Technology stumps me

I used to be a bit of a techno geek but since God's blessed me with a wonderful husband and five wonderful children, I have no clue how to do those techie things!! That said, I have a great picture of Kristinie the Great on my camera and can not get it onto my computer via bluetooth, though the manual assures me that the steps I took would do it. And the help section online from MS windows ALSO assures me that I have done verything correclty. The computer sees my phone - my phone sees the computer. But they are not communicating. Maybe my computer is mad that I spend so much time with my phone; or my phone is mad that the computer is mad; maybe they are both just mad at me. At any rate, it is obviously an  OE (Operator Error). So when I can figure out how to get those photos off, I will post them.

I know the problem, though: Bot the phone and the computer are not team players. While there is no "I" in team, there is a me!! But they don't get it.

A Long Week!!

I am thankful for Saturday!!! God has blessed us with good health for the past year. Unfortunately last week, we were afflicted. Well, 3/7 of us were afflicted, to be exact!! Kristinie the Great, Beatrice, and Lindsay all had the flu. Thankfully, it was a pretty mild case and now all that's left is the coughing. I am praying they heal quickly with no pneumonia or bronchitis.

We also started doing lapbooks last week which was a lot of fun. We are going to learn about the missionaries our church supports. Our first missionary we learned about was Paul Hitz and his family. They are missionaries to Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, near the North Pole. And No, they don't know Santa Claus. The children have really enjoyed it and this week I will try to remember to post pictures of them working on their next missionary. We want them to see what missionaries do and the environment they live in. Who knows? God may call them to be missionaries someday and it would be great for them to be prepared!!

On another note, sometimes people don't disappoint in their ability to continue in their destructive behaviour. Though I am a cynic at heart, I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt but last week I saw firsthand that some people don't realize they are the  problem and all they care about is themselves. As long as I am trying to be a part of the solution, that's all that matters, though!!! That said, I have been a part of the problem at times!! :) I thank the Lord for a gracious God who promises in Hebrews 12 to discipline me when I need it and sometimes I need A LOT of it!!

My Grandma Hansen

When I was young, my Grandma Hansen would make us - my brothers, cousins, and me - Norwegian pancakes. I did not eat "regular" pancakes very much - in fact it took me about 8 years to actually learn how to make them properly!!! Ha - And I still don't care for them very much. I decided I needed to buckle down and make Norwegian pancakes for my family!! I was very excited about the prospect of pulling out my 12 inch cast iron skillet and whipping up a batch. Well, it did not go as planned. See, Norwegian pancakes take a bit of practice, if you are not an expert cook (which I am not). For all intenstive purposes, they are a 12 inch crepe. And you need a long, thin spatula to turn them. The heat has to be rather high and you have to work rather fast!! I had no problem with working fast and rather high heat. It was the whole finesse thing I had troubles with!! After much work, I did get a dilapidated batch made. My family was not impressed and complained. I did not give up making them, but decided to wait for a better day. About six months ago, that better day came. I had told the Lord the one thing I really wanted to do was make breakfast for my family. And He has helped me to get up most mornings (when my alarm is working properly) to do this. One morning I decided to make the pancakes for my family. And voila! They came out great. And they were very excited and loved them!! And now, that's what they want every morning for breakfast. It's a blessing to see my children enjoying a meal that brings back so many memories from my childhood.

Now, we don't eat them like Grandma Hansen served them. She had an assembly line and you had to be ready to have your pancake thrown on your plate, and eaten, before you next turn. If your turn came around, and you were still eating, you didn't get a pancake. Which explains why I was so thin as a youngster. I was a very slow eater so about every third turn I would get a pancake!! I am rather boring in my way to make them. I pile them on a plate and the children grab them from the plate after they are all made.

Here is the very simple, very easy recipe. In our family butter is the only staple. I have never tried to make them with margarine so if you do try, let me know what you think.

