Valentine's Day Countdown

We are ALWAYS counting down to something at our house.
Currently, we are counting down to the next time I teach piano lessons (so Teresa can play with my students), Super Bowl, when our supper guests will arrive next weekend, and probably several other things I don't remember or I am just not aware of yet.
I came across this Valentine's Day Countdown craft from catholicicing.com today.  Teresa and I put it together this morning and she can't wait to take off the first link tomorrow!  It comes with 14 Bible-verse links, so I just added another one that says, "What do I LOVE most about my family?" to the chain so that we don't have to wait one more day to start!
Follow the link to get it all printed and done for you.  All you have to do is cut and fold the strips into hearts (fold in half and then staple the top).  Be sure to link each folded heart before you staple it into a heart shape.  I ALMOST made this mistake . . . but maybe I'm the only one without that foresight.
Despite the blog's name, it is not necessary for you to be Catholic to make this craft.  I promise. :o)
Now, off to find out more about St. Valentine so we can put a little meaning into our Valentine's Day celebration beyond balloons and chocolate!  Only 15 days left!

Name-Your-Own Chicken

 

We tried something new tonight.  It was consumed without complaint by all, from youngest to oldest at the table.  (To be fair, the oldest only complained one time in our marriage, and, well, I don't see that happening again. . . .) :o)

I have found that my pickier two middle children are more apt to try new things when they help in the prep work and they were more than happy to help with this one.  Nathan got to pound the chicken with the meat tenderizer and Teresa got to crush the crackers (both done in gallon size Ziploc bags--NO mess!)

I am calling this Name-Your-Own Chicken because I took it out of the Sept. 2012 Ladies' Home Journal last fall, probably--appropriately--sometime around September

In the magazine it is called "Mrs. Potter's Chicken."  The person renamed it in honor of the woman who shared the recipe with her.  Previously, Mrs. Potter named it "Marie Murphy's Chicken" in honor of her friend.

So, call it what you want, but I do suggest you try it!

 

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp black pepper

Chicken breasts to fill 9x13 pan (sliced in half, if necessary, and pounded to about 1/4 inch thick)

2 T butter, melted

 

Heat oven to 425. Spray pan with cooking spray and set aside.  Combine cracker crumbs, Parmesan, and pepper in a shallow dish; set aside.  Pound each chicken piece to about 1/4 inch thick.  Coat chicken in melted butter (I use my glass pie plates for these sorts of things), and then dredge in cracker mixture, pressing crumbs firmly onto each piece.  Lay chicken in pan in a single layer.  Sprinkle any excess coating over the top.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

 

 

$100

Yesterday Nathan's class celebrated their 100th Day of School.  Nathan brought home this paper:

I was so proud of him and totally didn't expect this sort of serious answer from him.
I would have expected something closer to his brother's answer two years ago which was, "I would buy 100 cheeseburgers at the Chelsea Bar." 
We all have our priorities!

January 26

Here we are.  January 26.  A year ago our lives changed forever with a phone call.  We had just seen our nephew Luke at our baby's baptism on January 1.  We would never see him on this earth again.  Our family had just heard Jesus words, "Let the little children come to me."  One of those children was now in his arms.

I share this song today because I love the first line.

"Everybody's got a story to tell.  Everybody's got a wound to be healed."

Some are called to bear deeper wounds than others and somehow God gives them the grace they need to live each day.  May God's abundant peace be theirs. . . all of ours as we take our wounds to be healed.

All he has to worry about . . .

Calving has begun at our farm.  Our first baby arrived a little over a week ago.  We had a set of twins earlier in the week, and now the boys have their long awaited bottle calf to feed.  Rachel loves watching the cows on the monitor in her room/our office and can now say "Moo." 
Most people start calving in late February or March to avoid the coldest months of the year, but after David built a large barn to house the mamas and babies several years ago, he moved the start of calving back to January.  There were other reasons, too, for this decision, but those aren't important right now. 
What's important is what my husband declared he has to worry about this time of year.
Earlier this week, David was telling me how he likes this new calving schedule . . . I missed a little bit . . . and then he finished with, "All I have to worry about is how far to keep my barn door open at night."
I couldn't just let that comment go.

Yep.
That's all he has to worry about this time of year!