In Which a Catchy Title Eludes Me

Wow, I can't believe it's Thursday already. Where on earth has this week gone. It's not like I even have an excuse of being so terribly busy, because it hasn't been. It's been the same routine as always but my days have sort of just disappeared on me and today my mind is a big ole blank. So I going to do what every good little blogger does when they're mind is mush and I'm just gonna go ahead and do a laundry list of happenings .

-As much as I love cooking this week has been tough slugging in this department. Oh I have lots of ideas I can cook, I just haven't felt like it. I'm just gonna go right ahead and blame it on the crazy weather. It's getting the blame for everything else, so why not? After firing up the grill a couple weeks ago and getting my tastebuds going for a more springy summery menu that involves barbque sauce, it was discouraging to have to resort back to a more winter menu due to the barbque being under a foot of snow! Hubby was a sweetheart and picked up pizza last night. Thank you Hubby! Pizza, of course, is a year round meal!

-this Saturday the youth group is doing their highway clean up fund raiser. My flesh crieth out! I am NOT looking forward to it. Being there at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday, trekking through ditches for 6 - 8 hours picking up garbage. It is hard work! But on the positive end, it raises enough money for our small youth group for the entire year. We don't have to do any other fund raisers and it helps them to attend youth conferences, have their annual camping trip and do various other activities for basically minimal cost to us parents and in some cases, no cost at all. That is good news for my budget. So I will be out there with the youth and other parents at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday, shivering and drinking the biggest travel mug of coffee that I own. And I must remember the ibuprofen for my poor hips! Am I sounding like the matyr yet or what?!

-after much evaluation, thought, prayer and study, hubby has decided he'd like to start a home business. I cannot say how much this makes my heart tremble. Not because I don't think he can do it. I have full confidence that with the Lord leading him, he can. But what I'm struggling with is myself. More to the point: getting my "self" out of the way. To say I've become a little set in my ways and in my routine with me working at home for the last 19 years is an understatement. I have my little pattern for the day all mapped out. I do things a certain way and certain things at specific times. And now the thought of him also working at home and an upheaval in my routine coming about is really upsetting me. Yes, he has been unemployed for 3 months and has been around the home, so you'd think I would be used to it by now. But in my mind it was a temporary situation and I was just "putting up" with it until he got a job. But now with a home business, the situation is a little bit permanent. Which has me really frazzled, and it's coming out in all sorts of ways that I don't like seeing in myself. At all. I never really thought of myself as an inflexible or selfish person, but to my shame, that is exactly what I'm seeing manifesting. Sigh. I'm wondering if just maybe, this has been buried in my heart and God finally wants to root it out, so is allowing all this so that the work might be done. At my ladies group the other night, I realized that it's really easy for me to tell people to trust God and what He would be working out in their lives but now I'm faced with it, and it was like God was asking me am I going to trust Him to work out the best? Am I going to lay down things at His feet the way I so easily advised others to do? Was I going trust Him with my heart and allow His cleaning to occur without fighting Him every step of the way? Romans 8:28 has been churning in my heart:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,

who have been called according to His purpose."

In the side of my Women of Faith Study Bible, it says about this scripture:

"Let's be crystal clear here. God works everything in believers' lives for their "good". This doesn't mean that everything works for pleasant lifestyles, enjoyable futures and happiness. The "good" here, though it isn't defined or specified, is to be understood as a spiritual and eternal "good". God uses everything in believers' lives --and often the difficult things in their lives--to remake them, to transform them into the likeness of his Son. Everything that happens to us, the easy, the difficult, the grief, the pain, the joy-- has one purpose: to make us like Jesus."

And isn't that interesting when the book am I reading right now is all about spriritual transformation. Couple that with the the fact that the chapter I am on is obediance to God. That book, if you're interested, is this book. And I would reckon that God is trying to tell me something. All I can say right now is "But for the grace of God I go". May I be willing to let Him do the work!

-Whoo boy, I didn't think I'd be writing all that in the last point. LOL. Sheesh. I was going to do a couple other points about exciting things like laundry and surviving the dreaded parent teacher interview last week but I all of a sudden feel exhausted! LOL.

