Late Night Drive...

Adios all, until Thursday or Friday. We are headed to the ocean with my parents tonight after I get off work-- hooray! An actual vacation! Thank you Lord, for providing this in lieu of the one we were supposed to take when Grandma was fading.

When we come back:

*details about Melia's preschool (Yes, we are sending her! It's a God-thing)
*review of chicken strip recipe that tastes like Larry's (YUM!)
*should I try to make tomato sauce?
*anything else interesting you want to hear about??? (Besides more kid pictures that I have been slacking on lately...)

:-) See you in a few!

From Tomatoes To Salsa....

I know. Weird, huh?
This was half a batch! My pot was nearly level!
Aren't they pretty! Half a batch made 5 quarts. (I couldn't find my pint jars...)
And.... clean up time.

Oh, and a savings tidbit for you... My garden peppers are slightly questionable, like whether they are supposed to be green or red, plus a whole batch calls for 18, so I just decided to buy mine at the store. I bought the red ones at Costco for $5.49/6, but they didn't have green ones. I stopped at Safeway to check, and their peppers were on sale for $1.50/1! I thought, "no way, I am going to check Grocery Outlet." And they had them for $.69/1! Even better than Costco! Not nearly and nice, pretty, and big, but they worked just fine! I figure it costs me about a gallon to drive around town, so that is $4. I saved $3.29 after gas by going to GO. I wonder how much the Farmers Market would have been....! :-)

Canning Site

So, I have been looking and looking for a good, safe, canning recipe for salsa, preferably with corn and black beans. I have not found one. :-(

But-- after looking through many sites, I did find a helpful and easy to navigate site on canning with many, many recipes! And of course, I thought I should share it with you.
CanningUSA

And yes, I will be trying the salsa recipe on this site. Bummer I can't do the corn and beans too, but better to be safe than sorry.

Anyone know of a pressure canner for sale or giveaway? Or a recipe for Corn and Black Bean Salsa for canning?

Fall Conferences! I am so excited!

Strategic Perspectives Conference 2008, 10/24-26/08
Couer'd'Alene ID
http://www.studycenter.com/sp08.php

Steeling the Mind Conference 2008, 10/18/08
Kennewick WA
http://www.compass.org/conferences/detail.asp?id=55

As you all probably know, these are the conferences that Gabe and I would never choose to miss! We make it our highest priority to go to one every year! We went for 6 & 7 years to Steeling the Mind and now are focusing on the Strategic Perspectives one.

We would encourage all of you to attend them (one or both)! It is a jump start to get you back on track or energized with your Word studies and walk with the Lord.
Steeling is more well-rounded with apologetics and prophecy, while SP focuses more on our current world situations and end time scenarios. Both are fantastic conferences, guaranteed to fill your mind to overflowing and challenge your thinking!

The above links are to the schedule pages and ticket prices.
Check out the Walid Shoebat topic: Islamic Eschatology!!! This is one of the things he spoke on last year that was SO fascinating-- Islam End-times mirror our eschatology! Who do you think helped in the writings for this??? (feel free to answer me! I am curious to see if anyone follows my thought process!)

If you have any questions, please ask!

Something You Probably Wouldn't Guess About Me

I really really like Toby Mac. Especially his new song "Burn For You."


"I'd rather burn for you than fade away..."

Please Lord! Give me the desire to burn!


:-) ...would you have guessed?

Edit: And no, Gabe can't stand him.... :-)

John 14:21

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

John 14:21

Answered Prayer: Go and Sin No More

It never fails to humble me that my Father God listens to my meager prayers and He is so Faithful to answer them! This verse was huge to me the last few years:

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

A recent request of mine was regarding a statement I read in the Betrothal book by Michael Pearl. "We insulated our children from within, and therefore, as they got older, did not need to be insulated so well from without." This resonated with me, stirring my spirit to pray that God would show and enable me to do this with my children, because, as is so evident in our world today, sheltered children are sometimes more at risk than non-sheltered ones.

The answer came in response to a series of conversations with different people about why individuals who claim Christianity will continue to walk in sin. How can I "convince" my brothers and sisters that what they are doing is not ok? The answer is that the "convincing" is not my responsibility. My responsibility is to address the sin in love and call them to account for their walk (and of course to be open to the same in my life.) It is the Spirit's job to do the "convincing," reminding them of the truth of God's Word and His Law. In regards to my children, my job is to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and the complete knowledge of the Truth. To address sin as sin, and teach them to listen and obey the Word. To make sure they understand that while Christ paid for our every sin, sin itself is not without consequences.

