Growing Food

Tonight I’m using up the last of my green and serano peppers from the garden in a yummy smelling pepper steak.  I have a small sense of sadness that it’s turned cooler and my plants are dying.  There was a great sense of accomplishment when I was feeding my family good food that I had grown. 

My parents have Persimmon trees, and I grew up on Persimmon pudding.  Saturday was so special when my mom had made one for us, and she was talking about not being able to pick them up.  Brooke and I decided to help her out, so we went outside and started picking them up.  Mom came out with a bucket, and said if we filled that up it was enough for 4 pudding.  We filled that up, and another, and then some.  I finally had to call it quits because I didn’t think I could bend down anymore.  I’d planned on my mom keeping some, but she sent us home with all of them.  Sunday and Monday we processed 23 cups of Persimmon pulp!  I can hardly wait to have me some pudding!!

Fall Break

Uneventful and blissful.  That was our fall break.  Thursday we enjoyed sleeping in, and it was a beautiful day outside too!  We went and picked out pumpkins, something that we used to do every year with granny and grampa.  Grampa would take us out to the orchard that he picked apples at, and we’d spend time in the pumpkin patch, then wander over to the blackberries and apple trees.  When we were done in the fields we’d head back up to the store for some apple cider.  With Grampa gone it’s just not the same.  Fun was had and pumpkins were picked, but it was a little sad.  God love Brooke, she was trying to soothe my tears and she said, “you know he’s in Heaven watching us right now!”.  She is so right! 

I did learn about some pumpkins though.  Did you know there are pumpkins called Out too late?  Yep, they look like bloodshot eyes!  How about a warty pumpkin?  You guessed it, covered in warty looking things.  What about a Fairy tale pumpkin?  Well, just think of Cinderella’s carriage.  That’s what it reminds me of.  I picked one of those because it’s purple.  There’s also a peanut pumpkin that looks like it’s covered in peanut shells.  There’s my babies hanging out with the $50 pumpkins!  Brooke already had her hair up in a bun for dance.  She’ll not be happy with me for posting this picture!  Sorry Boo Bear, mommy loves you:)

On Friday it rained, so we went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua.  The theater was a madhouse, poor planning on my part, apparently some High School Musical 3 came out.  Anyone heard of that?  Yeah, me either!  The first two showings were sold out, as was the first of our movie, so we bought tickets and went to the mall.  Zach got his halloween costume, Brooke got a Twilight T-shirt and poster, and Matthew drug us into Build A Bear for another buddy.  It’s a good thing I had the gift cards for the movies, because we spent our allowance at the mall. 

The movie was very cute, especially since we have two little chihuahua’s.  It was refreshing to not cringe at any scenes or language.  All in all a very sweet movie about friendship, loyalty and promises.

“Moore” Monday

I know, but Moore Tuesday just doesn’t sound right!

WE LEARN TO BE VICTORIOUS

BY SURRENDERING OUR LIVES

TO GOD, NOT BY GRITTING OUR

TEETH AND TRYING HARDER.

Lord God, the enemy boasted, “I will
pursue, I will overtake them.  I will divide the
spoils; I will gorge myself on them.  I will draw
my sword, and my hand will destroy them.”

But You can blow with Your breath and
cause the sea to cover my enemy!  You, Lord,
can cause my enemy to sink like lead in the
mighty waters! (Ex. 15:9-10).

Lord, Your power has not diminished
since the days when You revealed Your power
and glory as You fought for Israel.  I am Your
child, too.  Fight for me, God!  Overpower
the one who seeks to overpower me!

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day

Parent Teacher conferences

Every year it goes like this.
Teacher-  She/He’s such a good student, but so very quiet.
Me- Are you sure you have the right kid?  My kid is quiet?  Would you like to come home with me?  Please…?

What do you get when two introverts have kids?  Introverted kids!  Brooke is 12 and she’s just now becoming the social butterfly, much to my dismay. 

