Too Much Cuteness

Chap and I have enjoyed baking together before, so the other day I decided we should make shortbread.

It was extra fun because shortbread takes kneading, and he loved squeezing the butter and flour together. He's so precise and good at baking! (And thankfully good about not snitching.) ;)

Don't you just love that cheesy face? Sorry, Chap, but when you visit Grammy's house your only apron option is a flowered pinafore. If we make this a habit, that will have to be remedied. ;)

Time to lick fingers before washing 'em off! 

Oh, Chum wants to "dook" too? We ended up making another batch of what they adorably dubbed "cookies" just so he could have a turn stirring...

And kneading!

I love how his cheek is squeezed in this picture. ;)

This little friend was sitting nearby getting fed his lunch by the littlest auntie. So sweet!

Too much cuteness in one place! Love you, little guys. ;)

Soap Factory

I pulled out my glycerin soap making supplies, and soon Em and Blue got in on the fun. They are having a ton of fun melting and mixing and experimenting with colors. ; ) Fun buddies.

Like Em's turtle?

These are some of the better things I made. I recently got white glycerin soap for the first time, so some of my projects this time were experiments with it. I LOVE the way the shells turned out.

Mom encouraged me to make some sparkly green bars to represent ocean water. I think they make a nice backdrop, and once I replace the paper plate with something a little prettier it will be just perfect. ; )

Next, I hope to make some peanut butter cookies, and after that we are going to a get-together this evening (which might have something to do with why I'm crafting for the first time in forever). ; )

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Next time you want to take an undercover gluten-free dessert to an event try this recipe. And if you aren't trying to be super healthy, substitute the chocolate chips with M&M's. Oh, heavenly! Just be warned that if you want a picture of them, you'd better take it right away. They sell out quickly! ; ) (I'm a living example.)

What is one recipe that you've found that never fails to please?

Questions, Questions

The last survey I did was so much fun, I thought it was high time for another. This is borrowed and tweaked from Aimee's Google+, so you can thank her later. ; )

1. Name: Kate Marie
2. Age: Young enough and old enough. ; )
3. Role model: Jesus Christ, Mommy...
4. Hobbies: The three r's (minus the 'rithmatic), cooking/baking, nephew chasing, singing with my family, writing letters, test reading, amateur sewing, talking.
5. Favorite actor: Jimmy Stewart, and Gregory Peck. (And if you're asking about ones currently living I'll add Kirk Cameron, and David Tennant. And James from Studio C!!!)
6. Favorite actress: June Allyson, Julie Andrews, Donna Reed, and Amy Adams 
7. Best friend: I live in an artist colony (yeah, creative people who wear weird clothes--we qualify when we're still in pjs), so I'm pretty much best friends with everyone here. Outside of my family, I'd say Esther, Rebekah (both of them), Anya, and Susie.
8. Favorite band: Andrew Peterson and all his folks!!! (Though I'm beginning to branch out into some of the other Rabbit Room-ers...)
9. Favorite song: Kung Fu Piano by The PianoGuys and Rejoice by Andrew Peterson.
10. Favorite movie: Fireproof, A Man Called Peter, and Toy Story 3.
11. Favorite animal: Big dogs and small cows.
12. Favorite subject: English. (That covers about all of the wordy stuff.) ; )
13. Pens or pencils? Pencils, because I'm a fallible human. 
14. Summer or winter? Winter. It's so moody and good for inspiration and a really good excuse for reading.
15. Tea or coffee? Chai tea! It's like coffee without the dirt flavor.
16. Good day or bad day? So far, so good. I've made breakfast, read my Bible, and done my chores while talking waaay too much with my crazy siblings. 
17. Birthday: In the springtime. Lovely, lovely springtime.
18. Something that makes you happy: God's love, babies, books, breaking 13k words in my story, my family, our sweet dog Ella... I'm sorry, there are too many. ; )
19. Something you're looking forward to: In the future future, having a family of my own and Christ's return. In the present future? Eating lunch, publishing, writing more, and seeing the nephews again.
20. Tell a story in one sentence: Once upon a time, there was a problem that was solved so everyone could live happily ever after.
21. Nominate any number of people: I think it would be fun if Rebekah, Holly, and Lauren answered these questions! ; )

Now it's your turn! Answer the questions if you like or ask me an extra one. ; )

Gluten-Free Shortbread

I've been experimenting with using coconut flour for gluten-free, nut-free baking. My first project (that turned out surprisingly very nicely!) was a batch of miniature cupcakes.

This success, leftover cream from someone's birthday ice cream, and an abundance of frozen strawberries led me to want to experiment more. I decided I would make us gluten-free, nut-free, coconut flour shortbread with whipped cream and strawberry sauce for toppings. (That's a mouthful to say and to eat!) I would make it for breakfast. It would be awesome. I took this recipe but made sure to read the comments and eventually decided (after a couple of tests) that it needed extra butter and an egg. But some people said two eggs and some said one. And was I supposed to sift my coconut flour? It didn't say. So...RESEARCH! It was fun. And crazy. If at first you don't succeed, Google again. I found a great article about coconut flour in general, egg ratios, and sifting. Hooray! It's already hard in the first place to find an alternative flour shortbread recipe that takes just coconut flour and no expensive-as-ground-gold almond flour. If you find one it takes honey or maple syrup. Bummer! We were all out of alternative sweeteners, so I'd have to use refined sugar. People have filled the internet up with tricks for switching from cane sugar to honey but never vice versa. Except this article. Hooray again! (I just read the tips part, so I can't recommend the whole article.) Anyway, it turned out very yummy and successful; and I'll share my version of the recipe in a minute here.

I'm pretty happy with this alternative flour thing, but a couple words of advice before you get started. 1. Follow the measurements exactly. Coconut flour is a wild animal. 2. Make sure your flour is finely ground. Each of these recipes failed when I used a coarser flour (or the wrong one). 3. Coconut four and almond flour bought in bulk can be the same texture, color, and even weight. Careful, this is an expensive mistake to make since they act totally differently so there's no salvaging your recipe. ; ) 4. When in doubt--RESEARCH!