So, let's just get the focus off me now. That's a little more soul-baring than what I'm used to. So. What's new with you guys? LOL.

Wordless Wednesday

In a brave effort to have something to look at other than this, like as in something that signifies spring, I give you my Easter Lily which finally shed it's last bloom the other day:

For more Wordless Wednesday go here and here

So Quick, So Easy, So Good!

Since the youngest child, Tia, last year did 7 months as a vegetarian, our eating habits within the family have changed a little bit. She has since started eating poultry, but beef and pork are definitely off her list of protein choices. That has caused a naturally occuring shift towards more chicken as the go to protein rather than beef. We've also incorporated more fish. Right now, I'm trying to work it to at least once a week but I've had to do some convincing with the girl and her Dad. And we eat a few more meatless main dishes. Those are few and far between but we're tring. Which is quite a feat in a family that is mostly made up of carnivores. ;v)

This last week I found two really, really good recipes. Not only are they tasty and the chicken super tender, they are easy and quick. Bonus! And they both involve one of my favorite ingrediants of all time. Sour Cream! Bless the person who discovered sour cream! What can I say. My Hungarian blood runs white with the stuff!

And unfortunately I have no pictures for either. Because we devoured them before I could think to take pictures. Because when it involves sour cream there are no rules of picture taking decorum.

OVEN BAKED SOUR CREAM CHICKEN

-1 pkg. bone in chicken thighs, deskinned (8 - 10 thighs)
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1/4 cup light mayo
-3 Tbsp. lemon juice
-1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
-1/4 tsp. paprika
-1 garlic clove, minced OR 1/4-1/2 tsp. granulated or powdered garlic
-1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
-1/8 tsp. pepper, fresh ground if you've got a grinder
-1 1/2 c dry bread crumbs

Combine sour cream, lemon juice, worcestershire, paprika, garlic, seasoning salt, and papper in a large bowl. Add chicken, turning to coat. Cover and refridgerate minimum 2 hours and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly spray or grease a shallow 13 x 9 roasting pan. Place crumbs in deep bowl. Add salt to taste if desired and stir well. Add chicken one at a time and coat well with crumbs. Place in roasting pan. Bake, uncovered 45 - 50 minutes until tender.

Try not to elbow each other to get seconds.


SALSA CHICKEN

-4 - 6 chicken breasts, thawed if out of the freezer
-4 tsp. taco or mexican seasoning mix
-1 cup - 1 1/2 cups salsa ( I used Peach Mango Salsa and it was awesome!!)
-1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
-4 Tbsp. sour cream
-1 tomato, diced
-2 green onions, sliced
-jarred jalepeno peppers, optional

Preheat oven to 375*F. Lightly grease a 13x9 baking dish. Rub chicken breasts on both sides with the taco seasoning. Pour salsa over each breast, covering the whole breast.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until chicken is tender and juices run clear.

Sprinkle evenly with cheese and continue baking until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Top with sour cream, chopped tomatoes, green onions and jalepenos.

I served with brown rice mixed with niblets corn and little bit of chili powder. Yummy!


DISCLAIMER: Living to Tell the Story is not responsible for any addictions to sour cream that consuming the above recipes may cause.

Perspective

So I woke up this morning thinking that there had to be something else to blog about except the weather around here. So I determined that I was not going to mention that our area had a winter storm warning out and this morning it's been downgraded to a snowfall warning. And I told myself that I was not going to show you this picture I took last week:

and compare it to this one that I took this morning:

Or this one of my pretty, little polka dotted hosta last weekend:

And show you it this morning:

Nope. Not gonna go there!

