Finally! A Victory, Charlie would be so proud!

Nothing like working hard all day then taking time to prepare a hot meal to have your kids moan and groan about what you put before them. Is that what is meant by presenting myself as a living sacrifice? It sure feels like it on those days. So what do you do when your kids moan and groan about what’s for dinner or are mine the only picky ones? I followed my parent’s lead and gave the notable reason why they should be grateful for having a hot meal! You know all the starving children in the third world countries.

Both of my children are fairly picky eaters. Darya not so much, as she has grown so has her taste buds; but Jayden just until recently refused to eat anything but just a few items. However, The Mom, me, instituted a new rule that when mom cooks a meal, that is dinner, no cooking your own meal. If you choose not to eat dinner the next meal is breakfast. Jayden has gone to bed several nights without dinner and to his amazement he is still alive and now he at least tries the meal and to his surprise has discovered that he likes parmesan crusted tilapia, lemon pepper grilled tilapia, tator tot casserole and a few other items. Darya, however, hates any fish. She has tried them but doesn’t like any of them.

By the way, I told you I went to that Coupon Class, right? Carrie at Coupon Closet said that you have to change your thinking when it comes to couponing and meal planning. Typically we plan our meals go to the store and buy what we need. The new way of meal planning is make your purchases with coupons then plan your meals on what you have in the pantry and fridge.

So tonight, I used the handy Allrecipes.com website and made “Smiles All Around” which was actually Tuna Casserole. I tweaked it a bit because I didn’t have regular milk only light vanilla soy milk. Plus using water probably saved us some extra calories. When they asked, “What’s for dinner?” I didn’t dare tell them the real name of the recipe. I seen on the Kraft webpage that they referred to the macaroni as smiles, thus the substitute name “Smiles All Around”. Margaret Thatcher said, “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” So with my battle gloves on and my new Anthropologie apron, I set out to bring fish to my table again, this time honoring Starkist Charlie the Tuna.

Much to my surprise, “Smiles All Around” was a big hit and even second helpings were requested! So I want to be a team mom player and share this recipe with you. If you coupon you probably have the Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese and the rest is stuff you probably have. Some people said on the reviews they didn’t have cream of celery so the substituted it with cream of mushroom or chicken with success. My tweaked recipe added four extra ingredients (Italian bread crumbs, onion powder, garlic powder and French fried onions).

Smiles All Around (Tuna Casserole)

1 box Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese

Reserve ½ cup water drained from the noodles or ½ cup of milk

2 tablespoons light butter

1 can fat free cream of celery soup, undiluted

1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained and flaked

¼ cup Italian bread crumbs

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ cup shredded cheese

½ cup of French fried onions

Prepare Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese according to directions. In place of the milk, I used ½ cup water drained from the cooked noodles. The butter you will use with seasoning mix and cheese from the Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese.

Once you have completed the Mac and Cheese according to the package directions, combine the soup, tuna, bread crumbs, and onion & garlic powder, mix well. Pour into a baking dish and top with cheese, the topping from the Macaroni & Cheese dinner and the French fried onions and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with a veggie! We had green beans.

If you make it, I hope you and your kids like it as much as we did, us moms have to stick together!

May I leave you with some Spiritual food to feast on? The Bread of Life always satisfies. No additives or substitutes needed. Time on your knees, heart humbled before Him and time in His Word is all we need. He gives me the kind of meal I always want to super size! And unlike pasta after eating the Spiritual food you aren’t left feeling empty an hour later.

“Therefore, brethren (and sisters), by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

Wordless Wednesday



My goofy husband hiding behind his Spiritual Disciplines book, I love him!!



This was where Google Maps send me for my meeting today! Thankfully it was WRONG!



Presented the OAACHR President with a well deserved award today, I wished she would have smiled!



Came home to find a blanket I ordered from Artscow.





Came home to Mango Chicken for dinner! Doesn't look that good but it was delish!



I also found two girls very disgruntled about doing their homework

Darryl Skyping with a friend from high school.

Riding our new bike! It gives a great workout!

No Coupons Needed!

Coupon Closet Class - empty seats soon all filled up!

