Mardi Gras and baking cakes

The girls never got out of their pajamas today. Hannah’s goal was to stay in pj’s all day and she met her goal. Grace was baking cakes almost all day for a co-op tomorrow, so she also stayed in her pj’s. Someone left a note on the counter this morning –

So, I got this at the store –

And I got these just because.

Bethany and I went to Holy Yoga and the Bible verse for meditation was from Matthew 6:

^16-18 “When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.

Oh, I see what you did there Heather. Ash Wednesday is tomorrow and normally I would be seeking out a church (ours doesn’t always offer ashes) for a morning Ash Wednesday service. But, something my dance teacher said last session is still sticking with me, is there any day that is more Holy than others? Is there any day that I should get up and say on this day I am repentant, on this day I am broken – or is that something that happens every day…So, yeah, I will be broken in solitude.

After that James and I left for Englewood Grand, not because of the drinks special for Mardi Gras or for the King cake, but for that good jazz. You can hear it here.

 

Confident faith

School went well this morning until Grace’s Algebra decided not to load. The page just kept swirling and blinking (we tried later in the day and it worked then.) That is one problem with having almost all of your school on-line, if the Internet is down or the K12 site is slow – you can’t do that particular thing. But, it is nice not having to do major lesson plans. The girls went off to Solid Grounds early to sit and read/play on their computers. I followed after a bit. We all started our dances today, the adults have Faithful by Steven Curtis Chapman. Grace didn’t know the name of her song but she likes it and the dance so far. Hannah likes her song, but not the dance, so far. The adults are conspiring to wear pants and buy our own tunics – so we’ll see how that plays out. Our devotional for the day – having a confident faith like David. Now, sometimes others can see confidence as arrogance or pride. David’s brothers thought that and he probably did sound arrogant when listing the things he had done, but he did end with ‘God delivered me.’

^{I Samuel 17: 34-37} David said, “I’ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I’d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I’ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.”

David acted out of his personal history with God. God had been with him, small steps at a time, so David knew that God would be there to help him now. In Revelation we see that there are things that are with us that we can use every day to fight the enemy. Jesus, our words, our sacrifice.

They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
    and the bold word of their witness.
They weren’t in love with themselves;
    they were willing to die for Christ.

David was bold, he knew he was protected by God, he had a testimony that backed it up, he wasn’t afraid to speak and act and he wasn’t afraid to sacrifice. We who are in Christ, have the power of God in us. We can speak against things with the power of the Holy Spirit, we don’t always need to ‘pray about it’. Look at what Jesus said to the disciples after they were fearful about the storm – He told them that they had the power within them to calm the storm, they didn’t need to wake Him in fear to fix the situation. The Bible gives us ample information about what is good and right and things we should and shouldn’t do, and then there are times when the way is not clear and we need to seek God’s will. But, don’t be afraid to have confident faith, knowing that God has your back, remember the times that he looked after you and restored you and claim those testimonies.

Weekend

Saturday was another marathon ‘date’ for A and Bethany, but first we picked up A and G and took them to the Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter craft day at the library. A had a present for the girls, LPS toys…and a Nerf crossbow for Bethany (he wants her to go to Dart Warz for extreme play night)

(Source)

My crew were the oldest kids there, but hey, crafts. I made a Pickett and he’s just the cutest thing. There were balloon crafts, clay crafts, a lantern craft, and a few others.

The staff hid 120 chocolate coins upstairs and let the kids go by age…so mine were the last to go. Everyone was allowed 3 coins, A gave Grace one of his because by the time she got up there, there weren’t any left. When we finished we went by Sweet Cooie’s because why not have ice cream before lunch?

We dropped G off, went home and the girls stayed home, A and Bethany went to Anthony’s, then King’s for snacks and eventually went downstairs to watch Thor and Ant Man. James and I ran errands and then came home to cook dinner. We had the Dolence family over for dinner and had a great time eating and talking (or playing games and watching Ant Man.) I made apricot chicken and added onion soup mix to the jam this time (no need to salt the chicken), brussel sprouts with bacon (next time I will fry the bacon a bit first so it gets crispy), green beans, salad and dump cake for dessert. Jennifer said they do the same dump cake (cherry pie filling and pineapple chunks) but use chocolate cake for the topping instead of butter cake – that sounds delicious and next time we have them over I need to make more dessert (11 people – 1 dump cake, we all got some but the kids wanted more.)

Sunday – church. Generosity versus misery. Be generous because you can’t take your wealth with you. Don’t make wealth your life’s pursuit. Every good and perfect gift comes from God, so be thankful and grateful. Do good (because God has called us to do good), do good works (not because it will get you brownie points but because we should share our bounty), be generous (because you have been given so much), be willing to share (because sharing makes you thankful and grateful.) Being generous will change how we feel about life.

