I'm so happy to report that my Chicken and Noodles dish last night turned out very well. Hooray! Aaron was impressed with my cooking prowess, which is always so great.
The funny stinger to this story I just had to share is the conversation I had with my mom. Understand that my mom was raised on a farm. She's no stranger to having to work hard. But she's chosen to be comfortable now and just assumes I'll do the same.
I told her about cutting up the chicken and this was her priceless comment: "Didn't you see that you can buy the chicken already cut up? I would just get boneless, skinless chicken breasts. That would be the same thing with much less work."
Hmmm. Way to deflate my balloon. I'll defend her--she was proud of my new skill and she knew it was a challenge for me. She just didn't really see the value of it. And this is where I stand back and say, OK. Mom's great. I love her, but I don't have to be her.
I want to be closer to nature than buying boneless, skinless chicken breast. And that's OK. Welcome to being a grown up where I can choose to take a different path than my mom and see that we're both right.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
Tougher than the chicken
I'm a city girl who is learning to be closer to nature. I married a man who was an ag major and took entire classes about food science (think how bacteria makes you sick when food goes bad) and animal information. He took a class called Meats in which they butchered all kinds of animals.
All this was before we met, but he brought to the marriage an impressive array of knives that can take apart any animal. He also doesn't get grossed out by anything in this world which is really helpful when one of us is sick. He may not be the most refined guy I've ever met but he sure is helpful when the grossness of life demands some attention.
I watch The Pioneer Woman with my boys and we love it. They frequently ask me to cook whatever it is that Ree's making. It's fun--I'm really learning to cook and cook well.
Last show, she made chicken and noodles. As a little girl, I loved making homemade noodles with my Grandma. Wonderful memory. Seeing Ree make that made me really want to do it. So, it's on the menu tonight.
It's funny--she uses frozen noodles (I'm good with that) but she had me cut up a chicken. Yuck. I had never done that before. Wasn't quite sure I could. But there was the frier in the fridge, waiting for me to cut it up.
I gathered the boys into the kitchen and told them I was going to do something new that I was a little scared of. It was their job to cheer for me. Cheer they did. I found a recipe book we got from when we married with pictures of how to do this. And I did it! I did have to call Aaron at work because the cleaver wasn't doing the job on the bones. He told me which knife to get--good advice.
I did it! The boys were so proud. Not quite as proud as me. It's a good day when I face down a fear and beat it.
All this was before we met, but he brought to the marriage an impressive array of knives that can take apart any animal. He also doesn't get grossed out by anything in this world which is really helpful when one of us is sick. He may not be the most refined guy I've ever met but he sure is helpful when the grossness of life demands some attention.
I watch The Pioneer Woman with my boys and we love it. They frequently ask me to cook whatever it is that Ree's making. It's fun--I'm really learning to cook and cook well.
Last show, she made chicken and noodles. As a little girl, I loved making homemade noodles with my Grandma. Wonderful memory. Seeing Ree make that made me really want to do it. So, it's on the menu tonight.
It's funny--she uses frozen noodles (I'm good with that) but she had me cut up a chicken. Yuck. I had never done that before. Wasn't quite sure I could. But there was the frier in the fridge, waiting for me to cut it up.
I gathered the boys into the kitchen and told them I was going to do something new that I was a little scared of. It was their job to cheer for me. Cheer they did. I found a recipe book we got from when we married with pictures of how to do this. And I did it! I did have to call Aaron at work because the cleaver wasn't doing the job on the bones. He told me which knife to get--good advice.
I did it! The boys were so proud. Not quite as proud as me. It's a good day when I face down a fear and beat it.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Being a Glade's plug-in for Jesus
Yesterday at Community Bible Study we had a luncheon. I love luncheon--we all bring something yummy to share and we chat. We do it in a structured way (I really prefer that to just talking about whatever--everyone gets to share as well as listen).
The question was so rich--how did you find CBS and how has God blessed you through it? I shared about my SIL telling me about CBS back when I was pregnant, lonely and looking to find connection with other Stay-at-home-moms. Through it, the Lord has blessed me so richly.
Friends, laughter, connection and fun. But the biggest lesson I've learned through the mixed ages of ladies in my study group (which I love!) is that no one is perfect.
At the beginning of motherhood I really did think that everyone else had it together and somehow I just couldn't quite measure up. Through CBS (and a deeper study of the Bible) I've come to learn and fully accept that God doesn't expect perfection--just faithfulness.
