What Happens When Nanna Babysits

Biweekly Garden Photos

I love Texas!  I picked 16 jalapenos from my garden on June 10! 

We're enjoying basil and jalapenos right now.  I have about 6 small green tomatoes so far with lots of yellow blossoms.  The plants are taller than Molly now.  Tomatoes are difficult to grow in Texas.  These babies got shaded with a beach umbrella last weekend when the temps were over 100.  I'm praying that they stay healthy and productive.  There's a leak in the neighbor's sprinkler system that has resulted in standing water along our back fence for the last week.  Hopefully they get it fixed soon before my garden is affected. 

Cute DVD for Kids

Early in the tale entitled “Who is in Charge Anyway?” part of Max Lucado’s Hermie and Friends series, the viewer is introduced to a very cute flea named Freddie. In fact, I think he’s the cutest character in the movie. Freddie overhears a conversation that gets him wondering if he’s special. A conversation with God ensues. God speaks audibly as Freddie peers to the sky and listens. It is a little cheesy for me, but it is a neat way to get kids thinking about how God wants to interact with them through prayer. God points out the weaknesses and insecurities of the other bugs in the garden and highlights the way that He worked through them. Freddie is precious as he seeks to be significant to God.


My two year-old daughter warmed up to this movie right away even though she'd never seen any of the characters before. I showed it to her right after it arrived yesterday, and she’s asked to watch it several times. She could follow along with what was happening, but I’m sure many of the big lessons were too difficult for her to understand. She narrated what was happening in some of the scenes as she watched. It was heart-warming when she watched one encounter between Freddie and God and told me, “He’s talking to God.”

Check out this movie for your preschooler. It contains a good lesson also about telling others about God.

I received a free copy of this DVD as a part of my participation in booksneeze.com. The opinions are entirely mine!

Summer Fun

Ode to a Place

Yesterday my mom moved into a gorgeous new home.  It is located in a community on the lake with tall trees, quiet boulevards and welcoming neighbors. It is God's provision, brought about by the most carefully orchestrated circumstances.  She feels at home there; she and my dad had played cards in this home several times.  Even though he won't live in this house with her, she has memories of him there.

New beginnings also mean tearful good-byes.  The home she is leaving has touches of my dad's loving care everywhere.  There's the corner in the kitchen where he poured the coffee hundreds of times to serve it to guests.  There are the walls he painted according to mom's instructions.  There are dozens of small repairs he made to keep it perfect that no one else even knew about. 

Strolling through the lawn, the memories of Dad flood to me.  He loved working outside in the hot Texas sun.  I see the pool, waiting for the new owners to open it, and I recall him bouncing his baby granddaughter in the sun-warmed water.  I marvel at the thousands of pieces of native stone he moved to just the right spot to perfect his landscaping.  I sigh at the artistry of his impressive cactus garden, many plants having originated in the fields around the house.   His touch outside is everywhere, his handiwork alongside the Creator's.

The breezy barn was his respite where he could enjoy the company of his animal friends, pray, think, and occasionally escape to his hammock.  Many pieces were skillfully crafted there with just a few tools.  I saw the hundreds of feet of metal trim and stall walls that he repainted just a few years after painting it for the first time just like he did the garage walls and floors.  He had asked Ryan and me to help him and was so appreciative after we helped for an hour or so.  The portion we painted was such a small part of the entire job.

I'll miss the walk from the barn to the house that he made several times daily.  I love to try to imitate his peaceful gait.  I imagine him enjoying the breeze, chirping birds, and smell of mesquite.

Thank you, God, for the taste of home you give us here on Earth. 

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  John 14:2

...He blesses the home of the righteous. Proverbs 3:33

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  2 Corinthians 5:8,9

Mom's new house is already a home of love.  Numerous friends and family members have toured the home with her as she contemplated a purchase.  The previous owners, friends of hers, tried to prepare it well for her arrival, patching holes on the walls and leaving behind beautiful furnishings and fixtures.  Good friends from church carried in some possessions.  Neighbors have brought food.  She snuggled in bed and read a story to Molly.  I believe Mom will love and serve and encourage and support hundreds in this home in future years.

Dear Lord, fill Mom's home with your Spirit.  May it be a place of peace and hope and love.  Bring people through the doors that give life and healing to Mom's soul as well as those who need Mom to share God's love with them.  May her years here be rich and filled with wonderful memories.  Be her Protector.  Amen.

