Review, and a giveaway!

I was given the opportunity to review a new children's book.  The book is titled 'Would a Worm go On a Walk?' 
It's written by Hannah Hall and illustrated by Bill Bolton.

 I love the bright colors and the cute drawings.  The book is about different animals and silly situations.  It will make your kids laugh, I'm sure! The book points out that these animals all act just as God created them too.  It then points out that creating people was even more important, and that God created children too!

Aren't these drawings cute?
Another thing I really like in a kids book is a book that's easy to read out loud.  This one rhymes, so it's an easy read.

Here's a sample from end of the book:
"But God's designs weren't finished.
His special plans weren't through.
The animals were just a start.
God's masterpiece is YOU!"

I'm looking forward to reading this one to my granddaughters on Friday.  I know they will love it.  I love that they can enjoy the book and be pointed to God!

You can find the book here on Amazon.
You can also sign up to win a book here.  (Sorry - this one is only open to readers in the US or Canada) To enter, just leave a comment, with your name and a way for me to get in touch with you if you win.  I'll draw a winner on Wednesday, July 6.  If your name is drawn, the book will be shipped to your house.


"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising")  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice o winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.  Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize for our sponsor Propeller/FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification"

Cooking Thursday

I've got a great grill recipe for you today!  This is one we use quite often and it makes the best chicken; juicy and with great flavor.

Teriyaki Chicken

1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry cooking sherry
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 garlic, minced
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Combine oil, soy sauce, sherry, ginger and garlic in a large zip lock bag. Place chicken in bag, removing air from bag. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
When ready to cook, drain marinade from chicken and grill.
*You can also makes these ahead of time, freeze them and thaw before grilling.

Wordless Wednesday

Tip for Tuesday

The tip I'm sharing today is something I thought everyone did, but a friend had never heard of this.  So - I'm sharing just in case!
If you need chopped, hard boiled eggs for egg salad, or anything else here's an easy way to chop the egg into uniform pieces.

Put the egg in the slicer, and slice as usual.

Then, hold the slices together and turn the egg a quarter turn so it sits in the egg slicer the long way.  Hold the tip of the egg in, and gently slice again.
That's it - now you can dump the chopped egg into your bowl.  How easy is that?

Showing a little Patriotism

I'm not one of those creative people who puts up decorations for every holiday.  I usually just change a few things seasonally, and then for Christmas.  Last week, my friend Betsy from My Five Men showed something she did for the 4th, and I decided I needed to put out a few things too.
Here's what I did.

This old milk can is from my Dad's farm.  It's in our garage by the door.  I put different decorations in it, depending on the season.  I found this cute metal flag that says "Land that I Love" at Hobby Lobby, and it sits perfectly in the milk can.

I found this free printable of the Pledge of Allegiance online and printed it off.

This is another spot I change depending on the season.  I had the little flags and put them in a small jar.  The God bless America is another free printable.  I painted a piece of wood black and attached the printable to it.

It's not a lot, but it I do like these little splashes of Americana!

VanGogh on Dark Water

I saw this short video on Facebook and had to share it with you.  This artist paints on water and it's amazing to watch.  Enjoy!

Cooking Thursday

The recipe I have for you today is an old one.  I got it from a cookbook from the church I grew up in.  The cookbook was printed about 40 years ago!  It's a recipe for egg salad.  I often just mix up eggs and may and call it good, but when I want a little more, I like to use this jazzed up recipe.
The lady who put it in the cookbook was an older lady who came from the Netherlands.  She had a pretty big family and said her boys liked it.  My hubby and son always liked it too.  I think adding bacon always makes the guys happy!

Yummy Egg Salad

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
12 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 -1 cup mayonnaise

Mix well. Chill before serving.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday I told you about my uncles funeral which was on Friday.  On Saturday we had another family event.  This was a birthday party for my Mom's sister-in-law.  My Mom also came from a big family; there were 9 kids in her family.  All of the kids have passed away, and there are only 3 of the in-laws still living.  This aunt is the oldest and just turned 95!  She is still in good health and lives by herself, in her own house.  I know she has been, and still is a blessing to many people in her life. 
This party was a surprise for her, and she was even surprised by her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter who flew in from California to be at the party.
She lives in Cadillac, Michigan which is about 2 hours north of me.  My Dad, step-mom, sister Terri and I drove up on Saturday morning. It took us quite a bit longer to get there than we expected, because we ran into a lot of road construction but we made it with no other difficulties.

It was a beautiful day for an outside party, and you can see there were lots of people there.

This cute area was set up for cards and gifts.  I love the red chandelier hanging above the table.

There were some old pictures floating around, which were very fun to look at.  This was from a reunion in 1958.

Here are the 3 remaining in-laws from my Moms family.  My Uncle John on the left is 87, Aunt Marion is 95 and my Dad is 85.  I think they all look great, but Aunt Marion looks amazing.  You would never know she is 95!

"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who 

will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I 

will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Isaiah 46:4

Precious Memories

Last week one of my uncles passed away.  Uncle Grad was 87 years old, he had a good life, and he was a Christian.  His health had really declined in the last few years, so knowing he is in heaven makes his passing a blessing.

He was in the Korean War, and had military honors at the graveside.  I have only witnessed this a few times and find it very touching, especially hearing Taps played and seeing the flag presented to the widow.
Following that service we all returned to the church for a little lunch.  It is good to talk and laugh following a funeral, and bring up memories!  This uncle was married to my Dad's younger sister, Esther. They had a family of 10 kids and were full of mischief.  Stories came up about my Dad, who has always been a tease.  A story we have heard before, but never tire of is that when they were young, Aunt Esther got mad at Dad for picking on her.  She threw his new coat down into the outhouse pit.  This was during the depression, so times were hard and he got into trouble for losing his coat.  She never confessed until she was married.   I'm sure he deserved that trouble though, for all he put her through!
When she was older, Dad and another brother told her they had set her up on a blind date.  When someone knocked on the door, they told her it was her date, but when she opened it, there was a short little bald man from their church, who had actually come to see their Dad.  She laughs about it now, but back then she was pretty upset!
We also heard about one night when Aunt Esther was dating Uncle Grad and they were sitting outside in the car.  Dad snuck out, opened the back door, threw a cat in and shut the door.  The cat wasn't happy and I don't think they were either.
For all the mischief and teasing, this family loves each other and have always been there when needed.  They have modeled faith, fun and what it means to be a family to the generations that follow.

Friday Funny

This takes me back a few years!  If you don't know what 

song it's referring too, check this out.

Cooking Thursday

We had our last MOPS meeting until Fall last week.  We take turns bring brunch foods to share.  A favorite is yogurt with fruit and granola.  One of the mentor mom's makes a homemade granola that is really good.  She had lots of requests for the recipe, and shared it with us.  I think you'll like it too!

Granola

1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Special K cereal
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup almonds
1 stick butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together oats, flour, cereal, coconut and almonds in bowl.
Melt butter and honey together.  Cook until bubbling. Stir in vanilla.
Pour butter and honey mix over oatmeal mix and stir together.  Spread mix on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Break apart with fork when cool.  Serve with vanilla yogurt and your choice of fruit.

Wordless Wednesday

(I love a cool, misty morning!)

Fun at the nursing home

I was at work this past weekend and it was kind of a crazy few days.  We thought perhaps there was a full moon, but not this time!  Here's a few examples.

One of our residents used to be a nurse.  She is quite a character and usually thinks she is working with us.  She has strong opinions and has no trouble voicing them!  One of our male residents was quite verbal in the Dining room at brunch and she came out to inform us that she didn't think the speaker we had gotten was very good.  As she was talking to us, our activity director came to the nurses station.  She told the activity director that her pants looked like "overalls" and her shoes looked like something a man would wear.  The activity director (who was enjoying this conversation) said "at least my shirt is nice".  The reply was "I wouldn't wear that shirt anywhere!"  You just have to laugh!

Another of our residents used to farm and often talks about the barn and cow, but this time he was sure he was sitting on a horse and he wanted to get off.  We got him up, walked him, sat him in another chair, even helped him into bed, but still - he wanted to get off the horse.  He was so frustrated with us because we wouldn't help up.  "Can't I get any help around here?"  What is the matter with you people?"  "I told you, Get me off this horse!"  He finally tired himself out and fell asleep.

Another lady wanted to go home and kept setting off alarms by opening doors.  Just when we thought she was settled down away from a door, and she would go down the other hall and open that one.  (She is quick!)

I was eating my lunch and the fire alarm went off!  That was the end of that lunch.  It turns out that a visitor pulled the fire alarm as she left, instead of punching in the code that's required to open our doors so alarms don't  go off.  She never stopped, just kept walking, but we had to call 911, the alarm company, the local fire department, stop the alarm, reset the system and then calm down a few residents who were scared of a fire or just scared of the noise.

And those are a few stories of life at the nursing home.  I've told you before - it's never boring!

Little things I've been enjoying...

I was getting ready to go to bed the other night, and was putting a few things away.  I walked into the kitchen where I had a candle burning, and I thought it looked so cozy, and smelled so nice!  It made me think that although we may often have wish lists for things that are more expensive or not even feasible, there are many little things that bring us joy.  Here are a few things that have been making me smile.

 Seeing the fields around me turn green.  Maybe it's because I grew up on a farm, 

but I never get tired of that!

 A new sign I bought.  I love that it mentions Grand Rapids.

My fuchsia is bursting with blooms!

 The candle I mentioned.  It's by Yankee Candle and the scent is 'Deep Blue Sea'.

A friend dropped this surprise gift off to me at work last week.  These are flavored oils that can be used for dipping.  I've now tried the roasted garlic and love just a little of it drizzled over grape tomatoes.

 Our grocery store had these beautiful raspberries on sale for $1!  What a lovely treat!

We have this picture that Alaina drew of her family on the side of our refrigerator.  You have to smile at that!

So much to smile about - so much to be thankful for!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”

1 Chronicles 16:34

Friday Funny

I think my friend Jean, from What's up at the Stauffers may be afflicted with this!

Cooking Thursday

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is a little different from what I usually share.  No cooking required!  It's for oatmeal that you don't have to cook.  You just mix the ingredients the night before and put it in the refrigerator.   You can eat it cold, right out of the frig, so it's a quick breakfast and it's healthy too!  I enjoy it when it's warm outside.

Refrigerator Oatmeal

1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 cup milk
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Fruit of your choice

Stir together oatmeal, milk, salt and brown sugar.  Put into container and seal.  Place in refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.  Stir fruit into oatmeal immediately before eating. 
Keeps for 48 hours in refrigerator.

Wordless Wednesday

Tip for Tuesday

I don't know about you, but I hate to cook bacon.  It spatters, burns you if you aren't careful, makes a mess and then your kitchen has that smell that doesn't want to go away!  When we have bacon, it's usually in small amounts and I buy the pre-cooked that only needs to be micro-waved for about 30 seconds.  I heard you could bake it in the oven, and I tried it.  It works so well!
There is no spattering, no burns and the greasy mess is kept in the pan.  You do still have that bacon smell though!  :)   We really like the taste better than the thin pre-cooked type.  
When I bake it, I do the whole package, then put it in the freezer.  If you need some it thaws quickly and it's much more economical than the pre-cooked bacon.

 Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Use a cookie sheet with side to contain the grease.  Line it with aluminum foil.  Place bacon on foil and cook for about 20 minutes.  Watch it closely and remove when it's golden brown.

Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels.  So easy and so good!

Fun weekend

I hope you all had a nice weekend.  Ours was busy and full of fun! Laura and Aaron had asked us several months ago if we could take the girls for the whole weekend, so they could have a little getaway and this was the weekend.
They dropped them off to me on Friday morning.  Aunt Heather came over at lunch time and brought McDonalds with her, which made both girls happy!  After lunch I went to get my Dad's meds set up for another few weeks, and as you can imagine, he was happy to have two extra visitors!

 Ruby isn't as shy as Alaina used to be, and is happy to sit and talk with Great Grandpa.

Grandpa gave them suckers, and I caught Alaina with this blue mouth.

 I got this electric quad from a friend when Alaina was little.  She was always scared to use it, but Ruby tried it out for the first time and liked it!

They had such fun loading and unloading balls into this wagon, and hauling it around.

We got a little pool for them to play in when they come over, and Saturday was a good day for it.

Here's our cute swimmers!

They had such fun and played until Ruby was shivering and I had to take them in.

 My sister Cheri brought over some fun things for the girls, and one thing was a craft kit to make this owl purse. Alaina and I worked on it Saturday evening.  She had fun and was happy with it when it was done.

Sunday morning they went to church with us.  I told them we needed a picture in their matching dresses.  After church and lunch they went back home.  

Bob and I were tired, but we sure did have fun!

A day in my life

Can you believe it's June already?  I know I can't!  As usual, I'm sharing my first day of the month with you, so here it is.

June 1 was a work day for me. Right now we don't have an Assistant Director of Nursing, so one day a week someone else is working the floor, so I can do some of the ADON work, because it's too much for our Director of Nursing to keep up with.  On these days I start at 8, so that means I get to sleep a little later. I was up at 6 and left the house at 7:40.

 It was a dreary day, with a little rain coming down when I left the house.

The construction continues at the nursing home.  This used to be our front door.  It's been closed off for a month now and outside is the new addition, getting ready for concrete to be poured.

 I spent much of my day at this desk.  I worked on having TB questionnaires filled out by each employee, getting a new pneumonia vaccine scheduled for all residents who want it, finding out when each one had their last vaccine and doing infection control paperwork.   I finished several things and it felt good to file them!

I left work a little after 4 and stopped at the grocery store on my way home.

 Here's a little scene from my drive home.  I love seeing the fields grow, in straight green lines.

When I got home, I started a load of wash, and slaved over supper!

 Here's supper!  It was burgers left over from Memorial Day.  It was pretty hard to heat those burgers and get out the toppings.  Not a bad supper, considering it was leftovers!

After supper, Bob went to his men's Bible study, and I went with my sister to Parade of Homes.  We had gone to several on Memorial Day and decided to try to see a few more.  Parade of Homes is something that is done each Spring.  A ticket costs $12, and gives you entrance to about 80 homes, which value between $179,000 to 3.3 million.

This house was one of the more expensive one, priced at 2.4 million.   It's a beautiful home, set on the shore of Lake Michigan.

You can't see it, but there is a nice private, sandy beach out there!

 Wouldn't you like to soak in that tub, with a view of the lake?

I got home around 9pm.  The sun was just setting. 

Thank you Lord, for another wonderful day.