Another great use for bananas

I love bananas! I used them for the first time in my french toast batter...it was so good! I simply substituted a mashed banana for most of the milk. Do you all have any good recipes using bananas?

Neutralizer

Quick, homeopathic remedy for gas. Matt was having front end and rear end troubles last night (thought he was getting flu again!) and took 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar and a cup of chamomile tea which fixed him right up. He took 2 tsp. again like an hour later when he started having tummy pain again. Woke up happy as a clam this morning!

Christmas Traditions: Christina

I'm finally starting to excited about this impending Christmas! Matt and I've been talking a lot about the traditions we want to implement in our family, especially since this is Mcclellan's first Christmas. What traditions, specific things, practices do you and your family (I mean your "new" families, not the one you grew up in) have around the holidays? What makes the holidays so...special (for lack of a creative word) every year? Why do people gather close to family during this time?

I have a hard time with the whole "most wonderful time of the year" thing that America projects Christmas to be. Family, travel, food, trees, lights, shopping, presents. While all these things are fun and not necessarily a bad thing, I reject the idea that they're the focus of this season. Matt and I have boycotted travel this and last year and I'm hoping that's becoming a tradition for us: to stay home, the 3 (or however many) of us, go to church and just revel in Jesus' birth. Not madness, travel, visiting a hundred people, etc. We decided, just this morning, that we aren't going to open any presents until Epiphany, because that's when the kings brought Jesus his gifts. I mean, that whole concept is why we do presents every Christmas anyway, right? So we're holding off til 1/6.

I want to spend time with friends baking, meeting, drinking coffee, having dinners. Since our family lives so far away from us, I want to leave the travel and visits out until after Christmas Day. We are planning on going to Colby after Christmas this year. Its like we take this big deep breath on the day after Thanksgiving and don't let it out until after December 25. Once we've exhaled, it makes things like travels and family get-togethers (which, no matter how fun they are, are stressful) a lot easier. We'll see how it goes this year.

I think I was really disillusioned by all the hype of Christmas this year so much that only recently I feel like I'm starting to accept the Truth of Christmas. To turn off the TV, avoid the crowds, and just quietly worship the King that was born so long ago, humbly, quietly. I wonder, what would Jesus think about the generally accepted way to celebrate his birthday? What about those who celebrate without even knowing what/why they're celebrating?

(While we're at it, what are you girls going to do about Santa? This has been a question I've been mulling over in my mind but not really deciding about, mostly because Mcclellan can't say "Mama" yet, let alone "Santa." I have some ideas but it seems like no matter what you decide some cultural toes are going to be stepped on or lies will be told. I like Santa. A lot. So I do want to incorporate him into Christmas somehow. We'll see how he takes shape amongst our Christmas traditions.)

But back to Jesus, mostly because I like talking about him :) I really want to let go of all the craziness of the season (whether its fun crazy or stressful crazy) and teach our family to be still this season and focus on the birth. I want to abandon all hopes of opening presents on Christmas Day being the focus of Jesus' birthday. I want to attend Advent services (which, sadly we haven't done at all this year!) and Christmas Eve and Day services. I mean Christmas is one of the biggest and most important celebrations that makes up the church year. The other of course, is Easter, which is my personal favorite holiday. But I want Christmas to be up there too. I want to celebrate the birth because we have the death for and of our sins and Jesus' resurrection to look forward to. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how Jesus' birth was unknown to the world, save a few shepherds and kings. About Jesus nursing with Mary. About him being a baby and growing up in this world. Did he know he was the Savior of our race as a 1-year-old toddling around? Maybe all these questions are trite, and I'm sure they're mostly in light of my own son's development. But nonetheless, these kinds of thoughts have helped me to focus on Jesus birth and life and its culmination in his death. These are the kinds of things we should be pondering at Christmas. Not the fact that Macy's is open for 24 hours until Christmas Eve. That's just crazy.

-sigh- Anyway! Traditions, yeah. Write your own post about your Christmas Traditions or you can comment on mine, but I was just curious how you involve your family in the madness of the holiday season. How involved do you get? How much time do you spend with family, near or far? Any special recipes or meals just for this time of year? How do you decorate? Do you love or hate (or both!) "the most wonderful time of the year"?

Merry Christmas, and I hope you find peace in reconciling the expectations and traditions of the holidays with the incontrovertable truth that Jesus was born to save the world from sin! Its a tough thing to do!

