Rocks In My Dryer

Seven Things

My real-life friends Chilihead2 and Marsupial Mom tagged me, so here goes.

Seven things I hope to do before I die:
1. See all four of my children grow into adults who love and serve God.
2. Publish a novel, or maybe a children's book.
3. Spend an extended period of time in England.
4. Learn to play the guitar.
5. Start my own business making something creative.
6. Be skinny again.
7. Learn to quilt.

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Step away from the chocolate.
2. Eat seafood. Don't even want to be in the same room with it.
3. Look good with long hair.
4. Be quiet.
5. Resist a really great bargain.
6. Sit still and watch TV. I have to have my hands occupied doing something, usually folding clothes.
7. Be in a boat in deep water and maintain a normal heart rate.

Seven things that attract me to my spouse (This is a tough one. Not to be a cheeseball, but there are so many reasons I'm crazy about this man that it's hard to narrow it down to seven):
1. How brilliant he is! Smart is sexy.
2. How much he makes me laugh.
3. His shoulders and arms.
4. The unbelievably tender side of him that he shows to no one outside the kids and me (sorry, Honey, you’re outed).
5. His amazing handling of conflict. I have learned so much from him!
6. His unbelievably vast knowledge of useless trivia. (Well, not entirely useless—he rocks as a Trivial Pursuit partner).
7. His rock-solidness (is that a word?). He is an anchor to so many people, including me.

Seven things I say often:
1. My friend (as in, “Nice try, my friend,” or “hang in there, my friend.”)
2. Onward and upward! (I seldom say this aloud, but I say it in my head all the time. It's sort of my own personal little pep talk.)
3. Hurry up! I say it so often I'm thinking about having it tattooed on my forehead, actually.
4. Break it up. Break it UP. I SAID, BREAK IT UP!
5. By the time I count to five….
6. Be a problem solver.
7. I love you from the top of my heart to the bottom of my heart and all the way around the middle. (This is what hubby and I say to each child when we tuck them in at night).

Seven books or authors I love:
1. The Bible
2. C.S. Lewis
3. L.M. Montgomery
4. Harry Potter series
5. Agatha Christie
6. Alfred, Lord Tennyson—a poet, not an author, but oh, I love him.
7. Mark Twain
8. Jan Karon
9. Audrey Woods (children’s author)
10. John Steinbeck
11. Jean Plaidy
12. Madeleine L’Engle
13. Sandra Dallas.
I know, that’s more than 7. But it’s my blog, so there.

Seven movies I could watch over and over again:
1. The Sound of Music
2. Steel Magnolias
3. Moulin Rouge
4. The Butcher’s Wife
5. My Fair Lady
6. Chicago
7. It’s a Wonderful Life

Seven people I want to join in this “Seven Sevens” meme:
Since I am the last person in the entire blogosphere to do this, I'm not sure who to tag. Anyone who wants to, jump in, and leave your name in my comments section.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

Best gifts of the season!

These pictures won’t do it justice, but I still had to show off the amazing Christmas gifts my brother’s wife made for our children. About a month before Christmas, she asked me to have the kids design their own “creatures” on regular typing paper, without telling them why. Then I mailed the drawings to her. She turned their creations into stuffed pillows—exact replicas of what they drew! The kids were so thrilled with them—they were among their very favorite gifts. Now every time the kids make a drawing, they ask if they can send it to Aunt L for another pillow! She’s considering turning this into a little business, and I think she should, don’t you?

Each of these photos shows the finished product next to its original drawing.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

I needed this today

Ran across this and thought I'd share it with you:

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ‘ere the day is half done;
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
--Annie Flint

Annie was a woman who deeply understood God’s power being made perfect in our weakness. You can read her biography here, and you can read some more of her poetry here.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

What I did (and did not) accomplish today

DID ACCOMPLISH:

Made five of these nifty little burp cloths for a friend who just had a baby:

After birthing four children, all of whom spit up with such force and quantity my husband swore their heads would start spinning around, I finally invented the World's Perfect Burp Cloth. I hadn't had a sewing project in a while, and it felt good to be at it again. Here is the finished product, all packaged up ready to give:

Also, my real-life friend Chilihead and I spent most of the afternoon messing around with Blogger templates, formats and fonts. Actually, she spent most of the afternoon doing this; I sat next to her and ate pie. Here is Chilihead at my kitchen table, with both our laptops. I guess that would make those her Chilihands:

You may notice I have a new look on my blog--I'm not crazy about it, but I sort of saved it accidentally. Now that I've learned a little more about experimenting with it, I may have an evolving look over the next several days. You might want to bring your sunglasses when you come to visit.

DID NOT ACCOMPLISH:
Dishes, laundry, or anything else valuable to the well-being of my family. Oh, well. At least I had pie.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

If you are what you eat, then I'm fast, cheap and easy

I do NOT like to cook. I don't hate it, and certainly I gain some satisfaction from meeting the needs of my family, but I cannot relate to people who spend hours experimenting in the kitchen or watching Food Network. (Confession: I have never watched an entire cooking show in my life.)

Now, I'm not a terrible cook. I'm fairly decent at it, actually, especially when it comes to finding shortcuts and easy methods (I will do anything to minimize my time in the kitchen). So if you ever see a recipe on my blog, you can know that it is, in fact, fast, cheap and easy.

A friend asked me for this coffee cake recipe, so I thought I'd post it here. It comes courtesy of my grandmother (I proudly come from a long line of women who like simple recipes):

COFFEE CAKE
Mix together with electric mixer:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, mix together and reserve:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Pour half of cake batter into a bundt pan. Sprinkle generously with half of brown sugar mixture. Pour remaining cake batter into pan. Bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes. When cool, remove from pan and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*