Under His Wings

I have been craving Beef Vegetable soup with pasta rings for a LONG time! It was a family tradition as I was growing up. Both of my grandmas made this yummy soup. I sure do miss them!!!!!!!! I purchased some beef on sale at a local grocery store. I found the rings on sale a few weeks ago. One of my dear friends bought me a stock pot for Christmas, so today I was ready to experiment. The recipe I based my soup can be found here http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1648,134173-243199,00.html Here's my version Beef Vegetable Soup with Pasta Rings Beef Coating 1 lb. beef chunks (I used round roast cut up in little pieces) 1/4 c. flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. garlic powder Cut beef into small chunks. Put flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder into zippered plastic bag, add beef, shake to coat. Soup 1 tbsp. oil 3 cans of beef broth (I only had 1 can of broth, so I just added 2 cans worth of water) broccoli stalks finely cut baby carrots, sliced if desired add any other vegetables if de...

December 29, 1999, will be a day I will never forget. It was the day I gave birth to my second child, Gabrielle Renee. It was a beautiful, but scary day. We had known since August that she had a fatal condition called Anencephaly. My dr. wanted me to end the pregnancy. He saw no need to carry the baby when she had no chance of surviving. Her brain and skull did not form. There was no surgery or procedures which could save her. Tim and I stressed to him that we felt we had no right to end her life. What if the doctors were wrong? What if God chose to heal her? As it turned out, God didn't chose to heal her, but He did give us 14 1/2 special hours with her. Her neonatalogist thought she may only life an hour. She surprised us all. She was able to be fed 3 times. She was alert, but quiet. The only time she made a sound is when the nurse was giving her a bath. We all laughed about that. My parents were there to share in the special time too. That meant the world to me! I got to thinkin...

Picture this...3 excited children waiting patiently for Daddy to show up with the movie camera. Soon the bright lights appear blinding those 3 anxious children as they dash down the stairs to their awaiting mom, grandparents and most years great grandma. Later in the day, the smell of ham permiates throughout the house. The family gathers around the kitchen table that has been moved to the living room. Pistachio salad, olives and pickes and soda are among the Christmas menu favorites. Fast forward 30 years.... those parents along with the 3 children now adults in their mid 30's to 40 with 3 grandchildren gathered around a now smaller table in the living room. Some of the same favorites are on the table along with some new ones. The gifts are opened now in the early afternoon instead of early morning. The conversations are now focused on childhood memories and thoughts of the future. It was so wonderful having my parents, brothers and I together today for Christmas. It is...

I went on a Christmas shopping adventure today. I'm honestly not much of a Christmas shopper. I leave most of it to my wonderful husband! I did find some neat treasures for my family and friends. I found a crock pot plus a recipe book (at a different store) for about the same amount of money I would have spent on just the crock pot itself. I'm looking forward to hearing about the neat concoctions my friend will come up with. She loves trying new recipes and her crock pot she has been using has a broken knob. I thought it would be a perfect gift for her. I bought my other friend a nice blouse. I found it at a store she likes to shop and doesn't get to very often. I know this will look pretty on her. At the same store I found my husband a pair of gloves he wanted which was selling about half the retail price. I did mess up a little bit though. In picking up a gift card for my dad, I looked at the picture and not the greeting. "Happy Birthday" it said....

4 years ago I joined my local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. I spent 4 years as a "MOPS mom" and this year I am a "MOPPETS" worker. I have been watching the babies. It's been so much fun. Although last time I was alone and I had 6 babies screaming at the same time. That was stressful. Through this group, I have met many wonderful friends. I haven't really had the opportunity to visit with them too much the past few months, so I was glad to get an invitation from the MOPS coordinator, Carrie to go Christmas caroling in our friend Laura's neighborhood and a party at Carrie's house. I took my 2 younger children with me. I wasn't sure how they would like caroling. Other than a few incidents of Nate hiding his face in my coat and Anna's feet getting cold. It went well. It was nice hearing some really great harmony as our small group sang. Nate requested to sing Jingle Bells at least 3 times. We only sang it twice though, At the...

There's no place like home! I guess that phrase has gone through my mind a lot watching the Wizard of Oz the past few days, but it really means to me that there's no place like the house I spent nearly 24 years living in..the place where my parents have lived since 1972. Looking out the back door I remember sitting under the big Maple tree and writing in my journal. I also spent hours back there playing baseball and kickball with my neighbors and sledding down our next door neighbor's hill. One year I hit my face against a tree. Going up to what is now my mom's craft/computer room I reminised formulating many hopes and dreams for my life. In the living room, I remembered all the Christmas dinners that we had with my mom's parents, my dad's mom, my great grandma and grandma's aunt Emma. Looking out the front door while waiting for Jason to show up, I became sad looking at my grandparents' house. Memories there could fill another blog entry. I rea...

Growing up, my dream was to have a little girl I could do "girl things" with. Today I could fufill that dream as Anna and I went to a church bridal shower together. I remember going to showers with my mom growing up. Anna joined in the "hot bouquet" game like all the adults. It was a hot potato/musical chairs mixture of a game. Anna actually won! She looked beautiful as she posed with her purple bouquet :) She won't be the next bride as she is not even 6 yet. I love having boys too. Don't get me wrong there. I enjoyed watching my oldest son this morning playing football. Today's shower brought back many wonderful memories. Many of the same ladies who were there today was at my own bridal shower 13 years ago. The lady who introduced my husband and I was sitting right next to me. She was the organist for our wedding. Anna told me on the way home from the shower that she enjoyed going with me to have some girl time together. It's just ano...