So yesterday it was Zach’s teacher.  She had only two concerns.  The first was that Zach’s best friend L is out of town this week, and she wasn’t sure how Zach would do.  Surprisingly, she said he’s made the effort to choose other partners and has done well!  Secondly, she wanted to know if he was scared or intimidated of her.  I told her that he’s never mentioned anything like that.  Again, she just talked about how quiet and shy he was, and gave the example of him coming up to her desk to ask a question.  She said he would stand there quietly, not interrupting if she was doing something, and wait for her to look up.  Then he would ask the question very quietly and walk away quickly.  Now I think he’s just being respectful with that one, and am proud of him for not just jumping in with his question.  Miss D. went on to say that he’s very bright, and a couple of times she’s seen his sense of humor.  (He is a very funny kid!) 

I always get a kick out of these things, and then I come home and relay to the kids what I heard.  Zach just gets a big grin on his face, he’s so cute!  What can I say about being shy?

Obedience classes

Monday night was the first of six obedience classes for our new Boxer puppy.  About a year ago we had a boxer/cocker mix and an AKC Boxer that we had to get rid of because of severe aggression issues.  It got really bad, and before we bought the new guy, I said we were going to do everything possible to prevent that again.  This was the first step. 

We had an incident at the vet’s office where a fight erupted between Logan (our new pup) and another dog.  Logan actually pulled the leash out of Matthew’s hands and took off for the other dog.  So I was nervous about taking him into an area with lots of other dogs, and I had Brian come with us.  He has a much calmer demeanor with dogs, and can pretty much get Logan to do anything.  I am the one that needs trained!  There were 10 or 11 other dogs there and Logan would not shut up.  The trainer was trying to talk and he just kept yapping.  I was feeling embarassed and trying to pet him to get him to calm down, and then Brian took over.  He was petting him too when the trainer decided to make a point out of us.  she called attention to what Logan was doing, and then what Brian was doing.  He was actually encouraging the barking by giving Logan affection.  Huh!  And we thought the dog was stupid…

The trainer walked over and took the leash, popped it a slight bit and said “that’s enough“.  For the rest of the class he did not make a sound!  Whoa, I’m gonna like this. 

We only had one incident where an 85 pound lab came over and there was a tense moment before they were pulled away from each other.  The trainer explained that most other dogs are scared of boxers, almost like they emit their strength.  The lab was curious and scared, but since he was bigger he walked over to Logan.  Logan was scared and he felt like the lab was invading his personal space, so he tried to show his might.  She assured us that we were doing the right thing by being in this class, and that we were going to have a great pet.  I feel better now, but will wait to see how the rest goes.  We may still call in Barkbusters to come out to the house for some training too.

Twilight series

Well, I finished Breaking Dawn around 1a.m.  I’m dragging today, but I could not put it down!  It has to be my favorite, but I loved all of them.  Honestly, book two was more about Jacob, and I liked it the least.  Still liked it though!  It was such an easy read that I actually felt like I was a part of the story, so I can’t wait until the movie comes out, (31 days), and Brooke and I can go see it.  I hope it lives up to the book.  I’ve seen a couple of trailers, and I guess Stephenie Meyer was really involved in the making of it. 

I kind of felt lost without reading it this morning and then I realized, o yeah, laundry, floors, dishes, blog…all that stuff that I’ve been neglecting for this teen love story!

“Moore” Monday

SOMETIMES THE HARDEST

BIBLICAL TRUTHS FOR US

TO ACCEPT ARE THE

ONES ABOUT US.

You, God, created my inmost being.  You
knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise
You because I am fearfully and wonderfully
made.  Your works are wonderful.  I know that
full well (Ps. 139:13-14).

Father, my body is not horrible.  I know
that.  I have simply misused it.  Please sanctify it
and take it over completely.

I know, Lord, that my body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in me, whom I have
received from You.  I am not my own; I was
bought at a price.  Therefore I desire to honor
You with my body (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

 

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day

Twilight

I’ve been missing in action lately because of a book.  Well, actually a series of teen books.  Brooke’s friends got her started on the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, and because of the content, I wanted to preview what she was reading.  It’s about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, and he tries not to fall in love with her but doesn’t succeed.  I know!  Crazy strange, huh?  I was worried about darkness and evil forces, but it’s really just a love story that I can’t seem to get enough of.  I’ve just started the 4th and final book, so only 600+ pages and I’ll be back to my bloggy self.  I’ve gotta find out how it ends!

obama on live birth abortions

The kind of change we don’t need.  He voted for it 3 times.  Could you?

