St. Patrick's Day Goodies

It was really inevitable that I'd come to love the green, happy, silly traditions of St. Patrick's Day. My Irish blood combined with the close proximity to MST's St. Paddy's Day spirit made the holiday all the more fun for me growing up!

I'm so thrilled that our preschool celebrates St. Pat's with a classroom party. I love an opportunity to bring out my green food coloring! Last year's class treats were a hit with the kids, moms, and teachers.

In 2011, before Pinterest, these awesome goodies that I found online passed as clever, and I still think they are! They're also great for those schools that don't allow homemade treats to be brought in. This is just a dessert bag (I buy mine from the cake decorating isle at Wal-Mart) filled with Twizzlers Rainbow and a few chocolate coins (found them in Target's $1 section this year). The tag was a free printable backed in golden cardstock. When the teachers saw them, they used them as their prize at the end of the class leprechaun hunt. I think they're worth repeating this year!

I found a candy mold at my favorite cake supply store last year and made these candy covered pretzel rods. If you've never used candy molds before, you really have to try them! If you're using one color of candy melts (I use Wilton brand), they're impossible to mess up and quick to set too! The kids thought they were very tasty!

The trifles I made were a little experiment. I thought they turned out cute! The layers were green vanilla pudding, chocolate cake drizzled with irish cream creamer, chocolate pudding, and green cool whip. I topped them with a little crushed Heath bar.

Letting Him Lead

Amos and I spend our nights apart regularly. He works two hours from home, and with local gas prices at 3.59, there's no way he could commute daily. To save money and sanity, he stays with generous friends who assure us they are happy to have him. We text throughout the day, and if there's something we don't want to forget, we'll email too. Even though he's gone more than he's home, we're really in each other's lives throughout each day. When he's gone and I'm not swamped with the children's school work, laundry, dinner, and diffusing arguments, I realize I miss my husband. But I'm swamped with that list of chores more often than not. You would think that the nights he was home would be cherished, that we'd take advantage the four evenings that we're together each week. It's a sad fact that we're both content to catch up on our favorite shows on Hulu most nights, too fried from the day to have anything deep and meaningful, or even clever, to say. We've already texted all the days' highlights, and some nights it seems like there's not much else that needs to be said.

This weekend is different. This weekend, he's away spending uninterrupted time with God. Three days without technology. No phone. No connection to work or family. No distractions from God.

I've been praying for God to bless this Crusillo weekend for months, and I knew God could do great things with these days. What I didn't realize is that, for the first time since he was deployed to the Middle East nearly ten years ago, we are truly, completely detached from one another. I have no way to contact him, no way to let him in on news or ask his advice. And for the first time in years, we're apart and I truly miss HIM. I feel his absence anytime we're apart, but I'm ashamed to admit that it's mostly his help with the kids and the presence of another adult that I wish for. This time, I'm not a mom wanting the dad to get home and take over. I'm a wife ready to have her husband back. I believe that what I'm feeling this weekend is God working in my marriage and in our life.

A few months ago, a Christian radio program reflected on the immense power that a wife has in her marriage. It was said that a husband is supposed to be the head of the household, but

a wife must let her husband lead.

As a wife, I struggle to let my husband lead. I could offer a string of reasons and excuses, but the honest truth is that I feel a need, irrational as it may be, to be standing on at least one of my own two feet. I live in a world that too often values a woman based on how capably she stands on her own. We women feel a need to be valued, heard, and have our opinions matter. There are millions of us blogging to prove it! I'm just not sure that my desire to be valued and heard always comes from God, particularly in my marriage. For me, needing to be heard sometimes feels all too similar to self-righteousness. Sometimes I slip from needing to be heard to needing to be right, and it's those times that I fail the most in my attempt to be a Godly wife.

The truth is, it's only God's value of us that matters, and we are each valued more than we can comprehend. We screw up over and over, and only through God's grace are we able to get back up again. So many of us are blessed with a Godly husbands who are smart, hard working, trustworthy and humble. I have every faith that those husbands can lead our families closer to our Savior if we are willing to LET THEM. I believe that Amos is being moved to greater things this weekend, and I'm so excited and ready to follow him as he leads his family in our walk with Christ.

