Oatmeal Apple Raisin Muffins

I am not usually the one to make things from scratch, but I have taken up a new hobby of trying to be more frugal in grocery shopping/food spending, so I figured that if we have more yummy home-made stuff to eat at home, we won't spend as much money on pre-packaged things or on going out to eat. So yesterday I made these really yummy muffins. They were so good and so easy to make, I just had to post the recipe. I got this recipe from one of the Ebooks I talked about in a previous post.

Oatmeal Apple Raisin Muffins

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped peeled apples

1/2 cup oil

1 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. cinnamon

Beat egg; stir in remaining ingredients mixing just to moisten. Pour into paper-lined or greased muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Yummy! Ben and Isabelle both really liked them, too!

Wedding Rings and Class Rings

WEDDING RINGS:

Friday night, Isabelle went to spend the night with Grandma, and Ben and I got to go on a date night! We went to see a movie, and we were going to see the 7:00 show, but it was sold out, so we bought tickets for the 9:45 show. While we were waiting, we walked around the mall, went to Applebee's for dessert, and went to the bookstore. It was a fun night.

We went to see the movie FIREPROOF. I think that EVERYONE should see this movie, especially married couples, but anyone will benefit from watching this movie. It stars Kirk Cameron. It's a small-budget movie, so I didn't recognize anyone else in the movie, and so some of the acting was a little cheesey, but I promise you that by the time the credits roll, you will not even remember the cheesiness from the beginning of the movie. And I have to say, I thought Kirk was AWESOME in this movie. (Now I remember why I was in love with him when he was on Growing Pains.)

Instead of trying to give you a movie review that won't do it justice: I'll just let you watch the trailer for yourself. Please go and see this movie with your spouse. It will really change the way you look at and treat each other. It will "fireproof" your marriage.

Here is the trailer:

CLASS RINGS:

Saturday, Ben had his class ring ceremony to get his 2010 B.A. class ring from Roanoke College.

Walking in for the ceremony:

Holding up his "bling bling" after the ceremony:

A proud wife!

Saturday was also a fun day. We got to go out for lunch after the ceremony, then went to a couple little stores in Salem, then went to pick up our baby!

Isabelle is sick today with a cough and cold, so I am staying home with her this morning, and Ben will stay home with her tonight. That's why I'm here on the computer, bloggin' away.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Catching up and Thursday Thoughts

Just wanted to catch up on posting a few pics. These first few are from a few weeks ago. The first two are of Isabelle in a dress my mom gave her. There is sort of a "glow" about her in them. I think she looks like a little angel.

I babysat my two nieces, Ainsley and Sienna one day for my sister.

They were being silly and putting on Isabelle's bibs: OKAY, you asked, I'm delivering. I did a post about Isabelle putting things on her head, and a couple of you asked for pictures of her with the bloomers on her head, so, as embarrased as I am for you to see my pink bloomers, this picture was just too cute not to post:
Look at that fiery red hair!
Last week was my niece Ainsley's 7th birthday party! They had it at the lake, and then most of the family stayed and camped out that night (except for us.) It was a really cute party. There was a "picnic" theme with plates that looked like watermelons, and cupcakes in the shape of a watermelon.

Here is a picture of the birthday girl:

Isabelle chewing on a glo-stick (probably not the best idea, I know.)
Rubbing Uncle Don's bald head for good luck:
Checkin out the beard:
The two Bens standing under the pinata:

I really wasn't planning on doing a Thursday Thought today, because I haven't been very consistent in my Bible reading this week, and didn't really have anything prepared, but then I came across something that I wanted to share. On Amber's blog, there is a link to another blog called Fiddledeedee. It has a lot tips for how to save money, etc. on it, and I found a link to the right that said "Supermarket Savings 101" or something like that and it took me to this link to purchase some ebooks from Biblical Womanhood. They looked like they would be really beneficial, so I went ahead and bought them, and I'm so glad I did! They have been a big encouragement to me and I'm learning so much already, but most importantly, I'm learning what an important and valuable job I have as the keeper of our home!


I don't know about all of you, but as a stay-at-home mom sometimes it's easy to look around you at all the "career women" and get discouraged and feel like what you are doing is not that important. I have felt this way sometimes, but then I look at my precious little one and see how fast she is growing and learning new things, and I realize that I don't want to miss a minute of it! (Of course I need a break every once in a while, but I'm still very thankful that I'm able to stay home with her.)


One of the ebooks I bought is titled "Simple Tips for Successful Home Management". It was written by Crystal Paine. Here is a link to her blog, Biblical Womanhood. I wanted to share with you a section of the book titled "Choose you this day..." It's from page 31 of the ebook. (I asked her permission to post this on my blog.)

