Of Such is the Kingdom

$25 Sam's Club Giftcard Giveaway

2012-01-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

I am happy to share with you two great offers from Sam's Club! First off:

From February 1–29, 2012, you can get a $10Sam’s Club Gift Card when you purchase any two of the following baby items atSam’s Club:

• Pampers^® Swaddlers^® or Pampers Cruisers^® Diapers

• Pampers SoftCare^™ Scented Baby Wipes

• Similac^® Advance^® Powder or Similac Sensitive^® Powder

• Dreft^® Liquid Laundry Detergent

So stock up on your baby basicstoday and save even more at Sam’s Club!

For more offer details, visit SamsClub.com/giftcardoffer.Online request must be submitted by March14, 2012.

And, my personal favorite: free groceries/supplies from Sam's!

One lucky blog follower willwin $25 in Sam’s Club Gift Cards!

To enter, become a follower ofmy blog and leave me a comment telling me one money-saving idea.

For additional entries (pleaseleave a separate comment for each):

• Become a fan on Of Such is the Kingdom's Facebookpage--Double wammy: once I have 100 followers there, I'm giving away these nine cool date night gifts!

• Follow me on Twitter: yeah, I'm new at this but find me at KingdomOlivia.

• Tweet, blog, Facebook, etc.this giveaway (comment once for each). Hey, you can even get an extra entry for pinning this! Just leave me a comment that you have.

The winner will be drawn on Friday, February 3 by random.org and will be announced on a blog post thatsame day. U.S. residents only.

Happy shopping! and Happy winning!

p.s. Maybe I should be buying diapers to get ready for our new child???! Maybe, "If you buy them, he (or she) will come..."

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Fashion Olivia

2012-01-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

Remember back in the day when I used to do a fashion post every now and then? I did it partly because there is kind of a fear among mommas about posting their own pictures on their blogs. I don't know if I did it to stand up to that fear in general or to beat it in my own head or both, but I do think fashion is kind of fun. So here's a bit of what I've been wearing lately:

dress: from the hubby in our first years of marriage, boots: old, belt: ???

hair: yes, there's a sock in there! Thank you pinterest for a lovely idea to make my hair look big in a bun. It's a bit hard to just write it out, but what you do is 1. put your hair in a ponytail. 2. cut the toe out of a sock and slide the sock over your pony tail. 3. starting at the end of the sock and your pony tail, roll the sock outwards being sure to roll your hair with it. And really, that's all you do. It stays without any pins or anything. Pretty cool.

dress: another one my hubby bought me--from the Limited this Christmas, boots: same old ones

necklace and bracelet: Charming Charlie (thanks Abby!)

hair: a little gel, a little scrunching, and a little drying on low and wow, it's frizzy and curly!

Emery Jo, this one's for you! When invited to a Roaring 20's party, I tried putting my headband over my hair styled straight, but that just made me look like a hippy. So I just scrunched all my hair up and rolled it up over the back of the headband. And voila! short hair.

lace blouse: Kohl's, black skirt: old from Walmart, shoes: Naturalizer ($8 on DSW's sale rack)

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Open My Hands

2012-01-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

I've announced this here, but you're going to hear more and more and more about it (if you keep reading):
Our family is adopting.
We feel the call to adopt domestically.
For many communities, adoption is kind of radical, considered only for the super-parents among us.
Well, just for the record, we're not super parents.
But in our community, adoption has become almost normal lately. There are five families in the adoption process right now at our church and others are thinking about joining us.
Most of those families are adopting from Haiti or Uganda or China, so a domestic adoption almost seems tame compared to that!
But all of that is just randomness. What I really want to say today about adoption applies to all of life really.
This past weekend I had a minor breakdown because of the timing issue in adoption. It's soon to never, they say, and that really sent me for a loop this weekend. I was arguing with God, "But I feel called to adoption NOW, Lord."
And I'm not afraid that He's not in control or that He doesn't know what's best or that ultimately He's not a good God.
I'm afraid of the waiting! I'm afraid of the trials we might be called to go through to be sanctified and/or to show others how God comforts us through trial.
I worked myself into a crying mess, really.
And then I was invited to speak about the PRC I work with on Sanctity of Life Sunday at a church just down the road from us. My little talk went well, and guess what (surprise, surprise!) the pastor spoke exactly the words I needed to hear. First there was this song that nearly undid me:

I Asked The Lord

1. I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face

2. Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair

3. I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest

4. Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part

5. Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low

6. Lord why is this, I trembling cried
Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?
"Tis in this way" The Lord replied
"I answer prayer for grace and faith"

7. "These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thy all in me."

If you didn't actually read it, please back up and do. John Newton wrote it,
but I can tell you that I know exactly what he was feeling when he did so!

What the pastor said, and what I really needed to hear, is that we often have
our own version of the future and when God doesn't go along with that version,
we get moody, depressed, and yes, even angry with Him.

I have so done that about this adoption.

I have a version of a little four month process that ends happily and easily with a
successful adoption. And this past weekend I realized that God's version of the
future might very well be completely different. And after I heard that sermon on
Sunday, I find that I am feeling very called that during this wait,this "soon to never"
wait, my song should not be, "Why, God?" or "Look how beaten down I am

in this sore trial!"

My song should be "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" and

"Open My Hands"

by Sara Groves

I believe in a blessing I don't understand

I’ve seen rain fall on wicked and the just

Rain is no measure of his faithfulness

He withholds no good thing from us

No good thing from us, no good thing from us

I believe in a peace that flows deeper than pain

That broken find healing in love

Pain is no measure of his faithfulness

He withholds no good thing from us

No good thing from us, no good thing from us

I will open my hands, will open my heart

I am nodding my head an emphatic yes

To all that You have for me

I believe in a fountain that will never dry

Though I've thirsted and didn't have enough

Thirst is no measure of his faithfulness

He withholds no good thing from us

No good thing from us, no good thing from us

I will open my hands, will open my heart

I am nodding my head an emphatic yes

To all that You have for me

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Tomorrow is Sanctity of Life Sunday

2012-01-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

Sanctity of Life Sunday is a memorial of the decision to make abortion legal in the Roe vs. Wade court case. We do not remember so that we can accuse or hate but so that we can mourn with and share the hope of Jesus Christ with those who mourn lost babies. And so that we celebrate the importance and holiness of life.

I will be speaking at a local church this Sunday on behalf of the pregnancy resource center where I am a board member. Here is (roughly) what I will share:

Imagine that you are a sixteen year old girl. You had a boyfriendwho you were sure loved you, but he has since moved on to other girls, and

you find that you are pregnant.

Your mother encourages an abortion. Your friendsmake snide remarks and tell about how easy abortion is.

The former boyfriend threatens you if you don’t.

Perhaps even your doctor says that with a smallten-minute procedure your pregnancy can be over.

You're scared, you're vulnerable and you have noone to turn to.

This and many other scenarios are behind thegirls who walk through the door at Choices Pregnancy Resource Center.

On the week of January 2-6, 40 girls walkedthrough the doors at our two locations. They found sympathetic ears willing tolisten. They were able to take a free pregnancy test and receive confidential,Biblical counseling.

Out of those 40, 18 received a positive on theirpregnancy test. And the number of those who will probably carry and parenttheir baby? One.

Many people assume that abortion is yesterday'sissue. Or maybe since our city has no abortion clinic, we get a little lax inour prayers and actions for this issue.

But this IS today’s issue. The same God who isfather to the fatherless and defender of widows also forms each baby in thewomb!

Nationally there are over 1.2 million babiesaborted each year. And our state accounts for 39,820 of those. That number isso astronomical—39,820 babies in one year.

90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome areaborted and

40% of women ages 18-40 have had an abortion,half of these women have had more than one.

Almost all abortions are done as a means ofbirth control. Only a very small portion are performed because of rape orincest, fetal abnormalities or a risk to the mother.

Choices Pregnancy Resource Center is there tohelp the mother in crisis in any way they can.

The choices we represent are:

Parenting—raising a child

Adoption—this is the most difficult for many girls tomake

Abortion—sold as a solution by the media, but reallyjust adds to the problems with a life-time of emotional aftermath

Along with presenting the options, Choicesalso---

**Gives out maternity clothes, baby clothes,and baby equipment.

**Offers post-abortion counseling, a 24 hourhotline, childbirth classes, and ultrasounds.

Many girls who are set on an abortion changetheir minds completely after those ultrasounds, by the way. It is a greatblessing to be able to offer that ministry.

**Gives out std information andreferrals for medical care, social services, and legal assistance.

I am on the board at Choices, but the main way I am most involved is by teaching an "ABCs of Baby Care"class to those moms who have chosen to carry and parent. We build relationships with them, pray over themand pass on information about parenting their babies.

Please join us by praying for all pregnancy resource centers!

*Pray for the girls who are discovering they arepregnant.

**Pray that adoption would become a morepositive word in the field of crisis pregnancies—many girls would much ratherabort than consider adoption.

**Pray for the girls who make ultrasoundappointments to keep those appointments!

**Pray for the staff to have the right words tospeak at the right time—to be gentle and bold with each girl who walks in.

**Pray for the babies who are born to theseyoung moms.

**Pray for the board members to makewise and Spirit-filled decisions.

**Pray forthe funds to keep our doors open and all our services running.

**Pray forawareness and an end to abortion.

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{six word saturday}

Momma Daughter Date

2012-01-18T04:01:00.000-08:00

We made our own cake in a mug.

(Something like this)

The oldest chose all our foods:

Ramen noodles, croissants, and pomegranate juice.

We watched Soul Surfer, a movie the oldest got for Christmas that she has been waiting (and waiting) to watch. I highly recommend the movie. My only hesitation is all the bikinis--and even that was pretty mild for what it could have been...

After the movie we did a little hair and nails.

And then visited a local vintage clothing store we've both been wanting to see.

It was a great mother-daughter date, and I hope there are many more to come!

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10 Healthy Kid-friendly Snacks

2012-01-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

I don't know about your families, but mine is all about snacks. Basically, if I allowed it, all three children would happily snack themselves through the day and skip meals entirely. Okay, and yes, you got me, so would I. The kids sometimes behave this way though they've never (ahem, okay, only occasionally) been actually allowed to behave this way.
We do have three meals at the table together on most days. But still, when 10am and 3:30pm roll around the kids are eager for a snack. I'm not a complete snack nazi; I do allow the occasional candy bar or cookie--but we try to differentiate between those and snacks by calling anything super sweet (and with little or no nutritional value) a "treat." When my son says he is hungry and then asks for a twizzler, I (hopefully gently) correct him by saying, "Bud, that's a treat, not a snack. It won't help your tummy feel full at all." I hope to be able to help them establish good habits without becoming stressed about always eating healthy.
All of that being said, keeping healthy snacks on hand is quite a challenge. Here's a list of snacks we try to have available for the 10 and 3:30 munchies.

from Costco

1. Dried edamame is a snack we just recently discovered. Since the kids were super hungry when I first offered it, they all took it and enjoyed it. Edamame is soybeans boiled with salt. The dried version is a lot like nuts. They have tons of protein and are sufficiently snacky for the younger set.
2. Whenever possible, I like to have homemade options on hand, and these Easy Granola Bars are still a favorite around here. (seen here and here as well)
3. Muffins, muffins, and muffins! You can do so much with that one little bread. This list includes a fruit/veggie muffin that is very versatile and healthy and applesauce oatmeal muffins that would be great for breakfast or snack. There's another fruit muffin recipe here.

also from Costco

4. Dried fruit and nuts: There are tons of trail mix options out there, from the very, very healthy to the not-so-much. Even with chocolate chips or M&Ms, it's going to be more filling and (at least slightly) more healthy than another sweet snack.
5. Pretzels are our go-to salty, starchy snack. There are so many different kinds of pretzels out there with an amazing range of price. We try different ones in different months. My fave is the honey wheat pretzel sticks. I never thought I liked mixing sweet and salty all that much, but the slight sweetness to these is yummy!

one last Costco find

6. I have to admit that fruit rollups are a favorite of mine, and the more like fruit leather, the better. I highly recommend these homemade fruit leather snacks or these homemade gummies. But if you're cheap and lazy like me, you could also go for the healthified fruit rollup.
7. Do your kids enjoy playing with their food? Make it possible with this Edible Play Dough!
8. Sometimes the kids come and ask for a second snack. If it's far enough away from meal time, I usually give the free reign with the fruits and vegetables drawer in the refrigerator. Baby carrots, chopped sweet peppers, apples, oranges, and pears are usually (And by usually I mean for up to a week after we take a big shopping trip) ready for extra hungry kiddos.
9. And of course there is the wonderful, magic, amazing cheese! My kids are picky about their cheese. They will only eat the mozzarella cheese sticks, but they'll eat cheddar melted on anything (grilled cheese, rollups, etc). When I know that dinner is going to be late or on those rare occasions when we're snacking our way through lunch time, cheese sticks come in quite handy!

