The Best Sugar Cookies EVER!

Jack and I have been making decorated sugar cookies for several years now and this is BY FAR the best sugar cookie recipe ever. They roll out well, cut well, bake well and taste scrumptious. Make some today. You’ll be glad you did.

• Beat together 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (this is what makes the dough sooo smooth,) 1 cup margarine, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon almond extract and one large egg.
• Add 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar. This is ½ cup more flour than original recipe called for; we find it makes the dough easier to roll and cut.
• Chill the dough at least two hours before rolling and cutting and then chill the cut out shapes again before baking. This helps them hold their cute little shapes.
• Bake in a 300 degree oven until bottoms are set, cool and then ice. We use a basic powdered sugar icing in squeeze bottles. Fun and delicious!

Come Fly With Me

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about freedom. What that actually was, was a synopsis of the first chapter of the Bible study bffe and I are doing together. Writing the post and hearing your feedback helped me to review and internalize what I had studied, so I thought I’d try it again with a review of Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 is called ‘Laying Aside the Old Self: Running With the New Self.’ This has always been a hard concept for me. I like to have a plan or checklist to follow, so the concept of ‘putting on the new self’ as a plan is a little vague for me. Add that to my fear of failure and apparently a pretty strong fear of success and we’ve got a whole lotta going nowhere. Which seems to be where I’m happiest. Read my first post for goodness sake!

As God’s creations we stand out and shine! He made us in his own image! He made us in order that we might glorify Him, so by definition we should call attention. The trick is to call attention to Him and not to ourselves.

My sinful nature is primarily caught up in pride and false humility. I turn away compliments or put myself down hoping someone will contradict me and this is BAD. It may seem meek and modest, but I know it really draws attention to me and not God. Some notes I took while studying include:

• Anything good that comes from me comes from God.
• I should have no pride in what I can do, but only in what God can do through me.
• My works are doomed to fail, but His works endure forever.
• My life is to be lived for His glory.

Hannah Whitall Smith says ‘the greatest burden we have to carry in life is self. … In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself. You must hand yourself … into the care and keeping of your God … He made you and therefore He understands you, and knows how to manage you, and you must trust Him to do it.’ There’s that trust thing again. Trust leads to a new self. The new self leads to shining. Shining lead to aliveness and aliveness leads to freedom. Help! This sounds like a red convertible Thunderbird speeding off a two-mile high cliff. Will it fly?

Flashback Friday- Kindergarten Field Trip

Originally posted in May 2006:

The Kindergarten was a traveling ‘zoo’ as they visited the park, saw ‘The Wild’ and visited the zoo last week.

Traveling Zoo

 Thomas’ teacher, Mrs. Thompson, is in front of him on the right.

At the Park

Thomas

At the Zoo

Mrs. Thompson's 2005-2006 Kindergarten Class

It’s a Boy!

This is my son and his friend V. They’ve spent the entire afternoon building an elaborate military compound in the snow and now they’re blowing it up with firecrackers.

Congratulations! It’s a boy!

P.S. this adventure took place following the Christmas snow. We had several inches last week and are expecting more tonight!

That’s Good Stuff Man

Due to weather and tower problems my internet service has been sporadic lately. I know it happens to all of us, but ARGHH! and Oh My Goodness.

“Arghh” because I NEED the internet. I need to update my blog. I need to read your blogs. I need to check my email. I need my calendar. I need my address book. I need to read the news. I need to check my bank balance. I need to check the weather. I need a definition. I need an idea. I need a funny video. I need to listen to the radio. I need to research. I need … I NEED!!!

“Oh My Goodness” because DID YOU READ THAT LIST?! I’m addicted, dependant, obsessed. When the connection’s down I feel helpless and at a loss. I find myself checking the connection every few minutes and with each rejection getting more annoyed. It’s sad and maybe even a little dangerous. (Ever hear of EMP folks? I read a book last year that gave a fictionalized account of what could happen here in the US with one targeted EMP. It was truly scary. IF MY INTERNET WERE UP, I’D TELL YOU THE NAME OF THE BOOK!!!)

Now here’s where it really gets interesting. My first instinct is to write about how I need to pray and do some serious thinking about this maybe too-important facet of my life and maybe even encourage y’all to do the same. But I DON’T WANT TO and I DON’T WANT Y’ALL TO EITHER. What if God tells me it’s HAS become too important and I have to back off. Just as bad, what if He gives that message to one of y’all?! I would miss you!

{sigh} If my internet were up I’d share this rant and maybe you could help me. An intervention perhaps.

Okay, maybe later.

P.S. the  book is called One Second After and it’s by William R. Forstchen

Local Man Wins Coveted Awards

This past weekend Jack won the coveted Father of the Year Award AND the Husband of the Year Award! How’d he do it? By building this snowman with the kids WHILE I WAS TAKING A NAP!!!!

Laughter is a Form of Exercise

These gems were forwarded to me a couple of years ago. I hope y’all enjoy them as much as I did. Go burn some calories!

