I want to be a "Yes!" mom

There are so many thing in this world that we have to say NO to.  I hate that.  I wish I didn't have to.  Here is a typical day for me -

No, stop that!

No light sabers in the house!

Nope, we can't watch that show.

Sorry kids but no more video games today.

No we can't go to the store today.

No one goes outside until your chores are done.

No desert until you clean your plate. (OK with three boys I don't have to say that one very often!)

I said, No light sabers in the house!!



I feel like I spend more time saying NO than I do saying YES.

So this summer I plan to be a YES mom.

This does not mean I plan to let my children run around and be unruly.  This means that when I have to say no, I want to follow it up with "YES, lets do that instead!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rachal has said for a while that she wants to color her hair.  I have been saying, "No, your too young."  "Why do you want to change your hair color?"  "Nope, not changing your hair."

She brought it up again over the weekend.  I talked to Mike to see what he thinks.  We decided that there are a lot more things out in this world that she could be "in to" or wanting to take part in.  And really, it's only hair.  Hair grows back.  I have colored my hair for years.  I always add blond highlights to my hair.  So why not?  Just for the summer.  So  I said YES!  Rachal was so excited.  We went to the store and began to look for the perfect color.

I forgot to take a "before" photo.
 This is the last picture I took of her with her hair down.
Hair color - light brown!



Let the fun times begin!!

I really did like the "foam" hair color.  Very easy to work with.
 

Finished color - Auburn
{Rachal was giving me dramatic poses for the blog}



More dramatic posing . . . .

In direct sunlight you can really see the red color.



 

 

simply beautiful

Later this week I will post of how I said YES to 4 crawdads living with us!!

Yikes!

Are you a YES mom?

Now we're cooking!

Hello faithful readers!!


I have been wanting to create a way to keep all my recipes together in one place.  I have been asked several times to share some of my recipes, which I love to do!  So I have created my second blog - Cristy's Kitchen.  This will be a place I will post my recipes.  I will try to update it at least twice a month.  So please go check it out.  If you happen to try one of my recipes, please leave a comment and let me know what you and the family think about it! 

Our Garden

Just wanted to share some pictures of our garden from this summer. 

 

Last summer we could not get much of anything to grow. 

We got maybe 10 tomatoes all summer. 

We found out we were missing the secret ingredient - cow poo!! 

Not very classy of me, I know. 

But we heard that we need the poo so we got some. 

Here are some pictures. 

 

 

 

The was two weeks ago.

Bell peppers

Our garden area
tomatoes, egg plant and sweet potatoes

sweet potatoes

tomato plant
crazy thing is this plant started out as a see growing in a old coke bottle.

egg plant

sunflowers



cucumbers



our first cucumber

 

These are pictures that were taken today. 

We have had four days of rain, so I know that has helped.

I really do think it was the cow poo!! 

It's kind of amazing stuff.

 

the egg plant with our first bloom on it.

sweet potatoes

one of our seven tomatoes plants.
This is the same guy from the coke bottle. 
He is little but man he has put out some tomatoes.

Praying mantis on our sunflowers.
I think he was just born.

His brother, who has a little attitude problem and did want his picture taken.

cucumber plant

bell peppers

sun flowers

egg plant bloom

cool picture of the bloom
I love the deep purple against the green.

Are you growing a summer garden? 

Hows it doing? 

Tell me about it, or better yet, share some pictures!! 



Find us Faithful

It's almost Fathers Day.

As I have been thinking about what do for Mike and what to get him.  I am also thinking about my Dad and my father-n-law.  (I never met my father-n-law.  I have only heard wonderful things about him.)  I keep coming back to this theme - "Find Us Faithful"

Hebrews 12:1-3

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Everything we do, we say, our actions and most importantly our reactions are being watched my our children.  Mike has four sets of eyes that are watching him - daily.  Watching to see how he will handle things, watching to see what he will say, watching to see if he "practices what he preaches".
Always watching. 

But will they find him faithful?

I Corinthians 4:2

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

I think back on my own childhood.  I think about how my Dad handled the ups and down of life.  God threw a few curve balls our way. 

          Church issues.....Illnesses.....Deaths.....Family......Moving.....

But my Dad always treated each situation with grace.  He was faithful to what God had called him to do.  There were times I am sure he wanted to call it quits.  I am sure there was more than once he must have thrown his hands in the air and thought "What else, Lord."  I know there have been many times he has dropped to his knees in prayer.   And because of his faithfulness, his ministry is reaching throughout Texas, into Missouri and around the world. 