I know this seems so basic (although you wouldn't know it, looking at many "Christians" today), but to have a light shine on what I need to focus on in raising my girls NOW and not later is a treasured blessing. And I Love that this is from Him! The questioning I do every day of my parenting abilities does not apply to lessons from the Father! What a relief!

Father God, thank you for Your Faithfulness to Guide and Teach us.

Important Skill to Have

Be able to squash little bugs with your bare hands.

It comes in handy.

Blessed Shopping!

Rite Aid: Total after sales, coupons and rebates = $2.45
Walgreens: Total after sales, coupons, and register rewards (which ended up being cash anyway because they didn't print) = $12.78

It doesn't look so good until you recognize the little bag at the bottom being my ink cartridge refill ($10)!

If you want to know the breakdown, email me (smittenkennels @ gmail.com). I get tired of typing it all out, and half the time it doesn't make sense when I am done anyway!

But I thought you might enjoy seeing what God blessed us with today!

WALL E

This movie was sooo cute! We took Melia to go see it tonight, and had a great time! She didn't really understand what was happening, mainly because she doesn't know what a robot is.... But Gabe and I were laughing out loud!

I would give this movie an A+! Clean and funny entertainment!

A HomeMade Experiment: What did I make?

So, please don't get grossed out. Just read and decide.

When we came home from Camp, we had around 1/2 gallon of milk in a gallon container with the expiration date of 3 days later waiting for us. But it was severly curdled. Or at least looked bad-seperated. So I dumped it.

A few days ago, I poured the girls milk in their sippy cups for breakfast. A few hours later they were wanting more, so I said bring me your cups and I will get you new ones with juice. When I dumped these cups in the sink, they were seperated too-- not chunky, but not smooth. Of course, I was *slightly* concerned!

I poured some in my coffee, and it seperated immediately. Sooo weird. Like making buttermilk.

I ended up putting some in a measuring cup so I could watch it, and I threw the rest away. Over the next 30+ hours, the milk sat in the cup on the counter uncovered. The next day, I dumped it in the sink to wash the measuring cup, and here is what happened: (if I am correct, this is up to you to decide)

The "whey" poured from the top first, a watery-milky substance. Then the second half plopped out like yogurt from a cup. The crazy part is this: It never smelled bad.

So, what did I make? :-) This is a real question, as I don't know. I am just combining the meager knowledge I have from reading about making yogurt and sour cream and kefir... none of which I actually know how to do. I have just read some out and about in the blogosphere. Hmmmm.

Encouraging Post for us Moms :-)

I loved this post by Crystal over at BiblicalWomanhood-- It encouraged me more than I expected, and the comments have lots of sound advice. Like this "If a mom in your season of life looks like she has it all together all the time, something is suffering drastically somewhere." Only I would say "someone," not something!

For some reason I always thought I could do it all, even when I couldn't. I now know that I didn't then, and I won't now. I have those weeks where my kids suffer because I said yes too many times, and we just needed to stay home. And then those weeks where it's not a choice, but a necessity-- and God blesses the busy-ness. (Did you know that business is how I think I should spell busyness? Interesting.)

It is hard! For example, this spring after a birthday party, my immediate family came over to watch a movie, and then more people came. This was all spontaneous, so of course my house was less than "presentable," but I also did not have enough clean glasses for everyone! Of all the things to obsess over, I did. Let's just say it was a learning experience. Now, we have paper cups for those occasions!

And let's just all agree here-- Nobody cleans under their couchs. That way we all have the mess of random cereal and popcorn, and no one has to be embarassed about it!!! Okay? Ok!!!

Orange and Blue Blessings

This morning we went to Fred Meyer to grab some canning tongs to can some of the YUMMY nectarines that were left on our porch yesterday by one of our most treasured friends, Ben.

Of course, I scanned the flyer ad to make sure I was hitting any wild deals they might have going while we were there. I knew blueberries were not a wild deal.

However!!!-- When we walked in, I saw a $1.98 sign on these BIG boxes of blueberries... they were on clearance for 2 lbs/$1.98! I bought two!

