Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars...

Cake

1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted sweet cream butter

1  1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

3 eggs

1  1/2 tsp. ginger

1  1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup diced dried cranberries

6 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks {or 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips}

………………………..

Frosting

4-ounces softened cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

4 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c. dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make cake by beating butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger,

and salt, then beat well. Gradually mix in flour until smooth. Mix 3/4 cup diced dried cranberries and white chocolate

into the batter by hand. Pour batter into a well-greased 9×13-inch baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly

across the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is light brown on the edges. Allow cake to cool completely.

3. Make frosting by combining the softened cream cheese, 3 cups powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in

a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.

Use a spatula and spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the diced cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

Enjoy!!!

Hope your relishing your week after Christmas, we have been doing a lot of sleeping IN!!!  It's been wonderful!! Have a fabulous New Years friends.

Hot Cocoa and some freebies...

I just made this homemade Hot Cocoa recipe for a Christmas Party and I loved it! Thought I would share with you fabulous ladies.

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream

 Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature. A hot cocoa bar is a lot of fun if you are serving little people, candy canes, marshmallows, whip cream and of course cookie sticks.

-

 These little beauties are free Christmas tags, just head over to love vs design and download and print. 

Then head over here eat drink chic to print some of these. I like to print mine on card stock and attach some cute ribbon, enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!!

Time to get your craft on.........

Join us tomorrow for our Christmas Workshop 9am-11am at Community Chapel.

All materials provided, donuts, coffee and childcare!

Hope to see you there and don't forget about our coat drive to help local children. Have a fabulous Monday! Merry Christmas

Club Mom Christmas Extravaganza

Moms, you don't want to miss this month's Club Mom!! We'll be working on fresh evergreen centerpieces to take home, fabric wreaths, and snow globes! You'll have all kinds of fun new decorations for your home when we're all done! See you Tuesday December 13th from 9-11 at Community Chapel in Sweet Home!

Club Mom next Tuesday Nov. 8 from 9-11 at Community Chapel

Fun at Grandpa's Pumpkin Patch

Field Trip to the Patch

We are going to meet at Thriftway tomorrow morning 11am to carpool over to Grandpas Pumpkin Patch for lunch. Bring your kids, lunch and coffee money ;) The weather looks perfect!! Hope to see you there!! Call or email me if you have any questions.

October Craft

Jars with Chalkboard Labels

Join us at Club Mom Tuesday the 11th from 9-11a.m. and make one of these very cute jars to take home.

Hope to see you there!

This craft idea came from www.aprettylifeinthesuburbs.com

club mom tomorrow- what is club mom?

Join us tomorrow from 9am-11am. We are going to have our first meeting of the year and hope you can join us. Contrary to what "club" in club mom suggests we don't consider this a club, no membership fee or requirements:). We are your typical assortment of moms; our kids are all different ages, some of us are "older" moms some are young, some are single, some are married, some of us love McDonalds others refuse to feed their children fast food(poor kids:). We have different backgrounds, careers and families. What we do all share is the desire to be good moms. Each month we either watch a dvd on a mom topic (marriage, friendship, discipline, loneliness) or have a guest speaker. After the dvd we share ideas and encourage one another. We will be meeting this month in the window room of Community Chapel, if you do choose to join us you will be greeted by some fellow frazzled moms, coffee and donuts. Child Care Provided!!

Club Mom Tues. Oct. 11th 9-11am

No More Whining..........please

I have purchased her book "Don't make me count to ten" and loved it. I think I am going to give this one a try. We may watch a few of her dvds for Club mom as well. Let me know what you think is whining something you deal with on a regular basis, does it drive you crazy too, at a loss for what to do?

Teaching Gentleness to our Kids

Thriving Family magazine had an excellent section on teaching gentleness to your kids in their August/September issue. I loved the ideas they gave for each age. May we all model Christ's gentleness to the sweet children he has blessed us with.
Gina

http://www.thrivingfamily.com/Family/Faith/2011/strength-of-gentleness.aspx#Preschool

The Strength of Gentleness

by Gary Thomas

Imagine being able to watch the apostle Paul in action. How did he treat people, especially those who often failed? In 1 Thessalonians 2:7, Paul gives us a glimpse of how he treated others: "We were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children."

