Our Southern Belle Visits

Our dear military friends, Laura and Eric moved to Louisiana last Fall. Have you ever had friends who came out of nowhere and blessed your life in MANY MANY MANY ways that you never even hoped for or prayed for? This was exactly what happened to us in meeting this fabulous couple.

Eric attended Red Flag training in Alaska so for the last 10 days, Laura....or more affectionately - THE NANNY.....came to visit our family WAY UP NORTH. Laura was often at our house when they lived in Minot as Eric was deployed for 5 months and often worked late as well. Our girls quickly fell in love with her (and Eric) and they just became part of the family. This is where her Nanny name began.

Our Northern weather actually was quite lovely for a few days so we had a nice walk/bike ride on one of the first days.

Later in the week we had a picnic at the park where we played on the playground, visited with a goose and played catch.

There were lots of cuddles all week

more park time.....

Laura's hips got stuck....so you can imagine what mine did!

Abbigail is in love with her Laura

new matching jammies from the nanny

we let Laura pick out the Sunday dresses

Forever Friends - this was after our fabulous day out in Bismarck. Matt took the day off to be with the girls and we got to have a girls day shopping and eating :)

Laura loves to read....Abbigail loves to look and listen - they make a great pair!

quickly fitting in a little card making the night before she left

Other things we got to do: make Matt and Abbigail's birthday cake, shop all the second hand stores, eat at Badlands and Michaels, cuddle in bed, take pictures, share our hearts.

Saying goodbye - then the tears began......Abbigail just despises goodbyes.....but Laura taught her to say "See ya later".....and we will.....only God knows when....but we will.

We love you Laura!

Berube Bites

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

* get ready for an AMAAAAAAAZING recipe! This was so so so delicious.....
and of course no calories at all :)

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 package white chocolate chips
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 pkg cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
1 can raspberry pie filling - 16 oz
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan
combine flour, oats, sugar cinnamon and nutmeg
cut in butter using a fork till crumbly
add white chocolate chips
reserve 2 1/2 cups for topping
press remaining mixture in bottom of pan
Beat cream cheese until creamy
add milk, lemon juice, zest and vanilla
blend until smooth
pour over crust
combine pie filling and cornstarch
spoon over cream cheese
sprinkle with reserved flour mixture
bake for 25-30 minutes

* I did not have pie filling so I made my own using frozen raspberries and fresh strawberries. I cooked them up with a bit of water and quite a bit of cornstarch and also added some sugar. I did not put nutmeg in the crumble cause I thought it was an odd ingredient??? I just used lemon juice - no zest - but I am thinking it would have added even more wonderful taste had I used it so I plan to next time. The combination of the lemon flavor with the raspberries and white chocolate was a slice of Heaven!

Hope you enjoy!

My little artist

A pool with people swimming

a favorite 4th birthday present!

I hope I always remember these days....

Monday Musings

I ordered this sunshine - you can thank me later :)

Dear Ella's molars.....anytime you feel like making an appearance is fine with us.....ALL OF US!

I have a feeling that the $18 easel we bought for Abbigail was a great investment - how to keep Ella away will be the headache!

anticipating 10 days with my bestie....

the sound of a child falling down a flight of wooden stairs is not one I want repeated in my lifetime!

is wishing her daughters had learned their phone skills from their dad....but alas I'm afraid it's their mom!

Looks like Papa Berube gets a Princess balloon this year (more on that later)

no one can make Ella giggle like Abbigail - no one can make Abbigail giggle like Ella.....pure, sweet music to my ears!

tomorrow: first Deaconess meeting as chair....report later

mother/daughter date to garage sales Saturday morning - that's my kind of morning!

so much to learn/teach between year one and two

meal planning.....well I made a long list of favorite meals - that's a start....

"Joy is the echo of God's life within us." Joseph Marmion

dreading going off Ella's Singulair - hoping the ear infections are gone for good!

proud owners of a new karoke machine from the neighbor - with a camera on it - you know for viewing the dance moves - Abbigail is in love....performances....free of charge - COME ON OVER :)

Love my sister.....but think two sisters is even better! Curtis and Carlanna Anderson - nice ring to it!

smelling - freshly baked granola.....and perhaps a freshly dirtied diaper....

