So What Now?

Today I came home from MOPS overwhelmed and emotional. My heart is heavy and burdened for the girls that we heard about today. My heart aches and breaks over the thoughts of them. But here I am in my real life. Making lunch of yogurt for my two boys. Deep in preparations for the Christmas season. Planning a birthday party and trying to get the most out of our budget. So what now? What am I doing with the information that has been given to me? How do I help? Can a mom of preschoolers help? Can a mom from the suburbs somehow help the girls who are locked away in the city? What do I do?

I can't go back to what I was. I am changed today. I have seen things that I didn't want to see or know, but exist whether I want them to or not. I was reading a book this morning in fact that talked about how each of us has a bag packed by God that equips us for his purpose. We can fight the bag and try and make something of our own lives, or we can live a life of passion using the items that God has put in each of our bags. God knows each of us. He knows that I am a mom in Rocklin of 3 boys and that my heart will be burdened today. He knows my budget. I don't know if God has put things in my life bag to help me help girls who have been slaves. I don't know if God has given me the gifts to handle it. But I am willing to look. I am willing to look at myself and see if I can do something. Maybe the answer is no for me. That is okay. Maybe I am to be a prayer warrior. Maybe I am to hold Courage House up to the Father and ask that someone else will be touched to see if they are the ones to help the girls. Maybe I am to be a monthly giver. At the moment, I don't know how that could be possible, but I know that nothing is impossible with God. Maybe I am to be a sharer. Maybe I am going to tell someone about this situation and they will be the one who looks into her life bag and see the gifts to help and live out what God has destined for her.

But for now, for right this moment, I will hold my boys a bit closer. I will pray that someone would come into the lives of even just one girl and share with her a way out, share with her that Jesus loves her. I will share with the folks at my bible study tonight. I will post it on my facebook. I will be thankful for the family and home that I grew up in. And I will look deeply at my life and pray that God would show me if there is something more that I am supposed to do.

A Christmas Tip

I love tips. I read them first in a magazine. So here is my christmas decorating tip. Use Picks. The little pine brances that come wired with pinecones or berries on them. They cost around a dollar at the craft store and they are usually on sale every week of December. They can turn the things that you have out every day into a christmas scene. You can put them peeking out from behind the manger scene or on the shelves of a bookcase or above the window boxes. Here is an example of what we normally have above our windows. The plates hang there all year long. At Christmas we put some picks underneath. I used 10 for all three windows. Two on the small ones and 6 under the large window. We also added some fruit, but you could put ornaments or christmas balls or glittered birds, or ribbon up with it. It really is easy and can be used year to year. So if the budget is tight, start with 10 picks this year. Look after Christmas and get a few more.

Some Thanksgiving Recipes

These are some of the traditional recipes that can be found around our table for most holidays. They can be made in advance. I made the jello today and the potatoes will be tomorrow. So it may be too late to add these to your menus today, but you can use them in the weeks ahead if you want.

I think this jello has been in our family since before I was born. One of my cousins wanted the recipe as her shower gift from my mom. I like this recipe because it has hidden protein and fruit. So for my child that doesn't eat a lot, but will eat jello, I have given him more than just jello.

Jello with More (There really is no name for it.)

Boil two cups of water.

In a blender, Blend, 1 can of pears in light syrup with the syrup
1 stick of cream cheese (we use the light)
1 Lg. red jello (we like the reds the best)
After these are blended, Add the boiling water. Blend again. Make sure to cover
the lid with a towel to prevent a jello explosion.
Pour into a bowl or dish or jello mold of your choice. If I really
want to make sure that the kids eat it, I put mini marshmallows on
top. Refrigerate.


We like this recipe for Thanksgiving because we use a turkey roaster for our turkey and then it leaves the oven ready for this. I hate all the dishes that mashed potatoes use to make, so this gets them out of the way a day early.

Mashed Potato Casserole

2 1/2 lbs. potatoes peeled, cut and cooked

Mash with 1/2 cup miracle whip or mayo
8 oz. cream cheese
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic salt

Put in 9 x 13 greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes if hot or
1-1 1/4 hours if refrigerated.

I hope you enjoy this holiday. Be thankful for those you are with. Love to you all.

A Time to be Thankful

A friend of mine has posted everyday of November something that she is thankful for as her facebook post. I am inspired. I propose that we spend the next week finding something to be thankful for. Here is how it will work. Every morning before your feet hit the floor, take a minute and think of something you are thankful for. Share it with your kids over breakfast. Ask them to share something that they are thankful for. Post it on your facebook. Leave it as a note on the bathroom mirror. Leave your husband a voicemail letting him know what you are thankful for. Leave a thankful comment on the blog. Lets get our thankfulness on. Lets immerse ourselves in thankfulness. Here is mine for today. I am thankful I have a car that drives. It can get me from one place to another. I can run my errands today with a thankful heart. Thank you God for all the gifts that you give us. Help us today to be thankful.

The Fire Alarm

I was awakened by the fire alarm last night. Why do they always go off in the middle of the night? This was not a fire. It was just the crazy beeping. It awakened me at 4. I lay there listening to see if it was real or a dream. I began to fall asleep and there it went again. I got up, grabbed a chair to stand on and pulled it down. I knew it had a battery too so I pulled it out. I stuck it on my desk to deal with in the morning and returned to bed, turned out the light and Beep. How did it do that? There was no power to it. How was it still going off? I turned the light on and marched it downstairs and into the garage where hopefully it wouldn't awaken anyone. As I returned to bed, I couldn't help but think of my favorite show, Friends, and the episode where the alarm goes off. I thought there must be a hidden camera in my room for sure. If anyone knows why they keep going off, please leave a comment. I have no idea.

