Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and obey His commandments, for a thousand generations.

This text is the very first Hide it Your Heart memory text.  Want to participate?  Hop on over to Belinda's blog (on my sidebar).  I'm excited to start, and decided that having this text pop up in front of me whenever I visit my own blog will be helpful.  And, typing it (or writing) it out is a great way to memorize.

Thanks Belinda, for starting this - I think it will be quite fun :)

The Easiest Banana Bread EVER

For real.  This recipe is SO simple and tastes so good.  I can make it (when I don't have any helpers) in less time than it takes the oven to preheat, and it takes me about 3 minutes to clean up.  Simple, fast, and delicious.  Can't beat that!  Here's how you do it:

• Mash 1/3C of softened butter with 4 small or 3 large bananas that your children and husband refuse to eat because they have too many brown spots on them.
• Add 1 C of regular sugar and stir.
• Add one egg.  Slightly beat it while it's still sitting on top of the butter/sugar/banana mix and then stir to combine.
• Sprinkle 1 tsp of baking soda and a pinch of salt on top of the wet mixture and stir.
• Add 1 tsp of vanilla, stir.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of regular flour, 1/2 a cup at a time.
• Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  My oven runs a bit hot, so I check mine at 50 minutes to just make sure it's not burning.   Let the loaf cool for about 15 minutes before transferring out of it's pan onto a plate.

I love this recipe because you only need two different measuring utensils - a half cup measuring cup and a one teaspoon measuring spoon.  You don't need to use your electric mixer - just a bowl and a wooden spoon is all you need here.  My kids love to help me bake this bread, and it's the type of no-brainer recipe that I don't mind them helping with.  Emily is an expert banana masher ;).  And clean up is a breeze.

Enjoy :)

OH BABY!

There have been 4 babies born in our church so far this year. There are still 6 more to come! A couple in September, a few in November, and one in December. Yikes. The nursery in 6 months is going to be a BUSY place.

It is such a blessing to see our church grow. There are so many churches, in St. Thomas especially, where the church ages with the congregation. When the youngest member dies, the church closes it's doors. We are so blessed to have more babies born each year then elderly members pass away (so far). I have heard many pastors remark that they would much rather be interrupted a few times each service by a noisy toddler than look out into a sea of quiet, gray haired people.

Want to know why I was thinking about this? Well, co-ordinating meals for moms with new babies, planing a few showers for first time moms, and giving those with babies some time off of the nursery schedule has kept me busy! But busy in a good way - I feel useful and satisfied :)

Right now our babies are split 50/50, in terms of gender. We have a girl from Rob and Taun, a boy from Tim and Carolyn, a girl from Scott and Jen, and a boy from Joel and Lynnette. Want to see my predictions for the upcoming babies? Sure you do......
I think:
John and Amanda will have another boy
Trevor and Sarah will have a girl
Brian and Monica will have another girl
Matt and Julianna will have a boy (I'm cheating here)
Arie and Diana will have a boy
Ben and Heather will have another girl

I'm sure to be right at least once. And I'm VERY excited to be getting a new little nephew in November.

So don't forget to pray for all the expecting moms and for all those who would love to be expecting a baby of their own :)

Off to school

Yesterday was Emily's first day of school. Included in that day were a bunch of "firsts" for all of us. Her first time being left with someone other than family. Her first time eating a prepared lunch from a lunch bag. My first time dropping off a child at school. My very first time leaving her somewhere and wondering "will she be ok?"

I knew she was in the highly skilled hands of Mrs. Baker and the all knowing, tender hands of our Father. But I still couldn't help but worry about her all day. I think I thought about her a million and ten times, and was about 12 minutes early to pick her up ;)

I remember being SO thankful at this time last year that Emily was not starting school, and as other moms were out buying back packs and inside shoes, I was grateful that our lives would remain completely the same. I still wasn't ready a year later. And about 10 times a day I think about home schooling!! Maybe next year.......

So are you wondering how it went? (maybe not if you're on Facebook!) Well, when she got into the truck at the end of the day she told me that school was "not very good" and that she cried two times. She didn't like rest time or her grade 8 reading buddy (poor Christopher, to be stuck with Emily!!) She also woke up this morning and stated in a matter of fact way "I am never going to school again". I have convinced her that she needs to go to school to return her library book and to show Mrs. Baker the picture that she finished colouring at home. There may also be a promised trip to the apple orchard to help encourage her to go..... So we'll see what tomorrow morning holds for us. Maybe she will change her mind and decide not to be so stubborn. That too, will be a first!

September

It's September 1st. I can hardly believe it. Summer is always so busy and it seems to pass in a blur.
But I am excited that a new month has begun. I like the beginning of months - flipping the page on the calendar and glancing at how our lives are scheduled for this month.
This month holds lots of new and exciting changes for us. The biggest (for us) is that Emily will start school is less than one week. We are both ready, although I am still slightly nervous. I'm sure she will be fine and I'm looking forward to spending some time with just Jacob, but my heart still squeezes when I think of dropping her off and leaving her for the day.
Piano will start back up soon, too. It's one of my favourite parts of the week. We're both looking forward to it.
We are going away this weekend, as well. Just a few nights to visit with my old roommate and then to stay one night in Niagara Falls. We are going with good friends and we know we will have many laughs together. Both my kids are getting watched by their grandma's, so I feel very at ease leaving them for two and a half days. We are blessed to have such great moms!

And finally, probably the most exciting thing happening in September... a new niece or nephew will be born! Mark and Bethany will have their first baby. Bethany will make such a fantastic mother and I am excited for this journey to begin for her.

There are a few other small things happening this month. A few birthdays and day trips are planned. I'm also looking forward to wardrobe change - warm hoodies, jeans, socks and shoes - and the changing colours. I'm not looking forward to winter, but I sure do love fall.