Halloweening

This year I wasn't 'feeling' Halloween at all.  

I called the five or so neighbors we go to visit every year to see if they felt comfortable with us Trick or Treating at their houses this year (secretly hoping they would say no). Yes! They wanted us to come!  Even if we had to stay on the sidewalk, take candy from a chair and have them take a picture from the porch.

(rats)

I told the children that this year would be a raid-the-dress-up-bin and use-what-we-have kinda year.  

Nothing themed, nothing fancy.

And it worked!

The cast of characters:

Matt  as a plague doctor.  (fitting, no?)

Corynn as a Lion King

She seems fierce on the outside but if left alone and introspective, she is doubtful and insecure.

Andrew was a fur trader that was gathering furs up until the moment that others were heading to the first house.  So no individual picture of him.  He, apparently, wasn't really 'feeling' Halloween this year either.

I was a princess and Moses was my frog prince.  I took about five minutes to get ready while the others were heading to the first house too.  But that was because I was HEEEELLLLLPING everyone else, you see.  So no individual picture of me either.  HA!  

But here is the sweetest little frog prince you ever did see...

I did whip up his hat quickly- but with yarn I already had on hand, so it still counts.  (I made the eyes and crown removable so now he has a nice little hat to wear, post-Halloween.)

(Ruby loved his costume!)

Adele' used the gorgeous kimono to be a beautiful chinese girl in traditional garb.

Not to be confused with a geisha.

Judah was a Marine.  Did you expect anything else?

With all the camo the boys have, much of it leftover from Matt's own boyhood, we could have clothes an entire division.

I knew with Ineke's smiley eyes and chubby thighs, that she would make a PERFECT Shirley Temple.

She wanted to be Elsa but I bribed her with curly hair and with buying her a large lollipop to lick.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a large lollipop ANYWHERE so she made one out of construction paper instead.

A bum deal for HER, but not for me!  How cute is she?!

And don't worry...she got lots of LITTLE lollipops to lick anyway.

An ugly but BEAUTIFUL post.

Matt had last week off of work.  That means we didn't do any h'learning.

It was also election week and all the stress that THAT entails.

Apparently, those two factors alone can meld me into some sort of superwoman powerhouse.  

Check out this to-do list (which has some pretty overwhelmingly large tasks on it) which is almost entirely scratched out after just a week:

That is pretty impressive, ifIdosaysomyself.

And then, take a moment to gaze with me at these dusty floorboards which haven't been visible for many moons, so buried were they in junk.

I am usually pretty good about taking 'before' pictures but... this particular day I just decided to throw an unholy tantrum instead and start throwing things out the door.  

A few days later, I emerged victorious.  And dusty.

Things I Know

 In this tumultuous, sloshing, spewing sea of uncertainty that we find ourselves in, how are you doing?

I have been keeping myself afloat with a few strategies.

I have grabbed the biggest, most unpleasant jobs to I could find to tackle and tackled them with a vengeance.  And then found more. 

I found the biggest board in the barn and slathered some Red-Paint-Truth to plunk in the field.  (It made me feel better almost immediately.)  

AND 

I have decided to focus on the things that I know for sure and for certain.  

What could possibly be CERTAIN right now, you ask?  

This:

~ The media does not "call" elections.  It does not say in the Constitution of the United States that when the major news outlets say an election is over, it is over.  a-hem.  Not quite.  Joe Biden is NOT the President-elect and no one should be calling him such.  Not until the proper legal processes are over will we know who the President-elect is.  Electors vote on Dec. 14th.  Inauguration is Jan. 20th.  Nothing is over, no matter what the media wants you to believe.  We all must accept the outcome of this election- when it actually comes.  We need to be informed.  We need to be intelligent.

~ It is messed up that the media is pretending to have this authority because in doing so, they are fanning the flames of discord.  No matter which way this election goes, it is not going to be pretty.  And they made things much, much worse.  On purpose.  We should be looking elsewhere for REAL NEWS sources.

~ Voter Fraud is dangerous to ALL Americans, Republicans, Democrats and everything in between... both sides should be calling for investigations to be sure everything is legit- for the integrity of elections.  Because if we are content with fakery in our elections, the American PEOPLE lose.  This is not simply an argument for Trump versus Biden, but Lies versus Truth, Cheating versus Integrity, American voices versus Puppeteers, Democratic process versus Tyranny.  We should be unified in this.

~ We as a country and as a church have turned away from God.  We deserve much worse than what we have already been given and what we may be given in the future.  We need to repent.

~ There are hard blessings and pleasant blessings.

