What's to say?

I have no inspiration to write. What's to say? It's cold. Sometimes it's really cold. We are all getting sick. The economy is bad. The most fun I have is reading other people's conversations on Facebook. Here are a few pictures just so I can justify this posting!

Oh never mind...I don't have any new pictures that I haven't already posted on facebook. Andrew gets to play in the Target center tomorrow, so I'll take some then. (Before you get too impressed, it's an excuse to make parents buy seventy dollars worth of tickets.) He's excited, though, and very little gets him excited these days.

TTFN...thanks to those of you who've continued to blog...it's gotten me through January.

I've Never Heard This One Before

Having five kids of my own, and having taught Sunday School and worked with groups of kids for years, I've often gathered responses from kids about how to show love to others and to show our love for God by the way we act. Their responses are usually the same: share your toys, don't hit your sister...etc. Well, Lily got me yesterday. As we were going through her Awana Cubby lesson I was supposed to prompt her to think of ways to show God's love to others. I provided her a couple of examples and then sat back and gave her a minute to think of one on her own. She paused for a few seconds and then said, "I know! I know how to show them God's love!... Swaller with your mouth closed!" Not a bad idea if you think about it.

A Song for All Moms

This made me laugh. Whether you are a parent or not, this will make you smile. But if you have teenagers, you'll fully relate!

Suzanne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Roasted Beets and Then Some

My kids HATE beets....you know...the pickled kind you get out of the can. So I haven't served them for years, until last night. On Monday, after taking my inlaws to the airport, I ended up having to detour, in the snow, to Grand Ave. in St. Paul to the Whole Foods store there (to which I'd never been, so I got lost, because I can't see, because I had lasiks last week which went very well by the way...) in order to get specially ordered SALSIFY, a tropical root nobody's ever heard of, (which oddly said "imported from Holland"??? on the sticker), in order for Andrew to earn 5 extra credit points (which is what extra credit always ends up being....ME driving and buying something) in Home Ec., (now called FCS or something I can never remember what it stands for) because he's been a goof-off and now needs to bring his grade up! ANYWAY, (this is my life), Lily and I braved the snow and ended up in the most WONDERFUL place! The vegetables at this Whole Food Store were incredible, and the most amazing of all to the eye, were these HUGE, BRILLIANT beets! Some were the regular, but still spectacular, purple, and some were a gorgeous orange. They caught both of our eyes at the same time, and after making Lily PROMISE she would eat them if I bought them, into our cart they went....she also stuck me for a new pair of wool knitted mittens.

Fast forward to last night. Weeknight dinners together are rare these days, but Tim got back from Toronto (business trip) early, so the possibility existed for a meal together! Wahoo! Now was the perfect time for the beets! Katie and I peeled the rather strange, (now that I was seeing the real thing up close), looking things, quartered them and put them in a 9x13, and threw in some quartered fennel and sweet potatoes (always hedge your bets, ladies). We doused them generously with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic salt, salt and steak seasoning (I use steak seasoning on everything pretty much.) I roasted them at 375 for about 30 to 45 minutes. I was serving them with a great Bourbon Apple pork tenderloin, my mom's applesauce and stuffing. It was going to be a meal to remember...and on a Tuesday too! What a great mom...

Unfortunately, the meat didn't get done in time, so Tim (who by the way brought me home roses) and Timmy had to leave without supper to go to basketball practice (Tim's his coach), and right as I was about to sit down and take my first bite of the much anticipated beets with the children that remained, the doorbell rang. The UPS man, who was supposed to come "after lunch" but instead was showing up at 5:45, took 25 minutes to figure out WHAT to charge me to return the ping pong table top (it sits on top of a pool table) that Sports Authority ASSURED us when we bought it that they would pay return shipping should we want to return it. Since we ended up getting a pool table off of Craig's List that already had one, we WERE INDEED returning it, but MYSTERIOUSLY, they couldn't ever seem to get the UPS RETURN TICKET to the right email address. It's called a RUNAROUND! They had NO trouble getting the VISA number right the first time when it was getting paid for!!! Anyway, it took the UPS man three phone calls and twenty minutes to decide to charge me $145!!!! (Tim was unavailable by cell phone, so I just paid it) Otherwise Sports Authority was going to tell us we were out of the 30 days return window. So by 6:10, the UPS man was walking away with my check, when I realized Katie had to leave RIGHT THEN for her basketball practice (my turn to carpool.) So off we flew!

