.:Molasses Cookies:.

Yesterday felt verrry Fall-ish. I LOVED it, as Fall is my favorite season. About mid-afternoon while dinner was simmering in the crock pot - I got the itch to make some fall-flavored cookies, so that's just what I did. Presenting: Molasses Cookies - "a very good soft molasses cookie with just the right amount of spice" according to the cookbook. And of the secrets is using an already HOT cookie sheet!
This recipe comes from "The Church Supper Cook Book" and I love it. It has some amazing, different recipes from all over our country - and this cookie one comes from NH :) Some of the recipes have cute stories of how they came about, etc.

Molasses Cookies:

3 1/2c. flour

1t. baking soda

1/2t. salt

1 1/2t. cinnamon

1t. ground cloves

1t. ginger

1/2c. butter

1c. sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1c. molasses

1) Preheat oven (with pans in it -ungreased) to 350. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger together.

2) Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and molasses. Add flour mix and stir well. Have all ingredients at room temp - once pans are hot take them out of the oven and drop teaspoonful size dollops onto pan.

3) Bake for 10 minutes or less. Should make right about 4 doz - or maybe a few less if you make them bigger like I do. Let them cool on a baking pan for awhile and then you are done!

If you have a gingerbread or gingersnap lover in your fam...they will love these chewy, fall flavored cookies! My 1 yr old loves them - they aren't too spicy or peppery like some store bought kinds. Delish! Enjoy!

"Hey, sword mouth!"

Last night was the kick off for "Summer Slow Down" bible study with my 7-9th grade girls. We had 5 total and will add 2 more next week - so, it looks like it will be a super time full of benefit not only for the girls, but for me. You always learn more I think when you are teaching. Sometimes by force! ;)

We are working through the "Make it Real" DVD put out by Point of Grace, part of their Girls of Grace tour. And lastnight we started with the hot topic of GOSSIP. {gulp} I know, what a way to start! But it was SO good to be reminded of what God thinks of gossip and just how we use our mouths in general. The best reminder for me is that words really do cut like a sword. Since we aren't too familiar with swords anymore, I try to think of steak knives. I know that sounds weird, but... you see, I have cheapy, old steak knives that I use for everything: chopping potatoes, slicing apples, cutting meat, etc. We have yet to own a good, quality set of knives. My knives are a little dangerous - because they aren't very good I often find myself getting little knicks and cuts because of how hard I have to press and pull to get them to actually work. Sometimes I don't know the little cut is there until I go to wash my hands with soap - and then - STING, wow, what a rude suprise. And words - gossipy, misplaced, hurtful words are the same way.

"Careless words stab like a sword, but the words of wise people bring healing."

Proverbs 12:18 (God's word translation)

Man o' Man I want to be someone that brings healing to others. There is so much hurt and pain in this world - and so many "stab wounds". It was good to hear from the girls about this - how they see this happening in their own lives and in the lives of their friends. We all acknowledge that this is a problem, but also agreed on the solution:

"Don’t say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you. "

Ephesians 4:29 (GWT)

On the DVD, Shelley, from POG mentioned the dream of what the world would look like if all the girls could just learn to shut their mouths and give compliments rather then criticisms, stop-think-filter before speaking and use the "less is more" concept when it comes to words in general. My heart has ached for that dream, too. And of course, anyone who has ever been cut with words feels the same... BUT HOW?! How do we get to that place of choosing obedience and love for God over the newest bit of "networking"? And how on earth do we tame this beast of a tongue? The book of James gives the best description...

"We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do. The same thing is true for ships. They are very big and are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer ships wherever they want them to go. In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can brag about doing important things.
A large forest can be set on fire by a little flame. The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell. People have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures. Yet, no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison."
James 3:3-8

And here's what I've been learning:
- Do a self check. "Do I use my tongue to betray people?", etc. We've probably all heard this a zillion times, but, PREACH TO YOURSELF. Speak God's word out loud - replace the harsh, cutting words with God's truth.

- Like Shelley recommended, STOP / THINK / FILTER and you may find that "less is more" when it comes to what you need to say.

- In order to really be "set apart" gossip should not be a part of my life. It's choosing to obey God rather then what the world deems as "cool" for the moment.

- Forgiveness is key. Whether its me forgiving someone who has cut me with their words, or me going to someone to ask forgiveness. It's commanded and healing to forgive.

Sword Mouth. Hmmm... not such a nice nickname for a child of the Most High King. Something to think about. What are we doing with our words? Are we living our lives to worship God? So many good things to think about today.

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods: Ah, looks like it will be nice and calm this week - in the 80's! Perfect weather for the IOWA STATE FAIR!