Gentleness is a strong hand with a soft touch. It is a tender, compassionate approach toward others' weaknesses and limitations. A gentle person still speaks truth, sometimes even painful truth, but in doing so guards his tone so the truth can be well received.

Puritan leader Jonathan Edwards called gentleness "the Christian spirit." Edwards said, "All who are truly godly and are real disciples of Christ have a gentle spirit in them."

The Bible goes out of its way to demonstrate Jesus' gentleness. In fact, the Old Testament depicts the Messiah as unusually gentle, telling us that Jesus would not break a "bruised reed" or snuff out a "smoldering wick" (Isaiah 42:3). In the Gospels, Jesus affirmed His gentleness: "I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29). And the apostles often reminded the early church of Jesus' gentleness: "By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you" (2 Corinthians 10:1).

Unfortunately, too many people equate gentle with weak. Unless you would call the heroic apostle Paul, the fiery Puritan Jonathan Edwards and the almighty Christ "weak" individuals, it is clearly a misunderstanding to assume weakness has anything to do with gentleness.

In fact, the reverse is true.

When my daughter was young, she used to love to squeeze my hand as hard as she could, trying to make it hurt. She could squeeze with all her might, but it never hurt. She didn't need to be gentle because she lacked the power to cause me any pain. Then, just for fun, I'd give her hand a tight little squeeze until she yelped.

It's the strong hand, not the weak one, that must learn to be gentle.

Key Points

• Gentleness is a strong hand with a soft touch.
  
  
• A gentle person speaks the truth in a way others can receive.
  
  
• True followers of Christ are distinguished by gentleness.
  

Family Memory Verse

Philippians 4:5
"Let your gentleness be evident to all."

Scripture Study

For a more in-depth look at gentleness, read these Bible passages:

• Proverbs 15:1
  

• Proverbs 25:15

• Ephesians 4:2

• Colossians 3:12

• 1 Peter 3:15

Copyright © 2011 by Gary Thomas. Used by permission. ThrivingFamily.com.

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Preschool Activity
School-Age Activity
Tween Activity
Time With Your Teen
More Family Devotions

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Preschool Activity

Bring out the first-aid kit (a few bandages and cotton balls) for a make-believe boo-boo mending. Explain that you're going to pretend you have a scrape on your finger. (You can draw it on with a marker or pen.) Let your child use a soft cotton ball to clean your "wound," and then help him apply a bandage. Give hints or suggestions when needed, and compliment your first-aid helper when he's finished. Talk about how gentleness is important, especially when someone is hurting. Ask your preschooler how it feels when his brother, sister or playmate is not gentle with him.

Together, come up with other times when you would want to be gentle. This might be when petting a kitty, hugging a baby, touching a flower or playing with siblings and friends. Explain that each time he is gentle, he is showing how Jesus cares for others..

— Karen Schmidt

Copyright © 2011 by Karen Schmidt. Used by permission. ThrivingFamily.com.

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School-age Activity

Take an uncooked egg for each of your children, and write his or her name on it. Then place the egg in its own Ziploc bag. Assign each child's egg to a sibling. Explain that these eggs are fragile and must be handled gently. The children should carry their assigned egg with them during the next hour or two. They can carry it in their hands, a shirt or coat pocket or in another way, but they must not set the egg down.

Let life go on as usual. Don't remind anyone about his or her egg. As the children carry the eggs, at first they will probably be careful, but they may eventually forget about their eggs and get careless. Even if the eggs do not crack, your children will find it difficult to be mindful of their eggs for the entire time.

Afterward, check on the eggs. Explain that these fragile eggs are like people's feelings. Sometimes we can accidentally say something that hurts a sibling's feelings. Or we can be reckless with our words and crush others. Gentleness means treating each person with care, similar to how we needed to care for the eggs. Explain that when we get busy with everyday life, we may find it hard to be careful with our words all the time. But we can ask God to help us be gentle and mindful of others.

— Jeannie Vogel

Copyright © 2011 by Jeannie Vogel. Used by permission. ThrivingFamily.com.

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Tween Activity

Use this activity to help illustrate the effectiveness of gentleness. You'll need some balloons, a bit of dish soap and a (very) sharp bamboo skewer.

Use your fingers to lightly coat the skewer in dish soap. Then blow up a balloon, not inflating it too much. You should be able to dent the side of it with your finger. Now ask if your tweens think it's possible to put the skewer through the balloon without popping it. They'll likely say, "No way."