Coconut Flour Shortbread Cookies
You will need:
6 TBS coconut flour, sifted
5 TBS melted butter, cooled
1 egg
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 tsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients until not lumpy. (Coconut flour can be weird!) Roll balls and arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet. Smash with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before removing from sheet. Serve with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

And if you like videos... 

My younger sister Pearl made one of how to make it!

And whipped cream...

And strawberry sauce! (Yes, those are my clumsy hands.) ; )

Enjoy!

A Few of My Favorite Things (Blog Tag)

The wild southwest has its pros. It also has its cons—one of which is definitely that winter always seems to end with Christmas. Now, of course, we still do have some good weather, but it doesn’t quite feel winter-y probably because of the lack of snow. When I found out that Elanee (from Elanee’s Endeavors) had tagged me for this survey, I was super delighted. And then I began to wonder, “How in the world does a desert gal like me write a post about her favorite Christmas/winter things when it really isn’t either right now?” I’ve decided to give it a try, and we’ll see what I come up with. ; )

The rules for this challenge happen to be… (1) Use the same title and adorable picture. (2) Answer the questions. (I promise to do that in a sec.) And (3) Tag five fellow fanciful fantabulous bloggers.

Okay, let’s get down to business…

1. What are some of your favorite “Snuggle Weather” books?

Good question that I’m really not sure how to answer since I love so many different kinds of books. I would have to say my Bible and anything that stirs me poetically and fits the moody weather. ; ) Those would probably be The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis (amazing essays), Sir Knight of the Splendid Way by W.E. Cule (medieval Pilgrim’s Progress-like journey), Dreamlander by K.M. Weiland (amazing fantasy), Gift from the Storm by Rebekah Morris (heartwarming family story), and on and on. Another really great winter story I discovered last month is At the Christmas Lodge by Rebekah Morris. It is so cute! I also think that if I had the Aggie’s Inheritance series, I would definitely be reading through them right now. ; )

2. What is you favorite wintry snack?

Oh, snacks. Yummy. Definitely apple pie!!! I love making it, I love eating it, and I love the joy it brings to the people I serve it to. I can also convince myself that it is pretty healthy since the crust is so thin. ; ) Peppermint bark and some ginger cookies I just discovered (that I simply MUST get the recipe for) are also high on the list. Because we are trying to switch to gluten-free, however, my answer should probably be different next winter. ; )

3. What are some of your favorite hot drinks?

Chai tea!!!! I am totally crazy about it right now!!! It’s spicy, it’s milky, it’s sweet, it’s like coffee without the dirt taste and (the way I make it) without the caffeine! What could be better? The people in my family who usually don’t drink tea love it too! ; ) (And, just so you know, if you eat some chocolate on the side the flavors are even more perfect.) I also really like hot chocolate and hot apple cider, but Chai definitely ranks first. ; )

4. What are some of your favorite Christmas movies?

I can answer that one really easily!! For as long as I can remember, we’ve watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Nativity Story” every Christmas. They definitely spell Christmas for me! (Although I was all right when I didn’t get to watch the first one this year. ; P) They are both so amazing, but I especially love “The Nativity Story” as it reminds me of how beautiful God’s Gift to man really is. I also really enjoy “A Joan Walsh Anglund Christmas” (great childhood memories with this one) and “The Fourth Wiseman”. ; )

5. What are some of your favorite holiday songs?

Andrew Peterson’s outrageously awesome cd “Behold the Lamb of God”, Nat King Cole’s cd of Christmas favorites ; ), Josh Wilson’s recent song “Once A Year” (if that’s the right name…), and, of course, “The Carol of the Bells” in all three versions. ; ) I also love the hymns we sing in church to celebrate this special season especially “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”. “Adam’s likeness now efface…Stamp Thine image in its place…Second Adam from above…Reinstate us in Thy love…” We really should sing Christmas carols all year!

6. Favorite snow [rainy, cloudy, rainy-ish, cloudy-ish] day crafts?

Well, definitely writing. Cozy, gloomy weather helps me to get in the creative mood sometimes. ; ) I also discovered this year that I kinda’ like making Christmas cards whether or not I’m good at it. Baking, some sewing, and a bit of knitting are always fabulous too. ; )

7. Do you want to build a snowman?

No, actually. *sheepish smile as I prepare to make a horrible confession* I-don’t-really-like-snow. Phew. There, I said it. ; ) Don’t get me wrong—I love the decorative aspect of snow, the crunchy pretty aspect of snow, and even occasionally a vicious snowball fight—but I don’t love being in the snow. I’d rather stay indoors. ; ) (Though I have to say toddlers that look twice their regular chubby size because of their snow clothes are definitely special.) ; )

So, there you are! Those are just a few of my favorite things, but since I don’t get bit by dogs or stung by bees very often I’m very grateful for the reminder to look for the marvelous things in every day. ; ) What do you love most about Christmastime/winter?

Since that was so much fun, I’ll pass it on to Perry, Holly, the Tons and Bunches people ; ), Mrs. Bowes, and Rebekah.

Have a great day, everyone! ; )

Busy and Blessed

This weekend has been super busy and blessed. Added to the regular activities of usual weekends, it’s birthday season for us! ; )

Thursday

Buddies' actual birthday; but, since we were going to celebrate it on Saturday (so we could have Perry, Tyler, and the nephews come), a school holiday was declared as long as we played with the birthday girl all day. ; ) After some chores, a little bit of school that had a deadline, and that silly selfie session from my last post, the younger girls launched into a game of dollhouse. It was, of course, only a precursor to the main event when they were allowed to go outside and build a town. That’s right—a town. Em set up a very nice Doctor’s Office in the tree house (which was kind of funny because “injured” people had to climb up the ladder to get there) where I got a real bandage for a real injury; and Pearly set up a sort of carnival/game tent (Literal tent and one of the walls was held up by a rock on the roof that fell off later. No one was hurt!) with activities including guess the number of Skittles in the jar, a penny toss, a raffle, a hidden object challenge (bottle of rice with small objects in it—the challenge was to find them all), and a ball ramp she had made by herself. There were prizes and even badges that said things like “Champion of the Skooter Race” that they got to wear all day. (Em had her doctor name tag and two champion badges, so let’s just say she was very decorated!) ; ) Also very popular were the bags of complementary popcorn  with a few turns at the games. (Which was really good, because we were so busy playing that our meals were a bit off schedule.) ; ) Speaking of lunch, the Birthday Girl herself served it through one of our back windows as a drive through. I made a big batch of chai tea and served it in my new adorable glass mugs. It went like hotcakes! Buddies even wanted seconds after it was gone so she went and made herself more (with a little help from Aimee). ; ) Paul spent most of his morning on the computer making something mysterious and interesting for our game. None of the younger girls were allowed to look at the computer, but if they had I don’t think they would have understood what he was doing. (I had to be told, myself.) He coded an app for our family phones that read smart tags off “debit cards” that were linked with play bank accounts. Talk about an advancement from the tinfoil coinage of the old days when the big girls were little! He set up a tent and chose Birthday Girl as his assistant. She was so cute sitting there reading a book as he explained the cards to his primitive customers. She had dressed up for her birthday complete with stick-on earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet. Anna had done her hair in a French braid and twisted little hair jewels into it. Very grownup! ; ) She got even more dressed up because of the salon hosted by Anna and I. Anna set it up next to Pearly’s game tent on an old bureau that decorates the back porch in it’s own rustic way. She took a mirror, all the hair stuff, and a ton of small decorating items (including Christmas lights!!) outside and arranged them to make a very pretty picture. ; ) My job was to paint fingernails and toenails while she did hair and makeup. Mom let us have the rare treat/torture of using some of her makeup like face paint. (I tried a little and it turned out like war paint so I washed it off.) ; ) Anna got into the act and dressed up as a crazy salon lady, and we used a little face paint to get the clown next door into character. The pictures say it all. ; ) Tyler surprised Buddies by dropping by on his way home from work to wish her a happy day. He was a little astounded by our costumes; but he seemed to enjoy seeing the town, and she certainly enjoyed showing it off. ; ) So we played until it was almost completely dark (or maybe it was completely dark), then came inside to warm up. My favorite part of the day was definitely when Birthday Girl thanked us all by saying, “Thank you so much for playing with me, guys!”

The lovely M.D (Mother on Duty)

The "clown"

Mayor and secretary

Getting dark!

The crazy salon lady, the M.D., and a little sliver of Yours Truly

Friday

We did do some school, and I did get some editing/writing in. I actually finished editing “The Book of Dreams” as much as I can, and I’m looking forward to sending it out to test readers hopefully soon. My current writing WIP is “One Day After Eden” and my editing WIP is now “Letters for Victory”! ; ) That evening, we went to some friends’ house to have dinner with them and learn to make their Paleo friendly apple cake. (It was so good!!! I’ll have to put the recipe here sometime.) We had a great and blessed time with them. ; )

Saturday

Oh, wow. We packed in four days’ worth of stuff on this day! The first day of this day was Dad’s birthday celebration (since it was actually his birthday) where Mom gave him a collage she had made to commemorate our years in the Northwest. The second day, Dad, Em, and I had to do some last minute birthday shopping for Buddies before her celebration later that included going to Barnes and Noble and the Christian bookstore. *angels sing* It was a ton of fun! Back home, I helped to finish cleaning the house and Em and Anna closeted themselves to wrap the presents. (They did an adorable job!) Day three: the relatives arrive! Perry, Tyler, Chap, Chum, and Brudder Baby as well as our local aunt and uncle! We had a nice party appreciating Birthday Girl, eating too much ice cream, and watching as she celebrated over each present. ; ) Dad also got another present—this time from us. Starbucks giftcard but since we only have non-birthday girly cards in the house, Aimee’s sense of humor told her to use a sympathy card. “In sympathy for all the health problems this coffee will cause.” ; ) ; ) ; ) And then day four, all the adults left for a courtship discussion with a few other families from church as they introduced the idea to a homeschool group. We got the babies!!!!! (All except Brudder Baby but I didn’t complain too much.) ; ) Chap and Chum kept us on our toes (and themselves happy way past bedtime) with dancing to “The Fiddler on the Roof”; cooking with kid kitchen (They both pray over food, and Liam loves “cutting” wooden food with a little wooden knife. He would have done that all day if there hadn’t been anything else to do!); playing doggy with streamer leashes; and just being generally cute. Buddies got to share one of her birthday gifts, the first volume of What’s in the Bible with Buck Denver, with them which was pretty fun. I think they liked it even if they felt the need to play a little Duplo when they got bored for a moment. ; ) So cute! Anyways, it was a great day!

Birthday Girl!!!

Chef Chum ; )

Sunday

Dad wanted to take us to Savers for his birthday, and since there was a big sale we thought we would snag a little time at the store before our afternoon church. We found some great things, but we were a bit rushed getting to church since it ended up taking a lot longer than we had thought. Dad preached some of the last few verses of the book of James this Sunday. It was so good! The sermon will definitely be posted here in the near future since it is about serving God in every area of life. The communion service was really great too, especially since one of our piano players from the church’s early days was in town so we resurrected a really amazing communion song we used to sing. Fellowship afterwards was simply amazing as I found myself talking to people I don’t usually get to, and we were discussing amazing principles from the Bible (and coming up with analogies that include water balloons so they definitely break down). And the nephews were awesome as always. That’s a given. ; )

Monday

Oh, wow, that’s today! The only reason I’m writing this right now is because I’m the only one up and my computer was handy, but today is going to be busy. We’re renters, so it’s time for the annual walk through and we have a few things to do. (Like yardwork—because weeds always grow.) Dad is home because it’s MLK day, so I’m excited to see what we’ll do when the work is all over. Mom’s birthday is tomorrow, and we have a good long week of school (and editing/writing!) ahead of us so I’m excited. ; )

What about you? How have you been busy and blessed?

