Let the Season Begin

So, if you didn't already know, I really enjoy this time of year.  One thing I love is going into stores and hearing songs about the new born king.  What a blessing to be able to proclaim Christ's birth all over.  I don't really enjoy the crowds or shopping but I try to make a day with each child to go shopping one on one, during the week when the crowds are down.  David and I acutally started shopping last Monday.  Outside of the pajama's, I have been busily working on (late start),  I hadn't done any shopping.

The start of the Christmas pj project

We got a good start.  Then Latisha and I got to go the other day and it took quite a while to find what we were looking for.  We were both exhausted but enjoyed time together.   I also had a doctor's appointment last week.  The baby is doing great and despite the following picture I really haven't gained that much weight this last month, considering I ate quite well for Thanksgiving.

5 1/2 months

Thanksgiving with the family

The girls 

Thanksgiving was great.  My grandparents made it here, which is such a blessing.  They live 4 hours away and made the trip.  My parents and Sister and her family were here also.  We were glad to be together, but missing our sons.  My mom's son (my brother) couldn't make it,  my sister's son is away in the Navy and my son away at college.  So that was a little sad.  Then Friday my brother surprised us and showed up with his son.  A great surprise.

My brother and me

We did have a bit of excitement the other day.  Alex called and his choir was performing at a tree lighting at an amusement park. He was so excited to let me know the Duggar's were there.  Yes, the 19 and counting family.  :)  I have a very large admiration for that family.  What a family of faith that so strongly treasure Children as gifts from God and are so actively involved in their children's lives.  This is something that is missing in our society.  I find the Duggars a walking miracle.  Having a baby is a miracle and such a blessing.  But to have 19 babies, that is, well, a miracle times 19.  The average number of children for a couple that is open to God being in control is six.  I feel so blessed to have our seventh on the way and am in awe of the goodness of God.  Truly the Duggars are a blessed walking miracle.  After I had Danika I couldn't see how I could continue homeschooling with four kids.  About that time I saw the Duggars first tv appearance.  I was so blessed.  God really used them as an example to me of the blessings of homeschooling and that I could do it.  Really, if God had given them enough grace to homeschool their dozen (I believe that was the number at that time) He surely would help me to be able to educate four.  I have never regretted our decision to homeschool and the Duggars continue to be an encouragement to me.  Anyways, I encouraged Alex to go and shake their hands and thank them for their ministry.  He was concerned that would make him a "creeper."    But he loves me and eventually got up enough courage to shake Michelle's hand and even got a picture with her.  She was very nice to him and I was thrilled to see the picture.  I would share but I don't know if you can share a picture like that, legally.  It caused a bit of excitement here.  I am thankful for families that have strong values, share the love of God, and stand firm no matter what.

Well, this is a long post but if you made it this far maybe you would enjoy another recipe.  This was so yummy the other day.  I made egg casserole, donuts and fresh pineapple.  Here is the egg recipe.  Have a great day and God Bless.

Alicia

Egg Casserole
10 beaten eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pt cottage cheese
1 pound sausage, ham or bacon
1 pound shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup melted butter
2 small cans chopped green chilies (we only but in on half)
Mix all together.  Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  

Apples, Apples, Apples

I was so excited the other day to find out my friend had got a huge amount of apples for 19 cents a pound!  Of course she had to drive a ways out and buy an amazing quantity, but she did and decided to sell the rest.  I went over and got 90 pounds of apples from her and didn't even make much of a dent in what she had.  So, as you may already know, I can't let thinks sit very long.  I had the opportunity and energy so we began canning that evening.  If I'm going to make a mess anyway, might get as much done as possible.  There is no way I could have accomplished all we got done that evening without the families help.  Everyone jumped in and in someway helped.  We canned 26 quarts of cooked cinnamon apples, 7 quarts of applesauce, 4 apples pies and an apple crisp all that evening.  The apples are very large so we couldn't use the apple peeler slicer, we had to hand peel most them for the sauce, pies, and crisp.  It was so worth it.  Our house smelled amazing.  I actually kept 20 pounds for our own eating and they are so yummy.  Here are some pictures and recipes for how I did things.  Thank you so much Amy and my family.  Have a great day and God bless.