(sad dejected voice and face) "Mom look at that post....it has no sign on it like the other posts."
I burst out laughing
"well Mom, it's kinda like a tree cut down!"
both of us burst out laughing - hmmm.....maybe you had to be there!

I think clutter is just a way of life in a small house....decluttering is an impossible task.

listening to: Ella banging/shaking maracas and Abbigail calling me to see how she wrote her name.

love the greeeness (is that a word?) of the grass

wished I enjoyed learning new things more......

learning to cry with those who cry - with no explanations

love to listen to Ella "read" :)

FREE babysitting offered at the church - I think that should be a regular Friday night occurence! Huge blessings on those 6 girls who ran around with the 32 kids!

"Each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths, He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well." Alexander MacLaren

okay the house now is much too quiet - off to find out what my sinnerlings are up to!

FOUR? Really?

I have often heard it said that:

"The days are long but the years are short."

I've only had four years with my Abbigail Joy and I can say this is TRUE!!

Where have the four years gone?

Nothing could have prepared me for the joy of motherhood. How wonderful to be able to spend my days training the next generation to seek the Lord with all their hearts! I love it. Such an overwhelming task most days. So thankful for the love and support of friends and family and ultimately - of God - who never calls us to something He doesn't equip us with the tools to accomplish.

Abbigail you have brought so much joy into our home. We just love your sensitive, caring spirit. Your compassion for others is so obvious and I know that God will use that to bless many people you come into contact with. From day one, we noticed your silliness and your laughter has filled our home with joy! You have grown into such a wonderful big sister and the ways you help mommy and daddy with Ella have made our hearts smile. We know Jesus is smiling on you too as He lives inside your heart now! What fun to be able to hear you pray and ask Him to be Lord of your life! To see you grow in your knowledge of Him and hearing you talk about Bible stories you've learned and applying verses to your life, makes the hard work of parenting pay off! We know God has big plans for your life as you continue to obey Him. We love you!

Happy 4th Birthday!

It's All About Him

I've been thinking a lot lately how God is a jealous God. He wants our undivided attention and worship. He doesn't want to have our leftovers. Everything is really all about Him in the first place and if it wasn't for Him, we wouldn't exist. Every good thing comes from His hand.

Psalm 15 :3

"Our God is in the heavens and he does as he wishes."

Proverbs 16:4

"The Lord has made everything for his own purposes."

I think it's so easy to get caught up in doing "good things" for God.....but actually forgetting HIM in the process!

HE calls us to the WORSHIP OF HIM first and foremost.

I have been attending a Bible Study every week at our church and we are studying the book
"Words that Hurt - Words that Heal"

In it Carole Mayhall writes,

"I am becoming more and more convinced that telling people about Christ is not the most important ministry we have in this life. Neither is feeding the hungry. Nor helping people find a deeper relationship with God. All of those things are important and commanded by God. But more and more I am persuaded that what pleases the heart of God most are the choices we make that no one sees but God - those everyday moments when God is the only audience; when we offer to Him the sacrifice of praise; when the sweet aroma of our thanksgiving reaches Him."

I think as mothers we can relate to this. There are many moments in the day that no one sees where we have to choose joy. Choose to praise God for:

our snotty nosed kids
our teething babies (personally relating to this one right now!!!)
our disobedient toddlers
our rebellious teenagers
our uncooperative husbands
our homes - as messy/dirty as they are

That's why it's called a "sacrifice" of praise......sacrifices do not come easily. They pull at every fiber of our being....threaten to destroy us....but ultimately bring us the most joy.

This is when God smiles at us - because we are choosing to remember - it's not about us -

IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM

To homeschool or not to homeschool?

So.....many of you know we've been debating about homeschooling?

