Sharing Grace

Y'all... I am knee deep in the trenches of She Speaks but I'm not complaining. God is in every step of the planning process and I'm just blown away that I get to be a part of something so amazing. Every year we get to witness God's love and His power in such amazing ways. Our extra strength during these stressful days comes from knowing what WILL happen. That's the payoff that makes it all worth it!

Planning She Speaks is actually sort of fun for me. Well... the fluff part is fun for me. I love to fluff things up and make people feel special. Spoiling and loving on 600 people makes me happy.

I have always enjoyed cooking for others and making them feel welcome in my home. And, I love to share my ideas and recipes with others. So... about a year ago I created a little cookbook as a gift for family and friends. It's nothing fancy. There are no glossy photos or even a solid spine. It's just a homemade cookbook filled with lots of recipes and ideas for gifts, favors, and traditions.

The feedback has been pretty encouraging so we have decided to offer Sharing Grace through Proverbs 31 Ministries. There among the inspiring and amazing (and professionally published) books written by my talented sisters in Christ, sits my little spiral bound cookbook. It looks a little odd but I'm in really great company :)

Here's a shameless plug...

If you would like more information about Sharing Grace, or if you would like to purchase a copy, click on the cover image. I can't promise award-winning photos, but I can promise you 200 pages filled with original recipes and a lot of love.


All proceeds go to Proverbs 31 Ministries.... or, perhaps to send a boy to college someday :)

Amazed by His Grace,
LeAnn

You say Potato...

Hi Friends!

The last time I posted I promised some fun photos in the weeks ahead. Well... I never actually said how many weeks, right?

I thought this was interesting. I put a potato in the oven to go along with Nick's dinner. After about an hour, a strong potato smell was wafting through the house. I went to peek in the oven and discovered that the potato skin had split open and the entire potato was on the bottom of my oven! All that was left was a very thin and crispy skin. I have never seen such a thing so I made sure to take photographic evidence 'cause I didn't think anyone would believe my story!

Here's the proof:


Isn't that nuts?!

OK - back to conference planning. I'll try to come up with another bit of frivolity in a few days.

Blessings,
LeAnn

Grace, Please!

I know that I haven't been posting on either of my blogs over the past few weeks. I would like to tell you that this will change but... it probably won't until the first week in August. I will try to provide SHORT updates (or at least a few fun photos) in the weeks ahead but, until our annual She Speaks conference is over, I just won't have a lot of time for writing.

I am submitting photos of my desk as exhibits A and B in my defense:



This is the condition of my desk on most days. The scary news... this is how my desk looked when I arrived in the office this morning! It may look chaotic but, I have things spread out exactly as I need them to be. There is a method to my madness :)

I did have an interesting experience when baking a potato for Nick over the weekend. I'll share photos in a few days!

Blessings,
LeAnn

Encouragement

You haven't heard much from me over the past few weeks. I'm working long hours getting our rooming list and other details finalized for She Speaks; and Nick has lots of extra projects during the last few weeks of school. Life is crazy but not necessarily in a bad way. Just exhausting :)

In the midst of this, I have gained too much weight and feel just plain tired all the time. No matter what I do, the weight doesn't come off. And I've seriously tried! After seeing a doctor about my weight and failing on her very extreme diet, she sent me to the hospital for a complete blood workup. YIPES! I don't like needles! They took LOTS of blood and I acted like a baby! The results came back and showed a few "issues."

I have a Vitamin D deficiency but that's an easy fix.... just a supplement.

The other issues are all wrapped up in my thyroid. Apparently the healthy range is between .27 and 4.2. They like to keep you under 2. Mine is 27.4!

This explains why it is so very hard to loose weight and why I get so discouraged and frustrated when everyone around me is on the same diet and they loose weight and I gain it! This also explains why I am tired all the time.

The other issues that showed up in the lab results are all due to the thyroid problem. I don't metabolize fats so my body just holds onto them (like I need to hold onto fat!), and my cholesterol is high.

I am looking at today as a new day. Today is the first day that I have taken a little pill that will be my friend for the rest of my life. Pray that this works and that I will be "normal," or at least as normal as I can be considering my character quirks!

Having said all that...

While I have been very discouraged over the past year (but not any more starting today), God sent sweet friends to encourage me when I was down. One sweet friend has way more going on in her life and yet she always finds the time to send me little emails or Facebook comments of encouragement.

My sweet friend, Diane, God has truly gifted you with a spirit of encouragement and love. When I have been teetering on the edge of being stressed to my limit, a little note from you has appeared... just like an angel... at exactly the right time.

Thank you for always being a bright spot in my life and in the lives of so many others. You are such a gift and His light truly shines brightly through you.


Remember my friends... no matter what is going on in your life... no matter the challenges... today is a new day for all of us. Let us rejoice in it!

Many blessings sweet friends!
LeAnn

Little Mermaid Party

Ya'll know how much I look forward to helping with sweet Jackie's birthday party each year. Jackie turned three a couple of weeks ago and her birthday party was this past Saturday. She is all about The Little Mermaid so, of course, she wanted a Little Mermaid birthday party! Rhonda and I had soooooo much fun planning and decorating!

The under the sea theme was carried throughout:

We covered the floor of one room with blue balloons and covered the doorway to the room with blue and purple streamers and some fish. Rhonda hid gold coins and jewelry under the balloons and the kids went on a treasure hunt with their toes! (Rhonda's dad, bless his heart, blew up all those balloons!)

