Friday Forget Me Not

These Friday Forget Me Not posts will be posts about random things in our life that I do not want to forget. Funny, I was trying to go to sleep last night and the idea popped into my head for it. So here goes : )

Several months ago we were at the bank with Silas (3) and Jachin (10 months). There was a lady there smiling and admiring the boys. We went out to our van ahead of her and while we were putting the boys in their car seats she said: "Make sure you cherish these days! I miss them...my boy is in Iraq, and now all I have in my backseat is a mop!" I looked in her backseat and sure enough there was a mop : )

Wednesday night December 15, 2010, was an eventful service. Jachin was grouchy in his usual "Let me go play" mood, he was NOT wanting to sit through the service. I put him on the floor and was trying to keep an eye on all of the children. Vaughn said, "My nose is bleeding!" It was. Silas was wigglly and squirming, so I grabbed his hand, told Vaughn to go to the bathroom and bent down to find Jachin, who was quickly scooting away towards the back of the church. I snagged him and we all headed to the bathroom. When we got there I wiped Vaughn's nose, and looked inside, and there way up inside was something green. "It's probably a boogy" I thought to myself (yes I think in child talk haha). Lo and Behold he had put a bead up his nose...." Now how in the world am I supposed to get that out?" Well, he made it suprisingly simple, he blew and it went flying across the bathroom floor. Whew, bead crisis avoided!

After the service we made up the Christmas treat boxes for Sunday. While we were all involved with that (including our children) Silas lost his coat. We looked for 20 minutes...and we have not found it yet. I really think he was laughing inside....and he doesn't remember where he put it. (Of course!) So he had the honor of wearing my coat on the walk over from the church, he cried all the way. I was stuck between feeling sorry for him, and laughing that he was that upset about wearing my coat...with a little "Well that's what happen's when you lose your coat thrown in" : )

I get through motherhood by talking to myself and laughing and complaining to little old me.Silas wearing my coat...doesn't he looked traumatized? : )

These are a few things that I don't want to forget!

All I want for Christmas is.....

I love giving gifts at Christmas....it is my way of showing people I care. I enjoy shopping and getting gifts I think (hope) family and friends will enjoy. But this Christmas (like many before it) we don't have much $$$ to give great gifts. I find myself reaching out for something in the store, only to pull my hands back empty *you don't have enough money for that Crystal*. This has happened umpteen times this year, and the one day I went shopping with friends, I got only what was on my list, and still felt like I over spent.

I found myself trying to find a balance and really remember what is the real reason for Christmas. I remember as a child there were Christmases where we had very little...nothing under the tree. And the wonder and joy I still felt when allowed to make home made decorations for a little tree we found in the woods, and the suprise and gratefulness when neighbors brought over beautifully wrapped gifts for us. I am not sure just where all the pressure comes from to have gifts for my children...myself, the media, family? But it's there. I have even visited the blogs of large families to see what they are giving their children, and used that as a guide line for what we are giving our children. I also realize our lack of finaces has spurred me into greater creativity to make Christmas memories. We are starting some family traditions, which are important and where true memories are made. I don't remember many gifts as a child, but I do remember the times we spent together, that is what made a lasting impression on my child heart.

So I find myself asking myself....What do I want my children taking away from this Christmas season? Do I want them giving me their long list of what they want....and them knowing they will get it, or do I want them learning to love one another and cherish the memories we create together as a family, something they will take with them long after the toys are broken and forgotten.

This year we have made a few memories I already cherish.

1. Dancing to Christmas music. We had so much fun, being goofy, cute, graceful (even romantic as I danced with my hubby) we had so much fun dancing in the living room to the light of the Christmas tree...together...a family.

2. Making Christmas cookies, making a mess together, a family.

Realizing that memories are much more precious than gifts...something very special I can give my children. When I consider it all, I realize I already have the best gifts anyway...and the best gifts I can give are free.

Fall 2010

Emmaus

What They Don't Know Won't Hurt Them!

