SOUP OF THE WEEK...

PORK & ROASTED TOMATILLO STEW!

This was my first soup baked in the oven!  Kinda different but it reminded me of a crock pot soup where you throw everything in the pot and turn it on.  Tomatillos aren't my favorite but I wanted to give them a fair chance - they add a slightly lemony taste to the soup, in my opinion.  Also, I have discovered that my family really likes pork in soups with all the different soups I've made with it in it.  I've eaten this soup plain and also with the suggested condiments - the sour cream and dash of hot sauce really help!  So don't forget the condiments!

ARRGH! IT'S OVER, YE MATEY...

Well Peter Pan is over at the high school and it was a good one!  My son ended up on stage more than I thought!  He "flew" Peter Pan from backstage, which was no small thing, but he also got to appear several times on stage as one of Captain Hook's pirates.  Lots of fun!

For the first time, probably since he's a senior this year, we hosted the cast in the "after party."  (This is the party after the party at the school)n It begins about 2 a.m. and thankfully they bring all the leftover pizza and goodies so I didn't really need to do anything with that.  I just had to make my presence known from about 2 a.m. - 5 a.m. by walking through the kitchen and living room. Yeah, if you know me, I'm not a night owl.  But with some sugar and the help of Pinterest, I was able to stay up and complete my mission.  After that the hubs got up and checked on them and made a donut run.  So everything worked out.  I figure since he's a senior this has got to be one of the first and last times I'll ever be doing this....Phew!

 You know they love moms who take pictures like this...

OUR EARLY MORNING PLACE...

Downtown OKC in Bricktown is really awesome, especially early on a Saturday morning!  No traffic and Starbucks...just about right.  We hadn't gotten to bike much lately, so we took advantage of the pretty weather to do just that!  This is about the time we message our kids with a pic and what we usually get back are messages like "I just got up" and "I'm still in bed" to which we reply, "Get up you lazy bums!"

I NEVER MET A DESSERT I DIDN'T LIKE...UNTIL NOW...

It's play week at the school, and one of my favorite times as a parent volunteer!  It's interesting to see what desserts show up as I recruit different parents to provide it.  Today these showed up:

Cookie cake...my kids all went through a phase when they wanted a cookie cake for their birthday cake and I was always willing to go buy one.  Sugar frosting on a chocolate chip cookie just is a mistake (in my opinion).  Well, these are DOUBLE COOKIE CAKES.  There's not two but four giant cookies here with frosting in between and then frosted and decorated on top.  Yuck if you ask me...

The week is flying by and I'm so excited that the play is G rated this year!  It's Peter Pan and will be showing the next three nights.  The last couple of years the play was more serious, like about the holocaust.  Good in a different way.  But I'm glad this is more light-hearted.  My son didn't get a part but he opted to work stage crew and he has loved it.  He has learned a lot and is flying Peter Pan, one of his good friends.  I'm proud of him for being willing to work even though he didn't get cast in the show.  The nice thing is that with PACE parents we feed both the cast and the crew every night on play week.  The teacher makes sure they all know that every job is needed and valued.  

GOOD TIMES.

 Can you guess who this Peter Pan character is?  

(Hint:  A crocodile bit off his hand) He is one of my blog buddy's sons!

SOME WICKED BALLOONS...

My Colorado girl ventured south to Albuquerque for the balloon festival -

 it looks pretty amazing!

 For all you WICKED fans!

I've never been but she said it was awesome and if you don't want to camp like they did, 

better get your reservation in now for 2017...WHAT?

MID-LIFE...

It just kind of hit me this past  month, after attending two funerals of family members, that I am approaching mid-life!  Approaching.  :)

With my Grandma, who passed at 96 years old last year, I knew most everything she did socially revolved around funerals.  Either some friend of hers was sick and getting ready to die or she was wanting me to sign a get well/sympathy card to send, or was planning to attend a funeral pretty much the last 20 years of her life!  Not my cup of tea!  But I'm getting used to it.

The last 3 weeks, I've attended my Great Aunt Goldie's (age 101!) and my second cousin Earle McMillan's (age 80) funeral.  You know what?  Both were joyous occasions that I really actually enjoyed.  Family members coming together, reminiscing over sweet memories, watching slide shows of days gone by, eating together.  I know if it were a tragic death it would feel differently.  If I were the one attending to all the details I would feel differently.  But I'm thankful today for the opportunity to celebrate Christian lives like this.

Let me tell you just a little about these "Christian characters" in my family:

Goldie was my Grandma's sister, and the total opposite of her!  But they got along well and the last 10 years or so were able to go to church together many times, with the help of a relative.  You can imagine two little 90 + old ladies chatting together on the pew.  Everyone said they were so cute!  I took both of them out to eat at a barbecue restaurant once, an old lady on each arm.  Everyone treated us like royalty!  But Goldie was an awesome prairie farm woman who lived in the same home for 60 years.  She was blind but still living in her home (with the help of her daughters who lived nearby) when she passed.  She had dogs and cats and such a positive spirit.  I think she was a lot like Paul when he wrote in Phillipians 4:  "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

Earle was my Dad's cousin and had an interesting life story.  After just getting married, his parents both died within a week of each other, of different causes.  He had no siblings, so my Grandma became his mother in a way.  My Dad was 5 years younger but they were close and both became professors at Christian colleges.  Earle had an interest in Scotland (home of the McMillans) so he ended up getting his PhD there in New Testament.  He also loved antiques.  So in his life, he taught 10 years at Abilene Christian University, had an antique business, traveled to Europe frequently at a time when that kind of travel was rare, had a lovely wife and 3 sons, and also had a construction business, which still exists today!  He really lived, didn't he?  What I thought was interesting was at the funeral several people, including his friend Royce Money, president of ACU said that sometimes he was accused of thinking differently.  He was a teacher  his whole life in different ways and taught his students and family to "think out of the box."  All 3 sons now own their own businesses.  He truly loved his 3 sons and their families since he was without siblings and parents for a long time.

Thanks for letting me reflect and mourn 

and consider the stages of life today.  

FALL FEAST...

Wow, are we blessed around here!  There is a spiritual feast going on this fall, all around us here in central Oklahoma.  Besides the availability of Bible studies going on at different times, I was able to attend the OC Ladies Day Lectureship and go to a women's banquet on campus with Missy Robertson, of Duck Dynasty.  We also attended for the first time, a Preacher/Elder dinner on campus, rich with encouragement and heroes in the faith.  I'm able to attend Ladies' events like Pinterest parties and RefresHERs, great classes and on and on...Is it possible to go to these feasts and never gain anything?  Probably so...and I wonder if sometimes we are fat with knowledge...but never really let this spiritual food do it's work.  Do you follow me?

 James 2 reminds us of putting our faith into action:

^14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

 I encourage you to take advantage of the spiritual feast around you.   You will be enriched, you will be inspired, you will meet others struggling on the same path... but if you never open up your heart and let God shape you, it doesn't matter!  Put that faith into action!

BACK AFTER 27 YEARS...

I had a lot of fun this weekend reminiscing about the last time we went to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri.  My husband and I had never gone back or taken our kids since one of those terrible timeshare presentations 27 years ago...


1986...We were young and poor and wanted a little vacation.  I accepted a "free" 3 day, 2 night vacation from a timeshare in Branson just to watch their presentation.  We also got the free deal for my hub's brother, sister-in-law, and three year old son.  When we got to our free stay, here were our accommodations:

A camper in a gravel parking lot.  Yeah.
Real impressive.

We made the best of it and enjoyed our time, but still had to go to the presentation to receive our free tickets to the attractions.  We got out of the presentation in a couple of hours, but for some reason, they kept my brother-in-law for about half a day and it really made them unhappy and ate into our time to  enjoy the weekend.  Anyway, it was kind of a fiasco, and I don't think they've ever forgiven me for it!

At least we can laugh about it now...and we've finally made a return visit this past weekend!  Needless to say, we did NOT take a "free" vacation or go on any timeshare presentations.

There were pretty fall decorations in every direction!

With our boys

We went because our college son was singing at Silver Dollar City with New Reign.  They do this every fall and this will be his last time, so we didn't want to miss it.! We spent a lot of time with this sweet bunch of singers, eating at Lambert's and also going to the IMAX for the movie after the park closed.

Here they are performing in one of the venues at Silver Dollar City!

Riding the "Outlaw" with our neighbors right behind us.  Funny when you bump into your friends in faraway places!!

No dieting this weekend - Apple dumpling with Cinnamon ice cream

Just had a fun time wandering around the park with no real agenda, just to hear New Reign and see what we could see...so different from the days of seeing every possible thing and riding every ride!  Thankful to be around our boys!

SOUP OF THE WEEK...

CHICKEN CHOWDER!

After banquets two nights in a row this week, we were feeling pretty full of rich food.  I just love the simplicity of soup.  It feels good and healthy, and the best part is, it improves with age.  I LOVE any meal that I cook that has some great tasting leftovers!

This soup is pretty good, I'll probably make it again.  Very basic, kinda like a pot roast meal minus the beef.

THE BUZZ ON PUMPKIN...

Have you heard the news???  While the crazy government shutdown and job layoffs are happening, pumpkin is still making the news.  What I heard yesterday was that - SHOCK- the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks contain no pumpkin.  Yep, NO pumpkin.  Same thing with the Pumpkin donut at Dunkin' Donuts.  And Pumpkin kisses.  To Starbucks defense, they call it Pumpkin SPICE.  So I was just wondering how many other products out there are taking advantage of the fall and our craze with all things pumpkin?

I decided I wanted to try a pumpkin drink at Starbucks and my husband uses it as his second office, so when we went by last night I asked them to make me a Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa.  It was really good! If you are like me and don't do coffee, you should try this!  I knew I was only getting pumpkin spice in my hot chocolate and enjoyed it.

But one of the first things that came to mind as I thought about this was that this happens a lot more than we realize.  And I thought about all the people that wear the name CHRISTIAN.  I try really hard to see others with the eyes of Christ, but sometimes you see such terrible behavior you wonder - WHERE IS CHRIST IN THIS CHRISTIAN?  Then I am convicted myself...

FEELING LOVED....

This past week I had the opportunity to present a lesson in our women's Wednesday night fall series.  The series is on spiritual imagery in the Bible and we've heard some great lessons so far on how God sees us as the body, an athlete, a garden, a soldier...and my topic was a jar made of clay.

Everyone should get the chance to do this!  I really dug into my topic the last couple of months, studying all the occurrences of clay, pottery, earthen vessels, etc. in the Bible and also learning all I could about the qualities of clay, throwing clay, and making a piece of pottery from a blob of clay.

 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.

    We are the clay, you are the potter;

    we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

One of the things that struck me as I thought about God, the Master Potter, was that he took time creating me.  He loves me so much!  You should watch a potter throwing clay - it's truly beautiful!  God  took me, a lifeless blob, purified me, centered me on the wheel, and has gently but firmly been shaping me ever since! We are all works in progress and he has a purpose for all of us.  One humorous way to look at it, from my powerpoint:

I loved this and we are uniquely positioned in our world to have influence over different people.  That is fulfilling our purpose.  I'd like to challenge you to think about who you live with, who you work with, who you play with, who you exercise with, who you volunteer with...and the influence you have on them.  Think about what kind of legacy you are leaving.  God created you and does have a purpose for you!

I hope you are feeling loved today.  Because God truly loves you!

MY FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT...

Being on the patio just never gets old for me!  I love to pull out my patio tablecloths, pick a few flowers for a quick centerpiece and sit in the cool of the fall and eat and chat.  These ladies are part of my Thursday morning Bible study group.  We are studying Philippians and thoroughly enjoying it.  It is rich with practical advice for living joyously despite the circumstances.

A beautiful prayer, from our study, Philippians 1:9-11:

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

PINTEREST YOU GOT ME HOPPIN...

Surprise!  Surprise! (Quoting somebody from my past, but can't remember who - Minnie Pearl on Hee Haw?)  Well you know you're getting old when you can't remember who said it...

The Women's Fellowship Committee that I serve on wanted to do an activity to attract the younger generation and I think we were successful with a Pinterest party!  We ate some Pinterest-inspired snacks, and had 3 activities going on during the evening.  For $10 you could make a burlap wreath, or a canvas collage for $5.  We also had a Pinterest tutorial for free.  With our group of 100, it was pretty evenly distributed between all the activities.  Turned out to be a lot of fun!

This is the Pinterest snack I brought - Peanut Butter brownie Puppy Chow.  Super peanut-buttery!

 Jenni, our emcee

3 Generations

 Working on canvases

Cute fall and Thunder wreaths finished!