The Simple Woman's Daybook: December 27th

FOR TODAY, December 27th

Outside my window... we awoke to a dusting of feather light snow, nearly just a heavy frost, and the sunny skies have already melted most of it. Just a hint of what's in store in the coming weeks, but it tempted me to bundle the kids and go for a walk nonetheless.

I am thinking... about the year ahead. Over the years, I've worked to simplify my life and create more time and space for family. I'm feeling the pull to simplify further, to decrease the daily running and increase my daily investment in my home, my God, and his plans for my family. Today, I am reflecting and praying about what changes are necessary.

I am thankful... for a lazy morning at home after several days of celebrating with extended family. Noah and Miriam are getting along beautifully for the time being, a huge blessing while Big Sister is with her dad and not here to provide some added entertainment.

From the learning rooms... Our oldest has been learning all sorts of life lessons this year, namely the value of practicing and learning things that don't come easily to her. I haven't taught this lesson well thus far, partly because school has come fairly easily in the past few years. Working hard for something difficult is a vital lesson to learn, and I'll continue to work to instill that value in her.

We gave Noah his first chapter book for Christmas: Magic Tree House. I was a little leery of starting him on higher level reading too early, but he read chapter one with me last night and finished confident and not at all frustrated.

Miriam's Santa gift this year was a LeapPad Explorer, a perfect item for her weekly car rides to and from ballet class. True to herself, she progresses at her own pace. It's not always the one I'm comfortable with or the one that I'd choose for her, but I've learned (and I'm still learning) to escort her and cheer her on rather than try to push.

In the kitchen... there are plans for easy winter meals- the kind that simmer or roast all day and come in bowls with cornbread on the side- vegetable soup, chili, and pot roast. Winter dinners are some of my favorites. The house smells good all afternoon, and the kitchen is a bit cozier than the rest of the year.

I am creating... my 2012 family calendar. It seems full of weekly demands, but they are activities that each of my children look forward to and always attend excitedly.

I am reading... an awesome read for parents of boys (of all ages). It full of clear explanations and practical, bible-based advice. Like all books, I'm reading it as advice and not scripture, but I've gotten many nuggets from this book, and I really wish I'd read it when my son was younger.

I am looking forward to... finding out if I'm getting a niece or a nephew at the end of this week! I've been praying for a healthy ultrasound for my sister and brother-in-law first and foremost, but I'm getting excited about being able to start some projects for the little guy/gal.

I am hearing... the sounds of a big brother teaching a little sister to play Super Mario Bros beside me. I'm sure it'll turn into a squabble over turns soon enough, but that's life around here. We revel in the goodness while it lasts!

Around the house... I've sorted and cleared the kitchen and game cabinet to make room for Christmas gifts. It left me wanting to sort and clear out every nook and cranny of our home, but I think I'll work on laundry and wait until I'm more sane to decide what items we need and what can be donated.

I am pondering... Gift-giving. Every year, I leave Christmas feeling like gift exchanges are frivolity and not as much a genuine giving. It seems to me that we need to be giving gifts of time and talent rather than tossing $30 toward a cashier for a gift that we hope our family members will like. I can think of gifts of time I could have given to each person on my gift list this year, and I think they may have been happier with that than anything I could have wrapped and placed under a tree. Something to think about for next year, but it's also something I could be doing all year long.

One of my favorite things... I got for Christmas was the bracelet my oldest gave me. For weeks before Christmas, she was excited about her choice. When I opened it, I realized just how grown up she is becoming. I loved it because it was obvious that she hadn't thought of herself while choosing it. She'd carefully chosen something that had elements of her mamma's favorite things, an ability that she struggled with in past years.

A few plans for the rest of the week: a few store exchanges for my oldest whose feet are, apparently, nearly as big as my own. Both the house slippers and rain boots she received for Christmas were too small, and I thought I may have been purchasing too large! We're hoping to catch up with friends who we didn't see often enough this fall, but mostly, I plan to camp out at home and play with the kids!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...