Flowers and Parties

I love April when the sun shines. It's a glorious day today with all kinds of flowers blooming everywhere - a riot of color: pinks, yellows, whites, lavenders.I enjoyed lying in the sun for an hour this afternoon, soaking it in. I heard that it's supposed to rain 3 out of the next 4 days. Well, it's spring time and we need the rain. So I'm not complaining. I noticed the grass is greening and growing. I'll soon need to mow. I am happy at the thought of being outside again, although it is nice to get a break with the winter. Seasons are good!

On Wednesday I, with a team of 9 other women, organized a ladies' tea party at church. 110 women attended. I had to borrow a hat from Andy's cousin, since I don't own one (at least, not a tea party hat).We had little tea sandwiches and scones, as well as a few other items, and of course, TEA!

Different women volunteered to bring their china dishes and the party was really festive and beautiful.It was a lot of work putting this all together and a lot of work afterwards, as well. I spent all day yesterday laundering all the tablecloths. And I took the silverware and about 28 plates home to wash in my dishwasher.In between loads of laundry yesterday, I made a batch of cinnamon chip cookies for our small group tonight. These cookies are so scrumptious, it's very hard to limit myself to one or two. I have been unable to find cinnamon chips around here, so last week when we were in Lancaster County, we stopped at Shady Maple food market and picked up 10 packages of them.

The finished product! Very tasty!

We had another birthday in the office this week. Deb is a missionary intern with plans to go to Niger to work in a hospital there. She is trained in occupational therapy and will be leaving us in August for a year in France to learn French before going on to Niger. Her birthday was Saturday, I baked the cake Thursday evening, and we celebrated on Friday.

Here she is licking the icing off the candles:

And here's the cake: caramel frosted hummingbird cake. This is one of the best cakes I make, every bit as good as carrot cake. I got the recipe out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine (see below).
Ingredients
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups mashed bananas (about 5 medium)
1 cup cooking oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups peeled, shredded uncooked sweet potato(about 1/2 pound)
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1 recipe caramel butter frosting

1. Let eggs stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper. Grease and flour paper and set aside.

2. In bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cloves. Stir in bananas, oil, eggs and vanilla until moist and thick. Stir evenly in prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 minutes or until pick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Peel off paper. Cool completely.

4. Prepare caramel butter frosting. Place one layer, flat side up, on plate. Spread top only with 1 1/4 cup frosting. Stack and frost remaining layers.

Caramel butter frosting: In large saucepan melt 1 cup butter, add 2 cups packed brown sugar. Bring to boiling over medium heat; stir constantly. Cook and stir 1 minute; cool 5 minutes. Whisk in 6 cups powdered sugar until smooth. Use at once, frosting stiffens as it cools.

Sinfully delicious!

A Whirlwind Week

There is no grass growing under my feet. I've been on the run from one thing to the next all week. So here's my recap:

Friday:

After work, I made applesauce-craisin bread, then supper, then on to my bass lesson at 7:00 pm

Saturday:

Start a load of wash, go to Bethany's house for Ladies' Coffee Connection - 9:00 am - 12:00 noon.

I took my applesauce-craisin bread to share and what a spread there was!

In the afternoon, I made a baked ziti dish because of a dinner at church the next day. At 5:00 pm, over to church for a staff get-together. Andy and I were able to have dinner and a little bit of interaction before needing to be at worship team rehearsal at 6:30 pm.

Sunday:

I played my bass in all 3 worship services. I know I haven't had it very long, but Andy was desperate! Several of our bass players are military and right now, one is deployed and the other was unavailable this week. So ready or not, I was on. It didn't go too badly. And the congregation was gracious. Before the last song we sang, Andy said: "Yes, that really is Phyllis playing the bass." People actually clapped and in the 3rd service, they even cheered!

I have to say, it was such fun and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was so excited about playing that I woke up super early on Sunday morning - just like a little kid. Which reminded me of Psalm 103:5 - He satisfies my desires with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's.

In between playing, I put my baked ziti in the oven in the church kitchen so it would be warm by the time we needed it at 12:30 pm. After the 3rd service, I went to check on the ziti and the oven was stone cold. Yikes! I had turned on the bottom oven and put the ziti in the top oven. Well, it cooked for about 15 minutes before all the food had to be on the table, so I put it out hoping no one would ask whose it was! How embarrassing! But as it turned out, I took some and so did lots of other people because the dish was completely cleaned out. It was very good, even cold!

When I got home on Sunday, I made a batch of cookies. Then when Andy got home from drama rehearsal, we went for a walk. It was a lovely evening and nice to get a break from the whirlwind.

Monday:

I worked all day, made dinner, then we had 2 guys come to the house for an appointment Andy had set up with them. We are considering putting in solar energy and these guys came to give us information.

