Rest in peace my friend

Today our dear friend Eileen passed away, she has been like a mother to me and Danny and a Nana to our girls. The Lord crossed our paths in 2000 and she has been a part of our family ever since. Lord I pray that today she stands before you and yousay to her "Welcome home Eileen, I have been waiting for you".
You will never be forgotten.....WE LOVE YOU!!!!

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

He's home, he's home!!!!!

Lord,

Thank you for bringing my honey home safely. We all missed him terribly...... This trip was all for your Glory. Continue to show yourself to us and direct our paths clearly.....

It's the weather....

Tuscan Tomato Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 carrots, peeled and finely diced
4 stalks celery, finely diced
3 medium onions, minced
3 quarts canned tomatoes with juice or 14 large, ripe fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 leaves fresh basil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Croutons, for serving, recipe follows

Heat the oil and butter in a Dutch oven. Cook the carrots, celery, and onions for about 20 minutes, or until very tender. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking over moderate heat for 25 to 30 minutes longer. Stir in the parsley and basil, season with salt and pepper, cook a minute or so longer, and serve hot with croutons.


French Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup minced onion

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

12 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus finely chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

1/2 bay leaf

Pinch dried thyme

3 pounds button mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream



In a Dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook over low heat, without browning, for 4 minutes. Whisk in the stock until smooth and combined. Add the parsley, bay leaf, and thyme. Simmer for 20 minutes. In a large skillet, heat the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, stirring to coat with butter. Add the salt and lemon juice, and cook 5 minutes.



Add the cooked mushrooms to the stock mixture, and simmer 5 minutes.



In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cream until combined. While whisking constantly, slowly add 1 cup of hot soup into the cream mixture. Add to the soup, and heat until warmed through. Be sure not to let the soup get too hot or the egg yolks will curdle. Season with salt.

Ahhh Fall, Soup time!!!!!!

Pasta Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)



8 T good olive oil
2T fresh basil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
2 small cans of tomato paste and 2 small cans of water
1/2 lb ditalini pasta
2 cans of white beans undrained
16 cups of water or chicken stock

Heat pan and add oil then add the onion and garlic to pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add the basil, salt, pepper, tomato paste and water. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans undrained. Cook 10 minutes. Boil the water for the pasta and cook pasta for 8 minutes. DO NOT DRAIN THE PASTA. Add the tomato mixture to the pasta with the water take off the heat and cover for 10 minutes. Serve with crusty bread and some grated cheese!

Reflecting on Summer

Here are some pictures from our summer travels. The Lord's blessings are like the waves on the shore, they never cease!

Ahhhhhh the beach!!!

Couldn't get there today (Dad just home from the hospital)
Hitting it tomorrow! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our girls are getting so big!!!

They are growing like weeds. Here are pics from their first days at school.

Off to school!!!!

What am I gonna do when my big girl is gone all day long and my little girl is gone 5 hours a week?

Coffee you say, maybe the gym, shopping possibly, cleaning the house? Nope crying..... Pray the Lord protects them at school and give them the opportunity to declare His name!!!

The beauty of the Lord!!!!

Isn't he lovely?

Texas Sweet Texas

Here are some pictures of our trip. Please pray for us as we consider a relocation to San Antonio and that we may know clearly what the Lord has for us.

Oh yeah what do you get when you cross an Emma-bean and a 4 month old, 3 pound yorkie named Story? A BROKEN LEG!!!!!! Sorry Story Emma didn't meant it :(

The stars at night are big and bright!!!!!

Deep in the heart of Texas!!!! We are outta here!!!!!

Have you ever seen a cuter ball player?

Our MVP!!!!!

The Flood of 2006!!!

Thought you may be interested in looking at some pictures from the flood. Remember the Lord is sovereign over ALL things......

Prayer for the Bean!!!

Samantha (5) and Emma(3) were in children's church on Sunday and Peg asked the kids if they needed prayer for anything. Samantha chirped up and said could you pray for my sister that she knows Jesus better. Peg of course let me know how Godly my daughter is ;)

Later when I had the chance to ask her why she prayed that she replied that she needs to get serious about the Lord. I asked her why and she claims if she knew Jesus better she wouldn't be so silly. Boy does anyone smell self righteousness.