King Tut, Chicken Feed, and Editing

A lot of cool things have happened this year. (This year as in the last week, because that’s all there has been.) I mean, there’s been cheesecake, funny moments, new schedules, etc. What’s not awesome about that? ; )

I’m grateful for…

Cheesecake. I made my very first cheesecake ever, and it was so much fun! I got to smash graham crackers, get my hands all yummy messy pressing them into the world’s coolest pan, snitch a little occasionally, taste my cream cheese mixture to see if it was just right, and peak at the gorgeous creation (well, it didn’t turn out perfect looking, but I could see deeper) sitting in our refrigerator. And then we ate it. So yummy. So yummy. So yu---you get the point. But you still need a picture...

And also I thought it was really cool how the graham crackers in the pan looked like a bucket of chicken feed. Don’t you think so?

Our new Bible reading plan. It’s a chronological approach to reading the Bible through in a year; and it’s only five days a week, so if we get behind there are a couple days to catch up. It’s been really great how our family has been all on the same page, so to speak, so we can discuss our reading together. I haven’t read the book of Mark very well since I tend to prefer Matthew and John, but our schedule has opened my eyes to some of the treasures in there. For example, when the demon possessed man whom Jesus had healed wanted to come with Him, Jesus wouldn’t let him and said this instead, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19b) Words to me too!

School. I finished up all my textbooks last year, but I have a bit of science and history to do now that our school year has started again. It’s been really fun to study alongside my siblings especially when my brother says “scientific attitude” in the Lobster Bisque voice during our discussion group or we research extra information on King Tut (because our books are over twenty years old, and we wanted to know the current research) or the Foucault pendulum. There are some pretty fascinating things to know out there! I also love how God-honoring our science textbook is. No evolutionary fairy tales to deal with there!

Editing. Since I don’t have that much school to do and since I counted and I have five to seven works I want to publish and since I’m a flake about editing and jump to the creative writing first, I’ve been editing. I don’t really set New Year’s goals or resolutions, but if I did that would probably be one—discipline yourself, Katie, and edit. I’ve started a sort of rewards system for myself. If I edit for half an hour, I am entitled to up to one free hour of creative writing. ; ) I’ve only done this four times this week, but I’ve seen the results and love it! The creative writing doesn’t always go for very long (depends a lot on when dinner happens), but I’m happy to get some editing done. ; )

Our littlest student. She can read almost perfectly, and she’s not even the age I started learning at! When we read the Bible aloud during family devotions, she amazes us all. ; ) She’s still learning the spelling side of things, but I thought I’d share this picture of her adorable school sheet.

A short story. I was on Amazon (I do that often) looking through Rebekah Morris’ sale on her books when I saw her short story “At the Christmas Lodge”. Oh, nice, something new to read. Only a buck. Kindle. It’ll be here in two minutes. I’ll buy it. It was awesome! Very cute and Christmas-y. I highly suggest you go check it out if you’re looking for a nice, quick read. ; )

FroYo and FroCo. Yeah, I’m a nerd. Those stand for frozen yogurt and frozen coconut in case you were wondering. (I think I made the second one up, so you were most definitely wondering.) We’ve been trying to go low-carb, gluten-free, almost Paleo just because it’s better for my sister’s T1D and everyone else in the family’s possibility of getting it. We haven’t been doing the best at eating this way, but when we do her glucose numbers are awesomely regular. I’m the breakfast cook in the family, and it’s been interesting to try to switch my brain over from the sugar-y wheat bombs to something actually nutritious that still tastes pleasing. There are only so many options for breakfast food, so we’ve been trying to think creatively. (Sweet potatoes for breakfast, anyone?) Hence my frozen stuff. We have smoothies planned for this week and since we’re trying to stay away from milk and bananas (my usual staples in the smoothie world) I’ve decided to experiment with yogurt cubes and coconut milk cubes. They are just the coolest frozen! I’ll let you all know how they taste in blueberry smoothies and chocolate peanut butter smoothies. ; )

Nephews. Even though we haven’t gotten to see them in a little while, it’s been awesome to hear stories about them. The other day, for instance, Chap walks up to his mom and says, “Kungun needs chlokit.” (Kungun is how he says his name.) Isn’t that so funny?!! We love our “happy boys” as Aimee calls them. ; )

So that’s what my week has been like. How about you?

And I can’t get over that “chicken feed bucket”. ; )

Grateful for 2015

Wow, I can hardly believe that 2015 is already over! Every other blog post you’ll read this week will probably start with those same words, but isequelh it’s the truth—time flies. There has been so much to be grateful for this past year, even the fact that this year happened. The world was supposed to end in 2012, so don’t forget that we are all miracles, folks.

It would never do to try to exhaust everything awesome that happened in the last 365 days. My brain would steam and yours would fall out your ear. So I’ll just cover the categories and please forgive me if I leave something out. ; )

