Oh 'Vangeline

Our little Evangeline is a hoot.  She's so deliciously chubby- those puffy cheeks, that pooching belly, the rolls on her thighs. She's a happy sigh.

I stumbled out of my bedroom this morning in a sleepy stupor and was greeted with a gleeful shriek, "Mama! Mama!!!" as she came toddle-running at me, arms held out wide.  I scooped her up in my arms, received the tightest squeeze she could muster, and buried my face in her neck.  I never get tired of this.

She had been wearing the same shirt for three days.  You know how toddlers are- when they like something, they really, really like it and want to wear it every.single.day.  I changed her diaper and put her in her Mother-Ease (cloth) pull-ups (they are called "Sandy's") for the day.

She poked and prodded her little sister a bit, stole her pacifier, sheepishly returned it when I called her out on it, and then sang sweet little songs in some foreign language to her "Woobee" (Jubi) baby.

She has this new thing of dragging a chair around to reach (get into) whatever she's interested in at the moment. She uses it to climb into her highchair, crawl onto counter tops, reach things in the pantry, snag a cookie dough ball off a pan sitting on the stove top.

{Cookie Dough Thief!}

Today, she pulled a chair over to assist with breakfast.  She wanted to put the frozen waffles into the toaster.

It's amazing how things change, seemingly overnight. It's like she woke up last week and decided she was going to be a big girl.  If I'm doing something in the kitchen, she wants to help.... or she's at least going to climb into her seat and wait until I put something to eat in front of her.

She loves going potty too.  We practiced elimination communication with her as a baby (part time), and so she's always been pretty familiar (and comfortable with) using the potty. In fact, many mornings (like this one), she will pull off her Sandy's and go running to the bathroom.... every five or so minutes!

Evangeline is a good sleeper too.  She usually lets me know when she's ready for a nap.  She trots into the bedroom she shares with her big sister Merika, and I lift her into her bed.  Pretty soon she'll be sleeping in a big girl bed.  Sometimes she sleeps with Merika or naps on Merika's bed.  I confess, I'm a little sad that she's moving out of her little travel lite pack'n'play, but we are going to need it for Molly Jo Jubilee soon.  (I find it hard to co-sleep with a little heater baby during these summer months.  Jubilee usually sleeps in the crook of my arm until I wake up all sweaty and move her to a bouncer beside my bed.)

Evangeline wants to do whatever the biggers are doing.  So if her brothers and sister are playing outside, she wants to as well. If they are biking, she wants to.  If they are painting... oh, she definitely wants to.

Evie is 21 1/2 months old right now.  It's weird because... wasn't it just yesterday that she was Jubilee's size?  We have a family reunion coming up this weekend, and I realized that last reunion, Keagan was Evie's age.  In those three years, we have added two little girls to our family! 

That kind of blows my mind, yanno?

Ah, well, I'd better go.  There's a little chubby toddler who needs to potty!

The Kid's Menu

We eat out quite a bit compared to how often my family ate out when I was a kid.  We normally have at least one lunch out and one dinner out... and we rarely ever order from the children's menu.

The other day, we took the Daddy-man to Babin's to celebrate Father's Day.  Babin's has delicious Louisiana-style food, but their children's menu could have been from any restaurant in America.

I made the comment to my husband, "Why does every restaurant serve the same crap to kids?"  Why do restaurants confine children's menus to hamburgers, hotdogs, pre-made mac & cheese, chicken tenders (or nuggets), and a cheese pizza?  And why do they want to charge me $5 for a kid's meal that tastes like salted cardboard?

People are often shocked that our toddler eats whatever the adults are eating.  I find it shocking that people find it shocking. I'm not a short order cook. I make one meal. I don't make baby food.  I don't make toddler food. I make real food.  A baby is ready to eat when they can partake of the foods we're already eating (within reason of course- we wouldn't feed a baby just started out on solids a big juicy steak).

We do have a picky eater in the house (Keagan), but we encourage him to keep trying foods (and he often ends up liking them... eventually).

Adult's plate

Toddler's plate

Anyway, like I said, the other day we were at Babin's, and I'm looking at the kid's menu wondering why they're so unimaginative.  Is it so hard to believe that children might want salmon, shrimp, or gumbo?