Alicia

beautiful, yummy apples.

the fruit of our labor

Can you tell how big the apples are?  Only took three apples to fill a pie.

My recipes are all approximates based on how many apples and how sweet the apples are.

Canned Cinnamon Apples
fill pan 1/4  with water,  add 1/2 as much sugar, and a few tablespoons cinnamon.  Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar.  Add cubed apple pieces (seeds removed) and simmer 15 to 30 minutes, until it reaches the tenderness you prefer.  Place in clean jars.  Push apples down then top with juice from the mixture to bottom of rim.  Seal with scalded lids and rims.  Hot water bath for 20 minutes.  Let cool, enjoy throughout the year.

Applesauce
Fill bottom of pan with 1 inch water and half as much sugar.  Add a few tablespoons cinnamon.  Boil to dissolve.  Add peeled, cored, and sliced apples.  Reduce heat and let simmer for at least an hour.  Stirring off and on.   Add more sugar or cinnamon to taste.  Once to a soft consistency smash with a masher or place in blender.   Fill jars, place lids on, and turn upside down for 10 minutes, turn back up and let sit until cooled and sealed.

Apple Crisp

Place 8 cups peeled, sliced, cored apples in cake pan.  Mix 2 cups brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2 cups oatmeal, and 1 Tblsp cinnamon.  Add 1/2 cup soften butter.  Mix with fork.  Pat down on top of apples and bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Apples Pie
Make pie crust.  Place bottom crust in pan.  Mix 3/4 cup sugar, 2 Tblsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, dash nutmeg, and dash of salt.  Add to 6 cups peeled, sliced, cored apples.  Place in pan.  Top with 2 Tblsp butter and top pie crust.  Back 400 degrees for 50 minutes.

Enjoy.

It's a.....

The girls made us a totally blue cake.

 So today was the big day.  The ultra sound.  I always cry at ultra sounds.  I think they are just amazing. To take a peak into the secret place and see a growing baby is sooooo wonderful.  David, Latisha, Sierra, Danika and I got to go to the ultra sound.  We brought our computer and were able to Skype Alex.  The lady doing the ultra sound asked us what we thought it was and then showed us and asked us if we could tell.  Sure enough we could.

Our new little one

They said everything looked really good.  It is so funny to look at my baby's ultra sounds.  They all look alike.  I used to think all ultrasounds look alike but after having my first ultrasound and then seeing someone else's I was surprised.  I think I could pick my babies out.  They all have these round heads, chubby cheeks,  pouty lips and little noses.  I just love it.  What a blessing.  I am amazed at how others have gotten so excited.  We are so happy to see it is a boy but would have been happy if it had been a girl.  We just feel so blessed.  Alex was teasing me and said, "so it took you 20 years to get me a brother."  Love that boy.  What a very blessed day.  We are truly thankful.  Thank you Father for your blessings.  Truly children are a blessing/miracle from the Lord.

Have a great day.

Alicia

Fall is Here

It definitely feel like fall as the brisk weather increases to quite chilly, to cold.  A sure sign is my laundry room.  Yesterday I did four loads of laundry and this morning I woke up to the baskets filling quickly.  The reason of course is as the weather gets colder the clothes we wear are bulkier and fill up the laundry baskets quicker.  Which means more laundry.  

 One of my favorite parenting times is reading books.  I love spending time cuddling and reading to my children.  Isabella is really developing a love for this time also.  She snuggles up and listens as I read and smiles up at me and even tries to make the sounds of the animals.  She will even get books, put them in "our chair" and take me to the chair.  I have made it a priority to read with her as much as I can.  She is still not talking and I hope that the books I read will help.  We had another doctors appointment the other day with not a lot more insight except she is developmentally delayed and sometimes children when they hit 4 years old just take off and start talking.  So I guess for now I'll keep reading her books, working on sign language, doing therapy, enjoy her sweetness and pray for her.  What a blessing she is.  

