A recent comment from Cloe reminded me of our 2006 Bible Smuggling adventure. As I oohed and awhed over how young the kids look I couldn’t help but drag you in to this reminiscent moment with me. We need to do this again. . .
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This morning before missing the bus we had a grand adventure! Kaleb and Charleigh woke up early and packed 5 Chinese Bibles into 5 little envelopes. They slowly attached little address labels printed in an exciting foreign language. They took turns praying for each package, they prayed the Bibles would quickly make their way to China, they prayed the recipients would be kept safe and would learn of God’s love. Then they prayed for the persecuted Christians of China. Finally they stuffed the Bibles into a larger envelope to send to the re mailing center. We drove down to the mailbox while it was still dark and sent the little Bibles on there way.
Some how the dark made the whole episode a lot more dramatic! The kids were so excited to be “Bible smugglers”!

Have I told you about Voice of the Martyr’s program Bibles Unbound? I guess I haven’t yet. We first learned about the great program last year from who else but GentleWhisper.

Want to start smuggling Bibles but don’t have the resources for a trip to China? Here’s your chance:
With Bibles Unbound, you mail New Testaments into restricted countries.

“The cost is only $30.00 per month for each pack of five Bible mailings and includes everything you need to participate in the program.”

“In cooperation with UPS and the international re-mail system, The Voice of the Martyrs is able to mail Bibles directly into many restricted nations using non-U.S. postage. And because the New Testaments are mailed individually and anonymously, issues of “illegal” distribution and citizens of the restricted nation having contact with the West are avoided.”

The kids have been wanting to do this ever since Amy first told us about it, they were so excited to finally take part. Click on over and learn more about how you can help smuggle Bibles.

A Mother’s Life
Remember when. . .

January 25, 2006

Tucking Charleigh into bed, pulling the pastel striped sheets up over her shoulders I appreciate the sweet moment of another day coming to an end. All is well in the house, only 8pm and I’ve got two kids in the tub and one squeeky clean brown haired girl already half asleep. With my husband in OKC I decided to put the kids to bed early and spend the remainder of the evening in quite aloneness. The aloneness that mommies rarely get. I’ve looked forward to this all day!

My plans of peace are shattered as a bubble covered 3 year old enters the room. more…

It’s easy to alter most recipes into milk free delights. It’s a bit more difficult however to find the quick convenience of the beloved boxed cake mix. I’ve found a few good mixes to keep on hand for those “Charleigh” safe treats. Here’s a few we’ve found.

Note: Before you email me and tell me how incredibly unhealthy these all are let me tell you this:

I already know all about the poly, mono, tran, saturated, sugar, processed goop they all contain. Some days a kids just gotta have a treat, and today is one of those kinda days. I know it’s better to make from scratch but sometimes I run plum outta “scratch”. On this Valentine’s Day there absolutely no “scratch” left in the house so I’ll be making mini brownie cupcakes to take to the class party. I’ll also be baking a few safe sugar cookies. And yes, I’ll be watching like a hawk to make sure no milk derived molecules make it on to my daughter’s plate. Because I am officially “That Mom”.

DUNCAN HINES®:

Family-Style Brownies Chewy Fudge

Moist Deluxe Swiss Chocolate Premium Cake Mix

Cookie Dough:

Pillsbury® Sugar Cookies

Pillsbury® Peanut Butter Cookies

Frostings:

Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Chocolate

(Most of the Pillsbury® and Duncan Hines® Frostings are Dairy Free.
Check the Labels)

Other Convenience Foods:

Pillsbury® Refrigerated Pizza Crust

(This is not nearly a compete list, only a few examples of easy to find easy to use dairy free products)

Alert!!! Manufacturers can change ingredients with out notice so if you are dealing with food allergies Always check the label!

Milk Allergy, Dairy Free, Packaged Foods, Cake Mixes

I had planned on posting some diabetic friendly dairy free recipes for Charleigh. So far none have turned out worth repeating. Here are a few links on Dairy Free Recipes I plan on researching.