Most people today don't understand why a woman would want to give up a career, financial success, and independence to be a wife and mom. It doesn't make a lot of sense from the world's point of view. that is because most people today live only for today. Without God, there is nothing else to live for besides the moment. However, in Christ, you can find a whole new life, a life that is so much more than today. It is for Eternity!

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." (I Corinthians 3:12)

There are a lot of things in this life which may seem urgent, but there are only a few things which are important. In eternity, the money we made, the houses we lived in, the cars we drove, the clothes we wore-none of this will matter.

You have a choice...a choice to build your life upon things which will satisfy you for the moment (wood, hay, stubble) and may give you pleasure and enjoyment here and now, but which will leave you sorely lacking at the end of your life. Or a choice to build your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ and to live for His glory. It is not an easy, carefree life. It is a life of serving, giving, and loving. It is a life lived not for yourself, but for the glory of God. It is also a life of the greatest blessing, fulfillment, joy, and peace you will ever know.

Those who are choosing to live only for that which will someday burn up, won't understand why I would give up possible earthly riches, honor, pleasures, and fame in exchange to serve my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by being a helpmeet to my husband, by endeavoring to have our marriage be a testimony of Christ and the church to the world, by raising up my children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and by seeking to make my home a beautiful haven for my family and all who enter. it doesn't make sense to them and that's okay. I don't base what I do upon what other people think. My life is not a wasted life in God's eyes and that is all that matters.

Pouring our lives out for others might seem like a waste to the world, but it is not a waste to God. A life lived for self is a wasted life. A life lived to God's glory is never a wasted life. Which life are you choosing?

"...Choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)

I am definitely not judging women who choose to work. It is not my place to judge others, nor do I claim to be a perfect wife or mother, far from it, actually! This little article was just very encouraging to me as a stay-at-home mom, and helped me to realize the importance of what I'm doing, so I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

Last day for online bookfair!

Just wanted to post a reminder that today is the last day of my online bookfair with Usborne Books. You have until midnight tonight to place an order if there was anything you wanted! These would make great Christmas gifts!


Just click on this link:

www.ubah.com/HOS124032

Thursday Thoughts: Malachi 3:3

I got the following story in an email, but I thought it was so good that I wanted to post it for my TT today. You may have seen it before, but it's worth reading again.

• Malachi 3:3 says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver..." This puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
• That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
• The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answere d that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."

Isn't that neat? God's timing is always perfect. He lets us endure trials long enough so that we will have a reflection of His image, but not so long that it destroys us. Just remember that the next time you are feeling the heat of trials. God has a purpose for everything in our lives.

Romans 8:28~"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

It must be my birthday!

It's not really my birthday until April (the 21st, hint, hint), but it feels like it is!

Yesterday I was in my TINY kitchen trying to clean it up and feeling a little overwhelmed with the smallness and messiness of it all, so apparently I was making some sighing noises, because my husband asked me what was wrong, and I said "this kitchen is driving me crazy." (I don't complain about it a lot, but yesterday was just one of those days that it was really getting to me.) So he comes upstairs, puts his shoes on and says, "well I don't want to hear you complaining about it anymore." So I asked, "and why not?" Then he said "because I'm going to get you a dishwasher."

I'm sure you could have picked my jaw up off the floor with a shovel. I was flabbergasted, and THRILLED about my husbands' sudden spontaneity. So we looked at a few on Lowes.com, but I told him that I trusted him to pick out a good one.

I think that conversation took place at around 1:00 in the afternoon? By 9:00 that night, this is what I had:

A FUNCTIONING DISHWASHER!

Right now the dogfood container is keeping it from tipping over, but Ben bought a short piece of countertop to hook up to the wall as a temporary fix until we get around to doing the rest of the kitchen. One of the best things about it(other than the fact that it washes dishes for me!) is that I don't have that clunky dish drainer sitting on the counter anymore, so my counter space has more than doubled! This is going to make life so much easier! And I'll actually have some room to cook! I might even decide to be like Amber and do a little baking. :D
It took a lot more work than it looks like. There was plumbing AND electrical work involved. My hubby worked really hard all day on hooking this up for me, and I LOVE HIM for it!

I know there are worse things in life than not having a dishwasher, but I'm so thankful to my husband for being so thoughtful to do something for me that will make my life a little easier. He could've just told me to quit my whining, but he didn't. A million thank-you's, and a million I love you's to my sweet hubby!