I Timothy 6: ⁷ You see we came into this world with nothing, and nothing is going with us on the way out! ⁸ So as long as we are clothed and fed, we should be happy. ⁹ But those who chase riches are constantly falling into temptation and snares. They are regularly caught by their own stupid and harmful desires, dragged down and pulled under into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money—and what it can buy—is the root of all sorts of evil. Some already have wandered away from the true faith because they craved what it had to offer; but when reaching for the prize, they found their hands and hearts pierced with many sorrows.

I Timothy 6:¹⁷ Here’s what you say to those wealthy in regard to this age: “Don’t become high and mighty or place all your hope on a gamble for riches; instead, fix your hope on God, the One who richly provides everything for our enjoyment.” ¹⁸ Tell them to use their wealth for good things; be rich in good works! If they are willing to give generously and share everything, ¹⁹ then they will send ahead a great treasure for themselves and build their futures on a solid foundation. As a result, they will surely take hold of eternal life.

After church we changed to oil in the car, dropped Grace at a church meeting (at her friend’s church where she goes to youth group), Bethany got home from church (she is only working till 10am now) and we picked up Grandma and took her to King’s to get some stuff for lunch. James made skillet burgers, tomato soup and I had some cabbage salad. We dropped Grandma back at home, went back to the store to get dinners for the week (I didn’t have my list earlier), then James grilled fajitas for dinner and we watched the last episode on Netflix of The Series of Unfortunate Events (they need to make more!)

The week – gym (repeat), dance, NIA, Holy yoga, decorate a cake co-op, youth group, school at coffee shop in Golden, bird watching co-op, Wings over the Rockies day, church, passport photos (didn’t make it last week.)

Dinners for the week (and a few recipes) – “the good meatballs” (says Hannah), Jalfrezi chicken, sweet and sour pork, chicken Marsala, (Friday – international fest at church – I don’t have to cook!), beef stroganoff, pork roast.

“Good meatballs”
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup shortening
12 fluid ounces tomato-based chili sauce (or ketchup or tomato paste)
1 1/4 cups grape jelly

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, milk, egg, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and ground black pepper. Mix together, and shape into meatballs.
In a large skillet, heat shortening over medium heat. Add meatballs, and cook until browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from skillet, and drain on paper towels.
Add chili sauce and jelly to skillet; heat, stirring, until jelly is melted. Return meatballs to skillet, and stir until coated. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Chicken Jalfrezi
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in half
3 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken, and season with turmeric, chili powder and salt. Fry gently, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently and turning the chicken.
Pour in the tomatoes with their juice, cover the pan, and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Uncover, and simmer for another 10 minutes to let the excess liquid evaporate.
Add the ghee, cumin, ground coriander, ginger and cilantro, and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes. Serve the chicken pieces with sauce spooned over the top. (You can also dump everything in the crockpot for 4-6 hours.)

Friday

Friday James was off and we took the girls to HS skate, they really didn’t want to skate for some reason (I think because James was there) so we left early. Back at home the snow continued to fall, the weatherman was way off (he said no snow at all, then 1″, then it would stop  by Friday morning….) I had Holy Yoga at our church tonight, Bethany skipped to rest her foot (she went to the doctor about it – plantar fasciitis.) HY was really good, it was not slow flow though, but I was able to keep up pretty well – I did cheat at the end when they were going downward dog to runner’s lunge to chair, to warrior one to star to horse to star to horse to warrior one to downward dog to child’s pose. I started in the lunge and went from there and when they went back to the dog I just stayed in the lunge. The devotional was on being Light. Who is God and who am I? God is pure Light and no darkness can be found in Him.

I John 1:5-7  

⁵ This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

Who are we? We are children of the Light.

Ephesians 5:8-10 You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

I Thessalonians 5:5  For you are all children of light. You are sons and daughters of the day.

Matthew 5:14-16  “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Live in a way that shines the Light from within.

What does the Light of God do for us? It direct us, exposes us, transforms us. The Light helps us to see and it exposes danger that is lurking.

Ephesians 5:13 When the light shines, it exposes even the dark and shadowy things and turns them into pure reflections of light.

Psalm 26:2-3 Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests. Make sure I’m fit inside and out ³ So I never lose sight of your love, But keep in step with you, never missing a beat.

What does it look like to act like a child of Light? It looks like love, grace and mercy. Why do you think difficult people are in your life? Show others the Light of God by giving grace, forgiveness, repent of your sins and walk with Him letting Him shine through you.

Snow, puppies and 3M

That’s a good start..