I saw him being faithful.  My kids see him being faithful.

I Thessalonians 5:24

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

I think about my father-n-law.  He was a good, Godly man raising his son in a Christian home with Christian values.  Because of his sacrifices to keep Mike in a Christian school, to give to missions, to be involved at church.  His faithfulness is also reaching around the world.

Mike saw him being faithful.  My kids see his mom is still being faithful to church.

I think about my {little} brother.  He is just starting out on his journey as Pastor.  He has a young daughter who is looking up at him with big ole' eyes.  I have no doubt that she will find him faithful too.  And my brother-n-law, who works long hours to provide for his family.  He spends his weekends preaching to inmates and showing them the love of God. He tells them how this LOVE can change your life. His children, they see the faithfulness.

I Timothy 1:12

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me,

for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;

I am so thankful for all the men in my life who have been faithful to the ministry, faithful to their families and most importantly faithful to God. What a great cloud of witnesses I have been surrounded with. 

I know our kids will see us fail at things.  I know they will see us mess up, lose our temper and even sin.  We are human. It will happen.  I just hope they always see how we seek forgiveness from God and each other.  I hope they remember how we pray together and that we play around together.  We have fun and we work hard.  I hope they see that ministry is hard and long hours but so worth it.  My prayer is that our children will...

Find Us Faithful

 

 

 

Happy Fathers Day Mike!!

 

We love you

 

 

because we bond

 

 

 

because you love me no matter what

 

 

 

because you play with me

 

 

 

because you take care of me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Happy Birthday Noah!!

I woke yesterday morning as my alarm was going off. 
In a morning haze of "make that dumb thing stop beeping" and figuring out I was no longer dreaming of a nice trip to Target.  I turned to Mike and said "You are an old man!"

His reply, "What?  That is rude for so early in the morning."

I then began to tell him that HIS son was turning 15 years old today.  Noah could not be my son because I still feel like I am 20-something.  No way am I old enough to have a child that is 15.  After a few minutes of talking and coming to terms with the fact that indeed I am old enough to have a 15 year old child.  I climbed out of bed and went to the kitchen to make banana bread and coffee for breakfast.

 

Dear Noah,

I really don't know how to put into words how proud I am of you.    You have grown into this amazing young man who has big dreams and goals for his life.  There have been times when you have made us all scratch our heads and wonder about you.  There have been times when I had to pray for grace in dealing with your "creative ideas".  I have spent many a night in prayer over you.  Many trips to the ER because of broken bones, cuts and your asthma.  But, you have made us laugh more times than not.  You have found an awesome way of finding the humor in everything.  Your "over the top" acting skills have even won you a fan club here in Japan.  I know that there is nothing in this world you can't do, if you put your mind to it.  Thanks for bring joy to our family!!

Love always and forever,
Mom

Mr. Adventure

11 years old

This is why we have had so many broken bones - crazy boy.

Caught a ball at the Springfield Cardinals game - 10 years old

13 years old - Noah fell in the mud!

Gone fishing - 11 years old

Noah and his Cello - 6th grade

14 years old

getting "in to" the photo shoot

Doing the Fan Dance at the summer festival last year.

Soda drinking contest - 2nd place

Buried Eli in the sand. 

Happy Birthday Noah!!

Thank you Mister Ed!!

Today a Japanese friend gave us some horse meat.

He missed an appointment he had planned with Mike.

He wanted to say how sorry he was.

So he bought us some horse meat.

{thank you?}

 

Mike and I both were a little nervous about how to cook it and eat it.

So we went to google.

Come to find out, horse meat is very healthy for you.

High in protein and vitamins.

 

In Japan most people will eat it raw.

With a bowl of rice, a little ginger and some soy sauce.

If not raw, then pan seared with a little salt and pepper.

 

 

horse meat

soy sauce

ready to eat

Mikes supper tonight
rice, raw horse, omu rice* and toast

Noah having a little horse

his face says it all

Mike ready for some horse
(please pay no attention to the towels
hanging in the back . . . . it's rainy season)

yum

Eli giving it a try

Jonah's turn

pan seared meat

me giving it a try
not too bad!

Over all it was not that bad. 

It was very tender and had a good flavor. 

Mike and the boys said they would eat it again cooked 

 . . . . but not raw.

 

**Omu rice.  It is a family favorite. 

 It's fried rice inside an omelet. 

 Sometimes we add toast to go on the side. 

The kids love it!