~Our trip to "Tigre" part 1~

Some lady here told Phillip about a place called "Tigre" (Tiger) where you can ride a boat and go to a "fruit market".  A few days later we were talking to "Uncle Charlie" and "Aunt Jolie" and telling them about what the lady said, and they said that THEY were going to take us there.  So they planned the trip for last Saturday.  I packed a picnic lunch (enough for all of us) and they picked us up and Did they ever have a SPECIAL day planned for us?!!!  =)  It took us probably about 45 mins. to get to Tigre.
~Once we arrived we found a perfect spot to eat my picnic lunch.  It was under a shady tree right next to a water canal where we could watch all the boats going by! =)  U. Charlie took this picture of our family during our picnic.~

~Two sweet boys!  I had asked Elijah to pray for our picnic lunch and he bowed his head and "THANKED THE LORD for the BOAT RIDE we were going to take!!!"  HELP!  We didn't know what U. Charlie and A. Jolie had planned and if we were going to take a boat ride, but Elijah had just been watching all of those FUN boats pass and was just "having a little TaLk with Jesus!" =)~

~Our 5 children...who bring so much JOY to our lives! =)~

~A. Jolie, Sarah, and I.~

~Eating lots of goodies.~

~Elijah eNjOyInG the No-bake cookies that Kimberly and I had whipped up that morning. =)~

~Just hanging out and enjoying the munchies and cool breeze.~

~U. Charlie and our kids over by the canal.~

~Sarah, Noah, and Elijah by the canal.~

~Sarah, Noah, Phillip, and Elijah, and U. Charlie.~

~Watching one of the MANY boats go by.~

~Then after our picnic lunch...we were surprised when we all got in their car and they took us to the boats and bought tickets for us to take an hour boat ride together!  Elijah's prayer HAD BEEN ANSWERED! =D Here we are standing in line to get on the first wooden boat closest to us.~

~Phillip snapped this quick picture of some of us on the boat....before it got full~

~Our captain.  Phillip was taking a picture of his "Argentine Mate" (hot herb drink) cup, his one-eye burner to heat up his water for his Mate, and his wooden canisters which hold the "Herbs" for his Mate. =)~

~These wooden boats are like boat taxis.  There are a series of canals all around this area which lead to people's vacation homes, clubs, lodges, and cabins.~

Part 2 of our FUN trip coming up!

~FUN FOOD FRIDAY...Grandmother's Chicken-N-Dumplings~

Sorry this is late...I had no internet over the weekend.
(This post is to show my Grandmother and my Moma a picture of my dumplings, but y'all are welcome to read over their shoulders.  =)
Dear GG, I made your Chicken and Dumplings and here is a picture of them.  I'm curious if yours have less broth than mine do?  (I wanted to make sure I had enough broth so that my dumplings didn't stick together.) Anyways, they turned out delicious and we all loved them!  Thanks for sharing your recipe. =)
(Mrs.Carol Clapper, can you PLEASE show GG this post using your phone?  Thanks!!  =)

Background story:  Not too long ago Phillip told me he was wanting some Chicken and Dumplings.  I searched online for a recipe but wasn't happy with what I found.  So, I said to Phillip, "Tomorrow, I'll call Moma and ask her how Grandmother makes her Chicken and Dumplings."  Phillip said, "Why not just call GG herself?"  So, I did.  I called my sweet Grandmother in Tennessee and we had a delightful chat. She told me that she really didn't have a recipe, but could try to tell me what she does.  So, here's what she told me and here's what I did.
~Grandmother's Southern Chicken and Dumplings~
Chicken:
Cook a chicken on top of the stove like you would normally, making sure you have plenty of broth to drop your dumplings in.  When chicken is cooked, tear it up in small pieces and add back to your broth.  When you have dumplings ready, heat broth back up to rolling boil.  (You could cook your chicken the day before if you wanted to and refrigerate it overnight.)
Dumplings:
2 cups self-rising flour (or add 1 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. baking powder to 2 cups of flour.)
An "egg sized" amount of shortening. (I LOVE this measurement...TOO CUTE!! =)
Cut shortening into flour as you would for pie dough or biscuits.
Then slowly add and stir in some cooled Chicken broth.  (I ended up using about a cup.)
Mix together and roll out onto floured board about 1/4" thick.  Cut strips (With pizza cutter) and then you can cut into 1" pieces with pizza cutter, or pick up each strip and tear them into pieces.
Drop pieces of dumplings into BOILING Chicken broth.  Cover with lid and let boil (High enough to boil, but LOW enough to not boil over) for about 20 mins.  At the end of 20 mins. you can cut a dumpling in half to see if it's done.
I hope that if you try this, that they turn out great.  My family Loved them!
And as always...Enjoy!
 

