Oriental Pasta Salad

My mom's good friend Donna from Massachusetts gave my mom this recipe and then I got it from my mom. I don't make it very often because it makes a ton of salad, but I decided to make it for last night's potluck dinner at church. I figured it would get eaten up since there is no food left over at the church potluck. Turns out we got there late and most people had eaten, so we ended up with a lot of it back home! That's ok, it's good and Joshua and I both like it! A friend said last night that it looked like worms. I can assure you(even though I haven't eaten worms, it's better than worms). And it's easy, which is always a plus for me!

4 packs Oriental flavor ramon noodles
2 cups frozen peas
2-3 bunches scallions chopped
1/4 head shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

Dressing:
1/2 cup veggie oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 of the oriental flavor seasoning packets
dash of soy sauce

Boil the noodles for about 30 seconds. Drain and mix all the ingredients together. Add the dressing and mix. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serve this salad with teriyaki chicken!!

Garden Fun

We will be moving into a house that we will be sharing with the lady that actually owns the house and I will probably post more on that later...but this post is about the garden that she has in her back yard. We spent a few days over at her house (we haven't moved yet) and I spent some time picked gobs and gobs of weeds. Daniel had a fun time exploring the garden and we got some cute pictures!!

Working on a quiet book

In an earlier post I had pictures of the first quiet book that I made for Daniel. I thought I would post some picture of the one that I am working on now. It is not complete or put together at all, but it's coming together well and I am pleased with it so far!!

"Can you put some flowers in the vase for Mommy?"

"Help me get dressed!"

"Can you make a phone call?"

Match the shapes.

"Write a letter or draw a picture and mail it"

The letters are stuck to the page with velcro so you can attach and reattach them!

The Quirks and Favs of Daniel

Walking around hitting things with the fly swatter(don't worry it's clean!)

Putting on mommy's running shorts.

Eating!!

Playing on the pillow "mountain"

Talking on the phone

Putting the letters in and out of the container.

And on a different note...I am loving my new boots that I used to keep mud off myself while I picked weeds the other day.

Dad's Blueberry Crisp

When we lived in Utah my parents were friends with Bill and Sarah Robertson. I have a distinct memory of a time we went over to their apartment, they were like second parents to my brother and me--I recall they watched us when my parents would go out of town. Anyway, I remember this time when we went over to their apartment because my dad created on accident the most amazing blueberry crisp I have ever had! The way I remember it was that he was starting to make cookies--Sand Tarts--which are a Pennsylvania traditional cookie(I'll have to put that recipe on here sometime!) Well he forgot to put the eggs in until it was too late to mix them in, so he decided to use it as a topper for blueberries and bake it. WOW!!! Taste bud delight!! So here is the accidental dessert. Note that it's super easy!

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup flour
4-5 cups frozen or fresh blueberries

Cream the sugar and butter together. Mix in the flour. You want it to be crumbly. Put the blueberries into a baking dish, spread the covering over it and bake at 350 degrees until the crust starts to get golden brown. It's really good warm or cold. Ice cream is a great addition but not necessary!

Here's a picture to wet your appetite!

A Quiet Book

I first learned of what a quiet book was a few weeks ago when I was looking over this friends blog. I then found this blog that had more ideas about making a quiet book. I started out with a simple one that was just of colors. That one Daniel gets to look at when we are at church and he is sitting with us. I don't know when I will have the second one done...it is more advanced(skill wise for what Daniel would do with it) so I am thinking that I will give it to him for Christmas...that also gives me a long time to work on it! Here are some pictures of the first quiet book that I have made.

Daniel Update

This summer is going to be a busy fun one! Daniel is walking around and loving to explore. It's been great fun to have him toddling around the backyard and parking lot of our apartment complex. Everything is new to him and it's so fun to see him learn things about his world. It amazes me how he knows things that I don't even think that I have taught him. Like, the other day we were out in the parking lot and he picked up a pine cone and held it up above his head and pointed with the other hand to the trees. I don't remember ever telling him that the pine cones come from the pine tree, but he picked it up somewhere.

What is it about dirt that is so exciting for little kids? He loves to just play in it! And eat it!