Tell your kids that, with a gentle approach, it's possible to keep the balloon intact. Starting at the balloon's top (where the color is darkest), slowly spin the skewer as you gently push on the balloon. Keep spinning and gently pressing until the skewer goes into the balloon. Carefully push the skewer to the opposite side, next to the knot. Spin the skewer again, gently pushing it through to the outside of the balloon.

If the balloon pops, try again. When successful, let your kids skewer a balloon, too.

Ask:

• How were you able to skewer a balloon without it popping?
  
  
  
• What would have happened if you used all your strength to force the skewer through?

Explain that gentleness is sometimes more effective than sheer strength. This is especially true in our relationships. By using a gentle approach with others, we can talk more easily about difficult things with people. Read Philippians 4:5.

• How can you show gentleness to your siblings? Your friends?
  
  
  
• If you had to speak a difficult truth to a friend, what approach would best preserve your friendship?
  

— Vance Fry

Copyright © 2011 by Focus on the Family. ThrivingFamily.com.

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Time With Your Teen

With 150 teens and leaders on a trip to Six Flags, I walked into the hotel lobby to pick up 37 room keys. I discovered that the hotel had lost our confirmation and didn't have any rooms reserved for us. A mistake had been made, and the hotel staff now seemed unwilling to help.

In that moment I had a decision to make. My response to the hotel staff would either distinguish me as a Christ follower, or it would show me to be just another demanding customer. And 150 team members were watching.

I quickly reminded myself that "a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). As I calculated my response, I recognized the moment for what it was — an opportunity to demonstrate the power of gentleness.

You can help teens understand how gentleness works by explaining a concept I call "the glass door." This door represents any person or relationship that stands between us and what we want. How we attempt to get through that door will determine the outcome. If we're careless, we may still get what we want, but we'll cause a lot of damage in the process.

As you discuss gentleness with your teen, point out that gentleness can only be shown by those who are strong. This concept makes gentleness more attractive.

Teens need to understand that gentleness is essential for maintaining healthy relationships. Ask your teen to share about a recent conflict he may have had with a friend or family member. Then have your teen assess whether he handled it with gentleness. Discuss together what actions or attitudes can shatter "the glass door" of relationships. You might mention such "glass busters" as anger, selfishness, pride and careless words. Ask your teen to help you draft a list of gentleness guidelines that could help to avoid shattering family relationships. Jot them down and post them somewhere they can be easily referenced.

So what happened at the hotel that night? I opted to be firm yet gentle, and sure enough, my response "turned away wrath." The issue was resolved with gentleness — and the teens slept in all the available hotel suites.

— Dean Hawk

Copyright © 2011 by Dean Hawk. Used by permission. ThrivingFamily.com.

Hello

Just to say Hi! Hope you are enjoying our awesome weather, doesn't feel quite like fall yet around here but you won't catch me complaining. Have a wonderful weekend and hug your little people.

Blackberry Cobbler mmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

 Hope you are all enjoying the last week or so of summer :(  The boys and I picked blackberries today poor Emmett ended up walking into 3 bushes. We even had our rubber boots on but the little critters still ended up scratching up our legs. After our first few bites of cobbler though it was all worth it. Here is a recipe I love! You can use it for any fruit cobbler super easy and hard to screw up :) 

See you all soon we will be having our first meeting at Sankey Park September 13th.

 

• 1/2cup butter or margarine
• 2cup sugar
• 1/2cup water
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour*
• 1cup milk, room temperature
• 4cups fresh or frozen blackberries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Place butter in 9x13 and melt it in the oven.  Bring blackberries and 1 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup of water to boil and boil for 10 minutes. Mix flour, remaining sugar and milk gently scoop over butter do not stir. Scoop fruit mixture over that and plop in over for 45 minutes.:) Make sure and have vanilla ice cream on hand!!

