WOW Post - Growing Grandchidren

A while ago, I had a few people ask if I would have someone write posts, Words of Wisdom (WOW), for the Titus Two blog. Today, our posting guest will be Mrs. Red Lott. We're not sure how often WOW will be posted, but I'm sure you will enjoy them when we do post them!

GROWING GRANDCHILDREN by Mrs. Red Lott

Growing grandchidren is like going on a road trip, and you are in the passenger seat. The driver (parent) has all the responsibility making the necessary adjustments to keep us on the road, avoiding dangerous situations, and staying ever alert to that which surrounds the vehicle. (When I learned to drive 50 years ago, it was surprising to me that one had to be constantly making corrections with the steering wheel, and soon it became clear that driving was more than simply "aiming" in the direction one wanted to go!)

If you want to be a useful passenger you can watch for road signs or help with the map (of fidde with that GPS thingy) or be watchful for the errant deer. However, it's best to not suddenly suck in air between your teeth, or critically apply the phantom brake pedal. Remember, your role is passenger! No, you don't love your grands more than you love your own, but as a passenger you can relax & enjoy the trip a little more than the driver who is in charge. You can pray, pray, pray and pass out treats to the little ones who are riding in the back seat, completely oblivious to all that's happening here.

(Photo found on BING images.)

Baby Steps

This may replace the recipe this week since I have to work with my husband tomorrow and that schedule wrecks havoc with almost everything . . .

This year the Lord has given me a verse as a theme in my personal life. Isaiah 26:3 ~ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. My thoughts on this are that if I stay focused on Him even if bad days happen or circumstances aren't what I had planned, I can still have perfect peace and be happy in the midst of it.

Last week, my husband had offered to take all three kids to Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday! Half kidding I told him he could take my grocery list and do the shopping too! He said, "No problem!" As you can imagine, this would make any wife/mother's day!! Long story short, I had to go along. Still thought things would work out as he would go to Chuck E. Cheese, and I would do the grocery shopping. We ended up leaving way later than planned due to circumstances out of our control. We decided to eat out with a gift card we received for Christmas. The wait was 45 minutes so we ran a couple errands and arrived back at the restaurant 15 minutes before our wait should have been up. We ended up waiting 30 minutes extra for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes -- way past our usual eating time. This further delayed our schedule. The hubby's contact acted up. He wasn't able to see out of that eye and had a headache from that and lack of eating. I ended up grabbing a couple things I needed from the store and drove us home -- sans Chuck E. Cheese. The kids were good sports and were fairly understanding. Later before bed, I could tell my oldest was a little down. I asked her what was bothering her. She said she was disappointed they didn't get to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I told her what my plans were supposed to be for the day and asked how she thought I would feel. Because I kept my cool and didn't have a bad attitude (which wouldn't be my usual response), I was able to teach her the right way to deal with that situation. I was so thankful and praised the Lord!

Another instance where God helped me . . . Sunday mornings are hectic to say the least. My husband has started driving separately to set up his Sunday School class. Sometimes that isn't the best scenario for me, and I end up yelling and frustrated. So here I was clench-jawed, murmuring, driving to church! A couple miles into my drive, I remembered reading about someone that had woken up a couple days ago to find their 20-month old child had died in the night. The Lord immeditely began to melt my hardened heart, and I began thanking Him for my children and almost every other blessing in my life. Right there in the van, I began apologizing to my kids and to my husband. I felt so much better, lighter and happy!

Baby steps are how I'm going to have to do this. I've never been one to do anything cold turkey. Take for instance this:

These are cookies I made, let the girls ice and served to company! For those of you that know the perfectionist in me, you know this is a big deal. Can't say I didn't encourage the girls to let everyone know they had part by icing them though! I'm learning to let go and give my kids more experiences. It does take more time, effort and clean up! It's exciting and sad at the same time to see how proud the kids are when the do something. My oldest had earned herself a couple days of total supervision last week and was to stay with me at all times. I had her help with dinner. All the poor girl did was cut the kielbasa into slices and set the table, but you should have heard her telling everyone, "Guess who cut the kielbasa?" "I cut the kielbasa!" Wish I would have learned this lesson a long time ago for my kids sake. Makes me pretty happy and proud too!

I'm still a work in progress. Praying daily I can live by this verse! Hope this gives encouragement to you as you read this!

(Rescheduled) January Meeting

The January Titus Two Meeting has been rescheduled . . .