Van Camp's Baked Beans Showdown

My friend Tricia at Once A Month Mom posted a fun giveaway recently.  The contest required participants to make both Tricia's baked bean recipe as well as Amy's Baked Beans with a Kick (the recipe of her opponent in the showdown!).  We then were to choose a winner.  I made both for a small get-together yesterday.  Tricia's recipe has fewer ingredients, using canned pork and beans (Van Camps, of course).  The additional flavors come mostly from a lot of bacon, ketchup and brown sugar- all good stuff!  The dish looks very appetizing and would get a lot of takers at a potluck.  It does require 2 1/2 hours of baking time- quite a bit during the hot Texas summer. 

Amy's recipe requires the cook to gather quite a few more ingredients and to precook the bacon.  It seems healthier- the sugar content is a lot less.  It only requires an hour of cooking time, and the recipe suggests that a slow cooker might be used.  The recipe makes quite a large batch, so I halved it.

Here is my analysis of the outcome:  Tricia's beans are sweet and flavorful.  The bacon is tender, and the whole dish is infused with a bacon taste because the bacon cooks with the beans.  Amy's beans had a terrific flavor but seemed drier.  However, side by side, Amy's beans had a more appealing taste. 

In four categories, here are the winners:
1.  Overall taste:  Amy
2.  Appearance:  Tricia
3.  Beans that are calling me back to the fridge a day later:  Tricia
4.  Preparation:  Tie - the ease of preparing Tricia's recipe is negated by the long cooking time

I asked each of my guests to try both recipes and declare a winner.  Because we had a large spread, no one went back for seconds.  So, both dishes had the same amount eaten from them.  All three of my adult guests preferred Amy's recipe.  Keep in mind these are Texans, and they like things spicy.  So, judging by taste alone, I declare Amy's beans to be the winner!  (Sorry Tricia!)

In the future, when I make Amy's beans, I'll definitely use the slow cooker (plugged in outside on the patio) or bake for a shorter time.  Eaten as leftovers they are even more dry.  I'll probably save Tricia's recipe for cooler days and make it as is.  These are both excellent recipes.  Try them both!

The top picture is Amy's beans and the bottom is Tricia's.

Garden Update

Stars and Stripes

Mortgage Help!

Pay attention to price, not payment. That is the basic premise in Mind Your Own Mortgage: The Wise HomeOwner’s Guide to Choosing, Managing, and Paying Off Your Mortgage by Robert J. Bernabe. He presents many scenarios in the book that sound a lot like this: Suppose your mortgage broker calls to encourage you to refinance and save $400 a month. Sounds like a good deal, right? He then leads the reader into some situations where saving on the monthly payment can be costly overall. Even the most uninformed reader would come away with the sense that it is important to be scrupulous in inspecting the details when obtaining a mortgage loan. There are a lot of details and numbers that might cause some readers to become glassy-eyed.


I consider myself to be somewhat savvy with personal finance, and the main ideas in the book weren’t new to me, but I learned a few things, and there was a lot of interesting(?) factual information about the mortgage industry and housing crisis. The author even mystery-shopped some smooth talking brokers whose ads he’d heard on the radio in order to identify some of their deceptive practices!

I didn’t agree with all of his ideas (specifically, the areas where his thoughts differed from Dave Ramsey!), but I agreed with the main ideas in the book. He encourages the reader to shop around for a fixed-rate mortgage by looking at rate and closing costs. He also warns that refinancing can extend the payoff date of your loan, if you just make the required payments. He encourages readers to have a plan for paying off their mortgages early by restricting discretionary spending.

Throughout the book, he directs readers to his subscription-based website, www.mindyourownmortgage.com. On this site, he has forms available for consumers to use to more efficiently compare loans as they talk with lenders.

I highly recommend this book for anyone obtaining a mortgage for the first time, or who isn’t sure what costs are involved when mortgaging a home.

Still-Life Photography By Molly

She's got quite the artistic eye, doesn't she?

Searching For God Knows What

I usually don’t laugh out loud at books or movies. However, I laughed through the first chapter, “Fine Wine – The Failure of Formulas” of Donald Miller’s book Searching for God Knows What. I had read this book before as well as Blue Like Jazz, also by Miller. In this book, he looks at the gospel that is central to Christianity from an artistic and anecdotal perspective. He does not skew the truth yet invites the reader to imagine with him as he analyzes and muses about the gospel. Right from the beginning, I was reminded why I love his prose. He is immediately credible to me because he is so honest with his faults. His smart humor immediately engages the reader. His ideas are intriguing and will likely resonate with your soul. At the same time, he points out the many shortcomings of the church and shows its incompatibilities with the gospel of Christ. This doesn’t come across as judgmental but accurate.

