Purple Pancakes

Purple pancakes..........Would you dare?

I took all day to cook pancakes and waffles and other fast breakfast foods and freeze them. That way the kids and papa can eat what they want in the morning, and I get the satisfaction of knowing there are no strange ingredients that I cant pronounce or spell.

So---why purple? Its pancake batter with chopped up 3 berry frozen mix. (Blue berries, raspberries and blackberries). They are very high in antioxidants. And all those beautiful cancer fighting yumminess.

Thats why there purple. Because there healthy. :)

I also made cinnamon apple pancakes and waffles.

Along with potato pancakes, but they never made it to the freezer. We ate those up quick.

How nice to have a hot super yummy pancake---REAL-- pancake size, not that goofy supermarket size. It takes a whole bag or box to feed my boys. So I made big, thick, heavy super purple pancakes.

And a big glass of OJ. Hopefully I can get my act together and squeeze the oranges in the backyard. Whoooooooo I love taking care of my family and home.

Being Content.....

How often "Just Enough " is not enough. Coffee at home.......or..(ding ding ding) *Starbucks*? Dinner from home.....or......(ding ding ding) *A yummy restaurant?"

How often we talk ourselves into needing more than "just enough".

I know the time old saying "If only I had more time, then I would.......".

Well, im happy to report, I have made time! Restaurants are good, but i have no desire to go out. Fancy clothes are great but the ones I have are lovely.

There will always be a opportunity to spend the dime, but why? I look at it like this; every practical choice I make, I can make a bigger choice for Jehovah.

If I was going to go out to eat; I might spend the gas money I need to go out that one extra day I needed to get my time.

If I was going to blow money o unnecessary items, i might as well spend it necessarily.

I am content with so many areas in my life. And for that i thank Jehovah.

Cleaning

I find such joy in cleaning my home. When the house smells good, everything is in its place and my heart is calm. Such calmness aromas the house. The kids flow easier, the husband is a little prouder, I feel like a fulfilled woman.

All week long I pick up after the kids, and after dinner, and throughout the afternoon. But One day a week I really get down and scrub everything. And with such proud results.

Serving at the right time

Yesterday was so beautiful and awe inspiring. I had the opportunity to serve God for hours and hours. Just the idea of prioritizing enough brought me great joy. But while out doing the work, we received such positive feedback. This was the "icing on the cake". Or the "cream cheese on my bagel." So many people not only listened, but accepted, joked, laughed, thought and offered tea. Jehovah really blessed our efforts.

Yes, there were dirty dishes patiently awaiting my arrival. The house was not the way I like it. And I could of done housework instead of resting.

But I think, when all was said and done, the prioritizing was correct. I wonder what Jehovah has in store for us today.........

Bitting off more than you can Chew....

Ever felt like you just cant get everything done that you'd wish?

In this squirrels case; He's gunna figure it out!

In my case; So am I.

Have to get this done, that done, this goes there, that goes here. She's going where? Who's that? Are you sure? Sure I can........maybe if I.......I can squeeze it in......Oh no, what day is it?.........Did I really double book?..........When was...........What? Really?.........

All this hubbub before 10 am.

I know how to fix it all-- by saying "NO" and by using a calendar so I can say "Yes."

Its good to stop and ask yourself "Am I balanced?" Because If you do an honest examination, you can fix the unbalanced. And if your unbalanced you will not be focusing on the more important things, like Jehovah. But....(Ding Ding Ding)....if your balanced you can do a great many things for Jehovah. Really, though, you can become unbalanced in Jehovah's work also. Neglecting what Jehovah see's as your responsibility. So, I will pray for a balance in life. To know what to stress about, and what to leave. What to sing about and what to fold and put away. I know Jehovah will answer my prayers on this.

Goodby Grandegg

Well, Wednesday came and went. And poor poor Susan (eggy) had the poop knocked out of her, and her shell is now gone. The memorial was held last night at our home, only immediate family was invited. There was no reception, and no donations were accepted. Hope the lesson came across: "You have hard hands--please be careful with the baby." If not, I can hardboil another egg!!

Unexpected laughter

The other day, the family was going to and fro around town doing errands. The baby was getting a little fussy, and before we knew what happened, she grunted and had a huge poo poo explosion. My oldest then replied "Oh my. I guess SHE'S done digesting." The car rolled out in laugher.

Daily Text for Jan 5th "I set my heart to seek and explore wisdom."- Ecc 1:13

The coffee is warm, and smells like chocolate. The oranges are cut, and sitting pretty, filled with vibrant orange spritz of juice.

I am ready to take a moment for Jehovah.