Stephanie

Name: Stephanie Lynn Ellis
Birthday: October 13
State: KS
Husband: Jay
Anniversary: 9/4/04 (Same as Christina!)
Kids: Riley (6/15/06)
Favorites: Jesus, being a wife, being a mom, reading, good conversations, foreign food, traveling, going on dates with my husband, surprises
Not-so-favorites: not getting enough sleep or food, the taste of beer, being tickled
One family tradition: Reading the Bible and praying together after dinner
Five interesting things about you (not your husband or kids!)
1. I'm so glad I get to stay at home with Riley and don't have to investigate child abuse/neglect anymore!
2. I once broke my toe when I tripped over a snow plow in the middle of summer while playing hide-and-seek in the dark.
3. My husband and I had the most amazing honeymoon in the Philippines.
4. I just realized this year that the song about mommy kissing Santa Claus was talking about mommy kissing daddy, and really not Santa Claus.
5. I NEVER thought I would actively participate in a blog.
Final Thought:
I'm excited to get to know some new ladies and learn from you!

Good sermon

I listened to (yet another) awesome sermon from Mark Driscoll about when Jesus turned over the tables of the moneychangers and drove animals out with a whip he made. This definitely gave me a new way to see my Lord.

Go to http://media.marshillchurch.org/
click on "sermons"
then "books of the Bible"
then "Gospel of John"
then go down on the screen and select:
Angry Worship - John 2:12-25

Store-bought Crackers: Just say No!

So far, I have tried three cracker recipes from the Super Baby Food Book (definitely a good use of time and money!)--the teething crackers, cheese crackers, and peanut butter in the crackers...so far, we are 0 for 3 with Riley liking them. In fact, she spit out the cheese cracker all over the kitchen floor tonight. She LOVES any store-bought cracker she has ever been given. Any cracker recipe ideas that are sure to please an 18-month old?

Showing your kids love...

There are so MANY different ways mommies show their love and I'm always up for more ideas. Would anyone like to share how you let your love shine?

Cold Weather Fare

I am in need of tried and true soup recipes. We already have a beef stew, chicken noodle, and chili that we love, but if you girls have any different favorites that you couldn't live without, pass it on. Yay for snow! I think they're saying 2-6 inches!

Question

Well, let's get started. I have SO much to learn and ask.

How do you all store your flour? I'm not sure if I'm doing it the best way, but I keep mine in the freezer in it's original bag with a bag clip to hold it closed.

See what I mean...I need you girls!

Brenda

Name: Brenda Soledad Blake
Birthday: February 5
State: KS
Husband: Judd
Anniversary: 8-23-2003
Kids: Savannah (1-19-2006) and Luke (7-8-2007)
Favorites: being a mom, shopping, friends, learning new things, socializing
Not-so-favorites: Sleep deprivation, swearing, cold feet, gaining weight
One family tradition: Well...since it's the Christmas season, Savannah and I decorate the tree and Judd has always done the lights and the star.
Five interesting things about you (not your husband or kids!)
1. Everyone is surprised to find out that I speak Spanish.
2. I am a Registered Nurse.
3. In high school, my parents sent me to Europe for two weeks.
4. For our wedding, Judd's sister collected money from our wedding guests to send us to Florida for a week to stay at a beach house, which I'm grateful for, but our wedding gift registry was very neglected...no kitchen gadgets, no new dishes, no new bedsheets, etc. :)
5. My hubby and I are working at getting out of debt so we are very strict with our moneys which some days I feel like we'll never see the light at the end of the tunnel and others days I'm fully aware that we're that much closer. Yay!
Final Thought: Thanks, Christina for calling me and "pushing" me towards signing up for Ribs and Rubies! I need that sometimes. I shall come to rely on you girls for a lot on womanly knowledge. What a great group and a fabulous idea, I really believe this is just what I needed!

Melissa

Name: Melissa Danielle Magana
Birthday: May 10
State: AZ
Husband: Jose
Anniversary: 3/14/03
Kids: Evan (4/4/06)
Favorites: Being a mom, talking on the phone, shopping, Christian music, Fall, Chocolate
Not-so-favorites: Sleep deprivation, having a headache, being stuck in traffic
One family tradition: I don't really have one yet...we are still caught up in our family of origin's traditions I guess.
Five interesting things about you (not your husband or kids!)
1. I used to show horses when I was a kid. Walk/Trot Western Pleasure was my specialty.
2. I hate loud noises- music, the vacuum cleaner...you name it.
3. I once drove from Arizona to Georgia (in 2 days) to help a friend drop off a truck. Unfortunately I didn't get to drive much since I was not trusted with the manual stick shift.
4. I love the feeling of a plane taking off.
5. I hate cooking, but like baking.
Final Thought: Yay!!!...I figured out how to do this whole blog thing!

Introduce Yourselves!