I’m so grateful for…

• My family. The more I live the more I learn that my family is awesome. They are my built in friends, Romans, countrymen, critics, laugh track, comedy show, iron sharpeners (‘cause I have a pastor-dad!), and friends. Nobody else in the world would giggle at 11 o’clock at night about dropping flashlights or understand the joke “the eggs rolled off the ceiling”. (We don’t even understand that one.) Nobody else in the world would properly appreciate the term Calminian or be able to go on all day about the Trinity and constitutional rights at the same time. And definitely no one else would die laughing over our brother’s ability to mimic the voice of everyone in our family and beyond.
• More of my family. Yeah, I’m talking about the cute chubby ones and their chauffeurs. The Chap and the Chum and their tiny brother who is trying to learn to crawl so he can join them in throwing all their toys out the bedroom window and hosing each other down when Dad and Mom aren’t looking. They lived with us for five months this year in which we got to witness Chum getting un-chubby enough to be able to walk, Chap learning to do fist-bumps and say all sorts of intelligent things, and their fabulous brother being born. Then we got to help move them into their own little house, and altogether it’s been altogether amazing. ; )  The chauffeurs are pretty amazing too, by the way. Perry is great for calling and telling all about the three mile thick novel you are never going to write or getting all the advice you could ever need whether you want it or not. ; P (Hi, Perry! I know you are reading this! This part is for you!) And Tyler is awesome to bake for and shoot with Nerf darts.
• Church family. Since we started out on that infamously crazy road trip to move down here a year ago, they have been so welcoming and helpful. It’s been great to learn and grow and laugh and love with them all. Probably my two favorite things I’ve done with them all this year were our church picnic in April and caroling this past Christmas Eve.
• Friends. Most of my friends are at my current church, but if I didn’t talk about this category I’d be leaving out the special people back in the Northwest and my pen-pals far and near. All of these people have enriched my life so much.
• Media. I don’t mean the tv/social networking/newspaper kind. If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you’ve probably noticed that this year has been a book explosion for me. There are definitely too many books for me to mention; but my favorites this year have been Dreamlander, Gift from the Storm, The Green Ember, its prequel The Blackstar of Kingston, The Warden and the Wolf King, and the Aggie’s Inheritance series. It’s not just books that I’ve been enjoying this year either. Andrew Peterson’s albums “After All These Years” and “The Burning Edge of Dawn” have been used by God to draw me so much closer to Him, and Handel’s “Messiah” is going to be a forever favorite now that I’ve heard it live. Two of my favorite movies this year are probably “Inside Out” and “The Stratton Story” (Jimmy Stewart—yup, yup!); but “Cinderella” isn’t on there just because I still haven’t seen it yet. (Goals for this year…) ; )
• Projects. Very sorry to bore you with more of “Kate’s Nerd Stuff”, but this year has been awesome for writing and test reading. I’ve written three short stories, two 10k words stories that I like tolerably well, and I’m halfway through another. I’ve also gotten to test read three manuscripts this year, which is always fun because it’s been rare for me to get to read something by someone who’s living and breathing right now and is asking my opinion. ; ) I love working out my worldview and imagination in story form and the sharpening from fellow authors is pretty awesome. The two Rebekah’s and the lovely people at Noble Novels have been a big part of that process this last year. (And those funny phone calls with Perry!) ; )
• Little things. A mini muffin tin; family celebrations; our sweet dog Ella (Nana if there ever was one!); sunny, breezy days; boots (I just got some for Christmas!!!); driving two hours just for the world’s best Mexican food; teaching a little friend from church how to say my name; old pictures; swings… There’s so much more, but you get the idea. Aren’t you proud that I didn’t accidentally sneak more books into this category? ; )
• Lessons and love. I have big problems with fear. I have big problems with change. I have big problems with adoring people but not wanting to talk to them because they are just too scary. I have big problems with controlling my imagination. I have problems with trust. I still have problems with crying when I smash a dish and then getting all defensive. I have problems with managing to get everything done. But when God said, “Let there be a Katie”, He knew there would be a lot of problems with her. Her teeth would be crooked; she would be afraid of the dark; she would love Him one moment and forget Him the next. God knew all of that. He loved her unconditionally. He sent His Son to atone for all of her sins. He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in her heart to conform her to His image, and He gave her lessons this year to teach her. And someday, when all things are made new so will Katie. Right now she’ll listen to Andrew Peterson’s songs “The Rain Keeps Falling” and “Rejoice”. She’ll talk about herself in the third person so she can tell her blog readers about herself while pretending that that problematic person is someone else. ; ) And she’ll strive to love people and listen to the Holy Spirit. 

All of that is why I am grateful. What about you? 

Christmastime Is Here!

Ten days ‘til Christmas, wow! This year has really sped by for me. These first two weeks of December, there has been so much to be grateful for! Let me share some of it with you…

I’m grateful for…

• Our family’s Advent celebration. Every night (at least every night we are able), Dad pulls out the Advent calendar after dinner and reads aloud that night’s little book that tells a part of the Christmas story. It’s a time where we all slow down to remember the Story again, sing Christmas songs together, and share in good conversation. This year, my littlest sister is finally old enough to participate in the celebration and understand what’s going on. It’s a really special time. ; )
• Our church’s Christmas recital early this month. I got to sing alto to “Joy to the World!” in a performance with some of my family members and friends. ; ) It was so amazing to be a part of! I also enjoyed listening to Anna and her friends sing “O Come, All Ye Faithful”; Tyler and Perry do “Mathew’s Begats” (by Andrew Peterson); and Tyler, Perry, and Dad perform “The Holly and the Ivy/While Shepherd’s Watched Their Flocks” (another Andrew Peterson).
• Babysitting nice nephews while their parents did music at the recital and that Sunday for church. Chap was hilarious sitting on my lap and coloring all over my sermon outline. Later when he was sitting with his parents again, I used his crayon to take notes. ; ) I also got to experience the “cry room” with the littlest one, which was a new experience. ; )
• Funny to say it, but…the clothes! All the best colors—red, green, black—are Christmas-y and my family actually finds it pretty easy to coordinate during this season. ; ) And I actually get to wear my warmer, favorite things since it’s a tiny bit cold out!
• My Christmas-present-making buddy! Betsy Bea and I are partners this year to prepare gifts for the siblings whose names we drew. It’s so much fun discussing our secrets and surprises. ; )
• The awesome gifts boxes we got from Aimee’s yard sale. That yard sale had a ton of Christmas stuff, and we bought some really cute little boxes from her. We turned on Christmas music and dragged all of our wrapping and scrapbooking supplies into our place of choosing. With a bit of decoration (one of them had lime green decorations that I colored darker green so they weren’t so hideous), Bea and I have them ready for their presents to go inside. ; ) Very exciting!
• Christmas music! Right now I’m listening to a cd of orchestral music; but it’s ranged from Nat King Cole to Andrew Peterson, from a collection of Christmas favorites to even a bit of the radio. ; ) Last Saturday, we got to hear a live performance of Handel’s “Messiah”! It was so amazing!!!
• Inspiration! Besides my story “Snowman”, I wrote another one currently called “Package” which I finished last week. They're even a little bit related. ; ) So much fun!
• Elderberry syrup to help us get healthy and stay healthy!
• All the Christmas baking I’ve been able to do since we are almost healthy now. ; ) I got to use my mini muffin baking tin for the first time ever last week! I brought the brownies to church yesterday which was pretty fun. I plan on making more for our church’s upcoming ladies’ tea.
• Mushy Jimmy Stewart Christmas movies. ; ) We just watched his little-known and hilarious movie “The Shop Around the Corner” (thanks to a generous friend); and I look forward to watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” soon among our other Christmas favorites. ; )
• The fact that Aimee and I get to host a table at the ladies' tea together! It will be really fun, though we do have somewhat different decorating styles. Not as far apart as they used to be though. When we were younger it was really bad. ; )
• The cold-ish weather that is coming!
• The book of Isaiah. I’ve been trying to read two chapters of it a day this Christmas season since there are so many prophecies related to Jesus. It’s pretty amazing!

