Coloring pages.....

One thing I love about the internet is finding coloring pages. Today Gabe was asking me to draw a black knight well my drawing skills are very limited. I found this great link to Castle & Knight coloring pages. He was very happy to have some of these pages printed out.

Does anyone else have some favorite links to coloring pages????

There a few blogs that I love to read and "I Have To Say" is one of them. She has a lot of sewing inspiration and recipes that are great. She has started to host this Recipe Box Swap again and I posted my Cinnamon Scone recipe. If you would like to find some other great recipes you can click on the link above. Also join in on the fun too and let me know about it. I'll be checking often to see the new recipes.

Kid Fun & Other News.....

Today the kids and I went to the Kids Expo at the Alliant Energy Center in spite of the weather condition. The Lord was good and gave us safety there and back. We spent a good 4 hours there and didn't have a problem staying busy. The kids had fun collecting candy, playing games, bouncing for a bit and getting there hair sprayed fun colors.

The kids also got to enjoy an animal show were they saw animals like a tortoise, chinchilla, and one animal that sent Anna running far away..... a huge snake. I even kept my distance, since they are not my favorite animal. The boys on the other hand were up front and center. There was no fear in either of my boys with any of the animals and if Noah could of he would of climbed right up on stage.

Another fun place the kids and I went about a week ago was the Madison Children's Museum. It is an awesome place and the kids loved it. We were there for a good 3 hours and the kids came home exhausted. I love places were the kids can run and play hard because then they come home and sleep really well at night.

Lastly we will be traveling to Cedar Rapids Iowa on Tuesday because my husband has two interviews. The kids and I will be checking out the town and hopefully find some fun places to visit. We will also be praying for daddy that the interviews go well and that hopefully a nursing job will be the end result.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I should of had my camera with me, but with trying to carry as little as possible I left it home.

Cook Yourself Thin......

I have been watching some episodes called, "Cook Yourself Thin." They have been awesome and I have been learning so much. Some of the things I've learned I have already known and some things have been new. One thing I learned today was to use parchment paper when baking cookies because it's not only makes clean up easy, but saves you some calories with not using the spray stuff, which really is not good for us anyway. Another problem I have is the amount of butter I use in foods and baking. I have seen some really great recipes that don't use any butter or oil. I am going to have to try out this Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe, which sounds awesome. Lastly Olive oil is also the best oil to us when you want to use an oil.

To find some of their other recipes you can go here. I will be checking them out here over the next few months and when I find one I love I'll let you know.

I have been challenged by my husband to workout at least 30 minutes every day, no coffee in the morning, since I like to put to much cream and sugar in it and lastly no sweets or I am hoping to make some healthy cookies and deserts to curve my craving, which I know I will have. The kids make cooking a challenge because we know how much kids like sweets and treats. I do have one thing going for me is that I am not a snack person.

So this is my challenge and now I need a lot of accountability. I not only want to do this for myself, but for my kids. I want them to see the importance of exercise and eating foods that are good for the body. Another reason I need to do this is because in I Corinthians 6:19 the Lord tells us our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and also our body is not our own. We need to keep ourselves healthy because that is what the Lord would want us to do. I hope I have encouraged another and set up some accountability also for myself.

Valentines Package.......
The kids had yummy heart pancakes yesterday for breakfast and then they all dressed in red. Mommy was even wearing red, which the kids loved. The kids then started asking if I had anything special for them. I had been keeping the package from Grandpa & Grandma a secret. They were really excited when they saw it and there were so many goodies in it. They especially love the marshmallow suckers, but one package of the Twizzlers is gone with a few of the Air Heads. Thanks grandma & Grandpa for all the goodies:)

Your Divine Valentine.....

A Valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings you the sweetest love song in the universe.
The Lord your God... will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

A Valentine may give you flowers, but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all. Jesus.
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Song of Solomon 2:1

A Valentine may bring you chocolate, but God provides you with something even sweeter, His Word.
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

A Valentine may love you for a lifetime, but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity.
Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love...with loving kindness I have drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3

Praying you're blessed by the wonderful love of God this Valentine's Day and always!

Adoption......

Some good friends of ours are planning to adopt a little boy when the Lord provides. They are such a loving family and I'm excited for them. To learn more about this family you can visit, "Sharing our Joy". I know I enjoyed reading about there family and I know you will too.

