My Father

I have never put a lot of thought into God as my Father. I know He is. I know it's a fact, but I don't know that I've ever truly personalized that. I was thinking about it today and wondering if maybe I've never put a lot of thought into it because of the fact that I never had an earthly father. Since my dad died when I was so young, I don't really know what it is to have a fatherly relationship with someone. I've had a father-in-law for 6 years and he's great, but that's a different thing altogether. I don't think I've seen a father-daughter relationship up close until now because now I'm watching Mark and Rory up close and can see how much he really loves her and wants to protect her and take care of her. Don't get me wrong. I'm not feeling sorry for myself in any way, shape, or form. I have never felt sorry for myself because my mom made sure that we had a very happy lives. But I'm just kind of thinking about things in a new light now. I've seen God take care of me and teach me and guide me so much throughout life, but I've never really called Him "Father."

Last week was rough. I was lonely for a friend. I miss close relationships near to where I live and being able to call someone, make spur-of-the-moment plans and then talk the hours away. I know these things will come eventually, and most of the time I'm busy enough with the kids and our home and don't think much about it, but sometimes the lonliness takes over for a little bit. But with this comes a perfect example of God taking care of me, his daughter. Lydie, my new friend here (who also happens to be Mark's cousin's wife), wanted to go out for coffee. We made plans to meet at Easton for supper and some Christmas shopping. But we ended up talking the night away, and then at the last minute decided to see a movie too. We had a great time, and it ended up being a night that both of us really needed. God had a new friend (who happens to be my favorite person of all the people I've met here) call me out of the blue, exactly when I needed someone to reach out. Not only that, but she communicated to me that she's really thankful we moved here and has needed this relationship too. That is more of a blessing to me than I can communicate with words.

This may seem like a little thing, but for me, it was gigantic! God, my Father, loves me.

Costume Time

There’s something very nostalgic about homemade costumes for Halloween. My sister says she has bad memories of wearing silly homemade costumes and will never do that to her kids, but for me, I see beauty in it. Good thing too, because while I love the ease of store-bought costumes, I know in my budget-conscious husband’s mind, Halloween costumes are definitely not budget worthy. And that’s okay with me. We both agree that families had to make up costumes at home for decades, so we can too. So now, it’s up to the mother to figure out how to dress up my kids every year and I’ll have to start getting creative. I’ll pick up little things here and there with my groceries and collect things at home and put together some kind of outfit. I’ll romanticize it in my mind by using words like nostalgic and hope my kids have fun in the process. Stay tuned and see what we come up with…

My Winter of Soup and Bread

I’ve been on quite a soup and bread kick lately. Over the years I’ve made a lot of chili, perfecting the recipe to suit me and Mark along the way, and a ton of tomato soup because my mother-in-law has an amazing recipe. But other than that, I haven’t ventured into the homemade soup world. I decided to make that a project for this fall and winter. So far so good—last week we had potato soup and this week, chicken and rice, and they turned out pretty okay. I can tweak things with each recipe for next time. Seems like there’s never enough broth, so I’ll work on that. But I’m most excited about the breads. I’ve been making homemade rolls at least once a week since the summer, so those are good to go, but last week I tried homemade Italian bread and it actually worked. The bread machine is half the battle, because I’m not really crazy about kneading. I made it again last night for our chicken soup and it was delicious. It feels so authentic with the hard crust, chewy inside, and even cornmeal on the bottom. My next experiment will be tomato basil bread. I found a recipe online and I’d love to have some to make grilled cheese with for our tomato soup—yummo! Just thought I’d share because these are big accomplishments for me. The picture above is our Italian bread from last night.

The First Snow

Today is our first snow of the season. Those who know me well know I'm having a very happy day! This blog is about the simple things in life that I love, and the first snow is the perfect example of pennies from heaven. It's only flurries and won't collect on the ground, but it's beautiful to see the snow slowly falling, and it's been coming for hours now. We're having a very cozy morning here in our homey living room. I'd love to go out and take a walk with the kiddos, but today is potty training day with Rory. Hopefully it will keep snowing so we can go out later, but if not, we'll take our annual "First Snow of the Season Walk" another day. I just can't keep putting off the potty training--priorities of life with preschoolers. This time of year keeps getting better and better...8 days til Halloween!

I Love Heroes!

Is there anyone else out there in the universe watching Heroes? Monday nights, 9:00--I'm so hooked. I guess this gives Jamie another reason to mock my TV choices, but what can I say? It's another Alias type situation...fake, comic-bookish, but maybe that's why I like these shows. Departure from reality. Every week ends with a cliff-hanger where I'm literally covering my mouth with my hand in shock. =)

Unfortunately I'm banned to the little tv in my bedroom because Mark refuses to watch such absurdity. He was the same way with Unbreakable. He just couldn't grasp Bruce Willis' character because he said he couldn't connect with the fact that he was a superhero in the real world. His brain works too practically for that kind of storyline. Maybe that's why I like all M. Knight Shamalan movies too--because they're not reality. They're just fun to watch, and I always love a twist. I wonder why he loved Alias--maybe because it was the CIA so that was partial reality?...I'll have to ask him about that.

Anyway, it's fun to have a new show to be excited about every week, and I just thought I'd throw it out there, since I'm new to this area, don't know very many people, and don't have anyone to talk about it with. I miss those weekly Alias groups of long ago...

We love fall!