Signs seen-

over a Gynecologist’s office:
“Dr. Jones, at your cervix.”
**************************
in a Podiatrist’s office:
“Time wounds all heels.”
**************************
on a septic tank truck:
“Yesterday’s Meals on Wheels”
**************************
at a Proctologist’s door:
“To expedite your visit please back in.”
**************************
on a Plumber’s truck:
“We repair what your husband fixed.”
**************************
on another Plumber’s truck:
“Don’t sleep with a drip. Call your plumber.”
**************************
on a church’s billboard:
“7 days without God makes one weak.”
**************************
at a tire shop in Milwaukee:
“Invite us to your next blowout.”
**************************
at a towing company:
“We don’t charge an arm and a leg. We want tows.”
**************************
on an Electrician’s truck:
“Let us remove your shorts.”
**************************
in a nonsmoking area:
“If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action.”
**************************
on a maternity room door:
“Push. Push. Push.”
**************************
at an Optometrist’s office:
“If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.”
**************************
on a Taxidermist’s window:
“We really know our stuff.”
**************************
on a fence:
“Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive!”
**************************
at a car dealership:
“The best way to get back on your feet – miss a car payment.”
**************************
outside a muffler shop:
“No appointment necessary. We hear you coming.”
**************************
in a Veterinarian’s waiting room:
“Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!”
**************************
at the Electric Company:
“We would be delighted if you send in your payment.
However, if you don’t, you will be.”
**************************
in a restaurant window:
“Don’t stand there and be hungry, come on in and get fed up.”
**************************
in the front yard of a funeral home:
“Drive carefully. We’ll wait.”
**************************
at a propane filling station:
“Thank heaven for little grills.”
**************************
and at a Chicago radiator shop:
“Best place in town to take a leak.”

Book Menu- January Version

Gotta a few must reads, a few take-it-or-leave-it reads and an update on my reading goals for the year. I’m always looking for something new, so SHARE WITH ME PLEASE!!

Must Reads

• I love anything by Dennis Lehane, but most recently I enjoyed Shutter Island. The movie based on this book is set to be in theaters on February 19. DO NOT READ THE BOOK if you’re one of those who like movies better than books (uhem, crazy, uhem.) This book has a twist worthy of Hitchcock.
• The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory. This is historical fiction just the way I like it. I got hooked on Gregory after reading The Other Boleyn Girl.  Combine history with gossip, drama and a little hanky-panky (PG hanky-panky of course) and that’s some history I can remember. Why didn’t any of my teachers think of that?
• Everyone must search out and read Jim Ainsworth’s Home Light Burning. It’s a pre-quel to the wonderful Rivers trilogy and well worth any time you might have to spend finding it. (I didn’t have spend much time, my mama knows the author.) Read the trilogy too. It’s comprised of In the Rivers’ Flow, Rivers Crossing and Rivers Ebb.

Take-It-Or-Leave-It Reads

• Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner was engaging, but not as funny as I wanted it to be. Ms. Weiner had the premise for a highly entertaining read, but fell a little short in my eyes.
• Jennifer Cruise’s Manhunting was hilarious, but more rated R than PG. Cruise’s stories aren’t as deep as Weiner’s, but are always very, very funny.

And the Progress on my 2010 Reading Goals

• So far I’ve stayed caught up on my current Bible study- well, at least as caught up as bffe. After three weeks of study we’ve completed two chapters. Black and blue toes will really slow a study down.
• I have been reading the AP headlines most mornings. What a crazy, mixed up world we live in!
• The kids and I have done pretty well on having a devotional each morning before school. It makes a difference in my day and I pray it does in theirs. Especially since it’s a crazy, mixed up world we live in.
• And I have found a new mystery writer and bonus: He’s a Christian writer! I’ve been enjoying Alton Gansky’s Maddy Glenn series, but I’ve discovered Gansky also writes suspense and supernatural suspense so I’ll be looking for some of his other works soon.

Still in my stack (my overdue stack) are Breathless by Dean Koontz, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and The Summer We Got Saved by Pat Cunningham Devoto. That last one is one my Grandma Alma suggested. It looks good! I’ll let you know. 

Rebels Without a Clock

My bffw stepped up the street to loan me a vacuum cleaner bag Friday night and stayed until 5:AM Saturday! We talked about our kids, our husbands, our mothers and our pets. We talked about politics, the state of the economy and foreign relations. We talked about religion. We talked about God. (those are two different things you know) We talked about friends and acquaintances and people we wish we knew. We talked about each other. We talked a lot. We laughed a lot. It was a good time together.

Michelle’s now grounded and I’m still struggling to keep my eyes open, but it was worth it. Every minute. Thanks Michelle!

What is Freedom?

We here a lot about freedom in our society. Freedom from oppression, freedom from illness and addiction, freedom from debt. We champion freedom, we applaud freedom, sometimes we even force freedom, but do we really know what freedom is?

The Bible says true freedom is the throwing off of sin and everything that hinders or entangles. What are your entanglements? What keeps pulling you down, keeps you from soaring or even floating or even occasionally bouncing? How different would your life be if you let go of those anchors? Are you like me, afraid of the freedom?

This week I’m trying to believe the truth that I can have freedom by letting go of control of my life. That I can trust God to take care of us and that, without my machinations, we can soar.

Nancy Groom said, “Once we’ve tasted being alive, we can’t go back to being dead. Aliveness in God is addictive.” I’ll admit that right now I’m afraid of that aliveness. It sounds kinda touchy-feely and loosey-goosey. It sounds as is it would be very hard to fit that aliveness into a bulleted plan or schedule. (I would have made a great Levite.)

I do know that I want the honesty and peace of mind that comes with that aliveness. I do know that I want to want the aliveness. I guess that’s as good a starting place as any.