Navajo Tacos

Last week Kayla and Kevin came in on Wednesday night before they flew out on Thursday for a birthday cruise.  They weren’t here long enough, but we took advantage of every minute.  We ate at her favorite Mexican food place that night and made Navajo Tacos for lunch the next day.  Made Kevin an apple pie and Kayla some snickerdoodles.  We have to fix their favorite things so they will keep coming back!

The four sisters had a “girls’ meeting” and made plans for their “T-Swizzy” weekend.  Kayla got them tickets to see Taylor Swift in Dallas in a couple of weeks.  They are all so excited.

Then they all borrowed curling irons, straighteners, and make up so they could pretty up and get a couple of pictures before heading off to the airport.

While I was cooking they were all making fun of me because Bogey the Rooster died  after a very traumatic day, leaving Bacall, his bride-hen of 4 years behind grieving him and their babies.  They were saying things like “I feel a blog coming on” . . . and other things along that line. 

So I’m going to show them and write about Navajo Tacos instead.  I’ve had several ask for this recipe and I’m just now getting to it.  When we were in Oklahoma where a lot of Indians live, they call them Indian Tacos, but since it was Navajo Indians who taught me,  that’s what we call them.

BREAD

6 Cups Flour

3 Teaspoons baking powder

1 Teaspoon salt

Water

Combine first three ingredients and then add enough water to make a sticky dough.  Pat the dough into circles about salad plate size and about a half inch thick.  Fry in hot grease a few minutes on each side, until they are golden brown.

After they come out of the healthy frying pan, we slather each piece with healthy butter.  Makes is taste better.

This will make enough for a family of 5-7, unless you want to eat some with lots of healthy butter and honey for dessert.

MEAT

Brown hamburger meat and season however you want to.  I use Worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

BEANS

You can make a pot of pinto beans, but our family likes these with Ranch Style beans better.  Lots easier too.

Then we top it with our choice of lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, and hot sauce.

HOT SAUCE

Tomatoes

Onion

Jalapeno peppers

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Cilantro

Crushed pepper

I usually put 2-3 tomatoes in the processor and then finely chop about 2 tomatoes.  I do the same with the peppers and onion. Puree some and chop some.  I use any where from 4-6 peppers and only half an onion.  Really everything is according to how you like it.  I’m bad about just going by the color to know when I have everything in there the way we like it.  I do it different every time.

This meal is a crowd pleaser.  I’ve been cooking these since I was a senior in high school. The largest crowd I’ve ever fed was in Stillwater when we fed over 90 kids the Monday night after our Cowboys beat the Sooners in football.  I just got a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

RIP Bogey

Today I'm thankful for . . .

. . . kids coming in if only for a few hours

. . . plates stacked up more than five
. . . pretty colored bowls
. . . backsplash reminding me of thanks while cooking

. . . girls giggling in the bedroom

. . . girls giggling in the bathroom
. . . balls of cookie

. . . girls eating cookies
. . . her hubby who loves her so
. . . big ladder by big tree
. . . Cowboys beating the Sooners

 

. . . girl hugging dad

. . . text from oldest child/man with word "love"

. . . text from oldest child/man with word "miss"

. . . text from oldest child/man with word "little".

Monday Night Bible Study

Go to the bottom of the page and turn off the Ipod.  Then click on the title and you will be able to hear the Bible study from Monday night. These are just recorded on my phone-so don't expect greatness.

We finally got to David.  Only took us five weeks!

Oh, and close to the beginning I was talking about measuring ourselves up to the people we study and said something like "do I want to be worse than them" instead of "am I worse than them".   Ooops!

What Kind of Woman?

Friday night fourteen of us gathered around tables in the back yard to fill our tummies.  Then we gathered in the living room to fill our hearts.  We took a look at Proverbs to see what kind of women we are and what kind we should be.

Did it make a difference in their lives?  I really don't know.  I do know the Word is powerful and living and can cleanse.  All I have to do is be faithful to show them.  Teach them.  Encourage them.

After they stretched out all over the floor for a few hours of sleep,  we filled their tummies again and sent them on their way.

Praying, praying, praying there is a difference.

The One in the Mirror

A conversation brought it back today.  Remembering made me cringe a little on the inside.

It happened when the top three were little.  I'm not sure what sparked it - it could have been that a closet was a mess, or a bed wasn't made or a little one wasn't ready when they were supposed to be.

I can't remember.  That's why I cringe.  The reason wasn't important enough to file away to be brought out later.  I'm so sad to think of it even now.

What does come back is the image I caught in the mirror.  The image that screamed Ugly back at me as my lungs screamed at little hearts.  Whatever was coming through the mouth from the heart was tearing down small ones.

Changing my name from Momma, Mommy, Ema, to Ugly.  From Comforter, Nurturer, Encourager, to Ugly.

