Usborne Books Home Show

I am having an Usborne Book Home Show! I am so excited because I LOVE these books! If you have not heard of them you definitely should check them out. They are fantastic children's books!

The show is tomorrow night at my house, but I wanted to open it up to an online show as well. You just need to order here by march 20th. They have some great monthly specials! The lift-the-flap books are my very favorite! Although I do enjoy that they have children's encyclopedias in pictures. They are very colorfully illustrated (probably why i like them so much) and cover a wide range of topics.

Why Crawl When I Can Fly

"For all its caterpillar life, it crawls around a small patch of dirt and up and down a few plants. Then one day it takes a nap. A long nap. And then, what in the world must go through its head when it wakes up to discover it can fly? What happened to its dirty, plump little worm body? What does it think when it sees its tiny new body and gorgeous wings?

As believers, we ought to experience this same kind of astonishment when the Holy Spirit enters our bodies. We should be stunned in disbelief over becoming a "new creation" with the Spirit living in us. As the caterpillar finds its new ability to fly, we should be thrilled over our Spirit-empowered ability to live differently and faithfully. Isn't this what the Scriptures speak of? Isn't this what we've all been longing for?" -Francis Chan

I have been reading Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan. I am only in the beginning chapters, but I have been blown away by some of these simple word pictures. I am a visual person so this analogy of the caterpillar and the butterfly really sunk deep for me. Why is it that so many of us Christians live life exactly the same way as those that do not have the Holy Spirit in them? Sometimes many of those who do not have the Spirit actually seem happier and more at peace with life. How is this even possible? Is it because we can sometimes ignore Him? I think the Holy Spirit wants to intercede in our lives a lot more then we will let Him. In fact when I think about it I have a Counselor who is just like Christ who stands beside me everywhere I go and is giving me flawless direction in my life. How cool is that?! Reading this book makes me want to consistently live each day with an awareness of the Holy Spirit's strength. So, why keep crawling like a caterpillar when I have been given the ability to fly.

When was the last time you saw the Spirit at work in you?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Yep you heard it!...good ol' fashion chocolate peanut butter cups...well kind of. Of course these have no dairy and little sugar(depending on what you use), but they are still the same amazing treat! There really is nothing like the chocolate/peanut butter combo. I think everyone knows that. :) I found this recipe from Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Diet. So they are 100% vegan and I can't believe my eyes how good they taste! They are so rich that you really only need to eat one and it satisfies your sugar craving. (if you are anything like me). hehe. :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups- serves 12

1/2 cup earth balance butter

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup maple sugar or granulated sweetener

1 cup grain-sweetened non-dairy chocolate or carob chips

1/4 cup soy, rice or nut milk

1/4 cup chopped peanuts, pecans or almonds

Line 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat and stir in peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs and maple sugar. Mix well. Remove from heat. Evenly divide mixture (about 2 Tbsp.) per cup. Combine chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until melted. Spoon over mixture in each cup and top with chopped nuts. Place in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

Now reading...

A new library branch opened in Davenport and it is so awesome! It is bursting with tons of amazing new books that I just could not walk by with out picking up. So naturally I overwhelm myself by checking out a huge stack of books and hope to get them read by the time they are due back. Not to mention I have a few other books I am thumbing through at home as well. Most likely they will have to be renewed at least once. :) Well anyways, here is the list from top to bottom...

The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp

So far this book has had some good advice on eliminated tantrums. I have heard lots of good stuff about this book from a few friends who have read it so I am really looking forward to digging into it more.

Mrs. Meyers Clean Home by Thelma Meyer

Lots of awesome advice on cleaning from the heart of Mrs. Meyer herself. She is a Mom of 9 and now grandma as well and from Des Moines. She is witty and wise explaining in simple detail how and when to clean and organize just about anything in your home...also with what products as well.

Softies Only a Mother Could Love by Jess Redman and Meg Leder

...fun loving little critters to sew.

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

I actually read this one first and I am pretty much done with it now. I have had this book on hold for a while now so I was super anxious to dig into it. It was full of awesome recipes some of which I will be sharing with you guys at some point. I also enjoyed reading about her experience with food and trying different diets such as vegan, raw foods, etc. and how she found that macrobiotics and listening to her body was key.

