Two For a Penny...

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

Matthew 6:26 and 10:29

May you rest in the Peace and Knowledge

that He's got you covered in 2009.

The Stump of Jesse

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from His roots a branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him; the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:1-2

I listened to a phenomenal sermon by John MacArthur over the holidays that addressed the miraculous nature of Jesus birth. There was a number of things in there I had never heard before. One being reference to the curse placed on King Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 22:30)in the line of Judah, saying in essence that no other king would arise from that man's line, thus seeming to rule out the prophecy of an eternal King from the tribe of Judah, ie the Messiah. The two "facts" seemed to counter each other. There will be no other king from the royal line of David after Jehoiakim, but at the same time, an eternal King will arise from the royal line of David and of His kingdom there will be no end.

MacArthur went on to explain why this curse was actually part and parcel of what played into the hand of the virgin birth (which was also neccessary for Jesus to retain His dual Godhood and manhood but we won't go there for now.) Basically the premise was that heredity is passed down through the male's biological lineage, and the curse against a King of Judah was also passed down through patriarchal biological lineage. Since Jesus was the "adopted" son of Joseph, not biological, He fulfilled the prophecy of being from the royal line but did not obtain the curse that was passed down through biological heritage. The fact that His mother was also from the royal line of David made Him the only person who could ever again qualify for actual Kingship in Israel. Pretty fascinating stuff. Sheds a whole new light on the "stump" of Jesse. I also love this picture of the "other half" of this stump...


This is the the sawed off trunk from the above stump, now laying back in our apple orchard, dead as a doornail, and yet "sprouting shoots" last summer. Talk about an object lesson *grin*.

Happy Birthday Jesus

John Travolta's got nothin' on these kids of mine.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mule Headed Pharaoh... and Martha

thoughts from the devotional corner this morning....


Wow. Pharaoh is about as stubborn as they come, huh? But I was convicted while reading that I can be pretty mulish and hard headed myself. I've fallen into what I call "Martha Mode" again through the course of this week, where I get hectic and "planner" oriented, and squeeze my quiet time with the Lord right out of the day planner. I justify and support it by saying, "Lord, I am always with you... I'm talking to you right now while I'm *doing* this thing on my list..." yeah right. I know sometimes my husband just takes me by the hand, pulls me over to the couch, sets me down, pulls my feet up into his lap and makes me sit. Just to be with him. It's beautiful, and I love it. I picture it the same with God. Yes, there is the momentary interactions as I go about my duties, He is always there, and I can always approach Him. But that moment made to just sit quietly, with my feet in His lap as it were, is extra special. It shows the intimacy and priority of the relationship. That I am hearing and responding to his invitation of; I *want* to be with you. I *want* your full attention. I *want* you to look me in the eyes and just experience ME for this moment.

I got that moment this morning. I made that moment. And I wasn't disappointed. I never am. So I don't know why I get all stubborn and mule headed and start to justify it when I turn away from it and let other things fill that space. Like Martha, "But Lord!" No, Martha. Mary had her priorities straight. She wasn't going to let hustling and bustling get in the way of her sitting at the Master's feet and soaking up His words and presence. And neither am I.

Advent ~ A Photo Diary ~ Days 14-19

As promised here is a conglomeration of the past week's advent celebrations in our home. The intensity has been building daily and we are all excited to get to the star and put it up on the top of the tree very soon!

Day 14; Extol Him.
Remember to extol his work, which men have praised in song. All mankind has seen it; men gaze on it from afar. Job 36:24,25

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. Psalm 95:1-3

Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD. Psalm 117:1-2

Key Word, Extol
Symbol, Bells
Action, ring bells
Songs, I heard the Bells, Come on Ring those Bells, Carol of the Bells

Day 15 Mary
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God... "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-28,

Nativity Figure, Mary
Key Word, Mary
Action; smiley face with fingers(merry),
Songs; Mary did you know; Mary, sweet Mary; Precious Promise; Breath of Heaven

Advent Box, letter M

Day 16 Joseph
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Mat 1:18-24,

Nativity Figure; Joseph
Key Word; Joseph
Action; sawing motion (carpenter).
Songs; Joseph’s lullaby,
Advent box letter J

Day 17 Bethlehem

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7

Symbol; Nativity Creche,
Key Word; Bethlehem
Action; rubbing straw between fingers and thumbs
advent box straw bundle
Songs; Away in a manger, Not that far from Bethlehem, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