Isn't it just like the Lord again trying to tell me something...Again

Well yesterday was a very humbling day for me. Paul preached on 1 Corinthians 16: 1-4

As I sat there yesterday listening to Paul preach (which btw was awesome, thanks Paul) the Lord put some things on my heart. I do not experience or live my life in a kingdom of generosity. Paul ask what really makes you excited and as I drifted off into thinking about winning Mass millions or megabucks. I started thinking if I only won I could buy us a church and help our families and then honestly want to know what I thought about? SHOPPING..... All the cute littles sandals I could buy and not only for me but my kids.... Oh yeah and my friends too. Like I always say you can never have too many sandals, capris or flip flops....

Does my heart beat like that when I think about eternity with Jesus? When I think about all the wrongs I have done that he suffered for? To clean my slate? To take away my F's and give me all His A's?

I constantly wonder about finances where will they come from, how will we pay this or that? Yesterday was a great day for me the Lord really showed me where my heart is and what He wants for my heart. What we have in this world does not define who we are. The one who dies with the best toys does not win..... The one who dies with Christ is truly the one who wins....

Thank you Lord for loving me enough to show me my sin and correcting me with love....

Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord

Is God trying to show me something....

So Danny comes home for lunch and I must say the lunch I prepared was great, yummy.... Homemade cornbeef hash with eggs. Anyway we can chat about that another day. So Danny asks me why I haven't been blogging and know what my response to him was? I have nothing to say. Boy is that funny or what, all of you that know me know that I always have something to say. So I was thinking of all the things I have to be grateful and thankful to the Lord for.

1. Life in eternity with Him
2. A completely and absoultely wonderful husband, who is kind, patient and all the things I am not and might I mention a babe. (Ace got nuttin on him)
3. Two adorable children who I love with all my heart
4. Wonderful friends and family a girl couldn't ask for more
5. A passion for cooking that the Lord gave to me to show his glory


So I guess I do have something to say..... Thanks for the reminder sweetie...

The Tree

Most of you know how bad this house when we bought it.. Bad, Disgusting, Nasty, Smelly. I would beg Danny please do not make me live there he would just tell me to trust him. Well with alot of hard work even more paint and sleepless nights we made this house our home. Just in enough time to move in 1 week after Samantha's birth.

Stepping back to when we were looking at this house, the only thing about this house that I LOVED, I repeat the ONLY THING I LOVED about this house was our Japenese maple tree. It was planted either when this house was built in 1860 or shortly afterwards. Well let me tell you God sure has a way of taking away our idols.

A few weeks ago we got a storm not a bad one only a couple of inches but it was wet and heavy. That is all I will say about my beautiful tree....... Thank you Lord for reminding me of how you are sturdier than that tree, more beautiful than my tree and how you will never fall down on me....

Tagged!!!!

Tagged...
I've been "tagged" by Sacha to answer the following questions

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:
Joel A. Kraut M.D.- Office Manager
Steven D. Spitz, D.D.S.- Office Manager
David D. Wyman, D.M.D- Office Manager
Mommy and Wife

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again:
Something about Mary
The Three Amigos
The Princess Bride
Bourne Identity (and Supremacy)

Four Places I Have Lived:
Bradford, MA
Honolulu, HI
Everett, MA
Malden, MA

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
Survivor
Apprentice
ER
Grey's Anatomy

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
Florida
St. Thomas
The Bahama's
Aruba

Four Websites I Visit Daily (or at least weekly):
Hotmail
Blogspot
FoodTV
Ebay

Four of My Favorite Foods:
Lobsta
Shrimp cocktail
Any Mexican
Any Thai

Four Singers I Can't Live Without:
Fernando Ortega
Billy Joel
Frank Sinatra
Elton John

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
Hawaii
Florida
California
Anywhere warm

Four Bloggers I am tagging:
Becky
Beth
Peggy
Danny-he won't do it :(