Tea Talk -- His People to Deliver

Welcome to my home!

Sit and have a cup of tea with me and share a little time of relaxation and encouragement.

To join, click on Ruth's button above!

I'm having...a cup of Earl Grey decaf at my dad's and mom's house (this past Sunday), in one of my mom's mugs.  She has a nice variety of tea/coffee mugs that she has pulled together over the years.

I'm feeling...pretty good.  I actually went out for a walk yesterday in the 15-degree (F) weather to the bank to open a business account for  Christine Anne Photography.  I was glad to hang out at the bank while working with an account representative just for the chance to get warm again!!  :)  I love my bank--they offered me the use of a "business table" in their lobby that I can reserve for free for two weeks to display my business!  So last night I ran out to Kohl's with a $10 off coupon and bought a couple of photo frames for display purposes.  And frames were 50-60% off!  Yah-hoo!  I love sales with coupons.

On my mind...oh, you know me; I'm always making mental lists, and I don't think that will ever end!  My mind is always thinking and organizing; sometimes I do wish I could turn it off!  I do have a couple of books to read to consider whether our state homeschool organization (ICHE) should carry them in our bookstore.  And winter is a great time to read!  I'm also looking forward to Jacob's and Danny's college semester ending next week.  Poor Jacob got a nasty cold/flu bug this week, so we "drugged him up" and sent him to those classes he couldn't miss.  He is feeling much better now, thank the Lord!

I leave you with...two verses of our church's "hymn of the month."  We are singing this hymn each week as we await the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  I love these words!

Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light

Break forth, O beauteous heav'nly light,

And usher in the morning;

Ye shepherds, shrink not with affright,

But hear the angel's warning.

This Child, now weak in infancy,

Our confidence and joy shall be.

The pow'r of Satan breaking,

Our peace eternal making.

He comes, a Child, from realms on high,

He comes the heav'ns adoring;

He comes to earth to live and die,

A broken race restoring.

Although the King of kings is He,

He comes in deep humility;

His people to deliver,

And reign in us forever.

God's goodness and blessings to you during this special time of waiting!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

Mindful of Others

As we are in the rhythm of the Christmas month, I'm stopping for a moment of reflection.  Our sons have been commenting lately about how commercialized this season has become, and I have to agree.  Just turn on the TV or radio, and watch--or listen.  Walk into any retail store and be immediately assaulted with Christmas deals.

A Christmas without gifts?

We have exchanged gifts every Christmas I've been alive.  Fernando and I have explained to the boys that it's a symbol of the gift that God gave to us in Jesus, God become man, to die for our sins.  I don't have an issue with gift-giving at Christmas--after all, we have spent the whole month of November thanking the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed on us, and entering the Christmas season naturally puts us in the mood to share tangible thanks with others.

But this year, we have much less money to spend.  My sister-in-law was recently laid off.  Our boys--the only children in the family--are all older (Thomas, the youngest, is 14), and they really don't want to make a "wish list" for Christmas.  Most of the adult family members (and there are only seven!) agreed that too much effort and energy have been put into making lists, and searching for/purchasing/wrapping gifts for each other.

So we are doing something different this year.  We "adopted" two needy families, and got together and bought gifts for them.  One evening, eight of us tromped through Target, searching for things that each family member needed, and adding a little something special for each one.

Our family was so blessed to participate in this endeavor together.  Although we won't be exchanging gifts on Christmas day, we agree that we've already received gifts galore from our Lord--a warm house, family, food on our table, clothing on our backs.  Everything else is just a want.  We are happy.

May the Lord's peace settle quietly deep in your heart during this advent season!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

Counting My Blessings #1

Join us at Tamara's blog by clicking above!!

Yes, I'm posting late today.  But it has been busy around here--a good busy.  We've had normal family times, too, throughout the week.  I can't say quiet times because our home is anything but quiet with five guys here!

Today I thank the Lord for a husband whose name means brave.  He was brave to take those scissors and cut someone's hair--his first time ever!

We were both a little shocked at the almost eight inches he cut off, but we both can now say that we like what he did with my hair.  ;)

photo courtesy of Danny

Back to life,

Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

Night of Laughter

Looking back on past blog posts, it seems I use the phrase "my dear friend ___..." quite a bit!  I'll try to refrain from that in this post.

