiful thing for me. My family didn't attend church when I was a child and I had to go to Sunday school alone when I went. I am truly blessed that my children have memories of being with their whole family and enjoying worship time.

*I have "inherited" a beautiful, loving mother-in-law. She is the caretaking/nurturing type and she spoils us rotten.

*Church: my pastor, friends, an amazing support system. I really don't feel so alone anymore.

*I was blessed with a van large enough to hold all of my children. I don't like listing material blessings, and I know that a vehicle isn't a necessity, but let me tell you-it has made life SO much easier, (especially grocery shopping!) and I LOVE that we can offer rides to church for kids in the neighborhood!

*One of the biggest blessings of all, just a general appreciation for every day life spent in my house. I don't feel like my housework and tending children are mundane, unappreciated tasks. I know that this is a calling, a job, that I have been chosen to do, and I take it seriously. I love normal, routine days where we all just hang around and relax together, where I teach the girls a hobby or we sing songs together while working in the kitchen. I love teaching my kids to keep house and take care of their future families-this is my career and it fills my heart with joy. I get significantly less burnout and resentment towards my family now that I realize that there is a purpose to all of this, and I have been blessed with it, not "cursed with housework".

It seems that often, as we pray, we ask ask ask for so many things-I hope that today we would take the time to give thanks for at least one thing in our life. And if you have a testimony, make sure to amend it now, to include the amazing things that have happened since you've been saved. As Ian pointed out, the book of Acts is full of wild adventures Paul had after his conversion-and WOW, what amazing adventures they were! What a testimony!

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Well, this is not an innovative or new recipe by any means, but split pea soup can be a frugal and deliciously healthy dish. Dried split peas are very economical and have a long shelf life. (I like to buy mine in the bulk section at Winco.) I got my potatoes for 99 cents for a 10 pound bag, my baby carrots @ 79 cents a pound, and the celery was pretty cheap, too. Add half a brown onion, chopped, and some leftover ham from a meal a few nights before and we had a big pot of pea soup for a very low price per serving. (I didn't actually work out exactly what that price was, i'm too lazy, but, trust me, it was a cheap way to feed a big family + some guests.)

you'll need:
*2-3 cups dried split peas, rinsed and rained
*8 to 10 cups water, plus more for replacing evaporated water while pea soup boils
*1/2 medium onion, chopped
*20 baby carrots, cut into 4ths
*4 celery ribs, halved and then sliced
*5 to 8 potatoes, peeled and chunked (amount varies depending on how much you like potatoes. We like more rather than less in our soup.)
*ham steak (optional, I make this vegetarian style quite often by omitting the ham), diced, or you can just throw in a ham bone for flavor without having chunks of meat in your soup
*salt & pepper to taste

1.Throw your split peas, water, and diced onion into a large stockpot. bring to a boil. Boil for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. DO NOT ADD SALT until later, because if you are using ham in this recipe the ham will add a bit of salty flavor on its own-if you salt now you may end up with very salty pea soup.

2. Boil about 20 more minutes. If you keep it at a medium high boil, your peas will start to disintegrate. After your second 20 minutes is over, add your diced ham. I like to cut mine fairly chunky so that my pea soup will be hearty with good sized dices of meat. You may want to add more water at this point to replace the water that has boiled down. Depending on how thick you want your pea soup to be, you can add as much water as you'd like.

3. Boil for another 20 minutes. Make sure you stir often because this will begin to thicken and the bottom could burn. I like to use a good, heavy bottomed pan so that it doesn't burn so easily on the bottom. Keep on checking the water level and adding water to suit your taste.

4. Add your carrots, celery, and potatoes. Taste the broth to see how salty it is. You may add a teaspoon of salt to give some flavor to the potatoes so they don't end up tasting flat. You can also grind some fresh pepper into the mix if you'd like. Boil for 40 more minutes, stirring often. You should end up with a thick, hearty soup, with nice chunks of potatoes and ham and some dices of celery and carrot for flavor and color.

This soup is high in fiber and iron, making it a hearty and healthy choice for your family-you can also sub the ham for turkey ham, it is still very flavorful and has less fat and calories. I usually use regular ham but I trim it very well before I dice it for our soup. We like to serve ours with whole grain bread and Smart Balance margarine-this tastes delicious dipped into the soup. This is great on a cold fall or winter day and the leftovers are awesome for lunch for hubby the next day, too!

Note: If you soak and rinse your peas for several hours before making this, it shouldn't give you gas.

Heart of the Home

We don't own a home. We live humbly, but I try to make our surroundings pleasant. This is my kitchen window. It has (unfinished fabric) curtains that I got for less than 2 dollars per yard a while back to line my bread basket with. I liked the fabric better as curtains and it really brightens up the room so I hung them up-they aren't hemmed yet, that's on one of my UFO lists. Clock above the window was a gift from mom. Veggies on either side of clock, and rocks on windowsill with the words "Believe", and "Love" were from the 99 cent store. Little cherry candleholder in the middle was part of a set ordered from a dropshipping site for a business I had on Ebay a few years ago. I liked them so much I ordered myself a set-this is the only one that survived the years and children. :0) The large candles on both edges of the window are gifts from my husband. Each fall he buys me a large candle with a fall or holiday type scent. It's kind of a tradition, he has done it every year since we met.

The plaque, left of the window, was my grandmother's. It says:

My Kitchen Prayer

God Bless my little kitchen
I love its every nook
And bless me as I do my work
Wash pots and pans
And cook.

I love it, it's so homey and old fashioned. I should probably hang it somewhere else, but I have it by my stove so that I can look at it often while i'm cooking and ask God to bless the food I make for my family.

I'm in my kitchen for at least a few hours each day, and it isn't too fancy. I like it simple so that it is easy to clean up when it looks like a bomb went off after i've made a huge meal and dessert. I think everyone has their own decorating style, but it is possible to decorate nicely on a very limited budget. I stay home and take care of my home full time and I find it much more enjoyable when it is pleasing to the eye.

Titus 2:3-5
³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Fried Rice Recipe

When it comes to frugality in the grocery budget, using up leftovers tops the list. This recipe uses some leftover rice and meat, and if you have leftover peas and carrots you can throw those in here as well. (Personally I like using frozen peas and carrots in this because they retain their texture as they cook and don't become soggy.) I like to make mine in a large heavy bottomed nonstick 12 inch skillet-it gives me enough room to stir everything in without it spilling over the sides and onto the stove top.

I don't really measure the stuff I throw in this, but i'm going to include measurements because I know some people rely on them. Please remember that they are approximate.

• 2 cups leftover steamed white rice, preferably chilled overnight
• about 1/2 c. to 1 c. leftover meat, diced small. (This depends on how much meat you like in your fried rice-also, if you are using fresh meat and not leftovers, using less meat can save you money.) For this pic I used some bacon ends (pork) but you can use leftover chicken, beef, etc-even shrimp if you'd like
  
• about 8 oz. frozen peas and carrots mix
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced-mostly white tips-you can cut off the green stems, chop and reserve to use for garnish
• 4 eggs, scrambled, with a dash of soy sauce-I use either Kikkoman or La Choy
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• dash of sesame oil
• vegetable or olive oil for frying

1. Heat skillet, add a bit of veggie oil and a dash of sesame oil. Make sure skillet gets good and hot. Fry cubed meat for 4 to 5 minutes to brown it up.
2. "Sprinkle" rice into the skillet with your hands. Make sure that they don't stick together in clumps, break them up into pieces of individual rice.
3. Fry rice for a few minutes. Make sure the heat is up nice and high, but don't burn your rice. Stir frequently and mix meat all up into your rice.
4. Add soy sauce to pan. Stir rice around so as to coat the individual grains with sauce. They'll turn kind of a nutty color.
5. Pour pea and carrot mix into the pan. Stir around to integrate the veggies into the rice.
6. With a spatula, slide your rice to one side of your skillet, leaving half of the skillet empty. Add a teeny bit more oil if necessary.
7. Pour scrambled egg mixture into empty side of skillet. Let set for a few minutes so that the bottom of the eggs can get firm-don't let your eggs get brown, that might add a funky flavor to your rice.. Mix and scramble until mostly cooked in the one half of your pan.
8. When your eggs are mostly set, stir your rice vigorously but gently to get all the egg mixed up into your rice. You want to use your spatula to break up the egg so that you have little pieces evenly distributed through the rice.
9. Toss in your scallions and stir into your fried rice. You can let it fry just a little more on high heat if you like your rice more firm and brown...

If you'd like, you can top this when serving with some of the sliced green scallions you reserved at the beginning. I like to throw some hot chili sauce on mine as well.

**This is probably going to sound weird, but when you initially make your steamed rice, let it set in the pan with the lid off for an hour or two before putting it away in the fridge. It will help it dry out a bit so that it doesn't stick together too much. Also, if you make your rice nice and firm it will work better for this recipe. Rice that is made with a higher proportion of water tends to get gummy in the pan and comes out clumped up and soggy. (Ask me how I know.) :-) I have found long grain white rice to work best for me.

This recipe gets better and better the more you make it. My first few tries didn't come out too well, texture wise. They tasted good but didn't look so great. It takes a little practice sometimes to get it down but the high heat is a must, it keeps everything frying and not getting soggy in the pan.

A Tall Tale

This is the story of a man....

...and his sandwich...

As an added plus, the tomatoes and green peppers on the sandwich came from our garden. Yay for growing stuff we can eat! :-)

Proverbs 12:11
He who works his land will have abundant food...

My Little Bugs

Love Nest...

Proverbs 31:12: "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."

As we go through the somewhat complicated process of moving William into our home, it has been a bit chaotic. First off, I had been sharing the master bedroom with Autumn and Echo, and Gwennie and Jenna had one of the smaller rooms. We decided to put all 4 girls in one room with 2 sets of bunk beds and William and I chose to take the smaller room. Not only are we moving his things into the house but we are moving my things out of the master bedroom and into the smaller bedroom and we are moving the girls' things out of the smaller bedroom and into the master bedroom. :-) It has actually been kind of a big project.

(wall across from my bed-no, the things on the wall aren't crooked, the pic was taken at an angle.)



Unfortunately, with all of the other things we have been focusing on, our room kind of fell by the wayside and became the place where we just went in to sleep and not relax because it was fairly messy. I decided that it was not fair for my hard working husband to come home to an unorganized, unwelcoming room each day after work. He really should have a place where he can relax and wind down from a long day. While he was gone on Tuesday I decided that I would be a blessing to him by giving him a restful haven to come home to. I set to work cleaning and straightening up our room and turning it into a teeny little Love Nest for us to retire to in the evenings.

Our bedroom isn't fancy, and most of the (mismatched) furniture that we have in it is stuff we have been blessed with, but I absolutely love it-right down to the walls we painted pink for our little princesses, long before we ever knew we would be moving into the room ourselves.