In Fact it might even be good for them : )

Jonathan is away hunting, he left this morning at 4:30, and like a good wife I stayed in bed out of his way haha. He got his own breakfast and his lunch and everything he needed ready all by himself like a big boy. I know, I am not real supportive, especially if it means getting up at 4am ughhh. So, I am home alone with 5 children and we decided to fix a nice breakfast. We had carrot pancakes, which they quickly ate, then we made Green Eggs and ham. I blended the eggs, some carrots and spinach together in the blender and walla, we had green eggs. I was wondering how I was going to convince them to eat my concoction when Karagen excitedly said " Oh Mommy, your making green eggs! You have to add some ham too!" Thankfully Jonathan had brought some lunch meat ham that worked nicely, the children helped me break it up and put on the griddle. THEY GOBBLED IT UP. LOL.

So it just proves that sometimes what you don't know won't hurt you....and this is true in so many other ways as well. The older I get the more I realize there are some things in life I would rather NOT know, and this is funny because I used to be pretty nosey.

Have a great day everyone!

Ordinary Day

Today has been a pretty good day. Jachin got me up around 4 times during the night, and Jonathan as well since I sleepily elbowed him to "get the baby." It is unusual for him to wake up that much through the night and I figure he is growing, so my day started with a too much interrupted sleep headache. Have you ever had one of those?

The day can be catagorized as good because of several things. #1 Jonathan helped me clean the house this morning. I know many people have their house cleaning down pact, but I sometimes feel like I fight a losing battle against laundry and dirt and dishes. So when Jonathan helps me get a handle on it, it is so wonderful! # 2 We went on a date. It was not highly romantic (can Wal-Mart and Bob Evans be classified as romantic ? : ) Of course when you are with the one you love haha. We had a very nice date, we stopped at a little second hand store and then went and ate, then off to our biggest spending place-Wal-Mart.

Who watched the kids? Well God has really blessed us with a christain neighbor. Her name is Rose and she has become a very dear and trusted friend. She is always checking on us and bringing us things and listening to us when we have something we need to talk about. She is so unique and so precious. We love her to pieces even though we have only known her for a short while. After Emmaus went on the bus at 12pm we went on our date so she only had to watch Silas and Jachin. And when we got home at around 4pm. Jachin was in his booster seat smiling and cooing and she was grinning too. A welcome sight for me!

I am hiding right now. I came into the study and closed and locked the door so I could blog. I have a little buddy on the floor, he is amusing himself by pulling apart old tapes. Anything to keep this Grumblebug happy.

Thank you to those of you who have followed at my new blog, I so appreciate your comments and want you to know that I really enjoy reading your blogs as well. I will make a point to come and see what you have been up to lately.

Relax, It's Sunday

Ugghh is there anyone out there who tries to keep the sabbath like we do?

I TRY to take a day off from work and end up with a HUGE pile of dishes, and any way is it really possible for a pastors wife to RELAX on Sunday?

One thing that has really helped me is to tell myself to relax, to focus and worship rather than worry and fret over all that needs to be done. The Lord is helping me on this one! I have to really work to pay attention to the message, participate with my heart in the worship service and not be distracted by umpteen million things during prayer. You see, this pastors wife is still a work in progress : )

Funny Friday

A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'
A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two
groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its
recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:

1.. No one but their creator understands their internal logic
2 The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model...

The women won.
Authors note: I Love my model!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Vaughn 5 (while singing in church) We were singing He is Exalted and Vaughn was singing "He is exhausted" at the top of his lungs, I was cracking up!

Silas 3 (Jonathan had stepped outside and was talking to a neighbor, Silas went to the front door to see what his daddy was doing; "Hey what is Donathan doing?"

Emmaus 4 (she came into my bedroom while I was nursing Jachin to sleep) She said "I came in here with you to get some peace and quiet!" Apparently 4 year olds need peace and quiet too : )

Karagen 6 (She was singing in the back seat of the van while we were driving around our new area) I wrote it down:
"We're living in a new town, we have a new house. Oh we are living in this town, it's a little town, but we can still have fun. When it's my birthday, I'm going to get a new bike, Oh ya, Oh ya!

