Book Review: The Doctor's Lady by Jodi Hedlund

Priscilla White is looking forward to her life, serving God in India. She is the perfect candidate, dedicated to God and burdened for the souls of others.

Dr. Eli Ernest is on the road, raising support for his work among the Native Americans in the West. Headstrong and rugged, he is the perfect candidate for work in the harsh conditions.
But the perfect candidates are not perfect enough for the mission board - they are not married and the board decides to no longer send single candidates to the field.
With their dreams of serving God and winning people to him looking more bleak, by the minute, Priscilla and Eli join together in a marriage which will allow them both to serve God. A marriage by name only, for the purpose of winning souls.
But on the harsh trip out West, they are challenged by hardships which will test their commitment to their cause and to their marriage of convenience.

I really did enjoy this story, especially the descriptions of the journey out west during that time period. I live just 20 minutes away from Liberty, MO and love to imagine the trip along the river that people took back then. The struggle between Eli and Priscilla creates a tension that keeps the pages turning to see what will happen with them. Between that and all the physical hardships, there is enough to hold your attention for the whole read!

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

If you were the only person in the world...

Aidan's class was learning about the first family that God made. His teacher asked "If you were the only person in the world, what would you do?"

Some kids would play with the animals but Aidan said "I'd be naughty." I think I believe him :-)

Later, they were talking about Cain and Abel being brothers. Aidan said, "I have a brother too, but we have a sister too so we are better than them."

They are getting to that age when we kinda dread what they are going to say in class ;-)

Father's Day Funnies

It's been pretty busy around here trying to keep up with a mobile little girl who loves mischief! I also have been spending my evenings trying to clear out the basement so blogging has taken a back seat. Time for a bit of catch up.

Eóin's class at church made these cute booklets about their dads and Eóin's gave us a good laugh. Here are some of the things in his book (It was fill in blank - his answers are bold):

My daddy is 4 years old. He has black hair and blue eyes. He is 7 feet tall.

My daddy works at the front yard. At his job he plants flowers.

My daddy loves to eat scrambled eggs and toast.

My dad likes to wear underpants.

My dad us SO strong, he could lift a computer.

My dad really loves mommy. (awwww)

If my dad had time he would go to work.

He is smart because he knows how to get pants on.

If I could give my dad anything, it would be a big dinner like a chicken butt. (nice)

They love their dad :-)

Book Review: Don't Panic: Quick, Easy and Delicious Meals for Your Family

Alternative Title to the Post: Why I would never make it as a food blogger ;-)

First off let me say, this post is sooo late! I was supposed to post this the week before we left for Ireland and somehow I totally forgot! Partly, because honestly I stocked up on the cheapest food I could find that week to squeeze every penny out of our budget for our trip. Also partly, because when I excitedly opened up the book when it arrived, I didn't see anything in the contents that screamed "cook me right now!" so I put it on the shelf to go through again, and there it sat in the midst of vacation getting readiness, all alone and forgotten.

So, as I have mentioned, although there are some recipes in the book that look ok, I was disappointed that nothing really stood out to me as something I was dying to try. My general rules of thumb for new recipes are that it has to contain mostly ingredients that I would have around the house, we have to already like the general idea of it, and has to be kid friendly.  Quite a lot of these recipes, I found, either didn't sound as good as I already make it, or had too many ingredients that I would have to buy specifically for that meal.

Now - there are some things that I may still try in here (and I have already tried some - pics to follow). There are some great things about the book, like the keys at the top which at a glance can tell you which dishes are lighter fare, the author's favorites, have minimal ingredients, are great for entertaining and freezable meals. I really like that. I also like that on the freezable meals, there are notes for how to make multiple batches for freezing. Great idea!

Now for your entertainment purposes - here are some pics of a meal I made from this book :-)

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken (p121)

 First I seasoned the chicken, then browned it in butter...

 After throwing PLACING the chicken in the crock pot, I mixed water, lemon juice, garlic and bouillion to the pan and brought it to a boil, then covered the chicken with the sauce.

Here you may imagine a picture of an ugly flowery crockpot which to save your eyes from the shock, I did not add a picture of. Although, you may imagine a yummy lemony chicken smell here...

I also made the Glazed Snow Peas Recipe on page 73 and I LOVED those!

That's all there was to it folks! It wasn't bad - not as lemony as I would have hoped and a little dry. If I made it again, I would shorten the cooking time and add more lemon, but I LOVED the snow peas (in fact I may have eaten all my kid's helping of those ;-)

If you enjoy cooking, you should at least glance through the contents of this one, because they are all pretty quick to put together and not everyone is as picky as me so I bet you will find a few winners :-)

PS - This book was written by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell, and Bonnie Garcia (I just felt the title was already so long it might break the title bar:-) )

Thank you SO much to Revell publishing for a free copy of this book to review, and their patience with me in posting it! 

Aidan is 3!

It was different this morning. When you climbed into bed beside me you didn't fit into me the way you used to, all tiny and snuggly. You have moved from toddler to little boy and now you take up much more space in my bed :-) It's hard to believe you are three already, but on the other hand, it's hard to believe you are only turning three now because you have a pretty big vocabulary for such a little dude.
This morning, when we were getting breakfast, I was waiting for you to do something to help me and trying to get you to hurry. You turned and looked at me just like I look and you and said, "Can you just be patient?" in the same tone I use when I say it to you. Funny man.

You are a very physical person, and while that means you get in trouble for always hanging out of people, it also means you give the best hugs EVER!

You love your sunglasses, and wear them everywhere like a little superstar. You don't really have a favorite show or toy right now, but you enjoyed Disney junior shows at Granny's house and love to pretend to be things with Eóin. You are really going to miss Big Bro when he goes to school. Hopefully you and Molly will become good buddies too.

You're name means little fire and you certainly live up to that name. You are a fiery little guy, and we hope that God can use that fire to do great things for him as you are growing up!

Here are Aidan's birthday minute pictures so far:

June 2, 2007 3:07pm

June 2, 2010 3:07pm

June 2, 2011 (nap time) 3:07pm

 June 2, 2012 3:07pm