Todays daily text talks about exploring Jehovah's creation. How wonderful this privilege is. To study something we enjoy; and to study it so in depth, that we have no further questions. Just complete satisfaction of that study.

The comments also bring out that there is no way we can study everything Jehovah created, because, our lives are too short. This is an interesting point. Some people in todays society have a "Life's work". They spent decades and decades upon decades studying one item. They spend everyday all day engulfed in this passion of discovery. They let family slide, and usually spend every waking moment in a lab coat.

But to think that Jehovah wants us to study, say, that one little bug that eats that one fungus that gets rid of that one disease. And the average length of study might be 100 years. How wonderful to complete this task, and move on to the next!"Well, I completed the study of the dung beetle and Im moving onto the gravitational pull of the moon on the 5th day of every month. I've observed that the neon shrimp swim in a different direction on that day. And I want to know why."

I also like how the comments bring out "Unwise goals."

With such a short moment of life to prove to Jehovah that we are worthy, we should feel compelled to use our time wisely. For example, a "wise goal" might consist of; pioneering hours, doubling the return visits, making peace in the home, reading the bible daily, taking 10 minutes to yourself so you dont explode all over everybody....etc. An "Unwise goal" might consist of; seeing how many times in a month you can wash the dog, painting the walls with a q-tip, driving around aimlessly for hours on end..etc.

The comments end with "Life in this present system is too short to waste on endeavors that leaves us empty-handed."

The coffee tasted as good as it smelled...........

Sunday Meeting

The meetings are so important for so many reasons. One, is association and building each other up. Another is for spiritual education. And another is to build hope.

I sat next to a beautiful sister that gives herself freely to the congregation. As we looked up scriptures together, during the Sunday talk, the brother began speaking about hope. Hope that we would see our dead loved ones; in which we both teared up.

Hope of walking around and eating new fruit that we've never seen, tasted or smelled; in which we both smiled. That brother gave a beautiful talk, rejuvenating the hope for life everlasting.

Teaching to give.....

One of the recent life lessons I am teaching Koral is to give. She has a natural giving spirit, but I wanted to show her the bigger scale of this. I showed her a bread book, my bread machine, and told her I would keep my pantry stocked with everything she needs. And told her to make a list of people she wanted to make bread for. In hopes, that she will think of others around dinner time. I forget where, but there is a scripture that says that if you invite people over for dinner, to make it the people who are lame, blind and tired. (I dont think im quoting it correctly) But the idea is to think of others.

In todays world we think "Ohhhh my stomach is sooooooo full. What am i going to eat next?" And we forget about the sweet sister that lives on one income, eating a can of green beans for dinner. But, our stomachs feel good. So without giving names, and just allowing Koral to pick and choose as she sees fit, she came up with a huge list.

Looks like we'll be making a loaf of bread everyday, all month long. Which I dont mind. In fact, I welcome. I love the smell of homemade bread. Koral is so sweet though, she took it one step farther. She made some cards, and picked some oranges to go in the gift bag also. And she picks out recipes per person. How sweet.

Daily Text for Jan 3rd 2009 "offspring of vipers"...Matthew 3:7

After considering todays text with my children, they came to this conclusion. "Actions speak bigger than words."

And I think their right.

On every scale. Parenting; children notice before they hear. Follow Jehovah; actions are everything. With your mate; words are fantastic, but are stabilized by the actions that follow.

Baby billy even said "You can say your sorry, or show your sorry."

Lunch

Im a big believer in eating the rainbow.

Her beautiful moment

My dear friend Angela took a moment this morning. A moment of "Ah, thats pretty." Its insainly important to do this. And I took her moment, as inspiration to me. Koral made her bread, and I picked some oranges for her family. And she created this amazing spot in her house, even just for a moment, to enjoy it. WOW. I love her. She enjoys all the little things in life, much like me. Lace, crocheting, sewing, homemade bread, soup etc. The things you could probably buy at the store, but would rather lovingly do it at home.

I love me friend Angela for so many reasons. But just to name one: Her consistant self-discovery. She is always on a mission to be more at peace with herself. I admire this about her. She stops and looks around, smells the roses, then proceeds to press the leafs. :) I am so blessed to have a friend like her.

THE EGG

My oldest baby tends to forget the gentleness required when dealing with an infant. She often treats Bella like a doll. This has made me very nervous. I probably wouldnt care if Bella could say "Sissy dropped this on me." But she cant, so I must be her eyes and ears. And speak on her behalf. Meanwhile, Koral, Teeda le dee's around the house as clumsy as can be. Ta dee---bonk---te doo- fall---tra la la- skip-trip-fall---la-la----deeeeee---boom. So, after a scarey epiosode of broken wine glasses and a 2 month old (yes, Koral was being clumsey....again...). I called my dula in a panic of rage and being scared to death; she said "Boil an egg". I said "huh?!" She said "Remember in High School you had to carry the stupid egg around....". So thats Just what I did. I told Koral she needs to carry the egg around for 7 days. There are no major consequences if it breaks. Just a good reminder how easy it is to hurt gentle things. Koral named the egg "Susan" and we drew a little face on it. I wrote the time of birth on the shell also. Welll......with in a few hours that poor baby Susan was cracked and withering away. Koral found it kind of funny, but I think she got the point. I cant wait to see what Susan will be looking like by next Saturday.

When it was time to put Susan to bed, I asked to see my (now scared grandbaby).....and drew red lines over all the crack marks. Koral was big eyed. Tonight (day 2) I will use a blue marker, then green etc. That way she can see how gentle, or lack there of, she has been.

Baby Billy exclaimed after leaning of Korals punishment "OHHHHH IM AN UNCLE!!!

Hopitality

Hospitality has to be one of the most beautiful gifts ever received. It can be an extravagant occasion, or a simple spaghetti meal. What matters most is the association among friends. Not necessarily making sure your guest are tended too, yet, it does make the experience more fluffy. But really, associating and creating family. Last night our little family had over a wonderful family of life and love. Children (6 to be exact) were running all around my home, eating spaghetti, laughing, apple pie, legos and the wii. Everyone sat at the big table and laughed and conversed about everything.

After dinner the children helped me clean the kitchen and ate apple pie and ice cream then ran to go have fun somewhere.

It is such a privilege to host a warm gathering. SURE, I could host a fancy feast for the queen. But I wouldnt know what to talk about. 'Soooo, how's the crown?" But to breast feed infront of your best friend and laugh about poopoo explosions; how beautiful is that?! How blessed my home is. One any given day, I can count a list of blessings. I should reflect upon that list when I began to feel overwhelmed with my duties.

5 minutes.......ok, lets be happy with 3

What to do......what to do....
House is quiet. My little canoli is snuggly sleeping on my lap. My oldest is gabbing away on the phone. My middle is busy trying to figure out which lego piece goes to which other lego piece. My hubby is napping on the couch.
And yes, there is laundry to be done, dishes to wash, floor could use some TLC. But im taking a moment.
Reflection is necessary.

The kids had a fun filled week. Mama came down to visit them. They went to all the hot spots ate all the wrong food and had a wonderful time. Every night they would come home tired, with noodle smiles on their faces.

Koral awoke this morning feeling distant from her mum..so after drying the tears, I thought "Maybe we can work something out." And since Koral has taken typing and a computer class the last 2 years; why not hook it up with the internet. Given I am a little protective about her surfing the web. There are way WAY to many icky people out there. Which is why we decided against myspace. So we hooked her up with an email account and a blog. The blog is cool because other people can post their thoughts and comments, and she can share her life creativly with family. No matter where they live. She is really excited. And for safety sake, her google account is her homepage. So she dosent have a serch engine as her homepage. Just what she needs and thats all.

Bill Bill seems happy. A little thown off scheadual. But happy. When offered the oppertunity to get an email, he agreed, but I can already see that he would not be willing to keep it up. Thats ok. Maybe blogging is not his thing.
He's got a lot of things-- but this aint it. :)

Bella ate more bananas today. Banana, rice ceral, breastmilk and a little bit of water. She liked it. Nonna really knew what she was doing with this one!! :)

I think I will make a nice big dinner tonight, compleate with homemade bread and homemade soup.
Maybe broccoli cheddar soup with Italian hearb bread. But, I have carnavores in my home so I should go slaughter a cow first.

One more side note: I LOVE BREAST FEEDING!!!! Im going to cry the day she dosent need my milk. Maybe I will secretly pump and drop it in the fridge. We can call it "Organic". LOL

My oldest is getting so big, and my youngest is scooting along

Time passes. Weather we like it or not. So many changes in such a small amount of time. We welcomed Bella Marie Martin to the world on October 26th 2009. 23 hours of labor and out came a little 5 lbs bundle of girly girl.

Mean while my oldest became older-- she's 11 now. Eleven. Soon to be 23.

And with age comes opinions and change. I am so proud of the young woman she's becoming.

And my young man. My head of the household when daddys not home.

Wow he's so mature too. Unless, of coarse, it comes to the dishes-- then he's 2.

Life is busy today with chores and such so I cant blog very long. Maybe tonight over tea I will reflect. And give Bella MORE bananas!! Yummy nannas.