Enjoy what today holds....

A repeating thought, off and on, in my heart and mind lately has been to enjoy what I have NOW.  Being a high school teacher, I know that it will not be long until my kids, who are all elementary ages or younger, will be zooming through their four years of high school.  I woke up this morning and thought about how Logan, who will be ten year old this summer, has lived more than half the amount of time that he'll probably reside in my house, assuming that he moves out for college when he is eighteen.

  A friend of my wife and mine has a daughter that turned eleven this week. Eleven?!?!  Where is time going?!?!?

  So the other day, when my brother Tim "facebooked" me about going sledding on a mid-Winter holiday, I knew that I had to put aside my qualms about having to carry Sawyer up a hill, which would most likely destroy my back.  I had to not think about that cold, sharp window scratching my face. I had to find a way to go. Not just for spending time with my kids, I also wanted to hang out with my brother, Tim.  I have allowed life to become a raging river in the deep canyons of busy-ness.  It has been totally my choice, and it is not that I am not enjoy the many things I participate in. I love directing drama, working with the youthgroup, going on trips with my family. Still, I'm feeling that call to SLOW DOWN.

  So on Monday, February 21, 2011, Tim, myself, Logan, Sawyer, Quaid (Scout was at a friend's birthday party), Abby, and Grace all ascended the mighty (little) hills of Palmer Park in Port Huron.  We descended the hills a few times, wearing in NEW tracks into the hills. Not suprisingly, the kids became more interested in playing "snow war" on the outdoor jungle gym than sledding.  Afterwards, we headed to Tim Horton's for donuts and hot chocolate.

  These are the days I love and cherish.

50 NEW Recipes In 2010- #6 Olive Garden's Homemade Alfredo Sauce with Chicken

My Grandma Russell always did an odd thing when went to restaurants of a "finer dining". Usually, and I cannot recall at this moment exactly where, these restaurants would feature a little bit of parsley next to the entree.  While conventional approaches to this garnish would be to simply admire its "decor" on the plate, my Grandma would snatch up everyone's parsley, wrap it in a napkin, and place it in her purse.  I don't recall totally why.  It may have been simply to provide a garnish on her own plate. 

Tonight, I returned to my cookbook, America's Most Wanted Recipes, and found myself cutting up that one green garnish my grandma loved to snatch off the table...Parsley.  The parsley mattered very little in the grander scheme of things because my past experiences with sauces that involve melting cheese into them has not always been great.  I've made a few nacho cheese sauces and sauces for homemade Macaroni and Cheese that were more reminiscent of sawdust gravy than anything remotely I was attempting. 
   And tonight's cheese ingredients were not in the usual McCulloch family dining budget.  Last night, while my wife was perusing the bread at Meijer's, I snuck in a a little bar of Romano cheese.  Romano is NOT a cheese that sits next to the American cheese slices that we use for grilled cheese sandwiches.  I found the Romano in the "expensive cheese section" near the deli.  This little wedge of Romano cost me $6.24.  For the McCulloch budget, this is expensive.  The alfredo sauce also included Romano, Parmesan, heavy cream (my first time working with "HEAVY" cream), milk, egg yolk, garlic powder. 

   I didn't double check the amount of cheese to be put in, so instead of putting a 1/2 cup EACH of Parmesan and Romano, I put in a FULL cup EACH.  So the kids and Amber got to have a little "cheesier" version of the sauce.
   One of the BEST parts of making dinner tonight was getting help from my "little chef" Logan.  Usually, Scout is the only one that I can tempt into the kitchen to help me.  She LOVE helping me, and surprisingly, she never surfaced the whole time Logan helped me.  Logan grated cheese, turned over the grilled chicken. mixed ingredients, used the colander to strain the angel hair noodles, and peeled the potatoes.  It was a great time just having him there to help, and he was very, very eager to be my assistant (Of course, he has my dominant personality.)  I loved it.
  So recipe #6 I'm reporting on was a HUGE success and enjoyed by everyone....Homemade Alfredo Sauce over Angel Hair noodles with breaded chicken...yummmmmm!