Only a few days until the ultrasound.  So stay tuned.  We are so excited to see our new little one and find out the gender.  The plan is to Skype Alex at college so he can actually be there with us.  Children are such a blessing.  I must say I am tired of the reference to my "advanced maternal age." I get it and I trust the in the Lord.   The other day a girl in my class I teach at church, came up to me and said "So, you are having another baby."  "Yes, I am."  "Well, you must really like children."  "Yes, I do."  She smiled and walked away.  It just blessed me and I hope it impressed on her a feeling that it is good to be blessed with children.  Have a great day and may God bless you.

Alicia

What's in a Name

Last weekend David and I went on a camping/hunting trip with a couple other couples.  It was the first time I have left Isabella since her hospital trip and I was quite nervous but everything went just fine.  We went to a place called Black Rock.  The road was dirt and bumpy and just kept going and going.  The fall colors were amazing but we were getting concerned we might have missed the campground.  When what to our wondering eyes should appear but a big old black rock sticking out next to the river. I said to David, "Do you think that is the the black rock they named the camp ground after," and sure enough as we turned the corner there was the sign.  We had arrived.  This very neat rock just standing there so magnificently just makes you wonder how did it get there.  I'm sure evolutionist have some explanation of thousands of years of work but I am so glad I believe in the Creator who made all things.  I think sometimes He just has fun and goes "How about a big black rock right... here."  Just wandering around the mountains was so gorgeous, seeing God's creation in such vibrant colors.  I'm not a hunter so for me the weekend was so relaxing.  My mornings were time with God, His word, wandering through his Creation and spending time chatting with a couple friends.   Then relaxing evenings playing games and sitting around the camp fire with our spouses.  A very nice weekend with my hubby indeed.  We are all very blessed to be surrounded by the creation of a very creative God.  Have a great day.

God Bless,

The black rock is in the background

This is the river, more of a creek right now, that ran through our camp ground.

Alicia

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."  1 Corinthians 2:27

Pumkins...

What a lovely day and lovely weather we have been having lately.  It is quite brisk in the morning and warms up nicely through the day.  It is funny what turning on the heat does.   The other morning one of the kids commented "It smells like Christmas."  I think they were referring to the smell of the furnace and I know what they mean.  I get the same fluttery feeling when I awake to that smell.  Actually, the other morning when I woke I got all excited for Thanksgiving and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It is a very silly tradition I have had since childhood and have passed on to the kids.  Thanksgiving morning always finds us around the tv multitasking the days activities but watching bits and pieces of the parade.  Yes, that is a bit away still, but smells have a way of bringing out different memories.  The kids think it would be so wonderful to go and see it in person.  I wonder.  It looks awfully cold and crowded but I'm sure it is a fun experience to be there in person.

Yesterday I got to have a wonderful day blessed with some of my favorite people.  It seems like we just haven't been getting together with other people much lately.  But yesterday I was able to have a fun lunch with my dear friend Amy for her birthday.  Then in the evening our family got to go to one of the sweetest families, Chad and Jessica's, and spend time with them.  They just finished building a beautiful home on a lovely piece of property for their family of 8.  Their 6 kids are 8 and under and so sweet.   I was even blessed to hold their new baby and he is such a sweetie.  We are looking forward to our own new little one and the kids are counting the days down to the ultrasound (3 more weeks exactly).  

Some of our fun has been cooking with pumpkins.  I harvested the pumpkins and have been having a good time baking and filling our home with wonderful scents.  We have had pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin trifle.  All have turned out so yummy.  I am looking forward to trying a recipe for pumpkin soup tonight although no one else is quite as enthused as I am.  Better have something fun to go with it.  Unfortunately I haven't been good at taking pictures but here are a couple and some ideas for cooking up the pumpkin.  Have a blessed day.

