“I a big boy, Mom!”
Yes, sweet John. I know you are a big boy.
{Except in those wonderful, sleepy moments when you’re still my little John-John.}
Proudly Submitted at*: Woven by Words, 7 Clown Circus, Wordless Wednesday, Mom Start, Live and Love Out Loud.
Tags: Just Life, Meme: Wordless Wednesday
I enjoy pickled beets so this year when I saw a whole bushel for $8.00 how could I resist buying them? I’m in the canning zone and though I’d never made beets before, I was up for the challenge! A fast way to add veggies to the plate, and they’re so pretty in their jars.
Easy Pickled Beets
More recipes at Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday Tastes, It’s A Blog Party’s Delicious Dishes, Tuesdays at the Table and A Beautiful Mess’ Tasty Tuesday.
Tags: Preserving, Recipe Box
My preserves so far. Or part of them anyway. They fill the cupboard
Last year was the first year I attempted to preserve food for my family. I don’t have any sort of talent in that area but I purchased the Ball Blue Book of Preserving off eBay and have had great success. If I can can, you can can too! All you need is a simple recipe and the desire to give it a try.
Last year I successfully froze strawberries, raspberries and canned peaches. I also made dill pickles and sweet gherkin pickles which were a hit with the littles as well as friends, family and neighbors. Of all of that, four jars of pickles, one of peaches and a bag of strawberries is all that is left.
Last week I turned 50 pounds of baby cucumbers into sweet gherkin pickles and yesterday I turned a bushel of beets into borsht and canned pickled beets. This week we have another bushel of cucumbers to be turned into dill pickles and, Gram’s favorite, bread and butter pickles. I love pickles because they add a fast, easy veggie to lunches and the littles love them. They also make such a nice snack!
One of the biggest things I can do to make make my home sing is to spend time in the kitchen. Canning, baking, and cooking are ways that I can meet our family’s needs, bless my family and show my love for them. The littles love to help; we make memories and strengthen that family bond.
{As I was packing the pickles into jars, I found this one. I’m guessing John had a little snack while “helping” but it could have been Chloe. It made my husband and I laugh. They’re so precious!}
I find it incredibly rewarding and satisfying when I master a new recipe, skill or task. How about you?
Photo by Prio
Last Tuesday I was sitting at the clinic and in walked a lovely lady. She sat down and I couldn’t help but notice her beautiful legs; long, tanned, glossy, shaved and unmarred. I looked down at my own legs forlornly. Mine aren’t long, nor tanned and, at the risk of sharing too much information, I don’t shave every day. Mine are marred with scrapes and scars. I obsessed thought about this the rest of the day and would like to share with you my ponderings.
A Beautiful Story
Each of those scars and scrapes on my legs tell a story. Some bear witness to fun filled adventures. I grew up swinging off ropes tied to bridges and landing in the chilly water below. We spent hours snorkeling in the rapids and below the falls. We traipsed through the bush on wild adventures and swam in the lake with the ice. Some remind me of my grand adventures and others of foolish choices resulting in lessons learned. These nicks and scars on my legs are me; the story of my life. These beautiful legs have brought me to where and who I am!
A Beautiful Mission
Though my legs may be scarred, it doesn’t affect their abilities, usefulness and potential. These legs are strong and healthy; they carry me about my day. They bend and jump with my littles, they climb slides and pump swings. They bend in just the right place so I can be on my knees; the most powerful position we can be in if we know the Lord. These legs have a mission and that makes them beautiful!
Beautifully Perfecting
Your legs look different than mine, just as mine looked different than hers. Our legs don’t look the same, nor do our journeys and the paths we have travelled. These legs of mine truly reflect me. I’m scraped up and scarred and, well, unlovely. But each of my wounds the Lord gently healed. He patiently reminds me that each lesson learned has shaped me and is shaping me into the woman He wants me to be. Beauty doesn’t mean perfection and good thing too because I’m not perfect. But He is beautifully perfecting me. That’s sanctification and it’s a process. He assures me that I am full of potential, I’m strong in Him, I have a purpose and, in His eyes, despite my flaws, I’m beautiful {and so are my legs}.
Can you relate? I know it is easier to find a flaw, but what is beautiful to you today?
If you arrived here in search of my Works for Me Wednesday post, I’ll sum it up for you in three points right at the start:
Today we went adventuring to Storybook Gardens and what an adventure it was. We headed out with my sister and her 5 boys. It’s about an hour away and since I had a couple of my nephews in the van with me, it made for an interesting ride. Chloe and John enjoyed the extra company.
Upon arrival, we entered Storybook Castle; Chloe was pretty excited. We presented our 2 for 1 coupons and saved quite a bit. Because of our online research, we also knew to buy the sale ride tickets and split them. A huge savings for us! There was no line so we went right in. Everyone was so excited that we decided to start in Pirates Cove to help “play our sillies out”.
