Happy with himself!

I was doing dishes and after a few minutes of quiet from Owen, I came around the corner to Owen on the table. Yep, I'd better keep my eyes on him; Whew, he is into climbing. :)

Journaling, More then fuel-A Biblical Theology of food

I read this short blog post on food. This stood out...

"Food is an opportunity for human creativity and generosity in the image of the Creator."

I liked it.

Read it if you have a moment. He also wrote a book that I might look into about food. :)

Food for thought!

Full of life

We SURE LOVE this girl. Almost 4 and FULL of beauty, blond hair, blue eyes and joy.

Wordless Wednesday

Katie's Preschool Class

I had the blessing of joining in the preschool class last time as a teacher's helper. I snagged this opportunity to take a few photos of the kids. These first two photos are of silly faces!

Ms. Betsy is her teacher for these 8 weeks of World Geography and Science. They learned about Italy and the water cycle this time around.

Each country they 'visit' they color their flag, learn a fact or famous place and eat a snack. As you can see from the flags below...green, white and red wasn't a very popular color choice.

Then they glued small squares to make a mosaic-very neat craft!

They had stripped noodles and Italian Sausage for snack which was a BIG hit.

Owen was supposed to be playing with the other moms and kids, but after 30 minutes of his screaming at the gate (plus he saw us on our bathroom break:) I decided to bring him back with me...-for the sake of the other moms and kids.

Katie's class. This was the first day all 10 of the kids were present-Yay!!

Happy Easter

Journaling-Who HASN'T been in a food slump?

(A meal we had on our staycation...hamburgers, sauteed lemon asparagus, grilled red potatoes and ice cream for dessert-yes it tasted as good as it looked! :)

Seriously. Every mom I have talked to and even those I haven't, but who have posted on FB have been in a menu planning slump. I was talking with Beth and she said it was a 'national' issue. :) Her sister in law in CO even emailed asking for a few favorite recipes so that she could get on the ball making more then leftovers for dinner.

At the Hime home we are struggling too. I talked this over recently with Justin who said there was an easy fix. Easy? Really?--let me hear it! (The easy part is saying I can do better the hard part is actually cooking and planning! But he did rattle off about 20 recipes that I could add to the weekly menu)... and then finished off with this statement,

"it's not about making what sounds good...it's about making what is on the menu that you know is healthy, good and satisfying."

This simple statement got me thinking...yes, if I am always thinking, 'what sounds good to eat' I find it is 4:00 and I haven't stated dinner yet. But if I have a recipe on the calender that I know is yummy I can prepare during naps and then have it ready to go around supper time.
So with that in mind I am going to once again sit down and plan our next few meals. I am determined to love my family by cooking well!

If you all have things that you are doing to help with meal planning PLEASE share!

Some ideas-
Mexican: Chimi's, Sloppy Chicken Tacos, Enchiladas, Taco Salad, Fish tacos
Italian: Lady and the Tramp Speg. and Meatballs, Chicken Parm, Spring veggie pasta, crock pot lasagna
American: Hamburgers, Chicken fingers, Hot Subs, Baked Chicken, Pizza, ice cream and popcorn, chicken/tuna/egg salad, cobb (or any) salad, Quiche, breakfast, bar b que beef/chicken, Salmon, pot roast
Asian: Potstickers, Fried Rice, Spring rolls
Side Dishes: peas-steamed, carrots-steamed or baked, potatoes-fries, baked, mashed, grilled, sweet, corn-steamed or whole ear, asparagus-baked or sauteed, squash and onions sauteed, pasta salad, salsa and chips, guac and chips, rice, toast

A few Favorite photo

Katie's latest obsession

Thanks for the park date

Two weeks ago we met Ms. Beth and the younger two Mckenzies at the local park.
Thanks for the playdate and picnic!

Katie and Bunny

The days of naps are few and far between. It's not that Katie doesn't like naps, is that they throw off her nighttime schedule in HUGE ways....like she will be awake in the middle of the night for HOURS=NO FUN. So I snapped this photo because it was incredibly precious to me. I let her sleep to catch up on some lost Zzzzz's from being sick (bronchitis type stuff) this past weekend. She is zonked out. I LOVE that she cuddles with Bunny the Mouse. I used to cuddle with a bunny too *sigh* and then a bear in High School from my handsome husband. :)
Sweet dreams big girl!

Just like daddy

Justin sits with his coffee, reads in this floor chair in our bathroom each morning before the kids and I get up, quietly letting us sleep. Then Owen loves to run in after he gets up and 'be like Daddy'. He is currently reading The Gospel Primer and the other mornings he read Bonhoeffer. He has pulled some really good quotes so far...hehehe...I also LOVE that he is crossing his toes in the first photo.