Alicia

pumpkin cookies

 Pumpkin cookies
3/4 c butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 c cooked pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
mix well  add...
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
/2 tsp nutmeg
stir in 1 cup chocolate chips
bake 15 min at 375 degrees

pumpkin seed almost gone but quite yummy.  Toss clean seeds with melted butter, garlic salt and dash of paprika.  Bake for an hour stirring every 15 min at 220degrees

Pancakes are also fun just add pumpkin to the mix, a little cinnamon, pumpkin spice and chocolate chips and yum.

P.S.  I would like to add that it has been my experience when working with home grown pumpkins, that the puree is runnier than store bought.  So to compensate I add more flour to the mixture to reach the consistency I want.  

Our peach harvest

All canned and ready to put up for a special day.

Well, I am so excited to be harvesting peaches again.  It is just so fun to have planted a tree only 2 1/2  years ago and to be able to gather a bountiful harvest from this tree.  We tried some fun things this year and we will see how they work out, adding a little sugar and cinnamon to the peaches just adds to the fun.  Unfortunately, the trees I planted at the same time have not had the same results.  One even died this year.  Very sad.  I have always loved growing my own food.  Several years ago we went to Hawaii for our tenth anniversary.  While there we brought home some of the yummy pineapples.  A friend had told us to cut off the tops and plant them.  In seven to ten years you would get a new pineapple.  Well, we planted two and they did wonderful for a couple year.  I got a bright idea to set them outside in the fresh air and forgot about them until the morning.  It had gotten quite cold that night and killed my beautiful plants.  So I decided to plant avocado seeds in their pots and see how that went.  Unfortunately a year later after they had grown significantly, I tried again to get them some fresh air and they also got left out and died.  Again I tried with some new avocado seeds.  They took off wonderfully and even survived a move.  They grew so big that I had to replant them.   When we moved to this house they were over 6 feet tall.  I put them in a sunny spot with lots of room and watched them fight for their lives.  Their 18 inch leave would grow and then wither and grow smaller and wither until nothing grew.  I was so bummed, I prayed over them frequently but they just stood there bare trunks.  What happened.  It finally hit me that I had placed them under a heating and air conditioning vent.  In the winter the hot air was blowing on them and in the summer they were chilled by the cold air till they could no longer take it.  Environment has a lot to do with how things grow or die.  It is the same for ourselves and our children.  What is the environment that we live and raise our children in like?  Are we allowing the outside influences to chill our hearts and theirs until we can no longer grow spiritually.  Is it sunny and roomy but unseen influences are creeping in and snuffing our joy and spiritual growth?  I had fun looking for verses on God opening spiritual eyes and would like to share them with you.  Acts 26:18 says Paul speaks of how God is sending him to the Gentiles to "Open their eyes, and to turn them from darknesst to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."  That is beautiful.  In Numbers 22:31 "Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face."  How powerful.  2Kings 6 starting in verse eight tells the story of Elisha and how the King of Aram had his armies surrounding the city Elisha was in to capture him.  The Lord sent an army to surround their foes.  Elisha's servant couldn't see God's army and cried out in fear.  Elisha prayed and his servants eyes were opened and he saw.  What a mighty God we serve.  This is such an encouragement.  May the eyes of our hearts be opened that we might see God better and be able to remove any and all damaging influences in our environment.   May God bless and keep you and cause His face to shine upon you this day.  Here are some fun picture updates.  Have a blessed day.  

Alicia

Here's our new little avocado and pineapple plant.   Between Isabella and the cat they have had some struggles but I pray they will take off now and grow and produce fruit. :)

Danika enjoying soccer

Me growing rounder every day.  It is a cute little ball but it will widen and stick out even more.  Glad to be through the first trimester and feeling so much better.