(That is Chloe at the very tippy top of that huge red slide)
Pirates Cove is a huge playground with a wooden “sunken” ship, HUGE slides, tree forts, climbing ropes and more. It is set up wonderfully with plenty of benches, green space, and picnic tables. All the play areas have wood chips for a nice soft landing. It wasn’t busy at all here today so the kids had a lot of freedom and enjoyed every minute of it. An hour later, we needed to move on if we were to visit everything.
We visited the Backwoods Maze, the duck pond and Old MacDonald’s Farm. I was a little disappointed here only because on the website it indicated that you could buy feed for the ducks but when we arrived, we couldn’t find the feed for sale anywhere. When you are 2 or 3 or 31 there is something wonderful about feeding the animals. I know the littles were just as disappointed as me but they got over it quickly as we headed through the London Bridge. We peered in at the river otters but they were no where to be seen.
The seals were out though. The kids enjoyed hearing about Slippery the Sea Lion’s great escape as they watched them swim around. One of them had a bowel movement and let me tell you, that was the highlight of the trip for my sister! LOL. She was so excited yelling, “Look, look, see that brown thing? That’s his poo!”. I have to admit, that being her highlight may have been the highlight for me! {and yes, I warned her I was sharing her reaction!}
We stopped to visit Humpty Dumpty and my nephews did their absolute best to help him have a great fall. Thankfully the spring is pretty strong and there were no falls today. There was also a large wooden shoe. It would have been the perfect back drop for a family portrait of my sister and her five boys but alas, it was almost lunch time and it was pretty busy.
We picnicked for lunch and then had a ride on the carousel and the little train; classic little rides that were delightful. There are some new rides this year; a Ferris wheel, carnival elephants, a slide and bouncy castle. Honestly? I think they are detrimental to the look, feel and experience of the park. The park is beautiful and offers the opportunity for a a leisurely stroll through the storybook character displays reciting rhymes together. These new rides cheapen the park and distract from it. I don’t care for it at all.
After the rides, we headed to the splash pad, Slippery’s Escape. The children had a blast running through the sprinklers, using the water cannons and experimenting with the water table. I have no pictures here since my camera battery had died by this point.
After our play time at the splash pad, my sister and nephews headed to the awesome sandbox play area but my littles had had a full day and we headed home full of tears, lamenting the fact that it was time to go.
What a wonderful day of fun and adventure. Admission for adults is 7.50 and for children is 6.50 which I think is a pretty reasonable price. Tickets for the rides are extra but you can have tons of fun without the extras!
Tags: Just Life, Meme: WFMW
My dear readers, I want to treat one of you to a manicure, a pedicure or maybe a massage. Sound good? I have a $50 SpaFinder gift card to give away to a Beautiful Calling reader.
There are more than 500 spas across the world to explore with a SpaFinder gift certificate so this giveaway is open worldwide!
It’s easy to enter! Do one or more of the following and leave a comment letting me know you did. Your entry will need to be verified in order to claim your prize. How easy is that?
RT Win a SpaFinder Gift Card #contests here: http://tiny.cc/s9qed ends 9/30 open worldwide @ beautifulcall
Be sure to watch for some *bonus* chances to enter throughout the month!
I’m a pony tail girl. Low-maintenance hair is my motto, especially since I became ‘Mom’. A few years ago I had highlights put in; a panicked reaction to a grey hair. Anyhow, I was left with dry looking hair in desperate need of a trim. I’ve also found that I have a lot of new growth which leaves it wispy looking and unkept.
My wonderful husband took me to his hair dresser, Julie, who is a genius! He’s had his hair cut there for 18 years. I enjoyed a wash, dark rinse and about 5” cut off! I splurged on a new headband and bought a jar of hair product; I never use product but this stuff is great.
So I’m pretty happy with this cut. Of course it looked great coming home from the salon but the true test is how maintainable the style is in every day life. The following morning I showered, my hair dried during breakfast and I put the tiniest amount of product in the tips and it flipped up on the ends. Hurray; that’s low maintenance enough for me!
I feel great about my hair; the cut was much needed and made my hair bouncy and healthy looking. The headband was a special little splurge. I know that the Lord looketh on the heart (1 Sam 16:7) and our inner beauty is what matters but fI think it is also important to look nice too; for ourselves, for our husbands and for the Lord. The Lord you say? I don’t know if I’m alone here but my thoughts go something like this, “As a Christian, I represent Christ. If I’m grumpy and frumpy, that doesn’t reflect back well on the Lord and certainly wouldn’t encourage others to want to know more about Him. I am definitely grumpy when I feel frumpy.”
Anyway, do you have a tried-and-true hair style? Has it changed since you became “mom”?