She with the most coupons wins! My friend Jennifer and I attended a coupon class this past week with Carrie of Coupon Closet. I had no idea how popular clipping coupons has become, I was expecting 20 or 30 people, but there was more like 200 there (and even some discount minded guys). Within about a two hour time frame Carrie full of knowledge and experience of saving significant money utilizing coupons spoke at about 100 mph. I left the class blown away! My mind was spinning as I pondered all the information she delivered and thinking of the things I needed to do to start saving.

Setting up a coupon email account….

Getting an All You magazine subscription…

Thinking of who do I know that throws out Sunday papers?

However, my mind did not go to the dumpster diving, no matter how clean the dumpster is, I would fall in and be on the 5 o’clock news! “Public Health Officer trying to save money becomes trapped in a dumpster diving for coupons.”

Jennifer and I glowing with discount delight!

So when I arrived home, I filled my husband’s head with all my new knowledge! You know the motto “share senselessly”. I’m certain he was wondering when I was going to shut up and go to sleep, but he patiently listened to my excitement.

Yes, the coupon bug has bitten me! It’s been nibbling at me for the past couple of weeks as I have been following the Coupon Closet and Money Saving Queen blogs enamored at all the goods they nab for next to nothing!

I believe in starting small and you will understand why in a minute. So I took a few coupons with me to Homeland, picked up the items, paid the cashier and walked out. I felt accomplished. Then the next day I opened my purse and found the coupons! See, I obviously needed this class. In class I learned how to organize my coupons in this shoe box, well it is so big and out there I can see how that would help me not make that mistake again.

Not filled up, I certainly don't win, I don't have the most coupons...yet.

After my small adventure ending in failure, the new question was not what can I do for my country (family), but it was to clip or not to clip…that was my question! I thought maybe I shouldn’t clip because I simply don’t have the time. I know that sounds ridiculous! I don’t have time to save money? Who am I? Certainly not money rich! Plus I use to clip coupons and actually use them! Then Coupon Closet Carrie said she has five children all under the age of five, so if she has time to clip and use coupons so do I. Nothing like economic pressure!

I am going to make a statement that I hope goes popular and hits iTunes…clipping coupons can be likened to Christianity. I know you are probably thinking redemption and certainly could be a piece of it. We were bought at a price but there were no blue light specials, but there was unconditional love. I was thinking more about knowledge and wisdom. We can have all the knowledge in the world, but if we don’t put that knowledge into practice, it never becomes wisdom. Just like I had the knowledge of saving using coupons, but not using them was foolish.

So obviously I have bought into this whole savings thing and happy to report I did have a successful trip, but once again learned another lesson. I developed my shopping list, had my coupons, my transaction one and two folders and my shoe box, which was going to remind me to turn in my coupons. I was so excited to get a package of Pilgrim’s Pride chicken, Green Giant frozen vegetables, 2 bags of Skittles, Sunny D drink and a bag of Borden’s Shredded Cheese all for $1.68! I was so thrilled I came home and told everyone in the house and Jayden my biggest fan said, “I give her three weeks before she has the house filled up! It is now Mom vs. Coupons. She is going to be on the next Extreme Couponing!”

All for $1.68 and more importantly all items we will use.

Couponing at the finest does require a great deal of understanding of the rules to follow, plus a little creativity. Colossians 2:20-21 reads “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations – “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle…do not double” Okay, it doesn’t say “do not double” but that is where my mind went as I was reading this scripture this past weekend; which by the way is referred to in coupon world as DND.

Why did God instruct His children not to subject ourselves to regulations? In verse 22 it tells me because they all perish with use. The things of God don’t perish with use! I don’t have to clip out a coupon for love, grace or mercy. I don’t need to make sure I am purchasing the correct item. I don’t have to worry about expiration dates; because God and His resources do not perish with use. No expiration date. No limit. He is alive. His resources are never-ending. No coupons required! It is nothing I do, it is all He does and has done for me. While I was dead in my trespasses and sins, Christ willingly died for us because of His unlimited and unconditional love for me and you. So thankful that I don’t have to follow a long list of religious rules to draw on His resources, but even so - reflecting on His unlimited and unconditional love makes me want to follow His commandments because I love Him and He alone has changed my “wanter”.

Wordless Wednesday

Joining other bloggers across America for Wordless Wednesdays.

Crest had my favorite cereal on sale! It was .85 cents cheaper a box, a savings for me of  $12.75
Expiration date Sept 2011, yes I will eat it all, 1 cup at a time.

