Who Are You Voting For?

I always thought the above question was off limits, and I myself have never posed this question to anyone. The other day I was talking to some of the children at our school during lunch - which is something I love to do when I have the opportunity. One of my favorite kids called me over, he says "Mrs. Sarah, who are you voting for"? This child is in the first grade!! I am pretty sure that I didn't even know who the president was when I was in first grade, let alone who was running for office. I was quite shocked but managed to maintain my composure. When I answered his question, he was not pleased with my answer because his parents were voting for the other guy.

When did this become a topic that first graders discuss over their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?? I was amused.

I Like Pie!

In order to read the title accurately, you must say it with the best Southern accent possible because that is how I say it in my mind. Now onto the good stuff.

As you may have noticed, I have a major sweet tooth! When we went away recently, I had THE most amazing pie I have ever tasted. Because I must share a good thing, I thought I would pass along the recipe. I think it would be a fabulous addition to your Thanksgiving meal or really ANY meal. Derek has been asking when I am going to make it, but I am trying to hold off so I don't end up eating the entire thing!

Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:
1 1/4 cups pretzels - finely crushed
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter - melted

Pie filling:
6 mini peanut butter cups - chopped
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz. cream cheese - softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Crust;
Combine pretzel crumbs, sugar and butter. Mix well and press into a 9" pie pan.
Bake for 6-8 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

Pie Filling:
Spread peanut butter cups into cooled crust. (The way they served it, they sprinkled them on top of the pie filling).
Whip cream until soft peaks form.
Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and whip until peaks are stiff. Set aside.
In large bowl, cream peanut butter and cream cheese.
Add one cup powdered sugar and combine well.
Add vanilla and beat for one minute on high speed.
Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until completely blended.
Spoon into pie shell.
Chill well before serving.

Note:
Garnish with peanuts and/or chocolate syrup.

48 Years!!

These are my parents. Today is their 48th wedding anniversary. They have six children, three girls and three boys of which I am number five. As I get older, I realize what amazing people they are, because growing up I thought they were the most strict parents, ever! I always thought I was missing out on so much, and now I realized how they protected me. They are a picture of strength and stability. I honestly never heard them raise their voices, and we were not subdued, quiet children.

I thank God for the privilege of having such amazing parents. One of my favorite memories of my father is when, in third grade, I had to draw a picture of my father and his hobby. I went home and asked my father what his hobby was and he answered "my children". That does a lot for a little girls self-esteem! My father was my soccer coach and my track coach, and both my parents were at all of our ball games, even if I was just cheering. One year five of us were playing soccer and my oldest brother was playing football, and they never missed a game. My mom would just carry her chair from one field to another.

I remember those times when I am thinking about everything I need to do when needing to attend one of Caroline's game, and I realize how selfish I am being. I realize that not everyone had the opportunity to grow up in a loving, Christian home. I have a friend who was telling me that she wished she had parents like mine, and I realized that none of us can go back and change anything about our childhood or our parents. We can just BE the best parents, so our children can grow up in nurturing environments, and nothing will be impossible for them!

Ahhhh

We took our pastoral staff and their wives on a retreat last week, and this was the view from our room. It was refreshing to get away and just have fun with everyone. Many times people get away to plan or strategize, but we went away to pray, talk the Word and just hang out together.

I believe that it is vital, as ministers, that we get away. We are always in a place of giving out and we need to step back and receive from God. I reflected on Psalm 116:7 (NLT) -"Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me." It was refreshing to have the opportunity to reflect on the goodness of God. I often go through life at such a busy pace that I am not taking to time to see His faithfulness. It was good for my soul to take a momentary step back and just enjoy.

Ummm...

I love Sundays! First of all, I love seeing all my friends and family at church and worshipping together. After being at church for two services on Sundays, I am always ready for a good nap (which is my second favorite thing about Sundays). I come home, grab some lunch, lay Kate down, and then I get the comics, Parade and Target insert and head to my bed.

While reading the Parade magazine I noticed something interesting and thought I needed to share. This was found in the Personality section.
Question: I was fascinated to learn in your column that Queen Elizabeth II keeps good-luck charms in her purse. What kind of charms?
Answer: According to royal-watcher Phil Dampier, co-author of What's in the Queen's Handbag, Elizabeth "has always been superstitious and carries an amazing array of good-luck charms, mostly given to her by her children...often on an animal theme, including horses, miniature dogs, tiny saddles, and whips."

Now please understand, I mean no disrespect for the queen, but am I the only one that finds it a bit strange that the Queen of England carries around tiny whips in her purse?

Candy Corn

I went to one of my favorite places today - SUPER TARGET. Just walking into the store sends a wave of happiness into my soul; it doesn't take much, does it. I was perusing the aisles, when I see the Halloween candy section. Upon seeing the signs I started craving the sweet candy corn. I immediately dropped everything else I was looking at and headed straight for the sweet candy.

When I walked into the candy section the aroma was almost too much to handle. I saw that they now have caramel candy corn and caramel, chocolate candy corn. The choices are just too much. But then, I regain my composure and recall that I have issues with candy corn. While it is one of my favorite candies, I have a love hate relationship with it. I can't just eat a handful of the corn, I just keep eating and eating and eating until I feel sick. Yes, I am 36 years old, and I can still eat so much candy that I make myself sick, it is sad. So, I wheel my cart around so fast that Kate says "weeee" and get away from the candy section as quickly as I can.

Really Bad Ideas

I've had a few bad ideas in my life, some big, some not as big. While working at a camp one summer in college we counselors were encouraged to come up with creative ideas to introduce the weekly theme to our group of kids. As an extra incentive the winning idea each week got $20, which for college students, was all we needed to come up with something really great.

The camp was a nature camp that focused on protecting all living things and their habitats. My group of kids were four year-olds. The theme of this particular week was protecting ant hills. I know you are thinking, "what valuable information for a child... where can I join?" My co-counselor and I were thinking of how badly we wanted to win the challenge so we must come up with something creative. Well, we decided that I would be "Rob the Robber" who liked to stomp on ant hills (creative, no?). My co-counselor took the kids on a walk through the woods while I waited behind a tree. When the kids came around towards me I jumped out wearing a trench coat with hose over my head screaming, "I'm going to kill these ants!" All the children screamed in sheer terror and it took us about 30 minutes to calm them all down. Needless to say, we did not win the $20 for the week and I had to explain to the parents what had happened. That was one of those moments that left me wondering, "what was I thinking?"

Have you ever had one of those moments? I have had MANY of these moments, but I will save those for other blog entries.