Learning To Be Quiet

Well I managed to do a great job catching the vicious little cold that my littles had. I do have skills!

This morning I was still laying in bed when Roman came in and asked me out of the clear blue sky if I slept well last night (Something I ask the boys frequently). I said, "Well it wasn't horrible, but it could have been better because I have this really bad cold right now." He stood there and pondered my words quietly for a bit, as he does regularly. As he stood there quietly beside my bed I asked Abram if he would fix me a cup of hot tea. As Abram and I began bantering back and forth this is what Roman said.

Roman: Mom?.....Mom?
Me: Yes?
Roman: Do you think you could be quiet for a little bit so I can pray for you?
Me: Yes....I think I CAN be quiet for a little bit so you can pray for me.....*insert a little chuckle*

Then Roman bowed down and prayed a long silent prayer, and while he prayed for me I prayed a silent prayer for him.

Roman: In Jesus name. Amen.

All is Well. All IS Well.....

I Borrowed Trouble....AGAIN...

As I said in my previous post we went to see Dale and Chantel. We arrived Thursday night and returned last night (Sunday), well honestly it was crazy early Monday by the time we got home. We ran into some frustrating little hiccups all night long once at the airport in Denver, but we managed, as usual.

As soon as I walked in the door I felt lighter. Not for any other reason, but because I was tired of feeling blue. I was tired of carrying around trouble.

You see, we went to church in Fort Lupton and I could feel the spirit as soon as we sat down. Den got a prophecy by Bro. Zach (the deliverance was crystal clear and I found out later it was his first prophecy to speak), but not one word spilled over to me. I had been praying and praying and I was sure that this was THAT moment, and that's when it happened....I borrowed trouble....a whole heap of it.

I picked up a burden that I didn't need to carry. Once I placed in on my heart tears began to fall. My inner voice began to talk to the Lord, "What was I going to do?" "How could He not speak to me AGAIN?" I felt shunned. I felt crushed...heart broken...and that's where it got it's strong hold around my heart and it was painful..heavy...burdensome.

I prayed about it, but the focus on the pain was too deep. I could hear this tiny voice in the back of my own fierce voice saying, "All is well. All is well." But I didn't believe it. In fact, it stole my joy the rest of that day. I put on a brave face after a bit, but my heart was still bound up. So very very bound up....

Den and I stayed relatively quiet from the Denver airport on....I had a headache and he had a lot to consider in his own life, I'm sure. But then as we got off the plane and was driving home we began to count our blessings out loud. How beautiful Portland was, how just sleeping in our bed sounded so delicious that late at night, seeing the boys in the morning all began to lighten my borrowed burden. Then I started to hear that voice a little louder....a little clearer. "All is well today."

I began to remind myself of the ministry that went forth that very day, at that point it seemed almost like a lifetime ago. I thought it went into my heart at church, but I realized when I picked up this burden I lost it all. But as Den and I began to count our blessings I could remember. I remembered about hope, courage, temperance. It was coming back to me now.

When we got to our house, I dropped it at the door. I seriously did. I didn't bring it in with me. Now it's right outside, I can feel it. I'll be tempted to go get it from time to time, because I know my flesh, but it won't be good for me. Somehow that burden is tempting though.

So this morning, while still laying in the dark of the morning I began to recount Dale and Chantel's answered prayers (those little girls) and I had more courage. I looked up at the ceiling of an old house that God promised us before we ever left Brewster, and it made me grateful. I thought about all the answered prayers that God has delivered on and I had hope, courage and a smile on my face.

I don't have the strength to add the DIS to my courage today. No, today all I need is the courage that God gave me. Help me not to put upon myself things that are not of thee, Lord.

(Roman is playing around quietly on the piano, Bo has sat in my lap for a really long time quietly letting me kiss on him, and the boys are all giving me kisses telling me how much they missed us. Today, life is good. Today I am blessed. Forgive me Lord for my shortcomings, and thank you for all that you give me anyway!)

Catch up!

Christmas in this old house was wonderful. It was everything I had hoped it would be and the size of this old house was perfect! Thank you, again, Lord for this old house of ours.

We put everything away after the New Years and it was nice to see everything return back to normal. I always love to see the lights and all the decorations, but it's also refreshing to see everything tucked away and the home back to it's uncluttered self again.

