Easter Egg Envy

Making Progress

Our vegetable garden is showing signs of progress.  The cantelope were the first plants to break through the soil and hope to soon see sprouts of green peppers peaking out into the light.  The kids are so excited and asking all kinds of questions about when we will plant them outside and how soon we'll eat our produce.  Believe me, I'm excited too.  Purchasing store-bought fruits and veggies bring me down.  :)  Yesterday we made it out to Lanoha's Nursey for a little inspiration. Afterward, we started our green house (2x the size of this one) with flowers.  If they all grow we won't need to mow this year.  The whole yard will be full of flowers and produce...should make Chris happy.

Totally unrelated but thought you might be impressed with this pile of "Vincent fur".  The lion cut is not complete but he was done being patient.  I hope to go at it again tomorrow after everyone goes to school.

Easter is one week away.  Last night we attended "The Victor" at our home church.  The greatest story ever told came to life in a dramatic musical portrayal of the passion of Jesus. We witnessed the historic events of the Easter week: the Triumphal Entry, the miracles of Jesus, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. What a powerful night for the Raabe family.  It was a little too much for little Olivia but brought real meaning to the phrase, "Jesus died on the cross for our sins" for Emma & Reagan.  We all need that reminder from time to time.  If I don't "talk" to you again before next Sunday let me be the first to wish you a very happy Easter.  May the truths of Jesus' life become real to you. 

Blessings my friends.

MSG

Do you know what it is?  Monosodium Glutamate, food additive and flavor enhancer.  Most people know the common name and maybe even heard about it from time to time in the news but do you know the other names found on ingrediants lists that are also MSG, or contain MSG? 

natural flavor
seasonings
yeast extract
hydrolyzed protein
yeast food
gelatin
textured protein
yeast nutrient
autolyzed yeast
sodium caseinate
calcium caseinate
hydrolyzed corn gluten

This information is also found at the website  http://www.truthinlabeling.org/

Excitotoxins are molecules, such as MSG and aspartate, that act as excitatory neurotransmitters.
MSG is found in nearly all processed food
Glutamate is the neurotransmitter that causes dorsal horn spinal cord chronic pain sensitization

This is bad stuff and we consume way too much of it daily.  READ labels and educate yourself.  You health and life just might depend on it.

Emma

Emma and I spent the evening at the mall.  We got some great pictures taken at Picture People and then free drinks from Dairy Queen.  The only thing that could have made our evening better would have been pedicures before coming home.

Spending time with my oldest daughter one on one is truly what I call a perfect date night.  I love you Emma!

Think Spring...Think Green

We are trying hard to "think green" but after snow 2 days ago, it's pretty hard to believe today is really the first day of spring. Chris is taking another step towards going green. He has always been a big recycler but this year he is building a compost bin (pictures to follow) and expanding our garden. Today our garden officially started...inside. We plan to eat well this summer.

Proud Papa

Reagan and Olivia planting seeds

We hope to start seeing some sprouts break through the soil in a couple of weeks. You can be sure I will keep you up to date.

Now if we could just raise our own beef and chickens our grocery store trips would be few and far between. Maybe I should try canning again.

Spring Ahead

If nothing else, this must be a sign that spring is here. Tonight we will set our clocks ahead by one hour (spring ahead). It's a bitter sweet idea for me. On one hand, I really like my sleep and that one hour of missing shut-eye is precious to me. Maybe if I wasn't one of those chronically sleep deprived people it wouldn't matter so much. On the other hand, this day marks a wonderful moment in time...SPRING! I know it's not official anywhere except in my mind.

Losing that hour of sleep makes me remember Easter one year when I was a kid. We were late for church because we forgot to move the clocks ahead. If Easter isn't a mark in time to think "spring" then I don't know what is. Spring is new life....hello Easter is all about new life in Jesus Christ. The winter kills all green plant life and in the spring the plant emerges from ground with new life. 2000 years ago Jesus Chris died and on Easter morning he emerged from death with new life.

I can't say happy Easter tomorrow, not even Happy St Patrick's Day yet but I can say happy March 14th all you sleepy eyed people. Have a wonderful Sunday.

What a Surprise!

Last night I was ready to post some pictures of my snowless lawn and flowers breaking through the soggy ground. My spirits were beginning to brighten, I could feel spring in the air. And then I woke up this morning to a white blanket covering everything outside. If you know our family, you know my hubby loves a good practical joke so I first thought, maybe this is a big joke. That's a little too big for even Chris to pull off. It has snowed ALL DAY LONG!

Go ahead and feel sorry for me...I know I sure do. But one day soon it will be a perfect temp of 72 degrees and my yard will be green. There will be veggies growing, flowers blooming and my husband will be a gardening FREAK, truly my little world will be right again.

Working Girl for a Day

I have no desire to go back to work but today I'm pretending to be a working girl again. Pearson Chiropractic is a blooming new wellness center opened by my friend Nicole Pearson (no relation). Today I am sitting at her front desk acting as if I know what I am doing. So far so good, I think I have even fooled a few people. Being a full time mommy is my passion as well as my calling so going back to work is a foreign thought. But volunteering to help a friend for a day is both fun and stimulating, especially when I consider the alternative laundry and cleaning my bathrooms. Dr Nicole has someone to smile and answer phones today which comes with a cute little 4 year old bonus. Olivia adds a bright spot to the office, if I do say so myself. I hope she can hold out for just a few more hours and then I'm going to owe her lunch.

Enjoy your Monday. Lend a helping hand today. You never know what that small task may do for someone else.

More Birthday Pictures

Silly girls! Just a quick trip to Target for snacks before bowling and they found the perfect disguise. Kimberly and I being great role models encouraged this behavior and made them pose for a picture.

These girls have been friends for many years, dating back to our days at Third City Christian Church. Celebrating Emma's 11th birthday just wouldn't be right without her 2 dear friends.

Better Than Happy

Have you ever considered happiness and what that means? What makes you happy? For me it's little things like pedicures, Starbucks gift cards, hugs from my girls, dinner with my husband and a girls night out. All these things are great but not long lasting; toe nails chip, coffee isn't good for me, kids get busy, families get distracted and girlfriends come and go.

May I propose to you that joy is even better than happy. Joy is deeper, well grounded and not based on something superficial. Joy remains through trials and in spite of my good intentions as well as epic failures. My joy is found in my faith in Jesus Christ. He is steady. Read anything that Paul wrote throughout the bible and you will learn about joy. Paul's joy did not come after a day at the spa but often sitting in prison.

My challenge this week:
Read the book of Philippians. It's a short read, only 4 chapters. If you don't have a bible go to www.gatewaybible.com. I have a link on my blog at the daily verse to the right.

Find joy this week. You won't regret it and I believe you will be a better person for it.

On My Knees

This message may ramble a little because I am so full of emotion right now and I need to let it out. There's your warning. :)

My heart is breaking. I actually feel an ache deep inside of me for my friend who has possibly been hurt in the name of religion or maybe just conservative christians. I don't know the past but I do know the description this person offers of evangelicals does not at all fit the description of Jesus Christ. So what has happened? What should I do? I want to defend my faith. I want to prove that I am not what this person thinks "we" are. I want to show the path that leads to life eternal is not full of ugly, uptight, bigots. However, it's not about me, it's about Jesus and His unfailing love.

Sitting here in my quiet family room I can "hear" an overwhelming voice telling me this, "Pray Pray Pray!" I know there's nothing I can do to change a person's heart. Praying hard but it is difficult when I'm being torn apart verbally.

Today's verse....
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD." Isaiah 55:8
So maybe I should allow God to take control of my friend's heart. :)

Thanks for letting me share my heart.