Life is messy and ugly. I'm not a magic eraser that makes everything she touches sparkle. Thank goodness for that because if that were the expectation I sure would fail. I'm more like a Glade Plug-in. The messiness will happen. Daily. Hourly. Sometimes minute by minute. It's my job to be plugged in to the source--the Holy Spirit--so that I can release God's sweet, neutralizing scent to those around me. What a cool lesson.
The question was so rich--how did you find CBS and how has God blessed you through it? I shared about my SIL telling me about CBS back when I was pregnant, lonely and looking to find connection with other Stay-at-home-moms. Through it, the Lord has blessed me so richly.
Friends, laughter, connection and fun. But the biggest lesson I've learned through the mixed ages of ladies in my study group (which I love!) is that no one is perfect.
At the beginning of motherhood I really did think that everyone else had it together and somehow I just couldn't quite measure up. Through CBS (and a deeper study of the Bible) I've come to learn and fully accept that God doesn't expect perfection--just faithfulness.
Life is messy and ugly. I'm not a magic eraser that makes everything she touches sparkle. Thank goodness for that because if that were the expectation I sure would fail. I'm more like a Glade Plug-in. The messiness will happen. Daily. Hourly. Sometimes minute by minute. It's my job to be plugged in to the source--the Holy Spirit--so that I can release God's sweet, neutralizing scent to those around me. What a cool lesson.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Chores
My twins are at an age when a small disappointment like this one is a huge deal, oftentimes erupting into a huge emotional downpour. Today I get to model that yes, I'm frustrated but I'm going to choose not to throw a toy across the room.
The picture above is my almost proud moment of the day. This morning I had a MOPs meeting with a few of the other leaders. 3 of the moms were able to come, bringing an assortment of little people with them.
It's funny--I always tell the leaders not to worry about cleaning up their home when other moms are coming over because no one notices. But yet, here I was, stressing out about my house when I knew they were coming over today. In my defense, Monday is cleaning day so it really needed to be done anyway.
My twins are at an age where they can actually help pretty well but they're starting to figure out that housework isn't all that fun. #3 is not really able to be helpful yet. Today I put their clothes pins with their names on them next to a chore. They had to do the chore and then I moved them all down. In theory, this was a wonderful plan. It was OK. The truth is that I haven't put in the time to really teach them what each of these tasks looks like and expected them to master them. That takes lots of patience that I just didn't have today.
I need to do that so that the cleaning time will go more smoothly and I can hold them accountable for a job well done. I'll do it soon.
The meeting went well, except for the fact that my boys were toots and wouldn't leave me alone. Huge frustration for me. It was a reminder that I can be a great mom or I can focus on leading a MOPs meeting. Doing both at the same time is just really hard.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Organized happiness
Another happy thing to share...I made crepes for the first time this morning and they were wonderful! I fell in love with crepes when I studied in Europe back before I got married. Ironically, Aaron makes them very well but getting him to do it is like pulling hen's teeth. I finally decided to learn to make them. So glad I did. They really weren't that tricky and now I feel like a Rock Star!
I haven't updated in a while...the getaway with the hubs was fantastic. We had a wonderful time. We hiked, shopped (my husband enjoyed that way more than I did), tasted wine, ate German food (I wasn't impressed) and my favorite--we went to Luckenbach.
The band was great. They did lots of covers of the good country swing that is super fun to dance to. Aaron kept me on my toes--lots of spins and fancy stuff that I had forgotten. It's been years since we've danced. It was really great to be reminded that we still can.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...my fear about the dog misbehaving and upsetting Grandpa happened. Life went on.
Monday, March 25, 2013
In His hand
Last week I was a mess. The getaway with the hubs was fantastic, but it threw me off my normal routine of how I do things. That always throws me for a loop. Added to it that my household was mildly changed by the grandparents watching the kids and the fridge just deciding to go out, a lot of change was thrown my way.
Change and I aren't friends, but this morning my quiet time served as an excellent reminder that the Bible promises in Hebrews that God never changes. In Isaiah I was reminded that God holds my right hand.
With that, I wrote out the "stuff" weighing me down. I just let the ideas flow. Afterwards, I highlighted the things I can do to bring about resolution for the stuff.
Today I have an action plan. I'll follow it. And I'm going to choose to rest in the thought that God is holding my right hand, just as He did when I was a child, a teen, a single girl, a teacher, a woman wanting to be a mom, a mom of preschoolers and now a mom on the cusp of letting her babies start kinder. He'll be there when I drop them off the first day. He'll also be there with them.
