Baked Danish Apple Pudding

  Destiny has become quite the little Chef this summer.  She brought me one of the children’s story books from the public library, and asked to make the recipe in the back.

 

It had very little sugar in it, and we had all ingredients on hand, so why not?
   

  Here is the recipe, not sure why it’s called pudding, its more like a cobbler.

Tart Apples, juicy raisins, toasted almonds, nutmeg and cinnamon make up the flavors of this simple dessert…..

{click title to print}

Ingredients

• ½ cups Flour
• ½ cups Brown Sugar, Packed
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cups Raisins
• ½ cups Sliced Toasted Almonds
• 2 Tablespoons Soft Or Melted Butter
• 1 whole Egg, Slightly Beaten
• 2 whole Tart Apples, Peeled, Cored And Chopped
• Ice Cream Or Whipped Topping

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*. Butter an 8 inch round cake pan.
Measure all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mixture will seem very dry at first, but as you stir, it will become moist.
Scrape into cake pan and spread smooth. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm, cut into wedges, topped with ice cream of whipped topping.

Great job, Destiny! I am so so proud of your interest in learning to cook and bake. You are turning into such a little lady.

Enjoy, you all!

~T

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Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

  Destiny made her FIRST pie this week, I was so proud.  She has always been a great help in the kitchen, but lately she has been asking to do things herself.  Case in point, Bean Burritos for lunch and …

A Hospice House Piano Party

  Destiny had her first Piano Recital this weekend, called a “Piano Party”!  Her Great Grandpa Beckler, whom she is very close to, just got moved to the Hospice House.  Naturally, if he couldn’t come to her Piano Party, she was going to need to move the Piano Party to HIM.

  Hospice House was amazing and so supportive of the idea!  It was such a special day, one none of us will soon forget.

Time to start the show!

Destiny did GREAT and if she was nervous at all, she hid it well!  She stood to introduce each song by name before playing it…..

  After, she was rewarded with a Certificate from Aunt Kasey, aka The World’s Greatest Piano teacher, for completing her first set of piano books.  She was so excited! 🙂

As a bonus, Destiny and I got to play our two duets together.  Chopsticks and Heart & Soul, she can do bottom or top hand, and we have had so much fun playing these together.

 Not to be left out, Avery wanted to play a song that Destiny has been teaching her from the front of the book.  Such sweet sisters!

We spent the rest of the morning together right into lunch time, hanging out and playing cards.  Lunch out then home for naps. 

We had so much fun and I am so thankful we have family near by!

I loved watching these tender moments between my Grandparents…..

  Paxton was VERY tearful this time about “Gweat Gwampa sick. He die.”
{Great Grandpa is sick, he is going to die soon….}

  I was blown away by the the level of understanding. He knew something wasn’t right with his beloved “Gwampa” who now stays in bed. 

  We explained that Grandpa was sick, and that he would go see Jesus soon. 

“Jesus? In Heaben?” 

Yes, and Grandpa is going to have a NEW body and be healthy, so he can run around with Jesus. 

“I go to Heaven and run with Jesus too?” 

Not yet buddy!  You stay here with Mommy, then someday we will all go see Jesus and Grandpa in Heaven.

  Later he runs up to me and says, “Gwampa run in Heaben with Jesus wike dis….” and he took off running in a big circle around the room with a big smile on his face.

  You are exactly right buddy!  You are exactly right…..

What a glorious day that will be! 

No more sorrow, no more pain….

  We sure love you, Grandpa!

~T

 

First Day of School 2012

   This is post 2 for today, head back 1 post to drool over an Applebee’s Copy Cat salad!

   I have thought and thought, and I still can’t figure out how summer is over already?!  I want my babies home with me ALLLLL the time.

  But alas, another school year has begun, as of August 22nd for the big kids and September 5th for my lil’ Peanut, Avery.  Guess that means 3 days a week, it’s just me and Paxton.  Wow.

{crickets chirping}

  The silence is deafening!

  Better late than never, here are our first day of school pics for 2012:

Kindergarten

4th grade:

Missing the big kids already……

September 5th,  Avery’s turn!  She complained of a tummy ache, but soon got over her butterflies. Especially when she saw what outfit I had laid out.  🙂

Preschool

  It’s just you and me buddy……

“Wanna go play, Momma?”

 ~T

Pinterested: Making A Sock Bun

This is Post 2 for today, be sure to head back to Post 1: Buckeye Cookie Bars!   