Tuesday:

Did 2 loads of wash and cleaned 3 bathrooms. Then made another dish of baked ziti to take along to Amy's. Amy had a dentist appointment to have 3 cavities filled and 3 wisdom teeth pulled. So Andy and I went up to babysit and help her a little. I took dinner of ziti, left over applesauce-craisin bread and the cookies. She already had lettuce and tomato for salad. We got to her house around 1:00, her appointment was at 2:00 pm. Joanna went down for her nap around 1:45, and Andy left with Amy. At 2:10 Joanna woke up. Oh dear. She is very attached to Amy so she was not happy to see me. But I was able to keep her distracted enough so that she didn't cry. Of course, I had to hold her the whole time. It helped when Chase woke up and we could go outside. And of course, everything was all better when Amy finally got back home (for everyone except Amy - poor thing).

Andy and Chase had a good time together.

Wednesday (today):

I'm working again today and tonight we're having a Ladies' Night Out for which I am responsible. It will be a tea party and 110 women are signed up to come. If I get any good pictures, I'll post them later.

Gotta run....

Field Trip

Every Wednesday we have a staff meeting at church. This includes our 5 pastors, 1 woman counselor, 2 interns and myself. It's a time for building a sense of "team," catching up on what and how the others are doing and praying for each other. Every once in a while, Pastor Mark schedules a "field trip." A couple of months ago we took a trip to Camden to observe a ministry to the homeless, ex-cons, and prostitutes. It was a great encouragement to the work there for us to be interested in what they were doing and to show our support.

Yesterday was another field trip. This one was to McGuire Air Force Base.
We have a number of military families that attend our church. One of those is Lt. Col. Tim ____. He arranged the whole day for us. He had lunch for us, then we toured the air force base. We checked out the simulators and even had a chance to "fly" them. Andy loved that and did a good job of pushing the right buttons. Tim had the computers set up to be night time with a snow storm, and then helped Andy bring in the plane to a perfect landing. You couldn't even feel the bump as we landed!McGuire has a fleet of refueling aircraft. We actually went into one and were able to see how it was done. They are huge planes weighing about 580 tons when they are fully loaded with gas and cargo. They can pump 1,000 gallons of gas a minute when they are refueling. There were a lot of other statistics that we heard but I can't remember them all. It was pretty impressive, though.
One interesting note: There is a plane on the base that is no longer in use, but it has a claim to fame. It carried Elvis back from Germany when he was done with his time in the military. He landed at McGuire before continuing on to his home.

It was an interesting, informative and impressive day as we learned some of the things about the air force. We are very thankful for the sacrifices our military make to defend our country. Tim was telling us that his wife didn't sign up for the military, but she is expected to help out families when there is a need: like take meals when there is a new baby, collect clothes, etc. for other families who might have a need. Her role is like that of a pastor's wife. The men often work long hours and are sometimes gone for months at a time.

We were happy to show our support yesterday to these great men and women. Many of them not only serve our country, but they also get very involved at our church. We are very happy to have them because they love to serve. It is a way of life for them and it spills out into everything they do.

In other news:
Our friend came over last night with his rototiller and got our plot of land ready for gardening. Now Andy has to put up some fencing to keep the critters out, and I'll be ready to plant.

The pansies I planted in the fall are looking great,
even after that long cold winter.

The hyacinths are blooming and this one miniature daffodil.

It's still so cold, though.

5th picture in 5th folder

Thanks, Amy, for tagging me.
This picture brings back happy memories.

In January 2007, we took a trip to California. We flew into San Francisco, then drove south along the coast till we got to the Hearst Castle. From there we turned east and drove inland toward Yosemite National Park. Along the coast it had been very pleasant and mild, but inland, it was very cold. The night before we went into the park, the lady who checked us into our hotel suggested we get a tour guide for our tour of the park. We usually like to explore on our own, but decided to take her advice. We were the only ones on the tour, so the first thing our tour guide told us that morning was that he would do whatever we wanted and take us wherever we wanted to go. He was very knowledgeable and interesting and it was a wonderful day.

I am not tagging any others. Anyone reading this may take the initiative (the 5th picture in your 5th folder).

Spring - Really?

I was getting ready for work on Friday morning when out of the corner of my eye, I thought I noticed something on the skylight. I looked more closely, and to my surprise, it was snow. Now my curiosity was up, and I had to go look out the window. Sure enough, it was snowing and was even laying on the ground. It is only mid-March, but I thought it was ironic that we were getting snow on the first day of spring!

That reminded me of some pictures I took a number of years ago ~ April 9, 2000. The crab apple trees were in full bloom, the dogwoods were starting to flower, the grass was quite green and we had a snow storm. It made beautiful pictures with all that color.I think one of the reasons God has given us weather is to make our life more interesting. After all, don't we talk about it all the time? Isn't it funny that we think usual weather is so unusual? I mean, really now...March is known for its unpredictability. Yet when it snows, we're so shocked and surprised, and it's all we talk about. I have a little poem I like to quote:

As a rule, man's a fool:
When it's hot, he wants it cool.
When it's cold, he wants it hot,
Always wanting what it's not.

