Must Be Sunday...

We finally got back into our own ward and being back with my Cutie Crew in the Nursery. It was "greet and meet" time again with them as I was away for a couple of Sundays, but it felt wonderful(though undoubtedly stressful) to be back playing with them. What a rush!

It must be Sunday because everything seemed to have fallen into place. Sometimes, Heavenly Father floors me with His tender mercies... I prayed that we would be kept safe today because we wanted Mr. Man to be back home safely.

Right after church, we had to rush to the airport to pick up Mr. Man, and since Michelle and I are not familiar with the North Texas freeways, miracle #1 was the text that Mr. Man had to take a later flight into Dallas. It bought us 1.5 hours which came in handy since the map we were following took us North instead of South!

This is Michelle and I-Dude while we waited for Mr. Man's flight to come in, at the Shell Station across the airport entrance.

Here's Michelle and I. Do I look excited to see my hubby? Cause I was, I was!!! ;-)

Then, after we got home without incident (miracle #2), the clouds started getting dark and rumbly.

Miracle #3- instead of worrying about driving in the rain, or the dark and strong winds,
We got to enjoy it instead! See, Michelle didn't even mind that my umbrella was falling apart. LOL
Again, Michelle surprised us with another great bread recipe she got from the wife of our former 1st counselor to the Bishop from our old ward, Crystal Shores in Gilbert, AZ.We even watched the rain and lightning while she made the dough. I found myself looking out that window and be flooded with gratitude when I realized how quickly HE answered that prayer...
After 30 minutes of rising, she tried to make two different sizes. They turned out tall and delish! Right after she put the rolls in the oven, I started the crab cakes by Paula Deen. Yup, my 2nd ever attempt at making crab cakes! I love this dish but never been able to afford it since California in the late 90s (which I don't remember how they turned out, that's a good thing I guess). The ones we got on clearance at Albertson's were too fattening, salty and spicy.

I made it healthier by using Keebler Club Multigrain crackers instead of the butter rich Ritz and I used Miracle Whip instead of mayo and mustard. So again, it's my recipe! *wink*
Look how yummy it looks! It was light, delish and easy to make! Since it wasn't straight up recipe following, and I liked it, I will so tweak it again next time. *hee hee*

Michelle is not a seafood fan, but her boyfriend is, so she braved tasting these crab cakes. She liked it with fresh tomatoes and some worcestershire sauce, each bite. That's true love, people! ;-)

I feel so blessed today despite all the stresses of running a household. Mr. Man's home, safe and sound, J-Pony's slowly getting better and Michelle's having fun learning to cook more.

Only Heavenly Father can provide such subtle miracles to fall into place in this cooky household.

"Thank thee so much for listening to my prayers today, Heavenly Father, thank thee so much..."

I hope you too, felt HIS saving grace, along with HIS son, our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST...

Tender Mercies: The Date and The Storm

Charlie's working on FEB 14 so we went out last night to dinner. We had planned on going to a nice seafood restaurant, but it was all the way in Downtown Dallas and the thunderstorm/tornado watch warnings were just put into place. Charlie cancelled the reservation but we chose a nearby alternate instead (we got dressed up for this, of course we went! :-D)

We chose to go to the TEXAS LAND & CATTLE Steakhouse. YUMMY! If you have one, you should soooo go! They know steak!

On the way there and back, everything was calm and traffic was light (maybe because people were already locked up inside and we were the foolish ones still on the road?)

I was unusually calm for someone who doesn't like getting dressed up, rarely goes on dates with her husband that includes make-up and who hasn't had much sleep since her son was sick for two days and who had to ask for homework extension. It felt like I was in another world while functioning amongst my family.

Charlie intently watched the storm before we left, so our date was wrought with some trepidation- we are leaving our three kids after all, alone for 3 hours! We did cut it 2 hours.

Like I said before, the weather was calm in Carrollton throughout our roundtrip travel and dinner. Charlie was charming and conversation was not about the kids (can you imagine that? Of course, I did call to check in on them about 3-4 different times)

Anyway, I asked Heavenly Father in my tired but motherly plea to please, please watch over my children, my family during this storm and to keep Charlie and I safe. I didn't ask for permission if we can go on this date- I was afraid of the answer)

When we got home, we even had time for me to check comments from my other blog and help sign school papers for the kids. Charlie played with them and we took pictures in our nice date clothes. Ian was feeling better, though still coughing pretty bad.

At exactly 9, the rains poured, lightnings abound, thunder was loud and the siren was going off to warn all to take shelter from the storm within our own homes. The kids had just gone upstairs to go to bed after we prayed that all will be well so tomorrow's needs can be accomplished. As the siren went off, the kids had to immediately come down and hide in our master bath like we did back in April. Charlie and I did our best to stay calm and procure flashlights, candles, lighter, water and Ian's meds and nebulizer. Charlie made our bed and I lit the candles and cleared more room in the bathroom. Charlie managed to get a bath radio the day before. With everyone in the tiny master, all we had to do after all that, was wait and see.

Where are the tender mercies you ask? Here...

Ian was feeling much better, no longer lethargic, throwing up and was coherent enough to keep up with the tense situation of a storm.

We found that 50% deal on batteries last month. We had enough batteries for all the flashlights we found in the house.

Charlie's bath radio helped us keep up to date on the storm even as the power was out, including our home phone.

My laptop was always plugged in, so its battery was 100% charged to draw power from to charge Charlie's cell phone for any incoming or outgoing calls.

We just all ate dinner and I had asked Lisa to help her siblings put together their own water bottles and to choose a snack for today (she hid them all in the master bedroom).

Our date was successful- Charlie and I were able to sit down and talk about our future plans after he graduates from the Apprenticeship in May.

I remembered to turn off all the computers, printer and TV prior to the power outage.

Carrollton did not get placed in the warning zone for very long.

But the best tender mercy of all... (if you haven't picked up on it yet)

It was Charlie's day off, we were all home to ride the storm together; safe and sound...

Sometimes, you pray and don't really have your heart in it. You go about your day, you function, get things done and along the way, finding things that you don't expect. If I was Heavenly Father, I would have been frustrated with me-the mother of a home where function became the menu of the week rather than faith and hope. The only grace that may have helped us was that we took the time to go to His temple in Dallas despite the most irritating opposition. Charlie as a priesthood holder, he presided over our family with patience, help, love and good music both on his way to work, back and all day Sunday while also listening and supporting me in my efforts on my new blog. And also maybe, just maybe, the fact that we took care of what we needed in our own home- like restocking our pantry, batteries and our children's needs.

We'll never really know, but I'm just glad to feel grateful for a loving and merciful Heavenly Father... We all are. How about you?