Saturday, April 30, 2011

Foodie Fridays - One Day Late!

Better late than never! When I fed this one to my family our wee 3 year old man gave me the big thumb's up (literally) and said, "Momma! You make good quiche."

Real men do so eat quiche ;-)



(notice how my camerawoman/editor is getting better and better each time? Particularly since she had to edit out a few noisy kids in the background, and several mistakes by the chef *ahem* It was her idea to have me out on the porch and her idea to watch the timer count down. She is really starting to think creatively about how else she can tell the story through angles and editing and lighting. I love that kid!)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

This has been well-circulated lately, and I have posted Carrie Underwood before, but this video certainly bears repeating here on me wee blog. Everytime I hear her sing I think, "now, *that* must be her full voice. She couldn't possibly sing with that strength any higher"....and then she does. And then she key changes. And she sings just as strongly still. Ridiculously talented.

Enjoy!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Foodie Fridays - Two Days Late

Better late than never, I always say. To make up for the delay, I'll give you a little two-for-one recipe video extravaganza!

(oh dear.)

Just focus on the recipes, people. This is some good, good cooking!




Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday

GOOD-FRIDAY, 1613, RIDING WESTWARD.
by John Donne


LET man's soul be a sphere, and then, in this,
Th' intelligence that moves, devotion is ;
And as the other spheres, by being grown
Subject to foreign motion, lose their own,
And being by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a year their natural form obey ;
Pleasure or business, so, our souls admit
For their first mover, and are whirl'd by it.
Hence is't, that I am carried towards the west,
This day, when my soul's form bends to the East.
There I should see a Sun by rising set,
And by that setting endless day beget.
But that Christ on His cross did rise and fall,
Sin had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare I almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for me.
Who sees Gods face, that is self-life, must die ;
What a death were it then to see God die ?
It made His own lieutenant, Nature, shrink,
It made His footstool crack, and the sun wink.
Could I behold those hands, which span the poles
And tune all spheres at once, pierced with those holes ?
Could I behold that endless height, which is
Zenith to us and our antipodes,
Humbled below us ? or that blood, which is
The seat of all our soul's, if not of His,
Made dirt of dust, or that flesh which was worn
By God for His apparel, ragg'd and torn ?
If on these things I durst not look, durst I
On His distressed Mother cast mine eye,
Who was God's partner here, and furnish'd thus
Half of that sacrifice which ransom'd us ?
Though these things as I ride be from mine eye,
They're present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them ; and Thou look'st towards me,
O Saviour, as Thou hang'st upon the tree.
I turn my back to thee but to receive
Corrections till Thy mercies bid Thee leave.
O think me worth Thine anger, punish me,
Burn off my rust, and my deformity ;
Restore Thine image, so much, by Thy grace,
That Thou mayst know me, and I'll turn my face.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Heard at My House

Setting: 3 year old son, squinting his eyes really, really tightly.

Son: "Mo-omm (said in a sing-songy way). Can you see me?"

Me: "Yes, dear boy. I can see you."

Son: "No you can't."

Me: "Actually, yes I can."

Son: "No. My eyes are closed so you can't."

Me: "Right. I forgot."

Mental note to self: It might be time to take a course on "Playing Along with an Imaginative Child" and "How not to Crush your child's enthusiasm for Play".

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Decision Time

Dear Shirt,

You were the perfect price on that clearance rack. You were just the right shade of green. You were the right tunic length with the cute three-quarter sleeves, and the tiny buttons up the front that just set you off so nicely.

Then, there was the delicate little draw-string belt. So thin. So discreet. So very current. You know, I had a moment when I bought you when I thought, "Hm. I sure hope that this is at the right spot that accents the fact that I do, actually, have a waist, rather than making me look pregnant."

But, no. How could you, perfect little light-weight spring shirt that would look so cute with my black capris, ever do anything so vile as make me look pregnant when I'm not (really, really not).

However, today, just now, the door bell rang, with me being held in your embrace, and there stood my neighbour with a few questions and a bit of small talk. We laughed, we discussed, and we decided. All the while, there was a look. A downward, glancing look. A suspiciously questioning look. An unspoken wondering look.

You, my dear shirt, are outta here. You need to know that the next time that the charity clothing people have a pickup in our area, and you hear the doorbell ring, I assure you, you will not need to ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Sincerely,
Me.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Whether or not you like the Weather

It is April 18th. That sounds like spring, yes? Well, here in our neck of the woods the vast majority of us have taken off our snow tires, washed and stored our snow suits, pulled out the sundresses and sandals, and even worn capris at least once this month.

And today it is snowing.

I mean, snowing. A fair bit. Not a blizzard. Just like someone is going a little overboard on the icing sugar on their olie bollen. (shout out to the Dutch among my readers! Woot!)

Without sounding like a total Pollyanna, I really, really still think it is pretty. This is a change in my heart. I've not always been a happy weather girl. Historically, I have only been content when the skies are clear, the sun is tempered, and the temperature is between 16 and 24 degrees (for my American readers I'm speaking Celsius, not Fahrenheit. I know that to convert that for you I need to do something with the fraction 5/9ths, but I don't remember what. Let's just say I like the mercury to hover around 60--70F...close enough).