Day 18 Baby Jesus.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6,7

Nativity Jesus in manger.
Key Word; Child
Action; cradle baby
Songs; What Child is this? Rose of Bethlehem; Born in Bethlehem, Jesus Born in Bethlehem, Our God is with us. Jesus, oh what a wonderful child. Welcome to our world (78)

Day 19 Angels.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:8-15

Nativity Angels
Key Word; Angels
Action; halo
Songs; The First Noel, Angels from the Realms of Glory; Angels We have heard on high

Toblerone Fudge

Okay, I finally got to it! Berry Girl's Toblerone Fudge. Oh mamma... I think I'm in trouble. Truly Simple. Truly Scrumptious. Truly Fattening (not to imply that everything else I've been baking lately is any less fattening. By any means.)

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup evaporated milk
400 g Toblerone

Line 8 inch square pan with parchment paper leaving extra paper hanging over both edges of pan, set aside. Mix sugar, butter and evaporated milk in medium heavy saucepan. Bring to full rolling boil over medium heat and boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add Toblerone and stir in till melted. Pour into prepared pan and chill 3 hours or till firm. Remove fudge from pan using parchment "handles". Cut into 25 squares and store covered in refrigerator.

Me on Miracles and Magic and Tales of Intrigue

In a discussion with friends recently I shared how sometimes I fear I have been too realistic with my kids. Prairie Guy was there and he nodded and confessed to being even more of a realist than yours truly. This comment stemmed from us never having even considered (seriously, the topic just never came up for either of us, it was a no brainer) introducing Santa to our Christmas celebrations after kids came along. We didn't have to have some big debate about why or why not, seriously, it just wasn't even a consideration.

When I ask why, the only answer I can seriously come up with is....that same word. Why? Why would we? Now, let me state out and out that I'm not making an "argument" here... not out to "pooh-pooh" Santa celebrators... this is just me being me in my little corner of cyberspace, cause if I can't be me and authentic then I better shut up and close shop. Okay? So don't go getting out any shields, this is not an attack, it's just ME. Breathing again? Okay then... moving right along... Why indeed? As I look around and see some light banter and some not so light banter on the oohs and boos of Santa I just watch and ponder. Mostly what I see is people saying "why not? It's surreal and magical and holds such warm memories and brings out the child in everyone."

I guess this is why we don't celebrate Santa then... because we already HAVE a surreal and magical tale of intrigue that we are celebrating that holds warm feelings and brings out the child in everyone. It's called the Nativity. The story of the King of all Creation who laid His glory aside and took on humanity, and poverty, to draw near His people in their own impoverished humanity. The real life story of the Prince and the Pauper, so full of intrigue and mystery and magic and miracle... angels and wise men, shooting stars and a virgin with child.

Upon further reflection I have come to the conclusion that I am NOT actually a realist in the strictest sense of the word. Because I am as big a proponent of mystery and miracle and magic as anyone, God knows I am a die hard sentimentalist and romantic.... it's just that when one is so caught up in the ultimate and REAL tale of intrigue, well... what need has one of a poor counterfeit? Who needs elves when one has angels? Or flying reindeer when one has a meteor declaring a King's birth to an entire continent? Or the North Pole when one has heaven coming to earth. Or Santa making his one night fly by when one has the King of Kings and Lord of Lords coming to make his home among men? My heart thrills at all the magic and mystery and miracle of Christmas, thrills to bursting. There's just no *room* for Santa.

So of this I am now convinced, I'm no realist... but my tale of intrigue? Surreal and magical and most marvelous of all... is true... and it ain't over. The happy ever after is yet to come, the tale is yet being played out with each quavering, anticipatory breath we take. He came... and He's coming back... and we will celebrate His first coming while anticipating His next. And heaven knows He won't be coming on a sleigh led by flying reindeer. The only hoof beats we're listening for are the thundering hooves of a rockin' white stallion. And instead of preparing cookies and milk, we'll be preparing our hearts to offer Him some crowns.

Peanut Butter Balls

I got this easy breezy recipe from Tricia at It's All About Him. It's a keeper!