One of my simple pleasures: A few uninterrupted minutes to read some blogs and sip my coffee.


On my bedside table: Only 3 more chapters of Little Women!!!


On my TV: Dinosaur Train - Ava is half watching/half coloring...


On the menu for tonight: I dunno...something on a stick! Fair food here we come!



On my To Do List: LAUNDRY DAY - and man the stain stick will be busy!


New Recipe I tried last week: Tex Mex pasta only with ground turkey and a boat load of spices, not turkey sausage. That stuff is expensive!!


In the craft basket: Looking for ribbon for Ava's "A" hanging thing for the door - and, considering making the porch curtains this week.



Looking forward to: Summer Slow Down bible study tonight with my 7-9 grade girls :)



Homemaking Tip for this week: Just do something. ;)


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): I really enjoy reading the Mom Advice here from Rebecca, and looks like this week she'll be covering sibling rivalry - something anyone with more then 1 kid could care about.



Favorite photo from last week:
{I just love summer and fall time flowers :) Lake Ann had so many to take pics of!}

Lesson learned the past few days: My husband listens more then I think he does. I had only mentioned one teeny tiny little time how nice it might be to have some nice parfume "someday"... and would you believe on our anniversary night he handed me a little VS bag with their new parfume in it! He's good that one!


On my Prayer List: My sis in law in GA preggo with #2 while my brother is in Afghanistan.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Almost done with Espresso with Esther devo book. It's been pretty good - good historical content that I never knew before.

DIY: Bench redo!

Remember that ol' Piano bench I found at Sal Val a few months ago? {sigh, yes, its been MONTHS now}
Well, I finally buckled down and got it done! My hubby spoke up the other day and asked if we could go to Hobby Lobby... WHAT?! Of course yes to that one! So off we went - and, after picking up just the right upholstry, staple gun and padding we had all the makings for a great bench. :)

Here is the upholstry color. I love how many colors it has in it...really opens up the color options for the rest of the room. However, I'm starting to think RED and CREAM are my comfort colors as right now all the accents are that color.

And here's a shot of what it looks like with the finished shelf, "P" and redone clock.
(I still have to put the door handle back on the front door)

And now for the fun before and after shot!

So exciting to get things done! OH the visions I have for this room for the fall! :)

To Save a Life? or not?

Lastnight my hubs brought home the movie, "To save a life" for us to preview. If you haven't already seen it I'll give you a quick run down:

{SPOILER ALERT!}

The movie starts at a burial, after a teen boy has killed himself while at school. The stress of life and pain of being unseen, un-noticed, and uncared for was too much. The main character, Jake, observes the suicide just inches away...and the story begins to unfold that Jake and Roger were "once upon a time" best friends. Jake grew up, became a popular high school jock w/ benefits, leaving Roger in the dust. Oh, and throw in there that years prior - Roger saved Jakes' life by pushing him out of the way of a car - and taking the hit himself...destroying his leg forever.

The movie then back tracks to show events leading up to Roger taking his life and just where and how Jake "went astray" with girls (well, one girl), sports, partying and running with the "cool crowd".

In the middle of the movie Jake starts to feel like maybe Roger's death was partially his fault. He did ignore him, like everyone else. At the same time Jake's party boy lifestyle starts to catch up with him - grades failing, girlfriend pregnant, parents divorcing...

Long story short - Jake finds God, or perhaps vice versa, and learns how to really SEE people. He joins forces with Pastor Chris the local youth pastor and starts to pull away from his party crowd and seek those who are forgotten in an effort to save a life - for Roger. At the end of the movie the girlfriend has the baby and they enter an open adoption (good!), Jake continues on to his dream of going to a prized college for basketball, and... the ministry of "Souled Out" continues reaching cutters, drunks, and pot heads.

Here's where I need to voice an opinion.

While the movie DID make a ton of good points, touched some important issues facing teens today {and always} and did a great job at clarifying the difference between religion & relationship with God... the name of Jesus was NOT mentioned once. While the "Christian" teens were very caring, kind and compassionate - they never said why. Kind of weird to me for a Christian movie.

The party scene was very detailed, and, if you have teens who aren't already familiar with that scene... well, you would be ruining their innocence by allowing them to see it. Simply Stated. Everything from beer pong to an alluded "going to the bedroom" scene to a guy puking his guts out in a trash can. Yep. It's vivid and very lifelike. I was actually cringing just remembering my high school days and being at one of those parties... and maybe thats the point. ?? Throw in another scene of a cutter in his room... cutting... {well, it IS fake blood I guess, but still} and its a lot to take in if you don't already know about these things.

