This past Saturday I was invited to a special brunch by my friend Bonnie. What a feast for the soul. Bonnie is a true nurturer and an inspiration. Not only does she have a full-time job as a home daycare provider, but she teaches Sunday School and has a large extended family (5 sons and their families). Bonnie doesn't wait for service opportunities to come to her...she seeks them out. What a role model!

There was nothing that Bonnie didn't think of for this brunch. Every little detail was taken care of. I have to admit, I don't usually go to get-togethers with other women, but when Bonnie invited me, the Lord really prompted me to accept. I am so glad I did. There were twelve women seated in the dining room.

And this year Bonnie had an "overflow" table in another room for the rebels. Actually, I think the rebels had too much fun...all we heard was laughter coming from their room.

I think Bonnie had 5 different Christmas trees set up throughout her home. There were many themes all around.

Of course, where there are women there is good food. I enjoyed Shirley's bowtie and veggies salad. Everything looked so yummy!

Af ter lunch we headed into the family room to exchange gifts. We had a $15 limit but these gifts were incredible! When I commented on the supposed value of the gifts, Bonnie assured me that these women seek out fantastic sales to stay within the limit. Bonnie herself drives to Cracker Barrel on day-after-holidays to take advantage of their giveaways...I mean sales.

After the gift exchange, we came back to the dining room where Bonnie's sister led the craft time.

And what adorable ornaments they made. I knew Bonnie's sister from another church where her son pastored, so it was good to see her too.

Bonnie had this adorable setup in a corner. I always think of my daughter, Anna, when I see this cute statue.

One of the dishes Bonnie had was served in this Triple Slowcooker set. What a nice idea! There was Turkey Noodle Soup, Veggie Soup, and Meatballs. The individual crocks are only 2-1/2 quarts each, but they seemed bigger. Amazon sells this for $89 or a Duo set for $69.

Thanks again Bonnie for inviting this loner. I sure had a wonderful time.
Lizzie made these wonderful little h'or doeuvres last week. Crackers with smoked turkey, tomatoes, cilantro and zesty italian dressing. Yummy!

While I was at Bonnie's home, my children were home tramping through the woods. They've found a new area in the stream where it spreads out. We're hoping it freezes this winter for ice skating. Unfortunately they also learned about swampy areas...they came home squishing water out of their boots...and the temps were in the 40s!

We are going to Waldorf tonight to do our final shopping. We are going to take advantage of the late hours in hopes of avoiding the crowds.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Brain Games ~ updated

I am suffering from a headcold today so I thought it would be a good time to share a new brain game with you. I get these games from my friend Joan in Wyoming, land of the deep snow and cold temps.
Joan's newest offering is called Circle The Cat. The object is to trap the cat in a circle. Sounds easy, huh? After losing repeatedly, I googled "tips for playing circle the cat" and found the recommendation to build your circle as far away from the cat as possible. Voila! Easy as pie now!
If you missed the other five games, here they are:
Sheep Dash ~ find out your coordination ability...or lack of
Flash Fabrica ~ find out your mental age
Free Rice ~ the good thing about this game is that you can change languages.
Apple Game ~ the better you catch the apples, the faster they fall
Color Test
Underwater Bowling ~ you have to be coordinated to do this one

We call them brain games because that sounds educational...thereby condoning our time spent online. In all truthfulness, the Flash Fabrica has helped my memory a lot...especially my recall.


So take a break from the busyness of the season and exercise your brain. Meanwhile I will try to get my head out of this painful fog and show you what I did this past week. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel much better. A good night's sleep would do wonders. And Joan, thank you for the fun. I look forward to your next gem!
Many blessings ~ Kathie

Looky what I found at BJs this week! We used to enjoy eating a snack chex mix that had these rye chips...until we stopped eating dairy. But we always wished we could take these chips out of the mix. Now we can have a bagful! And the price was very reasonable...$5.56/bag. Yummy!

Aside from chips, *smile,* our good news today is that Tricare has agreed to pay for Maggie's neuro biofeedback treatments! What an answer to prayer! So instead of paying $60/session (for 40-60 sessions), we just have a $12 co-pay. Maggie's therapist was so excited that she called us at home last night with the news. Treatments should start next week. What a Christmas gift!Years ago we had an ice storm (worse than the blizzard we had a few years later) in the winter of 1993 (I think). Our neighborhood was without electricity for 3+ days. But our family thought it was a wonderful vacation. We had plenty of heat thanks to our woodstove and fireplace, the food kept refrigerated in the garage, and I had bought disposable diapers for the baby. Mike would make the neighborhood rounds with pots of hot water and coffee.

During that time, I made my best bread ever on the woodstove. I put the bread pan on a trivet, then sprayed the inside of a large stockpot with water and turned it upside down over the bread. I also cooked a large pot of chicken and rice soup. We still talk about those fond memories.

