Merry Christmas!

Greetings!

The past year has been one full of learning and growing for the Edenfield family. Last year, as you may know, we moved to Georgia and began caring for Archie's Mom, Jeri, who suffered a stroke in 2008.

When we first got out here we had thoughts of possibly planting a church but were unsure of ourselves. We visited a local church for a while and began attending regularly. After a while we realized that while there was nothing wrong with us attending that church, it wasn't God's best for us. Towards the end of last year we felt He was saying to us "I'll bless you if you choose to stay here, but I have something better in mind". In January of 2010 Maranatha Fellowship began in our home. We have worship service every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM. We have also had other opportunities to minister to the community. In March we had a Resurrection breakfast and invited people in the community to come and celebrate the Resurrection with us. We set up tables in the yard and had a nice pancake breakfast and crafts for the kids. In April Archie had the opportunity to go to the Deep South Pastor's conference in the Atlanta area, it was a very encouraging experience for him. In May I had the opportunity to help with a purity retreat for girls at the church we had attended for a while. I also had the privilege of hosting a ladies bible study the past few months, it was a huge blessing to me as we studied the book of Philippians. This past week we had a Birthday Party for Jesus at a local park, it was a lot of fun and I think everyone felt the Love of the Lord as we celebrated His birth! So far the membership of the church is just the 7 of us, but we are confident that the Lord is doing a work in us and will use us to reach others for Him.

We continue homeschooling. I stay home with Jeri and the boys and Archie works at a local hardware store in Vidalia. In a time where so many are out of work it is such a blessing that he has a job! He has been working there just over a year now. My parents were able to come out for a visit in June and we really enjoyed having them.

Michael is as dramatic as ever! He turned 10 in November and is now in 4th grade. He loves legos and riding his bike. He is also in the AWANA program, along with all of his brothers. He is not a little kid anymore and we see more evidence of that every day.

Gideon is 7 1/2 now and also loves legos and riding his bike, he also loves being silly and laughing. He is quite the artist too! This year has been a tough year of eye therapy for his "lazy eye". We have been taking him to a specialist in Savannah every three months since February. His next check up is January 6th and we are hoping to be at the end of the therapy. His vision has improved a lot but the progress has slowed down over the past few months as he is getting older. (There comes an age where a child's vision can no longer be corrected with therapy).

Jason has learned to ride his bike without training wheels recently, he also learned how to pump the swing all by himself! He is also quite an artist. He is very independent and bursting with energy. He turned 5 in August.

Silas has grown a lot in the past year as well. He is now 2 1/2 years old and speaks really clearly in complete sentences. He recently told me a story that he made up all by himself, I was quite impressed! He does his best to keep up with his brothers. He is also a very loving boy who loves Jesus very much.

We still care for Jeri and have learned a lot through becoming caregivers. It is not something we expected to do this early in our lives but it is something the Lord knew about before hand and I believe prepared us for. The Lord has used this in our lives to teach us many lessons and He's not done yet!

As we wrap up one year and prepare for the next it is evident that God is good and directs the steps of His children. Serving Him has been an exciting adventure for the Edenfield family and we love Him for every moment of it!

May your eyes turn to Jesus this Christmas and New Year. May you look on His wonderful face and may He change your heart. God bless y'all!

Persimmon pudding

This is a family tradition on my Dad's side. The holiday season wasn't complete without persimmon pudding! We ate it in these very dishes at my Grandparents house! I was blessed to inherit Grandma's China when she passed away.

First you make a batch of pudding and a batch of foamy sauce. Then when its all said and done you have too much pudding and not enough foamy sauce so you have to make more foamy sauce. Then there is too much foamy sauce and you have to make more pudding and the cycle continues until you are out of persimmon pulp!!!

It is very rich so you really shouldn't eat very much of it. It tastes great hot and great cold! I have had it for breakfast more than once in my life, though that's probably bad LOL. The best thing to do for the sake of your health is to only make it when you have lots of people to share it with.

I always add more cinnamon than it calls for.

About the pulp, I just take the seeds and the leaf off of the persimmon and put it in a food processor until its pureed. Some use a colander. Some use cheese cloth and squeeze the persimmon through it.

