...the odd couple.

You know the ones in your circle of people... those that are always on call for emergencies, those that are always ready to do any work needed, ready to assist in anything that needs being done..... but that you don't necessarily hang out with..... that is us. We never have planned to be that couple... but fate works in odd ways .... even those we consider closest to us.... just don't seem to "hang" with us.... it leaves us confused and a bit hurt.

Someone asked Eric the other day if there was anyone he really had to "hang" with... and when Eric said no... the person told Eric they were not that surprised about it.... so what does that mean??? Is it so easy to tell that we are that odd couple??? For the amount of things we are involved in and the amount of people that call on us for different circumstances.... we often feel that we are on the outside of the circle of friends looking in.

goodness.... not feeling well at the Amacher House these days.... we will resume the regular scheduled program when I am feeling better......

Stopping in quick....

to give the run down of my weekend....

Today:

I need to get some laundry going.
We have dress rehearsal for 60+ Banquet
I need to clean the CSC Building before rehearsal
I need to get some pictures uploaded for our Group Scrapbook
I need to get the kids ready for serving at the 60+ Banquet
I need to gather all costumes for 60+ Banquet
Clean up after 60+ Banquet


I am sure I am leaving something out....(oh, 60+ Banquet is a Dinner & Show that we under the age of 60 put on for our older members... its a hoot!) This year we are doing a skit based on a couple of Andy Griffith episodes ..... Mountain Wedding & The Education of Ernest T Bass.....

Tomorrow:

Morning Class and Services
Come home fix lunch and REST for a bit
We have early Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes practice tomorrow afternoon (starts at 4)
Evening Services
Come home and collapse ........



A very event filled weekend!

Friday's Fixins ~ Eating out.... on the cheap

How do you go out for a dinner for 6 on a budget of $12.00???? Is that even possible??? Tonight it was! My mother is the Director at the local Senior Center... and tonight was the annual Spaghetti Supper.... she had a sponsor to buy up a hundred tickets them give them back to the center so that anyone over 60 could get a free ticket with the purchase of a ticket... my mom bought 2 tickets and got 2 free tickets... she then gave us 3 of the tickets... so we only had to pay for 2 tickets (Jed and Amaris shared a plate.) We got to support a good cause.... enjoy a meal..... and do it on a very tight budget! Whoohoo! The food was good, and the price was great!

Its hard not to worry.....

about how we are going to make it .... no income, little job prospects.... Faith that God is going to see us through is the only thing keeping us going. Please pray for us.

Tuesday's Ticker

..... a Resume???

Do you know how long its been since I've had a Resume??? So long that Eric has never seen one...LOL! Well, I am working on one! Please pray that work .... any work.... comes my way soon!

Happy Birthday Eric.....

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday....



Daddy's big helper......




and naptime companion....



Happy Birthday... we love you!

Friday's Fixins ~ A day early....

I made my own hamburger buns tonight! The family loved them and I will be using this recipe again!

Easy Hamburger Buns (using the bread machine)

Put the ingredients in your bread machine in order...

1 & 1/2 cups warm tap water
1/4 cup oil
2 tblsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp yeast

Set your machine for the dough cycle... take out and separate into balls and pat down just a bit on a greased baking sheet. (Let rise to twice the size.)Bake at 350 for about 25 min or until they sound hollow when thumped. Brush the tops with a bit of oil to keep them soft.

Sloppy Joes for dinner along with some seasoned fries... mmmmmm...mmmmm...good!

Wednesday's Word

2Co 11:3 (ESV) But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Satan has a very long time to develop his deceitfulness ..... and he has vast experience in making the absurd seem like great wisdom. However, we should not let ourselves be fooled so easily. We must make a choice as Christians to keep our eyes open that we do not fall under any delusions Satan throws our way.

This week many throughout the world are celebrating the man Charles Darwin and his speculation on the beginnings of the world and man. This concept he called evolution is now being taught to our children as fact and not theory. At the heart of this notion of Mr. Darwin's is that there is no Creator because life "just happened". It devalues human life, putting man on the same level as animals with words like "common ancestor".

Sadly some Christians are falling under this idealistic influence and many others do not see the necessity of denying this claim by Darwin and his followers as nothing more than another corrupt lie from the father of all lies, Satan.

Well, what does it matter anyway?????

It matters because, if the foundations of Creation (Genesis chapters 1 and 2), are false ..... then the Cornerstone that is God is nothing more than a lie. Then if God does not exist, and man was not created... he "just happened", then there is no need for a Savior.

But I am so glad that we are not something that "just happened", we , that is mankind, was created ...... and not just created, but formed by the hands of God himself. Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. And we were given the breath of life from God himself...Gen 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. ..............and that we are in need of a Savior, that is Jesus Christ the Son of God, born from a virgin, living a sinless life, and then becoming sin for all he died... was buried... and rose again! Showing the love and power of God throughout all times complete and fulfilled. (Amen!)

The Truth that is God and Jesus Christ is what gives man purpose in life. If you take away that fundamental axis to our existence you give us something far worse than a pack of lies. You give us nothing more than emptiness....

Job 15:31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.

