Special Valentine's Day!

One of my sweet friends asked me what I was hoping to do -Special- for Valentine's Day! We didn't do a whole lot... I do have pictures to show a few things that we did, but am having difficulty posting them today for some reason. I think it's me!! anyway.

We invited our elderly neighbors down for dinner on Friday night. Of course, I had to make a "heart-shaped" meatloaf along with all the fix en's. They really enjoyed the home-cooked meal, so they said. And Caleb took to Mr. Frank like he had known him all his life. It was really nice to have them here. It's almost a shame that we didn't do that sooner, since we're moving and all.

That afternoon I had Caleb help me make a Valentine Treat for the evening. Again, I do have pictures but...
He is too young to do the whole scissors and paper thing so we took "Tom Sturgis -little ones" pretzels (that Caleb always calls Hearts) and melted a Hershey kiss on top of each one (in this case, we used Peppermint -pink and white striped kisses. I would have liked to use Strawberry ones but these were left over from Christmas.)
You put them in a 350* oven for no longer then two minutes, take them out and carefully add a M&M candy piece on top. The M&M's are fun because you can use colors to match the occasion. In this case I used red and brown ones. He had fun!! He thought he was "all that and a bag of chips" sitting up on the counter-top... helping Mom!

Saturday morning's I always try to make a special breakfast of sorts and so of course, we had to have "heart-shaped" pancakes, with sliced strawberries, and sausage.

I will confess... I was very aware of my selfish heart through out the morning on Saturday. Ashamed to admit that I was one "stumpy- grumpy" Mama. I honestly don't know what triggered that... and after going out on my own, to run errands... I thank God for his heart of love for me. I had time to reflect on HIM!, to pray and to just quiet myself in His love. I (think) I came home -renewed. I was so appreciative of Scott for "letting me go" - being willing to sit with the little ones (while tending to his own lists for the day) and it actually turned out to be one SPECIAL Valentine's DAY after all.

What did you do special for "heart day"?

Why I love him so...

My handsome man, Scott!!




: : This is not in effort to embarrass him, but rather to make a public statement as to why I love him so...Why, in so many ways, I AM the lucky one. Blessed - is more like it.

There are so many reasons, and as I was thinking about this, I wondered, Where do I even start?

I love him for his:

• Specific care for our family. Like this. He's very aware of family time. IF a weekend is already packed full of activity, for example, and we get invited out somewhere, yet again, like to "Grandma's" house, etc. He'll often (with discretion) turn down the invite -just to maintain our own family time. Or that he'll make sure we're all in bed at a decent hour. And the fact that (a sit down) meal-time is family time, with no distractions such as the radio, TV or phone...it can all wait. I love that about him!


• Thoroughness! He is very careful to "make sure" something is done correctly the first time, in order to avoid repeating himself. In that, he can make mistakes and yet, he is humble enough to receive that. I love that about him!


• Humility. (As mentioned above) He's not perfect. I love this about him!


• Conviction(s). We are debt-free, to this day, because of his conviction in this. Another post to come on this - stay tuned. I love this about him!


• PDA (public display of affection). Scott is not afraid to give me sweet kiss in public or to hold my hand even while we we're riding in our own car - we're often found holding hands. He almost "gets offended" when I happen to open up my own car door... He insists (4 years later) that I am one brave woman if I do that on my own - and that, that is his privilege to do so. I LOVE that about him!


• Sense of Humor. He really does have sense of humor about him. I love his laugh -especially over the phone (long story here), the fact that he "gets" my dry sense of humor and loves it, and the fact that he makes me laugh... I love that about him!


• Knowledge of... Cars, Computers, Cash (financial stuff), Children (he's really coming around in this area) & Chores (meaning the laundry. He simply does a better job of it then I do). And the fact that he has little or no knowledge of Cooking (although he can work a mean grill).... I love this about him!!


• Prayers. Their simple, intentional and full of sincerity. I love this about him!


• Imagination. In playing with Caleb and Aubrey, it's all the "silly" songs he makes up...the wrestling, rolling around on the floor, shrieks and shrill fun and games that they all get into. I love that about him!


• Intentionality to... stick to budget, tithe regularly, keeping up on car maintenance, yard work, snow removal, to pray with the little ones before bed time, to say "I love you" before hanging up on the phone or separating ways -because you never no if it could be your last time to do so, to plan for our future through job advancements/studying to further his credentials, etc., keeping our financial things in place and in order -and on and on. I love that about him!


• Coming along side of...me in my ups and downs, my tears, my joy's, my dreams, my goals. And just really hanging in there with me. He is my best friend here on this earth. The fact that he chose me... and is so committed to me and to our growing family.... I really am so blessed. We actually do our grocery shopping together -just because. I love this about him!!

This is why I love him so...

Happy Valentine's Day, Babe!!

~yours forever,

Bevy

** I choose to do this post as my Valentine Card to him because I know he reads my blog (almost) every day - it's just another thing, I love about him!

Spring!!

The phrase, "Bloom where you are planted", hardly seems fitting for what I've been thinking about here of late. I've been thinking of Spring (planting, growing, etc.)- obviously because it is right around the corner. I've been busily packing up the house for moving - so it's more like thoughts of; "uprooting".

