Friday Encouragement

Today hug your kiddoes, look them in the eye, listen to their stories and remind them that you love them. 

Love them enough to teach them, to correct them, to tell them about Jesus, teach them to care about others!  

Because someday they will be gone. Someday they will be the ones making decisions about your care. :)

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

    or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

    so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

    you who are God my Savior,

    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,

    and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart

    you, God, will not despise.

Zucchini: cooking for a big family on a budget

 Feeding growing boys and keeping a clean house with lots of kids are both endless tasks.
A friend gave me a couple zucchinis. I decided to see how many different ways I could cook zucchini.

This was our #2 favorite. Zucchini personal pizzas. I brushed the zucchini with oil and grilled one side. After I flipped them I added garlic salt, cheese, pepperoni sausages and pizza sauce! I grilled them for almost 15 minutes! They were so yummy!

I buy shredded mozzarella in bulk, 10 lb bags at a time. I take each bag and divy it out into small freezer bags!
I make my own pizza sauce from local tomatoes.
The sausages were from a foster parent food program. One of those weird foods that require great creativity to use up!
I have also made large batches of gluten free zucchini bread (not cheap, even when you buy in bulk).
I have made zucchini with butter, garlic salt and cheese. I have made zucchini with butter and garlic salt. Sauted, grilled and baked....

I also made zucchini patties with eggs and cheese... Zucchini pizza crust was another hit with the kids.


I currently have 6 zucchini's needing attention. Elizabeth is going to shred 4 of the larger ones and freeze the zucchini in large baggies. The 2 largest ones will be more pizza!

VBS

I am extremely paranoid about where I leave my kids. I am extremely picky with sitters and even people I know who are left alone with my kids. They have had to many bad things happen already and I will do my absolute best to protect them. Bad things happen everywhere. Pedophiles can pass background checks. Our children are vulnerable.  I could tell you stories that would stop you from ever letting your kids go anywhere without you.

However, I can not expect my children to live in a protective bubble all their lives. They need to practice using the skills I have taught them. I need to trust as they get older that they will be able to protect themselves and that God will give them wisdom when I am not around.

So yea, things like camp and VBS are hard for me. I want them to participate, I want them to enjoy these things. Yet I can't just drop my kids anywhere.

The other problem is that it is a royal pain for me to load and unload the littles alone, 5 nights a week for traditional VBS. For the record, there are atleast one vbs every week in this general area in the summer time.

MY kids are all into the spy thing and investigating things.  So when I saw the ad in the local paper, international spy academy and it was 1.5 hrs on Friday, 5 hrs on Saturday and 2.5 hrs on Sunday. Now this was my kinda VBS.

I signed the kids up and got permission for me to stay for the Friday evening event. I generally trust my gut when meeting people. My mother instincts are rarely wrong, so spending the evening Friday would be a good indication of what to expect or if I could trust my kids all day on Saturday.

When we arrived Friday evening, we were pleasantly surprised to see our friends from church were also there! They knew most everyone at this church. That really set my mind at ease.

We were pleasantly welcomed and the kids were thrilled to be there. I sat in for the first introduction part. I had the two littles with me. Nesiah was happily welcomed. Many people took time to stop and say hi to both her and I. (this is unusual in many churches) They welcomed me to help Nesiah participate.

The weekend was a great success and the kids made many wonderful memories and new friends!