Day 2: rust

Matthew 6:19 says, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal.” (New Living Translation)

Matthew 6:19.... things get rusty

This cast iron pan has rust on the outside–of course, we could treat it, so it wouldn’t rust, but then that wouldn’t make for a good photo opp. And yet that’s also part of the challenge, today, with possessions–we have so many ways of protecting them, of ensuring their longevity, of making them more important in our lives than they actually should be.

Not that this aebleskiver pan is that important in my life. Though I love this pan–and the aebleskivers Jim makes using it–it’s not one of my most prized possessions.

But I do wonder, where are my treasures? And would my actions actually match my answer?

(by the way, aebleskiver is pronounced like “ebble-skeever”. and they are Danish pancakes.)

7-Steps to a School Snack

It was Kajsa’s turn to be the leader at preschool again last week–which also means snack-provider. Though it was “Letter Y” week at preschool, I thought that in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, I’d make “Cat in the Hat” hats.

red-hued gummy lifesavers

Step 1: as Jim heads to the store,

green gummy lifesavers

add these items to his list: gummy lifesavers, vanilla wafer cookies, and a tub of frosting.

Step 2: separate the red lifesavers from the greens, and hope that Leprachauns wear stove pipe hats).

Step 3: frost the vanilla wafers.

Carefully. (I’m sure there’s a better way to do this without getting frosting all over your fingers—I just don’t know what it is.)

Step 4: place red lifesaver on frosted vanilla wafer. Spread some frosting on lifesaver. Repeat twice. Add fourth lifesaver for top of hat.

hat #1

Step 5: Repeat with 4 lifesavers per wafer, until you have a tray of Cat in the Hat hats.

completed project

Very fun.

Until Step 6: Read the Preschool parents’ guide. I was looking up something else in the guide, fortunately, and decided to look at “Snacks”, just in case. Hmmmm. Should have looked at “Snacks” before Jim went to the store. Under “Snacks”, there is a list of what not to send. And in that list? “gummy candies”. oops.

what snacks to not send with your preschooler...

Oh well.

Step 7: Jim goes back to the grocery store and buys Yogurt snacks. “Y”.

And, the teachers were gracious enough to let us send the time-consuming hats home with kids.

 

 

 

 

 

(p.s. oops… I just noticed that I had put “9-steps” instead of 7… ah, well. .such is life these days.)

Advent Journey-Hope

Hope

Hoping that Advent bring me closer to Christ and to God.

Hoping that I will be open to the Spirit’s nudging in these and other areas.

Hoping for the end of untimely deaths among those I love.

Hoping for the end of untimely deaths among the world’s population. Not just those I know I love.

Hoping for the end of violence, war, skirmishes, pettiness, etc..

Hoping for freedom from the things that keep me from growing closer to God. And hoping for this same freedom, as applied to others also.

Hoping that though I may not get the whole platter of turkey leftovers, I might at least be given a morsel.

Hoping that I will receive the gifts God gives to me everyday. Whether or not I want or think I need them.

repentance

I did take this photo yesterday! But as I was writing this blog, I literally fell asleep. So here’s what I was writing.

Thurs., March 4th

What’s the connection between garbanzo beans and a clock? Easy: time. I don’t have enough of it–none of us do. At least that’s what we often say. Yet, repentance calls for a complete turning around. Not just blogging about it, talking about it, reading about it, and praying about it. Doing it. Repenting.. Turning around. It’s an action–ongoing, because our sin is ongoing.

I’d rather blog, talk, read, and pray about it. Because for me, part of my repentance this Lent needs to involve changing my sleeping (or non-sleeping) habits. I’d rather go to bed late than early. Which then affects my days and my nights and my family and my health (fatigue and fibromyalgia) and what I can and can’t do the next day. Like, eat healthier. It sounds dumb, but hear me out–when I’m more fatigued, I have less energy to intentionally eat healthy.

This is where the garbanzo beans come in. I could, technically, make hummus. It’s a fairly healthy Middle Eastern dip that could give more energy. Lasting energy. The hard part is, I’ve let myself get stuck in this vicious cycle of being too tired… going to bed too late… eating unhealthy foods… and not having the energy to jump out of the cycle and change my patterns. To turn around, repent..

So, here I go.. thinking about, blogging about, probably looking up a recipe about garbanzo beans/hummus.  Let’s hope I make the time to reTHINK my time and patterns by repenting, and reADJUSTING what I do.

Minnesota State Fair

Last week we did our annual Minnesota State Fair day.. it’s so fun. Only this year, for some odd reason, I wasn’t as hungry, so didn’t eat a lot of the fun fair food. That said, I did have my share of the good stuff.. just not as much as usual!

My favorites? The Tom Thumb Mini Donuts, and the Dairy Barn Raspberry Sundae.  We did try the chocolate covered bacon… which was ok. Not great, but ok.