2 cups Rice Krispy Cereal (I substituted a fancier kind of cereal, with cranberries and macadamia nuts, rice crispies and flakes, I just scrunched the flakes up in the bag... can't remember the brand of it as I don't have the box, it's from Costco. The cranberries and mac. nuts added a special touch to these already yummy treats.)
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
2 TB margarine
1/2 ts vanilla

1/4 cup melted butterscotch chips
1/4 cup melted toblerone
1/4 cup melted dark chocolate

(you can use whatever kind of chocolate you want for this, just heat it up for a minute or so in the microwave when you are ready to dip).

Mix everything but chocolate together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. Finish blending in with your hands (I used latex gloves as Tricia suggested). Chill. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on trays covered in wax paper.

I melted my chocolate 1/4 cup at a time in a tea cup for about 1 min, 30 seconds in the microwave, stirring the final chips to melt them in so that it remained easy to work with. I dropped the balls in one at a time, rolled them around the wall of the cup with a teaspoon until they were coated, and then returned to the tray. One bonus to having an uninsulated sun porch is being able to "chill" this kind of baking on a bakers rack outside and not take up space in my fridge *grin* (I always was an opportunist). When they were chilled I popped them into an airtight container to store in the fridge. YUM. And very easy. The kids basically did everything but the chocolate dipping on these babies.

Come on Over

to the Family Room for a tale of two little rugrats and a sure smile and giggle at their expense.

The Littlest Literature Buff

Okay, so this is totally unrelated to schooling, but I already posted over at Prologue today and had to share this in continuous picture and comment format for my dear friend Berry Girl (who *is* a literature buff) who gave me this Canadian Lit novel as a gift (7 months ago, which I have yet to finish, which is no reflection on the book). It *is* on the coffee table once again (which is promising?).

Anyway, it was there within reach for The Rugrat when he went down for his quiet time after lunch.

And that was what he decided to read.
And by read, I really do mean *read* (albeit upside down).

multiple minutes on each page

before turning carefully to the next.

I asked him if he liked the book, and the reply was a cheerful; "yah!"

Like Mother like Son...
Now if I only I can wrestle it from his grasp and get some quiet time in myself.

Christmas Shortbread

Here's another super simple Christmas recipe. Takes all of 10 minutes to prepare.

2 cups butter at cool room temp.
1 cup sugar (I substitute a couple TBspns of strawberry jello powder in with the sugar to give it a little color and a hint of fruit flavoring).
1 1/2 cups cake and pastry flour
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cream butter well, blend in sugar and cream thoroughly. Combine flours and blend gradually with wooden spoon into butter mixture. Press into ball and and knead lightly on floured surface till smooth. Press into two 9 inch square cake pans to a height of about 1/2 inch (you can do this in round pie plates, or any shallow baking dish). Prick all over with fork. Bake at 275 for 45 minutes or until just faintly golden. Wait until almost cool and then cut into one inch by two inch rectangles.


If you want to fancy these up, instead of baking in pans, roll (between palms) into invidual balls, toss one fourth of balls in coconut, one fourth in crushed almonds, place on cookie sheets, flatten, thumb press the centre of remaining plain cookies and dab with assorted jams and chocolate centres. Bake 14 min's at 350 deg. or until faintly golden.

Just Checkin' In...

Well thanks ladies for all the warm well wishes and setting me "free" from my daily advent posts =) I missed just posting spontaneously and without premeditation as well. I will post a couple more advent conglomeration posts but I will piggy back them into one post that covers multiple days. Yay! I'm breathing a big sigh of relief. All of a sudden "blogging without obligation" went out the window with that idea =)

I've been holed up at home for the past few days (including from Church), I'm not sure I have ever done that before, or if I have I was too sick to enjoy it, but man... I hope this isn't heathenistic but I had the most WONDERFUL morning home alone in a quiet house (babe was here, but slept all morning). I didn't even veg out... I wasn't THAT sick, I just had too awful of a cough to go out in the sub zero temps. I got the whole house tidied, quiet music playing in the background, everything stayed all nice and clean the way I left it, I got a nice lunch on the table with flowers and china all in place for when the family got home. It was positively delightful.