And He's here today. As I do laundry, make phone calls, start plans for next fall that I don't feel all that comfortable with and as I love my boys.
It's easy to feel out of control because I'm entering uncharted waters for me. But that's not of God. God is here, I just need to look to Him for comfort, wisdom, guidance and strength.
Change and I aren't friends, but this morning my quiet time served as an excellent reminder that the Bible promises in Hebrews that God never changes. In Isaiah I was reminded that God holds my right hand.
With that, I wrote out the "stuff" weighing me down. I just let the ideas flow. Afterwards, I highlighted the things I can do to bring about resolution for the stuff.
Today I have an action plan. I'll follow it. And I'm going to choose to rest in the thought that God is holding my right hand, just as He did when I was a child, a teen, a single girl, a teacher, a woman wanting to be a mom, a mom of preschoolers and now a mom on the cusp of letting her babies start kinder. He'll be there when I drop them off the first day. He'll also be there with them.
And He's here today. As I do laundry, make phone calls, start plans for next fall that I don't feel all that comfortable with and as I love my boys.
It's easy to feel out of control because I'm entering uncharted waters for me. But that's not of God. God is here, I just need to look to Him for comfort, wisdom, guidance and strength.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Holy housecleaning
My title today sounds like something Robin would say to Batman. But, it's actually from a sermon the other day about Jesus cleaning out the temple.
The pastor went on to challenge us that "Holy housecleaning" means that we clean out of our lives what shouldn't be in them. The irony is that just that morning, Aaron and I had one of "those talks" in marriage in which things that aren't working are addressed. With emotion. Out of respect for Aaron, I'm not going to rehash that conversation here but suffice it to say I was humbled that I'm not being the wife that I need to be and change needs to happen.
Holy housecleaning isn't fun. It's necessary so that we can better be who God created us to be, but the humbling hurts. My pride is stung.
This afternoon my parents arrive to get ready to watch our boys so that Aaron and I can go on our 10 year anniversary trip. And I'm nervous as a cat. I'll do a "heart sneeze" to list the worries I have. That my boys will be horribly behaved for my parents, that there won't be enough food, that our stupid new dog will do something really dumb like excitedly nip (known by everyone in the world as bite except my husband who thinks this stupid animal is fantastic) one of my boys and my parents will be insistent that he gets put down, something minor could happen to a farm animal and my dad (not farm-savvy) would call a vet and we would be out a big fee and I would have to run interference between my dad and my husband, my mom be appalled at the not clean state of my home and the biggie: I not feel very "wifey" on the vacation but have to figure out how to be that way anyway because that's what you do to celebrate your anniversary.
I spent the last 30 minutes writing up a medical authorization for so that if my kids have to go to the hospital, approval is given. Fun. While printing it, the lovely dog peed on the carpet. Could this day get better?
Enough whining. Time to write out an explanation of the steps of how to make the TV work. I was really thinking of adding pictures to the explanation, but decided against it. Enough is enough.
The pastor went on to challenge us that "Holy housecleaning" means that we clean out of our lives what shouldn't be in them. The irony is that just that morning, Aaron and I had one of "those talks" in marriage in which things that aren't working are addressed. With emotion. Out of respect for Aaron, I'm not going to rehash that conversation here but suffice it to say I was humbled that I'm not being the wife that I need to be and change needs to happen.
Holy housecleaning isn't fun. It's necessary so that we can better be who God created us to be, but the humbling hurts. My pride is stung.
This afternoon my parents arrive to get ready to watch our boys so that Aaron and I can go on our 10 year anniversary trip. And I'm nervous as a cat. I'll do a "heart sneeze" to list the worries I have. That my boys will be horribly behaved for my parents, that there won't be enough food, that our stupid new dog will do something really dumb like excitedly nip (known by everyone in the world as bite except my husband who thinks this stupid animal is fantastic) one of my boys and my parents will be insistent that he gets put down, something minor could happen to a farm animal and my dad (not farm-savvy) would call a vet and we would be out a big fee and I would have to run interference between my dad and my husband, my mom be appalled at the not clean state of my home and the biggie: I not feel very "wifey" on the vacation but have to figure out how to be that way anyway because that's what you do to celebrate your anniversary.
I spent the last 30 minutes writing up a medical authorization for so that if my kids have to go to the hospital, approval is given. Fun. While printing it, the lovely dog peed on the carpet. Could this day get better?
Enough whining. Time to write out an explanation of the steps of how to make the TV work. I was really thinking of adding pictures to the explanation, but decided against it. Enough is enough.
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