Join in the fun and link up for tiny Talk Tuesday!

Funny Friday

I'm Rich, I'm rolling in dough!

I'm rising to the occasion!

My cup runneth over (er, my bread pan)

If only $$$ was this easy to make : )

Can you think of any cute captions to go with the dough picture above?

I said I do

Adventures of a Pastor's Wife #1

I said I do to my preacher husband. A bit naively I might add. I had NO idea what adventures and interesting things I would experience being the wife of a pastor! I have been married to a preacher (in the making) for 8 years (we were married while my husband was still in college for ministry) and we have been in active ministry for 5 years with an unplanned but God sent 2 1/2 year sabbatical. We have just returned to ministering this past August and it feels overwhelming good to be back in the ministry. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! And honestly in the very early years I learned some hard lessons and had my share of embarrassing interesting moments. (Still do: ) I wish to share with you the joys and heart aches I experience as a pastor's wife. I hope you will find it interesting!
Here are a few things that have happened in the last month here at Henderson Maryland. These things are true and told from an honest and humble heart. I have changed some of the names for the sake of privacy.
1. I washed a young man's feet.
I heard the children talking outside the front door. They know they are not to go around to the front of the house so I went to remind them to go play in the back yard. There he was, over 6 feet tall holding a can of Mountain Dew in his hand. He had ratty jeans on and a dirty white t-shirt. The children were all gathered around him and when she saw me, Karagen came running up to me and said "Mommy, his feet are bleeding!" I looked and sure enough they were. He had walked from his house to mine, up and down the road some and who knows where else in his pitifully clad feet! He had socks on, but they were tattered and torn and dirty and bloody. He was shaking, his whole body! I found out through a neighbor kid that his grandmother had told him not to go outside and that he did not want to listen to her, so she took his shoes and he went out anyway, without them! I had him sit down on the porch and he sat there whimpering. By now I realized he wasn't all there, was precious in God's sight. Meanwhile we were trying to figure out what was going on and finally did. I went and got our first aid kit, a kind neighbor lady brought rubber gloves and my husband brought a bowl of water. His feet were filthy, blistered and bloody. My heart was crying inside for him. While I was washing his feet, his grandmother came over in her vehicle, got out and yelled at him. We saw what was coming and sent the children into the house as quickly as we could. Here is what she said: "You see George, you are just trying to get attention! Are you happy now that you have everyone babying you? Look at all the trouble you have caused!" I tried to calm her down, but she kept on. Finally when she had said her peace, I told her we understood and that we would finish his feet and then my husband would drive him home. She left in a huff and a cloud of gravel dust. I finished his feet, washing them and cleansing them while he shivered and whimpered in pain. After his feet were cleaned he limped over to the van my husband had pulled around for him and Jonathan took him home.
2. I shared the gospel with a hungry soul.
Shelly is a sweet and open soul. She loves to talk and is honest and outgoing. Right away she and I "clicked". I love when that happens as it is so much easier to talk to someone when it does! We were having trouble getting our children enrolled in school due to lack of proof of residency. She is a substitute teacher at the elementary school and offered to take me in and help me get them enrolled. She drove me in and then made some phone calls and took me around to several different places to complete the paper work. After several hours she brought me home and when we were in front of the parsonage I asked her quite bluntly if she was born again. She was very honest and told me no, then asked me what it meant. We talked for several minutes and then I went into the house. I did pray for her and hoped that she would soon make her decision for Christ. That night (unknown to me, but not to God!) she went home and she and her 9 year old daughter asked Jesus into their hearts! I take NO credit for this; the one who gets all the credit is Jesus! And then sweet Ellen, an older lady who is Shelly's neighbor and also attends our church) and asked her for 8 months to come to church and then, that very day I talked to her in the car, Ellen gave Shelly a Bible with the sinners prayer in it! That was the prayer that Shelly and her daughter prayed. I will never forget Shelly asking me "You mean I don't have to get saved in church?"
3. Connecting with people on a new level.
I have never experienced letting my light shine in quite the way I have here. I seem to have endless ways to let it shine, without ever saying a word sometimes! Today while Jonathan and I were in Wal-Mart (on a long overdue date) we met a manager in the outdoors and hunting section. And she lives just a few miles from us here in Henderson, drives past our house on her way to and from work, and knew right where we lived. She has had a hard past and she opened up to me! Wow!
We have a lot of Spanish people around here. So much so that the elementary school has several interpreters and our little church even rents out its building to a Spanish group that meets here 3 times a week. We have a little neighbor boy Eswardo (spelling?) and he is here all the time quite often! We have been able to minister to that little boy a lot! I have sent over homemade muffins for him and his family and he loves to play with our kids.