Superfoods for Healthy Kids by Lucy Berney

Has over 250 immune-boosting foods and recipes that are appealing to the kiddos. Lots of colorful pictures and faces. That is my favorite part about food/cookbooks; I am definitely drawn to the pictures first. :)

The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket

Stitching, baking, nature, art and the comforts of home...this book just looked like it was full of coolness so I snatched it.

Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori

This book is sooo cute! It shows step for step how to make several little softie friends out of old socks and gloves. I have always wanted to make Will a real homemade sock monkey. Hopefully I get around to it. :)

Apartment Therapy Design Solutions by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan

I most likely will just look at all the pictures in this book rather then really reading it. In fact I have already thumbed through it a couple of times. It is a very large book full of awesome designed apartments. I often go to apartment therapy.com for lots of inspiration so I was super excited to see this book at the library.

what I am Reading...

Besides my Bible I am reading 6 other books! Haha, honestly I am not that much of a reader...well I love non-fiction books and get to excited about starting a new book when I haven't finished another. So naturally I read 6 books at the same time. :)...it just takes me a while to finish them.

From top to bottom...

1- Advent Conspiracy. { A book about the fastest growing religion in the world, consumerism, and how it has stolen the soul of Christmas.}

2- The Signature of Jesus. { I just started this one for a women's bible study. So far I have learned about living in passion and boldness}

3-The Cesarean. { Written by a well known ex-surgeon turned home birth midwife who explains all the key issues related with a Cesarean and outstanding ideas on how to encourage natural birth.]

4-Love and Respect. { We are reading this book as a couples home group through church. So far it talks about the crazy cycle we get into...without love=she reacts...without respect=he reacts..and how to break that. We will soon be reading about the energizing cycle and the rewarding cycle. Fun times, and good community.} :)

5-Green Smoothie Revolution. { The best green smoothie recipes ever! I have been blown away by all the great information in this book. Great tips about rotating greens, food combining, and other great stories.}

6- The Raw Truth. { Lot's of yummy live food recipes and wisdom from a raw foodist and advisor of many restaurants across the country. I especially enjoy the extensive list of raw foods in categories I have never heard of. }

Enjoy this beautiful monday!

Handmade Home

I have absolutely loved my copy of "Handmade Home" by Amanda Blake Soule! (a.k.a Soulemama) I learned a lot about how to find vintage and thrifted materials and how to repurpose them into new treasures. I have always been interested in and sort of found my own way to be creative repurposing materials, but she has so many helpful hints and very simple projects that I was so impressed with...including this sweater hat that I made for Will. It was so simple it only took me literally 2-3 minutes to make from an old sweater that we already had.

Fragmented Scripture

A couple posts ago I mentioned that I have been learning alot about how to read the Bible. It sounds like such a simple thing...and it is! It should be anyway. It is a narrative; a complete script. While at family camp a couple weeks ago Thad's brother, Kyle who is a biblical scholar, was our speaker for the week. He brought to our attention a few ways that our culture seems to take away the simplicity of reading this narrative by the way we fragment it. He said that if we allow the Bible to be fragmented, it will become part of our narrative, but not be shaping us as it should be. It is not supposed to be about us, it is about HIM!

Many of us have been a part of churches, ministries, denominations, traditions, or groups that have taught us to fragment scripture with out knowing that we were really taking away from its original context. That is why I think this is such an important topic. This is the most relevent and important series of books that we will read in our entire lifetime and we tend to break it up so much that we are missing the point. Here are a list of ways we fragment scripture. I am sure there are many more we are all guilty of, but here are my notes on a few he brought to our attention.

1-Morsels/nuggets of truth- There are individual statements of truth that need to be applied when necessary.
ex. Phil. 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."- This is an excellent verse about proclaiming the gospel in all circumstances...but has also been used so often as a slogan or back of the t-shirt for athletic groups. It is sometimes advertised in ways that it was not intended to be.

2-Promises/Blessings- If we look at the Bible as just a book of promises we fragment it and tend to read out of context, and when we do that our faith tends to be a bit lopsided.
ex. 2 Tim. 2:12- There is two parts to this verse. Sometimes we might unintentionally read only the part that we like (the promise), and then forget about the rest, or think it is not as important.
other examples- Jer. 29:11, Psalm 23, Heb. 13:15. Read it as a whole!