Soon we will decorate our house for Christmas, if we are well enough; and we ladies will participate in the tea. After that, Christmas caroling with our church and then Christmas day—the celebration of our Lord and Savior coming to earth for us. What more could we ask than the Maker of the universe would humble Himself to come to His people? God is with us, and I am truly grateful.

This Christmas, what are you grateful for?

Baking with Absolutely Nothing

We've had a wild weekend, so today is a catch-up day and a birthday celebration all in one. ;) I'll tell you all about it later, so for now I leave you with this adventure from a few weeks ago...

It all started when I decided I should try to bake something out of absolutely nothing. Well, not quite nothing. Just no eggs, no butter (or at least hardly any to speak of), no whipping cream, and no baking chocolate. I spent over an hour searching the internet for recipes that had the keywords “eggless”, “lemon”, and “cream cheese”. (It’s pretty rare for us to have cream cheese. The only reason we did was because I forgot we had some and didn’t use it on our bagels.) ; )

If you’re eggless you’re supposedly vegan, and they don’t use cream cheese. If you are using cream cheese, you’re probably going to make cheese cake; and you definitely need cream. And if you want to switch over from lemon to something with chocolate, you of course need baking chocolate.

For once, the internet had nothing. Nothing for my unique circumstances, that is. I did find a few recipes to save for later when we finally grocery shopped and it was the proper time between sweets again.

So I got very daring. I decided to make something up.

Cutting my precious loaf of cream cheese in half, just in case one of my experiments turned out super disgusting, I made a lemony-spready-thingy out of part of it. It didn’t turn out the bestest ever (baking gives me lapses in grammar); but what I did with the other half of the cream cheese turned out pretty amazing. Which is nothing short of a miracle, since I had nothing to go on; and I have a reputation of being a walking kitchen disaster.

Taking the other half of the cream cheese, I whipped it up in the blender with some powdered sugar, milk, and cocoa powder. (No baking chocolate!) It turned out really chocolate-y, and cream cheese-y, and lapses-in-grammar-y with just the perfect hint of sweetness. And my taste testers had very positive things to say. So far so good.

Then I got really creative. I’ve recently been drooling over a book on mini pies, so I immediately decided that this pudding stuff wouldn’t stay pudding stuff. I had been fortunate enough to find a few pie crust recipes that didn’t take oil (I was searching sour cream ones before I found out that the tub we had in the frig was two months out of code); but I also was advised by dear Mom that that wouldn’t be the right thing for the filling I had made. Think, think, think. No graham crackers. We buy those about as often as Shemitah and the blood moons line up.

We had some Nutter Butter cookies in the pantry which I decided would have to do, and I gleefully smashed them up with a rolling pin. Taking the half stick of butter left in the house (it wasn’t enough for anything else anyway), I mixed it with the cookie crumbs and a bit of powdered sugar into a gooey, icky-looking dough.

Don’t laugh, but I greased three spaces of our twelve count muffin tin (that’s all I could make!) and pressed the crust into it. After it had baked in the oven for a while, I took it out and was surprised to find that the crust had risen and completely filled up the muffin spaces. So much for filling. I really should have looked up how to do this. Doing the only thing possible, I smashed the middle of each down with a spoon while it was still hot and left them to cool until I felt I could take them out without breaking them.

They broke a little when I took them out; but that pleased the taste testers (who thought this part tasted good as well), and I was able to paste most of it back together with the filling. Carefully spooning in the filling so that the walls of cookie would not crumble, I admired my work and asked for a bit of Dad and Mom’s chocolate syrup for their coffee to drizzle on top. Now it looked like something real; not just crazy Kate’s unnamed experiment that might turn out to be a real treat or the new atom bomb.

I put it in the refrigerator until we ate it the next day. There was only three, remember? Perfect number for our family to divide up. Everyone ended up with an allotted piece, and the taste tasters were satisfied again. (There were even offers to buy the pieces that belonged to people who couldn’t eat them yet.) I was surprised, delighted, and blessed. I’ve ruined so many real recipes before (or at least almost ruined them) that who could have guessed a complete experiment would turn out so well?

I really enjoyed baking this dessert out of absolutely nothing (or almost nothing, anyway) and really enjoyed eating it. Next time, I’ll use all the cream cheese, more Nutter Butters, and possibly a mini muffin tin so the “recipe” stretches farther. And I’ll look up parbaking or whatever it’s called. ; )

Now, what do I do with that lemon frosting stuff? Hmm…

And isn’t amazing how God can orchestrate something as small as forgetting to use the cream cheese so that I had it later when I wanted to bake something?

My Bookshelf of Oddities and Amazingities (Part One)

This weekend I've gotten to go with my family to help our aunt set up her yardsale (and do some awesome "pre-shopping"); help my siblings make a storm of snowflakes to go in this book; attend a concert by Sam Rotman; listen to a fabulous sermon on true religion (from the book of James); and yesterday I got to go celebrate Chap's birthday. ; ) So many blessed and blessing adventures!

One of the other blessings I've noticed recently, as I've gotten to loan out books to various friends from church, is just how overflowing my bookshelf is! So many relatives (especially Dad and Mom!!) have helped me collect them all, and the amazing authors make it all possible. ; ) God has truly blessed me by giving me something to share. 

Would you like a tour? Here goes...