Finding the page he was on yesterday...

Oh, here it is!

Did you hear that? I just read you an amazing quote. Got it mom??

Journaling-TORNADO!

Our church was able to respond first hand to the tornado and its destruction this past weekend. Some of our members, including two of our Pastor's families live on one of the streets that was hard hit. Thankful that everyone was okay! Below I also included an email that Justin wrote to folks in his national office in OR...he sums it all up!

Crushed

The many folks that worked tirelessly all day doing what clean up they could!

one of the hardest hit houses

100+ year old oak uprooted...missing the house, but crushing the deck

our church delivering lunches to workers and neighbors with out power
...sharing the Love of Christ...

Friends,

If there’s one joke that I hear most often when I mention that I grew up in KS it’s, “well, you’re not in Kansas anymore.” As many of you know, this past weekend we got a little taste of KS as an historic outbreak of tornadoes ripped-across central and eastern NC. As of this morning there were 62 confirmed tornadoes (many of them were more than likely the same funnel simply descending and then receding back into the storm, only to emerge for more destruction), and a couple of dozen folks (most of them children) who lost their lives. The tornado that came through Raleigh went about 2 miles east of our house and so we merely experienced torrential rain and strong straight-line winds, but nothing more. We did take cover and I think everyone was a bit scared, but all in all we faired quite well. This might be terrible to say, but I was actually a little excited as the storms were coming through…I guess I miss KS more than I thought. Anyway, just because our neighborhood wasn’t impacted we are ever mindful that our community was…

In all of this God is making much of Himself in Raleigh and surrounding area. Our family had the privilege of serving alongside about 60 others from our church who live downtown (one of the hardest hit areas) and had so many opportunities to give of ourselves to the people most affected. To be certain many of the things that need to be done will take skilled labor and much larger equipment than the average weekend warrior has, but there are still plenty of needs to be met and plenty of opportunities to share the love of Christ with our community. So we’re hoping to go back down this afternoon!

Two fun stories from yesterday…

After cutting up a large pear tree that had fallen in a black elderly man’s side yard he came over and asked who we were with and why we were helping. After sharing a couple of things in response to his questions he responded to me (pointing to chainsaw running at my feet), “now, I like the sound of that sermon.” It was priceless. One other fun part to this story, one of his grandsons was helping us with the tree, and in keeping with some of the things are shared in When Helping Hurts, my buddy and I that were working together asked him to come along with us…and he did. In fact, we picked up a steady stream of folks along the way and ended up with quite a crew. It was great to invite them to join us in giving back to their neighbors, some of whom they’ve never met before.

The story that has impacted my life in a very deep way, was one of the gifts that decided to join our convoy of hope and help. Her name is Iris. Iris is the 91 year old elderly black woman and who just showed in one of backyards that we we’re working in and decided to jump right in. When I saw her, purse in hand J I immediately went over and told her to please let us do it for her, it would be our privilege. Well, that didn’t work. She insisted that she wanted to help and do her part. As the story unfolded over the next hour, I found out that she didn’t even live in the area. She drove to downtown Raleigh, saw us working, and joined us. I asked her her story after we finished the house and she shared with me about her upbringing and how she grew up on a farm and on the farm everyone had to do their part…and this was hers. Well, not only did she decide to join us for that yard, but she decided to join us for the next one as well. All I can say is that I was humbled and amazed by God’s work in her life and compelled by the way she gave. My comment to Gi when I got home late last night was, “I can’t help but think how proud God was of one of His daughter’s today.” Way to go Iris, I can’t wait to work together again soon!

My one thought after an exhausting day of work is, it’s truly more blessed to give than to receive.

All that said, I would invite you to pray for the hundreds of families that have experienced loss over the past couple of days, and for the efforts of the local believing community to love our neighbors well. There are quite a few local churches, and some local non-profits responding, including Samaritan’s purse. In fact, I was proud of their e-blast that went out earlier today with the headline Volunteer’s Needed…not, we Money Needed! I’m so excited that they’re coordinating efforts to mobilize volunteers in our local communities to join in the relief. It’s an SPP response to a real disaster, that normal people can do, that’s great!

So the conditions were perfect on Saturday for a storm. But there were actually two storms that happened. One that certainly did great destruction and harm. But another that’s working to collaborate with God’s redemptive purposes to see great good come out of what was intended for evil – a storm of response, a storm of love, a storm of hope.

Justin

those aren't bushes lining the street, but PILES of limbs and small trees!

ironic....beautiful roses with dangerous electrical wire intermingled

that 100 year old oak...they probably need a crane to move the rest!

oh WOW...yes that is my superman husband! Love HIM!

snapped power transformers

If you look closely you can see another huge tree gone....