We often order a big platter of food for the kids to share, or order several big meals to share as a family.  I typically browse the menu for the entree (or appetizer) that offers a lot of variety and a lot of food for them to share.  One of my favorite restaurants, Casa Ole, has an appetizer that has a huge stack of nachos, taquitos, and quesadillas served with sour cream and guacamole.  The kids love this!  Plus, it often ends up being much cheaper to order one big combo meal for them to split than to get each of them their own meal.  (And we always get water to drink.)

Even though we are a family of seven (six who actually eat "real food"- the baby obviously doesn't), we rarely ever spend more than $40 at a restaurant.  Most occasions we spend almost exactly $35 pre-tip (post-tax).  Eating at restaurants as a "big" family doesn't have to cost big.  The kids can enjoy flavorful food and try new things as we share big platters of food family-style.

Parenting the Gospel

I had it wrong.
I think a lot of people do.
I think a lot of us homeschoolers think that if we just keep our children at home, teach them about creationism, center their academic education around God, take them to church services regularly, maybe enroll them in AWANA or UPWARDS sports, cram bible verses into them, and remind them that God is always watching that, hey, they'll be good, godly little children who grow up to be good, godly adults.

We throw around that verse, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

And we really think we are training them up.

In reality, we're teaching them to walk and talk the part, but have we really reached their hearts?  Are we just pinning fruit to their limbs or are we allowing the Holy Spirit to bear fruit through them?

I had been praying that God would lead me to a good bible curriculum for the children.  I want them to learn about the Lord. I want them to be passionate about Christ.  I feel ill-equipped to prepare them for their walk with Him, though. Honestly, (and I probably shouldn't confess this, but I will) I was hoping I could find a good dvd series for them. I'm not big on television or even "school tv" but I felt like such a failure when it came to teaching my kids about God that I figured it'd be better for them to learn from some cartoon or a professional on a kid show than from me.

Boy, did Satan have me convinced.

So, anyway, I was praying that the Lord would show me which curriculum to use, and then He laid out this horribly messy curriculum before me.

It's called my life.

I'll admit, my first reaction was, "Okay, I've tried that. It doesn't work. I'm not good at that."  After all, I had done the whole bible study every morning during breakfast, singing scripture memorization, sharing biographies of missionaries, blah blah blah.  Not that any of that's bad, but....

I was trying to use my "good" works to help them see the Spirit.  Hmm, wonder why that didn't work.

I'd feel great about it when we had a good day- the kids behaving well, remembering their verses, being sweet to one another, being helpful around the house, honoring their parents, wanting to read the bible, and...

THEN we'd have a bad day. Arguing. Willful disobedience. More interested in harvesting toe jam than listening to the bible story.  And I'd feel like a failure.  And, when I was correcting my children, I felt like the Lord was nudging me in my ribs and saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?  You do the same thing!"

And then it clicked.  That's right! I do! They're sinners, and so am I!
       [I don't think I've been that excited about being a sinner before.]

You see, we are all big sinners in need of big saving.  I'm not my children's savior.  I'm really not helping anything when I point out their faults and say something that pretty much amounts to, "Jesus doesn't like that."  [For the record, that's not what I was saying, but that's probably what my children ended up hearing.]


I was trying to nail up the law in my home and say, "Abide by this!", and when they failed to, I was flustered.


Hmmmmm.........


Maybe because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God?


I forgot about grace.  In my mind, grace was forgiving them, but that's not really what God had in mind.  He wants me to lead them to the cross, just as He had led me to the cross six and a half years ago. He wants me to lead my children to His grace, not my grace.

His grace leads me to say, "I know you want to obey, and I know it's hard.  I feel the same way sometimes.  I want to do good, but there's something in me that wants to rebel.  Is that how you feel? Did you know that the Apostle Paul knew what that was like?"

His grace leads me to identify with my child on that sin level. "You know, son, I struggle to do what is right sometimes. I try to behave and do good, then I fail, and I'm beating myself up.  That's why I'm so thankful for Jesus. Let me explain."

Oh what? See that there?  The gospel. These life moments are what God intended for me to use as little stages to shine His gospel grace on.

A long time ago, I heard someone say, "Don't be surprised when sinners sin.  Don't be shocked when lost people act lost."  I'm going to say something that will probably shock the socks off of some of you, but our children were born sinners.  That's right. Your kid CAN do wrong.  You don't have to keep justifying it.

