It's only temporary

If I had known that living in our "dream home" would only be for a short while, I wouldn't have spent so much time worrying about the cabinet color, granite type and hardwood floor finish. If I had known my children wouldn't grow up in the house we built, I wouldn't have spent so much time planning their rooms out. If I had known I would only drive my car for a couple short years, I wouldn't have worried so much about the color and the features. If I had known I was going to go to sleep one day with my infant asleep in his crib, and wake up the next morning with him turning 9, I wouldn't have spent so much time cleaning. If I had known how quickly my hair was going to turn grey, I wouldn't have complained about it so much when I was younger. If I had known my dad wasn't going to be around very long, I would have told him every day how much I loved him. And I would have spent hours just asking his advice that I desperately need now. If I had known the turbulent time we went through was only going to make us stronger, I would have trusted more. I didn't worry about what the apartment looked like before we rented it....it was only temporary. I didn't care that the rental place didn't have granite countertops or brand new carpet.....it was only temporary. I didn't care how small the car was we drove in Colorado.....it was only temporary. The shot didn't bother me so much.....I know the pain was only temporary. Everything in this life is temporary. Does it matter what house we live in our the cars we drive? The Lord allows us to have these things for our enjoyment, and I love Him for that. But if I am wasting my time worrying about these temporary things, I have missed the point. The trials in this life are temporary as well. But through those trials I have become stronger, and learned to trust him more. 2 Corin. 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Thank you God that you are eternal. Your love for me is eternal. Everything else is just temporary.

My new favorite drink

I have been really trying to cut back on sugar the last week or so, and it has definitely paid off. I have lost a few pounds just by doing it. I always struggle with what to drink in my house. I love 1/2 sweet, 1/2 unsweet tea, but other than that (and a good glass of wine) I really am stumped. I am not a soda drinker, but I did find this great recipe for a non-alcoholic mimosa that I revamped to my liking, and boy do I love it! Here it is: Sparkling water (like Perrier) 1 slice of lime 1 slice of lemon 3 leaves of fresh mint splash of Crystal Light Lemonade (or just a little Splenda) Yum!

So behind on things....

Oh my gosh I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. Yikes! Sickness, and well, not having much to say has kept me away. Two snow days in one month has been a dream come true for my husband and our boys. We went to Banner Elk last Tuesday night and they got over 1/2 a foot. It was so much fun and the boys loved snowboarding and sledding. I can't believe how well our 4 year old snowboards. It is frightening! Our sweet little Sunday school class of four year olds brings me joy every time we teach. There is always something that comes up during our circle time. This week our lesson was that God can do anything. We asked the children to name some things God can help them with. Some said God could help them when they were sick or afraid. Others came up with God helping them when they were sad, but the best one came from one little boy......."God can help you when you are playing Wii"......yes, well, ok - what do you say to that? This week is filled with Colonial Times projects, Valentine's parties (I'm still not sure how I got roped in to doing two for my 4 year old's preschool class....I though I was done with the Fall party), and trying to get over this nasty cold, as well as caring for my sick husband and little boy. Thankfully David is still well, for now. Although he informed me one little girl in his class threw up before Spanish on Friday. Great! Something to look forward to. Still hoping to get to Zumba this week and I am very excited to start a new bible study at church on the Love Dare. Although I am embarrassed I haven't seen the movie yet (will I get kicked out for that?). Anyway, we are plugging along over here and praying for everyone to be well. Looks like the president has finally stopped talking, so I'm off to watch "24".

It's the little things....

What an unexpected gift we received yesterday in the form of snow! Snow is a big deal in our family. We travel long distances to play in it (like NY). What a blessing it was yesterday to have it delivered to our doorstep.

Me, being the great mom that I am, tricked our oldest son David. I woke him up around the normal time, pretending he had to go to school. Now, since he had been out for 4 days already (MLK and Teacher workday) he was sad and the tears started rolling. Daddy, being a true sport, said "yeah, I'm sorry buddy, it didn't snow last night". Unfortunately (and unbeknownst to us) while climbing out of his bunk bed he saw the snow through the blinds and the tears stopped. He then proceeded to play along with our little trickery until we open the living room blinds. Needless to say, he was happy there was no school.