 Romans 8:28 says:  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  Doug Wilson wrote once (at a time when the stakes were high and his son had just been diagnosed with a large brain tumor)..."because of the truth of Romans 8:28 God’s elect can only experience two kinds of events—pleasant blessings and hard ones. The pleasant ones, like a bowl of hand-cranked ice cream, have a certain sweet immediacy about them, but the hard blessings are far more durable. More can be done with them, and much more can be done from them. We are instructed to thank the Lord always and for everything, and that includes this kind of test, this kind of hard blessing (Eph. 5:20). We are not just to be thankful in the trial, but also thankful for it. And so we thank the Lord, giver of all good things."  I have carried that truth with me ever since.  It is really quite profound.  We need to accept these blessings from God, even if they are hard blessings.

~ Jesus REIGNS.  HE is the One in charge.  (No matter the president of the USA)  As we will be reminded often as Christmas approaches... "the government will be upon His shoulders."  All of this isn't just happening to us... Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  And He shall reign forever and ever and ever.   

We need to not just SAY it, or sing it, but BELIEVE it.

Vote!

 

“We are now called upon to exercise one of the privileges and duties which go with liberty, let no man be neglectful in it. Every God fearing man should give his vote with as much devotion as he prays.”

                                                            ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

Rainbow Bright

One day this summer, a big storm was brewing.  

Tornado warnings blared from the radio.  The sky went all eerie colored.  The wind whipped across the yard.

I drew some water because, by now, I know that this is the drill.  I don't know if it is just living on a hill or living on OUR hill, but if there is a storm, our power WILL go out.

And it did.  

Andrew and Corynn had to milk the cow by hand that night.  The rest of us gathered every possible thing that could fly away or break.  We gathered water from rainspouts for washing and flushing. 

And candles and oil lamps. 

Afterward, I fed them power-outage food for supper.

They didn't seem to mind.

And as we ate our supper, God gave us quite a show.

Look at that!  Ineke dressed for the occasion!

And when the sky went black, a bit of rainbow lingered on my windowsill.

 

Talking Shop (In the Kitchen)

Let's talk kitchens, shall we?  Or rather... kitchen tools.  

I spend A LOT of time in the kitchen.  Three square meals a day x 7+, baby.  I discovered a looooooooooonnnng time ago that having the right tools can make the work downright pleasant.  I was asked recently what are some of the best kitchen splurges a new bride should stock her kitchen with and it got me inspired to look around at what I most appreciate.

Ironically, almost everything in the picture above I have only recently gotten within the past year or so.  Most of the items in the picture were gifted to me by a sister in law who also loves to cook. (Everyone should have a Holly in their lives.)  But they all *spark joy*, Marie. 

I'll tell you about the things in the picture and then share some treasures that are too used and utilitarian to be photo worthy after that.  

Warning: With the exception of things given to me by above stated sister in law,  I have nothing top of the line except my dehydrator...which I could only afford after getting a huge tax return.   I lean toward cheap, always.  Second hand will do, cast offs are even better.

Here we go:

Last Christmas, my sister in law gave me two gorgeous turquoise enamel coated cast iron dutch oven/pots..  And my world was rocked.   Using them for cooking things LITERALLY makes me happier.  They cook things so awesomely, can be used on the stove top and then transferred to the oven without switching pans, hold a lot more food than just a cast iron skillet and the very, very, very best part?  When the food is done and I have to call to the four winds to find children and husband to gather 'round the table, and it takes 15 minutes for them to find their way to the table... the food is still HOT.  They also work great if you are taking a meal to someone or to a Thanksgiving dinner.  There have been plenty of nights where I was madder than a hornet that I had slaved away to make a good meal just to have to eat it cold or reheat it before even taking a bite because I couldn't find everyone to sit and eat.  Not since these beauties. 

Along the same vein- cast iron.  I use cast iron for almost all of my cooking.  It is fabulous.  When I was a young bride who didn't know much I swore by teflon.  Now as a seasoned cook, I'll stick with seasoned cookware.  ;-)  I have normal round cast iron skillets to use for meals but I bought a square cast iron pan at a yard sale for $2.00 once upon a time and it is my favorite one to use when you don't need a large quantity at once... like making batch after batch of sunny side up eggs or grilled cheese.  It is amazing to use for hot dips.  It is a perfect size for the stove and doesn't crowd other burners like the big round ones do and it isn't as heavy to pour out, more or wash either.  So cast iron, definitely.  And if you can find a square one- snatch it up!

A two tiered serving stand.  Any will do.   I use them not just for pretty presentations at parties, but easy access to ripening cherry tomatoes, garlic, peppers, herbs, clementines, strawberries- or anything I want to snatch up quickly and not crush.  It is as utilitarian as it is aesthetically beautiful and mine are never tucked away in a cupboard.

Any pretty wooden utensils are a must, in my opinion.  But most recently, I discovered the joy of a ladle with a hook.  I bought a two pack to give as Christmas presents and then wound up keeping one of them for myself. Because I am greedy, that's why.  I still can't believe it has taken me 18 years to figure out that ladles should have hooks at the end.  No more ladles falling in the pot.  I suppose a long handled ladle would work too...but I don't have one of those yet.