So what else can I talk about this morning? Well, the weekend turned out pretty nice, not weather wise, but we're not mentioning that, but activity wise. Tia was in a badminton tournament on Saturday. Her first tournament of any kind. I think I was more excited than she was. She did great winning 3 out 4 games with her partner and helped her school to win first place. She acted very "whatever" about it, but I think deep down she was pleased with her performance. It was just a really, really long day. She was tired and I was exhausted. How can one be exhausted from sitting on a hard bleacher from 8:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon is beyond my understanding, but let me tell you I had certain body parts that were actually turning numb. But it was fun to actually go to a tournament with her and cheer her on. I was used to this with Kay with her involvement in basketball for years and her rugby but the opportunity never came with the other two kids who aren't as sports oriented as Kay was. I realized I sorta missed it. Except the numb body part. That I could do without.

Sunday I threw a roast into the crockpot before church with some sliced onions. And let me tell you that made the most awesome gravy. Yummy, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. My mom came over for lunch and we spent a nice relaxed afternoon rewatching this week's American Idol as Tia and Mom hadn't yet seen it. Then in the evening we watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". Very good movie but broke. my. heart. Into a million pieces. If you don't know, it's a movie about a small German boy, who's father is the Commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, making friends with one of the boys in the camp. It is a story of the Holocaust seen through the innocent eyes of two small boys on opposite sides of the tragedy that adults were perpretrating around them and how in that innocence their friendship blossomed. Poor Tia had a hard time wrapping her mind around the horrors of how people could treat other people in that way. I thought they had learned about the holocaust in school already but apparently around here that doesn't come until grade 10. So I had lots of explaining to do. It was a very touching, profound movie done in a way that you could watch it with your teenagers (Tia is fourteen), and have much conversation with them about the value of human life, right and wrong, standing up for what is right, not following along, how this could have happened, can it happen even now and a myriad of other topics. While it was a very good movie that was at the same time a hard movie to watch I'm glad it afforded me the opportunity to talk to her.

It really put the complaining of this into proper perspective:

I've got two new reviews up at my book blog, For The Love of Reading, that I've finished off of my Spring Reading Thing list. And two more different stories you won't find.

First is "The List" by Robert Whitlow. A page turning spiritual battle mystery type of novel that somehow got it's point and story across with scaring the tar out of me, which some of these types of stories tend to do. Scroll to #12 for the review

and

"My Heart Remembers" by Kim Vogel Sawyer. A standing ovation for me for this book. A story about a family of Irish immigrants and the "orpahn train children" who were sent out west for adoption and the plight of homeless children from the 1860's. It really involved my emotions as the characters and their stories were so beautifully written. Scroll to #13 for more detail on this one.

Head on over and take a peek if you'd like. Both were great reads!

Friday's Fave Five #34

Good Morning, everyone! Welcome to Friday's Fave Five. It's nice to have you join us again. If you are new here jump right in. If you need details, you can go here for that.

1. Nice spring weather. Yes I know that I am writing that even as we have a bunch of snow on the ground and it's below freezing right now. But the beginning of the week was so gorgeous I just have to say it was making the favorites list. Walks and picnics, working in the flower bed all was so nice until the weather we shall not speak of hit yesterday.

2. Firing up the grill. Yummy definitely makes my favorites list. I love bar-b-queing. And even more I love eating bar-b-que.

3. Hand Lotions. I love hand lotions. I have various kinds at various places all over the house. It's just really nice to reach for a bottle and give my dry hands a boost of moisture and bonus, add a nice smell all at the same time.

4. Family movie nights. I love sitting with the whole family and watching a good movie. Although it's getting harder and harder to find movies that suit us a whole family. When we do find one, it's a really nice night to spend together.

5. Pizza night. Even though I love to cook, I do enjoy those nights when I can order in from our favorite pizza place and order my favorites. This usually happens in conjunction with a family movie night. Bonus!

So what were your favorites. Let us know. If you've done a Fave Five post, don't forget to link up so that we can come and visit you!

What is wrong with this picture?

Here, I'll give you a hint:

Sunday: 25*C (77*F)

Today: -6*C (21*F)with a windchill making it feel like -15*C (5*F)

Yes you read that right! TODAY!

Definitely not the same "snow" that Bev has! I want Bev's snow. Thank. you. very. much.

Wordless Wednesday

"A little to the left, please"

For more Wordless Wenesday visit here and here.