3-Mirrors/Inkblots-A psychological inkblot test: what we see in the inkblots applies to what is going on in our lives.
-We tend to make Jesus who we want Him to be. Hum...that sounds so silly doesn't it?! But how often do we ask the question "What did you get out of this?"-sounds kind of selfish doesn't it? When we do this we miss who Jesus really is. Maybe we should get out of it whatever Jesus tells us. :)

4-Short-cut reading- Sometimes when we read scripture we are influenced by doctrine. Then when we go to read the bible we try to fit the passage into our doctrine. Read Matthew on Matthew's terms, not Luther's or Calvin's. We have to remember that many books we read by Bible experts, theologans, etc. are just interpretations, it is not the whole picture. We seem to rely on these so much in our culture.

-We also talked about how we tend to underline parts of the bible and then when we go back to read it we cheat and read only the underlined part thinking that is of utmost importance. Fragmenting! I am so guilty of this...

This week of listening to Kyle was so educational for me. I grew up not realizing that I have been guilty of fragmenting scripture so much. The sad thing is, and I am not blaming anything or anyone, that I have been taught and encouraged to do so. I don't think any one Christian does this intentionally, so that is why I think it is so important to be aware of this while reading scripture. I am now so excited to read my Bible with a new mindset and awareness of these issues. There were many other parts of family camp that I would like to reflect on, so stay tuned for more posts on this topic.

The Ceremony of Baking Bread

There is something special about baking your own bread. mixing it. kneading it. shaping it. watching it. baking it. slicing it. eating it. It is quite the process. Maybe it is the smell or the taste, or the science of it with how magically it rises from such basic ingredients...or perhaps it is ritual. For so many years bread has been a staple food; one of the oldest prepared foods. Women have slaved over baking their own homemade bread for their families for years. I was reading recently about two women in today's society that got together each week alternating houses to bake bread for their family for the week. This is a beautiful part of community that was talking about in an earlier post.

I was intrigued by the thought of baking bread as a ceremony after reading "The Organic Living Book," by Kohn. (didn't catch the first name, I already brought it back to the library) In many cultures bread has significance beyond its nutrition. The simplest kind of bread is a mixture of flour and water that has been baked. This is known as "the matzoh," or unleavened bread that was made by the Hebrews of the Bible when they fled to Egypt. Bread is now a metaphor for basic necessities. "Bread" as an expression for money or "to earn one's bread" for earning livelihood. "To break bread" is to indicate the sharing of any kind of food, or in the remembrance of Jesus patterned after the last supper. Bread is basic. Essential. Symbolic. Natural.

Here is the simple whole wheat bread recipe that I used yesterday; perfect for starters and made with all natural ingredients. It really is like a ceremony...after all that hard work of making, the result is a feast! It tastes so much better knowing that you made it yourself. Thad walked in the house with a big smile because of the wonderful aroma. That is part of the ceremony too. :)

Simple Whole Wheat Bread -makes 2 loaves

-two packages of dry baking yeast

-lukewarm water

-1 Tbsp. sea salt

-1/4 c. pure safflower oil (or you could use melted butter)

-1/4 c. pure honey

-8 cups of stone-ground whole wheat flour

-1 egg

-a large mixing bowl, 2 bread pans, measuring cup and spoons, small bowl, and a towel.

1. Pour 2 packages of dry yeast into a small bowl, add 1 cup of lukewarm water. Stir and leave it for a few minutes to dissolve.

2. In large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 cups of lukewarm water, 1 Tbsp. sea salt, 1/4 cup oil (or butter), 1/4 cup of honey, 8 cups of flour, and 1 egg.

3. Add yeast mixture and stir dough with wooden spoon until it is too hard to mix.

4.Kneading- sprinkle some flour on a large clean surface and on your hands. Flatten dough with palms enough so you can fold it in half. Press down hard on the folded dough a few times until flat and repeat. From time to time turn the dough around and flour your hands when necessary. Knead for 5-10 minutes until less sticky, firm, smooth and elastic.

5. Without washing the large bowl rub the inside with oil or butter. Form the dough into a ball and put in the bowl. Rub the top of the dough with a little oil so it does not form a hard crust. Cover the top of the bowl with a towel and set in a warm place (sunny window) until dough has risen about twice its size. This will probably take about 1 hour.