Blackberry Shortcakes

2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix

2/3 cup milk

 3 tablespoons sugar

Grated peel of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

2 tablespoons sugar (or decorating sugar)

1 pint (12 oz) fresh blackberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Whipped cream for garnish 

• 1 Heat oven to 425°F.
• 2 In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, lemon peel, and the butter until soft dough forms.
• 3 On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by spoonfuls to make 6 shortcakes. Sprinkle sugar over tops using 2 tablespoons sugar.
• 4 Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• 5 Meanwhile, in 1 quart saucepan, combine sugar and water. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in blackberries.
• 6 Split warm shortcakes; fill with blackberries and syrup. Cover with top halves of shortcakes; dollop with whipped cream and additional blackberries.

 

Mimic the gospel

Motherhood Is Application

by Rachel Jankovic | August 25, 2011

 

   

               If I had to pick one word to describe motherhood, I think that word would be “transforming.”
The days of a busy mother are made up of millions of transformations. Dirty children become clean, the hungry child fed, the tired child sleeping. Almost every task a mother performs in the course of a normal day could be considered a transformation. Disorder to order, dirty clothes to clean, unhappy children to peaceful, empty fridge to full. Every day we fight against disorder, filth, starvation, and lawlessness, and some days we might almost succeed. And then, while we sleep, everything unravels and we start again in the morning — transforming.
Days of these little cycles add up and suddenly you see a big transformation. A nursing infant has become a boy on a bicycle, a baby bump has grown into a toddler, and children have been changed into brothers and sisters.
Then there is the kind of transformations that we do — not because we work at it, but because we were created to do it. You eat your lunch, and your body transforms it into nourishment for a baby. Taking something too big for an infant, and still finding a way to feed them with it — with the goal of growing them up to do it themselves.
Pregnancy and nursing are only a small part of a child’s life though — and this cycle is clearly not only a physical one. It is the spiritual cycle of food that is so much more important, and so much less talked about. Christian mothering is a constant cycle of nourishment — both physical and spiritual.

We Apply What We Believe

In the same way we take the food we eat and make it into something the baby can eat (and our bodies simply do this without us willing them to), so we take what we believe about God and the gospel and faith and life, and we apply it in the places that seem too little for it.
Imagine yourself in your kitchen trying to make dinner for a group of little kids who are tired and should have eaten a half hour ago. Imagine that things are going wrong beyond that — maybe you are out of something you assumed you had, children are fussing with one another, and maybe your littlest is still at the age where they come stand on your feet and pull on your pant leg. Bonus points if you are wearing maternity pants and this little person is actually capable of pulling your pants down. You are hot, you are tired, and you are sick of it.
This is no time for a gospel presentation. There isn’t time. There isn’t anyone to lead the discussion around the felt board, because you are still scrambling to figure out dinner. This isn’t a time for a gospel presentation because it is a time for gospel application. This is a time to take the grace that God has extended to you, and feed your children with it. Apply what you believe about God’s mercy and kindness and long suffering towards us, and pour it out to them — in a form they can believe in. Unrest like this is just like a baby crying for a bottle — only what they need is spiritual milk. They need you to feed them, not with a lecture, but with application.

You Have Everything You Need

Mothering is a job that is full of difficult moments. Diapers blow out in stores when you have too much in your cart to just walk out. Sudden carsickness can leave you pulled over on the side of the road wondering just how much can be done with half a bag of wet wipes. You need to take what you believe and apply it to these difficult moments. Does the Bible teach us that God is disgusted by our frailty? That he doesn’t want to carry our burdens? That he doesn’t have the energy to deal with us?
The good news is, you don’t need to have been through some elite mother’s training camp to apply the gospel in your life. You need to believe. Trust God, give thanks. Laugh. Believe — and that will feed your children. Rest in God, and your children will learn to. Extend God’s kindness to you, to them. Forgive them the way God forgave you. You have everything you need to spiritually nourish your children, because you have Christ.

Mimic the Gospel

Of course, this side of heaven we will not do perfectly. Harsh words will be spoken, patience will wear thin. Frazzled mothers will act frazzled. And when this happens, our own sinfulness does not detract from the power of the gospel, it illustrates why we need it. Do not use your own mistakes as an excuse to wallow about what a bad mother you are. Repent, seek forgiveness, get it right, and move on. Believe. Be forgiven. Extend that forgiveness, that belief, that joy, to your children.
As you go about your daily transformations, set your heart on the truth. Mimic the gospel in what you do. Bring peace, bring order, bring joy, bring laughter. Bring it because it was brought to you. Give, because it was given to you. The gospel is not too big to fit into little situations. It is too big not to.


Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She is the author of "Loving the Little Years" and blogs at Femina. Her husband is Luke, and they have five children: Evangeline (5), Daphne (4), Chloe (2), Titus (2), and Blaire (5 months).
________
Recent posts from Rachel Jankovic —


I copied this from desiringgod.org

Just to make you smile.......

Have a great week friends!

Iced Coffee Recipe ~Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee. ~

                               http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

Hello ladies

I know the weather is less than hot :) but I am sure it's going to warm up I just know it.

When it does I will be ready with my coffee, here is the link to a fabulous recipe to make your own delicious treat at home. You will thank me for saving you so much money on your Dutch bro. and Starbucks habits.:)

Have a wonderful week.

If it wasn't for coffee, I'd have no discernible personality at all.

~David Letterman

Park day cancelled

The rain is back :( hopefully just temporarily, we will not be meeting at the park today. Hope you can stay inside and cuddle with the kids, eat some junk food, bake some cookies and fold some laundry. :) I might just skip the laundry part. Enjoy your week!!!
Quotes to inspire you today:)

"The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of christian, But the fact that I am a christian does make me a different kind of woman."
— Elisabeth Elliot

"This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness."
— Elisabeth Elliot


The family.  We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.  ~Erma Bombeck

Park Day

Tomorrow July 12th we will be meeting at Sankey Park at 11am. Hope you can join us!

Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe

The kids and I went and picked strawberries yesterday at Good & Miner strawberry fields in Lebanon, came away with 21 pounds for 21 dollars, you can't beat that.:)

Rewarded myself with a LARGE slice of Strawberry pie last night and again for lunch. Here is the recipe if your interested.

Ingredients:

• 1 9" Crust or Graham cracker crust
• 6 cups strawberries, hulled makes 2 graham cracker crust pies or 1 deep dish pie
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Chilling time: 4 hours

Preparation:

 Bake at 400 degrees until light brown and crisp, about 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely. Mash enough strawberries to measure 1 cup. Mix granulated sugar and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan and stir in strawberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Cook and stir for 1 minute and then remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and cool. Beat cream cheese with powdered sugar, lemon juice,  until smooth and spread in cooled pie crust. Slice remaining strawberries and arrange over pie. Pour cooked and cooled strawberry mixture over the whole strawberries and chill for 3-4 hours or until set. Refrigerate any remaining pie.

DEVOUR all by yourself or you could save a little for the hubby:) 

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Family Time

Hope your enjoying the warm days with your little people. 

Gardening

 Since the weather is finally warming up, I thought I would share a few of my favorite perennials with you. I love to be outside but I don't always have as much time to work in the yard as I would like. Over the years I have killed several flowers,shrubs, roses and even trees, I have slowly learned what is easy and what I will never plant again!

 Catmint, Hardy Geraniums and

Valerian are all in the photo above. All of them reseed and are incredibly easy to care for.

,

 The blue flower here is another form of Geranium,  beautiful and easy!

These guys are foxglove, they are biennials and drop seeds like crazy. Enjoy the warm weather and hope you get to enjoy a little gardening.:)

Mommy is tired and grumpy- watch out!

Although I may not admit as often as I should, I lose my patience with my children. Lately it seems to be very often, between allergy issues, terrible weather, Marshall's very messy age and long homeschooling days my patience is wearing thin. I find myself apologizing daily(hourly) for losing my temper, as well hearing my words and tone repeated in the way my kids talk to each other, a little humbling and frustrating. We are all getting on each others nerves, just within the half hour of dinner Marshall had spilled blue finger nail polish everywhere, including in his mouth and smeared mashed potatoes through his hair. Mommy is tired and grumpy.

So if you think of it send a little prayer up for my sweet little people as we wait on sunshine, less pollen and summer break. If you are feeling a little tired and grumpy I will leave you with a few paragraphs from a book I have found encouraging.

The task of stewarding children's lives is not a short-term process. There is no quick list of rules that can be followed in one short year that will ensure success. The mission of motherhood requires grit. It requires perseverance. And that often means years of repetitious and mundane tasks, years of repeating yourself, years of wondering whether anything you do or say makes a difference. " Clean up your room!" " Please talk to your sister kindly!" 

