If I Were Magic--by: Anna

If I were magic I could fly into space and live on Jupiter.  I could have a beautiful palace and never die if I were magic.  I would never be sick or miserable.  I would be able to rule the whole world.  I would rule the seas.  I would be really, really rich.  I would never run out of money.  I could make people do what I wanted them to do. (I would never do that, though.)  If I were magic I would never have any trouble at all.

THE END

                                                           

Photo credit: Ruthanne @ Eclectic Whatnot
Typing credit: Ian the Magnificent

The Little Old Woman-- by: Anna

Once upon a time there was an old woman who did not have a home.  She looked and looked but
she could not find one, so she walked for a long time until she saw a small house far away beside the country
road.  When she got there she saw a dog, a chicken, a cat, and a horse who had no home. 

She went to work.  She put in windows in; she painted the house--the inside of the house yellow the outside red.  When the house was finished, she built a fence around the house.  Along the outside of the fence she planted flowers of every kind.  Then she moved in. 

When she looked out of a window she said, "The grass needs to be mowed."  So she went outside and started mowing.  An hour later she finished.  When she had put up the mower she went
inside and said, '' I am lonely.  I wish I had a friend to talk to."  Then for the second time she saw the animals."  She said, "Animals, you may live with me."  And all the animals ran to her.  The little old woman was very glad to have the animals for friends.  And she never was lonely again.
     
                                                                 THE END

King of the Nursery

Cael's fun set-up pictured here was knit by his good friends Sarah and Lauren.  Sarah created the hat, and Lauren provided the coordinating block.  They gave him this gift ten months ago, and now he's finally big enough for a proper photo op.

Happy Birthday to Lew

We had dinosaur cake a la Grammy a couple weeks early.

P

Pretty much the usual crew for that event--

except Great-Grandpa Riches from Washington was standing in for Grandad.

******************

We saved the wet and wild fun for the exact day of his birth.  

Friends from church helped make the water balloons and giant slip-n-slide extra fun!

We're glad you're six, Lewis!

A Satirical Mirror . . .

. . . for one branch of American Christianity

I have no idea whence the makers of this trailer for the movie Sunday's Comin' hail, but it's so accurate, it really doesn't matter too much.  Thankfully, this represents just one segment of the evangelical church in our country, and whether this exact shoe fits or not, it's a great reminder that a lot of good can come from learning to laugh at ourselves.

HT: Amy of Humble Musings fame

Parenting with Joy

Peter Leithart wrote an excellent article for Credenda Agenda:

Joyful Parenting

Joy is prominently placed in Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit, second only to love (Galatians 5:22-23).  If Christian homes are little outposts of the new Eden, green with the fruits of the Spirit, we should expect joy to be one of the main crops.  Joy should be the dominant tone of a Christian home.  Often it isn’t, and that’s hardly surprising.  After all, children are time-consuming, frustrating, demanding.  Children can be a nuisance.

Of course, he doesn't end things there.  The piece is a helpful reminder of what all Christian parents already know . . . but always need to hear again.

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars: A Junior-Chef-Friendly Sweet Treat

Ian and Anna both love to whip out this no-bake dessert---and Lewis keeps asking us to let him do it.  The rest of us are just glad to finally have homemade dessert on hand more often! 

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
16 oz peanut butter
3 c. bran flake cereal (though grape nuts work pretty well, too!)

chocolate chips to taste (We prefer the bittersweet and do roughly 8 oz per recipe.)

Melt butter.  Mix in peanut butter and sugar; then stir in cereal.  Spread evenly into a 9x13 pan.  Melt chocolate chips over low heat, and spread evenly over bars.  Refrigerate to cool.  Cut into bars. 

These are also great crumbled and stirred into ice cream, and I'm sure there are lots of other creative applications for this recipe yet to be discovered!