I chose that day to never yell at them again.  I didn't like what it looked like on my face.  What it felt like in my heart.

I didn't want them to grow up thinking of me as Ugly.  Oh, it's reared it's head in other ways over the years, but the desire of my heart is to show Beauty.

The voice on the other end of the phone reminded me of when I told her that story.  She doesn't want to live Ugly either.

It's more than a choice.  I can say all day that it's not going to be seen, and then the smallest thing . . .

It's a way of life.  I must live to fill the heart up with good so that only good comes out to speak life to those around me.  To speak beauty.

So they see beauty.

And I can feel good about the One in the mirror.

Ladies' Bible Study

Ok, let's try it again.  If you will go to the bottom of the page and turn off the Ipod, then click on the the post title ( I Samuel 15) then tonight's Bible study should begin.  Next week we will finally get to David.  It has only taken us 5 weeks of introduction!

Then There Were Six

On our way home from getting Rachel's driving permit, she asked if she could drive to the church. Hannah asked me if I was scared. I told her that I wasn't, so then she asked Rachel if she was scared. Rachel said, "No...I'm not really scared of the driving, it's just if I can stop..."

I looked in the rear view mirror and saw Leah looking at me with wide eyes.

Hannah looked at me and asked "Now are you scared?"

So even though I told Hannah I wasn't scared, I was fooling a little. After all, we've been through this five times before. I know what to expect.  I know that leaning over the console will not keep you from hitting a curb.  Or that the imaginary brake on the passenger side really doesn't work.  I know that it feels like we are going 80 when, in fact, we are only going 50.  We lived through it before, we will again.

We did a lot of praying then, we covet your prayers now.

Giving thanks today for

Rain

Fresh painted toe nails

RIT dye on carpet looking pretty cute

Hubby teaching me fun things about Rahab

Wind chimes on the front porch

Cleaning for special company

Peach cobbler

Verses for comfort

Tubs full of pictures

Firewood from tree blown over.

Like a Ravioli

"We call him the Grandaddy", the neighbor man told me, speaking of the huge pecan tree at the edge of our sweet little homestead.  It was love at first sight for me, because I left Oklahoma with lots of trees and my kids, so if I couldn't be close to the kids at least give me some trees.  

It's not a place you go.  It's a place you enter.  With limbs bowing to earth, it's like entering a room.  A holy place.  I feel different when I'm in there.

 Hemmed in.

Even the hanging metal swing/chair my sweet hubby gave me wraps around me like a cocoon.  A metal prayer shawl, if you will.

Psalms 134 : 5-6  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.

I've felt very loved on by the Lord the last week or so.  Over and over He has reminded me of His protection and love.  Of being hemmed in.  I'm so amazed by Him.

Over and over He has reminded.  Kneeling at prayer place with blanket over my head, He reminded me.  Hemmed.

Ravioli on the cover of a magazine makes my face smile.
Just like that !
Just like ravioli !
Tucked in and sealed in, safe and sound.  Pinched around the edges.  Hemmed.

Michael reaching over to tuck sheet in all down behind me so I have plenty of covering.  Tucked.  Hemmed.

Giving shoulder and wrapping arms around grieving grandma after holding the little one for the last time.   Praying she felt the comfort of the Comforter.  Hemmed in by Him.

Momma hen crawling on quilt nest, moving babies-not-done around to cook on the other side, then sitting full down. Hemming them in.  Sweet protection.

Not only does He hem me in, it says also that He lays His hand upon me.  

When my babies were little, after I rocked them to sleep, I would lay them down and put my hand gently on the side of their little face to comfort them until they were resting deeply.  Feeling safe.  Feeling hemmed outside the womb by their momma.

He loves me like that.  He keeps showing me over and over.

Because Monday had an interruption not expected and because Tuesday had a stomach bug not expected, I'm just now posting my list of thanks.

. . . Grandaddy tree

. . . boys' voices on the phone

. . . hope in voice

. . . letter of blessing from someone I love

. . .  reminders of love from Him

. . . clean bedroom

. . . clean laundry room

. . . seeing girl I miss

. . . talking to girl I really miss

. . . cocoon chair/swing

. . . prayer places

I Samuel 14

Lisa, this is the only way I could figure out how to do this. Just click on the title (I Samuel 14) and it will take you to a site that has recorded the Bible study.  It was a little awkward at the beginning so Hannah added some music.  It's also a little long, but, oh well.  We'll see how it works until I can figure something else out.

Also, be patient, it might take a minute to start.  You will need to stop the Ipod at the bottom of the blog. Love you!

Leah is SEVENTEEN!!!!

Leah wanted to be grown up when she was two.  I saw her independence really shine when we took the family to the zoo.  She always wanted to walk ahead of everyone else.  Like she was there by herself.

She had and has a fascination with electronics.  She figured out how to get to the coloring pages of a Bible program we had on the computer.  She also figured out how to copy them for her sisters to color.  As I was cooking supper, I watched her go back and forth from our room to the play room taking coloring pages to her sisters.  She was three.

