Passover

Do you celebrate Passover?  I've always celebrated Easter, but for some reason, this year I've wanted go a little deeper and explore the symbolism and imagery in Passover to help my children better  understand Easter. 

Why celebrate the Passover?  Because it is rich with symbols and pictures of what Christ did for us and why. When God chose to teach his people, he surrounded them with pictures, symbols, stories and promises that were a visual representation of what was to come. 

Hundreds of years of stories and pictures, and then:

... when the set time had fully come, 

God sent his Son, born of a woman, 

born under the law, Galatians 4:4

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, 

the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ 

which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 

⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, 

according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,¹⁰ 

that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times 

He might gather together in one all things in Christ,

  Ephesians 1:7-10

                                    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

     I Gave You My Word

When you were young

   you looked into My face 

    and joyfully beheld My Grace 

But in time - as your grew,

  the World came by and tempted you.  

You sold My Grace 

 and bought a lie 

 and learned what it meant to die. 

I called to you in pictures, 

  in mountains drenched in dew. 

I called to you as history unfolded, 

  but you ignored that too.  

I sent you my prophets, 

  sent you water, fire, rain.  

I sent you promises of comfort 

 and helped to ease your pain.  

But a dancing world spoke to you too 

  and offered you goblets of guilt and dust

You grasped at that pleasure and clung to your rust 

 while I held My hand out to you.

And sin kept you spinning and crawling through time - 

  running from Me even though you were mine.  

And I loved you still, time after time, through pictures and poetry -

  line after line.  

But you shrugged your shoulders, 

  you thought it absurd.  

Until, 

  at the right time, 

               I gave you my Word.

 - jm 2012

 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, 

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Micro muffin

A friend of mine shared this recipe and, I'll have to admit, I was sceptical.  I really thought it would end up tough and rubbery - but no!  It's quite tasty, and once I'm able to eat butter, I bet it will be even better.

Micro Muffins
1 1/2 cup almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2T honey or sweetener of choice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup melted butter / coconut oil
2 eggs

optional: cinnamon, vanilla, coco powder, cardamon

1.) combine all the dry ingredients,
2.) in a sepparate bowl, combine all wet ingredients and mix well
3.) Add them together
4.) Divide into 4 coffee cups
5.) Cook 1-2 min in microwave

serves 4.  I bet strawberry jam, cream cheese, whip cream, butter or even maple syrup would taste pretty good on this muffin.

tags: Paleo, Primal, Gaps, SCD, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Dairy free

Emergency Laundry Soap DIY

Ages ago, when Eliannah was still a baby, I made my own laundry soap and did my laundry at the laundrymat -all 15 loads a week in one 5-6 hr period with 2 toddlers and an infant.  If you wonder what hell is like ....  The recipe I had called for grating up bars of hard soap with a cheese grater and mixing it with some other things.  For some reason I don't have very rosey memories of home made laundry soap.

Here are the reasons I stopped:
It took too much time
It didn't work very well
You can't use it in HE machines (the kind we have now)
I could never easily find the ingredients


Today I made my own laundry soap and it took 3 min. vs. the 20 or so minutes it would take me to go to Walmart, avoid buying junk, wrangling a herd of toddlers that happen to grow extra arms every time I stray from the exact center of the aisle.

I happen to have all the ingredients at home, which made it super easy.  All it took was:

3 tablesppoons Super Washing Soda (I can't find this at a store anymore but everyday cheapskate says you can buy Soda Ash at a pool supply store and I just happened to have 3 T left in the box I had purchased last time I made the soap)
3 tablespoons borax
2 tablespoons blue Dawn  (this is the kind I use for dishes so I happened to have it hanging around the house anyway)

Fully instruction here

I've been using white vinegar instead of fabric softener for a while so maybe I'll save some money on laundry soap for awhile and see how that works.  I'd be real curious to know what other moms use for laundry soap alternatives.

DIY breakfast kit

Last night I set everything up so that the kids could make breakfast for themselves (I used the oven pancake recipe from my last post).  Too bad the first person up was Charissa - and she can't read yet.  I think I'll try this idea again though, the kids need to learn how to cook something other than eggs.  What basic recipes should I teach them?  I don't feel AS guilty asking them to cook if I have it all laid out ahead of time.