Homemade Brown Sugar

This past Saturday I decided to make 3 batches of our favorite Peanut Butter Swirl Bars (click on that name for the recipe, if you're interested.) It wasn't until I was already into the recipe that I remembered I was out of brown sugar. Never fear!! I knew I had some molasses in my pantry somewhere and plenty of granulated sugar.....so I was all set. Did you know you can make your own brown sugar? Some people like the taste of it better than the store bought version. I'm not sure that it would be cheaper since brown sugar is already pretty cheap and molasses is a bit pricey, but I think it would be pretty close. The flavor is worth it!!!

To one cup of white granulated sugar, use 2 T. of old-fashioned dark molasses.

Mix together well and store as you would store bought brown sugar, in an airtight container.

Not completely mixed yet.....

Just about right!!

Look what we lost recently.....

Our Abby is 5 years old now, and was very grown up about loosing her first tooth.

First tooth in.....first tooth out.

A favorite field trip

Last Monday we went on a very exciting field trip.

Almost every Monday we take a field trip of some sort because we have Daddy

home with us on that day, and because a lot of places aren't packed full of

other students that day either.

We went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth, Texas.

This is a part of the U.S. Department of Treasury where they print U.S. currency.

Our Fort Worth facility is only the second location in the world after Washington D.C. where this is done.

Can I just say......FASCINATING!!!

I could only get two pictures.

The one below and the other one of the sign which has somehow gotten deleted off of my camera.

Hmmm......

Anyway, I think you'll notice all the barbed wire fences around the area?

That was just a part of the extensive security they have in place here.

You cannot take in ANYTHING.....food, drink, cell phone, camera, guns, etc.

As you get out of your car in the parking lot, you can hear the voice telling you to leave everything in your car.

Then you go through what amounts to airport security complete with scanners, wallets and shoes through the conveyor belt x-ray machine, all manned by very large, well-armed policemen.

After your initiation at the "welcome" center, you get a 60 second shuttle bus ride to the actual building where the printing is done.

You have to stay within eyesight of the tour guide the entire time, and they count the number of people going in for the tour and the number of people coming out of the tour.

So very informative.....but sorry....no pictures.......remember, I couldn't take in my camera.

We also saw a short, 15-minute film about the facility, and then looked at some of the amazing exhibits on the second floor. My children loved rummaging through the gift shop. By the time we were done with all that, we decided we would have to come back to go through the first floor museum. The best part?

Free!!!

All free!!!

(except for the gift shop, of course)

If you're ever in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I would definitely recommend this as a site to see!!!

P.S. Here are a couple pieces of trivia for you:

What is our paper money made of?

How many different security features are included in our modern day currency?

How many different kinds of printing/engraving are included on every note?

What is the largest note ever printed (not the size, but the amount)? What was it used for?

Common, yet little spoken of, issues accompanying ADHD

Recently, I was talking with some friends in my church who also have ADHD children. I was asking them if they have seen similar things in their children that we have been dealing with for years. We have gotten so used to them, that we have just chalked them up to the quirks that every child possesses. But the more I saw the similarities in these other children, the more I began thinking that maybe these are characteristic of all children with ADHD.

So, I did an informal poll of some families on an ADHD forum that I'm casually involved with, and VOILA.....wouldn't ya know it......almost all of the responses I received said, "YES!! We struggle with almost every one of those!!" So I'm going to ask you, if you are a parent of an ADHD child......do you see these things in your children? I can guarantee you that you will not find them in a formal list of "typical" symptoms that you will read in your Pediatrician's office nor online at any website that discusses this issue. I think that these are just things that you realize are there after YEARS of dealing with it. Here's the list:

Do your children:

1. Have sleep issues? Whether they don't fall asleep quickly, or wouldn't be bothered if they stayed up all night, or wake up at weird times fully awake and wake you up or do stuff in their rooms?? How do you handle that??
2. Prefer (almost crave) being outside? Do you have to bolt the door shut with extra locks to keep them from just going outside without your permission? Do they seem calmer when they come inside?
3. Have an almost unusual love for animals. Like it consumes them?
4. Have issues at almost every meal about what is put in front of them? Can you tell that certain textures bother them? Or certain smells or they way something looks? If it looks like something alive, can you tell they just won't eat it? How do you handle that?
5. Think or at least verbalize that everyone "hates" them?
6. Just say disrespectful things to you (or other adults) like a "knee-jerk" reaction even though they have been taught it is wrong, understand it is wrong, and seem to not really mean what they say?
7. Enjoy time on the computer, but could take-or-leave the TV?? Would they stay on the computer as long as you would let them, but not in front of the TV?
8. Have a special memory or sentiment attached to EVERY little thing they've ever owned? Is it hard for your child to throw stuff away?
9. Rarely seem like he/she gets sick?? If everyone in our family is down with a bug and exhausted and needing to just be in bed and quiet, my son is still bouncing off the walls bugging us. If he does come down with something, it only lasts like 12 hours or less.....He has NEVER been on an antibiotic of any kind for anything....he's almost 8.
10. Not need as much affection as your other children? I remember my oldest daughter always pushing away from me even as a baby at bedtime instead of being a snuggly one. To this day, she rarely comes to me for a hug or any kind of physical affection. My son tolerates discipline better if I pull him to me and talk softly, and wipe off the tears and rub his face, and hug him a little. But that's about it. He rarely approaches me, but will calm way down if I put my face close to him or hug him, etc.
11. Seem to have a gift for creativity? Like just creating stuff out of nothing? For example, my daughter (ever to hate throwing things away) has gone through the neighbors trash on trash day, and pulled junk out to make "things" out of it. She used to constantly tie "things" to other "things". I couldn't keep socks in her drawers because she was always tying them up to make "rag dolls" she called them, or whatever else she needed to join stuff together. Drove me crazy!!! I'm hoping someday she will actually make something useful. I did enroll her at JoAnn Fabrics for a jewelry making class in which she excelled and has made beautiful pieces. But she didn't stick with that for long, of course, and kept leaving all her supplies out so all the younger siblings were messing with it. Now we're on to the next thing.

