Winter Storm Fern

"Feasting is the call to do the hard work of joy, for the easiest thing in the world is to be serious and cynical, but the harder (and more Christian) thing to do is fight for laughter and levity."

~Justin Whitmel Early, "The Body Teaches the Soul"

I knew I wanted the trip to Dallas to be full of "laughter and levity" as we sent Sarah off to the other side of the world. Winter Storm Fern pushed the needle towards "serious and cynical". Thanksfully, we have some flexibility, and we chose to leave a day earlier than originally planned so we could beat the storm. I drove, Aaron worked beside me, and Katherine chugged away on school in the back seat.

We woke up Saturday morning to a winter wonderland. Our room had a little balcony, and I enjoyed a continuous refill of hot drinks in my mug while I enjoyed watching the snow and sleet come down. I was plenty cozy in my layers. Thankfully, Olivia and Connor had good friends who pulled some strings and freed them up to come to Dallas late Friday night, too.

The "laughter and levity" aspect of our family erupts joyously and easily once we are together. Games and food help provide a fertile atmosphere for fun.

Technology helps more than ever. We videoed with the Kansas City crew and played screen games together. At one point, I asked Sarah, "What are quiet hours here in the guest house?" because we were laughing so loudly.

Sunday morning, churches all over the DFW area canceled because of the ice and snow, so the guest house hosted a hymn sing. Katherine brought her cello so she could practice, and we found some other instruments lying around. For two hours, we joined with many other voices and sang praisees to the Lord. What an unexpected gift that one of Sarah's friends snapped this pic of us worshipping together.

We reconnected with the Huntleys, which is always encouraging and refilling. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that our first interaction with Ruth was exactly twenty years ago. She sat in front of 2 1/2 year old Olivia on a plane from Atlanta to Orlando as we flew to training camp. Ruth's seat was rocked by Olivia's energetic kicks for several house, but she never complained. When we climbed into the vans to whisk us away to orientation, there was this lovely young lady from the plane who was also a part of Wycliffe Bible Translators. 

Our friendship has grown over the last twenty years as we have weathered changing assignments and growing families, but this is a beautiful sisterhood that shapes us to look more like Jesus and brings us great joy.

Hikes a'Plenty

Aaron and I picked a cold Saturday to grab some fancy coffee to go and drive over to the Lake Sylvia Recreation Area.

We chose the Lake Sylvia Loop that also included a small portion of the Ouachita Trail. We added the Chinquapin Mountain Spur for a little extra length and elevation. Now that I know this gem is less than an hour away, we'll be back!

A few days later, Lauren and her kids joined me for a jaunt around the Kenny Vernon Nature Trail. And she taught me about frost flowers, which the kids delighted in finding EVERYWHERE.

 

It's Still Cold Outside

As my next round of three-month checkups draws near, giving my body the best chance to recover from cancer treatments is on my mind. So is strengthening my body to fight in the future, since HER2+ is the most aggressive form of breast cancer.  

According to Native Path's website, good physical health is based on these five pillars:

1) Sleep 

2) Hydration

3) Sunshine

4) Movement

5) Nutrition

Katherine and I tackled this list when our town was snowed in and school was cancelled for several days. We walked to a new coffee shop, Secret Nook Coffee and Books. She did homework and I checked email while our toes thawed and we sipped hot coffee.

The sun was shining, but the wind stung our cheeks and made the cold temps feel even colder. But you know what helps make everything warm and cozy? Soup.

African Peanut Stew

Adapted from "The Oh She Glows Cookbook"

1 teaspoon avocado or coconut oil

1 medium sweet onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2 pieces

1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes, with their juices

salt and pepper

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups cooked 

8 cups baby spinach

roasted peanuts for serving

1) In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

2) Add the bell pepper, sweet potato, and tomatoes with their juices. Raise the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 more minutes. Season the veggies with salt and pepper.

3) In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and 1 cup of the broth until no clumps remain. I find mixing them is easier if the broth is warm. Stir the mixture into the vegetables along with the remaining 3 cups of broth, chili powder, and smoked paprika.

4) Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 to 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is fork-tender.

5) Stir in the chickpeas and spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

6) Ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with roasted peanuts.

