Friday, April 13, 2012

Freely Give

Jeffery's actions this morning brought to life for me two scriptures, and I was once again humbled by my darling son.

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

Yesterday, Jeffery came home with another fundraiser from school that was for the March of Dimes. It is only a four day long deal, and we are doing another fundraiser for the playground, so my first thought was "well, we will just let this one slide". It came as a little box that you can fold and it makes a coin bank. I folded it last night and just had it sitting on the kitchen counter. Jeff was reading all the facts it has about the foundation on the box to me as I cleaned the kitchen. Then he marveled that the money had helped the baby that was pictured on the side.

This morning I was prodding him along, getting him ready for school. I told him it was time to go brush his teeth. He walked toward the back and was right back in the kitchen. I noticed that he was trying to shove a five dollar bill into the box, and was having trouble because the slot is for coins. I applauded him on how generous he was being, as I helped him fold the bill smaller. When i grabbed the money from him, it had two five dollar bills together. I said, "Oh buddy, you have two here. Take this one back and I will put in five, just like you." I left to get my five and he had gone on to brush his teeth.

As I was helping him get on his shoes, he told me that he had 15 dollars in his box. I corrected him and said no we just have ten, you put five and I put five. He said, "No, I put in my other five, too."

I was taken aback. I praised him again at how awesome he was and generous, but I told him, if he wanted to take back his other five he could. He told me, that it was okay, because he had plenty more money in his wallet.

My first thought was to not even do this fundraiser, and then when I gave my five it was only because Jeffery had done it first. He gave so freely, without any hesitancy. He was a cheerful giver. Proud can not even begin to describe how I felt of him at that moment. I left the room and cried. I can learn so much from him. I need to humble myself, as my little child.

My prayer for him, is that he always keeps his generous heart.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Mouse in a bucket

Yesterday I found this little jewel in a five gallon bucket out in our shed.

I was grabbing a shovel and bucket for our trip to the park and saw something in there at glance. When I leaned over to get a better look, the little bugger jumped, trying to get out. I flipped out and then called for Cane to come look. It was quite the excitement.

I wasn't about to mess with it, and it couldn't get out, so we just let it chill in the bucket all day and wait for its demise when Levi got home.

The boys were a little upset when Levi went out there, so as far as they know, the little guy is roaming free in the field.
( I felt kind of sad too, but not enough to beg for its life :))

Levi is my hero. So brave. And not scared of mice :)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Oven Baked Tacos

I have made several recipes I have found on pinterest, but this one was awesome. And this one was amazing. And this one will be made over and over again.

Sweet little Jeffery suggested that we should start having Taco Tuesday a while back. I was excited to have this little tradition for our family and we have done it kind of hit and miss because I don't always remember :( We normally just do the regular taco thing with all the fixings, but this recipe seemed to be so much simpler, and so much better tasting!

And of course, I will include the recipe. And I am now realizing I should have snapped a pic. The original recipe is huge and will make 18-20 tacos, so I halved it. Sort of. I will write the original and then side note what I did differently.

OVEN BAKED TACOS

2 lbs. ground beef
1 can refried beans
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 packet of taco seasoning
Shredded cheese
18-20 hard shell tacos
lettuce, salsa, sour cream, jalapeƱos, etc. for toppings

Brown the ground beef, drain if needed, then add the beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning and mix all together in the same pan you browned the meat
Stand the shells in a 9x13 dish (this was kind of tricky) and put the filling evenly in all the shells. Top each shell with shredded cheese. And then bake at 400 for 10-12 mins. Voila. Then top them however you wish :)

My variations were that I used only 1 lb of meat, but still a whole can of the beans, tomato sauce, and a whole packet of seasoning. I then only used a box of 12 taco shells.

This is definitely the way we will do Taco Tuesday from now on.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Craigslist Creeper

Just telling this story creeps me out.

I had dealings with a creeper/possible robber, raper, and all the unthinkables I hate to think of.

I posted a classified for my grandmas buffet. The same day, a man responds, interested in knowing when he could come look at it. I checked Levi's schedule to make sure he would be here, and then told the man, Tuesday. This was on Saturday, by the way. He did not respond.

Then Sunday evening, he sends a very lengthy response, about how he would have loved to come and looked at it but he is out of town, but he absolutely wants it and will even go as far to add $30 so I will remove the post from Craigslist and hold it for him. He asked for more pictures of it. He then inquires my name, phone number, and address because he will have to send me a cashiers check and upon my receiving the money we will further discuss arrangements for pick-up.

Mind you, this is him telling me all the proceedings to take place. I am thinking this guy is pushy.

Thank the Lord, I was at my mothers and was giving her a play by play on all this, and she suggested I give him our churches PO box, so he won't have my address. I didn't feel comfortable giving my address, but this genius idea had never even crossed my mind. So, I will give him a PO box and then insist that we deliver to him in a public place. Problem Solved!!

All the while, I am feeling super creeped out, gut feeling. He responds that he is sending the cashiers check via Fedex, so he will have to have my street address.

NO WAY, MR!! I honestly replied, that I didn't feel comfortable giving out my home address, so if he could not send payment to the PO box that I could not do this transaction.

And guess what.....I haven't heard from him since.

My mind was still cooking up stories all evening about how he already knew where I lived and I scare myself with stuff like that all the time. So, lots of prayers for safety and protection went up last night from me and my momma!