10. And to finish off, here's a great list of 22 Healthy Snacks for Kids. Some of them are admittedly only healthyish, but there are some great ideas!
Happy snacking!

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{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

Silver Shoes

2012-01-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

You might remember that my youngest was an angel. And for some reason I felt like she needed sparkly silver shoes to make her angelic. We looked at several shoe stores while out one day and couldn't find any in her size, so I took the matter into my own hands, and she's been wearing the result almost daily since. They aren't perfect (not really angelic material, I guess) but she loves them and they were free, so that's a definite plus.

In the attic we have a gigantic box of old shoes. (GIGANTIC!) Most of them are well worn, but this is the box I go to when I notice the youngest's shoes getting a bit tight. Or when I need a pair of shoes to sparkle-fy.

I cleaned the shoes as best as I could then I:

1. Coated them with tacky glue.

2. Covered the glue with silver glitter.

3. Sprayed the whole thing with spray adhesive.

There may be better ways to keep the glitter from getting everywhere, but I had all this on hand. For the first couple of times she wore the shoes, she still made glitter trails all over the house, but they've settled down now and she only gets glitter on something when she actually rubs her shoe against it (somehow this happens to my dress every Sunday as she wiggles in my lap during church).

Glitter everywhere! Some people (i.e. the hubby) have a thing about cleaning up glitter, but somehow to me it's a bit like cleaning up magic, and I really don't mind that we still have little sparkles between some of our old floor boards in the kitchen.

And I guess they did make her a bit more angelic for our home Christmas pageant.

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Cold Weather Boredom Busters

2012-01-11T04:24:00.000-08:00

Have an elegant tea party.

(Boys like this too--you'd be surprised!)

Make snowflakes.

Visit an indoor play area.

Play in the snow!

p.s. coat and snow boots required.

Go hiking.

Visit a transportation museum.

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10 Yummy Vegetable Dishes

2012-01-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

I've been pinning a lot of vegetables lately, and I thought you guys might like a peek.

1. Stuffed Zucchini

2. Best Baked Broccoli This sounds so easy!

3. Roasted Vegetables with creamy polenta!

4. Broccoli Cauliflower Soup Unfortunately (for me) this one calls for cream cheese--I'll just have to figure out an alternative so that my tummy doesn't hate me!

5. You can regrow your own celery. We have celery in the fridge right now, and my crafty, gardener of a daughter will love me forever if I let her plant and water it in an indoor pot.

6. Alfredo with Chicken and Vegetables This is on my "try it very soon" list!

7. Chicken Sausage Pasta with Brussel Sprouts The hubby and I recently had a brussel sprouts dish at a party, and I've been craving them ever since.

8. 15 Vegetable Soup The kids are pretty good about eating soup--I think making one full of yummy veggies is an excellent idea.

9. Vegetables in Pastry There's no recipe at this site, but I found this recipe at allrecipes that might make something similar.

10. Zucchini Lasagna Another one I'm trying soon--who knew that you could make lasagna without lasagna noodles.

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{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

What We're Reading and Watching

2012-01-06T05:05:00.000-08:00

I am reading The Book of God and loving it! It is a great way to get an overview picture of the Bible as long as you remind yourself that it is a fictional rendering. I love the parts that Wangerin decides to dramatize a bit more. I've always loved Biblical fiction and this is, in my opinion, something in between the normal Biblical fiction and just reading the Bible. There is something about Wangerin's writing that keeps the feel of Scripture.

Right now I'm reading my 8yo and 6yo the first Harry Potter book. We'll probably stop there for now, possibly reading the next one next year. They are enjoying it, though the sensitive 6yo was a bit scared of the ending.

On the advice of some good friends, we've been watching a lot of Phineas and Ferb around here. I have the utmost respect for the creators of a cartoon that can capture both adults and children with equal enthusiasm. I have often discarded the tv as something to be avoided if possible, but I've realized that P and F have brought us closer together as a family! We talk and laugh about certain scenes at dinner. Daddy gets everyone rolling with his Doofenshmirtz impersonations, and I do believe we talk about Candace as much as we talk about any real person! Sometimes our dinner conversations can be adults vs. kids (ever tried to have a serious conversation when the kids are coming up with siren sounds or trying out alliterative phrases at louder and louder increments?) so a common, interesting subject is very welcome!

This is a great read that I'm excited to start. Katie is young, but has much to teach Jesus-followers of every age.

Kisses from Katie reminded me of this book that I read cover to cover in college. I just snagged it off the shelf the other night and read some snippets. These entries are from when Jim and Betty Elliot were in college and just out of it, but the depth and understanding is extraordinary! I love the way their love story is told from his perspective and I learned something valuable about my own husband just by reading a few of his entries. This is a great read!

My oldest's first real Bible had the story of Bethany Hamilton told in it, and since then, the oldest has been fascinated by this girl and her story. For Christmas I got her the movie and the plan is that we will have a Momma and oldest date sometime very soon. We're going to send the others off on play dates and order in food (or make our own together) and watch the movie just the two of us.

I got the last book in the Inheritance Cycle for Christmas, and I'm looking forward to reading all of these books through again. I'm fascinated by the story and by the fact that the author was so young when he started writing them.

I'm looking forward to adding this book to our daily routine. The hubby particularly asked for it when I asked him how we could work daily devotions in with the kids. I think it will be a great motivation to keep up with our readings because it has one for each day of the year.

This is going to be our next read aloud. The oldest got some of this series for Christmas and I'm eager to check them out.
**I'm ending with a blog read because it's my latest online fascination. Ever heard of the Dennings? They have a blog called Discover. Share. Inspire. They are modern nomads--a family of 7 who have no home but spend their days exploring together. They are currently journeying from Alaska to Argentina in a vegetable-powered truck (with a tent on the back). I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon (hee hee) or anything, but I am very interested in that idea that life is an adventure (see my header). I've enjoyed reading about their adventures.

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Visit the Past

2012-01-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

One thing that always surprises me about the children is when they beg, beg, beg for stories about our childhood. And they love stories about the hubby's childhood even more than stories about mine.

The hubby has always told them about visiting a certain park repeatedly with his Grandpa as he grew up. It's where his Grandpa taught him to skip rocks.

It's where a love for hiking and nature was encouraged.

And it's where we were able to take a lovely walk with the kids while we were visiting at Christmas.

A few things have changed--

like the old trail now being a paved sidewalk,

but many things haven't.

We wondered at how there could still be flat round rocks just laying about at his old favorite place to skip rocks. Imagine the hundreds, even thousands of rocks that have been skipped here.

The hubby was truly in his element as he taught his oldest two how to hold, throw, and skip rocks over the water.

And I was in my element as I snapped pics and watched, beaming.

Loving every moment.

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10 Helps for Service and Sacrifice

2012-01-03T05:12:00.000-08:00

On Sunday our pastor made a statement that I hope rings in my head all year long. He said, "I can't say it strongly enough. There has been a murder in the church!

Safety and security have slaughtered

Service and sacrifice!"

He was talking about in the church--the church in the broader sense

and our church specifically, I'm sure.

He was talking about in the Christian's heart.

In my heart.

I have known this for years--known it and believed it.

(See this post with the rest of this quote:

"Because what they're actually feeling in their heart, I think, is the word of Jesus, which is saying to them, "No, I didn't make you for safety. I made you to go build my kingdom and transform the world.")

And yet I forget to live it.

I live in my nice house with all my stuff; I even complain about all my stuff! I have my husband coming home each evening; I even complain when he's late! I have my healthy kids; I even complain when they wake up in the night!

I'm sure you get the picture. My safety and security have bred an ugly ungratefulness.

How do we counteract this? What can I do?

Our pastor gave a few bits of advice woven into the rest of his sermon (on Matthew 10, by the way).

1. Do what you cannot do. Live risky. Ask for the Holy Spirit's power. And all good things come from Him, so all of the following are really part of #1.

2. Start with who you know. This is the hardest thing, isn't it? I can serve and sacrifice right now by lovingly greeting my kiddos when they wake up, making breakfast with joy and spending the day loving them.

3. Give as freely as we have received. Really, could we ever match His generosity? He gave His own Son!

4. Trust that God will provide. This is very easy to say (or type) but it is definitely refer back to #1 for the actual doing.

5. Live this: "Christianity defined is the most dangerous special operation. Someone may well die. Someone already has."

6. Go every day. Disadvantage myself for those who are lost so that they will receive the advantage of the Kingdom and the Gospel.

7. Speak it every day. It may feel a bit corny at first to bring up the Bible often to your children or your husband. It often feels contrived to me. But I believe in Deuteronomy 6. I believe that Scripture is woven beautifully into our lives, so there is beauty in speaking it!

8. Go to work. If I see myself as a contented slave laborer, what won't I be willing to do? And really, if there is any possibility that this would bring me closer to Him here or in heaven, what wouldn't I do for that?!

9. Nothing can stand in the way. Nothing can stop His grace. He is all powerful. I want to live this way, you know? I want to live as a daughter of the King--never ruffled because I know that my Daddy is in control. Fearless, confident and humble.

10. Live simply dependent. I'm going to spend the rest of my life figuring this one out.

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Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T14:50:00.000-08:00

For many years I resisted the whole "New Year's Resolutions" thing, probably just because I'm stubborn like that. But lately, I've seen beauty in making year-long plans. Here are a few of mine for the coming year. They also qualify as prayer requests, and it'll be fun to look back and see what God has done at the end of 2012.