I had gotten really sick for a few days on New Years, but the Lord was merciful and I recovered. The brethren and my parents were so good to take care of me and my family. Even though it was a great trial, I can see the beauty of the Lord working.

We missed Dale and Chantel's adoption party that was the week after New Years, because of my sickness. We had bought airline tickets to attend months before, however we managed to bump out the tickets for 3 weeks later. I believe the Lord's hand was all over the timing though. We just returned home late last night/or very early this morning, really. Spending time with them and their 2 beautiful little girls and, of course, Andy was good for our souls. We ate and ate and ate and we spent quiet days enjoying one another.

We went to church there in Fort Lupton and I was able to meet all the people that she has vividly told me about, and I wasn't disappointed. They are all kind brethren. We also had a beautiful meeting with some amazing singing. After church we visited for a bit and were invited to Bro. Landis and Sis. Miranda's home; to which I must say was gorgeous! She made a delicious dinner and we had some good visiting on life and God.

Shortly after we headed to the airport and reached home sweet home.

This post is mostly for me. It's a reminder of God's goodness and not very entertaining. However, this is my life... :)

Christmas Getaway

The funny thing is when Levi went down to the basement to snag our suitcase and brought it into the dining room I knew that it was like setting out honey for flies. Guess what? I was right! Here kiddy kiddies come to my trap...I mean suitcase!

There is something about boxes and suitcases for kids that beckons them to crawl inside and play. And today was no different!

Den and I are going to spend the weekend downtown. It's Den's annual company Christmas party, and most years we try to make it a whole weekend getaway too. So this afternoon I am packing. Making sure that my dress ensemble is ready to go, and Den's suit is all set as well. It's a beautiful soiree, and all the glitz makes me melt, but then put in 300 people that I have to mingle with and it sort of .....taints it... but hey...it's a party, right?

Anyway, the highlight is Den and I time. So excited! Hotel, cable (we haven't seen a commercial or a current tv show in 10 months), a big soaking tub, and some long walks downtown at Christmas time with my man. Yeah, that sounds pretty good about now!

Sooo....I'm thinking that opening up our heavy clunky suitcase and finding two little rascals in it may not be setting the right mood. Even though their giggles are pretty contagious!

Homemade Almond Roca Part 2

So, this morning, I took the almond roca out of the fridge. You can see that the whole slab of it will lift straight out of the cookie sheet. In fact, I flipped it over so you could see the underneath side.

Then it's all about cracking it into pieces. The first blow or two is easy, but then I normally use the handle of a knife to beat it to smithereens! I don't want the pieces to be too small or crumb like, just the put finger to mouth size, as you see in the tins.

So tins are now full and ready for Den to take to work! I hope he gets a Christmas bonus this year, if so babe you know it was all about the almond roca and nothing more! hehehehe

Homemade Almond Roca

Here are the ingredients. Pretty basic. 3 bags of milk chocolate chips, 2lbs. (REAL)butter (salted) not margarine, 2 cups of sugar, and a large bag of sliced almonds.

I am making a double batch for Den's work in the pictures, but the numbers I give are for a single batch. The cookie sheet you see in the photo above is a commercial size, but you will use a normal size one for a single batch. Don't forget that candy thermometer. I had to run to the store to replace mine AGAIN.


The first step is to pour a bag and a half of chocolate chips on a cookie sheet with half a bag of almonds. Just like you see above.

Unwrap 2 lbs of butter cubes. That's alot of butter! But oh sooo good in this recipe!

I just thought you should appreciate the amount of wrappers on my counter from the slabs of butter. ;-) (Oh I should mention that I doubled this recipe and yet the amounts I am mentioning are for a single batch.)

Then you add 2 cups of sugar to the pot.

After all the butter is melted with the sugar it looks like a creamy yellow sauce.

Then all you do is stir on med/low until the mixture gets to 300 degrees on the candy thermometer. This takes CONSTANT stirring and some patience.

The color should start to turn more brown as it starts to thicken and carmelize. This is what it looks like at 300 degrees. It also starts to pull away from the sides of the pot.

Then you pour it hot right onto your prepared cookie sheet and smooth the carmely candy out.

After the whole pan is covered you add the other bag and a half of chocolate chips and half a bag of almonds.

