Le Cordon Bleu

Recently, we had signed up to go to a cooking demonstration and tour of the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Anli has been interested in cooking ever since I can remember. She watched the Food Network as a little girl and she wanted to meet Rachel Ray when she came to town. When we got there and realized that we needed TICKETS to see her...we were turned away. Anli began to cry (she was 4 years old!) and we took her outside and she wanted to at least write a letter to Rachel.

So, she did and we took it to one of the people in the bookstore. As we were walking out...one of Rachel Ray's people came up and took us over to the side and gave us a free copy of her kids cookbook and escorted us up to see Rachel!!! Anli was thrilled and she decided then she would become a chef. She loves to cook, loves to eat all kinds of food, and she is determined to become a chef. Actually right now she wants to be a Japanese teppanyaki chef...she would be hysterical...and CERTAINLY has the personality for it!

About a month ago I found out that the school (which is known worldwide and is very prestigious) was having a open house with a demonstration by one of their chefs and a tour of the school...AND it was free and open to the public!!! So, I signed up immediately...and Anli was thrilled!

We went on our tour first and we saw the baking kitchens where we were greeted by these cuties:) Then, we saw the pastry kitchens and regular cooking ones. There were SO many people there...and mainly it was high school seniors and older people. Anli was in awe and loved every moment!

This is the uniform for the students. I can imagine my sweet heart in her cool chef uniform going to culinary school! She looked at me during the tour and asked if she could just go STRAIGHT to culinary school. Um...not so much:) You always hear stories of people who just always knew what they wanted to do for a living...but having one of those is pretty cool. She said that she could be a chef missionary who could cook food for those who do not have any...great idea sweetie!

Then, we headed to a cooking demonstration that was featuring an Irish menu in honor of St. Patrick's day. He was really nice and from Morocco! Both of the girls loved the whole thing...food included!!!

That was our entree that we sampled...yuuuummmmyyyy. Our girls are HUGE fans of asparagus and shrimp.

It was a really neat day and since the school also features a restaurant we will be back sometime soon for sure. Anli was inspired and can't WAIT to get to college and get to cooking! Now, that's really great to hear:)

Adoption Update

We have not updated much on our adoption for a while because we were asked not to blog about it by our baby cottage. Thank you for continuing to pray and lift our journey up to our Father. We had set the season of Lent aside to devote ourselves completely to prayer about our process of adoption and how God would lead our family through these unstable times in Uganda.

Recently, there were some issues that God used to reveal His desire that we step back and wait on His timing. We know that we must trust God that our US Embassy knows what is right when it tells families not to travel to Uganda until the matter is resolved. The issues involve the Government of Uganda and the US Embassy. They alone know exactly what is going on and we feel led to trust the authorities that God has instituted.

So, our adoption process in Uganda has ended for right now. We have seen His hand so clearly and know with complete confidence that this is His will for us right now. We do not know what God will choose to do or where He will open a door. We have never heard God say that this journey would end with a child in our home. We heard Him ask us to ready and available...and we have been for the past 14 months. We will continue to live a life of availability. We will rest in His and this time of waiting:)

Thank you for your prayer! Thank you for understanding our lack of communication about it on the blog. This is all I will share on the blog...if you would like to hear from us personally, you are welcomed to email, leave a comment and your email, or call. We want to respect others who are still in process and the children still waiting in Uganda. It is a hard time there now for many families. I will gladly share privately, but not publicly. Thanks for you support!

Family Focused Friday!

OK...so I am an organization J.U.N.K.I.E. I am always on the hunt for the perfect calendar system AND the perfect purse (more on that another day!). But, I am always on the hunt for redeeming my time and finding ways NOT to forget everything I should be doing today and tomorrow and so on. I homeschool both of my girls, teach Sunday School (Life group...etc.), travel to speak many weekends during the year, and I could go on and on and on and on...so could you, am I right?

So, since it seems that my brain and ability to remember things has left me since I had children, I am always on the lookout for a strategy to help. For Christmas, my friend Ginger, MADE and EMBROIDERED this beautiful notebook cover that fits over those speckled composition books. Brilliant!! I loved it so much because not only did she make it for me, but I have the HARDEST time finding anything with the letter "F" embroidered on it (and I think that embroidery is my love language?)!