OK, the persimmons used in this recipe are Hachiya persimmons, they almost look heart shaped.

Hmm, anything else I should add, yes, OK, To get the persimmons mushy put them in the freezer and then thaw them out when you are ready to use them. They will probably be hard when you get them from the store but freezing them and thawing them will make them nice and soft. If you get them off the tree you may find some already mushy. You WANT them mushy!

Oh yes, one more thing, I find it much easier to steam the pudding in a food steamer. I have to add water after about an hour but it always turns out to be cooked perfectly all the way through.

OK, here's the recipe from my Grandmother Golightly!

PERSIMMON PUDDING
Christine Golightly

Heat over 300 degrees Farenheit

Blend Ingredients:

1 Cup flour
1 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 T butter (cut in)
1 Cup persimmon pulp
1/2 Cup milk

Put in a covered dish. Cover tightly with foil or lid
and place in covered pan or on a rack. Have pan half full
of water. Let steam 2 hours without lifting lid.

Serve with Foamy Sauce

1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg

Beat while heating over water in a double boiler.

No Knead Ciabatta

No Knead Ciabatta
3-1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 cup warm water

You just stir. Let it rise for 18 hours at room temperature (60-70 degrees), pour and shape, let rise 2 hours and bake at 375 for about 35 minutes.

I sifted the flour into a 4 cup measuring cup and it came out great! You do want to make sure the flour is not packed.

REALLY good as garlic toast!

Cranberry Orange Relish

Cranberry Orange Relish
by Jessica Edenfield

1 large orange
2 cups/1 pound of fresh whole cranberries
8 packets of Truvia (or other sweetener)

Zest the orange peel, then peel the orange getting off as much pith as possible, and remove seeds.

Put the orange in the food processor or blender with about half a cup of cranberries and the orange zest. Pulse until chopped but you don't want it to turn to mush so don't do it too long.

Continue adding in about half a cup of cranberries until they are all chopped.

Mix in the sweetener, put in a covered container and chill for a couple of hours.

Serve! I put mine on my salad last night instead of dressing, it was fantastic!

I didn't sign up for this!

Have you ever said that? or thought it? I did yesterday. I had to deal with something I really didn't want to. Then I heard God say "Yes you did! You gave your life to Me! You told Me you were Mine!". Oh yeah! I did give God my life didn't I?!

Sometimes that means I'll be put in situations or have to do things that I don't want to do, but if I do want my life to belong to the Lord, that means I give it to Him to do with as He wills.

He is always good, I can always trust Him and the trials of this life are nothing to be compared with the glory that is to come.

Sleeping a little better

I have Jason on video saying "tonight is the last night I will sleep in Momma and Daddy's room". He said this on the night before he turned 5. Then he said it again the next night, and the next. Then about 10 days later he suddenly started sleeping in his own bed! We did not do anything. He just did it. I think its an answer to our prayers, God knew how much we needed the sleep.

I think I previously posted that Silas was sleeping in his own room as well. Not now. He's been teething for the last week, 3 of his four 2 year molars are coming in! So he's been restless at night and been in our bed. Hopefully we can get him back in his own room soon.

Praise the Lord Jason is in his own room! We've been trying for 3 years and it finally happened when we weren't trying!

September 11, 2001

Where were you?

Archie and I were up and planning to have company over for lunch. We had no TV and hadn't turned on the computer or the radio. About 11:30 our friends called to say they weren't coming over under the circumstances. They weren't sure exactly what happened but they were watching the news.

We turned on the radio and tried to find some kind of info on the internet. After a while we packed our almost 10 month old Michael and drove out to my mother-in-law's house to see her TV and try and figure out what was going on.

I remember just standing in the middle of the living room watching the 2nd plane fly into the tower. They kept showing it over and over again. It was unbelievable!

What was happening? Was this all just the beginning? Was this all that was going to happen? Who was doing this?

I was glad that Michael was too young to know what was going on. I wished I could help somehow. I did pray.

Lord, I lift up to You the families of those who died that day. I pray that You will be with them in a powerful way. That You will comfort them and bring them peace. Most of all Lord, bring them close to You, use this to turn their hearts toward You.

