Pineapple Upside Down Day

Rayray made this Pineapple Upside Down Cake for Home-Ec today.

In case you're wondering...

No, I didn't write this into my lesson plans this week.

I made up the Home-Ec part.

It was actually to satisy my own craving after seeing

Anne-Marie's version earlier this week.

But isn't it pretty? And the recipe makes two of these,

one to keep and one to give away.

(I know what you're thinking.)

AND, Rayray enjoyed making the cake!!!!

(which means she'll make it again!!)

The only problem is that you can't smell it...nor can you taste it.

So, I'll just assure you that it was quite delicious,

especially right out of the oven with a glass of milk.

YUMMMMMMMMMM!

Mr. R.L.

One of the sweetest men I've ever known went home to Jesus this past weekend. He lost his battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. He fought hard. Upon being diagnosed, he knew the most likely outcome. He made peace with it and knew that in the end, he'd be with his Savior.


We live in small town South Georgia. Mr. RL was known here for many things. He was everyone's plumber, for one. I can remember how hard he laughed at me the time he came to fix our potty. I told him I thought it was leaking....bc the bathroom smelled like pee all the time, even after I cleaned it good. He laughed as he reminded me that I had a 3 yr old boy just learning to use the potty whose aim wasn't good. No, the potty was NOT leaking.

Mr. RL was more than a plumber. He had creative juices flowing in many areas. He is known around our area for making gorgeous wooden serving trays lined with ceramic tile. Yes, I have one and it's the BEST breakfast-in-bed tray ever! When we moved from one house into another, our armoire (in the back of a pick-up truck) had a little "run-in" with the roof of the garage. Guess who beautifully repaired it? Mr. RL. (U-Haul?! We use pick up trucks and cow trailers to move. WE haul.)

His peanut brittle was highly touted and if you received some as a Christmas gift, you considered yourself something special. I have never tasted a better brittle. I think he knew this past Christmas would be his last one making peanut brittle. Somehow, he managed to make it into their kitchen and spent time teaching his son the secret recipe.

He and Mrs. Marie have ponds on their property. Our kids spent many a morning and afternoon fishing there. With fish in the south come fish fries! They hosted many fish fries in their pond house. Mr. R.L. love to fish, loved to eat fish, and loved eating fried fish with his family and friends.

I could go on and on with many good memories of Mr. RL and his wife Mrs. Marie. Those two found each other later in life, each having lost their first spouses. They were so much in love with each other and didn't care who saw them holding hands and cooing over each other. They were one of Appledoodle's very first visitors 4 1/2 years ago...and you can see in the picture that he couldn't keep his hands off of Mrs. Marie! It was precious....and contagious. Once, we invited them over to celebrate their anniversary and served them as if they were in a fancy restaurant, complete with menu and pint sized servers!

My dad and Mr. RL were very dear friends, along with my mom and Mrs Marie. My elderly...I mean older brothers and their families came home for a few days Christmas weekend. We are a very musical family, and Daddy pondered aloud how nice it would be if we could work out a time to go caroling at Mr. RL and Mrs. Marie's. Long story short, we worked it all out. Our first night together, the entire family piled into cars and took off across the countryside and down bumpy dirt roads to their home. It was threatening rain but God held it off for us.....slippery dirt roads in the dark are treacherous. It didn't make a difference that not everyone in the family knew Mr. RL. We all knew this was important and special to Papa....and that's what mattered. There were 17 of us, including grandkids from age 4 to 22. We piled into their home, surrounded Mr. RL and Mrs. Marie and began to sing the beautiful carols of Christmas. I must say that this was one of the most touching and meaningful memories I have ever had with my extended family. Mr. RL was fighting for every breath he took with the oxygen mask. But at one point, he lowered the mask and sang along with us for a few strained notes. Mrs. Marie was so gracious and thankful that we came....said our visit made their Christmas. Well guess what? I think our family was blessed and touched by this more than anything else this Christmas season.

Mr. RL busted the gates of heaven wide open early Saturday morning. I wonder if the angels were singing southern gospel for him? I wish I could have seen his Homecoming.



We love you, Mr. RL. See you soon.

Disneyworld

Here we all are.....

(Did you notice the year ?!?!?!?)

Out Of the Mouths of Babes...