My operating system seems to overheat pretty easily, so a crisp fall day or a cool spring morning, either of which require jeans and a light sweater, make me very, very happy.

In my vocabulary, there are a couple of 'bad words' that I tend to avoid. One starts with a "sh" and the other starts with a "b"...(shorts and bathing suits). Not only do I tend to avoid the words, I actually tend to avoid those articles of clothing. Truthfully, I do not own a pair of shorts and haven't for about 10 years. And I only have a bathing suit on account of the water polo game I've promised to play at our church's women's retreat in June. Seriously. There have been many, many years when I 'forgot to pack it' and had to sit out of the game entirely. Shucks.

Why am I rambling about the weather? Well, it is all reminding me of one year in university in particular: possibly 1994. It was April. We were in exams. And we all came in tanks and shorts and flip flops. And we all sweat like so many pigs stuck in a barnful of desks and stacks of paper, with no ventilation, for 3 hours. I remember thinking it was so demotivating to put forth a good effort on that exam because I was so.stinking.hot that I couldn't care any less about finishing well: I just wanted to finish and get back to an air conditioned mall. What? It's unreasonable to only take 45 minutes to do a 3 hour exam? Whatevs.

However, the very next year, to the very day, was Easter. And as our church held their Sunrise Easter Sunday service in beautiful Victoria park, I stood there, in my Easter sundress, my pretty Easter sandals, and my parka. With an inch of snow at my feet.

Fickle though she may be, Fair April is always good for a test of our contentment. And our sense of humour. Maybe April feels that the Fool's Day needed a full month this year.

Now excuse me: I'm considering going out and building a snowman. And putting an Easter bonnet on him.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Foodie Fridays

Well, now. A friend of mine introduced me to this contest that was running. It involved two of my favourite things: the potential to be cooking show host and Philadelphia Cream Cheese as a secret ingredient in your favourite recipe. What's a gal to do? Of course I had to enter the contest. Sadly, the contest also involved one of my most unfavourite things: being on video.

Oy.

However, because I am trying to be a good mom to my daughter, and trying to give her some experience doing a thing she loves, I signed up. You see, my eldest has a knack with a video camera and editing software. And where she still has things to learn, she is diligently studying. And practicing. On me. Like this.

There is no public voting on these videos, so there is no benefit to me in having you watch this (really. NO benefit) except that you get to see my 12 year old's handiwork. Not bad, eh? I just stood there and spoke. She did all the rest of it. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

I do believe that I may have posted this recipe in the past, but now you get the visual to go with it. Oh man. And just so you know, I'm going to refrain from any comments on my role in the video itself except for this one thing. I know, I know, I know that what I meant to say was "We go through a pot of soup pretty quickLY". Quickly. Quickly. Argh. Adverbs. It's not that complicated.




And here is the link to the contest where you can see all the other fabulous contestants do their thing. How fun is that?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

Ah! I'd forgotten about this song. If you saw a girl driving a Blue Corsica in the summer of 1997 through the streets of Santa Rosa, California looking like she was screaming in the driver's seat, it was actually me singing this song. And every other song on this cassette *ahem*.

This is Christine Dente and her husband Scott in their band named Out of the Grey.
I heart this song. Every little bit (but especially from about 3:30 to the end)
Enjoy!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Getting to Know My Kids

Having seven children has done wonders for my memory. There are so many things to remember about kids: Birthdays; shoe sizes; favorite color; what grade they are in (*ahem*); and what color they are wearing when we go to a crowded park so I can pick them out of a crowd like a paranoid mother counting to seven approximately every 3 minutes might need to do (*ahem* again).

But here is what I’ve been noticing lately: I can know things about my child without really, really knowing them. Does that make sense? There are lots of basic facts about them that help me keep health and safety matters in check, but what about knowing them well enough to help them thrive?

Proverbs 22:6 is familiar territory for most of us. It reads: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Good to know. But what does that mean? For some of us it means simply raising them in a Christian home, trusting that once we’ve instilled a faith in their hearts, they won’t walk away from the Lord as they get older.

For some of us, it means teaching and training them according to their specific, God-given gifts and abilities so that they can walk on the vocational path God intended for them.

The question remains, how do we know our kids well enough to point them down that road? I can know their vital statistics and never *really* know them well enough to direct them well.

Please read the rest of my latest Heart of the Matter Online article here. And then, go and get to know your kids! ;-)

Friday, April 1, 2011

Foodie Fridays

What are you having for supper tonight? As for me and my husband, we are having delicious somethingorothers at Kelsey's with friends. Woot! But I can't not feed my kids before I go. What's a mom to do when she wants to convince her kids that they aren't being ripped off by not eating delicious restaurant fare?

Try this:

Cooked Bow Tie Noodles (because they are adorable and more toothsome than some other pasta shapes)
Sauteed onion and broccoli
Combine and toss with some Greek or Italian salad dressing
Sprinkle with grated mozzarella.
(add cooked chicken if you are feeling particularly fancy)

Ta da!

Kind of like one of these variations, but once you've seen that idea, you can tweak it however will best please your crew.

Enjoy!