So, I dreamed of all the ways I could use this little notebook. It took me a while, but I am loving how I'm using it. What you are about to read is NOT my idea (thanks Girltalk blog!) but I have made it my own using their awesome schedule idea. I have been using their schedule idea for over a year or two now...but never has it been packaged so pretty!

I use a two page spread to not only plan my "to do" list and schedule for the day...I also have my lesson plans there on the page also. I keep a place for a verse from my "Gathering Time" that I want to meditate on throughout the day...and a portion of my memory verse too. I try to write that portion every day to help me remember it! On the bottom is the menu for the day so I can remember to take out and fix whatever is on the menu. The paperclip is for cards I need to send, reminders for the day, loose things I need to take care of that day. You could also use one of those big clips if you tend to have lots of things to keep up with!

It also fits in my purse so that I can carry it throughout the day with me...this is critical for those of us with poor memories:) I take about 15 minutes right after my "Gathering Time" with the Lord to make a plan for the day...and the key is that at the top of my schedule and to do list are the words:

BY GRACE I will...

I am one who can plan and schedule until every minute of the day has a place. It never works out that way! It doesn't leave time for GRACE encounters throughout the day! So, God has pulled me back into taking each day as it comes. I take those few minutes in the morning because I know that His mercies are new every morning!

I do have to lesson plan for the week...but I am keeping that very rough so that I can change and adapt with the GRACE for the day. I don't know what the Lord will bring each day a week in advance! So, this notebook reminds me that each thing on my list and every event is ONLY by His GRACE!

It has really helped me to be a good steward of the minutes and seconds and day that have been given to me. But, also helped me to remember that I am finite and as the girltalkers say...ONLY God gets everything on His to do list done every day:) Whew...I love me some GRACE!

This system is CHEAP and I can change out the notebooks as they are full with new ones that can be found at Wal-Mart for like a dollar...do I have a smart friend or what??? And you know, it works for TODAY...who knows what kind of grace and mercy He has in store for me tomorrow! It's always an adventure and I LOVE it!

Here are three blog entries the Girltalk girls did on the justification, ability and motivation behind being a highly effective women in the eyes of God (they are very short and REALLY convicted me big time!!!):

http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/Time_Management_and_Justification

http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/Time_Management_and_Dependence

http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/Time_Management_for_the_Glory_of_God

Here is an ecouragine article on living like TODAY is a gift:

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12434

Have a great weekend friends...

Saint Patrick's Day

Last week, we had a wonderful crazy day celebrating St. Patrick's day and spending the week learning all about Ireland. We had downloaded some really good material off Currclick and did a short lapbook on the history and geography of Ireland. We also learned some fun things about how St. Patrick's day is celebrated here and in Ireland. On the Saturday before, Jay made us some yummy clover pancakes! Patrick used the clover (3 leaf) in order to share the Gospel with the people of Ireland. So, we enjoyed having GREEN pancakes!

On St. Patrick's day...we had some green breakfast food too! We had GREEN yogurt that had more speckles of green than colored green. Weird! Then, we made green butter for our yummy wheat biscuits (Grands makes these whole wheat biscuits and they are AWESOME!!! Try them...even Jay loves them and he can sniff out healthy food miles away with speculation. He's sold and won't go back!). We also had green milk to drink...fun times!

Good Day Sunshine!

Welcome Spring!

Hope you are out in this beautiful weather!!! We are lovin' it :)

Thrive!
Frances

Check it out...

I am writing a series on Overflow and am starting with prayer! There is a post today, and I'd love for you to check it out...

Overflow...Prayerwalking!

On Top of the World (or at least Stone Mountain!)

After some fun on the Camp Highland playground, Sky Hike, 4-D movie, and a yummy lunch at Honey Baked Ham...we headed up to the top of the mountain!! It was amazing...and our first time. It wasn't crowded at ALL, so the kids loved running and jumping and playing for a long time. They climbed trees and we got some great photos. The sun was BRIGHT, so if some of us look like we are crying...you'll know why:) It was perfect weather and the views were breath-taking!

Sassy, thank you SO much for such a wonderful treat! We had so much fun...it was such a gift!

Camp Highland Playground FUN!

What a wonderful trip!