Graced with Grace

I lived in Minnesota for a whole winter and didn't go ice skating once, even though it is the perfect place to go ice skating being the land of a thousand lakes. Then I come back to North Carolina and go ice skating in an ice house during the summer. That sounds kind of backwards doesn't? :) Now ice skating is one, among a million, skills that I do not have. I simply was not born with the gift of moving on ice. So as you can imagine I move at a very slow tedious pace and even then I fall quite often. That is when I discovered that I ought to be very thankful God made me short. He certainly had a reason for it. He knew that some day I would be on ice and that the shorter I am the safer it would be. Small children on ice can be absolutely adorable, if they know what their doing, but I must admit they freak me out at times. For, although some of them are very good at skating, they don't always look where they are going or else don't take into account that there will b...

Taking a family photo, as most families have experienced, can be a bit challenging. Families will often run into the difficulty of getting even just one picture where everyone in the family looks nice and is smiling. The problem is only made ten times worse when you are one of a large family such as mine.  Well, not only is it difficult for my family to all look nice and smile in the family photo, but it is also difficult to find just the perfect place to take the picture and when that perfect place is found, I can't say that it is always safe, as is the case for this year's photo. I can't say who came up with this brilliant idea, but someone in my family thought it would be a great idea ( I am guessing it was one of my brothers) to take a family (minus my dad who took the picture) photo in a dead tree. So not only are we supposed to smile, but we are suppose to be smiling while standing in a dead tree that could break any moment with all the extra weight. But the p...

So think about me is that I have a very vivid imagination and if I am left to myself than that already very vivid imagination becomes even more vivid in an attempt to entertain myself. I'll give you a few examples for your enjoyment. When I was a little girl I had a great dislike for baby dolls. One of the reasons for this dislike was that baby dolls are soooooooooo cold. In fact, I sometimes tried to put my doll up to the fire place in the winter in hopes that it would warm up and be cozy. But, no, it still remained as cold as death. Therefore, I have thought of a solution. One should make a business of selling dolls that have rice, corn kernels, or cherry pits in them, so it can be heated up in the microwave and then become nice and cozy warm. And while I am on the topic of warmth. I thought of a great idea for a warm and very cozy blanket for all my friends of Minnesota. A blanket could made full of, once again, our beloved cherry pits, corn kernels, or rice and then just h...

What could be wrong with this new white handled knife, she thought to herself, as she gingerly took and held it in her hands. I only plan to cut lemons with it and it should cut very smoothly. In fact I am quite certain it will make life much easier. If only she had seen the evil grin on the face of that “innocent” white handle of the new knife. She calmly walked up to the cutting board, so sure of herself and the beautiful new knife. She was quite certain that today was going to be quite a lovely day. All seemed well, until the knife slipped on the lemon and sliced her finger. Ouch! The blood that is supposed to stay underneath your epidermis was already oozing out. No, she thought to herself, this was not supposed to happen. She quietly walks to the back and reveals to her friend the wound on her hand. What would she have done without this kind friend who so calmly bandaged her finger? But by this point the blood had gotten to her vivid imagination and her stomach was doing gymnast...

Hello Friends! I know I haven't posted in ages, (of which you were probably very happy about) but guess what I'm back (and everyone groans). I didn't forget about my blog, it's just that I have had a very busy life and little time to write. Rather, I have little time to write about stuff that others might be interested in. I did recently write a paper, but it is very controversial, so I'm not sure that anybody will really want to read it, but if you are one of those strange people that likes controversial papers, then maybe I'll post it just for you because YOU are special. ;) I actually don't have anything really significant to write about today, as you have probably figured out by now. Just a bunch of random ramblings from a rambler. We were looking through some very old pictures recently and I thought I would share a couple of really cute pics with you. Me feeding my older brother, Gabriel. mmmmmmmmm! Good food! I hope those pictures make...

I love those moments when no one is watching (or maybe I just think no one is watching) and I start dancing and singing (not at the top of my lungs, lest someone hear). I love those moments when I get chased around the house by my sister because I got marker on her face. She started it by getting marker on my hands. ;) I love those moments when I start laughing hysterically because someone said something that probably wasn't really that funny. Or those moments when I start laughing again a while later about the same thing. ;) I love those moments when I give a surprise gift to my little sister and watch her face brighten up with delight and gratitude. I love those moments when mom randomly walks into the room where I am rapidly typing, stops, and waits for me to look at her. When I finally look, I discover to my great amusement that she is modeling for me, some of her old clothes. ;) I love those moments of sipping on hot tea on cold windy days. I love those moments w...

I dedicate this whole blog post to Priscilla because she is so stinkin' hilarious! (That is a phrase of endearment, by the way.) It is Thanksgiving night! We have eaten our fill of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green bean casserole, pies, and more. Priscilla turns on some music, top volume, goes into the kitchen, pulls out a garbage kitchen bag and begins to enthusiastically dance around the kitchen with that bag. I, in the mean time, am calmly sweeping the floor and trying my best to ignore her so that she knows she is not getting the attention that she so dearly wants! Yet, out of the corner of my eyes I spy on her and my eyes twinkle with laughter. I don't know if Priscilla was just being Priscilla, or if it was the results of too much sweets, or if she was feeling guilty about all she ate and decided to do a bit of exercising. Although, honestly, I think she was just being herself and that is just the way she is and I love it! Guess what!? Her middle name is Joy...

Tonight was one of those nights when...   the dishes are piled up so high that you would think, “How in the world am I going to wash all of those dishes. I didn’t even know we could use so many dishes for one simple meal.” And you look at those dishes and finally you know that it has to be done and it can be done and it must be done. So with a grin you pull up your sleeves and you tackle those dishes with a vengeance that you didn’t know you had. Then less then 20 minutes later the dishes are all washed and dried and put away and the sink is cleaned to a shine. Then you say, “Wow! It can be done. That didn’t take long at all and I thought I had a lot to do.”  And you smile and dance away so you can write a blog post about it because that was your plan all along. ;) And here is a poem I wrote about dish washing called The Dishwasher . Enjoy! ;)

Hand-kneaded Bread One day I decided that I was going to try hand-kneading my bread. I had made bread in our Bosch mixer numerous times and it always turned out well.  I felt quite confident that I could hand-knead the dough and it would still turn out just fine. So I pull out a recipe book and start flipping through till I come to the section about hand-kneading your bread. I read through it quickly, thinking I got it all down. Every thing goes well, and I finally start kneading the bread. I kneaded it till it looked smooth and elasticity, just as it said and then let it rise. It rose wonderfully. It seemed to be working quite well. I was pretty proud of my self. “Who says Hand-kneading is hard” I thought to myself as I puffed up with self glorification. Nevertheless, when all had been said and done, I pull out the bread from the oven and it was all sunk in (I, of course, blamed it on my sisters for being to wild and jumping), to my great distress. When I told my mom tha...

      Thank you very much all of you who left a comment sharing one of your kitchen stories. I enjoyed them all very much and any one who didn’t have a chance to share yours, please feel free to do so on this post or on part 1 . I look forward to reading them.       Now for a couple of my stories, which I hope you will enjoy very much and get a good laugh over. Bean Bread       One day as I was making some bread, my mom was cleaning out our refrigerator. Then my mom came upon some bean sprouts that had been sitting in there for quite awhile. Therefore, she suggests to me that I put them in the bread. I was a good bit skeptical of that idea, thinking it would be utterly nasty, but mother assures me that people do make bread with that kind of bean sprout and that it is quite good, so in go the bean sprouts. Lets just say that those four loaves of bread lasted a very long time and when ever possible we girls would do our best to ...

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy cooking. But as you know, anyone who has done any amount of cooking has their share of cooking mistakes. I know I’ve run into mine. In fact, I plan to do a post sharing some of my hilarious stories from the kitchen, that weren’t so hilarious at the time that it happened. Right now I don’t have the time, so instead I ask you to leave a comment and share some of your best and funniest cooking mistakes and stories from the kitchen. I’m sure that if you’ve ever cooked at all then you have at least one story to tell, so please don’t be shy. I want to hear the men’s cooking stories too, not just the women’s. After ya’ll share some of your stories, which I very much look forward to reading and laughing over, I will come back and post some of mine and you can laugh all you want. Also I have a question that has nothing to do with cooking. How do you do a “Give Away” on blogspot? If any one has done a Give Away on blogspot, then I would ap...

Me (in the red shirt)having fun playing in the mud with my brother. What do you think of when you think of girls/females? You might think of the color pink or you might think of fancy dresses and lace. You might think of someone who does all the cooking or cleaning in the house, or you may think of fingernail polish, hair accessories, and jewelry. You might think of someone who doesn’t climb trees, but instead sits inside and sews, knits, crochets, or cross stitches. You might think of someone who has tea parties with her dolls. You might think of someone who talks nonstop. All of these things are known to be fairly girlish things to do. Then again, you do hear of those tom-girls who run wild, get dirty, and play in the mud with the boys. You know? The one who can’t sit still. The one who’s always getting themselves into scrapes. The one who hates to sew or stand in the kitchen and bake. Well, I would say that I was more like the tom-girl type of girl. I have nine siblings, ...

Today is Saturday. It began like most any Saturday. We had a special breakfast of French Toast (usually it is good ol’ flapjacks, but today we had sumpin’ different) and we ran around tryin’ to get our morning chores done as quickly as possible. Then we headed for the great outdoors. It is one of our most favorite places to be. The only problem is, before long it began to rain, so what we gonna’ do about that? Well, we (my four sisters and I) are just going to go out anyway because rain won’t stop us. We decided to take a pleasant walk down our road. Ahhhh! Indeed! It was wonderful! We (well, maybe I should say I, for I refused to take a raincoat or umbrella) got plum soaked, but that wasn’t so bad. It is actually fun to play outside in the rain and get wet. Anybody that has done it, I’m sure knows what I’m talkin’ about. Then for Lunch we decided it was necessary to have a tea party, because…well…we didn’t want to get pneumonia (we weren’t really worried about that, but it was a good...

It is quite funny to watch my 6 year old sister try to teach herself how to ride a bike. Especially considering that the bike has two flat tires, a missing peddle, and a chain that needs greasing. (and very possibly other problems, too.) Have a happy day and God bless you! Live for Jesus! Love one another! Laugh a lot!   Make someone smile!

Just a couple random things. ;) This lizard was just sitting in my sisters hair just like that and she didn't put it there either. It was the funniest thing. Here is another picture of the lizard. It was a pretty small one.  I had made a Tie Skirt several years ago, but no one wanted to wear it, so my mom turned it into a Tie Dress for my youngest sister. It's so cute, isn't it?   And another picture of the Tie Dress. Also a blog with encouraging lessons, from my mom, and wonderful activities.  http://thephdjournal.blogspot.com/ Have a happy day and God bless you! Live for Jesus! Love one another! Laugh a lot! Smile big!  ☺

That's not a very good picture, but those are some of my pencils. I like little pencils as you can see. My Pencil Stub You dear faithful old friend, With you I wrote a letter to send. With you I wrote some Poetry. With you I wrote a sweet story. You are now old and worn For many hours of school you’ve borne. Together you and I will make history Together we unfold a mystery. I used you every fleeting day If only to pass the hour away. I used you tall; I used you short. I used you to write my oral report.   With you I wrote of days long past. With you I wrote what happened last. I used you when you were just a stub You are my friend; you are my bub. Live for Jesus! Love one another! Laugh a lot! Smile big! ☺  

Today we got to make waffles for the first time and my, what an experience that was. Here is the story as it unfolds. The batter is made, however, it seems rather lumpy and thick, yet some are saying that is how it is suppose to be. So we pour some batter into the waffle maker and after much difficulty spreading it around (Mistake number one) we closed the lid. Oh, dear it is steaming. What do we do? I think we better check it. Up goes the lid. Mistake number two. Woops! It isn’t done and now it is on the top and bottom. So we close the lid and find out how long it is suppose to take. When we finally think it is done we open it up again, but it is no simple task to get both sides clear of waffles. Bit by bit we get it off, yet it can barely land on the waffle plate before someone has seized it to eat. Yummmmy! Although this first batch may look and sound like a catastrophe it really actually turned out quite tasty and now for the next batch. We have all ready added some milk and stirre...

Do you need a recipe that will feed a large family or group? Here is the perfect one! Enjoy! :) Elephant Stew 1 medium sized elephant 6 barrels of water 2 rabbits (optional) salt and pepper Cut the elephant into bite-sized pieces. Add enough water to cover. Cook over a kerosene fire five weeks at 465 degrees. This will serve 3,850 people. If more guests are expected, the two rabbits may be added. Add the rabbits only in an emergency, however, as most people object to hare in their stew. Linda's recipe from the cook book 'Bread from Heaven'.

To all of the Wayne Grudem fans. I hope you enjoy.

Hi! We have been having a fun time sledding in the snow. It is the first good snow that we've had in about six years (and what I mean by good is that we were actually able to have good sledding, on our road, which is about 1/2 mile long). So for about two days we sledded pretty much nonstop, but today (the third day) we were only able to sled good in the morning, because it began to melt and get slushy. God is such an amazing creator. Here is a video of an amazing jump (or bump) that we made. The first person is me and the other is our neighbor. She was the one that went over so smoothly and not me. lol