I love the adventure of being a pastor's wife; it adds so much zest to my life. It also keeps me up on my toes and down on my knees, and always… always with a prayer in my heart!

If you could only hear what Im thinking

I am glad you can't!

I am so glad people cannot read my mind! Although sometimes I wish they could, just ask my husband. *wry grin* Here are some things I have thought:

We went to the beach last Friday, there were people laying out in the boiling HOT sun.

My thoughts:

You can go home and lay on your couch or your lawn, when you're at the beach, shouln't you be in the water? (it would be cheaper, as you have to pay to get in here)

And besides...don't you know the suns rays are extremely harmful and cancer causing??

Today while in the mall we passed a Victoria Secret, and then here online reading an interesting article on Kangaroo Care for preemie babies.

My thoughts:

Can someone please tell these women to go home and put some clothes on?!

And, why when I am reading about babies...so innocent, do I have to be subjected to half naked ....I mean 95% naked women (in advertisements)?

Women, you sell yourselves too cheaply!

Tonight after a long day:

My thoughts:

Do I really have to make dinner? Again? What is the easiest meal to make? Ok, fish sticks sound good, and let's see, how about (homemade) mac n'cheese and I'll throw in some canned fruit salad to make it healthy.

Today when a neighbor was talking to my hubby and kids.

My thoughts:

Crystal, go over there and talk to her!! She will not bite you!

Today while nursing Jachin in a fitting room in JC Penny's

My thoughts:

This is so easy, no bottles, no hassles, just pull up the shirt and lunch is served! : ) Hmmm this just seems wrong it's so easy!

Tonight

My thoughts:

Is it bed time yet?

Right now:

My thoughts:

I wish this mouse would work better....is anybody reading this? I have to go switch the laundry, put away the food, wash dishes....thank God the children are winding down to a movie! I am so glad Jachin is sleeping!

Every day:

Oh, they are so cute, where's my camera?

There you have it, a window into my mind...hopefully you are not too enlightened! Have a wonderful night everyone! Or day, or afternoon or whatever. Smile, it makes you sweet face look better : ) I am, oh wait, no I'm not.

Laugh Out Loud!

What have we been doing?

A Day at the beach! Friday August 20, 2010

No she is not eating sand here : ) Emmaus eating her lunch.

Jachin and Emmaus. Jachin tried to eat the sand lol

Karagen sat and stood watching the waves come in ALL day. She had a red back to prove it!

Vaughn loved going into the water with Jonathan.

Silas playing, he was a literal sand man, and I gleefully called him that : ) by the time the day was done, he was covered, I mean covered in sand!

Vaughn playing in the sand.

My sister Michelle and Jachin, we three adults took turns holding him under our umbrella while the others enjoyed the water.

The first beach we went to was deserted and had icky water, so we drove another 30 minutes and found a better beach. Jachin was not sure what to think about the wet sand.

Playing in the sand, they loved it!

Under our makeshift beach umbrella, we used our large rain umbrella and Jonathan attached it to a pole we brought along.

We have been so busy, and today for the first time since we have been here I have nothing I have to do, although I might add, I always have something to do (you know what I mean).