Read the Bible through again. I think I'd like to read portions of the OT and NT each day, and I'd love to add some daily journaling/written prayers to that.
Have some babies! The hubby and I are turning in paper work for adoption very soon, and oh, how I would love to meet that child this year! (or children, I'm just saying.)
Do something a tiny bit funky: Maybe get a new earring and a strip of red hair??
Go on a trip (cost efficiently, of course) with my two roomies from college. It's been too long, girls, it's time for some major re-connecting and a lot of girl FUN!
Have more dates with my older kiddos. I would really love to take each of them out on a special date at least twice this year. I spend a lot of time with the youngest while the oldest two are at their tutorial (4 days a week, 3 hours a day), but I rarely take just the oldest or just the boy out.
Write and publish a children’s book: Who Loves You the Most? to raise money for adoption. More details coming soon.
Have a huge yard sale/bake sale/craft sale to raise money for adoption.
Follow some of those healthy suggestions that are floating around out there (see Pinterest!) Eat fewer sweets, work out at least twice a week at the Y and maybe make a walking date with a friend? Watch portions, sleep well, make a big deal out of sitting down with my family to eat.
Honor the hubby. I'm usually going goo goo over him (he's very, handsome!) and all that, but I know he feels less than honored when I have a hard time believing his "I love you's."
Worry less, rejoice more. Complain less, give thanks more. Say yes more than I say no. Enjoy my children. Laugh more. Basically I'm calling for more sanctification here, Lord!

So those are a few of my New Year's prayer requests/plans for what it's worth.

Have a wonderful 2012!

"Then the Lord said..."Now you will see what I will do..." Exodus 6:1

Best of 2011: Zucchini Recipes

2011-12-30T05:42:00.000-08:00

One last "Best of" Recipe List:
So this week's obsession is zucchini. Probably because summer is coming and I love vegetable stands and great prices on in season veggies...or maybe just because I found a lot of zucchini recipes this week that are calling my name. Either way, here are ten mouth watering recipes that all center around that famous herbaceous plant.
1. Summer Garden Pasta Zucchini turns pasta into a side dish extraordinaire!
2. Sweet Potato Zucchini Bites Healthy + yummy + sweet = AMAZING!
3. Zucchini Tomato Pie Where has this summer staple been all my life? I'll certainly be "tweaking" this recipe soon--maybe adding some chopped ham?
4. Zucchini-Olive Couscous This zucchini recipe has the added bonus of being something my family will actually eat without having to be coerced! They will eat anything with green olives!
5. Zucchini, Mushroom, and Ricotta Salad Okay, so the fam wouldn't touch this one, but yum, does it sound good to me!! Maybe I'll have to have a girlfriend over as an excuse to make it. : )
6. Zucchini Grinders Part veggie lasagna, part sandwich and all yummy!
7. Apple Zucchini Squares These are pure genius! And you've gotta go read the first comment in which the blogger's hubby gives them a five star rating. (and I think that's pretty sweet!)
8. Squash and Zucchini Casserole Plain and simple gets my vote every time!
9. Picnic Zucchini Bean Salad Beans=protein, so this one could be a whole meal, don't you think?
10. Chocolate Zucchini Cake What better way to end a list of ten on Of Such is the Kingdom than a chocolate cake?

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Best of 2011: Fall Freshen Up

2011-12-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

Looking back at this post is reminding me that I really want to "freshen up" the porch for each season. Maybe you'll see another post like this decorated for winter in January.

It's nothing really super exciting, just moving around some porch furniture, buying a few pumpkins ($6 for 3 at Aldi!) and spending $13 at Michaels for some silk leaves, foam pumpkins, and silk flowers. But I feel for once like our porch actually reflects our family's love for the season!

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Best of 2011: Chocolate Cake

2011-12-29T05:38:00.000-08:00

I need to write an ode to chocolate cake! Oh, how I love thee!
If you've read any of my Top 10 Recipe Posts, then you probably know that I love chocolate cake. So today's Top 10 will be ENTIRELY made up of the wonderful, the chocolatey, and most of all the cake!
Recently a friend suggested the Hershey's Kitchens site to me. How could I have missed this? On doing a little bit of exploring, I discovered that they have 100's (maybe even 1000s!) of chocolate cake recipes! Wow! I think it's my dream website!
Here are ten of those hundreds that I can't wait to try.

1. Deep Dark Chocolate Cake--this is a classic, moist dark chocolate cake. The recipe calls for buttercream frosting, but I might serve it with vanilla ice cream and thisDeep Dark Fudge topping.
2. Lavish Chocolate Cake--This one calls for both a mousse filling and a ganache and features raspberries. Yum!
3. One Bowl Chocolate Cake--Yeah for easy chocolate cake recipes! This one features an orange frosting. I might try it with that, or go for that buttercream frosting from the Deep Dark Cake above.

4. Celebration Chocolate Cake--With sour cream in the recipe, this one promises to be very moist! It definitely makes me want to celebrate!
5. Chocolate Swirl Cake--This one is a little bit lighter on the chocolate side (hey, even I can understand that some people need a slight break from heavy chocolate every once in a while!) but is heavy on the wow factor.
6. Passover Chocolate Banana Cake--Yes, this might just be a healthy chocolate cake! It looks like snack to me!
7. Black Magic Cake--Here's a little coffee for those coffee lovers out there; I'm not a huge coffee person, but I do love the name!

8. Festive Chocolate Mint Dessert--This one isn't technically listed as a cake, but we've got to get the mint in there, don't we? I LOVE chocolate and mint together, and this dessert looks heavenly!
9. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes--I don't think I have much to say about these except a resounding, "Yum!"
10. Mocha Molten Chocolate Cake--This one fits my highest chocolate cake requirements: lots of chocolate and served warm.
So serve a little chocolate cake, and have a great week!

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Best of 2011: 9 Dates Wedding Gift

2011-12-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Give dates as a wedding gift!

Give all nine or break them up for smaller gifts.

(Or perhaps just go out and buy some of this stuff for yourself!)

From the top:

1. Mix-it-up Drink Date

2. Movie and Popcorn Date

3. Play a Game Date

4. S'more Lovin' Date

5. It's in the Cards Date

6. Candlelit Dinner Date

7. You're My Sugar Rush Date

8. Spa Date

9. Let's Go to the Park Date

I wrapped all of mine and plopped them in one of those large plastic (ice) bins.

At $3-10 a date, this made a nice gift for some close friends. Any combination of these dates could be used depending on how much you would like to spend.

Happy gift-giving!

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Best of 2011: Food Remixing

2011-12-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

I was a bit proud of this idea, so this is a favorite post I would pick as well:

Food Remixing Repost

Here's a post first shown on Of Such is the Kingdom on Feb. 22, 2011and worth reposting. Maybe it'll simplify summer cooking for you!

Have any of you been keeping up with the new movement in the fashion world called "remixing"? It's actually a trendy bringing back of the very old idea of mixing up your clothes. This blogger is the queen of remixing and is sponsoring a "30 for 30" challenge right now. If you take the challenge, you can only wear a carefully chosen 30 items of clothing (and shoes) for 30 days. Pretty interesting, right?
Well, last night I got to thinking. This is exactly the way I cook! I get hooked on about 30 items and use them over and over in different ways. So, today's post will show you how to do that. Here are 30 main ingredients that will make you at least 30 (3 x top ten!) different meals.

Along with baked or grilled meat with a starch and vegetable on the side, this is what I cook for my family. Here's how to make this remixing chart work for you:

1. Choose a meat, a starch, and a veggie.

2. Decide on presentation: casserole, pie, cold salad, etc.

3. Decide on a topping (opt.)

4. Start mixing.

Chicken and rice with cream sauce and frozen peas is what we had for dinner last night (and it got rave reviews from everyone.)

*Try mixing ham, pasta, cheese sauce and broccoli and baking for 20 minutes for another yummy casserole.

*Mix tuna and chopped boiled eggs with mayo for a cold salad.

*Saute chopped, cooked pork (or chicken or ham) with cooked rice, peas and carrots, scrambled eggs, and soy sauce for a yummy stir fried rice.

Get the idea? I've never thought of it this way before, but this is basically all I do to feed our family for the 300 or so nights that I cook each year!

*Cream/cheese sauce. Melt 2T butter over medium heat in sauce pan, add 2T flour and whisk until just brown. Add 2C of milk and stir constantly until thickened. Add 2 bullion cubes and stir until dissolved. For cream sauce, reduce milk to 1 1/2 cups and add 2/3 cup mozzarella. For cheese sauce, add 2C of sharp cheddar. I make mine like this because I'm lactose intolerant and I can use soy milk instead of regular milk. If I weren't lactose intolerant, I might make my own or I might cheat and use cream soup!

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Best of 2011: Top Ten Frugal Meals

2011-12-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

Including a grocery made this list stand out a bit from other lists of foods:

Top Ten Frugal Meals

I'm going to try something a little different today for my top ten recipes. I'm giving you a grocery list (with approximate prices) to go with ten very frugal meals. This list will include everything, but most of you will have many of these very simple ingredients already.
To make
1. Cheeseburger Pie Make your own pie crust.
2. Sloppy Joe Buns just fill buns with 1 lb. ground meat mixed with sloppy joe sauce.
3. Whole chicken  (cover with oil and italian seasoning, bake for about 3 hours until juices run clear), biscuits, and broccoli. Pick all leftover chicken off bones and reserve for chicken soup.

4. Pancakes and Sausage
5. Mac and Cheese with ground turkey and broccoli
     Boil 1 box elbow macaroni according to directions. Melt 2 T butter in sauce pot. Add 2 T AP flour and whisk. Cook on medium just until brown. Whisk in 2 cups milk. Stir until beginning to thicken. Add 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until all cheese is melted. Mix cooked macaroni, cheese sauce, 1 lb. cooked ground meat and 1 1/2 cupped cooked and chopped frozen broccoli. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
6. Homemade pizza Use this recipe for the crust. Bakeat 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. Take out of oven and spread pizza sauce, 1 bag of mozzarella cheese and pepperonis. Bake until cheese is melted.
7. Grits Casserole
8. Chicken Soup Put 1 cup uncooked rice, leftover chicken, bag of mixed veg, italian spices, and bullion to taste in a pot with about 8 cups of water. Cook until rice is done and vegetables are tender. Serve with leftover biscuits or saltine crackers.
9. Black Beans Burritos--substitute regular rice and make your own flour tortillas
10. Lentil Soup--cook lentils according to package directions. Add 5 chopped carrots, 2 chopped potatoes, and chicken bullion to taste.
For these ten recipes you will need:
2 lbs. ground turkey (about $2)
1 lb. ground beef (about $3)
     (when you get home from grocery store, cook all 3 lbs. ground meat together. Put in three separate baggies. So each bag will have 2/3 ground turkey and 1/3 ground beef.)
1 whole chicken (around $4.50)
2 lbs. ground sausage (about $4)
1 bag pepperonis (about $2)
1 bag lentils (about $2)
1 can black beans (about $1)
1 can yellow corn (about $.75)
1 can tomato sauce (about $.50)
1 jar pizza sauce (about $1)
1 box of saltine crackers (about $2)
1 bag rice (about $2)
1 jar chicken bullion cubes (about $3)
1 can sloppy joe sauce (about $1.50)
italian seasoning (about $1)
dry mustard powder (about $2)
canola oil (about $2)
worcestershire sauce (about $2)
1 box elbow macaroni (about $1)
1 huge bag frozen broccoli (about $5)
2 bags frozen vegetables (for sides, about $2)
1 bag frozen mixed veg-carrots, peas, and corn (about $1)
1 deep dish pie crust (about $1)
1 bag carrots (about $1)
2 large potatoes (about $2)
onion soup mix (about $2)
1 green pepper (about $1)
3 8oz. bags of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 8 oz. bag of mozzarella
and 1 8 oz. bag of mexican blend cheese (got these for $1.25/bag at BiLo=$6.25)
1 5 lb. bag AP flour (about $2)
1 5 lb. bag whole wheat flour (about $3)
1 small tub vegetable shortening (about $3)
1 small bag of white corn grits (about $2)
1 bag light brown sugar (about $2)
1 container baking powder ($1)
3 envelopes rapid rise yeast ($4)
1 gallon milk (about $4)
1 dozen eggs (about $2)
1 box butter (about $3)
1 jar salsa (about $3)
sour cream/yogurt (for black bean burritos) (about $2)
Total $89.50--- So if you have absolutely none of these in your pantry, you could fix these 10 meals (and have lots of the supplies left over) for under $90! And if you use coupons and shop deals, I'm sure you could even cut this total down by $15 or $20!