My bookshelf is an odd collection of a little of everything. My favorite mystery serieses (??) from when I was 13…Bible study books…picture books…books for the future on teaching babies to sleep…audio dramas…adventures—ordinary and extraordinary…an amazing coloring book…an old-fashioned cookbook…even a board book… Like I said, a little of everything. ; ) My tastes and my standards have changed through the years, so not everything is always super recommendable or applicable to the stage of life I’m in right now.

Still, since I’m so book crazy (that’s actually my reviewer name on Amazon), I’ve decided to give you a quick tour of everything on there. Oh, don’t worry. This won’t take all day--I'll split it into two parts. ; )

The Mary Frances Cookbook by Jane Eayre Fryer

I spotted this book ages ago in a quilt store along with the rest of the series. I’ve always been interested in cooking and was excited to see cooking lessons in story format. The different utensils in the kitchen are teaching the little girl how to use them. ; ) Seeing my interest, my dad so sweetly picked it up for me. Unfortunately, it’s an old book so the utensils and methods are too antiquated for our kitchen; but I’ve kept it anyways since it’s so cute. ; )

A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall

After watching the amazing movie version of this story, we were excited to find that some friends of ours owned the book and borrowed if from them. Partway through the story, I found that it was going to be one of my “very favorites ever” and (having book money on hand) decided to purchase it. ; ) Mom finished reading this book aloud from the copy I bought, and it truly is amazing!!! Even better than the movie in some ways!!

Bonnie Prince Charlie by G.A. Henty

I got this book for Christmas when I was ten or eleven. At that time, the typical-of-Henty pages of straight history at the beginning were too much for me; but I was fascinated by the Jacobite revolution/resistance and delighted that there was next to no romance in the story. ; ) I still enjoy the story, but it’s not the best ever.

At Agincourt by G.A. Henty

Love the espionage and disguises, hate the astrology and feminism. Sigh. Very interesting, not bloody (always love that!) look at the times; but once again not super awesome.

Calico Bush by Rachel Field

This story is one of my most favoritest historical fiction books ever. (Right up there with “Carry On, Mr. Bowditch”!) Just enough history, realism, romance, and excitement for me! My Mom read it aloud to us a while ago, and she did find a few parts to skip for younger listeners (Really sad pioneer-like accidents); but we loved the story!!

The Viking Quest Series by Lois Walfrid Johnson

I’ve already reviewed this series on here before, but I’ll say a little about them again. They have had a huge impact on my life both for good and for ill. I ran into them at a time when I need to learn to forgive others and trust God. They helped me a ton in that! Unfortunately, the romance was too much for my fourteen-year-old brain, so I don’t loan them out to younger readers now. Instead, I keep them for old times’ sake and older readers. ; ) My favorite book in the series has got to be The Invisible Friend, but the others are awesome too. ; )

Dreamlander by K.M. Weiland

Frequent readers on here will remember me screaming about how awesome this book is about six months ago. I still love it. Someone make a movie of it. I will pay you. I have chocolate. I make brownies.

Gift from the Storm by Rebekah Morris

And this one. I keep these two next to each other because they are both gorgeous, I got them at the same time, and they go on my list of “very favorites ever”. I recently loaned this one to some friends, and they love it too. So it’s not just me. ; )

The Triple Creek Ranch Series by Rebekah Morris

Oh, wow! Same author as the last one. Since I bought the first book a year and a half ago at Perry’s Homeschooled Authors booth, I’ve been loving and collecting this series. The four books I currently own have been enjoyed by approximately seven people, and I think that whoever opens them next will love them just as much. ; ) God-centered, exciting, non-violent westerns—what could be better? More.

Little Miriam of Galilee by Edith Martin

I found this book through one of the Mennonite catalogs we order our school curriculum through. It’s one of my earlier ones, so the reading level and content are great for younger readers. I’ve always loved stories set in Bible times, and I really appreciate how the author didn’t try to portray Jesus and fall short. ; )

The House with Two Grandmothers by Rebecca Martin

Another from the same company, this one is about a family during the Great Depression. It wasn’t the best story or style ever so it hasn’t become one of my favorites, but it served the purpose of giving me something safe to read. ; )

Tanya and the Border Guard by Anita Deyneka

I bought this book after reading the sequel Alexi’s Secret Mission from our ancient church library and really enjoying it. It isn’t as amazing as the second book and has a bit more attitude, but it was neat to know backstory of what I had read first. ; )

Flat-Out Awesome Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids by Bob Phillips

We were snowed in with friends for Christmas, and the mail had stopped until New Years’. Some of our Christmas presents wouldn’t be on time, but Dad and Mom gave us what they had on hand. This little book was one of my gifts, and that’s why I keep it. I’m not a kid comedian anymore, but my younger siblings like pulling it out once in a while. ; )

The Farm Mysteries Series by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry

My oldest sister is five years older than me, so I used to get a lot of my reading recommendations from what she had read when she was little. Hearing about this series, I asked for it for my thirteenth birthday and my parents got it for me. (They are so supportive of my obsession.) ; ) I accidentally found out what I was getting before it was time, but that didn’t spoil my reading appetite. I read all nine books in maybe two weeks! Then the next siblings down the line read them, and I wrote a letter to the authors telling them how much we enjoyed them and that my brother and my younger sister had started their own detective agency just like the characters’. They sent me the tenth book since it had just come out. You can imagine how pleased I was. ; ) I can’t wait to share them with my littlest sister when she can read well enough. ; )

The Scripture Slueth Books 3 & 4 by Matt Halverson

I’ve always loved mysteries, and nothing shows that better than this part of my bookshelf I suppose. My Dad purchased book 3 for me at a homeschool convention and I loved it! (Still do, actually.) Mysteries you solve yourself using clues from the Bible then reading the ending to see if you were right. What could be better? Like I said earlier—more. ; ) My brother and I ordered more (I got book 4 this time) making sure to have them signed by the author. We spread the joy to a friend and between all three of us we have the complete series. ; )

Janette Oke’s Animal Friends by Janette Oke (what a surprise!)