Here is some of what we have been up to. Our activities include (but are not limited to), painting, going to the beach, the circus, enjoying our new home and we started a new school year. We had been seriously contemplating homeschooling but we decided after much prayer and discussion to send our children to our local school.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

We played a little game today while Jonathan was painting the living room and I was nursing Jachin. The children were sitting on the couch, which was in the middle of the room. Since we were all together and I was bored, I started a game of what do you love about_______. We went through each family member and said what we loved about them.

Karagen: (about me) I love your sparkly teeth and your blue eyes. I love your freckles! (ya, I love my freckles too...insert a lot of sarcasm) lol

Vaughn: I love your sparkly teeth, ( he said that to everyone as he was being lazy and didn't want to think about it)

Emmaus: (about daddy) I love daddy because he is so special! I love daddy because he is so sweet!)

Silas: I don't like anybody. lol

1000 Gifts

Amid the chaos of a family of 7, chaos that really starts to wear on me after supper. Fussy baby, crying children, running, yelling laughing, talking. The sounds I have heard all day and patiently listened to. But at the end of the day, I just want quiet, I want space, I want to be alone.

In the midst of my craving my heart looks up, to Him and I can't help but remember the times He looked up. He stole away to the quiet, to His refuge, His father. If Jesus had to do this...so do I! So here I am, Lord....feeling empty, strung out and sigh.....tired. I am looking up, amidst the sounds of the family, I am turning to you, taking THIS moment to thank you once again for ALL you do for me, for ALL you have given me, for what you have not given me. For EVERYTHING. When it seems like I can do nothing else, I can thank you.

I do not thank you enough.

16. A wonderful home, that is home because of those who are in it.
17. The dishwasher running, I have the dishes done, and I do not have to wash them all by hand.
18. For a husband who is painting our living room and has been all day.
19. For our dinner of leftovers.
20. For the 5 precious children around it, even the one who was SO grouchy.
21. For all the bags of groceries the Denton church gave to our family today.
22. For being able to open our home twice yesterday and serve you through hospitality.
23. For the strength to get to the very end of Sunday with just enough energy.
24. For always being there, to listen to my whispered prayers and my pleas for wisdom.
25. For faith.
26. For being ALL I need.
27. For little ones who still need me to comfort them.
28. I am never alone...it's a good thing!
29. Those glass doors with the finger prints all over them.
30. For your Word that gives direction and guidance to me.

Funny Friday

At the head of the line was a large pile of apples and a note was placed in front of the apples. The note read:

"Take only one, God is watching."
Further down the line was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies...
A note written by another:

"Take all you want, God is watching the apples."

We are Here!

Just HAD to add this picture of Jachin: ) He is helping me unpack!

Thankful Thursday:

Some random things I am REALLY thankful for:

1. We arrived safely last Tuesday with no accidents and no mishaps.

2. Our children have SO much room to run and play *I have to beg them to come inside*

3. I am very comfortable with our new church family.

4. We have a former pastors wife as a very close neighbor, and she has brought us produce from her garden and has already become a friend.

5. My husband is in his element and his preaching is so different from what it used to be, he has really grown in the last few years we were out of the ministry.

6. I refuse to be lonely or depressed and God is helping me focus and train my mind and heart to take all my needs to Him.

7. We have decided on no television, it is expensive and time consuming, and has a negative impact and influence on our children. *We are still watching good movies so we are not depriving our children : )*

8. We have a wonderful pianist in our little church *something I really appreciate because our last pastorate had no pianist and it was hard!*

9. I have great views out of every window.

10. God has proved Himself true to me, and I can see that the last few years of trials and hardships were not in vain. This is perhaps what I am most thankful for.

11. I am also thankful for each one of you, my friends through blogging, for your prayers and great comments, I have really missed interacting and am glad to be in touch again : )

Moving and such

Finally decided on a title for my personal journal blog. I can come here and pour out my heart and share what's really going on in my heart and life with no worries of what people may think or say.

I am really getting excited about moving, and as I see our belongings being packed away and the wall of brown growing it is really starting to hit home how in just a few short days HOME will be in Henderson. Another wild adventure and experience with my sweet heart Jonathan. We are going to be pastoring again, what a privelege! This week I am choosing to focus on what we will be gaining and trying not to feel overwhelmed with the changes and busyness of everything. I believe we have been able to anyalize and determine what we need in order to thrive and succeed in our new home. By God's grace I pray it will be so. There is only so much you can know and plan, but we really did try to look at the area, and what we knew to make sure our family could flourish there.

