Matthew 25: in American Thought

10 women were waiting for a plane. 5 had read in their brochure specific details about the flight and ticket purchases and came early to check in and brought just the right amount of cash and purchased their ticket. 5 had not yet bothered to purchased their tickets, and had not read the details in the travel brochures, but ooed and awww’ed over the beautiful pictures of their intended destination. 

The ten women stood chatting, excited about their trip when the 5 who needed their ticket noticed the late hour and ran to the counter. Much to their surprise the ticket counter only excepted cash, and they ran to the other 5 women with tickets, begging them to lend them any spare cash on hand so they could purchase their tickets. But the 5 with tickets had only brought enough cash to purchase their tickets they now held in their hands. The five with no tickets ran madly through the airport, looking for an ATM, but when they had finally found one and returned to the counter, the plane had been boarded and the door was shut.

The story is about Christs return to earth, it is not a story about compassion, it is a story about company policy. We have the travel guide, the bible. If we don’t bother reading it (and reading it in context) and we are unaware of Gods expectation of us and he comes and you’re not ready…he’s leaving you behind. And I know that seems harsh and mean, but if you’re not willing to give him the time of day down here, why do you think he’s going to want you up there? He’s laid out the consequences of ignoring him in the word, and just like the airline pilot, it’s not his problem that you didn’t purchase your ticket, especially when Christ purchased it free of charge for us already. He’s going to take those who are ready, and leave the rest regretfully behind. God shows us compassion here on earth, and Christians are to show compassion to the world. But when your last day comes, “company policy” will be what dictates where you end up.

 

Birthday Party Cake!

Dolly turns 8 tomorrow!

(....shaking head in disbelief)

So we had many discussions about cakes and came up with a birthday party cake idea that was great!
I made one box of yellow cake mix up and baked it into 6 muffins and a deep, 6 inch round pan.

I cut the cake in half on the edge and iced the cut edge of both halves, and placed a layer of raspberry jam on the bottom layer, then stacked them. Ice thinly with butter cream icing.

Do the same with 2 of the cup cakes to make the stools.


Now THE FUN PART!!

Making rolled Fondant is a daunting task, UNLESS you make...
 

Marshmallow Fondant!! 

It's as easy as 1,2 ,3

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
• 2 tbsp water
• Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional (I used2 Tbsp of Raspberry Jello to make pink)
• 1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting

Melt the marshmallows and water over extremely low heat until puffy and melted.  Stir in your coloring or flavors  if you want now.  Then fold in the icing sugar.

It won't fully mix in the pot, so dump the contents out onto a icing sugar dusted surface and knead like bread until smooth and pliable.
Roll as thin as possible on a sugar dusted surface and cut out desired shapes. Or shape like play-dough to make edible figures. (My tea cups and plates are glass toys from the dollar store)

For my cake I cut out 3 circles, tracing around cups and dishes and rolled them even thinner.  Then I laid them over my cake pieces and shaped them. To attach decorative items, add a dab of butter cream icing to the bottom of each piece.

Tremain Family Music

Instruction Studio

SO exciting!! I am now teaching piano lessons. I have 3 students starting this fall and one who has already started. I haven't even advertised yet :o) I am also now a Kindersigns instructor and can teach parents how to sign with babies and toddlers, and I'm coming up with a matching music based program from that curriculum for toddlers up to age 4....then they can graduate into piano lessons. I have studio policies written up and a catalog of books available to me and my students, I'm taking a basic accounting course to keep my books straight, and I'm ready to go.

I've been wanting to show off pictures of our new living space, so I will start with our STUDIO!! I have a sign from Vistaprint coming for the upper window of the front door. The only childrens play things in this room is a bag of blocks and our log cabin. No food allowed in this room!  (They have a great playroom in the basement I'll show off later)

 Front Door

Standing at the front door I took these pictures.....

Sitting at the desk chair......

The couch and TV will be perfect for having a few families of toddlers in for Music and Sign classes

What happens when you leave homeschoolers to their own devices....

You get a puppet show!

Creative juices were flowing, and the oldest two children colored and cut out coloring book pictures and taped them to craft sticks, all thought up on their own! They covered the kitchen chairs with blankets and moved the big pillows from the studio into the kitchen and put on a show for me. They even made two extra to share with their little brother, a wonderful day!!

Clean under the Son

All laundry starts out dirty, that's why it's in the laundry. Everyone knows the clothes out on a family's laundry line were once dirty, most-likely  smelly and there were probably stains. But once it's been cleaned,we aren't embarrassed  to hang it in the sun (SON). Hiding our laundry just makes it stink more and the stains increasingly  difficult to remove.
It's not helpful when Christians hide other Christians problems, mistakes, sins...... neither is it our right to air out others laundry publicly, dirty or clean.  But we shouldn't encourage them to hide it, even if it might make us uncomfortable somehow. We should encourage them to do their laundry. Encourage them to make right with God, so that when other people discover someones laundry, they will also see the forgiving grace of God in their life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn  the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 
John 3:17

Spring In the Park

The sun has finally come back out so we could stay out to play.  And look at these wonderful treasures we found in the park today!

Top 5

Top 5 Things I would have rather done today.....

5. Unpack the new house
4.Play at the park with the children
3.Sit under a tree and read a book
2.taken a nap
1. Ride bikes with the children around the new neighborhood


Why I didn't.......

5. Had to finish the last load and cleaning of the old house
4. see #5
3. It was a bit too cold, and see #5
2. I had unload the last of the boxes from our trucks and stack in the basement in the afternoon
1. My NEW bike developed a clank and had to go to the shop ( and see #2)



BUT the old house is empty and I never have to go back! So really all is well. I can't wait until the boxes are gone and I can show off the new nest!