Oreo Covered Snacks for AWANAs

My 100 prints for 99 cents came in today!

Received another thing to hang around my neck at work.

Came home to Grade School Wii Dance 2 Rockin in the Family Room

Ingredients for Buffalo Chicken Pasta

All cooked! One of Darryl and my favs!

The new poster size children's camp print is now displayed at church!

Getting tips on how to drive on ice from Lori - She is MY BFF!!!

We got our our NEW Recumbent Bike today!! I am so excited to go places!

My Introduction to Pioneer Woman

Okay, this Pioneer Woman has been showing up every where I look and go! Today at work she showed up at our staff meeting! The first I heard of her was just a couple of weeks ago through Laura Atterberry’s “Just A Little Happy” blog, next at the grocery store and on Facebook and now at my staff meeting? Seriously? A pioneer woman at Indian Health Service? No, we did not hold her captive, tie her to a tree or make her do the round dance with us. I would have liked to feed her some traditional corn soup and grape dumplings though! The reality is she wasn’t physically there, but her name keeps popping up like a rock star! So when I got some time tonight I decided to do what any intelligent person would do, I googled her!

I have always been the last to know things and by looking at the amount of her followers I am again the last to know. I think Dr. Phil was on TV for two or three years before I heard of him. So it doesn’t surprise me a bit that everyone knows of Pioneer Woman, but me. I haven’t had much time to look through her blog yet, but anyone that can document 10 reasons why she loves Sonic, is a favorite of mine! However, one article on the side bar did catch my eye, “Ten Important Things I’ve Learned About Blogging”. Since I am new to the blogworld and still have a ton to learn it piqued my interest. As I have read through the list I asked myself

They are:

1. Be Yourself. ~ Well I can do that. I am actually much more chatty on paper than I am in person, especially in large groups. So many people don’t really get to know me, unless we spend one on one time together. I work with a lot of doctors, nurses, pharmacist, dentist, nurse practitioners; behavioral health specialist and the list of professionals go on. Of course, they all have something very important to say, so I tend just to sit, listen and analyze. Not to mention in person my voice always gets lost, but on paper, I can express myself uncumbered. Thus I will shut up about being myself now!
2. Blog Often ~ I try too. Not because I have something important to say, but it is therapy to me, probably because I don’t get my 20,000 words a day that is estimated for each women.
3. Be Varied ~ I just starting venturing out of what I call my living parable posts, where God shows me truth through everyday life. I actually just recently posted pictures of a new recipe I tried from one of our Diabetic Cooking magazines at work. Although, I failed, pretty miserably in that I didn’t take pictures of about 2 or 3 steps! The only topic I hope you ever see me blog on more than once is my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, He is my strength, my comfort, my hope, my all.
4. Exercise More ~ Wow, we just made a visit to look at a recumbent bike off of Craigslist here in Moore, because I do have a pretty sedentary job. I am very excited to get the bike. We’ve been looking for about two months, knowing that being patient God would bring the right one at the right price. We pick up tomorrow!
5. Allow your boundaries to set themselves naturally ~ Up to this one I was quite impressed that she used only two words! I, too, will not share about any “hanky panky” stuff. I agree with her sister, “Okay, gross” This one is a bit more difficult in that often times I want to blog about work stuff, but being a United States Public Health Officer there are many things we are not allowed to do. So I will set my boundary here and stop this point.
6. Bring back retro phrases like “hanky panky ~ I love this one! Not sure I can do that with my blog, because my memory fails me! If I do I expect to hear a “Cool Beans!” from you! I know I am old.
7. Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself. ~ That is an easy one, I’m pretty good at this! In fact, I am attempting to start using coupons again. Seeing all the website helps out there and knowing a lot of the work is done, I’d be crazy not to give it a try. Well yesterday, I went shopping with coupons in hand! Checked out. Arrived home. Put up the groceries and felt “hunky dory” (retro phrase). Then today at work when I opened my purse guess what was there? Yup! All my coupons!
8. Try your best to spell words correctly and use proper grammar ~ Gee, do I have to? I love not having to live by all those rules put on me by the government. Oh, she said, try. I can do that, but to be honest proper grammar slows me down and cramps my style.
9. If you have writer’s block, push through and blog anyway ~ Not sure I have encountered that block yet. I have found that I think of things often to blog about, but then I don’t have the time to write and then when I do finally get to sit down, I have forgotten what it is about. I told you I was getting old.
10. Value every person who takes time out of their day to stop by your blog ~ she says to tell you that I love you! It’s that love thing that I still struggle with. I am still working on understanding the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ (Eph 3:18-19). I can agree with this one too; after all, we are taught by God to love one another. So as the Pioneer Woman says, I too say…
11. I love ya…~ and thanks for stopping by! Come back, ya’ hear?

