the decade in review, part 2

2003

Life continues on... homeschooling with Miss MusicBox, Miss Artist, the Professor (now the Computer Geek), and the Cowgirl ~ with the Cattleman (AKA the Ox since age 2) and the Popper along for the fun.

Baby calves (note the same Jersey here in March is pictured again below in September - he grew!)...
Gardens...


4-H sewing and baking projects, fishing at Grandma F.'s in Wisconsin, another trip to the Iowa State Fair (this time in matching yellow shirts - our version of the 'no child left behind' policy), teaching Sunday school for the Cowgirl's class (4-5yo)

portrait by Pete Tekippe Photography

 

Miss Music Box points out that this is our most recent professional family portrait... now six years ago. Ahem. I think I'm at least five years behind with the photo albums. Lots of pictures in the cupboard and lots more in the computer...

Celebrated my parent's 50th wedding anniversary!

2004

Chicken pox for six, the Cattleman learned the definition of precipice and the Popper learned to color beautifully while I read aloud from Henty's The Young Carthaginian for two weeks, Lipizzaner Stallions, Good Science workshop, wax lips for Valentine's Day...



...more new calves...


...baptism for Miss Music Box, piano recital for 3 oldest children, 4-H contests and activities, VBS, first week at Bible camp for Miss MB and Miss Artist, swimming lessons, roller coaster rides, Thanksgiving with friends and family, the annual Christmas tree hunt... among other things.

the decade in review, part 1

I'll start by giving credit for this idea to Rachel (who got it from Lois... who got it from...)
Next you must keep in mind that I am very close to my 45th birthday. Thus I am rapidly moving beyond the categories of Ditz or Bear of Little Brain. I'm not sure what I can even remember from ten years ago! But most of you know that I can yak, even when I have nothing to say... ahem... I'll find pictures!


2000



We bought a house we couldn't afford because I said we NEEDed it, and it was cute... white farm house with a little red barn on a gentle hill... awww. What we didn't know in January was that God had a different plan for us (I also failed to trust my husband -- and the Lord to provide what we really needed in His timing). In August my brother offered my husband a job (again). 300 miles away from my cute little farmhouse. Tim had been praying for direction and provision. We were very surprised by God's answer to that prayer. We moved to Iowa in September, leaving the house with a not-so-trustworthy realtor (oh, the lessons we must learn).



In late March, the Cattleman arrived in time for lunch (11:55am), and he's been hungry ever since. Shortly after, the mailman rang the doorbell with a large package. What a red-letter day for our oldest daughter: a new baby to hold and new books to read! His birth is more of a story than that of course, but I'll not let myself get started on that sort of thing... btw, he was born at home in the sweet little farmhouse. (And Jodi, he's our twin I told you about.)





2001

Hmm, see, I'm feeling stumped already. We didn't have a new baby or a new house.

But I think it was the year we began to really learn of God's grace. In earnest.

We knew that we were in Iowa to stay because it was where God wanted us to be.

We had to leave a difficult church situation, so we visited several other churches in the area. We found our new home church in Cambridge. It was mid-summer, and it was like coming into the air conditioning from the fireside. It was good to be at peace again.

Our marriage relationship grew stronger, and I give credit to my husband. He had a new determination to love me like Christ loves the church.

What amazing grace.

Oh, and we took our first trip to Colorado and New Mexico to visit Tim's brother on the Navajo Reservation.

On Tuesday, September 11, we were having a family b-day party for Miss Music Box. I didn't have the TV on a lot during the day because I didn't want the kids more frightened than I already was. I did take them along to sit in line to buy gas as we anticipated the price to go up, up, up.



2002

Another new baby: the Popper. We had a hospital birth again - what a story there. Another reason for her middle name to be Grace. She was born on her due date (a miracle in itself), the day after the Cattleman's 2nd birthday.




Celebrated Tim's mom's 80th and my dad's 70th birthdays in April!

In August, Tim's niece Lynn got married ~ the Cowgirl decided at age 4 that she was big enough to be her flower girl. The older girls (all cousins) rang handbells after the ceremony.


We moved again in September - another rental but much nicer.


(No, I'm not planning to have another 6-month-old baby for next time we move ;-))

... to be continued!
(finding and scanning all the old photos takes time)

Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness... Psalm 65:11

Blessed be the Lord,
who daily loadeth us with benefits,
even the God of our salvation.

Psalm 68:19

Attempting to recap the ways God has shown us His goodness over the past year is a humbling challenge -- but we are thankful for His everlasting love and faithfulness. His grace and strength in the midst of trials. His mercies which are new every morning in spite of our repeated failures.

Our God is GOOD.

We have celebrated weddings, birthdays, and new babies, as well as the home-going of loved ones. We have laughed with friends and family. And cried.

At this very moment I am blessed to hear Miss Music Box pounding the piano with a beautiful arrangement of "Immortal, Invisible." I am thankful the provision of our wonderful piano and the teachers who continue to challenge and encourage our children to use their talents for God's glory.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,
but unto thy name give glory,
for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
Psalm 115:1

As we endeavor to build a house to use for His glory, as we seek His blessing on our efforts with livestock and land, as we teach our children by precept and example, may we always remember this God who has promised to never leave nor forsake us.

He has not promised an easy life, but a rewarding one as we live in light of eternity.

Merry CHRISTmas, part two

I found these glasses last week at the local second-hand charity shop. When my mom came for the birthday dinner, she confirmed my suspicion that they came from her house =) She & Dad were trying to not bother me with another hand-me-down. They are laughing, and so am I. Best five bucks I've spent in a long while.



Water in glass glasses, salad in a crystal bowl... what a royal feast!



My dad was horribly sick last weekend, so Mom came to dinner by herself. Thankfully he's feeling better finally - he probably wasn't laughing then!


Another pic from the chocolate coating marathon...



The Cattleman was a shepherd in the Christmas program. He is in the back row with a white tie on his head-covering. His and the Popper's classes sang most of the songs... which is why I have so many pics of the Popper yawning ;-)


The Cowgirl's pics are too dark. But here are the older girls (Miss Artist and Miss MusicBox) singing in a double duet...


MONDAY morning we headed up the road to Wisconsin to visit with most of Tim's family. This is his great-niece Miss B modeling Tim's White Elephant prize from earlier this month... lovely? (you're supposed to wind up the button on the nose, then the eyebrows and mustache go up and down -- you want one now, don't ya?)
We did have LOTS of fun and feasting together. =) Only 27 hours on the farm, but most of that was spent awake. Miss B even rode with us home to our house since we were traveling with Tim's NM brother (her grandpa) and family as they headed to Kansas City Tuesday, so the cousins enjoyed another six hours together.


We had the Napping Van, while Neil's was the Game-playing... (ever seen the card game Rage?) It was good travel until we hit questionable weather south of the Twin Cities, but the road was only wet the whole way that we could determine... just didn't want to be the first to learn otherwise.
Note for next time: Listening to (stressing about) chariot races etc. in Ben Hur audio is not helpful for not stressing about freezing rain...

WEDNESDAY
Tim called the part place about our washing machine pump assembly that he'd ordered online on the 15th... On Backorder?! He canceled that order and found it elsewhere... can you say LOCAL?! um, yeah, the store with my much-needed part was just half a mile from my grocery store. Oh well... I am a Laundry Queen again... in our very own basement =) (and I should probably go switch today's load #5?) I was actually still doing some Christmas shopping yesterday. Crazy. But I'm pleased with my 12th-hour final plan for the little gifts my siblings like to exchange. The bagger at the grocery store wanted to come to the party I was buying food for -- ha ha -- I love consumable gifts.

((uh oh, just remembered that Miss MusicBox and I don't have our grab-bag gifts ready... she wanted to bake bread... guess that's on tomorrow's list))

Recognize that bell, Lynn? =) Thinking of you!

Wednesday I also wrapped about a bazillion packages. 'nuff said?

TODAY I finished the sewing projects I need for tomorrow. (between loads of laundry and making chicken soup for my stomach-bugged family and catching up with Face Book and blogs) Sorry, no pictures until they are opened tomorrow!

And Miss Artist and her younger sisters made cut-out cookies... tomorrow they need frosting.

Miss MusicBox recuperated this afternoon with some piano practice. Tonight she had her brother (who says he's not the Professor... the Computer Geek, I guess then) do some recording... But her name is also The Perfectionist, so that's on tomorrow's list until it's finished... hopefully sometime in 2009 ;-)

Merry Christmas to All
and to All a Good Night!

merry CHRISTmas catch-up!

...the stockings were hung by the chimney with care (and still empty because tension curtain rods can only hold so much weight!)

FYI

...from the National Weather Service...

POTENTIALLY CRIPPLING WINTER STORM THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY...
.THE WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION IS BEGINNING TO TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW OVER NORTHWEST AND WESTERN SECTIONS OF IOWA. THE TRANSITION WILL BE DELAYED OVER SOME OF THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST COUNTIES UNTIL FRIDAY MORNING. THE MOST INTENSE PERIODS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY WITH ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL LINGERING INTO SATURDAY. IN ADDITION... INCREASING NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY WHICH WOULD CAUSE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW WITH DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS OVER MUCH OF WEST AND CENTRAL IOWA.

Thankfully, we aren't going very far to celebrate Christmas with my family. We're also hoping my brother's family and a niece & her family, who don't live quite so close, will be able to join us.

And to back up -- here's where we've been the past week:
Friday night, as I said, we went a bit crazy in the kitchen... cake, cookies, cookie mixes... and a big mess to show for it all.








SATURDAY
This is what happens to cream cheese frosting when you use Neufchatel. But it was another beautifully yummy strawberry cake.





The Artist enjoyed her presents as much as the wonderful dinner of calzones and Caesar salad with Grandma H here to celebrate with us! =) This box within boxes held a shiny penny from her siblings. "We all chipped in," teased her big sister.


I found these vases complete with flowers - at the local second-hand shop - earlier this year. They begged to come home to live with Miss Artist, and so here they are, already inspiring her to draw on her VERY OWN NEW white board!