"...give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."

~Proverbs 30:8,9

Online Book Fair!

Hey Everyone! I am hosting an online "Book Fair" for a friend of mine who sells Usborne books for children. Isabelle absolutely LOVES for us to read to her, so I thought this would be a great way to earn some new books for her!

Christmas is just around the corner, so this is a great opportunity to get some shopping done for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc. These are award-winning books, and they will be sent directly to your home! (or wherever you would like them sent.)

Just click on the link in the invitation below:

You are invited to an Usborne Books e-Show to explore the world of Usborne Books. A child's interest in reading and learning is stimulated by the lavish illustrations and informative content. There are over 1300 bright, colorful and fun titles covering activities, puzzles and a wide range of subjects for children of all ages.

Usborne Books - the books kids love to read!

Hosted by: Tabitha Simmons

Place: www.ubah.com/HOS124032

When: Today thru 9/22/2008 11:59:00 PM

Everyone is welcome, so invite a friend!

It's a rewarding experience when a child opens a book and discovers the magic of reading.

Thursday Thoughts: The Book of Judges

I recently finished reading the book of Judges (finally), so I thought I would post a few thoughts about it. One of the biggest things I saw in this book is that when the Isrealites were doing God's will, and worshipping Him alone, things were great, but when they turned aside from Him, things always went wrong, and then they would beg for God's mercy again. (On a side note: haven't you ever noticed the same pattern in your own home? When you are putting God first, there is peace and contentment in your home, but when you leave Him out, that is when the strife begins?)

Chapter 2 verse 10 says that after Joshua and all that generation had died, "another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel." Then in verses 11 and 12 it says, "Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger."

Because of their disobedience, God would allow the other nations to overtake the Israelites, and they would suffer because of it. But when they begged for God's mercy, and turned back to Him, God would raise up a Judge to deliver them from their enemies.

One of my favorite stories from this book is the story of Gideon. This story proves that God can use those who are weak in the world's eyes to do great things. You can find the whole story in ch. 6 verse 11 through the end of chapter 8. The Lord went to Gideon and told Him that he wanted to use him to save Israel from the Midianites. So Gideon said to the Lord, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." (Sound like anyone else we know? Maybe Moses? See Exodus 3:11, 4:1, 10) But the Lord said to Gideon, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man." (6:15,16)

We read in chapter 7 that when it came time for the Israelites to come up against the Midianites, they started out with around 32 thousand men, but the Lord said that was too many, so Gideon told the ones who were scared to go home, and 22 thousand of them left, leaving only ten thousand men to fight the Midianites. But God said this was still too many, so He took it down to only three hundred men. And verse 12 says that the Midianites were "as numerous as locusts." That means there were a lot of them! Why do you think God wanted the Israelite army to be so small? Ch.7 v.2 says, "lest Israel clain glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'" God wanted them to KNOW that their strength came from HIM, not from their own hands. So they defeated the Midianite army with only three hundred men!

Can you think of any examples in your own life where God made you "weaker", only to show you that He was the one taking care of you?

“ I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)

Isabelle phone home!

Have you ever told your kids that you have "eyes in the back of your head"? Well, apparently Isabelle has EARS in the back of her head. Here is a video of her "talking" on the phone.

(For those family members getting this through email, I think you have to actually click on the link to my blog to watch the video.)

Sorry all my posts are about my child, I guess that is the only thing you think about when you are a Mommy!

Little Miss Independence

So my 13 month old can't even really talk yet, and she is already trying to get herself dressed! This is her new thing: any type of clothing or anything made of fabric for that matter that is lying around, she will pick it up and it goes straight on top of her head. Whether it's a shirt, pants, even underwear. That's right, I said underwear. Are you allowed to say that on a blog?? :D AND, she will NOT let me or Ben help her. If we even touch whatever she is trying to put on she gets extremely upset. What are we going to do with this new little independent creature in our house?? Any words of advice? Where did my sweet little baby go?

She got hold of an old maternity shirt of mine, and since the hole was big enough, she actually got this one over her head. She was soooo proud of herself!

Here she is trying to put her new pants on top of her head:

(This first one is a little blurry.)

She also enjoys trying to brush her own hair and walking everywhere by herself.

I "stole" the following poem from Dawn's blog, but I I thought it was so sweet, and it really represents how I'm feeling about Isabelle right now:

What happened to the baby?
What happened to the baby,

that I carried deep inside?

She's now become a little girl,

so curious and wide eyed.

What happened to the tiny one,

that relied on me alone?

I see you striving everday,

so eager to be grown.

