So, what did we do with all that cream cheese?

We fed 192 ladies at a Farewell (end of year) Brunch for our church's Women's Ministries program.  They run Bible studies throughout the year as well as other interesting programs.  We don't usually get to attend many of the events because we have our co-op on Wednesday mornings.

Tuesday night set-up.   It's hard to see, but there are lime green, pink and purple napkins. (This is our church's fellowship hall and where we would have had our wedding reception!)

And this morning, the ladies came and ate.  Then, they enjoyed a wonderful presentation on container gardening and saw lots of fabulous ideas presented by Lynn's aunt and uncle!!  They were so fun and had wonderful advice and suggestions.  The landscaping at their house is simply gorgeous and they invited our group to their home in June, for a private garden tour!

While we don't possess all the skill of Lynn's aunt and uncle, I think my mother in law did an amazing job putting these centerpieces together for our tables!

Now, back to the food! ;)

We had chicken salad sandwiches, a strawberry spinach salad, cracker and red pepper jelly, yogurt parfait, chocolate eclairs and mini carrot cake cups!  Everything was delicious.  We were so busy putting the food on the tables this morning that I didn't snap any pictures of the food there, but I took some pictures of the yummy leftovers when I got home!

Strawberry Spinach Salad - recipe here

Mini Carrot Cake Cups (8 bars of cream cheese.  Several ladies helped me in baking these cute little cups, but I made the filling at home)  - recipe here

Crackers with red pepper jelly (6 bars of cream cheese)  Small-scale version: one half cup of red pepper jelly was added to an 8 oz bar cream cheese that had already been softened and lightly beaten in the mixer.  YUMMY!  -  recipe here

 I had a wonderful group of ladies helping me plan and bring this program to fruition!  It was a lot of hard work, many hours to set up, bake, prep food and tear down - but the efforts are always very much appreciated!

We like

supporting the locals! ;-)

Grab your hard hat!

Please pardon this blog's appearance while under construction!

:)

3 Sailing Ships

The back of the tub was Spain, the front, America.  3 ships were sailing across the blue dolphin and yellow duck filled Atlantic Ocean.

Elle built the Nina
Quintin built the Pinta
And Colin built the Santa Maria

A soaking-wet good time! ;-D

Wordless Wednesday

Healthier Cooking

In an attempt to make some healthier meals for my family, I've been experimenting with different flavors.  I found this recipe for Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers in the Jan/Feb 2010 issues of Cooking Light.

It called for shallots, which I didn't have, and sliced bell peppers, but I opted to use the frozen ones in my freezer.  (Each time I need to purchase peppers for a meal, I purchase 2 and then chop it all and throw the extra into a freezer bag).

I decided to serve this over acini de pepe, to finish off the box - which I bought by mistake.  Our youngest loves this little round pasta because we have him convinced it is fish eggs!  The other members of my family, however, do not appreciate these little round balls!

This was a hit with our family, you can find the recipe here.

Bits of My Weekend

2nd soccer game of the season - Q scored 2 goals.  Here, he's got his game face on!  He looks like his daddy!!

Practicing since January, our church's 1st-6th graders got to show off their hard work this weekend with 2 performances of Camp Wallaballa.  72 children in all!

It was a big weekend for our oldest and the younger two enjoyed being along to cheer him on.

Soccer and camo - pretty much sums up our big guy! :)

To see what others have been doing, visit Michelle at Six in the City.

Homemade Granola

Another thing to top off a great snack. 

Recipe is on my cooking blog.

Wordless Wednesday: Patriotic Snack

Bits of my Weekend

Last week we finished our final week of co-op for the year and had our closing program Friday night.  Elle's Pre-K/K class sang a few songs!  She was a little nervous to get up on stage, but she did a great job!

Saturday morning was spent cleaning the house which had been sorely neglected last week.

All I had to do was put play some fun music and the children had their mess cleaned up in about 15 minutes!

I've been wanting to snap a picture of the table runner I finished but our table never seems to be uncluttered. 

I had dirty dishes waiting for me in the kitchen as well.  And Riley was standing guard by the trash can, hoping to jump up and find out if there was anything close to the top to snack on.

On Sunday, we had our Easter dinner with T's side of the family.  Since we didn't have any dinners over Easter, we had spent Easter weekend at the cabin.  I think it might have been one of my most favorite Easters - just time spent thinking about Jesus' death and resurrection while out in His creation.  Beautiful.

Ok, back to this past weekend.  Here's the children searching for eggs and baskets!

Playing in Traffic

A few years ago, I was washing supper dishes and praying/talking with God.  T and the kids were playing in another room, offering me quiet time.  While talking/thinking/praying a picture popped into my head.

I was standing on the median strip of a very busy highway.  Cars were zooming by so quickly that I could only see the red and white blurred lines of their lights.

Since the time of that picture - I had wondered what it meant.  What I didn't realize until recently, was that God was changing me.  During that specific period of growth, I didn't realize what the picture meant.  But now, I can look back with clarity on its purpose.

I have come to discover that I was at a point in my walk where I needed to make a choice.  God was showing me my choice with 2 lanes of opposing traffic.  A choice on how I was going to live out my Christian faith.  Up until that point, I had been doing a lot of modeling - following what others around me were doing.  Modeling isn't necessarily bad, but I felt that God had called me to a closer walk with Him. 

To begin my own walk.

To stop imitating another's walk. 

To step out and pick a lane of traffic, so to speak. 

As a new Christian, I think modeling is a natural tendency.  But there were things I was doing with a terribly wrong attitude.  Things I "thought" needed to be done that way, because I had seen them done that way - but it wasn't bringing me closer to God - it was pushing me away.

I started to search - for *my* purpose.  I wanted to act/serve with a better attitude - not a critical one.  I realized God was calling me - so I RAN!  And oh, the freedom I found! 

The picture isn't initially what prompted me to step out, but as I look back over the changes in my life these past few years, I can see it was the sign He used to prepare my heart.  To me, the picture is a glorious image of not only what I left behind - but the enormity of His richness and mercy that lay ahead of me.  And it is something that continues to keep me in check - Which lane am I in?  Am I following His call for my life - or my neighbor's?  Am I doing something because I feel spiritually convicted - or because someone else thinks it is right?

The culminating changes in my life resulting from that picture, or vision, have given me refreshment and freedom.  And it's never felt so good ... to play in traffic! ;-)

Wordless Wednesday

Cones?  Check

Bikes?  Check

Bike rodeo, here we come!