Cans of fun!

 Like most moms, I'm always trying to find fun developmental activities for the little man.  He turned 1 on Saturday and it seems like over night he has become a toddler...bittersweet is an understatement.  So I saw this blog and I loved the ideas it gave.  I found an activity that I thought James would really like and I knew I could make it today with items we already have.   We have an abundance of these clear plastic balls and James loves them.  We also eat a lot of oatmeal so I had an empty oatmeal container on hand that had a plastic lid.  Any container with a thin plastic lid would work well, i.e. a Gatorade powder can, a coffee can.  A metal container like a coffee can or any container with a metal bottom would make for some extra fun since it would make a loud sound when you drop a ball or toy in!

All I did was cut a hole in the lid that was a little smaller than the balls I wanted to use and showed the little man how to push the balls through.  He LOVED it!  He also really enjoyed taking the lid off and dumping the balls out.


 (And, yes, he is only wearing a diaper...it's 75 degrees outside and I am refusing to turn the A/C on because it's December.)










He even got pretty good at putting the lid back on! 

 I took this opportunity to throw some counting into the mix as well.  We counted each ball we put in and then counted them after we dumped them out.  Something else that turned out to be fun was throwing the balls back into the bowl we keep them in.  We counted as we did this too!

I hope this is something you can add to your list of playtime activities!  Leave a comment with any other fun counting and sorting games and activities you want to share.  Actually, I'd love to hear any baby/toddler activities you have to share! 

Keep an eye out for my recipe for the little man's birthday cake which was made with whole grain flour and no added sugar! 

Mighty Men of Valour

So I don't know about you, but many many times I have found myself daydreaming during Bible study group or church.  (Eek! I know! Not good!)  I'm sure, at some point, we have all started thinking about lunch or our list of things to do in the middle of the Sunday sermon.  I'm not talking about that though.  Today, my mind went off on a side road about a portion of scripture we were reading in our Bible study group.  I LOVE it when this happens.  I feel like when this happens, God is taking a portion of His Word and speaking to me privately, almost secretly, just between me and Him.  And the fact that God would point out a specific phrase from His Word and use it to change my heart amazes me.  It amazes me how well He knows me and how much He loves me.  So, anyway, here's how it went down.  I was following along as someone read the scripture (Judges 6) aloud and we got to this text, 

 wGideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And xthe angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, y“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 

Ok, so you should really read verses 1-11a but I'll give you a little background just in case you don't decide to do so.  The Israelites were pretty much hiding out because every time they tried to plant crops, other nations would come and over power them and take everything they had.  The Bible says they were brought very low and that they cried out to the Lord, not in repentance but because of their circumstances (a lesson for another day!).  God then reminds them of how He has delivered them in the past and of His promises to them.  All the while, they are still unrepentant. Then we pan over to Gideon in verse 11 (above).  He is hiding out threshing wheat and an angel appears to him.  Given that information, I wouldn't describe Gideon as valiant or brave.  He is hiding from the Midianites so they don't take his wheat, and look how God addresses him through this angel.  He calls him a "mighty man of valor"!  Sarcasm? no.  This is the lesson God spoke to my heart this morning.  God called him a might man of valor because He knew what He was going to do with Gideon.  He wasn't giving him a title based on his current condition.  He was giving him a title based on his potential.  This potential was not evident to Gideon himself or others around him and it was not based on his own set of skills or snazzy resume.  Gideon wasn't even seeking this out.  Gideon then goes on to say, "If the Lord was with us, why would all of these bad things be happening to us?".  And the Lord replies,

“Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; bdo not I send you?"

It's like God is completely ignoring his protests!  I love it!  Even after this, Gideon questions God and says, "How can I save Israel?  My tribe is the weakest and I am the least in my family."  By man's standards he was not even on the radar as a candidate to save Israel, but for God's purposes, he was the perfect candidate!  The Lord's next statement puts it all in perspective:

16 And the Lord said to him, e“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

The Lord is with us so it doesn't matter who we are or are not!  He will accomplish His will through us.