Amen.

Jessica & Jessica - "Buttered" Noodles

Recipe? Buttered Noodles

Secret ingrediet? Yellow squash

Very easy recipe. Pasta (any kind, the funner the shape the more likely it will be eaten), yellow squash puree, milk, trans fat free spread, Parmesan cheese, and salt.

I have used this recipe several times now and it always wins with everyone, except Jason! I want to try pureeing the squash a little better and leave it without any chunks, maybe then he won't notice and will like it. He loves pasta though! Just not with squash in it.

I do wish grated parmasan cheese wasn't so expensive. It looks so much prettier than the powdery kind.

Jessica & Jessica - Chocolate pudding

Now this one sounded weird but I was willing to try it.

Recipe? Chocolate pudding

Secret ingredient? Avocado!

It really took very little time to make, while I didn't time myself I'd say the whole thing took about 15 minutes.

Simple recipe, avocado, powdered sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, trans fat free spread, and cornstarch.

I did not have enough cocoa powder so I just used what I did have and I think it was fine. It called for 1/2 cup and I only had 1/3 of a cup. But like I said, it was plenty.

The recipe called for 1 cup of avocado puree so I pureed 3 largish avocados and it was about a cup and a half, so really, 2 large avocados would have been about a cup.

The hardest part was getting the corn starch mixed in well enough but in the end it was fine.

I pureed the avocado until it was super smooth. I started out by just smashing it with a fork and then I put it into the food processor for about 2 minutes. I tell you, I didn't know avocado could get so smooth! It was like soft butter.

When it was done I served it with a little whip cream on top and wow! It was so good! You could taste the avocado and it was fantastic! It was VERY rich and smooth. The kind of dessert you can only eat a little of but that's all you need.

Michael was the only one who didn't like it but he's not a chocolate fan so whatever.

Jason loved it and couldn't believe it had avocado in it. My mother-in-law loved it even though she does not like avocados at all! Silas loved it even though I only let him have a little since chocolate doesn't like him. Gideon loved it. It was great!

Definitely a recipe I'll want to use again. Its not an every day pudding, but a real once in a while treat, or something you might expect to have after a fancy dinner.

My Garden

My garden did not turn out so well this year. I planted a few seeds which grew into plants that the rabbits ate. Then we got some wilted plants that a store was going to throw out and planted those. The rabbits and deer ate some before I got cages up. By that point it was really too hot to plant lettuce anyway and it didn't turn out at all. We planted a few water melon plants as well and they look nice but there is no fruit on them and its already August so I'm afraid they won't do anything either. The tomato plants didn't do anything either, the deer and rabbits got to them before I got a chance to plant them.

I did bring in a harvest though! I didn't plant them, I didn't water them at first, but they grew up anyway! Butternut and Spaghetti squash popped up in and around my compost bin! I had about 10 butternut squash but 3 of them busted. I brought in two, I'm not sure if they were really ready but the vines they were on died. There are 5 more out there, I'll be watching to see what they do. There are also 3 spaghetti squash that are looking rather nice.

It's funny, everything I tried to grow died and now I'm benefiting from something I did not work for! I did water on the days it didn't rain but for the most part I did not work for those squash!

It got me thinking about how I try so hard sometimes to do things on my own and so often they fall flat, but when the Lord does a thing in my life it is truly beautiful!

I will certainly try again to grow food in my garden. I'm not giving up yet! This is the first year and I had very little time to devote to it. I did learn a few things and I am confident its worth keeping on.

My artistic children

I've always had a hard time being upset if my kids drew on themselves or drew pictures on the walls. Of course I hated it when they drew on the walls in a place where we rented! That even got us in trouble once! Even though I tried to show the boys that it was not appropriate, I always had a hard time being really displeased with them. I guess its my artistic side being proud of their creativity.

Now we live in my mother-in-laws home. No landlords to make mad and the walls were already not pretty, so they were free to make some beautiful artwork on their bedroom walls before we painted.

I guess I'll go take some pics of what their room looks like after we painted to post with this blog.

Most of the pictures are pre-painting, the one with planets and stars on a dark blue background is what it looks like after we painted.

