B Cleaned House...

B decided it was time I had a big-girl blog...so he cleaned house, did a little Photoshop work, and made me get rid of clutter.  I happily obliged to let him have his way, but then he let me know it would cost me.  I forgot...nothing is free.  So, for his effort I made him chocolate lava cake...and I praised his awesome skillz... I may have even pulled a Wayne and Garth...I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy.

I shamefully admit I don't know my way around Photoshop...I can crop...that's about it.  But, B is like a Photoshop wizard.  He's like the Bruce Lee of Photoshop.  He was all clicking here, clicking there, and typing commands as fast as his fingers could fly.  I contributed by standing over his shoulder and painting my nails...

Any way, all that to say I'm going to post the recipe for the chocolate lava cake...because that's all I can bring to the table.  Sorry, I don't have a picture..we ate it too quickly while celebrating B's awesomeness.

Chocolate Lava Cake

4 squares Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate

1/2 Cup Butter

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

2 Whole Eggs

2 Egg Yolks

6 Tbs Flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (I set my oven to 400)

Spray 4 custard cups with cooking spray and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted.  Whisk chocolate until melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended.  Whisk in eggs and egg yolks.  Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

*Bake 10-12 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft.  Let stand 1 minute.

Serve with *vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

**Do not over bake or the center will be done instead of nice and gooey.

We serve ours with homemade buttermilk ice cream...the tanginess of the ice cream pairs well with the cake.

Happy Monday!

Burt Reynolds Has Competition...

I’m always so grateful when my sweet hubby offers to do a grocery store run. Especially if I only need a couple of items…or the occasion that I’m missing a key ingredient and I’m elbow deep in dinner preparations.

I can always bank on one thing when he returns…he usually snags an item not on the list that he simply can’t resist. Sometimes it’s ice cream or cookies. Occasionally it’s Captain Crunch.

This time, B came home, handed me the grocery items and announced, “You will never believe what I got for Ethan!” He’s right. I didn’t believe it until he whipped them out of his pocket…a couple of faux mustaches from the little quarter trinket machine.  Oh great...as if facial hair wasn't obsessed over enough by the Jackson men, now we were giving the little Mr. a taste of the life of 5 o'clock shadows and crumb catchers.  First, The little Mr. went with the Burt Reynolds:

He savored the power that came with the stache. 

After stroking the stache a few times and letting out a manly growl,

he decided he was ready for a change...

Next up, Hulk Hogan.  He gave me a few WWF poses circa 1982 and embraced his new found strength...even going so far as to do a few body slams for good measure.

For the record he has no idea who Hulk Hogan is, but in his words, "He's so donimated!"

  

  So, for the last couple of days, he's been sporting the stache and struting around the house.  He told me, "Mommy, if you were a grown-up mans, you could have one too...but you're not."  Then he strutted off, stroking the stache mumbling to himself about being a man.  Oh, the power and possibilities that come with a little upper-lip-fuzz.

Just Wait...



I've said this a time or two to my kiddos, "Ethan please wait."  "Eva, please wait patiently."  I am usually met with frustration at the request to wait.  To them it seems an eternity stands between them and their desires.  To them, I am the obstacle standing in their path.

Oh, how I understand their growing restlessness, and yet, the Lord still makes his firm request plain to me, "wait."  No explanation.  No reasoning.  Just, wait.

If patience is a virtue, then I am sorely lacking.  A short time after we were married, B said that the Lord never requested him to wait patiently until he married me.  He made it clear that I should stop wrestling with the Lord over patience so he would no longer be the casualty of our struggle.  Fair enough.  Unfortunately for him...he's along for the ride.

Last night, I wrestled through prayer, "Lord, I know I am learning during this season...so is it time?  Have I fulfilled what you've asked of me?  Is it finished?"  And like a child I whined, "Are we there yet?"  And while it may not have been audible, the words, "not yet" settled over me...and then this:  "Make My ways your ways.  Make My thoughts yours.  Desire Me above all else.  I will direct your path."