His favorite word is "UP" right now. He repeats "UP" over and over as he is going up the stairs. He comes to me and holds his hand up and says "UP." He wants to go "UP" on the bed. He wants to go "UP" on the grass from down in our patio area. He says "UP" when he's going down the stairs!

With Daniel's new ability to walk has has really come to enjoy the park. So we are finding out about different parks in the area. Daniel has learned how to go down the slide on his tummy. And he thoroughly enjoys walking back and forth over the bridges on the jungle gym. There are a few parks that have water spouts, which is fantastic because it has been getting quite hot.

Daniel has gone strawberry picking...of which he was a fan!


Today he experienced blueberry picking...his favorite part is sampling them....by the fistfuls.


We will get to see family off and on throughout the summer and of course Daniel is the highlight for everyone that we go see!

Joshua and I have decided to start bringing Daniel up to the first part of the Sunday morning worship. We have noticed that he does not know how to sit still very well. So we decided that since he likes music, and the part of the service before the sermon is mostly singing, that we would start helping him learn how to sit quietly. We have books for him to look at and I think we have a long road ahead of us! We've done this for two weeks, so I know that I shouldn't expect much but I just need to keep that in perspective! I have started making a quiet book for him to look at during this time. I have had a great time making it!

*My next post I am working on is going to show the progress that I have been making on a quiet book for Daniel.

Quiet Books

Have you ever heard of a quiet book? I had not until I was looking at this friends website. I am so inspired to make one for Daniel. She had this other site linked to her blog and it has so many cute ideas! I think I'll start out simple though and do something like the colors book and then maybe move on to more ambitious pages!

Thoughts on Running

How does running glorify God?

If we are as Christians supposed to live to glorify God, and I think we are, how does running and spending time training for a half marathon bring God glory? There must be a way to run that doesn’t glorify God. It’s probably the easier way, it doesn’t take thought or effort to not run for the glory of God. At least for me, it takes thought to see how I run can be something that glorifies God. This may seem like a strange question to a non-Christian, it must sound mad, but I guess as a Christian that’s what I am supposed to do. I should be thinking differently about life because I am different. Maybe this is apart of what it mean to be a peculiar people. Running is not just running. People are complicated so I guess I would say that for all people at the most basic level, running is not just running. We all have motivation so I can run for myself or I can run for God. Some would say that is why you should run for a cause, like cancer research or orphanages in Africa; those are good things, and I think give meaning to something as hedonistic as running. But I think that although running for a cause is good and adds to the depth of people’s motivations, it still misses the mark.

Running reminds me of the passages in the New Testament where Paul uses the image of an athlete to encourage us on in our walk as a believer. Running takes effort. So does the journey of a Christian. Running is hard work and walking according to God’s ways is not easy. Running requires endurance and perseverance, as does the Christians walk. This scratches the surface of how running reminds, encourage, and challenges the Christian in their walk with the Lord.

As I run I feel the pain of the strain on my muscles. It made me think of how my body is not perfect. It’s not perfect because of the fall. I am wasting away. My body is not naturally able to run mile upon mile. I have to work hard to run any short length let alone 13.1 miles. This makes me realize that I am not God. If God were to run, he would be able to run forever without hurting or getting tired. How does remembering my humanity bring glory to God? God is glorified when I realize that I am not God because I then realize that He is God.

The frailty of my body also makes me remember that I am not going to live on this world forever. Even though I can run and get in shape my body will always be going downhill. So I will be reminded each time that run that I am destined for a new home.

I also thought the other day about how my body is created by God to work. I decide in my mind that I want to run and start putting my legs one in front of the other and I want to go faster so my mind sends a signal to my brain to speed up. Obviously this is a very simple explanation of what goes on, but it just shows that God created me and sustains me. The complicated way that my body works when I run is a testament to the power of God.

Thinking on these things helps me love God and glorify him more. Running can be done to the glory of God.

Daniel's Day

7:14am


7:18am


8:05am


8:28am


8:41am


9:22am


9:26am



10:15-11:30 Naptime


11:32am


11:50am


11:57am


12:34pm


12:50pm


2:25pm


2:29pm


2:47pm


3:15-4:15pm Naptime


4:15pm


The rest of the day was spent eating dinner and at church. I forgot to bring my camera for those parts. Daniel had a good, full day!