I got these two books at a Christian bookstore when I was say, nine or ten. (All I remember about that day was that I got confused about how much money I had and Dad came to my rescue by adding a little.) ; ) These aren’t the best books ever, but they are fun for young readers. ; )

The Three Cousins Detective Club by Elsbeth Campbell Murphy

Dad and Mom got me two of these books for my eleventh birthday and signed them with really sweet messages. ; ) Four days later, we flew up to the Greatest Northwest that ever was to consider moving there. I read one of the books on our flight and saved the other to read on our trip. Since then I’ve been collecting as much of the series as I can. A few here and there for birthdays, one for a quarter at a library booksale, and so on. At first it was for me, and in a way it still is, but now it’s mostly for the younger family members and friends I share them with. I always love it when I find a safe series for that 8-12 age when it’s hard to find anything. ; )

Next time I'll tackle the next shelf... ; )

Explanations

Well, it's that posting time again. This week has been really busy for me with autumn cleaning, baking, writing, and some other fantastic things I'd love to tell you all about--when I have the time. :) For now, here are two fantastic memes that have really explained everything for me...

In my house we do have some smartphones,  but 99% of the time it's books. ;)

You too? ;)

Oh, and FYI, my littlest sister is reading herself "Alice Through the Looking Glass" and ranting about how weird Alice is. "She talks to her cat, and she thinks it can talk. She's just--weird." She's reading a whole year before I was able to. O.o.

Until Monday!

Joys and Adventures 2.0

This blog post has that strange title; because, well, this is the second time I've written a post like this. ; ) I particularly like the word “adventure” to describe things that are less than comfortable or kinda’ quirky because of G.K. Chesterton’s awesome quote, “An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” So, here it is—what’s been happening in my life.

Joy:

Starting the week out by witnessing the baptism and covenanting of several children and families! The ever growing circle! : ) The testimonies were so encouraging as they reminded us all of the Good News once again. I was particularly blessed to hear the testimonies of an older couple who came to the Lord late in life and the testimony of a young boy whose faith is very real despite all he has gone through. (His father is AWOL, so he knocked the socks off a Christian family friend by asking him to stand in and baptize him. So amazing!)

Adventure:

Doing the famous take-two-trips-to-go-somewhere-because-Dad-took-the-van-to-work. This time the car was my aunt’s and the destination was DQ to celebrate her birthday. Only problem—just as the second ice cream expedition was starting out, the car decided to quit moving and start smoking. We jumped out and were very grateful that it had broken right in front of our house.

Joy:

Salvaging the party!! The first expedition took a cab home bringing a DELICIOUS ice cream cake with them, and we gave her the gifts we had made to show our appreciation for her. Betsy Bea and I had so much fun making this card together. ; ) I think our aunt really enjoyed her day!

Adventure:

Scurrying to finish dinner in time so my sisters and I could visit with friends during Dad and Paul’s Bible Study.

Joy:

The amazing fellowship of sisters in Christ! We talked, did some handwork, and laughed a lot. We only got shushed about twice, which is banner for a lot of wound up girls. ; ) On our way home, Dad and Paul informed us of their tradition for after Bible Study—shakes. A very good tradition indeed.

Adventure and Joy:

The library!!!! It’s a mixed blessing but a blessing indeed! Here’s a picture of my latest finds. I’ll be sure to report back on them later. ; )

There have also been some other great movies that aren’t pictured here, mostly because I didn’t bring them home myself. We got to see the 1950s version of the movie “Anastasia” starring Yule Brenner and Igrid Bergman. Fascinating!! (My sister is now researching the Romanovs. Good ol’ Aimee.) ; ) My younger sisters brought home “Big Hero 6”. What a fun movie! (Does anyone else think Tadashi Hamada is just the best?)

Joy:

Getting some editing done! The next three parts of “The Twin Arrows” are nearly ready to go up on Noble Novels! (Speaking of that story…would anyone like to read more on here?)

Adventure:

Getting blood drawn for the first time ever! Pearl’s doctor offers free testing for T1D since we’re close relatives of a patient, so all of us kids got tested on the same day. I didn’t watch any of them, since I was really scared of it. It didn’t hurt at all; but for some reason I almost passed out, almost threw up, and could barely walk out of the doctor’s office. Yeah, that was scary.

Joy:

The Goodwill trip afterwards! That was really, really fun! I found Aimee the world’s best linen skirt and the world’s best denim shirt. Yours truly is an awesome shopper. *crows like Peter Pan does when he’s super proud of himself* *head-cuffs herself for being so weird*

Adventure:

Trying on autumn boots. There were two pairs—brown suede for $10 and brown leather for $6. I had to try. I never knew boots could be so hard to get on and off!! (Cinderella’s shoe was actually a glass boot, FYI.) Yours truly cannot, at this time, walk in heels. It was hilarious; but hey, I tried! ; )

Joy:

Making deviled eggs with my “baby sister”. She is awesome at peeling eggs!!

Adventure:

Dropping one of said eggs and calling our dog Ella over to eat it. She haunted me for the rest of the cooking time, and I had to make sure that the plate of finished eggs was beyond her reach on the table. ; ) She has good taste.

Joy:

Doing “baby” sister’s hair. We had a funny time to start with—I did it like Anne Shirley’s just for fun. It was amazing how poufy I could get it! Then after some calming down time, I tied a pink scarf-headbandy-thingy around her head and secured it with bobby pins. It took two tries, but she was such a princess the rest of the day.

Adventure:

Going outside to finish my sweeping job (just a teeny bit of the porch left to do!) and discovering that a neighborhood cat had decided to kill a pigeon in front of our front door. Fortunately, no carcass but lots of feathers everywhere! I felt like a Pixar character.

Joy:

The clean porch!!! So beautiful!!! Why don’t I do this more often?!!!

Adventure:

Discovering that on my regular posting day there was again no time to write a tome of a blog post. Sigh. So, I’ll be honest—I’m writing this on a Saturday and scheduling it for Monday so I can at least look like I’m on top of things. ; )

Joy:

Banana cake with chocolate drizzle this morning. Wow. Yum. (I get more creative when we haven’t grocery shopped in a bit.) ; )

And One More JOY:

Psalm 71:14-16. “But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only."