Sunday School

August 2010



We have VERY MUCH enjoyed our 11th grade Sunday School class and we were sad to see them move on to the 12th grade class this month.

I feel like we've had a great time, we've learned alot and we grew pretty attached to our small group...

We averaged about 4 or 5 kids each week and were able to really get to know them.

We attempted to go on a Ski Trip with some of them and then actually MADE IT on a ski trip with one... We saw one rise up and accept the call to ministry... We saw one get baptised alongside his entire family when his little brother accepted Christ... We saw another baptised when she realized she had never taken that step in her walk...

We didn't know what to expect when our new batch of students arrived this past Sunday.

 We were in for a surprise!

I knew we were getting a few really great kids because I knew some of our 10th graders and I was excited to see them coming...

What I didn't know was that we'd have SO MANY!


August 2011



Please pray for us this year as we try to reach and teach a larger group of kids. Pray we'll have the discernment to teach them the lessons they each need this year (even when we're not IN class).

Thanks for any and all prayers :)

Clever or Captured?

Thanks to the rain, we've had roses once again this Summer :)

And the Black Spots are still on many of the leaves :( I keep clipping the bad leaves off, but they keep coming back. I am hoping it will clear up when I prune the bushes in the fall.

But this week, I spotted something new on one of the bushes...

Do you see it?

At first, I thought it was some sort of white fungal growth on that one leaf...



No...

It's a spider!

And all I could think is "Did he mean to be in there?" 

WEEDS!

It has been one hot summer and I haven't pulled weeds in ages....

I know that weeds will spread if not kep in check, but I've NEVER seen them like this!!!

Anyone know a good weed poison?

And if we can't kill them off, I guess it won't be all that bad.

They are kinda pretty :)

Chicken Tenders, take 2

As promised, I tried the chicken fingers again and they were much tastier!

This time I marinated them in Italian Dressing... they ended up soaking all week because we weren't able to cook them on Monday... or Tuesday.... ok we didn't cook them til Saturday, but shhh I think it helped :) and I used garlic salt instead of plain salt so that helped, too :)

I also made the potato wedges again...

much to Wesley's delight: 

While we were baking this weekend, Brad finally made some more bread! It has been forever since we've had any rolls... and he got kinda fancy with it :) They're still just as delicious as ever :) 

Fun with Food

I have been experimenting with new recipes over the summer. I know when school starts again I won't have time to go through all this trial and error so I am hoping to find a few keepers that I can add to our dinner time rotation. If you have any ideas, be sure to send me the recipe :)

In keeping with our current Chocolate and Peanut Butter theme, I made devil's food cupcakes and topped them with Peanut Butter Frosting.

I needed a big batch of bite-sized food for a church social and these were a big hit. I somehow managed to have leftovers to bring home, but they didn't last long!

This next one isn't really "new" but I thought it was sweet.

We were having a really full weekend recently and Brad said he'd make dinner. We didn't have a ton of options on hand so he whipped up one of my personal favorites: Chocolate Chip Pancakes! Yum!

 

And since we had Bisquick on hand, I thought I'd see what recipes the box had to offer. Sure enough, there was a recipe for Chicken Fingers :) Since I don't fry and don't intend to learn, this was right up my alley. I will say this first attempt was pretty bland, though, so when I try again I'll spruce it up. Right now I am marinating some chicken in Italian Dressing so I'll let you know if THAT turns out better :) Oh, and on the side we had Ranch Potato Wedges :) Easy Peezy and kinda pretty, too!

Now, for my last New-Thing-To-Attempt, I tackled Chicken Pot Pie. I've never made one myself so I consulted a few people with more experience :)

I should preface this experience by saying that all-told it took me about 3 hours!

First, I made a Martha Stewart pie crust because I'm a glutton for punishment...

I also made a Bechamel Sauce Base to cook my veggies in (and to add my cooked chicken to).

I've tried to make this sauce many times before...and my results usually look more like gravy, but this time I had tremendous success!! I was so proud of the sauce that I almost forgot it wasn't destined to be Alfredo this time :)

And when Brad saw it, he immediately declared, "We need to make pasta again!! That was so good!"

So, a fun side note about the vegetables. I put "frozen stew / soup veggies" on the grocery list thinking Brad would grab the mixed bag of potato chunks with carrots, etc from the freezer section. He couldn't find those so instead he grabbed one that is designed for soups and maybe even gumbo...

I've never had a chicken pot pie with tomatoes and ocra, but it was pretty good :)

We decided next time we'd just do crust on top because having it on the bottom ended up being too much... But if we do the same crust recipe we'll have half for the pot pie and half for a dessert pie :)

As for this first attempt at a pot pie, I'd say the end results turned out beautifully!

Reese's Pie!

For Father's Day, Wesley picked out a delectable pie and dessert book (by Martha Stewart, no less!) So as part of that gift, I told Brad to pick any pie and I'd make it :)

He surprised me by flipping past all the fruit concoctions... and we almost settled on Coconut Cream Pie (Wesley's favorite)... then we spotted it and it was love at first sight.

Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie!

I had recently had delicious success making these peanut butter brownie cookies so I thought I could handle this :)

One look and you'll want to try it, too.

See what I mean?

Here you go, I'll save you a step:

RECIPE

First, I gathered my ingredients and made a Wal-Mart run.

Then, I donned the very flattering chef hat made by my adoring husband and set to work.

I knew I'd have no trouble with the chocolate crumb crust... We didn't have the exact type of cookies it called for, but I improvised with these. The substitution made beautiful crumbs in my food processor.

After baking and cooling the crust it was time to mix up the yummy filling.

The trouble started when I realized it really does matter if the cream cheese is at room temperature. It never would get what I'd call "fluffy".

After I got the cream cheese to an acceptable consistency, it was time to add the peanut butter. I called Brad in to help with that step so we could test out his other Father's Day gift (see photo). It worked like a charm and was easy to clean up, too!

My next problem occurred with the recipe being written by Martha Stewart :) The first part of the filling has to be mixed by a mixer... the second part also requires a mixer and a chilled bowl... Ug! I had to clean up the sticky peanut butter goo with hot water and then chill the bowl in order to whip my cream.

Somehow, I bypassed the "soft peaks" phase and went straight on to cool whip. If I knew that would happen I would have just bought a tub and skipped that step!

Just look at it!

After I made cool whip, I was supposed to whisk it in batches into the peanut butter mixture.... Well since my cream cheese wasn't warm, that mixture wasn't light and fluffy. It was like whisking into regular ole peanut butter! Not easy!

Not surprisingly, the end results looked nothing like it did in the book - but it sure did taste great!

And despite having to wash my mixing bowl in the middle of the process, I still wound up with a ton of dirty dishes after I was done.

I was going to write this whole process off and never make the pie again ...

Then, as I looked for images to use in the blog, I spotted these.

Hmmm...

Ah ~ Romance :)

Wesley has been out of town visiting his grandparents so it seemed like the perfect time for a date with my hubby. And I must say we crammed a LOT into this past Saturday!

We tried on various glasses styles at the Wal-Mart vision center... And walked away empty-handed, unfortunately.

Then, to replace our rusted and broken fire pit, we picked out a beautiful new chiminea :)

 Next, we headed to our little Thai restaurant. I had been eying their wonderfully ornate mirror and thought a self-portrait was a good excuse to get a picture of it :)

Sadly, the picture doesn't do it justice. In the daylight, it twinkles with tiny gems. It's really, really something to see!

After dinner, the one thing Brad has been longing to see was finally spotted along the highway.

The blueberry sign was out signifying that it was time to go get our first bucket of berries!

And even though I had tried to dress cute for our date and it was 95 degrees outside... we picked blueberries! Thank goodness I keep a hair band in the car for just such an emergency!

I have to say that's the weirdest thing I've ever done on a date, but Brad was so excited and we had a great time.

I'd love to hear from my 5 readers. What's the weirdest thing you've done on a date?