It is hard to believe that it is almost the end of October! This month has flown by so quickly, with home renovations, school work, gardening, and other chores. I am looking forward to November & Thanksgiving.
For some families, however, this has been a very hard month. I am refering to the families of soldiers fighting overseas. October's death toll in Afghanistan is the highest it has been since the beginning of the war - 24 this week and around 55 this month - so far. This hits close to home for me because my cousin, Stephen, is currently serving over there. I can hardly imagine what it must be like for his wife and young boys. As October ends, lets keep our brave Americans and their families in our prayers.
Also, please pray for safe traveling for my Mom and sister, Rosanna, as they fly to Wisconsin on Wednesday. They will be there a week, visiting the bible school Rosanna is considering attending.
"Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." ~Psalms 148:13
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Caramel Corn....Yummy!!
This afternoon I tried out a recipe for homemade caramel corn. It was my first attempt to make it and it was delicious! I thought I would share the recipe here.
Caramel Corn:
8 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Put popcorn into baking pan. Remove any unpopped kernels.
Measure brown suagr, butter, corn syrup and salt into 11/2 quart saucepan. Put pan on burner. Turn burner to medium heat. Cook and stir with wooden spoon tell butter melts and everything is mixed. Continue cooking until mixture starts to boil. When mixture boils, stop stirring. Cook for 5 minutes. Move pan off burner and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.
Pour mixture over popcorn using a rubber scraper to scrap pan. With spatula, gently stir the popcorn and hot mixture so all the popcorn is coated. Put pan into oven heated to 300 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir mixture with spatula. Put back into oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer.
Pour it out onto a clean counter and separate it before it cools then put it into a Tupperware container with a good seal and it will last a long time. Makes about 8 cups.
ELISABETH'S TIPS:
Before beginning, put 10 ice cubes in a bowl and cover with cold water so that you are all ready if you should burn your finger! (Yes, I burnt my finger quite badly the first time I made this!)
You can double this recipe with no problem. I like to cook it in a medium sized roasting pan.
If you have brothers, do not expect to have leftovers to put away!!
Caramel Corn:
8 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Put popcorn into baking pan. Remove any unpopped kernels.
Measure brown suagr, butter, corn syrup and salt into 11/2 quart saucepan. Put pan on burner. Turn burner to medium heat. Cook and stir with wooden spoon tell butter melts and everything is mixed. Continue cooking until mixture starts to boil. When mixture boils, stop stirring. Cook for 5 minutes. Move pan off burner and stir in the baking soda and vanilla.
Pour mixture over popcorn using a rubber scraper to scrap pan. With spatula, gently stir the popcorn and hot mixture so all the popcorn is coated. Put pan into oven heated to 300 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir mixture with spatula. Put back into oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer.
Pour it out onto a clean counter and separate it before it cools then put it into a Tupperware container with a good seal and it will last a long time. Makes about 8 cups.
ELISABETH'S TIPS:
Before beginning, put 10 ice cubes in a bowl and cover with cold water so that you are all ready if you should burn your finger! (Yes, I burnt my finger quite badly the first time I made this!)
You can double this recipe with no problem. I like to cook it in a medium sized roasting pan.
If you have brothers, do not expect to have leftovers to put away!!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Rain, Algebra, Christmas Presents and Scented Candles...
WARNING: For those of you who enjoy exciting news, this post may not be your thing. However if you like the updates about every day stuff, than this is right up your alley.
Okay, so maybe I have grabbed your attention (or at least your curiosity) with my post title! Actually the title fits perfectly as that is what I have been doing/thinking about today.
If you live anywhere near me, you already know why I am thinking about raindrops today! As my Aunt Syl put it on facebook..."Sylvia -- has decided to focus on organizing whatever it is that we need to load onto the ark. I suspect that we will be boarding before the day is over." Well, that about sums up the weather today.
As for the algebra, we have a new Math course for our home school this year. Math has never been my favorite subject to say the least, after all isn't that why they invented calculators? :) But I must say I really am enjoying this new math course! At least so far.
Christmas presents. A few months before Christmas 2007, our family decided to try a new way of giving gifts. Instead of everyone giving everyone something, we decided for that we siblings should draw names for that year. Well, we all enjoyed that so much that it has become a tradition. Oh, and by the way, we still do something small for everyone (for instance, last year Rosanna made picture frames for each of us with a picture of Niagara falls and a bible verse), but this just allows us to put some extra thought into that particular persons gift for that year. Another fun thing about doing it this way is you don't know which sibling drew your name! And if they can keep secrets well, you won't know until Christmas Eve! :)
So anyway, we drew names a few weeks ago and I drew ---------------'s name! It is going to be fun working on a gift for this sibling! And the best part is I am pretty sure that ----------------- does not know I picked their name! :)
And that brings me to the scented candles...I love them! Don't you? My brothers aren't usually as thrilled with them, simply because on more than one occasion they have come into the house and thought we were baking them something to eat only to find out it was a candle! So anyway, when my sister went to Wal-mart I asked her to bring me back an apple pie candle that I could have on my desk. And as I write this post, I am enjoying the aroma!