When all else fails

an empty kleenex box

and a couple fist sized toys

will work miracles.

The Perfect Weekend

It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend here. Something we've been very much awaiting. We had a wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon and then we came home and I hit the garden. My paltry little garden had all it's dead leaves, sticks, and branches cleaned out of it, well as much as possible. Sometimes those dry, old leaves are quite stubborn and don't want to be swept away. Underneath all the dead fall junk, life has sprung. It's always so thrilling to see the first green of the season coming out of the seemingly dead ground.

It's a beautiful reminder to me that if I trust God, he will bring newness and life out of the areas of my life that have gone through a winter. With Jesus we have the hope that it will not always be dead and dry. If our roots go down deep in Him, He will bring life and beauty out of that harshness. I need to trust Him and just like my plants, let go of those dry, dead leaves, those areas that want to cling on but hinder that beauty from showing itself. In His time, His spring season, there will be the newness coming forth. Just like my plant, I just need to let it happen.

After the garden was all done, we fired up the ol' bar-b-que for the first time this year. After the initial smoke of the first firing cleared, we had delicious cheese burgers sizzling away. And oh, the wonderful smell. There's something about smelling the first bar-b-ques of the season. It makes the meal taste extra good somehow. Sorry no pictures. Everyone was way too hungry from the smells to allow me the extra time to take pictures. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Sunday was just as beautiful outside so after church we did one of favorite family things. We changed out of our church clothes, grabbed a couple of footlong subs at Subway and drove down the long and winding road to what is affectionately known around here as the "River Bottom".

Finding our usual picnic table, we downed our sandwiches quickly and headed off for our walk. Which turned into a bit of a saunter because I got the camera fired up.

Looks like we weren't the only ones who had the idea. There was lots of families and dog walkers walking the paths and enjoying the park and the sunshine.

Wrapping it up with a Frosty from the Wendy's that's at the top of the long and winding road made a perfect ending to a perfect afternoon. The only thing that could make the day better would have been an episode of the Amazing Race and an exciting playoff hockey game enjoyed from my couch. And oh, what do you know. That's exactly how I ended the day!

And now I'll put an end to this long and winding post.

Friday's Fave Five #33

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Welcome to Friday and of course, the Fave Five. Details are here if you need them. Jump right in if you're new. Don't be shy.

As compared to some other weeks that have been somewhat hard, ok, downright tough, this week there were so many great things for me it was hard to choose just five. Yay for that. If you're having a hard week this week, bless you. I encourage you to try to do the list anyway. I found it really helped to uplift me in the hard weeks as I looked for the good things. And there were good things, even if they were hidden under the piles of yuck. I don't know why I said all that, but I feel strongly to leave it, so it will stay.

Onto the five.

1. At the top of the list. This awesome incredible gift from the Lord on Good Friday:

After a wonderful afternoon visiting, enjoying sweet fluffy yellowness, and partaking of the simple goodness of life we headed home from the Hutterite colony and the Lord had one more gift for us that day.
And I have to say that the colors were even more brilliant in real life. It was breathtaking. Hubby was good enough to pull over so I could snap a few pictures. I wished I could have set the pics up more but we were under a time crunch to get a young person back to work on time. Isn't God the most incredible artist?

Not even 5 minutes after getting back in the van and getting going again, we got a flat. In fact, the whole sidewall blew out. That's the scary thing that I mentioned. A flat, in the middle of nowhere, on a secondary hiway, while it was getting dark. But after that incredible sunset, who could get upset? We just dealt with it and trusted God to keep us safe, and because of a hubby who knew how to change that thing we were back on the road in no time. Thank God he was with us, or I would possibly have not been quite so confident. As in not at all. I wouldn't have had a clue how to get the spare from underneath the van. And guess what? I didn't even think to take a picture of hubby doing all that wonderful work.

2. Having the family all home for Easter. Definitely a favorite thing for me. Kay was home and Hubby's and my moms and sisters and their families joined us for Easter dinner. Having everyone together is always special.