A long pizza cutter.  We make pizza at least once a week here but I use this pizza cutter for much more than just pizza.  Cut biscuits, breads, rolls with it.  Or brownies.  Or Granola bars. I even use it to scrape the dough/flour scraps from the counter.  Just a super handy thing.

Speaking of pizza- my all time favorite pizza pans are the ones with holes in them.  But maybe that's because I don't have a cast iron one yet.  HA!  

The last thing pictured is a danish dough hook.  For years, a wooden spoon worked fine.  But then, I was given this dough hook and I realized dough making doesn't have to be just 'fine'.  Making dough has the potential to be FABULOUS.  But you need this dough hook.  

Other ABSOLUTE ESSENTIALS in my kitchen (that are too well used to be pretty):

~ A stand mixer.  I bought mine used from a friends mother more than a decade ago for a song.  Mine is almost shot from wear.  It makes weird noises every time I use it now.  (I blame it on the butter making.)  But when it finally bites the dust, I know that as expensive as they are... I am going to be saving my pennies to replace it.  STAT.  Until then, I cross my fingers and hope it isn't today.

~ A heavy bottomed stock pot

~ a good food processor.  These are crazy handy for chopping and shredding. Coleslaw becomes one of the easiest side dishes to make in the world.  Saurkraut.  Salsa.  Hashbrowns.  Guacamole.  Even shredding cheese you buy in blocks.  You're welcome.  

~ an ice cream maker.  I have this one and bought a separate

~ a crockpot

~ a fryer (because, DONUTS.  And fair food.)

~ large stainless steel bowls.  I have all sorts of big bowls- some ginormous like 30 qt. sized.  Some more reasonable at 13 or 16 qts.  For canning and baking any quantity of food, these are important.  Also- for eating copious amounts of popcorn.

For preserving-

~ a pressure canner.  If you are just starting out with canning- go with the pressure canner.  You want to buy that new.  And you can still water bath can in it.  Later, you can always find an enamel water bath canner at a yard sale- I see them all the time.  But by then, you may decide you can just keep water bathing in the pressure canner.

~ Canning Jar lifters and funnels are an absolute must with canning.  I have two.  Because, like scissors and nail clippers, they disappear JUST the minute you need them.  

~ a food dehydrator.  If you will just be dabbling with dehydrating, you can go with the Walmart special and it will suit you.  They are almost always around at Christmas time for gifting, so now is your chance!  If you are SERIOUS about dehydrating... this one is the real deal.  

I've heard great things about things like Instapots but since I don't own 'em, I can't vouch for them.  

What did I miss?  What are your most used kitchen tools?  And what things do you LOVE?

Troll Tattoo

 Ineke was given a coloring book for the movie Trolls (which I absolutely do NOT endorse, btw.  It's horrible.) and apparently she liked this character:

...enough to draw it on herself during naptime.

The Newunion

The Newunion used to be called 'Christmas In July' because in order to buy our house from the family,  we were "coerced" into promising to uphold the tradition that Gram had of hosting Christmas each year.  IF, that is, you can 'coerce' the willing.  

I happily conceded, promising a gathering but not at Christmas... hence, Christmas in July.  

And now you know how behind I am at blogging pictures!

It has been a joy and a treasure to do this gathering- and something we look so forward to every year. 

 Especially seeing our out-of-town family who make the long trek up every year.  It is a sweet time made even more sweet after months of isolation.  

I have to post two group pictures because boys will be boys, even when they are men.  Stop goofing off, Newman boys!

(Actually, I like these goofy grins best of all.)

It was 100 degrees, or thereabouts, on this day and the little girls had the right idea about getting cool.  

Eat homemade ice cream in the pool!

So the Smo'Smo and I joined them.

Is this FOR REAL?!?

 

Up until this point, I would hand him a baby toy or two.  

When I dumped the bag of Duplo blocks, I think I blew his mind.

The Lake Cottage

Gary and Linda began to work on a Lake Cottage this year.  

Thankfully, it is only a few minutes away because Matt and the boys (and sometimes the girls) spent many spring and summer days over at the lake, working on building.   

Which meant, of course, swimming while we were there.

I am very well aware of the good gift of space that my children have had access to during this time of lockdowns/shut downs/shut ins.  This year, more than any other, I have been acutely aware of these blessings.  I am so very grateful for it.  I am also so sad, knowing how many children, for so many months, have been stuck at home, unable to have space or places of retreat or to be exuberant or to get fresh air or to stretch their bones or breathe deeply or to clear their minds and hearts and roam wild.  These are the things that children need to flourish.  

And my heart breaks for the children who don't have these things.

Lord, fix this broken world.