~I'M BACK!~

WHEW! Our internet quit working on us Friday morning early and we didn't get it back until today!
Talk about a LONELY weekend when you can't receive email nor calls from home, check on your VERY sick 104 1/2 year old Grandma (Please pray for Her and Moma as she takes care of her! THANK YOU!),
post a Fun Food Friday post on your blog, etc.
But, PRAISE THE LORD, it's fixed now, so I'll be updating here soon. But FIRST THINGS FIRST...my family is hungry...so I'll be back after I get them fed! =) Thanks for your nice comments on my Taste of Home post. =)

~Our Door bell rang and guess what arrived?~

~A make that....Four...yes, you read that right....4!!!!!!!! December Issues of Taste of Home!!! Not sure how I got 4, but I was just GLAD that some of our mail had arrived!  YEA!!!!!!!!!!!~

~Everyone of us love this magazine...even down to Baby Mary! =)~

I was SO encouraged...for I thought that now our mail would start arriving (for My Moma has sent us A LOT of mail)...but the lady that handed us these magazines said that it was NOT the mail man that dropped it off....it was just SOME MAN in some truck! =(    So, I guess that means that maybe our mail might have been delivered to somewhere else in the city and these are the only mail that they decided to bring to us?!  Only the Lord knows what has happened to the REST of our mail, =( SNIFF, SNIFF, WEEEPPPP!!!!!
but I'm HAPPY to at least have one of my Taste of Home magazines! =)
~Mary is REALLY studying that T.O.H. page and asking...Now...what does this recipe call for?  =D~

Thank you for your sweet comments on my zoo post! My sandals were a gift from Mrs. Nancy from our church in Cartagena, Colombia.

~An Argentine zoo trip~

~We found out that the zoo was within walking distance...well "45 min. walking distance" =)...of our house so decided to take our kids there for a field trip.  We were delighted to find out when we got there that all children under 12 were FREE!  Yea!  So we only had to pay for Kimberly, Phillip and I.  =)  This is the pretty pond/fountain we saw when we first got into the zoo.~

~A seal.  Poor one...it was blind in one eye.~

~Here we are watching people feeding the seals.~

~Sarah and Noah enjoying watching the Polar bear.~

~3 Lions.  Can you imagine what Daniel felt like being put down in the den with these "kitty cats?"  I'm SO GLAD we are serving Daniel's God!~

~Mr. Elephant~

~Phillip and I with Mr. Elephant behind us.~

~A camel.  Not one of the best looking animals that God created. ;-)~

~Elijah really liked these Reindeer.~

~A pretty colored Toucan.~

~Our family in the zoo!~

~Mr. Giraffe~

~2 animals locking horns.~

~We purchased pizza and empanadas for our lunch and we had some snacky items with us too.  Here Mary is enjoying a choc. cookie. =)~

~These animals are kin to the rabbit only with longer legs.  They were EVERYWHERE in the zoo.~

~Then right before we left we bought some ice cream to cool us off...~

~And Phillip and the kids played with the bubble blower that our land lady had purchased for our kids!  It was a very fun day.   Then we walked the 45 mins. back home. =)

~Special prayer needed~

Thank you to each of you ladies for your sweet comments on my last post "On Being a Wife and Mommy". To me, life isn't about comparing one another, or competition, it's about CHEERING each other on in our walk with the Lord and sharing fun and creative ideas to help our "jobs" as keepers of our homes more delightful!  =)
~On Sunday at the Chinese church we attend we met this tiny newborn baby boy.  I believe his name is Fabricio.  We were SHOCKED to find out that he has heart trouble and has to have HEART SURGERY in February!!!!!!!!  I Cannot imagine being his Mommy and having my baby face that kind of surgery!  They asked Phillip if he would be willing to donate blood to help this little guy!  Phillip got tears in his eyes and said that it would be an HONOR to help him.  So, will y'all join me in praying for this PRECIOUS little baby?!  THANK YOU, I KNEW I could count on y'all!  =)~

~Each Sunday at the Chinese church after the morning service they serve a delicious Chinese meal to all who attended service.  So, each week we get the privilege of eating yummy Chinese food! =)   This past Sunday this older lady below fell in love with Mary and was feeding her.  After service I had changed her into an old stained t-shirt for I figured she'd get dirty crawling/walking around and eating.  It's a good thing, for the front of her was COVERED when this precious lady got done feeding her. =)  This lady came up to U. Charlie, Kimberly and I and was telling us something about Mary in a big way, talking very FAST!
U. Charlie started laughing so I asked him, "What did she say?"  to which he replied, "I have NO CLUE for she speaks a different dialect than I do!" =}~

~This is Sarah and her new good friend Valentina.  There's several years difference between them, but they get along great!~

We are still waiting for an answer from the Chinese church about Phillip holding services. We are going to take their answer as God's will.  Another church has asked if he would be willing to preach to them if it works out.  Please pray for us as we try to be shining lights wherever God places us!

