Holiday Food Fest

I think this looks like fun. I will probably at least follow along and check the blogs. If I get super ambitious, I may even cook something! I know. My eyebrows are climbing into my hairline too.

Here is the schedule:
Thanksgiving & Fall Desserts November 5th hosted at Hoosier Homemade
Thanksgiving & Fall Dishes November 12th hosted at Tasty Eats at Home
Gifts of Good Taste Novemeber 19th hosted at Getting Freedom
Holiday Cocktails, Mocktails, & Appetizers December 3rd hosted at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
Holiday Dishes December 10th hosted at Gluten Free Easily
Holiday Desserts December 17th hosted at Life as Mom

As everyone who has read this blog for a while knows, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I'm excited to have some seasonal reading and some inspiration for new dishes. Some of the hosts are gluten or sugar free, but the recipes are open to all kinds of cooking. Happy Christmas!

Nesting: Part 1

I don't remember ever feeling a strong urge to "nest" with Iain, but it may be that my memory is faulty. At any rate, I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to work on my little girl's room, but it involves moving heavy things around, a definite no-no for me right now. We've been very blessed by the Lord and our friends to receive a number of things secondhand including our changing table, some clothing, our bedding, a bouncer, a highchair, 2 strollers, and a car seat. We also purchased our crib off craigslist and a swing from a yard sale.

Nevertheless it is easy to covet the brand new items, magazine-ready nurseries, and the slew of matching equipment that is on display at Babies-R-Us. I really wish my heart wouldn't go there. It is such a disrespectful discounting of all that God has done and the practical love of Christ that my brothers and sisters have poured out on me.

I am so thankful to have what we need for our precious little girl. God is so good.

At any rate, the first and only thing I have accomplished for this girl's nursery (I promise we are working on a name for her!) is recovering an ottoman. I'm really rather pleased with how it came out considering my general sewing ineptitude and the reckless fervor that came over me when I decide to attempt this project. I was inspired by several blogs (readers, don't get any ideas!) and decided to take apart the crib bumpers for the fabric to recover one of the black ottomans that currently reside in the office. I was pleased with this since I already have the crib bumpers and didn't intend to use them in the crib, and I already had the ottoman. So if the grand scheme failed, I wouldn't lose anything but time.

Ok, here are the before and after shots:


Oooh, just realized that is a bit blurry. I do really hate using my flash. Anyway, that is the remaining ottoman who has relocated to our living room. I recovered its twin.






Well, there's my first project for our little girl. I basically made a paper pattern, cut and sewed the fabric to fit, and then had Brian help me staple it on (our staple gun is very heavy duty and I couldn't manage it on my own). Overall, I'm pleased with it, and when she outgrows it I can pull the staples out and have two black ottomans again.

Autumn Mist

We had a lovely rare fog this morning, so the boys and I decided a little trip to the Greenbelt was in order! It's so fun to see Iain developing friendships.


It was pretty chilly this morning. There was even snow on the foothills.



We saw some geese gliding quietly in the fog. They were beautiful, but the the boys were so excited that they quickly scared the birds away!


Just a hint of fall color in the cottonwood trees this morning.



Iain and his buddy had fun "taking a race" down the Greenbelt. I walked as fast as I could and jogged a bit alongside them-- hopefully I won't feel that later.


Of course when we got home, we had to have some hot "tocolate" with "marshmelons." Yummy! I love autumn, and I'm thrilled that we've settled in a place that has it!

Lord of the harvest

The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Psalm 85:12

We've had a cold snap here lately-- the first taste of fall. With my new internal heater, I'm only too happy for some cooler weather. Alas, the cold has killed our garden. I harvested the last four zucchini yesterday. For novice gardeners we had a great crop and we learned a lot. We planted onions, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, mint, pepperchinis, and strawberries. Our apple tree bore loads of apples, but they are sadly infested with worms. Next year we will be better prepared and spray in the spring.


I made fresh salsa, zucchini grinders, zucchini muffins, zucchini bread, and pesto. We had the blessing of sharing our abundance with friends and neighbors too. Next year I hope to learn to can and make more of our harvest last through the winter. I do have about 18 cups of shredded zucchini and some pesto frozen. We are also hoping to plant more variety and a much denser garden to increase yield and keep weeds out. Iain is very firm that next year he wants to have corn! I'd like to plant pumpkin and bell peppers as well. Next year our strawberries and rhubarb will be more mature and hopefully we will see more fruit from them.


It has been amazing to see food coming out of the ground in our backyard-- truly more than we were prepared to handle. What a blessing and such a wondrous testimony to God's loving care for His people and His world. It was great for this city girl to get a taste of the rhythm of the natural world this year.

The Big Reveal

Yesterday we went to the doctor's office for our ultrasound. Baby looks beautifully healthy, praise God! It is so amazing that a whole new person can be formed in 9 months in such a small place. The complexity of the human body is mind boggling, and day after day, healthy babies are born all around the world. God is so good. It is hard to describe how blessed we feel to have our own special little one.

Well, you are probably wondering if we saw what baby's gender is. We did. It's a girl! We are all very happy to have a new little girl for our family. Mama is very excited to buy dresses and bows and Iain is looking forward to holding his baby sister very carefully. Papa is already calculating wedding costs and planning to protect her. :) None of us can wait to meet her.

We haven't decided on her name yet, so we'll keep you posted. I feel her moving all the time and I can't wait until Brian and Iain can feel her too. We are so blessed to have our precious baby girl!

Dear Heavenly Father,
You have been so generous and kind to us. You have given us far beyond what we could imagine or deserve. Thank you for keeping our precious little girl safe and strong. Thank you for giving us our dear son-- protecting and keeping him. Thank you for our family. You are the God of the unexpected, the champion of the weak, the one who turns tragedy to joy and darkness to light. We love You and long to worship You all the days of our lives. Praise Your holy name. Thank you for remembering and caring for Your people and covering them with your covenant of love and mercy. Help us to begin to love others with a portion of the love that You have loved us with. In Jesus' name, amen.

One day at a time

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I have a problem with worry. It stems from perfectionism and my personal preference to have things planned out. It is good to have a plan, but I need to remember that MY plan is not the one that keeps the universe running.

I also have a problem with depression. I think I am beginning to see a partial link between these two problems. When I am busy teleporting myself to the what-ifs of tomorrow, next month, and 2012, I see enormous obstacles and future failures, and I lose heart. I lose hope.

I have often associated this verse strictly with money, but it has broader implications too. I need to hold my plans and dreams lightly, whether for the day or for next year.

"Give us today our daily bread."

I have my daily bread. I have what I need for today: financially, emotionally, spiritually. I may not yet have the grace that I will need for the future-- but neither do I need it yet.

I find the short view to be helpful in fostering my faith and contentment. My God has never failed me, though I have often been impatient and frustrated with Him. Looking just at today I see a new day, with new mercies and familiar responsibilities, that He has equipped me for and will walk me through. Today is enough. If it is a troubled day, then it is difficult enough to get through this one day alone. If it is an ordinary day, the shorter view shows me how much I have to be thankful for.

Looking just at today, it makes it easier for me to sit in quietly in peace, resting in the Lord's care and provision for that moment.

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/showcase-35/?scp=1&sq=ozymandias&st=cse

The link above is to a New York Times photography blog entry that depicts the state of many of Sadaam Hussein's former palaces. They are opulent rubble heaps. The blogger aptly references Shelley's poem, Ozymandias:

OZYMANDIAS
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I was struck with a similiar feeling when we visited Westminster Abbey for the first time, and walked over graves whose markings were obliterated. Being buried in the abbey is one of the nation's highest honors, and yet there are bones there that no one can identify.

How fleeting is the success and praise we so desperately strive for here. Isaiah 40 and Psalm 2 are mighty passages that showcase the strength of the eternal God. Here are some selections from Isaiah 40:

⁶ A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.

⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."

²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

²³ He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

²⁴ No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

²⁵ "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

I'm going to meditate on that promise today. Lord knows I have no earthly might or prestige to invigorate me. Maybe that will help me to see His power and strength.

Thank you Lord for being mighty over all the rulers of earth, whether they bow the knee to you or not.