A family affair

We love the ncaa tournament around here.  We fill out our brackets.  We watch most of the games, even if our team isn't in the tourney.  We all love it.

Since Micah was a baby we have filled out a bracket for him.  Each year it is neat to see how he understands it more and more.  Haleigh and Caleb have brackets too.

So today is a fun day for us.  I took Micah on a date to get some cokes, fries, and watch the games.  He was in heaven!  And as I cook dinner, they are updating brackets from the day.

Its moments like these that I will treasure forever!

How did this get here?

We had one of our rare grocery shopping trips as a whole family the other night.  We weren't getting much so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal.  It wasn't.  And I actually enjoyed it! 

But as we got home and started to put away groceries we realized there were a few mysterious purchases.

One a box of Apple Jacks cereal...one of Caleb's favorites.

The other a box of Snack Wells chocolate chocolate granola bars.  Something I didn't even know existed! 

Well you can guess who the culprit was!  Caleb!  We asked him if he put those things in the cart, and he said, "ha, yes!"  With his perfect Caleb expression!

And the best part...i was trying to cut out processed foods.  So we were deliberately making healthy choices, and not buying anything processed.  He didn't get that memo!  Love that kid!

Absolutely Nothing

I've been learning a lesson recently.  One that I thought I knew, but apparently I didn't.  


"...for apart from me you can do nothing."  John 15:5


Nothing.  Absolutely Nothing.
Nothing of worth that is.


Why do we try to do life without him?  
Why do we think that our way is better than His way?
Why do we think we can accomplish more without Him?


"...for apart from me you can do nothing."  John 15:5


Nothing.  Absolutely Nothing.

The Winter of Soups

This is a fitting post for such a cold wet day.  


I am a fan of all things cozy.  I love slippers, a good blanket, sitting by the fire, a good pair of cozy pants, and a cup of coffee.  Are you feeling me?  


This winter I decided to expand my collection of soup recipes.  So we are having the winter of soups.  Every Sunday is Soup Day.  I've used some old tried and true recipes.  And I've found some new ones.  I thought I would share some of our favorites so far.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

{photo courtesy of lulu the baker}

This soup is full of vegetables - carrots, onions, celery, broccoli, and potatoes.
This was a hit with the whole family.  

Cheesy Tortilla Soup

{photo courtesy of Taste of Home}

My husband loved this soup.  It is good topped with pepper jack cheese.   Tortilla chips go well with this one!

Cream of Broccoli Soup
{sorry no picture}

Bunch of Broccoli, chopped
1/2 c. butter
6 Tbsp flour
5 cups chicken broth
pepper
nutmeg
about 1 cup of milk

Melt butter in pot, add flour.  Mix together.  Then add in broth slowly, and add the cut up broccoli.
Simmer for 20 minutes.  Put all of it in a blender and puree.  Put back in pot, add milk, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg.  Stir together and serve.

This is a family recipe that my mom used to make when we were little.  It makes a lot so it is good for leftovers.  Admittedly, my husband doesn't love it, but I do.  Its basically a broccoli soup, but blended down smooth.  So no chunks...easy for picky kids who may not like to eat broccoli.  I like to serve it with baked potatoes.

Hopefully, you will find these recipes as yummy as we have.  And maybe you'll even take part in our winter of soups, even though it is half over!  

Family Togetherness

I don't want Happy

We all want to be happy.  Happiness is a much sought after feeling in our society.  I want to be happy.  Happy in my marriage.  Happy in my parenting.  Happy with my "job" as homemaker.  Happy in life.


But as much as we seek this feeling.  It escapes us.  Its a game of hide and seek that we play.  We seek after it.  Eventually after looking under several spots, we think we have found it.  But somehow, it escapes us again.  Why won't it stay and hang out for a while?


Happiness is not what we want.  What we are really seeking after is joy.  Joy is not a feeling.  It doesn't escape us.  It is a deep down from within state of being that comes even when things aren't great.  Everything doesn't have to be perfect in our lives with joy.  


Why?  Because joy doesn't come from a circumstance, but from the Lord.  He is the creator of joy, and only he can give it to us.  


I find I have sought after other things to bring me joy.  After all, I just want to enjoy life while I'm here.  


Sometimes I end up in this pit of dissatisfaction.  Things aren't what I thought they would be.  Something like a fun day, a good meal, a phone call from a friend, or a funny tv show can pick me up from that pit.  And I'm happy.  But eventually the cycle continues and I find myself worn out by the rise and fall of my emotions.  


I want a more stable emotional state.  When things are well, I want joy.  When things are bad, I want joy. Regardless, its still the same God in charge of it all.  And the same source of joy.  Him.  Not my circumstances.


So I don't want happy.  I want joy.  Joy in marriage.  Joy in parenting.  Joy in my job.  Joy in life.  Good or bad.  Joy.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  

Abide in my love.  

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, 

just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  

These things I have spoken to you, 

that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

John 15:9-11

Superbowl Traditions

Around this house, we like the Superbowl.  We love it.  It doesn't matter that it has been 20, yes 20 years, since our team won the big game.  We still like it, and look forward to celebrating it every year.  

So it got me thinking about how we've celebrated in the past.  One of my earliest memories of the Superbowl was 20 years ago, when I was 11.  The Redskins were playing the Bills, and I went over my friend's house to celebrate.  And they won of course!  

In college, it was not so much fun.  I was the kind of girl that actually liked watching it.  However, Ed and all the guys would watch it together with their hall, and no girls were allowed.  So I was left hanging out with all the girlfriends, and we played games instead of watching it.  They were more interested in the commercials, you know.  I'm still a little bitter about it now, can you tell?

Some of my favorite memories were the Bevers' Superbowl parties during our seminary days.  All our seminary friends went, and we always had the best food!  

Since then, we have just done different things each year.  We often get together with Ed's brother George to watch it.  

Last year was A-MAZING!  We went away with the Dowdys (two shout outs in a row!) to Wintergreen for the best weekend ever!  

This year its looking like it may be a fun year again.  We are hanging out with our friends the McMurrays since they now live close to us!  Ed and Wes are calling it the Slumberbowl XLVI!  We are literally having a slumber party at their house.  Our kids will be able to play together, then go to sleep - yay!  We will hang out and not have to worry about driving home - yay!  

So I'm pretty excited, and the best part is right now I'm hanging out with some of my best girlfriends.  6 of us met up this weekend for a girls weekend.  So all in all, its a pretty good weekend for me!  Pray for my husband, aka Daddy-On-Duty.  

How about you?  Do you have any fun traditions for the Superbowl?