Mom's kitchen

I have been staying at Mom's for the past week. We have been visiting, catching up and cooking. When at my Mothers one always ends up spending more time in the kitchen than in any other room. Mom has the best kitchen. It is big and spacious, a lot of cupboards and counter top space, her windows are ALWAYS open in the warm seasons and the quiet breeze floats in and mixes with the aroma of the almost always baking something-or-other. The best of these aromas is Mom's "Black devils food cake". The cake may have a naughty name but it is certainly delicious.

Fruit, Fruit, Fruit

We are a fruit-loving family. At this present moment, I have two brimming fruit bowls in my kitchen. They are holding ten pears, seven plums, six nectarines, and two kiwi. In the fridge I also have four pounds of strawberries, two handfuls of blueberries, and at least a pound of grapes. Sitting on my kitchen counter top is a bunch of bananas and an uncut cantaloupe. Oh, yeah. For a second I almost forgot the 13 lb box of navel oranges!

Okay, so that is an unusually high amount of fruit- even for us, but it does give you an idea of our weakness for members of the fruit family. I think that our eyes are actually bigger than our stomachs, especially in the Summer, because they are in season, easily accessible, and cheaper; and so we buy, buy, buy, and I always stress about our not being able to finish them before they rot. Thankfully, they do not all ripen at the same time.

Quotes of the Week

If you don't understand how a woman can both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. - Linda Sunshine

Maude: Ahh... Sisters. I have five of them. In our family the line-up is: Brother, Sister, Sister, Maude, Sister, Lizzi, Brother, Esther, Brother & Brother (twins). So I am sandwiched on both sides by sisters. Growing up I was closer with some sisters than others at different times in my life depending on my age but they have all always meant the world to me.

A Few Quick Moving Tips

I've moved around 20 times in my adult life so I feel that, on this subject at least, I am something of an expert.  I wanted to share some moving tips I've found over the years:

* Put all your cleaning supplies in a box that is left open and isn't packed until last.  Use your cleaning supplies to clean your apartment before you leave and your new place before you move in.  Always include at least one roll of toilet paper, some handwash and a towel (or paper towels) in the cleaning supplies box.

Friendship

C.S. Lewis in "The Four Loves" talks about friendship. He was a man known to be surrounded by deep friendships that he treasured. He was sad by the lack of deep friendships seen in the society around him. He writes of friendship in his book "The Four Loves" he says, " To the Ancients, Friendship seemed the happiest and most fully human of all loves; the crown of life and the school of virtue. The modern world in comparison, ignores it... How has this come about? The first and most obvious answer is that few value it because few experience it. And the possibility of of going through life without the experience of is rooted in the fact that separates friendship so sharply from both the other loves. Friendship is-in a sense not at all derogatory to it-the least natural of loves; the least instinctive, organic, biological, gregarious and necessary. It has least commerce with our nerves; there is nothing throaty about it; nothing that quickens the pulse or turns you red and pale. It is essentially between individuals; the moment two men become friends they have in some degree drawn apart from the herd. Without Eros none of us would have been begotten without Affection none of us would have been reared; but we can live and breed without Friendship. The species, biologically considered, has no need of it. The pack or herd-the community- may even dislike and mistrust it."

Looking Above

Today I am tired and world-weary. Life would be so pleasant if every situation was clean and there was an unanimous consensus about how to handle it. We could all give a wave of "ayes" or "nays" and then go out and get coffee or pick flowers together. Instead, we get down in the muck and mire of daily living and we get messy in the process. What we had hoped would be so clear-cut becomes a confusing, hurtful battle.

This morning as I struggled to make sense of one such situation, I envisioned myself deep in suffocating mud, gasping, searching for an escape. When I got my head out of the thick oozing mess, I was able to inhale deeply and look toward the pure oxygen of the heavens, toward the only One who could offer direction. The bible verses that brought on such an illustration are Colossians 3:1-4. They encourage me to set my mind on Christ and the things above, not to focus on what I am dealing with here on earth, but on Him and His goodness, and the hope of heaven.

Camping

For the first time, my husband and I went camping together last weekend. I enjoy camping but haven't done much of it (he, on the other hand, is an avid outdoorsman) so I wasn't sure how it would go...

Turns out that we LOVE camping together! We had such a wonderful time and want to do it more often. We set up our tent together, made bacon and eggs for breakfast, went hiking and swimming and made sure we got icecream cones on our way home. It was a blast!!

The only thing that wasn't fun was getting sunburnt (teaching me the importance of sunscreen!). I hope we get to go camping several more times before it gets too cold. And the cold comes much too early in Minnesota!

*I wish I'd taken pictures but didn't - next time!

Sisters chat (Food)

Each Friday we will post an entry in which the four of us will talk about different things. We hope that you enjoy getting to know us better.

Today Katharine will not be able to join us in our sister chat :(
Esther: So, when thinking of what the topic should be I just kept coming back to the same thing

FOOD!
Who doesn't love food?
I must really love it since 2 out of 3 of my blogs have been about them
Lizzi: awesome!
Maude: Sounds like a yummy topic!
Lizzi: yeah!
Esther: I think our family did food well
I have SO many good memories surrounding food
I think food brings people together it is a way to share and welcome people in
So, to get started I thought I would explain about our special "birthday meals" and we could each share what we would "pick" as our meal
Our Mom really did birthday's well. And one of the special things she did for us on our birthday is that we got to pick what meal and dessert she would make; it could be anything we wanted!
Maude: We've already mentioned our little brother's pick in an earlier post! Obviously, it it was an important part of our childhood.
Esther: Absolutely!
Maude, what was your most common pick of a birthday meal and dessert? Would it be the same today?

A Week Without Children

Due to a writing deadline being moved forward unexpectedly to correspond with another deadline, my husband and I dropped the kids (3 years and 1 year) off with Gramma for the week.  After a headache of a drive where Gramma's car (with the children in it!) broke down and where our 14 hour drive turned into a 17 hour drive, we arrived home to an empty house.

It is quiet now, sad actually.  Is this what it was like before they were born?  Of course, we were living in a smaller apartment back then but this house feels unnaturally still.  Is this what it is like for empty nesters?

Biblical Parenting

http://www.gfchazleton.org/ministry/the_book.htm
I am reading "Shepherding a Child's heart" by Ted Tripp for the second time. I first read it when I was pregnant for my little man. Suddenly this book has taken on a whole new meaning. I am now living out what this book is talking about. When I read it before I was preparing to be a Mother, now I am one. Those are two very different places to be. When I read the book before it all sounded like such a good idea and oh-so simple, right? Wrong! Living an unselfish life and putting someone else's needs before my own is never easy.