3. Having Monday off. I was able to have those Monday morning hours with my girl before she headed back to school and then was able to take her to the city where she catches the bus. We could put her on the bus here in our city but then it's a 12 - 16 hour ride for her but if we take her to the city an hour and a half from here it's a 6 hour bus ride. Go figure. But it gave me more time with her and that's always a good thing.

4. Gift turkeys. LOL. We recieved two turkeys for gifts at Christmas, so I put one away for now and it was really nice to be able to pull that bird out the freezer and feed everyone and not kill my budget. I'll never look a gift turkey in the mouth. ;v)

5. Having family pictures done. Can you believe other than Sears or Wallymart sessions we have not really had "professional" family pictures done. We had them done, finally, on Friday by a friend who is just starting out in the business. And was it ever fun. We went down to the river bottom and spent an hour doing a "photo shoot". LOL. I haven't seen them yet, but I know there's going to be some great shots just because of the scenery that was around us. And because of how many shots she took. The law of percentages says with all those shots there's got to be a good one in there somewhere. We were all dressed in black shirts and blue jeans and even Samson the dog, got in on the action. It was too much fun.

So what were your favorite things from the week. Did something make you smile, a word, a deed, a gift, a written word, something you saw, or heard or tasted? If you've done a Fave Five post, sign on to Mr. Linky and let us come and smile with you!

Simply the Best

Sometimes the simplest pleasures of life are the absolute best. This is one of the reasons I love visiting my friends on the colony. The simple pleasures and uncomplicated hospitality is almost like a mini vacation for me. While I don't subscribe to a lot of things within colony beliefs and order, a visit there really does take me away from my seemingly hectic, over scheduled life and slows me down. It reminds me that there is much joy and pleasure to gained from appreciating the things God provides in simple things like a flock of baby ducklings or a walk down a gravel road in the middle of nowhere.

I never want to fail to be suprised or enjoy simple discoveries such as finding a green pepper growing inside an orange one when I'm helping slice them for lunch

or helping to lay out a simple lunch filled with good homegrown and made from total scratch foods. And yes, the sausage is made from scratch too!

Simply, a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds.

And oh, can't forget the fresh home churned butter. No added color, no preservatives. On fresh baked that morning buns. Simply, nothing can compare!

Celebrating Christ, warm fuzzies, mouthwatering food and good company. Bringing it back to enjoying simple, uncomplicated pleasures. That truly is the best of life.

It's All About the Sweet Newness

I don't know of anything that speaks spring and newness than baby animals. On Good Friday, after having lunch with my Dad and spending some time over at his place, we jumped in the van and headed out to the countryside to visit our friends who live on a Hutterite colony. We weren't there long before the girls had to make the walk to the barn to visit these fluffy little fellows.

For whatever reason, our arrival caused them to stampede. Now if you've never seen this many ducklings stampeding in a limited area you have not lived. It is hilarious. Whatever little thing sets them off and they are running. In a group, as if they were one. And they always go counter clockwise. Then they settle down for a minute and you can see about a half dozen little duffers that somehow couldn't get their webbed feet going fast enough and ended up on their backs with their legs flapping the air, trying to get themselves upright. My girls would feel sorry for them, and want to jump into the pen to help upright them, but by the time they got over the little wood barrier, the little upturned ones would have struggled and fought and uprighted themselves and my girls quick movements would cause another round of stampeding, which caused another handful of fluff ball with feet flapping in the air, which caused the girls hearts to melt, which caused their movement, which caused... well you get the idea. F.u.n.n.y.

And I know there is a spiritual lesson in there somewhere. Something about when we find ourselves bowled over by the circumstances of life or people in general running over the top of us and knocking us down so that we feel we are just flapping in the air trying to get upright, that it is in the struggle and learning of how to get upright again that we get strong. And how that sometimes no matter how fast or hard we flap and try to get up sometimes we just need someone to come alongside and help us up. And we need to let them do that. And something about following the crowd isn't always the best thing. Yeah there's some kind of life lesson like that in there.

Once the little fluff balls got a bit used to us in there, we could actually get in the pen with causing the running of the ducks. And if we were very slow in our movements, they started to trust us a bit.