This is the clip from Friends. Warning. It does contain some language not appropriate for all ears. You can cut and paste this into your browser to see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tkY08MhfoU

A True Story

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up and your husband does nothing right? I feel bad for him now, after the fact, but when I am in the middle of getting everyone out of the house and lunches made and breakfast on the table, I was mad. This morning was one of those mornings. He turned off the alarm, so we started the day off late. Then he tried to help make lunches, but didn't know what to put in them. I snapped. Was he trying to make me crazy? It is not help if I have to tell him what to do.

In the midst of it all, I needed to stop and take a deep breath. I needed to remember that my husband is not my enemy. It is not me against him. He wants good things for me. He wants my best. It may not come out as the best at that moment, but it is true. We do have an enemy who is seeking to destroy our marriage. It is Satan. He wants nothing better than for our marriage to fail. He wants us to break. So he whispers to my heart, he speaks lies that my husband is trying to sabotage the peace in our family.

In the book Love and War by John and Stasi Eldridge, he writes, "You have an enemy. Your marriage has an enemy. Believe it or not, this is very good news. Because the epiphany that follows is this-your spouse is not the enemy. He is not the enemy. She is not the enemy. Really." "For years Stasi and I lived with this constant feeling of accusation in our marriage. She "felt" accused by me, and I "felt" accused by her. What a relief to discover that these feelings of accusation were not actually ours; they were coming from him who is called "the Accuser" (Revelation 12:10)."

The truth of our morning is that my husband was trying to give us a few extra minutes of sleep. He was trying to help do one of the things that I normally do in the morning. He was trying to make things easier for me. In order for me to see this truth, I have to stop listening to the lies and listen to the truth. The truth is this: My husband loves me. He wants good for me and our family. I need to let go all the frustration at him and see the truth in what he is trying to do for me. When I feel the anger rising, I need to repeat over in my head, "You are not the enemy" and begin praying that I would look at my husband with eyes of love and see the truth in the situation.

Mr. Pumpkin Head

As Halloween comes around, I wanted to share one of the things that we have done with our kids. In the past we have carved pumpkins, but there is not to much for the kids to do. (I am one of those crazy moms who won't let her kids use a knife.) So instead of carving the pumpkin, we got down our Mr. Potato Head parts and we put silly faces on the pumpkins. It was a lot of fun for the kids to choose the parts they wanted. It took a little work to get the parts all in. (We sometimes had to tap them in with a hammer.) They turned out great. Just like with carving, the pumpkins will turn bad quickly, so this has to be done close to Halloween. Also when you are done with the pumpkin, the parts easily wash and can go back in with the toys. They do sell parts at the pumpkin patch to do this too, if you don't have a potato head set or if you want your pumpkin to be a little scarier.

In the comment section, tell us your favorite fall tip or what you like to do with your kids during the fall.

A Fall Treat

I was going to put a delicious baked fall treat on here today. I am in the mood for something to make my house smell delicious, but the thermometer is not going for it. I can't even think about turning my oven on, but opening the freezer for some ice cream is a real possiblity.

This is our family's newest favorite recipe. It is a delicious caramel sauce that comes close to the one they sell at Leatherby's. It is easy too.

Carmel Sauce by Candy Peters

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool. Makes about 1 1/2 pints. Store in the refidgerator.

We of course love it on ice cream. But it is also good for dipping apple slices. I have a friend who holds the apple to make people think she is eating healthy, but really is just eating the carmel. Give it a try.

Let us know how you use the sauce in the comment section or better yet, leave us your favorite topping recipe.

We are all in this together.

There are all kinds of moms out there. There's the Kate, the single mom raising her kids trying to be the perfect mom. There's the Michelle, the mom of many who can home school 19 kids and not go crazy. Then we find the Carol, the mom of kids and step kids who can keep on smiling and solve any problem in just thirty minutes and still have dinner on the table with the help of Alice. Then there is me. I am not like any of these moms, but I love to watch them.

Each of us is different. Some of us are shy and some are loud. Some of us are structured and some of us use our daytimers as a place to doodle. Some of us get up early and catch the worm and some of us don't really like worms and prefer to sleep in.

The kids that we raise are all different too. They all have different challenges and needs which makes the things that we do and the ways that we head into the day so different from each other. But we are all alike in one thing. We all want our children to have great futures. We want them to shine and to soar and to be the kind of people that we would like. We are all alike in that we are on a journey to get our kids there. And the journey is not easy. It is not for the faint of heart. There are moments when our kids make us so crazy and there are moments that warm our hearts and make it all worthwhile.

This year we will walk this journey together. There may be a mom at your table who looks like she has it all together, but may be so lonely for an adult to talk with. There may be a mom at your table who is shy and doesn't add to the conversation, but she is there drinking in all the advice, hoping it will give her the energy to face her toddler and baby when she gets home. There may be a mom at your table who comes in ragged and worn out, she is there for the hot breakfast and the encouragement to keep on fighting. I am every one of those moms and you are too depending on where we are in our journey. At MOPS, we will walk through our lives with these ladies around us. So when you see a Kate or a Michelle or a Carol or me, give a smile, a wave, a hug. We all need it. We are all here for the same things. We are all in this together.