So I saw this cool thing on Pinterest, which lead me to a video of how to make curls using a Sock Bun.  Destiny LOVES when I take time to curl her hair, but let’s be realistic, it just doesn’t happen on school mornings.

  THIS is the answer to my “Who in the World has time to use a curling iron on a CRAZY school morning?” Problem’s!

What you’ll need:

Socks that you don’t mind cutting.  I used my size socks.

Roll it up tightly, continuing to tug as you roll, to keep it smooth.

 

Your Sock Bun should now look this:

Mine actually looked like this one, on the left, so I unrolled and cut the top “lip” of the sock as well.  Much better!

How to roll a sock bun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=3FV-YO46E8Y

Basically you take damp hair up in a high ponytail, and slip the sock bun over it.  Grasp hair straight up in the air, as you pull the sock bun to the tippy top, and wrap the ends neatly.  Then you roll down, spreading the hair as you go, clear back down to the base of the ponytail. 

{You are going to want to watch the video. This is hard to explain!!!!}

  When you are done rolling it looks like this and is actually nice enough to be worn this way on day 1. 

Super cute!

  The next morning, it was time to find out if it worked!

  We had one that worked great, and one not so much.

Poor Avery with her thin, silky hair!!!!!  But Destiny’s was amazing!!!!!

That’s ok, Mommy.  We can try again tomorrow!

2nd time around, I cut a stray baby sock for Avery’s hair and made sure it was very damp this time.

  When we took it out the next morning, I could already tell a big difference.

  She was THRILLED to have curls like big sis.

  Supposedly this works great for adults as well, but I already have curly hair, so I haven’t tired it.  If you try it, make SURE to come comment and tell me about it!

   Go make a Sock Bun, your daughters will thank you!

~T

Update: 12-29-2012
Since posting this, we have done many a sock bun. Usually with freshly washed, damp hair on bath night, and I have a tip for you.  I have found that if I spray Avery’s baby fine, satin hair with leave in conditioner, the curls stay way better!
Case in point:

Spirit Week

  I always loved Spirit Week in school.  Getting the excuse to dress up crazy for school?  I was IN! 

  I shared Spirit Week with you last year:

Mismatch Day, Twin Day, Decade Day and Western Day. 

Here is the post if you missed it.  Also featured on that post, a picture from MY Spirit Week waaay back in the 90’s!  🙂

I know this is SUCH the mom thing to say, but I can hardly believe how much Destiny has changed from last year to this year, seeing these pictures totally made me realize how big and grown up she is getting!!!!!

Mismatch day 2011

 Spirit Week 2012:

First up, NERD Day!

Day 2: Super Hero Day

  We did Bunny Girl, inspired by Tylan’s Bunny Mask.  I cut her shirt rabbit out of an old tea towel.

Day 3: Ugly Sweater Day

  This Ugly Sweater was unearthed from Nana’s dress up bin.  It was Uncle Chad’s “Joseph Coat” for a church event when we were kids.  Apparently I was feeling a bit cranky about my Ruth outfit?!?!?!

Day 4: Fake An Injury Day

  She was thrown from her horse, or so the story goes…..

Day 5: Cougar Spirit Day

We’ve got Spirit yes we do, We’ve got Spirit, how ‘bout YOU?!

~T

Be sure to head to Post 2 today, Curly Noodle Pork Supper! YUMMY!

Destiny’s 1/2 Birthday

  Yesterday was Destiny’s 1/2 Birthday.  If you have kids in school, you know this is a REALLY big deal! 

   The whole school sings Happy Birthday to you at lunch, and let’s not forget earlier in the week, the BIG decision of deciding what snack you want to bring for all your friends:

Cupcakes, cookies, juice boxes?

  So far, Destiny’s favorite treat to take was Kansas Dirt Cups with gummy worms poking out the top.  Her class requested that 2 years in a row in fact!  (That is what Ty wants next month for his birthday treats.) 

Last year, Destiny picked cupcakes:

Sunshines and butterflies.

This year she says EVERYONE does cupcakes and cookies.  She wanted something different, so we talked through her favorite treats and here is what she came up with:

  Daddy’s Oh-So Famous popcorn (with a special treat thrown in)

   We have popcorn every Sunday Night Snack Supper, it is a family favorite!  Dale makes it in a Stir Crazy popcorn maker with olive oil and white kernels of corn.  Then he adds sea salt and some other “secrets,” it is AMAZING!  (We have friends who won’t go see movies with us unless we sneak them in a ziplock of this popcorn!) He says the key is to do just the right amount of oil so the seasonings stick. 

  I love to add in Hot Tamales while the popcorn is still hot.  Mmmm!

   One time, when Destiny was little, she helped herself to the red “pretties” in my bowl.  She came up to me, eyes huge and watery and said “Hawww Haaww” and pointed to the “HOT” in her mouth. 

Needless to say, despite the initial reaction, Popcorn and Hot Tamales has been her favorite “special treat” ever since.

  I was thrilled when I found these Popcorn bags at the grocery store last week! They were the perfect touch to making this snack extra fun!!!!

 We got permission to come in the afternoon rather than at lunch due to the nature of the snack.  I woke up 2 of my 3 nappers to go, but they perked right up when they found out they got to go to big sisters school!

Destiny’s Birthday snack was a big hit!

“Destiny’s dad should open a movie theatre and sell this popcorn, it’s AWESOME!”

I love Destiny’s teacher and all her friends! 

What a great class! So thankful and polite……

Yes, this is the whole 3rd grade.  (Well, almost, 2 of the girls were gone today….)

LOVE the one-on-one small classes provide! 

Happy Half Birthday to my big 8 1/2 year old!

Love, Mommy

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See my new “Stop Censorship” banner top right of this blog? Thank you to my cousin, Cassi for telling me about this!

  This banner is my quiet protest of the legislation trying to get passed on the 24th. Read more about it here.  I have to tell you, the only thing that makes me nervous about these sorts of bills, is that like a frog in boiling water, the heat is being turned up bit by bit as the gov’t gains more and more control.  What if this is step 1 in the bigger picture of stopping me from proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ on my blog?   At that point it’s too late, the water is boiling and the frog is dead.  Are we sleeping as the gov’t slowly takes over our freedoms?

Take action here: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Quote from another blogger I found when I google this topic:

For me specifically, under PIPA, it would be my responsibility to check the provenance of every site I link to, making sure that that URL, or any other page at that domain, did not contain any content that was copyright protected or possibly pirated. If I did link to a site that, for example, contained a scanned copy of a book cover from 1993, I could be seen as encouraging piracy and could therefore be blocked, and my domains could be confiscated. If I linked to a site that someone felt was infringing on copyright by including an excerpt of a book, I could be blocked, frozen and in a heap of trouble. The interpretations of PIPA are too broad for my comfort, and the penalties too severe.

Imagine this restriction in terms of Tumblr and Pinterest, where people share images over and over again, or YouTube.

What makes these pieces of legislation so bothersome and threatening to me is that, in my opinion, they hand over way too much power without defining what can and cannot be done with it. (I realize that people are threatened by piracy, personally and financially.)

I do not think PIPA and SOPA are the correct response, and find them to be much too large a hammer, one that serves those who funded the development of the bill than any actual progress against the relative threat of piracy. They serve to hinder development more than they could ever stop piracy.

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The source site, which I have listed below contains words and images I do not feel appropriate. I copied and pasted all she had to say on this topic above, so if you choose to visit, do so at your own risk.

via

The Heart of Worship

 Destiny has a heart for worship.  She loves to express herself to the Lord in song and praise.  Dale and I pray over our kids each night, that the Lord would reveal their God-given gifts and talents at an early age, so that we can nurture those and help them to grow to be used for the Glory of God!  I will be very curious to see if this is her gifting!

  Hi, this is Destiny!  I am excited to be here and this is my 2nd blog post. Mom let me write one this summer, it was SUPER fun!  You can see it here.

  I wrote 3 1/2 songs in my quiet time, I want to share them with you today. They don’t have tunes yet, but they will one day.  I want to learn piano or violin or flute, but mom says, piano will be easiest for me to sing with.  I am thinking about it.

Here are my songs:

Come To Me Lord

by Destiny, age 8

Come to me Lord,

Come let me worship you,

I will praise you, I will praise you all my days.

I love you Lord, I love you every day of my life.

And every day I wish I could see you.

Heaven sounds amazing, I wish I lived there every day.

I love you Lord, you are the King of my life.

Dancing in the Moonlight

by Destiny, age 8

Ooooooh, one night the shepherds were watching their sheep,

And an angel came and said the King is born!

And they went dancing in the moonlight.

They followed the star to find the King, and when they found Him,

They went dancing in the moonlight.