3M co-op at the library today. They make a lot of cool stuff! One of the most interesting things about the company is their 15% rule, you can use 15% of your work time to work on whatever you want, your passions, ideas, whatever. (Post it notes are a 15% product.)

Other notes – You can have talent without effort, but without effort the talent is wasted. You need collaboration, cooperation, creative thinking, communication and critical thinking with others. Speak up in defense of your ideas and make all ideas count. Use your time wisely and make sure that you spend time pursuing and working on things that are important to you; your hobbies, passions and dreams.

After that we went to see the puppies at the pet store.

Then to Cafe 180 to eat.

The snow picked up and we actually got a decent amount.

1903 Circus

OMG, that was the coolest show ever! Elephant puppets, acrobats, tight rope walkers, aerialists, contortionists, music, juggling and more.

The talent was amazing, these people know their craft and they do it with such precision. We were awed, really, it was so freaking cool. I wish that Bethany could have gone, in fact I wish the whole family could have seen it (we were at the student matinee – our seats were going for $100 the next day….) If this show is coming to your town – go see it!

Englewood Grand got us back tonight, GS cookies paired with drinks.

A and Bethany.

River sampling and getting crafty

I had slated Thursday for river sampling, but the weather looks like it might snow – so we did it this morning. The water was up, which was good and bad (we lost our sandbar, which was good and bad. Good because it was a better show of water mixing from Marcy Gulch and the Platte, bad because Grace had to wade over to the bank every time instead of having her stuff sitting in the middle.) From the top of the trail –

Then – upstream,

downstream,

right bank,

left bank.

It was pretty windy so half her metal sample went blowing in the wind (don’t worry, it’s just river water…RW tests for metals.) But she managed to get the bottle full with one filter and one syringe anyway. Also thank you RW for the waders – my feet were nice and dry!

After doing some school and eating lunch we went to Whole Foods for Creativity Club. ‘A’ made a basket (and his brother was making one too.)

G was working on granny squares (and so was her Mom) and Dad and B were working on knot tying.

Grace was doing a picture on her i-pod and Hannah was coloring/looking for ideas on her i-pod.

I finished this pic and started on another one.

We stole G and A and brought them home to play/hang out for a bit. Then it’s Holy yoga and jazz at the Grand.

Monday

I went to NIA this morning, so much fun! We did a mash up of all kinds of songs, one was the Happy Song, I felt like I was on the cruise ship again. James and I had coffee when it was over (he was off), then it was home for some school. I was squished between Bethany and Grace hovering over their computers, one doing Medical terminology and one doing polynomials in math. The girls went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch then we headed to dance in separate cars (Bethany likes to leave after dance, I have to wait till 3 for the girls to be done.) Our devotions were –

How do we deal with our unmet desires, dreams, callings, expectations? Don’t hide them from God, go to Him with them. In 1 Samuel Hannah has unmet desires and a calling that hasn’t been fulfilled. She has the love of her husband, but no children. So she goes, she pours out her soul to God, she shares her problem with the priest, she trusts in the promise and goes away glad. And, when her desire is met, her promise given, she hands back her child to God.

When people disappoint you, what is your response? If you are angry, bitter, sad, holding onto grief, it becomes rooted in your heart. Then, even when you get the best gift ever you end up complaining about it, nothing is ever good enough. So, what do we do?

First, go to God with your grief, your unmet desires, your anger, sadness, jealousy, remorse, pour it out to Him.
Second, get good at sharing with others who are rooted in Christ and their faith and who you can trust to walk with you. Tell them about the outpouring of your heart, let them pray with you.
Third, trust in the promise and go away glad, don’t hold on to what you let go of. Lift up your eyes, know that God hears you and be glad.
Fourth, give your gift back to God. God gives us things to bless others, your gift may not be one that you expect, the timing might not seem right, but He knows what He is doing.

Put your faith in God, not people, circumstances, the world or fear. Go, share, trust, give back.

Psalm 62: 5-9
5 My soul quietly waits for the True God alone
because I hope only in Him.
6 He alone is my rock and deliverance,
my citadel high on a hill;
I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my significance depend ultimately on God;
the core of my strength, my shelter, is in the True God.
8 Have faith in Him in all circumstances, dear people.
Open up your heart to Him;
the True God shelters us in His arms.
9 Human beings disappear like a breath;

Back at home we did some more school, then went to eat. We got another episode of Death in Paradise, so we watched that and called it a night.

Weekend

Grace and I met Jennifer and G downtown at the MCA for a teen event – making terrariums. Grace got a chocolate mint plant and a huge vase, G got a random plant and a different vase. Jennifer and I wandered the museum while they created, they put in a new graffiti exhibit, but avoid the 2nd floor, some things can’t be unseen.

