Emergency Dinners

I have a couple of meals that I consider Emergency Dinners. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's 5:00 and you realize that you forgot to defrost anything. There is nothing in the crockpot, nothing on the stove or in the oven, nothing ready for the grill. AHA!! You can fall back on your emergency dinner. One of my EDs is rice and beans. I always have the ingredients on hand. Rice served with black beans (canned), corn (canned), salsa, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Open a can of fruit as a side dish and voila...a quick meal.

What are your EDs? Please share. As busy as life is, we need to have a couple of these to pull out of our pocket.

Twice As Nice

My sister, Michelle and I bought a business about 6 months ago. It is a biannual consignment sale of gently used children's clothes, toys and equipment. Our first sale is coming up a week from Friday. Yikes!! We are both excited and a little nervous.

The best thing, so far, has been watching God work. He has smoothed a path for us, guided our steps, and protected us from missteps. He has blessed us BIG!! I don't know what next weekend holds but I trust Him to show up.

We have had some interesting experiences like the man who demanded that we repaint his mailbox because the flyer damaged it. Michelle did a fine paint job. How about the evil birthday clown who emailed me a nasty message? What's that all about? We ignored him...clowns scare me.

But mostly we have had wonderful experiences and have met fantastic people. I feel like I have a new friend...Cary. She is the owner of a newsletter called Social Butterflies. Precious!! I have only met her via email but she is a light for Jesus. I knew it before she ever told me.

The highlight up to this point: Working with my sister. She is smart and funny...no, make that hilarious.

So...that's what I'm doing this week...working on the sale.
www.twiceasnice4tots.com
If you are in Apex Aug 2nd, stop by and shop or just say hello.
If you see an evil birthday clown...RUN!

Mojo

Mojo is our 6th blessing. No other child on the planet has a more sunny disposition. Take a look at this video and see why she is our Jolly Mojo.

Buie Farms

John's family has a farm in Robeson County. We spent the day there today. What a wonderful trip. We had a great time experiencing the farm and hearing all about the places where Grammy grew up. (We also visited Pembroke where Poppy lived...very cool!)

Uncle John (Grammy's brother) graciously showed us around, taught us new things and even gave the children a ride on the tractor. No one enjoyed the tractor ride more than Fig. He loved it!!

Bucket and Cousin "C" (my nephew) had a blast...literally. If they honked that tractor horn once, they honked it a hundred times. Uncle John was very patient with us. The boys will never forget it.


Another highlight was finding arrowheads. They are plentiful in the fields. The children found arrowheads and Indian pottery pieces.

The children love spending time with their cousins. Cousins "L" and "C" went with us and we enjoyed the opportunity to be with them.

Uncle John taught us a lot about corn and cotton. The wheat had already been cut. (This year was a bumper crop!). They also grow soybeans.

We arrived home tired but happy!
Thanks, Uncle John, for a great day on the Buie Farm!

Thanks, Poppy and Grammy...Great idea!

Memories were made.

Molly was curious

Sunday mornings are a huge adventure. Getting 9 people awake, clean, fed, and dressed all at the same time is no small feat. By the grace of God we manage to accomplish it every week. This morning we pulled up to Providence Baptist Church at 9:30. Ahhh...on time to boot.

After LIFE classes at 9:30, we all attend the 11:00 worship service except for Fig. He stays in the children's ministry until we head home. We almost fill an entire row in the worship center and usually sit in this order: starting from the aisle seat... Bucket, John, Karen, Molly, Scooter, Rosebud, Triple H, and Banana. It's a good plan. The "little ones" are seated next to an adult, John and I get to sit next to each other (big smile), and the rest are big, little, big, little.
It's a good plan if we stick with it. This morning we were completely out of order. John, Karen, Mojo, Tripe H, Rosebud, Bucket, Banana, and Scooter. "What's the big deal?" you may be asking yourself.
Well....
Bucket, in a rather loud voice, says from his seat at the other end of the lineup..."I have to go to the bathroom REALLY bad, is it almost over? (Don't forget 7 year old boys usually accompany this comment with a visual aid...hand firmly clamping the appropriate area... and a few hops and bounces for dramatic effect).

Banana and Mojo leave the worship center during special music to go to the bathroom. (If only they had invited Bucket...sigh!)

Mojo created a masterpiece on the worship bulletin and in the process got black ink on her hand-smocked dress.

My favorite: When the Lord's Supper was served everyone took a cup of juice from the tray except Mojo. She is not quite ready to receive the elements. She watched Triple H carefully, probably wishing she could participate in the "snack". As I was solemnly watching the deacons finish up the distribution, I heard Mojo ask Triple H, "Can I just smell it?" The entire row behind us erupted in giggles. It really was the cutest thing to watch her shoulders rise as she sniffed Triple H's grape juice. If she couldn't receive it, at least she could smell it.

Next week, we will be in our assigned seats.
C'mon and join us. John passes out Sweet Tarts. You can have one if you stay in your seat.

Monkey Munch

This is our family's favorite new snack and it is super easy to make. In fact, the kids make it by themselves. That's my kinda snack!

Monkey Munch as seen on Jon and Kate plus 8

9 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cut butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Put chex in a large bowl and set aside.
Place chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter into a quart-sized microwavable bowl.
Stir ingredients together.
Microwave the mixture uncovered for a minute on "high". Stir the mix again and continue to heat in 30 second intervals until it mixes smoothly.
Add vanilla and stir.
Pour over the cereal while stirring.
Put combination into a 2-gallon Ziploc freezer bag.
Add powdered sugar, seal the bag and shake until distributed.
Spread Monkey Munch out on wax paper to cool and dry.


Be prepared. It is very addictive.
YUM!

It made my day!

I do not particularly enjoy grocery shopping. My technique is usually pretty simple. Get in. Get out. Nobody gets hurt.

Today, I had a different experience. As I was finishing up business in the checkout line, a young man caught my attention. I would say he was about 18 years old and working at Harris Teeter as a bagger for the summer. Why did I notice him among all the other 18 year old baggers at the grocery store?

He was helping a mother with a toddler in her cart out to the car and he was making goofy faces at the baby. I know....it's a little thing...but it made a huge impression on me. How often do you see teenage boys eagerly and persistently trying to coax a smile from a baby? In public no less? It seems to me that young adults are usually so consumed with what they will do when they get off work or too concerned with how they look to others that they would never be comfortable engaging a small child.

It was sweet. I have thought of that scene several times today. What a thoughtful young man. I want to raise boys like this. Let me rephrase that. I want to raise men like this.