Sleep, sleep, I need sleep

It has been about a month since I got a reasonable amount of sleep. I really need about 9 1/2 hours a night but I rarely get that. In fact, I'm not sure when the last time I got that much was!

We've been working on moving Silas and Jason to their own beds. Last night was a disaster. Neither on of them went to sleep till after midnight and they both slept in our bed!

Even when I get to bed at a reasonable hour (which hasn't happened in a couple of weeks) I end up getting woken up several times in the night.

It's so bad that I'm thinking about sleeping all day long! Trying to figure out how to get everyone in bed and asleep early has consumed my thoughts. I need to wake them all up earlier I think.

We used to have such a good schedule but ever since we moved to GA it has not been worked out just right.

Ideally the boys would be in bed by 9 and the grown-ups in bed by 10. Then we could all get up at 7 or 7:30 and Silas could have a short nap after lunch.

When school starts back I'd really like to be on that ideal schedule, so I've got to start now! My plan is that next time Archie has a day off we'll all get up at the appointed time and go to bed on time. Until then we can work on getting up a little earlier and going to bed a little earlier each day. I really hope this works.

Tomorrow Archie works a half day. I'm hoping either I can sleep in late in the morning or get a nap in the afternoon when he gets home. I just need sleep. So does Archie.

Jessica & Jessica -Spinach brownies

I made these for the first time last night. The recipe says to let them cool completely before serving as the spinach flavor doesn't completely disappear until then. However, of course, I could not resist trying them hot! They were soft and moist and you could definitely discern the spinach flavor. It was really hard letting them cool, in fact, it was the hardest part! Once they are cool though, the spinach has almost completely disappeared.

There is actually more than just spinach in these yummy brownies, there are also carrots and cocoa and baking chocolate and whole wheat flour!

They aren't super sweet and once they cool they are more of a cake brownie. Archie liked them but suggested a cream cheese icing or a glaze might be a nice addition.

Michael, Jason, Jeri, and Silas all loved them as well! Normally I wouldn't let Silas have them since chocolate doesn't like him, but its been a while since he tried it and I thought we'd try and see how he does (so far so good). Gideon was the only one who didn't like them. He took a bite and said they weren't the kind of brownies he likes, oh well. 6 out of 7 people isn't bad!

I will make these brownies again, but not soon. I've been baking too much lately :P

Asleep in their beds

Tonight is the second night we've attempted to put Silas to sleep in his own bed. (Actually, Jason and Silas are sharing a bottom bunk). Last night he only stayed asleep in there for an hour, I hope its longer tonight!

When Michael, our oldest was born, we had in mind for him to sleep in his own bed from the get go. After all, ALL of the books tell you that its far safer for babies to sleep in their own beds! Fortunately my parents were staying with us the first week we had Michael home with us and they assured me that it could be perfectly safe for him to be in our bed. (I heartily believe this to be true, but will point out that there are safe ways to co-sleep and unsafe ways).

About 3 months before Gideon was born we moved to a new apartment and set up a bed and bedroom for Michael. He continued to share our bed until just a week or so before Gideon was born when he suddenly got out of our bed one night, walked to his bedroom, laid down in his bed and went to sleep! He pretty much slept in his own room ever since! He was about 2 1/4 years old at that time.

When I was pregnant with Jason I had in mind that it was time for Gideon to move to his own bed as well. He was not as willing as Michael had been but after about a month of Archie laying down with him until he fell asleep in his own bed, he was fine. He was about 2 1/2 when he finally started sleeping in his own bed.

Ah Jason. I was pregnant again and again wanted the toddler to move out of our bed. Jason was not willing. Archie and I both tried for ages to get him to sleep in his own bed. He'd always get up and come in our room, sometimes after an hour, sometimes half way through the night. Even after Silas was born he never stayed in his own bed. He was just getting to where he would occasionally sleep in his own bed for the whole night...and then we moved, cross country! This totally upset his whole life. He was 3 1/2 at the time. We've been here in Georgia a year now and once in a while he'll sleep the whole night in his own bed, but that is probably only once every couple of weeks. I'm trying a new tactic with him now. I'm staying in his room until he's asleep. He still comes in our room but last night it wasn't until 6 AM. I think that is progress. He'll be 5 next month and I'm really hoping he'll finally get the hang of sleeping in his own bed.