I think it is funny that on her page it says: “My Name Is Ree. I'm a desperate housewife. I live in the country. I channel Lucille Ball, Vivien Leigh, and Ethel Merman. Welcome to my frontier!” Simply because this past week, Jayden told me I was a “desperate housewife”! Darya whose ears are always open, looking to shoot down anything her little brother says said, “No she’s not!” Jayden replied, “Yes, she is!” Darya concluded, “She used to be a desperate housewife, but she isn’t any more because now she has a husband!”

My name is Dione. I’m an Urban American Indian. I don’t live on a reservation. I channel TLC, HGTV and A&E, the other channeling I don’t do! Welcome to my life on concrete!

Comfort Food!! Chicken & Sweet Potato Chili



Just because you don't have diabetes doesn't mean you can't eat like a diabetic.

Today we celebrated Martin Luther King's day which meant federal holiday! Paige and I were discussing meal planning at church last night and neither one of us are fans, but with families know the necessity of planning. If I don't plan my meals we end up eating things we don't need to eat or I spend extra precious evening minutes walking from the pantry to the fridge and back to the pantry.

I am getting tired of the same ole' meals so I spend time this weekend turning pages in my recipe books in hopes of finding something new to try. My plan was to cook “Chicken & Sweet Potato Chili” last night after church that I found in this Diabetic Cooking magazine. However, after a full day of church, plus hospital visits and grocery shopping we were tired plus my knee was tired and hurting and I still had to do my therapy! So when Mary Jane mentioned Fish Tacos at Long John Silvers were only a $1, Darryl said, “lets’s just grab something to eat so you don’t have to cook”. No cooking? Hmmm, let’s see that was an easy decision. Although it was very tasty and very cheap, I prefer grilled fish and corn tortillas.



I discovered that 3/4 pound of chicken was about 2 chicken breasts.

So with my new Anthropologie apron and Darryl with a knife in his hands we made Chicken & Sweet Potato Chili. Here is the recipe as posted and my pictorial of the few changes I made and you will notice I didn't get pictures of each step.

1 to 2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup of chopped onion
¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (or chicken tenders) cut into ¾ inch chunks*
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
1 can (16 ounces) no-salt added kidney beans or pinto beans, drained
½ cup chipotle or jalapeno salsa

*this is easier to do if the chicken is partially frozen

1.   Place sweet potatoes in large saucepan. Add enough water just to cover sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until almost tender. Drain mixture with colander into dry saucepan. Add oil to same saucepan. Add onion; cook over medium heat 5 minutes.

2.   Add chicken, garlic and chili powder to same saucepan; cook 3 minutes stirring frequently. Add tomatoes with their juices, beans, salsa and partially cooked sweet potatoes; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 4 servings – (1 ½ cup servings) 6 points plus

Note: Sweet potatoes are the star of this chili and they’re nutritional superstars, too. One sweet potato provides about two and half times the RDA for healthy adults of vitamin A, plus fiber, potassium and vitamin C.


I did not use a full cup of onion or did I have on hand no-salt added beans, but I rinsed them well!
I also couldn't find the chipotle or jalapeno salsa, so we went with the habanera.



Step one, boiling the sweet potatoes. Forgot to get a picture of draining the sweet potatoes in the colander. :(

Cooking the onion. I only used about 1/2 cup instead of the full cup of onions.

Cooking the chicken with the onions, garlic and chili powder.

Adding the tomatoes, kidney beans, salsa and the partially cooked sweet potatoes.

The final product!

For only 6 points you get a huge helping! It was very good! Next time I think I will add more garlic or garlic powder.

Randomness

Do you ever read something in the Bible and then begin to go the wonder path? I followed that path this morning during my Bible study, I read in RED, and you know what red represents? That’s right the words of Christ. In John 14:30 He says to the disciples, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” As I read that I wondered if the disciples really understand that soon He would physically be gone? If they did understand, did they hang on every word He spoke? Did they grasp that? Do I grasp that the written Word of God is alive and available to me today in many forms? I hope I do.

