Wordy Wednesday

I know, I know, I said that each Wednesday we would offer three quotes or passages for you to choose from to apply to your day.

But..... I am going to change it today.  You know me.  The gal who likes to change everything.  Sometimes I think that I should have entitled this blog "The Change Artist,"  sigh.

Today I am offering up one quote only.  

Some of you may remember when I posted about Sparky (number 4 grand child) being upset because she didn't get to go inside Aunt Cindy's house.  I had six of the ten grand kids in my car when Sparky was emotionally relaying her disappointment.  I asked them, What do you do when you don't get what you want?" 

No one answered.  So I asked Bluebird (number 1 grand child ) directly.  She responded without hesitation, "You be grateful for what you have."

Today I want you to apply Bluebird's quote to your day.  If you reach in the fridge to find the milk has soured and you so wanted that cereal you already poured into a bowl.....think about how fortunate you are to have crisp red grapes to eat.

If you are running late for work and get stuck at the traffic thick stop light..... think about the tune playing on the radio and the comfort of your car.

If you want to go Christmas shopping but the cable guy tells you that he will be at your house to fix the problem between 9:00 am and 5:00 p.m. ... think about that book you have been wanting to read or the manicure you've been wanting to give yourself.

Contentment is only one thought away.   Gratitude has the power to turn everything you want into everything you have.

24.  I am thankful for you.

I hope your day is so filled with thanksgivings that you can't possibly hold them all!

Tasty Tuesday

It is tradition in our home to serve Monkey Bread on Thanksgiving and Christmas morn.  This year I wanted to change it up a bit.

Imagine that?  Me wanting to change something.  Inconceivable thought, huh?

Originally I was taught to make monkey bread by my mom, using home-made bread dough, melted butter and a cinnamon sugar mix.  But through the years it has been revamped to use pop-open biscuits in place of dough and brown sugar in place of white.  

This holiday I switched it a wee, little bit by replacing the biscuits in a can with cinnamon rolls in a can.

You will need a greased bunt pan or angel food cake pan, two cans of cinnamon rolls, a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon, a cup and a half of melted butter, a good cup of coffee and an issue of Cooking Light - which you will not open but will look honorable on your counter.

Open the cinnamon rolls, cut them in fourths and drop them in the pan of melted butter.  Coat all pieces generously.

Using a slotted spoon transfer the rolls from the melted butter to a bowl where you have mixed together a cup and a half of brown sugar with two teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

Arrange the coated pieces around the center of the greased bunt pan, building layers until all the cinnamon rolls have been used.

I had some melted butter left over after all the pieces were coated and I couldn't resist pouring it over the rolls before popping them in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.

When the timer goes off on your oven and you have lifted the center roll for the flake check, invert the pan onto a serving tray and let it sit for a few minutes to allow the caramel syrup to run over the rolls.  Remove the pan and serve warm.

I served them with fresh fruit and after everyone had eaten their fill, I placed the left over fruit in the fridge and washed the tray, although it hardly looked dirty as it has been licked clean.

24. I am grateful for the aroma of bread baking in the oven.

I hope your day begins with a sweet hello.  I hope you can switch the way you have been thinking of a resent hurt a wee little bit.  I hope when you rest your head on your pillow tonight, you can give thanks for the sweet aroma of your life.

Yaya

Passing of the Swing

What do you get when you take 18 people times three days of togetherness?  For me, I get endless opportunities to use my camera and lesson upon lesson to learn and boundless joy to experience. 

It is always fun for me to see how excited the grand children get when Wyoming cousins come to Oklahoma.  Their parents try to get them together as often as school and work schedules allow.  But sometimes it can be six months between visits.  In a toddlers life, six months could mean the difference between walking and running, jabber and formation of words or graduating from pampers to the potty chair.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, whenever I saw Muffin and Tornado together it became clear that Muffin was passing on the torch of youngest.  She used to be the one that had to have an adult accompany her outside. And it was little Miss Muffin that everyone one else was supposed to keep an eye on.    

.....but now, it seems, that Muffin is the one keeping an eye on Tornado.

 

When ever a door is left open, even for a split second, Tornado is on his way out.

First he hits the patio at a dead run, resisting anything in his path....... leaves, wind, gates - they stop him not.