If all we do is shine the light on their wrong doings, then all we've managed to do is make them feel like hopeless failures.  They will not learn about Christ.  They will see a religion of works, not one of grace and love.  When we are willing to share our shortcomings with them, and tell of God's wondrous works, they learn that it's not about what we do, but about who Christ is.  They learn that Jesus has power over sin, and when we turn to Him, His life is lived through us.


Discipling children isn't about pretending that we've got it all together and demanding they follow our perfect example. As their teachers, we need to be showing them that we are sinners who have to wholly depend on Christ, not our own goodness.

I feel like God has been prompting me to share my personal prayers with the children.  When I'm frustrated and find myself being snippy and snappy, I can stop and pray out loud.  I don't have to command the attention of my children when I do this, but it's okay for them to see and hear me cry out to the Lord for His help.  How else will they learn? They need to hear me ask for His forgiveness, seek His wisdom on situations and circumstances, praise His name for all He does, cry out when I'm sad, angry, or worried.  It need not be a big production, but I don't have to disappear to my bedroom and tell them to stay out.

Christ is my lifeline.  They will never learn that if I'm too busy trying to be religious.  I can't expect to  see them grow in godliness through the law.  If I'm only presenting them with "law", then I'm not presenting the gospel.  If all they hear is, "God doesn't like that," then they aren't hearing the Good News. I don't have to excuse their sin.  I don't have to gloss over it.  I don't have to pretend it's okay because they don't know better (because most of the time they DO know better).  That's not what this is about.  It's about leading them to Christ, because while we were still sinners, He died for us, and those who believe on Him are buried and raised with Him.  New life, not one bound by sin and death, but a life of freedom.

"It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me."

That's freedom.  Freedom from my own works.  Freedom from trying to get it right with my own effort.

That's what my children need to learn, and they will never learn that from a DVD series.  They learn it from living life beside their parents.  They learn it from seeing Momma live it out honestly before them.

Things People Say (Comic), 002

"Are you trying to be like the Duggars?"

No kidding. People really ask us this.
I like the Duggars and all, but really?

No.

Things People Say (Comic), 001

You'd be amazed by how many random strangers as us this!

(Sometimes I joke, "No, but we're bound to figure it out eventually!")
Why are people so interested in what goes in our marital bed?

Stay tuned for more "Things People Say" comics!

Easy Granola Recipe & Greek Pasta Salad Recipe

Most granola recipes that I've come across are a little too complicated. They require things that I just don't have, but granola is NOT complicated. It's super simple.  I don't normally measure things, so this is a guesstimate.

GRANOLA

6 tablespoons butter
3/4 to 1 cup maple syrup (or honey... whichever you have or prefer)

4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1-2 cups raw nuts (whatever you like- I used almond "slices" last time, and the time before that I used walnuts and pecans)
3 teaspoons cinnamon 

Parchment paper or foil to line pan with.

Preheat oven to 250F
1. In a small pot, melt butter and stir in maple syrup. (I eye the maple syrup. I don't measure it, but it's less than a whole cup, but at least a half of a cup.)
2. Meanwhile, combine the  oats, seeds, nuts, raisins and cinnamon.  Then pour in the butter and maple syrup and mix well with a silicone spoon/spatula (spoonula?).
3. Bake at 250F for about 55-60 minutes.  It will crunch up a bit more as it cools.

It's pretty easy to customize this to your own tastes. Leave out the raisins if you don't like raisins.  Add unsweetened coconut. Sprinkle in nutmeg.

After it's baked, I sometimes mix mine with puffed brown rice (think Rice Crispies) and/or raisins, but not always. I do not recommend baking with the raisins already in it because... um, that was nasty. 

This is another easy-to-customize recipe.  In fact, I feel a little silly writing an actual recipe for it, so I'm just going to tell you what's in it.

GREEK PASTA SALAD

Pasta noodles of your choosing.  (Ideally, something that will hold a sauce well.)  Boil according to directions. DO NOT FORGET TO SALT THE WATER.* (Drain and let noodles cool before you add in the other stuff)
Cut a couple tomatoes into wedges or use grape tomatoes.
Slice half an onion (purple onions are my favorite) into rings.
Slice a cucumber (peel it if it's not organic).
Chop up some parsley and dill.
Add in some grilled chicken (this is a great recipe to use up leftover grilled chicken). You could make it meatless, use some other kind of meat, or use mushrooms instead.
Add in some salad- romaine leaves, spinach.. whatever. Or don't. It's your pasta salad.