Today was Jayden’s first Upwards basketball game. This year he is playing at First Baptist Church in Moore and its co-ed! The last experience we had with co-ed sports, Jayden (age 5) walked off the soccer field, threw up his hands in disgust and proclaimed, “I’m done!” with the coach running behind him yelling, “Jayden! Where you going? You just can’t walk off the field!” It was so funny, but we learned something very important things that day about Jayden.

This was later in the season when he had more practices under his belt.

We learned that he would just as soon quit, than play against girls, especially those that outrun or take the ball away from him. We learned that he strives for perfection and if can’t accomplish it, then he will be very upset with himself. Thank God, that through prayers he is maturing. He is learning that we don’t always succeed the first time we try. He also learned to start what he finishes.

However, when I found out he was playing co-ed I cringed thinking here we go again! I hope he doesn’t walk off the court. So this mamma prayed! I prayed this morning that God would give him a good attitude and game, that he would be encouraged and not discouraged, I prayed that some girl wouldn’t take the ball from him or run faster than him. Just teasing, I didn’t pray that last bit (at least not out loud), but I did pray!

God answered. We saw progress! He did get frustrated once during the game and yes a girl was involved, but he didn’t quit. In fact, he scored 8 points! We noticed he was a little timid when it came to defending the girl as opposed to when he was matched up with a boy.

The girl behind him is the one he had to guard.

Right before the game a lady came up to Darryl and I and asked us if we used to do Upwards at Graceway and we said yes. She then asked Darryl if he gave a testimony there and he said yes. She went on to tell us that her husband came in half way through the testimony and was touched by it and wished that he had heard the entire testimony. So she asked if we had it written down and we don’t, except for the letter I wrote to Darryl that God used to make that change in his heart. So we told her we could share that with her and that Darryl would write down his testimony with it. It is so powerful what God did for us in our marriage in 2005 and it is going to be a privilege to write it down and share with this family.

My husband sharing a testimony at Upwards last year.
He asked me to stand by his side, I was happy and honored to!

Then Brandon, Bridgette and Bryleigh made a visit. I seen some pictures my sister-in-law send me on email by Adele Enersen. This bored mother/photographer on maternity leave, creates dream worlds around her sleeping baby and then captures them on film. Her dream photography inspired me to try some with Bryleigh. All of the images in Adele Enersen’s dream photography are created from clothing and fabric; they include typical dream clichés as well as some abstract visions. Check out my dream photography attempts below, except our baby wasn’t sleeping so it might be more appropriately titled Awake Photography.

Bryleigh hanging out under the mushroom.

Our Artist - Get your masterpiece soon!

Just out for a leisurely stroll with her dog.

Then we had to try and take some sitting up.

She loves her hands!

Finally we end the day with a Paez boy sleepover, so say prayer that we can get them all down and out by 10 pm!

Well if you are still hanging with me listening to my rambling about our ordinary day, all this randomness proves one thing: I am but a common, ordinary wife and mother with a simple, ordinary - yet FULL life. Really, my only ambition is this: to love the Lord Jesus with everything in me, exalting Him as my greatest Treasure and fullest joy.

Styling, Shepherding – Hair we go!

The Pre-teen and self-absorption years have arrived in hurricane strength at the Harjo household. We’ve got attitude, eye rolls and the gee your stupid mom look. It has become quite evident to me when you’re a teen it is all about the seen! At least for now. This became very evident over the past couple of weeks as Darya has asked me to help her “fix” her hair. Welcome to Mom’s Beauty Salon! Where we do hair and beyond!

The first hair appointment I attempted to fix her hair as requested and she whipped around with a “humpf” and marched out because I wasn’t fixing it right. Let me just say there should be Hair Commandments starting with, “Thou shall communicate with and appreciate your hair stylist” and second “Thou shall not attempt any self-trims”. Which she did around Christmas time fully mutilating her bangs.

The second hair appointment was scheduled despite my inept styling abilities. This appointment wasn’t much better as oil slick hair is hard to curl. If you’ve ever curled hair you know once you curl your hair one direction and then try to curl it the other direction you are just asking for a really bad hair day. Well the “customer” wanted me to do that, so I did because I am all about customer service! Guess what? Yup a really bad hair day, but to my surprise the customer squealed, “Perfect!” and tramped off to school.