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Best of 2011: Cake Balls and Meatball Soup

2011-12-27T05:29:00.000-08:00

This one is really cheating because it was originally posted in 2010, but I think it got more views when I reposted it!

Cake Balls and Meatball Soup

Repost originally from November 20, 2010.

I have been wanting to try these since a friend made these for her boys' birthday party, so when we needed a treat to make the oldest's birthday special at school, we dove right in. And I do mean that literally. The fun thing about cake balls is that you really get to use your hands! The oldest really enjoyed helping!

Step 1: Bake a cake mix according to directions and allow to cool.

Step 2: Dump that cake into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a whole container of icing.

We used a strawberry cake mix and a strawberry icing.

During this process I caught myself complaining that the little flakes in the strawberry cake mix were actually strawberry candy and had absolutely no nutritional value. Then, abashedly, I realized these cake balls are for fun and are not meant to be anywhere near healthy!!

Step 3: Form icing and cake mix into small balls (an inch or inch and a half in diameter).

Step 4: Place cake balls in freezer for an hour or more to harden.

Believe me, you don't want to leave this step out! I couldn't figure out why my cake balls were falling apart, so I called the friend I mentioned above. She soon set me straight, and the frozen cake balls were much easier to work with!

Step 5: Melt chocolate chips on the stove top according to the directions on the bag. Place cake balls into chocolate and gently roll with a spoon. Scoop out of chocolate, place on wax paper or foil. Stick a lollipop stick into the top and sprinkle (if desired) with colored sprinkles.

There are tons of variations for these out there; I can imagine these as a big hit at any party!

And as for real food this week, how about a little meatball soup? (I guess I'm in to eating round items this week!) I put this together with some corn muffins last night for a great rainy day meal:

Meatball Soup

1 pound turkey

2 t Italian seasoning

1/2 cup cracker crumbs

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg

Mix ingredients for meatballs, form balls and brown on the stove.

1 gallon water

2 cans diced Italian seasoning tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

6 beef bullion cubes

8 oz. elbow pasta

3 carrots, diced

1 cup frozen corn

Bring water and next 3 ingredients to a boil. Add carrots and meatballs. After 3 minutes add elbow pasta. After 3 more minutes add frozen corn. Quickly bring back to a boil. Simmer all ingredients for another 10 to 20 minutes.

For the rest of the week we'll be having leftovers, homemade pizza, zucchini bread, green beans and baked chicken, and taco salad.

Have fun and enjoy!

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Best of 2011: Specific Carbohydrate Recipes

2011-12-26T05:28:00.000-08:00

This week I'll be reposting some reader favorites of 2011. I'll let the page hits do the voting...
First (by a mile) is this post on Specific Carbohydrate Recipes. Re-enjoy!

10 Basic Specific Carbohydrate Diet Recipes

A friend of mine recently found out she had a condition that required her to follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). When my friend first told me that she was cutting grains and starches of all/most kinds out of her diet, I was floored. "What do you EAT?" I wondered. And the truth was, she wasn't eating much. Salads and plain slabs of meat kind of lose their wonder after about the 100th day! After a while she began searching out recipes, and the challenge of finding recipes safe for her to eat began to entice me. So, here's a list of recipes she's given me and recipes I've discovered (or am suggesting) for SCD. I'm going to skip the ones heavy in substitutionary flours because those flours can get expensive. I'm also going to skip the (sometimes quite wonderful) things you can do with just cooked meat or just cooked veggies. This hunt is about finding recipes that use mostly regular ingredients with only small amounts of those substitutionary flours. Oh, and I am relying heavily on this listing of legal vs. illegal foods for those on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
So here goes:
1. This first one is a suggestion that I've shared with readers before as edible play dough. This is definitely fun to play with, but, it could make a great sweet, healthy snack as well. Peanut butter is (so I've read) something that those on this diet should not take in too much of, but this recipe could also use almond butter or cashew butter (yum!).
Peanut Butter Balls
Mix 1 cup instant nonfat dry milk, 1 cup peanut butter, and 3 T honey. Form dough in small balls and enjoy.
2. Here's a recipe from an SCD Recipe site that my friend recommended:
Egg Noodle Soup
Blend 3 eggs, 1 t water, and 1/2 t salt. Spread on heated and greased frying pan and allow to set. Flip to cook other side slightly. Flip out on a towel and cut into strip. Add these noodles, 1 cup chopped chicken and 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables to 6 cups chicken broth. Season to taste.
3. I found this one here and I think it would be a standard go-to if I were following this diet. Even though it calls for some unusual (and therefore expensive) ingredients, it doesn't use very much of any of them. The great thing about these is that you can leave out the honey and vanilla and add a pinch of salt to use them to wrap savory ingredients (see suggestions below.)
Crepes
6 eggs 
1 tsp coconut oil 
½ tsp vanilla essence 
1 Tbs coconut cream 
1 tsp honey 
3 Tbs coconut flour

Combine the eggs with the coconut oil, vanilla, coconut cream and honey and whisk until light and frothy. Add the sifted coconut flour and combine. The consistency of the batter should be the same as normal crepe batter. It should coat the back of spoon but be quite thin.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan on medium and pour about 3 Tbs of batter into the pan. Lift the pan by the handle and roll the batter over the surface of the pan until the whole surface is covered. It only takes around one minutes for the crepe to brown on one side. Turn it over and brown on the other side.
4. Savory Crepes: Make the above crepe for savory ingredients. Choose one kind of meat, a cheese, one or two veggies, and one of these home made salad dressings. (There are 9 different kinds to choose from!) Examples might be ham-swiss-spinach-poppy seed dressing/chicken-cheddar-no sugar bacon-zucchini strips-italian dressing/turkey-carrots-green leaf lettuce-ranch dressing. These all sound yummy and easy to me.
5. Sweet Crepes: Make the above crepe for sweet ingredients. Chop and heat 1 peach in a bowl with 2 T water and 1 t honey. Bring just to a boil. Pour peach mixture into crepe and fold crepe over. Top with SCD safe yogurt. (I am making myself very hungry.)
6. I love casseroles, so I was especially looking for some that my friend could put together. Here's one from this site that sounds very yummy to me.

Zucchini Egg Casserole

1/4 C water, 1/4 t salt, 1 lb. zucchini (coarsely chopped) 1 T butter, 1 C sliced fresh mushrooms, 1/3 C chopped onion, 4 eggs beaten, 1 1/2 C shredded Cheddar cheese, 1 2-oz. jar diced pimiento (drained), 1/8 t garlic powder, 1/4 t salt, 1/8 t pepper

Boil zucchini in water and salt for about 7 minutes, stirring often. Drain well and set zucchini asisde. Saute mushrooms and onions in butter until tender. Add remaining ingreients and zucchini to sauteed vegetables and mix well. Pour into a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 F (180 C) until eggs are set.

7. This is just a group of vegetables, but since the combination makes me salivate just thinking about it, I thought I'd share: Mushroom Broccoli Medley has the wonderfulness of being cooked in bacon grease and tossed with bacon. I know the SC Diet recommends not too much bacon, so you'd have to make this a different week than #9.
8. Here's a recipe my friend says she's been enjoying a lot lately. They strike me as something every momma would want to have around the house for the kiddos (and herself too, of course. If I were making them I would use 2C whole wheat flour and 2C AP flour.) This recipe is also from scdiet.org. This is my token high substitutionary flour recipe.

Almond Flour Cookies
4 C of almond flour, 1/3 C melted butter, 1/4 t baking soda, 1/4 t salt, 1/2-1 t SCD-legal vanilla, 1/2 C honey, 1/2 C raisins, 1/2 C unsweetened coconut flakes, 1 T natural peanut butter, 2 eggs

Cook dough balls of this mixture on two cookie sheets at 350 F degrees (180 C) for 6-8 minutes and then flatten them with a fork. Lower the temp to 300 F (150 C) for another 10-12 minutes. Every few minutes alternate the two sheets on the oven racks. Use heavy duty cookie sheets that are extra thick to help avoid burning.

9. I'm sure that those who are on the SC diet do A LOT of tweaking recipes. This recipe for Chuck Wagon Stew could easily be tweaked for this diet. I recently put rutabaga (legal according to this list) in a beef stew instead of potatoes. You could do the same for this hearty comfort stew. Chop it well and it will take just a little longer than potato to cook. Use frozen green beans (put them in when after rutabaga has cooked about 20 minutes.) And chop a fresh tomato to put in about 10 minutes before serving the stew.
10. How about ending with an appetizer/ calorie booster? These Green Bean Bundles sound very yummy. Leave out the sugar, use homemade bullion, and make sure the bacon is low sodium, no sugar.
So I'm certainly no expert, but even just making this list has given me a huge admiration for those of you who have to follow any kind of strict diet. It would be hard to look for recipes you could use just because you have to weed through so many (that sound yummy and) that are full of taboo foods. I hope this helps a teeny bit--even if it's just knowing that someone else sympathizes!

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Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T03:38:00.000-08:00

“ But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
      Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
      Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
      The One to be Ruler in Israel,
      Whose goings forth are from of old,
      From everlasting.”
       Therefore He shall give them up,
      Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;
      Then the remnant of His brethren
      Shall return to the children of Israel.
       And He shall stand and feed His flock
      In the strength of the LORD,
      In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;
      And they shall abide,
      For now He shall be great
      To the ends of the earth;
       And this One shall be peace.

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What We're Actually Eating for Christmas

2011-12-20T04:21:00.000-08:00

A lot of times when I publish my lists of food, they are I'd-love-to-make-this-some-day lists. Or maybe they are my tried and true recipes that I'm sharing with you. This time it's an actual, sure-fire menu. Here's what we're eating Wednesday night when my parents come to shower the kiddos with gifts:

1. A large, hickory smoked ham (that I'm going to toss in the oven with some foil and prayer)

2. Mashed Potatoes--the smooth kind my hubby loves. His mom taught me how to make them. Slice and boil desired amount of potatoes until very soft. Drain water. Use hand mixer to blend with butter and milk until soft and smooth in consistency.

3. Sweet Potato Casserole--I love this but rarely make it because just baking a sweet potato is so good and so much easier. It takes a holiday meal to make me get off my lazy bum!

4. Chocolate Cake--(mentioned first in this list of chocolate cakes) This one was actually made for a party on Sunday, but since there is more than half of it left and I really (really) don't want it just sitting around my house, I'm hoping it gets completed on Wednesday.

5. Pumpkin Pie--Occasionally I remember to actually ask my hubby what he would like to see on the table during or after a meal. When I did this time pumpkin pie was the first thing out of his mouth. Perfect--I have all the ingredients and it's relatively easy to make.

6. Apple Dumpling Cake--When I broadcast the question to the kids, the oldest answered that she would like to have apple dumplings. I've never made these--I think she read about them in a book. Thinking about prep time, I chose this dumpling cake instead. It looks like the oldest will be able to help a lot. Maybe this could be something she makes for the family often.