Onion Rings.....

There is nothing I like better then yummy onion rings and this is a great recipe. If you want to watch it you can go here. I just use regular milk, since I don't keep buttermilk on hand. Also use any spices you want and make it your own. Onion rings are so easy to make, so I hope you will try it out if you love them as much as I do.

Old, but New Cabinet.......
A few weeks ago my parents brought me an old cabinet that was just sitting out in there garage. I love it and it has given me some great storage for the kids school stuff and craft supplies. I love having things organized and easy to find.

The top few shelves holds some binders, paint supplies, card game, and markers.

The bottom two shelves holds Anna and Gabe's school books. One shelf for Anna and one shelf for Gabriel. It works great and easy for them to get too.

Blizzard Results.....
The kids have been having a blast playing in all the new snow, but not so much fun for daddy. It was drifted as high as our fence in the back yard that the dogs could play in the neighbors yard, which is luckily fenced.

It was packed up around the trucks back end and only took a good hour or more to get everything all shoveled.

Eventful......
Or maybe not to much. The major happening this week was my washing machine stopped working on Monday. They always have to do this when they are full of water & clothes. Also this is the second washer that has broken down on us in the last few months. It must have some electric issue because it was tripping the breaker and the sparks were flying when I tried to plug it in. My dad gave us some help over the phone, but after we got the back off of it we could not see any blacked wires or anything else really wrong with it. We will keep it around for a while and maybe my dad can look at it and find the problem next time he is here to visit.

We decided it would cost just as much if not more to have someone come look at it, so I started looking on Craigslist by Wednesday. I ended up having to wash some of Brandon's work clothes in the sink this week and am really glad I don't have to do that all the time. By Friday I found a washer that had not been taken and Brandon went and picked it up. It's a Maytag, which is in very god conition and we payed $100 for it. What a great deal.

Lets see other happening around here was we had friends who came down with stripe throat and so we stayed home most of the week in anticipation of the kids getting it. So far the kids never did complain of a sore throat.

The kids have been doing a lot of indoor playing and have not been wanting to go out and play in the snow at all. Anna is ready for summer and I think the boys are too. I don't think I can really count the number of hours that I played Uno this week, but the kids are getting good. Yesterday I introduce them to some new games, which they loved. It's fun as the kids get older and they can play fun games with me and themselves. I even showed them the game Yahtzee. It will be a while before they can play it, but they had fun rolling the dice.

The projects that I got done around the house this week was repainting the wood work bench in the basement. It look much better and I hope it stays that way till we hopefully sell our duplex. I went thought my hubbies gun stuff and organized it all. He now doesn't have boxes of gun stuff with everything under the sun in them. I put his reloading supplies in one container, his gun slings & leather pouches in another, gun cleaning supplies in another and there are a few containers of bullets and gun parts. I need to do just a little more work, but it's much better then it was. I also went through my clothes closet and took out all the clothes that are to small to fit me this winter and put them away in a container in hopes that they will fit next winter. Now I can find what I need much easier.

Well that is my week. Hope you all had a wonderful week and have a great weekend.

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

It's hard to believe that my baby is now 3 years old this year. We took the family bowling in the afternoon with some friends and then had Haystacks for supper and yummy chocolate birthday cake. It was a fun day:)

Snuggle Beagles......
I snapped this great picture of the beagles snuggling up to Anna the other night. I have to say that is one reason I really like beagles. They just can't get enough love from there people. Our beagle's names are Ruby Tuesday and Rosy Wednesday.

Sickness....
Starting last week we all got colds and then by Friday night Anna and Mommy were up many times in the night puking. It was a long weekend of sickness and tiredness. Gabe got sick on Sunday as well and daddy got the stomach bug by Monday. This week has been spent recovering and catching up on sleep if that is possible.

Yesterday was the first day out with the kids and they wanted to go play at MC Donald's. I really like taking the kids there because they stay busy playing without fighting. I can then do a little reading and knitting while they play.

Then today I took the kids ice skating at the skating rink, which is just down the street from our house. The kids love it and Anna is doing great. Gabe is also getting the hang of it and asked me this evening about getting hockey sticks for him and Anna. I think it sounds like fun. I use to skate a lot as a kid and have always loved it. There are even some indoor skating rinks that I would like to check out. It may even be a fun way for me to get some good exercise in each week.