All Recipes-Dairy Free Recipes

Go Dairy Free Recipes

Here are a few links to some dairy alternatives.
Perhaps the Vegan Gourmet might have something for us.
The VeganStore also has some Dairy switch ups.
I never thought I’d be shopping “Vegan” but hey, my baby needs some cheese!

Oh look, I just found some local spots as well:
Fountain of Health Natural Food Market in Amarillo

I also found this book:

The Dairy-Free Cookbook This book contains - a detailed introduction with expert advice on Dairy-Free diets, lactose intolerance and milk allergy. -Nutritional notes for each recipe. -Over 50 enticing and delicious dairy-free recipes. -Nutritional Notes for each recipe. -Stunning color photographs of each finished recipe with easy-to-follow step-by-step techniques to help you prepare each dish. -Cook’s tips throughout and ideas for planning balanced meals.

I’m working on a mock alfredo sauce. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Oops, I never shared our Christmas photo. Perhaps because it’s not really our best. For past Christmas pics click on over.

Hey Mom, I forgot to tell you that you need to bring the stuff for our class party tomorrow. Oh, and you’re the only mom who’s bringing stuff. Oh, and you need to get there early to set up. Oh, and bring goodie bags too. . .

Grrrrr
Would have been good to know this a little bit sooner. Maybe before I went to Amarillo yesterday or perhaps before I drove to Dumas this morning. Sometime before Joshua threw up on me in Wal*Mart would have been ideal.

Whats worse than being vomited on by your 5yr old in the produce aisle?
The produce being vomited on as well.
What does one do?
Do you buy 10 lbs of pomegranates?
What do you do? What would you do?

The fabulous happenings of today reminded me of previous puky posts. Remember the fun had back in November 05′ I’ll never forget…

Mommy doesn’t feel good

Volumes of Vomit

Clean up on Aisle 6

Here’s a few shots of Charleigh’s baptism. (Notice her daddy is the one who did it) I really wish I’d have paid more attention to getting a good picture, I was too busy being wearing my “proud mommy” hat to put on my shutterbug one.

Here’s a pic of Joshua and his B-day Cake. (He decorated it) This is another example of a great day but no great pictures to show for it. . .


Joshua had an awesome birthday party! It was a “rock and roll” party. Some great friends of ours on the worship team at church came and rocked the place out for him. We got him a guitar and he was estatic to get to play with the band on stage with a huge audience. That night before he went to sleep he told me “In all my dreams I never dreamed a day could be as good as this”.

On October 5th Charleigh and her birthday buddy Kali turned 8. We had a mommy/daughter sleep over and the girls had a great time.

Every time Amy comes for a visit it’s a special ocassion. Here’s a picture of the two of us from this summer:


(I’m not really taller than her, I just tend to wear heels)

Here’s a link to a picture of Kaleb’s Baptism a few years ago.

Five year old Joshua sat intensely pondering something; but what? I wondered what could possibly be going through his mind. Watching as the gears turned in his head I waited for the boy to speak. . . After quite some time he looked up and said;

“So . . . they say Elvis is the king of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.

“Yes, that is what they say”, I cautiously responded.

“I’m going to be the king of rock ‘n’ roll someday”, he declared.

“Ok, sounds good to me”, I affirmed.

He thought on that for two minutes then asked; “Is Elvis a real person or just a pretend TV character?”

I tenderly answered, “Elvis was a real person sweetie, but he died 30 years ago”.

“Sweeeeet! He’s dead, now I’m the king!”

While online printing this recipe for Orange Cashew Chicken I realized I was short one key ingredient. The cashews. Dad was about to head to town and asked if I wanted him to pick some up for me. Sounded like a good idea to me but Joshua didn’t think so, he said we already had some cashews and he ran off to get some. He came back with a box of Puffs facial tissues. “See Mom, we have plenty of cashews! We even have the extra soft ones”.