I walked back into the kitchen at 6:35, to dishes and cold food, and never did get to eat with my husband (who wasn't too pleased when I told him the UPS charge) or the kids. But I did eat! A lot! Of beets. No, they hadn't devoured them ALL, but they had eaten a good share and liked them, so it was a success! The roasting and seasoning brought out a wonderful "earthy" flavor, and they tasted much milder in "beet flavor" than the pickled ones. They were really just kind of sweet and roasty, and very pretty. In fact there was only one child who wouldn't even try the beets...you guessed it....Lily. Never count on the word of a three year old!

So that's the story of the beets, along with a generous helping of our life!

Reflections on Lessons Learned in 2008 Part II

10 Things I Have Cherished in 2008

1. A Covenant relationship with a loving God who knows me, died to save me and gives me strength to face my fears and failures.

2. A potty trained, NON-"nuk" sucking, book-loving, persistant, independant, verbal 3 yr. old.

3. A God-loving, sweet-hearted, totally endearing nine year old boy. Nine year old boys are the best!

4. A quickly maturing but still delightfully girlish, hard-working and loving 12 year old girl with a talent for guitar.

5. A man-sized teddy bear (14)who plays hard, says little, feels a lot and always takes good care of his Mama.

6. Andrew. Just kidding...a soon to be man (15)with the desire to please God and excel in all he does, with a tender, sometimes goofy side that makes my heart glad.

7. A tender husband who pursues God, works hard, sacrifices a lot and always has time for me at the end of a long day.

8. Holidays with family and friends that have been delicious and entertaining and warm.

9. Old friends with whom I've reconnected through a reunion and facebook, dear friends and family who support me daily (you know who you are!) and new friends whom I've met through Bible study and a weekend women's retreat.

9. Time spent getting to know some godly, talented craftsmen who spent the year making my house bigger and better and encouraging me spiritually in the process! Call me for a reference if you have a house project and live in the Twin Cities. I have the men for you!

10. Time. Time to be thankful. Time to ponder. Time to rejoice.Timmy, Lily and Katie. I obviously had the camera set on the wrong exposure, but I love this picture. It's as if they are about to change before your eyes, which is actually the true state of things.

Reflections on Lessons Learned in 2008

Things to avoid if you possibly can:
1. Desitin diaper ointment rubbed into cat fur.
2. Dippin Dots spilled on the kitchen floor (think richoche to the four corners and then melt)
3. Cheese Fondue Recipe that calls for a whole bottle of wine. hmmm...sure it all cooks out...
4. Pine tar on new wood floors
5. A cat hacking up a fur ball complete with writhing round worms on your new rug you've had for two days. Even Lily looked and said, "That's very bad."
6. Dollar store candy
7. A quart of silver paint spilled on the carpet.
8. More than five round trips to and fro to the school per evening.
9. Canned cat food opened and then forgotten behind a laundry basket.
10. Multiple kids microwaving marshmallows and chocolate in a sugar frenzy.

I am noticing some interesting trends in the above ten items. If I could get rid of the cat and floors, I'd knock out a whopping SIX of the above ten entries!!! This is an epiphany! Flooring and felines ruin my life!

More to come later...I have to go now and make my...let me think...yes my FIFTH trip to pick up a kid at the school. Hey, at least the car's still warm from the last time!

Here's a picture of Lily Christmas morning opening up some of that "Dollar Store Candy!"

I Have Not Died. (Yet!)

This has maybe been the busiest two/three weeks of my life yet, and blogging hasn't been possible. But I will be back soon! I miss my new passtime!

P.S...I know I look tired in this picture. It's cause I can't wear any eye makeup due to lasiks. I'm actually quite healthy, so don't worry Mom.