Foggy morning fun

So the pictures are a little *foggy* themselves…I’ll blame the camera but I think you can still get the point.

 

I had seen this done somewhere recently and I decided to give it a whirl. If you’re like me and love the easy-to-peel, juicy sweet, and pint-sized goodness that is a clementine…why not go a little further and try this out too. And if you don’t love everything good about clementines…shame on you!

 

Anyway, you start with a shallow cut around the outside of the clementine (think waistline). Use a butter knife or similar object to slide down between the skin and the flesh of the fruit (again, given the easy-to-peel nature of this fruit this part is WAY easier than, say, with an orange). Once nearly all has been loosened you should start to be able to almost spin the outer peel. Carefully pull one whole half of the peel off, trying to keep the part that goes through the middle of the fruit intact on the outer peel. You should have something that looks like a bowl with a stem of sorts standing in the middle of it. This is the bottom of your candle. The other end (without the stem thing) is your top. Place a small amount of olive oil in the bottom half being careful not to drown your stem. On the top half, cut out a star (or other shape if you are that good) with a paring knife. An easy star to cut is the star of David (two triangles offset). Light the ‘wick’ in the bottom, place the top on it, set it on a butter dish and enjoy!

 

It’s not going to light your house by any stretch, and you won’t be doing it for the aroma. But for a fun, easy, and kid-friendly project, I would recommend it!

 

Let me know if you do it…send me a comment, or even better, a picture!

Make your own

Given the Colts undefeatedness (it’s a word somewhere, I’m sure) and the animated nature of these two photos, the door is wide open for many a kind of smack talk.

Please, go on, leave your best…fun, appropriate, and friendly are necessary though.

Need I even mention that extra credit* will be awarded if said smack involves a certain (not undefeated) New Englandish team? Didn’t think so.

Now run along…comment away.

*Just so we are all clear…there will be no actual credit given and therefore extra credit will not result in any tangible award either.

Daddy is home

Aahhhhh…..I love it!

Transformer

 

 

 

He, too, wanted to (once again) be part of our world

During a nap one day, B transformed into a mermaid, both legs stuffed nice and uncomfortably into the same compartment.

He, like Ariel, was not impressed with the circumstances…though his method of telling me was far from a sweetly sung ballad from atop a rock in the middle of the ocean

Song, Song of the South

Sweet potato eye and I shut my mouth….

…or something like that!

*Please pardon the fact that, yes, my boy is eating with a pink spoon that, yes, my little white dog did chew to shreds. But it was only the end of the spoon, if that helps at all!

Today’s mail!

I received notification through snail mail today that I passed my jurisprudence examination thus completing the process of transferring my professional license from Missouri to Ohio and therefore rendering me fully certified to practice as a Physical Therapist Assistant once again. Hooray!

As if that wasn’t enough…

I then signed into my email account to check for unopened cyber-mail only to find this. That’s right…B. Moss is once again. I mourned (as much as one can really, and appropriately, mourn for a retail clothing store!) when the downturn in the economy forced them to close their doors last winter. Even just last week I held onto my old familiar shirt branded with the B.Moss tag and spoke sadly with a turned out lip as I told my mom that they had, indeed, closed their doors and not just closed a few stores. I hung my head for a moment.

Okay, okay…so I’m highly dramatic. But I do very much enjoy this store and I look forward to their return. Hooray times two…or three or four or more!!!

Now it’s time to share your mail! What has been your favorite mail (snail or otherwise) today (or recently if all you got were bills*)?

 

 

*Then again, bills will also be accepted as happy mail as at a deeper glance they are simply evidence that you have an education, or heat, or access to healthcare, or a house, or cable, or a phone, or the internet, or running water, right?

Have you been reminded today…

of your plight apart from the grace of God?

Recently I’ve become very aware of the difference it makes to be reminded often of my position of desperation as a sinner apart from the undeserved grace given through the sacrifice made by Jesus.

Of course I know it. I know I am a sinner. I know that the punishment for sin is death. I know that.

I also know that God himself left the comforts of Heaven and clothed himself in flesh. He lived as a man; a life unmarked by sin. And then he died as a replacement for the death I owe for my sin. Not only that, he did not stay dead. He conquered death so that we can have hope in an everlasting life.

I know all of this….but sometimes….sometimes I forget. Sometimes I begin to feel entitled. Sometimes I try to work this thing out on my own. Sometimes I find myself simply, and unknowingly, striving to be moral.  As if I deserved it. As if anything I do can earn my salvation. As if a good life or morality saves.

But even worse? Even worse than that is when I haven’t been reminded in awhile and the situation seems not so desperate.

Praise God for reminders. Reminders that we are sinners…and that it is desperate. Not so that we might walk about our world beaten and condemned but that we might recognize our plight and remember that God has given us grace through His son that we might be saved…and that we would be delighted in Him!

Glory to God FOREVER.

Today’s Funny

So really it was 2 days ago’s funny but it was so funny I’m still giggling about it. Therefore, I will share.

The pharmacist we were lunching with told us that a patron of the retail pharmacy she works for came in asking if they had the hiney* shot.

Classic!!!

*Otherwise (and more commonly) referred to as H1N1…just in case there were a few left confused.

Red and yellow, orange and brown.

Just as the colors of the leaves on the trees, things are a changin’ around here! It isn’t uncommon to walk in after a nap to find a tearful B standing in his crib awaiting a lift out of his little seven month old equivalent to solitary (or so it must seem at times). My favorite however is when he awakens cheerfully and I can sneak a few peeks through the cracked doorway before he notices. He is often chatting up a storm or trying to get the attention of his stuffed animals sitting quietly on their shelf across the room.

It has been a joy recently to be able to read with B.  He helps me turn the pages and has once again found his attention span, albeit still short.

We had a little fun playing outside today…here is a glimpse:

Possibly my new favorite picture of him.

Oh, and a tooth is on it’s way. I’m pretty sure my finger felt a little ivory peak poking it’s way through. Look out world…or maybe more accurate…look out apples!