Summer Scrumptiousness

Here is one of my lovely cooking assistants (it takes an army to feed an army). She has two fruit pizzas in hand. This is our first time making them. Emily baked the sugar-cookie crust, I mixed the cream cheese "frosting", and Susanna took over from there. Not being one to just do it the easy way, she had two approaches...concentric circles on our left, and fruit fly, on the right. It just flew all over (in a very specific pattern, of course. Each piece has each kind of fruit in tiny bite-sized pieces. We used mandarin oranges, pineapple tidbits, strawberries, green grapes, and blueberries. Delish! Thank you, Susanna. We'll enjoy that at supper .

We used a pouch of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix for each crust. Just follow the package directions and bake until golden brown. For the white layer, soften one 8 oz. cream cheese, mix with 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. When cookie crust is completely cool, spread with "icing" and then arrange fruit to your heart's desire. Eat and enjoy.

~Joan

"Solomon in all his glory...

...was not arrayed like one of these." Luke 12:27. God's beauty is all around us--and so breathtaking in its color and simplicity. I weeded out a flower garden down by our garage a couple days ago. That is where these lilies live. Just about every time I see a lily (we have some in several places on our property), I think of the above verse. It is a quote of something Jesus said while here on earth..."Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." For those who do now know, Solomon was the wisest and richest king in Bible times. He was King David's son.

~Joan

My Camera is Back, and So Am I

Here is the first picture I took after getting my new camera battery. I was "watching" some of my kids at the pool of a friend. I realized that I couldn't use my laptop to do the paper work (hence the laptop and stack of receipts on the picnic table). We are switching over our budget-keeping system since my computer crashed a month or so ago. I like to see where our money went every month.

Other items on the table are so me...I drink a Benefiber stick packet every day. The keys to my trusty 15-passenger van. My iPod Touch (don't leave home without it), the mail of the day stuck in my tote...coupons for free Kashi Bars, samples of same, coupons for more... The odd items are the beach towel and the sunscreen. Yes, the desire to be a good mom came over me, and I joined the 3 children in the pool. They seemed to enjoy that.

So good to have my camera in use again. I'll be posting more frequently, I can feel it in my bones!

~Joan

Nearly Forgot My Password

Wow--it's been so long since I posted that I nearly forgot my password!! The main reason I have not posted is because my camera battery is completely dead. As in deader than a doornail. I have not taken time to find a replacement.

A friend send me the following picture tonight. These are my two "middle" girls. Aren't they beautiful?? You don't have to answer that question. It was a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious.



This has been VBS week at our church. I have been a co-conspirator in the kitchen. We have been serving about 150 each night. Great snacks...we made them all. No store-bought-cookies-from-a-tray from us, no sir-ree. Tonight we served Jell-o jigglers cut into fish shapes (it went with the story) and turkey wraps (tortillas spread with cream cheese, then layered with turkey and lettuce, then rolled up and cut into thirds). It's been so great working with my new best friend, Molly.

Good night!

~Joan

Dress-Up Night for Youth Group

Here is a pic of my children #2-6. Luke is in front. He was a "music providin' man for shindigs" (he's holding a guitar). From L-R in the back, Elisabeth is first-place winner in the sweet tea contest, Benjamin (who won first place) was a scarecrow (he has a crow pinned to his right arm, but it blends into the man's shirt behind him), Emily is the Chick-fil-A cow, and Susanna is "the farmer's wife" in the song Three Blind Mice. Notice her 3 mice tails tucked into the waist of her apron and her carving knife. Needless to say, most steared clear of her that night. She made her apron. Very creative bunch here!

~Joan

Spending Update

No picture for this post. My camera battery has died, and I have yet to locate a new one.

Some have asked if I've given up couponing. Far from it! My daily life has been so full. I usually tackle one day at a time, but lately several have ganged up on me at once. I have shopped much less than I have in past months.

We celebrated my DH's birthday meals today. He was not feeling well last Sunday when it was really his birthday. I had to go out for meal supplies last night. He managed to pick meals for which we barely had any ingredients on hand (I can't figure out how to reword that sentence, but it looks really wrong and awkward). His meals? Breakfast: Overnight French Toast, bacon, Christmas Fruit Salad. Lunch: Creamy Chicken Chowder, saltine crackers, and Strawberry Pretzel Salad. Supper: Grilled chicken and steak, Time to Spare Spuds (twice-baked potatoes...home made, of course), steamed broccoli, with Mema's (his maternal grandmother) recipe for banana pudding for dessert. Not beans and rice by any stretch of the imagination.

While I was plunking down nearly $100 for groceries last night (I did get a little pork and ground beef for future meals) at the grocery store, I found myself wondering how we were doing this month as far as spending. When I arrived home, I reluctantly dug up every receipt and entered them into Quicken. I found out that our spending per person per day has been a whopping $1.48. That's our all-time low. I was so encouraged by this. My family was rather non-plussed, but I think they are just used to me saving so much. I was happy enough for all ten of us.

The kids had a farm-themed dress-up this past Wednesday at church. I will be getting some pictures from someone on Sunday, so I will post some of them. My daughter borrowed the cow costume from Chick-fil-A and won 3rd place. My son won first place as a scarecrow. It was kind of last-minute, but fun to make. I used 1/4" ribbon and straight-stitched small bunches of raffia onto it. I made one for his neck, shirtfront, each wrist, and each ankle. I used a piece of burlap and made him a "mask" and sewed buttons on for eyes and a red ribbon for the mouth. I sewed some raffia across the top center seam for hair. He wore one of my husband's hats. The crowning touch was a construction paper crow Emily made that we pinned to his arm. He wore a plaid shirt and jeans. He took a hoe to drape his arms over. He looked great!

~Joan

Music To My Ears

This is my baby, Isaac (please don't tell him I called him that), practicing the trombone ...isn't that beautiful? The trombone is my favorite instrument. It was my favorite even before I met Brother Bru (our church music director, who plays the trombone during congregational singing).

What a blessing this story is...

Several years ago when we were at a local flea market, my son, Luke (not the one pictured), saw a used trombone (the one pictured). We bought it for a song (bad pun) because he thought he might want to learn to play it (but later focused on the violin and cello). So we had this poor, destitute trombone languishing away in our home.

Our friend, Josiah (on the far right in the three amigos picture here) plays the trombone. A couple months ago I texted him to ask if he would take a look at ours the next time he came over (he is at our home several times a week). He responded by asking how old Isaac is. I thought he must have misunderstood my question. You know, the generation gap and all. But I couldn't figure out how "Will you inspect our trombone to see if it plays well enough to sell?" could be misunderstood. Turns out that Josiah was offering to TEACH Isaac the trombone. Oh, glory divine! Music to my ears!! You see, I wouldn't have asked Josiah to teach Isaac. But since he offered...

Now I get to hear rousing renditions of "Hot Cross Buns" and "Go, Tell Aunt Rhody" daily. Ah...music to my ears!

~Joan