And let us get a little closer.


Until finally:
Mission Accomplished.


Getting to hold a warm, furry, soft bundle in one's arms. How can one not be drawn to the sweetness and cuteness of new life of any kind.

To have them make sweet baby noises and chirps in your ear.

And feel their teeny hearbeats in your hands.

And their poop on your new shirt. Dang. But who can be mad at that cute fluff ball. The cute factor trumps the poopy factor any day in these city girls' eyes.

Back To Normal, Whatever That Is

Well we got the first born girl on the bus yesterday and she is now back at her apartment safe and sound and probably sleeping in. We almost had to go buy her another duffle bag to get everything packed up. I really should have taken a picture. The bulging bags were quite hilarious. Between all the paraphanalia that was given to her to take home and the stuff she herself bought, it was a pretty tight fit. Hey, that bottle of Tide and 2 packages of dryer sheets were a great deal I couldn't pass up. I stand by my purchase! And my mom said the same about the humungous jar of Cheese Whiz and PNut Butter and doesn't want her grand-daughter starving to death! And all those darn chocolate bunnies and packages of eggies, well, who knew they just take up a ton of room in those bags. But after locating a spare back pack in the house and much stuffing and re-arranging we got everything in. Everything! Now she just had to hire a crane at the bus depot to help her get it off the bus.

But much fun was had by all the week she was home. We were kept quite busy. I'm telling ya the story in descending order. Just to keep you on your toes. You'll get the Good Friday and Saturday chapter tomorrow. Easter Sunday morning, dawned bright and sunny, albiet very windy and we went to church as a family. Although I followed about 20 minutes late as I just could not get the bird into the oven on time. It so nice having the whole family together in church.

We had the whole family over for Easter dinner on Sunday so that they could spend some time with her. The table was groaning with all the food upon it as were we after we made a good dent in trying to consume it all. Yes, I went nuts with the variety and amount again. I was just going to do ham, but hubby and the visiting child prefer turkey so like a fool, I made both. Younger girl requested her aunt to bring her famous Cheese potatoes (Shortsies) but the visiting child hinted at her favorite whipped potatoes. And how many of you know you spend your time making sure you make that visiting child's favorite foods when requested no matter how much extra work it is. 'Cause you love that child. And miss them. And stuffing them full of what they like is how you show them you love and miss them. And you want to make sure they're not starving to death.

After dishes and walks, we settled in with desserts to watch the Celtic Thunder DVD cause the relatives wanted to know what all the excitement was about the great ticket deal. When all went home, full of food and good music and good fellowship, I settled in to watch Amazing Race. And another Easter was over. How greatly these family gatherings are anticipated and how quickly they are over with. Now we are stocked with ham and turkey for the rest of the week and I'll be perusing the cookbooks for 101 recipes for them. And missing my girl.

Tomorrow I'll let you know about our adventuresome Good Friday and Saturday. Like I said, we had a pretty busy holiday.

Sad, sad, sad. Just take a look at these two pictures.

Aren't they two of the saddest looking pictures you've ever seen?

Breaks your heart doesn't it? But that is all that is left of my mini eggs. A paltry little handful.

It's probably a good thing though, as Linda from Second Cup of Coffee as kicked the 30x5 challenge into another phase. It's now the 30x5-100. I don't have the heart to tell her I'm horrible at math. Anyway, we're now to knock out a hundred calories a day. Along with continueing to move 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week. Got all that? And according to the little chart she linked us to, 10 M&M's are a hundred calories so I can only assume that these are about the same. I don't even want to hazard a guess as to what a little basket filled 3/4 full would be. So good bye little eggies for another year. It was great while you lasted.

Our weekend was very full and fun, full of feasting and fattening and there was a bit of frightening in there, too. And throw in an amazing gift straight from God just to please us. I'll tell more later. But today, another sad thing. We have to take the girl to the bus depot and put her on the bus that will take her 8 hours away again. Sigh. I'll never get used to this!

And I don't even get to drown my sorrow in eggies.