Dancing in the moonlight.

Then the wise men found the King, and they went

Dancing in the moonlight.

And when they found him, they went dancing in the moonlight.

Dancing in the moonlight for the King of Kings.

I Will Worship You

by Destiny, age 8

I will worship you, Lord.

I will worship you all of my days.

One day, the whole world will bow down to you.

One day you will take me up there with you.

And I will worship you.

  The last song will be called “The Miracle”, but I am not done yet.

I get nervous when I sing, but one day I want to sing a solo at church. 

That’s it. Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Love, Destiny

  P.S.  Mommy says to head to Post 2 today for some Soup that we all LOVED!

God’s Word

    So, did anyone else feel the Earth move Saturday night about 11?  We Kansans are TORNADO folks, we know exactly what to do in that circumstance, but an EARTHQUAKE?!  Woah.  Scary stuff.  Apparently Oklahoma had the largest Earthquake in it’s history, 5.6.  Now I don’t know enough about Earthquakes to tell you if Kansas had an earthquake too, or if we just felt the tremors from OKC.  Or an aftershock?  Not sure it was that either, since we felt it simultaneously.  No matter what it was called, it was scary and I believe, a sign of the times…..

Matthew 24:7-8  “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

  Jesus IS returning to take His followers home, are you ready? 

Salvation is as easy as ABC:

Admit you are a sinner, in need of saving.

“There is no one righteous, not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:10 & 23

Believe He died on the cross for your sins.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Confess that Jesus is Lord of your life, and Change your lifestyle so it reflects Christ in you.

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

  If you choose to take these steps, contact a church or trusted friend to pray with you, for you and guide you through your Bible as  you dig into God’s word.  Such promises found there!

  On to today’s already-scheduled post, which just happens to be about God’s Word:

  It is my hearts desire for my children to dig into God’s word as they learn to read. So, you can imagine how my heart leapt for joy, when this is the sight that greeted me after school one day….

Destiny reading my Bible.

  She is fascinated to see what I have highlighted. She also loves to have me give her references to look up in her own Bible. Over the summer she added an New Living Translation Bible to her birthday list, she liked it better than her NIV.  Dale and I both love that translation, so we found her this darling pink one:

This inside is really great too, neat illustrations and mini-devotionals. 

Immediately she began digging into scripture and highlighting passages that spoke to her. 

“Mommy,” she says, “God is changing my heart, I can feel it.  I WANT to read His word!”

Oh my goodness, this brought tears to our eyes!!!!  She is GETTING it! And starting the habit at such an early age, praise the Lord!

  The biggest part of helping my children understand who God created them to be, is encouraging their relationship with the Lord.  I know they will never fully understand who they are, until they understand who God is.

A Parent’s Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this treasured child of mine. Although you have entrusted them to me, I know they belong to you. Like Hannah offered Samuel, I dedicate my children to you, Lord. I recognize that they is always in your care.

Help me as a parent, Lord, with my weaknesses and imperfections. Give me strength and godly wisdom to raise these children after your Holy Word. Please supply what I lack. Keep my child walking on the path that leads to eternal life. Help them to overcome the temptations in this world and the sin that would so easily entangle them.

Dear God, send your Holy Spirit daily to lead and guide them. Ever assist them to grow in wisdom and stature, in grace and knowledge, in kindness, compassion and love. May they serve you faithfully with their whole heart devoted to you. May they discover the joy of your presence through daily relationship with your Son, Jesus.

Help me never to hold on too tightly to this child, nor neglect my responsibilities before you as a parent. Lord, let my commitment to raise this child for the glory of your name cause their lives to forever testify of your faithfulness.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

What a promise! Praise His name!

~T

Be sure to click over to the next post for today:  A yummy soup, full of veggies, sure to warm your tummy!

My Little Ladies: 8 & 3 Year Old Photo Sessions

  My little ladies are 8 and 3 now.  I grabbed a shot or two of each girl at Destiny’s party, but I wanted a few more.  And, of course, some of them together too.

  I am pretty happy with how these turned out, considering it was past bedtime on a school night and they were exhausted & whiney.  A lot of Avery’s turned out blurred. 😦  I’ll have to get some more of her another time…..

“Looky, Momma! My dress spins!”

The rickety old junk-filled outbuildings on our property that used to drive me crazy, are looking more and more appealing all the time!  What a fun place to take photos of my sweeties!

~T