Where do we get this kind of endurance? It's part of understanding the job of motherhood and plain old stubbornness always help too. We must chose to believe that God himself will reward our choices and efforts to raise a godly heritage for his glory. It is for him and his purposes that we must endure, trusting that he who promised is faithful. 

I have to trust that though I am constantly confronted by my children's immaturity as well as my own, the seeds of my training and my years of watering the love, faith, and prayers will indeed someday mature the fruit of a godly character. My hope is in the unchanging character of God-that indeed he will reward my faith efforts to obey him. He himself will build both them and me into all we need to know and be.

The Mission Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

 

A little encouragment please

Have a great weekend!!

Parenting with purpose, why on earth do I do this?

Do you know where your going? Tomorrow at Club mom we will be talking about why on earth we wipe butts, do mountains of laundry, cook endless meals, referee sibling fights, kiss boo boos, taxi the kids back and forth to Awana and get up and did it all over again the next day. Sometimes in the busyness of this life we forget that we need a purpose and a plan.

1. Purpose: Where are you going as a parent?
        -What is your goal, what will really matter in the end?
2. Priorities: What matters most?
        - The big picture
3. Putting Purpose and Priorities into Practice
        - Practical help :)

Hope to see you there!!  9am at Community Chapel

Club Mom Tuesday May 10th from 9-11 at Community Chapel

clubmom play day tomorrow join us

Although Oregon can be a lovely place to live, it can also be a little on the damp side this time of year. If you are looking for a place to take your kids, but not sure where it would be dry and safe, join us. Tomorrow we will be meeting up at Community Chapel at 10am for a short story time for the kids and time for the moms to hang out. We will be upstairs in the kids classroom with plenty of toys and plenty of coffee. Hope to see you there, if you have any questions feel free to email me or call the church office at 541-367-5106. 

A little inspiration as you serve your family today :)

 In the end, the measure of my success as a mother will not be how well I have taught my kids or cared for them but whether I have been faithful in helping them respond to God's call on their lives.

Service has been his plan from the beginning-just like grace and inspiration and faith and training. As we launch our children into life from the sanctuary of our homes, the tangible gifts of God will go with them and help equip them for his service.

The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson 

Spring time ideas

The sun is out!  And although I'm sitting at the computer now, I'm planning to get outside with the kids soon to enjoy the sunlight.  There have been a few posts mentioning Family Fun, but I just wanted to put in an extra plug-in for it.  It has great ideas for fun outside with the kids as well as things to do inside on the rainy days I'm sure we'll see again soon.  You can check out the magazine at the library or visit Familyfun.com  My oldest son enjoys looking through the magazine and found the idea of making a "sponge" cake for Daddy for April Fool's day.  There's lots of simple-to-do ideas and some more elaborate ones as well.  It's a great mommy tool!

Beckey

He is Risen Easter Baking Craft

This is a fun, easy project you can do with your kids as you talk about the meaning of Easter.

You will need:

Ready made bisquit dough or homemade bisquit dough

Marshmallows

Melted butter

Cinnamon and Sugar mixture

Before making this craft, you can read stories from your children's bible about Jesus dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins because he loved us.

Give your child dough to make one bisquit, and have them put a marshmallow in the inside of the dough, pressing the bisquit all around the marshmallow. The dough represents the tomb where they lay Jesus' body. The marshmallow will represent Jesus' body. Now, dip the dough into the melted butter, and then the cinnamon & sugar mixture. Lastly, bake according to package or recipe. Once they are baked, the marshmallow is absorbed into the bisquit, revealing a hollow inside.

"For the wages of sin is death,

but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 6:23

"The wages of sin is death." Do you know what that means? That means that when we sin, we earn death. God is holy, and our sin separates us from God. But, God loves us and doesn't want us to be separated from Him.

So, he made a way for us to be friends with Him. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for our sins. He could do that because He is God, and He is holy. We couldn't even pay for our own sins because we sin every day, whether in our thoughts or actions. We are not perfect. But, Jesus is perfect. He never sinned. He was the only one who could take the punishment for our sins, which is death.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and they put his body in the tomb, but on the third day, He rose again. Jesus conquered death. Jesus made a way for us to be friends with God. Jesus provided the "gift of God" which is "eternal life" through his sacrifice. This bisquit reminds us that Jesus is alive. Are you friends with Jesus?