6. Punch it! That's right...make a fist and punch it! Maybe a couple times if you need to until it is punctured like a balloon. Knead dough for a few more minutes and divide into two equal parts.

7. Fold each part over a couple of times and form into the shape of a loaf. Slap it hard to break any big bubbles inside.

8. Put each loaf into a greased loaf pan and shape it until it looks how you want. For a softer crust brush oil over the top of the dough, and for a crunchy crust dip your fingers in cold water and rub over top of loaves.

9. Cover pans with a towel and let dough rise once more until doubled. About 30-40 minutes.

10. Heat oven to 350 degrees, put in bread and bake for 50 minutes.

11. Remove bread from pans immediately and let cool for a while.

12. When bread is cool you may wrap it and freeze if making multiple loaves or share with a friend.

Yummy! The aroma is amazing and stays in the house all day!...and then slicing it is a part of the ceremony as well. So is eating it! enjoy!

Simple Woman's Daybook

So, I have come across 4-5 bloggers lately that I noticed have participated in and have links back to the Simple Woman's Daybook. It is so inspiring to hear the simple moments in their day...so I figured it would help ease my mind; to just clear it for a moment, and recognise and enjoy the simple things. (since I have a million things filling up on my list in my head.) 

Outside my window...

A sunny monday morning with the sound of a lawn mower and the smell of freshly cut grass.

I am thinking...

about everything I need to clean up from the weekend.

I am thankful for...

sunny, cool morning walks.

From the kitchen...

I made homemade Kansas City BBQ sauce for our grilled chicken tonight.

I am wearing...

black Nike shorts and a UNI t-shirt

I am creating...

humm...well I am always creating a million things at one time, but for the moment being I have a quilt in progress laying on the dining room table.

I am going...

to the post-office after Will wakes up to mail the invitations to my sisters baby shower.

I am reading...

"The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley

I am hoping...

That Will does okay with the babysitter on Saturday (only his second time)

I am hearing...

...well, the lawn mower stopped, so now I just hear the fan through the baby monitor and every once in a while a squeak or a snore. :)

Around the house...

There is way too much to do around the house right now, but to keep it simple and more pleasant- it is nice to turn the air off  and open the windows for a few days.

One of my favorite things...

watching Will explore and play with his toys.

A few plans for this week...

At some point we all need adjustments, so I will be calling the chiro today...to the post-office and the park today, the rest of the week is pretty open for spontaneity, and this weekend is the half-way formal with Thad's class...also Bix Fest yay!

Here is a picture thought to share...

I have been watching a community garden grow and noticed that a mama duck had layed her eggs right in the middle of the lettuce...

...Will and I went back to visit a week later, and saw these little cuties!!! :)

Have a fabulous monday!

Shop Notes-Sew Busy!

It has been a little over a month now since my store has been up and running. If you have not yet checked it out you should by clicking here. I have been putting up lots of new stuff each week. In my first month I have had 8 sales and 3 other sales from friends in town. Not too bad! It is the marketing stuff that I am not too good at. I need to find ways to get the word out.

...but in the meantime I have been super busy creating! I am on information overload; too many ideas and no time to get them out! Ahhh! So here are some pictures of my recent creations and works in progress....

Some of you have seen my new hand embroidered pillows and wall hangings that I put up for sale in my store last week (see below) and also a couple that I need to finish that will be up in the next couple days hopefully.

...a few more linkys...

I am always looking for new projects to make with all my tiny scraps. I have been having so much fun making these earrings and hair clips. I have big plans for these; there will be a lot more of these to come!

...also a work in progress...I have been using some old children's books (they were my fathers when he was a kid) for inspiration in designing a coloring book. I am super excited about this! So far I have 15 different drawings and I plan to photocopy them and bind them into a fun little coloring book with maybe a felt cover. I haven't decided yet.

I checked out a book at the library called "Sweater Surgery," and it has a ton of different ideas of what you can do with old sweaters. I thought this patched sweater scarf was cute. Maybe if I put it on my list now I could have it done by fall. :)

...and of course lots of mothers day card making. I know LOTS of new mamas this year.

Hope you all have a great weekend and be sure to check out Etsy on sunday. I will be featured in the children's showcase. Smiles.

Amazon dropped off goodies!