Simple baby dress

I had so much fun making this first baby outfit several months ago.  I gave it to one of my friends who had her fourth little girl.  I used Simplicity pattern #4243.

I bought material at Walmart and did snaps in the back since I'm a beginner sewer and have yet to master the technique of doing button holes and zippers.  I have a new babylock machine and am excited to keep learning the many techniques of sewing.  With three babies on the way in our family, this pattern may come in handy in a few months. There's also a pattern to do boy outfits as well, so I'd better get practicing just in case!

Filling our minds with the right things

It's always encouraging to be reminded of good things every day, isn't it?  Not too long ago, I found some window clings at the dollar store.  There were several in the package, and each one had lines on it so that you could write your own message on it with a dry erase marker.  My husband was on a retreat that weekend, so I thought I would surprise him by putting these up on our bathroom mirror.  I wrote encouraging and sweet notes to him and he loved it!  It's been fun, too, because he's surprised me back by writing things to me on them.  I've lately written Bible verses or phrases to hymns on them.  It's been an awesome thing to look at them while we're getting ready in the morning.  I love Philippians 4:8 which says,

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;  if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." 

God wants us to think on right and pure things.  The Bible also says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."  So, if we're planting Scripture in our hearts and minds, it's going to come out in our actions and words.  But, if we're planting things that are not right, those things will eventually come out, too.

What other ways can we encourage others and be encouraged in the Lord? I thought of a few other things that will get you excited:

1.  Place Scripture verses anywhere and everywhere in your house.  You can buy some in frames already, or you can print some out and frame them yourself.

2.  Write encouraging notes to your spouse and children on their mirrors in their bedrooms/bathrooms, on a little piece of paper for their lunch, or even a special card and treat hidden under their pillow.

3.  Use the time while you're getting ready in the morning and cooking to memorize and meditate on Scripture.  Write down verses on 3 x 5 cards so that they can be easily posted.

4.  Use audio cd's and Christian radio programs to listen to godly music, Scripture and sermons.  Your entire family can take part of this during a quiet time of the day.

Baby Moses, the Red Sea and Manna

We absolutely love our jr. church kids.  For the past few months, Q and I have taken on the responsibility of running the 4 and 5 year-old jr. church, along with two other adults.  We've been going through lessons from the life of Moses.  We usually have them do a coloring sheet after the lesson, but every once in a while, we try to think of things that are different that they can do to help them remember what they've learned. 

For the first lesson, "baby Moses", we made clay babies wrapped in a basket and placed on a little blue sheet of paper that represented water.  Each child got one color of clay for the basket and another color for the baby.  They really loved these and they all turned out so cute!  

When they learned about the crossing of the Red Sea, my husband had the kids act out the story.  One group of kids were the Israelites, another were the Egyptians, and the last group was the Red Sea.  When Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the children who were the sea, moved aside to let them go through. But, when the Egyptians started crossing, the sea "captured" them and wouldn't let them go.

We like to give the kids a snack during the last part of jr. church, so on the day that they learned about manna, they actually got to eat some.  Well...it wasn't exactly manna, but we thought it was pretty close!  They got to enjoy frosted corn flakes as a special treat that morning.

As we continue to work our way through the life of Moses, we may have more ideas on how to make the lessons come alive.  I'll keep you posted on more things as time goes along.

A special little something for our missionaries

Our church has recently been "flooded" with thank-you notes from our missionaries.  Not too long ago, we sent each missionary family a small package. Inside was a DVD that had church members talking to them, telling them how they pray for them.  A sermon and special music was also a part of the DVD.  Some ladies in our church also got together to make jewelry for the missionary wives, so those were also included in the package.  I'm sure it was a great surprise for them to receive this right before Christmas. It may have been small to us, but it was a big blessing to the families who received it.

Has your church ever done anything like this?  If not, this is a neat idea to get you started on letting your missionaries know how much you care and pray for them.

First snow cookies

When I was newly married, a friend of mine told me of a tradition that she and her family did every year, and I thought it was a great one to share with all of you.  She said that on the first snow of the season that she made "snow cookies" to enjoy with her husband and kids.  They enjoyed eating these right out of the oven with a cup of hot cocoa.  

I thought of it earlier this year, and today it actually snowed!  (We had a little wet snow for a little bit the other day, so I didn't count that as a real first snow).  It's been coming down pretty much all day and it looks so beautiful outside.  You can make any kind of cookie, but I decided to make traditional snow ball cookies.  I'll be enjoying them with my husband and a couple teens we're having dinner with tonight.  Here's the recipe I used:

Snowball Cookies

1 cup soft butter

6 Tbsp. powdered sugar

2 cups flour

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. water

1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

Mix ingredients together then shape into balls.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.  After they have cooled, roll them in powdered sugar.  This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen snowball cookies.

Turkey Enchiladas

Are ya still eating Thanksgiving dinner leftovers like we are?  I found a new recipe out of Healthy Cooking magazine from Taste of Home.  I was able to use most of our left over turkey meat tonight with this recipe.  It came out really well.  Q loved it!  Here it is...

Turkey Enchiladas

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped

2 tsps. canola oil

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1-1/4 tsps. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup (8 oz.) fat-free sour cream

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided

3 cups cubed cooked turkey breast

3/4 cup salsa

8 flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed

1.  In a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook and stir onion and green pepper in oil until tender.  Sprinkle with flour, coriander and pepper; stir until blended.  Gradually stir in broth.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in sour cream and 3/4 cup cheese.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the turkey, salsa, and 1 cup cheese mixture.  Spoon 1/3 cup turkey mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in a 13-in. x 9-inn.2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Pour remaining cheese mixture over the top.

3.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake, uncovered, 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Making it special

Mika blows out the candles on her birthday cake as her dad and I look on.  Her mom, Coco, took the picture.

A closer look at Coco's creation from my original cake--isn't it divine?

This past summer, I had a unique visit with one of my friends from church.  While my husband was away on a missions trip, my friend, Coco, and her daughter invited me to go swimming with them at their apartment complex.  On that day, it down poured with rain, so we decided just for me to come over for dinner.  I offered to bring some chocolate cake that I made the day before. She thought it was a great idea since it was her daughter's birthday and they had been so busy that week and didn't have the cake planned.  We had pizza, then her husband came home from work and joined us for a good time.  Next thing you know, Coco is taking apart my "almost complete" cake and transforming it into a wonderful creation.  She took the biggest piece and placed that on the bottom of the plate, then placed the smaller piece on top.  Then, she poured caramel sauce, whipped cream and sprinkles on top.  I was amazed!  Since that time, I've thought about the things I do for Q and wondered to myself, "Am I making it special?  Am I adding that special little touch?"

Some of us may think that we're not as creative as my friend, Coco, but we can always be thinking on how to honor a family member or a friend with something they like.  Even if it is just sprinkles, we can sure make them smile.:)