7. I usually make these rolls to go with meals like this because they are easy and yummy. (I have mentioned them a lot of times, once here.)

8. We will have lima beans (the boy's request), green beans (more the crowd pleaser) and baked mixed vegetables as sides. There is something about having more than one vegetable on the table that just screams "Holiday!" to me. : ) For the baked vegetable: pour frozen vegetables into a large glass baking dish. Sprinkle with garlic, italian seasonings, and olive oil. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes. The roasted taste to these really makes the time (and oven space) worth it!

These two recipes won't be served on Wednesday, but I've already made them numerous times this Christmas for parties and gifts:

9. Easy Granola Bars--I first found these when looking for good things to take with us camping. I LOVE them! They are easy, wholesome, and cheap. I don't think I'll buy pre-made granola bars ever again. Yesterday I made a quadruple batch (half with dried fruit and nuts and the other half with chocolate chips) and took them to friends and neighbors in cute little bags.

10. I've made this Ham and Swiss Braid (with cheddar both times) for two different parties and it was a hit at both. My head is spinning with the possibilities for seasonings and fillings. This looks sophisticated, but let me tell you, it's super EASY! Easy enough to get off the couch at 5:15 and have it ready by 6! If you make it by the recipe, make sure to spread lots of mustard inside the sandwich and be quite generous with the cheese. I recently saw a recipe for a braid like this made with crescent rolls with broccoli, chicken chunks and cheese! Yum! This bread would work for just about anything you wanted to stuff it with!

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I love Christmas!

2011-12-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

You know what I love about Christmas?

I love that even though I make this

and this

and this,

somehow it all comes together into all of this:

presents under the tree

cute snow men the kiddos made

home made wreath from the scraps of the tree

iced sugar cookies

handmade music tree

(and our big tree in the background)

Center of the Season mantel

He is the center

Jesse tree by the front door

wreath on the front door

snow men my mom helped the kiddos make (love 'em!)

What God wants for Christmas?

Our hearts, of course.

If you'd like to take the full tour of our house, please come on in!

Thanks for the visit,

And

Merry Christmas!

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Beautiful Angel

2011-12-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

While the bigger kids were making their ornaments (see yesterday), I made a slightly bigger ornament--an angel, as a matter of fact.

And I didn't sew a thing!

Here's how it worked: I cut up one of her daddy's nicer white t-shirts (shh! don't tell!) and wrapped it around her chest, taking one strip over her shoulder for effect. Then I wrapped a strand of sequins around that tucking both ends under pieces of t-shirt.

The skirt is one of those lovely deals where you just tie the tulle over the elastic.

And there you have it.

No sewing.

And a little angel is made.

: )

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(Mostly) Paper Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

If you have some paper and feel a bit of Christmas creativity, you've come to the right place! Here are some great (mostly) paper ornaments I've found around the web:

1. Made from 20 2" circles, this little paper ornament is neat and and unique.

2. These Recycled Flowerball Ornaments are being sold for $4 a piece at cb2. (I think that with a look or 2 we could probably figure out how to make them ourselves.)

3. Find step by step directions for these relatively easy Paper Bauble Ornaments here. It's really just a matter of cutting, stapling and giving some touches of glue. I think my 8yo would love to try this one.

4. I am in love with this beautiful Quilled Snowflake ornament. It's amazing! And completely made of paper and glue. You can use a quilling tool or just a large needle.

5. This Lacy Paper Snowflake is easier than it looks. It's all about making a few cuts, rolling some of the pieces and taping.

6. German Paper Stars are a very impressive feat. They don't look difficult, really, just tedious and time-consuming. The result is worth it, though!

7. Paper Stars are something I remember making in elementary school. Here they are popping up with greater sophistication! Use them as table decoration or hang them on the tree with a bit of ribbon.

8. These Confetti Paper Ornaments are made from folded magazine pages. They are sold here for $21-$30.

9. These Art Ornaments are a great way to preserve and display your child's art work!

10. I love how simple these Paper Flower Ornaments are! Simple and beautiful.

11. A few balloons, a little string, and some glue can come together to make something quite beautiful in these Snowy Balloon Ornaments.

12. These Fabric Ornaments are a simple way to cover a foam ball.

13. For a modern and fun star ornament, try these Spiky Star Ornaments! The hardest part looks like rolling the paper, but even that looks very do-able.

Merry Christmas and happy crafting!

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Who is this Jesus babe?

2011-12-09T04:18:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday, one of our pastor's shared something that was taught at a marriage conference recently at our church. He applied it to life in general, and I've been thinking about it all week. It's simple and yet revolutionary. It's obvious and yet never occurs to me without the Holy Spirit. It's about all of life and yet it has to do with that Christmas baby too.

Here it is:

What would happen if, with each and every tiny and big decision, we thought this way about God:

He is Creator

period.

In the beginning was the Word.

John. 1

Beginning of story Creator, yes, but continuing Creator as well.

You know those quirks in your husband that irritate?

Those same quirks in your kids?

That personality trait in your relative?

Created by God.

Invented by Him.

Made by Him.

That can't help but put things in a new light. Is my hubby way (way) more interested in getting somewhere early than I am? That was given him by God!

Is my daughter completely uninterested in bows in her hair?

Created by God.

See? It makes a difference. Those built-in traits that aren't sins at all but irritate me nonetheless were given by a loving Creator God.

He is King

For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding.

Psalm 47

He really is sovereign.

How could He be God if He wasn't?

So this covers all the sins against you,

All your own mistakes,

All the horrible things wrong with the world,

That baby is King of all.

A very good King!

He's in control, and He has your best interest right next to His heart.

So that boss that is always slamming you?

Those kids who never listen?

That one who will never learn?

He is right there in the situation

Holding you,

Teaching you,

Watching out for you.

He is Savior

Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Rom 3

Thank goodness for this last one!

He saves us from our sin.

That baby, the one in the manger, the very same one.

He saves us once and for all when we believe in Him

and

He saves us continually--

He makes us Holy.

We're not under the control of sin anymore.

Those times when we blow it...

He saves

(just ask, He'll take away the guilt!)

Those times when we are sinned against...

He saves!

He can take the most awful situation and turn it around.

That little baby is a Savior.

So yes, I'm preachy this morning. Please know that I'm preaching mostly to myself. I want so much to remember these three things with every moment. Every tiny situation. When my kids wake up too early, when I burn the biscuits, when I forget something at the store, when my kids didn't turn in homework, and the list could go on. If I could just meet each situation armed with the knowledge that my personal Friend is Creator, King, and Savior then my blood pressure wouldn't rise, my emotions wouldn't go haywire, and most importantly, my love for Him and others would grow.

To that tiny Baby be the Glory.

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A Sky Break

2011-12-07T04:36:00.001-08:00

A slight break from your normal Of Such is the Kingdom Christmas programming: For my birthday, the hubby took me to see a friend down in Florida. The highs were in the 80s, I wore sundresses, we walked on the beach, had long chats with my friend, went biking, and generally relaxed the point of utter ridiculousness. It was wonderful. One of the most wonderful things about our trip was soaking in the beauty of God's creation. The sky, the water, the clouds and the sun...

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Christmas Food

2011-12-05T03:38:00.001-08:00

Decorating, check
Buying presents, check.
Wrapping presents, check.
Cleaning, check (until tomorrow at least).
What's left? Ah, yes! The food!
This year I'll be looking back to last year's lists of ten for some great recipes:

10 Holiday Sides-- This list has some of my favorite casserole sides, my favorite roll recipe, and a few salads. Looking back at it, I'm thinking, have I really not made corn casserole since last Christmas!! I'll be making that one soon.

10 Savory Appetizers--Party food central! Old favorites like taco dip and potato skins are right here waiting for you along with a fancy bacon wrapped dates recipe and something I'm making soon, a Cheesy Ham Braid.

10 Christmas Cookie Recipes--I've saved the best for last. These work as festive family night entertainment, gifts for the neighbors, contributions for Christmas parties, and just plain yummy snacks. The Thin Mint Cookies are probably my favorite, but this post has the recipe for my breakfast cookies, which to be honest I can eat by the bagful.

Happy Baking!

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{Menu Plan Monday}

{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Mt.1:18

Paper Snowflakes and Wrapping Christmas Presents

2011-12-03T06:54:00.001-08:00

I love presents! I love to buy them, wrap them, see them under the tree, and I love to give them away. (And of course I love to receive them as well.)

One of the beauties of Christmas is the excuse to do all of the above.

This year I realized that I had a whole huge roll of brown paper and a little bit of last year's green wrapping paper left over. I decided not to buy anything (except red and green ribbon I'd already purchased) to wrap our presents. One of the ways I spruced up our brown paper is with the above snow flakes. It's amazing how pretty leftover scrap paper can become!

Here's our result so far:

Happy Christmasing!

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six word saturday

Surrounding Ourselves With Reminders

2011-11-30T17:26:00.001-08:00

When the hubby and I returned from a little trip before Thanksgiving, we found that my mom and the kids had transformed our refrigerator into a giant, joyous work of winter art.

And ta-da! It's our 2011 tree.

2009 Tree

2010 Trees

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Christmas Devotions

2011-11-28T05:59:00.001-08:00

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deut. 6:6-9

I'm sure you know these verses. They were used just yesterday in a charge to the parents of a new baby in our church. They are an example of what a brilliant curriculum planner God is. No one learns without "hooks": ways for them to hold onto the facts passed along. What better way to give a person a hook then to teach them through everyday life?
I'm sure you also know how difficult these verses can sometimes be to act upon. A whole van ride goes by without any discussion at all, much less working through life's issues Biblically. Or the kids get up, it's time for breakfast, they're off to school and you realize, "I didn't even hug them, much less pray with them."
And so God has given us these brilliant times in the year when these verses get just a bit easier because we are completely surrounded by pointers to the Word of God.
Christmas is one of those times. We decorate our houses, we buy and wrap presents, we put up a tree. Everyone is talking about the coming, exciting day! Here is a great way to teach our children the Words that the above verse talks about! Let's don't miss it. It's not about checking off devotions on a list. It's not about being holier than the next person on the pew. It's not even about having wonderful family time during the holidays. It's about Jesus! It's about giving our children the gospel in a way that hooks into their brains. And it's about getting closer to our God.
If you're still not sure that you know just how to pull the Word of God into your holiday in a daily, weekly kind of way, there are SO many helps just for you!
1. Unto Us A King is Born--this free downloadable devotional covers the Christmas story during the month of December (or any other month!) with daily Bible readings and points of reflection.2. Nativity Advent Calendar--One of my friends has this calendar, and it is fun, meaningful and beautiful! Each day, you or your children can open a tiny door to find a magnet to attach to the nativity scene.
3. The Advent Wreath--This is a count down that would be easy to start and finish this week. Light some candles in a circle and talk about the coming of Jesus--simple and effective! Even adults sometimes need to touch and see something (like a candle) for words to sink in. The link takes you to some suggested Advent readings, but if you don't like those, there are many more from which to choose!
4. Thisadvent devotional is especially great for children.5. As I've mentioned before, the Jesse Tree is a great tool for teaching children (and ourselves) that the entire Bible is about Jesus and that Christmas is a story for the entire year.
(If you're interested, hot glue will hold almost anything to almost any wall, and it peels right off when you are done.Test on a small area first, of course.)
6. What God Wants for Christmas presents and nativity. We let our youngest open all of these presents over the last week, so that they have a nativity scene on the table that they can play with. The figures change positions at least 10 times a day!
7. If you're into simple plans, this free Advent Christmas Prayer Guide is an exceptional tool! It gives a hymn for each week in Advent and a few verses to read each day to lead up to Christmas. And of course, with a bit of creativity (or just ask your kids to come up with something!) each day's reading could be symbolized with a picture and hung on a tree, just like with the Jesse Tree plan above.