Well, that's all for now....
Okay, so maybe I have grabbed your attention (or at least your curiosity) with my post title! Actually the title fits perfectly as that is what I have been doing/thinking about today.
If you live anywhere near me, you already know why I am thinking about raindrops today! As my Aunt Syl put it on facebook..."Sylvia -- has decided to focus on organizing whatever it is that we need to load onto the ark. I suspect that we will be boarding before the day is over." Well, that about sums up the weather today.
As for the algebra, we have a new Math course for our home school this year. Math has never been my favorite subject to say the least, after all isn't that why they invented calculators? :) But I must say I really am enjoying this new math course! At least so far.
Christmas presents. A few months before Christmas 2007, our family decided to try a new way of giving gifts. Instead of everyone giving everyone something, we decided for that we siblings should draw names for that year. Well, we all enjoyed that so much that it has become a tradition. Oh, and by the way, we still do something small for everyone (for instance, last year Rosanna made picture frames for each of us with a picture of Niagara falls and a bible verse), but this just allows us to put some extra thought into that particular persons gift for that year. Another fun thing about doing it this way is you don't know which sibling drew your name! And if they can keep secrets well, you won't know until Christmas Eve! :)
So anyway, we drew names a few weeks ago and I drew ---------------'s name! It is going to be fun working on a gift for this sibling! And the best part is I am pretty sure that ----------------- does not know I picked their name! :)
And that brings me to the scented candles...I love them! Don't you? My brothers aren't usually as thrilled with them, simply because on more than one occasion they have come into the house and thought we were baking them something to eat only to find out it was a candle! So anyway, when my sister went to Wal-mart I asked her to bring me back an apple pie candle that I could have on my desk. And as I write this post, I am enjoying the aroma!
Well, that's all for now....
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Home Projects
Well, if you are wondering what our family is currently up to, the answer is...home construction projects. Last week we tore down the old walls in what used was Dad's old office and is going to be the girls new room (we are currently staying in what will be Dad's new office). We are also working on the room next to the old office/new girls room (that would be the girls old room). Now that all the old walls are torn down Dad is working on framing our new closets and then they have to insulate that section of the house (our house was built in the mid-1800's and there is no insulation on the front side!). Then of course the fun of sheetrock, carpeting, painting, wallpapering, curtain making etc...and hopefully moving in before Christmas.
Besides those projects, we are also working on scraping and painting one side of the house that has not been painted for a very long time!
I wish I had pictures to post to help you understand a little better what we are doing, but currently I don't have a working camera so pictures will be rare. I am working on using our digital video camera to document the progress we make, so maybe I can post a video later on. Rosanna has posted a couple of pictures on her blog if you want to check them out there.
Well, that's all for now. Until next time...
Besides those projects, we are also working on scraping and painting one side of the house that has not been painted for a very long time!
I wish I had pictures to post to help you understand a little better what we are doing, but currently I don't have a working camera so pictures will be rare. I am working on using our digital video camera to document the progress we make, so maybe I can post a video later on. Rosanna has posted a couple of pictures on her blog if you want to check them out there.
Well, that's all for now. Until next time...
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Ponderings of a Handmaiden: Mary's Example
I have decided to begin posting some things the Lord is showing me in my personal walk with him. I have entitled these posts Ponderings of a Handmaiden.
MARY'S EXAMPLE:When I choose the title for this blog, I was studying the life of a young women in scripture who choose to trust God's plan for her, even though at the time she could not fully understand it, and was ridiculed and scorned by the people around her. As you may have already surmised, the young woman I am referring to is Mary, the mother of our Saviour.
In Luke 1, we learn a little about what kind of a young woman Mary was.
1. She trusted God.
"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." Luke 1:38
Her trust led to obedience. Because she believed God's plan was best for her, she willing accepted his plan - without waiting until she fully understood - and was obedient to his will for her. As the hymn writer, John Sammis, has put it; ..."Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
2. She magnified God
"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47 (Mary's praise of the Lord continues through verse 55)
What does it mean to magnify God? This quote from John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life, really helped me to understand what it means to magnify God.