Then he's on to the open yard where no fence exists - only wide open space - a perfect opportunity for a kid to run free, taste leaves and gather sharp sticks.

Tornado is careful to look around for adults lurking about who may put a halt to his sprint of freedom.

And if he finds himself caught in their glance, he begins to put together a plan for escape as quickly as he flashes those baby blues.

"Laugh and run," seems to be his plan of distraction as he heads toward the swing.

There he finds his cousin, Muffin, who leads him to safety.  She persuades Yaya to put Tornado in the baby swing, where she once was placed for safe keeping in the back yard.

The passing of the swing begins, as Muffin takes hold and gives her first official push, symbolizing her transformation from the younger needing care to the older care-giver.

Tornado flies high.  Muffin takes special care to make sure he does not twirl in circles or swing too fast. 

All that is left to do now, it stand still and say good bye to what was and give thanks for the big girl she is becoming and the cousin who just six months earlier was not running into the wind and hanging with his cousin-friend.

23. I am grateful for Autumn days chilling toward Winter.


I hope you can burst forth from your door to greet the day with expectant curiosity.  I hope you feel free enough to run and laugh and resist the wind.  I hope you have someone in your life who keeps and eye and you and has your back.

Yaya

Softly Sunday

Howdy and Happy Day!  I was away for the last three days cooking turkey and hugging grand children.  Eighteen of us gathered at our home to give thanks for the many gifts of this life.  We were all thankful for each other and that we had pillows for our heads and clean water to drink and to bathe stinky toddler bottoms and to boil our potatoes for the grand feast that fed us for days.  I hope you enjoyed the long weekend and will take this day to relax, recover from the over-eating and prepare for Monday.

“God does not love you because you are good, God loves you because God is good.”  In fact, the older I get the more I am sure that God does all the giving and we do all the receiving.

God is always and forever the initiator and we are always the recipients. That is not to say that our mustard seed of response does not matter, but it is still “the tiniest of all the seeds” (Matthew 13:32). God makes use of everything that we offer, and seems most grateful for the smallest bit of connection from our side.

Adapted from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 164 Everything Belongs

Wordy Wednesday

Each Wednesday we are going to post quotes or excerpts from a book or an original saying.  Our challenge to you is this - choose one of the quotes, the excerpt or passage or a line from the passage and apply it to your day.  

We will be thinking of you as you move through Wednesday with this intention. 

 22. I am grateful for the wisdom of others
for any new readers who may wonder what this is at the end of my posts: it is an intention of mine to be aware of the many things for which I can give thanks daily.


I hope your day is pure joy.  I hope that you are with family and friends tomorrow.  I hope you have many reasons to give thanks.

Yaya

Brats and Beer Cheddar Chowder

Ole' Mister North Wind blew in last Sunday, dropping our temps from the 70's to the 30's.  He-man saw it as an invitation to relax inside, catching the game on the telly.  I saw it as an opportunity to try another soup recipe.  I thought I'd stray from our usual fiber enriched, vegetable packed version and go for something a manly-man, stuck-in-your-recliner, football fanatic would enjoy. 

Brats and Beer Cheddar Chowder

2 Tbp Butter

I med. onion, chopped

I med carrot, coarsely shredded

3 lg shallots, chopped

1 14 oz can or vegetable broth, or 1 ¾ cup of vegetable stock

1/3 cup of milk or half and half

1 tsp caraway seeds

¼ tsp black pepper

10 oz of aged cheddar (sharp cheddar)

4 cooked polish sausage or bratwurst

1 12oz can of beer or bottle of ale

Melt butter over medium heat in large pan

Add onions, carrots and shallots

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes

In a jar combine broth and flour and shake til smooth 

(I didn't have broth or stock so I dissolved a low sodium bullion cube in water and then whisked in the flour)

Stir into the onion and carrot mixture

Add milk seed and black pepper

Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly

Gradually add cheese

Reduce to low

Cook stirring frequently until cheese melts

Do not boil

Stir in brats and beer

Heat through

Do not boil

I served it with french bread and fruit salad.  It was yummy, tasting a bit like fondue to me.  I didn't have bratwurst but found some little smokies in the fridge.  I used them which I would not do again as they made it too salty for our taste.  It would be good without any meat in my opinion.

Give it a try and see what you think.   If you need to eat gluten free, simply substitute the flour for a thickening agent you can use. 