Also this morning Noah was sitting at the kitchen table eating his oatmeal and he told me, " I'm eating my bugs" with a big smile on his face. This just made me laugh because that is what his grandpa told him when he was at their house. The bugs are the flax seed that we put in the oatmeal. Also at Christmas I got a rice cooker and have been making oatmeal in it for breakfast and I love it.

Well that's what's been happening around the Kostman household. I hope to post some ice skating pictures sometime soon.

I'm Ready to Fight......

A little late......
I'm not sure what has taken so long to get these pictures up, but here they are. The boys got some great things for Christmas like these skidsteers & Nerf guns. They love them and I find myself getting shot often.

Anna got this lovely jewelry box, which she loves. It was also filled with some goodies and now she has a nice place to put her lovelies.

The kids also got some bath robes and I hope to post pictures of them soon.

New Outfit......
The is a present that Anna's grandma & grandpa got her for her birthday. It is so pretty and she loves it and I wish I had a matching outfit to wear with her. Doesn't she look like such a big girl?

She is also wearing a really pretty angel necklace that her Uncle Troy & Aunt Jen got her. She loved it and I will be keep it up so little boy hands don't get on it:)

Happy 6th Birthday Anna......
My little girl turned the big 6 yesterday. Wow how the time flies by and it seems like just yesterday that she was a baby. She had a great B-day with having Monkey Bread for breakfast, which the kids love to help make. Then at 10:00 a.m. I surprised her with going to Bouncy Town with a couple of her friends meeting us there. They had a blast bouncing. We then came home for lunch and then went back to Bouncy Town at about 4:30 and let them bouncy till 6:45 p.m. We then came come from there to open presents and eat cake. What a fun day we had.
Happy Birthday Anna......

Marshmallow Suckers......
The kids love these things and were so excited to get them in the mail from Grandpa & Grandma Kostman. Thank you so much for making the kids feel special.

Jesus is the Gift

Jesus is the gift that perfectly fits every heart
and it is with His love that all celebration starts.
We rejoice in Him as we remember His birth
and thank God for sending His only Son to earth

His life led from a manger to a cross on a hill
where He faithfully followed His Father's perfect will.
He freely laid down everything so that we could live
and there is no greater treasure anyone could give.

Like a scarlet ribbon His love wrapped around the cross
and He offered it to us all at the greatest cost.
So each time that we give we remember what He's done
and honor the perfect Gift - God's one and only Son.

For God so loved the world that He gave... John 3:16

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and will remember the reason for the season.

Into the World Came....

God's purest Light to show the way;
God's perfect Savior to free us from sin;
God's tender Shepard to care for our needs;
God's sure Foundation to make us secure;
God's fullest joy to give us a song;
God's broken Bread to satify our hunger;
God's conquering King to rule our hearts;
God's healing Foundation to make us whole;
God's highest Purpose to fill our longing;
God's quieting Peace to bring us rest;
God's redeeming Love to make us His own.

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanual, which being interpreted is, God with us." Matthew 1:23

Written by, Roy Lessin

This is just what we need to meditate on this Christmas season and pass on to our children who are learning about what Christmas is all about. My prayer is that I share this with my children and they will pass it on. Love, Renee

Scones.......
I have been trying to find a good scone recipe for awhile. I worked for Victor Allen's Coffee and Tea for about 8 years and they have the most delicious & moist scones. I wish I could get there recipe, but I found one that is pretty good and the kids loved them. Here's the recipe......

Cinnamon Scones
4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 c. butter
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then mix the first 6 ingrediants together in a large bowl. After they are mixed cut the butter into the mixture well. In a seperate bowl mix the egg, sour cream and milk. Then add to the first mixture and mix till combined. Then with your two greased baking sheets scoup out the mixture into good biscuit size scones. I think I got a total of 16 scones. I also sprinkled a cinnamon sugar mixture on top or you can make up a frosting to drizzle over the top when they are done. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they look done. Eat and enjoy:)

To find more scone recipes go here.

A Couple Recipes.....