If you would have asked me two years ago....I'd have said ABSOLUTELY NOT! I can't be both mother and teacher....I don't want my kids to be socially strange.....I can't be with my kids every moment of the day......they won't get the same experiences here as at school......I can't shelter them forever......

oh I had a million reasons.....

But slowly over time (and with my dad's voice of encouragement) my heart really changed about it. And all of a sudden one day, I realized that I was totally okay with the idea! I think I shocked myself!!!!!!!!

So I went on a mission to find out all I could from everyone I knew about what would go into homeschooling and how it looked in practice in their homes. I found much helpful information and as time went on, felt a lot of peace in my heart about the idea.

For me.....a sense of peace is often the way God has directed my life. By nature I'm a worry wart. I can find anything under the sun to worry about and at times in my life it's driven me completely batty and even affected my health.

So.....when I'm at peace, I know it is God calming my heart cause I could never be in that state on my own.

But.....I have been pleading with God over the last couple months to give me something VERY specific to let me know that this decision is of Him. I felt I needed something so that when I was doubting the choice we made, I could say "No....this is what God clearly asked of us."

My prayers seemed to go unanswered until last week....

I was checking my Facebook and noticed that I had a friend request. When clicking on the little red 1 I noticed that it was from a Coreena Berube....WHAT????

I was slightly weirded out but proceeded to read the message that she had sent along with the request. She had been bored one night and wanted to see if there were any other Coreena Berube's on Facebook and she found me.....read my profile and realized I was a Christian!

She continued to tell me she was one too and told me a bit about her family. I quickly added her as my friend....Coreena Berube from Massacheusetts!

A day later she wrote to me and said that she had been reading on my blog that I was thinking about homeschooling. Then she told me about her experience homeschooling all her children.

Out of the blue she said "Coreen....if you even have the desire for it, it's likely of God. From everything I know about you - I think you'd do a wonderful job. You should do it."

A Coreena Berube from Massacheusetts encouraged a Coreen Berube from North Dakota to go for it!

I was floored! Isn't God creative?

Matching Girlies!

I'm such a sucker for matching outfits! It's just one of the joys of having two of the same sex close in age. I figure that soon I'll be hearing, "But Mom....do I have to wear that?" So I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts....and take lots of pictures :)

Casseroles

So yesterday we were at caregroup and I was lamenting the fact that I am now in an administrative role on the Deaconess Committee instead of hands-on, as I would rather prefer. I was explaining to the group that I would rather be the one to babysit the kids or take the casseroles to the door of the needy people than to organize the details.

Matt pipes up "Well....you can still cook for me babe....in fact if it makes you feel better, you could bring it to our door!"

Of course we all laughed hysterically......

and then I did some thinking about it.....

Sometimes I get so caught up in doing for others, that I forget that putting food on the table for MY OWN FAMILY is a ministry. I lose the joy of serving MY OWN FAMILY.

Why?

Well.....there's not a lot of appreciation from a one year old and a four year old....it's mundane.....it's not as glamorous.....

But I believe that MY OWN FAMILY needs to be my #1 ministry - God....again....gently reminded me of this through my hubby this week.....

So the next time I feel like I'd rather do for someone else than MY OWN FAMILY.....I may just cook that casserole and bring it to my own door!

(Let the neighbors think what they may!)

Berube Bites

Easy Mexican Casserole

(heavy on the "EASY")

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb hamburger
1/2 package shredded Jack Cheese
6 tortillas (or less)
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken
1 can rotel

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan

Cook the hamburger with the oil and onions (I omitted the oil). Mix the can of black beans and the corn together. Mix the can of rotel with the cream of chicken soup separately - I put all 4 together....which may have been an accident....

Layer the pan:
bean and corn mixture
hamburger
1/2 of the cheese
tortillas

Repeat layering until all ingredients are used. Pour the rotel/chicken soup mixture on the top of the last layer of tortillas. (oops....already used that up! So I just put cheese on top)

Bake for 30 minutes

Turned out YUMMY! We cut up fresh tomatoes and green onion and added some salsa and sour cream but both agreed it needed some cilantro to finish it off!

Enjoy!