22. I am grateful for Sundays that really are days of rest.


I hope your day motivates you to do something out of your normal routine.  I hope you like the results and if you don't, I hope you learn what to do different.  I hope your night wraps you in pleasant dreams and content sleep.

Yaya

Ready to be a family of SIX

It is estimated that there are some 6,852,472,823 people on the earth. That number is amazing to me.

It amazes me that all 6,852,472,823 people have a story unique to them. Each person has a special gift given only to them to share with others.  Each one has a purpose. It's so humbling to me.

My family is in the middle of an adoption. Truth be told it has become our focus. We have completed paperwork, we have been interviewed, we have all gotten medical exams, and we are no where near the end.  What has encouraged me lately is that I know our little miss is out there in the 6,852,472,823 people on this earth. 

We haven't even seen a picture of her yet, but I know that she is there, perfectly made. I know that she has been given unique gifts and passions that I will get to discover with her some day. 

I know that she has a sister who is crazy about her, and two brothers who are ready to protect her from any hint of danger. 

I know she has a daddy who will sing to her. And I know she has a mommy who can't wait to hold her.  Her story has started.

It started on this side of the world when my husband and I knew we were suppose to adopt but didn't know where to start.. domestic or international???  When on the very day our search seemed to be getting desperate He sent a family from China to a "random" non-adoption meeting to talk about Chinese Orphans.

When we were planning a budget that would be tight but would provide for the adoption costs, He sent unsolicited friends and family members offering more than we needed to cover ALL $25,000 of the expenses.

It continues when He encourages and teaches us through the amazing stories of other adopting families being united with their child.

She has so much more to add to this story... some she may remember and some she may be told. She doesn't even know of me yet, but I am dreaming of her. I am trusting that there is someone much bigger than I am orchestrating her story... our story.  It's far more than I can imagine.  But I rest knowing He has it all worked out.  This world is so big, but my God is BIGGER.

Cindy

Sunday's Message

The great thing about God’s love is that it’s not determined by the object. God does not love us because we are good. God loves us because God is good. It takes our whole lives for that to sink in because that’s not how human love operates.

Human love is largely determined by the attractiveness of the object. When someone is loveable, nice, good, and attractive, physically or in terms of their personality, we find it much easier to give ourselves to them. That’s the way humans operate outside of the economy of grace. 

Divine love is a love that operates in an unqualified way without making distinctions between persons and without following personal preferences. We almost don’t have an outlet in our head to receive that notion! Divine love is received by surrender, a word frequently used by the mystics.

From Following the Mystics through the Narrow Gate by Richard Rhor

We're Coming Out

Here we are!  We're out of our shells - three family chicks who want to share our crazy, hazy, sometimes lazy, and definitely phase-y life with you.  

We want to encourage you to keep going - because I, (Yaya) am old enough now to know that it is true, "this too shall (and really does) pass."   

We want to support you as you experience new challenges because we have "been there, done that,  and then had to wash the dog-gone t-shirt."   Maybe we haven't been in exactly the same circumstance, but raising children, maintaining a home, managing responsibilities, experiencing loss and living in relationship are places we all visit.  

We want to make you laugh by laughing at ourselves because again, we have "been there, but we didn't quite do it, and the bloody t-shirt is still in the laundry with everything else we want to wear."  

But what we really want is to bless your day.  I (Yaya) grew up in a church where we were told only the priest could give a blessing.  It made me think that the priest must be somebody really special.  For many, many years I lived my life looking at others as more special than I.  But now I know that just being me is special.  There is no greater blessing than to give who you really are to another and to be who you really are in this world.   

Therefore we three chicks will be giving you us - posts about our family, our friends, our favorite foods or newest dinner discovery, our latest craft craze or decorating delight, maybe a few of our frustrations and fears and how we have learned to recover and repair (that could include emotions as well as furniture).

Thanks for visiting our site.  Please make yourselves comfortable, treat our house like your own, give us your suggestions and clean up your own mess!

Note:  I am still trying to understand the technology part of blogging and have not perfected (if one ever does) the comment section.  If you want to leave a comment, click on the comment label at the end of each post.  It will open a box for you to type in.  Then you will have to type a security word.  If you do not have a blog, website, or Google account of your own you will have to choose the Anonymous button.  But we cannot reply to your comment unless we know who you are..... so if you are Anonymous, please sign your comment with your initials or name.  We want to reply to everyone.  Thanks!