Tuesday's Tip

Space is always at a premium when you have a big family..... so that means organization is a must! So I use all kinds of totes, and boxes to help out. ....and among my favorite is photo boxes! I use them for just about everything. In the library, I have several... some for storing pens and pencils, supplies for making homemade cards, maps, and other school supplies. I got several for Eric to use in his office for those small computer parts he always has laying around and cords, and anything else he may need them for..... each of the kids have at least one in their rooms for their shelves for what-nots. And then I do actually have photos stored in some here in the front room. You can buy several to match a rooms decoration or just buy several mis-matched ones and create a whimsical effect.....cute and functional!

Tuesday's Ticker

today's goals...

laundry .... and lots of it. Happily it is a nice day out and I can hang out some clothes!

clean up the kitchen .... we were gone most of the weekend and it shows!

tidy up around the rest of the house...

play outside with the kids!

I also have my Monday computer class today and will be gone for about 2 hours for that.


Tonight I am going to go through the pantry and freezers to put together a nice big grocery list and go out tomorrow for that....



I lead such a boring life...LOL!

today...

Well, today I have been off my feet as much as possible... I have wrenched my bad knee and so I am limping when I am up on my feet... just need to give it a few days to heal up a bit and all will be normal again....

So, I spent the day editing the kids Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes speeches. Mia has written her own speech again this year and Travis is getting help for his and I helped Amaris with hers. I do hope that they do well in the competitions at convention .... but I am so glad that they understand that the competitions are not the real reason to be participating in the programs.... service and learning leadership roles in the church are much more important to them!

Well, tomorrow will be a busy day once again (I say that a lot..LOL) we have a "tweens" (our younger youth) service event... making cookies for Valentines Day for our widows of the congregation to hand out on Sunday morning. We are so blessed by the other members of our congregation and we love to show our appreciation to any we can! ..... Then my family is getting together for a late birthday party for my mom.... then I'm off (with Mia) to babysit! whew.. Makes me a bit tired just thinking of it tonight...LOL.

I'll post again soon!

Wednesday's Word

1Jn 4:16-17 (NLT) We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.

Have you ever opened your mouth and said something that upset a brother or sister in Christ (or anyone for that matter)? I know I have (on more than one occasion... I am working on it) ...... and it seems to cause some strife or hard feelings ..... so what do you do to make amends? Well, apologize first and foremost, that is needed (sometimes I have to do that lots) and if that does not help the situation ..... then just love them. Swallow pride and go out of your way to show them kindness, love and understanding. I know its hard.... and you may never see any fruition from your efforts in this world.... but we must remember that God sees it.

God, who is the source of all love, is watching us each moment. If we are His, then He is dwelling in us and we in Him..... and His love is being cultivated in us.... and we should be allowing His love to permeate every aspect of our lives. Look at the verses above....

And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. Perfect? But we argue that no one here on earth is perfect... how can our love grow more perfect? Well, as we are living in God, and He is dwelling in us ... His influence is growing in our lives... His love is growing in us .... and God's love is perfect. We may not ever reach perfection here .... but look the verse does not say our loves grows to perfection.... it says our love grows more perfect....until that day when love becomes what it should be in us.

Tuesday's Tip....

So, thought I would really start getting back into the swing of things here on my blog... and if any of my (few) readers remember I wanted to start something a bit different a couple of months back... sort of to expand my blog... so today I am starting in earnest.

Tuesday's Tip.....I want to share things I have found cost effective, ideas to save money, or even just thinking out of the box..... so here we go!

Today I want to share what I feel that helps me out in a big way on Sundays. I let Jed carry his own "diaper bag". Last year I found a cute little "Dr. Seus" backpack at a yardsale for 10cents. Jed loved it and was always wanting to throw something in it and take it along with us wherever we went... so instead of me carrying a bag and then having to keep up with it and an extra bag of "stuff" I asked if he would like to carry his own extras... he thinks he is such a big boy carrying all his own things around now!

Since it is a smaller backpack (just his size) and although Jed is a good sized 2 year old (he is over 3 foot and nearly 40 pounds now) I still want to keep the backpack on the lighter side so it does not overburden him. When packing, I first get him a change of clothes and roll the shirt and pants in a tight roll together and place it in the bottom of the pack. Then I have (usually) about 3 pull-ups and a small case of wipes. I then add about 3 small toys/book to the pack (letting him help pick them out) and then add a snack and his cup. The pack is rather light and he loves to put it on and show everyone just how big a helper he really is! Now, I do have to say that it does help that Jed is in the potty training stage and I don't have to carry as much for him as I used to and that he really does not get all messy and dirty up his clothes so I usually can keep his change of clothes packed in the bottom of the backpack for several outings before I have to use them so the only thing I replenish is the pullups, snacks and his cups..... but let me tell you how nice it is not to have to keep up with a diaper bag on Sunday mornings!

Happy Birthday Mom....

Today is my mother's 62nd birthday....

You have options....

Well, as I said last week, Eric is again without a job. However, instead of letting the hard times do us in we are seeking to think of out of the box ideas to help support our family. I may be going back to work so that he can stay home and do some continuing education for himself to be able to take certain tests that will help expand his resume..... we are also looking at a few other ideas for small side businesses to operate as well.... the one thing we are not doing is forgetting that God is watching out for our well being and He has a plan already set in place for us. We are prayerfully awaiting His answers.