A third hair appointment was requested. Gee maybe I should enroll in cosmetology school I might be a natural. Insert my eye roll and I wonder where she gets it? The requested style is big long spiral curls curling in towards the face. I did two big curls on each side of her head and she looked in the mirror and said, “Yes! Thank you!” I thought wait only half of your hair is done so I asked , “Don’t you want me to fix the back?” She answered negatively. Intrigued by that answer I followed up with a clarification, “So you only want part of your hair fixed? The part that you can see?” a quick yes as she bounced off to school in style…at least part way.

This made me think how often, do we do something similar, only caring about part of our appearance? When our focus should be on our inner beauty, but we often become consumed with our outer appearances that others see. Why? Because we live in the land where beauty is queen with “beauty” being defined by the house we live in, the cars we drive, the school our children attend, the clothes we wear, the hand bags we carry and the shoes on our feet. Even though we know we’re all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and beautiful in God’s eyes we still compare ourselves to other women, we still “try to keep with The Joneses”, whoever they are. We can argue that it shouldn’t be that way with Christians, but reality is it is all the same.

I’m no different, but I so desire to be different. This past Saturday night, I tried on about seven different “what not to wear” outfits before finally settling on what to wear to church. Something I would feel comfortable in, I know that charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but if I can’t find something I feel comfortable in, I will feel awkward, fat, ugly and insecure the entire day. What an uncomfortable way to live! I don’t want to fall victim to this Babylonian mentality. Even though we live in a self-absorbed, materialistic world that screams at us “you are not loved…worthy…beautiful…unless you have….look.…drive.…live.….fill in the blanks” we can be assured of His promise and be comforted by His unfailing love (Psalm 119:76).

One of my new favorite songs is “You Are More” by

Tenth Avenue North

. The lyrics start out talking about a girl in a corner with tear stained eyes afraid that she has fallen too far to love then it reminds us that we are more. We are more than the choices we’ve made. We are more than the sum of our past mistakes. We are more than the problems we create. Why? Because we’ve been remade. It goes on to address the self-battling we do with ourselves that our redemption is not true, but it is not about we’ve done but what He has done. It helps direct my focus from me to Him. It reminds me that I am a new creature in Christ and the old has passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I want Him to be a part of my whole life, not just the seen part, but every deep fiber of my soul. The good news is He wants to! Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, freely offered Himself on the cross – with no regrets – to die in my place – returned to life on the third day and is alive today to be a part of my life, and yours. Not just part of our life, but all of our life.

Now as I am typing this she wants me to help her fix it a different way. “Kind of straight, but not all the way.” Is anybody reading this rambling? That’s my life in a nutshell, ordinary pre-teen conversations about hair that take me down a long windy road in my brain to the good news of Christ, but in all things give thanks.

Thanks that my daughter wants me to fix her hair. Thankful that she comes to me with the happenings of life and cherishing this short time that I get to be Hair Stylist. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:4) and may we fix my eyes on what’s eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18) and not on the external (1 Peter 3:3-6).

Wordless Wednesday

Introducing Wordless Wednesdays....a pictoral look from Wednesday to Wednesday.


One of the after Christmas sales I hit was online with Christian Book Distributors.
We purchased 31 items for $26.31! Great deals!



A Girl's Weekend



Does this coat make me look fat?

Cooper told Darryl that he could wear his coat while we were in the nursery Sunday night. Of course, Darryl acted like he was trying it on which followed with many laughs. The only thing I could think of was Chris Farley singing "Fat guy in a little coat...fat guy in a little coat".

Boys in the Hood - Cooper and Carson ready for the cold!

The two dashingly young men that came to my frigid rescue at work
by bringing me my own personal space heater.

Getting pegged by snowballs.
One of the benefits of homeschool is getting to go out and enjoy the snow while it is still there.

A boy and his best friend. Can you tell by the way he is walking
that he was disappointed that there wasn't more snow?

Where I work, when I work from home. See my friend that sits on the top left of my desk?
My friend Syd gave me her and her name is "Mine". Seeing this picture reminds me I still have to finish decorating.

It's here! It's here!! I finally received my "Made to Crave"
Ready for some heavy duty convinctions and a change of craving!