So after reading this passage, I zoned out for a minute and started thinking about how God called Gideon a mighty man of valor when he was being pretty cowardly.  I also thought ahead through the story to how God's encouragement led to Gideon becoming courageous and valiant after he learned that he could trust God for the outcome.  This got me thinking...I am the wife to an amazing man. As his wife, I have many jobs.  One of those jobs which I consider to be super important is that of cheerleader.  Yes, cheerleader.  I love encouraging my husband.  I have written him little notes and hid them for him to find around the house and cooked special dinners for him.  Those things are very important, but I realized today that there is a lot more to encouraging him than that.  It has to be so much deeper than that.  I need to cheer for my husband the way God cheered for Gideon.  That starts by me seeing him the way that God sees him; as a man whom God is about to use in a mighty way.  Not only do I need to see him that way, I need to treat him that way.  This isn't something that should be centered around one specific goal or circumstance.  God is able to use His children as often as we are willing to be used, so this should be my constant attitude toward my husband.  If I were to make fun of Evan or belittle him, I would be totally undermining the work that God is doing in him as well as feeding him lies that may take his eyes off of God's ability to use him and place them on his own strength.  What if, instead of calling Gideon a "mighty man of valor", God had called him a "cowardly man of weakness" (which, based on his actions, would have been a reasonable description.)?  I believe the outcome would have been completely different.  God encouraged Gideon to be the man He wanted him to be.  How many times am I critical of my husband?  How many times have I had an underlying attitude of contempt for my husband?  Our society and media have lied to us and told us that the men in our lives should be questioned constantly.  They have told us that we should not let our husbands lead us and take care of us.  By encouraging my husband and supporting him in his goals, I can fight this misconception.  Our men are created to be courageous, valiant leaders and as a wife, my attitude toward my husband directly affects his view of himself which, in turn, affects his decisions and actions.  This means my job as my husband's cheerleader is one that I should not take lightly.  I need to call my husband a mighty man of valor in my actions, my attitudes and my words.  I must encourage him to Go in his might and do what God has called him to do.  Wives, I encourage you to go in your might and courageously swim against the stream as you support and encourage your husbands to be the mighty men of valor that God has created them to be.  

I'd love to get input from other women on this!  What are some ways that we can encourage the men in our lives (husbands, sons, fathers, nephews, brothers, etc.) to "go in their might"?

No meat Meatballs...Seriously yummy :)

So I'm taking advantage of these few moments while my sweet boy is sleeping to write about the "meatballs" I made last night.  We have been trying to switch to organic meats as much as possible, and as many of you know, organic meats can get pretty pricey.  For budget's sake and to save some calories, I decided to try to trade out the meat in a meal or 2 each week for an alternative protein source.  In our household, it isn't enough to just cut out the meat in a meal.  Since Evan's days are filled with helping other people burn calories, as well as a hard core workout of his own, he needs a protein source at dinner.  I did some reading and found this list of non-meat protein sources and how many grams of protein are in each.  We just started having a different theme for dinner each night of the week. Since Wednesday is Italian night, I started looking for a non-meat Italian dish with a good amount of protein.  I found 2 recipes for meat-free "Meatballs" :) (here and here)  Since I believe that every recipe should be a bit flexible based on what you have in your pantry, I made my list of comparable ingredients from my pantry.  Here they are:

1 can chili beans (just pinto beans in sauce) Mine was a little spicy, just FYI.
1 can black beans (Feel free to experiment with whatever beans you have.)
1 carrot minced or processed in the food processor
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup of dry breadcrumbs
1 T of oil (olive oil or canola oil
1 T of Italian seasoning
1 T of parsley (that's all I had left! You could definitely use more than that.)
salt and pepper to taste

marinara sauce
pasta of choice

I would suggest processing your beans first and the transferring them to another bowl while you process your carrot and garlic.  I processed my carrot and garlic first and when I had all of my ingredients in my small food processor it was too full to incorporate the beans.  I transferred it all into a bowl and used an electric hand mixer.  You could also use a potato masher.

Anyway...long recipe short, process your beans and carrots/garlic separately.  Add the rest of your ingredients and process or mash until it is mixed well.  I used a heaping teaspoon to scoop the mixture out.  I rolled it into a 1 inch ball.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, turning the bean balls over after the first 10 minutes.  While they are baking, boil your pasta of choice and heat some marinara sauce.

Beware they will look cracked and dry when you pull them out, but they are not!  They have a great texture and when you pour your sauce over them, they make your mouth water.

We had a tray full of bean balls.  Enough for 2 meals for us.  Leftovers would be great on hoagies (or hotdog buns :) whatever you have).

Feel free to experiment.  That's my favorite part of cooking :)  Let me know what you think!

- Rebecca

Who I am

Hi, my name is Rebecca and I have 2 full-time jobs, wife and mommy.  They are the best jobs in the world!  I have a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences and I love all things homey.  I have been happily married to my husband, Evan, since July of 2010 and we just welcomed our first baby on December 1st.  We are believers in Jesus Christ.  We believe that God sent His Son, Jesus, to be the payment for our sins and that we can accept this salvation as a free gift.  Our goal is to glorify God in all we do.  As that goal applies to this blog, I would like this to be a resource for my fellow moms and moms-to-be, as well as a bragging board for what God is doing in our lives.  I love designing, sewing, crafting, cooking, baking, and of course, saving money :)  I'm sure each of those elements will make their way into this blog at some point!  I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and ideas with you!