Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sunday Suppers

I don't have a recipe to share today. It's been a rough week here at the Brown house. Most of you have already heard about the tragedy aboard Lee's ship this past week. I will post more tomorrow about all of that. Anyway, I have a different kind of food to share with you today. Food for the soul. A reminder that The Lord is sovereign and that He will provide. We sang this hymn today at church. I'd never heard it before, but I needed it. The Lord is Good.

Though Troubles Assail

Written by: John Newton

( the same man who wrote Amazing Grace)

Though troubles assail us and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail us and foes all unite,
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The promise assures us, “The Lord will provide.”

The birds, without garner or storehouse, are fed;
From them let us learn to trust God for our bread.
His saints what is fitting shall ne’er be denied
So long as ’tis written, “The Lord will provide.”

When Satan assails us to stop up our path,
And courage all fails us, we triumph by faith.
He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,
This heart cheering promise, “The Lord will provide.”

He tells us we’re weak, our hope is in vain,
The good that we seek we never shall obtain,
But when such suggestions, our graces have tried,
This answers all questions, “The Lord will provide.”

No strength of our own and no goodness we claim;
Yet, since we have known of the Savior’s great Name,
In this our strong tower for safety we hide:
The Lord is our power, “The Lord will provide.”

When life sinks apace, and death is in view,
The word of His grace shall comfort us through,
Not fearing or doubting, with Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting, “The Lord will provide.”

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Friday Funny

Oh my word this is SO funny.  No matter how you feel about Ellen, Gladys makes my day!


Countin' Em and Burnin' Em

Our fitness quest continues. We have not given up, it is not a passing phase or a lame New Years resolution gone the way of the Bee Gee's.
Just wait until July when we look super trim in our bathing suits. We may be blindingly pale but we WILL have thin thighs and at least a smaller gut.

Abbie is officially The Biggest Loser in the house so far. My girl has lost 14 pounds during the month of January. You GO girl!!!
The rest of us are just trying to catch up with her.


Holly can put me to shame with these incline sit-ups.
A funny thing happened in this spot a few days ago. See that machine all the way to the right of the picture? Well I was sitting on it working out and Abbie was where Holly is only she was lollygagging. There was an older lady on the machine beside me minding her own business. So I yell out to Abbie "Hey, give me 20 more and slower this time, no slower, slower, there you got it now. Keep it up, you can do it. That's good you're looking good now. 18 more..." I hear this little voice from the lady beside me say " Do I HAVE to do 18 more? I just did 15 and it was pretty hard...." I look over at her and she has this pleading look in her eyes, like she was saying "please don't make me do more, pleeeeaaaasssseee" I was so embarrassed, she thought I was yelling at her. I apologized and we laughed. Oh my. I guess being a mom is not too much different than being a personal trainer.


Caitlin is pressing 110 pounds worth of steel. Super Girl!
Caitlin and the elliptical machine are friends. She can burn at least 300 calories in 30 minutes on that thing. Oh to have that metabolism....


I love this picture because of the pony tail. You just can't capture how fast she was working that elliptical machine, but the pony tail gives you an idea.
Check out the runner in the yellow shirt behind her. Holly and Gracie are the only ones among us who can run. I have to resist the urge to yell out at them across the gym from my own torture machine when I see them running. "Ruuunnnn Foooorrrreesssstttt Ruuuuunnnnn"
What's a little dignity when you have sweat rings under your armpits?
I could run...if the place caught fire.


Then there is this little 57 pounds worth of lean muscle.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Two Whole Hands Full

My little Gracie girl is 10 years old. I can barely believe it. In some ways it feels like she has been with us forever and in others it feels like the time has flown by.


Her brand new silky comforter.
She has a weakness for all things silky.


I wish I had a better picture of her necklace. Lee sent her a Cartouche charm that he bought at the Bahrain gold market. One side says Gracie in English and the other side says it in Arabic. It is so pretty and she was so proud to get such a special gift from Daddy.


Blowing out the birthday candles.
Happy Birthday Gracie!!!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Gone To The Dogs

Since we brought Hobbes home our house has been ruled by the dogs.  Our schedule now revolves around when the dogs eat, when the dogs have to go outside, when the dogs need to go to the vet, when the dogs need a bath... You get the idea.  

Wrigley is part cat we think.  He gets up here to escape from Hobbes who cannot yet reach that high.  Not much longer before Wrigs will need a new spot to escape to.

Hobbes follows Caitlin everywhere!  This pic was taken 2 weeks ago, he's much bigger now.

Wrigley gets in the tub when he gets thirsty.  Lately Hobbes has been drinking the water bowl dry twice a day.

Snickers, the canine matriarch of the family (and my favorite). She cannot seem to figure out why we need another dog in the house.

Wrigley LOVES his squeaky foot from the dollar bin at PetSmart.  If he could just keep it away from Hobbes everything would be right in his world.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Military Monday

What's better than one newsletter? Two newsletters! This is how they were sent to me last week, so this is how I am giving them to you. Enjoy!

This Week on San Antonio 3

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Sunday Suppers

For various reasons my picture taking abilities have been severely limited. I took the following with the camera on my cell phone. So there are no step by step pictures this time.
The girls and I had a big cooking day yesterday preparing for our first Sunday of the month church potluck meal. I made a pot roast in the crock pot with a farm fresh tenderloin roast. Much to the girls disgust I also made a pot of fresh collard greens that came from the same farm where we got the roast. Holly and Gracie made homemade bread. Abbie did the deviled eggs (also farm fresh) and Caitlin made this not so diet friendly bundt cake from scratch.


Caitlin's Cake
2 sticks of butter
2 cups of sugar
Cream the above together until light and fluffy
Add: 4 eggs
keep mixing
Prepare dry ingredients by mixing together
3 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternating it with
1 cup of milk
mix well then add
1 Tbsp of vanilla
Pour into a prepared bundt pan and bake at 350 for about an hour
Caitlin used a homemade fudge icing but you may us whatever suits you. The cake is delicious just plain too.



The cake batter is thick and rich


Holly dresses up Abbie's deviled eggs with a little fresh cilantro


Abbie is using a Pampered Chef tool to make the eggs extra fancy


Our goodies are ready to take to church. Hopefully there will not be any leftovers!

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