Pressures of life

As men, husbands, and fathers we face many pressures of life that can either break or make us stronger.  I don't know how I made it this far in my life and sometimes I don't think I can go on.  Working, bills, raising kids, maintaining cars, house, things, etc., the list goes on and on.  Disappointments, struggles, the daily news, and so on, I think you can understand what I'm saying.  How does a man go on and what's the point in
it all?

For me I can say that knowing and trusting that all things work together for my good, and trusting and seeing really tough and dark moments in my life end up being the sweetest and thankful moments is knowing God.

Time flies

Doesn't it seem that time flies faster each day?  I battle in my mind with wishing it would slow down or how can I make it slow down.  Whether looking into the eyes of my newborn baby boy, hugging and singing with my 2 year old daughter and wanting to make those moments last for eternity, time flies by.  Wanting to get more done in a day or learning something new, it seems time disappears before it gets done.

But then I remind myself and am comforted and encouraged that this life will soon lead to an end to flying time leading to eternity.

Kid's milestones

Having 2 full grown adults (kids) ages 21 boy and 18 girl and 2 little ones ages 2 girl and 3 months boy, I have seen a lot of memorable milestones in their lives both good and bad.  The most recent one is with my 2 year old daughter and potty training.  We have a small child size plastic potty chair that has a removable bowl with handle.  I sat pulled her diaper down and sat her down on it while talking gently to her explaining what we were doing.  She actually enjoyed it and was singing and humming, and so I joined in with her.  She sat for about 5 minutes and only expelled a rabbit sized dropping.  Later after lunch we tried again, this time I brought the potty out of the bathroom and sat it and her in front of the television and played her favorite Veggie Tales cartoon.  After about 15 minutes I checked and this time the bowl had some urine in it.

It was an exciting milestone moment!  I dressed her, picked her up, did a little dance with her,  and told her that I was proud of her!

Ride in the counrty

Today was a relaxing day with my 2 year old daughter, mother, and great uncle, perfect for a ride in the country.  
My mother wanted to bring flowers for her deceased father and my great uncle wanted to pay respect to his father and mother who passed away several years ago.  My daughter had fun playing on the lawn at the cemetery.  While we were walking I noticed that the majority of the trees had a bucket attached to them which sparked my attention.  I came to find out that they were maple trees and the buckets were collecting a clear watery sap used to make maple syrup.  It takes 40 gallons boiled down to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.
We then drove to a local restaurant and shared a mouth watering thin crust cheese pizza!  After that we drove home.
It was a memorable day.  Simply spending time together with loved ones doesn't cost much, but is priceless.

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Winter blues passing

With the wintertime comes the winter blues.  Cloudy cold weather, snow, ice, and rain brings a sad, tired, hibernating kind of feeling.  I can see it in my 2 year-old daughter, infant son, and I'm feeling it as well.  Today was an answer to prayer, SUN LIGHT! From a fresh snowfall in the early morning to the clouds breaking away into a partly cloudy mostly sunny day I quickly dressed my son and daughter and rushed them
outside to soak up the beautiful sun.  We take it for granted, but it was a real much appreciated gift!  Immediately I could see a smile on my daughters face as we took a short walk down our alley road while she
played stepping in the melting snow.  It cheered me up as well.  I have heard of studies stating that 5 minutes of direct sunlight is very healthy.  It provides vitamin D and helps reduce seasonal affective disorder (SAD).  

Warmer Weather Sunday

Since we had warmer weather today and it being a Sunday, I decided to take my 2 year old daughter to my grandmother's house and make us some delicious healthy pancakes and then wash the salt off our car.  I found a simple, fast, and easy recipe for the pancakes using Shiloh Farms Organic Spring Wheat Sprouted Flour, which is known to digest as a vegetable.  Here's the recipe:

Sprouted Wheat Pancakes  

1 cup  Shiloh Farms Organic Spring Wheat Sprouted Flour

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 large egg

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup yogurt

3/4 cup water

Mix the combined liquid ingredients quickly into the combined dry ingredients just until blended.

Drop batter in 1/4 cupfuls onto a heated greased griddle. Cook until bottoms are golden and small bubbles start to form on top, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook until the other side is browned, 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve topped with maple syrup.  4 to 6 servings.

After we all enjoyed every bite and finished all of them, I took my daughter outside to wash the car.  I like using Blue Coral Wash & Wax Concentrate cleaner it's good for a 100 washes and under $10 at Walmart. 

Watching the dirty salty water come off the car and after applying the Blue Coral Wash & Wax Concentrate cleaner, the car came out as shiny as ever! I rescued my daughter a few times after she splashed around in the puddles of water and got her feet wet!!  We then took my grandma's dog for a walk in the backyard enjoying the fresh air and seeing some nature.