Donut Cake

This has become a favorite treat around our house.  It is sooo easy to make you won't believe it!  This tastes just like a cinnamon donut, except it doesn't upset my tummy.

Donut Cake Recipe
box of yellow cake mix
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar

Make the cake as directed on the package, I like Trader Joe's yellow cake mix.  Bake in a 9x13 pan.  Mix the cinnamon and sugar together.  When the cake comes out of the oven rub the stick of butter all over the cake till it is absorbed or you could melt the butter and use a pastry brush to paint it on the cake.  Next sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top and that is it!!
Enjoy,
E.W.

Choosy Dogs

Choosy dogs choose Jif!  This occupied him for the better part of the morning!  He nudged it all over the house trying to get every lick his tongue could reach!

Yours,

E.W.

The Prodigal God

You know the story of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  It is not right to single out only one of the sons as the sole focus of the story.  Even Jesus doesn't call it the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but begins the story saying, "a man had two sons."  The narrative is as much about the elder brother as the younger, and as much about the father as the sons.  And what Jesus says about the older brother is one of the most important messages given to us in the Bible.  The parable might be better called the Two Lost Sons.
The word 'prodigal' does not mean 'wayward', it means 'recklessly spendthrift-to spend until you have nothing left.  Two men in the parable are prodigal; the father and the youngest son.  The father, who represents God, demonstrates His reckless grace for His people.
This parable was spoken by Christ with his aim to the Pharisees and scribes.  They are the eldest brother he was referring to-they are the target of this parable.  He wants to show them their blindness, narrowness, and self-righteousness.  Can you image how enraged they must have been to listen to this rabbi?
This book by Timothy Keller walks through this famous parable from all angles.  I find myself convicted of my Pharisitical attitude and my deep shame of being the one to challenge my father and demand 'my rights.'

Put this on your reading list...
E.W.

The Little Red Hen

 Welcome to the world of wheat.  There are so many varieties!  I like a soft winter wheat or a spring wheat berry.  I went to a little Amish store with my girlfriend and we scored on a 50 pound bag for $20.

I bought my wheat mill about 7 years ago when my daughter was having some health issues.  I became a granola nut head and decided to make everything from scratch so I knew exactly what ingredients were in the food I was serving.  There is nothing magical about grinding your own wheat.  This particular model, the K TEC, sounds like a 747 taking off in your kitchen.  Luckily it only takes 5 minutes to grind up a batch of flour.  This model easily holds 9 cups of wheat which will yield twice that amount.

 Wheat goes in...

 

Gets blitzed

Comes out all floury and soft!

So far I have made a triple batch of pancakes and some beer bread.  No one is particularly interested in helping grind the wheat, even with a machine, but that is alright with me since I am the kitchen diva around here.

Faithfully Yours,

E.W.

Conowingo Dam

I drove over the Conowingo Dam the other day and 5 gates were open.  You NEVER see that!  The mist rose to the top of the bridge and the water was pumping out on the side that usually has rocks and trees popping up but were nowhere to be seen today!  Apparently there were 26 gates open the other day, that must have been amazing to see.  There is a 1-800 number to call if you are interested.  As God would see to it when my youngest was standing there watching the water bubble an employee stepped outside for a break.  If you know anything about this peep of mine it's that he has been asking questions about how things work since he learned how to talk.  SO he asked all 79 of his questions to this very patient man and got them all answered!  God delights in the Gabanator!

See the little rainbow over the water?
Blessings,
E.W.

Navy Knights

I love indoor soccer!  There is more action on that field with these little guys compared to the big kids (sorry but it's true).  Having walls to play off of is brilliant!  I guess that is why I like wallyball so much!  Anyway, my little guy played on his first soccer team this winter and it was so much fun!

He really stuck with it and focused on his position, he is great on defense!

 These 3 musketeers are his church buds, oh how I love these guys!

 We have super coaches!

We come here to play!

 Love this picture of Matt winding up to kick that ball!

Way to go guys!

Can't wait to play again next season!

Coram Deo,

E.W.

Black Rock

Another weekend away from home.  I have not been home for one weekend for the entire month of March.  My house is rather fuzzy and there are piles everywhere whispering my name.  Ugga Mugga!  But my girl and I had a fun weekend retreat with our church.  The middle schoolers look forward to their Black Rock retreat. 

We arrived Friday night to a boxed dinner.  Guess what was inside?  Pickled vegetables....

Not a favorite among the crowd.  Here is a small sacrificial pile.

We studied the book of Jonah during our bible time.

I can't even begin to tell you how IMPRESSED I was with some of these middle school boys!  The Lord is raising some leaders amongst this group.  They were engaged during discussion time and had thoughtful responses.  And prayer warriors...you know I am diggin that!

There is just more fun to be had on the top bunk.  They all crawled up top and played a card game called Mafia.  They ate most of the snacks in one night and felt they should be careful not to leave crumbs or wrappers on the bed so their solution was to...

Pitty they are so shy and insecure.  They need prayer!

Two of our fearless counselors.  We managed to endure until 2:30 a.m. while the girls chatted and giggled themselves into puddles.

The weather was nice, about 48 degrees with a slight wind.  One of the traditions for the middle schoolers is the Polar Plunge where they jump into the creek in the freezing cold water.  Most of them wore shorts, some brave souls wore their bathing suits.

This oversized playpen is THE DRAW of their playtime.  You climb in a play a game called GaGa, not sure where that originated from.  It is sort of like dodge ball but with a lot more rules.

Two more of our dear counselors, apparently Shane did not get the dress code memo...

Trudging down to the Polar Plunge arena.  It was steeper than I thought.

This is everyone assessing the situation at hand.  Contrary to popular belief cold water doesn't get warmer by everyone staring at it.

Insert Van Halen's song "Jump" here.  Harry was the first to take the plunge.

C..C...C....Coldddd!

We are really working on this ones shyness.

 

 This little fella had the nerve to cross my path as we hoofed our way back up the hill.  It was a fun event.  We played cops and robbers, had a fire and smores, and rallied some awesome prayers, especially for the victims of the tsunami.

Coram Deo,

E.W.