Chapter Two - Feminine Appeal

Some of you asked me to post some more of the book I've been reading called Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney. This week I read chapter two, which is about loving our husbands. This book is definitely written for married women, or those seeking marriage. Very practical and convicting advice given here! Here's an excerpt from chapter two:

"Like a pebble tossed into a pool of water, awareness of our sinfulness generates a marvelous ripple effect in our marriage. Here's how it works: The more we understand the sin in our hearts, the more we appreciate the patience and mercy of God; and this, in turn, produces an attitude of humility and mercy toward our husbands."

"Our gracious God delights to honor our obedience. As we seek to prize, cherish and enjoy our husbands, He will freely fill our hearts with love and affection for them. this will happen regardless of your circumstances. God's grace provides all that we need to love our husbands. In fact, God lavishes us with grace!"

Encouraging words! I can easily say that I love my husband, but am I honoring God by unselfishly loving him? God loves us with such patience and forebearance...do we show that same love to our husbands...our children...anyone? Or do we more often think only of ourselves? I know I was convicted by her words...but encouraged at the same time.

More next week from chapter three...

First Day of School

Aw, the first day of school...such fun! Everyone is excited, motivated and ready to work at insanely early hours of the day! Yep, it's a good day. But, give it a week or so, and things will be more "normal" and not quite so exciting. :) Today went well, and everyone finished early.

Lizzy also had her first gymnastics class this afternoon, which she enjoyed very much! She learned how to do a handstand and a cartwheel and is looking forward to going again to practice!

Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Louie

I haven't posted any pictures of our kitty in a while...Louie is about 15 weeks old now and getting pretty big! The kids really enjoy playing with him and he's turning into a really nice cat! He's quite tolerant of the kids, and likes to be held and carried around. :)

Why does time go by so fast?

Is the summer really almost over? As our first day of school looms alarmingly close (next Monday!), I keep wondering "where did all of the time go?" It was filled with lots of fun stuff, but it sure went by quickly.

This week we've been getting our curriculum all ready to start school and trying to get the house organized. I just finished a good book called Deception by Randy Alcorn. It's a mystery, and Christian fiction! It was very good, and now Nathan is reading it too. I read that book for a ladies book club I've joined...should be fun. We'll read one book per month, and then meet once a month to discuss them.

I also just started reading Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney (of the Girl Talk blog) and it looks excellent! Here's an excerpt from chapter 1, that I read yesterday:

"Our conduct has a direct influence on how people think about the gospel. The world doesn't judge us by our theology; the world judges us by our behavior. People don't necessarily want to know what we believe about the Bible. They want to see if what we believe makes a difference in our lives. Our actions either bring honor to God, or misrepresent His truth."

I really like the way she states that. People in the world are watching us to see if we are consistent. Are we living in such a way that people can say "they practice what they preach?" Or are we saying one thing, and doing something else completely. Are we living in the world or of the world? Only God can give us that grace to obey His word. Carolyn Mahaney goes on to say:

"How sobering it is to realize that our behavior has the potential to discredit the gospel. But how exciting it is to think that we can actually commend the gospel!"


Food for thought!

Have a wonderful day!

Another good recipe!

Here's another easy recipe! I found this one in a Kraft Foods magazine. It's a low fat version, and my family loved it! I used whole wheat fettuccine noodles, and you can add some chopped chicken if you like! Enjoy!

Easy Fettuccini Alfredo

16 oz fettuccini noodles ~ 6 Tbsp parmesan cheese

2 ½ C chicken bouillon ~ ½ tsp ground nutmeg

8 tsp flour ~ ¼ tsp pepper

2/3 C Neufchatel cheese ~ 2 Tbsp parsley

¼ tsp garlic powder

~Cook pasta. Combine broth and flour in a large pan, stir in neufchatel, garlic powder, parmesan, nutmeg, pepper and parsley. Cook stirring with a wire whisk until mixture boils and thickens. Toss sauce with cooked pasta and serve.