Silas has never been too afraid of things but he seems a bit nervous about sleeping in his own bed. If you ask him about it he'll tell you he won't do it. Last night was the first try. I nursed him to sleep in his bed with his plush duck under his arm and a Thomas sheet over him. He went to sleep after about half an hour, but just an hour after that he was awake and wanted to come to our bed. Tonight, again, I nursed him to sleep in his own bed. It only took him about 20 minutes to fall asleep this time. Right now he's snoring away and he's been in there for 30 minutes. I'm really hoping he'll be able to stay in there at least half the night, but we'll see. He just turned 2 last month, so if he starts sleeping on his own he'll be the youngest of his brothers to do so.

Well, they are all asleep in their own beds, for now. I'd better get to sleep in my own bed before they wake me up.

God bless, goodnight.

Jessica & Jessica -pink pancakes

Archie actually made these! They were really yummy and all of the boys liked them I think. Jason and Silas ate a lot of them. That was the day I was the sickest so I wasn't paying really close attention.

They had ricotta cheese and pureed beats in them. Archie said it was a bit of a challenge to find the right temperature. The book suggested medium high but he found that cooking them on medium low actually worked better.

They were dense but very tasty. I really enjoyed them with butter but the boys had whipped cream on top.

There was plenty of beat puree left over but sadly the measuring cup they were in fell and shattered and we had to throw it all away :( This is definitely a recipe I think we'll use again! I can't wait to try making it myself. :)

Jessica & Jessica-Tofu nuggets

These were made with tofu, egg, broccoli, and breadcrumbs. I thought they were pretty good but maybe not good enough to make again. The adults all liked them but not the kids. None of the kids!

I do think its the best way I've ever had tofu! I'd like to look around and find some other tofu recipes and see if I can find another way I like it.

Jessica & Jessica-Grilled cheese sandwiches

This recipe was quite different from the normal bread-cheese-butter grilled cheese recipe. It was equal parts shredded cheddar cheese and sweet potato mixed with a little salt and trans-fat-free margarine, then spread between two pieces of whole wheat bread (I used sugar free bread), and then cooked on a skillet until the insides were melted and the outside was browned.

These were fantastic! Or at least I thought so. Jeri (my mother-in-law) really enjoyed them too. The boys on the other hand were less than impressed. Gideon ate his and said he liked it, Silas ate about 1/4 of his and left the rest, Michael ate a bite or two and left the rest, and Jason started crying and said he wanted a "regular" grilled cheese sandwich!

I may make these again for Jeri and I but not for the boys. Well, maybe I'll try it on them again in a couple of years but not anytime soon. I really did like it and so did she, in fact, I liked them so much that I ate mine and (minus a little I saved for Archie) I ate what the boys left!

Jessica & Jessica - Chocolate chip cookies

This recipe is a pretty basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. The main differences are 1: It calls for egg whites instead of whole eggs, 2: Trans-fat-free margarine instead of butter, and 3: It calls for 1 can of drained and rinsed chick peas/garbonzo beans! I used white chocolate chips because Silas is allergic to regular chocolate.

Now I was really excited about this recipe, I love garbonzo beans and I love chocolate chip cookies. I wasn't too sure how they'd mix but wanted to give it a try. I let the boys help with the recipe until it came to the garbonzo beans. I didn't want them to know the secret ingredient just yet so I made them leave the room while I added them in.

They turned out very nice and chewy! The garbonzos really helped cut the sweetness a little (which is a good thing to me) and it made them moist and chewy.

The real test of course was the boys, would they like them? Jason loved them, Gideon liked them, Michael loved them, Silas broke his into little pieces and threw it all over the kitchen floor. Hmm, not sure what Silas thought.

After they all declared that the cookies were good I let them know the secret ingredient. Michael had already guessed but he still liked them! Gideon still liked them! Jason said "Oh Momma! Why did you have to put THAT in the cookies???" I asked him if it mattered since he liked the cookies, he said "I don't like them!". I started to take away his half eaten cookie, he protested and I said "I thought you didn't like them?". He said "Well, I just don't like half of them, I like the rest", then he polished off a few more cookies.

