A Fun Fall Picnic

Last week we had several beautiful fall days, sunshine, colorful leaves, and perfect weather.  The kids and I decided it would be lovely to have a picnic.  I'm glad we did, we enjoyed it a lot!  :) 

Fixin' the food!  Ham sandwiches, juice boxes, sour cream and onion chips, apple slices, and chocolate covered granola bars. It was yummy! :) 

The "perfect" picnic, in reality it was only like this for about half a minute before the kids all scrambled over and made it look like real life. :) 

The tree we sat under was beautiful with bright yellow leaves, which sadly, have mostly fallen off now. 

Content and happy with his very own juice box. :)

Enjoying their food. 

No picnic would be complete without a begging animal right?! This dog is a master at it, she'll even help herself to food right out of the younger kids hands if I'm not watching careful.

Fun times! :) 

"This is the day which the LORD hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Mustard, Garlic Fish

This yummy fish dish turned out very flavourful, I loved the garlic, mustard combination. For my fish I used yelloweye rockfish fillets which is what I had in my freezer, I think this would tastes great on other fish like salmon as well. I did prepare it a day in advance and it sat in the fridge overnight before I baked it, which is not what the original recipe called for, but it seemed to help the flavours intensify.  I made this for lunch served with hot buttered noodles. :) 

Mustard, garlic fish topping 

1/4 c. olive oil
2 Tbsp parsley
3 or 4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1.5 lbs fish fillets 

Combine first seven ingredients in a bowl. Cover a large baking sheet with foil and lay the fish fillets on the foil.  Spoon the olive oil mixture over the fish. Bake at 400 for 20 min, or until done. Enjoy! 

Verse for Today~His Compassions Fail Not~

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."   Lam. 3:22-23

Peace

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

A Tea Party With My Sisters

I've always loved tea parties. Growing up my siblings and I would have them often, ours were never the traditional fancy "English tea", but we did sometimes put a lot of effort into our parties. We'd bake up yummy treats like "Scotch Teas" and cook a pan of lemon curd to top our homemade scones with; other times it would be more of a simple affair with only bagged pretzels (or other snacks we could rustle up from the snack cabinet) to go with our cups of tea.  My brothers would usually join us too, (where there is good food the men will come.) Lol ;).  When I was little my Mom got us cute china tea sets, we broke more handles off those small cups then I can count, but we had such a lot of fun playing with them! :) Before I was married I loved collecting assorted pretty teacups and if I could find a book about tea parties at one of the many favourite thrift stores we went to, well I was a happy girl. :) 

A few months back two of my younger sisters got to come for a visit, while they were here we thought it would be nice to once again have a tea party together. It was lots of fun! We had a good time together sipping our tea, talking and of course eating. :) Here are a few pictures I took of our tea table. 

The tea table. 

On the menu:

Assorted teas

Scones

Lemon curd

Cashews

Smokie sausages 

Mints

Lacy cookies

Lindt chocolates

Yummy little sausages. 

View from above.

Scones, lemon curd, and vanilla and cherry tarts.

The china. I found this (incomplete) set at a thrift store, as soon as I saw it I loved it. Some day it would be nice to find the teapot and a few other pieces that are missing to complete the set. 

Another view. :) 

A Recipe: Favourite Coffee Cake

This recipe goes way back to when I was first learning to bake and cook and it's still one of my favorites!  It had been awhile since I last made it; just smelling it baking brought back a lot of good memories. :) 

Favorite Coffee Cake

Cake:

1 1/2 c. Flour

3/4 c. Sugar

2 1/2 t. Baking powder

3/4 t. Salt

1/4 c. Oil

3/4 c. Milk

1 Egg

Topping:

1/3 c. Sugar

1/4 c. Flour

1/2 t. Cinnamon

3 T. Butter 

Mix the dry ingredients and then add all the wet. Mix thoroughly, pour into a greased 8x8 inch pan. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top of the unbaked cake.   Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy a warm piece with a good cup of coffee. :) 

Mixing the dry ingredients.

Pouring in the milk and egg.

Beat with a spoon till the batter is smooth. 

A few of the kids wanted to help mix the topping up (and sample it too; it's yummy!). :) 

Hope you all have a happy day today! :) 

Consider the Great Things God Has Done for You

"Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you." 1 Samuel 12:24

The word "consider", means "to reflect on" or "contemplate".   Scripture tells us to consider many things and to learn from them.  When you have some time consider: the lilies, (Matt. 6:28); the ravens (Luke 12:24); the ant (Prov. 6:6); the heavens (Ps. 8:3); your ways ( Hag. 1:5);  one another ( Heb. 10:24); The Lord Jesus (Heb. 12:3); the wondrous works of God (Job 37:14)!  When was the last time you really stopped and considered what great things God has done for you? -E.V. 

"Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what The Lord hath done." 

Random Simple Joys

There is no denying that motherhood is sometimes hard, as mothers we give up our very person, our time, our sleep, sometimes our hobbies, the peace and quiet which we used to know ;), to raise the little children God gives us.   It can be easy to sit and focus on the negative, i.e. How tired we are, the dirty house that is hard to keep up with, the endless dishes and laundry and diapers that need taken care of etc. Instead of stopping and being thankful for all the blessings and simple joys of life that are all around.  :) 

Here are just a few of the things that have brought happiness to me recently:  

Seeing my baby getting so big, and hearing his cute laugh. 

Taking part of the morning with my little ones to make a town in the dirt (complete with a library, pond, and campground). :) 

Enjoying looking through the Tea Time magazine my Mother-in-law bought for me on our last vacation. :) 

Receiving a handful of dandelions from my one year old who thought to bring them to me all by himself. :) A precious moment. 

Being greeted by warm sunshine after going outside mid morning; the dew was still on the grass and everything smelled fresh after a rain from the night before. 

Watching these two sweet girls happily "reading" books together. 

"In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess 5:18 

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Gal 6:9

Thanking God for His goodness and care, and hoping you all have a lovely day! :)

Cherish the Moment

Time goes so fast! Remember to cherish the moments you have with your little ones.  We have such a short time to train, teach, and guide our children before they are grown. My prayer is that by a Gods Grace I can say: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."  3 John 4:4 

I found this video on YouTube and wanted to share. :)