Hey girls! All you who have accepted authorship to the blog, go introduce yourselves. You can use the little survey I did or you can just type up a paragraph about you and your family. Let me know if you need assistance with using Blogger, but I think most of you have used it, or something like it, at one time or another. Peace out!

Jennifer

Name: Jennifer Jo Stone
Birthday: June 11
State: KS
Husband: Branden
Anniversary: 12-17-05
Kids: Eva Mae (9-11-07)
Favorites: Being Branden's wife and Eva's mom, sleeping in, reading, baking, homeschooling (thinking about it anyway), dear friends, chi tea (especially when Branden makes it for me)
Not-so-favorites: spit up, earwax, doing laundry at the laundry mat, teething, folding fitted sheets, drivers who don't give a "thank you" wave
One family tradition: Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings with our international friends
Five interesting things about you (not your husband or kids!)
1. I've never dyed my hair because I'm too boring and cheap.
2. I also speak Spanish (looks like Brenda and I will have to chat)
3. I enjoy the challenge of trying to feed my family organic food on a shoe-string budget.
4. I've been to the arctic circle
5. I was in labor 60 hours with Eva!
Final thought: I hope we can all benefit from our collective wisdom here (or at least learn from each others mistakes)! Hey, it makes for good reading while I'm up late walking Eva to sleep!

Super Vinegar to the Rescue!

For those of you who are anti cleaning chemicals. Even if you're only semi-anti like me. 1001 Uses for White Vinegar. My favorite is using it to mop linoleum floors. Cleaning the toilet is good with WV too, but doesn't have the cling power of those gel-bleachy cleaners.

Great Granola

Thought I'd start this out with a recipe from Antonia! It's easy and healthy and provides breakfast for my hubby without me getting up early to prepare it (cause we all know that won't happen).

Combine:
2 C. whole wheat flour
6 C rolled oats
1C coconut flakes
1 C wheat germ

Blend:
1/2 C water
1 C oil
1 C honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 Tablespoon salt

Add blended liquid to dry ingredients and mix. Spread on 2 greased cookie sheets. Bake 1 hour at 250.
I add ground flax seed (about a cup) to the mix. I also put crasins in it after baking. Almonds are nice in it too, chop and toast along with the granola.

Christina

Name: Christina Joy Smith
Birthday: July 12
State: KS
Husband: Matt
Anniversary: 9/4/04
Kids: Mcclellan (2/20/07)
Favorites: Mothering, reading, crafts, blogging, music, foreign food, baking, homeschooling, Spring...or no, wait- Fall, movies, art, writing, pizza, chocolate, wine, tea, coffee, holidays, toys, family, friends, church, Jesus
Not-so-favorites: being sick! sick kid, sick husband, icy weather, washing dishes, flying, driving slow, MIC (Made in China), Walmart...plus all sorts of other obvious not-so-favorites like poopy diapers, satanism, etc.
One family tradition: In the process of creating those...the Christmas pickle.
Five interesting things about you (not your husband or kids!)
1. I got my B.S. in child development and thought I'd never use my education
2. I love concerts
3. I don't like beer...but Matt is slowly changing my mind (oh, wait- that's about the husband)
4. I remember most of my childhood. Except today, I couldn't figure out how it came about that I ever went out on a date with this random guy from high school. I remember we watched There's Something About Mary in awkward silence. And yes, at 16, I was still a child.
5. I have to have tooth #6 removed due to internal resorption (look it up). Its an i-tooth. And I don't want to lose it.
Final thought: Can't wait for the conversations to start flowing on R&R. I'm sick and want to go back to bed.

Welcome to Ribs & Rubies!

Kind of a strange name, huh? When Jennifer and I were contemplating what to name the site, we turned to scripture for inspiration and a creative title. We looked at the usual Proverbs 31 and Ephesians 5 for what the Bible says about women...women who are married and have children. We liked the verse Prov. 31:10 because it states that a woman of noble character is worth more than rubies...something all women, wives and mothers or not, should strive for. And then, as wives, we liked the Genesis passage that explicitly describes how God created woman: from man, bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh.

So there you go. Ribs and rubies. Who we are, and what we desire to be. We are a group of housewives and mothers who want to share with each other our joys, our challenges, our triumphs and our shortcomings. We want to be candid with each other, stay in touch with friends from afar, and possibly make new friends! We are all connected somehow and while its okay to give this blog address to whomever you wish, authors will be limited to those given the rights. If you'd like to be an author, contact Jennifer or Christina.

This housewives and mothers forum is to give us a chance to discuss family, children, health and wellness, our Christian faith and spirituality, nutrition and recipes, homeschooling and education, home management, homemade and handmade projects, and any other rants and raves.