Friday we will be going to Vaughn's doctors appointment with the developemental specialist, hopefully they will be able to tell us what exactly is going on with him. I really think it is Attention Deficit, he has a lot of troble focusing and paying attention. Although I do not like the idea of medication, I really think if there is a medicine that could help him in those areas we will at least look into it.

We are still a little undecided about whether or not to home school. I really want to, but I see benefits of public school as well. I do not want to shelter the children too much, nor do I want to not shelter them enough. you know what I mean? There is such a fine line, and our children are treasures from the Lord, and my number one goal is that they grow up to love God and serve Him with their whole hearts. To serve Him whole-heartedly, not half heartedly!

I have really been praying that God would increase my love for Jonathan and help me to not shut my emotions down. I have really FELT in love the past few days and have been really trying to connect and share with him. Physical contact and kissing really helps in this.

I am also trying to connect with each of the children daily, as I have seen in their behavior that they really need time and attention. Their world is being dismantled and torn apart. And while it may not be tumultuous, it can give them a sense of turmoil. God give us wisdom and grace and patience.

Packing... A Family Affair

Even with all the packing we are still having fun! One thing I have wanted to make sure is that we still spend time with the children even though we are super busy. I have been letting them help, and they have really helped! Karagen has written on the boxes, which helps her practice her writing skills, they have folded, wrapped, cut, taped and worked to fit things into boxes which helps them with problem solving and hand eye cordination. We have enjoyed our packing experience.

So farewell dear friends, we will be turning off the computer for the next few days and packing it away. I am not sure when we will be getting internet service in our new home, but you can be sure I will be back to blogging as soon as I can!

We are packing the truck Monday August 2, and then driving it to our new home on Tuesday August 3. We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers while we move and get settled!

Funny Friday

First of all there is a great give away over at Finding Joy, you can go HERE to check it out.

And second of all here is my Funny Friday Post. I am keeping it simple because I am so busy packing! We have set our move date for August 2. Only 1 full week left. Yikes! I hope you get this joke : )

My sister and I went for a ride, we saw this posted on a phone pole. We had a good chuckle from it!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

I absolutely love doing Tiny Talk Tuesday, and I know when my kids are grown I am going to read what they have said and chuckle. Tiny Talk Tuesday just warms my heart!

Here's some quotes from my Tiny Talkers (SMILE)

Karagen (she's 6) "Jachin is the best baby."
And since she knows I am writing down what she says: "Today is going to be a bootiful day, you have to say something nice to go in the notebook", Then when she thinks I am done writing the bossy sister returns: "Silas, drop the book!"

Vaughn (he's 5)
"The princess worked and worked, then she turned into a frog!"

Emmaus (she's 4)
She got stung by a bee last week, here is what she was telling me:
"Bees should only sting flowers!" "I stepped on a bee and the bee stinked me."

Silas (he's almost 3)
He was talking to Emmaus: "You're a bad dirl, I not a bad boy!"

Miscellany Monday

I need to be random today, umm, make that maybe for the next 3 weeks!
1. We are Moving!
We are going to the Henderson Maryland church to pastor. I am nervous, scared and still in a state of shock!

2. We have moved 8 times in 8 years.
Yes I am complaining, just a little ; )

3. I have a very messy house right now.
We currently live in a small double-wide trailer and it is now full of empty boxes waiting to be packed and some already packed. I have really streamlined our "stuff" while we have lived here, but when there is 7 of us in this small space...well you get the picture, but in case you don't here's an actual picture of some of my mess. *embarassed grin*

4. Everyone wants to see us now that we are moving. Not that is isn't nice to feel wanted, or whatever. But I have so much work to do!