Tonight I made up a batch of Peanut Brittle for my mom, since she loves it. I also found out that my kids love it too except for Noah, which is surprising. I first tried to use a microwave recipe, but it ended up getting cooked to long and tasted a bit burnt. So Anna had fun throwing that in the garbage.

I have to say the best way to make brittle is on the stove with a candy thermomater. The recipe I used is called Grandma's Christmas Brittle and it turned out great. It also makes a good amount, so you probably only have to make one batch. That's if everyone doesn't eat in up in a couple of days. I guess I'll have to hide it somewhere saft.

I also decided to make up a recipe that I found in Cook's Country, which I love to read. It is called Crunchy Spiced Nuts. It's amazing how much some of these would cost if someone made them for you. They turned out awesome and I really think my dad is going to love them.

Crunchy Spiced Nuts

Ingredients:
1 large egg white
1 Tb. water
1 tsp. salt
1 pound unsalted pecans
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves

Directions:
Heat the oven to 300 degrees and spray baking sheet with non-stick spray. Then whisk the egg white, water and salt in a large bowl. Then pour the pecans in and coat them with the egg white mixture. In a smaller bown mix the sugar and spices and then pour it over the nuts and mix well. Then pour the coated pecans onto the baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake until dry and crisp, which takes about 40 to 45 mins. Let cool and enjoy:) These can be stored in an airtight container for 3 weeks if they last that long.

So those are a couple of favorites around our household. We have also been busy baking cookies, which seem to disappear very quickly. I think I am going to wait till we get to grandma's house before we bake to many more.

May You Find Him.....

May you find Him to be-
the peace for every struggle,
the supply for every need,
the solution for every problem,
the escape for every temptation,
the release for every burden,
the balm for every pain,
the comfort for every sorrow,
the victory for every battle,
the wisdom for every decision,
the strength for every endeavor,
the hope for every tomorrow,
the song for every day.

By Roy Lessin, DaySpring co-founder and writer.

Christmas Happenings........

Yesterday the kids and I wrapped up the cousins gifts and mommy got together some of the adult gifts. The kids were also very busy yesterday making some Christmas cards. Unfortunately a little 4 year old is impatience with letting the glue dry and wrapped up a few cards, which may end up sticking together in the end, but I'm sure the one receiving the card will understand. Now I just have to focus my kids creativity in another direction before I have 50 cards made up and wrapped up.

Also the fire has been going non stop here. It is cold outside and I don't like being cold and paying the gas bill. I am very thankful to have a good pile of wood out in our garage and my dad said they could bring us up some more here in January if we would like.

I also wanted to share with you about little Noah. He is such a sweet, smart and funny little boy. Last night I was laying down with him before bed because he always wants mommy. He started making this loud breathing sound. I asked him what he was doing and he told me, "I'm snoring like daddy." That made me just giggle inside.

Well hope you all had a wonderful week and have a great weekend....

YUMMY......

Yesterday at my mom's group we had a Christmas party and everyone brought a dish to pass. One friend brought this wonderful casserole and I had to share it with all of you. The best part is last night I was grocery shopping and they had cubed ham on clearance for $1.50 a package, so I bought up what they had. This will be a great Christmas morning dish don't you think????

Ham Hash Brown Bake
1 (32 oz) package of hash browns potatoes, thawed slightly
1/2 cup butter or margarine melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 to 2 cups cubed pre-cooked ham or turkey ham (the recipe called for 1 12-ounce can of SPAM cubed, but I used turkey ham)
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/ 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups of crushed potato chips

Combine potatoes, butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a separate bowl, combine ham (spam) soup, cheese, sour cream, milk, onion, and chilies. Combine both mixtures and place in 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with chips. Bake 45-60 minutes or until heated
Serve & Enjoy:)

Our Greatest Need

If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Saviour.

-Roy Lessin

Chore Charts.......
I have been looking for a good way to motivate the kids and came across this great site. It has a lot of different charts to choose from and even one's we could use. I thought some of you may be interested. To find the link go here..... I'm planning on letting them put little stickers on the sheet when they get something done. If anyone has a site them like let me know.

Enjoying the Fire......
The kids were all laying in front of the fireplace the other night enjoying the warmth. This is a espically nice picture with the Christmas tree in the background. I am still trying to figure out how to use my camera with night pictures, but I think this one tured out great.

Chocolate Cookies.....