Anyhow, I wondered at the time if there were such a thing as a woodstove oven or a campfire oven. So imagine my surprise when I discovered the above Coleman camp oven for $24!
The stove is intended for use with the Coleman camping stove, but I know it will work just as well on my cast iron woodstove in the basement.
I saw this version also, but it is priced at $185. Anyhow, I thought this was interesting. I found all these pictures on amazon.com.

I was watching Wagon Train one day and there is a scene that shows a campfire oven that is very similiar to the first oven I showed you. Ever since then I have been looking for this. Just one note if you plan to buy one: there are two sizes, a 12x12 and a 14x14 (approximately). Make sure you get the larger oven if you want to use a 9x13. Goodbye trailmix, hello warm muffins!
My mom forwarded me a funny email with this pic and the following message:

I got stopped for speeding yesterday!
I THOUGHT I COULD TALK
MY WAY OUT OF IT UNTIL THE OFFICER LOOKED AT
MY DOG IN THE BACK SEAT!

We are busy doing chores and catching up. Ruthie is feeling much better. We hope to do our final Christmas shopping later today, but it's looking iffy.

Our church is praying for the granddaughter of one of our members. Her name is Bethany, and she has leukemia (ALL). She is not doing well right now thanks to the H1N1 flu, so our family is praying on her behalf. Bethany's Mom keeps everyone up to date with her condition. It is just amazing the little medical miracles that happen everyday.

Enjoy your weekend. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Yesterday we became a two-Christmas tree home. I'm not sure if that is good or bad...but it's a lot of work! The second tree came from my Mom who is no longer putting up a tree. This is our upstairs family room, also known as the door room since there are nine doors that open into it. But it's a cozy room with the pellet stove at one end and the tree at the other. I like turning off the overhead lights and enjoying the natural flame of the stove.

Last year I bought this oval frame at the thrift shop for 50 cents. I wanted to try spray painting it to see if the paint would adhere to the plastic. It did!

This is a closeup. I like the molding on it.

So Maggie found this fern in the woods, pressed and preserved it, and now I have this lovely "print" hanging in my bedroom. Thanks, Maggie, I love it!

Have you ever heard of a clay skillet? Clay Coyote Flameware has a new line of stovetop ceramic cookware. Sure looks nice. I like anything that looks like stoneware!

Ruthie's headcold has taken a turn for the worse so I had to take her to the doctor. Unfortunately, I had her do two double-dose nebulizer treatments before we left, so the Doc didn't think she was too bad. Yikes! I'll never do that again. So now Ruthie is miserable. It didn't matter that Ruthie's medical records show that she has spent 5 times in the hospital in the past 3 years because of headcolds gone bad. Oh well. The doc wouldn't even give her steroids. So we are doing lots of meds, fluids, nebulizer treatments, and prayer. I'd like to give her fresh garlic but her tummy won't tolerate it...nor will her nose.

The weather is turning nasty, so I'm thankful that tomorrow is an easier day for me. I need to get some sewing done...Ruthie's dresses barely cover her knees.

Sarah and Maggie had a funny story to tell about their trip to the mall this weekend. Some guy noticed their skirts and asked them what church they go to. They answered, "First Baptist Church of Calvert County," to which he smiled and said, "The skirt says it all!" Amen, brother.

The holiday drivers are crazy, so keep safe. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Friday was our big day to have the XYZers from church. XYZ stands for x'tra years of zest. Oh yes...that's these folks! We had 22 folks (5 couldn't make it), so there was plenty of seating. I was so glad my parents and my Uncle Norm made it. Actually, Uncle Norm was surprised to meet a cousin from the group! It's a small world. We made four of everything, one for each table. We had honey baked ham, cranberry fiesta salad (pictured above), scalloped potatoes, and green beans. For dessert we had cheesecake, flan, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, pineapple upside down cake, and cranberry nut bread. I really wanted to make my tiramisu, but this year I had to make fast and easy foods. Hopefully by next year Maggie will be healed and the two of us can whip up a storm.This picture shows the fourth table. I originally thought I could add two more tables, but not so. With the fourth table we were able to seat 35. As it was, we only needed 3 of the added seats.

The XYZers gave us two delicious fruit baskets. We were so surprised! The grapes were the best I've ever tasted. Thanks so much! For our mini concert we had: Anna and Maggie duet, Anna solo, Lizzie and Meemaw piano duet, and Mike, Maggie, Anna, and Lizzie sang "I Shall Not Be Moved." We also put on three skits. Sarah taped the whole thing, so if you'd like a copy of the dvd, let me know. My mother accompanied the girls on their songs and played two piano pieces ~ thanks so much, Mom.

After all the tables had been cleared and stacked on the porch, my children played a hysterical game of musical chairs. It was a fun way to unwind.

On Saturday evening we went to Allen's annual Tang Soo Do banquet...a formal affair. I enjoy this banquet immensely. I love to watch the teamwork that is involved. Everyone comes early to set up the tables and centerpieces, everyone brings the food, then everyone quickly cleans up. The best part is that we have fun doing it together. Tang Soo!