So this is my resolve: to enjoy each day no matter what the weather because it is a gift from God. This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24

Andy worked a little more on laying the water pipe for our garden. I think our friend is coming over on Tuesday with the rototiller. I checked out some plants at Lowe's (I have a gift certificate someone gave me) and will probably get some lettuce, spinach and onions to put in as soon as the ground is tilled. Fresh salad coming soon!

It was a long, cold winter...

Summer and winter and SPRINGTIME and harvest...

Only a few short weeks ago, we were digging out from a snow storm...but today is a new day! The days are still chilly, but the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Time to start thinking about gardening. We were inspired by our daughter and decided to put in a garden of our own this year. Andy's dad had a little one in last summer, but with food prices getting higher, we decided to plant a bigger one this summer.

Last year's little garden

So on Tuesday, Andy started to work on it. We had to move one little tree. Then he measured out the boundaries and dug around the edges of where the garden would be.

New garden - 17' x 26'

He also started digging a trench and laying pipe
so we can have water out there.

We know someone who has a rototiller and he offered to help us out. So I'm hoping he can come over on Saturday morning to do that for us. Then I need to start thinking of what I want to plant. Hmmm...tomatoes for sure...maybe some zucchini, onions, carrots. And what about lettuce and spinach?

I can't help wondering, though. With all the effort we are putting in, is it really that much cheaper to grown your own food? Maybe there's more to it than just cheaper food. There's also a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from having FRESH produce from your own back yard. Mmmm...can't wait!

Spring Cleanup

This weekend I went with 90 other women to the Eden Resort in Lancaster, PA for our church's women's retreat. The theme was Spring CleanUp and dealt with Psalm 51 - David's cry of repentance.

The food was delicious, the service was wonderful, the fellowship with other women was fun, and we were wonderfully challenged by our speaker, Lidia. She is incredibly gifted in communicating God's truth. One tidbit she shared was the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow (over sin):

Godly Sorrow:

1. I take responsibility for my sin.

2. I feel deep pain and grief over my sin.

3. I purpose in God's strength and grace to not do the same thing again.

4. I am overwhelmed at the discovery of my inward sin (heart).

5. A deep feeling of wrong doing and sin against a holy God.

6. A heart and mind set on things above

Worldly sorrow:

1. I do not take responsibility for my sin.

2. I take my sin lightly.

3. I temporarily feel badly, but eventually just return to the same attitudes and behavior.

4. I only regret the personal consequences of my sin.

5. A feeling of sorrow because I've been found out or created a mess for myself

6. A heart and mind set on self

We were challenged that if we truly repent of our sin, we will not go back to it.

She also spent quite a bit of time talking about the holiness of God, because it will be hard to feel repentant of our sin if we don't understand that God is holy. Did you ever notice that in Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah describes God as holy, holy, holy? No other attribute of God's is ever mentioned 3 times in a row. God is not described as love, love, love or grace, grace, grace or mercy, mercy, mercy or faithful, faithful, faithful. But His holiness describes more than any other attribute who he is. His love is a holy love, His grace is a holy grace, His mercy is a holy mercy, etc. His holiness sets Him apart, no one else is holy. He is the only one, unique in holiness - which makes His sacrifice so much more meaningful because a holy God actually took our sin upon Himself. 2 Corinthians 5:21 ~ God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. What a God!

We had some free time on Saturday afternoon, but it turned out a couple of friends and I spent most of the afternoon driving around the countryside trying to find what we were looking for. At one point, we stopped along the side of the road, looking at our map, and a Mennonite man came over to give us directions. That was helpful because we certainly didn't know where we were or where we were going. One of the things I was looking for was the Petite Sophisticate outlet. When we finally found where it was supposed to be, there was a Lane Bryant (for big sizes) store there. So I went in to ask about P.S. and they said the store had closed 3 weeks ago. Well, we didn't really accomplish much on that excursion except to pile up some silly memories!

I didn't get much sleep over the weekend. I think I got to bed around midnight Friday and Saturday nights. And that's extremely late for me - I'm used to heading toward bed around 9:00-9:30 pm each night. Needless to say, I was pretty tired today.

We are welcoming Beth Fuller to our upstairs apartment this evening. She is a missionary to Papau New Guinea and will be here at our church until the end of May. She is a very lively and interesting young lady and it will be fun to have her here. As an example of her adventurous spirit, she wrote in one of her newsletters that she tasted a plate of grubs. She was really happy to do so, because she had been wanting to for a while. Ewwww - yuch! Well, we have plenty of grubs in our yard, so she can help herself to all that the moles and robins don't get! She had mentioned that she wants to cook us a meal while she is here, but I hope she does American food! (I'll be paying close attention!)