Free year of Thriving Family Magazine

Sue mentioned at our meeting this week that Focus on the Family is giving away a free subscription of their parenting magazine, "Thriving Family." Here is the link:

http://family.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=1TFUSA6&item_code=WW&netp_id=887501&event=ESRCN&view=details

Club Mom Tuesday April 12th from 9-11 am at Community Chapel

April Fools!

Here's a little recipe to get your April off to a fun start :) You will need:

Vanilla Wafer Cookies

Grasshopper Fudge Cookies

Honey

Sesame Seeds

Use a Vanilla Wafer for the bottom "bun," put a little honey on top to help keep the "hamburger" fudge cookie on top, and then put a little honey on top to keep the top "bun" vanilla wafer in place. Put a little honey on top, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy :)

Easter Lily Handprints

I got this idea from familyfun.com, and the kids and I made it a few years ago. It was a big hit with all the Grandmas as an Easter gift :)

Peeps make me scream

Although the little crafty thing the kids and I did last week with the peeps and gingerbread houses were cute, I am so tired of cleaning up smashed peeps all over the floor, the walls and the bottom of my shoe. Marshall (14 months) has been able to find every single peep and eat half while leaving the rest in a not so convenient place.  So I apologize if you to have spent the last week cleaning up marshmallow, next time we may just stick with bunnies/not marshmallow bunnies. Although motherhood is full of "oh he's so cute" it's not always lollipops and laughter, so I have found a sign to display for those not so cute days. :) Enjoy!!

I think I will add PEEPS!

It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge.
Phyllis Diller
 

 

99 Ballons

I received a email with a video from my father-in-law and it just moved me. I sometimes get frustrated with my two children, and just want to throw my arms up in the air and say "this is to much for me to handle." Don't get me wrong I LOVE my children more than anything. This vidoeo brought me to tears when I watched it, and a wake up call to how blessed I am with my kids. Take a moment to watch and be truly grateful for the gift of motherhood.

Tie-Dye Easter Eggs

Psychedelic eggs add a fun, funky touch to a traditional basket. And the decorating techniqe is so simple, even the littlest egg artist can help.






Matirals needed:

• a colander




• 10 hard boiled white eggs




• 1/2 a cup of white vinegar




• Vibrant food coloring ( I suggest McCormick neon food coloring)

Instructions:

1. Place several hard boiled eggs in the colander in the kitchen sink and splash them with vinegar.
2. Drip Yellow food coloring on eggs.
3. Gently aggitate the colander for a few seconds to help the color spread. Let the color set on the eggs for 30 seconds.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with up to two shades (any more and your colors may get muddy), allowing each to set for 30 seconds.
5. After the colors have set, give the eggs a light rinse with water and let them drain for a minute or two. Air- dry them on paper towels.

I hope you all enjoy this! I got this idea from www.familyfun.go.com/crafts

Graham Cracker Peep House

A fun activity for mom and the kids, although I believe my peep may be a chocolate covered bunny. Go here

Peep House Tutorial

  to get the step by step instructions :) Have fun!

Anita Renfroe - Love Story

club mom tomorrow!

Our topic tomorrow will be developing self-worth in our little people.

      -The difference a mom can make
      -The atmosphere of our homes
      -Belonging, Acceptance, Competence

 9am I will be packing some mean donuts, the coffee will be strong and your kids will be taken care of by someone else!  We look forward to hanging out with you.  Hope to see you there!

Preteen Workshop Sunday

I was just wanting to let ya'll know that this Sunday at Community Chapel a Preteens Workshop will be offered. I know I need all the help I can get, if you could use a few pointers when navigating through the unknown I hope you will join us.

PWorkshop & Dessert
Feb. 27 ~ 6pm
in the auditorium

I realize this video has nothing to do with a preteen, but my daughter who is 11 would not let me post her video, she actually said she would die (with that incredibly dramatic voice ) if I posted it, wanting to reserve the little bit of sanity I have left I agreed. Hoping Mark can help me out with that. :) So here is my 4 year old who will some day be a preteen. You can mute the music at the bottom of the page.

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Have a great week!

Little People Room's

There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Children seldom misquote.  In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.  ~Author Unknown

There are only two things a child will share willingly - communicable diseases and his mother's age.  ~Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, 1945

Children are one third of our population and all of our future.  ~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

Have a great week and enjoy your little people.