Baking Party

Good Monday morning!

The Showcase Pic this morning is of Roxie and one of her friends. Again, nothing spectacular, but it shows simple pleasures are definitely the best!

The Gallery Pics are just a hodge-podge of various and sundry weekend events. Nothing too exciting, but pictures nonetheless.

Weekend Review

Our weekend went pretty much according to my non-plan. We spent a lot of time together as the Faulkner Five which was good, because things are about to get cranked up over here. Austin worked on the Christmas puzzle with me for a little while, which was very nice.

I know. The Christmas puzzle was supposed to be finished by New Year's Day. I bought the most difficult puzzle in the history of the world. I should have gotten a totally black 1,000 piece puzzle because it would have been SO much easier. There are tiny pictures in each puzzle piece which when put together make a very large picture with a fuzzy look. It's pretty, but oh so difficult. In one hour, Austin put 11 pieces together and I "made" six pieces fit. I had to take headache medicine when we were done spending quality time together.

Friday was Faulkner Family Movie Night. It was a great way to unwind after a long, busy week, and after my second dose of headache medicine, I started to enjoy myself.

Saturday was a very gray, cold day, and except for a date to The Original Pancake House where I met a delightful little girl with brown pom-poms on her brown boots (and she informed me she had another pair at home with more pom-poms), I did not leave the house... even though I had a very strong urge to purchase a pair of boots with pom-poms for some reason. Austin fixed supper for the family and Melia which was a treat AND it was edible... a "twofer."

Sunday was a nap-taking kind of day in preparation for the Super Bowl. While teenage boys and Mikie watched the Saints win, I took Roxie and a friend or two for ice cream and French fries after church to finish the weekend on a good note. (That was their food combo choice, not mine.)

All in all, a nice, peaceful weekend... and I can count on one hand how many of those we get in a year's time! Next weekend is going to be VERY busy, but that's a story for another day.

Oh. And by the way. This week all of our shows start up again. (Monday - 24; Tuesday - LOST; Thursday - Survivor; and Sunday - Amazing Race.) Why on earth do they not SPREAD these shows out a little? They'll all end the same week, and then we have to go four or five months with NOTHING on TV! And I mean NOTHING! But for these few weeks, I will enjoy my shows.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK (AGAIN) - Answered Prayer

Here is another part of Jeff and Sara's story. It's a pretty long story, so I'll finish up tomorrow.

We left off with Student Minister Jeff driving around in Vancouver (attending a conference) praying for guidance about what God wanted him to do next in his life. Jeff is fighting the thought and suggestion from others of planting (or beginning) new churches.

An hour later as a friend and I were working on a campus in east Vancouver, I had a guy come up to me that was part of a church plant. He asked me what I did in the states, and so I told him I was a student minister, but felt like God might be transitioning us to serve in a different ministry.

He asked me, "Have you ever thought about church planting?"

I was thinking, "Yeah, about an hour ago while driving around Vancouver."

I told him that church planting had crossed my mind, and he introduced me to a church planter in the Vancouver area who took my name and number.

God used that in my life to open my eyes to planting a church. The funny thing is I was driving in downtown Vancouver and I never really thought about planting there. I immediately thought of somewhere in Memphis or Seattle.

My excuse for not planting in Vancouver was that it was "too spiritually dark." I know that sounds crazy, but it is true. I later commented to Sara that I felt that way and she said, "Are you even listening to what is coming out of your mouth?"

Tomorrow we'll catch up with Jeff and Sara to see where they are right this minute. The answer to this prayer literally took years to "happen." It wasn't a quick and easy decision, and God's answer will take their young family on a journey the rest of us can only imagine.

I think you'll want to hear the rest of their story.

Baking Party

This is a fun party for your daughter and friends which is perfect for Valentine's Day. The purpose of the party is for each girl to bake a Valentine's Day dessert (or breakfast item) as a surprise for her family on Valentine's Day.

1. You will need to decide on the number of friends to invite. Two to three girls (plus your daughter) is a good workable number.

2. Next, you will need to decide what to bake. Desserts can range from pink cupcakes with white frosting and heart sprinkles, to one 8" round layer cake per girl decorated any way they like. (To transport the cupcakes to the girls' homes, buy disposable foil cupcake trays from the Dollar Store and place the cupcakes in the trays to keep the decorations neat and mess-free.

3. Another fun dessert the girls could make for their family for Valentine's Day are Pudding Cones. (This idea is taken from Family Fun Magazine, February 2010.)

Empty a box of your favorite instant pudding mix into a quart-size ziplock bag and pour in 2 cups of cold milk. Seal the bag, then squeeze, knead and shake vigorously for 8 to 10 minutes or until the contents are thickened. Place the bag in the refrigerator to set.

To serve, cut off one corner of the bag and squeeze the pudding in ice-cream cones. Do not forget to top with sprinkles.

Again, use the red food coloring when you mix the pudding if you're using vanilla pudding. If the pudding is chocolate or another color, just use heart sprinkles on top after you squeeze it into the ice cream cones.

This dessert needs to be prepared at your house, but the finishing touches need to be done at the individual girls' homes. You will need to let the girls make practice pudding, and then let each girl have a turn squeezing the pudding into the ice cream cones so they know what to do when they get home that evening. Send each girl home with a ziplock bag of sprinkles and six empty ice cream cones (along with her quart-size ziplock bag of pudding ready to go).

4. If you decide to go the breakfast route, let the girls choose from a choice of muffin mixes and just add red food coloring.

5. You can also teach the girls how to make pink silver dollar pancakes. After they have mixed and colored the batter pink, let them make as many as they like on the griddle (with your supervision, of course). After the pancakes have cooled, place them in a gallon-sized ziplock bag to take home. (The next morning, they will just have to microwave the pancakes for 25 to 30 seconds to prepare a wonderful Valentine's Day breakfast for their family.) NOTE - Be sure to send a small bottle of syrup home with each child if they make the pancakes.

NOTE - It would also be a good idea to send Valentine's Day plates and napkins (five or six each) with each girl to use when she serves her dessert or breakfast.

Baking together is a great party for young girls (and older girls, too). Making something festive for each family is a wonderful way for each girl to contribute to Valentine's Day in her own home.

Have soft piano music playing in the background while you bake. If you have time, when the baking AND CLEAN-UP are finished, let the girls watch an age-appropriate chick flick (Enchanted with Amy Adams, one of the Disney Princess movies or Ice Princess).

Enjoy this time with your daughter and her friends. Talk, talk, talk... but also listen. You can learn a great deal listening to the conversations of young girls.

Have a lovely Monday. Tomorrow's recipe is delicious and simple. It will definitely be something you will want to try. And, of course, it's LOVE week on A Simple Life, so each and every day will have tons of ideas for you and your family to try.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda