You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2009.
After waiting two weeks, my little gal finally got to ride the trails on a horse with a name – Tuffy. She was hoping to get to ride a horse with a white nose & guess what? Tuffy looks just like the horse patch Grandma got for her, white nose & all! How exciting!! She & the neighbor girl rode on a brisk January afternoon after being postponed twice due to snow & wind chills. It was cold, but I do believe they had fun. (For more pix, see Flickr to the left.)
Grandma Jensen fell yesterday. Broke her right hip & shoulder. So, this morning she’s in surgery. Meanwhile, my Grandma Gertie is not eating anymore & on the downhill slide with hospice. So, Mom & my aunt are staying with her 24/7 until the Lord calls her home. Needless to say, both our moms, my aunt and both our grandmothers could use prayer during this time. It’s interesting how Keith & I always go through these things at the same time. Anyway, when you think of it, please lift them all up in prayer. Thanks.
This year, we found a cool new way to celebrate that I think we’ll be doing every year for the near future. The Torchlighters series has two new cartoon videos out: Gladys Aylward & Eric Liddell. Both are excellent just like their first three. If you haven’t seen any of them , find them for your children, then watch the documentaries, too! Those are even better than the cartoon parts. Well worth the fifteen dollars.
Other activities for CNY: eat with chopsticks all day. Get Oriental Trading’s Bible cookies (fortune cookies with verses inside), while you’re ordering there, grab a box of fans & yo-yos. The kids love those! Make paper lanterns or glue glitter fireworks on black paper. I almost made some of these but haven’t yet. One option you could do with them is put a string through the felt before closing up with the paper to make a necklace out of them. Cute. If you really want to get carried away, print out some calligraphy pages on line & let your kids practice writing Chinese. Teach them some simple oragami or get out the tangrams (I never really got into those myself).
At any rate, finish the day praying for our brothers & sisters in China who have to worship underground. Pray for those in prison because they love Jesus. Pray for those who have found creative ways to get in there & tell them God loves them. If you know any missionaries there, pray specifically for them. We have two friends: one teaching English, and another tent making – creatively accessing N Korea! Pray for those baby Christians who found Jesus over the Olympics – that they would find what they need to grow & not lose the seeds of faith that were planted.
Found a keeper new recipe!! This one is a combo of a blogger friend, Michele’s Black Bean Soup, Aunt Marilyn’s White Chili, & with a little of my own stuff thrown in. It’s low in fat, high in fiber & taste. We haven’t come up with a name for it yet. Any ideas?
4 cans of black beans (drained)
or a bag of dried black beans soaked overnight & cooked
3 cups water
3 chicken bullion cubes
1 jar or your favorite chunky salsa (I like sweet, so prefer peach)
1 can of corn (drained)
2 tsp. cumin
dried minced onions (I guess I used about 2 Tablespoons?)
Bring the water & cubes to a boil. Add the beans, mashing about half of them against the pan while you stir to thicken. Add the corn, salsa, cumin & onions. Eat & enjoy – quick, simple, nutritious & delicious!
If you serve as above, you end up with 9 cups of soup at 240 calories, 2 grams of fat, & 12 grams of fiber per cup. If you’re doing Weight Watcher Points, that’s 4 points a cup. Pretty good bang for your buck if I do say so myself.
You could throw in some chicken pieces if you like, I just didn’t think it needed it. Beans have loads of protein & are cheap. It doesn’t seem to need the flavor either. But some hubbies may want the meat. I just gave mine some on the side for him to throw in his bowl.
Serve with a dab of plain non-fat yogurt. Could also have tortillas on the side or cheese chunks.
One of the great things about this new soup is it falls under the “could take camping” category. We are planning a longer family camping trip this summer & so are on the lookout for healthy recipes to be able to fix in a camp setting without a lot of fuss. This one is all canned, super healthy, & goes in one pot. Bingo!
To be edited over the next few months…
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
As dawn was breaking this morning, a little voice coming from Anders’ bunk: “Mom? I need you! And bring the scissors.”
The expression on his face!!
After I stopped laughing, and took pictures…
Last night, Anders & Daddy had a special basketball game outing. They came back with a “gum treat”.
How many times have I said!
Oh, never mind. Get the scissors.
March 4, 1793 – almost seventeen long years after declaring our independence! This clip is taken from John Adams, the HBO special. Have I told you I LOVE that movie? It will make your heart swell with patriotism. Actually, Hail to the Chief wasn’t used for the President until John Quincy Adams. (After Keith mentioned this, we went back & watched our copy – whoever did this youtube dubbed it in! Ruins it a bit, but you still get the idea.)
May God continue to bless America.
What do we do when we have an unexpected five day weekend? Watch Andy Griffith, LOST (date after kids go to bed), have an Odyssey listening fest, plan the family’s big summer trip, and play lots of board games. This time, we had an Aggravation marathon…
a medalist ceremony for the family play off…
(silver, gold, & bronze respectively)
(4th & 5th place “winners”)
…and a few rounds of Quiddler.
(Quiddler Medalists)
Like coupons? And Suave? Today only, they are giving out coupons for a free bottle of Suave!! Thanks, Missy, for the tip. 