They had to carry them around as we went to the Cheesecake factory for lunch and took the train back home.

Back at home Hannah and James went to the post office and chilled at the house. Bethany picked up A and they went on the longest date ever. They ate lunch at Saj, went to see Dr. Strange, had an ice cream, went back to the house to play video games, then went to Wendy’s for dinner. They both had a good time and got to talk a lot (which Bethany liked and I guess A did too – since there was a lot of time to talk.) I didn’t have much time at home before heading to Tennyson street for my paint night at the cat cafe’. No one from my group came, but it was packed with people painting and petting cats.

I had to move a cat so I could sit down.

The cats were sleepy at first, then they wandered around while we kept painting.

I found out the secret to creating a unique picture – do the opposite of whatever the instructor says. She said get black, white, yellow and blue (and blue was the main color), so I got black, white, yellow and green. She said use a thick brush, so I used a thin one. She said….you get it.

We did the backgrounds, then waited for that to dry before painting the cat part.

I don’t like the eyes on mine…but the rest is okay.

Sunday the girls and I worked in the 2’s room at church.

They are so funny. I said, “Hey, who wants to do a craft?” No one even looked up. Then I said, “I have dot markers!” Zoom! I had 7 kids out of 10 at the table (hey, even dot markers won’t make all of them come do a craft.) It went well, only had 1 that used the markers to paint her hands…..

After church we let Bethany drive to D’s house to hang out (so she could see the general way to get there) and the rest of us went on a short hike at Columbine open space.

I’m frustrated that I can’t find any info on the stone house and barn located there, I think it’s related to the Maytag portion of the property, but again – no info on it. We went home for a bit, made dinner (the sesame chicken was good and I have leftover cabbage slaw for the tacos this week.) By then Bethany had been dropped off and we went to the $1 movie to see Moana, it was really good. I thought the story and songs were good, could have done without the shiny crab scene, but otherwise a great story.

Joel found out a ski place was offering free snowboarding to Army people so,

And Joel wrote this the other day, he doesn’t have a title for it. I think it makes a great cadence song.

This poem is dedicated to the fallen,
whose names we’ve never heard, and never will.
They fought in the battle of Lexington,
the siege of Yorktown, and Bunker hill.

Brave men, signing blank checks at eighteen.
Trudging through trenches,
struggling to keep their weapons clean.
Some came by choice, others because of the draft.
Some on foot, some in tanks, some jumped out of aircraft.

Now we wear boots, like they used to.
Marching to battle,
for red,
for white,
for blue.
Through bullets, weather, and hardships we’ll push through.

We strive to be like those that came before you and I.
The brave soldiers that risked everything and weren’t afraid to die.
Our flag soaked in the blood of our nation’s finest,
with pride we fly it the highest.
When our comrades fall we’ll take their place,
and ensure their sacrifice doesn’t go to waste.

We will honor the heroes of the past the only way we can.
Never surrendering, fighting to the last man.
For how can we honor the patriots of yesterday if we don’t give our all today.

Always ready to fight for Liberty.
No matter the cost we’ll achieve victory.
Our deeds may not go down in history, but it doesn’t matter.
All that’s important is that our fighting spirit doesn’t shatter.

We don’t stop until we succeed.
Americans never quit no matter how much we bleed.
We swear this with the soldier’s Creed.

-SPC Carberry 02/16/2017

The week –  dance, creativity club, Englewood Grand jazz, 1903 circus show, 3M co-op, HS skate, Holy Yoga, youth group, gym, NIA, Fantastic beasts craft at library, school, passport photos!

Dinners for the week – grill night, pineapple pork tacos, gf pasta and meatballs, chili and cornbread, Thai pork with brown rice, apricot chicken.

 

Friday

The HS skate for the day got moved to next week, it was such a nice day so we decided to go to Hudson and count birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count (it doesn’t have to be in your backyard.) We saw the usual, house finches, geese, robins, chickadees, ducks, flickers and a shy belted kingfisher that I had to chase around to get a picture of.

Squirrels don’t count, but this guy was cute.

We also stopped by Flyn B to check on Mama owl, she was sleeping.

In the evening I took Bethany and G (a friend) to the library for a Harry Potter murder mystery. They had pizza and cake and solved the mystery, won the trivia and got chocolate frogs. They decided to be in Slytherin for the night since it was Draco that was murdered. When I picked them up we stopped in at Sweet Cooie’s – Littleman’s new sister ice cream shop. It’s so cute!

Tomorrow it’s terrarium making for Grace and G, a date for Bethany and A and my cat cafe paint co-op in the evening.