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own

understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Tears flowed in the darkness, and I quietly whispered, "Okay."  He knows how hard this is for me.  He knows He is asking something of me that is painful.  Did  He reveal the outcome?  No.  It was still, just wait.  But, it was also much more...He desires to direct my path.  

As doors have opened and closed the last few months, I have put my hope in their possibilities.  I turned my eyes from the Lord to put my faith in searching for answers.  My whole life, I've surged forward to find answers, thus closing the box, tying a neat bow around it and placing my packaged circumstance on a shelf.

When I'm met with the obstacle of waiting, I soon realize I cannot wrap a neat little bow around my circumstance and shelve it.  I'm forced to turn to God and lean on Him for understanding until His time and purpose is fulfilled.

Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you

the desires of your heart.  commit your way to the Lord, trust

also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  Rest in the Lord

and wait patiently for Him...

Psalm 37: 4-5, 7

Herein lies the difficult part of walking out my faith in Him.  He doesn't force or make demands.  But, He requests I hand over my boxed up circumstances, and then wait on Him.  No doing it myself.  No putting it neatly on the shelf my way.  It now becomes His.  He takes it and promises to give it back when the time is right.  He reveals that the gift of waiting is allowing Him to fulfill His perfect will...in His perfect timing...to perfect completion.

It's hard to wait.  And I don't do it gracefully.  I stumble.  I complain.  But, it's what He continues to ask of me.  My resolve, my strength, crumbles in His able hands...and He quietly asks me to keep waiting and draw my strength from Him.

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall

mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not grow faint.

Isaiah 40:31

What is the Lord asking of you?  Wait?  Obey?  Give something to Him?

Second Verse, Same As The First...

Today looks a lot like yesterday...it seems that all those hugs and kisses I gave and received, has me joining the kids on the couch today among a pile of my own soggy Kleenex.  I know, gross.  But, such is life.  I actually don't mind...I still get a ton of cuddle time.  So, it's a trade-off.

Well, to distract you from the TMI of my viral symptoms, I thought I'd share a yummy recipe from our foodie weekend.  We love good food...but I wouldn't call us 'food-snobs'.  Okay, we're a little snobbish, but it's just because we love good food so much.

This weekend, we tried our hand at homemade deep-dish pizza ala Giordano's style.  Ever been to Giordano's?  Am I crazy for even asking that question?  It is hands down the best deep dish in Chicago (in my snobby opinion). 

Our homemade version may not be Giordano's, but, it was definitely delicious, and satisfied the craving until we can get back to Chicago.

A couple of key things:  You're going to want to do this in a cast iron skillet to achieve that crispy Giordano's- style crust, and you're going to want to make your own sauce and crust.  It simply won't be the same if you skip these things...

The recipe is kind of long, but don't be scared off!  If you want a printable version, you can go to this link.  For our pizza, we sauteed some mushrooms, diced green pepper and diced red onion and layered that on our bottom crust with cheese, italian sausage, pepperoni, more cheese, then topped with a very thin crust (like Giordano's) and topped the crust with sauce.  Put the pizza in the oven (we placed our on top of a sheet of aluminum foil, just in case we had a boil over situation).   Let me tell you...one slice was enough! It was so delicious, that we couldn't wait to eat it the next day!

Just thinking about this pizza is making me feel a little better...just a little.  Now I'm going to go put my sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fevering self down for a nap.

The Throw-Ups Are Coming...

Whew!  It's 7:15pm and my wee ones are already in bed.  It's been a long, tiring, day friends. 

It started at 2am when the little Mr. came to our room, got in B's face and exclaimed, "Dad, the throw-ups are coming!"  Yeah, we high-tailed him to the bathroom and made it just in time...we had a couple more rounds of that until the little guy finally fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. 