We played "freeze" in the balloon room. The kids danced in the balloons to the music from The Little Mermaid. When the music stopped, they had to freeze. Oh... notice that the adults joined the fun!


Rhonda made fish beanbags so the kids could toss them into a large bucket.

There was also "Stick the flowers in Ariels Hair" (like pin the tail on the donkey but without pins!).

And, they went "fishing" with a magnetic pole and some fish in a bucket.

We also set up a craft area. Rhonda made a cute sign and we decorated the area to match the theme. We had an Ariel poster in the background, fishing net, and some cardboard cutout fish "swimming" through the net. Rhonda painted adorable treasure chests for the little girls' treat boxes, and filled them with stickers, crayons, jewelry, bubbles, etc. (Of course, everything had an Ariel theme!)

The bucket you see on the left is a bucket of jumbo pasta shells. The little girls decorated their own shells. Is that a cute idea or what?


Of course the food matched the theme...

I made a Little Mermaid birthday cake as requested by the birthday girl:



Here she is eating her cake:


We also had octopus hotdogs, crab dip, tuna croissants, goldfish crakers in a little bucket, blue punch with gummy fish frozen in an ice ring, and little jello aquariums:


The party was a hit and we all had a great time (little kids and big kids). I can't wait to start working on next year!

Sweet Blessings,
LeAnn
"Aunt LeLe"

Resurrection Rolls

OK - I guess I have to eat my words!

Just when I wrote about Nick and I NOT having any special food-type traditions, it was time to shop for Easter dinner. We make Resurrection Rolls every year so I guess we do have a tradition or two that involves food! These are so yummy that we make them a few times a year... not just at Easter.

If you have never made these, I encourage you to give them a try. It's a great way to share the Easter story with you family, neighbor kids, or Sunday School class. Here's the recipe:

Resurrection Rolls

Large Crescent Roll Dough (the regular size rolls won't work)
Melted Butter
Large Marshmallows
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture (purchase or mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon with every 3 tablespoons sugar)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.

Have them dip the marshmallow into the melted butter and roll to coat evenly. This represents the oils of embalming.

Dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat evenly. This represents the spices used to anoint His body.

Wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll. (not like a typical crescent roll up... but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Place on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven for the length of time indicated on the crescent roll package. The oven represents the tomb (pretend like it was three days.)

When the rolls have cooked and cooled slightly, bite into the rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty!)

Sweet Blessings,
LeAnn

Some Things Only a Mom Can Do!

I don't know about ya'll but there are certain meals that I remember from my childhood that just thinking about makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Nothing gourmet... nothing fancy... nothing really special at all. In fact, it's their simplicity and the memories they evoke that are comforting.

I remember fondly cream of tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches on cold snowy days. Mom would bundle us up like abominable snow men (so we couldn't move our arms) and send us out into the yard to play in the snow. No matter how hard she tried to bundled us up, it wasn't long before we were wet and cold and running inside to warm up. Mom peeled off our wet clothes and started warming/drying them. It's amazing how quickly we would forget how miserable we were being cold and wet, and we would start begging to head back outside! Once lunchtime rolled around, I knew that a warm bowl of Campbell's cream of tomato soup (made with milk - not water) and a gooey grilled cheese sandwich would be waiting. Of all the comfort food that I remember from my childhood, cream of tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich is the only meal I continue to make for myself. Usually on cold, rainy days!

For breakfast on cold days, I remember a bowl of cream of wheat and cinnamon toast. The first thing I did was tip my toast over my bowl of cream of wheat so that the cinnamon sugar coated the top of the warm cereal. Yum! I can't remember the last time I had a bowl of cream of wheat?

Here's one that will "date" me...

Mom's tuna noodle casserole! I don't like anyone's tuna noodle casserole. Only my moms! It has to be made with a package of cooked egg noodles, a drained can of tuna, a can of cream of mushroom soup, an almost full can of milk, and then a layer of cheddar cheese on top before it goes into the oven. This casserole has to be served with blueberry muffins (made from the box that has the little can of blueberries inside) and peach or pear halves with grated cheddar cheese and a little dollop of mayo. I know... sounds disgusting but it's yummy if you grew up with it. Just the sound of this meal makes my mouth water and yet I have NEVER made it for myself. However, during a visit from my mom a year or two ago, she made this for me for my birthday dinner! Mmmmm-mmmmm-good!

Isn't it funny how many memories are associated with food? I remember certain specialties that each of my grandmothers made when we visited. I remember my NaNa's chicken and dumplings (I still can't make this favorite dish as good as she did), and my Nanny's Escarole soup (I have mastered this one).

I'm very sad to admit that Nick won't have any memories of favorite meals that will make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside :(

If you ask him what his favorite meal is, he'll say pepperoni pizza or steak. Neither one of these is exactly a "made with love by mom" specialty. There won't be any special recipes for me to pass on to his wife one day. He won't come home from college on the weekends requesting a warm casserole or "Mom's Famous ______ (fill in the blank)." How sad is this?

I'm suddenly craving a tuna noodle casserole! I'm depressed and I need a little bit of comforting!

Blessings,
LeAnn

P.S. I would love to hear about your favorite food memories!