Allen got a beautiful eagle trophy for 100% perfect attendance. I will post a picture of that when his teacher posts the banquet pictures.

On Saturday we also got a heavy dusting of snow. It made for scary driving, but fortunately we all made it home safely. After we were home for half an hour, my mom called and made sure we were safely home...she had been hearing firetrucks and ambulances for the past half hour. So we rode out to the end of our dirt road, and sure enough, our mennonite neighbor was all lit up with firetrucks. So we rode over to another Mennonite's home and let them know.

Added later: There was a chimney fire...but fortunately it wasn't bad. (For my notes: this is in John Wenger's former home...haven't met the new folks yet.)

I saw this cute quilt kit on overstock.com. What a good idea! Look in the lower right hand corner and you will see that the quilt blocks come precut so that a child just has to lace the ribbon through.

I copied this picture from my friend Tracey's blog. Isn't it funny?! Thanks, Tracey.

Well, the tables are returned to church, the tablecloths are on the clothesline, the coffeepots are back in the cellar, and my kitchen is back to normal. It was a fun weekend, but now it's time to get in my van again and start a new week. Three of my children are trying to come down with headcolds, so we are staying home from violin and piano lessons today. Mom took Maggie to a piano teachers workshop, so all she has is one appt this afternoon.

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend as well. Many blessings ~ Kathie

The sewing room is buzzing with all the sewing that is going on! Anna made this wall hanging. She found the pieces at the thrift shop and decided to finish up the project. Looks wonderful! She individually topstitched each block. Sarah, too, made a gift...but I'll have to wait and show you after her friend gets it.
This past week my hubby learned that I had never been to a popular Mexican restaurant in town...so he invited me to lunch! It was wonderful!

I had no idea this restaurant was so big. It's called Monterey Mexican Restaurant. I loved the decor. Allen and Maggie went along for the fun. I got fish tacos and they were delicious. I definitely recommend this place.

Today I met a new friend, Tracey, who came over for cooking lessons. I met Tracey through freecycle.org. Sorry this is such a terrible picture. Allen was showing us his new toy...a remote control helicopter that he bought at the thrift store for $2.

I had fun showing Tracey how to make a white sauce (for macaroni and cheese) and how to cook rice. Then I showed her how to roast a rump roast and a chicken, make gravy for each, and finally, make soups from each. It was so much fun...and delicious! Next time we will tackle vegetable dishes, and figure out Tracey's bread machine.

We also took plenty of time for good fellowship. Tracey and I feel the same way about iced tea and mornings...a kindred spirit indeed! Thanks for coming, Tracey.

Hubby flew to Ohio today for work. He just got home and is enjoying our soups. Ruthie is sorting Christmas lights for the tree, and everyone else is watching videos...tired from hauling firewood. Rain is back along with a powerful wind. I am basking in the delight of having stayed in my home all day. All day! Thank you, Lord.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

What miserable weather we had today. Cold and rainy. The rain poured at times making it dangerous driving. Glad it's over and I'm in the comfort of my home. Ruthie had her first full violin lesson today after breaking her arm. And yes, as you can see in the picture, Adina will be having a joyful bundle in March. We're so excited!

Allen opened up the beehives yesterday to see if they have enough food, and he got stung! No, he didn't have his protective gear on. Lesson learned.

We had fajitas this weekend...yummy!
We used green and red peppers, and vidalia onion.

Usually we use top round steak, but I found skirt steak on sale at the commissary. That is the meat of choice for Texans, but I prefer the less-fatty top round. I rubbed the spices into the raw meat while the cast iron skillet was preheating in the 400 degree oven.

We used this fajita seasoning that Sarah brought home from Texas. Everyone loved it...but I still prefer to use Paula Deen's recipe for brisket here (but remember to use half the salt).

I broiled the meat for about 5 minutes. Didn't take long. The smells were heavenly!

Sarah sauteed the veggies in another skillet. I broiled the meat.

We didn't have any corn tortillas (which I preferred), so we used regular and whole-grain pita bread. We heated them enough to soften. Usually we add a bunch of freshly chopped cilantro. I can't believe we forgot! This is one of our easiest and most favorite meals.

I have been looking online for a good used creche. I don't know what I'm looking for but I figure I'll know it when I see it. Actually, I would love to find the same nativity set that Mrs. Bonnie bought at JC Penney for church. I'm not in a rush. But while I was looking, I found two adorable native american creches. Look at that cute angel above the doorway of the tipi!

I like the colors of this one...but I like the cactus on the first one.

We are preparing to have the "old folks" from church this Friday for lunch and a mini-concert. We have 26 signed up...plus my parents and our family. This time I will set up 5 banquet tables...the most my kitchen will hold.

I've been keeping my eye on the weather because Mr. Al from church wants us to have a fire in the fireplace...regardless of the temps. Last year it was 80 degrees outside, so I am hoping for a cold day. So far it looks like the temps should be in the 50s. That's good. Now we have to find some dry wood!

Enjoy your week. Many blessings ~ Kathie