Overall, I think it was a great success and I will probably throw in a can of garbonzo beans every time I make chocolate chip cookies from now on.

Jessica & Jessica

I recently purchased the book "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. The past week or so we've been trying out the recipes with "hidden" veggies. The other night Michael asked me if I'd used the same ingredients that "Jessica" used and I said yes, then Archie said "You ought to start a blog 'Jessica & Jessica'". If you've seen the movie "Julie & Julia" you'll get it.

So here goes. I've needed something to get me back into blogging. Every time you see a post titled "Jessica & Jessica" it will be about my experience making one of the recipes from the book.

First up, Garbonzo bean chocolate chip cookies! (see next blog entry).

A typical week

Lets start with Monday....

Monday- Homeschool, chores, catch up on laundry and sometimes grocery shopping in the evening.

Tuesday- Homeschool, and chores

Wednesday- Homeschool, chores, shower everyone, early supper, take the boys to AWANA

Thursday- Homeschool, and chores

Friday- Catch up on laundry, Homeschool, chores

Saturday- Catch up on housework, get house ready for Church, go over Children's Church lesson, catch up on laundry, catch up on dishes, catch up on yard work, bathe everyone

Sunday- Church in the morning, lunch, rest and/or non-intensive chores, plan the menu and grocery list for the next week, sometimes grocery shopping

I usually have a lot of house work on Saturdays because with homeschooling during the week I don't get to devote as much time to chores. Usually Monday and Tuesday the house is in pretty good shape but it deteriorates as the week goes on, by Saturday, I have a lot of work to do!

Sometimes the shopping happens on Saturdays but I rarely have the grocery list ready that early. Sometimes its not even done until Monday!

Busy busy busy. God is good! Only by His strength am I able to do these things! Trust me, when I try to do all this on my own I am a complete failure. His Grace is enough.

By God's grace!

In my last post I noted somethings that I know I'm supposed to do or not do, and as I was reading it today I was very pleased to realize that I have changed some of those things! I could not have done it on my own, it was all Jesus!

I shouldn't eat as much sweet foods as I do. I should make the time to exercise daily.

I now get exercise at least 4 times a week and am a lot more active in general. I have also drastically cut back on sweets, probably more than at any other time in my life! I have lost 20 lbs. since June '09 and 10 0f those have been in the past two months!

I shouldn't spend so much time online. I should schedule my time better.

I have cut back on my internet time, I spend much less time on facebook, and am working on curbing the desire to web surf. I actually have a schedule that I have been sticking to, at least most of the time.

I shouldn't put things off till "later". I should make my list of chores and stick to it.

I still put things off sometimes but there have been a lot of things in the last couple of months that I've finally "gotten around to". I did make lists of chores, I have daily chores, weekly chores, and monthly chores posted on the back of a kitchen cabinet door. I check it every day and try to accomplish the chores posted for each day.

I shouldn't do anything else in the morning before spending time with the Lord. I should go to bed earlier at night and wake up earlier in the morning.

This is an area that I have definitely improved in! I'd say that 5-6 out of 7 days of the week this happens! Praise the Lord! He is really using His Word in my life and I know it is changing me. Sure, I have the occasional day where something (usually someone) in the house demands my attention before I've even opened my eyes in the morning, but most days, His Word is first on my agenda. (I still go to bed too late but I have been getting up earlier).

It makes me so happy to know that I can still grow and mature. To know that God hasn't given up and me and that He's not finished with me. He is so good to me!

What am I to do?

It drives me crazy when I see that others are not doing the best they can at something. When they know what to do, they are capable of it, but they just don't do it. From weakness, from laziness, or self deception, I don't know.

This past week or so the Lord seems to be turning this around on me. I know many things I ought to be doing but am not.

I shouldn't eat as much sweet foods as I do. I should make the time to exercise daily.

I shouldn't spend so much time online. I should schedule my time better.

I shouldn't put things off till "later". I should make my list of chores and stick to it.

I shouldn't do anything else in the morning before spending time with the Lord. I should go to bed earlier at night and wake up earlier in the morning.