She couldn't wait to have her own room.  One day she brought a little step stool, her blanket, and her lambie and put it right by our bedroom door.  Told us that was going to be her bedroom.  Now she wants her own car.

On Sunday mornings she works the sound for the service.  She has all the microphones ready to go and has everything her daddy needs in it's place.  She makes sure he doesn't have to worry about getting any of the sound stuff together.  After the service she gathers all of his things while he visits with church family.  Last Sunday I watched as she went up and took his glasses out of his pocket to put them in his office.  He couldn't do it without her.  It's her ministry.

I love you Peas.  You are precious to me.

No Time for Quiet Time

There was no working schedule.   Oh, it was written down somewhere, but never worked out.  Maybe because it was nowhere to be found.  I had friends who would get up at the crack of dawn, fix their coffee, turn on some good worship music and get into the Word.  For the first two years of the twins' lives I averaged about  4 1/2  hours of sleep a night.  So even though I had no scheduled "Quiet Time", I probably prayed more those two years than several years put together.

I thought as all the kids grew older that I wouldn't have quite so much to pray for.  Oh my.  Was I ever wrong about that.

I get to have my Quiet Time now.  We all do it at the same time.  How sweet is that!?!

Hannah is SEVENTEEN!!!!

From early on we knew Hannah was going to be our creative child.  She talked in rhymes so I called her my little songwriter.  She would illustrate her stories in such funny ways, yet at times pull out something you could tell came from somewhere deep within.

Hannah has so much compassion.

With that comes the problem of carrying things she needs to pass on to the Lord.  She's learning.  I've seen her weep over decisions of friends that are not healthy.  

Stella (her guitar) is her friend.  She told me today that if there was a fire in our house she would do all she could to pull Stella out.

They make beautiful music together.  

I love you Belle.  You are precious to me.

Pour It Out

A couple of weeks back when we were looking at the life of Samuel, it started with his mom in the temple praying for a baby.  In I Samuel 1:15 she was accused of being drunk by the priest because he couldn't understand her.

She quickly told him that she wasn't drunk but that she was "pouring her heart out before the Lord".  I have thought of that so many times in the last weeks.  What does that mean exactly?

Oh, I have desperately prayed for things on many occasions.  For the physical healing of those I loved and many I didn't even know.   For spiritual healing.   For marriages.   For wayward children.  For the protection of my children and others who could be in harm's way.

Desperately.

But have I really poured my heart out before the Lord?  

I looked up the Hebrew word for "poured".  Don't you cringe a little when I do that?  Seems to always put a different slant to a word.  Sometimes it is a slant that makes things a little uncomfortable.

This definition doesn't disappoint.

        Poured:  1) to pour, pour out, spill

       2) to shed (blood)

                     3) to pour out (anger or heart) 

When I come to the Lord, desperate in heart, fearful in heart, I must come to Him willing to pour it out - to shed the blood. 

 Ready to die to myself, my desires, my fears, my desperations.

Desiring Him more than I desire the answer to my 

prayer.

Oh my.  

Most of the time all I can see is the answer I want.  The answer I think I need.  

All He wants is for me to want more of Him.

Giving thanks today.

In Hobby Lobby last week Rachel and I found a wrought iron BLESSINGS wall hanging that I knew I had to have.  Especially because it was on sale.  I've been wanting something for a space on the wall that has been blank because I hadn't found the perfect thing to hang.

Found it.

Love it.

A constant reminder of the things God has done for us.  So many blessings.  So much to be thankful for:

   . . . flags blowing a different direction

   . . . Sam's heart that wants God to use his injury for His glory

   . . . piano

   . . . Keith's numbers back closer to normal

   . . . music that speaks to my heart

   . . . screen doors

   . . . breeze blowing from front door to back

   . . . calls every night from Hannah while she is away.

BLESSINGS.

 

Three Girls Sixteen

Their very first photo together.  Rachel is just hours old, Hannah and Leah are 11 months, Kayla is 11, Adam is 14 and Kyle is 16.  

I love this picture.

This is when they are all three 2 years old.  I took them to Lubbock and we went to buy some new pajamas then to the photography studio in the mall.  

Did I mention I was on crutches?  

Just me and the girls?  

Hannah held on to one crutch and Rachel held on to the other with Leah holding her hand.  We were a sight.  What a trip that was!

Hannah

Leah

Rachel

There were times when they were little I couldn't even imagine them at 16.  Here we are.  As it has been with Kyle, Adam, and Kayla, I can honestly say I love them more and more every day.

They are so busy that I am beginning to get a taste of what life will be like when the are all gone.  Makes my heart sad.  I miss the older ones so much sometimes that my heart aches.  Then I remind myself that at least I still have them.

         Love. 

               Love. 

                     Love.