“Moore” Monday

GOD IS INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED

WITH SORROW AND SUFFERING.

HE ALSO HAS A REMEDY.  HE IS THE

MEETER OF OUR NEEDS.

Lord, I don’t want to be like those on the
road to Emmaus, who stood still with their
faces downcast when You asked, “What are
you discussing together as you walk along?”
They responded, “We had hoped that he was
the one who was going to redeem Israel” 
(Luke 24:17,21).

They did not understand that the cross
had to come before the kingdom.  How foolish
they were!  The very death which they had
responded to with hopelessness represented
the greatest hope of all time!

Lord God, I ask forgiveness for every
single time I have blamed my hopelessness on You.
You are the God of hope.  You are the Blessed
Hope Himself.

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day

Pre-teen angst

So my daughter is 12, and in the 7th grade.  She has a May birthday, so she’s one of the youngest in her class.  This can sometimes lead to drama, because she’s not really old enough to make mature and responsible decisions.  Lately, she’s exercised her ability to showcase that deficit to me.  She’s made some really poor decisions when it concerns a couple of her friends.  I try to understand that peer pressure has a lot to do with it, but on the other hand, had hoped that I had raised her with enough backbone to stand up for what she thinks is right. 

Luckily she did come to me and divulge some of the incidents that happened.  Now, I want us to be able to talk about anything, so I was glad that she decided to share the info with me, but I was trying not to freak out!  I didn’t want to scare her off from ever confiding in me again, but I also wanted to let her know that I disapproved of her behavior.  It was a tough situation to be in!

The next conundrum, if you will, was whether I should tell my friend, and Brooke’s friends mom.  I felt like if it were the other way around, I would want to know.  I really struggled with that, and in the end waited too long and something else happened.  Now, nobody got hurt, but someone could have.  I shared with my friend, and she had a discussion with her daughter.  We both learned a few things that had been lied about, and then we talked to the girls again.  It’s an ongoing process where I am learning, and praying.  Praying for good, Godly friends, and the courage to stand up for what is right.

Tis the Season

Autumn is my favorite season!  I love to watch the leaves change colors, the cool air and sweatshirt weather, the lovely fall mums….aaahhh, breathe it in.  I find myself seeing God’s glory in a new way every day, with every change.

“Moore” Monday on Tuesday

 

 GOD’S NEW TESTAMENT MATH

SPECIALIZES IN ADDITION

AND MULTIPLICATION, NOT

SUBTRACTION AND DIVISION.

I know, Father, according to Your Word,
that if I judge others, I too will be judged.  With
the same measure I use, it will be measured to
me (Matt. 7:1-2).
When I want so badly to judge or comdemn
or refuse forgiveness to another, I can
hear Your Word speak to my heart, saying,
“If you are without sin, be the first to throw a
stone at them” (John 8:7).
Help me to speak and act as those who
are going to be judged by the law that gives
freedom, because judgment without mercy will
be shown to anyone who has not been merciful
toward others.  Mercy triumphs over judgment!
(James 2:12-13). 

Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word Day by Day

Randomness

Brooke went back to school today and I’m scared to see the amount of makeup work she’ll have for missing 2 days.  I kept her isolated from the rest of the family and I think it worked.  So far no complaints from anyone else.  She auditions tonight for the Circle of Lights, so keep your fingers crossed. 

Matthew has enjoyed the past two days that we’ve stayed in.  In fact, he hasn’t even put clothes on! 

Tuesday when Zach came home from school and I asked him how his day was.  He said “nice”.  I was in shock.  He always says “good”.  When I tried to press further to see what the difference was, he retreated outside to ride his bike.  He’s a man of few words, just like his daddy. 

He did come out of his 10 year old shell a couple of weeks ago.  My son asked a girl to go out with him, and he told me about it!  She said no, but it’s OK because all of his friends think he’s so cool for asking her.

I guess that’s about it, except for trying to house break a thirty pound puppy.  Any suggestions there would be great.  Oh, and if you’re gonna say just rip the carpet out, I already did that last week.  I put hardwood flooring down in the hallway all by myself!