On The Threshold

One of the many things I love about Green Country is the experience of all four seasons.  When we lived in Wyoming, I only knew Summer and Winter.  We had a short-lived Autumn and I don't really remember Spring... tulips, maybe, but they grew in the cool air of Wyoming Summers too. 

Today I walked about my yard with my camera, taking notice of the comings and goings of this season.

Green leaves faded as red and gold overtook the crepe myrtle outside our bedroom window

Bare branches exposed where lush greenery once thrived, now sparse, 

painted yellow and striped in brown from the brush of chilly winds.

A Hyacinth Bean sprouts anew.   Does she not know that Winter is coming in the back door?

A rose bud reaches for the sun who shines this day into a soft warm pleasure.

The Verbena and Geranium bloom next to the tropical fern outside our back door, 

not the least bit worried about the forecast for frost.

While our front walk looks like a path through the grave yard of summer's bounty,

and the gutters fill with dead leaves,

the holly tree grows ever more green, filling herself with lush red berries,

feed for birds and delight for me.

Winter is coming, I know.  

But now is the threshold where all stands in between.

The morning chill makes me pull  the bed covers over my shoulders, 

thinking there will be no open windows.

The sun warms the day, confusing my senses.

I am on the threshold between this life and the next.

I grow.

My bones feel dry.

I feed the birds.

I delight in the day.

21. I am grateful for leaves dancing in the wind.

I hope you can stop and look up today.  I hope that whatever is changing in your life right now is only a threshold to something warmer, brighter and new.  I hope you grow toward the sun.

 Yaya

The Apprentice's Helper?

I picked Clone up from school on the afternoon of the big smoke out (which is improving, but still very stinky) from his preschool.  SSB Kids incorporates gymnastics into its academic program, which is a perfect fit for Clone.

As soon as he saw me he scrambled to gather his belongings and tuck them away in his back pack.

Clone always likes to go with Yaya, because when he sees me the possibility of seeing his PaPa doubles.  He loves to do what He-man does - cut wood, pound nails, paint boards, spit on the ground and make things that others enjoy.

He jumped in the car and immediately asked about He-man.  I told him we were going to the house where He-man was working and Clone lit up.

When I told him that he would be working with He-man, Clone took off his shoes rearranged his socks and said, "Let's go.  I've got work to do!"

I stepped on the gas and soon we were standing in the patio room He-man had refurbished for its owners.  In no time flat, he and Clone were discussing what to do first. 

When I left, the two of them were lost in their element and Clone was exactly where he wanted to be - apprenticing beside his hero.

20. I am grateful for the many who have been my teachers.

I hope your day makes you lite up.  I hope someone teaches you something you hold dear.  I hope those you look up see you as gift and treasure, just as you were created to be.

Yaya

Up In Smoke

Yesterday, I went to pick up Middle One's kids from school.  Before I left I had browned some hamburger on the stove to use in a dish for dinner.  He-man and I were discussing our plans for kid exchange and about a project he was helping me with for the Christmas Gathering (yesterday's post).  

I checked the pots on the stove, turned the dial to off, kissed He-man good bye and hopped in the car to pick up Clone.  That was at 2:00 p.m.

When we returned home at 4:30 p.m. our house was filled with smoke.  I could smell the burn the minute the garage door opened.  I knew the smell exactly.  It was burned food.  Unfortunately I have done this before.  I put a pot of beans on the stove and went outside to work in the garden, not knowing how fast beans absorb water.  The beans burned to the pan and the house smelled awful.  That was bad, but yesterday was near disaster.  I COULD HAVE BURNED THE HOUSE DOWN!!!

As near as we can figure, I must have turned the dial to a higher setting instead of off. Yikes!

He-man set up fans waved vinegar filled dish towels around, filled bowls with baking soda... but NOTHING has worked.  Our house smells horrible.  When I would roll over in bed last night, I would awake from the lingering burn smell.  I fear we have smoke damage.

Do any of you have a solution (aside from repainting and reupholstering) for getting rid of smokey odor?

19. I am grateful to still have a home.

I hope your day is steady and sure.  I hope you can focus on what is important.  I hope your house welcomes you in tonight with the sweet smell of home.

Yaya