I dunno. I see some gain from maybe watching this as a parent or as a group of youth leaders so you can be more "in touch" with what public school kids are experiencing... but, I don't recommend this for everyone and I def wouldn't show this to my youth kids. If they want to watch it with their parents - awesome - but, it was little too much for this girl.

To Save a Life? Good moral ideas... but somehow lacking the name of GOD - and when that happens I feel like maybe the mark was totally missed. ? Thoughts? Have you seen it?

Camp Recap

We are home! And, within a few hours of being home a huge thunderstorm came and knocked our power out for about 15 hours. Serious - ly. But, it's back on and life as we know it is back to norm. :) Thought I might share a few camp pics to prove we really did have a great time. I won't tell you about the next 3 times Ava got sick - because, there really was more to my previous post. {ahem} Anyway, enjoy some shots of my fam @ camp! What a fun little get-a-way.

So you think you can camp?

I wasn’t expecting our trip to Lake Ann Camp to be super relaxing. Afterall, how relaxing could a 10 hour van ride with a toddler be? And, with your spouse gone on a river for 2 of the 6 days… leaving you to be sole entertainer in a “foreign land”…things can get interesting. {to say the least} And, while this trip in many ways has not been relaxing – or easy – in some ways it has been surprisingly refreshing. And my thirsty, weary, lonely soul has been in great need of that refreshment. Before I go into all the GOOD, I should paint a word picture for you of the BAD so you can fully appreciate where I am coming from.

Sunday morning: Arrive to the church at 8am to greet our teens and load the van. Brad got home from his previous week of camp exactly 15 hours earlier. No time to review his week away or even take a breath. Load the van and go.

Sunday evening: Arrive at Lake Ann Camp. 2 minutes later right before we unload… Ava vomits everywhere. Ev-RE-where. I rush the kids out of the van so I can do cleanup – she just keeps puking. {I’m suspecting she’s a car sick kiddo…like I get} Please note – I am NOT good with handling such things. I get shaky and nervous and ill just thinking about it. Thankfully I was wearing my big girl pants and with my hubby and a friends help – we got the kid and the disgusting car seat out of the van. And can I just say, the makers of car seats do not consider puke cleanup when making them. So. Many. Little. Nooks. Long story short…I spent the rest of that night cleaning up Ava, getting her to bed, then scrubbing everything else.

Monday: Adjusting to camp life. Ava takes a 1 hour nap. Only. Locks herself in the bathroom with the toilet and daddys’ toothbrush {use your imagination on what happened there}. We broke in by tearing apart a plastic fork and using a tine. Or, whatever they are called. Later that day she would attempt to “run away” down the lane. Silly me for thinking she really could just play on the porch by herself.

Tuesday: Everyone got gooood sleep the night before. Praise God! This day would hold more gross kid stuff. Ava was still adjusting and ended up getting really sick {the other end} at the lake. I was on my own at this point as Brad was gone… and, completely horrified about what to do. WIDE OPEN in front of everyone! I won’t go into details but… a sheet was destroyed, her bathing suit… and, I hate pampers swim diapers. And I’m fairly certain a few choice college-aged counselors within view of this disaster will now wait an extra long time before having kids of their own, Hmph! The day ended on a lighter note watching her dance to the praise tunes in chapel. My girls got some rhythm!

Wedsnesday: Not too shabby. Ava found the sand volleyball court while most of the sand found her face…and eyes. And a fire ant found my left foot twice. Lots of finding today.

So… what was the good?

Well, I’m finding that with every mini-adventure/disaster this week that I become a little more of a mom genius. Wisdom is power people! I’m feeling totally confident on how to treat ant wounds, distract a toddler on a 12 hour trip, scrub sand from a squirmy toddlers hair, change blow outs somewhat discreetly on a beach, use my “stern warning” voice, show extra patience even though inwardly I just want to scream and be the real baby…and yes, even scrub vomit out of teeny tiny nooks with my nicely manicured fingernails. {gulp} Which by the way… the French tips now look anything but manicured. Ah well…all in a days work I guess.

Then there’s nature. I love it. I always have. And I had forgotten just how nice it feels to sit and listen to crickets chirp, cicadas buzz, trees sway in the breeze and walk barefoot in the dewey morning grass. It’s excellent. I feel so alive watching these black squirrels chase each other or hearing this strange bird call right outside our cabin door. It’s like a different world here, slow, calm, tranquil. I’ve been soaking in the smell of pine trees, wild flowers and fresh air. It’s refreshing – straight from God and His diverse creation and there really is nothing better to me. This morning I read a chapter in Psalms that 1) reminded me of Thanksgiving and 2) was just perfect for where I am now, today, because… that’s what matters – one day at a time.

“…You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain;they shout for joy, they also sing.” Psalm 65:8b-13

Refreshment is always there… I just have to look for it.