Tags: Just Life, Just Mom
This photo was taken by our friend Kris, the summer (2004) we got engaged. We’ve changed in many ways; grown up so much. But in the important ways we are still the same two people who fell in love! Through everything, we remember that!
Proudly Submitted at*: Woven by Words, 7 Clown Circus, Wordless Wednesday, Mom Start, Live and Love Out Loud, Table for 5, The Divine Miss Mommy, Mrs. Marine & the Tiny Troops, Mom Knows It All,Run DMT, Latina on a Mission, Two of a Kind, Look What Mom Found.. And Dad Too, Hobo Mama, 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go, A Lot of Loves, The Shopping Mama, Baby in the Big City, What’s that Smell?, Momma Findings, Jolly Mom, J Leigh Designz, and thank you to Country Girl City Life for this wonderful list!
Tags: Marriage, Meme: Wordless WednesdayDo you want the full version with pictures? Read the Storybook Gardens Full Post here.
Today we went adventuring to Storybook Gardens and what an adventure it was. We headed out with my sister and nephews. It’s about an hour away and completely worth the drive!
Upon arrival, we entered Storybook Castle; Chloe was pretty excited. We presented our 2 for 1 coupons and saved quite a bit. Because of our online research, we also knew to buy the sale ride tickets and split them.
Pirates Cove is a huge playground with a wooden “sunken” ship, HUGE slides, tree forts, climbing ropes and more. It wasn’t busy at all here today so the kids had a lot of freedom and enjoyed every minute of it.
We visited the Backwoods Maze, the duck pond and Old MacDonald’s Farm. I was a little disappointed here only because on the website it indicated that you could buy feed for the ducks but when we arrived, we couldn’t find the feed for sale anywhere. When you are 2 or 3 or 31 there is something wonderful about feeding the animals. I know the littles were just as disappointed as me but they got over it quickly as we headed through the London Bridge.
On to the seals! The kids enjoyed hearing about Slippery the Sea Lion’s great escape as they watched them swim around. One of them went poo and that was the highlight of the trip for my sister! LOL. She was so excited yelling, “Look, look, see that brown thing? That’s his poo!”. I have to admit, that being her highlight may have been the highlight for me! {and yes, I warned her I was sharing her reaction!}
We stopped to visit Humpty Dumpty and my nephews did their absolute best to help him have a great fall. Thankfully the spring is pretty strong and there were no falls today.
We picnicked for lunch and then had a ride on the carousel and the little train; classic little rides that were delightful. There are some new rides this year; a Ferris wheel, carnival elephants, a slide and bouncy castle. Honestly? I think they are detrimental to the look, feel and experience of the park. The park is beautiful and offers the opportunity for a a leisurely stroll through the storybook character displays reciting rhymes together. These new rides cheapen the park and distract from it. I don’t care for it at all.
After the rides, we headed to the splash pad, Slippery’s Escape. The children had a blast running through the sprinklers, using the water cannons and experimenting with the water table. I have no pictures here since my camera battery had died by this point.
After our play time at the splash pad, my sister and nephews headed to the awesome sandbox play area but my littles had had a full day and we headed home full of tears, lamenting the fact that it was time to go.
What a wonderful day of fun and adventure. Admission for adults is 7.50 and for children is 6.50 which I think is a pretty reasonable price. Tickets for the rides are extra but you can have tons of fun without the extras!
Tags: Just LifeDid you ever sing the song in Sunday School, “God can do anything, anything, anything, God can do anything but fail. He can save, He can keep, He can cleanse and He will…”
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
We know the verse, we sing the verse, we use the verse to encourage others but do we really believe it? Well, yes of course I believe it.
But do you really?
I thought I did. But there was something in my life that I didn’t believe He was in control of; something that was too hard for God. It wasn’t that I was waiting for answer of “yes, no or wait”, it was that I didn’t believe it was within His power to give. {Gasp!} But the thing is, I didn’t know I believed that lie!
He showed me that, without a doubt, it was in His absolute control. He showed me it was easily within His power to give it to me if He chose to. {My incredulity bore witness to my lack of belief} And then He chose not to. Cruel? Absolutely not. I’m disappointed and yes, a little sad. But I feel enveloped in love that He was willing to meet that need that I didn’t know I had; to KNOW that with Him, all things truly are possible.
Is there something that, deep down, you think is too hard for Him? A loved one who doesn’t know the Lord and you’ve given up? A situation that seems hopeless? No? What about someone that you didn’t witness to because you didn’t think they would be interested? {translation: God couldn’t touch their heart}.
The Lord can bless your heart and meet your needs today. He desires to show you all He can do. He did it for me, He’s done it for others, He’s waiting to meet your needs today too!
What a mighty God we serve! What needs has He met for you lately?
