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.

Moving Beyond Frozen

Well, it is the second snow day in a row, so I have some of that elusive "free time".  I always find a rich irony in the fact that I teach reading and writing, encourage students to write whenever they can, and I've taken courses on writing "blogs and wikis", but when I look at the last entry, it's from nearly nine months ago.
   It's 10 degrees out right now and the wind is really stirring up the now that fell on Sunday and late last night.  Once again, we're in the midst of the busy holiday season.  All of our kids are fully into the "magic" and "wonder" of the season. We've been observing Advent with a calendar, minus the chocolates, each night.  Each door reveals a section of Scripture, mainly Luke 2 snippets.  It's been really cool to spend a few minutes discussing the magnificent importance of Jesus' arrival over 2,000 years ago.  At 36, I'm still trying to fathom the huge significance of God coming down to our human planet.

We had a visit from Santa at my brother Jon's house. It's become an annual tradition, although Santa was sick last year and only Mrs. Claus was able to stop by.  Watching the wonder and childlike innocence thaws the maturity of my own heart and reminds me of the fun of being a kid during the holidays. It was really sweet watching Logan, Scout, Quaid and Sawyer interact with Santa.

I've been thinking much about goals and dreams, God-given visions.  I was looking at the ministry of Josh Seller in Ontario...seeing all of the great and creative things he is doing for the kingdom.  Heading over to Jars of Clay's website,  I see how they have finished the building of their 1,000 clean water well in Africa.  Reading Max Lucado's OUTLIVE YOUR LIFE, I've been considering what legacy I'm leaving. 
  SELFISHNESS--While I'll write this, I certainly have not mastered it...."I'm pretty selfish."  Even in my daily procedures and choices, I realize that I'm pretty concerned about my own needs and desires.  I don't want my selfishness to dictate the type of legacy I leave behind. How often I'm focused on my own entertainment, what sounds good to eat....and I realize that there are GREATER things to devote my money, time, and dreams too.  Even directing the drama club at my school has been a consideration lately.  What is the LEGACY I'm leaving behind with the drama group?  I know the "greater good" that CAN come from directing this group, but is it really happening?  There have been shows that I felt really made a connection/impact to the audience and to the cast and crew (ANNE FRANK, LEAVING IOWA), and I'm NOT against entertaining for entertainment's sake.  Still, I worry that I'm going after what I THINK is my life's purpose and NOT God's.  Theater is great, but there are people hungry, hurting, and aching for God. Am I doing what GOD WANTS me to do??
  And I've thought a great deal about "spinning my tires in the frozen slush of life".  I feel a little bit like I"m lacking VISION, so I'm praying that God gives me a clear vision.  I don't want to just meander through life.  I know that legacy living HAS TO BE MORE than just wishing, dreaming, or talking about it....it's about living it out today. 

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!

50 NEW Recipes In 2010- #4 Applebee's Chicken Grande Quesadilla and #5 Chili's Salsa

Again, catching up here....last Tuesday (March 9), I began cooking out of a new little cookbook I bought from Barnes and Nobles, America's Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes from Your Family's Favorite Restaurants.  In this book, you can find "copycat" recipes that claim to have broken the sacred, secret codes of famous recipes from national food chains, like Chilis, Outback, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Applebees. There are countless books out there that cover this topic, and it occurred to me tonight that I have actually gotten many of these types of recipes from online sources.  I could have saved myself a little bit of money.
   Having been out of the kitchen for nearly two weeks due to Tech Week rehearsals at the East China PAC for TO  KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, I went a little crazy in the kitchen that night.  Not only did I help my little daughter, Scout, make cupcakes for her First grade class, but I also made three new entrees.  Two of those are featured in this blog (#4 and #5 for my yearly challenge), and the third will be in the next one.
     Having not a great deal of time to round up supplies from our local Krogers, I was limited in what I could take on for my first slew of recipes.  Also, I did not want to make anything that would have long prep times.  We usually eat between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. due to the fact that our children usually go to bed by 7:30 p.m.  With all of this into consideration, I decided to tackle Applebee's Chicken Grande Quesadilla and Chili's Salsa.  I am a huge fan of Chili's salsa, and I discovered that it probably has more to do with how fresh their chips are when eating their salsa than just the salsa.  The salsa has a great deal of canned tomatoes that are pureed.  Also, I got to add "cumin" to the salsa as well as diced jalepenos (which were a suprising part of the supposed recipe).  I fired up my Ninja food processor I received this past Christmas, and I was very happy with how the salsa came out and seems to be very much like the original Chili's salsa (except without the awesome, salty, deep-fried chips).
    I have made quesadillas many times before.  They are a quick dinner at the McCulloch ranch, but I have never followed such an extensive recipe.  Diced tomatoes, jalepenos, bacon (which I cooked and crumbled fresh for this dish), grilled chicken, and then came the interesting ingredient (among others)....chipotle sauce. Once again I found how much I wished I was closer to a Meijers or even Super Walmart, as finding a bottle of Chipotle sauce became a quest of its own at Krogers.  I DID find some, but I'm not sure if it is ACTUALLY authentic chipotle sauce. The bottle claims to have something to do with buffalo wing sauce, but much of the wordage on the bottle is in Spanish.  I assumed I found what I needed.  The chipotle (buffalo?) sauce coats the flour tortilla. 
   It was very cool making and eating both new additions to the McCulloch canon of recipes.  My kids stuck with the simple chicken and cheese jalepenos, while Amber and I struggled to put down the monstrous (due to the fact that you use 12" shells filled with a ton of ingredient) quesadillas.  Very, very yummy.  I'm anxious to try more of these "secret" recipes this week!!

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.

Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Michelle McCulloch!!!

After much anticipation and planning, the fairy tale ending arrived. Last night, at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2008, my brother Joe got married. Little Quaid was in their wedding and did just a perfect job.
May God be the base and foundation of your life together. Congratulations Joe and Michelle.

I Love Bike Riding

This summer, as you see in this earlier picture from July, the training wheels came off. As I'm writing this Mark Schultz's song, "He's My Son" is playing in the background. That's just not fair. I'm not going to be able to finish this blog.
Anyways, it's so funny what we get lazy about or slow to get to doing becomes such a realized joy. It's one of those..."Why didn't I do this before? I LOVE THIS!!!" I love riding bikes, but somehow, I managed to do very little bike riding with Logan and Scout this summer. Now that I'm back at school, we've gone on several "little adventures", as I like to call them, around our neighborhood. Luckily for my kids (and myself) our adventures always end up at a McDonald's or Jimmy's Frozen Custard which are right around our house.
Last night, seven years after I thought the world was ending (9/11), with Quaid on the back of my bike, Scout struggling to get her green and white bike with training wheels over the bumpst in the sidewalk, Logan zooming around the neighborhood, and Amber pushing smiley, little Sawyer in a stroller, we rode and just enjoyed being around each other. Of course, the trip ended at Jimmy's which meant a BIG chocolate ice cream for Logan, pink ice cream with sprinkles, vanilla with sprinkles for Quaid, and two Coke coolers for mom and dad. Quaid just gulped his down. Scout enjoyed hers as slowly as she could. As we left, Amber rushed Quaid over to the side lawn to go "potty". Scout and Logan both wanted to go "potty" on Jimmy's lawn but had to wait until we got home.
After the kid's went to bed, Amber and I attempted to watch HBO's dvd JOHN ADAMS.

Life is good. It's Friday. God has blessed me with a great family.