SUNDAY
We drove part way to church in the snow. The interstate was icy we soon learned as we came upon a crunched car. We turned around at the next exit and saw more vehicles in the ditch on the way home. If we had the road to ourselves, it would have been good to continue on to church, but we had no idea if the roads would get better or worse... So, here's the Cattleman and the Popper having fun with our Bible felt figures at home.


The afternoon was spent with candy-making. Peanut-butter fudge, No-fail fudge, and dipping-dipping-dipping everything in chocolate! Tim requested an attempt at 'moon pies' - Miss MusicBox put marshmallow creme between graham crackers, then coated them in chocolate. (they taste rather like s'mores)



We did make it to church Sunday evening for the Sunday School Christmas program... The Popper is either yawning or singing - in back row at left end. ;-)
(sorry I didn't do any red-eye editing!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

...to be continued AFTER I feed my now-hungry Cattleman (recovering from a very quick stomach bug) AND finish my sewing projects!

no TIME to post

crazy. life is just plain crazy here.



I need a good dose of gratitude, so I am revisiting this theme tonight.

the pump in the washer broke. part is ordered... meanwhile, I've eliminated a LOT of quarters from our house. today it was $13 just for the washers at the laundromat.

a note of thanks: I'm incredibly thankful for a husband who can take something apart and determine what's wrong, then find the part online... and when it ever gets here, make the machine run like a charm again. :-)

and today, I took my youngest girls to help me fold the laundry when it was done. and since the thermostat on the Suburban said 32* I decided to take it through the carwash for a much-needed clean-up. The Popper hasn't been through the carwash that she can remember... (my poor, deprived children) So they were hilariously entertained. "Was that ONLY $5, Mom?!" I'm gonna remember that joy when she has money to spend and the thing needs a wash ;-)

Monday was again too cold for the builder to pour the upper walls of our new house. BUT Thursday lived up to the forecast for temps near 30 -- so it's D>O>N>E> And we are all glad about that! Thank you, Lord!

Psalm 127:1 is still on my mind =) And the gift item did come this week =) Hmm, guess who's stocking will hold that? (hint: the man who needs encouragement in this challenging-learning-curve project)
(should I tell you that I think I got it for F.R.E.E.? -- am I thankful?!)



I will choose to be thankful that our friend can't start on the roof next week, which frees Tim to take us to visit his family for a quick Christmas get-together. I haven't stopped to count how many people will be sleeping under one roof, but I did make & freeze a triple batch of taco rice casserole today to serve for a meal there. I love his family, and I will especially enjoy seeing some I haven't seen for TOO long. And, Lord willing, next summer we will see even more of that wonderfully big family at a wedding!

tonight, my big girls are busy in the kitchen (still). Miss Artist has a birthday tomorrow, so another strawberry layer cake is in the oven (since we didn't have any at last Saturday's fun party). And Miss MusicBox is working on a big batch of 'Peanut Butter Kisses' (pb cookies with chocolate stars instead of Kisses). Y.u.m.m.y.

Tim is home from rotating tires... And I want to be asleep before it's tomorrow (for a change)...

Good night! and Merry Last-week-before-Christmas!

As Sarah mentioned last week in church, I need to take time to be like Mary, 'who kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.' She and Jim sang, "Let My Heart Be Quiet." Very good. Thank you again, Sarah!

another recipe for chocolate aficionados

Triple-Chocolate Cookies (Cooks Country – Stephanie Alleyne)

makes 26 cookies

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 ½ c bittersweet chocolate chips (9 oz)

7 T butter, cut into pieces

2 tsp instant coffee (optional for us)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 c sugar

½ c all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ c semisweet chocolate chips

1. Melt unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chips, and butter in a heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water, stirring frequently, until completely smooth and glossy. Remove bowl from pan and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Stir coffee powder (opt) and vanilla extract together in small bowl until dissolved. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla-coffee mixture and beat until incorporated, 20 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add chocolate mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Using large rubber spatula, fold flour mixture and semisweet chips into batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes until batter firms up (it will more closely resemble thick brownie batter than cookie dough).
4. Meanwhile, adjust two oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350˚F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 heaping tablespoon batter per cookie, place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets – staggering rows to fit 13 cookies on each baking sheet. Bake until cookies are shiny and cracked on top, 11-14 minutes, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool completely on baking sheets before serving or storing.

“Tasters liked a relatively small amount of unsweetened chocolate balanced by equal amounts of bittersweet and semisweet. I found that premium bittersweet bar chocolates were actually too rich and greasy for this recipe. I had better luck with bittersweet chocolate chips, which contain less fat than the bars…

“…We especially like Hershey’s Special Dark and Ghiradelli Double Chocolate bittersweet chips.”

July 2009 -- Miss MusicBox used 3 oz. Baker’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate Squares, 8 oz. Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate (2 bars), and 9 oz. Guittard semisweet chocolate mini chips.

Note: the recommended Ghirardelli “Double Chocolate” bittersweet chips are now called “60% Cacao” – available in either chips or bar form.