5. I really need to go pack! Do I have to? (WHINE!!)

6. I have let my baby play with paper because he likes it and it keeps him happy.

This may make me a horrible mother, I will especially think so if he has paper in his poopy diaper.

I have to go clean, pack, take care of the children, nurse the baby, cook dinner...oh ya, you don't want my whole list do you?

If you would like you can click on the links below and join in the fun!

Have a great day everyone!

Ultimate Pancakes

Ok, ok, before you yell at me for just posting recipes let me share with you that I have been on the look out for several PERFECT recipes. I have been searching for the perfect from scratch brownie recipe, and for the perfect from scratch pancake recipe. I think I may have found the perfect from scratch pancake recipe. I would love for you ladies to try it out and tell me if you agree. I received this recipe from our hostess during our trial sermon trip last weekend. She made these Monday and they were...well PERFECT! I could tell they were different this morning while I was mixing them and pouring them onto the griddle.

Easy Sweet Milk Pancakes
1 tbs. sugar
2 tbs butter (melted)
1 egg
1 cup sweet milk (I used 1 cup milk with 1 Tbs. lemon juice and 1 Tbs. sugar, so I had sweet buttermilk, let sit for one minute)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
4 tsp. baking powder
Mix dry ingredients together. Beat egg and milk together. Add butter and other ingredients to your dry ingredients, and mix well. Cook in frying pan or griddle. These will be light and fluffy (I promise!)

*One trick I do is I pre-heat my griddle to 350, after pouring the batter on I raise it up to 400. As soon as they are done I turn the griddle back down to350 while I remove the pancakes and re-butter the griddle. I do not burn my pancakes this way.
*For those of you who like to use wheat flour, I doubled this recipe and used 1 cup white and 1 cup wheat.
* I doubled this recipe and got about 15 good sized pancakes from it.
*You can also substitute the butter for oil, or shortening, whatever you have on hand. If you do so you will lose some of the buttery flavor.

Granola Bars

Chocolate Chip and Roasted Almond Granola Bars Recipe from Candace Creations

1 cup peanut butter (I just guess..I probably do a bit more..so decide if you like your granola bars more moist and chewy or more dry and crumbly when adding PB)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup Honey (or corn syrup if you don't have honey)
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats
1 cup cereal (honey nut cheerios, chex, honey bunches of oats, rice krispies...whatever you want)3/4 cup wheat germ (better to have, but sometimes I'll leave it out if I'm making them gluten free for my sister)
4 tbsp ground flax seed (optional)
3/4 cup toasted almonds (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 inch baking pan

(I line mine with foil because it's easier to take the bars out and cut them up.)Mix first 5 ingredients together. Then add the oats, wheat germ and ground flax (optional). Stir in chocolate chips, almonds and cereal.Spread mixture into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. the let cool.
EASY PEASY! ENJOY!
You can switch these up to make whatever kind of granola bars you like...add dried fruit, different nuts, whatever!
I melted my chocolate chips for a little different texture (it kind of tasted like no bake cookies) I also ommitted the cereal.

Granola

Here is my favorite recipe for granola!

15 cups oatmeal or whole oats

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup honey

5 Tbs. butter, melted

1 cup oil

2 cups water

3 TBS. cinnamon

2 TBS molasses

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Raisins (to be added after you bake the granola as they tend to burn very easily)

Pour dry ingredients into large bowl and mix thoroughly (I let the children help, they love to mix) Combine all wet ingredients and mix in with the dry ingredients. Be sure to mix thoroughly!

Pour into large pan or 2 9x13 pans bake at 300 for 50 minutes, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely, for several hours at least!

*Hint: Measure your butter and oil first before the honey and the honey will come out of the greased cup easily.

Add other ingredients you may enjoy, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, just be sure to add dried fruits after baking.

This mixture keeps for weeks.

I will serve this in the morning to the children, I cook it like oatmeal, add the raisins and serve with milk, they love it!

You can also use this in my Granola Bars recipe in place of the oats, simply omit the sugar.

This makes a lot but keep in mind it keeps for a long time, our family has no trouble eating it up!

Recipe adapted from Wendy Jeub