 

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Last week our temps dropped to 25-30 below normal. Before the blast of artic air hit, I wanted to soak up as much sunshine as possible. One of my orchestra students was selling local coupons as a fundraiser for the baseball team, so I bought some. I've already saved more than the amount I spent just by my BOGO coffee purchases :) The combination of beautiful friends and hot coffee and trails with majestic herons creates a worthwhile way to spend an hour.

Though it's been cold outside, the tomato seedlings are beginning to sprout. The Blush Tiger variety won the prize for first plant to break through the soil!

More Snow

Although our snow has all melted, Katherine made a batch of lemon snowballs.

And our book baskets are still full of fun picture books, some old favorites mixed in with some new-to-us books.

This Place in the Snow by Rebecca Bond (such cheerful illustrations)

Snowed In by Barbara M. Lucas (set in 1915)

Snowed In With Grandmother Silk by Carol Fenner (a very short, sweet chapter book)

Houston had an unprecedented snowfall from Winter Storm Enzo, and we got a sweet picture from Hannah and Benjamin, who were soaking up every minute.

Snow

The weather forecast wasn't lying. In fact, we got close to 10 inches of snow last week!

Before it got dark, we took a family walk around the block and marveled at the beauty of this unusual gift of slowing down.

"The perfect blend of coffee can't cultivate true contentment. There's no flannel blanket big enough to cover deep soul ache. A long walk in the woods won't change a life for the long haul. Reshaping an atmosphere can never permanently reshape a heart. But it can help, especially when paired with the hope of Jesus." ~Jamie Erickson, "Holy Hygge"

Aaron and I lingered over coffee and dove into the Greek in Paul's letter to Philemon. He is slowly introducing me to the tools included in Blue Letter Bible.

Katherine slipped on her coat and walked around the house. She looked like a cardinal in the snow. The joys of working and schooling at home include never getting a day off, but we kept a slower pace while the snow blanketed our little hometown.

Katherine and I worked out with Body Pump online. She wanted to exercise on the porch, so we moved our bodies and stayed warm and probably got some funny looks from people walking their dogs.

Later I walked to my parents' house to check on them and get some nephew snuggles.

When the snow quit falling and the sun came out, my creative hubby built a snowman modeled after The Thinker.

Fredagshygge

"Fredagshygge, or Friday family nights, is one intentional way the Danes have learned to build familial bonds with others and to quiet the chaos and noise of cultural distractions. During Fredagshygge, Danes forgo elaborate plans and choose instead to enjoy simple pleasures like playing a board game or watching a movie together. In saying yes to hygge they grant themselves permission to say no to work, worries, and mental stress." ~Jamie Erickson, "Holy Hygge"

Even before we knew we would have several inches of snow, we had invited our next door neighbors over for chili and games. My thoughtful husband shoveled a path from their back door to ours. Our neighbors brought Blank Slate, this easy game was a good way to get to know them a little bit better, and it provided lots of laughter after we licked our chili bowls clean.

 I feel like I'm just waking up from the chaos that cancer and the treatments caused in my body, but one of the things I'm looking forward to doing more is offering hospitality. Opening our home or providing meals or just being available to help. The last couple of weeks have given us several opportunities to do those things, and I'm so grateful.

A Snowball's Chance

Snowballs don't stand a chance around here.  Either real ones in our mild southern winters, or snowballs made of cream cheese that disappear just as quickly into our mouths.  But both kinds are fun to celebrate with picture books.

New-to-us picture books about snow:

It's Snowing!  It's Snowing!  by Jack Prelutsky

Snow Dance by Lezlie Evans 

Snow Sounds:  An Onomatopoeic Story by David A. Johnson

All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle

Snowy Day Stories and Poems by Caroline Feller Bauer

Snow by Manya Stojic

New-to-us books about winter:

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart

Warm in Winter by Erica Silverman

No by Claudia Rueda

Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer

Old Winter by Judith Benet Richardson

Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer

Letter to the Lake by Susan Marie Swanson (great for contrasting summer and winter)

No Two Alike by Keith Baker 

The Snowy Day

I just discovered a lovely book perfect for this time of year!  Andrea Davis Pinkney is one of our favorite authors, and she wrote "A Poem for Peter", a picture book history of Ezra Jack Keat's "The Snowy Day".  And what better snack to accompany those books than snowflake shortbread?!?