"Magnify has two distinct meanings. In relation to God, one is worship and one is wickedness. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. Pretending to magnify God like that is wickedness. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With the Hubble Space Telescope, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. Magnifying God like that is worship. We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and beauty and infinite worth that he really is."
3. She pondered
"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19
What does it mean to ponder? The Webster's dicitionary definies the word ponder this way; to think or consider quietly, soberly, and deeply. While the shepherds told of all that they had seen and heard from the angels, Mary pondered it. May we also take the time to ponder what the Lord is doing around and through us.
Conclusion:
Oh, how much we can learn from the life of Mary! May you and I learn from her example how to trust God, magnify God, and ponder all that he is teaching us.
MARY'S EXAMPLE:
In Luke 1, we learn a little about what kind of a young woman Mary was.
1. She trusted God.
"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." Luke 1:38
Her trust led to obedience. Because she believed God's plan was best for her, she willing accepted his plan - without waiting until she fully understood - and was obedient to his will for her. As the hymn writer, John Sammis, has put it; ..."Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
2. She magnified God
"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47 (Mary's praise of the Lord continues through verse 55)
What does it mean to magnify God? This quote from John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life, really helped me to understand what it means to magnify God.
"Magnify has two distinct meanings. In relation to God, one is worship and one is wickedness. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. Pretending to magnify God like that is wickedness. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With the Hubble Space Telescope, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. Magnifying God like that is worship. We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and beauty and infinite worth that he really is."
3. She pondered
"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19
What does it mean to ponder? The Webster's dicitionary definies the word ponder this way; to think or consider quietly, soberly, and deeply. While the shepherds told of all that they had seen and heard from the angels, Mary pondered it. May we also take the time to ponder what the Lord is doing around and through us.
Conclusion:
Oh, how much we can learn from the life of Mary! May you and I learn from her example how to trust God, magnify God, and ponder all that he is teaching us.
Friday, October 16, 2009
My busy summer...
Well, as you probably have guessed because of my lack of post for the last several months, I have had an extremely busy summer/early fall. Here is a brief recap.
In early June we had a wonderful time with the Jost family from Alberta, who were in the midst of a musical tour. With twenty-two people in our house (including us) we had a busy and fun thirty-six hours. I think I had all the names straight by the time they left!
Also in June we had our annual homeschool conference, and a few weeks later a quick visit with my Grandparents from Louisianna. It was wonderful to see them again. We also enjoyed tying on 50th anniversary signs to the back of their fifth wheel so that they wouldn't see them until they were down the road aways. :)
The first week on July I went to Windcrest bible camp for a week. It was a wonderful and very challenging year of camp. The Lord really moved in the lives of many young people, myself included.
In August we did a week of VBS. We did one in the morning and another in the afternoon at a different church. It was a very challenging week for us and we were very tired by the end of it.
The Saturday after VBS, I became sick and was sick for over three weeks with some kind of viral infection/bronchitis. Eventually I went on antibiotics for a weeks and that cleared it up. During the time I was sick, I had and enjoyed my 17th birthday! It is hard to believe how fast time flies!
In early September we went and visited my Grandmother R. in Vermont. That Saturday we had a family picnic with many other relatives there as well. Including my cousin and his family from California! It was so great to see so many relatives again.
And that brings me to October. This month I started back into another school year! Also our family has been doing some renovations on our house, which I will post about very soon. It feels good to be blogging once again! Until next time...
In early June we had a wonderful time with the Jost family from Alberta, who were in the midst of a musical tour. With twenty-two people in our house (including us) we had a busy and fun thirty-six hours. I think I had all the names straight by the time they left!
Also in June we had our annual homeschool conference, and a few weeks later a quick visit with my Grandparents from Louisianna. It was wonderful to see them again. We also enjoyed tying on 50th anniversary signs to the back of their fifth wheel so that they wouldn't see them until they were down the road aways. :)
The first week on July I went to Windcrest bible camp for a week. It was a wonderful and very challenging year of camp. The Lord really moved in the lives of many young people, myself included.
In August we did a week of VBS. We did one in the morning and another in the afternoon at a different church. It was a very challenging week for us and we were very tired by the end of it.
The Saturday after VBS, I became sick and was sick for over three weeks with some kind of viral infection/bronchitis. Eventually I went on antibiotics for a weeks and that cleared it up. During the time I was sick, I had and enjoyed my 17th birthday! It is hard to believe how fast time flies!
In early September we went and visited my Grandmother R. in Vermont. That Saturday we had a family picnic with many other relatives there as well. Including my cousin and his family from California! It was so great to see so many relatives again.
And that brings me to October. This month I started back into another school year! Also our family has been doing some renovations on our house, which I will post about very soon. It feels good to be blogging once again! Until next time...
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