Quotes to remember...

No quotes from famous people...just notable quotes from our kids and conversations that we had over the weekend...

Luke: after getting out of the tub wrapped only in a towel, he enters his room to find that his shades are up...he immediately starts yelling for one of us to put down his shade as he could
"perish from embarrassment"!

Abby: During family worship tonight, we were talking about how we need to love our enemies and ways in which we as Christians can do that. Brad asked the question "If you didn't know Jesus, what might be some of the ways we treat our enemies"? Abby responded, "By giving them wedgies"!

Levi: When asked to go help Luke and Abby with cleaning up some toys, he promptly replied "I can't, I have a headache"!

They are too much! :)

Chocolate-Pecan Pie

Tomorrow is our annual church picnic when we get together for food, fellowship and fundraising for the summer mission trip. This year the team will be going to the Island of Grenada for the second time. There they will continue the rebuilding of houses and churches that were destroyed in hurricane Ivan a few years ago.

Usually what happens amidst the eating and game playing is a pie auction. Members of the congregation make delicious desserts (traditionally pies) and we bid on them and all of the money goes towards the summer mission trip. It is a lot of fun and there are two great outcomes...money for the team and yummy pies to chow down on!

Maybe next year they'll be raising money for the team to go to Vienna!:)

I'm making a Chocolate-Pecan Pie...here is the recipe if anyone is interested:

1 packaged pie crust (only need one of the 2)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6oz)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1 cup dark corn syrup
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fit piecrust into 9 inch pie-plate according to package instructions. Sprinkle chopped pecans and chocolate chips evenly onto the bottom of piecrust...set aside.

Combine sugars, corn syrup and bourbon in large saucepan; bring to a boil over med. heat. Cook 3 minutes stirring constantly.

Whisk together eggs and remaining ingredients. Gradually stir about 1/4 of the hot mixture into the egg mixture; add to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly. Pour filling into piecrust.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes.

*1/4 cup water may be substitued for the bourbon.*

Having fun with our new Mac

Chocolate ice cream fight

Levi got in a fight with a bowl of chocolate ice cream.. obviously the ice cream won! :)

A moment with MeMoo

For those of you who know my mom, affectionately called MeMoo, there is never a dull moment when she is around. This afternoon she came over dragging a 15 foot rope behind her. She is planning the games for our church picnic this coming Sat. and instead of buying individual jump ropes, (she always wants to get the good deal) she buys the super long, multi-purpose rope that she can cut up and then burn the ends off. Or actually Brad does it, while she plays jump rope with Luke and Abby.
What I love about my mom is that she will make do with whatever circumstances come her way...note the picture of her twirling two ropes so both of the children can jump at the same time! What you can't see is that one rope is tied to the basketball hoop and the other one is tied to the kitchen door! Levi loved that both of MeMoo's hands were tied up so he could enjoy her diet coke as he watched the show! Hope you had a fun weekend too!

Life in Bitter Cold South Florida

While we hear of 11 feet of snow in upstate New York and 6 inches of ice on Pennsylvanian highways, we just wanted everyone to know we feel your pain. Abby's t-ball practice was cancelled this morning due to the bitter cold temperatures--48 degrees! But nothing would deter Abby from playing outside. She used her critical thinking skills...staying in her warm fuzzy pjs and adding a pair of mittens...and she was all ready to shoot some hoops!

Cinderella-boy?

Ok- I know that one day he will kill me...but this photo op was way too cute to pass up!
This afternoon Levi came across some old dress-up clothes of Abby and a flower-girl basket...after he got his "dress" on, he asked if he could fill his basket with flowers! His future wife will love these someday! :)

[note: Brad was forced to upload pictures against his will]

Monkey Jungle

I've found that offering our kids ridiculous rewards for big accomplishments serve three purposes in our family: they motivate our kids, they make memories, and they enable Daddy to be a kid again. Three years ago, I told Luke that if he memorized all the books of the Bible, I'd buy him an ice cream cone as big as his head. Needless to say, he invited Daddy to help him finish it.

So when we wanted to encourage our Abby to learn how to read, we promised her a trip to the not-so-world famous Monkey Jungle once she finished reading 25 "Bob" books. In no time I had to pay up on my end of the deal. Today Luke, Abby, and I headed down to the most un-Disneyesque theme park in Florida, to the place "where the humans are caged and the monkeys go wild!" The nostalgic scent of plastic molded monkey machine took me back 25 years ago to a simpler era, when Monkey Jungle workers would tirelessly slap "Come Visit Monkey Jungle" bumper stickers on everyone's car whilst unsuspecting patrons fed raisins to free-range howler monkeys.

Treasuring time together

We arrived back from our week with World Harvest team leaders today, just in time to pick up Luke and Abby from school. It was great to get to greet them with hugs and see their faces light up as they saw us. As we were returning home from school, we noticed 3 helicopters just down the street hovering over the hospital where Levi was born... and when we turned on the news we soon discovered that the local media was trying to uncover the details of Anna Nicole Smith's death.

Then, just after dinner we got a knock on our door from our next door neighbors (the Richardsons) asking us to call church members, as Jack's father had just died suddenly. Such unexpected grief. Such untimely loss. While these situations may have little in common, there is in every death the pain of great loss for the families who loved them so much.

After being away from our kids for a week and all of the events that have taken place today, I am listening a little more carefully as Abby plays Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano...I am treasuring the good-night routine with Levi as we read a story and snuggle together...and hugging Luke a little tighter as we pray for our neighbors who are also our sweet friends.

We'll give you a better update on the World Harvest team leaders retreat in the next couple of days.

World Harvest Team Leader Retreat

Stacey and I are heading out tomorrow to a World Harvest Team Leaders' Retreat/Meeting in St. Augustine, FL (February 1-8), so we certainly could use your prayers--

-Pray for Luke, Abby, and Levi, as we "abandon" them hopefully for the last time before the move (for safety, obedience, getting along, the usual...)

-Pray for Memoo and Neena (and Dede, Kim, Amy, and Bobbilee) who are all watching our kids

-Pray for us as we meet with potential teammates in Orlando Thurs Feb 1, for God's wisdom for all of us

-Pray for us at the retreat/meetings. We're new at this, so we really don't know what to expect. Pray that God would work in us and through us, that there would be unity, and for friendships, shared ideas, networking, "strategic planning", and yes, even a bit of RETREAT.

We thank God for you, our praying friends.