This is a recurrent post that hasn't recurred in months. It's not that the kids quit being funny. Believe me.

Well, it's HIM again. The little Butter says the funniest things....and sometimes he means to be funny and sometimes not.

Last night, he was helping make crab pasta salad for his Daddy. I had him crumbling the fake crabmeat into the bowl. It does have a slight fishy odor and he let us all know he didn't love it. When he finished, he ran to the sink to wash his hands and said, "That's one smell I will NOT add to my smell collection." I said, "You have a...smell collection?" He said, "Yes, in my nose I collect smells and that is NOT one I will keep." He was dead serious. I was dying laughing. This is the same boy who went through the "Shmell my finguh." stage when he was 2. (Don't ask.)

I know I haven't posted yet about our fantabulous vacation to Disneyworld last week. But, Butter's magical moment was when he was the first one chosen for the Jedi Training Academy. He loves ALL things Star Wars. He is now a Certified Padawan and defeated the evil Darth Vader, too. (That's what the picture is all about.)

What Kept Me Up Last Night and What Helped Me Regroup This Morning

What kept me up last night until 1:00 a.m.?


A little website called Free Rice. It launched in October. For every vocabulary word you correctly define, they donate 20 grains of rice.

It's fun and perfect for brushing up for the SAT or enlarging your vocabulary. They say that after playing the game only a few times, you'll find yourself speaking and writing new words. I know all 5 of my blog readers will be thrilled with my vast and impressive vocabulary. Ha. Ha.


Well, I was on a roll and couldn't stop! I donated over 5000 grains of rice before I finally decided I am too old to stay up past 11:00, much less 1 a.m, no matter if I am helping end world hunger.


And just as a random side note, there are 7200 grains of uncooked rice in one cup.





What helped me regroup this morning?



I know. You are so surprised that I didn't bounce out of bed with a smile on my face, ready to tackle the day with gusto. I was freezing cold and sleepy (thanks to solving world hunger half the night). Calling off school for a "stay in bed and sleep all day" day sounded very enticing for this cold, wet, dreary day. I didn't even read my "mantra" (???) taped to my bathroom mirror! About halfway through our school morning, we all needed a little regrouping, especially the mommy teacher.


I know the cover says, "Worship Songs and Lullabies", but I assure you, "Sing Over Me" is not for babies alone. It is the most worshipful music on my ipod. As soon as the first song began, the tone of the entire house changed. His Peace rules, once again.


Oh. And about that mantra (for lack of a better word) taped to my bathroom mirror. I have Lysa Terkeurst and her highly recommended "What Happens When Women Say Yes To God" Bible study to thank for that.


God, I want to see You.
God, I want to hear You.
God, I want to know You.
God, I want to follow hard after You.
And even before i know what I will face today,
I say YES to YOU.


(Yes! Even if I am tired, sleepy, cold, dreary, overwhelmed and grumpy.)

Happy New Year, Everybody!!

I'm not one to make a list of New Year's Resolutions...they end up getting broken, anyway. Well, mine do. I do feel that the New Year is a good time to reflect on where I am compared to where I'd like to be...in all areas of my life but especially my walk with Father, our homeschool progress, and our family. This New Years, I've been pondering how I live my life. Am I living in each moment or hurrying it by...am I seeking Father daily...looking for His hand and His divine appointments? Am I living each day IN Him? Am I alive with living?

If you've not checked out Point of Grace's newest cd, I highly recommend it. They sing one song called "How You Live" and one repeated line in the song says, "It's not who you knew, it's not what you did, it's how you live." That line has been reverberating in my heart since the cruise when I heard them sing it, met the girls, heard their hearts. (Click here to see a video of "How You Live.")

I have a wall in my kitchen that's a collage of special things, including a linen printed cloth. It caught my eye this morning and I took the time to reread it. It reminds me so much of the Point of Grace song....


On This Day

Mend a quarrel. Search out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed.

Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Flout envy. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate, be kind, be gentle. Laugh a little more.

Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Worship God. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.

Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still again. Speak it still, once again.

Love is the bottom line, isn't it? Isn't everything Father did and is doing motivated by His love for us? Doesn't His love in us motivate us to seek Him, follow Him, desire Him, say Yes! to Him, love others through Him?

Let's LIVE this year! May Father show us the way to take His love, our lives, and each moment by moment by moment and LIVE.