Now, what should I do with blueberries and nectarines???? I am thinking blueberry scones and finish canning the nectarines... Maybe I should dice up a nectarine and put it in the scones too!

Thank you Lord, for providing for our pleasures as well as our needs!

Melia.... again :-)

This morning:

Kiera: "mommy... baby..."

Melia: "I am going to have a baby. When I grow up. In five weeks."

Me: "Oh, you are? How special :-)"

Melia: " I am going to have a boy, and a girl, and a boy, and a girl. Just like you Mommy!"

Hmmm.. She must know something I don't...

Oh, and Kiera was just naming things, not pointing anything out, so don't get all excited or anything!

Inside Out Summer Camp

A Rebellion Against Low Expectations We expected God to work, and He did not disappoint!

Important Announcement

Dah Dah Duh Dah.....

We have gotten two eggs, two days in a row from our chickens! Wooo HOOO :-)

Why, what were you thinkin'? HMmmmm????

Because! That's why!

What's that you asked? Why haven't I posted pictures of our fabulous week at Summer Camp?

It's because the camera, while it is full of pictures, not many, or, well, none, of them were taken by me... I will share some I promise.

But I didn't take any because I was BUSY!!! You know, cookin' for 50 people takes a lot of hard work and energy.

See?

The gal on the left is our darlin' Miss Helen, the pastor's wife whom we adore.

If You Are Interested....

Article in K-House weekly update regarding most recent news about EMP attacks.

Last Paragraph:
Thomas C. Schelling, an economist and professor of foreign affairs, national security, nuclear strategy and arms control at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, once wrote that we have "a tendency in our planning to confuse the unfamiliar with the improbable. The contingency we have not considered looks strange; what looks strange is therefore improbable; what seems improbable need not be considered seriously." Those words were written in regards to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In that instance American forces were taken by surprise and the result was catastrophic. Have we learned from our mistake or is history destined to repeat itself? Will we once again be taken by surprise by our adversaries? To some, the threat of an EMP attack may seem improbable, but we would be foolish not to take it seriously.

I am here, but sooo busy!

I need to take pictures of our yard. I should have when we got home. No jungles in Eastern Washington? I beg to differ. You should have come by my yard last Friday... I am slowly working on it. I will take pics of my tomatos and all my friendly neighborhood fat bellied spiders that like to scare the dickens out of me....

Last week, Friday and Saturday, I had to work (called in because of sick calls)(after just getting home Thursday evening), then my normal Sunday. Sunday, my sweet boss told me that I could wait until 2:30pm to come in instead of my normal 1pm because I had already worked extra. I was thrilled! Then, on Monday, after Rennea had already picked up the girls, right before I was going to walk out the door, he calls and says, "Do you just want to stay home today?"

"What?!~!"

"Apparently I doubled scheduled... So&so is already here, so why don't you just take the day off?"

UM... OK!!! What a blessing! Plus he gave me next Sunday off because of our Acts 2:42 Sunday (our church's fellowship monthly sunday, which I always miss...) THANK YOU FATHER GOD!!! He knew I needed all this, and I thank HIM for it!!!! This was a huge blessing, because then I had no plans to cancel, no kids to care for, and I just rode around with Gabe while he did some errands, and then we went out to dinner with his family. I didn't just do all the stuff that needed done, I spent some good time with my hubby and relaxed, which I didn't get to do at Camp!!!

The rest of this week? I am just working on errands, weeding and laundry! Woo Hoo! It's amazing how energizing some REAL time off is!

Camp Quotes that I found Profound

"Satan tells you things that are true, but only God tells you the truth." (from Memory's bible study)

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." C.S. Lewis (I knew of this one before, but as I hear it in different contexts, it become more profound each time.)

What Fun!

Ok, I know I already said goodbye for a week, but I just had to share about my fun date night last night!

My friends Brooke, Karalee, Lynn, Alicia, Joy and I went to see Mamma Mia together, and it was an absolute blast! We had a great girls' night, and the movie was hilarious! At first I thought, "Am I really seeing this? Dramatic dancing and singing? Oh my...." But after I gave myself permission to laugh out loud at the funny antics and singing, I loved it. I think I will probably buy it!

Although I have to say, I will never look at Pierce Brosnan the same way again.... Never!

:-) Thanks girls for a great night! Can't wait for next time!