Miller loves Jesus, this is obvious. He also loves God’s word. He savors the writings of scripture and engages his heart as he ponders it, the whole while entwining stories, one-liners, and word pictures into the pages.

This is an expanded edition of the original. There is an interactive game that is included. On the pages, you’ll find clues. Sometimes you’ll encounter a letter typeset in bold. Other times, there is a symbol appearing near the page number. Beginning in June 2010, participants can sign up to receive further clues by email, solve puzzles, and win prizes. The clues were actually a little annoying while reading, but I may sign up for the emails and participate.

I received a free copy of this book to review from Thomas Nelson publishers as a part of my participation in booksneeze. The opinions are entirely mine.

Shopping

Grocery Store at the Children's Museum

Ringing Up Her Purchases

She LOVES the mannequins at Old Navy

Time for Cages

Tomato cages, that is! My little garden is loving the warm Texas spring and recent rain showers. My mom came over toting a carton of eggs and advised me to bury them beneath the plants. Apparently, they like the eggs, too. The pictures were taken two weeks ago on May 1 and again this morning.

I intended for this pot to be home to one cactus. However, the dirt I planted it in was from the compost at my Mom's. The poor cactus is being overrun by a tomato plant and two cucumber plants. Wait until the dry, hot Texas sun is out in full force. I'm sure the cactus will have the last laugh.

Fifteen Years Ago

Food is one of my obsessions.  I can still taste the garlicky, lemony, minty tang of the fattoush I savored (devoured?) a little while ago.  When I was in high school, I would pride myself on eating a completely fat-free breakfast (Total cereal with skim milk and fruit) and lunch (school-lunch salad with fat-free dressing).  Then, I'd gorge myself on the homemade meal that my mom would serve to our family for dinner.  I'd eat so much that I would lay on the floor afterward  moaning, "I ate too much."  Somewhat dysfunctional, wouldn't you say?

Unfortunately, I continued this cycle of deprivation and overindulgence in the dorm cafeteria at college.  Unfortunate, not because I gained a lot of weight, but unfortunate due to the emotional reliance on food I developed.  Eventually, I became bulimic. 

My freshman year of college, I ran track.  I developed awesome muscular thighs.  I also turned nineteen and grew hips out of my previously boyish frame.  Not a problem until my eating continued on over-drive my sophomore year when I was no longer running on the team.  Again, I didn't gain a lot of weight, but I felt self-conscious about my body and guilty when I ate too much.  So, to me, throwing up my too-big dinner was a way of correcting it.  And, I'd always gotten a lot of praise for my skinny body.  I was no longer unique in this way but rather normal. 

I knew that it was wrong and dangerous.  I tried to stop my behaviors.  I repeated confessed my sins.  I couldn't stop.  My struggle continued for a year and a half.  I didn't throw up every day.  It never caused me to lose weight- just kept my overeating under control.  Well, my eating wasn't under control- I just undid a little of it. 

Several things happened that allowed me to be victorious over this disease and regain wholeness with regard to my body image and food:

1.  I dislocated my knee in tumbling class.  It was the only injury I've ever had requiring medical attention.  God's plan had a twist of irony.  Because of my injury, I wasn't physically able to squat by the toilet to throw up.  Also,  I realized that as humans our bodies are so valuable and yet fragile.  An injury can happen to easily.  So, why was I purposely doing something that could harm my body?

2.  I was involved in a Chiristian ministry.  Slowly I began telling others about my struggle.  I had heard that confessing a secret sin breaks its power.  In my experience, this was quite true. 

3.  God renewed my mind through His word.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Your works are wonderful.  I know that full well.  Psalm 139:14  I also had to train myself to eat more reasonably.  Sounds quirky, but before I reached for a snack in my dorm room, I made myself read a Proverb.  I also wanted to make sure my true hunger was for the things of God.

4.  I had to train my mind also to not study the bodies of other women.  I would compare parts of my body to theirs to see how I measured up.  I still longed to find my significance in my body.  I had to remind myself that my friends valued me not for the shape of my body.

5.  I became much less legalistic with my eating.  I have learned to enjoy quality foods.  I rarely reach for the fat-free option.  I try to eat foods close to the way God made them. 

Remarkably, I never had to seek professional help for my bulimia.  It helps me to share my story with others and to practice healthy habits of mind, spirit, and body. 

The Giveaway Winner...

is Cortney!  Be sure to check out her blog here.  (I used random.org to determine the winner.  Random.org is  great fun for math geeks like me!)  Enjoy the book, Cortney!