We all woke at 7am to discover both kiddos had fevers...thrown into the mix was the little Miss, coughing, sneezing and snotting everywhere.

So, we had a movie day, cuddled on the couch, camped out on the living room floor (barf-proofed everything...I was hoping we wouldn't be following in your kiddos footsteps Have) drank lots of water and juice, and napped... 

*the barf-proofed couch...*

It's so gut-wrenching (no pun intended) when your little ones are sick...but, I have to admit I loved having all of us crammed together on the couch.  Sometimes hugs and kisses do make it a little better.  Now, we'll see if B and I come away unscathed or if round two will be coming in 24-hours...until then, I'm signing off to veg on the couch and crash early.

Good-night friends!

An Announcement...

Hey guys!  I hope you are enjoying your Saturday!  You may know that I usually take the weekend off from blogging, but I have something exciting to share that can't wait until Monday!!!  And I'm not even pregnant! 

The Jackson '5' has been selected to be a part of Faithblogs.  Faithblogs is a growing website started by  husband and wife team,  Justin and Katie Troup.  They started the site with the goal of connecting people who write blogs, who read blogs, who love Jesus!  Justin and katie are awesome, and to see them using the growing blogging community to bring honor and glory to God is amazing.  They have so many wonderful blogs in their network, so I hope you'll all head over and check them out! Don't forget, you can 'like' them on Facebook, 'follow' their tweets on Twitter, and follow Faithblogs! 

Have a great weekend!

Nikki

Be Who God Made You To Be…

Or, I could have simply said, “Be yourself,” but, being yourself means sometimes I’m selfish, or cranky, or envious…sometimes I whine or get angry needlessly.  The person I let myself be doubts my abilities, or sometimes wishes I could be like someone else.  Sometimes I criticize my appearance, and sometimes, I don’t put others before myself.  Did I mention that I can be negative?

I heard an amazing quote from speaker Staci Mason at church last night:  “Who you are should be defined by the Lord you follow.”  Isn’t that great? I have to say, that quote totally pierced my heart!  Does He define me? Do I give Him that place in my heart? Am I in fellowship with Him?

God wants me to be more like Him and less like…well…the person I often let myself be. 

I feel like in raising children, I’ve learned the most about the way in which God desires us to be.  We’ve been teaching the little Mr. the concept of ‘put-off/put-on’.  It goes something like this:

When the little Mr. is doing something that is say, selfish or rude, we teach him to ‘put-off’ rudeness, and ‘put-on’ patience, kindness and self-control.  We follow it with explaining that God desires us to to be kind to one another Ephesians 4:32 and share with him the Biblical truth that God points us to in His word.

In teaching our kids this, I am often sooooooooo convicted.  I have realized that God desires so much more from me than I am often willing to give Him.  I’ve learned that the person I often let myself be is not who He has created me to be. He created me to be in fellowship with Him.  He created me to desire Him.  He created me to reflect Him…so what kind of reflection do others see?

For me, Being yourself is more than personality, I’m learning it’s being a person after God’s own heart.  A person who is willing to cast aside selfishness and do His will.  A person desiring to allow Him to mold my heart and fashion me after Him.  Sounds so easy, right?

Matthew 12:4  Out of the overflow of your heart the mouth speaks. 

When my heart is more in-tune with God, then my thoughts, the words I speak, and my actions are more like Him. 

Looking at the book of Psalms, King David was in heavy pursuit of God.  He cried out to Him, leaned on Him for understanding, and praised Him for the character of His goodness.  King David was described as, “A man after God’s own heart.” Acts 13:22

King David wasn’t perfect…far from it.  He made a lot of mistakes, and even disobeyed a time or two.  But, His pursuit of God never waned, and His desire to allow God to mold him was there. 

These days, I have a lot to ‘put-off’ in order to ‘put-on’ the character of Christ, striving to be who God made me to be.

What about you?  What are you learning/challenged of in your walk with the Lord?

 

Happy Thursday!