Place
Maggie's house
117 Burns Lane, Harrisville

*I will be running a shuttle from the bank parking lot on the corner of Route 8 & West Praire Street to Maggie's house if you'd like to avoid attempting her driveway.

Day/Date
Friday, January 28th

Time
6:30 - 9:00 pm

Topic
Beauty

Speaker
Maggie Barnhouse - Inner Beauty

Fun Feature
Jessica Lechner - Outer Beauty
Jessica will be giving tips on what colors suit you best. Please bring or wear something that you think is a good color for you!

Feel free to bring an appetizer or dessert. Drinks will be provided by host. Please sign up at church on the bulletin board if you plan to attend to give our host an idea of how many to prepare for. Thank you for your consideration of our host.

Mom's Survival Kit

Recently a friend led me to this website. This website is a ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College in California. I have heard the vice president of the college speak at a marriage enrichment conference in the area. I was excited to see they had a section of their website dedicated to Ladies Ministry.

While browsing this weekend, I came across this post on the Mom's Survival Kit: Making Your Home Peaceful Place. I hope it is a help to you!

http://ministry127.com/ladies-ministry/moms-survival-kit

Chocolate Banana Bread

I found this recipe a couple years ago on Allrecipes.com. I love it because it's moist -- doesn't hurt that it's also DeLiCiOuS! Both the banana and chocolate flavors come out and blend nicely. Today, I made it with mini chocolate chips as a reviewer had suggested since I had them in the cupboard. I liked the smaller amounts of chocolate distributed throughout, but if you are a chocolate lover, you may want to use regular chocolate chips or chunks! I wanted to make it in a budnt pan as another reviewer had suggested, but it took too long to bake for the amount of time I had available. However, I will definitely try it some day! (Bundt cake takes an additional 15 minutes.)

Chocolate Banana Bread

1 cup margarine, softened
2 cups white sugar (optional 1 1/2 cups)
4 eggs
6 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup lite sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com. Photo shows mini chocolate chips.

Meeting Postponed

We will be postponing the January 15th meeting -- NO MEETING JANUARY 15 . . . depending on the weather we may have it next week. Maggie's driveway is a little treacherous, but she'd really like to have the meeting at her house. We are working on details and will update when plans are finalized.

Baked Potato Soup

My husband's and my idea of potato soup greatly differ. In efforts to find a middle ground, I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. I think we've found a compromise -- I had to make more the next day he like it so much.

Baked Potato Soup

3 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. Gradually add broth. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil. Garnish with bacon, cheese and parsley.

Note: I didn't use basil or hot sauce because we don't care for those flavors, but I did add some chives in place of the basil. I also used precooked bacon and used a little oil to saute the onion and garlic. Pretty sure I upped the amount of potatoes and it was still "soupy" enough.

January 2011 Meeting

Here's the scoop for January's meeting:

Place

Maggie Barnhouse's residence

*Email me @ lottewl@juno.com for address/directions

Day/Date

Friday, January 14th

Time

6:30 - 9:00 pm

Topic

Beauty

Speaker

Maggie Barnhouse - Inner Beauty

Fun Feature

Jessica Lechner - Outer Beauty

(giving tips on what colors suit you best, etc.)

Feel free to bring an appetizer or dessert. Drinks will be provided by host. Please sign up at church on the bulletin board if you plan to attend to give our host an idea of how many to prepare for. Thank you for your consideration.

Cocktail Meatball Sauce

This is a family-favorite around our house. Chances are, if you go to SRBC, that you've had these. At lease once a month we have an "appetizer meal" which usually includes cocktail meatballs, wings, veggie or fruit tray and motzarella sticks. I love that this recipe feeds an army or a little army at least 3 times. ALDI meatballs taste good and are very inexpensive. Just noticed last week ALDI now carries cocktail sauce, so you could get all the ingredients there!

Cocktail Meatball Sauce

1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 - 12 oz jar chili sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs lemon juice

You can add a little garlic powder, horseradish or tabasco to taste. (For those of you that have eaten my version, I use about 1 tsp horseradish sauce.)

Stir over medium heat until cranberry sauce is melted. (I break mine up with a whisk in the can to help speed up the melting process.) Pour over meatballs and heat through.

This recipe cover 3-4 bags of meatballs or approximately 100! This can be used on cocktail weiners or keilbasa slices as well. The sauce freezes well, so you can use it for multiple occassions. The photo shows the meatballs in a crockpot. I have thrown the meatballs in frozen and cooked for a couple hours or if I'm in a hurry have baked them in the oven and thrown them in a crockpot to keep them warm while serving.