The location where we're at right now does not lend itself to good planting beds for flowers & vegetables because of all the pine and shade trees and so with that comes the drooling, the longing, for a place that has nice, hearty flower beds with which to overwhelm the air and please the eye with the presence of beauty in greenery. Do you like my flowery speech??

Honestly, for the past 2-3 years I really feel like I've lost track of Spring time. What it feels like, smells like and all the preparation it takes to make a beautiful garden again. We would drive out and around the neighborhood and I would notice all these beautiful gardens late spring, early summer and think to myself, "Wait a minute. Where have I been What season am I in"? and it's like "OH YEAH! I can't grow anything around our house... I'm really not losing it". So, I am really excited about moving on to a new location. Looking forward to what our "uprooting" will bring us.

God does that a lot in our lives, doesn't he? He doesn't want us to get too comfortable in our comfort- zones, although that can be the easy way out. At the same time, we need to "Be Still and know" that if he plants somewhere we need to be faithful to grow in that place, that season. This is something that Scott and I have been thinking about this week.

We continue to seek God and pray for his leading and direction in moving to NC. It seems like the season to "uproot" has come, we have been faithful (we feel!) to weed out any questions and doubts, and we want to trust that the seeds of faith will continue to grow in our lives. That in all of this change, will come forth lives that demonstrate the beauty that comes from all the "uprooting", the cultivating, the pruning, the watering and so forth. That Lord-willing, we will be able to "Bloom where we are planted".

So when I can start planting things again my flower (and vegetable) beds will probably have herbs such as Parsley, Basil, Chives, and Thyme. Teas and flowers such as; Garden & Mint tea, Pansies, Mums, Vinca-vine, Verebena, Larkspur, Iris, Lavender, Hydrangea, Hollyhocks, Geraniums, 4 o'clocks, Cosmos, Sweet Pea, Dusty Miller, Rhubarb, Tomatoes, Beans, Beets, Corn, Peppers and Zucchini.... and so much more, I'm sure.

Any other suggestions- especially for NC? What is your favorite thing to grow?

DUMP!

In yesterday's post I mentioned something about being creative in cooking...
Well here is a question for you.

If you could use one word to describe yourself in the kitchen, what word would that be?

It doesn't take me long to come up with my answer because I think I was born to be a "dump-cook". That is my answer, by the way.
I had to think about how and why this is true, and my thoughts go back to my Grammy who would always refer to herself as someone in the kitchen who just used "a little of this and a smidgen of that"... and so the term "dump-cook" was born.

I am not trying to brag when I share this but I do love and appreciate that trait being passed down to me. There is nothing more satisfying then to serve up a dish, let alone a meal, all based on the gift of creativity. In a greater sense it is also being very frugal and that alone is a definite need (at least in our home) these days. Take for instance the recipe, Chicken Gumbo, calls for specific ingredients like bread, cheese and mayo. Yes! I had those items on hand but I also had a bread bowl that was used a couple of days ago to hold a spinach dip. There was a little bit of dip left (which was made with mayo, sour cream, spinach and seasonings) - which was enough to use as a replacement for this particular recipe and so wha-laa! Instead of slices of bread as the recipe called for, I just went ahead and cut up the remaining bread bowl (that I made the other day) into cubes, and used the remaining dip for the mayo.... and I must say. The dish was delicious.

I really appreciate this about my hubby (who also doesn't mind being the guinea pig around here) when he'll make mention to the little ones or whomever is over for dinner; "Eat it up. You'll never see this recipe again". Or the opposite, "Well, never mind if you don't like it we'll never see it again". and "Babe, this is really good! I wish you would remember what you did - but I guess I'll never see this again, I'd better enjoy it while I can".

But there is something to be said about creativity in the kitchen. When budgets are tight and the phrase of "wasting not, wanting not" is floating around in my head... what is a woman to do but get a little creative. There is nothing wrong with just sitting down, with several cookbooks in hand and just taking the time to read through them. Their chalk full of hints, suggestions and ideas and eventually things come together so much that you might not even need to follow a cookbook. You learn what "stuff" just goes together. Baking is a whole different story; Baking is a science where cooking is an art! So there, you know what one of my favorite past-times are. Reading cookbooks -and not really following them!

Now that I made some of you a little nervous... sorry! You're still welcome to come to dinner anytime. And that brings up another blog-post idea, but we'll save that for another time.

Granola Bars

Here is another great breakfast treat for a family "on the go".

I have this great recipe for Granola Bars that I made over the weekend that are absolutley wonderful, that I thought I would share with you.

~Granola Bars~


9 1/2 cups of Rice Krispies
5 cups Oatmeal (I use quick oats but you can use rolled oats)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cup craisens (or raisens if you prefer)
1 cup coconut (optional)

Mix together in a LARGE bowl.

Melt together in large pot...over medium heat.
1 1/2 lbs (20 oz.) marshmallows
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup canola oil

Pour over cereal mixture and mix well. It will get rather hard to do - so work as quickly as possible and then as mixure is getting cooler to the touch and you can still stir it... add one cup of chocolate chips. Press into a well greased 9x13 pan. Grease your hands and press into pan or use back of spoon. Cut* and Enjoy!

* I cut in half length wise and then across the pan into real thin bars. Like what a granola bar should look like.

I'm sure you could add in anything else like nuts, sunflower seeds, or different kinds of chocolate chips, etc. All in the name of getting creative.