In a small bowl, dump in about a cup of sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt).  Add about a TBSP of olive oil and a couple shakes of balsamic vinegar (or even red wine vinegar will work).  Season with garlic powder (say, a teaspoon), Italian or Greek herbs (2 teaspoons or so), and salt.  Stir it up and taste it.  It should be flavorful.  Mix that into the noodles/vegetables. 

Refrigerate. Serve. Enjoy.  

You could skip trying to make your own "sauce" and buy some tzatziki.  Or, you could make tzatziki. It's pretty easy to make, so google it.

*How to perfectly salt your pasta water:  As the water is heating, add salt.  Start with a teaspoon or two.  Mix until it is dissolved and taste the water.  If the water doesn't taste salty, then your noodles won't either.  Add more salt until it has a salted flavor.

Parenting with Prepared Spontaneity

In honor of Father's Day, I want to share with you some meaningful bits of encouragement and advice that I've really appreciated lately.

Parenting is all about living by the principle of prepared spontaneity. You don't really know what's going to happen next. You don't really know when you'll have enforce a command, intervene in an argument, confront a wrong, holdout for a better way, remind someone of a truth, call for forgiveness, lead someone to confession, point to Jesus, restore peace, hold someone accountable, explain a wisdom principle, give a hug of love, laugh in the face of adversity, help someone complete a task, mediate an argument, stop with someone and pray, assist someone to see their heart, or talk once again about what it means to live together in a community of love.

What you do know is that Scripture gives you the wisdom that you need and your always-present Messiah gives you the grace that you need to be ready to respond to the moments of opportunity he will give you. Along with this, you and I must remember that our Lord loves our children more than we ever could and his commitment to their growth and change is more faithful and persevering than ours could ever be. Because of this, in his grace and love, he will manufacture moments that expose the needy hearts of our children to us. He will faithfully employ the little moments of everyday life to expose to us and our children their need of rescuing and forgiving grace. And he will not do this only at the moments which you feel are appropriate and when you feel most prepared.   [Paul Tripp]

Happy Father's Day

Of all the men in all the world, I'm glad God brought me you.  There is no one else I'd rather do life with. You are an amazing father, a wonderful husband, and a great friend.

To My Awesome Daddy,

(1981)

(2012)

You are an amazing man who loves the Lord and loves your family.

And we love you!!!

And, while she's not a father, my Granny played both roles to her children, so she's worthy of praise and honor today as well!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY Y'ALL!

Your heritage is great!

Don't forget to check out my other blogs:

The Pouring Out
and
A Fighting Faith

Swimming!

We went swimming one last time at Terry and Nanci's house before they move to their new house.  This is their very last week in this casa! They will officially be handing over the keys on Monday!   Jubilee took her first dip in the pool today, and Emily taught Merika how to swim.

A lot of fun was had! :)

Quick & Easy Homemade Crackers

I've been trying to cut processed foods out of our diet, and therefore out of our pantry, for about a month now. There are some things that I never thought about making myself but I've been breaking out of that mold lately.  One of those things is crackers.

Oh me, oh my y'all. Crackers are so, so, so easy to make.  Easy. Super easy.  Really easy. And so much better than those store-bought kind.  Store-bought crackers are either too dry (and cardboard tasting) or too greasy.  These are delicious and easy to customize.

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or whole white wheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
salt for sprinkling (optional)

Directions :
 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
 In a bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Add the vegetable oil and water, and mix until just blended. On a lightly flo-ured surface, roll out the dough as thin as you can- 1/8 of an inch or thinner. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with olive oil spray, place the dough on the pan, and mark squares out with a knife. Prick each cracker with a fork several times, and sprinkle with salt (optional). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven or until crisp. Baking time will vary depending on how thin your crackers are. Allow to cool, then separate crackers.

Tips:  Mark out squares pretty firmly, but do not separate the crackers.  Also, prick firmly (all the way through) as well. If you don't do this, crackers will puff really high.

I think this recipe would also work well as pita bread or even mini-pizza crusts.  Bake for 8-10 minutes instead.

{This is what was left after lunch- half of the recipe.}

Change it up:
-Add some cinnamon and a touch of maple syrup or honey to make a sweeter cracker.
-Add some chopped herbs or special seasonings (garlic, onion powder, etc).
-Add in ground flax for some extra nutrition.

The possibilities are endless!

11 weeks old