2 cups flour
3 cups milk
2 eggs

Blend together until very smooth. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, on a medium high heated 12 inch pan (nonstick will work too) treated with butter, hold pan off burner at slight angle. Pour 1/4 cup batter in pan near top edge and swirl around quickly to cover bottom of pan. Slice a teaspoon of butter and place on top of pancake (this is really important for a cast iron skillet, not for a nonstick one, though). Wait approximately 2 minutes, until edges begin curling slightly. Using long thin spatula (DO NOT try this with an offset spatula), carefully slide under pancake near center. Lift up and turn over. This is the tricky part - putting it back in the pan properly. Once this is done, wait about 15 to 30 seconds. Lift out of pan and place on serving platter, or serve immediately.
Fillings include, but are not limited to: sugar (#1 favorite growing up and in our house), jelly/jam/preserves, nutella, bananas, eggs, cinnamon and sugar (Our cousins eat this way). Put any of filling about 1/3 way down pancake all the way across. Roll up, cut, eat!!

Enjoy!!!

New Year, same old, same old

My goals this year have not changed from last year. I am like Paul in so many ways. I keep "this one thing I do, forgetting those thing where are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:13b-14) This doesn't mean I work for my salvation. No, I already have that. But I do keep pressing onward, not looking back, whether on my failures as a reminder of the sinner I am, nor resting on my laurels, building myself up rather than God. I must look forward to what God has for me; for my family, for my church, for every person I come in contact with. My life is a mere vapor, a distant memory: Only what I do for Christ will last.

Now don't get discouraged thinking I have no plans!! I have plenty of those!! Be a better Christian, a better wife, a better mom, a better cook, a better cleaner(this one needs LOTS of work!!), a better everything!! But this hasn't changed from last year, or the year before. It continues the same old way. I get excited for the new year every year because I keep thinking I am going to grow up and mature but I am always disappointed!! I thank the Lord He is in control and not me because He loves me just as I am!!

Peer Pressur

From one of my friends' blogs, my only follower, (Thanks, Erica!!) I can see it's been a number of months since I've posted on here. I feel peer pressure to begin again as so many of my friends seem to keep up with the memories of their lives this way!! I, on the other hand, have too many memories to remember, but thank the Lord He has given me five precious children and a wonderful husband to care for me.

Peer pressure is an interesting thing, isn't it? My husband and I have made a commitment to the Lord that he, my husband, will run our home in accordance with Gods' standards and I will follow. I can't say I am the best follower but he, my husband, is a great leader. He really takes care of us the way God wants us taken care of. I thank the Lord for that!!!! Well, what happens when you meet someone who does not agree with that hierarchy? God, husband, wife, children? What if they think that the wife should be in charge? Whether it's the child, the wife, OR the husband? Well, the voice of experience, says, there's going to be trouble. When I choose to obey my husband, which always leads to security and safety, someone is not going to be happy!! And so it is. Someone is unhappy that I have obeyed my husband. Well, I hope they get over it because I am going to keep obeying my husband. Of course, when I told my husband, he said, "OK, I got it. Not a problem." Thank the Lord for my husband!! :)

Blanket troubles

I finally thought I figured out the best way to get Kristinie the Great, 18 month old, to give up her blanket to be washed. I let her put it in the washing machine and shut the door. Well, she shut it and then started hollering after it was shut in and the washer started. I shut the accordian doors to our laundry area and she laid on the ground outside yelling, "ba ba! ba ba! Mama! ba ba!" It was returned, to her delight, clean and fresh smelling about an hour later. It was a long hour, though.

Beaisms

We celebrated Taylor's birthday after church last night and it was supposed to be a surprise. Well, at dinner, Beatrice, 3yo, kept talking and mentioning "part" throughout her conversation. I discreetly ignored it. Our son, Robert, 7yo, decided to try to stop the train wreck. He finally said, "Bea!! Be quiet. It's supposed to be a surprise!"; to which Beatrice replied, "Wobert! I know it's a soopwise!! I'm not going to tell Daddy we're having a party after church tonight!!" Taylor sits between the two of them so it was hard to ignore the heated dialogue. Needless to say, he figured out he was having a birthday party at church.

Beatrice and I were resting in the recliner this morning and she looks at me and yells, "MOMMY! I'm not married to you!"