Kajsa loved the animals, the baby animals, the adult animals… trying to pet them, etc. Some of them liked her, too. It was cute. And, of course, Kajsa LOVED the John Deere tractors. Fun.

Camp pies and a rummage sale…

I’ve heard about the camp pies. Sandie has bragged about the camp pies. They sounded like they might be good, but honestly, it’s one of those things that you have to experience, I think.

a pie iron in the fire

So don’t worry, friends of mine who live close by… I will buy one of these cast iron pie irons, and make these for you at some point. (Except I won’t try the spam and velveeta camp pie that some brave souls ate yesterday, here in the Lawrence back yard.)

On Thursday evening, Sandie made camp pies for us.

"oozie goodness"

Cheap bread, buttered on the outside of each slice, and cherry pie filling in the middle, squashed into a pie iron, cooked over a campfire. On Friday, Sandie experimented with cheddar cheese to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Also fantastic. In fact, Sandie’s term for these is now “oozie goodness”. For those of you who don’t like the sound of cherry pie filling, insert any filling you want. Camp pies simply rock.

One of the great things about camping is fun people you meet. We had some fun neighbors: the 2 Danes and San Francisco friend; and the couple from Montana…. one of the not-so-great-things about camping is your proximity to loud people you meet. I’m all for having fun while camping, but honestly people…  GO TO BED! or at least be quieter for those of us who are already struggling to sleep because it’s freezing… Needless to say, Thursday night was a rough night of sporadic sleep.

Friday morning’s breakfast was instant oatmeal, bacon, and camp coffee.

the tent Jim, Kajsa, and I slept in

Yum. Camping with the Lawrences is fun, because they have fun camp gear. It’s also fun, because the Lawrences are fun. But that goes without saying. The camp gear part is wild. It’s not like they have a mini-REI in their house full of camp gear, but I’ve honestly never been camping with such cool gear.

a little wildlife exiting the tent

And Dave says this is nothing, compared to friends of his. I love it. I should also mention that I have not been camping a ton.. some, but not a ton.

After breakfast, we were all pretty excited to walk up to the Methodist church in Seward, and go to the rummage sale.

the rummage sale gang

The campground bathroom house had a flyer on the wall, advertising the sale. Since most of us froze Thursday night as well as stayed awake thanks to loud neighbors, we decided to rummage for more clothing and blankets. Fun. Who’d of thunk… we go to Alaksa, and to a great rummage sale. Loads of fun. The photo I’m trying to insert in this paragraph should show the funny photo of the gang, loaded up with rummage gear. Jim found a mattress pad, a foam pad (both for putting under our sleeping bags), and a sheet, I think. Sandie got more blankets, I got some awesome pants that are warmer than anything else I have here. Etc.

By the time we returned to the campground, Jim and I had to get ready for our 5-hour “cruise” to see wildlife out on the sea. So we packed up our backpack, bundled up in our rummage-sale gear, Dave packed us a lunch (because we’re too cheap to pay for the salmon/prime rib buffet on the boat), and we all took the long walk along the sidewalk down to the small boat harbor. Entropy was the center of attention, of course… loads of tourists taking loads of photos of him. He tolerated it.

it’s been awhile.

Dairy Queen joy with “Uncle Roy”…. “Girl Cousin” power with Hannah… Kajsa’s sunglasses that make her look and feel way cool…. hugging “Ahb-wah” …. and trying to fit into Daddy’s shoes.

pictures

Being Halloween and all…

one would think I’d post a photo of Kajsa’s first (with us, at least) Halloween costume. But, alas, I’m in Denver, for a meeting. So I’m leaving it up to Jim (hint, hint…) to dress her up in the costume we have for her. Given Jim’s “To-Do” list while I’m gone, I don’t expect much, but at least a photo of her in her outfit… you know, for those many scrapbooks I’m eventually going to get to. 

So, in case she doesn’t get in that costume, here are some photos from a little over a week ago: Kajsa as a Starbucks Barista. I was making dog treats for Abby and Little E, but mostly Little E, so he could have some on his long trip to Alaska. Kajsa of course wanted to help. How could I resist, when she has this neat Starbucks barista apron from a friend and her family.. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

life lessons through Kajsa

Don’t throw boxes in the recycling just yet… they come in handy as a toy.

Dogs and kids make good paper shredders.   (don’t worry!! I don’t let Kajsa do this much. Abby, on the other hand, has been a faithful junk-mail-shredder for years.)

Now that Kajsa crawls, only leave water in the dogs’ bowls when the dogs are ready to drink. Otherwise we have to frequently change the Kajsa’s clothes and clean up the floor.

When you find a manilla envelope full of old, no-longer-necessary receipts, set it aside. Kajsa will find it and sort through it for you.

When there are no hockey sticks (or softball bats), a paintbrush will do.

And, when friends visit… convince them to feed you. Even when the dogs complain.