Snowflake Shortbread

(from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 1989)

serves 16

1 1/4 all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl combine flour and sugar.  Cut in butter till mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.  Stir pecans into the mixture, then sprinkle with vanilla and mix again.  Press dough into shortbread pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until firm and lightly brown. Let cool slightly, then invert pan on a cutting board and bang hard until it comes out.

Mustard greens are in season right now, and WOW are they yummy!  We used Martha Stewart's simple recipe, and the veggies disappeared quickly.

My nine-year-old is growing up way too fast.  When I plopped down in the hammock and pulled up the winter book basket, I invited Katherine to get in my lap so I could read books to her.

She was less than thrilled.  Maybe because it's too hot to make believe at winter weather.  Maybe because she's outgrowing her mama's lap.

But it didn't take long before she ditched the long face and we lost ourselves in "The Blizzard".

 

We've added a few books to our winter book basket over the years.  "Winter:  An Alphabet Acrostic" by Steven Schnur and "A Snowflake Fell:  Poems About Winter" compiled by Laura Whipple are a couple of my favorites.

It did seem a little bit funny to be pretending the snow was blowing around us when our feet were bathed in sunshine



and I could peek through the porch rail and see the coconut trees that are being attacked by the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle.

Snuggles, books, lemon snowballs, and lemon ginger tea made me one happy mama.  No pretending necessary.

Hibernation

With the jet stream dipping way down south this weekend, we're going to get our first freeze.  Sarah picked all of the green tomatoes yesterday and lined them up on the windowsill in hopes that some of them will ripen. 

Our book basket currently holds books about what animals do in the winter, and many of them hibernate.  In the cold weather, I feel like brewing a fresh press of coffee and curling up with a quilt and a good book to hibernate!

"Under the Snow" by Melissa Stewart

"Grandmother Winter" by Phyllis Root

"Hibernation Station" by Michelle Meadows

"Time to Sleep" by Denise Fleming

"Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane" by Victoria Sherrow

"Over and Under the Snow" by Kate Messner
"Baby Bear Counts One" by Ashley Wolff

Welcome 2015

I forget that not everybody eats black-eyed peas to celebrate the New Year.  Some of my American colleagues have blank looks on their faces when I mentioned that we would be making a black-eyed pea salad for our family's New Year's celebration.



A morning to sleep in and space enjoy a nice long quiet time with the Lord got the year started right, and a family game of Carcassonne kept the momentum going.  Especially when Mama won the game!



God was so faithful to lead us through the ups and downs of 2014, and we're looking forward to following Him in 2015, whatever the year brings!  Now we're off to enjoy some snacks and games with another SITAG family this afternoon...

Snow Days

Tuesday morning, Aaron and I woke up to sleet hitting the window.  Soon, snow replaced the sleet, and we woke up the kids a little early so they could watch. 

 

We got enough snow to make this tiny snowman (I thought it looked like a snow duck with a carrot beak). 

 

 

We had already been pretending it was snowy inside.

Katherine liked writing her spelling words in shaving cream "snow".

 



 

Every year we have fun making our own snow with these delicious snowballs.

 

In addition to our old favorites, we've found some new books on my mom's bookshelf and at the library that help us celebrate the cold.

Books like "The Missing Mitten Mystery" by Steven Kellogg, "Axle Annie" by Robin Pulver, and especially the sweet "Now It Is Winter" by Eileen Spinelli may have to find their way into our crate headed back to the Solomon Islands.

Lemon Snowballs

 

Cookie Dough:

2 sticks butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp lemon extract

2 cups flour

 

Coating:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp Kool-Aid lemonade

(mix these together in a bowl)

 

 

Cream butter, sugar and flavorings.  Add flour and mix until a dough forms.  Roll into 1" balls and bake 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  They will not be brown on top.  While cookies are warm, toss them in the lemon powdered sugar mixture and place them on a plate to cool. 

 

Makes about three dozen cookies.

 

Note from a bloggy friend, where I originally found this recipe years ago:

I place the cookies on a cookie rack after they've been tossed in the sugar mix.  I then use a sifter to cover them once or twice more with the sugar mix.  It makes them a little more "snowy." :-)