I've been doing a lot more reading about ADHD here recently, and came upon the term "neurologically impaired" when referring to this issue along with several other different brain differences. It makes sense to me that learning that ADHD is a REAL issue, a REAL differential in the structure and function of their brains, that these other things that are so sensory in nature would naturally be a problem.

But I never really like the term "handicapped" or "impaired". You see, I serve a BIG God. I believe in and live for a God who loves each of my children and created each one of them with a special purpose and design. Each one of them has God's fingerprints on them, just in different ways. They each have their own unique "mark of ownership." I don't believe they are "impaired" or "handicapped". Challenged maybe, but aren't we all? I prefer to look at the great things each of my children has the potential to reach, not the things that could potentially hold them back. These issues my children live with also come with amazing gifts not given to everyone else. So what if my child is not going to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee? So what, if my child is not going to be an academic star? So what, if my child will NEVER or RARELY get a 100% on her math test? Does that mean God can't use him or her? I believe the answer to that question is unequivocally, "NO!" I'll talk more about what the Lord has been showing me about this in an upcoming post!!

Saturday's Super Mom

It's been awhile since I've posted about a "super mom" lately, so I thought it was time to share about another interesting lady who mothers many children.

It rather bothers me, this thought that having more than the national average of children

is something to be loathed. Most couples I know do not even consider this idea is following more of our culture than God's plan for families. I believe it's a secular culture philosophy that has found deep roots in our churches also. I wonder if this saddens our Heavenly Father?

I completely understand that God uses every family differently and that it isn't His plan for all couples or doesn't allow some couples to have several children, much less even one.

That's why I think it's just pivotal that you be in tune with God's calling on your life and His design and plan for the family.....your family.

Why did He institute the family in Scripture even before the church?

Why does the Lord refer to children being our "heritage" and "reward"?

I love this quote by Vision Forum founder, Doug Phillips:

The Bible calls debt a curse and children a
blessing; but in our culture, we apply for a
curse and reject blessings. Something is
wrong with this picture." ~ Doug Phillips

I just wonder how many couples really put any thought into what the Lord might want to use their families for? This has been weighing on my mind lately. It's not the easiest path to be surrendered to God to use us however He wants, to be His vessels poured out for Him, to trust Him when the situation looks foolish or impossible.

But I think that that is the only path to peace and purpose and fulfillment and true joy.

To be in tune with God's will for our lives.

You gotta check out this family!!!

Meet the Muncks HERE.

It's a new year......!!!

Things have calmed down quite considerably around our house. Is your house returning to that quiet, daily purring along that occurs in the "normal" times of the year? I love the holidays, don't get me wrong. But I love when the holidays are all over, and there is no rushing to rehearsals, no sugar overload from all the holiday goodies, no more things to find places for, and everything has been neatly packed away until next year. In the process of putting things up, I also put away some other piles that had been accumulating over the last couple months, and throwing out some junk that had been hanging on for no apparent reason.

Now, I've gotten a new, rather empty, sparkling white calendar. It doesn't have a lot on it right now. I've been contemplating our path for this coming year. When do the birthdays fall? What church activities are we NOT going to have to miss this year?? When is our annual "birthday bash" going to be? When is summer camp and Vacation Bible School at church this year? It's so much fun to lay that all out and get a good picture of where we are heading.

It's a fresh, exciting start.

Lots to look forward to.

One thing that is going to change the dynamics of our family life, and that I have been so looking forward to is that my husband was able to get on the DAY shift for this year!! That is HUGE!!!

It changes everything and makes everything so much sweeter!! For the last nearly 4 years, he worked every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night, and every OTHER Saturday night. From 5 pm to 5 am.

So, that meant he would leave for work at 4:30 pm, after starting to shower and suit up by 4:00pm. He would get home in the morning usually just after 5 am (since we live only minutes from the police station), unless he got hung up with paper-work. Then he would try to wind down and get to sleep around 6 am and sleep until around 2 pm or sometimes 3 pm depending on when he was actually able to fall asleep.

So that means every night I'm putting children to bed alone and getting them up and getting the day going and trying to keep 6 children quiet while daddy is sleeping. I wasn't always successful.

He missed a lot of weekend activities which is when all activities are usually scheduled, and he never could go to Wednesday evening church with us. Sundays were especially difficult.

I was already pretty tired Sunday morning after trying to get all the bags packed that need to go with us, make sure the van is gassed up, have meals planned for Sunday, and get 6 children bathed and their clothes organized all the night before. Then it was driving a half-hour to church (and I was lucky to not have to make a stop or two because a little one had squirmed out of their car seat), gather them all back together after services were over, the drive back, and feeding everyone lunch before my husband would get up around 2pm. Exhausting.

BUT NO MORE!!!

Now he will get to go with us on Wednesday evenings occasionally, and every Sunday!!

Needless to say, I'm so excited about this prospect for this year!!

I have also been ruminating over some goals I have set for this coming year. Stayed tuned for details!!

Did you know you could do this??

I found this on a friend's blog and thought it was so interesting, so I had to try it for myself.

If you happen to have a facebook page, you might like to try it.