8.Truth in the Tinsel looks like a creative addition to an Advent learning schedule. Each day includes a craft, a scripture, and a little discussion. It looks like it would be great for the crafty learners of all ages! (And it's only $5)
9. If you're looking for something just for you or for older children, how about this book of quotes from guys like Augustine, Luther, Edwards, Spurgeon, Piper or John MacArthur? (edited by Nancy Guthrie) Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
10. And one last "experience advent" kind of book: Christmas Extras will give you many ideas for sharing the Gospel with your kids this season.
And just in case all of that just wasn't enough, here's another list of Advent ideas to check out: Advent at Easy Fun School.
Happy Advent!
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Longest Break Ever

2011-11-25T13:06:00.001-08:00

I know, I know. It's been a while. Nine days is a big jump here for me on Of Such is the Kingdom. But I have a whole list of (pretty amazingly good) excuses:
**Last Saturday was my 34th birthday and my wonderful hubby took me waaaay down south in Florida to visit a good friend. We slept in, ate out, chatted much and walked the beach for four days. It was wonderfully, beautifully incredible. : ) Oh, and forgive the lack of pics in this post; the camera was left behind at a family member's house on one leg of our journey. Ugh! Lots of pictures of the sun and the sky and the water are definitely coming!
**This was Thanksgiving week and the hubby and I were way too busy being very thankful for me to even have time to check email or blog: thankful for over 10 years together, thankful for our kiddos, thankful to be children of a living, mighty God.
**The oldest's birthday is tomorrow and while the hubby and I were traveling, we bought her a present and planned a very girlie tea party for this coming Monday. Our oldest is eight--hard to believe and another reason to be thankful. She is a beautiful and mature little individual.
**And last but certainly not least, our family has begun the adoption process. We're having another child! We have longed for our fourth child for many years and a few weeks ago it hit me, what are we waiting for? I expected the hubby to need lots of time to process before he was ready, but he came to me the very next morning with all the research pulled up on his laptop. Since then we've filled a preapp at Bethany Christian Services and been pre-approved. We're walking through the stack of questions in the application now. Right now we feel most led toward domestic adoption. Hurray! It is wonderful to open up and see what God will do. If you've made it this far in this wordy, wordy post, would you pray for us?

So back to normal for Of Such is the Kingdom next week with Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Recipes, activities, crafts, pictures, and more! I hope to see you there.

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving also have a restful weekend.

Play Time

2011-11-16T07:41:00.001-08:00

This "wordless" pic begs for the story. G.I. Joe, Repunzel, Aladdin and Eugene have stolen the magic coin from the mean animals who use it to enhance their powers. The animals have chased them to the cliff where the heroes have escaped by using the strength of the magic coin.

All of this is (I swear) what I was told when I walked in to see what the kids were playing.

Here's another for your viewing enjoying; actually it's just for your listening enjoyment:

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10 Great Recipe Tens Once Again

2011-11-12T13:27:00.001-08:00

Some day I'll have a nice round thousand recipes for you here! For now it's only 300:
First 100 HERE
Second 100 HERE
And third 100 right here:
10 Campfire Meals
10 Soups and Stews
10 Family Friendly Mexican Meals
10 Recipes for an Adult Birthday
10 Zucchini Recipes
10 Very Healthy Recipes
Food Remixing--Bonus! 30 Recipes
10 More Amazing Recipe Pins (like gummy worms)
10 Pumpkin Recipes
10 Amazing Recipe Pins (like homemade microwave popcorn and homemade fruit roll-ups)

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{Menu Plan Monday}

{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}{six word saturday}

Camping Beauty

2011-11-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Just a few images from our camping trip this past weekend. It was cold and beautiful and entirely worth 40 loads of laundry! : )

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Great Learning Gifts For Kids

2011-11-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

I love the fact that so many toys out there now are actually teaching our kids. Why just play if you can play and learn at the same time? Of course, kids are learning with any kind of play, but I love it that toy/book/game/music producers seem more in tune with that now than they ever did when I was a kid. Here are my top ten learning toy gifts. These are products we either already have or have on our Christmas list for this year.

1. Songs for Saplings CDs: These are hands down the number one request when I'm the van DJ. And I certainly don't complain. Dana Dirkson has a lovely folksy sound, and she is teaching my kiddos scripture and catechism Q & A to catchy tunes. Check out their bulk order options if you have lots of kids to buy for this Christmas! Listen to a few songs from the new Q & A album on their FB page.

2. Real Kids, Real Places books: I'm excited to find this new series of books filled with facts about places all over the world. And the best part? These facts are hidden inside a thrilling mystery just right for young readers. The reviews put the books for age 8 and up, but from what I read, even the adults were learning a lot about each place. These will be especially great to read right before visiting the places in the book!

3. I'm in love with this toy! Connectagons are a great way to build 3-dimensionally and if your child happens to learn shapes in the process, all the better! These come in all kinds of shapes including these beautiful butterflies, and (I feel like this needs a drum roll, it's so great) if you buy the huge Constructagons, your kids can build creations they actually play in!

4, 5, and 6. I love anything Melissa and Doug too. These wooden toys are favorites in our house. I'm going to be looking for some of their preschool/kindergarten toys for my youngest soon. I think she would like their See and Spell (letters that fit into slots to spell out what you see on your wooden block), their Shape Sorter Clock (learn colors, shapes, numbers, and time all with one simple wooden toy), and their Beginner Pattern Blocks.

7. Anything Magic School Bus gets my vote as well. These books are great for learning science! And since I wrote a report on blood from the viewpoint of a blood cell when I was in 3rd grade, I totally think I came up with part of this idea a long time ago. (ha!) My opinion is that, if your older child is willing, they should be able to watch these as well and maybe answer some deeper questions: Where is the line between fact and fiction? Are there over-simplifications? What are other facts abou this subject that you could write into the plot of this show?
8.I think that this cash register (notice the "learning resources" at the beginning of the name of this toy: They think they are just playing, but you know the truth!) would get lots of play with all three of my children (3, 6, and 8). Pushing buttons + fun sounds + playing with money = hours of fun.
9. This is going to be under the tree for our very artistic boy. Each page has some sort of doodle/drawing already there as well as instructions on how to finish/add to the page. One page even has about 1000 little tiny circles with the instruction to color 624 of them! I think the boy will enjoy the fact that the drawings already in the book are things he can already draw! He'll love finishing and coloring them. We actually bought his at Costco for $9.99. It's great to see that we beat Amazon's price (which are hard to beat!).

10. I am so impressed by this Robotikits 6 in 1 solar powered robot. For only $12.95, you get 6 different robots that don't even require batteries! Your techy child gets to break down and build to his/her heart's content!

So there you have it. Some humble suggestions on gifts that not only entertain but teach your children. Enjoy!
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You Learn Something New Every Day!

2011-11-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

I know this is not a super exciting picture for the "Wordless Wednesday" crowd, but I am excited about this new website my hubby introduced me to last night: Khan Academy. Evidently "he's got 3 degrees from M.I.T. and one from Harvard, worked on Wall Street as a financial services guy before quitting to teach," or says my hubby who is definitely in the know about these things. (And he knows how to use Wikipedia).

Anyway, this Mr. Khan has made over 2600 educational videos and posted them on his site for anyone and everyone to view for free. The kids and I watched the one above this morning as we finished up our unit on our solar system. There are videos on all kinds of arithmetic, physics, history and finance concepts--and much more.

I'm excited to find a site like this for homeschooling my kids and reschooling myself (and learning for the first time too). And I thought you guys might want to check it out as well.

Happy learning!

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10 More Amazing Recipe Pins

2011-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Time for another list of 10 Amazing Recipe Pins (Find the first one here). I find the recipes, I pin (on pinterest) them and then I just can't stop there. I have to share them with you. Here are 10 I've found recently:

What better way to start than with a bowl of worms on such a day as this? To make these beauties, just fill straws with jello and chill! Brilliant!

This crock pot breakfast casserole makes my tummy rumble! Easy, filling, and very yummy!

I never imagined drying fruit could be so easy! These dried strawberries look both easy and delicious

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup: You can try it the Vegan way or with meat here.

Yay for slow cooker meals! We're having one tonight. The only thing that could make them better is if they were prepped ahead of time. This blogger did just that!

These garlic butter knots use a pizza dough, butter, cheese and spices to give a wow factor to your dinner's starch.

Coffee Cake in a cup! Hurray!

Cheesy garlic sticks have graced our table a few times in the past weeks, and I never make enough--I always hear, "Is there any more??" And my oldest even began to plan out the next time when I would make double what I made that night. : ) The blogger in the link uses a premade unbaked pizza crust from a local pizza place. I have used a crust mix for mine--I'm as unsatisfied with homemade crust as the aforementioned blogger. I'm still looking for the perfect recipe.

Yay for soup! Our family is definitely more on the hearty end of things. I rarely think of soup as a side; I most often serve it as a one dish wonder.

And the grande finale? A list of 50 Great Cupcake recipes that you'll certainly want to bookmark for future reference!

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{Menu Plan Monday}

{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

I'm Thinking On A Working Song

2011-10-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

A line from a Sara Groves song has been running through my mind lately--one of my favorites in all her songs,
"My grandmother had a working song
hummed it low all day long,
'Sing for the beauty that's to be found...'" (from Setting Up the Pins)
And so my heart has been longing for a 'working song.' Something to hum low all day long. A way to set my heart to prayer even when my mind wanders. Here's the first one that pops to mind:

O fill me with your fullness, Lord,
until my very heart o'erflow
in kindling thought and glowing word
your love to tell, your praise to show.

O use me, Lord, use even me,
just as you will, and when, and where
until your blessed face I see,
your rest, your joy, your glory share. (Lord Speak to Me)

It reminds me where my strength and rest come from. It is a prayer to do it for His glory and His alone. It is an acknowledgment that my life is constantly a witness (whether good or bad) in these days of having young children about. And it is a plea for keeping me close to Him.

Or what about one of these?

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above. (Come Thou Fount)

I praise the God of grace;
I trust his truth and might;
He calls me his, I call him mine,
My God, my joy, my light.
'Tis he who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives;
I love because he loveth me,
I live because he lives. (Not What My Hands Have Done)

But if you try and fail in your trying,
Hands sore and scarred from the work you've begun;
Take up your cross, run quickly to meet Him,
He'll understand; He'll say, "Well done. (If When You Give)

Basically I could go on all day. I love hymns and singing and this idea of singing my prayers all day long is very attractive and really doable. (You know how songs can get stuck in there!)
Any suggestions? What would you want to be singing all day long? What do you sing all day?

six word saturday

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Ten Pumpkin Recipes

2011-10-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

repost from last fall--oldie but goodie!

I love fall. I love pumpkins. And I love baked goods.

Here's a little proof!

1. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups wheat flour, 2 cups pumpkin, 12 oz. chocolate chips, 4 eggs, 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup water, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt Mix all ingredients. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

2. Pumpkin Bread #1

1 cup oil, 4 eggs, 2 cups pumpkin, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp nutmeg, 2/3 cup water, 1/2 cup pecans, 3 1/2 cups AP flour, 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice Combine sugar, oil and eggs and beat. Add pumpkin. Sift flour and dry ing. together. Add dry ingredients to wet with water and nuts. Fill two loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 or 70 minutes.

image

3. Pumpkin Roll (hubby's favorite)

4. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies I tried these for the first time last week and the whole family loved them. I think I ate the entire first batch! : ) I substituted half whole wheat flour for the AP flour.

5. When I went to the site that posted the above wonderful cookies, I discovered that she had posted another wonderful pumpkin recipe today. Woo hoo! I can't wait to tryPumpkin Swirled Brownies. They look amazing!

6. Stew in a Pumpkin Here's my token savory recipe for the pumpkin bunch! This stew looks wonderful, and I have been meaning to try it for our small group.

7. Pumpkin Cake This cake can be made with either pumpkins or sweet potatoes. I love it because it's one of those "add to a box cake mix" cakes. Easy, crowd-pleasing, and delicious.

8. Pumpkin Waffles are another recipe I can't wait to try. This looks easy, and our family loves breakfast any time of the day.

9. Pumpkin Seeds are something that I mean to do every year after we carve our pumpkin, but I rarely get around to it. I'm determined to do it this year. After reading the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, it's easier to think of not wasting things like yummy pumpkin seeds.

10. Pumpkin Casserole is a great way to eat pumpkin as a side for a meal.

You may have noticed that I didn't include a pumpkin pie; I'm not so fond of them, but I really need to make one this year because the hubby loves them! Maybe you guys could suggest a "wow" pumpkin pie recipe for me to try!

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{Menu Plan Monday}

{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

Beauty

2011-10-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the simple moments are the ones that pierce like an autumn ray of sunshine.

Let all the beauty praise Him.

Capturing Beauty

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A Chronicle of An Incredible Week

2011-10-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

This week began with an outing with all my children (and my friends and their kiddos too)--the older ones being free because of fall break.

If you didn't yet know, my hubby was born and raised in St. Louis and he is an exuberant Cardinals fan. Our last two weeks have been exhausting but fun as we surprisingly have been treated to a Cardinals post season. When the Cardinals won on Sunday night, my hubby was in a state of rapture. And when he discovered that we had the opportunity to GO TO THE WORLD SERIES GAME (you can't even think that phrase without it being in caps, you see), our week was instantly scrambled. Instead of a fall break here relaxing, we would hop in the car and go to the big STL, visit the fam and see the game!

It really was incredible. The mood in the ballpark was about 10 times what it is in a regular season game. And after the win (we went to the first game, thank goodness!) the crowd chanted and yelled and high fived its way out of the stadium. And again I must say, the hubby was as giddy as a young child.

Last weekend my hubby's grandfather turned 85. His children (including my MIL) have been plotting a grande surprise for him for a while. He loves gospel music and one of his favorite singers is Cynthia Clawson. The hubby's aunt happens to know Cynthia and asked her to come to STL for a private concert in honor of Grandpa's 85th. And so, on Thursday night, we found ourselves in the presence of a grammy award winning musician. She even invited Grandpa up to sing with her. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. Grandpa has alzheimer's and doesn't have the greatest short term memory these days, but oh, his face at singing his favorite hymns with one of his favorite musicians! It was definitely a treat! (One of the songs Cynthia sang for us was "Always," which was sung at Grandpa and Grandma's wedding. Download it for free at her website. I can't wait to learn it and sing it for my kids as a lullaby.)

But oh! The week is not done yet! On Friday we headed quickly home because I had a ticket to the Sara Groves concert that night. Before Sara, we were treated to music by Jenny &Tyler (click to listen--I love their style!) and Audrey Aussad (also click to listen--amazing!). And Sara and I go way back. : ) It was her "Just Showed Up for My Own Life" that God used to help with some crazy hard growth in my life about 6 years ago. And if you don't have her new album, you're late! It's out and you should have gotten it weeks ago! : )

So anyway, it's been one incredible week!

six word saturday

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Pumpkin Day

2011-10-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

Last week on our "All Day at Home" Homeschool day, we celebrated fall by having a Pumpkin Day. Here are some suggestions if you want to have a Pumpkin Day too!

1. Make pumpkin pizzas by cutting tortillas into a pumpkin shape and decorating with pizza toppings.

2. Paint miniature pumpkins.

3. Make pumpkin smoothies: 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1/2 cup milk, 2 frozen bananas, 1/4 t cinnamon, 2 T sugar (YUM!) Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

4. Carve a pumpkin and talk about the textures of the pumpkin outside and in.

5. Roast the pumpkin seeds and make other pumpkin recipes. (More here too.)

9. Create felt pumpkins by cutting out pumpkin shapes from orange felt and creating face pieces from black felt. Make crazy pumpkin faces and snap a pic of each one. * And of course, color pumpkins! (Or for older ones, create a still life and have them draw, color, or paint the pumpkins!) Really the ideas are endless, so eat pumpkins, and have fun!

6. Read pumpkin books! (Look here for a great list) One that's a great warning for me is Too Many Pumpkins! Sometimes I have to beware of serving too many pumpkin dishes this time of year! 7. Have "pumpkin school" for the day. Pumpkins can help teach math, science, social studies, creative thinking, art and more! Check here for some great ideas! 8. We watched this cool educational video about pumpkins as well.

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this post was first published on Of Such is the Kingdom on October 19, 2010.

10 Campfire Meals

2011-10-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

We're relatively new to camping as a family, but coming from a family that camped a bunch, this is one tradition I'm really eager about!
We're headed out for camping soon, and we're going for two nights; this adds a bit more food than our one night stint last year. I'm excited about that aspect of the trip!
Here are a few ideas:
1. Easy Granola Bars--My kiddos love snacks and never more so than when they are spending a lot of time outside. I need to have good snacking options handy.
2. Logan Bread--This bread would be one to bake ahead of time and bring to the campsite in the cooler. It would work as a snack or a side for any of our meals.
3. Breakfast Bannock--This bread, though, is a good one to make while camping. I'm going to try this one with eggs for one of our breakfasts!
4. Hobo Meals--There is something so yummy about comfort food fixed over a fire! You can use ground beef or chicken for this one.
4. Shish Kabobs--I cannot WAIT to taste the chicken and pineapple we're going to kabob and cook over our fire!
5. Easy Campfire Cobbler--I think I might be able to pull this off in a miniature version in my little cast iron dutch oven. Maybe this recipe will help with the smaller pot.
6. Campfire Toasted Burritos--There's not enough time in a two night camping trip for all the yummy food!
7. Hotdogs, marshmallows, or just about anything that can be stuck on a stick and held over a fire! My kids very favorite part about eating while we're camping is being able to cook their own food. The fire and the smells and the stick...it all just warms their little hearts! (and fills their little bellies!)
8. Pig on a Stick--Here's another breakfast that will make the kiddos happy! They get to spear their sausage, wrap their biscuit around it, and bake the whole thing over the fire.
9. Barbecue Burgers--If I get brave enough to go beyond sandwiches for lunch, this might be one of our lunches. I don't know if we'll use a grate or a skillet, but either way they'll be yummy.
10. Campfire Orange Cakes--You can actually bake the cake inside the orange peel! I think I might try chocolate cake. : )
Here's a great outdoor cooking checklist that I'll be referring back to for my packing.
Hooray for cooking and eating outdoors in the fall!
Do you camp with your family and if so, what do you eat when you're camping?

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{Menu Plan Monday}

{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

Freshen Up for Fall

2011-10-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

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10 Soups and Stews

2011-10-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to an unusual sight: rain and fog. How long has it been since we've had a rainy day? Well, I guess it was that record rainfall about a month ago. I was tempted to keep the kids home from their homeschool tutorial and celebrate by just watching movies all day.

But I restrained.

Instead I'll celebrate the weather by giving you a list of ten warm and yummy soup recipes for just such a day as this.

1. Chicken and Corn Chowder: Corn, bacon, chicken, garlic combine to make a fall/winter wondersoup!

2. Butternut Squash and Apple Soup: I have been itching to try a butternut soup recipe (will my family eat it???) and this one will be my first. Perhaps the kiddos will taste the apples and give it a decent chance.

3. Chicken and Dumplings: This is my favorite "soup" ever. I like it thick and warm and, yum! Maybe I'll make this one tonight!

4. Awesome Stew: With black beans, corn, tomatoes, and sausage, it really does sound like it will fit its name.

5. Chicken and Spinach Soup: Again, will my kids eat it??? It looks so very yummy! I'm just going to have to give it a try and let them taste it blind folded or something. : )

6. Black Bean Soup: This recipe is easy, easy, easy--as easy as dumping cans into a pot and yet, it is so very yummy! Hiding veggies in it is pretty easy too.

7. Egg Noodle Soup: Homemade egg noodles and chicken make this a healthy yummy alternative to the normal chicken soup.

8. Ham and Potato Soup: Potato soup is another of my favorites. I love the thickness of it--add some ham and you have a meal!

9. Stone Soup: You know the one where you just put whatever you have in the pot together? I make that one all the time. Every time it's an experiment and every time it comes out completely different. My favorite thing to start with is chicken stock and I often add tons of veggies and maybe some lentils, but really this soup could go any way you choose. Just keep taste testing as you go along!

10. Beef Stew: This is a good basic recipe, but with different spices, this stew can take on a completely different personality. Feel free to experiment!

I could keep going...there are so many soups and stews to try! Maybe I'll have to do do a Soups and Stews Part II next week!

Have a warm and happy week!

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{Menu Plan Monday}

{Tasty Tuesdays}

{Turning the Table}

Epiphany

2011-10-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

I am at this very moment, strangely wide awake and so very thankful.
I had a little epiphany this evening.
I have often puzzled over His methods of teaching me. And where I put "puzzled" you are very welcome to read "struggled" or even "chafed."
But I had one clear moment where I looked back into my past and I saw...
Beauty.
Nothing but beauty.
He has withheld no good thing from me.
Never.
Not one time in all my life has He allowed something to be taken away without giving me more in return.
Not one time in all my life has He ever allowed a trial without bringing more beauty out of it.
"The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" has always held true for me. (Rom 8:18)
Always.
You might be thinking "Of course."
And actually I am myself thinking, "Of course."
And yet I was going to doubt Him just this evening-- I felt that doubt threatening to grow inside me.
Just as I have doubted Him so often lately. Whenever a trial comes, I go straight to complaining with my whys and my hows and my whens.
So that clear moment was a gift. A gift to fight off the doubts. A gift to grow the seed of thankfulness inside of me.
He has withheld no good thing from me.
Praise be to to the Lord!
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The Story of the Relational Truck