Your eyes so blue,

that sparkle true,

show more wisdom everyday.

The little legs that clung to me,

are now running away.

Slow down my little angel,

there's so much more for you to know!

Slow down, my sweet sweet baby girl,

for you're just a ONE YEAR OLD!
by: Sherry Gautreau

Here are some of Isabelle's favorite things right now: (Thirteen months old)

• Trying to get herself dressed
• Playing peek-a-boo
• Playing pat-a-cake
• Eating: she especially loves fruits like bannanas, blueberries, and grapes, but she'll eat just about anything.
• Pushing buttons: she loves anything electronic that has buttons: cell phones, cameras, remotes, etc.
• Going to Grandma's house and Nanee's house.
• Watching Pinky-dinky-doo
• Oh, and READING BOOKS! She loves to be read to.
• Her brown puppy dog that Grandma Sherry gave her.
  

Fun Weekend with our Georgia Peaches (and a Florida Orange)

This weekend we went down to Georgia for a little reunion with our friends and church family there. One of my bestest friends Amber and her husband Aric were stationed there at Robins AFB with us and we all went to church together there. They are now stationed in Florida, and Amber is pregnant with her third child! As soon as we found out she was pregnant, we knew we HAD to have a Georgia girls baby shower for her!

The shower was at Stacia's house. She was so creative with all the decorations. She did a baby laundry/baby bath theme. She glued together little styrofoam balls to make "suds", and hung up "clotheslines" with little baby clothes and socks pinned to them. It was adorable!

Here is Sarah mixing up the peach tea before the shower.
After everyone arrived, we played a couple of games. I was in charge of putting those together. The first one went with our "laundry" theme. We put a bunch of baby socks in a laundry basket, and threw in a couple of random things like dryer sheets, a washcloth, and a couple of big people socks. Each person had 20 seconds to sort through the basket and try to match as many pairs of baby socks as possible. The person with the most matches was supposed to win....but we had a four way tie! You can tell these ladies know how to do some laundry! For the tie breaker, we put 3 white socks, and 1 pink sock in the basket. Without looking, each person drew out a sock, and the one who drew the pink sock got the prize!
The second game was called "guess that mess". We did this at the shower my sisters threw for me and it was a lot of fun. 5 different types of candy bars were melted into diapers, and everyone had to guess what kind of candy bar it was. This was a HOOT! People were really getting into it: smelling, touching, and even tasting the candy bars to try to figure it out.

Here's Andrea checking out the messiness:

Here are a few pictures of Amber opening Kirkley's presents.

Amanda made this blanket for her:
Sage (Amber oldest child) did a great job helping with the presents. I think she was the most excited of all!
Here is cute Sage with the pink puppy dog she got at the shower:


This is the mirror I made for Kirkley Grace:

Another one of her special gifts was a basket from Andrea and Dawn with some personalized burp cloths and onsie.
Here are a few pics of people having fun at the shower:

This is a group shot of everyone at the shower (except for Jan, she was our photographer.)
Here we are being silly: Look what happened to Amber!!


Here's a "normal" shot:

L to R: Amanda, Dawn, me, Amber, Sarah, Stacia, Andrea.

I don't know what was in that tea, but look what happened to all of us!
Saturday night after the shower, we all headed to Chuck E. Cheese(where we can really be ourselves.)

Riley and Isabelle rekindled their romance.
This was Izzy's first trip to Chuck E.'s. She loved riding on the train with Barney.
Her Daddy seems to love this place too! Their real motto should be "Where a Dad can be a kid!"


Isabelle got to ride on the clock ride too!

And of course I HAD to kick Sarah's butt in basketball!
Here is Stacia with her "children". Sage and Isabelle with their red hair and blue eyes, they look like they belong to her!
Some of the girls chatting after their pizza.
Here's my little miss independent after church on Sunday. It seems like overnight she is suddenly a big girl and wants to do everything on her own. We stopped at Cracker Barrell on our way back, and Ben put her down outside after we were done eating to let her walk around a little bit. She started walking towards the parking lot, so Ben tried to hold her hand, and she pulled her hand away and said "no, no, no". She suddenly wants to do everything by herself! It makes me a little sad. What happened to my baby?
Sunday we all went to a really good Mexican buffet after church for lunch. Wish I had gotten a picture there, because another friend named Marisa was there, and her baby is due in just a couple of weeks. I missed her shower, though! :(
Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend! We laughed and laughed and laughed some more. My only complaint is that it was too short! We're already counting down the days till we can all get together again! Love you guys!

"Every good and every perfect gift is from above..."

James 1:17a