Sweetheart Trail Mix

Remember...
Crunchy...Chewy...Sweet...Salty!

Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios (our base ingredient)
Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams
Vanilla Flavored Yogurt-Covered Raisins
Valentine's Day Plain M&M's
Rainbow Goldfish
Pretzel Sticks

There are so many great combinations in this one...especially the M&M's and Pretzels!

I think this will last us awhile since we made it in our big silver pan.

This is the pan that I inherited from Mom. She used to make Chex Party Mix in this pan every Christmas...and so do we.



There's a big wooden spoon in the pan, because I had the kids take turns pouring the ingredients in one-at-a-time...and then stir after each ingredient.

This one turned out to be pretty cute...I think mainly because of the chubby little Teddy Grahams!

We may not have this one done in time to make a Trail Mix for the month of March.

Too bad...
Lucky Charms would have been a great base ingredient...especially since the cereal part of Lucky Charms in my favorite! ;)

Happy Valentine's Day,

A Constant Reminder

Galatians 5:22-25
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Alright.
Confession time.

Do you know how long I have tried to memorize the Fruit of the Spirit.
And not only to memorize...but then to try my hardest to display the Fruit in my life.

Try to be patient, Jodi!
Try to be loving, Jodi!
Come on, Jodi...just try to have a little self-control!

Try as I might, I just couldn't seem to produce that Fruit.

There it is..."Try as I might..."

Then, several years ago, I heard Joyce Meyer speak on the Fruit of the Spirit.
Something she said made such a difference in my life.
She said that when we invite Jesus into our lives, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of us. Along with the Holy Spirit comes His Fruit.

So...I have the Fruit of the Spirit inside of me.
I don't have to try to get it.
It just needs time to mature...time to grow.

No longer do I have to try...I need to abide.
To rest in Jesus and know that He will be the one doing the work...if only I can figure out how to abide in Him.

I struggle with abiding.
I struggle with trusting.

Lately, I have found that I still struggle with the trying.
I am still trying to produce that Fruit!

One day a couple of weeks ago, I was inspired!
I felt this strong urge to go out to the schoolroom, get my unused sentence strips, and write each Fruit on a piece of the strip.
Then, I stuck them up in the kitchen...right where I see them many times, every single day.




What has that done for me?

Now, when I am struggling with patience, I look up there and see the word "Patience." It reminds me that I have patience just waiting to be exercised!
So, I stop and pray...asking the Lord to please display His patience in me.

When I'm wiping macaroni and cheese off the floor, I look up and see the word "Kindness." I ask God to please help me to be kind...even though I am really wanting to gripe and complain about having to clean up such a sticky mess.

Those Oreo cookies in the cookie jar?
Lord! Please help me to use self-control!

The other great-big blessing that has come from having the Fruit of the Spirit posted in the kitchen is that the kids see it everyday too. We can just stop and talk about being gentle with each other. Or we can talk about being peaceful. We can stop and pray together to God...telling Him how we long to have that Fruit displayed in our lives.

That has been the abiding for me.
The reminder to turn to Jesus for patience, for gentleness, for joy.
So often, my day goes by in such a blur, that I forget to stop and ask for what I need. I forget to abide in Him.
This has been my constant reminder to abide.

Abiding together,

Wordless Wednesday..."Bubbles!"

Lucky...or Blessed?

I was on the treadmill one morning this week...
Now that's a blessing.

After what seems like years of trying to figure out the best time for daily exercise, Carrie and William have stepped in to feed the little boys their breakfasts while I use the treadmill.
Like I said...what a blessing!
I guess you would call it a blessing.
Exercise...a blessing...
Anyway...

While I'm on the treadmill, I usually get a visit or two from Josh. He just likes to check in on me...I think he likes to see what I watch on TV when he's not around. Spongebob? Max and Ruby?

I was on the treadmill one morning this week when Josh walked in with a plate. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that he was walking very carefully. Very slowly.

"Here, Mom. This is for you. It's the part of the Lucky Charms you like. I saved them just for you."



Pant, pant..."Thanks, Josh!"

"I'll put them right here so that you can eat them."

Pant, pant, cough..."Thank you! But where are the marshmallows?"

"Oh! I ate them for you!"

Pant, sputter..."Thanks, Buddy!"

I have to be honest with you.
I wasn't sure if I get an A in parenting for that...or a D-.
He's sharing! Give that mom an A!
He ate the best part of the cereal and is pawning the rest off on his mom! Give that mom a D-!

I had some time to think about this while I was getting showered and dressed.

I realize that so much of life is about growing...maturing.

If Matthew were given a bowl of Lucky Charms, he would grab up two handfuls of them and throw them on the floor when he was finished with them. Marshmallows and all. He wouldn't put any thought into whether someone else would like the marshmallows...or the cereal.

Then there is Josh. He has moved past that stage and wants to share. Maybe not the ingredient that he likes best--but he does think to share what's left instead of flinging them onto the floor.

What about Carrie and William? They have moved on to noticing that the Lucky Charms box is feeling kind of light, so they ask if anyone wants any of the cereal before they get theirs...hoping beyond hope that everyone says no.

And me? I notice that the box is feeling kind of light; so, knowing that the kids would probably like a bowlful later, I look for something else to eat.
Most of the time.
There might be times when I quietly pour out the remainder of the cereal, stand in the kitchen while shoveling them in my mouth as quickly as possible, and then bury the box in the trash can.
Maybe.
But most of the time, I would look for something else to eat.

Then I had to wonder...how close am I to being like Jesus?
What would Jesus do with the Lucky Charms?




Not only does He want to give me the marshmallows...He wants me to ask for the marshmallows.

"God has all blessing and goodness. He desires to bless you, so when you ask for God's blessing, you are asking for exactly what He desires to give you! Matthew 7:7-8 says, 'Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.'" (AllAboutPrayer.org)

I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. (Ezekiel 34:26)

Praying marshmallow blessings for you,

Mixin' Things Up a Little

Trail Mix!

Here is something that I've always meant to make with the kids, but I always forget that I want to make it.

Do you ever do that?

I found this website,The Adventures of a Kitchen Girl, that posted a "Master Recipe" and some ideas for add-ins.
We decided that instead of having a "Master Recipe," we will try to include Sweet, Salty, Crunchy, Chewy in every recipe that we make. A great base ingredient for Trail Mix is cereal. Our base ingredient this time was Chocolate Cheerios.

This one was so popular, that we have decided to make a new combination every month or so.
Just wait until you see the Trail Mix that we have already planned out for the month of February!

I have to admit that we are not as health-minded as we probably should be. We have quite a bit of "Sweet" ingredients in this. Maybe as time goes by, we'll include some more nutritious choices into our Trail Mix.

Hey! Who's hand is that?
Daddy?















One thing that we learned was that if you add marshmallows to the Trail Mix, they will get tough--even if the mix is in a sealed jar.
I think that it must be like putting bread in with your cookies. The cookies stay moist but the bread gets dried out.
The marshmallows get sapped of their moisture.
I guess this makes the marshmallows one of your "Chewy" ingredients.



There's that hand again!



Snack-wise, this has been a nice change-of-pace.

And...bonus! You don't have to choose only one kind of snack! Include all of your favorites and you automatically simplify your life by simplifying your decision-making.

Have a scrumptious day,