2011-10-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

When the hubby and I got married, he drove a really old humongous brown car. It was great for holding somewhere around 30 college kids, and the hubby loved it like you love your first dog. But when we received a report that the old car would need thousands of dollars of repair work, we decided it was time to look for the hubby a new vehicle. And the truck dream was born.
I was a young wife and I had no idea what was going on inside his head. In my home growing up, we talked big all the time about things we "wanted" when we knew it was just kind of a game--nothing for real. I took the truck talking like that. Oh, you want the most expensive F-150 there is? Hmm.. that's interesting. Oh, it has to have factory specialized features? Cool.
And when a friend of ours was selling a 1996 F-150 that the hubby kind of liked, I said, "Go for it!" and thought we were done with the truck dream.
Boy, was I wrong. It was only the beginning. He drove that 96 and really liked it, but it literally took me 8 years to realize that THE truck held deep, deep meaning for the hubby. There were some wrong motivations tied up in it, for sure, but there was something there too that was right and true. He wanted to have the truck that would meet everyone's needs. He wanted to be done with vehicle buying for a long, long time if possible. He wanted a truck that reflected personality and strength--fun, innovative, helpful, tough, big enough for the family, new enough to be really fun to drive. You know the one, right? It's quite expensive.
So in the early days, I would really let him have it. I gave him every truth in the book about why he shouldn't have an expensive vehicle. I really could have been a lawyer, folks. I shot him down, I refused to listen when he'd heard of a new innovation to the F-150 and many times we fought long and hard over who was right on this issue. Couldn't he buy a vehicle just for the love of it? Or should practicality always win out? And all the time I was arguing for some greater truth, I was truly missing him (and Him too, I'm sure). I wasn't seeing my hubby's heart, which I'm convinced is what he really wanted all those years.
God woke me up on this subject slowly and over much time. First I realized (about 2 years ago) that I needed to put the decision in the hubby's hands. So I said and meant, "Buy the truck when you think you should." But I still gritted my teeth at times about how it would set us back on debt management, etc. etc.
Then some advice that was given to a friend kind of latched on to this whole discussion in my mind. Every time I would think of the truck, I would hear, "Pray first for your husband's issues--his desires, his dreams." From there it was a short leap to the fact that the truck should come sooner than the hubby thought (he was shooting for the end of this year) AND that it should be a gift from yours truly. An open handed, open hearted gift.
So I actually listened and asked a few questions when he was talking about the one he wanted. I wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget. I called dealerships and located a few maybes.
I planned a getaway to a nearby city to celebrate our tenth anniversary and I told him that the entertainment for our trip was going to also be his anniversary present. He had no idea! (Hee hee!)
And then as we were getting ready to go, the hubby brought me the phone and said, "Listen to this crazy message where some guy is talking about an F-150." AAHHH! One of the guys from a dealership had called! I quickly clicked off the phone and the hubby got pretty upset. It's one of his pet peeves that we have to listen to a message entirely before we can delete it on our messaging system and all he was thinking about having to do that. When he grumped at me, I ran out of the room, and he thought, "Oh, great I've already ruined our weekend!"
When I returned I was holding all my notes about the truck. Happy anniversary, dearest!
His first words were, "I feel like such a cad!"
It took him until we got on the road a ways before he really believed we could buy THE truck that very day. And guess what? We did. He bought the only FX4 Ecoboost in the city we were visiting, and the look on his face was worth every dollar of debt. The look said, "My wife understands me." And that was something worth marking our ten years together with!
So, drum roll please.... here it is, the truck of his dreams...

Has it solved all our problems? No. We've quibbled about the camper shell and the truck bed liner and right now we're quibbling because my phone died and do I need a new old phone or a new new phone, but there is something different going on. This is a stepping off point for all that is to come in our oneness--want an example? The hubby has already asked if he can take the kids to school and pick them up two days a week because he wants this truck to really serve me and our family. Wow.

You, dear reader (if any of you kept reading this far!) know that motives are never pure, and mine definitely aren't about this--but I really do want to stay hands and heart open. So long live the FX4 and Happy 10th Anniversary, dear beloved!

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6 Word Saturday

October Bucket List

2011-10-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

We're working on the walks and the baseball daily and we went to the planetarium today (very fun!)

Have a happy October, everyone!

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P.S. Stealing this one from many places including this great blog.

P.P.S. This is my 500th blog post for Of Such is the Kingdom. It seems kinda monumental and I'm having a slightly emotional moment here about it. Okay. That's over. Back to enjoying fall!

To Wash or Not to Wash

2011-10-03T15:01:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TRESemmé for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
You may have noticed that I have hair. {smile} I'm sure you have it too. Long or short, blonde, red or brunette we're all dealing with it, I know.
I've been trying to grow mine out, for oh, about 30 years now. I've had a few setbacks. I remember quite clearly being 11 years old and bitterly composing a story about the "short haired mermaid" because my practical mother kept my stringy hair short. And there was that time in college when a well-meaning hair dresser convinced me that my face shape would look so much better with short hair (and then she proceeded to chop off 4 years of hard-won inches). And lastly I lost my head (literally!) when the second child was born and had all the hair chopped off to be sent away to Locks of Love.
But no more. I'm growing this hair out as long as it will grow. There is still a good bit of the princess want-to-be left in me and I plan to milk the hair for all its worth. I've always loved it when older ladies had beautiful grey hair flowing down their back. Maybe just maybe I can achieve that someday.
In the meantime, I have to take care of this growing hair. Lately I've been hearing rumors that washing one's hair every day is probably not the smartest thing for those of us with hair that is closely kin to fields of dry wheat. So, I've been trying to at least skip a day in between washes. And I've learned something interesting: long hair collects smells. If I make sausage on Monday morning and then skip the wash on Tuesday, guess what my hair will smell like Tuesday night? Yep. Sausage. Greasy at the scalp and sausagey throughout. Yum.
So I'm very excited to share with you a product that will keep your nose in the dark about which days I'm washing and which I'm not (if you happen to run into me at the grocery store): TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo. This is great! The idea is that you save your hair the drying, damaging influences of the evil water and yet your hair still comes out styled and smelling washed and fresh. It absorbs oil and removes odor all without a drop of water. Amazing! Just like your normal in-shower shampoo, there are choices from TRESemme: you can choose from strengthening, volumizing, smoothing, and even moisturizing!
You just lift sections of your "slightly" unclean hair and spray in short bursts (about 8-12 inches from your head). You don't spray all over continuously like hair spray, but you can use your fingers to spread the shampoo throughout your hair. (The nozzle has a bit of a tendency to clog, but you can just rinse it under warm water and reattach it.) Click here if you want more instructions about how to use.
If you're really interested, here's a video where celeb Julia Allison has teamed up with TRESemme and created a little training session on using this product.

Julia is giving away a $500 Gift Card to Target to one lucky viewer, so check it out!
So overall, my hair and I are very excited to let you know about this product. And if you're meeting me on one of those no-shower days, then you (and your nose) will probably be excited about it too!

One Last Fashion Hurrah

2011-09-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

My one "real" outfit for the Fall Fashion week.

Extra fabric is the best!

Fashion and Frogs

2011-09-30T04:17:00.000-07:00

So I got really dressed up in my pretty sweater yesterday...

(It's like wearing a big ruffle around yourself, and it will be a staple this fall and winter! And by the way it was bought at an off season sale for a song--how much is a song? Around $6!)

So I got dressed up like I said for a very important date with some...

of these critters. The oldest has been collecting them the last few days and yesterday she shared them with the youngest. I was a bit surprised to see my squeamish youngest go right to the little thing and love all over it, but I shouldn't have been. She is my social one and she just adopted those frogs as little people that needed love.

Speaking of that, I've been studying my youngest more lately. What are her learning styles? How does she go about living life? Other than the screaming--she has a slight fit problem--she is definitely the one of my children who lives for others. She can sense emotion around her (maybe that frog was feeling a bit down) and she responds to it. Is someone sad in the grocery store? She will give them a smile or a wave. Is her brother crying? She will give him an, "It's all right!" or maybe come and get the parent to give him more effective love.

I'm having a bit harder time figuring out her style of learning. Anybody out there got a similarly affectionate child and have pointers? Her brother completely spoiled me because while I was teaching the oldest he would spend a happy hour dividing the blocks into piles according to color. No such luck with this one.

Back to the fashion: Thanks so much to Emery Jo over at Moms Are For Everyone for hosting another great fall fashion week! I feel as if I barely participated, but I'm thankful for the inspiration it gave me to figure out what I have for fall and winter (and post a catalogue on the Of Such is the Kingdom FB page)

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Fall Beauty

2011-09-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

No, not me, silly. Look down the page for the real fall beauty!

Funny how it's always the unposed pics that I like the best. Thanks to the hubby for taking a few pics of me the last few days and putting up with me saying, "Another one, please."

And yes, the chacos are for function rather than beauty--

who can resist hiking in all this fall wonderfulness?

And maybe that little corduroy number could be rated among the fall beauties. I bought it at a children's consignment sale! The one I frequent just started carrying junior's clothing and I picked this baby up for a mere $4. (Don't worry, I bought plenty of clothes for the kiddos too!)

Here are the real pics from our little walk yesterday:

More beautiful than the richest gowns

Fairies live here, I'm sure.

Old clothes left behind for our inspection

Blue sky fall beauty

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Fall Fashion

2011-09-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

And here you have one of the go-tos for fall. You know what I mean, right? It's the outfit you feel comfortable and reasonably chic in--enough so that you'd throw it on without thinking for just about anything you have to tackle in a casual way. (Though...look at those knees! I need new jeans. That just leads back to what I was saying yesterday!)

So, here's what I'm thinking. I really need to do some cleaning out, some trying on and some thinking about my fall wardrobe. So I'm going to use Of Such is the Kingdom's FB page for cataloguing some of those outfits. Over the next several weeks, I'll be posting pics of what I have in my closet already. This will be handy for me because if (hopefully when!) I'm out shopping, I'll be able to see exactly what I have on hand.

Thanks for the fall inspiration, all ye Fashion Week ladies!

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Ah, Fall.

2011-09-27T05:17:00.000-07:00

So the weather is cooler and that makes me want to:

A. take a walk

B. spend money

C. bake

Care to take a guess? Why of course it's all of the above, but the one my brain is focusing on this morning is definitely B. Why? Because putting together fall outfits suddenly has become a daily challenge. (And erm, I really would love to have those boots! (Only $278 which is about 8 times my current boot allowance.)

So if I could get up and put on anything I want, the above might be my pick for the day. Tall lace up boots, feminine skirt, loose shirt, and warm sweater would make my fall day! Layered of course because the afternoons can be quite warm, but cozy and cute all day long.

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Groceries

2011-09-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

Anyone else out there having a little bit of a problem with inflation? I mean the price of eggs, people! Sometimes I just have to close my eyes, reach blindly out and pluck the groceries off the shelf. It's really getting to be painful to see how much the basics have gone up lately.
Last month I had a monthly menu plan to try to help with the absurd spending for groceries. It worked all right, but the problem was, in order to make what I had planned to make extra grocery trips and therefor spent extra money.
This month, I was determined to avoid that problem. So I made a huge shopping trip on September first. Instead of shopping the sales and using coupons, I went to Aldi. I still had to close my eyes as I picked up eggs (used to be $.50!! at Aldi and now is more like $1.75) and cheese (used to be something like $1.25 at Aldi and is now $1.99!) but for the most part, everything is cheaper there. I bought enough meat for the whole month (mostly chicken and ground turkey, which would definitely get boring if we ate like this every month) and enough snacks for the kids to last most of the month.

And it worked. We've eaten really well, and other than sending the hubby to the store to buy ingredients for chili when we were having guests, we've only bought milk and eggs. So instead of spending the $100+ a week, I spent $200 once and maybe $20-30 a week since then. We even threw a party and stockpiled some Mexican meat.
So what's the conclusion in all this? If we had to, we probably could make it through a month with one grocery trip. This is good to know! Will I try this again? Yes! Maybe not every month but possibly every other or every third month. It is certainly a good feeling to escape the stress of seeing all those awfully inflated prices so often during the month.
What do you do to save money at the grocery store?
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Six Word Saturday