Friday

Happy Friday!! :o)

Today I went and picked up my wedding ring at the jeweler's. The diamond had broken off last year, and we finally took it in last Saturday for repair. I'm SO glad to have it back! I had the diamond set down lower in the setting, so hopefully it won't break again (that was the second time it had broken in our 18 years of marriage).

Only one more week until we start school...hmm...not quite ready for that yet.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Half Moon Bay - August 12-13

Kenny surprised me for our anniversary (August 12th) by reserving a room at a bed and breakfast (Cypress Inn) in Half Moon Bay for Sunday night! I didn't find out about it until Saturday evening. He had arranged child care for the kids (thank you to Megan, Jessica, Jane and Katy) and made a reservation for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Moss Beach Distillery. We had a wonderful time just hanging out together, and even though it was short, God blessed our time together. Enjoy the pictures!


This first picture was taken while we were taking a long walk near the beach on a walking trail. We walked for about 1.5 miles on the trail, and then came back on the beach. Very nice!

This one was taken at the restaurant. We had a great window seat with a beautiful view of the water!

And sunsets over the ocean can't be beat! This was taken from right in front of our bed and breakfast.

Humphrey's on the Delta

We tried a new restaurant today called Humphrey's on the Delta in Antioch. We won a gift certificate to this restaurant a few months back when we attended the Grand Opening of Eskaton (which is the new place where Kenny's Mom just moved to in Brentwood). Anyway, we went there today for lunch to celebrate our 18th anniversary. We were sitting at the table right next to the one on their homepage picture. :) Right by the window...we saw lots of boats going by and had a delightful lunch.

We'd recommend it!

Recipe

I've always enjoyed Stef's recipes, so I'll post one of my own! I found this recipe while at my parents' house, and it was a hit with everyone!

Ortega Fiesta Bake

2 lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 C chopped onion

1 1/2 C salsa

1 1/2 pkg taco seasoning

1/2 C water

1 can corn, drained

2 small cans sliced olives, drained

2 pkg corn muffin mix

2 C shredded cheddar cheese

1 large can (7 oz) diced green chilies (I used a 4oz can to make it less spicy)

• Preheat oven to 350. Cook beef and onion. Stir in salsa, taco seasoning and water and cook over low heat for 5-6 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Stir in corn and olives. Spoon into greased 9x13 pan.

• Prepare batter for corn muffins according to package directions. Stir in cheese and chilies. Spread over mixture in pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until topping is done.

Makes a nice, large casserole that easily will serve 8-10 people. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Raccoons

Tonight we enjoyed watching three raccoons frolicking in our backyard. Two of them were rolling all around playing like cats, making funny clicking and squeaky sounds. Then a third one came running in and broke up the game. Interesting animals. Our kitten Louie was quite fascinated by them, and our old grouch cat Belle wanted to go out and fight them. :o)

Too bad the kids were in bed, because they would have enjoyed the half hour of raccoon wrestling.

Have a good weekend all! Tomorrow we will finish straightening up our garage. Cleaning it is not the proper term, as it will NEVER be really clean..but hopefully somewhat in order by tomorrow evening.

Ta ta!

Nothing new

Nothing much is new here...just a quick post to say HI!

For all of you stargazers, there will be a meteor shower this weekend!! There will also be a lunar eclipse coming on August 28! Lots of excitement.

The last time there was a big meteor shower, we pulled the mattress off our sleeper sofa and put it out on the driveway. Blankets and pillows completed our viewing arena...a fun evening for the family!

Long time....

Hi all...sorry for the long delay in posting! Our internet filter has started blocking Blogger for some reason, so I finally had to temporarily disable it to be able to post this!

We have been busy here...today we washed all 21 of our windows inside and out! Big job, and they were so dirty. We hadn't washed the outsides in years...literally YEARS! I've also been trying to get our school stuff organized and ready to go. We don't start until the end of the month, but it takes a while for me to get it together!

Nathan painted his room this weekend too; it looks pretty good and he did it all himself. One wall is dark blue and the other three walls are tan. I think he's happy with it!

And...today is my Mom's birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We love you, and hope you had a wonderful day!

Hope everyone has a good Sunday tomorrow! I will try to post again sooner...even if I do have to disable the internet filter to do it! :o)