You know it's time ...

 No doubt about it - it's time to get back to my blog! The blog {that I never intended to abandon so abruptly} has been on the back burner while I figured out this liver cleanse thing. One thing (baseball) lead to another (summer time) which lead to another (homeschool) and got wrapped up in the crazy wonderful mess of  just living simply ... so, my blog and I took a very long break from one another! 

Setting up for the Storyteller's 13 birthday ... baseball theme, of course!

Do you want to know how I know it's time to get back at the keyboard and give you a few tiny glimpses into our simple home at very irregular intervals sharing totally random things about life in our wee corner of the world? Well, it was prayer, Scripture, my Mum, my Dad, three sweet friends and one total stranger. Yes siree - I'd say that I'm pretty slow and sometimes it takes a really BIG push to move me forward!

I've started to actually write down some new recipes I've been  playing with and I've been remembering to take pictures too! I'll get back to sharing some recipes. Soon.

We started studying the spiritual gifts at our church this month - starting with one of those Spiritual Gift inventories. I've done them before, but it's been a while. I've discovered that I've changed a lot in some areas and I haven't changed in others.  God has worked in my heart and life in areas that I didn't really see very well, but I'm learning! I want to share some of that here with you. Soon.

 I still get the most hits on this quiet little blog on a simple little post I scribbled out years and years ago about my Anxiety Relief  and it often leads to amazing e-mails with questions that both bless and challenge me. I need to add more to my blog on that topic. Because you know - I've had a lot to be anxious about, but I've also seen God remove my fears with the TRUTH of His Word over and over and over again and I want to share that here.

Um. I'm 42 pounds lighter then when I last wrote. Yes, that's pretty big! I'm still doing that liver cleanse thing - the one that was supposed to last for 8 weeks that I started in April? That's the one! There's a story there too.

Dreamer turned 16 on October 1st!

Storyteller  aka: My Good Knight

We now have TWO teenagers. One is driving age {but not driving yet} One is driving us crazy! Ha! Not really. Well, maybe a little bit. I am constantly calling out to God for wisdom and strength and patience. Every day. Sometimes every hour. I am so thankful for my husband who pulls me back from the edge and for children who love me and forgive me. Our Storyteller is 6' at 13 and in now playing basketball. He is hungry all the time. All. The. Time.

My sweet Historian and I quietly celebrated 22 years of marriage in October.  We've been on more 'dates' in the past month then we've been on in 5 years I think. All because it's a l.o.n.g. drive to church! I'm not sure they count though, because I've almost fallen asleep on both our dates. Thankfully my Historian is still patient and understanding and he LOVES me. He really does. Even when all I want is hot tea and a warm bed.

 I've been doing a bit of sewing lately. Quite a bit actually. These are some costumes I've recently made. The man in the middle attends the same church we do and is a huge fan of the Renaissance Festival. He wanted a unique costume to attend the festival in and I think he's pretty happy with what we came up with. Dreamer and Storyteller wanted costumes for the Trunk or Treat that was held as an outreach for the first time at our church. Our van was fun to decorate as the 'Ye Olde Amoure' - putting on the full armor of God. Dreamer dreamed it up and did most of the work.  We had so much fun - over 750 kids came through last night. We are praying that many of them will come back and get involved in AWANA and Youth ministry.

So there you have it. I'll be back soon with more and if you have any really pressing questions that you just can't wait to have answered add them in the comments and I'll answer. Soon. It is, after all, basketball season!

 In the meantime I'll leave you with a sweet treat to enjoy! Our Dreamer is moving forward with her music and learning amazing things.  She is so dedicated and committed to practice and learning.  She's preparing for several competitions and auditions right now so our home is filled with beautiful music and not-so-beautiful piano finger exercises which I would gladly do without, but she has deemed absolutely necessary. As I type, I'm enjoying listening to her sight read Canon in D. How blessed am I?  Very, very blessed indeed!

AWANA Grand Prix 2012

We had such a great time at our AWANA Grand Prix this morning.

We've been working on our cars for a couple of weeks, but of course there were set backs, 

plan changes, 'oops' moments and last minute details to iron out!

Oh, and a few band-aids, and one almost emergency room visit ... ahem.

This is Storyteller's Milk Truck.

If you know our son, you know why he'd choose to make an old fashioned milk truck!

That boy loves his milk!

The Milk Truck

Dan The Milk Man
That's a milk mustache on the front of the truck!

Those are real glass bottles of 'milk' - wouldn't it be fun if milk still came in glass bottles?

We'd love to have milk delivered fresh to our door each day!

The kids always talk me into making a car if I have the time, and I actually enjoy it.

I made the 'bakery items' out of clay and painted them.

The only problem was that they were super heavy!

My car was WAY overweight, so it didn't compete in the Grand Prix.

They sent it down the track once before I reminded them that it was just for

looks and didn't qualify for the race. 

This is my Bakery Truck - well, Sally's Bakery Truck.

Sweet Stuff Bakery Truck

Sally Sweet Stuff

Dreamer's Bach-Mobile was a big hit in the teen category!  

She came in second for speed and design - but there were only 3 entries, so we're taking that into account.

The cars are on display at the church, so this is the best one I have of the Bach-Mobile! 

All of that gold writing is famous quotes from Bach about how his 

music was written to give glory to God.

It's perfect for Dreamer since she is still working daily to prepare for her Early Bach competition in April. She has 12 pieces memorized and 3 to learn and memorize - with all the sickness she has struggled with since December, we are super proud of her for sticking with this and working so hard.

Well, I promised Mum I'd try to post these so she could see our work! 

 I entered these Sandwich Swirls in a recipe contest at RecipeRiot - they are so yummy!

I used my Sweet Honey Rye and Dark Pumpernickel bread recipes, changed them up to work with Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast and made them into Sandwich thins! 

I'll be making another batch this week for sure - the kids loved them!

Another recent recipe contest entry - A Trifle Chai.

Oh my stars! 

I made a homemade butterscotch pudding, a moist hazelnut-spice cake, a batch of homemade chai apple pie filling, a hazelnut caramel sauce and topped it with a sweet /spicy mascarpone cream.

It was so good! My kind Historian thinks my trifle belongs in a 5 star restaurant.

I don't think I've ever been paid a sweeter compliment!

I do believe a really good trifle could rekindle love, settle family disputes and perhaps even end a war.

I am waiting to hear about both contests, but I really hope that I place in the top three for either one.

 Our Mini-Daffodils are over 10" tall and still delighting us with new blooms daily!

We've been plugging along with school and other activities despite an increase in my pain level lately.

I'm looking forward to getting some blood work and hopefully some answers when I go for my physical in a couple of weeks. I've been feeling like I'm kinda falling apart - one pain after another.

I am so grateful that my family picks up the slack when I'm slowed by pain,

 and that I can putter around doing what I can when I am up to it. 

We manage to get a fair amount accomplished each day and 

that's a blessing that I am so very thankful for.

I've been encouraged by this verse more than once this week

 - perhaps it is a timely reminder for you as well.

"Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth 

by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"

Jeremiah 32:17