Daddy went to work late so he got to spend the morning sledding and snowboarding with all of us. He then called me coming home from work early to tell me he wanted to take us out to dinner to enjoy the last bit of snow. This is an old habit of ours from vacationing up north - eating great Italian food and watching the snow fall. Well, the Italian food was so-so and the snow had stopped falling, but our moods didn't change. We were all happy and by the time we got home we were worn out from this fun filled day.

Here they are making tiny snowmen as a surprise for Grandma when she got home.

In the midst of the world, national and just daily worries we all face, it was a blessing to have this little gift from God. At least, that's what I consider yesterday to be. An unexpected blessing - the best kind!

A pasta recipe I love

I had a craving for this the other night and made it. Here's the recipe: Farfalle Pasta with Prosciutto and Chicken 1 box bow tie (farfalle) pasta 1 to 2 cups frozen tiny peas 1 tablespoon butter 1 package (6 slices) prosciutto, chopped ¾ cup chicken stock 1 cup heavy cream ½ teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup white wine ½ cup parmesan cheese 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up mushrooms (if you desire) Boil pasta and cook. Cook chicken (I do this in a skillet. I use thin cut chicken breasts, cook until done and then shred). Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté 10 minutes. Add prosciutto and cook a few minutes more. Stir in chicken stock and white wine, boil over heat until liquid is reduced by half. Add cream, peas, nutmeg and salt/pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce thickens some, stirring occasionally. Toss together sauce, pasta and chicken. Add parmesan cheese. Serve. The great thing about this recipe is you can leave out the chicken or the mushrooms or both. It even tastes good without the cream (although not AS good!). You can add as little or as much prosciutto you desire. It is yummy!

Farewell Bob

We lost a very special member of our family on New Years Eve night. Rick's grandfather, Bob as he requested everyone to call him, passed away. He was 84 years old. He was a hard worker, opinionated (as most of that generation is) and devoted to his wife. They were married 64 years, and the love I witnessed from Grandma to Bob, especially in these final years of his life, will stay with me forever.

Bob and Grandma loved their grandchildren, especially their grandsons. I could barely hold it together as my husband spoke at Bob's funeral of the strong handshake he will miss from his grandfather, and of a special time at our wedding. I didn't remember this, but Rick spoke of the time Bob and Grandma came down from NY to our wedding (almost 17 years ago). Rick fondly remembered as the back doors opened and I came down the aisle with my father. All guests stood and turned to look at me; Bob stood, looked at Rick for a few moments, and then turned. My husband cherishes that moment to this day.

I will miss his strong handshake and bear hugs. I will miss his "ah-geez" when something struck him as funny. I will miss Grandma giving him a hard time and him saying "oh, ok..ok!" He accepted me as his own granddaughter for the 23 years Rick and I have been together. I am thankful the Lord put him in our lives and that he is now at rest in heaven. We will miss you Bob.

A Christmas to remember

This year our Christmas was radically different than any year past. Mainly, no family. We decided to go away for Christmas this year. There were numerous reasons; an ailing grandfather we needed to see, a grandmother who was spending Christmas alone, scaled down decorating due to apartment living. About a month ago we decided to head north for Christmas and for the first year ever, spend Christmas day just the four of us....no where to be, no one coming over for lunch or dinner. Nothing. Just the four of us. It was magical.

We headed to upstate New York on the 19th and played in the snow and visited Rick's grandparents for a day. The boys had a great time sledding and snowboarding.

Look at my husband! Snowboarding no less. I tried it and after nearly knocking my arm out of socket twice while falling, I decided to stick to the sled! It's sad my 8 year old can do more things than me!!

We ate a ton of great food - especially at Grandma's house and saw lots of pretty lights.

Here are the boys eating homemade pudding at Great Grandmas!

These were particularly pretty in the downtown part of Rome, New York. They had a whole lights display with music. It was very sweet. We intended to leave Christmas Eve and head to Hershey, PA but the boys wanted to have their first "White Christmas" so we stayed and left Christmas Day.

Here is David writing a note to Santa on Christmas Eve.

I am so glad we stayed. Oswego, New York had a white out Christmas morning....basically a ton of snow in a short period of time. The kids woke up to lots of presents under our little tree in the hotel room and snow falling outside. It was a beautiful day.

This was what it looked like outside our hotel room Christmas Day. The snow was falling so hard you could barely see across the river.

This was Jason opening his Leapster 2. I guess he was happy.....he's so hard to read. :)

David was equally happy opening one of his gifts.

It was a wonderful time and one that we will never forget. I'll post more from Hershey next.