I am planning on going easy on the cookies this year. I tend to eat too many of them (don't we all) especially if they are chocolate cookies. I have started to get the e-mails for the "12 Days of Cookies" and one of the first cookies posted was the Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. These look really easy to make and would be a great recipe to use with kids. So what are your favorite cookie recipes to make with your kids during Christmas time???

Here is also another of my favorite Chocolate cookie recipes......

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
• 6 (2-ounce) packages chocolate-caramel cookie bars, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 (2-ounce) vanilla bark coating squares

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla, beating until blended after each addition.

Combine flour, cocoa, and soda; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Shape 1 tablespoon dough around each candy piece, covering completely, to form balls.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. Gently press the top of each ball into pecan mixture. Place balls, pecan sides up, 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Bake at 375° for 7 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Remove from baking sheets; cool completely on wire racks.

Melt coating squares in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

*These chocolate cookies are my absolute favorite. If you don't want to go to as much work this cookie dough is also wonderful if you want to add just some white chocolate or peanut butter chips to the batter. Also you can just roll the balls in some red & green sugars and bake them. There are lots of variations that can be done with this batter. I have also cut up little bites of Snicker bars and wrapped the dough around them. Those are also yummy.

Photo Cards....

I found a link at a blog I enjoy reading about Christmas photo cards. You can go here to find it if your interested in getting some. I am going to try and get some pictures of the kids here in the next day or so. This is the one time of year that I try and get a good photo of the kids.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish all my family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for and today is such a wonderful day to think about them and thank the Lord. Last night I was talking to the kids about Thanksgiving and also sang a song with them called, "Give Thanks" here are the lyrics.

GIVE THANKS
WITH A GRATEFUL HEART
GIVE THANKS
TO THE HOLY ONE
GIVE THANKS
FOR HE'S GIVEN
JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON

AND NOW LET THE WEAK SAY
I AM STRONG
LET THE POOR SAY
I AM RICH
BECAUSE OF WHAT
THE LORD HAS DONE
FOR US

GIVE THANKS...

I believe those words sum it all up. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Chickens and lots of them.....
I know many of you have been waiting for me to post some pictures of our chicken butchering adventures. It was over a week ago that we went to my parents house in Iowa and ended up getting 86 laying hens and butchering 80 of them. It was a 5 day event and the participates were my husband, my self, my mom and my grandma. We not only butchered them but canned all but 6 of them that were left whole for the freezer. So here are the first few steps.....

1. Catch a chicken, chop the head off and let it lay for about 3-5 mins to let some of the blood drain out a bit.
2. Have a big pot of boiling water ready and dunk the whole chicken in for about 30 secs.

3. Now the chicken is ready to have the feathers plucked off.

Here is the hubby working at getting the feathers off. They come off pretty easy and I would have to say this was my favorite part of the process if there is one.

More pictrures to come another day......

Chicken's Part 2
After the chickens have there feathers plucked off....

4. They have to have to be singed because they have small hair all over them. That was my grandma's job.
Anna was so proud that she had the courage to hold a chicken.

5. Then it's time to scrub the chicken up clean, cutting the chicken into parts and taking the guts out.

It was my job to scrub the chicken and clean the parts that were cut up. We had to keep the water changed in the buckets, so it was nice and cold. My mom and grandma did the cutting up part.

Chicken Part 3
Here I am cleaning the chicken up and getting it ready to cut up. We worked out in my parents dog building where we had nice running water and a counter to work on.

Here we are in my mom's kitchen and we are getting ready to put the chicken into the quart jars. We would can 7 quart jars at a time with the pressure cooker and had another pot for chicken up stock.

Here are some of the jars of chichen that we canned. We also made many jars of chicken broth.

Also the few days that we were working on chicken we also collected dozen's of eggs. This is the container of eggs that my mom sent me home with. I boiled up a good dozen eggs this past week and have been enjoying egg salad sandwiches.

So that is the details of our chicken butchering adventure.

Our Wood Piles.......
The kids had a good time helping us unload wood from the truck.

Some people took down a couple of trees down the street and so we picked most of it up. It's going to be a nice pile in our garage after we cut it all up.

This is the pile of wood that my parents brought up to us one day. It's some nice oak wood that will keep the house nice and warm this coming winter.