Friday's Fave Five #32

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry this is late. I set it to autopost and imagine my surprise when I woke up and no post. One thing I learned about auto post is you have to be very careful to change the "P.M" to "A.M". It will not do it by osmosis. Anyway, I apologize again. So let's get right into it, shall we? If you are new here, I'm so glad you could join us. Please jump right in. Details to what it's all about are here.

1. The best thing of all this week was having my girl home to visit. It was wonderful picking her up from the bus depot and just enjoying her being back home. Just doing simple things like talking about books we've read or want to read, looking at her mission's trip pictures, watching Amazing Race together. I'm soaking it all in before she has to head back on Monday.

2. Birds singing. We've been having the robins singing their hearts out for us each morning this week. It's so beautiful and relaxing. And we've even noticed a new voice to the bunch which I haven't been able to identify as yet. It's a song I don't remember having heard before so we're trying to spot the little guy who's been singing it, but so far no luck. Maybe this weekend when there is more time to sit out there in the early morning.

3. Easter Lilies. Wally-mart had them on for $5 dollars. Now who could resisit that? And they do look beautiful in their milky whiteness. I've had a bud a day opening so by Easter Sunday when company comes they should all be open and showing off their finery.

4. Being outside. It's been absolutely beautiful here this week and I've taken advantage by being outside with the dayhome children as much as possible. Just watching them play and letting them burn off their pent up energy from being inside in yucky weather is a blessing in itself but then throw in a nice adirondack chair, a good book, a cup of coffee and sun warming my bare arms and head and it's been heaven!

5. Holy week. Reading the gospel accounts and meditating on the things that the Lord has done for us during what would have been the hardest week of His life on earth. Really stopping to think and mull it over has so much greater impact than acknowledging it in passing. To read some wonderful books or essays on what He did for me and us because He was obediant really hits home. To know that He didn't have to go through everything He did, that He could have called down the angels of heaven and could have stopped the pain at anytime, yet didn't, because love held Him there. Love for His Father and love for us, kept Him in obediance to the plan God had to redeem us back to Himself. I pray that you know and experience that love this Easter. May you know without a shadow of a doubt that God loves you and has made a way through Christ, and Christ alone, for you to have a deep, loving relationship with Him.

Sign on to Mr. Linky if you've done a fave five post. Wishing you all a beautiful Easter season!

Easy Crockpot Chicken Ciaccatore

A couple of weeks ago I was tired of cooking and looking something super easy and what I had was a package of a dozen chicken thighs, a part of the chicken I'm not real nuts about. I was tired of baking and frying them. I wanted something really good, but really easy. And voila: This crockpot version was born. I adapted a few different recipes I found to come up with this yummy version.

Super Easy Crockpot Chicken Ciaccatore

Serves 4 -5 adults

-10 - 12 chicken thighs, skin removed

-1/2 tsp. salt, pepper to taste

-1 medium onion, finely chopped

-1 green or red pepper, chopped

-1 jar smooth spaghetti sauce with mushrooms

-1 tsp. oregano

-1 can pitted black olives, sliced each olive in half across the middle

-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Give the crockpot a light coat of olive oil. After removing the skin from the chicken thighs, place in crockpot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir.

Add chopped onion and chopped red pepper on top of the chicken. Pour over the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with oregano. Top with block olives. Do not stir. Cover and cook on high, for 3 1/2 hours.

Remove cover and skim any fat that rose to the surface. Add parmesan cheese. Stir gently. Serve over your favorite pasta such as spaghetti, linguine, rotini, penne or fussili. I tend to prefer the rotini/penne/fussili type pastas as their shape helps to hold all that wonderful sauce.

But my absolute favorite way to serve it is over this:

Whole Wheat Gemelli

The texture is just wonderful, a really al dente type of texture and it goes perfectly with the sauce. Just look at all those twisty ridges that will grab ahold of the delicious sauce. I also served a brocolli/cauliflower/carrot mix sprinkled with parmesan instead of salt which complemented the catiatorre perfectly.

For more great slow cooker ideas join our hostess Sandra at Diary of A Stay at Home Mom