Morning Insights

It's been sometime since I've written on my blog. I certainly had hoped to become this prolific writer here. This is one of those rare, unplanned little blogs. It's 6:50 a.m.. I've been awake for just a few moments, mulling over some of the hurt and pain that have accompanied my heart and soul this summer. Most of it has had to do with tension within the greater McCulloch family, which has certainly brought tension into my little home in Port Huron.
By all accounts, when considering everything that Amber, the kids and I have done this summer, this should go down as one of the greatest summer ever. We've gone to the zoo, camped in my in-laws backyard, had a great time at Brown City church camp, spent time with friends, even got some home projects done, and went on several great trips (Grand Rapids, Greenfield Village day, and perhaps Mackinac Island next week). Despite the great memories, I've been clearly in a funk that seem to have begun earlier this year. Anxiety, at least that is again what appears to have been giving me some of the weird issues I've been facing, has reared its ugly head off and on. Despite evolving into the best physical condition I've been in for some time, I've had strange moments this summer. Not getting along with my parents, not seeing them has been tough. To add to this, while at Brown City Camp, I had a sermon on relationships from Pastor Steve DeNeff that basically challenged me to make peace, but I feel like the lone crusader in this area. I realize and agree with the perspective of others in this family tension, but I still feel this insistent spirit to forgive, to move on. And this has happened before, so I'm hesistant to restart the whole cycle of hurt, anger, bitterness, and quick forgivness and then hit repeat again, and again, and again.
But this morning, as I've sensed before, when I begin to wonder why there is such pain. What the purpose would be for the agonizing hours, a wonderful thought occurs to me. There would be no way that I would have matured, have drawn closer to God, and realized some of the weak areas within my own life without this valley. I desire God's counsel and direction more than anything else right now. Without these conflicts, I pretty certain that I would have had a "lazy" spriritual summer, that I would have slowly drifted into certain sins, not caring as much to draw closer to God. Pain has this wonderful cleaning effect about our vision and our perspective. It pokes you and prods you to consider things you might have not. There have definitely have been those moments of anger and questioning to God, but this morning I found a peace in the fact that I'm depending more on God than I would have if not for this darker hours. And one perspective I certainly have gained is that my problems are so minor compared to those of others whose faith is strong. Thank you God for remaining by me and forging my faith to become something more real and not superficial and commonplace.

The Great Western Michigan Vacation: Day One

After arriving in Walker, Michigan (10 miles north of Grand Rapids) on Tuesday night, Logan, Scout, Quaid, and I swam while Amber settled in the room with Sawyer. The pool was really cool and being able to swim with no one else around was a plus.

The next morning we headed down to the breakfast area for the free continental breakfast. Better than some hotel chains, we had the option of Belgian Waffles. After breakfast and reading with the kids, we headed to downtown Grand Rapids to check out the children's museum. While small, downtown Grand Rapids still has that big town feel in the center of it.

Today, the children's museum was opening up a new exhibit, "Aunt Daisy's Farm", so it was crowded. Amber and I were very, very impressed with this museum. It was colorful, very interactive, clean, and presented many things for each of the kids to do.

A Tradition Continues

So tonight, Logan and Scout both began their first adventures of learning to play the piano from dad. I've been reluctant because things did not go so well a year ago, but tonight was great. After a night of gymnastics, I first sat down with Scout, taught her where the C note and D notes are, and showed her how each finger has an assigned number. Logan suprisingly could not wait to begin his lesson and mastered the first part of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." I was very impressed with both of them, and I'm glad to have something where I MUST sit down and spend time with each of them. Of course the ever-lovable Quaid wanted to be part of the action. He may have to wait some time.
I've been reflecting in the midst of this economic turmoil today about the uncertainty of the future. Even at our school staff meeting, we talked about how bad the economy is for kids. This got me thinking about how over blessed I am. I have more than I could ever want. I remember Francis Chan saying in a recent message that even at my poorest, I have more than most people do in other countries. That I would have to "work hard to starve." And it is easy to write these words about my blessings, may I truly live in the awe and in the remembrance of how blessed I am. May I do something more than just be thankful with the abundance God has given me.