I never realized until that moment that I can count on one hand the times that I have been home alone. I didn't realize how noisy and busy and crazy my life is until all of a sudden I am in this same "place" sans all the action of five little chicklets. The only time I get "away" from the kids is usually shopping (not relaxing,and rarely do I go shopping alone, usually I have all of them, at the very least I have the baby), or scrapbooking for a few hours once a month with girlfriends. But both those things are still DOING. I still have this "list" of stuff I want to get ACCOMPLISHED. Being home alone yesterday, just alone, with no pressing demands or to do list made me realize how very, very beneficial it would be to my sanity to get a time like that every once in awhile. Somehow those two and a half hours gave me a cushion and padding that equipped me to deal with the noise and punches that made up the rest of the day, and even into today. I just feel recharged.

I know I have often looked down my nose at the "me time" philosophy, the "you have to take care of yourself if you are going to be any good at taking care of anyone else" idea. I think there is danger there, in the area of expectations and disappointment and self centredness... but in reality, if not taken advantage of, in small doses, I think it does matter for a woman to have some moments to herself where she is not frantically serving or "to-do-ing" or even "on call", to just let down her guard, and hang. The funny thing is that I chose to use that time doing things that still were serving for the most part. Not because I had to, but because I could. I cleaned up, I cooked, but I also took a long bath and read a few chapters of my book. It was a little slice of heaven on earth. I think I'm going to put a bug in The Guy's ear about what a great "promise" present this would be for me...

We are holed up today and tomorrow at the very least, not going to set foot outside except to go and make sure the animals all have food and water and heat lamps are up and running. Lots of baking and reading and cleaning on the agenda. We are hosting a small group Christmas party here tomorrow so we need to get everything in order. Happy Christmas preparations, everyone.

Butter Tarts

3-4 dozen pre-frozen tart shells

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 tspn vanilla
1 tspn lemon juice
generous pinch of nutmeg
2 cups syrup
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup walnut halves (or substitute 2 cups of either)
raisins

Cream together butter and sugar, beat in eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and nutmeg. Blend in syrup, stirring well.

sprinkle raisins in the bottom of each tart shell to cover bottom in one layer (about a dozen raisins) top with 3 assorted nut halves (the kids love doing this part). Top with app. 2 TBspns of butter tart mixture (I use a 32 cc baby formula scoop for this job and it holds the perfect amount).

Bake at 375 for 20 min.

I doubled this recipe and made 7 dozen tarts in about 30 minutes start to finish. Simple. Scrumptious.

Baby It's Cold Outside....

The rebel in me is screaming and fighting against the daily post count I've set myself up for in the Advent Photo Diary series. It's fun and all, but it doesn't give me any time to do anything else here. I'm not ditching it. I'll upload stuff as we go here and there, maybe doing 2 or 3 days in one post or something, or just do a day here and there instead of an exhaustive diary. But today I feel like doing something else. Cause it's cold. And I'm feeling all warm. And I want to spread the warmth.

Now, bear in mind, when I say cold, I mean.... COLD.

We're talkin' 40 below with wind chill cold....

That's cold enough to bring the frost INSIDE our old storm windows....

and decorate the bathroom window with some natural lace
and make the handle of the storm window look like it belongs to the Ice Queen's Palace.

But have no fear cause baby it's warm inside.

Blanket and Book Warm

Fall Asleep on the Couch to the Sounds of A Christmas Carol Warm

Afternoon Nap Warm

Butter Tart Warm

Pop on over to the Pantry if you'd like the recipe

Supercalifragilisticexpi-halitosis...

I am feeling terrible that I have a half dozen new followers and commenters that I haven't even been able to "meet" properly yet. I promise that first chance I get I will pop over to your respective abodes and get to know you properly. Between being sick, and all the extra "things" that fill the hours of our holiday calendar I have not even been able to keep up with my photo diary of advent as you can see from the 3 back-posts up in one day =)

Today, to make up for my absence here, and for your viewing pleasure, I present, The Chick with no voice, The funny faced Punkin' and The Guy with... halitosis? (not really, but it was pretty funny just the same). Just another little glimpse into everyday silliness around here...

Advent ~ A Photo Diary ~ Day 13

Hope of the Nations.

In his name the nations will put their hope. Matthew 12:21

Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God's promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which means our bodies will be made free. We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have. But we are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently. Romans 8:23-25

And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him." Romans 15:12

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Theme; Hope
Symbol; color green
Action; hands on heart
Song, Jesus, Hope of the Nations

Advent ~ A Photo Diary ~ Day 12

Fruit of the Spirit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5,6

This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:8

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. John 15:16

Theme; Fruit of the Spirit
Symbol; berries
Action; bite into fruit