My wonderful friend Lori (how's that?) and her family have been hosting Friday Game Night throughout this autumn, and we've been happy to attend every one of them.  This past week was extra special since her house was packed with people--laughing, smiling, cheerful people ready to play and have fun together.  :)

I started the evening with a headache (actually, it had lasted the entire day), but by evening's end I was headache-free, albeit exhausted and ready to fall into bed (which I did upon returning home!).  I laughed so hard, pretty much all night long.  I must've lost two pounds from all the calories expended.  :D

Anyway, I'm glad I brought my camera with me, since there were so many interesting game faces displayed.  The photos above show those serious chess-player faces, absorbed in the moves and the strategies of the game.  But behind them some hilarity came to light...

I knew when these ladies showed up, that I'd be laughing a lot.  A minute or so after taking the above shot, I found myself sitting in the dining room, an unwitting player in the game of Curses.

Now, don't worry--though it's not a specifically Christian game, we weren't dancing around a cauldron or anything.  I won't explain in detail; I'll just state that you had to act out what was printed on the "curse" cards that other players gave you.  If you forgot to act something out, you "broke" the curse; once you broke three curses, you were out of the game.

photo courtesy Stephen Martin (I think)

Though it's hard to capture the "acting out" part of the game, hopefully the next several photos will help you understand the silliness involved!

 Bryan was required to bite his tongue while talking,

and at the same time play "air guitar."

Bryan could handle it for only so long...he broke in the end (giggle)...

Enjoy (most of) the rest of the evening's photos--I'm posting some special ones on my photography blog.  Check them out there!

Had to post one photo of Lori's Christmas tree.  Lovely!!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

FFG--French Coconut Pie for Katia

My dear friend Lori hosts Friday Farm Girls at Heart every week;

please click on her button to visit her blog

and to find out how you can participate!

My dear online friend Katia requested this recipe, and I decided to post it today for her.  I have been in baking mode since Thanksgiving week, and I love to create a warm kitchen and to fill the house with wonderful aromas.  It seems there are so many events/reasons to bake during this month.  I love it!

Though I don't have a photo of just this pie, I'll re-post one of all of our Thanksgiving pies.  Yummm...

Back "row":  pumpkin, pumpkin pecan, French apple.

Front "row":  pecan, lemon buttermilk, French coconut.

French Coconut Pie

3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup sugar (I use cane juice crystals)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon flour (I use freshly-milled whole-wheat)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cider or white vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
1 cup flaked coconut (I throw in a little extra!)
1 9" unbaked pie shell (I make a whole-wheat crust)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except coconut and pie shell.  Beat together until well-mixed and add coconut.  Pour into pie shell and bake for ten minutes.  Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 40 minutes or until filling is set (top will be slightly golden).  Serves eight.

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

Tea Talk--A Child Will be Born

Welcome to my home!

Sit and have a cup of tea with me and share a little time of relaxation and encouragement.

To join, click on Ruth's button above!

I'm having...a cup of  Provence rooibos, a "red bush" tea with fruity flavors.  Yum!  I'm using a winter mug that I think my mom gave me for Christmas.  I've had it for a while and it's nice to have a little bit bigger mug of hot tea on a c-c-cold day.  :)

I'm feeling...okay but I know I have lots to do.  There's something niggling at the back of my mind, and I keep feeling that there's something I forgot to do, someone I forgot to call...  Maybe that's just me, though.  I have a pretty detailed to-do list, which I check often.

On my mind...are the bags of gifts sitting in front of our fireplace, and our bare Christmas tree in the front living room.  Most of my family (extended) gathered here for dinner on Tuesday, then headed out to Target en masse to purchase gifts for two needy families for Christmas.  My dad chose two families from a program (at his church) which helps needy families at Christmastime.  We had fun going all over the store, looking for shoes and coats, then some fun things for the seven children on the list:  boys and girls, ranging in age from 22 months to 16 years old.  Boy, was that interesting trying to figure out what a typical 16-year-old young lady would like!  Now we need to wrap the gifts and get them to my dad so he can bundle them all up and bring them to his church.

We were so excited about participating in this program this year, since the whole family decided to not exchange Christmas gifts this year.  What a peaceful feeling I have, knowing we don't have to figure out what people want, search all over, spend a ton of money, etc.!  We will enjoy this quiet and thoughtful advent of Christ's birth.

I leave you with...Scripture for the advent season.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 nasb

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

Another Thanksgiving post

Toldja I took lots of photos on Thanksgiving!!  But wait a minute, Danny took some, too!  Here are a few he took.

And here are the rest that I took.  I hope you had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne