Twins! The word evokes a sense of excitement in some...and a sense of fear in others. I was in the latter camp when, at 10 weeks along, I found out we were having not one, but two babies. I had never in my lifetime dreamt that I would have twins, and with two older boys already, I was overwhelmed at the thought! After announcing to the world that we were having twins, then came the repeated commentary. "Congratulations" was not always the typical response. We often heard comments that were, well, less than optimistic about the situation. "Better you than me!" "Wow, you'll sure have your hands full." We even heard, "I'm so ...Read More
Archives for 2012
Foods A Sweet Life: Is Agave Nectar a Healthy Sugar Alternative?
Organic. Raw. Natural. Low Glycemic Index. Healthy. These are all adjectives you may have heard used to describe agave nectar (also known as agave syrup). The adjectives I would use to describe the agave nectar marketers are: Clever. Brilliant. Cunning. Shrewd. Deceptive. Agave Nectar in Ancient Cultures Agave nectar, or the sap from one of several species of the agave plant, has been used in ancient traditional cultures for centuries. These cultures would use the sap from the leaves of the agave plant to dress wounds and fight skin infections. It was perceived that the fresh nectar from the agave plant was not ...Read More
Christmas Devotional #12: The Gift of Jesus
We've been very pleased with how this year's devotions have gone for our family. Our kids have anticipated sitting down together each day to open a token to remind them of the gifts Christ has given to us. For today's Christmas devotional we bought a new book about the Christmas story called The Nativity. This book is beautifully illustrated by J. Kirk Richards; a keepsake book that we can see reading to our kids at Christmastime for years to come. The illustrations accompany the KJV text of the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke. Bradley and Trisha enjoyed taking turns reading the book aloud to the rest of the ...Read More
Christmas Devotional #11: The Gift of Clothing
This Christmas devotional sounds as if it should have gone earlier in the series, but there's a reason for it being number 11. We really wanted to make our object lesson be new Christmas PJs for the kids, so we scheduled this one for Christmas Eve. The point of tonight's devotion was to help the kids be thankful for the way God provides us with clothing. ...Read More
Christmas Devotional #10: The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Each Christmas devotional we do is another opportunity to remind our kids of all the blessings we've been given. Tonight's devotional focused on one of God's greatest gifts: His Holy Spirit. ...Read More
Christmas Devotional #9: The Gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge
Tonight's Christmas devotional was to help the kids appreciate that God has given us the gifts of wisdom and knowledge. We homeschool our kids, so this is something we try to impress on them all the time. For their object lesson tonight we had them open packages with notepads and pencils inside. We asked them about all the things they could do with that notepad and they listed many different learning activities. We also discussed what the boys have recently been learning about—they were excited to reiterate all of the things they're doing currently for school. From there we started talking about the blessing of being ...Read More
Low-Carb Eggnog Cheesecake with Cranberry Glaze
The first Christmas I decided to keep my sugar in check, I was downright glum. The recipe I knew I'd miss the most was Egg Nog Cheesecake. I loved the sugary spicy cheesecake, with the bite of the cranberries, and the crunchy gingersnap crust. All of the flavors played together so beautifully. It was Christmas magic. I decided it's time to bring back the magic! This is a makeover of that favorite holiday recipe. Where the original Eggnog Cheesecake recipe came from, I'm not sure. But the original was most definitely not low-carb eggnog cheesecake and it wasn't gluten-free either. Love Healthy Christmas baking? Check ...Read More
Christmas Devotional #8: The Gift of Health
For tonight's Christmas devotional we wanted to impress on our kids that good health is a gift from God. ...Read More
