Camera/Workout DVD Suggestions

Hi all,
I need to get a new camera since mine died the other day. It was a Sony Cybershot and I really liked it. After borrowing my sister-in-law's camera (for last weekend in Flagstaff-Evan & Jose's 1st time seeing snow!!), I realized that I don't want a Nikon...it took forever to get ready for each photo! So frustrating! So, if you all have any recommendations, I would appreciate it. Right now I have been looking at Sonys, but I am a little worried about them breaking, since mine went out after 2 1/2 yrs. I know my dad has a Kodak that still takes great pictures after almost 4 years!

Also, do any of you have any suggestions for a good workout DVD I could do at home? I was thinking something like kick boxing...something that doesn't require a bunch of stuff to buy and store in my tiny little house...as Christina knows, I don't have a basement and my garage is getting pretty full! I also want something that keeps me on my feet...I bought both Yoga and Pilates DVDs but they didn't work since my kid thinks its fun to tackle me while I'm trying to do it. So if I could avoid that, I would be happy!
Thanks!

Yummy...

This is what happens when you make a pecan pie without the egg yolks! Our neighbor is allergic so I usually just omit the yolk and things turn out fine. Surprisingly, it still tasted really good! Huge thanks to Christina for posting the vinegar info. I let as much of the goo burn to a crisp as I could without burning down the place and then soaked a rag in vinegar and left it on the rest of the mess. It cleaned up pretty well!

Eva, Eva and Me

OK, so it's not just my baby. This is Eva Elizabeth (also known as Granny) holding her little namesake, Eva Mae (my daughter). Eva is Eva's great-great grandmother (97 years young). This is when they met for the first time. Isn't God good!

Wedding dress

Hi all,

I thought I'd put this out there. I got married in August of 2003 and my dress is still hanging in the same bag I put it in 4 years ago. It's too long to fit in my closet so it's been hanging on the outside of the closet door for that long! 4 years! I can't believe it, it's time for me to do something about it. The question is what?? I want to hear from you as to what you all did with your dresses. I may be making a mountain out a molehill...I tend to do that sometimes.

Have a blessed day,
Brenda

Melissa's Kid Pic

Evan Making Cookies

Screaming for Advice

Okay girls. So Mcclellan will be 11 mos. old in like, a week. He has taken to the lovely task of making his voice known and testing the limits of its range and pitch...a.k.a., screaming. Its getting too loud, too often and its getting to be in context. Like when he's mad, he screams. When he's being impatient, he screams. When he's bored, he screams. Not screaming like ongoing, warbly screaming. More like a loud, hig-pitched shriek.

Today, out of desperation for a mode of discipline, I flicked his cheek, close to his mouth. I don't want to follow him around all day, flicking him whenever he screams. Right now it consists of: Shriek, flick, accompanied by a firm, "No. Don't scream. Too loud." and then a few tears and a refractory period of clinginess before going on his merry way. To scream again.

AAaAaaAhhH! Any suggestions? Do I just let it go and put up with it as a developmental phase? I don't want him shrieking during church or mealtimes. When do I intervene? And if its okay to shriek now, why isn't it okay 6 mos. from now. Where is the lesson?

Thank you!!

Cute pic day

My little Luke

Vinegar

Hi all,

I soaked my wedding ring in diluted vinegar last night. I had actually forgotten about it so it ended up soaking for about 4 hours. After scrubbing it with hand soap and a toothbrush, it is now nice and sparkly. Before the soak, it was very grimey. I admit it, it had been close to a year since I'd had it cleaned, so you can imagine the ick on it!

Thanks for the tidbit on vinegar. I just can't bring myself to by a jar of jewelry cleaner. :)

Post-a-picture-of-your-cute-kids-day

Since my old computer crashed my old pic wouldn't show up...so here you go, a new one Mcclellan.

Thai Stir Fry Recipe

Funny how this is turning into a recipe blog...

Thai Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Chicken or Tofu

Ingredients:
approx. 1 c. fresh chicken pieces/strips or 1 c. cubed tofu (we've only ever used tofu in this recipe, and it is goooood)
2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 T. soy sauce (this is the marinade for the meat)
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, sliced thinly into matchstick pieces (so you can pick it out when you eat it- no one likes a crunchy piece of spicy ginger...well maybe some of you do)
1 c. shiitake mushrooms sliced (I loathe mushrooms so I omit these)
1 red bell pepper (I've substituted green)
2-3 c. bean sprouts
8 oz. very thin dried rice noodles (or vermicelli, rice stick, glass noodles, whatever you want to call them)
1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
approx. 2 1/2 T. oil for stir frying

Stir Fry Sauce:
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce (I use oyster sauce because that's what I always have on hand)
1 tsp. sugar
1 T. lime juice (I use lemon for the same reasons as above)
1/4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
1-2 tsp. chili sauce

Soak noodles in warm water for about 10-20 min. just til "al dente." Not totally squishy because you'll cook them more when you fry them.

Marinate meat in cornstarch/soy sauce mixture and stir to coat. Marinate while noodles soak.

Combine all stir fry sauce ingredients in a cup and set aside. Drain noodles, toss with some oil and set aside. Heat a wok or large frying pan over med-high. When hot, add 2 T. oil and swirl to coat pan. Add garlic, ginger, meat (with marinade), mushrooms and a few T. of the stock. Stir fry 5 min. or until meat is cooked. If pan becomes dry, add more stock. Add pepper (I usually throw in something else green- beans, broccoli, peas, whatever we have) and more stock if necessary. Add noodles plus stir fry sauce. Use two forks or tongs to mix in noodles. Add bean sprouts last and fry for another minute.

Recipes aside, I need prayer requests for the next 3 days as Matt will be in Wichita and I will be home alone, solo-parenting 24/7! Thanks to those of you who've offered to hang out with us!

Now I'm off to buy some UTEE (thanks to my hubby's permission!). :)

Mac and "Cheese"

Alright, my mom got us a really great cook book for Christmas with all sorts of yummy vegan recipes in it. I know, what you're thinking... vegan? I use real butter instead of margarine so it's not really all that vegan but the recipes are great. Believe me, I had my doubts, but we tried this one and it was great. It uses nutritional yeast which is not the same as brewers yeast. It's yellow and flaky and you can buy it in bulk at the MERC but the new grocery store down town has it for almost 1/4 of the price. Please, if you try this recipe don't tell the people who eat it that it doesn't have cheese in it. We both knew what it was before we tried it so we'd love to know what someone would think who didn't realize there wasn't any cheese.

Cook 3 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup margarine (or butter) over low heat. Beat in 1/2 cup flour with a wire whisk and continue to beat over a med heat until it is smooth and bubbly. Whip in 3 1/2 cups boiling water (I put the water in my kettle when I started the butter melting and it was ready just in time), 1 1/2 teasp salt, 2 Tbs soy sauce (I think next time I'll only use one), 1 1/2 teasp garlic powder, and a pinch of turmeric. Beat well
The sauce should cook until it thickens and bubbles. Then whip in 1/4 cup oil (the recipe doesn't specify so I used canola) and 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes.
Mix sauce with noodles and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until the "cheese" is melty and yummy looking.

Stephanie's Black Bean Hummus

Wow, I finally made this today and it's great. Thanks for sharing the recipe Stephanie, hope you don't mind I posted it.
Black bean hummus

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans; drain and reserve liquid (I used dry beans and cooked them)
  
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mince garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Add black beans, 2 tablespoons reserved liquid, lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper; process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

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!