Other happenings

I just realized that I've neglected to share one VERY exciting event - our daughter is now potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd been working on this for a couple months now, and she'd do OK for a day or so and then just lose interest. We'd tried talking about it, losing privileges, etc. but she just wasn't having any of it. Well, about two weeks ago I decided to try the bribery route and bought a big pack of juicy fruit gum. Couldn't hurt, right? Well, as much as she wanted that gum, she still didn't want anything to do with the toilet. But then last Thursday - completely out of the blue - she announced she had to go potty. And she did (and yes, she asked for gum when she was done :). And she's had only one accident since (and that was in the bathroom, as she had just waited a bit too long). So here's my little ham with her sparkley Little Pony undies. I'm sooo excited to be removing diapers from the shopping list, especially since everything else has gone up in price - need to stretch those bucks!!

The pic of our son? Well, that's just because he was jealous after I took pics of his sister, and he wanted to show off the cool book on road signs we got from the library. He's really getting into the non-fiction stuff (and I've been eyeing up books on China for when Daddy goes on his marathon business trip).

I was also thinking that it's been a long time since I've shared a recipe. I had some seriously ripe bananas to deal with on Monday, and decided I didn't want to make my standard banana bread. I pulled a promising one off of allrecipes, and tweaked it to come up with this. I baked it in a bundt pan, but there's definitely more of a "bread" feel to it. The kids like it, so I guess it's a keeper :)

Banana Snack Cake

1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 small, ripe banana, mashed
1 c flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars, then add applesauce, eggs, vanilla, and bananas and beat until well blended. Add remaining ingredients (except for chocolate chips) and beat for 1-2 minutes. Stir in chips, then pour batter into greased pan and bake at 375 for approx 40 minutes.

I guess that pretty much brings you up to date on life around here. Still plugging away. And can you believe that Easter is this weekend?! Still need to pick up a few small items for the kiddos. As we've been talking about the story of Easter, our son is still a bit confused about the whole death and resurrection concept, but does seem to understand that Jesus had to die for our sins. Difficult ideas for a little mind to comprehend!

What's up?!?

First off, I just want to thank everyone for their prayers. We've definitely felt them over these past several days. What a blessing to be able to rest in the arms of our Savior.

We had some beautiful weather over the weekend, so I've been reassured that spring really is coming :) We were able to play outside and I even grilled. Today is gray and dreary, so it's time to do laundry and some more sorting/purging.

Hubby made it safely home, and things are returning to some degree of normalcy. He's back at work, of course, but thankfully is off on Friday so we're definitely doing some sort of family outing thing. Also need to figure out what we're doing for our son's 5th birthday, which is coming VERY fast. I had held off on planning anything until we knew hubby's travel schedule - it now looks as though he won't be leaving for China until April, so we're going to try to squeeze in a little party.

In other news, our friend who was hospitalized last week does seem to be improving, although they don't have a lot of answers yet. Sadly, on Sunday I learned that another friend has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully it's early and the doctor is very optimistic, but obviously it's still difficult. I'm still doing a lot of praying.

Finally, I'd like to share a bit more from the book Naked Fruit, this time about spiritual growth.

"God tills the soil of our lives until we begin to grow qualities that resemble his nature. By his interest and effort in us, we grow into holy orchards. By our own efforts, based on our own natures, we'll grow fruit of the flesh. It might be nice, but it won't look like Jesus. It won't be naked fruit. Our best efforts won't grow godliness, because the fruit of the spirit comes forth only from godly seeds... Our job in spiritual growth is to cooperate with the gardener."

Elisa Morgan goes on to explain what cooperation looks like: we're receptive, we endure pruning, and we stay connected. Kind of reminds me of something another famous person once said:

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." ~Jesus (John 15:1-5, NLT)

Guidance

When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
And everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
Both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
Or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
And attentiveness from one person
And gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw "G": I thought of God , followed by "U" and "I".
"God, "U" and "I" dance."
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
That I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

(received in an email from a friend)

Checking In

Just wanted to say hello. We're doing OK - the kiddos are officially on the mend (and quite literally bouncing off the walls). Dad's funeral service is today, so my mind is definitely elsewhere. There will be a service out here in a few weeks, so thankfully I'll be able to get to that one.

Things continue to be crazy, though. One of my great aunts passed away earlier this week - that's four family deaths in two weeks. Nuts, I tell ya. And a good friend of ours is currently in the hospital - he was diagnosed with pneumonia last week but it's not improving, was scheduled for a biopsy, and then was hospitalized yesterday afternoon.

So I've been praying a lot. Reading the word, and trying to focus on the fact that God is in control. My feeble human mind may be spinning, but He is sovereign.

Oh, and the flowers? They're from our church family - and can I just say that family is definitely the right word. They've been such a blessing! And the flowers are a lovely bright spot... our son was SOOOOO excited when they were delivered yesterday. He spotted the deliveryman walking up to the house, and started shouting, "There's a party coming!" How can you not laugh at that exuberance?!?

Blessed Be Your Name

Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say:
Blessed Be the Name of the Lord...

You give and take away,
You give and take away,
My heart will choose to say
Lord Blessed Be Your Name

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. Psalm 62:5

Hard Day

The past 24 hours have been crazy. Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from my SIL to tell us that my hubby's Dad had been taken to the ER. A couple hours later, she called back to say that he was going to be admitted for some further testing, but it didn't look like it was a heart thing. A few hours later, he was gone.

This was totally out of the blue, and I don't think it's really "hit" any of us yet. My hubby is now on a plane, heading to Arizona. The kids are still not healthy, and our son is continuing to run a fever so taking them along and/or leaving them with others really wasn't an option. Present plan is that he'll fly home on Monday. Please pray for the entire family - we're all in shock, and simply focusing on what needs to be done. This next week - and many more after - are going to be hard.

Here are a few pics:

Back in his bachelor, air force days

And here he is with Mom on his lap (taken at our rehearsal dinner, June 96)

Meeting our little girl (9th grandchild) July 05

And hanging out with his crazy kids (June 06)

Good-bye, Dad. You'll be missed.

I'm ready for spring!!

Yet another round of sickness here at the D house. Our daughter was feverish and took a SIX hour nap on Thursday (and has napped every day since). She hasn't had a fever since Friday night, though, so she's definitely on the mend. By Friday afternoon, though, I was feeling "off." Saturday I felt like I'd been hit by a mack truck - every bone in my body ached, fever (complete with shaky bad chills), and just general misery. Felt a bit better by yesterday afternoon, but my fever went up again last night. So far today I'm feeling achey and congested, but generally better. I'm so thankful that my worst days were over the weekend so that my hubby could take care of the kids. Our son woke up with a fever this morning, complaining that his arms and legs hurt, so guess I'll be tending to him today. Man, I'm ready for this dreary winter (SICK) season to be over!!!!

I'd love to say <-- this is how I looked this weekend, but I'm afraid this --> is closer to the truth :)