~On being a Wife and Mommy~

~As I was writing a blog post...my little blonde headed boy fell and got hurt. I told him to come to Mommy.   He came running over to me and I pulled him up on my lap and asked where it hurt? He showed me his foot...and I bent down to plant a "healing kiss" on a Very D.I.R.T.Y. PRECIOUS foot. =)   He quit crying, said, "Thank you, Mommy," and ran back to play. As he left I remembered once again...the privilege that is mine to be a wife and a Mommy!
 Wives, there is nothing better that we can do for our children then LOVE God and their Daddy with all of our hearts!   If at all possible make times to be with your husband as often as you can.  If you cannot go out for a little date, then at least plan some time chatting together on the couch just the two of you!  If you can go out, dress up for your DATE, get something cheap (an ice cream cone to share if need be) but HAVE SOME time to chat, share your heart, discuss the kids, the future, etc.   These times are so helpful to continue building your relationship as husband and wife.
~ Phillip took me to a fun little homey restaurant that we found here.  It sort of reminds us of a Cracker Barrel's atmosphere.  (There's even a little country type store in the back too. =)
(Cracker Barrel is one of my favorite USA restaurants).~

 I was reading in The Ladies Companion  and I read a neat quote from Sarah Fry.  She said that she was making a meal for ANOTHER family and she felt like she was ministering.  Then she realized this...
"Every time my family sits down to a hot, healthy meal on clean dishes I have been a minister." Sarah Fry
Due to having a WONDERFUL Moma who loves being a homemaker and has many talents in that line... I L.O.V.E. decorating our home for each new season and cooking and baking.   Ladies, our meals don't have to be a 7 course meal, and you don't have to be kin to "Martha Stewart"...but the PRESENTATION of our meals makes a lot of difference!
Now there are times that I put the pans on the table (SHHHHHHHHH!!! Please DO NOT tell my Moma! ;-) but when I have a little extra time, I like to put the chips or rolls in a paper-lined basket, take the jelly out of the jars and put them in little bowls, take an extra minute to arrange the fruit or cookies on a plate, etc.  This cheers up not just my heart...but my sweetheart and children take note too and love it!

We are making memories! 

 Our little Elijah and Mary are still in the age to where they LOVE to imitate what they see.   It's so cute to see little Mary trying to wipe off the table, or Elijah cutting up vegetables like they've seen Mommy do.  (Actually our other 3 children are imitating too...just not as obvious!)
Children are imitators...So that means as Daddy and Mommy we need to make sure their "heros" are ones we/God wants them to imitate!! Whose blogs/FB pages are they surfing?  Who are their close friends?  My children are only allowed to go to certain blogs...for I've seen so many things on even "Holiness people's blogs" that I don't want our children to imitate!
May God help us as we LIVE THE JESUS LIFE, STICK TO THE BIBLE, and form their lives for HIM.

So....wives and Mommies...let's hold our heads up...For ours is a HIGH QUALITY JOB!
The pay is "out of this world!" =)

~Fun Food Friday...Sour Cream Scones~

A BIG Thank you to each of you for the SWEET comments you left me (and I even got some emails too!!)  Y'all are the B.E.S.T!!!  =)

I found this easy yummy recipe for sour cream scones here!

This is what she had to say about them.

"Scones, at least for me, were always a vehicle for butter and sticky, fruity jam! And not all scones are the same, either.

As a young girl at a Scottish boarding school, scones became my most coveted tea time treat. They were not at all like the light, flaky, little bundles of deliciousness served today. They were more of a dense, dry biscuit... and a vehicle to eat butter and jam!

I like these Sour Cream Scones because they are very basic, yet so light and yummy... and a great vehicle for butter and jam."  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~I have made these 2 or 3 times now and we really enjoyed them!  They are just perfect to go with that little spot of tea. ~Heather~

 ~My sweetheart Phillip got me this fun tea pot back in the fall.  It has made us MANY cups of yummy tea! =) ~

~Here are the same sour cream scones cut into snowmen.  I hope you'll hop over to her blog and get the recipe.~