Then I smear the whole thing to cover the entire pan. It's ready to go into the refrigerator. I let mine stay in overnight. Then I break it apart and put it into tins for Den to take to work. Or you can just break it into pieces and put into a container for your own family! It's so good! Enjoy!

Update: Peace Pillow

Poor little "Peace" pillow!

It tried to bring peace into this house, but obviously it wasn't strong enough.

Boaz, being the worst culprit, just couldn't leave it alone.

The "Peace" pillow will need to be taken into the emergency room soon, just so that it doesn't lose all it's stuffing.

Very little peace, in this house, with Bo around.... at least for the little battered pillow.

Zelda

Here she is. Our new kitten. In training.

Right now she doesn't seem very formidable. But do you see the little piece of blue tape on the rug in front of her? Well that little piece of blue tape has been clawed and batted at for some time now. Long enough for me to grab my camera, sit on the rug and take a picture....sooooo....

Okay this doesn't prove anything about her intelligence or her fierceness, but I'm a "look at the glass half full" kind of cat owner.

So far we are still getting acquainted with our little Zelda.

Right now the whole family has put all their hopes and dreams into this little feline.

Save us Zelda!!

Zelda? Focus kitty!

Okay okay... now leave the little piece of blue tape alone now and sniff out the villains!

Well..... at least she is cute....

A Creature WAS Stirring!

Tammy made some little chocolate covered cherry mice for our Christmas party this year! How cute are these? Wouldn't it be great if this was our little varmint problem? But you know where you see one....

There are 100 you don't......

Varmints!

(All I want for Christmas is a Varmint Trap)

I have been a tad jumpy lately. You see we have a rodent problem. It could be a squirrel, a rat or a raccoon, honestly we don't know what is going BUMP BUMP CLAW GNAW in the night. All I know is that it is something pretty darn big!

The first time I heard it Den was at church and I was home alone with just Roman. I was on the computer when I kept hearing the loudest sound coming from the kitchen. I was pretty sure that our ice maker was on the fritz or something. As the noise continued, and even increased, I thought that our fridge was going to give out on us. But something just didn't sound quite right...

So I hopped up and slowly walked towards the kitchen and I could hear the sound of something tearing away at wood down below the kitchen sink. I hopped up on the island afraid that whatever little demon was making all the racket may very well come bounding out from under the sink and run around the kitchen with me. It was quite unsettling....or heart racing...or TERRIFYING!

After Den came home I told him about the noise and he thought it was a mouse. I was certain I knew what kind of noise a mouse made and this was far more fierce and intense, but you know us girls and our vivid scary imaginations (insert eye rolling...hehehe).

Of course, the sound didn't make an ovation, to which I was relieved, but also a little frustrated that I seemed like a silly woman.

That night...late late into the night that booger started to do the same song and dance but this time it sounded like it was in the walls of our bedroom. It was so loud that Den hopped up and started doing the boogy dance to try to scare it away. It stopped, but only for a bit and went right back to gnawing at wood. A TAD UNSETTLING in the wee hours of the dark....

Hoping that whatever it was wouldn't make it's grand entrance after Den was at work I would hear that horrible racket after Den would leave in the mornings, when the house was still dark. Pitch dark.This little beast was making it's way around the inside of our walls, or at least I hoped that this was the case, always worried to catch the little bandit red handed with no way of beating the daylights out of it!

Needless to say, Den came home last night and went into the basement to lay varmint traps, when we noticed that the hot water pipe from under the kitchen sink had been gnawed right through. So for the last several days it had been pouring hot water all over the basement floor. A little spendy and messy discovery.

Then it all started to come together. The bird seed bags that were at the top of the stairs leading down into the basement kept getting spilled. I thought it was just the carelessness of the boys, but now I understood that it was the varmint that was tearing into the bag and eating...probably growing in size everyday! Right outside my living room! Okay this may be where Den thinks I have a vivid imagination....I mean I do, but it's also on the money!!

So we have left glue traps for the little scoundrel. Surprisingly, we heard nothing for the first time last night. Maybe it was all the activity that was going on last night in the basement by Den and Abram....but eventually that rat, raccoon, squirrel will be back. It will get stuck on the glue trap and probably cry out with fear and frustration and it will probably be fighting for it's life to try to release itself from the glue trap. It will probably be the one right by the door to my living room so I can jump on the couch and scream and it will most likely happen while Den is at work....yeah looking forward to THAT evening....

To be continued.....